543. Verse 3. And out of the smoke there went forth locusts upon the earth, signifies that from infernal falsities they became corporeal-sensual in the church. This is evident from the signification of "smoke," as being infernal falsity (See above, n. 539). Infernal falsity is what is here signified by "smoke," because it has just been said that this smoke "went up out of the pit of the abyss," and "the pit of the abyss" signifies the hell where and from which are the falsities of evil that falsify the truths of the Word. The above is evident also from the signification of "locusts," as being man's ultimate sensual, which is in the falsity of evil (of which presently); also from the signification of "to go forth upon the earth," as being upon the church, for the "earth" signifies the church; moreover, the things contained in Revelation are predictions respecting the church and its state.

[2] That "locusts" signify man's ultimate sensual which is in the falsity of evil, can be seen from each and all the particulars related in this chapter to verse 12, in the explanation of which it is shown that "locusts" have no other meaning. But here it shall first be told what is meant by man's ultimate sensual. It does not mean the sensual of sight, of hearing, of smell, of taste, and of touch, for these things are proper to the body, but the ultimate of thought and affection, which is the first to be opened with infants, and which is such that they think of nothing else and are affected by no other objects than what make one with the senses just named. For infants learn to think by means of the senses, and to be affected by objects that are in accord with the things that are pleasing to the senses; consequently the first internal that is opened with them is the sensual that is called man's ultimate sensual, or the corporeal-sensual. But afterwards, as the infant grows older and becomes a boy, a more interior sensual is opened, from which he thinks naturally, and is also affected naturally. Later, in youth and early manhood, a still more interior sensual is opened, from which he thinks rationally, and if he is in the good of charity and faith, he thinks spiritually, and is also affected rationally and spiritually. This thought and affection is what is called the rational and spiritual man, while the former is called the natural man, and the first the sensual man.

[3] With every man the interiors that are of his thought and affection are opened successively, and this by a continuous influx out of heaven from the Lord. By this influx the sensual that most nearly adheres to the body is first formed, and from this man becomes sensual; afterwards the natural from which he becomes natural; and after this the rational and with it the spiritual, from which he becomes a rational and spiritual man; but this he becomes only so far as he thinks about God and about the Divine things that are from God, and this is formed and perfected so far as he is affected by these things, that is, so far as he wills and lives according to them. If he does not do this the spiritual man is opened in a general way, but is not formed, still less perfected. By the general opening of his spiritual man, man has the faculty of thinking, and from thought of speaking rationally; this is the general effect of the influx of heaven with every man. This makes clear that man's thoughts and affections may be spiritual, or natural, or also sensual; and that spiritual thoughts and affections are with those who think from God respecting God and Divine things; while there are only natural thoughts and affections with those who do not think from God respecting God and Divine things, but think only from themselves or from the world respecting themselves or the world. But it should be known that to think from self or from the world is to think not from these but from hell; for whoever does not think from God thinks from hell; no one can think from both at the same time. But those who deny God, and thence the Divine things of heaven and the church, and confirm themselves against these, all become sensual men more or less, according to confirmations; when they are thinking about spiritual things they think falsities only, and are affected by evils; and if they think any truths, whether spiritual, moral, or civil, it is only from the knowledge (scientia) of such things as are in the memory; and they see nothing beyond the nearest causes which they also are able to prove; and if they are affected by goods, it is only from a delight for the sake of self or the world, thus from a cupidity belonging to the love of self or the love of the world. The thought of the sensual man is what is called material thought, and its affection is what is called corporeal affection, which is cupidity.

[4] Furthermore, it is to be known that all the evils that man derives from his parents, which are called hereditary evils, have their seat in his natural and sensual man, but not in the spiritual; consequently the natural man, and especially the sensual man, is the opposite of the spiritual. For the spiritual man from infancy is closed, and is opened and formed only by Divine truths received by the understanding and will; and so far in extent and quality as the spiritual man is opened and formed, the evils of the natural and sensual man are removed, and goods are implanted in place of them. As all evils have their seat in the natural and sensual man it follows that falsities do also, because all falsities are of evil; for when man lusts and wills from evil he thinks and speaks from falsity. For the evil of the will, when it so forms itself in thought that it is manifest to others or to oneself as to its quality, is called falsity; thus falsity is the form of evil, as truth is the form of good. From this it can be seen who and of what quality the man is who is called a sensual man; also that a man becomes sensual when he follows out in act the evils into which he is born, and adds more to them from himself. So far as he does this and confirms himself in these evils, so far the spiritual man is kept closed; and when it is closed the natural and sensual man denies the Divine things that belong to heaven and the church, and acknowledges such things only as belong to the world and nature; and indeed, the sensual man is then so blind as to believe nothing but what he sees with his eyes and touches with his hands. Such are many of the learned, however intelligent and wise they may be thought to be from their ability of speaking from the knowledges [scientia] that are in the memory, and this apparently as the rational man speaks, since the spiritual mind is opened with them, as it is in every man in a general way, as has been said above.

