2240. That a “cry” denotes falsity, and “sin” evil, is evident from the signification in the Word of a “cry.” That a “cry” signifies falsity, can be evident to no one unless he knows the internal sense of the Word. The word sometimes occurs in the Prophets, and when vastation and desolation are there treated of, it is said that men “howl and cry,” by which is signified that goods and truths have been vastated; and a term is there made use of by which in the internal sense falsity is described; as in Jeremiah:

A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and the howling of the powerful ones of the flock because Jehovah layeth waste their pasture (Jeremiah 25:36),

where the “cry of the shepherds” denotes that they are in falsity, from which there comes vastation.

[2] In the same:

Behold, waters rise up from the north, and shall become an overflowing stream, and shall overflow the land and the fullness thereof, the city and them that dwell therein and the men shall cry, and every inhabitant of the land shall howl, because of the day that cometh to lay waste (Jeremiah 47:2, 4),

where the desolation of faith is treated of, which is brought about by falsities; the “overflowing stream” is falsity (as shown in Part First, n. 705, 790

[3] In Zephaniah:

The voice of a cry from the fish gate, and a howling from the second, and a great shattering from the hills, and their wealth shall become a spoil, and their houses a desolation (Zeph. 1:10, 13),

where also a “cry” is predicated of the falsities which lay waste.

[4] In Isaiah:

In the way of Horonaim they shall rouse up a cry of shattering, for the waters of Nimrim shall be desolations, for the grass has dried up, the herb is consumed, there is no green thing (Isaiah 15:5-6; Jeremiah 48:3), where the desolation of faith and its consummation is described by a “cry.”

[5] In Jeremiah:

Judah hath mourned, and her gates languish, they have been blackened upon the earth, and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up; and their illustrious ones have sent their younger ones to the waters; they came to the pits, they found no waters, they returned with their vessels empty (Jeremiah 14:2-3),

where the “cry of Jerusalem” denotes falsities; for by their “finding no waters” is signified that there were no knowledges of truth, which are “waters” (as shown in Part First,n. 28, 680, 739).

[6] In Isaiah:

I will exult in Jerusalem and be glad in My people, and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying (Isaiah 65:19),

where there “not being heard the voice of weeping” denotes that there shall not be evil; “nor the voice of crying” denotes that there shall not be falsity. Very many of these things cannot be understood from the sense of the letter, but only from the internal sense, and this is the case with a “cry.”

[7] In the same:

Jehovah looked for judgment, but behold a scab; for righteousness, but behold a cry (Jeremiah 5:7),

where also the vastation of good and truth is treated of. There is in this passage a kind of reciprocation, such as is occasionally found in the Prophets, and which is of such a nature that in the place of truth there is found evil, which is meant by there being “a scab instead of judgment;” and falsity in place of good, which is meant by there being “a cry instead of righteousness” (for that “judgment” is truth, and “righteousness” good, was shown above, n. 2235).

[8] There is a like reciprocation in Moses, where Sodom and Gomorrah are treated of:

Of the vine of Sodom is their vine, and of the fields of Gomorrah are their grapes; they have grapes of gall, clusters of bitternesses. (Deuteronomy 32:32),

where there is a similar mode of speaking; for the “vine” is predicated of truths and falsities, and the “fields” and “grapes,” of goods and evils; so that “the vine of Sodom” is falsity from evil, and “the fields and grapes of Gomorrah” are evils from falsities; for there are two kinds of falsity (see Part First,n. 1212); and so also there are two kinds of evil. Both kinds of falsity and evil are signified in this verse by the “cry of Sodom and Gomorrah having become great, and their sin having become exceeding grievous;” as is evident from the fact that “cry” is named in the first place, and “sin” in the second; and yet “Sodom,” which is evil from the love of self, is mentioned first; and “Gomorrah,” which is the derivative falsity, second.

705. THE INTERNAL SENSE. The subject here specifically treated of is the “flood” by which is signified not only the temptations which the man of the church called “Noah” had to undergo before he could be regenerated, but also the desolation of those who could not be regenerated. Both temptations and desolations are compared in the Word to “floods” or “inundations” of waters, and are so called. Temptations are denoted in Isaiah:

For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but in great compassions will I gather thee again. In an inundation of anger I hid my faces from thee for a moment; but in the mercy of eternity will I have compassion upon thee, saith Jehovah thy Redeemer. For this is the waters of Noah unto Me, to whom I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee and rebuke thee, O thou afflicted and tossed with tempests and not comforted (Isaiah 54:7-9, 11).

This is said of the church that is to be regenerated, and concerning its temptations, which are called the “waters of Noah.”

[2] The Lord Himself also calls temptations an “inundation” in Luke:

Jesus said, Everyone that cometh unto Me, and heareth My sayings and doeth them is like unto a man building a house, who digged, and went deep, and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when an inundation came, the stream beat upon that house, but could not shake it, because it had been founded upon the rock (Luke 6:47-48).That temptations are here meant by an “inundation” must be evident to everyone. Desolations are also denoted in Isaiah:

The Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, the king of Asshur and all his glory; and he riseth up above all his channels, and shall go over all his banks: and he shall go through Judah; he shall inundate and go through; he shall reach even to the neck (Isaiah 8:7-8)

“The king of Asshur” here stands for phantasies, principles of falsity, and the derivative reasonings, which desolate man, and which desolated the antediluvians.

[3] In Jeremiah:

Thus hath said Jehovah, Behold waters rise up out of the north, and shall become an inundating stream, and shall inundate the land and the fullness thereof, the city and them that dwell therein (Jeremiah 47:2-3).

This is said of the Philistines, who represent those who take up false principles, and reason from them concerning spiritual things, which reasonings inundate man, as they did the antediluvians. The reason why both temptations and desolations are compared in the Word to “floods” or “inundations” of waters, and are so called, is that they are similarly circumstanced; it being evil spirits who flow in with their persuasions and the false principles in which they are, and excite such things in man. With the man who is being regenerated, these are temptations; but with the man who is not being regenerated they are desolations.