578. Out of their mouths went out fire, and smoke, and brimstone, signifies thoughts and consequent reasonings springing from the love of evil and from the love of falsity, and from the lust for destroying truths and goods by the falsities of evil. This is evident from the signification of the "mouth," as being thought and consequent reasoning respecting which see in the explanation of verse 19); from the signification of "fire," as being the love of self and the love of evil therefrom (See above, n. 504, 539); from the signification of "smoke," as being the dense falsity springing from the love of evil (See also above, n. 494, 539); and from the signification of "brimstone," as being the lust of destroying the truths and goods of the church by the falsities of evil.

[2] That this is the signification of "brimstone" can be seen from passages of the Word where it is mentioned. Thus in Moses:

Jehovah made brimstone and fire to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24).

In Luke:

In the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. After the same manner shall it be in the day that the Son of man is revealed (Luke 17:29, 30).

Those who were in Sodom and Gomorrah mean those who are in the falsities of evil from the love of self; and since the falsities of evil from that love destroyed them, it rained brimstone and fire, "brimstone" because of the lust of destroying the church by the falsities of evil, and "fire" because that lust burst forth from the love of self. That it should be thus "when the Son of man should be revealed," signifies that then, too, falsities of evil from the love of self will destroy the church. Such rain appears in the spiritual world when the evil who are in falsities from that love are cast down into hell.

[3] In Moses:

What shall your sons say, and the alien, when they shall see the plagues of that land, and its sicknesses. The whole land is brimstone and salt, and a conflagration; it is not sown, it doth not spring up, nor doth any herb grow upon it, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim (Deuteronomy 29:22, 23).

These were the curses with which the sons of Israel were threatened if they did not keep the commandments and statutes, and if they worshiped other gods; and because the church is thus laid waste and destroyed by the falsities of evil and the evils of falsity it is said that "the whole land is then brimstone, and salt, and conflagration," the "land" signifying the church; and "it will not be sown, nor spring up, nor any herb grow upon it," signifies that no longer will any truth from good be received or brought forth.

[4] In Isaiah:

Topheth is prepared of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he shall go down into a deep and wide place; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of Jehovah like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it (Isaiah 30:33).

"Topheth" signifies the hell in which the direful and cruel love of destroying all the truths and goods of the church reigns, especially the cruel lust for destroying the goods of innocence; that this direful hell is from the falsities of evil is signified by "he shall go down into a deep and wide place;" the "king for whom it is prepared" signifies infernal falsity itself; "the pile thereof is fire and wood," signifies evils of every kind belonging to that love; and because that hell burns with a lust for destroying, it is said, "the breath of Jehovah like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it;" for there, as soon as they hear from anyone the truths of the church and perceive its goods, they are inflamed with a frenzy for destroying and extinguishing them.

[5] In Isaiah:

The day of Jehovah's vengeance, and the year of retribution for the controversy of Zion, and the brooks thereof shall be turned into pitch, and its dust into brimstone, and its land shall become burning pitch; it shall not be quenched night or day, the smoke thereof shall go up forever (Isaiah 34:8-10).

"The day of Jehovah's vengeance, and the year of retribution for the controversy of Zion" signifies the Lord's coming, and the Last Judgment then accomplished by Him; "the brooks shall be turned into pitch, and the dust into brimstone," signifies the hell into which those are cast, who are in the falsities of evil, and in the evils of falsity; the evil of infernal love and its punishment are signified by "the burning pitch shall not be quenched night or day;" and the direful falsity from that evil is signified by "the smoke shall go up forever."

[6] In Ezekiel:

And I will plead with Gog with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him an overflowing rain and hailstones, fire and brimstone (Ezekiel 38:22).

By "Gog" is meant those who place all worship in a holy and pious external, and not in what is internal, and yet the quality of external worship is the same as the quality of its internal. It is said, "Jehovah shall rain upon them an overflowing rain, hailstones, fire, and brimstone," which signifies falsities and evils destroying all the truths and goods of the church; "fire and brimstone" mean the evils of falsity and the falsities of evil, both of which are diabolical.

