Apocalypse Explained #962
962. And there came a great 1 and noxious sore, signifies evil works therein and consequent falsifications of the Word. This is evident from the signification of a "sore," as being works that are done from man, thus that are from what is his own [proprium] and that are evil (of which presently); and as "great" 1 is predicated of good, and in the contrary sense of evil, and "noxious" of what is falsified, therefore "a great 1 and noxious sore" signifies evil works, and consequent falsifications of truth. "Sores" signify works from what is one's own [proprium], and thus evils, because from what is man's own nothing but evil can be produced. For what is man's own is that into which he is born, and which he afterwards carries into effect by means of his life. And as what is his own is thus from very birth composed of mere evils, man must be as it were created anew, that is, regenerated, that he may be in good and thus be received into heaven. When he is being regenerated the evils that are from his own are removed, and goods are implanted in their place, and this is effected by means of truths. That evil works and falsifications of truths are with those who acknowledge faith alone in doctrine, and confirm it in life is meant by what follows, namely, that "a great 1 and noxious sore is on the men who have the mark of the beast and who adore his image."
[2] That "sores" signify works that are from one's own can be seen from the Word where sores and wounds, also diseases of various kinds, as leprosies, fevers, ulcers, emerods, and many others, are mentioned. All of these correspond to the cupidities that arise from evil loves, and thus signify them. Moreover, what sores or wounds signify can be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:
From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; wound, and bruise, and the fresh blow, they have not been pressed out nor bound up nor softened with oil. Your land is a solitude, your cities are burned with fire (Isaiah 1:6, 7).
This describes that there is no good and consequently no truth in the church, but evil and falsity therefrom. "From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness" signifies that both natural and spiritual things which are the interiors of man and of his will have been destroyed. "Wound and bruise and fresh blow" signify the evils of the will, and the falsities of the thought therefrom continually increasing. Evils of the will are also evil works. "Not bound up nor softened with oil" signifies not amended by repentance and tempered by good. "Your land is a solitude, your cities are burned with fire" signifies that the church has been devastated as to all truth, and its doctrinals have been destroyed by a life according to the cupidities that spring from an evil love.
[3] In Hosea:
Ephraim saw his disease, and Judah his wound; and Ephraim went to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb, and he was not able to heal you, neither shall he cure you of your wound (Hosea 5:13).
"Ephraim" signifies the church as to the understanding of truth, here as to the understanding of falsity; and "Judah" signifies the will of good, but here the will of evil; the "Assyrian" and "king Jareb" signify the rational perverted as to good and truth. This makes clear the signification of these words in the series, namely, that man is unable from self-intelligence to amend the falsities that spring from the evils of the will, "wound" meaning the evil of the will, which also is the evil of the life.
[4] In David:
Mine iniquities have passed over my head. My wounds have putrefied, they have wasted away because of my foolishness (Psalms 38:4, 5).
Here, too, "wounds" stand for evils of the will, which are evil works, these are said "to putrefy and to waste away because of foolishness" when it is the delight of the will and of the thought therefrom to do them.
[5] In Isaiah:
In the day that Jehovah shall bind up the breach of His people, and shall heal the wound of their blow (Isaiah 30:26).
"The breach of the people" signifies the falsity of doctrine; and "the wound of their blow" the evil of life; the reformation of doctrine by means of truths is signified by "Jehovah shall bind up the breach of His people;" and reformation of the life by means of truths is signified by "He shall heal the wound of their blow."
[6] In Luke:
The Samaritan bound up the wounds of the man disabled by robbers, and poured into them oil and wine (Luke 10:33, 34).
This signifies that by means of truths from good, those who are in the good of charity will to amend the evils that spring from falsities; "robbers" mean those who have infused falsities from which come evils, in particular the Jews; "wounds" mean those evils; "oil" means the good of love; and "wine" the truth of the Word and of doctrine. (But this may be seen explained above, n. 376, 444)
[7] In Luke:
Lazarus, full of sores, who was cast forth at the vestibule of the rich man (Luke 16:20, 21),
signifies the nations that were in falsities from ignorance of truth, and thus were not in goods. From this he is said to have been "fall of sores;" "the rich man" at whose vestibule he was cast forth means the Jewish nation, which could have been in the truths from the Word that it possessed.
[8] That "a boil breaking forth" was one of the plagues in Egypt is evident in Moses:
Jehovah said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses scatter it towards heaven before the eyes of Pharaoh; and it shall become dust upon all the land of Egypt. And they took ashes of the furnace, and Moses scattered it towards heaven, and it became a boil of pustules breaking forth on man and beast; and the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boil, because the boil was upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians (Exodus 9:8-11).
"Pharaoh and the Egyptians" signify the natural man obsessed by evils and falsities of every kind, and the natural man's striving after dominion over the spiritual; the spiritual man is here signified by the sons of Israel. The miracles in Egypt, which were so many plagues, also called diseases, signify so many evils and falsities infesting, devastating, and destroying the church which is with spiritual men. "The ashes of the furnace" which Moses scattered towards heaven signify the falsities of lusts that are stirred up; "the dust in the land of Egypt" signifies damnation; "the boil breaking forth in pustules" signifies the filthy things of the will with blasphemies. (But this may be seen explained in detail in the Arcana Coelestia 7516-7532.)
