539. And there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace, signifies dense falsities therefrom out of the evils of earthly and corporeal loves. This is evident from the signification of "smoke," as being the falsity of evil (of which presently); from the signification of "the pit of the abyss," as being the hell where those are who have falsified the Word (respecting which see above, n. 537; and from the signification of "a great furnace," as being the evils of earthly and corporeal loves out of which such falsities break forth (of which in the following article). "Smoke" signifies the falsity of evil, because it proceeds from fire, and "fire" signifies the loves of self and the world and thence all evils; consequently the hells that are in falsities from the evils of those loves, and still more the hells where those are who have falsified the Word by adapting it to favor those loves, appear in a fire like that of a great furnace, from which a dense smoke mingled with fire goes up. I have also seen those hells, and it was evident that it was the loves with those who were in them that presented the appearance of such a fire, and the falsities flowing forth from those loves that presented the appearance of the fiery smoke. But there is no such appearance to those who are therein, for they are in these loves and in the falsities therefrom, their life is in them, and it is by these that they are tormented in many ways, and not by such fire and smoke as are in our natural world. (This can be seen better in the chapter in the work on Heaven and Hell 566-575, which treats of Infernal Fire and the Gnashing of Teeth.)

[2] That "smoke" signifies the dense falsity that flows forth from evil can be seen from the following passages. In Moses:

Abraham looked upon the faces of Sodom and Gomorrah, and upon all the faces of the land of the plain, and he saw, and lo, the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace (Genesis 19:28).

"Sodom and Gomorrah" in the spiritual sense mean those who are altogether in the loves of self; therefore the smoke that Abraham saw rising from their land after the burning, signifies the dense falsity pertaining to those who are altogether in the love of self; for those who love themselves supremely are in the thickest darkness in respect to things spiritual and celestial, for they are merely natural and sensual, and are wholly separated from heaven; and then they not only deny Divine things, but they think out falsities by which to destroy them. These falsities are what are signified by the "smoke" seen rising from Sodom and Gomorrah.

[3] In the same:

And the sun went down, and there was dense darkness, and behold a furnace of smoke, and a torch of fire that passed through between those pieces (Genesis 15:17).

This was said of Abraham's posterity from Jacob, as can be seen from what precedes in that chapter; "the sun went down" signifies the last time, when consummation takes place; "and there was dense darkness" signifies when evil takes the place of good and falsity the place of truth; "behold a furnace of smoke" signifies the densest falsity from evils; "a torch of fire" signifies the heat of cupidities; "it passed through between the pieces" signifies that these separated them from the Lord. (But this may be seen more fully explained in Arcana Coelestia 1858-1862.)

[4] In the same:

Moses made the people to go forth from the camp to meet God; and they stood in the lower parts of the mount. And Mount Sinai smoked, the whole of it, because Jehovah descended upon it in fire; and the smoke ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked exceedingly (Exodus 19:17, 18);

And all the people saw the voices and the torches, and the voice of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and the people saw, and they were moved and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us and we will hear, but let not God speak with us lest we die (Exodus 20:18, 19).

This represented the quality of that people; for Jehovah, that is, the Lord, appears to everyone according to his quality; to those who are in truths from good He appears as a serene light, but to those who are in falsities from evil as smoke from fire. And because that people was in earthly and corporeal loves, and in falsities of evil therefrom, the Lord appeared to them from Mount Sinai as a devouring fire, and as the smoke of a furnace. (That the sons of Jacob were such has been shown in many places in the Arcana Coelestia, as may be seen from what is brought together in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248; and that the Lord appears to everyone according to his quality, as a vivifying and recreating fire to those who are in good, and as a consuming fire to those who are in evil, see Arcana Coelestia 934, 1861, 6832, 8814, 8819, 9434, 10551; what the other particulars in the passages cited signify may be seen in the same work where the book of Exodus is explained.)

[5] "Smoke and fire" have a like signification in David:

Because He was wroth there went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth devoured, coals burned from Him; He bowed heaven also and came down; and gross darkness was under His feet (Psalms 18:7-9; 2 Samuel 22:8, 9).

This does not mean that smoke and a devouring fire went up from Jehovah, for there is no anger in Him; but it is so said because the Lord so appears to those who are in falsities and evils, for they regard Him from their falsities and evils.

[6] The like is signified by the following in the same:

He looketh on the earth and it trembleth; He toucheth the mountains and they smoke (Psalms 104:32).

In the same:

Bow Thy heavens, O Jehovah, and come down; touch the mountains, that they may smoke (Psalms 144:5).

In Isaiah:

Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou whole Philistia art dissolved; for from the north cometh a smoke (14 Isaiah 14:31).

"Gate" signifies truth introducing into the church, "city" doctrine, "Philistia" faith; therefore "Howl, O gate, cry, O city, thou whole Philistia art dissolved," signifies the vastation of the church in respect to the truth of doctrine, and thence in respect to faith. The "north" signifies the hell where and from which are the falsities of doctrine and the falsities of faith, and "smoke" such falsities; therefore "from the north cometh smoke" signifies devastating falsity out of the hells.

