In the Book of Daniel, Chapter Four is narrated, after the events of the chapter, by a much-changed Nebuchadnezzar. In the internal sense, the story shows both the Lord's mercy in leading us, and also the depths of despair to which we sink before we willingly open our minds to the Lord and pray for His leadership.

At the beginning of the story, Nebuchadnezzar's idleness imitates the sense of complacency when things seem to be going right, when no temptations darken our skies, and essential selfishness asserts itself once again. Our mind is its house, its palace. We come into this state after a temptation or battle against our sense of selfishness, when we put the struggle aside and rest on our laurels. We are oblivious to the fact that regeneration is an ongoing state, that one temptation succeeds another, and that once conscience has been established in our thought processes, it will not be too long before the lethargy of selfishness is challenged.

While Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in his house, he had a disturbing dream, one unknown to him. As before when he did not understand his dreams, he called the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans and the soothsayers, who, once again, could not interpret the dream.

Often we feel that we face the same temptations over and over again. We might wonder if we will ever regenerate. This is because we fall into a state of selfishness, represented by the king at rest. But when we encounter resistance to that selfishness, we turn back to all our old thought patterns to help us.

Eventually, Nebuchadnezzar called Daniel to tell him his dream. As he recounts the story after the seven years of illness, he uses the words he had spoken before. He addresses Daniel as Belteshazzar, because that is how he saw him before the temptation. Even so, he recognized the presence of the Spirit of the Holy God within him, acknowledging Daniel's power to explain dreams and give interpretations.

The king's second dream took the image of a great tree, planted in the earth, so high it could be seen from the ends of the earth. This parallels the image of the great statue, whose head was gold. As we saw earlier, this image represents the initial state of perfection, followed by a decline as a person turns away from this ideal. The statue shows how self love takes dominance in our lives if unchecked, and brings us into a final state of spiritual destruction.

In this new dream, the tree in the midst of the earth is a reference to the Tree of Life in the midst of the Garden of Eden. Both trees symbolize wisdom. The Tree of Life represented the perception the Most Ancient people had from love (Arcana Coelestia 103), but Nebuchadnezzar's tree is from the love of self and the different perceptions people have when motivated by that love (Apocalypse Explained 1029:6).

But when Nebuchadnezzar saw the tree in his dream, it was lovely. Everything in the dream which normally has a good and beautiful significance, instead takes on a negative meaning. The leaves and flowers, which should have been a picture of guiding truths (Arcana Coelestia 9553), represent the opposite, as the falsities which mislead us. We saw how the king called his false guides: the magicians, soothsayers, astrologers, and Chaldeans.

The birds represent the false thoughts from selfishness (Arcana Coelestia 5149). These give credence to selfishness, to justify it and find new ways to express it. So the tree takes on an intellectual picture of the selfish mind. But the mind is made up of both intellect and emotion. There were also beasts sheltering under the tree representing the things we care about.

When selfishness rules in us, just as Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon, all the lesser loves take their cue from this leading love. Thus the beasts of the field, were drawn to the tree for food and shelter.

After this scene is set, Nebuchadnezzar sees "a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven." The introduction of the indescribable watcher is the turning point in the dream, marking the beginning of the end for this marvel reaching up to heaven.

In a state of selfishness, we are spiritually asleep, just as Nebuchadnezzar was asleep when he dreamed. But the Lord never sleeps. Truth in our minds is always vigilant, looking for ways of bringing itself to our consciousness to lead us out of our selfish state. Just as everything seemed right in Nebuchadnezzar's world, he became aware of a watcher—the truth.

In an instant, the king's serenity was changed: a force greater than himself commanded the destruction of the tree, and there was nothing he could do about it. These words make it clear just how vulnerable our selfish states are. At their height, they seem so powerful, but in the face of truth they are shown for the sordid little nothings they are. Truth has the power to expose evil, and we should not be afraid to allow it to do so in our own lives. To stand indicted of selfishness is not the end of life, as it may feel, but the beginning of a new life of liberation.

But we still need some sense of self. There is nothing wrong with being concerned with our own well-being; it is vital to our lives. Selfishness is a part of us, but it needs to be kept under control, subordinated to the higher loves of serving the Lord and our neighbor.

This is why the watcher did not order the complete destruction of the tree: the stump is all that is left of a rampant selfishness, the bands of iron and brass represent thoughts and feelings which originate in selfishness, which can be used to keep it under control (Apocalypse Explained 650:32).

Finally, with the tree destroyed, Nebuchadnezzar himself had to be changed. The watcher commanded that the king is given the heart of an animal for seven years. In substance abuse recovery programs, it is said that an addict cannot change until they hit rock-bottom—when they realize the full necessity of change. In spiritual life, this rock bottom is a point at which we almost lose our humanity, we are so dominated by selfishness, greed and the lust of dominion that we lose our ability to think rationally. We become animals. The difference between humans and animals is our ability to think and act in freedom. Self-love destroys that freedom, thus destroying all humanity within us.

