410. Hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains. That this signifies those things destroyed by evils of life and by the falsities thence, is plain from the signification of hiding themselves as denoting their being destroyed, namely, internal and external goods and truths, or those that are in the natural and spiritual man, these being signified by the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the chief captains, the mighty men, and by every bondservant and every freeman, as has been shown above. Hence it follows that by they hid themselves is signified that those things were destroyed, the things which are destroyed being also in concealment. From the signification of caves, as denoting evils of life, concerning which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of the rocks of the mountains, as denoting the falsities thence; for rocks signify the truths of faith, and in an opposite sense the falsities of faith; here the falsities from evils, for mountains signify evils flowing from the loves of self and of the world (as was shown just above, n. 405); but the signification of rocks will be seen in the article immediately following; here, [however, the signification] of caves.
[2] It was stated above, that in the spiritual world there are mountains, hills, rocks, valleys, and lands, as in our world, and that angels and spirits dwell on them; but in the spiritual world they have everywhere another appearance; on the mountains there those who are in the greatest light dwell; below them, on the same mountain, dwell those who are in less light; and beneath these, those who are in still less; and in the lowest parts dwell those who are in darkness and thick darkness respectively to the light which those possess who are above. The heavens, consequently, are in the higher part of the mountains, and the hells are in the lowest parts, thus the expanses of the mountain succeed each other as strata. The reason is, that the lower parts may be governed by the higher from the Lord; for the Lord flows in immediately from Himself into all things of the spiritual world, and mediately through the higher heavens into the lower, and through these into the hells. The reason for this arrangement is, that all may be kept in connection by influx; such a co-ordinate and sub-ordinate arrangement exists through the whole spiritual world.
Into the hells which are under the mountains and in the rocks, entrances open either in the lowest part of their sides, or through caverns from the valleys; and the entrances in the lower parts of the sides appear like entrances into caves where there are wild beasts, altogether dark, which are opened when evil spirits are let in, but are closed when they have been let in. These entrances are called in the Word the gates of hell. In the rocks, however, these entrances appear as clefts in the rock, and in some places as openings of differing magnitude. The darkness in those gates or doors appears as darkness to good spirits and angels, but as full of light to evil spirits; the reason is, that there is no light of heaven there, but a fatuous light, which is natural light without spiritual. Their light, however, is not like the light of the world in the day-time, but like the nocturnal light, which is for horned owls, moles, night owls, and bats, which see nothing in the light of day, and hence the light of day is darkness to them, whilst the darkness of the night is their light. Their sight is of such a nature, because it is formed of falsities and evils, which in themselves are darkness and thick darkness; wherefore also by darkness in the Word are signified falsities of every kind, and by thick darkness the falsities of evil. From these things it is evident what is signified by their hiding themselves in caves, namely, that [they were] in evils of life, goods with them having been destroyed. Evils of life are signified by caves, for the same reason that mountains signify goods of life, namely, because such is the quality of those who are there; for the spiritual sense regards only evils or goods apart from places and persons, such as they are in themselves and in those [persons], as has also been frequently shown above.
[3] From these things it is evident what is signified in the Word by caves, caverns, hollows, openings, clefts, and chinks of rocks and mountains, in the following passages.
In Isaiah:
"Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of Jehovah, and for the glory of his majesty. For the day of Jehovah of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up, and brought low; and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, and upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all the images of desire. And the pride of man (hominis) shall be bowed down, and the loftiness of men (virorum) shall be brought low; and Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols shall go away into smoke. And they shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the clefts of the dust, for fear of Jehovah, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to terrify the earth. In that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made for themselves, to bow down to the moles and to the bats; to go into the rents of the rocks, and into the clefts of the rocks" (2:10-21).
