760. 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my peoples, lest you participate in her sins, and lest you become recipients of her plagues." This symbolizes an exhortation from the Lord to all people, both to those caught up in the Roman Catholic religion and to those not caught up in it, to beware of embracing it in acknowledgement and affection, lest they embrace its abominations with their souls and perish.

"Another voice from heaven saying" symbolizes an exhortation from the Lord to all people, both to those caught up in the Roman Catholic religion and to those not caught up in it, because the exhortation follows, "Come out of her, my peoples," which is to say, come out all who turn to the Lord. The exhortation comes from the Lord because the voice was a voice from heaven. "Lest you participate in her sins" means, symbolically, to beware of embracing its abominations with their souls; and because the embrace takes place through acknowledgment and affection, therefore this, too, is symbolically meant. Their sins are abominations, because that is what they are called in the preceding chapter, verse 4. "Lest you become recipients of her plagues" means, symbolically, lest they perish; for plagues symbolize evils and falsities, and at the same time destruction in consequence of them. This is the symbolic meaning of plagues in nos. 657, 673, 676 above, and elsewhere.

Similar things are said in connection with Babylon in the Word in the following places:

Come out of the midst of her, My people! Deliver everyone his soul because of the fierce anger of Jehovah, lest your heart weaken and you become fearful on account of the report... (Jeremiah 51:45-46)

Flee from the midst of Babylon, and deliver everyone his soul, lest you be cut off on account of her iniquity... (Jeremiah 51:6)

Forsake (Babylon), and let us go everyone to his own country; for her judgment has reached to heaven and has risen up to the clouds. (Jeremiah 51:9)

Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans with the sound of singing! Proclaim this and cause it to be heard, utter it to the end of the earth: say, "Jehovah has redeemed...." (Isaiah 48:20-21; cf. Jeremiah 50:8)

673. Full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever. This symbolizes the evils and falsities that will be exposed to view by the pure and genuine truths and goods in the Word.

The bowls are said to have been full of the wrath of God because they were full of plagues, which symbolize evils and falsities in the church (no. 657). Nevertheless they were not full of these, but were full of the pure and genuine truths and goods from the Word by which the evils and falsities in the church were exposed. Neither were there any actual bowls containing truths and goods, but they are symbols of an influx from heaven into the church. Their being said to be full of the wrath of the living God accords with the style of the Word in its literal sense, as may be seen from passages presented above in which we find anger and wrath attributed to God, even though no anger or wrath exists in Jehovah, but is found in man directed at Him. The reason that the literal sense speaks so may be seen in nos. 525, 635, 658 above.

It is apparent from this that the bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever symbolize the grievous evils and falsities that will be exposed to view by the pure and genuine goods and truths in the Word. Evils and falsities are exposed to view only by truths and goods, as truths and goods exist in the light of heaven, while falsities and evils exist in the darkness of hell, and nothing is exposed in a state of darkness, because only evil and falsity are seen in it. But light from heaven exposes everything to view, because everything is seen in it; for the light of heaven is the Divine truth of the Lord's Divine wisdom.