[5] Because in what now follows in this chapter the locust is much treated of, and by it the sensual, which is the ultimate or extreme of the natural man, is signified, it is important that what the sensual is and what its quality is should be fully known, and thus who and what the sensual man is. I will therefore present here what is said and shown respecting it in the Arcana Coelestia, as follows: The sensual is the ultimate of man's life, adhering to and inhering in his corporeal, n. 5077, 5767, 9212, 9216, 9331, 9730. He is called a sensual man who judges all things from the senses of the body, and who believes nothing but what he can see with his eyes and touch with his hands, saying that this is something, and rejecting everything else, n. 5094, 7693. Such a man thinks in what is ultimate, and not interiorly from any spiritual light, n. 5089, 5094, 6564, 7693.

The interiors of his mind, which sees from the light of heaven, are closed, so that he sees there nothing of the truth of heaven and the church, n. 6564, 6844, 6845. In a word, he is in a gross natural light, and thus perceives nothing that is from the light of heaven, n. 6201, 6310, 6564, 6844, 6845, 6598, 6612, 6614, 6622, 6624. Thence interiorly he is against the things of heaven and the church, n. 6201, 6317, 6844, 6845, 6948, 6949. The learned who have confirmed themselves against the truths of the church are sensual, n. 6316. Sensual men reason acutely and readily, because their thought is so near their speech as to be almost in it, and because they place all intelligence in speaking merely from the memory, n. 195, 196, 5700, 10236. But they reason from the fallacies of the senses, by which the common herd are captivated, n. 5084, 6948, 6949, 7693. Sensual men are more crafty and malicious than others, n. 7693, 10236. The covetous, adulterers, the voluptuous, and the deceitful, are especially sensual, n. Arcana Coelestia 6310. Their interiors are foul and filthy, n. Arcana Coelestia 6201. Through their interiors they communicate with the hells, n. 6311. Those who are in the hells are sensual, and this in proportion to the depth of their hells, n. 4623, 6311. The sphere of infernal spirits conjoins itself with the sensual of man from behind, n. 6312. Those who reasoned from the sensual, and thence against the genuine truths of faith, were called by the ancients "serpents of the tree of knowledge [scientia]," n. 195, 196, 197, 6398, 6949, 10313. The sensual of man and the sensual man are further described, n. Arcana Coelestia 10236; and the extension of the sensual principle in man, n. 9731. Sensual things ought to be in the last place and not in the first, and with a wise and intelligent man they are in the last place, and are subject to things interior, but with an unwise man they are in the first place, and are dominant, and these are such as are properly called sensual, n. 5077, 5125, 5128, 7645. If sensual things are in the last place, through them a way is opened to the understanding, and truths are disengaged by a kind of extraction, n. Arcana Coelestia 5580. These sensual things of man stand next to the world, and admit the things that flow from the world, and as it were sift them, n. 9726.

Through these the external or natural man communicates with the world, and through rational things with heaven, n . 4009. Sensual things thus supply such things as are serviceable to the interiors belonging to the mind, n. 5077, 5081. There are sensual things that minister to the intellectual part, and others that minister to the will part, n. 5077. Unless the thought is elevated from sensual things, man has but little wisdom, n. 5089. A wise man thinks above the sensual, n. 5089, 5094. When a man's thought is elevated above sensual things he comes into a clearer light, and at length into heavenly light, n. 6183, 6313, 6315, 9407, 9730, 9922. Elevation above sensual things and withdrawal from them were known to the ancients, n. 6313. Man in his spirit is able to see things that are in the spiritual world if he can be withdrawn from the sensual things which are from the body and be elevated into the light of heaven by the Lord, n. 4622. The reason is that it is not the body that thinks, but the spirit of man in the body, and so far as man thinks in the body so far he thinks grossly and obscurely, thus in darkness, but so far as he does not think in the body he thinks clearly and in light, n. 4622, 6614, 6622. The ultimate of the understanding is sensual knowledge, and the ultimate of the will is sensual delight, concerning which see n. 9996. The difference between the sensual things that man has in common with the beasts and those not in common with them, n. 10236. There are sensual persons not evil because their interiors are not shut in the manner above referred to; the state of such in the other life, n. 6311.