No one can understand all these things except from the internal sense, and except he knows the nature of the appearance of things in the spiritual world. For without the internal sense, who would know what is denoted by, the day of Jehovah shall be upon the cedars of Lebanon and the oaks of Bashan, upon the mountains and hills, upon the tower and the fenced wall, upon the ships of Tarshish and the images of desire; and what is denoted by bowing down to moles and bats? And except from the appearance of things being known in the spiritual world, who would know what entering into the rock denotes, and hiding themselves in the dust, entering into the caves of the rocks, and into the clefts of the dust, likewise into the rents of the rocks, and the clefts of the rocks? But, from the internal sense, it is known that by all these things is described the state of those who are in the love of self and of the world, and thence in evils and falsities at the time of the Last Judgment. It is, therefore, said that the day of Jehovah shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up and brought low; the day of Jehovah denoting the Last Judgment; every proud and lofty one denoting those who are in the love of self and the world; and every one that is lifted up and brought low denoting those who are in the love of their own intelligence. This is further described by, "the day of Jehovah shall be upon all the cedars that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, upon all the high mountains and the hills that are lifted up, upon every high tower and fenced wall, and upon all the ships of Tarshish and the images of desire." By the cedars of Lebanon and by the oaks of Bashan is signified the pride of man's own intelligence; interior pride, by the cedars of Lebanon, and exterior, by the oaks of Bashan. By the mountains and hills are signified the loves of self and of the world, and the evils and falsities originating thence (as was shown above, n. 403). By the tower and the wall are signified falsities of doctrine confirmed. By the ships of Tarshish and the images of desire are signified knowledges and perceptions of falsity from evil; their worship from evils and falsities is signified by the idols which they made each one for himself to bow down to the moles and the bats. Worship from such things as are from one's own intelligence is signified by the idols which they made for themselves to bow down unto; the evils and falsities from which such worship springs are signified by the moles and the bats, because their sight is in the darkness, and they shun the light. The judgment upon them is described by, they shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the clefts of the dust, likewise into the rents of the rocks, and into the clefts of the rocks; also by entering into the caves of the rocks and into the clefts of the dust, is signified the damnation of those who are in evils and falsities from the love of self and of the world, and in the pride of one's own intelligence; for the hells of such appear as caves in rocks, and the entrances into them as the rents of rocks and clefts of rocks; rocks (petroe et rupes) also signify the falsities of faith and doctrine, and dust signifies what is cursed.
[4] In Jeremiah:
"Thy dread hath deceived thee, the pride of thine heart, thou that dwellest in the openings of the rocks, that holdest the height of the hill; if thou shouldst exalt thy nest as the eagle, thence will I cast thee down" (49:16).
These things are said concerning Esau and Edom; and by Esau are here signified the love of self and the evil thence destroying the church, and by Edom the pride of man's own intelligence and the falsity thence destroying the church. That the love of self and such pride are meant, is evident from its being said, "the pride of thine heart hath deceived thee; if thou shouldst exalt thy nest as the eagle, thence will I cast thee down." Those who are in falsities from one's own intelligence, dwell in rocks below, and entrances to them appear as openings therein, which have also been seen by me; within, however, there are cells and chambers hollowed out, where they sit in their fantasies; but before they are cast in thither they appear above the mountains and hills, for they raise themselves into heights by fantasies, and not being in truths they suppose that they are there as to the body, when nevertheless they are as to the body in the caverns of the rocks; this, therefore, is what is meant by dwelling in the openings of the rocks, and holding the height of the hill. Hence it is plain what the quality of the Word is, namely, that in many places [it is written] according to aspects and appearances in the spiritual world, which are unknown to man, but known to spirits and angels; whence it is evident that the Word is written for them also.
[5] In Obadiah:
"The pride of thy heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, in the height of thy seat; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? If thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and if thou set thy nest amongst the stars, thence will I bring thee down" (verses 3, 4).
These words also are said concerning Edom, by whom is here signified the pride of erudition which is from man's own intelligence, and the falsity thence destroying the church. Nearly similar things being here mentioned as just above, like things also are signified; by the clefts of the rock are signified the falsities of faith and of doctrine, because those dwell there who are in them [i.e. in falsities]; they are compared to an eagle, because by an eagle from its flight into the heights, is signified the pride of man's own intelligence; because also it is said a nest for habitation. To place it among the stars, signifies on the heights where they dwell who are in the knowledges of truth, for the knowledges of truth are signified by stars. In Job:
"To dwell in the clefts of the valleys, in the openings of the earth, and in the rocks" (30:6).
Here also by the clefts of the valleys, the openings of the earth, and the rocks, are signified the falsities of evil, for the falsities of evil are here treated of.
