THE EXPLANATION of Isaiah Chapter 18

(Note: Rev. Smithson's translation of the Isaiah text is appended below the explanation)

1. WOE to the land shadowing with wings! which is beyond the rivers of Cush;

2. Which sends ambassadors on the sea, and in vessels of rushes on the face of the waters : Go, you swift messengers, to a nation distracted and spoiled; to a people terrible from the first, and hitherto; a nation meted out by line, and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

VERSES 1, 2. What is meant by "the land shadowing with wings", and "the land which the rivers have spoiled", no one can know, unless it be known that the "land" denotes the church, and that the "rivers" denote falsities. "The land shadowing with wings" is the church which is in thick darkness as to divine Truths; these are signified by [the darkening of] "wings", as may be seen above, Chapter 8:8, the Exposition; "beyond the rivers of Cush" [or Ethiopia] , signifies as to knowledges from the literal sense of the Word, which are falsified. "The nation trodden down, to which the messengers should go, whose land the ricers had spoiled", signifies those out of the church who are in falsities from ignorance; "rivers" denoting Truths of doctrine, and, in an opposite sense, falsities; that "the messengers should go to them", signifies that they should be invited, in order that the church may be amongst them. Apocalypse Explained 304.

"The land shadowing with wings" is the church, which by reasonings from scientifics darkens itself; "beyond the rivers of Cush", signifies knowledges by which it confirms its false principles; (see Apocalypse Explained 1164) "which sends ambassadors on the sea"; denotes to consult scientifics, signified by the "sea"; (see Arcana Coelestia 28) "in vessels of rushes on the face of the waters", which" vessels" signify the vilest [or most common] receptacles of Truth, [which are merely sensual ideas and conceptions.] Arcana Coelestia 6723.

That by "Cush" [or Ethiopia, ] are signified the interior knowledges of the Word, by which they confirm false principles, is evident from Jeremiah:

"Egypt rises up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he says, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof. Come up, you horses; and rage, you chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; Cush and Puth, that handle the shield." (Jeremiah 46:8) Here "Egypt" stands for those who believe nothing [spiritual] except they understand it from scientifics; hence come all doubtful, negative, and false principles which is to "ascend", to "cover the earth", and to "destroy the city". "Cush" signifies the more universal or interior knowledges of the Word, by which false principles are confirmed; and " Puth " stands for knowledges from the literal sense of the Word, which are according to the appearances of the senses. Arcana Coelestia 1164

3. All you inhabitants of the world, and you dwellers on the earth, when the standard is lifted up on the mountains, behold! and when the trumpet is sounded, hearken!

Verse 3. By the "inhabitants of the world", and "dwellers on the earth", are signified all in the church who are in Goods and Truths, as above. The coming of the Lord is signified by "when the standard is lifted up on the mountains, behold! and when the trumpet is sounded, hearken! " "the standard upon the mouutains and the sounding of the trumpet" signifying convocation to the church. Apocalypse Explained 741.

As to the various meaning of a "standard", see above, Chapter 13:2, the Exposition.

4. For thus has Jehovah said unto me: I will sit still, and consider in My habitation; like the serene heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

5. For before the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the blossom bas become a swelling grape, He shall cut off the shoots with pruninghooks, and the branches lIe shall take off, He shall cut away.

Verse 4. The "cloud of dew" signifies Truth from Good fructifying. Apocalypse Explained 594.

"Like the serene heat in the sunshine, and like the heat of harvest." These words, as the planting of a New Church is treated of, stand for love and charity. Arcana Coelestia 934.

6. They shall be left together to the bird of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the bird shall abhor it; and every beast of the earth shall despise it.

Verse 6. Speaking of "the land shadowed with wings", by which is understood the church, which, from the obscurity in which it is, catches at imaginary things for spiritual Truths, and thence, by reason of ignorance, comes into the negation thereof. By "birds and beasts" are also here signified thoughts of Truth-and affections of Good, as well- rational as natural, which are said to "abhor and despise it" [such a state of the church]; that such "abhorring and despising" cannot be predicated of birds and beasts, is manifest, but of the affections of Good and thoughts of Truth, that is, of those that are in them, Apocalypse Explained 650.

7. At that time shall a gift be brought to Jehovah of Hosts, from a people distracted and spoiled; and from a people terrible from the first, and hitherto; a nation meted out by line, and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled; to the place of the name of Jehovah of Hosts, to the mountain of Zion.

Verse 7. The subject here treated of is concerning the invitation of all to the church, wherefore also "people" and "nation" are named. "The mountain of Zion" signifies the church, to which they are invited; by "a people distracted and spoiled", are signified those with 'whom truths are taken away, altered, or perverted by those who are in falsities of doctrine; by "a nation meted out by line, and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled", are signified those with whom goods are treated in like manner :

"rivers" denoting falsities and reasonings from them. Apocalypse Explained 33.

By offering a "gift" on the altar, is signified all Divine Worship, by reason that Divine Worship, with the Jewish nation, consisted principally in offering burnt-offerings and sacrifices [as gifts]; by which were therefore signified all things of Worship, H. D. N. J. 214, 221.

