Apocalypse Revealed #757
757. "A prison for every foul spirit, and a prison for every unclean and loathsome bird!" This symbolically means that the evils willed and so done by the people in those hells, and the falsities entertained in thought and in consequent intention, are diabolical, because the people have turned away from the Lord to themselves.
A prison symbolizes a hell, because these Roman Catholics were imprisoned there. A spirit symbolizes everything pertaining to their affection or will and of the consequent action, and a bird symbolizes everything pertaining to the thought or intellect and consequent intention. A foul spirit and an unclean bird accordingly symbolize all the evils willed and so done, and all the falsities entertained in thought and consequent intention. Moreover, since the evils and falsities entertained by these people are found in the hells, therefore the symbolical meaning is that their evils and falsities are diabolical. In addition, because these people have turned away from the Lord to themselves, every unclean bird is also called loathsome.
Similar symbolism is used to describe Babylon in the Prophets, as in Isaiah:
Babylon... will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited..., so that Arabs will not tarry there... But ziyyim 1 will lie there, their houses will be full of 'ochim, 2 the offspring of owls will dwell there, and satyrs will caper there. 'Iyyim 3 also will reply in its palaces, and dragons in its pleasant palaces. (Isaiah 13:19-22)
I will... cut off from Babylon the name and remnant... I will make it a possession of the bittern... (Isaiah 14:22-23)
And in Jeremiah:
...in Babylon shall dwell ziyyim 1 and 'iyyim 3 and the offspring of owls... As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors..., no son of man shall dwell in it. (Jeremiah 50:39-40)
It is apparent from this that a prison for every foul spirit, and a prison for every unclean and loathsome bird, means symbolically that the evils willed and so done by the people in those hells, and the falsities entertained in thought and consequent intention, are diabolical, because the people have turned away from the Lord to themselves.
[2] It is apparent from the Word that birds symbolize such things as have to do with the intellect and thought and consequent intention, and this in both senses, bad and good. They are found in a bad sense in the following passages there:
In the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice... (At length) on the bird of abominations shall be desolation. Even until the consummation... there shall rain down devastation. (Daniel 9:27)
The pelican and the bittern shall possess (the land). The screech owl and the raven shall dwell in it. (Isaiah 34:11)
Nothing else than hellish falsities are symbolized by 'ochim, 2 ziyyim, 1 the offspring of owls, and dragons in the passages cited above, as also by the birds that came down on the carcasses which Abram drove away (Genesis 15:11), by the birds which were given human corpses for food (Jeremiah 7:33; 15:3; 16:4; 19:7; 34:20; Ezekiel 29:5; Psalms 79:1-2).
[3] Birds are found in a good sense in the following passages:
Creeping thing and bird... shall praise the name of Jehovah. (Psalms 148:10, 13)
In that day I will make a covenant for them... with the birds of the sky, and the creeping things of the ground. (Hosea 2:18)
...ask the beasts, and they will teach you, and the birds of the sky, and they will tell you... Who among all these does not know that the hand of Jehovah does this? (Job 12:7-9)
I looked, when behold, there was no man; all the birds of the sky had flown away. (Jeremiah 4:24-26)
Both the birds of the sky and the beasts have fled away..., (because) I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a den of dragons. (Jeremiah 9:10-11)
There is no truth, no mercy, no knowledge of God... Therefore the land will mourn... as regards the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky. (Hosea 4:1, 3)
I am God... calling a bird from the east, a man of My counsel from a far country. (Isaiah 46:9, 11)
Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon... In its branches all the birds of the sky made their nests..., and in its shade all great nations dwelled. (Ezekiel 31:3, 6)
[4] Similar statements to that made of Assyria as a cedar here are found elsewhere, as in Ezekiel 17:23, Daniel 4:10-14, 20-21, Mark 4:32, Luke 13:19.
Speak to every sort of bird and to every beast of the field: ."..come... to... a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel...." (Thus) I will set My glory among the nations. (Ezekiel 39:17, 21, cf. Revelation 19:17)
And so on regarding birds elsewhere, as in Isaiah 18:1, 6; Ezekiel 38:20; Hosea 9:11; 11:10-11.
That birds symbolize such things as have to do with the intellect and its consequent thought and intention is clearly apparent from birds in the spiritual world. There, too, one sees birds of every kind and every species - in heaven very beautiful ones, birds of paradise, turtle doves, and doves - in hell dragons, screech owls, eagle owls, and others of that kind - all of which are objective representations of thoughts springing from good affections in heaven, and of thoughts springing from evil affections in hell.
Voetnoten:
1. A Hebrew word (צִיִּים), appearing six times in the Old Testament (Psalms 72:9; 74:14). It seems to refer to desert dwellers, and in contexts suggesting animals, to desert creatures, but the actual identity is unknown. It may not be a precise term.
2. Another Hebrew word (אֹחִים), appearing only once in the Old Testament (Isaiah 13:21:4 identifies them as birds of the night.
3. Another Hebrew word (אִיִּים), appearing only three times in the Old Testament (Isaiah 13:22; 34:14
Luke 18
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He also spoke a parable to them that they must always pray, and not give up,
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saying, "There was a judge in a certain city who didn't fear God, and didn't respect man.
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A widow was in that city, and she often came to him, saying, 'Defend me from my adversary!'
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He wouldn't for a while, but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God, nor respect man,
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yet because this widow bothers me, I will defend her, or else she will wear me out by her continual coming.'"
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The Lord said, "Listen to what the unrighteous judge says.
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Won't God avenge his chosen ones, who are crying out to him day and night, and yet he exercises patience with them?
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I tell you that he will avenge them quickly. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
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He spoke also this parable to certain people who were convinced of their own righteousness, and who despised all others.
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"Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector.
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The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: 'God, I thank you, that I am not like the rest of men, extortioners, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
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I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.'
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But the tax collector, standing far away, wouldn't even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'
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I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."
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They were also bringing their babies to him, that he might touch them. But when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
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Jesus summoned them, saying, "Allow the little children to come to me, and don't hinder them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
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Most certainly, I tell you, whoever doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a little child, he will in no way enter into it."
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A certain ruler asked him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
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Jesus asked him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good, except one--God.
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You know the commandments: 'Don't commit adultery,' 'Don't murder,' 'Don't steal,' 'Don't give false testimony,' 'Honor your father and your mother.'"
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He said, "I have observed all these things from my youth up."
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When Jesus heard these things, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have, and distribute it to the poor. You will have treasure in heaven. Come, follow me."
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But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was very rich.
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Jesus, seeing that he became very sad, said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter into the Kingdom of God!
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For it is easier for a camel to enter in through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God."
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Those who heard it said, "Then who can be saved?"
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But he said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."
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Peter said, "Look, we have left everything, and followed you."
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He said to them, "Most certainly I tell you, there is no one who has left house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children, for the Kingdom of God's sake,
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who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the world to come, eternal life."
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He took the twelve aside, and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all the things that are written through the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be completed.
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For he will be delivered up to the Gentiles, will be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit on.
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They will scourge and kill him. On the third day, he will rise again."
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They understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they didn't understand the things that were said.
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It happened, as he came near Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the road, begging.
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Hearing a multitude going by, he asked what this meant.
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They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.
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He cried out, "Jesus, you son of David, have mercy on me!"
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Those who led the way rebuked him, that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "You son of David, have mercy on me!"
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Standing still, Jesus commanded him to be brought to him. When he had come near, he asked him,
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"What do you want me to do?" He said, "Lord, that I may see again."
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Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight. Your faith has healed you."
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Immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God. All the people, when they saw it, praised God.