[6] In Isaiah:
"It shall come to pass in that day that Jehovah shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria; which shall come, and shall rest all of them in the rivers of desolations, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the shoots, and in all the conduits" (7:18, 19).
Thus is described the church, vastated by scientifics falsely applied, and by the reasonings thence, by which the very knowledges of truth from the Word are perverted. The fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, signifies falsity in the extremes of the natural man; the extremes of the natural man are what are called sensual things, for the natural man is interior, middle, and exterior; the interior communicates with the spiritual man by the Rational, but the exterior with the world by the senses of the body, and the middle conjoins both. The exterior is what is called the Sensual, because it depends upon the senses of the body, and thence draws all that belongs to it. The falsities there and thence, are signified by the flies that are in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt. By the bee, however, in the land of Assyria are signified false reasonings thence; for by Assyria is signified the Rational, and by Egypt the scientific of the natural man; and because the Rational derives all that it has from the scientifics of the natural man, hence its reasonings are signified by bees, because bees suck out and derive their store from the flowers, so does the Rational from the scientifics of the natural man. Here, however, by bees are signified false reasonings, because the Rational collects what belongs to it from scientifics falsely applied. That these things are likened to flies and bees is also from correspondence; for in the spiritual world there appear flying things of various kinds, but they are appearances from the ideas of the thoughts of spirits, and the noxious flying things among them are flies and bees of such a kind. The flies in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt derive their correspondence from their birth out of the filth of rivers. It is said that they shall come and rest in the rivers of desolations, and in the clefts of the rocks, which signifies that the falsities of scientifics and the reasonings thence shall reside where there are no truths, and where there is a faith of falsity; the rivers of desolations denoting where there are no truths, and the clefts of the rocks where there is a faith of falsity. That [they shall rest] on all shoots and in all conduits, signifies that the knowledges and perceptions of truth are falsified by them; the shoots denoting the knowledges of truth, and conduits denoting the perceptions which become falsified by the falsities above mentioned, when they flow in. No one can see and know that these arcana are contained in these words, except from the internal sense, and at the same time from the spiritual world.
[7] In the same:
"The palace shall be a wilderness; the multitude of the city shall be forsaken; a summit and a beacon tower shall be upon the caves even for ever, a joy of wild asses and a pasture of flocks" (32:14).
By these words is described the total vastation of the church where there is no longer any good of life and truth of doctrine. No one, however, can know what those things involve, but him who knows the state of things in the spiritual world, and at the same time the internal sense. The devastation of the whole church is meant by, "The palace shall be a wilderness, and the multitude of the city forsaken." A palace signifies the whole church as to truths from good, and a wilderness signifies [where there is] no good because no truth; hence by, the palace shall be a wilderness, is signified the church devastated. The multitude of the city signifies all the truths of doctrine, for a city denotes doctrine, and multitude is said of truths, which are called forsaken when they do not exist. That a summit and a beacon tower shall be upon the caves for ever, signifies that the church shall no longer exist with them, because there is nothing but evil of life and falsity of doctrine. Caves signify such things, because such persons dwell in caves, as said above; and because such persons dwell in deep places in the spiritual world, and are covered above by summits and beacon towers, thus hidden from those who dwell upon lands there, therefore it is not only said that "a summit and a beacon tower shall be upon the caves," but also that [they shall be] "a joy of wild asses and a pasture of flocks." In that world also there are many hells in deep places altogether hidden by the earths, rocks, and hills above, or by summits and beacon towers, where there is grass, like a pasture for flocks; whence it is that they are unknown to those who dwell there upon the land. A joy of wild asses also signifies the affection or love of falsities, and a pasture of flocks, the nourishment of evils from falsities; and both the devastation of truth by falsities. From these things it may be seen what all arcanum lies hid in these words.
[8] In Jeremiah:
"Is this house, upon which my name is named, become a den of robbers?" (7:11).
By a den of robbers is signified evil of life from falsities of doctrine; and by the house "upon which my name is named," is signified the church where there is worship from goods of life by truths of doctrine; the house denotes the church; the name of Jehovah denotes all that by which He is worshipped, consequently, good and truth, the latter of doctrine, the former of life. The reason why the church, where there is evil of life from falsities of doctrine, is called a den of robbers, is, that a cave signifies that [evil], and those are called robbers who steal truths from the Word, and pervert and apply them to falsities and evils, and so extinguish them. From these things it is clear what is meant by the Lord's words in the Evangelists:
"It is written, my house shall be called the house of prayers; but ye have made it a den of robbers" (Matthew 21:13 Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46).
