Apocalypse Explained # 1082
1082. And shall eat her flesh, signifies rejection of its evils, which are adulterated goods, and then the manifestation that they were without any good. This is evident from the signification of "flesh," as being the good of the Word and of the church, and in the contrary sense the evil thereof. Here "flesh" means evils, which are adulterated goods. Also from the signification of "to eat," as being to consume, but here to reject wholly, because this is said of the Reformed, who have rejected the works or goods of Babylon, which consist especially in gifts to the idols of their saints, to their sepulchers, also to monasteries, and to the monks themselves, given as offerings for various expiations. It follows that the same words mean also the manifestation that they were without any good, for when spurious and meritorious goods are rejected, which are signified by the "flesh that they should eat," it is then manifest that they are without any good.
[2] "Flesh" has various significations in the Word. It signifies what is man's own [proprium], thus either his good or evil, and from this it signifies the whole man. But in the highest sense it signifies the Lord's Divine Human, and particularly the Divine good of the Divine love that proceeds from Him. That "flesh" signifies the Divine Human as to the good of love is evident in John:
Jesus said, I am the living bread, which cometh down out of heaven; if anyone eat of this bread he shall live forever; and the bread which I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews, therefore, strove one with another, saying, How can this one give His flesh to eat? Jesus therefore said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood ye shall not have life in yourselves. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day; for My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in Me and I in him. This is the bread which cometh down out of heaven (John 6:51-58).
It is clearly evident that "flesh" here means the own [proprium] of the Lord's Divine Human, which is the Divine good of the Divine love, and is that which is called in the Holy Supper the body. (That the "body" there, that is, the "flesh," is the Divine good, and the "blood" is the Divine truth, may be seen above, n. 329.) And as "bread and wine" have the same signification as "flesh and blood," "bread" meaning the Divine good, and "wine" the Divine truth, therefore these were commanded in place of flesh and blood.
[3] Divine good from the Lord was signified also by the flesh of the sacrifices that Aaron, his sons, and those who sacrificed, and others who were clean, might eat:
And that this was holy (may be seen in Exodus 12:7-9, 29:31-34; Leviticus 7:15-21; 8:31; Deuteronomy 12:27; 16:4);
Consequently if an unclean person ate of that flesh he would be cut off from his people (Leviticus 7:21).
That those sacrifices were called bread (Leviticus 22:6-7).
That that flesh was called the flesh of holiness (Jeremiah 11:15; Haggai 2:12),
And the flesh of the offering, which was to be upon the table in the Lord's kingdom (Ezekiel 40:43).
The Lord's Divine Human is also called "flesh" in John:
The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father (John 1:14).
[4] That "flesh" signified also the good with man can be seen from the following passages. In Ezekiel:
I will give them one heart, and I will give a new spirit in the midst of you, and I will take away the heart of stone out of their flesh, and I will give them a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26).
"Heart of flesh" means the will and love of good. In David:
O God, Thou art my God, in the morning I seek Thee; my soul thirsteth for Thee; my flesh longeth for Thee in a land of drought and weariness without waters (Psalms 63:1).
In the same:
My soul longeth for the courts of Jehovah; my heart and my flesh cry out unto the living God (Psalms 84:2).
The "flesh" that longeth for Jehovah, and that crieth out unto the living God, signifies man as to good of the will, for the "flesh" of man corresponds to the good or evil of his will, and the "blood" to the truth or falsity of his understanding; here "flesh" means the good of the will, because it longeth for Jehovah and crieth out unto God.
[5] In Job:
I have known my Redeemer, He liveth, and at the last He shall rise upon the dust; and afterwards these things shall be encompassed by my skin, and from my flesh I shall see God (Job 19:25-27).
To see God from one's flesh signifies from one's own voluntary made new by the Lord, and thus good. In Ezekiel:
Upon the bones seen in the midst of the valley, I will put sinews, and I will cause flesh to come up upon them, and I will cover them with skin, and I will give spirit unto them that they may live (Ezekiel 37:6, 8).
Here, too, "flesh" signifies what is one's own [proprium] of the will made new by the Lord, and thus good. What "bones" and the rest signify here may be seen above (n. 418, 419, 665). In Revelation:
Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of commanders of thousands, and the flesh of the mighty, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all, free and bond, small and great (Revelation 19:17-18; Ezekiel 39:17-19).
That "flesh" here does not mean flesh but goods of every kind, is clearly evident.
[6] But on the other hand, that "flesh" signifies man's own voluntary, which regarded in itself is evil, is evident from the following passages. In Isaiah:
They shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm (Isaiah 9:20).
