THERE are many who have laboured at an exposition of the Apocalypse, but because up to this time the spiritual sense of the Word had not been known, they could not see the arcana that remain concealed therein; for only the spiritual sense discovers these. The expositors have therefore made various guesses, and most of them have applied the things that are there to the conditions of empires, intermingling some things about ecclesiastical matters also. The Apocalypse, however, like the whole Word, does not treat in its spiritual sense of worldly things at all but of heavenly things, thus not of empires and kingdoms but of heaven and the Church.
It is necessary to know that since the last judgment accomplished in the spiritual world in the year 1757, dealt with in a special little work published in London in 1758, a new heaven has been formed of Christians, but only of those who could admit that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, in accordance with His words in Matthew xxviii 18 and who at the same time repented in the world of evil deeds. Out of this new heaven a new Church on earth (in terris) is descending, and will continue to descend. This is the New Jerusalem. That this Church is going to acknowledge the Only Lord is evident from these words in the Apocalypse:-
There came unto me one of the seven angels and spoke with me, saying, Come, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife, and he showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God Rev. xxi 9, 10);
and in another place:-
Let us rejoice and exult, for the time of the Lamb’s wedding has come, and His wife has made herself ready: blessed are those who are called unto the supper of the Lamb’s wedding Rev. xix 7, 9.
That there will be a new heaven, and that a new Church on earth will descend therefrom, is evident from these words there:-
I saw a new heaven and a new land, and I saw the holy city Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. The One sitting upon the throne said, Behold I am making all things new; and He said unto me, Write, for these words are true and trustworthy Rev. xxi 1, 2, 5.
‘A new heaven’ is a new heaven of Christians. ‘The new Jerusalem’ is a new Church on earth, which will act as one with that new heaven. ‘The Lamb’ is the Lord as to the Divine Human.
To these observations some things will be added for enlightenment. The Christian heaven is below the ancient heavens. Into it, from the time of the Lord when He was in the world, have been admitted those who have worshipped the one God under three Persons and at the same time have had no idea of three Gods; and this on account of the Trinity of Persons having been received in the whole of Christendom. Those, however, who have cherished no other idea of the Lord’s Human than as of the human of another man, have not been able to receive the faith of the New Jerusalem, which is that the Lord is the Only God, in Whom is the Trinity. For that reason they have been separated and sent out to the extremities. It has been given [me] to see the separations since the last judgment, and the banishments. For upon a just idea of God the entire heaven is founded, and on earth the entire Church, and in general every religion; since by means of that idea there is a conjunction, and through the conjunction light, wisdom and eternal happiness.
Every one is able to see that the Apocalypse cannot possibly be expounded except by the Only Lord, for the single words there contain arcana that would never be known without a unique (singularis) enlightenment and thus a revelation. It has therefore pleased the Lord to open the sight of my spirit for me, and to teach. Do not therefore suppose that I have undertaken anything there from myself, or from any angel, but from the Lord Only. The Lord indeed said to John through an angel:-
Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book Rev. xxii 10.
By this it is understood that they are to be made manifest.
THE DOCTRINAL TENETS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND RELIGION
IN A SHORT SUMMARY
Since, in chapters xvii, xviii, and xix of the Apocalypse, the Babylon that is the Roman Catholic form of religion* is again treated of, its Doctrinal Tenets ought to be disclosed at the outset, and in this order: on Baptism; the Eucharist or Holy Supper; Masses; Penance [or Repentance]; Justification; Purgatory; the Seven Sacraments; the Saints; and Power.
* The Latin is religiosum. See n. 719 where this term is explained.
I. ON BAPTISM, they teach:- That after the offence of transgression the entire Adam was altered for the worse as to body and soul.
That this sin was transferred to the whole human race. That this original sin is taken away solely by means of Christ’s merit; and Christ’s merit is applied by means of the sacrament of Baptism; and thus the whole guilt of original sin is taken away by Baptism.
That in a baptised person there still remains concupiscence as an incentive to sin, but not sin.
That in this way men put on Christ, are made new creatures, and obtain a full and entire remission of sins.
Baptism is called the layer of regeneration and faith. That baptised persons, when they have reached manhood, ought to be questioned regarding the promises made by their sponsors, and this is the SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION.
That because of lapses after Baptism a sacrament of Penance [or Repentance] is necessary.
II. ON THE EUCHARIST OR HOLY SUPPER
That immediately after the consecration the very Body of Jesus Christ and the very Blood, together with His Soul and Divinity, are really and substantially contained under the form (species) of bread and wine; the Body under the form of bread and the Blood under the form of wine, by virtue of the words; but the Body itself under the form of wine, and the Blood under the form of bread, and the Soul under each, by virtue of the natural connection and concomitance whereby the parts of Christ the Lord are joined together; and the Divinity on account of the admirable hypostatic union thereof with the body and soul. Wherefore as much is contained under either form as under each; in a word, Christ whole and entire is manifest under the form of bread, and under each part of that form, and the whole also is manifest under the form of wine and its parts. Therefore the two forms are separated, and the bread is given to the laymen, and the wine to the clergy.
That water should be mixed with the wine in the chalice.
That laymen should receive the communion from the clergy, but the clergy should communicate themselves.
That after the consecration the very Body and very Blood of Christ are in the hosts in the consecrated particles, and therefore the host* should be adored when it is being shown and carried about.
That this wonderful and unique conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the Body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the Blood, is termed transubstantiation.
That under certain conditions communication under both forms may be conceded by the Pontiff.
It is called supersubstantial bread, and angels’ bread, which they eat without veils: it is also called spiritual food, and the antidote by which they are freed from sins.
* The Latin word hostia = sacrifice or victim.
III. ON MASSES
It is termed the Sacrifice of the Mass, because the sacrifice by which Christ offered Himself to God the Father is represented therein under the form of the bread and wine. Consequently it is a sacrifice truly propitiatory, pure, and in it there is nothing but what is holy.
That if the people do not communicate sacramentally, but only the minister, then the people communicate spiritually, because ministers engage in it not for themselves only, but for all the faithful who pertain to the body of Christ.
That masses should not be celebrated in the vulgar tongue because they contain the great instruction of the faithful people; but ministers may explain something on the Lord’s days.
That it has been instituted that certain things, which are mystical, be pronounced in a softened, and others in a raised tone; and that in order that there may be majesty in so great a sacrifice that is offered to God, there should be lights, fumigations of incense, vestments, and other things of this kind.
That it ought to be offered for the sins, punishments, satisfactions, and any necessities of the living; and for the dead.
That masses in honour of the saints are thanksgivings on account of their interceding when implored.
IV. ON PENANCE [or REPENTANCE]
That besides Baptism, there is a sacrament of Penance [Repentance] by which the benefit of Christ’s death and merit is applied to those who have lapsed after Baptism, so that it is called a laborious kind of baptism.
That the parts of Penance are contrition, confession, and satisfaction.
That CONTRITION is a gift of God, and an impulse of the Holy Spirit, not yet dwelling in but only moving a person; therefore it is a disposition.
That CONFESSION should be made of all mortal sins, even the most hidden, and of the intentions.
That sins that are kept back are not remitted, but those which do not come to mind after diligent considering are included in the confession.
That it should be made at least once a year.
That sins are to be absolved by the ministers of the Keys, and are remitted on their saying, I ABSOLVE.
That absolution is after the manner of the judge’s act when sentence is pronounced.
That more grievous sins should be absolved by bishops, and still more grievous ones by the Pontiff.
SATISFACTION is achieved by means of satisfying punishments imposed at the discretion of the minister according to the measure of the delinquency.
That when eternal punishment is remitted, so is temporal punishment.
That the power of INDULGENCES was bequeathed by Christ to the Church, and the use of them is most salutary.
V. ON JUSTIFICATION
That a transference from the state in which man is born a son of Adam into a state of grace through the second Adam the Saviour cannot be effected without the layer of regeneration and faith, or Baptism.
That the second beginning of justification is from a prevenient grace, which is a vocation with which man co-operates by turning himself.
That disposition is formed by FAITH, to which he is freely moved, believing those things to be true which have been revealed: then by HOPE, while he trusts that God is propitious for Christ’s sake: and by CHARITY, by which he begins to love the neighbour and have a hatred of sins.
That justification, which follows, is not merely the remission of sins, but the sanctification and renewal of the inward man. Then they are not only reputed to be just, but are just, receiving justice within them, and because they accept the merit of Christ’s passion, therefore justification is inserted through faith, hope, and charity.
[2] That faith is the beginning of human salvation, the foundation and root of justification, and this is to be justified by faith: and because none of those things which precede justification, whether faith or works, merit the grace of justification, this is to be justified gratis, for it is a prevenient grace: and yet man is justified by works, and not so much by faith.
That the just may fall into light and venial sins, and still be just; and therefore the just ought to work continually, in prayers, oblations, almsgivings and fastings, lest they fall, for they are born again into a hope of glory, and not into glory.
That if the just have fallen away from the grace of justification, they may again be justified through the sacrament of Penance [Repentance]. By every mortal sin grace is lost, but not faith, but faith also is lost by infidelity, which is recession from religion.
That the works of a justified man are merits, and the justified, by those works which are performed by them through the grace of God and the merit of Christ, merit eternal life.
That since Adam’s sin, FREE-WILL is not lost or extinguished, and man co-operates by assenting to God calling, for otherwise he would be an inanimate body.
They establish PREDESTINATION by saying that no one knows whether he is in the number of the predestined and among those whom God has chosen unto Himself, except by a special revelation.
VI. ON PURGATORY
That all the guilt to be discharged by temporal punishment is not blotted out by justification; therefore all come into Purgatory to be freed from it before the entrance into heaven is open.
That the souls there detained are assisted by the prayers (suffragii) of the faithful, and chiefly by the sacrifice of the Mass; and this should be diligently taught and proclaimed.
The torments there are variously described, but are inventions and mere fictions.
VII. ON THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS
That there are seven Sacraments:-Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance [Repentance], Extreme Unction, [Holy] Orders (Ordo), and Matrimony.
That there are neither more nor less.
That one may be more important (dignus) than another.
That they contain grace; and the grace is conferred through them by the act performed.
That the Sacraments of the Old Law were of the same number. Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist and Penance have been treated of above.
ON THE SACRAMENT OF EXTREME UNCTION:-
That it is derived from James v 14, 15.
That it is applied to the sick near the end of life, whence it is called the Sacrament of Departing.
That if they should recover, it may be applied again.
That it is applied by means of oil blessed by a bishop, and with these words, ‘May God grant thee indulgence for whatever offence thou hast committed through fault of the eyes, nostrils, or touch.’
ON THE SACRAMENT OF ORDERS:-
That there are seven orders in the ministry of the priesthood, which differ in rank, and together are called the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, which is as an army set in array.
That inaugurations into the ministry are effected by unctions, and by a transference of the Holy Spirit into them.
That for the ordinations of bishops and priests no secular power is required, neither is the consent of, vocation by, or authority of a magistrate required.
That those who climb up to the ministry, being called and instituted only by secular powers (ab illis), are not ministers but thieves and robbers, who do not enter in by the door.
ON THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY:-
That dispensation in degrees [of consanguinity] and divorces belongs to the Church.
That the clergy may not contract marriage.
That all of them are able to have the gift of chastity, and if anyone says that he cannot, even though he has made a vow, let him be anathema; because God does not deny it to them that ask it rightly, neither does he suffer anyone to be tempted more than he can bear.
That a state of virginity and celibacy is to be preferred to the conjugial state; besides more.
VIII. ON SAINTS
That the saints reigning together with Christ offer up their own prayers to God for men.
That Christ ought to be adored, and the saints invoked.
That the invocation of saints is not idolatrous, nor opposed to the honour of the one Mediator between God and men. It is called Latria.*
That the images of Christ, of Mary Mother of God, and of Saints are to be venerated and honoured, not that any divinity or virtue is believed to be in them, but because the honour which is shown unto them is referred to the prototypes which they represent; and by the images which men kiss, and before which they prostrate themselves and uncover the head, they adore Christ and venerate the saints.
That the miracles of God are performed through saints.
IX. ON POWER
That the Roman Pope is the successor of the Apostle Peter, and Vicar of Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church and the universal Bishop.
That he is above Councils.
That he has the keys to open and shut heaven, thus the power of remitting and retaining sins. Therefore he, as key-bearer of everlasting life, has a right at once to earthly and heavenly empire.
That bishops and priests also have such a power from him, because it was given also to the rest of the apostles, and therefore they are styled ministers of the keys.
That it belongs to the Church to judge of the true sense and interpretation of Sacred Scripture, and they who go against this should be punished by penalties established by law.
That it is not fitting for laymen to read Sacred Scripture, because the meaning thereof is not known except by the Church. Consequently its ministers boast that it is known to them.
* Possibly this is an error for Dulia. Lairia = the kind of supreme worship lawfully offered to God alone, opposed to Dulia, that given to saints and angels, and to Hyperdulia, that given to the Virgin.
X. These [statements] are derived from Councils and Bulls, especially from the Council of Trent* and the Papal Bull confirming it, wherein all who think, believe, and act contrary to the things that have been decreed, which are in general those adduced above, they condemn by anathema.
* The Council of Trent (or Trento, in the Italian Alps) began in December 1545. There were some lengthy interruptions, but the work was completed in December 1563 under Pope Pius IV, who signed the Bull confirming it on 13th November 1564.
THE DOCTRINAL TENETS OF THE CHURCH AND RELIGION OF THE REFORMED IN A SHORT SUMMARY
Since the Reformed are much treated of in the Apocalypse in its spiritual sense, their Doctrinal Tenets ought also to be disclosed at the outset before the Expositions, and in this order: on God; Christ the Lord; Justification by Faith; Good Works; the Law and the Gospel; Repentance and Confession; Original Sin; Baptism; the Holy Supper; Free-will; and the Church.
I. ON GOD
On God the belief is in accordance with the Athanasian Creed, which being readily available is not quoted here.
That it is a belief in God the Father as the Creator and Preserver, in God the Son as the Saviour and Redeemer, and in the Holy Spirit as the Enlightener and Sanctifier, is indeed well known.
II[A*]. ON CHRIST THE LORD
On the Person of Christ the same doctrine is not taught by all the Reformed.
By the LUTHERANS, thus:- That the Virgin Mary did not merely conceive and bring forth very Man, but also the very Son of God, whence she is rightly addressed and revered as the Mother of God.
That in Christ there are two natures, the Divine and the Human, the Divine from what is eternal, and the Human in time.
That these two natures are personally united, altogether in such a manner that there are not two Christs-one the Son of God, the other the Son of man-but so that one and the same is Son of God and Son of man, not that these two natures are mixed together into one substance, nor that one is changed into the other, but that each nature retains its own properties; and what these are is also described.
That the union of these natures is hypostatic, and this is the most perfect communion such as is that of soul and body.
Therefore it is rightly said that in Christ God is Man and Man is God.
That He did not suffer so greatly for us as a Man only (nudus Homo), but as a Man whose Human nature has so close and ineffable a union and communion with the Son of God, as to become one Person with this.
That truly the Son of God suffered for us, but yet in accordance with the properties of the Human nature.
That the Son of Man, by which is understood Christ as to the Human nature, was really exalted to the right hand of God when He was taken into God. This was done as soon as He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the mother’s womb.
That Christ always had that Majesty by reason of the personal union, although in the state of exinanition He only exercised it so far as He saw fit. But after the resurrection He fully and entirely put off the form of a servant, and put the Human nature or essence into the plenary possession of Divine Majesty; and in this manner entered into glory.
In a word, Christ is, and to eternity remains, very God and Man in one undivided Person. And being also as to His Human present at the right hand of God, He governs all things in the heavens and on earth, and also fills all things, being with us, and dwelling and operating in us.
That there is no difference of adoration, because through the nature that is perceived the Divinity that is not perceived is adored.
That the Divine Essence communicates and imparts its own peculiar excellences to the Human nature and performs its own Divine operations through the body as through an instrument.
Thus all the fullness of the Divinity dwells in Christ bodily, in accordance with Paul.
That the incarnation was accomplished so that He might reconcile the Father to us, and become a victim for the sins of the whole world, original as well as actual.
That He was incarnate of (ex) the substance of the Holy Spirit, but the Human nature, which He as the Word assumed and united to Himself, was produced by (a) the Virgin Mary.
That He sanctifies those who believe in Him, by sending the Holy Spirit into their hearts to rule, comfort and vivify them, and defend them against the devil and the force of sin.
That Christ descended to the lower regions and destroyed hell for all believers; but in what manner these things were effected, He does not wish them to scrutinise too eagerly, but that knowledge of this matter will be reserved for another age, when not only this mystery but many others also will be revealed.
These [statements]** are derived from Luther, the Augsburg Confession, the Nicene Council, and the Schmalcaldic Articles. See the Formula Concordiae.
By another section of the Reformed, also treated of in the Formula Concordiae, it is believed that Christ, in accordance with the Human nature, by exaltation received no more than created gifts and finite power, thus that He is a Man like any other, retaining the properties of the flesh.
That therefore as to the Human nature He is not Omnipresent and Omniscient.
That although absent, He as a King governs things at a distance from Himself.
That as God from what is eternal He is with the Father, and as a Man born in time He is with the angels in heaven.
Moreover the statement that in Christ God is Man and Man God is a figure of speech; besides other similar things.
This difference of opinion, however, does away with the Athanasian Creed, which is received by all in Christendom, where are these words:-
The true faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God is God and Man, God of the substance of the Father born before the world, and Man of the substance of the mother born in the world; perfect God and perfect Man: Who although He is God and Man, yet there are not two but one Christ; one, not by a conversion of the Divine Essence into the body, but by the taking of His Human into God; one altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of Person; for as the rational soul and body is one man, so God and Man is one Christ.
* The number II is repeated at the next section.
** Martin Luther: the German Protestant reformer (1483-1546), whose Ninety-Five Theses posted on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg on 31st October 1517 precipitated the Reformation.
The Augsburg Confession: a document prepared by Philip Schwartzerd, known as Melancthon, a gentle classical scholar and friend of Luther. It was read on 25th June 1530 before the Emperor Charles V and a Reichstag held at Augsburg (or Augusta) in Bavaria.
The Schmalcaldic Articles: a statement of faith drawn up by Luther and presented to a meeting of theologians and others at Schmalkalden in Thuringia in January 1537.
The Formula Concordiae: a Form of Concord prepared by Protestant theologians in 1577 and published on 25th June 1580, the fiftieth anniversary of the Augsburg Confession. Intended to end past controversy, it presented a strictly Lutheran view in much detail.
The Nicene Council: a meeting of bishops summoned by the Emperor Constantine in 325. In an effort to counter the Arian heresy the Council formulated ‘The Creed of Nicaea’, a forerunner of the ‘Nicene Creed’.
II [B*]. ON JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH, AND ON GOOD WORKS
The justifying and saving faith of the clergy is this:-
That God the Father turned Himself away from the human race on account of their iniquities, and so from justice condemned them to eternal death, and that He therefore sent the Son into the world, Who might expiate and redeem them, and make satisfaction and reconciliation; and that the Son did this by taking upon Himself the condemnation of the law and suffering Himself to be crucified, and in this manner as also by obedience He fully satisfied God’s justice, even to Himself becoming Justice; and that God the Father imputes and applies this to believers as His merit, and sends them the Holy Spirit, Who produces charity, good works, and repentance as a good tree produces good fruit, and justifies, renews, regenerates, and sanctifies; and that this faith is the one and only means of salvation, and through it alone are a man’s sins remitted.
They distinguish between the act and state of justification. By the act of justification they understand the beginning of the justification which takes place at the moment when the man through that faith alone lays bold of Christ’s merit with confidence.
By the state of justification they understand the progress of that faith, which takes place by means of an interior working of the Holy Spirit, which only manifests itself by certain signs, concerning which they teach various things.
They also treat of the manifest good works that are done by the man, of his volition, and which follow that faith; but they exclude them from justification because the selfhood (proprium) and thus the merit of the man is in them.
This briefly is the present day faith; but the confirmations and teachings thereof are many and complicated, some of which also shall be adduced. These are:-
That men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits or works, but gratuitously for Christ’s sake, through faith. By this faith they believe themselves to be received into grace, their sins being remitted for His sake, Who made satisfaction for us by His own death, and that God the Father imputes this to believers for righteousness before Him.
That this faith is not only a historical knowledge that Christ suffered and died for us, but is also a heartfelt assent, confidence, and trust that sins are gratuitously remitted for Christ’s sake, and that they are justified; and then these three things concur, the gratuitous promise, Christ’s merit as the price, and the propitiation.
That faith is the righteousness by which we are reputed righteous before God on account of the promise; and to be justified is to be absolved from sins, and it may in some measure also be termed being quickened and regenerated.
That faith is reckoned to us for righteousness, not because it is so good a work, but because it lays hold of the merit of Christ.
That Christ’s merit is His obedience, suffering, death and resurrection.
That it is necessary for there to be something through which God can be approached, and this is nothing else but faith by which reception is effected.
That in the act of justification faith enters by means of the Word and the hearing, and is not an act of the man, but is the operation of the Holy Spirit: and then the man co-operates no more than a pillar of salt, a stock or a stone, doing nothing of himself and knowing nothing about it. But after the act he does co-operate, yet without any will of his own in spiritual things.
In things natural, civil, and moral, it is otherwise.
That nevertheless they can make progress in spiritual things so far as to will good and be delighted with it, but this itself is not from their own will, but from the Holy Spirit, and thus they co-operate not from their own powers but from the new powers and gifts that the Holy Spirit has begun in their conversion.
Moreover in a true conversion, change, renovation, and movement are effected in the man’s understanding and heart.
That charity, good works, and repentance do not enter into the act of justification, but they are necessary in the state of justification, especially on account of God’s command; and by their means they merit the bodily rewards of this life, but not the remission of sins and the glory of eternal life, because faith alone justifies without the works of the law, and saves.
That in the act faith justifies the man, but in the state faith renews him.
That in the renovation it is necessary, on account of God’s command, that fitting works be done, as the Decalogue prescribes, because God wills that the carnal lusts should be restrained by a civil discipline, and He has therefore given doctrine, laws, public officials and penalties.
It follows that it is therefore false that by works we merit the remission of sins and salvation, or that works do anything to preserve faith; and it is false also that a man be reckoned just on account of the justice of his reason and that reason is able of its own powers to love God above all things, and do His law.
In a word, that faith and salvation are preserved and retained in men not by means of good works but only through the Spirit of God and through faith. But still good works are testimonies that the Holy Spirit is present and dwells in them.
The statement that good works are harmful to salvation is condemned as pernicious, because the interior works of the Holy Spirit that are good should be understood, not the exterior ones proceeding from a man’s own will, which are not good but evil, because merit-seeking.
Moreover they teach that Christ at the last judgment is going to pronounce sentence upon good and evil works as effects proper and not proper to the man’s faith.
At the present day this faith reigns in the whole Reformed Christian world with the clergy, but not with the laymen except a very few. For by faith laymen understand nothing else but to believe in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and that he who lives well and believes well will be saved; and of the Lord that He is a Saviour; for they are ignorant of the mysteries of the justification of their preachers, although they preach them until they go in at one ear and out at the other with their lay bearers. Indeed the teachers themselves reckon they are learned as the result of a knowledge of those mysteries, and in their colleges and universities they expend much labour to apprehend them. Therefore it was said above that this faith is the faith of the clergy.
Still, however, the teachers teach this same faith in different ways in the kingdoms where the Reformed are.
In GERMANY, SWEDEN, and DENMARK:-
That the Holy Spirit operates through that faith, and justifies and sanctifies men, and afterwards renews and regenerates them successively, but without the works of the law; and those who are in that faith as the result of trust and confidence are in grace with God the Father; and then the evils that they do indeed appear, but are continually being remitted.
In ENGLAND:-
That that faith is producing charity unknown to the man and that the man’s interiorly feeling the Holy Spirit operating within him is also the good of charity; and that if he does not feel this, and yet does good for the sake of salvation it can be termed good, but still its having merit in it is derived from the man.
They also teach that that faith can work this at the last hour of death, although it is not known how.
In HOLLAND:-
That God the Father for the sake of the Son by means of the Holy Spirit justifies and purifies the man interiorly through that faith, but only as far as the man’s own will, from which the faith turns back without touching it.
Some teach that it does lightly touch, and that thus the evils of the man’s will do not appear before God.
Few of the laymen, however, are aware of these mysteries, and [the teachers] are unwilling to publish them just as they are, because they know that the laymen do not relish them.
* The number II is repeated from the previous section.
III. ON THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL
That the Law has been given by God so that it may be known what sin is, and thus that it may be held off by threat and fear, and thereafter by the promise and announcement of grace.
Therefore the chief office of the Law is that original sin and all its fruits may be revealed, and it may be known how horribly man’s nature has fallen and to what depths it is depraved.
For this reason it thoroughly terrifies, humiliates, and prostrates a man until he despairs of himself, and anxiously desires help.
This effect of the Law is called contrition, which is not active or factitious, but passive and a torment of conscience.
But the Gospel is the whole doctrine concerning Christ and faith, and thus concerning the remission of sins, consequently a most joyful messenger, not reproving and terrifying, but comforting.
By the Law the anger of God upon all impiety is revealed, and the man is condemned, and therefore it causes the man to look to Christ and the Gospel.
There must be preaching about both, because they have been joined together.
The Gospel teaches that Christ has taken upon Himself every curse of the Law, and has expiated all sins, and that through faith we follow the remission.
That it is not by the preaching of the Law but of the Gospel that the Holy Spirit is given and received, and a man’s heart is renewed; and the Spirit afterwards makes use of the ministry of the Law to teach and show in the Decalogue what the good will and pleasure of God is. Thus the Spirit mortifies and makes alive.
That a distinction should be made between the works of the Law and the works of the Spirit, and therefore the faithful are not under the Law but under grace, for that very reason.
That the righteousness of the Law does not justify, that is, it neither reconciles nor regenerates, nor by itself does it render men acceptable to God, but when the Holy Spirit is given, the fulfilling of the Law follows.
That the works of the second table of the Decalogue do not justify, because thereby we act with men, and not properly with God, and yet in justification we must act with God.
That Christ, because without sin He underwent the punishment of sin and was made a sacrifice on our behalf, endured that right of the Law so that it should not condemn believers, because He is a propitiation for them, for the sake of which they are reckoned righteous.
IV. ON REPENTANCE AND CONFESSION
That repentance is composed of two parts, one part being contrition or the terror struck into the conscience on account of sin the other being faith, which is conceived as the result of the Gospel, and comforts the conscience by the remission of sins, and delivers from terrors.
He who confesses his whole self to be sin, includes all sins, excludes none, and forgets none. Thus sins are cleansed, the man being purified, rectified and sanctified, inasmuch as the Holy Spirit does not allow sin to have dominion, but represses and restrains it.
That the enumeration of sins ought to be free, the person being willing or unwilling, and much should be made of private confession and absolution.
Therefore if anyone is willing he can confess his sins and receive absolution from the confessor, and the sins have then been remitted.
The words which the minister is then to say in response are, ‘May God be propitious to thee and confirm thy faith; be it unto thee as thou believest, and I by command of the Lord remit for thee thy sins’; but others say ‘I announce to thee a remission of sins’.
But still the sins are remitted neither by repentance nor by works, but by faith.
Therefore the repentance of the clergy is only a confession before God that they are sinners, and a prayer that they may continue steadfastly in faith.
That expiations and satisfactions are not necessary, because Christ is the Expiation and Satisfaction.
V. ON ORIGINAL SIN
They teach that after Adam’s fall all men propagated according to nature are born with sin, that is, without the fear of God, and with lusts; and this condemns and even now brings eternal death to those who are not born again by Baptism and the Holy Spirit. It is a privation of original righteousness, together with a disordered disposition of the parts of the soul and a corrupt condition.
That there is a difference between the nature itself into which man has been created, which nature exists also after the fall and continues to be a creature of God, and original sin.
That there is thus a difference between the corrupt nature and the corruption that has been impressed on the nature, through which the nature has been corrupted.
That no one save God only is able to separate the corruption of the nature from the nature itself.
This is what will be done manifestly in the blessed resurrection, because then the nature itself that the man carries about in the world is going to be resurrected without original sin and enjoy eternal felicity.
That the difference is like that between the work of God and the work of the devil.
That this sin has not invaded the nature as if Satan had created any evil substantially and mixed that with the nature, but that concreated and original righteousness has been lost.
That original sin is accidental; and man by reason thereof is as it were spiritually dead before God.
That this evil is covered and pardoned by Christ only.
That the seed itself of which man is formed has been contaminated with that sin.
That also as a result of this a man receives from his parents depraved inclinations and an internal uncleanness of heart.
VI. ON BAPTISM
That Baptism is not simply water, but that it is water taken by Divine command and sealed with the Word of God, and thus sanctified.
That the virtue, work, fruit and end of Baptism is that men may be saved and elected into the Christian communion.
That through Baptism there is made available victory over death and the devil, the remission of sins, God’s grace, Christ with all His works, and the Holy Spirit with all His gifts, and eternal blessedness to all (collectively and individually) who believe.
Whether through Baptism faith is also given to infants is too deep a matter for earnest inquiry.
That immersion in the water signifies the mortification of the old man and the resurrection of the new. It can therefore be called the bath of regeneration, and a veritable bath in the Word, as well as in the death and burial of Christ.
That the life of a Christian, once begun in this manner, is a daily baptism.
That the water does not effect this, but the Word of God that is in and with the water, and the faith of God’s Word added to the water. It follows as a result that baptism in the Name of God is indeed performed by men; yet it is not done by them but by God Himself.
That Baptism does not take away original sin when a depraved lust is extinguished, but it takes away the guilt.
But others of the Reformed believe:-
That Baptism is an external bathing of water whereby an internal washing from sins is signified.
That it does not confer regeneration, faith, God’s grace, and salvation, but just signifies and seals them.
Also that they are not conferred in and with Baptism, but afterwards as the person grows up.
Moreover the grace of Christ and the gift of faith attend only the elect.
And because salvation does not depend on Baptism, that it is permitted to be performed by another, failing a regular minister.
VII. ON THE HOLY SUPPER
Those of the Reformed who are called Lutheran teach:- That in the Holy Supper or sacrament of the altar, the Body and Blood of Christ are truly and substantially present, and are actually distributed and received together with the bread and wine.
That therefore the very Body and Blood of Christ are in, with, and under the bread and wine, and are given to Christians to masticate and drink.
That therefore they are not simply bread and wine, but are included and bound up with the Word of God, and this causes them to be Christ’s Body and Blood, for when the Word is added to the element it becomes a Sacrament.
That nevertheless this is not a transubstantiation such as that of the Papists.
That it is food for the soul nourishing and strengthening the new man.
That it has been instituted in order that faith may recover and get back its strength, to give remission of sins and the new life that Christ earned for us.
That thus the Body and Blood of Christ are taken not only spiritually by faith, but also by the mouth in a supernatural way, by reason of the sacramental union with the bread and wine.
That the worth of this Supper rests in obedience alone, and in Christ’s merit, which is applied by a true faith.
In a word, that the Sacraments of the Lord’s Supper and of Baptism are testimonies of the will and grace of God towards men; and the Sacrament of the Supper is a promise of the remission of sins through faith. It moves the heart to believe; and the Holy Spirit works through the Word and the Sacraments.
That the consecration of the minister does not produce these [results], but it is to be attributed to the omnipotent virtue of the Lord alone.
That the worthy as well as the unworthy receive the very Body and the very Blood of Christ as He hung upon the cross; but the worthy to salvation, the unworthy to damnation.
That the worthy are those who have faith.
That no one is to be urged to the Supper, but each person may approach when spiritual hunger impels.
Others of the Reformed, however, teach:-
That in the Holy Supper the Body and Blood of Christ are taken spiritually only, and that the bread and wine there are only signs, types, symbols, tokens, figures and similitudes.
That Christ is not present bodily, but only by the virtue and operation out of His Divine essence; but that in heaven there is a conjunction in accordance with the communication of attributes (secundum communicationem idiomatum).
That the worth of this Supper depends not only on faith, but also on preparation.
That the worthy alone receive its virtue, but the unworthy merely the bread and wine.
Although the latter have dissented, yet all the Reformed agree in this, that those who wish to come to that Supper worthily must necessarily practise repentance.
The Lutherans [teach] that if they do not repent from evil works, and yet approach, they are damned to eternity; and the English, that otherwise the devil will enter into them as into Judas. This is evident from the prayers read before Communion.
VIII. ON FREE WILL
They make a distinction between the states before the fall, after the fall, after the reception of faith and renovation, and after the resurrection.
That man since the fall is entirely incapable of beginning, thinking, understanding, believing, willing, operating or cooperating anything in spiritual and Divine things of his own power, or of applying or accommodating himself to grace; but his natural will is only for those things that are against God and displeasing to Him.
That thus in spiritual things man is like a stock, but still he has a capacity, not active but passive, by which he can be turned to good through the grace of God.
Nevertheless there has remained with man since the fall a free will, to be able or unable to hear the Word of God, and thus a little spark of faith may be kindled in the heart, which embraces the remission of sins for Christ’s sake and imparts consolation.
That the human will, however, enjoys the liberty of practising civil justice, and of choosing things that are subject to reason.
IX. ON THE CHURCH
That the Church is the congregation and communion of saints, and is spread through the entire world among those who have the same Christ, and the same Holy Spirit, and the same Sacraments, whether they have similar or dissimilar traditions.
Also that it is principally a society of faith.
And that this Church only is the Body of Christ, and the good are the Church in fact and name, but the evil in name only.
That the evil and hypocrites, because they are intermixed, are members of the Church according to its external signs, provided they have not been excommunicated, but they are not members of the Body of Christ.
That ecclesiastical rites, which are called ceremonies, are matters of indifference (adiaphori), and are neither the worship of God nor a part of the worship of God.
That therefore the Church is at liberty to institute, change, and abrogate such things as the distinctions of vestments, times, days, foods, and other things; and therefore one Church should not condemn another on account of such things.
X. These are the Doctrinal Tenets of the Church and Religion of the Reformed in a short summary. Those, however, which the Schwengfeldians, Pelagians, Manichaeans, Donatists, Anabaptists, Arminians, Zwinglians, Anti-trinitarians, Socinians, Arians, and at this day the Quakers and Herrnhuters, teach are passed over, because they are disapproved and rejected as heretical by the Church of the Reformed.
THE FIRST CHAPTER
1. THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, which GOD gave unto Him to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He signified, sending by His angel to His Servant John.
2. Who bare witness of the Word of GOD, and the testimony of JESUS CHRIST, whatsoever things he saw.
3. Blessed is he who reads and they who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein, for the time is near.
4. John to the seven Churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you and peace from Him Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come; and from the seven spirits who are before His throne.
5. And from JESUS CHRIST, Himself the Faithful Witness, Himself the First-born from the dead, and Himself the Prince of the kings of the land, loving us and washing us from our sins in His own blood.
6. And He makes us kings and priests unto GOD AND HIS FATHER: to Him be glory and strength for ages of ages. [Amen.]
7. Behold He is coming with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and they who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the land shall wail over Him. Even so, Amen.
8. I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, says the LORD, Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come, the Almighty.
9. I John, who also am your brother and companion in affliction, and in the kingdom, and the patient expectation of JESUS CHRIST, was in the isle called Patmos for the Word of GOD, and the testimony of JESUS CHRIST.
10. I came to be in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet,
11. Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last. What thou seest write in a book, and send to these Churches in Asia, unto Ephesus, and Smyrna, and Pergamum, and Thyatira, and Sardis, and Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
12. And I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me, and having turned I saw seven golden lampstands.
13. And in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the SON OF MAN clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the breasts with a golden girdle.
14. And His head and hairs were white as wool, like snow, and His eyes as a flame of fire.
15. And His feet like burnished bronze as if burned in a furnace, and His voice as the voice of many waters.
16. And having in His right hand seven stars; and out of His mouth a sharp two-edged sword going forth, and His face as the sun shines in its power.
17. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Do not be afraid, I am the First and the Last;
18. And am the Living One, and was put to death, and behold I am the Living One for ages of ages, Amen, and have the keys of hell and of death.
19. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which are going to be hereafter.
20. The mystery of the seven stars which thou hast seen in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the Angels of the seven Churches, and the seven lampstands which thou hast seen are the seven Churches.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
That this Revelation is from the Only Lord, and that it is received by those who will be in His New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, and who acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven and earth. Also the Lord is described as to the Word.
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ
signifies predictions by the Lord concerning Himself and concerning His Church, what this will be like at its end, and what it is going to be like afterwards.
Which God gave unto Him to show unto His servants
signifies for those who are in a faith derived from charity.
Things which must shortly come to pass
signifies that they are certainly going to happen so that the Church may not perish.
And He signified, sending by His angel unto His servant John
signifies the things that have been revealed by the Lord through heaven to those who are in the good of life derived from charity and its faith.
2. Who bare witness of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ
signifies who from the heart and so in the light receive Divine Truth out of the Word, and acknowledge the Lord’s Human to be Divine.
Whatsoever things he saw
signifies their enlightenment in all the things that are in this Revelation.
3. Blessed is he who reads and they who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein
signifies their fellowship with the angels of heaven, who live in accordance with the doctrine of the New Jerusalem.
For the time is near
signifies that the state of the Church is such that it cannot any longer endure so as to have conjunction with the Lord.
4. John to the seven Churches
signifies to all who are in Christendom, where the Word is, and through it the Lord is known, and who accede to the Church.
Which are in Asia
signifies to those who are in the light of the truth (veritas) out of the Word.
Grace be unto you and peace
signifies a Divine salutation.
From Him Who is and Who was and Who is to come
signifies from the Lord Who is the Eternal and Infinite, and is Jehovah.
And from the seven spirits who are before His throne
signifies from the entire heaven, where the Lord is in His Divine Truth.
5. From Jesus Christ
signifies the Divine Human.
Himself the Faithful Witness
signifies that He is Divine Truth Itself.
Himself the First-born from the dead
signifies that He also is Divine Good Itself.
And Himself the Prince [of the kings] of the land
signifies out of Whom is everything true derived from good in the Church.
Loving us and washing us from our sins [its His own blood]
signifies Who out of Love and Mercy reforms and regenerates men by means of His Divine truths out of the Word.
6. And He makes us kings and priests
signifies Who grants that those who are born from Him, that is, regenerated, are in wisdom derived from Divine truths, and in love derived from Divine goods.
Unto God and His Father
signifies thus [they are] images of His Divine Wisdom and of His Divine Love.
To Him be glory and strength for ages of ages
signifies Who Only has Divine Majesty and Divine Omnipotence to eternity.
Amen
signifies Divine confirmation out of the Truth (veritas), thus out of His very Self.
7 And He is coming with the clouds of heaven
signifies that the Lord is going to reveal Himself in the sense of the letter of the Word, and to open its spiritual sense at the end of the Church.
And every eye shall see Him
signifies that all who out of affection are in an understanding of Divine Truth are going to acknowledge [Him].
And they who pierced Him
signifies that those in the Church who are in untruths are also going to see.
And all the tribes of the land shall wail*
signifies that this will be when there are no longer any goods and truths in the Church.
Even so, Amen
signifies Divine confirmation that it is going to be so.
8. And I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending
signifies Who is the Very and Only One from Primes to Ultimates, from Whom all things are, thus Who is the Very and One Only Love, the Very and One Only Wisdom, and the Very and One Only Life in Itself, and thus the Very and One Only Creator, Saviour, and Enlightener from Himself, and thence the All in all of heaven and the Church.
Says the Lord, Who is and Who was and Who is to come
signifies Who is the Eternal and Infinite, and is Jehovah.
And the Almighty
signifies Who is, lives, and has power out of His Very Self, and Who rules all things out of primes by means of ultimates.
9. I John, who also** am your brother and companion
signifies those who are in the good of charity and thence in the truths of faith.
In affliction, and in the kingdom, and the patient expectation of Jesus Christ
signifies those things [i.e. the good of charity and truths of faith] in the Church which have been infested by evils and untruths, but these [evils and untruths] are to be removed by the Lord when He comes.
Was in the isle called Patmos
signifies the state and situation in which he could be enlightened.
For the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ
signifies so that from the heart, and thus in the light, Divine Truth may be received out of the Word, and the Lord’s Human acknowledged to be Divine.
10. I came to be in the spirit on the Lord’s day
signifies the spiritual state then as a result of Divine influx.
And heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet
signifies a manifest perception of Divine Truth revealed out of heaven.
11. Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last
signifies Who is the Very and Only One from Primes to Ultimates, from Whom all things are, and more as above (verse 8).
[What thou seest write in a book
signifies so that [these truths] may be revealed to posterity.]*** And send to these Churches in Asia
signifies for those in Christendom who are in the light of the truth (veritas) out of the Word.
Unto Ephesus, and Smyrna, and Pergamum, and Thyatira, and Sardis, and Philadelphia, and Laodicea
signifies specifically in accordance with the state of reception of each one.
12. And I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me
signifies the inversion of the state of those who are in the good of life, as to the perception of truth in the Word, while they turn to the Lord.
And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands
signifies the New Church, which will be in enlightenment from the Lord out of the Word.
13. And in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man
signifies the Lord as to the Word from Whom that Church [will be].
Clothed with a garment down to the foot
signifies the Divine proceeding, which is Divine Truth.
And girt about the breasts with a golden girdle
signifies the Divine proceeding and at the same time conjoining, which is Divine Good.
14. And His head and hairs were white as wool, like snow
signifies the Divine Love of the Divine Wisdom in primes and in ultimates.
And His eyes as a flame of fire
signifies the Divine Wisdom of the Divine Love.
15. And His feet like burnished bronze as if burned in a furnace
signifies natural Divine Good.
And his voice as the voice of many waters
signifies natural Divine Truth.
16. And having in His right hand seven stars
signifies all the cognitions**** of good and truth in the Word out of Himself.
And out of His mouth a sharp two-edged sword going forth
signifies the dispersion of untruths by the Lord by means of the Word and doctrine.
And His face as the sun shining in power
signifies the Divine Love and Wisdom, which are Himself, and proceed from Him.
17. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead
signifies a failing of one’s own life as a result of such presence of the Lord.
And He put His right hand upon me
signifies life then inspired by Him.
Saying unto me, Do not be afraid
signifies revival, and adoration then from profound humiliation.
I am the First and the Last
signifies that He is the Eternal and Infinite, therefore the Only God.
18. And I am the Living One
signifies Who Only is Life, and from Whom Only Life is.
And was put to death
signifies that in the Church He has been disregarded, and His Divine Human has not been acknowledged.
And behold I am the Living One for ages of ages
signifies that He is eternal Life.
Amen
signifies Divine confirmation that it is the truth (veritas).
And have the keys of hell and of death
signifies that He Only can save.
19. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which are going to be hereafter
signifies in order that all the things that are now being revealed may be for posterity.
20. The mystery of the seven stars which thou hast seen in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands
signifies the arcana in the visions concerning a new heaven and a new Church.
The seven stars are the Angels of the seven Churches
signifies the new Church in the heavens, which is the new heaven.
And the seven lampstands which thou hast seen are the seven Churches
signifies the new Church on earth (in terris), which is the new Jerusalem coming down from the Lord out of the new Heaven.
* The words ‘over Him’, omitted here, are not referred to at n. 27.
** Reading et (also) instead of est (is).
*** Omitted here in the Original Edition. But see n. 39.
**** The term cognitiones, here used in the Latin, is translated ‘cognitions’ to distinguish these knowledges from those that are meant by the Latin scientifica also used in the Writings of Swedenborg. Two of the meanings most commonly associated with cognitiones are (i) a particular species of knowledge, as knowledges of the Word, of good and truth, or of spiritual things (AC 24, 3665, 9945; NJHD 51; HH 111, 351, 469, 474, 517, 518); and (ii) a higher type of knowledge which is from understanding and perception (AC 1486-7; HH 110, 353).
THE EXPOSITION
Up to this time it has not been known what the spiritual sense is. In THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 5-26), it has been shown that that sense is in the details of the Word, and that without it the Word in many places cannot be understood. This sense is not apparent in the sense of the letter, for it is within it like the soul in the body. It is known that there is a Spiritual and a Natural, and that what is spiritual inflows into what is natural and presents itself to be seen and felt in forms that become objects of sight and touch, and that the Spiritual apart from those forms is not perceived otherwise than as affection and thought, or as love and wisdom, which are of the mind. It is acknowledged that affection and thought, or love to which affection pertains, and wisdom to which thinking pertains, are spiritual. The fact is known that these two faculties of the soul present themselves in the body in forms that are called sensory and motor organs; as also is the fact that they [the soul’s faculties and organs] make one, and one in such a way that, while the mind thinks, the mouth instantly utters what is being thought, and while the mind wills, the body instantly does what is being willed. From this it is clear that with man there is a perfect union of things spiritual and natural. [2] It is similar in all the things of the world and in each separate thing thereof. What is spiritual is there, being the inmost of the cause, and what is natural is there, being the effect of that; and the two make one. In the Natural also the Spiritual is not apparent, because, as has been said, this is within it as the soul in the body, and as the inmost of the cause in the effect. It is similar with the Word. Since this is Divine, it is not possible for anyone to deny that in its bosom it is spiritual. Since, however, what is spiritual is not apparent in the sense of the letter, which is natural, the spiritual sense was unknown up to this time; and it could not have become known before, until genuine truths were revealed by the Lord, for that sense is in these truths. This is why the Apocalypse has not been understood up to this time. But so that there may be no doubt that such things are therein, the details must he expounded and demonstrated by means of similar things elsewhere in the Word. The exposition and demonstration now follows.
Jehovah has sent unto you all His servants the prophets Jer. xxv 4.
He has revealed His secret unto His servants the prophets Amos iii 7.
He set before us by the hand of His servants the prophets Dan. ix 10.
And Moses is called a servant of Jehovah (Mal. iv 4). This is because by a prophet in the spiritual sense is understood the truth of doctrine, concerning which [see] below.
[2] And because the Lord was the Divine Truth itself which also is the Word, and on account of this He has Himself been declared the Prophet, and because He was of service in the world, and to eternity is of service to all by teaching, therefore also in certain passages He is called the Servant of Jehovah, as in the following places:-
Out of the travail of His soul He shall see, He shall be satisfied; by His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify many Isa. liii 11.
Behold My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be extolled and exalted and shall lead forth strongly Isa. lii 13.
Behold My Servant upon Whom I lean, Mine Elect; My Soul has good pleasure; I have put the Spirit upon Him Isa. xlii 1, 19.
These things are concerning the Lord. In like manner David [is called a servant] where by him is understood the Lord, as in these passages:-
I Jehovah will be their God, and My Servant David a Prince in the midst of them Ezek. xxxiv 24.
My Servant David shall be King over them so that there may be One Shepherd for them all Ezek. xxxvii 24.
I will protect this city to preserve it, for the sake of Me and My Servant David Isa. xxxvii 35.
Likewise Ps. lxxviii 70-72; lxxxix 3, 4, 20 [H.B. 4, 5, 21]. That by ‘David’ in these places is understood the Lord may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 43, 44). The Lord Himself says in like manner concerning Himself:-
Whosoever wishes to become great among you ought to be your minister, and whosoever wishes to be first ought to be your servant, as the Son of Man came not to be Himself ministered unto, but to minister Matt. xx 25-28; Mark x 42-44; Luke xxii 27; likewise Luke xii 37.
The Lord says this because by ‘servant’ and ‘minister’ is understood one who is of service and ministers by teaching, and abstractly from personality, the Divine Truth, which He Himself was.
[3] Since, therefore, by ‘servant’ is understood one who teaches Divine Truth, it is clear that by ‘servants’ in this part of the Apocalypse are understood those who are in truths derived from good, or in a faith derived from charity, because they are able to teach from the Lord, that is, the Lord can teach and minister through them. They are termed ‘servants’ in this sense in Matthew:-
In the consummation of the age, who is a faithful and prudent servant, whom his Lord shall set over His household, to give them food in its season? Blessed is that servant whom the Lord shall find so doing Matt. xxiv 45 [46].
And in Luke:-
Blessed are those servants whom the Lord having come shall find watchful. Verily I say unto you that He shall gird Himself and make them to recline, and Himself coming near shall minister unto them Luke xii 37.
In heaven all who are in His spiritual kingdom are called servants of the Lord, while they who are in His celestial kingdom are called His ministers. This is because those who are in His spiritual kingdom are in Wisdom derived from Divine Truth, and those who are in His celestial kingdom are in Love derived from Divine Good; moreover Good ministers and Truth is of service. In the opposite sense, however, by ‘servants’ are understood those who serve the Devil. These are in a state of real servitude; but those who serve the Lord are in a state of liberty, as also the Lord teaches (John viii 32-36).
Except those days should be shortened, no flesh would be preserved; but for the elect’s sake, those days shall be shortened Matt. xxiv 22.
By them it is also understood that unless the Church was brought to an end before its time it would perish absolutely. In that chapter the consummation of the age and the Lord’s coming are dealt with, and by the consummation of the age the last state of the old Church, and by the Lord’s coming the first state of the new Church, is understood. [3] It has been said that in the Divine idea there is no time, but the presence of all the things that have been and are going to be. Therefore it is said in David:-
A thousand years in Thy sight are as yesterday Ps. xc 4.
and in the same:-
I will declare the decree, Jehovah has said unto Me, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee Ps. ii 7.
‘This day’ is the presence of the Lord’s coming. It is in consequence of this also that an entire period is termed ‘a day’, its first state being a daybreak and morning, and its last an evening and night.
* The Latin word proprium (plural propria) means ‘what is one’s own’. Swedenborg uses it in a special sense involving ‘what is of the self’.
You sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth (veritas), but
I receive not testimony from man John v 33, 34.
And in another place:-
John came for a testimony to bear witness of the Light; he was not that Light: the Word, which was with God and was God, and was made flesh, was the true Light, which lights every man John i 1, 2, 7, 8, [9,] 14, 34.
Elsewhere:-
Jesus said, I bear witness of Myself, and My testimony is true, for I
know whence I came and whither I go John viii 14.
When the Comforter the Spirit of truth (veritas) has come, He shall testify of Me John xv 26.
By ‘the Comforter the Spirit of truth’ is understood the Truth (Veritas) itself proceeding from the Lord, concerning which it is therefore said that He will not speak from Himself but out of the Lord (John xvi 13, 14, 15).
In the consummation of the age many false prophets shall rise up, and shall lead many astray: there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and they shall if possible lead the elect into error Matt. xxiv 11, 24.
The ‘consummation of the age’ is the last time of the Church, and this is now, when there are not false prophets but untruths of doctrine.
[3] In the same:-
Whoever shall support a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall get a prophet’s reward, and whoever shall support a just man in the name of a just man, shall get a just man’s reward Matt. x 41.
‘To support a prophet in the name of a prophet’ is to receive the truth of doctrine because it is true, and ‘to support a just man in the name of a just man’ is to receive good for the sake of good, and ‘to get a reward’ is to be saved in accordance with the reception. It is plain that no one receives a reward or is saved because he has supported a prophet and a just man in the name of such. Without knowing what a prophet and a just man [signify] those words cannot be understood by any one, nor can those that follow:
That whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones as much as a drink of cold [water] in the name of a disciple, shall not lose a reward [Matt. x 42].
By ‘a disciple’ is understood charity and at the same time faith, from the Lord.
[4] In Joel:-
I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh so that your sons and your daughters shall prophesy Joel ii 28 [H.B. iii 1].
This concerns the Church that was to be restored by the Lord, in which they did not prophesy but received doctrine, which is ‘to prophesy’. In Matthew:-
Jesus said, Many will say unto Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied by means of Thy Name? but then I will confess unto them, I have not known you; depart from Me you that work iniquity Matt. vii 22, 23.
Who does not see that they are not going to say that they have prophesied, but that they have known the Doctrine of the Church, and taught it? In the Apocalypse:-
The time is come for judging the dead, and giving a reward to the prophets Rev. xi 18;
and in another place:-
Exult O heaven, O holy apostles and prophets, for God has judged your judgment Rev. xviii 20.
It is plain that rewards are not to be given only to prophets, and that not only apostles and prophets are going to exult when the last judgment is about to take place, but all who have received the truths of doctrine, and lived in accordance with them; and so these are understood by ‘apostles’ and ‘prophets’.
[5] In Moses:-
Jehovah said unto Moses, I have set thee up as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother shall be to thee a prophet Exod. vii 1.
By ‘God’ is understood the Divine Truth as to reception from the Lord, in which sense the angels also are called ‘gods’, and by ‘a prophet’ is understood one teaching and speaking this truth. It is in consequence of this that Aaron is there termed a ‘prophet’. The like is signified by ‘prophet’ elsewhere, as in these passages:-
The law shall not perish from the priest, nor the Word from the prophet Jer. xviii 18.
From the prophets of Jerusalem hypocrisy has gone forth into all the land Jer. xxiii 15, 16.
The prophets shall become wind, and there is no word in them Jer. v 13.
The priest and the prophet err through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they stumble in judgment Isa. xxviii 7.
The sun sets over the prophets, and the day grows black over them Micah iii 6.
From the prophet even unto the priest, each one makes falsehood Jer. viii 10.
[6] In the spiritual sense in these passages by ‘prophets’ and ‘priests’ are not understood prophets and priests, but the entire Church, by ‘prophets’ the Church as to the truth of doctrine, and by ‘priests’ the Church as to the good of life, both of which had been destroyed. These things are understood in this manner by angels in heaven, while by men in the world they are understood in accordance with the sense of the letter. That the prophets represented the state of the Church as to doctrine, and the Lord as to the Word Itself, may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 15-17).
Then shall be great affliction, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until now, nor shall be; yea, except those days should he shortened, no flesh would be preserved Matt. xxiv 21, 22.
That near or nearness of time is not understood may be seen below (n. 947).
The seven golden lampstands, in the midst of which was the Son of Man Rev. i 13.
The seven stars in His right hand Rev. i 16, 20.
The seven spirits of God Rev. i 4; iv 5.
The seven lamps of fire Rev. iv 5.
The seven angels, to whom were given seven trumpets Rev. iii 2.
The seven angels having the seven last plagues Rev. xv 5, 6.
The seven phials full of the seven last plagues Rev. xvi 1; xxi 9.
The seven seals with which the Book was sealed Rev. viii 2.
Similarly in the following:-
Their hands were filled seven days* Exod. xxix 35.
They were sanctified seven days Exod. xxix 37.
When they were inaugurated they used to march seven days clothed in the garments of holiness Exod. xxix [29,] 30.
For seven days they might not withdraw from the tent, when they were being initiated into the priesthood Lev. viii 33, 35.
The altar was atoned for seven times upon the horns Lev. xvi 18, 19.
The altar was sanctified seven times in succession Lev. viii 11.
Blood was sprinkled seven times in succession in the direction of the veil Lev. iv 16, 17.
And also seven times in succession towards the east Lev. xvi 12-15.
The water of separation was sprinkled seven times in succession in the direction of the tent Num. xix 4.
The Passover was celebrated for seven days, and for seven days unleavened [bread] was eaten Exod. xii 1 seq.; Deut. xvi 4-7.
In like manner:-
The Jews used to be punished sevenfold for their sins Lev. xxvi 18, 21, 24, 28.
Therefore David says:-
Render unto [our] neighbours sevenfold into their bosom Ps. lxxix 12.
[3] ‘Sevenfold’ is fully. Again in these places:-
The sayings of Jehovah are pure sayings, silver purified in the furnace seven times Ps. xii 6 [H.B. 7].
The hungry ceased, so that the barren has borne seven, but she who has many children has failed 1 Sam. ii 5.
‘The barren’ is the Church of the Gentiles, who did not have the Word; ‘she who has many children’ is the Church of the Jews, who had the Word.
She who has borne seven languishes, she shall breathe out her soul Jer. xv 9.
Similarly:-
They who dwell in the cities of Israel shall set on fire and burn the weapons, and they shall light them up with fire for seven years; they shall bury Gog, and seven months shall they be cleansing the land Ezek. xxxix 9, [11,] 12.
The unclean spirit will take with him semen other spirits worse than himself Matt. xii 45.
Profanation is described there, and by the ‘seven spirits’ with whom he was going to return are signified all the untruths of evil, thus the complete extinction of good and truth. By the ‘seven heads of the dragon’ and the ‘seven diadems upon his heads’ (Rev. xii 3) is signified the profanation of all good and truth. It is plain from these things that ‘seven’ involves what is holy or what is profane, and signifies all and what is full.
* AV has ‘seven days shalt thou consecrate them’, but Hebrew has ‘seven days shalt thou fill their band’. See also AC 10,110 and 10,120.
* See the explanation of this title in SS 103 and TCR 265.
I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last (vers. 11, 13);
and then:-
I am the First and the Last (vers. 17);
and in the following chapter (verse 8) and afterwards (chaps. xxi 6; xxii 12, 13); and in Isaiah:-
Thus says Jehovah the King of Israel, and His Redeemer Jehovah Zebaoth; I am the First and I am the Last, and besides me there is no God Isa. xliv 6;
also chap. xlviii 12; and He Who is the First and the Last is ‘He Who is and Who was and Who is to come’. [2] This also is understood by ‘Jehovah’; for the name Jehovah signifies ‘is’; and He Who Is, or Who is Being (Esse) Itself, is also WAS, and IS TO COME, for the past and the future are in Him the present. In consequence of this He is the Eternal apart from time, and the Infinite apart from space. The Church avows this because of the DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY that is called Athanasian, where these [words are]:-
The Father is Eternal and Infinite, the Son is Eternal and Infinite, and the Holy Spirit is Eternal and Infinite, and yet there are not three Eternals and Infinites, but One.
That this One is the Lord has been demonstrated in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD.
Thus says Jehovah, The heavens [are] My throne Isa. lxvi 1.
Jehovah in the heavens has strengthened His throne Ps. ciii 19.
He who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by Him Who sits thereon Matt. xxiii 22.
Above the expanse that was over the head of the cherubs, as it were the appearance of a sapphire stone, the likeness of a throne, and upon it the appearance of a Man Ezek. i 26; x 1.
By ‘the expanse over the head of the cherubs’ is understood heaven. Also in the Apocalypse:-
He Who overcomes, I will give him to sit in My throne Rev. iii 21
‘In [My] throne’ is in heaven, specifically where His Divine Truth reigns. Likewise therefore where the judgment is treated of it is stated that the Lord is going to be seated upon a throne, for the judgment is effected by means of truths.
He who does the truth, does it in God John iii 21.
[5] Since John used to represent the good of life, and Peter the truth of faith (see above, n. 5), therefore:-
John leaned on the Lord’s breast, and followed Jesus, but not Peter John xxi 18-23.
The Lord therefore said of John that he would ‘tarry till He came’ (vers. 22, 23), thus to this very day, which is the Lord’s coming. Therefore likewise the good of life is now being taught by the Lord for those who will be of His New Church, which is the New Jerusalem. To sum it all up, that is ‘the first-born’ which the truth first produces out of good, thus what the understanding produces out of the will; because truth is of the understanding and good is of the will. This ‘first’, because it is as the seed out of which the rest of the things proceed, is the primary.
[6] In the case of the Lord, He is ‘Himself the First-born from the dead’ because He is also, as to His Human, the Truth Itself united to the Divine Good, from Whom all men live, who in themselves are dead. The like is understood in David:-
I will make Him the First-born, high above the kings of the earth Ps. lxxxix 27 [H.B. 28].
‘This [is said] concerning the Lord’s Human. It is on this account that Israel is termed ‘the first-born’ (Exod. iv 22, 23). By ‘Israel’ is understood truth in act, and by ‘Jacob’ truth in doctrine; and since no Church is produced out of the latter truth alone, Jacob was therefore named Israel. In the supreme sense, however, by ‘Israel’ is understood the Lord.
[7] Because of this representation of ‘the first-born’, all the first-born [of men] and all the firstlings [of beasts] (omnes primogeniti et omnia primogenita)* used to be sanctified to Jehovah (Exod. xiii 2, 12; xxii 29, 30 [H.B. 28, 29]). Because of the representation of ‘the first-born’ the Levites were adopted instead of all the first-born in the Israelitish Church, and it is stated that in that way they were Jehovah’s (Num. iii 12, 13, 40-46; xviii 15-18). Indeed by ‘Levi’ is signified truth in act, which is the good of life, and the priesthood was therefore given to his posterity. Concerning this fact [see] in the following [pages] . On account of this also a double portion of an inheritance was given to the first-born, and he was called ‘the beginning (principium) of strength’ (Deut. xxi 15-17). [8] The first-born signifies what is primary of the Church, because in the Word spiritual births are signified by natural births, and then what first brings these to pass with a man Is understood by his ‘first-born’; for the Church is not with him until a truth of doctrine conceived in the internal man is born in the external.
* See AE 865:2.
19. ‘Loving us and washing us from our sins [in His own blood]’ signifies Who out of love and mercy reforms and regenerates men by means of His Divine Truths out of His Word. That ‘to wash us from our sins’ is to purify from evils, thus to reform and regenerate, is plain, for regeneration is a spiritual washing. That ‘by His own blood’, however, is not understood the passion of the cross, as is believed by many, but the Divine Truth proceeding from Him, can be established from many passages in the Word. It would be too tedious to adduce all of these here, but they will be adduced below (n. 379, 684). Meanwhile the things may be seen that have been stated and demonstrated concerning the signification of the Lord’s blood and flesh in the Holy Supper, in THE NEW JERUSALEM AND ITS HEAVENLY DOCTRINE, published at London in the year 1758 (n. 210-222); also concerning the spiritual washing that is regeneration (n. 202-209) there.
20. [Verse 6] ‘And He makes us kings and priests’ signifies Who grants that those who are born from Him, that is, regenerated, are in wisdom derived from Divine truths and in love derived from Divine goods. It is known that in the Word the Lord is termed ‘King’ and also ‘Priest’: ‘King’ is said on account of the Divine Wisdom and ‘Priest’ on account of the Divine Love. Those, therefore, who from the Lord are in wisdom are called ‘the king’s sons’ and also ‘kings’, and those who are in love from Him are called ‘ministers’ and ‘priests’; for the wisdom and love with them is not from them, thus it is not their’s but the Lord’s. Consequently such persons are understood in the Word by ‘kings’ and ‘priests’; not that they are [kings and priests], but the Lord in them is such, and causes them to be so named. They are also called born of Him, sons of the kingdom, sons of the Father, and heirs: ‘born of Him’ (John i 12, 13), that is, born anew or regenerated (John iii 1 seq.); ‘sons of the kingdom’ (Matt. viii 12, xiii 38); ‘sons of the Father in heaven’ (Matt. v 45); ‘heirs’ (Ps. cxxvii 3, Sam. ii 8, Matt. xxv 34); and since they are said to be heirs, sons of the kingdom, and born of the Lord as a Father, they are therefore called ‘kings and priests’. Then also it is said that they are ‘going to sit with the Lord in His throne’ (Rev. iii 21).
[2] There are two kingdoms into which the entire heaven is divided the spiritual kingdom and the celestial kingdom. The spiritual kingdom is what is called the Lord’s royalty, and since all who are there are in wisdom derived from truths, therefore they are understood by the ‘kings’, which the Lord will make those who are in wisdom from Him; and the celestial kingdom is what is called the Lord’s priesthood, and since all who are there are in love derived from goods, therefore those are understood by the ‘priests’, which the Lord will make those who are in love from Him. In like manner the Lord’s Church on earth (in terris) is divided into two kingdoms; concerning which two kingdoms [something] may be seen in the work on HEAVEN AND HELL, published at London in the year 1758 (n. 24, 226).
[3] He who does not know the spiritual signification of ‘kings and priests’ can be deluded in regard to many things that are related about them in the Prophets and in the Apocalypse; as in these in the Prophets:-
The sons of the strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: thou shalt suck the breasts of kings, that thou mayest know that I Jehovah am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer Isa. lx 10, 16.
Kings shall be thy nursing fathers and their princesses thy nursing mothers Isa. xlix 23,
and elsewhere, as in Gen. xlix 20; Ps. ii 10; Isa. xiv 9, xxiv 21, lii 15; Jer. ii 26, iv 9, xlix 3; Lam. ii 6, 9; Ezek. vii 26, 27; Hosea iii 4; Zeph i 8. By ‘kings’ there, are understood not kings, but those who are in Divine truths from the Lord, and abstractly the Divine Truths from which wisdom is derived. Nor are kings understood by ‘the king of the south’ and ‘the king of the north’ who waged war with each other (Dan. xi seq.), but by ‘the king of the south’ those are understood who are in truths, and by ‘the king of the north’ those who are in untruths.
[4] In like manner in the Apocalypse, where ‘kings’ are frequently named, as in these passages:-
The sixth angel poured out his phial upon the great river Euphrates, and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared Rev. xvi 12.
The kings of the land have committed fornication with the great harlot sitting upon many waters Rev. xvii 2.
All the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of the whoredom of Babylon, and the kings of the land have committed whoredom with her Rev. xviii 3.
And I saw the beast and the kings of the land, and their armies gathered together to make war with the One sitting upon the white horse Rev. xix 19.
And the nations that are saved shall walk in His light, and the kings of the land shall bring their glory and honour into the New Jerusalem Rev. xxi 24,
and elsewhere, as chaps. xvi 14; xvii 2, 9-14; xviii 9, 10. By the ‘kings’ there are understood those who are in truths and in the opposite sense those who are in untruths, and abstractly things true or false. By the whoredom of Babylon with the kings of the land the falsification of the truths of the Church is understood. It is an established fact that Babylon, or the woman who sat upon the scarlet coloured beast, has not committed whoredom with kings, but has falsified the truths of the Word.
[5] It is plain from these [considerations] that by the ‘kings’ that the Lord is going to make those who are wise from Him, is not understood that they are going to be kings but that they will be wise. That this is so, even enlightened reason sees. Similarly in the following:-
Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests, that we may reign over the land Rev. v 10.
That the Lord understood the truth (veritas) by ‘a king’ is plain from His words to Pilate:-
Pilate said unto Him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou hast said. Because I am the King, I was born for this, and came into the world for this, that I should bear witness to the truth (veritas). Everyone who is of the truth (veritas) hears My voice. Pilate said unto Him, What is the truth (veritas)? John xviii 37, 38.
To bear witness to the truth (veritas) is [equivalent to] Himself being the Truth (Veritas); and since He was calling Himself ‘King’ on account of that, Pilate said, ‘What is the truth?’, that is, Is the truth a king? That ‘priests’ signify those who are in the good of love, and abstractly the goods of love, will be seen in the things following.
21. ‘Unto God and His Father’ signifies thus [they are] images of His Divine Wisdom and of His Divine Love. By ‘God and the Father’ in the spiritual sense not two persons are understood, but by ‘God’ the Divine as to wisdom is understood, and by ‘the Father’ the Divine as to love. There are in fact two things in the Lord, Divine Wisdom and Divine Love or Divine Truth and Divine Good. In the Old Testament these two are understood by ‘God’ and ‘Jehovah’; here, by ‘God’ and ‘the Father’. Now since the Lord teaches that He and the Father are one, and that He is in the Father and the Father in Him (John x 30; xiv 10, 11), two persons are not understood by ‘God’ and ‘the Father’, but only the Lord. Also the Divine is one and indivisible; therefore by [the statement] that Jesus Christ has made us kings and priests unto God and His Father is signified in order that in His presence they may appear to be images of His Divine Wisdom and Love. In these two likewise the image of God has its abode with men and angels. That the Divine, which in itself is one, is designated by various names in the Word, may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD. That the Lord Himself is also the Father, is established from these passages. In Isaiah:-
Unto us a Boy is born, unto us a Son is given, Whose Name is Wonderful, GOD, Hero, THE FATHER OF ETERNITY, the Prince of Peace Isa. ix 6 [H.B. 5].
In the same:-
Thou Jehovah art our Father, our Redeemer from an age is Thy Name Isa. lxiii 16.
And in John:-
If you have known Me, you have known My Father also, and from henceforth you have known Him and seen Him. Philip says, Lord, show us the Father. Jesus says to him, He who has seen Me has seen the Father, how then sayest thou, Show us the Father? Believe Me, that I am in the Father and the Father in Me John xiv 7, 8, 9, 11.
No. 960 below may be seen.
22. ‘To Him be glory and strength for ages of ages’ signifies Who Only has Divine Majesty and Divine Omnipotence to eternity. By ‘glory’ in the Word where [it treats] of the Lord is understood the Divine Majesty, and it is predicated of His Divine Wisdom; and by ‘strength’ the Divine Omnipotence is understood, and it is predicated of His Divine Love; and by ‘ages of ages’ eternity is understood. It can be confirmed from many passages in the Word that these things are understood by ‘glory’, ‘strength’ and ‘ages of ages’.
23. ‘Amen’ signifies Divine confirmation out of the truth (veritas), thus out of His very Self. ‘Amen’ signifies the truth (veritas), and since the Lord was the Truth (Veritas) itself, therefore He so often said, ‘Verily (Amen) I say unto you’ as in Matt. v 18, 26; vi 16; x 23, 42; xvii 20; xviii 13, 18; xxv 12; xxviii 20; John iii 11; v 19, 24, 25; vi 26, 32, 47, 53; viii 34, 51, 58; x 7 [; xii] 24; xiii 16, 20, 21; xxi 18, 25; and in the things following in the Apocalypse:-
These things says the Amen, the faithful and true Witness Rev. iii 14.
This is the Lord. That the Lord is the Truth (Veritas) itself, He Himself teaches (John xiv 6; xvii 59).
24. [verse 7] ‘And He is coming with the clouds of heaven’ signifies that the Lord is going to reveal Himself in the sense of the letter of the Word, and to open its spiritual sense at the end of the Church. He who knows nothing about an internal or spiritual sense of the Word is not able to know what was understood by the Lord by [His saying] that He is going to come in the clouds of heaven; for He said to the high priest, when he adjured Him to say whether He was the Christ the Son of God:
Thou hast said, I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand sides of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven Matt. xxvi 63, 64; Mark xiv 61, 62.
Also where the Lord speaks to the disciples about the consummation of the age, He said:-
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man, and they shall see Him coming in the clouds of heaven with vigour (virtus) and glory Matt. xxiv 30; Mark xiii 26.
By ‘the clouds of heaven’ in which He is going to come, nothing else is understood but the Word in the sense of the letter, and by ‘the glory’ in which they are going to see Him, the Word in the spiritual sense. That this is the case can scarcely be believed by those who do not think beyond the sense of the letter. With them, a cloud is a cloud, and as a result [there is] confidence that the Lord is going to make His appearance in the clouds of heaven while the last judgment is impending. This idea falls to the ground, however, when it is known what ‘a cloud’ is-that it is Divine Truth in ultimates, thus the Word in the sense of the letter. [2] Clouds appear in the spiritual world just as they do in the natural world; but the clouds in the spiritual world appear below the heavens among those who are in the sense of the letter of the Word, darker or brighter in accordance with the understanding of the Word and its reception at the same time. This is because the light of heaven there is Divine Truth, and darkness there is [composed of] untruths. Consequently bright clouds are the Divine Truth veiled over with appearances of truth, such as the Word is in the letter with those who are in truths, while dark clouds are the Divine Truth covered all over with fallacies resulting from confirmed appearances, such as the Word in the letter is with those who are in untruths. I have often seen those clouds, and it has been plain whence and what they are. Now because the Lord, after the glorification of His Human, was made Divine Truth or the Word even in ultimates, He said to the high priest that ‘from now on they were going to see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven’.
[3] Moreover His saying to the disciples that ‘in the consummation of the age the sign of the Son of Man was going to appear, and they were going to see Him coming in the clouds of heaven with vigour (virtus) and glory’ signifies that, at the end of the Church when there is going to be a last judgment, He is going to make His appearance in the Word and reveal the spiritual sense. And this in fact has been accomplished, because now is the end of the Church, and the last judgment has been completed, as can be established from the little works recently published.** This, therefore, is what is understood here in the Apocalypse by ‘Behold He is coming with clouds’; also in the following statements:-
I saw, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud One sitting like unto the Son of Man Rev. xiv 14.
As also in Daniel:-
I was seeing (videns fui) in visions at night, and behold with clouds the Son of Man coming Dan. vii 13.
That by ‘the Son of Man’ is understood the Lord as to the Word may be seen [in] THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 19-28).
[4] That also by ‘clouds’ elsewhere in the Word is understood Divine Truth in ultimates, and thence also the Word in the letter, can be seen from the passages there where ‘clouds’ are mentioned, as in these:-
There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, riding in heaven, and
In magnificence upon the clouds Deut. xxxiii 26, 27.
Sing unto God, praise His Name, extol Him riding upon clouds Ps. lxviii 4 [H.B. 5].
Jehovah riding upon a light cloud Isa. xix 1.
‘To ride upon the clouds’ signifies to be in the wisdom of the Word, for a horse signifies the understanding of the Word. Who does not see that God does not ride upon the clouds? In like manner:-
God has ridden upon a cherub and pitched His tent-the clouds of the heavens Ps. xviii 10-12 [H.B. 11-13].
Cherubs also signify the Word, as maybe seen below (n. 239, 672). A ‘tent’ signifies a habitation.
[5] Jehovah joins the beams of His reclining-couches in the waters, He makes a cloud His chariot Ps. civ 3.
‘Waters’ signify truths, ‘reclining-couches’ signify doctrinals, and ‘chariot’ signifies doctrine. All of these are termed ‘clouds’ because they are [derived] from the sense of the letter of the Word. In like manner:-
He binds up the waters in His clouds, and the cloud is not broken under them; and He spreads His cloud over [His] seat Job xxvi 8, 9.
God caused the light of His cloud to shine Job xxxvii 15.
Ascribe strength unto God, strength upon the clouds Ps. lxviii 34 [H.B. 35].
The ‘light of a cloud’ signifies the Divine Truth of the Word, and ‘strength’ signifies the Divine power there.
[6] Thou, Lucifer, hast said in thine heart, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will become like the Most High Isa. xiv [13,] 14.
Forsake Babel, for she has lifted herself up even to the clouds Jer. li 9.
By ‘Lucifer’ and ‘Babel’ those are signified who profane the goods and truths of the Word, therefore these [goods and truths] are the things understood there by ‘clouds’.
Jehovah spread a cloud for a covering Ps. cv 39.
Jehovah has created upon every dwelling-place of Zion a cloud by day, for [there is] a covering upon all the glory Isa. iv 5.
Here also by ‘cloud’ is understood the Word in the sense of the letter, which sense, since it includes and covers the spiritual sense, is called ‘a covering upon the glory’. That the sense of the letter of the Word is a covering lest its spiritual sense should be injured may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 33), and that it is a guard (n. 97).
[7] The Divine Truth in ultimates, which is like the Word in the sense of the letter, was also represented by the ‘cloud’ in which Jehovah descended upon mount Sinai and promulgated the Law (Exod. xix 9; xxxiv 5). Again [it was represented] by the ‘cloud’ that covered Peter, James and John, when Jesus was transformed, concerning which [we read] these [words]:-
While Peter yet spoke, behold a cloud overshadowed them, and behold a voice out of the cloud saying, This is My beloved Son, hear Him Matt. xvii 5; Mark ix 7; Luke ix 34, 35.
The Lord in this transformation caused Himself to be seen as the Word, on account of which the cloud overshadowed them and the voice out of the cloud was heard [to say] that He is the Son of God. The ‘voice out of the cloud’ is out of the Word. That by ‘cloud’ in an opposite sense is understood the Word as to its sense of the letter falsified, will be seen elsewhere.
* ‘Of heaven’ is not found in the Greek text of the Apocalypse.
** ‘Concerning the Last Judgment etc.’ (London, 1758) and ‘Continuation concerning the Last Judgment etc.’ (Amsterdam, 1763).
25. ‘And every eye shall see Him’ signifies that all who out of affection are in an understanding of Divine Truth are going to recognise [this]. In the spiritual sense by ‘eye’ is not understood an eye, but understanding, therefore by ‘every eye shall see’ is signified that all who out of affection are in an understanding of Divine Truth are going to acknowledge [this], since they alone understand and acknowledge. The rest indeed see and they also understand, but they do not acknowledge. Those [who also acknowledge] are signified, because it follows, that ‘they who pierced Him’ are also going to see, by whom are understood those who are in untruths. That ‘eye’ signifies understanding will be seen below (n. 48).
26. ‘And they who pierced Him’ signifies that those who in the Church are in untruths are also going to see. By ‘to pierce’ Jesus Christ is understood nothing else than to destroy His Divine Truth in the Word. This is also understood by [the statement] that:-
One of the soldiers pierced His side, and there came out blood and water John xix 34.
‘Blood and water’ are spiritual and natural Divine Truth, thus the Word in its spiritual and in its natural sense, and ‘to pierce the Lord’s side’ is to destroy both senses by means of untruths, as indeed was done by the Jews. For all things of the Lord’s passion were representing the state of the Jewish Church as to the Word, on which subject [something] may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 15-17). The reason why by ‘to pierce Him’ is signified to destroy the Word by means of untruths is because this is said of Jesus Christ, Who is presently called the Son of Man, and by ‘the Son of Man’ is understood the Lord as to the Word. ‘To pierce the Son of Man’, therefore, is [to do the same to] the Word.
27. ‘And all the tribes of the land shall wail’ signifies that this will be when there are no longer any goods and truths in the Church. That ‘the tribes of the land’ signify goods and truths of the Church will be seen in the Exposition of chapter vii, where it treats of the twelve ‘tribes’ of Israel. By ‘to wail’ is signified mourning on account of their being dead. By those things is understood something like what is meant by the Lord’s words in Matthew:-
After the affliction of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall down from heaven; and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man, and then shall all the tribes of the land wail Matt. xxiv 29, 30.
These things [are said] of the consummation of the age, which is the end of the Church. ‘The sun shall be darkened’ signifies that love and charity are no more; ‘the moon shall not give her light’ signifies that intelligence and faith are no more; ‘the stars shall fall down from heaven’ signifies that the cognitions of good and truth are no more: ‘all the tribes of the land shall wail’ signifies that goods and truths are no more; the ‘affliction’ signifies that state of the Church.
28. ‘Even so, Amen’ signifies Divine confirmation that it is going to be so. This is plain from the things expounded above (n. 23).
29. [verse 8] ‘And I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending’ signifies Who is the Very and Only One from Primes to Ultimates, from Whom all things are; thus Who is the Very and One Only Love, the Very and One Only Wisdom, and the Very and One Only Life in Itself, and thus the Very and One Only Creator, Saviour, and Enlightener from Himself, and thence the All in all of heaven and the Church. These and more besides are the things that are contained in those words, by means of which the Lord is described. That they have been said concerning the Lord, and indeed concerning His Human, is quite plain, for it follows that [John]:-
heard a voice saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last; and he turned to see the voice that spoke with him, and he saw the Son of Man in the midst of the seven lampstands Rev. i 10-13,
Who [i.e. the Son of Man] also soon after said:-
I am the First and the Last, and am the Living One, and was put to death Rev. i 17, 18; ii 8.
Moreover it is not possible in a few words to confirm that all the things that have been stated above are contained in those words, for to confirm them to the extent that they can be grasped (ad captum) would require many pages. They have, however, been confirmed in part in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM recently published at Amsterdam, which may be seen. The Lord declares Himself to be ‘Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending’, because ‘Alpha and Omega’ have reference to His Divine Love, and ‘the Beginning and the Ending’ have reference to His Divine Wisdom; for there is a marriage of love and wisdom, or of good and truth, in the details (in singulis) of the Word, and concerning this marriage THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 80-90) may be seen. [2] The Lord is called ‘Alpha and Omega’ because Alpha is the first and Omega is the last character in the Greek alphabet, and consequently they signify all things inclusively. This is because any one letter of the alphabet in the spiritual world signifies some particular thing; and a vowel, since it is serviceable for sound, signifies something of affection or love. This is the origin of spiritual and angelic speech, and also writing. Up to this time, however, this arcanum has not been known; for there is a universal language in which all angels and spirits are, and this has nothing in common with any language of men in the world. Every man comes into this language after death, for each man has it implanted as a result of creation, and therefore in the entire spiritual world any one is able to understand another. It has often been granted me to hear that language, and to speak it also, and I have compared it with languages in the world, and found that there is no identity with any natural language on earth (in terris) even in the least thing. It differs from these by virtue of its first principle, which is that each letter of any word is the sign of some meaning both in speech and writing. Now, it is in consequence of this that the Lord is termed ‘Alpha and Omega’, by which is signified that He is the All in all of heaven and the Church; and since these are two vowels, they have reference to love, as has been stated above. In ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (n. 295), some things may be seen concerning this language and its writing flowing out of the spiritual thought of angels.
30. That ‘Says the Lord, Who is and Who was and Who is to come’ signifies Who is the Eternal and Infinite, and is Jehovah, may be seen above (n. 13), where this has been expounded.
32. [verse 9] ‘I John who also* am your brother and companion’ signifies those who are in the good of charity and thence in the truths of faith. It was said above (n. 5) that the apostle John represented those who are in the good of charity; and since charity is the soul and life of faith, those who are in the good of charity are also in the truths of faith. It is in consequence of this that John calls himself a brother and companion of those in the Church to whom he writes, for he wrote to the seven Churches. By ‘a brother’ in the spiritual sense of the Word is understood one who is in the good of charity, and by ‘a companion’ one who is thereby in the truths of faith. Indeed, all are, as it were, blood-relations through charity, but relations-in-law through faith; for charity joins together, whereas faith does not unless it is from charity. Provided that faith is derived from charity, then charity joins together and faith brings about association, and since they make one, the Lord therefore commanded that all should be brothers, for He says:-
One is your Teacher Christ, but all you are brothers Matt. xxiii 8.
[2] The Lord also calls those ‘brothers’ who are in the good of charity or in the good of life. He said:-
My mother and My brothers are they who hear the Word of God and do it Luke viii 21; Matt. xii 49; Mark iii 33-35.
By ‘mother’ is understood the Church, and by ‘brothers’ those who are in charity. Again, since the good of charity is ‘a brother’, the Lord therefore addresses those who are in it as ‘brothers’, as indeed in Matt. xxv 40, and therefore He also so addresses the disciples (Matt. xxviii 10; John xx 17). We do not, however, read that the disciples addressed the Lord as brother, because ‘brother’ is good that is from the Lord. This is comparatively as it is with a king, a prince, and a great man, who call their blood-relations and relations-in-law brothers, but yet these do not do so in return, for the Lord says:-
One is your Teacher, Christ, but you are all brothers Matt. xxiii 8.
Also:-
You call Me Master and Lord, and you say well, for so I am John xiii 13.
[3] The sons of Israel used to call all those brothers who were from their father Jacob, and in a wider sense those also who were from Esau, but those who were not [descended] from them [they called] companions. Since, however, the Word in the spiritual sense treats only of those who are in the Lord’s Church, therefore in that sense by ‘brothers’ are understood those who are in the good of charity from the Lord, and by ‘companions’ those who are in the truths of faith. So in the following:-
Thus shall you say every one to his companion, and every one to his
brother, What has Jehovah answered? Jer. xxiii 35.
You have not proclaimed liberty, every one to his brother, and every one to his companion Jer. xxxiv 17.
Let not [the creditor] urge his companion or his brother Deut. xv 1, 2.
For the sake of my brothers and my companions I will say Ps. cxxii 8.
Every one helps his companion, and says to his brother, Be strong Isa. xli 6.
And in the opposite sense:-
Beware you every one of his companion, and trust not in any brother; every brother supplants, and every companion slanders Jer. ix 4 [H.B. 3].
I will mix Egypt with Egypt, that one may fight against his brother, and against his companion Isa. xix 2,
and elsewhere. These [quotations] have been adduced that it may be known why John terms himself ‘brother and companion’, and that by ‘a brother’ in the Word is understood one who is in charity or good, and by ‘a companion’ one who is in faith or truth. Since however it is charity from which faith is derived, therefore none are called companions by the Lord, but brothers or neighbour. Every one also is a neighbour in accordance with the quality of his good (Luke x 36, 37).
* Reading et (also) instead of est (is).
In the consummation of the age they shall deliver you up into affliction, and shall kill you. There shall be great affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the world, nor shall be. After the affliction of those days shall the sun be darkened, the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall down from heaven Matt. xxiv 9, 21, 29; Mark xlii 19, 24.
That ‘the kingdom’ signifies the Church, will be seen in the things following.
34. Was in the isle called Patmos’ signifies the state and situation in which he could be enlightened. That the Revelation of John was produced in Patmos was on account of its being an island in Greece, not far from the land of Canaan, and between Asia and Europe; and by ‘isles’ are signified nations more out of the way from the worship of God, but who yet are going to draw near to that worship because they can be enlightened. The like [is signified] by ‘Greece’. But the Church itself [is signified] by ‘the land of Canaan’, by ‘Asia’ those belonging to the Church [are signified] who are in the light of the truth (veritas) out of the Word, and by ‘Europe’ those to whom the Word is going to come. It is in consequence of this that by ‘the isle Patmos’ is signified the state and situation in which he could be enlightened. That by ‘isles’ in the Word are signified nations more remote from the worship of God, but who are yet going to draw near to that worship, is plain from these passages:-
Honour Jehovah in the Urim, the Name of the God of Israel in the isles of the sea Isa. xxiv 15.
He shall not extinguish nor break in pieces, till He set judgment in the earth, and the isles hope in His law. Sing unto Jehovah a new song, the isles and the inhabitants thereof shall propose glory to Jehovah, and they will declare His praise in the islands Isa. xlii 4, 10, 12.
Listen unto Me attentively, O isles and the peoples from afar Isa. xlix 1.
The isles shall hope in Me, and on Mine arm shall they trust Isa. li 5.
The isles shall trust in Me, and the ships of Tarshish Isa. lx 9.
Hear the words of Jehovah, O nations, and declare [them] in the isles from afar Jer. xxxi 10.
That they may worship Jehovah, every one in his place, all the isles of the nations Zeph. ii 11;
and elsewhere. That the like [is signified] by ‘Greece’ is not plain in this manner from the Word, since Greece has only been mentioned by name [in] Dan. viii 21, x 20, xi 2; as also John xii 20; Mark vii 26. That by ‘the land of Canaan’ the Lord’s Church is understood, and this is thence called ‘the Holy Land’ and ‘the heavenly Canaan’, is plain from many passages in the Word. It may be seen above (n. 11) that those in the Church who are in the light of the truth (veritas) out of the Word are understood by ‘Asia’; and it is consistent [with this] that those to whom the Word is going to come are understood by ‘Europe’.
36. [verse 10] ‘I came to be in the spirit on the Lord’s day’ signifies the spiritual state then as a result of Divine influx. ‘I came to be in the spirit’ signifies the spiritual state in which he was while in the visions, concerning which state [something] follows. ‘On the Lord’s day’ signifies influx from the Lord then, for on that day there is the presence of the Lord, because the day is holy. It is plain from these [considerations] that ‘I came to be in the spirit on the Lord’s day’ signifies the spiritual state then as a result of Divine influx. Of the prophets we read that they were ‘in the spirit’ or ‘in a vision’, also that the Word was delivered to them by Jehovah. When they were in the spirit or a vision they were not in the body but in their spirit, in which state they saw such things as are in heaven. But when the Word was delivered to them, then they were in the body and heard Jehovah speaking. These two states of the prophets are to be properly distinguished. In the state of vision the eyes of their spirit were opened and the eyes of their body closed, and they then heard things that angels spoke, or that Jehovah spoke through angels, and they also saw the things that were represented to them in heaven; and then sometimes they seemed to be carried from place to place, the body remaining in its own position.
[2] John was in this state when he wrote the Apocalypse; and sometimes also Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Daniel [were in it]; and then it is said that they were ‘in a vision’ or ‘in the spirit’; for Ezekiel says:-
The spirit took me up, and brought me back into Chaldea to the captivity, in a vision of God, in the spirit of God: so the vision that I had seen went up over me Ezek. xi 1, 24.
He also says that the spirit took him up, and he heard an earthquake behind him, and other things (Ezek. iii 12, 24); also, that the spirit took him up between earth and heaven, brought him into Jerusalem in the visions of God, and he saw abominations (viii 3 seq.). He was in like manner in a vision of God or in the spirit, when he saw the four animals that were cherubs (chaps. i and x), as also when he saw the new land and the new temple, and an angel measuring them (xl-xlviii) . He says that he was in the visions of God (xl 2), and that the spirit took him up (xliii 5).
[3] A similar thing was effected in the case of Zechariah, in whom there was an angel at the time, when he saw the man riding among the myrtle trees (Zech. i 8 seq.); when he saw four horns, and afterwards a man in whose hand was a measuring line (i 18, ii 1 seq. [H.B. ii, 5 seq.]); when he saw Joshua the high priest (iii 1 seq.); when he saw the lampstand and the two olive trees (iv 1 seq.); when he saw the flying roll and the ephah (v 1, 6); and when he saw the four chariots coming out from between the two mountains, and the horses (vi 1 seq.). Daniel was in a similar state when he saw the four beasts coming up out of the sea (Dan. vii 1 seq.); and when he saw the battle of the ram and the he-goat (viii 1 seq.). He himself says that he saw these things in visions (vii I, 2, 7, 13; viii 2; x 1, 7, 8), and that the angel Gabriel appeared to him in a vision (ix 25). [4] A similar thing was effected in the case of John, as when he saw the Son of Man in the midst of the seven lampstands (Rev. i); when he saw the throne in heaven, and one sitting thereon, and four animals round about the throne (iv); when he saw the Book sealed with seven seals (v); when he saw the four horses going forth out of the opened Book (vi); when he saw the four angels standing on the four corners of the land (vii); when he saw the locusts going forth out of the pit of the deep (ix); when be saw the angel in whose hand was the little book, which he gave him to eat (x); when he heard the seven angels sounding with the trumpets ([viii, ix] xi); when he saw the dragon and the woman whom the dragon persecuted, and the battle of that dragon with Michael (xii); and afterwards, the two beasts coming up, the one out of the sea, and the other out of the land (xiii); when he saw the seven angels having the seven last plagues (xv, xvi); when he saw the harlot sitting upon the scarlet coloured beast (xvii, xviii); and afterwards a white horse and One sitting upon it (xix); and at last, the new heaven and the new land, and the New Jerusalem coming down then out of heaven (xxi, xxii). That John saw these things in ‘the spirit’ and in ‘vision’, he himself says (i 50, iv 2, ix 17, xxi 10). This is also understood by [the expression] ‘I saw’ wherever [it occurs] in his writings.
[5] It is quite plain from these things that to be ‘in the spirit’ is to be ‘in vision’, and this is effected by means of an opening of the sight of a man’s spirit. When this is opened, the things that are in the spiritual world appear just as clearly as do those that are before the sight of the body in the natural world. I can testify that it is so from many years experience. The disciples were in this state when they saw the Lord after the resurrection, and it is therefore said that ‘their eyes were opened’ (Luke xxiv 30, 31). Abraham was in a similar state when he saw the three angels and spoke with them. Likewise Hagar, Gideon, Joshua and others when they saw angels of Jehovah. In like manner when Elisha’s young man saw the mountain full of chariots and horses of fire round about Elisha, for:-
Elisha prayed, and said, Jehovah, I pray Thee open his eyes that he may see, and Jehovah opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw 2 Kings vi 17.
As concerns the Word, however, this was not revealed in the state of ‘the spirit’ or ‘in vision’, but it was dictated by the Lord to the prophets with a living voice. On account of this it is not anywhere said that they spoke the Word out of the Holy Spirit, but out of Jehovah. See THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 53).
The voice of Jehovah upon the waters, the voice of Jehovah in vigour, the voice of Jehovah with honour, the voice of Jehovah breaking the cedars, the voice of Jehovah falling as a flame of fire, the voice of Jehovah makes the wilderness to tremble, the voice of Jehovah makes the hinds to bring forth Ps. xxix 3-9.
Sing psalms to the Lord, O kingdoms of the earth, behold He will give in His voice a voice of strength Ps. lxviii 32, 33 [H.B. 33, 34].
Jehovah uttered His voice in the presence of [His] army, for beyond number it does His Word Joel ii 11.
Jehovah will give forth His voice from Jerusalem Joel iii 16 [H.B. iv 16].
And since ‘voice’ signifies the Divine Truth [coming] out of the Lord, therefore the Lord said that:-
The sheep hear His voice; they know His voice; I also have other sheep which I ought to bring, and they shall hear My voice. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me John x 3, 4, 16, 27.
And elsewhere:-
The hour is coming when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of Man, and they who hear shall live John v 25.
‘Voice’ here is the Divine Truth of the Lord out of His Word.
38. [verse 11] ‘Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last’ signifies Who is the Very and Only One from Primes to Ultimates, from Whom all things are; thus Who is the Very and One Only Love, the Very and One Only Wisdom, and the Very and One Only Life in Itself, and thus the Very and One Only Creator, Saviour, and Enlightener from Himself, and thence the All in all of heaven and the Church: Who only is the Infinite and the Eternal, and Jehovah; and that He is the Lord. That all these things are contained in these words, and infinitely more, may be seen above (n. 13, 29). It was said there that all the characters or letters in the alphabet in the spiritual world signify things; and that their speech and writing there exist from this, and that therefore the Lord describes His Divinity and Infinity by ‘Alpha and Omega’, by which is signified that He is the All in all of heaven and the Church. Since any one letter in the spiritual world and in the angelic language thence, signifies a thing, therefore David composed Psalm cxix in an order following the letters of the alphabet, starting from Aleph and finishing with Tau, as can be established from the initial [letters] of the verses there. A similar thing appears in Psalm cxi, but not so obviously. On that account also Abram was called Abraham, and Sarai was called Sarah, which was done so that in heaven by ‘Abraham’ and ‘Sarah’ those [persons] should not be understood, but the Divine; as is also the case, for ‘H’ involves infinity, because it is only an aspirate. More about these matters may be seen above (n. 29).
John heard a voice behind him, and he turned to see the voice, and having turned he saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of them the SON OF MAN;
for the voice that he heard came from the SON OF MAN, Who is the Lord. [2] That the Lord Only is the God of heaven and earth He now teaches with a manifest voice, for He says:-
I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, says the Lord, Who is and Who was and Who is to come Rev. i 8;
and here:-
I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last Rev. i 51;
and afterwards:-
I am the First and the Last Rev. i 17; ii 8.
That by a ‘voice’, when from the Lord, Divine Truth is understood, may be seen above (n. 37); and that by ‘John’ are understood those belonging to the Church who are in the good of life (n. 5, 6 above). It can now be established from these things that by the words ‘And I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me’ is signified the inversion of the state of those who are in the good of life, as to the perception of truth in the Word when they turn to the Lord.
These things says He Who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands Rev. ii 1.
Nothing is said about the lamps of these lampstands, but in the things following it is said that:-
the holy Jerusalem (that is, the New Church) has no need of the sun, neither of the moon, for the Lamp thereof is the Lamb, and the nations that are being saved shall walk in His Light Rev. xxi 23, 24;
and further:-
They need no lamp, for the Lord God enlightens them Rev. xxii 5.
In fact those who will be of the Lord’s New Church (erunt e Nova Ecclesia Domini) are only lampstands that will shine from the Lord. [3] By the ‘golden lampstand’ in the tabernacle nothing else was represented than the Church as to enlightenment from the Lord, concerning which lampstand see Exod. xxv 31-end, xxxvii 17-24; Lev. xxiv 3, 4; Num. viii 2-4. That it represented the Lord’s Church as to spiritual Divine love, which is love towards the neighbour, may be seen in ARCANA CAELESTIA published at London (n. 9548, 9555, 9558, 9561, 9570, 9783); also below (n. 493). In Zechariah chapter iv, by the ‘lampstand’ is signified the New Church about to be set up by the Lord, since it signifies the new house of God or the new temple as is plain from the things following there, and by ‘the house of God’ or ‘the temple’ is signified the Church, and in the supreme sense the Lord’s Divine Human, as He Himself teaches (John ii 19-21, and elsewhere). It will, however, be stated what is signified in order in chapter iv in the case of Zechariah when the ‘lampstand’ was seen by him.
[4] ‘By the things that are contained from verses 1 to 7 is signified the enlightenment of the New Church by the Lord out of the good of love by means of truth. The olive trees there signify the Church as to the good of love. By the things from verses 8 to 10 there is signified that these things are from the Lord. The Lord is represented by Zerubbabel there, who is going to build the house, thus the Church. By the things from verses 11 to 14 is signified that in that Church there will also be truths out of a heavenly source. The exposition of that chapter has been given to me by the Lord through heaven.’
Cry out and shout, O inhabitress of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee Isa. xii 6.
God is my King working salvation in the midst of the land Ps. lxxiv 12.
God working mercy in the midst of the temple Ps. xlviii 9.
God stands in the congregation of God, He will judge in the midst of the gods Ps. lxxxii 1.
They are called ‘gods’ who are in Divine truths from the Lord, and abstractly, the truths themselves.
Behold, I send an Angel before thee; beware of His faces, since My Name is in the midst of Him Exod. xxiii 20, 21.
The ‘Name’ of Jehovah is all the Divine, ‘in the midst’ is in the inmost, and thence in all of it. ‘The midst’ also signifies the inmost, and all thence, in many other passages in the Word, even where evils are treated of, as Isa. xxiv 13; Jer. xxiii 9; Ps. v 9 [H.B. 10]; Jer. ix 5, 6 [H.B. 4, 5]; Ps. xxxvi 1 [H.B. 2], lv 4 [H.B. 5], lxii 4 [H.B. 5]. These passages are adduced so that it may be known that ‘in the midst of the lampstands’ signifies in the inmost, from which the Church and everything of it [exists], for the Church and everything of it is from the Lord by means of the Word. That ‘the lampstands’ signify the New Church may be seen just above (n. 43).
There shall go forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, justice shall be the girdle of His loins, and the truth (veritas) the girdle of His thighs Isa. xi [1,] 5.
The rod going forth out of the stem of Jesse is the Lord. That the girdle of the ephod, and the belt of Aaron’s tunic, signified conjunction, may be seen in ARCANA CAELESTIA published at London (n. 9837, 9944). Since ‘a girdle’ signifies the bond conjoining the goods and truths of the Church, therefore when the Church with the sons of Israel had been destroyed, Jeremiah the prophet was commanded:-
To buy himself a girdle, and put it on his loins, and then to hide it in a hole of the rock near the Euphrates, and at the end of days, when he took it again, behold it was rotten, and not profitable for anything Jer. xiii 1-12.
By this was represented that the good of the Church was then nullified, and as a result the truths had been dissipated. The like is signified by ‘girdle’ in Isaiah:-
Instead of a girdle there shall be a rent Isa. iii 24,
and elsewhere also. That by the ‘breasts’ or ‘teats’ the Divine Love is signified, is plain from the passages in the Word where they are named, as also from their correspondence with love.
[Her] Nazirites were whiter than snow, brighter white than milk; their form has been darkened more than blackness; they are not known in the streets Lam. iv 7, 8;
also:-
Every head made bald, and every shoulder plucked of its hair Ezek. xxix 18.
Shame upon all faces, and baldness upon all heads Ezek. vii 18.
In like manner, Isa. xv 2, Jer. xlviii 37, Amos viii 10. Because the sons of Israel dispersed all the sense of the letter of the Word by means of untruths, therefore the prophet Ezekiel was commanded to represent it by this, that:-
he should shave the head with a razor, and burn a third part of the long hair with fire, thrust through a third part with a sword, and scatter a third part into the wind, and collect some in his skirts, and afterwards cast this also into the fire Ezek. v 1-4 seq.
[4] On account of this it is also said in Micah:-
Make thee bald and poll thee for the sons of thy delights, enlarge thy
baldness as the eagle, for they are carried away from thee Micah i 16.
The ‘sons of delights’ are the genuine truths of the Church out of the Word. And because Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel represented the Babelish falsification of the Word and the destruction of everything of the Truth there, it consequently came to pass that:-
his long hair grew like eagles’ [feathers] Dan. iv 33.
Since hairs used to signify that holy [power] of the Word, it is therefore said of the Nazirites, that:-
they should not shave the hair of their head, because that is the Naziriteship of God upon their head Num. vi 1-21;
and therefore it was decreed that:-
the high priest and his sons should not shave their head, lest they die, and wrath should come upon the whole house of Israel Lev. x 6.
[5] Now because by ‘hairs’ is signified the Divine Truth in ultimates, and in the Church this is the Word in the sense of the letter, the like is also said in Daniel concerning the Ancient of days:-
I saw until the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, His garment white as snow, and the hair of His head like clean wool Dan. vii 9.
That ‘the Ancient of days’ is the Lord is quite plain in Micah:-
Thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall go forth to Me He Who shall be Ruler in Israel, and Whose going forth is from the ancient time, from the days of eternity Micah v 2 [H.B. 1];
and in Isaiah, where He is called:-
the Father of Eternity Isa. ix 6 [H.B. 5].
[6] From these passages, and many others which are not adduced on account of their abundance, it can be established that by the ‘head’ and ‘hairs’ of the Son of Man, which were ‘white as wool, like snow’, is understood the Divine Love and Wisdom in primes and in ultimates. And since by ‘the Son of Man’ the Lord is understood as to the Word, it follows that this also in primes and ultimates is understood. Otherwise to what purpose would the Lord here in the Apocalypse, and the Ancient of days in Daniel, be described even with respect to the hairs? That by ‘hairs’ the sense of the letter of the Word is signified is manifestly plain from those who are in the spiritual world. Those who have held the sense of the letter of the Word in contempt appear bald there; while those who have loved the sense of the letter of the Word appear there with becoming hair. It is said as wool’ and ‘as snow’, because wool signifies good in ultimates, and snow truth in ultimates, as also in Isaiah (i 18); for wool is derived from sheep, by which the good of charity is signified, and snow is derived from water, by which the truths of faith are signified.
48. ‘And His eyes as a flame of fire’ signifies the Divine Wisdom of the Divine Love. By ‘eyes’ in the Word the understanding is meant, and by the sight of the eyes, intelligence. When, therefore, [this is said] of the Lord, the Divine Wisdom is understood. By ‘a flame of fire’, however, is signified the spiritual love that is charity; therefore the Divine Love is understood when it concerns the Lord. Consequently, then, the Divine Wisdom of the Divine Love is signified by the fact that His eyes were as a flame of fire. That the eye signifies the understanding, is because they correspond; for as the eye sees by virtue of natural light, so the understanding sees by virtue of spiritual light. ‘To see’ is therefore predicated of both. That by ‘eye’ in the Word the understanding is signified is plain from the following passages:-
Bring forth the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears Isa. xliii 8.
In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of
the blind shall see out of dense darkness Isa. xxix 18.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf
Isa. xxxv 5, 6.
I will give Thee for a light of the Gentiles, for the opening of the eyes of the blind Isa. xlii [6,] 7.
These things [are said] of the Lord, Who when He comes will open the understanding with those who are in ignorance of the truth.
[2] That this is understood by ‘opening the eyes’ is even plainer from these passages:-
Make the heart of this people fat, and smear over their eyes, lest perchance they see with their eyes Isa. vi 9, 10; John xii 40.
Jehovah has poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes; the prophets and your leaders, the seers has He covered Isa. xxix 10; xxx 10.
Who shuts his eyes lest he should see evil Isa. xxxiii 15.
Hear this, O foolish people, who have eyes and see not Ezek. xii 2.
The punishment of the shepherd deserting the flock; the sword upon [his] right eye, and [his] right eye shall be darkened with dense darkness Zech. xi 17.
The plague wherewith Jehovah will smite all the people that shall fight against Jerusalem; their eyes shall consume away in their sockets Zech. xiv 12.
I will smite every horse with astonishment, and every horse of the people with blindness Zech. xii 4.
A ‘horse’ in the spiritual sense is the understanding of the Word (n. 298).
Give heed to me, Jehovah my God, enlighten my eyes, lest perchance I sleep death Ps. xiii 3 [H.B. 4].
Every one sees that in these passages the understanding is signified by ‘eyes’.
[3] Consequently it is plain what the Lord understood by ‘eye’ in these passages:-
The lamp of the body is the eye; if thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light; if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be darkened. If therefore the light (lumen) that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness Matt. vi 22, 23; Luke xi 34.
If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee, for it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehenna of fire Matt. v 29, xviii 9.
By ‘eye’ in these passages is not understood an eye, but an understanding of truth. Since by ‘eye’ an understanding of truth is signified, there was therefore among the statutes with the sons of Israel, that:-
out of the seed of Aaron, a blind man, or one with a disordered eye, should not come nigh to offer a sacrifice, nor enter within the veil Lev. xxi 18, 20.
Again that:-
anything blind should not be offered in a sacrifice Lev. xxii 22; Mal. i 8.
[4] It is plain from these [passages] what is understood by ‘eye’ when predicated of man: it follows therefrom that by ‘eye’ when predicated of the Lord is understood His Divine Wisdom, also His Omniscience and Providence, as in these passages:-
Open Thine eyes, O Jehovah, and see Isa. xxxvii x 7.
I will set My eye upon them in good, and I will build them Jer. xxiv 6.
Behold the eye of Jehovah is upon them who fear Him Ps. xxxiii 18.
Jehovah in the temple of His holiness, His eyes behold, and His eyelids try the sons of man Ps. xi 4.
Since by ‘cherubs’ is signified the Lord’s guarding and providence that the spiritual sense of the Word should not be injured, therefore it is said of the four animals that were cherubs, that:-
They were full of eyes before and behind, and their wings were likewise full of eyes Rev. iv 6, 8.
Again that:-
The wheels, upon which the cherubs were borne along, were full of eyes round about Ezek. x 12.
[5] That by ‘a flame of fire’ His Divine Love is understood will be seen in the following pages where ‘flame’ and ‘fire’ are mentioned; and because it is said that ‘His eyes were as a flame of fire’ the Divine Wisdom of the Divine Love is signified. That in the Lord there is the Divine Love of the Divine Wisdom and the Divine Wisdom of the Divine Love, thus a reciprocal union of both, is an arcanum disclosed in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (n. 34-39), and elsewhere.
49. [verse 15] ‘And His feet like burnished bronze [as if] burned in a furnace’ signifies natural Divine Good. The Lord’s ‘feet’ signify His natural Divine; ‘fire’ or ‘what is burned’ signifies good, while ‘burnished bronze’ signifies natural good of truth; therefore by ‘the feet of the Son of Man like burnished bronze as if burned in a furnace’ is signified natural Divine Good. That His feet signify this results from correspondence. In the Lord, and consequently from the Lord, there is a CELESTIAL DIVINE, a SPIRITUAL DIVINE, and a NATURAL DIVINE. The celestial Divine is understood by the ‘head’ of the Son of Man, the spiritual Divine by His ‘eyes’ and by the ‘breast’ that was ‘girt with a golden girdle’, and the natural Divine by His ‘feet’. [2] Since these three are in the Lord, therefore those three are also in the angelic heaven. The third or supreme heaven is in the celestial Divine: the second or middle heaven is in the spiritual Divine: while the first or ultimate heaven is in the natural Divine. In like manner the Church on earth (in terris); for the entire heaven is in the presence of the Lord as one Man, in which those who are in the Lord’s celestial Divine make the head, those who are in the spiritual Divine make the body, and those who are in the natural Divine make the feet. Consequently also in any one man, because he has been created into the image of God, there are those three degrees, and as these are opened, that man becomes an angel, either of the third, the second, or the ultimate heaven. It is from this also that there are three senses in the Word, celestial, spiritual, and natural. That this is the case may be seen in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, specifically in the third part, in which those three degrees have been dealt with. That the feet, the soles, and the heels correspond to the natural things with a man, and in the Word therefore signify natural things, may be seen IN ARCANA CAELESTIA published at London (n. 2162, 4938-4952).
[3] Natural Divine Good is also signified by ‘feet’ in the following places; in Daniel:-
I lifted up mine eyes and saw, behold a man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz; his body was beryl-like, and his eyes as torches of fire, his arms and his feet like the lustre of polished bronze Dan. x 5, 6.
In the Apocalypse:-
I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, his fret as pillars of fire Rev. x 1.
And in Ezekiel:-
The feet of the cherubs were glittering like the lustre of polished bronze Ezek. i 7.
It was because the Divine of the Lord was being represented in them that the angels and cherubs were so seen.
[4] Since the Lord’s Church is under the heavens, thus under the Lord’s feet, it is therefore called His footstool in the following places:-
The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee to beautify the place of My sanctuary; I will render the place of My fret honourable, and they shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet Isa. lx 13, 14.
The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool Isa. lxvi 1.
God remembers not His footstool in the day of anger Lam. ii 1.
Worship Jehovah towards His footstool Ps. xcix 5.
Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah (Bethlehem); we will go up into His dwelling-places; we will bow down at His footstool Ps. cxxxii 6 [,7].
As a consequence of this, those worshipping fell at the Lord’s feet (Matt. xxviii 9; Mark v 22; Luke viii 41; John xi 32). Again, they kissed His feet, and wiped them with their hair (Luke vii 37, 38, 44, 46; John xi 2; xii 3).
[5] Because the Natural is signified by ‘feet’, the Lord therefore said to Peter, when He washed his feet:-
He who is washed needs not save to wash his feet, and the whole is clean John xiii 10.
To ‘wash the feet’ is to purify the natural man, and when this has been purified the whole man also is purified, as has been shown abundantly in ARCANA CAELESTIA, and in THE DOCTRINES OF THE NEW JERUSALEM. The natural man, who is also the external man, is purified whilst he is fleeing from the evil things that the spiritual or internal man sees to be evil and necessary to flee from.
[6] Now since the natural man is understood by ‘feet’, and this, if it has not been washed or purified, perverts all things, therefore the Lord said:-
If thy foot offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than to have two feet and be cast into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire Mark ix 45.
Here is not understood ‘foot’, but the natural man. The like is understood by ‘trampling the good pasture under foot’, and ‘troubling the waters with the feet’ (Ezek. xxxii 2; xxxiv 18, 19; Dan. vii 7, 19; and elsewhere). [7] Since by the Son of Man the Lord is understood as to the Word, it is plain that by His feet is also understood the Word in the natural sense, which has been much treated of in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE; as also that the Lord came into the world so that He might fulfil all things of the Word, and by this means become the Word even in ultimates (n. 98-100); but this arcanum is for those who will be in the New Jerusalem. [8] The Lord’s Natural Divine was also signified by the bronze serpent set up in the wilderness as a result of a command from Moses, by looking at which all were healed who had been bitten by serpents (Num. xxi 6, 8, 9). That this signified the Lord’s Natural Divine, and that those who look to this will be saved, the Lord Himself teaches in John:-
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the SON OF MAN be lifted up, so that all who believe in Him may not perish, but have eternal life John iii 14, 15.
It is because ‘bronze’, as also ‘burnished bronze’, signifies the Natural in respect of good, that the serpent was made out of bronze. See below n. 775.
50. ‘And His voice as the voice of many waters’ signifies natural Divine Truth. That ‘a voice’, when from the Lord, signifies Divine Truth may be seen above (n. 37) . That ‘waters’ signify truths, and specifically the natural truths that are cognitions out of the Word, is established from many passages in the Word, out of which only the following are adduced:-
The earth is full of the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters cover the sea Isa. xi 9.
Then with joy shall you draw waters out of the fountain of salvation Isa. xii 3.
He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, bread shall be given [him], and waters that are sure Isa. xxxiii 15, 16.
The poor and needy seeking water, but there is none; their tongue fails for thirst. I will open rivers upon the hillsides, and put fountains in the midst of the valleys: [I will make] the wilderness into a pool of waters, and the dry land into springs of waters, that they may see, acknowledge, pay attention, and understand Isa. xli 17, 18, 20.
I will pour water upon him who is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground, I will pour out My spirit Isa. xliv 3.
Thy light shall arise in the darkness, so that thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a going forth of waters, whose waters shall not deceive Isa. lviii 10 [11].
My people have committed two evils; they have deserted Me, the Fountain of living waters, to cut out for themselves pits that will not hold waters Jer. ii 13.
The great men sent the little ones for the waters, they came to the pits and found no waters, they returned with their vessels empty Jer. xiv 3.
They have forsaken Jehovah, the Fountain of living waters Jer. xvii 53.
They shall come with weeping, and with weeping will I lead them, I will lead them to the fountain of waters in a straight way Jer. xxxi 9.
I will break the staff of bread, and they shall drink waters by measure and with astonishment, that they may consume away for their iniquities Ezek. iv 16, 17; xii 18, 19; Isa. li 14.
Behold the days shall come in which I will send hunger into the land, not a hunger for bread, nor a thirst for waters, but for hearing the Word of Jehovah; they shall wander from sea to sea, and shall run to and fro to hear the Word of Jehovah, and shall not find it: in that day shall the virgins and the young men faint for thirst Amos viii 11-13.
In that day living waters shall go out from Jerusalem Zech. xiv 8.
Jehovah is my shepherd, He will lead me on to the waters of quietness Ps. xxiii [1,] 2.
They shall not thirst; He will make waters to flow out of the rock for them, and will cleave the rock so that waters may flow forth Isa. xlviii 21.
O God, I seek Thee in the morning, my soul thirsts, weary without waters Ps. lxiii 1 [H.B. 2].
Jehovah sends the Word, He makes the wind to blow, that the waters may flow Ps. cxlvii 18, 19.
Praise Jehovah, O heaven of heavens, and you waters that are above the heavens Ps. cxlviii 4.
Jesus sitting at Jacob’s fountain said to the woman, Whosoever shall drink of this water shall thirst again, but he who shall drink of the water that I shall give shall not thirst to eternity, and the water that I shall give shall be in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life John iv 7-15.
Jesus said, If any one thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture says, Out of his belly shall flow streams of living water John vii 37, 38.
To the thirsting one will be given of the fountain of the water of life freely. Rev. xxi 6.
He showed him a river of water of life going out from the throne of God and the Lamb Rev. xxii 1.
The Spirit and the Bride are saying, [Come]; and let him who hears say, Come; and let him who thirsts come; and let him who will take of the water of life freely Rev. xxii 17.
By ‘waters’ in these passages truths are understood, whence it is plain that by ‘the voice of many waters’ is understood the Lord’s Divine Truth in the Word. In like manner in these places:-
Behold the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east, and His voice as the voice of many waters, and the land was illuminated by His glory Ezek. xliii 2.
I heard a voice out of heaven, as the voice of many waters Rev. xiv 2.
The voice of Jehovah upon the waters, Jehovah upon many waters Ps. xxix 3.
When it is known that by ‘waters’ in the Word the truths in the natural man are understood, what was signified by the washings in the Israelitish Church can be established, and also what is signified by Baptism; and also by these words of the Lord in John:-
Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God John iii 5.
‘Of water’ signifies by means of truths, and ‘of the Spirit’ signifies by means of a life in accordance with them. That waters’ in the opposite sense signify untruths will be seen in the things following.
I will lay the land waste, the stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof shall not shine with their light Isa. xiii 10.
The ‘land’ that shall be laid waste is the Church. This having been laid waste, the cognitions of good and truth do not appear in the Word.
When I have extinguished thee, I will cover [the heavens], and make the stars dark: all the luminaries of light I shall make dark over thee, and I will give darkness upon the land Ezek. xxxii 7, 8.
‘Darkness upon the land’ is equivalent to untruths in the Church.
The sun and moon have been darkened, and the stars have diminished their brightness Joel ii 10, 11; iii 15 [H.B. iv 15].
After the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened, the moon shall not give its light, and the stars shall fall down from heaven Matt. xxiv 29; Mark xiii 24.
The stars of heaven fell to earth as a fig tree casts her untimely figs Rev. vi 13.
A star fell from heaven to earth Rev. ix 1.
By ‘stars falling from heaven’ are not understood stars, but cognitions of good and truth that are going to perish.
[3] This is plainer still from the fact that:-
The dragon drew the third part of the stars down from heaven Rev. xii 4.
Also, that:-
The he-goat of the she-goats cast down some of the stars and stamped upon them Dan. viii 9-11.
Therefore in the following verse in Daniel it is said that:-
It cast down the truth to earth Dan. viii 12.
Cognitions of good and truth are also signified by ‘stars’ in these places:-
Jehovah tells the number of the stars; He calls them all by their names Ps. cxlvii 4.
Praise Jehovah all you stars of light Ps. cxlviii 3.
The stars fought down from their courses Judg. v 20.
From these things it is plain what is understood by these words in Daniel:-
The intelligent shalt shine as the brightness of the expanse, the justifying ones [shall be] as many as the stars for ages of ages Dan. xii 3.
The ‘intelligent’ are those who are in truths, and ‘the justifying ones’ those who are in goods.
52. ‘And out of His mouth a sharp two-edged sword (romphaea) going forth’ signifies the dispersion by the Lord of untruths by means of the Word and doctrine. Mention is frequently made in the Word of ‘sword’ (gladius), short sword’ (machoera), and ‘long sword’ (romphaea), and by them nothing else is signified but truth fighting against untruths and destroying them, and also in the opposite sense what is untrue fighting against truths; for by ‘wars’ in the Word spiritual wars are signified, and these are of what is true against what is untrue and of what is untrue against what is true, and therefore by ‘weapons of war’ such things are signified as are fought with in these wars. It is plain that the dispersion by the Lord of untruths is understood here by ‘sword’ (romphaea), because it was seen to go out of His mouth, and to go out of the Lord’s mouth is to go out of the Word, for the Lord has spoken this with the mouth; and because the Word is understood by means of doctrine therefrom, this is signified also. It is said, ‘a sharp two-edged sword’ because it penetrates the heart and soul.
[2] So that it may be known that by ‘sword’ (romphaea) here the dispersion by the Lord of untruths by means of the Word is understood, some passages will be adduced where ‘sword’ (gladius) is mentioned, from which this can be seen viz:-
O sword against Babel, her princes and wise men: O sword against the liars, that they may become foolish: O sword against the mighty, that they may be dismayed: O sword against her horses and chariots. O sword against her treasures, that they may be plundered. A drought upon her waters that they may be dried up Jer. l 35-38.
These things [are said] of Babel, by which those who falsify and adulterate the Word are understood. Consequently by the ‘liars’ who will become foolish, ‘the horses and chariots’ upon which the sword [will fall], and the ‘treasures’ that will be plundered, are signified the untruths of their doctrine. That the waters ‘upon which there is a drought that they may be dried up’ signify truths maybe seen just above (n. 50).
[3] Prophesy and say, The sword is sharpened, and also furbished, sharpened to slaughter a slaughtering; let the sword be repeated the third time, the sword of those who are pierced; the sword of a great piercing, piercing the innermost recesses, that stumbling blocks may be multiplied Ezek. xxi 14-20, 28.
By ‘sword’ here also is understood the laying waste of truth in the Church.
Jehovah will deliver judgment with His sword upon all flesh, and the pierced of Jehovah shall be multiplied Isa. lxvi 16.
Here and elsewhere in the Word, they are said to be ‘pierced of Jehovah’ who perish through untruths.
The spoilers have come upon all the hills in the wilderness; the sword of Jehovah devouring from one end of the land even to the other Jer. xii 12.
We get our bread with the peril of our souls because of the sword of the wilderness Lam. v 9.
Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock; the sword [shall be] upon his arm, and upon his right eye Zech. xi 17.
The sword upon the shepherd’s right eye is the untruth of his understanding.
The sons of men are set on fire, their tongue is a sharp sword Ps. lvii 4 [H.B. 5].
Behold, they belch out with their mouth, a sword in their lips Ps. lix 7 [H.B. 8].
The workers of iniquity whet their tongue like a sword Ps. lxiv 3 [H.B. 4].
Like things are signified by ‘sword’ elsewhere, as Isa. xiii 13, 15; xxi 14, 15; xxvii 1; xxxi 7, 8; Jer. ii 30; v 12; xi 22; xiv 13-18; Ezek. vii 15; xxxii 10, 11, 12.
[4] It can be established from these what was understood by the Lord by means of ‘sword’ in these places:-
Jesus said, He had not come to send peace upon the land, but a sword Matt. x 34.
Jesus said, He who does not have a purse and scrip, let him sell his garments, and buy a sword. The disciples said, Lord, Behold two swords, and He said, It is enough Luke xxii 36, 38.
All they who take the sword, shall perish by the sword Matt. xxvi 51, 52.
Jesus says concerning the consummation of the age:-
They shall fall by the mouth of the sword, and they shall be led away captive among all nations, and at length Jerusalem shall be trodden down Luke xxi 24.
‘The consummation of the age’ is the last time of the Church; the ‘sword’ is what is untrue destroying what is true; the ‘nations’ are evils; the ‘Jerusalem’ that shall be trodden down is the Church.
[5] From these things it is now plain that by ‘a sharp sword (machaera) going forth out of the mouth of the Son of Man’ is signified the dispersion of untruths by the Lord by means of the Word. In like manner in the following passages in the Apocalypse:-
A great sword (machaera) was given to the one sitting upon the red horse Rev. vi 4.
Out of the mouth of the One sitting upon the white horse there went out a sharp sword (romphaea), that with it He should smite the nations. The remnant were slain with the sword of Him sitting upon the horse Rev. xix 15, 21.
By ‘the One sitting upon the white horse’ the Lord is understood as to the Word, and this is openly stated there (vers. 13, 16). The like is understood in David:-
Gird thy sword (gladius) upon Thy thigh, O Mighty One. Ride upon the Word of the truth (veritas). Thine arrows are sharp Ps. xlv 3-5 (H.B. 4-6].
These things [are said] concerning the Lord; and elsewhere:-
The saints shall exult, and the sword (gladius) of mouths in their hand Ps. cxlix 5, 6.
And in Isaiah:-
Jehovah has made my mouth a sharp sword (gladius) Isa. xlix 2.
53. ‘And His face as the sun shining in its power’ signifies the Divine Love and Wisdom, which are Himself, and proceed from Him. That by the ‘face’ of Jehovah or the Lord is understood the Divine Itself in Its Own Essence which is the Divine Love and Wisdom, thus Himself, will be seen below in the Expositions where ‘the face of God’ is mentioned. That in the presence of the angels the Lord is seen as the Sun in heaven, and that His Divine Love together with His Divine Wisdom appear in this manner, may be seen in the work concerning HEAVEN AND HELL, published at London, 1758 (n. 116-125); and in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (n. 83-172).
[2] Here it remains only to be confirmed out of the Word that ‘the Sun’, when [said] of the Lord, is His Divine Love and at the same time His Divine Wisdom. This can be established from the following passages:-
In that day the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, it
shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days Isa. xxx 25, 26.
‘That day’ is the Lord’s coming, when the old Church has been destroyed, and a new one is going to be set up. ‘The light of the moon’ is faith derived from charity, and ‘the light of the sun’ is intelligence and wisdom derived from love at that time from the Lord.
Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon be withdrawn
(colligetur), for Jehovah shall be for a light of eternity Isa. lx 20.
The sun that shall not set is love and wisdom from the Lord.
The Rock of Israel spoke unto me, as the light of the morning when the sun arises 2 Sam. xxiii 3, 4.
‘The Rock of Israel’ is the Lord.
His throne shall be as the sun Ps. lxxxix 36, 37 [H.B. 37, 38].
This is said of David, but by ‘David’ there is understood the Lord.
They shall fear thee along with the suit, and in His days shall the just flourish, and abundance of peace until there is no moon. He shall have the name of the Son in the presence of the sun, and all nations shall be blessed in Him Ps. lxxii 5, 7, 17.
[3] These things also [are said] concerning the Lord. Because in heaven in the presence of the angels the Lord appears as the Sun, therefore:-
When He was transformed, His face did shine as the sun, His garments became as the light Matt. xvii 1, 2.
Also it is said of the strong angel coming down out of heaven, that:-
He was encompassed with a cloud, and his face as the sun Rev. x 1.
Also of the woman, that:-
she was seen encompassed with the sun Rev. xii 1.
There also ‘the sun’ is love and wisdom from the Lord; ‘the woman’ is the Church that is called New Jerusalem.
[4] Since by ‘the sun’ is understood the Lord as to Love and Wisdom, what is signified by ‘the sun’ is plain in the following passages:-
Behold the day of Jehovah is coming fierce, the sun shall be darkened in its springing forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. I will visit upon the world (orbis) its wickedness, and upon the impious their iniquity [Isa. xiii 10, 11.
Jehovah shall visit upon the host of the height in the height, and upon the kings of the land upon the land. Then the moon shall blush and the sun shall be ashamed]* Isa. xxiv 21, 23.
When I have extinguished thee, I will cover the heavens, and I will make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall make her light to shine not, and I will set darkness upon thy land Ezek. xxxii 7, 8.
The day of Jehovah is coming, a day of darkness, the sun and the moon shall make their light not to shine, and the stars have with drawn their shining Joel ii 10.
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great day of Jehovah comes Joel ii 31 [H.B. iii 4].
The day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon have been darkened Joel iii 15 [H.B. iv 15].
The fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, the third part of the stars, and the day was not shining for the third part of it Rev. viii 12.
The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood Rev. vi 12.
The sun was obscured by the smoke of the pit Rev. ix 2.
In these passages by ‘the sun’ the sun of the world is not understood, but the Sun of the angelic heaven, which is the Lord’s Divine Love and Wisdom. These are said to be ‘obscured’, ‘darkened’, ‘covered over’, and ‘blackened’ when there are untruths and evils with man.
[5] Hence it is plain that the like may be understood by the Lord’s words where He speaks of the consummation of the age, which is the last time of the Church:-
Immediately after the affliction of those days, shall the sun be obscured, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall down from heaven Matt. xxiv 29; Mark xiii 24, 25.
Likewise in these passages:-
The sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall grow black over them Micah iii 5, 6.
In that day I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the land in the day of light Amos viii 9.
She who has borne seven shall breathe out her soul; her sun shall go down while it is yet day Jer. xv 9.
These things [are said] of the Jewish Church that will ‘breathe out the soul’, that is, will perish. ‘The sun shall go down’ means that there will no longer be love and charity.
[6] What is said in Joshua, that:-
The sun stood still in Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Ajalon Josh. x 12, 13
appears as if it were historical, but it is prophetical, for it is [quoted] out of the book of Jasher, which was a prophetical book, for it says:-
Has not this been written in the book of Jasher? (verse 13).
The same book is also mentioned by David as a prophetical book (2 Sam. i 17, 18). A similar thing is said also in Habakkuk:-
The mountains were shaken, the sun and moon stood still in their habitation Hab. iii 10 [,11].
Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon be withdrawn (colligetur) Isa. lx 20.
To make the sun and the moon stand still would be to destroy the universe. [7] Since the Lord, as to the Divine Love and Wisdom, is understood by ‘the sun’, therefore the ancients in their holy worship faced towards the rising of the sun, and their temples also [faced in that direction], a custom still persisting. That by ‘the sun’ in these passages the sun of the world is not understood is established from the fact that it was profane and abominable to worship the sun and moon of the world; see Num. xxv 1-4; Deut. iv 19; xvii 3, 5; Jer. viii 1, 2, xliii 10, 13; xliv 17-19, 25; Ezek. viii 16; for by ‘the sun of the world’ is understood the love of self and the pride of one’s own intelligence. Moreover, the love of self is diametrically opposed to Divine Love, and the pride of one’s own intelligence is opposed to Divine Wisdom. To worship the sun of the world is also to acknowledge nature as she who creates and one’s own prudence as she who effects all things; and this involves the denial of God, and the denial of the Divine Providence.
* Cf. AE 401:20.
No one can see God and live Exod. xxxiii 20; Judg. xiii 22.
This being the case, the Lord therefore appears to angels in heaven as a Sun, standing apart from them as the sun of the world does from men. This is because the Lord in that Sun is in Himself. Nevertheless the Lord moderates and tempers His Divine so that a man can endure His presence. This is done by means of veilings. It was done in that manner when He revealed Himself to many in the Word. In fact, He is present by means of veilings with any one who worships Him, as He Himself said in John:-
He who does My precepts, with him will I make an abode John xiv
That He will be in them, and they in Him John xv 4, 5.
From these considerations it is plain why John, when he saw the Lord in such glory, ‘fell at His feet as dead’; as also, why the three disciples, when they saw the Lord in glory, were heavy with sleep, and a cloud veiled them over (Luke ix 32, 34).
55. ‘And He put His right hand upon me’ signifies life then inspired by Him. The Lord put His right hand upon him because a communication is effected by the touch of hands. The cause of this is that the life of the mind and consequently of the body puts itself forth into the arms and through them into the hands. It is in consequence of this that the Lord with His hand touched those whom He revived into life, and healed (Mark i 31, 41; vii 32, 33; viii 22-26; x 13, 16; Luke v 12, 13; vii 14; xviii 15; xxii 51); and that in like manner He touched the disciples, after they saw Jesus transformed, and fell on their face (Matt. xvii 6, 7). The origin itself [of this] is because the presence of the Lord with men is an adjunction, thus a conjunction by means of what is contiguous, and this contiguity becomes nearer and fuller in the proportion that a man loves the Lord, that is, does His precepts. From these few considerations it can be established that by putting His right hand upon him is signified inspiring His own life in him.
56. ‘Saying unto me, Do not be afraid’ signifies revival, and adoration then from profound humiliation. That it is revival into life, follows from the immediately preceding things (n. 55) and that it is adoration from profound humiliation is plain, for he had fallen at the Lord’s feet. And, because holy fear took possession of him when he had been revived, the Lord said, ‘Do not be afraid’. Holy fear, which is sometimes conjoined with a sacred tremor of the interiors that are of the mind and sometimes with the hair standing on end, supervenes when life from the Lord enters in place of one’s own life. One’s own life is to look from oneself to the Lord, but life from the Lord is to look from the Lord to the Lord and yet as if from oneself. Whilst a man is in this life he sees himself as not anything, but he sees the Lord only. Daniel was in this holy fear when he saw the Man (vir) clothed in linen, whose loins had been girded with gold of Uphaz, his body like beryl, his face like lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet as the lustre of polished bronze, upon seeing whom Daniel became as dead, and a hand touched him, and it was said, ‘Do not be afraid, Daniel’ (Dan. x 5-12). Something similar was done to Peter, James and John when the Lord was transformed and seen in face as the sun and in garments as the light, in consequence of which they also fell upon their faces, and were sore afraid. Whereupon Jesus coming near touched them, saying ‘Do not be afraid’ (Matt. xvii 6, 7). Also the Lord said to the women who saw him at the sepulchre, ‘Do not be afraid’. And the angel also, whose face was seen as lightning, and his garment as snow, said to those women, ‘Do not be afraid’ (Matt. xxviii 3-5). An angel also said to Zechariah, ‘Do not be afraid’ (Luke i 12, 13). In like manner an angel said to Mary, ‘Do not be afraid’ (Luke i 30). Also an angel said to the shepherds, round about whom the glory of the Lord shone, ‘Do not be afraid’ (Luke ii 9, 10). A like holy fear laid hold of Simon on account of the draught of fishes, and he therefore said, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord’. But Jesus said to him, ‘Do not be afraid’ (Luke v 8-10); besides other places. These have been adduced so that it may be known why the Lord said, ‘Do not be afraid’ to John, and that by it revival is understood, and then adoration from profound humiliation.
57. That ‘I am the First and the Last’ signifies that He is the Only Infinite and Eternal, therefore the Only God can be established from the things that have been expounded above (n. 13, 29, 38).
58. [verse 18] ‘And I am the Living One’ signifies Who Only is Life, and from Whom Only Life is. Jehovah in the Word of the Old Testament calls Himself Alive and Living, because He Only lives; for He is Love Itself and Wisdom Itself, and these are Life. That there is one Life only, which is God, and that angels and men are recipients of life from Him, has been abundantly shown in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM. Jehovah calls Himself Alive and Living (Isa. xxxviii 18, 19; Jer. v 2; xii 16; xvi 14, 15; xxiii 7, 8; xlvi 18; Ezek. v 11). The Lord is Life even as to the Divine Human, because the Father and He are One. Therefore He says:-
In what manner the Father has Life in Himself, so has He given to the Son to have Life in Himself John v 26.
Jesus said, I am the Resurrection and the Life John xi 25.
Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth (veritas) and the Life John xiv 6.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God; in Him was Life: and the Word was made flesh John i 1-4, 14.
Because the Lord is the Only Life, it follows that from Him Only there is life, and He therefore says:-
Because I live, you shall live also John xiv 19.
59. ‘And was put to death’ signifies that [in the Church] He has been disregarded, and His Divine Human has not been acknowledged. By ‘put to death’ is not understood that He has been crucified and so is dead, but that He has been disregarded in the Church, and His Divine Human not acknowledged, for so among men He has died. His Divine from eternity is indeed acknowledged, but this is Jehovah Himself. His Human, however, is not acknowledged to be Divine, although the Divine and Human in Him is like soul and body, and thus are not two but one, yea, one Person, in accordance with the doctrine received in the whole of Christendom, which has its name from Athanasius. When, therefore, the Divine is separated from His Human by saying His Human is not Divine but like the human of another man, then among men He is dead. But concerning this separation, and making the Lord dead in such a manner, more may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD and in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE PROVIDENCE (n. 262, 263).
Jesus said, Whosoever believes in Me shall not perish, but shall have eternal life John iii 6
He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who believes not in the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him John [iii 36;] vi 40, 47, 48.
Verily I say unto you, He who believes in Me has eternal life John vi 47.
I am the Resurrection and the Life; he who believes in Me, though he should die, shall live: whosoever believes in Me shall not die to eternity John xi 25, 26;
and elsewhere. As a result the Lord is now called ‘the Living One for ages of ages’ also in the following places in the Apocalypse (iv 9, 10; v 14; x 6; Dan. iv 34).
61. ‘Amen’ signifies Divine confirmation that it is the truth (veritas). That ‘Amen’ is the truth (veritas) which is the Lord, may be seen above (n. 23).
62. ‘And have the keys of hell and of death’ signifies that He Only can save. By ‘keys’ is signified the power of opening and shutting, here the power of opening hell so that man can be led forth, and of shutting it so that when he has been led out he may not enter again. For man is born into evils of every kind, thus in a hell, for evils are the hell out of which he is led forth by the Lord, Who has the power of opening that hell. The reason why by ‘having the keys of hell and of death’ is not understood the power of casting into hell but the power of saving is because it follows immediately after the words ‘Behold I am the Living One for ages of ages’, by which is signified that He Only is eternal Life (n. 60); and the Lord never casts anyone into hell, but a man casts himself. The power of opening and shutting is signified by ‘keys’ also in chaps. iii 7; ix 1; and xx i, of the Apocalypse; again in Isaiah xxii 21, 22, in Matthew xvi 19, and in Luke xi 52. The Lord’s power is not only over heaven, but also over hell, for hell is kept in order and connection by oppositions against heaven; and therefore He Who rules the one will of necessity rule the other. Otherwise man could not be saved. To be saved is to be led forth from hell.
63. [verse 19] That ‘Write the things which thou hast seen, [and the things which are,] and the things which are going to be hereafter’ signifies in order that all the things that are now being revealed may be for posterity is established without an exposition.
64. [verse 20] ‘The mystery of the seven stars which thou hast seen in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands’ signifies the arcana in the visions concerning a new heaven and a new Church. That by ‘the seven stars’ the Church in the heavens is signified, and by ‘the seven lampstands’ the Church on earth (in terris), will he seen in the things now following.
65. ‘The seven stars are the Angels of the seven Churches’ signifies the new Church in the heavens, which is the New Heaven. There is a Church in the heavens just as there is a Church on earth (in terris), for in the heavens just as on earth there is the Word, and there are doctrines out of that Word, and there are preachings out of it, on which subject [something] may be seen in [THE DOCTRINE OF] THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 70-75, and 104-113). That Church is the New Heaven, about which something has been said in the Preface. The Church in the heavens, or the New Heaven, is understood by ‘the seven stars’, because it is said that ‘the seven stars are the Angels of the seven Churches’, and by ‘Angel’ is signified a heavenly society. In the spiritual world an expanse full of stars appears as in the natural world, and it appears in consequence of the angelic societies in heaven, any one society there shining as a star in the presence of those who are below. Those there know from this in what situation angelic societies are. That ‘seven’ does not signify seven, but all who belong to the Church there in accordance with the reception of each one, may be seen above (n. 10, 14, 41); therefore by ‘the Angels of the seven Churches’ the entire Church in the heavens is understood, thus the New Heaven in its whole compass.
* * * *
67. THE FAITH OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW CHURCH IN A UNIVERSAL IDEA is this: That the Lord from what is eternal, Who is Jehovah, came into the world in order to subjugate the hells, and glorify His Human; and that without this no mortal (nemo mortalium) could have been saved; and that they are Saved who believe in Him.
[2] ‘In a universal idea’ is said, because this is what is universal of the faith, and what is universal of the faith is that which will be in all things thereof collectively and separately. It is a universal of the faith that God is One in Person and Essence in Whom is the Trinity, and that the Lord is that God. It is a universal of the faith that no mortal could have been saved unless the Lord had come into the world. It is a universal of the faith that He came into the world in order to remove hell from man, and He removed it by means of combats against it and victories over it; in this manner He subjugated it, and brought it back into order, and under His discipline. It is also a universal of the faith that He came into the world in order to glorify the Human that He had assumed in the world, that is, to unite it to the Divine from which it came (Divinum a Quo). In this manner He keeps hell, as subjugated by Himself, in order and under His discipline to eternity. Since each of these two things could only have come to pass by means of temptations even to their utmost limit, and their utmost limit was the passion of the cross, therefore He submitted to that. These are the universals of the faith concerning the Lord.
[3] The universal of the Christian faith on man’s part is, that he should believe in the Lord, for by believing in Him there is a conjunction with Him, through which there is salvation. To believe in Him is to have confidence that He will save, and because a man is not able to have confidence unless he lives well, therefore this also is understood by believing in Him.
[4] Concerning these two universals of the Christian faith there has been specific treatment; of the FIRST, regarding the Lord, in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD; and of the SECOND, regarding man, in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING CHARITY, and CONCERNING FAITH, and in THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE FOR THAT [NEW JERUSALEM]; also [there is] at present [a treatment] of both in the expositions on the Apocalypse (in Explicationibus super Apocalypsin).
1. To THE ANGEL OF THE EPHESIAN CHURCH WRITE: These things says He Who holds the seven stars in His right hand, Who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.
2. I know thy works, and thy labour, and thine endurance, and that thou canst not bear them who are evil, and hast examined them who say they are Apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars.
3. And thou hast held out, and hast endurance, and for the sake of My Name hast laboured, and not fainted.
4. But I have against thee that thou hast left thy first charity.
5. Be mindful therefore whence thou hast fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and remove thy lampstand out of its place, except thou repent.
6. But this thou hast that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7. He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches: To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life that is in the midst of the paradise of God.
8. And TO THE ANGEL OF THE CHURCH OF THE SMYRNAEANS write: These things says the First and the Last, Who was dead, and is alive.
9. I know thy works, and affliction, and poverty, and the blasphemy of them who say they are Jews, and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
10. Fear none of the things that thou art going to suffer. Behold the devil is going to cast some of you into custody, that you may be put to the test; and you shall have affliction ten days: Be thou faithful even unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.
11. He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches: He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.
12. And TO THE ANGEL OF THE CHURCH IN PERGAMUM write: These things says He Who has the sharp two-edged sword.
13. I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, where Satan’s throne is; and thou holdest fast My Name, and hast not denied My faith, even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you where Satan dwells.
14. But I have a few things against thee, that thou hast there those holding the doctrine [of] Balaam, who used to teach Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the sons of Israel, to eat idol-sacrifices and to commit whoredom.
15. So thou hast, even thou, those holding the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
16. Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight with them with the sword of My mouth.
17. He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches: To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the hidden manna; and I will give him a little white stone, and in the little stone a new name written, which no one knows except him who accepts it.
18. And TO THE ANGEL OF THE CHURCH IN THYATIRA write: These things says the Son of God, Who has eyes as a flame of fire, and His feet like burnished bronze.
19. I know thy works, and charity, and ministry, and faith, and thine endurance, and thy works, and the last more than the first.
20. But I have a few things against thee, that thou permittest the woman Jezebel, calling herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants to commit whoredom, and to eat idol-sacrifices.
21. And I gave her time to repent of her whoredom, and she repented not.
22. Behold I will cast her into a bed, and those committing adultery with her into great affliction, except they repent of their works.
23. And I will slay her sons with death, and all the Churches shall recognise that I am He Who searches the kidneys and hearts; and I will give to each one of you in accordance with your works.
24. But to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, and who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say; I do not put upon you another burden.
25. Nevertheless, what you have, hold fast till I come.
26. And he who overcomes and keeps My works even to the end, to him will I give authority over the nations.
27. And he shall rule them with an iron rod, as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken in pieces; even as I have accepted from My Father.
28. And I will give him the morning star.
29. He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
To the Churches in Christendom:
To those there who have the truths of doctrine primarily in view and not the goods of life, who are understood by ‘the Ephesian Church’ (n. 73-90).
To those there who as to life are in goods, and as to doctrine are in untruths, who are understood by ‘the Church of the Smyrnaeans’ (n. 91-106).
To those there who place everything of the Church in good works, and not anything in truths, who are understood by ‘the Church in Pergamum’ (n. 107-123).
And to those there who are in a faith derived from charity, as also to those who are in a faith separated from charity, who are understood by ‘the Church in Thyatira’ (n. 124-152).
All these are called to the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem.
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. To the Angel of the Ephesian Church write
signifies to and concerning those who have the truths of doctrine primarily in view, and not the good of life.
These things says He Who holds the seven stars in His right hand
signifies the Lord from Whom by means of the Word are all truths.
Who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands
signifies from Whom all enlightenment [comes] to those who belong to His Church.
2. I know thy works
signifies that He sees all the interiors and exteriors of a man at once.
And thy labour, and thine endurance
signifies their devotion and patience.
And that thou canst not bear them who are evil
signifies that they do not support saying evils are goods, and the reverse.
And hast examined them who say they are Apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars
signifies that they scrutinise the things in the Church that are said to be good and true but yet are evil and untrue.
3. And thou hast held out, and hast endurance
signifies the patience with them.
And for the sake of My Name hast laboured and not fainted
signifies devotion and work to furnish themselves with the things that are of religion and its doctrine.
4. But I have against thee that thou hast left thy first charity
signifies that this is against them, that they do not have the goods of life in the first place.
5. Be mindful therefore whence thou hast fallen
signifies recollection of the wandering.
And repent, and do the first works
signifies so that they may invert the state of their life.
Or else I will come to thee quickly, and remove thy lampstand out of its place, except thou repent
signifies that otherwise they are sure not to be given enlightenment for seeing truths any more.
6. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate
signifies that they know this as a result of their truths, and consequently do not wish works to be for the sake of recompense.
7. He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches
signifies that he who understands those things, obeys what the Divine Truth of the Word teaches those who will be of the New Church (e nova Ecclesia) that is the New Jerusalem.
To him who overcomes
signifies he who fights against evils and untruths and is reformed.
I will give to eat of the tree of life
signifies the appropriation of the good of love and charity from the Lord.
That is in the midst of the paradise of God
signifies interiorly in the truths of wisdom and faith.
8. And to the Angel of the Church of the Smyrnaeans write
signifies to and concerning those who as to life are in goods, but as to doctrine are in untruths.
These things says the First and the Last
signifies the Lord, that He is the Only God.
Who was dead and is alive
signifies that in the Church He has been disregarded, and His Human has not been acknowledged to be Divine, when yet in respect to that also He Only is Life, and eternal Life is from Him Only.
9. I know thy works
signifies that the Lord sees all their interiors and exteriors at once.
And affliction and poverty
signifies that they are in untruths, and consequently not in goods.
And the blasphemy of them who say they are Jews and are not
signifies the false assertion that the goods of love are with them, when they are not.
But are a synagogue of Satan
signifies because as to doctrine they are in untruths.
10. Fear none of the things that thou art going to suffer
signifies be not without hope when you are infested by evils and assailed by untruths.
Behold the devil is going to cast some of you into custody
signifies that their good of life will be infested by evils that are from hell.
That you may be put to the test
signifies a fighting against them by means of untruths.
And you shall have affliction ten days
signifies that this is going to last for a full period.
Be thou faithful even unto death
signifies a receiving of truths (veritas) constantly until untruths have been removed.
And I will give thee the crown of life
signifies their having eternal life, the reward for victory.
11. He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches
signifies here as before.
He who overcomes
signifies he who fights against evils and untruths and is reformed.
Shall not be hurt by the second death
signifies that they shall not thereafter yield to evils and untruths from hell.
12. And to the Angel of the Church in Pergamum write
signifies to and concerning those who place everything of the Church in good works, and not anything in the truths of doctrine.
These things says He Who has the sharp two-edged sword
sign flies the Lord as to the truths of doctrine out of the Word, by means of which evils and untruths are dispersed .
13. I know thy works
signifies here as before.
And where thou dwellest [where Satan’s throne is]
signifies their life in dense darkness.
And thou boldest fast My Name, and hast not denied My faith
signifies when yet they have religion and worship in accordance therewith.
Even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you where Satan dwells
signifies when all the truth (veritas) has been extinguished by means of the untruths in the Church.
14. But I have a few things against thee
signifies that against them are the things that follow.
That thou hast there those holding the doctrine [of] Baalam, who used to teach Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the sons of Israel, to eat idol-sacrifices and to commit whoredom
signifies that there are among them those who do hypocritical works, by which means the worship of God in the Church is defiled and adulterated.
15. So thou hast, even thou, those holding the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate
signifies that among them there are also those who do works for the sake of recompense.
16. Repent
signifies so that they may be on their guard against such works.
Or else I will come to thee quickly, and will fight with them with the sword of My mouth
signifies if not, that the Lord will strive with them out of the Word.
17. He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches
signifies here as aforesaid.
To him who overcomes
sign flies here as aforesaid.
I will give to eat of the hidden manna
signifies the appropriation then of the good of celestial love, and in this manner the conjunction of the Lord with those who are doing works.
And I will give him a little white stone
signifies truths favouring and united to good.
And in the little stone a new name written
signifies that in this manner they will have good of a quality they did not have before.
Which no one knows except him who receives
signifies that it is not visible to anyone because it is inscribed on their life.
18. And to the Angel of the Church in Thyatira write
signifies to and concerning those who are in a faith derived from charity, and thence in good works; and also to and concerning those who are in a faith separated from charity, and thence in evil works.
These things says the Son of God Who has eyes as a flame of fire
signifies the Lord as to the Divine Wisdom of the Divine Love.
And His feet like burnished bronze
signifies natural Divine Good.
19. I know thy works
signifies here as aforesaid.
And charity, and ministry
signifies the spiritual affection that is called charity, and the working thereof.
And faith, and thy endurance
signifies the truth (veritas), and the endeavour to procure and teach it.
[And thy works,] and the last more than the first
signifies the increases of those things out of the spiritual affection of truth.
20. But I have a few things against thee sign flies the things that follow.
That thou permittest the woman Jezebel
signifies that in the Church with them there are those who separate faith from charity.
Calling herself a prophetess
signifies and who make faith the only doctrine of the Church.
To teach and to seduce My servants to commit whoredom
signifies as a result of which the truths of the Word are falsified.
And to eat idol-sacrifices
signifies the defilement of worship, and profanations.
21. And I gave her time to repent of her whoredom, and she repented not
signifies that those who have confirmed themselves in that doctrine do not withdraw, although they see things against it in the Word.
22. And I will cast her into a bed, and those committing adultery with her into great affliction
signifies that therefore they have to be left in their doctrine with falsifications, and are to be grievously infested by untruths.
Except they repent [of their works]
signifies if they do not wish to desist from separating faith from charity.
23. And I will slay her sons with death
signifies that all the truths out of the Word will be turned into untruths.
So that the Churches may recognise that I am He Who searches the kidneys and hearts
signifies so that the Church may know that the Lord sees what truth and what good anyone has.
And I will give to each one in accordance with his works
signifies that he gives to every one in accordance with the charity and the faith thereof that is in the works.
24. But I say unto you, and to the rest in Thyatira as many as do not have this doctrine
signifies to those with whom the doctrine of faith is separated from charity, and [to those] with whom the doctrine of faith is conjoined with charity.
And who have not known the depths of Satan [as they say]
signifies who do not understand the interiors of those things, which are totally untrue.
I do not put upon you another burden
signifies only so that they may be on their guard against them.
25. Nevertheless, what you have, hold fast till I come
signifies so that they may retain the few things that they know about charity and the faith therefrom out of the Word, and live in accordance with them even to the Lord’s coming.
26. And he who overcomes and keeps My works even to the end
signifies those who are actually in charity and the faith therefrom, and continue in them even to the end of life.
To him will I give authority over the nations
signifies that they shall overcome within themselves the evils that are from hell.
27. And he shall rule them with an iron rod
signifies by means of truths out of the sense of the letter of the Word, and at the same time by means of rational things out of natural light.
As the vessels of a potter shall they be broken in pieces
signifies like little things of no account.
Even as I have accepted from My Father
signifies this from the Lord, Who, when He was in the world, furnished Himself with all power over the hells out of His Own Divine that was in Himself.
28. And I will give him the morning star
signifies intelligence and wisdom then.
29. He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches
signifies here as aforesaid.