[6] That the "locust" signifies nothing else but this sensual of man that has now been described can be seen also from other passages in the Word where the locust is mentioned. As in Moses:

Moses stretched forth his staff over the land of Egypt, and Jehovah brought along an east wind all the day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locust. And the locust went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the border of Egypt, very grievous; before it there was no such locust, nor after it shall there be such. And they covered the surface of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left remaining; so that there remained not any green thing in the tree or in the herb of the field, in all Egypt. And the locust filled the house of Pharaoh, and the house of all his servants, and the house of all the Egyptians (Exodus 10:13-15, 6).

All the miracles in Egypt, like all other miracles recorded in the Word, involve and signify spiritual things pertaining to heaven and the church, thus the Egyptian plagues signify spiritual plagues; this plague of the locusts signifies the destruction of the whole natural man by the breaking in of evil and falsity from the sensual; "Egypt" signifies the natural man in respect to knowledge [scientificum] and to what is pleasurable in it, and "the locust" the falsity and evil of the sensual man laying waste the natural man, that is, driving out from it or destroying there all the truth and good of the church; it is therefore said, "and the locust went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all its border," "the land of Egypt" signifying the natural with the men of the church, and "its border" the sensual with them, for the sensual is the ultimate or most external of the natural, consequently its border; the "locust" means falsity and evil there. Because the falsity and the evil of the sensual man are the most grievous, for they are corporeal and earthly, it is said that the locust was "very grievous, and that before it there was no such locust, nor after it shall there be such;" and this for the reason that the Egyptians had a knowledge of correspondences, and from that a knowledge of the spiritual things which belong to heaven; but these they turned into magic. Because the falsity and the evil of the sensual man, when they break into the natural man, entirely lay it waste by destroying every truth and every good therein, it is said that "the locust covered the whole surface of the earth so that the land was darkened, and did eat every herb of the land, ¹ and all the fruit of the tree," "the land of Egypt" meaning the natural with the men of the church, "the herb of the land" the truth there, and "the fruit of the tree" the good there. "The locust filling the house of Pharaoh, and of his servants, and of all the Egyptians," has a similar meaning, for "the house of Pharaoh, of his servants, and of all the Egyptians," signifies the natural mind in its whole extent, "house" in the Word signifying the interiors of man which belong to his mind and disposition, here the things of his natural mind.

[7] It is said that here "the locust going up over all the land of Egypt" signifies the breaking in of falsity and evil out of the sensual man into the natural; and yet the natural man is interior and the sensual exterior, and there is no breaking in or influx from the exterior into the interior, but only from the interior into the exterior. It should be known, therefore, that the breaking in or influx of the sensual man into the natural means the blocking up of the natural man until it becomes like the sensual, whereby evil and falsity become more widely extended, and the natural and the sensual become alike corporeal and earthly. In other cases, man learns from infancy to separate the sensual man from the natural, by speaking truth and doing good, even while his thoughts from the sensual man are false, and his will is evil; and this he continues to do until they are entirely separated, which is done when man is reformed and regenerated by the Lord. But if these are not separated man can think and will no otherwise than insanely, and thus speak ² and act insanely.

[8] Because the "locust" here signifies the sensual in respect to falsity and evil, or, what is the same, the falsity and evil of the sensual man, the "locust" and the "caterpillar" have the same signification in David:

He sent among them a swarm that devoured them, and the frog that destroyed them. He also gave their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labor unto the locust (Psalms 78:45, 46).

And in the same:

He spake, and the locust came, and the caterpillar without number, which did eat up every herb in the land, and did eat up the fruit of their land (Psalms 105:34, 35).

