10182. 'Its horns shall be of one piece with it' means the powers of truth derived from the good of love and charity. This is clear from the meaning of 'horns' as the powers of truth, dealt with in 2832, 9719-9721. The reason why derived from the good of love and charity is meant is that all the power which truth possesses comes from that good. Therefore also the horns continued from the altar itself or were of one piece with it; for this altar was representative of the Lord, of His hearing and receiving everything of worship that springs from love and charity, 10177.

[2] The statement that all the power which truth possesses comes from the good of love is unintelligible to those who have only a material idea of power, and therefore the nature of that power must be described. In the heavens all power is derived from Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good. This is the source of the power angels possess, for angels are recipients of Divine Truth from the Lord, 1752, 4295, 8192. By means of the power which they receive from that source they protect a person by removing the hells from him; for a single angel is stronger than a thousand who come from hell. This power is what Peter's keys serve to mean, though Peter, who in the same place is referred to as a rock, means the Lord in respect of the truth of faith springing from the good of love, see Preface to Genesis 22, and 3750, 4738, 6000, 6073(end), 6344(end), 10087, 'the Rock' being the Lord in respect of the truth of faith, 8581.

[3] The power that Divine Truth possesses is also meant by 'the voice of Jehovah' in David,

The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters; the voice of Jehovah is powerful; the voice of Jehovah breaks the cedars; the voice of Jehovah strikes a flame of fire; the voice of Jehovah causes the wilderness to shake; the voice of Jehovah strips the forests bare; Jehovah gives strength to His people. Psalms 29:3-5, 7-9, 11.

'The voice of Jehovah' is the Divine Truth emanating from His Divine Good, see 9926.

[4] The power that Divine Truth possesses is also meant by 'the Word' in John,

All things were made through the Word, and without Him nothing was made that was made. John 1:3.

'The Word' is the Divine Truth emanating from Divine Good, see 9987. Therefore also the Lord, when He was in the world, first made Himself Divine Truth, which is also meant in John 1:14 by the Word became flesh. The Lord made Himself Divine Truth then to the end that He might fight against all the hells and overcome them, and in so doing might restore all things to order there, and at the same time in the heavens, 9715, 9809, 10019, 10152.

[5] The fact that truths springing from good possess all power, while on the other hand falsities arising from evil have no power, is very well known in the next life. For this reason the evil who come there from the world have their belief, which is no more than persuasion, and also their knowledge of any truth, taken away from them. This then leaves them with the falsities belonging to their evil.

[6] The statement that truths springing from good possess such power is unintelligible to those who have the idea that truth or a belief in truth is no more than mental activity, when yet a person's mental activity, under the control of his will, constitutes all the strength which the body has; and if the Lord were to instill it through His Divine Truth into that body the person would possess the strength of Samson. But yet it is the Lord's good pleasure to impart strength to a person through faith springing from love in the things that belong to his spirit and that contribute to eternal life.

[7] From all this one may see what should be understood by the power of truth springing from good, the power meant by 'the horns' of both the altar of burnt offering and the altar of incense. That this power is meant by 'the horns' is clear from places in the Word where 'horns' are mentioned, as in Ezekiel,

On that day I will make a horn grow up for the house of Israel. Ezekiel 29:21.

In Amos,

Have we not by our own strength taken horns for ourselves? Amos 6:13.

In the first Book of Samuel,

Jehovah will give strength to His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed. 1 Samuel 2:10.

In David,

Jehovah has exalted the horn of His people. Psalms 148:14.

In the same author,

All the horns of the wicked I will cut off; the horns of the righteous will be exalted. Psalms 75:10.

In Jeremiah,

The Lord has cut down in His very fierce anger ¹ the whole horn of Israel. And He has exalted the horn of your foes. Lamentations 2:3, 17.

In Ezekiel,

You push with side and shoulder, and butt with your horns all the weak sheep, until you have scattered them abroad. Ezekiel 34:21.

In Zechariah,

I saw four horns. The angel said, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. The smiths have come to cast down the horns of the nations lifting up their horn against the land of Judah. Zechariah 1:18-21.

In Moses,

His horns are unicorn horns ² . With these he will strike the peoples together to the ends of the earth. Deuteronomy 33:17.

