6435. Even to the desire of the hills of an age. That this signifies to celestial mutual love, is evident from the signification of the “hills of an age,” as being the things of mutual love (of which in what follows). That the spiritual church may come to this love, is signified by “even to the desire of the hills of an age.” Before it is shown from other passages of the Word that by the “hills of an age” is signified mutual love, it must first be told what is meant by the mutual love to which the man of the spiritual church, represented by Joseph, busies himself in arriving. From what has frequently been said and shown above, it is evident that there are two kingdoms which constitute heaven, namely, the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. The difference between these two kingdoms is that the internal good of the celestial kingdom is the good of love to the Lord, and its external is the good of mutual love; they who are of this kingdom are in the good of love, but not in the truth which is called the truth of faith, for this is in the good of this kingdom, insomuch that it cannot be seen separately from good, and therefore they who belong to this kingdom cannot even mention faith (n. 202, 203, 4448), because with them instead of the truth of faith there is the good of mutual love. But as regards the spiritual kingdom, its internal is the good of charity toward the neighbor, while its external is the truth of faith.

[2] From all this it is evident what is the difference between these two kingdoms, and also that they agree in the fact that the external of the celestial kingdom coincides with the internal of the spiritual kingdom, through the intermediate which is called the “celestial of the spiritual.” For as before said the external of the celestial kingdom is the good of mutual love, and the internal of the spiritual kingdom is the good of charity toward the neighbor; but the good of mutual love is more interior than the good of charity toward the neighbor, because the former is from the rational, but the latter is from the natural. But although the good of mutual love (which is the external of the celestial church) is more interior, and the good of charity toward the neighbor is more exterior, nevertheless, as just said, the Lord conjoins these goods by an intermediate, and thus conjoins these two kingdoms.

[3] In order to make a distinction between the external good of the celestial church and the internal good of the spiritual church, in the following pages we may call the former good the good of mutual love, and the latter the good of charity toward the neighbor, which difference has not been heretofore observed. These things being first known, it may be said what is signified by “even to the desire of the hills of an age,” which is among the blessings of Israel concerning this spiritual church, namely, that the spiritual kingdom may rise above the good of charity even to the good of mutual love, which is of the celestial kingdom; and that in this way these two kingdoms may be intimately conjoined: this is what is signified by these words.

[4] In very many passages of the prophetic Word mention is made of “mountains and hills,” and by them in the internal sense are signified the goods of love-by “mountains” the good of love to the Lord, which is the internal of the celestial kingdom; and by “hills” the good of mutual love, which is the external of the same kingdom; but where the spiritual kingdom is treated of, then by “mountains” is signified the good of charity toward the neighbor, which is the internal of this kingdom, and by “hills” the truth of faith, which is its external. Be it known that every church of the Lord is internal and external, and so is each of His kingdoms.

[5] That such is the signification of “hills,” is evident from the following passages:

In the latter days the mountain of Jehovah shall be for the head of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills (Isaiah 2:2; Mic. 9:1 [NCBSP: 4:1]).

The “mountain of Jehovah,” which is Zion, denotes the Lord’s celestial kingdom, thus the good of this kingdom, which is of love to the Lord; thus in the supreme sense it is the Lord Himself, for all the love and all the good in the celestial kingdom belong to the Lord.

[6] The like is signified by the “mountain of Zion” elsewhere in the Word, and by the “hill thereof” the good of mutual love, as in Isaiah:

Jehovah Zebaoth shall come down to fight upon the mountain of Zion, and upon the hill thereof (Isaiah 31:4); where “hill” denotes the good of mutual love; and as by a “hill” is signified the good of mutual love, and by a “mountain” the good of celestial love, which is the good of love to the Lord, it is said that “Jehovah would descend to fight upon that mountain.” Jehovah does not fight upon the mountain of Zion and the hill thereof; but where the good of love is, it is for this, that is, for those who are in it, that the Lord (in this passage “Jehovah”) fights. If He fought for Zion and for Jerusalem, it is because they represented the celestial church. Therefore also the mountain of Zion was called holy, and Jerusalem also was said to be holy, when yet in itself it was filthy, as is plain from the prophets, where its abominations are treated of.

[7] In David:

The mountains shall bring peace, and the hills in righteousness (Psalms 72:3).

In the same:

Praise Jehovah ye mountains, and all hills (Psalms 148:9).

In the same:

The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like the sons of the flock (Psalms 114:4, 6).

Again:

A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan; a mountain of hills is the mountain of Bashan. Why leap ye, ye mountains, ye hills of mountains? God desires to dwell in it, Jehovah also shall dwell forever (Psalms 68:15-16).

