9348. Because it will be a snare to thee. That this signifies by reason of the allurement and deception of evils, is evident from the signification of “a snare,” when said of evils, as being allurement and deception. That evils allure and deceive, is because all evils spring from the loves of self and of the world (see n. 9335), and the loves of self and of the world are born with man, and from this he feels the delight of his life from the moment of his birth; nay, from this he has life. Wherefore these loves, like the unseen currents of a river, continually draw the thought and the will of man away from the Lord to self, and away from heaven to the world, thus away from the truths and goods of faith to falsities and evils. Reasonings from the fallacies of the senses are then of especial force, and also the literal sense of the Word wrongly explained and applied.

[2] These two sources of error, and also those previously mentioned, are what are meant in the spiritual sense of the Word by “snares,” “nooses,” “pits,” “nets,” “ropes,” “gins,” and also by “frauds” and “deceits;” as in Isaiah:

Dread, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth; whence it shall come to pass that he who fleeth from the voice of the dread shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for the floodgates from on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth have been shaken (Isaiah 24:17-18).

Fear, the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab. He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare (Jeremiah 48:43-44).

“Dread” and “fear” denote a disturbance and commotion of the mind when it hesitates between evils and goods, consequently between falsities and truths; “the pit” denotes falsity brought in through reasonings from the fallacies of the senses to favor the delights of the loves of self and of the world; “the snare” denotes the allurement and deception of evil thence derived.

[3] In Isaiah:

They shall go, and stumble backward, and be broken, and ensnared, and taken (Isaiah 28:13);

“to stumble backward” denotes to turn themselves away from good and truth; “to be broken” denotes to dissipate truths and goods; “to be ensnared” denotes to be allured by the evils of the loves of self and of the world; “to be taken” denotes to be carried away by them.

[4] In Ezekiel:

The mother of the princes of Israel is a lioness; one of her whelps learned to seize the prey, he devoured men; the nations heard of him; he was taken in their pit; and they brought him with hooks into the land of Egypt. Afterward he ravished widows, and laid waste cities; the land was desolate, and the fullness thereof, by the voice of His roaring. Therefore the nations lay in wait for him round about from the provinces; and they spread their net over him; he was caught in their pit. They put him in a cage with hooks, and brought him unto the king of Babel in nets, that His voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel (Ezekiel 19:1-4, 7-9).

The successive profanation of truth through the allurements of falsities from evils is here described; “the mother of the princes of Israel” denotes the church where are primary truths (that “mother” denotes the church, see n. 298, 2691, 2717, 4257, 5581, 8897; and that “the princes of Israel” denote primary truths, n. 1482, 2089, 5044); a “lioness” denotes falsity from evil perverting the truths of the church; “a lion’s whelp” denotes evil in its power (n. 6367); “to seize the prey and devour men” denotes to destroy truths and goods, for “man” denotes the good of the church (n. 4287, 7424, 7523); “nations” denote evils (see n. 1259, 1260, 1849, 2588, 4444, 6306); “the pit in which he was caught by the nations” denotes the falsity of evil (n. 4728, 4744, 5038, 9086); “the land of Egypt into which he was brought with hooks” denotes the memory-knowledge through which is falsity (n. 9340); “to ravish widows” denotes to pervert the goods which long for truth (that “to ravish” denotes to pervert, see n. 2466, 2729, 4865, 8904; and that “widows” denote goods that long for truth, n. 9198, 9200); “to lay waste cities” denotes to destroy the doctrinal things of the truth of the church (n. 402, 2268, 2449, 2943, 3216, 4478, 4492, 4493); “to desolate the land and the fullness thereof” denotes to destroy all things of the church (n. 9325); “the voice of roaring of the lion” denotes falsity; “to spread the net over him” denotes to allure by the delights of earthly loves and by reasonings from them; “to bring to the king of Babel” denotes the profanation of truth (n. 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304, 1307, 1308, 1321, 1322, 1326).

