9033. The last two verses have dealt with the weakening of spiritual truth, that is, truth contained in the teachings and belief of the Church. But the two verses which follow next deal with the weakening of factual truth, which belongs to the literal sense of the Word, by spiritual truth, which is contained in the teachings and belief of the Church. This, it is true, appears to be a similar matter to that in the previous paragraph; but it is not similar. Therefore let an example again be used to clarify it. One spiritual truth or genuine truth contained in the teachings and belief of the Church is that the Lord punishes no one, since He is Mercy itself, and therefore whatever He does, He does because He is merciful and in no way at all because He is angry and vengeful. And yet the Lord says in Matthew,

Do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both body and soul in Gehenna. Matthew 10:28.

Here it says that God should be feared because He is able to destroy body and soul in Gehenna, when in fact He destroys no one; but it is still a truth. Therefore it must not be dispensed with, that is, denied, because if it is denied, faith in the Word perishes. And if that perishes a person cannot have any spiritual life within himself, for spiritual life comes to a person from the Word through faith.

[2] The truth of the matter is this: It is a law of Divine order that good holds within itself its own reward, which is heaven. So too evil holds within itself its own punishment, which is hell. The first law begins in the Lord, since the Lord intends good to all; but not so the second, since the Lord intends ill to none. It nevertheless comes about, not because of the Lord but because of the person immersed in evil, thus because of evil itself. Yet such ill is attributed to the Lord in the literal sense of the Word, because He appears to be the cause of it. Therefore since it is an apparent truth it must not be denied, that is, must not be disposed of; for faith in the Word, simple people's faith, would thereby be disposed of, see 2447, 6071, 6991, 6997, 7533, 7632, 7643, 7679, 7710, 7877, 7926, 8197, 8227, 8228, 8282, 8483, 8631, 8632, 9010.

510. And as it were a great mountain burning with fire, signifies the love of self, and of self-intelligence therefrom. This is evident from the signification of "a mountain burning with fire," as being the love of self and the love of self-intelligence therefrom. This love is signified by such a mountain, because a "mountain" in the Word signifies love in both senses, namely heavenly love and infernal love (See above, n. 405); likewise "fire" (See also above, n. 504); and here the evil who are to be separated from the good and cast into hell are treated of, and with such every truth is turned by that love into falsity. This effect, arising from "casting that mountain into the sea," is described in what follows; for "that mountain cast into the sea, so that the third part of the sea became blood," signifies that everything in the natural man became falsity of evil. From this it can be seen that "a great mountain burning with fire" signifies the love of self and the love of self-intelligence therefrom. All self-intelligence is from the love of self.

[2] "Mountain" means love in both senses, because the angels of the third heaven, who are in celestial love, dwell upon mountains in the spiritual world; so when a "mountain" is mentioned, that heaven is meant, and according to the ideas of angelic thought, which are abstracted from persons and places, that which constitutes heaven is meant, that is, celestial love. But in the contrary sense "mountain" signifies the love of self, because they who are in the love of self have a constant desire to go up mountains, to make themselves equal to those who are in the third heaven. Because they dwell upon this in their fancy, it is also the object of their endeavor when they are out of the hells; this is why a "mountain" in the contrary sense signifies the love of self. In a word, those who are in the love of self are always aspiring after high things, so after death, when all the states of the love are changed into things correspondent, in their fancy they mount aloft, believing themselves, while in the fancy, to be upon high mountains, and yet bodily they are in the hells. This is why those who are of Babylon, who are in such love of self as to wish to rule not only over all the earth but also over the heavens, are called "mountains," and are said "to sit upon a mountain" and "to ascend above the heights of the cloud." As in Jeremiah:

Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, destroying the whole earth; and I will stretch out My hand against thee, to roll thee down from the rocks and make thee a mountain of burning (Jeremiah 51:25).

In Isaiah:

Thou hast said in thy heart, I will ascend into the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on the mount of the congregation; I will ascend above the heights of the cloud; I will become like the Most High: yet thou shalt be cast down to hell (Isaiah 14:13-15).

This is said of Babylon.