163. (Verse 22) Behold, I cast her into a bed. That this signifies that such are left to their own natural man and to the doctrine of falsities therein, is evident from the signification of a bed, as being the natural man, and also the doctrine of falsities, concerning which we shall speak presently. In what now follows, those are treated of who suffer themselves to be led astray by those who are in the doctrine of falsities from the delight of the love of self and of the world, these being meant by Jezebel, as was said above. Those who suffer themselves to be led astray, are not like those who have falsified truths and adulterated goods from the delight of their selfish and worldly loves; for the latter have seen truths, and have applied them to favour their delights, and thus have perverted them. These are they who afterwards cannot turn themselves to truths, and acknowledge them, as shown in the preceding article; whereas those who have not done this, but have suffered themselves to be led astray by others, have not so closed their internal or spiritual man, for they have not themselves falsified truths, but have believed those who have done so, because their falsities sound like truths. For they think so superficially as to suppose the rulers and leaders of the church must be believed because they are intelligent and wise; thus they depend upon the lips of a master. There are many of this description at this day in Christendom, especially those who are born in the countries where the papal religion is established; these, therefore, are they who are meant by those who commit adultery with Jezebel in a bed.

[2] The reason why a bed signifies the doctrine of falsities, and, at the same time, the natural man, is that such doctrine originates only with the natural man separated from the spiritual; and the natural man separated from the spiritual sees worldly things in light, but heavenly things in darkness, therefore falsity in place of truth, and evil in place of good. If he sees truth, he falsifies it, and if good, he adulterates it; for heaven flows through the spiritual or internal man into the natural or external, and not into the natural or external immediately. Into the latter the world in such case flows immediately; and when the natural world with a man is not ruled by the spiritual world, then the bond with heaven is broken; this being broken, he makes the world his all, while heaven, in his estimation, is of little or no account. He also regards self as everything, and God as little or nothing. When the external or natural man is in such a state, it is then in falsities from evils bursting forth from the love of self and of the world. This is why a bed, as it signifies the natural man, so it also signifies the doctrine of falsities. The reason why by a bed is signified the natural man is, that the natural man underlies the spiritual, and thus the latter rests on it, and on the things which are therein, as on its bed.

[3] That a bed signifies the natural man, and also the doctrines which are therein, is evident from the passages where it is mentioned in the Word, as in Amos:

"As the shepherd snatcheth out of the mouth of the lion two legs or a small piece of an ear, so shall the sons of Israel be snatched away that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in the extremity of a couch (3:12).

Here a lion signifies the church; in this case those of the church who destroy goods and truths; the legs or small piece of an ear, denote the goods which are in the natural man, and therefore some perception therefrom of truth; the sons of Israel who dwell in Samaria are those who belong to the church; in the corner of a bed and in the extremity of a couch signify their being in a small degree in natural light from the Spiritual, and consequently in some truths.

[4] In the same:

"Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountains of Samaria; that lie upon beds of ivory, and upon their own couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; that invent to themselves instruments of music; that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the first fruits of the oils: but they are not affected with grief over the breach of Joseph" (6:1, 4-6).

Here, by trusting in the mountain of Samaria are meant they who trust to themselves and hatch out doctrines from their own intelligence. Samaria is the spiritual church perverted; beds of ivory are the fallacies of the senses upon which doctrine is founded; to stretch themselves upon couches, denotes to confirm and multiply the fallacies thence derived; to eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall, to drink wine in bowls, and to anoint themselves with the first fruits of the oils, denotes to take the goods and truths of the Word from the sense of its letter, and to apply and falsify them. Not to be affected with grief over the breach of Joseph, denotes to make it of no account that the spiritual church perishes, and that its truths are destroyed. (That Joseph, in the highest sense, signifies the Lord as to the Divine Spiritual, in the internal sense, the spiritual kingdom of the Lord, thus also the spiritual church, and, in the external sense, the fructification of good and multiplication of truth, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 3969, 3971, 4669, 6417, 6526.)

[5] In Moses:

"May the blessings of thy father prevail above the blessings of my parents, may they be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the bed of his brethren" (Genesis 49:26).

Joseph, as stated, denotes the spiritual church of the Lord; the crown of the bed of his brethren, is the Spiritual which flows into all the truths and goods of that church; for the twelve sons or tribes of Israel signify all the truths and goods of the church in the aggregate (seeArcana Coelestia 3858, 3926, 4060, 6335).

[6] In Luke:

"I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left" (17:34-36).