In this prophesy, we see a descent: from man, to beast, to ox. People are human because they are created in the image and likeness of the Lord. Thus human beings have the ability to think and act according to reason. This is the essence of our humanity (Arcana Coelestia 477, 2305, 4051, 585, 1555). When these are in tune with truth and goodness from the Lord, then we are truly human, because the image of the Lord is in us.

So again, we see this slide from an ideal to a lesser state: from man, the king became a beast. From rationality and freedom, he entered slavery. This fall appears earlier in the Word: when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they were cast out.

Finally he was told that he would eat grass like oxen. In a positive sense, oxen represent our affections (Arcana Coelestia 5198, 5642, 6357), or our love of the things of this world. But the opposite meaning of 'ox' is the perversion of goodness (Arcana Coelestia 9083), and the affection for injuring others (Arcana Coelestia 9094).

This humbling of the king represents the proper use of the love of self, and shows that the Lord does not eradicate it, because it is the foundation of true relationships with other people and the Lord Himself. But before it can become useful, selfishness needs to be converted into a humbled love of self, and we must return from the ox state.

As Daniel explained the meaning of the dream, he offered the king counsel: 'break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor.' This is the next step in spiritual awareness. Seeing our selfishness, coupled with an increased awareness of the Lord, we reach the point where thoughts must become actions. At first glance, the concept of 'sins and iniquities' may seem redundant. But in the Word, pairs of synonymous words reflect two internal senses: the celestial and the spiritual (Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture 80). The celestial relates broadly to goodness, and the spiritual to truth. Together they make one.

Daniel's advice to Nebuchadnezzar is to repent. Repentance is the only way out of the quicksand of selfishness. The Lord taught that we should love one another as He loves us (John 13:34, John 15:12). To love ourselves alone, and to wish to control others is not in keeping with the Lord's teachings. The only solution is to listen to the voice of our conscience and allow ourselves to be guided by the truth.

In spite of everything, Nebuchadnezzar's pride was not reduced. As he walked around his palace, his heart was filled with pride: 'is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?'

A selfish person believes that everything they own or have accomplished is by their own power. There is no place for God or anyone else. When people do not listen to the Lord's teachings and reject His counsel, there is nothing the Lord can do but allow the person to reap the consequences of their choice.

The king remained in this ox-state until seven times passed over him, which illustrates that the Lord leaves us in this state until it runs its course. Sometimes it takes us a lifetime to see how our selfishness hurts others, and ourselves. Yet the Lord never leaves us. The promise of the root of the tree, bound with bands of iron and bronze is always there. The Lord works unceasingly to bring our selfishness under control until it can serve the higher loves of our neighbor and the Lord Himself.

Forgiveness begins in the recognition that we are in sin. In his ox-like state, Nebuchadnezzar lifted his eyes to heaven. Eyes represent understanding (Arcana Coelestia 2975, 3863), and to lift them to heaven is to lift our understanding to the truths the Lord has given us. The king had been given some truths in his dreams and in the interpretation of them. He knew from Daniel's advice that he needed to repent and change his ways. As he did so, his understanding and appreciation of the Lord grew. He realized how small he was in the grand scheme of things. The inflated ego of selfishness was deflated by the recognition that all things had been given to him by the Lord.

His story is our story. We each build our empires in one way or another. We hold the power of life and death over others in a figurative sense—do we not decide who we like and dislike, who is admitted out our 'inner circle' and who is beyond the pale? The warnings the Lord gave to Nebuchadnezzar apply to us, and like the king, we can also ignore them. The consequences in our lives are the same, as we are reduced to a merely animal-being, wet with the dew of heaven.

Yet can we hear the Lord's voice calling, for unless we do, we will remain in that state. Can we lift our eyes to heaven and search for the truth leading to the greatest declaration one can make, provided it is done with the heart and not with the lips:

Now I … praise and extol and honor the king of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and his ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to abase.

504. It has been shown thus far what "hail" signifies; it remains to show what "fire" signifies. "Fire" signifies in the Word the good of celestial love, and "flame" the good of spiritual love; but in the contrary sense "fire" signifies the evil arising from the love of self, and "flame" the evil arising from the love of the world. It is to be noted, that all goods whatsoever derive their existence from celestial love and from spiritual love, and that all evils whatsoever derive their existence from the love of self and the love of the world; and as "fire" signifies in the Word love in both senses, so it signifies every good and every evil that springs from either of these loves. Because "fire" is predicated in the Word both of heaven and of hell, and it has not been known heretofore that "fire" signifies love, some passages shall be cited from the Word to show in clear light that in a good sense "fire" means heavenly love, and in a bad sense infernal love.

