5120. And I gave the cup upon the palm of Pharaoh. That this signifies appropriation by the interior natural, is evident from the signification of “giving the cup” (thus wine to drink), as being to appropriate (that “drinking” is the appropriation of truth may be seen above, n. 3168); and from the representation of Pharaoh, as being the interior natural (n. 5080, 5095, 5118). As is evident from what goes before, the subject here treated of is the regeneration of that sensuous which is subject to the intellectual part of the interior man (which sensuous is signified by the “butler”), and consequently the influx of truth and good and their reception in the exterior natural; but as these things are far removed from the apprehension of those who have not any distinct idea about the rational and the natural, or about influx, no further explication is given.

[2] Moreover, a “cup” is often mentioned in the Word, and by it in the genuine sense is signified spiritual truth, that is, the truth of faith which is from the good of charity-the same as by “wine;” and in the opposite sense is signified the falsity by which comes evil, and also falsity from evil. That a “cup” signifies the same as “wine” is because a cup is what contains, and wine is what is contained, and hence they constitute one thing, and therefore the one is meant by the other.

[3] That such is the signification of “cup” in the Word, is plain from the following passages:

Jehovah, Thou wilt set in order a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; Thou wilt make fat my head with oil; my cup will run over (Psalms 23:5);

“to set in order a table and anoint the head with oil” denotes being gifted with the good of charity and love; “my cup will run over” denotes that the natural is thence filled with spiritual truth and good. Again:

What shall I render unto Jehovah? I will take the cup of salvations, and call upon the name of Jehovah (Psalms 116:12-13);

“to take the cup of salvations” denotes the appropriation of the goods of faith.

[4] In Mark:

Whosoever shall give you drink in a cup of water in My name, because ye are Christ’s, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward (Mark 9:41);

“to give drink in a cup of water in My name” denotes instructing in the truths of faith from a little charity.

[5] In Matthew:

Presently, taking the cup, and giving thanks, He gave to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is My blood, that of the New Testament (Matthew 26:27-28; Mark 14:23-24; Luke 22:20).

It is said the “cup” and not the “wine,” because “wine” is predicated of the spiritual church, but “blood” of the celestial church, although both of these signify holy truth proceeding from the Lord; but in the spiritual church the holy of faith from charity toward the neighbor, and in the celestial church the holy of charity from love to the Lord. The spiritual church is distinguished from the celestial in this, that the former is in charity toward the neighbor, while the latter is in love to the Lord; and the Holy Supper was instituted to represent and signify the Lord’s love toward the whole human race, and the reciprocal love of man toward Him.

[6] As by “cup” was signified that which contained, and by “wine” that which was contained, consequently by “cup” man’s external, and by “wine” his internal, therefore the Lord said:

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but the inner parts are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, and the outside will also become clean (Matthew 23:25-26; Luke 11:39);

by a “cup” here also is meant in the internal sense the truth of faith, to cultivate which without its good is to “cleanse the outside of the cup,” especially when the interiors are full of hypocrisy, deceit, hatred, revenge, and cruelty; for then the truth of faith is only in the external man, and nothing at all of it is in the internal; and to cultivate and to become imbued with the good of faith causes truths to be conjoined with good in the interior man, in which case even fallacies are accepted as truths, as is signified by “cleansing first the inside of the cup, and the outside will also become clean.”

[7] Likewise in Mark:

Many other things there are which the Pharisees and the Jews have received to hold, as the baptizings of cups, and pots, brazen vessels, and couches. Forsaking the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the baptisms of pots and cups; and many other like things ye do. Ye renounce the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition (Mark 7:4, 8-9).

[8] That by “cup” is signified in the opposite sense that falsity from which is evil, and also the falsity which is from evil, is evident from the following passages:

Thus hath said Jehovah the God of Israel unto me, Take this cup of wine of anger from My hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it. And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. Therefore I took the cup from Jehovah’s hand, and made all the nations to drink unto whom Jehovah had sent me (Jeremiah 25:15-17, 28).

The “cup of wine of anger” denotes the falsity by which is evil. The reason why the falsity by which is evil is signified, is that as wine intoxicates and makes insane, so does falsity, spiritual intoxication being nothing else than insanity brought on by reasonings about what is to be believed, when nothing is believed that is not apprehended; hence come falsities, and from falsities evils (n. 1072); and therefore it is said that “they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send.” The “sword” is falsity fighting against truth (see n. 2799, 4499).