In these places it is self-evident that power is meant by 'horns', and indeed power in both senses, that is to say, of truth directed against falsity and of falsity directed against truth; for the state of the Church is the subject in the internal sense of every one of these places.

[8] Something similar occurs in Amos,

On that day I will visit the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar will be cut away and fall to the ground. Amos 3:14.

'The altars of Bethel' and 'the horns of the altar' mean the evils and falsities destroying the Church's goodness and truth, regarding which it says that they 'will be cut away'.

[9] From all this one may see what should be understood by 'the horns' mentioned so frequently by Daniel, and by John in the Book of Revelation. Daniel describes the beast which had ten horns and also a horn speaking, Daniel 7:8, 11, 20; and he says that the horn was making war with the saints and prevailing, until the Ancient of Days ³ came, Daniel 7:11, 21-22, 24. He also speaks about the horns of the ram and the horns of the he-goat, which they used to make war against each other, Daniel 8:3-21. And John mentions that the dragon had ten horns, Revelation 12:3, as did the beast coming up out of the sea, Revelation 13:1, and also the scarlet beast, Revelation 17:12. In this verse it is also stated that the ten horns are ten kings; and the same words occur in Daniel 7:24. By 'kings' in the Word truths are meant, and in the contrary sense falsities, see 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148.

[10] It is because 'horn' means truth in its power, or in the contrary sense falsity destroying truth, that speech is attributed to a horn in Revelation 9:13; Daniel 7:8; Psalms 22:21.

[11] The anointing of kings with oil from a horn, 1 Samuel 16:1, 13; 1 Kings 1:39, represented truth springing from good, in its power; for truths in their power are meant by 'horns', good by 'oil', and those who are guided by truths springing from good by 'kings'. For the meaning of 'oil' as good, see 886, 9780; and for that of 'kings' as those who are guided by truths springing from good, thus - in the abstract sense - as truths springing from good, 6148. So it is also that in Psalms 132:17 a horn is said to bud, because all spiritual budding is that of truth springing from good. Therefore also in former times they made [imitations of] budding horns.

All power belongs to good and is exercised through truth, or what amounts to the same thing, belongs to truth springing from good, see the places referred to in 10019.

Footnotes:

2468. There is no need to confirm these meanings either, for the explanation itself, and what comes before and after, shows that such things are meant. The form and nature of the religion meant by 'Moab and the children of Ammon' however becomes clear from the description that has been given of their origin, and also from many other places in the Word, the historical as well as the prophetical, where they are mentioned. In general they are people whose worship is external and to some extent appears holy, but is not internal. They are also people who take up the things which belong to external worship as goods and truths but reject and regard as worthless those that belong to internal worship.

[2] This type of worship and religion falls to people with whom natural good exists but who regard other people as worthless in comparison with themselves. They are not unlike fruit which is not unattractive on the outside but which within is mouldy or rotten; they are not unlike marble vases whose contents are impure and sometimes foul; or they are not unlike women whose face, figure, and movements are not unbecoming but who inwardly are diseased and full of foul impurities. For with them a general good exists which does not look unattractive; but things of a particular kind which enter into that good are filthy. This is not so to begin with but becomes so gradually, for such people easily allow themselves to be impregnated with whatever go by the name of goods and consequently by whatever falsities which, because they are confirmatory, they imagine to be truths. This happens because they despise the interior things of worship, which things they despise because they are governed by self-love. Such people come from and originate with those whose worship is purely external and who in this chapter are represented by Lot. They do so when the good contained in truth has been desolated. In the Word the nature of such people is described both in the beginning when their good has not as yet been so defiled, and also subsequently when it is being defiled, as well as after that when it has been defiled completely; and their rejection of the interior things of worship and doctrine is described too.

[3] The nature of those people in the beginning when their good has not as yet been so defiled is described in Daniel,

At the time of the end the king of the south will clash with him; therefore the king of the north will rush upon him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he will enter into countries, and will overflow, and will pass through, and will come into the glorious land, and many countries will collapse; these will be delivered out of his hand, Edom and Moab, and the firstfruits of the children of Ammon. Daniel 11:40-41.