[2] That "fire" signifies in the Word heavenly love is evident first from the signification of "the fire of the altar," as meaning heavenly love, or love to the Lord (See above, n. 496); and that "fire" not of the altar has a similar signification can be seen from the following passages. In Ezekiel:

I saw, and behold a wind of a tempest came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself in itself and a brightness round about it, and as it were the appearance of a living coal in the midst of the fire. Also out of the midst of it a likeness of four animals. The appearance of the animals was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps; the same went between the animals, so that the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. Above the firmament that was over their head was the likeness of a throne, upon which was the appearance of a man. And I saw as it were the appearance of a living coal, as the appearance of fire within it round about, from the appearance of his loins and upward; and from the appearance of his loins and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about (Ezekiel 1:4, 5, 13, 26, 27; 8:2).

"The cherubim" that were seen as animals mean the Lord in respect to Divine Providence and guard that He be not approached except through the good of love; and as this guard itself is in the heavens, and especially in the inmost or third heaven, this heaven is also signified by "the cherubim" (See above, n. 152, 277, 313, 322, 362, 462); and as they especially signify the third heaven, and the Lord is above the heavens, so the Lord was seen "upon a throne above the cherubim." So, too, the "fire that appeared in the midst of the cherubim, that had brightness round about, and out of which went forth lightning;" also "about the throne and from the loins of Him that sat on the throne, upwards and downwards," signifies evidently Divine celestial love; for the Lord is Himself Divine love, and whatever proceeds from the Lord proceeds from His Divine love; this therefore is the "fire that had brightness round about it."

[3] Likewise in Daniel:

He came to the Ancient of Days; His vesture is like white snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne is a flame of fire, His wheels a glowing fire; a stream of fire issues and goes forth from Him (Daniel 7:9, 10, 13).

"The Ancient of Days" also means the Lord; here "the Son of man" means the Lord in relation to Divine truth, and "the Ancient of Days" the Lord in relation to Divine good or Divine love, and He is called "the Ancient of Days" from that most ancient time when there was a celestial church, which was in love to the Lord. That church and the heaven of those who were from it are meant by "the throne which was like a flame of fire;" but "the wheels which were like a glowing fire" signify the doctrine of celestial love: the Divine love itself proceeding from the Lord is signified by "the fire issuing and going forth from before Him."

[4] It is also related by Daniel that he saw:

A man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz; His body was also like a tharshish-stone, and His face as the appearance of lightning, and His eyes as torches of fire, and His arms and His feet like the splendor of brass (Daniel 10:5, 6).

That it was the Lord who was thus seen by Daniel is evident from Revelation, where He was represented before John in nearly the same way, of whom it is said:

In the midst of the seven lampstands one like unto the Son of man, girt about at the paps with a golden girdle; and His head and hairs white as white wool, as snow; and His eyes as a flame of fire; and His feet like unto burnished brass, as if made glowing in a furnace. His appearance was like the sun (Revelation 1:13-16; 2:18).

From this similarity of the description of "the Son of man" seen by John in the midst of the seven lampstands, and of "the man clothed in linen" and "the Ancient of Days" seen by Daniel, it was evidently the Lord whom they both saw. "His face appeared as lightning and His eyes as a flame of fire" to signify the Lord's Divine love; for with man the face is a representative image of the affection of his love, and especially the eyes, for from these the love shines forth, from which they sparkle as from fire.

[5] Also of the One sitting on the white horse it is said:

His eyes were as a flame of fire (Revelation 19:12).

Evidently it was the Lord in respect to the Word who was there represented as sitting upon a white horse, for it is said that He who sat on the white horse is called "the Word of God," and that He is "King of kings, and Lord of lords." Because "fire" signifies the Divine love:

The Lord was seen by Moses on Mount Horeb in fire in a bush (Exodus 3:1-3).

So, too, the Lord was seen "in fire" by Moses and all the Israelitish people when He came down upon Mount Sinai, which is thus described in Moses:

And Mount Sinai was altogether on smoke because Jehovah descended upon it in fire, so that the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace (Exodus 19:18; Deuteronomy 4:36).

Here, too, the "fire" that was seen represented the Divine love.

[6] Because "fire" signifies in the highest sense the Lord's Divine love, it was commanded that fire should burn continually on the altar, and that they should take of that fire for the incense-offerings. It was on this account that the Greeks and Romans had a perpetual fire among their religious observances, of which the vestal virgins had charge. That they worshiped fire as holy was derived from the ancient churches that were in Asia, all things of which worship were representative. Because "fire" signifies in the highest sense the Divine love, a lampstand was placed in the Tent of meeting, on which were seven lamps that burned continually, which is thus described in Moses:

Command the sons of Israel that they bring unto thee pure oil of the olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to go up continually. Aaron shall order it from evening to morning before Jehovah continually. He shall order the lamps upon the pure lampstand before Jehovah continually (Leviticus 24:2-4. Respecting this lampstand itself see Exodus 25:31-40; 37:17-24; 40:24, 25; Numbers 8:2-4).

