A Ransom for Many - それは何を意味するのでしょうか？

今から約2000年前、ナザレのイエス、イエス・キリストは十字架にかけられました。死にました。苦しみながら。そして、翌々日の朝には死からよみがえりました。彼の肉体は消滅した。というより、その後の出来事を考えると、それは霊的なものに変化したようだ。それ自体、考えると面白いことですが、この記事の焦点ではありません）。

その代わり、ここでは、イエスがなぜ死んだのかについて、聖書で語られているいくつかの事柄に注目したいと思います。それについては、ほぼ2000年前の混乱があります。それを掘り下げてみましょう...。

で マルコによる福音書10:42-45 にも）。 マタイによる福音書20:25-28）には、イエスの宣教の後半に起こった、よく知られた教訓が記されています。ヤコブとヨハネは、まだ何が起こっているのかよく理解していなかったので、イエスが「王」になったときに、イエスの左と右に座ることを約束してほしいと陳情していました。もちろん、他の弟子たちは不愉快な思いをしました。イエスはこの状況を知っていたので、彼らを集めて、イエスの使命の本質と、彼らの使命のあり方を説明しようとしたのです。

これがその文章です。

"しかし、イエスは彼らを呼び寄せて言われた。「あなたがたは、異邦人を支配することになっている者たちが、彼らの上に主権を行使し、その偉大な者たちが彼らの上に権威を行使していることを知っている。しかし、あなた方の間ではそうではありません。あなた方の中で偉くなる者は誰でも、あなた方の大臣となります。あなたがたの中で偉くなる者は、あなたがたの大臣となり、あなたがたの中で最も偉くなる者は、すべての者のしもべとなる。人の子といえども、仕えられるためではなく、仕えるために来たのであり、また、自分の命を多くの人のための身代金として捧げるために来たのである。"

身代金です。ここで使われているギリシャ語は、λύτρον（ルトロン）といい、λύω（ルオ）の「緩める」「解く」「自由にする」という意味から、贖罪や身代金を意味しています。

神学者の中には、この文章を、十字架の物語の中で、イエスが苦悩と神の本質からの分離感を示す3つのことを言っている文章と組み合わせた人もいます。「わが神、わが神、なぜ私をお見捨てになったのですか」、「それにしても、私の意志ではなく、御心のままにしてください」、「父よ、彼らをお許しください。

これは確かに、イエスがある種のスケープゴートの役割を果たし、父を失望させた人類の代わりに自分の死を捧げた、一種の犠牲と解釈することができます。そのように解釈した神学者もいます。西暦1000年頃のカンタベリーのアンセルムは、そのような主張をする一派のリーダーの一人でした。しかし、私たちはそれが正しい道だとは思っていません。それどころか、間違った道であったために、かなりの損害を被ったと考えています。

新キリスト教の神学では、神が怒ったというのは意味がありません。神は愛そのものです。私たちが神の愛に応えないと、神はがっかりされますか？しかし、怒ることはありません。特に旧約聖書ではそのように見えることもありますが、神の本質は愛なのです。

さらに言えば、イエスの肉体が死んだからといって、父なる神の気分が良くなるわけではないことは、もっとはっきりしているはずです。二人は一人の人間であり、一心同体であることを忘れてはいけません。

むしろ、神の受肉、宣教、死、復活という一連のサイクルは、新しい真理が人類に到達するために行われたものなのです。

で 天界の秘義1419,

"主は、愛そのもの、あるいは天上のすべての愛の本質と命であり、人類に主のすべてのものを与えることを望んでおられます。" "このことは、人の子が自分の命を多くの人のための身代金として与えるために来たという主の言葉によって示されています。"

で アポカリプスの説明 328:15という説明がありました。

"身代金を取る』という言葉は、人々を偽りから解放し、真理によって改革することを意味します。これは『真理の神エホバよ，わたしを身代金に換えてください』という言葉に示されています」。詩編31:5)

イエス様が死なれた理由の一つは、地獄の力に打ち勝つためでした。イエスは生涯を通して悪霊と戦いました。最も明確に描写されているのは、洗礼を受けた直後、荒野で40日間を過ごされた時です。イエス様の十字架の苦しみは、悪に対する最後の戦いであり、イエス様の復活は、悪に対する最後の勝利でした。