69. THE EXPOSITION
In this and the following chapter [the Word] treats of the seven Churches, by means of which are described all those in the Christian Church who have religion, and out of whom the New Church that is the New Jerusalem can be formed; and it is formed from those who COME TO THE ONLY LORD, AND AT THE SAME TIME REPENT OF EVIL WORKS. The rest, who do not come to the Only Lord on account of the confirmed denial that His Human is Divine, and who do not repent of evil works, are indeed in the Church, but they do not have anything of the Church in themselves.
70. Since the Lord Only is acknowledged as the God of heaven and earth by those who are of His New Church (e Nova Ipsius Ecclesia) in the heavens, and by those who will be of it on earth (in terris), therefore in the First Chapter the Apocalypse treats of the Only Lord, and in these two chapters following it is He Only Who speaks to the Churches, and He Only Who will give the fortunate things of eternal life. That it is He Only Who speaks to the Churches is plain from these passages:-
To the Angel of the Ephesian Church write, These things says He Who holds the seven stars in His right hand, Who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands Rev. ii 1.
To the Angel of the Church of the Smyrnaeans write, These things says the First and the Last Rev. ii 8.
To the Angel of the Church that is in Pergamum write, These things says He Who has the sharp two-edged sword Rev. ii 12.
To the Angel of the Church in Thyatira write, These things says the Son of God, Who has eyes as a flame of fire, and feet like burnished bronze Rev. ii 18.
To the Angel of the Church that is in Sardis write, These things says He Who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars Rev. iii 1.
To the Angel of the Church that is in Philadelphia write, These things says the Holy True One Who has the key of David Rev. iii 7.
And to the angel of the Church in Laodicea write, These things says the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God Rev. iii 14.
These are selected from the First Chapter, in which it treats of the Only Lord, and He Himself is described there by all those things.
The Lord said to the Ephesian Church, To him who overcomes I will give that he may eat of the tree of life that is in the midst of the paradise of God Rev. ii 7.
To the Church of the Smyrnaeans, I will give thee the crown of life; and he who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death Rev. ii 10, 11.
To the Church in Pergamum, To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the hidden manna, and I will give him a little white stone, and in the little stone a new* name written, which no one knows except him who accepts it Rev. ii 17.
To the Church in Thyatira, To him will I give power over the nations, and I will give him the morning star Rev. ii 26, 28.
To the Church in Philadelphia, Him who overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and I will write upon him the name of My God, the name of the New Jerusalem, and My new name Rev. lii 12.
To the Church in Laodicea, To him who overcomes will I give to sit with Me in My throne Rev. iii 21.
From these passages it is also plain that the Lord Only is acknowledged in the New Church. It is in consequence of this that that Church is termed THE LAMB’S WIFE (Rev. xix 7, 9; xxi 9, 10) .
* The Original Edition has Nomen meum (My Name), but this is probably a slip for Nomen novum (a new name), as in n. 122 and elsewhere.
72. That the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, will be formed from those who repent of evil works, is also established from the Lord’s words to the Churches:-
To the Ephesian [Church], I know thy works; I have against thee that thou hast left thy first charity. Repent, and do the former works, or else I will remove thy lampstand out of its place, except thou repent Rev. ii 2, 4, 5.
To the Church in Pergamum, I know thy works, repent Rev. ii [13,] 16.
To the Church in Thyatira, I will deliver her into affliction, if she does not repent of her works. I will give in accordance with his works, to you, to each one Rev. ii 19, 22, 23.
To the Church in Sardis, I have not found thy works perfect before God, repent Rev. iii 1-3.
To the Church in Laodicea, I know thy works, be zealous, and repent Rev. iii 15, 19.
Now follows the Exposition itself.
73. [verse 1] ‘To the Angel of the Ephesian Church write’ signifies to and concerning those who have the truths of doctrine primarily in view, and not the goods of life. It has been shown above (n. 66), that by ‘the seven Churches’ are not understood seven Churches, but the Church in its whole compass; and this in itself is one, but varying in accordance with reception; and that those variations can be compared to the various members and organs in a complete body, which yet make one; or that they can be compared to various diadems in a king’s crown; and that this is why the entire New Church with its varieties is described by ‘the seven Churches’ in the things now following. That by ‘the Ephesian Church’ are understood those in the Church who have the truths of doctrine primarily in view, and not the goods of life, is plain from the things written to that Church understood in the spiritual sense. It is written to the Angel of that Church, because by ‘the Angel’ is understood the angelic society that corresponds to a Church [consisting] of such, as n. 65 above.
74. ‘These things says He Who holds the seven stars in His right hand’ signifies the Lord, from Whom by means of the Word are all truths. That ‘He Who holds the seven stars in His right hand’ is the Lord, and that ‘the seven stars in His right hand’ are all the cognitions of good and truth in the Word that are thence from the Lord with the angels of heaven and the men of the Church, may be seen above (n. 51). Cognitions of good and truth out of the Word are truths.
75. Who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands’ signifies from Whom all enlightenment [comes] to those who belong to His Church. That ‘the seven lamp- stands’, in the midst of which was the Son of Man, signify the Church that is in enlightenment from the Lord, may be seen above (n. 43 and 66). It is here said ‘Who walks’, because ‘to walk’ signifies to live (n. 167), and ‘in the midst’ signifies in the inmost and thence in all (n. 44, 383).
76. [verse 2] ‘I know thy works’ signifies that He sees all the interiors and exteriors of a man at once. ‘Works’ are often mentioned in the Apocalypse, but few know what is understood by ‘works’. This is known, that ten men can do works that appear alike in externals, but which are unlike even with all of them, because they come forth out of a different end and cause, and the end and cause make works to be either good or evil; for every work is a work of the mind, and consequently such as the mind is, such is the work. If the mind is charity, the work becomes charity; but if the mind is not charity, the work does not become charity; yet both can appear alike in externals. Works appear to men in an external, but to angels in an internal, form; while to the Lord they appear such as they are from inmosts to outmosts. Works in an external form appear not unlike fruits on the surface, but works in an internal form appear like fruits inside the surface, where there are countless edible parts, and in the midst seeds in which again are countless things that are quite beyond eyesight, being in fact above the intellectual sphere of a man. Such are all works, which, such as they are within, only the Lord sees, and which, when the man is doing them, the angels perceive from the Lord. But concerning these things more may be seen in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (n. 209-220 and 277-281); and also below (n. 141, 641, 868). From these things it can be established that by ‘I know thy works’ is signified that the Lord sees all the interiors and exteriors of a man at once.
77. That ‘And thy labour, and thine endurance’ signifies their devotion and patience is established without an exposition.
78. ‘And that thou canst not bear them who are evil’ signifies that they do not support saying evils are goods, and the reverse, because this is against the truths of doctrine. That this is signified by those words is plain from the things just following, by which is signified that they investigate the things in the Church that are said to be good and true, when yet they are evil and untrue. To know goods, whether they are good or evil, is of doctrine, and is among its truths, whereas to do goods or evils is of life. This therefore is said of those who have the truths of doctrine primarily in view, and not the goods of life (n. 73). By ‘them that are evil’ in the spiritual sense is not understood evil men but evils, because that sense is abstracted from persons.
When the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of His glory, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel Matt. xix 28; Luke xxii 30.
Who does not see that the apostles are not going to judge anyone, and that they are not able to do so, least of all the twelve tribes of Israel, but that only the Lord can do this in accordance with the goods and truths of the doctrine of the Church out of the Word? Then again from these [words]:-
The wall of the city New Jerusalem had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb Rev. xxi 14,
since by ‘New Jerusalem’ the New Church is signified (n. 880, 881), and by its ‘foundations’ all the goods and truths of its doctrine (n. 902 seq.).
[2] And also from these:-
Exult, O heaven, and the holy apostles and prophets Rev. xviii 20.
What is the exultation of apostles and prophets, unless by them are understood all who are in the goods and truths of the doctrine in the Church? By the Lord’s ‘disciples’ are understood those who are instructed by the Lord in the goods and truths of the doctrine, while by ‘apostles’ are understood those who after having been instructed teach the same, for it is said:-
Jesus sent His twelve disciples to preach the kingdom of God, and the apostles, having returned, told Him all that they had done Luke ix 1, 2,10; Mark vi 7, 30.
That by ‘liars’ are understood those who are in untruths, and abstractly the untruths themselves, can be established from very many places in the Word, where those that lie and lies are mentioned, and if these were cited they would fill pages. ‘Lies’ in the spiritual sense are nothing but untruths. From these considerations it can now be established that by ‘thou hast examined them that say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars’ is signified that they scrutinise the things in the Church that are said to be good and true but yet are evil and untrue.
In that day shall you say, Confess Jehovah, call upon His Name Isa. xii 4.
O Jehovah, we have waited for Thee, the desire of our soul is to Thy Name, by Thee will we make mention of Thy Name Isa. xxvi 8, 13.
From the rising of the sun shall he call upon My Name Isa. xli 25.
From the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, My Name is great among the nations; and in every place incense is offered unto My Name, for My Name is great among the nations: you profane My Name, when you say the table of Jehovah is polluted; indeed you sniff at My Name, when you bring that which is torn, lame and sick Mal. i 11-13.
All peoples walk in the Name of their God, and we will walk in the Name of Jehovah our God Micah iv 5.
Every one who is called in My Name I have created into My glory, I have formed him Isa. xliii 7.
Thou shalt not bring the Name of thy God to nought, for Jehovah will not hold him innocent who brings His Name to nought Deut. v 11.
They shall worship Jehovah in one place, where He shall put His Name Deut. xii 5, 11, 13, 14, 18; xvi 2, 6, 11, 15, 16;
besides in many other places. Who is unable to see that in these passages it is not only the Name that is understood?
[3] In like manner [a man can understand of himself what is signified] in the New Testament by the Name of the Lord, as in these places:-
Jesus said, You shall be hated of all [men] for the sake of My Name Matt. x 22; xxiv 9, 10.
Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them Matt. xviii 20.
Everyone who forsakes houses, brothers, sisters for the sake of My Name, shall get an hundredfold, and eternal life Matt. xix 29.
As many as received Him, to them gave He power that they might be the sons of God, to those believing in His Name John i 12.
Many believed in His Name John ii 23.
He who believes not is sentenced already, because he has not believed in the Name of the Only begotten Son of God John iii 17, 18.
They who believe shall have life in His Name John xx 31.
Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord Matt. xxi 9; xxiii 39; Luke xiii 35; xix 38.
[4] That the Lord as to the Human is the Name of the Father [may be seen] in these places:-
Father, glorify Thy Name John xii 28.
Hallowed be Thy Name, and Thy kingdom come Matt. vi 9;
also Exod. xxiii 20, 21; Jer. xxiii 6; Micah v 4 [H.B. 3]. That the ‘name’ in the case of others is the quality of worship [may be seen] in these:-
The shepherd of the sheep calls his own sheep by their name John x 3.
Thou hast* a few names in Sardis Rev. iii 4.
I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, New Jerusalem, and My new name Rev. iii 12,
and elsewhere. From these quotations it can now be established that ‘for the sake of My Name thou hast laboured and not fainted’ signifies devotion and pains to furnish themselves with, and also to teach, the things that are of religion and its doctrine.
* The Original Edition has Habeo (I have), probably a printer’s error for Habes (Thou hast), as in n. 165 and elsewhere.
Behold the days shall come when I will raise up a just branch to David, and this is His Name that they shall call Him, Jehovah our Justice Jer. xxiii 5, 6; xxxiii 15, 16.
He who has an ear to hear, let him hear Matt. xi 15; xiii 43; Mark iv 9, 23; vii 16; Luke viii 8; xiv 35;
and the like is also said to all the Churches, as is plain from verses 11, 17, and 29 of this chapter, and from verses 6, 13, and 22 of the one following. By ‘the Spirit’, however, ‘that says to the Churches’ is signified the Divine Truth of the Word, and by ‘the Churches’ the entire Church in Christendom. That by ‘the Spirit of God’, which is the Holy Spirit, is understood the Divine Truth (Veritas) proceeding from the Lord, may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 51); and since the entire Church is understood, it is not said what the Spirit says to the Church, but what the Spirit says to ‘the Churches’.
To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life [Rev. ii 7].
To the Church of the Smyrnaeans:-
He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death Rev. ii 11.
To the Church in Pergamum
To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the hidden manna Rev. ii 17.
To the Church in Thyatira:-
He who overcomes and keeps My works even to the end, [to him] will I give power over the nations Rev. ii 26.
To the Church in Sardis:-
He who overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white garments Rev. iii 5.
To the Church in Philadelphia:-
He who overcomes, him will I make a pillar in the temple of My God Rev. iii 12.
And to the Church in Laodicea
He who overcomes, to him will I grant to sit with Me in My throne Rev. iii 21.
In these places ‘He who overcomes’ signifies he who fights against evils and untruths and so is reformed.
89. ‘I will give to eat of the tree of life’ signifies the appropriation of the good of love and charity from the Lord. By ‘to eat’ in the Word is signified to appropriate, and by ‘the tree of life’ is signified the Lord as to the good of love. Consequently by ‘to eat of the tree of life’ is signified the appropriation of the good of love from the Lord. ‘To eat’ signifies to appropriate, because just as natural food, when it is eaten, is appropriated to the life of a man’s body, so spiritual food, when it is received, is appropriated to the life of his soul. The Lord as to the good of love is signified by ‘the tree of life’ because nothing else is signified by the TREE OF LIFE in the garden of Eden; also because a man’s celestial and spiritual life is the result of the good of love and charity that is received from the Lord. ‘A tree’ is mentioned in many places, and by it is understood a man of the Church, and in the universal sense the Church itself, and by its fruit the good of life. This is because the Lord is the Tree of Life, from Whom is every good with the man of the Church, and in the Church; but of this in its own place. It is said ‘the good of love and charity’ because the good of love is a celestial good that is of love directed to the Lord, and the good of charity is a spiritual good that is of love towards the neighbour. What the one good is and what the other, and the quality of each, will be stated in the things following. Some things about them may be seen in the work concerning HEAVEN AND HELL (n. 13-19).
In thy wisdom and intelligence thou hast made wealth for thyself, thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone thy covering Ezek. xxviii 4, 13.
This is concerning Tyre, by which the Church is signified as to the cognitions of good and truth, thus as to intelligence; and therefore it is said ‘In thy wisdom and intelligence thou hast made wealth for thyself’. By the precious stones that are a covering the truths of intelligence are signified.
[3] In the same:-
Asshur is a cedar in Lebanon, the cedars in the garden of God have not hidden it: nor was every tree in the garden of God equal to it in beauty: all the trees of Eden in the garden of God strove to equal it Ezek. xxxi 3, 8, 9
This is said of Egypt and Asshur, because by ‘Egypt’ is signified knowledge, and by ‘Asshur’ the rationality through which there is intelligence. Likewise, by ‘a cedar’. But because through his own rationality he came into a state of self-intelligence (in statum propriae intelligentiae), it is therefore said of him (verse 18 of the same chapter)
To whom hast thou thus become alike in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden, since thou shalt he made to go down with the trees of Eden into the lower land, and shalt lie down in the midst of the uncircumcised?
The ‘uncircumcised’ are those who are without the good of charity.
[4] In Isaiah:-
Jehovah shall comfort Zion; and he shall make her wilderness into Eden, and her desert into the garden of Jehovah Isa. li 3.
‘Zion’ there is the Church; the ‘wilderness’ and ‘desert’ are a deficiency and ignorance of truth; ‘Eden’ and ‘the garden of God’ are wisdom and intelligence. Wisdom and intelligence are also signified by ‘garden’ in Isa. lviii 11, lxi 11; Jer. xxxi 12; Amos ix 14; Num. xxiv 6. [5] The man of the Church is also as to intelligence just like a garden when he is in the good of love from the Lord, because the spiritual heat that causes him to live is love, and the spiritual light is the intelligence therefrom It has been known that gardens in the world bloom as a result of these two [activities], heat and light. In heaven they do so in the same manner. In heaven paradisal gardens are visible with trees bearing fruit in accordance with their [the angels’] wisdom out of the good of love from the Lord; while around those who are in intelligence and not in the good of love are visible, not gardens, but grass; but around those who are in a faith separated from charity there is not even grass, but sand.
92. ‘These things says the First and the Last,’ signifies the Lord, that He is the Only God. That the Lord declares Himself ‘the First and the Last’, also ‘the Beginning and the Ending’, and ‘the Alpha and the Omega’, and ‘He Who is and Who was and Who is to come, may be seen (chap. 4, 8, 11, 17); and what they signify may be seen above (n. 13, 29-31, 38, 57), where it is plain that by those [names] is also understood that He is the Only God.
* The Original Edition has DOMINO (THE LORD), but it is clear that SCRIPTURA SACRA (THE SACRED SCRIPTURE) is intended.
Except anyone abide in Me and I in him, he cannot bear any fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. Except anyone abide in Me, he is cast out of the house as a withered branch, and is cast into the fire and is burned John xv 4-6.
Similarly in many other instances. For good draws its own quality from truths, and truths draw their being (esse) from good. [4] Who does not know that a Church is not a Church without a doctrine, and the doctrine will teach how a man will think about God and out of God, and how he will act out of God and with God? The doctrine will therefore be [formed] out of truths and to act in accordance with these is what is called good. It follows from this that to act in accordance with untruths is not good. It is believed that in the good that a man does there is not anything out of truths or untruths, when yet the quality of the good is from no other source, for they cohere like love and wisdom, and also like love and foolishness. It is the love of the wise that does good, but it is the love of the foolish that does what may be alike in externals, but is altogether unlike in internals. The good of the wise, therefore, is like pure gold, but the good of the foolish is like gold wrapped round about dirt.
I will give thee for a covenant of the people to bring out the bound from custody, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison house Isa. xlii 6, 7; xlix 8, 9.
Jehovah has sent me to preach liberty to the captives, and to the bound Isa. lxi 1.
By the blood of thy covenant I will send forth the bound out of the pit Zech. ix 11.
God leads forth those bound with fetters Ps. lxxiii 6 [H.B. 7].
Let the groaning of the bound come before Thee Ps. lxxix 11.
To hear the groaning of the bound, to open to the sons of death Ps. cii 20 [H.B. 21].
Jehovah Who looses the bound Ps. cxlvi 7.
It is plain that in these passages by ‘the bound’ are not understood those bound in the world, but those bound by hell, thus by evils and untruths. The like is signified by these words of the Lord:-
I was in custody, and you came not unto Me Matt. xxv 43.
Since the Lord brings out of custody, or delivers from infestation those who as to life have been in good though as to doctrine in untruths, He says, ‘Fear none of the things that thou art going to suffer’; also, ‘Be thou faithful, and I will give thee a crown of life’.
The men who have seen My glory have tempted Me ten times Num. xiv 22.
You have brought me to dishonour ten times Job xix 3.
Daniel was discovered to be ten times wiser than the astrologers Dan. i 20.
Ten women shall bake bread in one oven Lev. xxvi 26.
Ten men out of all languages of the nations shall take hold of the skirt of a Jewish man Zech. viii 23.
Because ‘ten’ signify many, and also all, therefore the things that were written by Jehovah on the tables of the Decalogue are called TEN WORDS (Deut. iv 13; x 4). ‘Ten words’ are all truths, for they include them. And because ‘ten’ signify all people and all things, the Lord therefore compared the kingdom of the heavens to ‘ten virgins’ (Matt. xxv 1). Moreover in a parable He said of the nobleman that he gave his servants ‘ten minas’ to trade with (Luke xix 12-27). Many things are also signified:-
By the ten horns of the beast coming up out of the sea Dan. vii 7.
And by the ten horns, and the ten diadems upon the horns, of the beast again coming up out of the sea Rev. xiii 1.
Also by the ten horns of the dragon Rev. xii 3.
And by the ten horns of the scarlet-coloured beast on which the woman sat Rev. xvii 3, 7, 12.
[3] By ‘ten horns’ are signified much power. It can be seen from the signification of the number ‘ten’, being what is full, much, and all, why it was arranged that a tenth part of all produce was given to Jehovah, and by Jehovah to Aaron and the Levites (Num. xviii 24, 28; Deut. xiv 22), also, why Abram gave Melchizedek tithes of all (Gen. xiv 18-20). From these things it can now be established that by ‘to have affliction ten days’ is signified that the temptation is going to last for a full period, that is, so long as they wish to remain in untruths. For untruths are never taken away from a man against his will, but with it.
In Shittim the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab, and they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods; the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods, especially did [Israel] join himself unto Baalpeor: therefore there were slain of Israel twenty-four thousand Num. xxv 1-3, 9, 18.
By the sons of Israel the Church is signified; by eating of their own sacrifices is signified the appropriation of what is holy; and therefore by eating of the sacrifices of other gods or idol-sacrifices is signified the defilement and profanation of what is holy; by committing whoredom is signified adulterating and perverting worship. That by Moab and consequently by its king and daughters are also signified those who defile and adulterate worship, may be seen in ARCANA CAELESTIA published at London (n. 2468). As a result of these considerations it is now plain that such is the spiritual sense of the words quoted.
The bread of God is He Who comes down from heaven, and gives life unto the world. I am the bread of life: your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that he who eats thereof may not die. I am the living bread, Who came down out of heaven; if any one eat of this bread, he shall live forever John vi 31-58.
From these things it is plain that the Lord Himself is ‘the hidden manna’ that will be in their works if they approach Him only. Whether you say ‘the Lord’, or ‘the good of celestial love’, or even the wisdom of that love’, it is the same. But this is an arcanum that scarcely fits in with the natural idea of anyone so long as that is veiled over by a cloud from worldly things, but it does fit in when he has [a mind] unclouded and exposed to the sunshine, as can be seen concerning these things in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, from beginning to end.
I will put My law in the midst of them, and I will write it upon their heart; and they shall teach no more everyone his companion, or everyone his brother, saying, Know Jehovah, for they shall all know Me Jer. xxxi 33, 34.
Such are all who are in the third heaven. They do not speak of truths out of any memory, but see them clearly while they hear others speaking of them, especially while they are reading the Word. This is because they are in the marriage itself of good and truth. Such do they become in the world, who have approached the Only Lord and done good works because they are in accordance with the truths of the Word; concerning whom some particulars may be seen in the work CONCERNING HEAVEN AND HELL (n. 25, 26, 270, 271).
Every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt becomes insipid, wherewith will you season it? Have salt in yourselves Mark ix 49, 50.
‘Salt’ there is a longing for truth.
You shall be called priests of Jehovah, the ministers of your* God Isa. lxi 6.
My covenant shall not become ineffectual with the Levites My ministers Jer. xxxiii 21.
They are called ‘ministers’ because the priests were representing the Lord as to Divine Good.
Bless Jehovah all His hosts, the ministers who do His will Ps. ciii 21, 22.
Jehovah makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flaming fire Ps. civ 4.
‘Angels spirits’ are they who are in truths, and ‘angels ministers’ are they who are in goods; a ‘flaming fire’ also signifies good of love. Jesus said:
Whosoever wishes to be great ought to be your minister, and whosoever wishes to be first ought to be your servant Matt. xx 26, 27; xxiii 11, 12.
‘Minister’ is said there of good, and ‘servant’ of truth. The like is signified by ‘ministering’ and ‘ministry’ in Isa. lvi 6; John xii 26; Luke xii 37; and elsewhere. It is plain from these things that by ‘charity and ministry’ is signified the spiritual affection and the working thereof; for good is of charity, and truth is of faith.
* Hebrew has ‘our’.
That she went away and served Baal, and built him an altar in Samaria, and made a grove 1 Kings xvi 31-33.
That she killed the prophets of Jehovah 1 Kings xviii 4, 13.
That she wanted to kill Elijah 1 Kings xix 1, 2.
That by the treachery of substituting false witnesses she took the vineyard away from Naboth, and killed him 1 Kings xxi 6, 7 seq.
That on account of those evil deeds it was foretold to her by Elijah, that the dogs would eat her 1 Kings xxi 23.
That she was thrown down out of the window where she stood in her make-up, and that some of her blood was sprinkled upon the wall, and upon the horses that trampled on her 2 Kings ix 30-33.
[2] As all the historical as well as the prophetical parts of the Word signify spiritual things, so also do these. That they signify faith separated from charity is established out of the spiritual sense, and from a comparison of passages at the same time; for by ‘going away and serving Baal’, and ‘building him an altar’, and ‘making a grove’, is signified serving all kinds of lusts, or what is the same, the devil, not thinking about a particular evil lust or a particular sin, but only of faith, as they do who have no doctrine of charity and life. By ‘killing the prophets’ is signified destroying the truths of doctrine out of the Word. By ‘wanting to kill Elijah’ is signified wanting the same for the Word itself. By ‘taking away Naboth’s vineyard, and killing him’ is signified [destroying] the Church itself for the ‘vineyard’ is the Church. By ‘the dogs that would eat her’ are signified lusts. By ‘the throwing down out of the window’ ‘the sprinkling of the blood on the wall’, and ‘the trampling by the horses’, is signified their annihilation, for the single things also signify that; the ‘window’ signifying truth in the light; ‘the blood’ untruth; ‘the wall’ truth in ultimates; ‘the horse’ an understanding of the Word. Consequently it can be concluded that these things, when brought together for comparison, coincide with a faith separated from charity, as can be further established from the things following in the Apocalypse, where it treats of that faith.
Reuben my firstborn, thou art my strength, and the beginning of my vigour, light as water, thou shalt not excel, because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed, then thou didst profane it: he went up to my couch Gen. xlix 3, 4.
Therefore his birthright was taken away from him:-
Reuben was the firstborn of Israel; but because he defiled his fathers couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph 1 Chron. v 1.
That by ‘Reuben’ was represented truth derived from good, or faith derived from charity, and afterwards truth separated from good, or faith separated from charity, will be seen in the Exposition at chap. vii 5.
[3] That by ‘whoredoms’ are signified adulterations of good and falsifications of truth in the Word can be established from these passages:-
When Joram saw Jehu, he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he said, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her incantations are so many? 2 Kings ix 22.
By ‘the whoredoms of Jezebel’ are not understood any whoredoms, but her deeds, of which above (n. 132).
Your children shall be pasturing in the wilderness 40 years, and shall bear their* whoredoms Num. xiv 33.
I will cut off the soul that looks back to demons (pythones) and soothsayers to go a whoring after them Lev. xx 6.
No covenant is to be ratified with the inhabitants of the land, lest they go a whoring after their gods Exod. xxxiv 15.
Jerusalem, thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and didst commit whoredom because of thy renown, to such a degree that thou pouredst out thy whoredoms on everyone passing by. Thou didst commit whoredom with the sons of Egypt thy neighbours, great of flesh, and didst multiply thy whoredom. Thou didst commit whoredom with the sons of Assyria, with whom thou didst commit whoredom when there was no satisfying thee. Thou didst multiply thy whoredom as far as to Chaldea. A woman, an adulteress, takes strangers instead of her husband. All men give a reward to their harlots; but thou hast given rewards to all men so that they may come to thee in succession in thy whoredom. Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of Jehovah Ezek. xvi 15, 16, 26, 28, 29, 32, 33, 35 seq.
‘Jerusalem’ there is the Israelitish and Jewish Church; by her ‘whoredoms’ are understood adulterations and falsifications of the Word; and because in the Word by ‘Egypt’ is signified the knowledge of the natural man, by ‘Assyria’ reasoning therefrom, by ‘Chaldea’ the profanation of truth, and by ‘Babel’ the profanation of good, therefore it is said that she has committed whoredom with them.
[4] Two women the daughters of one mother committed whoredom in Egypt; they committed whoredom in their youth. One committed whoredom under Me, and doted on her lovers, the neighbouring Assynians; she lavished her whoredoms on them; nevertheless she did not forsake her whoredom in Egypt. The other corrupted her love more than she, and her whoredoms over and above the whoredoms of her sister she added to the whoredoms, she loved the Chaldeans; the sons of Babel came to her to the lying together of loves, and defiled her by their whoredom Ezek. xxiii 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 14, 16, 17 seq.
The ‘two daughters of the same mother’ also are the Israelitish and Jewish Church, whose adulterations and falsifications of the Word are described here as above by ‘whoredoms’.
[5] In like manner in these [instances]:-
Thou hast committed whoredom with many companions; thou hast profaned the land with thy whoredoms and wickedness. Hast thou seen what backsliding Israel has done? going up upon every high mountain and committing whoredom. Also treacherous Judah has gone and committed whoredom; to such a degree that by the voice of her whoredom she has profaned the land; she has committed adultery with stone and wood Jer. iii 1, 2, 6, 8, 9.
And elsewhere:-
Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and seek if you can find a man who is doing judgment and seeking the truth (veritas). When I have filled them full, they have committed whoredom, and come crowding into the harlot’s home Jer. v 1, 7.
I have seen thine adulteries, thy neighings, the wickedness of thy whoredom, thine abominations upon the hills in the field. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem, thou shalt not be cleansed Jer. xiii 27.
In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a terrible stubbornness, in committing adultery and walking in lies Jer. xxiii 14.
They have done foolishness in Israel, committed whoredom, and spoken My Word in My Name falsely Jer. xxix 23.
They have sinned against Me, I will turn their glory into disgrace; they were committing whoredom because they have left Jehovah behind. Whoredom has taken possession of their heart. Your daughters commit whoredom, and your young married women commit adultery Hosea iv 7, 10, ii, 53.
I know Ephraim, that he has altogether committed whoredom, and Israel has been defiled Hosea v 3.
I have seen a foul thing in the house of Israel; there Ephraim has committed whoredom, and Israel has been defiled Hosea vi 10.
‘Israel’ there is the Church, while ‘Ephraim’ is the understanding of the Word out of and in accordance with which is the Church, and it is therefore said, ‘Ephraim has committed whoredom, and Israel has been defiled’.
[6] Since the Church had falsified the Word, the prophet Hosea was commanded to take to himself a harlot as a wife, with the saying:-
Take unto thee a woman of whoredoms and children of whoredoms, for the land in committing whoredom has committed whoredom behind Jehovah Hosea i 2.
Again:-
Love a woman beloved of her companion, yet an adulteress Hosea iii 1.
As the Jewish Church was such, therefore the Jewish nation was called an ‘adulterous generation’ by the Lord (Matt. xii 39; xvi 4; Mark viii 38), and in Isaiah, ‘the seed of the adulterer’ (lvii 3); and in Nahum:-
Woe to the bloody city, all in a lie, a multitude of those pierced above the multitude of the whoredoms of the whore, selling the nations by her whoredoms Nahum iii 1, 3, 4.
[7] As Babylon adulterates and falsifies the Word above the rest in Christendom, therefore she is called the ‘great harlot’, and these things are said of her in the Apocalypse:-
Babylon has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her whoredom Rev. xiv 8.
Babylon has made all nations drink of the wine of the rage of whoredom, and the kings of the land have committed whoredom with her Rev. xviii 3.
The angel said, I will show unto thee the judgment of the great harlot, with whom the kings of the land have committed whoredom Rev. xvii 1, 2.
He has judged the great harlot who did corrupt the land with her whoredom Rev. xix 2.
From these passages it is now quite plain that ‘to commit adultery’ and ‘to commit whoredom’ signify to adulterate and falsify the goods and truths of the Word.
* Hebrew has ‘your’.
By withdrawing from whoredom is understood here withdrawing from falsifying the Word. That they see things contrary to their doctrine is plain from a thousand passages in the Word where it is said that evils are to be shunned and goods to be done; also that they who do goods come into heaven, and they who do evils come into hell, as also that faith without works is dead and devilish. But it may be asked, What have they falsified of the Word, or where have they spiritually committed whoredom with the Word? The answer is that they have falsified the whole of the Word, for the whole Word is nothing but the Doctrine of love [that is] directed to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, for the Lord says that on the commandments concerning those two loves ‘hang all the Law and the Prophets’ (Matt. xxii 38-40). There is also in the Word a doctrine of faith, yet not of such a faith, but of the faith of love.
I tell you, In that night there shall be two in one bed; the one shall be taken, the other left Luke xvii 34-36.
This has to do with the last judgment. ‘Two in one bed’ are two in one doctrine, but not in a similar life. In John:-
Jesus said to the sick man, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk; and he took up his bed, and walked John v 8-12.
And in Mark:-
Jesus said to the paralytic, Son, thy sins have been forgiven thee; and He said to the scribes, Which is easier to say, thy sins have been forgiven thee, or to say, take up thy bed and walk? then He said, Take up thy bed and walk; and he took up the bed and went forth from them Mark ii 5, 9, 11, 12.
That something is signified here by ‘bed’ is plain, for Jesus said, ‘Which is easier to say, thy sins have been forgiven thee, or to say, take up thy bed and walk?’ By ‘carrying the bed and walking’ is signified meditating on doctrine. In heaven it is understood in that way.
[3] Doctrine is signified by ‘bed’ also in Amos:-
As the shepherd rescues out of the lion’s mouth, so shall the sons of Israel be rescued that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed and in the end of a bedstead Amos iii 12.
‘In the corner of a bed and in the end of a bedstead’ is out of the way of the truths and goods of doctrine. By ‘bed’ and ‘bedstead’, and by ‘couch’, the like is signified elsewhere, as in Isa. xxviii 20; lvii 2, 7, 8; Ezek. xxiii 41; Amos vi 4; Micah ii 1; Ps. iv 4; xxxvi 4; xli 3 [H.B. 4]; Job vii 13; Lev. xv 4, 5. Since by ‘Jacob’ in the prophetical books of the Word is signified the Church as to doctrine, it is therefore said of him that:-
He bowed himself upon the head of the bed Gen. xlvii 31.
When Joseph came, he sat upon the bed Gen. xlviii 2.
He gathered up his feet upon the bed, and expired Gen. xlix 33.
Since the doctrine of the Church is signified by Jacob, therefore sometimes when I have thought of Jacob a man lying in a bed has appeared to me above in front.
* The Original Edition has 512, 546, probably a printer’s error.
Behold thou desirest truth (veritas) in the kidneys, and in what is hidden Thou makest wisdom known to me Ps. li 6.
Thou possessest the kidneys, my love was not hid from Thee when I was made in secret Ps. cxxxix 13, 15.
My heart is provoked, and I excite myself in my kidneys; but I am a dolt, I do not learn Ps. lxxiii 21, 22.
I Jehovah, searching the heart, and trying the kidneys, even to give each one according to his ways Jer. xvii 10.
Thou art near in their mouth, and far from their kidneys; Thou, O Jehovah, wilt see me and try my heart Jer. xii 2, 3.
Jehovah, judge of justice, trying the kidneys and the heart Jer. xi 20; xx 12.
Confirm the just, for it is the just God Who tries the heart and the kidneys Ps. vii 9 [H.B. 10].
Try me, O Jehovah, and test me, examine my kidneys and my heart Ps. xxvi 2.
By ‘kidneys’ in these places are signified the truths of intelligence and faith, and by ‘heart’ is signified the good of love and charity. That the heart signifies love and the affections thereof may be seen in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM* (n. 371-393).
* The Original Edition has DIVINA PROVIDENTIA (Divine Providence) but DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM is evidently intended.
Thou shalt bruise the nations with an iron rod, thou shalt shatter them like the vessel of a potter Ps. li 9.
The woman brought forth a male [who was] going to rule all nations with an iron rod Rev. xii 5.
Out of the mouth of Him Who sat upon the white horse went a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations; but He shall rule them with an iron rod Rev. xix 15.
Jehovah shall smite the wicked with the rod of His mouth Isa. xi 4.
Thou shalt bruise the nations with an iron rod, thou shalt shatter them like the vessel of a potter Ps. ii 9.
Until the evening and the morning two thousand three hundred; then shall the sanctuary be justified; the vision of the evening and the morning, is truth Dan. viii 14, 26.
Calling to me out of Seir, Watchman, watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning comes, and also the night Isa. xxi 11, 12.
By ‘evening’ and ‘night’ is signified the last time of an old Church, and by ‘morning’ the first time of a new Church.
The end is come, the morning is come upon thee, O inhabitant of the land; behold the day is come, the morning is gone forth Ezek. vii 6, 7, 10.
Jehovah in the morning, in the morning He will give His judgment into the light, and will not be absent Zeph. iii 5.
God is in the midst of her, God shall help her when morning appears Ps. xlvi 5 [H.B. 6].
I have waited for Jehovah, my soul waits for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning, they that watch for the morning, for with Him is plenteous redemption, and He shall redeem Israel Ps. cxxx 5-8;
and elsewhere.
[3] By ‘morning’ in these passages is understood the Lord’s coming, when He came into the world and set up a new Church. In like manner now. And because the Only Lord gives those who will be of His New Church (e Nova Ipsius Ecclesia) intelligence and wisdom, and all things that the Lord gives are Himself because they are His, therefore the Lord says that He is ‘the morning Star’:-
I am the root and offspring of David, the bright and the morning Star Rev. xxii 16.
He is also called ‘the morning’ in 2 Samuel:-
The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, He is as the light of the morning, a morning without clouds 2 Sam. xxiii 3, 4.
* In view of the repetition of this phrase later in the paragraph, it seems probable that the exposition here applies to the phrase ‘And I will give’.
152. [verse 29] ‘He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches’ signifies that he who understands these things obeys what the Divine Truth of the Word teaches those who will be of the New Church (e Nova Ecclesia) that is the New Jerusalem, as above (n. 87).
* * * *
1. When they are deceased and live again as to the spirit, which is generally brought about on the third day after the heart has stopped beating, they appear to themselves in a body like the one they were in before in the world, so much like it that they do not know otherwise than that they are living in the previous world. They are not, however, in a material body, but in a spiritual body, presenting to their senses, which also are spiritual, the appearance of being like what is material, although this is not the case.
[2] 2. A few days later they see that they are in a world where various societies have been established. This world is called the world of spirits, and it is midway between heaven and hell. All the societies there, which are innumerable, are arranged wonderfully in accordance with the natural affections, good and evil. The societies arranged in accordance with the good natural affections are in communication with heaven, and the societies arranged in accordance with the evil affections are in communication with hell.
[3] 3. The newly arrived spirit or spiritual man is conducted and conveyed into the various societies, both good and evil, and examined to find out whether and in what way he is affected by truths, or whether and in what way he is affected by untruths.
[4] 4. If he is affected by truths, he is led away from the evil societies and into the good ones, and is also led into various societies until he comes into the one corresponding to his own natural affection, and there he has the enjoyment of the good agreeing with that affection; and this continues until he has put off the natural affection and put on a spiritual one, and he is then raised into heaven. But this takes place with those who in the world have lived a life of charity, and thus also a life of faith, and this implies their having believed in the Lord and shunned evils as sins.
[5] 5. Because those, however, who in doctrine and life have confirmed themselves in faith even to justification by it alone, are not affected by truths but by untruths, and because they have rejected the goods of charity that are good works from being a means of salvation, they are led away from the good societies and into the evil ones, and are also led into various societies until they come into the one corresponding to the lusts of their own love. For he who loves untruths cannot do otherwise than love evils.
[6] 6. But because in the world they have pretended to good affections in the externals, although in their internals they were nothing but affections of evil or lusts, they are at first kept by turns in the externals; and those who in the world have presided over meetings are set in authority here and there in the world of spirits over societies in general or in part in accordance with the importance of the duties they had discharged. Because, however, they neither love truth nor justice, and are not capable of being enlightened so as to know what truth and justice are, after some days they are therefore dismissed. I have seen such persons transported from one society to the next and an administrative post given them wherever they might be, but in ever case after a short while they were dismissed.
[7] 7. After repeated refusals, some out of weariness will not, others for fear of losing reputation dare not, solicit executive offices any more. Therefore they withdraw and sit about in sadness, and are then led away into a lonely place where there are huts. They enter these, and some work is given them to do there, and as they do it they receive food. If they do not do this they are hungry and do not receive any, and by this means necessity compels [them to work]. The foods there are like those in our world, but they come from a spiritual origin and are given by the Lord out of heaven to all in accordance with the uses they perform. They are not given to the idle, because they are useless.
[8] 8. After a while they loathe work, and then they go out of the huts; and if they have been priests they want to erect a building, and instantly there appear piles of hewn stones, of bricks, of wooden posts and boards, also heaps made up of reeds and rushes, of clay, lime, and pitch. When they see these, they are inflamed by an inordinate lust for building, and start constructing a house by taking now a stone, then wood, now a reed, then some mud, and they place the one upon the other in disorder, yet in their sight well ordered. But what they build by day falls apart at night, and on the day following they gather up some of the fallen rubble and build again, and they go on doing this until they are tired of building. This comes to pass because they have brought untruths together to confirm salvation by faith alone, and those untruths do not build a Church in any other way.
[9] 9. Afterwards from weariness they go away and sit about lonely and idle; and because, as was said, food out of heaven is not given to the idle, they begin to be hungry and to think of nothing else but how they are going to get food and appease their hunger. When they are in this condition some persons come to them from whom they beg alms; and they say, ‘Why do you sit idle like this? Come into our houses with us, and we will give you work to do, and feed you.’ Whereupon they get up joyfully and go off with these into their houses, and there each has his work given him, and food for his work. But because all who have confirmed themselves in untruths of faith are unable to do works of good use, but [do works] of evil use-and they do not do these faithfully, but only for the sake of appearances on account of honour or gain-they therefore give up their works and love only a round of talking, walking about, and sleeping. And then because they cannot any longer be persuaded by the householders to work, they are for that reason cast out as useless.
[10] 10. When they have been cast out they have their eyes opened and they see a path going towards a certain cave, the entrance to which is opened when they get there. And they enter and ask if there is any food there, and when a reply is given that there is food there they beg leave to stay there, and it is said that they may do so. And they are led in, and the entrance is closed behind them. And then the officer in charge of that cave comes and says to them, ‘You cannot go out any more. Behold your comrades! They all labour, and as they labour food is given them out of heaven. I am telling you this so that you may know.’ And the comrades also say, ‘Our officer in charge knows what work each is fitted for, and every day he imposes such work on each one. Every day you finish it food is given you, but if you do not, neither food nor clothing is given. And if one does evil to his fellow, he is thrown towards a corner of the cave into a certain bed of accursed dust where he is miserably tortured, and this goes on till the officer in charge sees a sign of repentance on his part, whereupon he is released and commanded to do his work.’ in addition he is told that after his work every one is allowed to walk about, to converse, and afterwards to sleep. And he is conducted further into the cave, where there are harlots from among whom each one is permitted to take one to be his woman, and promiscuous whoredom is forbidden under a penalty. [11] Of such caves, which are nothing but eternal workhouses, the entire hell consists. For the purpose of making it known, it has been granted me to enter some of them and see and all the people seemed worthless, and not one of them knew who, or in what office, he had been in the world. But the angel who was with me told me: In the world this one had been a servant, this a soldier, this a governor, this a priest, this one in dignity, that one in wealth. And yet they all know no otherwise than that they have been slaves like their comrades. This is because they had been interiorly alike although exteriorly unlike, and the Interiors associate all in the spiritual world. Such is the lot of those who have set aside a life of charity, and consequently have not lived that life in the world.
[12] Regarding the hells in general, they consist purely of such caves and workhouses, but of dissimilar ones where the satans and where the devils are. The satans are those who have been in untruths and the evils therefrom, while the devils are those who have been in evils and the untruths therefrom. The satans appear in the light of heaven as corpses, and some of them black like a mummy; and the devils appear in the light of heaven duskily burnt, and some of them jet black like soot; but all of them with monstrous faces and bodies. In their own light, however, which resembles the light of a coal fire, they appear not as monsters but as men. This has been granted them so that they might be able to associate.
1. And to the Angel of the Church in Sardis write: These things says He Who has the seven spirits of GOD, and the seven stars: I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
2. Be watchful, and strengthen the things remaining that are ready to die; for I have not found thy works full before GOD.
3. Remember therefore how thou hast accepted and heard, and observe and repent. If therefore thou dost not watch, I will come on thee like a thief, and thou shalt not know at what hour I will come upon thee.
4. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy.
5. He who overcomes shall be clothed with white garments; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life; and I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.
6. He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.
7. And to the Angel of the Church in Philadelphia write:
These things says the Holy True One, having the key of David, opening and no one shuts, and shutting and no one opens.
8. I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no one is able to shut it, because thou hast a little power, and hast observed My Word, and hast not denied My Name.
9. Behold, I will make (dabo) those of the synagogue of Satan, declaring themselves to be Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make (faciam) them to come and worship at thy feet, and to know that I have chosen thee.
10. Because thou hast kept the word of My endurance, I also will keep thee safe from the hour of temptation that is going to come upon the entire world (orbis) to try those dwelling upon the land.
11. Behold, I am coming quickly; hold that fast which thou hast, that no one may get thy crown.
12. Him who overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out, and I will write upon him the Name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new Name.
13. He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.
14. And to the Angel of the Church of the Laodiceans write: These things says the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the work of God.
15. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am going to spew thee out of My mouth.
17. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and do not need anything, and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.
18. I counsel thee to buy from Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white garments that thou mayest be clothed, and the shame of thy nakedness may not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see.
19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent.
20. Behold I stand at the door (janua) and knock: if any one hears My voice, and opens the door (ostium), I will enter in to him, and will sup with him and he with Me.
21. To him who overcomes will I grant to be seated with Me in My throne, as I have overcome, and am seated with the Father in His throne.
22. He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
It treats of those in Christendom who are in dead worship that is without charity and faith; who are described by ‘the Church in Sardis’ (n. 154-171)
Of those who are in truths derived out of good from the Lord; who are described by ‘the Church in Philadelphia’ (n. 172-197).
Of those who have a belief derived alternately from themselves and from the Word, and who in this manner profane holy things; who are described by ‘the Church in Laodicea’ (n. 198-223).
Even the latter, as well as the former, are called to the Lord’s New Church.
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. To the Angel of the Church in Sardis write
signifies to and concerning those who are in dead worship, or in worship that is without the goods that are of charity and the truths that are of faith.
These things says He Who has the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars
signifies the Lord from Whom [come] all truths (veritas), and all the cognitions of good and truth.
I know thy works
signifies that the Lord sees all their interiors and exteriors at once.
That thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead
signifies that by themselves and by others it seems and is believed that they are spiritually alive, when yet they are spiritually dead.
2. Be watchful
signifies so that they may be in truths and in a life in accordance with them.
Strengthen the things remaining that are ready to die
signifies so that the things that pertain to their worship may get life.
For I have not found thy works full before God
signifies that the interiors of their worship have not been conjoined with the Lord.
3. Remember therefore how thou hast accepted and heard
signifies so that they may think about all worship being natural to begin with, and afterwards becoming spiritual by means of truths, besides many [other things].
And observe and repent
signifies so that they may pay attention to those things, and vivify their dead worship.
If therefore thou dost not watch
signifies here [the same] as above.
I will come on thee like a thief, and thou shalt not know at what hour I will come upon thee
signifies that the things that pertain to worship shall be taken away, and that when and how this happens shall not be known.
4. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis
signifies that among them there are also those who do have life in their worship.
Which have not defiled their garments
signifies who are in truths, and have not polluted worship by evils of life and the untruths therefrom.
And they shall walk with Me in white [for they are worthy]
signifies that they are going to be living with the Lord, because they are in truths from Him.
5. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments
signifies that he who is reformed becomes spiritual.
And I will not blot out his name out of the book of life
signifies that he shall be saved.
And I will confess his name before the Father and before His angels
signifies that they who are in Divine Good and in Divine truths from the Lord are to be received.
6. He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches signifies here, as before.
7. And to the Angel of the Church in Philadelphia write
signifies to and concerning those who are in truths derived out of good from the Lord.
These things says the Holy True One
signifies the Lord as to Divine Truth.
Having the key of David, and opening and no one shuts and shutting and no one opens
signifies Who Only has the Omnipotence to save.
8. I know thy works
signifies here, as above.
Behold, I have set before thee an open door
signifies that heaven has been opened to those who are in truths derived out of good from the Lord.
And no one is able to shut it
signifies that hell does not prevail against them.
Because thou hast a little power
signifies because they know that of themselves they are powerless.
And hast observed My Word
signifies because they are living in accordance with the precepts of the Lord in His Word.
And hast not denied My Name
signifies that they are in the worship of the Lord.
9. And I will make (dabo) those of the synagogue of Satan
signifies those who as to doctrine are in untruths.
Declaring themselves to be Jews, and are not, but do lie
signifies who say that the Church is with them, and yet it is not.
Behold I will make them to come and worship at thy feet
signifies that many who as to doctrine are in untruths are going to receive the truths of the New Church.
And to know that I have chosen thee
signifies that they are going to see that they are loved and received into heaven by the Lord.
10. Because thou hast kept the word of My endurance
signifies because they have fought against evils.
I also will keep thee safe from the hour of temptation that is going to come upon the entire world (orbis), to try those dwelling upon the land
signifies that they are to be protected and kept safe in the day of the last judgment.
11. Behold, I am coming quickly
signifies the Lord’s coming.
Hold that fast which thou hast
signifies so that in the meantime they should remain in their truths and goods.
That no one may get thy crown
signifies lest the wisdom out of which eternal happiness [comes] should perish.
12. He who overcomes
signifies those who continue steadfastly in truths derived out of good.
Him will I make a pillar in the temple of My God
signifies that truths derived out of good from the Lord, with those who have them, sustain the Church.
And he shall go no more out
signifies that they are going to stay there to eternity.
And I will write upon him the Name of My God
signifies that Divine Truth shall be inscribed on their hearts.
And the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem
signifies that the doctrine of the New Church shall be inscribed on [their] hearts.
Which comes down out of heaven from My God
signifies which [doctrine] shall be out of the Lord’s Divine truth, such as it is in heaven.
And My new Name
signifies the worship of the Only Lord with new things that have not been in the former Church.
13. He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches
signifies here, as before.
14. And to the Angel of the Church of the Laodiceans write
signifies to and concerning those in the Church who believe alternately out of themselves and out of the Word, and in this manner profane holy things.
These things says the Amen, the faithful and true Witness
signifies the Lord as to the Word, which is Divine Truth from Himself.
The Beginning of the work of God
signifies the Word.
15. I know thy works
signifies here, as before.
That thou art neither cold nor hot
signifies that they who are such at one time deny that the Word is Divine and Holy, and at another time acknowledge it.
I would thou wert cold or hot
signifies that it is better that they should whole-heartedly deny the holy things of the Word and the Church, or whole-heartedly acknowledge them.
16. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am going to spew thee out of My mouth
signifies profanation, and separation from the Lord.
17. Because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods
signifies that they believe themselves to possess the cognitions of good and truth that are of heaven and the Church in great abundance.
And do not need anything
signifies that they do not need to discern anything more.
And knowest not that thou art wretched
signifies that all the things that they know of those [cognitions] have no coherence at all.
And miserable and poor
signifies that they are without [truths and goods.
And blind and naked
signifies that they are without] an understanding of truth and a will of good.
18. I counsel thee to buy from Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich
signifies an admonition to acquire for themselves the good of love from the Lord by means of the Word, so that they may be wise.
And white garments that thou mayest be clothed
signifies that they may acquire for themselves genuine truths of wisdom.
And the shame of thy nakedness may not appear
signifies so that the good of celestial love may not be profaned and adulterated.
And anoint thine eyes with eye-salve that thou mayest see
signifies so that the understanding may be healed.
19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten
signifies that because they are loved at that time, they cannot but be let into temptations.
Be zealous therefore and repent
signifies so that this [healing] may result from an affection of truth.
20. Behold I stand at the door (janua) and knock
signifies that the Lord is present with every one in the Word, and draws nigh there to be received, and teaches how.
If anyone hears My voice and opens [the door (ostium)]
signifies he who believes in the Word and lives in accordance with it.
I will enter in to him, and will sup with him and he with Me
signifies that the Lord conjoins Himself with them and them with Himself.
21. To him who overcomes will I grant to be seated with Me in My throne
signifies that they shall have conjunction with the Lord in heaven.
As I have overcome and am seated with the Father in His throne
signifies as He and the Father are one, and are heaven.
22. He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches
signifies here, as before.
THE EXPOSITION
[verse 1] ‘And to the Angel of the Church in Sardis write’ signifies to and concerning those who are in dead worship, or in worship that is without the goods that are of charity and the truths that are of faith. That those who are in this worship are understood by ‘the Church in Sardis’ is plain from the things written to it understood in the spiritual sense. By dead worship is understood worship alone, which is that they go to church, hear preachings, attend the Holy Supper, read the Word and books of piety, talk of God, of heaven and hell, of life after death, especially of piety, say prayers morning and evening, and yet do not desire to know the truths of faith nor wish to do the goods of charity, believing that they have salvation by means of worship alone. When in fact worship without truths, and without a life in accordance with them, is only the outward sign of charity and faith, within which there can lie hidden evils and untruths of every kind, unless charity and faith are within. Genuine worship is [the result] of these. Otherwise the worship is like the skin or surface of some fruit, within which the rotten worm-eaten flesh lies hidden; and such a fruit is dead. That such worship is reigning in the Church at this day, is known.
155. ‘These things says He Who has the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars’ signifies the Lord from Whom [come] all truths (veritas), and all the cognitions of good and truth. That by ‘the seven spirits of God’ is understood Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord, or the Divine Truth (veritas), may be seen above (n. 14); and that by ‘the seven stars’ are understood all the cognitions of good and truth out of the Word (n. 51), out of which cognitions the Church in heaven is [formed] (n. 65). These things are now said by the Lord because it treats of dead worship and living worship; and worship is living as a result of truths and a life in accordance with them.
157. ‘That thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead’ signifies that by themselves and by others it seems and is believed that they are spiritually alive, when yet they are spiritually dead. By ‘to have a name’ is signified to seem and to be believed that they are such; here, that they are alive, when yet they are dead. For spiritual life, which is properly life, is not of worship only, but it is within worship, and within it there must be Divine truths out of the Word, and when a man lives these truths, life is in the worship. This is because the external derives its quality from internal things, and the internal things of worship are truths of life. These are they who are understood by means of these words of the Lord:
Then shall you begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord open to us, but answering He shall say, I know you not whence you are. And you shall begin to say, We have eaten in Thy presence, and have drunk in Thy presence, and Thou hast taught in our streets; but I will say to you, I know you not whence you are; depart from Me all you workers of iniquity Luke xiii 25-27.
[2] It has been granted [me] also to hear many saying in the spiritual world that they have frequently attended Holy Communion, and thus eaten and drunk what is holy, and as often been absolved from [their] sins; that every Sabbath day they have listened to their teachers, and have said their prayers devoutly at home morning and evening; and more besides. But when the interiors of their worship have been laid open, these have appeared full of iniquities and as infernal things, and they have therefore been rejected. And when they have said, ‘What is the reason for this?’ they have obtained the answer that they have not cared at all about Divine truths. And yet a life not in accordance with Divine truths is not a life such as they who are in heaven have, and they who are not in the life of heaven are unable to endure the light of heaven, which is Divine Truth proceeding there from the Lord as the Sun. Still less are they able to endure the heat of heaven, which is Divine Love. But although they have heard and also understood those things, they have nevertheless said, when let back into themselves and their own worship, ‘What need is there for truths, and what are truths?’ Because, however, they have not been able to receive truths, they have been left to their own lusts which have been within their worship, and these at length have rejected all their worship of God from them. So the interiors accommodate the exteriors to themselves, and reject the things that do not agree with themselves; for with all after death the exteriors are rendered analogous to the interiors.
Watch, for you know not what hour the Lord is going to come Matt. xxiv 42.
Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when He comes shall find watching. Be ready, for the Son of Man shall come at an hour when you think not Luke xii 37, 40.
Watch, for you know not when the Lord of the house shall come, lest when He suddenly comes, He find you sleeping. What I say unto you, I say unto you all, Watch Mark xiii 35-37.
While the bridegroom tarried the virgins slumbered and slept, and the five foolish came and said, Lord open to us, but the Lord shall answer, I know you not. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man shall come Matt. xxv 1-13.
Because the Lord’s coming is called ‘morning’ (n. 151), and then truths are opened and there is light, therefore that time is called ‘the beginning of the watches’ (Lam. ii 19), and the Lord is called ‘a Watcher’ (Dan. iv 13); and it is said in Isaiah:-
Thy dead shall live, Awake you that dwell in the dust Isa. xxvi 19.
But that the state of a man who is not in truths is termed a ‘slumber’ and ‘sleep’ may be seen (Jer. li 39, 57; Ps. xiii 3 [H.B. 4]; Ps. lxxvi 6 [H.B. 7]; Matt. xiii 25, and elsewhere).
159. ‘And strengthen the things remaining that are ready to die’ signifies so that the things that pertain to their worship may accept life, and not be extinguished. How these things are to be understood shall be stated. Dead worship is in external form absolutely like living worship, for those who are in truths do similar things, for they listen to sermons, go to the Holy Supper, say prayers kneeling morning and evening, besides the rest of the things of worship that are general and customary. Those, therefore, who are in dead worship have need of no more than to learn truths (veritas) and live them. In this way are ‘strengthened the things remaining that are ready to die’.
* This number is incorrect. Probably it should be 4104, or possibly 5704.
162. ‘And observe and repent’ signifies so that they may pay attention to those things, and vivify their dead worship. It is plain that ‘to observe’ is to pay attention to the things that are understood by ‘Remember how thou hast accepted and heard’; and it consequently follows that ‘to repent’ is to vivify dead worship by means of truths out of the Word and a life in accordance with them.
Behold I come as a thief Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked Rev. xvi 15.
Watch therefore, for you know not what hour your Lord is going to come. Be sure of this, if the householder should know at what hour the thief is going to come, he would certainly be watching, and not suffer his house to be broken into Matt. xxiv 42, 43.
If thieves come to thee, if destroyers by night (how thou art cut off!), will they not steal till they have enough? Obad. Verse 5
They shall run to and fro in the city, they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses, they shall enter in through the windows like a thief Joel ii 9.
They fabricate falsehood, and the thief comes, and the troop melts away outside Hosea vii 1
Lay up treasures not upon earth but in heaven, where thieves do not come and shall not steal Matt. vi 19, 20.
The reason why a man is going to be watchful and not know the hour at which the Lord comes, is that he may think and act as of himself thus in freedom in accordance with his own reason and that no fear may obtrude, for every one would have fear if he should know; and what the man does of himself in freedom remains to eternity, but what is done as a result of fear does not remain.
Consequently it is plain that by ‘not defiling their garments’ is signified to be in truths, and not to pollute worship by evils of life and untruths therefrom. [2] That ‘garments’ in the Word signify truths, and in the opposite sense untruths, is plain from these passages:-
Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on the garments of thy beauty, O Jerusalem Isa. lii 1.
Jerusalem, I have clothed thee with broidered work, and shod thee with badger’s skin, I have girded thee about with fine linen, and adorned thee with apparel; thou hast been decked with gold and silver, and thy garments are fine linen, silk, and broidered work, whence thou hast become exceeding beautiful. But of thy garments thou hast taken and made for thyself high places of divers colours, that thou mightest commit whoredom upon them; thou hast also taken thy broidered garments, and hast made images of a male, with which thou wast committing whoredom Ezek. xvi 10-18.
There the Jewish Church is described, that truths have been given to it, because [it had] the Word, but that they have falsified them. ‘To commit whoredom’ is to falsify (n. 134).
[3] The king’s daughter is all glorious within, and her clothing is of weavings of gold. She shall be brought unto the king in [raiment of] needlework Ps. xlv 13, 14 [H.B. 14, 15].
The ‘king’s daughter’ is the Church as to the affection of truth.
O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in double-dyed [scarlet and purple] with luxuries, and put an embellishment of gold upon your clothing 2 Sam. 24.
These things are said of Saul because the Divine Truth is signified by him as a king (n. 20).
I will make a visitation upon the princes and upon the king’s sons, and upon all who are clothed in the garments of the stranger Zeph. i 8.
Enemies shall strip off the clothes from thee, and take away the instruments of thine adornment Ezek. xxiii 26.
Joshua had been clothed with filthy garments, and was standing so in the presence of the angel, who said, Take away the filthy garments from upon him, and clothe him with other garments Zech. iii 3-5.
The king came in and saw those who were reclining, and he saw a man not clothed with a wedding garment, and he said to him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? Matt. xxii 11-13.
A ‘wedding garment’ is Divine Truth out of the Word.
[4] Beware of false prophets, who come unto you in sheep’s clothing Matt. vii 15.
No one puts a piece of a new garment upon an old garment, otherwise the new will rend the old, and the piece out of the new does not agree with the old Luke v 36, 37.
Because a garment signifies truths, the Lord therefore compares the truths of the previous Church, which were external and representative of spiritual things, to a piece of an old garment, and the truths of the new Church, which were internal and spiritual, to a piece of a new garment.
Upon the thrones were sitting twenty-four elders, clothed with white garments Rev. iv 4.
Those who were standing before the throne in view of the Lamb had been clothed with white robes; who washed their robes and made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb Rev. vii 9, 13, 14.
White robes were given to each one under the altar Rev. vi 11.
The armies of the One sitting upon the white horse were following Him clothed in fine linen white and clean Rev. xix 14.
[5] Because ‘angels’ signify Divine Truths, therefore the angels seen in the Lord’s sepulchre appeared in white and shining garments (Matt. xxviii 3; Luke xxiv 4). Because the Lord is Divine Good and Divine Truth, and by ‘garments’ Truths are understood, therefore when He was transformed:-
His face did shine as the sun, and His garments became as the light Matt. xvii 2.
And glistering white Luke ix 29.
And shining white as snow, such as no fuller upon earth can whiten Mark ix 3.
It is said of the Ancient of Days, Who indeed is the Lord, that:-
His garment was white as snow Dan. vii 9.
And these things are said of the Lord besides:-
He has anointed all thy garments with myrrh, and aloe, and cassia Ps. xlv 8 [H.B. 9].
He washes his garments in wine, and his clothing (velamen) in the blood of grapes Gen. xlix 11.
Who is this one who comes out of Edom, [with His] garments be-spattered out of Bozrah, this one who is honourable in His apparel? Wherefore [art Thou] red as to thy garment? Thy garments are as of one who treads in the wine-press. Victory has been sprinkled upon My garments, and I have soiled all My raiment Isa. lxiii 1-3.
This also is said of the Lord. His ‘garments’ there are the Truths of the Word.
The One sitting upon the white horse was clothed about with a garment dipped in blood, and His Name is called the Word of God Rev. xix 13, 16.
[6] In consequence of the signification of ‘garments’ it can be seen why the Lord’s disciples laid their garments upon the ass and the colt when the Lord would enter into Jerusalem, and why the people strewed their garments in the way (Matt. xxi 7, 8, 9; Mark xi 7, 8; Luke xix 35, 36); and what is signified by the soldiers having divided the Lord’s garments into four parts (John xix 23, 24); thus what is signified by these [words] in David:-
They have parted my garments, and upon my vesture they have cast a lot Ps. xxii 18 [H.B. 19].
[7] In consequence of the signification of ‘garments’ it is also plain why they rent their garments when anyone spoke against the Divine Truth of the Word (Isa. xxxvii 1, and elsewhere); plain again that they washed their garments so that they [themselves] might be purified (Exod. xix 14; Lev. xi 25, 40; xiv 8, 9; Num. xix 11 to the end). And it is plain that, on account of transgressions against Divine Truths, they put their garments off, and put on sackcloth (Isa. xv 3; xxii 12; xxxvii 1, 2; Jer. iv 8; vi 26; xlviii 37; xlix 3; Lam. ii 10; Ezek. xxvii 31; Amos viii 10; Jonah iii 5, 6, 8). He who has become acquainted with what ‘garments’ signify, in general and in each case (in specie), is able to get to know what the garments of Aaron and his sons signified. These were the ephod, the robe, the checkered coat, the girdle, the breeches, and the mitre. Because ‘light’ signifies Divine Truth, and ‘a garment’ likewise, therefore it is said in David:-
Jehovah covers Himself with light as with a garment Ps. civ 2.
They walk* with Me in peace and rectitude [Mal. ii 6.
Let us walk in the light of Jehovah] Isa. ii 5.
Thou hast delivered my feet from stumbling, for walking before God in the light of the living Ps. lvi 13 [H.B. 14].
David has kept My commandments, and has walked after Me with all his heart 1 Kings xiv 8.
Remember, O Jehovah, that I have walked before thee in the truth (veritas) Isa. xxxviii 3.
If you walk contrary to Me, and do nor obey My voice, then will I also walk contrary to you Lev. xxvi 23, 24, 27.
They would not walk in the ways of Jehovah Isa. xlii 24. [See also] Deut. xi 22; xix 9; xxvi 17.
All peoples walk in the name of their God, and we will walk in the Name of Jehovah Micah iv 5.
Yet a little while is the light with you; walk while you have the light; believe in the light John xii 35, 36; viii 12.
The scribes asked, Why do not the disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders? Mark vii 5.
‘To walk ‘is also said of Jehovah, that He walks among them, that is, lives in them and with them:-
I will give My dwelling in the midst of them**, and I will walk in the midst of you, and I will be unto you for God Lev. xxvi 11, 12.
From these passages it is plain what is understood above by:-
These things says He Who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands Rev. ii 1.
* Hebrew has ‘He has walked’.
** Hebrew has ‘you’.
169. ‘And I will not blot out his name out of the book of life’ signifies that he shall be saved. What ‘name’ signifies has been stated before, and what ‘the book of life’ signifies will be stated below. It is plain to any one that ‘not to blot out his name out of the book of life’ is to be saved.
170. ‘And I will confess his name before the Father, and before His angels’ signifies that they who are in Divine Good and in Divine truths from the Lord are to be received, thus those who have the life of heaven in themselves. That ‘to confess a name’ is to acknowledge the quality of anyone, or that he is such, is established from the signification of ‘name’, which is treated of above (n. 81, 122). By ‘the Father ‘is understood Divine Good and by ‘angels’ are understood Divine truths, both out of the Lord. In the Word of the Evangelists ‘the Father’ is often mentioned by name, and wherever this occurs Jehovah is understood, from Whom and in Whom He was, and Who was in Himself, and any Divine separate from Himself is never understood. That this is the case has been frequently shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD; and also in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE PROVIDENCE (n. 262, 263). That the Lord Himself is ‘the Father’ may be seen (n. 21, 960 [of this work]). The Lord referred to ‘the Father’ because by ‘Father’ in the spiritual sense good is signified, and by ‘God the Father’ the Divine Good of the Divine Love. The angels never understand anything else by ‘the Father’ when it is read in the Word; nor are they able to understand anything else, because no one in heaven knows any Father, from Whom they are said to be born, and Whose sons and heirs they are called, except the Lord. This is understood by the Lord’s words, Matt. xxiii 9. It is plain from these considerations that by ‘confess his name before the Father’ is signified that they are to be received among those who are in Divine Good from Himself. Because angels are the recipients of Divine Good in the Divine truths that are from the Lord with them, by ‘angels’ those who are in Divine truths from the Lord are understood, and abstractly Divine Truths.
That by ‘the Church in Philadelphia’ these are understood is plain from the things written to them understood in the spiritual sense.
Who shall not glorify Thy Name, O Lord? for only Thou art Holy Rev. xv 4.
Thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall He be called Isa. liv 5.
Thus says Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One Isa. xlix 7.
As for our Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth is His Name, the Holy One of Israel Isa. xlvii 4.
Thus says Jehovah your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel Isa. xliii 14.
In that day they shall lean upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in the truth (veritas) Isa. x 20.
Besides elsewhere, as Isa. i 4; v 19; xii 6; xvii 7; xxix 19; xxx 11, 12; xli 16; xlv 11, 15; xlviii 17; lv 5; lx 9; Jer. l 29; Dan. iv 13, 23 [H.B. 10, 20]; Ps. lxxviii 41. Since the Lord is Himself the Holy One, therefore the angel said to Mary:-
The Holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God Luke i 35.
And the Lord said concerning Himself:-
Father, sanctify them in the truth (veritas), Thy Word is the Truth (veritas); for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified in the truth (veritas) John xvii 17, 19.
It is plain from these things that the Truth (veritas) that is from the Lord is Holiness itself, because He is the Only Holy One, about which the Lord [speaks] thus:-
When the Spirit of the Truth (veritas) shall have come, He will lead you into all the truth (veritas); He shall not speak out of Himself, He shall take of Mine and proclaim to you John xvi 13-15.
The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, shall teach you all things John xiv 26.
That the Holy Spirit is the Life of the Lord’s Wisdom, thus the Divine Truth (veritas), may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 51). From these things it can be established that ‘the Holy True One’ is the Lord as to Divine Truth. That ‘holy’ is said of truth, while ‘just’ is said of good, is plain from the passages in the Word where both [expressions occur], as from these:-
He who is just, let him be justified still, he who is holy, let him be sanctified still Rev. xxii 11.
Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints Rev. xv
For the purpose of serving Him in holiness and justice Luke i 75.
Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a just and holy man Mark vi 20.
The just [acts] of saints are fine linen Rev. xix 8.
174. ‘Having the key of David, and opening and no one shuts, and shutting and no one opens’ signifies Who Only has the Omnipotence to save. By ‘David’ is understood the Lord as to Divine Truth; by ‘the key’ is signified the Lord’s Omnipotence over heaven and hell; and by ‘opening that no one may shut’ and by ‘shutting that no one may open’ is signified to lead forth out of hell and introduce into heaven thus to save in like manner as above (n. 62), where it has been expounded. That by ‘David’ is understood the Lord as to Divine Truth may be seen [in] THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 43, 44). Something similar to what is here signified by the key of David is signified by ‘Peter’s keys’ (Matt. xvi 15-19), which passage may be seen expounded below (n. 798), as also by these words to all the disciples:-
Whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven Matt. xviii 18.
For the twelve disciples were representing all things of the Church as to its good and truths, while Peter was representing it as to truth, and truths and goods save man, thus the Only Lord from Whom they are. A similar thing is understood also by the ‘key of David’ given to Eliakim, of which it is thus [written]:-
I will give the dominion into his hand, that he may become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the house of Judah, and I will give the key of the house of David upon his shoulder, that he may open and none shall shut, and shut and none shall open Isa. xxii 21, 22.
He was over the king’s house, and by ‘the king’s house’ is signified the Church as to Divine Truth.
175. [verse 8] ‘I know thy works’ signifies that the Lord sees all their interiors and exteriors at once, as above (n. 76).
176. ‘Behold, I have set before thee an open door’ signifies that heaven has been opened to those who are in truths derived out of good from the Lord. It is plain that by ‘an open door’ is signified admission. The door is said to be open to those who belong to the Church in Philadelphia, because by that Church are understood those who are in truths derived out of good from the Lord, and the Lord opens heaven to them. But on this matter something not previously known shall be said. The Only Lord is the God of heaven and earth (Matt. xxviii 18); those therefore who do not approach Him directly do not see the way to heaven, nor consequently do they see the door, and if perchance they are allowed to reach it, it is shut, and not opened by knocking. In the spiritual world there actually are ways that lead to heaven, and here and there are gates, and those who are led by the Lord to heaven go along the ways leading thither, and enter through the gates. That there are ways there may be seen in the work concerning HEAVEN AND HELL (n. 479, 534, 590); and gates also (n. 429, 430, 583, 584); for all the things that are observed in the heavens are correspondences, consequently also the ways and the gates; for ways correspond to truths, and consequently signify them, and gates correspond to entry, and consequently signify that.
[2] Since the Only Lord leads a man to heaven, and opens the door, He therefore calls Himself ‘the Way’ and also ‘the Door’; ‘the Way’ in John:-
I am the Way, the Truth (veritas), and the Life John xiv 6.
‘The Door’ in the same [gospel]:-
I am the door of the sheep; by Me if any one enters in, he shall be saved John x 7, 9.
Since there are both ways and doors in the spiritual world, and angelic spirits actually go along the ways, and enter through the doors while going into heaven, therefore ‘doors’, ‘gates’ and ‘entrances’ are frequently mentioned in the Word, and by them entry is signified, as in these places:-
Lift up your heads, O gates, lift them up, O doors of the world, that the King of glory may come in Ps. xxiv 7, 9.
Open the gates, that the just nation practising fidelities (faciens fidetitates) may enter in Isa. xxvi 2.
The five prudent virgins went in to the wedding, and the door was shut; and the five foolish virgins came and knocked, but it was not opened Matt. xxv 10-12.
Jesus said, Strive to enter in through the strait gate, for many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able Luke xiii 24, 25,
besides elsewhere. Since a ‘door’ signifies entry, and ‘the New Jerusalem’ signifies the Church [formed] from those who are in truths derived out of good from the Lord, therefore the New Jerusalem also is described as to ‘gates’, upon which are angels, and it is said that they shall not be shut (Rev. xxi 12, 13, 25).
177. ‘And no one is able to shut it’ signifies that hell does not prevail against them. For the Only Lord opens and shuts the doors to heaven, and the door that He opens is perpetually open to those who are in truths derived out of good from the Lord, and perpetually shut to those who are in untruths derived out of evil; and since the Only Lord opens and shuts, it follows that hell does not prevail against them. More may be seen above concerning these things (n. 174).
178. ‘Because thou hast a little power’ signifies because they know that of themselves they are powerless. Those who are in truths derived out of good from the Lord know that they do not have any power of themselves against evils and untruths, thus against hell. And they know also that they are not able to do good derived from any power of themselves, or to introduce themselves into heaven, but that the Lord has all the power, and so they have it from the Lord, and in so far as they are in truths derived from good, so far they are in the power from the Lord, which yet appears to them as their own. These, therefore, are the things understood by ‘because thou hast a little power’.
179. That ‘And hast observed My Word’ signifies because they are living in accordance with the precepts of the Lord in His Word is plain without an exposition.
182. ‘Declaring themselves to be Jews, and are not, but do lie’ signifies who say that the Church is with them, when yet there is no Church with them. Here by ‘Jews’ are understood those who belong to the Church, because the Church had been established with them. Therefore also by their ‘Jerusalem’ the Church as to doctrine is still understood. But by ‘Jews’ in a special [sense] those are understood who are in the good of love, as above (n. 96), thus also the Church, for the Church exists out of the good of love. That, however, there is no Church with them, is signified by ‘and are not, but do lie’.
183. ‘Behold I will make them to come and worship at thy feet’ signifies that those who as to doctrine are in untruths, provided they are not in untruths derived from evil, are going to receive the truths of the New Church, and acknowledge them. This is said of those who are ‘out of the synagogue of Satan, and declare themselves to be Jews, and are not, but do lie’, by whom are understood those who are in untruths as to doctrine but yet not in untruths derived from evil, in untruths as to doctrine indeed, but in good as to life. The latter, and not the former, receive and acknowledge truths when they hear them. This is because good loves truth, while truth derived from good rejects untruth. To receive and acknowledge truths is signified by ‘come and worship at thy feet’; not at their feet, but at the feet of the Lord, from Whom they have the truths derived from good. Something similar to this is signified by these [words] in David:-
Worship Jehovah our God, worship at His footstool Ps. xcix 5.
184. ‘And to know that I have chosen thee’ signifies that they are going to see that those who are in truths derived from good are loved and received into heaven by the Lord. This follows in a series out of the things preceding.
185. [verse 10] ‘Because thou hast kept the word of My endurance’ signifies because they have fought against evils, and rejected untruths while doing so. That by ‘the word of My endurance’ is signified the spiritual fight that is called temptation is plain from the words that now follow, ‘I also will keep thee safe from the hour of temptation that is going to come’; for he who is tempted in the world is not tempted after death. The spiritual fight that is temptation is termed ‘the word of the Lord’s endurance or patience’, because the Lord fights for man in temptations, and He fights by means of truths out of His Word.
187. [verse 11] ‘Behold I am coming quickly’ signifies the Lord’s coming, and a new Church then [formed] out of them. Here the Lord says, ‘Behold I am coming quickly’, because by the words just preceding the last judgment is understood, and the last judgment is also called the Lord’s coming, as in Matthew:-
The disciples said to Jesus, What is the sign of Thy coming, and of the consummation of the age? Matt. xxiv 3.
‘The consummation of the age’ is the last time of the Church, when there is a last judgment. The New Church is also understood by the words ‘Behold I am coming quickly’, because after a last judgment a Church is set up by the Lord. That Church now is the New Jerusalem, into which are going to come those who are in truths derived out of good from the Lord, to whom this saying is addressed.
I will make the horn of David to bud, and upon it shall his crown flourish Ps. cxxxii 17, 18.
Jehovah has put earrings upon thine ears, and a crown of decoration upon thine head Ezek. xvi 12.
This [is said] of Jerusalem, by which the Church as to doctrine is signified, and therefore a ‘crown of decoration’ is wisdom out of Divine Truth or the Word.
In that day shall Jehovah Zebaoth be for a croon of decoration, and for a mitre of beauty unto the residue of His people Isa. xxviii 5.
This [is said] of the Lord, because ‘in that day’ is said. The crown of decoration ‘for which He will be’ is wisdom, and the ‘mitre of beauty’ is intelligence. The ‘residue of the people’ are they with whom His Church will be.
[3] The like is signified by ‘crown’ and ‘mitre’ (Isa. lxii 1, 3); also by the ‘plate of gold’ upon Aaron’s mitre (Exod. xxviii 36, 37), which was also called a ‘coronet’. Again in these:-
Say unto the king and to [his] lady, Lower yourselves, sit down, for the decoration of your head is come down, the crown of your beauty Jer. xiii 18.
The joy of our heart is ceased, the crown is fallen from our head Lam. v 15, 16.
He has stripped me of my glory, and taken away the crown from my head Job xix 9.
Thou hast cast the crown of Thine Anointed to the earth Ps. lxxxix 39 [H.B. 40].
In these places by ‘crown’ is signified wisdom.
190. [verse 12] That ‘He who overcomes’ signifies those who continue steadfastly in truths derived out of good from the Lord is plain from the series, and thus without an exposition.
Jesus said to the Jews, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up: He was speaking of the temple of His body John ii 18-21.
I saw no temple in the New Jerusalem, for the Lord God Omnipotent is the temple thereof and the Lamb Rev. xxi 22.
Behold, the Lord shall suddenly come to His temple, and the angel of the covenant whom you seek Mal. iii 1.
I will bow down towards the temple of Thy holiness Ps. cxxxviii 2.
Yet will I look again toward the temple of thy holiness; and my prayer came unto Thee, to the temple of Thy holiness [Jonah ii 4, 7.
Jehovah is in the temple of His holiness] Hab. ii 20.
The ‘temple of the holiness’ of Jehovah or the Lord is His Divine Human, for to that there is bowing down, looking, and praying, and not to the temple only, for this in itself is not holy. It is called ‘the temple of holiness’ because holiness is predicated of Divine Truth (n. 173). By ‘the temple that sanctifies the gold’ (Matt. xxiii 16, 57) nothing else but the Lord’s Divine Human is understood.
[2] That by ‘temple’ in a representative sense is signified the Lord’s Church in heaven, is plain from these passages:-
The voice of Jehovah out of the temple Isa. lxvi 6.
There came a great voice out of the temple of heaven Rev. xvi 17.
The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in the temple the ark of His covenant Rev. xi 19.
The temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened; and the seven angels came out of the temple; and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God Rev. xv 5, 6, 8.
I called upon Jehovah, and cried unto my God; He heard a voice out of His temple Ps. xviii 6 [H.B. 7].
I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple Isa. vi 1.
[3] That ‘temple’ signifies the Church in the world, is plain from these:-
Our house of holiness is set on fire Isa. lxiv 11 [H.B. 10].
I will shake all the nations, that I may fill this house with glory; the glory of the latter house shall be greater than that of the former Hag. ii 7, 9.
The Church to be set up by the Lord is described by the ‘new temple’ in Ezekiel chaps. xl to xlviii; and is understood by the ‘temple’ that the angel was measuring (Rev. xi 1); as well as elsewhere (Isa. xliv 28; Jer. vii 2-4, 9-11; Zech. viii 9).
The disciples approached Jesus to show Him the buildings of the temple, and Jesus said to them, Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be demolished Matt. xxiv 1-2; Mark xiii 1-5; Luke xxi 5-7.
Here by ‘the temple’ is signified the Church of the present day, and by its demolition so that there is ‘not one stone upon another’ is signified the end of that Church, that then there would not be any truth left. For when the disciples spoke with the Lord about the temple, the Lord foretold the successive states of that Church, even to its end, [that is to say, He spoke] of the consummation of the age, and by ‘the consummation of the age’ is understood its last time, which is today. This was represented by the temple’s being destroyed from the foundations. [4] The temple signifies these three, namely the Lord, the Church in heaven, and the Church in the world. Since these three make one, they cannot be separated; consequently one cannot be understood without the other. Therefore he who separates the Church in the world from the Church in heaven, and these from the Lord, is not in the truth (veritas). Because [something] concerning the Church in the world now follows (n. 194), here by ‘the temple’ the Church in heaven is understood.
192. That ‘And he shall go no more out’ signifies that they are going to stay there to eternity is plain without an exposition.
193. ‘And I will write upon him the Name of My God’ signifies that Divine Truth shall be inscribed on their hearts. ‘To write upon’ anyone signifies to inscribe so that it may be in him as though his; and ‘the Name of My God’ signifies Divine Truth. Here something shall be said of the fact that ‘My God’ is Divine Truth. In the Word of the Old Testament in innumerable places JEHOVAH GOD is mentioned, as also separately sometimes JEHOVAH and sometimes GOD, and by ‘JEHOVAH’ is understood the Lord as to Divine Good, and by ‘GOD’ the Lord as to Divine Truth, or, what is the same, by ‘JEHOVAH’ is understood the Lord as to Divine Love, and by ‘GOD’ the Lord as to Divine Wisdom, and each of them is mentioned on account of the heavenly marriage in the details of the Word. This is a marriage of Love and Wisdom, or a marriage of good and truth, concerning which marriage [something] may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 80-90).
[2] In the Word of the New Testament, however, ‘Jehovah God’ is not mentioned, but ‘Lord God’, for ‘Lord’, like ‘Jehovah’, signifies Divine Good or Divine Love. From these [considerations] it can be established that by ‘the Name of My God’ is signified the Lord’s Divine Truth. That ‘Name’, when said of the Lord, is everything by means of which He is worshipped may be seen above (n. 81); and everything by means of which He is worshipped relates to Divine Good and Divine Truth. As it is not known what is understood by these words of the Lord:-
Father, glorify Thy Name; and there came a voice out of heaven, I have glorified it, and will glorify it again John xii 28,
it shall be stated. When the Lord was in the world He made His Human Divine Truth, which also is the Word; and when He went out of the world He fully united Divine Truth to the Divine Good that was in Him from conception; for the Lord glorified His Human, that is, made it Divine, as He makes a man spiritual; for first He imparts truths out of the Word to the man, and afterwards He unites them to good, and by means of that uniting the man is made spiritual.
The land shall be evacuated, the land shall be thrown into disorder, the land shall be desecrated, the empty city shall be broken, what is left in the city is a waste, and the gate shall be broken down even to devastation Isa. xxiv 3, 4, 10-12.
The lion has come up out of the thicket to reduce the land to a waste, thy cities shall be destroyed; I saw Carmel a wilderness, and the cities thereof desolate: the land shall mourn, the whole city forsaken shall flee Jer. iv 7, 26-29.
‘The land’ here is the Church, and ‘the city’ is the doctrine thereof. In this way is described the devastation of the Church by means of untruths of doctrine.
The spoiler shall come upon every city, so that no city shall escape, the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed Jer. xlviii 8.
In like manner:
Behold, I have given thee for a city fortified against the entire land Jer. i 18.
These [words were said] to the prophet because by a ‘prophet’ is signified the doctrine of the Church (n. 8):-
In that day it shall be sung in the land of Judah, We have a strong city; He will put salvation for walls and bulwark Isa. xxvi 1, 2.
The great city has been broken into three parts, and the cities of the nations have fallen down Rev. xvi 18, 19.
The prophet saw upon a high mountain the structure of a city from the south, and an angel measured the wall, the gates, the chambers, and the porch of the gate, and the name of the city was Jehovah there Ezek. xl 1 seq.
A river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God Ps. xlvi 4, 5, [H.B. 5, 6].
I will mix Egypt up with Egypt, so that city shall fight against city, and kingdom against kingdom Isa. xix 2.
Every kingdom divided against itself is desolated, and every city divided against itself shall not stand Matt. xii 25.
In these places by ‘cities’ in the spiritual sense are understood doctrines, as also [in] Isa. vi 11; xiv 12, 17, 21; xix 18, 19; xxv 1-3; xxxiii 8, 9; liv 3; lxiv 10 [H.B. 9]; Jer. vii 17, 34; xiii 18, 19; xxxii 42, 44; xxxiii 4; Zeph. iii 6; Ps. xlviii 1, 8 [H.B. 2, 9]; cvii 2, 4, 5, 7; Matt. v 14, 15; and elsewhere.
[3] From the signification of ‘city’ can be established what is understood by ‘cities’ in this parable of the Lord:-
A nobleman going away to get himself a kingdom gave his servants pounds (mina) to trade with: when he returned, he called the servants: the first approached saying, Thy pound has gained ten pounds; to whom he said, Good servant, thou shalt have authority over ten cities; and the second came, saying, Thy pound has gained five pounds, to whom he said, Be thou over five cities Luke xix 12-19.
Here also by ‘cities’ are signified doctrinal tenets or the truths of doctrine, and ‘being over them’ is being intelligent and wise, thus ‘to give authority over them’ is to give intelligence and wisdom. ‘Ten’ signify much, and ‘five’ something. It is plain that by ‘trading’ and ‘gaining’ is understood to furnish oneself with intelligence by making use of one’s opportunities. [4] That ‘the holy city Jerusalem’ signifies the doctrine of a new Church, is manifestly plain from the description of it (Rev. xxi), for it is described as to its measurements, also as to its gates, and as to the wall and its foundations, which, when ‘Jerusalem’ signifies the Church, cannot signify any other things than those that are of its doctrine. A Church is a Church from no other source. Since by ‘the city of Jerusalem’ is understood the Church as to doctrine, it is therefore called ‘a city of truth’ (Zech. viii 3, 4), and in many places the ‘holy city’, and this because ‘holy’ is predicated of truths derived from the Lord (n. 173).
But concerning these something shall be said to begin with. In a Church there are to be found (dantur) those who [both] believe and disbelieve [such things] as, that God exists, that there is the holy Word, that there is eternal life, and many other things that are of the Church and its doctrine. Nevertheless they do not believe. They believe such things when in their natural sensual, but they disbelieve them when in their natural rational thus they believe them when they are in externals, therefore when they are in association and conversation with others, but they disbelieve them when they are in internals, therefore when they are not in association with others, and are then in conversation with themselves. Of these it is said that they are ‘neither cold nor hot’ and are to be ‘spewed out’.
199. ‘These things says the Amen, the faithful and true Witness’ signifies the Lord as to the Word, which is the Divine Truth from Himself. That ‘Amen’ is Divine confirmation out of the Truth (veritas) Itself, which is the Lord, thus out of the Lord, may be seen above (n. 23); and that ‘the faithful and true Witness’, when [said] of the Lord, is the Divine Truth (veritas) that is from Him in the Word (n. 6, 16). Whether you say that the Lord bears witness concerning Himself or that the Word bears witness concerning Him, it is the same, since the SON OF MAN, Who is here speaking to the Churches, is the Lord as to the Word (n. 44). These things are put forward first to this Church, because here [the Word] treats of those in the Church who believe both out of themselves and out of the Word, and those who believe out of the Word believe out of the Lord.
200. ‘The Beginning of the work of God’ signifies the Word. That the Word is ‘the beginning of the work of God’ has not yet been known in the Church, because these words in John have not been understood:-
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; all things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, but the world knew Him not. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father John i 1-14.
He who understands these words as to their interior sense, and compares them at the same time with the things that have been written in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, as also with some things that have been written in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD, is able to see that the Divine Truth itself in the Word, which had been in this world before, of which n. it [treats], and which again is in the Word that exists at the present day, is understood by ‘the Word that was in the beginning with God, and was God’. Yet it is not the Word viewed in the words and letters of languages, but viewed in its own essence and life, which is from the inmost in the meanings of its words and letters. Out of this life the Word enlivens the affections of the will of the man who reads it in a holy manner, and out of the light of that life it enlightens the thoughts of his understanding; and it is therefore said in John:-
In the Word was life, and the life was the light of men John i 4.
This [life and light] makes the Word, because the Word is out of the Lord, and concerning the Lord, and thus is the Lord. Every thought, speech and writing draws its essence and life from him who thinks, speaks and writes. Therein is the man with his own quality. But in the Word there is the Only Lord. No one, however, feels and perceives the Divine Life in the Word but he who, when reading it, is in a spiritual affection of truth, for he is in a conjunction with the Lord through the Word, there being something inmostly affecting the heart and spirit which inflows with light into the understanding, and bears witness.
[2] Something similar to what is in John is signified by these words in the first chapter of Genesis:-
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and the spirit of God moved upon the faces of the waters, and God said, Let it become light, and it became light Gen. i 1-3.
‘The spirit of God’ is Divine Truth, so equally is ‘light’. Divine Truth is the Word, and therefore when the Lord calls Himself ‘the Word’ He calls Himself ‘the Light’ also (John i 4, 8, 9). A similar thing also is understood by these words in David:-
By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breaths (spiritus) of His month Ps. xxxiii 6.
To sum up, without the Divine Truth of the Word, which in its own essence is the Lord’s Divine Good of Divine Love and Divine Truth of Divine Wisdom, a man cannot have life. By means of the Word there is a conjunction of the Lord with the man, and of the man with the Lord, and by means of that conjunction there is life. There has to be something from the Lord which can be received by the man, through which there is a conjunction and eternal life therefrom.
[3] From these considerations it can be established that by ‘the Beginning of the work of God’ is understood the Word; and, if you are willing to believe it, the Word such as it is in the sense of the letter, for this sense is the complex of its interior sanctities, as has been shown frequently in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. And what is wonderful, the Word has been so written that it has communication with the entire heaven, and separately with each single society there, which has been granted me to know through living experience, of which elsewhere. That the Word is such in its own essence is still more plain from these words of the Lord:-
The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life John vi 63.
201. [verse 15] ‘I know thy works’ signifies that the Lord sees all their interiors and exteriors at once, as above (n. 76).
202. ‘That thou art neither cold nor hot’ signifies that they who are such at one time deny that the Word is Divine and Holy, and at another time acknowledge it. At one time to deny within themselves (apud se) the holiness of the Word, and at another time to acknowledge it, is to be ‘neither cold nor hot’, for they are against the Word and also in favour of it. Such persons are also the same [in their feelings] concerning God, acknowledging Him at one time and denying Him at another; and likewise concerning all things of the Church. Therefore they are sometimes with those who are in hell and at other times with those who are in heaven, flying as it were upwards and downwards between the two, and in whatever direction they fly, thither they turn the face. Such do they become who have confirmed with themselves [the belief] that there is a God, a heaven and a hell, and eternal life, and afterwards go back [on this]. In their case, when the first confirmation returns, they acknowledge, but when it does not return, they deny. Their going back is because afterwards they think only of themselves and the world, seeking unceasingly to achieve supereminence, by which means they immerse themselves in their proprium. In this way hell swallows them up.
203. ‘I would thou wert cold or hot’ signifies that it is better that they should wholeheartedly deny the holy things of the Word and the Church, or wholeheartedly acknowledge them. The reason will be stated in the paragraph that now follows.
204. [verse 16] ‘So because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am going to spew thee out of My mouth’ signifies profanation, and thereby separation from the Lord. By ‘spew out of My month’ is signified to be separated from the Lord, and to be so separated from the Lord is to be neither in heaven nor in hell, but in a place apart, deprived of human life, where there are nothing but phantasies. This is because they have mixed up truths with untruths and goods with evils, thus things holy with things profane, to such an extent that they cannot be separated. And since a man cannot then undergo preparation to be either in heaven or in hell, everything of his rational life is torn out, leaving the ultimates of life, which, separated from the interiors of life, are nothing but phantasies. More [details] about the condition and lot of these may be seen in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE PROVIDENCE (n. 226-228, 231), which are sufficient for acquiring knowledge about them. It is said of these that they are ‘spewed out’, because the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell where every man first comes and undergoes preparation after death, corresponds to the stomach. In this all things put in undergo preparation either to become blood and flesh, or to become excrement and urine, the latter having correspondence with hell, but the former with heaven. But the things that are spewed out of the stomach are those that have not been separated, but are mixed together. On account of this correspondence ‘to be spewed out’ and ‘spewing’ are mentioned in the following places:-
Drink and be drunken, that thy foreskin may be uncovered: the cup of Jehovah shall come round to thee that there may be shameful spewing on the glory Hab. iii 15, 16.
Make Moab drunken, that he may applaud in his vomit Jer. xlviii 26.
All the tables are full of the vomit of emptying. Whom shall he teach knowledge? Isa. xxviii 7-9
besides elsewhere, as Jer. xxv 27; Lev. xviii 24, 25, 28. That lukewarm water excites vomiting also results from correspondence.
In thy wisdom and in thy understanding thou hast made wealth for thyself, gold and silver in thy treasure-chambers; by the great Increase of thy wisdom thou hast greatly increased wealth for thyself Ezek. xxviii 4, 5.
These things [are said] of Tyre, by which is signified the Church as to cognitions of truth and good. In like manner:-
The daughter of Tyre shall bring thee a gift; O daughter of the king, the rich peoples shall entreat thy faces Ps. xlv 12 [H.B. 13].
Jehovah will impoverish Tyre, He will shake off her wealth in the sea Zech. ix 4.
O Tyre, they shall plunder thy wealth Ezek. xxvi 12.
Asshur has said, By the strength of my hand have I done it, and through my wisdom, because I am intelligent; whence I will plunder the treasures of the peoples, my hand shall find the wealth of the peoples Isa. x 13, 14.
By ‘Asshur’ is signified the rational, here that it perverts the goods and truths of the Church, which are the ‘treasures’ and ‘wealth’ of the peoples, which he shall plunder.
I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and the hidden wealth of the hiding-places Isa. xlv 3.
Blessed is the man who fears Jehovah, wealth and riches are in his house, and his justice stands for ever Ps. cxii 1, 3.
God has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent empty away Luke i 53.
Woe to you that are rich, for you have taken your joy; woe to you that have been filled, for you shall hunger Luke vi 24, 25.
By ‘the rich’ here are understood those who were in possession of cognitions of good and truth, because in possession of the Word, and these were the Jews. In like manner [they are understood] by the rich man who was clothed with purple and fine linen (Luke xvi 19). Likewise by ‘the rich’ and ‘riches’ elsewhere (as Isa. xxx 6; Jer. xvii; Micah iv 13; vi 12; Zech. xiv 14; Matt. xii 35; xiii 44; Luke xii 21).
* Number 205 is missing in the Original text.
207. That ‘And do not need anything’ signifies that they do not need to know or discern anything more or from any other source is plain from the things said above, because it is the consequence.
208. ‘And knowest not that thou art wretched’ signifies that they do not know that all the things that they know and think concerning the truths and goods of the Church have no coherence at all, and are fences (maceria). By wretchedness here is signified no coherence; thus by ‘wretched’ one who thinks incoherently about the things of the Church. This is because those of whom these things are said, at one time deny God, heaven, eternal life and the holiness of the Word, and at another time acknowledge them. Therefore what they build up with one hand they pull down with the other. Thus they are like those who build a house and presently demolish it; or like those who clothe themselves with beautiful garments and presently strip them off. Their houses therefore are rubble, and their garments are rags. Although they are ignorant of the fact, all the things that they think about the Church and heaven are like that. These things are understood by ‘wretchedness’ in the following places also:-
Thy wisdom and knowledge has led thee aside, when thou hast said in thy heart, I and none besides me; therefore shall wretchedness fall upon thee Isa. xlvii 10, 11.
Wretchedness shalt come upon wretchedness, the king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with stupefaction Ezek. vii 26, 27.
The ‘king’ who ‘shall mourn’, and the ‘prince’ who ‘shall be clothed with stupefaction’, are those who are in the truths of the Church.
What is right is not in their mouth, wretchedness is in the midst of them Ps. v 10.
Similar things are signified by fences (maceria) (Jer. xlix 3 [AV hedges]; Ezek. xiii 10-12; Hos. ii 6 [H.B. 8]).
209. ‘And miserable and poor’ signifies that they are without truths and goods. By the ‘miserable and poor’ in the spiritual sense of the Word are understood those who are without cognitions of truth and good, for they are spiritually miserable and poor. Those are understood by them also in the following places:-
I am miserable and poor, O Lord. Remember me Ps. xl 17 [H.B. 18]; lxx 5 [H.B. 6].
Bow down thine ear, O Jehovah, and answer, for I am miserable and poor Ps. lxxxvi 1.
The wicked lay the sword bare, and bend their bow, to cast down the miserable and poor Ps. xxxvii 14.
The wicked pursued the miserable and poor [man], for the slaying of the dejected in heart Ps. cix 16.
God shall judge the miserable of the people, He shall save the sons of the poor: He shall deliver the poor [man] who cries, and the miserable Ps. lxxii 4, 12, 13.
Jehovah rescues the miserable from him who is stronger than he, and the poor from those who spoil him Ps. xxxv 10.
The wicked [man] devises crimes to destroy the miserable by lying words, even when the poor [man] speaks judgment Isa. xxxii 7.
The miserable shalt have joy in Jehovah, and the poor among men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel Isa. xxix 19.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven Matt. v 3;
besides elsewhere, as Isa. x 2; Jer. xxii 16; Ezek. xvi 49; xviii 12; xxii 29; Amos viii 4; Ps. ix 18 [H.B. 19]; lxix 32, 33 [H.B. 33, 34]; lxxiv 21; cix 22; cxl 12 [H.B. 13]; Deut. xv 11; xxiv 14; Luke xiv 13, 21, 23. By the ‘miserable and poor’ are understood chiefly those who are not in cognitions of truth and good and yet desire them, since by the ‘rich’ are understood those who possess cognitions of truth and good (n. 206).
210. ‘And blind and naked’ signifies that they are without an understanding of truth and a will of good. By ‘the blind’ in the Word are understood those who are without truths as a result either of a lack thereof in the Church, or of ignorance, or of not understanding them; and by ‘the naked’ are understood those who are consequently without goods; for every spiritual good is furnished by means of truths. No others are understood by ‘the blind’ in the following passages:-
Then in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of dense darkness Isa. xxix 18.
Behold, your God will come; then the eyes of the blind shall be opened Isa. xxxv 4-6.
I will give thee for a light of the nations, to open the blind eyes Isa. xlii 6-8.
I will lead the blind into a way that they have not known, I will turn their darkness into light Isa. xlii 16.
Bring forth the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears Isa. xliii 8.
His watchmen are all blind, and do not know to understand Isa. lvi 10, 11.
He has blinded their eyes, and closed up their heart, that they may not see with the eyes, nor understand with the heart John xii 40.
Jesus said, For judgment have I come into the world, that they who see not may see, and that they who see may become blind John ix 39-41.
Blind guides, stupid and foolish Matt. xxiii 16, 17, 19, 24.
Blind leaders of the blind Matt. xv 14; Luke vi 39.
On account of the signification of ‘blind’ and ‘blindness’ it was forbidden to offer what was blind for a sacrifice (Lev. xxi 18; Deut. xv 21). They should not put a stumbling-block before the blind (Lev. xix 14). He would be cursed who should make the blind go astray (Deut. xxvii 18). Concerning the signification of ‘naked’ and ‘nakedness’ [something] may be seen below (n. 213).
211. [verse 18] ‘I counsel thee to buy from Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich’ signifies an admonition to acquire for themselves the good of love from the Lord by means of the Word, so that they may be wise. For ‘to buy’ signifies to acquire for oneself; ‘from Me’ signifies from the Lord by means of the Word; ‘gold’ signifies good, and ‘gold tried in the fire’ the good of celestial love; and to be enriched thereby signifies to understand and be wise. ‘Gold’ signifies good, because the metals in their order signify such things as are of good and truth; gold, celestial good and spiritual good; silver, the truth of those loves*; bronze, natural good; and iron, natural truth. These things are signified by the metals out of which Nebuchadnezzar’s statue [was made], of which:-
The head was gold, the breast and arms silver, the belly and thighs bronze, the legs iron, and the feet part of iron and part of clay Dan. ii 32, 33.
By this the successive states of the Church as to the good of love and the truth of wisdom were signified. Because the states of the Church had followed one after another in this manner, the Ancients therefore gave like names to times, calling them golden, silver, bronze, and iron ages, and by the ‘golden age’ they understood a first time when the good of celestial love was ruling. Celestial love is a love [progressing] into the Lord from the Lord. They had their wisdom then out of this love. ‘Gold’ signifies the good of love, as may be seen below (n. 913).
* The Original Edition has amorum (of loves), which may be a slip for bonorum (of goods).
212. ‘And white garments that thou mayest be clothed’ signifies that they may acquire for themselves genuine truths of wisdom. That ‘garments’ signify the truths clothing good may be seen above (n. 166); and that ‘white’ is said of truths (n. 167). Consequently ‘white garments’ signify genuine truths of wisdom, and this because gold purified by fire signifies the good of celestial love, and the truths of this love are the genuine truths of wisdom.
213. ‘And the shame of thy nakedness may not appear’ signifies so that the good of celestial love may not be profaned and adulterated. No one can know what ‘the shame of nakedness’ signifies, unless he knows that the organs (membra) of generation in each sex, which are also called the genitals, correspond to celestial love. That there is a correspondence of man and all his members with heaven, may be seen in the work concerning HEAVEN AND HELL, published at London in the year 1758 (n. 87-102); and that the genital organs (membra) correspond to celestial love, in ARCANA CAELESTIA, also published at London (n. 5050-5062). Since those organs (membra) correspond to celestial love, which is the love of the third or inmost heaven, and a man from his parents is born into loves opposite to that love, it is plain that if he does not acquire for himself from the Lord the good of love and the truths of wisdom, which are signified by ‘gold tried in the fire’ and by ‘white garments’, he will make his appearance in the opposite love, which in itself is profane.
[2] This is signified by ‘uncovering nakedness’ and ‘making one’s shame visible’ in the following places:-
Blessed is he who is awake and takes care of his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame Rev. xvi 15.
Daughter of Babel and of Chaldea, sit on the earth, uncover thy hair, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers, let thy nakedness be revealed, and let thy reproach also be seen Isa. xlvii 1-3.
Woe to the city of bloods; because of the multitude of her whoredoms, I will uncover the extremities upon thy faces, and I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy disgrace Nah. iii 1, 4, 5.
Plead with your mother, lest perchance I lay her naked Hos. ii 2-4.
When I have passed by thee, I have covered thy nakedness, and washed thee, and clothed thee, but then thou hast committed whoredom, not remembering thy youth, when thou wast naked and stripped bare; on that account thy nakedness has been revealed Ezek. xvi 6 seq.
Jerusalem has sinned a sin, therefore all despise her, because they have seen her nakedness Lam. i 8.
By ‘Jerusalem’, of which these things have been said, the Church is understood; and by ‘to commit whoredom’ is signified to adulterate and falsify the Word (n. 134).
Woe to him who makes his companion drink, making him drunken, that thou mayest look upon his nakedness: drink thou also that thy foreskin may be revealed Hab. ii 15, 16.
[3] He who knows what ‘nakedness’ signifies is able to understand what is signified by [the statement] that:-
Noah, when drunk from wine, was lying naked in the midst of his tent, and Ham saw and laughed at his nakedness, and Shem and Japheth covered his nakedness, turning away their faces lest they should see it Gen. ix 21-23:
and why it was commanded that:-
Aaron and his sons should not go up by steps upon the altar, lest their nakedness should be revealed Exod. xx 26 [H.B. 23]
as also that:-
They should make for them linen breeches to cover the flesh of their
nakedness, and they should be upon them when they were coming near the altar, and that otherwise they should bear iniquity and die Exod. xxviii 42, 43.
By ‘nakedness’ in these passages the evils into which man is born are signified, which, because they are opposed to the good of celestial love, are in themselves profane, and are not removed except by means of truths and a life in accordance with them. ‘Linen’ also signifies truth (n. 671). INNOCENCE also is signified by ‘nakedness’, and also IGNORANCE or GOOD AND TRUTH; innocence by these [words]:-
They were both naked, the man and his wife, and had no cause for shame Gen. ii 25.
Ignorance of good and truth by these:-
This is the fast that I choose, to break bread to the hungry, and when thou seest the naked, to cover him Isa. lviii 6, 7.
Let him give his bread to the hungry, and cover the naked with a garment Ezek. xviii 7.
I was hungry and you gave Me to eat, naked and you clothed Me Matt. xxv 35, 36.
214. ‘And anoint thine eyes with eye-salve that thou mayest see’ signifies so that the understanding may be healed lest the genuine truths of wisdom be profaned and falsified. That the understanding is signified by ‘eyes’, and intelligence and wisdom by ‘the sight of the eyes’ may be seen (n. 48); and when by ‘eye-salve’ a remedy for it is signified, it follows that by ‘anoint the eyes with eye-salve’ is signified to heal the understanding, so that it may see truths and be wise; and unless this takes place, the genuine truths of the Word are profaned and adulterated.
215. [verse 19] ‘As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten’ signifies that those of them who act in such a way are loved by the Lord, and that then they cannot but be let into temptations in order to fight against themselves. It is plain that this is the sense of these words, for it is said ‘As many as I love’, by whom are understood those who ‘buy gold purified in the fire’ from the Lord, and who ‘anoint the eyes with eye-salve that they may see’. It is said ‘I rebuke and chasten’ them, by which is understood temptation as to untruths and evils; by ‘rebuke’ temptation as to untruths, and by ‘chasten’ temptation as to evils. Those of whom [the Word] treats here cannot but be let into temptations, because without them denials and confirmations against Divine truths cannot be eradicated. Temptations are spiritual combats against the untruths and evils with oneself, thus against oneself. Moreover, what temptations are, whence they are, and what good they effect, may be seen in the work CONCERNING THE NEW JERUSALEM AND ITS HEAVENLY DOCTRINE, published at London in the year 1758 (n. 187-201).
216. ‘Be zealous therefore and repent’ signifies that this [healing through temptations] may result from an affection of truth and a turning away of untruth. Here, ‘Be zealous’ is said, because above (verse 15) it was said, ‘I would thou wert cold or hot’, here that he may be hot, for zeal is spiritual heat, and spiritual heat is an affection of love, here the affection of the love of truth; and he who acts out of an affection of the love of truth, acts also out of an aversion to untruth. These things are therefore signified by ‘repent’. ‘Zeal’ in the Word, where [it treats] of the Lord, signifies love and wrath. Love (John ii 17; Ps. lxix 9 [H.B. 10]; Isa. xxxvii 32; lxiii 15; Ezek. xxxix 25; Zech. i 14; viii 2). Wrath (Deut. xxxii 16, 21; Ps. lxxix 5, 6; Ezek. viii [3, 5; xvi] 42; xxiii 25; Zeph. i 18; iii 8). ‘Zeal’ with the Lord, however, is not wrath. It only appears like it in externals. Interiorly it is love. In externals it appears like wrath, because the Lord seems to be angry while He is reproving a man, especially when his evil is punishing him. The fact that leave is given by love that his evil may be removed, is just like the case of a parent who, if he loves the children, allows chastising for the purpose of removing their evils. It is plain from these [considerations] why Jehovah says He is ‘zealous’ (Deut. iv 24; v 9, 10; vi 14, 15).
217. [verse 20] ‘Behold I stand at the door (janua) and knock’ signifies that the Lord is present with every one in the Word, and draws nigh there to be received, and teaches how [this may come to pass]. [Words] similar to these are said by the Lord in Luke:-
You shall be like unto men who wait for their Lord, when He is going no return from the wedding, so that when He comes and knocks, they may open to Him immediately Luke xii 36.
That a ‘door’ signifies admission and entrance may be seen above (n. 176).
218. ‘If anyone hears My voice and opens [the door]’ signifies he who believes in the Word and lives in accordance with it. ‘To hear the voice’ is to believe in the Word, for the Divine truth of the Word is ‘the voice of Jehovah’ (n. 37, so); and ‘to open the door (ostium)’ is to live in accordance with it, since the door is not opened, nor is the Lord received, by only hearing the voice, but by living in accordance with it, for the Lord says:-
He who has My commandments and does them, I will manifest Myself to him, and come unto him, and make an abode with him John xiv 21-24.
That a man ought to open the door as from himself, by fleeing from evils as sins and by doing goods, has been shown in THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE FOR THE NEW JERUSALEM; and that it is in such a manner is plain also from the Lord’s words here, ‘If any one opens’, and again from His words [in] Luke xii 36.
219. ‘I will enter in to him, and will sup with him and he with Me’ signifies that the Lord conjoins Himself with them and them with Himself. ‘To enter in and sup with him’ signifies to conjoin Himself with him, and since there must be reciprocity for conjunction to take place, it is also said ‘and he with Me’. That being conjoined is signified by ‘to enter in and sup’ is plain from the HOLY SUPPER instituted by the Lord, by means of which there is the Lord’s presence with those who hear His voice, that is, who believe in the Word, but conjunction with those who live in accordance with the Word. To live in accordance with the Word is to practise repentance, and to believe in the Lord. ‘Sup’ is said, and ‘the Lord’s Supper’, because a supper takes place in the evening, and by ‘evening’ the last time of the Church is signified. Therefore when the Lord departed out of the world, and it was then the last time of the Church, he supped with the disciples and instituted the Holy Supper. That ‘evening’ signifies the last time of an old Church, and ‘morning’ the first of a new Church, may be seen above (n. 151).
220. [verse 21] That ‘To him who overcomes’ signifies those who are in conjunction with the Lord by means of a life in accordance with His commandments in the Word is plain from things said above.
221. ‘Will I grant to be seated with Me in My throne’ signifies that their conjunction with the Lord will be in heaven. That the Lord’s ‘throne’ is heaven may be seen above (n. 14), therefore ‘to be seated with the Lord in His throne’ signifies conjunction with Him in heaven.
222. ‘As I have overcome, and am seated with the Father in His throne’ signifies as He and the Father are one, and are heaven. That the Father and the Lord are one has been fully shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD; again elsewhere, that heaven is not heaven out of the propria of the angels, but out of the Divine of the Lord that is in the angels and with them; therefore by this [saying] ‘as I am seated with the Father in His throne’ is signified as He and the Father are one, and are heaven. The ‘throne is heaven (n. 14, 221). ‘As I have overcome’ signifies that by means of the temptations admitted into His Human, and by means of the utmost limit thereof which was the passion of the cross, also by the fulfilling of all things of the Word, He has overcome the hells and glorified His Human; that is, He has united it to His own Divine that was in Him as a result of the conception, and is called Jehovah the Father. Concerning which things [something] may be seen in THE DOCTRINE or THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD mentioned above (n. 8-11, 12-14, 29-36), and also above (n. 67).
[2] The Lord says ‘To him who overcomes will I grant to be seated with Me in My throne, as I have overcome and am seated with the Father in His throne’, because the Lord’s uniting with the Father, that is, with His own Divine in Himself, has as an end the possibility of a man’s being conjoined in the Lord to the Divine that is called the Father since it is not possible that a man can be conjoined immediately to the Divine of the Father, but [only] mediately by means of His Divine Human, which is the Natural Divine. And therefore the Lord says:-
No man has seen God at any time, the Only-begotten Son Who is in the bosom of the Father, He has set [Him] forth John i 18;
and elsewhere:-
I am the Way, the Truth (veritas) and the Life, no man comes unto the Father but by Me John xiv 6.
[3] The conjunction of the Lord with a man is by means of His Divine Truth, and this in the man is of the Lord, thus the Lord, and not at all of the man, thus not the man. The man feels this indeed as his own, but still it is not his, for it is not united to him, but adjoined. The Divine of the Father is otherwise. This is not adjoined but united to the Lord’s Human, as the soul is united to its own body. He who understands these things is able to understand the following words of the Lord:-
He who abides in Me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing John xv 4, 5.
At that day, you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you John xiv 20.
Also these:-
Sanctify them in Thy truth (veritas); Thy word is the truth (veritas) for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may he sanctified in the truth (veritas); that they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us; I in them and Thou in Me John xvii 17, 19, 21, 23.
223. [verse 221 ‘He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches’ signifies that he who understands obeys what the Divine Truth of the Word teaches those who will be of the New Church (e Nova Ecclesia) that is the New Jerusalem, as above (n. 87).
* * * * *
224. To these things I will add this MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE. I saw a group of spirits, all on their knees, praying to God to send them angels, with whom they might speak face to face and open up the thoughts of their hearts. And when they stood up, three angels in white linen were seen standing in full view of them. And the angels said, ‘The Lord Jesus Christ has heard your prayers, and has therefore sent us to you. Open to us the thoughts of your hearts.’ [2] And they replied, ‘The priests have told us that in theological matters it is not the understanding that counts, but faith; and that in those matters an intellectual faith is of no use to anyone, because it is derived from the man. We are Englishmen, and we have heard many things from our sacred ministry, which we have believed; but when we have spoken with some calling themselves the Reformed, and with others calling themselves Roman Catholics, and with dissenters as well, they all seemed to us to be learned, and yet in many things one did not agree with the other. Yet they all said, “Believe us”, and some of them said, “We are God’s ministers and we know”. Because, however, we have come to know that the Divine truths that are called truths of faith, and are the truths of the Church, are not with anyone the result merely of birth, nor of what is hereditary, but are from God out of heaven; and because these truths show the way to heaven, and enter into the life together with the good of charity and so lead to eternal life, we have become anxious and have prayed to God on our knees.’ [3] Then the angels replied, ‘Read the Word, and believe in the Lord, and you will see the truths that will be of your faith and life. In Christendom all draw their doctrinal tenets out of the Word as out of the one and only fountain.’ But two of the group said, ‘We have read but have not understood.’ [4] And the angels answered, ‘You have not approached the Lord, and you have also confirmed yourselves in untruths.’ And the angels said further, ‘What is faith without light, and what is thinking without understanding? It is not human. Even ravens and magpies can learn to speak without an understanding. We can positively assert that any individual whose soul longs for it is able to see truths of the Word in the light; for there is not an animal that does not know its own life’s food when it sees it, and a man is a rational and spiritual animal. Such an animal, if he hungers for it and seeks it from the Lord, sees the food not of the body but of the soul; and this is the truth of faith. Whatever is not being received also in the understanding, is not being lodged in the memory as regards the thing itself but only as regards the words. Therefore when we have looked down out of heaven into the world, we have not seen anything, but have only heard sounds, mostly disharmonious. [5] However, we shall mention some things that the learned among the clergy have withdrawn from the understanding, not knowing that there are two ways into the understanding, one from the world and the other from heaven, and that the Lord, when He is enlightening it, lifts the understanding up out of the world. If, however, the understanding is closed up as a result of religion, the way from heaven is closed to it, and in that case a man sees in the Word no more than a blind person sees. We have seen many such who fell into pits, out of which they have not risen. Let there be examples for enlightenment. You are able, are you not, to understand what charity is, and faith, that charity is to act well with the neighbour, and that faith is to think well about God and the essentials of the Church, and consequently that he who acts well and thinks well, that is, lives well and believes well, is saved.’ [In response] to these things, they declared that they did understand them. [6] The angels said further, ‘Do you not understand that a repentance from sins is to be practised in order that a man may be saved, and that unless the man practises repentance he continues in the sins into which he has been born; and that to practise repentance is not to will evils because they are sins against God, and to examine oneself once or twice a year to see one’s own evils, to confess them in the presence of God, to pray earnestly for help, to desist from the evils, and enter on a new life; and that in the measure that he is doing this, and believing in the Lord, his sins are being remitted.’ Then some of the group said, ‘We understand these things, and so we also understand what the remission of sins is.’ [7] ‘And then they asked the angels to give them further information, and this time about God, the immortality of the soul, regeneration, and baptism. To these requests the angels replied, ‘We shall say nothing that you do not understand. Otherwise our discussion is falling as rain upon sand, and upon the seeds there, which, however watered from heaven, still wither away and perish. ‘And concerning GOD they said, ‘All who come into heaven are allotted a place there, and eternal joy, in accordance with an idea of God, because this idea reigns throughout us all things of worship. An idea of God [as] invisible is not directed to anyone, nor is it defined in terms of anything, and therefore it ceases and perishes. An idea of God as a Spirit, when a spirit is believed to be like ether or wind, is an empty idea: but an idea of God as a Man is a just idea, for God is Divine Love and Wisdom with every quality thereof, and the subject of these is a Man, and not ether or wind. In heaven the idea of God is an idea of the Lord. He Himself is the God of heaven and earth, as He Himself taught. Let your idea of God be like ours, and we shall be associated together. ‘When they had said these things their faces became radiant. [8] Concerning THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL they said, ‘A man lives to eternity, because he can be conjoined to God by means of love and faith. This is possible with each individual. If you think about this a little more deeply you can understand that this “possibility” brings about the immortality of the soul.’ [9] Concerning REGENERATION; ‘Who does not see that every man has the freedom to think about God or not to think about Him, provided he has been instructed that God exists. So everyone has freedom in spiritual things, just as in things civil and moral. The Lord gives this continually to all, and therefore [a man] becomes guilty if he does not think. A man is a man as the result of his being able to do this, while a beast is a beast as the result of its inability to do so. A man, therefore, is able to reform and regenerate himself as from himself, provided he acknowledges at heart that it is from the Lord. Everyone who practises repentance and believes in the Lord is being reformed and regenerated; the man will do both as from himself, but the ‘as from himself’ is from the Lord. It is true that the man cannot contribute anything to this [process], nothing at all, nevertheless you have not been created statues, but you have been created men so that you might do this from the Lord as from yourselves. This is the one and only reciprocation of love and faith that the Lord expressly wills to be made to Him by a man. In a word, do it from yourselves, and believe that it is from the Lord. In this way you do it as from yourselves.’ [10] But then the Englishmen inquired whether to do as from oneself was imparted to the man from creation. An angel replied, ‘It has not been imparted, because doing from Self is of the Only God, but it is being given continually, that is, being adjoined continually. And then in the measure that the man does good and believes what is true as from himself he is an angel of heaven, but in the measure that he does evil and believes what is untrue, this being also as from himself, he is an angel of hell. You are astonished that this also is as from oneself, but still you see it while you are praying that you may be protected from the devil, lest he should seduce you and enter into you as he did into Judas, fill you with all iniquity, and destroy both soul and body. Everyone becomes guilty, however, who believes that he is doing anything from himself, whether it is good or evil, but he who believes that he is doing it as from himself it does not become guilty. [11] ‘Concerning BAPTISM they said that it is a spiritual washing, which is reformation and regeneration, and that a little child will be reformed and regenerated when, having grown up, he does the things that his sponsors promised on his behalf, which are two, repentance and faith in God; for they promise first that he shall renounce the devil and all his works, and second that he shall believe in God. All the little children in heaven are being initiated into these two, but to them the devil is hell, and God is the Lord. Besides, baptism is a sign in the presence of angels that a man belongs to the Church. [12] On hearing these things some of the group said, ‘We understand’; but a voice was heard from one side complaining, ‘We do not understand’, and another voice, ‘We do not want to understand’; and an inquiry was made as to whom these voices came from, and it was discovered that they came from those who had confirmed themselves in untruths of faith, and who wanted to be believed as oracles, and so to be adored. The angels said, ‘Do not be astonished. There are very many like this at the present day. From heaven they appear to us like graven images, so skilfully made that they can move the lips, and sound like organs, without knowing whether the breath causing them to sound is out of hell or heaven, because they do not know whether it is untruth or truth. They go on reasoning and confirming without seeing whether it is so at all. But you should realise that human nature is able to confirm whatever it wishes, even so that it appears as if it were so. Therefore heretics can do this. So can the wicked. Indeed even atheists [can prove] that there is no God, but nature only.’ [13] Afterwards the group of Englishmen, fired with a longing to become wise, said to the angels, ‘So many diverse things are said concerning the HOLY SUPPER, tell us what the truth (veritas) is.’ The angels said, ‘The truth is that a man who has the Lord in view and practises repentance is conjoined with the Lord and introduced into heaven by means of that most holy [sacrament].’ But some of the group said, ‘This is a mystery’; and the angels replied, ‘It is a mystery, but yet such as can be understood. The bread and wine do not bring this to pass, nor is there anything holy in them, but material bread and heavenly bread correspond one to the other, also material wine and heavenly wine; and heavenly bread is the holy of love, and heavenly wine is the holy of faith, each of them from the Lord, and each of them being the Lord. Resulting from this there is a conjunction of the Lord with the man, and of the man with the Lord, not with the bread and wine, but with the love and faith of the man who practises repentance; and conjunction with the Lord is also introduction into heaven.’ And after the angels taught them something about correspondence and its effect, some of the group said, ‘Now for the first time we understand.’ And when they said, ‘We understand’, behold a flame descending out of heaven with light associated them with the angels, and they loved each other.
1. After these things I saw, and behold an open door in heaven; and the first voice that I heard, like a trumpet speaking with me, was saying, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must come to pass hereafter.
2. And immediately I came to be in the spirit, and behold a throne set in heaven, and upon the throne One sitting.
3. And the One sitting looked like a stone of jasper and sardius, and the rainbow round about the throne looked like an emerald.
4. And around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting wrapped around with white garments, and on their heads they had golden crowns.
5. And out of the throne were going forth lightnings and thunderings and voices; and seven lamps of fire blazing before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.
6. And in full view of the throne a sea of glass like unto crystal. And in the midst of the throne and around the throne, four animals full of eyes before and behind.
7. And the first animal was like a lion, and the second animal like a calf, and the third animal having a face as a man, and the fourth animal was like a flying eagle.
8. And the four animals, each separately, had six wings round about, and within they were full of eyes, and had no rest day and night, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and Who is and Who is to come.
9. And when the animals gave glory, and honour, and thanks to the One sitting upon the throne, to Him living for ages of ages,
10. The twenty-four elders were falling prostrate before the One sitting upon the throne, and adoring the One living for ages of ages, and were casting their crowns away before the throne saying,
11. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to take to Thyself glory and honour and power, for Thou hast created all things, and by Thy will they exist and have been created.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
It treats of the setting in order and preparation of all in heaven for the judgment that is going to be out of the Word and in accordance therewith; then of the recognition that the Lord is the only Judge.
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. After these things I saw, and behold an open door in heaven
signifies manifestation concerning the setting of the heavens in order by the Lord for the last judgment, about to come to pass in accordance with His Divine truths in the Word.
And the first voice that I heard, like a trumpet speaking with me, was saying, Come up hither
signifies Divine influx, and the resulting elevation of mind, and a manifest perception then.
And I will show thee things which must come to pass hereafter
signifies revelations of things to come before the last judgment, also of the last judgment itself, and after it.
2. And immediately I came to be in the spirit
signifies that he was admitted into a spiritual state, in which the things that come into existence in heaven are clearly visible.
And behold a throne set [in heaven]
signifies judgment in a representative form.
And upon the throne One sitting
signifies the Lord.
3. And the One sitting looked like a stone of jasper and sardius
signifies the appearing of the Lord’s Divine Wisdom and Divine Love in ultimates.
And the rainbow round about the throne looked like an emerald
signifies the appearing of these also around the Lord.
4. And around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting
signifies the setting of all in heaven in order for judgment.
Wrapped around with white garments
signifies out of the Divine truths of the Word. And on their heads they had golden crowns
signifies which are of wisdom derived from love.
5. And out of the throne were going forth lightnings and thunderings and voices
signifies enlightenment, perception, and instruction from the Lord.
And seven lamps of fire [blazing] before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God
[signifies the New Church resulting therefrom in heaven and on earth from the Lord by means of the Divine Truth proceeding from Himself.
6. And in full view of the throne a sea of glass like unto crystal]
signifies the New Heaven [formed] out of Christians who were in general truths out of the sense of the letter of the Word.
And in the midst of the throne and around the throne four animals
signifies the Lord’s Word from firsts in ultimates, and its guards.
Full of eyes before and behind
signifies Divine Wisdom therein.
7. And the first animal was like a lion
signifies the Divine Truth of the Word as to power. And the second animal like a calf
signifies the Divine Truth of the Word as to affection. And the third animal having a face as a man
signifies the Divine Truth of the Word as to wisdom.
And the fourth animal was like a flying eagle
signifies the Divine Truth of the Word as to cognitions, and the resulting understanding.
8. And the four animals, each separately, had six wings round about
signifies the Word as to power and as to its guards.
And within they were full of eyes
signifies the Divine Wisdom in the Word in the natural sense out of its spiritual and celestial sense.
And had no rest day and night, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty
signifies that the Word is continually teaching [the doctrine of] the Lord, and that He Only is God, and consequently that He Only is to be worshipped.
Who was and Who is and Who is to come
signifies the Lord.
9. And when the animals gave glory and honour and thanks to the One sitting upon the throne
signifies that the Word awards all truth and good and all worship to the Lord about to judge.
To Him living for ages of ages
signifies that the Lord Only has life, and eternal life is from Him Only.
10. The twenty-four elders were falling prostrate before the One sitting upon the throne, and adoring the One living for ages of ages
signifies the humbling of all in heaven before the Lord.
And were casting their crowns away before the throne
signifies the recognition that their wisdom is from Him Only.
11. Saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to take to Thyself glory and honour and power
signifies the confession that the Lord, because He is Divine Truth and Divine Good, has the kingdom by virtue of merit and justice.
For Thou hast created all things, and by Thy will they exist and have been created
signifies that all things of heaven and the Church have been made and formed, and that men are reformed and regenerated, out of Divine Good by means of the Divine Truth that is also the Word.
THE EXPOSITION
[verse 1] ‘After these things I saw, and behold an open door in heaven’ signifies manifestation concerning the setting of the heavens in order by the Lord for the last judgment, about to come to pass in accordance with His Divine truths in the Word. By ‘an open door’, when [said] of heaven, is signified entry, as above (n. 176); here also manifestation, because he says, ‘I saw, and behold’. And because the things that are mentioned in this chapter were seen then, and these are concerned with the setting of the heavens in order by the Lord for the last judgment about to come to pass in accordance with His Divine truths in the Word, therefore by ‘I saw, [and] behold an open door in heaven’ is signified manifestation concerning these things.
226. ‘And the first voice that I heard, like a trumpet speaking with me, was saying, Come up hither’ signifies Divine influx, and the resulting elevation of mind, and a manifest perception then. It may be seen above (n. 37, 50) that a ‘voice’, when it is heard out of heaven, is Divine Truth inflowing, thus a Divine influx; and that by a voice ‘like a trumpet’ is signified a manifest perception (also above n. 37); and by ‘Come up hither’ an elevation of mind is signified; for in the spiritual world the higher one goes up, the purer the light one comes into, by which means the understanding is opened by degrees, that is, the mind is elevated. It follows also, therefore, that he then ‘came to be in the spirit’. By this is understood that he was let into a spiritual state in which the things that are in heaven appear manifestly. Because it treats of the setting of the heavens in order for the last judgment, the voice was heard ‘like a trumpet’; and voices as of a trumpet are heard in heaven when assemblies and arrangements in order take place. Therefore also with the sons of Israel, among whom all things were representative of heaven and the Church, it was a statute that
they should make trumpets out of silver, and that the sons of Aaron should make a sound with them for assemblies, for departures, in days of gladness, at festivals, in the beginnings of months, over the sacrifices, for a memorial, and for war Num. x 1-10.
But [something] will be said about ‘trumpets’ and ‘sounding’ through them, in the exposition of chap. viii 6, where it treats of the seven angels to whom seven trumpets were given.
227. ‘And I will show thee things which must come to pass hereafter’ signifies revelations of things to come before the last judgment, also of the last judgment itself, and after it. These things are signified because in the Apocalypse it treats of nothing else but the state of the Church at its end, thus of the things to come before the last judgment, also of that judgment, and after it, as was said above (n. 2).
228. [verse 2] ‘And immediately I came to be in the spirit’ signifies that he was admitted into a spiritual state, in which the things that come into existence in heaven are clearly visible. At n. 36 above it may be seen that ‘to come to be in the spirit’ is to be admitted into a spiritual state as a result of a Divine influx, also what the spiritual state is, and the quality thereof, and that in that state a man sees the things that are in the spiritual world as clearly as in the natural state of the body he sees the things that are of this world.
229. ‘And behold a throne set [in heaven]’ signifies judgment in a representative form. That a ‘throne’ signifies heaven may be seen (n. 14). That a ‘throne’ also signifies judgment is plain from these passages:-
When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He shall sit upon the throne of His glory Matt. xxv 31 seq.
It treats there of the last judgment.
O Jehovah, Thou hast made my judgment, Thou hast sat upon the throne, a Judge of justice. Jehovah will prepare His throne for judgment Ps. ix 4, 5, 7 [H.B. 5, 6, 8].
I saw when the Ancient of days did sit, His throne as a flame of fire; a thousand and thousands were ministering to Him, and a myriad of myriads were standing before Him: the judgment was in session, and the books were opened Dan. vii 9, 10.
Jerusalem has been built, thither the tribes go up, and there thrones are set for judgment Ps. cxxii 3, 5.
I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them Rev. xx 4.
The throne built by Solomon (1 Kings x 18-20) used to signify both royalty and judgment, since the kings, when they gave judgments, used to sit upon thrones. It is said that a ‘throne’ signifies judgment in a representative form, because the things that John saw were visions that were representing. They were seen as he has described, but they were forms representative of future things, as can be established from the things following, as that animals, the dragon, beasts, the temple, the tabernacle, the ark, and other things besides, were seen. The things that were seen by the prophets were similar, of which above (n. 36).
230. That ‘And upon the throne One sitting’ signifies the Lord is quite plain from the things following, and from the places in the Word where it is said that the Lord is going to execute judgment, as Matt. xxv 31 seq., John v 22, 27, and elsewhere.
231. [verse 3] ‘And the One sitting looked like a stone of jasper and sardius’ signifies the appearing of the Lord’s Divine Wisdom and Divine Love in ultimates. A ‘stone’ in the Word signifies truths in ultimates, and a ‘precious stone’ truth transparent from good (n. 915). Of the rest of the colours in the spiritual world two are fundamental, the colour white and the colour red. The colour white originates out of the light of the Sun in heaven, thus out of the spiritual light that is gleaming white; and the colour red originates out of the fire of the Sun there, thus out of the celestial light that is flaming. Spiritual angels, because they are in truths of wisdom derived from the Lord, are in the gleaming white light, and are therefore clothed in white; and celestial angels, because they are in goods of love from the Lord, are in the flaming light, and are therefore clothed in red. Consequently these two colours are also in the precious stones in heaven, where they are very plentiful. This is why precious stones in the Word signify such things as are either of the truth of wisdom, or the good of love; and a ‘jasper’, because it gleams white, signifies the things that are of the truth of wisdom, while a ‘sardius’, because it glows red, signifies the things that are of the good of love. These stones signify the appearing of Divine Wisdom and Divine Love in ultimates, because all the precious stones in heaven originate out of the ultimates of the Word, and are transparent out of the spiritual sense of the ultimates there. That this is the case may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 44, 45). The ultimates of the Word are the truths and goods of its sense of the letter. It can hardly be believed by anyone in our world that this is the origin of the precious stones in heaven, because he does not know that all the things that come into existence in the spiritual world are correspondences, and that all the things that come into existence in the natural world originate therefrom. It has been granted me to know as a result of speaking with angels, and to see also with my eyes, that this is the origin of the precious stones in heaven, but the formation of them is from the Only Lord. Black colours, however, originate out of hell. There are two of these also. One of them is in opposition to white-this blackness being with those who have falsified the truths of the Word; and the other is in opposition to red-this blackness being with those who have adulterated the goods of the Word. The latter blackness is diabolical, but the former is satanic. What ‘jasper’ and ‘sardius’ signify may be seen [in] more [detail] in the exposition of chap. xxi 11, 18-20.
232. ‘And the rainbow round about the throne looked like an emerald’ signifies the appearing of these also around the Lord. In the spiritual world rainbows of many kinds appear. They appear of diverse colours as on earth, and they appear of one colour. Here it is one colour, because ‘like an emerald’ is said. This appearance was around the Lord, because it is said ’round about the throne’. [What is] around Him is also in the angelic heaven. The Divine sphere that encompasses the Lord is out of His Divine Love and at the same time out of His Divine Wisdom, and when this Divine Wisdom is represented in heaven, it appears in the celestial kingdom becoming red like a ruby, in the spiritual kingdom becoming azure like a ligure (cyanus), and in the natural kingdom becoming green like an emerald; everywhere with ineffable splendour and radiance.
233. [verse 4] ‘And around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting’ signifies the setting of all in heaven in order for the last judgment. He who is not acquainted with the spiritual sense of the Word, and genuine truths of the Church at the same time, is able to believe that when the last judgment comes, the Lord will be seated upon a throne, and that other judges will also be on thrones around Him. He, however, who is acquainted with the spiritual sense of the Word and genuine truths of the Church at the same time, knows that the Lord will not then be seated upon a throne, nor will there be other judges around Him. On the contrary, he knows that the Lord is not going to judge anyone to hell, but that He is going to cause the Word to judge each one, Himself controlling all things so that they are effected in accordance with justice. In fact the Lord says:-
The Father does not judge anyone, but has given all judgment to the Son: He has given [Him] the ability to effect judgment, because He is the Son of Man John v 22, 27.
But elsewhere He says:-
I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world: the Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day John xii 47, 48.
These two [statements] agree, when it is known that the Son of Man is the Lord as to the Word (see above, n. 44). Therefore the Word is going to judge, with the Lord controlling.
[2] That by the twelve tribes of Israel and their elders are signified all who belong to the Lord’s Church in the heavens and on earth (in terris), and abstractly all the truths and goods there, may be seen (n. 251, 349, 369, 808); and that similar things are signified by the apostles (n. 79, 790, 903). From these considerations it is plain what is signified by these words of the Lord:-
Jesus said unto the disciples, You who have followed Me, when the Son of Man sits upon the throne of His glory, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel Matt xix 28; Luke xxii 30.
By ‘twelve’ are signified all, and they are predicated of the goods and truths of heaven and the Church (n. 348); likewise ‘twenty-four’. The ‘twelve apostles’ and the ‘twenty-four elders’ therefore signify all things of the Church, and the ‘twelve’ as well as the ‘twenty-four thrones’ signify everything of judgment. Who is unable to understand that the apostles and elders are not going to judge, and that they cannot do so? From these considerations it can now be established why ‘thrones’ and ‘elders’ are mentioned where [the Word treats of] judgment, as also in Isaiah:-
Jehovah will come to judgment with the elders of the people Isa. iii 14.
In David:-
Jerusalem has been built, and thither the tribes go up, and thrones are set there for judgment Ps. cxxii 3-5.
And in the Apocalypse:-
I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them Rev. xx 4.
234. ‘Wrapped around with white garments’ signifies out of the Divine truths of the Word. That ‘white garments’ signify genuine truths of the Word may be seen above (n. 166, 212).
235. ‘And on their heads they had golden crowns’ signifies which are of wisdom derived from love. That a crown’ signifies wisdom may be seen above (n. 189), and that ‘gold’ signifies the good of love (n. 211, 913); consequently a ‘golden crown’ signifies wisdom derived from love. Since all the things of heaven and the Church, that are signified by the twenty-four elders (n. 233), are derived from that wisdom, therefore ‘golden crowns’ were seen upon their heads. It is to be known that the spiritual sense is abstracted from persons, as above (n. 78, 79, 96), so also here.
236. [verse 5] ‘And out of the throne were going forth lightnings and thunderings and voices’ signifies enlightenment, perception, and instruction, from the Lord. ‘Lightnings’, by reason of the flash striking the eyes, signify enlightenment, while ‘thunderings’, by reason of the crash striking the ears, signify perception, and when these two signify enlightenment and perception, then ‘voices’ signify instruction. These were seen to be going forth ‘out of the throne’ because they go forth from the Son of Man, or from the Lord as to the Word; and all enlightenment, perception, and instruction comes from the Lord by means of the Word. Similar things are signified by ‘lightnings’, ‘thunderings’ and ‘voices’ elsewhere in the Word, as in these passages:-
Thou hast with [Thine] arm redeemed Thy people, the ethers gave forth a voice, a voice of thunder into the world; the lightnings enlightened the world Ps. lxxvii 15, 17, 18 [H.B. 16, 18, 19].
The lightnings of Jehovah shall enlighten the world Ps. xcvii 3, 4.
Thou didst call upon Me in straitness, and I rescued thee, I answered thee in the secret place of thunder Ps. lxxxi 7 [H.B. 8].
I heard the sound of a great crowd, as the sound of powerful thunderings, saying, Hallelujah, for our Omnipotent Lord God has taken the kingdom Rev. xix 6.
[2] Because enlightenment, perception and instruction are signified by ‘lightnings’, ‘thunderings’ and ‘voices’, therefore when Jehovah came down upon mount Sinai and announced the Law, there were ‘lightnings’ and ‘voices’ (Exod. xix 16). And when a voice was sent out of heaven to the Lord, it was heard as ‘thunder’ (John xii 28, 29). And because James and John were representing charity and the works thereof, and every perception of truth and good is out of these, they were called ‘Boanerges’ by the Lord, that is, ‘sons of thunder’ (Mark iii 17). It is plain from these considerations that similar things are signified by ‘lightnings’, ‘thunderings’ and ‘voices’ in the following passages in the Apocalypse:-
I heard one of the four animals as it were the voice of thunder Rev. vi 1.
I heard a voice out of heaven as it were the voice of a great thunder Rev. xiv 2.
When the angel cast the censer upon the land, there were thunderings, voices, and lightnings Rev. viii 5.
When the angel cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices Rev. x 3, 4.
When the temple of God in heaven was opened, there were lightnings and voices and thunderings Rev. xi 19.
Similarly elsewhere.
237. ‘And seven lamps of fire [blazing] before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God’ signifies the New Church resulting therefrom in heaven and on earth from the Lord by means of the Divine Truth proceeding from Himself. A similar thing is signified here by the ‘seven lamps’ as by the ‘seven lampstands’, and also by the ‘seven stars’ above. It may be seen above that by the ‘seven lampstands’ is understood a New Church on earth (in terris) which will be in enlightenment from the Lord (n. 43); and by ‘the seven stars’ the New Church in the heavens (n. 65); and because the Church is a Church out of the Divine that proceeds from the Lord, which is the Divine Truth (veritas) and is called the Holy Spirit, it is therefore said, ‘which are the seven spirits of God’. It may be seen above that by the ‘seven spirits of God’ is signified that Divine proceeding (n. 14, 155).
238. [verse 6] ‘And in full view of the throne a sea of glass like unto crystal’ signifies the New Heaven [formed] out of Christians, who were in general truths out of the sense of the letter of the Word. In the spiritual world atmospheres and also waters appear just as in our world; atmospheres like ethers, where the angels of the highest heaven are, atmospheres like airs, where the angels of the middle heaven are, and atmospheres like waters, where the angels of the ultimate heaven are. The latter are the seas that appear in the boundaries of heaven, and those who are in general truths out of the sense of the letter of the Word are there. That waters signify truths may be seen above (n. so). Consequently a ‘sea’ in which waters cease [to flow] and are gathered together signifies Divine Truth in the boundaries. Since, therefore, by the ‘One sitting upon the throne’ is understood the Lord (n. 230), and by ‘the seven lamps, which are the seven spirits of God before the throne’ is understood a New Church which will be in Divine Truth from the Lord (n. 237), it is plain that by the ‘sea of glass’ that was ‘in full view of the throne’ is understood the Church with those who are in the boundaries. [2] It has indeed been given me to see the seas in the boundaries of the heavens, and to speak with those who were there, and so to become acquainted with the truth (veritas) of this matter by experience. They were seen by me as if in a sea, but they said that they were not in a sea but in an atmosphere. Consequently it was plain to me that a sea is the appearance of Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord in the boundaries. That there are seas in the spiritual world is clearly evident from the fact that they were often seen by John, as here, also chaps. v 13; vii 1-3; viii 8, 9; x 2, 8; xii 18*; xiii 1; xiv 7; xv 2; xvi 3; xviii 17, 19, 21; xx 13. It is said ‘a sea of glass like unto crystal’ on account of the transparency of the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord.
[3] Since the Divine Truth in the boundaries in the spiritual world presents the appearance of a sea, therefore by ‘sea’ elsewhere in the Word the like is signified, as in these places:-
In that day living waters shall go forth out of Jerusalem, part of them toward the eastern sea, and part of them toward the hinder sea Zech. xiv 8.
‘Living waters out of Jerusalem’ are Divine Truths of the Church from the Lord. The ‘sea ‘therefrom is where they cease [to flow].
Jehovah, Thy way is in the sea, and Thy path in many waters Ps. lxxvii 19 [H.B. 20].
Thus has Jehovah said, Who has put a way in the sea, and a path in many waters Isa. xliii 16.
Jehovah has founded the world upon the seas, and established it upon the floods Ps. xxiv 2.
Jehovah has founded the land upon its bases, so that to eternity it should not be moved away. With the deep or the sea as a garment hast Thou covered it Ps. civ 5, 6.
The land having been founded upon the sea is [equivalent to] the Church, which is understood by ‘the land’, having been founded upon general truths; for these are its bases and foundations.
[4] I will dry up the sea of Babel, and make her spring dry; the sea shall come up upon Babel, she shall be covered with the multitude of its waves Jer. li 36, 42.
By ‘dry up the sea of Babel’ and ‘make her spring dry’ is signified to extinguish every truth of the Church thereof from firsts to ultimates.
They shall go after Jehovah, and the sons shall approach with honour from the sea Hos. xi 9-11.
The ‘sons from the sea’ are they who are in general or ultimate truths.
Jehovah Who builds His steps in the heavens, and calls the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the faces of the land Amos ix 6.
By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made. He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap, putting the deeps in storehouses Ps. xxxiii 6, 7.
By My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness Isa. i 2;
besides in other places. [5] Since by ‘sea’ is signified the Divine Truth with those who are in the boundaries of heaven, therefore by ‘Tyre and Sidon’, because they were near the sea, is signified the Church as to cognitions of good and truth; and therefore also by ‘islands of the sea’ are signified those who are in a more remote Divine worship (n. 34). And therefore in the Hebrew language ‘sea’ is ‘the west’, that is, where the light of the sun declines to its evening or truth into obscurity. That ‘sea ‘also signifies the natural of man separated from what is spiritual, thus also hell, will be seen in the things following.
* AV chap. xiii 1, but see text of chap. xii below.
239. ‘And in the midst of the throne and around the throne four animals’ signifies the Lord’s Word from firsts in ultimates, and its guards. I know that they are going to be astonished because it is said that ‘four animals’ signify the Word. It will be seen in the things that follow that they do signify it. These ‘animals’ are the same as the cherubs in Ezekiel. There they are also called ‘animals’ in the first chapter, but ‘cherubs’ in the tenth chapter, and they were as here, a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle. In the Hebrew language they are called ‘chajoth’, and this word indeed signifies ‘animals’, but it is derived from ‘chaja’, which is ‘life’, in consequence of which also Adam’s wife was called ‘Chaja’ (Gen. iii 20). ‘Animal’ in the singular is also called ‘chaja’ in Ezekiel, and therefore those animals also can be called ‘living’. Nor does it matter that the Word is described by means of ‘animals’, since the Lord Himself in the Word is sometimes called a ‘Lion’, and frequently a ‘Lamb’, and those who are in charity from the Lord are called ‘sheep’. Moreover the understanding of the Word in the following [pages] is called a ‘horse’. That the Word is signified by those ‘animals’ or ‘cherubs’ is plain from the fact that they were seen ‘in the midst of the throne and around the throne’, and in the midst of the throne was the Lord. And because the Lord is the Word, they could not be seen anywhere else. That they were also ‘around the throne’ was because they were in the angelic heaven, where the Word also is.
[2] That the Word and its guards is signified by ‘cherubs’ has been shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 97), where are these words:-
The sense of the letter of the Word is a guard for the genuine truths that lie hidden within; and it is a guard on account of its being possible for that sense to be turned this way and that, that is, to be expounded in accordance with [the way] it has been taken, and by this means for the internal of the Word not to be injured or violated. For it is not harmful that the sense of the letter should be understood by one person differently than by another, but it is harmful if the Divine truths that lie hidden within are perverted, for by this means violence is done to the Word. Lest this should occur, the sense of the letter guards, and it guards in the case of those who are in untruths derived from a religion, and who do not confirm those untruths, for these do not occasion any violence. This ‘guard’ is signified by ‘cherubs’, and in the Word is also described by means of them. This guard is signified by the ‘cherubs’ which, after Adam was cast out of the garden of Eden with his wife, were placed at its entrance, concerning which these words are selected:-
When Jehovah God had driven out the man, He made to dwell from the east of the garden of Eden cherubs, and the flame of a sword turning itself from this direction and that, to guard the way of the tree of life Gen. iii 23, 24.
By ‘cherubs’ is signified a guard. By ‘the way of the tree of life’ is signified the entrance to the Lord, which men have by means of the Word. By ‘the flame of a sword turning itself from this direction and that’ is signified Divine Truth in ultimates, which is just like the Word in the sense of the letter, which can be turned in such a manner as has been stated.
[3] A similar thing is signified by the ‘cherubs’ made of gold placed the two extremities of the propitiatory that was above the in the tabernacle (Exod. xxv 18-21); and because this is signified by the ‘cherubs’, therefore Jehovah spoke between them with Moses (Exod. xxv 22; xxx 6; Num. vii 89). Nothing else was signified by the ‘cherubs ‘upon the curtains of the tabernacle and upon the veil there (Exod. xxvi 31); for the curtains and the veils of the tabernacle used to represent the ultimates of heaven and the Church, thus also the ultimates of the Word. Nor was anything else signified by the ‘cherubs’ in the midst of the Jerusalem temple (Templi Hierosolymitani) (1 Kings vi 23-28); and by the ‘cherubs’ carved upon the walls and doors of the temple (1 Kings vi 29, 32, 35); likewise by the ‘cherubs ‘in the new temple (Ezek. xli 18-20).
[4] Since by ‘cherubs’ was signified a guard, so that the Lord, heaven, and the Divine Truths such as is inside the Word, should not be approached immediately but mediately through the ultimates it is therefore said of the king of Tyre:-
Thou, sealing up the measure, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, hast been in the garden of Eden, every precious stone thy covering; thou, O cherub, the out-spreading of him who covers; I have destroyed thee, O covering cherub, in the midst of the stones of fire Ezek. xxviii 12-14, 16.
By ‘Tyre’ the Church is signified as to cognitions of truths and good; and consequently by its king is signified the Word, where and whence are these cognitions. It is plain that here the Word in its ultimate, which is the sense of the letter, is signified by him [the king of Tyre], and a guard by the ‘cherub’, for it is said ‘Thou, sealing up the measure, every precious stone thy covering’ and ‘thou, O cherub, the outspreading of him who covers’. By the ‘precious stones’ which are indeed named there, are signified the truths of the sense of the letter of the Word (n. 231 [AR]).
[5] Since by ‘cherubs’ is signified Divine Truth in ultimates as a guard, it is therefore said in David:-
Shepherd of Israel, Who art seated upon the cherubs, shine forth Ps. lxxx 1 [H.B. 2].
Jehovah sits upon the cherubs Ps. xcix 1.
Jehovah bowed the heavens, and came down, and rode upon the cherubs Ps. xviii 10, 11 [H.B. 9, 10].
‘To ride upon the cherubs’, ‘to be seated’, and ‘to sit upon them’, is [to be] upon the ultimate of the Word. The Divine Truth in the Word, and its quality, is described by the ‘cherubs’ in Ezekiel in the first, ninth, and tenth chapters. But as no one is able to know what is signified by the details of the description of them, except one to whom the spiritual sense has been opened, and as this has been uncovered to me, it will be stated what in the main is signified by all the things that are recorded about the four ‘animals’ or ‘cherubs’ in the first chapter of Ezekiel, which are the following:-
[6] The external Divine sphere of the Word is described (verse 4).
It is represented as a man (verse 5).
The conjunction with things spiritual and celestial (verse 6).
The natural of the Word, what its quality is (verse 7).
The spiritual and celestial of the Word conjoined with the natural, what its quality is (vers. 8, 9).
The Divine love of good and truth, celestial, spiritual, and natural therein, distinctly and together (vers. 10, 11).
That they look to a one (verse 12).
The sphere of the Word out of the Lord’s Divine Good and Divine Truth, as a result of which the Word is alive (vers. 13, 14).
The doctrine of good and truth in the Word and [derived] out of it (vers. 15-21).
The Lord’s Divine above and in it (vers. 22, 23); also [proceeding] out of it (vers. 24, 25).
That the Lord is above the heavens (verse 26).
That Divine Love and Divine Wisdom are His (vers. 27, 28)
These are summaries.*
* SS 97 has ‘These summaries have indeed been compared with the Word in heaven, and are in conformity therewith’.
