723. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy. This symbolizes the Roman Catholic religion resting on the Word that the people profaned.

The woman symbolizes the Roman Catholic or Babel-like religion, for we are told in a following verse that "on her forehead a name was written: Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of the Whoredoms and Abominations of the Earth." That a woman symbolizes the church by virtue of its affection for truth may be seen in no. 434; here it is the Roman Catholic religion, which is impelled by the opposite affection. The scarlet beast symbolizes the Word, as will be seen presently; and its being full of names of blasphemy symbolizes the Word's being utterly profaned. For blasphemy symbolizes a denial of the Lord's Divinity in His humanity, and an adulteration of the Word (nos. 571, 582, 692, 715), thus its profanation. For someone who fails to acknowledge the Lord's Divinity in His humanity and falsifies the Word, but not intentionally, does indeed commit profanation, but lightly. But people who claim for themselves all the power of the Lord's Divine humanity, and for that reason deny His Divinity, and who apply everything in the Word to acquiring dominion for themselves over the sanctities of the church and heaven, and for that reason adulterate the Word - those people commit serious profanation.

It can be seen from this that the woman John saw sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy symbolizes the aforesaid religion resting on the Word that it profaned. The color scarlet symbolize the Word's truth from a celestial origin.

[2] The idea that the scarlet beast symbolizes the Word as to celestial Divine truth appears at first as far-fetched and foreign, indeed as absurd, because it is called a beast. But that a beast in the spiritual sense symbolizes a natural affection, and that it is used to symbolize the Word, the church and mankind, may be seen in nos. 239, 405, 567 above; that the four living creatures, one of which was a lion, the second a calf, and the fourth an eagle, symbolize the Word, and in Ezekiel are also called beasts, nos. 239, 275, 286, 672; and that a horse, which is also a beast, symbolizes an understanding of the Word (no. 298).

People know that the Lamb symbolizes the Lord, that sheep symbolize the people in a church, and that a flock symbolizes the church itself.

We cite these points lest anyone be surprised that the scarlet beast symbolizes the Word.

Moreover, because the Roman Catholic religion founds its might and its grandeur on the Word, therefore John saw the woman sitting on the scarlet beast, as before she sat on many waters (verse 1), the waters symbolizing the Word's truths adulterated and profaned (no. 719 above).

That the beast here symbolizes the Word is clearly apparent from what is said about it in the verses of this chapter that follow. As in verse 8:

The beast that you saw was, and is not... And those who dwell on the earth will marvel..., when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

In verse 11:

The beast that was, and is not, is itself the eighth (king), and is of the seven, and is going to destruction.

In verses 12, 13:

The ten horns... are ten kings..., (who) will give their power and authority to the beast.

In verse 17:

...God has put it into their hearts to... give their kingdom to the beast....

Statements like these could be made only in reference to the Word.

Stones in the Bible in general represent truths, or things we know concerning the Lord and what He wants from us and for us in life. This is why the people of Israel built altars of stone, and is also why stoning was a principal form of capital punishment (using truth to destroy falsity, or in the negative sense using falsity to destroy truth). It is also why precious stones are described in such detail on Aaron's breastplate and ephod, and also in the New Jerusalem in Revelation; precious stones represent true ideas directly from the Lord with the various colors showing various forms of love. Stones are not alone in representing truth, of course -- it sometimes seems that almost everything in the Bible represents either true ideas or desires for good. But that makes sense, since our thoughts and our desires together are everything we are in life, and the interplay between them is what life is all about. The many ways they are represented in the Bible reflect the incredible variety in our feelings and thoughts, though we can only distantly understand how those representations work. In the case of stones, in their weight, strength and permanence they tend to represent true ideas that come from a desire for good, the understanding we can have if we are truly good and loving -- and in the highest sense the exalted ideas that come from the Lord's love. Those ideas are ones that are not easily moved or changed, and make wonderful foundations for the things we want to build in our spiritual lives.