The like is signified by the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne of God (Revelation 4:5).

But "the fire of the altar" signified Divine celestial love, and "the fire of the lampstand," which was a flame, signified Divine spiritual love. From this it is that the "oil," too, which produced the fire of the flame in the lamps of the lampstand, signifies the Divine love; also the "oil" that the five prudent virgins had in their lamps, and that the five foolish virgins did not have (Matthew 25:1-12).

[7] Again "fire" signifies the Lord's Divine love, in the Gospels:

John said, I baptize you with water, but Jesus shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:16).

"Baptizing with the Holy Spirit and with fire" signifies the regeneration of man by means of the Divine truth and the Divine good of love from the Lord, the "Holy Spirit" meaning the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, and "fire" the Divine love from which it springs.

[8] The like that is signified by "fire" is also signified by "a place for fire" in Isaiah:

Jehovah who hath His place for fire in Zion, and His oven in Jerusalem (Isaiah 31:9).

It is said "who hath His place for fire in Zion" because "Zion" signifies the church in which is celestial love; and "His oven in Jerusalem" because "Jerusalem" signifies the church in which is the truth of doctrine; celestial love is comparatively "a place for fire," and truth of doctrine is like an "oven" in which bread is prepared.

[9] Because the good of love is signified by "fire," and worship from the good of love was represented by "whole burnt-offerings," sometimes fire was sent down out of heaven and consumed the whole burnt-offering; as when a whole burnt-offering was made for the expiation of the people, which is thus described in Moses:

When the offering was made, fire went forth from before Jehovah and devoured upon the altar the whole burnt-offering and the fat; and all the people saw it, and shouted aloud and fell on their faces (Leviticus 9:24).

It is also said:

That fire from heaven devoured the whole burnt-offering of Elijah, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the waters that were round about in the trench (1 Kings 18:38).

This "fire" too, signified Divine love, and thence the acceptance of worship from the good of love:

Likewise the fire that went up out of the rock, and devoured the flesh and the unleavened cakes that Gideon brought to the angel of God (Judges 6:21).

Again, Divine love was signified by the command:

That the lamb should be roasted with fire, and not sodden with water, and that what remained until the morning should be burnt up with fire (Exodus 12:8-10).

(For the explanation of these verses see Arcana Coelestia 7852-7861.)

[10] Again the Lord's Divine love was signified by the fire in which the Lord went before the sons of Israel in the wilderness, when they were journeying; also by the fire over the Tent of meeting during the night, which is thus described in Moses:

Jehovah went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them in the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light; neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night departed from before the people (Exodus 13:21, 22; Numbers 9:15-23; Deuteronomy 1:33).

The cloud of Jehovah was upon the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the eyes of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys (Exodus 40:38; Psalms 105:32, 39).

The "cloud appearing by day, and the fire by night," represented the Lord's protection of heaven and the church; for "the tabernacle" represented heaven and the church, "cloud and fire" protection; for "the day when there was the cloud" signifies Divine truth in light, and the "night" signifies Divine truth in shade. Lest they might be hurt by too much light they were guarded by a cloud, and from being hurt by too much shade they were guarded by a shining fire.

[11] That such was represented thereby can be seen in Isaiah:

Jehovah will create over every dwelling place of Mount Zion and over her convocations a cloud by day and a smoke and the brightness of a flame of fire by night; for over all the glory shall be a covering. And there shall be a covert for a shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a shelter and hiding place from inundation and from rain (Isaiah 4:5, 6).

"The dwelling place of Mount Zion" signifies the good of the celestial church, and "her convocations" signify the truths of that good; protection lest it be hurt by too much light and by too much shade is signified by "a cloud by day," and by "a smoke and the brightness of a flame of fire by night;" therefore it is said "over all the glory shall be a covering," and that "there shall be a covert for a shade in the daytime from the heat." Lest falsities should break in because of too much light or too much shade is signified by "it shall be for a shelter and a hiding place from the inundation and from rain," "inundation and rain" meaning a breaking in of falsities.

[12] In Zechariah:

I will be unto Jerusalem a wall of fire round about, and in glory I will be in the midst of her (Zechariah 2:5).

"A wall of fire" signifies defense by Divine love, for this the hells cannot assault; "glory in the midst of her" is Divine truth therefrom in light on every side. Because "fire" signifies the Divine love, the whole burnt-offerings were called:

Offerings made by fire to Jehovah, and offerings made by fire for an odor of rest to Jehovah (Exodus 29:18; Leviticus 1:9, 13, 17; 2:2, 9, 10, 11; 3:5, 164:35; 5:12; 7:30; 21:6; Numbers 28:2; Deuteronomy 18:1); this signifying that they were adopted in order to represent worship from the good of love, "whole burnt-offerings" representing that worship, because in them the entire animals were burned in the fire and consumed.