240. ‘Full of eyes before and behind’ signifies Divine Wisdom therein. By ‘eyes’, when [said] concerning man, the understanding is signified, and when concerning the Lord, the Divine Wisdom (n. 48, 125). In like manner, when [said] concerning the Word, as here, since the Word is from the Lord and concerning the Lord, and so is the Lord. The like is said concerning the cherubs in Ezekiel, that they ‘were full of eyes’ (chap. x 12). [By] ‘before and behind’, when [said] concerning the Word from the Lord, is signified the Divine Wisdom and Divine Love therein.
241. [verse 7] ‘And the first animal was like a lion’ signifies the Divine Truth of the Word as to power. That a ‘lion’ signifies Truth in its own power, here the Divine Truths of the Word as to power, can be established from the power of the lion compared with every animal of the land, also by reason of the lions in the spiritual world, which are images representative of the power of Divine Truth. It can also be established out of the Word, where they signify Divine Truth in its own power. What is the nature of the power of Divine Truth in the Word may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 49), and in the work concerning HEAVEN AND HELL (n. 228-233). This is why Jehovah or the Lord is compared to a ‘lion’ and is also said to be a ‘Lion’ as in the following passages:-
The lion has roared, who should not fear? The Lord Jehovah has spoken, who should not prophesy? Amos iii 8.
I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim, they shall go after Jehovah, He roars like a lion Hos. xi 9, 10.
Like as the lion roars, and the young lion, so shall Jehovah come down to serve [as a soldier] upon mount Zion Isa. xxxi 4.
Behold the Lion has overcome, Who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David Rev. v 5.
Judah is a lion’s whelp, he crouched down, he lay down as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? Gen. xlix 9.
[2] In these places by a ‘lion’ is described the power of the Divine Truth that is from the Lord. ‘To roar’ signifies to speak and act powerfully against the hells desirous of carrying man away. The Lord snatches him out from them as a lion [seizes] its prey. ‘To crouch down ‘is to put oneself into power. ‘Judah’ in the supreme sense signifies the Lord (n. 96, 266).
The angel cried with a loud voice as a lion roars Rev. x 3.
He crouches, he lies down as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? Num. xxiv 9.
Lo! the people is rising up as an old lion, and lifting itself up as a young* lion Num. xxiii 23, 24.
This is [said] of Israel, by whom the Church is signified, its power which is in Divine truths being thus described. In like manner:-
The remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of the peoples, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep** Micah v 7, 8 [H.B. 6, 7].
Besides in many other places, as Isa. xi 6, xxi 6-9, xxxv 9; Jer. ii 15, iv 7, v 6, xii 8, l 17, li 38; Ezek. xix 3, 5, 6; Hos. xiii 7, 8; Joel i 6, 7; Nahum ii 12; Ps. xvii 12, xxii 13 [H.B. 14], lvii 4 [H.B. 5], lviii 6, 7 [H.B. 7, 8], xci 13, civ 21, 22; Deut. xxxiii 20.
* Original Edition has ‘old lion’, apparently an erroneous repetition of the previous phrase. AV and AE 278:3 have ‘young lion’.
** Original Edition has ‘the peoples’ but Hebrew has ‘sheep’. So has AE 278:5.
242. ‘And the second animal like a calf’ signifies the Divine Truth of the Word as to affection. By the beasts of the land the various natural affections are signified, and indeed exist; and by a ‘calf’ is signified the affection of knowing. In the spiritual world this affection is represented by a calf, and therefore it is also signified by a ‘calf’ in the Word, as in Hosea:-
We will repay to Jehovah the calves of our lips Hos. xiv 2 [H.B. 3].
‘Calves of the lips’ are confessions resulting from the affection of truth. In Malachi:-
The sun of justice shall arise unto you who fear My Name, and healing in the wings, so that you may grow like fatted calves Mal. iv 2 [H.B. iii 20].
A comparison is made with fatted calves, because by them are signified those who are filled with cognitions of truth and good resulting from the affection of knowing them. In David:-
The voice of Jehovah makes the cedars of Lebanon to skip like a calf Ps. xxix 6.
By ‘cedars of Lebanon’ the cognitions of truth are signified. It is consequently said that ‘the voice of Jehovah makes them to skip like a calf’. The ‘voice of Jehovah’ is Divine Truth, here affecting [them].
[2] Since the Egyptians loved knowledges, they therefore made calves for themselves as a sign of the affection thereof; but after they began to worship the calves as gods, then by ‘calves’ in the Word are signified the affections of knowing untruths, as in Jer. xlvi 20, 21; Ps. lxviii 30 [H.B. 31], and elsewhere. A similar thing is therefore signified by the ‘calf’ that the Sons of Israel made for themselves in the wilderness (Exod. xxxii), likewise by the ‘calves’ of Samaria (1 Kings xii 28-32; Hos. viii 5, 6; x 5). Therefore it is said in Hosea:-
They are making a molten thing for themselves out of silver, they are sacrificing a man, they are kissing calves Hos. xiii 2.
To ‘make a molten thing for themselves out of silver’ signifies to falsify truth, to ‘sacrifice a man’ signifies to destroy wisdom, and to ‘kiss calves’ signifies out of affection to acknowledge untruths. In Isaiah:-
There shall the calf feed, there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof Isa. xxvii 10.
A similar thing is signified by ‘calf’ [in] Jeremiah xxxiv 18-20. [3] Since all Divine worship is derived from affections of truth and good and the cognitions therefrom, therefore the sacrifices, in which the worship of the Church among the sons of Israel used chiefly to consist, were made of various beasts, as of lambs, she-goats, kids, sheep, he-goats, calves, oxen; and [they were made] of ‘calves’, because they used to signify the affection of knowing truths and goods, which is the first natural affection. This was signified by ‘sacrifices of calves’ (Exod. xxix 11, 12; Lev. iv 3, 13 seq., viii 14 seq., ix 2, xvi 3, xxiii 18; Num. viii 8 seq., xv 24, xxviii 19, 20; Jud. vi 25-29; 1 Sam. i 25, xvi 2; 1 Kings xviii 23-26, 33.) The second animal was seen like a ‘calf’, because the Divine Truth of the Word, which is signified thereby, affects minds (animus), and so instructs and imbues.
243. ‘And the third animal having a face as a man’ signifies the Divine Truth of the Word as to wisdom. By ‘a man’ in the Word is signified wisdom, because he is born to receive wisdom from the Lord and become an angel. Consequently in so far as anyone is wise, so far he is a man. Truly human wisdom is to discern that God exists, what God is, and what relates to God. The Divine Truth of the Word teaches this. That wisdom is signified by ‘a man’ is plain from these places:-
I will render a man (vir homo) scarcer than pure gold, and a man (homo) than the gold of Ophir Isa. xiii 12.
‘A man’ (vir homo) is intelligence, and ‘a man’ (homo) is wisdom.
The inhabitants of the land shall be burned, and the remnant shall be a scarce man Isa. xxiv 6.
I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast Jer. xxxi 27.
You My flock, you are man, I am your God Ezek. xxxiv 31.
The devastated cities shall be full with the flock of man Ezek. xxxvi 38.
I beheld the land, when lo it was vacant and empty, and towards the heavens and they had no light; I beheld, when In there was no man Jer. iv 23, 25.
They are sacrificing a man, they are kissing calves Hos. xiii 2.
He measured the wall of the holy Jerusalem 144 cubits, the measure of a man, that is, of an angel Rev. xxi 17.
Besides in many other places, in which by ‘a man’ is signified one who is wise, and in the abstract sense wisdom.
244. ‘And the fourth animal was like a flying eagle’ signifies the Divine Truth of the Word as to cognitions and the resulting understanding. By ‘eagles’ various things are signified, and by ‘flying eagles’ are signified the cognitions out of whirls understanding [is derived], because when they are flying they are recognising and seeing. They have sharp eyes also for penetrating vision (ut perspiciant), and by ‘eyes’ understanding is signified (n. 48, 214). By ‘flying’ is signified comprehending and instructing, and in the highest sense, in which the Lord is treated of, looking forward and providing. That ‘eagles’ in the Word signify such things is plain from these places:-
Those awaiting Jehovah are renewed in strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles Isa. xl 31.
‘To mount up with wings as eagles’ is to be elevated into cognitions of truth and good, and thereby into intelligence.
Is it by thine intelligence and according to thy mouth that the eagle lifts itself and searches out food; its eyes look out into the distance Job xxxix 26 [, 27, 29].
The faculty of recognising, understanding, and looking out is here described by the ‘eagle’, and that this is not done out of one’s own intelligence.
Jehovah Who fills thy mouth with good, so that thou mayest be renewed in thy youth like the eagle Ps. ciii 5.
‘To fill the mouth with good’ is to give understanding by means of cognitions. From this a comparison is made with the eagle.
A great eagle, with great wings, long-feathered, came upon Lebanon, and took to itself a twig of a cedar, and planted it in a field of growing crops, and it sprouted. And there was another great eagle, to which a vine applied its roots Ezek. xvii 1-8.
By the two ‘eagles’ is there described the Jewish and the Israelitish Churches, both of them in respect of cognitions of truths and intelligence therefrom. But ‘eagles’ in the opposite sense signify cognitions of what is untrue, in consequence of which the understanding is perverted (as Matt. xxiv 28; Jer. iv 53; Hab. i 8, 9; and elsewhere).
245. [verse 8] ‘And the four animals, each separately, had six wings round about’ signifies the Word as to power and as to its guards. That by ‘the four animals’ the Word is signified, has been shown above; that by ‘wings ‘are signified powers, and also guards, will be seen below. By ‘six’ is signified all as to truth and good, for six comes into existence out of 3 and 2 multiplied together, and by ‘three’ is signified all as to truths (n. 505), and by ‘two’ all as to good (n. 762). Powers are signified by the ‘wings’, because by means of them [birds] raise themselves upwards, and wings with birds are in place of arms with a man, and by ‘arms’ powers are signified. Since powers are signified by the ‘wings’, and each animal had six wings, it is plain from the things said above what kind of power is signified by the ‘wings’ of each, namely, that by the ‘wings of a lion’ is signified the power of fighting against evils and untruths out of hell. This is the power of the Divine Truth of the Word from the Lord. [It is plain also] that by the ‘wings of a calf’ is signified the power of affecting the mind (animus), for the Divine Truth of the Word affects those who read it in a holy manner (sancte); that by the ‘six wings of a man’ is signified the power of discerning what God is, and what is of God, for this is properly man’s in reading the Word, and that by the ‘wings of an eagle’ is signified the power of recognising what is true and good, and thus of furnishing oneself with intelligence.
[2] Concerning the wings of the cherubs [we] read in Ezekiel that:-
The wings were kissing each other, and were also covering their bodies, and the likeness of hands was under them Ezek. i 23, 24; iii 13; x 5, 21.
By ‘kissing each other’ is signified conjoint and unanimous action; by ‘covering the bodies’ is signified guarding lest the interior truths that are of the spiritual sense of the Word should be violated; and by ‘hands under the wings’ are signified powers. Concerning the ‘seraphs’ it is also said that:-
They had six wings, with two of which they were covering the face, with two the feet, and with two they were flying Isa. vi 2.
By ‘seraphs’ in like manner is signified the Word, properly doctrine out of the Word, and by the ‘wings with which they were covering faces and feet’ guards likewise are signified, and by the ‘wings with which they were flying’ powers, as above. That by ‘flying’ is signified to perceive and instruct, and in the highest sense to look out and provide, is established also from these passages:-
God rode upon a cherub, He did fly, He sailed upon the wings of the wind Ps. xviii 10 [H.B. 11]; 2 Sam. xxii 11.
I saw an angel flying through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel Rev. xiv 6.
That guards are signified by ‘wings’ is plain from these passages:-
Jehovah shall cover thee under His wing Ps. xci 4.
To be hid under the shadow of God’s wings Ps. xvii 8.
To put trust in the shadow of His wings Ps. xxxvi 7 [H.B. 8], lvii 1 [H.B. 2], lxiii 7 [H.B. 8].
I stretched out a wing over thee, and covered thy nakedness Ezek. xvi 8.
Unto you shall be healing in His wings Mal. iv 2 [H.B. iii 20].
As an eagle stirs up her nest, flutters over her young, spreads abroad her wings, bears them on her wings, so Jehovah leads him Deut. xxxii 10-12.
Jesus said:-
O Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen [gathers] her chickens under her wings Matt. xxiii 37; Luke xiii 34.
246. ‘And within they were full of eyes’ signifies the Divine Wisdom in the Word in the natural sense out of its spiritual and celestial sense. That by the ‘animals full of eyes before and behind’ is signified the Divine Wisdom in the Word may be seen above (n. 240); and in like manner here by [the statement] that the wings were ‘full of eyes’. Because also the Divine Wisdom of the Word in the natural sense results from the spiritual and celestial sense that lies hidden within, it is therefore said that ‘within they were full of eyes’. Concerning the spiritual and celestial senses that are within the details of the Word, THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 5-26) may be seen.
247. And had no rest day and night, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty’ signifies that the Word is continually teaching [the doctrine of] the Lord, and that He Only is God, and consequently that He Only is to be worshipped. That the animals ‘had no rest day and night’ signifies that the Word is teaching continually and without intermission, and that it is teaching what the animals say. [The words] are ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty’ that is, that the Lord Only is God, and consequently that He Only is to be worshipped. ‘Holy’ thrice mentioned signifies this, for the triplication involves all the ‘holy’ in Him Only. That the Divine Trinity is in the Lord has been fully shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD, as also that the Word treats of the Only Lord, and that its sanctity is therefrom. That the Lord Only is holy may be seen above (n. 173).
248. ‘Who was and Who is and Who is to come’ signifies the Lord. That it is the Lord is quite plain in the First Chapter, verses 4, 8, 11, 17, where it treats of the Son of Man, Who is the Lord as to the Word; and there it says openly that HE IS ALPHA AND OMEGA, THE BEGINNING AND THE ENDING THE FIRST AND THE LAST, WHO IS, AND WHO WAS, AND WHO IS TO COME, AND THE ALMIGHTY. But what is signified by those words has been expounded (n. 13, 29, 30, 31, 38, 57). Here now [is expounded] that the Lord is understood by ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and Who is and Who is to come.
249. [verse 9] ‘And when the animals had given glory and honour and thanks to the One sitting upon the throne’ signifies that the Word awards all truth and all good and all worship to the Lord about to judge. The ‘animals’ are the Word, as has been shown; ‘glory and honour’, when said of the Lord, are [equivalent to saying] that all truths and good are of and from Him; the giving of ‘thanks’ is all worship; the ‘One sitting upon the throne’ is the Lord as to judgment, as above. It is plain from this that by ‘when the animals had given glory and honour and thanks to the One sitting upon the throne’ is signified that the Word awards all truth and all good and all worship to the Lord about to judge. By ‘giving the Lord glory and honour’ nothing else is understood in the Word than to acknowledge and confess that all truths and all good is from Him, thus that He Only is God, for ‘glory’ is His out of Divine Truths, and ‘honour’ out of Divine Good.
[2] These things are signified by ‘glory and honour’ in the following places:-
Jehovah made the heavens, glory and honour [are] before Him Ps. xcvi 5, 6.
Jehovah God. [Thou hast been] very great, Thou hast put on glory and honor Ps. civ 1.
The works of Jehovah are great. His work is glory and honour Ps. cxi 2, 3.
Glory and honour Thou layest upon Him, blessings for ever Ps. xxi 5, 6 [H.B. 6, 7]-[said] of the Lord.
Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O Mighty in glory and honour, in Thine honour mount up, ride upon the Word of the truth (veritas) Ps. xlv 3, 4 [H.B. 4. 5].
Thou hast made him to lack very little compared with angels, Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor Ps. viii 5 [H.B. 6].
The glory of Lebanon has been given to Him, the honour of Carmel and Sharon: they shall see the glory of Jehovah, and the honour of our God Is. xxxv 1, 2.
All these things (haec et illa) [are said] of the Lord; besides elsewhere, as Ps. cxlv 4, 5, 12; Rev. xxi 24, 26. Moreover, ‘glory’ is said in the Word where it treats of Divine Truth (n. 629) and ‘honour’ is said where it treats of Divine Good.
250. That ‘To Him living for ages of ages’ signifies the Lord, that He Only has life, and eternal life is from Him Only may be seen above (n. 58, 60).
251. [verse 10] ‘The twenty-four elders were falling prostrate before the One sitting upon the throne, and adoring the One living for ages of ages’ signifies the humbling of all in heaven before the Lord. That by ‘the twenty-four elders’ are understood all who belong to the Lord’s Church may be seen above (n. 233), here all who belong to the Church in heaven. The ‘elders’ as heads were representing all. That it is a humbling before the Lord, and adoration as a result of the humbling, is plain without an exposition.
252. ‘And were casting their crowns away before the throne’ signifies the recognition that their wisdom is from Him Only. That a ‘crown’ signifies wisdom may be seen above (n. 189, 235). Consequently, by ‘casting the crowns away before the throne’ is signified the recognition that wisdom is not theirs, but the Lord’s with them.
253. [verse 11] ‘Saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to take to Thyself glory and honour and power’ signifies the confession that the Lord, because He is Divine Truth and Divine Good, has the kingdom by virtue of merit and justice. ‘Confession’ is signified by ‘saying’; that it is ‘by virtue of merit and justice’ is signified by ‘Thou art worthy, O Lord’; that He is Divine Truth and Divine Good is signified by ‘glory and honour’, as above (n. 249); that He has the kingdom is signified by ‘take to Thyself power’. Accordingly, these things gathered together into one meaning signify the confession that the Lord, because He is Divine Truths and Divine Good, has the kingdom by virtue of merit and justice.
254. ‘For Thou hast created all things, and by Thy will they exist and have been created’ signifies that all things of heaven and the Church have been made and formed, and that [men] are reformed and regenerated, out of Divine Good by means of the Divine Truth that is also the Word. This is the spiritual sense of these words, because by ‘to create’ is signified to reform and regenerate by means of Divine Truth, and by ‘the Lord’s will’ is signified Divine Good. Whether ‘Divine Good and Divine Truth’ is said, or ‘Divine Love and Divine Wisdom’, it is the same, because all good is of love and all truth is of wisdom. That all things of heaven and the Church exist out of Divine Love and Wisdom, indeed, that the world has been created out of them, has been abundantly shown in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM also that love and good is of the will, while wisdom and truth is of the understanding. From this it is plain that by ‘the Lord’s will’ is understood His Divine Good or Divine Love.
[2] That ‘to create’ in the Word signifies to reform and regenerate, is plain from these places:-
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit in the midst of me Ps. li 10 [H.B. 12].
Thou openest Thine hand, they are filled with good, Thou sendest forth Thy spirit, they are created Ps. civ 28, 30.
The people that shall be created shall praise Jah Ps. cii 18 [H.B. 19].
Behold, I create a new heaven and a new land, rejoice for ever in that which I am creating: behold, I am going to create Jerusalem an exultation Isa. lxv 17, 18.
Jehovah creating the heavens, stretching out the land, giving soul to the people upon it, and spirit to those walking therein Isa. xlii 5, xlv 12, 18.
Thus has Jehovah said, thy Creator, O Jacob, thy Former, O Israel, I have redeemed thee, I have called thee with My Name; everyone called by My Name, in My glory I have created him Isa. xliii 1, 7.
In the day that thou wast created, they were prepared; thou wast perfect in thy ways in the day that thou wast created, until perversity was found in thee Ezek. xxviii 13, 15.
These things are concerning the king of Tyre, by whom those are signified who by means of Divine Truth are in intelligence.
That they may see, recognise, pay attention to, and understand, that the hand of Jehovah has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created this Isa. xli 19, 20.
* * * * *
255. To these things I will add this MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE. Lest anyone should enter into the spiritual sense of the Word and pervert the genuine truths pertaining to that sense, guards have been placed by the Lord, and these are understood by the cherubs, which here are the ‘four animals’. The fact that guards have been placed has been represented to me in this manner:-
[2] It was granted to see large purses appearing like sacks, in which silver was stowed away in great abundance; and as they had been opened, it seemed as if any one was able to take out the silver stored there, even to snatch it away. But close by the purses were sitting two angels, who were guards. The place where they had been stored appeared like a manger in a stable. In the next compartment modest virgins were seen with a chaste wife, and near that compartment two little children were standing, and it was said that they were to be played with, not childishly but wisely. Also afterwards a harlot appeared, then a horse lying dead. [3] When I had seen these things, I was instructed that by means of them was represented the sense of the letter of the Word, in which is the spiritual sense. The large purses filled with silver signified cognitions of truth and good in great abundance. The fact that they had been opened and yet were guarded by the angels signified that every one was able to take the cognitions therefrom for himself, but that care is taken lest any one should falsify the spiritual sense, in which naked truths (veritas) are. The manger in the stable, in which the purses were lying, signified spiritual instruction for the understanding. A manger signifies this, so does the manger in which the infant Lord lay, because the horse that eats therefrom signifies the understanding of the Word. [4] The modest virgins who were seen in the next compartment signified affections of truth, and the chaste wife the conjunction of good and truth. The little children signified the innocence of the wisdom in the Word. They were angels out of the third heaven, who all appear as little children. The harlot with the dead horse signified the falsification of the Word by many at this day, whereby all understanding of truth is perishing. A harlot signifies falsification, and a dead horse no understanding of truth.
[5] It was given [me] to speak with many after death who believed they were going to shine in heaven like stars, because, as they said, they held the Word to be holy, read it through very often, gathered many things therefrom by which they confirmed the dogmas of their faith, and on this account were celebrated in the world as learned men, as a result of which they believed that they were going to be Michaels and Raphaels. But many of them were examined as to the love out of which they studied the Word, and it was found that some [did so] out of the love of self so that they might appear great in the world and he worshipped as primates of the Church, but others [did so] out of the love of the world in order to gain wealth. When these were examined as to what they knew of the Word, it was discovered that they knew nothing therefrom of genuine truth, but only such truth as is called falsified, which in itself is untrue, and this in the spiritual world stinks in the nostrils of the angels. And it was told them that this [condition] was theirs on account of themselves and the world being their ends, or, what is the same, their loves, and not the Lord and heaven. And when their ends are themselves and the world, then, while they are reading the Word, their mind is fixed upon themselves and the world, and consequently they are always thinking out of their own proprium, and this is in thick darkness as to all the things that are of heaven. In this state a man cannot be withdrawn from his own light (ex lumine proprio), and so be elevated into the light (lux) of heaven, nor is he able thence to receive any influx from the Lord through heaven. [6] I also saw these persons admitted into heaven, and when they were found to be without truths they were stripped of their garments and appeared in a shameful condition (in pudendis); and those who falsified truths were cast out, because they stank, but there still remained with them pride and confidence that they were deserving. It happened otherwise with those who studied the Word out of the affection of knowing the truth because it is true, and because it is serviceable for the uses of a spiritual life, not only their own, but their neighbour’s also. I saw these raised up into heaven, and so into the light in which the Word there is, and at the same time exalted into angelic wisdom, and its happiness, which is eternal life.
1. And I saw in the right hand of the One Sitting upon the throne a book written on the inside and on the back (a tergo), sealed with seven seals.
2. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a great voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
3. And in one in heaven, nor upon the land, nor yet under the land, was able to open the book, and to look into it.
4. And I was weeping much, because no one was found to open and to read the book, and to look into it.
5. And one of the elders says unto me, Do not weep; behold the Lion has prevailed, Who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof.
6. And I saw, and behold in the midst of the throne, and of the four animals, and in the midst of the elders a LAMB standing as if slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into every land.
7. And He came and took the book out of the right hand of the One sitting upon the throne.
8. And when He had taken the book, the four animals and the twenty-four elders fell prostrate before the LAMB, each one of them having harps, and golden phials full of incense-offerings, which are the prayers of the saints.
9. And they were singing a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof, because Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to GOD in Thy blood, out of every tribe and tongue, and people and nation.
10. And Thou hast made us to our GOD kings and priests, and we shall reign over the land.
11. And I saw and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and the animals, and the elders, and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands.
12. Saying with a great voice, Worthy is the slain LAMB to take power, and riches, and wisdom, and honour and glory, and blessing.
13. And every created thing that is in heaven and in the land, and under the land, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, To the One sitting upon the throne and to the Lamb, blessing and honour and glory and strength for ages of ages.
14. And the four animals were saying, Amen; and the twenty-four elders fell prostrate and adored the One living for ages of ages.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
That the Lord in the Divine Human is going to make a judgment out of the Word and in accordance therewith, because He is the Word; and that this is acknowledged by all in the three heavens.
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. And I saw in the right hand of the One sitting upon the throne a book written on the inside and on the back (a tergo)
signifies the Lord as to His Divine Itself from eternity, Who has Omnipotence and Omniscience, and Who is the Word.
Sealed with seven seals
signifies this altogether hidden away from angel and man.
2. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a great voice
signifies Divine Truth from the Lord inflowing inwardly with angels and men.
Who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof?
signifies Who is in the power of getting to know the states of life of all in the heavens and on earth (in terris), and of judging each one in accordance with his own [state]?
3. And no one in heaven, nor upon the land, nor yet under the land, was able
signifies that none in the higher heavens and in the lower heavens was able.
To open the book
signifies to get to know the states of life of all, and to judge each one in accordance with his own [state].
Nor to look into it
signifies not at all.
4. And I was weeping much, because no one [worthy] was found to open the book, nor to look into it
signifies grief of heart because if there should not be anyone able [to do this] all would perish.
5. And one of the elders says unto me, Do not weep
signifies consolation.
Behold, the Lion has overcome, Who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David
signifies the Lord, that out of His own power He subjugated the hells, and brought all things back into order when He was in the world, by means of Divine Good united with Divine Truth in His Human.
To open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
signifies here as before.
6. And I saw, and behold in the midst of the throne, and of the four animals, and in the midst of the elders
signifies from the inmosts, and thence in all things of heaven, of the Word, and of the Church.
A Lamb standing as if slain
signifies the Lord as to the Human not acknowledged in the Church to be Divine.
Having seven horns
signifies His Omnipotence.
And seven eyes
signifies His Omniscience and Divine Wisdom.
Which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into every land
signifies that out of that [Divine Wisdom] there is Divine Truth throughout all the lands where there is religion.
7. And He came and took the book out of the right hand of the One sitting upon the throne
signifies that the Lord as to His Divine Human is the Word, and that He is this out of His Divine in Itself, and that therefore He is going to effect the judgment out of the Divine Human.
8. And when He had taken the book
signifies when the Lord set about making the judgment, and bringing all things in the heavens and upon earth back into order by means of it.
The four animals and the twenty-four elders fell prostrate before the Lamb
signifies a humbling, and the adoration of the Lord out of the higher heavens.
Each one of them having harps
signifies the confession of the Lord’s Divine Human out of spiritual truths.
And golden phials full of incense-offerings
signifies the confession of the Lord’s Divine Human out of spiritual goods.
Which are the prayers of the saints
signifies the thoughts that are of faith derived from the affections that are of charity with those who worship the Lord out of spiritual goods and truths.
9. And they were singing a new song
signifies an acknowledgment and glorification of the Lord, because He Only is the Judge, Redeemer, and Saviour thus the God of heaven and earth.
Saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof
signifies here as before.
Because Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God in Thy blood
signifies liberation from hell, and salvation by means of conjunction with Himself.
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation
signifies that those who, in the Church or any religion, are in truths as to doctrine and in goods as to life, have been redeemed by the Lord.
10. And Thou hast made us to our God kings and priests
signifies that from the Lord they are in wisdom out of Divine truths, and in love out of Divine goods.
And we shall reign over the land
signifies that they will be in His kingdom, He in them and they in Him.
11.
And I saw and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and the animals and the elders
signifies a confession and glorification of the Lord by the angels of the lower heavens.
[And the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands
signifies all in truths and in goods.]
12. Saying with a great voice, Worthy is the slain Lamb to take power and riches and wisdom and honour and glory
signifies confession out of the heart, that the Lord as to the Divine Human has Omnipotence, Omniscience, Divine Good and Divine Truth.
And blessing
signifies all these in Him, and from Him in those [angels].
13. And every created thing that is in heaven and in the land, and under the land, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying
signifies a confession and glorification of the Lord by the angels of the lowest heavens.
To the One sitting upon the throne and to the Lamb, blessing and honour and glory and strength for ages of ages
signifies that in the Lord from eternity, and consequently in His Divine Human, is everything of heaven and the Church, Divine Good and Divine Truth, and Divine Power, and from Him in those [who are in heaven and the Church].
14. And the four animals were saying, Amen
signifies Divine confirmation out of the Word.
And the twenty-four elders fell prostrate and adored the One living for ages of ages
signifies a humbling before the Lord, and as a result of the humbling the adoration by all the heavens, of Him from Whom and in Whom is eternal life.
THE EXPOSITION
[verse 1] ‘And I saw in the right hand of the One sitting upon the throne a book written on the inside and on the back (a tergo)’ signifies the Lord as to His Divine Itself from eternity, Who has Omnipotence and Omniscience, and Who is the Word, Who also of Himself (ex Se ipso) has knowledge of the states of life of all in the heavens and on earth (in lerris), in everything particular and in everything general. By ‘the One sitting upon the throne’ is understood the Lord as to the Divine Itself, out of which is His Human, for it follows on (verse 7) that ‘the Lamb took the book out of the right hand of the One sitting upon the throne’; and by ‘the Lamb’ is understood the Lord as to the Divine Human. By ‘a book written on the inside and on the back’ is understood the Word in everything particular and in everything general; by ‘on the inside’ in everything particular, and by ‘on the back’ in everything general. By ‘on the inside and on the back’ is understood also the Word’s interior sense which is spiritual, and its exterior sense, which is natural. By the right hand’ is understood Himself as to Omnipotence and Omniscience, because it treats of the examination of all, in the heavens and on earth (in terris), upon whom there will be a last judgment, and of their separation. The Lord as the Word from Himself (a Se Ipso) knows the states of all in the heavens and on earth, because He is Divine Truth Itself, and Divine Truth Itself has knowledge of all things of Itself (ex Se ipso). But this is an arcanum which has been uncovered in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM. That the Lord as to the Divine Itself from eternity was the Word, that is, Divine Truth, is plain from these [words] in John:-
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God John ii;
also that the Lord was made the Word even as to His Human in the same:-
And the Word was made flesh John i 14.
From this it can be established what is understood by [the statement] that the book was ‘in the right hand of the One sitting upon the throne’, and that the Lamb ‘took the book’ therefrom (verse 7).
[2] Since the Lord is the Word, and the Word is Divine Truth, which in general makes heaven and the Church, and in particular makes an angel so that heaven may be in him, and a man so that the Church may be in him; and because the Word is here understood by ‘the book’ out of which and in accordance with which all are to be judged, it is therefore said in different places ‘to be written in the book’, ‘to be judged out of the book’, ‘to be blotted out of the book’, where it treats of anyone’s eternal life; as in these places:-
The Ancient of days did sit in judgment, and the books were opened Dan. vii 9, 10.
Every people shall be delivered that shall be found written in the book Dan. xii
My bone was not hid from Thee; upon Thy book all the days have been written, and not one of them is missing Ps. cxxxix 15, 16.
Moses said, Blot me, I pray Thee, out of the book which Thou hast written, and Jehovah said, Him who has sinned against Me, will I blot out of the book Exod. xxxii 32, 33.
Let them be blotted out of the book of life, and not be written with the just Ps. lxix 28.
I saw that the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is of life, and the dead were judged according to the things that were written in the book according to their works, and if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast out into the lake of fire Rev. xx 12-15.
None shall enter into the New Jerusalem, unless they are written in the Lamb’s book of life Rev. xxi 27 [Schm. 26].
All shall adore the beast, whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life Rev. xiii 8; xvii 8.
That by ‘the book ‘is understood the Word [may be seen] in David:-
In the roll of the book it has been written of Me Ps. xl 7 [H.B. 8].
And in Ezekiel:-
I saw and behold a hand sent forth unto me, and in it the roll of a book written on the front and the back Ezek. ii 9, 10.
The book of the words of Isaiah Luke iii 4.
The book of Psalms Luke xx 42.
257. Sealed with seven seals’ signifies this altogether hidden away from angel and man. That ‘sealed with a seal’ signifies what is hidden away is plain. Consequently ‘sealed with seven seals’ signifies what is altogether hidden away, for ‘seven’ signifies all (n. 10), thus also altogether. That it is altogether hidden away from angel and man is said soon afterwards in these words:-
And no one in heaven, nor upon the land, nor yet under the land, was able to open and to read the book, nor to look into it (vers. 3, 4).
Such is the Word to all to whom the Lamb, that is, the Lord does not open it. Here, because it treats of the examination of all before the last judgment, the states of life of all in general and particular, which are altogether hidden away, are referred to.
258. [verse 2] ‘And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a great voice’ signifies Divine Truth from the Lord inflowing inwardly into the thought of angels and men, and investigation. By ‘an angel proclaiming’ the Lord is understood in the spiritual sense, because an angel does not proclaim and teach from himself but from the Lord, but still as if from himself. ‘Strong angel’ is said because it is with power, and what is proclaimed with power inflows inwardly into the thought. ‘A great voice’ signifies Divine Truth from the Lord in power or vigour. It also signifies investigation, because he asks, ‘Who is worthy to open the book?’, as now follows.
259. Who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof?’ signifies Who is in the power of getting to know the states of life of all in the heavens and on earth (in terris), and of judging each one in accordance with his own [state]? ‘Who is worthy?’ signifies who is able or who is in the power? ‘To open the book and to loose the seals thereof’ here signifies to get to know the states of life of all in the heavens and on earth, and also to judge each one in accordance with his own state, for when the book is opened there is an inquiry regarding their quality, and then the sentence or judgment, comparatively as a judge gives judgment (agit) with and out of a book of law. That by ‘to open the book’ is signified an inquiry regarding the quality of the states of life with all and with each one is plain from the following chapter, where what was seen when the Lamb opened the seven seals thereof in their order is described.
260. [verse 3] ‘And no one in heaven, nor upon the land nor yet under the land’ signifies that none in the higher heavens and in the lower heavens was able. By ‘in heaven, upon the land, and under the land’ is understood in the higher and lower heavens, as also below (verse 13) where there are these [words]:-
And every created thing that is in heaven, in the land, and under the hand, and such as are in the sea, and all [that are] in them, heard I saying.
Since he heard all those (hos et illos) ‘saying’, it is plain that they were angels and spirits who were speaking. Indeed John was in the spirit, as he himself says in the preceding chapter (iv 2), and in this state no land appeared to him other than the land of the spiritual world; for there are lands there just as in the natural world, as can be established from the description of that world in the work Concerning HEAVEN AND HELL, as well as in the CONTINUATION [CONCERNING THE LAST JUDGMENT AND] CONCERNING THE SPIRITUAL WORLD (n. 32-38). There, the higher heavens appear upon mountains and hills, the lower heavens upon the lands below, and the ultimate heavens as it were under the lands; for the heavens are expanses, one above the other, and each expanse is as the land under the feet of those who are there. The highest expanse is like a mountain top; the next expanse is below it, but extending itself more widely on all sides round about; while the lowest expanse extends itself still more widely, and because this is below that [middle expanse], those there are ‘under the land’. The three heavens also appear in this manner to the angels who are in the higher heavens, because to them two [heavens] appear below them. They therefore appeared in like manner to John, since he was with them, for he had gone up to them, as is plain from chapter iv 1, where it is said, ‘Come up hither, and I will show thee the things which must come to pass hereafter’. He who knows nothing about the spiritual world and the lands there is quite unable to know what is understood by ‘under the land’, likewise by ‘lower lands’ in the Word, as in Isaiah:-
Sing, O heavens; shout for joy, O lower lands; resound with a song, O mountains; for Jehovah has redeemed Jacob Isa. xliv 23;
and elsewhere. Who does not see that the lands of the spiritual world are understood there, for no one dwells under the lands in the natural world?
262. ‘Nor to look into it’ signifies not at all. Since by ‘to open the book’ is signified to get to know the states of life of all, by ‘to look into it’ is signified to see the quality of the states of life of this person and that; and therefore by ‘no one being able to open the book nor to look into it’ is signified that it is not at all possible. For the Only Lord sees anyone’s state from inmosts to outmosts, as well as what a man has been from infancy onwards to old age, and what he is going to be to eternity, as also what place will be obtained in heaven or in hell, and the Lord sees this in an instant, and of Himself, because He is Divine Truth Itself or the Word. Angels and men, however, do not see this at all, because they are finite, and the finite see only a few external things, and these they do not see from themselves but from the Lord.
263. [verse 4] ‘And I was weeping much because no one [worthy] was found to open and read the book, nor to look into it’ signifies grief of heart, because if there should not be any one able [to do this] all would perish. That ‘to weep much’ is to grieve at heart is plain. The reason why he was grieving at heart was because otherwise all would be about to perish; for if all things in the heavens and on earth (in terris) were not brought back into order, it could not [happen] otherwise; for in the Apocalypse it treats of the last state of the Church, when its end occurs, the nature of which is described by the Lord in these words:-
There shall be such a great affliction as has not been from the beginning of the world up till now, nor shall be; wherefore except those days should be shortened, no flesh would be preserved Matt. xxiv 21, 22.
These things are concerned with the last time of the Church when the judgment occurs. [2] That such is the state of the Church at this day can be recognised on account of these considerations only; that in the greatest part of Christendom are persons who have transferred the Lord’s Divine power to themselves and want to be worshipped as gods, and who invoke dead men and scarcely anyone there invokes the Lord; and that the rest belonging to the Church make God three, and the Lord two, and place salvation not in amendment of life but in certain words uttered with a devout tone of voice; thus not in repentance but in the confidence that they are justified and sanctified if they only fold their hands and look upwards and pray in the established mode.
264. [verse 5] That ‘And one of the elders says unto me, Do not weep’ signifies consolation is plain.
265. ‘Behold the Lion has prevailed’ signifies the Lord, that out of His own power He subjugated the hells, and brought all things back into order when He was in the world. That a ‘lion’ signifies the Divine Truth of the Word as to power maybe seen above (n. 24t); and since the Lord is Divine Truth Itself or the Word, therefore He is called ‘the Lion’. That the Lord, when He was in the world, subjugated the hells and brought all things in the heavens back into order, and also glorified His Human, may be seen above (n. 67); and how [this was done], in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 12-14). It is consequently plain what is understood by ‘the Lion has prevailed’.
266. ‘Who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David’ signifies by means of Divine Good united with Divine Truth in His Human. By ‘Judah ‘in the Word is understood a Church that is in the good of love directed to the Lord, and in the supreme sense the Lord as to the Divine Good of Divine Love, and by ‘David ‘is understood the Lord as to the Divine Truth of Divine Wisdom. That this is understood by ‘David ‘may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 43, 44); and that the former is understood by ‘Judah’ may be seen (n. 96, 350). In consequence of these things it is plain that by ‘Behold the Lion has overcome Who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David’ is signified that the Lord overcame the hells and brought all things back into order by means of Divine Good united with Divine Truth in His Human. That this is the sense of those words cannot be seen in the sense of the letter, but only that it is He Himself Who was born in the world of the tribe of Judah and of the lineage of David. Nevertheless these same words contain in themselves a spiritual sense in which things are understood by means of the names of persons, as has been said here and there above; thus, by ‘Judah’ is not understood Judah, nor David by ‘David’, but by ‘Judah’ the Lord as to Divine Good, and by ‘David’ the Lord as to Divine Truth. That [spiritual] sense results as a consequence of this. That sense is set out here, because the Apocalypse as to its spiritual sense is now being opened.
267. ‘To open the book, and to loose the seals thereof’ signifies to get to know the states of life of all in the heavens and on earth (in terris), and to judge each one in accordance with his own [state], as above (n. 258, 259).
268. [verse 6] ‘And I saw, and behold in the midst of the throne, and of the four animals, and in the midst of the elders’ signifies from the inmosts, and thence in all the things of heaven, of the Word, and of the Church. ‘In the midst’ signifies in the inmosts, and thence in all things (n. 44); ‘the throne’ signifies heaven (n. 14); ‘the four animals’ or cherubs signify the Word (n. 239); and the twenty-four ‘elders’ signify the Church as to all things thereof (n. 233, 251). It follows in consequence of these things that by ‘in the midst of the throne, and of the four animals, and in the midst of the elders’ is signified from the inmosts in all the things of heaven, of the Word, and of the Church.
269. ‘A Lamb standing as if slain’ signifies the Lord as to the Human not acknowledged in the Church to be Divine. By the ‘Lamb’ in the Apocalypse is understood the Lord as to the Divine Human, and by ‘a Lamb slain’ that His Human has not been acknowledged in the Church to be Divine; in like manner as [in] chapter i verse 18, where it is said, ‘I was put to death, and behold I am the Living One for ages of ages’, by which is understood that the Lord has been disregarded in the Church, and His Human not acknowledged to be Divine (n. 59). That this is the case may be seen below (n. 294). Since, therefore, the Lord as to the Divine Human is understood by the ‘Lamb’, and it is said of Him that He took the book out of the right hand of the One sitting upon the throne, and afterwards that he opened it and loosed the seven seals thereof, and since no mortal (nemo mortalium) was able [to do this], but God Only, it follows that by ‘a Lamb ‘is understood the Lord as to the Divine Human, and by ‘slain’ that He is not acknowledged to be God as to His Human.
270. ‘Having seven horns’ signifies His Omnipotence. Frequently in the Word there is mention of a ‘horn’, and by it everywhere power is signified. Therefore where ‘horn’ is said of the Lord it signifies Omnipotence. There are said to be ‘seven horns’ because ‘seven’ signifies all (n. 10), thus All-power. That ‘horn’ signifies power and, when [said] of the Lord, Omnipotence, can be established from the following passages:-
They who rejoice over a thing of nought, who say, Have we not taken us horns by our own strength? Amos vi 13.
I said unto the wicked, Lift not up the horn, lift nor rip your horn on high: all the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the just shall be exalted Ps. lxxv 4, 5, 10 [H.B. 5, 6, 11].
Jehovah has exalted the horn of thine adversaries Lam. ii 17.
The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken Jer. xlviii 25.
You thrust with side and with shoulder, and strike all the feeble sheep with your horns Ezek. xxxiv 21.
Jehovah has exalted the horn of His people Ps. cxlviii 14.
Jehovah God Zebaoth, the ornament of our* strength, has exalted our horn Ps. lxxxix 17 [H.B. 18].
The brightness of Jehovah God shall be as the light, having horns out of His hand, and there the concealing of His strength Hab. iii 4.
Mine arm shall invigorate David, and in My Name shall his horn be exalted Ps. lxxxix 20, 21, 24 [H.B. 21, 22, 25].
Jehovah is my strength, my rock, my horn Ps. xviii 2; 2 Sam. xxii 2, 3.
Arise, O daughter of Zion, for I will make thine linen iron, so that thou shalt break in pieces many peoples Micah iv 13.
Jehovah** has destroyed in His wrath the rampart of the daughter of Judah, and has cut off every horn of Israel Lam. ii [2,] 3.
Powers are also signified by:-
The horns of the dragon Rev. xii 3.
The horns of the beast coming up out of the sea Rev. xiii 1.
The horns of the scarlet-coloured beast, upon which the woman sat Rev. xvii 3, 7, 12.
The horns of the ram and the he-goat Dan. viii 3-12, 21, 25.
The horns of the beast coming up out of the sea Dan. vii 3, 7, 8, 20, 21, 23, 24.
The four horns which scattered Judah and Israel Zech. 18-20 [H.B. ii 1-4].
The horns of the altars of burnt-offering and incense Exod. xxvii 2; xxx 2, 3, 10.
By these last the power of Divine Truth in the Church was signified; and, on the other hand, that the power is about to perish, by ‘the horns of the altars at Bethel’, in Amos:-
I will make a visitation upon the transgressions of Israel, I will make a visitation upon the altars of Bethel, so that the horns of the altar may be cut off, and fall to the earth Amos iii 14.
* Hebrew and AE 316:5 have ‘their’.
** Hebrew has ‘Adonai’. AE 316:14 has ‘The Lord’.
271. ‘And seven eyes’ signifies His Omniscience and Divine Wisdom. That ‘eyes’, when [said] of the Lord, signify His Divine Wisdom may be seen above (n. 48, 125), thus also Omniscience; and that ‘seven’ signify all, and are said of what is holy (n. 10). Consequently by the ‘seven eyes’ of the Lamb is signified the Divine Wisdom of the Lord, which also is Omniscience.
272. ‘Which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into every land’ signifies that out of that [Divine Wisdom] there is Divine Truth throughout all the lands where there is religion. ‘The seven spirits of God’ are the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord, as above (n. 14, 155). It is plain that ‘sent forth into every land’ is into the whole region (orbem) where there is religion. For where there is religion, it is taught that God exists and that the devil exists, and that God is Good Itself and that good is from Him, and that the devil is evil itself and that evil is from him; and, because they are opposed, that evil, which is from the devil, is to be shunned, and that good, because it is from God, is to be done; and therefore that in so far as anyone does evil, so far he is loving the devil, and acting against God. Such Divine Truth exists throughout all the lands where there is any religion; and therefore there is need of no more than to know what is evil. Indeed, all who have a religion know this, for the precepts of all religions are such as are in the Decalogue, that there must not be killing, whoredom, stealing, nor bearing false witness. These are in general the Divine Truths ‘sent forth’ by the Lord ‘into every land’: see THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 101-118). He, therefore, who lives in accordance with them because they are Divine Truths, or the precepts of God and consequently of religion, is saved; but he who lives in accordance with them only because they are civil and moral truths is not saved, for an atheist also can live in such a manner, but not one who acknowledges God.
273. [verse 7] ‘And He came and took the book out of the right hand of the One sitting upon the throne’ signifies that the Lord as to His Divine Human is the Word, and that He is this out of His Divine Itself, and that on this account He is going to effect the judgment out of the Divine Human. Here it is quite plain that ‘the One sitting upon the throne’ and ‘the Lamb’ are one Person, and that by ‘the One sitting upon the throne’ is understood His Divine from which [are all things], and by ‘the Lamb’ His Divine Human for in the preceding verse it is said that he saw ‘a Lamb standing in the midst of the throne’, and in this that ‘He took the book’ from ‘the One sitting upon the throne’. That the Lord is going to make the judgment out of His Divine Human, because He is the Word, is established from these passages:-
Then shall they see the sign of the Son of Man; and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with vigor (virtus) and glory Matt. xxiv 30.
When the Son of Man shall sit upon His throne He is going to judge the twelve tribes of Israel Matt. xix 28.
The Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father, and then He shall make a return to each one according to his deeds Matt. xvi 27.
Watch always, that you may be accounted worthy to stand before the Son of Man Luke xxi 36.
In such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man comes Matt. xxiv 44.
The Father does not judge anyone, but has given all judgment to the Son, because He is the Son of Man John v [22,] 27.
‘The Son of Man’ is the Lord as to the Divine Human, and this is ‘the Word’, which ‘was God’ and ‘was made flesh’ (John 5,14).
274. [verse 8] ‘And when He had taken the book’ signifies when the Lord set about making the judgment, and bringing all things in the heavens and upon earth back into order by means of it. By ‘to take’ the book and ‘to open it’ is signified to examine the states of life of all, and to judge each one in accordance with his own [state], as above. Here, therefore, by [the statement] that ‘he had taken the book’ is signified to have the intention of making the last judgment, and because a last judgment is brought about so that all things may be brought back into order in the heavens, and on earth by means of the heavens, this also is signified.
275. ‘The four animals and the twenty-four elders fell prostrate before the Lamb’ signifies a humbling, and as a result of the humbling the adoration of the Lord out of the higher heavens. Now follows a glorification of the Lord on account of [the intended judgment], for, as was said above (n. 263), unless the Lord should now effect the last judgment, and by means of it bring all things in the heavens and on earth (in terris) back into order, they would all perish. The glorification of the Lord which now follows is made first from the higher heavens, afterwards from the lower heavens, and only then from the lowest heavens; glorification from the higher heavens (vers. 8-10), from the lower heavens (vers. 11, 12), and from the lowest heavens (verse 13), and at length confirmation and adoration from the higher heavens (verse 14). The higher heavens, therefore, are signified by ‘the four animals and the twenty-four elders’; for, by the cherubs which the four animals are ‘in the midst of the throne’ is signified the Lord as to the Word, while by the cherubs or four animals ‘around the throne’ is signified heaven as to the Word, for it is said that ‘in the midst of the throne and around the throne’ were seen ‘four animals, full of eyes before and behind’ (chap. iv 6); for the heavens are heavens by virtue of the reception of Divine Truth by means of the Word from the Lord. By ‘the twenty-four elders’ also are signified the angels in the higher heavens, because those elders were nearest around the throne (chap. iv 4). That ‘to fall prostrate before the Lamb’ is a humbling, and as a result of the humbling an adoration, is plain.
Confess unto Jehovah with the harp, sing praises unto Him with the psaltery of ten strings Ps. xxxiii 2, 3.
I will confess unto Thee on the harp, O God, my God Ps. xliii 3, 4.
I will confess unto Thee on an instrument of the psaltery, I will sing unto Thee with the harp, O Thou Holy One of Israel Ps. lxxi 22.
Arouse me, psaltery and harp, I will confess unto Thee among the nations, O Lord Ps. lvii 7-9 [H.B. 8-10]; cviii 2-4.
Answer unto Jehovah by confession, sing praises upon the harp unto our God Ps. cxlvii 7.
It is good to confess unto Jehovah upon the psaltery, and upon higgajon* on the harp (super higgajon in CITHARA) Ps. xcii 1-3 [H.B. 2-4].
Resound unto Jehovah every land, sing unto Jehovah with the harp, with the harp and the voice of a song Ps. xcviii 4-6;
and in many other places, as Ps. xlix 3, 4 [H.B. 4, 5]; Ps. cxxxvii 1, 2; Job xxx 31; Isa. xxiv 7-9, xxx 31, 32; Rev. xiv 2, xviii 22. Because the ‘harp’ used to correspond to confession of the Lord, and evil spirits do not endure that [confession], therefore David by means of a ‘harp’ drove an evil spirit away from Saul (1 Sam. xvi 14-16, 23). That they were not harps but confessions of the Lord that were heard as harps by John, may be seen below (n. 661).
* A Hebrew word meaning perhaps a soft tone.
From the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same My Name shall be great among the nations, and in every place an incense-offering shall be brought unto My Name Mal. i 11.
They shall teach Jacob Thy judgments, they shall put an incense-offering in Thy nose, and a burnt offering upon Thine altar Deut. xxxiii 10.
I will offer unto Thee burnt offerings of fatlings with incense Ps. lxvi 13, 15.
They shall come out of the circut of Judah offering a burnt offering, a meal-offering (mincha) and frankincense Jer. xvii 26.
They shall come out of Sheba, they shall bring gold and frankincense, and they shall declare the praises of Jehovah Isa. lx 6.
A similar thing is signified by ‘frankincense’ as by ‘incense’, because frankincense was the special spice out of which the incense used to be made. In like manner in Matthew:-
Wise men from the east opened their treasures, and offered to the newly born Lord, gold, frankincense and myrrh Matt. ii 11.
They offered these three things because ‘gold’ signifies celestial good, ‘frankincense’ spiritual good, and ‘myrrh’ natural good and out of these three all worship is made.
278. ‘Which are the prayers of the saints’ signifies the thoughts that are of faith derived from the affections that are of charity, with those who worship the Lord out of spiritual goods and truths. By ‘prayers’ are understood the things that are of faith, and at the same time the things that are of charity, with those who pour forth prayers, since prayers without those things are not prayers but empty sounds. That saints signify those who are in spiritual goods and truths may be seen above (n. 173). ‘Incense-offerings’ are said to be ‘the prayers of the saints’ because fragrant odours correspond to affections of good and truth. This is why it is said so often in the Word ‘a grateful odour’, and ‘an odour of rest to Jehovah’, as Exod. xxix 18, 25, 41; Lev. i 9, 13, 17; ii 2, 9, 12; iii 5; iv 31; vi 15, 21 [H.B. 8, 14]; viii 28; xxiii 13, 18; xxvi 31; Num. xv 3, 7; xxviii 6, 8, 13; xxix 2, 6, 8, 13, 36; Ezek. xx 41; Hos. xiv 7. Similar things are signified by the ‘prayers’ that are called ‘incense-offerings’ in the following passages, in the Apocalypse:-
An angel standing at the altar, having a golden phial, and there was given to him many incense-offerings, that he should offer with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar; and the smoke of the incense-offerings with the prayers of the saints ascended up out of the angel’s hand in full view of God Rev. viii 3-5;
and in David:-
Give ear unto my voice; my prayers have been accepted as incense before Thee Ps. cxli 1, 2.
279. [verse 9] ‘And they were singing a new song’ signifies an acknowledgment and glorification of the Lord because He Only is the Judge, Redeemer, and Saviour, thus the God of heaven and earth. These things are contained in the song that they were singing, and the things that are contained are also signified: as an acknowledgment that the Lord is the judge, in the things now following:-
Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof;
that He is the Redeemer, in these:-
Because Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us in Thy blood;
that He is the Saviour in these:-
Thou hast made us to our God kings and priests, and we shall reign over the land;
that He is the God of heaven and earth, in these:-
They fell prostrate and adored the One living for ages of ages (verse 14).
Since the acknowledgment that the Only Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and that His Human is Divine, and that in no other way could He be said to be the Redeemer and Saviour, was not in the Church before, therefore it is termed ‘a new song’. [2] A ‘song’ also signifies a glorification that is a confession out of joy of heart, because singing exalts, and causes the affection to burst forth out of the heart into sound and show itself intensely in its life. Nor are the Psalms of David any other than songs, for they were played on the psaltery and sung, and therefore in many places were called ‘songs’, as Ps. xviii 1; Ps. xxxiii 2, 3; Ps. xlv 1; Ps. xlvi 1; Ps. xlviii 1; Ps. lxv 1; Ps. lxvi 1; Ps. lxvii 1; Ps. lxviii 1; Ps. lxxv 1; Ps. lxxvi 1; Ps. lxxxvii 1; Ps. lxxxviii 1; Ps. xcii 1; Ps. xcvi 1; Ps. xcviii 1; Ps. cviii 1; Ps. cxx 1; Ps. cxxi 1; Ps. cxxii 1; Ps. cxxiii 1; Ps. cxxiv 1; Ps. cxxv 1; Ps. cxxvi 1; Ps. cxxvii 1; Ps. cxxviii 1; Ps. cxxix 1; Ps. cxxx 1; [Ps. cxxxi 1;] Ps. cxxxii 1; Ps. cxxxiv 1.
[3] That the songs were for the sake of an exaltation of the life of love, and of the joy therefrom, is plain from these passages:-
Sing unto Jehovah a new song, make a joyful noise unto Jehovah every land, make a loud noise, rejoice Ps. xcviii 1, 4-8.
Sing unto Jehovah a new song, let Israel he glad in his Maker, sing psalms unto Him Ps. cxlix 1-3.
Sing unto Jehovah a new song, lift up the voice Isa. xlii 10-12.
Sing O heavens, shout O lower lands, resound O mountains with a song Isa. xliv 23, xlix 13.
Shout unto God our strength, cry out to the God of Jacob, lift up a song Ps. lxxxi 1-3 [H.B. 2-4].
Gladness and joy shall be found in Zion, confession and the voice of a song Isa. li 3, lii 8, 9.
Sing unto Jehovah, cry out and shout, O daughter of Zion, for great in the midst of thee is the Holy One of Israel Isa. xii 1-6.
My heart is ready, I will sing and sing psalms. Arouse thee, my glory, I will confess Thee among the nations, O Lord, I will sing Psalms unto Thee among the peoples Ps. lvii 7-9 [H.B. 8-10];
and very many elsewhere.
280. ‘Saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof’ signifies that He Only is able to recognise the states of life of all, and to judge each one in accordance with his own [state], as above (n. 256, 259, 261, 267, 273).
281. ‘Because Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God in Thy blood’ signifies liberation from hell, and salvation by means of conjunction with Himself. There is no need to disclose by means of the spiritual sense what is signified by each of the things separately, as what by ‘to have been slain’, ‘to redeem us to God’, and what by ‘His blood’ for they are arcana that do not appear in the sense of the letter. Suffice it [to say] that it is redemption that is described in this manner; and since redemption is liberation from hell, and salvation by means of conjunction with the Lord, these are the things that are signified. Here it shall be confirmed out of the Word, only that Jehovah Himself came into the world, was born Man, and became the Redeemer and Saviour of all who by a life of charity and the faith thereof are conjoined with His Divine Human, and that Jehovah is the Lord from eternity, consequently that the Lord’s Divine Human, with which the conjunction will be, is the Divine Human of Jehovah Himself.
[2] Here therefore the passages will be adduced that confirm that Jehovah and the Lord are one; and, since they are one and not two, that the Lord from eternity Who is Jehovah Himself became the Redeemer and Saviour by the assumption of the Human. This is plain from these statements:-
Thou, O Jehovah, art our Father, our Redeemer from an age is Thy Name Isa. lxiii 16.
Thus says the king of Israel, and His Redeemer Jehovah Zebaoth, I am the First and the Last, and besides Me there is no God Isa. xliv 6.
Thus says Jehovah thy Redeemer and thy Former, I am Jehovah, making all things, and Only by Myself Isa. xliv 24.
Thus says Jehovah thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am Jehovah thy God Isa. xlviii 17.
O Jehovah, my Rock and my Redeemer Ps. xix 14 [H.B. 15].
Their Redeemer is strong, Jehovah Zebaoth is His Name Jer. i 34.
Jehovah Zebaoth is His Name, and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole land shall He be called Isa. liv 5.
That all flesh may know that I Jehovah am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Strong One of Jacob Isa. xlix 26, lx 16.
As for our Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth is His Name Isa. xlvii 4.
With everlasting mercy will I have mercy, thus says thy Redeemer Jehovah Isa. liv 8.
Says Jehovah your Redeemer the Holy One of Israel Isa. xliii 14.
Says Jehovah the Holy One of Israel your Redeemer Isa. xlix 7.
Thou hast redeemed me, O Jehovah of truth Ps. xxxi 5 [H.B. 6].
Let Israel hope in Jehovah, for with Him there is plenteous redemption,
He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities Ps. cxxx 7, 8.
Arise, O Lord, for our help, and redeem us for Thy mercy’s sake Ps. xliv 26 [H.B. 27].
Says Jehovah God, I will redeem them out of the hand of hell, I will
redeem them out of death Hos. xiii 4, 14.
O Jehovah, hear my voice, He shall redeem my soul Ps. lv 17, 18 [H.B. 18. 19].
Also, Ps. xlix 15 [H.B. 16], lxix 18 [H.B. 19], lxxi 23, ciii 1, 4, cvii 2; Jer. xv 20, 21.
[3] That the Lord as to His Human is the Redeemer is not denied in the Church, because it is according to Scripture, and also this:-
Who is coming out of Edom, marching along in the multitude of His strength? The year of His redeemers is come. This One redeemed them Isa. lxiii 1, 4, 9.
Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold thy Salvation comes, behold His reward is with Him, and they shall call them the people of holiness, the redeemed of Jehovah Isa. lxii 11, 12.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and made a redemption for His people Luke i 68;
besides elsewhere. Still more passages, confirming that the Lord from eternity Who is Jehovah Himself came into the world and took to Himself a Human for the purpose of redeeming men, may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 37-46). Jehovah is also said to be the ‘Saviour’ in many passages, which there is not time to quote by reason of their abundance.
282. ‘Out of every tribe and tongue, and people and nation’ signifies that those who, in the Church or any religion, are in truths as to doctrine and in goods as to life have been redeemed by the Lord. By ‘tribe’ is signified the Church as to religion; by ‘tongue’ is signified its doctrine, of which [more will be said] presently; by ‘people’ are signified those who are in truths of doctrine, and abstractly the truths of doctrine (n. 483); and by ‘nations’ are signified those who are in goods of life, and abstractly the goods of life (n. 483). It is plain from these considerations that by ‘out of every tribe and tongue, and people and nation’ such things as have been said are signified, as also (n. 627).
[2] Here it shall now be confirmed that by ‘tongue’ in the spiritual sense is signified the doctrine that is of the Church, and that of any religion. This is plain from these passages:-
My tongue shall meditate on Thy justice, on Thy praise all the day Ps. lxxi 24.
Then shall the lame man leap as a stag, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing, for in the wilderness shall waters break out Isa. xxxv 6.
The tongue of the stammerers shall be swift to speak Isa. xxxii 4.
It appears there as if by ‘tongue’ speech may be understood, but in the spiritual sense that which is spoken is understood and this is all the truth of doctrine which will be with them from the Lord. In like manner:-
I have, sworn that unto Me every knee is going to bow, and every tongue is going to swear Isa. xlv 23.
The time shall come for gathering all nations and tongues, that they may come and see My glory Isa. lxvi x8.
In those days ten men out of all the tongues of the nations shall take hold of the skirt of a man that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, because We have heard God is with you Zech. viii 23.
These passages also are concerned with the conversion of the nations by the Lord to what is true of doctrine.
[3] By ‘tongues’ in the opposite sense, however, are signified untrue doctrines, in these passages:-
A man of tongue* shall not continue to exist in the land Ps. cxl 11 [H.B. 12].
Thou hidest them in Thy tabernacle from the strife of tongues Ps. xxxi 20 [H.B. 21].
I will bring upon you a nation, whose tongue thou shalt not recognise
Jer. v 15, 16.
Sent to peoples harsh of tongue Ezek. iii 5, 6.
To a people barbarous of tongue Isa. xxxiii 19.
It is to be known that ‘tongue’ as an organ signifies doctrine, while as speech it also signifies religion.
[4] He who knows that ‘tongue’ signifies doctrine is able to understand what is signified by the words of the rich man in hell to Abraham,
that he would send Lazarus that he might dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool his tongue, that he should not be tormented in the flame Luke xvi 24.
‘Water’ signifies truth, and ‘tongue’ doctrine, by the untruths of which he was tormented, and not by a flame; for no one in hell is in a flame, but the flame there is the appearance of a love of what is untrue and fire is the appearance of a love of evil.
* AV ‘an evil speaker’.
283. [verse 10] ‘And Thou hast made us to our God kings and priests’ signifies that from the Lord they are in wisdom out of Divine truths and in love out of Divine goods, and thus are images of His Divine Wisdom and His Divine Love; as above (n. 20, 21).
284. ‘And we shall reign over the land’ signifies and they will be in His kingdom, He in them and they in Him. By ‘reign over the land’ nothing else is understood than to be in the Lord’s kingdom and to be one with Him there in accordance with these words of the Lord:-
That all who believe in Me may be one; and may be one as Thou Father art in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us. The glory which Thou hast given Me I have given them, that they may be one as We are One, I in them and Thou in Me, that where I am, they also may be with Me John xvii 20-24.
Since, therefore, they are in this manner one with the Lord and, together with the Lord, make the kingdom that is called the kingdom of God, it is plain that nothing else is signified by ‘reign’. ‘Reign’ is said because it was before said, ‘Thou hast made us kings and priests’, and by ‘kings’ are signified those who are in wisdom out of Divine Truths from the Lord, and by ‘priests’ those who are in love out of Divine Good from Him (n. 20). In consequence of this the Lord’s kingdom is also said to be a ‘kingdom of the saints’ (Dan. vii 18, 27); and it is said of the Apostles, that ‘with the Lord they are going to judge the twelve tribes of Israel’ (Matt. xix 28); although the Only Lord judges and reigns, for He judges and reigns out of the Divine Good by means of the Divine Truth that is also in them from Himself. He, however, who believes that what is in them from the Lord is theirs is cast out of the kingdom, that is, out of heaven. The like is signified by ‘reign’ in the following statements in the Apocalypse:-
They shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years Rev. xx 4, 6;
and concerning those who are going to be in the New Jerusalem:-
The Lamb shall enlighten them, and they shall reign for ages of ages Rev. xxii 5.
285. It is said ‘they shall reign over the land’ because by ‘land’ here and elsewhere is understood the Lord’s Church in the heavens and on Earth (in terris). The Church in both of these is the Lord’s kingdom. Therefore, in case anyone should believe that all who have been redeemed by the Lord become kings and priests, and that they are going to reign over a land, it is important that it should be demonstrated out of the Word that ‘land’ signifies the Church. It is possible for this to be seen from the following passages:-
Behold Jehovah emptying the land, and stripping the land bare, and He shall turn over the face thereof; emptying, the land shall be emptied; the habitable land shall mourn and be confounded; the land shall be profaned under its inhabitants; therefore shall the curse devour the land, and the inhabitants of the land shall be burnt up, scarcely a man shall be left; there shall be in the midst of the land as the plucking of an olive tree. The cataracts from on high are opened, and the foundations of the land are shaken; breaking in pieces, the land is broken in pieces: bursting asunder, the land is burst asunder: disturbing, the land is disturbed: staggering, the land staggers as if drunk Isa. [xxiv] 1-23.
[2] The lion has come up out of the thicket to reduce thy land to a waste; I saw the land when, behold, it was empty and void; Jehovah said, The whole land shall be a waste, therefore the land shall mourn Jer. iv 7, 23-28.
How long shall the land mourn? The whole land is desolate, because there is no man laying [it] to heart Jer. xii 4, 11-13.
The land mourns and languishes, Lebanon has blushed and withered away Isa. xxxiii 9.
The land shall be turned into burning pitch, and be laid waste Isa. xxxiv 9, 10.
I have heard from the Lord a consummation and cutting short upon the whole land Isa. xxviii 2, 22.
Behold the day of Jehovah shall come to lay the land waste, and the land shall be shaken out of its place Isa. xiii 9-13.
The land was disturbed and it trembled, and the foundations of the mountains quaked Ps. xviii 6, 7 [H.B. 7, 8].
We will not fear when the land is moved; when He shall have uttered [His] voice, the land shall melt Ps. xlvi 2, 3, 6, 8 [H.B. 3, 4, 7, 9].
Do you not understand the foundations of the land? Isa. xl 21, 23.
O God, Thou hast forsaken us, Thou hast made the land begin to tremble; heal the breaches thereof, for it has been disturbed Ps. lx 1, 2 [H.B. 3, 4].
[3] The land and all its inhabitants shall melt; I will strengthen the pillars of it Ps. lxxv 2, 3 [H.B. 3, 4].
Woe to the land shadowed with wings. Go, O ambassadors to a nation trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled Isa. xviii 1, 2.
In the wrath of Jehovah Zebaoth is the land darkened Isa. ix 19 [H.B. 18].
You shall be a land of good pleasure Mal. iii 11, 12.
I have given thee for a covenant of the people to restore the land; sing, O heavens, and exult, O land Isa. xlix 8, 13.
Thou shalt not* see Jah in the land of the living ones Isa. xxxviii 11.
Who gave terror in the land of the living ones Ezek. xxxii 23-27.
Unless I had believed to see good in the land of life Ps. xxvii 13.
Blessed are the gentle, for they shall accept the inheritance of the land Matt. v 5.
I am Jehovah, making all things, the Only One spreading out the heavens, extending the land by Myself Isa. xliv 23, 24; Zech. xii 1; Jer. x 11-13, li 15; Ps. cxxxvi 6.
Let the land open itself, let it bring forth (fructificare) health; thus
said Jehovah, creating the heavens, forming the land Isa. xlv 8, 12, 18, 19.
Behold, I create new heavens, and a new land Isa. lxv 17, lxvi 22;
besides in many other places which, if they were quoted, would fill a page. [4] The reason why the Church is signified by ‘land’ is because very often by ‘land’ is understood the land of Canaan, and in that land was the Church, the ‘heavenly Canaan’ being nothing else. It is also because when a land is named, angels, who are spiritual, do not think of the land but of the human race that is upon it and its spiritual state, and the spiritual state is the state of the Church. ‘Land’ also has an opposite sense, and in that it signifies damnation, for where there is no Church with a man there is damnation. ‘Land’ is named in this sense [in] Isa. xiv 12; xxi 9; xxvi 19, 21; xxix 4; xlvii 1; lxiii 6; Lam. ii 2, 10; Ezek. xxvi 20; xxxii 24; Num. xvi 29-33; xxvi 10; and elsewhere.
286. [verse is] ‘And I saw and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and the animals, and the elders’ signifies a confession and glorification of the Lord by the angels of the lower heavens. That a confession and glorification of the Lord was made by the angels of the three heavens may be seen above (n. 275); and that [one was made] by the angels of the higher heavens (from vers. 8 to 10); and consequently now by the angels of the lower heavens (vers. 11, 12). Therefore by ‘the voice of angels around the throne’ is understood a confession and glorification of the Lord by the angels of the lower heavens. He then also saw ‘the animals and the elders’ together with those [angels], because by ‘the animals and the elders’ the angels of the higher heavens are signified (n. 275), and the lower heavens never act separately from the higher heavens, but conjointly with them. For the Lord inflows out of Himself, without mediation, into all the heavens, thus also into the lower ones, and at the same time He inflows mediately through the higher heavens into the lower ones. This therefore is the reason why he ‘saw and heard the animals and the elders’ first by themselves, and then together with those [lower angels].
* Hebrew has ‘I shall not’.
287. ‘And the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands’ signifies all in truths and in goods. By ‘number’ in the natural sense is understood that which relates to measure or weight, but by ‘number’ in the spiritual sense is understood that which relates to quality; and here their quality is described by [the statement] that there were ‘myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands’, for ‘a myriad’ is predicated of truths, and ‘a thousand’ of goods. ‘Myriad’ is predicated of truths and ‘thousand’ of goods, because a myriad is the greater and a thousand is the lesser, and truths are manifold but goods are simple; also because in the Word where it treats of truths it also treats of goods, on account of the marriage of truth and good in the details of the Word. In the absence of this, ‘myriads of myriads’ only would have been said. Because those two numbers signify such things they are therefore also mentioned elsewhere, as in these places:-
The chariots of God are two myriads, thousands of angels of peace, the Lord in them, Sinai in the sanctuary Ps. lxviii 17 [H.B. 18].
I saw when the Ancient of days did sit, thousands of thousands were
ministering unto Him, and myriads of myriads were standing before Him Dan. vii 9, 10.
Moses [said] of Joseph:-
His horns the horns of a unicorn, with them he shall carry the peoples
together to the borders of the land, and they the myriads of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh Deut. xxxiii 17.
Thou shalt not be afraid for thyself on account of the pestilence that creeps in thick darkness, nor of the death that wastes at midday, a thousand shall fall at thy side, and a myriad at thy right hand Ps. xci 5-7.
Our flocks thousands, myriads in our streets Ps. cxliv 13.
Is Jehovah delighted with thousands of rams, with myriads of rivers of oil? Micah vi 7.
When the ark was resting, Moses said:-
Return, O Jehovah, the myriads of the thousands of Israel Num. x 36.
In all these places the ‘myriads’ are said of truths, and the ‘thousands’ of goods.
288. [verse 12] ‘Saying with a great voice, Worthy is the slain Lamb to take power and riches and wisdom, and honour and glory’ signifies confession out of the heart, that the Lord as to the Divine Human has Omnipotence, Omniscience, Divine Good and Divine Truth. ‘Saying with a great voice’ signifies confession out of the heart ‘Thou art worthy’ signifies that in Him are the things that follow; ‘the Lamb’ signifies the Lord as to the Divine Human; ‘power’ signifies the Divine power, which is Omnipotence; ‘riches and wisdom’ signify the Divine knowledge and wisdom, which are Omniscience; ‘honour and glory’ signify Divine Good and Divine Truth. That ‘riches’ signify the cognitions of good and truth, and thus knowledge, may be seen above (n. 206); consequently, when [predicated] of the Lord, they signify Omniscience; and that ‘honour and glory’, when [predicated] of the Lord, signify Divine Good and Divine Truth, [see] above n. 249.
289. ‘And blessing’ signifies all these in Him, and from Him in those [angels]. By ‘blessing’ is understood every good that a man has from the Lord, as power and wealth and the things pertaining thereto; but chiefly every spiritual good, as love and wisdom, charity and faith, and the joy and happiness therefrom, which are of eternal life; and because all these are from the Lord it follows that they are in Him, for if they were not in Him they could not be in others from Him. This is why the Lord is said in the Word to be BLESSED, and also BLESSING, that is, BLESSING ITSELF. That Jehovah, that is, the Lord is termed ‘Blessed’ is plain from these places:-
The chief of the priests asked Jesus, Art Thou the Christ the Son of the Blessed? Mark xiv 61.
Jesus said, You shall not see Me henceforth, till you shall say, The Blessed One coming in the Name of the Lord Matt. xxiii 39; Luke xiii 35.
Melchizedek blessed Abram, and said, Blessed be the Most High God, Who has given thine enemies into thy hand Gen. xiv 18-20.
Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Shem Gen. ix 26.
Blessed be Jehovah, Who has heard my voice Ps. xxviii 6.
Blessed be Jehovah, for He has made wonderful His kindness Ps. xxxi 21 [H.B. 22].
Blessed be Jehovah from age to age Ps. xli 13 [H.B. 14].
Likewise, Ps. lxvi 20; lxviii 19, 35 [H.B. 20, 36]; lxxii 18, 19; lxxxix 52 [H.B. 53]; cxix 12; cxxiv 6; cxxxv 21; cxliv 1; Luke i 68. It is in consequence of this that it is here said ‘Blessing’, as also verse 12, and chap. vii 12; also in David:-
Glory and honour dost Thou set over Him, for Thou settest Him a Blessing* for ever Ps. xxi 5, 6 [H.B. 6, 7].
[2] This is concerning the Lord. From these [quotations] it can be seen what is understood in the Word by ‘blessing God’, that it is to ascribe all blessing to Him, also to pray that He may bless and to give thanks that He has blessed, as can be established from the following places:-
The mouth of Zacharias was opened, and he spoke, blessing God Luke i 64, 68.
Simeon took the infant Jesus up in his arms, and blessed God Luke ii 28, 30, 31.
Bless** Jehovah, Who has given me counsel Ps. xvi 7.
Bless the Name of Jehovah, show forth His salvation from day to day Ps. xcvi 1-3.
Blessed be the Lord from day to day, bless God in the congregations, the Lord out of the fountain of Israel Ps. lxviii 19, 26 [H.B. 20, 27].
* Hebrew and AV margin have ‘blessings’.
** Hebrew has ‘I will bless’.
290. [verse 13] ‘And every created thing that is in heaven and in the land, and under the land, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying’ signifies a confession and glorification of the Lord by the angels of the lowest heavens. It is plain from the series that this confession and glorification of the Lord is by the angels of the lowest heavens, because the confessions and glorifications that precede were made by the angels of the higher and the lower heavens (n. 275 seq., 286 seq.); for there are three heavens and innumerable communities in each, any of which is called a heaven. That by ‘every created thing, that is in heaven, and in and under the land, and in the sea’ angels are understood is plain, for it says, ‘heard I saying’, and they said, ‘To the One sitting upon the throne and to the Lamb, blessing and honour and glory and strength for ages of ages.’
[2] That they are said to be ‘created’ is in accordance with the style of the Word, in which, by all the things created, both those that are of the animal kingdom and those that are of the vegetable kingdom, are signified the various things with a man, in general those that are of the will or affection, and those that are of the understanding or thought. They signify because they correspond. And because the Word has been composed by means of pure correspondences similar things are said there of the angels of heaven and the men of the Church. To confirm this, a few passages only shall be adduced, and these are:-
Jesus said to the disciples, Going into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature Mark xvi 15.
Pray ask the beasts, and they shall teach; and the birds of heaven, and they shall make known to thee; or the shrub of the land, and it shall teach thee; and the fishes of the sea shall tell unto thee. Who does not know from all these, that the hand of Jehovah has done this? Job xii 7-10.
Let heaven and the land praise Jehovah, the seas and everything that creeps therein, for God will save Zion Ps. lxix 34, 35 [H.B. 35, 36].
Praise Jehovah from the land, O whales and all deeps Ps. cxlviii 7.
Consuming, I will consume all things from upon the faces of the land, I will consume man and beast, I will consume the birds of the heavens and the fishes of the sea Zeph. 2, 3 (likewise Isa. i 2, 3; Ezek. xxxviii 19, 20; Hos. iv 2, 3; Rev. viii 7-9).
The heavens shall rejoice, the land shall be glad, the sea shall shake itself and the fullness thereof, the field shall exult and everything that is therein, then shall all the trees of the wood sing before Jehovah; for He is coming, for He is coming to judge the land Ps. xcvi 11-13;
and in many other places. [3] It is said ‘every created thing’, and by this is understood every reformed thing, or all the reformed, for by ‘to create’ is signified to reform and regenerate (n. 254). What is understood by ‘in heaven’, ‘upon the land’, and ‘under the land’, may be seen above (n. 260); and what by ‘sea’ (n. 238); from which it is plain what is signified by ‘such as are in the sea and all that are in them’. These are the things that are understood in the Word by ‘the fishes of the sea’, which are the sensual affections that are the lowest of the natural man; for the affections of such people appear in the spiritual world from afar off as fishes, and as if in the sea, because the atmospheres in which they are appear as watery, and consequently as a sea in the eyes of those who are in the heavens and upon the lands there, [as] may be seen above (n. 238), and concerning fishes (n. 405).
291. ‘To the One sitting upon the throne and to the Lamb, blessing and honour and glory and strength for ages of ages’ signifies that in the Lord from eternity, and consequently in His Divine Human, is everything of heaven and the Church, Divine Good and Divine Truth, and Divine Power, and from Him in those who are in heaven and the Church. That the Lord from eternity is Jehovah Who in time took upon Himself the Human so that He might redeem and save men, may be seen above (n. 281). Consequently by ‘the One sitting upon the throne’ is understood the Lord from eternity, Who is called the Father; and by ‘the Lamb’ the Lord as to the Divine Human, which is the Son. And because the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, and they are one, it is established that by both ‘the One sitting upon the throne’ and ‘the Lamb’ the Lord is understood; and because they are one, it is said also ‘the Lamb in the midst of the throne’ (verse 6, also chap. vii 17). That ‘blessing’ when [said] of the Lord is everything of heaven and the Church in Him, and from Him in those who are in heaven and the Church, may be seen above (n. 289); that ‘honour and glory’ are Divine Good and Divine Truth, also above (n. 249); and that ‘strength’ when [said] of the Lord is Divine Power is plains That the Lord has all these can be established from these [words] in Daniel:-
Behold with the clouds of heaven came One like the Son of Man, and [came] even to the Ancient of days: and there was given Him dominion and glory and the kingdom, and all peoples, nations and languages shall worship Him; His dominion is the dominion of an age that shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not perish Dan. vii 13, 14.
That ‘the Ancient of days’ is the Lord from eternity is plain from these [words] in Micah:-
Thou Bethlehem Ephratah, little though thou be among the thousands
Of Judah, out of thee shall come forth unto Me One Who shall be the Ruler in Israel, and Whose goings forth [have been] from of old, from the days of eternity Micah v 2 [H.B. 1].
Again from these in Isaiah:-
Unto us a Boy is born, unto us a Son is given, upon Whose shoulder [shall be] the government: and His Name shall be called Counsellor, God, Hero, the Father of Eternity, the Prince of Peace Isa. ix 6 [H.B. 5].
292. [verse 14] ‘And the four animals were saying, Amen’ signifies Divine confirmation out of the Word. That ‘the four animals’ or cherubs signify the Word may be seen above (n. 239); and that ‘Amen’ signifies Divine confirmation out of the truth (verias) itself (n. 23, 28, 61), thus out of the Word.
* * * * * * * * * *
294. To these things I will add this MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE.
In the natural world a man has a two-fold way of speaking, because he has a two-fold thought, exterior and interior. For a man is able to speak out of the interior thought and at the very same time out of the exterior thought, and he is able to speak out of the exterior thought and not out of the interior, in fact, contrary to the interior thought. This is the origin of pretences, flattering assents, and hypocrisies. In the spiritual world, however, a man does not have a two-fold but a straightforward way of speaking, for he speaks as he is thinking, otherwise the sound is harsh and offends the ears. Nevertheless he can be silent, and so not divulge the thoughts of his mind; and therefore the hypocrite, when he comes among the wise, either goes away, or hastens to a corner in the room and makes himself inconspicuous and sits silent.
[2] Once there were many people assembled in the world of spirits, and they were discussing this subject, saying that being unable to speak except as one is thinking is hard on those in the company of the good when they have not thought rightly of God and the Lord. In the midst of the assembly were the Reformed, and many of the clergy, and near them the followers of the Pontiff (Pontificii) with some monks. Both of these groups at first said that it was not hard. ‘What need is there to speak otherwise than as one is thinking, and if perchance one should not be thinking aright, can he not close the lips and keep silence?’ And one of the clergy said, ‘Who does not think rightly of God and the Lord?’ But some of those assembled said, ‘All the same let us put it to the test.’ And those who had confirmed themselves concerning a GOD in a Trinity of Persons, especially as a result of the words in the Athanasian doctrine, ‘There is One Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy
Spirit: and as the Father is God, so also the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God’, were told to say ‘One God’ But they were not able. They twisted and folded their lips into many curves and could not articulate a sound into any other words than were consonant with the ideas of their thought, which were ideas of three Persons and consequently of three Gods. [3] Then it was said to those who had confirmed a faith separated from charity that they should pronounce the name ‘JESUS’, but they could not; yet they could all say ‘Christ’, and also ‘God the Father’. They marvelled at this, and sought out the cause, and found it to be that they had prayed to God the Father for the sake of the Son, and had not prayed to the Saviour Himself; for ‘Jesus’ signifies Saviour.
[4] Again it was said to them that out of thought concerning the Lord’s Human they should say ‘DIVINE HUMAN’; but none of the clergy who were present could do so though some of the laity were able, and so the subject was submitted to a serious discussion; and then,
I. These statements in the Evangelists were read in their presence:
The Father has given all things into the hand of the Son John iii 35.
The Father has given the Son authority over all flesh John xvii 2.
All things are delivered unto Me by the Father Matt. xi 27.
All authority is given unto Me in heaven and on earth Matt. xxviii 18
and it was said to them, ‘Keep therefrom in the thought [the idea] that Christ both as to His Divine and His Human is the God of heaven and earth, and so pronounce ‘DIVINE HUMAN’. But still they could not do so, and they said that they had indeed kept from the statements some [idea] of thought out of the understanding concerning it, but yet there was not anything of acknowledgment, and that therefore they were unable.
[5] II. Afterwards, out of Luke (chap. 32, 34, 35) there was read to them that the Lord as to the Human was the Son of Jehovah God, and that everywhere in the Word He as to the Human is said to be ‘Son of God’ and also ‘Only-begotten and they were asked to hold this in the thought, and also that the Only-begotten Son of God born in the world cannot but be God, as the Father is God, and to utter DIVINE HUMAN’. But they said, ‘We cannot, because our spiritual thought, which is interior, does not admit other than similar ideas into the thought nearest to speech’; and [they said] that as a result they perceive that it is not permitted them now to divide their thoughts, as in the natural world.
[6] III. Then the words of the Lord to Philip were read to them:-
Philip said, Lord, show us the Father, and the Lord said, He that sees Me, sees the Father; believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? John xiv 8-11
and also in another place that:-
The Father and Himself are One John x 30;
and elsewhere; and it was said to them that they should keep this in the thought and so say ‘DIVINE HUMAN’; but as that thought was not rooted in the acknowledgment that the Lord was God even as to the Human, therefore they could not. They twisted the lips into folds till they were angry and wanted to compel their mouth to litter and force it out, but all to no purpose. This was because the ideas of a thought that flows out of acknowledgment make one with the words of the tongue in the case of those who are in the spiritual world, and where such ideas do not exist there are no words, for the ideas become words in the speaking.
[7] IV. Moreover, these [words] were read to them out of the Doctrine of the Church received throughout all the world:-
That the Divine and the Human in the lord are not two, but one, indeed one Person, united altogether like soul and body.
They are out of the Athanasian Creed. And it was said to them, ‘Undoubtedly you are able therefrom to have an idea [derived] out of the acknowledgment that the Lord’s Human is Divine because His Soul is Divine, for [such an idea] is from the doctrine of your Church, which you acknowledged in the world. Moreover the soul is the essence itself and the body is the form and the essence and the form make one, as being (esse) and existing (existere), and as the efficient cause of an effect and the effect itself’. They held on to that idea and wished as a result to pronounce ‘DIVINE HUMAN’, but were not able; for the interior idea concerning the Lord’s Human drove out and expunged this new additional idea, as they called it.
[8] V. Further, there was read to them this [statement] out of John:-
The Word was with God, and the Word was God; and the Word was made flesh John ii, 14;
and this of Paul,
In Christ Jesus dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily Coloss. ii 9;
and it was said to them that they should think firmly that God, Who was the Word, was made flesh, and that all the Divine dwells in Him bodily. ‘Perhaps in this manner you can pronounce DIVINE HUMAN’. But still they were not able, openly saying that they could not have the idea of a Divine Human, ‘because God is God, and man is man, and God is a Spirit, and we have not thought of a spirit otherwise than as of wind or ether’.
[9] VI. At length it was said to them, You know that the Lord said,
Abide in Me, and I in you. He that abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for without Me you cannot do anything John xv 4, 5;
and because some of the English clergy were present there was read to them out of an exhortation of theirs before the Holy Communion,
For when we spiritually eat the flesh of Christ, and drink the blood, then we dwell in Christ, and Christ in us.*
‘If now you think this cannot come about unless the Lord’s Human is Divine, pronounce “DIVINE HUMAN” accordingly out of the acknowledgment in thought.’ But still they were unable, so deeply impressed upon them was the idea that the Lord’s Divine was one thing and His Human another, so that His Divine was like the Divine of the Father, and the Human like the human of another man. It was, however, said to them, ‘How can you think so? Is it possible for a rational mind ever to think of God being three, and the Lord two?’
[10] VII. Afterwards they turned to the Lutherans, saying that the Augustan [Augsburg] Confession and Luther taught that the Son of God and the Son of Man in Christ are one Person, and that He even as to the Human Nature is the True, Omnipotent and Eternal God, and that as to that Nature also, being present at the right hand of God Almighty, He directs all things in the heavens and on earth, fills all things, is with us, and dwells and works in us; and that there is no difference of adoration, because by means of the Nature that is discerned the Divinity that is not discerned is adored, thus that in Christ God is Man and Man God. Having heard these things, they [the Lutherans] replied, ‘Is it so?’ And they looked around and presently said, ‘We did not know these things before, and therefore we were not able.’ But one and another said, ‘We have read it, and written it, but when we thought about it in and from ourselves they were only words of which we had no interior idea.’
[11] VIII. At length, having turned to the followers of the Pontiff (ad Pontificos), they said, ‘Perhaps you can name the DIVINE HUMAN, because you believe that in your Eucharist, in the bread and the wine and in every part thereof, is the whole Christ, and also you adore Him as God when you show the host and bear it about, also because you call Mary the mother (genetrix) of God, consequently you acknowledge that she brought forth God, that is, the Divine Human.’ And these then wished to pronounce it out of those ideas of thoughts about the Lord, but were not able on account of a material idea about His body and blood, and on account of the assertion that the Human and not the Divine power has been transferred by Him to the Pope. And a monk then rose up and said that he could think ‘Divine Human’ of the most holy virgin Mary, mother of God, and also of the saint of his monastery. And another monk approached saying, ‘I am able out of the idea of my thought to say “Divine Human” of His Holiness the Pope rather than of Christ.’ But then other monks pulled him back and said, ‘You should be ashamed of yourself.’ [12] After these things heaven was seen opened, and tongues like little flames were seen coming down and inflowing with some; and these then celebrated the LORD’S DIVINE HUMAN, saying, ‘Remove the idea of three Gods, and believe that in the Lord dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and that the Father and He are one as soul and body are one, and that God is not wind or ether, but that He is a Man, and then you will be conjoined to heaven, and through that you will from the Lord be able to name “JESUS”, and to say “DIVINE HUMAN”‘.
* In the Original Edition these words are quoted in English.
1. And I saw when the Lamb had opened the first of the seals, and I heard one of the four animals saying as with a voice of thunder, Come and look.
2. And I saw, and behold a white horse, and the one sitting upon it having a bow, and a crown was given unto him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer.
3. And when He had opened the second seal, I heard the second animal saying, Come and look.
4. And there went forth another horse, red, and it was given to the one sitting upon it to take away peace from the land, so that they should slay one another, and there was given unto him a great sword (machaera).
5. And when He had opened the third seal, I heard the third animal saying, Come and look. And I saw, and behold a black horse, and the one Sitting upon it having a balance in his hand.
6. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four animals saying, A measure (chaenix) of wheat for a penny (denarius), and three measures of barley for a penny, and do not hurt the oil and the wine.
7. And when He had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth animal saying, Come and look.
8. And I saw, and behold a pale horse, and the one sitting upon it, whose name was death, and hell was following with him, and there was given unto them the power of putting to death over a fourth part of the land, with the sword (romphaea), with famine, with death, and by the beasts [of the land].
9. And when He had opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony that they held.
10. And they were crying out with a great voice, saying, How long, O Lord, Who art Holy and True, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on those dwelling upon the land?
11. And white robes were given to each one; and it was said unto them that they should rest yet a little while, until both their fellow-servants and their brothers, who were going to be slain as they had been, are made up to the full extent.
12. And I saw when He had opened the sixth seal, and behold a great earthquake was brought about, and the sun became black as a hairy sack, and the moon became as blood.
13. And the stars of heaven fell to earth, as a fig-tree shaken by a great wind casts its unripe figs.
14. And the heaven departed as a book rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15. And the kings of the land and the great men, and the rich men and the rulers of thousands, and the mighty men, and every bondman and every freeman hid themselves away in the caves, and in the rocks of the mountains.
16. And they were saying to the mountains and the rocks, Fall upon us, and hide us away from the face of the One sitting upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.
17. Because the great day of His wrath is coming, and who is able to stand?
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
It treats of the examination of those upon whom there is going to be the last judgment; and an examination as to what kind of an understanding of the Word there had been with them, and from this what the state of their life was.
That there were those who were in truths derived from good (vers. 1, 2); those who were without good (vers. 3, 4); those who were in contempt of truth (vers 5, 6); and those who were altogether vastated as to good and as to truth (vers. 7, 8).
Of the state of those who, having been protected by the Lord in the lower land on account of the evil, were to be set free at the time of the last judgment (vers. 9, 10, 11).
Of the state of those who were in evils and the untruths therefrom; what it is like at the day of the last judgment (vers. 12-17).
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. And I saw when the Lamb had opened the first of the seals
signifies the examination by the Lord of all upon whom there is going to be the last judgment, as to the understanding of the Word, and from this as to the states of their life.
And I heard one of the four animals saying as with a voice of thunder
signifies in accordance with the Divine Truth of the Word.
Come and look
signifies the manifestation concerning those first in order.
2. And I saw and behold a white horse
signifies the understanding of truth and good out of the Word with these.
And the one sitting upon it having a bow
signifies that with these there is a doctrine of good and truth out of the Word, out of which they have fought against the untruths and evils that are from hell.
And a crown was given unto him
signifies their badge of combat.
And he went forth conquering and to conquer
signifies victory over evils and untruths for ever.
3. And when He had opened the second seal, and I heard the second animal saying, Come and look
signifies the same here as above.
4. And there went forth another horse, red
signifies the understanding of the Word utterly lost as to good, and consequently as to life with these.
[And] it was given to the one sitting upon it to take away peace from the land
signifies the abolition of charity, spiritual security, and internal rest.
So that they should slay one another
signifies intestine hatreds, infestations from the hells, and eternal unrests.
And there was-given unto him a great sword
signifies the destruction of truth by means of the untruths of evil.
5. And when He had opened the third seal, and I heard the third animal saying, Come and look
signifies the same here as above.
And I saw and behold a black horse
signifies the understanding of the Word utterly lost as to truth, thus as to the doctrine with these.
And the one sitting upon it having a balance in his hand
signifies the evaluation of good and truth, what it was like with these.
6. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four animals saying
signifies the Divine protection of the Word by the Lord.
A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny
signifies because the evaluation of good and truth is so very little as to be scarcely anything.
And do not hurt the oil and the wine
signifies that it is provided by the Lord that the holy goods and truths that lie hidden interiorly in the Word should not be violated and profaned.
7. And when He had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth animal saying, Come and look
signifies the same as above.
8. And I saw and behold a pale horse
signifies the understanding of the Word utterly lost as to both good and truth.
And the one sitting upon it, whose name was death, and hell was following with him
signifies the extinction of spiritual life and the resulting damnation.
And there was given unto them the power of putting to death over a fourth part of the land
signifies the destruction of every good of the Church.
With the sword and with famine and with death and by the beasts of the land
signifies by means of untruths of doctrine, evils of life, love of proprium, and lusts.
9. And when He had opened the fifth seal
signifies examination by the Lord of the states of life of those who were to be saved at the day of the last judgment, and were reserved in the meantime.
I saw underneath the altar the souls of those slain for the Word of God and for the testimony that they held
signifies those who, having been rejected by the evil on account of a life in accordance with the truths of the Word and the acknowledgment of the Lord’s Divine Human, have been protected by the Lord lest they should be led astray.
10. And they were crying out with a great voice
signifies grief of heart.
Saying, How long, O Lord, [Who art Holy and True,] dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on those dwelling upon the land?
signifies over the fact that the last judgment is deferred, and that those who inflict violence on the Word and the Lord’s Divine are not being removed.
11. And white robes were given to each one
signifies the communication and conjunction of these with angels who are in Divine truths.
And it was said [unto them] that they should rest yet a little while, until both their fellow-servants and their brothers who were going to be slain as they had been, are made up to the full extent
signifies that the last judgment would be deferred a little longer, until those who were in like manner rejected by the evil should be gathered together.
12. And I saw when He had opened the sixth seal
signifies the examination by the Lord of the states of life of those who were interiorly evil, upon whom there is going to be the judgment.
And behold a great earthquake was brought about
signifies the state of the Church with those entirely changed, and terror.
And the sun became black as a hairy sack, and the moon became as blood
signifies with those every good of love adulterated, and every truth of faith falsified.
13. And the stars [of heaven] fell to earth
signifies all the cognitions of good and truth detached (disparatus).
As a fig-tree shaken by a great wind casts its unripe figs
signifies by means of the reasonings of the natural man separated from the spiritual.
14. And the heaven departed as a book rolled up
signifies separation from heaven and conjunction with hell. And every mountain and island were moved out of their places
signifies that every good of love and truth of faith receded.
15. And the kings of the land and the great men and the rich men and the rulers of thousands and the mighty men and every bondman and [every] freeman
signifies those who before the separation were in an understanding of truth and good, in a knowledge of the cognitions thereof, and in erudition, from others or from themselves, and yet were not in a life in accordance with them.
Hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains
signifies those now in evils and in the untruths of evil.
16. And they were saying to the mountains and the rocks, Fall upon us, and hide us away from the face of the One sitting upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb
signifies confirmations of evil by means of untruths derived from evil, until they should not acknowledge any Divine of the Lord.
17. Because the great day of His wrath is coming, and who is able to stand?
signifies that they became such from themselves through separation from the good and the faithful on account of the last judgment, which they would not otherwise endure.
THE EXPOSITION
[verse 1] ‘And I saw when the Lamb had opened the first of the seals’ signifies the examination by the Lord of all upon whom there is going to be the last judgment, as to the understanding of the Word, and as a consequence as to the states of their life. These things are signified because there now follows in order the examination of all upon whom there is going to be the last judgment, as to the state of their life, and this by the Lord in accordance with the Word. This, therefore, is what is signified by the Lamb’s having opened the seals of the book. That ‘to open the book’ and ‘to loosen the seals thereof’ signifies to get to know the states of the life of all, and to judge each one in accordance with his own [state], may be seen above (n. 259, 265-267, 273, 274).
296. ‘And I heard one of the four animals saying as with a voice of thunder’ signifies in accordance with the Divine Truth of the Word. That by ‘the four animals’ or cherubs is understood the Word may be seen above (n. 239, 275, 286); and by ‘a voice of thunder’ the perception of Divine Truth (n. 236). ‘A voice of thunder’ is said here because by this ‘animal’ is understood the lion, by which the Divine Truth of the Word as to power is signified (n. 241). This is why this animal is said to have spoken ‘as with a voice of thunder’, for afterwards it is said that the second animal spoke, then the third, and the fourth.
297. ‘Come and look’ signifies a manifestation concerning those first in order. It has been said above that in this chapter is described the examination of all those upon whom there is going to be the judgment, as to the states of their life, and this by the Lord in accordance with the Word (n. 295). Here therefore is described the examination of those first in order, what they are like as to the understanding of the Word, and as a consequence the states of their life. That the Church has existence out of the Word, and that it is such as is the understanding it has of the Word, may be seen shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 76-79).
298. [verse 21 ‘And I saw and behold a white horse’ signifies the understanding of truth and good out of the Word, with these. By ‘a horse’ is signified the understanding of the Word, and by ‘a white horse’ the understanding of truth out of the Word; for ‘white’ is predicated of truths (n. 167). That ‘a horse’ signifies the understanding of the Word has been shown in a separate little work concerning THE WHITE HORSE, but because some passages only have been quoted there, more shall be quoted here in confirmation. This is quite plain from the fact that ‘horses’ were seen to go out of the book that the Lamb had opened, and that the animals said ‘Come and look’, for by ‘the animals’ the Word is signified (n. 239, 275, 286), by ‘the book’ likewise (n. 256), and by the ‘Son of Man’, Who here is ‘the Lamb’, the Lord as to the Word (n. 44). From these things it is at once plain that nothing else but the understanding of the Word is understood here by ‘a horse’. This can be more manifestly established from these things below in the Apocalypse:-
I saw heaven opened, until I beheld (dum ecce) a white horse, and the One sitting upon it is called the Word of God, and He has upon His raiment and upon His thigh a Name written, King of kings and Lord of lords: and His armies in heaven were following Him upon white horses Rev. xix 11, 13, 14, 16.
[2] That ‘a horse’ signifies the understanding of the Word can be established further from the following passages:-
Is Thy growing anger against the sea, O Jehovah, that Thou dost ride upon Thy horses? Thy chariot is safety, Thou hast furnished shoes to Thy horses with the sea, the mud of the waters Hab. iii 8, 15.
The hooves of Jehovah’s horses are counted as pieces of rock Isa. v 28.
In that day I will smite every horse with astonishment, and its rider with madness, and will smite every horse of the people, with blindness Zech. xii 4.
In that day there shall be upon the bells of the horse, Holiness to Jehovah Zech. xiv 20.
Because God has made her to forget wisdom, neither has imparted intelligence, what time she lifts up herself on high, she laughs at the horse and its rider Job xxxix 17, 18 seq.
I will cut off the horse from Jerusalem, until (contra) he shall speak peace to the nations Zech. ix 10.
At Thy rebuke, O Jehovah*, both the chariot and the horse have fallen asleep Ps. lxxvi 5, 6 [H.B. 6, 7].
I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will overthrow the chariot and those who ride in it, and the horses and their riders shall come down Hag. ii 22.
By Thee will I scatter the kingdom, by Thee will I scatter the horse and its rider Jer. li 20, 21.
Gather yourselves on every side upon My sacrifice, you shall be satisfied upon My table with horse and chariot, thus will I give My glory among the nations Ezek. xxxix 17, 20, 21.
Gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God, and you shall eat the flesh of horses and of those sitting upon them Rev. xix 17, 18.
Dan shall be a viper upon the way, biting the horse’s heels, and its rider** shall fall backwards, I wait for Thy salvation, O Jehovah Gen. xlix 17, 18.
Gird on Thy sword, O Mighty One, mount, ride upon the Word of truth (veritas) Ps. xlv 3, 4 [H.B. 4, 5].
Sing unto God, extol the One riding upon the clouds Ps. lxviii 4 [H.B. 5].
Behold Jehovah riding upon a cloud Isa. xix 1, 2.
Sing psalms unto the Lord, riding upon the heaven of the heaven of antiquity Ps. lxviii 33 [H.B. 34].
God rode upon a cherub Ps. xviii 10 [H.B. 11].
Then shalt thou delight thyself in Jehovah, and I will make thee to ride upon the high places of the land Isa. lviii 14.
Jehovah alone did lead him, and made him ride upon the high places of the land Deut. xxxii 12, 53.
I will make Ephraim to ride Hos. x ii.
[3] ‘Ephraim’ also signifies the understanding of the Word. Since Elijah and Elisha used to represent the Lord as to the Word, they were therefore called ‘the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof’. Elisha said to Elijah:-
My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof 2 Kings ii 12;
and king Joash said to Elisha:-
O my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof 2 Kings xiii 14.
Jehovah opened the eyes of Elisha’s boy, and he saw, and behold the mountain was full of horses and fiery chariots around Elisha 2 Kings vi 17.
A ‘chariot’ signifies a doctrine out of the Word, and a ‘horseman’ the wisdom therefrom. Similar things are signified by:-
The four chariots coming out from between the mountains of bronze, and by the four horses harnessed to them, which were red, black, white, and grizzled, which are also called four spirits, and are said to have gone forth from standing beside the Lord of the whole earth Zech. vi 1-8, 15.
By ‘horses’ in these places is signified the understanding of the Word, or the understanding of truth out of the Word; equally so in other places.
[4] This can be further established from ‘horses’ mentioned in the opposite sense, in which they signify the understanding of the Word and of truth falsified by reasonings, and destroyed likewise, also one’s own intelligence, as in the following:-
Woe to those going down to Egypt for help; and they lean upon horses, and look not unto the Holy One of Israel, for Egypt is man and not God, and the horses thereof are flesh and not spirit Isa. xxxi 1, 3.
Thou shalt set a king over Israel, whom Jehovah shall choose, only let him not multiply horses to himself, lest he lead the people back into Egypt, so that he may multiply horses Deut. xvii 14-16.
These things were said because by ‘Egypt’ is signified knowledge and reasoning out of one’s own intelligence, whence there is a falsification of the truth of the Word, which here is ‘a horse’.
Asshur will not preserve us, we will not ride upon a horse Hos. xiv 3 [H.B. 4].
Some [trust] in chariots, and some in horses, but as for us we shall glory in the Name of our God Ps. xx 7, 8 [H.B. 8, 9].
A horse is a lying creature (mendacium) for safety Ps. xxxiii 17.
Jehovah delights not in the strength of the horse Ps. cxlvii 10.
The Holy One of Israel says, In confidence shall be your strength, but you said, No, we will flee upon a horse, and we will ride upon a swift one Isa. xxx 15, 16.
Jehovah will set Judah as a horse of glory; the riders on horses shall be ashamed Zech. x 3-5.
Woe to the city of bloods, all full of lying, and the horse neighing, and the chariot leaping, the horseman making to mount Nah. iii 1-4.
I will bring against Tyre the king of Babel with horse and with chariot and with horsemen, by reason of the abundance of the horses their dust shall cover thee, by reason of the voice of the horseman and the chariot thy walls shall be shaken, with the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets Ezek. xxvi 7-11.
By ‘Tyre’ is signified the Church as to cognitions of truth, here cognitions falsified therein, which are ‘horses of Babel’; besides in other places, as Isa. v 26, 28; Jer. vi 22, 23; viii 16; xlvi 4, 9; l 37, 38, 42; Ezek. xvii 15; xxiii 6, 20; Hab. i 6, 8-10; Ps. lxvi 11, 12. The understanding of the Word destroyed is also signified by the red, black, and pale ‘horse’ in the things now following. That ‘horse’ signifies the understanding of truth out of the Word is on account of appearances in the spiritual world. This may be seen in the little work concerning THE WHITE HORSE.
* So in the Original Edition; but Hebrew and AE 355:11 have ‘O God of Jacob’.
** Reading eques instead of equus (horse).
299. ‘And the one sitting upon it having a bow’ signifies that with these there is a doctrine of truth and good out of the Word, out of which they have fought against the untruths and evils that [come] out of hell, thus against hell. By the ‘One sitting upon a white horse’, of Whom Rev. xix 13 [treats], is understood the Lord as to the Word, but by the ‘one sitting’ upon this ‘white horse’ is understood a man [who is] an angel as to the doctrine of truth and good out of the Word, thus out of the Lord, in like manner as by the Lord’s army in heaven, which ‘was following the Lord upon white horses’ (Rev. xix 14). Of the One sitting upon the white horse (Rev. xix) it is said that ‘out of His mouth there went forth a sharp sword that with it He should smite the nations’, and by the ‘sword out of His mouth’ is signified the Divine Truth of the Word fighting against untruths and evils (n. 52, 108, 117). Here, however, it is said that the one sitting on this white horse had ‘a bow’, and by ‘a bow’ is signified a doctrine of truth and good out of the Word fighting against evils and untruths. To fight against untruths and evils is also to fight against the hells, because evils and untruths are therefrom, and therefore this also is signified.
[2] That ‘a bow’ in the Word signifies a doctrine fighting in either [a good sense or an opposite] sense can be confirmed from these passages:-
The darts of Jehovah are sharp, and all His bows bent, the hooves of His horses are accounted as rocks Isa. v 28.
The Lord has bent His bow like an enemy Lam. ii 4.
Thou, O Jehovah, ridest upon Thy horses, Thy bow shall be made naked Hab. iii 8, 9.
He gave the nations before Him, and made Him to rule over kings, He gave [them] as dust to His sword, as stubble to His bow Isa. xli 2.
In these passages ‘a bow’, because it [is said] of Jehovah or the Lord, signifies the Word, out of which the Lord with a man fights against evils and untruths.
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war shall be cut off, until (contra) He shall speak peace to the nations Zech. ix 10.
They bend their tongue, their bow is a lie, and not the truth (veritas)
Jer. ix 3 [H.B. 2].
Lo the wicked bend the bow, they make ready the arrows upon the string, to aim in the darkness at the upright in heart Ps. xi 2.
They shall provoke Joseph and take aim, the archers shall hate him, but he shall sit in the firmness of his bow from the hands of the strong Jacob Gen. xlix 23, 24.
Put yourselves in array against Babel, all bending the bow shoot at her, do not spare the dart for she has sinned against Jehovah Jer. l 14, 29.
David lamented over Saul, to teach the sons of Judah the bow 2 Sam. i 17 [,18].
In that lamentation it treats of the combat of truth against untruths.
[3] Jehovah Zebaoth says, Behold I am breaking the bow of Elam, the beginning of his might Jer. xlix 35.
Jehovah has made me into a cleansed dart, in His quiver has He hidden me Isa. xlix 2.
Behold, sons are an heritage of Jehovah, blessed is he who has filled his quiver with them Ps. cxxvii 3-5.
‘Sons’ here, as elsewhere, signify truths of doctrine.
In Salem shall be the tabernacle of Jehovah, there broke He the strings of the bow, the shield, the sword, and the war Ps. lxxvi 1-3 [H.B. 2-4].
Jehovah will make wars to cease, He will break the bow, He will cut the spear asunder, He will burn up the chariot with fire Ps. xlvi 9 [H.B. 10]; Ezek. xxxix 8, 9; Hos. ii 18.
In these places a ‘bow’ signifies a doctrine of truth fighting against untruths, and in the opposite sense a doctrine of untruth fighting against truths. Consequently ‘arrows’ and ‘darts’ signify truths or untruths. Since a ‘war’ in the Word signifies a spiritual war, therefore the weapons of war, as sword, spear, buckler (clypeus), shield (scutum), bow, arrows, signify such things as belong to that war.
the man said to David concerning Saul, that when he had died in the battle, he took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelets that were upon his arm.
Then also, from the things that are related of the king of Rabbah and David (2 Sam. xii 29, 30). And as temptations are spiritual combats, and the martyrs sustained these, therefore crowns were given to them as badges of victory (n. 103). It is plain from these considerations that by ‘crown’ here is signified their badge of combat, and therefore it follows ‘And he went forth conquering and to conquer’.
301. ‘And he went forth conquering and to conquer’ signifies victory over untruths and evils for ever. ‘Conquering and to conquer’ is said, because he who in the spiritual combats that are temptations conquers in the world, conquers for ever, for the hells are unable to approach anyone who has conquered.
302. [verse 3] ‘And when He had opened the second seal’ signifies the examination by the Lord of those upon whom there is going to be the last judgment, as to the states of their life. Here are signified things similar to those before (n. 295), with a difference, about which [the exposition] follows.
303. ‘And I heard the second animal saying’ signifies in accordance with the Divine Truth of the Word, as above (n. 296).
304. That ‘Come and look’ signifies a manifestation concerning those second in order can be established from the things expounded above (n. 297), but there concerning the first in order, here, however, the second.
305. [verse 4] ‘And there went forth another horse, red (rufus)’, signifies the understanding of the Word utterly lost as to good, and consequently as to life with these. By ‘a horse’ the understanding of the Word is signified (n. 298), and by ‘red’ is signified good utterly lost. That the colour white is predicated of truths because it is derived from the light of the Sun of heaven, and the colour red of goods because it is derived from the fire of the Sun of heaven, may be seen above (n. 167, 231). ‘Red’, however, is predicated of good utterly
lost, because by ‘red’ an infernal red is understood, and this is derived from the fire of hell, which is the love of evil. The redness that is the infernal red is hideous and abominable because there is nothing alive in it, but it is all dead. It is in consequence of this that by the ‘red horse’ is signified the understanding of the Word utterly lost as to good. This can also be established from the description thereof, as it follows that ‘it was given him to take away peace from the land, so that they should slay one another’. Moreover, the second animal which was like a calf, by which is signified the Divine Truth of the Word as to affection (n. 242), said, ‘Come and look’, thus showing that there was no affection of good, thus no good with them. That ‘red’ (rubrum) is said of the love of good as well as of evil, can be established from the following passages:-
Who washed his clothing in wine, and his covering in the blood of grapes, with eyes redder than wine, and teeth whiter than milk Gen. xlix 11, 12.
These things are said of the Lord. Also concerning the Lord:-
Who is this coming out of Edom, red as to garment, and a garment as of those treading in the winepress? Isa. lxiii 1, 2.
The Nazirites were whiter than snow, more bright than milk, they were redder as to bones than rubies Lam. iv 7
In these passages ‘red’ is predicated of the love of good: in the following it is predicated of the love of evil:-
The shield was made ruddy, and the men dressed in purple, in a fire of little torches were their chariots, their aspect as of torches Nah. ii 3, 4 [H.B. 4, 5].
If your sins have been as scarlet, they shall become white as snow; if they have been red as purple, they shall be as wool Isa. i 18.
Nor is anything else signified by the ‘red dragon’ (Rev. xii 3); and by the ‘red horse standing among the myrtle trees’ (Zech. i 8). Similar things are predicated of the colours that are derived from red, as of scarlet and purple.
306. ‘It was given to the one sitting upon it to take peace away from the land’ signifies the abolition of charity, spiritual security, and internal rest. By ‘peace’ are signified all things in a complex whole that are from the Lord, and consequently all the things of heaven and the Church; also the blessedness of life in them. These are of peace in the supreme or inmost sense. It follows, therefore, that charity, spiritual security and internal rest are ‘peace’, for when a man is in the Lord he is in the peace with the neighbour that is charity, in the protection against the hells that is spiritual security; and when he is in peace with the neighbour and in protection against the hells, he is in internal rest from evils and untruths. Since therefore all these things are derived from the Lord, what is signified by ‘peace’ in general and in each case can be established in the following passages:-
For unto us a Boy is born, unto us a Son is given, upon Whose shoulder [shall be] the government, His Name shall be called God, Hero, the Father of eternity, the Prince of Peace. To the increase of His government and peace there shall not be an end Isa. ix 6, 7 [H.B. 5, 6].
Jesus said, Peace I leave with you, My Peace I give unto you John xiv 27.
Jesus said, These things have I spoken, that you might have peace in Me John xvi 33.
In His days shall the just flourish, and much peace Ps. lxxii 3, 7.
Then I will make a covenant of peace Ezek. xxxiv 25, 27; xxxvii 25, 26; Mal. ii 4, 5.
How pleasant upon the mountains are the feet of One bringing good tidings, making to hear peace, saying unto Zion, Thy King* reigns Isa. lii 7.
Jehovah bless thee, and lift up His faces upon thee, and give thee peace Num. vi 24-26.
Jehovah will bless His people in peace Ps. xxix 11.
Jehovah will redeem my soul in peace Ps. lv 18 [H.B. 19].
The work of Jehovah** is peace, the labour of justice is quietness, and security for ever: so that they may dwell in the tabernacle of peace, and in the tents of security, and in tranquil quiet places Isa. xxxii 17, 18.
Jesus said unto the seventy whom He sent out, Into whatsoever house you enter, first say, Peace be to the house, and if there is the son of peace, your peace shall rest upon it Luke x 5, 6; Matt. x 12-14.
The miserable shall possess the land, and shall delight themselves over the multitude of peace; see the upright, for the end of the man is peace Ps. xxxvii 11, 37.
Zechariah prophesying said, The Dayspring from on high has appeared, to direct our feet into the way of peace Luke i 78, 79.
Depart from evil, and do good, seek peace, and pursue it Ps. xxxiv 14 [H.B. 15].
Much peace to those loving Thy law Ps. cxix 165, 166.
O that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments, and thy peace shall be as a river. There is no peace, says Jehovah, to the wicked Isa. xvliii 18, 22.
Jehovah will speak peace unto His people: justice and peace shall kiss each other Ps. lxxxv 8, 10 [H.B. 9, 11].
There is no peace in my bones because of my sin Ps. xxxviii 3 [H.B. 4].
He has filled me with bitterness, my soul has been removed from peace, I have forgotten good Lam. iii 15, 17;
besides in many other places, from which it can be seen that the aforesaid things are understood by ‘peace’. Keep the mind on spiritual peace and you will see clearly. Likewise in these places (Isa. xxvi 12; liii 5; liv 10, 13; Jer. xxxiii 6, 9; Hag. ii 9; Zech. viii 16, 19; Ps. iv 6-8 [H.B. 7-9]; cxx 6, 7; cxxii 6-9; cxxviii 5, 6; cxlvii 14. That peace is an inmost affecting of every good with blessedness may be seen in the work concerning HEAVEN AND HELL (n. 284-290).
* So also AE 365:30 and other places; but Hebrew has ‘God’.
** So also have AE 365:40 and TCR 303; but AC 3780 and HH 287 have ‘justice [or righteousness]’ as in Hebrew.
310. ‘And I heard the third animal saying’ signifies in accordance with the Divine Truth of the Word, as above (n. 296).
311. That ‘Come and look’ signifies a manifestation concerning those third in order can be established from the things expounded above (n. 297), but there concerning the first in order, here, however, the third.
312. ‘And I saw, and behold a black horse’ signifies the understanding of the Word utterly lost as to truth, thus as to the doctrine with those. That a ‘horse’ signifies the understanding of the Word has been shown above; that ‘black’ signifies what is not true, thus untruth, is because black is opposite to white, and white is predicated of truth (n. 167, 231, 232); white in fact draws its origin out of light, whereas black does so out of darkness, thus out of an absence of light, and light is truth. In the spiritual world, however, blackness exists out of a two-fold origin, one out of an absence of the flamy light that is the light with those who are in the Lord’s celestial kingdom, and the other out of an absence of the shining white light that is with those who are in the Lord’s spiritual kingdom. The latter blackness signifies that which is like darkness, but the former that which is like thick-darkness. These blacknesses differ from each other. The one is abominable, the other not so. The untruths that they signify differ in like manner. In the abominable blackness appear those who are called devils. Indeed they abhor truth as horned-owls abhor the light of the sun. In the non-abominable darkness, however, appear those who are called satans. These do not abhor truth, but are averse to it. Therefore the latter can be compared to night-owls, when the former are compared to horned-owls. That ‘black’ in the Word is said of untruth, can be established from these passages:-
Her Nazirites were whiter than snow, their form has been darkened more than blackness Lam. iv 7, 8.
The day shall grow black over the prophets Micah iii 6.
In the day in which thou art about to go down into hell, I will make Lebanon black over thee Ezek. xxxi 15.
The sun became black as a goat-hair sack Rev. vi 12.
The sun, the moon, the stars, became black Jer. iv 27, 28; Ezek. xxxii 7; Joel ii 10; iii 15 [H.B. iv 15];
and elsewhere. The ‘third animal’ exposed the ‘black horse’ to view, because that animal had a face like a man, by which the Divine Truth of the Word as to wisdom is signified (n. 243). Therefore this animal exposed to view the fact that there was no longer any truth of wisdom with those who were the third in order.
313. ‘And the one sitting upon it having a balance in his hand’ signifies the evaluation of good and truth, what it was with these. By ‘a balance in [his] hand’ is signified the evaluation of truth and good; for all measures as well as weights in the Word signify the evaluation of the thing of which it treats. That measures and weights signify such things is plain from these things in Daniel:-
A writing appeared before Belshazzar the king of Babel, when he was drinking wine Out of the vessels of gold and silver taken away from the Jerusalem temple, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Perizin, that is, Numbered, Numbered, Weighed, Divided; the interpretation of which is this: Mene, God has numbered thy kingdom and finished it; Tekel, Thou hast been weighed in the balance and found wanting; Perez, the kingdom is divided, and given to the Mede and the Persian Dan. v 1, 2, 25-28.
By ‘to drink out of the vessels of gold and silver in the Jerusalem temple’ and at the same time ‘to worship other gods’ is signified the profanation of good and truth, as also by ‘Babel’. By mene or to number is signified to get to know his quality as to truth; by ‘tekel’ or to weigh is signified to get to know his quality as to good; by ‘perez’ or to divide is signified to disperse. That the quality of truth and good is signified by measures and scales [of a balance] in the Word, is plain in Isaiah:-
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of a hand, and has levelled out the heavens with a span, and has embraced the dust of the earth in a third of a foot (trientalis), and weighed the mountains in a balance (fibra), and the hills in scales (lances)? Isa. xl 12;
and in the Apocalypse:-
The angel measured the wall of the Holy Jerusalem a hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel Rev. xxi 17.
314. [verse 6] ‘And I heard a voice in the midst of the four animals saying’ signifies the Divine protection of the Word by the Lord. That ‘the four animals’ or cherubs signify the Word from firsts in ultimates, and guards lest its interior truths and goods should be violated, may be seen above (n. 239); and because these guards are from the Lord, therefore the voice was heard in the midst of the four animals. By ‘in the midst’ of them is understood the Word as to its spiritual internal sense, which the Lord guards. That a ‘guard’ is signified is plain from the things that it said, ‘a measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny, and do not hurt the oil and the wine’, by which is signified ‘because the evaluation of good and truth is so very little as to be scarcely anything, it is provided that the holy goods and truths that lie hidden interiorly in the Word should not be violated and profaned’; and this is provided by the Lord by this means, that at length they do not know any good nor consequently any truth, but what is altogether evil and untrue; for they who know goods and truths can violate and even profane them, but not so those who do not know. That this is the Divine Providence for guarding the Word may be seen in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE PROVIDENCE (n. 221-233, 257 end, 258 beginning).
The field is laid waste, the land is mourning, for the corn is laid waste the new wine is dried up, the oil is languishing, the husbandmen are ashamed, the vinedressers have uttered lamentations over the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field is perished. Joel i 10-12.
[2] All these things signify such things as are of the Church. That ‘wheat’ and ‘barley’ signify the good and truth of the Church can be seen from these passages:-
John [said] concerning Jesus, that He will gather the wheat into the barn, and burn up the chaff with fire Matt. iii 11, 12.
Jesus said, Let the tares and the wheat grow together, and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather first the tares for burning, but gather the wheat into my barn Matt. xiii 24-30.
I have heard from Jehovah God the consummation and decision, he lays up the measured wheat, and the appointed barley, so he instructs for the judgment, his God teaches him Isa. xxviii 21-26.
Jehovah shall lead thee to a land of wheat and barley Deut. viii 7, 8.
The ‘land of wheat and barley’ here is the land of Canaan, by which the Church is signified.
They shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of Jehovah, to the wheat and the new wine Jer. xxxi 12.
Jehovah shall satiate thee with the fat of wheat Deut. xxxii 13, 14; Ps. lxxxi 13, 16 [H.B. 14, 17]; Ps. cxlvii 12-14.
Jehovah said to the prophet Ezekiel:-
That he should make himself a cake of barley, mixed with dung, and
eat it Ezek. iv 12, 15;
and to the prophet Hosea:-
That he should take a woman, an adulteress, whom he bought for a homer of barley, and a half-homer of barley Hos. iii 1, 2;
which things were done by those prophets that they might represent the falsifications of truth in the Church, for truths are ‘barley’, and truths falsified and profaned are ‘barley mixed with dung’; ‘a woman, an adulteress’ also signifies falsified truth (n. 134).
316. ‘And do not hurt the oil and the wine’ signifies that it is provided by the Lord that the holy goods and truths that lie hidden interiorly in the Word should not be violated and profaned. By ‘oil’ is signified the good of love, and by ‘wine’ the truth derived from that good, thus by ‘oil’ holy good is signified, and by ‘wine’ holy truth. That it is provided by the Lord that they should not be violated and profaned is signified by ‘do not hurt’, for this was heard out of the midst of the four animals, thus from the Lord (n. 314). What is said by the Lord is also provided by Him; that it is provided may be seen above (n. 314; and n. 255). That ‘oil’ signifies the good of love will be seen below (n. 778, 779); but that ‘wine’ signifies the truth derived from that good may be established from the following passages:-
Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no silver, come, buy and eat, and buy wine and milk without silver Isa. lv 1.
It shall come to pass in that day the mountains shall drip new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk Joel iii 18 [H.B. iv 8]; Amos ix 13, 14.
Joy is taken away from Carmel, and in the vineyards there is no singing, wine is not being trodden in the winepress, I have made hedad* to cease Isa. xvi 10; Jer xlviii 32, 33.
By ‘Carmel’ is signified the spiritual Church, because vineyards were there.
[2] Howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it is cut off from your mouth, the vinedressers have howled Joel i 5, 10, 11.
Much the same, Hos. ix 2, 3; Zeph. i 13; Lam. ii 11, 12; Micah vi 15; Amos v 11; Isa. xxiv 6, 7, 9, 11.
He washes his garments in wine, and his covering in the blood of grapes; red-eyed from wine Gen. xlix 11.
These things [are said] of the Lord, ‘wine’ signifying Divine Truth. In consequence of this signification the Holy Supper has been instituted by the Lord, in which the bread signifies the Lord as to Divine Good, and the wine the Lord as to Divine Truth, and with the recipients the bread signifies holy good, and the wine holy truth, from the Lord; and He therefore said:-
I say unto you, that from now on I am not going to drink of this product of the vine until the day when I shall drink it with you in My Father’s kingdom Matt. xxvi 29; Luke xxii 18.
Because ‘bread’ and ‘wine’ used to signify those things, therefore, also:-
Melchizedek, going to meet Abram, brought forth bread and wine; and he was the priest to the Most High God, and he blessed Abram Gen. xiv 18, 19.
[3] By ‘the meal-offering’ and ‘the drink-offering’ in the sacrifices similar things were signified, concerning which [see] Exod. xxix 40; Lev. xxiii 12, 13, 18, 19; Num. xv 2-15; xxviii 6, 7, 18 to the end; xxix 1-11 seq. The meal-offering was of fine flour of wheat and was consequently in place of bread, and the drink-offering was of wine. From these things it can be established what is signified by these words of the Lord:-
They do not put the new wine into old wine-skins, but they put the wine into new wine-skins, and both are preserved Matt. ix 17; Luke v 37.
The ‘new wine’ is the Divine Truth of the New Testament, thus of the New Church, and the ‘old wine’ is the Divine Truth of the Old Testament, thus of the Old Church. The like is signified by these words of the Lord** at the marriage in Cana of Galilee:-
Every man first serves the good wine, and when they have had enough, the worse; thou hast kept back the good wine until now John ii 1-10.
[4] The like was signified also by the ‘wine’ in the Lord’s parable about the one wounded by robbers,
That the Samaritan poured oil and wine into his wounds. Luke x 33, 34,
for by ‘one wounded by robbers’ are understood those who have been wounded by the Jews spiritually by means of evils and untruths, to whom the Samaritan gave help by ‘pouring oil and wine into his wounds’, that is, by teaching good and truth, and so far as he was able, healing. Holy truth is signified by ‘new wine’ and ‘wine’ elsewhere in the Word also, as [in] Isa. i 21, 22; xxv 6; xxxvi 17; Hos. vii 4, 5, 14; xiv 6-8; Amos ii 8; Zech. ix 15, 17; Ps. civ 14, 15. Consequently, by a ‘vineyard’ in the Word is signified a Church that is in truths from the Lord.
[5] That wine signifies holy truth can also be established from its opposite sense, in which it signifies falsified and profaned truth as in these places:-
Whoredom, wine and new wine, have invaded the heart. Their wine has gone, committing whoredom they have committed whoredom Hos. iv 11, 17, 18.
‘Whoredom’ signifies the falsification of truth, in like manner wine and ‘new wine’ here.
A cup in the hand of Jehovah, and He has mixed it with wine, He has filled it with the mixture and poured it out, and they shall suck out the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the land shall drink Ps. lxxv 9.
A cup of gold is Babel in the hand of Jehovah, making the whole land drunk, the nations have drunk of the wine thereof, therefore they are mad Jer. li 7.
Babylon has fallen, because she has made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her whoredom: if any one shall adore the beast, he shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God mixed with undiluted wine in the cup of the growing anger of God Rev. xiv 8, 10.
Babylon has made all nations to drink of the wine of her whoredom Rev. xviii 3.
Great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the growing anger of the wrath of God Rev. xvi 19.
Those inhabiting the land have been made drunk with the wine of her whoredom Rev. xvii 1, 2.
[6] By the ‘wine’ that Belshazzar the king of Babel and his great men and wives and concubines drank out of the vessels of the Jerusalem temple, and at the same time:-
They praised the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone Dan. v 1-4;
nothing else is signified than the holy truth of the Word and the Church profaned, and therefore there was writing upon the wall, and the king was slain that night (vers. 25, 30). Truth falsified is also signified by ‘wine’ [in] Isa. v 11, 12, 21, 22; xxviii 1, 3, 7; xxix 9; lvi 15, 12; Jer. xiii 12, 13; xxiii 9, 10. The like is signified by the drink-offering that they used to offer to idols, Isa. lxv 11; lvii 6; Jer. vii 18; xliv 17-19; Ezek. xx 28; Deut. xxxii 38. That ‘wine’ signifies holy truth, and in the opposite sense profaned truth, is the result of correspondence; for angels, who perceive all things spiritually, when ‘wine’ is read in the Word by a man, understand no other thing. There is such a correspondence between the natural thoughts of men and the spiritual thoughts of angels. It is similar with the wine in the Holy Supper. This is why introduction into heaven is effected by means of the Holy Supper (n. 224 at the end).
* This is a transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning ‘shouting’, perhaps equivalent to the English ‘hurrah’.
** These words were spoken by the ruler of the feast.
317. [verse 7] ‘And when He had opened the fourth seal’ signifies the examination by the Lord of those upon whom the last judgment will be, as to the states of their life, as above (n. 295, 302), with a difference, about which [the exposition] follows.
318. ‘I heard the voice of the fourth animal saying’ signifies in accordance with the Divine Truth of the Word, as above (n. 296, 303).
319. That ‘Come and look’ signifies a manifestation concerning the fourth in order is established from the things expounded above (n. 297); but there concerning the first in order, here concerning the fourth.
320. [verse 8] ‘And I saw and behold a pale horse’ signifies the understanding of the Word destroyed as to both good and truth. By ‘a horse’ is signified the understanding of the Word (n. 298); and by ‘pale’ is signified nothing of life (non vitale). They have nothing of life in the Word who are not in goods of life derived from truths of doctrine; for the Word in the sense of the letter is not understood without a doctrine, and a doctrine is not perceived without a life in accordance therewith. This is because a life in accordance with a doctrine that is out of the Word opens the spiritual mind, and into that the light out of heaven inflows and enlightens and gives to perceive. That such is the case, he does not know who knows the truths of doctrine and yet does not live in accordance with them. The fourth animal exposed the ‘pale horse’ to view because that animal was like a flying eagle, and by it was signified the Divine Truth of the Word as to cognitions and the understanding therefrom (n. 244), and therefore it exposed to view that with those who were now seen there were not any cognitions of good and truth out of the Word, nor an understanding of them, and they who are such in the spiritual world appear pale, as those who are without life.
321. ‘And the one sitting upon it, his name was death and hell was following with him’ signifies the extinction of spiritual life and the resulting damnation. By ‘death’ here is signified the spiritual death that is the extinction of spiritual life, and by ‘hell’ is signified the damnation that follows that death. Every man, as a result of creation and consequently of birth, has spiritual life, but that life is extinguished when there is a denial of God, of the holiness of the Word, and of eternal life. It is extinguished in the will, but it remains in the understanding, or rather in the faculty of understanding. By this man is distinguished from beasts. Since ‘death’ signifies the extinction of spiritual life and ‘hell’ the resulting damnation therefore in some places ‘death’ and ‘hell’ are named together, as in these:-
Out of the hand of hell will I redeem them, out of death will I set them free: O death, I will be thy plague, O hell, I will be thy destruction Hos. xiii 14.
The cords of death encompassed me; the cords of hell encompassed me, the snares of death went ahead of me Ps. xviii 4, 5 [H.B. 5, 6]; Ps. cxvi 3.
Like sheep (pecus) they are laid in hell, death shall feed on them; hell is for their dwelling, but God will redeem my soul out of the hand of hell Ps. xlix 14, 15 [H.B. 15, 16].
I have the keys of hell and of death Rev. i 18.
322. ‘And there was given unto them the power of putting to death over a fourth part of the land’ signifies the destruction of every good of the Church. Since by ‘death’ is understood the extinction of a man’s spiritual life, and by ‘hell’ damnation, it follows that by ‘to put to death’ here is understood to destroy the life of a man’s soul; the life of the soul is spiritual life. By ‘a fourth part of the land’ is signified every good of the Church, the ‘land’ being the Church (n. 285). That ‘a fourth part’ is every good cannot be known by anyone unless he knows what the numbers in the Word signify. The numbers 2 and 4 in the Word are said of goods and signify them, while the numbers 3 and 6 are said of truths and signify them. Consequently ‘a fourth part’, or simply ‘a fourth’, signifies every good, and ‘a third part’, or simply ‘a third’, signifies every truth; and therefore by ‘to put to death a fourth part of the land’ is here signified to destroy every good of the Church. It is plain that the power of putting to death a fourth part of the habitable land was not given to the one sitting upon the pale horse. [2] Besides, ‘four’ in the Word signifies the conjunction of good and truth. That all these things (haec et illa) are signified by ‘four’ can indeed be confirmed out of the Word, as in the case of the four animals or cherubs (Ezek. i, iii, x; Rev. [iv,] v). [It can also be confirmed] by:-
The four chariots between the two mountains of bronze (Zech. vi 1 [H.B. 2]);
the four horns (Zech. i 18 [H.B. ii]), and the four horns of the altar (Exod. xxvii i-8; Rev. ix 13);
the four angels standing on the four corners of the land, holding the four winds of the land (Rev. vii 1; Matt. xxiv 31);
also, to visit the iniquity upon the thirds and fourths (Num. xiv 8); and elsewhere, the third and fourth generation.
By these and many more [statements] in the Word, I say, it can be confirmed that ‘four’ is said of goods, and signifies them and also [signifies] the conjunction of good and truth; but because this would not be plain without a lengthy exposition of those passages it is enough to declare that by ‘four’ and ‘a fourth part’ nothing else is understood.
323. ‘With the sword (romphaea) and with famine and with death and by the beasts of the land’ signifies by means of untruths of doctrine, evils of life, love of proprium, and lusts. That by a ‘sword’ is signified truth fighting against evils and untruths and destroying them may be seen above (n. 52, 108, 117). Here therefore by ‘sword’ (machoera), because [the Word] treats of the destruction of every good of the Church, untruths of doctrine are signified. That by ‘famine’ evils of life are signified, will be confirmed below. By ‘death’ the love of a man’s proprium is signified, because by ‘death’ is signified the extinction of spiritual life, and as a result a natural life separated from a spiritual life, as above (n. 321) and this life is the life of the love of a man’s proprium, for out of this life the man does not love anything else but himself and the world, and consequently he loves evils of every kind, which are delightful to him on account of the love of that life. That by ‘the beasts of the land’ the lusts derived from that love are signified will be seen below (n. 567). Here something will be said about the signification of ‘famine’. ‘Famine’ signifies a deprivation and rejection of cognitions of truth and good, originating from evils of life. Again it signifies ignorance of cognitions of truth and good originating from a deficiency thereof in the Church; and it also signifies a longing for knowing and understanding them.
[2] I. That ‘famine’ signifies a deprivation and rejection of cognitions of truth and good, originating from evils of life, and consequently signifies evils of life, can be established from the following passages:-
They shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, so that their carcase shall be food for the birds of the heavens and he beasts of the land Jer. xvi 4.
These two things shall come unto thee, devastation and breaking up, and famine and the sword Isa. li 19.
Behold Me, visiting upon them, the young men shall die by the sword, sons and daughters shall die by famine Jer. xi 22.
Give his sons to the famine, and mow them down upon the hand of the sword, so that men may become slain by death Jer. xviii 21.
I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and I will make them like rough figs that cannot be eaten for badness, and I will pursue them with the sword, the famine, and the pestilence Jer. xxix 17, 18.
I will send among them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, till they be consumed from off the land Jer. xxiv 10.
I proclaim a liberty for you, to the sword, to the famine and the pestilence, and I will consign you for a disturbance to all the nations Jer. xxxiv 17.
Because thou hast defiled My sanctuary, a third part of thee shall die from the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed, and a third part shall fall by the sword: when I send among them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for destruction Ezek. v 11, 12, 16, 17.
The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within Ezek. vii 15.
For all the evil abominations, they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence Ezek. vi 11, 12.
My four evil judgments, the sword, the famine, and the evil beast, and the pestilence, will I send upon Jerusalem, to cut off from it man and beast Ezek. xiv 13, 15, 21;
besides elsewhere, as Jer. xiv 12, 13, 15, 16; xlii 13, 14, 16-18, 22; xliv 12, 13, 27; Matt. xxiv 7, 8; Mark xiii 8; Luke xxi 11. By ‘sword’, ‘famine’, ‘pestilence’ and ‘beast’ in those passages similar things are signified as here by ‘sword’, ‘famine’, ‘death’ and ‘beasts of the land’; for in the Word there is a spiritual sense in the separate [expressions], in which ‘sword’ is the destruction of spiritual life by untruths, ‘famine’ is the destruction of spiritual life by evils, ‘beast of the land’ is the destruction of spiritual life by the cupidities of untruth and evil, and ‘pestilence and death’ is a complete consuming, and thus damnation.
[3] II. That ‘famine’ signifies ignorance of cognitions of truth and good originating from a deficiency thereof in the Church, is established also from various passages in the Word, as Isa. v 13; viii 19-22; Lam. ii 19; v 8-10; Amos viii 11-14; Job v 17, 20, and elsewhere.
III. That ‘famine’ or ‘hunger’ signifies a longing for knowing and understanding the truths and goods of the Church is plain from these: Isa. viii 25; xxxii 6; xlix 10; lviii 6, 7; 1 Sam. ii 4, 5; Ps. xxxiii 18, 19; xxxiv 9, 10 [H.B. 10, 11]; xxxvii 18, 19; cvii 8, 9, 35-37; cxlvi 7; Matt. v 6; xxv 35, 37, 44; Luke i 53; John vi 35, and elsewhere.
324. [verse 9] ‘And when He had opened the fifth seal’ signifies examination by the Lord of the states of life of those who were to be saved at the day of judgment, and were reserved in the meantime. That it treats of these things is plain from the things now following. But it is to be known that it treats fully of these and similar things in chap. xx and onwards, the exposition of which may be seen from n. 840 to 874, from which it is plain who they are and why they were reserved .
325. ‘I saw underneath the altar the souls of those slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony that they held’ signifies that those who have been hated by the evil, have suffered from insults, and have been rejected for a life in accordance with the truths of the Word and for the acknowledgment of the Lord’s Divine Human, have been protected by the Lord lest they should be led astray. ‘Underneath the altar’ signifies the lower land where they were protected by the Lord; ‘the altar’ signifies worship of the Lord out of the good of love. By ‘the souls of those slain’ are not here signified the martyrs, but they who are hated, who suffer from insults, and are rejected by the evil in the world of spirits, and who can be led astray by dragonists and heretics. ‘For the Word of God, and for the testimony that they had’ signifies for a life in accordance with the truths of the Word, and for the acknowledgment of the Lord’s Divine Human. ‘Testimony’ in heaven is not given to others than those who acknowledge the Lord’s Divine Human, for it is the Lord who bears witness, and enables the angels to bear witness (n. 16):-
For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy Rev. xix 10.
[2] Since they were ‘under the altar’, it is plain that they were protected by the Lord; for all who have led any life of charity are protected by the Lord lest they be injured by the evil, and after the last judgment, when the evil have been removed, they are released from their protectors and lifted up into heaven. After the last judgment I often saw them sent forth from the lower land and transferred into heaven.
[3] That by ‘those slain’ are understood those who are being rejected, suffering insults, and being hated by the evil in the world of spirits, and who can be led astray, also those who are desirous of knowing truths but are not able on account of the untruths in the Church, can be established from these passages:-
Jehovah God says, Feed the sheep of the slaughter, which their possessors slay: and I have fed the sheep of the slaughter on account of you, O miserable of the flock Zech. xi 4, 5, 7.
We have been slain every day, we have been counted as a flock of the slaughter, O Jehovah, forsake us not Ps. xliv 22, 23 [H.B. 23, 24].
Jacob shall fix the root of those who are going to come, has he been slain along with his cutting down of the slain? Isa. xxvii 6, 7.
I have heard the voice of the daughter of Zion, woe is me, my soul has been wearied by the slayers Jer. iv 31.
They shall deliver you into the affliction, and shall slay you, and you shall be hated for My Name’s sake Matt. xxiv 9; John xvi 2, 3.
The Lord said these things to the disciples, but by ‘the disciples’ are understood all who worship the Lord and live in accordance with the truths of His Word. [4] The evil in the world of spirits continually want to slay these; but because they are not able to do this as to the body they continually want to do it as to the soul; and since they are not able to do this, they are inflamed with such hatred against them that they feel nothing more delightful than to do evil to them. This is why they are protected by the Lord, and when the evil are cast out into hell which takes place after the last judgment, they are led forth from their protectors; but let the expositions on the twentieth chapter be seen, and n. 846 there, concerning these things. That ‘to slay’ in the Word signifies to destroy souls, which is to slay spiritually, is plain from many places there, as also from these: Isa. xiv 19-21; xxvi 21; Jer. xxv 33; Lam. ii 21; Ezek. ix 1, 6; Rev. xviii 24.
326. [verse 10] That ‘And they were crying out with a great voice’ signifies grief of heart is plain from the things now following.
327. ‘Saying, How long, O Lord, [Who art Holy and True,] dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on those dwelling upon the land?’ signifies over the fact that the last judgment is deferred, and that those who inflict violence on the Word and the Lord’s Divine are not being removed. ‘How long, O Lord, dost Thou not judge’ signifies, Why is the last judgment delayed? ‘And avenge our blood’ signifies, Why by reason of justice are they not condemned who inflict violence on them for the acknowledgment of the Lord’s Divine Human and for a life in accordance with the truths of His Word? By ‘blood’ is signified the violence inflicted on them (n. 379): by ‘those dwelling upon the land’ are understood the evil in the world of spirits from whom they have been protected lest they be hurt.
328. [verse 11] ‘And white robes were given to each one’ signifies that they were given communication and conjunction with angels who were in Divine truths.
‘Garments’ signify truths (n. 166), and ‘white garments’ genuine truths (n. 212). These are signified by ‘garments because all in heaven are clothed in accordance with the truths with them, and everyone has his garments in accordance with his conjunction with angelic societies. Therefore when conjunction is granted they immediately appear clothed in like manner. This is why by ‘white robes were given to each one’ is signified that they were given communication and conjunction with angels who were in Divine truths. ‘Robes’, ‘mantles’ and ‘cloaks’ signify truths in general, because they are general coverings. He who knows the signification of those things can get to know the arcana that lie hidden in the following [statements]:-
That Elijah, when he found Elisha, threw [his] mantle over him 1 Kings xix 19.
That Elijah, by means of [his] mantle divided the waters of Jordan 2 Kings ii 8.
Likewise Elisha 2 Kings ii 14.
That the mantle fell down from Elijah, when he was lifted up, and Elisha took it up 2 Kings ii 12, 13;
for by Elijah and Elisha the Lord as to the Word was represented, and consequently their ‘mantle’ signified the Divine Truth of the Word in general. Again, he can get to know what
the robe (pallium) of Aaron’s ephod, at the fringes of which were pomegranates of blue and purple, and bells of gold Exod. xxviii 31-35,
signified. That it signified Divine Truth in general, see ARCANA CAELESTIA published at London (n. 9825). Similar things are signified by ‘cloaks’ and ‘mantles’ in these passages:-
All the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and cast away their cloaks Ezek. xxvi 16.
The scribes and Pharisees enlarge the fringes of their cloaks that they may be looked at by men Matt. xxiii 5.
My people have set up an enemy for themselves on account of a garment, you pull off the mantle from them that pass by Micah ii 8;
and elsewhere.
329. ‘And it was said [unto them] that they should rest yet a little while, until both their fellow-servants [and their brothers], who were going to be slain as they had been, are made up to the full extent’ signifies that the last judgment would be deferred a little longer, until those who in like manner are hated suffer insults, and are rejected by the evil for the acknowledgment of the Lord’s Divine Human and a life in accordance with the truths of the Word, have been gathered from everywhere. That these things are signified is plain from the things said above. Similar things are signified by these in Isaiah:-
Thy dead shall live; awake and shout, O dwellers of the dust. Depart, my people, enter into thy bedroom, and shut the door after thee, hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the anger be passed by; for behold, Jehovah going forth out of His place to visit the iniquity of the inhabitant of the land upon him; the land then shall disclose her bloods, and shall no longer hide her slain Isa. xxvi 19-21.
But, as was said above, in chap. xx and onwards it treats of these and similar things. This has been expounded from n. 840 to 874.
THE FIRST: that the last judgment took place upon no others than those who appeared in outward form like Christians, and orally professed the things that are of the Church, but were in inward form or at heart, against them; and because they were such, therefore they had been conjoined as to their exterior things with the ultimate heaven, and as to their interior things with hell.
THE SECOND: that as long as they had been conjoined with the ultimate heaven, so long the internals of their will and love had been closed, as a result of which they did not appear evil before others; but when they were separated from the ultimate heaven, then their interior things were laid open, and these were in every respect opposite to the exterior things by virtue of which they had pretended and lied that they were angels, and that the places where they were dwelling were heavens. These were the ‘heavens’, so called, that ‘passed away’ at the time of the last judgment (Rev. xxi 1).
But more may be seen concerning these things in the little work concerning THE LAST JUDGMENT (n. 70, 71); and in the CONTINUATION CONCERNING THE LAST JUDGMENT (n. 10).
331. ‘And behold a great earthquake was brought about’ signifies the state of the Church with those entirely changed, and terror. ‘Earthquakes’ signify changes of state in the Church, because ‘land’ [or ‘earth’] (terra) signifies the Church (n. 285); and because in the spiritual world, when the state of the Church is corrupted anywhere and there is a change, an earthquake is seen, and because this foretells their destruction, terror is produced. For the lands in the spiritual world are in appearance like the lands in the natural world (n. 260); but because the lands there, just as all the other things in that world, are out of a spiritual origin, they are changed in accordance with the state of the Church of the inhabitants upon them, and when the state of the Church is corrupted, they quake and tremble, even sink down and are moved out of place. That it so happened when the last judgment was impending and taking place can be seen in the little work concerning THE LAST JUDGMENT. From these things it can be established what is signified by ‘earthquakes’, ‘tremors’ and ‘movements’ in the following passages:-
There shall be pestilences, famines, earthquakes in divers places Matt. xxiv 7; Mark xiii 8; Luke xxi 11.
Those things are said of the last judgment.
In the fire of indignation will I speak if in that day there is not a great earthquake, so that every man upon the faces of the land shall tremble, and the mountains shall be overturned Ezek. xxxviii 18-20.
There was a great earthquake, such as was not since there came to be men upon earth Rev. xvi 18.
I will shake heaven, and the land shall be shaken out of its place, in the indignation of Jehovah Zebaoth Isa. xiii 13.
The foundations of the land have been shaken violently; shaking, the land has been shaken, for the transgression thereof is heavy upon it Isa. xxiv 18-20.
Violently shaken and shaken is the land, and the foundations of the mountains, because He was wroth Ps. xviii 7, 14 [H.B. 8, 15].
The mountains tremble before Jehovah, and the rocks are overturned
Nahum i 5, 6.
Likewise in other places, as Jer. x 10; xlix 21; Joel ii 10; Hag. ii 6, 7; Rev. xi 19, and elsewhere. These things, however, are to be understood as being done in the spiritual world but not in the natural world. In this respect they signify such things as have been stated above.
332. ‘And the sun became black as a hairy sack, and the moon became as blood’ signifies with those every good of love adulterated, and every truth of faith falsified. That by ‘the sun’ is signified the Lord as to Divine Love, and consequently the good of love from Him; and in the opposite sense the Lord’s Divine denied, and consequently the good of love adulterated, may be seen above (n. 53). And because ‘the sun’ signifies the good of love, ‘the moon’ in consequence signifies the truth of faith; for the sun glows red because of fire, and the moon shines white because of light from the sun, and ‘fire’ signifies the good of love, and ‘light’ the truth derived from that good. Concerning the moon, the passages cited above (n. 53) may he seen also. It is said that ‘the sun became black as a hairy sack’ because adulterated good in itself is evil, and evil is black. ‘The moon’ is said to have become ‘as blood’ because ‘blood’ signifies Divine Truth, and in the opposite sense Divine Truth falsified, as may be seen below (n. 379, 684). Almost the same thing is said of ‘the sun’ and ‘the moon’ in Joel:-
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah comes Joel ii 31 [H.B. iii 4].
333. [verse 13] ‘And the stars of heaven fell to earth’ signifies all the cognitions of good and truth detached (disparatus). That ‘stars’ signify cognitions of good and truth may be seen above (n. 51). That ‘to fall out of heaven to earth’ is to be detached, is plain. In the spiritual world [in regions] where cognitions of good and truth are perishing, the stars also appear to fall out of heaven to earth there.
334. ‘As a fig-tree shaken by a great wind casts its unripe figs’ signifies by means of the reasonings of the natural man separated from the spiritual. It is said that they signify, when yet there is a comparison, because all the comparisons in the Word are likewise correspondences, and in the spiritual sense they harmonise with the fact treated of, as here in like manner. For ‘a fig’, as a result of correspondence, signifies man’s natural good conjoined with his spiritual good. Here, however, in the opposite sense [it signifies] a man’s natural good separated from his spiritual good, and this is not good; and because the natural man separated from the spiritual perverts by reasonings the cognitions of good and truth, which are signified by the stars, it follows that this is signified by a ‘fig-tree shaken by a great wind’. That reasoning is signified by ‘wind’ and ‘tempest’ is plain from many places in the Word, but there is no need to adduce them here, because there is a comparison.
‘A fig-tree’ signifies a man’s natural good because every tree signifies something of the Church with a man, thus also the man in regard to it. These [passages] are in confirmation:-
All the host of heaven shall fall down, as the leaf falls off from the vine, and as it falls off the fig-tree Isa. xxxiv 4.
I will consume them, no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig-tree, and the leaf shall glide down Jer. viii 13.
All thy fortifications, as fig-trees with the first-fruits, which if they be shaken, shall fall down into the mouth of the eater Nahum iii 12;
besides other places, as Isa. xxxviii 21; Jer. xxiv 2, 3, 5, 8; xxix 17, 18; Hosea ii 12; ix 10; Joel i 7, 12; Zech. iii 10; Matt. xxi 18-21; xxiv 32, 33; Mark xi 12-14, 19-26; Luke vi 44; xiii 6-9; in which places nothing else is understood by ‘a fig-tree’.
335. [verse 14] ‘And the heaven departed as a book rolled up’ signifies separation from heaven and conjunction with hell. It is said that ‘the heaven departed as a book rolled up’ because a man’s interior understanding and the thought therefrom is like a heaven, for his understanding can be elevated into the light of heaven, and in the elevation can think equally with the angels concerning God, love and faith, and eternal life; but if his will is not at the same time elevated into the heat of heaven the man as yet is not conjoined to the angels of heaven, thus he is not like a heaven. That this is the case may be seen in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, in the Fifth Part. By means of this faculty of the understanding, the evil who are treated of here were able to be associated with angels of the ultimate heaven; bit when these were separated from them, then their heaven departed as ‘a book rolled up’. By ‘a book rolled up’ is understood a rolled up parchment, since their books were parchments, and the comparison is made with ‘a book’, because the ‘book’ is the Word (n. 256), and therefore when it is rolled up as a parchment nothing is apparent of what is therein, and it is as if it did not exist. On this account a similar thing is said in Isaiah:-
Every army of the heavens is wasting away, and the heavens are being rolled together as a book, and it is falling down as the leaf falls down from the fig-tree Isa. xxxiv 4.