すべての人にとって、悪を克服するためには、誘惑や悪との戦いがあります。私たちが個人的に悪と闘うように、キリストは宇宙規模で悪と闘われました。キリストの死はその闘いの結論でしたが、それは敗北ではなく、勝利でした。聖書によると、神が肉と血を受けたのは、「死によって、死の力を持つ者、すなわち悪魔を滅ぼすためであった」とあります。(ヘブライ人への手紙2:14,15)

聖書がイエスの死の理由として挙げているもう一つの理由は、イエスがご自分の人間としての性質と神としての性質を一つにして、「ご自分の中で、二人で一人の新しい人を造る」ことができるようにするためでした(エフェソの信徒への手紙2:14-16を参照してください。 ヨハネによる福音書17:11, 21; 10:30)。

他にも様々な理由が挙げられます。

父のもとに行く」ことができた(ヨハネによる福音書13:3; 14:2, 28; 16:10)。彼は「栄光」を得ることができました(ヨハネによる福音書17:1,5)や「主の栄光に入る」(ルカによる福音書24:26)。彼は「完成された」ことができた(ルカによる福音書13:32)、または「聖なるもの」(ヨハネによる福音書17:19)。

スウェーデンボルグのでは真のｷﾘｽﾄ教86と書かれています。

"エホバ神は、人々を救済する目的で、神の真理としてこの世に現れた。贖いとは、地獄を支配し、天界を再編し、そして教会を設立することだった。"

磔にされた時、悪の勢力は勝ったと思った。当時の宗教的、市民的な権力者たちが主導して彼を非難した。彼はあざけられた。群衆は彼に反発した。

イエス様の肉体の死は、このように「身代り」でした。あの拷問と死を受けることによって、イエス様は自分の霊的な力が自然の死を超えていることを示すことができたのです。イエスは、私たちを地獄の支配から解き放ち、新しい教会、私たちが従うことのできる新しい道を確立されたのです。

325. Which are the prayers of the saints, signifies from which is worship. This is evident from the signification of the "prayers of the saints," as being worship from spiritual good; "prayers," in the internal sense, mean all things of worship; and "saints" things spiritual; for those who are in the Lord's spiritual kingdom are called in the Word "saints" [or "holy"], and those who are in His celestial kingdom are called "righteous" [or "just"] (See above, n. 204). But in the internal sense of the Word by "saints" are not meant saints [holy men], but things holy, for the term "saints" involves persons, and in the internal sense everything of person is put off, for things solely make that sense (See above, n. 270); and that the angels, because they are spiritual, think abstractly from persons (See also above, n. 99, 100). This is what distinguishes the internal sense of the Word from its external sense, which is the sense of the letter; and as "saints" thus mean things holy, and "holy" in the Word means the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, and making His spiritual kingdom (as may be seen above, n. 204, so by "saints" things spiritual are meant, and by the "prayers of the saints" worship from spiritual good. That worship from that good is meant by the "prayers of the saints" is evident from this, that it is said "they had golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints;" and "incense" signifies all things of worship that are from spiritual good (as was shown in the preceding paragraph); from which it follows that the "prayers of the saints" has a like signification.

[2] As also in David:

Give ear unto my voice when I call unto Thee. Let my prayers be received as incense before Thee; the lifting up of my hands as the evening meal-offering. Guard the door of my lips; let not my heart decline to evil, to do evil deeds in wickedness with the men who work iniquity; for still my prayers are in their evils (Psalms 141:1-5).

Here also "prayers" are called "incense," and "the lifting up of the hands" is called a "meal-offering;" and this because "prayers" and "incense" have a similar signification, also "lifting up of the hands" and "meal-offering." "Incense" signifies spiritual good, which is the good of charity towards the neighbor; and "meal-offering" signifies celestial good, which is the good of love to the Lord; thus both signifying worship. And as prayers are not from the mouth, but from the heart by the mouth, and all worship that is from the heart is from the good of love and charity, for the heart signifies that, so it is also said, "Guard the door of my lips; let not my heart decline to evil, to do evil deeds in wickedness." And because David is lamenting that evils still have power against him, he says, "for still my prayers are in their evils."

