the divine power of the Lord, and profane the Word by adulterating and falsifying it; wherefore also Babylon is called "the mother of whoredoms and of abominations of the earth." Rev. xvii. 5. The same is signified by whoredom in the prophets, as in Jeremiah, "I have seen an horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem; they commit adultery and walk in lies." xxiii. 14. So in Ezechiel, “Two women, the daughters of one mother, committed whoredom in Egypt; they committed whoredom in their youth: one committed whoredom under me; she doated on her lovers the Assyrians her neighbours; she committed her whoredoms upon them; yet she forsook not her whoredoms in Egypt. The other corrupted her love more than the former, and her whoredoms more than the whoredoms of her sister; she added to her whoredoms; she loved the Chaldeans; the sons of Babel [Babylon] came to her to the bed of love, and polluted her by their whoredom,” xxiii. 2 to 17; these words relate to the Israelitish and Jewish church, which are called the daughters of one mother; by their whoredoms are meant the adulterations and falsifications of the Word; and whereas in the Word by Egypt is signified science, by Assyria reasoning, by Chaldea the profanation of truth, and by Babel the profanation of good, therefore it is said that they committed whoredoms with those nations. The like is said in Ezechiel concerning Jerusalem, whereby is signified the church as to doctrine, "Thou didst trust to thy beauty, and committedst whoredom because of thy renown, so that thou pouredst out thine whoredoms on every one that passed by; thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt thy neighbours, great in flesh, and hast multiplied thy whoredom; thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of the Assyrian; and when thou wast not satisfied with those with whom thou committedst whoredom, thou multipliedst thy whoredom even to Chaldea, the land of merchandise; an adulterous woman hath received strangers, instead of her husband; all give a reward to their whores; but thou hast given rewards to all thy lovers, that they may come to thee in thy circuit in thy whoredoms: wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of Jehovah," xvi. 15, 26, 28, 29, 32, 33, 35; that by Jerusalem is meant the church, may be seen in the DOCTRINE Concerning the LORD, n. 62, 63; the like is signifi ed by whoredoms in Isaiah, chap. xxiii. 17. Chap. lvii. 3; and in Jeremiah, chap. ii. 2, 6, 8, 9. Chap. v. 1, 7. Chap. xiii. 27. Chap. xxix. 23; and in Micah, chap. i. 7; and in Nahum, chap. iii. 4; and in Hosea, chap. iv. 10, 11; and in Levit. xxv. 5 ; and in Numbers xiv. 33. Chap. xv. 39: and in other places. For the same reason also the Jewish nation was called by the Lord "an adulterous generation." Matt. xii. 39. Chap. xvi. 4. Mark. viii. 38. That so far as any one shuns thefts of every kind as sins, so far he loves sincerity. : 80. By stealing in a natural sense is not only meant to steal and to rob, but also to defraud, and under any pretence to take away from another the good things which belong to him but by stealing in a spiritual sense is meant, to deprive another of the truths of his faith, and of the good things of his charity: whereas by stealing, in a supreme sense, is meant, to take away from the Lord what is his, whilst man attributes to himself what belongs to the Lord, and thus claims to himself righteousness and merit: these are thefts of every kind, and they also make one, as adulteries of every kind, and murders of every kind, spoken of above : the reason why they make one is, because one is in the other. 81. The evil of theft enters deeper into man than any other evil, because it is joined together with deceit and cunning; and deceit and cunning insinuate themselves ever. into the spiritual mind of man, in which is his thinking principle with the understanding. That man has a spiritual mind and a natural mind, will be seen below. 82. The reason why man loves sincerity so far as he shuns theft as sin, is, because theft is also fraud, and fraud and sincerity are two opposites; therefore so far as any one is not in fraud, so far he is in sincerity. 83. By sincerity is also meant integrity, justice, faithfulness, and uprightness : man cannot be principled in these virtues from himself, so as to love them by and for the sake of them; but whosoever shuns frauds, deceits, and cunning as sins, he becomes thereby principled in those virtues, not from himself, but from the Lord, as was shewn above, n. 18 to 32. This is true in regard to every one in his station and office, as in regard to a priest, to a magistrate, to a judge, to a trader, and to a common labourer. 84. The same appears from many passages of the Word, as from the following, "Whosoever walketh in righteousness, and speaketh uprightnesses; whosoever hateth oppressions for gain, and shaketh his hands from holding gifts; who stoppeth his ears from hearing bloods; and shutteth his eyes lest they should see evil; he shall dwell in heights." Isaiah xxxiii. 15, 16. "Jehovah, who shall dwell in thy tent, who shall inhabit in the mountain of thy holiness? He that walketh upright and doeth righteousness, he doth not backbite with his tongue, nor do evil to his companion." Pslam xv. 1, 2, 3. "Mine eyes are upon the faithful of the earth, that they may sit with me: he that walketh in the way of the upright, he shall minister unto me. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within mine house; he that speaketh lies shall not stand in my sight. I will early destroy all the wicked of the land, to cut off from the city all that work iniquity." Psalm ci. 6, 7, 8. |