[9] In the book of Lamentations:

Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup shall pass through unto thee also; thou shalt be drunken and shalt be uncovered (Lam. 4:21);

“to be drunken from the cup,” denotes to be insane from falsities, and “to be uncovered, or naked, without shame,” the evil thence derived (see n. 213, 214).

[10] In Ezekiel:

Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore I will give her cup into thy hand. Thus hath said the Lord Jehovih, Thou shalt drink of thy sister’s cup, which is deep and wide; thou shalt be for laughter and mockery, large for holding; thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of devastation and desolation, the cup of thy sister Samaria, thou shalt both drink and press out, and thou shalt pulverize the potsherds thereof (Ezekiel 23:31-34);

said of Jerusalem, by which is signified what is spiritual of the celestial church. “Cup” here denotes falsity from evil; and because this vastates or destroys the church, it is called the “cup of devastation and desolation.”

In Isaiah:

Awake, awake, rise up, O Jerusalem, who hast drunk from the hand of Jehovah the cup of His anger; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling (Isaiah 51:17).

In Habakkuk:

Drink thou also that thy foreskin be uncovered; the cup of Jehovah’s right hand shall come round unto thee, that shameful vomit be upon thy glory (Hab. 2:16).

In David:

In the hand of Jehovah there is a cup, and He hath mixed with wine, He hath filled with the mixture, and hath poured out therefrom; but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall suck them out, and drink them (Psalms 75:8).

[11] In these passages also a “cup” denotes insanity from falsities and the evils thence derived. It is called the “cup of the anger of Jehovah,” and also “of the right hand of Jehovah,” for the reason that the Jewish nation, like the common people, believed evils and the punishment of evils and falsities to come from no other source than Jehovah, when yet they are from the man himself, and from the infernal crew with him. It is often stated in this way from the appearance and consequent belief; but the internal sense teaches how it should be understood, and what should be believed (as may be seen above, n. 245, 592, 696, 1093, 1683, 1874, 1875, 2335, 2447, 3605, 3607, 3614).

[12] As a “cup,” like “wine,” signifies in the opposite sense the falsities through which come evils, and also falsities from evils, a “cup” signifies temptation also, because this takes place when falsity fights against truth, and consequently evil against good. A “cup” is used to express and describe temptation in the following passage:

Jesus prayed, saying, If Thou wilt that this cup pass from Me! nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done (Luke 22:42; Matthew 26:39, 42, 44; Mark 14:36).

The “cup” here denotes temptation. Likewise in John:

Jesus said to Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath; the cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it? (John 18:11).

And also in Mark:

Jesus said to James and John, Ye know not what ye ask; can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they said, We can. But Jesus said to them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized with shall ye be baptized (Mark 10:38-39; Matthew 20:22-23).

From this it is evident that a “cup” is temptation, because temptation arises through evils combating by means of falsities against goods and truths; for baptism signifies regeneration, and because this is effected by means of spiritual combats, therefore by “baptism” is at the same time signified temptation.

[13] In the directly opposite sense a “cup” signifies falsity from evil with those who are profane, that is, who inwardly are in what is contrary to charity, and outwardly counterfeit holiness; in which sense it is used in Jeremiah:

Babylon hath been a golden cup in Jehovah’s hand, making the whole earth drunken; all nations have drunk of her wine, therefore the nations are mad (Jeremiah 51:7);

“Babylon” denotes those who are in external sanctity, and inwardly in what is profane (n. 1182, 1326); the falsity which they veil over with sanctity is the “golden cup;” “making the whole earth drunken” denotes that they lead those who are of the church (which is meant by the “earth”) into errors and insanities. The profane things which they hide under external sanctity are that they strive after nothing else than to be the greatest and wealthiest of all, and to be worshiped as gods, possessors of heaven and earth, by thus having dominion over the souls and bodies of men, and this by means of the Divine and holy things of which they make pretense. Hence as to the external man they appear like angels, but as to the internal they are devils.

[14] The like is said of Babylon in Revelation

The woman was arrayed in crimson and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and filthiness of her whoredom (Revelation 17:4).

Again:

Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become a habitation of demons. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the fury of her whoredom, and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her. I heard a voice from heaven, saying, Render unto her as she rendered unto you, in the cup which she mingled, mingle to her double (Revelation 18:2-4, 6).