The consummation of the age is here treated of, which is the last time of the church, when judgment comes. To be in one bed, is to be in one doctrine of the church; two women grinding, denote those who collect and learn those things that are serviceable to faith; two men in the field, are those in the church who apply to themselves goods and truths. (That those who grind denote those who collect and learn those things that, are serviceable to faith, see Arcana Coelestia 4335, 7780, 9995. That field denotes the reception of truth and good, see Arcana Coelestia, 368, 3310, 9141, 9295.)

[7] In John:

Jesus said to the sick man at the pool of Bethesda, "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked. Afterwards, Jesus found him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon thee" (5:8, 9, 14).

In Mark:

They uncovered the roof, where Jesus was, and "let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay." Jesus said, "Whether is it easier to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee, or to say, Arise, take up thy bed, and walk?" Then He said, "Arise, take up thy bed" and walk, "and go thy way into thine house. Then immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all" (2:4, 9, 11, 12).

By the Lord saying to those sick men, Arise, take up thy bed, and walk is signified doctrine and life according to it; the bed signifying doctrine, and to walk, life (that to walk signifies to live, may be seen above, n. 97); and a sick person signifies those who have transgressed and sinned; wherefore the Lord said to the sick man at the pool of Bethesda, Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee; and to the paralytic, let down in a bed through the roof, "Whether is it easier to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee, or to say, Arise, take up thy bed, and walk?"

Those who do not understand the internal sense of the Word, may suppose that the words which the Lord spoke involve nothing more than appears in the sense of the letter, when, nevertheless, the whole contains in it a spiritual sense; for He spake from the Divine, and thus both at the same time before heaven and before the world (see Arcana Coelestia, 2533, 4637, 4807, 9048, 9063, 9086, 10126, 10276).

[8] The bed of Og, the king of Bashan, is thus described in Moses:

"Og, king of Bashan was left of the remnants of the Rephaim: behold, his bed was a bed of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man" (Deuteronomy 3:11).

The bed of Og is here described, because he was of the remnants of the Rephaim, and because he was king of Bashan. For by the Rephaim were signified those who more than all others were in the love of self, and therefore intensely natural, and, from the persuasion of their own importance above others, were in falsities of every kind (see Arcana Coelestia 581, 1268, 1270, 1271, 1673, 7686). By Bashan was signified the external of the church, thus the Natural. For Bashan was outside of the land of Canaan, where the church was: on this account, the bed of Og, king of Bashan, was described, which would not have been done but for the sake of the spiritual signification of Og, as mentioned above. For whatever is related in the Word, even in its historical parts, is significative as to every single expression; this is why everything in the Word, generally and particularly, is spiritual, and consequently Divine from inmosts to ultimates. It is for this reason, that the bed is said to be of iron, and that it was in Rabbath of the sons of Ammon, and that the length thereof was nine cubits, and the breadth thereof four cubits, after the cubit of a man; for iron signifies what is natural (as may be seen below, n. 176). Rabbah of Ammon signifies falsification of truth (as may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 2468); and the length being nine cubits, and the breadth four, after the cubit of a man, signifies the conjunction of evil with falsity.

[9] From these things it may be seen what is the nature of the Word in its inmost bosom. Because bed signifies doctrine, it was therefore amongst the statutes in the church with the sons of Israel, that every bed whereon a person had lain who had a flux should be unclean; and that the man who touched such bed should wash his garments and bathe himself in waters (Leviticus 15:4, 5).

By having a flux are signified those who are in natural separate from spiritual love; to wash the garments and to bathe the body in waters signifies purification by means of the truths of faith (see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 202-209).

Because Jacob, in the Word, signifies the external church amongst those who are in natural light and live a moral life from the obedience of faith, although not from internal affection, therefore, when Jacob is spoken of, there is seen in the spiritual world, from above to the right, as it were a man lying in a bed; hence it is that it is said of him in the Word, when he was dying,

"When Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet upon the bed, and expired" (Genesis 49:33).

It is said he gathered up his feet upon the bed because by the feet also is signified the Natural (see Arcana Coelestia 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952).

