1861、“看哪，有冒烟的火炉”表示最浓密的虚假，“烧着的火把”表示恶欲的灼热。这从“冒烟的火炉”和“烧着的火把”的含义清楚可知：“冒烟的火炉”是指浓密的虚假，“烧着的火把”是指恶欲的灼热。经上之所以说“冒烟的火炉”，是因为一个人，尤其一个教会成员，若拥有某种真理的知识或认知，却不承认它，反而从心里否认它，甚至过着违背真理的生活，只会看似一个冒烟的“火炉”，他本人如同“火炉”，从他的仇恨中冒出的虚假则如同“烟”。产生这些虚假的恶欲则看似来自这种火炉的火把，这从来世的代表也明显看出来（从经历描述了这些代表，814，1528节）。看似并变成这类事物的，正是仇恨、报复、残忍和通奸的欲望，尤其当这些欲望与欺骗混在一起时。
在圣言中，“火炉”、“烟”和“火”就表示这类事物，这一点从以下经文可以看出来。以赛亚书：
各人都是伪善的，是行恶的，并且各口都说愚昧的话。因为邪恶像火焚烧，烧灭荆棘和蒺藜，在森林的丛薮中着起来，旋转上腾，成为浮烟。因万军之耶和华的烈怒，地已变黑，百姓变得像烧火的燃料（直译为食物）；无人顾惜弟兄。（以赛亚书9:17-19）
此处“火”表示仇恨，来自这火的“浮烟”表示这类虚假；“无人顾惜弟兄”描述了仇恨；因为这种人在天使看来，正如此处所描述的那样。
约珥书：
在天上地上，我要显出奇事，有血、有火、有烟柱。日头要变为黑暗，月亮要变为血，这都在耶和华大而可畏的日子未到以前。（约珥书2:30，31）
此处“火”表示仇恨，“烟柱”表示虚假，“日头”表示仁，“月亮”表示信。
以赛亚书：
地土要变为燃烧的沥青；昼夜不熄，其烟气永远上腾。（以赛亚书34:9-10）
“燃烧的沥青”表示可怕的恶欲，“烟气”表示虚假。
玛拉基书：
看哪，那日快到了，燃烧着像火炉！所有骄傲的和凡行恶的都必成碎秸，那要来的日子必用火点燃他们，不给他们留下根和枝。（玛拉基书4:1）
此处“燃烧的火炉”与前面所表相同；“根”表示仁，“枝”表示真理，它们将无一留下。
何西阿书：
以法莲因巴力犯罪；他必像禾场上被旋风吹去的糠秕，又像烟囱冒出的烟。（何西阿书13:1，3）
“以法莲”表示一个变成这样的具有理解力的人。
以赛亚书：
强者必如麻丝屑，他的工作好像火星；他们都要一同焚烧，无人扑灭。（以赛亚书1:31）
这表示那些爱自己，或也可说，仇恨邻舍的人将被自己的恶欲点燃、烧尽。启示录：
巴比伦成了鬼魔的住处。看见烧她的烟，就喊着说。她的烟往上冒，直到永永远远。（启示录18:2，18；19:3）
又：
他开了无底坑，便有烟从坑里往上冒，好像大火炉的烟。日头和天空，都因这坑里的烟昏暗了。（启示录9:2）
又：
有火、有烟、有硫磺，从马的口中出来。口中所出来的火与烟，并硫磺，这些杀了人的三分之一。（启示录9:17-18）
又：
拜兽的，必喝神烈怒的酒；此酒斟在神愤怒的杯中纯一不杂。他要在火与硫磺之中受痛苦。（启示录14:9-10）
又：
第四位天使把他的碗倒在日头上，叫日头用火烤人。人被大热所烤，就亵渎神之名。（启示录16:8-9）
在启示录，经上同样说：
他们被扔在烧着硫磺的火湖里。（启示录19:20；20:14，15；21:8）
在这些经文中，“火”表示恶欲，“烟”表示虚假，它们将在末期掌权。当约翰的内视或内眼被打开时，他就看见这些事物，正如它们在来世的样子。灵人和死后的灵魂也会看见类似事物。由此可见地狱之火是什么，它无非是仇恨、报复和残忍，或也可说，自我之爱，因为这爱会变成这种可见的形式。具有这种性质的人只要活在肉身，无论他表面看上去是什么样，当被天使仔细查看时，在他们眼里只会以这种方式显现；也就是说，他的仇恨看似火把，源于仇恨的虚假看似冒烟的火炉。
论到这火，主在马太福音中如此说：
凡不结好果子的树，就砍下来，丢在火里。（马太福音3:10；路加福音3:9）
“好果子”表示仁爱，凡丧失仁爱的人就把自己“砍下来，丢在火里”。同一福音书：
人子要差遣祂的天使，把一切叫人跌倒的和作孽的，从祂国里挑出来，丢在火炉里。（马太福音13:41-42，50）
此处意思一样。又：
王又要向那左边的说，你们这被咒诅的人，离开我，进入那为魔鬼和他的使者所预备的永火里去！（马太福音25:41）
此处意思一样。
他们被“丢在永火或火烧的地狱（Gehenna，希腊文：欣嫩子谷）里”、“他们的虫是不死的，火是不灭的”（马太福音18:8-9；马可福音9:43-49）具有相同的含义。路加福音：
打发拉撒路来，用指头尖蘸点水，凉凉我的舌头，因为我在这火焰里，极其痛苦。（路加福音16:24）
此处意思也一样。
那些不知道主国度的奥秘之人，会以为是主把恶人投入地狱，或丢在这种火里，这火是仇恨之火，如前所述。而真相完全不是这样，因为正是人自己，或魔鬼般的灵将自己丢下去。然而，由于表面上看，似乎是主把他们丢下去，所以圣言照着表象，事实上照着感官错觉来表述这一点。这种表述对犹太人来说尤为必要，因为他们根本不愿接受任何东西，除非与他们的感官一致，无论这些感官会犯多么大的错误。这就是为何字义，尤其预言部分的字义充满这类表象。
如耶利米书：
耶和华如此说，你们早晨要施行公平，从压迫者手中解救被抢夺的，免得我的烈怒因你们的恶行如火发出、燃烧，无人能熄灭。（耶利米书21:12）
“要施行公平”是指说真理；“从压迫者手中解救被抢夺的”是指行仁之良善；“火”表示对那些不做这些事，也就是活在仇恨的虚假之中的人的地狱惩罚。从字义上看，这种“火”和“烈怒”被归于耶和华；但从内义上看，情况正好相反。
同样，在约珥书：
耶和华的日子：它前面，火吞灭一切，它后面，火焰燃烧。（约珥书2:1，3）
诗篇：
从祂鼻孔冒烟上腾，从祂口中发火烧尽，从祂身上冒出燃烧的炭。幽暗在祂脚下。（诗篇18:8-9）
摩西五经：
在我怒中有火燃起，要一直烧到最低的地狱，把地和地的出产都烧灭掉，连山的根基也烧着。（申命记32:22）
此处“火”表示仇恨，“烟”表示存在于人里面的虚假，它们被归于耶和华或主，原因如前所述。在地狱，表象也是这样，即：似乎是耶和华或主做了这些事，但事实恰恰相反；是他们对自己做了这一切，因为他们就住在仇恨的火中。由此明显可知，人若不知道圣言的内义，多么容易陷入错觉。
当律法颁布时，百姓在西乃山上看到的“烟”和“火”也一样。因为耶和华或主照着各人的品质和性情而向各人显现。在属天天使看来，祂就像太阳；在属灵天使看来，祂就像月亮；在所有善人看来，祂就像各种快乐、悦人的光；但在恶人看来，祂就像烟和吞灭的火。当律法颁布时，犹太人毫无仁爱；相反，爱自己和爱世界在他们当中掌权；因此，邪恶和虚假在他们里面完全占据主导地位，所以在他们看来，主就像烟和火；而与此同时，祂在天使看来则像太阳和天堂之光。
主向犹太人如此显现是由于他们的秉性，这一点清楚可见于摩西五经：
耶和华的荣耀住在西乃山上。耶和华荣耀的景象在山顶上，在以色列人眼前，就像吞灭的火。（出埃及记24:16-17）
又：
西乃山全山冒烟，因为耶和华在火中降临山上，山的烟气上腾，如同火炉的烟一般，整座山大大地震动。（出埃及记19:18）
申命记：
你们近前来，站在山下，山上有火烧着，直冲天心；并有黑暗、密云、幽暗。耶和华从火中间对你们说话。（申命记4:11-12；5:22）