In these passages “mountains” denote celestial love, and “hills” spiritual love; that mountains are not here meant, nor hills, nor they who were upon mountains and hills, is very manifest.

[8] In Isaiah:

There shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every lifted up hill, streams, channels of waters (Isaiah 30:25);

“channels of waters” denote the knowledges of good and of truth, which are said to be “upon every high mountain and lifted up hill” because these knowledges flow from the goods of celestial and spiritual love.

[9] In Habakkuk:

Jehovah stood and measured the earth; He saw and dispersed the nations, because the mountains of eternity were scattered, and the hills of an age humbled themselves (Hab. 3:6).

The “mountains of eternity” denote the good of love of the Most Ancient Church, which was celestial; the “hills of an age,” the good of mutual love that belonged to that church; the former being its internal, the latter its external. When that church is meant in the Word, seeing that it was the most ancient one, “eternity” is sometimes added, as here the “mountains of eternity,” and elsewhere the “days of eternity” (n. 6239); and an “age” also is added, as here the “hills of an age,” and also in the prophetic utterance of Israel: “to the desire of the hills of an age.” Hence it is evident that by the “hills of an age” are signified the goods of mutual love, which are of the celestial church, or of the Lord’s celestial kingdom.

[10] So in Moses, in his prophetic utterance about Joseph:

Of the first-fruits of the mountains of the east, and of the precious things of the hills of eternity, let them come on the head of Joseph (Deuteronomy 33:15-16).

In Isaiah:

The mountains and the hills shall resound with singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12).

In Joel:

In that day the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall flow with waters (Joel 3:18; Amos 9:13).

In Ezekiel:

My sheep wander in all the mountains, and upon every high hill, and upon all the faces of the earth are they scattered. I will make them, the compass of My hill, a blessing; and I will send down the rain in its season (Ezekiel 34:6, 26).

In Jeremiah:

Wasters are come upon all the hills in the wilderness; for the sword of Jehovah devoureth (Jeremiah 12:12).

In these passages the goods of celestial love are signified by “mountains;” and likewise by “hills,” but in a lower degree.

[11] Because “mountains” and “hills” signified such things, in the Ancient Church their Divine worship also was upon mountains and upon hills; and afterward the Hebrew nation set altars upon mountains and hills, and there sacrificed and burnt incense; and where there were no hills, they constructed high places. But because this worship became idolatrous, through holding the mountains and hills themselves holy, and thinking nothing at all about the holy things which they signified, this worship was therefore forbidden the Israelitish and Jewish people, because that people was more prone to idolatry than any other. In order however that this representative which had been in ancient times might be retained, the mountain of Zion was chosen, and by it in the supreme sense was represented the Divine good of the Lord’s Divine love, and in the relative sense the Divine celestial and the Divine spiritual in His kingdom.

[12] As such things were signified, Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his son upon one of the mountains in the land of Moriah; and the Lord was also seen upon a mountain by Moses, and the Law was promulgated from the elevation of a mountain, for He was seen by Moses upon Mount Horeb, and the Law was promulgated upon Mount Sinai; and the temple of Jerusalem was also built upon a mountain.

[13] That from an ancient rite holy worship was held upon mountains and hills, and afterward the Gentiles and also the idolatrous Israelites and Jews sacrificed and burnt incense thereon, is plain in Jeremiah:

Thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the wickedness of thy whoredom, upon the hills in the field, I have seen thine abominations (Jeremiah 13:27);

speaking of Jerusalem.

In Ezekiel:

When their pierced ones shall be in the midst of their idols, round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the heads of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every tangled oak (Ezekiel 6:13).

In Jeremiah:

Upon every high hill, and under every green tree, thou transgressing harlot (Jeremiah 2:20; 3:6; an. 1 Kings 14:23; 2 Kings 16:4; 17:10).

[14] Because idolatrous worship took place upon mountains and hills, by them are signified in the opposite sense the evils that belong to the love of self; as in Jeremiah:

The mountains, and lo they are shaken, and all the hills are overturned. I held and lo there was no man, and all the birds of heaven had flown away (Jeremiah 4:24-25).

In Isaiah:

Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill shall be humbled (Isaiah 40:4).

In the same:

Behold I have put thee for a thresher of a new thresher, set with spikes; thou shalt thresh the mountains, and shalt make the hills as chaff (Isaiah 41:15).

Again:

I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbage (Isaiah 42:15).

And in Micah:

Hear ye I pray what Jehovah speaketh: Arise, contend thou with the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice (Mic. 6:1).

