1292. That 'they found a valley in the land of Shinar' means that worship became more unclean and unholy is clear from the meaning of 'a valley' and from the meaning of 'the land of Shinar'. As regards the meaning of 'a valley', in the Word 'mountains' means love or charity because these are the highest points, or what amounts to the same, inmost features of worship, as shown already in 795. Consequently 'a valley' means that which is below the mountains, that is, the lower, or what amounts to the same, exterior aspect of worship. 'The land of Shinar' however means external worship which has unholiness within it, as shown already in 1183. Thus in this verse the statement that 'they found a valley in the land of Shinar' means that worship became more unclean and unholy.

[2] Verse one dealt with the Church having one lip and its words being one that is, one doctrine in general and in particular. This verse however deals with the decline of the Church - 'they travelled from the east' that is, they began to depart from charity. For to the extent that the Church, or a member of the Church, departs from charity, its worship departs from what is holy, or its worship approaches what is unclean and unholy. The reason 'they found a valley in the land of Shinar' means the decline of the Church, that is, of worship, into unholiness is that a valley is a low-lying area between mountains, which, as has been stated, mean the holy things of love or of charity within worship. This also becomes clear from the meaning of 'a valley' in the Word where in the original language several expressions for valley occur which mean, when used in that sense, things present in worship that are less or more unholy.

[3] That 'valleys' means such things is clear in Isaiah,

The burden of the valley of vision; for the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth has a day of tumult and of trampling and of confusion in the valley of vision. Isaiah 22:1, 5.

'The valley of vision' stands for delusions and for reasonings by which worship is rendered false and at length profaned. In Jeremiah,

How do you say, I have not been defiled, I have not walked after the baals? Look at your way in the valley. Jeremiah 2:23.

'The valley' stands for unclean worship. In the same prophet, They have built the high places of Topheth, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom. Therefore, behold, the days are coming when it will no more be called Topheth or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter. Jeremiah 7:31, 34; 19:6.

'The valley of Hinnom' stands for hell, also for the profanation of truth and good.

[4] In Ezekiel,

Thus said the Lord Jehovih to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys Behold, I, even I, am bringing a sword places. Ezekiel 6:3.

In the same prophet,

I will give to Gog a place there for burial in Israel, the valley of those that pass over towards the east of the sea. And they will call it the valley of the multitude of Gog. Ezekiel 39:11, 15.

This refers to worship in external things, 'the valley' standing for such worship. But when worship has not yet become unholy to that extent, it is described by the word for a valley used here in Genesis 11:2, as in Isaiah,

I will open rivers on the sloping heights, and I will place springs in the midst of valleys; I will make the wilderness into a pool of water, and the dry land into streams of water. Isaiah 41:18.

This refers to people who are in ignorance, that is, without cognitions of faith and charity, and who yet have charity. 'valley' here stands for those people, as does 'valley' in Ezekiel 37:1.

Jerusalem, on Mount Zion, signifies the doctrine of love to the Lord, and how it governs your life. Jerusalem first comes to our attention in 2 Samuel 5, when King David takes the city from the Jebusites and makes it his capital. In the next chapter he brings the Ark of the Covenant there, and later it is where Solomon builds the temple, and his own palace. From then on Jerusalem is the center of worship of the Israelitish church. It is the place where the Lord was presented in the temple as a baby, where He tarried to talk to the priests at age twelve, where He cleansed the temple, had the last supper, was crucified and then rose. It is a central place in both the old and new Testaments. The city was built on Mount Zion, the highest point of the mountains of Judea. A city, in the Word, represents doctrine, the organized knowledge of the truths of the church. Mountains represent love of the Lord and the consequent worship. If you put those things together, Jerusalem on Mount Zion signifies the doctrine of love to the Lord, and how it governs your life. This is why David was led to make Jerusalem the most important city of the land, and why all worship was conducted there. And this is also why Jeroboam was condemned for introducing idol worship in Samaria. In the Book of Revelation, John's vision of the city New Jerusalem descending from God is a prophecy of a new dispensation of doctrine coming from the Lord.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 4539, 8938; The Apocalypse Explained 365 [35-38])