622. And when I had eaten it my belly was made bitter, signifies that it was perceived and ascertained that the Word was inwardly undelightful because of the adulterated truth of the sense of its letter. This is evident from the explanations above (n. 617, 618), where there are like words. The "belly" here signifies the interiors of the Word, which are called spiritual, because exploration was represented by "devouring or eating up the little book," which means the Word, and by its taste, which means perception; therefore the first perception is signified by the taste in the mouth, where the little book was "sweet as honey." The first perception of the Word is such as is the perception of the sense of its letter, that is, as the Word is outwardly. The other perception however is signified by its taste when it has come into the belly, which is said to be made bitter by it. This other perception of the Word is such as the perception of its spiritual sense is, that is, as the Word is inwardly. Consequently, as the "mouth" signifies what is exterior, so here the "belly" signifies what is interior, because inwardly received and ascertained. The "belly" signifies interior things because the belly stores up the food inwardly, and "food" signifies everything that nourishes the soul; also because the belly, like the bowels, is within or in the midst of the body; for this reason the "belly," and also the "bowels," signify in the Word interior things.

[2] That the "belly," and the "bowels" signify interior things can be seen from the following passages.

In Ezekiel:

Son of man, feed thy belly and fill thy bowels with this roll (Ezekiel 3:1, 3).

This has a similar signification as what is now being explained in Revelation, that "he took and ate up the little book," for the "roll" has a similar signification as "the little book," namely, the Word, and "to feed the belly and fill the bowels with the roll" signifies to explore how the Word is understood in the church, which is done by the reading and perception of it.

[3] In David:

Fill their belly with Thy treasure; the sons are fed to the full, and what remains to them they leave to their babes (Psalms 17:14).

"Treasure" signifies the truth of the Word, "belly" the interior understanding, so "to fill their belly with treasure" signifies to instruct their interior understanding in the truths of the Word; that thence those who are affected by truths are fully instructed is signified by "the sons are fed to the full," "sons" signifying those who are in the affection of truth; and the sons' "babes," truths in their birth; of such it is said that "what remains to them they leave to their babes." It is here said the interior understanding, for man has an exterior understanding and an interior understanding; the exterior understanding is of the natural mind, and the interior understanding is of the spiritual mind; the interior understanding is signified by the "belly."

[4] In John:

Jesus said, If anyone thirst let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. This He said of the Spirit which they that believe on Him were to receive (John 7:37-39).

Thus the Lord describes Divine truth inwardly perceived by those who are in the spiritual affection of truth; such are meant by "those who thirst and come to the Lord and drink;" that such shall have an understanding of Divine truth is signified by "out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water," "rivers out of the belly" meaning interior understanding or intelligence, and "living water," Divine truth from the Lord; and as "the Holy Spirit" means Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, it is added "this He said of the Spirit which they that believe on Him were to receive."

[5] In Mark:

Whatsoever from without goeth into the man cannot render him unclean, because it goeth not into his heart but into the belly; and is cast out into the draught purging all foods. But that which goeth forth out of the man, that rendereth the man unclean; for from within out of the heart of men it goeth forth (Mark 7:18-21; Matthew 15:17-20).

These words must be thus understood, that all things, whether falsities or evils, that from things seen or things heard flow into the thought of the understanding and not into the affection of its will, do not affect or infect the man, since the thought of a man's understanding, so far as it does not proceed from the affection of his will, is not in the man but outside of him, therefore it is not appropriated to him; it is similar with truth and good. This the Lord teaches by correspondences when He says that "that which enters through the mouth into the belly does not render a man unclean, because it does not enter into the heart, for that which enters into the belly is cast out into the draught;" which means that whatever enters into the thought of man's understanding from without or from the outside, whether from objects of sight or from objects of speech or from objects of the memory, does not render him unclean, but so far as it is not of his affection or will it is separated and cast out, as what is taken into the belly is cast out into the draught. These spiritual things the Lord explained by natural things, since the foods that are taken into the mouth and thus pass into the belly signify such things as man takes in spiritually and with which he nourishes his soul; this is why the "belly" corresponds to the thought of the understanding and signifies it. That the "heart" signifies the affection of man's will has been shown above; also that only that which is made a part of a man's affection or will is appropriated to him. Evidently spiritual, not natural, things are here meant, for the Lord says that "out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, whoredoms, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies." Since the falsities and evils that enter from without into the thoughts enter from the hells, and if not received by man with the will's affection are cast back into the hells, it is said that "they are cast out into the draught," for the "draught" signifies hell; and for the reason that in the hells all things are unclean, and those who are there have been cast out of heaven, which is like a man in form, and is therefore called the Greatest Man and also corresponds to all things of man, while the hells correspond to what is cast out of the belly of the Greatest Man or heaven; this is why hell is meant in the spiritual sense by the "draught." The "belly" is said "to purge all foods," because the "belly" signifies the thought of the understanding, as has been said above, and "foods" signify all spiritual nourishments, and the thought of the understanding is what separates unclean things from what are clean, and thus purges.

