1083. And shall burn her up with fire, signifies rejection of the whole of that religious persuasion which has profaned the holy things of the church by the love of having dominion over them and over heaven. This is evident from the signification of "burning with fire," as being to destroy the things of the church that have been profaned by the love of having dominion. The punishment for profaning the holy things of the church was burning with fire, for the reason that that "fire" represented the fire of hell, and "to be burned" signified to perish thereby, and the fire of hell is the love of having dominion. "To be burned up with fire" is here the punishment for profaning the holy things of the church, since the harlot is here referred to, and "Babylon" as a "harlot" signifies profanation of the holy things of the church by the diabolical love of having dominion over them. "To be burned up with fire" has a like signification as "Tophet" in the valley of Hinnom, where they burned sons and daughters, and which signified in the spiritual sense the profanation of the truths and goods of the church, "sons" its truths, and "daughters" its goods. The valley of Achor, where Achan, who took of the devoted thing, was burned with fire after he had been stoned, has nearly the same signification. From all this it can be seen that "burning the harlot with fire" signifies the rejection of the whole religious persuasion that has profaned the holy things of the church by the love of having dominion over them and over heaven. This means rejection by the Reformed, as above.

(Continuation respecting the Word)

[2] As there is a trine, one within another, in every least particular of the Word, and this trine is like that of effect, cause, and end, it follows that there are three senses in the Word, one within another, namely, the natural, the spiritual, and the celestial; the natural for the world, the spiritual for the heavens of the Lord's spiritual kingdom, and the celestial for the heavens of His celestial kingdom. (That all the heavens are divided into two kingdoms, the spiritual and the celestial, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell 20-28.) Now as there is one sense within another, the first which is the sense of the letter for the natural world, the second which is the internal sense for the spiritual kingdom, and the third which is the inmost for the celestial kingdom, it follows that the natural man draws from it his sense, the spiritual angel his sense, and the celestial angel his sense, thus everyone what is analogous to and in agreement with his own essence and nature. This takes place whenever a man who is led by the Lord is reading the Word.

[3] But let this be illustrated by examples. When this commandment of the Decalogue is read: "Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother," a man in the world understands by "father and mother" a father and mother on the earth, and also all who are or may be in the place of father or mother; and by "honoring" he understands to hold such in honor. But an angel of the spiritual kingdom understands by "father" the Divine good, and by "mother" the Divine truth, and by "honoring" loving; while an angel of the celestial kingdom understands by "father" the Lord, and by "mother" heaven and the church, and by "honoring" doing.

[4] When the fifth commandment of the Decalogue, "Thou shalt not steal," is read, by "stealing" a man understands stealing, defrauding, and taking away under any pretense his neighbor's goods. But an angel of the spiritual kingdom by "stealing" understands depriving another of his truths and goods by means of falsities and evils, while an angel of the celestial kingdom by "not to steal" understands not to attribute to himself the things that are the Lord's, as the good of love and the truth of faith; for thereby good becomes not good, and truth not truth, because they are from men.

[5] When the sixth commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," is read, a man by "committing adultery" understands committing adultery and whoredom, also thinking filthy thoughts, speaking lasciviously, and doing obscene things. But an angel of the spiritual kingdom by "committing adultery" understands falsifying the truths of the Word and adulterating its goods, while an angel of the celestial kingdom by "committing adultery" understands blaspheming against the Lord, heaven, and the church.

[6] When the seventh commandment "Thou shalt not kill," is read, by "killing" a man understands hating and desiring revenge, even to murder. But an angel of the spiritual kingdom by "killing" understands the killing of a man's soul by stumbling blocks to the life and by reasonings, whereby a man is led into spiritual death, while an angel of the celestial kingdom by "killing" understands seducing a man into believing that there is no God and no heaven and no hell, for thus man perishes as to eternal life.

[7] When the eighth commandment, "Thou shalt not bear false witness," is read, a man by "false witness" understands lying and defamation. But an angel of the spiritual kingdom by "false witness" understands asserting, confirming, and persuading that falsity is truth and evil is good, or on the other hand that truth is falsity and good is evil, while an angel of the celestial kingdom by "false witness" understands every falsity against the Lord, and against heaven in favor of hell.

[8] All this makes clear how a man draws and calls forth from the Word in the letter the natural sense, a spiritual angel the spiritual sense, and a celestial angel the celestial sense, much as the wood of a tree draws its sap, the leaf its sap, and the fruit its sap, from the same soil. And what is wonderful, this is done instantly, without the angel's knowing what the man thinks, or the man what the angel thinks, and yet their thoughts are one by correspondences, as end, cause, and effect are one. Moreover, ends are actually in the celestial kingdom, causes in the spiritual kingdom, and effects in the natural world.

665. The spirit of life from God entered into them, signifies enlightenment and the reception of Divine truth from the Lord with some for the beginning of the New Church. This is evident from the signification of "the spirit of life from God," as being the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord (of which presently); also from the signification of "entering into them," namely, into the "witnesses" that were slain and cast forth, as being enlightenment and reception of influx, namely, of Divine truth, which is signified by "the spirit of life;" it means also with some for establishing the New Church, as is evident from the following verse, where it is said that "they went up into heaven in the cloud," thus it is meant with some, for "the two witnesses" signify the goods of love and the truths of doctrine, also they mean those with whom these goods and truths are, for all such are "witnesses."

[2] When the end of the church is at hand then it is provided by the Lord that a New Church shall succeed, for without a church in which is the Word and in which the Lord is known, the world cannot subsist; for without the Word, and thence the knowledge and acknowledgment of the Lord, heaven cannot be conjoined to the human race, nor therefore can the Divine proceeding from the Lord flow in with new life; and without conjunction with heaven and through that with the Lord, man would not be a man, but a beast. This is why a New Church is always provided by the Lord when an old church comes to its end. Why the beginning only of the New Church and not yet its establishment is meant, shall be told in the explanation of the following verse.

[3] That "the spirit of life from God" or "the Spirit of God," and "the Holy Spirit," mean the Divine proceeding from the Lord, which is called the Divine truth, from which is all wisdom and intelligence, has been said and shown above (n. 24, 183, 318). This Divine proceeding is what enlightens man and flows into him when he is being reformed and regenerated, thus when the church is commencing and being established with him, as can be plainly seen from the passages quoted above from the Word n. 183, also from this in Ezekiel:

Jehovah said unto me, Prophesy about the spirit, prophesy, son of man, and say unto the wind, Thus the Lord Jehovih hath said, Come from the four winds, O spirit, and breathe into these slain, that they may live. And when I had prophesied the spirit entered into them, and they revived and stood upon their feet, a very great army (Ezekiel 37:9, 10).

[4] This treats of "the dry bones" seen by the prophet upon the face of the valley, which signify the house of Israel, as is plainly declared in verse 11 of that chapter. "The house of Israel" signifies the church, and that house or church is here compared to "dry bones" because it had no good of love or truth of doctrine. The establishment of a New Church by the inbreathing of a new life, or by regeneration, is described by the "sinews, flesh, and skin," with which the bones were clothed and encompassed, and especially by the "spirit" that entered into them, and from which they lived; the "spirit" in them here signifies also the reception of the influx of Divine truth and consequent spiritual life. The prophet said to the wind, "Come from the four winds, O spirit," because "the four winds" signify the four quarters in the spiritual world, and the four quarters there signify the goods of love and the truths of doctrine in the whole complex. (On the signification of these see above, n. 417, 418, 419, 422, and in the work on Heaven and Hell 141-150.)