141. To eat idol-sacrifices and to commit whoredom, signifies that they may be imbued with evils and with falsities therefrom. This is evident from the signification of "eating," as being to appropriate to themselves, and to be consociated with (See Arcana Coelestia 2187, 2343, 3168, 3513, 5643, 8001); so also to be imbued with; and from the signification of "idol-sacrifices," which are things consecrated to idols, as being evils of every kind (of which more in what follows); and from the signification of "committing whoredom," as being to falsify truths (of which also more presently). That Balaam counseled Balak to invite the sons of Israel to the sacrifices of his gods appears from what was shown in the preceding article, and from these words of Moses:

Israel abode in Shittim, where the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab; for he called ¹ the people unto the sacrifices of their gods; and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. Especially did the people join themselves to Baal-peor; therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel. And those that were slain were four and twenty thousand (Numbers 25:1-3, 9).

It was among the statutes where sacrifices were instituted that some part of the sacrifices, especially of the thank-offerings, should be burnt from the altar, and some part eaten in the holy place. The "sacrifices" themselves signified worship from love and faith, and the "eating" of them signified appropriation of the good thereof. (That "sacrifices" signified all things of worship from the good of love and faith, see Arcana Coelestia, n. 923, 6905, 8680, 8936, 10042; and "eating" the appropriation of goods, 10109.) As the eating of things sanctified to Jehovah signified the appropriation of good, so the eating of the sacrifices offered to the gods of the nations, and which were called "idol-sacrifices," signified the appropriation of evil.

[2] That to "commit whoredom," in the spiritual sense, signifies to become imbued with falsities, so also to falsify truths, can be seen from many passages in the Word. The same was signified by the whoredoms of the sons of Israel with the daughters of Moab; for all historical parts of the Word involve spiritual things and signify them (as can be seen from the explanations of Genesis and Exodus, called Arcana Coelestia). And as the eating of idol-sacrifices by the sons of Israel and their whoredoms with the daughters of Moab involved such things (for what things signify they involve), therefore it was commanded that the heads of the people should be hung up to Jehovah before the sun; and for the same reason Phinehas the son of Eleazar thrust through a man of Israel and a Midianitish woman in the place of their lust, and for doing that he also was blessed; and for the same reason there were slain of Israel twenty and four thousand (as may be seen, Numbers 25 to the end). Such punishments and such plagues merely because of the eating of idol-sacrifices, and committing whoredom with the women of another nation, would never have been commanded to be done, unless they had involved heinous offenses against heaven and the church, which do not appear in the literal sense of the Word, but only in its spiritual sense. The heinous offenses involved were the profanation at once of the goods and of the truths of the church, and this, as has been said above, was the appropriation of evil and falsity.

[3] That adulteries and whoredoms involve such things is evident from numerous passages in the Word, where they are recounted, which show clearly that they signify the adulterations of good and the falsifications of truth, as in the following. In Ezekiel:

Jerusalem, thou hast trusted in thy beauty, and hast committed whoredom because of thy renown, so that thou hast poured out thy whoredoms on everyone that passed by. Thou has committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt thy neighbors, great of flesh, and hast multiplied thy whoredom. Thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of Asshur, when there was no satiety to thee, with whom thou committedst whoredom. Thou hast multiplied thy whoredom even to Chaldea, the land of traffic. An adulterous woman receiveth strangers instead of her husband. All give reward to their harlots, ² but thou hast given reward to all thy lovers, and hast rewarded them that they may come unto thee on every side in thy whoredoms. Wherefore, O harlot! hear the word of Jehovah (Ezekiel 16:15, 26, 28-29, 32-33, 35.).

Who cannot see that by "whoredoms" here are not meant whoredoms in the usual natural sense? For the church in which all the truths of the Word have been falsified is treated of; this is what is meant by "whoredoms;" for "whoredoms" in the spiritual sense, or spiritual whoredoms, are no other than falsifications of truth. "Jerusalem" here is the church; the "sons of Egypt," with whom she committed whoredom, are scientifics and knowledges of every kind, perversely applied to confirm falsities; the "sons of Asshur" are reasonings from falsities; "Chaldea," the land of traffic, is the profanation of truth; the "rewards" that she gave to her lovers are the vendings of falsities; and because of the adulteration of good by the falsifications of truth, that church is called a "woman adulterous while subject to her husband."

