10648. 'And they go whoring after their gods' means from which falsities of evil arise. This is clear from the meaning of 'whoring after the gods of the nations' as being linked to falsities of evil; for being linked together unlawfully is meant by 'whoring', and falsities of evil by 'the gods of the nations'. For the meaning of 'gods' as falsities, see 4402(end), 4544, 7873, 8867, and for that of 'nations' as evils, above in 10638. The expression 'from which falsities of evil arise' is used because from evil all kinds of falsity come forth. Falsities however which do not arise from evil are indeed falsities in the outward form they take, but they are not inwardly so. For falsities can exist with someone who leads a good life; but they have good interiorly present in them which causes the evil of the falsity to be removed. Consequently that falsity does not appear before angels as falsity but as a sort of truth; for angels look at the inner features of faith, not the outward aspects of it. This is why everyone, whatever their religion, even gentiles who possess no truths from the Word, can be saved, provided that they have regarded leading a good life as their end in view, and the religious teachings they have received as the means to that end, see 2589-2604.

[2] 'Whoring' is spoken of frequently in the Word. An unlawful joining to truth is meant by this, and an unlawful joining to good by 'committing adultery', so that 'whoring' means the falsification of truth, and 'committing adultery' the adulteration of good. The falsification of truth takes place in the following three ways,

1. If a person leads an evil life while acknowledging truths received through religious teachings, for the truths then have evil inside them, and evil falsifies truth. It does so because evil dispels from truths what is heavenly and Divine, and introduces what is hellish, as a consequence of which falsification takes place.

[3] 2. If a person first accepts the truths in religious teachings and afterwards assents to the falsity of another set of teachings, which happens solely in the case of those who lead an evil life, because evil has an appetite for falsity and freely takes hold of it as the truth.

3. If a person who is leading an evil life and adopting falsities as his religious teachings takes hold of truths belonging to another set of teachings, he too falsifies truths, because he does not acknowledge truths for their own sake, only for the sake of earning some gain, important position, or reputation.

[4] In the Word all these kinds of falsification are called acts of whoredom and prostitution, because a lawful joining together, which is that of goodness and truth, is meant by a marriage, see 2727-2759, so that instances of an unlawful joining together are meant by acts of whoredom. The truth of this may be recognized from a large number of places in the Word, of which let just these two be brought forward here:

In Ezekiel,

O Jerusalem, you committed whoredom because of your renown, and poured out your acts of whoredom on every passer-by. You took some of your garments and made for yourself high places variously coloured, and on them committed whoredom. For your adornment you took vessels made of My gold and of My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself figures of the male, and committed whoredom with them. You took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to Me, and sacrificed them to them. Were your acts of whoredom a small matter? You committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt, your neighbours, great in flesh, and multiplied your whoredom to provoke Me to anger. You committed whoredom with the sons of Asshur, and you committed whoredom with them and were not satisfied. And you multiplied your whoredom, even as far as the trading land of Chaldea. Ezekiel 16:15-17, 20, 26, 28-29ff.

And in the same prophet,

Two women, the daughters of one mother, committed whoredom in Egypt. In their youth they committed whoredom. Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem. Oholah committed whoredom under Me and doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours. She bestowed her acts of whoredom on them. Her acts of whoredom brought from Egypt she did not give up, for they had lain with her in her youth. Oholibah corrupted her love more than she, and multiplied her acts of whoredom above her sister's acts of whoredom; she doted on the sons of Asshur. She added to her acts of whoredom and saw the images of the Chaldeans. As soon as her eyes saw them she desired them. The sons of Babel came to her, into her love-bed. Ezekiel 23:2-5, 7-8, 11-12, 14, 16ff.

Further examples of the same thing occur in many other places, which may be seen, together with explanations of them as well as of the two quoted here, in 2466, 8904.