[3] That "prayers" have a similar meaning as "incense" is evident also from other passages in Revelation:

Another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he might offer it with the prayers of all the saints, upon the golden altar. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God (Revelation 8:3-4

As "prayers" and "incense" have here similar significance, namely, worship from spiritual good, it is said, "there was given unto him much incense, that he might offer it with the prayers of the saints;" likewise that "the smoke of the incense went up with the prayers of the saints unto God." What is meant by worship from spiritual good shall first be explained, and afterwards that prayers signify such worship. Worship does not consist in prayers and in external devotion, but in a life of charity; prayers are only its externals, for they proceed from the man through his mouth, consequently men's prayers are such as they themselves are in respect to life. It matters not that a man bears himself humbly, that he kneels and sighs when he prays; for these are externals, and unless externals proceed from internals they are only gestures and sounds without life. In each thing that a man utters there is affection, and every man, spirit, and angel is his own affection, for their affection is their life; it is the affection itself that speaks, and not the man without it; therefore such as the affection is such is the praying. Spiritual affection is what is called charity towards the neighbor; to be in that affection is true worship; praying is what proceeds. From this it can be seen that the essential of worship is the life of charity, and that its instrumental is gesture and praying; or that the primary of worship is a life of charity, and its secondary is praying. From this it is clear that those who place all Divine worship in oral piety, and not in practical piety, err greatly.

[4] Practical piety is to act in every work and in every duty from sincerity and right, and from justice and equity, and this because it is commanded by the Lord in the Word; for thus man in his every work looks to heaven and to the Lord, and thus is conjoined with Him. But to act sincerely and rightly, justly and equitably, solely from fear of the law, of the loss of fame or of honor and gain, and to think nothing of the Divine law, of the commandments of the Word, and of the Lord, and yet to pray devoutly in the churches, is external piety; however holy this may appear, it is not piety, but it is either hypocrisy, or something put on derived from habit, or a kind of persuasion from a false belief that Divine worship consists merely in this; for such a man does not look to heaven and to the Lord with the heart, but only with the eyes; the heart looking to self and to the world, and the mouth speaking from the habit of the body only and its memory; by this man is conjoined to the world and not to heaven, and to self and not to the Lord. From this it can be seen what piety is, and what Divine worship is, and that practical piety is worship itself. On this see also what is said in the work on Heaven and Hell 222, 224, 358-360, 528-530); and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 123-129), where also are these words:

Piety is to think and speak piously; to spend much time in prayer; to bear oneself humbly at such times; to frequent churches, and listen devoutly to discourses there; to observe the sacrament of the Supper frequently every year, and likewise the other services of worship according to the appointments of the church. But a life of charity is to will well and do well to the neighbor; to act in every work from justice and equity, from good and truth, and also in every duty; in a word, the life of charity consists in performing uses. Divine worship consists primarily in such a life, and secondarily in a life of piety; he, therefore, who separates the one from the other, that is, who lives a life of piety and not at the same time a life of charity, does not worship God. For a life of piety is valuable so far as a life of charity is joined with it; for the life of charity is the primary thing, and such as this is, such is the life of piety (n. 124, 128).

[5] That the Lord insinuates heaven into man's practical piety, but not into oral or external piety separate therefrom, has been testified to me by much experience. For I have seen many who placed all worship in oral and outward piety, while in their actual life they gave no thought to the Lord's commandments in the Word, believing that what is sincere and right, just and equitable, must be done not from regard to religion, thus from a spiritual motive, but merely from regard to civil law and also to moral law, that they might appear sincere and just for the sake of reputation, and this for the sake of honor and gain, believing that this would take them into heaven before others. According to their belief, therefore, they were raised up into heaven; but when the angels perceived that they worshiped God with the mouth only, and not with the heart, and that their external piety did not proceed from practical piety, which is of the life, they cast them down; afterwards these became associated with those who were in a life like their own, and were there deprived of their piety and sanctity, since these were interiorly defiled by evils of life. From this also it was made clear, that Divine worship consists primarily in a life of charity and secondarily in external piety.

[6] As Divine worship itself consists primarily in the life, and not in prayers, the Lord said, that in praying there should not be much speaking and repetition, in the following words:

In praying, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Do not make yourselves, therefore, like them (Matthew 6:7-8).

