Apocalypse Explained, volume 1 - Swedenborg Foundation

APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED 497Coelestia, n. 3579, 8989). Because “gold tried by fire” signifies thegood of love purified from evils, it was commanded:That the gold and silver taken from the Midianites should bepassed through the fire, and thus be purified (Num. 31:22, 23).[11] That “gold” signifies the good of love and of charity isshown further in the following passages. In Hosea:Israel hath forsaken good; the enemy pursueth him; they havemade their silver and their gold into idols for themselves (8:3, 4).“Making their silver and their gold into idols for themselves”signifies that they have turned truth and good into falsities andevils, as is evident from its being said, “Israel hath forsaken good,and the enemy pursueth him;” “the enemy” is falsity from evil, andevil from falsity.[12] In Joel:What are ye to Me, O Tyre and Zidon? My silver and My gold yehave taken, and the desirable things of My goods have ye brought intoyour temples, and the sons of Judah, and the sons of Jerusalem ye havesold to the sons of the Grecians, that ye might remove them far fromtheir borders (3:4–6).“Tyre and Zidon” mean those within the church who are in theknowledges of truth and good; here those who have pervertedthese, and applied them to falsities and to the evils of falsities; thisis signified by “Ye have taken My silver and My gold, and thedesirable things of My goods have ye brought into your temples;”“silver” signifying truth, “gold” good, and “the desirable things ofgoods” signifying derived truths and goods, which are knowledgesfrom the sense of the letter of the Word; “to bring them into theirtemples” signifies to turn them into profane worship; that “theysold the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem to the sons of theGrecians” means that they changed all the truths of good Into thefalsities of evil; “removing them far from their borders” means farfrom truths themselves. (That “Tyre and Zidon” mean those within