1326. That 'therefore He called the name of it Babel' means such worship, namely that meant by 'Babel', is clear from what has been stated so far - about worship which inwardly contains self-love and therefore everything that is filthy and unholy. Self-love is nothing else than the proprium, and how filthy and unholy this is becomes clear from what has been shown already about the proprium in 210, 215. From philautia, ¹ that is, from self-love or the proprium, flow all evils, such as those of hatred, revenge, cruelty, adultery, deceit, hypocrisy, and irreligion. Consequently when self-love or the proprium is present in worship, such evils are present too - but the particular kind of evils and their intensity being determined by the extent and nature of what flows from that self-love. This is the origin of all profanation in worship. The fact of the matter is that insofar as self-love or the proprium introduces itself into worship, internal worship departs, that is, internal worship ceases to exist. Internal worship consists in the affection for good and in the acknowledgement of truth, but to the extent that self-love or the proprium intrudes or enters in, the affection for good and the acknowledgement of truth depart or go away. Holiness cannot possibly co-exist with unholiness, any more than heaven can with hell. Instead one must depart from the other. Such is the state and proper order existing in the Lord's kingdom. This is the reason why among the kind of people whose worship is called 'Babel' no internal worship exists, but instead something dead and indeed inwardly corpse-like is worshipped. This shows what their external worship which is inwardly such is like.

[2] That such worship is 'Babel' is clear from many parts of the Word where Babel is described, as in Daniel, where the description of the statue which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel saw in a dream - whose head was gold, breast and arms silver, belly and thighs bronze, legs iron, and feet partly iron and partly clay - means that true worship finally deteriorated into the kind of worship called 'Babel', and therefore also a stone cut out of the rock smashed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold, Daniel 2:31-33, 44-45. The statue of gold which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel set up, and which people were to adore, had no other meaning, Daniel 3:1-end. The same applies to the description of the king of Babel with his nobles drinking wine from the vessels of gold that had come from the Temple in Jerusalem, of their praising the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and stone, and of writing therefore appearing on the wall, Daniel 5:1-end; to the description of Darius the Mede commanding that he be adored instead of God, Daniel 6:1-end; and to that of the beasts seen by Daniel in a dream, Daniel 7:1-end, as well as to that of the beasts and Babel in John's Revelation.

[3] That such worship was meant and represented is quite clear not only in Daniel and John but also in the Prophets: in Isaiah,

Their faces were faces of flames; the stars of the heavens and their constellations do not give their light The sun is darkened in its coming up and the moon does not shed its light Tziim lie down there, and their houses are full of ochim, and daughters of the owl dwell there, and satyrs dance there, and iim answer in its palaces, and dragons in its halls of pleasure. Isaiah 13:8, 10, 21-22

This refers to Babel and describes the internal aspect of such worship by 'faces of flames', which are evil desires; by 'the stars', which are truths of faith, 'not giving their light'; by 'the sun', which is holy love, 'being darkened'; by 'the moon', which is the truth of faith, 'not shedding its light'; by 'tziim, ochim, daughters of the owl, satyrs, dim, and dragons', which are the more interior aspects of worship. For such things belong to self-love or the proprium. This also is why Babel in John is called 'the mother of whoredoms and abominations', Revelation 17:5; and in the same book,

A dwelling-place of demons, ² and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. Revelation 18:2.

From these places it is evident that when such things are within, it is impossible for any good or truth of faith to be there, and that to the extent that those things enter in, the goods which are the objects of affection, and the truths of faith, depart. They are also called in Isaiah 21:9 'the graven images of the gods of Babel'.

[4] That it is self-love or the proprium which lies within their worship, or that it is worship of self, is quite clear in Isaiah,

Prophesy this parable against the king of Babel, You said in your heart, I will go up the heavens, above the stars of God I will raise my throne, and I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the uttermost parts of the north. I will go up above the heights of the cloud, I will make myself like the Most High. But you will be brought down to hell. Isaiah 14:4, 13-15.

Here, it is plain, Babel means the person who wishes to be worshipped as a god, that is, worship of self is meant.

[5] In the same prophet,

Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babel; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans. You trusted in your wickedness, you said, No one sees me. Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray; you said in your heart, I am, and there is no one besides me. Isaiah 47:1, 10.

In Jeremiah,

Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, destroying the whole earth; and I will stretch out My hand over you and roll you down from the rocks and will make you into a mountain of burning. Though Babel rise up into the heavens, and though she fortify the height of her strength, yet from Me those who lay waste will come to her. Jeremiah 51:25, 53.

This again shows that 'Babel' is worship of self.

[6] The fact that such people have no light of truth, but only total darkness, that is, that they do not possess the truth of faith, is described in Jeremiah,

The word which Jehovah spoke against Babel, against the land of the Chaldeans, There will come up upon her a nation from the north, which will make her land a desolation, and none will dwell in it; both man and beast will scatter themselves, they will go away. Jeremiah 50:1, 3.

'The north' stands for thick darkness, or absence of truth. 'No man and no beast' stands for the absence of good. For more about Babel, see at verse 28 ³ below, where Chaldea is referred to.

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