'The king of the south' stands for people with whom goods and truths are present, 'the king of the north' for those with whom evils and falsities are present. 'The king of the north with chariots, horsemen, and ships, entering countries, overflowing, and passing through' stands for evils and falsities, meant by 'chariots, horsemen, and ships', getting the upper hand; 'the deliverance from his hand of Edom, Moab, and the firstfruits of the children of Ammon' stands for people governed by good which has not yet been defiled so much by falsities. This is why they are called 'the firstfruits of the children of Ammon'.

[4] In Moses,

We passed on by the road of the wilderness, and Jehovah said to Moses, Do not harass Moab, nor engage with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land as an inheritance because I have given Ar to the children of Lot as an inheritance. Deuteronomy 2:8-9.

And regarding the children of Ammon,

Jehovah spoke to Moses, Today you are passing over Ar the boundary of Moab, and when you approach from the region of the children of Ammon, do not harass them nor engage with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the children of Ammon as an inheritance, for I have given it to the children of Lot as an inheritance. Deuteronomy 2:17-19.

Here 'Ar' stands for that kind of good, 'Moab and the children of Ammon' for people who are governed by such good, but at the beginning, which explains why it is commanded that they should not be harassed.

[5] This also is the reason why Moab drove out the Emim, and the Rephaim who were similar to the Anakim, and why the children of Ammon too drove out the Rephaim, whom they called the Zamzummim, Deuteronomy 2:9-11, 18-21. 'Emim, Rephaim, Anakim, and Zamzummim' means people who were impregnated with evil and false persuasions, see 581, 1673. 'Moab and the children of Ammon' in the present context means people who have not yet been impregnated. But when these too had been so impregnated, that is, when their good had been defiled by falsities, they also were driven out, Numbers 21:21-31; Ezekiel 25:8-11.

[6] The nature of those people when their good is being defiled is described in Jeremiah,

To Moab Jehovah spoke thus, Woe to Nebo! for it is laid waste; Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken; Misgab is put to shame and overwhelmed; the praise of Moab is no more. Give wings to Moab, for it will fly away and its cities will become a desolation, with no one to dwell in them. Leave the cities and dwell in the rock, O inhabitants of Moab, and be like the dove that nests in the sides of the mouth of the hole. I know its anger, says Jehovah, and it is not steadfast, and its falsities do not make for right. Therefore I will howl over Moab and will cry out to the whole of Moab. From the weeping of Jazer I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah. Your branches passed over the sea, they reached as far as the sea of Jazer; on your summer fruits and on your vintage the vastator has fallen. Therefore My heart is moved over Moab like pipes. Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished, for your sons have been taken away into captivity, and your daughters into captivity. And I will bring back the captivity of Moab in the latter days. Jeremiah 48:1-2, 9, 28, 30-32, 36, 46-47.

[7] The whole chapter refers to Moab, but by means of him to the way in which people with whom such good is present allow themselves to be impregnated with falsities. This is why it is said that 'they should give Moab wings so that he may fly away', and that 'his cities will become a desolation', but that 'they were to leave the cities and dwell in the rock, and like a dove were to nest in the sides of the mouth of the hole', and many other things by which they are persuaded to remain with the general goods and truths they possess. And if at such times they were led astray by falsities due to lack of knowledge they would be brought back from captivity in the latter days. But with those people with whom this does not happen it is said, 'I will howl over Moab and will cry out to the whole of Moab', and 'My heart is moved over Moab'. The falsities with which they are impregnated are meant by Nebo, Kiriathaim, Misgab, Sibmah, Jazer, Chemosh, and other names mentioned in that chapter.

[8] In Isaiah,

Like a scattered nest will the daughters of Moab be. Give counsel, execute judgement. Make your whole shade [as the night] in the middle of the day. Hide the outcasts, do not betray the wanderer; let My outcasts, O Moab, dwell together in you; be a refuge to them in the presence of the vastator. We have heard of the pride of Moab - his great pride, his arrogance, and his insolence, and his anger; not so his lies. Therefore Moab will howl for Moab, everyone will howl. Therefore My bowels are played on like a harp for Moab, and My inward parts for the city of Heres. And when Moab is seen exhausted on the high place and he comes to his sanctuary to pray he will not prevail. In three years, like the years of a hireling, the praise of Moab will be brought into contempt, with all his great multitude, and the survivors will be a very small and feeble number. Isaiah 16:2-4, 6-7, 11-12, 14.

