1326. That 'therefore He called the name of it Babel' means such worship, namely that meant by 'Babel', is clear from what has been stated so far - about worship which inwardly contains self-love and therefore everything that is filthy and unholy. Self-love is nothing else than the proprium, and how filthy and unholy this is becomes clear from what has been shown already about the proprium in 210, 215. From philautia, ¹ that is, from self-love or the proprium, flow all evils, such as those of hatred, revenge, cruelty, adultery, deceit, hypocrisy, and irreligion. Consequently when self-love or the proprium is present in worship, such evils are present too - but the particular kind of evils and their intensity being determined by the extent and nature of what flows from that self-love. This is the origin of all profanation in worship. The fact of the matter is that insofar as self-love or the proprium introduces itself into worship, internal worship departs, that is, internal worship ceases to exist. Internal worship consists in the affection for good and in the acknowledgement of truth, but to the extent that self-love or the proprium intrudes or enters in, the affection for good and the acknowledgement of truth depart or go away. Holiness cannot possibly co-exist with unholiness, any more than heaven can with hell. Instead one must depart from the other. Such is the state and proper order existing in the Lord's kingdom. This is the reason why among the kind of people whose worship is called 'Babel' no internal worship exists, but instead something dead and indeed inwardly corpse-like is worshipped. This shows what their external worship which is inwardly such is like.

[2] That such worship is 'Babel' is clear from many parts of the Word where Babel is described, as in Daniel, where the description of the statue which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel saw in a dream - whose head was gold, breast and arms silver, belly and thighs bronze, legs iron, and feet partly iron and partly clay - means that true worship finally deteriorated into the kind of worship called 'Babel', and therefore also a stone cut out of the rock smashed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold, Daniel 2:31-33, 44-45. The statue of gold which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel set up, and which people were to adore, had no other meaning, Daniel 3:1-end. The same applies to the description of the king of Babel with his nobles drinking wine from the vessels of gold that had come from the Temple in Jerusalem, of their praising the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and stone, and of writing therefore appearing on the wall, Daniel 5:1-end; to the description of Darius the Mede commanding that he be adored instead of God, Daniel 6:1-end; and to that of the beasts seen by Daniel in a dream, Daniel 7:1-end, as well as to that of the beasts and Babel in John's Revelation.

[3] That such worship was meant and represented is quite clear not only in Daniel and John but also in the Prophets: in Isaiah,

Their faces were faces of flames; the stars of the heavens and their constellations do not give their light The sun is darkened in its coming up and the moon does not shed its light Tziim lie down there, and their houses are full of ochim, and daughters of the owl dwell there, and satyrs dance there, and iim answer in its palaces, and dragons in its halls of pleasure. Isaiah 13:8, 10, 21-22

This refers to Babel and describes the internal aspect of such worship by 'faces of flames', which are evil desires; by 'the stars', which are truths of faith, 'not giving their light'; by 'the sun', which is holy love, 'being darkened'; by 'the moon', which is the truth of faith, 'not shedding its light'; by 'tziim, ochim, daughters of the owl, satyrs, dim, and dragons', which are the more interior aspects of worship. For such things belong to self-love or the proprium. This also is why Babel in John is called 'the mother of whoredoms and abominations', Revelation 17:5; and in the same book,

A dwelling-place of demons, ² and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. Revelation 18:2.

From these places it is evident that when such things are within, it is impossible for any good or truth of faith to be there, and that to the extent that those things enter in, the goods which are the objects of affection, and the truths of faith, depart. They are also called in Isaiah 21:9 'the graven images of the gods of Babel'.

[4] That it is self-love or the proprium which lies within their worship, or that it is worship of self, is quite clear in Isaiah,

Prophesy this parable against the king of Babel, You said in your heart, I will go up the heavens, above the stars of God I will raise my throne, and I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the uttermost parts of the north. I will go up above the heights of the cloud, I will make myself like the Most High. But you will be brought down to hell. Isaiah 14:4, 13-15.

Here, it is plain, Babel means the person who wishes to be worshipped as a god, that is, worship of self is meant.

[5] In the same prophet,

Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babel; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans. You trusted in your wickedness, you said, No one sees me. Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray; you said in your heart, I am, and there is no one besides me. Isaiah 47:1, 10.

In Jeremiah,

Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, destroying the whole earth; and I will stretch out My hand over you and roll you down from the rocks and will make you into a mountain of burning. Though Babel rise up into the heavens, and though she fortify the height of her strength, yet from Me those who lay waste will come to her. Jeremiah 51:25, 53.

This again shows that 'Babel' is worship of self.