又：
你们听见从黑暗中间出来的声音，山上有火烧着的时候，都来就近我，说，现在我们何必死呢？因为这大火将要吞灭我们；我们若再听见耶和华我们神的声音，就必死亡。（申命记5:23-25）
如果过着仇恨和它所产生的垃圾的生活之人真的看见主，情况是一样的。这种人不可避免地从他的仇恨和这仇恨所产生的肮脏行为来看祂。这些东西就是来自主的良善和真理的光线的接受者，它们会将这些光线转化为这种火、烟和幽暗。从这些经文也明显可知“冒烟的火炉”是什么，“烧着的火把”又是什么，就是在末期占据教会的最浓密的虚假和最肮脏的邪恶。
New Century Edition
Cooper(2008,2013)
[NCE]1861. And see? A furnace of smoke, symbolizes the thickest falsity. And a torch of fire symbolizes feverish cravings. This can be seen from the symbolism of a furnace of smoke as thick falsity and from that of a torch of fire as feverish cravings.
This verse speaks of a furnace of smoke because some people look exactly like a smoky furnace. They are those (especially in the church) who know truth and yet do not acknowledge it but deny it at heart and live a life opposed to truth. They themselves look like the furnace, while the distortions billowing out of their hatred look like the smoke; and the hateful urges that create the distortions look exactly like torches of fire from such a furnace. This can be seen from representative scenes in the other world, described from experience in 814, 1528. It is the urges of hatred, vengefulness, cruelty, and adultery (particularly when deceit is mixed in with all of these) that look like and actually turn into such torches.
[2] The following passages show that furnaces, smoke, and fire have this symbolism in the Word. In Isaiah:
Everyone is a hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth is speaking stupidity, because wickedness blazes like fire; bramble patch and brier patch it consumes, and it ignites the thickets of the forest, and they float up with the rising of smoke. In the wrath of Jehovah Sabaoth, the earth has gone dark and the people have become like food for the fire; a man does not spare his brother. (Isaiah 9:17, 18, 19)
The fire stands for hatred; the rising of the smoke from it, for hateful distortions. Hatred is depicted in the words "a man does not spare his brother." When angels examine people like this, they look exactly as they are portrayed here.
[3] In Joel:
I will give portents in the heavens and on earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun will turn to shadow, and the moon, to blood, before the day of Jehovah comes, great and fearsome. (Joel 2:30-31)
The fire stands for hatred; the pillars of smoke, for falsity; the sun, for neighborly love; the moon, for faith.
[4] In Isaiah:
The land will become burning pitch. By night and day it will not be quenched; forever its smoke will go up. (Isaiah 34:9-10)
The burning pitch stands for dreadful urges, the smoke, for falsity.
[5] In Malachi:
Look: the day is coming, blazing like a furnace! And all the proud and everyone doing evil will be stubble, and the coming day will light them on fire. It will not leave them root or branch. (Malachi 4:1)
The blazing furnace stands for the same kinds of things. The root stands for neighborly love and the branch for truth, of which none will be left.