[5] That such things do not come to pass when a man does not love himself and the world above all things, is thus described in Amos:

Will a lion roar in the forest if he hath no prey? Will a bird fall upon a snare of the earth if there is no noose for him? Shall a snare spring up from the earth if taking it hath taken nothing (Amos 3:46)?

[6] That in the spiritual sense “a snare” denotes allurement and deception through the delights of the loves of self and of the world, thus the allurement and deception of evils, and this through reasonings from the fallacies of the senses which favor these delights, is plain to everyone; for ensnarings and entrappings are from no other source. Neither do the diabolical crew assail anything in a man except these his loves, which they delight in every possible way until he is caught, and when he has been caught the man reasons from falsities against truths, and from evils against goods. Nor is he then content with this, but also takes delight in ensnaring and alluring others to falsities and evils. The reason why he also takes delight in this, is that he is then one of the diabolical crew.

[7] As “snare,” “noose,” and “net,” signify such things, they also signify the destruction of the spiritual life, and thus perdition; for the delights of these loves are what destroy and lead into perdition, because, as before said, all evils spring from these loves. For from the love of self springs contempt for others in comparison with self, next derision and abuse, afterward enmity if they do not favor, and finally the delight of hatred, the delight of revenge, thus the delight of violence, nay, of cruelty. In the other life this love climbs so high, that unless the Lord favors those who have it, and gives them dominion over others, they not only despise Him, but also deride the Word which treats of Him, and finally they act against Him from hatred and revenge; and insofar as they cannot do anything against Him, they practice such things with violence and cruelty against all who profess Him. From this it is plain whence it comes that there is such a diabolical crew, namely, from the love of self. And therefore as “a snare” signifies the delight of the love of self and of the world, it also signifies the destruction of spiritual life, and perdition; for everything of faith and love to the Lord, and everything of love toward the neighbor, are destroyed by the delight of the love of self and of the world wherever it has dominion (see what was cited in n. 9335).

[8] That these loves are the origins of all evils, and that hell is from them and in them, and that these loves are the fires there, is at this day unknown in the world; when yet it might be known from the fact that these loves are opposite to love toward the neighbor and love to God, and that they are opposite to humility of heart, and that from them alone arise all contempt, all hatred, all revenge, and all violence and cruelty, as anyone may know who reflects.

[9] That “a snare” therefore signifies the destruction of spiritual life, and perdition, is plain from the following passages.

In David:

Upon the wicked, Jehovah shall rain snares, fire and sulphur (Psalms 11:6); where “fire and sulphur” denote the evils of the love of self and of the world. (That “fire” has this signification, see n. 1297, 1861, 5071, 5215, 6314, 6832, 7324, 7575, 9144; and also “sulphur,” n. 2446.) Hence it is plain what is meant by “snares.”

In Luke:

Lest that day come upon you suddenly; for as a snare shall it come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth (Luke 21:34-35); where the subject treated of is the last time of the church, when there is no faith because no charity, for the loves of self and of the world will then reign, and from these loves comes perdition, which is the “snare.” In Jeremiah:

Among My people are found the wicked; they watch, as fowlers stretch nets; they set a trap that they may catch men (Jeremiah 5:26).

They that seek after my soul stretch snares; and they that seek mine evil speak perditions, and meditate deceits all the day long (Psalms 38:12).

Guard me from the hands of the noose they have laid for me, and from the snares of the workers of iniquity. Let the wicked fall together into their own nets, while I pass over (Ps 141:9-10)

He shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a snare and for a noose to the inhabitant of Jerusalem. Many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken (Isaiah 8:14-15).

The Lord is here treated of. “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense” denote the giving of offense; “a snare” and “a noose” denote perdition, namely, that of those who attack and endeavor to destroy the truths and goods of faith in the Lord through falsities which favor the loves of self and of the world; for all the proud are not only offended, but are also ensnared by the fact that the Divine has appeared in a human form, and this not in royal majesty, but in a despised shape. From all this it is now evident that by “it will be a snare,” is signified the allurement and deception of evils, and the consequent perdition; as also elsewhere in Moses:

Make not a covenant with the inhabitant of the land upon which thou shalt come, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee (Exodus 34:12).