[13] Because the Word is Divine truth itself united to Divine good, for everywhere in it there is a marriage of good and truth, therefore:

Elijah was seen to ascend up into heaven by a chariot of fire and horses of fire (2 Kings 2:11).

For the same reason the mountain was seen to be full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha (2 Kings 6:17).

For Elijah and Elisha represented the Lord in relation to the Word; therefore the "chariot" signified doctrine from the Word, and "the horses" the understanding of the Word.

[14] Again, that "fire" signifies love is evident in David:

Jehovah maketh His angels spirits, His ministers a flaming fire (Psalms 104:4).

That "He maketh angels spirits" signifies that He makes them recipients of Divine truths, consequently Divine truths; and that "He makes His ministers a flaming fire" signifies that He makes them recipients of Divine good, consequently Divine goods. (That "angels" mean in the Word the Lord in relation to Divine truth, and in a relative sense, recipients of Divine truth from the Lord, see above, n. 130, 200, 302; and that "ministers" signify recipients of the Divine good which is of Divine love, see also above, n. 155.) From this it is clear that "a flaming fire" signifies the good of love. "Fire" signifies love, because the Lord from Divine love appears in the angelic heaven as a sun, from which sun heat and light proceed; and in the heavens heat from the Lord as a sun is the Divine good of love, and light from the Lord as a sun is the Divine truth; this is why "fire" signifies in the Word the good of love, and "light" truth from good. (That the Lord from Divine love appears in the angelic heaven as a sun may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell 116-125; and that light from that sun is Divine truth, and heat from that sun is Divine good, n. 126-140; also n. 567, 568.) It is from the correspondence between fire and love that in ordinary language, in speaking of the affections that belong to love, the expressions "to grow hot," "to burn," "to glow," "to boil," "to be on fire," and others of like meaning are used. Moreover, man grows warm from love of any kind, according to its degree.

[15] So far respecting the signification of "fire" in the Word, when it is attributed to the Lord, or when it is predicated of heaven and the church. But when "fire" is predicated in the Word of the evil and of the hells, it signifies the love of self and of the world, and thence every evil affection and cupidity that torments the wicked after death in the hells. "Fire" has this contrary signification for the reason that Divine love, when it comes down out of heaven and falls into the societies where the evil are, is changed into a love contrary to the Divine love, and thus into various heats of cupidity and of lusts, and so into evils of every kind, and also into torments, because evils carry with them the punishments of evil. From this change of the Divine love into infernal love with the evil, the hells where the love of self and the world and hatreds and revenge prevail, appear to be as if on fire, both within and round about, although the infernal crew that is in them perceive nothing fiery. Indeed, from these loves the crew that is in such hells appear with faces inflamed and reddened as from fire.

[16] This, therefore, is the signification of "fire" in the following passages. In Isaiah:

Wickedness shall burn as a fire; it shall devour the briars and brambles, and shall kindle the thickets of the forest, that they may roll upward in the elation of smoke. And the people are become as food of the fire; a man shall not pity his brother (Exodus 9:18, 19).

In the same:

The whole people shall be for the burning, food for fire (Isaiah 9:5).

Ye Assyrians, conceive chaff, bring forth stubble; your spirit, fire shall devour you. So shall the peoples be burnt for lime; thorns cut down which are kindled with fire. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire; who among us shall sojourn with the burnings of eternity (Isaiah 33:11, 12, 14).

"The Assyrians" mean those who from falsities and fallacies reason against the truths and goods of the church from self-intelligence, thus from self-love; these are here described.

[17] In the same:

In the day of Jehovah's vengeance, the brooks of the land shall be turned into pitch, and its dust into brimstone, and the land shall become burning pitch; it shall not be quenched night or day, the smoke thereof shall go up forever (Isaiah 34:8-10).

They have become as stubble; the fire hath burnt them; they shall deliver not their soul from the hand of the flame (Isaiah 47:14).

Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks; go into the place of your fire, and into the sparks that ye have kindled (Isaiah 50:11).

Their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched (Isaiah 66:24).

In Ezekiel:

I will give thee into the hand of burning men; thou shalt be for food for fire (Ezekiel 21:31, 32).

In David:

Thou shalt make them as an oven of fire in the time of Thine anger, and fire shall devour them (Psalms 21:9).

Burning coals shall overwhelm the wicked; fire shall cast them into pits, they shall not rise again (Psalms 140:10).

In Matthew:

Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire. He will cleanse His floor, and gather His wheat into the garners, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire (Matthew 3:10, 12; Luke 3:9, 17).

As the tares are burned with fire, so shall it be in the consummation of the age (Matthew 13:40).

The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire (Matthew 13:41, 42, 50).

He said to them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41).