But here the "locust" signifies the falsity of the sensual man, and the "caterpillar" its evil, or the falsity and evil in the sensual man and from it. The latter is signified by "caterpillar," and the former by "locust," because the caterpillar is also a locust, as is evident from this fact that this was said by David respecting the locusts in Egypt, and yet in Moses the locust only is mentioned, and not the caterpillar.

[9] The "locust" and the "caterpillar" have a similar signification in Joel:

That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten. Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine which has been cut off from your mouth (Joel 1:4, 5).

And elsewhere in the same:

The floors shall be full of pure grain, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. And I will recompense to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, My great army which I sent among you (Joel 2:24, 25).

Evidently these noxious little animals signify falsities and evils devastating or consuming truths and goods with the man of the church, since it is said that "all drinkers of wine should howl because of the new wine which is cut off from your mouth," "wine" and "new wine" signifying the truth of the church; likewise because it is said that "the floors shall be full of grain, and the presses shall overflow with new wine and oil," the "floor" signifying the doctrine of the church, "grain" and "oil" its goods, and "new wine" its truths.

[10] So in Nahum:

The fire shall devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall devour thee like the caterpillar; make thyself many as the caterpillar; make thyself many as the locust. Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of the heavens; the caterpillar spreadeth itself abroad and flieth away. Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy commanders as the locust of locusts, which encamp in the walls in the day of cold; when the sun ariseth they fly away, and their place is not known where they are (Nahum 3:15-17).

This is said of "the city of bloods," which signifies doctrine fabricated out of falsified truths, thus out of falsities; the destruction of those who are in a faith and life according to that doctrine is signified by "the fire shall devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off," "the fire that shall devour" signifying evil destroying good, and "the sword" falsity destroying truth; and because evil and falsity from the sensual man are meant it is said, "the caterpillar shall devour thee; make thyself many as the caterpillar; make thyself many as the locust; thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of the heavens." Multiplication like that of the caterpillar and of the locust is mentioned because falsifications of the Word are made in the greatest abundance by those who are sensual, thus by the sensual man, for the sensual man is signified here by the "caterpillar and locust" as has been said above. The sensual man falsifies the Word more than others, because the ultimate sense of the Word, which is the sense of its letter, is for the natural and sensual man, while the interior sense is for the spiritual man; consequently when man is not a spiritual man, but is natural and sensual, and is in evil and in falsities therefrom, he does not see the truths and goods in the Word, but applies its ultimate sense to confirm his falsities and evils. "Merchants" signify those who falsify and who communicate and who offer for sale. "Thy crowned are as the locust, and thy commanders as the locust of locusts," signifies that the primary and chief things of doctrine, that is, "a city of bloods," are the falsities of evil, and from these again come the falsities of evil; "which sit in the walls in the day of cold" signifies in the truths of the Word that do not appear to be truths, because they have become falsified, and are from evil, "walls" meaning truths that do not appear because they are falsified, and "the day of cold" meaning a state of the love of evil; "the sun ariseth, they fly away, and their place is not known where they are," signifies that they consume every truth and good, so that there is nothing left. "Multiplying as the locust" has a similar signification in Jeremiah 46:20, 22, 23; also in the (Judges 6:5) book (Judges 7:12) of Judges 6:5; 7:12.

[11] The "locust" signifies also falsity in the most external things, or the densest falsity, in Moses:

Thou shalt carry out much seed into the field, but shall gather but little; for the locust shall consume it (Deuteronomy 28:38);

which is one of the curses if they did not keep and do the commandments of Jehovah. "The seed of the field" means the truth of the Word, and the "locust" dense falsity from the sensual man that consumes and destroys it. "Locust" has a similar signification in Amos 7:1, 2; Isaiah 33:3, 4; and in David Psalms 109:22, 23.

[12] Because the sensual of man is the ultimate and lowest of the life of man's thought and affection (as has been said above) and because the lowest, when viewed by those who are in a higher or more eminent place, is little, for this reason it is compared to locusts. As in Isaiah:

Jehovah who dwelleth above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as locusts (Isaiah 40:22).

This signifies that men in respect to intelligence are in things lowest, and the Lord in things highest.

[13] In like manner, men viewed by those who are in the persuasion of their superiority over others are compared to locusts, in Moses:

The spies of the land of Canaan said, We saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak which come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own eyes as locusts, and so we were in their eyes (Numbers 13:33).

