512. And the third part of the sea became blood.- That this signifies, that everything therein became the falsity of evil, is evident from the signification of the third part, which denotes all (see above, n. 506); and from the signification of the sea, which denotes the natural man, as explained above (n. 511); the third part of the sea therefore signifies the whole natural man, and everything therein; and from the signification of blood, which denotes the falsity of evil, concerning which also above (n. 329:2). From these things the spiritual sense of this verse can be seen, namely, that the great mountain burning with fire cast into the sea, and the third part of the sea becoming blood, signifies that the love of self, when it enters and occupies the natural man, turns every scientific therein into the falsity of evil.

[2] The love of self is merely a corporeal love, springing up from the ebullition and fermentation of effete substances, and from the irritant action of these inwardly in the body, whence the perceptive [faculty] of the mind, which requires a pure atmosphere, not only grows dull and gross, but also perishes. That the love of self is from that origin, is evident from its correspondence with human excrement. For those who have been allured by this love, in the other life, love foul smelling filth above all other things, and the stench of it is grateful to them, which is a sign that the effluvium arising therefrom affects the sensory of their smell with delight, as it before affected the common sensory, which is extended on all sides by means of interior cuticles. From this fact alone it is evident, that the love of self is gross and sordidly corporeal above all loves, and, consequently, that it takes away all spiritual perception which pertains to the truth and good of heaven and the church; it also closes the spiritual mind, and fixes its abode entirely in the natural and sensual man, which communicates most intimately with the body, and not at all with heaven. It therefore comes to pass, that all those in whom the love of self rules are sensual, and see the things which pertain to heaven and the church, only in thick darkness; and when they are alone and think in themselves, they reject and deny them. The signification of the third part of the sea being turned into blood, because the great mountain burning with fire was cast into it, is now evident from these things.

927. 'I will curse the ground no more on account of man' means that never again would man thus turn himself away as the people who belonged to the descendants of the Most Ancient Church had done. This is clear from what has been stated already about the descendants of the Most Ancient Church. 'Cursing' in the internal sense means turning oneself away; see what has appeared already in 223, 245.

[2] The implications of these matters and of those that follow, namely that never again would man thus turn himself away as the member of the Most Ancient Church had done and that he would never again be able to destroy himself in that way, also becomes clear from what has been stated already about the descendants of the Most Ancient Church who died out and about the new Church called Noah. That is to say, the member of the Most Ancient Church was one in whom will and understanding formed one single mind, that is, with him love was implanted in the will part of his mind, and so at the same time faith, which occupied the second or understanding part. Their descendants therefore inherited a will and an understanding that made one. Consequently when self-love and resulting insane desires began to take possession of their will part where love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour had been previously, not only did the will part, or the will itself, at that point become utterly corrupted, but so also at the same time did the understanding part, or the understanding itself, all the more so when the final descendants immersed falsities in their desires and in so doing became the Nephilim. They became the kind of people therefore for whom no restoration was possible since both parts of their mind, that is, their whole mind, had been ruined.

[3] Foreseeing this however, the Lord also made provision for mankind to be rehabilitated in the following particular manner: Man could be reformed and regenerated as regards the second part of his mind, the understanding part, and a new will, which is conscience, could be implanted in him, by means of which the Lord might stimulate the good that stems from love or charity, and the truth of faith. In this way did the Lord's Divine mercy restore man. These are the things meant in this verse by 'I will curse the ground no more on account of man, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his childhood', and by 'I will no more strike every living thing, as I have done'.