The ‘army’ are the goods and truths of the Church out of the Word (n. 447). From these considerations it can be established that by ‘the heaven departed as a book rolled up’ separation from heaven is signified, and conjunction with hell. That separation from heaven is conjunction with hell is plain.
336. ‘And every mountain and island were moved out of their places’ signifies that every good of love and truth of faith receded. No one is able to see that the latter things are signified by the former except by means of the spiritual sense. They are signified because by ‘mountains’ are understood those who are in the good of love, for angels dwell upon mountains; those who are in a love directed to the Lord [dwell] upon the loftier mountains and those who are in a love towards the neighbour upon the less lofty; and therefore by ‘every mountain’ is signified every good of love. That those more remote from the worship of God are understood by ‘islands’ may be seen above (n. 34). Here those are understood who are in faith and not so much in the good of love, consequently in the abstract sense ‘every island’ signifies every truth of faith. By ‘moved out of their places’ is signified to recede. It is therefore in consequence of angels’ dwellings being upon mountains and hills that by ‘mountains’ and ‘hills’ in the Word is signified heaven and the Church, where there is love directed to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, and in the opposite sense hell, where there is love of self and love of the world.
[2] That heaven and the Church, where love directed to the Lord and love towards the neighbour are, and thus where the Lord is, are signified by ‘mountains’ and ‘hills’ is plain from the following passages:-
Lift up the eyes to the mountains, from whence comes help Ps. cxxi 1
Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that publishes peace Nahum i 15 [H.B. ii 1]; Isa. lii 7.
Praise Jehovah, O mountains and hills Ps. cxlviii 9.
The mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan, a mountain of hills is the mountain of Bashan. Wherefore do you leap O mountains, O hills of the mountain? Jehovah desires to dwell therein, yea, Jehovah will dwell in it for ever Ps. lxviii 15, 16 [H.B. 16, 17].
The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like sons of the flock; in the presence of the Lord, thou art in travail, O land Ps. cxiv 4-7.
I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of My mountains, so that Mine elect may possess them, and My servants dwell there Isa. lxv 9.
In the consummation of the age; then let those in Judah flee into the mountains Matt. xxiv 16.
Jehovah, Thy justice is as the mountains of God Ps. xxxvi 6 [H.B. 7].
Jehovah shall go forth and fight, His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives before the faces of Jerusalem from the east Zech. xiv 3, 4.
[3] Since ‘the mount of Olives’ used to signify Divine love, therefore:-
The Lord daily preached in the temple, but nightly going out, He spent the night upon the mount of Olives Luke xxi 37; xxii 39; John viii 1.
And therefore upon that mountain the Lord spoke with the disciples of His coming and of the consummation of the age Matt. xxiv 3; Mark xiii 3 seq.
And also He went from thence to Jerusalem and suffered Matt. xxi 1; xxvi 30; Mark xi 1; xiv 26; Luke xix 29, 37; xxi 37; xxii 39.
Since a ‘mountain’ used to signify heaven and love, Jehovah descended therefrom upon the top of Mount Sinai, and promulgated the law (Exod. xix 20; xxiv 17). And therefore the Lord was transformed before Peter, James and John upon a high mountain (Matt. xvii 1). Also Zion was upon a mountain, and Jerusalem also, and each is called the mountain of Jehovah and the mountain of holiness in many places in the Word. Similar things are signified by ‘mountains’ and ‘hills’ in other places, as Isa. vii 25; xxx 25; xl 9; xliv 23; xlix 11, 13; lv 12; Jer. xvi 15, 16; Ezek. xxxv 18; Joel iii 17, 18 [H.B. iv. 17, 18]; Amos iv 1, 13; ix 13, 14; Ps. lxv 6 [H.B. 7]; Ps. lxxx 8, 10 [H.B. 9, 11]; Ps. civ 5-10, 13.
[4] That ‘mountains’ and ‘hills’ signify those loves can be still more manifestly established from their opposite sense in which they signify the infernal loves, love of self and love of the world, as is plain from these passages:-
The day of Jehovah shall come upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills [that are] lifted up Isa. ii 12, 14.
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low Isa. xl 3-5.
The mountains shall be overthrown, and the steep places shall fall Ezek. xxxviii 20, 21.
Behold I am against thee, O mountain destroying the whole land, I will make thee into a mountain of burning Jer. li 25.
I have seen the mountains, and behold they are being shaken, and all the hills are being overthrown Jer. iv 23-25.
A fire is kindled in Mine anger, and shall set on fire the foundations of the mountains Deut. xxxii 22.
I will lay waste mountains and hills Isa. xlii 15.
Behold, O Jacob, I will make thee like a threshing instrument, that thou mayest thresh and grind the mountains, and make the hills as chaff, that the wind may carry them away Isa. xli 15, 16.
Give glory to Jehovah, before your feet stumble upon the mountains of twilight Jer. xiii 16.
Nor is anything else understood by the ‘seven mountains’ upon which sat the woman who was Babylon (Rev. xvii 9); besides elsewhere, as Isa. xiv 13; Jer. l 6; ix 10; Ezek. vi 13, 14; xxxiv 6; Micah vi 1, 2; Nahum i 5, 6; Ps. xlvi 2, 3 [H.B. 3, 4]. It can now be established from these things what is understood by ‘every mountain and island were moved out of their place’, also what is understood in the things following by [the statement] that:-
Every island fled away, and the mountains were not found Rev. xvi 20, n. 714 [a].
337. [verse 15] ‘And the kings of the land and the great men and the rich men and the rulers of thousands and the mighty men and every bondman and every freeman’ signifies those who before the separation were in an understanding of truth and good, in a knowledge of the cognitions thereof, and in erudition, from others or from themselves, and yet were not in a life in accordance with them. That all the latter things are signified by the former in their order no one can know except one who knows what is signified in the spiritual sense by ‘kings’, ‘great men’, ‘rich men’, ‘rulers of thousands’, ‘mighty men’, ‘the bondman and the freeman’. In the spiritual sense by ‘kings’ are signified those who are in truths, by ‘great men’ those who are in goods, by ‘rich men’ those who are in cognitions of truth, by ‘rulers of thousands’ those who are in cognitions of good, by ‘mighty men’ those who are in erudition, by ‘bondmen’ those who are in such things by derivation from others, thus from memory, by ‘freemen’ those who are in such things from themselves, thus from judgment. To confirm out of the Word that those things are signified by all these names would, however, take far too long. It has been shown before what ‘kings’ signify (n. 20), also ‘rich men’ (n. 206) what ‘great men’ signify is plain from Jer. v 5; Nahum iii 10; Jonah iii 7; for ‘great’ is predicated of good (n. 896, 898). That ‘mighty men’, as well as ‘bondmen’ and ‘freemen’, are those who are in erudition, from others or from themselves, will be seen below. It is said, those who were in those things and yet not in a life in accordance with them, for bad men, even the worst, can be in a knowledge and in an understanding of cognitions of truth and good, and also in much erudition, but because they are not in a life in accordance with them, they are not actually in them; for what is only in the understanding, and not at the same time in the life, is not in a man; it is outside of him as in an entrance hall. But what is at the same time in the life is in the man; it is within him as in the house. Therefore the latter are preserved and the former rejected.
338. ‘Hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains’ signifies those now in evils and in the untruths of evil. By ‘hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains’ is signified to be in evils and in the untruths of evil, because those who have pretended before the world that they were in the good of love and yet were in evil, after death hide themselves in caves; and those who pretended that they were in the truths of faith and yet were in the untruths of evil, hide themselves in the rocks of the mountains. The entrances appear as holes in the lands and as fissures in the mountains, in which they bury themselves like serpents and hide therein. That their abodes are such I have often seen. This is why by ‘caves’ are signified the evils with such, and by ‘holes’ and ‘fissures’ the untruths of evil, in the following passages:-
In that day they shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the fissures of the cliffs, when Jehovah shall arise to terrify the earth Isa. ii 19 [, 21].
In that day they shall go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the fissures of the cliffs for fear of Jehovah Isa. ii 21.
They shall dwell in the fissures of the valleys, and in holes of the earth, and in the rocks Job xxx 6.
The pride of thine heart has deceived thee, thou who dwellest in the fissures Obad. verse 3.
In that day they shall come and shall rest in the rivers of desolation, and in the fissures of the rocks Isa. vii 19.
The palace shall be a desert, the ascent and the watch-tower shall be upon caves to eternity Isa. xxxii 14.
The pride of thine heart has deceived thee, who dwellest in the holes of the rock Jer. xlix 16.
They shall hunt them from upon every mountain and hill, and out of the holes of the rocks; they shall not be hidden in My presence, neither shall their iniquity be hidden Jer. xvi 16, 17.
In that day the sucking child shall play upon the hole of the viper, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cove of the basilisk Isa. xi 8.
339. [verse 16] ‘And they were saying to the mountains and the rocks, Fall upon us, and hide us away from the face of the One sitting upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb’ signifies confirmations of evil by means of untruth, and of untruth derived from evils even until they should not acknowledge any Divine of the Lord. By ‘the mountains’ are signified the loves of evil, thus evils (n. 336); and by ‘the rocks’ are signified the untruths of faith. By ‘fall upon’ them and ‘hide’ them is signified to defend against influx out of heaven; and because this is done by confirmations of evil by means of untruth, and of untruth derived from evil, therefore these are signified. By ‘hide’ themselves ‘away from the face of the One sitting upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb’ is signified until they were not acknowledging any Divine of the Lord. By ‘the One sitting upon the throne’ is understood the Lord’s Divine from which [all things exist], and by ‘the Lamb’, Himself as to the Divine Human; for the Lord as to both [the Divine and the Divine Human] was upon the throne, as has been shown above. It is said ‘from His face’ and ‘from His wrath’ because all those who are in the caves and rocks dare not set foot out of them, nor even thrust a finger forth, on account of the pain and torture if they do so. This is because they hate the Lord, even to their not being able to name Him; and because the Divine sphere of the Lord fills all things, and they are not able to remove this from themselves except by confirmations of evil by untruth, and of untruth derived from evil. The delights of the evils bring this to pass.
[2] Similar things are signified by these [words] in Hosea:-
They shall say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall upon us Hosea x 8;
and in Luke:-
Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall upon us, and to the hills, Hide us Luke xxiii 30.
That this is the spiritual sense of those words cannot appear in the letter, but it does appear in the spiritual sense in consequence of the fact that while the last judgment is being carried through, then those who are in evil and want to be in good suffer hard things to begin with, whereas they suffer less severely who confirm themselves in their evils by means of untruths; for the latter cover the evil over with the untruths, but the former lay their evil bare, and then [the latter] do not endure the Divine influx, as follows [in the exposition]. The caves and caverns into which they rush are correspondences.
340. [verse 17] ‘Because the great day of His wrath is coming, and who is able to stand?’ signifies that they became such from themselves through separation from the good and the faithful on account of the last judgment, which they would not otherwise endure. By ‘the great day of the wrath of the Lamb’ is signified the day of the last judgment: and by ‘who is able to stand?’ is signified inability to hold out by reason of torment; for when a last judgment is impending the Lord approaches with heaven, and out of those who are below in the world of spirits no others are able to endure the Lord’s coming but those who are interiorly good, and they are interiorly good who shun evils as sins and look to the Lord. That ‘the day of the Lord’s wrath’ signifies a last judgment is quite plain from these passages:-
For as long as the growing anger of wrath of Jehovah is not yet coming upon you, for as long as the day of wrath of Jehovah is not yet coming upon you, it may be you shall be hid in the day of wrath of Jehovah Zeph. ii 2, 3.
Behold the day of Jehovah is coming, cruel, both with displeasure and the growing anger of wrath Isa. xiii 9, 13.
The great day of Jehovah is near, a day, this, of growing anger, a day of narrowness and crowding together, a day of darkness and thick darkness Zeph. i 14, 15.
Thy wrath is come, and the time of judging the dead, and of rewarding Thy servants, and of destroying those destroying the land Rev. xi 18.
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, because His wrath is soon kindled. Blessed are all those trusting in Him Ps. ii 12.
* * * * * * * * * *
341. To these things I will add this MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE. I saw as many as six hundred of the English clergy assembled, who were praying to the Lord to allow them to go up into a society of the higher heaven; and this was granted, and they went up. And when they entered they saw their king, the grandfather* of the king reigning at the present day, and they rejoiced. He then went to two bishops who were among them, whom he had known in the world, and speaking with them asked, ‘How did you come here?’. They answered that they had made supplication to the Lord, and it was granted. He said to them, ‘Why to the Lord, and not to God the Father?’, and they said that they were so instructed below. And he said, ‘Did I not say several times to you in the world that the Lord ought to be approached, and also that charity is primary? What did you then answer concerning the Lord?’ And it was given them to remember that they had answered that when the Father is approached the Son also is approached. But the angels who were around the king said, ‘You are mistaken. You did not think that; nor is the Lord approached when God the Father is approached, but God the Father is approached when the Lord is approached, because they are one as are soul and body. Who approaches a man’s soul, and in that way his body? When a man is approached as to the body that he sees, is not his soul that he does not see approached also?’ At these things they became silent. And the king went up to the two bishops, holding in his hand two gifts, saying, ‘These gifts are of heaven.’ They were heavenly figures of gold, and he wanted to make a presentation. But just then a dark cloud covered them over and separated them, and they descended the way they had come up. And they wrote these things in a book.
[2] The rest of the English clergy, having heard that their colleagues were permitted to go up into the higher heaven, assembled at the foot of a mountain where they were awaiting their return. And when they [the six hundred] returned they were greeting their brethren and telling them about what happened to them in the heaven, and that the two heavenly figures of gold, most beautiful to behold, had been given to the bishops by the king, but that they fell out of their hands. And then they went away out of the open space into a wood that was nearby, and were speaking among themselves, looking around to see if anyone might hear them, but [what they said] was heard nevertheless. They were speaking about unanimity and concord, and then about the primacy and dominion. The bishops were speaking, and the rest were disposed to agree. And suddenly, to my surprise, they were no longer appearing as many, but as one great man, whose face was like the face of a lion, having on his head a towering mitre with a crown on top, and he was speaking in a lofty tone, and taking long paces. And looking backwards, he said, ‘Who else but me has a right to the primacy?’ The king looked down out of the heaven and first saw all of them as one, and then as many of one accord, most of them being in secular garb, as he said.
* This would be George II, the grandfather of George III.
1. After these things I saw four angels standing upon the four corners of the land, holding back the four winds of the land, so that the wind should not blow upon the land, nor upon the sea, nor upon any tree.
2. And I saw another angel coming up from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God, and he cried with a great voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to harm the land and the sea;
3. Saying, Do no harm to land, or sea, or trees, till we shall have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads.
4. And I heard the number of them that were sealed (signatorum); a hundred and forty-four thousand sealed out of every tribe of Israel.
5. Out of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand sealed: out of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand sealed: out of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand sealed.
6. Out of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand sealed: out of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand sealed: out of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand sealed.
7. Out of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand sealed: out of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand sealed: out of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand sealed.
8. Out of the tribe of Zebulon twelve thousand sealed: out of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand sealed: out of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand sealed.
9. After these things I saw, and behold a great crowd, which no one could number, out of every nation and [all] tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.
10. And crying with a great voice, saying, Salvation (salus) to our God sitting upon the throne and to the Lamb.
11. And all the angels were standing around the throne and the elders and the four animals, and they fell before the throne upon their faces and adored God.
12. Saying, Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving, and honour, and vigour (virtus) and strength, to our God for ages of ages, Amen.
13. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, These [people] clothed with white robes, who are they and whence have they come?
14. And I said unto him, Sir (Domine), thou knowest; and he said unto me, They are those who are coming out of great affliction, and have washed their robes, and made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb.
15. By reason of this they are before the throne of God, and they are serving Him day and night in His temple, and the One sitting upon the throne shall remain over them.
16. They shall not hunger any more, nor thirst any more, neither shall the sun fall upon them, nor any heat.
17. For the Lamb Who is in the midst of the throne shall feed (pascere) them and conduct them to living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
In this chapter it treats of those who are and those who will be in the Christian heaven; and first of their separation from the evil (vers. 1-3); after that it treats of those who are in love directed to the Lord and thereby in wisdom, out of whom the higher heavens [are formed] (vers. 4-8); and of those who are in charity and the faith thereof from the Lord, because they have fought against evils, out of whom the lower heavens [are formed] (vers. 9-17).
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. Afterwards I saw four angels standing upon the four corners of the land
signifies the entire heaven now in the effort to effect the last judgment.
Holding back the four winds of the land, so that the wind should not blow upon the land, nor upon the sea, nor upon any tree
signifies a nearer and consequently stronger influx into the lower regions where the good were conjoined with the evil, held back and restrained by the Lord.
2. And I saw another angel coming up out of the rising of the sun
signifies the Lord providing and moderating. Having the seal of the living God
signifies Who alone has a knowledge of all [men] and of individuals, and is able to distinguish and separate them each one from the other.
3. And he cried with a great voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to harm the land and the sea, saying, Do no harm to land, or sea, or trees
signifies the restraining and holding back by the Lord of the nearer and stronger influx into the lower regions.
Till we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads
signifies before those have been separated who are in truths out of good from the Lord.
4. And I heard the number of them that were sealed (signatorum) a hundred and forty-four thousand
signifies all who acknowledge the Lord as being the God of heaven and earth, and are in truths of doctrine out of the good of love from Him by means of the Word.
Sealed out of every tribe of Israel
signifies The Lord’s heaven and Church from those.
5. Out of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand sealed
signifies celestial love, which is love directed to the Lord, and this with all who will be in the New Heaven and in the New Church.
Out of the tribe of Reuben 12,000 sealed
signifies the wisdom out of celestial love with those who will be there.
Out of the tribe of Gad 2,000 sealed
signifies the uses of life, which are of the wisdom out of that love with those who will be there.
6. Out of the tribe of Asher 12,000 sealed
signifies mutual love with those.
Out of the tribe of Naphtali 12,000 sealed
signifies the perception of uses and of what uses are with those.
Out of the tribe of Manasseh 12,000 sealed
signifies the will of being serviceable and of action with those.
7. Out of the tribe of Simeon 12,000 sealed
signifies spiritual love which is love towards the neighbour with those.
Out of the tribe of Levi 12,000 sealed
signifies the affection of truth out of good which results in
intelligence with those.
Out of the tribe of Issachar 12,000 sealed
signifies the good of life with those.
8. Out of the tribe of Zebulon 12,000 sealed
signifies the conjugial love of good and truth with those. Out of the tribe of Joseph 12,000 sealed
signifies the doctrine of good and truth with those. Out of the tribe of Benjamin 12,000 sealed
signifies the life of truth out of good in accordance with the doctrine with those.
9. After these things I saw, and behold a great crowd which no one could number
signifies all the rest who are not of those enumerated, and yet are in the New Heaven and in the Lord’s New Church, and who make the ultimate heaven and the external Church, of whose quality no one but the Only Lord has knowledge.
Out of every nation and [all] tribes and peoples and tongues
signifies all in Christendom who are in religion out of good, and in truths out of doctrine.
Standing before the throne and before the Lamb
signifies hearing the Lord and doing the things He commands.
Clothed with white robes, and palms in [their] hands
signifies communication and conjunction with the higher heavens, and confession out of Divine truths.
10. And crying with a great voice and saying, Salvation (salus) to our God sitting upon the throne and to the Lamb
signifies acknowledgment from the heart that the Lord is their Saviour.
11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and the elders and the four animals
signifies all in the entire heaven.
[And they fell before the throne upon their faces and adored God
signifies the humiliation of their hearts and, as a result of the humiliation, adoration of the Lord.]
12. Saying, Amen
signifies the Divine Truth (Veritas) and confirmation therefrom.
Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving
signifies the Lord’s spiritual Divine things.
And honour and vigour (virtus) and strength
signifies the Lord’s celestial Divine things.
To our God for ages of ages
signifies those things in the Lord and from the Lord to eternity.
Amen
signifies the agreement of all.
13. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, These [people] clothed with white robes, who are they, and whence have they come?
14. And I said unto him, Sir (Domine), thou knowest
signifies a longing to know, and a will to inquire, and the answer and information.
And he said, They are those who are coming out of great affliction
signifies that they are those who have been in temptations,
and have fought against evils and untruths. And have washed their robes
signifies and who have cleansed their religious principles (religiosa) from evils of untruth.
And have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb
signifies and have purified them from untruths of evil by means of truths, and so have been reformed by the Lord.
15. By reason of this they are before the throne of God, and are serving Him day and night in His temple, and the One sitting upon the throne shall remain over them
signifies that they are in the presence of the Lord, and are living constantly and faithfully in accordance with the truths that they are receiving from Him in His Church.
16. They shall not hunger any more, nor thirst any more
signifies that henceforth they shall not lack goods and truths.
Neither shall the sun fall upon them nor any heat
signifies that henceforth they shall not have a lusting after evil nor after the untruth of evil.
17. For the Lamb Who is in the midst of the throne shall feed (pascere) them
signifies that the Only Lord shall teach them. And conduct them to living fountains of waters
signifies and shall lead them by means of the truths of the Word to conjunction with Himself.
And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes
signifies that they shall not any more be in fights against evils and the untruths thereof, and so shall not be in sorrows but in goods and truths, and thereby in heavenly joys from the Lord.
THE EXPOSITION
[verse 1] ‘Afterwards I saw four angels standing upon the four corners of the land’ signifies the entire heaven now in the effort to effect the last judgment upon those who were in the world of spirits. Many things now follow concerning the state of the spiritual world just before the last judgment. No one is able to know these things except by means of revelation from the Lord. And because it has been given to me to see how the last judgment has been carried through, and also the changes that have preceded it, and the orderly arrangements that have followed, I am able in consequence to report the things, in this chapter and those that follow, that are signified by all [the statements] therein. [2] Here, by ‘four angels’ is signified the entire heaven; by ‘the four corners of the land’ is signified the entire world of spirits, which is intermediate between heaven and hell; for the last judgment was effected on those who were in the world of spirits, but not on any in heaven nor on any in hell. Heaven is signified by ‘angels’ because by ‘angel’ in the highest sense is understood the Lord as to the Divine Human (n. 344); and because heaven is heaven from the Lord, by ‘angels’ heaven is also signified. [3] The entire heaven is signified by ‘four angels’ here because they were seen to stand ‘upon the four corners of the land’, and, by ‘the four corners’ the four quarters are signified. It is signified that the entire heaven was now in the effort to effect the last judgment, because the Lord, when the judgment was impending, caused the heavens to draw near over the world of spirits, and by the approach of the heavens there was effected such a change of state of the interiors of the minds with those below that they saw nothing but terrors before their eyes.
[4] That ‘corners’ signify quarters, and consequently that ‘the four corners’ signify all the quarters, can be established from the following passages:-
You shall measure outside the city, the corner towards the east (ortus), the corner towards the south, the corner towards the west, and the corner towards the north Num. xxxv 5.
Thou shalt make the posts for the dwelling for the corner of the south, and for the corner of the north thereof Exod. xxvi 18, 20, 23.
And the court, to the south corner, to the north corner, to the west corner and to the east (oriens) corner Exod. xxvii 9, 11-13.
The four quarters are also frequently called ‘the four corners’ in Ezekiel, as in chap. xlvii 18-20 and chap. xlviii.
[5] Since ‘corners’ signify quarters, therefore they also signify all things, as all things of heaven or of hell, or of good or truth, which is plain from these statements:-
Satan shall go forth to lead astray the nations that are at the four corners of the land Rev. xx 8.
I will cut off the nations, and their corners shall be devastated Zeph. iii 6.
Israel was gathered together as one man, and the corners of all the people stood firm Judg. xx 1, 2.
A sceptre shall rise out of Israel, that shall wear down the corners of Moab Num. xxiv 17.
A day of the trumpet and of clangour upon the high corners Zeph. i 16.
Into the farthest corners will I cast them out Deut. xxxii 26.
[6] That a ‘corner’ signifies an ultimate that holds up higher things, as the foundation does a house, and thus also signifies all things, is plain from these statements:-
He will found in Zion the stone of the corner, of the price of the founding of the foundation Isa. xxviii 16.
And they shall not take of it a stone for the corner Jer. li 26.
Out of Judah shall be the corner-stone Zech. x 4.
The stone which they rejected is become the head of the corner Ps. cxviii 22; Matt. xxi 42; Mark xii 10; Luke xx 17, 18.
343. ‘Holding back the four winds of the land, so that the wind should not blow upon the land, nor upon the sea, nor upon any tree’ signifies a nearer and consequently stronger influx into the lower regions, where the good were conjoined with the evil, held back and restrained by the Lord. It should be known that a last judgment comes to pass when, in the world of spirits below the heavens, the evil are multiplied to such an extent that the angels in the heavens cannot continue to exist in the state of their love and wisdom, for then they do not have a support and foundation. And because this occurs as a result of the multiplication of the evil below, therefore the Lord, in order to preserve their state, inflows with His Divine more and more strongly, and this goes on until they cannot be preserved by any influx unless the evil below are separated from the good. And this separation is done by the subsidence and nearer approach of the heavens, and the resultant stronger influx, until the point is reached when the evil are unable to sustain it, whereupon the evil flee away and cast themselves into hell. This also is what is signified in the preceding chapter by these [words]:-
And they were saying to the mountains and rocks, Fall upon us, and hide us from the face of the One sitting upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of His wrath is coming, and who is able to stand? Rev. vi 16, 17.
[2] But now to the exposition. By ‘the four winds’ is signified the influx of the heavens; by ‘the land’, ‘the sea’ and ‘every tree’ are signified all the lower regions and the things that are there; by ‘land’ and ‘sea’ all the lower regions, and by ‘every tree’ all the things there. That ‘a wind’ signifies an influx, properly an influx of truth into the understanding, can be established from the following passages:-
The Lord Jehovih said, Come from the four winds, O spirit, and breathe into these slain, that they may live Ezek. xxxvii 9, 10.
Four chariots were seen, for which there were four horses, these are the four winds of the heavens Zech. vi 1.
You must be born again. The wind breathes where it wishes, and thou knowest not whence it comes and whither it goes John iii 5-8.
The Maker of the land prepares the world (orbis) by His wisdom, He brings forth the wind out of His treasures Jer. x 12, 13; li, 15, 16; Ps. cxxxv 7.
Jehovah causes His wind to breathe, and the waters flow, He proclaims His Word, His statutes and judgments Ps. cxlvii 17-19.
Let it praise Jehovah, the stormy wind, doing His Word Ps. civ 3, 4.
Jehovah makes His angels winds Ps. cxlviii 8.
Jehovah carried upon the wings of the wind Ps. xviii 9, 10 [H.B. 10, 11]; civ 3.
The ‘wings of the wind’ are the Divine Truths that inflow; therefore the Lord is called the ‘breath of the nostrils’ (Lam. iv 20); and it is said that ‘He breathed into the nostrils of Adam the soul of lives’ (Gen. ii 7), and also that ‘He breathed upon the disciples and said, Accept the holy spirit’ (John xx 21, 22).
[3] The Holy Spirit [or breath] is Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord, the influx of which into the disciples was represented and consequently was signified by His breathing upon them. That ‘wind’ and ‘breathing’ (respiratio) signify the influx of Divine Truth into the understanding, results from the correspondence of the lungs with the understanding, about which [something] may be seen in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (n. 371-429). Inasmuch as a nearer and stronger Divine influx through the heavens scatters the truths with the evil, therefore ‘wind’ signifies the scattering of the truth with them, and as a result their conjunction with hell, and ruin, as can be seen from these passages:-
I will bring upon Elam the four winds out of the four ends of the heavens, and will scatter him Jer. xlix 36.
Thou shalt scatter them, that the wind may carry them away, and the storm may dissipate them Isa. xli 16.
The blast of Jehovah, like a stream of sulphur, kindles them Isa. xxx 33.
The contrivers of iniquity perish by the blast of God, and by the breathof His nose are they consumed Job iv 8, 9.
The foundations of the world (orbis) were revealed by the rebuke (increpatio) of Jehovah, by the blast of the breath of Thy nose Ps. xviii 15 [H.B. 16].
Seeing, I was in a vision, and behold the four winds were rushing upon the great sea, and four beasts were coming up Dan. vii 2, 3 seq.
Out of the storm of Jehovah anger has gone forth, it shall rush upon the head of the wicked Jer. xxiii 19; xxx 23.
O my God, pursue them by Thy storm, terrify them by Thy tempest Ps. lxxxiii 15 [H.B. 16].
The way of Jehovah, in storm and tempest Nah. i 3;
besides elsewhere, as Jer. xxv 32; Ezek. xiii 13; Hosea viii 7; Amos i 14; Zech. ix 14; Ps. xi 6; l 3; lv 8 [H.B. 9]; Ps. cvii, where these words are:-
He has spoken, so that the wind of the storm may blow, God has caused the storm to subside, that its waves may be still vers. 25-29.
[4] It is plain from this what is signified in the spiritual sense by these words:-
Jesus in the ship rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Become silent, and it kept quiet Mark iv 39, 40; Luke viii 23, 24.
By ‘the sea’ here is signified hell, and by ‘the wind’ an influx therefrom. Nor is anything but a strong influx signified by an ‘east wind’ (Jer. xviii 17; Ezek. xvii 10; xix 12; Hosea xiii 15; Ps. xlviii 7 [H.B. 8]), nor by that same wind ‘by which the Red Sea (mare Suph) was dried up’ (Exod. xiv 21), concerning which Moses [spoke] thus:-
By the blast of Thy nostrils were the waters heaped up, Thou didst breathe with Thy wind, the sea covered them Exod. xv 8, 10.
From these things it can now be established that by ‘holding back the four winds so that the wind should not blow upon the land’ is signified to hold back and restrain a nearer and stronger influx into the lower regions.
344. [verse 2] ‘And I saw another angel coming up out of the rising of the suns signifies the Lord providing and moderating. By the ‘angel’ here is understood the Lord as to Divine Love, because He came up ‘out of the rising of the sun’, and from the rising of the sun or from the east is out of Divine Love, for the Lord is the Sun and the East in the spiritual world, and also is so called as to that love. That He is providing and moderating is plain from His command to the four angels, that they should ‘do no harm’ to land and sea ’till the servants of God’ had been ‘sealed upon [their] foreheads’. That the Lord’s Divine Human is understood by ‘an angel’ in the highest sense is plain from these [statements]:-
The angel of the faces of Jehovah delivered them on account of His love and forbearance: He redeemed them, and adopted them, and carried them all the days of eternity Isa. lxiii 9.
The angel who redeemed me from every evil, bless them Gen. xlviii 16.
The Lord, Whom you seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, and the angel of the covenant, whom you desire Mal. iii 1.
I am sending an angel in front of thee, to keep thee in the way; be on thy guard against His face, for My Name is in the midst of Him Exod. xxii 20-23.
‘Angel’ and ‘sent’ are one word in the Hebrew tongue. This is why the Lord so often calls Himself ‘One sent by the Father’, by which is understood the Divine Human. But ‘angel’ in a relative sense is every one who receives the Lord, whether he be in heaven or in the world.
345. ‘Having the seal of the living God’ signifies Who alone has a knowledge of all [men] and of individuals, and is able to distinguish and separate them each one from the other. Since they were being sealed upon their foreheads with the seal, therefore by ‘to have the seal of the living God’, since it concerns the Lord, is understood to get to know all collectively and individually, and to be able to distinguish and separate the ‘servants of God’ from those who are not the servants of God.
346. ‘And he cried with a great voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to harm the land and the sea, [verse 3] saying, Do no harm to land, or sea, or trees’ signifies the restraining and holding back by the Lord of the nearer and stronger influx into the lower regions. That these things are signified is plain on account of the things that have been expounded above (n. 343). Out of the sense of the letter is [the thought] that the four angels held back the influx; but out of the spiritual sense, it is the Lord. That they should ‘do no harm to land, sea and trees’ signifies that it is not by a violent but by a moderate influx; for the Lord by varying degrees of influx into the heavens disposes, arranges in order, tempers and moderates all things there and in the hells and, by means of the heavens and the hells, all things in the world.
347. ‘Till we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads’ signifies before those have been separated who are in truths out of good from the Lord, thus those who are interiorly good. By ‘to seal upon the foreheads’ is not understood to seal them there, but to distinguish and separate those who are in the good of love from the Lord; for the ‘forehead’ signifies the good of love. The reason it is those who are in truths out of good from the Lord is because they are understood by ‘the servants of God’ (n. 3). ‘Forehead’ signifies good of love because the face is the image of a man’s affections, and the forehead is the highest part of the face. The cerebrum, out of which is the beginning of all the things of a man’s life, is immediately beneath the forehead. As the ‘forehead’ signifies love, a love of good with the good, and a love of evil with the evil, therefore by ‘to seal upon the forehead’ is signified to distinguish and separate one from the other in accordance with the love. The like is signified in Ezekiel:-
Pass through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a seal upon the foreheads of those sighing over the abominations Ezek. ix 4-6.
[2] Since ‘forehead’ signifies love, it is therefore said of the plate upon Aaron’s mitre, upon which HOLINESS TO JEHOVAH was engraved:-
That it was to be out of the region of the faces of his mitre, so that it might be upon Aaron’s forehead, and be upon Aaron’s forehead continually, to cause him* to be well-pleasing before Jehovah Exod. xxviii 36-38.
And moreover it was commanded:-
That the words, Thou shalt love thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, may be upon hand and forehead Deut. vi 5, 8; xi 18.
That they should have the Father’s Name written upon their foreheads Rev. xiv 1.
And the Name of God and the Lamb in their foreheads Rev. xxii 4.
It is to be known that the Lord looks at angels in their foreheads, and they in turn look at the Lord through their eyes. This is because the Lord views all out of the good of love, whilst wishing that they in turn may view Him out of truths of wisdom, thus that there may be a conjunction.
[3] By ‘forehead’ in the opposite sense a love of evil is signified, in these [statements]:-
Who have the mark of the beast upon their foreheads Rev. xiii 16; xiv 9; xx 4.
And also the name of Babylon upon their foreheads Rev. xii 5.
The forehead of a woman, a harlot Jer. iii 3.
Stubborn of forehead, and hard of heart Ezek. iii 7, 8.
Thou art hard, and thy forehead bronzed Isa. xlviii 4.
The city in length and breadth was 12,000 stadia; that the wall thereof was 144 cubits
The 144 are 12 times 12.
That there were 12 gates; and the gates were of 12 pearls
That over the gates were 12 angels; and the names of the 12 tribes of Israel written
That there were 12 foundations of the wall; and in them the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb; and the foundations were established out of 12 precious stones
Again, that the tree of life was there, producing 12 fruits according to the 12 months.
Concerning all of which, chaps. xxi and xxii may be seen. Out of these who are treated of here, the New Heaven has been formed and the New Church is being formed by the Lord; for they are the same who are mentioned in chap. xiv seq., where these things [are said] about them:-
And I saw and behold the Lamb standing upon mount Zion, and with Him the 144,000; and they were singing a new song before the throne, and no one could learn the song, but the 144,000 bought from the land; they are virgins, and they follow the Lamb wherever He goes (vers. 1, 3, 4).
[4] Since the 12 tribes used to signify the Lord’s Church as to all the truths and goods thereof, therefore the number 12 became the number for the Church, and of common usage in the rites thereof, so that:-
In the breastplate of judgment, where were the Urim and Thummim, there were 12 precious stones Exod. xxviii 21.
12 loaves of faces were put upon the table in the tabernacle Lev. xxiv 5, 6.
Moses built an altar below Mount Sinai, and set up 12 pillars Exod. xxiv 4.
12 men were sent to search out the land of Canaan Deut. i 23.
12 men carried 12 stones out of the midst of the Jordan Josh. iv 1-9, 20.
12 princes at the dedication of the altar brought 12 silver dishes, 12 silver bowls, 12 gold censers, 12 young bullocks, 12 rams, 12 lambs and 12 he-goats Num. vii 84, 87.
Elijah took up 12 stones and built an altar 1 Kings xviii 31, 32.
Elijah found Elisha, when he was ploughing with 12 yoke [of oxen], and himself among the twelve, and that then he cast his mantle upon him 1 Kings xix 19.
Solomon placed 12 oxen under the bronze sea 1 Kings vii 25, 44.
He made a throne, and 12 lions standing at the steps thereof 1 Kings x 19, 20.
Upon the head of the woman encompassed with the sun was a crown of 12 stars Rev. xii 1.
From these things it can now be established that by the 144,000 sealed, 52,000 out of each individual tribe, are understood, not so many in number of Jews and Israelites, but all of the Christian New Heaven and the New Church, who will be in truths of doctrine out of the good of love from the Lord by means of the Word.
349. ‘Sealed out of every tribe of Israel’ signifies the Lord’s heaven and Church from those. By ‘tribe’ is signified religion as to good of life, and by ‘every tribe’ is signified the Church as to every good of love and as to every truth derived from that good, from which the good of life is derived; for there are two things that make the Church, good of love and truth of doctrine. The marriage of these is the Church. The twelve tribes of Israel used to represent, and consequently signify, the Church as to that marriage, and each individual tribe some universal truth of good or good of truth therein. But what each individual tribe used to signify has not hitherto been revealed to anyone; nor could it be revealed, lest by an ill-connected exposition, the ‘holy’ that lies hidden in their being conjoined into a one should be profaned; for they have significance in accordance with the conjunction. [2] They have one signification in the series in which they are named following their births (Gen. xxix; xxx; xxxv 18), the series of them there being:-
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulon, Joseph, Benjamin.
They have another signification in the series in which they are named when they came to Egypt, which is:-
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulon, Gad, Asher, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali Gen. xlvi 9-24.
Another in the series when they are blessed by their father Israel, which is this:-
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulon, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, Benjamin Gen. xlix.
Another in the series when they are blessed by Moses, which is this:-
Reuben, Judah, Levi, Benjamin, Joseph, Ephraim, Manasseh, Zebulon, Gad, Dan, Naphtali, Asher Deut. xxxiii.
There Ephraim and Manasseh [are mentioned], and not Simeon and Issachar. [3] Another in the series when they were encamped and when they marched forth, which is this:-
The tribes of Judah, Issachar and Zebulon, to the east; the tribes of Reuben, Simeon and Gad to the south; the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin to the west; the tribes of Dan, Asher and Naphtali to the north; and the tribe of Levi in the midst Num. ii 1 to the end.
Another in the series in which they are named elsewhere, as Gen. xxxv 23-26; Num. i 5-16; vii 1 to the end; xiii 4-15; xxvi 5-56; xxxiv 17-28; Deut. xxvii 12, 13; Josh. xv-xix; Ezek. xlviii to the end. So, therefore, when ‘Balaam saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes’, he said:-
How good are thy tabernacles, O Jacob, and thy dwellings, O Israel Num. xxiv 1-4 seq.
[4] In the breastplate of judgment, which was the Urim and Thummim, in which there were 12 precious stones according to the names of the sons of Israel (Exod. xxviii 15-29), the tribes were significant in a series in accordance with an interrogation, to which they supplied an answer. But what they signify in the series in which they are named here in the Apocalypse, which is yet another, will be stated in the things following. ‘Tribes’ signify religion, and ‘the twelve tribes’ the Church as to all things thereof, because ‘tribe’ and ‘sceptre’ in the Hebrew tongue are one word, and the sceptre is the kingdom, and the Lord’s kingdom is heaven and the Church.
350. [verse 5] ‘Out of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand sealed’ signifies celestial love, which is love directed to the Lord, and this with all who will be in the New Heaven and in the Lord’s New Church. By ‘Judah’ in the highest sense is signified the Lord as to celestial love, in the spiritual sense the Lord’s celestial kingdom, also the Word, and in the natural sense the celestial doctrine of the Church out of the Word. Here, however, by ‘Judah’ is signified the celestial love that is love directed to the Lord; and because it is named first in the series, it signifies that love with all who will be in the New Heaven and in the Lord’s New Church; for the tribe named in the first place is everything in the rest. It is as a head to them; and, as a universal entering into all the things that follow, it gathers, qualifies and modifies (afficere) them. This is love directed to the Lord. That ‘twelve thousand’ signify all who are in that love may be seen above (n. 348). [2] It is well known that the twelve tribes of Israel were, after [the time of] Solomon, divided into two kingdoms, the Jewish and the Israelitish. The Jewish kingdom used to represent the celestial kingdom, or the Lord’s Priesthood, and the Israelitish kingdom the spiritual kingdom, or the Lord’s Royalty. The latter, however, was destroyed when there was not anything spiritual remaining with them; but the Jewish kingdom was preserved on account of the Word, and because the Lord would be born there. When, however, they had altogether adulterated the Word, and so were not able to get to know (cognoscere) the Lord, then their kingdom was destroyed. From these considerations it can be established that by ‘the tribe of Judah’ is signified the celestial love that is love directed to the Lord; but because as regards the Lord and the Word they were such [as described above], by ‘the tribe of Judah’ is also signified the opposite love, which is the love of self, properly the love of domineering derived from the love of self which love is called diabolical love.
[3] That by ‘Judah’ and his tribe is signified the celestial kingdom and its love, which is love directed to the Lord, is established from these passages:-
Judah, thy brethren shall celebrate thee; the sceptre shall not be removed from Judah until Shiloh come, and there is an adhering of the peoples to him; he binds his little she-ass to the vine, and his ass’s colt to the choice vine; he washes his garment in wine; with eyes red from wine, and teeth white from milk Gen. xlix 8-12.
David shall be a prince for them to eternity, and I will make a covenant of peace with them, it shall be a covenant of eternity with them, and I will set the sanctuary in the midst of them for ever Ezek. xxxvii 25, 26.
Shout and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; Jehovah shall make Judah an inheritance for Himself His portion upon the land of holiness Zech. ii 10-12 [H.B. 14-16]
O Judah, keep thy festivals, perform thy vows, because never again shall belial* pass through thee, every one shall be cut off Nah. i 15 [H.B. ii 1]
The Lord shall suddenly come to His temple, then shall the minchah** of Judah and Jerusalem be sweet according to the days of an age Mal. iii 1, 4.
Judah shall remain seated for ever, and Jerusalem unto generation and generation Joel iii 18-20 [H.B. iv 18-20].
Behold the days shall come when I will raise up unto David a just offshoot; in His days shall Judah be saved Jer. xxiii 5, 6.
I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah the heir of My mountains, that the chosen may possess it Isa. lxv 9.
Judah was made into His sanctuary, and Israel into His dominions Ps. cxiv 2.
Behold the days shall come in which I will make a new covenant with the house of Judah; this shall be the covenant, I will give My law in the midst of them, and write it upon their heart Jer. xxxi 27, 31, 33, 34.
In those days shall ten men take hold of the skirt of a man that is a Judaean, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard God is with you Zech. viii 22, 23.
As the new heavens and the new land that I am going to make shall stand before Me, so shall your seed and your name stand Isa. lxvi 20, 22.
The kings of the nations shall be thy nourishers (nutritii), their princes [thy] wet nurses (lactatrices); they shall bow down their faces to thee upon the land, and lick the dust of thy feet Isa. xlix 22, 23.
[4] From these and many other passages, which there is not time to quote because of their abundance, it can be manifestly established that by ‘Judah’ it is not Judah but the Church that is understood; as that the Lord is going to make a new and eternal covenant with that nation, to make them His heir, and His sanctuary for ever, while the kings of the nations and their princes are going to bow themselves down to them, licking the dust of the feet thereof, besides more.
[5] That by ‘the tribe of Judah’ regarded in itself is understood the diabolical kingdom, which is the love of domineering out of the love of self, can be established from these passages:-
I will hide My faces from them, I will see what their posterity will be; they are a generation of perversity, sons in whom there is no fidelity; they are a nation devoid of counsel; their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah, its grapes are grapes of gall, clusters of bitternesses to them; their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps: is not*** this hidden with Me, sealed up in My treasures? Deut. xxxii 20-34.
Know that not for thy justice and the uprightness of thy heart does Jehovah give thee the land of Canaan, because thou art a stiffnecked people Deut. ix 5, 6.
According to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem hast thou set up altars for offering incense to Baal Jer. ii 28; xi 13.
You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will to do John viii 44.
They are said to be ‘full of hypocrisy, iniquity and uncleanness’ (Matt. xxiii 27, 28), ‘an adulterous generation’ (Matt. xii 39; Mark viii 38); and Jerusalem, their habitation, was said to be ‘Sodom’ (Isa. iii 9; Jer. xxiii 14; Ezek. xvi 46, 48; Rev. xi 8); besides in other places, where it is said that that nation was altogether ruined, and Jerusalem destroyed, as Jer. v 1; vi 6, 7; vii 17, 18 seq.; viii 6-8; ix 10, 11, 13 seq.; xiii 9, 10, 14; xiv 16; Lam. i 8, 9, 57; Ezek. iv 1 to the end; v 5 to the end; xi
i 18, 19; xv 6-8; xvi 1-63; xxiii 1-49.
* A Hebrew word meaning ‘what is worthless’.
** A Hebrew word meaning ‘an offering’.
*** Reading nonne instead of omne (all).
351. ‘Out of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand sealed’ signifies the wisdom out of celestial love with those who will be in the New Heaven and in the Lord’s New Church. By ‘Reuben’ in the highest sense is signified Omniscience; in the spiritual sense wisdom, intelligence and knowledge, also faith; in the natural sense sight. Here, however, wisdom is signified by ‘Reuben’, because he follows after ‘Judah’, by whom celestial love is signified, and celestial love produces wisdom; for love is not bestowed without its consort, which is knowledge, intelligence and wisdom. The consort of natural love is knowledge, of spiritual love is intelligence, and of celestial love is wisdom.
[2] That these are signified by ‘Reuben’ is because he was named from ‘sight’, and spiritual-natural sight is knowledge, spiritual sight is intelligence, and celestial sight is wisdom. Reuben also was Jacob’s first-born, and therefore by Israel he was said to be:-
His strength, the beginning of his forces, excelling in eminence, and excelling in worth Gen. xlix 3.
Such indeed is the wisdom derived from celestial love. And because ‘Reuben’, on account of his primogeniture, used to represent and consequently to signify the wisdom of the men of the Church, therefore he exhorted his brothers not to kill Joseph, and was grieved when Joseph was not found in the pit (Gen. xxxvii 21, 22[, 29, 30]). For the same reason his tribe encamped ‘on the south’, and used to be called ‘the camp of Reuben’ (Num. ii 10-16). The ‘south’ also signifies the wisdom derived from love; and therefore those who are in that wisdom dwell to the south in heaven, as may be seen in the work concerning HEAVEN AND HELL (n. 148-150). This wisdom is signified by ‘Reuben’ in the prophetic utterance of Deborah and Barak, by these words:-
In the divisions of Reuben are great statutes of the heart; wherefore dost thou settle Issachar among the burdens, to hear the hissings of the flocks? In the divisions of Reuben, where are great searchings of the heart Judg. v 15, 16.
The ‘divisions of Reuben’ are the cognitions of every kind that are of wisdom.
[3] Because all the tribes also signify opposite things, so also does the tribe of Reuben, and in the opposite sense it signifies wisdom separated from love, and consequently also faith separated from charity; and on this account he was cursed by his father Israel (Gen. xlix 3, 4); and therefore he was deprived of his birthright (primogenitura) (1 Chron. v 1). Let n. 17 above be seen. Therefore also an inheritance was given to Reuben beyond the Jordan and not in the land of Canaan, so that Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, were acknowledged instead of both Reuben and Simeon (Gen. xlviii 5). Nevertheless Reuben still retained the representation and consequently the signification of wisdom.
352. ‘Out of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand sealed’ signifies the uses of life, which are of the wisdom out of that love, also with those who will be in the New Heaven and in the Lord’s New Church. By ‘Gad’ in the highest sense is signified Omnipotence; in the spiritual sense the good of life, which also is a use; and in the natural sense a work. Here [‘Gad’ signifies] uses of life, because he follows after Reuben and Judah, and celestial love by means of wisdom produces uses. There are three things that cohere and cannot be separated: love, wisdom, and use of life. If one is separated, the remaining two fail (cadunt), [as] may be seen [in] ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (n. 241, 297, 316). That by ‘Gad’ is signified the use of life that is also called fruit can be established from his being named from a troop or heap (Gen. xxx 10, 11); then from his blessing by the father Israel (Gen. xlix 19); also from his blessing by Moses (Deut. xxxiii 20, 21); and also from his inheritance (Num. xxxii to the end; xxxiv 14; Deut. iii 16, 17; Josh. xiii 24-28). Also from his signification in the opposite sense (Isa. lxv 11; Jer. xlix 1-3). It should be known that all the tribes of Israel here have been distinguished into four divisions, after the manner in the Urim and Thummim and in the encampment, and that each of the divisions contains three tribes, by reason of the three cohering as one, as love, wisdom and use, and as charity, faith and work; for, as has been said, if one is wanting the remaining two are not anything.
353. [verse 6] ‘Out of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand sealed’ signifies mutual love, which is the love of doing the good of use to the community or society, with those who will belong to the New Heaven and the Lord’s New Church. By ‘Asher’ in the highest sense is signified Eternity; in the spiritual sense eternal blessedness; and in the natural sense the affection of good and truth. Here, however, by ‘Asher’ is signified the love of doing uses, which is with those who are in the Lord’s celestial kingdom and is there called mutual love. This love comes down next in order out of love directed to the Lord, inasmuch as the Lord’s love is to do uses to the community and to every society in the community, and He does those uses by means of men who are in love directed to Himself. That the things stated above are signified by ‘Asher’ can in some measure be seen from his blessing by the father Israel:-
Concerning Asher; his bread is fat, and he will give the delights of a King Gen. xlix 20;
and from his blessing by Moses:-
Let Asher be blessed in comparison with the sons, let him be accepted by his brothers, as his day so is his fame Deut. xxxiii 24, 25.
He was indeed named from BLESSEDNESS, and those who are in the love of doing uses to the community and society, in heaven are in a blessedness above the rest.
354. ‘Out of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand sealed’ signifies the perception of uses and of what uses are, with those who will be in the New Heaven and in the Lord’s New Church. By ‘Naphtali’ in the highest sense is signified the Peculiar (Proprius) Power of the Lord’s Divine Human; in the spiritual sense temptation and victory, and in the natural sense resistance by the natural man; for he was named from ‘wrestlings’. Here, however, by ‘Naphtali’ is signified the perception of uses and of what uses are, because in the series it follows after Asher, by whom is signified the love of uses and also because they who have conquered in temptations have an interior perception of uses, for the interiors of the mind are opened by means of temptations. The perception which these have is described in Jer. xxxi 33, 34; they feel in themselves what is good, and see in themselves what is true. That ‘the tribe of Naphtali’ signifies angels and men as to that perception can be confirmed from these [statements] in the Word:-
Naphtali upon the high places of the field Judg. v 18.
The ‘high places of the field’ are the interior things of the Church as to perception.
Naphtali is satisfied with good pleasure, and frill with the blessing of Jehovah; possess thou the west and the south Deut. xxxiii 23.
To ‘possess the west’ is the good of the love of being serviceable, while the ‘south’ is the light of wisdom which is that perception.
Naphtali is a hind let loose giving discourses of elegance Gen. xlix 21.
Thus the state after temptation is described as to free eloquence out of perception. It is also recorded that one of the tribe of Naphtali
filled with wisdom, intelligence and knowledge, wrought all Solomon’s work on the temple out of bronze Kings vii 14.
The historical parts of the Word, as to names and tribes, are significant just as much as the prophetical.
355. ‘Out of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand sealed’ signifies the will of being serviceable and of action, also with those who will belong to the New Heaven and the Lord’s New Church. There are three things that follow in order: love directed to the Lord, wisdom, and use, as stated above (n. 352). So also here, mutual love, understanding or perception, and will or action. These also make one, even to the extent that if one is wanting the remaining two are not anything. The will of being serviceable with action is the effect, thus the ultimate, in which the two prior things are and co-exist. ‘Manasseh’ has this signification because Joseph, who was the father of Manasseh and Ephraim, signifies the spiritual of the Church, and the spiritual of the Church is the good of the will and at the same time the truth of the understanding. This is why ‘Manasseh’ signifies the voluntary of the Church, while ‘Ephraim’ signifies the intellectual thereof. ‘Manasseh’ signifies the voluntary of the Church because ‘Ephraim’ signifies the intellectual, as is manifestly plain in Hosea, where Ephraim is named so many times; and because ‘Manasseh’ signifies the voluntary of the Church, it also signifies action, for the will is the endeavour of every action, and where there is endeavour there is action so long as it is possible. ‘Manasseh’ is named in some places, as when he was born (Gen. xli 50-52); when he was accepted by Jacob instead of Simeon as it were (Gen. xlviii 3-5); and was blessed by him (Gen. xlviii 15, 16); and by Moses (Deut. xxxiii 17); and moreover (Isa. ix 19-21 [H.B. 18-20]; Ps. lx 7 [H.B. 9]; Ps. lxxx 2 [H.B. 3]; Ps. cviii 8 [H.B. 9]; from which it can be seen in some measure that by ‘Manasseh’ the voluntary of the Church is understood.
356. [verse 7] ‘Out of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand sealed’ signifies spiritual love, which is love towards the neighbour or charity, with those who will belong to the New Heaven and the Lord’s New Church. By ‘Simeon’ is signified in the highest sense Providence, in the spiritual sense love towards the neighbour or charity, and in the natural sense obedience and hearing. In the previous two series it treated of those who are in the Lord’s celestial kingdom. Now in this series it treats of those who are in the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, whose love is called spiritual love, which is love towards the neighbour, also charity. Simeon and his tribe represented this love and consequently signified it in the Word, because he was born after Reuben and next before Levi, and by those three, Reuben, Simeon and Levi, in their order, was signified truth in the understanding or faith, truth in the will or charity, and truth in act or good work, in like manner as by Peter, James and John. That Simeon and his tribe might therefore represent truth in the will, which is both charity and obedience, he was named from ‘to hear’, and ‘to hear’ signifies both to understand truth and to will it or obey, to understand it when to hear someone is said, and to will it and obey when to hearken to someone or to listen is said.
[2] Something shall be said here about love towards the neighbour or charity. Love towards the neighbour is the love of obeying the Lord’s commandments, which are chiefly the ones contained in the second table of the Decalogue, these being, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit whoredom, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet the things that are thy neighbour’s. The man who is unwilling to do such things because they are sins, loves the neighbour; for he who hates him, and by reason of hate is willing to kill him, does not love the neighbour; nor does he who is willing to commit whoredom with his wife love the neighbour; nor does he who is willing to steal and plunder his goods love the neighbour, and so on. Paul also teaches this in these words:-
He who loves another has fulfilled the Law. For the command, thou shalt not commit whoredom, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not be a false witness, thou shalt not covet, and any other command there may be, is summed up in this saying, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: therefore the fulfilling of the law is charity Rom. xiii 8-10.
357. ‘Out of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand sealed’ signifies the affection of truth out of good which results in intelligence, with those who will belong to the New Heaven and the Lord’s New Church. By ‘Levi’ in the highest sense is signified Love and Mercy, in the spiritual sense charity in act, which is the good of life, and in the natural sense consociation and conjunction. He was indeed so called from ‘to adhere’, by which in the Word conjunction through love is signified. Here, however, by ‘Levi’ is signified the love or affection of truth, and the resulting intelligence, because he follows after Simeon and is the middle one in this series. Since ‘Levi’ used to represent these things, therefore that tribe became the priesthood (Num. iii 1 to the end; Deut. xxi 5; and elsewhere). That ‘the tribe of Levi’ signifies the love of truth, which is the very love out of which a Church is a Church, and the resulting intelligence, can be established from these passages:-
The sons of Levi have been chosen by Jehovah to minister unto Him, and to bless in His Name Deut. xxi 5.
To ‘bless in the Name of Jehovah’ is to teach, which only they are able to do who are in the affection of truth and the resulting intelligence.
They guard Thy Word, and keep Thy covenant, they shall teach Jacob Thy justice, and Israel Thy law Deut. xxxiii 8-11.
The Lord shall suddenly come to His temple, and He shall sit refining and melting silver, and He shall purify the sons of Levi and shall refine them as gold and silver Mal, iii 1-4.
To ‘purify the sons of Levi’ is to purify those who are in the affection of truth. Because that affection blossoms as a result of intelligence, therefore the ‘rod of Levi’, upon which Aaron’s name was written, blossomed with almonds (Num, xvii 2-11 [H.B. 17-26]).
358. ‘Out of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand sealed’ signifies the good of life with those who will belong to the New Heaven and the Lord’s New Church.
By ‘Issachar’ is signified in the highest sense the Divine Good of Truth and Truth of Good, in the spiritual sense the heavenly conjugial love that is of good and truth, and in the natural sense reward, Here, however, [it is] the good of life, because in this division it is the third in order, and the third in any division signifies the ultimate that is produced out of the previous two, as an effect out of its causes; and the effect out of the spiritual love that is love towards the neighbour, and is signified by ‘Simeon’, through the affection of truth, which is signified by ‘Levi’, produces the good of life that is ‘Issachar’. He was indeed named from ‘hire’ (Gen. xxx 17, 18), thus from ‘reward’, and the good of life has reward in itself, Some such thing is also signified by ‘Issachar’ in his blessing by Moses:-
Rejoice, Zebulon, in thy going out, Issachar, in thy tents. They shall call the people unto the mountain, there they shall sacrifice the sacrifices of justice, because they shall suck the abundance of the sea, and the covered things of the hidden things of the sand Deut. xxxiii 18, 19.
However, by ‘Issachar’ in his blessing by the father Israel (Gen. xlix 14, 15) a merit-seeking good of life is signified, as may be seen in ARCANA CAELESTIA published at London (n. 6388).
359. [verse 8] ‘Out of the tribe of Zebulon twelve thousand sealed’ signifies the conjugial love of good and truth also with those who will belong to the New Heaven and the Lord’s New Church. By ‘Zebulon’ in the highest sense is signified the Union of the Divine Itself and the Divine Human in the Lord, in the spiritual sense the marriage of good and truth with those who are in heaven and the Church, and in the natural sense conjugial love itself. Consequently by ‘Zebulon’ here is signified the conjugial love of good and truth, He was indeed named from cohabitation (Gen. xxx 19, 20); and cohabitation is said of married partners whose minds have been conjoined into one, for that conjunction is a spiritual cohabitation. The conjugial love of good and truth, which is here signified by ‘Zebulon’, is the conjugial love of the Lord and the Church. The Lord is the Good Itself of Love, and He grants that the Church may be the truth out of that good; and cohabitation comes about when the man of the Church receives good from the Lord in truths, whereupon with the man there is effected a marriage of good and truth, which is the Church itself, and he becomes a heaven, It is on this account that the kingdom of God, that is, heaven and the Church, is in the Word so many times compared to a marriage.
360. ‘Out of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand sealed’ signifies the doctrine of good and truth with those who will belong to the New Heaven and the Lord’s New Church. By ‘Joseph’ [in the highest sense] is signified the Lord as to the Spiritual Divine, in the spiritual sense the spiritual kingdom, and in the natural sense fructification and multiplication. Here, however, by ‘Joseph’ is signified the doctrine of good and truth that is with those who are in the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, This is signified here by ‘Joseph’ because he is named after the tribe of Zebulon and before the tribe of Benjamin, thus in the middle; and the tribe that is named first in a series or division signifies some love that is of the will, while the tribe that is named after it signifies something of the wisdom that is of the understanding, and the tribe that is named last of all signifies some use or effect derived from them. Consequently any one series is a full series. Since ‘Joseph’ used to signify the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, he was therefore made ruler in Egypt (Gen. xli 38-44; Ps, cv 17-22), where the details (singula) signify such things as are of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom. The spiritual kingdom is the Lord’s Royalty, and the celestial kingdom is His Priesthood.
[2] ‘Joseph’ here signifies the doctrine of good and truth, because he is here in place of Ephraim, and by ‘Ephraim’ is signified the intellectual of the Church (see THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, n. 79); and the intellectual of the Church is everything out of the doctrine of good and truth out of the Word. Joseph is here in place of Ephraim because Manasseh, who was the other son of Joseph and used to signify the voluntary of the Church, has been reckoned before among the tribes (n. 355). Because the intellectual of the Church is out of the doctrine of good and truth, therefore that intellectual and also that doctrine is signified by ‘Joseph’ in the following passages:-
Joseph is the son of a fruitful one, a fruitful one close to a fountain; his bow is set in strength; he shall be blessed with the blessings of heaven from above, and the blessings of the deep lying below Gen. xlix 22-26.
A ‘fountain’ signifies the Word, and a ‘bow’ doctrine (n. 299).
Blessed by Jehovah is the land of Joseph, from the precious things of heaven, from the dew, even from the deep lying below, and from the precious things of the products of the sun, from the precious things produced of months, and from the precious things of the land and the fullness thereof, let it come upon the head of Joseph Deut. xxxiii 13-17.
By those ‘precious things’ are signified the cognitions of good and truth, out of which doctrine [is derived].
Who drink out of goblets of wine, and are not affected with grief over the breaking up of Joseph Amos vi 5, 6.
I will make the house of Judah powerful, and I will save the house of Joseph, they shall be like the powerful Ephraim, and their heart shall rejoice as with wine Zech. x 6, 7.
Here also ‘Joseph’ [stands] for doctrine, ‘wine’ signifying the truth thereof out of good (n. 316).
361. ‘Out of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand sealed’ signifies the life of truth out of good in accordance with the doctrine with those who will be in the New Heaven and the Lord’s New Church. When by ‘Zebulon’ is signified the conjugial love of good and truth, and by ‘Joseph’ the doctrine of good and truth, by ‘Benjamin’, because he is the third in the series, is signified the life of truth out of good. ‘Benjamin’ bears this signification because he was born last and was called by the father Jacob son of the right hand (Gen. xxxv 18), and by ‘son of the right hand’ is signified truth out of good. Therefore also his tribe used to dwell around Jerusalem, where the tribe of Judah was, and the city of Jerusalem used to signify the Church as to doctrine, and by its surroundings the things that are derived from doctrine. See Josh. xviii 11-28; Jer. xvii 26; xxxii 8, 44; xxxiii 53, and elsewhere.
363. [verse 9] ‘After these things I saw, and behold a great crowd, which no one could number’ signifies all the rest who are not of those enumerated and yet are in the New Heaven and the Lord’s New Church, and who make the ultimate heaven and the external Church, of whose quality no one but the Only Lord has knowledge. That by the ‘great crowd’ are signified the rest who are not of those enumerated and yet are in heaven and the Lord’s Church is plain from vers. 9, 10, 13-17, where it is said that they stood ‘before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands’ and that they ‘are serving Him in His temple, and the One sitting upon the throne shall remain over them’, besides more. By ‘to number’ in the spiritual sense is signified to have a knowledge of what quality or qualities they are. That this is signified by ‘to number’ will be seen in the following paragraph. But who precisely they are who are understood by those who are called ‘a great crowd’ cannot be known without an arcanum first being uncovered. [2] The arcanum is this: The entire heaven together with the Church on earth is as one Man before the Lord; and because it is as one Man, there are those there who constitute the head and thus the face with all its organs of the senses, and there are those there who constitute the body with all its members. So far, those have been enumerated who constitute the face with all its organs of the senses, but those who are now mentioned are they who constitute the body with all its members. That this is the case has been revealed to me, as also that those who make the first division of the tribes (verse 5) are they who correspond to the forehead as far as the eyes; that those who make the second division (verse 6) are they who correspond to the eyes together with the nostrils; the third division (verse 7) are they who correspond to the ears and cheeks; and the fourth (verse 8) are they who correspond to the mouth and tongue. [3] The Lord’s Church is both internal and external. Those who are understood by ‘the twelve tribes of Israel’ are they who make the Lord’s internal Church; whereas those who are now mentioned are they who make the external Church, but cohering as one with those enumerated above, just as lower things with higher, thus as the body with the head. The ‘twelve tribes of Israel’ therefore signify the higher heavens and also the internal Church, but these signify the lower heavens and the external Church. That these are also termed ‘a great crowd’ elsewhere may be seen below (n. 803 seq., and n. 811).
When Belshazzar drank wine out of the vessels of the Jerusalem temple, there was written upon the wall, Thou hast been numbered, thou hast been numbered Dan. v 2, 5, 25.
I am going away to the gates of hell, I have been numbered Isa. xxxviii 10.
The voice of the tumult of the kingdoms, Jehovah Zebaoth numbers the host of war Isa. xiii 4.
See Who has created these, Who brings out their host by number Isa. xl 26.
Jehovah Who numbers the host of the stars Ps. cxlvii 4.
The flocks shall pass over again close by the hand of him who numbers Jer. xxxiii 13.
My steps have been numbered Job xiv 16.
The houses and towers of Zion and Jerusalem have been numbered Isa. xxii 9, 10; xxxiii 18, 19; Ps. xlviii 1-13 [H.B. 12-14].
‘To number’ [stands] for to have knowledge of their qualities. From the signification of ‘numbers’ and ‘to number’ it can be established why David had punishments announced to him on account of the numbering of the people or the tribes of Israel, and why he said to the prophet Gad, ‘I have sinned greatly in what I have done’ (2 Sam. xxiv to the end). And why, when the people was numbered by Moses as to all the tribes thereof, it was commanded that:-
Each one should give an expiation for his soul to Jehovah in the numbering, so that there might be no plague among them in numbering them Exod. xxx 12.
This was because ‘to number’ used to signify to have knowledge of their quality as to the spiritual state, thus as to the state of the Church understood by the twelve tribes of Israel, which the Only Lord knows,
365. ‘Out of every nation and [all] tribes and peoples and tongues’ signifies all in Christendom who are in religion out of good, and in truths out of doctrine. By ‘every nation and [all] tribes’ are understood those who are in religion out of good, who are of the ultimate heaven (n. 363); by ‘nations’ those who are in good (n. 920, 921); and by ‘tribe’ religion (n. 349); by ‘peoples and tongues’ are understood those who are in truths out of doctrine; by ‘peoples’ those who are in truths; and by ‘tongue’ doctrine (n. 282). Consequently, by ‘out of every nation and all tribes, peoples and tongues’ taken together in the spiritual sense are signified all who are in religion out of good, and in truths out of doctrine.
366. ‘Standing before the throne and before the Lamb’ signifies hearing the Lord and doing the things He commands. By ‘to stand before God’ is signified to hear and do the things He commands, as he who stands before a king. This is signified by ‘to stand before God’ elsewhere in the Word also, as:-
The angel said to Zachariah, I am Gabriel standing before God Luke i 19.
No man standing before Me all the days shall be forgotten Jer. xxxv 19.
These are the two sons of an olive tree standing before the Lord of the whole land Zech. iv 14.
He separated the tribe of Levi to stand before Jehovah Deut. x 8;
and elsewhere.
367. ‘Clothed with white robes, and palms in [their] hands’ signifies communication and conjunction with the higher heavens, and confession out of Divine Truths. That ‘to be clothed with white robes’ signifies to have communication and conjunction with the heavens may be seen above (n. 328). ‘To hold palms in the hands’ signifies confession out of Divine Truths, because ‘palms’ signify Divine Truths; for any one tree signifies something of the Church, and ‘palms’ Divine Truth in ultimates, which is the Divine Truth of the sense of the letter of the Word. On this account:-
Upon all the walls of the Jerusalem temple, within and without, and also upon the doors, were carved cherubs and palms Kings vi 29, 32.
Similarly in the NEW TEMPLE, concerning which [see] Ezek. xli 18-20. By ‘cherubs’ the Word is signified (n. 239), and by ‘palms’ the Divine Truths of the Word there. That by ‘palms’ Divine Truths of the Word are signified, and by palms in the hands ‘confessions derived therefrom, can be established from the fact that it was commanded that:-
At the feast of tabernacles they should take fruits of the tree of honour, and the broad leaves of palms, and rejoice before Jehovah Lev. xxiii 39, 40.
When Jesus went to Jerusalem to the feast, they took boughs (termites)
of palms, and went to meet Him, crying, Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord John xii 12, 13;
by which there was signified a confession out of Divine truths concerning the Lord. ‘Palm’ also signifies Divine Truth in David:-
The just shall flourish like the palm, he that is planted in the house of Jehovah shall grow, he shall sprout forth in the courts of our God Ps. xcii 12, 13 [H.B. 13, 14].
In like manner elsewhere. Because Jericho was a city near the Jordan, and by the river Jordan was signified what is first in the Church, and this is Divine Truth such as is in the sense of the letter of the Word, therefore that city was called ‘the city of palms’ (Deut. xxxiv 3; Judg. i, 16; iii 13); for the Jordan was the first boundary or entrance into the land of Canaan, and by the land of Canaan is signified the Church.
My Salvation shall not tarry, and I will give Salvation in Zion Isa. xlvi 13.
Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold thy Salvation comes Isa. lxii 11.
I will give Thee that Thou mayest be My Salvation to the end of the land Isa. xlix 6.
This is Jehovah Whom we have awaited, we will exult and rejoice in His Salvation Isa. xxv 9.
Salvation in the Hebrew language is termed ‘Joschia’, which is ‘Jesus’.
369. [verse 11] ‘And all the angels were standing around the throne, and the elders and the four animals’ signifies all in the entire heaven hearing and doing the things the Lord commands. By ‘the animals’ and ‘the elders’ are understood the angels of the higher heavens, as above, and also below (n. 808); but by the ‘angels’ here are understood the angels of the lower heavens, thus all in the entire heaven. By ‘to stand’ is signified to hear and do the things He commands (n. 366).
370. ‘And they fell before the throne on their faces, and adored God’ signifies the humiliation of their hearts and, as a result of the humiliation, adoration of the Lord. That ‘to fall upon [their] faces and adore’ is humiliation of heart and the adoration resulting, is plain. Humiliation before the Lord and adoration of Him is signified by ‘to fall before the throne and adore God’, because by ‘God’ is understood His Divine, which is the Divine from Which [are all things] and at the same time the Divine Human (n. 368), for each Divine is the One God, because one Person.
373. ‘And honour and vigour (virtus) and strength’ signifies the Lord’s celestial Divine things. In the preceding paragraph it was said that these three, ‘honour, vigour and strength’, in the Word where they concern the Lord, are said of the celestial Divine or the Divine Love, or of His Divine Good. That ‘honour’ is, may be seen (n. 249); that ‘strength’ is (n. 22); and that ‘vigour’ also is can be established from the places in the Word where it is named It should be known that in all the details (in singulis) of the Word there is the marriage of good and truth, and that there are expressions that refer to good and there are expressions that refer to truth; but these expressions cannot be distinguished one from the other by anyone else but one who strives after the spiritual sense. Out of that sense it is plain what is an expression of good or love and what is an expression of truth or wisdom; and from many places it has been given to know that ‘honour, vigour and strength’ are said where it treats of Divine Good. That this is the case with ‘vigour’ can be seen in Matt. xiii 54; xxiv 30; Mark xiii, 25, 26; Luke i 17, 35; ix 1; xxi 27; and elsewhere. That in all the details of the Word there is the marriage of the Lord and the Church, and consequently the marriage of good and truth, may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 80-90).
374. That ‘To our God for ages of ages’ signifies those things in the Lord and from the Lord to eternity is plain from the things stated above; also that ‘for ages of ages’ is to eternity.
376. [verse 13] ‘And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, These [people] clothed with white robes, who are they, and whence have they come? [verse 14] And I said unto him, Sir (Domine), thou knowest’ signifies a longing to know, and a will to ask, and the answer and information. The reason why John was questioned about these is because it is a general thing in all Divine worship that a man should first will, desire and pray, and that the Lord should then answer, inform and do; otherwise the man does not receive anything Divine. Now because John saw those who were clothed with white robes, and desired to know and to ask who they were, and this was perceived in heaven, therefore he was first asked and then informed. The prophet Zechariah was treated similarly when he saw many things represented to him, as can be established from chaps i 9; i 19, 21 [H.B. ii 2, 4]; iv 2, 5, 11, 12; v 2, 6, 10; vi 4. Moreover in the Word very often it is read that the Lord answers when they call and cry, as in Ps. iv 1 [H.B. 2]; xvii 6; xx 9 [H.B. 10]; xxxiv 4 [H.B. 5]; xci 15; cxx 1; also, that He gives when they ask (Matt. vii 7, 8; xxi 22; John xiv 13, 14; xv 7; xvi 23-27). Nevertheless the Lord gives them to ask, and what to ask, and the Lord therefore knows this beforehand, but still the Lord wills that a man should ask first to the end that it maybe as from himself, and thus be appropriated to him; otherwise, if the asking itself were not from the Lord, it would not have been said in those places that they would get whatever they were asking.
377. ‘And he said, They are those who are coming out of great affliction’ signifies that they are those who have been in temptations and have fought against evils and untruths. That ‘affliction’ is infestation by evils and untruths and a spiritual combat against them, which is temptation, may be seen (n. 33, 95, 100, 101).
When the Lord washes off the excrement of the daughters of Zion, and washes away the bloods of Jerusalem in the spirit of judgment and in the spirit of cleansing (expurgatio) Isa. iv 4.
Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from Mine eyes, cease to do evil Isa. i 16.
Wash thy heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, that thou mayest be saved Jer. iv 14.
Wash me from mine iniquity, and I shall be whiter than snow Ps. li 2, 7 [H.B. 4, 9].
If thou shouldest wash thee with nitre, and lather thyself with soap, yet thine iniquity will retain blemishes Jer. ii 22.
If I should wash myself in snow water, and cleanse my hands with soap, yet shall my clothes abhor me Job ix 30, 31.
Who washed his garment in wine, and his clothing (velamen) in the blood of grapes Gen. xlix ii.
This [is said] of the celestial Church, of which those are who are in love directed to the Lord, and in the highest sense [said] of the Lord; ‘wine’ and ‘the blood of grapes’ is Divine Truth spiritual and celestial.
I have washed thee with waters, and I have washed away bloods from upon thee Ezek. xvi 9.
This [is said] of Jerusalem; ‘waters’ are truths, and ‘bloods’ are adulterations of truth.
[2] From these passages it can be established what was represented and consequently signified by the ‘washings’ in the Israelitish Church, as:-
That Aaron should wash himself before he put on the garments of ministry Lev. xvi 4, 24.
And before he drew near to the altar to minister Exod. xxx 18-21; xl 30, 31.
In like manner the Levites Num. viii 6, 7.
In like manner others who became unclean through sins; even that they washed vessels Lev. xi 32; xiv 8, 9; xv 5-12; xvii 15, 16; Matt. xxiii 25, 26.
That they were sanctified by the washings Exod. xxix 4; xl 12; Lev. viii 6.
That Naaman from Syria washed himself in the Jordan 2 Kings v 10, 14.
Therefore, that they might wash themselves,
The bronze sea and many lavers were placed near the temple 1 Kings vii 23-39.
And that the Lord washed the disciples’ feet John xiii 10.
And He said to the blind man that he should wash in the pool of Siloam John ix 6, 7, 11, 15.
[3] It can be established from these things that ‘washing’ with the sons of Israel represented spiritual washing, which is a cleansing from evils and untruths, and the resulting reformation and regeneration. From the things said above it is also plain what was signified by baptism in the Jordan by John (Matt. iii; Mark i 4-13), and what was signified by these words of John concerning the Lord:-
That He would baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire Luke iii 16; John i 33;
and concerning himself:-
That he would baptise with water John i 26.
The meaning of this is that the Lord washes or purifies man by Divine Truth and Divine Good, and that John by his baptism represented this; for the ‘Holy Spirit’ is Divine Truth, ‘fire’ is Divine Good, and ‘water’ is a representative of them; for ‘water’ signifies the Truth of the Word, which becomes good by a life in accordance with it (n. 50).
379. ‘And have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb’ signifies and have purified them from untruths of evil by means of truths, and so have been reformed by the Lord. There are evils of untruth and untruths of evil; evils of untruth with those who by reason of religion believe that evils do not condemn, provided they confess orally that they are sinners; and untruths of evil with those who confirm the evils pertaining to themselves. Here, as above (n. 378), by ‘robes’ are signified the general truths out of the Word that make their religious principles (religiosa). It is said that they ‘have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb’ because ‘white’ is said of truths (n. 167, 231, 232), thus that they have purified untruths by means of truths. It is also signified that they have been reformed in this manner by the Lord, because all who have fought against evils in the world, and have believed in the Lord are, after their departure out of the world, taught by the Lord and led away from untruths of religion by means of truths, and thus are reformed. This is because those who shun evils as sins are in good of life, and good of life desires truths and acknowledges and accepts them; but evil of life never does this. It is believed that by ‘the blood of the Lamb’, here and elsewhere in the Word, is signified the Lord’s passion of the cross; but the passion of the cross was the last temptation, by which the Lord fully overcame the hells and fully glorified His Human. By these two [achievements] He has saved man; see THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 11-14 and 15-17*), also above (n. 67). And because the Lord by that means fully glorified His Human, that is, made it Divine, therefore nothing else can be understood by His flesh and blood than the Divine in Him and from Him, by ‘flesh’ the Divine Good of the Divine Love, and by ‘blood’ the Divine Truth from that Good.
[2] ‘Blood’ is mentioned in many places in the Word, and everywhere in the spiritual sense by it is signified the Lord’s Divine Truth, which is also the Divine Truth of the Word, and in the opposite sense the Divine Truth of the Word falsified or profaned, as can be established by the following passages:-
FIRSTLY; that by ‘blood’ is signified the Lord’s Divine Truth or Word, from these considerations; that ‘blood’ was termed ‘blood of the covenant’, and covenant is conjunction, and this is effected by the Lord by means of His Divine Truth, as in Zechariah:-
By the blood of thy covenant I will send forth the bound out of the pit Zech. ix 11;
and in Moses:-
Moses, after he had read the book of the law in the ears of the people, sprinkled half of the blood upon the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which Jehovah has made with you upon all these words Exod. xxiv 3-8.
And Jesus, having taken the cup, gave it to them, saying, All drink of it, this is My blood, that of the New Covenant Matt. xxvi 27, 28; Mark xiv 24; Luke xxii 20.
By the ‘blood of the New Covenant’ or Testament is signified nothing but the Word, which is called ‘Covenant’ and ‘Testament’, Old and New, thus the Divine Truth there.
[3] Since this is signified by ‘blood’, therefore the Lord gave them wine, saying, ‘This is My blood’, and ‘wine’ signifies Divine Truth (n. 316); and it is also therefore called ‘the blood of grapes’ (Gen. xlix 11; Deut. xxxii 14). This is still more plain from these words of the Lord:-
Amen, Amen, I say unto you, Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of
Man, and drink His Blood, you shall have no life in you, for My flesh is truly food and My blood is truly drink. He who eats My flesh, and drinks My blood, abides in Me and I in Him John vi 50-58.
It is quite plain that by ‘blood’ here is understood Divine Truth, because it is said that he who drinks has life and abides in the Lord and the Lord in Him. That Divine Truth effects this and a life in accordance therewith, and that the Holy Supper confirms it, can be known in the Church.
[4] Since ‘blood’ signifies the Lord’s Divine Truth, which is also the Divine Truth of the Word, and this is the Covenant itself, or Old and New Testament, therefore ‘blood’ was the most holy representative in the Israelitish Church, in which all things jointly and severally were correspondences of spiritual things, as:-
That they used to take of the paschal blood, and put it upon the posts and lintels of their houses, that the plague might not come upon them Exod. xii 7, 13, 22.
That the blood of the burnt-offering used to be sprinkled upon the altar, on the foundations of the altar, upon Aaron, his sons, and their garments Exod. xxix 12, 16, 20, 21; Lev. i 5, 11, 15; iii 2, 8, 13; iv 25, 30, 34; v 9; viii 15, 24; xvii 6; Num. xviii 17; Deut. xii 27.
Also upon the veil that was over the ark, upon the propitiatory there, and upon the horns of the altar of incense Lev. iv 6, 7, 17, 18; xvi 12-15.
[5] A similar thing is signified by ‘the blood of the Lamb’ in the following [words] in the Apocalypse:-
And there was war in heaven, Michael and [his] angels fought against the dragon, and overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the Word of their testimony Rev. xii 7, 11.
For it cannot be thought that Michael and his angels overcame the dragon by other means than by the Lord’s Divine Truth in the Word; for angels in heaven cannot think of any blood, nor do they think of the Lord’s passion, but of the Divine Truth and of His resurrection. Therefore when a man thinks of the Lord’s blood the angels perceive His Divine Truth, and when of the Lord’s passion they perceive His glorification, and then only the resurrection. That this is the case it has been given [me] to know by much experience.
[6] That ‘blood’ signifies Divine Truth is plain also from these [words] in David:-
God will preserve the souls of the needy, precious shall their blood be in His eyes; and they shall live, and He shall give them of the gold of Sheba Ps. lxxii 13-15.
‘Blood precious in the eyes of God’ [stands] for the Divine Truth with them; ‘the gold of Sheba’ is wisdom therefrom. In Ezekiel:-
Gather yourselves to a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood; the blood of the princes of the land shall you drink, and you shall drink blood even to drunkenness, of My sacrifice which I sacrifice for you: thus will I give My glory among the nations. Ezek. xxxix 17-21.
By ‘blood’ here cannot be understood blood because it is said that they are going to drink ‘the blood of the princes of the land’ and that they are going to drink ‘even to drunkenness’. The true sense of the Word results, however, when by ‘blood’ is understood Divine Truth: it also treats there of the Lord’s Church that is going to be restored among the nations.
[7] SECONDLY that ‘blood’ signifies Divine Truth can be clearly seen from the opposite sense thereof in which it signifies the Divine Truth of the Word falsified or profaned; and this is plain from these passages:-
He who stops his ears lest he hear bloods, and shuts his eyes lest he see evil Isa. xxxiii 15.
Thou shalt destroy those speaking a lie, Jehovah abhors a man of bloods and deceit Ps. v 6 [H.B. 7].
Every one who is written among the living (ad vitam) in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall wash away its bloods out of the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of purifying Isa. iv 3, 4.
In the day that thou wast born, I saw thee trampled in bloods, and I said, In thine own bloods live; I have washed thee, and washed away the bloods from upon thee Ezek. xvi 5, 6, 9, 22, 36, 38.
The blind have wandered in the streets, they have been polluted with blood, and the things they are unable [to touch], they touch with their garments Lam. iv 13, 14.
The garment is polluted with blood Isa. ix 4.
Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocents Jer. ii 33, 34.
Your hands are full of bloods, wash you, purify you, put away the wickedness of your doings Isa. 15, 16.
Your hands are polluted with blood, and your fingers with iniquity, your lips have spoken a lie, they make haste to shed innocent blood Isa. lix 3, 7.
Jehovah going forth to visit the iniquity of the land, then shall the land reveal its bloods Isa. xxvi 21.
As many as have received Him, to them He has given power that they might be the sons of God, who are not [born] out of bloods John i 12, 13.
In Babylon was found the blood of prophets and of saints Rev. xviii 24.
The sea became as the blood of the dead, and the fountains of waters became blood Rev. xvi 3, 4; Isa. xv 6, 9; Ps. cv 23, 28, 29.
Something similar is signified by the fact that:-
The streams, gatherings and swamps of waters in Egypt were turned into blood Exod. vii 15-25.
The moon shall be turned into blood before the great day of Jehovah comes Joel ii 31 [H.B. iii 4].
The moon became blood Rev. vi 12.
In these places and many others ‘blood’ signifies the truth of the Word falsified, and also profaned; and this can be seen yet more manifestly from those passages in the Word read in [their] series. Since therefore by ‘blood’ in the opposite sense is signified the Truth of the Word falsified or profaned, it is plain that in the genuine sense the truth of the Word not falsified is signified.
* In the Original the numbers are given as 22-24 and 25-27, but it is clear that the above sections are intended.
380. [verse 15] ‘By reason of this they are before the throne of God, and are serving Him day and night in His temple, and the One sitting upon the throne shall remain over them’ signifies that they are in the presence of the Lord, and are living constantly and faithfully in accordance with the truths that they are receiving from Him in His Church, and that the Lord is continually imparting good to their truths. ‘By reason of this they are before the throne of God’ signifies that they are in the presence of the Lord; ‘and are serving Him day and night’ signifies that they are living constantly and faithfully in accordance with the truths, that is, the commandments that they are receiving from Him; nothing else being signified by ‘to serve the Lord’. ‘In His temple’ signifies in the Church (n. 191); ‘the One sitting upon the throne shall remain over them’ signifies that the Lord is continually imparting good to the truths that they are receiving from Him. This is signified by ‘to remain over them’ because in the Word ‘to remain’ is predicated of good, and ‘to serve’ of truth. At this point this arcanum must be disclosed: that the marriage of the Lord with the Church consists in this, that the Lord inflows with angels and men with the good of love, and that angels and men receive Him or the good of His love in truths; that by this means the marriage of good and truth is effected, this marriage being the Church itself, and making heaven with them. Because the Lord’s influx and the reception of Him is such, therefore the Lord looks at angels and men in the forehead and they look back at the Lord through the eyes; for the forehead corresponds to the good of love and the eyes correspond to the truths out of that good, which by a conjunction in this manner become truths of good. The Lord’s influx with truths, however, with angels and men is not as the influx of good with them, for it is a mediated flowing forth out of good, as light out of fire, and it is received by them with the understanding, and with the will only so far as they do the truths. This then is the marriage of love and wisdom or of good and truth from the Lord with the recipients in the heavens and on earth (in terris). This arcanum has been disclosed so that it may be known how it is to be understood that the Lord is continually imparting good to their truths.
381. [verse 16] ‘They shall not hunger any more, nor thirst any more’ signifies that henceforth they shall not lack goods and truths. By ‘not hungering’ is signified not to have a lack of good, and by ‘not thirsting’ is signified no lack of truth; for ‘hunger’ is said of bread and food and ‘thirst’ is said of wine and water, and by ‘bread’ and ‘food’ good is signified, while by ‘wine’ and ‘water’ truth is signified, as may be seen above (n. 323).
382. ‘Neither shall the sun fall upon them nor any heat’ signifies that henceforth they shall not have a lusting after evil nor after the untruth of evil. ‘The sun shall not fall upon them’ signifies that they shall not have a lusting after evil; ‘nor shall any heat fall upon them’ signifies that they shall not have a lusting after untruth. That ‘the sun’ signifies Divine Love and the resultant affections of good therefrom, and in the opposite sense diabolical love and the resultant lustings after evil, may be seen above (n. 53); but ‘heat’ signifies lustings after the untruth of evil, because untruth is produced out of evil as heat from the sun; for when the will loves evil the understanding loves untruth, and is hot from the lust of confirming it, and confirmed evil in the understanding is untruth of evil. Untruth of evil consequently is evil in its own form. ‘Heat’ and ‘to be hot’ signify similar things in the following passages:-
Blessed is the man who trusts in Jehovah, he shall not see when heat comes Jer. xvii 7, 8.
Thou hast become a refuge to the needy from inundation, shadow, and heat; He tempers the heat by the shadow of the cloud Isa. xxv 4, 5.
When they are hot, I will make them drunken, that they may sleep the sleep of an age Jer. li 39.
They are all hot as an oven, none among them calling unto Me Hosea vii 7.
He does not behold the way of the vineyards, drought and heat shall seize the waters of the snow Job xxiv 18, 19.
The fourth angel poured out the phial upon the sun, and it was given unto him to scorch men with great heat, and they blasphemed the Name of God Rev. xvi 8, 9.
To say to the bound, Go forth; they shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat smite them Isa. xlix 9, 10.
383. [verse 17] ‘For the Lamb, Who is in the midst of the throne, shall feed (pascere) them’ signifies that the Only Lord shall teach them. By ‘the Lamb in the midst of the throne’ is signified the Lord as to the Divine Human in the inmost and thus in all things of heaven; ‘in the midst’ is in the inmost and thus in all things (n. 44); ‘the throne’ is heaven (n. 14); and ‘the Lamb’ is the Lord as to the Divine Human (n. 269, 291); and He Only Who is in the inmost and thus in all things of heaven feeds, that is, teaches all. If it be asked how the Only One can feed all, let it be known that it is because He is God, and because in the entire heaven He is as the soul in its own body, for heaven exists from Him as one Man. ‘To feed’ (pascere) is to teach, because the Church in the Word is called a ‘flock’, and the men of the Church are called ‘sheep’ and ‘lambs’. Consequently ‘to feed’ signifies to teach, and a ‘shepherd’ one teaching, and this in many places, as:-
In that day they shall feed the flocks in a wide meadow Isa. xxx 23.
He shall feed His flock like a shepherd Isa. xl ix.
They shall feed upon ways*, and have their pasture on all the hillsides Isa. xlix 9.
Israel shall feed in Carmel and Bashan Jer. l 19.
I will seek My flock, I will feed them in a good pasture, and in a fat pasture upon the mountains of Israel [Ezek. xxxiv ii, 13, 14.
Out of Bethlehem Ephratah shall He go forth, Who shall stand and feed in the strength of Jehovah] Micah v 2, 4 [H.B. 1, 3].
Feed thy people, let them feed in Bashan and Gilead Micah vii 14.
The remnants of Israel shall feed, and rest Zeph. iii 13.
Jehovah is my Shepherd, I shall not want, in pastures of herb He will make me to lie down Ps. xxiii 1, 2.
The Lord has chosen David to feed Jacob and Israel, and has fed them Ps. lxxviii 70-72.
Jesus said to Peter, Feed My lambs, the second and third time He said, Feed My sheep John xxi 15-17.
* Reading viis (ways) as in Hebrew and AE 482:3 instead of clivis (hillsides).
384. ‘And conduct them to living fountains of waters’ signifies and shall lead them by means of the truths of the Word to conjunction with Himself. Since by ‘a living fountain of waters’ is signified the Lord and also the Word, and by ‘waters’ are signified truths (n. 50), and because there is conjunction with the Lord by means of the Divine truths of the Word when they become of the life, which is effected when this is lived in accordance therewith, therefore by ‘to conduct them to living fountains of waters’ is signified to lead by means of the truths of the Word to conjunction with the Lord. That by ‘fountain’ and ‘fountains’ is signified the Lord and also the Word is established from these passages:-
All my fountains are in Thee, O Jehovah Ps. lxxxvii 7.
They have forsaken Jehovah, the fountain of living waters Jer. xvii 13.
The people have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters Jer. ii 12, 13.
Out of the river of delights Thou makest them to drink, for with thee is the fountain of life Ps. xxxvi 8, 9 [H.B. 9, 10].
In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the inhabitants of Jerusalem Zech. xiii 1.
Israel has dwelt securely alone at the fountain of Jacob Deut. xxxiii 28.
When the Lord sat at the fountain of Jacob, He said to the woman, The water that I shall give thee shall become a fountain of water springing up into eternal life John iv 5-20.
Joseph is the son of a fruitful one near by a fountain Gen. xlix 22.
Bless the Lord out of the fountain of Israel Ps. lxviii 26 [H.B. 27].
Then with gladness shall you draw waters out of the fountains of salvation Isa. xii 3.
To the thirsting one I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely Rev. xxi 6.
I will lead them to fountains of waters in the right way Jer. xxxi 9.
[Words] similar to these, and to those [treated of] now above in the Apocalypse, are also said in Isaiah:-
They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat smite them; for the One having compassion on them shall lead them even to fountains of waters Isa. xlix 10.
385. ‘And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes’ signifies that they shall not any more be in fights against evils and the untruths thereof, and so shall not be in sorrows, but in goods and truths, and thereby in heavenly joys from the Lord. These things are signified by its being said that the Lamb ‘shall wipe away every tear from their eyes’ because above in verse 14 it is said that ‘they are those who are coming out of great affliction’, by which is signified that they are those who had been in temptations and had fought against evils (n. 377); and those who afterwards are not in fights against evils are in goods and truths and thereby in heavenly joys. Similar things are signified by these [words] in Isaiah:-
He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord Jehovih shall wipe away a tear from off all faces: then shall they say in that day, Behold, this is our God, for Whom we have waited that He might deliver us, this is Jehovah for Whom we have waited, we will exult and be glad in His Salvation Isa. xxv 8, 9.
* * * * * * * * *
386. To these things I will add this MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE. Once when I looked around in the spiritual world I heard as it were the gnashing of teeth, and also as it were a knocking, and mingled with those [sounds] a raucous sound, and I inquired what they were. And the angels who were with me said, ‘They are Clubs (Collegia) that are called Inns (Diversoria) by us, where they are holding controversial debates. Their controversies are heard in this manner from afar off, but near by they are heard only as controversies.’ I approached and saw little huts woven out of rushes plastered with mud; and I wanted to look in through a window, but there was none. Nor was it allowed to enter by the door, because in that event light out of heaven would inflow and confuse them. But suddenly from the right side a window was made, and then I heard complaints that they were in darkness. Presently, however, a window was made from the left side, the window from the right side having been closed, and then the darkness was dispersed a little and they seemed to themselves to be in light. And after this it was granted me to go in through the door, and to hear. There was a table in the middle, and benches round about. But despite this they all seemed to me to be standing on the benches and disputing sharply among themselves about FAITH and CHARITY, one lot [contending] that faith was the chief thing of the Church, the other that it was charity. Those who were making faith the chief thing said, ‘Do we not act with God from faith, and with man from charity? Is not faith therefore heavenly, and charity earthly? Are we not saved by means of what is heavenly and not by what is earthly? Again, is not God able to give faith out of heaven because it is heavenly, and should not man set about giving himself charity because it is earthly? and what a man gives himself, this is not of the Church, and therefore does not save. Can any one thus be justified before God as a result of the works that are called works of charity? Believe us, that by faith alone we are not only justified but also sanctified, provided the faith is not contaminated by the merit-seeking qualities that are derived from the works of charity.’ [2] Besides more. Those, however, who were making charity the chief thing of the Church were sharply refuting this, saying that charity saves and not faith. ‘Does not God hold all dear to Him, and will good to all? How can God do this except by means of men? Does God only grant to talk with men about the things that are of faith, and not to do to men the things that are of charity? Do you not see that you have absurdly said of charity that it is earthly? Charity is heavenly, and because you are not doing the good of charity, your faith is earthly. How do you acquire faith except as a stock or stone? You say, by only a hearing of the Word, but how can the Word operate by only having been heard? and how can it operate upon stock or stone? Perhaps you have been vivified all unknown to you, but what is the vivification, except that you are able to say that faith alone saves? But what faith is, and what is a saving faith, you do not know.’ [3] Whereupon one arose, who was called a Syncretist by the angel speaking with me. He took a turban off his head and put it on the table, but promptly replaced it because he was bald. He said, ‘Listen, you are all astray. It is true that faith is spiritual, and charity is moral, but yet they are joined together, and joined together by the Word, by the Holy Spirit, and by a putting into practice unbeknown to the man, which can indeed be called obedience, but in this the man does not have any part. I have thought about these things myself a long time, and I have at length found that a man can acquire from God a faith, which is spiritual, but that he cannot be moved by God to a charity that is spiritual any more than a pillar of salt.’ [4] These things having been said, those who were in faith alone were applauding, but those who were in charity were booing. And the latter were indignantly saying, ‘Listen, comrade, you do not know that there is a spiritual moral life, and that there is a merely natural moral life; a spiritual moral life with those who do good from God and yet as if from themselves, and a merely natural moral life with those who do good out of hell and yet as if from themselves.’
[5] It was said that the controversy was heard as the gnashing of teeth, and as a knocking, with a raucous sound mingled with them. The controversy heard as the gnashing of teeth was from those who were in faith alone; but the controversy heard as a knocking was from those who were in charity alone; and the raucous sound mingled therewith was from Syncretists. Their sounds were so heard from afar off because all of them had engaged in controversy in the world, and had not shunned any evil, and therefore had not done any spiritual moral good. Moreover they had been altogether ignorant that everything of faith is truth, and everything of charity is good, and that truth without good is not truth in spirit, and that good without truth is not good in spirit, and that thus the one produces the other. The reason why it got dark when a window was made from the right side is because the light inflowing out of heaven from that side affects the will; and the reason why it got light when the window from the right side was closed up, and a window was made from the left side, is because light inflowing out of heaven from the left side affects the understanding, and every man can be in the light of heaven as to the understanding if only the will is closed as to the evil thereof.
1. AND when He opened the seventh seal, it became silent in heaven for what seemed half an hour.
2. And I saw the seven angels who stood before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
3. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and there were given unto him many incense-offerings for him to offer with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
4. And the smoke of the incense-offerings with the prayers of the saints went up from the angel’s hand before God.
5. And the angel took the censer, and filled it from the fire of the altar, and cast it upon the land, and voices and thunderings and lightnings and an earthquake were produced.
6. And the seven angels having the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
7. And the first angel sounded, and hail and fire mingled with blood was produced and hurled upon the land, and a third part of the trees was burnt, and all the green grass was burnt.
8. And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was hurled into the sea, and a third part of the sea became blood.
9. And a third part of the creatures in the sea having souls died, and a third part of the ships was destroyed.
10. And the third angel sounded, and there fell out of heaven a great star burning as if it were a torch, and it fell upon a third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters.
11. And the name of the star is termed Wormwood; and a third part of the waters became wormwood, and many men died of the waters because they were made bitter.
12. And the fourth angel sounded, and a third part of the sun was smitten, and a third part of the moon, and a third part of the stars, and a third part of them was darkened, so that the day should not shine for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
13. And I saw and heard one angel flying in the midst of heaven, saying with a great voice, Woe, woe, woe to those dwelling upon the land, by reason of the remaining voices of the trumpet of the three angels that are yet to sound.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
It treats here of the Church of the Reformed, of what quality they are there who are in faith alone: the preparation of the spiritual heaven for communication with them (vers. 1-6). An examination and making manifest [to show the State] of those there who are in the interiors of that faith (verse 7); of those who are in the exteriors thereof (vers. 8, 9). What they are as to the understanding of the Word (vers. 10, 11). That they are in untruths and consequently in evils (vers. 12, 13).
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. And [when] He opened the seventh seal
signifies examination by the Lord of the state of the Church and consequently of the state of life of those who are in His spiritual kingdom, being those who are in charity and the faith thereof, here those who are in faith alone.
It became silent in heaven for what seemed half an hour
signifies that the angels of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom were exceedingly astonished when they saw those who had declared themselves to be in faith in such a state.
2. And I saw the seven angels who stood before God
signifies the entire spiritual heaven in the presence of the Lord, hearing and doing the things He commands.
And seven trumpets were given to them
signifies the examination and disclosure of the state of the Church, and consequently of the life of those who are in faith alone.
3. And another angel came and stood at the altar having a golden censer
signifies spiritual worship which is produced out of the good of charity by means of truths of faith.
And there were given unto him many incense-offerings for him to offer with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar that is before the throne
signifies propitiation lest the angels of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom should be hurt by the spirits of the satanic kingdom who were below.
4. And the smoke of the incense-offerings with the prayers of the saints went up from the angel’s hand before God
signifies the safeguarding of those [angels] by the Lord.
5. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it upon the land
signifies spiritual love in which there is celestial love, and its influx into the lower regions where were those who are in faith separated from charity
And voices and thunderings and lightnings and an earthquake were produced
signifies that after communication was opened with them they were heard reasoning about faith alone and confirmations in favour of it [, and that the state of the Church with them was perceived to be tottering to destruction].
6. And the seven angels having the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound
signifies [the spiritual angels] prepared and equipped for examining the state of the Church and consequently of the life with those for whom religion is faith alone.
7. And the first angel sounded
signifies an examination and making manifest [to show] what the state of the Church is with those who are interiorly in that faith.
And hail and fire mingled with blood was produced
signifies untruth derived from infernal love destroying good and truth, and falsifying the Word.
And hurled upon the land, and a third part of the trees was burnt
signifies that with those every affection and perception of truth that make the man of the Church had perished.
And all the green grass was burnt
signifies thus every living thing of faith.
8. And the second angel sounded
signifies an examination and making manifest [to show] what the state of the Church is with those who are exteriorly in that faith.
And as it were a great mountain burning with fire was hurled into the sea
signifies the appearance of infernal love with those.
And a third part of the sea became blood
signifies that all the general truths with them had been falsified.
9. And a third part of the creatures in the sea having souls died
signifies that those who have lived and are living that faith cannot be reformed and accept life.
And a third part of the ships was destroyed
signifies that all the cognitions of good and truth serviceable for use of life had been utterly lost with them.
10. And the third angel sounded
signifies an examination and making manifest [to show] the state of the Church with those for whom religion is faith alone, in regard to the affection and reception of the truths (veritas) out of the Word.
And there fell out of heaven a great star burning as if it were a torch
signifies the appearance of their self-intelligence derived from pride arising from infernal love.
And it fell upon a third part of the rivers and upon the fountains of waters
signifies that as a result of this all the truths of the Word have been altogether falsified.
11. And the name of the star is termed Wormwood, and a third part of the waters became wormwood
signifies the infernal untruth from which their self-intelligence is derived, by means of which all the truths of the Word have been falsified.
And many men died of the waters because they were made bitter
signifies the extinction of spiritual life [with many] as a result of the truths of the Word having been falsified.
12. And the fourth angel sounded
signifies an examination and making manifest [to show] the state of the Church with those for whom religion is faith alone, that they are in evils of untruth and untruths of evil.
And a third part of the sun was smitten and a third part of the moon, and a third part of the stars, and a third part of them was darkened
signifies that by reason of the evils derived from untruths and the untruths derived from evils, they did not know what love is, what faith is, nor anything true.
So that the day should not shine for a third part of it, and the night likewise
signifies no longer any spiritual truth nor natural truth serviceable for doctrine and life out of the Word with them.
13. And I saw and heard one angel flying in the midst of heaven
signifies instruction and prediction by the Lord.
Saying with a great voice, Woe, woe, woe to those dwelling upon the land by reason of the remaining voices of the trumpet of the three angels that are yet to sound
signifies the utmost lamentation over the damned state of those in the Church who, in doctrine and life, have confirmed with themselves faith separated from charity.
THE EXPOSITION
There are two kingdoms into which the entire heaven is distinguished, a CELESTIAL KINGDOM and a SPIRITUAL KINGDOM. The celestial kingdom consists of those who are in love directed to the Lord and consequently in wisdom; while the spiritual kingdom consists of those who are in love towards the neighbour and consequently in intelligence; and because love towards the neighbour is at this day called charity, and intelligence is called faith, the latter kingdom consists of those who are in charity and consequently in faith. Now because heaven is distinguished into two kingdoms, hell also is distinguished into two kingdoms opposed to them; into a DIABOLICAL KINGDOM and a SATANIC KINGDOM. The diabolical kingdom consists of those who are in a love of domineering derived from the love of self, and consequently are in folly, for that love is opposed to celestial love, while the folly thereof is opposed to celestial wisdom. The satanic kingdom, however, consists of those who are in a love of domineering derived from self-intelligence, and consequently are in insanity, for that love is opposed to spiritual love, while the insanity thereof is opposed to spiritual intelligence. By ‘folly’ and ‘insanity’ is understood a folly and insanity in things celestial and spiritual. Similar things are to be understood of the Church on earth, as have been said of heaven, for they make one. Concerning these two kingdoms the work on HEAVEN AND HELL, published at London, may be seen (n. 20-28, and many other places). [2] Now because, as was said in the Preface and in H. 2, the Apocalypse treats solely of the state of the Church at its end, from now on for that reason it treats of those in the two kingdoms of heaven, and of those in the two kingdoms of hell, and of their quality. From this chap. viii to chap. xvi it treats of those who are in the spiritual kingdom, and in the satanic kingdom opposed to it; and in chaps. xvii and xviii of those who are in the celestial kingdom, and in the diabolical kingdom opposed to it; and afterwards of the last judgment, and finally of the New Church that is the New Jerusalem, this bringing all that goes before to a conclusion because it is the end for the sake of which [all the examining and judgment is undergone]. In various places in the Word there is mention of the Devil and Satan, and by both of them hell is understood. It is so named because all in the one hell are called devils, and all in the other are called satans.
388. [verse 1] ‘And when He opened the seventh seal’ signifies examination by the Lord of the state of the Church and consequently of the state of life of those who are in His spiritual kingdom, who are in charity and the faith thereof, here those who are in faith alone. That these things are signified can be established from the details of this chapter understood in the spiritual sense. For in this chapter and in the following ones to chap. xvi it treats of those who are in the spiritual kingdom who, as was said just above (n. 387), are those who are in love towards the neighbour and consequently in intelligence. But because at this day ‘charity’ is said instead of love towards the neighbour, and ‘faith’ instead of intelligence, and here no examination is made upon those who are in charity and the consequent faith, because these [i.e. charity and faith] belong to those who are in heaven; therefore here an examination is made upon those who are in faith alone. Faith alone is also faith separated from charity, because there is no conjunction, [as] may be seen below (n. 417). That ‘to open the seal’ signifies to examine the states of life, or what is the same, the states of the Church and consequently of life, may be seen above (n. 295, 302, 309, 317, 324).
389. ‘It became silent in heaven for what seemed half an hour’ signifies that the angels of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom were exceedingly astonished when they saw those who had declared themselves to be in faith in such a state. By the silence in heaven nothing, else is understood but the astonishment there in regard to those who declare themselves to be in faith, and yet are in such a state; for their state is described in the things following, the quality of which can be established from the expositions. By ‘half an hour’ is signified exceedingly, because by ‘an hour’ is signified a full state. That time signifies state will be seen below.
390. [verse 2] ‘And I saw the seven angels who stood before God’ signifies the entire spiritual heaven in the presence of the Lord, hearing and doing the things He commands. By ‘the seven angels’ the entire heaven is signified, because by ‘seven’ is signified all or all things, and consequently the whole and the entire (n. 10); and by ‘angel’ in the highest sense the Lord is signified, and in a relative sense heaven (n. 5, 66, 342, 344), here the spiritual heaven as can be established from the things said above (n. 387, 388). That ‘to stand before God’ signifies to hear and do the things He commands may be seen above (n. 366).
391. ‘And seven trumpets were given to them’ signifies the examination and disclosure of the state of the Church and consequently of the life of those who are in faith alone. By ‘trumpets’ here is signified much the same as by ‘to sound’, because they sounded with them, and by ‘to sound with trumpets’ is signified a calling together for solemn occasions and these were various; here a calling together for examining and disclosing what those who are in faith alone are like, thus the quality of those who at this day belong to the Churches of the Reformed. It should be known that the Church in the Reformed world at this day has been divided into three on account of the three leaders, LUTHER, CALVIN and MELANCTHON, and that those three Churches differ in various matters; but in this article, that man is justified by faith without the works of the law, they all agree, which is quite remarkable. That by ‘to sound with trumpets’ is signified to call together will be seen below (n. 397).
392. [verse 3] ‘And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer’ signifies spiritual worship which is performed out of the good of charity by means of truths of faith. By the ‘altar’ at which the angel stood, and by the ‘golden censer’ that he had in his hand, is signified worship of the Lord out of spiritual love, and this worship is out of the good of charity by means of truths of faith. With the sons of Israel there were two altars, one outside the tent, the other inside the tent. The altar outside the tent was called the ALTAR OF BURNT-OFFERING, because burnt-offerings and sacrifices were made upon it. The altar inside the tent was called the ALTAR OF INCENSE and the GOLDEN ALTAR as well. The reason for there being these two altars was because worship of the Lord is produced out of celestial love and out of spiritual love; out of celestial love by those who are in His celestial kingdom, and out of spiritual love by those who are in His spiritual kingdom. Something concerning those two kingdoms may be seen above (n. 387). Concerning the two altars the following passages in Moses may be seen: About the altar of burnt-offering (Exod. xx 21 to the end; xxvii 1-8; xxix 36-43; Lev. vii 1-5; viii 11; xvi 18, 19, 33, 34). About the altar of incense (Exod. xxx 1-10; xxxi 8; xxxvii 25-29; xl 5, 26; Num. vii 1). That altars, censers and incense-offerings were seen by John was not because such things are provided in heaven. They were only representative of the worship of the Lord there. The reason is because such things had been instituted among the sons of Israel, and therefore they are often mentioned in the Word; and that Church was a representative Church, for all the things of their worship used to represent, and now consequently signify, the celestial and spiritual Divine things of the Lord that are of His Church in the heavens and on earth (in terris).
[2] Similar things are therefore signified in the Word by those two altars in the following places:-
Send out Thy light and Thy truth (veritas), they shall lead me to Thy habitations, and I will go up to the altar of God, unto God Ps. xliii 3, 4.
I wash my hands in innocence, and I compass Thine altar, O Jehovah, and I will make the voice of confession to be heard Ps. xxvi 6, 7.
The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron upon the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of your altars Jer. xvii 1, 2.
God is Jehovah, Who enlightens us; bind the festal-offering with cords even unto the horns of the altar Ps. cxviii 27.
In that day there shall be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt Isa. xix 19.
‘An altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt’ signifies worship of the Lord out of the love in the natural man.
The thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars Hosea x 7, 8.
By this is signified worship out of evils and untruths of evil. Besides elsewhere, as Isa. xxvii 9; lvi 6, 7; lx 7; Lam. ii 7; Ezek. vi 3, 4, 6, 13; Hos. viii 11; x 1, 2; Amos iii 14; Ps. li 18, 19 [H.B. 20, 21]; Ps. lxxxiv 2-4 [H.B. 3-5]; Matt. v 23, 24; 3 xxiii 18-20. Since worship of the Lord used to be represented, and consequently is signified, by an altar, it is plain that by ‘altar’ here in the Apocalypse nothing else is understood, and elsewhere also, as:-
I saw underneath the altar the souls of those slain for the Word of God Rev. vi 9.
The angel stood by and said, Measure the temple of God and the altar, and those worshipping therein Rev. xi 1.
I heard another angel out of the altar saying, True and just are Thy judgments Rev. xvi 7.
Since the representative worship that used to be performed mainly upon the two altars was abrogated by the Lord when He came into the world, because He Himself opened interior things of the Church, therefore it is said in Isaiah:-
In that day a man shall look back to his Maker, and his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel, and not to the altars, the work of his hands Isa. xvii 7, 8.
393. ‘And there were given unto him many incense-offerings for him to offer with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar that is before the throne’ signifies propitiation lest the angels of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom should be hurt by the spirits of the satanic kingdom who were below. By ‘incense-offerings’ and by ‘the golden altar’ is signified the worship of the Lord out of spiritual love (n. 277, 392); by ‘prayers’ are signified the things that are of charity and consequently of faith in worship (n. 278); and by ‘the saints’ [or ‘holy ones’ (sancti)] are understood those who are out of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, and by ‘the just’ those who are out of His celestial kingdom (n. 173). It can be established from these [references] that here it treats of those who are in the Lord’s spiritual kingdom. Here, by ‘many incense-offerings offered with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar’ is signified propitiation, lest they should be hurt by the spirits of the satanic kingdom that was below, because propitiations and expiations used to be made by means of incense-offerings, especially whenever dangers were menacing; as can be established from these [statements]:-
When the congregation murmured against Moses and Aaron and they were infected with a plague, Aaron took fire from off the altar, and put incense in a censer, and ran between the living and the dead so that he might expiate, and the plague was stayed Num. xvi 42-50 [H.B. xvii 7-15].
The altar of incense was placed in the tent before the propitiatory that was over the ark, and every morning when the lamps were being trimmed, incense was burnt upon it Exod. xxx 1-10.
And it was commanded that as often as Aaron might enter within the veil, he should burn incense, and the cloud of incense should cover the propitiatory, lest he should die Lev. xvi 11-13.
It can be established from these things that propitiations in the Israelitish representative Church were made by burnings of incense; in like manner here, lest they should be hurt by the satanic spirits who were below.
394. [verse 4] ‘And the smoke of the incense-offerings with the prayers of the saints went up from the angel’s hand before God’ signifies the safeguarding of those [angels] by the Lord. By ‘the smoke of the incense-offerings going up before God’ is signified what is accepted and pleasing; and therefore David says a similar thing:-
Let my prayers be accepted, incense before Thee Ps. cxli 2.
This was because the smoke of the incense-offerings was fragrant from the aromatics out of which the incense-offering was prepared, and these were stacte, onycha, galbanum and frankincense (Exod. xxx 34); and the fragrances derived from these aromatics correspond to such things as are of spiritual love, or of charity and consequently of faith. For in heaven are sensed the most fragrant odours corresponding with the perceptions of angels arising out of their love; and therefore it is even said in many places in the Word that Jehovah smelled an odour of rest. That safeguarding by the Lord is signified follows from the things that were said just above (n. 393).
395. [verse 5] ‘And the angel took the censer, and filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it upon the land’ signifies spiritual love in which there is celestial love, and its influx into the lower regions where were those who are in a faith separated from charity. That by a ‘censer’ as well as by ‘incense’ is signified worship out of spiritual love is plain from the things shown above, and from the fact that in the Word a thing containing signifies the same as what is contained, even after the manner of cup and platter signifying the same as wine and food (Matt. xxiii 25, 26; Luke xxii 20, and elsewhere). By ‘the fire of the altar’ of burnt-offering is signified celestial Divine Love, because worship out of that love used to be signified by that altar, [as] may be seen above (n. 392); and by ‘fire’ in the highest sense is signified Divine Love (n. 494*). Spiritual love, which is charity, draws its essence out of celestial love, which is love directed to the Lord. Without this love there is no vitality in spiritual love or charity, for spirit and life is from no other source than the Lord. This was represented in the Israelitish Church by the fact that they should not take fire in the censers and offer incense from anywhere else but the altar of burnt-offering, as can be established in Moses (Lev. xvi 12, 13; Num. xvi 46, 47 [H.B. xvii 11, 12]); and that:-
The two sons of Aaron were consumed by fire out of heaven, because they were offering incense from strange fire (that is, from fire not taken from the altar) Lev. x 1, 2.
Therefore also it was stated that:-
The fire should burn continually upon the altar of burnt-offering, and should not be put out Lev. vi 13 [H.B. 6].
This was because the fire of that altar used to signify the Lord’s Divine Love, and consequently love directed to the Lord. By ‘casting the censer upon the land’ is signified the influx into lower regions.
* It is possible that n. 468 was intended here. n. 599e refers to both n. 468 and 494, and of these two n. 468 seems appropriate.
396. ‘And voices and thunderings and lightnings and an earthquake were produced’ signifies that after communication was opened with them there were heard reasonings about faith alone and confirmations in favour of it, and that the state of the Church with them was perceived to be tottering to destruction. That ‘lightnings, thunderings and voices’ signify enlightenments, perceptions and instructions by means of an influx out of heaven may be seen above (n. 236). Here, however, with those who were in faith alone, with whom there was no enlightenment, perception and instruction by influx out of heaven, by ‘voices, thunderings and lightnings’ are signified reasonings about faith alone, and arguments and confirmations in favour of it. By ‘earthquakes’ are signified changes of the state of the Church (n. 331), here that the state of the Church with them was perceived to be tottering to destruction; for earthquakes occur in the world of spirits whenever the state of the Church in the societies is perverted and inverted. The reason why the censer was cast upon the ground by the angel before the seven angels began to sound with the trumpets, was in order that by means of the influx communication might be opened between those who were in the spiritual heaven and those below who were in faith alone. As a result of this communication there arose reasonings and confirmations in favour of it, and these also were heard and perceived. Therefore it is said that after the communication was opened they were heard and perceived.
397. [verse 6] ‘And the seven angels having the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound’ signifies [the spiritual angels] prepared and equipped for examining the state of the Church and consequently of the life with those for whom religion is faith alone. What is signified by ‘trumpets’ is established from the statute respecting the uses of them with the sons of Israel, concerning which [it is stated] thus in Moses:-
Jehovah spoke unto Moses, that he should make trumpets of silver for the calling together of the congregation, and for the departure of the camp, and that they should sound with them on days of joy, festivals, new moons, over the burnt-offerings and sacrifices; also that whenever they went to war against enemies attacking them they should sound an alarm with the trumpets, and that then they would come into remembrance before Jehovah God and be preserved from their enemies Num. x 1-10.
From these things it can be seen what is signified by ‘to sound with trumpets’. That here by the seven angels sounding is signified the examination and making manifest of the quality of the state of the Church with those for whom religion is faith alone is plain from the details of this chapter, and from the details of the following chapters up to the sixteenth inclusive, understood in the spiritual sense.
[2] From the uses of trumpets with the sons of Israel it can also be seen what is signified by ‘trumpets’ and ‘sounding with them’ in the following passages:-
Sound the horn (buccina) in Zion, and sound in the mountain of holiness, for the day of Jehovah is coming Joel ii 1, 2.
Jehovah shall appear over them, and His spear shall go forth as the lightning, and the Lord Jehovih shall sound the horn (buccina) Zech. ix 14.
Jehovah shall go forth as a lion*, and sound Isa. xlii 13.
In that day the great horn (buccina) shall sound, and those perishing in the land of Asshur, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, shall come and bow themselves down to Jehovah in the mountain of holiness Isa. xxvii 13.
He shall send angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the extremities of the heavens to the extremities thereof Matt. xxiv 31.
Blessed is the people that know the sound, they shall walk, O Jehovah, in the light of Thy faces Ps. lxxxix 15 [H.B. 16].
When the morning stars sing, and the sons of God sound Job xxxviii [7].
[3] Since the sounds of trumpets used to signify such things, and in the Israelitish Church all things were put into effect (sistebantur) in accordance with the correspondences and consequently the significations, therefore also it came to pass:-
When Jehovah came down upon Mount Sinai, that there were voices and lightnings and a heavy cloud, and the voice of a horn (buccina) exceeding loud, and the voice of a horn (luccina) going and strengthening itself greatly, and the people in the camp trembled exceedingly Exod. xix 16-25.
For the same reason it came to pass that:-
When the three hundred with Gideon sounded with horns against Midian, then the sword of a man was against his companion, and they fled away Judg. vii 16-22.
In like manner that:-
Twelve thousand of the sons of Israel with the vessels of holiness and the trumpets in their hands overcame Midian Num. xxxi 1-8.
As also that:-
The wall of Jericho fell down, after the seven priests with seven horns compassed the city seven times Josh. vi 1-20.
It is therefore said in Jeremiah:-
Sound against Babel round about, her walls are destroyed Jer. l 15.
and in Zephanaiah:-
A day of darkness and thick-darkness, a day of the horn and of sounding over the fortified cities Zeph. i 15, 16.
* Leo in the Original here, also in AE 502:8; but AR 500 and elsewhere heros (hero or mighty one), as in Hebrew.
398. [verse 7] ‘And the first angel sounded’ signifies an examination and making manifest [to show] what the state of the Church is with those who are interiorly in that faith. By ‘to sound’ is signified to examine and make manifest (n. 397). The reason why by the sounding of this first angel is understood an examination and making manifest [to show] the state of the Church with those who are interiorly in that faith is because its operation took place upon the land, as it follows on; and the operation of the second angel’s sounding was into the sea, and by ‘land’ and ‘sea’ everywhere in the Apocalypse, when the two are named together, the entire Church is understood; by LAND the Church [formed] out of those who are in its internal things, and by SEA the Church [formed] out of those who are in the external things thereof. For the Church is internal and external, internal with the ‘clergy’, external with the ‘laity’, or internal with those who have studied the doctrinal things thereof interiorly and have confirmed them out of the Word, and external with those who have not done so.
[2] The latter and the former are those who are understood by ‘land’ and ‘sea’ in these places in the Apocalypse:-
So that the wind should not blow upon the land, nor upon the sea Rev. vii 1.
Do no harm to land or sea Rev. vii 3.
The angel coming down from heaven set his right foot upon the sea, and his left upon the land Rev. x 2, 8; also verse 6.
I saw a beast coming up Out of the sea, and another beast coming up out of the land Rev. xiii 1, 11.
Praise God Who made the heaven, the land and the sea Rev. xiv 7.
The first angel poured out his phial upon the land, and the second angel poured his upon the sea Rev. xvi 2, 3.
By ‘land and sea’ is signified the Church internal and external, thus the entire Church. This is because in the spiritual world those who are in the internal things of the Church appear upon the dry lands, and those who are in its external things are as it were in the seas, but the seas are appearances originating out of the general truths in which they are. That ‘land’ signifies the Church, may be seen (n. 285); and ‘world’ (orbis) does so also (n. 551).
399. ‘And hail and fire mingled with blood was produced’ signifies untruth derived from infernal love destroying good and truth, and falsifying the Word. By ‘hail’ is signified untruth destroying good and truth, by ‘fire’ is signified infernal love, and by ‘blood’ is signified the falsification of truth. That ‘hail’ signifies untruth destroying good and truth will be seen below; that ‘fire’ is love in both a heavenly and an infernal sense may be seen (n. 468); that ‘blood’ is the Lord’s Divine Truth, which is also the Word, and in the opposite sense the Word falsified (n. 379). As a result of the combination of these into one sense it is plain that by ‘hail and fire mingled with blood was produced’ is signified untruth derived from infernal love destroying good and truth and falsifying the Word. These things are signified because such things appear in the spiritual world when the sphere of the Lord’s Divine Love and Wisdom glides down out of heaven into the societies below, where there are untruths derived from infernal love and the Word is being falsified thereby.
[2] Similar things are signified by ‘hail’ and ‘fire’ together in the following passages:-
At the brightness before Him the clouds passed by, hail and coals of fire; the Most High gave voice, hail and coals of fire; and He hurled His many darts and dispersed them Ps. xviii 12-14 [H.B. 13-15].
And I will plead with pestilence and blood, and I will make to rain upon them hailstones, fire, and sulphur Ezek. xxxviii 22.
Then Jehovah shall cause His voice to be heard, in the flame of devouring fire, and the hailstone Isa. xxx 30, 31.
He gave hail for their rains, a fire of flames in their land, and broke the tree of their boundary Ps. cv 32, 33.
He smote their vine with hail, and the sycamores with heavy hail, and their herd with burning coals; in the growing wrath of His anger He sent an incursion of evil angels Ps. lxxviii 47-49.
These things [are said] of Egypt. Concerning them it is thus said in Moses:-
Moses stretched forth the rod, and Jehovah gave voices and hail; and there was hail and fire together walking in the midst of heavy hail: and the hail smote every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field Exod. ix 23-35.
All the miracles done in Egypt were signifying the evils and untruths derived from infernal love that were with the Egyptians; each miracle signifying some evil and untruth; for with them there had been a representative Church, as in many kingdoms of Asia, but it had become idolatrous and magical. By the Red Sea (Mare Suph) is signified hell, in which at length they perished.
[3] Something similar [is signified] by:-
The hailstones by which more of the enemy perished than by the sword Josh. x 11.
The like also is signified by ‘hail’ in the following places:-
Woe to the crown of pride! the Lord is firm, like an inundation of hail: the hail overturns the refuge of falsehood Isa. xxviii 1, 2, 17.
It shall hail, until the forest will let itself down Isa. xxxii 19.
And the temple of God in heaven was opened, and lightnings, voices, thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail, were produced Rev. xi 19.
And there came down from heaven upon men a great hail a talent in weight Rev. xvi 21.
Hast thou seen the treasures of hail that are kept back unto the day of battle and war? Job xxxviii 22, 23.
Say unto those plastering what is unsuitable, that it will fall, there shall be an inundating rain, in which you, O hailstones, shall fall Ezek. xiii 11.
‘To plaster what is unsuitable’ is to confirm what is untrue so that it appears true, and therefore those who do this are called ‘hailstones’.
400. ‘And hurled upon the land, and a third part of the trees was burnt’ signifies that with those who are in the internal things of the Church and in faith alone, every affection and perception of truth that make the man of the Church had perished. By the ‘land’ upon which the hail and fire mingled with blood were hurled is signified the Church with those who are in the internal things thereof and in faith alone. That these are the clergy may be seen above (n. 398). By ‘a third part’ is signified all as to truth, just as by ‘a fourth part’ all as to good (n. 322). That by ‘three’, persons or things, is signified all, full, and altogether, will be seen below (n. 505). Consequently by ‘a third’ which is ‘a third part’ the like is signified. By ‘to be burnt’ is signified to perish, here by means of the untruth derived from infernal love that is understood by ‘hail and fire mingled with blood’, of which just above (n. 399). By a ‘tree’ is signified man; and because a man is a man by virtue of the affection that is of the will and the perception that is of the understanding, therefore these are also signified by ‘tree’. There is indeed a correspondence between a man and a tree, and therefore in heaven there appear paradises of trees, which correspond to the affections and consequent perceptions of angels; and also in some places in hell there are forests of trees that bear bad fruits, in accordance with a correspondence with the lusts and consequent thoughts of those there. That ‘trees’ in general signify men as to their affections and consequent perceptions, can be established from the following passages:-
All the trees of the field shall know that I Jehovah have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree sprout forth Ezek. xvii 24.
Blessed is the man who trusts in Jehovah, he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, he shall not cease from bearing fruit Jer. xvii 7, 8.
Blessed is the man whose good pleasure is in the law, he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of waters, that gives fruit in its season Ps. i 1-3.
Praise Jehovah, O fruit trees Ps. cxlviii 9.
The trees of Jehovah are full of sap Ps. civ 16.
The axe lies at the root of the tree, every tree not producing good fruit shall be hewn down Matt. iii 10; vii 16-20.
Either make the tree good and the fruit good, or make the tree corrupt and the fruit corrupt, for the tree is known by its fruit Matt. xii 33; Luke vi 43, 44.
I will kindle a fire that shall devour every green tree and every dry tree Ezek. xx 47 [H.B. xxi 3].
Since ‘a tree’ signifies a man, therefore it was a statute that:-
The fruit of a tree serving for food in the land of Canaan should be circumcised Lev. xix 23-25.
Also:-
When any city was besieged, they should not wield an axe against any tree of good fruit Deut. xx 19, 20.
As also that:-
At the feast of tabernacles they should take the fruit of the tree of honour, and be glad before Jehovah Lev. xxiii 40, 41.
Besides more passages, which are not adduced here by reason of their abundance.
401. ‘And all the green grass was burnt’ signifies thus every living thing of faith. By ‘to be burnt’ is signified to perish, as just above (n. 400). By ‘green grass’ in the Word is signified that good and truth of the Church or of faith which in the natural man is born first. A similar thing is signified also by ‘the herb of the field’; and because faith is alive by virtue of good and truth, therefore by ‘all the green grass was burnt’ is signified that every living thing of faith perished; and every living thing of faith perishes whenever there is not any affection of good and perception of truth, of which just above. That this is signified by ‘grass’ is also the result of correspondence; and therefore those who separate faith from charity, not only in doctrine but also in life, in the spiritual world live in a wilderness where there is not even grass. As a ‘fruit tree’ signifies a man as to affections of good and perceptions of truth, so ‘green grass’ signifies a man as to that of the Church which first with him is conceived and also born, and ‘grass not green’ signifies the same thing utterly lost. In general all the things that are in gardens, ‘forests, fields and plains’, signify a man as to something of the Church, or what is the same, something of the Church with him. This is because they correspond. That ‘grass’ [corresponds in this way] can be established from these passages:-
The voice said, Cry, and he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and the grass withers, and the flower falls, because the wind has blown upon it; truly the people is grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, and the Word of our God shall stand for ever Isa. xl 5-8.
The inhabitants were made herb of the field, herb of grass, grass of the roofs, and meadow land scorched before the crop Isa. xxxvii 27; 2 Kings xix 26.
I will pour out My blessing upon thine offspring, and they shall sprout forth in the midst of the grass Isa. xliv 3, 4;
and elsewhere (as Isa. li 12; Ps. xxxvii 2; Ps. ciii 15; Ps. cxxix 6; Deut. xxxii 2). That by ‘verdant’ or ‘green’ is signified what is living or alive is plain in Jer. xi 16; xvii 8; Ezek. xvii 24; xx 47 [H.B. xxi 3]; Hosea xiv 8 [H.B. 9]; Ps. xxxvii 35; Ps. lii 8 [H.B. 10]; Ps. xcii so [H.B. 11]. Something similar to what is here said in the Apocalypse came to pass in Egypt, namely that:-
By reason of mingled hail and fire every tree and every herb of the field was burnt up Exod. ix 23-35 Ps. lxxviii 47-49; Ps. cv 32, 33.
402. [verse 8] ‘And the second angel sounded’ signifies an examination and making manifest [to show] what the state of the Church is with those who are exteriorly in that faith. That ‘to sound with a trumpet’ signifies to examine and make manifest the state of the Church and consequently of life with those for whom religion is faith alone may be seen above (n. 397). These things are said of those who are exteriorly in that faith because it treats here of those who are in the ‘sea’, and previously of those who are upon the ‘land’; and by those who are upon the land are understood those who are in the internal things of the Church, who are the ‘clergy’, and by those who are in the sea are understood those who are in the external things of the Church, who are the ‘laity’, [as] may be seen above (n. 398). That they appear in the spiritual world as in a sea [may be seen] (n. 238, 290).
403. ‘And as it were a great mountain burning with fire was hurled into the sea’ signifies the appearance of infernal love with those who are in the external things of the Church and in faith alone. By ‘the sea’ is signified the Church with those who are in external things and in faith alone, and those who are in external things are called in common parlance ‘the laity’ because those who are in internal things are called ‘the clergy’ (n. 397, 402). By ‘a mountain’ is signified love (n. 336), and by ‘a mountain burning with fire’ is signified infernal love (n. 494, 599). There is the appearance of this love with those of whom it treats here, for with the angels that love appears to be derived from them. This is because faith alone is a faith separated from charity (n. 388); and where there is no charity, that is, the love towards the neighbour that is spiritual love, there is infernal love, for an intermediate love is not granted except in the case of the lukewarm, concerning whom [see] Rev. iii 15, 16.
404. ‘And a third part of the sea became blood’ signifies that all the general truths with them had been falsified. By ‘a third part’ all are signified (n. 400); by ‘blood’ is signified the falsification of the truth of the Word (n. 379); by ‘the sea’ is signified the Church with those who are in the external things thereof and in faith alone (n. 398, 402). The general truths with these have been falsified because they are in them alone, for they do not know the details (singularia) of that faith as do the clergy. It is because of the general truths with them that they appear as in a sea’ in the spiritual world. This is because waters signify truths (n. 50), and a sea is the general receptacle thereof (n. 238).
405. [verse 9] ‘And a third part of the creatures in the sea having souls died’ signifies that those who have lived and are living that faith cannot be reformed and accept life. By ‘a third part’ all of them are signified, as above. By ‘creatures’ are understood those who can be reformed (n. 290). This is because by ‘to create’ is signified to reform (n. 254). By ‘having souls’ is signified to be capable of accepting life by reformation. By ‘died’ is signified that those who are living that faith alone are not capable. This is because all are reformed by means of faith united to charity, thus by the faith of charity and not any by faith alone, for charity is the life of faith.
[2] Since the affections, and consequently the perceptions and thoughts, of spirits and angels appear from afar off in the spiritual world in the forms of animals or creatures upon the land that are called beasts, of creatures in the air that are called birds, and of creatures in the sea that are called fishes, therefore beasts, birds and fishes are so often named in the Word, and yet by them nothing else is understood, as in these [instances]:-
The controversy of Jehovah with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth (veritas), nor mercy, nor recognition of God; and everyone dwelling therein, the beast of the field and the bird of the heavens, even the fishes of the sea shall be assembled Hosea iv 1, 3.
I will consume man and beast, the bird of the heavens and the fishes of the sea, the stumbling blocks with the wicked Zeph. i 3.
There shall be a great earthquake upon the land of Israel, and the fishes of the sea, the bird of the heavens, and the beast of the field shall tremble before Me Ezek. xxxviii 18-20.
Thou hast made Him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under His feet, the beasts of the field, the bird of the air, and the fish of the sea, passing through the way of the seas Ps. viii 6-8 [H.B. 7-9].
These [words are said] of the Lord.
Pray ask the beasts and they shall teach thee, or the birds of the air and they shall make known unto thee, and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who does not know by reason of all these that the hand of Jehovah has done this? Job xii 7-9;
besides in many other places.
[3] By the fishes, however, or ‘creatures of the sea’ treated of here are understood the affections and consequently the thoughts of those men who are in general truths, and who therefore take in more out of what is natural than out of what is spiritual. These are understood by the ‘fishes’ in the preceding quotations, and also in these following:-
By My rebuke I dry up the sea, I set rivers in the wilderness; their fish stinks, and dies for thirst Isa. l 2.
O king of Egypt, the great whale that lies in the midst of thy rivers, thou hast said, The river is mine, I have made it myself; on account of this I will make the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will leave thee stranded in the wilderness, and every fish of thy rivers Ezek. xxix 3-5.
These things were said to the king of Egypt because by ‘Egypt’ is signified what is natural separated from what is spiritual, and consequently by ‘the fishes of its rivers’ those [are signified] who are in doctrinal things, and in a separated faith as a result thereof, which faith is only knowledge. On account of this separation, indeed, one of the miracles there was:-
That their waters were turned into blood, and that consequently the fishes died Exod. vii 17-25; Ps. cv 29.
[4] Again:-
Wherefore makest thou man as the fishes of the sea, every one draws out with a hook*, and gathers into a net Hab. i 14-16.
The fishes here [stand] for those who are in general truths and in a faith separated from charity; but in Ezekiel ‘fishes’ stand for those who are in general truths and in faith conjoined with charity:-
He said unto me, These waters issuing out to the eastern boundary, they are coming to the sea, whence it comes to pass that every soul that creeps is living, and exceeding much fish; the fishers are standing upon it with a spreading out of nets; the fish thereof shall be according to their kind, as the fish of the great sea exceeding many Ezek. xlvii 1, 8-10.
In Matthew:-
Jesus said, The kingdom of the heavens is like unto a net cast into the sea, and they gathered fishes, and the good they put into vessels, but cast the bad away Matt. xiii 47-49.
And in Jeremiah:-
I will bring back the sons of Israel upon their land, and I will send for many fishers who shall fish them Jer. xvi, 15, 16.
[5] He who knows, therefore, that such persons and things (tales ac talia) are signified by ‘fishes’ is able to see:-
Why the Lord had chosen fishermen for His disciples, and had said, Come unto Me, and I will make you fishers of men Matt. iv 18, 19; Mark i 16, 17.
Why the disciples, by the blessing of the Lord, caught a prodigious multitude of fishes, and the Lord said to Peter, Do not be afraid, from henceforth thou shalt catch men Luke v 2-10.
Why the Lord, when they wanted to exact tribute from Him, said to Peter that he should go to the sea, and draw out a fish, and give the stater found in it for Himself and for him Matt. xvii 24-27.
Why Use Lord after the resurrection gave the disciples a fish and bread to eat John xxi 2-13.
And said to them that they should go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature Mark xvi 15;
for the Gentiles whom they were converting were in general truths only, and in natural things more than in spiritual.
* Reading hamo (with a hook) for homo (man).
406. ‘And a third part of the ships was destroyed’ signifies that all the cognitions of good and truth out of the Word serviceable for use of life had been utterly lost with them. ‘A third part’ signifies all, as above (n. 400, 404, 405). ‘Ships’ signify the cognitions of good and truth out of the Word serviceable for use of life. These are signified by ‘ships’ because ships cross the sea and convey the necessaries that are for the natural man for his every use, and cognitions of good and truth are the necessaries that are for the spiritual man for his every use, for the doctrine of the Church is derived from them, and a life in accordance with it. ‘Ships’ signify those cognitions because they are containers, and in many places in the Word the thing containing is taken for the content, as the cup for the wine, the plate for the food, the tabernacle and the temple for the holy things in them, the ark for the law, the altars for worship, and so on.
[2] ‘Ships’ signify cognitions of good and truth in the following places:-
Zebulon shall dwell at the shore of the seas, and he shall be for a haven of ships Gen. xlix 13.
By ‘Zebulon’ is understood the conjunction of good and truth.
O Tyre, the builders have perfected thy beauty, out of firs from Senir have they made all the boards for thee; they have taken a cedar out of Lebanon to make a mast, of oaks out of Bashan have they made thine oars, thy beam have they made of ivory, a daughter of courses (filiam gressuum) out of the isles of Chittim; the inhabitants of Zidon and Arvah were thine oarsmen, thy wise men were thy skippers, all the ships of the sea and the sailors thereof were in thee for trading; the ships of Tarshish were thy crowds in the market, whence thou wast replenished and exceedingly honoured in the heart of the seas Ezek. xxvii 4-9, 25.
These things [are said] of Tyre because by ‘Tyre’ in the Word is signified the Church as to the cognitions of truth and good, as can be established from the details concerning it in this chapter [of Ezekiel], and in the following chap. xxviii, understood in the spiritual sense. Also, because cognitions of truth and good of the Church are signified by ‘Tyre’, therefore a ship is described in its details, and by each detail is signified some quality of those cognitions leading to intelligence. What does the Word have in common with the ships of Tyre and its commerce?
[3] The devastation of that Church is afterwards described thus:-
At the voice of the cry of thy skippers the suburbs shall quake, and all handling an oar shall come down from their ships, all the sailors and skippers of the sea shall cry out bitterly over thee Ezek. xxvii 28-30; also Isa. xxiii 14, 15.
The devastation of Babylon as to all the cognitions of truth is described similarly in the following [words] in the Apocalypse:-
In one hour have so great riches been devastated, every steersman and everyone voyaging upon ships, and sailors, were crying out and saying, Woe, woe, great city Babylon, wherein all have been made rich who have ships in the sea Rev. xviii 17, 19.
[4] The exposition may be seen below. By ‘ships’ are signified cognitions of truth and good also in the following places:-
My days have been swift, they have fled away, they have not seen good, they have passed by with ships of desire Job ix 25, 26.
Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business in many waters, those have seen the works of Jehovah, and His wonders in the deep Ps. cvii 23, 24.
The isles shall trust in Me, and the ships of Tarshish in the beginning, to bring thy children from afar Isa. lx 9.
The kings have assembled, terror seized them, by an east wind Thou shalt break the ships of Tarshish Ps. xlviii 4-7 [H.B. 5-8].
Howl, O ships of Tarshish Isa. xxiii 1, 14;
besides elsewhere, as Num. xxiv 24; Judg. v 17; Ps. civ 26; Isa. xxiii 21.
407. [verse 10] ‘And the third angel sounded’ signifies an examination and making manifest [to show the state] of the Church with those for whom religion is faith alone, of what quality they are in regard to the affection and reception of truths (veritas) out of the Word. That these things are signified is established from the things now following understood in the spiritual sense.
408. ‘And there fell out of heaven a great star burning as if it were a torch’ signifies the appearance of their self-intelligence derived from pride arising from infernal love. By ‘there fell out of heaven a great star’ is signified the appearance of self-intelligence derived from pride arising from infernal love. This is because it was seen to ‘burn as a torch’ and because its name was ‘Wormwood’, as it follows on; and by ‘star’ and also by ‘torch’ is signified intelligence, here self-intelligence, because it was seen to burn, and all self-intelligence burns on account of pride, and its pride arises from the infernal love that is signified by ‘a mountain burning with fire’ (n. 403). By ‘wormwood’ is signified the infernal untruth out of which that intelligence comes into existence and is kindled. That a ‘star’ signifies intelligence may be seen (n. 151, 954); so too a ‘torch’ (lampas) or ‘lamp’ (lucerna) (n. 796).
409. ‘And it fell upon a third part of the rivers and upon the fountains of waters’ signifies that as a result of this all the truths of the Word have been altogether falsified. By ‘rivers’ are signified truths in abundance because truths are signified by ‘waters’ (n. 50); and by ‘fountains of waters’ the Word is signified (n. 384). [This signifies] that the truths of the Word have been altogether falsified, because there follows ‘a third part of the waters became wormwood’, and by ‘wormwood’ is signified infernal untruth (n. 410).
[2] That ‘rivers’ signify truths in abundance can be established from the following passages:-
Behold I am making a new thing, I will give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the lonely place, to give drink to My people, My chosen Isa. xliii 19, 20.
I will pour out waters upon the thirsty one, and rivers upon the dry ground; I will pour out My spirit upon thy seed, and [My] blessing upon thine offspring Isa. xliv 3.
Then shall the tongue of the dumb sing, for in the wilderness shall waters break forth, and rivers in the plain of the wilderness Isa. xxxv 6.
I will open rivers upon the hillsides, and put fountains in the midst of the valleys, [making] the wilderness into a pool of waters, and the dry land into springs of water Isa. xli 18.
Jehovah has founded the world (orbis) upon the seas, He has made it firm upon the rivers Ps. xxiv 2.
I will set His hand in the sea, and His right hand in the rivers Ps. lxxxix 25 [H.B. 26].
Was Jehovah displeased with the rivers? was Thine anger against the rivers, was Thy wrath against the sea, because Thou didst ride upon thy horses? Hab. iii 8.
A river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God Ps. xlvi 3-5.
He showed me a pure river of water of life, going forth out of the throne of God and the Lamb Rev. xxii 1.
He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and caused the great deeps to drink, He smote the rock and the rivers gushed out Ps. lxxviii 15, 16, 20; cv 41.
Then shall the waters fail in the sea, and the river shall be dried up Isa. xix 5-7; xlii 15; l 2; Nah. i 4; Ps. cvii 33; Job xiv 10, 11.
Jesus said, If anyone comes to Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow streams of living water John vii 37, 38.
Besides elsewhere, as Isa. xxxiii 21; Jer. xvii 7, 8; Ezek. xxxi 3, 4; xlvii 1-12; Joel iii 18 [H.B. iv 18]; Zech. ix 10; Ps. lxxx 11 [H.B. 12]; xciii 2-4; xcviii 7, 8; cx 7; Num. xxiv 6, 7; Deut viii 7.
[3] But that ‘rivers’ in the opposite sense signify untruths in abundance can be established from these:-
He shall send by sea ambassadors to a nation trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled Isa. xviii 2.
Except Jehovah were for us, the waters would have submerged us, and the river would have gone over our soul Ps. cxxiv 2, 4, 5.
When thou passest through the waters, I [will be] with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not submerge thee Isa. xliii 2.
The cords of death have encompassed me, and the floods of belial have made me afraid Ps. xviii 5.
The dragon cast forth out of its mouth water as a river after the woman, that he might cause her to be swallowed up by the flood Rev. xii 15.
Behold, Jehovah brings upon you the waters of a river powerful and many, and it shall overflow and go over, and shall reach even unto the neck Isa. viii 7, 8.
The floods came, and beat upon that house, and yet it fell not, for it had been founded upon rock Matt. vii 25, 27, Luke vi 48, 49.
Here, indeed, ‘floods’ [stand] for untruths in abundance, because by ‘rock’ is signified the Lord as to Divine Truth. By ‘floods’ are also signified temptations, because temptations are inundations of untruths.
410. [verse 11] ‘And the name of the star is termed Wormwood, and a third part of the waters became wormwood’ signifies the infernal untruth from which their self-intelligence is derived, by means of which all the truths of the Word have been falsified. By ‘the star’ is signified self-intelligence derived from pride arising from infernal love (n. 408); by ‘the name’ is signified the quality thereof (n. 81, 122, 165); by ‘wormwood’ is signified infernal untruth, concerning which [something] follows; by ‘the waters’ are signified truths (n. 50), here the truths of the Word because [it treats] of faith; by ‘a third part’ all are signified, as above. Out of these significations collected together into one the above rendered sense is the result. That ‘wormwood’ signifies infernal untruth is by reason of its intense bitterness whereby it renders food and drink abominable. Such untruth is therefore signified in the following places:-
Behold I am feeding this people with wormwood, and I will give them the waters of the gall-bladder to drink Jer. ix 14, 15.
Thus has Jehovah said against the prophets, Behold I am feeding them with wormwood, and I will give them the waters of the gallbladder to drink; for from the prophets of Jerusalem hypocrisy has gone forth into the whole land Jer. xxiii 15.
You turn judgment into gall, and the fruit of justice into wormwood Amos v 7; vii 2.
Lest there should be among you a root bringing forth gall and wormwood Deut. xxix 18 [H.B. 17].
Since the Jewish Church had falsified all the truths of the Word, just as the Church of which it treats here, and the Lord represented that by means of all the things of His passion, by permitting the Jews to treat Him as [they were treating] the Word, because He was the Word, therefore:-
They gave him vinegar mingled with gall (which is like wormwood), but, having tasted it, He would not drink Matt. xxvii 34; Mark xv 23; Ps. lxix 21 [H.B. 22].
Because the Jewish Church was such, therefore it is thus described:-
He has filled me with bitterness, and has made me drunk with wormwood Lam. iii 15, 18, 19.
411. ‘And many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter’ signifies the extinction of spiritual life with many as a result of the truths of the Word having been falsified. ‘Many men died’ signifies the extinction of spiritual life, for a man by reason of spiritual life with him is called living, but by reason of natural life separated from spiritual life he is called dead. ‘Of the waters because they were made bitter’ signifies as a result of the truths of the Word having been falsified. That ‘the waters’ are the truths of the Word may be seen just above (n. 409). ‘Bitter’ signifies what is falsified because the bitterness of wormwood is understood, and by ‘wormwood’ is signified infernal untruth (n. 410). [2] The spiritual life pertaining to a Christian man is not from anywhere else than the truths of the Word, for in them there is life, but when the truths of the Word have been falsified, and a man understands and views them in accordance with the untruths of his religion, then the spiritual life with him is extinguished. This is because the Word has communication with heaven. Therefore while it is being read by a man the truths there are climbing up into heaven, and the untruths to which the truths have been adjoined or conjoined are tending towards hell. Consequently there is a tearing apart, as a result of which the life of the Word is extinguished. This, however, comes about only with those who confirm untruths by means of the Word, but not with those who do not confirm them. I have seen these tearings apart, and have heard the harsh sound thereof, like wood burst apart by fire in the fire-place.
[3] ‘Bitter’ signifies what is falsified in the following places also:-
Woe unto them saying good of what is evil, and evil of what is good, putting bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter Isa. v 20, 22.
They shall not drink wine with a song, strong drink shall be bitter to those drinking it Isa. xxiv 9.
A similar thing is signified by:-
The little book eaten up, which was sweet in the mouth, and as a result of which the belly was rendered bitter Rev. x 9, 10;
and by these [words]:-
They came to Marah, but they could not drink the waters on account of the bitterness; but Jehovah showed him wood, which he cast into the waters, and they were made sweet Exod. xv 23-25.
‘Wood’ in the Word signifies good. A similar thing is also signified by:-
The wild gourds put into the pottage, as a result of which the sons of the prophets cried out, There is death in the pot, which Elisha healed by putting in meal 2 Kings iv 38-41.
‘Meal’ signifies truth derived from good.
412. [verse 12] ‘And the fourth angel sounded’ signifies an examination and making manifest [to show] the state of the Church with those for whom religion is faith alone, that they are in evils of untruth and untruths of evil. That these things are signified is established from the things now following understood in the spiritual sense. Here as above (n. 398, 402, 407) ‘to sound’ signifies to examine and make manifest.
413. ‘And a third part of the sun was smitten, and a third part of the moon, and a third part of the stars, and a third part of them was darkened’ signifies that by reason of the evils derived from untruths and the untruths derived from evils they did not know what love is, what faith is, nor anything true. By ‘a third part’ is signified all (n. 400); by ‘the sun’ is signified love (n. 53); by ‘the moon’ is signified intelligence and faith (n. 332); by ‘the stars’ are signified cognitions of truth and good out of the Word (n. 51); by ‘to be darkened’ is signified not to be seen or known by reason of the evils derived from untruths and the untruths derived from evils. Those have evils derived from untruths who adopt untruths of religion and confirm them till they appear as truths, and while they are living in accordance with them make evils out of the untruths, or evils of untruth. Those, however, have untruths derived from evils who do not reckon evils as sins, and still more those who, by reasonings out of the natural man and especially out of the Word, confirm with themselves that evils are not sins. The confirmations themselves are untruths derived from evils, and are called untruths of evil.
[2] ‘Darkness’ signifies those things because ‘the light’ signifies truth, and darkness is brought about when the light is extinguished. For confirmation, the passages will first be quoted where things similar to those here in the Apocalypse are said of the ‘sun’, the ‘moon’ and the ‘stars’, and of the ‘darkness’ originated by the extinguishing of them:-
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah comes Joel ii 31 [H.B. iii 4].
The stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof shall not shine with their light (lux), the sun shall be darkened in his rising, and the moon shall not cause her light (lumen) to be bright [Isa. xiii 10.
Jehovah shall make a visitation upon the host of the height in the height, and upon the kings of the land upon the land, then shall the moon blush and the sun be ashamed]* Isa. xxiv 21, 23.
When I shall extinguish thee I will cover the heavens, I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine, all the luminaries of light in the heavens will I black out over thee, and I will give darkness upon thy land Ezek. xxxii 7, 8.
The day of Jehovah is near; the sun and the moon are blacked out, and the stars shall diminish their brightness Joel ii 10.
Immediately after the affliction of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall down from heaven Matt. xxiv 29; Mark xiii 24, 25.
Who that elevates his mind is not able to see that it is not the sun, the moon and the stars of the world that are understood in these passages?
[3] That untruths of various kinds are signified by darkness is established from these:-
Woe to them desiring the day of Jehovah; it is a day of darkness and not of light; is not the day of Jehovah darkness and not light? thick-darkness and not brightness? Amos v 18, 20.
The day of Jehovah is a day of darkness and of thick-darkness, a day of cloud and of clouding over Zeph. i 15.