[7] In Nahum:

Behold, I will burn her chariot with smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions (Nahum 2:13).

This, too, treats of the devastation of the church; and "to burn a chariot with smoke" signifies to pervert all truths of doctrine into falsities, "smoke" meaning falsities, and "chariot" doctrine; and "the sword shall devour thy young lions" signifies that falsities will destroy the chief truths of the church, "young lions" meaning the chief and protecting truths of the church, and "sword" meaning falsity destroying truth.

[8] In Joel:

I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth; blood and fire and columns of smoke (Joel 2:30).

This is said of the Last Judgment; and "blood, fire, and columns of smoke," signify the truth of the Word falsified, its good adulterated, and mere falsities resulting therefrom, "blood" meaning the truth of the Word falsified, "fire" its good adulterated, and "columns of smoke" mere and dense falsities therefrom.

[9] In David:

The wicked shall perish, and the enemies of Jehovah as the glory of lambs shall be consumed, in smoke shall they be consumed (Psalms 37:20).

"The wicked and the enemies of Jehovah shall be consumed in smoke" signifies that they shall be destroyed by the falsities of evil; those are called "wicked" who are in falsities, and "enemies" who are in evils, and "smoke" means the falsity of evil.

[10] In the same:

As smoke is driven away Thou wilt drive away; as wax melteth before the fire the wicked shall perish before God (Psalms 68:2).

The destruction of the wicked is compared to smoke driven away by the wind, and to wax that melts before the fire, because "smoke" signifies falsities, and "fire" evils.

[11] In Isaiah:

The heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment (Isaiah 51:6).

"Smoke" here signifies falsity, by which those who were in the former heaven would be destroyed; and "the garment waxing old" signifies truth destroyed by the falsities of evil. Comparison is made with smoke vanishing away, and with a garment waxing old, because comparisons in the Word are also correspondences, and in like manner significative.

[12] In Hosea:

They sin more and more, and make them a molten image of their silver, idols in their understanding, all of it the work of the artificers; therefore they shall be as a morning cloud, and as the dew falling early and going away, it is driven by a whirlwind out of the threshing-floor, and like smoke out of a chimney (Hosea 13:2, 3).

This describes the doctrinals that are from self-intelligence, in which are the evils of falsity and the falsities of evil. Such doctrinals are signified by "molten images of silver," and by "idols;" their "silver" signifies what is from self-intelligence, and the "work of the artificers" that intelligence; it is therefore added "in their understanding they have made them idols, all of it the work of the artificers." That such doctrinals, being falsities, would pass away, is signified by "they shall pass away like smoke out of a chimney." It is also said "as a morning cloud, and as the dew falling early, and as [chaff] out of the threshing-floor," because the church in its beginning is like a morning cloud, like dew falling early, and like corn in the threshing-floor, by which are signified the truths of good and the goods of truths, which nevertheless successively pass away and are changed into the falsities of evil and into the evils of falsity.

[13] "Smoke" also signifies falsity in other passages in Revelation, as in the following:

Out of the mouth of the horses went forth fire and smoke and brimstone; and by these was the third part of men slain, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone (Revelation 9:17, 18).

The smoke of their torment goeth up unto the ages of the ages (Revelation 14:11).

And again:

The smoke of Babylon goeth up unto the ages of the ages (Revelation 19:3).

[14] Because "fire" signifies love in both senses, both celestial love and infernal love, and therefore "smoke" signifies that which flows forth from love-falsity, which is from infernal love, and truth, which is from heavenly love-therefore "smoke" signifies in a good sense holy truth. This is what "smoke from the fire of the incense-offerings" signifies, as may be seen above (n. 494), as also in the following passages. In Isaiah:

Jehovah will create over every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and over her convocations, a cloud by day and a smoke and the brightness of a flame of fire by night; for over all the glory shall be a veiling (Isaiah 4:5).

(This may be seen explained above, n. 294, 504.) In the same:

The posts of the thresholds were moved at the voice of the crying seraphim, and the house was filled with smoke (Isaiah 6:4).

In Revelation:

The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from His power (Revelation 15:8).

And again:

The smoke of the incense-offerings with the prayers of the saints ascended out of the angel's hand before God (Revelation 8:4).

10570. 'And I and Your people will be made more distinguished than all the people who are on the face of the ground' means the consequent pre-eminence over all throughout the whole world where the Church exists. This is clear from the meaning of 'being made more distinguished than all the people who are on the face of the ground' as pre-eminence over all throughout the whole world. The reason why where the Church exists is also meant is that 'the ground' means the Church, which is dealt with below.