[7] In David:

Jehovah shall rain upon the wicked snares, fire, and brimstone; and a wind of storms shall be the portion of their cup (Psalms 11:6).

This signifies that the wicked will be destroyed by their own evils of falsity and their own falsities of evil, which will destroy with them all truths of the church; "snares, fire, and brimstone," mean the evils of falsity and the falsities of evil; "the wind of storms which shall be the portion of their cup," signifies the destruction of all truth. Evidently it is not meant that Jehovah will rain fire and brimstone upon the wicked, for it is also said that "He will rain snares" upon them; therefore "fire and brimstone" signify such things as totally destroy the truths and goods of the church.

[8] Likewise in Job:

Brimstone shall be scattered upon the habitation of the wicked one (Acts of the Apostles 18:15).

"Brimstone" means such falsity of evil as destroys everything of the church with man; this is falsity from the evil of the love of self, such as those were in who dwelt in Sodom and Gomorrah, respecting which is said:

That it overthrew not only the cities and inhabitants, but also the plain and that which springeth up in the field (Genesis 19:25);

"that which springeth up in the field" signifies the truths of the church springing up. "Fire and brimstone" have a like signification in the following passages in Revelation:

If anyone worship the beast and his image he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone (Revelation 14:9, 10).

The beast and the false prophet were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone (Revelation 19:20).

The devil was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are the beast and the false prophet (Revelation 20:10).

The murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone (Revelation 21:8).

4402. 'And he called it El Elohe Israel' means that it, that is to say, interior worship, originated in the Divine Spiritual. This is clear from the meaning of 'El Elohe', dealt with below, and from the meaning of 'Israel' as the spiritual, dealt with in 4286, 4292. The things stated so far in this chapter from verse 17 onwards appear there because the subject in the highest sense of the chapter is how the Lord made His Natural Divine. But since things in the highest sense which are concerned with the Lord are beyond the range of ideas present in a person's thought because such things are Divine, let them be illustrated by means of the kind of things that do fall more immediately within the range of a person's ideas. That is to say, let those things that are Divine be illustrated by means of the way in which the Lord regenerates man's natural. Indeed the regeneration of man, that is, of his natural, is also the subject here in the internal sense; for the regeneration of man is a model of the glorification of the Lord, 3138, 3212, 3296, 3490. In fact the Lord glorified Himself, that is, made Himself Divine, according to Divine order, according to which same order He also regenerates man, that is, makes him celestial and spiritual. Here the way in which He makes him spiritual is dealt with, for 'Israel' means that spiritual man.

[2] The spiritual man is not the interior rational man but the interior natural. The interior rational man is that which is called celestial. How the spiritual man and the celestial differ from each other has often been stated already. A person becomes spiritual through the joining of the truths residing with him to good, that is, through the joining of matters of faith to those of charity, a joining together which takes place within his natural. There exterior truths first are joined to good, and after that interior truths. The joining of exterior truths within the natural has been dealt with in verses 1-16 of this chapter, the joining of interior truths to good in verses 17-end. Interior truths are not joined to good except by means of an enlightenment entering through the internal man into the external. That enlightenment makes Divine truths visible in a purely general way, as when, to use a comparison, countless objects are seen by the eye as an obscure single whole devoid of any distinguishable features. This enlightenment making truths visible in a purely general way was meant by Esau's words to Jacob, 'Let me now place with you some of the people who are with me', and by Jacob's reply, 'Why so? Let me find favour in your eyes', dealt with in 4385, 4386.

[3] On the point that the spiritual man, compared with the celestial, dwells in obscurity, see 2708, 2715, 2716, 2718, 2831, 2849, 2935, 2937, 3241, 3246, 3833. It is this spiritual man that is represented by 'Israel', 4286. The expression spiritual man is used because the light of heaven, which holds intelligence and wisdom within it, flows into those things with man which belong to the light of the world and causes those which belong to the light of heaven to be represented in those belonging to the light of the world, and in this way causes them to correspond. For regarded in itself the spiritual is the Divine Light itself which comes from the Lord, and therefore consists in intelligence which essentially is truth and as a consequence is wisdom. With the spiritual man however that light falls on things which are matters of faith with him and which he believes to be true, whereas with the celestial man it falls on the good of love. But although these considerations are clear to those who dwell in the light of heaven they are nevertheless obscure to those who dwell in the light of the world, and so to the majority at the present day. They are perhaps so obscure as to be barely intelligible. All the same, since they constitute the subject in the internal sense and are by nature as described, the exposition of them must not be left out. The time will come when people will be enlightened