In that day he shall look down upon the land which, behold, is darkness, and the light shall grow dark in the destructions thereof Isa. v 30; viii 22.
Behold darkness covers the land, and thick-darkness the peoples Isa. lx 2.
Give glory to Jehovah, before He cause darkness: we wait for the light, but He makes it into thick-darkness Jer. xiii 16.
We wait for the light, but behold darkness, and not brightness; we walk in thick-darkness; we stumble at noon as in the twilight, among the living as if dead Isa. lix 9, 10.
Woe to them fashioning darkness into light, and light into darkness Isa. v 20.
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light Isa. ix 2 [H.B. 1]; Matt. iv 16.
The day-spring from on high has appeared to those who are sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death Luke i [78], 79.
If thou shalt give thy soul to a hungry one, thy light shall rise in the darkness, and thy thick-darkness [shall be] as the noon-day Isa. lviii 10.
In that day, the eyes of the blind, who are in thick-darkness and darkness, shall see Isa. xxix 18; xlii 16; xlix 9.
Jesus said, I am the light of the world, he who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life John viii 12.
Walk while you have the light, lest darkness lay hold of you: I, the Light, have come into the world, that everyone who believes in Me should not abide in darkness John xii 35, 46.
When I sit in darkness, Jehovah is the light unto me Micah vii 8.
This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, but men have loved the darkness more than the light John iii 19; i 4, 5.
If the light (lumen) that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness Luke xi 34-36.
This is your hour, and the power of darkness Luke xxii 53.
By ‘darkness’ in these places is signified untruth originating either out of ignorance of truth, or out of an untrue principle of religion, or out of a life of evil. Of those who are in untruths of religion, and consequently in evils of life, the Lord says:-
That they are to be cast out into outer darkness Matt. viii 12; xxii 13; xxv 30.
* It appears that a passage and reference have been omitted here. The form of the quotation within the square brackets is the same as in AE 401:20.
414. ‘So that the day should not shine for a third part of it, and the night likewise’ signifies no longer any spiritual truth nor natural truth serviceable for doctrine and life out of the Word with them. By ‘that the day should not shine’ is understood no light derived from the sun, and by ‘the night likewise’ not shining is understood no light derived from the moon and the stars. By light in general is signified Divine Truth, which is Truth out of the Word: by the light of the sun spiritual Divine Truth, and by the light of the moon and the stars natural Divine Truth, both out of the Word. Divine Truth in the spiritual sense of the Word is like the light of the sun by day, and Divine Truth in the natural sense of the Word is like the light of the moon and stars by night. Indeed, the spiritual sense of the Word inflows into the natural sense thereof as the sun does with its own light into the moon, and causes it to appear in a mediate manner. In this manner also does the spiritual sense of the Word enlighten men, even those who do not know anything about that sense, while they are reading the Word in the natural sense. It, however, enlightens a spiritual man as the light from the sun enlightens his eye, but a natural man as the light derived from the moon and stars does his eye. Each one is enlightened in accordance with the spiritual affection of truth and good, and at the same time in accordance with the genuine truths by means of which he has opened his rational.
[2] These things are understood by ‘day’ and ‘night’ also in the following passages:-
God said, Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens, to distinguish between the day and the night: and God made two great luminaries, a great luminary to rule in the day, and a lesser luminary to rule in the night, and the stars: and God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth, and to rule in the day and in the night, and to distinguish between the light and the darkness Gen. i 14-19.
Jehovah made great luminaries, the sun for dominion in the day, and the moon and stars for dominion in the night Ps. cxxxvi 7-9.
To Thee, O Jehovah, is the day, and to Thee the night, Thou hast prepared the light and the sun Ps. lxxiv 16.
Jehovah giving the sun for the light of the day, the statutes of the moon and stars for the light of the night Jer. xxxi 35.
If you render My covenant of the day and My covenant of the night of no effect, so that there be not day and night in their season, My covenant also with David My servant shall become of no effect: if I do not set My covenant of the day and night, the statutes of heaven and earth, I shall also disapprove the seed of Jacob and of David Jer. xxxiii 20, 21, 25, 26.
These passages have been quoted so that it may be known that the darkening of both the lights [spiritual and natural] is understood.
415. [verse 13] ‘And I saw and heard one angel flying in the midst of heavens signifies instruction and prediction by the Lord. By an ‘angel’ in the highest sense is understood the Lord, and consequently also anything from the Lord (n. 344); and by ‘to fly in the midst of heaven and to say’ is signified to perceive and understand, and when [this is said] of the Lord, to foresee and provide (n. 245), but here to instruct and predict.
416. ‘Saying with a great voice, Woe, woe, woe to those dwelling upon the land by reason of the remaining voices of the trumpet of the three angels that are yet to sound’ signifies the utmost lamentation over the damned state of those in the Church who, in doctrine and life, have confirmed with themselves a faith separated from charity. By ‘woe’ is signified lamentation over the evil with anyone, and consequently over his unhappy state; here, over the damned state of those of whom it treats in the following chapter and afterwards. And by ‘Woe, woe, woe’ is signified the utmost lamentation, for the triplication makes a superlative, because ‘three’ signify all and full (n. 505). By ‘those dwelling upon the land’ are understood those in the Church who are where the Word is, and where through it the Lord is known; that ‘the land’ signifies the Church may be seen above (n. 285). By ‘the voices of the trumpet of the three angels who are yet to sound’ is signified the examination and making manifest of the state of the Church and of the life with those who in doctrine and life have confirmed with themselves a faith separated from charity, over whose state the lamentation is made. ‘Woe’ signifies lamentation over the present or future misfortune, unhappiness, or damnation of others in these passages:-
Woe unto you, Pharisees and hypocrites Matt. xxiii 13-16, 23, 25, 27, 29.
Woe unto the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed Luke xxii 22.
Woe unto him by whom offences come Luke xvii 1.
Woe unto those joining house to house. Woe unto those rising up in the morning at dawn to follow strong drink. Woe unto those attracting iniquity. Woe unto those saying of evil, It is good. Woe unto [those who are] wise in their own eyes. Woe unto those mighty to drink wine Isa. v 8, 11, 18, 20, 21, 22;
and in many other places.
* * * * * * * * * *
417. To these things I will add this MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE. In the spiritual world two flocks were seen, one of GOATS and the other of SHEEP. I wondered who they were, inasmuch as I knew that the animals seen in the spiritual world are not animals, but are the correspondences of the affections and consequently of the thoughts derived from those who are there. I therefore drew nearer and, as I approached, the likenesses of the animals disappeared and men were seen in their place; and it became obvious that those who were forming the flock of goats were those who have confirmed themselves in the doctrine of justification by faith alone, and those who were forming the flock of sheep were those who have believed charity and faith to be one as good and truth are one.
[2] Whereupon I spoke with those who were seen as goats, and said, ‘Why are you assembled like this?’ There were many from the clergy who boasted of the fame of their learning because they were all acquainted with the arcana of justification by faith alone. They said that they were assembled to hold a Council because they had heard that Paul’s saying (Rom. iii 28) ‘that a man is justified by faith without the works of the law’ was not rightly understood, since Paul by ‘works’ had understood the works of the Mosaic law that was for the Jews. In fact [they said] we see this misunderstanding clearly from his words to Peter, whom he rebuked for judaising, when yet he knew ‘that no one is justified by the works of the law’ (Gal. ii 14-16); also, that he distinguished between the law of faith and the law of works, and between Jews and Gentiles, or circumcision and uncircumcision, and by ‘circumcision’ he understands Judaism, as everywhere else; and moreover that he sums up with these words:-
Do we then abrogate the law through faith? Far from it We establish the law [Rom. iii 31].
He says all these things in one series (Rom. iii 27-31). And he also says in the preceding chapter:-
Not the hearers of the law shall be justified by God, but the doers of the law shall be justified Rom. ii 13.
Then:-
That God will render to everyone according to his works Rom ii 6;
and further:-
We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that each one may give an account of the things done through the body, whether good or bad 2 Cor. v 10.
Besides more to that point; from which it is plain that Paul rejected faith without good works, equally with James (ii 17-26).
[3] Moreover we are confirmed [in the view] that the works of the Mosaic law that were for the Jews were understood by Paul, because all the statutes for the Jews in Moses are termed ‘the law’, thus ‘the works of the law’, which we see from these statements:-
This is the law of the meal-offering Lev. vi 14 seq. [H.B. 7 seq.].
This is the law of the sacrifice Lev. vii 1.
This is the law of the sacrifice of the peace-offerings Lev. vii 7, 11 seq.
This is the law for the burnt-offering, for the meal-offering, for the sacrifice of sin and guilt, for completions Lev. vii 37.
This is the law of the beast and the bird Lev. xi 46 seq.
This is the low of her that bringeth forth, for a son or a daughter Lev. xii 7.
This is the law of the leper Lev. xiii 59; xiv 2, 32, 54, 57.
This is the law of him who has an issue Lev. xv 32.
This is the law of jealousy Num. v 29, 30.
This is the law of the Nazirite Num. vi 13, 21.
This is the low of cleansing Num. xix 14.
This is the law concerning a red cow Num. xix 2.
The law for a king Deut. xvii 15-19.
Yes indeed, the whole Book of Moses is called ‘the Book of the Law’ (Deut. xxxi 9, 11, 12, 26); again also with the Evangelists (Luke ii 22; xxiv 44; John i 45 [Schm. 46]; vii 22, 23; viii 5, and elsewhere). To these things they added also what they had seen in Paul, that the law of the Decalogue is to be lived, and that it is fulfilled by charity, which is love towards the neighbour (Rom. xiii 8-11), thus not by faith alone. They said that they had assembled on account of these things. [4] That I might not disturb them, however, I retired, and then again from afar off they were seen as goats, and sometimes lying down, and sometimes standing up; but they were turning away from the flock of sheep. They appeared lying down when they were deliberating, and standing up when coming to a conclusion. But I kept my sight on their horns, and I marvelled at the fact that the horns in their foreheads appeared at one time to be stretched forwards and upwards, at another to be curved backwards towards the rear, and finally bent back altogether. And then suddenly they were all turning to the flock of sheep, but still they were appearing as goats. Therefore I drew near again, and inquired, ‘What now?’ They said that they had come to the conclusion that faith alone produces the goods of charity that are called good works, as a tree produces fruits. But then thunder was heard and lightning was seen coming from above, and presently an angel appeared standing between the two flocks, and he called out to the flock of sheep, ‘Pay no attention to them, they have not receded from the faith they formerly had, which is, that God the Father is compassionate for the sake of the Son, and this faith is not a faith in the Lord. Nor is faith a tree, but a man is a tree. But do the work of repentance and look to the Lord, and you shall have faith. Faith before that is not a faith in which there is anything living.’ Whereupon the goats with the horns bent back wanted to approach the sheep, but the angel standing between them was dividing the sheep into two flocks, and he said to those on the left, ‘Join up with the goats, but I say unto you that a wolf is coming, which will carry them off, and you with them.’
[5] But after the two flocks of sheep were separated and those on the left heard the threatening words of the angel, they looked at one another and said, ‘Let us consult with our former companions.’ And then the flock on the left spoke to that on the right, saying ‘Why have you gone away from your pastors? Are not faith and charity one as a tree and its fruit are one? For a tree through the branch is continued into the fruit. Remove anything from the branch that inflows by continuity into the fruit, and is not the fruit going to perish? Ask our priests if this is not so.’ Whereupon they asked, and the priests looked around to the rest who were winking their eyelids to intimate that they were speaking well. After this they answered that it is so, ‘Faith is maintained by means of the fruit’, but they did not want to say that faith is continued into the fruit. [6] But then one of the priests who was among the sheep at the right rose up and said, ‘They have answered that it is so to you, but still to their own flock that it is not so, for they think otherwise’. And therefore they asked, ‘How do they think then? Do they not think as they teach?’ He said, ‘No, they think that every good of charity that is called a good work, that is done by a man for the sake of salvation or eternal life, is not good but evil, because the man by the work from himself wants to save his owls self, by claiming to himself the justice and the merit of the One Saviour; and that this is the case with every good work in which a man feels his own will. Therefore among themselves they call good works from a man not blessed but cursed, deserving of hell rather than heaven.’ [7] But those of the flock on the left said, ‘You speak lies against them. Do they not preach manifestly before us charity and its works, which they call the works of faith?’ And he replied, ‘You do not understand their preachings. Only a clergyman who is present pays attention and understands. They think only of a moral charity, and the civil and political goods thereof which they call the goods of faith, although they are not so at all. For an atheist is able to perform such works in the same manner and under the same form. Therefore they are unanimous in saying that no one is saved by any works, but by faith alone. But this shall be illustrated by comparisons. An apple-tree produces apples, but if a man does goods for the sake of salvation as that tree produces apples by what is continuous, then those apples are rotten within and full of worms. They also say that a vine brings forth grapes, but if a man were to produce spiritual goods as does a vine grapes, he would produce wild grapes.’ [8] But then they asked, ‘What therefore is the nature of their goods of charity or works that are the fruits of faith?’ He replied that they are unseen, inwardly in a man from the Holy Spirit, of which the man knows nothing. But they said, ‘If the man knows nothing of them there must surely be some conjunction, otherwise how can they be called works of faith? Perhaps those goods that are imperceptible to the senses are insinuated into the man voluntary works by some mediating influx, as by some affection, aspiration, inspiration, incitement or excitement of the will? [Perhaps there is] a tacit perception in the thought, and thereby exhortation, contrition, and thus conscience and consequently compulsion, obedience to the Decalogue and the Word as a little child or as a wise man, or by another thing like those?’ But he replied that it is not so, and if they say that it is effected by means of such things because by means of faith, still they crowd them with words in their sermons, with the result that it is not derived from faith. There are those who do deduce such things, but as signs of faith and not as its bonds with charity. Some, however, thought of conjunction by means of the Word, and then they said, ‘Is there not a conjunction in such a manner that the man voluntarily acts in accordance with the Word?’ But he replied, ‘They think this is not so, but [that there is a conjunction] by means of hearing the Word only, thus not by the understanding of the Word, lest anything should manifestly enter by the understanding into a man’s thought and will; for they claim that every voluntary thing of a man is merit-seeking, and that in spiritual things a man cannot commence, will, think, understand, believe, operate, or co-operate in, anything, any more than a stock; but yet it is another thing with the influx of the Holy Spirit by means of faith into the discourses of preachers, because these are acts of the mouth and not acts of the body, also because by means of faith a man acts with God, but with men by means of charity.’ [9] But when one [of them] heard that [the conjunction] was only by the hearing of the Word and not by the understanding of the Word, being indignant he said, ‘Is it by means of the understanding of the Word by the Holy Spirit only, while the man in the congregation turns away or sits deaf as a post, or while he is sleeping, or is it the result only of an exhalation out of the volume of the Word? But what is more ludicrous?’ After this, out of the flock at the right hand a certain man surpassing the rest in judgment asked to be heard, and in a speech said, ‘I heard a certain person say, “I have planted a vineyard, now I shall drink wine until I get drunk.” But another asked, “Are you going to drink the wine out of your goblet with your right hand?” And he said, “No! but out of an unseen cup by means of an unseen hand.” And the other answered, “Then you certainly won’t get drunk!”‘ Presently the same man [of the flock] said, ‘Pray, hear me! I say unto you, Drink the wine derived from the Word understood. Do you not know that the Lord is the Word? Is not the Word derived out of the Lord? Is not He Himself thus in it? If therefore you do good out of the Word, do you not do it out of the Lord, out of His mouth and will, and if you then look to the Lord He will in fact lead you and will do it, and He will do this by means of you, and you will do it as if out of yourselves? Who that does anything by derivation from a king (ex Rege), from his mouth and will, is able to say, “I am doing this by myself (ex me), out of my own mouth or command, out of my own will?” Afterwards turning to the clergy he said, ‘You ministers of God, Do not lead the flock astray.’ [10] On hearing these things the greater part of the flock on the left went back and joined the flock on the right. Even some of the clergy were saying, ‘We have heard what we have not heard before. We are shepherds, we will not leave the sheep.’ And they went back along with them, and they were saying, ‘That man has spoken the true Word. Who that does anything out of the Word, thus out of the Lord, from His mouth and will, can say, “I am doing this out of myself”? Who that does anything by derivation from a king, from his mouth and will, can say, “I am doing this out of myself”? Now we see the Divine Providence, why a conjunction of faith and works that is acknowledged by the ecclesiastical body has not been found. It could not be found because [such a conjunction] cannot be given, for there is no faith in the Lord Who is the Word, and consequently neither is there a faith derived from the Word.’ But the rest of the priests went away, waving their hats and crying out, ‘Faith alone, faith alone, it will yet live!’
1. AND the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fallen out of heaven upon the land, and to him was given the key of the pit of the deep.
2. And he opened the pit of the deep, and there arose a smoke out of the pit of the deep as the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun was darkened and the air by reason of the smoke of the pit.
3. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the land, and to them was given power as the scorpions of the land have power.
4. And it was said to them that they should not hurt the grass of the land, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only those men who did not have the seal of God upon their foreheads.
5. And to them it was given that they should not kill those, but that they should torment them for five months, and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man.
6. And in those days shall men seek death, and not find it, and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
7. And the likenesses of the locusts were like horses prepared for war, and upon their heads as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
8. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as [those] of lions.
9. And they had breastplates as iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was as the sound of the chariots of many horses rushing to war.
10. And they had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails, and their power was to hurt the men five months.
11. And they had over them a king, the angel of the deep, whose Hebrew name is Abaddon, and in Greek he has the name Apollyon.
12. One woe is past, behold there come two more woes hereafter.
13. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard one voice out of the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14. Saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, Release the four angels bound at the great river Euphrates.
15. And the four angels were released, who were prepared in an hour and a day and a month and a year, that they might slay a third part of the men.
16. And the number of the armies of horsemen, two myriads of myriads; and I heard the number of them.
17. And thus I saw the horses in a vision, and those sitting upon them, having breastplates fiery and blue (hyacinthus) and sulphurous, and [I saw] the heads of the horses as the heads of lions, and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and sulphur.
18. By these three was a third part of the men slain, by reason of the fire and the smoke and the sulphur issuing out of their mouths.
19. And their power was in their mouth, for their tails were like serpents, having heads, and with these (in his) they do hurt.
20. And the rest of the men, who were not slain in these plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not adore demons, and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk.
21. Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their enchantments, nor of their whoredoms, nor of their thefts.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
Concerning an examination and making manifest [to show] the state of life of those in the Church of the Reformed, who are called learned and wise on account of the confirmation of faith separated from charity, and of justification and salvation by it alone; it treats of these from verse 1 to verse 12.
Concerning an examination and making manifest [to show the state of life] of those there who are not learned and wise in that manner, and are in faith alone, and live as they please; it treats of these from verse 13 to verse 19.
Lastly, concerning those there who know nothing but that faith is the all sufficient means of a man’s salvation, and not anything besides (vers. 20, 21).
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. The fifth angel sounded
signifies an examination and making manifest [to show] the state of life of those in the Church of the Reformed who are called learned and wise on account of the confirmation of faith separated from charity, and of justification and salvation by it alone.
And I saw a star fallen out of heaven upon the land
signifies spiritual Divine Truth inflowing out of heaven into the Church with those, examining and making manifest.
And to him was given the key of the pit of the deep
signifies their hell open.
2. And he opened the pit of the deep, and there arose a smoke out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace
signifies the untruths of the lusts of the natural man pouring forth out of their evil loves.
And the sun was darkened and the air by reason of the smoke of the pit
signifies that as a consequence the light of truth became thick-darkness.
3. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the land
signifies that out of those lusts there were untruths in the outermost parts, such as those have who have become sensual and see and judge all things from the senses and the fallacies thereof.
And to them was given power as the scorpions of the land have power
signifies the power of persuading that their untruths are truths.
4. And it was said to them that they should not hurt the grass of the land, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only those men who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads
signifies the Lord’s Divine Providence, that they are not able to take away any truth and good of faith, nor the affection and perception thereof from any others than those who are not in charity and consequently not in faith.
5. And to them it was given that they should not kill those, but that they should torment them five months
signifies that neither are they able to take away from these the faculty of understanding and of willing what is true and good, but that they are only able for a short time to induce stupefaction.
And their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man
signifies that this results from their persuasiveness.
6. And in those days shall men seek death, and not find it, and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them
signifies that they are desirous that in matters of faith the understanding be closed up and the will blocked, by which means spiritual light and life are extinguished, and that nevertheless this cannot be done.
7. And the likenesses of the locusts
signifies the appearances and images of those who have confirmed in themselves faith separated from charity.
Were like horses prepared for war
signifies that because they are able to reason they appeared to themselves as if fighting by virtue of an understanding of truth out of the Word.
And upon their heads as it were crowns like gold
signifies that they appeared to themselves as if conquerors.
And their faces were as the faces of men
signifies that they appeared to themselves as if wise.
8. And they had hair as the hair of women
signifies that they appeared to themselves as if in the affection of truth.
And their teeth were as [those] of a lion
signifies that the sensual things which are the ultimates of the life of the natural man appeared to them to be in power over all things.
9. And they had breastplates as iron breastplates
signifies the arguments derived from fallacies by means of which they fight and have strength appeared to them so strong that they could not be disproved.
And the sound of their wings was as the sound of the chariots of many horses rushing to war
signifies their reasonings as if they were derived from the truths of a doctrine out of the Word fully understood, for which they must fight ardently.
10. And they had tails like scorpions
signifies the falsified truths of the Word by means of which they induce stupefaction.
And there were stings in their tails, and their power was to hurt the men five months
signifies the clever falsifications of the Word by means of which for a short time they darken and bewitch the understanding, and thus deceive and captivate.
11. And they had over them a king, the angel of the deep, whose Hebrew name is Abaddon, and in Greek he has the name Apollyon
signifies that they are in the satanic hell who are in untruths derived from lusts, and they have destroyed the Church by the total falsification of the Word.
12. And one woe is past, behold there come two more woes hereafter
signifies further lamentations over the state of the Church.
13. And the sixth angel sounded
signifies an examination and making manifest [to show] the state of life in the case of those in the Church of the Reformed who are not wise in that manner, and yet place everything of religion in faith, and think of it alone, and live as they please.
14. And I heard one voice out of the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet
signifies a command from the Lord out of the spiritual heaven to those who were examining and making manifest.
Release the four angels bound at the great river Euphrates
signifies that external bonds should be taken away from them so that the interiors of their minds might appear.
15. And the four angels were released
signifies that with external bonds taken away the interiors of their minds appeared.
Prepared in an hour in a day and a month and a year, that they might slay a third part of the men
signifies those in a perpetual endeavour to take away spiritual light and life from the men of the Church.
16. And the number of the armies of horsemen two myriads of myriads
signifies the reasonings concerning faith alone with which the interiors of their mind were crammed full derived from sheer untruths of evil in abundance.
And I heard the number of them
signifies the quality thereof perceived.
17. And thus I saw the horses in a vision, and those sitting upon them
signifies the discovery then that the reasonings of the interiors of their mind about faith alone were imaginary and visionary, and that they themselves were insane because of them.
Having breastplates fiery, blue (hyacinthus) and sulphurous
signifies their imaginary and visionary arguments derived from infernal love and self-intelligence and from the resultant lusts.
And the heads of the horses as the heads of lions
signifies the phantasies about faith alone as though it were powerful.
And out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and sulphur
signifies that in their thoughts and discussions interiorly regarded there is nothing, and there proceeds out of them nothing but the love of self and the world, the pride of self-intelligence, and the lust of evil and untruth derived from those two.
18. As a result of (ex) these three things a third part of the men was slain, by reason of the fire and the smoke and the sulphur issuing out of their mouths
signifies that it is as a result of those things that the men of the Church perish.
19. And their power was in their mouth
signifies that they have strength only by discourse confirming faith.
For their tails were like serpents having heads, and with these (in his) they do hurt
signifies the reason, that they are sensual and inverted, speaking true things by mouth but rendering them false because of the principle that makes the head of their religion, and thus they deceive.
20. And the rest of the men who were not slain in these plagues
signifies those in the Church of the Reformed who are not in this manner spiritually dead as a result of visionary reasonings and the love of self, the pride of self-intelligence and the consequent lusts, like those before mentioned, and yet make faith alone the head of their religion.
Yet repented not from the works of their hands
signifies that neither did they flee from the things of their proprium, which are evils of every kind, as from sins.
That they should not adore demons
signifies that thus they are in the evils of their own lusts, and make one with their like in hell.
And idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood
signifies that thus they are in a worship derived from nothing but untruths.
Which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk
signifies in which there is nothing of spiritual and truly rational life.
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their enchantments, nor of their whoredoms, nor of their thefts
signifies that the heresy concerning faith alone induces on their hearts such a dullness, fickleness and hardness that they think nothing of the precepts of the Decalogue, nor indeed of any sin that there should be a fleeing from it because it is on the side of the devil and against God.
THE EXPOSITION
[verse 1] ‘And the fifth angel sounded’ signifies an examination and making manifest [to show] the state of life of those in the Church of the Reformed who are called learned and wise on account of the confirmation of faith separated from charity, and of justification and salvation by it alone. That it treats of these in the things now following as far as verse 12* is established from the details understood in the spiritual sense. That by ‘to sound’ is signified to examine and make manifest the state of the Church and consequently the state of life in the case of those for whom religion is faith alone may be seen above (n. 397).
* The Original has usque ad Vers. 13, that is, up to but not including verse 13.
420. ‘And I saw a star fallen out of heaven upon the land’ signifies spiritual Divine Truth inflowing out of heaven into the Church with those, examining and making manifest. By ‘a star’ here is signified spiritual Divine Truth because it had fallen down out of the spiritual heaven, of which above (n. 387, 388); and by ‘the land’ here is signified the Church with those who are in the internal things thereof, as above (n. 398). By spiritual Divine Truth is understood the intelligence derived from the spiritual love that is love towards the neighbour, and because that intelligence today is called faith and that love charity, it is the faith derived from charity, or rather, it is the truth of faith derived from the good of charity, and this is here signified by the ‘star’. The like is signified by ‘star’ in the singular (Rev. ii 28; xxii 16); for by ‘stars’ in the plural are signified cognitions of good and truth (n. 51), and intelligence exists by means of these. That it is Divine Truth examining and making manifest is plain from the things following.
421. ‘And to him was given the key of the pit of the deep’ signifies their hell open. By a ‘key’ is signified the power of opening and also the act of opening (n. 62, 174, 840); and by ‘the deep’ is signified the hell where those are who have confirmed justification and salvation by faith alone with themselves, all of whom belong to the Church of the Reformed. Here, however, it signifies those who in their own eyes and consequently [in the view] of many others appear as learned and well-informed, when yet before angels in heaven they appear destitute of understanding in respect of the things that are of heaven and the Church, since those who confirm that faith as far as the interior things thereof close the higher things of their understanding till at length they are no longer able to see any spiritual truth in light. This is because the confirmation of untruth is the denial of truth. Therefore, while they are hearing any spiritual truth that is a truth of the Word serviceable for doctrine and life to those who belong to the Church, they keep the mind on the untruths they have confirmed, and then they either veil over with untruths the truth they have heard, or reject it as a mere noise, or yawn at it and turn away. And this is done all the more in proportion as they are in the pride of their own erudition, for pride sticks untruths together so that at length they cohere like the congealed foam of the sea. On account of this the Word has been hidden from them as a book sealed with seven seals. [2] What else their qualities are, and what their hell is like, shall also be told, because it has been granted [me] to see it, to speak with those who are there, and also to see the locusts that came out therefrom.
* That pit, which is like the opening of a furnace, appears in the southern quarter, and the deep beneath extends a great way eastwards. They have a light therein, but if the light out of heaven is admitted thither it becomes dark, on account of which that pit has been closed up at the top. Hovels appear there, as it were of brickwork with gaps, and these have been divided up into several little rooms, and in each of them is a table whereon lie papers with some books. At his own table sits each one who in the world had confirmed justification and salvation by faith alone, making charity a purely natural moral act, and the works thereof only works of civil life whereby men can expect to gain rewards in the world. But if men should do those works for the sake of salvation, they condemn them, some with vehemence, because in them is a human reason and will. All who are in this deep were in the world learned and well-informed, and among them are some metaphysicians and schoolmen who are there esteemed above the rest. When it was granted me to speak with them I recognised some of them. [3] But actually their lot is this: When they are first admitted therein they sit down in the first little rooms, but as they confirm faith by excluding the works of charity they leave the first seats and enter little rooms nearer to the east, and so on successively until they reach the end, where those are who confirm these dogmas out of the Word. And because then they cannot but falsify the Word, their hovels vanish and they see themselves in a wilderness, and then what was described above (n. 153) happens to them. There is also a deep below that deep where those are who in like manner have confirmed justification and salvation by faith alone, but who by themselves in their spirit have denied God, and in their heart have laughed at the holy things of the Church. There they do nothing but quarrel, tear their garments to bits, clamber up on the tables, stamp their feet, and fight among themselves with abusive language; and because it is not permitted anyone there to do bodily harm, they menace with the mouth and fists. It is dirty and squalid there; but it does not treat of those conditions here.
* This description, repeated with but slight alteration in BE 89, is printed with inverted commas in the Original.
422. [verse 2] ‘And he opened the pit of the deep, and there arose a smoke out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace’ signifies the untruths of the lusts of the natural man springing forth out of their evil loves. By ‘the pit of the deep’ is signified the hell treated of just above (n. 421); by the ‘smoke’ therefrom are signified untruths derived from lusts, and because it is said ‘the smoke as of a great furnace’ the untruths of the lusts pouring forth out of evil loves are understood, for ‘fire’ signifies love (n. 468), and ‘the fire of hell’ evil love (n. 494). ‘A great furnace’ has a like signification, since it gives off smoke from fire. Infernal spirits are not in any material fire but in a spiritual fire that is their love, and therefore they do not feel any other fire. Something about this may be seen in the work concerning HEAVEN AND HELL, published at London in 1758 (n. 134, 566-575). Every love in the spiritual world, when it is kindled, appears from afar as a fire, within the hells as a glowing fire, and outside them as the smoke of a conflagration or as the smoke of a furnace. The untruths of the lusts springing forth out of evil loves are described elsewhere in the Word also by smoke from fire and from a furnace, as in these passages:-
Abraham looked out over against the faces of Sodom and Gomorrah, and behold, the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace Gen. xix 28.
The sun set, and it became very dark, and behold a furnace of smoke, and a torch of fire, that passed between the pieces Gen. xv 17.
They go on sinning, therefore they shall be as the smoke out of the chimney Hosea xiii 2, 3.
The wicked shall perish, in smoke they shall be consumed Ps. xxxvii 20.
I will furnish portents in heaven and on the land, fire and pillars of smoke Joel ii 30 [H.B. iii 3].
They shall cast the evil into a furnace of fire, there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth Matt. xiii 41, 42, 49, 50;
and elsewhere.
423. ‘And the sun was darkened and the air by reason of the smoke of the pit’ signifies that as a consequence the light of truth became thick-darkness. By ‘sun’ and ‘air’ here is signified the light of truth, for by the sun is signified love and by the light therefrom Divine Truth; and therefore when it is said that ‘the sun was darkened’ and at the same time ‘the air’, it is signified that Divine Truth became thick-darkness. That this results from the untruths of lusts is signified by its being ‘by reason of the smoke of the pit’.
424. [verse 3] ‘And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the land’ signifies that out of those lusts there were untruths in the outermost parts, such as those have who have become sensual and see and judge all things from the senses and the fallacies thereof. Those things are termed ‘untruths in the outermost parts’ which are in the outermost things of a man’s life. They are called sensual things, and are dealt with below. These are signified by ‘locusts’ in the Word; but it is to be known that they did not appear as the locusts in the plains, which hop about and lay waste meadows and crops, but they appeared as pygmies or little men, which indeed is plain from the description of them, as that they had crowns upon their heads, faces as of men, hair as of women, teeth as of lions, iron breastplates, and over them a king, the angel of the deep. That little men were also termed ‘locusts’ by the ancients can be concluded from these statements:-
Those reconnoitering the land of Canaan said, We have seen the Nephilim the sons of the Anakim, and we were in their eyes as locusts Num. xiii 33.
Jehovah Who sits upon the circle of the land, and the inhabitants thereof are as locusts Isa. xl 22.
[2] But because untruths in the outermost parts such as pertain to them are signified by ‘locusts’ in the Word, therefore they were called ‘locusts’, as also ‘crowned’ and ‘commanders’, in Nahum:-
Fire shall devour thee, it shall devour thee as the bruchus*, multiply thyself as the bruchus, multiply thyself as the locust, thy crowned ones are as the locust, and thy commanders as the locust of locusts Nahum iii 15-17.
Because untruths in the outermost parts consume the truths and goods of the Church while they are being born with a man, they are signified by the locusts that consume the grass in the plains and the herbs in the fields. This is established from these passages:-
Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, but the locust shall consume it Deut. xxviii 38.
What remains from the caterpillar shall the locust eat; and what remains from the locust shall the cankerworm eat, and what remains from the cankerworm shall the bruchus eat Joel i 4, 5.
I will make up to you the years that the locust has consumed, the cankerworm, the bruchus and the caterpillar Joel ii 24, 25.
[3] The like is signified by the locusts in Egypt of which it is thus written in Moses:-
Moses stretched forth the rod over the land of Egypt, and an east wind brought the locust, and the locust went up over all the land of Egypt; before it there was no such locust, and it ate up every herb of the field: and afterwards Moses stretched forth the rod, and the locust was cast into the sea Suph Exod. x 12 seq.
And in David:-
He gave their produce to the bruchus, and their labour to the locust Ps. [lxxviii 46; also] cv 34, 35.
The vastation of the Church is described by the miracles in Egypt, and by this miracle vastation by means of untruths in the outermost parts; and the outermost things of a man’s life, when the interior things on which they depend are closed up, are infernal. For this reason the locusts were ‘cast into the sea Suph’ by which is signified hell.
[4] Since few at this day know what is understood by ‘the sensual’, and what the quality of the sensual man is, and since ‘locusts’ signify that, therefore the following extracts concerning it are adduced out of our ARCANA CAELESTIA:-
That the sensual is the ultimate of the life of a man’s mind, adhering and cohering to the five senses of his body (n. 5077, 5767, 9212, 9216, 9331, 9730).
That he is termed a sensual man who judges all things out of the senses of the body, and who believes only what he can see with eyes and touch with hands, declaring that these exist and rejecting the rest (n. 5094, 7693).
That the interiors of his mind, which see by virtue of the light of heaven, are closed up, so that he sees there nothing of the truth that is of heaven and the Church (n. 6564, 6844, 6845). That such a man thinks in the outermost parts, and not interiorly by virtue of any spiritual light (n. 5089, 5094, 6564, 7693). In a word, that they are in a gross natural light (lumen) (n. 6201, 6310, 6564, 6844, 6845, 6612, 6614, 6622, 6624).
That consequently interiorly they are against the things that are of heaven and the Church, but exteriorly they can speak in favour of them, ardently according to the domination they exercise by means of them (n. 6201, 6316, 6844, 6845, 6948, 6949).
That the learned and well-informed who have confirmed themselves deeply in untruths, and even more those who are against the truths of the Word are sensual above all others (n. 6316).
That sensual men reason keenly and shrewdly, because their thought is so near to their speech as to be almost in it, and as it were in the lips, and because they place all intelligence in speech out of the memory only: also that some of them can skilfully confirm untruths, and that after confirmation they believe them to be true (n. 195, 196, 5700, 10,236). But that they reason and confirm things out of the fallacies of the senses, by which the great mass of the people is captivated and persuaded (n. 5084, 6948, 6949, 7693).
That sensual men are more cunning and full of wickedness than the rest (n. 7693, 10,236).
That the avaricious, adulterers, the voluptuous and the crafty are especially sensual, although before the world they do not appear so (n. 6310).
That the interiors of their minds are foul and filthy (n. 6201).
That by means thereof they are in communication with the hells (n. 6311).
That those who are in the hells are sensual, and more sensual the deeper they are (n. 4623, 6311).
That the spheres of infernal spirits conjoin themselves with the sensual of man from behind (n. 6312).
That those who have reasoned only out of sensual things, and consequently against the genuine things of the Church, were termed by the ancients ‘serpents of the tree of knowledge’ (n. 195, 196, 197, 6398, 6399, 10,313).
Furthermore, the sensual of man and the sensual man is described (n. 10,236); and the extent of the sensual things with a man (n. 9731).
That sensual things ought to be in the ultimate place and not in the first, and that in the case of a wise and intelligent man they are in the ultimate place, and subject to the interiors but that in the case of an unwise man they are in the first place, and ruling; these are they who are properly termed sensual (n. 5077, 5125, 5128, 7645).
That if sensual things are in the ultimate place a way is opened by means of them to the understanding, and truths are furbished by a mode of drawing forth (n. 5580).
That those sensual things are in close contact with the world, and admit the things that flow thereto out of the world, and sift them, as it were (n. 9726).
That by means of those sensual things a man is in communication with the world, and by means of rational things is in communication with heaven (n. 4009).
That sensual things supply things that are of service to the interiors of the mind (n. 5077, 5081).
That there are sensual things furnishing supplies for the intellectual part, and such as furnish them for the voluntary part (n. 5077).
That unless the thought is lifted up from sensual things, a man has little discernment (n. 5089).
That a wise man thinks above sensual things (n. 5089, 5094).
That a man, when his thought is raised above sensual things, comes into a clearer light, and at length into a heavenly light (n. 6183, 6313, 6315, 9407, 9730, 9922).
That a raising above sensual things, and a withdrawal from them, was known to the ancients (n. 6313).
That a man by his spirit can give heed to the things that are in the spiritual world, if he can be withdrawn from sensual things and raised up into the light of heaven by the Lord (n. 4622). This is because the body does not think, but the man’s spirit in the body; and to the extent that it is in the body it thinks obscurely and in the dark, and to the extent that it is not in the body it thinks clearly and in the light; but in spiritual things (n. 4622, 6614, 6622).
That the ultimate of the understanding is sensual knowledge, while the ultimate of the will is sensual delight (n. 9996). What the difference is between the sensual things [that a man has] in common with beasts, and the sensual things not in common with them (n. 10,236).
That there are sensual men who are not evil, because their interiors are not so closed up, of whose state in the other life (n. 6311).
* AC 7643 states: ‘The reason why the bruchus also is named is that by ‘bruchus’ is signified evil, and by “locust” untruth, both in the outward parts of the natural.’ Possibly the term bruchus is applied to the locust in the wingless and non-gregarious state, formerly thought to be a different species.
425. ‘And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the land have power’ signifies the power of persuading that their untruths are truths. By ‘a scorpion’ is signified deadly persuasiveness, and by ‘a scorpion of the land’ persuasiveness in the things of the Church, for ‘land’ signifies the Church (n. 285); for when a scorpion stings a man it produces a numbness of the limbs and, if this is not cured, death. Their persuasiveness produces a like effect upon the understanding. Such persuasiveness is also signified by ‘scorpion’ in these statements:-
Be not thou frightened by them and their words, they are full of thorns, thou art dwelling among scorpions, they are hard-faced and stiff-hearted Ezek. ii 4, 6.
Jesus said unto the seventy whom He sent forth, Behold, I give unto you the power of treading upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy, so that nothing shall by any means harm you Luke x 19.
426. [verse 4] ‘And it was said to them that they should not hurt the grass of the land, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only those men who did not have the seal of God upon their foreheads’ signifies the Lord’s Divine Providence that they are not able to take away any truth and good of faith, nor the affection and perception thereof, from any others than those who are not in charity and consequently not in faith. By ‘it was said to them’ is signified the Lord’s Divine Providence, because it was said out of heaven. By ‘not hurt the grass of the land, nor any green thing’ is signified not to be able to take away anything true and good of faith, for by ‘grass’ is signified the truth of faith that is born first with a man (n. 401), and by ‘green thing’ is signified what is living of the faith that is derived from good (n. 401). By not hurting ‘any tree’ is signified not to be able to take away the affection and perception of truth and good, for by ‘tree’ is signified a man as to these (n. 400). By ‘those who did not have the seal of God upon their foreheads’ are signified those who are not in charity and consequently not in faith, for ‘forehead’ signifies love and charity (n. 347), and ‘to have the seal’ signifies to have a knowledge of those and distinguish them from others (n. 345). [2] The reason why those who have confirmed faith alone even as far as to the mysteries of justification and salvation thereby cannot take away any truth and good of faith, nor the affection and perception [of them], from any others than those who are not in the faith of charity, is because scarcely anyone comprehends those mysteries except the church dignitary who teaches and preaches them. The layman hears them, but they go in at one ear and out at the other, which the mystery-loving priest himself can know for sure by reason of the fact that he himself has spent all the force of his genius in absorbing them in his early manhood, and afterwards in retaining them in the period following, also the fact that on their account he appraises himself as supremely learned. What then [must it be in the case of] the layman who thinks in a simple manner of a faith derived from charity, when he is hearing of these mystical matters? In consequence of these considerations it can be seen that faith alone justifying is a faith of the clergy and not of the laity, except of those who live unconcernedly. The latter derive out of the mysteries of the former only these things: that faith alone saves, that they cannot do good from themselves, that neither can they fulfil the law, and that Christ suffered on their behalf besides a few universals similar to these.
427. [verse 5] ‘And to them it was given that they should not kill those, but that they should torment them five months’ signifies that it is of the Lord’s Divine Providence that they are not able to take away from those who are not in faith and charity the faculty of understanding and willing what is true and good, but that they are only able for a short time to induce stupefaction. By ‘to them it was given’ is signified that it is of the Lord’s Divine Providence, as just above. ‘Not to be able to kill them’ signifies not to be able to take away from those who are not in the faith of charity the faculty of understanding and willing what is true and good, for when this faculty is taken away a man is killed spiritually. By ‘to torment them five months’ is signified to induce stupefaction for a short time, ‘five’ signifying something little or for a short time, and ‘to torment’ signifying to induce stupefaction, because this is signified by ‘a scorpion’ (n. 425) and by ‘as the torment of a scorpion’, as it follows on (n. 428). That the faculty of understanding what is true and of willing it, or rationality and freedom, cannot be taken away from a man, has been shown many times in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE PROVIDENCE (n. 73, 74, 82-86, 92-99, 138-149, 322).
[2] That ‘five months’ signify something little and for a short time, is because this is signified by ‘five’, for times, whether they be hours, days, weeks, months or years, do not signify a time but a state, and the numbers determine the quality thereof (n. 4, 10, 348, 947). That ‘five’ signify something, and also a little, can be established from these passages:-
A thousand shall flee at the rebuke of five Isa. xxx 17.
Five shall pursue a hundred Lev. xxvi 8.
Jesus said, The kingdom of the heavens is like ten virgins, five of whom were prudent and fire foolish Matt. xxv 1, 2.
By the ‘ten virgins’ are signified all in the Church, by ‘five’ are signified a certain part or some. Similar things are signified by ‘ten’ and ‘five’ in the parable:-
That minas* were given to the servants that they might trade, and that one with his mina gained ten minas, and another five Luke xix 13-19.
‘Ten minas’ signify much, and ‘five minas’ little. Besides elsewhere, as Isa. xvii 6; xix 18, 19; Matt. xiv 15-21.
* In the AV this Greek word is translated ‘pound’.
428. ‘And their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man’ signifies that this results from their persuasiveness. This follows from the things now stated (n. 427); for by the ‘torment’ is signified the stupefaction that their persuasiveness induces on the understanding, just as the scorpion induces stupefaction on the body when it stings. ‘A scorpion’ signifies that persuasiveness (n. 425). In the spiritual world there exists a persuasiveness that takes away the understanding of what is true and induces stupefaction and thus anguish of mind, but this persuasiveness is unknown in the natural world.
429. [verse 6] ‘And in those days shall men seek death and not find it, and shall desire to die and death shall flee from them’ signifies that those who are in the doctrine of a separated faith are desirous that in matters of faith the understanding be closed up, and the will blocked, and thus that they may not have any spiritual light and heat; but that nevertheless it has been provided by the Lord that the understanding should not be closed up, nor the will blocked, lest spiritual light and life with men be extinguished. ‘In those days’ signifies the last state of the Church when the doctrine of faith alone has been received universally. ‘Men shall seek death’ signifies that they are desirous that in matters of faith the understanding should be closed up. ‘And shall not find it’ signifies that it has been provided by the Lord that it should not be done. ‘And shall desire to die’ signifies that they are desirous that the will also should be blocked in them. ‘And death shall flee from them’ signifies that it has been provided that this should not be done either; for thus spiritual light and life would be extinguished, and a man would die spiritually. ‘To seek’ is predicated of the understanding, and ‘to desire’ of the will, and ‘death’ of both. It is plain that these things are signified by these words. What otherwise would be the meaning of men in those days seeking death and not finding it, and desiring to die and death fleeing from them? For by ‘death’ no other death than spiritual death is understood, and this is induced when the understanding is removed from the things to be believed; for in this case a man does not know whether he thinks and does what is true or false, thus whether [he acts] with heaven’s angels or with hell’s devils.
430. [verse 7] ‘And the likenesses of the locusts’ signifies the appearances and images of those who have confirmed in themselves a faith separated from charity. By ‘the likenesses’ are signified their appearances in a representative image. By ‘the locusts’ are signified the untruths in the outer parts (n. 424); and because the untruths make one with those who are in the untruths, these themselves are signified by ‘the locusts’. That those who have confirmed faith alone in themselves, or their untruths, are understood by ‘the locusts’ was clearly evident to me from this fact, that the presbyters who were in that faith embraced the locusts that were seen and kissed them, and were desirous of introducing them into their houses; for the images that are representative forms of the affections and thoughts of angels and spirits in the spiritual world appear as if alive, just like the animals, flying creatures and fishes treated of before.
431. ‘Like horses prepared for war’ signifies that because they are able to reason they appeared to themselves as if fighting by virtue of an understanding of truth out of the Word. By ‘a horse’ is signified the understanding of the Word (n. 298); by ‘war’ is signified spiritual war, which takes place by means of reasonings and arguments (n. 500, 586); by ‘like’ or likenesses are signified appearances, as just above (n. 430).
432. ‘And upon their heads as it were crowns like gold’ signifies that they appeared to themselves as if conquerors. By ‘crowns upon their heads like gold’ are signified tokens of victory, because kings in battles of old wore golden crowns (n. 300), for it is said that they were seen ‘like horses’, that is, upon horses prepared for war (n. 431), for they had the faces of men, as it follows on; and they are so much in the persuasion that they cannot be conquered.
433. ‘And their faces were as the faces of men’ signifies that they appeared to themselves as if wise. By ‘a man’ in the Word is signified one who is wise and intelligent (n. 243), and wisdom and intelligence is signified by his face. This is why by ‘their faces were as the faces of men’ is signified that they appeared to themselves as if wise. They are also called wise, learned and well-informed, although they are among the foolish virgins, who had no oil in the lamps (Matt. xxv i, 2). ‘Oil’ signifies love and charity, and [they are] among the foolish, who hear the Lord, that is, read the Word, and do it not (Matt. vii 26).
434. [verse 8] ‘And they had hair as the hair of women’ signifies that they appeared to themselves [as if] in the affection of truth. In the Word by ‘man’ (vir) is signified the understanding of truth, and by ‘woman’ the affection of truth, because a man (vir) is born understanding, and a woman affection, concerning which subject [something shall be said] in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING MARRIAGE. By ‘hair’ in the Word is signified the ultimate of a man’s life, which is the sensual, concerning which (n. 424). This is what appears to them as if in the affection of truth, when yet they are in the affection of untruth, for they believe that to be true. That a woman signifies the affection of truth can be established from many places in the Word. This is why the Church is called ‘wife’, ‘woman’, ‘daughter’ and ‘virgin’, and the Church is a Church by virtue of the love or affection of truth, for out of this the understanding of truth is produced.
[2] The Church is called woman in these passages:-
Two women of one mother, and they committed whoredom in Egypt, Ohola, which is Samaria, and Ohohiba, which is Jerusalem Ezek. xxiii 2-4.
As a woman deserted and afflicted in spirit has Jehovah called thee, and a woman of youth Isa. liv 6, 7.
Jehovah shall create a new thing in the land, a woman shall compass a man Jer. xxxi 21, 22.
By ‘the woman clothed with the sun, whom the dragon pursued’ (Rev. xii) is signified the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem. In many places by ‘women’ are signified the affections of truth by virtue of which the Church is a Church, as in these:-
The women of my people have you driven out of the house of their delights Micah ii 9.
The families of houses shall mourn apart, and the women apart Zech. xii 11-13.
Stand up, O women who are at ease, hear my speech Isa. xxxii 9.
Wherefore are you doing evil to cut off from you man and woman? Jer. xliv 7.
I will scatter man and woman Jer. li 22.
By ‘man and woman’ here and elsewhere in the spiritual sense is signified the understanding of truth and the affection of truth.
My soul in the midst of lions I lie down, their teeth are spears and darts Ps. lvii 4 [H.B. 5].
O God, destroy the teeth in their mouth, turn aside the grinding teeth of the young lions Ps. lviii 6 [H.B. 7].
A nation has come up upon my land, strong, its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the grinding teeth of a lion Joel i 6, 7.
Jehovah, Thou breakest the teeth of the ungodly Ps. iii 7 [H.B. 8].
There came up a beast out of the sea, terrible, dreadful, and strong exceedingly, which had great iron teeth, it devoured and broke in pieces Dan. vii 7.
Blessed be Jehovah, Who has not given us a prey to their teeth Ps. cxxiv 6.
Since sensual men do not see anything true in its own light, but reason and dispute about everything, whether it is so, and since these disputes in the hells are heard outside them as the gnashing of teeth, and regarded in themselves are the collisions of untruth and truth, it is plain what is signified by the gnashing of teeth (Matt. viii 12; xiii 42, 50; xxii 13; xxiv 51; xxv 30; Luke xiii 28); and in a measure what by gnashing with the teeth (Job xvi 9; Ps. xxxv, 15, 16; Ps. xxxvii 12; Ps. cxii 10; Micah iii 5; Lam. ii 16).
436. [verse 9] ‘And they had breastplates as iron breastplates’ signifies the arguments derived from fallacies, by means of which they fight and have strength, which appeared to them so strong that they could not be disproved. By ‘breastplates’ are signified defences because they defend the breast, here the defences of untruths, which are produced by means of the arguments derived from fallacies by which a false principle is defended; for out of a false principle only untruths can flow forth. If truths are advanced, they are regarded only from the outside or superficially, thus also sensually, and in this manner they are falsified and become fallacies with them. ‘Breastplates’ signify such things because the ‘wars’ in the Word signify spiritual wars, and consequently the arms of a war signify the various things relating to that war as in Jeremiah:-
Harness the horses, and mount, O horsemen, and stand forth in helmets, polish the lances, put on the cuirass Jer. xlvi 4.
In Isaiah:-
He put on justice as a cuirass, and a helmet of safety upon his head Isa. lix 17.
In David:-
Under His wings shalt thou trust, His truth (veritas) shall be a shield and buckler Ps. xci 4;
besides elsewhere, as Ezek. xxiii 24; xxxviii 4; xxxix 9; Nahum ii 3 [H.B. 4]; Ps. v 12 [H.B. 13]; Ps. xxxv 2, 3. ‘That the breastplates were as iron’ signifies that the arguments appeared to them so strong that they could not be disproved, for ‘iron’ by virtue of its hardness signifies what is strong.
437. ‘And the sound of [their] wings was as the sound of the chariots of many horses running to war’ signifies their reasonings as if they were derived from the truths of a doctrine out of the Word fully understood, for which they must fight ardently. A ‘sound of wings’ signifies reasonings because ‘to fly’ signifies to perceive and instruct (n. 245, 415); ‘chariots’ signify doctrinal things, concerning which something follows; ‘horses’ signify the understanding of the Word (n. 298), and ‘many horses’ a full understanding. That ‘running to war’ signifies ardour for fighting is plain. That ‘a chariot’ signifies a doctrine is established from these passages:-
The chariots of God are two myriads, thousands of peaceful ones, the Lord is in them Ps. lxviii 17 [H.B. 18].
Jehovah makes the clouds His chariots, He walks upon the wings of the wind Ps. civ 2, 3.
Jehovah, Thou dost ride upon Thy horses, Thy chariots are safety Hab. iii 8.
Behold, Jehovah will come in fire, and His chariots like a whirlwind Isa. lxvi 15.
You shall be satiated upon My table with horse and chariot, thus will I set My glory among the nations Ezek. xxxix 20, 21.
I will cut off the horse out of Ephraim, and the chariot out of Jerusalem Zech. ix 10.
I will overthrow the throne of the kingdoms, I will overthrow the chariot, and those riding in it Hag. ii 22.
Set a watchman who may look, let him declare [what be sees], therefore he saw a chariot, a pair of horsemen, a chariot of a camel, and a chariot of a man, and he said, It has fallen, Babylon has fallen Isa. xxi 6, 7, 9.
Since Elijah and Elisha used to represent the Lord as to the Word, and consequently were signifying doctrine out of the Word, as did all the prophets (n. 8), therefore they were called ‘the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof’, and therefore Elijah was seen to be taken into heaven in a ‘chariot of fire’, and round about Elisha there were seen by his boy ‘a chariot and horses of fire’ (2 Kings ii 11, 12; vi 17; xiii 14); besides other places where ‘chariots’ [are mentioned], as Isa. xxxi 1; xxxvii 24; lxvi 20; Jer. xvii 25; xxii 4; xlvi 2, 3, 8, 9; l 37, 38; li 20, 21; Ezek. xxvi 7, 8, 10, 11; Dan. xi 40; Nahum iii 1-3; Joel ii 1-5.
438. [verse 20] ‘And they had tails like scorpions’ signifies the falsified truths of the Word by means of which they induce stupefaction. By ‘a tail’ is signified the ultimate of the head, because the brain is continued into the tail through the back-bone, and therefore head and tail make a one as first and last. When, therefore, faith alone justifying and saving is signified by the ‘head’, by the ‘tail’ are signified all the confirmations thereof as a whole, and these, being out of the Word, are thus truths of the Word falsified. Everyone who takes up a principle of religion derived from his own intelligence and establishes it as the head, also takes confirmations out of the Word and establishes these as the tail. In this manner he induces stupefaction upon others, and so hurts them. It is therefore said that ‘they had tails like scorpions’, and soon after, that ‘there were stings in their tails, and their power was to hurt the men’; for by ‘a scorpion’ is signified a persuasiveness inducing stupefaction of the understanding (n. 425). That the tail is a continuation of the brain through the back-bone to its ultimate, ask an anatomist and he will tell you; or look at a dog or other wild animal having a tail and encourage and coax it, and you will see the ridge of its back soften and the tail move correspondingly, and on the other hand you will see the ridge stiffen if you provoke it.
[2] The first thing of the understanding, which it takes up as a principle, is signified by ‘head’, and the last thing thereof by ‘tail’ in these places also:-
He will cut off out of Israel the head and the tail, the old man and the honoured one is the head, but the prophet the teacher of a lie is the tail Isa. ix 14, 15 [H.B. 13, 14].
There will be no work for Egypt, that the head and tail may do Isa. xix 15.
Nothing else is signified by:-
The seven heads of the dragon, and by the tail with which it drew down a third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them upon the land Rev. xii 3 [, 4];
also by:-
The tails like serpents, having heads, with which they do hurt (verse 19 of this chapter).
Since by the ‘tail’ the ultimate is signified, and the ultimate is the complex of all, therefore Jehovah said to Moses:-
Take hold of the tail of the serpent, and be took hold of it, and it became a rod Exod. iv 3, 4.
And therefore it was commanded:-
That they should take off the tail entire near the back-bone, and sacrifice it with the fats that were upon the outsides, the kidneys, the intestines, and the liver Lev. lii 9-11; viii 25; ix 19; Exod. xxix 22.
That the ultimate is the containant and complex of all prior things may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 38, 65), and in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (n. 209-216, 217-222).
439. ‘And there were stings in their tails, and their power was to hurt the men five months’ signifies the clever falsifications of the Word by means of which for a short time they darken and bewitch the understanding, and thus deceive and captivate. By ‘stings in their tails’ are signified clever falsifications of the Word; by ‘stings’ cleverness, and by ‘tails’ truths of the Word falsified (n. 438). By ‘power to hurt’ is signified that by means of these they can induce stupefaction, that is, darken and bewitch the understanding, and thus deceive and captivate, for the tails were ‘like scorpions’, and by ‘scorpions’ such things are signified (n. 425). By ‘five months’ is signified for a short time, as above (n. 427). This comes about when they quote and apply anything out of the Word; for the Word is written by means of correspondences, and the correspondences are partly the appearances of truth, and these conceal the genuine truths inwardly in themselves. If these [genuine truths] are not known in the Church, they can select many things out of the Word which at first appear as if in agreement with heresy; but when the genuine truths are known in the Church, then the appearances of truth are laid bare and the genuine truths come into view; but before this comes about, a heretic by means of various things out of the Word can cover up and bewitch the understanding, and thus deceive and captivate. That this is done by those who assert sins to be remitted for a man, which is equivalent to being justified, by means of an act of faith of which no one knows a thing, and this in a moment, and if not before, at the last hour of death, can be illustrated by examples; but this is not the place for it. By ‘stings’ are signified untruths of a hurtful nature derived from evil, also in Amos:-
Behold the days shall come upon you, in which they shall draw you out with stings Amos iv 2.
And in Moses:-
That they should drive out the inhabitants of the land, lest they be thorns in their eyes, and stings in their sides Num. xxxiii 55.
‘Thorns’, ‘briers’, ‘brambles’ and ‘thistles’ also signify untruths of evil by reason of their stings.
440. [verse 11] ‘And they had over them a king, the angel of the deep, whose Hebrew name is Abaddon, and in Greek he has the name Apollyon’ signifies that they are in the satanic hell who are in untruths derived from lusts, and they have destroyed the Church by the total falsification of the Word. By ‘a king, the angel of the deep’ is not signified any angel king there, but the untruth reigning there; for by a ‘king’ in the genuine sense is signified one who is in truths derived from an affection of good, and abstractly that truth itself (n. 20), and consequently in the opposite sense by a ‘king’ is signified one who is in untruths derived from a lust of evil, and abstractly that untruth itself. By ‘the deep’ is signified the satanic hell where those are (n. 387, 421); by ‘name’ is signified the quality of the state (n. 81, 122, 165). ‘Abaddon’ in the Hebrew language is ‘destroying’ and ‘destroyer’, in like manner as ‘Apollyon’ in the Greek language, and this is the untruth in the outermost things that has destroyed the Church by the total falsification of the Word. By ‘Abaddon’ in the Hebrew text is signified destruction in these places:-
Thy truth (veritas) in destruction Ps. lxxxviii 11 H.B. 12].
Hell is naked before him, and destruction has no covering Job xxvi 6.
For the fire will devour to destruction Job xxxi 12.
Destruction and death say Job xxviii 22.
Moreover hell and the devil are called ‘destruction’ and ‘destroyer’ (Isa. liv 16; Ezek. v 16; ix 1; Exod. xii 13), but with another word.
441. [verse 12] ‘And one woe is past, behold there come two more woes hereafter’ signifies further lamentations over the devastation of the Church. That ‘woe’ signifies lamentation over calamity, unhappiness and damnation, may be seen (n. 416). Here, therefore, by ‘two woes hereafter’ are signified further lamentations over the state of the Church.
442. [verse 13] ‘And the sixth angel sounded’ signifies an examination and making manifest [to show] the state of life in the case of those in the Church of the Reformed, who are not wise in that manner, and yet place everything of religion in faith, and think of it alone and of nothing besides it and the customary worship, and so live as they please. That it treats of these as far as to the end of the chapter will be plain from the exposition of the things following. That ‘to sound’ signifies to examine and make manifest the state of the Church, and consequently the state of life [of those] with whom religion is faith alone, may be seen above (n. 397).
[2] * Those of whom [the Word] now treats are altogether distinct from those of whom it has treated so far in this chapter, and whose untruths of faith were seen in the form of locusts. They are distinct in this respect, that those of whom it has treated are devoted with zeal to investigating the mysteries of justification by faith, and also to transmitting its signs, as well as its testimonies, which to them are the goods of a moral and civil life. [They do this] by establishing that the precepts of the Word are indeed in themselves Divine, but that with a man, because they proceed from his will, they become natural things that have no conjunction with the spiritual things of faith. And because they confirm these things by the rational things that they discern by virtue of erudition, they spend their time in the southern quarter in the deep, in accordance with the description above (n. 421). [3] Those, however, of whom [the Word] treats in the things now following to the end of the chapter do not devote themselves to these mysteries, but only make a bare faith the whole of religion, and [have] nothing besides it and the customary worship, and so they live as they please. It has been given [me] to see and speak with these also. They spend their time in the northern quarter in huts built of rushes and reeds bedaubed with lime, in which the ground is the floor. These huts are scattered about. The more ingenious, who know how to establish that faith by means of reasonings out of natural light and to confirm that it has nothing in common with the life, dwell in front, the more simple behind them, and the more stupid towards the west of that quarter. There is such a crowd of them as cannot be believed. They are trained by angelic spirits, but those who do not receive truths of faith, nor live in accordance with them, are cast down into the hell that is beneath them and are imprisoned.
* This section is in inverted commas in the Original. Cf. n. 421.
444. ‘Release the four angels bound at the great river Euphrates’ signifies that external bonds should be taken away from them so that the interiors of their minds might appear. That these things are signified by these words no one can know, and scarcely can suspect, unless he knows what is understood by ‘the great river Euphrates’, and what by ‘the four angels bound’ there. By ‘Euphrates’ in the Word the interiors of a man’s mind are signified, that are called rational; and in the case of those who are in truths derived from good these are full of wisdom, but in the case of those who are in untruths derived from evil they are full of insanity. The reason why these [interiors] are signified by ‘the river Euphrates’ in the Word is because that river used to form the boundary between the land of Canaan and Assyria, and by ‘the land of Canaan’ was signified the Church, and by ‘Assyria’ the rational thereof. Consequently by the river acting as a boundary the interiors of the mind that are called rational, in either sense, are signified. There are three things that make the man of the Church, the spiritual, the rational or intellectual, and the natural that is also the [man’s] knowledge. The spiritual of the Church was signified by the land of Canaan and by the rivers therein, the rational or intellectual of the Church by Asshur or Assyria and by its river Euphrates, while the natural that is also the knowledge was signified by Egypt and its river Nile; but concerning these more may be seen below (n. 503). By ‘the four angels bound at the river Euphrates’ are signified those interiors with the men of the Church which are said to be ‘bound’ because they are not made public; for they are infernal spirits who are understood by these ‘angels’, because it is said of them that ‘they were prepared to slay a third part of the men’, as presently follows (n. 446), and the interiors of men make one with spirits, either infernal or heavenly, since they dwell together. By ‘release them’ is signified to take away external bonds so that the interiors of their minds may appear. These are the things that are signified by these words.
[2] That by ‘Euphrates’ are signified the interiors of a man’s mind bordering upon the spiritual things of his Church, can be established from passages in the Word where Asshur or Assyria is named; but ‘Euphrates’ occurs in an opposite sense, in which it signifies interiors full of untruths and the resultant insanities, in these places:-
Behold the Lord brings up upon them the waters of the river (Euphrates), strong and many, the king of Asshur, he shall go through Judah, he shall overflow and go over Isa. viii 7, 8.
What hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, that thou drinkest the waters of Sichor, and what hast thou to do with the way of Assyria, that thou drinkest the waters of the river? Jer. ii 18.
Jehovah shall devote the tongue of the Egyptian sea to destruction, and shall shake [His] hand over the river Euphrates Isa. xi 15, 16.
The sixth angel poured out the phial upon the river Euphrates, the water of which was dried up Rev. xvi 12.
It was commanded to the prophet that he should put a girdle upon his loins, and afterwards should hide it in a hole of the rock by the Euphrates, and when after a short time he took it back, behold it was rotten, nor was it good for anything Jer. xiii 1-7, 11.
And it was also commanded him
that after he should finish reading the book, he should cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, and he should say, Thus shall Babel be sunk and not rise again Jer. li 63, 64.
By these things the interiors of the state of the Church with the sons of Israel were represented. That ‘the river of Egypt’ the Nile, and ‘the river of Assyria’ the Euphrates, were boundaries of the land of Canaan is plain from these words:-
Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, Unto thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt even to the great river Euphrates Gen. xv 18.
That the Euphrates was a boundary may be seen (Exod. xxiii 31; Deut. i 7, 8; xi 24; Josh. i 4; Micah vii 12).
445. [verse 15] ‘And the four angels were released’ signifies that with external bonds taken away the interiors of their minds appeared. This follows in consequence of the things said above.
446. ‘Prepared in an hour in a day and a month and a year, that they might slay a third part of the men’ signifies those in a perpetual endeavour to take away spiritual light and life from the men of the Church. By ‘to be prepared’ is signified to be in an endeavour; by ‘hour’, ‘day’, ‘month’ and ‘year’ is signified continually and perpetually, the same as by every period of time. By ‘to slay’ is signified to take away spiritual light and life from the men of the Church (n. 325); and by ‘a third part’ are signified all (n. 400).
447. [verse s6] ‘And the number of the armies of horsemen two myriads of myriads’ signifies the reasonings concerning faith alone, with which the interiors of their mind were crammed full, derived from sheer untruths in abundance. By ‘armies’ are signified goods and truths and in the opposite sense evils and untruths; here, the untruths of evil, concerning which something follows. By ‘horsemen’ are signified reasonings concerning faith alone because by a ‘horse’ is signified the understanding of the Word (n. 298), and also the destroyed understanding of the Word (n. 305, 312, 320). Consequently by ‘horsemen’ are signified reasonings derived from a destroyed understanding of the Word, here concerning faith alone because it treats of those who are in that faith. By ‘two myriads of myriads’ is not understood so many in number, but a great abundance. ‘Two’ are mentioned because ‘two’ are predicated of good, and in the opposite sense of evil (n. 322), and ‘myriads’ are predicated of truths, and in the opposite sense of untruths (n. 287). Resulting from these considerations it can be seen that by ‘the number of the armies of horsemen two myriads of myriads’ are signified the reasonings concerning faith alone with which the interiors of their mind were full, derived from sheer untruths of evil in abundance.
[2] That by ‘armies’ in the Word are signified goods and truths of heaven and the Church, and in the opposite sense evils and untruths, can be established from those places where the sun, the moon and the stars are called ‘armies’, and by ‘sun’ is signified the good of love, by ‘moon’ the truth of faith and by ‘stars’ cognitions of good and truth, and the contrary in the opposite sense (n. 51, 53, 332, 413). All of these (illa et haec) are termed armies in these passages:-
Praise Jehovah all His armies, praise Him sun and moon, praise Him all the stars Ps. cxlviii 2, 3.
My hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their armies have I commanded Isa. xlv 12.
By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and the whole army of them by the breath of His mouth Ps. xxxiii 6.
The heavens and the earth were finished, and all their armies Gen. ii 1.
The horn of the he-goat grew as far as to the army of the heavens, and it cast down unto the earth from the army and the stars, yea, it raised itself up as far as to the prince of the army: and the army was delivered to it on account of the continual [sacrifice] for transgression, because he cast down the truth (veritas) to the ground: the holy one said, How long is the holy place and the army given to be trodden down? Dan. viii 10-14.
Jehovah shall utter His voice before the army Joel ii 11.
Upon the roofs of the houses they have offered incense to every army of the heavens Jer. xix 13.
Lest thou shouldest bow down and be a servant to the sun, the moon and the stars, and every army of the heavens Deut. iv 19; xvii 3; Jer. viii 2.
Likewise Isa. xiii 4; xxxiv 4; xl 26; Jer. xxxiii 22; Zech. ix 8; Rev. xix 14.
[3] Since the goods and truths of heaven and the Church are signified by ‘the armies of the heavens’, therefore the Lord is called Jehovah Zebaoth, that is, Jehovah of the armies and on this account the ministry of the Levites was called ‘military service’ (Num. iv 3, 23, 30, 39), and it is said in David:-
Bless Jehovah all His armies, His ministers doing His will Ps. ciii 21.
Evils and untruths in the Church are signified by:-
The army of the nations Isa. xxxiv 2.
The army of the king of the north, with which he came against the king of the south Dan. xi 13, 15, 20.
‘The king of the north’ is the untruth of evil in the Church, and ‘the king of the south’ is the truth of good there. It is said by the Lord:-
When you shall see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that the devastation thereof is near Luke xxi 20.
There by ‘Jerusalem’ is signified the Church, and by ‘armies’ the evils and untruths that were devastating it. It treats there of the consummation of the age, which is the last time of the Church. Evils and untruths are signified by the ‘army’ in Joel:-
I will make up to you the years that the locust has consumed, the cankerworm, the bruchus, and the caterpillar, the great army which I have sent among you Joel ii 25.
That untruth in the outermost parts is signified by the ‘locust’ and the rest, may be seen above (n. 424).
448. ‘And I heard the number of them’ signifies the quality thereof perceived, that it was as it follows on. By ‘to hear’ is signified to perceive, by ‘number’ is signified the quality of a thing and its state (n. 10, 348, 364). It is the quality of their state as it follows on, because this is described now in the things following, and therefore it is said, ‘And thus I saw.’
449. [verse 17] ‘And thus I saw the horses in a vision and those sitting upon them’ signifies the discovery then that the reasonings of the interiors of their mind concerning faith alone were imaginary and visionary, and that they themselves were insane because of them. By ‘to see’ is signified to discover the quality thereof; by ‘the horses’ are signified the reasonings of the interiors of their mind concerning faith alone, here such as are imaginary and visionary, because it is said that he saw them ‘in a vision’; by ‘those sitting upon’ the horses are signified those who are intelligent by reason of the Word’s being understood, here those who are insane by reason of imaginary and visionary things that are opposed to the Word.
[2] Because the interiors of their mind appear under such forms, by which the imaginary and visionary things concerning faith alone are signified, some things concerning them are to be made public, which I have taken from their mouth; as these: ‘Was not faith alone, after the grievous fall of man, made the sole means of safety? How can we appear before God without that means? Is it not the only means? Are we not born in sins, and is not our nature entirely corrupted by Adam’s transgression? Is there any other means of healing but faith alone? What can our works do for this? Who can do any good work from himself? Who is able to purify, acquit, justify and save himself? Does not merit and self-righteousness lurk in every least work that a man does from himself? And if, perchance, we should do anything that was good, could we do all, and fulfil the law? Besides, if one sins against one [commandment] one sins against all, because they cohere. Why did the Lord come into the world and endure the grievous cross, except to take away the condemnation and curse of the law from us, to propitiate God the Father, to become merit and righteousness alone, which might be imputed to man by means of faith? Otherwise what is the good of, or who benefits from, His coming? Since therefore Christ has suffered for us, and has fulfilled for us the law, and has withstood its right of condemnation, can evil then any longer condemn us, and can good save us? Therefore, we who have faith are in the full freedom of thinking, willing, speaking and doing whatever we please, so long as we make no sacrifice of reputation, honour and gain, and do not invoke the penalties of the civil law to our disgrace and harm.’
Some who were wandering further to the north were saying that the good works that are done for the sake of salvation are hurtful, pernicious and accursed; among these there were also some presbyters. [3] These are the things that I heard; but they mumbled and muttered more that I did not hear. Moreover they were speaking shamelessly with all license, and were lascivious in word and deed, without anxiety on account of any villainy except out of pretence for the sake of appearing respectable. Such are the interiors of the mind, and consequently the exteriors of the body, of those who make faith alone everything of religion. But all those things that were said by them fall to the ground if the Lord the Saviour Himself is immediately approached and believed in, and good is done, both of these for the sake of salvation, and by a man as if from himself, yet with the faith that it is from the Lord. Unless these things are done as if by the man, neither any faith nor any charity is given, and so there is no religion, and thus no salvation.
450. ‘Having breastplates fiery, blue (hyacinthus) and sulphurous’ signifies their imaginary and visionary arguments derived from infernal love and self-intelligence, and from the resultant lusts. By ‘breastplates’ are signified the arguments out of which they fight for faith alone (n. 436); by ‘fire’ is signified heavenly love, and in the opposite sense infernal love (n. 452, 468, 494); by ‘blue’ is signified intelligence derived from spiritual love, and in the opposite sense intelligence derived from the infernal love that is the self- intelligence treated of below; and by ‘sulphur’ is signified lusts derived from that love by means of self-intelligence (n. 452). It follows as a result that by ‘breastplates fiery, blue and sulphurous’ such things are signified. [2] The reason why their arguments in favour of faith alone are so described is because all those who believe themselves to be justified, that is, acquitted from sins by faith alone, never think of repentance, and an impenitent man is in nothing but sins, and all sins are derived and consequently drawn from infernal love, self-intelligence, and the resultant lusts. Besides, those who are in these things not only act from them, but also speak, indeed think and will, and consequently reason and argue from them. These things are their ‘man’ because they are their life, but it is a devil man and his life, which is infernal life. In actual fact, however, those who live a moral life only for the sake of themselves and the world do not know this. This is because their interiors are such, but their exteriors are similar to the exteriors of those who live a Christian life. Let them know, however, that every one when he dies comes into his own interiors, because he becomes a spirit, this being the internal man; and then the interiors accommodate the exteriors to themselves, and they become alike. For this reason the moral things of their life in the world then become like fishes’ scales that are wiped off. The case is quite different with those who maintain that the precepts of moral life, and at the same time civil things also, because they are of love towards the neighbour, are Divine.
[3] ‘Blue’ (hyacinthus) signifies intelligence derived from the affections of spiritual love, because that colour partakes of the redness of fire and the whiteness of light, and by fire is signified love, and by light intelligence. This intelligence is signified by:-
The blue in the coverings and veils of the tabernacle Exod. xxvi 31, 36; xxvii 16.
[The blue] in Aaron’s ephod Exod. xxviii 6, 15.
The cloth of blue placed over the ark, the table, the lampstand, and the altar, when they were journeying Num. iv 6, 7, 9, 11, 12.
The thread of blue on the skirts of their garments Num. xv 38, 39;
and by ‘blue’ (Ezek. xxvii 7, 24). But intelligence derived from the affection of infernal love is signified by the ‘blue’ in Ezekiel:-
Ohola, or Samaria, committed whoredom, and favoured her neighbouring Assyrian lovers, clothed with blue, horsemen riding upon horses Ezek. xxiii 4-6.
Thus is described the Church that had falsified the truths of the Word by reasonings derived from self-intelligence. And in Jeremiah:-
They are infatuated and grow foolish, the teaching (disciplina) of vanities is firewood: beaten silver is brought out of Tarshish, the work of the smith and of the hands of the founder, blue and purple is their clothing, all are the work of the wise Jer. x 8, 9.
‘The work of the smith and of the hands of the founder’ and ‘all are the work of the wise’ there signify that those things are derived from self-intelligence.
451. ‘And the heads of the horses as the heads of lions’ signifies the phantasies concerning faith alone as though it were powerful. By ‘the heads’ are signified the imaginary and visionary things concerning faith alone with them, of which it here treats, and these in one word are called phantasies. By ‘the horses’ are signified the reasonings of the interiors of their mind, which are such (n. 449); by ‘lions’ power is signified (n. 241). It is a power derived from fallacies, because they are sensual, and the sensual derive their reasoning from fallacies, by which means they persuade and captivate (n. 424). [2] That their arguments in favour of faith alone are imaginary and visionary, anyone who elevates his mind a little can see. What are faith in act and faith in its state, according to their idea, if not visionary? Which of them knows anything concerning faith in act, and what makes faith in its state, when nothing of good enters from a man into faith in act? What is the remission of sins and the resulting instantaneous salvation but a thing of visionary thought? That it is a fiery flying serpent in the Church, may be seen in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE PROVIDENCE (n. 340). What is the value of immunity, merit, justice, and holiness arising from imputation, except a visionary thing? Let THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 18) be seen. [3] What is Divine operation in internal things without man’s co-operation in externals as from himself? For to separate internal from external, so that there is no conjunction, is purely visionary, as may be seen below (n. 606). Such a visionary thing is faith separated from charity, for the charity in works is the containant and foundation of faith; it is the ground and land thereof, as well as the essence and life. In a word, faith derived from charity is the man, but faith without charity is a ghost, and is an imaginary entity of [theoretical] reason, like a bubble of water flying in the air. But perhaps someone is about to say, If you take understanding away from faith you will not see visionary things; but let it be known that he who can take understanding away from faith can also thrust a thousand visionary things upon every religious tenet, as has been done for ages past by the Roman Catholics.
452. ‘And out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and sulphur’ signifies that in their thoughts and discussions interiorly regarded, there is nothing, and there proceeds out of them nothing but the love of self and the world which is the proprium of the will, the pride of self-intelligence which is the proprium of the understanding, and the lust of evil and untruth which is the general proprium flowing forth out of those two. ‘Out of their mouths’ is out of their thoughts and conversations; by ‘fire’ is signified the love of self and the world, which love is the proprium of man’s will (n. 450, 468, 494); by ‘smoke’ is signified the pride of self-intelligence, which is the proprium of his understanding issuing out of the love of self and the world as smoke out of fire (n. 422); and by ‘sulphur’ is signified the lust of evil and untruth, which is the general proprium flowing forth out of those two. These things, however, are not apparent from their conversations before men in the world, but are manifestly apparent before angels in heaven, and this is why it is said that interiorly regarded they are such. In the following passages ‘fire’ signifies infernal love, and ‘sulphur’ the lusts flowing forth out of that love through the pride of self-intelligence:-
I will make it rain fire and sulphur upon him Ezek. xxxviii 22.
Jehovah shall rain upon the wicked fire and sulphur Ps. xi 6.
The day of Jehovah’s vengeance, the torrents shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into sulphur, the smoke thereof shall go up for ever Isa. xxxiv 8-10.
In the day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur out of heaven; even thus shall it be in the day that the Son of Man shall be revealed Luke xvii 29, 30; Gen. xix 24.
He who adores the beast and his image shall be tormented with fire and sulphur Rev. xiv 9, 10.
The beast, the false prophet and the devil were cast into the lake of fire and sulphur Rev. xix 20; xx 10; xxi 8.
The breath of Jehovah like a river of sulphur shall kindle the pile Isa. xxx 33.
The whole land is sulphur, salt, and burning; it shall not be sown, it shall not sprout forth, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah Deut. xxix 21-23.
Sulphur shall be scattered upon the habitation of the wicked Job xviii 15.
453. [verse 18] ‘As a result of these three things a third part of the men was slain, by reason of the fire and the smoke* and the sulphur, issuing out of their mouths’ signifies that it is as a result of these things that the men of the Church perish. That ‘a third part of the men was slain’ signifies that the men of the Church shall perish as a result of the three things that have just now been treated of above (n. 452); for by ‘to be slain’ is signified to be slain spiritually, which is to perish as to the soul; and by ‘a third part’ are signified all who are in those untruths, as frequently above. What is signified by ‘fire’, ‘smoke’ and ‘sulphur’, and what by ‘to issue out of their mouths’ may be seen just above (n. 452). It is as a result of those untruths that it is not known in the whole of Christendom that the ‘fire’ here treated of is the love of self and the world, and that that fire is the Devil; also that the ‘smoke’ from that fire is the pride of self-intelligence, and that that pride is Satan; as also that the ‘sulphur’ kindled by that fire by means of that pride is the lusts of evil and untruth, and that these lusts are the mob of the Devil and Satan, of whom hell [is constituted]; and when those things are not known it cannot be known what sin is, for every sin draws its delight and pleasantness from them.
* In the Original here the order of ‘fire’ and ‘smoke’ is reversed.
454. [verse 19] ‘And their power was in their mouth’ signifies that they have strength only by discourse confirming faith. By ‘power in the mouth’ is signified power in discourse confirming doctrine; for prettiness of discourse fastidiousness, pretended zeal, ingenious confirmation of untruth especially out of the appearances of truth in the Word, authority, closure of the understanding, and many similar things, they make all-important, and not any truth (veritas) or the Word. For the truth (veritas) does not shine before any others except those who are in charity and the consequent faith, nor does the Word teach any others.
455. ‘For their tails were like serpents having heads, and with these (in his) they do hurt’ signifies the reason, that they are sensual and inverted, speaking true things by the mouth, [but] rendering them false because of the principle that makes the head of the doctrine of their religion, and thus they deceive. Here are signified things similar to those spoken of before (n. 438, 439), but there it is said that they had ‘tails like scorpions’, whereas here [they are said to be] like serpents, because those who are described by the locusts speak and persuade from the Word and from things of knowledge and learning; but they do this only by arguments that are appearances of truth and fallacies, and those who speak from these things elegantly and as if wisely do indeed deceive, but not to so great an extent. [2] By ‘serpents’ in the Word are signified the sensual things that are the ultimates of a man’s life, of which above (n. 424). This is because all animals signify a man’s affections, and therefore also the affections of angels and spirits in the spiritual world appear afar off as animals, and affections purely sensual as ‘serpents’. The reason is that serpents creep upon the ground and lick the dust, while sensual things are the lowest of understanding and will, for they stand nearest to the world and are nourished by the objects and delights thereof, and these affect only the material senses of the body. Harmful serpents, which are of many kinds, signify the sensual things that depend upon the affections of evil that make the interiors of the mind with those who are insane by reason of untruths of evil, while harmless serpents signify the sensual things that depend on the good affections that make the interiors of the mind with those who are wise by reason of truths of good.
[3] Sensual things depending on affections of evil are signified by ‘serpents’ in these passages:-
They shall lick the dust like a serpent Micah vii 17.
Dust [shall be] the serpent’s bread Isa. lxv 25.
It was said to the serpent, Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life Gen. iii 14.
Thus is described the sensual, which, because it communicates with hell where all are sensual, turns heavenly wisdom into infernal insanity in spiritual things.
Rejoice not, Philistia, for out of the serpent’s root shall go forth the basihisk, whose fruit is a flying fiery serpent Isa. xiv 29.
They lay asp’s eggs; he who eats of its eggs dies, and when one presses it out, a viper is hatched Isa. lix 5.
Because the sons of Israel desired to go back into Egypt they were bitten by serpents (Num. xxi 4-9). To ‘go back into Egypt’ signified to become sensual from being spiritual; and therefore it is said:-
The hired men of Egypt have turned themselves away, the voice thereof shall go like a serpent Jer. xlvi 21 [, 22].
[4] Because Dan was the most remote (ultima) of the tribes, and consequently signified the ultimate of the Church, which is the sensual subject to the interiors, it is therefore said thus of him:-
Dan is a serpent upon the way biting the horse’s heels, and the rider thereof shall fall backwards Gen. xlix 17.
By ‘the horse’s heels’ are signified the ultimates of the understanding, which are sensual; by ‘to bite’ is signified to adhere to them; by ‘the rider’ is signified the ignorance resulting from these [sensual things] by which it perverts truths, and therefore it is said ‘the rider thereof shall fall backwards’. Since sensual men are crafty and cunning like foxes, therefore the Lord said:-
Be prudent as serpents Matt. x 16.
For the sensual man speaks and reasons from appearances and fallacies, and if he is skilled in the gift of arguing he knows exactly how to confirm every untruth, and also the heresy of faith alone, and still is so dull in the power of seeing what is true that scarcely any one else could be duller.
456. [verse 20] ‘And the rest of the men who were not slain in these plagues’ signifies those in the Church of the Reformed who are not in this manner spiritually dead as a result of visionary reasonings and the love of self, the pride of self-intelligence and the consequent lusts, like those before mentioned, and yet have made faith alone the head of their religion. By ‘the rest of the men’ are understood those who are not such, but yet make faith alone the head of their religion; by ‘who were not slain’ are signified those who are not in this manner spiritually dead; and by the ‘plagues’ in which [they were not slain] are understood the love of self, the pride of self-intelligence, and the lusts of evil and untruth therefrom, which three are signified by the ‘fire’ smoke’ and ‘sulphur’ treated of above (n. 452, 453). That ‘plagues’ signify such things will be seen below. But first something shall be said concerning this [group of persons].
[2] * It has been given me to see them also, and to speak with them. They live in the northern quarter towards the west, where some of them have huts with roofs, and some without roofs. Their beds are of rushes, their garments of goats’ hair. In the light inflowing out of heaven there is a leaden and also a numb appearance in their faces. This is because they know nothing derived from religion, except that there is a God, that there are three Persons, that Christ endured the cross for them, and that it is faith alone by means of which they are saved, as well as by means of the worship in church buildings, and prayers at appointed times. To the rest of the things that are of religion and the doctrine thereof they pay no attention; for the worldly and corporeal things with which their minds have been crammed and choked stop up their ears to them. Among them are many of the presbyters, whom I asked, ‘When you are reading in the Word of works, of love and charity, of fruits, of precepts of life, of repentance, in a word, of things to be done, what are you thinking?’ They replied that they did indeed read them and so saw them, but yet they did not see because they kept their minds on faith alone, and consequently that all these things are faith, and that they did not think them to be effects of faith. That there is such ignorance and stupidity with those who have once embraced faith alone and made it everything of their religion is scarcely credible; nevertheless it has been granted [me] to know it by much experience.
[3] That by ‘plagues’ are signified the spiritual plagues by means of which a man dies in spirit or soul is plain from these passages:-
Thy breaking away is hopeless, thy plague is grievous; I will restore health to thee, I will heal thee from thy plagues Jer. xxx 12, 14, 17.
Everyone going across Babylon, shall hiss over all her plagues Jer. l 13.
In one day there shall come plagues to Babylon, death and lamentation Rev. xviii 8.
I saw seven angels having the seven last plagues, by which the wrath of God is to be consummated Rev. xv 1, 6.
Woe to the sinful nation, to a people laden with iniquity, from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it, a wound, a scar, and a recent plague, not pressed out not bound up, not softened with oil Isa. i 4, 6.
In the day that Jehovah shall bind up the breach of His people, and shall heal the wound of their plague Isa. xxx 26.
Besides elsewhere, as Deut. xxviii 59; Jer. xlix 17; Zech. xiv 12, 15; Luke vii 21; Rev. xi 6; xvi 21.
* This section is in inverted commas in the Original. Cf. n. 421, 442.
457. ‘Yet repented not from the works of their hands’ signifies that neither did they flee from the things of their proprium, which are evils of every kind, as from sins. By ‘the works of a man’s hands’ are signified the things of a man’s proprium, which are evils and the resulting untruths, because by the ‘hand’ the things that proceed from the man are signified in their entirety, for the forces of the mind and the consequent forces of the body are determined into the hands and terminate there, and therefore by ‘hands’ in the Word is signified power. Consequently by ‘the works of a man’s hands’ are signified the things of his proprium, which are evils and untruths of every kind. The things of the proprium of his will are evils, and the things of the proprium of his understanding are the resulting untruths. It is said of those who are treated of here that they ‘repented not’, because those who make faith alone everything of religion say in themselves, ‘What need is there of repentance when sins are remitted by faith alone and we are saved? What do our own works contribute to this? I know that I have been born in sins, and that I am a sinner. If I confess this, and pray that my blemishes may not be imputed to me, has not repentance then been done? What need is there for more?’ And so [such a man] does not think anything of sins to the extent that he does not know what sins are, and therefore by reason of the delight and pleasantness continually derived from them he is borne along in them and into them, as is a ship on to the rocks by wind and tide, while captain and crew are sleeping.
[2] By ‘the works of a man’s hands’ in the Word, in the natural sense thereof, are understood graven images, molten images and idols, but in the spiritual sense by them are signified evils and untruths of every kind, which are the things of a man’s proprium; as in these places:-
Provoke Me not to anger by the works of your hands; if you were provoking Me to anger by the works of your hands, [it would be] to your own evil: I will recompense them according to their works, and according to the thing done of their own hands Jer. xxv 6, 7, 14.
The sons of Israel have provoked Me to anger by the works of their hands Jer. xxxii 30; xliv 8.
I will pronounce judgments with them upon all their wickedness, that they have bowed down to the works of their own hands Jer. i 16.
In that day shall the eyes look to the Holy One of Israel, and not to the altars the work of their own hands, and which their fingers have made Isa. xvii 7, 8; xxxi 7; xxxvii 19; Jer. x 9.
[3] That ‘the work of a man’s hands’ is his proprium, and consequently evil and untruth, can be manifestly established from the fact that for this reason they were forbidden to build the altar and the temple of hewn stones and to work with iron upon the stones, for ‘the work of a man’s hands’ was signified by these.
If thou wilt make Me an altar of stones, thou shalt not build it of hewn stones, because if thou shalt work with thy chisel upon it, thou shalt profane it Exod. xx 25.
Joshua built an altar of stones, upon which he did not work with iron Josh. viii 30, 31.
The temple at Jerusalem was built of whole stone, and neither hammer nor axe, nor any instrument of iron was heard, when it was being built 1 Kings vi 7.
[4] All the things that are done by the lord are also called ‘the works of His hands’, and these are the things of His Proprium, and in themselves goods and truths; as in these [places]:-
The works of the hands of Jehovah are the truth (veritas) and judgment Ps. cxi 7.
O Jehovah, Thy mercy is for ever, forsake not the works of Thy hands Ps. cxxxviii 8.
Thus says Jehovah the Holy One of Israel, and his Former, Ask signs from Me, concerning My sons, concerning the work of My hands command ye Me Isa. xlv 11.
Thy people are all just, the twig of My branches, the work of My hands Isa. lx 21.
O Jehovah, Thou art our Father, we are the clay, and Thou art our Potter, and all of us are the work of Thy hands Isa. lxiv 8 [NB. 7].
458. ‘That they should not adore demons’ signifies that thus they are in the evils of their own lusts, and make one with their like in hell. By ‘demons’ are signified the lusts of evil arising from love of the world. This is because in hell those who are in those lusts are called demons; and men also who are in the same become demons after death. There is also a conjunction between such men and them; for every man is conjoined with spirits as to his affections to such an extent that they make one. From these considerations it is plain that ‘to adore demons’ is to appease those lusts because of a love of them. Therefore he who invokes faith alone as the head of his religion or as his idol remains in evil, because he does not search out any evil with himself which he terms a sin, and therefore he does not will to remove it by repentance; and as every evil is made up of lusts and is nothing else but a bundle of lusts, it follows that he who does not search out any evil with himself and flee from it as a sin against God, which is done solely by repentance, after death becomes a demon.
[2] Nothing else but such lusts are signified by the ‘demons’ and ‘demoniacs’ in the following passages:-
They sacrifice to demand, not to God Deut. xxxii 17.
The sons of Israel shall no more offer sacrifices unto the demons, after whom they have gone a whoring Lev. xvii 7; Ps. cvi 37.
The ziim shall meet with the ijim, and the demon of the wood shall meet his companion Isa. xxxiv 14.
The ziim shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of ochim, and the daughters of the owl shall dwell there, and the demons of the woods shall dance there Isa. xiii 21.
By ‘ziim’, ‘ijim’, ‘ochim’ and ‘daughters of the owl’ are signified various lusts. ‘Demons of the woods’ are such lusts as pertain to priapuses and satyrs.
Babylon has become the habitation of demons, and the hold of every unclean spirit Rev. xviii 2.
The ‘demons’ that the Lord cast out were such lusts when they lived in the world, concerning which [see] Matt. viii 16, 28; ix 32, 33; x 8 xii 22; xv 22, Mark i 32-34; Luke iv 33-37, 41; viii 2, 26-40; ix 1, 37-42, 49; xiii 32.
459. ‘And idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood’ signifies that thus they are in a worship derived from nothing but untruths. By ‘idols’ in the Word are signified untruths of worship, and consequently by adoring them is signified a worship derived from untruths, and by adoring idols of ‘gold’, ‘silver’, ‘bronze’, ‘stone’ and ‘wood’ is signified a worship derived from every kind of untruth, and collectively a worship derived from nothing but untruths. Moreover, with the ancients, the materials, forms, and garments of idols used to represent the untruths of religion of which their worship was the result. ‘Idols of gold’ signified untruths concerning Divine things, ‘idols of silver’ untruths concerning spiritual things, ‘idols of bronze’ untruths concerning charity, ‘idols of stone’ untruths concerning faith, and ‘idols of wood’ untruths concerning good works. All these untruths exist with those who do not repent, that is, flee from evils as sins against God.
[2] These things are signified in the spiritual sense by the idols that were graven and molten images, in the following passages:-
Every man has become stupid by knowledge, every founder is shamed by a graven image, because his molten image is a lie, and there is no breath in them; they are vanity, a work of errors; in the time of their visitation they shall perish Jer. x 14, 15; li 17, 18.
Graven images are the work of the hands of the workman, they speak not; they are made foolish and grow stupid together, the wood is a teaching of vanities, they are all the work of the wise Jer. x 3-5, 8-10.
What comes forth from the graven image, because the fabricator and teacher of a lie has graven it, because the fabricator of a lie has trusted in it? There is no breath in the midst of it Hab. ii 18-20.
In that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made for themselves to bow down to, to the moles and to the bats Isa. ii 18, 20.
They have made for themselves a molten image out of their silver idols in [the image of] their own intelligence, the whole the work of the craftsman Hosea xiii 2.
I will sprinkle clean waters upon you, that you may be cleansed from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols Ezek. xxxvi 25.
‘Clean waters’ are truths, ‘idols’ are untruths of worship.
Thou shalt judge unclean the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the clothing of thy molten image of gold, thou shalt scatter it as menstrual waste, thou shalt call it dung Isa. xxx 22.
[3] Nor is anything but untruths of religion and consequently of worship signified by:-
The gods of gold, of silver, of bronze, of iron, of wood and of stone, which the king of Babel, Behshazzar, praised (worshipped) when he drank wine with the magnates, wives and concubines, out of the vessels of gold and silver of the Jerusalem temple; because of which the king was driven out from man, and became as a beast Dan. v 1-5 seq.
Besides in many other places, as Isa. x 10, 11; xxi 9; xxxi 7; xl 19, 20; xli 29; xlii 17; xlviii 5; Jer. viii 19; l 38,39; Ezek. vi 4, 5; xiv 3-6; Micah i 7; v 13 [H.B. 12]; Ps. cxv 4, 5; cxxxv 15, 16; Lev. xxvi 30. Properly by idols are signified untruths of worship derived from self-intelligence. How a man fashions these and afterwards accommodates them, so that they may appear as truths, is fully described in Isaiah, chap. xliv 9-20.
460. ‘Which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk’ signifies in which there is nothing of spiritual and truly rational life. These things are said because idolaters believe that their idols see and hear, for they make them gods. Nevertheless by these words such things are not understood, but it is understood that there is nothing of spiritual or truly rational life in untruths of worship, for by ‘to see’ and ‘to hear’ is signified to understand and to perceive (n. 7, 25, 87); and by ‘to walk’ is signified to live (n. 167). Consequently by these three things spiritual and truly rational life is signified. These things are signified because untruths of worship are signified by idols, and in them there is nothing of spiritual and rational life. That idols do not see, hear and walk is too obvious to be mentioned here unless there were something signified therein. Similar things are also said elsewhere in the Word concerning idols, as in these places:-
They neither know, nor understand, and their eyes do not see, nor do their hearts know, they have no knowledge and intelligence Isa. xliv 9, 18, 19.
They neither speak nor walk Jer. x 3-10.
They have mouths but they speak not, and they have eyes but they see not Ps. cxv 5; cxxxv 15, 16.
Similar things are signified by these statements, because by ‘idols’ are signified untruths of worship, and in untruths of worship there is nothing of life that is life.
461. [verse 21] ‘Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their enchantments, nor of their whoredoms, nor of their thefts’ signifies that the heresy concerning faith alone induces on their hearts such a dullness, fickleness, and hardness, that they think nothing of the precepts of the Decalogue, nor indeed of any sin that there should be a fleeing from it because it is on the side of the devil and against God. What murders, whoredoms and thefts signify in every sense may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE FOR THE NEW JERUSALEM DERIVED FROM THE PRECEPTS OF THE DECALOCUE, where it has been shown. There is therefore no need for them to be expounded here; but what ‘enchantments’ signify shall be stated in the following paragraph. Faith alone induces dullness, fickleness, and hardness in the hearts of those who are in the Church of the Reformed because, where there is faith alone, good of life is not the religion; and if good of life is not the religion, then the second table of the Decalogue, which is the table of repentance, is like a clean slate with nothing written on it. That the second table of the Decalogue is the table of repentance is plain, since it is not said therein that good works are to be done, but that evil works are not to be done, as, ‘Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit whoredom, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet the things that are the neighbour’s.’ And if religion does not have these things, it becomes this: ‘Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their enchantments, nor of their whoredoms, nor of their thefts.’ That good of life is not the religion, where there is faith alone, will be seen clearly in the things following.
462. Since it is not known at this day what is understood by ENCHANTMENTS, a few things shall be said. The ‘enchantments’ just above are mentioned in place of the eighth precept in the Decalogue, THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, for the other three, which are murders, whoredoms and thefts, are there mentioned by name. By to bear false witness in the natural sense is signified to act as a false witness, to lie and defame, and in the spiritual sense to confirm and persuade that what is untrue is true and that evil is good; from which it is plain that by ‘to enchant’ is signified to persuade to what is untrue, and thus to destroy what is true. [2] Enchantments were in use among the ancients, and were brought about in three ways:-
FIRST: That they kept the hearing and thus the mind of another on their own words and statements without interruption, never letting go of anything thereof, at the same time infusing and inspiring thought conjoined with affection by means of the breath in the sound of their speaking, with the result that the hearer could not think anything from himself. In this manner the falsifiers used to pour their untruths in with violence.
SECOND: That they diffused a persuasive [sphere], which was done by holding the mind back from every contrary thing, and its being kept intent exclusively on the idea of the things said by them. Consequently the spiritual sphere of the mind of the one dispersed the spiritual sphere of the mind of the other, and stifled it. This was a spiritual witchcraft that the wizards of old used, and it was called the binding and tying of the understanding. This kind of enchantment was solely of the spirit or thought, whereas the former was also of language or speech.
[3] THIRD: That the hearer held his mind so firmly in his own opinion that he almost closed his ears against hearing anything from the speaker. This was done by holding the breath, and also by a noiseless muttering, and thus by a continual denial of his adversary’s opinion. This kind of enchantment was practised by those who were hearing others, but the former two by those speaking to others.
These three kinds of enchantment existed among the ancients, and still exist among infernal spirits. In the case of men in the world, however, there is only a vestige of the third kind among those who have confirmed with themselves untruths of religion derived from self-intelligence; for these, when they hear contrary things, do not admit them more closely into their thought than to mere contact, and then out of an interior recess of their mind they emit as it were a fire that consumes them, the other knowing nothing of this except by the indications of the facial expression and tone in reply, if the enchanter does not control that fire, that is, the wrath of his pride, by simulation. This enchantment is practised at the present day to prevent truths’ being accepted, and, with many, to prevent their being understood.
[4] That in the times of the ancients there were many magic arts, and among them ‘enchantments’, is plain in Moses:-
When thou comest into the land, thou shalt not learn to do according to the abominations of those nations, there shall not be found in thee one that passes his son or his daughter through the fire, the sorcerer performing sorceries, the diviner and soothsayer, and the poisoner, and the enchanter of enchantment, and the consulter of the oracle, and the augur, and the necromancer, for all these are an abomination to Jehovah Deut. xviii 9-11.
The persuasion of untruth, and thus the destruction of truth, are signified by ‘enchantments’ in these passages:-
Thy wisdom and thy knowledge has led thee astray. and as the result thereof evil shall come upon thee; continue in thine enchantments, and in the multitude of thy sorceries Isa. xlvii 10-12.
As a result of the enchantment of Babylon all nations were led astray Rev. xviii 23.
Without shall stand dogs, enchanters, whoremongers, murderers Rev. xxii 15.
Jehoram said unto Jehu, Is it peace [Jehu? And] he said, [What peace so long as] the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel, and her enchantments are so many? 2 Kings ix 22.
By her ‘whoredoms’ falsifications are signified (n. 134), and by her ‘enchantments’ destructions of what is true by persuasions of what is untrue.
[5] That, on the other hand, ‘enchantment’ signifies the rejection of what is untrue by means of truths, which also used to be done by a noiseless thinking and muttering out of a zeal for what is true against what is untrue, is plain from these statements:-
Jehovah will take away out of Zion the strong man, the man of war, the counsellor, the learned in muttering, the expert in enchantment Isa. iii 1-3.
Their poison is as the poison of the deaf adder, it stops its ear that it may not hear the sound of the mutterings of the wise enchanter of enchantments Ps. lviii 4, 5 [H.B. 5, 6].
Behold I send upon you basilisk serpents, against which there is no enchantment Jer. viii 17.
In distress they sought Thee, they cried out with a muttering Isa. xxvi 16.
* * * * * * *
463. To these things I will add this MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE. I had a distant view of a sea shore in the spiritual world, and there I saw a magnificent harbour. I approached and had a look at it, and ho! there were vessels great and small, and in them all kinds of merchandise, and upon the cross-beams were boys and girls distributing to those so wishing. And they said, ‘We are waiting to see our beautiful turtles* which are just going to rise up to us out of the sea.’ And lo and behold, I saw large and small turtles upon whose shells and scales baby turtles were sitting, and these were looking at the surrounding islands. The father turtles had two heads, a large one covered over with shell like the shell of their body, whence they had a reddish glow, and the other a small one, such as turtles have, which was retractable into the foreparts of the body, and which they could also insert in some unseen way into the larger head. But I kept my eyes on the large reddish head, and saw that this had a face like a man, and was speaking with the boys and girls upon the cross-beams, and licking their hands. Whereupon the boys and girls were petting the turtles and giving them things to eat and dainties, and also things of value, such as silk for clothing, thyme wood for tablets, purple for their adornment, and scarlet to use as rouge.
[2] Having seen these things, I wanted to know what they were representing, because I knew that all the things that appear in the spiritual world are correspondences, and represent something spiritual flowing down out of heaven. Whereupon out of heaven [angels] were speaking with me and saying, ‘You yourself are aware of what the harbour represents, also the vessels, and the boys and girls upon the cross-beams, but you do not know what the turtles represent.’ And they said, ‘The turtles represent those of the clergy there who entirely separate faith from charity and the good works thereof, affirming among themselves that plainly there is no conjunction, but that the Holy Spirit, by means of faith in God the Father for the sake of the Son’s merit, enters in with a man and purifies his interiors even to the will of his proprium, of which they make as it were an oval plane. Also that when the operation of the Holy Spirit draws near to this plane it makes a detour around it on its left side and does not touch it at all; and thus that the interior or higher part of a man’s nature is for God and the exterior or lower part is for the man, and that thus not a thing that the man does, neither good nor evil, appears before God. What is good does not appear because it is merit-seeking; nor what is evil because it is evil since if these should appear before God, the man would perish on both counts. This being so, a man is at liberty to will, think, speak and do whatever he pleases, provided he is careful before the world.’
[3] I asked whether they assert also that it is allowable to think of God as not being omnipresent and omniscient. [The angels] said out of heaven that ‘they are at liberty in this respect also because, in the case of him who has once been purified and thus justified, God does not see anything of his thought and will, but that in the interior recess or higher region of the mind or nature he still retains the faith that he had acquired in the act thereof, and that that act can return when necessary without the man’s being aware of it. These are the things that the small head represents, which they draw into the foreparts of the body and conceal, and also insert into the large head, when they are speaking with the laity. For they do not speak with them out of the small head but out of the large one, which appears in front as if provided with a human face, and they speak with them out of the Word, concerning love, charity and good works, the precepts of the Decalogue and repentance, quoting out of it almost all the passages the Word has on these subjects. But at the same time they insert the small head into the large one, and in consequence thereof they understand inwardly among themselves that all these things are not to be done for the sake of God, heaven and salvation, but only on behalf of public and private good. Because, however, they speak of these things out of the Word, especially concerning the Gospel, the operation of the Holy Spirit, and salvation, in a pleasing and elegant manner, they therefore appear before their hearers as handsome men wise beyond the rest in the whole wide world. This also is why you saw that dainties and things of value were given to them by the boys and girls sitting upon the cross-beams of the vessels.
[4] These therefore are they whom you have seen represented as turtles. In your world they are hardly recognised as different from others, except by this, that they suppose themselves to be wiser than others, and they laugh at others, especially at their colleagues whom they say are not wise like themselves, and whom they despise. They carry a little badge about with them on their clothing by which they mark their distinctness from them.’
[5] [The angel] speaking with me said, ‘I shall not tell you what their opinion is on the other matters of faith, as on election, freedom of choice, Baptism, the Holy Supper; for these are such as they do not publish, but we in heaven know. But because they are such in the world, and after death no one is allowed to speak otherwise than he thinks, therefore, as they cannot then speak otherwise than out of their insane thoughts, they are reckoned as insane and cast out of the societies, and at length are sent down into the pit of the deep and become corporeal spirits looking like mummies; for they have put a hardness on the interiors of their minds because in the world also they have interposed a barrier. There is an infernal society of them bordering on the infernal society of the Machiavellians, and they enter from one to the other whenever they like and call each other comrades, but, because of the disagreement arising from the fact that with them there has been something religious concerning faith in act, but not with the Machiavellians, they depart.’
[6] Afterwards I saw them cast out of the societies, and gathered together to be cast down. A ship was seen flying in the air with seven sails, and on board were officers and sailors clothed in purple, having sumptuous wreaths upon their caps, calling out, ‘See, we are in heaven, we are purple-robed doctors and are laurel-crowned above all because we are the chief wise ones out of all the clergy in Europe.’ I wondered what this was, and it was told me that they were images of the pride and the mental thoughts that are called phantasies derived from those who had been seen before as turtles; and now they had been cast out of the societies as insane, and were gathered into a single group standing together in one place. Whereupon I was desirous of speaking with them, and I approached the place where they were standing. Having greeted them, I said, ‘Is it you who have separated men’s internals from their externals, and the operation of the Holy Spirit in faith from its co-operation with man as being outside of faith, and so have separated God from man? Have you not thus removed not only charity itself and its works from faith, as have many other clerical doctors, but also faith itself as to its manifestation by a man before God. I ask you, however, whether it is your wish that I speak with you concerning this matter from reason, or from Sacred Scripture?’ They said, ‘Speak first from reason.’
[7] And I spoke, saying, ‘How can the internal and the external with a man be separated? Who does not see from common perception, or is not able to see, that all a man’s interiors go on through and are continued into the exteriors and even into the outermosts, that they may produce their effects and work their works. Do not the internal things exist for the sake of the external, that they may terminate in them and continue in existence in them, and so have existence, scarcely otherwise than as a column does upon its own pedestal? You can see that if there were not a continuation and thus a conjunction, the outermost things would be dissolved and burst as bubbles in the air. Who can deny that the interior operations of God with a man are myriads of myriads, concerning which the man knows nothing? And what benefit would it be to know them, if only he may know the outermost things, in which with his own thought and will he is together with God?
[8] And this shall be illustrated by an example. Does a man know the interior operations of his speech, as how the lung draws in the air, and this fills the vesicles, the bronchia and the lobes; how it emits this air into the trachea and there turns it into sound; how that sound is modified in the glottis with the aid of the larynx; and how the tongue then articulates it, and the lips complete the articulation that it may become speech? All these interior operations, of which the man knows nothing, are they not for the sake of the outermost, that the man may be able to speak? Remove or separate one of these internal things from its continuity with the outermost things: would the man be able to speak any more than a stock?
[9] Take another example. The two hands are a man’s ultimates. Are there not interior things that are continued thither? They are from the head through the neck, then by means of the breast, the shoulders, the arms and the forearms; and there are the innumerable muscular structures, the innumerable sets of motor fibres, the innumerable bundles of nerves and blood-vessels, and the many joints of the bones with the membranes and ligaments thereof. Does the man know anything of these, while yet his hands are being operated as a result of all of them? Suppose that those interior things should be deflected to the left in the region of the wrist and did not enter it, would not the hand be cut off from the forearm and decay like something dismembered and lifeless? Indeed, if you are willing to believe it, it would be as with the body if the man were beheaded. It would be entirely similar with a man’s will and understanding if the Divine Operation should cease before reaching them and not inflow into them. These things are in accordance with reason.
[10] Now, if you are willing to hear, the same things are also in accordance with Sacred Scripture. Does not the Lord say:-
Abide in Me, and I in you. I am the Vine, and you are the branches; he that abides in Me, and Tin him, shall bear much fruit; for without Me you cannot do anything John xv 4, 5?
Are not the fruits the good works that the Lord does by means of the man, and that the man does as of himself? Does not the Lord also say:-
That He stands at the door and knocks, and that to him who opens He will enter in, and will sup with him, and he with Him Rev. iii 20?
Does not the Lord:-
Give the pounds and talents, that man may trade with them, and get gain, and that as he gains, He will give eternal life Matt. xxv 14-30; Luke xix 13-26?
Also:-
That He gives wages to each one in accordance with his labour so His vineyard Matt. xx 1-16?
These, however, are but a few passages. Pages can be filled from the Word concerning this, that a man should be fruitful of works like a tree, should do the commandments, should love God and the neighbour, and more. I know, however, that your self-intelligence is not able to have anything in common with the things that are from the Word, such as it is in itself, and that although you quote them, yet your ideas pervert them; also, that you cannot do otherwise because you remove everything of God from man as regards communication and consequent conjunction. What is left then but to remove also all things of worship?’
[11] Afterwards those [clergy] were seen by me in the light of heaven, which uncovers and makes manifest what each one is. Then they were seen, not as before in a ship in the air as if in heaven, nor robed in purple there and laurel-crowned; but in a sandy place, and in tattered garments, and their loins girded with as it were fishing-nets through which their nakedness was visible; and then they were sent down into the society that bordered on the Machiavellians, of which above.
* The Original has ‘Testudines, (Skillpadde)’. ‘Skillpadde’ is old Swedish for turtle or tortoise.
1. And I saw another angel, a strong one, coming down out of heaven, encompassed with a cloud, and a rainbow overhead, and His face as the sun, and His feet as pillars of fire.
2. And he had in his hand a little book opened, and he set his right foot upon the sea, and the left one upon the land.
3. And he cried with a great voice, as a lion roars, and when he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices.
4. And when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was going to write, and I heard a voice out of heaven saying unto me, Seal up the things that the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
5. And the angel, whom I saw standing upon the sea and upon the land, lifted up his hand into heaven.
6. And swore by the One living for ages of ages, Who created heaven and the things therein, and the land and the things therein, and the sea and the things therein, that time shall not be any more.
7. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is going to sound, and the mystery of God shall be accomplished, as He has declared to His servants the prophets.
8. And the voice that I heard out of heaven [was] speaking with me again, and saying, Go, take the little book opened in the hand of the angel standing upon [the sea and upon] the land.
9. And I went unto the angel, saying unto him, Give me the little book, and he said unto me, Take it and eat it up, and it shall make thy belly bitter, but in thy mouth it shall be sweet as honey.
10. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up, and it was in my mouth as sweet honey, and when I ate it up my belly was made bitter.
11. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again about (super) peoples and nations and tongues and many kings.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
It still treats of the examination and making manifest [to show the state] of those who are in the Churches of the Reformed, here what they believe concerning the Lord, as being the God of heaven and earth, as He Himself taught (Matt. xxviii 18); and that His Human is Divine: also that this has not been received there, and that it can be received with difficulty so long as the dogma of justification by faith alone is firmly fixed in [their] hearts.
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. And I saw another angel, a strong one, coming down out of heaven
signifies the Lord in Divine Majesty and Power.
Encompassed with a cloud, and a rainbow overhead
signifies His Natural Divine and Spiritual Divine.
And His face as the sun
signifies Divine Love, and at the same time Divine Wisdom.
And His feet as pillars of fire
signifies the Lord’s Natural Divine as to Divine Love which supports all things.
2. And he had in his hand a little book opened
signifies the Word as to this [point] of doctrine there, that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and that His Human is Divine.
And he set his right foot upon the sea and the left one upon the land
signifies that the Lord has the entire Church under His auspices and dominion.
3. And he cried with a great voice as a lion roars
signifies grievous lamentation that the Church has been taken away from Him.
And when he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices
signifies that the Lord has disclosed throughout the entire heaven what is in the little book.
4. And when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was going to write, and I heard a voice out of heaven saying unto me, Seal up the things that the seven thunders have uttered, and write them not
signifies that these things are indeed made manifest, but that they are not received until after those who are understood by the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, have been cast out of the world of spirits, because of the danger if [they were received] before.
5. And the angel, whom I saw standing upon the sea and upon the land, lifted up his hand into heaven, [6] and swore by the One living for ages of ages
signifies the Lord’s attestation and testification by His Very Self.
Who created heaven and the things therein, and the land and the things therein, and the sea and the things therein
signifies Who makes all who are in heaven and who are in the Church, and all the things with them collectively and separately, alive.
That time shall not be any more
signifies that there shall not be any state of the Church or any Church, unless the one God is acknowledged, and that the Lord is He.
7. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel when he is going to sound
signifies the final examination and making manifest of the state of the Church, which is going to perish if a New one is not set up by the Lord.
And the mystery of God shall be accomplished, as He has declared to His servants the prophets
signifies that then it is going to become apparent that it has been foretold in the Word of both Testaments, and has been concealed up to this time, that after a last judgment upon those who have devastated the Church the Lord’s kingdom is going to come.
8. And the voice that I heard out of heaven [was] speaking with me again, saying, Receive the little book opened in the hand of the angel standing upon the sea and upon the land
signifies a command out of heaven that they should draw out that doctrine [concerning the Lord], but that it should be made manifest by means of John how it would be received in the Church before those were removed who are understood by the dragon, the beast and the false prophet.
9. And I went unto the angel, saying unto him, Give me the little book
signifies a movement of the mind with many [in the Church] towards receiving the doctrine.
And he said unto me, Take it and eat it up, and it shall make thy belly bitter, but in thy mouth it shall be sweet as honey
signifies that a reception resulting from the acknowledgment that the Lord is the Saviour and Redeemer is agreeable and pleasant, but that the acknowledgment that He Only is the God of heaven and earth, and that His Human is Divine, is disagreeable and difficult because of falsifications.
10. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it up, and it was in my mouth as sweet honey, and when I ate it up my belly was made bitter
signifies it was so done, and thus was made manifest.
11. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again about (super) peoples and nations and tongues and many kings
signifies because it is so, the quality of those who are in faith alone must be further taught.
THE EXPOSITION
In this and the following chapter it treats of the Lord, that He is the God of heaven and earth, and that He is God even as to His Human; consequently that Jehovah is He Himself. That it treats of this Truth (de Hoc) in these two chapters can be seen by virtue of the details in the spiritual sense, and of the conclusion thereof (chap. xi 55-17).
465. [verse 1] ‘And I saw another angel, a strong one, coming down out of heaven’ signifies the Lord in Divine Majesty and Power. That the ‘angel’ here is the Lord is plain from the description of Him, as being encompassed with a cloud, a rainbow overhead, His face as the sun, His feet as pillars of fire, and that He kept His feet upon the sea and the land; as also that He cried out as a lion roars, and uttered speech as thunder. He was seen as an angel because when He manifests Himself in the heavens and below the heavens He appears as an angel. For He fills some angel with His Divine accommodated to the reception of those to whom He grants the seeing of Him. His presence itself, such as He is in Himself or His own Essence, is not sustained by any angel, much less by any man; and therefore He appears above the heavens as the Sun, which is distant from angels as the sun of the world is from men. There He is in His Divine from eternity and at the same time in His Divine Human, which, as soul and body, are a one. He is here called ‘a strong angel’ by reason of Divine power; and is termed ‘another angel’ on account of this, that here is described a Divine of His other than the former.
466. ‘Encompassed with a cloud, and a rainbow overhead’ signifies His Natural Divine and Spiritual Divine. By the ‘cloud’ with which He was encompassed is signified the Natural Divine; and therefore the Word in the natural sense, which also is from Himself thus is His and Himself is signified by ‘cloud’ (n. 24). By the ‘rainbow’ is signified the Spiritual Divine, and because this is above the Natural therefore the rainbow was seen overhead. It must be known that the Lord in His Natural Divine is with men, but in the Spiritual Divine with the angels of the spiritual kingdom, and in the Celestial Divine with the angels of the celestial kingdom. Nevertheless He is not divided, but appears to each one in accordance with his quality. The Lord’s Spiritual Divine is also signified by the ‘rainbow’ in Ezekiel:-
Above the expanse of the cherubs the likeness of a throne, and upon that a view of a Man, and out of the fire of His loins as it were a view of the rainbow that is in a cloud on a day of rain, this is a view of the glory of Jehovah Ezek. i 26-28.
By the ‘throne’ is signified heaven; by the ‘Man’ upon it the Lord; by ‘the fire of His loins’ celestial love; and by ‘the rainbow’ spiritual Divine Truth, which also is of His Divine Wisdom. By the rainbow, of which these things [are said] in Moses:-
I have set My bow in the cloud, which shall be in token of the covenant between Me and the land, and when I shall see it in the cloud, I will remember the eternal covenant Gen. ix 12-17;
nothing else is understood but spiritual Divine Truth in the natural with a man who is being regenerated; for a man, when he is being regenerated, from [being] natural is made spiritual; and because there is then a conjunction of the Lord with him it is therefore said that the bow would be in the cloud ‘in token of the covenant’. The ‘covenant’ signifies conjunction. That there is not any conjunction of the Lord with the man by means of the rainbows in the world is plain.
467. That ‘And His face as the sun’ signifies Divine Love and at the same time Divine Wisdom is plain from the things expounded above (n. 53), where similar things are said of the Son of Man.
468. ‘And. His feet as pillars of fire’ signifies the Lord’s Natural Divine as to Divine Love, which supports all things. This also is plain from the things expounded above (n. 49) where it is said of the Son of Man that ‘His feet were like burnished bronze as if burned in a furnace’. The reason that His feet were seen as pillars of fire is because the Lord’s Natural Divine, which in itself is the Divine Human that He took on in the world, supports His Divine from eternity as the body supports the soul, and in like manner as the natural sense of the Word supports the spiritual and celestial senses thereof, concerning which THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 27-49) may be seen. That ‘feet’ signify the natural may be seen (n. 49), and a ‘pillar’ [signifies] a support (n. 191). ‘Fire’ signifies love, because spiritual fire is nothing else; and therefore it is customary in worship to pray that heavenly fire, that is, heavenly love may kindle the hearts [of the worshippers]. That there is a correspondence between fire and love may be recognised from the fact that a man grows warm as the result of love, and becomes cold as the result of the deprivation of it, there being nothing else that produces vital heat but love in either [a good or bad] sense. The origin of correspondences is derived from the two suns, the one in the which is pure love, and the other in the world, which is pure fire. Consequently there is also a correspondence of all spiritual and natural things.
[2] Since ‘fire’ signifies Divine Love, therefore:-
Jehovah was seen by Moses upon Mount Horeb in a bush in fire Exod. iii 1-3.
And He came down upon Mount Sinai in fire Deut. iv 36.
And therefore:-
The seven lamps of the lampstand in the tabernacle used to be kindled every evening, that they might burn before Jehovah Lev. xxiv 2-4.
Also that the fire used to burn continually upon the altar, and was not extinguished Lev. vi 13.
And that they used to take fire from off the altar in censers, and offer incense Lev. xvi 12, 13; Num. xvi 46, 47 [H.B. xvii 11, 12].
That Jehovah went before the sons of Israel by night in a pillar of fire Exod. xiii 21, 22.
That over the dwelling there would be fire by night Exod. xl 38; Ps. cv 39; Isa. iv 5, 6.
That fire out of heaven consumed the burnt offerings upon the altar, as a token of good pleasure Lev. ix 24; x Kings xviii 38.
That the burnt offerings were called offerings mode by fire unto Jehovah, and offerings made by fire of an odour of rest unto Jehovah Exod. xxix 18; Lev. i 9, 13, 17; ii 2, 9, 10, 11; iii 5, 16; iv 31, 35; v 12; vii 30; xxi 6; Num. xxviii 2; Deut. xviii 1.
That the Lord’s eyes were seen as aflame of fire Rev. i 14; ii 18; xix 12; Dan. x 5, 6.
That seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne Rev. iv 5.
Consequently it is plain what is signified by ‘the lamps with oil and without oil’ (Matt. xxv 1-11). By ‘oil’ is understood fire, and thus love; besides in many other places. That ‘fire’ in the opposite sense signifies infernal love is plain from so many places in the Word that it is needless to quote them on account of their abundance. Something may be seen about this in the work concerning HEAVEN AND HELL published at London (n. 566-575).
469. [verse 2] ‘And he had in his hand a little book opened’ signifies the Word as to this point of the doctrine there, that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and that His Human is Divine. That by ‘the book’ which the Lamb took from the One sitting upon the throne, and of which He loosened the seven seals (Rev. v 1, 7; vi 1), is understood the Word may be seen above (n. 256, 259, 295 seq.); and therefore by the ‘little book’ in the hand of the angel, who is also the Lord (n. 465), nothing else is here understood but the Word as to some essential there. That this is the point of doctrine in the Word, that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth and that His Human is Divine, is plain from the details in this chapter and the following one in the spiritual sense, and also from the natural sense of the next chapter (xi vers. 15-17). [2] The little book is said to be ‘opened’ because that [point of doctrine] comes into existence manifestly in the Word, and is plain to any one who reads it if he pays attention. It treats of this now because this is the very essential of the New Church. This is because the salvation of any one depends upon the recognition and acknowledgment of God, for it is a fact, as is said in the PREFACE, that ‘upon a just idea of God the entire heaven is founded, and on earth the entire Church, and in general every religion, since by means of that idea there is a conjunction, and through the conjunction light, wisdom and eternal happiness’.
[3] Now because the Lord is Himself the God of heaven and earth, therefore unless He Himself is acknowledged no one is admitted into heaven, for heaven is His body; but he stands below and is bitten by serpents, that is, by infernal spirits, from whose bites there is no healing except what the sons of Israel had, as they were looking towards the serpent of bronze (Num. xxi 1-9). That the Lord as to the Divine Human is understood by this is plain from these [words] in John:-
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish, but may have eternal life John iii 14, 15.
470. ‘And he set his right foot upon the sea and the left one upon the land’ signifies that the Lord has the entire Church under His auspices and dominion, as well the members who are in the external things thereof, as those who are in its internal things. By ‘sea and land’ the entire Church is signified; by ‘the sea’ the external Church, that is, those who are in the external things thereof; and by ‘the land’ the internal Church, that is, those who are in its internal things (n. 398). By ‘to set the feet upon them’ is signified to have all things subject to Himself, consequently under His Divine auspices and dominion. Since the Lord’s Church on earth (in terris) is beneath the heavens it is therefore called ‘the footstool of His feet’, as in these places:-
He has cast forth out of heaven onto the land the ornament of Israel, He remembers not the footstool of His feet Lam. ii 1.
The land is the footstool of My feet Isa. lxvi 1.
We will enter into His dwellings, we will bow ourselves down at the footstool of His feet Ps. cxxxii 7.
Swear not by heaven, for it is God’s throne, nor by the land, for it is the footstool of His feet Matt. v 34, 35.
I will render the place of My feet honourable Isa. lx 13.
Thou hast made Him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands, Thou hast put all things under His feet Ps. viii 6 [H.B. 7].
These things [are said] of the Lord. That ‘he set his right foot upon the sea, and the left one upon the land’ is because those who are in the external things of the Church have not so confirmed the untruths with themselves as have those who are in its internal things.
Like as the lion and the young lion roars over his prey, when a multitude of shepherds rush against him, so Jehovah Zebaoth comes down to serve [as a soldier] upon Mount Zion Isa. xxxi 4.
The anger of Jehovah has been kindled against His people, He has a roar like the lion’s, He roars like young lions, and He growls and seizes the prey; for behold, darkness, anxiety, and the light is darkened in the ruins thereof Isa. v 25-30.
Jehovah shall roar from on high, and utter a sound out of the habitation of His holiness, roaring He shall roar against His habitation Jer. xxv 29-31.
Jehovah shall roar out of Zion, and out of Jerusalem shall He utter His voice Joel iii 16 [H.B. iv 16].
I will not destroy Ephraim; they shall go after Jehovah, as a lion shall roar, because He shall roar Hosea xi 9, 10.
The lion has roared, who should not fear? The Lord Jehovih has spoken, who should not prophesy? Amos iii 7, 8.
God roars with His voice, He thunders with the voice of His majesty Job xxxvii 4, 5.
That ‘roaring’ signifies grievous lamentation is established from these statements:-
My bones have become old through my roaring every day Ps. xxxii 3.
I am disabled and worn out, I have roared above the roaring of my heart Ps. xxxviii 8 [H.B. 9].
Before bread is my sighing, and my roarings are poured out like the waters Job iii 24.
472. ‘And when he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices’ signifies that the Lord has disclosed throughout the entire heaven what is in the little book. This is signified because it follows on that he wanted to write the things that the seven thunders had spoken, but that it was said to him out of heaven that he should seal them up and not write. And [it continues] afterwards that he ate the little book up, and that in his mouth it was sweet as honey, but that it resulted in his belly’s being made bitter, by which is signified that such things were in it as would not be received till now. The reason may be seen in the following paragraph. But I will open what was in the little book. In the little book were those things that are contained in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD, from the beginning to the end, and they are as follows:-
[2] That the entire Sacred Scripture is concerning the Lord, and that the Lord is the Word (n. 1-7).
That the Lord fulfilled all things of the Law is equivalent to His fulfilling all things of the Word (n. 8-11).
That the Lord came into the world in order that He might bring the hells under control and glorify the Human, and that the passion of the cross was the last combat, by means of which He fully overcame the hells and fully glorified His Human (n. 12-14).
That the Lord did not take sins away by means of the passion of the cross, but that He bore them (n. 15-17).
That the imputation of the Lord’s merit is nothing else than the remission of sins after repentance (n. 18).
That the Lord as to the Divine Human is termed the Son of God, and as to the Word is termed the Son of Man (n. 19-28).
That the Lord made His Human Divine out of the Divine in Himself, and that in such a manner He became one with the Father (n. 29-36).
That the Lord is God Himself from Whom and concerning Whom is the Word (n. 37-44).
That God is one, and that the Lord is that God (n. 45).
That the Holy Spirit is the Divine proceeding from the Lord, and that It is the Lord Himself (n. 46-54).
That the Doctrine of the Athanasian Faith is in agreement with the truth (veritas), only so long as by a Trinity of Persons is understood the Trinity of Person that is in the Lord (n. 55-61).
[3] It is said that ‘the seven thunders uttered their voices’ because the Lord’s speech, fallen down into lower regions, is heard as thunder; and because He speaks at the same time throughout the whole heaven, thus fully, there are said to be ‘seven thunders’, for by ‘seven’ are signified all, all things, and the whole (n. 10, 391); and therefore also by ‘thunder’ is signified instruction and the perception of truth (n. 236), here also disclosure and manifestation. That a voice out of heaven is heard as thunder whenever it is from the Lord is plain from these [words]:-
Jesus said, Father glorify Thy Name, and there came forth a voice out of heaven and said, I have both glorified it and I will glorify it. The crowd heard this as thunder John xii 28-30.
God roars with His voice, He thunders with the voice of majesty Job xxxvii 4, 5.
Jehovah has thundered out of heaven, and the Most High has uttered His voice 2 Sam. xxii 14.
I heard a voice out of heaven as the voice of a great thunder Rev. xiv 2.
Thou calledst Me, and I answered thee in hidden thunder Ps. lxxxi 7 [H.B. 8].
473. [verse 4] ‘And when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was going to write, and I heard a voice out of heaven saying unto me, Seal up the things that the seven thunders have uttered, and write them not’ signifies that these things are indeed made manifest, but that they are not received until after those who are understood by the dragon, the beast and the false prophet have been cast out of the world of spirits, because of the danger if [they were received] before. The ‘voices’ that the seven thunders uttered are the things of which [we have written] just above (n. 472), and these [thunderings] are mentioned three times because they are the very essentials of the New Church. By ‘to write’ in the natural sense is signified to commit to paper, and thus to posterity in recorded form, but in the spiritual sense by ‘to write’ is signified to commit to the heart for reception. Consequently by ‘to seal up’ and ‘to write them not’ is signified that they are not committed to the heart and received until after the dragon, the beast and the false prophet have been cast out of the world of spirits, because of the danger if [they were received] before. This is because by ‘the dragon, the beast and the false prophet’ are signified those who are in a faith separated from charity, and these constantly and tenaciously cling to their faith that God the Father is to be approached and not the Lord directly, also that the Lord is not the God of heaven and earth as to His Human. Therefore, if the Doctrine mentioned just above (n. 472), which has been and is still being made manifest-and this is signified by the little book’s having been ‘opened’-were received by others than those who are in charity and the faith thereof, who indeed are those who are signified by ‘John’ (n. 5, 17), before the dragon has been cast out, it would be rejected not only by them but also through them by the rest; and if not rejected, it would still be falsified, even profaned.
[2] That this is the case is quite plain from the things now following in the Apocalypse seen in a series. These are:-
That they killed the Lord’s two witnesses chap. xl.
That the dragon stood close by the woman going to bring forth so that he might devour her offspring, and after he had fought with Michael he kept on pursuing the woman chap. xii.
And that the two beasts, the one coming up out of the sea and the other out of the land, made one with him chap. xiii.
Then that he gathered his followers together for battle at the place termed Armageddon chap. xvi.
And finally that they assembled the nations, Gog and Magog, to battle chap. xx 8, 9.
But that the dragon, the beast and the false prophet were cast into the lake of fire and sulphur chap. xx 10.
And when this had been done, the New Church, which is going to be the Lamb’s wife, came down out of heaven chaps. xxi, xxii.
These are the things that are understood by the words ‘Seal up the things that the seven thunders have uttered, and write them not’; also by these in this chapter:-
In the days of the voice of the seventh angel the mystery of God shall be accomplished as He has proclaimed to His servants the prophets verse 7;
as also by these in the following chapter:-
And the seventh angel sounded, and great voices were produced in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world have become our Lord’s and His Christ’s verse 15;
as well as by many similar statements in the chapters that follow. Something on this subject may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 61).
474. [verse 5] ‘And the angel whom I saw standing upon the sea and the land lifted up his hand into heaven [verse 6] and swore by the One living for ages of ages’ signifies the Lord’s attestation and testification by His Very Self.
By ‘the angel standing upon the sea and land’ is understood the Lord (n. 470); by ‘to lift up the hand into heaven’ is signified the attestation ‘that time shall not be any more’ (verse 6); by ‘to swear’ is signified the testification that ‘in the days of the voice of the seventh angel the mystery of God shall be accomplished’ (verse 7); by ‘the One living for ages of ages’ is understood the Lord Himself, as above (chaps. i 18; iv 9, 10; v 14) [and] Dan. iv 34. That the Lord testifies by His Very Self will be seen presently. In consequence of these things it is plain that by these words ‘And the angel, whom I saw standing upon sea and land, lifted up his hand into heaven and swore by the One living for ages of ages’ is signified the Lord’s attestation and testification by His Very Self.
[2] That Jehovah swears, that is, testifies by His Very Self is plain from these places:-
By Me have I sworn, there has gone forth out of My mouth the word that shall not be called back Isa. xlv 23.
By Me have I sworn that this house is going to become a desolation Jer. xxii 5.
Jehovah has sworn by His Soul Jer. li 14; Amos vi 8.
Jehovah has sworn by His Holiness Amos iv 2.
Jehovah has sworn by His right hand, and by the arm of His strength Isa. lxii 8.
Behold I have sworn by My great Name Jer. xliv 26.
That Jehovah, that is, the Lord, ‘swears by His Very Self’ signifies that Divine Truth testifies, for He is the Divine Truth Itself and this testifies from itself and by itself. Besides which, it may be seen that ‘Jehovah has sworn’ (Isa. xiv 24; liv 9; Psalms lxxxix 3, 35 [H.B. 4, 36]; xcv 11; cx 4; cxxxii 11). It is said that ‘Jehovah has sworn’ because the Church instituted with the sons of Israel was a representative Church, and consequently it represented the Lord’s conjunction with the Church by a covenant such as is made between two who swear to their contract; and therefore because there was an oath of the covenant it is said that ‘Jehovah has sworn’. By this, however, is not understood that He has sworn, but that Divine Truth testifies it.
[3] That the oath was [part] of the covenant, is plain from these passages:-
I have sworn unto thee, and entered into a covenant so that thou couldst be Mine Ezek. xvi 8.
For the remembering of the covenant, the oath that He has sworn Luke i 72, 73.
[Also] Ps. cv 9; Jer. xi 5; xxxii 22; Deut. i 34, 35; x 11; xi 9, 21; xxvi 3, 15; xxxi 20; xxxiv 4. Because the covenant was a representative of the Lord’s conjunction with the Church, and reciprocally of the Church with the Lord, and the oath was [part] of the covenant, and the oath was derived from a thing true in itself, thus also by that means, therefore the sons of Israel had permission to swear by Jehovah, and thus by the Divine Truth (Exod. xx 7; Lev. xix 12; Deut. vi 13; x 20; Isa. xlviii 1; lxv 16; Jer. iv 2; Zech. v 4); but after the representatives of the Church were done away with, oaths of a covenant were also done away with by the Lord (Matt. v 33-37; xxiii 16-22).
476. ‘That time shall not be any more’ signifies that there shall not be any state of the Church, or any Church, unless the one God is acknowledged, and that the Lord is He. By ‘time’ is signified state, and because it treats here of the Church it signifies the state of the Church. Consequently by ‘time shall not be any more’ is signified that there shall not be any state of the Church. That it is also understood that there shall not be any Church unless the one God is acknowledged, follows. But what is the case at this day? That God is one is not denied; but that the Lord is He, is denied. Nevertheless there cannot be one God in Whom at the same time there is the Trinity, unless it is the Lord. That the Church exists from Him Who is the Saviour and Redeemer is not denied; but that He as Saviour and Redeemer must be approached directly, is denied. Consequently it is plain that the Church is going to expire unless the New one comes into existence, which acknowledges the Lord Only as the God of heaven and earth, and on that account approaches Him directly. Let Matt. xxviii 18 be seen. This statement, therefore, that ‘time shall not be any more’, that is, that there shall be no Church, has reference to the things that follow in this chapter (verse 7), and they refer to those that are in chap. xi (verse 15), where it is said that there is going to be a Church which shall be the Only Lord’s.
[2] State is signified by ‘time’ because in the spiritual world times are not measured by days, weeks, months, and years, but by the states that are the progressions of the life of those [who are there], by virtue of which there is a remembering of things gone by. On this subject the work concerning HEAVEN AND HELL, published at London in the year 1758, may be seen (n. 162-169), where it treats of time in heaven. The state of the Church is understood here by ‘time’, because day and night, morning and evening, summer and winter, make time in the world, and when understood in a spiritual sense they make the state of the Church. When, therefore, these states no longer exist, there is not any Church; and there is none at the precise time when there no longer is good and truth, thus when the light of truth is darkness, and the heat of good is cold. These are the things that are understood by the statement ‘that time shall not be any more’. Similar things are understood by these passages in the Word:-
The fourth beast shall think to change times Dan. vii 25.
It shall be one day, which shall be known to Jehovah, not day nor night (thus not time) Zech. xiv 7.
I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the land in the day of light (thus not time) Amos viii 9.
Behold one evil is coming, an end is coming, the end is coming, the morning is coming upon thee, the inhabitant of the land, the time is coming Ezek. vii 5-7.
‘The morning’ is the beginning of the New Church (n. 151), and therefore it is said ‘the time is coming’.
477. [verse 7] ‘But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel when he is going to sound’ signifies the final examination and making manifest of the state of the Church, which is going to perish if the New one is not set up by the Lord. That by ‘to sound’ a trumpet is signified to examine and make manifest the state of the life of those who belong to the Church, consequently also the state of the Church, may be seen above (n. 397); and because seven angels were sounding, by ‘the voice of the seventh angel’ is signified the final examination and making manifest, which is that the Church is going to perish if the New one is not set up by the Lord. Its being about to perish is understood by ‘that time shall not be any more’ (n. 476), and that a new Church is going to be set up by the Lord is understood by the things that now follow.
478. ‘And the mystery of God shall be accomplished, as He has declared (evangelizare) to His servants the prophets’ signifies that it is going to become apparent that it has been foretold in the Word of both Testaments, and has been concealed up to this time, that after a last judgment upon those who have devastated the Church the Lord’s kingdom is going to come. By ‘to be accomplished’ is signified to be fulfilled, to have an end, and then to appear; by ‘the mystery of God declared to the prophets’ is signified what has been foretold by the Lord in the Word and concealed up to this time; by ‘to declare (evangelizare)’ is signified to announce the Lord’s coming and His kingdom, for the Gospel (evangelium) is a joyful messenger. That this is going to come about after a last judgment has been effected upon those who have devastated the Church, has been foretold in the Word, and therefore this also is signified. From these considerations it can he established that all these things are understood by these words. [2] Here first something shall be said about what is foretold of the Lord’s coming and His kingdom in the Word of both Testaments. In the Word of the Old Testament that is called prophetical, in its spiritual sense and also where that sense shines forth in the natural sense, it treats of the Only Lord; plainly of His coming in the fullness of time, which is when the good of charity and the truth of faith would be no longer in the Church, which state thereof is called consummation, devastation desolation and decision. Again it treats of His combats with the hells and victories over them, which indeed are the last judgment effected by Him; and after these things, of the creation of the New Heaven and the setting up of the New Church, and these are the Lord’s kingdom about to come. It also treats of these things in the Word of the New Testament that is called apostolic, and in a special manner in the Apocalypse.
[3] That it is the Lord’s kingdom that will be declared ‘in the days of the voice of the seventh angel’ is plain in the following chapter xi from these words:-
And the seventh angel sounded, and great voices were produced in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world have become our Lord’s and His Christ’s, and He shall reign for ages of ages: and the twenty-four elders fell upon their faces and adored God, saying. We give Thee thanks, O Lord God, Who art and Who wast and Who art to come, that Thou hast attained Thy great power, and taken over the kingdom (vers. 15-17).
[4] This mystery is described in Daniel, almost in the same manner as here in the Apocalypse, where these words are:-
I heard the man clothed in linen, and he lifted up his hands unto heaven, and swore by the One living for ages of ages, that [it should be] unto the appointed time of the appointed times and a half, when all these things must be finished: but he said, Go, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end Dan. xii 7, 9.
‘Until the time of the end’ is up till this time. That the Son of Man is then going to take the kingdom, he foretells with these words:-
I was seeing in night visions, and behold with the clouds of heaven there was coming One like the Son of Man, and to Him was given dominion, and glory, and the kingdom: and all peoples, nations and tongues shall worship Him. His dominion is the dominion of the age that shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not perish Dan. vii 13, 14.
[5] That ‘to declare good tidings (evangelizare)’ signifies the Lord’s coming and His kingdom at that time is plain from these passages:-
Get thee up upon the mountain, O Zion declaring good tidings (Evangelizatrix); lift up thy voice with excellence, O Jerusalem declaring good tidings (Evangelizatrix); say, Behold your God, behold the Lord Jehovih is coming in strength, and His arm shall have dominion for Him Isa. xl 9-11.
How delightful upon the mountains are the feet of one declaring good tidings, making [us] to hear peace, declaring good tidings of good, making [us] to hear salvation, saying unto Zion, Thy King* shall reign Isa. lii 7, 8; Nahum 15 [H.B. ii 1].
Sing unto Jehovah, bless in His Name, declare the good tidings of His salvation from day to day, for Jehovah is coming Ps. xcvi, 2, 13.
The spirit of the Lord Jehovih is upon Me, therefore has Jehovah anointed Me to declare good tidings to the poor, to preach liberty to the captives, to proclaim the year of the good pleasure of Jehovah Isa. lxi 1, 2.
The angel [said] to Zechariah, Behold, thy wife shall bring forth a son, who shall go before in the presence of the Lord God in the spirit and vigour (virtus) of Elijah, and to prepare the people for the Lord. I am Gabriel, and have been sent to declare (evangelizare) this to thee Luke i 13, 17, 19.
The angel said to the shepherds, Do not he afraid, behold, I declare unto you good tidings of great joy, because the Saviour has been born for you this day, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David Luke ii 10, 11.
That the Lord declared good tidings of the kingdom of God [may be seen] Matt. iv 23; ix 35; Mark 15; Luke vii 22; viii 1; ix 1, 2.
That John the Baptist [did so] Luke iii 18. Jesus also said to the disciples, Going into the whole world, preach the Gospel (Evangelium) to every creature Mark xvi 15.
This also is the ‘eternal Gospel’ that ‘the angel flying in the midst of heaven’ had for declaring ‘unto those dwelling upon the land’ (Rev. xiv 6). [6] It is said that ‘the mystery of God shall be accomplished’, by which is understood that now will be fulfilled what has not been fulfilled before, that is, that the kingdom is going to be the Lord’s. For it has not been fulfilled by the Jews, because they have not acknowledged the Lord; nor has it been fulfilled by the Christians, for neither do they acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven and earth as so the Human also, for they make this like the human of another man, and therefore they do not approach Him directly, when yet it is Jehovah Who has come into the world.
* So also AE 365:30 and other places; but Hebrew has ‘God’.
479. [verse 8] ‘And the voice that I heard out of heaven [was] speaking with me again saying, Receive the little book opened in the hand of the angel standing upon the sea and upon the land’ signifies a command out of heaven that they should draw out that doctrine concerning the Lord, but that it should be made manifest by means of John how it would be received in the Church, before those were removed who are understood by the dragon, the beast and the false prophet. By the ‘voice’ that he ‘heard out of heaven’ now speaking with him again is understood the voice that said to him that he should seal up the things that the seven thunders uttered and not write them (verse 4), by which is signified that that doctrine concerning the Lord would not be received until after those who are understood by ‘the dragon’, ‘the beast’ and ‘the false prophet’ have been cast out of the world of spirits, because of the danger if [they were received] before, as may be seen above (n. 473). That this is the case is now made manifest by means of John, by his eating up the little book, about which it follows on. That by ‘the little book’ is understood the doctrine concerning the Lord may be seen (n. 469, 472); and that by the ‘angel standing upon the sea and the land’ is understood the Lord (n. 465, 470).
480. [verse 9] ‘And I went unto the angel, saying unto him, Give me the little book’ signifies a movement of the mind with many in the Church towards receiving the doctrine. This is signified, because by means of John it is here made manifest how the doctrine concerning the Lord is received by many in the Church, as was said just above. A movement of the mind with these towards receiving it is understood, because of the inclination in the case of John, for he went and asked. As these words involve such things, therefore it was first said to John that he should take the little book; after that he went and took it, and then the angel said that he was going to give it to him, but that the little book was going to make the belly bitter; and at length that he did give, and that it so came to pass. All these circumstances are significant.
482. [verse 10] ‘And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it up, and it was in my mouth as sweet honey, and when I ate it up my belly was made bitter’ signifies it was so done, and thus was made manifest what the reception of that doctrine would be, before those who are understood by ‘the dragon’, ‘the beast’ and ‘the false prophet’ were removed. As this is a consequence of the things said above, it is not being further expounded. We read that the prophet Ezekiel also by command ate a roll of a book, and that it was in his mouth sweet as honey (Ezek. ii 8-10; iii 1-4).
483. [verse 11] ‘And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again about (super) peoples and nations, and tongues and many kings’ signifies that because it is so, the quality of those who are in faith alone must be further taught. That this is signified is plain from the things following, which treat as far as chapter xvii* of those who are in faith alone; and afterwards of the Roman Catholic form of religion, and after these of the casting out of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet into hell, and thus of the New Church in which the Only Lord will be worshipped. By ‘to prophesy’ is signified to teach (n. 8, 133), consequently by ‘to prophesy again’ to teach further; by ‘peoples’ are signified those who are in truths or untruths of doctrine, and by ‘nations’ those who are in goods or evils of life, concerning whom [something] follows; by ‘tongues’ are signified those who are exteriorly in them (n. 282); and by ‘kings’ are signified those who are interiorly in them. That by ‘kings’ are signified those who are in truths derived from good, and in the opposite sense those who are in untruths derived from evil, and abstractly truths derived from good or untruths derived from evil, may be seen (n. 20, 664, 704, 720, 830, 921); and because in what follows it treats specifically of those who are in interior untruths, it is said ‘and many kings’, by which are signified untruths of evil in abundance. ‘Peoples’, ‘nations’, ‘tongues’ and ‘kings’ are mentioned so that all who are such in the Church may be understood. Its being said to John that he ‘must prophesy again’ signifies so that it may be further taught what is the quality of those who are in faith alone, for the purpose of discovering and thus abolishing their untruths, since there is no abolition of any untruth before it has been discovered. [2] That ‘peoples’ signify those who are in truths or untruths of doctrine, and ‘nations’ those who are in goods or evils of life, can be established from many passages in the Word where peoples’ and ‘nations’ are mentioned; but for the confirmation of this there shall be quoted here only passages where ‘peoples’ and ‘nations’ are mentioned together. This conclusion can be made from them, since in the Word in all the things thereof, collectively and separately, there is the marriage of the Lord and the Church, and consequently the marriage of good and truth, and ‘peoples’ have reference to truth, and ‘nations’ to good. That such a marriage exists in all the things of the Word collectively and separately, may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 80-90).
[3] The passages in the Word are these:-
Woe to the sinful nation, to the people laden with iniquity Isa. i 4.
I will send him against a hypocritical nation, I will command him against the people of my wrath Isa. x 5, 6.
Jehovah smiting the people with an incurable plague, ruling the nations with anger Isa. xiv 6.
In that day shall a present be brought to Jehovah, a people torn asunder and plundered, and a nation delineated and trodden down Isa. xviii 7.
The strong people shall honour Thee, the city of the powerful nations shall fear Thee Isa. xxv 3.
Jehovah shall swallow up the covering over all the peoples, and the veil over all the nations Isa. xxv 7.
Come near, O nations, and hearken, O peoples Isa. xxxiv 1.
I have called thee for a covenant of the peoples, and for a light of the nations Isa. xlii 6.
Let all the nations he gathered together, and let the peoples assemble Isa. xliii 9.
Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations, and My standard towards the peoples Isa. xlix 22.
I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a chief and a lawgiver to the nations Isa. lv 4, 5.
Behold, a people coming out of the land of the north, and a great nation from the sides of the land Jer. vi 22, 23.
Many peoples shall come, and numerous nations to seek Jehovah Zebaoth in Jerusalem Zech. viii 22.
Jehovah renders the counsel of the nations void, He overturns the thoughts of the peoples Ps. xxxiii 10.
Jehovah shall subdue the peoples under us, and the nations under our feet: Jehovah** has reigned over the nations, the willing ones of the peoples have been gathered together Ps. xlvii 3, 8, 9 [H.B. 4, 9, 10].
The peoples shall confess Thee, the nations shall be glad, for Thou art going to judge the peoples in uprightness, and lead the nations into the land Ps. lxvii 2-4 [H.B. 3-5].
Remember me, O Jehovah, in the good pleasure of Thy people, that I may rejoice in the gladness of Thy nations Ps. cvi 4, 5.
All peoples, nations and tongues shall worship the Son of Man Dan. vii 14.
Besides elsewhere, as Ps. xviii 43 [H.B. 44]; Isa. ix 2, 3 [H.B. 1, 2]; xi 10; Ezek. xxxvi 15; Joel ii 57; Zeph. ii 9; Rev. v 9; Luke ii 30-32.
* This evidently means ‘up to the end of chap. xvi’. Cf. n. 387, 717.
** Hebrew has ‘God’.
* * * * * * * *
484. To these things I will add three MEMORABLE OCCURRENCES that happened in the spiritual world.
The FIRST MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE was: I once heard there the sound as of a mill. It was in a northern region thereof. At first I wondered what this might be, but I remembered that by a ‘mill’ and ‘to grind’ in the Word is understood to seek out of the Word what is serviceable for doctrine (n. 794). I therefore approached the place where the sound was heard, and when I was near the sound died away. Then I observed upon the ground a sort of domed grotto, access to which was open through a cave. On seeing this I went down and entered, and lo! there was a room in which I saw an old man sitting among books, holding the Word in front of him and seeking therefrom what was serviceable for his doctrine. Lying around were slips of paper on which he wrote the things serving his purpose. In an adjoining room were scribes, who were collecting the slips and transmitting [what was written on them] to a complete sheet. I questioned him first about the books around him. He said that they all dealt with JUSTIFYING FAITH, those that came from Sweden and Denmark profoundly, those from Germany more profoundly, and those that were from Britain still more profoundly, while those from Holland dealt with it most profoundly of all. He added also that while they differed on various points they were all in agreement on the article concerning justification and salvation by faith alone. Afterwards he said to me that he was at that moment collecting out of the Word this first [tenet] of justifying faith, that God the Father had given up being gracious towards the human race on account of their iniquities, and that for the salvation of men it was therefore a Divine necessity that satisfaction, reconciliation, propitiation and mediation should be made by someone who should take upon himself the condemnation required by justice (damnationem justitiae), and that this could in no wise be done except by His Only Son; also that after this was done access to God the Father was opened for His sake. And he said, ‘I see and have seen that this is according to all reason. How else could God the Father be approached but by faith in the merit of His Son? And I have just now found that this is also according to Scripture.’
