235. I am about to vomit thee out of My mouth, signifies separation from the knowledges from the Word. This is evident from the signification of "vomiting out," when said by the Lord, as being separation; not that the Lord separates them from Himself, but they separate themselves from the Lord. It is said "to vomit out," because the "lukewarm" are treated of, and in the world what is lukewarm produces vomiting. And this is also from correspondence; for the food that man takes corresponds to knowledges, and thence in the Word signifies knowledges; therefore separation from knowledges means non-admission; but as those here treated of do admit something from the Word, it means ejection or vomiting. (That "food," from correspondence, signifies knowledges and intelligence therefrom, see Arcana Coelestia 3114, 4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5410, 5426, 5576, 5582, 5588, 5655, 8562; for the reason that knowledges nourish the internal man or spirit, as food nourishes the external man or body, n. 4459, 5293, 5576, 6277, 8418.) This is evident also from the signification of "out of My mouth," as being, in reference to the Lord, out of the Word. "Out of the mouth" signifies, in reference to the Lord, out of the Word, because the Word is Divine truth, and this proceeds from the Lord, and what proceeds from the Lord and flows in with man is said to be "out of the mouth," although it is not from the mouth, but is like light from the sun. For the Lord is seen above the heavens where the angels are as a sun, and light therefrom is Divine truth, from which angels and men have all their intelligence and wisdom (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 116-125, 126-140). From this it can be seen that "I will vomit thee out of My mouth" signifies to separate from Divine truth, or what is the same, from the knowledges from the Word.

[2] That those who are "lukewarm," that is, "neither cold nor hot," who are those that live according to the doctrine of faith alone and justification by faith (of which just above), are separated from the knowledges from the Word, is not known to themselves, for they believe that they are in knowledges more than others; but they are not, yea, they are in scarcely any knowledge; and this for the reason that the principles of their doctrine and religion are false, and from false principles nothing results but falsities; when therefore they read the Word, they keep their minds in their falsities, and as a consequence, either they do not see truths, or if they see them they pass them by or falsify them. These false principles are, that salvation is by faith alone, and that man is justified by faith. That they are separated from the knowledges from the Word and that they do not see truths therein, they may know if they will; for what is more frequently declared by the Lord, than that they ought to do His words, His commandments, His will, and that everyone shall be recompensed according to his deeds; also that the whole Word is based upon two commandments, which are to love God, and to love the neighbor; also that loving God is doing His commandments (John 14:21, 23, 24)? What men must do in order to be saved is said a thousand times in each Testament, also that hearing and knowing are nothing without doing. But do those who have confirmed themselves in faith alone and justification by faith, see these things? And if they see them do they not falsify them? Consequently they have no doctrine of life, but a doctrine of faith alone; when yet, life makes the man of the church, and those things come to be of his faith which are of his life.

[3] That such persons are separated from the knowledges from the Word, can be seen also from this, that they are not aware that they are to live as men after the death of the body; that they have a spirit that lives; that heaven is from the human race, and hell also; that they know nothing at all about heaven and heavenly joy; nothing about hell and infernal fire; thus nothing about the spiritual world; nothing about the internal or spiritual sense of the Word; nothing about the glorification of the Lord's Human; nothing about regeneration; nothing about temptation; about baptism, what it involves; about the Holy Supper, and what the flesh and blood, or the bread and wine in it signify; nothing about free will; nothing about the internal man; nothing about charity, about the neighbor, about good, about love; neither do they know what the remission of sins is; and many other things. Moreover, I have heard angels say that when they are permitted to look into the church, and to see those who believe themselves to be intelligent from doctrine, that they see nothing but mere thick darkness, and those so believing are seen as if deep down under waters.

[4] These are separated from the knowledges from the Word for two reasons; first, because they cannot be illustrated by the Lord, for the Lord flows into man's good, and from that illustrates him in truths, that is, He flows into man's love and therefrom into his faith; secondly, because they profane truths by falsifications, and those who do this are separated from truths themselves while they live in the world, that they may not know them, but in the other life they cast away from themselves all things they knew from the Word while in the world. Both these separations are meant by "being vomited out of the mouth." Like things are meant by "vomiting" and "vomit" elsewhere in the Word; as in the following passages. In Isaiah:

Jehovah hath mingled a spirit of perversities in the midst of Egypt; whence they have led Egypt astray in every work thereof, even as a drunkard goeth astray in his vomit (Isaiah 19:14).