[6] In Jeremiah:

Jehovah God hath said, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon hath confounded Me, he hath placed Me as an empty vessel, he hath swallowed Me up as a whale, he hath filled his belly with My delicacies, he hath thrust Me out (Jeremiah 51:34).

"Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon" signifies the profanation of Divine truth; and as those who profane it drink it in more than others and apply it to filthy loves, especially to the love of rule, even to the transference to themselves of all Divine power, this is signified by "he hath swallowed me up as a whale, he hath filled his belly with my delicacies," "whale" signifying the lowest natural, in which those are who are in the love of self, and "delicacies" meaning the knowledges of truth and good from the Word, so "to fill the belly with them" signifies to drink in and to profane them.

[7] In David:

Be gracious unto me, O Jehovah, for I am in distress; mine eye wasteth away with vexation, my soul and my belly (Psalms 31:9).

"Eye, soul, and belly," here signify the understanding and exterior and interior thought of truth therefrom; thus the "belly" signifies the interiors of the understanding, which are said "to waste away with vexation" when they are destroyed by falsities.

[8] In the same:

Our soul is bowed down to the dust, our belly cleaveth unto the earth (Psalms 44:25).

Here, too, "soul" and "belly" signify in the spiritual sense the thought of the understanding; and "bowed down to the dust," and "cleaving to the earth," signify to be imbued with falsities, for "dust" and "earth" signify what is infernal and damned. What is infernal and damned is signified also by "going upon the belly" and "eating dust," as was said to the serpent:

Be thou cursed above all beasts, and above all the wild beasts of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life (Genesis 3:14).

For this reason also:

It was strictly forbidden to eat anything that goeth upon the belly, for it was an abomination (Leviticus 11:42).

"Dust" and "the cleaving of the belly to the earth" signify falsity infernal and damned, because in the spiritual world the hells are under the lands, and through the lands there, falsities of evil are exhaled from the hells; also because the "belly" signifies from correspondence the interiors of the understanding and of thought, and these, if they cleave to the earths there, are infected and imbued with the falsities of evil. For this reason, in the spiritual world no one lies with the belly upon the ground; and indeed, to walk there with the feet upon the ground means to touch and drink in what is exhaled from the hells with the corporeal natural, which corresponds to the soles of the feet; and this natural has no communication with the thoughts of the understanding, except in those who are in evils in respect to life and in falsities in respect to doctrine.

[9] In Job:

The belly prepareth deceit (Job 15:35).

And again:

I am filled with words, the spirit of my belly causes anguish for me; and my belly, like wine, is not opened (Job 32:18, 19);

which means inability to open the thoughts of one's understanding. In Jeremiah:

O Jerusalem, wash thy heart from evil, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thoughts of thy iniquity lodge in thy belly? (Jeremiah 4:14).

Here thoughts are plainly attributed to the belly, for it is said, "How long shall thoughts of iniquity lodge in thy belly?" and evil is attributed to the heart, because the heart corresponds to the will, in which evil has its seat. In David:

There is no certainty in the mouth of anyone; perditions are their belly; their throat is an open sepulcher; they flatter with their tongue (Psalms 5:9).

Here "perditions," that is, evil thoughts, are attributed to "the belly." In the same:

The belly of man and the heart are deep (Psalms 64:6).

Here "the belly of man" signifies the thoughts of falsity, and "the heart" the affections of evil; the latter belong to the will, the former to the understanding. In Habakkuk:

My belly trembled, my lips quivered at the voice (Habakkuk 3:16).