[6] In Hosea:
Ephraim acquired guilt through Baal; he will be like chaff [that] is storm-driven off the threshing floor, and like smoke from a smoke hole. (Hosea 13:1, 3)
Ephraim stands for a person with understanding who becomes like this.
[7] In Isaiah:
The strong will become tow,{*1} and their work will become an ember, and they will both kindle equally, and no one to quench them. (Isaiah 1:31)
This stands for the fact that people who love themselves, or what is the same, hate their neighbor, are kindled by their cravings in this way.
In John:
Babylon has become a dwelling place for demons. Those seeing the smoke of its conflagration were shouting. The smoke goes up forever and ever. (Revelation 18:2, 18; 19:3)
[8] In the same author:
He opened the pit of the abyss, so smoke went up from the pit, like the smoke of a large furnace. And the sun and the air went dark with the smoke of the pit. (Revelation 9:2)
In the same author:
From the mouth of the horses went out fire and smoke and sulfur. By these a third of all human beings were killed — by the fire and by the smoke and by the sulfur that went out from their mouth. (Revelation 9:17-18)
In the same author:
Whoever worships the beast will drink{*2} of the wine of God's anger, mixed with pure wine in the goblet of his anger, and will be tortured with fire and sulfur. (Revelation 14:9-10)
In the same author:
The fourth angel poured out his bowl onto the sun, and it was granted to him to scorch humanity with fire. Therefore humans burned with great heat and blasphemed the name of God. (Revelation 16:8-9)
In the same vein, Revelation 19:20; 20:14-15; and 21:8 say that various beings were thrown into the lake of fire, a lake burning with sulfur.
[9] In these passages, fire stands for cravings, or urges. The smoke stands for distorted thinking, which will reign supreme in the final days. What happens with cravings and distortions in the other life is what John saw when his inner eyes had opened. Spirits see the same things, as do souls after death.
This indicates what hell fire is: pure hatred, revenge, and cruelty (self-love, in other words), which turns into scenes like these. When our nature is like this, then as long as we live in our bodies, angels who inspect us closely see us in exactly this way, no matter how different we look on the surface. That is to say, our hatreds look like fiery torches and the false thoughts they inspire look like smoky furnaces.
[10] Here is what the Lord said about such fire in Matthew:
Every tree not making good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (Matthew 3:10; Luke 3:9)
The good fruit means love for others. If we divest ourselves of this love, we cut ourselves down and throw ourselves into this kind of fire. In the same author:
The Son of Humankind will send his angels, who will gather together out of his kingdom all the stumbling blocks, and those who do wickedness. And they will send them into a fiery forge. (Matthew 13:41-42, 50)
Likewise. In the same author:
The king says to those who are on his left, "Go away from me, you cursed ones, into eternal fire prepared for the Devil and the Devil's angels." (Matthew 25:41)
Likewise.
[11] The fact that they would be sent into eternal fire or fiery Gehenna and that their worm does not die and their fire is not put out (Matthew 18:8-9; Mark 9:43-49) stands for something similar. In Luke:
Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger into the water and cool my tongue, because I am tormented in this flame. (Luke 16:24)
Likewise.
[12] People who do not know the secrets of the Lord's kingdom imagine that the Lord is the one who sends the ungodly down into hell, or into the kind of fire with which hatred blazes, as noted; but the true case is radically different. It is we ourselves and devilish spirits themselves who hurl themselves there. Since it seems as though the Lord sends them, however, it was phrased that way in the Word, in keeping with appearances and even with sensory illusions — especially in the eyes of Jews. They had no interest at all in understanding anything but what agreed with their senses, no matter how mistaken those senses were. As a result, the literal meaning is full of such appearances, especially in the prophetic parts.
[13] In Jeremiah, for example:
This is what Jehovah has said: "Render judgment in the morning and snatch spoil from the hand of the oppressor, so that my fury does not go forth like fire and burn (and no one to quench it) because of the wickedness of their deeds." (Jeremiah 21:12)
Rendering judgment is saying what is true. Snatching spoil from the hand of the oppressor is doing good deeds that embody love for others. The fire stands for the hellish punishment experienced by people who do not act that way — that is, who live by the lies that hatred spawns. In the literal meaning, this kind of fiery fury is attributed to Jehovah, but in the inner sense it is exactly the opposite.
[14] Likewise in Joel:
The day of Jehovah: before it, fire consumes all, and after it, a flame blazes. (Joel 2:1, 3)
In David:
Smoke went up from his nose, and fire from his mouth consumed all. Embers sent flames from him, and darkness was under his feet. (Psalms 18:8-9)
In Moses:
A fire has kindled in my anger, and it will burn all the way to the lowest hell, and it will consume the earth and its produce and torch the foundations of the mountains. (Deuteronomy 32:22)
The fire stands for hatred, and the smoke, for falsity, which exist inside us. They are attributed to Jehovah, or the Lord, for the reasons given. It also appears to the hells as though he does these things, but the case is exactly the opposite; they are the ones who do it to themselves, because fiery hatred burns inside them. This shows how easy it is for us to succumb to delusions when we do not know about the Word's inner meaning.
[15] It was the same with the smoke and fire that the people saw on Mount Sinai when the law was issued. Jehovah, or the Lord, appears to each of us as we are. To heavenly angels he looks like the sun; to spiritual angels he looks like the moon; to all good people he appears as the light, in various pleasing, delightful ways; but to the evil he appears as smoke and a devouring fire. Jews had no neighborly love at the time the law was issued but were ruled by self-love and materialism; evil and falsity held complete sway in them. Jehovah, or the Lord, therefore appeared to them as smoke and fire, while at the same instant he appeared to angels as the light and sun of heaven.
