120. But are a synagogue of Satan. That this signifies the doctrine of all their falsities, is evident from the signification of synagogue, as being doctrine (concerning which we shall speak presently); and from the signification of Satan, as being the hell whence all falsities go forth. There are two kinds of hells, one in which are those who are in evils, and the other in which are those who are in the falsities of evil. The hell in which the former are, is by one expression called the Devil, and that in which the latter are, is called by one expression Satan. That the hells are thus named is totally unknown to those who are unacquainted with the particulars concerning them, and who have formed the opinion about the devil that he was created an angel of light, and that, because he rebelled, he was cast down with his crew, and in this way hell was made. (That the hells are called by the names Devil and Satan, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 311, 544, 553; and in the small work, The Last Judgment, in the article where it is shown that heaven and hell are from the human race, n. 14-22.) Besides, it should be known, that as all goods and truths proceed out of the heavens from the Lord, so all evils and falsities are from the hells. He who believes that they proceed from any other source is much deceived.

[2] Man is only a receptacle of these, and to whichever he turns himself, he receives therefrom. If he turns himself to heaven, which is brought about by the goods of love and the truths of faith, he then receives goods and truths from the Lord; but if he turns himself to hell, which is brought about by the evils of love and the falsities of faith, he then receives evils and falsities from hell. Now, because all evils and falsities are from the hells, and as the hells are designated, by one expression, either the Devil or Satan, it follows, that by the Devil are also signified all evils, and by Satan all falsities. This is why a synagogue of Satan signifies all kinds of false doctrine.

[3] The reason why by synagogue is signified doctrine is, that doctrine was taught in the synagogues, and also because differences in doctrinal matters were there adjusted. That doctrine was taught in the synagogues, is clear from Matthew 4:23; 9:35 13:54; Mark 1:21, 22, 29, 39; 6:2; Luke 4:15, 16, 44; 13:10, 14; John 18:20. That differences in doctrinals were adjusted in the synagogues, may be concluded from what is said in Matthew 10:17; Mark 13:9; Luke 12:11; 21:12; John 9:22; 12:42; 16:2, 3.

That there was every kind of false doctrine among the Jewish nation, is evident from many things known concerning that nation; for instance, that they deny the Lord, that they expect a Messiah who shall establish an earthly kingdom, and exalt them above all the other nations of the world; that they place all worship in externals, and reject the internals of worship which belong to faith and love to the Lord; that they regard all things in the Word as referring to themselves, and falsify it by traditions of their own invention, as may be seen, Matthew 15:6-9; Mark 7:1-13. Moreover, what the character of that nation has been from the beginning, as to their interiors, is evident from the song of Moses (in Deuteronomy 32), and from many other places. (See also the citations from Arcana Coelestia, in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248.)

3479. The Jews who lived before the Lord's Coming, as also those who have lived since then, had no other notion regarding the religious observances of their Church than that Divine worship consisted solely in things that were external. They were quite unconcerned about what those observances represented and meant. Indeed they neither knew nor wished to know that there was any internal element in worship or in the Word, nor thus that there was any life after death, nor consequently that there was any heaven; for they were entirely sensory- and bodily-minded. Now because they were engrossed in external things separated from internal, worship in their case was nothing but idolatrous, and for this reason they were very much inclined to worship any gods at all, provided they were convinced that those gods could enable them to prosper.

[2] Yet because a sense of holiness within external things could exist with that nation, so that they were able to regard as holy the religious observances by which the heavenly things of the Lord's kingdom were represented; and because they were able to venerate Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, also Moses and Aaron, and after these David, all of whom represented the Lord; and above all because they were able to have a deep and holy respect for the Word in which every single thing was representative and a meaningful sign of Divine things, the representative Church was therefore established among that nation. But if that nation had known of internal things to the extent that they acknowledged them they would have rendered them profane and in so doing would have possessed simultaneously external holiness and internal unholiness, so that there could not have been any communication at all of representatives with heaven by means of that nation. This is why interior things were not disclosed to them, not even the truth that the Lord would come to save their souls.

[3] Because this was the case with the tribe of Judah more than with all the other tribes, and because today as in former times they regard as holy the religious observances which can be performed outside Jerusalem; because also they venerate their patriarchs, and above all have a deep and holy respect for the Old Testament Word; and because it was foreseen that Christians would virtually reject the Old Testament and also would befoul their own internals with things that are unholy, that nation has been preserved up to the present day, in accordance with the Lord's words in Matthew 24:34. With Christians it was to be different, as they were to have knowledge of internal things and were also to live as internally-minded people. If Christians had in fact done so, the Jewish nation would like others have been annihilated before many centuries had gone by. With that nation however the situation is that their external holiness, or holiness of worship, can have no affect on them internally, for internally they are defiled from filthy self-love and filthy love of the world, and also from the idolatry in which they worship external things devoid of internal. And because accordingly they have nothing of heaven within themselves, they are not able to take anything heavenly with them into the next life, with the exception of the few who are governed by mutual love and so do not live in contempt of others compared with themselves.