Now as Divine worship itself consists primarily in a life of charity, and secondarily in prayers, by "prayers," in the spiritual sense of the Word, worship from spiritual good, that is, from the life of charity, is meant, for that which is primary is what is meant in the spiritual sense, while the sense of the letter consists of things secondary, which are effects, and which correspond.

[7] Prayers are mentioned, moreover, in many passages of the Word; but as prayers proceed from the heart, and a man's heart is such as is his life of love and charity, so "prayers," in the spiritual sense, mean that life and worship from it, as in the following. In Luke:

Be ye wakeful at every season, praying that ye may be accounted worthy to escape the things that are to come, and so stand before the Son of man (Luke 21:36; Mark 13:33).

"To be wakeful at every season" signifies to procure to oneself spiritual life (See above, n. 187); therefore praying is also mentioned, because "praying" is an effect of that life, or its external, which is of avail so far as it proceeds from the life, for these two are one like soul and body, and like internal and external.

[8] In Mark:

Jesus said, All things that ye ask for, praying, believe that ye are to receive, and then it shall be done for you. But when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any (Mark 11:24-25).

Here, also, in the spiritual sense, by "praying," "asking for," and "supplicating," a life of love and charity is meant; for to those who are in a life of love and charity it is given from the Lord what they are to ask; therefore they ask nothing but what is good, and that is done for them; and as faith also is from the Lord, it is said, "believe that ye are to receive;" and as prayers proceed from a life of charity, and are according to it, in order that it may be done according to the prayers, it is said, "When ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any."

[9] "When ye stand praying" signifies when in Divine worship, as is clear also from this, that the like as is here said of those who pray is said also of those who offer a gift upon the altar, in Matthew:

If thou offer a gift upon the altar, and rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave the gift before the altar, and first be reconciled to thy brother, and then coming offer the gift (Matthew 5:23-24).

"Offering a gift upon the altar" signifies all Divine worship, for the reason that Divine worship with that nation consisted chiefly in offering burnt-offerings and sacrifices, by which therefore all things of worship were signified (See The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 214, 221). From this it can be seen that "praying," or "supplicating," and "offering a gift upon the altar," have a like meaning, namely, worship from the good of love and charity.

[10] In the same:

Jesus said, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of robbers (Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46).

The Lord's "house" signifies the church, and "prayers" worship therein; and a "den of robbers" the profanation of the church and of worship; and from this contrary sense it is also evident that prayers signify worship from the good of love and charity.

[11] In David:

I cried unto God with my mouth. If I had regarded iniquity in my heart the Lord would not have heard; but God hath heard; He hath attended to the voice of my prayer (Psalms 66:17-19).

Since prayers are such as the man's heart is, and thus are not prayers of any worship when the heart is evil, it is said, "If I had regarded iniquity in my heart the Lord would not have heard," which signifies that He would not receive such worship. Man's "heart" is his love, and man's love is his very life, consequently a man's prayers are such as his love is, that is, such as his life is; from which it follows that "prayers" signify the life of his love and charity, or that this life is meant by "prayers" in the spiritual sense.

[12] Many more passages might be cited; but as man does not know that his life and his prayers make one, and therefore does not perceive otherwise than that "prayers" where they are mentioned in the Word mean merely prayers, these passages will be omitted here. Moreover, when man is in a life of charity he is constantly praying, if not with the mouth yet with the heart; for that which is of the love is constantly in the thought, even when man is unconscious of it (according to what is said in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n. 55-57); from which also it is clear that "praying" in the spiritual sense is worship from love. But those who place piety in prayers and not in the life have no relish for this truth, in fact their thought is contrary to it; such do not even know what practical piety is.

141. To eat idol-sacrifices and to commit whoredom, signifies that they may be imbued with evils and with falsities therefrom. This is evident from the signification of "eating," as being to appropriate to themselves, and to be consociated with (See Arcana Coelestia 2187, 2343, 3168, 3513, 5643, 8001); so also to be imbued with; and from the signification of "idol-sacrifices," which are things consecrated to idols, as being evils of every kind (of which more in what follows); and from the signification of "committing whoredom," as being to falsify truths (of which also more presently). That Balaam counseled Balak to invite the sons of Israel to the sacrifices of his gods appears from what was shown in the preceding article, and from these words of Moses:

Israel abode in Shittim, where the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab; for he called ¹ the people unto the sacrifices of their gods; and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. Especially did the people join themselves to Baal-peor; therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel. And those that were slain were four and twenty thousand (Numbers 25:1-3, 9).

