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Genesis 19

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1 And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening; and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom; and Lot saw, and rose·​·up to meet them, and he bowed· himself ·down with his face to the earth.

2 And he said, Behold, I pray, my lords, turn·​·aside, I pray, to the house of your servant, and pass·​·the·​·night, and bathe your feet; and you shall get·​·up·​·early, and go on your way; and they said, No, for we will pass·​·the·​·night in the avenue.

3 And he urged them exceedingly; and they turned·​·aside to him, and came to his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread; and they did eat.

4 Scarcely had they lain·​·down and the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from a lad and even·​·to an old man, all the people, even from the outermost part*.

5 And they called to Lot, and said to him, Where are the men that came to thee this night? Bring· them ·out to us, that we may·​·know them.

6 And Lot went·​·out to them to the entrance and closed the door behind him.

7 And he said, I pray you, my brothers, do not do·​·evil.

8 Behold now, I have two daughters, who have· not ·known a man; now let me bring· them ·out to you, and you may do to them as is good in your eyes; only to these men do not a thing; for therefore have they come into the shadow of the beams* of my roof.

9 And they said, Move aside!* And they said, Is one come to sojourn, and judging shall he judge? Now will we do·​·evil to thee more than to them. And they pressed* on the man, on Lot, exceedingly; and approached to break the door.

10 And the men put·​·forth their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door.

11 And the men who were at the entrance of the house they smote with blindness, from small even·​·to great; and they labored* to find the entrance.

12 And the men said to Lot, Hast thou still anyone here? Son-in-law, thy sons, and thy daughters, and whomever thou hast in the city, bring· them ·out of the place.

13 For we will destroy this place, for their cry is· become ·great before Jehovah; and Jehovah has sent us to destroy it.

14 And Lot went·​·out, and spoke to his sons-in-law who were to take his daughters, and said, Arise, go·​·out from this place, for Jehovah will destroy the city. And in the eyes of his sons-in-law he was as one jesting.

15 And as the dawn came·​·up the angels insisted that Lot hasten, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters who are found, lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

16 And he lingered; and the men held· his hand ·firmly, and the hand of his wife, and the hand of his two daughters, with the pity* of Jehovah upon him, and they brought· him ·out, and placed him outside the city.

17 And it was, as they were bringing· them ·out outside, that He said, Escape for thy soul; look not back after thee, and stand not in all the plain; Escape towards the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

18 And Lot said to them, No, I pray, my lords.

19 Behold, I pray, thy servant has found grace in thine eyes, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast done with·​·me, to make my soul live, and I am· not ·able to escape to the mountain, lest the evil stick to me, and I die.

20 Behold, I pray, this city is near to flee thither, and it is a little·​·one. Let me, I pray, escape thither; is it not a little·​·one? And my soul shall live.

21 And He said to him, Behold I have accepted thy face* as to this word also, that I will not overturn the city of which thou hast spoken.

22 Hasten, escape thither, for I cannot do a thing until thou be come thither. Therefore he called the name of the city Zoar.

23 The sun was gone·​·out on the earth, and Lot came to Zoar.

24 And Jehovah made·​·it·​·rain on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Jehovah out·​·of the heavens.

25 And He overturned these cities, and all the plain, and all who dwell·​·in the cities, and the growth of the ground.

26 And his wife looked back from after him, and became a statue of salt.

27 And Abraham got·​·up·​·early in the morning, to the place where he had stood before Jehovah.

28 And he gazed on the faces of Sodom and Gomorrah, and on all the faces of the land of the plain, and he saw, and behold the fumes of the land went·​·up, as the fumes of a furnace.

29 And it was, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out·​·of the midst of the overturning, when He overturned the cities in which Lot dwelt.

30 And Lot went·​·up from Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar; and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.

31 And the firstborn said to the younger, Our father is·​·old, and there is no man in the earth to come to us according·​·to the way of all the earth.

32 Come, let us make· our father ·drink wine, and let us lie with him, and let us make· the seed from our father ·live.

33 And they gave· their father wine ·to·​·drink in that night; and the firstborn came·​·in, and lay with her father; and he knew not when she lay·​·down, and when she arose.

34 And it was on the morrow, and the firstborn said to the younger, Behold, I, lay last·​·night with my father; let us give· him wine ·to·​·drink tonight also, and go· thou ·in and lie with him, and cause the seed from our father to live.

35 And they gave· their father wine ·to·​·drink in that night also; and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he knew not when she lay·​·down nor when she arose.

