Apocalypse Explained #1025
1025. And the mountains were not found, signifies that there was no longer any good of love. This is evident from the signification of "mountains," as being the church as to the good of love (See n. 405, 510, 850). "Mountains" mean the church as to the good of love, because "land" signifies the church, and angels that are in love to the Lord have their land upon mountains in the spiritual world; so "mountains" signify the church as to the good of love to the Lord. Such dwell upon mountains in the spiritual world because they are interior angels, and interior things in the spiritual world correspond to higher things, and actually become the higher. And this is why the Lord, because He is in the inmost, is called "the Most High," and is said "to dwell in the highest."
(Continuation: The Commandments in general)
[2] What these three senses in the commandments of the Decalogue are can be seen from the following summary explanation. The first commandment of the Decalogue, "Thou shalt not worship other gods besides Me," involves in the spiritual moral sense that nothing else nor anyone else is to be worshipped as Divine; nothing else, that is, nature, by attributing to it something Divine of Itself; nor anyone else, that is, any vicar of the Lord or any saint. In the celestial spiritual sense it involves that one God only is to be acknowledged, and not several according to their qualities, as the ancients did, and as some pagans do at this day, or according to their works, as Christians do at this day, who make one God from creation, another from redemption, and another from enlightenment.
[3] This commandment in the Divine celestial sense involves that the Lord alone is to be acknowledged and worshiped, and a trinity in Him, namely, the Divine Itself from eternity, which is meant by the Father, the Divine Human born in time, which is meant by the Son of God, and the Divine that proceeds from both, which is meant by the Holy Spirit. These are the three senses of the first commandment in their order. From this commandment viewed in its threefold sense it is clear that it contains and includes in a summary all things that concern the Divine as to essence.
[4] The second commandment, "Thou shalt not profane the name of God," contains and includes in its three senses all things that concern the quality of the Divine, since "the name of God" signifies His quality, which in its first sense is the Word, doctrine from the Word, and worship of the lips and of the life from doctrine; in its second sense it means the Lord's kingdom on the earth and the Lord's kingdom in the heavens; and in its third sense it means the Lord's Divine Human, for this is the quality of the Divine Itself. (That the Lord's Divine Human is "the name of God" in the highest sense may be seen above, n. 224.) In the other commandments there are likewise three internal senses for the three heavens; but these, the Lord willing, will be considered elsewhere.
Revelation 16
1
And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
2
And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
3
And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.
4
And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5
And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
7
And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8
And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9
And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
10
And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
11
And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
12
And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
13
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
14
For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
15
Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16
And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17
And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
18
And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
19
And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
20
And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
21
And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
