601. Telling those dwelling upon the earth to make an image of the beast that was injured by the sword and lived. This symbolically means that the clergy induce people in the church to accept as doctrine that faith is the only means of salvation, because no one can do good of himself without its being merit-seeking, and because no one can fulfill the law and in that way be saved.

Those dwelling upon the earth mean people in the Protestant Reformed Church, as in no. 600 above. The image symbolizes the doctrine of that church, as explained below. And the image of the beast that was injured by the sword and lived symbolizes this tenet of the doctrine, that faith is the only means of salvation, because no one can do good of himself without its being merit-seeking, and because no one can fulfill the law and in that way be saved (see nos. 576, 577ff. above).

[2] Every church appears to the Lord as a person. If it is governed by truths from the Word, it appears as an attractive person. But if it is caught up in truths falsified, it appears as a hideous person. The church appears as it does in keeping with its doctrine and in keeping with its life in accordance with that doctrine. It follows from this that a church's doctrine presents an image of the church.

This can also be seen from the fact that every person embodies his own goodness and truth or his own evil and falsity. It is this and nothing else that makes a person human. Consequently it is doctrine and a life in accordance with it which produces the image of a person in the church - the image of an attractive person if the doctrine and his life in accordance with it conform with the Word's genuine truths, but the image of a hideous person if they accord with the Word's truths falsified.

[3] In the spiritual world, moreover, a person appears as a kind of animal, but it is his affection that so appears at a distance. People impelled by truths and goods from the Lord look like lambs and doves, while those caught up in falsified truths and adulterated goods look like owls and bats. People possessing a faith divorced from charity look like dragons and goats. Those caught up in falsities springing from evil look like basilisks ¹ and crocodiles. And those who are of this character and yet have affirmed the teachings of the church look like fiery flying serpents.

It can be seen from this that the church's doctrine and a life in accordance with it are meant by the image of the beast which the people made for those dwelling upon the earth.

[4] But what eventually became of those who worshiped the image of the beast may be seen in Revelation 14:9-11; 19:20, cf. 20:4.

Images have similar symbolic meanings in the spiritual sense in Exodus 20:4-5, Leviticus 26:1, Deuteronomy 4:16-18, Isaiah 2:16, Ezekiel 7:20; 16:17; 23:14-16.

Among the ancients, idols and carved images were symbols of their religious faith. Consequently they symbolize doctrinal falsities and evils (no. 459).

Poznámky pod čarou:

458. So as not to worship demons. This symbolically means that thus they were caught up in the evils of their lusts, and acted in concert with their like in hell.

Demons symbolize lusts for evil arising from a love of the world. That is because people in hell who are caught up in those lusts are called demons, and people on earth who are caught up in them too, become demons after death. They also have an affiliation with those in hell. For everyone is affiliated with spirits in respect to his affections, so closely that the two are inseparable. It is apparent from this that to worship demons is to yield to those lusts from a love of them.

Someone, then, who invokes faith alone as the chief tenet of his religion or as his idol - he, because he does not search out any evil in himself that he calls a sin, and therefore does not determine to remove it by repentance, remains caught up in it. And because every evil is composed of lusts, and is nothing but a bundle of lusts, it follows that a person who does not search out any evil in himself and refrain from it as a sin against God, which is possible solely through repentance, after death becomes a demon.

[2] Demons symbolize just such lusts in the following passages:

They sacrifice to demons, not to God. (Deuteronomy 32:17)

(The children of Israel) no longer offered their sacrifices to demons, after whom they had played the harlot. (Leviticus 17:7, cf. Psalms 106:37)

Ziyyim will meet with 'iyyim, and the forest demon will encounter its companion. (Isaiah 34:14)

Ziyyim will sing there, and their houses will be full of 'ochim; the offspring of owls will dwell there, and forest demons will caper there. (Isaiah 13:21).

Ziyyim, 'iyyim, 'ochim, and the offspring of owls symbolize various lusts. Forest demons are the kinds of lusts exhibited by priapi and satyrs.

Babylon... has become a dwelling place of demons, and a prison for every foul spirit... (Revelation 18:2)

The demons that the Lord cast out embodied such lusts when they lived in the world - regarding which see Matthew 8:16, 28; 9:32-33; 10:8; 12:22; 15:22; Luke 4:33-37, 41; 8:2, 8:26-40; 9:1, 9:37-42, 9:49; 13:32.