36 And the two daughters of Lot conceived by their father.

37 And the firstborn gave·​·birth to a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of Moab even·​·to today.

38 And the younger she also gave·​·birth to a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the sons of Ammon until today.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Apocalypse Explained # 539

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539. And there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace, signifies dense falsities therefrom out of the evils of earthly and corporeal loves. This is evident from the signification of "smoke," as being the falsity of evil (of which presently); from the signification of "the pit of the abyss," as being the hell where those are who have falsified the Word (respecting which see above, n. 537; and from the signification of "a great furnace," as being the evils of earthly and corporeal loves out of which such falsities break forth (of which in the following article). "Smoke" signifies the falsity of evil, because it proceeds from fire, and "fire" signifies the loves of self and the world and thence all evils; consequently the hells that are in falsities from the evils of those loves, and still more the hells where those are who have falsified the Word by adapting it to favor those loves, appear in a fire like that of a great furnace, from which a dense smoke mingled with fire goes up. I have also seen those hells, and it was evident that it was the loves with those who were in them that presented the appearance of such a fire, and the falsities flowing forth from those loves that presented the appearance of the fiery smoke. But there is no such appearance to those who are therein, for they are in these loves and in the falsities therefrom, their life is in them, and it is by these that they are tormented in many ways, and not by such fire and smoke as are in our natural world. (This can be seen better in the chapter in the work on Heaven and Hell 566-575, which treats of Infernal Fire and the Gnashing of Teeth.)

[2] That "smoke" signifies the dense falsity that flows forth from evil can be seen from the following passages. In Moses:

Abraham looked upon the faces of Sodom and Gomorrah, and upon all the faces of the land of the plain, and he saw, and lo, the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace (Genesis 19:28).

"Sodom and Gomorrah" in the spiritual sense mean those who are altogether in the loves of self; therefore the smoke that Abraham saw rising from their land after the burning, signifies the dense falsity pertaining to those who are altogether in the love of self; for those who love themselves supremely are in the thickest darkness in respect to things spiritual and celestial, for they are merely natural and sensual, and are wholly separated from heaven; and then they not only deny Divine things, but they think out falsities by which to destroy them. These falsities are what are signified by the "smoke" seen rising from Sodom and Gomorrah.

[3] In the same:

And the sun went down, and there was dense darkness, and behold a furnace of smoke, and a torch of fire that passed through between those pieces (Genesis 15:17).

This was said of Abraham's posterity from Jacob, as can be seen from what precedes in that chapter; "the sun went down" signifies the last time, when consummation takes place; "and there was dense darkness" signifies when evil takes the place of good and falsity the place of truth; "behold a furnace of smoke" signifies the densest falsity from evils; "a torch of fire" signifies the heat of cupidities; "it passed through between the pieces" signifies that these separated them from the Lord. (But this may be seen more fully explained in Arcana Coelestia 1858-1862.)

[4] In the same:

Moses made the people to go forth from the camp to meet God; and they stood in the lower parts of the mount. And Mount Sinai smoked, the whole of it, because Jehovah descended upon it in fire; and the smoke ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked exceedingly (Exodus 19:17, 18);

And all the people saw the voices and the torches, and the voice of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and the people saw, and they were moved and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us and we will hear, but let not God speak with us lest we die (Exodus 20:18, 19).

This represented the quality of that people; for Jehovah, that is, the Lord, appears to everyone according to his quality; to those who are in truths from good He appears as a serene light, but to those who are in falsities from evil as smoke from fire. And because that people was in earthly and corporeal loves, and in falsities of evil therefrom, the Lord appeared to them from Mount Sinai as a devouring fire, and as the smoke of a furnace. (That the sons of Jacob were such has been shown in many places in the Arcana Coelestia, as may be seen from what is brought together in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248; and that the Lord appears to everyone according to his quality, as a vivifying and recreating fire to those who are in good, and as a consuming fire to those who are in evil, see Arcana Coelestia 934, 1861, 6832, 8814, 8819, 9434, 10551; what the other particulars in the passages cited signify may be seen in the same work where the book of Exodus is explained.)

[5] "Smoke and fire" have a like signification in David:

Because He was wroth there went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth devoured, coals burned from Him; He bowed heaven also and came down; and gross darkness was under His feet (Psalms 18:7-9; 2 Samuel 22:8, 9).

This does not mean that smoke and a devouring fire went up from Jehovah, for there is no anger in Him; but it is so said because the Lord so appears to those who are in falsities and evils, for they regard Him from their falsities and evils.

[6] The like is signified by the following in the same:

He looketh on the earth and it trembleth; He toucheth the mountains and they smoke (Psalms 104:32).

In the same:

Bow Thy heavens, O Jehovah, and come down; touch the mountains, that they may smoke (Psalms 144:5).

In Isaiah:

Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou whole Philistia art dissolved; for from the north cometh a smoke (14 Isaiah 14:31).