[4] The reason why the altar was called El Elohe Israel and why interior worship originating in the Divine Spiritual was meant by it is that in the highest sense El Elohe is identical with the Divine Spiritual; as also is Israel. For 'Israel' means the Lord's Divine Spiritual, and in the representative sense the Lord's spiritual Church, or what amounts to the same, a person like that, see 4286, 4292. In the original language El Elohe means 'God God', and also, to be strictly literal, 'God of gods'. ¹ In the Word Jehovah, or the Lord, is referred to in very many places by the singular name 'El', or else 'Eloah', as well as by the plural name 'Elohim'. Both names are sometimes used within the same verse or in the same section. A person who is not acquainted with the internal sense of the Word cannot know the reason why. Anyone may conclude that 'El' implies one thing, 'Eloah' another, and 'Elohim' another, from the consideration that the Word is Divine, that is, has its origin in the Divine, and that it is for that reason inspired as to every word, indeed as to the smallest part of every letter.

[5] What the name 'El' implies when it is used, or the name 'Elohim', may be seen from what has been shown in various places above, namely that El or Elohim - that is, God - is used when truth is the subject, see 709, 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921 (end), 4287. This is why in the highest sense El and Elohim mean the Divine Spiritual, this being the same as Divine Truth. The two names differ however in that 'El' means truth in will and action, which is the same as the good of truth, 4337, 4353, 4390. The plural form Elohim exists for the reason that by Divine truth is meant all the truths which come from the Lord. This is also the reason why in the Word angels are sometimes called elohim or gods, 4295, as will be further evident from places in the Word that are quoted below. Now because El and Elohim in the highest sense mean the Lord as regards truth, they also mean Him as regards power; for truth is the entity to which power is attributed. Indeed when exercising power good acts by means of truth, 3091, 4015. Therefore when in the Word reference is made to the power received from truth, the Lord is called El and Elohim, that is, God. Hence also it is that El in the original language means one who is powerful.

[6] The fact that the names El and Elohim, or God, are used in the Word where the Divine Spiritual is the subject, or what amounts to the same, Divine Truth, and Divine Power received from this, may be seen in addition from the following places,

God spoke to Israel in visions in the night. I am the God of gods (El Elohe) of your father, do not be afraid of going down into Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. Genesis 46:2-3.

Since these words are addressed to Israel, whom He is going 'to make into a great nation', and so the subject is truth and the power this possesses, El Elohe is used, which in the proximate sense means the God of gods. The fact that in the proximate sense Elohim means gods because it has reference to truths and to the power received from them, is also evident in the same author,

There Jacob built an altar, and called the place El Beth El, for there the Elohim were revealed to him, when he was fleeing from before his brother. Genesis 35:7.

And elsewhere in the same author,

Jehovah your God, He is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the God (El) who is great, powerful, and fearful. Deuteronomy 10:17.

Here 'God of gods' is expressed by Elohe Elohim, and after that 'God' by El, to whom greatness and power are attributed

[7] In David,

A great God (El) is Jehovah, and a great King above all gods (elohim), in whose hand are the deep places ² of the earth; and the strength ³ of the mountains are His. Psalms 95:3-4.

The name 'God' or El is used here because reference is made to Divine Truth and the Power received from this, and also 'gods' because reference is made to subordinate truths. For in the internal sense 'a king' means truth, 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670. From this it is clear what 'a great King above all gods' implies. 'The deep places of the earth' too means the truths of the Church, which are called 'the strength of the mountains' from power rooted in good. In the same author,

Who in heaven will compare himself to Jehovah? Who will be likened to Jehovah among the sons of gods (elim)? God (El) mighty in the secret place of the holy ones, O Jehovah God Zebaoth, who is strong as You are, O Jah? Psalms 89:6-8.