"My belly trembled" signifies grief of thought, therefore it is added, "my lips quivered at the voice," which signifies a consequent stammering of the speech:

The bowels of the whale in which Jonah was three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17);

signifies the hells where there are most direful falsities, with which he was encompassed, consequently grievous temptations, as can be seen from the prophecy of Jonah in the next chapter, where it is also said:

Out of the belly of hell have I cried, and Thou hast heard my voice (Jonah 2:2).

[10] The "bowels" have a similar signification as the "belly," as can be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:

My bowels are moved like a harp for Moab, and My inward part for Kir-heres (Isaiah 16:11).

In David:

Bless Jehovah, O my soul, and all my bowels the name of His holiness (Psalms 103:1).

In the same:

I have desired to do Thy will, O my God, and Thy law is in my bowels (Psalms 40:8).

In Ezekiel:

Their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of Jehovah's anger; they shall not satisfy their soul, neither fill their bowels (Ezekiel 7:19).

"Their silver and gold" signify falsities and evils of a religion that is from self-intelligence and self-will; that from these there is no spiritual nourishment, or intelligence and affection of good, is signified by "they shall not satisfy their soul, neither fill their bowels." Because the "bowels" signify the interiors of the thought, and these are what are affected by grief, such grief is described in the Word by "being moved in the bowels" (as Isaiah 63:15; Jeremiah 31:20; Lamentations 1:20; Matthew 9:36; Mark 6:34; 8:2; Luke 1:78; 7:12, 13; 10:33, 34; 15:20).

[11] As the "belly" signifies the interiors of the thought or of the understanding, so "the fruit of the belly" signifies in the spiritual sense the goods of the understanding, and "sons" its truths. Thus in David:

Lo, sons are the heritage of Jehovah, and the fruit of the belly is His reward (Psalms 127:3).

In Isaiah:

They shall have no compassion on the fruit of the belly, their eye shall not spare the sons (Isaiah 13:18).

And in Job:

Pitying I mourn for the son of my belly (Acts of the Apostles 19:17).

In Moses:

He will bless the fruit of the belly and the fruit of the ground (Deuteronomy 7:13).

In Hosea:

Even when they have brought forth I will slay the desires of their belly (Hosea 9:11, 16).

"The fruit of the belly" and "the desires of the belly" signify in the sense of the letter, natural offspring, but in the spiritual sense spiritual offspring, which is knowledge [scientia], intelligence, and wisdom, for man is reborn into these when he is regenerated; this is why "births," "sons," "daughters," and other terms pertaining to nativity signify such things as pertain to spiritual nativity, that is, regeneration; for angels, who perceive the Word spiritually, know of no other births or "fruits of the belly."

[12] For the same reason "womb" and "belly" have this signification in the following passages. In Isaiah:

O that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! Thy seed would have been as the sand, and the issue of thy bowels like the grains thereof (Isaiah 48:18, 19).

In David:

I was cast upon Thee; from my mother's belly Thou art my God (Psalms 22:10).

In the same:

Thou dost possess my reins; Thou hast covered me in my mother's belly (Psalms 139:13).

In the same:

The wicked are estranged from the womb; they err from the belly, speaking falsehood (Psalms 58:3).

So elsewhere.

[13] The "belly" or "bowels" signify the interiors of the thought or of the understanding, because there are two lives with man, the life of the understanding and the life of the will; to these two fountains of life all things of the body correspond; consequently under their direction all things of the body are acted upon and act, even to the extent that any part of the body that does not suffer itself to be put in action by the understanding and the will has no life. For this reason the universal body is subject to the control of these two lives, for all things in the body that are moved, and so far as they are moved by the respiration of the lungs, are subject to the control of the life of the understanding; and all things in the body that are brought into action, and so far as they are brought into action by the pulsation of the heart, are subject to the control of the life of the will. This is why "soul" and "heart" are often mentioned in the Word, and why the "soul" signifies the life of the understanding, also the life of faith, for the soul is predicated of respiration; and why the "heart" signifies the life of the will, also the life of the love. For the same reason "the belly and bowels" are predicated of thought, which is of the understanding, and the "heart" is predicated of affection, which is of the will.