"Egypt" signifies the knowledge [scientia] of things, both spiritual and natural; "mingling the spirit of perversities in the midst thereof" signifies to pervert and falsify these things; "a drunkard" signifies those who are insane in spiritual things; and as truths mingled with falsities are cast out, it is said "as a drunkard goeth astray in his vomit." (That "Egypt" signifies knowledge [scientia], see Arcana Coelestia 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 5700, 5702, 6015, 6651, 6679, 6683, 6692, 7296; also the knowledges [scientifica] of the church, n. 7296, 9340, 9391; that "drunkards" signify those who are insane in spiritual things, n. 1072.)

[5] In Jeremiah:

Drink ye, and be drunken, and vomit and fall, and rise not because of the sword (Jeremiah 25:27).

"To drink and be drunken" is to drink in falsities and mix them with truths, and thence to be insane; "to vomit and fall" is altogether to cast out things falsified; "the sword," because of which they shall not rise, signifies falsity destroying and laying waste truth (See Arcana Coelestia 2799, 4499, 7102); which shows clearly what is meant by "vomiting and falling." In the same:

Make Moab drunken, for he hath magnified himself against Jehovah, that he may clap the hands in his vomit (Jeremiah 48:26).

"Moab" signifies those who adulterate the goods of the church, therefore "vomiting" is predicated of them.

[6] In Habakkuk:

Woe unto him that maketh his companion to drink even making him drunken, that thou mayest look upon their nakednesses. Thou shalt be satiated with disgrace instead of glory; drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered; the cup of Jehovah shall go about unto thee, and disgraceful vomiting shall be on thy glory (Habakkuk 2:15-16).

"To drink even making him drunken" also signifies to drink in truths and mix them with falsities; the "nakednesses" upon which they look, signify the deprivation of truth and of intelligence therefrom (See Arcana Coelestia 1073, 5433, 9960). The "foreskin that shall be uncovered" signifies the defilement of good (See Arcana Coelestia 2056, 3412, 3413, 4462, 7225, 7245); "glory" signifies Divine truth, thus the Word (See Arcana Coelestia 4809, 5922, 8267, 8427, 9429); which shows what is meant by "disgraceful vomiting upon their glory."

[7] In Isaiah:

These err through wine, through strong drink they are gone astray; the priest and the prophet err through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they err among the seeing, they stumble in judgment; yea, even all tables are full of the vomit of filthiness; there is no place. Whom shall he teach knowledge? (Isaiah 28:7-9).

Here "wine" and "strong drink," by which they err, signify truths mixed with falsities; "priest" and "prophet" signify those who teach goods and truths, and in an abstract sense, the goods and truths of the church; "the seeing" among whom they err signify those who might be about to see truths; "to stumble in judgment" signifies insanity; "tables" signify all things that should nourish spiritual life, for tables mean the food that is on them, and "food" signifies all truths and goods, because these are what nourish spiritual life; therefore "tables full of the vomit of filthiness" signify the same things falsified and adulterated.

[8] In Moses:

Defile not yourselves with any of these things; for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you; whence the land is defiled; and the land hath vomited out her inhabitants; thus the land will not vomit you out, as it vomited out the nations that were before you (Leviticus 18:24-25, 28).

Adulteries of every kind are here treated of, by which in the spiritual sense all kinds of adulterations of good and falsifications of truth or profanations are meant; and as it is not possible for evils and goods, nor for the falsities of evil and the truths of good to exist together without being cast out, therefore it is said that "the land," that is, the church, "hath vomited them out." From this it can be seen what is signified by "vomiting out."

2015. That 'kings will come out of you' means that all truth comes from Him is clear from the meaning of 'a king' as truth in both the historical and the prophetical sections of the Word, as stated in 1672 but not yet shown to be so. From the meaning of 'nations' as goods, and from the meaning of 'kings' as truths, the nature of the internal sense of the Word becomes clear, and also how remote it is from the sense of the letter. No one reading the Word, especially the historical section, believes anything other than that 'nations' referred to there means nations, or that 'kings' there means kings, and therefore that the nations mentioned there, or the kings, are the real subject of the very Word itself. But when the idea of nations and also of kings reaches angels it perishes altogether, and good and truth take their place instead. This is bound to seem strange and indeed a paradox, but it is nevertheless the truth. The matter may also become clear to anyone from the fact that if nations were meant in the Word by 'nations' and kings by 'kings', the Word of the Lord would hardly embody anything more than some historical or other piece of writing and so would be something of a worldly nature, when in fact everything in the Word is Divine and so is celestial and spiritual.

