1005. Verse 15. Behold I come as a thief, signifies the Lord's coming and the Last Judgment at that time. This is evident from the signification of "coming as a thief" as being, in reference to the Lord, His coming and the Last Judgment at that time, as elsewhere in the Word (as Matt. 6:19, 20; 24:42, 43; Obad. verse 5; Joel 2:9; Hos. 7:1). This is the signification of "coming as a thief," because taking away the knowledges of good and truth, and devastating the church, as a thief takes away wealth and robs a house, is attributed to the Lord; also because the church is then in night and in darkness, that is, in falsities from evil, and the last state of the church is called "night," and the falsities of evil that then prevail are called "darkness," and a thief comes in the night when it is dark. This is why the Lord's coming and the Last Judgment are compared to a thief (see above, n. 193).
(Continuation respecting the Sixth Commandment)
[2] That adultery is hell, and consequently an abomination, anyone can perceive from the idea of the mixture of diverse seed in the womb of one woman, for in man's seed there lies hidden the inmost of his life, and thus the rudiment of a new life; and for this reason it is holy. To make this common with the inmosts and rudiments of others, as is done in adulteries, is profane. This is why adultery is hell, and why hell in general is called adultery. And as from such a mixture nothing but corruption, also from a spiritual origin, can exist, it follows that adultery is an abomination. [3] Consequently in the brothels that are in hell, foulnesses of every kind appear; and when light out of heaven is let into them, adulteresses are seen lying with adulterers, like swine in filth itself; and what is wonderful, like swine they are in their delights when they are in the midst of filth. But these brothels are kept closed, because when they are opened a stench is exhaled that excites vomiting. It is otherwise in chaste marriages. In these the life of the husband adds itself through the seed to the life of the wife; and from this there is inmost conjunction, by which they become not two, but one flesh. And according to conjunction by means of that, conjugial love increases, and with it every good of heaven.
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