652. Verse 8. And their bodies shall be upon the street of the great city, signifies their extinction by the evils and falsities of doctrine. This is evident from the signification of "bodies" as being that the good of love and the truth of doctrine signified by "the two witnesses" have been extinguished; for "to be killed" signifies to be extinguished, here spiritually, because it refers to those who have wholly destroyed these things in themselves. In like manner the Lord is said "to have been slain" and "to be dead," to signify that the Divine proceeding from Him, which is Divine good and Divine truth, has been rejected, that is, the Lord has been slain and is dead with those by whom that has been rejected (See above, n. 83). This is evident also from the signification of "the street of the great city," as being the truth and good of doctrine, and in the contrary sense the falsity and evil of doctrine; for "street" signifies truth leading, and in the contrary sense falsity leading (of which presently); and "city" signifies doctrine (of which above, n. 223. It is said "great city," because "great" is predicated of good, and in the contrary sense of evil, as "many" is predicated of truth, and in the contrary sense of falsity (See above, n. 223, 336, 337). This now makes clear that "the bodies of the two witnesses upon the street of the great city" signifies the extinction of the good of love and charity and of the truth of doctrine and faith by the falsities and evils of doctrine. As the evils and falsities of doctrine are signified, it is next said "which great city is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt," "Sodom" signifying the evils of the love, and "Egypt" the falsities therefrom, each pertaining to doctrine, by which the church at its end is destroyed (concerning which in the following articles).

[2] "Street" signifies the truth of doctrine, and in the contrary sense the falsity of doctrine, because in the spiritual sense a "way" signifies truth leading to good, and in the contrary sense falsity leading to evil (See above, n. 97); and streets are ways in a city, and as a "city" signifies doctrine, so a "street" signifies the truth and the falsity of doctrine. Moreover, in the spiritual world there are cities, and streets in them, as in the cities of the world; and what each one is in respect to the affection of truth and intelligence therefrom is known there merely from the place where he dwells and from the streets in which he walks. Those who are in a clear perception of truth dwell in the southern quarter of the city and also walk there; those who are in a clear affection of the good of love dwell in the eastern quarter and also walk there; those who are in an obscure affection of the good of love dwell in the western quarter and also walk there; and those who are in an obscure perception of truth dwell in the northern quarter and also walk there. But in the cities where those live who are in the persuasion of falsity from evil the reverse is true. This makes clear why it is that a "street" signifies truth or falsity leading.

[3] That "streets" have this signification can be seen from the following passages. In Jeremiah:

Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see, I pray, and know, and seek in the open places thereof if ye can find a man [vir] that doeth judgment, that seeketh truth; then will I pardon her (Jeremiah 5:1).

Because "the streets of Jerusalem and the open places thereof" signify the truths of doctrine, according to the states of affection and perception of those who are of the church, and because "Jerusalem" signifies the church in respect to doctrine it is said, "Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see and know, and seek in the open places thereof;" and because "judgment" is predicated of truths, since all judgment comes from laws and precepts, which are truths, and because "truth" signifies the truth of doctrine and of faith it is said, "if ye can find a man [vir] that doeth judgment and that seeketh truth."

The "open places" mean particularly the corners of the city, thus the quarters where the dwelling places are; and as each one in the cities in the spiritual world has his dwelling place in accordance with his affection of good and his perception of truth, clear or obscure, therefore "open places" signify truths and goods according to each one's affection and perception.

[4] In Isaiah:

Judgment hath been rejected backward, and justice hath stood afar off; for truth hath stumbled in the street, and rectitude cannot enter (Isaiah 59:14).

"Judgment and justice" signify in the Word truth and good; that these no longer exist is signified by "judgment hath been rejected backward, and justice has stood afar off;" that they have wandered away from the truths of doctrine, and consequently there is no truth in the life, which is the good of life, is signified by "truth hath stumbled in the street, and rectitude cannot enter," for all good of life is acquired by means of the truths of doctrine, for it is by them that a man learns how he ought to live. Because "street" signifies where truth leads, it is said "truth hath stumbled in the street."

[5] In Nahum:

The chariots raged in the street, they ran to and fro in the open places (Nahum 2:4).

Because "chariots" signify the doctrinals of truth, and "streets" and "open places" what is in accord with each one's affection and perception, as above, it is said "the chariots raged in the streets, they ran to and fro in the open places," "to rage" signifying to call falsities truths, and "to run to and fro" signifying to wander off.

[6] In the book of Judges:

In the days of Jael the ways ceased, they that go in footpaths went in crooked paths, they ceased, the open places ceased in Israel (Judges 5:6, 7).

This is in the Song of Deborah and Barak, which treats of the desolation of truth in the church, and afterwards of its restoration; the desolation is described by "the ways ceased, they that go in footpaths went in crooked paths, they ceased, the open places ceased in Israel;" "ways and paths" having the same signification as "streets and open places," namely, truths of doctrine leading, and "to go in crooked ways" signifies to wander away from truths.

[7] In Isaiah:

The city of emptiness shall be broken down, every house shall be shut that no one may enter; a cry over the wine in the streets; every joy shall be mixed, the gladness of the earth shall be banished (Isaiah 24:10, 11).

"The city of emptiness" signifies doctrine in which there is falsity and no truth; "house" signifies the good of the will and thus of the life; thence is evident what is signified by "the city of emptiness shall be broken down, every house shall be shut that no one may enter;" "a cry over the wine in the streets" signifies lamentation on account of the lack of truth and the mingling of truth with falsity, "wine" signifying the truth of the church from the Word; therefore it is said "in the streets," because "street" too signifies truth, and where truth is sought. "Joy and gladness" are mentioned, because "joy" is predicated of the delight that is from the affection of good, and "gladness" of the delight that is from the affection of truth; that these delights will cease is signified by "every joy shall be mixed, the gladness of the earth shall be banished," the earth signifying the church.

[8] In Jeremiah:

How is the city of glory forsaken, the city of my joy! Therefore her young men shall fall in the streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off (Jeremiah 49:25, 26; 50:30).

"The city of glory" signifies the doctrine of Divine truth, and "the city of joy" signifies the delight from the affection of good and truth therein; "young men" signify those who are made intelligent by means of truths; and that the understanding of truth would perish is signified by "the young men shall fall in the streets;" "men of war" signify truths combating against falsities; that there will be no defense of truth against falsities is signified by "all the men of war shall be cut off."

[9] In Ezekiel:

You have multiplied your slain in this city, so that you have filled the streets thereof with the slain (Ezekiel 11:6).

The "slain" mean in the Word those who are destroyed by falsities; for the "sword," by which they are slain, signifies falsity destroying truth; "city" signifies here, as above, the doctrine of truth; thence appears what is signified by "the slain in the city;" "to fill the streets with the slain" signifies to lay waste the truth by falsities.

[10] In Lamentations:

They that did eat delicacies are laid waste in the streets; and they that were brought up in crimson have embraced dunghills. The form of the Nazirites is darker than blackness, they are not recognized in the streets. They have wandered about blind in the streets, they are polluted with blood. They have hunted our steps so that we cannot go in the streets (Lamentations 4:5, 8, 14, 18).

Here, too, "streets" signify the truths of doctrine leading to the good of life, or truths according to which one must live. This treats of the church where the Word is, and its devastation in respect to truths; therefore "they that did eat delicacies are laid waste in the streets" signifies that those who have imbibed genuine truths from the Word have no longer any truths, "delicacies" meaning genuine truths from the Word; "they that were brought up in crimson have embraced dunghills" signifies that those who had imbibed genuine goods from the Word have nothing but the falsities of evil, "crimson" signifying the genuine good of the Word, in particular the celestial love of truth, and "dunghills" signifying the falsities of evil; "the form of the Nazirites is darker than blackness, they are not recognized in the streets," signifies that Divine truth is in such obscurity that it is apparent to no one; "the Nazirites" represent the Lord in relation to Divine truth, and therefore signify Divine truth from the Lord; "they have wandered about blind in the streets, they are polluted with blood," signifies that the truths of the Word are no longer seen because they have been falsified, "the blind" signifying those who do not see truths. "They have hunted our steps, so that we cannot go in the streets," signifies leading astray, so that it is not known how to live, "to hunt the steps" signifying to lead astray by falsities, and "to go" signifying to live, therefore "to go in the streets" signifies to live according to truths.

[11] In Zephaniah:

I will cut off the nations, their corners shall be laid waste; I will make desolate their streets, that none may pass through; their cities shall be laid waste, that there may be no man nor inhabitant (Zephaniah 3:6).

The "nations that shall be cut off," signify the goods of the church; the "corners that shall be laid waste" signify the truths and goods of the church in the whole complex (that this is the signification of "corners" see above, n. 417; the "streets that shall be made desolate, that no one may pass through," signify the truths of doctrine; for the "cities that shall be laid waste, that there may be no man nor inhabitant," signify doctrinals, "man" and "inhabitants" meaning in the Word in the spiritual sense all who are in truths and goods, thus in an abstract sense, truths and goods.

[12] In Zechariah:

I will return to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, whence Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth. There shall yet old men and women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and the streets shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof (Zechariah 8:3-5).

This is said of the Lord's coming, and of the New Church to be established by Him; "Zion" means the church in respect to the good of love, and "Jerusalem" the church in respect to the truths of doctrine, therefore Jerusalem is called "the city of truth;" "the old men and women who shall dwell in the streets of Jerusalem" mean those that are intelligent and wise through the truths of doctrine; "the boys and girls playing in the streets, of whom the streets of the city shall be full," signify the affections of truth and good and their delights, in which those shall abound who live in the truths of doctrine.

[13] In Jeremiah:

According to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to shame, altars to burn incense to Baal (Jeremiah 11:13).

"According to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah," signifies that there were as many falsities as doctrinals, "cities" signifying doctrinals, and "gods" falsities of religion; "according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to shame" signifies that there were as many kinds of worship as there were falsities of doctrine, "streets" here signifying the falsities of doctrine, and "altars" worship; worship from falsities is what is meant, because the altars meant were altars of incense, for it is said, "altars to burn incense to Baal," and "incense" signifies spiritual good, which in its essence is truth from good, and in the contrary sense falsity from evil.

(That this is the signification of "incense" and its "altar," see above, n. 324, 491, 492, 567.)

[14] In the same:

Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The sons gather wood and the fathers kindle the fire, the women knead dough to make cakes to the queen of the heavens, and to pour out drink-offerings to other gods; I will make to cease in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness (Jeremiah 7:17, 18, 34).

What these words signify in the spiritual sense may be seen fully explained above n. 555; also that "the cities of Judah" signify the doctrinals of the church, and "the streets of Jerusalem" its truths of doctrine.

[15] In the same:

Have ye forgotten the evils which they did in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? (Jeremiah 44:9)

"The land of Judah" signifies the church in respect to good, but here in respect to evil; and "the streets of Jerusalem" signify the truths of doctrine, but here its falsities of doctrine.

[16] In Ezekiel:

With the hoofs of his horses Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon shall trample down all thy streets; he shall slay thy people with the sword, and he shall bring down the pillars of strength to the earth; they shall make a spoil of thy wealth (Ezekiel 26:11, 12).

"Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon" signifies the profanation of truth and its consequent destruction; "to trample down all thy streets with the hoofs of his horses" signifies that all the truths of the church will be destroyed by the fallacies of the sensual man; "he shall slay the people with the sword" signifies that truths will be destroyed by falsities; that thus also all worship from truths will be destroyed is signified by "he shall bring down the pillars of strength to the earth," for "pillars" signify holy worship from truths, and because all power is of truth from good they are called "pillars of strength;" that knowledges of truth will also be destroyed is signified by "they shall make a spoil of thy wealth." (That "wealth" and "riches" mean the knowledges of truth, see above, n. 236.)

[17] In the same:

Thou hast built thee an eminent place and hast made thee an exalted place in every street, upon every head of the way thou hast made thee thy eminent place, and thou hast made thy beauty abominable (Ezekiel 16:24, 25, 31).

"Eminent place" and "exalted place" with the ancients signified heaven; from this came the practice of sacrificing upon high mountains, or in place of these upon places built up high, therefore worship from evils and from the falsities of doctrine is signified by "making an eminent and an exalted place in every street, and upon every head of the way;" and as that worship became idolatrous it is said that "they made their beauty abominable," "beauty" meaning truth and intelligence therefrom; for everyone in the spiritual world is beautiful according to truths from good, and intelligence therefrom.

[18] In Amos:

Lamentations shall be in all the streets, and they shall say in all the open places, Alas, alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning (Amos 5:16).

"Lamentations shall be in all the streets, and they shall say in all the open places, Alas, alas!" signifies grief because truth and good are everywhere laid waste; "and they shall call the husbandman to mourning" signifies the grief of the men of the church on this account, "husbandman" signifying the man of the church, because a "field" signifies the church in respect to the implantation of truth.

[19] In David:

Our garners are full, affording food on food; our flocks are thousands and ten thousands in our streets; our oxen are laden, there is no breach nor fleeing away, nor outcry in our open places (Psalms 144:13, 14).

"Garners which are full of food" signify the doctrinals from the Word, thus the Word itself, wherein are all truths of doctrine which furnish instruction and spiritual nourishment; "flocks are thousands and ten thousands in the streets" signifies spiritual goods and truths, "thousands of flocks" goods, and "ten thousands" truths; "oxen laden" signify natural goods and their affections; "no breach" signifies their coherence; "no fleeing away" signifies no loss of any of these; "no outcry in the open places" signifies no lamentation anywhere over the lack of these.

[20] In Job:

God, who giveth rain upon the faces of the earth, and who sendeth waters upon the faces of the streets (Job 5:10).

"To give rain upon the faces of the earth" signifies the influx of Divine truth into all things with those who are of the church; and "to send waters upon the faces of the streets" signifies Divine influx into the truths of doctrine, that man may be rendered spiritual thereby.

[21] In Isaiah:

In its streets they have girded themselves with sackcloth, upon its roofs and in its streets he shall howl, flowing down in weeping (Isaiah 15:3).

This is said of the city Ar in the land of Moab, which signifies the doctrine of those who are in truths from the natural man; grief over their falsities of doctrine, from the first to the last, is signified by "they have girded themselves with sackcloth, upon its roofs and in its streets he shall howl," "roofs" meaning interior things, and "streets" exterior things with such. In Jeremiah:

Upon all the roofs of Moab and in its streets, lamentation everywhere (Jeremiah 48:38).

The signification here is similar, as above.

[22] In Daniel:

Know and perceive that from the going forth of the Word even to the restoration and building of Jerusalem, even to Messiah the prince; after sixty and two weeks it shall be restored and built, street and ditch, but in straitness of times (Daniel 9:25).

He who knows not the spiritual sense of the Word may think that by "Jerusalem" here Jerusalem is meant, and that it is to be restored and built; also that "the street and ditch" which it is said will be restored and built mean a street and ditch of that city; but "Jerusalem" means the church that is to be established by the Lord, and "street and ditch" mean the truth of doctrine; "street" truth, and "ditch" doctrine. What is there signified by the number of weeks is not to be explained in this place.

[23] This makes evident that "the street of the New Jerusalem" has a like signification in the following passages in Revelation:

The twelve gates were twelve pearls and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass (Revelation 21:21).

And afterwards:

He showed me a pure river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb; in the midst of the street thereof and of the river on either side was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits (Revelation 22:1, 2).

But these passages will be explained hereafter.

[24] In Isaiah:

Thy sons have fainted, they lay at the head of all the streets, as an antelope in a net (Isaiah 51:20).

This, too, is said of Jerusalem, that is, the church vastated in respect to doctrine, "sons" meaning those who are in the truths of doctrine; "to faint and to lie at the head of all the streets" signifies to be deprived of all truth, "head or beginning of the streets" signifying entrance to truth, thus all truth.

[25] In Lamentations:

The infant and the suckling faint in the streets of the city. Lift up thy hands to the Lord respecting the souls of thine infants, who have fainted from famine at the head of all the streets (Lamentations 2:11, 19).

"Infant and suckling" signify innocence, and also the goods and truths that are first born and made alive by knowledges from the Word with men who are regenerating, and which, being the first, are faultless and blameless; entire lack of these is signified by "they have fainted in the streets of the city, and at the head of all the streets;" it is said "from famine," because "famine" signifies loss, lack, and ignorance of knowledges, and at the same time desire for them (See above, n. 386).

[26] In Nahum:

Her infants were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets, and over her honorable ones they cast a lot, and all her great ones were bound with chains (Nahum 3:10).

Here also "infants" mean the truths that are firstborn and vivified, and "to be dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets" signifies to be scattered and to perish; "honorable ones" signify the goods of love; "to cast a lot over them" signifies dispersion of these; "great ones" signify the truths of good; and "to be bound with chains" signifies to be tied by falsities so that truth cannot come forth. This is said of "the city of bloods" which signifies the doctrine in which the truths of the Word are falsified.

[27] In Jeremiah:

Death cometh up through our windows, it cometh into our palaces, to cut off the infant from the street, the young men from the open places (Jeremiah 9:21).

"Death" means here spiritual death, which takes place when falsity is believed to be truth and truth to be falsity, and the life is in accordance therewith; "windows" signify the thoughts from the understanding, "palaces" the interior and thus the more sublime things of the human mind; this makes clear what is signified by "death cometh up through the windows and cometh into our palaces;" "infant" signifies here as above the truths that are firstborn through knowledges from the Word; "young men" signify truths acquired, from which comes intelligence; and "streets and open places" signify the truths of doctrine and the truths of life which lead to intelligence and wisdom; this makes clear what is signified by "cutting off the infant from the street, the young men from the open places."

[28] In the same:

I am full of the anger of Jehovah, I am weary with holding in; pour out upon the infant in the street, and upon the assembly of young men; for even the man with the woman shall be taken, the old man with him that is full of days (Jeremiah 6:11).

Here "the infant in the street" and "the young men" have a similar signification as above; "man [vir] and woman" signify truth conjoined to good and intelligence therefrom; and "old man" and "one full of days" signify wisdom.

[29] As "street" signifies the truth of doctrine leading, and in the contrary sense falsity, "the clay of the streets," "the mire," and "dung" signify the falsity of the love of evil, in the following passages. In Isaiah:

Their carcass has become as the dung of the streets (Isaiah 5:25).

He shall make him to be trodden down like the clay of the streets (Isaiah 10:6).

In Micah:

She shall be trodden down like the mire of the streets (Mic. Micah 7:10).

In David:

I will beat them small as the dust before the faces of the wind, I will spread them out as the mire of the streets (Psalms 18:42).

All this, too, is from the appearances in the spiritual world; in the cities there in which falsities from evil reign the streets appear full of dung, mire and clay. This makes evident what is signified by:

The Lord's commanding the seventy whom He sent out to preach the Gospel, Into whatever city ye enter and they receive you not, go out into the streets thereof and say, Even the dust of your city that cleaveth unto us do we shake off from us ¹ (Luke 10:10, 11).

[30] Because "the streets of a city" signify the truths of doctrine, according to which one should live, it was customary to teach and to pray in the streets. Thus in the second book of Samuel:

Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice (2 Samuel 1:20).

In Matthew:

When thou doest alms sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the open places that they may have glory of men. And when thou prayest thou shalt not be as the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets where they may be seen of men (Matthew 6:2, 5).

And in Luke:

Then shall ye begin to say, We did eat before Thee and drink, and Thou didst teach in our streets; but He shall say, I tell you I know you not whence ye are (Luke 13:26, 27).

[31] Furthermore, from the signification of "street," as meaning the truth of doctrine, it is also evident why the Lord said in the parable that:

The master of the house commanded his servants to go out quickly into the streets and open places of the city and bring in the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind (Luke 14:21).

"The poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind," do not mean such in a natural sense, but such in a spiritual sense, that is, such as had not the Word, and were therefore in ignorance of truth and in lack of good, but still desired truths by means of which they might obtain good; such were the Gentiles with whom the church of the Lord was afterwards established.

[32] Because "the street of a city" signified either truth or falsity teaching and leading, therefore:

The angels that came to Sodom said that they would lodge all night in the street (Genesis 19:2).

And for the same reason it was commanded that:

If the sons of Israel observed that those in any city served other gods they should smite the inhabitants of the city with the sword, utterly destroying the city, and they should bring all the spoil of it into the midst of the street, and burn the city and all the spoil with fire (Deuteronomy 13:14, 16, 17).

"Other gods" signify the falsities of worship, "the sword" the destruction of falsities by truths; "spoil" the falsification of truth; and "fire" the punishment of the love of evil and its destruction.

[33] From these passages cited from the Word it can be seen what is signified by "the bodies of the two witnesses were cast forth upon the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt," and afterwards that "they were not suffered to be placed in sepulchers;" for it was a custom with the Jewish and Israelitish nation to cast out the slain that were enemies into the ways and streets, and not to bury them, as a sign of their hatred of such; but still this represented that by such enemies infernal evils and falsities that could not be raised again to life were meant, that is, those who were in infernal evils and falsities.

[34] This is evident in Jeremiah:

The prophets prophesy, saying, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; by sword and by famine shall these prophets be consumed, and the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out into the streets of Jerusalem, and there shall be no one to bury them (Jeremiah 14:15, 16).

A "prophet" means the doctrine of truth, here the doctrine of falsity, because they prophesied falsities; and as "streets" signified where falsities are, it is said that "they were to be cast out into the streets of Jerusalem."

Fusnotat:

5376. 'For the famine became great in all the earth' means that, apart from there, desolation existed everywhere in the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'famine' as a desolation, dealt with previously; and from the meaning of 'the earth' as the natural, also dealt with previously. The idea that everywhere apart from there is meant, that is to say, apart from within the known facts where the celestial of the spiritual was, follows from what has gone immediately before. What the desolation of the natural, or the deprivation of truth there, is like has been stated already; yet as this is dealt with further still in what follows, let the nature of it be mentioned once again. From earliest childhood the person born within the Church learns from the Word and from the teachings of the Church what the truth of faith is and what the good of charity is. But when he grows up he begins either to confirm for himself or else to refuse to accept the truths of faith he has learned; for now he looks at them for himself and in so doing either makes those truths his own or else casts them aside. For no truth can be made over to another person as his own unless he looks at it and accepts it for himself, that is, unless he knows for himself that it is true and does not rely simply on someone else. The truths therefore which he absorbed in childhood cannot enter any more deeply into his life than the outer gate, where they can either be let inside or else cast away outside.

[2] With those who are being regenerated, that is, those who, as the Lord foresees, will allow themselves to be regenerated, those truths are multiplied exceedingly; for these people have an affection for knowing truths. But as they draw nearer to the point when their regeneration is actually carried out they are seemingly deprived of those truths. For those truths are withdrawn to a more interior position, and when this happens the person seems to experience desolation. Nevertheless those truths are returned in consecutive stages to the natural, where they are joined to good while the person is being regenerated. With those who are not being regenerated however, that is, those who, as the Lord foresees, will not allow themselves to be regenerated, truths are indeed usually multiplied, since these people possess an affection for knowing such truths for the sake of their own reputation, position, and gain. But as they advance in years and come to look at those truths for themselves, they either do not believe them, refuse to accept them, or else turn them into falsities. Thus in their case truths are not withdrawn to a more interior position but are cast away outside, though they remain in the memory to serve worldly ends, devoid of all life. In the Word this state is called desolation or vastation, though it differs from the state described first, in that the desolation belonging to that first state is only apparent, whereas the desolation belonging to the second state is total. For in the state described first the person is not deprived of truths, whereas in this latter state he is deprived of them altogether. The desolation belonging to the state described first is the subject in the internal sense of the present chapter and is again the subject in the next one; and that desolation is meant by a famine lasting for seven years.

[3] This kind of desolation is referred to many times elsewhere in the Word, as in Isaiah,

Stir, stir, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of Jehovah the cup of His anger. Two things have come upon you; who condoles with you? Vastation and ruination, famine and sword, who is there that I may comfort you? Your sons fainted, they lay at the head of every street. Therefore listen, do this, O afflicted one, and drunk though not from wine. Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of trepidation, the dregs of the cup of My wrath; you shall no longer drink it. But I will put it in the hand of those who oppress you. Isaiah 51:17-end.

This is a description of the state of desolation experienced by a member of the Church who is becoming a Church, that is, who is being regenerated. That desolation is called 'vastation, ruination, famine, and sword', also 'the cup of Jehovah's anger and wrath', and 'the cup of trepidation'. The truths that a person is deprived of at such times are 'the sons who faint and lie at the head of every street'. For 'sons' are truths, see 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3373, 'street' the place where the truths are, 2336; consequently 'lying at the head of every street' means that truths appear to exist in a dispersed condition. One can see that the desolation is only an apparent one and that regeneration is effected by means of it, as it also is by means of temptations; for it says that [Jerusalem] will no longer drink the cup but that [Jehovah] will put it in the hand of those who oppress her.

[4] In Ezekiel,

Thus said the Lord Jehovih, Because they devastated you and swallowed you up from all around, so that you are an inheritance for the rest of the nations, therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Jehovih. Thus said the Lord Jehovih to the mountains and hills, the streams and valleys, and the desolate wastes, and the deserted cities, which became plunder and a derision to the rest of the nations all around: I have spoken in My zeal and in My wrath, because you have endured the shame of the nations. Surely the nations that are around you will bear their own shame. But you, O mountains of Israel, will shoot forth ¹ your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel. For behold, I am with you, and will turn to you, so that you are tilled and sown. Also I will multiply man (homo) upon you, the entire house of Israel; and the cities will be inhabited, and the waste places will be built. I will resettle you ² to be as you were in former times and I will do more good than in your early days. Ezekiel 36:3-11.

This too refers to the desolation that comes just before regeneration. That desolation is meant by 'the desolate wastes and the deserted cities, which became plunder and a derision', while such regeneration is meant by 'shooting forth a branch and yielding fruit', 'turning to them, so that they are tilled and sown', 'so that man is multiplied, cities inhabited, and waste places built', and 'resettling them to be as they were in former times, and doing more good to them than in their early days'.

[5] What desolation is like is evident from those experiencing it in the next life. Those who experience desolation there are harried by evil spirits and genii; for these pour in evil desires and false ideas which are so strong that those people are almost submerged in them. As a consequence truths are not visible; but then as the time of desolation comes to an end those truths are lit up by light received from heaven, and the evil spirits and genii are driven away, each to his own hell, where they undergo punishments. Those punishments are what is meant by 'cities which became plunder and a derision to the rest of the nations all around' and by 'the nations that are around will bear their own shame'. Such punishments are also meant by 'the cup will be put in the hand of those who oppress you', in the passage quoted above from Isaiah, as well as in another place in the same prophet, where it says that 'the one who lays waste will be laid waste', Isaiah 33:1. And in Jeremiah,

I will visit those who lay waste, and I will consign them to everlasting desolations. Jeremiah 25:12.

In Isaiah,

Your destroyers will hasten your sons, and those who lay you waste will go away from you. Lift up your eyes round about and see; they all gather together, they come to you. Because of your waste places and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction, you will be too restricted for the inhabitants; those who swallow you up will have gone far away. Isaiah 49:17-19.

[6] These verses too, indeed that whole chapter in Isaiah, refer to the desolation suffered by those who are being regenerated, and to the regeneration and fruitfulness that follow desolation, verse 26 referring at length to the punishment of those who have been the oppressors. In the same prophet,

Woe to you who lay waste, though you have not been laid waste; when you finish laying waste, you will be laid waste. Isaiah 33:1.

This refers to the punishment of those who lay waste, as above. In the same prophet,

Let My outcasts dwell together in you; O Moab, be a refuge to them in the presence of the one who lays waste. For the oppressor has ceased, vastation has come to an end. Isaiah 16:4.

In the same prophet,

The day of Jehovah is near; like vastation from Shaddai it will come. Isaiah 13:6.

'Vastation from Shaddai' stands for vastation in temptations. For in ancient times God, when involved in temptations, was called Shaddai, see 1992, 3667, 4572.

[7] In the same prophet,

At that time they will not thirst; in the waste places He will lead them; He will make water flow for them from the rock, and He will cleave the rock so that water flows out. Isaiah 48:11.

This has to do with the state that follows desolation. In the same prophet,

Jehovah will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places, so much so that He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of Jehovah. Gladness and joy will be found in her, confession and the voice of song. Isaiah 51:3.

Here the meaning is similar, for as stated above, desolation occurs to the end that a person may be regenerated, that is, to the end that evils and falsities may first be separated from him and then truths may be joined to forms of good, and forms of good to truths. The regenerate person so far as good is concerned is the one who is being compared to Eden, and so far as truth is concerned to the garden of Jehovah. In David,

Jehovah caused me to come up out of the pit of devastation, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock. Psalms 40:2.

[8] The vastation and desolation suffered by a member of the Church, or by the Church residing with him, was represented by the captivity of the Jewish people in Babel, while the resurgence of the Church was represented by their return from that captivity, dealt with in various places in Jeremiah, especially in Chapter 32:37-end. Desolation is a captivity, for at that time a person is held so to speak in bonds, for which reason also 'the bound', 'those in prison', or 'those in the pit' mean those experiencing desolation, see 4728, 4744, 5037, 5038, 5085, 5096.

[9] Reference to a state of desolation and vastation among those who are not being regenerated is also made in various places in the Word. It is a state passed through by those who utterly deny truths or else turn them into falsities; it is the state which the Church passes through around the time of its end, when there is no faith and no charity any longer. In Isaiah,

I will cause you to know what I am about to do to My vineyard, by taking away its hedge, so that it is destroyed, ³ and by breaking down its wall, so that it is trodden down. I will after that make it a desolation; it will not be pruned or heed, so that bramble and shrub will come up there; indeed I will command the clouds to rain no rain on it. Isaiah 5:5-7.

In the same prophet,

Say to this people, Hearing, hear - but do not understand; and seeing, see - but do not comprehend. Make the heart of this people fat and their ears heavy, and plaster over their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and their heart understands, and they turn again and be healed. Then I said, How long, O Lord? And He said, Until cities will have been devastated, so that they are without inhabitant, and houses, so that there is no one in them, and the land is reduced to a lonely place; He will remove man. And the wilderness will be multiplied in the midst of the land. Scarcely any longer will there be a tenth part in it; it will be however an uprooting. Isaiah 6:9-end.

[10] In the same prophet,

A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the God of power. For the close has been determined, overflowing with righteousness; for the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth is bringing the whole earth to its close and to its determined end. Isaiah 10:21-23.

In the same prophet,

Jehovah is emptying the earth and making it void, and He will overturn the face of it. The earth will be utterly emptied. The inhabited earth will mourn, it will be turned upside down. The world will languish and will be turned upside down. A curse will devour the earth. The new wine will mourn, the vine will languish. What is left in the city will be a waste; the gate will be smashed to devastation. The earth has been utterly broken, the earth has been utterly split open, the earth has been made to quake violently; the earth staggers altogether like a drunken man. Isaiah 24:4-end.

In the same prophet,

The highways have been devastated, the wayfarer has ceased. The earth mourns, it languishes. Lebanon has become ashamed, it has withered away; Sharon has become like a wilderness. Isaiah 33:8-9.

In the same prophet,

I will desolate and at the same time swallow up; I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up every plant on them. Isaiah 42:14-15.

[11] In Jeremiah,

I will utterly destroy all the nations round about, and make them into a desolation, and a derision and everlasting wastes. And I will cast away from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the mills, and the light of the lamp, so that the whole land will be a desolation and devastation. It will happen when seventy years have been fulfilled, that I will visit the king of Babei and this nation for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make it everlasting desolations. Jeremiah 25:9-12 and following verses.

In the same prophet,

A desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse will Bozrah be; and all its cities will be everlasting wastes. Edom will be a desolation, all who pass by it will be astonished and will hiss at all its plagues. Jeremiah 49:13-18.

In Ezekiel,

Thus said the Lord to the inhabitants of Jerusalem upon the land of Israel, They will eat their bread with anxiety, and drink their waters with astonishment, that her land may be devastated of the fullness that is in it, on account of the violence of all who dwell in it. The inhabited cities will be devastated, and the land desolated. Ezekiel 12:19-20.

[12] In the same prophet,

When I make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I shall cause the deep to come up against you, and many waters have covered you, I will cause you to go down with those going down to the pit, to the people of old, and I will cause you to dwell in the land of the lower ones, in the desolations ⁴ from eternity, with those going down to the pit. Ezekiel 26:18-21.

This refers to Tyre. In Joel,

A day of darkness and thick darkness, a day of cloud and gloom. Fire devours before him, and behind him a flame burns; like the garden of Eden is the land before him, but behind him there is a desert waste. Joel 2:2-3.

In Zephaniah,

The day of Jehovah is near. A day of wrath is that day, a day of anguish and repression, a day of vastation and devastation, a day of darkness and thick darkness, a day of cloud and clouding over. By the fire of Jehovah's zeal the whole land will be devoured, for He ⁵ will bring to a close, indeed to a hasty one, all the inhabitants of the earth. Zephaniah 1:14-end.

In Matthew,

When you see the abomination of desolation, foretold by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place, then let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains. Matthew 14:15, 16; Mark 13:14; Daniel 9:27; 11:10-12.

From all these quotations it is clear that 'a desolation apparent deprivation of truth in the case of those who are being regenerated, but a total deprivation in the case of those who are not being regenerated means

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