Thou shalt not serve their gods; for this will be a snare to thee (Deuteronomy 7:16).

Take heed to thyself that thou be not ensnared after the nations, and that perchance thou seek their gods (Deuteronomy 12:30);

“the nations” denote evils, and the falsities thence derived.

3654. That in the internal sense of the Word “Judea” does not signify Judea; nor in like manner “Jerusalem,” Jerusalem, may be seen from many passages in the Word. “Judea” is not so frequently mentioned in the Word as is the “land of Judah,” and by the “land of Judah,” as well as by the “land of Canaan,” is signified the Lord’s kingdom (consequently also the church, for the church is the Lord’s kingdom on earth), and this for the reason that the Lord’s celestial kingdom was represented by Judah, or by the Jewish nation, and His spiritual kingdom by Israel, or the Israelitish people; and inasmuch as it was so represented, therefore also when mention is made in the Word of that nation and people, in the internal sense there is nothing else signified thereby.

[2] That this is the case will appear from what of the Lord’s Divine mercy will be said hereafter concerning Judah and the land of Judah; and in the meantime from the following few passages in the Prophets.

In Isaiah:

My beloved had a vineyard in the horn of a son of oil; and he made a hedge about it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with a noble vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also hewed out a winepress therein; and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. And now O inhabitant of Jerusalem, and man of Judah, judge I pray you between Me and My vineyard. I will make it a desolation. For the vineyard of Jehovah Zebaoth is the house of Israel, and the man of Judah is the plant of His delights; and He looked for judgment, but behold a festering; for righteousness, but behold a cry (Isaiah 5:1-3, 6-7).

In this passage, in the sense of the letter, the perverted state of the Israelites and Jews is treated of, but in the internal sense the perverted state of the church as represented by Israel and Judah. The “inhabitant of Jerusalem” is the good of the church (that “inhabitant” signifies good, or what is the same, those who are in good, may be seen above, n. 2268, 2451, 2712, 3613; and that “Jerusalem” signifies the church, see n. 402, 2117). The signification of the “house of Israel” is similar (that “house” signifies good may be seen above, n. 710, 1708, 2233, 2234, 3142, 3538; and that “Israel” signifies the church, n. 3305); in like manner the “man of Judah,” for by “man” is signified truth (n. 265, 749, 1007, 3134, 3310, 3459), and by “Judah” good, but with the difference that the “man of Judah” signifies truth from the good of love to the Lord (which is called celestial truth), that is, those who are in such truth.

[3] In the same:

And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four wings of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the enemies of Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not straiten Ephraim. Jehovah shall accurse the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and with the vehemence of His breath shall shake His hand over the river. And there shall be a highway for the remains of His people, which shall be left from Asshur (Isaiah 11:12-13, 15-16).

The subject here treated of in the sense of the letter is the bringing back of the Israelites and Jews from captivity, but in the internal sense it is concerning a new church in general and with every individual in particular who is being regenerated or is becoming a church. The “outcasts of Israel” denote the truths of such persons; the “dispersed of Judah,” their goods; “Ephraim,” their intellectual part in that it will no longer be resistant; “Egypt,” memory-knowledges; and “Asshur,” the derivative reasoning, which they have perverted; the “outcasts,” the “dispersed,” the “remains,” and “those who are left,” denote the truths and goods which survive. (That “Ephraim” denotes the intellectual part, will be made manifest elsewhere; and that “Egypt” is memory-knowledge, n. 1164-1165, 1186, 1462, 2588, 3325; that “Asshur” is reasoning, n. 119, 1186; and that “remains” are goods and truths from the Lord stored up in the interior man, n. 468, 530, 560, 561, 660, 661, 798, 1050, 1738, 1906, 2284.)