1861. 'And behold, a smoking furnace' means grossest falsity, and 'a flaming torch' the heat of evil desires. This is clear from the meaning of 'a smoking furnace' as gross falsity, and from the meaning of 'a flaming torch' as the heat of evil desires. The expression 'a smoking furnace' is used because anyone, especially a member of the Church, who has some knowledge of the truth, and yet does not acknowledge it but at heart denies it, and leads a life pursuing things that are contrary to the truth, is seen as nothing other than a smoking furnace, he himself as 'the furnace', and the falsity arising from his hatred as 'the smoke'. Evil desires out of which falsities arise are seen as nothing other than torches of fire from such a furnace, as is also clear from the representatives in the next life which have been described from experience in 814, 1528. It is desires belonging to hatred, revenge, cruelty, and adultery - especially when mingled with deceit - that are seen as such and become such things.

[2] That in the Word such are meant by a furnace, smoke, and fire, becomes clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

Everyone is a hypocrite and wicked, and every mouth speaks folly. For wickedness burns like a fire, it consumes brier and thorn, and kindles the entangled boughs of the wood, and they surge up in an uprising of smoke. Through the wrath of Jehovah Zebaoth the earth has been darkened, and the people has become as fuel for the fire; a man will not spare his brother. Isaiah 9:17-19.

Here 'fire' stands for hatred, 'the rising up of smoke from it' for falsities of that kind. Hatred is described by the statement that 'a man will not spare his brother'. Such people, when looked at by angels, appear exactly like the things described here.

[3] In Joel,

I will give portents in the heavens and on earth, blood and fire, and columns of smote. The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah comes. Joel 2:30-31.

Here 'fire' stands for hatred, 'columns of smoke 'for falsities, 'sun' for charity, and 'moon' for faith.

[4] In Isaiah,

The land will become burning pitch. Night and day it will not be quenched; its smoke will go up eternally. Isaiah 34:9-10.

'Burning pitch' stands for dreadful evil desires, 'smoke' for falsities.

[5] In Malachi,

Behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant and every evil-doer will be stubble; and the day that is coming will burn them up; it will leave them neither root nor branch. Malachi 4:1.

'A burning furnace' stands for the same things as before. 'A root' stands for charity, 'a branch' for truth, which will not be left.

[6] In Hosea,

Ephraim has become guilty through Baal. It will be like chaff that is driven by the whirlwind from the threshing-floor, and like smoke from a chimney. Hosea 13:1, 3.

'Ephraim' stands for one with understanding who has become such.

[7] In Isaiah,

The strong will be as tow, and his work as a spark, and both of them will burn together, with none to quench them. Isaiah 1:31.

This stands for the fact that people governed by self-love - or what amounts to the same, by hatred against the neighbour - will be burnt up by their own evil desires. In John,

Babylon has become the dwelling-place of demons. Those cried out who saw the smoke of her burning. The smoke goes up for ever and ever. Revelation 18:2, 18; 19:3.

[8] In the same book,

He opened the pit of the abyss, from which there went up smoke out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun was darkened, and the air, with the smoke of the pit. Revelation 9:2.

In the same book,

Out of the mouths of the horses there went forth fire, and smoke, and brimstone. By these a third part of mankind was killed - by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone which went forth out of their mouths. Revelation 9:17-18.

In the same book,

He who worships the beast will drink ¹ from the wine of God's anger, poured unmixed as it is in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone. Revelation 14:9-10.

In the same book,

The fourth angel poured out his bowl into the sun, and it was allowed to scorch men with fire; therefore men were burned by the fierce heat, and they blasphemed the name of God. Revelation 16:8-9.

And it is in like manner said that

They were thrown into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. Revelation 19:20; 20:14-15; 21:8.

[9] In all of these places 'fire' stands for the evil desires, 'smoke' for the falsities, which will reign in the last times. These thing as they actually exist in the next life were seen by John following the opening of his interior sight. Similar things are also seen by spirits, and by souls after death. These references show what hell-fire is, that it is nothing other than hatred, revenge, and cruelty, or what amounts to the same, self-love, which passes into such a visible form. As long as a person is in his bodily life, no matter how different his outward appearance might seem to be, he cannot be seen by the angels, when they look at him closely, in any other way than this; that is, his hatred is not seen by them except as 'flaming torches' nor the falsities coming from it except as 'smoking furnaces'.

[10] Of this fire the Lord speaks in Matthew as follows,

Every tree not bearing good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire. Matthew 3:10; Luke 3:9.

'Good fruit' is used to mean charity, and anyone who deprives himself of this 'cuts himself down and casts himself into such a fire'. In the same gospel,

The Son of Man will send His angels, who will gather out of His kingdom all offences, and those who work iniquity, and will send them into the furnace of fire. Matthew 13:41-42, 50.