[2] It was this end in view - that they should be made more distinguished than all throughout the whole world - that caused the Israelite nation to worship Jehovah and enabled them to be outwardly holy. This is clear from what has been shown previously regarding that nation. The fact that such people are able to be outwardly holy and to seem to others to be worshippers of God is clear from the idolaters spoken of in the historical narratives of the Word, who were able in like manner to do the outward things. But anyone may see and deduce that those idolaters possessed no inner holiness from the consideration that the Divine Truths which have been revealed in the Word are what make worship internal, when people know them and lead a life in keeping with them. For if a person were able to worship God in a holy way without those Truths there would be no need for any of the Church's teachings, nor for any preaching.

[3] Since that nation was such that their end in view - to be pre-eminent over others - enabled them to be outwardly holy, and since among people such as these the things that are representative of celestial and spiritual realities, which the outward things of their worship were, can be conveyed to angels and a link with heaven can thereby be established, that nation was accepted. But anyone who supposes that this made them worshippers of God is very much mistaken; for they were worshippers of self and the world, and idolaters at heart. And because they were such, neither was any revelation given them of the interior things of worship, which have to do with faith in the Lord and love to Him. This is evident from the books in the Old Testament, and also from the fact that they did not acknowledge the Lord when He came into the world, and indeed still do not acknowledge Him; and if presented with teachings about the Lord contained in the prophetical parts, even then they do not accept them. They desire a Messiah who will exalt them above all throughout the whole world, not a Messiah whose kingdom is in heaven and who looks from there to the salvation also of all on earth. From all this it becomes clear what that nation has been like since the earliest ages, and why it is that it says here that by Jehovah's going with them they would be made more distinguished than all the people who are on the face of the ground.

[4] By the words 'on the face of the ground' wherever the Church exists should be understood; for 'the ground' has the same meaning as 'the earth', namely the Church (for the meaning of 'the earth', or 'the land', as the Church, see in the places referred to in 9325). But 'the ground' means the Church for the same reason as 'the field' does, that is, because it receives various kinds of seeds, which then grow into plants and bear fruit, by which the truths and forms of the good of faith and love are meant. For the human being is a recipient of these just as the ground is of seeds. The earth is called a Church however on account of the people inhabiting it, with whom the Church exists. But since the ground implies that which extends spatially just as the earth or the land does, translators use the word 'earth' instead of 'ground'. Here they say 'on the face of the earth' instead of 'on the face of the ground', as they do in other places. And yet in the original language the term that denotes the ground is derived from an entirely different root from the one that the term denoting the earth springs from.

[5] The fact that 'the ground' means the Church, just as 'the earth' or 'the land' does, is clear from various places in the Word, of which let only some be quoted, such as this in Jeremiah,

The nobles sent their inferiors for water, they came to the pits, and they found no water; their vessels returned empty, because the ground was broken up in pieces, no rain had come to be on the land. Jeremiah 14:3-4.

Here 'the ground' means the Church, and so does 'the land', for the subject in the internal sense is the lack of truth and resulting ruination of the Church. 'Water' means truths; 'pits' where those truths, thus religious teachings, are stored; 'vessels' recipients of them; and 'rain' the influx of them from heaven. 'The land' is where the Church is situated, and 'the ground' the actual Church, which is said to be 'broken up in pieces' owing to drought, that is, to the lack of truth from heaven.

[6] In Isaiah,

It will happen at the end of seventy years, that Jehovah will visit Tyre, and she will return to her harlot's reward and commit whoredom with all the kingdoms of the earth on the face of the ground. At length her merchandise and her harlot's reward will be holy to Jehovah. Isaiah 23:17-18.

'Tyre' means the Church in respect of its cognitions or knowledge of truth and good, and so in the abstract sense means those cognitions. These are called 'a harlot's reward' when they are taught for the sake of gain, position, and reputation for knowing them, thus when they are put on sale so to speak, and are not taught for truth's own sake. In the Word this is called harlotry and whoredom. 'Committing whoredom with all the kingdoms of the earth' means doing so with all the truths of the Church; 'on the face of the ground' means wherever the Church is situated. Since cognitions of truth and good continue to be cognitions of truth and good and so continue to be Divine, even when they are used for gain by a person who teaches and puts them up for sale, and they are consequently 'a harlot's reward', it says that 'her merchandise and her harlot's reward will be holy to Jehovah'. Everyone whose thought extends beyond the sense of the letter can see that a harlot's reward should not be understood in these verses, nor whoredom committed with all the kingdoms of the earth, nor that such a thing will be holy to Jehovah.

[7] In David,

You send forth Your spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the ground. Psalms 104:30.

'Jehovah's spirit' means the Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, 9818; 'being created' means being created anew, that is, being regenerated, 10373; 'renewing the face of the ground' reforming and establishing the Church, 'the face of the ground' meaning wherever anything of the Church can be received. The like is meant in other places where the expression 'the face of the ground' occurs, such as Genesis 7:4; 8:8, 13; Exodus 32:12; Numbers 12:3; Deuteronomy 6:15; 7:6; 1 Samuel 20:15; 2 Samuel 14:7.