It was among the statutes where sacrifices were instituted that some part of the sacrifices, especially of the thank-offerings, should be burnt from the altar, and some part eaten in the holy place. The "sacrifices" themselves signified worship from love and faith, and the "eating" of them signified appropriation of the good thereof. (That "sacrifices" signified all things of worship from the good of love and faith, see Arcana Coelestia, n. 923, 6905, 8680, 8936, 10042; and "eating" the appropriation of goods, 10109.) As the eating of things sanctified to Jehovah signified the appropriation of good, so the eating of the sacrifices offered to the gods of the nations, and which were called "idol-sacrifices," signified the appropriation of evil.

[2] That to "commit whoredom," in the spiritual sense, signifies to become imbued with falsities, so also to falsify truths, can be seen from many passages in the Word. The same was signified by the whoredoms of the sons of Israel with the daughters of Moab; for all historical parts of the Word involve spiritual things and signify them (as can be seen from the explanations of Genesis and Exodus, called Arcana Coelestia). And as the eating of idol-sacrifices by the sons of Israel and their whoredoms with the daughters of Moab involved such things (for what things signify they involve), therefore it was commanded that the heads of the people should be hung up to Jehovah before the sun; and for the same reason Phinehas the son of Eleazar thrust through a man of Israel and a Midianitish woman in the place of their lust, and for doing that he also was blessed; and for the same reason there were slain of Israel twenty and four thousand (as may be seen, Numbers 25 to the end). Such punishments and such plagues merely because of the eating of idol-sacrifices, and committing whoredom with the women of another nation, would never have been commanded to be done, unless they had involved heinous offenses against heaven and the church, which do not appear in the literal sense of the Word, but only in its spiritual sense. The heinous offenses involved were the profanation at once of the goods and of the truths of the church, and this, as has been said above, was the appropriation of evil and falsity.

[3] That adulteries and whoredoms involve such things is evident from numerous passages in the Word, where they are recounted, which show clearly that they signify the adulterations of good and the falsifications of truth, as in the following. In Ezekiel:

Jerusalem, thou hast trusted in thy beauty, and hast committed whoredom because of thy renown, so that thou hast poured out thy whoredoms on everyone that passed by. Thou has committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt thy neighbors, great of flesh, and hast multiplied thy whoredom. Thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of Asshur, when there was no satiety to thee, with whom thou committedst whoredom. Thou hast multiplied thy whoredom even to Chaldea, the land of traffic. An adulterous woman receiveth strangers instead of her husband. All give reward to their harlots, ² but thou hast given reward to all thy lovers, and hast rewarded them that they may come unto thee on every side in thy whoredoms. Wherefore, O harlot! hear the word of Jehovah (Ezekiel 16:15, 26, 28-29, 32-33, 35.).

Who cannot see that by "whoredoms" here are not meant whoredoms in the usual natural sense? For the church in which all the truths of the Word have been falsified is treated of; this is what is meant by "whoredoms;" for "whoredoms" in the spiritual sense, or spiritual whoredoms, are no other than falsifications of truth. "Jerusalem" here is the church; the "sons of Egypt," with whom she committed whoredom, are scientifics and knowledges of every kind, perversely applied to confirm falsities; the "sons of Asshur" are reasonings from falsities; "Chaldea," the land of traffic, is the profanation of truth; the "rewards" that she gave to her lovers are the vendings of falsities; and because of the adulteration of good by the falsifications of truth, that church is called a "woman adulterous while subject to her husband."

[4] In the same:

Two women, the daughters of one mother, committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth. One committed whoredom while subject to me, and chose for lovers the Assyrians her neighbors; she bestowed her whoredoms upon them yet she hath not left her whoredoms in Egypt. The other hath corrupted her love more than she, and her whoredoms above the whoredoms of her sister; she increased her whoredoms, she loved the Chaldeans; the sons of Babel came to her to the bed of loves, and they defiled her with their whoredom (Ezekiel 23:2-3, 5-8, 11, 14, 16-17).