[4] In the same:

Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, called by the name of Israel, and they have come forth out of the waters of Judah. For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel (Isaiah 48:1-2); where the “waters of Judah” denote the truths which are from the good of love to the Lord; the truths thence derived are the very goods of charity, which are called spiritual goods, and constitute the spiritual church, the internal of which is “Israel,” and the external the “house of Jacob;” hence it is manifest what is signified by the “house of Jacob called by the name of Israel,” and by their “coming forth out of the waters of Judah.”

[5] In the same:

I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of My mountains; and Mine elect shall possess it, and My servants shall dwell there (Isaiah 65:9);

“out of Judah an inheritor of mountains” in the supreme sense denotes the Lord, and in the representative sense those who are in love to Him, thus in the good of love to the Lord and of love to the neighbor. (That “mountains” signify these goods was shown above, n. 3652)

[6] So in Moses:

Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey my son thou art gone up; he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? (Genesis 49:9); where it is clearly manifest that in the supreme sense by “Judah” is meant the Lord, and in the representative sense those who are in the good of love to Him. So in David:

When Israel went forth out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people, Judah became His sanctuary, Israel His dominion (Psalms 114:1-2);

in this passage also “Judah” denotes celestial good, which is the good of love to the Lord; and “Israel,” celestial truth, or spiritual good.

[7] So in Jeremiah:

Behold the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous offshoot, and He shall reign as king, and prosper, and shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.

In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell securely; and this is His name whereby He shall be called: JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS (Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:15-16); where the Lord’s advent is treated of, “Judah” denoting those who are in the good of love to the Lord; “Israel,” those who are in the truth of this good. That by “Judah” is not meant Judah, nor by “Israel” Israel, is evident from the fact that neither Judah nor Israel was saved. In like manner in the same:

I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them as at the first (Jeremiah 33:7).

In the same:

In those days, and in that time, saith Jehovah, the sons of Israel shall come, they and the sons of Judah together; going and weeping shall they go, and shall seek Jehovah their God; and they shall seek Zion in the way with their faces thitherward (Jeremiah 50:4-5

Again:

At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, for the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem; neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall walk to the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north upon the land (Jeremiah 3:17-18).

[8] Again:

Behold the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. And I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days; I will put My law in the midst of them, and will write it on their heart (Jeremiah 31:27, 31, 33).

That Israel or the house of Israel is not here meant, is very evident, because they were dispersed among the Gentiles, and were never brought back out of captivity; consequently neither was Judah nor the house of Judah meant, but thereby were signified, in the internal sense, those who are of the Lord’s spiritual and celestial kingdom. With these is made a new covenant, and on their heart is the law written; a “new covenant” denoting conjunction with the Lord by means of good (see n. 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 2037); the “law written on their heart,” denoting the consequent perception of good and of truth, and also conscience.

[9] So in Joel:

And it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streams of Judah shall flow with waters; and a fountain shall go forth out of the house of Jehovah, and shall water the stream of Shittim. Egypt shall be a waste, and Edom shall be for a wilderness of a waste for the violence done to the sons of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall abide forever, and Jerusalem to generation and generation (Joel 3:18, 20);

from all the particulars in this passage also it is manifest that by “Judah” is not meant Judah, nor by “Jerusalem,” Jerusalem, but those who are in the holy of love and of charity; for these “shall abide forever, and to generation and generation.”

[10] So in Malachi:

Behold I send Mine angel who shall prepare the way before Me; and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple, even the angel of the covenant whom ye desire. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto Jehovah, as in the days of eternity, and as in former years (Malachi 3:1, 4); where the Lord’s advent is treated of. That at that time the offering of Judah and Jerusalem was not pleasant unto Jehovah, is evident; and from this it is manifest that by “Judah and Jerusalem” are signified such things as are of the Lord’s church. The case is the same everywhere in the Word where mention is made of “Judah,” of “Israel,” and of “Jerusalem.” From all this then it is evident what is signified by “Judah” in Matthew, namely, the Lord’s church, in the present case vastated.