[6] The fact that such people have no light of truth, but only total darkness, that is, that they do not possess the truth of faith, is described in Jeremiah,

The word which Jehovah spoke against Babel, against the land of the Chaldeans, There will come up upon her a nation from the north, which will make her land a desolation, and none will dwell in it; both man and beast will scatter themselves, they will go away. Jeremiah 50:1, 3.

'The north' stands for thick darkness, or absence of truth. 'No man and no beast' stands for the absence of good. For more about Babel, see at verse 28 ³ below, where Chaldea is referred to.

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1861. 'And behold, a smoking furnace' means grossest falsity, and 'a flaming torch' the heat of evil desires. This is clear from the meaning of 'a smoking furnace' as gross falsity, and from the meaning of 'a flaming torch' as the heat of evil desires. The expression 'a smoking furnace' is used because anyone, especially a member of the Church, who has some knowledge of the truth, and yet does not acknowledge it but at heart denies it, and leads a life pursuing things that are contrary to the truth, is seen as nothing other than a smoking furnace, he himself as 'the furnace', and the falsity arising from his hatred as 'the smoke'. Evil desires out of which falsities arise are seen as nothing other than torches of fire from such a furnace, as is also clear from the representatives in the next life which have been described from experience in 814, 1528. It is desires belonging to hatred, revenge, cruelty, and adultery - especially when mingled with deceit - that are seen as such and become such things.

[2] That in the Word such are meant by a furnace, smoke, and fire, becomes clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

Everyone is a hypocrite and wicked, and every mouth speaks folly. For wickedness burns like a fire, it consumes brier and thorn, and kindles the entangled boughs of the wood, and they surge up in an uprising of smoke. Through the wrath of Jehovah Zebaoth the earth has been darkened, and the people has become as fuel for the fire; a man will not spare his brother. Isaiah 9:17-19.

Here 'fire' stands for hatred, 'the rising up of smoke from it' for falsities of that kind. Hatred is described by the statement that 'a man will not spare his brother'. Such people, when looked at by angels, appear exactly like the things described here.

[3] In Joel,

I will give portents in the heavens and on earth, blood and fire, and columns of smote. The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah comes. Joel 2:30-31.

Here 'fire' stands for hatred, 'columns of smoke 'for falsities, 'sun' for charity, and 'moon' for faith.

[4] In Isaiah,

The land will become burning pitch. Night and day it will not be quenched; its smoke will go up eternally. Isaiah 34:9-10.

'Burning pitch' stands for dreadful evil desires, 'smoke' for falsities.

[5] In Malachi,

Behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant and every evil-doer will be stubble; and the day that is coming will burn them up; it will leave them neither root nor branch. Malachi 4:1.

'A burning furnace' stands for the same things as before. 'A root' stands for charity, 'a branch' for truth, which will not be left.

[6] In Hosea,

Ephraim has become guilty through Baal. It will be like chaff that is driven by the whirlwind from the threshing-floor, and like smoke from a chimney. Hosea 13:1, 3.

'Ephraim' stands for one with understanding who has become such.

[7] In Isaiah,

The strong will be as tow, and his work as a spark, and both of them will burn together, with none to quench them. Isaiah 1:31.

This stands for the fact that people governed by self-love - or what amounts to the same, by hatred against the neighbour - will be burnt up by their own evil desires. In John,

Babylon has become the dwelling-place of demons. Those cried out who saw the smoke of her burning. The smoke goes up for ever and ever. Revelation 18:2, 18; 19:3.

[8] In the same book,

He opened the pit of the abyss, from which there went up smoke out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun was darkened, and the air, with the smoke of the pit. Revelation 9:2.

In the same book,

Out of the mouths of the horses there went forth fire, and smoke, and brimstone. By these a third part of mankind was killed - by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone which went forth out of their mouths. Revelation 9:17-18.

In the same book,

He who worships the beast will drink ¹ from the wine of God's anger, poured unmixed as it is in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone. Revelation 14:9-10.

In the same book,

The fourth angel poured out his bowl into the sun, and it was allowed to scorch men with fire; therefore men were burned by the fierce heat, and they blasphemed the name of God. Revelation 16:8-9.

And it is in like manner said that

They were thrown into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. Revelation 19:20; 20:14-15; 21:8.

[9] In all of these places 'fire' stands for the evil desires, 'smoke' for the falsities, which will reign in the last times. These thing as they actually exist in the next life were seen by John following the opening of his interior sight. Similar things are also seen by spirits, and by souls after death. These references show what hell-fire is, that it is nothing other than hatred, revenge, and cruelty, or what amounts to the same, self-love, which passes into such a visible form. As long as a person is in his bodily life, no matter how different his outward appearance might seem to be, he cannot be seen by the angels, when they look at him closely, in any other way than this; that is, his hatred is not seen by them except as 'flaming torches' nor the falsities coming from it except as 'smoking furnaces'.