[2] I heard this, and was astounded at his having declared it to be ‘according to reason’ and ‘according to Scripture’, when yet, as I plainly told him, it is contrary to reason and to Scripture. Whereupon in the growing heat of his zeal he retorted, ‘How can you say so?’ I therefore opened my mind, saying, ‘Is it not contrary to reason to think that God the Father has given up being gracious towards the human race and has rejected it. Is not Divine Grace an attribute of the Divine Essence? Therefore to give up being gracious would be to give up His Divine Essence, and to give up His Divine Essence would be to be God no more. Is it possible for God to be alienated from His Very Self? Believe me, that grace on the part of God, just as it is infinite, is also eternal. The grace of God can be lost on the part of man if he does not receive it, but never on the part of God. If grace should depart from God it would be all up with the entire heaven and with the entire human race, insomuch that man would no longer be man as to any least thing of him. Therefore grace on the part of God endures to eternity, not only towards angels and men but also towards the Devil himself. Since this is according to reason, why do you say that the only access to God the Father is through faith in the merit of the Son, when yet there is perpetual access through grace?
[3] But why do you say access to God the Father for the sake of the Son? and why not to God the Father through the Son? Is not the Son the Mediator and Saviour? Why do you not go to the Mediator and Saviour Himself? Is He not God and Man? Who on earth goes directly to any emperor, king, or chief? Must there not be one to procure admission and introduce him? Do you not know that the Lord came into the world so that He Himself might introduce [men] to the Father, and that there is no possible access except through Him? Search the Scriptures now and you will see that this is in accordance therewith, and that your way to the Father is contrary to Scripture just as it is contrary to reason. I tell you further, that it is presumption to climb up to God the Father and not [come] through Him Who is in the bosom of the Father and Who Only is with Him. Have you not read John xiv 6?’ Having heard these things the old man became so heated that he sprang out of his chair and shouted to his scribes to throw me out. And when I went out quickly of my own accord, he threw after me beyond the doors the book that happened to be at hand, and that book was the Word.
[4] The SECOND MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE was this: After I went out I again heard a grating sound, but like that of two millstones grinding together. I approached the sound and it died away, and I saw a narrow entrance leading obliquely downwards into a kind of grotto divided into little compartments, in each of which two [men] were sitting who were also collecting out of the Word confirmations in favour of faith. The one was collecting and the other writing, and this by turns. I approached one compartment and stood in the doorway and asked, ‘What are you collecting and writing?’ The answer was, ‘[Passages] concerning the ACT OF JUSTIFICATION or the FAITH IN ACT, which is faith itself justifying, quickening and saving, and the chief thing of doctrine in Christendom.’ Whereupon I said to him, ‘Tell me some sign of the act, when that faith is brought into the heart and the soul of a man.’ He replied, ‘The sign of the act is instantaneous, when the man, moved with distress that he has been condemned, thinks of Christ, that He has taken away the condemnation of the law, and with confidence lays hold of this merit of His, and with this in his thought goes to God the Father and prays.
[5] I then said, ‘Suppose it to be so, and that the act is instantaneous.’ And I asked, ‘How shall I comprehend what is said of this act, that nothing more of the man contributes to it than would do so if he were a stock or a stone, and that the man as to that act is not able to begin, will, understand, think, operate, co-operate, or apply and accommodate himself at all? Tell me, how does this agree with your having said that the act takes place precisely when the man is thinking of the justness of the law, of his condemnation having been removed by Christ, of the confidence by virtue of which he lays hold of that merit of His, and when in thinking of this he goes to God the Father and prays, and all those things are done by the man as of himself.’ But he said, ‘They are not done actively by the man, but passively.’
[6] And I replied, ‘How can anyone think, have confidence, or pray, passively? Take away from a man what is active or reactive, do you not then take away what is receptive, and thus everything, and with everything the act itself? What does your act then become but something purely ideal, which may be called an entity of the reasoning faculty. I know that you do not suppose along with certain people that such an act is allowed to happen only with the predestined, who know nothing whatever of the infusion of faith with themselves. They might as well play at dice to find out whether it is so. Therefore, my friend, believe that in matters of faith a man operates and co-operates as of himself, and that in the absence of that co-operation the act of faith, which you call the chief thing of doctrine and religion, is nothing but a statue of Lot’s wife, tinkling like dry salt when scratched with a scribe’s pen or his finger-nail (Luke xvii 32). I have said this because as to that act you are making your own selves like statues.’ When I said this he got up and grabbed hold of a candlestick to throw it in my face, but then, the candle having suddenly gone out leaving thick darkness, he threw it against his companion’s forehead and I went away laughing.
[7] This was the THIRD MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE. In a northern region of the spiritual world I heard as it were the roar of waters. So I went over there, and when I was getting near, the roar ceased, and I heard sounds like those of a large gathering of people. And at that moment a house with holes in it and a walled enclosure round it was seen. It was from this house that the sounds were heard. I approached, and there was a doorkeeper, whom I questioned about the people there. He said that they were the wisest of the wise who come to conclusions among themselves on supernatural subjects. He spoke in this manner out of the simplicity of his faith. I said, ‘Is it permitted to go in?’ He said that it was, ‘only you must not speak. I can let you in, because as a favour I am letting the Gentiles in who are standing with me at the door’. And so I entered, and lo! there was a circular arena with a raised platform in the middle, and an assembly of the so-called wise were discussing the mysteries of faith. The theme or proposition then the subject of discussion was, ‘Whether the good that a man does in THE STATE OF JUSTIFICATION OF FAITH, or in its progress after the act, is the good of religion or not?’ They were unanimous in stating that by the good of religion is understood the good that contributes to salvation.
[8] The discussion was eager; but those prevailed who said that the good things that a man does in the state or progression of faith are only moral, civil and political, which contribute nothing to salvation, but that faith is the only means. And they confirmed it thus: ‘How can any work of a man be conjoined with free grace? Is not salvation of free grace? How can any good of a man be conjoined with the merit of Christ? Is not salvation by it alone? And how can a man’s operation be conjoined with the operation of the Holy Spirit? Does it not effect all things without the help of the man? Are not these three things alone saving in the act of faith? And do these three not also remain as alone saving in the state or progress of faith? And therefore accessory good from a man cannot possibly be called the good of religion, which, as was said, contributes to salvation; but if anyone does this for the sake of salvation it should rather be called the evil of religion.’
[9] The two Gentiles who were standing in the entrance near the door-keeper heard these things, and one said to the other, ‘These people have not any religion. Who does not see that to do good to the neighbour for the sake of God, thus with God and from God, is what is called religion.’ And the other said, ‘Their faith has infatuated them.’ Whereupon they asked the door-keeper, ‘Who are these people?’ The door-keeper said, ‘They are wise Christians.’ ‘Nonsense, you are deceiving us,’ they replied; ‘by the way they are talking they are play-actors.’ And I went away. And when after a time I looked at the place where that house had been, behold! it was a swamp.
[10] These things that I saw and heard I did see and hear in a wide-awake condition of my body and spirit at the same time, for the Lord has so united the spirit to my body that I am in both at the same time. The fact that I came to those abodes, and that they deliberated then about those subjects, and that it took place just as it is described, was of the Divine Auspices of the Lord.
1. And there was given me a reed like a staff, and the angel stood by, saying, Arise, and measure the temple of God and the altar and those adoring therein.
2. And the court that is outside the temple, exclude, and measure it not, for it has been given to the nations, and they shall trample upon the holy community forty-two months.
3. And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.
4. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands, which are standing before the God of the land.
5. And if any one wishes to hurt them, fire shall go forth out of their mouth, and shall devour their enemies; and if any one wishes to do them an injury, he must in this manner be killed.
6. These have authority to shut heaven, so that it may rain no rain in the days of their prophecy; and they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the land with every plague, as often as they will.
7. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast coming up out of the deep shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them.
8. And their bodies [shall be] upon the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
9. And they of peoples and tribes and tongues and nations shall see their bodies three days and a half and shall not allow their bodies to be put into tombs.
10. And those dwelling upon the land shall rejoice over them and be glad, and shall send gifts one to another, because those two prophets tormented those dwelling upon the land.
11. And after three days and a half, the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon those seeing them.
12. And they heard a great voice out of heaven saying to them, Come up hither, and they went up into heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.
13. And in that hour a great earthquake was brought about, and a tenth part of the city fell, and there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand names of men; and the rest became frightened, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14. The second woe is past, behold the third woe is coming quickly.
15. And the seventh angel sounded, and great voices were produced in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world have become our Lord’s and His Christ’s, and He shall reign for ages of ages.
16. And the twenty-four elders, who are sitting before God upon their thrones, fell upon their faces, and adored God.
17. Saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, Who art and Who wast and Who art to come, that Thou hast attained Thy great power and taken over the kingdom.
18. And the nations were enraged; and Thy wrath is come, and the time of judging the dead, and of giving reward to Thy servants the prophets, and the saints, and to those fearing Thy Name, the small and the great; and of spoiling those spoiling the land.
19. And the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple; and lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail, were produced.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
It still treats of the state of the Church with the Reformed, as to the quality of those who are interiorly in faith alone contrary to the two Essentials of the New Church. These are that the Lord Only is the God of heaven and earth, and that His Human is Divine, and that men ought to live in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue.
That these two Essentials have been preached in their presence (vers. 3-6).
But that they have been totally rejected (vers. 7-10).
That they have been raised up again by the Lord (vers. 55, 52).
That those who rejected them have perished (verse 53).
That out of the New Heaven the state of the New Church has been made manifest (vers. 15-19).
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. And there was given me a reed like a staff
signifies that the capability and power of recognising and seeing the state of the Church in heaven and in the world was given.
And the angel stood by saying, Arise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those adoring therein
signifies the Lord’s presence and His command, that He might see and get to know the state of the Church in the New Heaven.
2. And the court that is outside the temple, exclude and measure it not
signifies that the state of the Church on earth, such as it is up till now, must be removed and not become known.
For it has been given to the nations
signifies because the state of that Church has been destroyed and desolated by evils.
And they shall trample upon the holy community forty-two months
signifies that it shall have dispersed every truth of the Word to such an extent that nothing is left.
3. And I will give unto my two witnesses
signifies those who confess and acknowledge from the heart that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth and His Human is Divine, and who are conjoined to Him by means of a life in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue.
And they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred [and sixty] days
signifies that these two, the acknowledgment of the Lord, and a life in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue, being the two Essentials of the New Church, are to be taught even to the end and the beginning.
Clothed in sackcloth
signifies mourning in the meantime on account of there being no reception of truth.
4. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands, which are standing before the God of the land
signifies the love and intelligence, or charity and faith, from the Lord with them.
5. And if any one wishes to hurt them, fire shall go forth out of their mouth, and shall devour their enemies
signifies that he who wishes to destroy these two Essentials of the New Church perishes as the result of infernal love.
And if any one wishes to do them an injury, he must in this manner be killed
signifies that he who condemns them shall likewise be condemned.
6. These have authority to shut heaven, so that it may rain no rain in the days of their prophecy
signifies that those who turn away from these two Essentials cannot receive any truth out of heaven.
And they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood
signifies that those who turn away from them will falsify the truths of the Word.
And to smite the land with every plague as often as they will
signifies that those who wish to destroy them hurl themselves into evils and untruths of every kind, as often and as much as they do so.
7. And when they shall have finished [their] testimony
signifies that after the Lord has taught these two Essentials of the New Church.
The beast coming up out of the deep shall make war with them, and kill them
signifies that those who are in the internal things of the doctrine concerning faith alone are going to reject these two.
8. Their bodies [shall be] upon the street of the great city
signifies that these have been totally rejected.
Which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt
signifies the two infernal loves, which are the love of dominion derived from the love of self and the love of ruling derived from the pride of self-intelligence, which exist in the Church where there is not one God and the Lord is not being worshipped, and where [the life] is not being lived in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue.
Where also our Lord was crucified
signifies no acknowledgment of the Lord’s Divine Human and thus a state of rejection.
9. And they of peoples and tribes and tongues and nations shall see their bodies three days and a half
signifies when all those who have been and shall be in untruths of doctrine and evils of life derived from faith alone, until the end of the present Church and the beginning of the New, shall have heard and are going to hear of these two Essentials.
And shall not allow their bodies to be put into tombs
signifies that they have damned and are going to damn them.
10. And those dwelling upon the land shall rejoice over them and be glad
signifies the delight of the affection of the heart and soul in the Church with those who were in faith alone.
And shall send gifts one to another
signifies consociation through love and friendship.
Because those two prophets tormented those dwelling upon the land
signifies that these two Essentials of the New Church, by reason of their complete contrast with the two Essentials received in the Church of the Reformed, are held in contempt, dislike and aversion.
11. And after three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into them and they stood upon their feet
signifies that these two Essentials, while the New Church is beginning and progressing, will be made living with those who receive.
And great fear fell upon those seeing them
signifies disturbance of mind and alarm at the Divine truths.
12. And they heard a great voice out of heaven saying to them, Come up hither
signifies these two Essentials of the New Church taken up by the Lord into heaven, whence they exist and where they are, and the protection of them.
And they went up into heaven in a cloud
signifies the taking up into heaven, and conjunction with the Lord there by means of the Divine Truth of the Word in the sense of its letter.
And their enemies saw them
signifies that those who are in a faith separated from charity heard them but remained in their own untruths.
13. And in that hour a great earthquake was brought about, and a tenth part of the city fell
signifies a noticeable change of state with those [in faith alone] effected then, and their being violently separated from heaven and sunk down into hell.
And there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand names of men
signifies that all those who confessed faith alone and therefore made the works of charity of no account perished.
And the rest became frightened, and gave glory to the God of heaven
signifies that those who saw their destruction acknowledged the Lord and were separated.
14. The second woe is past, behold the third woe is coming quickly
signifies a lamentation over the perverted state of the Church, and finally the last lamentation, of which hereafter.
15. And the seventh angel sounded
signifies the examination and making manifest of the state of the Church after the consummation, when there is the coming of the Lord, and His kingdom.
And great voices were produced in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world have become our Lord’s and His Christ’s, and He shall reign for ages of ages
signifies celebrations by the angels, that heaven and the Church have become the Lord’s, as they were from the beginning, and that now also they have become [the heaven and Church] of His Divine Human, thus that the Lord as to both [the Divine and the Divine Human] is now going to reign over heaven and the Church to eternity.
16. And the twenty-four elders, who are sitting before God upon their thrones, fell upon their faces, and adored God
signifies the acknowledgment by all the angels of heaven that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, also the highest adoration.
17. Saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, Who art and Who wast and Who art to come
signifies confession and glorification by the angels of heaven that it is the Lord Who is, Who lives, and Who has power out of His Very Self, and rules all things, because He Only is Eternal and Infinite.
That Thou hast attained Thy great power, and taken over the kingdom
signifies the New Heaven and the New Church, where they acknowledge Him to be the Only God.
18. And the nations were enraged
signifies those who are in faith alone and consequently in evils of life, that they were burning with anger and attacking those who are against their faith.
And Thy wrath is come, and the time of judging the dead
signifies their ruin, and the last judgment upon those not having any spiritual life.
And of giving reward to Thy servants the prophets and the saints
signifies the felicity of eternal life with those who are in the truths of a doctrine out of the Word, and in a life in accordance therewith.
And to those fearing Thy Name the small and the great
signifies who love the things that are the Lord’s in a lesser or a greater degree.
And of spoiling those spoiling the land
signifies the casting down into hell of those who have destroyed the Church.
19. And the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple
signifies the New Heaven, in which the Lord is worshipped in His Divine Human and there is living in accordance with the precepts of His Decalogue, these being the two Essentials of the New Church whereby conjunction [is effected].
And lightnings and voices and thunders and an earthquake and great hail were produced
signifies the reasonings, the disturbances, and the falsifications of good and truth at that time in the lower regions.
THE EXPOSITION
[verse 1] ‘And there was given me a reed like a staff’ signifies that the capability and power of recognising and seeing the state of the Church in heaven and in the world was given him by the Lord. By ‘a reed’ is signified ineffectual power such as a man has from himself, and by ‘a staff’ is signified effective power such as a man has from the Lord. Therefore by its being said ‘was given a reed like a staff’ is signified power from the Lord. That it is the capability and power of recognising and seeing the state of the Church in heaven and in the world is plain from the things following in this chapter up to the end.
[2] That by ‘a reed’ or cane is signified ineffectual power such as a man has from himself is plain from these passages:-
Lo, thou hast trusted upon the staff of a bruised reed, upon Egypt, whereon when a man leans it will go into his hand, and pierce it Isa. xxxvi 6.
So that all the inhabitants of Egypt may recognise that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel; when they held thee by the hand, thou didst break, and didst pierce through every shoulder with them Ezek. xxix 6, 7.
By ‘Egypt’ is signified the natural man who trusts in his own strength, and therefore he is called ‘the staff of a bruised reed’. Ineffectual power is signified by ‘a reed’ in Isaiah:-
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench Isa. xlii 3.
[3] By ‘a staff’, however, is signified the effective power that is from the Lord, here [the power] of recognising the state of the Church, because the temple and the altar were being measured by the staff, and by ‘to measure’ is signified to recognise, and by ‘the temple’ and ‘the altar’ is signified the Church, concerning which it follows on. Power is signified by ‘a staff’ because the wood out of which the staves were made with the aged in the Church signifies good, and also because it is in place of the right hand and supports it, and by the ‘right hand’ is signified power. In consequence of this a sceptre is a short staff, and by ‘a sceptre’ is signified the power of a king. Indeed ‘sceptre’ and ‘staff’ are the same word in the Hebrew language.
[4] That ‘a staff’ signifies power is plain from these passages:-
Say, How is the strong staff broken, the staff of ornament; come down from glory, and sit in thirst Jer. xlviii 17, 18.
Jehovah shall send the staff of thy strength out of Zion Ps. cx 2.
Thou didst strike through with staves the head of the unfaithful Hab. iii 14.
Israel the staff of Jehovah’s inheritance Jer. x 16; li 19.
Thy rod and Thy staff shall comfort me Ps. xxiii 4, 5.
Jehovah has broken the staff of the wicked Isa. ix 4 [H.B. 3]; xiv 5; Ps. cxxv 3.
My people asks of wood, and his staff answers them Hosea iv 12.
Jehovah removing out of Jerusalem the whole staff of bread, and the whole staff of water Isa. iii 1, 2; Ezek. iv 16; v 16; xiv 13; Ps. cv 16; Lev. xxvi 26.
By ‘the staff of bread and water’ is signified the power of good and truth, and by ‘Jerusalem’ the Church. By:-
The staff of Levi, upon which Aaron’s name was, which blossomed with almonds in the tent Num. xvii 2-10 [H.B. 17-25],
nothing else is signified in the spiritual sense than the power of good and truth, because the truth and good of the Church was signified by ‘Levi and Aaron’.
[5] That power is signified by ‘a staff’ is plain from the power of Moses’ staff:-
That by the stretching out of the staff the waters were turned into blood Exod. vii 20.
That by means of it frogs came up upon the land of Egypt Exod. viii 4 seq. [H.B. 1 seq.].
That by means of it lice were produced Exod. viii 16 seq. [H.B. 12 seq.].
That by means of it thunders and hail were produced Exod. ix 23 seq.
That by means of it locusts went forth Exod. x 12 seq.
That by means of it the Red Sea (Mare Suph) was divided and turned back Exod. xiv 16, 21, 26.
That by means of it waters gushed forth out of the rock out of Horeb Exod. xvii 5 seq.; Num. xx 7-13.
That by means of it with Moses Joshua prevailed over the Amalekites Exod. xvii 9-12.
That fire went forth out of the rock by means of the angel’s staff Judg. vi 21.
From these passages it is plain that by ‘a staff’ power is signified; and also elsewhere, as Isa. x 5, 24, 26; xi 4; xiv 29; xxx 31, 32; Ezek. xix 10-14; Lam. iii 1, 2; Micah vii 14; Zech. x 11; Num. xxi 18.
486. ‘And the angel stood by, saying, Arise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those adoring therein’ signifies the Lord’s presence and His command, that He might see and get to know the state of the Church in the New Heaven. By ‘the angel’ is understood the Lord (here as n. 5, 415, and elsewhere), since an angel does nothing of himself but of the Lord. He therefore says, ‘I will give unto My two witnesses’ (verse 3), and these were the Lord’s witnesses. By ‘stood by’ is signified the Lord’s presence, and by His ‘saying’ is signified His command. By `Arise and measures is signified to see and get to know; that ‘to measure’ signifies to get to know and to explore the quality of a state will be seen below. By ‘the temple, the altar and those adoring therein’ is signified the state of the Church in the New Heaven; by ‘the temple’ the Church as to truth of doctrine (n. 191); by ‘the altar’ the Church as to good of love (n. 392); and by ‘those adoring’ is signified the Church as to worship derived from these two. By ‘those adoring’ here is signified the adoration that is of worship, for the spiritual sense is abstracted from persons (n. 78, 79, 96), and this also is plain here from the fact that it is said ‘to measure those adoring’. There are indeed these three things that make the Church, truth of doctrine, good of love, and worship derived from them. [2] That it is the Church in the New Heaven that is understood is plain from the last verse of this chapter where it is said that:-
The temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of the covenant was seen in the temple verse 19.
Measuring the temple is spoken of at the beginning of this chapter so that the state of the Church in heaven might be seen and become known before that had been conjoined to the Church in the world. The Church in the world is understood by ‘the court outside the temple’, which should not be measured because it was ‘given to the nations’ (verse 2); and then it is described by ‘the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt’ (vers. 7, 8); but afterwards that great city ‘fell’ (verse 13). It follows that the Church ‘became the Lord’s’ (vers. 15 seq.). It should be known that there is a Church in the heavens as well as on earth (in terris), and that they make one just as the internal and external with men; and therefore a Church is first provided by the Lord in the heavens, and out of this or by means of this a Church on earth. Consequently it is said that the New Jerusalem comes down from God out of the New Heaven (chap. xxi 1, 2). By ‘the New Heaven’ is understood the New Heaven [formed] out of Christians, of which it treats frequently in the things following.
[3] ‘To measure’ signifies to get to know and to explore the quality because by the ‘measure’ is signified the quality of a thing or state. This is signified by all the measurements of the New Jerusalem (chap. xxi), and by these statements there:-
That the angel having the golden reed measured the city and the gates thereof; and that he measured the wall 144 cubits, the measure of a man, that is, of an angel (vers. 15, 17);
and because by ‘the New Jerusalem’ is signified the New Church, it is plain that by ‘to measure’ it and the things thereof is signified to get to know the quality. The like is signified by ‘to measure’ in Ezekiel, where it is said:-
That the angel measured the house of God, the temple, the altar, the court, the chambers Ezek. xl 3-17 xli 1-5, 13, 14, 22; chaps. xlii and xliii.
Also that ‘he measured the waters’ (Ezek. xlvii 3-5, 9). Therefore it is said:-
Show the house* to the house of Israel, and let them be ashamed of their iniquities; and they shall measure the form and its exit and its entrance and all the forms thereof that they may keep all the form Ezek. xliii 10, 11.
The like is signified by ‘to measure’ in these places:-
I lifted up mine eyes, and behold a man, in whose hand was a measuring line, and I said, Whither goest thou? and he said, To measure Jerusalem Zech. iii, 2, 4 [H.B. 5, 6, 8].
He stood and measured the land Hab. iii 6.
The Lord Jehovih has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted out the heavens with the span, and weighed the mountains in a scale, and the hills in a balance Isa. xl 12.
Where wast thou when I was founding the land? Who set out its measurements? and who stretched out the line upon it? Job xxxviii 4-6.
* Reading Domum (house) as in Hebrew instead of Formam (form), which the Original has here.
487. [verse 2] ‘And the court that is outside the temple, exclude, and measure it not’ signifies that the state of the Church on earth, such as it is up till now, must be removed and not become known. By ‘the court outside the temple’ is signified the Church on earth because this is outside of heaven, which is ‘the temple’ (n. 486). By ‘to exclude’ is signified to remove, here to remove from heaven because such is its state; and by ‘not to measure’ is signified not to explore and get to know its quality (n. 486). There follows the reason- ‘for it has been given to the nations, and they shall trample upon the holy community forty-two months’. By ‘the court outside the temple’ is here signified the Church on earth such as it is up till now. This is plain from the things following in this chapter, where this is described by the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, in which the Lord’s two witnesses lay slain, and which presently fell in a great earthquake and in it were slain there seven thousand names of men, besides more there. [2] Sometimes by ‘court’ in the Word the external of the Church is signified; for there were two courts that used to be crossed over when they were going into the temple itself in Jerusalem; and because the Church as to its internal was signified by ‘the temple’, therefore the Church as to its external was signified by ‘the courts’. In consequence of this, strangers who were of the nations [Gentiles] used to be admitted into the courts, but not into the temple itself. And as the external of the Church is signified by a ‘court’, therefore also by it is signified the Church on earth and also heaven in ultimates, because the Church on earth is the entrance to heaven and likewise heaven in ultimates.
[3] This is signified by ‘court’ in these places:-
Blessed is he whom Thou choosest, he shall dwell in Thy courts; we shall be satisfied with the good of Thy house, with the holiness of Thy temple Ps. lxv 4 [H.B. 5].
Praise the Name of Jehovah, you who stand in His house, in the courts of the house of our God Ps. cxxxv 1, 2.
How deserving of love are Thy habitations, O Jehovah, indeed my soul is wasted away for the courts of Jehovah Ps. lxxxiv 1, 2 [H.B. 2, 3].
Enter into His gates in confession, into His courts in praise Ps. c 4.
The just shall flourish like the palm-tree; those planted in the house of Jehovah shall sprout forth in the courts of our God Ps. xcii 12, 13 [H.B. 13, 14].
A day in Thy courts is better than a thousand, I have chosen to stand at the door in the house of my God Ps. lxxxiv 10 [H.B. 11];
besides elsewhere, as Ps. xcvi 8; cxvi 19; Isa. i 12; lxii 9; Zech. iii 7; Ezek. x 3-5.
Concerning the courts of the Jerusalem temple 1 Kings vi 3, 36.
Concerning the courts of the new temple Ezek. xl 17-31-44; xlii 1-14; xliii 4-7.
And concerning the court outside the tabernacle Exod. xxvii 9-18.
488. That ‘For it has been given to the nations’ signifies because the state of that Church has been destroyed and desolated by evils of life is established from the signification of ‘the nations’ as being those who are in evils of life, and abstractly evils of life (n. 147, 483).
489. ‘And they shall trample upon the holy community forty-two months’ signifies that it shall have dispersed every truth of the Word to such an extent that nothing is left. By ‘the holy community’ or city is understood the holy Jerusalem, and by ‘holy Jerusalem’ is understood a New Church that is in truths of doctrine, for ‘holy’ is predicated of Divine Truth (n. 173); and ‘a city’ signifies doctrine (n. 194); and therefore by ‘to trample upon that community’ or city is signified to disperse the truths of its doctrine; by ‘forty-two months’ is signified even to the end when there is nothing left. By ‘truths of doctrine’ truths derived from the Word are understood, because the doctrine of the Church and everything of it is therefrom. That they who are in the internals of the Church at this day shall in this manner have dispersed the truths of the Word and of the doctrines of the Church therefrom and everything of it is described in this chapter by ‘the beast coming up out of the deep’ killing the two witnesses (verse 7). This can also be seen from the MEMORABLE OCCURRENCES out of the spiritual world, which have been added to several of the chapters.
[2] By ‘forty-two months’ is signified even to the end when there is not anything true and good of the Church left, because by ‘forty-two’ the like is signified as by six weeks, for six times seven are forty-two, and by ‘six weeks’ is signified what is complete even to the end. For the number ‘six’ signifies this, and ‘a week’ signifies a state, and ‘seven weeks’ a holy state, which is the new state of the Church when the Lord begins His reign. The like is signified by this number in the things following (n. 583):-
There was given to the beast coming up out of the sea a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and there was given him the authority for doing this forty-two months Rev. xiii 5.
‘Six’ signifies what is complete to the end, because ‘three’ signifies this (n. 505) and six is the double thereof, and the double and simple in numbers are of the same signification. Moreover the like is signified by this number as by ‘three and a half’ because 42 months make 3 1/2 years. Mention is made of ‘months’ because by ‘a month’ a full state is signified, as in Isa. lxvi 23; Rev. xxii 1, 2; Gen. xxix 14; Num. xi 18-20; Deut. xxi 11, 13.
490. [verse 3] ‘And I will give unto my two witnesses’ signifies those who confess and acknowledge from the heart that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth and His Human is Divine, and who are conjoined to Him by means of a life in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue. These are they who are understood here by the ‘two witnesses’ because these two are the two Essentials of the New Church. That the FIRST ESSENTIAL, ‘that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth and that His Human is Divine’, is a testimony, and consequently that they are ‘witnesses’ who confess and acknowledge it in heart, may be seen (n. 6, 846), and seen still further from these passages:-
I am a fellow-servant of thy brothers having the testimony of Jesus; for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy Rev. xix 10.
The angels of Michael overcame the dragon by the blood of the Lamb and by the Word of His testimony: and the dragon went away to wage war with the remnant of her seed, who were keeping the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ Rev. xii, 11, 17.
The souls of those beheaded with the axe on account of the testimony of Jesus, and on account of the Word of God Rev. xx 4.
These are they who have acknowledged the Lord. This is called ‘the testimony of Jesus’ because the Lord testifies it out of His Word, thus out of His Very Self, and therefore He Himself is called ‘the Faithful and True Witness’ (Rev. i 5; iii 14); and He says:-
I testify of Myself, and My testimony is true, because I know whence I have come, and whither I am going John viii 14.
Again:-
When the Comforter, the spirit of the truth (veritas), comes, He will testify of Me John xv 26
That ‘the Comforter the spirit of the truth’ Who is also ‘the Holy Spirit’ is the proceeding Divine, and that this is the Lord Himself, may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 46-54). Now because the Lord Himself is the Witness, therefore those also are understood by ‘witnesses’ who testify this from the Lord, as John did:-
Jesus said, You sent unto John and he was a witness unto the truth (veritas); yet I receive not testimony from men John v 33, 34.
John came for a testimony, that he might testify concerning the Light; he was not that Light, but [came] that he might testify concerning the Light. The Word that was with God, and was God, was the true Light John i 1, 2, seq. 14, 34.
[2] That the SECOND ESSENTIAL of the New Church, which is ‘conjunction with the Lord by means of a life in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue’, is a testimony is plain from the fact that the Decalogue is said to be ‘the testimony’, as in these instances:-
Thou shalt put into the ark the testimony that I shall give thee Exod. xxv 16.
Moses put the testimony into the ark Exod. xl 20.
The mercy-seat that is over the testimony Lev. xvi 13.
Leave the staffs of the tribes before the testimony Num. xvii 4 [H.B. 19];
besides elsewhere, as Exod. xxv 22; xxxi 7, 18; xxxii 15; Ps. 3 lxxviii 5; cxxxii 12. [3] Something shall be said here concerning conjunction with the Lord by means of a life in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue. There are two tables upon which those precepts have been written, the one for the Lord, the other for man. The first table has as its content that not many gods are to be worshipped, but the One. The second table has as its content that evils are not to be done. Therefore when the One God is worshipped and a man does not do evils there is conjunction; for in so far as a man desists from evils, that is, is actively repentant, so far he is accepted by God and does good from Him. But Who now is the One God? A Trinal or Triune God is not the one God, so long as this Trine or Tri-unity is in three Persons, but He is Who has the Trine or Tri-unity in One Person. He is the One God, and that God is the Lord. Make your ideas as intricate as you can, but still you will not get clear that God is One unless also He is One Person. That this is the case the whole Word teaches, the Old Prophetical as well as the New Apostolic Word, as can he seen manifestly from THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD.
491. ‘And they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days’ signifies that these two, the acknowledgment of the Lord, and a life in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue, being the two Essentials of the New Church, are to be taught even to the end and the beginning. That these two, the acknowledgment of the Lord and a life in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue, are the two Essentials of the New Church and are understood by the ‘two witnesses’ may be seen just above (n. 490); and that ‘to prophesy’ signifies to teach (n. 8, 133). By ‘1260 days’ is signified to the end and the beginning, that is, to the end of the former Church thus to the beginning of the New. This is signified by that number because by that number the like is signified as by ‘three and a half’, for the number 1260, when reduced into years, makes three years and a half, and by ‘three and a half’ is signified the end and the beginning (n. 505). Something similar to what is here is signified by that number in the following chapter:-
And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they may feed her there a thousand two hundred and sixty days Rev. xii 6.
492. ‘Clothed in sackcloth’ signifies mourning in the meantime on account of there being no reception of truth. By ‘clothed in sackcloth’ is signified mourning on account of the devastation of truth in the Church, for ‘garments’ signify truths (n. 166, 212, 328, 378, 379); and therefore ‘to be clothed in sackcloth’, which is not a garment, signifies mourning that there is no truth, and where there is no truth there is no Church. The mourning of the sons of Israel used to be represented by various means, which by virtue of the correspondences were significative, as that they would put ashes on the head, would roll in the dust, sit silent on the ground a long while, shave themselves, lament and howl, rend their garments, and also put on sackcloth, besides other things; and the separate things used to signify some evil of the Church with them on account of which they were being punished. And when they were being punished, they used to represent penitence by such means, and on account of the representation of penitence, and the humiliation at the same time then, they used to be heard.
[2] That mourning on account of the devastation of the truth in the Church was represented by ‘putting on sackcloth’ can be seen from these passages:-
The lion has come up out of the thicket, he has gone forth out of his place to reduce the land to a waste; for this gird you with sackcloth, lament, howl Jer. iv 7, 8.
O daughter of my people, gird thyself with sackcloth, and roll thyself in ashes, for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us Jer. vi 26.
Woe unto thee Chorazin and Bethsaida, for if the mighty works (virtutes) that have been done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes Matt. xi 21; Luke x 13.
The king of Nineveh, after he heard the words of Jonah, laid off his cloak from him, and covered sackcloth over [him], and sat on ashes, and proclaimed a fast, and that man and beast should be covered with sackcloth Jonah iii 5, 6, 8;
besides elsewhere, as Isa. iii 24; xv 2, 3; xxii 12; xxxvii 1, 2; l 3; Jer. xlviii 37, 38; xlix 3; Lam. ii 10; Ezek. vii 17, 18; xxvii 31; Dan. ix 3; Joel i 8, 13; Amos viii 10; Job xvi 15, 16; Ps. xxx 11 [H.B. 12]; xxxv 13; lxix 10, 11 [H.B. 11, 12]; 2 Sam. iii 31; 1 Kings xxi 27; 2 Kings vi 30; xix 1, 2.
493. [verse 4] ‘These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands, which are standing before the God of the land’ signifies the love and intelligence, or charity and faith, both from the Lord with them. By ‘an olive tree’ is signified love and charity, concerning which [something] follows; and by ‘a lampstand’ is signified enlightenment in truths (n. 43) and the intelligence and faith therefrom, because intelligence is derived from an enlightenment in truths and faith is derived from that intelligence. By ‘to stand before God’ is signified to hear and do the things that He commands (n. 366), here, therefore, that these two are with them from the Lord, Who is ‘the God of the land’, that is, with those who are in the two Essentials of the New Church, of which above. From this it is plain that by the two witnesses being ‘the two olive trees and the two lampstands’ is signified that they were love and intelligence, or charity and faith; for these two make the Church, love and charity the life, and intelligence and faith the doctrine thereof.
[2] An ‘olive tree’ signifies love and charity because the ‘olive’ signifies the celestial Church, and consequently the ‘olive tree’, of which it is the fruit, signifies celestial love, which is love directed to the Lord. As a consequence, this love is also signified by the ‘oil’ with which all the holy things of the Church used to be anointed. The oil, which was called ‘oil of holiness’, was:-
Of olives and spices mixed together Exod. xxx 23 24;
and also:-
The lamps of the lampstand in the tabernacle were made to burn up every evening with (ex) olive oil Exod. xxvii 20; Lev. xxiv 2.
Similar things are signified by ‘olive’ and ‘olive tree’ in Zechariah:-
Two olive trees were near the lampstand, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof; and two berries of olive trees: these air the two sons of the olive tree standing before the Lord of the whole land Zech. iv 3, 11, 12, 14.
In David:-
I am like a green olive tree in the house of God Ps. lii 8 [H.B. 10].
And in Jeremiah:-
Jehovah called thy name a green olive tree beautiful with fruit Jer. xi 16, 17;
besides elsewhere.
[3] Since the Church used to be signified by Jerusalem, therefore by many things that were in and around it such things as are of the Church were signified. Near it also was the Mount of Olives, and Divine Love was signified by that, and therefore:-
Jesus was in the daytime teaching in the temple, and nightly going out He passed the night on the Mount of Olives Luke xxi 37; xxii 39; John viii 1.
And Jesus upon that mount spoke with the disciples concerning the consummation of the age, and His coming at that time Matt. xxiv 3 seq.; Mark xiii 3 seq.
And also from that mount He went to Jerusalem, and suffered Matt. xxi 1; xxvi 30; Mark xi 1; xiv 26; Luke xix 29, 37.
And this according to the prediction of Zechariah:-
His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before the faces of Jerusalem from the east Zech. xiv 4.
Because the ‘olive tree’ used to signify the celestial Church, therefore:-
The cherubs in the midst of the Jerusalem temple were made Out of olive wood; in like manner the doors to the sanctuary, and the posts 1 Kings vi 23-33.
494. [verse 5] ‘And if any one wishes to hurt them, fire shall go forth out of their mouth, and shall devour their enemies’ signifies that he who wishes to destroy these two Essentials of the New Church perishes as the result of infernal love. ‘To wish to hurt the two witnesses’ signifies to wish to destroy the two Essentials of the New Church, which are the acknowledgment of the Lord as being the God of heaven and earth even as to the Human, and a life in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue. That these are ‘the witnesses’ may be seen above (n. 490). ‘Fire shall go forth out of their mouth’ signifies that [there is] infernal love; ‘and shall devour their enemies’ signifies that those who harm them are going to perish as the result of that love. Here, however, it is not to be understood that fire is going to issue forth out of the mouth of the witnesses, but that it is from those who wish to destroy the two Essentials of the New Church, which are understood by ‘the witnesses’ (n. 490). The ‘fire’ is infernal love, for he who does not live in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue and does not come to God the Saviour and Redeemer cannot but be in infernal love and perish.
[2] This is similar to its being said elsewhere in the Word that there is a fire from Jehovah that consumes the wicked, and that Jehovah does things by reason of the fire of His growing anger, wrath and fury, besides other like things, by which it is not understood that [this comes] from Jehovah, but that it is from the infernal love of the wicked. Such things are said in the Word because they are appearances, and the Word in the sense of the letter has been composed by means of appearances and correspondences. Since it is said that ‘fire’ should ‘go forth out of their mouth’, and thereby it is understood that it is out of those who are in infernal love, some passages shall be quoted where ‘fire’ is said to come out of Jehovah:-
The breath of Jehovah like a stream of sulphur shall consume it Isa. xxx 33.
There went up smoke out of His nose, and fire out of his mouth; coals burned as a result of this Ps. xviii 8 [H.B. 9].
I will pour out upon them the growing anger of My wrath, for in the fire of My zeal the whole land shall be eaten up Zeph. iii 8.
Behold Jehovah shall come in fire, for retribution in the growing anger of His wrath, and His rebuke in flames of fire Isa. lxvi 15.
Thou shalt be visited by Jehovah with aflame of devouring fire Isa. xxix 6; xxx 30;
besides many elsewhere.
495. ‘And if any one wishes to do them an injury, he must in this manner be killed’ signifies that he who condemns them shall likewise be condemned. By ‘to do an injury’ here is signified to condemn, because it follows ‘he must in this manner be killed’, and by ‘to kill’ in the Word is signified to kill spiritually, which is to be condemned; for the Lord said, ‘With what judgment you judge, you shall be judged’ (Matt. vii 1, 2).
496. [verse 6] ‘These have authority to shut heaven, so that it may rain no rain in the days of their prophecy’ signifies that those who turn away from these two Essentials of the New Church cannot receive any truth out of heaven. By ‘heaven’ here is understood the angelic heaven; consequently by ‘rain’ is signified the truth of the Church therefrom. Therefore by ‘to shut heaven so that it may rain no rain’ is signified that they cannot receive any truth of the Church out of heaven. The truth of the Church out of heaven is the truth of doctrine out of the Word. It is said that the witnesses have that ‘authority’, but it is understood here, as above (n. 494), that these do not have authority to shut heaven, but that those shut it for themselves who turn away from these two Essentials of the New Church, because they remain in their own untruths. That ‘rain’ signifies Divine Truth out of heaven is established from these passages:-
My doctrine shall drop as the rain, My speech shall distil as the dew Deut. xxxii 2.
If you shall serve other gods, Jehovah shall shut heaven, so that there may be no rain Deut. xi 11, 14, 16, 17.
I will lay my vineyard waste, and I will command the clouds, that they may not cause the rain to rain upon it Isa. v 6.
The showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain, but still the forehead of a harlot woman remained to thee Jer. iii 3.
For as the rain comes down out of heaven, so shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth Isa. lv 10, 11.
O sons of Zion, rejoice and be glad in Jehovah, for He shall give you seasonable rain in justice Joel ii 23.
Thou, O God, didst cause to drop a rain of kindnesses Ps. lxviii 9 [H.B. 10].
He shall come down like rain upon the herb of the meadow, in his days shall the just flourish [Ps. lxxii 6, 7.
Jehovah who prepares rain for the land, who makes the mountains to grow grass, who gives to the beast his food*] Ps. cxlvii 8, 9.
Jehovah shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain He shall water the land Hosea vi 3.
My word shall drop upon them, and they shall wait for Me as the rain, and he shall open his mouth to the latter rain Job xxix 22, 23.
Son of man, say, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, for which there is no rain in the day of wrath, there is a conspiracy of prophets in the midst thereof Ezek. xxii 24, 25;
besides elsewhere (Isa. xxx 23; Jer. v 24; x 12, 13; xiv 3, 4; li 16; Ezek. xxxiv 26, 27; Amos iv 7, 8; Zech. x 1; Ps. lxv 9, 10 [H.B. 10, 11]; cxxxv 7; 2 Sam. xxiii 3, 4). An ‘inundating rain’ [stands] for the destruction of truth (Ezek. xiii 11, 13, 14; xxxviii 22). For temptation (Matt. vii 24-27).
* Cf. AE 507:7.
497. ‘And they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood’ signifies that those who turn away from these two Essentials will falsify the truths of the Word. By ‘the waters’ truths are signified (n. 50); and by ‘blood’ the falsification of the truth of the Word (n. 379). Consequently by ‘to turn the waters into blood’ is signified to falsify the truths of the Word. This is understood in like manner as before, namely, that those who turn away from the two Essentials of the New Church cannot but see the untruths in which they are, and if they confirm these by means of the Word they are falsifying the truths thereof.
498. ‘And to smite the land with every plague as often as they will’ signifies that those who wish to destroy these two Essentials of the New Church hurl themselves into evils and untruths of every kind as often and as much as they do so. By ‘the land’ the Church is signified (n. 285); and by ‘a plague’ evil and untruth (n. 456). Consequently by to smite the land with every plague’ is signified to put an end to the Church with evils and untruths of every kind. But this is to be understood as the former passage was, namely, that those who wish to smite these two Essentials of the New Church with a plague, that is, destroy them, which is done as the result of evil by means of untruths, will cast themselves into evils and untruths of every kind. And because the natural sense is inverted in this manner while it is becoming spiritual, therefore also this expression, ‘as often as they will’, is inverted into this, ‘as often and as much as they do so’. This is because, in so far as any one destroys these two Essentials, so far he is destroying the truths of the Word, and in so far as he destroys the truths of the Word, so far he hurls himself into evils and untruths; for these two Essentials are the truths of the Word, as can be manifestly established out of THE TWO DOCTRINES OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, the one concerning THE LORD, and the other which is called THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE DERIVED FROM THE PRECEPTS OF THE DECALOGUE. This statement, that the witnesses ‘have power to smite the land with every plague as often as they will’, is similar to many in the Word, which attribute to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord, that He smites men with a plague and that this is of His will, when yet it should be understood that He does not smite and that it is not of His will, as in Zechariah:-
This shall be the plague wherewith Jehovah will smite all the peoples that have fought against Jerusalem Zech. xiv 12 seq.
And in Jeremiah:-
I have smitten thee with the plague of the enemy, with the chastisement of a tyrant, for the multitude of thine iniquity Jer. xxx 14;
likewise many times elsewhere. N. 494 above may also be seen.
499. [verse 7] ‘And when they shall have finished their testimony’ signifies that after the Lord has taught that He is the God of heaven and earth, and that conjunction with Him is by means of a life in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue. ‘When they shall have finished’ signifies after the Lord has taught; in fact the two witnesses taught, yet not from themselves but from the Lord. That ‘testimony’ signifies these two may be seen above (n. 490).
500. ‘The beast coming up out of the deep shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them’ signifies that those who are in the internal things of the doctrine concerning faith alone are going to be opposed to and attack these two Essentials of the New Church, and in their own case, and with others as far as they carry weight, they are going to reject them. By ‘the beast coming up out of the deep’ is understood those who came up out of the deep and were seen as locusts (chap. ix 1-12). That these are they who are in the internal things of the doctrine concerning faith alone may be seen in the Exposition there. By ‘to make war’ is signified to be opposed to, and to attack these two Essentials of the Church, concerning which [something] follows. By ‘to overcome them, and kill’ is signified to reject and eradicate them in their own case, and with others as far as they carry weight. [2] The reason why those who are in the internal things of the doctrine of faith alone are going to attack and reject these two Essentials is because they have confirmed with themselves TWO THINGS IN OPPOSITION TO THEM; the FIRST, that not the Lord but God the Father is to be approached; and the OTHER, that a life in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue is not a spiritual life but only a moral and civil life, and this they confirm so that no one may believe that he is being saved by means of works but by means of their faith alone. All who have had these dogmas deeply impressed on their minds in the colleges and universities do not afterwards recede from them. For this there are three reasons, unknown until now; First, that they have introduced themselves as to the spirit into association with their like in the spiritual world, where the majority are satans who are delighted solely with untruths, from whom they cannot possibly be detached unless they reject those untruths; and this cannot be done unless they approach God the Saviour directly, and begin a Christian life in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue. [3] The second reason is that they believe that the remission of sins, and thus salvation, is given in a moment in the act of faith, and afterwards in the state or in the progression by means of the same act continued, preserved and kept in existence by the Holy Spirit, quite apart from the exercises of charity; and they who have once become tainted with those [ideas] thereafter make sins of no account in the presence of God, and so live in their own unclean things. And because they know how to confirm such things cunningly by means of falsifications of the Word with the unlearned, and by sophistical reasonings with the learned, it is said here that ‘the beast out of the deep shall overcome and kill the two witnesses’. This, however, only happens with those who love to live by their inclination and are borne along by the delights of their lusts. Those, while thinking of salvation, are cherishing these lusts at heart and embracing their faith with both hands, inasmuch as they can be saved in this manner by utterances of certain words with a tone of confidence, and have no need to attend to anything of their life for the sake of God but only for the sake of the world. [4] The third reason is that they who in early manhood had imbibed the internal things of that faith, which are called the mysteries of justification, on being afterwards promoted to an honoured position of ministry do not in themselves think of God and heaven but of self and the world, only retaining the mysteries of their faith for the sake of reputation, so that they may be honoured as wise men, and on account of wisdom be esteemed as worthy of remuneration with wealth. It is because there is nothing of religion in it that this is the effect of that faith. That this is so may be seen [in] the THIRD MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE above (n. 484).
[5] That by the wars in the Word are signified the spiritual wars that are attacks upon truth and are waged by reasonings derived from untruths is established from these statements:-
The spirits of demons are going forth to gather them to war in the great day of God Almighty Rev. xvi 14.
The dragon was enraged against the woman, and went away to wage war with the remnant of her seed who were keeping the commandments of God, and had the testimony of Jesus Christ Rev. xii 17.
It was given to the beast of the dragon to wage war with the saints Rev. xiii 7.
Consecrate war against the daughter of Zion, and let us go up at noon Jer. vi 3-5.
You have not gone up into the breaches to stand in the war in the day of Jehovah Ezek. xiii 5.
In Salem is God’s habitation, and the dwelling in Zion, where He broke the fiery darts of the bow, and the war Ps. lxxvi 2, 3 [H.B. 3, 4].
Jehovah shall go forth as a mighty man, He shall stir up zeal as a man of wars Isa. xlii 13; Ps. xxiv 8.
In that day shall Jehovah be for a spirit of judgment, to him sitting in judgment, [and for strength to those] who drive war back from the gate Isa. xxviii [5,] 6.
Deliver me from the evil man, and preserve me from the man of violences, all day they are gathering together for war, like serpents they are sharpening their tongue Ps. cxl 1-3 [H.B. 2-4].
Many shall come in My Name, saying, I am the Christ, and shall mislead many, and you are going to hear wars and rumours of wars, see that you be not troubled Matt. xxiv 5-7; Mark xiii 6-8; Luke xxi 9-11.
The ‘wars of the kings of the north and of the south, and the rest’ in Daniel (chaps. x, xi, xii) signify no other than spiritual wars; besides the ‘wars’ in other places, as Isa. ii 3-5; xiii 4; xxi 14, 15; xxxi 4; Jer. xlix 25, 26; Hosea ii 18; Zech. x 5; xiv 3; Ps. xxvii 3; xlvi 8, 9 [H.B. 9, 10].
[6] Since by wars in the Word spiritual wars are signified, therefore the ministry of the Levites was called ‘military service’, as is plain from these statements:-
It was commanded that the Levites should be numbered, to perform military service, to do work in the tent of the congregation Num. iv 23, 35, 39, 43, 47.
This is the office of the Levites, to perform military service in the ministry of the tent of the congregation; but from a son of fifty years he shall withdraw from the military service of the ministry, nor shall he minister any more Num. viii 24, 25.
Also n. 447 above may be seen, where it is confirmed out of the Word that armies signify the goods and truths of the Church, and in the opposite sense the evils and untruths thereof.
501. [verse 8] ‘And their bodies [shall be] upon the street of the great city’ signifies that these two Essentials of the New Church have been totally rejected by those who are interiorly in the untruths of the doctrine of justification by faith alone. By the ‘bodies’ of the two witnesses are signified the two Essentials of the New Church, which are the acknowledgment of the Lord as being the Only God of heaven and earth, and that conjunction with Him is by means of a life in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue (n. 490 seq.). By ‘the Street of the great city’ is signified the untruth of the doctrine concerning justification by faith alone; by ‘the street’ is signified the untruth, concerning which [something] follows, and by ‘the city’ is signified doctrine (n. 194). It is called ‘the great city’ because it is the doctrine reigning in the whole Reformed Christian world with the clergy, though not in like manner with the laity. By ‘streets’ in the Word are signified almost the same as by ‘ways’ because streets are ways in a city; but still by ‘streets’ are signified truths or untruths of doctrine because a ‘city’ signifies doctrine (n. 194), and by ‘ways’ are signified truths or untruths of the Church because the ‘land’ signifies the Church (n. 285). That ‘streets’ signify truths or untruths of doctrine can be seen from the following passages:-
Judgment has been rejected, and justice has stood afar off, for the truth (veritas) has been stricken in the street, and rectitude cannot come Isa. lix 14.
The chariots have run riot in the streets, they have rushed about in the broad ways Nah. ii 4 [H.B. 5].
In the days of Jael the ways were disused, the broad ways were disused in Israel Judg. v 6, 7.
How has the city of glory been left? Wherefore shall her young men fall in the streets? Jer. xlix 25, 26; l 30.
They that have fed delicately have been devastated in the streets. The form of the Nazirites has been darkened more than blackness, they are not recognised in the streets. They have wandered blind in the streets. They have hunted our step, so that we cannot go in the streets Lam. iv 5, 8, 14, 18.
I will cut off the nations, their corners shall be devastated, I will desolate their streets Zeph. iii 6.
Afterwards in sixty-two weeks the streets of Jerusalem shall be built, but in critical times Dan. ix 25.
The street of the city of New Jerusalem is pure gold, as it were transparent glass Rev. xxi 21.
In the midst of the street of it, on this side and on that, a tree producing twelve fruits Rev. xxii 1, 2;
besides elsewhere as Isa. xv 3; xxiv 10, 11; li 20; Jer. v 1; vi 16; vii 17; ix 21 [H.B. 20]; xi 13; xliv 9, 17; Lam. lii 11, 19; Ezek. xi 6; xvi 24, 25, 31; xxvi 11, 12; Amos v 16; Zech. viii 3-5; Ps. cxliv 13; Job v 10. Since ‘streets’ signify truths of the doctrine of the Church, therefore:-
They used to teach in the streets 2 Sam. 20;
and it is said:-
We have eaten in Thy presence, and drunk in Thy presence, and Thou hast taught in our streets Luke xiii 26;
and therefore:-
Hypocrites used to pray at the corners of the streets Matt. vi 2, 5;
and therefore:-
The householder commanded the servants to go into the streets and broad ways, and bring them in Luke xiv 21.
On this account also what is untrue and falsified is called:-
Mire, dirt, and dung of the streets Isa. v 25; x 6; Micah vii 10; Ps. xviii 42 [H.B. 43].
The prophet prophesying what was untrue would be cast into the streets of Jerusalem, and there was none to bury them Jer. xiv 16.
502. ‘Which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt’ signifies the two infernal loves, which are the love of dominion derived from the love of self and the love of ruling derived from the pride of self-intelligence, which exist in the Church where there is not one God and the Lord is not being worshipped, and where [the life] is not being lived in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue. By ‘Sodom’ in the spiritual sense is signified the love of dominion derived from the love of self, concerning which [something] follows; and by ‘Egypt’ in the spiritual sense is signified the love of ruling derived from the pride of self- intelligence, concerning which also [something] follows; and because these two loves are signified it is therefore said ‘spiritually Sodom and Egypt’. The reason why these two loves exist in the Church where there is not one God and the Lord is not being worshipped, and where [the life] is not being lived in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue, is because a man is born into those two loves and he comes into them while he is growing up, and those loves cannot be removed except by God the Saviour and by a life in accordance with His precepts. And they cannot be removed by God the Saviour unless He is approached, nor can a life in accordance with His precepts be given unless the man is being led by Him. It can indeed be given, but not a life in which there is anything of heaven and the Church therefrom. That life is given only by Him Who is Life. That the Lord is that Life may be seen (John i 4; v 26; vi 33-35 seq.; xi 25, 26; xiv 6, 19; and very frequently elsewhere). [2] At this day it is not known that the love of dominion derived from the love of self and the love of ruling derived from the pride of self-intelligence are the heads of all the loves of hell, and thus the heads of all the evils and consequent untruths in the Church. The delights of those loves, which exceed the delights of all the pleasures of the mind (animus), cause it to be unknown, when yet they are ‘spiritually Sodom and Egypt’. That ‘Sodom’ is the love of dominion derived from the love of self can be established from the description of Sodom in Moses, that on the occasion of the angels coming thereto they wanted to do violence to them in Lot’s house, and that fire and sulphur rained upon them out of heaven (Gen. xix seq.). That love, with its lusts, is signified by ‘fire and sulphur’. I have seen similar things when the cities and associations [formed] out of such were overthrown on the day of the last judgment, and they were cast down into hell. Those loves and the evils thereof are signified by ‘Sodom’ and ‘Gomorrah’ in these places (Isa. i 10; iii 8, 9; [xiii] 19; Jer. xxiii 14; xlix 18; l 37, 40; Lam. iv 6; Ezek. xvi 46-50; Amos iv 11; Zeph. ii 9, 10; Deut. xxix 23 [H.B. 22]; xxxii 32; Matt. x 14, 15; xi 23; Mark vi 11; Luke x 10-12; xvii 28, 29). [3] It is not known in the world that that love is signified by ‘Sodom’; but keep it in mind, and remember it when you come into the world of spirits, which happens after death, and you will be fully convinced. It should, however, be known that there is a love of dominion derived from the love of self and a love of dominion derived from the love of uses. The latter is heavenly, but the former is infernal; and therefore when one makes the head, the other makes the feet, that is, when the love of dominion derived from the love of self makes the head, then the love of dominion derived from the love of uses, which also is the love of being of service to the neighbour derived from the Lord, at first makes the feet, afterwards the soles of the feet, and at last is trampled under foot. In the world, however, these two loves can scarcely be distinguished by a man. This is because their external forms are alike, but they are differentiated by the fact that the heavenly love is with those who approach the Lord and live in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue, and the infernal love is with those who do not approach the Lord and do not live in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue.
In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt, swearing to
Jehovah Zebaoth. In that day there shall be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt; then shall Jehovah become known to Egypt. and the Egyptians shall recognise Jehovah in that day Isa. xix 18-21.
In that day there shall be a path out of Egypt into Asshur, that Asshur may come into Egypt, and Egypt into Asshur, and the Egyptians may serve with Asshur. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and Asshur, a blessing in the midst of the land; whom Jehovah Zebaoth shall bless saying, Blessed be Egypt My people, and Asshur the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance Isa. xix 23-25.
‘Egypt’ there is the natural, `Asshur’ is the rational and ‘Israel’ is the spiritual. These three make the man of the Church. Consequently:-
The king of Egypt was said to be the son of the wise, the son of the kings of antiquity; while Egypt was said to be the cornerstone of the tribes Isa. xix ii, 13.
And of Solomon it is said that:-
His wisdom excelled the wisdom of the Egyptians 1 Kings iv 30 [H.B. v 10].
And that he took Pharaoh’s daughter to wife, and brought her into the city of David 1 Kings iii 1.
And that he built Pharaoh’s daughter a house near the porch 1 Kings vii 8
[2] For the same reason also:-
Joseph was carried down into Egypt, and was there made the governor of the whole land Gen. xli.
Since ‘Egypt’ signifies the natural man as to the affection of truth, and the consequent knowledge and intelligence, therefore:-
Joseph the husband of Mary, in consequence of the angel’s warning, departed into Egypt with the infant Lord Matt. ii 14, 15,
in accordance with the prediction:-
When Israel was a boy, then I loved him, and I called My Son out of Egypt Hosea xi 1.
Thou hast caused a vine to come forth out of Egypt, Thou hast planted it, and made its roots to take root Ps. lxxx 8, 9 [H.B. 9, 10];
for a man is born natural, becomes rational, and afterwards spiritual, thus ‘a vine out of Egypt’ is ‘planted’ and ‘takes root’. For the sake of this representation:-
Abraham also travelled into Egypt Gen. xii in seq.
And Jacob with his sons was commanded to go into Egypt, and he also stayed there Gen. xlvi seq.
In consequence of this also the land of Canaan, by which the Church is signified, is described as to its extent:-
As far as to the river of Egypt Gen. xv 18; 1 Kings iv 21 [H.B. v 1]; Micah vii 12.
And Egypt is likened to:-
The garden of Eden, the garden of God Ezek. xxxi 2, 8; Gen. xiii 10;
while the knowledges of the natural man are called:-
The desirable things of Egypt Dan. xi 43.
And fine linen in embroidery out of Egypt Ezek. xxvii 7;
besides elsewhere concerning ‘Egypt’ in a favourable sense, as Isa. xxvii 12, 13; Ezek. xxix 13-16; xxxi 1-8; Hosea xi 11; Zech. x 10, 11; xiv 16-18; Ps. lxviii 31, 32 [H.B. 32, 33]; 2 Kings xix 23, 24.*
[3] In the opposite sense, however, ‘Egypt’ signifies the natural man when separated from the spiritual, and the pride of self-intelligence then, and the consequent insanity in spiritual things, in the following places:-
Because the heart of Pharaoh has been lifted up in his height, and has put his top among the intertwined [boughs], strangers shall cut him off, and cast him down. In the day in which he is going to descend into hell, I will cover the deep over him, and he shall lie down in the midst of the uncircumcised Ezek. xxxi 10-18.
The foundations of Egypt shall be overthrown; the pride of her strength shall come down, and her cities shall be devastated in the midst of the desolate cities. I will give fire in Egypt, and I will scatter Egypt among the nations, and disperse them into the lands Ezek. xxx to the end.
Woe to those going down into Egypt for help, and they look not to the Holy One of Israel; for Egypt is man and not god, and the horses thereof are flesh and not spirit Isa. xxxi 1, 3.
Egypt rises up like a river, she says, I will rise up, I will cover the land, and I will destroy: rise up, O horses; rage, O chariots; the sword shall devour you, and shall be drunk with blood; there is no healing with thee Jer. xlvi 2, 8-11.
How say you unto Pharaoh, I am a son of the wise, and a son of the kings of antiquity? Where now are thy wise men? let them recognise: the princes of Zoan have become foolish, they have seduced Egypt, the corner-stone of the tribes. For Egypt there shall be no work, that may make the head and the tail Isa. xix 1-17.
Prophesy against Egypt: O great whale, that liest in the midst of thy rivers; because he has said, The river is mine, and I have made myself; therefore will I put hooks in thy jaws, and I will make the fish of the rivers to stick to thy scales, and I will abandon thee in the wilderness: and therefore shall the land of Egypt be made a desert and a waste Ezek. xxix 1-12;
besides elsewhere, as Isa. xxx 6, 7; Jer. ii 17, 18, 36; xlii 13-18; Ezek. xvi 26, 28, 29; xxiii 2-33; Hosea vii 11, 13, 16; ix 1, 3, 6; xi 5; xii 1 [H.B. 2]; Joel iii 19 [H.B. iv 19]; Lam. v 2, 4, 6, 8; Deut. xvii 16; 1 Kings xiv 25, 26; 2 Kings xviii 21.
[4] Because the Egyptians had become such, they were therefore devastated as to all the goods and truths of the Church. Their devastations are described by means of the miracles done there, which were plagues, and signified so many lusts of the natural man separated from the spiritual, and this acts solely out of self-intelligence and the pride thereof. The plagues significative of its lusts were:-
That the waters in the river were turned into blood, so that the fish should die, and the river stink Exod. vii.
That frogs were produced out of the rivers and pools upon the land of Egypt. That the dust of the land was turned into lice. That a filthy swarm of noxious flies was sent Exod. viii.
That a sore breaking forth with blisters was produced upon man and beast. That rain of hail mixed with fire rained down Exod. ix
That the locust was sent. That it became dark in all the land of Egypt Exod. x.
That all the firstborn in the land of Egypt died Exod. xii.
And finally, that the Egyptians were submerged in the Red Sea (in Mari Suph) Exod. xiv.
By the Red Sea is signified hell. What is specifically signified by all these things may be seen in ARCANA CAELESTIA published at London, where they have been expounded. From this it is plain what is signified by ‘the plagues and diseases of Egypt’ (Deut. vii 15; xxviii 60); what by ‘to be submerged by the river of Egypt’ (Amos viii 8; ix 5); and whence it is that Egypt is called ‘the land of servitude’ (Micah vi 4), ‘the land of Ham’ (Ps. cvi 22), also ‘the furnace of iron’ (Deut. iv 20; 1 Kings viii 51). [5] ‘Egypt’ signifies not only intelligence but also insanity in spiritual things. This was because the Ancient Church, which had been widespread in many of the kingdoms of Asia, was also in Egypt, and at that time the Egyptians excelled others in cultivating the knowledge of the correspondences between spiritual and natural things, as is plain by reason of the hieroglyphics there. When, however, with them that knowledge was turned into magic and became idolatrous, then their intelligence in spiritual things became insanity. Consequently ‘Egypt’ signifies this in the opposite sense. From these things it can be seen what is understood by ‘the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt’.
* AV has ‘rivers of besieged places’, but AE 654:14, following Schmidius, has ‘rivers of Egypt’.
504. ‘Where also our Lord was crucified’ signifies no acknowledgment of the Lord’s Divine Human, and thus a state of rejection. It is said in the Church that they ‘crucify the Lord’ who blaspheme Him, as do those also, like the Jews, who deny Him to be the Son of God. The reason why those who deny that His Human is Divine are like the Jews is that every man regards the Lord as a man, and one who regards His Human as equal to the human of another man cannot then think of His Divine, howsoever this is said to be the Son of God, born from eternity, equal to the Divine of the Father. When this is being stated and read it is indeed heard, but yet it is not at the same time in the faith when concerning the Lord it is thought that He is a material man like another man, equally retaining the properties of the flesh; and as he then removes His Divine and does not regard it, he is in the same state as if he denied it, for he denies that His Human is the Son of God, just as the Jews also did, for which reason they crucified Him. That nevertheless the Lord’s Human is the Son of God is openly said (Luke i 32, 35; Matt. iii 16, 17, and elsewhere).
[2] In consequence of these things the reason is plain why the men of the Church approach God the Father directly, and many also the Holy Spirit directly, but seldom does anyone approach the Lord directly. Since the Jews, because of denying the Lord to be the Messiah the Son of God, crucified Him, therefore their Jerusalem is also called Sodom (Isa. iii 9; Jer. xxiii 14; Ezek. xvi 46, 48); and the Lord says:-
On the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and sulphur out of heaven, and destroyed them all; even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man shall be revealed Luke xvii 29, 30.
What ‘fire and sulphur’ [signify], may be seen (n. 452, 494).
505. [verse 9] ‘And they of peoples and tribes and tongues and nations shall see their bodies three days and a half’ signifies when all those who have been and shall be in untruths of doctrine and consequently in evils of life derived from faith alone, until the end of the present Church and the beginning of the New, have heard and are going to hear of these two Essentials, which are the acknowledgment of the Lord and of works in accordance with the Decalogue. By ‘peoples and tribes and tongues and nations’ are understood all of the Reformed who have been and shall be in untruths of doctrine and consequently in evils of life derived from faith alone. By ‘peoples’ are signified those who are in untruths of doctrine (n. 483); by ‘tribes’ untruths and evils of the Church (n. 349); by ‘tongues’ the confession and reception thereof (n. 483); and by ‘nations’ those who are in evils of life (n. 483). Consequently by those four are signified all those, collectively and separately, who have been and shall be [such], thus those who have been ‘in that great city’, and those who like them are going to come thither out of the world. By ‘their bodies’, or the bodies of the two witnesses, are signified the two Essentials of the New Church treated of above (n. 501). By ‘shall see’ is signified when they have heard and are going to hear of them, since ‘to see’ is said of the bodies and ‘to hear’ is said of the two Essentials. By ‘three days and a half’ is signified to the end and the beginning, that is, to the end of the present Church and the beginning of the New. Resulting from these [significations] now collected into one meaning it is plain that by ‘they of peoples and tribes and tongues and nations shall see their bodies three days and a half’ the things stated above are signified in the spiritual sense. ‘Three days and a half’ signify to the end and the beginning, because ‘days’ signify states, the number ‘three’ what is complete even to an end, and ‘a half’ a beginning. For the like is signified by ‘three days and a half’ as by a week, of which six days signify what is complete even to the end, and the seventh day signifies what is holy; for the number 3 1/2 is half the number 7, which makes a week, and the doubling and dividing of this signify what is similar.
[2] That ‘three’ signifies what is complete, thus to the end, can be seen by virtue of these [statements] in the Word:-
That Isaiah went naked and barefoot three years Isa. xx 3.
That Jehovah called Samuel three times, and Samuel ran three times to Eli, and that the third time Eli understood Sam. iii 1-8.
That Elijah measured himself three times over the widow’s son 1 Kings xvii 21.
That Elijah commanded that they should pour water on the burnt-offering three times 1 Kings xviii 34.
That Jesus said that the kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures, until the whole should be leavened Matt. xiii 33.
That Jesus said to Peter that he was going to deny Him three times Matt. xxvi 34.
That the Lord asked Peter three times, Lovest thou Me? John xxi 15-17.
That Jonah was in the whale’s belly three days and three nights Jonah i 17 [H.B. ii 1].
That Jesus said that He would break up the temple, and Himself build it up during three days Matt. xxvi 61.
That Jesus in Gethsemane prayed three times Matt. xxvi 39-44.
That Jesus rose again the third day Matt. xxviii 1;
besides many elsewhere, as Isa. xvi 14; Hosea vi 2; Exod. iii 18; x 22, 23; xix 1, 11, 15, 16, 18; Lev. xix 23-25; Num. xix 11 to the end; xxxi 19-24; Deut. xix 2-4; xxvi 12; Josh. i 11; iii 2; 1 Sam. xx 5, 12, 19, 20, 35, 36, 41; 2 Sam. xxiv 11-13; Dan. x 1-3; Mark xii 2, 4-6; Luke xx 12; xiii 32, 33. ‘Seven’ as well as ‘three’ signify what is full and complete, but ‘seven’ are said of things holy, while ‘three’ of things not holy.
Jehovah has said concerning them, They shall die with grievous deaths, they shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried, they shall be for dung upon the faces of the land, and their carcase shall be for food to the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the land Jer. xvi 3, 4.
The prophets prophesying lies shall be cast out into the streets of Jerusalem, and none burying Jer. xiv 16.
In that day they shall drag out the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets out of their graves; they shall neither be gathered nor buried; they shall be for dung upon the faces of the land Jer. viii 1, 2.
That the dogs devoured Jezebel in the field, and none burying 2 Kings ix 10.
Thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable shoot, like a carcase trodden under foot Isa. xiv 19, 20;
besides elsewhere, as Jer. xxv 32, 33; xxii 19; vii 32, 33; xix 11, 12; 2 Kings xxiii 16.
507. [verse 10] ‘And those dwelling upon the land shall rejoice over them and be glad’ signifies a delight of the affection of the heart and soul on that account in the Church with those who were in faith alone as to doctrine and life. By ‘those dwelling upon the land’ are understood those who are in the Church, here those who are in the Church where faith alone is. ‘The land’ signifies the Church in which [they are] (n. 285). By ‘to rejoice and be glad’ is signified to have a delight of the affection of heart and soul, the delight of the affection of the heart being of the will, while the delight of the affection of the soul is of the understanding, for in the Word by ‘the heart and soul’ is understood a man’s will and understanding. This is why ‘to rejoice and be glad’ is said, although joy and gladness appear as one thing. In these two, however, there is the marriage of will and understanding, which is also the marriage of good and truth that is in all things of the Word, collectively and separately, of which [something has been said] in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 80-90). This is why each of the two, ‘to rejoice and be glad’ or ‘joy and gladness’, is said also many times elsewhere in the Word, as in these [instances]:-
Behold joy and gladness to kill an ox [Isa. xxii 13.
They shall obtain joy and gladness, sadness and sighing shall flee away]* Isa. xxxv 10; li 11.
Joy and gladness has been cut off from the house of our God Joel i 16.
The voice of joy and the voice of gladness shall be taken away Jer. vii 34; xxv 10.
The fast of the tenth shall be for joy and gladness Zech. viii 19.
Be glad in Jerusalem, rejoice in her Isa. lxvi 10.
Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom Lam. iv 21.
Let the heavens be glad, rejoice, O land [Ps. xcvi 11].
Thou shalt make me to hear joy and gladness Ps. li 8 [H.B. 10].
Joy and gladness shall be found in Zion Isa. li 3.
There shall be gladness, many shall rejoice over his birth Luke i 14.
I will make to cease the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride Jer. vii 34; xvi 9; xxv 10; xxxiii 10, 11.
Let all seeking thee rejoice and be glad Ps. xl 16 [H.B. 17]; Ps. lxx 4 [H.B. 5].
The just shall be glad and they shall rejoice in gladness Ps. lxviii 3 [H.B. 4].
Be glad in Jerusalem, rejoice with her for joy Isa. lxvi 10.
* Cf. AE 660:3.
508. ‘And shall send gifts one to another’ signifies consociation through love and friendship. That ‘to send gifts’ signifies to be consociated through love and friendship is because a gift consociates, for it produces love and makes friendship. ‘One to another’ signifies mutually.
509. ‘Because those two prophets tormented those dwelling upon the land’ signifies that these two Essentials, the one concerning the Lord and the Divine Human and the other concerning a life in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue, are in complete contrast to the two Essentials received in the Church of the Reformed, one of which is concerning a Trinity of Persons and the other concerning salvation by faith alone apart from the works of the law, and that by reason of this complete contrast these two Essentials of the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, are held in contempt, dislike and aversion. That these things are signified when by the ‘two prophets’ or witnesses these two Essentials of the New Church are understood, and when by ‘those dwelling upon the land’ are understood those who are in the two Essentials of the Church of the Reformed, follows of itself as a conclusion. By ‘to torment’ is signified to be held in contempt, dislike and aversion.
510. [verse 11] ‘And after three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet’ signifies that these two Essentials of the New Church, at the end of the former [Church] while the New Church is beginning and progressing, will be made living with those who receive. By ‘three days and a half’ is signified to the end and the beginning (n. 505), thus from the end of the Church that exists at present to the beginning of the New, this [being with those] among whom the New Church is beginning and progressing, because it is said now of the witnesses that ‘the spirit of life entered into them and they stood upon their feet’. By ‘the spirit of life from God’ is signified spiritual life, and by ‘to stand upon their feet’ is signified a natural life agreeing with spiritual life, and thus made living by the Lord. This is signified because by ‘the spirit of life’ is understood a man’s internal, which is called the internal man, and this regarded in itself is spiritual, for the spirit of the man thinks and wills, and to think and will in itself is spiritual. By ‘to stand upon the feet’ is signified the man’s external, which is called the external man, and this in itself is natural, for the body speaks and does what its spirit thinks and wills, and to speak and do is natural. That ‘the feet’ signify natural things may be seen (n. 49, 468).
[2] What specifically is understood by this shall be stated. Every man who is being reformed is reformed first as to the internal man, and afterwards as to the external. The internal man is not reformed by simply knowing and understanding the truths and goods by means of which the man is saved, but by willing and loving them; but the external man [is reformed] by speaking and doing the things that the internal man wills and loves, and in so far as he is doing this, so far the man is being regenerated. He is not being regenerated before, because his internal is not in the effect before but only in the cause, and the cause, if it is not in the effect, is dissipated. It is like a house founded upon ice, which sinks to the bottom when the ice is melted by the sun; in a word, it is like a man without feet upon which he may stand and walk. The case is similar with the internal or spiritual man if it is not founded in the external or natural. This then is what is signified by the fact that the two witnesses ‘stood upon their feet’ after ‘the spirit from God entered into them’; and what is signified also by the similar things in Ezekiel:-
Jehovah said unto me, Prophesy upon the spirit, and when I prophesied, the spirit entered into them and they stood upon the feet Ezek. xxxvii 9-12.
In the same:-
The voice speaking unto me said, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, then the spirit entered into me and stood me upon my feet Ezek. ii 1, 2;
and in the same:-
I fell upon my faces, but the spirit came into me, and set me upon my feet Ezek. iii 23, 24.
This also is what is understood by the Lord’s words to Peter:-
Peter said, Thou mayest wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head; Jesus said to him, He who is washed has need only to be washed as to the feet, and the whole is clean John xiii 9.
511. ‘And great fear fell upon those seeing them’ signifies disturbance of mind and alarm at Divine Truths. ‘Fear’ signifies various things in accordance with the thing that affects. Here ‘great fear’ signifies disturbance of mind and alarm at Divine truths; for Divine truths have those effects among the evil, for they frighten them when at the same time there is heard hell and eternal damnation; but that terror is soon dissipated, together with the faith that there is any life after death.
512. [verse 12] ‘And they heard a great voice out of heaven saying to them, Come up hither’ signifies these two Essentials of the New Church taken up by the Lord into heaven, whence they exist and where they are, and the protection of them. By ‘a great voice out of heaven’ is signified from the Lord, for a voice out of heaven is from no other source. By ‘Come up hither’ is signified their being taken up into heaven, whence they exist and where they are, and the protection of them.
513. ‘And they went up into heaven in a cloud’ signifies the taking up into heaven, and conjunction with the Lord there by means of the Divine Truth of the Word in the sense of its letter. By ‘to go up into heaven’ is signified the taking up by the Lord into heaven, as just above (n. 512). Here it also signifies conjunction with the Lord there, because ‘they went up in a cloud’, for by ‘a cloud’ is signified the sense of the letter of the Word (n. 24) and by means of this ‘there is conjunction with the Lord and consociation with angels’. Let THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 62-69) be seen.
514. ‘And their enemies saw them’ signifies that those who are in a faith separated from charity heard them but remained in their own untruths. By ‘to see the two witnesses’ is signified to hear these two Essentials of the New Church, and also to see confirming things out of the Word, because they saw them going up ‘in a cloud’, and by ‘a cloud’ is signified the sense of the letter of the Word (n. 24, 513). That nevertheless they did not receive them but that they remained in their own untruths is plain by virtue of the fact that no more is said than that ‘they saw’, and it follows on that ‘a great earthquake was brought about’ and they perished in it. By the ‘enemies are understood those who were’ in the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt’, who were those who are in a faith separated from charity, as may be seen above (n. 501, 502 seq.).
515. [verse 13] ‘And in that hour a great earthquake was brought about, and a tenth part of the city fell’ signifies a noticeable change of state with those [in faith alone] effected then, and their being violently separated from heaven and sunk down into hell. ‘In that hour’ signifies at the time when they saw the two witnesses going up into heaven and nevertheless remained in their own untruths, as just above (n. 514), for the two witnesses ‘prophesied’, that is, taught them (verse 3), and afterwards were killed, and revived. They also saw them going up into heaven, and yet did not recede from their own untruths. Then the great earthquake was brought about. That a similar thing was brought about with the two DOCTRINES OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, THE ONE CONCERNING THE LORD, AND THE OTHER CONCERNING A LIFE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PRECEPTS OF THE DECALOGUE, can be seen to some extent from the Memorable Occurrences after the separate chapters. THOSE TWO DOCTRINES ARE THE TWO WITNESSES HERE TREATED OF. By ‘an earthquake’ is signified a change of state (n. 331), here their destruction, because in it ‘a tenth part of the city fell’. By ‘a tenth part’ all are signified, for ‘ten’ signify many and all (n. 101); in like manner ‘a tenth part’ or ‘a tenth’, as ‘a fourth part’ or ‘a fourth’ signifies the same as ‘four’ (n. 322), and ‘a third part’ or ‘a third’ the same as ‘three’ (n. 400). By ‘to fall’ is signified to sink down into hell, which is brought about when they have been violently separated from heaven; for the cities in the world of spirits that are in evils and untruths, after those who are there have been visited, informed and warned and still remain in their own evils and untruths, are shaken by an earthquake. By means of this a deep gulf is opened into which they sink down, and then the inhabitants appear to themselves to be in the bottom as in a wilderness, out of which they are sent away one by one into their own places in hell. That it was so done with this city will be seen below (n. 531).
516. ‘And there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand names of men’ signifies that in that state all those who confessed faith alone, and therefore made the works of charity of no account, perished. By ‘to be killed’ is signified, here as before, to be killed spiritually, which is to perish as to the soul. By ‘the earthquake’ is signified a change of state with those, and destruction, as just above. By ‘seven thousand names of men’ is signified all who have confessed faith alone, and therefore have made the works of charity of no account and for that reason have damned these two holy Essentials of the New Church. By ‘names’ are signified those who are such, for the ‘name’ signifies the quality of the man (n. 81, 122, 165), and by ‘seven thousand’ are signified all who are such, for the same is signified by ‘seven thousand’ as by ‘seven’, just as by ‘twelve thousand’ the same as by ‘twelve’ (n. 348). That seven’ signify all and all things, and are predicated of the holy things of heaven and the Church and in the opposite sense of those things profaned, may be seen (n. 10, 391).
517. ‘And the rest became frightened, and gave glory to the God of heaven’ signifies that those who had adjoined some good of charity to faith, when they saw their destruction, acknowledged the Lord and were separated. By ‘the rest’ are understood here those who had adjoined some good of charity to faith. By ‘became frightened’ is signified on account of fear when they saw the destruction of the others. By ‘to give glory to the God of heaven’ is signified to acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven and earth; by ‘to give glory’ is signified to acknowledge and worship, and by ‘the God of heaven and earth’ is understood the Lord, because He is the God of heaven and earth (Matt. xxviii 18). These, because they acknowledged the Lord out of fear, were separated so that they might be examined as to the origin out of which they did good, whether out of themselves or out of the Lord. All those do good out of themselves who are not fleeing from evils as sins, that is, who are not living the precepts of the Decalogue; but they do good out of the Lord who are [so] fleeing and living.
519. [verse 15] ‘And the seventh angel sounded’ signifies the examination and making manifest of the state of the Church after the consummation, when there is the coming of the Lord and His kingdom. By ‘to sound with a trumpet’ is signified to examine and make manifest the state of the Church after its consummation, when there is the coming of the Lord and His kingdom. This is because that is signified by ‘the seventh angel’ sounding; for by the six angels and their trumpets sounding were signified the examinations and manifestations of the state of the consummated Church, as is plain from the preceding chapter, where it treats solely of its consummation. But that now it treats of its state after the consummation, which is the coming of the Lord and His kingdom, is plain by virtue of the things that follow in this verse and afterwards. In this verse:-
And the seventh angel sounded, and great voices were produced in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world have become our Lord’s and His Christ’s, and He shall reign for ages of ages, seq.
The reason why this making manifest is effected by means of the sounding of the seventh angel is because ‘seven’ signify the same as a week, and six days thereof are days of labour and of man’s proprium, and the seventh is holy and the Lord’s. That by the ‘consummation’ is understood the devastation of the Church when there is no longer what is true of doctrine and what is good of life there, thus when there is the end thereof, may be seen (n. 658, 750); and because then is the coming of the Lord and His kingdom, therefore both ‘the consummation of the age’ and ‘the coming of the Lord’ are mentioned (Matt. xxiv 3), and there is also a prediction of both in that chapter.
520. ‘And great voices were produced in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world have become our Lord’s and His Christ’s, and He shall reign for ages of ages’ signifies celebrations by the angels, that heaven and the Church have become the Lord’s, as they were from the beginning, and that now also they have become [the heaven and Church] of His Divine Human, thus that the Lord as to both [the Divine and the Divine Human] is now going to reign over heaven and the Church to eternity. ‘Great voices were produced’ signifies celebrations by the angels; ‘saying, The kingdoms of the world have become our Lord’s and His Christ’s’ signifies that heaven and the Church have become the Lord’s, as they were from the beginning, and now also they have become [the heaven and Church] of His Divine Human; ‘and He shall reign for ages of ages’ signifies that the Lord is going to reign as to both [the Divine and the Divine Human]. That ‘great voices in heaven’ signify celebrations of the Lord, that now He has attained His great power, is plain from verse 17 (following), where those ‘great voices’ set themselves forth in a summary (in summa exstant). By ‘the Lord’ here is understood the Lord from eternity, Who is Jehovah, and by ‘Christ’ is understood His Divine Human, which is the Son of God (Luke i 32, 35).
[2] That the Lord is going to reign even as to His Divine Human is quite plain from these statements:-
The Father has given all things into the hand of the Son John iii 35.
The Father has given the Son authority over all flesh John xvii 2.
Father, all Mine are Thine, and Thine Mine John xvii 10.
All authority has been given unto Me in heaven and earth Matt. xxviii 18.
Of His Divine Human He also said:-
That the Father and Himself are one. That He is in the Father and the Father in Him John x 30, 38; xiv 5-12.
Add to this, that unless the Lord’s Human is acknowledged to be Divine the Church must perish, for in that case the Lord cannot be in the man and the man in the Lord, as He himself teaches (John xiv 20; xv 4-6; xvii 21), and this conjunction makes the man of the Church, thus the Church.
[3] The Lord’s Divine Human is understood by ‘the Christ’ because ‘the Christ’ is the Messiah, and the Messiah is the Son of God Whom they expected to be coming into the world. That ‘the Christ’ is the Messiah is plain from these passages:-
We have found the Messiah, which is, if you interpret, the Christ John i 41 [Schm. 42].
The woman said, I know that the Messiah shall come, Who is said to be the Christ John iv 25.
For ‘Messiah’ in the Hebrew language is ‘Anointed’, as ‘Christ’ is in the Greek language. That ‘the Messiah’ is the Son of God [is plain] from these:-
The chief of the priests asked whether He was the Christ (Messiah) the Son of God Matt. xxvi 63; Mark xiv 61; John xx 31.
Thou art the Christ the Son of God, Who is going to come into the world John xi 27.
Peter said, We believe and acknowledge that Thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God John vi 69.
That the Lord as to the Divine Human is the Son of God:-
The angel to Mary; Thou shalt conceive in the womb, and bring forth a son. He shall be great and be called the Son of the Most High. The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the virtue of the Most High shall overshadow thee, whence the Holy thing that is being born out of thee shall be called the Son of God Luke i 32, 35, and more elsewhere.
From these statements it is plain what is signified by ‘the kingdoms have become our Lord’s and His Christ’s’.
521. [verse 16] ‘And the twenty-four elders, who are sitting before God upon their thrones, fell upon their faces, and adored God’ signifies the acknowledgment by all the angels of heaven that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, also the highest adoration. By ‘the twenty-four elders sitting upon thrones’ are signified all in heaven, specifically in the spiritual heaven (n. 233, 251); and by ‘to fall upon the faces and adore God’ is signified the highest adoration, and the acknowledgment that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth.
522. [verse 17] ‘Saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, Who art and Who wast and Who art to come’ signifies confession and glorification by the angels of heaven that it is the Lord Who is, Who lives, and Who has power out of His Very Self and rules all things, because He Only is Eternal and Infinite. By ‘to give thanks’ is signified the acknowledgment and glorification of the Lord. That the Son of Man, Who is the Lord as to the Divine Human, is the Almighty, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last, also He Who is and Who was and Who is to come, can be seen above in the Apocalypse (chaps. i 8, 11, 17; ii 8; iv 8); and that those statements signify that it is He Who is, lives, and has power out of His Very Self, Who rules all things, and Who Only is Eternal and Infinite and God, may be seen above (n. 13, 29, 30, 31, 38, 57, 92).
523. ‘That Thou hast attained Thy great power, and taken over the kingdom’ signifies the New Heaven and the New Church, where they acknowledge Him to be the Only God, as He is and as He, was. ‘That Thou hast attained Thy great power’ signifies the Divine Omnipotence, which He has, and which He had from eternity. ‘That Thou hast taken over the kingdom’ signifies that now heaven and the Church are His, as before. By ‘His kingdom’ here is understood the New Heaven and the New Church, which are treated of in chaps. xxi, xxii of the Apocalypse. In the Apocalypse from beginning to end it treats only of the state of the former heaven and Church and of their abolition, and afterwards of the New Heaven and the New Church, and of the setting up thereof, in which the One God will be acknowledged, in Whom is the Trinity, and that that God is the Lord. The Apocalypse teaches this from beginning to end; for it teaches that the Son of Man, Who is the Lord as to the Divine Human, is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last, IS, WAS, and IS TO COME, and is the Almighty (n. 522); and lastly that the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, is going to be the Church of the Lamb, that is, of His Divine Human, thus at the same time of the Divine from which it came (Divinum a Quo), as is quite plain from these passages:-
Let us rejoice and exult, for the time of the Lamb’s wedding has come, and His wife has made herself ready Rev. xix 7.
One of the seven angels came, and said unto me, Come, I will show thee the bride the Lamb’s wife, and he showed me the city, holy Jerusalem Rev. xxi 9, 10.
I Jesus am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright and the morning Star; the Spirit and the bride are saying, Come, and he who hears, let him say, Come Rev. xxii 16, 17.
To the Son of Man has been given dominion, and glory, and the kingdom; His dominion is the dominion of an age, and His kingdom shall not perish Dan. vii 14.
524. [verse 18] ‘And the nations were enraged’ signifies those who are in faith alone and consequently in evils of life, that they were burning with anger and attacking those who are against their faith. By ‘the nations’ are understood those who are in evils of life, and abstractly evils of life (n. 147, 483); here, however, those who are in faith alone, because it treats of those here, and these are in evils of life because their religion is that the law does not condemn them provided they have the faith that Christ endured the condemnation thereof. Also, their being ‘enraged’ signifies not only that they were burning with anger but also that they were attacking those who are against their faith, as can be established from the things following concerning ‘the dragon’ (chap. xii 17, and afterwards).
525. ‘And Thy wrath is come, and the time of judging the dead’ signifies their ruin, and the last judgment upon those not having any spiritual life. By ‘Thy wrath’ is signified the last judgment (n. 340), thus their ruin. This is signified by the Lord’s ‘wrath’ because it appears to them as if the Lord by reason of wrath casts them down into hell, when yet an evil man casts himself. For it is like a wicked man’s attributing to the law his being punished, or to the fire his being burnt if he puts his hand in it, or to a drawn sword in the hand of one defending himself if he is thrust through when he has rushed against its point. So it happens with any one who is against the Lord and in wrath rushes against those whom the Lord is protecting. By ‘the dead’ who are to be ‘judged’, in the universal sense are understood the dead [passed] out of the world, but in the proper sense those are understood who do not have any spiritual life, the judgment of these being foretold (John iii 18; v 24, 29). This is because they are said to be ‘living’ who have spiritual life. Spiritual life is solely with those who approach the Lord and at the same time flee from evils as sins.
[2] Those who do not have any spiritual life are understood in these places:-
They joined themselves unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead Ps. cvi 28.
An enemy is pursuing my soul, he has caused me to sit in darkness as the dead of the world Ps. cxliii 3.
To hear the groaning of the bound, and to open to the sons of death Ps. cii 20 [H.B. 21].
I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, but thou art dead: be watchful and strengthen the things remaining that are dying Rev. iii 1, 2.
Those are understood by ‘the dead’ because spiritual death is understood, and therefore by ‘the slain’ are signified those who have suffered extinction by that death (n. 321, 325, and elsewhere). But the dead [passed] out of the world are understood by ‘the dead’ in these:-
The dead were judged according to the things that were written in the books Rev. xx 12.
The rest of the dead did not live again Rev. xx 5.
This is because by the first ‘death’ there is understood the natural death that is [a passing] out of the world, and by the second ‘death’ the spiritual death that is damnation.
526. ‘And of giving reward to Thy servants the prophets and the saints’ signifies the felicity of eternal life with those who are in the truths of a doctrine out of the Word and in a life in accordance therewith. By ‘reward’ is signified the felicity of eternal life, concerning which [something] follows; by ‘prophets’ are signified those who are in the truths of a doctrine out of the Word (n. 8, 533), and by ‘saints’ those who are in a life in accordance therewith (n. 173). By ‘reward’ is here understood the felicity of eternal life originated out of the delight and pleasantness of the love and affection of what is good and true; for every affection of love has its own accompanying delight and pleasantness, while the affection of the love of what is good and true has a delight and pleasantness such as there is with the angels of heaven. Moreover every affection continues with a man after death. This is because affection is of love, and love is a man’s life. Therefore the life of every one after death is such as the ruling love had been with him in the world; and a ruling love of what is good and true is with those who have loved the truths of the Word and lived in accordance therewith. Nothing else but the delight of what is good and the pleasantness of what is true is understood by ‘reward’ in the following places:-
Behold the Lord Jehovih is coming in strength, behold His reward is with Him Isa. xl 10; lxii 11.
Behold I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me Rev. xxii 12.
My judgment is with Jehovah, and the reward of my work is with my God Isa. xlix 4.
I am Jehovah loving judgment, I will give the reward of their work Isa. lxi 8.
Do good hoping also for nothing as a result, then your reward shall be much, and you shall be sons of the Most High Luke vi 35;
besides elsewhere, as Jer. xxxi 15-17; Matt. ii 18; v 3-12; x 41,42; Mark ix 41; Luke vi 22, 23; xiv 12-14; John iv 35, 36.
527. ‘And to those fearing Thy Name, the small and the great’ signifies who love the things that are the Lord’s in a lesser or a greater degree. By ‘to fear the Lord’s Name’ is signified to love the things that are the Lord’s. By ‘to fear’ is signified to love, and by ‘the Lord’s Name’ are signified all the things by means of which He is worshipped (n. 81). By ‘the small and the great’ are signified those who fear the Lord in a lesser or greater degree. ‘To fear’ here signifies to love, because everyone who loves also fears to do evil to him whom he loves. A genuine love is not given without that fear. Accordingly he who loves the Lord fears to do evil things because evil things are against Him, for they are against His Divine laws in the Word, which is from Himself, thus is Himself. In fact they are against His Divine Essence, which is that He wills to save all, for He is the Saviour, and He cannot save a man unless he lives in accordance with His laws and precepts. And, what is more, he who loves evils also loves to do evil to the Lord, even to crucify Him. This lies inmostly hidden in every evil, even with those who in the world make oral confession of Him. That this is the case is unknown to men but is very well known to angels.
[2] That ‘to fear God’ signifies to love the things that are of God by doing them, and not willing to do those that are against Him, is plain from these passages:-
What does Jehovah God seek from thee, except that thou shouldest fear Jehovah thy God, to go in all His ways, and to love Him? Deut. x 12.
You shall go after Jehovah your God, and Him shall you fear, that you may keep His precepts Deut. xiii 4 [H.B. 5].
Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God, Him shalt thou serve, and shalt cleave to Him Deut. x 20; vi 2, 13, 14, 24; viii 6; xvii 19; xxviii 58; xxxi 12.
Who shall grant that they may have a heart for fearing Me, and for keeping My precepts? Deut. v 29 [H.B. 26].
Teach me Thy way, O Jehovah, unite my heart to the fear of Thy Name Ps. lxxxvi 11.
Blessed is he fearing Jehovah, who walks in His ways Ps. cxxviii 1; cxii 1; Jer. xliv 10.
If I am the Father, where is My honour? If I am the Lord, where is the fear of me? Mal i 6; ii 5; Isa. xi 2, 3.
I will give them one heart, and one way to fear Me, and I will give My fear in their heart, that they may not go back from with Me (ab apud Me) Jer. xxxii 39, 40.
The beginning of wisdom is the fear of Jehovah Ps. cxi 10.
Besides elsewhere, as Isa. viii 13; xxv 3; xxix 13; l 10; Jer. xxxiii 9; Ps. xxii 23 [H.B. 24]; xxxiii 8, 18; xxxiv 7, 9 [H.B. 8, 10]; lv 19 [H.B. 20]; cxv 10, 11; cxlvii 11; Rev. xiv 7; Luke i 50. But the fear of God in the case of the evil is not love but a fear of hell.
528. ‘And of spoiling those spoiling the land’ signifies the casting down into hell of those who have destroyed the Church. By ‘to spoil those spoiling the land’ is signified the casting down into hell of those who have destroyed the Church, because by ‘the land’ is signified the Church (n. 285), and because this statement follows after these words, ‘the time of judging the dead is come’, by which is signified the last judgment upon those who have no spiritual life (n. 525). So here by ‘the time is come of spoiling those spoiling the land’ is signified the casting down into hell of those who have destroyed the Church. A similar thing is said of ‘Lucifer’, by whom Babel is understood, in Isaiah:-
Thou hast spoiled thy land, and slain thy people Isa. xiv 20.
529. [verse 19] ‘And the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of [His] covenant was seen in His temple’ signifies the New Heaven, in which the Lord is worshipped in His Divine Human and there is living in accordance with the precepts of His Decalogue, these being the two Essentials of the New Church whereby conjunction [is effected] . By ‘the temple of God’ is signified the Lord’s Divine Human, likewise heaven where the angels are, as also the Church on earth. That these three are signified by ‘the temple of God’, and that they cannot be separated, may be seen (n. 191). Here, however, by ‘the temple of God’ is signified the Lord in His Divine Human in heaven where angels are, because it is said, ‘the temple of God in heaven’. By ‘the ark in the temple’ is understood the Decalogue, for in the ark there were only the two tables on which the Decalogue had been written. By ‘opened’ is signified that those two, the Divine Human and the Decalogue, which are the two Essentials of the New Church, were now seen, and they were seen after the evil were cast into hell (n. 528). ‘The ark of His covenant in His temple’ is said, because a ‘covenant’ signifies conjunction, concerning which [something shall be said] below. [2] But first something shall be said concerning the Decalogue. What nation throughout the entire world does not know that it is evil to kill, commit adultery, steal, and bear false witness? If these things were not known, and if care were not taken that such things be enacted by means of laws, it would be all up with the nations, for a society, a republic, or a kingdom would fall without these laws. Who can suppose that the Israelitish nation was so much more stupid than all other nations, that it did not know that those things were evil? Therefore anyone may wonder why those laws, recognised universally throughout the world, were promulgated by Jehovah Himself from Mount Sinai with so great a miracle, so that they were also written with His finger. But hear! They were promulgated so miraculously by Jehovah and written with His finger so that it might be known that those laws were not only civil and moral laws but also spiritual laws, and that to act against them was not only to do evil against the fellow citizen and society but also to sin against God. These laws, therefore, by their promulgation from Mount Sinai by Jehovah were made laws of religion; for it is clear that whatever Jehovah God commands He commands so that it may be a matter of religion, and that it is to be done for His sake and for the man’s sake that he may be saved.
[3] These laws, because they were the first-fruits of the Church about to be set up by the Lord with the Israelitish nation, and because they were in a short summary the complex of all the things of religion by which a conjunction of the Lord with man and of man with the Lord is given, were therefore so holy that nothing was holier. That they were most holy can be established from this, that:-
Jehovah Himself; that is, the Lord descended in fire, and the mountain
then smoked and quaked, and there were thunders, lightnings, a thick cloud and the voice of a trumpet Exod. xix 16, 18; Deut. v 22-26 [H.B. 19-23].
The people, before the descent of Jehovah, prepared and sanctified themselves for three days Exod. xix 10, 11, 15.
The mountain was fenced around lest anyone come near to its lowest part, lest he die Exod. xix 12, 13, 20-23; xxiv 1, 2.
The law was written on two tables of stone, and written with the finger of God Exod. xxxi 18; xxxii 15, 16; Deut. ix 10.
When Moses brought those tables down from the mount the second time, he had a shining face Exod. xxxiv 29-35.
The tables were put in the ark Exod. xxv 16; xl 20; Deut. x 5; 1 Kings viii 9.
The place in the tabernacle where the ark was, was termed the holy of holies Exod. xxvi 33, and elsewhere.
The ark by virtue of the law therein, was termed Jehovah there Num. x 35, 36; 2 Sam. vi 2; Ps. cxxxii 8.
Jehovah spoke with Moses above the ark Exod. xxv 22; Num. vii 89.
On account of the holiness of the law it was not permitted for Aaron to enter within the veil, where the ark was, except with sacrifices and incense, lest he die Lev. xvi 2-14 seq.
As a result of the presence and power of the Lord in the law that was in the ark, the waters of the Jordan were cut apart, and so long as it was resting in the midst, the people went over on dry ground Josh. iii 1-17; iv 5-20.
By means of the ark’s being carried around them, the walls of Jericho fell down Josh. vi 1-20.
Dagon, god of the Philistines, fell down to the earth before the ark, and afterwards lay upon the threshold of the temple decapitated 1 Sam. v 3, 4.
The Ekronites and the Bethshemites were smitten on account of the ark to [the number of] several thousands 1 Sam. v and vi.
The ark was led into Zion by David with sacrifices and rejoicing 2 Sam. vi 1-19.
Uzzah died then, because he touched it 2 Sam. vi 6, 7.
The ark in the Jerusalem temple made the inmost part (Adytum) 1 Kings vi 19 seq.; viii 3-9.
The tables on which the law was written were termed the tables of the covenant, and the ark by virtue of them was termed the ark of the covenant, and the law itself the covenant Num. x 33; Deut. iv 13, 23; v 2, 3; ix 9; Josh. iii 11; Kings viii 19, 21; and elsewhere.
[4] That the law was termed the ‘covenant’ signifies conjunction. This is because covenants are made for the sake of love, friendship, consociation, thus for the sake of conjunction; therefore it is said of the Lord:-
That He shall be for a Covenant to the people Isa. xlii 6; xlix 8.
And He is called ‘The Angel of the Covenant’ (Mal. iii 1); and His blood ‘the blood of the Covenant’ (Matt. xxvi 28; Zech. ix 11; Exod. xxiv 4-10). And therefore the Word is termed the Old Covenant and the New Covenant [or Testament].
530. ‘And lightnings, and voices and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail were produced’ signifies the reasonings, the disturbances and the falsifications of good and truth at that time in the lower regions. By ‘lightnings, voices and thunders’ are signified reasonings (n. 396); by ‘an earthquake’ changes of the state of the Church are signified (n. 331), here disturbances; by ‘great hail’ falsifications of good and truth are signified (n. 399). These things took place in the lower regions where the evil still stayed before the last judgment was executed on them, for it is said in the preceding verse s8, ‘The time is come of judging the dead, and of spoiling those spoiling the land’. Such things happen in the world of spirits as a result of the presence and influx of the heaven that is above them.
* * * * * * * * * * *
531. To these things I will add this MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE. I was suddenly attacked by a very nearly fatal illness. The whole head was oppressed. A pestilent vapour out of the Jerusalem that is called Sodom and Egypt was let loose. Half dead with the fierce pain, expecting the end, I lay in my bed for three and a half days. Such did my spirit become, and my body as the result thereof. And then around me I heard voices saying, ‘See, there lies dead in the street of our city the one who preached repentance for the remission of sins, and the man Christ only!’ And they were asking some of the clergy whether he was worthy of burial. They said, ‘No, let him lie, let him be looked at!’ They were going away, coming back, mocking. It really so happened to me when this chapter of The Apocalypse was being expounded. Then the harsh words of those mocking were heard, chiefly these: ‘How can repentance be performed without faith? How can Christ, a man, be adored as God? Since we are saved by grace without any merit of our own, what do we need then but the faith alone that God the Father sent His Son that He might take away the condemnation of the law, impute His merit to us, and thus justify us in His view, and absolve us from sins with a priestly proclamation, and then give the Holy Spirit to work every good in us? Are not these things in accordance with Scripture and with reason also?’ The crowds standing by were applauding. [2] I was hearing these things, but I was not able to reply because I was almost dead. After three days and a half, however, my spirit got better, and as to the spirit I went out from the street into the city, and again I said, ‘Do the work of repentance, and believe in Christ, and your sins will be remitted and you will be saved; otherwise you will perish. Did not the Lord Himself preach repentance for the remission of sins, and that they should believe in Him? Did He not command the disciples to preach the same? Is it not the case that a full security of life follows the dogma of your faith?’ But they said, ‘What rubbish you talk! Has not the Son made satisfaction, and has not the Father imputed it? He has justified us who have believed this. Thus we are led by the spirit of grace. What part does sin then have in us? What has death then to do with us? Do you comprehend this, O herald of sin and repentance?’ But then a voice went forth out of heaven saying, ‘What is the faith of an impenitent man but a dead faith? The end is coming, the end is coming upon you secure ones, blameless in your own eyes, justified in your own faith, you devils.’ And suddenly a deep gulf was being opened in the midst of the city. This grew wider and wider, and house upon house fell down, and they were swallowed up, and soon waters bubbled up out of the wide hole and flooded the desolation.
[3] When they were thus submerged and seen to be flooded I was desirous to know their lot in the depths, and it was said to me out of heaven, ‘You shall see and hear.’ And then before my eyes the waters with which they had been flooded were dispersed; for the waters in the spiritual world are correspondences, and consequently they appear around those who are in untruths. Thereupon they were seen by me in a sandy ravine where heaps of stones were piled up, among which they were running and bemoaning the fact of their having been cast out of their great city. And [some of them] were screaming and crying out, ‘Why has this happened to us? Are we not by our faith made clean pure, just, holy?’ And others, ‘Are we not by our faith cleansed, purified, justified and sanctified?’ And others, ‘Are we not by our faith become such that before God the Father we may appear, be seen and be reckoned, and before the angels be proclaimed, as clean, pure, just and holy? Are we not reconciled, rendered favourable, atoned for, and thus delivered, washed and wiped clean from sins? Has not the condemnation of the law been taken away by Christ? Therefore why have we been cast hither as damned? From a presumptuous preacher of sin in our great city we have heard, “Believe in Christ, and do the work of repentance”. But did we not believe in Christ, while believing in His merit? And did we not do the work of repentance when we confessed that we were sinners? Why then has this happened to us?’
[4] But then a voice was heard directed to them from the side, ‘Do you know any sin that you are in? Have you ever examined yourselves? Have you, by the same token, fled from any evil as a sin against God? For he who is not fleeing from it is in it; and is not sin the devil? You are therefore those of whom the Lord says, “Then shall you begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in Thy presence, and Thou hast taught in our streets, but He shall say, I say unto you, I have not known you whence you are, depart from Me all you workers of iniquity” (Luke xiii 26, 27); as also those of whom [He speaks in] Matt. vii 22, 23. Go away, therefore, each into his own place. You see openings into caves. Enter therein, and to each of you will be given his own work to do there, and then food in proportion to the amount of work. If you do not, hunger will yet compel you to enter.’
[5] Afterwards a voice out of heaven was directed to some upon the land who were outside that great city, of whom verse 13 also [treats], saying shrilly, ‘Take care, take care how you associate with such as these. Are you not able to understand that the evils that are called sins and iniquities render a man unclean and impure? How can a man be cleansed and purified from these except by means of an actual repentance and a faith in Jesus Christ? Actual repentance is to examine oneself, to recognise and acknowledge one’s own sins, to take the responsibility, to confess them before the Lord, to beg for help and power to resist them, and in this way to give them up and lead a new life, and to do all these things as from yourselves. Do this once or twice a year when you are approaching the Holy Communion; and afterwards, whenever the sins of which you made yourselves guilty recur, say then to yourselves, We are not willing them because they are sins against God. This is an actual repentance. [6] Who cannot understand that he who does not examine and see his own sins remains in them? For every evil is delightful from birth, for it is delightful to take revenge, to commit whoredom, to prey [on others], to blaspheme, and especially to exercise a dominion derived from the love of self. Is it not the delight that makes these evils escape notice, and if perchance it is said that they are sins, do you not excuse them on account of their delight? In fact you persuade yourselves, and confirm by untruths, that they are not sins, and so you remain in them and commit them afterwards more than before, and this to such an extent that you no longer know what sits is, or even whether sin exists. It happens otherwise with any one who actually does the work of repentance. The evils of his that he recognises and acknowledges he calls sins, and therefore he begins to flee from them and avoid them and to feel their delight as undelightful. And in so far as this is done, so far he sees and loves goods and at length feels the delight thereof; which is the delight of heaven. In a word, in so far as any one is putting the devil behind him, so far he is being adopted by the Lord and being taught, led, withheld from evils and kept in goods by Him. This is the way, and there is no other from hell to heaven.’
[7] It is a surprising fact that the Reformed have a certain innate refusal, evasiveness and aversion in regard to actual repentance, and this is so great that they cannot bring themselves to self-examination, or to seeing their own sins and confessing them before God. It is as if they are possessed by horror when they are endeavouring to do this. I have asked very many in the spiritual world about it and they all said that it was beyond their ability. When they heard that the Papists are doing this all the while, that is, that they examine themselves and openly make confession of their sins before a monk, they were exceedingly amazed, and above all at the fact that the Reformed are unable to do this in secret before God, although it has been enjoined on them just the same before they approach the Holy Supper. And some there have inquired why this is the case, and found that faith alone induced such a state of impenitence and such a heart. And then it was given them to see that those of the Papists who adore Christ, and neither invoke the saints nor adore the so-called Vicar [of Christ] or any of his key-bearers, are saved.
[8] After these things a thunder-like sound was heard, and a voice speaking out of heaven saying, ‘We look on with amazement! Say to the congregation of the Reformed, Believe in Christ and do the work of repentance, and you will be saved.’ And I said, being also above, ‘Is not BAPTISM a sacrament of repentance and thereby an introduction into the Church? What else do the sponsors promise on behalf of the one to be baptised but that he will renounce the devil and his works? Is not the HOLY SUPPER a sacrament of repentance and thereby an introduction into heaven? Is it not said to the communicants that they must wholly do the work of repentance before approaching? Is not the CATECHISM a universal doctrine of the Christian Church teaching repentance? Is it not said there in the six precepts of the second table, Thou shalt not do this and that evil, and not, Thou shalt do this and that good? Consequently you have the ability to know that in so far as anyone is fleeing from evil, so far he is loving good; and that before this he does not know what good is, nor even what evil is.’
1. And a great sign was seen in heaven; a woman encompassed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.
2. And being with child she cried out in travail, and was in torment to bring forth.
3. And another sign in heaven was seen; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems.
4. And his tail drew a third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to earth; and the dragon stood before the woman [who was] about to bring forth, that after she had brought forth he might devour her offspring.
5. And she brought forth a male child (filius masculus), who is going to lead all nations to pasture with an iron rod; and her offspring was caught up to God and His throne.
6. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place made ready by God, that they may nourish her there a thousand two hundred and sixty days.
7. And a war was waged in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels.
8. And they did not prevail, and their place was no longer found in heaven.
9. And the great dragon was cast out; that serpent of old called the Devil and Satan, leading the entire world astray, was cast out into the land, and his angels were cast out with him.
10. And I heard a great voice saying in heaven, Now have the salvation and power become effective, and the kingdom of our God and the sovereignty of His Christ, because the accuser of our brothers has been cast out, accusing them before our God day and night.
11. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they did not love their own soul even unto death.
12. For this rejoice, O heavens, and you inhabitants therein. Woe to those inhabiting the land and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has very little time.
13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast out into the land, he persecuted the woman who brought forth the son.
14. And to the woman were given the two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her own place, wherein she might be nourished a the [and times] and half a time, away from the face of the serpent.
15. And the serpent cast forth after the woman out of his mouth water as a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the river.
16. And the land helped the woman, and the land opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon cast forth out of his mouth.
17. And the dragon was in a rage against the woman, and went away to wage war with the remnant of her seed, keeping the commandments of God, and having the testimony of Jesus Christ.
18*. And I stood upon the sand of the sea.
* AV Chap. xiii 1.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
It treats here of the New Church and its doctrine. By ‘the woman’ here is understood the New Church, and by ‘the offspring’ that she brought forth, its doctrine.
It also treats of those in the present Church who because of doctrine believe in a Trinity of persons, in a duality of the person of Christ, and in justification by faith alone. These are understood by ‘the dragon’.
Afterwards it treats of their persecution of the New Church on account of its doctrine, and its protection by the Lord until from a few it increases among many.
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. And a great sign was seen in heaven
signifies revelation by the Lord concerning His New Church in the heavens and on earth (in terris), and concerning the difficult reception of and the opposition to its doctrine.
A woman encompassed with the sun, and the moon under her feet
signifies the Lord’s New Church in the heavens, which is the New Heaven, and the Lord’s New Church about to be on earth, which is the New Jerusalem.
And upon [her] head a crown of twelve stars
signifies its wisdom and intelligence derived from cognitions of Divine Good and Divine Truth out of the Word.
2. And being with child she cried out in travail, and was in torment to bring forth
signifies the nascent doctrine of the New Church, and the difficult reception thereof on account of resistance by those who are understood by ‘the dragon’.
3. And another sign in heaven was seen
signifies a revelation by the Lord concerning those who are against the New Church and its doctrine.
And behold a great red dragon
signifies those in the Church of the Reformed who make God three and the Lord two, and who separate charity from faith, and make faith saving and not charity at the same time.
Having seven heads
signifies insanity resulting from the truths of the Word falsified and profaned.
And ten horns
signifies much power.
And upon his heads seven diadems
signifies all the truths of the Word falsified and profaned.
4. And his tail drew a third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to earth
signifies that by means of falsifications of the truths (veritas) of the Word they have alienated all the spiritual cognitions of good and truth from the Church, and by applications to untruths they have quite destroyed it.
And the dragon stood before the woman about to bring forth, that after she had brought forth he might devour her offspring
signifies that those who are understood by ‘the dragon’ are doing their utmost to extinguish the doctrine of the New Church at its first appearance.
5. And she brought forth a male child (filius masculus)
signifies the doctrine of the New Church.
Who is going to lead all nations to pasture with an iron rod
signifies which, by means of truths derived from the sense of the letter of the Word and at the same the by means of rational things derived from natural light, will convince all who are willing to be convinced who are in dead worship derived from faith separated from charity.
And her offspring was caught up to God and His throne
signifies the protection of the doctrine by the Lord, and its being guarded by means of angels of heaven.
6. And the woman fled into the wilderness
signifies the Church at first among a few.
Where she has a place made ready by God, that they may nourish her there a thousand two hundred and sixty days
signifies the state of that Church then, that meanwhile provision may be made with many until it increases to its full stature.
7. And a war was waged in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels
signifies the untruths of the former Church fighting against the truths of the New Church.
8. And they did not prevail, and their place was no longer found in heaven
signifies that they had been convicted of being in untruths and evils but still persisted in them, and that therefore they were forcibly separated from conjunction with heaven and cast down.
9. And the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old called the Devil and Satan
signifies those turned away from the Lord to themselves and from heaven to the world, and consequently being in the evils of lusts and in untruths.
Leading the entire world astray
signifies that they pervert all things of the Church.
Was cast out into the land, and his angels [were cast out] with him
signifies that [they are cast] into the world of spirits, which is intermediate between heaven and hell, from which world there is a direct conjunction with the men of the earth.
10. And I heard a great voice saying in heaven, Now have the salvation and power become effective, and the kingdom of our God and the sovereignty of His Christ
signifies the joy of the angels of heaven that now the Lord Only reigns in heaven and in the Church, and that they are saved who believe in Him.
Because the accuser of our brothers has been cast out, accusing them before our God day and night
signifies that those who have taken a position against the doctrine of the New Church have been removed by means of the last judgment.
11. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony
signifies victory by the Divine Truth of the Word and by the acknowledgment of the Lord.
And they did not love their own soul even unto death
signifies those who have not loved themselves more than the Lord.
12. For this rejoice, O heavens, and you inhabitants therein
signifies the new state of heaven, that they are in the Lord and the Lord in them.
Woe to those inhabiting the land and the sea, because the devil has come down to you having great wrath
signifies a lamentation over those in the Church who are in untruths of faith, and consequently are in evils of life, because they are in conjunction with the dragonists.
Knowing that he has very little time
signifies because [the dragon] knows that the New Heaven has been formed, and that thus a New Church on earth is imminent, and that then he with his like will be cast into hell.
13. When the dragon saw that he was cast out into the land, he persecuted the woman who brought forth the son
signifies that after being cast down the dragonists in the world of spirits at once began to attack the New Church on account of its doctrine.
14. And to the woman were given the two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness into her own place
signifies Divine circumspection on behalf of that Church, and protection while it is still among a few.
Wherein she might be nourished a the and times and half a the away from the face of the serpent
signifies that, on account of the craftiness of those leading astray, provision that it may come among many is made with circumspection until it increases to its full stature.
15. And the serpent cast forth after the woman out of his mouth water as a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the river
signifies reasonings derived from plentiful untruths for the purpose of destroying the Church.
16. And the land helped the woman, and the land opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon cast forth out of his mouth
signifies that these plentiful reasonings fall to nothing as a result of the spiritual truths rationally understood which the Michaels of whom the New Church [consists] bring forward.
17. And the dragon was in a rage against the woman, and went away to wage war with the remnant of her seed, keeping the commandments of God and having the testimony of Jesus Christ
signifies the hatred kindled in those who believe themselves to be wise by virtue of confirmations in favour of a mystical union of the Divine and the Human in the Lord and in favour of justification by faith alone, against those who acknowledge the Only Lord as the God of heaven and earth and that the Decalogue is the law of life, while they [the dragonists] are attacking novitiates with the intention of leading them astray.
18. And I stood upon the sand of the sea
signifies his state now spiritual natural.
THE EXPOSITION
[verse 1] ‘And a great sign was seen in heaven’ signifies a revelation by the Lord concerning His New Church in the heavens and on earth (in terris), and concerning the difficult reception of and opposition to its doctrine. By the ‘sign’ out of heaven here is understood revelation concerning things to come, and by ‘a great sign seen in heaven’ is understood revelation concerning the New Church, for the woman encompassed with the sun, of whom it treats in this chapter, signifies that Church. The ‘male’ that she brought forth signifies its doctrine. Her being ‘in torment’ until she should bring forth signifies the difficult reception thereof. That the dragon wished to devour the male, and that afterwards he wished to persecute the woman, signifies the opposition to it. These are the things that are understood by a great sign seen in heaven’. In the Word a ‘sign’ is said of things to come, and then there is a revelation; and it is said of the truth (veritas), and then there is a testification; and it is also said of the quality of a state or a thing, and then there is a manifestation. A ‘sign’ is said of things to come, and then there is a revelation, in the following places:-
They shall tell us what shall happen, that we may know the latter end of them, or make us hear things to come, show signs into the future Isa. xli 22, 23.
The disciples said to Jesus, What is the sign of Thy coming, and of the consummation of the age? Matt. xxiv 3; Mark xiii 4; Luke xxi 7.
There shall be signs out of heaven, and signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars Luke xxi 11, 25.
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man Matt. xxiv 30.
To King Hezekiah it was said, This is the sign unto thee that Jehovah is going to do this word, the shadow shall be brought back on the steps of Ahaz. Afterwards Hezekiah said, What is the sign that I am about to go up into the house of Jehovah? Isa. xxxviii 7, 8, 22;
and elsewhere. That a ‘sign’ is said of the truth (veritas), and that then there is a testification, and also it is said of the quality of the state, and that then there is a manifestation, is plain from other places in the Word.
534. ‘And upon her head a crown of twelve stars’ signifies its wisdom and intelligence derived from cognitions of Divine Good and Divine Truth out of the Word. By ‘a crown upon the head’ is signified wisdom and intelligence (n. 189, 235, 252); by ‘stars’ are signified cognitions of Divine Good and Divine Truth out of the Word (n. 51, 420); and by ‘twelve’ are signified all things of the Church, which have relation to its good and truth (n. 348). Consequently by ‘a crown of twelve stars upon the woman’s head’ is signified the wisdom and intelligence of the New Church derived from cognitions of Divine Good and Divine Truth out of the Word.
535. [verse 2] ‘And being with child she cried out in travail, and was in torment to bring forth’ signifies the nascent doctrine of the New Church, and the difficult reception thereof on account of the resistance by those understood by ‘the dragon’. ‘Being with child’ signifies nascent doctrine because by the child that she had in her womb, of whose birth verse 5 treats, is signified the doctrine of the New Church; for in the spiritual sense of the Word by ‘being with child’, ‘being in travail’ and ‘bringing forth’ nothing else is signified than to conceive and bring forth the things that are of spiritual life, concerning which it follows on. By ‘crying out in travail and being in torment to bring forth’ is signified the difficult reception of that doctrine on account of the resistance by those who are understood by ‘the dragon’. This is plain from the things following in this chapter, as that ‘the dragon stood before the woman about to bring forth that he might devour her offspring’, and that afterwards he pursued her into the wilderness.
[2] That in the Word nothing else is signified by ‘being with child’, ‘travailing’ and ‘bringing forth’ is plain from the following places:-
Jesus said, Unless one is born again, one cannot enter into the kingdom of God; that which is born of the flesh is flesh, but that which is born from the spirit is spirit John iii 3-6.
Sing, O barren, who hast not brought forth, shout, thou who didst not travail, because more are the sons of the desolate than the sons of the married wife Isa. liv 1.
They have delayed until the barren has brought forth seven, and she who has many children has ceased 1 Sam. ii 5.
By ‘one that is barren’ the Gentiles are signified, who had no genuine truths because they did not have the Word. By ‘the married wife’ and ‘she who has many children’ are signified the Jews who did have the Word.
She who had brought forth seven grows feeble, she shall breathe out her soul Jer. xv 9,
speaking of the Jews, likewise.
We have conceived, we have been in travail, we have as it were brought forth wind, we have not wrought salvation to the land Isa. xxvi 18.
Before she has travailed she brings forth, before pain comes to her she has given birth to a male; has the land travailed in one day? shall a nation be born all at once? shall I break [open] and not generate, and cause to be generated and shut up [the womb]? Isa. lxvi 7-9.
Thou travailest, O land, from before the Lord, from before the God of Jacob* Ps. cxiv 7.
Alas this day, sons have come to the mouth of the matrix, and there is no strength for bringing forth Isa. xxxvii 3.
Sin shall travail, and No shall be for a breaking through Ezek. xxx 15, 16.
I have heard the voice of one sick, as of one travailing with her firstborn, the voice of the daughter of Zion, she sighs, she spreads her hands, Woe is me, my soul has been wearied by slayers Jer. iv 31.
Pangs and pains take hold, they travail like one bringing forth Isa. xiii 6-8.
The iniquity of Ephraim has been bound up, the pains of one in travail shall come upon him, he is an unwise son, for he stays not the time in the womb of sons Hosea xiii, 12, 13.
Ephraim, thy** glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth and from the belly, and from conception; give them, O Jehovah, a miscarrying womb (vulva) and dry breasts; even when they shall have begotten, I will slay the desires of their belly Hosea ix 11, 12, 14, 16.
In these places also the difficulty of receiving the truths of a doctrine out of the Word is described by many things concerned with pain in bringing forth, and likewise frequently elsewhere. Moreover, Jehovah, that is, the Lord, is called ‘the Former from the womb’ (Isa. xliv 2, 24; xlix 1, 5), and by ‘Former from the womb’ is understood the Reformer.
* The Original has Israelis (of Israel), but Hebrew has ‘Jacob’. See AE 721:9, which has ‘Israel’ in the quotation but ‘Jacob’ in the exposition.
** Hebrew has ‘their’.
536. [verse 3] ‘And another sign in heaven was seen’ signifies a revelation by the Lord concerning those who are against the New Church and its doctrine. By ‘a sign’ is signified a revelation by the Lord, as above (n. 532). It is termed ‘another sign’ because the revelation is concerning those who will be against the New Church.
537. ‘And behold a great red dragon’ signifies those in the Church of the Reformed who make God three and the Lord two, and who separate charity from faith and make faith saving and not charity at the same time. It is these who here and in the things following are understood by ‘the dragon’, for they are against the two Essentials of the New Church, which are: that God is One in essence and person in Whom is the Trinity, and that that God is the Lord; also that charity and faith are one like an essence and its form, and that no others have charity and faith but those who live in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue. These precepts are that evils are not to be done, and in so far as any one does not do evils by fleeing from them as sins against God, so far he does the goods that are of charity and believes the truths that are of faith. [2] That those who make God three and the Lord two, and who separate charity from faith and make the latter saving and not the former at the same time, are against the two Essentials of the New Church can be seen by any one who has considered the matter. It is said ‘those who make God three and the Lord two’, and those who think of three Persons as of three Gods and who separate the Lord’s Human from His Divine are understood. And who thinks otherwise, or can think otherwise, if he prays according to the formula of faith ‘that God the Father may send the Holy Spirit for the sake of the Son’? Is he not praying to God the Father as to one God, and for the sake of the Son as concerning a second, and concerning the Holy Spirit as a third? It is plain as a consequence that, although anyone in his thought makes the three Persons one God, still he divides them, that is, he divides his idea into three Gods when he so prays. The same formula of faith also makes the Lord two, since then only the Human of the Lord and not at the same the His Divine is thought of, for [the idea] ‘for the sake of the Son’ is for the sake of His Human that has suffered the cross. In consequence of these considerations it can now be established who they are who are understood by ‘the dragon’ who wanted to devour the offspring of the woman, and afterwards pursued the woman even into the wilderness on account of her offspring. [3] The dragon is said to be ‘great’ because all the Churches of the Reformed separate God into three Persons and make faith the only means of salvation, except for some here and there who do not believe in like manner concerning the Trinity and concerning faith. Those who separate God into three Persons and adhere to these words of the ATHANASIAN DOCTRINE, ‘There is One Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit’, and also to these, ‘The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God’; those, I say, cannot make one God out of the Three. They are indeed able to say that they are One God, but are not able to think so. Equally, those who think of the Lord’s Divine from eternity as of the Second Person of the Divinity, and of His Human in the as of the human of another man, cannot do otherwise than make the Lord two, notwithstanding its being said in the ATHANASIAN DOCTRINE that His Divine and Human are One Person, united as soul and body.
[4] The dragon is said to be ‘red’ because ‘red’ signifies the untruth derived from the evils of lusts, and this is infernal untruth. Now because these two Essentials of the doctrine in the Churches of the Reformed are untrue, and untruths lay the Church waste, for they deprive it of its truths and goods, therefore they were represented by a ‘dragon’. This is because in the Word by a ‘dragon’ the devastation of the Church is signified, as can be established from the following passages:-
I will make Jerusalem into heaps, a habitation of dragons, and I will reduce the cities of Judah into a waste Jer. ix 11 [H.B. 10].
Behold a great tumult is coming out of the land of the north, to reduce the cities of Judah into a waste, a habitation of dragons Jer. x 22.
Hazor shall become a habitation of dragons, a desolation even for an age Jer. xlix 33.
That it may he a habitation of dragons, a court for the daughters of the owl Isa. xxxiv 13.
In the habitation of dragons is his couch Isa. xxxv 7.
I will go stripped and naked, I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning like the daughters of the owl Micah i 13.
I cried, I have become a brother to dragons, and a companion to the daughters of the screech owl Job xxx 28, 29.
The ijim shall answer in his palaces, and dragons in the temples Isa. xiii 22.
Let Babel be a heap, a habitation of dragons, for hissing and astonishment Jer. li 37.
Thou hast bruised us in a place of dragons, and covered us over with the shadow of death Ps. xliv 18, 19 [H.B. 19, 20].
I have laid the mountains of Esau waste, and set his heritage for the dragons of the wilderness Mal. i 3;
besides elsewhere, as Isa. xliii 20; Jer. xiv 6; Ps. xci 13, 14; Deut. xxxii 33. [5] That by ‘the dragon’ here are understood those who are in faith alone, and who reject the works of the law as not contributing to salvation, has been testified to me in the spiritual world by living experience on several occasions. I have seen many thousands of them gathered into a crowd, and then from afar off they have been seen as a dragon with a long tail that appeared set with spikes like thorns, these signifying untruths. Once also a still larger dragon was seen, and he with his back arched up lifted his tail even up to the sky in an attempt to draw the stars down therefrom. Thus it was made manifest before my eyes that by ‘the dragon’ no others are understood.
538. ‘Having seven heads’ signifies insanity resulting from the truths of the Word falsified and profaned. By ‘head’ is signified wisdom and intelligence, and in the opposite sense insanity. Here, however, by ‘seven heads’, because they were the dragon’s, is properly signified insanity resulting from the truths of the Word falsified and profaned; for ‘seven are predicated of things holy and in the opposite sense of things profane (n. 10, 737).* It therefore follows on, that upon his heads were seen ‘seven diadems’, and by ‘diadems’ are signified the truths of the Word there falsified and profaned. That by ‘head’ is signified wisdom and intelligence is plain from these passages:-
I will give you wise and intelligent men and place them as your heads Deut. i 13.
Jehovah has closed your eyes, the prophets, and your heads, the seers has he covered Isa. xxix 10.
By ‘the head of Nebuchadnezzar’s image of pure gold’ (Dan. ii 32) nothing else is signified but the wisdom of the First Age, which existed with the men of the Most Ancient Church. By ‘head’ in the opposite sense insanity and folly is signified, in David:-
God shall break the head of the enemy, the hairy scalp of those that go about in their guilt Ps. lxviii 21 [H.B. 22].
Nor is anything else signified by ‘the head of the serpent’ which should be trodden upon (Gen. iii 15), and by ‘smiting the head over much land’ (Ps. cx 6, 7). Also by ‘putting dust upon the head’, and by ‘inducing baldness’ and ‘putting the hand upon the head’ when they were ashamed or grieved at having acted insanely or against wisdom (Isa. vii 20; xv 2; Ezek. vii 18; xxvii 30; Jer. ii 37; xiv 3, 4; Lam. ii 10; 2 Sam. xiii 19). Moreover insanity resulting from the truths of the Word falsified and profaned is signified also in the following passages in the Apocalypse, xiii 1, 3; xxii 3, 7, 9.
* The Original Edition has n. 173, probably a misprint for 10 and 737.
539. ‘And ten horns’ signifies much power. ‘A horn’ signifies power (n. 270), and ‘ten’ signify much (n. 101). The dragon is said to have much power because the salvation of man by faith alone without the works of the law, which faith is understood by ‘the dragon’, seeks to entrap minds, and then confirmations persuade. It entraps because when a man hears that the damnation of the law has been withstood, and that through faith alone in this the Lord’s merit will be imputed, he can indulge in the pleasures of mind (animus) and body and not be afraid of any hell. The power that is signified by the dragon’s ‘ten horns’ results from this. That he did have such power is manifestly plain because of the reception of that faith throughout the Reformed Christian world.
540. ‘And upon his heads seven diadems’ signifies all the truths of the Word falsified and profaned. By the ‘diadems’ or precious stones are signified the truths of the Word, specifically the truths of the sense of the letter of the Word, but here those truths falsified and profaned, because they were seen upon the seven heads of the dragon, by which is signified insanity resulting from truth falsified and profaned (n. 538).
[2] That by ‘diadems’ or precious stones the truths of the sense of the letter of the Word are signified may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 43-45), where it has been shown that Divine Truths in ultimates, which are the truths of the sense of the letter of the Word, are signified:-
By the twelve precious stones in Aaron’s breastplate, which was the Urim and Thummim Exod. xxvii 6, 15-21. 30.
By the precious stones in the garden of Eden, in which the king of Tyre is said to have been Ezek. xxxiii 12, 13.
Also by the twelve precious stones out of which the foundations of the wall of the New Jerusalem were [formed] Rev. xxi 17-20.
The reason why the truths of the sense of the letter of the Word are signified by the ‘diadems’ or precious stones is because all things of the sense of the letter of the Word are transparent before the angels by virtue of its spiritual sense, thus of the light of heaven in which the spiritual truths of the Word are. For a ‘stone’ in the Word signifies a truths its ultimates, consequently a ‘precious stone’ signifies that truth transparent.
[3] The reason why falsified and profaned truths of the Word are also termed ‘diadems’ is because they shine of themselves with whomsoever they may be, just like diadems on earth in whosesoever hand they are. At one the it was given me to see adulterous women, as they came first into the world of spirits from earth, adorned with diadems, and also Jews selling diadems which they had procured to themselves out of heaven. From this it was plain that the evils and untruths with such do not change the light and splendour of the truths of the Word. Similar things are therefore also signified by:-
The ten diadems upon the horns of the beast coming up out of the sea Rev. xiii 1.
And by the precious stones upon the woman sitting upon the scarlet beast Rev. xxii 3-5.
That the truths of the Word are the things signified by diadems is quite plain in the Apocalypse:-
Many diadems were seen upon the head of the One sitting upon the white horse, Whose Name was the Word of God Rev. xix 12, 13.
541. [verse 4] ‘And his tail drew a third part of the stars of heaven and cast them to earth’ signifies that by means of falsifications of the truth (veritas) of the Word they have alienated all the spiritual cognitions of good and truth from the Church, and by applications to untruths they have quite destroyed it. By the tail’, where it treats of those who have confirmed heretical things out of the Word, are signified the truths of the Word falsified (n. 438). By ‘the stars’ are signified spiritual cognitions of good and truth (n. 51, 420); by ‘a third part’ all are signified (n. 400, 505); and by ‘drawing them out of heaven and casting them to earth’ is signified to alienate them from the Church and quite destroy them; for when they are drawn out of heaven they are also drawn down from the Church, because everything true of the Word is insinuated into the man of the Church by the Lord through heaven. Nor are truths drawn down by means of anything else but the falsifications of them in the Word, since there and thence are the truths of heaven and the Church. [2] That all the truths of the Word have been destroyed by those who are understood by ‘the dragon’ mentioned above (n. 537) cannot be believed by anyone in the world, and yet they have been so destroyed that not one doctrinal truths is left. This was investigated in the spiritual world with the learned of the clergy and found to be so. The causes I know but here I shall mention only one. They assert that whatever proceeds out of man’s will and judgment is not good, and that therefore goods of charity or good works, because they are done by man, contribute nothing to salvation, but faith alone does so when, nevertheless, the one and only thing by virtue of which man is man, and by means of which he is conjoined to the Lord, is the fact that he is able to do what is good and believe what is true as if of himself that is, as if of his own will in accordance with his own judgment. If this one and only thing were taken away from man, everything conjunctive of man with the Lord and the Lord with man would be taken away at the same time; for this is love’s reciprocality, which the Lord gives to everyone who is born a man and also preserves with him even to the end of his life and afterwards into eternity. If this were taken away from man, every truths and good of the Word would also be taken away from him, to such an extent that the Word would be nothing but a dead letter and an empty volume. For the Word teaches nothing else but the conjunction of man with the Lord by means of charity and faith, both being from man as if from himself.
[3] Those who are understood by ‘the dragon’ mentioned above (n. 537) have broken this one and only bond of conjunction by asserting that the goods of charity, or good works, that proceed from man and by his will and judgment are only moral, civil and political works through which man has conjunction with the world, but absolutely no conjunction with God and heaven. And when that bond has thus been broken, then there is not any doctrinal truth of the Word left; and if the truths of the Word are applied for confirming faith alone as saving without the works of the law, then all things are falsified, and if the falsification proceeds as far as the affirmation that the Lord in the Word has not commanded good works for the sake of man’s conjunction with Himself, but only for the sake of a conjunction with the world, then the truths of the Word are profaned. For thus the Word becomes no longer the Holy Book, but a profane book. But concerning this the experience at the end of the chapter may he seen. Similar things are signified by these [words] concerning the he-goat in Daniel:-
The he-goat of the she-goats with his horn cast down some of the army of heaven and of the stars to earth, and trampled upon them; and he cast down the truth (veritas) to earth Dan. viii 10, 12.
542. ‘And the dragon stood before the woman about to bring forth, that after she had brought forth he might devour her offspring’ signifies that those who are understood by ‘the dragon’ are doing their utmost to extinguish the doctrine of the New Church at its first appearance. Who are understood by ‘the dragon’ may be seen above (n. 537); that by ‘the woman’ is signified the New Church (n. 533); that by ‘to bring forth’ is signified to receive goods and truths of doctrine out of the Word (n. 535). That by the ‘offspring’ that she would bring forth is signified the doctrine of the New Church, will be seen in the following paragraph. By ‘to devour’ is signified to extinguish, because by the ‘offspring’ doctrine is signified, and when ‘devour’ is said of the offspring, to extinguish is said of the doctrine. This [happens] at its first appearance because it is said that ‘the dragon stood before the woman, that after she had brought forth he might devour her offspring’.
543. [verse 5] ‘And she brought forth a male child’ (filius masculus) signifies the doctrine of the New Church. By ‘a son’ in the Word is signified the truth of doctrine, also the understanding and consequent thought of truths and good, but by ‘a daughter’ is signified the good of doctrine, also the will and consequent affection of truth and good; whereas by ‘a male child’ is signified the truth conceived in the spiritual man and born in the natural man. This is because by the generations and births in the Word are signified spiritual generations and births, which all in general relate to good and truth (n. 535); for nothing else is begotten and born from the Lord as Husband and the Church as wife. Now because by ‘the woman’ who had brought forth is signified the New Church (n. 533), it is plain that by ‘a male child’ the doctrine of that Church is signified. The doctrine that is here meant is THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM published at London in 1758; then also THE DOCTRINES concerning THE LORD, concerning SACRED SCRIPTURE, and concerning LIFE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PRECEPTS OF THE DECALOGUE, [published at] Amsterdam; for by ‘the doctrine’ all the truths of the doctrine are understood because ‘the doctrine’ includes all of them. When those doctrines were being written the dragonists stood round me and worked together with all fury to devour, that is, to extinguish them. It is permitted to relate this news because it really so happened. The dragonists who stood around were from every part of the Reformed Christian world.
[2] Since there is no other offspring born of spiritual marriage, and a male offspring is truth and good in the understanding and consequent thought and a female offspring is truth and good in the will and consequent affection, therefore by ‘a son’ in the Word truth is signified. For confirmation some passages shall be quoted, from which this can in some measure be seen:-
Behold sons are an heritage of Jehovah, and the fruit of the belly is a
reward, as arrows in the hand of a mighty one, so are the sons of youth Ps. cxxvii 3-5.
Make thee bald, and poll thee for the sons of thy delights, for they have gone from thee Micah i 16.
I saw two olive trees near the lampstand, and he said, These are the two sons of the olive tree standing before the Lord of the whole land Zech. iv 11, 14.
My tent has been devastated, My sons have gone forth from Me, and they are not Jer. x 20.
Thy sons have become devastated, because an enemy has prevailed Lam. i 16.
Thy sons, O Jerusalem, have deserted, they have lain at the head of all the streets Isa. li 17, 18, 20.
The fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers, I will scatter thy remaining things to every wind Ezek. v 10.
Son shall be divided against father, and father against son Matt. x 21; Mark xiii 12; Luke xii 53.
Thou hast taken the vessels of thine adornment out of my gold, and hast made to thyself images of a male, with which thou didst commit whoredom Ezek. xvi 17.
Jesus said, The seed are the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one Matt. xiii 38.
[3] That the SON OF MAN is the Divine Truth of the Word, thus the Lord, may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 19-28). In the passages quoted [above] by ‘sons’ are understood those who are in truths of doctrine out of the Word, and abstractly the truths themselves. In like manner elsewhere, as Isa. xiii 17, 18; xiv 21-23; xliii 6; xlix 17, 22; li 17, 18; lx 9; Jer. iii 24, 25; v 17; Ezek. xiv 16-18, 20; xvi 20, 36, 45; xx 26, 31; xxiii 37; Hosea xi 9-11; Zech. ix 13; Ps. cxliv 11, 12; Deut. xxxii 8. That by ‘a daughter’ is signified the affection of the truth of the Church, thus the Church as to that affection, is established from so many passages in the Word that they would fill many pages if quoted. Nothing else is understood by the daughter of Zion, the daughter of Jerusalem, the daughter of Judah, the daughter of Israel. Some passages concerning’ the daughter of Zion’ may be seen quoted (n. 612). Who cannot see that not any daughter of Zion, Jerusalem, Judah, or Israel, so often named in the Word, can be understood?
544. ‘Who is going to lead all nations to pasture with an iron rod’ signifies which, by means of truths derived from the sense of the letter of the Word and at the same the by means of rational things derived from natural light, will convince all who are willing to be convinced, who are in dead worship derived from faith separated from charity. These things [are said] concerning the doctrine of the New Church, because concerning the ‘male child’ by which that doctrine is signified (n. 543). By ‘lead to pasture’ (pascere) is signified to teach and instruct (n. 383), here to convince those who are willing to be convinced. By ‘nations’ are signified those who are in evils of life (n. 483), here those who are in dead worship derived from faith separated from charity, because it treats of those here; and they are in evils of life, for when charity is separated there is not any good of life, and where there is no good, there is evil. That ‘to rule with an iron rod’ signifies by means of the truths of the sense of the letter of the Word and at the same the by means of rational things derived from natural light may be seen above (n. 148).
545. ‘And her offspring was caught up to God and His throne’ signifies the protection of the doctrine by the Lord because it is for the New Church, and its being guarded by means of angels of heaven. By these things the protection of the doctrine by the Lord is signified because it is said that ‘the dragon stood before the woman about to bring forth, that after she had brought forth he might devour her offspring’, and by the ‘offspring’ and the ‘male child’ is signified the doctrine for the New Church (n. 542, 543). Its being guarded also by means of angels of heaven is signified because it is said that it ‘was caught up to God and His throne’, and by ‘throne’ is signified the angelic heaven (n. 14, 221, 222).
546. [verse 6] ‘And the woman fled into the wilderness’ signifies the Church that is the New Jerusalem at first among a few. By ‘the woman’ is signified the New Church (n. 533); and by ‘the wilderness’ is signified where there are no truths any longer. Its being at first among a few is signified because it follows on ‘where she has a place made ready by God, that they may nourish her there a thousand two hundred and sixty days’, by which is signified its state then, that meanwhile provision may be made with many until it increases to its full stature (n. 547). By ‘a wilderness’ in the Word is signified:-
(1) A devastated Church, or one in which all the truths of the Word have been falsified, such as there was among the Jews at the time of the Lord’s coming.
(2) A Church in which there are no truths because there is no Word, such as existed with the upright Gentiles at the time of the Lord.
(3) A state of temptation in which a man is as it were without truths, because surrounded with evil spirits who induce temptations, and then take truths away from him.
[2] [(1)] That by ‘a wilderness’ is signified a devastated Church, or one in which all the truths of the Word have been falsified, such as there was among the Jews at the time of the Lord’s coming, is plain from these passages:-
Is this the man who disturbing the land, shaking the kingdom, has made the region a wilderness? Isa. xiv 16, 17.
This [is said] of Babel.
Upon the land of My people the thorn and the brier goes up; the palace shall be a wilderness Isa. xxxii 13, 14.
I have seen when, behold, Carmel was a wilderness, the whole land shall be a waste Jer. iv 26, 27.
The ‘land’ is the Church (n. 285).
The shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have reduced the field of my longings to a wilderness of desert; the wasters are coming in the wilderness Jer. xii 10, 12.
A vine has been planted in a wilderness in a dry and thirsty land Ezek. xix 13.
The fire has consumed the habitations of the wilderness Joel i 19, 20.
The day of Jehovah is coming, the land before Him is as the garden of Eden, but after Him a wilderness of waste Joel ii 1, 3.
See the Word of Jehovah; have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of darkness? Jer. ii 31.
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of Jehovah, make straight in the desert a paths for our God Isa. xl 3;
besides elsewhere, as Isa. xxxiii 9; Jer. iii 2; xxiii 10; Lam. v 9; Hosea ii 2, 3; xiii 15; Joel iii 19 {H.B. iv 19]; Mal. i 3; Ps. cvii 33, 34; Matt. xxiv 26; Luke xiii 35. That such also is the Church at this day may be seen below (n. 566).
[3] (2) That by ‘a wilderness’ is signified a Church in which there were no truths because there was no Word, as with the upright Gentiles at the time of the Lord, is plain from these passages:-
The spirit shall be poured upon us from on high, then the wilderness shall be [turned] into arable land, and judgment shall dwell in the wilderness Isa. xxxii 15, 16.
I will set fountains in the midst of the valleys, [and turn] the wilderness into a pool of waters; I will plant in the wilderness the shittim cedar, and the olive tree Isa. xli 18, 19.
He shall make the wilderness into a pool of waters, and the dry land into springs of waters Ps. cvii 35, 36.
I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, for giving drink to My people, My chosen Isa. xliii 19, 20.
Jehovah wilt make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah; gladness and joy shall be found therein Isa. li 3.
The habitations of the wilderness drip Ps. lxv 12, 13 [H.B. 13, 14].
Let the wilderness lift up its voice, let the inhabitants of the rock sing Isa. xlii 10, 11.
[4] (3) That by ‘a wilderness’ is signified the state of temptation in which a man is as it were without truths, because surrounded with evil spirits who induce the temptation and then take truths away from him, is plain from Matt. iv 1-3; Mark i 12, 13; Luke iv 1-3; Ezek. xx 34-37; Jer. ii 2, 6, 7; Hosea ii 13-16; Ps. cvii 4-7; Deut. i 31, 33; viii 2-4, 15, 16; xxxii 10.
547. ‘Where she has a place made ready by God, that they may nourish her there a thousand two hundred and sixty days’ signifies the state of the Church then, that meanwhile provision may be made with many until it increases to its full stature. By ‘place’ is signified state (n. 947); and by ‘to nourish’ is signified to provide that it may increase, for thus the Church is nourished. Consequently by ‘to have a place made ready by God that they may nourish her’ is signified the state of the Church that meanwhile provision may be made among many. By ‘a thousand two hundred and sixty days’ is signified to the end and the beginning (n. 491), that is, to the end of the former Church and the beginning of the New, similar to what is signified by ‘the and times and half a time’ (verse 14, n. 562), thus also to full stature, that is, until it comes into existence as has been provided. It is of the Lord’s Divine Providence that the Church may be at first among a few and increase successively among many, because the untruths of the former Church must first be removed; for before this truths cannot be received, since the truths that are received and implanted before the untruths have been removed are not permanent, and are also rejected by the dragonists. The same sort of thing took place with the Christian Church which increased successively from few to many. Another reason is that the New Heaven must first be formed, and this is going to become one with the Church on earth. Therefore we read that:-
He saw a New Heaven, and the holy Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven Rev. xxi 1, 2.
It is certain that a New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, is going to come into existence, because it has been foretold in the Apocalypse (chaps. xxi, xxii); and it is also certain that the untruths of the former Church must be removed before this, because these things have been treated of in the Apocalypse as far as the twentieth chapter.
548. [verse 7] ‘And a war was waged in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels’ signifies the untruths of the former Church fighting against the truths of the New Church. By ‘a war’ is signified a spiritual war, which is of untruth against truth, and of truth against untruth (n. 500), for in heaven, where it is said to have taken place, no other ‘war’ can be waged. Nor can it take place in a heaven once formed from angels, but it was waged in the ‘former heaven’ that ‘passed away’, treated of in Rev. xxi 1, concerning which heaven the Exposition there may be seen. For that heaven passed away by means of the last judgment upon ‘the dragon and his angels’, and this is indeed signified by the dragon’s having been cast down and his place no longer found in heaven, as it follows on. What sort of untruths are understood by ‘the dragon’, and that are going to fight against the truths of the New Church, may be seen above (n. 537). By ‘Michael’ is not understood any archangel, nor by ‘Gabriel’ and ‘Raphael’, but ministries in heaven are understood. The ministry that is ‘Michael’ there, is with those who confirm out of the Word that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth and that God the Father and He are one as soul and body are one, also that [life] must be lived in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue, and that in that case a man has charity and faith. ‘Michael’ is named in Daniel also (x 13, 21; xii 1), and by him a like ministry is understood, as is plain there from chapters ix, x, xi, and the last verses of chapter xii. By ‘Gabriel’, however, is understood the ministry with those who teach out of the Word that Jehovah has come into the world and that the Human He acquired there is the Son of God and Divine. For this reason the angel who announced this to Mary is called ‘Gabriel’ (Luke i 19, 26-35). Those who are in those ministries are also named ‘Michaels’ and ‘Gabriels’ in heaven. That by ‘an angel’ in the highest sense is understood the Lord, and in the relative sense the heaven [formed] out of angels, then also the angelic societies, may be seen above (n. 5, 65, 258, 342, 344, 415, 465). Here, however, a ministry [is understood] because they are named, and ‘Michael’ in Daniel is called ‘a prince’, and by ‘a prince’ in the Word is signified a principal truth, and by ‘a king’ the Truth itself (n. 20).
549. [verse 8] ‘And they did not prevail, and their place was no longer found in heaven’ signifies that they had been convicted of being in untruths and evils but still persisted in them, and that therefore they were forcibly separated from conjunction with heaven and cast down. In order that these things may be understood something shall first be said concerning the state of those who come into the other life after death. There all are first instructed by angels, and led from one society to another and examined [as to] whether they are willing to receive the truths of heaven and to live in accordance with them. Nevertheless, all who have confirmed the untruths pertaining to them in the world do not receive. They are therefore sent into societies where those who are in similar untruths are, and those societies do not have any conjunction with heaven, but with hell. After a limited tune in the world of spirits they therefore sink down into hell and are sent away to their own places, each according to his own evil and consequent untruth. This is what is understood by their having been convicted of being in untruths and evils and still persisting in them, and that therefore they are forcibly separated from conjunction with heaven and cast down. What their lot there is may be seen above (n. 153, 531).
550. [verse 9] ‘And the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old called the Devil and Satan’ signifies those who are understood by ‘the dragon’, turned away from the Lord to themselves and from heaven to the world, and consequently as a result of bodily activity become sensual, who cannot but be in the evils of their own lusts and the consequent untruths, and by separation from the Lord and heaven become devils and satans. Who are understood by ‘the dragon’ may be seen (n. 537). These, because they make God three and the Lord two, and because they register the precepts of the Decalogue among the works by means of which there is no salvation, are called the ‘serpent of old, the Devil and Satan’; and by a ‘serpent’ is signified a man sensual as a result of bodily activity (n. 424) who has turned away from the Lord to himself and from heaven to the world; and by ‘the Devil’ those are signified who are in the evils of lusts, and by ‘Satan’ those who consequently are in untruths (n. 97, 153 end, 856, 857*). Such also was the ‘serpent’ that led Eve and Adam astray, as is plain from the description of him and his being cursed (Gen. iii 1-5, 14, 15). Here the ‘dragon’ is termed ‘Devil and Satans’ as one, but it is so said because all in hell are devils and satans, and in consequence hell as a whole is so called.
* There is no n. 857 in the Original Edition, but references to it are found in n. 550, 858 and 870. In view of the statement at the end of n. 856 it is possible that a paragraph treating in greater detail of the signification of both ‘the Devil’ and ‘Satan’ was omitted by the printer.
551. ‘Leading the entire world astray’ signifies that they pervert all things of the Church. By ‘leading astray’ is signified to pervert, and by ‘the world’ is signified the Church, in like manner as by ‘the land’ (n. 285). By ‘the world’ (orbis) is signified not the territory of the lands (orbis terrarum) but the Church therein, in the following places:-
The land shall mourn and be confounded, the world shall faint and be confounded Isa. xxiv 4.