The "Nephilim" and the "Anakim" signify in the Word those who are in the strongest persuasion of their being more eminent and wise than others; and in the abstract sense they signify direful persuasions (See Arcana Coelestia 311, 567, 581, 1268, 1270, 1271, 1673, 3686, 7686). That the spies appeared to these and also to themselves like locusts, is in agreement with the appearances in the spiritual world, for there, when those who are in a persuasion of their own superiority look at others, they see them as little and vile, and these then also appear such to themselves.

[14] As the "locust" signifies the sensual, which is the ultimate of the life of man's thought, or the ultimate in which the understanding closes, and upon which it rests, so this ultimate is like a base and foundation upon which interior or higher things stand, which belong to man's understanding and will, likewise the interior and higher things in the Word that are called spiritual and celestial. And as all things, to continue and to subsist, must have a foundation, so the sense of the letter of the Word, which is its ultimate and base, is natural and sensual; and this in a good sense, and, consequently, its truth and good, are meant by the "locust." This is why John the Baptist ate locusts, and why the sons of Israel were allowed to eat them. Of John the Baptist it is said:

That he had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:4; Mark 1:6).

John the Baptist was so clothed because like Elijah he represented the Word; and by "his raiment of camel's hair, and leathern girdle, and eating locusts and wild honey," he represented the ultimate sense of the Word, which, as was said, is sensual-natural, because it is for the sensual-natural man. "Raiment" signifies truth clothing good; "camel's hair" the ultimate of the natural man, which is the sensual; the "locusts and wild honey" also signify that ultimate or the sensual as regards appropriation; the "locust" the sensual in respect to truth, "wild honey" the sensual in respect to good, and "eating" appropriation. It is to be known that in ancient times, when the churches were representative churches, all who were in ministries were clothed and also ate according to what they represented.

[15] That the sons of Israel were permitted to eat locusts is evident from these words in Moses:

Every winged thing that creeps, that walks on four feet, shall be an abomination unto you, but that which walks upon four, which has legs above its feet to leap withal upon the earth, ye shall eat; and among these the locust is mentioned (Leviticus 11:20-22).

To eat locusts was permitted on account of their having legs above the feet to leap with, because "legs" signify natural good conjoined to spiritual good, and "feet" natural truth from that good; and every truth that is from good ought to be appropriated and conjoined to man, but not truth that is not from good, for such truth is conjoined with some evil; therefore it is said that "every winged thing that creeps, that walks upon four, that had no legs above its feet, shall be an abomination." It is said also "to leap upon the earth," because "leaping," in reference to flying things, signifies to live, the same as "walking" in reference to the animals of the earth; and spiritual living comes from truths that are from good, which are signified by "leaping with the feet, above which are legs;" but spiritual dying comes from truths conjoined to evil, which is signified by "walking upon four feet, above which are no legs;" therefore to eat such is said to be "an abomination. "

[16] As a "horse" signifies the intellectual, and a "locust" the sensual, which is the ultimate of the intellectual, and the intellect lives when it is in its ultimate, the ancients spoke of horses as leaping and jumping like locusts. Thus in Job:

Dost thou give the horse might? Dost thou clothe his neck with shaking? Dost thou make him to leap as a locust? The glory of his nostril is terror (Job 39:19, 20).

The understanding is here described by a horse, namely, that like a horse it is mighty, it shakes and curves the neck, and leaps as it goes; and as the ultimate of the understanding is the sensual, and this is signified by the "locust," and the life of the understanding in this ultimate is signified by "jumping and leaping as it goes," therefore the horse is said "to leap as a locust." The most ancient books, among which is Job, were written by pure correspondences; for a knowledge [scientia] of correspondences was then the knowledge of knowledges; and those writers were held in highest esteem who were able to compose books abounding in the most numerous and significant correspondences. Such is the book of Job; but the spiritual sense therein collected from correspondences does not treat of the holy things of heaven and the church, as the spiritual sense in the Prophets does; consequently that book is not among the books of the Word; but yet passages are quoted from it on account of the correspondences of which it is full.