[4] In the same:

Two women, the daughters of one mother, committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth. One committed whoredom while subject to me, and chose for lovers the Assyrians her neighbors; she bestowed her whoredoms upon them yet she hath not left her whoredoms in Egypt. The other hath corrupted her love more than she, and her whoredoms above the whoredoms of her sister; she increased her whoredoms, she loved the Chaldeans; the sons of Babel came to her to the bed of loves, and they defiled her with their whoredom (Ezekiel 23:2-3, 5-8, 11, 14, 16-17).

Here also by "whoredoms" are in like manner meant spiritual whoredoms, as is evident from every particular. "Two women, the daughters of one mother, are the two churches, the Israelitish and the Jewish; "whoredoms" with "the Egyptians," "the Assyrians," "the Chaldeans," signify the like as above; "the bed of loves with the sons of Babel" is the profanation of good.

[5] In Jeremiah:

Thou hast committed whoredoms with many companions, thou hast profaned the land with thy whoredoms, and with thine evil. Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? She hath gone away upon every high mountain, and under every green tree, and there committeth whoredom. Perfidious Judah also hath gone away and committed whoredom, so that by the voice of her whoredom she hath profaned the land; she hath committed adultery with stone and with wood (Jeremiah 3:1-2, 6, 8-9).

"Israel" is the church that is in truth, "Judah" the church that is in good, for they represented these two churches. The falsifications of truth are signified by the "whoredoms of Israel," and the adulterations of good by "the whoredoms of Judah." "To go away upon every high mountain and under every green tree and to commit whoredom" is to seek after all the knowledges of good and truth, even from the Word, and to falsify them; "to commit adultery with stone and wood" is to pervert and profane all truth and good; "stone" signifying truth, and "wood" signifying good.

[6] In the same:

Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man [vir], if there be any doing judgment, seeking truth. When I fed them to the full they committed whoredom and came by troops to the house of the harlot (Jeremiah 5:1, 7).

To "run to and fro through the streets, and to seek in the broad places of Jerusalem," is to see and explore the doctrinals of that church; for "Jerusalem" is the church, and "streets" and "broad places" are doctrinals. "If ye have found a man, if there be any doing judgment, seeking truth," means whether there be any truth in the church. "When I fed them to the full they committed whoredom," means that when truths were revealed to them they falsified them. Such a church, in respect to doctrine, is the "house of the harlot," into which they "came by troops."

[7] In the same:

Thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, thine abominations on the hills in the field have I seen. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! thou wilt not be made clean (Jeremiah 13:27).

"Neighings" are profanations of truth, because a "horse" signifies the intellectual where there is truth; "the hills in the field" are goods of truth in the church, which have been perverted.

[8] In the same:

In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible stubbornness in adulterating and in walking in a lie (Jeremiah 23:14).

They have wrought folly in Israel, and have committed adultery with their companions' wives, and have spoken My ³ word in My name falsely (Jeremiah 29:23).

To "adulterate" and to "commit adultery" here clearly mean to pervert truths; "the prophets" signifying those who teach truths from the Word; for it is said "in adulterating and walking in a lie," and "they have spoken My word falsely." A "lie" in the Word signifies falsity.

[9] In Moses:

Your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your ⁴ whoredoms even till their carcasses are consumed in the wilderness (Numbers 14:33).

The sons of Israel did not bear whoredoms and were not for that reason consumed in the wilderness, but because they spurned heavenly truths, as is evident from this, that it was so said to them because they wished not to enter into the land of Canaan, but to return to Egypt; "the land of Canaan" signifies heaven and the church, with the truths thereof; and "Egypt" signifies the same falsified and turned into magic.

[10] In Micah:

All her graven images shall be beaten to pieces, and all the rewards of whoredom shall be burned up with fire; and all her idols will I lay waste, for she hath gathered them from the hire of an harlot, therefore even to the hire of an harlot shall they return (Micah 1:7).

"Graven images" and "idols" signify falsities that are from self-intelligence; "the rewards of whoredom" are the knowledges of truth and good that they have applied to falsities and evils and have thus perverted.

[11] In Hosea:

Jehovah said to the prophet, Take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms, for whoring the land doth commit whoredom in departing from Jehovah (Hosea 1:2).

By this was represented what the quality of the church was, namely, that it was wholly in falsities.

[12] In the same:

They sinned against Me; I will change their glory into disgrace. They committed whoredom; because they have forsaken Jehovah. Whoredom, wine, and new wine, have occupied the heart. Your daughters commit whoredom, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery (Hosea 4:7, 10-11, 13).

"Whoredom, wine, and new wine," are falsified truths; "whoredom" falsification itself; "wine" interior falsity; "new wine" exterior falsity; "daughters who commit whoredom" are the goods of truth perverted; "daughters-in-law who commit adultery" are evils conjoined with falsities therefrom.

[13] In Isaiah:

It shall come to pass after the end of seventy years that Jehovah will visit Tyre, that she may return to her meretricious hire, and commit whoredom with all the kingdoms of the earth upon the faces of the world; at length her merchandise [and her meretricious hire] shall be holiness to Jehovah (Isaiah 23:17, 18).

"Tyre," in the Word, is the church in respect to the knowledges of truth and good; "meretricious hire" the same knowledges applied, by perverting them, to evils and falsities; "her merchandise" the vending of these. "To commit whoredom with all the kingdoms of the earth," is with all and every truth of the church. "Her merchandise and her meretricious hire shall be holiness to Jehovah" because these signify the knowledges of truth and good applied by them to falsities and evils; and by means of the knowledges themselves regarded in themselves, a man can gain wisdom; for knowledges are means of becoming wise, and they are also means of becoming insane. They are the means of becoming insane when they are falsified by being applied to evils and falsities. The like is signified where it is said that:

They should make to themselves friends of the unrighteous mammon (Luke 16:9);

and where it is commanded that:

They should borrow from the Egyptians gold, silver, and raiment, and take them away from them (Exodus 3:22; 12:35-36).

By the "Egyptians" are signified scientifics of every kind which they used to falsify truths.

[14] In Moses:

I will cut off the soul that looketh unto them that have familiar spirits and unto wizards, to go a-whoring after them (Leviticus 20:5, 6).

In Isaiah:

He entereth into peace, he walketh in uprightness. But draw ye near, ye sons of the enchantress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot (Isaiah 57:2-3).

In Nahum:

Woe to the city of bloods, all in a lie, the horseman ascendeth, and the flaming of the sword, and the flashing of the spear, a multitude of the slain; for the multitude of the whoredoms of the harlot, of the mistress of sorceries, selling the nations through her whoredoms (Nahum 3:1, 3-4).

In Moses:

A covenant must not be made with the inhabitants of the land, lest the sons and daughters go a-whoring after their gods (Exodus 34:15-16).

In the same:

That ye may remember all the commandments of Jehovah, and do them; and that ye spy not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye are wont to go a-whoring (Numbers 15:39).

In Revelation:

Babylon hath made all nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her whoredom (Revelation 14:8);

The angel said, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters; with whom the kings of the earth have committed whoredom (Revelation 17:1-2);

Babylon hath made all nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her whoredom, and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her (Revelation 18:3);

He hath judged the great harlot, which did corrupt the earth with her whoredom (Revelation 19:2).

It is manifest that in these passages by "whoredoms" are meant the falsifications of truth.

[15] As such things are signified by "whoredoms" and "adulteries," and as these have the same signification in heaven, therefore in the Israelitish church, which was a representative church, in which all things were significative, the following commands were given:

That there should be no harlot nor whoremonger in Israel (Deuteronomy 23:17);

That the man that committed adultery with the wife of a man, and the man that committed adultery with the wife of his companion should be put to death (Leviticus 20:10);

That the hire of a harlot should not be brought into the house of Jehovah for any vow (Deuteronomy 23:18);

That the sons of Aaron should not take a harlot to wife, nor a woman put away by her husband. That the high priest should take a virgin to wife. That the daughter of a priest, if she profaned herself by committing whoredom, should be burned with fire (Leviticus 21:7, 9, 13-14). (Besides many other passages.)

[16] That "whoredoms" and "adulteries" involve such things has been testified to me from much experience in the other life. The spheres from spirits who have been of such character have made these things evident; from the presence of spirits who have confirmed falsities in themselves, and have applied truths from the sense of the letter of the Word to confirm them, there exhales an abominable sphere of whoredom. Such spheres correspond to all the prohibited degrees (of which, see Lev. 20:11-21) with a difference according to the application of truths to falsities and the conjunction of falsities with evils, especially with evils that gush out of the love of self (of which more may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell 384-386).

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2015. That 'kings will come out of you' means that all truth comes from Him is clear from the meaning of 'a king' as truth in both the historical and the prophetical sections of the Word, as stated in 1672 but not yet shown to be so. From the meaning of 'nations' as goods, and from the meaning of 'kings' as truths, the nature of the internal sense of the Word becomes clear, and also how remote it is from the sense of the letter. No one reading the Word, especially the historical section, believes anything other than that 'nations' referred to there means nations, or that 'kings' there means kings, and therefore that the nations mentioned there, or the kings, are the real subject of the very Word itself. But when the idea of nations and also of kings reaches angels it perishes altogether, and good and truth take their place instead. This is bound to seem strange and indeed a paradox, but it is nevertheless the truth. The matter may also become clear to anyone from the fact that if nations were meant in the Word by 'nations' and kings by 'kings', the Word of the Lord would hardly embody anything more than some historical or other piece of writing and so would be something of a worldly nature, when in fact everything in the Word is Divine and so is celestial and spiritual.

[2] Take merely the statement in the present verse about Abraham's being made fruitful, nations being made of him, and kings coming out of him. What else is this but something purely worldly and nothing at all heavenly? Indeed these assertions entail no more than the glory of this world, a glory which is absolutely nothing in heaven. But if this is the Word of the Lord then its glory must be that of heaven, not that of the world. This also is why the sense of the letter is completely erased and disappears when it passes into heaven, and is purified in such a way that nothing worldly at all is intermingled. For 'Abraham' is not used to mean Abraham but the Lord; nor is 'being fruitful' used to mean his descendants who would increase more and more but the endless growth of good belonging to the Lord's Human Essence. 'Nations' do not mean nations but goods, and 'kings' do not mean kings but truths. Nevertheless the narrative in the sense of the letter remains historically true, for Abraham was indeed spoken to in this way; and he was indeed made fruitful in this way, with nations as well as kings descending from him.

[3] That 'kings' means truths becomes clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

The sons of the foreigner will build up your walls, and their kings will minister to you. You will suck the milk of nations, and the breast of kings will you suck. Isaiah 60:10, 16.

What 'sucking the milk of nations and the breast of kings' means is not at all evident from the letter but from the internal sense, in which being endowed with goods and instructed in truths is meant. In Jeremiah,

There will enter through the gates of this city kings and princes seated on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses. Jeremiah 17:25; 22:4.

'Riding in chariots and on horses' is a prophecy meaning the abundance of things of the understanding, as becomes clear from very many places in the Prophets. Thus the prophecy that 'kings will enter through the gates of the city' means in the internal sense that they were to be endowed with truths of faith. This sense of the Word is the heavenly sense into which the worldly sense of the letter passes.

[4] In the same prophet,

Jehovah has spurned in His fierce indignation king and priest. The gates of Zion have sunk into the ground, He has destroyed and broken in pieces her bars. King and princes are among the nations; the law is no more. Lamentations 2:6, 9.

Here 'king' stands for the truth of faith, 'priest' for the good of charity, 'Zion' for the Church, which is destroyed and its bars broken in pieces. Consequently 'king and princes among the nations', that is, truth and what belongs to truth, will be so completely banished that 'the law is no more', that is, nothing of the doctrine of faith will exist any more. In Isaiah,

Before the boy knows to refuse evil and to choose good, the ground will be abandoned which you loathe in the presence of its two kings. Isaiah 7:16.

This refers to the Lord's Coming. 'The land that will be abandoned' stands for faith which at that time would not exist. 'The kings' are the truths of faith which would be loathed.

[5] In the same prophet,

I will lift up My hand to the nations and raise My ensign to the peoples; and they will bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulder. Kings will be your foster fathers and their queens your wet-nurses. Isaiah 49:22-23.

'Nations' and 'daughters' stand for goods, 'peoples' and 'sons' for truths, as shown in Volume One. That 'nations' stands for goods, 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849, as does 'daughters', 489-491, while 'peoples' stands for truths, 1259, 1260, as does 'sons', 489, 491, 533, 1147. 'Kings' therefore stands for truths, in general by which they will be nourished, and 'queens' for goods by which they will be suckled. Whether you speak of goods and truths or of those who are governed by goods and truths it amounts to the same.

[6] In the same prophet,

He will spatter many nations, kings will shut their mouths because of him, ¹ for that which has [not] been told them they have seen, and that which they have not heard they have understood. Isaiah 52:15.

This refers to the Lord's Coming. 'Nations' stands for those who are stirred by an affection for goods, 'kings' those who are stirred by an affection for truths. In David,

Now, O kings, be intelligent; be instructed, O judges of the earth. Serve Jehovah with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son lest He perhaps be angry and you perish in the way. Psalms 2:10-12.

'Kings' stands for people who are governed by truths, and who by virtue of truths are also in many places called 'king's sons'. 'The Son' here stands for the Lord, and he is called the Son here because he is Truth itself, and the source of all truth.

[7] In John,

They will sing a new song, You are worthy to take the Book and to open its seals. You have made us kings and priests to our God so that we shall reign on the earth. Revelation 5:9-10.

Here people who are governed by truths are called 'kings'. The Lord also calls them 'the sons of the kingdom' in Matthew,

He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the seed are the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one. Matthew 13:37-38.

In John,

The sixth angel poured out his bowl over the great river Euphrates and its water was dried up to prepare the way of the kings who were from the east. Revelation 16:12.

'Euphrates' clearly does not mean the Euphrates, nor does 'kings from the east' mean kings from that quarter. What 'Euphrates' does mean may be seen in 120, 1585, 1866, from which it is evident that 'the way of the kings who were from the cast' means truths of faith that derive from goods of love.

[8] In the same book,

The nations that are saved will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory and honour into it. Revelation 21:24.

Here 'nations' stands for people who are governed by goods, 'kings of the earth' for those who are governed by truths, which is also evident from the fact that the details here are prophetical, not historical. In the same book,

With the great harlot seated on many waters the kings of the earth have committed whoredom and have become drunk with the wine of her whoredom. Revelation 17:2.

And elsewhere in the same book,

Babylon has given all nations drink from the wine of the fury of her whoredom; and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her. Revelation 18:1, 3, 9.

Here similarly it is clear that 'the kings of the earth' does not mean kings, for the subject is the falsification and adulteration of the doctrine of faith, that is, of truth, which are 'whoredom'. 'Kings of the earth' stands for truths that have been falsified and adulterated.

[9] In the same book,

The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom but are receiving authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. These will be of one mind, and they will hand over power and authority to the beast. Revelation 17:12-13.

That 'kings' here does not mean kings may also be evident to anyone. If kings were meant, then 'ten kings receiving authority as kings for one hour' would be quite unintelligible, as similarly with the following words in the same book,

I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered to make war with Him who was sitting on the horse, and with His army. Revelation 19:19

In verse 13 of the same chapter it is stated explicitly that the One who was sitting on the horse was The Word of God, against which the kings of the earth are said to have been gathered. 'The beast' stands for goods of love that have been profaned, 'kings' for truths of faith that have been adulterated; these are called 'kings of the earth' because they exist within the Church - 'earth' meaning the Church, see 662, 1066, 1067, 1262. 'The white horse' stands for the understanding of truth, 'He who was sitting on the horse' for the Word. This matter is plainer still in Daniel 11, describing the war between the king of the south and the king of the north, by which is meant the conflict of truths with falsities. Here such conflicts are described as a war that took place in history.

[10] Since 'a king' means truth, what is meant in the internal sense when the Lord is called King, and also a Priest, is made clear; and what essential quality of the Lord was represented by kings, and what by priests, is also made clear. 'Kings' represented His Divine Truth, and 'priests' His Divine Good. All the laws of order by which the Lord governs the universe as King are truths, while all the laws by which He governs the universe as Priest and by which He rules even over truths themselves are goods. For government from truths alone condemns everyone to hell, but government from goods lifts them out of that place and raises them up into heaven; see 1728. Because, in the Lord's case, these two - truths and goods - are joined together, they were also represented in ancient times by kingship and priesthood combined, as with Melchizedek who was at one and the same time king of Salem and priest to God Most High, Genesis 14:18. And at a later time among the Jews where the representative Church was established in a form of its own He was represented by judges and priests, and after that by kings.

[11] But because 'kings' represented truths which ought not to be paramount for the reason, already stated, that they condemn, the very idea was so objectionable that the Jews were reproached for it. The nature of truth regarded in itself has been described in 1 Samuel 8:11-18, as the rights of a king; and previous to that, in Moses, in Deuteronomy 17:14-18, they had been commanded through Moses to choose genuine truth deriving from good, not spurious truth, and not to pollute it with reasonings and factual knowledge. These are the considerations which the directive concerning a king given in the place in Moses referred to above embodies within itself. No one can possibly see this from the sense of the letter, but it is nevertheless evident from the details within the internal sense. This shows why 'a king' and 'kingship' represented and meant nothing other than truth.

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