276. Verses 6b, 7, 8. And in the midst of the throne and around the throne were four animals, full of eyes before and behind. And the first animal was like a lion, and the second animal like a calf, and the third animal had a face like a man, and the fourth animal was like a flying eagle. And the four animals, each by itself had six wings round about, and they were full of eyes within, and they had no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come. "And in the midst of the throne and around the throne were four animals, full of eyes before and behind," signifies the Lord's guard and providence that the interior heavens be not approached except by the good of love and charity, that lower things depending thereon may be in order n. 277.

7. "And the first animal was like a lion," signifies the appearance, in ultimates of Divine truth proceeding from the Lord in respect to power and efficiency (n. 278; "and the second animal like a calf," signifies the appearance, in ultimates, of Divine good in respect to protection n. 279; "and the third animal had a face like a man," signifies the appearance, in ultimates, of the Divine guard and providence in respect to wisdom n. 280; "and the fourth animal was like a flying eagle," signifies the appearance, in ultimates, of the Divine guard and providence in respect to intelligence and as to circumspection on every side (n. 281-282.)

8. "And the four animals, each by itself, had six wings round about," signifies the appearance of the spiritual Divine on all sides about the celestial Divine n. 283; "and full of eyes within," signifies the Divine Providence and guard (n. 284); "and they had no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy," signifies that which is most holy proceeding from the Lord. n. 285); "Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come," signifies the infinite and eternal (n. 286).

991. Verse 11. And they blasphemed the God of heaven, signifies the falsification of the Word. This is evident from the signification of "blaspheming," when predicated of God, as being to falsify the Word even to the destruction of the Divine truth in the heavens (See n. 778; also from the signification of "the God of heaven," as being the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord. This is the meaning of "the God of heaven" here and elsewhere in the Word, because the whole heaven consists of that Divine; and this is why angels are called "gods," and why they signify the Divine truths that are from the Lord; this also is why the Lord is called "the Word," which is the Divine truth, and why here the words "they blasphemed the God of heaven" signify the falsification of the Word even to the destruction of the Divine truth in the heavens.

(Continuation respecting the Sixth Commandment)

[2] It has been said that conjugial love, which is natural, descends from the love of good and truth, which is spiritual; this spiritual therefore is in the natural love of marriage as a cause is in its effect. So from the marriage of good and truth there exists the love of bearing fruit, namely, good through truth and truth from good; and from that love the love of producing offspring descends, in which there is all delight and pleasure. On the contrary, the love of adultery, which is natural, exists from the love of evil and falsity, which is spiritual; consequently this spiritual is in the natural love of adultery as a cause is in its effect. So from the marriage of evil and falsity by love there exists the love of bearing fruit, namely, evil through falsity and falsity from evil; and from that love descends the love of producing offspring in adulteries, and in that love there is every delight and pleasure.

[3] There is every delight and pleasure in the love of producing offspring, because all that is delightful, pleasurable, blessed and happy, in the whole heaven and in the whole world, has been from creation brought together in the effort and thus into the act of producing uses; and these joys increase in an ascending degree to eternity, according to the goodness and excellence of the uses. This makes evident why the pleasure of producing offspring, which surpasses every other pleasure, is so great. It surpasses every other because its use, which is the procreation of the human race, and thus of heaven, surpasses all other uses.

[4] From this, too, comes the pleasure and delight of adultery; but as prolification through adulteries corresponds to the production of evil through falsity and of falsity from evil, that pleasure or delight decreases and becomes vile by degrees until it is changed at last into loathing and nausea. Because, as has been said above, the delight of the love of marriage is a heavenly delight, and the delight of adultery is an infernal delight, so the delight of adultery is from a certain impure fire, which as long as it lasts, counterfeits the delight of the love of good, but in itself it is the delight of the love of evil, which is in its essence the delight of hatred against good and truth. And because this is its origin there is no love between an adulterer and an adulteress except such as the love of hatred is, which is such that they can be in conjunction in externals but not in internals. For in the externals there is something fiery, but in the internals there is icy coldness; therefore after a short time the fire is extinguished and icy coldness succeeds, either with impotence or with aversion as from one filthy.

[5] It has been granted me to see that love in its essence, and it was such that within it was deadly hatred, while without it appeared like a fire from burning dung and putrid and stinking matters. And as that fire with its delight burnt out, so by degrees the life of mutual discourse and interaction expired, and hatred came forth, manifested first as contempt, afterwards as aversion, then as rejection, and finally as blasphemy and fighting. And what was wonderful, although they hated each other they could from time to time come together and for the time feel the delight of hatred as the delight of love; but this came from an itching of the flesh.

[6] What the delight of hatred and thus of doing evil is with those who are in hell can neither be described nor believed. To do evil is the joy of their heart, and this they call their heaven. Their delight in doing evil derives its all from hatred and vindictiveness against good and truth; when, therefore, they are moved by a deadly and diabolical hatred they rage against heaven, especially against those who are from heaven and who worship the Lord; for they violently burn to slaughter them, and because they cannot destroy their bodies they will to destroy their souls. It is, therefore, the delight of hatred which, becoming a fire in the extremes and being injected into the lusting flesh, becomes for the moment the delight of adultery-the soul in which the hatred lies concealed then withdrawing itself. It is for this reason that hell is called adultery, and also that adulterers are desperately unmerciful, savage and cruel. This, then, is the infernal marriage.

[7] As adultery is fiery in the externals but cold in the internals, and as therefore the internal does not produce the external, as it does in marriages, but they mutually act against each other, so the man feels impotence if the woman desires the act, and still more if she importunes it; for the internal which is cold then comes into the effort and flows into what is fiery in the externals and extinguishes it, and so casts it off as unfit. Add to this that the lust of violating, which also enkindles that impure fire, then perishes.