"Gate" signifies truth introducing into the church, "city" doctrine, "Philistia" faith; therefore "Howl, O gate, cry, O city, thou whole Philistia art dissolved," signifies the vastation of the church in respect to the truth of doctrine, and thence in respect to faith. The "north" signifies the hell where and from which are the falsities of doctrine and the falsities of faith, and "smoke" such falsities; therefore "from the north cometh smoke" signifies devastating falsity out of the hells.

[7] In Nahum:

Behold, I will burn her chariot with smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions (Nahum 2:13).

This, too, treats of the devastation of the church; and "to burn a chariot with smoke" signifies to pervert all truths of doctrine into falsities, "smoke" meaning falsities, and "chariot" doctrine; and "the sword shall devour thy young lions" signifies that falsities will destroy the chief truths of the church, "young lions" meaning the chief and protecting truths of the church, and "sword" meaning falsity destroying truth.

[8] In Joel:

I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth; blood and fire and columns of smoke (Joel 2:30).

This is said of the Last Judgment; and "blood, fire, and columns of smoke," signify the truth of the Word falsified, its good adulterated, and mere falsities resulting therefrom, "blood" meaning the truth of the Word falsified, "fire" its good adulterated, and "columns of smoke" mere and dense falsities therefrom.

[9] In David:

The wicked shall perish, and the enemies of Jehovah as the glory of lambs shall be consumed, in smoke shall they be consumed (Psalms 37:20).

"The wicked and the enemies of Jehovah shall be consumed in smoke" signifies that they shall be destroyed by the falsities of evil; those are called "wicked" who are in falsities, and "enemies" who are in evils, and "smoke" means the falsity of evil.

[10] In the same:

As smoke is driven away Thou wilt drive away; as wax melteth before the fire the wicked shall perish before God (Psalms 68:2).

The destruction of the wicked is compared to smoke driven away by the wind, and to wax that melts before the fire, because "smoke" signifies falsities, and "fire" evils.

[11] In Isaiah:

The heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment (Isaiah 51:6).

"Smoke" here signifies falsity, by which those who were in the former heaven would be destroyed; and "the garment waxing old" signifies truth destroyed by the falsities of evil. Comparison is made with smoke vanishing away, and with a garment waxing old, because comparisons in the Word are also correspondences, and in like manner significative.

[12] In Hosea:

They sin more and more, and make them a molten image of their silver, idols in their understanding, all of it the work of the artificers; therefore they shall be as a morning cloud, and as the dew falling early and going away, it is driven by a whirlwind out of the threshing-floor, and like smoke out of a chimney (Hosea 13:2, 3).

This describes the doctrinals that are from self-intelligence, in which are the evils of falsity and the falsities of evil. Such doctrinals are signified by "molten images of silver," and by "idols;" their "silver" signifies what is from self-intelligence, and the "work of the artificers" that intelligence; it is therefore added "in their understanding they have made them idols, all of it the work of the artificers." That such doctrinals, being falsities, would pass away, is signified by "they shall pass away like smoke out of a chimney." It is also said "as a morning cloud, and as the dew falling early, and as [chaff] out of the threshing-floor," because the church in its beginning is like a morning cloud, like dew falling early, and like corn in the threshing-floor, by which are signified the truths of good and the goods of truths, which nevertheless successively pass away and are changed into the falsities of evil and into the evils of falsity.

[13] "Smoke" also signifies falsity in other passages in Revelation, as in the following:

Out of the mouth of the horses went forth fire and smoke and brimstone; and by these was the third part of men slain, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone (Revelation 9:17, 18).

The smoke of their torment goeth up unto the ages of the ages (Revelation 14:11).

And again:

The smoke of Babylon goeth up unto the ages of the ages (Revelation 19:3).

[14] Because "fire" signifies love in both senses, both celestial love and infernal love, and therefore "smoke" signifies that which flows forth from love-falsity, which is from infernal love, and truth, which is from heavenly love-therefore "smoke" signifies in a good sense holy truth. This is what "smoke from the fire of the incense-offerings" signifies, as may be seen above (n. 494), as also in the following passages. In Isaiah:

Jehovah will create over every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and over her convocations, a cloud by day and a smoke and the brightness of a flame of fire by night; for over all the glory shall be a veiling (Isaiah 4:5).

(This may be seen explained above, n. 294, 504.) In the same:

The posts of the thresholds were moved at the voice of the crying seraphim, and the house was filled with smoke (Isaiah 6:4).

In Revelation:

The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from His power (Revelation 15:8).

And again:

The smoke of the incense-offerings with the prayers of the saints ascended out of the angel's hand before God (Revelation 8:4).

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.