THE EXPLANATION of Isaiah Chapter 15

(Note: Rev. Smithson's translation of the Isaiah text is appended below the explanation)

1. THE burden of Moab. Surely in the night Ar is laid waste: Moab is cut off! surely in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and cut off!

Verse 1. The burden of Moab, etc. - [As "Babylon" signifies the church as was shown above, when its members are chiefly situated by the love of power and dominion, by employing the holy things of the Word and of the church for this purpose, and thus profaning them, as "Moab" signifies those members of the church who are in merely natural or external good, without a spiritual principle. Such members, or such Moabites, are always numerous in the church, and the Judgment upon them is of the greatest moment to all who desire to escape from their condemnation. In the following Exposition, Swedenborg clearly shows the nature of the Moabites in the church, and thus opens the various prophecies respecting Moab, which are otherwise, as is indeed confessed by nearly all commentators, most obscure.]

The nature and quality of that religious principle which is signified by "Moab" and the "sons of Ammon", may appear from their origin, which is described in Genesis 19, and also from several passages both in the historical and prophetical parts of the Word where they are named. They in general denote those who are principled in external worship, which appears in some respects holy, but not in internal worship, and they who eagerly embrace as Good and True whatever relates to external worship, but reject and despise what relates to internal worship. Such worship, and such a religious principle, takes especial root in those who are principled in natural good, but who despise others in comparison with themselves. Persons of this complexion are not unlike fruits, whose external form is not unpleasing to the sight, but which are inwardly musty or decayed; they are also not unlike marble vases, which contain things impure, and sometimes things filthy; or they are not unlike women, who as to the face, and body, and gestures, are not unhandsome, but who are inwardly diseased, and full of defilements: for there is a common or general good appertaining to such persons, which appears not altogether void of beauty, but the particulars which enter into the composition thereof, are filthy and abominable. This is not indeed the case in the beginning, but by successive degrees, inasmuch as they suffer themselves easily to be tainted with any principles whatsoever which are called good, and thereby with all sorts of false persuasions, which they conceive to be true in consequence of confirming them, and this because they despise the interior things of worship, and all because they are principled in self-love. Such persons have their existence and derivation from those who are in external worship only, and who are represented by "Lot" in this chapter, (Genesis 19) and this when the good of truth is desolated.

They are described in the Word, as well as to their nature and quality in the beginning, when their good is not as yet so much defiled, as afterwards when it is defiled, and when they reject the interior things of worship and of doctrine. Their nature and quality in the beginning, when their good is not, as yet, so much defiled, is thus described in Daniel:

"In the time of the end the king of the south shall strive with him; and the king of the north shall rush upon him, with chariot, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall come into the lands, and shall overflow, and pass over; and shall come into the land of honourableness, and many shall fall together: these shall be snatched out of his hand, Edom, and Moab, and the first-fruits of the sons of Ammon." (Daniel 11:40, 4.)

The "king of the south" denotes those who are principled in goodnesses and truths; the "king of the north", those who are principled In evils and falsities; "the king of the north, with chariot, - with horsemen, with ships, coming into the lands, overflowing and passing over"; denotes that evils and falsities, signified by "chariots, horsemen, and ships", would prevail; "Edom, Moab and the first-fruits of the sons of Ammon, to be snatched out of his hand", denote those who are principled in such good not as yet so much defiled with falsities, wherefore they are called "the first-fruits of the sons of Ammon."

So in Moses,

"We passed by the war of the wilderness; and Jehovah said unto Moses, Do not straiten Moab, nor mix yourself with them in war, because I will not give you inheritance of his land, for I have given Ar for an inheritance to the sons of Lot"; (Deuteronomy 2:8, 9),

and concerning the sons of Ammon,

"Jehovah spake to Moses, You art to pass Ar this day, the border of Moab;: and shalt come nigh over against the sons of Ammon: neither straiten them, nor mix yourself with them, because I will not give you inheritance of the land of the sons of Ammon, for I have given it for an inheritance to the sons of Lot." (Deuteronomy 2:18, 18)

"Ar" denotes good of such a quality; "Moab and the sons of Ammon" denote those who are principled in such good, but in the beginning, wherefore it is commanded that, "they should not be straitened."