The whole of this chapter as well refers to Moab, and by means of him to people with whom such good is present. They are described in various parts of the chapter in words similar to those used in Jeremiah 48 - people that are in like manner persuaded to remain with the general goods and truths they possess and not allow themselves to be impregnated with falsities. General goods and truths are meant by the demand that they should give counsel, execute judgement, hide the outcasts, not betray the wanderer, be a refuge to outcasts in the presence of the vastator, all of which mean the external features of worship. Yet because they allow themselves to be impregnated with falsities, it is said 'in three years, like the years of a hireling, and the praise of Moab will be brought into contempt, with all his great multitude, and the survivors will be a very small and feeble number'.

[9] Because they are led astray easily, Moab is called 'the sending forth of the hand of the Philistines, and the children of Ammon their obedience' in Isaiah,

The root of Jesse; which is standing as an ensign of the peoples, that will the nations seek, and His rest will be glory. The envy of Ephraim will depart, and the enemies of Judah will be cut off. Ephraim will not envy Judah, and Judah will not harass Ephraim. And they will fly down onto the shoulder of the Philistines towards the sea, together they will plunder the people of the east, Edom, Moab the sending forth of their hand, and the children of Ammon their obedience. Isaiah 11:10, 13-14.

'The root of Jesse' stands for the Lord, 'Judah' for those who are governed by celestial good, 'Ephraim' for those who are governed by spiritual truth, 'the Philistines' for those who possess a knowledge of the cognitions of truth but who have no charity, 'the people of the east' for those who possess a knowledge of the cognitions of what is good but who also have no charity. Moab is called 'the sending forth of their hand', the children of Ammon 'their obedience', because they are impregnated with falsities by them.

[10] The nature however of people called Moab and the children of Ammon and what it becomes when their good has been defiled completely by falsities is described in David,

God has spoken in His holiness, Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; and

Ephraim is the strength of My head, Judah is My lawgiver, Moab is My wash-basin. Psalms 60:6-8; and likewise. Psalms 108:7-9.

'Washbasin' stands for good defiled by falsities.

[11] In Jeremiah,

The praise of Moab is no more. In Heshbon they have thought evil against him: Come, let us cut him off from being a nation. Moab has been at ease from his youth, resting on his lees; he has not been emptied from vessel into vessel, nor has he gone away into exile. Therefore his taste remains in him, and his scent is unchanged. On all the roofs of Moab and in its streets it is all lamentation, for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which no pleasure is taken. Jeremiah 48:2, 11, 38.

The falsities that defile good, which is 'Moab', are here called 'lees'. These are what 'the taste and scent' consists in if no reformation takes place, meant here by being 'emptied from vessel into vessel'. Good itself is called 'a vessel in which no pleasure is taken', as in David where it is called 'a basin for washing in'. In Isaiah,

The hand of Jehovah will rest on this mountain, and Moab will be threshed beneath it, as straw is trodden down in a dung-pit. Isaiah 25:10.

[12] People with whom such good exists are interested solely in the external features of worship and doctrine, and despise, reject, indeed are utterly averse to the internal; and as a consequence they have falsities instead of truths: in Ezekiel,

Son of man, set your face towards the children of Ammon, and prophesy against them, and say to the children of Ammon, Hear the word of the Lord Jehovih: Thus said the Lord Jehovih, Because you say, Aha! against My sanctuary that has been profaned, and against the land of Israel because it has been made desolate, and against the house of Judah because they have gone away into captivity, I will make Rabbah into a dwelling-place for camels, and the children of Ammon into a couching-place for flocks. The Lord Jehovih said, Because you have clapped the hand and stamped with the foot and rejoiced with all the contempt in your soul against the land of Israel, therefore, behold, I will stretch out My hand against you and hand you over as spoil to the nations, and I will cut you off from the peoples and will make you perish out of the countries. Ezekiel 25:2-7.

'Aha! against the sanctuary that has been profaned, against the land of Israel because it has been made desolate, against the house of Judah because they have gone away into captivity', 'you clapped the hand, stamped with the foot, and rejoiced with all the contempt in your soul against the land of Israel' are words expressing contempt for, mockery, and rejection of the interior features of worship and doctrine. When these have been rejected external things cease to have any value and 'are handed over as spoil to the nations', that is, they are invested by evils, and 'cut off from the peoples', that is, invested by falsities, and 'are made to perish out of the countries', that is, become part of what is not the Church.

