593. Verse 1. And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, signifies the Lord as to the Word, here as to its ultimate sense, which is called the sense of the letter. This is evident from the signification of a "strong angel," as being the Lord as to the Word (of which presently); it means as to the Word in its ultimate sense, which is called the sense of the letter, because it is from that sense that the Lord is called "strong," for all the strength and all the power of Divine truth exist and consist in its ultimate, consequently in the sense of the letter of the Word (of which also presently).

[2] Because it is the sense of the letter of the Word that is meant, therefore it is said that the angel was seen "coming down out of heaven." The like is said of the Word, which is the Divine truth; this comes down from the Lord through the heavens into the world, consequently it is adapted to the wisdom of the angels who are in the three heavens, and is also adapted to men who are in the natural world. For this reason the Word in its first origin of all is wholly Divine, afterward celestial, then spiritual, and lastly natural; it is celestial for the angels of the inmost or third heaven, who are called celestial angels, it is spiritual for the angels of the second or middle heaven who are called spiritual angels, and it is celestial-natural and spiritual-natural for the angels of the ultimate or first heaven who are called celestial-natural and spiritual-natural angels, and it is natural for men in the world; for so long as men live in a material body they think and speak naturally. This then is why the Word is with the angels of each heaven, but with a difference according to the degrees of their wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge [scientia]; and although it differs in its sense in each heaven, still it is the same Word, because it is the Divine itself, which is in the Word from the Lord that becomes Divine celestial when it comes down to the inmost or third heaven, and becomes Divine spiritual when it comes down therefrom to the middle or second heaven, and becomes Divine celestial-natural or spiritual-natural when it comes down from that heaven to the ultimate or first heaven, and when it comes down therefrom into the world becomes a Divine natural Word, such as it is with us in the letter. These successive derivations of Divine truth proceeding from the Lord Himself exist by virtue of correspondences, established from creation itself, between things higher and lower, respecting which, the Lord willing, more will be said hereafter.

[3] All strength and all power are in the ultimates of Divine truth, thus in the natural sense of the Word, which is the sense of the letter, because this sense is the containant of all the interior senses, that is, of the spiritual and celestial (spoken of above); and as it is the containant it is also the base, and in the base lies strength itself. For if higher things do not rest upon their base they fall and are scattered. So would it be if the spiritual and celestial things of the Word did not rest upon its natural or literal sense, for this not only sustains the interior senses, but also contains them, consequently the Word or Divine truth is not only in its power, but also in its fullness in this sense. (But on this subject more may be seen above; namely, that strength is in the ultimate, because the Divine is there in its fullness, n. 346, 567. That interior things flow in successively into exteriors, even into the most external or ultimate, and that they coexist there, see Arcana Coelestia 634, 6239, 6465, 9215, 9216; that they not only flow in successively, but also form in their ultimate what is simultaneous, in what order, n. 5897, 6451, 8603, 10099. That therefore there is strength and power in ultimates, n. 9836; that therefore responses and revelations were given in ultimates, n. 9905, 10548; that therefore the ultimate is more holy than the interiors, n. 9824.) From this, too, it follows that everything of doctrine of the church ought to be formed and confirmed from the literal sense of the Word, and that also doctrine has its power from that (See above, n. 356). This is why the "angel coming down out of heaven" is said to be "strong." That "angel" in the Word means in the highest sense the Lord, in a relative sense every recipient of Divine truth from the Lord, and in an abstract sense Divine truth itself, may be seen above (n. 130, 302); here, therefore, "angel" means the Lord as to the Word, because the Word is Divine truth itself. That the Lord Himself is here meant by "angel" can be seen from a like representation of the Lord Himself as to face and feet in the first chapter of this book, where it is said of the Son of man, who is the Lord:

That His face shone as the sun in his power, and that His feet were like unto burnished brass glowing in a furnace (verses Revelation 1:15, 16).

9434. 'And the sight of Jehovah's glory was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel' means Divine Truth beaming brightly with the good of love in heaven itself, but harmful and ruinous with those restricted to its outward level, separated from the inward. This is clear from the meaning of 'the sight of Jehovah's glory' as the appearance presented by Divine Truth emanating from the Lord (the fact that 'the sight of' means the appearance presented before the eyes is self-evident; and for the meaning of 'Jehovah's glory' as Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, see 9429); from the meaning of 'fire' as love in both senses, dealt with in 4906, 5215, 6314, 6832, 7324, in this instance God's love itself; from the meaning of 'the top of the mountain' as the inmost part of heaven, for 'Mount Sinai' means heaven, 9420, 9427, and its highest point, which is called 'the top' and the peak, means its inmost part, 9422; from the meaning of 'devouring' as consuming, and so harming and ruining; and from the representation of 'the children of Israel' as those restricted to outward things, apart from inward ones, dealt with often above. From all this it becomes clear that 'the sight of Jehovah's glory was like a [devouring] fire on the top of the mountain' means Divine Truth beaming brightly with the good of love in heaven itself; and the statement that it was 'like a devouring fire in the eyes of the children of Israel' means that with those restricted to its outward level, apart from the inward, it was harmful and ruinous.

[2] The implications of all this are that there are two kinds of love which are complete opposites, heavenly love and hellish love. Heavenly love consists of love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour; hellish love consists of self-love and love of the world. Those with whom hellish loves reign are in hell, whereas those with whom heavenly loves reign are in heaven. For love is what constitutes the actual life within a person; without the love there is no life whatever. In everyone the heat and fire that his life possesses originate in his love; without that animating heat and fire he has no life, as is plainly evident. From this it follows that the character of the love determines the character of the life, and therefore that the character of the love determines that of the person. This being so, anyone can know from what his loves are whether he has heaven within himself or hell. The love present in a person is like a fire or flame, and in addition constitutes, as has been stated, the fire or flame of life; and the faith present there is like the light radiating from that fire or flame, and in addition constitutes the light which enlightens the more internal parts of his understanding. This also reveals the character of the light which gives rise to faith among those governed by heavenly love and the character of the light which gives rise to faith among those ruled by hellish love. The latter kind of light gives rise to faith that is no more than persuasion, which in itself is not faith at all, only a conviction that something is so, dictated by selfishness and worldliness, see 9363-9369. In the Church at the present day spiritual life, which is eternal life, is thought to lie in faith alone, thus in faith without the good works of heavenly love. But anyone who gives thought to the matter can see from the things which have now been stated what the character of that life is.

[3] Something must be said next about what Divine fire, that is, Divine Love, is like among those governed by heavenly love and what it is like among those ruled by hellish love. Among those governed by heavenly love it is God's fire or love constantly creating and renewing the interior parts of the will and enlightening the interior parts of the understanding. But among those ruled by hellish love it is God's fire or love constantly harming and ruining; and the reason for this is that among these people God's love meets with contrary feelings that destroy it. For it is turned into the fire or love of self and the world, and so into contempt for others in comparison with themselves, into feelings of enmity towards all who do not support them, thus into feelings of hatred, feelings of vengeance, and finally the readiness to behave brutally. This is why Jehovah's fire appeared before the eyes of the children of Israel as a devouring or consuming one. For being restricted to outward things, apart from inward, they were ruled by selfish and worldly love.

[4] The fact that this fire was to them a devouring and consuming one is again evident elsewhere in Moses,

It happened, when you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, and the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. And you said, Lo, Jehovah our God has caused us to see His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire. Why therefore should we die? For this great fire will devour us; if we hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more we shall certainly die. Deuteronomy 5:23-25.

See also what has been shown in 6832, 8814, 8819, and the places quoted in 9380 showing that the character of this people was such. There are other places in the Word in which 'devouring fire' is used in reference to the wicked and means ruination, for example in Joel,

The day of Jehovah is coming, a day of darkness and thick darkness, a day of cloud and gloom. Fire devours before them, ¹ and behind them a flame burns. The land before them is like the garden of Eden, but behind them a desolate wilderness. ² Joel 2:1-3.

[5] In Isaiah,

Jehovah will cause His glorious voice ³ to be heard, in the flame of a devouring fire. Isaiah 30:30.

In the same prophet,

Who among us will dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us will dwell with the hearths of eternity? Isaiah 33:14.

In the same prophet,

You will be punished ⁴ by Jehovah with the flame of a devouring fire. Isaiah 29:6.

In Ezekiel,

Your descendants will be devoured by fire. Ezekiel 23:25.

In these places 'a devouring fire' is the fire of desires that spring from self-love and love of the world, for this fire is that which consumes a person and ruins the Church. This was also represented by the fire that went out from before Jehovah, which devoured Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu, because they put foreign ⁵ fire in their censers, Leviticus 10:1-2. 'Putting foreign fire in censers' means introducing worship that springs from a love other than that which is heavenly. Such fire means selfish and worldly love, and every desire arising from it, see 1297, 1861, 5071, 5215, 6314, 6832, 7324, 7575, 9141.

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