122. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison. That this signifies that those who are in falsities from evil will attempt to deprive them of all truths from the Word, is evident from the signification of casting into prison, when said of those who are in the spiritual affection of truth, as being to attempt to deprive them of truths from the Word (concerning which we shall speak presently), and from the signification of the devil, as being the hells which are in evil and thence in falsities (concerning which see above, n. 120). The reason why to cast into prison, when said of those who are in the spiritual affection of truth, denotes to attempt to deprive them of truths from the Word is, because truths are in prison, as it were, when falsities break in; and so long as the latter are under the mind's view, truths cannot be seen, still less can they be set at liberty. Those who are in the spiritual affection of truth, that is, those who love truths because they are truths, are detained in such a prison as often as they do not understand the Word, and yet wish to understand it; the falsities which imprison them, rise up out of hell into the natural man, when the delights of the love of self and of the world rule there; for these delights are the origin of all evils and falsities therefrom (see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 65-83).

[2] This is what is meant in the spiritual sense by being cast by the devil into prison; for by the devil is meant hell, and from hell proceeds all evil; and it's influx is into the natural man, and not into the spiritual; therefore it thus affects all those who are in the delights of those loves, and subjects them to itself, and makes them its crew; for all who are in the hells are in evils and thence in falsities from the loves of self and of the world (see the work, Heaven and Hell 551-565); but that the delights of those loves are changed into corresponding things (the nature of which may be seen also in the same work, n. 485-490). This casting into prison by the devil is described in the Word, where it is said that the Jews and the wicked would persecute the disciples of the Lord, evil entreat, and kill them. For by the Lord's disciples are meant all who are in truths from good, thus who are in truths from the Lord; and when these are meant by the Lord's disciples, in a sense apart from persons (which sense is the very spiritual sense of the Word), truths and goods themselves, which are from the Lord by means of His Word, are also meant. (That by the Lord's twelve disciples are meant all things of faith and love in the aggregate, thus all the truths and goods of the church, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 2129, 3354, 3488, 3858, 6397; that the Word in heaven is understood apart from persons, may be seen above, n. 99, 100.)

[3] He who knows that by the Lord's disciples are meant all those who are in truths from good from the Lord, and in an abstract sense, the truths themselves from good, and that by their being cast into prison by the devil is meant the endeavour of those who are in falsities from evil to deprive them of truths, and, in the abstract, detention or imprisonment of truths by falsities, as said above, will be able to understand what is signified in each of these senses in the following passages:

"They shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and into prisons, for my name's sake" (Luke 21:12).

(That for the Lord's name's sake signifies on account of the goods of love and the truths of faith, from Him, may be seen above, n. 102.)

"Then shall they deliver you up to affliction, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated for my name's sake" (Matthew 24:9, 11).

"They will deliver you up to councils, to synagogues, and they will scourge you, for my sake" (Matthew 10:17, 18; Mark 13:9).

"Behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them ye shall scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city" (Matthew 23:34).

"There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and let it out to husbandmen. And when the time of the fruits drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants, and they did unto them likewise: last of all, he sent unto them his son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they took him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him" (Matthew 21:33-44).

"The wisdom of God said, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute" (Luke 11:49).

(That by prophets in the Word are meant those who teach truths, and, in an abstract sense, the doctrine of truth, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 2534, 7269; and that apostles have a similar signification, see above, n. 100.)

"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in the heavens; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you" (Matthew 5:11, 12).

"Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake; for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets" (Luke 6:22, 23).

[4] Similar to this is the signification of the words of the Lord to His disciples, in which He exhorts them to take up their cross and follow Him; as in the following passages:

"Jesus said unto his disciples, If any one will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34);

to deny one's-self, is to reject the evils which are from the proprium.

"Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:27).

Jesus said to the young man who was rich:

"One thing thou lackest; go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and come, take up the cross and follow me" (Mark 10:21).

By this is meant, in the spiritual sense, that he should reject the falsities of Jewish doctrine, should receive the doctrine of truth from the Lord, and undergo assaults and temptations from falsities. They therefore are deceived who believe that those who desire to follow the Lord should sell their goods, and suffer the cross. Because the Lord is Divine truth itself, which (in John 1:1, 2, 3, 14) is called the Word, therefore by the Lord's suffering Himself to be scourged and crucified is signified, that Divine truth which is in the Word was so treated by the Jews (that all things related concerning the passion of the Lord in the Evangelists, involve and signify that the Jews so treated Divine truth, may be seen above, n. 83); therefore the Lord says,

"Remember my word: If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:20).

[5] That the Jews in particular are meant by the devil who should cast the disciples of the Lord into prison, and that, in general, all who call themselves Jews, and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan, are meant, according to what was adduced above, n. 119, 120, is evident from the words of the Lord in John,

"Ye do not understand my speech because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him; when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it" (8:43, 44).

By their father being a murderer from the beginning, and by the truth not being in him, but a lie, is signified that, from the beginning, they had been opposed to truths, and in falsities from evil; for by a murderer is meant a destroyer of the truth of the church, and a father denotes those that were before. (Concerning the quality of the Jewish nation, what it was formerly, and also what it is at this day, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248; that by the bound in prison are signified those who are in falsities from evil, see Arcana Coelestia 4958, 5096: that to be bound in prison signifies to be held back and separated from truths, n. 5037, 5038, 5086, 5096; and also to be tempted, n. 5037, 5038.)

[6] The reason why the Jews were of such a character was, that they were influenced by the love of self and of the world more than any other nation; and such persons, when they read the Word, apply everything to their own loves, and especially the Jews because they are so often named. The case is similar with others who are in those loves, for the love which rules turns the mind of him who reads to those things only which favour it. For love is like a fire, which gives light to such things, whilst all other things are either passed by as if unseen, or they are considered from the point of view of a sinister explanation, and are thus falsified. Both the latter and the former infest those who are in the spiritual affection of truth, and are what is meant by the devil, who casts into prison those who belong to the Lord's church; for from these all falsities from the spiritual world flow into those who desire truths, and hold them as if they were bound in prison. The same are also meant by those concerning whom the Lord says,

"I was in prison, and ye visited me not" (Matthew 25:43).

119. And the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews, and are not. That this signifies vituperation from those who think themselves to be in the knowledges of good and truth because they have the Word, and yet it is not so, is evident from the signification of blasphemy, as being scandalous reproach and vituperation; and from the signification of Jews, as being those who are in the knowledges of good and truth from the Word; for Judah, in the highest sense of the Word, signifies the Lord as to celestial love, in the internal sense, the celestial kingdom of the Lord, and the Word, and in the external sense doctrine from the Word, which is of the celestial church (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 3881, 6363). It is therefore evident by the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not is signified scandalous reproach and vituperation from those who say that they acknowledge the Lord, and are in His kingdom, and in true doctrine because they have the Word, and yet are not; and, in general, those who say they are in the knowledges of good and truth from the Word, and nevertheless are in falsities and evils.

[2] Those who are ignorant of the internal sense of the Word, cannot but suppose that, in the prophetic parts of the Word, by Judah and the Jews are meant Judah and the Jews; but these are not there meant by these names, but all those who are in the true doctrine of the church, thus those who are in the knowledges of good and truth from the Word; and, in the opposite sense, those who are in false doctrine, thus who adulterate the truths and goods of the Word. That Judah and the Jews are not meant is evident from this consideration alone, that there is an internal sense in all the details of the Word, and also in the names of persons and places. This sense treats solely of the things of heaven and the church, therefore such things are also signified by the names Judah and Israel. And whereas a church was instituted with them in which all things were representative and significative of celestial things, therefore by their names was signified that which essentially constitutes the church, namely, in the highest sense, the Lord Himself; in the internal sense, His Word; and, in the external sense, doctrine from the Word, as said above.

It is therefore evident how much those are mistaken who believe, according to the letter, that the Jews are to be brought back into the land of Canaan, and that they are elected and destined for heaven in preference to others; whereas few from that nation are saved, because none are saved but those who believe in the Lord; and he who believes in the Lord in the world, believes in Him after his departure out of the world; but that nation altogether casts Him out from its belief.

[3] That by Judah is meant the Lord as to His kingdom and as to the Word, may be seen from the prophecy of Israel concerning his sons, which, when it is unfolded by the internal sense, shows what each tribe represented in the church. That the tribe of Judah represented the Lord's kingdom, or the church where the Word is, is quite clear from what is said concerning Judah:

"Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, thou art gone up. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be; who shall bind to the vine the foal of his ass, and to the noble vine the son of his she-ass; whilst he washeth his garment in wine, and his covering in the blood of grapes" (Genesis 49:9, 10, 11).

That the particulars mentioned signify the Lord's kingdom, or the church, may be seen in Arcana Coelestia, where they are explained.

[4] He who knows that by Judah, in the highest sense, is meant the Lord, and, in the internal sense, His kingdom and Word, and in the external sense doctrine from the Word, also, in an opposite sense, those who deny the Lord and adulterate the Word, may know what is signified by Judah in many other places of the Word; as in these following:

"Hear ye, O house of Jacob, called by the name of Israel, and they have gone forth from the waters of Judah" (Isaiah 48:1).

The house of Jacob, and Israel, is the church; to go forth from the waters of Judah signifies from doctrine out of the Word, for the church is thence. (That waters denote truths of doctrine from the Word, may be seen above, n. 71.)

"The sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the sons of the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their borders. It shall come to pass in that day, that all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall go forth out of the house of Jehovah, and Judah shall sit to eternity" (Joel 3:6, 18, 20).

To sell the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem to the sons of the Grecians, is to falsify the goods and truths of the church; in that day, denotes when that church is at its end and a new one established among the Gentiles; all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, signifies abundance of truths and goods from the Word, to those who are in the New Church; that these are from the Word is signified by the fountain going forth out of the house of Jehovah. It is therefore clear that by Judah who shall sit to eternity, is not meant Judah, or the Jewish nation, but all those who are in good by means of truths from the Word.

[5] Similar things are meant by Judah in the following passages:

"I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them. Then shall the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land; for great is the day of Jezreel" (Hosea 1:7, 11).

"Then many nations shall adhere to Jehovah in that day; they shall be to me for a people, for I will dwell in thee; then Jehovah shall make Judah a heritage to himself, his portion upon the land of holiness, and shall again choose Jerusalem" (Zech. 2:11, 12).

"Jehovah Zebaoth shall visit his flock, the house of Judah, and shall make them [as] a horse of glory in the war: I will render the house of Judah powerful" (Zech. 10:3, 6).

"God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah; and they shall dwell there, and inherit it. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they who love the name of Jehovah shall dwell therein" (Psalms 69:35, 36).

"And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains, that mine elect may, possess it" (Isaiah 65:9);

besides in many other places. (That the Jewish nation is not meant in the Word in these and other places where they are called elect and heirs, may be further seen from what is adduced concerning that nation from Arcana Coelestia, in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248.) From these considerations it is now evident what is signified by "The blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and are not."