In the same:
I will feed thine oppressors with their own flesh (Isaiah 49:26).
In Jeremiah:
I will feed you with the flesh of their sons and with the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat every man the flesh of his companion (Jeremiah 19:9).
In Zechariah:
The rest shall eat everyone the flesh of another (Zechariah 11:9).
In Moses:
I will chastise you sevenfold for your sins, and ye shall eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters (Leviticus 26:28-29).
[7] In Jeremiah:
Cursed is the man who trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm (Jeremiah 17:5).
Here "flesh" signifies what is man's own [proprium] which in itself is evil; to appropriate this to oneself is signified by eating and feeding upon it. Again, "flesh" signifies what is man's own [proprium] in Matthew:
Jesus said, Blessed art thou, Simon, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee (Matthew 16:17).
In John:
As many as received, to them gave He power to become sons of God, who were born, not from bloods nor from the will of the flesh, but from God (John 1:12-13).
In Ezekiel:
Jerusalem committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt her neighbors, great in flesh (Ezekiel 16:26).
In Isaiah:
Egypt is man and not God, and his horses are flesh and not spirit (Isaiah 31:3).
In John:
It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing (John 6:63).
In the same:
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is begotten of the spirit is spirit (John 3:6).
In David:
God remembered that they were flesh, a breath that passeth away and returneth not (Psalms 78:39).
The evil of man's will, which is what is his own [proprium] from birth is what is signified in these passages by "flesh"; also by:
The flesh that the sons of Israel lusted after in the desert, and on account of which they were smitten with a great plague, and from which the place was called graves of lust (Numbers 11:4-34).
Moreover, in the Word the expression "all flesh" is frequently used as meaning every man (as in Genesis 6:12, 13, 17, 19; Isaiah 40:5, 6; 49:26; 66:16, 23, 24; Jeremiah 25:31; 32:27; 45:5; Ezekiel 20:48, 21:4, 5; and elsewhere).
(Continuation respecting the Word)
[8] The spiritual by influx presents what is correspondent to itself in the natural, in order that the end may become a cause, and the cause become an effect, and thus the end through the cause may present itself in the effect as visible and sensible. This trine, namely, end, cause, and effect, is given from creation in every heaven. The end is the good of love, the cause is truth from that good, and the effect is use. That which produces is love, and the product therefrom is of love from good by means of truth. The final products, which are in our world, are various, as numerous as the objects are in its three kingdoms of nature, animal, vegetable, and mineral. All products are correspondences.
[9] As this trine, namely, end, cause, and effect, exists in each heaven, there must be in each heaven products that are correspondences, and which in form and aspect are like the objects in the three kingdoms of our earth; from which it is clear that each heaven is like our earth in external appearance, differing only in excellence and beauty according to degrees. Now in order that the Word may be full, that is, may consist of effects in which are a cause and an end, or may consist of uses, in which truth is the cause and good is the end and love is that which produces, it must needs consist of correspondences; and from this it follows that the Word in each heaven is like the Word in our world, differing only in excellence and beauty according to degrees. What this difference is shall be told elsewhere.
Ezekiel 16
1
Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
2
Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations;
3
and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem: Your birth and your birth is of the land of the Canaanite; the Amorite was your father, and your mother was a Hittite.
4
As for your birth, in the day you were born your navel was not cut, neither were you washed in water to cleanse you; you weren't salted at all, nor swaddled at all.
5
No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you, to have compassion on you; but you were cast out in the open field, for that your person was abhorred, in the day that you were born.
6
When I passed by you, and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you, [Though you are] in your blood, live; yes, I said to you, [Though you are] in your blood, live.
7
I caused you to multiply as that which grows in the field, and you increased and grew great, and you attained to excellent ornament; your breasts were fashioned, and your hair was grown; yet you were naked and bare.
8
Now when I passed by you, and looked at you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness: yes, I swore to you, and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord Yahweh, and you became mine.
9
Then washed I you with water; yes, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil.
10
I clothed you also with embroidered work, and shod you with sealskin, and I dressed you about with fine linen, and covered you with silk.
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I decked you with ornaments, and I put bracelets on your hands, and a chain on your neck.
12
I put a ring on your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head.
13
Thus you were decked with gold and silver; and your clothing was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work; you ate fine flour, and honey, and oil; and you were exceeding beautiful, and you prospered to royal estate.
14
Your renown went forth among the nations for your beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put on you, says the Lord Yahweh.
15
But you trusted in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by; his it was.