Worship does not consist in prayers, and in external devotion, but in a life of charity; prayers are only its externals, for they proceed from man by [or through] his mouth; wherefore such as the man is as to life, such are his prayers. It is of no consequence that he puts himself in a posture of humility, kneeling on his 'knees, and groaning when he prays, for these are external things; and unless external things proceed from internal, they are only gestures and sounds without life, There is an affection in every single thing which man speaks, and every man, spirit, and angel is his own affection, for the affection of each is his life; it is the affection itself which speaks, and not the man without it; wherefore, such as the affection is, such is. the prayer. Spiritual affection is what is called charity towards the neighbour; in that case there is true worship; prayer is what proceeds from it.

Hence it may be manifest that the essential of worship is a life of charity, and its instrumental is gesture and prayer; or that the life of charity is the primary of worship, and prayer is its secondary. From which consideration it is evident that they who place all Divine Worship in oral piety, and not in actual piety, are in a great error. Actual piety consists in acting from a principle of sincerity and rectitude, and from a principle of justice and equity in every work and in every function, and this because it is commanded by the Lord in the Word; for thus man in all his works has respect to heaven and to the Lord, with whom he is thereby conjoined. But to act with sincerity and rectitude, with justice and equity, merely from the fear of the law, or the loss of reputation, of honour, and of gain, without at all thinking of the Divine Law, of the precepts of the Word, and of the Lord, and yet to pray devoutly in temples, is external piety, which, howsoever holy it appears, is still not piety, but is either hypocrisy, or is some pretence derived from habit, or is something persuasive grounded in a false principle that Divine Worship consists in that alone; for it does not look to heaven and to the Lord with the heart, but only with the eyes, the heart looks to self and the world, and the mouth speaks from habit of the body alone and its memory; by such worship man is conjoined to the world and not to heaven, and to self and not to the Lord. Apocalypse Explained 325.

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Isaiah Chapter 18

1. WOE to the land shadowing with wings! which is beyond the rivers of Cush;

2. Which sends ambassadors on the sea, and in vessels of rushes on the face of the waters : Go, you swift messengers, to a nation distracted and spoiled; to a people terrible from the first, and hitherto; a nation meted out by line, and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

3. All you inhabitants of the world, and you dwellers on the earth, when the standard is lifted up on the mountains, behold! and when the trumpet is sounded, hearken!

4. For thus has Jehovah said unto me: I will sit still, and consider in My habitation; like the serene heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

5. For before the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the blossom bas become a swelling grape, He shall cut off the shoots with pruninghooks, and the branches He shall take off, He shall cut away.

6. They shall be left together to the bird of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the bird shall abhor it; and every beast of the earth shall despise it.

7. At that time shall a gift be brought to Jehovah of Hosts, from a people distracted and spoiled; and from a people terrible from the first, and hitherto; a nation meted out by line, and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled; to the place of the name of Jehovah of Hosts, to the mountain of Zion.

481. Neither shall the sun fall on them, nor any heat, signifies that evil and falsity from lusts shall not come to them. This is evident from the signification of "the sun," as meaning the Lord in relation to Divine love, and with men, spirits, and angels, the good of love to the Lord from the Lord; and as meaning in the contrary sense as here the love of self and evil therefrom out of lusts (of which above, n. 401; and in the work on Heaven and Hell 116-125); also from the signification of "heat," as meaning falsity from that evil, and therefore falsity from lusts; for when man is in heat, that is, when he burns with heat, he craves drink that his heat may be allayed, for he is thirsty; and "to have drink" and "to drink" signifies to imbibe truths, and in the contrary sense, to imbibe falsities, because "water" and "wine," which are for drink, signify truths.

[2] That "heat" signifies falsity from lust or lust for falsity can be seen from the following passages.

In Jeremiah:

Blessed is the man that trusteth in Jehovah; and he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, that sendeth out his roots by the river; he shall not see when heat cometh, but his leaf shall be green; therefore he shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall he cease from bearing fruit (Jeremiah 17:7, 8).

A man who suffers himself to be led by the Lord is compared to a tree and its growth and fructification, because a "tree" signifies in the Word the knowledge and perception of truth and good, consequently the man in whom these are; "a tree planted by the waters" means a man with whom there are truths from the Lord, "waters" meaning truths; "that sendeth out his roots by the river" signifies the extension of intelligence from the spiritual man into the natural; this is said because a "river" signifies intelligence, and because "roots" are sent forth from the spiritual man into the natural; "he shall not see when heat cometh" signifies not to be affected by the lust of falsity; "but his leaf shall be green" signifies knowledges [scientifica] made alive by truths; "therefore he shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall he cease from bearing fruit" signifies that in a state when there is no truth and no good, there shall be no fear of the loss and deprivation of these, but that even then truths conjoined to good shall be fruitful, "year of drought" signifying a state of loss and deprivation of truth. This is said because with spirits and angels there are alternations of state (respecting which alternations see in the workHeaven and Hell 154-161).

