951. As "the seven angels that had the seven last plagues," signify the manifestation of the evils and falsities that have devastated the church, and as these are made manifest by means of the Divine truth in the Word, therefore those angels appeared "clothed in linen clean and bright;" for "linen clean and bright" signifies genuine truth. All angels appear clothed according to their functions; for the garments in which they go clothed correspond to their ministries, and in general to their interiors. The angels who are wise from Divine truth appear in white garments of muslin, lawn, or linen, because "muslin," "lawn," and "linen," correspond to the truths in which they are; and for this reason Aaron and his sons had garments of linen in which they ministered. These are described in Moses:

Thou shalt make for Aaron and his sons linen breeches to cover the flesh of their nakedness, from the loins even unto the thighs; these shall be upon them when they shall go into the Tent of meeting and when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place, that they bear not iniquity and die (Exodus 28:42, 43).

Again:

When Aaron shall enter into the holy place he shall put on the linen coat of holiness and the linen breeches shall be upon his flesh, and he shall gird himself with a linen belt and shall put on a linen miter (Leviticus 16:4).

He should put on the same garments when expiating the people (Leviticus 16:32).

Also when he took the ashes from the altar after the burnt-offering (Leviticus 6:10).

[2] In like manner the priests were to minister in the new temple. In Ezekiel:

When the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok shall enter at the gates of the inner court they shall put on linen garments; no wool shall come upon them while they shall minister in the gates of the inner court and within; linen miters shall be upon their head and linen breeches shall be upon their loins (Ezekiel 44:15, 17, 18).

They put on linen garments when they ministered holy things, because all holy administration is effected by the Divine truth. For the priesthood in which Aaron and his sons officiated represented the Lord as to the Divine good; and this ministers all things by means of the Divine truth. Moreover, the Divine truth protects from falsities and evils, which are from hell; therefore it is said "that they bear not iniquity and die," which signifies that otherwise falsities from hell would destroy them. These garments were called "garments of holiness," because holiness is predicated of the Divine truth. As the garments of ministry were linen garments, the priests wore a linen ephod when they ministered, as is read of Samuel (1 Samuel 2:18), and of the priests whom Saul slew (1 Samuel 22:18), and of David when he went before the ark (2 Samuel 6:14).

[3] Also of the Lord Himself in John:

Jesus rose up from supper and laid aside His garments, and took a linen cloth and girded Himself, and poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the linen cloth with which He was girded (Jeremiah 13:4, 5).

The washing of the disciples' feet represented and thus signified purification from evils and falsities by means of the Divine truth from the Lord; for all purification from evils and falsities is effected by the Lord by means of the Divine truth; and this is signified by "the linen cloth" with which the Lord girded Himself and with which He wiped the disciples' feet.

[4] Besides these seven angels treated of in Revelation there have been other angels seen in linen garments; as:

The angel who shall set a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh; and who shall go in between the wheels of cherubim and take coals of fire and scatter them over the city (Ezekiel 9:3, 4, 11; 10:2, 6, 7).

Likewise the angel seen by Daniel, clothed in linen, whose loins were girt with gold of Uphas (Daniel 10:5; 12:6, 7).

These appeared clothed in linen because girded for ministry. The angel who measured the new temple, whose appearance was like that of brass:

Was seen to have a line of flax in his hand and a measuring reed (Ezekiel 40:3).

By "the measuring of the temple" there, is described the New Church as to its quality; this is signified by the number of the measures; and as all the quality of the church is known by the Divine truth, therefore "a line of flax" was in his hand.

[5] As "linen" signifies truth, and "a girdle" everything of it, for it is what embraces and includes all things, and as nothing of truth any longer remained with the sons of Israel, therefore:

The prophet Jeremiah was commanded to buy himself a linen girdle, and to hide it in the cleft of a rock at the Euphrates; and at the end of many days it was spoiled and was profitable for nothing (Jeremiah 13:1-7).

"The linen girdle" signifies all the truth of doctrine from the Word. What is signified by its being "hidden in the cleft of a rock at the Euphrates and was there spoiled," may be seen above n. 569.

[6] "Linen" signifies the truth of the church also in Isaiah:

A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not extinguish, and He will bring forth judgment in truth (Isaiah 42:3).

