Apocalypse Explained, volume 1 - Swedenborg Foundation

APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED 488father; but Shem and Japheth covered his nakedness, and turned awaytheir faces that they might not see the nakedness of their father (Gen.9:21–23).(But these things may be seen explained in the Arcana Coelestia,where they are treated of.)[10] In Lamentations:O daughter of Edom, the cup shall pass over unto thee also; thoushalt be drunken, and shall be made naked (4:21).Here, “being drunken and made naked” signify the like as above.(But who those are who are meant by “Edom,” see Arcana Coelestia,n. 3322, 8314.) In Isaiah:Daughter of Babylon and of Chaldea, sit upon the earth. Take themillstone, and grind meal; uncover thy locks, uncover the thigh, passthrough the rivers. Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy reproachshall be seen (47:1–3).By “the daughter of Babylon and of Chaldea” those are meant whoprofane the goods and truths of the church. “To grind meal” meansto falsify truths; “to uncover the locks and the thigh” means to bedeprived of the intelligence of truth and of the will of good; the likeis meant by “passing through the rivers,” and “uncoveringnakedness.”240c. [11] Because “nakedness” signified the deprivation of theunderstanding of truth and of the will of good, it was commanded:That Aaron and his sons should not ascend by steps upon the altar,that their nakedness be not discovered thereon (Exod. 20:26);Also that they should make them linen breeches to cover the fleshof their nakedness, and that these should be upon them when they wentin unto the tent of meeting, and when they came near to the altar, andthat otherwise they should bear iniquity and die (Exod. 28:42, 43).