Here the meaning is similar. In the same gospel,

The king will say ² to those on his left hand, Depart from me, O cursed ones, into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Matthew 25:41.

Here the meaning is similar.

[11] Where it is said that they were to be sent into eternal fire, the Gehenna of fire, and that their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched in Matthew 18:8-9; Mark 9:43-49, the meaning is similar. In Luke,

Send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. Luke 16:24.

Here the meaning is similar.

[12] People who have no knowledge of the arcana of the Lord's kingdom imagine that the Lord sends the wicked down into hell, that is, into the kind of fire which, as has been stated, is the manifestation of hatred. But the truth of the matter is altogether different, for it is the person himself, or the devil-spirit himself, who casts himself down. Yet because it appears as though the Lord casts down, it has been spoken of in the Word in that way - according to the appearance, indeed according to the illusions of the senses. This was especially necessary with the Jews, who were totally unwilling to accept anything if it did not coincide with their own sensory perceptions, no matter what illusions these might entail. This is why the sense of the letter, especially the prophetical sections, is full of such ideas, as in Jeremiah,

[13] Thus said Jehovah, Execute judgement in the morning, and deliver him who has been robbed from the hand of the oppressor, lest My wrath go forth like fire and burn with none to quench it because of the wickedness of their works. Jeremiah 21:12.

'Executing judgement' is declaring the truth. 'Delivering him who has been robbed from the hand of the oppressor' is doing a good work of charity. 'Fire' stands for the hellish punishment of those who do not do these things, that is, who pass their time clinging to falsity that is the product of hatred. In the sense of the letter such fire and anger are attributed to Jehovah, but in the internal sense it is quite the reverse.

[14] Similarly in Joel,

The day of Jehovah, fire devours before him, and behind him a flame burns. Joel 2:1, 3.

In David,

Smoke went up out of His nose, and fire out of His mouth devoured; glowing coals flamed forth from Him; and there was thick darkness under His feet. Psalms 18:8-9.

In Moses,

A fire has flared up in My anger, and will burn right down to the lowest hell, and will devour the land and its increase, and will set on fire the foundations of the mountains. Deuteronomy 32:22.

Here 'a fire' stands for the hatred, 'smoke' for the falsities, that reside with a person, which are attributed to Jehovah or the Lord for the reasons that have been stated. To the hells also it seems that Jehovah or the Lord does the things described, but quite the reverse is the case. It is they who do them because they dwell in the fires of hatred. From this it is evident how easily a person can sink into delusions if the internal sense of the Word is not known.

[15] It was similar with the smoke and fire which the people saw coming from Mount Sinai when the Law was given; for Jehovah or the Lord is seen by everyone according to his character and disposition. By celestial angels He is seen as the sun, by spiritual angels as the moon, by all who are good as light of varying delightfulness and loveliness; but by the evil as smoke and as devouring fire. And because the Jews had no charity at all when the Law was given, but self-love and love of the world reigned among them, and so nothing but evils and falsities, He was therefore seen by them as smoke and fire, while in the same instant He was seen by angels as the sun and heavenly light.

[16] The fact that He was seen thus by the Jews, because their character was such, is clear in Moses,

The glory of Jehovah dwelt over Mount Sinai. And the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain, before the eyes of the children of Israel. Exodus 24:16-17.

In the same book,

Mount Sinai was smoking, the whole of it, because Jehovah came down upon it in fire and its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. Exodus 19:18.

And elsewhere in the same author,

You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while the mountain was burning with fire even to the heart of heaven, with darkness and cloud and thick darkness. And Jehovah spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. Deuteronomy 4:11-12; 5:22.

Also in the same,

When you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, and the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to Me and you said, Why should we die? For this great fire will devour us; if we hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more we shall die. Deuteronomy 5:23-25.

[17] The same would be the case if anyone else who spends his time hating and performing filthy deeds that are the product of hatred were to see the Lord. He would inevitably see Him from his own hatred and the filthy deeds that are the product of it. These things being the recipients of the rays of good and truth from Him, they would convert those rays into that type of fire, smoke, and thick darkness. The same places that have been quoted also show what' a smoking furnace' is, and what 'a burning torch' is, namely the grossest falsity and the filthiest evil which took possession of the Church in its last times.

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