By house in a universal sense is here signified the church; and because worship was performed in the temple at Jerusalem, it is, therefore, called the house of prayers. (That the temple signifies the church may be seen, n. 3720; that prayers signify worship, above, n. 325; that to be called signifies the same as above; [by] to name my name upon them, in the Arcana Coelestia. n. 3421.)
[9] In Isaiah:
"The sucking child shall play on the hole of the adder, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the den of the basilisk" (11:8).
These words cannot be understood, unless it is known, from those things that appear in the spiritual world, what is meant by the hole of the adder, and the den of the basilisk. It was observed above, that the entrances to the hells appear as openings in the rocks, and as gaps opening to caves, such as belong to wild beasts in the forests; those who dwell therein, when they are viewed in the light of heaven, appear as monsters of various kinds, and also as wild beasts. Those who are in the hells where there are such as act craftily against innocence, appear like adders; and those who [act craftily] against the good of love, appear like basilisks; and as a suckling or sucking child signifies the good of innocence, therefore, it is said, the sucking child shall play on the hole of the adder; and as a weaned child, or an infant ceasing to have milk, signifies the good of love, therefore, it is said, "and the weaned child shall put his hand on the den of the basilisk." Hence there is signified thereby that those who are in the good of innocence, and in the good of love to the Lord, have no fear whatever of evils and falsities from hell, because they are protected by the Lord. (That by infants in the Word is signified the good of innocence and also by sucklings, may be seen, n. 430, 3183; and what adders and other poisonous serpents signify, n. 9013.)
[10] In Jeremiah:
"Take the girdle that thou hast bought thee, which is upon thy loins, and arise and go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock."
That he also did this:
And afterwards at the end of many days, he went there, and took it again, "and lo the girdle was marred, and was profitable for nothing" (Jeremiah 13:4-17).
By this was represented the quality of the Jewish Church, that it was without all good of life and truth of doctrine. For the girdle upon the loins of the prophet signified the conjunction of the Lord with the church by means of the Word; by Euphrates is signified the all of the church as to good, here, as to evil; and by the rock, the all of the church as to truth, here, as to falsity, for it is said, a hole of the rock. That the girdle was marred, so as to be profitable for nothing, signified that there was not any conjunction whatever of the church with the Lord, consequently, that there was no church.
[11] The same is signified by a cave in the prophetical parts of the Word as in the historical parts; for the historical parts of the Word equally with the prophetical parts of the Word contain an internal sense. Thus it is recorded of Lot, that after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire,
He dwelt in a cave of the mountain, with his two daughters, who made him drunk, and lay with him; whence were born Moab and Ammon (Genesis 19:30-33 at the end).
By this was represented and signified the same as by Moab and Ammon in the Word, for by Moab is signified the adulteration of the good of the church, and by Ammon the falsification of the truth of the church (as may be seen, n. 2468, 8315); for by adulteries and whoredoms are signified, in general, the adulterations of good and the falsifications of truth (as may be seen above, n. 141, 161); and by the various kinds of adulteries and whoredoms which are related in Leviticus (18:6-30), are signified various kinds of adulterations and falsifications of good and truth. And hence it is, that Lot is then called a dweller in a cave; such abominable [wickedness] also is signified here by a cave of the mountain. In the book of Judges it is said:
The sons of Israel did evil in the eyes of Jehovah: and therefore they were delivered into the hand of Midian. And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of Midian they made for themselves dens in the mountains, and caverns, and stronghold (6:1, 2).
By the evil which the children of Israel did, is meant the perversion of good and truth, as is evident from the following verses there, and also from the signification of Midian (see n. 3242); on account of whom they made for themselves dens in the mountains, and caverns; for the sons of Israel were possessed by the evil which is signified by Midian; for, because of Midian, signifies, on account of that evil. Similar was the case when the sons of Israel fled on account of the Philistines (1 Sam. 13:6).
