634. But I shall make the truth known. When belief in three Gods was introduced into the Christian churches, something which happened from the time of the Council of Nicaea on, all the good of charity and all the truth of faith were banished. For these two are in no way compatible with worshipping three Gods in the mind while worshipping one God with the lips. For the mind denies what the lips speak, and the lips deny what the mind thinks. As a result neither is there belief in three Gods, nor in one. This makes it plain that the structure of the Christian church from that time began not merely to crack, but to collapse into rubble. From that time on the pit of the abyss was opened, and from it went up smoke as from a mighty furnace, the sun and the air were darkened, and from the smoke there came forth locusts upon the earth (Revelation 9:2-3). See the explanation of these verses in Apocalypse Revealed. In fact it was from this time that the desolation predicted by Daniel began and increased (Matthew 24:15); and it was that faith and its imputing that caused the eagles to gather (Matthew 24:28); eagles there stand for the leaders of the church with their sharp sight.

[2] If anyone says that this was decreed by the unanimous vote of the Council, in which so many bishops and distinguished scholars took part, how can one trust Councils, when Roman-Catholic Councils also unanimously arrived at the conclusions that the Pope is the vicar of Christ, that saints are to be invoked, images and bones venerated, the Holy Eucharist divided, that purgatory and indulgences and more besides exist? How can one trust councils, when that of Dort, also unanimously, voted in favour of predestination, a detestable heresy, and exalted it as the supreme object of religious veneration? Do not, reader, put your trust in Councils, but in the Holy Word. Approach the Lord and you will be enlightened. For He is the Word, that is to say, the very Divine truth in it.

7439. Let My people go, that they may serve Me. That this signifies that they should release those who are of the spiritual church in order that they may worship their God in freedom, is evident from the signification of “letting go,” as being to release; from the representation of the sons of Israel, here “My people,” as being those who are of the spiritual church (n. 6426, 6637, 6862, 6868, 7035, 7062, 7198, 7201, 7215, 7223); and from the signification of “serving Jehovah,” as being to worship. That they should worship in freedom is plain from what follows (verses 21-23), and also from the fact that all worship which is truly worship must be in freedom.

[2] The sons of Israel being called “the people of Jehovah” was not because they were better than other nations, but because they represented the people of Jehovah, that is, those who are of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom. That they were not better than other nations is plain from their life in the wilderness, in that they did not at all believe in Jehovah, but in their hearts believed in the gods of the Egyptians, as is evident from the golden calf which they made for themselves, and which they called their gods who had brought them forth out of the land of Egypt (Exodus 32:8). The same is evident also from their subsequent life in the land of Canaan, as described in the historicals of the Word, and from what was said of them by the prophets, and finally from what was said of them by the Lord.

[3] For this reason also few of them are in heaven, for they have received their lot in the other life according to their life. Therefore do not believe that they were elected to heaven in preference to others; for whoever so believes, does not believe that everyone’s life remains with him after death, nor that man must be prepared for heaven by his whole life in the world, and that this is done of the Lord’s mercy, and that none are admitted into heaven from mercy alone, regardless of how they have lived in the world. Such an opinion about heaven and the Lord’s mercy is induced by the doctrine of faith alone, and of salvation by faith alone without good works; for those who hold this doctrine have no concern about the life, and so believe that evils can be washed away like dirt by water, and thus that man can in a moment pass into the life of good, and consequently be admitted into heaven. For they do not know that if the life of evil were taken away from the evil, they would have no life whatever, and that if they who are in a life of evil were admitted into heaven, they would feel hell in themselves, and this the more grievously, the more interiorly they were admitted into heaven.

[4] From all this it can now be seen that the Israelites and Jews were by no means elected, but only accepted to represent the things that belong to heaven; and that this must needs be done in the land of Canaan, because the Lord’s church had been there from the most ancient times, and from this all the places there became representative of heavenly and Divine things. In this way also the Word could be written, and the names in it could signify such things as belong to the Lord and His kingdom.