Poznámky pod čarou:

6832. 'In a flame of fire from the middle of a bramble bush' means God's love present in true factual knowledge. This is clear from the meaning of 'a flame of fire' as God's love, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'a bramble bush' as true factual knowledge. The reason why 'a bramble bush' means true factual knowledge is that all shrubs of every kind mean factual knowledge, whereas actual plantations of trees, being larger, mean cognitions and perceptions. Because it produces flower and berries 'a bramble bush' means true factual knowledge. True factual knowledge that the Church possesses consists in nothing else than the Word as it exists in the sense of the letter and also every one of the Church's representative forms and meaningful signs that existed among the descendants of Jacob. These in the external form they take are called true factual knowledge; but in their internal form they are spiritual truths. But truths in their internal or spiritual form could not be made visible to those descended from Jacob, for the reason that they were interested solely in things of an external nature and had no wish whatever to know about anything internal. Therefore the Lord appeared in a bramble bush (when the Lord appears to people He does so in a way suited to the kind of people they are, for a person cannot receive the Divine in any way other than that which is a way suited to the kind of person he is); and therefore also, when the Lord appeared on Mount Sinai He appeared to the people' as a fire burning even to the heart of heaven, and as darkness, cloud, and pitch darkness', Deuteronomy 4:11; 5:22-25; also Exodus 19:18. He would have appeared in an altogether different way if the people below the mountain who beheld Him had not been the kind of people they were. And because those people were interested solely in things of an external nature, when Moses went in to the Lord on Mount Sinai, it is said that he went into the cloud, Exodus 20:21; 24:2, 18; 34:2-5, 'the cloud' being the external aspect of the Word, see Preface to Genesis 18, and 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343 (end), and also consequently representatives in the Church which are seen in outward form.

[2] The truth that the Lord appears to each individual person in a way suited to the kind of person he is may be recognized from the consideration that the Lord appears to those in the inmost or third heaven as the Sun from which light beyond description radiates, the reason being that those there are governed by the good of love to the Lord. He appears to those in the middle or second heaven as the Moon, the reason being that there they are governed by love to the Lord in a more remote and obscure way; for they are governed by love towards the neighbour. But the Lord does not appear to those in the lowest or first heaven either as the Sun or the Moon, only as Light, a light far more brilliant than light in the world. And since the Lord appears to each in a way suited to the kind of person he is, He cannot appear to those in hell as anything other than dark cloud and pitch darkness. For as soon as the light of heaven which comes from the Lord shines into any hell, darkness and thick darkness are produced there. From all this one may now recognize that the Lord appears to each individual person in a way suited to the kind of person he is, for this is suited to the way he receives the Lord. And since the descendants of Jacob were interested solely in things of an external nature, the Lord appeared to Moses in a bramble bush, and also in a cloud when Moses went in to the Lord on Mount Sinai.

[3] The reason why 'a flame' is God's love is that love in its earliest origin is nothing other than fire or flame from the Lord as the Sun. The fire or flame of this sun is what supplies each individual person with the being (esse) of his life; it is that life-giving fire which fills a person's interiors with warmth, as one may recognize from what happens with love. To the extent that love increases in a person he warms up; but to the extent that it diminishes he cools off. This explain s why, when the Lord appeared in a vision, He appeared as fire and flame, as in Ezekiel,

The appearance of the four living creatures (who were cherubs) was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of lamps. It was moving between the living creatures as a bright fire, and out of the fire went forth lightning. Above the firmament that was over their heads, in appearance like a sapphire stone, there was the likeness of a throne, and over the likeness of a throne there was a likeness as the appearance of a man upon it, above. And I saw the shape of burning coals, as the shape of fire, within it round about, from the appearance of His loins and upwards. But from the appearance of His loins and downwards I saw as it were the appearance of fire, whose brightness was round about it. Ezekiel 1:13, 26-28.

[4] Nobody can deny that all the several details of this vision are signs that represent aspects of the Divine; but unless one knows what is meant by 'the cherubs', 'the burning coals of fire, like the appearance of lamps', 'a throne', 'the appearance of a man upon it', 'his loins from which fire emanated upwards and downwards, and the brightness radiating from the fire', one can have no knowledge of the real holiness hidden within all those several details. 'The cherubs' are the Lord's Providence, see 308; 'the throne' is heaven, or - to be exact - Divine Truth that emanates from the Lord to form heaven, 5313; 'the appearance of a man upon the throne above' is plainly the Lord's Divine Human; and 'loins' are conjugial love and all heavenly love that derives from it, 3021, 4277, 4280, 4575, 5050, 5062. This love was represented by 'the shape of burning coal, as the shape of fire, whose brightness was round about it'.