The lands shall learn Thy judgments, and the inhabitants of the world Thy justice Isa. xxvi 9.
The Maker of the land by His vigour, preparing the world by His wisdom Jer. x 12; li 15.
The foundations of the world were revealed at the blast of Thy breath Ps. xviii 15 [H.B. 16].
The land is Jehovah’s and the fullness thereof; the world and those dwelling therein; He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers Ps. xxiv 1, 2.
The heavens are Thine and the land is Thine, Thou hast founded the world and the fullness thereof Ps. lxxxix 11 [H.B. 12].
He will make them inherit a throne of glory, for the bases of the land are Jehovah’s, and He has set the world upon them 1 Sam. ii 8.
O Babel, thou hast made the world into a wilderness, thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people Isa. xiv 17, 20;
besides elsewhere, as Isa. xviii 3; xxvi 18; xxvii 6; xxxiv 1; Nahum i 5; Ps. ix 8 [H.B. 9]; lxxvii 18 [H.B. 19]; xcviii 9; Lam. iv 12; Job xviii 18; Matt. xxiv 14; Luke xxi 26; Rev. xvi 14. However, it should be known that when ‘the world’ and ‘the land’ are named together, by ‘the world’ is signified the Church as to good and by ‘the land’ the Church as to truth.
552. ‘Was cast out into the land, and his angels were cast out with him’ signifies that [they are cast] into the world of spirits, which is intermediate between heaven and hell, and from which there is a direct conjunction with the men of the earth. By ‘the land’ into which the dragon is said to have been cast out is understood the world of spirits. This is because that world lies directly under the heavens, and when anyone is cast down out of heaven, he does not there and then fall into hell, but into the land of this world next below. For that world is intermediate between heaven and hell, or below the heavens and above the hells. Many things concerning that world may be seen in the work concerning HEAVEN AND HELL, published at London in the year 1758 (n. 421-535). All those who are in that world communicate directly with the men of the earths. Consequently ‘the dragon and his angels’ communicate directly with those who are in untruths and the resultant evils derived from the received heresy concerning faith alone. It is therefore said in the verses following:-
For this rejoice, O heavens; woe to those inhabiting the land and the sea, because the devil has come down to you having great wraths, knowing that he has very little time verse 12 of this chapter;
also that:-
He pursued the woman into the wilderness and went away to wage war with the remnant of her seed vers. 13-17.
It is to be known that each individual man as to his affections and consequent thoughts is in an association with those who are in the world of spirits, and mediately by means of them either with those who are in heaven or in hell. The life of every man depends on that conjunction.
553. [verse 10] ‘And I heard a great voice saying in heaven, Now have the salvation and power become effective, and the kingdom of our God and the sovereignty of His Christ’ signifies the joy of the angels of heaven that now the Lord Only reigns in heaven and in the Church and that they are saved who believe in Him. By ‘a great voice in heaven’ is signified the joy of the angels of heaven. Therefore it follows, ‘For this rejoice, O heavens, and you inhabitants therein’ (verse 12). The ‘voice’ is also ‘great’ because it is lifted up by reason of joy of heart. ‘The salvation and power have become effective’ signifies that now they are saved as a result of the Lord’s Divine Power. ‘And the kingdom of our God and the sovereignty of His Christ’ signifies because the Only Lord reigns in heaven and the Church. That by ‘God’ is understood the Divine Itself out of Which [are all things], which is called Jehovah the Father, and by ‘His Christ’ the Divine Human which is called ‘the Son of God’, may be seen above (n. 520). And because the Divine Itself out of Which [are all things] and the Lord’s Divine Human are one, in the manner of soul and body, it follows that the Lord Only reigns. This is understood by the gospel of the kingdom and by the kingdom of God (Matt. iii 2; iv 17, 23; vii 21, 22; ix 35; xi 11; xii 28; Mark i 14, 15; ix 1; xv 43; Luke iv 43; viii 1; ix 60; x 8-11; xi 17, 18, 20; xvi 16; xxi 30, 31; xxii 18; xxiii 50, 51).
[2] That the Lord has all authority in heaven and on earth is quite plain in Matt. xxviii 18; John iii 35; xvii 2, 10. That those are saved who are in the Lord and the Lord in them, and that it is the Divine Human in which they are (John xiv, xv, xvii). And that no others are saved but those who believe in Him is established from these passages:-
As many as have received Him, to them has He given authority to become the sons of God to those believing in His Name John i 12.
That everyone who believes in the Son should not perish, but have eternal life John iii 15.
God valued the world so much that He gave His Only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him may have eternal life John iii 16.
He who believes in the Son is not being judged, but he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the Name of the Only-begotten Son of God John iii 18.
He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him John iii 36.
He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. Verily I say unto you, He who believes in Me has eternal life John vi 33, 35, 47.
Unless you believe that I am, you shall die in your sins John viii 24.
Jesus said, I am the Resurrection and the Life, he who believes in Me, though he were dead, shall live; for whosoever lives and believes in Me shall not die to eternity John xi 25, 26;
besides elsewhere, as John vi 38-40; vii 37, 38; viii 12*; xli 36, 46. To believe in the Lord is to approach Him directly and to have confidence that He will save, and because no one can have confidence unless he lives well, therefore this also is understood by ‘to believe in Him’. This may be seen above (n. 67).
* Possibly this should be viii 31, 32.
554. Because the accuser of our brothers has been cast out, accusing them before our God day and night’ signifies that those who have taken a position against the doctrine of the New Church have been removed by means of the last judgment. The dragon’s having been cast out signifies that those who are understood by ‘the dragon’ have been removed, that they have been removed by a casting down out of heaven into the world of spirits and then into hell, and that this is their last judgment. This has been said before. By ‘brothers’ those are understood who are in the doctrine of the New Jerusalem and in a life in accordance with it. By ‘to accuse’ is signified to take a position against the doctrine, to prove that it is untrue, and to censure it, and because they are doing this continually, as if before God, the dragon is termed ‘the accuser of the brothers accusing them before God day and night’. This also the Devil does when he is tempting, for he drags forth various things out of a man, which he calls untrue and condemns.
555. [verse 11] ‘And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony’ signifies victory by the Divine Truth of the Word, and consequently by the acknowledgment that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and that the precepts of the Decalogue are the precepts of life in accordance with which one must live. That ‘the blood of the Lamb’ is the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord, which is the Divine Truth of the Word, may be seen above (n. 379); that ‘the testimony’ is the Divine Truth (Veritas), above (n. 6, 16); and that specifically these two [witnesses] are that the Lord is the God of heaven and earths, and that the precepts of the Decalogue are precepts of life (n. 490, 501). On this account the Decalogue is also called ‘the testimony’ (Exod. xxv 22; xxxi 7, 18; xxxii 15; Lev. xvi 13; Num. xvii 4; Ps. lxxviii 5; cxxxii 12). By those of the present day who are in faith alone it is believed that here by ‘the blood of the Lamb’ is understood the Lord’s passion of the cross. This is especially the result of their making the Lord’s passion of the cross the chief point of their dogma by saying that thereby He has transferred upon Himself the damnation of the law, made satisfaction to the Father and reconciled the human race to Himself, and more besides. That this, however, is not the case, but that:-
The Lord came into the world in order to subjugate the hells and glorify His Human, and that the passion of the cross was the last combat, by which He fully conquered the hells and fully glorified His Human,
may be seen [in] THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 12-14). Consequently it can be seen that by ‘the blood of the Lamb’ here is not understood the passion of the cross in accordance with present-day dogma. That the Divine Truth proceeding out of the Lord, which is the Divine Truth of the Word, is understood by ‘the blood of the Lamb’ can be seen by reason of this, that the Lord is the Word, and because He is the Word the Divine Truth there is His Blood and the Divine Good is His Body. For clearness this can be taught thus: Is not every man his own good and his own truth, and because good is of the will and truths is of the understanding every man is his own will and his own understanding? What else makes a man? Is not a man, as to his essence, these two? The Lord, however, is Good itself and Truth itself, that is, Divine Good and Divine Truths, and these two also are the Word.
556. ‘And they did not love their own soul even unto death’ signifies those who have not loved themselves more than the Lord. By ‘to love their own soul’ is signified to love themselves and the world, for by ‘soul’ is signified a man’s proprial life, which everyone has from birth, and this is to love one’s self and the world above all things. Therefore by ‘not to love their own soul’ is signified not to love one’s self and the world more than the Lord and the things that are the Lord’s. ‘Even unto death’ signifies to be willing rather to die; consequently it is to love the Lord above all things and the neighbour as one’s self (Matt. xxii 37-40 [Schm. 35-38]), and to be willing to die rather than recede from those two loves. The like is signified by these words of the Lord:-
Whosoever wills to find his own soul, shall lose it, and whosoever loses [his] soul for the sake of Jesus, shall find it Matt. x 39; Luke xvii 33.
He who loves his own soul shall lose it, but he who hates his own soul in this world, shall keep it unto life eternal John xii 25.
Jesus said, Anyone who wills to come after Me, let him deny himself; he who wills to keep his own soul, shall lose it; but he who loses his own soul for My sake, shall find it. What is a man profited if he gains the whole world, but causes the loss of the soul? or what shall a man give as the sufficient price of the redemption of his own soul? Matt. xvi 24-26; Mark viii 35-37; Luke ix 24, 25.
By ‘to love the Lord’ is understood to love to do His commandments (John xiv 20-24). This is because He himself is His commandments, for they are from Himself, therefore He Himself is in them, thus in the man in whose life they have been inscribed, and they are inscribed in that man by willing and doing them.
557. [verse 12] ‘For this rejoice, O heavens, and you inhabitants therein’ signifies the new state of heaven, that they are in the Lord and the Lord in them. By heavens ‘ is understood the heaven [formed] out of Christians, in which the Lord Only is acknowledged as the God of heaven and earth. By ‘rejoice’ is signified the new state thereof, full of joy. By ‘inhabitants’ are signified those who are in good (n. 380), and because every good is from the Lord it is signified that they are in the Lord and the Lord in them.
558. ‘Woe to those inhabiting the land and the sea, because the Devil has come down to you having great wrath’ signifies a lamentation over those who are in things internal and external of the doctrine concerning faith alone, and consequently are in evils of life, since their like have been cast down out of heaven into the world of spirits, and are consequently in conjunction with the men of the earth, and by reason of hatred against the New Church are stimulating them to persist in their untruths and consequent evils. By ‘woe to those inhabiting the land and sea’ is signified a lamentation upon those in the Church who are in the doctrine concerning faith alone. By ‘woe’ is signified lamentation (n. 416); by ‘those inhabiting’ are signified those who are in the Church of which the doctrine is faith alone; by ‘land’ is understood those who are in the internal, and by ‘sea’ those who are in the external things thereof (n. 470). By ‘great wrath’ is signified hatred against the New Church because against ‘the woman’ (n. 525); by ‘to come down to them’ is signified to those who are in the world of spirits, and because these are in conjunction with the men of the earth it also signifies to such on the earth. That ‘the dragon’ has been cast out of heaven into the world of spirits, and that those who are there are in conjunction with the men of the earth, may be seen above (n. 552). [2] The dragon is here called ‘the Devil’ because those who are in evils of life as a result of that heresy are understood, and those are in evils of life on that account who live in accordance with this [tenet] of their faith, that those who pray confidently to God the Father have no sins, and if they have, that they are remitted. These, because they do not examine themselves, are unaware of any sin in their own case, and at length do not know what sin is, [as] may be seen above (n. 531). That by the dragon as ‘the Devil’ are understood those who are in the evils of their own lusts (n. 550). The reason every man is in conjunction with those who are in the world of spirits is because a man as to the affections of his mind and the consequent thoughts is a spirit. In respect to these he is therefore in conjunction with the spirits who are in a like affection and the consequent thoughts. The conjunction is such that if this bond should be broken for a single moment the man would fall down dead. Formerly the Church had no knowledge of this, nor of the fact that after death a man is his own affection and the consequent thought, thus his own charity and the consequent faith, and that no one can be a faith separated from charity.
559. ‘Knowing that he has very little time’ signifies because [the dragon] knows that the New Heaven has been formed, and that thus a New Church on earth is imminent, and that then he with his like will be cast into hell. These things are signified because ‘the dragon’ knows that the New Heaven has been formed, for he has been cast down from it (vers. 8, 9). Again, he knows also that a New Church on earth is imminent because of what is foretold in the Apocalypse (chap. xxi); and he also knows that he with his like is to be cast into hell, also because of what is foretold (Rev. xx 1, 2, 10).
560. [verse 13] ‘When the dragon saw that he was cast out into the land, he persecuted the woman who brought forth the son’ signifies that after being cast down the dragonists in the world of spirits at once began to attack the New Church on account of its doctrine. ‘When the dragon saw that he was cast out into the land’ signifies when the dragonists saw that they were separated from heaven and in conjunction with the men of the earth (n. 552, 558). ‘He persecuted the woman’ signifies that he at once began to attack the Lord’s Church; that ‘the woman’ whom ‘he persecuted’ is that Church may be seen (n. 533). ‘Who brought forth the son’ signifies on account of the doctrine; that ‘the offspring’ or ‘male child’ whom the woman brought forth is the doctrine of the New Church (n. 535, 542, 543, 545).
561. [verse 14] ‘And to the woman were given the two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her own place’ signifies Divine circumspection on behalf of that Church, and protection while it is still among a few. By ‘the woman’ is signified the New Church (n. 533); by ‘wings’ is signified power and protection (n. 245); by an ‘eagle’ is signified intellectual sight and thought therefrom (n. 245); by ‘to fly’ is signified to look into and around (perspicere et circumspicere) (n. 245); by ‘the wilderness’ is signified the Church desolated, and thus among a few (n. 546); by ‘place’ is signified the state there. Resulting from these things it follows that by ‘to the woman were given the two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness to her own place’ is signified Divine circumspection on behalf of the New Church, and protection while it is still among a few.
562. ‘Wherein she might be nourished a the and times and half a the away from the face of the serpent signifies that on account of the craftiness of those leading astray provision that it may come among many is made with circumspection until it increases to its full stature. By ‘to be nourished’, when said of the New Church, is signified provision being made that it may come among many, as above (n. 547). By ‘a time and times and half a time’ is signified to the end and the beginning, thus while it is increasing from a few to many even to its full stature, as also above (n. 547). By ‘the face of the serpent’ is signified the craftiness of those leading astray, by ‘the face’ craftiness, and by ‘the serpent’ those leading astray. That those leading astray are signified by the serpent is plain from these words in this chapter:-
The great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old who is leading the whole of the world astray (verse 9),
and elsewhere:-
He arrested the dragon, the serpent of old, and cast him into the deep, that he should lead the nations astray no more Rev. xx 2, 3.
A similar thing is understood here as by the serpent that led Eve and Adam astray, of which it is said:-
And the serpent became flare cunning than every wild beast of the field, and the woman said to Jehovah, The serpent has led me astray Gen. iii 1, 13.
[2] By ‘face’ in the Word is signified that which in the case of man is interior, Because the face is an image of his mind (animus) formed for correspondence; consequently by ‘the face of the serpent’ is signified anger, hatred and cunning. By ‘a time, times and half a time’ is signified the same here as by ‘a thousand two hundred and sixty days’ (verse 6) where these [words are]:-
And the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place made ready by God, where they may nourish her a thousand two hundred and sixty days;
which may be seen expounded above (n. 547). The like as is also signified by ‘three days and a half’ (Rev. xi 9, 11); again by ‘three years and six months, when there was a famine’ (Luke iv 25); and the like also in the case of Daniel, by ‘a fixed time of fixed times and a half, when they are going to finish scattering the hand of the people of holiness’ (Dan. xii 7).
563. [verse 15] ‘And the serpent cast forth after the woman out of his mouth water as a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the river’ signifies reasonings derived from plentiful untruths for the purpose of destroying the Church. By ‘the serpent’, here as above, is signified the dragon leading astray; by ‘the woman’ the New Church (n. 533). Truths are signified by ‘water’, and in the opposite sense untruths (n. 50, 409); by ‘a river’ plentiful truths are signified, and in the opposite sense plentiful untruths (n. 409); by ‘out of the serpent’s mouth’ reasonings are signified. Consequently then by ‘cast forth water as a river’ are signified reasonings derived from plentiful untruths. The reasonings of those who are understood by ‘the dragon’ are all derived from fallacies and appearances, which if confirmed appear from without like truths, but within they conceal plentiful untruths. I can place on record that those in the Church who from now on confirm faith alone with themselves are unable to recede from it except by earnest repentance. This is because they conjoin themselves with the dragonists who now are in the world of spirits and in great agitation, and there out of hatred against the New Church molest all whom they meet. And because they are conjoined with the men of the earth, as was said above, they do not suffer those who have once been taken in by their reasonings to recede from them, for they hold them as if bound in chains, and they then shut their eyes so that they can no longer see any truth in the light.
564. [verse 16] ‘And the land helped the woman, and the land opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon cast forth out of his mouth’ signifies that the reasonings that the dragonists produce derived from plentiful untruths fall to nothing as a result of the spiritual truths rationally understood, which the Michaels of whom the New Church [consists] bring forward. By ‘the land’ that ‘helped the woman’ is signified the Church as to doctrine (n. 285); and because it treats of the reasonings derived from untruths that the dragonists produce, the means by which ‘the land’, that is, the Church, ‘helps the woman’ are truths out of the Word. By ‘to open the mouth’ is signified to bring those truths forward; by ‘the river that the dragon cast forth out of his mouth’ reasonings derived from plentiful untruths are signified (n. 563); by ‘to swallow up’ is signified to make them fall to nothing. By ‘Michaels’ are understood men of the New Church, by ‘Michael’ the wise ones there, and by ‘his angels’ the rest. [2] Since in the New Church the dogma that the understanding is to be held captive under obedience to faith is rejected, and in its place it is received that the truth of the Church is to be seen in order that it may be believed (n. 224), and because truth cannot be seen otherwise than rationally, it is therefore said ‘as a result of the truths rationally understood’. How can any man who closes his understanding to such things as are of salvation and eternal life be led by the Lord and conjoined with heaven? Is it not the understanding which will be enlightened and taught? And what is an understanding closed by religion but thick-darkness, such a thick-darkness as rejects the enlightening light away from itself? Again, who can acknowledge any truth and hold on to it unless he sees it? What is a truth unseen but a word not understood, which with sensual corporeal men is usually retained in the memory, but with the wise cannot be [so retained]? In fact the wise cast empty words out of the memory, that is, words that have not entered by virtue of understanding; such as, that the one God is three in respect to Persons, also that the Lord born from what is eternal is not one and the same with the Lord born in time, that is, that one Lord is God but not the other. Then again, that the life of charity, consisting in good works and also in repentance from evil works, effects nothing towards salvation. A wise man does not understand this, and therefore by virtue of his rationality says, ‘Does religion then effect nothing? Is it not religion to shun evil and do good? Will not the doctrine of the Church teach this, as also what a man is going to believe, so that he may do the goods of religion from God?’
565. [verse 17] ‘And the dragon was in a rage against the woman, and went away to wage war with the remnant of her seed, keeping the commandments of God and having the testimony of Jesus Christ’ signifies the hatred kindled in those who believe themselves to be wise by virtue of confirmations in favour of a mystical union of the Divine and the Human in the Lord, and in favour of justification by faith alone, against those who acknowledge the Only Lord as the God of heaven and earth and that the Decalogue is the law of life, while they [the dragonists] are attacking novitiates with the intention of leading them astray. All these things are contained in these few words because they follow in a series resulting from the preceding things, where it is said that ‘the land helped the woman and opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon had cast forth out of his mouth’, by which is signified that their reasonings derived from untruths have fallen to nothing (n. 564); consequently that they have endeavoured in vain to destroy the New Church. Therefore by ‘the dragon’ being ‘in a rage against the woman’ is signified a kindling of hatred and breathing of revenge against the Church. By ‘the wrath of the dragon’ is signified hatred (n. 558); by ‘to wage war’ is signified to approach and attack by means of reasonings derived from untruths (n. son) By ‘the remnant of her seed keeping the commandments of God and having the testimony of Jesus Christ’ are understood novitiates who are receiving the doctrine concerning the Lord and concerning the Decalogue; what ‘the testimony of Jesus Christ’ is may be seen above (n. 6, 490). [2] The reason why by ‘the dragon’ here are understood those who believe themselves to be wise by virtue of confirmations in favour of a mystical union of the Lord’s Divine and Human, and in favour of justification by faith alone, is because these are in the pride of wisdom and are skilled in reasoning; and out of the pride proceeds a hatred, and out of the hatred anger and vindictiveness against those who do not believe likewise. By the ‘mystical union’, which is also called a ‘hypostatic union’, are understood their fabrications concerning the influx and operation of the Divinity in the Lord’s Humanity as if in another they being ignorant that God and Man, or the Divine and the Human in the Lord, are not two, but are one person united as soul and body, in accordance with the doctrine received throughout Christendom which has its name from Athanasius. But there is not room to quote the fabrications of their ‘mystical union’, because they are incompatible.
[3] That here by ‘the seed of the woman’ are understood those who belong to the New Church and are in the truths of its doctrine can be established from the signification of ‘seed’ in the following passages:-
Their seed shall become known in the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the people, all seeing shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which Jehovah has blessed Isa. lxi 9.
They are the seed of the blessed of Jehovah Isa. lxv 23.
As the new heavens and the new hand that I am going to make shall stand before Me, so shall your seed stand Isa. lxvi 22.
The seed that shall serve Him, it shall be accounted to the Lord for the generation Ps. xxii 30 [H.B. 31].
I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and the seed of the woman Gen. iii 15.
Does one seek a seed of God? Mal. ii 15.
Behold the days shall come in which I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man Jer. xxxi 27.
If he has made his soul guilty, he shall see seed Isa. liii 10.
Fear not, for I am with thee; from the east I will bring thy seed Isa. xliii 5, 6.
Thou shalt break forth to right and left, and thy seed shall inherit the nations Isa. liv 3.
I had planted thee a noble vine, a seed of the truth (veritas); how hast thou turned into the shoots of a strange vine unto Me? Jer. ii 21.
Thou wilt destroy their fruit from the land, and their seed from the sons of man Ps. xxi 10 [H.B. 11].
The seed are the sons of the kingdom Matt. xiii 38.
The like is signified by the seed of Israel, because ‘Israel’ is the Church (Isa. xli 8, 9; xliv 3; Jer. xxiii 8; xxxi 35, 36; likewise also by the seed of David, because ‘David’ is the Lord (Jer. xxx 10; xxxiii 22, 25, 26; Ps. lxxxix 3, 4, 29 [H.B. 4, 5, 30]. The like also by seed of the held, Because ‘a field’ signifies the Church, in many places. But the opposite is signified by the seed of the evil (Isa. i 4; xiv 20; lvii 3, 4), and by the seed of the serpent (Gen. iii 15).
565 1/2. [verse 18] ‘And I stood upon the sand of the sea’ signifies his state now spiritual natural such as it is with those who are in the first or ultimate heaven. That state is signified by ‘the sand of the sea’ because by ‘the sea’ the external of the Church is signified. This state is called spiritual natural because it is with those who are in the first or ultimate heaven. Previously he [John] had been above in heaven, where he saw ‘the dragon’, his fight with Michael, that he was cast down, and that he was pursuing the woman. But now when ‘the dragon’ has been cast down, and there is a continuation concerning him in the things following, John in the spirit has been let down for the purpose of seeing more things concerning ‘the dragon’ beneath the heavens and describing them. In this state he saw the two ‘beasts’ coming up, one out of ‘the sea’ and the other out of ‘the land’. He could not see these out of heaven, since it is not granted to any angel to look out of heaven into lower regions, but if he chooses he is allowed to go down. It should be known that in the spiritual world place corresponds to state, for no one can be anywhere else than where his state of life is, and because John now ‘stood upon the sand of the sea’ it follows that his state was now spiritual natural.
* * * * * * * * * * *
[4] When they came to their companions in the deep and related that the angels said that ‘we do not know any doctrinal truth, not even one’, and that ‘they therefore called us bats and owls’, it caused a riot. And they were saying, ‘Let us pray to the Lord to let us go up and give a clear demonstration that we have many doctrinal truths, which the very archangels will acknowledge.’ And because they were praying to the Lord the favour was granted, and as many as three hundred came up. And when they were seen above ground they said, ‘In the world we were celebrated and famous because we knew and taught the arcana of justification by faith alone, and by virtue of confirmations we not only saw the light but also saw it as a gleaming radiance, even as we do now in our rooms. Yet we have heard from our companions who have been with you that that light was not light but darkness, because of our not having, as you have said, any doctrinal truth out of the Word. We know that every truths of the Word shines, and we believe that our brilliance results from this while we have been meditating deeply upon our arcana. We shall therefore demonstrate that we do have truths out of the Word in great abundance.’ And they said, ‘Do we not have this truth, that there is a Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and that there should be belief in the Trinity? Do we not have this truth, that Christ is our Redeemer and Saviour? Do we not have this truth, that Christ Only is Justice and that He Only is Merit, and that he who is willing to ascribe any of His merit and justice to himself is unjust and wicked? Do we not have this truth, that no mortal can do any spiritual good from himself, but that every good that is good in itself is from God? Do we not have this truth, that there is merit-seeking and also hypocritical good, and that these goods are evil? Do we not have this truth, that a man of his own strength can contribute nothing at all to his salvation? Do we not have this truth, that still the works of charity should be done? Do we not have this truth, that there is faith, and that one should believe, and that everyone has a life as he believes? Besides many other things out of the Word? Which of you can deny any of these things? And yet you Have said that we do not have any truth in our schools, not even one. Have you not been wrong in making such charges against us?’ [5] But then they made the answer, ‘All the things that you have advanced are in themselves truths, but you have falsified them by applying them to confirm a false principle, and consequently with you and in you they are truths falsified, and they derive the fact of being untrue from the false principle. We shall also make an ocular demonstration of this fact. Thieve is a place not far from here into which the light flows directly out of heaven. There in the midst is a table upon which, when any piece of paper is placed with a truth out of the Word written on it, that paper, by virtue of the truth written on it, shines like a star. Write your truths, therefore, on a piece of paper and put it on the table, and you will see. They did so, and gave it to the guardian who put it on the table. He then said to them, ‘Move away and look at the table.’ And they moved away and were looking, and lo! the paper was shining like a star. Then the guardian said, ‘You see that they are truths that you have written on the paper. But draw nearer and fix your gaze on the paper.’ And they did so, and then suddenly the light vanished and the paper became black as if covered with the soot of a furnace. And the keeper said further, ‘Touch the paper with your hands, but be careful not to touch the writing.’ And when they did so a flame burst forth and consumed it. Having seen these things, they fled away; and it was said to them, ‘If you had touched the writings you would have heard a report and burnt your fingers.’ Whereupon it was said by some standing behind, ‘You have now seen that the truths that you have abused for confirming the arcana of your justification are in themselves truths, but in you they are truths falsified.’ They then looked upwards, and the heaven appeared to them like blood, and afterwards like thick-darkness. And they themselves were seen in the sight of angelic spirits, some like bats, some like owls, some like moles and some like horned owls, and they fled away into their own darkness, which in their sight was fatuously shining.
[6] The angelic spirits who were present were astonished because previously they knew nothing of that place and the table there. And a voice then came to them from the southern quarter saying, ‘Come this way, and you will see something still more wonderful.’ And they approached and entered a room the walls of which were shining as of gold, and they saw there also a table upon which lay the Word bound up with precious stones in a heavenly form. And the guardian angel said, ‘When the Word is opened a light of ineffable whiteness shines forth, and then by reason of the precious stones a rainbow appears above and around the Word. Whenever any angel out of the third heaven comes thither and looks at the opened Word the many-coloured rainbow above and around the Word appears on a red ground. When an angel out of the second heaven comes thither and looks the rainbow appears on an azure ground. When an angel out of the ultimate heaven comes and looks the rainbow appears on a white ground. When any good spirit comes and looks the variegation of the light appears like marble.’ That it is so was also shown visibly to them. The guardian angel said further, ‘If one approaches who has falsified the Word the brightness first vanishes, and if he approaches and fixes his gaze on the Word it becomes as if surrounded with blood, and he is then warned to depart because it is dangerous.’ [7] But a certain one, who in the world had been a leading teacher of the doctrine of faith alone, approached boldly and said, ‘When I was in the world I did not falsify the Word. I exalted charity also together with faith, and taught that man, in the state of faith in which he does charity and its works, is renewed, regenerated and sanctified; also that the faith then is not given on its own, that is, without good works, just as there is no tree without fruit, sun without light, or fire without heat. And I have also blamed those who said that good works were not necessary. Moreover I have laid great stress on the precepts of the Decalogue, and also on repentance. And thus in a wonderful manner I have applied all things of the Word to the article on faith, which I have discovered and demonstrated to be still alone saving.’ In the confidence of his assertion that he did not falsify the Word, he approached the table, and contrary to the warning of the angel touched the Word. But then suddenly fire with smoke issued out of the Word and an explosion took place with a tremendous crash, with the result that he was thrown Into a corner of the room and lay there for a while as if dead. The angelic spirits were amazed at this, but they were told that that leader (praesul) had more than others exalted the goods of charity as proceeding from faith, but still he had not understood other than the political works, which are also called moral and civil, that are to be done for the sake of the world and prosperity there, but not any works that are to be done for the sake of God and salvation; also that he had substituted invisible works by the Holy Spirit, of which the man knows nothing, which are innate in the act of faith in the state thereof.
[8] The angelic spirits then had a discussion about the falsification of the Word, in the course of which they agreed that to falsify the Word is to select truths out of the Word and apply them for confirming untruths. This is to draw them out of the Word outside it, and kill them; as, for example, he who selects therefrom this truths, that the neighbour is to be loved, and that good is to be done to him out of love for the sake of God and eternal life. If one then confirms this as obligatory, but not for the sake of salvation, because every good from man is not good, he draws that truth out of the Word outside the Word and slaughters it; for the Lord in His Word enjoins on every man who wishes to be saved, to do good to the neighbour as if from himself, and yet to believe that it is from the Lord.
1. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
2. And the beast that I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet as [the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion; and the dragon gave him his vigour, and his throne, and great authority.
3. And I saw one of his heads as if wounded to death, and the stroke of his death was healed; and the whole land went in admiration after the beast.
4. And they adored the dragon who gave authority to the beast, and they adored the beast, saving, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to fight with him?
5. And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and there was given unto him authority to act for forty-two months.
6. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His Name, and His tabernacle, and those dwelling in heaven.
7. And it was given unto him to wage war with the saints, and to overcome them, and authority was given him over every tribe and tongue and nation.
8. And all dwelling upon the land shall adore him, whose names have not been written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9. If anyone has an ear, let him hear.
10. If anyone leads a captivity, he shall go into captivity; if anyone slays with the sword, he must be slain with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
11. And I saw another beast coming up out of the land, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he was speaking as a dragon.
12. And he exercises all the authority of the former beast in his presence, and causes the land and those dwelling therein to adore the former beast, the stroke of whose death was healed.
13. And he does great signs, so that he also makes fire come down out of heaven into the land in the presence of men.
14. And he leads astray those dwelling upon the land, on account of the signs that were given him to enact in the presence of the beast, telling those dwelling upon the land to make an image to the beast, which has the stroke of the sword and did live.
15. And it was given him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast may both speak and enact, that everyone who does not adore the image of the beast may be slain.
16. And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, that he give them a mark upon their right hand and upon their foreheads.
17. And that no one can buy or sell, if he does not have the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18. Here is wisdom. Let one having intelligence compute the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
In this chapter there is a continuation Concerning the dragon, and the doctrine and faith that are understood by it are described; what it is like with the laity, and afterwards what it is like with the clergy.
By ‘the beast coming up out of the sea’ is described that doctrine and faith with the laity (from vers. 1 to 10);
and by ‘the beast out of the land’ that [doctrine and faith] with the clergy (vers. 11-17);
then concerning the falsification of the truth of the Word by the latter (vers. 18).
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea
signifies the laity in the Churches of the Reformed who are in the doctrine and faith of the dragon concerning God and salvation.
Having seven heads
signifies the insanity resulting from sheer untruths.
And ten horns
signifies great power.
And upon his horns ten diadems
signifies the power of falsifying many truths of the Word.
And upon his heads the name of blasphemy
signifies the denial of the Lord’s Divine Human, and the doctrine of the Church not derived from the Word but hatched out of self-intelligence.
2. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard
signifies a heresy destructive of the Church, because derived from truths of the Word falsified.
And his feet as [the feet] of a bear
signifies full of fallacies derived from the sense of the letter of the Word read but not understood.
And his mouths as the mouth of a lion
signifies reasonings derived from untruths as if from truths.
And the dragon gave him his vigour, and his throne, and great authority
signifies that this heresy is prevalent and reigning through reception by the laity.
3. And I saw one of his heads as if wounded to deaths
signifies that the doctrine of faith alone is not in agreement with the Word, where works are so often commanded.
And the stroke of his death was healed
signifies the healing thereof on account of this.
And the whole land went in admiration after the beast
signifies that then that doctrine and faith was received with joy.
4. And they adored the dragon who gave authority to the beast
signifies the acknowledgment that it is such as has been given by the leaders and teachers, who have caused its prevalence through reception by the community at large.
And they adored the beast
signifies the acknowledgment by the community at large that it is a holy truth (veritas) [that no one can do a good work by himself, nor fulfil the law].
Saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to fight with him?
signifies the superiority of that doctrine, because it cannot be contradicted by anyone.
5. And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies
signifies that it is teaching evils and untruths.
And there was given unto him authority to act for forty-two months
signifies the opportunity for teaching and doing the evils and untruths of that doctrine up to the end of that Church, until the beginning of the New.
6. [And he opened his mouths in blasphemy against God, and His Name
signifies their sayings, which are scandals against the Lord’s Divine Itself and Divine Human, and at the same the against everything of the Church derived from the Word, by means of which the Lord is worshipped.]
And His tabernacle and those dwelling in heaven
signifies scandals against the Lord’s celestial Church and against heaven.
7 And it was given unto him to wage war with the saints and to overcome them
signifies that they have fought against the Divine truths of the Word and overthrown them.
And authority was given him over every tribe and tongue and nation
signifies consequent dominion over all things of the Church both those of its doctrine and those of its life.
8. And all dwelling upon the land shall adore him, whose names have not been written in the book of life of the Lamb
signifies that all have acknowledged that heretical [doctrine] as a holy thing of the Church, except those who have believed in the Lord.
Slain from the foundation of the world
signifies the Lord’s Divine Human not acknowledged from the setting up of the Church.
9. If anyone has an ear, let him hear
signifies that those who wish to be wise pay attention to these things.
10. If anyone leads a captivity he shall go into captivity
signifies that he who by means of this heretical [doctrine] leads others away from believing well and living well is led away by his own evils and untruths into hell.
If anyone slays with the sword, he must be slain with the sword
signifies that he who by means of untruths has destroyed the soul of another is destroyed by untruths and perishes.
[Here is the patience and faith of the saints
signifies that the man of the Lord’s New Church by means of temptations from those [untruths and evils] is examined as to the quality of his life and faith.]
And I saw another beast coming up out of the land
signifies the clergy who are in the doctrine and faith of the dragon concerning God and salvation.
And he had two horns like a Lamb, and he was speaking as a dragon
signifies that they speak, teach and write out of the Word as if it were the Lord’s Divine Truth, but still it is truths falsified.
12. And he exercises all the authority of the former beast in his presence
signifies that they have confirmed the dogmas and by this are influential.
And causes the land and those dwelling in it to adore the former beast, the stroke of whose deaths was healed
signifies that as a result of the confirmations it has been established that what has been received by the community at large should be acknowledged as a holy thing of the Church.
13. And he does great signs
signifies testifications that the things that they teach are true, although they are untrue.
So that he also makes fire come down out of heaven into the land in the presence of men
signifies attestations that their untruths are true.
14. And he leads astray those dwelling upon the land on account of the signs that were given him to enact in the presence of the beast
signifies that by testifications and attestations they lead the men of the Church into errors.
Telling those dwelling upon the land to make an image to the beast, which has the stroke of the sword and did live
signifies that they induce the men of the Church to receive as a doctrine, that faith is the one and only means of salvation, for the reasons stated.
15. And it was given him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast may both speak
signifies that it was permitted them to confirm that doctrine by means of the Word, whereby it is taught as if made alive.
And enact that everyone who does not adore the image of the beast may be slain
signifies that they pronounce damnation upon those who do not acknowledge the doctrine of their faith as a holy doctrine of the Church.
16. And he causes all the small and the great and the rich and the poor and the free and the bond
signifies all in that Church of whatever condition, learning, and intelligence they are.
That he give them a mark upon their right hand and upon their foreheads
signifies that no one is acknowledged as a Reformed Christian unless he receives that doctrine in faith and love.
17. And that no one can buy or sell if he does not have the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name
signifies that no one is allowed to teach out of the Word unless he acknowledges that [doctrine], and swears to a faith and love of it, or to something that agrees with it.
18. Here is wisdom
signifies that it is the part of a wise man, in consequence of the things that have been stated and expounded in this chapter, to see and understand what the doctrine and faith with the clergy is like concerning God and salvation.
Let one having intelligence compute the number of the beast
signifies that he who is in enlightenment from the Lord is able to recognise what the confirmation of that doctrine and faith out of the Word is like with them.
For it is the number of a man
signifies the quality of the Word and consequently of the Church.
His number is six hundred and sixty-six
signifies this quality, that every truth of the Word has been falsified by them.
THE EXPOSITION
[verse 1] ‘And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea’ signifies the laity in the Churches of the Reformed who are in the doctrine and faith of the dragon concerning God and salvation. What the faith of the dragon is, and what it is like, may be seen (n. 537). In this chapter there is a continuation concerning the same faith; and by this ‘ beast’, which was seen to come up out of the sea’, is understood that faith with the laity, but by ‘the beast out of the land’, mentioned in verse 11, is understood that faith with the clergy. That there is a continuation here concerning ‘the dragons’ is plain from these things in this chapter:-
That the dragon gave the beast coming up out of the sea his vigour, and throne, and great authority (verse 2). And that they adored the dragon who gave authority to the beast (verse 4).
And of the beast out of the land, that he spoke like the dragon (verse 11).
And that he exercised all the authority of the former beast in the presence of the dragon (verse 12).
The reason why the laity are understood by ‘the beast out of the sea’ and the clergy by ‘the beast out of the land’ is because by ‘the sea’ is signified the external of the Church and by ‘the land’ its internal (n. 398, and elsewhere), and the laity are in the external things of the doctrine of the Church, while the clergy are in the internal things thereof. Therefore also ‘the beast out of the land’ in the things following is called ‘the false prophet’. They are [the clergy and the laity who are in the Churches of the Reformed, because it treats of the Reformed as far as chapter xvi inclusive, and of the Roman Catholics in chapters xvii and xviii, and afterwards of the last judgment, and then and not till then of the New Church. [2] They were seen as ‘beasts’ because a dragon is a beast, and because ‘a beast’ in the Word signifies a man as to his affections, harmless and useful beasts signifying him as to good affections, and hurtful and useless beasts as to evil affections. On this account the men of the Church in general are termed ‘sheep’, and an assembly of them ‘a flock’, and one teaching is called a shepherd (pastor). This also is why the Word as to its power, affection, understanding and wisdom is described above by the ‘four animals’, which were ‘a lion, a calf, an eagle and a man’ (chap. iv), and that the understanding of the Word is described by ‘horses’ (chap. vi). This is because a man’s affections in the spiritual world appear from afar off as beasts, as has often been said before, and beasts regarded in themselves are nothing but the forms of natural affections, whereas men are not only forms of natural, but also at the same time of spiritual, affections.
[3] That men as to affections are understood by ‘beasts’ can be established from the following passages:-
Thou makest* a rain of kindnesses to drop, Thou shalt confirm Thy labouring inheritance, the beast of Thine assembly shall dwell therein Ps. lxxiii 9, 10 [H.B. 10, 11].
Every wild beast of the forest is Mine, the beasts on a thousand mountains, I know every bird of the mountains, the beasts of My fields are Mine
Ps. l 10.
Asshur is a cedar in Lebanon, he has become of high stature, in his branches all the birds of the heavens have made their nests, and under his branches all the beasts of the held have brought forth, and in his shade all the great nations have dwelt Ezek. xxxi 3-6, 10, 13; Dan. iv 10-16 [H.B. 7-13].
I will make a covenant with them in that day with the beast of the field and within the bird of the heavens, and I will betroth thee unto Me to eternity Hosea ii 18, 19.
Rejoice and be glad, be not afraid O beasts of My fields, for the habitations of the wilderness have become full of vegetation Joel ii 21-23.
In that day there shall be a great tumult, Judah shall fight against Jerusalem, and there shall be a plague of horse, mule, camel, and every beast; therefore shall every one that is left go up to Jerusalem Zech. xiv 13-16.
They shall regard him as a bird of ill omen (abominabuntur eum avis), and every beast of the land shall condemn him Isa. xviii 6.
Thou, son of man, say to the bird of every wing, and to every beast of the field, Gather yourselves to My sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel; thus will I give My glory among the nations Ezek. xxxix 17-21.
Jehovah gathers the outcasts of Israel. All you beasts of My fields, come
Isa. lvi 8, 9.
Jehovah will destroy Asshur, every wild beast of the nation shall rest in the midst thereof; both the cormorant and the bittern in its pomegranates Zeph. ii 13, 14.
The sheep are scattered without a shepherd, and are food for every wild beast of the field Ezek. xxxiv 5, 8.
I will cast thee forth upon the faces of the field, and will make every bird of the heavens abide upon thee, and out of thee I will satisfy every wild beast of the land Ezek. xxxii 4; also v 17; xxix 5; xxxiii 27; xxxiv 5, 8; xxxix 4; Jer. xv 3; xvi 4; xix 7.
An enemy reproaches Jehovah; O give not the soul of the turtle-dove to the beast Ps. lxxiv 18, 19.
I saw in a vision four beasts coming up out of the sea, the first was like a lion and had eagle’s wings, the second like a bear, the third like a leopard, and the fourth was terrible Dan. vii 2-7.
The spirit driving Jesus made Him go into the wilderness, and He was with beasts, and angels were ministering unto Him Mark i 12, 13
[4] not that He was with beasts, but with the devils who are understood by ‘beasts’ here; besides in other places where ‘beasts and ‘wild beasts’ are named, as Isa. xxxv 9; xliii 20; Jer. xii 4, 8-10; Ezek. viii 10; xxxiv 23, 25, 28; xxxviii 18-20; Hosea iv 2, 3; xiii 8; Joel i 16, 18, 20; Hab. ii 17; Dan. ii 37, 38; Ps. viii 6-8 [H.B. 7-9]; Ps. lxxx 13 [H.B. 14]; Ps. civ 10, 11, 14, 20, 25; Ps. cxlviii 7, 10; Exod. xxiii 28-30; Lev. xxvi 6; Deut. vii 22; xxxii 24. In these places by ‘beasts’ men are signified as to the affections. [5] By ‘man and beast’ together is signified man as to spiritual affection and natural affection in the following places: Jer. vii 20; xxi 6; xxvii 5; xxxi 27; xxxii 43; xxxiii 10-12; xxxvi 29; l 3; Ezek. xiv 13, 17, 19; xxv 13; xxxii 13; xxxvi 11; Zeph. i 2, 3; Zech. ii 3, 4 [H.B. 7, 8]; viii 9, 10; Jonah iii 7, 8; Ps. xxxvi 6 [H.B. 7]; Num. xviii 15. By all the beasts that were sacrificed good affections were signified; likewise by the beasts which were eaten; but the contrary by the beasts that were not eaten (Lev. xx 25, 26).
* Reading facis (thou makest), as in Hebrew, instead of faciam (I will make). AC 246, AE 388, 650, have facis; but Coronis 3 has faciam.
568. ‘Having seven heads’ signifies the insanity resulting from sheer untruths, in like manner as by the ‘seven heads’ of the dragon (n. 538).
569. ‘And ten horns’ signifies great power, the same as by the ‘horns’ of the dragon, which also were ‘ten’ (n. 539).
570. ‘And upon his horns ten diadems’ signifies the power of falsifying many truths of the Word. By ‘horns’ power is signified (n. 539); by ‘ten’ is signified much (n. 101); and by ‘diadems’ are signified the truths of the Word falsified (n. 540). Consequently, by ‘upon his horns ten diadems’ is signified to have the power to falsify many truths of the Word. It is said of the dragon that ‘upon his heads’ he had ‘seven diadems’, but of this beast that ‘upon his horns’ he had ‘ten diadems’. This is because here it signifies the power of falsifying many truths of the Word, but there the falsification of them all; for the laity are able [to falsify them all] but do not do so; for those who are in untruths and in the faith pertaining to them are against truths, and therefore while they are seeing truths in the Word they are falsifying them.
571. ‘And upon his heads the name of blasphemy’ signifies the denial of the Lord’s Divine Human, and the doctrine of the Church not derived from the Word but hatched out of self-intelligence. By ‘seven heads’ is signified the insanity resulting from sheer untruths, as above (n. 568); and this insanity is speaking blasphemy so long as it is denying the Lord’s Divine in His Human, and so long as it is not selecting the doctrine of the Church out of the Word but is hatching it out of self-intelligence. In regard to the FIRST, that it is blasphemy to deny the Lord’s Divine in His Human, this is because he who denies it is going against the faith received in the whole of Christendom, which is called Athanasian, where it is openly said that in Jesus Christ God and Man, that is, the Divine and the Human, are not two but one, and that they are one Person, united as soul and body. Those therefore who deny the Divine in His Human are not far from the Socinians and Arians. Certainly this is the case when they are thinking of the Lord’s Only Human as the human of another man, and not at all then of His Divine from what is eternal. [2] As regards the SECOND, that it is blasphemy not to select the doctrine of the Church out of the Word but to hatch it out of self-intelligence, this is because the Church is derived from the Word and is qualified by the understanding it has of the Word, [as] may be seen [in] THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 76-79). Also, the doctrine that faith alone, that is, faith without the works of the law, justifies and saves is not derived from the Word but from a single saying of Paul (Rom. iii 28) misunderstood, [as] may be seen (n. 417); and every untruths of doctrine derives its origin from no other source than self-intelligence. For what is more universally taught in the Word than to flee from evils and do goods? and what is more evident there than that God is to be loved, and the neighbour also? And who does not see that no one can love the neighbour unless he is living in accordance with the works of the law? And he who does not love his neighbour does not love God, for in love of the neighbour the Lord conjoins Himself with a man and the man conjoins himself with the Lord, that is, the Lord and the man are together in that love. And what is loving the neighbour but not doing him evil in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue (Rom. xiii 8-11)? And in so far as a man is not willing to do evil to the neighbour, so far he is willing to do him good. In consequence of these things it is plain that it is blasphemy to exclude the works of the law from salvation, as those do who make faith alone, which is a faith separated from the goods of charity, the sole means of salvation. By ‘blasphemy’ (Matt. xii 31, 32; Rev. xvii 3; Isa. xxxvii 6, 7, 23, 24) is understood to deny the Lord’s Divine, as the Socinians do, and to deny the Word; for he who so denies the Lord’s Divine cannot enter heaven, for the Lord’s Divine is the all in all of heaven and he who denies the Word denies all things of religion.
572. [verse 2] ‘And the beast that I saw was like a leopard’ signifies a heresy destructive of the Church because derived from truths of the Word falsified. By ‘beasts’ in general are signified men as to affections (n. 567), and by ‘a leopard’ is signified the affection or lust of falsifying the truths of the Word; and because it is a ferocious beast and slaughters harmless animals it signifies also a heresy destructive of the Church. That falsified truths of the Word are signified by ‘a leopard’ is because of its black and white spots, and by the black spots are signified untruths, and by the white among them is signified truth. Consequently, because it is a ferocious and savage beast, truths of the Word falsified and thus destroyed are signified by it. Similar things are signified by ‘leopard’ in the following passages:-
Shall the Ethiopian change his skin, and the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good who have been taught to do evil Jer. xiii 23.
The lion out of the forest has smitten the magnates, the wolf of the fields shall devastate them, the leopard watching against their cities, everyone who goes out shall be torn to pieces, because the back-slidings have become strong Jer. v 6.
‘The leopard watching against the cities’ is against the truths of doctrine, a ‘city’ being doctrine (n. 194).
Because they have forgotten Me, therefore I have become unto them as a lion, and as a leopard upon the war will I watch them Hosea xiii 5-7.
A ‘way’ also signifies truth (n. 176).
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard with the kid Isa. xi 5, 6.
It treats there of the Lord’s kingdom about to come, ‘the kid’ is the genuine truth of the Church, ‘the leopard’ is the same falsified.
The third beast coming up out of the sea was like a leopard, which had four wings upon its back Dan. vii 6.
Concerning the four beasts seen by Daniel, n. 574 below may be seen.
A bear lying in wait for Me has overturned My paths, a lion in hidden places has turned aside My ways, he has made Me desolate Lam. iii 8-11.
I will meet them as a bereaved bear, and there will I devour them like a huge lion, the wild beast of the field shall tear them Hosea xiii 7, 8.
The calf and the young lion shall lie down, and the heifer and the bear shall feed Isa. xi 6, 7.
A second beast coming up out of the sea like to a bear, and three ribs in its mouths between the teeth Dan. vii 5.
A like thing is signified by:-
The lion and the bear, which David smote, grasping its beard 1 Sam. xvii 34-37; likewise 2 Sam. xvii 8.
[2] The ‘lion’ and ‘bear’ are mentioned in those places because by a ‘lion’ is signified untruth destroying the truths of the Word, and by a ‘bear’ fallacies are signified, which also destroy but not to such an extent, and it is therefore said in Amos:-
The day of Jehovah, a day of darkness and not light, is as if one who is fleeing from a lion comes upon a bear Amos v 18, 19.
We read in the second book of the Kings:-
That Elisha was mocked by boys, and said to be bald, and that therefore 42 boys were torn to pieces by two bears out of the forest 2 Kings ii 23, 24.
This took place because Elisha was representing the Lord as to the Word (n. 298); and because the ‘baldness’ signified the Word without the sense of the letter, thus not anything (n. 47), and the number ‘forty-two’ blasphemy (n. 583); and ‘the bears’ were signifying the sense of the letter of the Word read indeed but not understood.
574. ‘And his mouth as the mouth of a lion’ signifies reasonings derived from untruths as if from truths. By ‘mouth’ is signified doctrine, preaching, and discussion (n. 452), here the reasoning derived from untruths of doctrine, because by the ‘head’, where the mouth is, is signified the insanity resulting from sheer untruths (n. 568). By ‘a lion’ is signified Divine Truth us power (n. 241, 471), but here untruth in power appearing as truth by reasonings (n. 573). Consequently by ‘his mouth as the mouth of a lion’ is signified reasonings derived from untruths as if from truths. That ‘a leopard’, ‘a bear’ and ‘a lion’ signify such things can be established from the similar beasts seen by Daniel, of which [it is written] thus:-
Four great beasts came up out of the sea, the first was like a lion, but had eagle’s wings. I beheld until the wings thereof were plucked off, and it was lifted up off the ground and set upon its feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. The second beast was like a bear and it raised itself up on one side, [there were] three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was said, Arise, devour much flesh. The third beast was like a leopard, which had upon its back four wings as of birds, the beast had also four heads, and dominion was given to it. The fourth beast was terrible and dreadful and exceedingly strong, it had great iron teeth, it devoured and pulverised, and trampled the residue with its feet Dan. vii 3-7.
[2] By these four ‘beasts’ are described the successive states of the Church from its first to its last, even until every good and truth of the Word has been utterly devastated; after which [there is] the Lord’s coming. By the LION is signified the Divine Truths of the Word in its first state, and thereby the setting up of the Church, which is understood by being ‘lifted up off the ground and set up upon the feet like a man and a man’s heart being given to it’. By the BEAR the second state of the Church is described, which is that the Word is indeed read but is not understood. By the ‘three ribs between the teeth’ are signified appearances and fallacies, and by ‘much flesh’ is signified the sense of the letter of the Word as a whole. The third state of the Church is described by the LEOPARD, by which is signified the Word falsified as to its truths; by the ‘four wings upon its back as of birds’ are signified confirmations of untruth. The FOURTH or last state of the Church is described by the BEAST that was ‘terrible and dreadful’, by which is signified the destruction of everything good and true, and it is therefore said that ‘it pulverised and devoured, and trampled the residue with its feet’. Lastly the Lord’s coming is described, and the destruction then of that Church and the setting up of the New one (from vers. 9 to the end). [3] By Daniel these four beasts were seen to come up out of the sea in succession, but by John the first three beasts were seen united in one body, also ‘out of the sea’. This is because in the case of Daniel the successive states of the Church are described by means of them, but here in the Apocalypse is described its last state in which all the former states exist together. And because this beast was seen like a leopard as to the body, and like a bear as to the feet, and as to the mouth like a lion, by ‘leopard’ and ‘bear’ in both cases entirely similar things are signified; and by ‘a mouth like that of a lion’ reasonings derived from untruths are signified, because it follows on that ‘the beast spoke blasphemies out of his mouth’ (vers. 5, 6), and by his ‘heads’ are signified the insanity resulting from sheer untruths.
575. ‘And the dragon gave him his vigour and his throne, and great authority’ signifies that the heresy is prevalent and reigning through reception by the laity. By the dragon is signified the heresy of which n. 537 treats. By this ‘beast’ the laity are signified (n. 567), who do not speak on their own account but from their teachers, and because they constitute the people it is plain that by virtue of reception by them that heresy is prevalent and reigning. It is this, therefore, that is signified by the ‘vigour’, ‘throne’ and ‘great authority’ which the dragon gave to the beast, and by these following [words], ‘And they adored the dragon who gave authority to the beast’ (vers. 4). The dragon prevails and reigns through them especially by means of this dogma of their religion: ‘That the understanding is to be suppressed under obedience to faith; and that it is a faith that is not understood; and that in matters spiritual that are understood faith in a thing is an intellectual faith, which is not justifying.’ When these things are prevalent with the laity, the clergy have authority, veneration, and a sort of adoration for the sake of the Divine things which [the laity] suppose that they know, and which are to be absorbed out of their mouths. By ‘vigour’ is signified worth, by ‘throne’ government, and by ‘great authority’ dominion.
576. [verse 3] ‘And I saw one of his heads as if wounded to death’ signifies that this point of doctrine, which is the head of all the rest, that a man is justified and saved through faith alone without the works of the law, is not in agreement with the Word, where works are so often commanded. By ‘one of his heads’ is signified the principal and fundamental point of the whole of the doctrine of the Church of the Reformed; for the beast had ‘seven heads’, by which the insanity resulting from sheer untruths is signified (n. 568), thus also all untruths in the aggregate; for by ‘seven’ in the Word all are signified (n. 10, 390). And because all the untruths of their doctrine concerning salvation depend upon this one, ‘that a man is justified and saved by faith alone without the works of the law’, it is this that is signified here by ‘one of the beast’s heads’. By its being ‘as if wounded to death’ is signified that it is not in agreement with the Word, where works are so often commanded; for every doctrine of the Church that is not in agreement with the Word is not sound, but sick with a deadly disease; for out of the Word, and from no other source, will the doctrine of the Church be.
577. ‘And the stroke of his death was healed’ signifies the healing of that head of doctrine by these [reasonings], that no one can do a good work from himself and fulfil the law, and that on account of this there has been another means of salvation provided in place of it, which is faith in the justice and merit of Christ, who suffered for men and thereby lay under the damnation of the law. That this is a healing of ‘the wounded head’, and has also been applied, is known, when by ‘the wounded head’ is understood that which precedes (n. 576); and therefore there is no need for it to be expounded further.
578. ‘And the whole land went in admiration after the beast’ signifies that that faith was received with joy, and became the doctrine of the whole Church, because they would not be slaves under the law but freemen under faith. ‘And it went in admiration’ signifies admiration that the stroke of deaths was healed’, and the consequent reception with joy. By ‘the whole land’ is signified the whole Church of the Reformed, for ‘the land’ is the Church (n. 285). And therefore by ‘the whole land went in admiration after the beast’ is signified that that faith was received with joy and became the doctrine of the whole Church. The joy in which it is received is because thus they would not be slaves under the law but freemen under faith, they being unaware that [the truth] is quite the opposite, namely that they who believe themselves to be freemen under faith, or as a result of that faith or by means of that faith, are slaves under sin, that is, under the devil, for sin and the devil are one and the same. For they thus believe that the law does not impose damnation, thus they believe that to sin without the law’s damnation is freedom, if only they have faith: when yet this is slavery itself. But while a man is fleeing from sin, that is, the devil, from being a slave he becomes free.
[2] To these things I will add this MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE. I spoke with some doctors of the Church in the world of spirits about what they understand by ‘the works of the law’, and by ‘the law’, under the yoke, servitude and damnation of which they say they are not. They were saying that they were the works of the law of the Decalogue. And I then said, ‘What does the Decalogue decree? Are they not these things, Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit whoredom, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness? Are these the works of the law that are separated from faith by saying that faith alone without the works of the law justifies and saves, and are these what Christ made satisfaction for?’ And they replied that they are. Whereupon a voice out of heaven was heard saying, ‘Who can be so insane?’ And instantly their faces were turned towards some diabolical spirits, among whom was Machiavelli and many of the Jesuitical order, who permitted all these things provided they were careful about the laws of the world, and they would have been conjoined with one another, had not a society been interposed which was separating them.
It is said that ‘the whole land went in admiration after the beast’: that ‘after’ it means to follow it and obey it is plains from these [words]:-
David has kept My commandments and walked after Me with all his heart 1 Kings xiv 8.
The suns of Jesse* were going after Saul to the war 1 Sam. xvii 13.
Thou shalt not go after many to evils; thou shalt not answer in a dispute after many to pervert Exod. xxiii 2.
Thou shalt not go after other gods, whom thou hast not known Jer. vii 9.
They went after other gods to serve them Jer. xi 10; Deut. viii 19.
The men who went after Baalpeor, Jehovah will destroy Deut. iv 3.
* The Original Edition has Israelis (Israel).
579. [verse 4] ‘And they adored the dragon, who gave authority to the beast’ signifies the acknowledgment of the doctrine of justification by faith without the works of the law by the leaders and teachers, who have caused its prevalence through reception by the community at large. By ‘to adore’ is signified to acknowledge as a holy thing of the Church; by ‘the dragon’ is signified the doctrine of justification and salvation by faith alone without the works of the law (n. 537); by this ‘beast’ is signified the community at large, because it signifies the laity (n. 567); by ‘to give authority’ is signified to cause its prevalence through reception by these (n. 575).
580. ‘And they adored the beast’ signifies the acknowledgment by the community at large that it is a holy truth (veritas) that no one can do a good work by himself, nor fulfil the law. By ‘to adore’ is signified to acknowledge as a holy thing of the Church, as just above (n. 579), here that it is a holy truth (veritas) that no one can do a good work by himself, and fulfil the law; and because these two are [considered as] holy truths, it follows that the works of the law are to be removed from faith, as not effecting salvation. But that these truths together with many others have been falsified may be seen above (n. 566). By ‘the beast’ here is signified the same as by ‘the dragon’, on account of reception and acknowledgment; and it is therefore said that ‘they adored the dragon’ and ‘they adored the beast’.
581. ‘Saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to fight with him?’ signifies the superiority of that doctrine over all others, because it cannot be contradicted by anyone. ‘Who is like unto the beast?’ signifies the supposition of the superiority of that Church, by virtue of its doctrine over all others. By ‘the beast’ is signified the community at large, thus the Church, and abstractly its doctrine. ‘Who is able to fight with him?’ signifies who can contradict the fact that a man cannot do any spiritual good by himself, besides more, of which above (n. 566), and because this cannot be contradicted, are we not saved by faith without the works of the law? But that this conclusion is absurd, indeed us itself insane, can be seen by any one who knows anything and is wise out of the Word. ‘Who is able to fight with him?’ also signifies that that doctrine has been confirmed by the leaders, and the teachers after them, by means of such ingenious and subtle arguments, and thus fortified so that it cannot be assailed.
582. [verse 5] ‘And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies’ signifies that it is teaching evils and untruths. By ‘a mouth speaking’ is signified doctrine, preaching and discussion (n. 452); by ‘speaking great things and blasphemies’ is signified to teach evils and untruths; for ‘great’ is predicated of good, and in the opposite sense of evil (n. 656, 663, 896, 898), and by ‘blasphemies’ are signified truths of the Word falsified, thus untruths. What is here specifically signified by ‘blasphemies’ may be seen above (n. 571). The reason why it teaches evils is because it removes the works of the law, thus the doing of them, from salvation, and by who does this is in spiritual evils, which are sins.
583. ‘And there was given unto him authority to act for forty-two months’ signifies the opportunity for teaching and doing the evils and untruths of that doctrine up to the end of that Church, until the beginning of the New. By ‘there was given unto him authority to act’ is signified authority ‘to speak great things and blasphemies’, that is to teach and do evils and untruths, of which just above (n. 582). By ‘forty-two months’ is signified to the end of the former Church and the beginning of the New, as above (n. 489); the same as is signified by ‘three days and a half’ (n. 505), and by ‘a time, times and half a time’ (n. 562), also the same as by ‘a thousand two hundred and sixty’ [days] (n. 491), because forty-two months make three years and a half.
584. [verse 6] ‘And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God and His Name’ signifies their sayings, which are scandals against the Lord’s Divine Itself and Divine Human, and at the same the against everything of the Church derived from the Word, by means of which the Lord is worshipped. ‘He opened his mouth in blasphemies’ signifies the sayings, which are false-speaking. By ‘mouth’ is signified doctrine, preaching, and discussion (n. 452), consequently by ‘to open the mouth’ is signified to utter them; and ‘blasphemies’ signify falsifications of the Word, and more things, as above (n. 571, 582), here indeed scandals, because it follows on ‘against God and His Name’. By ‘God’ is signified the Lord’s Divine, as often elsewhere in the Apocalypse; and by ‘His Name’ is signified everything by means of which He is worshipped, also the Word because worship is in accordance therewith (n. 81). That by ‘the Name’ of Jehovah or of God is signified the Lord’s Divine Human and at the same the time Word, also everything by means of which He is worshipped, can be further established from these passages:-
Jesus said, Father glorify Thy Name, and there came a voice out of heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again John xii 28.
Jesus said, I have made Thy Name manifest to men, and I have made Thy Name known to them John xvii 26.
Whatsoever you ask in My Name, this will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in My Name, I will do it John xiv 13, 14.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; as many as have received, He has given them the power to be sons of God, believing in His Name; and the Word was made flesh John i 1, 12, 14.
Jesus said, He who does not believe in Him has been judged already, because he has not believed in the Name of the Only-begotten Son of God John iii 18.
By ‘the Name of Jehovah God that is not to be profaned’ in the second precept of the Decalogue, and by ‘the Name of the Father that is to be hallowed’ in the Lord’s Prayer, nothing else is understood.
Jehovah, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle, who shall dwell in the mountain of Thy holiness? He who walks blameless, does justice, and speaks the truth (veritas) Ps. xv 1, 2.
Jehovah shall hide me away in His tent, He shall conceal me in the secret of His tabernacle, He shall exalt me Ps. xxvii 4, 5.
I will stay in Thy tabernacle for ever Ps. lxi 4 [H.B. 5].
Look upon Zion, thine eyes shall see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be destroyed Isa. xxxiii 20.
Jehovah Who spreads out the heavens as a tabernacle to dwell in Isa. xl 22.
Thou hast made Jehovah the Most High thy dwelling, no plague shall come nigh thy tabernacle Ps. xci 9, 10.
Jehovah has set His tabernacle in their midst, He is going to walk in the midst of them Lev. xxvi 11, 12.
Jehovah forsook the tent of Shiloh, the tabernacle in which He dwelt among men Ps. lxxviii 60.
I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them Rev. xxi 3.
My tabernacle has been devastated Jer. iv 20; x 20.
He shall pluck thee out of the tabernacle, and root thee out of the land of the living Ps. lii 5 [H.B. 7];
besides elsewhere, as Isa. xvi 5; liv 2; Jer. xxx 18; Lam. ii 4; Hosea ix 6; xii 9; Zech. xii 7.
[3] Since the Most Ancient Church, which was a celestial Church because in love directed to the Lord, and consequently in conjunction with Him, used to hold holy worship in TABERNACLES, therefore by the Lord’s command the TABERNACLE was set up by Moses, in which all things of heaven and the Church were represented. This was so holy that no one was allowed to enter it except Moses, Aaron and his sons, and if one of the people did so he would die (Num. xvii 12, 13 [H.B. 27, 28]; xxiii 1, 22, 23; xix 14-19). Inmostly therein was the ark, in which were two tables, those of the Decalogue. Over this were the propitiatory and the cherubs; and, outside the veil therein, the table upon which were the bread of faces, the altar of incense, and the lampstand with seven lamps, which were all representatives of heavens and the Church. It is described (Exod. xxvi 7-16; xxxvi 8-37); and it is recorded that the pattern (forma) thereof was shown to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exod. xxv 9; xxvi 30); and whatever is given to be seen out of heaven, the same is representative of heaven and consequently of the Church. In remembrance of the holy worship of the Lord by the most ancient people in tabernacles, and of conjunction with Him through love, the FEAST OF TABERNACLES was decreed, as mentioned in Lev. xxiii 39-44; Deut. xvi 13, 14; Zech xiv 16, 18, 19.
The fourth beast coming up out of the sea, which had a mouth speaking great things, waged war with the saints and prevailed Dan. vii 21;
also by these there:-
The he-goat of the she-goats ran at the ram, cast him to the ground, stamped upon him; and he lifted himself up against the Prince of the army, and the habitation of His sanctuary was cast down, and he cast down the truth (veritas) to the ground Dan. viii 5-7; 11, 12.
That by ‘the he-goat of the she-goats’ is understood a faith separated from charity may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING FAITH (n. 61-68). Similar things are understood by these [words]:-
A king shall arise, hard-faced, understanding subtle things, he shall destroy the mighty, and the people of the holy ones, and he shall rise up against the Prince of princes, and fraud is going to succeed favourably in his hand Dan. viii 23-25.
That this ‘king’ is ‘the he-goat of the she-goats’ is said there (verse 21). The like is also signified by:-
The beast coming up out of the deep, that made war with the two witnesses and overcame them and killed them Rev. xi 7 (n. 500).
They overcame, because the laity do not see their subtleties which they call mysteries (arcana), for they wrap them up in appearances and fallacies; and therefore they said, ‘Who is like unto the beast? who is able to fight with him?’ (verse 4, n. 579-581).
[2] That by ‘the saints’ are understood those who are in truths from the Lord by means of the Word can be established from the passages quoted above (n. 173), and from these as well:-
Jesus said, Father, sanctify them in Thy truth (veritas), Thy Word is the Truth (veritas): I sanctify Myself that they also may be sanctified in the Truth, I in them and Thou in Me John xvii 17, 19, 23.
Jehovah came out of Sinai, He came out of the myriads of holiness, from the right hand of the fire of the law for them, all His saints are in thy hand; He shall accept of thy words Deut. xxxiii 2, 3,
from which it is plain that they are termed ‘saints’ who are in Divine truths from the Lord by means of the Word. It is also plain that ‘they who live in accordance with the precepts’, that is, the truths of the Word, ‘were the saints of Jehovah’ (Lev. xix 2; Deut. xxvi 18, 19); and ‘if they would keep the covenant they would be a holy nation’ (Exod. xix 5, 6). The Decalogue is the covenant that they should keep [as may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE FOR THE NEW JERUSALEM DERIVED FROM THE PRECEPTS OF THE DECALOGUE] (n. 53-60). This was why the place in the tabernacle where the ark was, in which was the Decalogue, was called the Holy of Holies (Exod. xxvi 33, 34). [3] They are termed ‘saints’ who live in accordance with the truths of the Word, not that they are holy, but that the truths in them are holy, and these are holy when they are in them from the Lord, and the Lord is in them with the truths of His Word (John xv 7). By virtue of Truths from the Lord angels are termed holy (Matt. xxv 31 Luke ix 26); the prophets likewise (Luke i 70; Rev. xviii 20; xxii 6); and the apostles (Rev. xviii 20). For the same reason the temple is termed the temple of holiness (Ps. v 7 [H.B. 8]; lxv 4 [H.B. 5]; and Zion the mountain of holiness (Isa. lxv 11; Jer. xxxi 23; Ezek. xx 40; Ps. ii 6; iii 4 [H.B. 5]; xv 1). Jerusalem is termed the holy city (Isa. xlviii 2; lxiv 10; Rev. xxi 2, 10; Matt. xxvii 53). The Church is termed the people of saints (Isa. lxii 12; lxiii 18; Ps. cxlix 1); and also the kingdom of saints (Dan. vii 18, 22, 27). The reason they are called ‘saints’ [or ‘holy’] is because ‘angels’ in an abstract sense signify Divine Truths from the Lord; ‘the Prophets’ Truths of doctrine; ‘the Apostles’ Truths of the Church; ‘the temple’ heaven and the Church as to Divine Truths; and in like manner ‘Zion’, ‘Jerusalem’, ‘the people’ and ‘the kingdom of God’. That no one is holy from himself, not even the angels, may be seen (Job xv 14, 15); but [one can be holy] from the Lord, because the Lord is the ‘Only Holy’ (Rev. xv 4; n. 173).
587. ‘And authority was given him over every tribe and tongue and nation’ signifies consequent dominion over all things of the Church, both those of its doctrine and those of its life. By ‘authority’ is signified dominion as above (n. 575); by ‘tribe’ is signified the Church as to its truths and goods, and in the opposite sense as to its untruths and evils (n. 27, 349); by ‘tongue’ is signified its doctrine (n. 282, 483); and by ‘nation’ is signified a life in accordance with that doctrine (n. 483).
589. ‘Slain from the foundation of the world’ signifies the Lord’s Divine Human not acknowledged from the setting up of the Church. That by ‘the Lamb slain’ is signified that the Lord’s Divine Human has not been acknowledged may be seen above (n. 59, 269) where these words are expounded:-
I am the First and the Last, and am the Living One, and was put to death, and behold I am the Living One for ages of ages Rev. i 17, 18;
also this:-
And I saw, and behold in the midst of the throne a Lamb standing as if slain; and they were singing a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, because Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God Rev. x 6, 9.
‘From the foundation of the world’ signifies from the setting up of the Church, both the Jewish and the Christian. That the Jews did not acknowledge the Lord’s Divine Human is known. That the Roman Catholics do not is also known and that neither do the Reformed may be seen above (n. 294). By ‘the foundation of the world’ is not here understood the creation of the world, but the setting up of the Church, for by ‘the world (mundus) in the broadest sense is understood the whole world, and the good as well as the evil there, and sometimes the evil only; but in a less wide sense by ‘the world’ is understood the same as by ‘world’ (orbis) and by ‘land’ (terra), thus the Church. That the Church is signified by ‘world’ (orbis) may be seen (n. 551); also by ‘land’ (terra) (n. 285). That by ‘to found the world and the land’ is signified to set up a Church, and by the ‘founding’ and ‘foundation’ thereof the setting up is signified, can be established from Isa. xxiv 18; xl 21; xlviii 12, 13; li 13, 16; lviii 12; Jer. xxxi 37; Micah xi 1, 2; Zech. xii 1; Ps. xviii 7, 15 [H.B. 8, 16]; xxiv 2, 3; lxxxii 5; lxxxix 11 [H.B. 12]. ‘The world’ (mundus) also signifies the Church (Matt. xiii 37-39; John i 9, 10); and the Lord by virtue of faith in Him is termed ‘the Saviour of the world’ (John iii 16-19; iv 42; vi 33, 51; viii 12; ix 4, 5; xii 46, 47. ‘The world’ is also the people of the Church (John xii 19; xviii 20). From these passages it can be seen what is signified by the ‘foundation of the world’ (also Matt. xxv 34; Luke xi 50; John xvii 24; Rev. xvii 8).
590. [verse 9] ‘If anyone has an ear, let him hear’ signifies that those who wish to be wise pay attention to these things. That by ‘to have an ear to hear’ is signified to perceive and obey, and also to pay attention, may be seen above (n. 87). It follows that it also means those who wish to be wise. Here it is said, ‘if anyone has an ear, let him hear’, in order that they may pay attention to the foregoing things, and that otherwise they are not wise.
591. [verse 10] ‘If anyone leads a captivity he shall go into captivity’ signifies that he who by means of this heretical [doctrine] leads others away from believing well and living well is led away by his own untruths and evils into hell. By ‘to lead a captivity’ is signified to persuade and draw over to his own party, in order that they may consent and adhere to that heresy which is understood by ‘the dragon and the beast’, and thus to lead away from believing well and living well. By ‘to go into captivity’ is signified to be led away into hell by his own untruths and evils. By ‘captivity’ here is understood spiritual captivity, which is to be led astray, and thus led away from truths and goods and led into untruths and evils. That by ‘captivity’ in the Word this spiritual captivity is understood can be established from the following passages:-
Hear all you people, and see my sorrow, my virgins and my young men have gone into captivity Lam i 18.
God forsook His habitation and His tent, where He dwelt among men, and delivered His strength into captivity Ps. lxxviii 60, 61.
The wind shall shepherd all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go away into captivity; then thou shalt be ashamed for all thy wickedness Jer. xxii 22.
I will make thine arrows drunk with the blood of the pierced and of the captivity Deut. xxxii 42.
They have stooped and bowed down, and their soul shall go into captivity Isa. xlvi 1, 2.
Jehovah has sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to preach liberty to the captives, and to the bound, to the blind one Isa. lxi 1; Luke iv 18, 19.
I have raised Him up in justice: He shall let go My captivity not for price nor reward Isa. xlv 13.
Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captivity captive Ps. lxviii 18 [H.B. 19].
Shall the captivity of the just be delivered? Even the captivity of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the violent shall be delivered Isa. xlix 24, 25.
Shake thyself out of the dust, sit down, O Jerusalem, open the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion Isa. lii 1, 2;
besides elsewhere, as Jer. xlviii 46, 47; l 33, 34; Ezek. xi 1-10; xii 1-12; Obad. i 11; Ps. xiv 7; liii 6 [H.B. 7]. By the captivities of the sons of Israel by their enemies, treated of in the book of Judges and 2 Kings xxv and in the Prophets, were represented and consequently signified spiritual captivities, of which elsewhere. The like is also signified by ‘the bound’ as by ‘captives’ in the following passages:-
By the blood of thy covenant I will send forth the bound out of the pit Zech. ix 11.
Let the sighing of the bound come to Thee Ps. lxxix 11.
The bound shall be gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison Isa. xxiv 22.
He has made the world (orbis) into a wilderness, he has not opened the house to his bound Isa. xix 17.
The king said, I was in prison and you did not come to me Matt. xxv 43.
Jesus said, Ought not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound, to be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? Luke xiii 16.
592. ‘If anyone slays with the sword, he must be slain with the sword’ signifies that he who by means of untruths has destroyed the soul of another is destroyed by untruths and perishes. By ‘sword’ (gladius), ‘short sword’ (machaera) and ‘long sword’ (romphaea) is signified truths, and in the opposite sense untruth, both fighting (n. 52, 836). Consequently by ‘to slay’ and ‘to be slain’ is signified to destroy and be destroyed, or to lose and be ruined, which is effected by untruths.
They have no rest day and night who adore the beast and his image, here is the patience of the saints, here are those keeping the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus Rev. xiv 11, 12.
594. [verse 11] ‘And I saw another beast coming up out of the land’ signifies the clergy in the Churches of the Reformed, who are in the doctrine and faith of the dragon concerning God and salvation. What the faith of ‘the dragon’ is and its quality may be seen above (n. 537). They are the laity who are understood by ‘the beast coming up out of the sea’, and the clergy who are understood by ‘the beast out of the land’. This is because by ‘the sea’ the external of the Church is signified, and by ‘the land’ its internal (n. 398, 567); and the laity are in the externals of the doctrine of the Church and the clergy are in its internals. That the clergy are now described is established from the details that follow, understood in the spiritual sense; and manifestly by virtue of the fact that this beast is termed ‘the false prophet’ (Rev. xvi 13; xix 20; xx 10), and especially from these words there:-
The beast was arrested, and with him the false prophet who did signs before him, by which he led astray those who accepted the mark of the beast, and those who adored him image Rev. xix 20.
That this beast did signs in the presence of the other, by which he led them astray, is said in this chapter with these words:-
And he does great signs so that he leads astray those dwelling upon the land, on account of the signs that were given him to enact in the presence of the beast, telling them to make an image of the beast and to adore it vers. 13-15.
595. ‘And he had two horns like a Lamb, and he was speaking like a dragon’ signifies that they speak, teach and write out of the Word as if it were the Lord’s Divine Truth, but still it is truth falsified. By ‘horns’ power is signified (n. 270, 443); here power in speaking, teaching and writing, thus in reasoning and arguing. That the horns were seen ‘like a Lamb’ signifies that they propagate these things of their own as if they were the Lord’s Divine Truths, because out of the Word; for by ‘the Lamb’ is understood the Lord as to the Divine Human, and also as to the Word, which is Divine Truth out of Divine Good. In consequence of this there appeared upon this beast, which also is ‘the false prophet’ (n. 594), ‘two horns like a Lamb’; but that they were Divine Truths falsified is signified by their ‘speaking like a dragon’. That by those who are in the faith of the dragon concerning God and salvation all the truths of the Word have been falsified may be seen above (n. 566).
[2] That these two things are signified by this beast ‘having two horns like a Lamb’ and ‘speaking like a dragon’ is quite plain from these words of the Lord in Matthew:-
If anyone says unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not, there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall give great signs and wonders in order to lead into error, if possible, the elect. Behold I have told you in advance Matt. xxiv 23-25.
The same is signified by ‘Christ’ here as by ‘the Lamb’, namely the Lord as to the Divine Truth of the Word; and therefore that they are going to say ‘Lo, here is Christ’ signifies that they are going to say that this is the Divine Truth of the Word: but that it is that truth falsified is signified by these words, ‘If anyone says unto you, here is Christ or there, believe it not, for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets’. That these are they of whom the Lord made the prediction is plain by reason of this, that it is said that they are going to ‘give great signs and wonders’ and ‘lead into error, if possible, the elect’, similar to what is said of this beast, which is the false prophet (vers. 13, 14 of this chapter). The things that the Lord foretold in that chapter of Matthew were concerning the last the or state of the Church, which is there understood by ‘the consummation of the age’.
596. [verse 12] ‘And he exercises all the authority of the former beast in his presence’ signifies that they have confirmed the dogmas that are signified by ‘the dragon’ and have been received by the laity, and that by this they [the clergy] are influential. That these things are signified can be seen from the things expounded above concerning the authority given by the dragons to the beast coming up from the sea (n. 575, 579); and because this beast, which is the false prophet, exercises that authority in the presence of the dragon, nothing else is signified than that they caused these dogmas to be influential by means of confirmations.
597. ‘And causes the land and those dwelling in it to adore the former beast, the stroke of whose death was healed’ signifies that as a result of the confirmations it has been established that it should be acknowledged as a holy thing of the Church that, because no one can do a good work from himself and fulfil the law, the one and only means of salvation is faith in the justice and merit of Christ, Who suffered on man’s behalf and thereby endured the damnation of the law. It is unnecessary to expound these things because they follow from those expounded above (n. 566, 577-582). By ‘the land and those dwelling in it’ are signified the Churches of the Reformed, as above; by ‘to adore’ is signified to acknowledge as a holy thing of the Church, as also above; here, to acknowledge what is understood by ‘the beast out of the sea’ after ‘the stroke of his death was healed’; and that is what has been set forth above.
598. [verse 13] ‘And he does great signs’ signifies testifications that the things that they teach are true, although they are untrue. By ‘signs’ are signified testifications that they are true, because in times past ‘signs’ were done in order to testify to the truth (veritas). Nevertheless after signs and miracles have ceased, their signification still remains, which is a testification of the truth. Here, however, by ‘signs’ are signified testifications by the beast or false prophet that his untruths are true, for the reason that after the confirmations they do not appear otherwise. That testifications that something is true are signified by ‘signs’ can be established from the following passages:-
In the consummation of the age there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, they shall give great signs and wonders, and if possible shall lead into error even the elect Matt. xxiv 24; Mark xiii 22.
Dreadful signs also signs shall there be from heaven, there shall be signs in the sun, moon and stars, with the sea and waves roaring Luke xxi 11, 25.
Jehovah frustrates the signs of the liars. He makes the diviners mad rejecting the wise ones backwards, and making their knowledge foolish Isa. xliv 25.
Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed by the signs of the heavens Jer. x 2, 3.
They are the spirits of demons doing signs to gather them to the war of that great day Rev. xvi 14.
The beast was arrested and with him the false prophet, who did signs before him and led astray Rev. xix 20.
[2] That ‘signs’ were testifications that a thing is the truth (veritas) is plain further from these:-
The disciples said to Jesus, What sign doest Thou, that we may believe Thee? what dost Thou work? John vi 30-33.
The Jews, Scribes and Pharisees, were seeking a sign from the Lord, that they might know that He was the Christ Matt. xii 38-40; xvi 1-4; Mark viii 11, 12; Luke xi 16, 29, 30; John ii 16, 18, 19.
The disciples said to Jesus, What is the sign of Thy coming and of the consummation of the age? Matt. xxiv 3; Mark xiii 4.
If they do not believe thee, nor hear the voice of the first sign, yet they will believe the voice of the latter sign Exod. iv 8, 9.
‘The voice of a sign’ is a testification.
They set among them the words of His signs Ps. cv 27.
He said unto Ahaz, Ask a sign from Jehovah Isa. vii 11, 14.
This [shall be] to thee a sign from Jehovah, behold I will draw back the shadow of the steps, which has gone down on the steps of Ahaz in front of the sun Isa. xxxviii 7, 8.
Hezekiah said, What is the sign that I am going to go up into the house of Jehovah? Isa. xxxviii 22.
This [shall be] a sign unto you, that I am going to visit upon you in this place, that you may know that My words stand Jer. xliv 29, 30.
O Jehovah, make me a sign for good that those hating me may see and be ashamed Ps. lxxxvi 17.
Let them announce to us what things shall happen, that we may set our heart; show a sign into the future that we may know that you are gods Isa. xli 22, 23.
The enemy has roared in the midst of thy festival, they have set their signs for signs Ps. lxxiv 3, 4, 9;
besides elsewhere, as Isa. xlv 11, 13; Jer. xxxii 20, 21; Ezek. iv 3; Ps. lxv 8, 9 [H.B. 7, 8]; Ps. lxxviii 42, 43; Exod. vii 3; Num. xiv 11, 22; Deut. iv 34; xiii 1-3 [H.B. 2-4]; Judg. vi 17, 21; Sam. ii 34; xiv 10; Mark xvi 17, 18, 20; Luke ii 11, 12, 16. Similar things are signified by the sign of the covenant (Gen. ix 13; xvii 11; Ezek. xx 12, 20). [3] From these passages it can be seen clearly that by the ‘great signs’ which the beast of the dragon ‘does’ are not understood signs, but testifications by them that the things that they teach are true. For every heretic who has confirmed himself in untruths, after the confirmation protests that his untruths are true; for then he no longer sees truths, inasmuch as the confirmation of untruth is the denial of truth, and truth denied loses its light. And in so far as untruths shine by virtue of the light of confirmation, which is a fatuous light, so far the light of truth becomes dense darkness, as may be seen above (n. 566).
599. ‘So that he also makes fire come down out of heaven into the land in the presence of men’ signifies attestations that their untruths are truths of heaven, and that those who receive them are saved, and those who do not, perish. These things are signified by those words because the greatest signs have been done by means of fire out of heaven; whence it was a common saying of confirmation among the ancients, when anyone was making a testification of the truth, that they could make fire come down out of heaven and testify it. By this it was signified that they could testify even to that extent. That the truth (veritas) was also testified by means of fire out of heaven is plain from these references:-
That the burnt offering made on the part of Aaron was consumed by fire out of heaven Lev. ix 24.
In like manner the burnt offering made by Elijah 1 Kings xviii 38.
[2] In the opposite sense ‘fire out of heaven’ was a sign testifying that they were in evils and the untruths therefrom, and that they would perish; but that fire was a consuming fire, as:-
The fire out of heaven that consumed Aaron’s two sons Lev. x 1-6.
That which consumed 250 men Num. xxvi 10.
That which consumed the uttermost parts of the camp Num. xi 1-4.
That which twice consumed fifty men sent by the king to Elijah 2 Kings i 11, 12.
The fire and sulphur out of heaven upon Sodom Gen. xix 24, 25.
The fire out of heaven that consumed those who encompassed the camp of the saints and the beloved city (concerning which [see] Rev. xx 9).
The disciples when enraged against the impenitent [Samaritans] said to Jesus, Wilt Thou We call for fire coming down out of heaven do consume them? Luke ix 54.
These passages have been adduceth in order that it may be known that ‘fire out of heaven’ signifies a testification, even an attestation, that a truth is true, and in the opposite sense that an untruths is true, as here. Moreover ‘fire’ signifies heavenly love, and the zeal therefrom for truth, and in the opposite sense infernal love, and the zeal therefrom for untruth (n. 468, 494).
602. [verse 15] ‘And it was given him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast may both speak’ signifies that it was permitted them to confirm that doctrine by means of the Word, whereby it is taught as if made alive. By ‘given’ is signified that it was permitted; for all untruths of doctrine, as well as evils of life, are the result of permission, concerning which ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE PROVIDENCE (n. 234-274, 275-284, 296) may be seen. By ‘the image of the beast’ that doctrine is signified (n. 601); by ‘to give breath to the image of the beast’ is signified to confirm in out of the Word, for the spirit and life of any doctrine of the Church is from no other source. ‘That the image of the beast may speak’ signifies that in this manner it is taught as if made alive. These things are signified by ‘to give breaths to the image of the beast so that he may speak’, because in all things of the Word there is spirit and life, for the Lord has spoken the Word, therefore He Himself is in it, and He has so spoken it that the single things there have communication with heaven, and through heaven with Himself. It is the spiritual sense there through which the communication is given. The Lord therefore says:-
The words than I speak to you are spirit and life John xi 63.
603. ‘And enact that everyone who does not adore the image of the beast may be slain’ signifies that they pronounce damnation upon those who do not acknowledge the doctrine of their faith as a holy doctrine of the Church. By ‘to adore the image of the beast’ is signified to acknowledge the doctrine of their faith as a holy doctrine of the Church, for by ‘to adore’ is signified to acknowledge as a holy thing of the Church (n. 579, 580, 588, 597), and by ‘the image of the beast is signified that doctrine (n. 601). By ‘to be slain’ is signified to be slain spiritually, which is to be damned (n. 325, and elsewhere); and because by ‘to be slain’ is signified to be damned, there is also signified to be declared a heretic and excluded from the communion of the Church, for in their eyes this is regarded as damnation. The learned among the clergy do this, who have absorbed the mysteries of justification in the schools and colleges, especially those who are in the pride of erudition on account of them. These damn all who do not think as they do, and so far as they dare they explode their wrath on them.
[2] This I can state, that those who have absorbed those mysteries, and were continually in the pride of erudition [in this world], are in the spiritual world so enraged against those who adore the Only Lord, and who do not acknowledge faith alone as the one and only means of salvation, that they come into a glowing anger of wrath and fury while they see them, and this while from afar off they are sensible of the Divine sphere of the Lord, and of the sphere of charity around them. Since those [who adore the Only Lord] are such, ‘the dragon’ is therefore described as a most inveterate enemy against them, so that:-
He stood before the woman about to bring forth, that after she had brought forth he might devour her offspring; and he cast forth after the woman out of his mouth water as a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the river; and in a rage against the woman he went away to wage war with the remnant of her seed Rev. xii 4, 15, 17.
Out of the mouths of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet there came forth three unclean spirits like frogs to gather them to the war of the great day of Almighty God Rev. xvi 13-16; likewise xix 19, 20; xx 8-10.
Also that the beast coming up out of the deep killed the two witnesses, and cast their bodies upon the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, and did not allow them to be put into tombs Rev. xi 7-9
By ‘not to allow to be put into tombs’ is signified to reject as damned (n. 506).
604. [verse 16] ‘And he causes all the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond’ signifies all in that Church of whatever condition, learning and intelligence they are. By ‘the small and the great’ here are understood those who are in a greater or lesser degree of dignity, thus of whatever condition. By ‘the rich and the poor’ are understood those who are more or less in cognitions and knowledges (n. 206), thus of whatever learning. By ‘the free and the bond’ are understood those who are wise from themselves or from others (n. 337), thus of whatever intelligence. Consequently now by ‘All the small and the great, the rich and the poor, the free and the bond’ are understood all in that Church of whatever condition, learning and intelligence they are. These things are in the spiritual sense.
605. ‘That he give them a mark upon their right hand, and upon their foreheads’ signifies that no one is acknowledged as a Reformed Christian unless he receives that doctrine in faith and love. By ‘to give a mark’ is signified to acknowledge as a Reformed Christian, or as being of the confession that the doctrine teaches. The ‘mark’ is the acknowledgment that he is such, as also the confession that he is. By ‘the right hand’ is signified everything of a man as to intellectual power, thus as to faith, for ‘the right hand’ signifies a man’s power (n. 457); by ‘the forehead’ is signified everything of a man as to will power, thus as to love, for ‘the forehead’ signifies love (n. 347).
Everyone thirsting, go to the waters, and he that has no silver, go, buy, and eat; go, I say, buy wine and milk without silver Isa. lv 1.
You have been sold for nothing, therefore you shall not be redeemed by silver Isa. lii 3.
In thy wisdom and thine intelligence thou hadst made for thyself wealth; and by the multitude of wisdom in thy trading thou hadst multiplied for thyself wealth Ezek. xxviii 4, 5.
Since by ‘Tyre’ is signified the Church as to the cognitions of good and truth, therefore these things are said of Tyre:-
All the ships of the sea were for carrying on thy trade; Tarshish was thy trader in silver; Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, these were thy merchants, with the souls of men they carried on thy trade; Syria was thy trader with chrysoprase: thy wealth, thy tradings, thy market, those carrying on thy trade, shall fail into the heart of the seas in the day of thy fall Ezek. xxvii in to the end.
Howl, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre has been laid waste, whose merchants are princes, and traders are the honoured of the land Isa. xxiii 1-3.
A similar thing is understood by ‘trading’ in the Lord’s parable:-
Of the man gone abroad, who gave his servants talents, that they might trade and make a profit Matt. xxv 14-30.
And of the other who gave his servants ten pounds (mina), that they might trade with them Luke xix 12-26.
And of the treasure hidden in a field, which when a man found, he hid, and sold all and bought the field Matt. xiii 44.
And of one seeking beautiful pearls, who when he had found one precious one, sold all and bought it Matt. xiii 45, 46.
Such thy traders became from youth, they wandered every one out of his district, not saving thee Isa. xlxii 15;
besides more elsewhere.
607. [verse 18] ‘Here is wisdom’ signifies that it is the part of a wise man, in consequence of the things that have been stated and expounded in this chapter, to see and understand what the doctrine and faith with the clergy is like concerning God and salvation. In is said here ‘because those things are understood that have been stated and expounded in this chapter, specifically the things concerning ‘the beast out of the land’, by which is signified the doctrine and the faith therefrom concerning God and salvation with the clergy (n. 594), for the things that are in this verse are said of this beast, and because in is the part of a wise man, or is of wisdom, to see and understand what that doctrine and the faith therefrom is, it is said, ‘Here is wisdom’.
609. ‘For it is the number of a man’ signifies the quality of the Word and consequently of the Church. By ‘a man’ is signified wisdom and intelligence (n. 243). Here the wisdom and intelligence out of the Word; thus also the Word as to the wisdom and intelligence with a man of the Church. The Church itself also appears before the Lord as a man; consequently a man of the Church as to his spirit in heaven appears as a man in accordance with the quality of the Church out of the Word with him. This, therefore, is what is here signified by the ‘number of a man’, because it follows after the words, ‘Let one having intelligence compute the number of the beast’, by which is signified that he who is in enlightenment from the Lord is able to recognise what the confirmation of the doctrine and faith concerning God and salvation is like with the clergy. The quality of the Church out of the Word is also signified by ‘a man’ (n. 910, and elsewhere also).
The seed that fell on good ground yielded fruit, thirty fold, sixty, and a hundred Mark iv 8, 20; Matt. xiii 8, 23;
That:-
The householder went out and brought labourers into his vineyard, at the third hour and at the sixth hour Matt. xx 3, 5.
Upon the table in the tabernacle the cakes of bread were arranged in two rows, six in each Lev. xxiv 6.
Six water-pots were set after the manner of the cleansing of the Jews John ii 6.
The cities of refuge or asylum were six Num. xxxv 6, 7; Deut. xix 1-9.
The measuring reed with which the angel measured all things of the new temple and the new city, was six cubits Ezek. xl 5.
The prophet should drink water by measure, the sixth part of an hin Ezek. iv 11.
For an offering they should take the sixth part of an ephah of a homer of wheat Ezek. xlv 13.
Since ‘six’ signifies what is full, therefore the word ‘to take a sixth part’ (sextare) arose, by which in the spiritual sense is signified what is complete and entire, as that:-
They should take the sixth part of an ephah of a homer of barley Ezek. xlv 13;
and in is said of Gog:-
I will turn thee back, and take the sixth part of thee Ezek. xxxix 2,
by which is signified that with them every truth of good in the Word was entirely destroyed. Who are understood by ‘Gog’ may be seen (n. 859).
* * * * * * *
[5] There were boys below who saw them coming down, and in the descent they were seen as dead horses. And then the boys were turning their faces away, and saying to the master who was with them, ‘What does this betoken? We have seen men, and now instead of them dead horses. And because we could not look at them we have turned our faces away. Let us not stay in this place, sir, but go away!’ And they went away. And then on the way the master instructed them what a dead horse is, saying, ‘A horse signifies the understanding of the Word. All the horses you have seen signified that; for when a man goes meditating on the Word, then his meditation from afar off appears as a horse, a well-bred and lively one as he is meditating spiritually on the Word, and on the contrary a wretched and dead one as he does this materially.’ [6] Then the boys asked, ‘What is meditating on the Word spiritually and materially?’ And the master replied, ‘I will illustrate this by examples. Who, when he is reading the Word, does not think of God, of the neighbour and of heaven? Everyone who thinks of God from person only and not essence is thinking materially. Again, he who thinks of the neighbour from the form only and not the quality is thinking materially. And he who thinks of heaven in terms of place only, and not out of the love and wisdom of which heaven is [formed], is also thinking materially.’ But the boys said, ‘We have thought of God from person, of the neighbour from the form, which is a man, and of heaven in terms of place. Have we, therefore, when we read the Word, appeared at that time to anyone as dead horses?’ [7] The master said, ‘No, you are still children and you could not do otherwise, but I have perceived an affection of knowing and understanding in your case, and because this is spiritual you have also thought spiritually. But I will return to the former things that I said, that he who thinks materially while he is reading the Word, or is meditating on the Word, appears afar off as a dead horse, whereas he who [then thinks] spiritually appears as a lively horse; and that he thinks materially of God and God’s Trinity who thinks only in terms of Person and not of Essence. For there are many attributes of the Divine Essence, such as omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, mercy, grace, eternity and others; and there are attributes proceeding out of the Divine Essence. The latter are creation and preservation, salvation and redemption, enlightenment and instruction. Every one who thinks of God only from Person makes three Gods, saying that one God is the Creator and Preserver, another is the Saviour and Redeemer, and a third is the Enlightener and Instructor. But every one who thinks of God from Essence makes one God, saying God creates and preserves us, redeems and saves us, and enlightens and instructs us. This is the reason why they who think of God’s Trinity from Person, and thus materially, cannot do otherwise with the ideas of their thought, which are material, than out of one God make three. But yet against their own thought they are bound to say that in each one there is a sharing of all the attributes, and this solely for the reason that as if through a lattice they have thought of God from Essence. Therefore, my pupils, think of God from Essence, and of Person by derivation from than, and do not think from Person and by derivation therefrom of Essence. For to think from Person concerning Essence is to think materially also of the Essence; but to think from the Essence concerning Person is to think spiritually of Person. The Gentiles of old, because they thought materially of God, and also of God’s attributes, devised not only three Gods but many more up to a hundred. Know then, that what is material does not inflow into what is spiritual, but the spiritual into the material. In is similar with thought about the neighbour from his form and not from his quality, as also with thought about heaven in terms of place, and not out of the love and wisdom of which heaven [is formed]. It is similar with all the things, collectively and separately, that are in the Word; and therefore he who cherishes a material idea of God, and of the neighbour and heaven also, cannot understand anything there, for the Word to him is a dead letter, and he himself, when he is reading it or meditating on it, appears from afar off as a dead horse. [8] Those whom you saw coming down out of heaven become before your eyes as dead horses were those who have closed up the rational sight with themselves and others by the special dogma that the understanding is to be held captive under obedience to their faith; not considering that an understanding closed up by religion is as blind as a mole, and in it there is an absolute darkness, such a dense darkness as rejects from itself all spiritual light, opposes the influx thereof from the Lord and out of heaven, and sets up a barrier thereto in matters of faith in the bodily sensual, far below the rational, that is, puts it near the nose, and secures it in its cartilage, with the subsequent result that they cannot scent spiritual things at all. In consequence whereof some have become such that when they are aware of an odour of spiritual things they fall into a swoon. By ‘odour’ I mean perception. Such are those who make God three. From the Essence they say that God is one, but yet when they are praying out of their own faith, which is that God the Father may have mercy for the Son’s sake and send the Holy Spirit, they manifestly make three Gods. They cannot do otherwise, for they pray to One to have mercy for the sake of Another and send a Third. And then the master taught them concerning the Lord, that He is the One God, in Whom is the Divine Trinity.
1. And I saw, and behold the Lamb standing upon Mount Zion, and with Him the hundred and forty-four thousand having His Father’s Name written on their foreheads.
2. And I heard a voice out of heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of loud thunder, and I heard the voice of harpers playing on their harps.
3. And they were singing as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four animals, and the elders; and no one was able to learn the song except the hundred and forty-four thousand bought from the earth.
4. These are they who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins; these are they who are following the Lamb wherever He goes; these have been bought from among men, the first-fruits to God and the Lamb.
5. And in their mouth is found no deceit, for they are spotless before the throne of God.
6. And I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the eternal gospel to declare (evangelizare) to those dwelling upon the land, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people,
7. Saying with a great voice, Fear God and give glory to Him, because the hour of His judgment has come, and adore Him Who has made the heaven and the land and the sea and the fountains of waters.
8. And another angel followed, saying, It has fallen, that great city Babylon has fallen, because she has made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her whoredom.
9. And a third angel followed them, saying with a great voice, If anyone adores the beast, and his image, and accepts a mark upon his forehead and hand,
10. He also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, mixed with undiluted wine in the cup of his growing anger, and shall be tormented with fire and sulphur before the holy angels and before the Lamb.
11. And the smoke of their torment shall go up for ages of ages, and they shall not have rest day and night adoring the beast and his image, and if anyone accepts the mark of his name.
12. Here* is the patience of the saints; here are those keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ.**
13. And I heard a voice out of heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead dying in the Lord from henceforth. Yes indeed, says the spirit, that they may rest from their labours, for their works follow with them.
14. And I saw, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud One sitting like the Son of Man, having upon His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle.
15. And another angel went out of the temple, crying with a great voice to the One sitting upon the cloud, Put forth Thy sickle and reap, for the hour of reaping has come to Thee, because the harvest of the land has dried up.
16. And the One sitting upon the cloud put forth His sickle upon the land, and the land was reaped.
17. And another angel went out of the temple that is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
18. And another angel went out of the altar, having power over fire, and he cried with a great cry to the one having the sharp sickle, saying, Put forth thy sharp sickle, and gather the vintage of the clusters of the vineyard of the land, for the grapes thereof have ripened.
19. And the angel put forth his sickle into the land, and gathered the vintage of the vineyard of the land, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood went out of the winepress even up to the horses’ bridles, for a thousand six hundred stadia.***
* Reading Hic (here) instead of Haec (this).
** The word ‘Christ’ is omitted elsewhere (n. 593, 638).
*** Plural of stadium=approx. one-eighth of a mile.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
Concerning the Christian New Heaven: it is described (vers. 1-5).
Declaration (evangelizatio) concerning the Lord’s coming, and the New Church at that time (vers. 6, 7, 13).
An exhortation for them to depart from the faith separated from charity in which the present Church is (vers. 9-12).
The examination of these, and making manifest that their works are evil (vers. 14-20).
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. And I saw and behold the Lamb standing upon Mount Zion, and with Him the hundred and forty-four thousand
signifies the Lord now in the New Heaven of Christians who have acknowledged Him as being the God of heaven and earth, and have been in the truths of doctrine from Him by means of the Word.
Having His Father’s Name [written] upon their foreheads
signifies the acknowledgment of the Divine and of the Lord’s Divine Human with them.
2. And I heard a voice out of heaven as the voice of many waters
signifies the Lord speaking through the New Heaven out of Divine Truths.
And as the voice of loud thunder
signifies and out of Divine Love.
And I heard the voice of harpers playing on their harps
signifies a confession of the Lord out of gladness of heart by the spiritual angels in the lower heavens.
3. And they were singing as it were a new song before the throne and before the four animals and before the elders
signifies a celebration and glorification of the Lord in His presence and in the presence of the angels of the higher heavens.
And no one was able to learn the song, except the hundred and forty-four thousand
signifies that no others from among Christians have been able to understand, and thus to acknowledge out of love and faith, that the Lord Only is the God of heaven and earth, except those who have been received into this New Heaven by the Lord.
Bought from the earth
signifies that they are those who were able to be regenerated by the Lord and thus redeemed in the world.
4. These are they who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins
signifies that they have not adulterated the truths of the Church and defiled them with untruths of faith, but they have loved truths because they are true.
These are they who are following the Lamb wherever He goes
signifies that they have been conjoined to the Lord through love and faith directed to Him, because they have lived in accordance with His precepts.
And have been bought from among men
signifies here as before.
The first-fruits of God and the Lamb
signifies the initiament of the Christian heaven, acknowledging the One God in Whom is the Trinity, and the Lord as being that God.
5. And in their mouth is found no deceit
signifies that they do not from cunning and intention speak and persuade to what is untrue and evil.
For they are spotless before the throne of God
signifies because they are in truths derived from good from the Lord.
6. And I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven having the eternal gospel to declare (evange1izare) to those dwelling upon the land
signifies the announcement of the Lord’s coming, and of the New Church going to come down out of heaven from Him.
And to every nation and tribe and tongue and people
signifies to all who are in goods as the result of religion, and in truths as the result of doctrine.
7. Saying with a great voice, Fear God
signifies a warning not to do evils, because this is against the Lord.
And give glory to Him, because the hour of His judgment has Come
signifies the acknowledgment and confession that all the truth of the Word is from the Lord, in accordance with which every man will be judged.
And adore Him Who has made the heaven and the land and the sea and the fountains of waters
signifies that the Lord Only ought to be worshipped, because He Only is the Creator, Saviour and Redeemer, and from Him Only do the angelic heaven and the Church and all the things thereof exist.
8. And another angel followed saying, It has fallen, that great city Babylon has fallen
signifies that the Roman Catholic form of religion as to its dogmas and doctrinal tenets has now been dispersed.
Because she has made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her whoredom
signifies because by profanations of the Word and by adulterations of the good and truth of the Church it has led astray all whom it has been able to bring under its dominion.
9. And a third angel followed them, saying with a great voice
signifies something further from the Lord concerning those who are in faith separated from charity.
If anyone adores the beast and his image, and accepts a mark upon his forehead and hand
signifies [that] he who acknowledges and receives the doctrine concerning justification and salvation by faith alone confirms it and lives in accordance with it.
10. He also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God mixed with undiluted wine in the cup of his growing anger
signifies that they falsify the goods and truths of the Word, and imbue their life with the same when falsified.
11. And shall be tormented with fire and sulphur before the holy angels and the Lamb, and the smoke of their torment shall go up for ages of ages
signifies the love of self and the world and the derivative lusts, and the pride of self-intelligence derived therefrom, and torment in hell as the result thereof.
And they shall not have rest day and night adoring the beast and his image, and if anyone accepts the mark of his name
signifies a perpetual state in things undelightful in the case of those who acknowledge and receive that faith, confirm it, and live in accordance therewith.
12. Here is the patience of the saints, here* are those keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus
signifies that the man of the Lord’s Church is examined by means of temptations from those [in faith separated from charity] as to the quality of his life in accordance with the precepts of the Word and as to faith directed to the Lord.
13. And I heard a voice out of heaven saying unto me, [Write,] Blessed are the dead dying in the Lord from henceforth
signifies a prediction from the Lord concerning the state after death of those who will belong to His New Church (e Nova Ecclesia Ipsius erunt), that they will have eternal life and happiness.
Yes indeed, says the spirit, that they may rest from their labours
signifies that the Divine Truth of the Word teaches that those who afflict their soul and crucify the flesh on account of this are going to have peace in the Lord.
For their works follow with them
signifies according as they have loved and believed and thence done and spoken.
14. And I saw and behold a white cloud, and One sitting like the Son of Man Upon the cloud
signifies the Lord as to the Word.
Having upon His head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle
signifies the Divine Wisdom out of Divine Love, and the Divine Truth of the Word.
15. And another angel went out of the temple
signifies the angelic heaven.
Crying with a great voice to the One sitting upon the cloud, Put forth Thy sickle and reap, for the hour of reaping has come to Thee, because the harvest of the land has dried up
signifies the supplication of the angels of heaven to the Lord, that He may make an end and execute judgment because it is now the last state of the Church.
16. And the One sitting upon the cloud put forth His sickle, and the land was reaped
signifies the end of the Church because Divine Truth is not there any longer.
17. And another angel went out of the temple that is in heaven heal so having a sharp sickle
signifies the heavens of the Lord’s Spiritual kingdom and the Divine Truth of the Word will] them
18. And another angel went out of the altar, having power over fire
signifies the heavens of the Lord’s celestial kingdom which are in the good of love from the Lord.
And he cried with a great cry to the one having the sharp sickle, saying Put forth thy sharp sickle and gather the vintage of the clusters of the vineyard of the land
signifies the Lord’s operation out of the good of His love by means of the Divine Truth of His Word into the works of charity and faith that are with the men of the Christian Church
For the grapes thereof have ripened
signifies because it is the last state of the Christian Church.
19. And the angel put forth his sickle into the land, and gathered the vintage of the vineyard of the land
signifies the end of the present Christian Church.
And cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God
signifies an examination of the quality of their works that they were evil.
20. And the winepress was trodden outside the city
signifies that the examination was made from (ex) the Divine Truths of the Word [to discover] what the works flowing forth from the Church’s doctrine of faith were like.
And blood went out of the winepress even up to the horses’ bridles
signifies the violence inflicted on the Word by means of dreadful falsifications of truth and the understanding so closed up thereby that a man can scarcely any longer be taught, and thus be led by means of Divine Truths by the Lord.
For a thousand six hundred stadia
signifies nothing but untruths of evil.
* Reading hic (here) instead of hi (these).
THE EXPOSITION
[verse 1] ‘And ‘saw and behold the Lamb standing Upon Mount Zion, and with Him the hundred and forty-four thousand’ signifies the Lord now in the New Heaven gathered together out of those in the Christian Churches who have acknowledged the Lord Only as being the God of heaven and earth, and have been in truths of doctrine out of the good of love from Him by means of the Word. By ‘I saw’ these things are signified also the things that follow in this chapter. By ‘the Lamb’ is understood the Lord as to the Divine Human (n. 269, 271). By ‘Mount Zion’ is signifies the heaven where those are who are in love directed to the Lord, concerning which [something] follows. By ‘the hundred and forty-four thousand’ are signified all who acknowledge the Only Lord as being the God of heaven and earth, and are in truths of doctrine out of the good of love from Him by means of the Word (n. 348 seq.). These things were treated of in chapter vii, but there, that they were ‘sealed upon their foreheads and thus distinguished and separated from the rest; here now [it teaches] they have been gathered together into a unit, and that there is a heaven [formed] out of them. [2] The heaven of which it treats here is the heaven gathered together out of the Christians from the time of the Lord’s being in the world, and from such of them as have approached the Only Lord and lived in accordance with His precepts in the Word, fleeing from evils as sins against God. This heaven is the New Heaven, out of which the Holy Jerusalem, that is, the New Church on earth, will come down (Rev. xxi 1, 2). But the heavens [formed] before the Lord’s coming are above it, and are called the ancient heavens. In these also they all acknowledge the Only Lord as being the God of heaven and earth. These heavens communicate with this New Heaven by influx. [3] It is known that by ‘the land of Canaan’ the Church is signified, because the Word was there and by its means the Lord was known. It is also known that in the midst of that [land] was the city of Zion, and below it the city of ,Jerusalem, both upon a mountain. Consequently by ‘Zion’ and ‘Jerusalem’ the inmost things of the Church were signified; and because the Church in the heavens makes one with the Church on earth (in terris), therefore by ‘Zion’ and ‘Jerusalem’ is understood the Church in both worlds (utrobivis), but by ‘Zion’ the Church as to love and by ‘Jerusalem’ the Church as to doctrine therefrom. It is termed ‘Mount Zion’ because by ‘a mountain’ is signified love (n. 336).
[4] That by ‘Mount Zion’ is signified heaven and the Church where the Only Lord is worshipped can be established from the following passages:-
I have anointed My King upon Zion; I will announce in a decree, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee I will give the nations [for] Thine inheritance. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish; blessed are all trusting in Him Ps. ii 6-8, 12.
Go up upon the high mountain, O Zion declaring good tidings (Evangelizatrix); say, Behold the Lord Jehovih comes in strength Isa. xl 9 10.
Exult greatly, O daughter of Zion, behold thy King comes unto thee, a Just One and a Saviour Zech. ix 9; Matt. xxi 2, 4, 5; john xii 14, 15.
Cry out and shout, O inhabitress of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee Isa. xii 6.
The redeemed of Jehovah shall return to Zion with a song Isa. xxxv 10.
Shout and be glad, O daughter of Zion, behold I am coming that I may dwell in the midst of thee Zech. ii 10, 11 [H.B. 14, 15].
Who will give the salvation of Israel in Zion? Ps. xiv 7; liii 6 [H.B. 7].
The Lord Jehovih will found in Zion a stone of proving, and then shall your covenant with death be abolished Isa. xxviii 16-18.
My salvation shall not tarry, I will give salvation in Zion Isa. xlvi 13.
Then shall the Redeemer come to Zion Isa. lix 20.
Jehovah Zebaoth shall reign in Mount Zion Isa. xxiv 23.
Jehovah loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob, glorious things are to be proclaimed in thee, O city of God. This one was born there, all my springs are in thee Ps. lxxxvii 2, 3, 5-7.
Jehovah has chosen Zion, He has desired it for His seat; this is my rest for ever, there will I dwell Ps. cxxxii 13, 14.
Let the sons of Zion exult in their King Ps. cxlix 2, 3.
O Jehovah arise, and have mercy on Zion, the set time has come; the Name of Jehovah shall be declared in Zion, when the peoples shall be gathered together, and the kingdom to serve Jehovah Ps. cii 13-16, 21, 22 [H.B. 14-17, 22, 23].
Out of Zion God shall shine, our God is coming and shall call to the heaven above, and to the earth, Gather My saints together unto Me Ps. 11-5;
besides elsewhere, as Isa. i 27; iv 3-5; xxxi 4, 9; xxxiii 5, 20; xxxvii 22; lii 1; lxiv 10 [H.B. 9]; Jer. vi 2; Lam. iv 2; Amos i 2; Micah iii 10, 12; iv 1-3, 7, 8; Zeph. iii 54, 16; Joel iii [H.B. iv] 16, 17, 21; Zech. viii 3; Ps. xx 2, 5 [H.B. 3, 6]; xlviii 2, 3, 11-14 [H.B. 3, 4, 12-15]; lxxvi 2 [H.B. 3]; lxxviii 68; cx 1, 2; cxxv 1; cxxvi 1; cxxviii 5, 6; cxxxiv 3; cxxxv 21; cxlvi 10. In many places mention is made of the VIRGIN AND DAUGHTER OF ZION, by which is not understood any virgin or daughter there, but the Church as to the affection of good and truth, like what is understood by ‘the Bride of the Lamb’ (Rev. xxi 2, 9; xxii 17). ‘The virgin and daughter of Zion’ signifies the Lord’s Church, in these places: Isa. i 8; iii 16-26; iv 4; x 32; xvi 1; xxxvii 22; lii 2; lxii 11; Jer. iv 31; vi 2, 23; Lam. i 6; ii 1, 4, 8, 10, 13, 18; iv 22; Micah i 13; iv 8, 10, 13; Zeph. iii 14; Zech. ii 7, 10 [H.B. 10, 14]; ix 9; Ps. ix 14 [H.B. 15]; and elsewhere.
The angel said to Mary, Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a Son, and shalt call His Name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest. But Mary said, How shall this come to be, since I know not a man? The angel answered, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the Vigour of the Most High shall overshadow thee, from which the Hot Thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God Luke i 30-35.
The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying, Do not fear to accept Mary thy bride, for that which is born in her is of the Holy Spirit; and Joseph knew her not until she had brought forth her first-born Son Matt. 20, 25.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word was mode flesh, and we saw His glory, as the glory of the Only-begotten from the Father John i 1, 2, 14.
The Jews were seeking to kill Jesus, because He had declared God to be His Own Father (Patrem Proprium), making His Very Self equal to God. Jesus answered, Whatsoever things the Father does, these also the Son does likewise; just as the Father raises up the dead and makes them live, so also the Son makes whom He wills live. Truly I say unto you that the hour shall come when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear shall live John v 18-25. Just as the Father has Life in His Very Self, so does He give to the Son to have Life in His Very Self John v 26.
I am the way, the truth (veritas), and the life; no one comes to the Father except by Me: if you have known Me, you have known My Father also, and henceforth you have known Him and seen Him. Philip says to Him, Show us the Father; Jesus says to him, Am I so long a time with you, and thou hast not got to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how dost thou then say, Show us the Father? Dost thou not believe that I am in the Father and the Father remains in Me? Believe Me, that I am in the Father and the Father in Me John xiv 6-11.
I give eternal life to My sheep; I and the Father are One. And the Jews were indignant that He should make Himself God; and He said, I do the works of the Father, Believe in the works that you may recognise and believe that the Father is in Me and I in the Father John x 28-38.
He who sees Me sees Him Who sent Me John xii 45.
All things whatsoever the Father has are Mine John xvi x 15.
That the Father had given all things into His hands John xiii 3.
Father, Thou hast given Me authority over all flesh (potestatem omnis carnis); This is life eternal, that they should recognise Thee the only God, and Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast sent. All Mine are Thine, and Thine Mine John xvii 2, 3, 10.
All authority in the heavens and on earth has been given unto Me Matt. xxviii 18.
Whatsoever you ask in My Name, this will I do, and I will do it John xiv 13, 14.
The Spirit of the truth (veritas) shall not speak out of himself but he shall take of Mine and make it known to you John xvi 13, 14.
He who abides in Me and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing John xv 5;
besides elsewhere.
[3] There are still more passages in the Old Testament, of which also some shall be quoted:-
Unto us a Boy is born, unto us a Son is given, the government is upon
His shoulder, and His Name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, the Father of Eternity, the Prince of Peace Isa. ix 6 [H.B. 5].
A virgin shall conceive a Son, and His Name shall be called God with us Isa. vii 14.
Behold, the days are coming when I shall raise up unto David a just branch, who shall reign a king; and this is His Name which they shall call Him, Jehovah our Justice Jer. xxiii 5, 6; xxxiii 15, 16.
Then it shall be said in that day, Behold our God for Whom we have waited that He might deliver us, Jehovah for Whom we have waited; let us exult and be glad in His Salvation Isa. xxv 9.
Only within Thee is God, and there is no God besides; assuredly Thou art a hidden God, O God of Israel the Saviour Isa. xlv 14, 15.
Is it not I Jehovah? and there is no God else beside Me, a just God and a Saviour, there is none beside Me Isa. xlv 21, 22.
I am Jehovah, and beside Me there is no Saviour Isa. xliii 11.
I am Jehovah thy God; and thou shalt not acknowledge a God beside Me, and there is no Saviour beside Me Hosea xiii 4.
Thou, O Jehovah, art our Father, our Redeemer from an age is Thy Name Isa. lxiii 16.
Thus said the King of Israel, and His Redeemer Jehovah Zebaoth, I am the First and the Last, and beside Me there is no God Isa. xliv 6.
Thus said Jehovah thy Redeemer, I am Jehovah doing all things, and the Only One from My Very Self Isa. xliv 24.
Thus said Jehovah thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am Jehovah thy God Isa. xlviii 17.
Jehovah my Rock, and my Redeemer Ps. xix 14 [H.B. 15].
Their Redeemer is strong, Jehovah Zebooth is His Name Jer. l 34.
Jehovah Zebaoth is His Name, and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole land shall He be called Isa. liv 5.
That all flesh may know that I am Jehovah thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob Isa. xlix 26; lx 16.
As for our Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth is His Name Isa. xlvii 4.
Thus said thy Redeemer Jehovah Isa. xliii 14; xlix 7.
Also elsewhere, as Luke i 68; Isa. lxii 11, 12; lxiii i, 4, 9; Jer. xv 20, 21; Hosea xiii 4, 14; Ps. xxxi 5 [H.B. 6]; xliv 26 [H.B. 27]; xlix 15 [H.B. 16]; lv 17, 18 [H.B. 18, 19]; lxix 18 [H.B. 19]; lxxi 23; ciii 4; cvii 2; cxxx 7, 8. And in Zechariah:-
In that day Jehovah shall be King over the whole land; in that day Jehovah shall be One, and His Name One Zech. xiv 9.
But these are just a few.
614. [verse 2] ‘And I heard a voice out of heaven as the voice of many waters’ signifies the Lord speaking through the New Heaven out of Divine Truths. By ‘a voice out of heaven’ is signified a voice or speech from the Lord through heaven; for when a voice is heard out of heaven it is from the Lord. Here it is through the New Heaven of Christians, which is understood by ‘Mount Zion’ upon which the Lamb was seen to stand, and with Him the hundred and forty-four thousand (n. 612, 613). By ‘many waters’ are signified Divine Truths (n. 50). Of the Lord speaking through heaven out of Divine Truths it is similarly said in the following passages:-
The voice of the Son of Man was heard as the voice of many waters Rev. 15.
And a voice out of the throne as the voice of many waters Rev. xix 6.
And the voice of the God of Israel as the voice of many waters Ezek. xliii 2.
The voice of Jehovah upon the waters, Jehovah upon many waters Ps. xxix 3.
The sound of the cherubs’ wings as the sound of great waters Ezek. i 24.
By ‘the cherubs’ is signified the Word (n. 239), thus the Divine Truth out of which the Lord speaks.
There is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit;
also:-
The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;
and although it is added there that these Three are One, yet in their thinking they have divided the Divine Essence into the Three, which nevertheless cannot be divided. On this account also they have approached the Father because He is the First in order. And besides, the leaders in the Church have taught that they should pray to the Father for the sake of the Son that He might send the Holy Spirit. By this means the idea of their thought concerning the Three has been confirmed, and at this time they are not able to think of the Son as God, equal with the Father and one with the Father, but [they think] of the Son as equal with another man, although He as to the Human is the Only Justice and is called ‘Jehovah our Justice’ (Jer. xxiii 5, 6; xxxiii 15, 16). [2] As a result of this idea of their thought it has come to pass that they have not been able to comprehend that the Lord, as born in the world, can be the God of heaven and earth, and still less that He is the Only God, notwithstanding their having heard and read all the passages that have been quoted above (n. 613), and also these:-
All things whatsoever the Father has are Mine [John xvi 15.
He who sees Me sees Him Who sent Me] John xii 45.
The Father has given all things into the Son’s hands John xiii 3.
Father, Thou hast given Me power over all flesh; all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine John xvii 2, 3, 10.
All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth Matt. xxviii 18.
Also that ‘He was conceived from Jehovah the Father’, with the result that His soul is from Him (Luke 34, [35], 38). Consequently He has the Divine Essence; besides many similar things elsewhere. That those things have been said of the Lord born in the world, anyone can see; as also that:-
He and the Father are One
and that:-
He is in the Father and the Father in Him
also that:-
He who sees Him sees the Father John x 28-38; xiv 6-11.
Although they have heard and read these things, they have nevertheless been unable to give up the idea conceived in boyhood and afterwards confirmed by teachers, and this has closed up their rational to such an extent that they have not been able to see, that is, to understand, these words of the Lord:-
I am the Way, the Truth (veritas) and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by Me John xiv 6.
He who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber; I am the Door, by Me if anyone enters in, he shall be saved John x 1, 9.
[3] Also [they have not been able to understand] that the Lord has glorified His Human, that is, united it to the Divine of the Father, that is, to the Divine that was in Him from conception, for the sake of making it possible for the human race to be united to God the Father in Him and through Him. That this was the purpose of the Lord’s coming into the world and of the glorification of His Human He teaches fully in John (chaps. xiv, xv, xvii), for He says:-
In that day you shall recognise that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you John xiv 20.
He who abides in Me and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing; unless anyone abides in Me he is cast forth, as a withered branch into the fire John xv 5, 6.
For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified in the truth (veritos), that they all may be one, as Thou Father art in Me, and I in Thee, I in them and Thou in Me John xvii [19,] 21, 23, 26;
also chapter vi 36, and elsewhere. It is plain from these passages that the coming of the Lord into the world, and the glorification of His Human, had for an end the conjunction of men with God the Father in Him and through Him, thus that He is to be approached. The Lord also confirms this by having so often said that there must be belief in Him in order that they may have eternal life, as may be seen above (n. 553).
[4] Who cannot see that all these things (haec et illa) have been said by the Lord concerning Himself in His Human, and that He would never say, nor could say, that He was in men and men were in Him and that there must be belief in Him in order that they may have eternal life, unless His Human was Divine? By ‘to ask the Father in His Name’ is not understood to approach God the Father directly nor to ask for His sake, but to approach the Lord, and the Father through Him, because the Father is in the Son, and they are one, as He Himself teaches. ‘In His Name’ has this signification, as can be established also from these passages:-
He who does not believe in the Son has been judged already, for he has not believed in the Name of the Only-begotten Son of God John iii 17, 18.
These things have been written that you may believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His Name John xx 31.
Jesus said, He who receives this boy in My Name, receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him Who has sent Me Luke ix 48.
Whatsoever you ask in My Name, that will I do John xiv 13, 14;
besides in other places, where ‘in the Name of the Lord’ is said (Matt. vii 22; xviii 5, 20; xix 29; xxiii 39; Mark ix 37; xvi 17; Luke xiii 35; xix 38; xxiv 47; John i 12; ii 23; v 43; xii 13; xv 16; xvi 23, 24, 26, 27; xvii 6). What ‘the Name of God’ is, and that ‘the Name of the Father’ is the Lord as to the Divine Human, may be seen above (n. 81, 165, 584).
619. ‘Bought from the earth’ signifies that they are those who could be regenerated and thus redeemed in the world. By those ‘bought from the earth’ are signified those redeemed in the world. That redemption is liberation from hell, and salvation by means of conjunction with the Lord, may be seen (n. 281); and since this is effected by regeneration, therefore by those ‘bought’ are signified those regenerated and thus redeemed by the Lord. And because all can be regenerated and redeemed, if they will, and few are willing, therefore by ‘bought from the earth’ is signified that they are those who could be regenerated by the Lord and thus redeemed. What these are like is now described (vers. 4 and 5).
620. [verse 4] ‘These are they who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins’ signifies that they have not adulterated the truths of the Church and defiled them with untruths of faith, but they have loved truths because they are true. That a ‘woman’ signifies the Church derived from the affection of truth, and consequently in the opposite sense the Church derived from the affection of untruth, may be seen above (n. 434, 533). Here the Church derived from the affection of truth [is signified], because it is said ‘they have not been defiled with women’. ‘To be defiled with women’ has a similar signification to committing adultery and whoredom. That ‘to commit adultery and whoredom’ signifies to adulterate and falsify the Word, may also be seen above (n. 134). ‘For they are virgins’ signifies because they have loved truths because they are true, thus out of a spiritual affection. The reason why these are understood by ‘virgins’ is because a ‘virgin’ signifies the Church as a bride who is willing to be conjoined to the Lord and to become a wife, and the Church that is willing to be conjoined to the Lord loves truths because they are true, for by means of truths, so long as there is a living in accordance with them, the conjunction is effected. In consequence of this Israel, Zion and Jerusalem are in the Word termed ‘virgins’ and ‘daughters’, for by ‘Israel’, ‘Zion’ and ‘Jerusalem’ the Church is signified.
[2] That all those belonging to the Lord’s Church who are such, whether they are virgins or young men, wives or husbands, youths or old men, maidens or old women, are understood by ‘virgins’ can be established out of the Word where ‘virgins’ are mentioned, as:-
The virgin of Israel Jer. xviii 13; xxxi 4, 21; Amos v 2; Joel i 8.
The virgin daughter of Judah Lam. i 15.
The virgin daughter of Zion 2 Kings xix 21; Isa. xxxvii 22; Lam. i 4; ii 13.
The virgins of Jerusalem Lam. ii 10.
The virgin of My people Jer. xiv 17.
And therefore:-
The Lord likened the Church to ten virgins Matt. xxv seq.
Also it is said in Jeremiah:-
I will build thee so that thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel, thou shalt again go forth into the dance of those at play Jer. xxxi 4, 13;
and in David:-
They have seen Thy steps, O God, the steps of my God, of my King in the sanctuary, in the midst of the virgins playing with timbrels Ps. lxviii 24, 25 [H.B. 25, 26];
and elsewhere:-
Kings’ daughters were among thy precious ones; the queen stood at thy right hand in best gold of Ophir: hear, O daughter, and see, the King shall be delighted with thy beauty. The daughter of Tyre also shall bring a gift, the rich ones of the people shall entreat thy faces: the King’s daughter is all precious within, her clothing is of woven gold, she shall be brought to the King [clothed] in needlework; the virgins after her, her companions, shall come into the King’s palace Ps. xlv 9-15 [H.B. 10-16];
there by ‘the King’ is understood the Lord, by ‘the queen’ the Church as a wife, by ‘daughters’ and ‘virgins’ the affections of good and truth.
[3] Similar affections are signified by ‘virgins’ elsewhere in the Word, where ‘young men’ are mentioned at the same time, because ‘young men’ signify truths and ‘virgins’ the affections thereof, as in the following passages:-
Behold, the days are coming in which I will send a famine in the land, not a hunger for bread nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the word of Jehovah; in that day shall the beautiful virgins and the young men faint for thirst Amos viii 11, 13.
Blush, O Zidon, the sea has said, I have not travailed, nor brought forth, neither do I bring up young men, I have made virgins to grow up Isa. xxiii 4.
The Lord has trodden the winepress to the virgin daughter of Zion*: behold my sorrow, the virgins and young men have gone into captivity Lam. i 4, 15, 18.
How great is His goodness, and how great is His beauty; corn shall make the young men to grow up, and must the virgins Zech. ix 17.
The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in my** streets Zech. viii 5.
The virgins of Jerusalem sit upon the ground; to what shall I liken thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? my virgins and young men have lain in the streets Lam. ii 10, 13, 21;
besides elsewhere, as Jer. li 20-23; Lam. v 10-12 [? II, 13, 14]; Ezek. ix 4, 6; Ps. lxxviii 62-64; Deut. xxxii 25.
621. ‘These are they who are following the Lamb wherever He goes’ signifies that they have been conjoined with the Lord through love and faith directed to Him, because they have lived in accordance with His precepts. That these things are signified is plain from these words of the Lord:- He loves Me who does My precepts, and I will love him, and come to him, and make My abode with him John xiv 20-23.
And elsewhere:- The Shepherd of the sheep, when He leads forth His Own sheep, goes forward with them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice; My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me John x 4, 5, 27.
* So also AE 863:2; but AC 3081:4 has ‘Judah’, as in Hebrew.
** The Original Edition has meis (my), so also has AE 863:11; but AC 5236:5 and 5897:7 have ejus (thereof) as in Hebrew.
622. ‘These have been bought from among men’ signifies that they are those who could be regenerated by the Lord, and thus redeemed in the world, as above (n. 619) where similar things [are said].
623. ‘The first-fruits of God and the Lamb’ signifies the initiament of the Christian heaven acknowledging the one God in Whom is the Trinity, and the Lord as being that God. By ‘the first-fruits’ is understood what is born first, also what is first gathered, thus an initiament, here the initiament of the New Heaven out of Christians. By ‘God and the Lamb’ here, as above, is understood the Lord as to His Divine from which [are all things] and as to the Divine Human, also as to the Divine Proceeding, thus the one God in Whom is the Trinity. Here something shall be said concerning ‘first-fruits’. In the Israelitish Church it was commanded that:-
The first-fruits of the produce of the fields, of all grain, oil, and must, of the fruits of a tree, also of wool, should be given to Jehovah as holy, and they were given by Jehovah to Aaron, and after him to the high priest Exod. xxii 29 [H.B. 28]; xxiii 19; Lev. xxiii 10; Num. xiii 20; xv 17-21; xviii 8-20; Deut. xviii 4; xxvii seq.
Also that:-
They should celebrate the feast of the first-fruits of harvest and of bread Exod. xxiii 14-16, 19, 26; Lev. xxiii 9-15, 20-25; Num. xxviii 26 to the end.
The reason was because ‘the first-fruits’ used to signify that which is first born, and afterwards grows, as a child into a man, and a shoot into a tree; and consequently they used to signify everything following until it was made complete, for everything following exists in the first, as the man in the child, and the tree in the shoot; and because the first comes into existence before the things following, in like manner in heaven and in the Church, therefore ‘the first-fruits’ were holy to the Lord, and ‘the feast of first-fruits’ was celebrated. Similar things are signified by first-fruits’ in Jer. xxiv 1, 2; Ezek. xx 40; Micah vii 1; Deut. xxxiii 15, 21.
624. [verse 5] ‘And in their mouth is found no deceit’ signifies that they do not from cunning and intention speak and persuade to what is untrue and evil. By ‘mouth’ is signified speech, preaching, and doctrine (n. 452 [, 574]); and by ‘deceit’ is signified the persuasion to evil by means of what is untrue, properly from cunning and intention; for he who persuades to anything from cunning or deceit, also persuades from intention, for cunning or deceit proposes something to itself, conceals its purpose, and does it when given the opportunity. By ‘a lie’ in the Word is signified untruth and false-speaking, by ‘deceit’ is signified both of these from intention. These (hoc et illud) are signified in the following passages:-
Jesus said of Nathanael, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit John i 47.
The remnant of Israel shall not speak a lie, neither shall a tongue of deceit be found in their mouth Zeph. iii 13.
He has done no violence, neither was deceit in his mouth Isa. liii 9.
The rich men are full of violence, and the inhabitants speak a lie, and as to the tongue, deceit is in their mouth Micah vi 12.
Thou shalt destroy those speaking a lie, Jehovah will abhor the man of blood and deceit Ps. v 6 [H.B. 7].
O Jehovah, deliver my soul from the lip of a lie, from the tongue of deceit Ps. cxx 2, 3.
They have taught their tongue to speak a lie, thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they have refused to recognise Me Jer. ix 5.
They have encompassed Me, Ephraim with a lie, and the house of Israel with deceit Hosea xii 1.
If anyone has a design to kill his companion with deceit, thou shalt take him from Mine altar, and he shall die Exod. xxi 14.
Cursed is one doing the work of Jehovah with deceit Jer. xlviii 10;
besides elsewhere, as Jer. v 26, 27; viii 5; xiv 14; xxiii 26; Hosea vii 16; Zeph. i 9; Ps. xvii 1; xxiv 4; xxxv 20, 21; xxxvi 3 [H.B. 4]; l 19; lii 2, 4 [H.B. 4, 6]; lxxii 14; cix 2; cxix 118; Job xiii 7; xxvii 4. In the Word the deceitful are signified by ‘poisonous serpents’ such as crocodiles and vipers, and deceit is signified by their poison.
625. ‘For they are spotless before the throne of God’ signifies because they are in truths derived from good from the Lord. By the ‘spotless ones are signified those who are not in untruths, and consequently are in truths; for ‘spots’ signify untruths, properly untruths derived from evil. By ‘the throne of God’ is signified the Lord and heaven (n. 14, 233); and because all who are in good from the Lord appear as being in truths, therefore by their being ‘spotless before the throne of God’ is signified that they are in truths derived from good from the Lord. For all who are being led by the Lord are kept in good from Him, and out of that good nothing proceeds but truth; and if untruth proceeds, it is apparent untruth, and this is regarded by the Lord as like truth, only in another colour by the modification of the light of heaven; for the good that is inwardly in it so qualifies it. For there can be untruth derived from evil and also untruth derived from good, and each of them can appear alike in external form, but yet they are quite unlike, because what is within makes the essence and produces its quality. Since untruths are signified by ‘spots’, therefore:-
It was forbidden that anyone of the seed of Aaron in whom there was a spot should approach the altar, or enter within the veil Lev. xxi 17-23;
by which it was signified that they should be spotless. And also:-
It was forbidden that any sacrifice should be made of oxen, calves, sheep, goats, or lambs, in which there was a spot Lev. xxii 19-25.
The spots are also enumerated there.
626. [verse 6] ‘And I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the eternal gospel to declare (evangelizare) to those dwelling upon the land’ signifies the announcement of the Lord’s coming, and of the New Church going to come down out of heaven from Him. By ‘an angel in the highest sense is understood the Lord, and consequently also heaven (n. 5, 344, 465). By ‘another angel’ is signified a new thing now from the Lord. By ‘to fly in the midst of heaven’ is signified to look down on, observe, and provide for (n. 415), here a new thing from the Lord out of heaven in the Church. By ‘the eternal gospel’ is signified the announcement of the coming of the Lord and His kingdom (n. 478, 553). By ‘those dwelling upon the land’ are signified the men of the Church to whom the announcement is made. The reason why [the Lord] is to announce that the New Church is now going to come down out of heaven from Him is because the Lord’s coming involves two things, a last judgment and after it a New Church. The last judgment is treated of in chapters xix, xx; and the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, in chapters xxi, xxii. That by ‘the gospel’ and ‘to declare’ (evangelizare) is signified the announcement of the coming of the Lord and His kingdom is manifestly established from the passages quoted (n. 478), which may be seen there.
627. ‘And to every nation and tribe and tongue and people’ signifies to all who are in goods as the result of religion, and in truths as the result of doctrine. By ‘nation’ are signified those who are in goods, and abstractly, goods (n. 483); by ‘tribe’ is signified the Church as to religion (n. 349); by ‘tongue’ is signified doctrine (n. 282); and by ‘people’ those who are in truths are signified, and abstractly, truths (n. 483). Therefore by ‘to declare the gospel to every nation and tribe and tongue and people’ is signified to announce it to all who are in goods as the result of religion, and in truths as the result of doctrine; for these and no others receive the gospel. These things are signified by these words in the spiritual sense.
628. [verse 7] ‘Saying with a great voice, Fear God’ signifies a warning not to do evils, because this is against the Lord. By ‘a great voice’ is signified a warning; and by ‘to fear God’ is signified not to do evils because this is against the Lord. That ‘to fear God’ is to love Him by fearing to do evil because it is against Him, and that all love has that fear within it, may be seen above (n. 527). These things are said now to those who will belong to the New Church on earth, because the first thing of reformation is to live in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue, where the evils that ought not to be done are enumerated. For he who does those evils does not fear the Lord; but the one who does not do them, fleeing from them because they are against the Lord, fears and also loves the Lord, as He Himself teaches in John (xiv 20-24).
629. ‘And give glory to Him, because the hour of His judgment has come’ signifies the acknowledgment and confession that all the truth of the Word by virtue of which a Church is a Church is from the Lord, in accordance with which every man will be judged. That ‘to give glory to Him’ signifies to acknowledge and confess that all truth is from the Lord may be seen above (n. 249); and because all the truth by virtue of which a Church is a Church is out of the Word, therefore the truth of the Word is understood. ‘Because the hour of His judgment has come’ signifies because every man will be judged in accordance with the Truth of the Word. This is signified because by ‘to give glory to Him’ is signified to acknowledge and confess that all the Truth of the Word is from the Lord, and it is now said ‘because the hour of His judgment has come’, and ‘because’ involves this as the cause. That the Truth of the Word is going to judge everyone may be seen above (n. 233, 273); and that the Church is derived from the Word, and that its quality is such as its understanding of the Word, may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 76-79). It is plain from these things that the spiritual sense of these words is such [as has been stated]. This is because the angels of heaven do not perceive anything else by ‘glory’ than Divine Truth, and because all Divine Truth is from the Lord, by ‘to give glory to Him’ they perceive to acknowledge and confess that all Truth is from Him. For all the glory in the heavens is from no other source, and in so far as a society of heaven is in Divine Truth, so far do all the things there shine brightly, and so far are the angels in the brightness of glory.
[2] That by ‘glory’ Divine Truth is understood can be established from these passages:-
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of Jehovah; the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see Isa. xl 3, 5.
Shine, for thy Light has come, and the glory of Jehovah has risen upon thee. Jehovah shall arise upon thee and His glory shall be seen upon Thee Isa. lx 1 to the end.
I will give thee for a covenant to the people, for a light of the nations, and My glory will I not give to another Isa. xlii 6, 8,
For Mine own sake, for Mine own sake will I do it, and My glory will I not give to another Isa. xlviii 11.
From the rising of the sun they shall fear His glory, the Redeemer shall come to Zion Isa. lix 19, 20.
Thy light shall break forth as the dawn, the glory of Jehovah shall gather thee Isa lviii 8.
He shall come to gather together all nations and tongues, that they may see My glory Isa. lxvi 18.
Jehovah said, I am alive, and the whole land shall be filled with the glory of Jehovah Num. xiv 21.
The fullness of all the land is His glory Isa. vi 1-3.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, in Him was life, and the life was the light of men, it was the true light; and the Word was made flesh, and we have seen His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father John i, 1, 4, 9 [,14].
These things said Isaiah, when he saw His glory John xii 41.
And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with glory Matt. xxiv 3, 30.
The heavens shall tell the glory of God Ps. xix 1 [H.B. 2].
The nations shall fear the Name of Jehovah, and the kings of the land Thy glory, that He has built up Zion, and appeared in His glory Ps. cii 15, 16 [H.B. 16, 17].
The glory of God shall enlighten the Holy Jerusalem, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof, and the nations that are saved shall walk in His* light Rev. xxi 23-25.
The Son of Man is going to come in His glory, to sit upon the throne of His glory Matt. xxv 31; Mark viii 38.
That ‘the glory of Jehovah’ filled and covered the tabernacle (Exod. xl 34, 35; Lev. ix 23, 24; Num. xiv 10-12; xvi 19; xvi 42 [H.B. xvii 7]). That it filled the house of Jehovah (1 Kings viii 10, 11). Besides elsewhere, as Isa. xxiv 23; Ezek. i 28; viii 4; ix 3; x 4, 18, 19; xi 22, 23; Luke ii 32; ix 26; John ii 11; v 44; vii 18; xvii 24.
* The Original Edition has Ipsius (His), but in n. 920 it has ejus (thereof) as in Greek.
630. ‘And adore Him Who has made the heaven and the land and the sea and the fountains of waters’ signifies that the Lord Only ought to be worshipped, because He Only is the Creator, Saviour and Redeemer, and from Him Only do the angelic heaven and the Church and all the things thereof exist. That by ‘to adore’ is signified to acknowledge as holy may be seen above (n. 579, 580, 588, 603), and therefore by ‘to adore’, when said of the Lord, is signified to acknowledge as the God of heaven and earth and to worship. By ‘to make the heaven and the land and the sea and the fountains of waters’ in the natural sense is understood to create them, but in the spiritual sense it signifies to make the angelic heaven and the Church and all the things thereof, for by ‘the heaven’ in the spiritual sense is signified the angelic heaven. By ‘the land and the sea’ in that sense is signified the Church internal and external (n. 403, 404, 420, 470), and by ‘the fountains of waters’ are signified all the truths of the Word of service to the Church for doctrine and life (n. 409). [2] That Jehovah the Creator is the Lord from what is eternal, and that the Lord the Saviour and Redeemer is the Lord born in what is temporal, thus as to His Divine Human, can be established from THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD from beginning to end. Who is not able to understand that there is one God the Creator of the universe, and not three Creators? also that the creation had for its end the heaven and Church [formed] out of the human race, concerning which ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE PROVIDENCE (n. 27-45) may be seen. It is for that reason that by ‘to make heaven and the land’ in the spiritual sense is signified to make the angelic heaven and the Church. These [words of this verse] were said for the same reason as mentioned above (n. 613), where what is signified by their having the Father’s Name written on their foreheads is expounded; and because that was said, therefore it is said here ‘adore Him Who made the heaven, the land, the sea and the fountains of waters’.
632. ‘Because she has made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her whoredom’ signifies because by profanations of the Word and by adulterations of the good and truth of the Church it has led astray all whom it has been able to bring under its dominion. By ‘Babylon’ is signified the Roman Catholic form of religion, as above. ‘Wine’ signifies truth derived from good, and in the opposite sense untruth derived from evil (n. 316); and ‘whoredom’ signifies the falsification of truth, and ‘the wrath of whoredom’ signifies adulteration and profanation (n. 134). ‘To make all the nations drink’ signifies to lead astray all whom they have been able to bring under their dominion. By ‘to make to drink of that wine’ is signified to lead astray, and by ‘the nations are signified those who are under their authority.
633. [verse 9] ‘And a third angel followed them saying with a great voice’ signifies something further from the Lord concerning those who are in faith separated from charity. By ‘a third angel followed them’ is signified something further from the Lord that follows in order, for by ‘an angel’ in the highest sense is understood the Lord (n. 626). This is because an angel, while he is speaking the Word, as here, is not speaking from himself but from the Lord. By ‘to say with a great voice’ is signified what follows, which concerns the damnation of those who in life and doctrine confirm themselves in faith separated from charity. From verse 1 to 5 of this chapter it treats of the Christian New Heaven, and in verses 6 and 7 of the preaching of the gospel, that is, of the coming of the Lord to set up the New Church; and because those who are in faith separated from charity oppose this, there now follows a threatening and denunciation of damnation for those who still persist in that faith.
634. ‘If anyone adores the beast and his image, and accepts a mark upon his forehead and hand’ signifies [that] he who acknowledges and receives the doctrine concerning justification and salvation by faith alone confirms it and lives in accordance with it. By ‘to adore the beast’ is signified to acknowledge that faith (n. 580). By ‘to adore his image’ is signified to acknowledge and receive that doctrine (n. 603). By ‘to accept a mark upon forehead and hand’ is signified to receive it in love and faith and to confirm oneself in it (n. 605, 606); and because those who confirm themselves in that love and faith also live in accordance with it, this also is understood. [2] There are three stages of the reception of that doctrine which are described by these words. The first stage is to acknowledge that doctrine, the second stage is to confirm it with oneself, and the third stage is to live in accordance with it. To acknowledge it is done from thought, to confirm it with oneself is done from understanding, and to live in accordance with it is done from will. There are those who are in the first stage and yet not in the second and third, and there are those who are in the first and second and yet not in the third; but those who are in the third, which is the stage of living in accordance therewith, are the ones of whom the things following in verses 10 and 11 are said. To live in accordance with that [faith] is to make evil of no account, thinking that evil does not condemn because the works of the law do not save, but only faith. It is also to make good of no account, thinking to oneself that no one can do good from himself except what is merit-seeking. Thus they are those who only avoid evils for the sake of civil and moral laws, and not for the sake of Divine laws. They are those who do good only for the sake of self and the world, consequently out of self-love, and not for the Lord’s sake, consequently not out of love of the neighbour. [3] The reason that the things now following (vers. 10, 11) were said of them is because all that enters only into the thought and into the understanding does not condemn, but that which enters into the will does condemn, for this enters into the will and is permanent. For nothing can enter the will unless it is also of the love, and the love is the life of the man. These also are they who do not examine themselves, recognise their own sins and repent; and on account of this they are condemned. For they say at heart, What need is there for an examination, for the recognition and acknowledgment of sins, and for repentance, when faith alone involves them all? In the spiritual world I have seen many such, who have avoided evils and done goods by reason of civil and moral law only and not of spiritual law at the same time, and they have been cast into hell.
635. [verse 10] ‘He also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God mixed with undiluted wine in the cup of His growing anger’ signifies that they falsify the goods and truths of the Word, and imbue their life with the same when falsified. These things are signified by these words because by ‘the wine of the wrath of God mixed with undiluted wine’ is signified the truth of the Word falsified; and by ‘the cup of His growing anger’ is signified the truth by means of which there is good, likewise falsified; and by ‘to drink’ is signified to appropriate them, or to imbue their life with them. That by ‘wine’ is signified the Truth of the Word may be seen (n. 316); by ‘the wine of the wrath of God’, the truth of the Word adulterated and falsified (n. 632); by ‘mixed with undiluted wine’ is plainly signified what is falsified. The like is signified also by ‘the cup’ as by ‘the wine’ because the cup is the containing vessel. ‘To drink’ signifies to imbue the life with these [falsified truths] because these things have been said to those who are living in accordance with the doctrine of justification by faith alone, as may be seen just above (n. 634). By ‘to mix wine’ and ‘the mixture’ is signified the falsification of truth in David also:-
A cup is in the hand of Jehovah, and He has mixed the wine, filled it with the mixture, and poured it out, and all the wicked of the land shall drink Ps. lxxv 8 [H.B. 9].
[2] In the Word in many places ‘wrath’ is mentioned, and at the same time ‘growing anger’, and there ‘wrath’ is predicated of evil and ‘growing anger’ of untruth, because those who are in evil are wrathful and those who are in untruth become angry; and both in the Word are attributed to Jehovah, that is to the Lord, but it is understood that this is on the part of man against the Lord (quad sit hominis contra Dominum), as may be seen above (n. 525). That in the Word ‘wrath’ and ‘growing anger’ are mentioned together is plain from these statements there:-
Jehovah comes in growing anger and wrath; the land shall be violently moved out of its place in the day of the growing anger of His wrath Isa. xiii 5, 9, 13.
Asshur the rod of My wrath, I will command him against the people of My growing anger Isa. x 4-7.
I will fight against you in wrath and in growing anger Jer. xxi 5.
The wrath of Jehovah is against all the nations, and growing anger against all their armies Isa. xxxiv 2.
Jehovah will repay in growing anger and with His wrath Isa. lxvi 15.
I have trodden down the people in My wrath, and made them drunk in My growing anger Isa. lxiii 6.
My wrath and growing anger has been poured out upon this place Jer. vii 20.
Besides elsewhere, as Jer. xxxiii 5; Ezek. v 13; Deut. xxix 27; and ‘the growing anger of wrath’, Isa. xiii 13; Ps. lxxviii 49, 50; Deut. vi 14, 15. But in Isaiah:-
Only in Jehovah is there justice and strength, and all shall be ashamed who have grown angry against Him Isa. xlv 24.
636. ‘And shall be tormented with fire and sulphur before the holy angels and the Lamb, [verse 11] and the smoke of their torment shall go up for ages of ages’ signifies the love of self and the world and the derivative lusts, and the pride of self-intelligence derived therefrom, and torment in hell as the result thereof. By ‘fire’ is signified the love of self and the world (n. 494); by ‘sulphur are signified the lusts derived from those two loves (n. 452); and because all the torment in hell is the result of these three it is therefore said. ‘shall be tormented with fire and sulphur, and the smoke of their torment shall go up for ages of ages’. It is said ‘before the angels and the Lamb’ because these loves are against Divine Truths and against the Lord Who is the Word; for by ‘angels’ are signified Divine Truths because they are the recipients (n. 170), and by ‘the Lamb’ is signified the Lord as to the Divine Human and at the same time the Word (n. 595). That the torments in hell are the result of the above-mentioned loves, and that those who are in faith separated from charity are in them, may be seen above (n. 421, 502, 597*)
* 597 seems incorrect. Perhaps 591 or 537 was intended.
637. ‘And they shall not have rest day and night adoring the beast and his image, and if anyone accepts the mark of his name’ signifies a perpetual state in things undelightful in the case of those who acknowledge that faith and receive its doctrine, confirm it, and live in accordance therewith. By ‘not to have rest day and night’ is signified their perpetual state in things undelightful after death, because just before it has spoken of their torment. By ‘day and night’ is signified all the time, and in the spiritual sense in every state, thus perpetually, for ‘day and night’ in that sense signify the states of life (n. 101, 476). That by ‘to adore the beast and his image, and accept the mark of his name’ is signified to acknowledge that faith, receive its doctrine, confirm it with oneself and live in accordance therewith may be seen above (n. 634) where similar things are said.
