Apocalypse Revealed # 766
766. "And she will be burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her." This symbolically means that those Roman Catholics 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.
The fire with which she will be burned symbolizes an animosity toward the Lord and toward His heaven and church, as discussed below. "For strong is the Lord God who judges her" means, symbolically, because they see then - that is, in the spiritual world, into which they come after death - that the Lord alone governs and reigns over everything in heaven and on earth, and not at all any person of himself. "For strong is the Lord God who judges her" has this symbolic meaning because the Lord does not judge anyone to hell. Rather people themselves do, for when they sense the angelic atmosphere flowing down out of heaven from the Lord, they flee away and cast themselves into hell, as can be seen from what we presented in nos. 233, 325, 339, 340, 387, 502 above.
[2] It may be seen in nos. 468, 494 above that fire symbolizes love in two senses - both heavenly love, which is a love for the Lord, and hellish love, which is a love of self. Hellish fire is animosity, because the love of self is filled with hatred. For people caught up in that love all burn with wrath to the degree of their love, and blaze with hatred and vengeance against people who attack them; and people coming from Babylon do so against people who deny that they are to be worshiped and adored as embodiments of holiness. When they are told, therefore, that the Lord alone is worshiped and adored in heaven, and that to worship some man instead of the Lord is profane, any adoration of the Lord in them becomes animosity toward Him, and any adulteration of the Word in order that they may be worshiped becomes profane.
This, then, is what is symbolically meant by Babylon's being burned with fire. That to be burned with fire is the punishment for profaning what is holy may be seen in no. 748 above.
The same meaning is contained in the following verses in Jeremiah:
...I am against you, (Babylon,) O destroying mountain, who destroys all the earth... ...I will... roll you down from the rocks, and make you a burning mountain... The... walls of Babylon shall be utterly overthrown, and her high gates shall be burned with fire. (Jeremiah 51:25, 58)
Exodus 20
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God spoke all these words, saying,
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"I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
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"You shall have no other gods before me.
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"You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
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you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me,
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and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
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"You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
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"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
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You shall labor six days, and do all your work,
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but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates;
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for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.
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"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
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"You shall not murder.
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"You shall not commit adultery.
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"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
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"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's."
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All the people perceived the thunderings, the lightnings, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled, and stayed at a distance.
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They said to Moses, "Speak with us yourself, and we will listen; but don't let God Speak with us, lest we die."
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Moses said to the people, "Don't be afraid, for God has come to test you, and that his fear may be before you, that you won't sin."
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The people stayed at a distance, and Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
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Yahweh said to Moses, "This is what you shall tell the children of Israel: 'You yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
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You shall most certainly not make alongside of me gods of silver, or gods of gold for yourselves.
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You shall make an altar of earth for me, and shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I record my name I will come to you and I will bless you.
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If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of cut stones; for if you lift up your tool on it, you have polluted it.
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Neither shall you go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed to it.'