3355. In the internal sense 'an earthquake' is an alteration of the state of the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'the earth' as the Church, dealt with in 566, 662, 1066, 1068, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928, and from the meaning of 'a quake' as an alteration of state, here an alteration as regards the things that constitute the Church, namely good and truth. This is also evident from other places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

It will happen, that he who is fleeing from the sound of the terror will fall into the pit, and he who is climbing out of the middle of the pit will be caught in the snare, for the floodgates from on high have been opened and the foundations of the earth have been made to tremble, the earth has been utterly shattered. The earth has been made to quake thoroughly, the earth staggers like a drunken man, it sways to and fro like a hut, and heavy upon it is its transgression, and it will fall and not rise again. And it will be on that day, that Jehovah will visit the host of the height on high and the kings of the ground on the ground. Isaiah 24:18-21.

Here it is quite evident that 'the earth' is the Church, for the subject is a Church whose 'foundations' are said to 'have been made to tremble', while the Church itself, having been 'shattered' and 'made to quake', 'staggers' and 'sways to and fro' when good and truth are not known any longer. 'The kings of the ground' are truths, in this case falsities, upon which visitation will take place. As regards 'kings' meaning truths and in the contrary sense falsities, see 1672, 2015, and as regards 'the ground' being similar in meaning to 'the earth', namely the Church, though there is a difference, see 566, 1068.

[2] In the same prophet,

I will make a man (homo) more rare than pure gold, and a man (homo) than the gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make heaven quake and the earth will quake out of its place, at the wrath of Jehovah Zebaoth and in the day of His fierce anger. Isaiah 13:12-13.

Here also, the subject being Judgement Day, 'the earth' plainly stands for the Church which is said to 'quake out of its place' when it undergoes a change of state - 'place' meaning state, see 1273-1275, 1377, 2625, 2837. In the same prophet,

Is this the man who, making the earth quake, making the kingdoms quake, makes the world into a wilderness and destroys its cities? Isaiah 14:16-17.

This refers to Lucifer. 'The earth' stands for the Church, which is said 'to quake' when it lays claim to all things as its own. For 'kingdoms' means the truths accepted by the Church, see 1672, 2547.

[3] In Ezekiel,

It will be on that day, that Gog will come over the land of Israel. My wrath will come up in My anger and in My zeal. In the fire of My wrath I will say, Surely on that day there will be a great earthquake on Israel's ground. Ezekiel 38:18-20.

'Gog' stands for external worship that has been separated from internal and so made idolatrous, 1151. 'Israel's land' or 'ground' stands for the spiritual Church, 'an earthquake' for an alteration of its state. In Joel,

The earth quaked before Him, the heavens trembled. The sun and the moon were darkened, and the stars withdrew their shining. Joel 2:10.

This also refers to Judgement Day. 'The earth quaked' stands for an altered state of the Church, 'the sun and moon' for the good of love and the truth of faith, 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495, which are said to be 'darkened' when goods and truths are not acknowledged any longer. 'The stars' stands for cognitions of good and truth, 2495, 2849. In David,

The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook and trembled because He was angered. Psalms 18:6-7.

'The earth trembled and quaked' stands for the Church when its state has become perverted.

[4] In John,

When he opened the sixth seal I looked again, and behold, a great earthquake took place, and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the full moon became like blood, and the stars in the sky fell to the earth. Revelation 6:12-13.

Here 'an earthquake', 'the sun', 'the moon', and 'the stars' have a similar meaning to that which they have above in Joel. In the same book,

At that hour a great earthquake took place, and a tenth part of the city fell, and there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand people. ¹ Revelation 11:13.

From all these places it is evident that 'an earthquake' means nothing other than an alteration of the state of the Church, and that 'the earth' has no other meaning in the internal sense than the Church. And since 'the earth' is the Church it is clear that 'the new heaven and the new earth' which are to take the place of the previous heaven and earth, Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; Revelation 21:1, means nothing other than a new Church, internal and external, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end).

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