[9] So, too, these words in Moses have a like signification:
Jehovah shall smite thee with the boil of Egypt and with emerods, and with scab and the itch, so that thou canst not be healed, with which thou shalt become mad from the sight of their eyes. Jehovah shall smite thee with an evil boil upon the knees and upon the thighs, of which thou canst not be healed (Deuteronomy 28:27, 34-36).
The plagues here mentioned signify evils and falsities of various kinds arising from the filthy loves of the natural man, for they correspond thereto. For sores and wounds exist from injury to flesh and blood, and evils and falsities from injury to the Divine good and the Divine truth; and flesh corresponds to good, and thus signifies it in the Word, and blood to truth, and thus signifies it.
[10] As "leprosy" signifies the profanation of truth, and the profanation of truth is various, is light or grievous, interior or exterior, and is according to the quality of the truth profaned, so too its effects are various, and these are signified by the appearances in leprosy, which were:
Tumors, suppurating tumors, white pustules, reddenings, abscesses, burnings, tetter, scall (Leviticus 13 to the end). The Jewish nation was afflicted with such things from correspondence because of their profanations of the Word, not only in their flesh, but also in their garments, houses, and vessels.
(Continuation respecting the Second Commandment)
[11] As the Divine truth or the Word is meant by "the name of God," and the profanation of it means a denial of its holiness, and thus contempt, rejection, and blasphemy, it follows that the name of God is interiorly profaned by a life contrary to the commandments of the Decalogue. For there is profanation that is interior and not exterior, and there is profanation that is interior and at the same time exterior, and there can be also a kind of profanation that is exterior and not at the same time interior. Interior profanation is produced by the life, exterior by the speech. Interior profanation, which is produced by the life, becomes exterior also, or of the speech, after death. For then everyone thinks and wills, and so far as it can be permitted, speaks and acts, according to his life; thus not as he did in the world. In the world, for the world's sake and to gain reputation, man is wont to speak and act otherwise than as he thinks and wills from his life. This is why it has been said that there is profanation that is interior and not at the same time exterior. There can also be a kind of profanation that is exterior and not at the same time interior. It can come from the style of the Word, which is not at all the style of the world, and for this reason it may be to some extent despised from ignorance of its interior sanctity.
Fotnoter:
1. In the text at the beginning of the chapter it reads "malum et noxium," "evil and noxious" here in the photolithograph Swedenborg first wrote "malum" but crossed this out and wrote over it "magnum" "great," through the following explanation he wrote "magnum" where the word is quoted. The Greek word means evil. In The Apocalypse Revealed Swedenborg translates it "malum" "evil," wherever quoted.
Exodus 9
1
Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, 'This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let my people Go, that they may serve me.
2
For if you refuse to let them go, and hold them still,
3
behold, the hand of Yahweh is on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks with a very grievous pestilence.
4
Yahweh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt; and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel."'"
5
Yahweh appointed a set time, saying, "Tomorrow Yahweh shall do this thing in the land."
6
Yahweh did that thing on the next day; and all the livestock of Egypt died, but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died.
7
Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not so much as one of the livestock of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, and he didn't let the people go.
8
Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron, "Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh.
9
It shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with boils on man and on animal, throughout all the land of Egypt."
10
They took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward the sky; and it became a boil breaking forth with boils on man and on animal.
11
The magicians couldn't stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were on the magicians, and on all the Egyptians.
12
Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he didn't listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken to Moses.
13
Yahweh said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, 'This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let my people go, that they may serve me.
14
For this time I will send all my plagues against your heart, against your officials, and against your people; that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.
15
For now I would have put forth my hand, and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth;
16
but indeed for this cause I have made you stand: to show you my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth;
17
as you still exalt yourself against my people, that you won't let them go.
18
Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as has not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now.
19
Now therefore command that all of your livestock and all that you have in the field be brought into shelter. Every man and animal that is found in the field, and isn't brought home, the hail shall come down on them, and they shall die."'"
20
Those who feared the word of Yahweh among the servants of Pharaoh made their servants and their livestock flee into the houses.
21
Whoever didn't respect the word of Yahweh left his servants and his livestock in the field.
22
Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch forth your hand toward the sky, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man, and on animal, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt."
23
Moses stretched forth his rod toward the heavens, and Yahweh sent thunder, hail, and lightning flashed down to the earth. Yahweh rained hail on the land of Egypt.
24
So there was very severe hail, and lightning mixed with the hail, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.
25
The hail struck throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and animal; and the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field.
26
Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.
27
Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "I have sinned this time. Yahweh is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.
28
Pray to Yahweh; for there has been enough of mighty thunderings and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer."
29
Moses said to him, "As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands to Yahweh. The thunders shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that you may know that the earth is Yahweh's.
30
But as for you and your servants, I know that you don't yet fear Yahweh God."
31
The flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in bloom.
32
But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they had not grown up.
33
Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands to Yahweh; and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth.
34
When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.
35
The heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he didn't let the children of Israel go, just as Yahweh had spoken through Moses.