Whosoever shall say to his brother, Thou fool, shall be subject to the hell of fire (Matt. 5:22; 18:8, 9; Mark 9:45, 47).

In Luke:

The rich man in hell said, Father Abraham, send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame (Luke 16:24).

When Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them; after the same manner shall it be in the day that the Son of man is revealed (Luke 17:29, 30).

In Revelation:

If anyone worship the beast he shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone (Revelation 14:9, 10).

The beast and the false prophet were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone (Revelation 19:20).

The devil was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone (Revelation 20:10).

Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire; and if anyone was not found written in the book of life he was cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14, 15).

The unfaithful, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone (Revelation 21:8).

In these passages, "fire" signifies all cupidity belonging to the love of evil, and its punishment, which is torment. To this may be added what is presented in the work on Heaven and Hell 566-575, where it is shown what is meant by "infernal fire" and by "the gnashing of teeth."

[18] In the article above, in which "hail" was treated of, it was said that the Divine, when it comes down out of heaven into the lower sphere where the evil are, presents an effect which is the opposite of its effect in heaven itself; that is, in heaven it vivifies and conjoins, but in the lower parts where the evil are it produces death and disjunction. This is because the Divine influx out of heaven opens, in the good, the spiritual mind, and fits it to receive; but in the evil, who have no spiritual mind, it opens the interiors of their natural mind, where evils and falsities reside, and from this they then have an aversion to every good of heaven, and hatred for truths, and a lust for every crime, and in consequence they are separated from the good, and then damned. This influx with the good, of which we are now speaking, appears in the heavens as a fire vivifying, recreating, and conjoining; but below with the evil, it appears as a devouring and wasting fire.

[19] It is because of this effect of the Divine love flowing down out of heaven, that in the Word anger and wrath are so often attributed to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord, anger from fire, and wrath from the heat of fire; there is also the expression "the fire of His anger," and that "He is a consuming fire," with many other like expressions, which do not mean that the fire proceeding from the Lord is such, for in its origin it is Divine love, but that it becomes such with the evil, who by reason of its flowing into them become angry and wrathful. That this is so can be seen from the fire that appeared on Mount Sinai, when the Lord descended upon it and promulgated the law; this fire, although in its origin it was Divine love and the source of Divine truth, appeared to the Israelitish people as a consuming fire, before which they trembled greatly. (Exodus 19:18; 20:18; Deuteronomy 4:11, 12, 15, 33, 36; 5:5, 22-26); this was because the Israelitish people had no spiritual internal but only a natural internal, which swarmed with evils and falsities of every kind, and the appearance of the Lord to everyone is according to his quality. (That the sons of Jacob were such, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248.)

[20] This is why Jehovah, that is the Lord, is called in the Word "a consuming fire," as in the following passages:

Jehovah God is a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24).

In Isaiah:

Behold, Jehovah will come in fire and His chariots like a storm, in flames of fire. For in fire Jehovah will plead, and in His sword with all flesh; and the slain of Jehovah shall be multiplied (Isaiah 66:15, 16).

In the same:

Thou shalt be visited with a flame of devouring fire (Isaiah 29:6).

In the same:

In the indignation of the anger of Jehovah, and in a flame of a devouring fire, in scattering, and inundation, and hailstones (Isaiah 30:30).

In David:

There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth devoured; coals were kindled by it. At the brightness that was before Him the clouds passed, hail and coals of fire. Jehovah thundered out of the heavens, and the Most High gave forth His voice, hail and coals of fire (Psalms 18:8, 12, 13).

Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before Him (Psalms 50:3).

In the same:

Jehovah shall rain upon the wicked snares, fire, and brimstone (Psalms 11:6).

In Ezekiel:

I will set My faces against them, that although they go out from the fire yet the fire shall devour them. And I will make the land a waste, because they have committed trespasses (Ezekiel 15:4, 6-8).

In Moses:

A fire has been kindled in Mine anger, and shall burn even unto the lowest hell, and it shall devour the earth and its produce, and shall set on fire the foundations of the mountains (Deuteronomy 32:22).

Such things appear in the spiritual world when Divine good and truth come down out of heaven towards the lower parts where the evil are who are to be separated from the good and dispersed; and these things are said because of these appearances there. And as the fire that comes down out of heaven, which in its origin is Divine love, becomes, when it is received by the evil there, a consuming fire, in the Word such fire is predicated of Jehovah. Infernal fire has no other source than the change of the Divine love into evil loves, and into direful cupidities of doing evil and inflicting injury.

[21] This was represented also by:

The fire that fell from heaven and consumed Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24);

And the fire that consumed Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, because they offered incense with strange fire (Leviticus 10:1, et seq.).

"Incense offered with strange fire" signifies worship from other love than love to the Lord. Also by:

The fire that consumed the uttermost part of the camp of the sons of Israel, because of their lusts (Numbers 11:1-3).