Here also by "whoredoms" are in like manner meant spiritual whoredoms, as is evident from every particular. "Two women, the daughters of one mother, are the two churches, the Israelitish and the Jewish; "whoredoms" with "the Egyptians," "the Assyrians," "the Chaldeans," signify the like as above; "the bed of loves with the sons of Babel" is the profanation of good.

[5] In Jeremiah:

Thou hast committed whoredoms with many companions, thou hast profaned the land with thy whoredoms, and with thine evil. Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? She hath gone away upon every high mountain, and under every green tree, and there committeth whoredom. Perfidious Judah also hath gone away and committed whoredom, so that by the voice of her whoredom she hath profaned the land; she hath committed adultery with stone and with wood (Jeremiah 3:1-2, 6, 8-9).

"Israel" is the church that is in truth, "Judah" the church that is in good, for they represented these two churches. The falsifications of truth are signified by the "whoredoms of Israel," and the adulterations of good by "the whoredoms of Judah." "To go away upon every high mountain and under every green tree and to commit whoredom" is to seek after all the knowledges of good and truth, even from the Word, and to falsify them; "to commit adultery with stone and wood" is to pervert and profane all truth and good; "stone" signifying truth, and "wood" signifying good.

[6] In the same:

Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man [vir], if there be any doing judgment, seeking truth. When I fed them to the full they committed whoredom and came by troops to the house of the harlot (Jeremiah 5:1, 7).

To "run to and fro through the streets, and to seek in the broad places of Jerusalem," is to see and explore the doctrinals of that church; for "Jerusalem" is the church, and "streets" and "broad places" are doctrinals. "If ye have found a man, if there be any doing judgment, seeking truth," means whether there be any truth in the church. "When I fed them to the full they committed whoredom," means that when truths were revealed to them they falsified them. Such a church, in respect to doctrine, is the "house of the harlot," into which they "came by troops."

[7] In the same:

Thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, thine abominations on the hills in the field have I seen. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! thou wilt not be made clean (Jeremiah 13:27).

"Neighings" are profanations of truth, because a "horse" signifies the intellectual where there is truth; "the hills in the field" are goods of truth in the church, which have been perverted.

[8] In the same:

In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible stubbornness in adulterating and in walking in a lie (Jeremiah 23:14).

They have wrought folly in Israel, and have committed adultery with their companions' wives, and have spoken My ³ word in My name falsely (Jeremiah 29:23).

To "adulterate" and to "commit adultery" here clearly mean to pervert truths; "the prophets" signifying those who teach truths from the Word; for it is said "in adulterating and walking in a lie," and "they have spoken My word falsely." A "lie" in the Word signifies falsity.

[9] In Moses:

Your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your ⁴ whoredoms even till their carcasses are consumed in the wilderness (Numbers 14:33).

The sons of Israel did not bear whoredoms and were not for that reason consumed in the wilderness, but because they spurned heavenly truths, as is evident from this, that it was so said to them because they wished not to enter into the land of Canaan, but to return to Egypt; "the land of Canaan" signifies heaven and the church, with the truths thereof; and "Egypt" signifies the same falsified and turned into magic.

[10] In Micah:

All her graven images shall be beaten to pieces, and all the rewards of whoredom shall be burned up with fire; and all her idols will I lay waste, for she hath gathered them from the hire of an harlot, therefore even to the hire of an harlot shall they return (Micah 1:7).

"Graven images" and "idols" signify falsities that are from self-intelligence; "the rewards of whoredom" are the knowledges of truth and good that they have applied to falsities and evils and have thus perverted.

[11] In Hosea:

Jehovah said to the prophet, Take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms, for whoring the land doth commit whoredom in departing from Jehovah (Hosea 1:2).

By this was represented what the quality of the church was, namely, that it was wholly in falsities.

[12] In the same:

They sinned against Me; I will change their glory into disgrace. They committed whoredom; because they have forsaken Jehovah. Whoredom, wine, and new wine, have occupied the heart. Your daughters commit whoredom, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery (Hosea 4:7, 10-11, 13).

"Whoredom, wine, and new wine," are falsified truths; "whoredom" falsification itself; "wine" interior falsity; "new wine" exterior falsity; "daughters who commit whoredom" are the goods of truth perverted; "daughters-in-law who commit adultery" are evils conjoined with falsities therefrom.

[13] In Isaiah:

It shall come to pass after the end of seventy years that Jehovah will visit Tyre, that she may return to her meretricious hire, and commit whoredom with all the kingdoms of the earth upon the faces of the world; at length her merchandise [and her meretricious hire] shall be holiness to Jehovah (Isaiah 23:17, 18).

"Tyre," in the Word, is the church in respect to the knowledges of truth and good; "meretricious hire" the same knowledges applied, by perverting them, to evils and falsities; "her merchandise" the vending of these. "To commit whoredom with all the kingdoms of the earth," is with all and every truth of the church. "Her merchandise and her meretricious hire shall be holiness to Jehovah" because these signify the knowledges of truth and good applied by them to falsities and evils; and by means of the knowledges themselves regarded in themselves, a man can gain wisdom; for knowledges are means of becoming wise, and they are also means of becoming insane. They are the means of becoming insane when they are falsified by being applied to evils and falsities. The like is signified where it is said that:

They should make to themselves friends of the unrighteous mammon (Luke 16:9);

and where it is commanded that:

They should borrow from the Egyptians gold, silver, and raiment, and take them away from them (Exodus 3:22; 12:35-36).

By the "Egyptians" are signified scientifics of every kind which they used to falsify truths.

[14] In Moses:

I will cut off the soul that looketh unto them that have familiar spirits and unto wizards, to go a-whoring after them (Leviticus 20:5, 6).

In Isaiah:

He entereth into peace, he walketh in uprightness. But draw ye near, ye sons of the enchantress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot (Isaiah 57:2-3).

In Nahum:

Woe to the city of bloods, all in a lie, the horseman ascendeth, and the flaming of the sword, and the flashing of the spear, a multitude of the slain; for the multitude of the whoredoms of the harlot, of the mistress of sorceries, selling the nations through her whoredoms (Nahum 3:1, 3-4).

In Moses:

A covenant must not be made with the inhabitants of the land, lest the sons and daughters go a-whoring after their gods (Exodus 34:15-16).

In the same:

That ye may remember all the commandments of Jehovah, and do them; and that ye spy not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye are wont to go a-whoring (Numbers 15:39).

In Revelation:

Babylon hath made all nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her whoredom (Revelation 14:8);

The angel said, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters; with whom the kings of the earth have committed whoredom (Revelation 17:1-2);

Babylon hath made all nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her whoredom, and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her (Revelation 18:3);

He hath judged the great harlot, which did corrupt the earth with her whoredom (Revelation 19:2).

It is manifest that in these passages by "whoredoms" are meant the falsifications of truth.

[15] As such things are signified by "whoredoms" and "adulteries," and as these have the same signification in heaven, therefore in the Israelitish church, which was a representative church, in which all things were significative, the following commands were given:

That there should be no harlot nor whoremonger in Israel (Deuteronomy 23:17);

That the man that committed adultery with the wife of a man, and the man that committed adultery with the wife of his companion should be put to death (Leviticus 20:10);

That the hire of a harlot should not be brought into the house of Jehovah for any vow (Deuteronomy 23:18);

That the sons of Aaron should not take a harlot to wife, nor a woman put away by her husband. That the high priest should take a virgin to wife. That the daughter of a priest, if she profaned herself by committing whoredom, should be burned with fire (Leviticus 21:7, 9, 13-14). (Besides many other passages.)

[16] That "whoredoms" and "adulteries" involve such things has been testified to me from much experience in the other life. The spheres from spirits who have been of such character have made these things evident; from the presence of spirits who have confirmed falsities in themselves, and have applied truths from the sense of the letter of the Word to confirm them, there exhales an abominable sphere of whoredom. Such spheres correspond to all the prohibited degrees (of which, see Lev. 20:11-21) with a difference according to the application of truths to falsities and the conjunction of falsities with evils, especially with evils that gush out of the love of self (of which more may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell 384-386).

Bilješke: