753. REVELATION: CHAPTER 18
1. Then after these things I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory.
2. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and it has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a prison for every unclean and loathsome bird!
3. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her licentiousness, the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich owing to the potencies of her delights."
4. And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my peoples, lest you participate in her sins, and lest you become recipients of her plagues.
5. For her sins have mounted even to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
6. Render to her as she rendered to you, repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her.
7. In the measure that she glorified herself and worked her pleasure, in the same measure give her torment and grief; for she says in her heart, 'I sit as queen and am not a widow, and will not see grief.'
8. "Therefore her plagues will come in one day - death and mourning and hunger. And she will be burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.
9. And the kings of the earth who committed whoredom with her and delighted in her will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning,
10. standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, 'Woe, woe, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.'
11. And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their merchandise anymore:
12. merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones, and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of thyine wood, 1
every kind of ivory vessel, every vessel of precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;
13. and cinnamon, fragrances, ointment and frankincense, and wine, oil, flour, wheat, cattle, and sheep, and merchandise of horses, and wagons, and the bodies and souls of people.
14. The fruits that your soul longed for have gone from you, and all things rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all.
15. "The merchants of these things, whom she made rich, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and mourning,
16. and saying, 'Woe, woe, that great city, clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls,'
17. because in one hour such great riches were laid waste. Every helmsman, everyone traveling by ship, and sailors, as many as work at sea, stood at a distance
18. and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, 'What other city may be compared to this great city?'
19. And they put dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning, and saying, 'Woe, woe, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea were made rich by her wealth!' because in one hour they were destroyed.
20. "Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has visited your judgment on her!"
21. Then a mighty angel lifted up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "Thus shall Babylon, that great city, be forcefully thrown down, and not be found anymore.
22. The sound of harpists and musicians, flutists and trumpeters, shall not be heard in you anymore; no craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore; and the sound of a mill shall not be heard in you anymore.
23. The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the sound of a bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, because by your sorcery all the nations were led astray.
24. And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all those slain on the earth."
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
Treatment of the Roman Catholic religion continues, that because of its adulterations and profanations of the Word's truths and so those of the church, it will perish (verses 1-8). Concerning the highest in its ecclesiastic order, their character and grief (verses 9, 10). Concerning those lower in that order (verses 11-16). Concerning the laity and common people who are kept obedient to them (verses 17-19). The joy of the angels because of that religion's removal (verse 20). Its destruction in the spiritual world because of its lacking any acknowledgment of truth, inquiry into truth, enlightenment in truth, or acceptance of truth, and its lacking therefore any conjunction of truth and goodness, which is what forms the church (verses 21-24).
The Contents of the Individual Verses:
| Verse Contents | Spiritual Meaning |
|---|
| 1. Then after these things I saw | A continuation concerning the Roman Catholic religion. |
| an angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. | A powerful influx of the Lord from heaven through Divine truth, so that His church was brought into the light of heaven. |
| 2. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, | It made known that by the Lord's Divine power, people who were caught up in that religion and at the same time in a love of exercising dominion because of it, were all destroyed in the spiritual world and cast into numerous hells. |
| and it has become a dwelling place of demons, | Their hells are ones marked by lusts to exercise dominion from the heat of self-love, and by lusts to profane heaven's truths from the spurious zeal of that love. |
| a prison for every foul spirit, and a prison for every unclean and loathsome bird! | The evils willed and so done by the people in those hells, and the falsities entertained in thought and consequent intention, are diabolical, because the people have turned away from the Lord to themselves. |
| 3. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her licentiousness, the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her, | They have produced nefarious dogmas, dogmas that are adulterations and profanations of the Word's goodness and truth, and have imbued with them all those born and brought up in the kingdoms under their domination. |
| and the merchants of the earth have become rich owing to the potencies of her delights." | The greater and lower in rank in that hierarchy who by their dominion over sacred things strive for Divine majesty and superregal glory, who continually seek to establish it by multiplying the number of monasteries and possessions under their control, and by collecting and accumulating the world's treasures without end, and who thus procure for themselves physical and natural pleasures by claiming for themselves a celestial and spiritual dominion. |
| 4. And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my peoples, lest you participate in her sins, and lest you become recipients of her plagues. | An exhortation from the Lord to all people, both to those caught up in that religion and to those not caught up in it, to beware of embracing it in acknowledgement and affection, lest they embrace its abominations with their souls and perish. |
| 5. For her sins have mounted even to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. | Its evils and falsities infest the heavens, but the Lord will protect the heavens from being violated by them. |
| 6. Render to her as she rendered to you, repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. | A just retribution and punishment after death, that the evils and falsities with which they led astray and destroyed others will, in accordance with the magnitude and character of them, come back upon themselves. |
| 7. In the measure that she glorified herself and worked her pleasure, in the same measure give her torment and grief; | To the degree of their elation of heart due to their dominion, and of their exultation in mind and body due to their riches, to the same degree they will experience after death an inner anguish owing to their being cast down and becoming objects of derision, and owing to their poverty and wretchedness. |
| for she says in her heart, 'I sit as queen and am not a widow, and will not see grief.' | This is their lot, because owing to their elation of heart over their dominion, and exultation of spirit over their riches, they possess the confidence and conviction that they will dominate forever and defend themselves, and that they can never lose what they have. |
| 8. "Therefore her plagues will come in one day - death and mourning and hunger. | Consequently, at the time of the Last Judgment the punishments for the evils they have done will come back on themselves - death, which is life in hell and an inner anguish at being cast down from their domination - mourning, which is an internal anguish owing to their poverty and wretchedness instead of opulence - and hunger, which is the loss of any understanding of truth. |
| And she will be burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. | They will be embodiments of animosity toward the Lord and toward His heaven and church, because they see then that the Lord alone governs and reigns over everything in heaven and on earth, and not at all any person of himself. |
| 9. And the kings of the earth who committed whoredom with her and delighted in her will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, | The inner feelings of anguish in those who had been in a higher degree of dominion and its delights through their falsifications and adulterations of the Word's truths, which they made sacred tenets of the church, when they see them turned into profane ones. |
| 10. standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, 'Woe, woe, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.' | Their fear of punishments, and grievous lamentation then that that religion, so well fortified, could be so suddenly and completely overturned, and that they could perish. |
| 11. And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their merchandise anymore: | The lower in rank who serve and profit by its sanctities - here their feelings of anguish that after Babylon's destruction they cannot use them to make material gains as before. |
| 12. merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones, and pearls, | They no longer have these things because they do not have any of the spiritual goods and truths to which these things correspond. |
| fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, | They no longer have these because they do not have any of the celestial goods and truths to which such things correspond. |
| every kind of thyine wood, every kind of ivory vessel, | They no longer have these because they do not have any of the natural goods and truths to which such things correspond. |
| every vessel of precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; | They no longer have these because they do not have any knowledge of the goods and truths in ecclesiastical affairs to which such things correspond. |
| 13. and cinnamon, fragrances, ointment and frankincense, | They no longer have any worship that springs from spiritual goods and truths, because they have nothing inwardly in their worship that corresponds to the aforesaid things. |
| and wine, oil, flour, wheat, | They no longer have any worship that springs from celestial truths and goods, because they have nothing inwardly in their worship that corresponds to the aforesaid things. |
| cattle, and sheep, | They no longer have any worship that springs from the church's external or natural goods and truths, because they have nothing inwardly in their worship that corresponds to the aforesaid things. |
| and merchandise of horses, and wagons, and the bodies and souls of people. | All of these things depend on an understanding of the Word and on doctrine drawn from it, and on the goods and truths in the Word's literal sense, which these Roman Catholics do not possess, because they have falsified and adulterated them. |
| 14. The fruits that your soul longed for have gone from you, and all things rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all. | All the blessings and felicities of heaven, including the external ones they wish for, will altogether fly away and be seen no longer, because they do not have in them any celestial or spiritual affections for goodness and truth. |
| 15. "The merchants of these things, whom she made rich, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, | The state before damnation of those who profited by various dispensations and promises of heavenly joys, and their fear and lamentation then. |
| 16. and saying, 'Woe, woe, that great city, clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls,' 17. because in one hour such great riches were laid waste. | Their grievous lamentation that their magnificence and material gains were so suddenly and completely destroyed. |
| "Every helmsman, everyone traveling by ship, and sailors, as many as work at sea, stood at a distance | Those called laymen, both those established in a greater position of eminence and those in a lesser one, down to the common people, who are devoted to that religion and love it and kiss it or acknowledge and venerate it at heart. |
| 18. and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, 'What other city may be compared to this great city?' | Their mourning in a state apart over the damnation of that religion, which they believed to be preeminent over every other religion in the world. |
| 19. And they put dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning, and saying, 'Woe, woe, that great city, | Their interior and exterior grief and mourning, which is a lamentation that so eminent a religion was completely destroyed and condemned, |
| in which all who had ships on the sea were made rich by her wealth!' because in one hour they were destroyed. | because by the sanctities of that religion they all gained absolution, as many as were willing to purchase it, and instead of worldly and temporal riches they received heavenly and eternal ones, |
| 20. "Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has visited your judgment on her!" | so that angels in heaven, and people in the church who possess goods and truths from the Word, now rejoice at heart that those caught up in the evils and falsities of that religion have been removed and cast out. |
| 21. Then a mighty angel lifted up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "Thus shall Babylon, that great city, be forcefully thrown down, and not be found anymore. | By a powerful influx of the Lord from heaven, that religion will be cast headlong into hell, together with all its adulterated truths of the Word, and angels will never see it again. |
| 22. The sound of harpists and musicians, flutists and trumpeters, shall not be heard in you anymore; | They will not have in them any affection for spiritual truth and goodness, nor any affection for celestial goodness and truth. |
| no craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore; | Those caught up in that religion because of its doctrine and a life in accordance with it are without any understanding of spiritual truth, and so are without any thought of spiritual truth, to the extent that they are left to themselves. |
| and the sound of a mill shall not be heard in you anymore. | Those caught up in that religion because of its doctrine and a life in accordance with it do not inquire into, investigate, or confirm spiritual truth, because the falsity they have accepted, affirmed, and so enrooted in themselves stands in the way. |
| 23. The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, | Those caught up in that religion because of its doctrine and a life in accordance with it are without any enlightenment from the Lord and so without any perception of spiritual truth. |
| and the sound of a bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. | Those caught up in that religion because of its doctrine and a life in accordance with it have no conjunction of goodness and truth, which is what forms the church. |
| For your great men were the merchants of the earth, | Those higher in their church hierarchy are of such a character because they use their various prerogatives, including ones left to their discretion in the regulations of their order, to buy and sell and make material gains. |
| because by your sorcery all the nations were led astray. | Their nefarious arts and cunning schemes by which they turned the hearts of all away from a reverent worship of the Lord to a profane worship of people, living and dead, and of icons. |
| 24. And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all those slain on the earth." | From that religion, meant by the city of Babylon, comes the adulteration and profanation of all the truth of the Word and so of the church, and falsity has consequently emanated from it throughout the whole Christian World. |
THE EXPOSITION
18:1 Then after these things I saw. This symbolizes a manifestation of the death and damnation of people who were in the Roman Catholic religion and exercised authority over the sanctities of the church and over heaven, with the intention of achieving dominion over all others and of acquiring all the possessions of others.
This is the symbolic meaning here of the phrase, "Then after these things I saw," because it is the subject dealt with in this chapter.
We introduced this work by first presenting the dogmas of that religion, that readers enlightened by the Lord may see that Roman Catholics look to no other end than dominion over people's souls, in order to be worshiped as gods and to acquire for themselves alone all the world's goods. And because that is their goal, and not at all the salvation of souls, they could not draw their dogmas from any other source than hell. For they could not draw them from heaven, that is, from the Lord, but took them from themselves, because they transferred everything belonging to the Lord to themselves.
What is more detestable than to divide the Lord's body and blood, or bread and wine, in the Holy Supper, clearly contrary to its institution, and this by fictions, solely for the sake of sacrifices of the Mass offered daily and nightly by which to gain the world?
What is more detestable than to worship dead people with a Divine invocation, and to fall upon the knees before their images and reverently kiss them - even to treat in this way the bones and remains of their dead bodies - so as to draw people away from worship of God and introduce them into a profane worship, and this, too, for the sake of material gains?
What is more detestable than to regard worship of God on Sundays and holy days as consisting in masses not understood, thus in external acts of the body and its feelings, apart from the internal participation of the soul and its affections, and to ascribe all holiness to those masses, so as to keep everyone in ignorance and in a blind faith, in order to obtain dominion and material gain?
What is more detestable than their transferring to themselves everything connected with the Lord's Divine authority, which is nothing else than to drag the Lord down from His throne and place themselves on it instead?
What is more detestable than to take the Word, which is Divine truth itself, from the laity and common people, and to give them instead edicts and dogmas which contain scarcely one genuine truth of the Word.
These are the subject in this chapter of the Apocalypse.
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