16
You took of your garments, and made for yourselves high places decked with various colors, and played the prostitute on them: [the like things] shall not come, neither shall it be [so].
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You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and played the prostitute with them;
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and you took your embroidered garments, and covered them, and did set my oil and my incense before them.
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My bread also which I gave you, fine flour, and oil, and honey, with which I fed you, you even set it before them for a pleasant aroma; and [thus] it was, says the Lord Yahweh.
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Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and you have sacrificed these to them to be devoured. Was your prostitution a small matter,
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that you have slain my children, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through [the fire] to them?
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In all your abominations and your prostitution you have not remembered the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, and were wallowing in your blood.
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It has happened after all your wickedness, (woe, woe to you! says the Lord Yahweh),
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that you have built for yourselves a vaulted place, and have made yourselves a lofty place in every street.
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You have built your lofty place at the head of every way, and have made your beauty an abomination, and have opened your feet to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your prostitution.
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You have also committed sexual immorality with the Egyptians, your neighbors, great of flesh; and have multiplied your prostitution, to provoke me to anger.
27
See therefore, I have stretched out my hand over you, and have diminished your ordinary [food], and delivered you to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd way.
28
You have played the prostitute also with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; yes, you have played the prostitute with them, and yet you weren't satisfied.
29
You have moreover multiplied your prostitution to the land of merchants, to Chaldea; and yet you weren't satisfied with this.
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How weak is your heart, says the Lord Yahweh, since you do all these things, the work of an impudent prostitute;
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in that you build your vaulted place at the head of every way, and make your lofty place in every street, and have not been as a prostitute, in that you scorn pay.
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A wife who commits adultery! who takes strangers instead of her husband!
33
They give gifts to all prostitutes; but you give your gifts to all your lovers, and bribe them, that they may come to you on every side for your prostitution.
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You are different from [other] women in your prostitution, in that no one follows you to play the prostitute; and whereas you give hire, and no hire is given to you, therefore you are different.
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Therefore, prostitute, hear the word of Yahweh:
36
Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Because your filthiness was poured out, and your nakedness uncovered through your prostitution with your lovers; and because of all the idols of your abominations, and for the blood of your children, that you gave to them;
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therefore see, I will gather all your lovers, with whom you have taken pleasure, and all those who you have loved, with all those who you have hated; I will even gather them against you on every side, and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness.
38
I will judge you, as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy.
39
I will also give you into their hand, and they shall throw down your vaulted place, and break down your lofty places; and they shall strip you of your clothes, and take your beautiful jewels; and they shall leave you naked and bare.
40
They shall also bring up a company against you, and they shall stone you with stones, and thrust you through with their swords.
41
They shall burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; and I will cause you to cease from playing the prostitute, and you shall also give no hire any more.
42
So will I cause my wrath toward you to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from you, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.
43
Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have raged against me in all these things; therefore, behold, I also will bring your way on your head, says the Lord Yahweh: and you shall not commit this lewdness with all your abominations.
44
Behold, everyone who uses proverbs shall use [this] proverb against you, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.
45
You are the daughter of your mother, who loathes her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.
46
Your elder sister is Samaria, who dwells at your left hand, she and her daughters; and your younger sister, who dwells at your right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.
47
Yet have you not walked in their ways, nor done after their abominations; but, as [if that were] a very little [thing], you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.
48
As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, Sodom your sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters.
49
Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, fullness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
50
They were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw [good].
51
Neither has Samaria committed half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and have justified your sisters by all your abominations which you have done.
52
You also, bear you your own shame, in that you have given judgment for your sisters; through your sins that you have committed more abominable than they, they are more righteous that you: yes, be also confounded, and bear your shame, in that you have justified your sisters.
53
I will turn again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and the captivity of your captives in the midst of them;
54
that you may bear your own shame, and may be ashamed because of all that you have done, in that you are a comfort to them.
55
Your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate; and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate; and you and your daughters shall return to your former estate.
56
For your sister Sodom was not mentioned by your mouth in the day of your pride,
57
before your wickedness was uncovered, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all who are around her, the daughters of the Philistines, who do despite to you all around.
58
You have borne your lewdness and your abominations, says Yahweh.
59
For thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant.
60
Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish to you an everlasting covenant.
61
Then you shall remember your ways, and be ashamed, when you shall receive your sisters, your elder [sisters] and your younger; and I will give them to you for daughters, but not by your covenant.
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I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall know that I am Yahweh;
63
that you may remember, and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more, because of your shame, when I have forgiven you all that you have done, says the Lord Yahweh.