[3] In Isaiah:

For Thou art become a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the inundation, a shadow from the heat; for the blast of the violent ones is as an inundation against a wall, as a drought in a dry place; the tumult of strangers shalt Thou humble, the heat by the shadow of a cloud, the branch of the violent ones shall he repress (Isaiah 25:4, 5).

"The poor and needy" signify those who are in the lack of good from the ignorance of truth, and yet have a desire for these; "inundation" and "heat" have reference to evils and falsities that rise up and flow in from the selfhood [proprium] and also from others who are in evil; "the blast of the violent ones" signifies things contrary to the goods and truths of the church; those are called "violent" who endeavor to destroy goods and truths, and "their blast" signifies eagerness to destroy; "the tumult of strangers shalt thou humble" signifies that the Lord will allay and remove the irruption of falsities from evil, "tumult" signifying irruption, "strangers" the falsities from evil, and "to humble" to allay and remove; "he shall repress the heat by the shadow of a cloud" signifies to defend from the lust of falsity, "heat" meaning the lust of falsity, and "the shadow of a cloud" defense from it, for the shadow of a cloud tempers the heat of the sun, and allays its fervor.

[4] In Jeremiah:

His dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost (Jeremiah 36:30).

This was said of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, after he had burned the scroll written by Jeremiah, which act signifies that the truths of the church will perish by a lust for falsities and a consequent aversion from truths. The kings of Judah represented and thence signified in the Word truths from good, and this king the truth of the church about to perish; "the scroll that he burned" signifies the Word, which is said to be burned when it is falsified and adulterated, and this is done by the lust of falsity from evil; "the dead body" signifies the man of the church without spiritual life, which is had by means of truths from the Word; when this life is extinct, only falsities are desired and truths are avoided, and in consequence man becomes dead, and in the spiritual sense "a dead body." The lust for falsities is signified by "the heat in the day," and aversion from the truths by "the frost in the night;" for when the light of heaven, which in its essence is Divine truth, flows in, those who are in falsities from evil become cold with an intensity corresponding to the warmth of the falsity from evil.

[5] In the same:

When they are heated I will set their banquets and I will make them drunken, that they may triumph, that they may sleep the sleep of an age and not awake (Jeremiah 51:39).

This is said of Babylon, which signifies the profanation of good and truth. "When they are heated" signifies the warmth and lust of falsifying truths and adulterating goods; "to set their banquets, to make drunken, and to triumph," signifies to be insane from falsifications to the last degree, "their banquets" signifying the adulterations of good and truth, "drunkenness and rejoicing" insanities in the highest or last degree; "to sleep the sleep of an age and not to awake" signifies not to have perception of truths to eternity.

[6] In Hosea:

They are all hot as an oven, and devour their judges; all their kings are fallen; not one among them calleth unto Me (Hosea 7:7).

"To be hot as an oven" signifies their lusting after falsity from the love of it; "they devour judges, and all their kings are fallen" signifies the destruction of all intelligence when the truths that constitute it are lost, "judges" signifying the intelligent, and in an abstract sense the things that belong to intelligence, and "kings" signifying truths; "not one among them calleth unto Me" signifies that no one cares for truths from the Divine.

[7] In Job:

He beholdeth not the way of the vineyards; drought and heat shall seize upon the waters of snow (Job 24:18, 19).

"Not to behold the way of the vineyards" signifies to make the truths of the church of no account; "drought and heat shall seize upon the waters of snow" signifies that the lack of truth, and the consequent lust for falsity will destroy all genuine truths, "the waters of snow" meaning genuine truths.

[8] In Isaiah:

He shall say to the bound, Go forth, to them that are in darkness, Reveal yourselves. They shall feed upon the ways, and in all the bare hills shall be their pasture. They shall not hunger nor thirst neither shall the heat or the sun smite them; for He that hath compassion on them shall guide them, even unto springs of waters shall He lead them (Isaiah 49:9, 10).

What the particulars signify need not be explained, for they are similar to those in Revelation now being explained, where it is said "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore, neither shall the sun fall on them nor any heat smite them; for the Lamb shall feed them and shall guide them unto living fountains of waters." In Revelation, in like manner as in the prophet, these things are said of the Lord; "the bound, to whom He shall say, Go forth, and those who are in darkness, to whom He shall say, Reveal yourselves," signify the nations that had lived in good according to their religion, and yet were in falsities from ignorance; these are called "bound" when in temptations; and "darkness" means falsities from ignorance. "The heat shall not smite them" signifies that falsity from lust shall not affect them.

[9] In Revelation:

The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun; and it was given unto him to scorch men with fire; and men were heated with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God (Revelation 16:8, 9).

These words will be explained hereafter in their proper place. As "the sun" signifies Divine love, so also "heat" signifies an ardent desire for truth, as in Isaiah 18:4; and Zechariah 8:2, where "heat" is attributed to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord. In many passages "anger" and "wrath" are predicated of God, "anger" signifying zeal for good, and "wrath" zeal for truth; for wrath and heat in the original language come from the same word.