1037. Verse 3. And he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness, signifies into a place appearing in vision that corresponded to the state of that religious persuasion. This is evident from the signification of "wilderness," as being a state of the church in which there is no longer any good or truth (See n. 730). But as a church in which there is no longer any good or truth is not a church, it is called a religious persuasion. Also from the signification of "in the spirit," as being in vision, for what John saw in the spirit he saw in vision. To see in vision is to see such things as exist with angels in heaven, which are representative and thus significative of things spiritual. When these appear to man they do not appear before the sight of his body, but before the sight of his spirit. For the spirit of man has eyes as well as his body; but the eyes of his spirit see the things that are in the spiritual world, because all things that appear there are from a spiritual origin, and the spiritual man sees spiritual things with the understanding, and with the eyes he sees the same in a form like the natural. But the eyes of the body see the things that are in the material world, because all things that appear there are from a natural origin; and with his understanding the material man sees natural things, while with his eyes he sees the same in a material form. So when the eyes of the spirit were opened with the prophets they saw such things as represented and thus signified the celestial Divine and spiritual Divine things of the church, and sometimes such things as represented and thus signified things that were to come to pass in the churches in the future; and such were the things that John saw. He now saw a wilderness, because a "wilderness" signifies a state of the church devastated of all good and truth; and this state corresponds to the church that had become Babylon. This is why Babylon is described in many passages of the Word as a wilderness, as in the following:

Art thou he that hath made the world a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof? (Isaiah 14:17).

Babylon shall be as God's overthrowing Sodom and Gomorrah; it shall not be inhabited forever; it shall not be dwelt in even from generation to generation; that the Arabian may not abide there. The daughters of the owl shall dwell there, and the satyrs shall dance there (Isaiah 13:19-22; also Jeremiah 50:37-40; 51:2, 25-26, 37, 41-43).

1054. Verse 8. The beast that thou sawest was and is not, signifies that the Word in the beginning was received in the church and read, and afterwards was taken away from the people and not read. This is evident from the signification of "the scarlet beast," as being the Word in the letter as to its holy things (See n. 1038); also from the signification of "was," as being that in the beginning it was received in the church and read; also from the signification of "is not," as being that afterwards it was taken away and not read. That this is the meaning of these words is evident from the fact that the Word was so treated, namely, that in the beginning they acknowledged it as Divine, taught from it, and read it before the people; but that afterwards, as they extended their dominion over the church and over heaven, while they acknowledged it to be Divine they no longer taught from it as before. For they interdicted the people from reading it, and instead of doctrine from it they put forth their doctrine from the Papal throne as Divine, they instituted Divine worship in masses not understood by the common people, and they preached the adoration of the Pope and of dead men whom they call saints, instead of the Lord whom they previously adored. All this makes clear that the Word is what is meant by "the scarlet beast, which was and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss, and go into perdition." That Babylon in the beginning was a church that worshiped the Lord, and preached the Divine truth from the Word, but afterwards, while it retained an adoration of the Lord it was an external, that is, a formal adoration, and the internal which is the essential adoration they transferred to the Pope as the Lord's vicar, and consequently to the ministering body as vicars under him; this may be seen above (n. 1029).

(Continuation respecting the Second Kind of Profanation)

[2] Those who are in this kind of profanation cannot do otherwise than adulterate the goods of the Word and falsify its truths, and thus pervert the holy things of the church; for these are not in accord with the end, which is the domination of man over them, for they are Divine things that cannot be mere servants; therefore from necessity, that the means may be in accord with the end, goods are turned into evils, truths into falsities, and thus holy things into things profane, and this in an increasing degree as dominion, which is the end, is increased.

[3] That this is so can be clearly seen from the Babylon of the present day, to which the holy things of the Word, of the church, and of worship, are means, and domination is the end. So far as they have amplified domination they have weakened the holiness of the Word, and have actually exalted above it the holiness of the Pope's decrees; they have claimed to themselves authority over heaven, and even over the Lord Himself, and they have instituted the idolatrous worship of men, both living and dead, and this until there is nothing left of Divine good and Divine truth.

[4] That the holy things of the Word, of the church, and of worship, have been so changed is of the Lord's Divine Providence; not of His providence that this should be so done, but of His providence that when men wish to have dominion and do have dominion by means of holy Divine things, they should choose falsity in place of truth and evil in place of good, for otherwise they would defile holy things, and render them abominable before angels; but when holy things no longer exist this cannot be done. Take as an example what has been done with the Holy Supper instituted by the Lord; they have separated the bread and the wine, giving the bread to the people and drinking the wine themselves. For "bread" signifies the good of love to the Lord, and "wine" the truth of faith in Him; and good separated from truth is not good, nor is truth separated from good truth, for truth is truth from good, and good is good in truth. And so in other things.