Arcana Coelestia # 1175
1175. That by “Nimrod” are signified those who made internal worship external, and that “Nimrod” thus signifies such external worship, may be seen from what follows. It must be here stated, beforehand, what is meant by making internal worship external. It was said and shown above that internal worship, which is from love and charity, is worship itself; and that external worship without this internal worship is no worship. To make internal worship external is to make external worship essential, rather than internal, which is the reverse of the former, being as if it was said that internal worship without external is no worship, while the truth is that external worship without internal is no worship. Such is the religion of those who separate faith from charity, in that they set the things which are of faith before those which are of charity, or the things which are of the knowledges of faith before those which are of the life, thus formal things before essential ones. All external worship is a formality of internal worship, for internal worship is the very essential; and to make worship consist of that which is formal, without that which is essential, is to make internal worship external. As for example, to hold that if one should live where there is no church, no preaching, no sacraments, no priesthood, he could not be saved, or could have no worship; when yet he can worship the Lord from what is internal. But it does not follow from this that there ought not to be external worship.
[2] To make the matter yet more clear, take as a further example the setting up as the essential itself of worship the frequenting of churches, going to the sacraments, hearing sermons, praying, observing feasts, and many other things which are external and ceremonial, while, talking about faith, men persuade themselves that these are sufficient-all of which are formal things of worship. It is quite true that those who make worship from love and charity the essential, act in the same way, that is, they frequent churches, go to the sacraments, hear sermons, pray, observe feasts, and the like, and this very earnestly and diligently; but they do not make the essential of worship consist in these things. In the external worship of these men there is what is holy and living, because there is internal worship in it; but in the external worship of those referred to before there is not what is holy and not what is living. For the very essential itself is what sanctifies and vivifies the formal or ceremonial; but faith separated from charity cannot sanctify and vivify worship, because the essence and life are absent. Such worship is called “Nimrod;” and it is born of the knowledges which are “Cush,” as these are born from faith separated from charity, which faith is “Ham.” From “Ham,” or faith separated, through the knowledges which belong to faith separated, no other worship can possibly be born. These are the things that are signified by “Nimrod.”
Genesis 10
1
Now this is the history of the generations of the sons of Noah and of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.
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The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
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The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.
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The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
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Of these were the islands of the nations divided in their lands, everyone after his language, after their families, in their nations.
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The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
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The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
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Cush became the father of Nimrod. He began to be a mighty one in the earth.
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He was a mighty hunter before Yahweh. Therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before Yahweh."
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The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
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Out of that land he went forth into Assyria, and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah,
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and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (the same is the great city).
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Mizraim became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim,
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Pathrusim, Casluhim (which the Philistines descended from), and Caphtorim.
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Canaan became the father of Sidon (his firstborn), Heth,
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the Jebusite, the Amorite, the Girgashite,
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the Hivite, the Arkite, the Sinite,
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the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were spread abroad.
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The border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as you go toward Gerar, to Gaza; as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, to Lasha.
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These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their languages, in their lands, in their nations.
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To Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, to him also were children born.
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The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram.
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The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.
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Arpachshad became the father of Shelah. Shelah became the father of Eber.
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To Eber were born two sons. The name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided. His brother's name was Joktan.
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Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,
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Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan.
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Their dwelling was from Mesha, as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east.
31
These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their languages, in their lands, after their nations.
32
These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations. Of these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.