[10] Of this fire the Lord speaks in Matthew as follows,

Every tree not bearing good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire. Matthew 3:10; Luke 3:9.

'Good fruit' is used to mean charity, and anyone who deprives himself of this 'cuts himself down and casts himself into such a fire'. In the same gospel,

The Son of Man will send His angels, who will gather out of His kingdom all offences, and those who work iniquity, and will send them into the furnace of fire. Matthew 13:41-42, 50.

Here the meaning is similar. In the same gospel,

The king will say ² to those on his left hand, Depart from me, O cursed ones, into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Matthew 25:41.

Here the meaning is similar.

[11] Where it is said that they were to be sent into eternal fire, the Gehenna of fire, and that their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched in Matthew 18:8-9; Mark 9:43-49, the meaning is similar. In Luke,

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.

Here the meaning is similar.

[12] People who have no knowledge of the arcana of the Lord's kingdom imagine that the Lord sends the wicked down into hell, that is, into the kind of fire which, as has been stated, is the manifestation of hatred. But the truth of the matter is altogether different, for it is the person himself, or the devil-spirit himself, who casts himself down. Yet because it appears as though the Lord casts down, it has been spoken of in the Word in that way - according to the appearance, indeed according to the illusions of the senses. This was especially necessary with the Jews, who were totally unwilling to accept anything if it did not coincide with their own sensory perceptions, no matter what illusions these might entail. This is why the sense of the letter, especially the prophetical sections, is full of such ideas, as in Jeremiah,

[13] Thus said Jehovah, Execute judgement in the morning, and deliver him who has been robbed from the hand of the oppressor, lest My wrath go forth like fire and burn with none to quench it because of the wickedness of their works. Jeremiah 21:12.

'Executing judgement' is declaring the truth. 'Delivering him who has been robbed from the hand of the oppressor' is doing a good work of charity. 'Fire' stands for the hellish punishment of those who do not do these things, that is, who pass their time clinging to falsity that is the product of hatred. In the sense of the letter such fire and anger are attributed to Jehovah, but in the internal sense it is quite the reverse.

[14] Similarly in Joel,

The day of Jehovah, fire devours before him, and behind him a flame burns. Joel 2:1, 3.

In David,

Smoke went up out of His nose, and fire out of His mouth devoured; glowing coals flamed forth from Him; and there was thick darkness under His feet. Psalms 18:8-9.

In Moses,

A fire has flared up in My anger, and will burn right down to the lowest hell, and will devour the land and its increase, and will set on fire the foundations of the mountains. Deuteronomy 32:22.

Here 'a fire' stands for the hatred, 'smoke' for the falsities, that reside with a person, which are attributed to Jehovah or the Lord for the reasons that have been stated. To the hells also it seems that Jehovah or the Lord does the things described, but quite the reverse is the case. It is they who do them because they dwell in the fires of hatred. From this it is evident how easily a person can sink into delusions if the internal sense of the Word is not known.

[15] It was similar with the smoke and fire which the people saw coming from Mount Sinai when the Law was given; for Jehovah or the Lord is seen by everyone according to his character and disposition. By celestial angels He is seen as the sun, by spiritual angels as the moon, by all who are good as light of varying delightfulness and loveliness; but by the evil as smoke and as devouring fire. And because the Jews had no charity at all when the Law was given, but self-love and love of the world reigned among them, and so nothing but evils and falsities, He was therefore seen by them as smoke and fire, while in the same instant He was seen by angels as the sun and heavenly light.

[16] The fact that He was seen thus by the Jews, because their character was such, is clear in Moses,

The glory of Jehovah dwelt over Mount Sinai. And the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain, before the eyes of the children of Israel. Exodus 24:16-17.

In the same book,

Mount Sinai was smoking, the whole of it, because Jehovah came down upon it in fire and its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. Exodus 19:18.

And elsewhere in the same author,

You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while the mountain was burning with fire even to the heart of heaven, with darkness and cloud and thick darkness. And Jehovah spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. Deuteronomy 4:11-12; 5:22.

Also in the same,

When you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, and the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to Me and you said, Why should we die? For this great fire will devour us; if we hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more we shall die. Deuteronomy 5:23-25.

[17] The same would be the case if anyone else who spends his time hating and performing filthy deeds that are the product of hatred were to see the Lord. He would inevitably see Him from his own hatred and the filthy deeds that are the product of it. These things being the recipients of the rays of good and truth from Him, they would convert those rays into that type of fire, smoke, and thick darkness. The same places that have been quoted also show what' a smoking furnace' is, and what 'a burning torch' is, namely the grossest falsity and the filthiest evil which took possession of the Church in its last times.

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