431. VII. THAT IT IS THE SAME WITH UNCLEANNESS IN THE CHURCH, AND WITH CLEANNESS THERE. The reason is because the Church is the Lord's kingdom on earth corresponding to His kingdom in the heavens, and the Lord so conjoins the two kingdoms that they make one. He also makes distinction among those who are there, just as He makes distinction between heaven and hell, the distinctions being according to loves. Those who are in the shameless and obscene delights of scortatory love join to themselves their like from hell; but those who are in the modest and chaste delights of conjugial love are associated by the Lord with like angels from heaven. When with man, these their angels, if they stand near adulterers who are such from confirmation and purpose, perceive the offensive smells spoken of above (no. 430), and draw somewhat back.
On account of the correspondence of filthy loves with excrement and mire, it was commanded the sons of Israel that they should carry with them a paddle with which they should cover their excrement, lest Jehovah God walking in the midst of their camp should see the nakedness of the thing and turn back (Deut. 23:13, 14). This was commanded because the camp of the sons of Israel represented the Church, and those unclean things corresponded to the lascivious things of whoredom. By Jehovah God walking in the midst of their camp was signified His presence together with angels. That they should cover it, was because all those places in hell where troops of such lascivious spirits dwell, are covered over and shut up. Therefore it is also said, "lest He see the nakedness of the thing." That all places in hell are shut up--this it has been given me to see; and also that when they were opened, which was done when a new demon entered, so offensive a smell exhaled therefrom that it troubled my stomach with a feeling of heaviness; and what is surprising, those stenches are as delightful to them as dung is to swine. From the above, the meaning of the statement that uncleanness in the Church is from scortatory love, and cleanness there from conjugial love, is evident.