[2] Take merely the statement in the present verse about Abraham's being made fruitful, nations being made of him, and kings coming out of him. What else is this but something purely worldly and nothing at all heavenly? Indeed these assertions entail no more than the glory of this world, a glory which is absolutely nothing in heaven. But if this is the Word of the Lord then its glory must be that of heaven, not that of the world. This also is why the sense of the letter is completely erased and disappears when it passes into heaven, and is purified in such a way that nothing worldly at all is intermingled. For 'Abraham' is not used to mean Abraham but the Lord; nor is 'being fruitful' used to mean his descendants who would increase more and more but the endless growth of good belonging to the Lord's Human Essence. 'Nations' do not mean nations but goods, and 'kings' do not mean kings but truths. Nevertheless the narrative in the sense of the letter remains historically true, for Abraham was indeed spoken to in this way; and he was indeed made fruitful in this way, with nations as well as kings descending from him.

[3] That 'kings' means truths becomes clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

The sons of the foreigner will build up your walls, and their kings will minister to you. You will suck the milk of nations, and the breast of kings will you suck. Isaiah 60:10, 16.

What 'sucking the milk of nations and the breast of kings' means is not at all evident from the letter but from the internal sense, in which being endowed with goods and instructed in truths is meant. In Jeremiah,

There will enter through the gates of this city kings and princes seated on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses. Jeremiah 17:25; 22:4.

'Riding in chariots and on horses' is a prophecy meaning the abundance of things of the understanding, as becomes clear from very many places in the Prophets. Thus the prophecy that 'kings will enter through the gates of the city' means in the internal sense that they were to be endowed with truths of faith. This sense of the Word is the heavenly sense into which the worldly sense of the letter passes.

[4] In the same prophet,

Jehovah has spurned in His fierce indignation king and priest. The gates of Zion have sunk into the ground, He has destroyed and broken in pieces her bars. King and princes are among the nations; the law is no more. Lamentations 2:6, 9.

Here 'king' stands for the truth of faith, 'priest' for the good of charity, 'Zion' for the Church, which is destroyed and its bars broken in pieces. Consequently 'king and princes among the nations', that is, truth and what belongs to truth, will be so completely banished that 'the law is no more', that is, nothing of the doctrine of faith will exist any more. In Isaiah,

Before the boy knows to refuse evil and to choose good, the ground will be abandoned which you loathe in the presence of its two kings. Isaiah 7:16.

This refers to the Lord's Coming. 'The land that will be abandoned' stands for faith which at that time would not exist. 'The kings' are the truths of faith which would be loathed.

[5] In the same prophet,

I will lift up My hand to the nations and raise My ensign to the peoples; and they will bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulder. Kings will be your foster fathers and their queens your wet-nurses. Isaiah 49:22-23.

'Nations' and 'daughters' stand for goods, 'peoples' and 'sons' for truths, as shown in Volume One. That 'nations' stands for goods, 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849, as does 'daughters', 489-491, while 'peoples' stands for truths, 1259, 1260, as does 'sons', 489, 491, 533, 1147. 'Kings' therefore stands for truths, in general by which they will be nourished, and 'queens' for goods by which they will be suckled. Whether you speak of goods and truths or of those who are governed by goods and truths it amounts to the same.

[6] In the same prophet,

He will spatter many nations, kings will shut their mouths because of him, ¹ for that which has [not] been told them they have seen, and that which they have not heard they have understood. Isaiah 52:15.

This refers to the Lord's Coming. 'Nations' stands for those who are stirred by an affection for goods, 'kings' those who are stirred by an affection for truths. In David,

Now, O kings, be intelligent; be instructed, O judges of the earth. Serve Jehovah with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son lest He perhaps be angry and you perish in the way. Psalms 2:10-12.

'Kings' stands for people who are governed by truths, and who by virtue of truths are also in many places called 'king's sons'. 'The Son' here stands for the Lord, and he is called the Son here because he is Truth itself, and the source of all truth.

[7] In John,

They will sing a new song, You are worthy to take the Book and to open its seals. You have made us kings and priests to our God so that we shall reign on the earth. Revelation 5:9-10.

Here people who are governed by truths are called 'kings'. The Lord also calls them 'the sons of the kingdom' in Matthew,

He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the seed are the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one. Matthew 13:37-38.

In John,

The sixth angel poured out his bowl over the great river Euphrates and its water was dried up to prepare the way of the kings who were from the east. Revelation 16:12.

'Euphrates' clearly does not mean the Euphrates, nor does 'kings from the east' mean kings from that quarter. What 'Euphrates' does mean may be seen in 120, 1585, 1866, from which it is evident that 'the way of the kings who were from the cast' means truths of faith that derive from goods of love.

[8] In the same book,

The nations that are saved will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory and honour into it. Revelation 21:24.

Here 'nations' stands for people who are governed by goods, 'kings of the earth' for those who are governed by truths, which is also evident from the fact that the details here are prophetical, not historical. In the same book,

With the great harlot seated on many waters the kings of the earth have committed whoredom and have become drunk with the wine of her whoredom. Revelation 17:2.

And elsewhere in the same book,

Babylon has given all nations drink from the wine of the fury of her whoredom; and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her. Revelation 18:1, 3, 9.

Here similarly it is clear that 'the kings of the earth' does not mean kings, for the subject is the falsification and adulteration of the doctrine of faith, that is, of truth, which are 'whoredom'. 'Kings of the earth' stands for truths that have been falsified and adulterated.

[9] In the same book,

The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom but are receiving authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. These will be of one mind, and they will hand over power and authority to the beast. Revelation 17:12-13.

That 'kings' here does not mean kings may also be evident to anyone. If kings were meant, then 'ten kings receiving authority as kings for one hour' would be quite unintelligible, as similarly with the following words in the same book,

I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered to make war with Him who was sitting on the horse, and with His army. Revelation 19:19

In verse 13 of the same chapter it is stated explicitly that the One who was sitting on the horse was The Word of God, against which the kings of the earth are said to have been gathered. 'The beast' stands for goods of love that have been profaned, 'kings' for truths of faith that have been adulterated; these are called 'kings of the earth' because they exist within the Church - 'earth' meaning the Church, see 662, 1066, 1067, 1262. 'The white horse' stands for the understanding of truth, 'He who was sitting on the horse' for the Word. This matter is plainer still in Daniel 11, describing the war between the king of the south and the king of the north, by which is meant the conflict of truths with falsities. Here such conflicts are described as a war that took place in history.

[10] Since 'a king' means truth, what is meant in the internal sense when the Lord is called King, and also a Priest, is made clear; and what essential quality of the Lord was represented by kings, and what by priests, is also made clear. 'Kings' represented His Divine Truth, and 'priests' His Divine Good. All the laws of order by which the Lord governs the universe as King are truths, while all the laws by which He governs the universe as Priest and by which He rules even over truths themselves are goods. For government from truths alone condemns everyone to hell, but government from goods lifts them out of that place and raises them up into heaven; see 1728. Because, in the Lord's case, these two - truths and goods - are joined together, they were also represented in ancient times by kingship and priesthood combined, as with Melchizedek who was at one and the same time king of Salem and priest to God Most High, Genesis 14:18. And at a later time among the Jews where the representative Church was established in a form of its own He was represented by judges and priests, and after that by kings.

[11] But because 'kings' represented truths which ought not to be paramount for the reason, already stated, that they condemn, the very idea was so objectionable that the Jews were reproached for it. The nature of truth regarded in itself has been described in 1 Samuel 8:11-18, as the rights of a king; and previous to that, in Moses, in Deuteronomy 17:14-18, they had been commanded through Moses to choose genuine truth deriving from good, not spurious truth, and not to pollute it with reasonings and factual knowledge. These are the considerations which the directive concerning a king given in the place in Moses referred to above embodies within itself. No one can possibly see this from the sense of the letter, but it is nevertheless evident from the details within the internal sense. This shows why 'a king' and 'kingship' represented and meant nothing other than truth.

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