Again:

The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell; remembrance of Babylon the great was made before God, to give to her the cup of the fury of God’s anger (Revelation 16:19).

Again:

The third angel said with a great voice, If anyone worship the beast and his image, he shall drink of the wine of God’s anger mingled unmixed in the cup of His anger; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone (Revelation 14:9-10).

2447. From Jehovah out of heaven. That this signifies from the laws of order as to truth, because they separate themselves from good, cannot be seen except from the internal sense, by which there is disclosed how the case stands with punishments and damnations: that they in no wise come from Jehovah, that is, from the Lord, but from the man himself, the evil spirit, and the devil; and this from the laws of order as to truth, because they separate themselves from good.

[2] All order is from Jehovah, that is, from the Lord, and according to this order are all things directed by Him both in general and in particular, but in many different ways, to wit, from Will, from Good-pleasure, from Leave, and from Permission. The things that are from His will and good-pleasure are from the laws of order as to good, and so also are many of those which are from leave, and some of those which are from permission. But when a man separates himself from good he casts himself into the rule of the laws of order that are of truth separated from good, which are such that they condemn; for all truth condemns man and casts him down into hell; whereas the Lord from good, that is, from mercy, saves him, and uplifts him into heaven. From this we see that it is man himself who condemns himself.

[3] The things done from permission are mostly of this nature, as for example, that one devil punishes and torments another; and innumerable other things of this kind. These things are from the laws of order as to truth separated from good; for the devils could not otherwise be held in bonds, and withheld from rushing upon all the well disposed and good, and eternally destroying them. It is the prevention of this which is the good the Lord has in view. The case herein is similar to that which exists on earth, where a mild and clement king, who intends and does nothing but good, must needs suffer his laws to punish the evil and the wicked (although he punishes no one, but rather grieves that they are such that their evils must punish them), for otherwise he would leave his kingdom itself a prey to them; which would be the height of rigor and of unmercifulness.

[4] This shows that Jehovah in no wise caused it to rain brimstone and fire, that is in no wise condemned to hell; but that the men themselves who were in evil and thence in falsity did this, because they had separated themselves from good, and so had cast themselves into the rule of the laws of order that come from truth alone. From all which it follows that this is the internal sense of these words.

[5] That in the Word “evil,” “punishing,” “cursing,” “damnation,” and many other such things are attributed to Jehovah or the Lord, as here that He made it “rain brimstone and fire,” we read in Ezekiel:

I will contend against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him fire and brimstone (Ezekiel 38:22).

In Isaiah:

The breath of Jehovah like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it (Isaiah 30:33).

In David:

Jehovah shall rain upon the wicked snares, fire, and brimstone (Psalms 11:6).

Again:

There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth, coals did burn from Him (Psalms 18:8).

In Jeremiah:

Lest My fury go forth like fire, and burn, and there is none to quench it (Jeremiah 21:12).

In Moses:

A fire is kindled in Mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell (Deuteronomy 32:22);

besides similar things in many other places. The reason why such things are attributed in the Word to Jehovah or the Lord has been explained in Part First (n. 223, 245, 589, 592, 696, 735, 1093, 1638, 1683, 1874); for such things are as far from coming from the Lord, as good is far from evil, or as heaven is from hell, or what is Divine from what is diabolical. Evil, hell, and the devil do these things; but by no means the Lord, who is mercy itself and good itself; but because He appears to do them, therefore for the reasons mentioned in the numbers cited, they are attributed to Him.

[6] From its being said in this verse that Jehovah caused it to rain from Jehovah out of heaven, it appears in the sense of the letter as if there were two; one on earth, and one in heaven; but the internal sense teaches how this also is to be understood, namely, that by the Jehovah first named is meant the Lord’s Divine Human and Holy proceeding (meant in this chapter by the “two men”) and by the Jehovah named in the second place is meant the Divine Itself that is called the “Father” (spoken of in the preceding chapter); and that this Trine is in the Lord, as He himself says in John:

He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; believe Me, that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 14:9-11).

And concerning the Holy proceeding, in the same:

The Comforter shall not speak from Himself but He shall take of Mine, and shall declare it unto you (John 16:13-15).

Thus Jehovah is one, although two are here named; two being named for the reason that all the laws of order are from the Lord’s Divine Itself, Divine Human, and Holy proceeding.