8858. A person's whole character is determined by the nature of whatever dominates his life; this is what marks him off from others. His heaven is formed in accordance with it if he is good, or his hell if he is bad. For it constitutes his true will and so the true being of his life, which is unchangeable after death. From all this one may see what the life is like in a person who has been regenerated, and what it is like in one who has not been regenerated.
Exodus 20
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And God spake all these words, saying,
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I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
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Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
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Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
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Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
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And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
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Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
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Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
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Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
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But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
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For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
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Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
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Thou shalt not commit adultery.
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Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
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Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
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And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
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And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God Speak with us, lest we die.
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And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
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And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
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And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
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Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.
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An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.
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And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
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Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
Apocalypse Explained #954
954. Verse 7. And one of the four animals gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials, full of the anger of God, who liveth unto the ages of the ages, signifies all the falsities of evil that have destroyed the spiritual life of the men of the church made manifest by the Lord by means of the Divine truth or the Word. This is evident from the signification of "the four animals," as being the inmost heaven (See n. 277, 322, 462), and as being the Word n. 717, consequently the Lord as to heaven and the Word, for heaven is heaven from the Lord, and the same is true of the Word. Also from the signification of "the seven angels," as being manifestations through the Divine truth or the Word (See above, n. 949). Also from the signification of "the seven vials," as being all falsities and evils, for "the seven vials" have a like signification as "the seven plagues" (verse 6), namely, evils and falsities therefrom, and falsities and evils therefrom (See above, n. 949). These are said to be "full of the anger of God, who liveth unto the ages of the ages," because these devastate the church and destroy the spiritual life of the men of the church. These are what are signified by "the anger of God." All this makes clear that the words, "one of the four animals gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials, full of the anger of God, who liveth unto the ages of the ages," signify all the falsities of evil that have destroyed the spiritual life of the men of the church, made manifest by the Lord by means of the Divine truth or the Word. "Vials" are mentioned instead of plagues because vials are the containants, and plagues are the contents; and in the Word the containants are frequently mentioned instead of the contents, because the containants are the ultimates, in order that the sense of the letter of the Word may be in ultimates. Likewise "cups" and "chalices" are mentioned instead of wine. (But see further on this subject in the following chapter, where the seven vials and the seven plagues therein are treated of.)
(Continuation respecting the First Commandment)
[2] So far as a man resists his own two loves, which are the love of ruling from the mere delight of ruling and the love of possessing the goods of the world from the mere delight of possession, thus so far as he shuns as sins the evils forbidden in the Decalogue, so far there flows in through heaven from the Lord, that there is a God, who is the Creator and Preserver of the universe, yea also that God is one. This then flows in for the reason that when evils have been removed heaven is opened, and when heaven is opened man no longer thinks from self but from the Lord through heaven; and that there is a God and that God is one is the universal principle in heaven which comprises all things. That from influx alone man knows, and as it were sees that God is one, is evident from the common confession of all nations, and from a repugnance to thinking that there are many gods. Man's interior thought, which is the thought of his spirit, is either from hell or from heaven; it is from hell before evils have been removed, but from heaven, when they have been removed. When this thought is from hell man sees no otherwise than that nature is God, and that the inmost of nature is what is called the Divine. When such a man after death becomes a spirit he calls anyone a god who is especially powerful; and also himself strives for power that he may be called a god. All the evil have such madness lurking inwardly in their spirit. But when a man thinks from heaven, as he does when evils have been removed, he sees from the light in heaven that there is a God and that He is one. Seeing from light out of heaven is what is meant by influx.
