653. Which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, signifies through the evils of the love of self and the falsities therefrom. This is evident from the signification of "Sodom," as being the love of self and evils of every kind therefrom (of which presently); also from the signification of "Egypt," as being the natural man separated from the spiritual, and falsity of evil of every kind therefrom (of which also presently). Evidently "Sodom and Egypt" mean Jerusalem, and thus the church, in which the goods of love are adulterated and the truths of doctrine are falsified, for it is next said "where also our Lord was crucified;" for the evils of the love of self and the falsities of doctrine are what crucify the Lord, therefore He was crucified by the Jews, because they were in those evils and falsities; but of this more hereafter.

[2] First let it be shown here that "Sodom" signifies in the Word the love of self, and thence every evil; for evils of every kind flow forth from the love of self; since he who loves himself only loves what is his own [proprium], and therefore immerses all things of his will and his understanding in what is his own [proprium], even so that it is impossible for him to be elevated from it to heaven and to the Lord; consequently he sees nothing from the light of heaven, but solely from the light of the world, which light, separated from the light of heaven, is mere darkness in spiritual things, which are the things of heaven and the church; and for this reason also the more a man loves himself the more he despises, yea, denies spiritual things. In consequence also of this the internal spiritual mind, by which man is in the light of heaven, is closed up, and this causes the man to be merely natural, and the merely natural man is inclined to evils of every kind. For the evils into which man is born have their seat in the natural man, and these are removed from him only to the extent in which his interior mind, which receives the light of heaven, is opened; moreover, what is man's own [proprium] has its seat in the natural man, and what is man's own [proprium] is nothing but evil.

[3] That "Sodom" therefore signifies the love of self, and thus evils of every kind, can be seen from the passages in the Word where "Sodom" is mentioned; as in the following. In Ezekiel:

Thy elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters dwelling at thy left hand; but thy younger sister, dwelling at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters; thou hast corrupted thyself more than they in all thy ways; Sodom thy sister hath not done, she and her daughters, as thou hast done and thy daughters. Behold, this was the iniquity of Sodom, pride, satiety of bread, and tranquillity of quiet was hers and her daughters, and she strengthened not the hand of the afflicted and needy; therefore they became lofty, and committed abomination before Me (Ezekiel 16:46-50).

This treats of the abominations of Jerusalem, which were chiefly that they adulterated the goods and truths of the Word and of the church; "Samaria," where the Israelites were, signifies the spiritual church, in which spiritual good, which is the good of charity towards the neighbor, is the essential; but "Jerusalem," where the Jews were, signifies the celestial church, in which celestial good, which is the good of love to the Lord, is the essential. For there are two kingdoms into which heaven and thence the church is divided, the spiritual kingdom and the celestial kingdom (respecting these kingdoms see in the work on Heaven and Hell 20-28). These kingdoms were represented by the Israelites whose metropolis was Samaria, and by the Jews whose metropolis was Jerusalem.

[4] Spiritual good, which is the good of charity toward the neighbor, is the opposite of infernal evil, which is the evil of the love of the world; and celestial good is the opposite of diabolical evil, which is the evil of the love of self. From the love of self flow forth evils of all kinds, and much worse than those from love of the world (See the New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine, n. 65-83). This is why more direful and abominable things are related of Jerusalem than of Samaria; and this is why Jerusalem is not only called "Sodom," but it is said that she did worse things than Sodom, as it is here said "Sodom hath not done as thou hast done and thy daughters." That the evil of the love of self was the evil of Sodom, is thus declared, "This was the iniquity of Sodom, pride, satiety of bread, tranquillity of quiet, and she strengthened not the hand of the afflicted and needy," "pride" meaning the love of self, "satiety of bread," the contempt of all good and truth of heaven and the church, even to loathing of them, "tranquillity of quiet," security and no anxiety on account of any evil; and "not strengthening the hands of the afflicted and needy" signifies unmercifulness. Because the love of self was the love of Sodom it is said that her daughters "became lofty and committed abomination before Jehovah," the "daughters" that became lofty signifying the cupidities of that love, and the "abomination before Jehovah" signifying every evil against the Divine Itself.

