528. "And to destroy those who are destroying the earth." This symbolizes the casting down into hell of the people who destroyed the church.

To destroy those who are destroying the earth symbolizes the casting down into hell of people who destroyed the church, because the earth symbolizes the church (no. 285), and because this statement follows the declaration that the time has come to judge the dead, which symbolizes the last judgment on people who were without any spiritual life (no. 525). Thus the statement here, that the time has come to destroy those who are destroying the earth, symbolizes the casting down into hell of the people who destroyed the church.

Something similar is said of Lucifer, meaning Babylon, in Isaiah:

...you have destroyed your land and slain your people. (Isaiah 14:20)