In Jeremiah:

My people have been lost sheep, their shepherds have misled them, refractory mountains, they have gone from a mountain upon a hill, they have forgotten their fold (Jeremiah 50:6; and in other plac es, as Jeremiah 16:6; Nah. 1:5-6).

[15] The reason why “mountains” and “hills” signified the goods of celestial and spiritual love, was that they were prominent above the earth, and by things prominent and high were signified those which were of heaven, and in the supreme sense which were of the Lord. For the “land of Canaan” signified the Lord’s heavenly kingdom (n. 1607, 3038, 3481, 3705, 4240, 4447); hence all things in that land were significative, the “mountains” and “hills” being significative of such things as are high; for when the most ancient people who were of the celestial church ascended a mountain they thought of height, and from height, of what is holy, because Jehovah or the Lord was said to dwell “in the highest,” and because in the spiritual sense “height” denoted the good of love (n. 650).

3355. That in the internal sense an “earthquake” signifies a change in the state of the church, is evident from the signification of “earth,” as being the church (n. 566, 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928); and from the signification of “quaking,” or movement, as being a change of state; here, as to the things of the church, namely, in respect to good and truth. The same is also evident from other passages in the Word, as in Isaiah:

It shall come to pass that he who fleeth from the voice of the dread shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for the cataracts from on high were opened, and the foundations of the earth were shaken; in breaking the earth is broken; in moving the earth is moved; reeling the earth reeleth like a drunken man, and sways to and fro like a hut; and the transgression thereof is heavy upon it; and it shall fall and not rise again. And it shall come to pass in that day that Jehovah shall visit upon the army of the height on high, and upon the kings of the ground upon the ground (Isaiah 24:18-21).

That in this passage the “earth” is the church, is plainly evident; for it is the church that is treated of, whose foundations are said to be “shaken,” and itself to be “broken and moved, and to reel and sway to and fro,” when good and truth are no longer known. The “kings of the ground” are truths; here, falsities, upon which there will be visitation. (That “kings” are truths, and in the opposite sense falsities, see above, n. 1672, 2015; and that “ground,” like “earth,” denotes the church, but with a difference, n. 566, 1068.)

[2] Again:

I will make a man more rare than fine gold, and a man than the gold of Ophir; therefore I will shake the heaven, and the earth shall be shaken out of her place; in the indignation of Jehovah of Armies, and in the day of the wrath of His anger (Isaiah 13:12-13);

speaking of the day of judgment; and in this passage also “earth” clearly denotes the church, which is said to be “shaken out of its place,” when it is changed as to state. (That “place” is state may be seen above, n. 1273-1275, 1377, 2625, 2837) Again:

Is this the man that shaketh the earth, that shaketh kingdoms, that maketh the world as a wilderness, and destroyeth the cities thereof? (Isaiah 14:16-17);

speaking of Lucifer; the “earth” denotes the church, which he is said to “shake” when man attributes to himself all things of it. (That “kingdoms” are the truths of the church may be seen above, n. 1672, 2547)

[3] In Ezekiel:

It shall come to pass in that day, when Gog cometh upon the land of Israel, that My wrath shall rise in Mine anger; in My zeal and in the fire of My indignation I will speak, Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake upon the ground of Israel (Ezekiel 38:18-20);

“Gog” denotes external worship separate from internal, and thus become idolatrous (n. 1151); the “earth” and the “ground of Israel” denote the spiritual church; the “earthquake,” a change in its state.

In Joel:

The earth quaked before Him, the heavens trembled, the sun and the moon became black, and the stars withdrew their brightness (Joel 2:10); where also the subject is the day of the Last Judgment the “earth quaking” denotes a changed state of the church; the “sun and moon,” the good of love and its truth (n. 1599, 1530, 2441, 2495), which are said to “become black,” when goods and truths are no longer acknowledged; the “stars” denote the knowledges of good and truth (n. 2495, 2849).

In David:

The earth was shaken and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled and were shaken, because He was wroth (Psalms 18:7).

The “earth shaken and quaking” denotes the state of the church become perverted.

[4] In John:

And I beheld when he opened the sixth seal, and lo there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth (Revelation 6:12-13); where the “earthquake, sun, moon, and stars” have a like signification as above in Joel. Again:

In that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell; and there were killed in the earthquake names of men seven thousand (Revelation 11:13).

From all these passages it is evident that an “earthquake” is nothing else than a change in the state of the church; and that in the internal sense the “earth” is nothing else than the church; and as the “earth” is the church, it is evident that by the “new heaven and new earth,” which were to succeed in place of the former (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; Revelation 21:1), there is signified nothing else than a new church internal and external (n. 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118).