[5] Because the "Chaldeans" signify the profanation and adulteration of the truth of doctrine from the Word, and "the inhabitants of Babylon" the profanation and adulteration of the good of love, therefore the overthrow of these is also compared to the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Jeremiah:

A sword against the Chaldeans, and against the inhabitants of Babylon, according to God's overthrowing Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring cities thereof, not a man shall dwell there, nor shall a son of man sojourn therein (Jeremiah 50:35, 40).

And in Isaiah:

So shall Babylon, the ornament of kingdoms, the splendor of the magnificence of the Chaldeans, be as God's overthrowing Sodom and Gomorrah (Isaiah 13:19).

"Sodom" signifies the evil of the love of self, and "Gomorrah" the falsity of that love; and as the love of self does not acknowledge any truth of the church, it is said, "not a man shall dwell there, nor shall a son of man sojourn therein," "man" signifying intelligence, and "son of man," the truth of the church.

[6] Because "Edom" signifies the natural man, who is in falsities from the love of self, and therefore adulterates the goods of the church, her vastation is compared to the overthrowing of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Jeremiah:

Edom shall be a desolation, as the overthrowing of Sodom and Gomorrah, no man [vir] shall dwell there, neither shall a son of man sojourn therein (Jeremiah 49:17, 18).

In Zephaniah:

Moab shall be as Sodom, and the sons of Ammon as Gomorrah, a place abandoned to nettles, and a pit of salt, a waste forever (Zephaniah 2:9).

"Moab," as has been said, means the natural man, who from the love of self adulterates the goods of the church, and "the sons of Ammon" mean those who falsify the truths of the church; and as thence is the devastation of all good and truth it is said, "a place abandoned to nettles, and a pit of salt, a waste forever;" the devastation of all good is signified by "a place of nettles," and the devastation of all truth, by "a pit of salt;" like things are signified by "Sodom and Gomorrah."

[7] Because "Judah" signifies celestial love, which is love to the Lord, from which is all good, and in the contrary sense diabolical love, which is the love of self, from which is all evil, the devastation of the church, which is signified by "Judah and Jerusalem," is also compared to the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Isaiah:

Jerusalem hath stumbled, and Judah hath fallen; the hardening of their faces doth witness against them, and their sin is as Sodom's (Isaiah 3:8, 9).

Hear the word of Jehovah, ye princes of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah (Isaiah 1:10). "The Word of Jehovah" means Divine good, and "the law of God" Divine truth, for where good is treated of the name "Jehovah" is used, but where truth is treated of the name "God" is used; and as Divine good, to those who are in the love of self, is evil, it is said "their sin is as Sodom's," and "hear the Word of Jehovah, ye princes of Sodom;" and as Divine truth to those who are in the evil of the love of self is falsity, it is said, "give ear to the law of God, ye people of Gomorrah."

[8] In Moses:

Their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and their grapes are of the field of Gomorrah, grapes of gall, their clusters are of bitterness (Deuteronomy 32:32).

This is said of the direful falsities that exist with the posterity of Jacob, springing from the evils of the love of self. But this is explained above n. 519. In Lamentations:

They that did eat delicacies are laid waste in the streets, they that were brought up in crimson have embraced dunghills; the iniquity of My people is become greater than the sin of Sodom, that was overturned as in a moment (Lamentations 4:5, 6).

This is said of those who are of the Lord's celestial kingdom and church when they are changed into the opposite, for it is celestial love that is turned into the love of self, which is a diabolical love; of those who have been so changed the above is said. What is signified by "eating delicacies," "brought up in crimson," "laid waste in the streets," and "embracing dung-hills," has been explained in the article above n. 652. It is said that their iniquity "is become greater than the sin of Sodom," because they had the Word, from which they could know the truths and goods of heaven and the church, or of doctrine and life, and adulterated them, and this the inhabitants of Sodom could not do; for he who knows the will of the Lord and does it not, sins more than he who does not know it. Moreover, all those with whom the love of self is dominant despise the holy things of heaven and the church, and deny the Divine of the Lord; and to confirm the evils flowing forth from that love they either adulterate the Word or reject it as a writing that is holy only from having been so accepted. Those, therefore, who do this from the love of self are compared to Sodom and Gomorrah.

