concerning which we shall say something presently. That to commit whoredom, signifies to falsify and adulterate the truths of the Word, may be seen, n. 134, 632, 635; and that to live deliciously, signifies to enjoy the delights of dominion, and likewise of opulence, n. 759; by their bewailing and lamenting over her, are signified their interior griefs; they are said to bewail and lament, because bewailing relates to grief in consequence of their fall from dominion, and lamentation relates to grief in consequence of the privation of wealth; and inasmuch as the grief of these is more interior than that of the merchants of the earth, therefore it is said of the kings of the earth, by whom are meant those of the superior order, that they bewailed and lamented, and of the merchants of the earth, by whom are meant those of the inferior order, that they wept and wailed; by seeing the smoke of her burning, is signified when they see the falses of their religion, which are falsified and adulterated truths of the Word, turned into profaneness; by smoke are signified those falses, n. 422, 452; and by burning is signified what is profane, n. 766. From these considerations and from the explanation above, n. 766, it is evident, that by the kings of the earth who have committed whoredom and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her and mourn over her, when they see the smoke of her burning, are signified the interior griefs of those who were in superior dominion and its delights, by means of the falsification and adulteration of the truths of the Word, when they see them changed into such things as are profane.

768. Something shall now be said concerning that truth, which the Lord spake to Peter respecting the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and the power of binding and loosing, Matt. xvi. 15-20. The Roman Catholics say that this power was given to Peter, and that it was transferred to the popes as his successors, and that thus the Lord left to Peter, and to the popes after him, all his power, and that they were to act as his vicars upon earth; but yet from the very words of the Lord, it manifestly appears, that he did not give the least degree of power to Peter, for the Lord said, "Upon this rock I will build my church." By

a rock is signified the Lord as to his Divine Truth, and the Divine Truth signified by a rock, is that which Peter confessed before the Lord spake to him, in these words: Jesus said to his disciples, "But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said,-Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God," verses 15, 18; this truth it is upon which the Lord builds his church, and Peter, in this case, represented this truth; from which consideration it is plain, that the confession of the Lord, as being the "Son of the living God," and having power over heaven and earth, Matt. xxviii. 18, is what the Lord builds his church upon, thus upon himself, and not upon Peter. That by a rock is meant the Lord, is a known thing in the church. "I once had a conversation in the

66

spiritual world with the Babylonian nation, respecting "the keys that were given to Peter, whether or not they "believed that power was transferred from the Lord to "him over heaven and hell; this being the fundamental "tenet of their religion, they vehemently insisted upon it, saying that there was no doubt of it, because it is ex"pressly declared. Upon being asked whether they knew "that in every particular of the Word there is a spiritual sense which is the sense of the Word in heaven? they at "first replied that they did not know it, but afterwards "they said that they would inquire, and when they in"quired they were instructed, that there is a spiritual "sense in every particular of the Word, which differs from "the literal sense as that which is spiritual differs from that "which is natural; and they were further instructed, that "not any person named in the Word is named in heaven, "but instead thereof something spiritual is there under"stood; lastly, they were informed, that instead of Peter, "in the Word, the truth of the church derived from good " is understood; so also by a rock, which is mentioned at "the same time with Peter; and that from this circum"stance it might be known, that no power whatever was "given to Peter, but only to truth derived from good, for "all power in heaven is in truth from good, or is from "good by truth; and since all good and all truth are from "the Lord, and none from man, that all power belongs "to the Lord. On hearing this, they said, with indigna

tion, that they desired to know whether that spiritual "sense existed in those words. Wherefore the Word "which is in heaven was given them, in which Word "there is not the natural but the spiritual sense, this being "for the use of the angels who are spiritual; and when "they read it, they saw at once that Peter was not men“tioned there, but instead of Peter, Truth derived from "good which is from the Lord.' On seeing this, they "rejected it with anger, and would have torn it to pieces "almost with their teeth, had it not been instantly taken "from them. Hence they were convinced, although un"willing to be convinced, that that power belongs to the "Lord alone, and not in the least degree whatever to any 66 man, inasmuch as it is a divine power."