This was said of the Lord; and "the smoking flax," that He will not extinguish signifies the small amount of truth from good with anyone. (The rest may be seen explained above, n. 627.) "Linen" signifies also truth from the Word, especially the truth of the sense of its letter (Hosea 2:5, 9).

[7] Moreover, it was a statute with the sons of Israel:

That they should not wear a garment of wool and linen mixed together (Deuteronomy 22:11).

The reason was that "wool" signifies good and "linen" truth, also because man has communication with the societies of heaven by means of his garments; and there are societies that are in good and societies that are in truth; and man must not have communication with different societies at the same time, which would cause confusion. That this was the reason for this statute no one has heretofore known. But it has been granted me to know it from changing my garments; for when I have laid aside a linen garment those in the spiritual world who were in truths have complained that they could not be present; and when I again put on the garment the same spirits became present. That there is such correspondence with the very garments of man has not been known heretofore, and yet it can be seen from the passages cited above, namely, from what is said of the linen garments of Aaron and his sons, the linen ephod that the priests and David wore, the linen in which the angels appeared clothed, and the linen cloth with which the Lord girded Himself and wiped the disciples' feet, also the other garments of Aaron and his sons, all of which were representative; also from the signification of garments in general, as being truths clothing good (See above, n. 64, 65, 195, 271, 395, 475, 476, 637).

(Continuation respecting the First Commandment)

[8] It is not believed in the world that the love of ruling from the mere delight of ruling, and the love of possessing goods from the mere delight of possession, and not from the delight of uses, conceal in themselves all evils, and also a contempt for and rejection of all things pertaining to heaven and the church; and for the reason that man is stirred up by the love of self and the love of the world to doing good to the church, the country, society, and the neighbor, by making good deeds honorable and looking for reward. Therefore this love is called by many the fire of life, and the incitement to great things. But it is to be known that so far as these two loves regard uses in the first place and self in the second they are good, while so far as they regard self in the first place and uses in the second they are evil, since man then does all things for the sake of self and consequently from self, and thus in every least thing he does there is self and what is his own [proprium], which regarded in itself is nothing but evil. But to regard uses in the first place and self in the second is to do good for the sake of the church, the country, society, and the neighbor; and the goods that man does to these for the sake of these are not from man but from the Lord. The difference between these two is like the difference between heaven and hell. Man does not know that there is such a difference, because from birth and thus from nature he is in these loves, and because the delight of these loves continually flatters and pleases him.

[9] But let him consider that the love of ruling from the delight of ruling, and not from the delight of uses, is wholly devilish; and such a man may be called an atheist; for so far as he is in that love he does not in his heart believe in the existence of God, and to the same extent he derides in his heart all things of the church, and even hates and pursues with hatred all who acknowledge God, and especially those who acknowledge the Lord. The very delight of their life is to do evil and to commit wicked and infamous deeds of every kind. In a word, they are very devils. This a man does not know so long as he lives in the world; but he will know that it is so when he comes into the spiritual world, as he does immediately after death. Hell is full of such, where instead of having dominion they are in servitude. Moreover, when they are looked at in the light of heaven they appear inverted, with the head downwards and the feet upwards, since they gave rule the first place and uses the second, and that which is in the first place is the head, and that which is the second is the feet; and that which is the head is loved, but that which is the feet is trampled upon.

9434. 'And the sight of Jehovah's glory was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel' means Divine Truth beaming brightly with the good of love in heaven itself, but harmful and ruinous with those restricted to its outward level, separated from the inward. This is clear from the meaning of 'the sight of Jehovah's glory' as the appearance presented by Divine Truth emanating from the Lord (the fact that 'the sight of' means the appearance presented before the eyes is self-evident; and for the meaning of 'Jehovah's glory' as Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, see 9429); from the meaning of 'fire' as love in both senses, dealt with in 4906, 5215, 6314, 6832, 7324, in this instance God's love itself; from the meaning of 'the top of the mountain' as the inmost part of heaven, for 'Mount Sinai' means heaven, 9420, 9427, and its highest point, which is called 'the top' and the peak, means its inmost part, 9422; from the meaning of 'devouring' as consuming, and so harming and ruining; and from the representation of 'the children of Israel' as those restricted to outward things, apart from inward ones, dealt with often above. From all this it becomes clear that 'the sight of Jehovah's glory was like a [devouring] fire on the top of the mountain' means Divine Truth beaming brightly with the good of love in heaven itself; and the statement that it was 'like a devouring fire in the eyes of the children of Israel' means that with those restricted to its outward level, apart from the inward, it was harmful and ruinous.