[9] That those who are taught by the Lord respecting the truths and goods of the church, and yet reject and deny them, do worse than those in Sodom, is evident from the Lord's words respecting Capernaum, in Matthew:

Thou Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down unto hell; for if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in thee it would have remained until this day; I say unto thee ¹ that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee ¹ (Matthew 11:23, 24).

For the Lord after He left Nazareth abode in Capernaum (Matthew 4:13).

And there did miracles (Matthew 8:5-14; 4:46-54 to the end).

Like things were said by the Lord of the cities in which the disciples preached His coming or the Gospel and were not received. As in these words in Matthew:

Whosoever shall not receive you nor hear your words, when ye go forth out of that house or city shake off the dust of your feet; verily I say unto you it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city (Matthew 10:14, 15; Mark 6:11; Luke 10:10-12).

For no one rejects the holy things of the church and denies the Divine of the Lord more interiorly than those do who are in the love of self; those who are in the love of the world and in the evils therefrom may reject the holy things of the church, but not so interiorly, that is, from the confirmation of the heart.

[10] Like things are said of the prophets and the people who adulterate the truths and goods of the Word to confirm evils and falsities. In Jeremiah:

In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible stubbornness, in adulterating and walking in a lie, while they have strengthened the hands of the evil that no man doth return from his wickedness; they are become to Me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah (Jeremiah 23:14).

By "prophets" here those are meant who teach the truths and goods of doctrine, and in an abstract sense, which is the genuine spiritual sense, doctrine from the Word is meant, thus also the Word in respect to doctrine, therefore "a horrible stubbornness" signifies confirmation of heart against the truths and goods of the Word; "to adulterate and walk in a lie" signifies to pervert the goods and truths of the Word; "to adulterate" signifies to pervert the goods of the Word by evils and falsities, a "lie" means falsity, and "to walk in a lie" means to live in falsities. "To strengthen the hands of the evil" signifies to confirm evils and thence their power over goods; and "no man doth return from his wickedness" signifies to persist in the evils and falsities of doctrine; therefore it is said "they are become as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah," "as Sodom" signifying to be in evils springing from the love of self, and "the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah" signifying an evil life from the falsities of doctrine.

[11] The evil that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah is described as follows in Moses:

That they wished to offer violence to the angels, and were therefore smitten with blindness, so that they could not find the door where the angels were; and that therefore Jehovah caused brimstone and fire to rain upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and overthrew those cities and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which sprang up from the ground (Genesis 19:1-28).

"Their wishing to offer violence to the angels" means to Divine good and Divine truth, for these are signified by "angels;" the "blindness" with which they were smitten so that they could not find the door signified the complete rejection and denial of the Divine and of the holy things of heaven and the church, even so far as to be unable to see and acknowledge anything of heaven or the church, which is signified by "not finding the door" where the angels were; "brimstone" signifies the lust of destroying the goods and truths of the church by falsities, and "fire" signifies the love of self and every evil that destroys, here the destruction of goods and truths.

[12] That "Sodom and Gomorrah" mean all evils and falsities flowing forth from the love of self has been told me from heaven; for when they who are in evils from that love perish, which occurred at the time of the Last Judgment, there was an appearance of brimstone and fire raining down from heaven; this I also witnessed. That this would occur at the time of the Last Judgment was also predicted by the Lord in Luke:

Likewise even as it came to pass in the days of Lot, on the day that he 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 when the Son of man is revealed (Luke 17:28-30).

[13] Because those who from the love of self confirm themselves by means of falsities in evils against the truths and goods of heaven and the church, completely root out with themselves every truth of doctrine and of the Word and every good of spiritual and celestial love, there takes place in them a total vastation, which is thus described in Moses:

The whole land shall be brimstone and salt, a burning; it shall not be sown, neither shall it spring forth, nor shall any herb come up thereon, according to the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim (Deuteronomy 29:23).

