Arcana Coelestia volume 7 - Swedenborg Foundation

ARCANA COELESTIA 3627it to the Lord, and perceive that which proceeds from the Lord andis the Lord’s in heaven, namely, the Divine truth from his Divinegood.[6] Again:Asshur shall fall with the sword, not of a man; and the sword, notof a man, shall devour him; his rock shall also pass away by reason ofdread, but his princes shall be dismayed by the ensign (Isa. 31:8–9);also said of Egypt, which is the memory-knowledge of the churchperverted. Reasoning from memory-knowledges about Divinetruths, from which come perversion and falsification, is “Asshur,”these truths perverted and falsified are the “princes,” the “swordwith which Asshur shall fall” is falsity battling with and vastatingtruth (n. 2799, 4499). Again:The strength of Pharaoh shall become to you for a shame, and thetrust in the shadow of Egypt for a reproach, when his princes shall be inZoan (Isa. 30:3–4);the “princes in Zoan” denote truths falsified, thus falsities, as above.[7] Again:The pelican and the bittern shall possess it; and the owl and theraven shall dwell therein; he shall stretch over it the line of emptiness,and the plummet of a waste. The nobles thereof are not there, they shallcall a kingdom, and all her princes shall be nothing (Isa. 34:11–12);the “pelican,” the “bittern,” the “owl,” and the “raven,” denote thedifferent kinds of falsity which come into existence when theDivine truths that are in the Word become of no account. Thedesolation and vastation of truth are signified by the “line ofemptiness, and the plummet of a waste”; and the falsities, which tothem are primary truths, are signified by “princes.” Again:I will render profane the princes of holiness, and I will give Jacobfor a curse, and Israel for reproaches (Isa. 43:28);