[16] Moses makes it clear that he looked this way to Jews because of their character:
The glory of Jehovah resided on Mount Sinai. And the appearance of Jehovah's glory was like a consuming fire on the head of the mountain, before the eyes of the children of Israel. (Exodus 24:16-17)
In the same author:
Mount Sinai was smoking — all of it — because Jehovah came down on it in fire, and the smoke of it went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. (Exodus 19:18)
And in another place:
You came near and stood below the mountain when the mountain was burning with fire all the way to the heart of the sky; shadow and cloud and darkness. And Jehovah spoke to you from the middle of the fire. (Deuteronomy 4:11-12; 5:22)
Again:
It happened when you heard the voice from the middle of the shadow and the mountain was burning with fire that you came near to me and said, "Why should we die? For this big fire will consume us. If we continue to hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more, we will die." (Deuteronomy 5:23, 24, 25)
[17] It would be the same if anyone else living a life of hatred and the garbage it generates were to see the Lord; such a person could not help seeing him in terms of hatred and its loathsome by-products, which absorb the goodness and truth he radiates and turn them into malevolent fire, smoke, and darkness.
The same passages also reveal what the smoke of a furnace and a fiery torch are — the thick falsity and foul evil that took over the church in its final days.
Footnotes:
{*1} "Tow" here refers to short or broken fibers used for kindling. [RS]
{*2} The Latin word here translated "will drink," bibet, is an emendation for the word that appears in the first edition, bibat, "let him [or her] drink." Elliott makes and annotates this correction in his translation (Swedenborg [1749-1756] 1983-1999); it is also corrected in the translation by Clowes and his revisers (Swedenborg [1749-1756] 1995-1998). [LHC]
Potts(1905-1910) 1861
1861. And behold a furnace of smoke and a torch of fire. That "a furnace of smoke" signifies the densest falsity, and "a torch of fire" the burning heat of cupidities, is evident from the signification of "a furnace of smoke" as being dense falsity, and from the signification of "a torch of fire" as being the burning heat of cupidities. It is said "a furnace of smoke," because a man, especially a man of the church, who has a knowledge of the truth and still does not acknowledge, but in heart denies it, and indeed passes his life in things contrary to the truth, appears no otherwise than as a furnace of smoke-himself as the furnace, and the falsity from his hatreds as the smoke. The cupidities from which are the falsities appear as torches of fire from such a furnace, as is evident also from the representatives in the other life (described from experience, n. 814, 1528). It is cupidities of hatred, revenge, cruelties, adulteries-and still more when these are mingled with deceits-that appear and become such things. [2] That by a "furnace," "smoke," and "fire" such things are signified in the Word may be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:
Everyone is a hypocrite and a wicked one, and every mouth speaketh folly. For wickedness burneth as the fire, it devoureth the briars and thorns, and kindleth in the thickets of the forest, and they mount up as the rising of smoke. In the wrath of Jehovah Zebaoth is the land darkened, and the people is become like food for fire; a man shall not spare his brother (Isa. 9:17-19). Here "fire" denotes hatreds and "the rising of smoke" from it such falsities; hatred is described by "no man sparing his brother;" for when such men are looked upon by the angels they appear no otherwise than as here described. [3] In Joel:
I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come (Joel 2:30-31). Here "fire" denotes hatred; "pillars of smoke" falsities; "the sun" charity; and "the moon" faith. [4] In Isaiah:
The land shall become burning pitch; it shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up to eternity (Isa. 34:9-10). "Burning pitch" denotes direful cupidities; and "smoke" falsities. [5] In Malachi:
Behold the day cometh burning as a furnace, and all the proud and everyone that worketh wickedness shall be stubble, and the day that cometh shall set them on fire, it shall leave them neither root nor branch (Mal. 4:1). A "burning furnace" here denotes the same as before; the "root" denotes charity; the "branch" truth, which shall not be left. [6] In Hosea:
Ephraim became guilty in Baal, he shall be as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing-floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney (Hos. 13:1, 3). "Ephraim" denotes an intelligent man who becomes such. [7] In Isaiah:
The strong shall be as tow, and his work as a spark; and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them (Isa. 1:31);
meaning those who are in the love of self, or what is the same, in hatred against the neighbor, in that they shall be thus kindled by their own cupidities. In John:
Babylon is become a habitation of demons. They cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning. Her smoke goeth up for ever and ever (Rev. 18:2, 18; 19:3). [8] In the same:
He opened the pit of the abyss, and there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun was darkened, and the air, from the smoke of the pit (Rev. 9:2). In the same:
Out of the mouths of the horses went forth fire and smoke and brimstone. By these was the third part of men killed, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone, that went forth out of their mouth (Rev. 9:17-18). In the same:
He that worshipeth the beast shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, poured out unmixed in the cup of His anger, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone (Rev. 14:9-10). In the same:
The fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun, and it was given to him to scorch men with fire; and men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God (Rev. 16:8-9). In like manner it is said that They were cast into the lake of fire burning with brimstone (Rev. 19:20; 20:14-15; 21:8). [9] In these passages "fire" denotes the cupidities, and "smoke" the falsities that will reign in the last times. These things were seen by John when his interior sight was opened, just as they appear in the other life. Similar things are also seen by spirits, and by souls after death. Hence it may be seen what hell fire is, that it is nothing but hatred, revenge, and cruelty, or what is the same, the love of self; for such do these become. During his life in the body, any man of such a quality, however he might appear outwardly, if inspected closely by the angels would appear no otherwise in their eyes, that is, his hatreds would appear as torches of fire, and the falsities derived from them as furnaces of smoke. [10] Concerning this fire the Lord thus speaks in Matthew:
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire (Matt. 3:10; Luke 3:9);
by "good fruit" is meant charity: he who deprives himself of this cuts himself down, and casts himself into such fire. Again: The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire (Matt. 13:41-42, 50), with a like meaning. And again:
The king saith unto those on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41). [11] That they should be "sent into the eternal fire," "the Gehenna of fire," and that "their worm should not die, and their fire should not be quenched" (Matt. 18:8-9; Mark 9:43-49), have a like meaning. In Luke:
Send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame (Luke 16:24), with a like meaning. [12] They who are not acquainted with the arcana of the Lord's kingdom suppose that the Lord casts the wicked into hell, or into such fire, which, as before said, is that of hatreds; but the case is very different, for it is the man himself, or the diabolical spirit himself, who casts himself down. But because it so appears it has been expressed in the Word according to the appearance, and indeed according to the fallacies of the senses; and especially was this necessary in the case of the Jews, who were unwilling to accept anything at all unless it were in accordance with the senses, whatever might be the fallacies thus involved. On this account the sense of the letter, especially in the prophecies, is full of such things. [13] As in Jeremiah:
Thus said Jehovah, Judge judgment in the morning, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest My fury go forth like fire, and burn, and there be none to quench it, because of the wickedness of their works (Jer. 21:12). To "judge judgment" is to speak truth; to "deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor," is to do the good of charity; "fire" denotes the infernal punishment of those who do not do these things, that is, who pass their lives in the falsity of hatred. In the sense of the letter such "fire" and "fury" are attributed to Jehovah, but in the internal sense it is quite the contrary. [14] In like manner in Joel:
The day of Jehovah: a fire devoureth before Him, and behind Him a flame burneth (Joel 2:1, 3). In David:
There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth devoured, coals did burn from Him, and thick darkness was under His feet (Ps. 18:8-9). In Moses:
A fire is kindled in Mine anger, and it shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall devour the earth and her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains (Deut. 32:22), where "fire" denotes the hatreds, and "smoke" the falsities which are in men, which are attributed to Jehovah or the Lord for the reasons that have been given. In the hells also the appearance is that Jehovah or the Lord does this, but it is quite the contrary; they do it to themselves, because they are in the fires of hatred. Hence it is manifest how easily a man may fall into phantasies if the internal sense of the Word is not known. [15] It was similar with the "smoke" and "fire" that were seen by the people on Mount Sinai when the law was promulgated. For Jehovah, or the Lord, appears to everyone according to his quality-to celestial angels as a Sun,, to spiritual angels as a Moon,, to all the good as a Light of varied delight and pleasantness but to the evil as a smoke and as a consuming fire. And as when the Law was promulgated, the Jews had nothing of charity, but the love of self and of the world prevailed in them, and thus nothing but evils and falsities, He therefore appeared to them as a smoke and fire, when at the same instant He appeared to the angels as the Sun and Light of heaven. [16] That He so appeared to the Jews because they were of such a character, is evident in Moses:
The glory of Jehovah abode upon Mount Sinai, and the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mount, in the eyes of the sons of Israel (Exod. 24:16-17). Again:
And Mount Sinai was all of it smoking, because Jehovah descended upon it in fire, and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly (Exod. 19:18). And elsewhere:
Ye came near and stood under the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire, even to the heart of heaven; darkness, cloud, and thick darkness and Jehovah spake unto you out of the midst of the fire (Deut. 4:11-12; 5:22). Also:
It came to pass when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain did burn with fire, that ye came near unto me, and ye said, Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more, then we shall die (Deut. 5:23-25). [17] Just so would it be with anyone else who should see the Lord, and who has passed his life in hatred and in the foul things of hatreds, for he could see Him no otherwise than from his hatred and its foulnesses, these being the recipients of the rays of good and truth from the Lord, and they would turn these rays into such fire, smoke, and thick darkness. From the same passages it is also plain what the "smoke of the furnace" is, and what the "torch of fire," namely, the most dense falsity and most filthy evil, that would in the last times take possession of the church.
Elliott(1983-1999) 1861
1861. 'And behold, a smoking furnace' means grossest falsity, and 'a flaming torch' the heat of evil desires. This is clear from the meaning of 'a smoking furnace' as gross falsity, and from the meaning of 'a flaming torch' as the heat of evil desires. The expression 'a smoking furnace' is used because anyone, especially a member of the Church, who has some knowledge of the truth, and yet does not acknowledge it but at heart denies it, and leads a life pursuing things that are contrary to the truth, is seen as nothing other than a smoking furnace, he himself as 'the furnace', and the falsity arising from his hatred as 'the smoke'. Evil desires out of which falsities arise are seen as nothing other than torches of fire from such a furnace, as is also clear from the representatives in the next life which have been described from experience in 814, 1528. It is desires belonging to hatred, revenge, cruelty, and adultery - especially when mingled with deceit - that are seen as such and become such things.
[2] That in the Word such are meant by a furnace, smoke, and fire, becomes clear from the following places: In Isaiah,
Everyone is a hypocrite and wicked, and every mouth speaks folly. For wickedness burns like a fire, it consumes brier and thorn, and kindles the entangled boughs of the wood, and they surge up in an uprising of smoke. Through the wrath of Jehovah Zebaoth the earth has been darkened, and the people has become as fuel for the fire; a man will not spare his brother. Isa 9:17-19.
Here 'fire' stands for hatred, 'the rising up of smoke from it' for falsities of that kind. Hatred is described by the statement that 'a man will not spare his brother'. Such people, when looked at by angels, appear exactly like the things described here.
[3] In Joel,
I will give portents in the heavens and on earth, blood and fire, and columns of smote. The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah comes. Joel 2:30, 31.
Here 'fire' stands for hatred, 'columns of smoke 'for falsities, 'sun' for charity, and 'moon' for faith.
[4] In Isaiah,
The land will become burning pitch. Night and day it will not be quenched; its smoke will go up eternally. Isa 34:9, 10.
'Burning pitch' stands for dreadful evil desires, 'smoke' for falsities.
[5] In Malachi,
Behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant and every evil-doer will be stubble; and the day that is coming will burn them up; it will leave them neither root nor branch. Mal 4:1.
'A burning furnace' stands for the same things as before. 'A root' stands for charity, 'a branch' for truth, which will not be left.
[6] In Hosea,
Ephraim has become guilty through Baal. It will be like chaff that is driven by the whirlwind from the threshing-floor, and like smoke from a chimney. Hosea 13:1, 3.
'Ephraim' stands for one with understanding who has become such.
[7] In Isaiah,
The strong will be as tow, and his work as a spark, and both of them will burn together, with none to quench them. Isa 1:31.
This stands for the fact that people governed by self-love - or what amounts to the same, by hatred against the neighbour - will be burnt up by their own evil desires. In John,
Babylon has become the dwelling-place of demons. Those cried out who saw the smoke of her burning. The smoke goes up for ever and ever. Rev 18:2, 18; 19:3.
[8] In the same book,
He opened the pit of the abyss, from which there went up smoke out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun was darkened, and the air, with the smoke of the pit. Rev 9:2.
In the same book,
Out of the mouths of the horses there went forth fire, and smoke, and brimstone. By these a third part of mankind was killed - by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone which went forth out of their mouths. Rev 9:17, 18.
In the same book,
He who worships the beast will drinka from the wine of God's anger, poured unmixed as it is in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone. Rev 14:9, 10.
In the same book, The fourth angel poured out his bowl into the sun, and it was allowed to scorch
men with fire; therefore men were burned by the fierce heat, and they blasphemed the name of God. Rev 16:8, 9.
And it is in like manner said that
They were thrown into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. Rev 19:20; 20:14, 15; 21:8.
[9] In all of these places 'fire' stands for the evil desires, 'smoke' for the falsities, which will reign in the last times. These thing as they actually exist in the next life were seen by John following the opening of his interior sight. Similar things are also seen by spirits, and by souls after death. These references show what hell-fire is, that it is nothing other than hatred, revenge, and cruelty, or what amounts to the same, self-love, which passes into such a visible form. As long as a person is in his bodily life, no matter how different his outward appearance might seem to be, he cannot be seen by the angels, when they look at him closely, in any other way than this; that is, his hatred is not seen by them except as 'flaming torches' nor the falsities coming from it except as 'smoking furnaces'.
[10] Of this fire the Lord speaks in Matthew as follows,
Every tree not bearing good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire. Matt 3:10; Luke 3:9.
'Good fruit' is used to mean charity, and anyone who deprives himself of this 'cuts himself down and casts himself into such a fire'. In the same gospel,
The Son of Man will send His angels, who will gather out of His kingdom all offences, and those who work iniquity, and will send them into the furnace of fire. Matt 13:41, 42, 50.
Here the meaning is similar. In the same gospel,
The king will sayb to those on his left hand, Depart from me, O cursed ones, into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Matt 25:41.
Here the meaning is similar.
[11] Where it is said that they were to be sent into eternal fire, the Gehenna of fire, and that their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched in Matt 18:8, 9; Mark 9:43-49, the meaning is similar. In Luke,
Send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. Luke 16:24.
Here the meaning is similar.
[12] People who have no knowledge of the arcana of the Lord's kingdom imagine that the Lord sends the wicked down into hell, that is, into the kind of fire which, as has been stated, is the manifestation of hatred. But the truth of the matter is altogether different, for it is the person himself, or the devil- spirit himself, who casts himself down. Yet because it appears as though the Lord casts down, it has been spoken of in the Word in that way - according to the appearance, indeed according to the illusions of the senses. This was especially necessary with the Jews, who were totally unwilling to accept anything if it did not coincide with their own sensory perceptions, no matter what illusions these might entail. This is why the sense of the letter, especially the prophetical sections, is full of such ideas, as in Jeremiah,
[13] Thus said Jehovah, Execute judgement in the morning, and deliver him who has been robbed from the hand of the oppressor, lest My wrath go forth like fire and burn with none to quench it because of the wickedness of their works. Jer 21:12.
'Executing judgement' is declaring the truth. 'Delivering him who has been robbed from the hand of the oppressor' is doing a good work of charity. 'Fire' stands for the hellish punishment of those who do not do these things, that is, who pass their time clinging to falsity that is the product of hatred. In the sense of the letter such fire and anger are attributed to Jehovah, but in the internal sense it is quite the reverse.
[14] Similarly in Joel,
The day of Jehovah, fire devours before him, and behind him a flame burns. Joel 2:1, 3.
In David,
Smoke went up out of His nose, and fire out of His mouth devoured; glowing coals flamed forth from Him; and there was thick darkness under His feet. Ps 18:8, 9.
In Moses,
A fire has flared up in My anger, and will burn right down to the lowest hell, and will devour the land and its increase, and will set on fire the foundations of the mountains. Deut 32:22.
Here 'a fire' stands for the hatred, 'smoke' for the falsities, that reside with a person, which are attributed to Jehovah or the Lord for the reasons that have been stated. To the hells also it seems that Jehovah or the Lord does the things described, but quite the reverse is the case. It is they who do them because they dwell in the fires of hatred. From this it is evident how easily a person can sink into delusions if the internal sense of the Word is not known.
[15] It was similar with the smoke and fire which the people saw coming from Mount Sinai when the Law was given; for Jehovah or the Lord is seen by everyone according to his character and disposition. By celestial angels He is seen as the sun, by spiritual angels as the moon, by all who are good as light of varying delightfulness and loveliness; but by the evil as smoke and as devouring fire. And because the Jews had no charity at all when the Law was given, but self-love and love of the world reigned among them, and so nothing but evils and falsities, He was therefore seen by them as smoke and fire, while in the same instant He was seen by angels as the sun and heavenly light.
[16] The fact that He was seen thus by the Jews, because their character was such, is clear in Moses,
The glory of Jehovah dwelt over Mount Sinai. And the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain, before the eyes of the children of Israel. Exod 24:16, 17.
In the same book,
Mount Sinai was smoking, the whole of it, because Jehovah came down upon it in fire and its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. Exod 19:18.
And elsewhere in the same author,
You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while the mountain was burning with fire even to the heart of heaven, with darkness and cloud and thick darkness. And Jehovah spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. Deut 4:11, 12; 5:22.
Also in the same,
When you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, and the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to Me and you said, Why should we die? For this great fire will devour us; if we hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more we shall die. Deut 5:23-25.
[17] The same would be the case if anyone else who spends his time hating and performing filthy deeds that are the product of hatred were to see the Lord. He would inevitably see Him from his own hatred and the filthy deeds that are the product of it. These things being the recipients of the rays of good and truth from Him, they would convert those rays into that type of fire, smoke, and thick darkness. The same places that have been quoted also show what' a smoking furnace' is, and what 'a burning torch' is, namely the grossest falsity and the filthiest evil which took possession of the Church in its last times.
Latin(1748-1756) 1861
1861. 'Et ecce furnus fumi': quod significet densissimum falsum, et 'fax ignis' quod significet cupiditatum aestus, constat ex significatione 'furni fumi' quod sit densum falsum; et a significatione 'facis ignis' quod sit cupiditatum aestus: 'furnus fumi' dicitur quia homo, cumprimis homo Ecclesiae, qui cognitiones veri habet, et usque non agnoscit sed corde negat, inque contrariis vero vitam agit, non aliter apparet ac furnus fumi, ipse ut 'furnus,' et falsum ex odiis ut 'fumus'; cupiditates ex quibus falsa, non aliter ac 'faces ignis ex tali furno,' sicut etiam constat ex repraesentativis in altera vita, de quibus ab experientia n. 814, 1528; sunt cupiditates odiorum, vindictarum, crudelitatum, et adulteriorum, magis eorundem quando cum dolis mixta sunt, quae tales apparent et fiunt. [2] Quod per 'furnum fumum et ignem' talia in Verbo significentur, constare potest ab his locis; apud Esaiam, Unusquisque hypocrita et malitiosus, et omne os loquens stultitiam,... quia flagrat sicut ignis malitia, senticetum et vepretum comedit, et incendit implexa silvae, et elevant se elatione fumi; in excandescentia Jehovae Zebaoth obscurata est terra et factas est populus sicut cibus ignis, vir fratri suo non parcent, ix [16,] 17, 18 [A.V. 17, 18, 19];ubi 'ignis' pro odiis, 'elatio fumi inde' pro talibus falsis; odium describitur per quod 'vir fratri suo non parcent'; qui cum inspiciuntur ab angelis, non aliter apparent quam hic sunt descripti: [3] apud Joelem, Dabo prodigia in caelis et in terra, sanguinem, et ignem, et columnas fumi; sol vertetur in tenebras, et luna in sanguinem antequam venit dies Jehovae magnus et terribilis, iii 3, 4 [A.V. ii 30, 31];
ubi 'ignis' pro odio, 'columnae fumi' pro falsis, 'sol' pro charitate 'luna, pro fide: [4] apud Esaiam, Erit terra in picem ardentem, nocte et die non exstinguetur, in aeternum ascendet fumus ejus, xxxiv 9, 10;
'pix ardens' pro diris cupiditatibus, 'furnus' pro falsitatibus: [5] apud Malachiam, Ecce dies veniens ardens sicut furnus, et erunt omnes superbi, et omnis faciens malitiam stipula, et inflammabit eos dies veniens; non relinquet iis radicem et ramum, iii 19;
'ardens furnus' pro similibus; 'radix' pro charitate, 'ramus' pro veritate quae non relinquentur: [6] apud Hosheam, Ephraim reus factus in Baale,... erit sicut gluma e turbine abigitur ex area, et sicut fumus ex fumario, xiii 1, 3;
'Ephraim' pro intelligente qui sic factus: [7] apud Esaiam, Erit robustus in stuppam, et opus ejus in favillam, succendentur ambo pariter, et nemo exstinguens, i 31;
pro qui in amore sui, seu quod idem, in odio contra proximum, quod ita ex cupiditatibus suis 'succendentur': apud Johannem, Babylon facta habitaculum daemonum,... clamabant videntes fumum combustionis ejus,... fumus ascendit in saecula saeculorum, Apoc. xviii 2, 18; xix (x)3:
[8] apud eundem, Aperuit puteum abyssi, unde ascendit fumus e puteo, sicut fumus fornacis magnae; et obscuratus est sol, et aer e fumo putei, Apoc. ix 2:
apud eundem, Ex ore equorum exivit ignis, et fumus, et sulphur; ab his occisi sunt tertia pars hominum, ab igne, et a fumo et a sulphure, quod exibat ex ore eorum, Apoc. ix 17, 18:
apud eundem, Qui adorat bestiam,... bibat ex vino irae Dei mixto mero in calice irae Ipsius, et cruciabitur igne et sulphure, Apoc. xiv 9, 10:
apud eundem, Quartus angelus effudit phialam suam in solem, et datum illi est aestu adurere homines per ignem, itaque aestuaverunt homines aestu magno, et blasphemarunt nomen Dei, Apoc. xvi 8 [9];
similiter quod Conjecti sint in stagnum ignis ardens in sulphure, Apoc. xix 20; xx 14, 15; xxi 8;
[9] illis locis 'ignis' pro cupiditatibus, 'fumus' pro falsitatibus, quae ultimis temporibus regnabunt; qualiter se habent in altera vita, visa sunt Johanni cum visus interior ei apertus fuit; similia quoque spiritibus videntur et animabus post mortem: exinde constare potest quid ignis infernalis, quod nihil aliud sit quam odium, vindicta et crudelitas, seu quod idem, amor sui, quae talia fiunt; homo quamdiu in vita corporis est, cum talis, utcumque apparet extus alius, si inspiceretur ab angelis prope, coram oculis eorum non aliter appareret, nempe odia ejus ut 'faces ignis,' et falsa inde ut 'faces fumi.' [10] De hoc igne ita Dominus apud Matthaeum, Omnis arbor non faciens fructum bonum, exscinditur, et in ignem conjicitur, iii 10; Luc. iii 9;
per 'bonum fructum' intelligitur charitas, qua qui se deprivat, se 'exscindit et conjicit in talem ignem': apud eundem, Mittet Filius Hominis angelos suos, qui colligent e regno Ipsius omnia offendicula, et eos qui faciunt iniquitatem, et mittent eos in caminum ignis, xiii 41, 42, 50;
similiter: apud eundem, Rex dicit iis qui e sinistris, Discedite a me maledicti, iniquitatem aeternum, paratum diabolo et angelis ejus, xxv 41;
similiter:
[11] Quod mitterentur in Ignem aeternum, Gehennam ignis, et quod vermis eorum non moriatur, et ignis non exstinguatur, Matth. xviii 8, 9; Marc. ix 43-49;
similiter: apud Lucam, Mitte Lazarum, ut intingat extremum digiti in aquam, e refrigeret linguam, quia crucior in flamma hac, xvi 24;
similiter. [12] Qui arcana regni Domini non norunt, putant quod Dominus demittat impios in infernum, seu in ignem talem qui est odiorum, ut dictum; sed aliter prorsus se res habet; est ipse homo, et ipse spiritus diabolicus, qui se praecipitat; sed quia ita apparet, secundum apparentiam, immo secundum fallacias sensuum, ita locutum est in Verbo, cumprimis coram Judaeis, qui nihil prorsus capere volebant nisi quod esset secundum sensus, qualescumque fallaciae essent; quare sensu litterae, cumprimis propheticae, talibus plenus est, [13] sicut apud Jeremiam, Sic dixit Jehovah, Judicate mane judicium, et eripite spoliatum e manu oppressoris, ne exeat sicut ignis furor Meus et ardeat, et nemo exstinguens, propter malitiam operum eorum, xxi 12;
'judicare judicium' est verum dicere, 'eripere spoliatum e manu oppressoris' est bonum charitatis facere, 'ignis' pro poena inferna eorum qui haec non faciunt, hoc est, qui in falso odii degunt; in sensu litterae talis ignis et furor tribuitur Jehovae, sed in sensu interno prorsus contrarium est: [14] similiter apud Joelem, Dies Jehovae,... ante eum comedit ignis, et post eum inflammat flamma, ii 1, 3:
apud Davidem, Ascendit fumus ex naso Ipsius, et ignis ex ore Ipsius comedit, prunae arserunt ex Ipso,... et caligo sub pedibus Ipsius, Ps. xviii 9, 10 [A.V. 8, 9]:
apud Mosen, Ignis accensus in ira Mea, et ardebit usque ad infernum infimum, ac comedet terram et proventum ejus, et inflammabit fundamenta montium, Deut. xxxii 22;
ubi 'ignis' pro odiis, 'fumus' pro falsis, quae apud hominem; quae tribuuntur Jehovae seu Domino ex causis de quibus dictum; apparet quoque ita infernis quod Jehovah seu Dominus hoc faciat, sed prorsus contrarium est; ii sunt qui sibi hoc faciunt, quia in odiorum ignibus sunt; inde patet, nisi sensus internus Verbi sciatur, quam facile homo in phantasias possit labi. [15] Similiter se habuit cum fumo et igne qui visus populo e monte Sinai cum Lex promulgaretur; Jehovah enim seu Dominus apparet unicuique qualis est, angelis caelestibus sicut sol, angelis spiritualibus sicut luna, bonis omnibus sicut lux variae jucunditatis et amoenitatis, at malis sicut fumus et sicut ignis consumens; et quia Judaei cum promulgaretur Lex, nihil charitatis habebant, sed apud eos amor sui et mundi regnabant, proinde non nisi quam mala et falsa, ideo apparuit iis ut fumus et ignis, cum in eodem instanti angelis ut sol et lux caelestis; [16] quod ita apparuerit Judaeis quia tales, constat apud Mosen, Habitavit gloria Jehovae super monte Sinai;... et aspectus gloriae Jehovae sicut ignis comedens in capite montis, ante oculos filiorum Israelis, Exod. xxiv 16, 17;
apud eundem, Mons Sinai fumabat totus ille, coram quod descendit super illum Jehovah in igne, et ascendit fumus illius sicut fumus fornacis, et contremuit totus mons valde, Exod. xix 18;
et alibi, Accessistis et stetistis sub monte, cum mons flagrans igne, usque ad cor caeli, tenebrae, et nubes, et caligo; et locutus est Jehovah ad vos e medio ignis, Deut. iv 11, 12; v 19;
tum, Factum cum audivistis vocem e medio tenebrarum, et mons flagrans igne, et accessistis ad me,... et dixistis,... Quare moriemur, quia comedet nos ignis magnus hic? si addentes nos audire {1} vocem Jehovae Dei nostri amplius, moriemur, Deut. v 20-22 [A.V. 23-25]. [17] Similiter se haberet si quis alius qui in odio et odiorum spurcis degit, videret Dominum; non aliter Ipsum videre posset quam ex odio et ejus spurcis, quae sunt recipientia radiorum boni et veri ab Ipso, quae radios boni et veri in talem ignem, fumum et caliginem, verterent. Ex iisdem locis quoque patet quid 'fumus fumi' et quid 'fax ignis,' quod nempe densissimum falsum et spurcissimum malum, quae ultimis temporibus Ecclesiam occupabant.
@1 I has videre, probably a printer's error. S. has audire in all other cases as Heb.$