"Brimstone" signifies the vastation of all good by lusts from evils; "salt" signifies the vastation of all truth by falsities from those lusts; "the burning of the whole land" signifies the devastation of the church by the love of self; "it shall not be sown, neither spring forth, nor shall any herb come up thereon," signifies that there will be no capacity whatever to receive the truth of the church, "herb" signifying the truth of the church when it first springs forth. And because such is the devastation of good and truth from the love of self it is said, "like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim," "Admah and Zeboiim" signifying the knowledges of evil and falsity. That such things are to occur at the time of the Last Judgment is what is signified by "in the day when the Son of man is revealed."

Poznámky pod čarou:

10540. 'And now, take off your finery' means the nature of their external which is such that it is without anything Divine. This is clear from the meaning of 'finery', when the Church is the subject, as holy truth or that which is Divine in external things, dealt with above in 10536; and from the meaning of 'taking it off' as shedding it, thus being without it. The fact that that which is Divine in external things or holy truth is meant by 'finery' is clear from the following places: In Ezekiel,

I clothed you with embroidered cloth, and shod you with badger; and I swathed you in fine linen and covered you with silk. And I adorned you with finery, and put bracelets onto your hands and a chain onto your neck. And I put a jewel onto your nose, and earrings on your ears, and a crown of glory onto your head. Thus were you adorned with gold and silver; and your garments were fine linen, and silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, [honey,] and oil; therefore you became extremely beautiful, and attained to a kingdom. For this reason your fame ¹ went out among the nations, regarding your beauty; for this was made perfect by My finery which I had put on you. Ezekiel 16:10-14.

[2] This refers to Jerusalem and means the Church which had been established by the Lord after the Flood and was succeeded by the Israelite and Jewish Church. The character of the latter is also described in the same chapter; but the character of that previous Ancient Church is described in the verses just quoted, its holy truths being described by the adornments spoken of there. Anyone may see that things such as have to do with the Church are meant by those specifically mentioned, and that each one means something particular. What other purpose does such a description of Jerusalem serve?

[3] Yet which aspect of the Church is meant by each one becomes clear solely from the internal sense. For this sense shows what exactly in the spiritual world corresponds to each item in the description. The following is made clear by that sense,

'Embroidered cloth' means true factual knowledge, 9688.

'Fine linen' means intellectual truth from the Divine, 5319, 9469, 9596, 9744.

'Bracelets' means the power of truths, 3103, 3105.

'A neck-chain' means the flowing in of truth derived from good, and the consequent joining together of interior things and exterior ones, 5320.

'A nose-jewel' means the perception of truth, and 'earrings' obedience to truths, 4551, 10402.

'A crown of glory' means spiritual good, or the good of truth, good being meant by 'a crown', 9930, and that which is spiritual by 'glory', 9815.

'Gold and silver' means goodness and truth in general, 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 9874.

'Fine flour, honey, and oil' means truths and forms of good, external and internal ones, truth from good being meant by 'fine flour', 9995, external good by 'honey', 10530, and internal good by 'oil', 886, 4582, 4638, 9474, 9780, 10254, 10261.

'Beauty' means the outward form taken by truth derived from good, 3080, 3821, 4985, 5199.

And 'Jerusalem', about which those things are said, means the Church, see 402, 2117, 3654. From all this it is evident what 'finery' means, namely holy truth in its entirety.

[4] All the finery of the daughters of Zion which is itemized in Isaiah has a like meaning,

On that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, and of the networks, and of the crescents, and of the perfume containers ² , and of the chainlets, and of the bracts ³ , and the tiaras, and the garters, and the sashes, and the perfume boxes ⁴ , and the charms; the rings, and the nose-jewels, the changes of clothes, and the robes, and the veils, and the pin-cases, the mirrors, and the muslin, and the turbans, and the linen garments. And it will happen, that instead of fragrance there will be rottenness, and instead of a girdle, a falling apart, and instead of well-set hair ⁵ , baldness, and instead of a robe, a girding of sackcloth, burning instead of beauty. Your people will fall by the sword, and [so will] your strength in war. Isaiah 3:18-25.