[5] In Daniel,

I saw, until thrones had been placed, and the Ancient of Days was seated. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was a flame of fire; His wheels were burning fire. A river of five issued and came forth from before Him. Daniel 7:9-10.

The Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Love was seen in this vision too as a flame of fire. In John,

He who sat on the white horse, His eyes were like aflame of fire. Revelation 19:11-12.

'He who sat on the white horse' is the Lord in respect of the Word, as is explicitly stated in verses 13, 16, of that chapter. Thus 'the flame of fire' is Divine Truth contained in the Word, which radiates from the Lord's Divine Goodness. In the same book,

In the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe. His head and hair were white, like white wool, like snow; but His eyes were like a flame of fire. Revelation 1:13-14.

Here also 'eyes like a flame of fire' is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Goodness.

[6] The meaning of 'a flame of fire' as Divine Truth emanating from the Lord is also evident in David,

The voice of Jehovah falls like a flame of fire. Psalms 29:7.

'The voice of Jehovah' stands for Divine Truth. In order that Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good might be represented, the people were commanded to make a lampstand of pure gold with seven lamps and to place it in the tent of meeting by the table where the loaves of the presence were, and to keep the lamps burning unceasingly before Jehovah, Exodus 25:31-end; 37:17-24; 40:24-25; Leviticus 24:4; Numbers 8:2; Zechariah 4:2. The lampstand with its seven lamps served to represent Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good.

[7] In order also that Divine Good itself might be represented they were commanded to have perpetual fire on the altar,

Fire shall burn on the altar and not be put out; the priest shall kindle pieces of wood on it at every dawn. Fire shall burn unceasingly on the altar and not be put out. Leviticus 6:12-13.

The fact that the ancients were very well acquainted with the use of fire to represent Divine Love may be recognized from the spread of that representative from the Ancient Church even to nations far away whose worship was idolatrous and who, as is well known, established an everlasting sacred fire and placed in charge of it virgins, who were called the vestal virgins.

[8] In the contrary sense 'fire' and 'flame' mean filthy kinds of love, such as those of vengeance, cruelty, hatred, and adultery, and in general the cravings that spring from self-love and love of the world. This too is clear from very many places in the Word, of which let just the following be quoted: In Isaiah,

Behold, they have become as stubble, the fire has burned them; they do not save themselves from the power of the flame. ¹ There will be no coal to be warmed by [nor] fire to sit in front of. Isaiah 47:14.

In Ezekiel,

Behold, I will kindle in you a five, which will devour in you every green tree and every dry tree. The blazing flame ² will not be put out, and all faces from south to north will be scorched by it. Ezekiel 20:47.

Here 'fire' and 'flame' mean desires for what is evil and false which annihilate everything good and true in the Church, and thereby lay it waste.

[9] In Luke,

The rich man said to Abraham, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. Luke 16:24.

People who do not know that a person's vital heat has a different origin from that which is the source of elemental fire cannot possibly do anything else but think that by hell fire is meant fire like that found in the world. In the Word however this latter kind of fire is not meant but the fire of love, thus the fire of a person's life, emanating from the Lord as a Sun. And when this fire comes among those engrossed in pursuits contrary to it, it is turned into the fire of evil desires which, as stated above, belong to vengeance, hatred, and cruelty, and which well up from self-love and love of the world. This is the fire that torments those who are in hell, for when the restraint placed on their evil desires is relaxed, one sets upon another and they torment one another in dreadful and indescribable ways. For each has the wish for supremacy and wants to take from the other the things he has by hidden or open devices. When one or two have such desires hatreds consequently develop within the group, and these lead to the savage deeds that are performed, especially by the use of devices involving magic and the use of figments of the imagination, devices which are countless and totally unknown in the world.

[10] People who do not believe in the existence of spiritual things, especially those who worship nature, cannot at all be led to believe that the warmth present in living persons, which constitutes the actual life within them, has a different origin from that which is the source of worldly heat. For they are not even aware, let alone able to acknowledge, that there is a heavenly fire radiating from the Lord as a Sun, and that this Fire is pure love. Consequently they are unaware of countless instances in the Word in which no other kind of fire is meant; nor are they aware of countless manifestations of it in the human being, who is an organ made to receive that fire.

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