769. "Standing afar off for fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come," signifies, their fear of punishment, and grievous lamentation at the same time that this religion, so strongly fortified, could be subverted so suddenly and so totally, and that they themselves might perish. To stand afar off for fear of her torment, signifies, a state as yet remote from the state of those who are under condemnation already, because in fear of torment, as will be seen presently; alas, alas, signifies grievous lamentation; that alas signifies lamentation over calamity, unhappiness, and damnation, may be seen above, n. 416, hence Alas, alas! signifies grievous lamentation; by that great city Babylon, is signified that religion, in this passage, as above, n. 751. Babylon is spoken of as a woman and a harlot, because it is said her torment; by that mighty city, is signified that religion so well fortified; in one hour is thy judgment come, signifies, that there should be a possibility of its being so suddenly subverted, and that they themselves might perish; in one hour, signifies, so suddenly; and by judgment is signified the subversion of their religion and the destruction of those who had committed whoredom and lived deliciously with that harlot, such being here treated of; that they were destroyed at the last judgment, may be seen in a small tract on The Last Judgment and the Destruction of Babylon,

published in London in the year 1758; for what is here. said relates to that destruction. The reason why standing afar off for fear of her torment, signifies a state as yet remote from the state of those who are in condemnation, as being in fear of torment, is, because by afar off is not meant remoteness of space, but remoteness of state, when any one is in fear of punishment, for so long as a man is in a state of fear, he sees, weighs, and laments: remoteness of state, which is remoteness in a spiritual sense, is also signified by afar off in other parts of the Word, as in these passages: "Hear ye that are far off, what I have done, and ye that are near, acknowledge my might," Isaiah xxxiii. 13. "Am I a God at hand, and not a God afar off?" Jerem. xxiii. 23. "The people found grace in the wilderness, even Israel, Jehovah hath appeared to me from afar off," Jerem. xxxi. 2. 3. "Bring my sons from afar," Isaiah xliii. 6. "Hearken ye people from far," Isaiah xlix. 1, 2. "And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from afar," Isaiah v. 26; besides other places, as Jerem. iv. 16, xxv. 26, Zechar. vi. 15; where by nations and people from afar off, are meant those who are more remote from the truths and goods of the church. In common discourse also relations are said to be near, and the more remote in affinity are said to be distant.

770. That religion is called a strong city, because it had strongly fortified itself, for it had fortified itself not only by the multitude of nations and people that acknowledged it, but also by many other things; as by a plurality of monasteries, and by the armies of monks they contain; this expression is used because they call their ministry their soldiery; by the possession of wealth beyond measure and satiety; also by the tribunal of the inquisition; and likewise by threats and terrors, especially in regard to purgatory, into which they say every one enters; by the extinction of the light of the Gospel, and consequent blindness in things of a spiritual nature, which is effected by prohibiting and preventing the people from reading the Word; by masses uttered in a language unknown to the vulgar; by various external formalities; by the worship of the dead and of images, to which the common people

are prone, when kept in ignorance of God; also by various external pomps; that by means of these contrivances they may be kept in a corporeal belief of the sanctity of all things belonging to that religion. Hence it is that they are in total ignorance of what lurks inwardly in that religion; when yet its nature is altogether such as is described above in these words; "And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her whoredom,"

Apoc. xvii. 4. But although Babylon had so fortified herself, and in like manner in the spiritual world also, of which below, n. 772, yet at the day of the last judgment she was totally destroyed. Concerning her devastation Jeremiah thus prophesied : Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come," li. 53. "The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed, they have burned her dwelling places, her bars are broken; the city is taken at one end. The wall of Babylon also shall fall," li. 30, 31, 44. "Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her, take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed," li. 8.

771. "And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no one buyeth their merchandise any more," signifies, the grief of those of the inferior orders who minister and gain by holy things, because after the destruction of Babylon, their religious tenets are not acknowledged to be sacred, but to be adulterated and profaned goods and truths of the Word, and thence of the church, and thus they cannot any longer make a profit of them as before. By merchants are meant those of the inferior orders in their ecclesiastical hierarchy, because by the kings of the earth, before treated of, are meant those of the superior orders, as may be seen above, n. 767; therefore by merchants of the earth are signified they who are in the ministry and make money of things holy; by weeping and mourning is signified their sorrow, as above, n. 767; by their merchandise are signified things of a