Those who confine themselves to the literal sense inevitably think that all these items with which the daughters of Zion are said to be adorned must be understood literally, and that it was because of that finery and the pride and arrogance it would create that the people of that kingdom would perish, since it says, your people will fall by the sword, and your strength in war. But those who raise their minds to some extent above the literal statement can see that such things should not be understood literally.

[5] From various places in the Word they can see that 'the daughters of Zion' should not be taken to mean the daughters of Zion but such things as are aspects of the Church, which are also meant by the daughters of Jerusalem, the daughters of Israel, the daughters of Judah, and many other daughters. Regarding 'daughters', that they mean the Church and aspects of the Church, see 6729, 9055(end). Since therefore the Church and aspects of the Church are meant by 'the daughters of Zion' it follows that all their finery itemized in this chapter of Isaiah mean the Church's truths and forms of good, and that each item means some specific truth or form of good. For nothing that appears in the Word, not even one small expression, is devoid of meaning.

[6] And because that Church will be bereaved of its truths and forms of good, meant by all that finery, the prophecy goes on to say that instead of fragrance there will be rottenness, instead of a girdle a falling apart, instead of well-set hair baldness, instead of a robe a girding of sackcloth, burning instead of beauty, and also that the people will fall by the sword, as will [their] strength in war. For 'fragrance' or 'spice' means the perception of Divine Truth, 10199, 10291, and 'rottenness' the deprivation of it; 'a girdle' means a bond holding truths and forms of good in connection with one another, 9341(end), 9828, 9837, 'a falling apart instead of it' the disintegration and diffusion of them; 'well-set hair' means true factual knowledge, 2831 ⁶ , 'baldness' being deprived of an intelligent understanding of truth and of a wise discernment of good, 9960; 'burning' means the destruction of these by the evils of self-love, 1297, 2446, 7852, 9055, 9141, 'beauty' the outward form that truth springing from good takes within the Church, thus the perfection of it, 3080, 3821, 4985, 5199; and 'the sword' by which the people will fall means falsity destroying truth and good, 2799, 4499, 6353, 7102, 8294. Having no 'strength in war' means having no resistance to evil and falsity, for 'war' is spiritual conflict, and temptation, 1659, 1664, 2686, 8273, 8295, 10455.

From all this it is now evident that 'finery' in general means the Divine Truth which the Church possesses.

[7] The like is meant by 'finery' in the second Book of Samuel,

O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in twice-dyed pleasantly ⁷ , who put gold finery on your clothing. 2 Samuel 1:24.

These words appear in David's lamentation over Saul, which he entitled in verse 18 of that chapter, To teach the children of Judah the bow. 'The bow' in this verse means doctrine consisting of truth engaged in conflict against falsities of evil, 2686, 2709, 6422. This being so, 'daughters of Israel' means the Church's affections for truth, 2362, 3963, 6729, 6775, 6788, 8994; 'being clothed in twice-dyed pleasantly' means being endued with the Church's interior truths, which spring from good, 4922, 9468; 'putting gold finery on clothing' means giving truths that spring from good a beautiful appearance, good being meant by 'gold', see in the places referred to in 9874, and truth in general by 'clothing' or 'garment', in the places referred to above in 10536(end). The reason why David's lamentation over Saul has to do with doctrine consisting of truth, meant by 'the bow', engaged in conflict against falsity of evil is that 'the king' or the royal office held by Saul means Divine Truth in respect of protection and of judgement, 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148.

[8] The like is meant by 'finery' in other places: In David,

Give to Jehovah the glory of His name; bow down to Jehovah in the finery of holiness. Psalms 29:2.

'In the finery of holiness' means with the authentic truths of the Church. Similarly in Isaiah,

Your sons will make haste. Lift up your eyes round about, and see; they all gather together. I am the Living One, said Jehovah; you will put them all on as finery, and gird them round yourself like a bride. Isaiah 49:17-18.

These words too refer to Zion, by which the celestial Church is meant, 'sons' who 'will make haste' meaning this Church's truths. (For the meaning of 'sons' as truths, see 489, 491, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3373, 3704, 4257, 9807.) This explains why it says that Zion will put them all on as finery and gird them round herself like a bride; such can be said of the Church's truths, but not of the sons of Zion.

[9] Since almost everything in the Word also has a contrary meaning, so do those objects constituting finery. In the contrary sense they mean truths that have been falsified, as in Jeremiah,

You who have been laid waste, what will you do? If you clothe yourself in twice-dyed, if you adorn yourself with gold finery, if you widen your eyes with stibium ⁸ , in vain will you make yourself beautiful. Jeremiah 4:29, 30.

And in Hosea,

I will visit on her ⁹ the days of the baals to whom she burned incense, and put on her nose-jewel and her finery, and went after her lovers and forgot Me. Hosea 2:13.

And in other places.

Poznámky pod čarou:

9828. 'And a belt' means a common bond to ensure that everything has the same end in view. This is clear from the meaning of 'a belt' or girdle as a common bond; for it gathers together, encloses, holds in connection within itself, and strengthens everything within, which without it would fall apart and drift away. The reason why it is a common bond whose purpose is to ensure that everything has the same end in view is that in the spiritual world the end in view holds sway, so much so that everything there should be called an end. For the Lord's kingdom, which is a spiritual world, is a kingdom of useful services, and such services there are ends in view, so that it is a kingdom of ends. But the ends there follow one another in various order, and they also stand in association with one another. The ends which follow one another are called middle ends, but those which stand in association with one another are called associate ends. All these ends have been so linked together and made subordinate to one another that without exception they have one end in view. This end is the Lord; and in heaven, among those who accept it, it is a love of and faith in Him. Love there is the end in view of all the powers of the will there, and faith is the end in view of all the powers of thought, which are those of the understanding.

[2] When every single thing has the same end in view all things are then held in uninterrupted connection and make one; for everything is then under the eye, government, and providence of the One who, acting in accord with the laws of subordination and association, turns everyone towards Himself, and thereby joins them to Himself. At the same time He turns all to face their companions, and thereby joins them to one another. This explains why the faces of all who are in heaven are kept turned towards the Lord, who is the Sun there, and so is the centre point in front of everyone's eyes; and the marvel is that He is there in whatever direction angels turn round to face, 3638. And since the Lord is present within the good of mutual love and within the good of charity towards the neighbour - for all are loved by Him, and are joined to one another by Him through love - their regard for their companions, which that love gives them, also serves to turn them towards the Lord.

[3] Those things therefore on last and lowest levels, gathering others together and enclosing them so they may be held, every single one, in such connection, were represented by belts or girdles, which in the spiritual world are nothing other than the forms of good and the truths present on lowest or outermost levels which enclose more internal ones. Celestial forms of good on lowest or outermost levels were represented by girdles that went around the loins, and spiritual forms of good and truths on those levels by girdles that went around the thighs and also around the breast.

[4] Such things are meant by 'girdles around the loins' in the following places: In Jeremiah,

Jehovah said to the prophet, Buy yourself a linen girdle, and place it over your loins; but you are not to pass it through water. I therefore bought a girdle, and placed it over my loins. Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Take the girdle, and go away to the Euphrates, and hide it in the cleft of a rock. At the end of many days I went away to the Euphrates, and took the girdle, and behold, it was ruined; it was profitable for nothing. Then Jehovah said, This people is evil, refusing to hear My words; and they have gone after other gods. Therefore they will be just like this girdle that is profitable for nothing. Jeremiah 13:1-12.