Hence, it is that "Moab drove out the Emims and Rephaims, who were as the Enakims, and that the sons of Ammon drove out also the Rephaims, whom they called Zamzummims." (Deuteronomy 2:10, 11, 20, 21)

By the "Emims, Rephaims, Enakims, and Zamzummims", are signified those who were tainted with persuasions of evil and the falsities see n. 581, 1673; by "Moab and the "sons of Ammon" are here signified those who were not as yet so much tainted with such persuasions; but these also, when they became tainted, that is, when their good was defiled with falsities, were likewise driven out. (See Numbers 21:21-31; Ezekiel 25:8 - 15)

Their nature and quality, when their good is defiled, are thus described in Jeremiah:

"Thus says Jehovah to Moab: Woe upon Nebo! because it is vastated: Kiriathaim is ashamed, is taken; Misgab is ashamed and dismayed; the praise of Moab is no more. Give a wing to Moab, because in flying he shall flyaway; and his cities shall be a desolation, none shall dwell in them. Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, you inhabitants of Moab; and be as a dove, she makes her nest in the passages of the mouth of the pit, I know, says Jehovah, his anger; and he is not firm; his false principles, they have not done what is right. Therefore I will howl over Moab, and will cry for all Moab. From the weeping of Jazer I will weep for you, you vine of Sibmah; your young shoots have passed the sea, they have reached even to the sea of Jazer: the waster has fallen on your summer fruits, and on your vintage. Therefore My heart is moved upon Moab, like pipes. Woe to you, Moab! the people of Chemosh perishes: for your sons are taken into captivity, and your daughters into captivity. And l will bring back the captivity of Moab in the latter days." (Jeremiah 48:1, 9, 28, 30, 31, 32, 36, 46, 47)

The subject treated of in this chapter throughout is concerning Moab, and by him concerning those who are principled in such good, how they suffer themselves to be tainted with false principles; wherefore it is said, "Give a wing to Moab, that he may flyaway", and that "his cities shall be for a desolation", but that "they should leave the cities, and should dwell in the rock, and as a dove should make their nest in the passages of the mouth of the pit", and several things, besides, whereby they are admonished to remain in their common goodnesses and truths; and if in such case they should be seduced by false principles arising from ignorance, they should be brought back from captivity in the latter days.

But of those who do not follow such admonition, it is said "I will howl over Moab, and I will cry to all Moab; and My heart is moved over Moab." The false principles wherewith they are tainted, are signified by Nebo, Kiriathaim, Misgab, Sibmah, Jazer, Chemosh, and several other names which occur in that chapter.

But what their nature and quality become, when their good is altogether defiled by false principles, is thus described in David:

"God spake in His holiness: Gilead is Mine, and Manasses is Mine; and Ephraim is the strength of My head; Judah is My lawgiver; Moab washpot"; (Psalm 60:7, 8),

and in like manner in Psalm 108:7-9; where "washpot" denotes good defiled with false principles."

So in Jeremiah,

"The praise of Moab is no more: in Heshbon they have devised evil upon him; go, let us cut him off from a nation. Moab has been at ease from his youth, and has rested in its dregs, neither was he emptied from vessel to vessel, and has not gone away into captivity; therefore his taste stood in him; and his scent was not changed. On all the house-tops of Moab shall be weeping altogether; because I have broken Moab as a vessel wherein is no pleasure." (Jeremiah 48:2, 50:38)

The false principles wherewith the good, which is Moab, is defiled, are here called "dregs", in which stands "taste and scent", if he is not, reformed, which reformation is here signified by being "emptied from vessel to vessel"; the good itself is called "a vessel "Therein is no pleasure", as in David it is called "washpot."

So in Isaiah,

"The hand of Jehovah rests in this mountain, and Moab shall be threshed under it, as straw is trodden down in the dunghill." (Isaiah 25:10) Arcana Coelestia 2468.

Surely in the night Ar is laid waste, etc. - "Night", in the Word, signifies what is false from evil, for those who are in the false from evil are in the darkness of night; hence it is that all who are in hell, are said to be "in the night." In hell there is indeed a kind of light or lumen, in which they see each other, but that light is as the lumen proceeding from a coal-fire, which is turned into darkness, and into thick darkness when heavenly light [lux] flows into it. Hence it is that they who are in hell are said to be "in the night", and are called "angels of night and of darkness", and, on the contrary, they who are in heaven are called "angels of light and of the day." That "night" denotes what is obscure and also what is false, may be manifest from many passages of the Word:

"Jesus said, Are there not twelve hours of the day? If anyone walk in the day, he stumbles not; but if he walk in the night, he stumbles, because there is no light in him." (John 11:9, 10)

"Twelve hours" denote all the states of Truth; to "walk in the day" denotes to live in the Truth; to "walk in the night", to live in the false. Arcana Coelestia 6000. See also below, Chapter 21:11, 12, the Exposition.

