1296. Come, let us make bricks. That this signifies falsities which they fashioned for themselves, is evident from the signification of "brick." In the Word, "stone" signifies truth, and therefore "brick," because it is made by man, signifies falsity; for brick is stone artificially made. That "brick" has this signification may be further seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:
I have spread out My hands all the day unto a refractory people, that walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense upon bricks (Isa. 65:2-3).
"Burning incense upon bricks" denotes worship from things fabricated and false; and therefore they are said to walk after their own thoughts. Again:
For the elation and pride of heart of Ephraim and of the inhabitant of Samaria, that say, The bricks have fallen down, but we will build with hewn stone (Isa. 9:9-10).
"Ephraim" denotes an intelligent person who falls into perversities, and calls or makes to be true things that are false, or "bricks;" "hewn stone" denotes what is fabricated. In Nahum:
Draw thee water for the siege, strengthen thy fortresses, go into the mud and tread the clay, repair the brick kiln. There shall the fire devour thee, and the sword shall cut thee off (Nahum 3:14-15).
Here "to tread the clay" denotes falsities; "to repair the brick kiln denotes the derivative worship; "the fire" is the punishment of cupidities; "the sword" is the punishment of falsities. In Ezekiel:
Take thee a brick, and set it before thee, and grave upon it a city, even Jerusalem (Ezek. 4:1);
and he was commanded to besiege it, in which prophetic matter there is involved that the worship was falsified. That "brick" signifies falsity, may be still further seen from the signification of "stone," which is truth, concerning which presently.