1022. To give unto her the cup of the wrath of His anger, signifies its devastation through direful falsities of evil. This is evident from the signification of a "cup," as being falsity from hell, which is the falsity of evil (See n. 960; and as it appears as if God were wrathful and angry on account of this it is called "the cup of the wrath of the anger of God," "wrath" on account of the falsity, and "anger" on account of the evil. So "to give unto her that cup" signifies to devastate, for the falsity of evil from hell devastates the church as to all good and truth. That the church meant by "Babylon" has been thus devastated will be made evident from the two following chapters.

(The Tenth Commandment)

[2] "Thou shalt not covet (or desire) thy neighbor's wife, his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass." These are lusts after what is man's own, because the wife, manservant, maidservant, ox, and ass, are within his house, and the things within a man's house mean in the spiritual internal sense the things that are his own, that is, the wife means the affection of spiritual truth and good, "manservant and maidservant," the affection of rational truth and good serving the spiritual, and "ox and ass" the affection of natural good and truth. These signify in the Word such affections; but because coveting and desiring these affections means to will and eagerly desire to subject a man to one's own authority or bidding, it follows that lusting after these affections means the lusts of the love of self, that is, of the love of ruling, for thus does one make the things belonging to a companion to be his own.

[3] From this it can now be seen that the lust of the ninth commandment is the lust of the love of the world, and that the lusts of this commandment are lusts of the love of self. For, as has been said before, all lusts are of love, for it is love that covets; and as there are two evil loves to which all lusts have reference, namely, the love of the world and the love of self, it follows that the lust of the ninth commandment has reference to the love of the world, and the lust of this commandment to the love of self, especially to the love of ruling. (That all evils and the falsities therefrom flow from these two loves may be seen above, n. 159, 171, 394, 506, 517, 650, 950, 951, 973, 982, 1010, 1016; and in the New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, n. 65-83.)

517. And there fell from heaven a great star burning as a lamp, signifies the truth of the Word falsified by self-love. This is evident from the signification of "stars," as being the knowledges of truth and good, likewise the truths and goods of knowledges from the Word (See above, n. 72, 402); also from the signification of "burning as a lamp," as being to be falsified by self-love; "to burn" is predicated of self-love because this love is signified by "fire" (See above, n. 504, and a "lamp" signifies the truth of the Word, of doctrine, and of faith (See also above, n. 274. From this it can be seen that "there fell from heaven a great star burning as a lamp" signifies the truth of the Word falsified by self-love.

[2] It is to be noted that all those who are in the love of self, if they study the Word, falsify its truths, for the reason that all truth is out of heaven from the Lord, and nothing of it from what is man's own [proprium], and those who are in the love of self are immersed in what is their own [proprium], and from that they obtain every idea of thought respecting the truths of the Word. In consequence of this they falsify these truths, not in respect to the sense of the letter of the Word, but in respect to the understanding of the truth that is in it; for to understand words otherwise than according to their true sense is to falsify them.

[3] There are two states of man's thoughts, one when from the Lord he is in thought respecting truths, the other when from himself. When from the Lord he is in thought respecting truths his mind is elevated even into the light of heaven, from which he has illustration and right perception of truth; but when from himself he is in thought respecting truths, his mind falls into the light of the world; and that light, in respect to things spiritual, or the things of heaven and the church, is thick darkness, in which man sees only such things as shine from the fire or the love of self and of the world, and these in themselves are falsities that are opposites of truths.