The same was represented by:

The Egyptians that perished in the Red Sea when Jehovah looked out from the pillar of fire and of cloud towards their camp (Exodus 14:24-27).

That this fire was in its origin the Divine love, shining before the sons of Israel in their journeyings and over the tabernacle in the nighttime, has been shown above in this article; and yet Jehovah's looking out from it threw the camps of the Egyptians into utter disorder and destroyed them.

[22] It is shown in Revelation that fire appeared descending from heaven to consume the evil in the spiritual world, and was seen there by John, for he says that:

Fire came down out of heaven, and consumed Gog and Magog and their crew (Revelation 20:9; Ezekiel 38:22).

"To consume" signifies here to disperse and to cast into hell. So again it is said in Isaiah:

The light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame, and it shall burn and consume his briers and brambles in one day (Isaiah 10:17).

"Briers and brambles" signify the evils and falsities of the doctrine of the church; the destruction of these by Divine truth descending out of heaven is signified by "the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame."

[23] Because "fire" in the contrary sense, or in respect to the evil, properly signifies the love of self, and "flame" the love of the world, so also "fire" signifies every evil, as enmity, hatred, revenge, and many others, for all evils swarm forth from these two origins (See The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 75); consequently "fire" signifies also the destruction of man in respect to spiritual life, and thus damnation and hell. All these things are signified by "fire" because love is signified by "fire," as can be seen still further from the following passages. In Isaiah:

The peoples shall behold, and be ashamed ¹ of the hatred; yea, fire shall devour thine enemies (Isaiah 26:11).

The destruction of the evil, who are here meant by "peoples" and "enemies," is described by "hatred" and "fire."

[24] In the same:

When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee, and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee; when thou goest through the fire thou shall not be scorched, neither shall the flame burn thee (Isaiah 43:2).

"To pass through waters and through rivers and not be overflowed" signifies that falsities and reasonings from falsities against truths shall not enter and corrupt, "waters" here meaning falsities, and "rivers" reasonings from falsities against truths; "to go through the fire and not be scorched, and not to have the flame burn" signifies that evils and the cupidities arising from them shall do no harm, "fire" signifying evils, and "flame" the cupidities therefrom.

[25] In the same:

The house of our holiness and our splendor, where our fathers praised Thee, is burned up with fire; and all our desirable things are laid waste (Isaiah 64:11).

"The house of holiness and splendor" signifies the celestial and the spiritual church, "the house of holiness" the celestial church, and "splendor" the spiritual church; "where our fathers praised Thee" signifies the worship of the Ancient Church, "to praise" signifying to worship, and "fathers" those who were of the Ancient Church; "to be burned up with fire" signifies that all the goods of that church were turned into evils by which the goods were consumed and destroyed; "and all our desirable things are laid waste" signifies that all truths also were consumed, "desirable things" signifying in the Word the truths of the church.

[26] In the same:

Ye shall be as an oak casting its leaves, and as a garden that hath no waters. And the strong one shall be as tow, and his work as a spark, that they may both burn together and no one quench them (Isaiah 1:30, 31).

An "oak" signifies the natural man, and "leaves" knowledges and cognitions of truth therein; "garden" signifies the rational man; so "ye shall be as an oak casting its leaves, and as a garden that hath no waters," signifies that there shall no longer be any true knowledge or rational truth. "The strong one" and "his work" signifies what is hatched out from self-intelligence; he who trusts in himself and his own intelligence is often called "strong" in the Word, for he regards himself and his work that he brings forth as strong; and as man's own [proprium] drinks in every evil and falsity and thereby destroys every good and truth, it is said, "the strong shall be as tow, and his work as a spark, and they shall both burn together;" "to be burned" signifying to perish by the falsities of evil.

[27] In Ezekiel:

Thy mother is like a vine. Now she is planted in the wilderness, in a land of drought and thirst; fire hath gone out from the rod of her branches, it hath devoured them and her fruit (Ezekiel 19:10, 12-14).

"The mother who was like a vine" signifies the Ancient Church, which was in the good of life and in the truths therefrom; "now she is planted in the wilderness in a land of drought and thirst," signifies that the church is now destitute of goods and truths, "a land of drought" meaning the church where there is no good, and "a land of thirst" where there is no truth; "fire hath gone out from the rod of her branches, it hath devoured them and her fruit," signifies that the evil of falsity has destroyed every truth and good, "fire" means evil, "the rod of the branches" the falsity of doctrine in which is evil, and "to devour them and her fruit" means to destroy truth and good; the evil of falsity is the evil that is from the falsity of doctrine.

[28] In Zechariah:

The Lord will impoverish Tyre, and smite her wealth in the sea; and she shall be devoured by fire (Zechariah 9:4).