[13] In Zephaniah,

I have heard the taunt of Moab and the blasphemies of the children of Ammon, who have taunted My people and magnified themselves against their border. Therefore as I live, Moab will become like Sodom, and the children of Ammon like Gomorrah, a place abandoned to the nettle and a saltpit, and they will be a desolation for ever. This will be theirs for their arrogance because they taunted and magnified themselves against the people of Jehovah Zebaoth. Zephaniah 2:8-10.

'Taunting the people, and magnifying themselves against their border, and against the people of Jehovah Zebaoth' is scorning and rejecting interior truths, meant by 'the people of Jehovah Zebaoth'. Goods as a consequence become evils derived from falsity, which are 'Sodom' and 'a place abandoned to the nettle', while truths become falsities, which are 'Gomorrah' and 'a saltpit'. For it is from internal things that external are enabled to be good and true.

[14] In David,

[Your] enemies craftily take secret counsel against Your people, they consult together against Your hidden ones, [saying,] Come, let us cut them off from being a nation, and let not the name of Israel be remembered any more, for they consult together with one accord; against You they make a covenant the tents of Edom, and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites, Gebal and Ammon, and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre: Asshur also is joined with them; they are an arm to the children of Lot. Psalms 83:2-8.

'Consulting against the hidden ones', 'cutting them off from being a nation so that the name of Israel is remembered no more' means being totally averse to interior things. 'The tents of Edom, the Ishmaelites, Moab, the Hagrites, Gebal, and Ammon' means people whose worship and doctrine are external, 'Philistia with Tyre' people who talk about internal things but do not have them, 'Asshur who is an arm to the children of Lot' reasoning with which they fight on behalf of external things and attack internal.

[15] In Moses,

A man shall not take his father's wife nor violate his father's skirt. He who has been severely bruised or crushed in the testicles shall not enter the assembly of Jehovah. The Ammonite and the Moabite shall not enter the assembly of Jehovah; even to the tenth generation they shall not ever enter the assembly of Jehovah. Deuteronomy 22:30-23:7.

This shows what Moab and Ammon were at the end, that is, when they were impregnated completely with falsities. That is to say, they were people with whom good was adulterated and truth falsified through their contempt for, rejection of, and at length total aversion to all interior things. This also is why these two names are mentioned in this quotation after reference has been made to the foul kinds of adultery meant by 'taking one's father's wife' and 'violating one's father's skirt - almost as with the mention made here to Lot's daughters from whom Moab and Ammon were born; and also after reference to those who are 'severely bruised or crushed in the testicles', by whom those who are totally averse to everything that has to do with love and charity are meant. 'The assembly of Jehovah' means heaven, which they are unable to enter because they possess no remnants, which are obtained solely from interior goods and interior truths and which are meant by 'the tenth generation', 576, 1738, 2280.

[16] They also belonged to those nations who used to sacrifice sons and daughters to Molech, by which in the internal sense is meant that they annihilated truths and goods. Actually Moab's god was Chemosh, and the children of Ammon's was Molech or Milcom, 1 Kings 11:7, 33; 2 Kings 23:13, to whom they sacrificed, 2 Kings 3:27. As regards 'sons and daughters' meaning truths and goods, see 489-491, 533, 1147.

[17] Such then is the meaning of Moab and Ammon; but the kinds of falsity by which they adulterate goods and annihilate truths are many. These are listed in Jeremiah, but merely by their names -

Judgement has come to the land of the plain, to Holon, and to Jahzah, and to Mephaath, and on Dibon, and on Nebo, and on Bethdiblathaim, and on Kiriathaim, and on Bethgamul, and on Bethmeon, and on Kirioth, and on Bozrah, and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. The horn of Moab has been cut off and his arm broken. Make him drunk, because he magnified himself over Jehovah, and let Moab applaud in his vomit. Jeremiah 48:21-26.

These are the kinds of falsity which come together in those who are called Moab and Ammon. Which particular falsities however, and the nature of them, becomes clear from the meaning of each name in the internal sense; for names in the Word mean nothing other than real things, as has been shown many times.