Here 'sons of gods (or of elim)' stands for Divine truths, to which, it is evident, power is attributed, since it is said 'God (El) mighty, Jehovah God of hosts, who is strong as You are?'

[8] Similarly elsewhere in the same author,

Give to Jehovah, O sons of gods, give to Jehovah glory and strength. Psalms 29:1.

In Moses,

They fell on their faces, and said, O God of gods (El elohe) of the spirits of all flesh. Numbers 16:22.

In David,

I said, You are gods (elohim), and sons of the Most High, all of you. Psalms 82:6; John 10:34.

Here they are called 'gods' from truths, for 'sons' means truths, 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2628, 3373, 3704. In the same author,

Confess the God of gods (Elohe elohim), confess the Lord of lords. Psalms 136:2-3.

In Daniel,

The king will act according to his own pleasure, and will uplift himself, and exalt himself above every god (el), and will speak astonishing things above the God of gods (El elohim). Daniel 11:36.

These quotations show that in the proximate sense El elohe means God of gods, and that in the internal sense 'gods' is used in reference to truths which come from the Lord.

[9] The fact that the singular name El or God is used where the power which comes from Divine Truth is the subject, or what amounts to the same, from the Lord's Divine Spiritual, becomes clear from the following places: In Moses,

Let my hand be for God (El) to do you evil! Genesis 31:29.

And elsewhere,

Nor is there a hand for God (El). Deuteronomy 28:32.

And in Micah,

Let there be a hand for God (El). Micah 2:1.

'Let there be a hand for God' means, let there be power. For 'hand' means power, see 878, 3387, and 'hand' is used in reference to truth, 3091. In David,

I will set His hand in the sea, and His right hand in the rivers. He will cry to Me, You are My Father, My God (El), the Rock of My Salvation. Psalms 89:25-26.

This refers to power from truths. In the same author,

The wicked says in his heart, God (El) has forgotten; He has hidden His face; He never sees. Arise, O Jehovah God (El); lift up Your hand. For what reason does the wicked despise God (Elohim)? Psalms 10:11-13.

Here the meaning is similar.

[10] In the same author,

Jehovah is my rock (petra) and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God (El), my rock (rupes). Psalms 18:2.

This refers to power. In Isaiah, A residue will return, the residue of Jacob, to the God (El) of power. Isaiah 10:21.

In the same prophet,

To us a Boy is born, to us a Son is given, the government upon His shoulder; He will call His name, Wonderful, Counsellor, God (El), the Powerful One, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6.

In the same prophet,

Behold the God (El) of my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for He is my strength. Isaiah 12:2.

In the same prophet,

I am God (El) even from today; I am He, and nobody delivers from My hand; I work, and who will reverse it? Isaiah 43:12-13.

This refers to power. In Jeremiah, Great and powerful God (El), whose name is Jehovah of hosts. Jeremiah 32:18.

In the second Book of Samuel,

With my God (El) I will leap over the wall. God (El) is perfect in His way; the word of Jehovah is pure. Who is God (El) besides Jehovah? Who is a rock besides our God (Elohim)? God (El) is the strength of my refuge. 2 Samuel 22:30-33.

In Moses,

God (El) is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not act? Or has He spoken, and will He not carry it out? He brought them out of Egypt; He has so to speak the strength of a unicorn. At that time it will be said to Jacob and to Israel, What has God (El) been doing? Numbers 23:19, 22-23.

This in the internal sense refers to power and to truth.

[11] And in the same author,

God (El) who brought him out of Egypt has as it were the strength of a unicorn. He will consume the nations, his enemies, and will break their bones, and smash their weapons. Numbers 24:8.

'Horns' and 'the strength of a unicorn' mean the power of truth that springs from good, see 2832. And there are many other places besides all these. Since most things in the Word also have a contrary sense, no less do 'god' and 'gods', names which are used when the subject is falsity and power from falsity, as in Ezekiel,

The gods (elim) of the mighty will speak to him in the midst of hell. Ezekiel 32:21.

In Isaiah,

You inflamed yourselves among the gods (elim) under every green tree. Isaiah 57:5.

Here the name 'gods' is used on account of falsities. Similar examples exist in other places.

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