"Tyre" signifies the church in respect to the knowledges of truth and good, thus "Tyre" signifies the knowledges of truth and good that belong to the church; its devastation by falsities and evils is signified by "the Lord shall smite her wealth in the sea, and she shall be devoured by fire."

[29] In David:

Enemies have set Thy sanctuary on fire, they have profaned the tabernacle of Thy name even to the earth; they have burned all God's festal places to the earth. There is no more any prophet, neither is there with us anyone that knoweth (Psalms 74:7-9).

That cupidities arising from evil loves have destroyed the truths and goods of the church is signified by "enemies have set the sanctuary on fire, and have profaned the tabernacle of the name of Jehovah;" that they utterly destroyed all things of Divine worship is signified by "they have burned all God's festal places to the earth;" that there was no longer any doctrine of truth or understanding of truth is signified by "there is no more any prophet, neither is there with us anyone that knoweth."

[30] In Moses:

If men of Belial should impel the inhabitants of a city to serve other gods they should all be smitten with the edge of the swords, and the city with all its spoil should be burned with fire (Deuteronomy 13:14-17).

This signifies in the spiritual sense that a doctrine from which is worship that acknowledges any other god than the Lord must be destroyed, because in such doctrine there is nothing but falsities from evil cupidities. This is signified in the spiritual sense by these words, because a "city" in the Word signifies doctrine, and "to serve other gods" signifies to acknowledge and worship some other god than the Lord; "sword" signifies the destruction of truth by falsity, and "fire" the destruction of good by evil.

[31] In Luke:

The Lord said that He came to send fire on the earth; and what would He if it were already kindled? (Luke 12:49);

which signifies hostilities and combats between good and evil, and between truth and falsity; for before the Lord came into the world there were in the church nothing but falsities and evils, consequently there was no combat between these and truths and goods; but when truths and goods had been unveiled by the Lord, then it was possible for combats to exist, and without combats between these there can be no reformation; this therefore is what is meant by the Lord's "willing that fire be already kindled." That this is the meaning of these words can be seen from those that follow:

That He had come to give division; for from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided; the father shall be divided against the son and the son against the father, the mother against the daughter and the daughter against the mother (Luke 12 verses 51-53).

"The father against the son and the son against the father" means evil against truth and truth against evil; and "the mother against the daughter and the daughter against the mother" means the cupidity of falsity against the affection of truth, and the affection of truth against the cupidity of falsity; "in one house" means with one man.

[32] As "sons" signify in the Word the truths of the church, and "daughters" its goods, it can be seen what is signified by "burning sons and daughters" in Jeremiah:

They have built the high places of Topheth, in the valley of Hinnom, for burning their sons and their daughters (Jeremiah 7:31).

I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of Ammon; and her daughters shall be burned with fire (Jeremiah 49:2).

And in Ezekiel:

When ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire (Ezekiel 20:31).

"To burn sons and daughters with fire" signifies to destroy the truths and goods of the church by evil cupidities or by evil loves; whether or not such abominations were committed, yet they signify the destruction of the truth and good of the church by filthy abominable lusts, which are confirmed by falsities.

[33] From this the signification of "hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast unto the earth, so that a third part of the trees was burnt up," can now be seen, namely, influx out of heaven, and thence the first change before the Last Judgment; but what "tree" and "green grass" signify will be told in what follows. Like things are also said in the description of the plagues in Egypt that preceded their final destruction, which was the drowning in the Red Sea, namely:

That hail in which ran fire rained on the land of Egypt, by which every herb of the field was smitten, and every tree of the field was broken down (Exodus 9:18-35).

[34] That like things are to occur before "the day of Jehovah," which is the Last Judgment, is predicted in the Prophets. In Joel:

The day of Jehovah, a day of darkness and of thick darkness; a fire devoureth before it, and after it a flame burneth (Joel 2:1-3).

In the same:

And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and fearful day of Jehovah cometh (Joel 2:30, 31).

In the same:

The fire hath devoured the habitations of the desert, and the flame hath set in flames all the trees of the field (Joel 1:19, 20).

In Ezekiel:

Say to the forest of the south, Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee; the flame of the grievous flame shall not be quenched; wherefore all the faces from the south even to the north shall be burned therein (Ezekiel 20:46, 47).

"The forest of the south" signifies a church that can be in the light of truth from the Word, but that is now in knowledges alone without spiritual light; "the trees that the fire will devour" signify such knowledges; that evil cupidities will deprive such knowledges of all spiritual life, and that there will be no longer any truth in clearness, nor even a remnant of it in obscurity, is signified by "all the faces (of the land) from the south to the north shall be burned therein." Now that the signification of "fire" in both senses is known, the signification in the Word of "to become warm," "to be inflamed," "to glow," "to boil up," "to be burned," "to be burnt up," also of "warmth," "flame," "glow," "burning," "conflagration," "place for fire," "coals," and the like, can be seen.

Notas de rodapé: