276. Verses 6-8. And in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four animals full of eyes before and behind. And the first animal was like a lion, and the second animal like a calf, and the third animal had a face as a man, and the fourth animal was like a flying eagle. And the four animals had each by itself six wings roundabout; and they were full of eyes within, and they had no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.

"And in the midst of the throne and round about the throne were four animals full of eyes before and behind," signifies the guardianship and providence of the Lord to prevent the interior heavens being approached, except by the good of love and of charity, that lower things thence depending may be in order.

"And the first animal was like a lion," signifies the appearance in ultimates of Divine truth proceeding from the Lord as to the power and effect; "and the second animal like a calf," signifies the appearance in ultimates of Divine good as to defence; "and the third animal had a face as a man," signifies the appearance in ultimates of the Lord's Divine guardianship and providence as to wisdom; "and the fourth animal was like a flying eagle," signifies the appearance in ultimates of the Divine guardianship and providence as to intelligence, and as to circumspection in every direction.

"And the four animals had, each by itself six wings roundabout," signifies the appearance of the Divine spiritual in every direction around the Divine celestial; "and they were full of eyes within," signifies the Divine providence and guardianship; "and they had no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy," signifies what is most holy proceeding from the Lord; "Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come," signifies who is infinite and eternal.

991. (Verse 11) And they blasphemed the God of heaven. That this signifies the falsification of the Word, is evident from the signification of blaspheming when said of God, as denoting to falsify the Word even to the destruction of the Divine truth in the heavens (concerning which see n. 778); and from the signification of the God of heaven, as denoting the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord. This is meant here and in other parts of the Word by the God of heaven, because the whole heaven consists of that Divine. This is why the angels are called gods, and that they signify Divine truths from the Lord, and why also the Lord is called the Word, which is Divine truth. Hence now by their blaspheming the God of heaven, is signified the falsification of the Word, even to the destruction of the Divine truth in the heavens.

Continuation of the Sixth Precept:-

[2] It was said that conjugial love, which is natural, descends from the love of good and truth, which is spiritual. This spiritual, therefore, is in the natural love of marriage as a cause in the effect. From the marriage of good and truth, therefore, the love of bearing fruit exists, that is to say, good by means of truth, and truth from good; from this love the love of producing offspring descends, in which is every delight and pleasure.

On the other hand, the love of adultery, which is natural, exists from the love of evil and falsity, which is spiritual; and hence this spiritual is in the natural love of adultery as a cause in the effect. From the marriage, therefore, of evil and falsity by love, the love of bearing fruit exists, that is, the evil by falsity, and falsity from the evil. And from this love descends the love of producing offspring in adulteries, in which is their every delight and pleasure.

[3] The reason why in the love of producing offspring there is every delight and pleasure is, that everything delightful, pleasurable, blessed, and happy, in the whole heaven, and in the whole world, is brought together from creation into the effort, and thence into the act, of producing uses; and these joys increase in an ascending degree to eternity, according to the goodness and excellence of the uses. It is evident therefore whence comes the pleasure in producing offspring which surpasses every other pleasure. The reason is that its uses, which is the procreation of the human race, and thence of heaven, surpasses all other uses.

[4] Thence also is the pleasure and delightfulness of adultery. But because prolification thereby corresponds to the production of evil by means of falsity, and of falsity from evil, therefore that pleasure and delight by degrees decreases and becomes vile, until at length it is turned into loathing and nausea.

Because the delight of the love of marriage is a heavenly delight, and the delight of adultery an infernal delight, as said above, thence it is that the delight of adultery is from a kind of impure fire, which counterfeits the delight of the love of good as long as it lasts; but, in itself, it is the delight of the love of evil, this being, in its essence, the delight of hatred against good and truth. And because its origin is therefrom, there is no love between an adulterer and an adulteress except the love of hatred; and this is of such a nature that they can be in conjunction in externals, but not in internals. For in externals it is fiery, but in internals cold; therefore, also, the ardour is extinguished after a short time, and cold succeeds, either with impotence, or with aversion, as for something filthy.

[5] It has been also granted me to see that love in its essence. It was of such a kind that interiorly it was deadly hatred, whilst outwardly it appeared like something fiery arising from dunghills and putrid and foul matters. And as that fire, together with its delight, burnt out, so by degrees the life of mutual speech and conversation ceased, and gave rise to hatred, first under a species of contempt, afterwards of aversion, then of rejection, and at length of abuse and of fighting. And what was wonderful, although they hated each other, yet they could come together by turns, and then feel the delight of hatred as the delight of love; but this arose from an irritation of the flesh.

[6] What is the quality of the delight in hatred, and thence in doing evil with those who are in hell, can neither be described nor believed. To do evil is the joy of their heart, and this they call their heaven. Their delight in doing evil derives all its quality from hatred of good and truth, and a vengeance in regard to them. Being incited, therefore, with a deadly and devilish hatred, they rage against heaven, especially against those who are therefrom and who adore the Lord. For they desperately burn to kill them, and because they cannot kill their bodies, they desire to destroy their souls. It is, therefore, the delight of hatred, which, becoming fiery in the extremes, and infused into the lusting flesh, becomes at that moment the delight of adultery; the soul, in which hatred lies concealed, then being withdrawn.

It is from this that hell is called adultery; and it is from this that adulterers are violently unmerciful, savage, and cruel. This, now, is the infernal marriage.

[7] Because adultery is fiery in externals, but cold in internals, and because thus the internal does not produce the external, as is the case in marriage, but they mutually act against each other, therefore it is that a man feels indifferent if the woman is eager, and more so if she solicits the act. For the internal, which is cold, then becomes effort, flows into what is fiery in the externals, and extinguishes it, and so rejects it as unfit. And farther, the lust of violating, which also enkindles such impure fire, then perishes.