2. He goes up to Bajith and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep: over Nebo, and over Medeba, shall Moab howl: on all heads there is baldness; every beard is cut off.

Verses 2, 3. On all the heads of Moab there is baldness; every beard is cut off. In her streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth, etc. By "Moab" are signified those who are in natural good [that is, good in which there is nothing spiritual], and who adulterate the goods of the church; that they have no understanding of Truth, nor science or knowledge of Truth, is signified by "baldness on all the heads of Moab, and every beard cut off", likewise by "howling and mourning on the house-tops, and in the streets"; "incisions upon all hands", (as in (Jeremiah 48:37) signify things falsified; mourning on account thereof is signified by "girding on sackcloth", likewise by "howling and flowing down with weeping." Apocalypse Explained 637.

In this passage, and in others, by "cutting off the hair of the head, and of the beard", and inducing" baldness", is signified to deprive of all Good and Truth, inasmuch as he who is deprived of the ultimates, is also deprived of the things prior; for prior things exist and subsist in ultimates, as was said above. In the world of spirits also there appear those who are bald, and I was instructed that they are those who were abusers of the Word, and had applied the sense of the letter, which is Divine Truth in the ultimates, to wicked purposes and had thence become deprived of all Truth; they are also most malicious; many are from the Babylonish [Romish] people: but on the contrary the angels appear with becoming hair. Apocalypse Explained 66.

As to the "hair" and "beard", see above, Chapter 7:20, the Exposition.

From this we can see the reason why the boys who called the prophet "Bald-head" were cursed, (2 Kings 2:23-25) for thereby was represented the mockery and profanation of the Word, Apocalypse Explained 781.

3. In her streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on her house-tops, and in her streets, everyone shall howl; he shall flow down with weeping.

Verse 3. In her streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth, etc. - Speaking of the city "Ar", in the land of Moab, whereby is signified the doctrine of those who are in truths from the natural man; grief over the falsities of their doctrine, from the first to the last, is signified by "girding on sackcloth", and by "howling in the streets, and on the house-tops"; "house-tops" denoting things interior, and "streets" things exterior with them. Apocalypse Explained 652.

They shall gird themselves with sackcloth, etc. - To "put sackcloth on the loins" signifies lamentation on account of good destroyed, for this was a representative of good destroyed.

The "loins" signify conjugial love, and hence all celestial and spiritual love, n. 3021; and this from correspondence, for as all the organs, members, and viscera of the human body correspond to the Grand Man (as shown at the end of the chapters on Genesis), thus "loins" correspond to those in the Grand Man, or heaven, who have been in genuine conjugial love.

And because conjugial love is the fundamental of all loves, therefore by the "loins" in general is signified every kind of celestial and spiritual love; hence the ritual custom of "placing sackcloth on the loins" when they lamented over good destroyed, for all good is of love.

That they "put sackcloth on their loins" when they testified that lamentation, is evident from the historical as well as from the prophetical parts of the Word, as in Amos 8:10; Jonah 3:5, 8; 2 Kings 19:1; and in Isaiah 15:2, 3; in which passage "Moab" signifies those who adulterate goods, as may be seen in n. 2468; lamentation over the adulteration which is signified by "Moab", is described by such things as correspond to evil of that kind, wherefore similar things are said concerning Moab in Jeremiah 48:37. Arcana Coelestia 4779.

[This lamentation is further described by "howling", by "flowing down with weeping", and by "crying out aloud", etc. For when judgment is executed upon those in the church who, in this instance, are represented by Moab, as is the case after death in the world of spirits, their anguish of soul is signified by "howling, lamentation, and weeping", etc.

To adulterate the goods of the Word and of the church, is to assume in the external form a profession of religion and of what is good from the Word, as justice, sincerity, purity, humility, charity, etc., whilst in the heart or the internal nothing but selfish motives and evils prevail, and consequently nothing of love to the Lord and the neighbour exists. Verily, there are many Moabites in the church! (See above, Chapter 11:14, the Exposition.)

Thus hypocrisy, or the assumption of what is good in the external, whilst the internal, or "the inside of the cup and the platter is full of defilement", (Matthew 23:25) is the aggregate of adulterated good.]

4. And Heshbon and Elealeh shall, cry out aloud; unto Jahaz is their voice heard: wherefore the armed of Moab shall cry out; his soul shall be grievous unto him.

Verses 4, 5, 8. Heshbon and Elealah shall cry out aloud; unto Jahaz is their voice heard, etc. - From the signification of an "outcry" is the common expression of "crying un to God", when the mind is in a state of grief, as in Isaiah 19:20; 30:19; 65:19; Jeremiah 14:2; and elsewhere. Concerning the further significations of the word "outcry" [clamor], as predicated of various affections, such as of interior lamentation, of imploration, and supplication from anguish, of contesting, and indignation, of confession, etc., see what is said in the Arcana Coelestia 2240, 2821. Apocalypse Explained 393. See also above, respecting an "outcry", Chapter 5:7, the Exposition.

5. My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives, [flee] to Zoar, [like a lowing] heifer of three years; yea, the ascent of Luhith with weeping shall they ascend yea, in the way of Horonaim they raise an outcry of destruction.

Verse 5. Her fugitives [flee] to Zoar, etc. - Zoar was a city not far from Sodom, whither Lot [the father of Moab] fled, when delivered by angels from the burning of Sodom. (See Genesis 19:20, 22, 30)

Zoar is also mentioned in Genesis 14:2; Deuteronomy 34:3; Isaiah 15:5; Jeremiah 48:34. The term "Zoar", in Hebrew, signifies little or small; and it denotes affection, either the affection of good, or, in the opposite sense, the afjection of evil. Those who are in the affection of Truth have little of Truth because little of Good, as compared with those who are in the affection of Good. (See Arcana Coelestia 2429) Arcana Coelestia 1589-2439.

[Hence the "fugitives to Zoar" would signify those of Moab who, at the time of Judgment, have some little affection of Truth, and who are consequently saved, as Lot was saved from the destruction of Sodom by fleeing to Zoar. These "fugitives" may be called the "remains of Moab.]

An heifer of three years. - That "three years" involve all things of the church as to times and states, is evident from the signification of the number "three" in the Word; for "three" signifies a full time [or state] of the church from its origin to its end, thus its entire state. The last time of the Church is therefore signified by the the "third day", the "third week", the "third month", the "third year", and the "third century" [or age], which are the same [in the spiritual sense].

As the states of the church are signified by the number "three", thus also are the states of everyone who is a church, yea, of everything which is of the church, as is evident from the signification of that number as explained from different passages of the Word, (See Arcana Coelestia 720, 901)

That "an heifer of three years" thus signifies the time or state of the church to its last or end, namely, when it is devastated or desolated, may be evident from Isaiah, "My heart cries out over Moab: her fugitives flee to Zoar, [like a lowing] heifer of three years", etc.; (Isaiah 15:5) and also in Jeremiah 48:33, 34.

No one could ever understand what these things mean, unless he knew what is signified by "Moab", by " oar", by "the ascent of Luhith", by "the outcry of Heshbon and Elealeh", by "Jahaz", 'by "Horonaim", by "the waters of Nimrim", and by "an heifer of three years." That all these things, and what is said of them, signify the ultimate devastation [of those in the church signified by Moab] is evident. Arcana Coelestia 1825.

6. For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolations: for the grass is dried up; the herb is consumed; there is no green [thing].

Verses 6, 9. The waters of Nimrim shall be desolations; yea, the waters of Dimon are full of blood, etc. - From this passage it appears what "blood" signifies in the opposite sense, for " blood", in the genuine sense, signifies the Divine Truth, and with the recipients thereof Truth from Good; hence, in an opposite sense, it signifies violence done to the Divine Truth, and with those who do it, the false from evil. This opposite signification may appear from this circumstance, that it is predicated of "the waters of the sea, of the rivers, and of the fountains", that they are turned into blood, for "waters" signify truths; wherefore by "blood" are here signified falsities which destroy truths. Apocalypse Explained 329.

Verse 6. The grass is dried up, the herb is consumed, there is no green [thing]. - That hereby is signified scientific truth appears from the signification of "grass" as denoting the scientific principle; and from the signification of "green" as denoting what is true and living from Truth; because, as green grass serves for food to animals, so scientific truth serves for spiritual nourishment to men; for what is produced in fields, in gardens, and in plains, and serves for nourishment either to man or beast, has a correspondence with such things as serve for the nourishment of the spirit and mind, which is called spiritual nourishment. By scientific truth is meant everything scientific by which spiritual truth is confirmed, and which has life from spiritual good. Apocalypse Explained 507.

By what is "green" is signified the sensitive principle of Truth, because by "herb", "glass" and the "foliage" of trees, are signified truths [of various kinds]; hence it is that by the "green" of these things is signified the sensitive principle of Truth, by which is meant the principle of perception. This sensitive principle of Truth is also signified in Isaiah 15:6-"The grass is dried up, there is no green thing, Arcana Coelestia 7691.

[When, therefore, it is said of Moab. - that the "grass is dried up, the herb is consumed, and that there is no green thing", the entire destitution of all know!edge and truth, as having a spiritual and living principle within it, is thereby represented.]

7. Wherefore the abundance which they have made, and what they have laid up, shall they carry over the brook of the willows.

8. For the outcry encompasses the border of Moab: to Eglaim reaches her howling; and to Beer-elim her howling.

Verse. 7. And what they have laid up, shall they carryover the brook of the willows. - The "willows of the brook" signify the lowest goods and truths of the natural man which appertain to the external sensual principles, This will appear from the following passage. Inasmuch as by "the feast of tabernacles" was signified the implantation of good by truths, therefore it was commanded that they should, on the occasion of that feast, "take the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm-trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and the willows of the brook; and that they should rejoice before the Lord seven days." (Leviticus 23:40)

By "the fruit of the goodly trees" is signified celestial good; by "the branches of palm-trees", spiritual good, or the Good of Truth; by "the branches of the thick trees", scientific Truth with its Good; and by "the willows of the brook", the lowest good and truths of the natural man which are of his external sensual principles. Thus by these four kinds of "trees" are signified all goods and truths from first principles to last with man. Apocalypse Explained 458.

[Hence when it is said of Moab that, at the period of judgment, they shall carry their abundance, or their riches, and what they have laid up, to the brook of the willows", is signified that the treasures of knowledge which they have "laid up" in their memory from the Word, willl be found to be only in the lowest sensual principles of their minds, denoted by "the brook of the willows." Similar things are denoted by the Jews, when in captivity, "hanging their harps on the willows", (Psalm 137:2) to signify that the affections of what is true and good, represented by the "harp", had become merely sensual.]

9. Yea, the waters of Dimon are full of blood: yet will I bring additional [evils] upon Dimon; -a lion upon the escaped of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.

Verse 9. The waters of Dimon are full of blood. - That "blood" in a good sense signifies what is holy, and in the opposite sense, as in this passage, what is profane, see above, Chapter 4:4, the Exposition.

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Isaiah Chapter 15

1. THE burden of Moab. Surely in the night Ar is laid waste: Moab is cut off! surely in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and cut off!

2. He goes up to Bajith and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep: over Nebo, and over Medeba, shall Moab howl: on all heads there is baldness; every beard is cut off.

3. In her streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on her house-tops, and in her streets, everyone shall howl; he shall flow down with weeping.

4. And Heshbon and Elealeh shall, cry out aloud; unto Jahaz is their voice heard: wherefore the armed of Moab shall cry out; his soul shall be grievous unto him.

5. My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives, [flee] to Zoar, [like a lowing] heifer of three years; yea, the ascent of Luhith with weeping shall they ascend; yea, in the way of Horonaim they raise an outcry of destruction.

6. For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolations: for the grass is dried up; the herb is consumed; there is no green [thing].

7. Wherefore the abundance which they have made, and what they have laid up, shall they carry over the brook of the willows.

8. For the outcry encompasses the border of Moab: to Eglaim reaches her howling; and to Beer-elim her howling.

9. Yea, the waters of Dimon are full of blood: yet will I bring additional [evils] upon Dimon; - a lion upon the escaped of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.

413. Verse 17. For the great day of His anger is come, signifies the Last Judgment upon the evil. This is evident from the following passages from the Word. The Last Judgment, which is signified by "the great day," is upon the evil and also upon the good; the judgment upon the evil is called "a day of indignation," "of wrath," "of anger," and "of vengeance," while the judgment upon the good is called "the time of the Lord's coming," "the year of His good pleasure," "the year of the redeemed," "the year of salvation." Everyone, whether evil or good, is judged immediately after death, when he enters the spiritual world, where he is to live to eternity, for man is then immediately marked out either for heaven or for hell; he that is marked out for heaven is connected with some heavenly society into which he will afterwards come, and he that is marked out for hell is connected with the infernal society into which he will afterwards come. There is, however, an interval of time before they go thither, chiefly for the purpose of preparation; for the good, that the evils that adhere to them from the body in the world may be wiped away; and for the evil, that the goods that adhere to them outwardly from teachers and from religion may be taken away; according to the Lord's words in Matthew:

Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, that he may have more abundantly; whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath (Matthew 13:32; 25:29).

This delay occurs for this reason also, that the affections, which are of many kinds, may be so arranged and reduced to the ruling love that the man-spirit may become wholly his own love. Yet many of them, both evil and good, were reserved for the Last Judgment; but only such of the evil as from habit acquired in the world had been able to lead a moral life in externals, and such of the good as from ignorance and from their religion had been imbued with falsities; but the rest, when their time had been fulfilled, were separated from these, the good were elevated into heaven, and the evil were cast into hell, and this before the Last Judgment.

[2] The Last Judgment is called "the great day of the anger of God" because to the evil who are cast down into hell it appears as if it were God who did this from anger and wrath, for the destruction that then comes upon them comes from above, and also from the east where the Lord is as a sun, and they are then in terrors, griefs, and also in torments. But the Lord has no anger whatever, for He is love and mercy itself and good itself; and pure love and good itself cannot be angry; for this is contrary to its essence. But it so appears for this reason: when the last state is reached, which is when evils on the earth and at the same time then in the spiritual world have so increased that the supremacy inclines to their side, and thereby the equilibrium between heaven and hell is perishing, and this perishing, the heavens where the angels dwell begin to labor, then the Lord from the sun directs His energy, that is His love, to protecting the angels and restoring the state which labors and begins to totter; and by this energy and power Divine truth united to Divine good, which in its essence is Divine love, penetrates through the heavens to the places below, where the evil have associated themselves together; and because they cannot endure such influx and presence of the Divine love they begin to tremble, and to be in anguish and torment; for thereby the goods and truths which they have learned to feign by speech and action merely in externals, are dispersed, and their internals, which are nothing but evils and falsities, are opened; and as these are in direct opposition to the goods and truths that flow in from within, although they have made evils and falsities their life, they experience such tremor, anguish and torment, that they can no longer maintain themselves, therefore they flee away and cast themselves into the hells which are under the mountains and rocks, where they can be in evils and in the falsities of their evils. This in particular is signified by the words explained above, "They said to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the anger of the Lamb."

[3] From this it can be seen why the words "the anger of the Lamb" are used, and why the Last Judgment is called "the great day of His anger," although it is the Divine love that is meant, the operation of which viewed in itself is to save all, for it is a will to save, thus not anger at all, but love. The like is true when an evil spirit who can feign himself an angel of light ascends into heaven. When he comes thither, as he cannot endure the Divine good and the Divine truth that are there, he begins to feel anguish and torment to the extent even that he casts himself down with all his might, nor does he rest until he is in the hell corresponding to his evil.

It is from this appearance, and because when they do evils they are punished, that indignation, anger, wrath, and even fury and vengeance, are so often in the Word attributed to Jehovah, that is, the Lord; but a presentation of all the passages where these are attributed to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord, is here omitted because there are so many of them, and a few only will be cited, in which the Last Judgment is called "the day of the indignation," "of the anger," "of the wrath," and "of the vengeance" of Jehovah and God, as in the following.

[4] In Isaiah:

Behold the day of Jehovah cometh, cruel and of indignation and of the glowing of anger, to lay the land waste, and He shall destroy its sinners out of it. I will make heaven to tremble, the land shall quake out of its place, in the indignation of Jehovah of Hosts, and in the day of the glowing of His anger (Isaiah 13:9, 13).

"A day cruel and of the glowing of Jehovah's anger" means the Last Judgment; and because it is evil that glows, and falsity that is angry, it is called "a day of the glowing of anger." "The land that shall be laid waste, and that shall quake out of its place," means the land that is in the spiritual world, for there are lands there the same as on our globe; and those lands, while the Last Judgment is going on, are "laid waste" and "quake out of their place," for the mountains and hills are then overturned, and the valleys sink down into marshes, and the face of all things there is changed. Nevertheless, "land" in the spiritual sense means the church everywhere, for in the spiritual world the face of the land is similar to the state of the church with those who dwell upon the land there, consequently when the church perishes the land also perishes, for they make one; and then in place of the former land a new one comes into existence; but these changes are unknown to us on our earth. Nevertheless they must be made known, in order that it may be understood what is meant by "the land shall be laid waste, and shall quake out of its place."

[5] In Zephaniah:

When the glowing of the anger of Jehovah hath not yet come upon you; when the day of the anger of Jehovah hath not yet come upon you, it may be ye shall be hid in the day of Jehovah's anger (Zephaniah 2:2-3).

Here, too, "the glowing of anger" and "the day of Jehovah's anger" mean the Last Judgment. In Lamentations:

He doth not remember the footstool of His feet in the day of His anger (Lamentations 2:1).

"The footstool of Jehovah's feet" means the worship of the Lord in the natural world, for the reason that the whole heaven, together with the church in the world, is before the Lord a semblance of one man (as may be seen in Heaven and Hell 78-86), the inmost heaven constituting the head, the other heavens the breast and legs, and the church on earth the feet; consequently the feet signify also the natural; moreover, the heavens rest upon the church which is with mankind as a man does upon his feet (as can be seen from what is shown in the same work, n. 87-102, also 291-302). Since the Last Judgment comes when there is no longer any faith because there is no charity, thus when the church is at an end, it is evident what is meant by "He doth not remember the footstool of His feet in the day of His anger." And elsewhere:

There was none that escaped nor any residue in the day of Jehovah's anger; those whom I brought up and nourished hath mine enemy consumed (Lamentations 2:22).

"The day of Jehovah's anger" is the Last Judgment; that there is then no longer any good of love nor any truth of faith in the church, but evil and falsity is signified by "there was none that escaped nor any residue; those whom I brought up and nourished hath mine enemy consumed;" "there was none that escaped nor any residue" signifying that there was no good nor truth; "whom I brought up and nourished" meaning those who are of the church, who have all spiritual food or the knowledge of good and truth from the Word; "the enemy that consumed them" meaning evil and falsity.

[6] In Revelation:

Thine anger came, the time of judging the dead, and of giving the reward to Thy servants, and to those that fear Thy name, and of destroying them that destroy the earth (Revelation 11:18).

This makes clear that "anger" or "the day of anger" means the Last Judgment, for it is said "Thine anger came, the time of judging the dead." In Isaiah:

The day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed hath come. I have trodden down the peoples in Mine anger, and made them drunk in My wrath (Isaiah 63:4, 6).

This treats of the combats of the Lord, by which He subjugated the hells, thus of a Last Judgment which was accomplished by Him when He was in the world; for by combats, which were temptations admitted into Himself, He subjugated the hells and wrought a Last Judgment. It is this judgment that is meant by "the day of Jehovah's anger and wrath" in the Word of the Old Testament; but the Last Judgment, which has at the present time been accomplished is meant by "the day of His anger" in Revelation. (That a Last Judgment was performed by the Lord when He was in the world, see Last Judgment 46.) The subjugation of the hells is here signified by "I have trodden them down in Mine anger, and have made them drunk in My wrath;" "the year of the redeemed" signifies the judgment upon the good who are saved.

[7] In the same:

The spirit of the Lord Jehovih is upon me, to proclaim the year of Jehovah's good pleasure, and the day of vengeance for our God; to comfort all that mourn (Isaiah 61:1, 2).

The day of vengeance of Jehovah, the year of retributions for the controversy of Zion (Isaiah 34:8).

"The day of vengeance of Jehovah," like "the day of His anger and wrath," signifies the Last Judgment. This is because vengeance is attributed to Jehovah or the Lord for the same reason anger and wrath are-namely, from the appearance that those who have denied the Divine and have been hostile in heart and mind to the goods and truths of the church, consequently hostile to the Lord who is the source of these, are cast down into hell (as are all who live wickedly). And because these are treated as enemies, vengeance, like anger, is attributed to the Lord (See above). "The year of retributions" signifies the like as "the day of vengeance," but it is predicated of falsities, while "the day of vengeance" is predicated of evils; "the controversy of Zion" signifies the rejection of the truth and good of the church; "Zion" meaning the church. In other places also, the time of the Last Judgment is called "the day of Jehovah," "the day of visitation," "the day of slaughter," and "the day of the coming":

The day of the Lord's coming (Malachi 3:2; Matthew 24:3, 27, 37, 39).