578. Out of their mouths went out fire, and smoke, and brimstone, signifies thoughts and consequent reasonings springing from the love of evil and from the love of falsity, and from the lust for destroying truths and goods by the falsities of evil. This is evident from the signification of the "mouth," as being thought and consequent reasoning respecting which see in the explanation of verse 19); from the signification of "fire," as being the love of self and the love of evil therefrom (See above, n. 504, 539); from the signification of "smoke," as being the dense falsity springing from the love of evil (See also above, n. 494, 539); and from the signification of "brimstone," as being the lust of destroying the truths and goods of the church by the falsities of evil.

[2] That this is the signification of "brimstone" can be seen from passages of the Word where it is mentioned. Thus in Moses:

Jehovah made brimstone and fire to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24).

In Luke:

In the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. After the same manner shall it be in the day that the Son of man is revealed (Luke 17:29, 30).

Those who were in Sodom and Gomorrah mean those who are in the falsities of evil from the love of self; and since the falsities of evil from that love destroyed them, it rained brimstone and fire, "brimstone" because of the lust of destroying the church by the falsities of evil, and "fire" because that lust burst forth from the love of self. That it should be thus "when the Son of man should be revealed," signifies that then, too, falsities of evil from the love of self will destroy the church. Such rain appears in the spiritual world when the evil who are in falsities from that love are cast down into hell.

[3] In Moses:

What shall your sons say, and the alien, when they shall see the plagues of that land, and its sicknesses. The whole land is brimstone and salt, and a conflagration; it is not sown, it doth not spring up, nor doth any herb grow upon it, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim (Deuteronomy 29:22, 23).

These were the curses with which the sons of Israel were threatened if they did not keep the commandments and statutes, and if they worshiped other gods; and because the church is thus laid waste and destroyed by the falsities of evil and the evils of falsity it is said that "the whole land is then brimstone, and salt, and conflagration," the "land" signifying the church; and "it will not be sown, nor spring up, nor any herb grow upon it," signifies that no longer will any truth from good be received or brought forth.

[4] In Isaiah:

Topheth is prepared of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he shall go down into a deep and wide place; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of Jehovah like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it (Isaiah 30:33).

"Topheth" signifies the hell in which the direful and cruel love of destroying all the truths and goods of the church reigns, especially the cruel lust for destroying the goods of innocence; that this direful hell is from the falsities of evil is signified by "he shall go down into a deep and wide place;" the "king for whom it is prepared" signifies infernal falsity itself; "the pile thereof is fire and wood," signifies evils of every kind belonging to that love; and because that hell burns with a lust for destroying, it is said, "the breath of Jehovah like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it;" for there, as soon as they hear from anyone the truths of the church and perceive its goods, they are inflamed with a frenzy for destroying and extinguishing them.

[5] In Isaiah:

The day of Jehovah's vengeance, and the year of retribution for the controversy of Zion, and the brooks thereof shall be turned into pitch, and its dust into brimstone, and its land shall become burning pitch; it shall not be quenched night or day, the smoke thereof shall go up forever (Isaiah 34:8-10).

"The day of Jehovah's vengeance, and the year of retribution for the controversy of Zion" signifies the Lord's coming, and the Last Judgment then accomplished by Him; "the brooks shall be turned into pitch, and the dust into brimstone," signifies the hell into which those are cast, who are in the falsities of evil, and in the evils of falsity; the evil of infernal love and its punishment are signified by "the burning pitch shall not be quenched night or day;" and the direful falsity from that evil is signified by "the smoke shall go up forever."

[6] In Ezekiel:

And I will plead with Gog with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him an overflowing rain and hailstones, fire and brimstone (Ezekiel 38:22).

By "Gog" is meant those who place all worship in a holy and pious external, and not in what is internal, and yet the quality of external worship is the same as the quality of its internal. It is said, "Jehovah shall rain upon them an overflowing rain, hailstones, fire, and brimstone," which signifies falsities and evils destroying all the truths and goods of the church; "fire and brimstone" mean the evils of falsity and the falsities of evil, both of which are diabolical.

[7] In David:

Jehovah shall rain upon the wicked snares, fire, and brimstone; and a wind of storms shall be the portion of their cup (Psalms 11:6).

This signifies that the wicked will be destroyed by their own evils of falsity and their own falsities of evil, which will destroy with them all truths of the church; "snares, fire, and brimstone," mean the evils of falsity and the falsities of evil; "the wind of storms which shall be the portion of their cup," signifies the destruction of all truth. Evidently it is not meant that Jehovah will rain fire and brimstone upon the wicked, for it is also said that "He will rain snares" upon them; therefore "fire and brimstone" signify such things as totally destroy the truths and goods of the church.

[8] Likewise in Job:

Brimstone shall be scattered upon the habitation of the wicked one (Acts of the Apostles 18:15).

"Brimstone" means such falsity of evil as destroys everything of the church with man; this is falsity from the evil of the love of self, such as those were in who dwelt in Sodom and Gomorrah, respecting which is said:

That it overthrew not only the cities and inhabitants, but also the plain and that which springeth up in the field (Genesis 19:25);

"that which springeth up in the field" signifies the truths of the church springing up. "Fire and brimstone" have a like signification in the following passages in Revelation:

If anyone worship the beast and his image he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone (Revelation 14:9, 10).

The beast and the false prophet were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone (Revelation 19:20).

The devil was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are the beast and the false prophet (Revelation 20:10).

The murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone (Revelation 21:8).

302. Verse 2. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a great voice, signifies exploration by the influx of the Lord into heaven. This is evident from the signification of a "strong angel," as being heaven (of which presently); also from the signification of "proclaiming with a great voice," as being exploration by the influx of the Lord, namely, exploration whether anyone is able to know the states of life of all in heaven and on the earth in general and in particular, for this is what is here treated of. This is signified by "proclaiming," and the influx of the Lord is signified by "a great voice;" for "voice," in reference to the Lord, signifies every truth of the Word, of doctrine, and of faith from Him; and in reference to heaven and the church, it signifies every thought and affection thence; and since everything true and good that angels in heaven and men in whom the church is, think and are affected by, is from the influx of the Lord, this is what is here signified by "a great voice." For it is well known, that no one from the love of good can be affected by good, and from the love of truth can think truth, of himself, but that this flows in from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord; and because this is so, "a great voice" signifies the influx of the Lord. (That "voice" in the Word signifies the truth of the Word, of doctrine, and of faith, also everything announced in the Word, see above, n. 261, and Arcana Coelestia 3563, 6971, 8813, 9926; and that it signifies the interior affection of truth and good, and thought therefrom, n. 10454) A "strong angel" signifies heaven because the whole angelic heaven before the Lord is as one man, or as one angel, likewise each society of heaven; therefore by "angel" in the Word an angel is not meant, but an entire angelic society, as by "Michael," "Gabriel," "Raphael." Here, therefore, "a strong angel proclaiming with a great voice" signifies the influx of the Lord into the whole heaven. That it is into the whole heaven is clear from what follows, for it is said, "And no one was able, in heaven nor upon the earth, neither under the earth, to open the book and to look thereon." (That "angels" in the Word mean entire societies of heaven, and in the highest sense the Lord in respect to Divine truth proceeding, see above, n. 90, 130, 200; and that The Whole Heaven before the Lord is as One Man, or as One Angel, and also every Society of Heaven, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 59-87.)