[2] The implications of all this are that there are two kinds of love which are complete opposites, heavenly love and hellish love. Heavenly love consists of love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour; hellish love consists of self-love and love of the world. Those with whom hellish loves reign are in hell, whereas those with whom heavenly loves reign are in heaven. For love is what constitutes the actual life within a person; without the love there is no life whatever. In everyone the heat and fire that his life possesses originate in his love; without that animating heat and fire he has no life, as is plainly evident. From this it follows that the character of the love determines the character of the life, and therefore that the character of the love determines that of the person. This being so, anyone can know from what his loves are whether he has heaven within himself or hell. The love present in a person is like a fire or flame, and in addition constitutes, as has been stated, the fire or flame of life; and the faith present there is like the light radiating from that fire or flame, and in addition constitutes the light which enlightens the more internal parts of his understanding. This also reveals the character of the light which gives rise to faith among those governed by heavenly love and the character of the light which gives rise to faith among those ruled by hellish love. The latter kind of light gives rise to faith that is no more than persuasion, which in itself is not faith at all, only a conviction that something is so, dictated by selfishness and worldliness, see 9363-9369. In the Church at the present day spiritual life, which is eternal life, is thought to lie in faith alone, thus in faith without the good works of heavenly love. But anyone who gives thought to the matter can see from the things which have now been stated what the character of that life is.

[3] Something must be said next about what Divine fire, that is, Divine Love, is like among those governed by heavenly love and what it is like among those ruled by hellish love. Among those governed by heavenly love it is God's fire or love constantly creating and renewing the interior parts of the will and enlightening the interior parts of the understanding. But among those ruled by hellish love it is God's fire or love constantly harming and ruining; and the reason for this is that among these people God's love meets with contrary feelings that destroy it. For it is turned into the fire or love of self and the world, and so into contempt for others in comparison with themselves, into feelings of enmity towards all who do not support them, thus into feelings of hatred, feelings of vengeance, and finally the readiness to behave brutally. This is why Jehovah's fire appeared before the eyes of the children of Israel as a devouring or consuming one. For being restricted to outward things, apart from inward, they were ruled by selfish and worldly love.

[4] The fact that this fire was to them a devouring and consuming one is again evident elsewhere in Moses,

It happened, when you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, and the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. And you said, Lo, Jehovah our God has caused us to see His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire. Why therefore should we die? For this great fire will devour us; if we hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more we shall certainly die. Deuteronomy 5:23-25.

See also what has been shown in 6832, 8814, 8819, and the places quoted in 9380 showing that the character of this people was such. There are other places in the Word in which 'devouring fire' is used in reference to the wicked and means ruination, for example in Joel,

The day of Jehovah is coming, a day of darkness and thick darkness, a day of cloud and gloom. Fire devours before them, ¹ and behind them a flame burns. The land before them is like the garden of Eden, but behind them a desolate wilderness. ² Joel 2:1-3.

[5] In Isaiah,

Jehovah will cause His glorious voice ³ to be heard, in the flame of a devouring fire. Isaiah 30:30.

In the same prophet,

Who among us will dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us will dwell with the hearths of eternity? Isaiah 33:14.

In the same prophet,

You will be punished ⁴ by Jehovah with the flame of a devouring fire. Isaiah 29:6.

In Ezekiel,

Your descendants will be devoured by fire. Ezekiel 23:25.

In these places 'a devouring fire' is the fire of desires that spring from self-love and love of the world, for this fire is that which consumes a person and ruins the Church. This was also represented by the fire that went out from before Jehovah, which devoured Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu, because they put foreign ⁵ fire in their censers, Leviticus 10:1-2. 'Putting foreign fire in censers' means introducing worship that springs from a love other than that which is heavenly. Such fire means selfish and worldly love, and every desire arising from it, see 1297, 1861, 5071, 5215, 6314, 6832, 7324, 7575, 9141.

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