'A linen girdle' here is used to mean in the spiritual sense the Church's good, which encloses the truths there and holds them in connection within itself. The non-existence of the Church's good at that time, and the consequent dispersal of its truths, are the reason for its being said that the girdle was not to be passed through water; for 'water' means truth that purifies and thereby restores. 'The cleft of a rock' in which it was hidden is falsified truth; 'the Euphrates' is the full extent and boundary of the celestial realities that belong to good on its lowest level. Anyone unacquainted with the essential nature of the Word may think that the passage is no more than a comparison of the people and their ruination with a girdle and its ruination. But in the Word all comparisons and metaphorical ways of speaking are real correspondences, 3579, 8989. Unless each detail in this description were of a correspondential nature the prophet would never have been told not to pass the girdle through water, or to place it over his loins, or to go to the Euphrates and hide it there in the cleft of a rock. The reason why it says that the girdle should be placed over his loins is that by 'the loins', because of their correspondence, is meant the good of celestial love, 3021, 4280, 5050-5062. A girdle placed over the loins accordingly means being joined to the Lord through the good of love, the Word serving as the intermediary.

[5] The meaning of 'a girdle' as good that acts as a boundary and holds things together is also evident in Isaiah,

There will come forth a shoot from the trunk of Jesse. Righteousness will be the girdle of His loins, and truth the girdle of His thighs. Isaiah 11:1, 5.

This refers to the Lord. 'Righteousness' that will be 'the girdle of His loins' is the good of His love, which protects heaven and the Church. The requirement stated in Exodus 12:11 that when the children of Israel ate the Passover their loins were to be girded means that all things should be present in their proper order, made ready to receive good from the Lord and to take action, 7863. This explains why those who have been made ready are said to be 'girded', as is also said of the seven angels in the Book of Revelation,

Out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in linen, white and splendid, and girded around their breasts with golden girdles. Revelation 15:6.

[6] It is said of Elijah in 2 Kings 1:8 that he was a hairy man and wore a girdle of skin around his loins. Much the same is said of John,

John had a garment of camel hair and a skin girdle around his waist. Matthew 3:4.

The reason why Elijah and John were clothed and girded in this way was that both men represented the Word, and therefore their clothes mean the Word in its external sense, which is the natural sense. For 'hair' means the natural, 3301, 5247, 5569-5573, and 'camels' general facts within the natural, 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145. And 'skin' means the external, 3540, so that 'a girdle of skin' means that which collects together, encloses, and holds in connection the things within itself. For the representation of Elijah as the Word, see Preface to Genesis 18, and 2762, 5247 (end), and John the Baptist similarly, 9372.

[7] Since truths and forms of good are dissolved and dispersed by wicked deeds it says of Joab that after he had tricked and killed Abner he put the blood of war on his girdle that was on his loins, 1 Kings 2:5. This means that he dispersed and destroyed such truths and forms of good. This accounts for its being said, when truths have been dispersed and destroyed, that instead of a girdle there will be a falling apart, and instead of well-set hair, baldness, Isaiah 3:24. This refers to the daughters of Zion, by whom forms of good belonging to the celestial Church are meant. 'Instead of a girdle, a falling apart' stands for the dispersal of celestial good.

[8] It is also said in Ezekiel of Oholibah, who is Jerusalem, that when she looked at men portrayed on the wall, images of Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, girded with girdles on their loins, she fell in love with them, Ezekiel 23:14-16. Here truths which have been rendered profane are meant, for 'the Chaldeans' are those who outwardly claim to believe in truths but inwardly repudiate them, and in so doing render them profane. 'Men portrayed on the wall' are the appearances of truth in outward things, as in like manner are 'images portrayed in vermilion'. 'Girdles' with which their loins were girded are the forms of good which they fake to induce belief in their truths.

[9] From all this it may now be clear what it was that girdles gathering garments into one served to mean in the representative Church. Yet the natural man can scarcely be brought to believe that such things were meant, because he finds it difficult to put aside the natural idea of a girdle, and in general of garments, and instead adopt a spiritual idea, which is that of good holding truths in connection within itself. For the natural level on which a person sees things holds the mind down on that level, and it is not removed from there unless the sight of the understanding is able to be raised right up into the light of heaven and the person is for this reason able to think on a level virtually divorced from natural things. When this happens to a person spiritual ideas of the truth of faith and of the good of love, which the merely natural man cannot understand, enter in.