638. [verse 12] ‘Here is the patience of the saints, here are those keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus’ signifies that the man of the Lord’s Church is examined by means of temptations from those [in faith separated from charity] as to the quality of his life in accordance with the precepts of the Word and as to faith directed to the Lord. That these things are signified by these words may be seen above (n. 593). By ‘to keep the commandments’ is signified to live in accordance with the precepts that are contained in a summary in the Decalogue, and by ‘the faith of Jesus’ is signified a faith directed to Him, for these have faith from the Lord, and this faith is ‘the faith of Jesus’.
639. [verse 13] ‘And I heard a voice out of heaven saying unto me, Write, blessed are the dead dying in the Lord from henceforth’ signifies a prediction from the Lord concerning the state after death of those who will belong to His New Church (e Nova Ecclesia Ipsius erunt), which is that those who endure temptations on account of a faith directed to the Lord and a life in accordance with His precepts, have eternal life and happiness. By ‘to hear a voice out of heaven saying’ is signified a prediction from the Lord. It concerns the state after death of those who will belong to His New Church, because it treats of that state in this verse. By ‘dying henceforth’ is signified their state after death. ‘Write’ signifies so that it may be for a remembrance to posterity (n. 39, 63). By ‘blessed’ are signified those who have eternal life and happiness, since they are blessed. By ‘the dead’ are signified those who have afflicted their soul, crucified their flesh and endured temptations. That these are understood here by ‘the dead’ will be seen below.
[2] That those have eternal life and happiness who have endured temptations on account of a faith directed to the Lord and on account of a life in accordance with His precepts, is plain from the words just preceding where it is said ‘Here* is the patience of the saints, here are those keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus’, by which is signified that the man of the New Church is examined by means of temptations in regard to his quality as to a life in accordance with the precepts [of the Decalogue] and as to a faith directed to the Lord. This may be seen just above (n. 638), and by reason of the following words ‘And they shall rest from their labours’, by which is signified that those who have been tempted are going to have peace in the Lord, concerning whom just below (n. 640). By ‘temptations’ here are understood the spiritual temptations which take place (existunt) with those who have a faith directed to the Lord and live in accordance with His precepts, while they are driving away the evil spirits with them who act together with their lusts. These temptations are signified by ‘the cross’ in these passages:-
Whoever does not take up his cross and follow after Me, is not worthy of Me Matt. x 38.
Jesus said, If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, bear his cross, and follow Me Matt. xvi 24; Luke ix 23-25; xiv 26, 27;
also by ‘the crucifixion of the flesh’ in Paul:-
They who are Christ’s crucify the flesh with the passions and lusts Gal. v 24.
[3] The reason why by ‘the dead’ are signified those who have afflicted their soul, crucified their flesh and endured temptations is because thereby they have mortified the former life, and consequently have become as it were dead before the world; for the Lord said:-
Unless a grain of wheat falling on the land dies, it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit John xii 24.
Nor are any others understood by ‘the dead’ in John:-
Jesus said, As the Father raises up the dead and revives them, so does the Son revive whom He will John v 21.
In the same:-
Jesus said that the hour shall come when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall live John v 25.
And also by ‘the resurrection of the dead’ (Luke xiv 4; Rev. xx 5, 12, 13; and elsewhere). See n. 106 above. Also in David:-
Precious in the eyes of Jehovah is the death of His saints Ps. cxvi 15.
Jesus also said:-
Whoever loses his soul for My sake, shall find it Matt. x 39; xvi 25; Luke ix 24, 25; xvii 33; John xii 25.
* Reading Hic (here) instead of Haec (this).
640. ‘Yes indeed, says the spirit, that they may rest from their labours’ signifies that the Divine Truth of the Word teaches that those who afflict the soul and crucify the flesh on account of this are going to have peace in the Lord. ‘Yes indeed, says the spirit’ signifies that the Divine [Truth] of the Word teaches (n. 87, 104). ‘That they may rest signifies that they are going to have peace in the Lord. By ‘peace’ is understood the soul’s rest resulting from no infestation by evils and untruths, thus by hell, as formerly. By ‘labours’ are understood the labours of the soul, which are to afflict and crucify its flesh and to be tempted. Consequently by ‘they shall rest from their labours’ is signified that those who afflict the soul and crucify the flesh in the world for the sake of the Lord and eternal life are going to have peace in the Lord; for the Lord says:-
In Me you may have peace, in the world you have affliction John xvi 33.
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives do I give to you John xiv 27.
Such affliction is understood by ‘labour’ in these passages:-
By the labour of His soul He shall see and be satisfied and shall justify many Isa. liii 11.
Jehovah has seen our affliction and our labour and our oppression Deut. xxvi 7.
They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth in terror Isa. lxv 23.
I have known thy labour and thy patience, but thou hast borne, thou hast patience and for the sake of My Name hast laboured Rev. ii 2, 3.
In the day of judgment God will render to each one in accordance with his works Rom. ii 6.
We shall all be discovered before the tribunal of Christ, that each may give an account of the things that he has don by the body, whether good or evil 2 Cor. v 10.
The Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father, and then shall render to each one in accordance with his works Matt. xvi 27.
Those who have done goods shall go forth into the resurrection of life, but those who have done evils into the resurrection of judgment John v 29.
They were judged in accordance with the things that have been written in the book, all in accordance with their works Rev. xx 12, 13.
Behold, I am coming quickly and My reward is with Me, that I may give to each one in accordance with his work Rev. xxii 12.
I will give to each one in accordance with his works Rev. ii 23.
I know thy works Rev. ii 1, 2, 4, [5,] 8, [ 9,] 13, 19, 26; iii 1-3, 7, 8, 14, 15, 19.
I will recompense them according to their own work, and according to the deed of their hands Jer. xxv 14.
Jehovah does to us according to our ways and according to our works Zech. i 6;
and in many other places.
642. [verse 14] ‘And I saw and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud One sitting like the Son of Man’ signifies the Lord as to the Word. By ‘a cloud’ is signified the Word in the sense of the letter, and by ‘a white cloud’ the Word in the sense of the letter such as it is interiorly; and by ‘the Son of Man’ is understood the Lord as to the Word; and therefore it is said ‘upon the cloud One sitting like the Son of Man’. That by ‘a cloud’ is signified the Word as to the sense of the letter may be seen above (n. 24, 513). The reason why by ‘a white cloud’ is signified the sense of the letter of the Word such as it is interiorly is because ‘white’ is predicated of truths in the light (n. 167, 367), and interiorly in the sense of the letter there are spiritual truths that are in the light of heaven. That by ‘the Son of Man’ is understood the Lord as to the Word may be seen above (n. 44), and it may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD* (n. 19-28) confirmed by many things. [2] The Lord often said that ‘they were going to see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven’; He said this (Matt. xvii 5; xxiv 30; xxvi 64; Mark xiv 61, 62; Luke ix 34, 35; xxi 27); and no one knows that by this anything else is signified than that when He comes to the judgment, He is going to appear in the clouds of the sky. Yet this is not understood [in the spiritual sense], but it is understood that when He comes to the judgment He will appear in the sense of the letter of the Word. And because He has now come, therefore He has appeared in the Word by this means, that He has revealed that the spiritual sense was in the details (singulis) of the sense of the letter of the Word, and that in it [the Word] treats of Him Only, and that He Only is the God of heaven and earth. These are the things that are understood by His coming in the clouds of heaven. That the spiritual sense is in the details of the sense of the letter of the Word, and that in that sense it treats of the Only Lord, and that He Only is the God of heaven and earth, has been shown in two DOCTRINES OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, one CONCERNING THE LORD and the other concerning SACRED SCRIPTURE. [3] Since by ‘the Lord’s coming in the clouds of heaven’ is understood His coming in His Word, and this at the time when He is going to execute judgment, and the Apocalypse treats of this, it is therefore said there:-
Behold, He comes with clouds Rev. i 7;
and here:-
I saw and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud One sitting like the Son of Man.
Also in the Acts of the Apostles:-
While they beheld, Jesus was taken up into heaven, and a cloud caught Him up from their eyes; and two men in white raiment said, This Jesus Who has been taken into heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him going into heaven Acts i 9, 11.
By ‘a cloud’ is signified the sense of the letter of the Word, because that sense is natural, and Divine Truth in natural light appears as a cloud before the eyes of the angels, who are in spiritual light; as a white cloud with those who are in genuine truths out of the sense of the letter of the Word, as a dark cloud with those who are not in genuine truths, as a black cloud with those who are in untruths, and as a black cloud mingled with fire in the case of those who are in faith separated from charity because in evils of life. I have seen.
* Original Edition has SACRED SCRIPTURE, but the references show that THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD was intended.
643. ‘Having upon His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle’ signifies the Divine Wisdom out of His Divine Love, and the Divine Truth of the Word. That by ‘a crown upon the head’ is signified wisdom may be seen above (n. 189, 252); and by ‘a golden crown’ wisdom out of love (n. 235). And since it was seen upon the head of the Son of Man or the Lord, by ‘a golden crown’ is signified the Divine Wisdom out of His Divine Love. By ‘a sickle’ is signified the Divine Truth of the Word because by ‘the harvest’ is signified the state of the Church as to Divine Truth, here its last state. Consequently by ‘reaping’, which is done with a sickle, is here signified to put an end to the state of the Church and to execute judgment. And because these things are done by means of the Divine Truth of the Word, therefore this is signified by ‘a sickle’, and by ‘a sharp sickle’ its being done accurately and carefully. By a ‘sickle’ the like is signified as by a ‘sword’ (gladius), ‘short sword’ (mochoero) and ‘long sword’ (romphaea), but it is termed ‘sickle’ where it treats of harvest, and ‘sword’ when it treats of war. That by ‘sword’, ‘short sword’ and ‘long sword’ is signified Divine Truth fighting against untruths, and vice versa, may be seen above (n. 52, 108, 117)
I will be seated for judging all the nations; put forth the sickle, for the harvest has ripened, for their wickedness is great Joel iii 12, 13 [H.B. iv 12, 13].
Cut off the sower and the handler of the sickle in the time of harvest Jer. l 16.
The daughter of Babel is like a threshing-floor, yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come Jer. li 33.
It shall come to pass when the standing corn of the harvest is being gathered, and his arm reaps the ears; in the morning thy seed flourishes, the harvest is a heap in the day of possession, and desperate, sorrow Isa. xvii 5, 6, 11.
The farmers were ashamed, because the harvest of the field perished Joel i 11.
Jesus said to the disciples, There are yet four months until the harvest comes, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are white for the harvest already. I have sent you to reap John iv 35-38.
Jesus said to the disciples, The harvest is plenteous, but the labourers are few, ask the Lord of the harvest that He may send forth labourers into His harvest Matt. ix 37, 38; Luke x 2.
In these passages, and also Isa. xvi 9; Jer. v 17; viii 20, by ‘the harvest’ is signified the Church as to Divine Truth.
[3] But all the things that are contained in these verses in this chapter, and also in the two chapters that follow, were foretold by the Lord in the parable about the sower and the gathering of the harvest, which will be quoted because it teaches and illustrates what they signify:-
Jesus said, The kingdom of the heavens is like unto a man sowing good seed in his field, but an enemy came and sowed tares; when the blade sprouted, the tares appeared also. The servants said, Dost thou wish us to gather them? but he said, No, lest while gathering the tares you uproot the wheat at the same time. Let them grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather first the tares and bind them into bundles for burning, but gather the wheat into my barn. And the disciples approached Jesus, saying, Explain the parable to us. Jesus said, He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man (or the Lord), the field is the world (the Church), the seed are the sons of the kingdom (truths of the Church), the tares are the sons of the evil one (untruths from hell), the enemy who sows them is the devil, the harvest is the consummation of the age (end of the Church), the reapers are angels (Divine Truths). In the same manner, therefore, as the tares are gathered and burnt with fire, so shall it be in the consummation of the age (at the end of the Church) Matt. xiii 24-30; 36-43.
646. [verse 16] ‘And the One sitting upon the cloud put forth His sickle, and the land was reaped’ signifies the end of the Church because Divine Truth is not there any longer. These things are signified because by ‘the One sitting upon the cloud’ is signified the Lord as to the Word (n. 642); by ‘to put forth the sickle and reap’ is signified to make an end and execute judgment (n. 643); by ‘the harvest’ is signified the state of the Church, here its last state (n. 643, 645); and by ‘the land’ is signified the Church (n. 285). Resulting from these things joined together into one sense it is plain that by ‘the One sitting upon the cloud put forth the sickle, and the land was reaped’ is signified the end of the Church because Divine Truth is not there any longer.
647. [verse 17] ‘And another angel went out of the temple that is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle’ signifies the heavens of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, and the Divine Truth of the Word with them. By an ‘angel’ is signified in the highest sense the Lord, then the angelic heaven, and also Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord, as may be seen above (n. 5, 65, 170, 258, 342, 343, 344, 415, 465). But by the ‘angel’ here are signified the heavens of the spiritual kingdom, and consequently the Divine truths there, because it follows on that ‘another angel went out of the altar’, by which are signified the heavens of the Lord’s celestial kingdom, thus the Divine Goods there, of which [something will be said] in a subsequent paragraph. There are two kingdoms into which all the heavens have been distinguished, the spiritual kingdom and the celestial kingdom. The spiritual kingdom is the kingdom of the Lord’s Wisdom, because the angels there are in wisdom out of Divine Truths from the Lord; and the celestial kingdom is the kingdom of the Lord’s Love, because the angels there are in love from the Lord, and thence in every good. That there are two kingdoms into which all the heavens have been distinguished may be seen in the work Concerning HEAVEN AND HELL, published in 1758 at London (n. 20-28); also in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, published in 1763 [at Amsterdam] (n. 101, 381). By ‘the temple’ is signified the entire heaven, as above (n. 644), but because it is here said’ the temple that is in heaven and afterwards ‘the altar’, by ‘the temple’ is signified the heaven of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom as was said just above; and by ‘a sharp sickle ‘is signified the Divine Truth of the Word, as above (n. 643, 645).
[2] The reason why it is said above that ‘the One sitting upon the cloud put forth His sickle and the land was reaped’, and now that ‘an angel went Out of the temple out of heaven, he also having a sickle, and put it forth into the land and gathered the vintage of the vineyard of the land’, is because by ‘the land’ that [was reaped] by the One sitting upon the cloud, or the Lord, is signified the Church throughout the entire world, and by ‘the vineyard of the land’ is signified the Church in Christendom. These [words] involve things similar to those that the Lord foretold in the parable of the sower and the gathering of the harvest (Matt. xiii), which were quoted above at the end of n. 645, where it is said that ‘the harvest is the consummation of the age’, that is, the end of the Church, and that ‘the reapers are angels’, by which are signified Divine Truths. For angels are not sent to reap, that is, to do these things, but the Lord does it by means of the Divine Truths of His Word, for the Lord says:-
The Word that I have spoken shall judge in the final day John xii 48.
See above (n. 233, 273).
648. [verse 18] ‘And another angel went out of the altar, having power over fire’ signifies the heavens of the Lord’s celestial kingdom, which are in the good of love from the Lord. By ‘another angel’ here are signified the heavens of the Lord’s celestial kingdom because he was seen to go out of the altar; for by ‘the altar’ is signified the worship of the Lord out of love, as may be seen above (n. 392), and by ‘fire’ is signified love (n. 468), and by the ‘fire upon the altar’ is signified Divine Love (n. 395). It is said that he had ‘power over fire’ because the angels guard that love with themselves.
649. ‘And he cried with a great cry to the one having the sharp sickle, saying, Put forth thy sharp sickle, and gather the vintage of the clusters of the vineyard of the land’ signifies the Lord’s operation out of the good of His love by means of the Divine Truth of His Word into the works of charity and faith that are with the men of the Christian Church. This is the spiritual sense of these words, since by those two ‘angels’ are signified the heavens of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom and celestial kingdom (n. 647, 648); and the heavens do nothing of themselves, but from the Lord, for the angels in the heavens are only the recipients, and therefore in the spiritual sense nothing else than the Lord’s operation is signified, here into the Church in Christendom and into the works of charity and faith with the men there. For by ‘the vineyard’ is signified that Church, of which [something will be said] in paragraph 651 following, and by ‘clusters’ and ‘grapes’ are signified the works of charity. These are signified by ‘clusters’ and ‘grapes’ because they are the fruits of the vine in the vineyard, and by ‘fruits’ in the Word good works are signified. [2] The angel going out of the altar said to the angel who went out of the temple that he should put forth the sickle and gather the vintage, because by ‘the angel going out of the altar’ are signified the heavens of the celestial kingdom or the heavens that are in the good of love, and by ‘the angel going out of the temple’ are signified the heavens of the spiritual kingdom or the heavens that are in the truths of wisdom, as was said above; and the good of love does not operate anything of itself, but by means of the truth of wisdom, nor does the truth of wisdom operate anything of itself, but out of the good of love. That this is the case has been shown in many places in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM. This is the reason why ‘the angel going out of the altar said to the angel who went out of the temple that he should put forth the sickle and gather the vintage of the clusters of the vineyard of the land’. It is why now by those [words] the Lord’s operation out of the good of His love by means of the Divine Truth of His Word is signified.
[3] That ‘grapes’ and ‘clusters’ signify the goods and works of charity can be established from the following passages:-
Woe is me, I have become as the gatherings of the summer, as the grape-gleanings of the vintage; there is no cluster to eat; my soul longs for what is primitive; the holy one has passed away out of the land, and the upright among men Micah vii 1, 2.
Their grapes are grapes of gall, the clusters have bitterness Deut. xxxii 32.
My well-beloved had a vineyard, he expected it to produce grapes, but it produced wild grapes Isa. v 1, 2, 4.
These looking to strange gods, loving flagons of grapes Hosea iii 1.
Every tree is recognised by its own fruit, of thorns they do not gather figs, nor of the bramble do they gather as vintage the grape Luke vi 44.
There shall be in the midst of the land as it were grape-gleanings, when the vintage is done Isa. xxiv 12, 13.
If grape-gatherers come to thee, shall they not leave grape-gleanings Jer. xlix 9; Obad. vers. 4, 5.
The waster has fallen upon thy vintage Jer. xlviii 32, 33.
You shall be violently moved, O confident ones, because the vintage is consumed, the gathering shall not come Isa. xxxii 9, 10;
besides elsewhere, where it is termed ‘the fruits of the vineyard’, and ‘of the vine’. There are goods of a celestial love, and there are goods of a spiritual love. The goods of a celestial love are of a love directed to the Lord, and the goods of a spiritual love are of a love towards the neighbour. These goods are called the goods of charity and are understood by ‘the fruits of the vineyard’, which are the grapes and clusters; but the goods of a love directed to the Lord are understood in the Word by ‘the fruits of trees’, especially by ‘olives’. [4] [649a*.] ‘For the grapes thereof have ripened’ signifies because it is the last state of the Christian Church. A similar thing is signified by ‘the grapes of the vineyard have ripened’ as above by ‘the harvest has dried up’, but ‘harvest’ is said of the Church in general, and ‘vineyard’ of the Church in particular. That ‘the harvest has dried up’ signifies the last state of the Church may be seen above (n. 645), and therefore likewise’ the grapes of the vineyard have ripened’. ‘A vineyard’ signifies the Church where there is the Divine Truth of the Word and the Lord is thereby known, since ‘wine’ signifies the interior Truth that is from the Lord by means of the Word. Consequently ‘the vineyard’ here signifies the Christian Church. That ‘wine’ signifies the truth derived from the good of love, thus from the Lord, may be seen above (n. 316).
* This paragraph is not numbered in the Original Edition.
Jesus said, I am the Vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, the same bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. Unless one abides in Me, he shall be cast away, and like a withered branch into the fire John xv 5, 6.
Jesus likened the kingdom of the heavens to a householder who brought labourers into his vineyard Matt. xx 1-8.
Of the sons who should work in the vineyard Matt. xxi 28.
Of the fig tree planted in the vineyard which was not bearing fruit Luke xiii 6-9.
Jesus spoke a parable; a man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, and let it out to farmers that they might get the fruits thereof, but they killed the servants sent to them, and at last the Son Matt. xxi 33-39; Mark xii 1-9; Luke xx 9-16.
I will sing a song of my beloved concerning his vineyard, My well-beloved has a vineyard, which he fenced about and planted with a noble vine Isa. v 1, 2 seq.
In that day a vineyard of undiluted wine, answer unto her, I Jehovah am keeping it, I will water it every moment Isa. xxvii 2, 3.
Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard; they have placed it in a solitude Jer. xii 10, 11.
Jehovah will come into the judgment with the elders, for you have set the vineyard on fire Isa. iii 14.
In all the vineyards wailing Amos v 17, 18.
In the vineyards there is no singing, nor shouting Isa. xvi 10.
My well-beloved had a vineyard in the horn of a son of oil; he planted it with a noble vine; he also hewed out a winepress in it, and he expected it to produce grapes but it produced wild grapes Isa. v 1, 2.
Put forth the sickle because the harvest has ripened, get you down because the winepress is full, the vats have overflowed, for their wickedness is great Joel iii 13 [H.B. iv 13].
The threshing-floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the must shall deceive her Hosea ix, 1, 2.
The waster has fallen upon thy vintage, I have made the wine out of the winepress to cease, none shall tread hedad*, hedad there is no hedad Jer. xlviii 32, 33.
A householder planted a vineyard, and digged a winepress in it, and let it out to farmers, but they killed the servants sent to them, and at last the Son Matt. xxi 33.
‘Winepress’ is also said of the goods of charity out of which the truths of faith [are derived], in Joel:-
Rejoice, O sons of Zion, the threshing-floors are full of corn, and the winepresses are overflowing with must and oil Joel ii 23, 24.
652. [verse 20] ‘And the winepress was trodden outside the city’ signifies that the examination was made from (ex) the Divine Truths of the Word [to discover] what the works flowing forth from the Church’s doctrine of faith were like. By ‘the winepress was trodden’ is signified that the examination was made [to discover] what the works were like. By ‘to tread the winepress’ is signified to examine, and by the ‘clusters’ that are trodden are signified works, as above (n. 649), here the works flowing forth from the Church’s doctrine of faith, which are evil works. By ‘the city’ here is understood the great city treated of above (chap. xi, verse 8), which ‘is called the great city, spiritually Sodom and Egypt’. That by it is understood the doctrine of faith separated from charity, which is the doctrine of the Church of the Reformed, may be seen above (n. 501,, 502). And because every examination of the doctrine of the Church is made by means of the Divine Truth of the Word, and this is not in the doctrine but outside of it, this also is signified by the treading having been done ‘outside the city’. From these considerations it can be established that by ‘the winepress was trodden outside the city’ is signified that the examination was made from the Divine Truths of the Word [to discover] what the works flowing forth from the Church’s doctrine of faith were like. By ‘to tread the wine- press is signified not only to examine evil works, but also to hold out against them with others, also to remove and cast them into hell, in the following passages:-
I speak in justice, great for saving. Wherefore art thou red as to thy garment, and thy garments as of one who treads in the winepress? I have trodden the winepress alone Isa. lxiii 1-3.
The Lord has overthrown all my mighty men, the Lord has trodden the winepress to the daughter of Judah Lam. i 15.
The One sitting upon the white horse leads the nations to pasture with an iron rod, and the same One treads the winepress of the wine of the fury and wrath of God Rev. xix 15.
* This is a transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning ‘shouting’, perhaps equivalent to the English ‘hurrah’.
653. ‘And the blood went out of the winepress even to the horses’ bridles’ signifies the violence inflicted on the Word by means of dreadful falsifications of truth, and the understanding so closed up thereby that a man can scarcely any longer be taught, and thus be led by means of Divine truths by the Lord. By ‘blood ‘is signified violence inflicted on the Word (n. 327), and the Divine Truth of the Word falsified and profaned (n. 379); for by ‘blood out of the winepress’ is understood must and wine out of the trodden clusters, and by ‘must and wine’ similar things are signified (n. 316). By ‘the horses’ bridles’ are signified the truths of the Word by means of which the understanding is led, for ‘a horse’ signifies the understanding of the Word (n. 298), and in consequence by ‘a bridle’ is signified the truth by means of which the understanding is led. ‘Even to the horses’ bridles’ is equivalent to even within the mouth in which the bridle has been inserted, and a horse is watered and fed through the mouth, and therefore it is also signified that such violence has been inflicted on the Word by means of dreadful falsifications that a man can scarcely any more be taught, and thus led by means of Divine truths by the Lord. By ‘a bridle’ is also signified that by means of which the understanding is led (Isa. xxx 27, 28; xxxvii 29); and by ‘the blood of grapes’ is signified the Divine Truth of the Word (Gen. xlix 11; Deut. xxxii 14); but here in the opposite
sense.
654. ‘For a thousand six hundred stadia*’ signifies nothing but untruths of evil. By ‘stadia’ the like is signified as by ‘ways’, because stadia are measurements of ways, and by ‘ways’ are signified truths leading (n. 176), and in the opposite sense untruths likewise; and by ‘a thousand six hundred’ are signified evils in a whole complex. For by 1600 the like is signified as by 16, and by 16 the like as by 4, because 16 arises out of 4 multiplied into itself. And ‘four’ is said of good and of a conjunction of good and truth (n. 322). Consequently in the opposite sense it is said of evil and of a conjunction of evil and untruth, as here. And as the multiplication of a number by 100 does not take away the signification, but exalts it, therefore by ‘for a thousand six hundred stadia’ is signified nothing but untruth of evil. That all the numbers in the Word signify things may be seen above (n. 348), and that a number signifies the quality of a thing (n. 448, 608, 609, 610).
* Plural of stadium=approx. one-eighth of a mile.
* * * * * * *
655. To these things I will add this MEMORABLE OCCURENCE. I spoke with some of those who are understood by ‘the dragon’ in the Apocalypse; and one of them said to me, ‘Come with me, and I will show you the delights of our eyes and hearts.’ And he led me through a shady wood and on to a hill from which I could view the enjoyments of the dragons. And I saw an amphitheatre built in the form of a circus with benches all round constructed in tiers sloping upwards, upon which the spectators were sitting. Those who were sitting on the lowest benches appeared to me from afar off as satyrs and priapi, some with a cover concealing the private parts, and some naked without that. On the benches above them whoremongers and harlots were sitting, appearing such to me by their gestures. And then the dragon said to me, ‘Now you shall see our sport. And I saw as it were bullocks, rams, sheep, kids and lambs let into the area of the circus, and after these had been let in a door was opened, and as it were young lions, panthers, leopards and wolves were rushing in and furiously attacking the flock, and tearing them in pieces and slaughtering them. But the satyrs after that bloody carnage were spreading sand over the place of the slaughter. [2] Then the dragon said to me, ‘These are our sports that delight our minds (animus).’ And I replied, ‘Go away, you demon! After a while you will see this amphitheatre turned into a lake of fire and sulphur.’ He laughed and went away. And afterwards I was thinking to myself, Why are such things permitted by the Lord? And in my heart I got the answer that they are permitted as long as they are in the world of spirits, but after their time in that world has been accomplished such theatrical scenes are turned into things infernally dreadful. [3] All the things that were seen were induced by the dragonists by means of fantasies, and therefore there were no bullocks, rams, sheep, kids and lambs, but they made the genuine goods and truths of the Church, which they hated, so to appear. The young lions, panthers, leopards and wolves were the appearances of the lusts of those who were seen as satyrs and priapi. The ones without a covering around their private parts were those who believed that evils do not appear before God, and the ones with a covering were those who believed that they do appear but do not condemn provided they are in faith. The whoremongers and harlots were falsifiers of the truth of the Word, for whoredom signifies the falsification of truth. In the spiritual world all things appear from afar off in accordance with correspondences, and when they are appearing in forms they are called representations of spiritual things in similar objective forms of natural things.
[4] Afterwards I saw them going out of the wood, the dragon in the midst of the satyrs and priapi, and after them the drudges and camp followers who were the whoremongers and harlots. The gang was increasing on the way, and then it was given to hear what they were talking about. They were saying that they saw a flock of sheep with lambs in a meadow, and that this is a sign that one of the Jerusalem cities where charity is primary was near. And they said, ‘Let us go and take that city, and cast out its inhabitants and plunder their goods.’ They approached, but there was a wall round it, and guardian angels on the wall. And then they said, ‘Let us take it by deceit. Let us send an expert ingenious mutterer who can whiten what is black and blacken what is white, and colour the reality of any object.’ And one skilled in the art of metaphysics was found, who could change ideas of realities into ideas of terms, and hide the realities themselves under formulas, and thus fly off like a hawk with its prey under its wings. He was instructed how to speak with the city people, [to say] that they were in fellowship in religion and should be admitted. Coming to the gate he knocked, and when it was opened he said that he wished to speak with the wisest person of that city. And he entered and was conducted to a certain person, whereupon he spoke to him, saying, ‘There are some of my brethren outside the city, and they request to be received. They are allies in religion. You and we make faith and charity the two essentials of religion. The only difference is that you say charity is primary and faith is thence derived, while we say faith is primary and charity is derived thence. What does it matter if one or the other is said to be primary, when each of the two is believed in?’ [5] The city’s wise one replied, ‘Let us not discuss this matter alone, but in the presence of some more who may be the arbiters and judges, otherwise no decision may be made.’ Whereupon they were sent for, and the draconic one spoke the same words as before to them. And then the wise man of the city replied, ‘You have said that it is all the same whether charity or faith be taken as the primary thing of the Church, provided there is agreement that each of the two makes the Church and its religion. And yet the difference is such as exists between prior and posterior, cause and effect, the principal and the instrumental, and the essential and the formal. I say such things because I have noticed that you are skilled in the art of metaphysics, which art we call muttering, and some call it incantation. But let us leave those terms. The difference is like that between what is above and what is below; indeed, if you will believe it, the difference is like that between heaven and hell. For that which is primary makes the head and the breast, and that which is derived therefrom makes the feet and the soles thereof. But first let us agree what charity is and what faith is. [Let us agree] that charity is the affection of the love of doing good to the neighbour for the sake of God, salvation and eternal life, and that faith is the thought resulting from confidence concerning God, salvation and eternal life.’ [6] But the emissary said, ‘I grant that the latter is faith, and I also grant that charity is the former affection for the sake of God, because for the sake of His command, but not for the sake of salvation and eternal life.’ And the wise one of the city said, ‘So be it, provided it is for the sake of God.’ After this agreement the wise one of the city said, ‘Is not affection primary and thought derived from it?’ But the one sent by the dragon said, ‘This I deny.’ But he got the answer, ‘You cannot deny it. Does not a man think by virtue of affection? Take away the affection, and can you think anything? It is just the same as if you should take the sound away from speech. If you take away the sound, can you speak anything? For the sound is of the affection, and the speech is of the thought, for affection sounds and thought speaks. And it is also like flame and light. If you take away the flame, does not the light perish? It is similar with charity, because it is affection, and with faith, because it is thought. Are you not able thus to grasp that what is primary is the all in what is secondary, altogether as the sound is in speech? From these considerations you can see that if you do not make that which is primary the primary thing, you are not in the other. Therefore if you put the faith that is in the second place in the first place, you will in heaven appear no otherwise than as a man inverted, whose feet stand upwards while the head is downwards, or as a contortionist (hariolus) who walks on the palms of his hands with his body upside-down. Since you appear such in heaven, what then are your good works like, which are charity, but such things as that contortionist would do with his feet because he cannot use his hands? The result of this is that your charity, as you have also seen, is natural and not spiritual, because it is inverted.’ [7] The emissary understood this, for every devil can understand truth when he hears it; but he cannot retain it, because when the affection of evil comes back it rejects the thought of truth. And afterwards the wise one of the city described in much detail what faith is like when it has been taken for what is primary, that it is merely natural, and that it is nothing but knowledge without any spiritual life, consequently that it is not faith. ‘For your charity is only natural affection, and out of natural affection no other than natural thought proceeds, and this is your faith. And I can almost say that in faith merely natural there is hardly any other spiritual thing than there is in a knowledge of the kingdom of the Mogul, of the diamond mine there, and of its emperor’s treasury and palace.’ On hearing these things the draconic one went away full of wrath and reported them to his gang outside the city. And when they heard what had been said, that charity is the affection of the love of doing good to the neighbour for the sake of God, salvation and eternal life, they all cried out, ‘This is a lie.’ And the dragon himself cried, ‘Oh! what a crime! Are not all the good works that are of charity, when done for the sake of salvation, merit-seeking?’
[8] Then they said among themselves, ‘Let us call more of our sort together, and besiege this city. Let us make ladders, climb the wall, and rush in at night and throw these charities out.’ When, however, they attempted this, lo there appeared as it were fire out of heaven, which consumed them. But the fire out of heaven was the appearance of the wrath derived from hatred against those [charities], because they cast faith out of the first into the second place. Their appearing to be consumed as it were with fire was in fact the opening of hell under their feet, and their being engulfed. Things similar to these occurred in many places at the day of the last judgment; and this is what is understood by these words in the Apocalypse:-
The dragon shall go out to lead astray the nations that are at the four corners of the land, that he may gather them together for war; and they went up on the plain of the land, and encompassed the camp of the saints, and the beloved city; but fire came down from God out of heaven and consumed them Rev. xx 8, 9.
1. And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous; seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God has been consummated.
2. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those having victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, standing beside the sea of glass, having harps of God.
3. And they were singing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are Thy works, O Lord God Almighty, just and true are Thy ways, O King of saints.
4. Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy Name? for Thou Only art Holy; therefore all the nations shall come and adore before Thee, for Thy judgments have been made manifest.
5. And after these things I saw, and behold the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened.
6. And the seven angels having the seven plagues went out of the temple, clothed with clean and shining linen, and girded about the breasts with golden girdles.
7. And one of the four animals gave unto the seven angels seven golden phials fill of the wrath of the God living for ages of ages.
8. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His vigour (virlus), and no one was able to enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were consummated.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
The preparation for discovering the last state of the Church, and for laying bare the evils and untruths in which they are (vers. 1, 5-8); from which have been separated those who have confessed the Lord and lived in accordance
with His precepts (vers. 2-4).
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous
signifies a revelation by the Lord concerning the state of the Church on earth, what it is like as to love and faith.
Seven angels having the seven last plagues
signifies the evils and untruths in the Church, such as they are in its last state, completely (universaliter) disclosed by the Lord.
For in them the wrath of God has been consummated
signifies the devastation of the Church and its end then.
2. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire
signifies the ultimate boundary of the spiritual world, where those had been gathered together who had religion and worship therefrom, and no good of life.
And those having victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name
signifies those who have rejected faith alone and its doctrine, and thus have neither acknowledged and absorbed its untruths, nor falsified the Word.
Standing beside the sea of glass having harps of God
signifies the Christian heaven at its boundaries, and the faith of charity with those who are there.
3. And they were singing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb
signifies a confession out of charity, thus out of a life in accordance with the precepts of the Law which is the Decalogue, and out of faith concerning the Divinity of the Lord’s Human.
Saying, Great and marvellous are Thy works, O Lord God Almighty
signifies that all the things of the world, of heaven, and of the Church have been created and done by the Lord out of Divine Love by means of Divine Wisdom.
For just and true are Thy ways, O King of saints
signifies that all the things that proceed from Him are just and true, because He is Divine Good Itself and Divine Truth in heaven and in the Church.
4. Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy Name?
signifies that He Only is to be loved and worshipped.
For Thou Only art Holy
signifies that He is the Word, the Truth (veritas), and Enlightenment.
Therefore all the nations shall come and adore before Thee
signifies that all who are in the good of love and charity will acknowledge the Lord to be the Only God.
For Thy judgments have been made manifest
signifies that the truths of the Word openly testify this.
5. After these things I saw, and behold the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened
signifies that the inmost of heaven was seen, where the Lord is in His holiness in the Word, and in the Law which is the Decalogue.
6. And the seven angels having the seven plagues went out of the temple
signifies preparation by the Lord for an influx out of the inmost of heaven into the Church, so that its evils and untruths might be disclosed, and thus the evil be separated from the good.
Clothed with clean and shining linen, and girded about the breasts with golden girdles
signifies this out of the pure and genuine truths and goods of the Word.
7. And one of the four animals gave unto the seven angels seven golden phials
signifies those truths and goods by means of which the evils and untruths of the Church are disclosed taken from the sense of the letter of the Word.
Full of the wrath of the God living for ages of ages
signifies the evils and untruths about to appear and be disclosed by means of the pure and genuine truths and goods of the Word.
8. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His vigour (virtus)
signifies the inmost of heaven full of the Lord’s spiritual and celestial Divine Truth.
And no one was able to enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were consummated
signifies to this degree there that more could not be endured and this until after the devastation the end of that Church was seen.
THE EXPOSITION
[verse 1] ‘And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous’ signifies a revelation by the Lord concerning the state of the Church on earth, what it is like as to love and faith. These are the things of which it treats in this and the following chapter. Therefore these are signified by the ‘sign in heaven, great and marvellous’. That by ‘a sign in heaven’ is signified a revelation by the Lord concerning heaven and the Church, and their state, may be seen above (n. 532, 536). It is [a revelation] concerning love and faith, because it is termed ‘great and marvellous’, and ‘great’ in the Word is said of such things as are of affection and love, and ‘marvellous’ of such as are of thought and faith.
657. ‘Seven angels having the seven last plagues’ signifies the evils and untruths in the Church, such as they are in its last state, completely disclosed by the Lord. By ‘seven angels’ is signified the entire heaven; but because heaven is not heaven out of the angels’ propria, but out of the Lord, therefore by ‘seven angels’ the Lord is signified. Nor can any other discover the evils and untruths that are in the Church. That by ‘angels’ is signified heaven, and in the highest sense the Lord, may be seen above (n. 5, 258, 344, 465, 644, 647, 648). By ‘plagues’ are signified evils and untruths, evils of love and untruths of faith; for they are those that are described in the following chapter and are signified by the ‘evil and noxious sore’, by the ‘blood, as it were of one dead, whereby every living soul died’, and by the ‘blood into which the waters of the rivers and fountains were turned’, by the ‘scorching of fire which afflicted men’, by the ‘unclean spirits like frogs, which were demons’, also by the ‘great hail’. The evils and untruths that are signified by all those things are here ‘plagues’. By ‘the last plagues’ are signified those in the last state of the Church. By ‘seven’ are signified all (n. 10, 390); but because the evils that are signified by the plagues in the following chapter are not all specified (in specie), but are all in general, by ‘the seven’ here are signified all completely (universaliter), for what is universal embraces all things specifically (universale enim complectitur omnia in specie). It is plain from these considerations that by ‘I saw seven angels having the seven last plagues’ is signified that the evils and untruths in the Church, such as they are in its last state, have been completely disclosed by the Lord.
[2] That ‘plagues’ signify the spiritual plagues that affect men as to their souls, and destroy these, and which are evils and untruths, can be established from the following passages:-
From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness, a recent plague not pressed out, not bound up, not mollified Isa. i 6.
Jehovah smites the peoples in wrath with an incurable plague Isa. xiv 6.
O Jehovah, remove Thy plague from upon me, by the blow of Thy hand am I consumed Ps. xxxix 10 [H.B. 11].
Thy fracture is hopeless, with the plague of an enemy have I smitten thee for the multitude of thine iniquity, thy sins have become very many: but I will heal thee from thy plagues Jer. xxx 12, 14, 17.
If thou art not taking care to do all the words of the law, Jehovah will render thy plagues marvellous, plagues great and lasting, and every plague that is not written in the book of this law, even until thou art destroyed Deut. xxviii 58, 59, 61.
There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague draw near to thy tent Ps. xci 10.
Edom shall become a desolation, everyone passing by shall hiss at all the plagues thereof Jer. xlix 17.
It shall be a devastation, everyone passing by beyond Babel shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof Jer. 1 13.
In one day shall come the plagues of Babylon Rev. xviii 8.
The two witnesses shall smite the land with every plague Rev. xi 6.
By the plagues of Egypt, which were in part similar to the plagues described in the following chapter, nothing else but evils and untruths are signified; which plagues you may see enumerated above (n. 503). They are indeed called ‘plagues’ (Exod. ix 14; xii). From these considerations it is plain that by ‘plagues’ nothing else is signified but the spiritual plagues that affect men as to their souls and destroy them, as also Isa. xxx 26; Zech. xiv 12, 15; Ps. xxxviii 5, 11 [H.B. 6, 12]; Rev. ix 20; xvi 21; Exod. xii 13; xxx 12; Num. xi 33; Luke vii 21; and elsewhere.
I have heard a consummation and decision from with Jehovah upon the entire land Isa. xxviii 22.
The consummation was decreed, justice overflowed, for the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth is making a consummation and decision in the whole land Isa. x 22, 23.
In the fire of Jehovah’s zeal the whole land shall be eaten up, for He shall make a speedy consummation with all the inhabitants of the land Zeph. i 18.
At length upon the bird of abominations [there shall be] desolation, and even to a consummation and decision shall it drop upon the devastation Dan. ix 27.
The whole land shall be a waste, yet will I not make a consummation Jer. iv 27.
Jehovah said, I will go down and see whether, according to the cry that is come to Me, they have made a consummation Gen. xviii 21;
this is concerning Sodom.
The iniquity of the Amorites has not yet been consummated Gen. xv 16.
The end of the Church is also understood by ‘the consummation of the age’ by the Lord in these passages:-
The disciples asked Jesus, What is the sign of Thy coming and of the consummation of the age? Matt. xxiv 3.
At the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather first the tares for burning; gather the wheat into the barn; so shall it be in the consummation of the age Matt. xiii 30, 40.
In the consummation of the age, the angels shall go forth and separate the evil from among the just Matt. xiii 49.
Jesus said to the disciples, Behold I am with you even until the consummation of the age Matt. xxviii 20.
‘Until the consummation of the age’ is until the end of the Church, when there is a New Church with which the Lord will then be.
659. [verse 2] ‘And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire’ signifies the ultimate boundary of the spiritual world, where those had been gathered together who had religion and worship therefrom, and no good of life. By the ‘sea of glass’ (chap. iv 6) was signified the New Heaven [formed] out of Christians who were in general truths out of the sense of the letter of the Word (n. 238). Those who are in general truths are also in the boundaries of heaven, and therefore from afar off they appear as if in the sea (n. 398, 403, 404, 470). Here, however, by ‘a sea of glass’ is signified the ultimate boundary of the spiritual world, where those had been gathered together who had religion and worship therefrom, but no good of life. Because a gathering of these is signified, therefore it is said ‘as it were a sea of glass’, and also it was seen ‘mingled with fire’, and there by ‘fire’ is signified the love of evil, and the resulting evil of life (n. 452, 468, 494, 766, 767, 787); thus no good of life, for where there is no good there is evil. That a gathering of these is understood here by ‘as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire’ is plain also from the things now following, as that:-
Beside the sea stood those who had victory over the beast and over his image,
by whom are signified those who as a result of the rejection of faith separated from charity were in the good of life, and consequently in heaven (n. 660). This ‘sea’ is also the one that is understood in chap. xxi 1 by ‘the sea’ that ‘was no more’ (n. 878). What this sea was like, and what those who were there were like, it was given [me] to see. They were those who had had religion, had frequented churches, had heard sermons, had gone to the Holy Supper, and thereafter had not thought anything about God, salvation, and eternal life, not knowing what sin is. Therefore as to the face they were men, and many of them also as to civil and moral life, but not at all as to spiritual life, by virtue of which nevertheless a man is a man.
662. [verse 3] ‘And they were singing the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb’ signifies a confession out of charity, thus out of a life in accordance with the precepts of the Law which is the Decalogue, and out of faith concerning the Divinity of the Lord’s Human. That ‘to sing a new song’ is to confess out of joy of heart and affection that the Only Lord is the Saviour, Redeemer, and God of heaven and earth, may be seen above (n. 279, 617). Here, however, it is not termed ‘a new song’ but ‘the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb’; and by ‘the song of Moses’ is signified confession out of a life in accordance with the precepts of the Law which is the Decalogue, thus out of charity; and by ‘the song of the Lamb’ confession out of faith concerning the Divinity of the Lord’s Human. For by ‘the Lamb’ is understood the Lord as to the Divine Human (n. 269, 291, 595); and by ‘Moses’ is understood in a wide sense all the Law written in his five books, and in a restricted sense the Law that is called the Decalogue. And because the latter is of service to a man for life it is termed ‘the song of Moses the servant of God’, for by ‘a servant’ in the Word is understood a person or thing that is of service (n. 380), here for life.
[2] The reason why by ‘Moses’ in a wide sense is understood the Law is because his five books are called ‘the Law’. That all the precepts, judgments and statutes given through him in his five books are termed ‘the Law’ may be seen above (n. 417). That everything written in those books is termed ‘the Law of Moses’, and also ‘Moses’, can be established from these passages:-
[Philip] said [to] Nathanael, We have found Jesus, of Whom Moses in the Law, and the Prophets, did write John i 45.
In the Law Moses commanded the stoning of such John viii 5.
The days of their purification according to the Law of Moses were fulfilled Luke ii 22.
All the things must be fulfilled that were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets concerning Me Luke xxiv 27, 44.
Did not Moses give you the Law? Moses gave circumcision that the Law of Moses may not be broken John vii 19, 22, 23.
Abraham said to the rich man in hell, They have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them; if they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rose from the dead Luke xvi 29, 31.
The curse has been poured upon us, and the oath that was written in the Law of Moses the servant of God: as it was written in the Law of Moses, every evil has come upon us Dan. ix 11, 13.
Remember the Law of Moses My servant, which I commanded unto him Mat. iv 4 [H.B. iii 22].
Jehovah said unto Moses, Behold, I will come unto you in the midst of a cloud, that the people may hear when I speak to thee, and may also believe thee for ever Exod. xix 9.
[3] From these passages it can be established that by ‘Moses’ in a wide sense is understood the Word that was written by him, which is called ‘the Law’. It follows from this that by ‘Moses’ is understood the Law which is the Decalogue, and the more so because Moses hewed out the tables [on which this was written] after he had broken the former ones (Exod. xxxiv 1, 4); and when he carried them down his face shone (Exod. xxxiv 29 to the end). Therefore in paintings Moses is depicted holding those tables in his hand. It is also said in Mark:-
Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother Mark vii 10.
Also:-
Joshua wrote a copy of the Law of Moses upon the stones of an altar Josh. viii 32.
That ‘Law’ was the Decalogue. From these considerations it can be seen that here by ‘the song of Moses the servant of God’ nothing else is understood but a confession out of charity, thus out of a life in accordance with the precepts of the Law, which is the Decalogue.
663. ‘Saying, Great and marvellous are Thy works, O Lord God Almighty’ signifies that all the things of the world, of heaven and of the Church have been created and done by the Lord out of Divine Love by means of His Divine Wisdom. By the Lord’s ‘works’ are signified all the things that have been created and done by Him, these being in general all the things of the world, all those of heaven, and all those of the Church, which cannot possibly be enumerated specifically. They are termed ‘great and marvellous’ because ‘great’ is said of love and ‘marvellous’ of wisdom, as above (n. 656); and also in the Word the Lord is termed ‘Lord’ by virtue of the Divine Good of Divine Love and ‘God’ by virtue of the Divine Truth of Divine Wisdom. That the Lord is called ‘Almighty’ because He Is, Lives, and is all powerful out of His Very Self, and also rules all things out of His Very Self, may be seen above (n. 31). Consequently by ‘great and marvellous are Thy works, O Lord God Almighty’ in the universal sense is signified that all the things of the world, of heaven and of the Church have been created and done by the Lord out of Divine Love by means of His Divine Wisdom.
664. ‘For just and true are Thy ways, O King of saints’ signifies that all the things that proceed from Him are just and true, because He is Divine Good Itself and Divine Truth in heaven and in the Church. By ‘ways’ are signified truths leading to good (n. 176); and by ‘King’, when [it is said] of the Lord, is signified Divine Truth; and by ‘King of saints’ Divine Truth in heaven and the Church from Himself, for by ‘saints’ are signified those who are in Divine truths from the Lord (n. 173, 586). Consequently by ‘just and true are Thy ways, O King of saints ‘is signified that all die things that proceed from the Lord are just and true because He is Divine Truth Itself in heaven and the Church. The Lord is called ‘King’ in His Divine Human because This is the Messiah, the Anointed, the Christ, the Son of God. That ‘Messiah’ in the Hebrew language is [equivalent to] ‘Christ’ in the Greek language, and that the Messiah or Christ is the Son of God, may be seen above (n. 520). It is known that ‘Messiah’ means both King and Anointed in the Hebrew language. The Lord as King is Divine Truth because ‘a king’ signifies that (n. 20, 483); in consequence of which by ‘kings’ are signified those who are in Divine truths from the Lord (Rev. i 6; v 10). This is why heaven and the Church are termed His ‘kingdom’, also His coming into the world is termed ‘the gospel of the kingdom’. Heaven and the Church are termed his ‘kingdom’ (Dan. ii 44; vii 13, 14, 27; Matt. xii 28; xvi 28; Mark i 54, 55; ix 1; xv 43; Luke i 33; iv 43; viii 1, 10; ix 2, 11, 60; x 11; xvi 16; xix 11; xxi 35; xxii 18; xxiii 51). And His coming is termed ‘the gospel of the kingdom’ (Matt. iv 23; ix 35; xxiv 14). But more concerning these things may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD.
[2] That the Lord is termed ‘King’ is plain from these passages:-
They shall fight with the Lamb, but the Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings Rev. xvii 14.
The One sitting upon the white horse is called the Word, and His Name is Lord of lords and King of kings Rev. xix 13, 16; Dan. ii 47.
Nathanael said, Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel John i 49.
When the Son of Man comes in His glory, He shall sit upon the throne of His glory, and the King shall say to those who are on the right hand and who are on the left Matt. xxv 31, 34, 40.
They cried, Hosanna, blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord, the King of Israel John xii 13.
Pilate asked Jesus whether He was king: Jesus answered, I am King, I was born for this, and came into the world for this John xviii 37.
Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty; Jehovah our King, He will save us Isa. xxxiii 17, 22.
I am Jehovah, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King Isa. xliii 15.
Thus said Jehovah the King of Israel, and His Redeemer Jehovah Zebaoth, I am the First and the Last, and beside Me there is no God Isa. xliv 6.
Jehovah shall become King over the whole land Zech. xiv 9 Ps. xlvii 2, 6-8 [H.B. 3, 7-9].
Lift up your heads, O gates, that the King of glory may come in: Jehovah Zebaoth, He is the King of glory Ps. xxiv 7-10.
I will raise unto David a just Branch, Who shall reign King, and shall execute judgment and justice in the land Jer. xxiii 5; xxxiii 15.
Besides other passages, as Isa. vi 5; lii 7; Jer. x 7, 10; xlvi 18; Ezek. xxxvii 22, 24; Zeph. iii 15; Ps. xx 9 [H.B. 10]; Ps. xlv 11, 13, 14 [H.B. 12, 14, 15]; Ps. lxviii 24 [H.B. 25]; Ps. lxxiv 12.
666. ‘For Thou Only art Holy’ signifies that He is the Word, the Truth (veritas), and Enlightenment. That the Lord Only is Holy may be seen above (n. 173); and that it is Divine Truth that is called ‘Holy’ (n. 573, 580). And because the Word is Divine Truth, and the Lord is that, and because Divine Truth spiritually enlightens, for it is the light in heaven, but from the Lord, therefore by ‘because He Only is Holy’ is signified that the Lord is the Word, the Truth (veritas), and Enlightenment. Since the Word is Divine Truth, and Divine Truth spiritually enlightens, it is therefore said that the Word has been dictated by Jehovah by means of the Holy Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit enlightens and teaches man; but who does not know that God is Omnipresent, and that the Holy proceeds from Him, and that He enlightens where He is received? Who cannot conclude from this that the Holy Spirit is not a God by itself distinct from Jehovah or the Lord as person from person, but that He is Jehovah Himself or the Lord? He who acknowledges the Divine Omnipresence will also acknowledge this. That by ‘the Holy Spirit’ in the Word is understood the Lord’s Divine Life, thus Himself, and specifically the life of His Wisdom that is called the Divine Truth (veritas), may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 50-53), where this has been proved out of the Word. That the Lord is the Word may be seen (John i 1, 14). That He is the Truth (veritas) (John xiv 6). That He is the Light and the resulting enlightenment (John xii 34-36).
667. ‘Therefore all the nations shall come and adore before Thee’ signifies that all who are in the good of love and charity will acknowledge the Lord to be the Only God. By ‘all the nations’ are signified those who are in the good of love and charity. That these are understood by ‘the nations’ when [said] in a good sense may be seen above (n. 483). By ‘to come and adore before Him’ is signified to acknowledge the Lord as God; and because there is one God, in Whom is the Trinity, and the Lord is He, it signifies to acknowledge Him to be the Only God.
668. ‘For Thy judgments have been made manifest’ signifies that the truths of the Word openly testify this. By ‘judgments’ are signified the Divine truths in accordance with which a man ought to live, out of which his quality is recognised, and in accordance with which he will be judged. And because these Divine Truths are in the Word, and the Word has now been opened, and this testifies that the Only Lord is the God of heaven and earth, therefore by ‘for Thy judgments have been made manifest’ is signified that the truths of the Word testify it. That the Word has now been opened, and that it testifies that the Only Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and that one ought to live in accordance with His precepts, and that the present-day faith should be removed, can be established out of the four ‘Doctrines’ now published, the one CONCERNING THE LORD, the second CONCERNING SACRED SCRIPTURE, the third CONCERNING LIFE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PRECEPTS OF THE DECALOGUE, and the fourth CONCERNING FAITH. These are the things that are understood by ‘for Thy judgments have been made manifest’.
[2] Since the Lord is Divine Good and Divine Truth, and by ‘judgment’ is signified Divine Truth and by ‘justice’ Divine Good, therefore in many places where it treats of the Lord ‘justice and judgment’ is said, as in the following:-
Zion shall be redeemed injustice, and her returned [exiles] in judgment Isa. i 27.
He shall sit upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to establish it in judgment and justice Isa. ix 6.
Jehovah shall be exalted, for He dwells on high, and has filled the land* with judgment and justice Isa. xxxiii 5.
Let him who is glorying glory in this, that Jehovah executes judgment and justice in the land Jer. ix 24 [H.B. 23].
I will raise unto David a just Branch, Who shall reign and execute judgment and justice in the land Jer. xxiii 5; xxxiii 15.
I will betroth Me** unto thee in justice and in judgment Hosea ii 19.
Judgment shall flow as waters, and justice as a strong torrent Amos v 24.
O Jehovah, Thy justice is like the mountains of God, Thy judgments are a great deep Ps. xxxvi 6 [H.B. 7].
Jehovah shall bring forth thy justice as the light, and judgment as the noonday Ps. xxxvii 6.
Jehovah shall judge thy people in justice, and thy miserable ones in judgment Ps. lxxii 2.
Justice and judgment are the support of Thy throne Ps. lxxxix 14 [H.B. 15].
When I shall have learned the judgments of Thy justice: seven times a day do I praise Thee because of the judgments of Thy justice Ps. cxix 7, 164.
Also elsewhere, that they ought to do justice and judgment, as Isa. i 21; v 16; lvi 1; lviii 2; Jer. iv 2; xxii 3, 13, 15; Ezek. xviii 5; xxxiii 14, 16, 19; Amos vi 12; Micah vii 9; Deut. xxxiii 21; John xvi 8, 10 [, 11]. There ‘justice’ is said of the good of truth, and ‘judgment’ of the truth of good.
[3] Since ‘judgment’ is said of truth and ‘justice’ of good, therefore in some places ‘the truth (veritas) and justice’ is said, as Isa. xi 5; Ps. lxxxv 11 [H.B. 12]; and in David:-
The judgments of Jehovah are the truth (veritas), at the same time they are just, more to be desired than gold, and sweeter than honey Ps. xix 9, 10 [H.B. 10, 11]
That the Lord’s government in the celestial kingdom is termed ‘justice’, and in the spiritual kingdom ‘judgment’, may be seen in the work CONCERNING HEAVEN AND HELL, published at London (n. 214-216).
* The Original Edition has terram (land), as also have SS 85, DLW 38 and TCR 51; but AC 2235, 9857, HH 216, and AE 946 have Zionem (Zion), as in Hebrew.
** The Original Edition has Me tibi (Me to thee) as also in AE 388, SS 85, DLW 38, TCR 51, and Coronis 3; but in many other places, including AR 567, we find te Mihi (thee unto Me) as in Hebrew.
The ark, in which were the two tables of the Decalogue, made the sanctuary or inmost of the Jerusalem temple,
and thus the tabernacle there. That the Law which is the Decalogue was termed ‘the testimony’ is established from these places:-
Moses went down, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand; the tables were the work of God, the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables Exod. xxxii 15, 16.
Two tables of the testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God Exod. xxxi 18.
Jehovah said, Thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee Exod. xxv 16, 21, 22.
And Moses took and put the testimony into the ark Exod. xl 20.
That the cloud of incense may cover the propitiatory that is upon the testimony Lev. xvi 13.
Jehovah said unto Moses, Leave the rods before the testimony, and Aaron’s rod afterwards before the testimony Num. xvii 4, 10 [H.B. 19, 25].
And Moses left the rods before Jehovah Num. xvii 7 [H.B. 22].
The ark is called the ark of the testimony Exod. xxxi 7.
And the tabernacle is called the habitation of the testimony Exod. xxxviii 21.
670. [verse 6] ‘And the seven angels having the seven plagues went out of the temple’ signifies the preparation by the Lord for an influx out of the inmost of heaven into the Church, so that its evils and untruths might be completely disclosed, and thus the evil be separated from the good. That by ‘the seven angels’ is understood the Lord may be seen above (n. 657); that by ‘the seven plagues’ are signified all evils and untruths completely understood, also above (n. 657). By ‘the temple’ here is understood the inmost of heaven, where the Word is and the Decalogue, as just above (n. 669). By ‘went out of the temple’ is signified preparation for influx, because they went out so that after they took the phials they might cast the plagues in the phials into the land, into the sea, into rivers and fountains, into the sun, upon the throne of the beast, and into the air, by which is signified an influx into the Church so that its evils and untruths might be discovered. That this is for the sake of their separation from the good will be seen in the following chapter.
671. ‘Clothed with clean and shining linen, and girded about the breasts with golden girdles’ signifies this out of the pure and genuine truths and goods of the Word. By ‘clean and shining linen’ is signified pure and genuine Truth, concerning which [something] follows. By ‘a golden girdle about the breast’ is signified the proceeding and at the same time conjoining Divine, which is Divine good (n. 46 above). By ‘to be clothed and girded about’ is signified to appear and be presented in them, for ‘garments’ signify truths clothing good (n. i66), and ‘girdles’ or belts signify truths and goods holding together in order and connection (n. 46). From these things it is plain that by ‘angels clothed with clean and shining linen, and girded about the breasts with golden girdles’ are signified pure and genuine truths and goods, which because they are from nowhere else but the Word signify the truths and goods of the Word.
[2] That ‘linen’ signifies Divine Truth can be established from the following references, as that:-
Aaron had breeches of linen when he entered the tent and drew near to the altar Exod. xxviii 42, 43.
When Aaron entered into the holy-place he put on a coat of linen of holiness, coverings (caligae) of linen were upon his flesh, he girded himself with a belt of linen, and put upon himself a mitre of linen; these are the garments of holiness; and he put on the same garments when he made atonement for the people Lev. xvi 4, 32.
In like manner that:-
The priests, the Levites, when they entered at the gates of the inner court, put on garments of linen, mitres of linen upon the head, and breeches of linen upon the loins Ezek. xliv 17, 18.
The priests wore ephods of linen 1 Sam. xxii 18.
Samuel, when as a boy he ministered before Jehovah, was clothed with an ephod of linen Sam. ii 18.
David, when the ark was being transported into his city, was girded with an ephod of linen 2 Sam. vi 14.
From these things it can be established why:-
The Lord, when He washed the disciples’ feet, girded Himself with linen and wiped their feet with the linen cloth John xiii 4, 5.
Angels also appeared clothed with linen Dan. x 5; Ezek. ix 2-4, 11; x 2-7.
Also that:-
The angels seen in the Lord’s sepulchre appeared clothed with bright and shining white Matt. xxviii 3.
The angel who measured the new temple had a thread of linen in his hand Ezek. xl 3.
Jeremiah, so that he might represent the state of the Church as to truth,
was commanded to buy a girdle of linen, and he hid it in a hole of the rock by the Euphrates, and afterwards he found it spoiled Jer. xiii 1-7.
It is also said in Isaiah:-
A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, and He shall bring forth the judgment into the truth (veritas) Isa. xlii 3.
By ‘linen’ in those places nothing else is understood but Truth.
672. [verse 7] ‘And one of the four animals gave unto the seven angels seven golden phials’ signifies those truths and goods by means of which the evils and untruths of the Church are disclosed taken from the sense of the letter of the Word. That ‘the four animals’, which are cherubs, signify the Word in ultimates, and guards lest its genuine truths and goods should be violated, may be seen above (n. 239). And since the interior truths and goods of the Word are guarded by the sense of its letter, therefore that sense of the Word is signified by ‘one of the four animals’. By the ‘seven phials’ is signified a similar thing as by the ‘seven plagues’, for they are containants, and by the containants in the Word like things are signified as by the contents, as by ‘a cup’ the same as by ‘wine’, and by ‘a dish’ the same as by food. That by ‘cups’, ‘goblets’, ‘phials’ and ‘plates’ similar things are signified as by their contents will be seen in the things now following. What is signified by ‘the seven angels’ has been said above. The phials were given to them because it treats of the influx of truth and good into the Church so that evils and untruths may be disclosed: and naked goods and truths cannot inflow, for these are not received; but truths clothed, such as are in the sense of the letter of the Word. Moreover, the Lord always operates out of inmosts by means of ultimates, or in fullness. This is why the angels were given the ‘phials’, by which are signified the containing truths and goods such as are of the sense of the letter of the Word. By these, untruths and evils are discovered. That the sense of the letter of the Word is a containant may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 27-36, and 37-49).
[2] That by ‘phials’, ‘plates’, ‘cups’ and ‘goblets’, also by ‘bottles’ are signified the things that are contained in them can be established from the following passages:-
Jehovah said, Take the goblet of wrath out of My hand and make all the nations drink; when they refuse to take the goblet, thou shalt say, Drinking you shall drink Jer. xxv 15, 16, 28.
Babel is a goblet of gold in the hand of Jehovah, making the entire land drunk Jer. li 7.
I will give thy sister’s goblet into thy hand, thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the goblet of devastation, with the goblet of thy sister Samaria Ezek. xxiii 31-34.
The goblet of Jehovah shall go around to thee, so that there may be vomit upon thy glory Hab. ii 6.
Even unto thee, O daughter of Edom, shall the goblet pass over, thou shalt be drunken and laid bare Lam. iv 21.
Jehovah shall rain upon the wicked winds of storms, the portion of their goblet Ps. xi 6.
A goblet is in the hand of Jehovah, and He has mixed the wine, He has filled it with the mixture and poured it out, all the wicked of the land shall drink Ps. lxxv 8 [H.B. 9].
Those who adore the beast shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God mixed with undiluted wine in the cup of His growing anger Rev. xiv 10.
Awake, rise up, O Jerusalem, who hast drunk from the hand of Jehovah the goblet of His wrath, thou hast drunk the dregs of the goblet of trembling Isa. li 17.
A woman having a golden goblet in her hand full of abominations and the filthiness of whoredom Rev. xvii 4.
Double unto her double, with the cup that she has mixed, mix unto her double Rev. xviii 6.
I make Jerusalem into a goblet of trembling unto all the peoples Zech. xii 2.
Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside* of the cup, that the outside also may become clean Matt. xxiii 25, 26; Luke xi 39.
Jesus said to the sons of Zebedee, Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink? Matt. xx 22, 23; Mark x 38, 39.
Jesus said to Peter, The cup that the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it? John xviii 11.
Jesus in Gethsemane said, If possible let this goblet pass from Me Matt. xxvi 39, 42, 44.
Jesus taking the cup, saying, All of you drink Out of it, this is My blood, that of the New Testament Matt. xxvi 27, 28; Mark xiv 23, 24; Luke xxii 17.
Jehovah is my Goblet, Thou maintainest my lot Ps. xvi 5.
Thou preparest a table before me, my cup shall overflow Ps. xxiii 5.
What shall I render unto Jehovah? I will take the goblet of salvations (Calicem salutum) Ps. cxvi 12, 13.
To drink with the goblet of consolations Jer. xvi 7.
The like as by ‘goblet’ and ‘cup’ is also signified by a ‘phial’, also by a ‘bottle’ (Matt. ix 17; Luke v 37, 38; Jer. xiii 12; xlviii 12; Hab. ii 15). By ‘phials’, ‘censers’ and ‘caskets’ with incenses in them the like is signified as by ‘incense-offerings’; in general, by vessels of every kind the same as by the things that are in them.
* The Original Edition has ‘exterius . . . interius’ (outside. . . inside).
673. ‘Full of the wrath of the God living for ages of ages’ signifies the evils and untruths about to appear and be disclosed by means of the pure and genuine truths and goods of the Word. It is said that the phials were ‘full of the wrath of God’ because they were full of ‘plagues’, by which the evils and untruths of the Church are signified (n. 657); but yet they were not full of these but were full of pure and genuine truths and goods out of the Word, by means of which the evils and untruths of the Church were disclosed. But still neither were there ‘phials’, and in them truths and goods, but by them is signified an influx out of heaven into the Church. Their being said to be ‘full of the wrath of the Living God’ is in accordance with the style of the Word in the sense of its letter, as can be established from the passages adduced above in which there is ascribed to Jehovah ‘wrath’ and ‘growing anger’; and yet Jehovah does not have wrath and growing anger, but a man has it against Him. The reason why it is so said in the sense of the letter may be seen above (n. 525, 635, 658). From these considerations it is plain that by ‘phials full of the wrath of the God living for ages of ages’ is signified the dreadful evils and untruths of the Church about to appear and be disclosed by means of the goods and truths of the Word. Evils and untruths are disclosed in no other way than by means of truths and goods, for these are in the light of heaven, but untruths and evils are in the darkness of hell, and in the darkness nothing is discovered because nothing but evil and untruth appear there. But as a result of light out of heaven all things are disclosed, because they all appear in it. For the light of heaven is the Divine Truth of the Lord’s Divine Wisdom.
Jehovah will create upon every habitation of Mount Zion a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a fire by night, for upon all the glory [shall be] a covering Isa. iv 5.
The posts of the thresholds were violently moved at the voice of the seraphs crying out, and the house was filled with smoke Isa. vi 4.
The smoke of the incenses with the prayers of the angels* ascended up out of the angel’s hand before God Rev. viii 4.
The smoking flax shall He not quench, He shall bring forth judgment into the truth (veritas) Isa. xlii 3.
That ‘smoke’ in the opposite sense signifies the untruths of lusts may be seen above (n. 422); also the untruths arising from the pride of self-intelligence (n. 452). Besides this, in many places ‘smoke’ signifies something similar to ‘cloud’.
[674a.]** ‘And no one was able to enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were consummated’ signifies to this degree there that more could not be endured, and this until after the devastation the end of that Church was seen. By ‘no one’ being ‘able to enter into the temple’ is signified that the inmost of heaven was full of spiritual and celestial Divine Truth to such a degree that more could not be endured. By ‘the temple’ is signified, here as above, the inmost of heaven; by ‘until the seven plagues of the seven angels were consummated’ is signified this until after the devastation pertaining to the end of the Church (n. 658); and by ‘the seven plagues of the seven angels’ are signified the evils and untruths that devastate the Church and make an end of it (n. 657).
* So in Original Edition, but Greek and chap. viii have ‘saints’.
** This paragraph is not numbered in the Original Edition.
* * * * * * * * * * *
675. To these things I will add this MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE. There was seen a certain paper sent down by the Lord through heaven into one society of the English. This was, however, among the smallest of their societies, where also there were two bishops. In the paper was an exhortation that they should acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven and earth, as He Himself teaches (Matt. xxviii 18), and that they should recede from the doctrine of a faith justifying without the works of the law, because it is erroneous. That paper was read and copied out by many; and concerning the things that were in it, they were thinking and speaking soundly out of interior judgment, and they were being enlightened by the Lord, and the enlightenment was being received in the light that is innate with the English more than with others. But after they received those things they said among themselves, ‘Let us hear the bishops’. And they were heard; but they contradicted it and disapproved. The bishops who were there, however, were of hose who in the world had become hard-hearted about the spiritual things of faith and charity as the result of a love of dominating over the holy things of the Church, and of being pre-eminent by means of them even in politics. Therefore after a brief consultation among themselves they sent the paper back to heaven whence it came. This done, after some murmuring most of the laity went back on their former assent, and then their light in spiritual things, which shone brightly before, was suddenly extinguished. And after they had been admonished again, but in vain, I saw that society sinking down, but how deeply I did not see. In this manner it was withdrawn out of the sight of the angels, who worship only the Lord and turn away from faith alone.
[2] After some days, however, I saw as many as a hundred coming up out of the lower land, whither that small society sank down. They approached me, and a wise one of them said, ‘Hear something wonderful. When we sank down, the place at first appeared to us like a swamp, but presently as dry land, and afterwards as a small city in which everyone had his own house, but a poor one. The next day we had a consultation among ourselves as to what was to be done. Many said that the two bishops ought to be approached and argued with gently, because they sent the paper back into the heaven out of which it was sent down, on which account this happened to us. They chose some, who went off to the bishops. (And the one speaking with me said he was one of them.) And then a certain one renowned among us for wisdom addressed the bishops thus: “Hear, O you fathers, we have believed that with us more than the rest was a Church that deserved to be called the foremost in Christendom, and a religion that deserved to be called great; but enlightenment has been given us out of heaven, and in the enlightenment a perception that at this day in Christendom the Church no longer exists, neither does religion.” [3] The bishops said, “What are you saying? Does not the Church exist where the Word is, where Christ the Saviour is known, and where the sacraments are?” To these words our spokesman replied, “Those things are the Church, and they make the Church, but they do not make it outside of man, but within man.” And he said further, “WITH REGARD TO THE CHURCH: Can the Church exist where three Gods are worshipped? Can the Church exist where the whole of its doctrine is founded on a single saying of Paul falsely understood, and consequently not on the Word? Can the Church exist while the Saviour of the world is not approached, and where He is divided into two? WITH REGARD TO RELIGION: Who is able to deny that religion is to flee from evil and do good? Is there any religion where it is taught that faith alone saves and not charity? Is there a religion where it is taught that the charity proceeding from man is nothing but moral and civil charity? Who does not see that there is no religion in that charity? Is there in faith alone anything of deed or work? And yet religion consists in doing. Is there throughout the entire world a nation with whom there is a religion that excludes all saving virtue from the goods of charity, which are good works, when yet everything of religion consists in good, and everything of the Church in a doctrine that will teach truths, and good by means of the truths? See, O fathers, what glory we would have if the Church that does not exist, and the religion that does not exist, should begin and arise with us,” [4] Then those bishops replied, “You are speaking too loftily. Is not faith in act, which is a fully justifying and saving faith, the Church? And is not faith in state, which is faith proceeding and perfecting, religion? Realise this, my sons.” But the wise Englishman then said, “Hear, O fathers, does not a man conceive faith in act like a stock? Is the Church, according to your idea, then brought to life in the stock? Is not faith in state the continuation and progression of faith in act? And since according to your idea every saving virtue is in faith, and not any in the good of charity from man, where then is religion? The bishops then said, “Friend, you are speaking in this way because you do not know the mysteries of justification by faith alone, and he who does not know them does not know the way of salvation from within. Your way is the external and plebeian way. Go it if you will, but know only that all good is from God, and nothing from man, and that thus in spiritual things a man can do nothing at all from himself. How then can a man do the good that is spiritual good, from himself?” [5] Indignant at these words, the Englishman speaking with them said,” I know your mysteries of justification better than you do, and I tell you plainly that in your interior mysteries I have seen nothing but spectres. Is it not religion to acknowledge and love God, and to flee from the devil and hate him? Is not God Good itself, and the devil evil itself? In the whole wide world who that has religion does not know this? Is it not doing good to acknowledge and love God, because this is of and from God? And is it not a matter of not doing evil to flee from the devil and hate him, because evil is of and from the devil? Your faith in act, which you call a fully justifying and saving faith, or, what is the same, your act of justification through faith alone, does it teach the doing of any good that is of God and from God, and does it teach a fleeing from any evil that is of and from the devil? Not in the least, because you have stipulated that there is nothing of salvation in either. What is your faith in state, which you have called a proceeding and perfecting faith, if it is not the same as faith in act? How can this be perfected, when you exclude all good [done] by man as if from himself saying, ‘How can a man be saved by any good from himself, when salvation is gratuitous?’ Also, ‘What is the good from man if not merit-seeking? and yet Christ’s merit is all; and therefore to do good for the sake of salvation would be to attribute to oneself what is Christ’s alone, and thus it would be also to will to justify and save oneself.’ Also, ‘How can any one operate good when the Holy Spirit operates all things without any help from man? What then is the need for accessory good from man, when all good from man in itself is not good?’ [6] Besides more. Are not these your mysteries? But in my eyes those things are simply subtleties and sly tricks made up for the purpose of removing good works, which are the goods of charity, so as to establish your faith alone. And because you do this, you regard man as to those things, and in general as to all the spiritual things that are of the Church and religion, as a stock or inanimate effigy, and not as a man created after the image of God, to whom has been and continually is given the faculty of understanding and willing, of believing and loving, and of speaking and doing, altogether as if from himself, especially in spiritual things, because man is a man by virtue of these. If man in spiritual things did not think and behave as if from himself, what then would faith be? and charity? and worship? Indeed what then would the Church and religion be? You know that doing good to the neighbour out of love is charity. But you do not know what charity is, when yet charity is the soul, life and essence of faith. And because charity is all of these, what then is a faith removed from charity, if not dead? And a dead faith is nothing but a spectre. I call it a spectre, because the apostle James calls faith without works not only dead but also diabolical.” [7] Then one of the two bishops, when he heard his faith called dead, diabolical and a spectre, became so enraged that he snatched the mitre off his head and threw it on a table, saying, “I will not take it up again until I have been avenged on the enemies of the faith of our Church.” And he shook his head muttering and saying, “That James, that James!” Upon the mitre there was a metal plate on which was engraved FAITH ALONE. And suddenly a monster then appeared rising out of the earth with seven heads, having feet like a bear’s, and a mouth like a lion’s, altogether like the beast that is described (Rev. xiii 1, 2) of whom an image was made and adored (vers. 14, 15 in the same chapter). This spectre took the mitre down off the table, and stretched it out below, and put it upon his seven heads. When this was done, the earth was opening under his feet, and he sank down into hell. Having seen this, that bishop cried out, “Violence! violence!” Then we left them, and behold! there were steps before our eyes, by which we came up and returned above ground and into the sight of heaven, where we had been before.’ The wise Englishman told me these things.
1. And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go and pour out the phials of the wrath of God onto the land.
2. And the first angel went away and poured out his phial upon the land, and an evil and hurtful sore was produced in the men having the mark of the beast and adoring his Image.
3. And the second angel poured out his phial into the sea, and it became blood as of one dead, and every living soul died in the sea.
4. And the third angel poured out his phial into the rivers and into the fountains of waters, and blood was produced.
5. And I heard the angel of the waters saying, Thou art just, O Lord, Who Is and Who Was, and art Holy, because Thou hast judged these.
6. Because they have poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and Thou hast given them blood to drink, for they deserve it (quia digni sunt).
7. And I heard another out of the altar saying, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and just are Thy judgments.
8. And the fourth angel poured out his phial into the sun, and it was given him to strike men down with heat by means of fire.
9. And men were scorched with the great heat, and blasphemed the Name of God having authority over these plagues, and they did not repent (resipiscere) to give Him glory.
10. And the fifth angel poured out [his] phial upon the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was made dark, and they were gnawing their tongues because of annoyance.
11. And they blasphemed the God of heaven for their annoyances, and for their sores, and they did not repent of their works.
12. And the sixth angel poured out his phial upon the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, that the way of kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared.
13. And I saw out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs.
14. For they are the spirits of demons doing signs to go away to the kings of the land and of the whole world (orbis), to gather them together to the war of that great day of God Omnipotent.
15. Behold I come as a thief, blessed is he who is awake and takes care of his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.
16. And he gathered them together into the place termed in Hebrew Armageddon.
17. And the seventh angel poured out his phial into the air, and there went forth a great voice out of the temple of heaven out of the throne, saying, It has been done.
18. And voices and lightnings and thunders were produced, and there was a great earthquake such as has not occurred since there came to be men upon earth, an earthquake of such magnitude.
19. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell; and great Babylon came into remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the growing anger of His wrath.
20. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
21. And great hail as of the weight of a talent came down from heaven upon men, and men blasphemed God for the plague of hail, because the plague thereof was exceedingly great.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
In this chapter the evils and untruths in the Church of the Reformed are disclosed by means of an influx out of heaven (vers. 1).
Into the clergy (verse 2).
Into the laity (verse 3).
Into the understanding of the Word with them (vers. 4-7).
In to the love with them (vers. 8, 9).
Into the faith with them (vers. 10, 11).
Into the interior reasonings with them (vers. 12-15).
Into all these things together (vers. 17-21).
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go and pour out the phials of the wrath of God onto the land
signifies an influx from the Lord out of the inmost of heaven into the Church of the Reformed where those are who are in faith separated from charity as to doctrine and as to life.
2. And the first angel went away and poured out his phial upon the land
signifies into those who are in the interior things of the Church of the Reformed and busy themselves with the doctrine of justification by faith alone, and are called the clergy.
And an evil and hurtful sore was produced
signifies interior evils and untruths destructive of everything good and true in the Church.
In the men having the mark of the beast, and adoring his image
signifies with those who are living faith alone, and receiving its doctrine.
3. And the second angel poured out his phial upon the sea
signifies an influx with those there who are in its [the Church’s] external things, and in that faith, and are called the laity.
And it became blood as of one dead, and every living soul died in the sea
signifies infernal untruth with them by which every truth of the Word, and consequently of the Church and of faith, has been extinguished.
4. And the third angel poured out [his] phial into the rivers and fountains of waters
signifies an influx into the understanding of the Word with them.
And blood was produced
signifies falsified truths of the Word.
5. And I heard the angel of the waters saying
signifies the Divine Truth of the Word.
Thou art just, O Lord, Who Is and Who Was, and art Holy, because Thou hast judged these things
signifies that this is of the Divine Providence of the Lord, Who is and Who was the Word, which otherwise would be profaned.
6. Because they have poured out the blood of saints and prophets
signifies this on account of the fact that the single tenet, that faith alone saves without the works of the law, when received perverts all the true doctrinal tenets out of the Word.
And Thou hast given them blood to drink, for they deserve it
signifies that those who have confirmed themselves in faith alone in both doctrine and life, had been permitted to falsify the truths of the Word, and to absorb life (imbuere vitam) out of the falsified truths.
7. And I heard another out of the altar saying, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and just are Thy judgments
signifies the Divine Good of the Word confirming that Divine Truth.
8. And the fourth angel poured out his phial into the sun
signifies an influx into their love.
And it was given him to strike men down with heat by means of fire
signifies that love directed to the Lord was torturing them because they were in the lusts of the evils derived from the delight of their loves.
9. And men were scorched with the great heat, and blasphemed the Name of God having authority over these plagues
signifies that, on account of the delight of the love of self arising from the grievous lusts of the evils, they did not acknowledge the Divinity of the Lord’s Human, from which nevertheless every good of love and truth of faith inflows.
And they did not repent (resipiscere) to give Him glory
signifies that on account of this they are unable to receive with any faith, that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth even as to His Human, although the Word teaches this.
10. And the fifth angel poured out his phial upon the throne of the beast
signifies an influx into their faith.
And his kingdom was made dark
signifies that nothing but untruths were appearing.
And they were gnawing their tongues because of annoyance
signifies that they were not enduring truths.
11. And they blasphemed the God of heaven for their annoyances and for their sores
signifies that they could not acknowledge the Lord Only to be the God of heaven and earth on account of the resistances resulting from interior untruths and evils.
And did not repent of their works
signifies that although instructed out of the Word still they do not withdraw from untruths of faith and the consequent evils of life.
12. And the sixth angel poured out his phial upon the great river Euphrates
signifies an influx into their interior reasonings by which they confirm justification by faith alone.
And its water was dried up, that the way of kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared
signifies that the untruths of those reasonings have been removed with those who from the Lord are in truths derived from good, and are to be introduced into the New Church.
13. And I saw out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet
signifies what is perceived out of a theology founded upon the doctrine of a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, and upon the doctrine of justification by faith alone without the works of the law.
Three unclean spirits like frogs
signifies that nothing but reasonings and the lusts of falsifying truths were arising.
14. For they are the spirits of demons
signifies that they were the lusts of falsifying truths and of reasoning out of untruths.
Doing sighs to go away to the kings of the land and of the whole world, to gather them together to the war of that great day of God Omnipotent
signifies protestations that their untruths are true, and the inciting of all in the whole of that Church who are in the same untruths to attack the truths of the New Church.
15. Behold I come as a thief, blessed is he who is awake and takes care of his garments
signifies the Lord’s coming, and heaven then with those who look to Him and remain constant in a life in accordance with His precepts, which are the truths of the Word.
Lest he walk naked, and they see his shame
signifies lest they should be with those who are in no truths,
and their infernal loves should appear.
16. And he gathered them together into the place termed in Hebrew Armageddon
signifies the state of the combat fought with untruths against truths, and the intention (animus) of destroying the New Church, originating out of a love of command and supereminence.
17. And the seventh angel poured out his phial into the air
signifies an influx into all the things at once with them.
And there went forth a great voice out of the temple of heaven out of the throne, saying, It has been done
signifies [that] it was thus made manifest by the Lord that all things of the Church have been devastated, and that the last judgment is at hand.
18. And voices and lightnings and thunderings were produced
signifies reasonings, falsifications of truth, and arguments derived from untruths of evil.
And there was a great earthquake, such as has not occurred since there came to be men upon earth, an earthquake of such magnitude
signifies as it were the tremors, convulsions, overturnings, and acts of dragging down out of heaven of all things of the Church.
19. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell
signifies that by these things that Church as to doctrine has been entirely destroyed, and so too have all the heresies that have emanated from it.
And great Babylon came into remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the growing anger of His wrath
signifies the destruction also at that time of the dogmas of the Roman Catholic form of religion.
20. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found
signifies that there was no longer any truth of faith, nor any good of love.
21 And great hail as the weight of a talent came down from heaven upon men
signifies the dreadful and horrible untruths by means of which every truth of the Word and consequently of the Church has been destroyed.
And [men] blasphemed God for the plague of hail, because the plague thereof was exceedingly great
signifies that because they have confirmed such untruths with themselves, they have denied truths to such an extent that they cannot recognise them on account of the resistances originating from their interior untruths and evils.
THE EXPOSITION
[verse 1] ‘And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go and pour out the phials of the wrath of God onto the land’ signifies an influx from the Lord out of the inmost of heaven into the Church of the Reformed where those are who are in faith separated from charity as to doctrine and as to life, for the purpose of taking truths and goods away from them and uncovering the evils and untruths in which they are, and thus separating them from those who do believe in the Lord, and from Him are in charity and its faith. In summary form these are the things that are contained in this chapter. By ‘the temple’ is signified ‘the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony’, of which [something was said] in the preceding chapter (xv 5). By this is signified the inmost of heaven where the Lord is in His holiness in the Word, and in the Law which is the Decalogue (n. 669). By ‘a great voice’ therefrom is signified the Divine command that they should go and pour out the phials. By ‘the seven angels’ is understood the Lord, as above (n. 657). By ‘to pour out the phials’ in which the plagues are ‘onto the land’ is signified an influx into the Church of the Reformed; by ‘to pour out the phials’ the influx is signified, and by ‘the land’ is signified the Church (n. 285). [2] It is still treating of the Church with the Reformed, but in the following chapter it treats of the Church with the Roman Catholics, and afterwards of the last judgment, and finally of the New Church that is the New Jerusalem. Let the Preface and n. 2 be seen. Chaps. viii and ix above treat of ‘seven angels having seven trumpets’ which they sounded, and because many similar things occur there it will be stated here what is signified by the former ‘seven angels’ and what by the latter. By the ‘seven trumpets’ which the seven angels sounded is signified the examination and making manifest of the untruths and evils in which those are who are in faith separated from charity. By ‘the seven phials full of the seven last plagues’, however, is signified the devastation and consummation thereof, for a last judgment cannot be executed upon them in advance of their having been devastated. [3] A devastation and consummation in the spiritual world is brought about in this manner: from those who are in untruths as to doctrine and in evils of life therefrom are taken away all the goods and truths that they have possessed in the natural man only, and by virtue of which they have pretended to be Christian men. When these have been taken away they are separated from heaven and conjoined with hell, and then in the world of spirits they are arranged into societies in accordance with the varieties of the lusts, and these afterwards sink down.
[4] Goods and truths are then taken away from them by means of an influx out of heaven. The influx is effected out of genuine truths and goods, as the result of which they are tortured and tormented scarcely otherwise than as a serpent put upon a fire or thrown on an ant-hill. They therefore reject from themselves the goods and truths of heaven, which also are the goods and truths of the Church, and at length they condemn them. This is because they have felt as it were an infernal torment resulting from them. When this has come to pass they enter into their own evils and untruths and are separated from the good. These are the things that are described in this chapter, and are signified by the throwing down of the ‘phials’ in which were ‘the seven last plagues’. Not that there were in the phials the evils and untruths that are signified by the plagues, but there were genuine truths and goods, the effect of which was such as has been described. For the angels went ‘out of the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony’, by which is understood the inmost of heaven where there are nothing but truths and goods in Divine holiness (chap. xv, verse 6).
[5] This is the devastation and consummation of which the Lord speaks in these words:-
Whosoever has, to him will be given that he may have more abundantly; but whosoever has not, even what he has will be taken away from him Matt. xiii 12; Mark iv 25.
Take the talent from him and give to him having ten talents, for to everyone who has shall be given that he may he in abundance, but from him who has not, even what he has shall be taken away from him Matt. xxv 28, 29; Luke xix 24-26.
677. [verse 2] ‘And the first angel went away and poured out his phial upon the land’ signifies into those who are in the interior things of the Church of the Reformed and busy themselves with the doctrine of justification by faith alone, who are called the clergy. By ‘to pour out the phial’ is signified an influx, as above (n. 676). By ‘the land’ is signified the Church (n. 285), here with those there who are in its interior things, who are those who busy themselves with the doctrine of justification by faith alone. These also say that they know its interior things; but the interior things are only confirmations of the one thesis that faith alone justifies without the works of the law. They are ignorant of other interior things. And because in those [confirmations] are chiefly the priests, professors of theology, and college lecturers, in a word, the teachers and leaders (Doctores et Pastores), therefore this first influx was effected into those who are called the clergy. The reason why these are the ones understood is because the first angel poured his phial onto ‘the land’, and the second into ‘the sea’, and then by ‘the land’ is understood the Church with those who are in the internal things thereof, and by ‘the sea’ is understood the Church with those who are in the external things thereof, as above (n. 398, 403, 404, 420, 470). That these are understood is plain also on account of its being said that a sore’ was produced in them.
678. ‘And an evil and hurtful sore was produced’ signifies interior evils and untruths destructive of everything good and true in the Church. By the ‘sore’ here nothing else is signified but the evil arising from a life in accordance with this main point of doctrine, that faith alone justifies and saves without the works of the law, because it follows on ‘in the men having the mark of the beast and adoring his image’, by which that faith is signified and a life in accordance with it. Therefore by ‘an evil and hurtful sore’ are signified evils and untruths destructive of everything good and true in the Church. By ‘hurtful’ is signified what is destructive, and evil cannot but destroy good, and untruth truth. ‘A sore’ signifies those things because the sores of the body arise from the corruption of the blood or from another interior malignity. Likewise ‘sores’ understood in the spiritual sense: these arise from the lusts and their delights that are the interior causes. The evil itself, which is signified by the ‘sore’ and appears in the externals as delightful, conceals within it the lusts from which it arises and is inflamed. [2] It should be known well that the interior things of the human mind are in a successive order and in a simultaneous order with every one. They are in a successive order going from the higher or prior things to the lower or posterior things thereof, [and] they are in a simultaneous order in the ultimates or last things, but in these they are from interior to exterior things as from a centre to a circumference. That this is the case has been shown many times in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (n. 173-281), where it treats of degrees; from which it is plain that the ultimate is the complex of all the prior things. From this it follows that all the lusts of an evil are in a simultaneous order inwardly in the evil itself that a man perceives with himself, every evil that the man perceives with himself being in the ultimates. And therefore when a man rejects an evil from himself, he also rejects its lusts at the same time, yet not of himself but from the Lord. A man can indeed of himself reject an evil, but not its lusts; and therefore when he is willing to reject the evil by fighting against it he will look to the Lord, for the Lord operates from inmost things to ultimates, for He enters through the man’s soul and purifies him. These things have been said that it may be known that ‘a sore’ signifies an evil appearing in ultimates or extremes, arising from an internal malignity. This comes to pass with all who persuade themselves that faith alone saves, and on that account do not reflect upon any evil with themselves, nor look to the Lord.
[3] ‘Sores’ and ‘wounds’ signify evils in the extremes arising from interior evils that are lusts, in the following passages also:-
From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness; the wound, the scar, and the recent plague, not pressed out, not bound up, not mollified with oil Isa. i 6, 7.
Mine iniquities have gone over my head, [my] wounds have festered, they have wasted away because of my foolishness Ps. xxxviii 4, 5 [H.B. 5, 6].
In the day that Jehovah shall bind up the breach of His people, He shall heal the wound of [their] plague Isa. xxx 26.
If thou wilt not obey the voice of Jehovah, by taking care to do His precepts, Jehovah shall smite thee with the sore of Egypt, with hemorrhoids and scabies and the itch; and an evil sore upon the knees and upon the thighs, from which thou canst not be healed, from the soul of the foot even unto the top of thy head Deut. xxxviii 15, 27, 35.
Nothing else is signified by:-
The sore of blisters flourishing on man and beast in Egypt Exod. ix 8-11;
for the miracles done there were significant of the evils and untruths in which they were. And because the Jewish nation was in the profanation of the Word, and this was signified by leprosy, therefore the leprosy was not only in their flesh, but also in their garments, houses and vessels; and the kinds of profanation are signified by the various hurtful symptoms (mala) of leprosy, which were:-
Tumours, the sores of tumours, white pimples and ones becoming red, abscesses, burnings, skin eruptions, scuffs, etc. Lev. xiii 1 to the end.
For the Church with that nation was a representative Church in which internal things were represented by means of the corresponding external things.
679. ‘In men having the mark of the beast, and adoring his image’ signifies with those who are living faith alone, and receiving its doctrine. By ‘to have the mark of the beast’ is signified to acknowledge faith alone, to confirm it with oneself, and to live in accordance with it; and by ‘to adore his image’ is signified to receive its doctrine, as may be seen above (n. 602, also 634, 637). By ‘to live faith alone and receive its doctrine’ is understood to make life for the sake of salvation of no account, nor any truth (veritas), believing that if only they pray to God the Father that He may be merciful for the sake of the Son they will be saved. Those especially do this who know and acknowledge the interior things of that doctrine, for they are treated of here, as may be seen just above (n. 677).
* There is no n. 682 in the Original Edition.
684. ‘And blood was produced’ signifies falsified truths of the Word. That by ‘blood’ in a good sense is signified Divine Truth, and in the opposite sense the same falsified, may be seen above (n. 379). The reason why Divine Truth falsified and profaned is signified by ‘blood’ is because the Jews shed the Lord’s blood, which was Divine Truth Itself or the Word, and they did this because they falsified and profaned all the truths of the Word. That the Lord suffered as to the Word, or that the Jewish nation offered violence to the Lord just as they had offered it to the Word, may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 15-17). The reason why those who are in faith alone falsify all the truths of the Word is because the whole Word treats of a life in accordance with the precepts there, and of the Lord that He is Jehovah and the Only God, and those who are in faith alone do not think of a life in accordance with the precepts in the Word, nor do they approach the Lord.
685. [verse 5] ‘And I heard the angel of the waters saying’ signifies the Divine Truth of the Word. By ‘the angel of the waters’ nothing else but the Divine Truth of the Word is signified, because ‘waters’ signify truths (n. 50); and an ‘angel’ signifies what is Divine from the Lord (n. 415, 631, 633), and also the Word from Himself (n. 170).
686. ‘Thou art just, O Lord, Who Is and Who Was, and art Holy, because Thou hast judged these things’ signifies that this is of the Divine Providence of the Lord, Who is and Who was the Word, and the Divine Truth Itself, which otherwise would be profaned. ‘Thou art just, O Lord, because Thou hast judged these things’ signifies that this is of the Lord’s Divine Providence, concerning which [something] follows. ‘Who Is and Who Was’ signifies the Lord as to the Word, that He is and that He was the Word, according to John i 1, 2, 14. The reason that here is understood the Lord as to the Word is because it treats of the understanding of the Word with those who belong to the Church. The many things that are signified by ‘Is and Was’, ‘the Beginning and the Ending’, ‘the First and the Last’, ‘Alpha and Omega’, where said of the Lord, maybe seen above (n. 13, 29-31, 38, 57). By His being ‘Holy’ is signified that He is Divine Truth Itself (n. 173, 586, 666). From these things it is plain that by ‘Thou art just, O Lord, Who Is and Who Was, and art Holy, because Thou hast judged these things’ is signified that this is of the Divine Providence of the Lord, Who Is and Was the Word and Divine Truth Itself. [2] The reason why it is of the Lord’s Divine Providence that those who are in faith alone falsify the truths of the Word, is because if they were to know them as far as to think interiorly of them, they would profane them. For they are in evils, because they do not flee from evils as sins, nor do they approach the Lord directly; and therefore if they were to receive the genuine truths of the Word, they would mix them together with the evils of their own life, which would give rise to the profanation of what is holy. Therefore it is among the laws of permission, which are also laws of Divine Providence, that they should of themselves falsify truths, and this to the same extent as they are in evils of life. That there is a Divine Providence so that those who are in evils of life cannot but be in untruths of doctrine lest the Divine Truths of the Word should be profaned, may be seen in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE PROVIDENCE (n. 221-233, and 257 at the end).
687. [verse 6] ‘Because they have poured out the blood of saints and prophets’ signifies this on account of the fact that the single tenet that faith alone saves without the works of the law, when received, perverts all the true doctrinal tenets out of the Word. By ‘to pour out blood’ is signified, here as above (n. 684), to falsify the truths of the Word, thus to pervert them. By ‘saints’ are signified those who are in the truths of the Church, thus also abstractly the truths of the Church (n. 586). By ‘prophets’ are signified those who are in doctrinal tenets out of the Word, thus also abstractly the doctrinal tenets out of the Word (n. 133).
688. ‘And Thou hast given them blood to drink, for they deserve it’ signifies that those who have confirmed themselves in faith alone in both doctrine and life, had of the Lord’s Divine Providence been permitted to falsify the truths of the Word, and to absorb life (imbuere vitam) out of the falsified [truths]. By ‘to drink blood’ is signified not only to falsify the truths of the Word, but also to absorb life out of the falsified [truths], for he who drinks is appropriating to himself and absorbing. It is said ‘for they deserve it’ (quia digni sunt), because those who receive faith alone and live in accordance therewith are in evils as to life, and evil operates this with them. Also it is said here of those who are in evils that they deserve it, just as in the world it is said of those who are punished on account of evil-doing. About Divine Providence concerning this, n. 686 above may be seen.
689. [verse 7] ‘And I heard another out of the altar saying, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and just are Thy judgments’ signifies the Divine Good of the Word confirming that Divine Truth. By ‘another’, namely an angel, is signified the Divine Good of the Word. By ‘an angel’ is signified what is Divine from the Lord (n. 415, 631, 633); and by an angel ‘out of the altar’ is signified the Divine Good of love (n. 648), here the Divine Good of the Word, because it is still treating of the Word, and because by ‘the angel of the waters’ is signified the Divine Truth of the Word (n. 685). Now because the Divine Good of the Word and the Divine Truth of the Word make one, therefore similar things are signified by the things that the angel of the waters spoke and by those that the angel out of the altar spoke. For the angel of the waters said, ‘Thou art just, O Lord, Who Is and Who Was, and art Holy, because Thou hast judged these things’; but here the angel out of the altar said, ‘Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and just are Thy judgments’. The latter and the former signify similar things, with only the difference that one spoke out of Truth, the other out of Good, and that the one confirmed what the other spoke, but by means of different words; one by words that pertain to the category of truth, and the other by words that pertain to the category of good. For there is the marriage of truth and good in the details of the Word (n. 97), and there are (dantur) words of good and words of truth, which appear different but yet involve similar things.
690. [verse 8] ‘And the fourth angel poured out his phial into the sun’ signifies an influx into their love. By ‘to pour out the phial’ is signified, here as before, an influx of goods and truths. Here it is into their love, for by ‘the sun’ is signified the Lord’s Divine Love, and in the opposite sense the love of self (n. 53, 382, 414), here the love of self, because it follows on that men were struck down by fire and scorched with the great heat, by which the lusts of that love are signified.
691. ‘And it was given him to strike men down with heat by means of fire’ signifies that love directed to the Lord was torturing them because they were in the lusts of the evils derived from the delight of their love. Since by ‘to pour out the phial’ is signified an influx from the Lord out of goods and truths, therefore by ‘to pour out the phial into the sun’ is signified an influx from the Lord out of Divine Love for the purpose of discovering what the love with the men of that Church was like. Consequently by ‘it was given to the angel to strike men down with heat by means of fire’ is signified that the Lord’s Divine Love tortured them. And because the Lord’s Divine Love only tortures those who are in the lusts of evil derived from the delight of the love of self, therefore it follows that by ‘it was given him to strike down men with heat by means of fire’ is signified that love directed to the Lord tortured them because they were in the lusts of evils derived from the delight of the love of self. That ‘heat’ signifies lusts for evils, and consequently for untruths, may be seen above (n. 382), and that ‘fire’ signifies Divine Love, and in the opposite sense infernal love (n. 494 above). That the love of self is an infernal love, and its delight an infernal delight, and that the delight of that love has its existence and consistency as the result of innumerable lusts of evils, has been shown many times in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE PROVIDENCE, also in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM. That this is the case is unknown in Christendom, because it is not known what love directed to the Lord is, and this love will teach what the love of self is.
692. [verse 9] ‘And men were scorched with the great heat, and blasphemed the Name of God having authority over these plagues’ signifies that, on account of the delight of the love of self arising from the grievous lusts of evils, they did not acknowledge the Divinity of the Lord’s Human, from which nevertheless every good of love and truth of faith inflows. By ‘heat’ the lusts of evils are signified, which are in the love of self and its delight (n. 382, 691). Consequently by ‘to scorch with great heat’ is signified to be in grievous lusts, and thus in a delight of love. By ‘to blaspheme the Name of God’ is signified to deny or not to acknowledge the Divinity of the Lord’s Human, nor the holiness of the Word (n. 571, 582). ‘To blaspheme’ is to deny or not to acknowledge, and ‘the Name of God’ is the Lord’s Divine Human and at the same time the Word (n. 584). By ‘to have authority over plagues’ is signified that everything good and true of faith by means of which evils and untruths are removed inflows from Him (n. 673, 680, 690). And because the seven angels having the seven plagues went out of the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony (Rev. xv 5, 6), and by ‘the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony’ is signified the inmost of heaven where the Lord is in His holiness in the Word and in the Law which is the Decalogue (n. 669), and the influx that is signified by ‘to pour out the plagues’ was produced therefrom (n. 676), it may be established that by ‘God having authority over the plagues’ is understood the Lord from Whom [the influx is]. [2] A few things shall be said as to what the love of self is like. Its delight exceeds every delight in the world, for it is a fusion of nothing but the lusts of evils, and every single lust breathes out its own delight. Every man is born into this delight; and because it urges a man’s mind to be continually thinking about himself, it draws it away from thinking of God and the neighbour except from self and concerning self. Therefore if God should not favour his lusts he is angry with God, just as he is angry with the neighbour who does not favour them. When this delight increases it renders the man unable to think above himself, but only below himself, for he immerses his mind in the proprium of his body. As a result the man becomes sensual by successive stages, and a sensual man speaks in a high and lofty tone of worldly and civil matters, but of God and things Divine he can only speak from memory. If the part he plays in the world is in civil affairs (si persona civilis est), he acknowledges nature as the creatress, and his proprial prudence as the directress, and God he denies. If the man is a priest he speaks of God and things Divine from memory, even with a high and lofty tone, but at heart he has little belief in them.
693. ‘And they did not repent (resipiscere) to give Him glory’ signifies that on account of this they are unable to receive with any faith that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth even as to His Human, although the Word teaches this. By ‘not to repent’ is signified not to withdraw from evils but to remain in them, and by ‘not to give Him glory’ is signified not to receive with faith that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, for this is ‘to give Him glory’. That the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, He Himself teaches openly (Matt. xxviii 18; John xiii 3; xvii 2, 3); also that the Father and Himself are one (John x 30; xii 45; xiv 6-11; xvi 15; and elsewhere). Moreover the doctrine of the Church teaches that the Divine and the Human are one Person, united as soul and body.
694. [verse 10] ‘And the fifth angel poured out his phial upon the throne of the beast’ signifies an influx from the Lord into their faith. By the angel’s having poured out his phial is signified, here as before, an influx; and by ‘the throne of the beast’ is signified where faith alone reigns, sovereignty being signified by ‘the throne’ and faith alone by ‘the beast’ (n. 567, 576, 577, 594, 601, 660). That a ‘throne’ is also mentioned [where it treats] of the government of evil and untruth, is plain from these passages:-
The dragon gave the beast his vigour, and his throne, and great authority Rev. xiii 2.
I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, where Satan’s throne is Rev. ii 13.
I was seeing until the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit Dan. vii 9.
I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and the strength of the kingdoms of the nations Hagg. ii 22.
Lucifer said, I will exalt my throne above the stars Isa. xiv 13;
and elsewhere.
695. ‘And his kingdom was made dark’ signifies that nothing but untruths were appearing. By ‘darkness’ untruths are signified, because truth is signified by ‘light’. That ‘darkness’ signifies the untruths by means of which evils [come], and that ‘thick darkness’ signifies untruths derived from evils, may be seen above (n. 413). Consequently by ‘the kingdom of the beast was made dark’ is signified that nothing but untruths were appearing. That those who have confirmed faith separated from charity falsify the whole Word may be seen above (n. 136, 610); that they do not have any truths (n. 489, 501, 653); but merely untruths (n. 563, 597, 602). But the untruths of their faith do not indeed appear before themselves as dark, that is, as untrue, but they appear as full of light, that is, as true, after they have confirmed them. Nevertheless, while they are viewed from the light of heaven, which discovers all things, they appear as dark. Therefore while the light of heaven is inflowing into the vaults with those in hell it becomes so dark that they do not see one another. For this reason every hell has been closed so as not to leave a crevice open, and then they are in their own light. Their not appearing to themselves in darkness but in light, although they are in untruths, is because their untruths after they have confirmed them appear as truths to them. Their light results from this, but it is a foolish light such as is the light of the confirmation of what is untrue. This light corresponds to the light of the vision of owls and bats, to which the darkness is light and the light darkness, indeed, to which the sun is merely thick darkness. Such eyes do those get after death who have confirmed themselves in untruth in the world to the extent that they see untruth as true and truth as untrue.
696. ‘And they were gnawing their tongues because of annoyance’ signifies that they were not enduring truths. By ‘annoyance’ is not understood an annoyance resulting from untruths, these not causing them any annoyance, but an annoyance resulting from truths, thus their not enduring them. By ‘to gnaw tongues’ is signified to be unwilling to hear truths, for by ‘the tongue’ is signified the confession of truth, because the tongue is of service to the thought for speech, and spiritually for confession. By ‘to gnaw the tongue’ is signified to hold the thought back from hearing truths. That this is signified by ‘to gnaw the tongue’ cannot be confirmed out of [other passages of] the Word, because it is not written there. It has, however, been given to know this from experience in the spiritual world. There, while anyone is speaking truths of faith, the spirits who cannot bear to hear truths hold their tongues back with the teeth and also bite their lips, so that they also induce others to touch their tongues and lips with the teeth, and this as far as to cause annoyance. From these considerations it is plain that by ‘they were gnawing* their tongues because of annoyance’ is signified that they were not enduring truths. That ‘the tongue’ as an organ of speech signifies thought and confession, and also the doctrine of truth, may be seen above (n. 282).
* The Original Edition has lambebant (they were licking), probably a slip for mandebant (they were gnawing) as in the paragraph heading.
697. [verse 11] ‘And they blasphemed the God of heaven for their annoyances and for their sores’ signifies that they could not acknowledge the Lord Only to be the God of heaven and earth, on account of the resistances resulting from interior untruths and evils springing from their having received and acknowledged the dogma concerning faith alone. By ‘to blaspheme the God of heaven’ is signified to deny or not to acknowledge the Lord Only to be the God of heaven and earth (n. 571, 582). By ‘annoyances’ are signified the annoyances of acknowledging it, as above (n. 696), thus the resistances resulting from the interior untruths, for that which resists is an annoyance. The annoyances are predicated of the untruths. By ‘sores’ are signified interior evils, as above (n. 678), and because interior evils and untruths spring from their having received and accepted the dogma concerning faith alone, therefore this also is signified.
699. [verse 12] ‘And the sixth angel poured out his phial upon the great river Euphrates’ signifies an influx from the Lord into their interior reasonings, by which they confirm justification by faith alone. By ‘the sixth angel pouring out his phial’ is signified, here as before, an influx. By ‘the great river Euphrates’ is signified interior reasonings, in like manner as above (n. 444, 445), here the interior reasonings of that Church by which they confirm justification by faith alone, because it treats of these in the things now following.
700. ‘And its water was dried up, that the way of kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared’ signifies that the untruths of those reasonings have been removed with those who from the Lord are in truths derived from good, and are to be introduced into the New Church. By the ‘water’ having been ‘dried up’ is signified that the untruths of those interior reasonings were removed. By ‘was dried up’ is signified that they were removed, and by ‘water’ truths are signified, and in the opposite sense untruths (n. 50, 614), here the untruths of the interior reasonings because it was the water of the river Euphrates, by which those reasonings are signified (n. 699). By the ‘kings’ for whom the way was prepared are signified those who from the Lord are in truths derived from good (n. 20, 483). By ‘the rising of the sun’ is signified the beginning of the New Church from the Lord, the like as by ‘morning’ (n. 151). By ‘to prepare the way’ is signified to prepare for introduction. It is plain from these considerations that by ‘the water was dried up, that the way of kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared’ is signified that the untruths of the interior reasonings have been removed with those who from the Lord are in truths derived from good, and are to be introduced into the New Church.
[2] The series of subjects is this: it treats here of the consummation or end of the present Church, and of the setting up or beginning of the New Church, and of contentions. Those belonging to the present Church who are in faith alone are understood by ‘the dragon’, ‘the beast’ and ‘the false prophet’, concerning which something follows. And the contentions thereof with those who will belong to the New Church are understood by ‘the gathering together of the kings of the land to battle’. But those who will be of the New Church, with whom they contend, are understood by ‘the water of the river Euphrates was dried up, that the way might be prepared for kings from the rising of the sun’. This involves something similar to the introduction of the sons of Israel into the land of Canaan, with the difference that for them the river Jordan was dried up, but for those [who will belong to the New Church it is] the river Euphrates. The reason why the river Euphrates [is dried up] for the latter is because here they contend by means of interior reasonings, which are to be dried up, that is, removed, before the introduction is effected. This is also the reason why their interior reasonings are discovered in this work. Unless they were discovered, a man not acquainted with them, even if intelligent, might easily be led astray.
701. [verse 13] ‘And I saw out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet’ signifies what is perceived out of a theology founded upon the doctrine of a Trinity of Persons of the Godhead, and upon the doctrine of justification by faith alone without the works of the law. By ‘the mouth’ is signified doctrine, and the preaching and discussion therefrom (n. 453, 574). By ‘the dragon’ is signified the acknowledgment of three Gods and of justification by faith alone, and the consequent devastation of the Church (n. 537). By ‘the beast out of the sea’, which is understood here, the men of the external Church are signified, who are in that acknowledgment and faith (n. 567, 576, 577, 601). By ‘the false prophet’ the men of the internal Church are signified, who teach a theology out of those doctrines. The false prophet has not been mentioned before, but ‘the beast out of the land’ is now so called, as may be seen above (n. 594). Now because all those things are signified by ‘the dragon’, ‘the beast out of the sea’, and ‘the false prophet’ who here is [the same as] ‘the beast out of the land’, it follows that by ‘I saw out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet’ is signified what is perceived out of a theology founded upon the doctrine of a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, and upon the doctrine of justification by faith alone without the works of the law.
702. ‘Three unclean spirits like frogs’ signifies that nothing but reasonings and the lusts of falsifying truths were arising. By ‘spirits’ here are signified the like as by demons, for it is presently said that they were ‘the spirits of demons’, and by ‘demons’ are signified the lusts of falsifying truths (n. 458). By ‘three’ are signified all (n. 400, 505), here therefore ‘nothing but’ (mere). By ‘frogs’ are signified reasonings derived from lusts, because they croak and are prurient. From these considerations it is plain that by ‘three unclean spirits like frogs’ are signified nothing but reasonings and the lusts of falsifying truths. The ‘frogs’ here have no other signification than ‘the frogs of Egypt’ have, because by the miracles done with the Egyptians the devastation of the Church is likewise described, concerning which [it is written] thus in Moses:-
Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and frogs came up and covered the land, and afterwards the frogs were removed and remained in the river only Exod. viii 5-14 [H.B. 1-10]; Ps. lxxviii 45; cv 30.
The reason why frogs were produced out of the waters of Egypt and remained in the river was because the waters of Egypt, and especially the waters of the river there, used to signify the untruths of the doctrine out of which they reasoned.
703. [verse 14] ‘For they are the spirits of demons’ signifies that they were the lusts of falsifying truths and of reasoning out of untruths. That by ‘demons’ are signified the lusts of falsifying truths may be seen above (n. 458); and because they were like frogs, they were also the lusts of reasoning out of untruths, as just above (n. 702).
704. ‘Doing signs to go away to the kings of the land and of the whole world to gather them together to the war of that great day of God Omnipotent’ signifies protestations that their untruths are true, and the inciting of all in the whole of that Church who are in the same untruths to attack the truths of the New Church. That ‘to do signs’ is to testify and also to protest that a thing is true may be seen above (n. 598, 599), here that their untruths are true. By ‘the kings of the land and of the whole world’ are signified those who are principally in untruths derived from evil, here all who are in the same untruths in the whole Church; for by ‘kings’ are signified those who are in truths derived from good, and in the opposite sense those who are in untruths derived from evil (n. 483). The Church is signified by ‘the land’ (n. 285), likewise by ‘the world’ (n. 551). By ‘to go away to gather them together to the war’ is signified to rouse them for the fight, or for attacking; for by ‘the war’ is signified a spiritual war that is of untruth against truth and of truth against untruth (n. 500, 586). This is for attacking the truths of the New Church, because it is termed ‘the great day of God Omnipotent’, and by that ‘day’ is signified the Lord’s coming, and the New Church then. That this is signified there ‘by the great day’ will be seen below. It is said that ‘the spirits of demons’ are going to do this because by them are signified the lusts of falsifying truths and of reasoning out of untruths, concerning which [something was said] just above (n. 703). It is plain from these considerations that by ‘the spirits of demons doing signs to go away to the kings of the land and of the whole world to gather them together to the war of that great day of God Omnipotent’ are signified protestations by those who are understood by ‘the dragon, the beast and the false prophet’, of whom above (n. 701, 702), that their untruths are true, and all in the whole Church who are in the same untruths being roused up for attacking the truths of the New Church.
[2] That by ‘the great day of God Omnipotent’ is signified the Lord’s coming and the New Church then, is established from many passages in the Word, as from these:-
In that day Jehovah Only shall be exalted Isa. ii 11.
In that day Israel shall lean upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel in the Truth (veritas) Isa. x 20.
In that day the nations shall seek the Root of Jesse, and His rest shall be glory Isa. xi 10, 11.
In that day shall the eyes look back to the Holy One of Israel Isa. xvii 7, 9.
In that day they shall say, Lo, this is our God, for Whom we have waited that He should save us Isa. xxv 9.
My people shall recognise My Name, and in that day [that] I am He Who is speaking, behold Me Isa. lii 6.
Alas the great day of Jehovah, and there shall not be like it Jer. xxx 7.
Behold the coming days; in which I shall make a new covenant, and in which the city of Jehovah shall be built Jer. xxxi 27, 31, 38.
In those days I will make a just branch to grow up unto David Jer. xxxiii 15.
They shall not stand in the war of the day of Jehovah Ezek. xiii 5.
In that day shall Michael the great prince rise up, who stands for the sons of thy people. In that day shall everyone who shall be found written in the book be rescued Dan. xii 1.
In that day thou shalt call Me, my Husband. In that day will I make a covenant with them. In that day I will listen Hosea ii 16, 18, 21.
Behold I send Elijah before the great day of Jehovah comes Mal. iv 5 [H.B. iii 23].
In that day Jehovah shall preserve His people as a flock Zech. ix 16.
In that day Jehovah shall protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem [Zech. xii 8.
In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem] Zech. xiii 1.
Behold the day of Jehovah comes. One day that shall be known to Jehovah. In that day there shall be one Jehovah, and His Name one. In that day there shall be a great tumult. In that day there shall be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness to Jehovah Zech. xiv 1, 4, 6-8, 13, 20, 21.
Besides these passages there are many others in which by ‘the day of Jehovah’ the Lord’s coming is understood, and the New Church from Him then, as in these: Isa. iv 2; xix 16, 18, 21, 24; xxii 20; xxv 9; xxviii 5; xxix 18; xxx 25, 26; xxxi 7; Jer. iii 16-18; xxiii 5-7, 12, 20; 14, 20, 27; Ezek. xxiv 26, 27; xxix 21; xxxiv 11, 12; xxxvi 33; Hosea iii 5; vi 1, 2; Joel ii 29 [H.B. iii 2]; iv [H.B. iii] 1, 4, 18; Obad. verse 15; Amos ix 11, 13; Micah iv 6; Hab. iii 2; Zeph. iii 11, 16, 19, 20; Zech. ii 11 [H.B. 15]; Ps. lxxii 7, 8, And ‘that day’ is called ‘the day of Jehovah’ (Joel i 15; ii 1, 2, 11; Amos v 13, 18, 20; Zeph. i 7, 14; li 2, 3; Zech. xiv 1; and elsewhere). Since there is the consummation of the age, that is, the end of the old Church, when there is the Lord’s coming and the beginning of the New Church, therefore by the day of Jehovah in very many places is also signified the end of the former Church, and it is said that then [there will be] rumours, tumults and wars. These passages may be seen collected in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 4, 5).
705. [verse 15] ‘Behold I come as a thief, blessed is he who is awake and takes care of his garments’ signifies the Lord’s coming, and heaven then with those who look to Him and remain constant in a life in accordance with His precepts, which are the truths of the Word. That ‘to come as a thief’, when [said] of the Lord, signifies His coming, and heaven then with those who have lived well, and hell with those who have lived wickedly, may be seen above (n. 164). That he is termed ‘blessed’ who receives eternal life (n. 639). That ‘to be awake’ signifies to live spiritually, that is, to be in truths and in a life in accordance with them, and to look to the Lord (n. 158). And that ‘to take care of his garments’ signifies to remain constant in those [truths] even to the end of life, for garments signify truths clothing (n. 166, 212, 328), thus the Lord’s precepts in the Word, because these are truths. These things now follow in an order resulting from those that precede; for [something] precedes concerning the Lord’s coming and the New Church, also concerning an attack against it by those who are of the old Church. And because a fight is imminent, those who are in truths out of the Word are admonished to remain constant in them lest they succumb in the battle mentioned in the verse following.
706. ‘Lest he walk naked, and they see his shame’ signifies lest they should be with those who are in no truths, and their infernal loves should appear. By ‘to walk naked’ is signified to live without truths. By ‘the shame of nakedness’ or the private parts are signified unclean loves, which are infernal loves; and because it is said ‘lest they see the shame’ there it signified lest those [loves] should appear. That by ‘nakedness’ is signified ignorance of truth, and by ‘shame of nakedness’ infernal love, may be seen above (n. 213). These things have been said for those who will be of the Lord’s New Church, that they may learn truths and remain in them, since without truths the connate evils they have, which are infernal loves, are not removed. Without truths a man can indeed live as a Christian, but only before men, not before angels. The truths that they will learn are concerning the Lord, and concerning the precepts in accordance with which they will live.
707. [verse 16] ‘And he gathered them together into the place termed in Hebrew Armageddon’ signifies the state of the combat fought against truths with untruths, and the intention (animus) of destroying the New Church, originating out of a love of command and supereminence. By ‘to gather together into the place’, here for battle, is signified to incite to fight against truths with untruths. The reason it is the state of combat is because ‘place’ signifies the state of a thing. It is derived from the intention to destroy the New Church, because a combat between the old Church and the new is understood, and the intention of the combat is to destroy. What is signified by ‘Armageddon’ will be stated below. It was said before that:-
The dragon went away to wage war with the remnant of the seed of the woman, keeping the commandments of God, and having the testimony of Jesus Christ Rev. xii 17;
also that:-
To the beast out of the sea it was given to make war with the saints Rev. xiii 7;
and in this chapter that:-
The spirits of the demons going out of the mouth of the dragon, of the beast and of the false prophet, went away to the kings of the land to gather them together to the war of that great day of God Omnipotent (vers. 13, 14).
Here now it treats of the battle itself. The progress of this is not described, but only the state, which is signified by ‘Armageddon’.
[2] By ‘Armageddon’ is signified in heaven the love of honour, of dominion, and of supereminence. Moreover in the Hebrew language by ‘Aram’ or ‘Arom’ is signified loftiness, and in very old Hebrew by ‘Megiddon’ a love derived from loftiness, as is plain from its signification in the Arabic language. A similar thing is signified in Zechariah xii 11 by ‘Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon’. In that chapter also it treats of the Lord’s coming, and of the end of the Jewish Church at that time and of the beginning of a New one to be set up by the Lord, and also of the clash between those Churches. For this reason it is said so many times in that chapter In that day, and by ‘that day’ is signified the Lord’s coming, as above (n. 704). That it may be seen I will quote the passages:-
In that day I will make Jerusalem a stone of burden unto all peoples. In that day I will smite every horse with numbness and the rider with madness. In that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a furnace of fire among the firewood. In that day Jehovah shall protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that outcasts may be among them. In that day I will seek to destroy all the nations coming against Jerusalem. (And lastly) In that day there shall be a wailing in Jerusalem, as the wailing in Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon Vers. 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11;
and in the following chapter:-
In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. In that day the prophets shall be ashamed, and shall put on a tunic of hair that they may deceive [Zech.] xiii 1, 4.
[3] By ‘that day’ is signified the Lord’s coming and the end of the old Church at that time and the beginning of a New Church, as was said above. But what is signified there by ‘the valley of Megiddon’ cannot be seen unless the series of things in that chapter and in the following two in that Prophet be disclosed by means of the spiritual sense. And because this has been disclosed to me it will be stated, but in a short summary. In chap. xii in Zechariah there is described in the spiritual sense:-
That the Lord is going to form a New Church (verse 1).
That there will not then be anything of doctrine in the Old Church, and that therefore they are going to flee from it (2, 3).
That [there will be] no longer any understanding of truth, except with those who are in the Word, and who belong to the New Church (4).
That these will learn the good of doctrine from the Lord (5).
That then the Lord by means of the truths of the Word will destroy all untruths, lest the doctrine of the New Church should teach anything other than what is true (6, 7).
That then the Church will be in the doctrine concerning the Lord (8).
That He is going to destroy all persons and things that are against that doctrine (9).
And that then [there will be] a New Church from the Lord (10).
And that then all things of the Church collectively and separately will be in mourning (10-14).
These are the contents of chap. xii in the spiritual sense.
[4] The contents of the following chap. xiii are these:-
That for the New Church there will be a Word, and this will be opened to them (verse 1).
That untruths of doctrine and worship will be destroyed absolutely (2, 3).
That what is prophetical or doctrinal of long standing is going to fall into disuse; and untruths of doctrine will no longer exist (4, 5).
That by those who are in the Old Church the Lord will be slain with the intention of scattering those who believe in Him (6, 7).
That those who belong to the devastated Church are going to perish, and that those who belong to the New Church are to be purified and taught by the Lord (8, 9).
These are the contents of chap. xiii in the spiritual sense.
[5] The contents of chap. xiv are these:-
Concerning the Lord’s combats against the evil, and concerning their dispersion (vers. 1-5).
That then [there will be] nothing true, but from the Lord [will be] Divine Truth (6, 7).
That Divine Truth will proceed from the Lord (8, 9).
That the Truth in the New Church will be multiplied, and there will not be untruth of evil there (10, 11).
That he who fights against those truths will give himself up to untruths of every kind (12).
That then [will be] the destruction of all things of the Church (13-15).
That then they are going to draw near to the worship of the Lord, even from the nations that are external natural (16-19).
And that then [there will be] intelligence derived from the good of charity out of which the worship [will be] (20, 21).
These are the contents of the three chaps. xii, xiii, xiv of Zechariah in the spiritual sense, disclosed because in them also it treats of the last state of the Old Church and the first state of the New Church. And because it is said that they are ‘to be gathered together into the place termed in Hebrew Armageddon’ it is established that in that Prophet the same things were said concerning the last state of the present Church and concerning the first state of the New Church. By ‘Armageddon’ is signified, as was said, the love of honour, of dominion and of supereminence, for the combat results from this, and from it and on account of it there is the mourning that is described there (verses 11-14, chap. xii). A similar thing is signified by ‘Megiddon’ (2 Kings xxiii 29, 30; 2 Chron. xxxv 20-24), but in the spiritual sense.
708. [verse 17] ‘And the seventh angel poured out his phial into the air’ signifies an influx from the Lord into all the things at once with the men of the Reformed Church. By ‘the seventh angel pouring out his phial’ is signified, here as by the previous times, an influx. By ‘the air’ is signified all things of perception and thought, thus of their faith; therefore also what in general all who are in faith separated from charity there are like. For by ‘the air’ is signified their breathing, and breathing corresponds to the understanding, thus to perception and thought, and also to faith, because faith is of thought in accordance with the understanding’s perception. That this correspondence exists, and that in the spiritual world everyone breathes in accordance with his faith, has been fully shown in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, in the Fifth Part.
709. ‘And there went forth a great voice out of the temple of heaven out of the throne saying, It has been done’ signifies [that] thus it was made manifest by the Lord that all things of the Church have been devastated, and that now the last judgment is at hand. By ‘a great voice going forth out of the temple of heaven’ is signified a making manifest by the Lord out of the inmost of heaven; by ‘a great voice’ the making manifest, and by ‘the temple of heaven’ is signified the inmost of heaven, out of which the influx [came] (n. 669). ‘Out of the throne’ is said, because by ‘the throne’ is signified heaven, and also judgment. That it signifies heaven may be seen (n. 221, 222), and judgment (n. 229); and this because it has now been made manifest that all things of the Church have been devastated, thus that it is the end of it, and at the end of the Church there is a judgment. And therefore this is said when the last angel poured out the phial ‘out of the temple of heaven out of the throne’. By ‘it has been done’ is signified that it has been consummated, that is, that all things of the Church have been devastated, as may be seen above (n. 676).
710. [verse 18] ‘And voices and lightnings and thunderings were produced’ signifies reasonings, falsifications of truth, and arguments derived from the untruths of evil in the Church, with those who are in faith alone and who turn away from reflecting upon the evils with themselves, since they are not willing to withdraw from them if they should know them. That by ‘voices’, ‘lightnings’ and ‘thunderings’ are signified reasonings, falsifications of truth, and arguments derived from untruths, can be established from the things said above (n. 396, 530), and the similar things there. That those who are in a faith separated from the works of the law and consequently in evils of life turn away from reflecting upon the evils with themselves because they are not willing to withdraw from them if they should know them, is plain without an exposition. Experience teaches this; for evils are delights, because they are loves, and no one is willing to withdraw from delights unless he looks to a life after death, first to hell [to see] what it is like, and afterwards to heaven [to see] what it is like, and thinks of them aside from the doing of evil. If he then looks to the Lord also, and thinks ‘What is the temporal in respect to the eternal? Is it not as nothing?’, then he can reflect upon his own evils and be willing to know them and to withdraw from them. But if he has confirmed himself in faith alone, then he will say in his heart’ Our theological faith is that God the Father has mercy for the sake of the Son Who has suffered for our sins; if I with some confidence ask for this [faith], it effects all things. In this way he does not reflect upon any evil with himself. He even says to himself as a result of that faith, that evil does not condemn, and that salvation is pure mercy, besides other similar things. Thus he remains constant in his evils, and takes a delight in them even to the end of life. Such are the reasonings, the falsifications of truth, and the arguments derived from untruths of evil that are signified here by the ‘voices’, ‘lightnings’ and ‘thunderings’.
711. ‘And there was a great earthquake such as has not occurred since there came to be men upon the earth, an earthquake of such magnitude’ signifies as it were the tremors, convulsions, overturnings, and acts of dragging down out of heaven of all things of the Church. That by ‘earthquakes’ changes of state of the Church are signified may be seen above (n. 331); and as earthquakes are lighter and more severe, here the most severe because it is said that ‘such an earthquake has not occurred since there came to be men’, it is plain that by the ‘earthquake’ here are signified the tremors, convulsions, overturnings, and acts of dragging down out of heaven of all things of the Church. It is said also of the dragon, who is called ‘the serpent of old, the Devil and Satan’, that:-
His tail dragged down out of heaven a third part of the stars, and cast them to earth Rev. xii 4.
In like manner of ‘the he-goat of the she-goats’ (Dan. viii 10-12). The Lord also says of the end of this Church:-
Then shall be great affliction such as was not from the beginning of the world up to this time, nor shall be Matt. xxiv 21.
The end of the Church is also described in the Prophets by earth tremors, overthrowings, castings down, and the many other things attendant on earthquakes.
712. [verse 19] ‘And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell’ signifies that by these things that Church as to doctrine has been entirely destroyed, and so too have all the heresies that have emanated from it. That by a ‘city’ is signified the doctrine of the Church or, what is the same, the Church as to doctrine, may be seen above (n. 194, 501, 502). Consequently by ‘the cities of the nations’ are signified the heretical doctrines or heresies that have emanated from it; and these are many. By ‘being divided into three parts’ is signified being entirely destroyed, for by ‘to be divided’ in the Word is signified to be dissipated, because in that case they do not cohere, and by ‘three’ is signified all and the whole (n. 400, 505). Consequently by ‘to be divided into three parts’ is signified to be entirely destroyed. By ‘to fall’, which is said of ‘the cities of the nations’, is also signified to be destroyed. It is said that the city was divided into three parts, and that the cities of the nations fell, because [it treats] just before of an earthquake in which such things come to pass. By ‘the great city’ is understood the great city treated of above (chap. xi, verse 8) which there ‘is called Sodom and Egypt’, concerning which n. 501-504 above may be seen. The reason that a ‘city’ signifies doctrine, and consequently ‘cities’ signify doctrinal tenets, is because by ‘the land’, especially by ‘the land of Canaan’, the Church is signified. And because a Church is a Church by virtue of doctrine and in accordance therewith, therefore doctrinal tenets are signified by ‘cities’. They also used to teach in cities, because the synagogues were there, and in Jerusalem the temple also. This is why by ‘Jerusalem’ is signified the Church as to doctrine in a universal sense.
* This verse is omitted here in the Original Edition. The insertion in square brackets has been supplied from ‘the Contents of each of the verses’. See also
n. 336, where similar words occur.
714. [b] [verse 21] ‘And great hail as of the weight of a talent came down from heaven upon men’ signifies the dreadful and horrible untruths by means of which every truth of the Word and consequently of the Church has been destroyed. That by ‘hail’ is signified untruth destroying truth and good may be seen above (n. 399); and because it is said great hail as of the weight of a talent’ dreadful and horrible untruths are signified, by means of which every truth and good of the Word and consequently of the Church has been destroyed. ‘Of the weight of a talent’ is said because a talent was the largest weight of silver and also of gold; and by ‘silver’ truth is signified, and by ‘gold’ good, and in the opposite sense untruth and evil (n. 211). Its being said that the ‘hail came down from heaven upon men’ is in accordance with appearances, the sense of the letter of the Word being derived from them and from correspondences. This is similar to what was said before of the plagues, that they were poured out of heaven by means of angels upon men, when yet they are truths and goods sent down by the Lord, which are turned into untruths and evils with those who are below (n. 673). In the spiritual world also with those [in faith alone], when they are engaged in reasonings from untruths against the truths of the Word, hail sometimes appears to come down, and with some [spirits] sulphur and fire; and because these appear in the atmosphere above them, and as if out of heaven, therefore as a result of that appearance it is said that such ‘hail’ came down out of heaven.
715. ‘And men blasphemed God for the plague of hail, because the plague thereof was exceedingly great’ signifies that because they have confirmed such untruths with themselves, they have denied truths to such an extent that they cannot acknowledge them on account of the resistances originating from their interior untruths and evils. By ‘to blaspheme God’ is signified to deny and not acknowledge the Lord to be the Only God of heaven and earth (n. 571, 582, 697), and in like manner the truth of the Word. ‘Because the plague thereof was exceedingly great’ signifies on account of the dreadful and horrible untruths resulting from the confirmed dogma concerning justification by faith alone (n. 714 [b]). The reason why on account of these they are unable to acknowledge [the Lord], is because the confirmation of what is untrue is the denial of what is true. It appears as if it were understood that the plague of hail was so great that by reason of the torment or pain of its impact they blasphemed God. This, however, is not understood, but that they were unable to acknowledge truths on account of untruths; in like manner as before in this chapter where it is said that ‘they blasphemed the Name of God’ for the heat (verse 9); and that ‘they blasphemed the God of heaven’ for the annoyances and the sores (verse 11), which verses may be seen expounded (n. 692 and 697).
* * * * * * * * * * *
716. To these things I will add this MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE. In the spiritual world I spoke with some English bishops concerning the small works published at London in the year 1758, which were:-
CONCERNING HEAVEN AND HELL
CONCERNING THE NEW JERUSALEM AND ITS HEAVENLY DOCTRINE
CONCERNING THE LAST JUDGMENT
CONCERNING THE WHITE HORSE and
CONCERNING THE EARTHS IN THE UNIVERSE.
These small works have been sent as a gift to all the bishops, and to many great men or lords. They said that they received them and looked at them, but that they did not consider them worthy of notice, although written skilfully; and also that they persuaded whomsoever they could not to read them. I asked them why, when yet there we have arcana concerning heaven and hell, and the life after death, and more things of great worth, which have been revealed by the Lord for those who will be of His New Church, which is the New Jerusalem. But they said, ‘What do these things matter to us?’; and they poured out disparagements against them, just as formerly in the world. I heard them. And then in their presence these words were read out of the Apocalypse:-
And the sixth angel poured out his phial upon the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, that the way of kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared. And I saw out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are the spirits of demons doing signs to go away to the kings of the land and of the whole world, to gather them together to the war of the great day of God Omnipotent. And he gathered them together into the place termed in Hebrew ARMAGEDDON Rev. xvi 12-16.
These things were expounded in their presence, and it was said that they, and others like them, were those who are understood thereby. [2] From heaven, the king*, the grandfather of the king at present reigning, heard these things that were said to the bishops, and being somewhat displeased said, ‘What is this?’ And then a certain one of them who had not agreed with them in the world, turned to the king and said, ‘Those whom you now see with your eyes thought in the world, and consequently also think now, of the Lord’s Divine Human as of the human of an ordinary man, and they attribute all salvation and redemption to God the Father, and not to the Lord except as a cause for the sake of which [this is effected]. For they believe in God the Father, and not in His Son, although they know from the Lord that it is the will of the Father that they should believe in the Son, and that they who believe in the Son may have eternal life; and that they who do not believe in the Son are not going to see life [John vi 40; iii 36]. Besides this they cast out the charity that is done by the Lord by means of a man as by him, from having anything to do with salvation.’ [3] Speaking further with the king he exposed the HIERARCHY, which many of them continually aim at and practise, which they strengthen by joining together and combining with all of their order by means of emissaries, messages, letters and speeches, supported by ecclesiastical and at the same time political authority, as the result of which they all stick together like one bunch (fascis). And [he said] that by means of that hierarchy it has also been brought about that the above-named WORKS FOR THE NEW JERUSALEM, although published at London and sent to them as a gift, have been so disgracefully rejected as not to be deemed worthy even of a place among the books to be named in their catalogue. On hearing these things the king was utterly amazed, especially at their thinking in that manner of the Lord, Who yet is the God of heaven and earth; and of charity, which yet is religion itself. And then by means of the light let in from heaven the interiors of their mind and faith were opened. And the king saw, and then said, ‘Go away! Alas, who can become so apathetic at hearing anything about heaven and eternal life?
[4] Thereupon an inquiry was made by the king, whence they had such complete obedience from the clergy, and it was said that it is from the authority conceded to each bishop in his own diocese of nominating to the king only one candidate for [each of the] congregations, and not three as in other kingdoms. Also that by virtue of that authority they had the right to promote their proteges to higher honours and larger revenues, anyone they please according to the obedience he offers. It was also disclosed how far that hierarchy is able to go, and that it advances as far as making dominion the essential thing and religion a formality. Their ardour for dominating was also laid open and viewed by angels, and it was seen that it exceeds the ardour for dominating of those who have authority in secular matters.
* George II. Cf. n. 344.
1. And there came one of the seven angels having the seven phials, and spoke with me, saying to Me, Come, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot sitting upon many waters.
2. With whom the kings of the land have committed whoredom, and those inhabiting the land have been made drunk with the wine of her whoredom.
3. And he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious Stone and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and the uncleanness of her whoredom.
5. And upon her forehead a name was written, Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of the whoredoms and abominations of the land.
6. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the Saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus, and I wondered, seeing her with a great wonder.
7. And the angel said unto me, Why dost thou wonder? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast carrying her, having the seven heads and ten horns.
8. The beast that thou hast seen was, and is not, and is going to come up out of the deep and go away into perdition. And those dwelling upon the land shall wonder, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, seeing the beast that was and is not, but yet is.
9. This is the mind having wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, where the woman is sitting upon them.
10. And they are seven kings; five have fallen, and one is, another is not yet come, and when he comes he must remain a short while.
11. And the beast that was and is not, himself is the
eighth, and is of the seven, and is going into perdition.
12. And the ten horns that thou hast seen are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings one hour with the beast.
13. These have one purpose (sententia), and shall surrender their power and authority to the beast.
14. These shall fight with the Lamb, but the Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and they who are with Him are called, chosen and faithful.
15. And he says unto me, The waters that thou hast seen, where the harlot is sitting, are peoples and crowds and nations and tongues.
16. And the ten horns that thou hast seen upon the beast these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate, and naked, and eat up her flesh, and burn her up with fire.
17. Forasmuch as God has put in their heart to do His purpose, and to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until God’s words shall* be consummated.
18. And the woman whom thou hast seen is the great city, having a kingdom over the kings of the land.
* Reading consummentur (shall be consummated) as in n. 750, instead of consummarentur (should be consummated).
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
Concerning the Roman Catholic form of religion. There is described in what sort of way it had falsified the Word, and consequently perverted all the truths of the Church (vers. 1-7):
how it had falsified and perverted them with those who were subject to its dominion (vers. 8-11):
that [this had occurred] less with those who had not so subjected themselves to its dominion (vers. 12-15).
Concerning the Reformed:
that they had extricated themselves from the yoke of its domination (vers. 16, 17):
concerning its domination still (verse 18).
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. And there came one of the seven angels having the seven phials, and spoke with me
signifies an influx and revelation now from the Lord out of the inmost of heaven concerning the Roman Catholic form of religion.
Saying unto me, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot sitting upon many waters
signifies a revelation concerning that form of religion as to its profanations and adulterations of the truth (veritas) of the Word.
2. With whom the kings of the land have committed whoredom
signifies that they have adulterated the truths and goods of the Church that are derived from the Word.
And those inhabiting the land have been made drunk with the wine of her whoredom
signifies the insaneness in spiritual things resulting from the adulteration of the Word with those who are in that form of religion.
3. And he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness
signifies carried away in a spiritual state to those with whom all things of the Church have been devastated.
And I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet beast, full of names of blasphemy
signifies that form of religion upon the Word profaned by them.
Having seven heads, and ten horns
signifies intelligence derived from the Word, in the beginning holy, afterwards none, and at last insanity, and continually much power derived from the Word.
4. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet
signifies the celestial Divine Good and Divine Truth that are of the Word, with them.
And decked with gold and precious stone
signifies the spiritual Divine Good and Divine Truth that are of the Word, with them.
And pearls
signifies the cognitions of good and truth that are of the Word, with them.
Having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and the uncleanness of her whoredom
signifies that form of religion derived from the profaned holy things of the Word, and from its goods and truths defiled by means of dreadful untruths.
5. Upon her forehead written, Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of the whoredoms and abominations of the land
signifies what the Roman Catholic form of religion is like interiorly, which has been concealed: that as the result of its origin from the love of dominating out of the love of self over the holy things of the Church and over heaven thus over all things of the Lord and His Word, it has defiled and profaned the things that are of the Word and of the Church therefrom.
6. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus
signifies that form of religion being insane as the result of the adulterated and profaned Divine Truths and Goods of the Lord, of the Word, and of the Church therefrom.
And I wondered, seeing her with a great wonder
signifies astonishment at that form of religion being such interiorly, when yet exteriorly it appears otherwise.
7. And the angel said unto me, Why dost thou wonder? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast carrying her, having the seven heads and ten horns
signifies the disclosure: what the things that precede and were seen signify.
8. The beast that thou hast seen, was and is not
signifies the Word with them acknowledged as holy, and yet in reality not acknowledged.
And is going to come up out of the deep and go away into perdition
signifies [that it was] several times deliberated in the Papal Consistory concerning the reception and reading of the Word by the laity and common people, but it was rejected.
And those dwelling upon the land shall wonder, whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s* book of life from the foundation of the world, seeing the beast that was and is not, but yet is
signifies the bewilderment of all those who are of that form of religion, who from its establishment have aimed at dominion over heaven and earth, that the Word, although thus rejected, is still in existence.
9. This is the mind having wisdom
signifies that this interpretation is in the natural sense but is for those who are in the spiritual sense from the Lord.
The seven heads are seven mountains, and the woman is sitting upon them, [10.] and they are seven kings
signifies the Divine Goods and Divine Truths of the Word upon which that form of religion has been founded, in time destroyed and finally profaned.
Five have fallen, and one is, and another is not yet come, and when he comes he must remain a short while
signifies that all the Divine Truths of the Word have been destroyed except this one, that to the Lord was given all authority in heaven and on earth; and except this other one, which has not yet come into question, [and is] not going to continue, which is, that the Lord’s Human is Divine.
11. And the beast that was and is not, himself is the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going into perdition
signifies that the Word, concerning which [something was said] before, is Divine Good Itself, and that it is Divine Truth, and that it is being taken away from the laity and the common people lest the profanations and adulterations made there by the leaders should appear, and they [the laity and common people] should withdraw
12. And the ten horns** are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom
signifies the Word as to the power derived from Divine Truths with those who are in the kingdom of France and are not in that manner under the yoke of the Papal dominion, with whom, however, there has not yet been formed a Church thus separated from the Roman Catholic form of religion.
But they receive authority as kings one hour with the beast
signifies that the Word has influence with them, and they have influence by means of the Word, as if they were in its Divine Truths.
13. These have one purpose, and shall surrender their power and authority to the beast
signifies that they unanimously acknowledge that government and dominion over the Church is solely by means of the Word.
14. These shall fight with the Lamb, but the Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings
signifies the Lord’s fight with them about the acknowledgment of His Divine Human, because the Lord in that [Human] is the God of heaven and earth, and also is the Word.
And they who are with Him are called, chosen and faithful
signifies that those who approach and worship the Lord Only are the ones who come into heaven, both those who are in the external things of the Church and those who are in the internal and inmost things thereof.
15. And He says unto me, The waters that thou hast seen, where the harlot is sitting, are peoples and crowds, and nations and tongues
signifies that under the Papal dominion, but in the truths of the Word variously adulterated and profaned by that form of religion, there are those who belong thereto as the result of diversity in doctrine and discipline, and in religion and confession.
16. And the ten horns that thou hast seen upon the beast, these shall hate the harlot
signifies the Word as to its power derived from Divine Truths with the Protestants, who have altogether cast off from themselves the yoke of Papal dominion.
And shall make her desolate and naked
signifies that they will divest themselves of its untruths and evils.
And shall eat up her flesh, and burn her up with fire
signifies that out of hatred they will condemn and destroy with themselves the evils and untruths that are proper to that form of religion, and execrate and blot out with themselves the form of religion itself.
17. Forasmuch as God has put in their heart to do His purpose, and to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast
signifies the judgment with them from the Lord, that they should altogether repudiate and execrate the Roman Catholic form of religion, and should blot it out and uproot it among themselves, and the unanimous judgment that they should acknowledge the Word and found the Church upon it.
Until God’s words shall*** be consummated
signifies until all the things that have been foretold concerning them have been fulfilled.
18. And the woman whom thou hast seen is the great city having a kingdom over the kings of the land
signifies that as to doctrine the Roman Catholic form of religion reigns in Christendom, and to some extent even still with the Reformed although they are not under the Papal dominion.
* The Original Edition has Agni (the Lamb’s or of the Lamb) here, but it is not found in the text of the chapter nor at n. 735.
** The Original Edition omits ‘that thou hast seen’ here and at n. 740.
*** See footnote to verse 17.
THE EXPOSITION
*In the things preceding from chap. vii to chap. xvi inclusive [the Word] has treated of the Reformed. Now in this and the following chapter it treats of the followers of the Pontiff (Pontificii), among whom those who have claimed for themselves the power of opening and shutting heaven are understood by ‘Babylon’. Here therefore it shall first be said what specifically is understood by ‘Babylon’. By ‘Babylon’ or ‘Babel’ is understood the love, derived from the love of self, of dominating over the holy things of the Church; and because that love mounts up so far as it has free rein, and the holy things of the Church are also the holy things of heaven, therefore by ‘Babylon’ or ‘Babel’ is also signified dominion over heaven. And because that love actuates the devil, who aims at similar things, he cannot but profane holy things by adulterating the goods and truths of the Word. Therefore by ‘Babylon’ or ‘Babel’ is signified also the profanation of holy things, and the adulteration of the good and truth of the Word. These are the things that are signified by ‘Babylon’ here in the Apocalypse, and by ‘Babel’ in the prophetical and historical Word, in these passages:-
Concerning Babel: Behold the day of Jehovah is coming, cruel. The stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof shall not shine with their light (lux); the sun has been darkened in his rising, and the moon is not causing her light (lumen) to gleam. I will cause the elation of the proud to cease, and will lay low the pride of the violent. Babel, the ornament of kingdoms, shall be as God’s overthrowing Sodom and Gomorrah. Ziim** shall lie down there, their houses shall be filled with ochim, and the daughters of the owl shall dwell there, and satyrs shall prance there, ijim shall answer in her palaces, and dragons in the palaces of her delights Isa. xiii 1, 9-11, 19, 21, 22;
besides many other things in the whole of that chapter.
Thou shalt declare this parable concerning the king of Babel: Thy magnificence has been sent down into hell. Thou hast fallen down from heaven, O Lucifer; thou hast said in thy heart, I will ascend the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will ascend above the heights of the cloud, I will become like the Most High. But yet thou hast been sent down into hell. I will arise against thee***, and cut off from Babel the name and the remnant Isa. xiv 4, 11-15, 22;
Jehovah has spoken against Babel: Your mother was ashamed exceedingly, she who bare you (genetrix vestra) was suffused with shame; behold the last [of the nations is] a wilderness, a drought and a solitude. Arrange yourselves against Babel round about, shoot the javelin against her, and do not spare the arrows. How Babel has been brought into desolation among the nations! she has acted insolently against Jehovah, against the Holy One of Israel. A drought is upon her waters, that they may dry up, for it is a land of graven images, and it glories in horrible things; therefore ziim shall dwell there with ijim, and owls shall dwell therein, according to God’s overthrowing Sodom and Gomorrah Jer. l 1, 12, 14, 23, 29, 31, 38-40;
besides many other things concerning ‘Babel’ in the whole of that chapter.
Babel is a goblet of gold in the hand of Jehovah, making the entire land drunken. The nations have drunk of her wine, therefore they are mad. Forsake her, for her judgment has reached to the heavens, and has lifted itself up even to the clouds. Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, destroying the entire land. I will roll thee down from the rocks, and I will turn thee into a mountain of burning. I will visit upon Bel in Babel; and I will draw forth his mouthful out of his mouth, that the nations may no longer flow together unto him; even the wall of Babel shall collapse. Behold the coming days in which I shall visit upon the graven images of Babel, that her whole land may be ashamed. Though Babel should ascend into the heavens, and though she should fortify the highplace of her strength, from Me shall wasters come. Yea, I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, and her guides and her leading men, that they may sleep the sleep of an age and not awake Jer. lii, 7, 9, 25, 44, 47, 53, 57;
besides many other things in the whole of that chapter concerning ‘Babel’.
Come down and sit upon the dust, O virgin daughter of Babel, sit on the ground; there is no throne. Take a mill-stone and grind meal; uncover the thigh, pass over rivers, thy nakedness shall be uncovered, thy disgrace shall be seen. Thou hast said, I shall be mistress to eternity; thou hast not remembered the end. Thou hast trusted in thy wickedness; thou hast said, [There is] no seeing me; thy wisdom and thy knowledge has led thee astray, while thou hast said in thy heart, I, and there is none else like me; devastation shall come suddenly, thou shalt not know. Stand fast in thy enchantments, in the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth. Perchance they can be of some use, perchance thou shalt become terrible Isa. xlvii 1-3, 7, 10-12;
besides more concerning’ Babel’ in that chapter. Similar things are signified by:-
The city and the tower, whose top [was to be] in heaven, which those coming out of the east attempted to build in the valley of Shinar whose lip Jehovah going down out of heaven confounded, whence the name of the place [was] Babel (confusion) Gen. xi 1-9.
Similar things are signified by the following passages in Daniel:-
By the statue seen by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel, the feet of which
were partly iron and partly clay, which the stone cut out not by hand smote and ground to pieces, and all of the statue became as chaff on threshing-floors; and the stone was made into a great rock Dan. ii 31-47.
By the great statue which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel made, and commanded that they should fall down and adore before it, and that those who would not do so should be cast into the furnace of fire Dan. iii 1-7 seq.
By the tree growing until its height should reach to heaven, and the sight of it to the end of the land, which the Watcher and Holy One coming down out of heaven commanded to be hewed down, lopped, broken up, and scattered about: and because the king of Babel was represented thereby, it came to pass that he was driven away from man, was dwelling with the beasts, and eating grass like an ox Dan. iv 1 to the end.
By the fact that Belshazzar king of Babel with his nobles, wives and concubines, was drinking wine out of the vessels of gold and silver of the Jerusalem temple, and was praising gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron and stone; on account of which the wall was written on, and the king himself was slain on the same day Dan. v to the end. By the decree of Darius the Mede, king of Babel, that no one within the space of 30 days should ask anything from God or man, but from the king only: if otherwise, he should be cast into the den of lions Dan. vi 7 [H.B. 8] to the end.
And by the four beasts coming up out of the sea seen by Daniel, the fourth of which [was] terrible, strong, having great teeth of iron, it devoured and crushed in pieces, and trampled the residue with its feet. And that then the judgment was set, and the books were opened, and the beast was slain and consigned to be burnt by fire. And that then there was seen coming with the clouds of heaven One like the Son of Man, to Whom was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, and all peoples and nations and tongues shall worship Him; His dominion is the dominion of an age that shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not perish Dan. vii 1-14 seq.
* In the Original Edition the whole of this paragraph is marked with quotation marks.
** Reading ziim as in Hebrew instead of jiim.
*** Hebrew has ‘them’.
718. [verse 1] ‘And there came one of the seven angels having the seven phials, and spoke with me’ signifies now an influx and revelation from the Lord out of the inmost of heaven concerning the Roman Catholic form of religion. Thus far [the Word] has treated of the state of the Church of the Reformed at its end. Now it treats of the state of the Roman Catholic form of religion at its end; and this also follows in the order mentioned in the introduction. It is not termed the Roman Catholic Church, but the Roman Catholic form of religion, because they do not approach the Lord, nor read the Word, and because they invoke the dead; and a Church is a Church out of the Lord and out of the Word, and its perfection is in accordance with the acknowledgment of the Lord and the understanding of the Word. The reason why one of the seven angels having the seven phials came and spoke with John is because by ‘the seven angels having the seven phials’ is signified an influx from the Lord out of the inmost of the Christian heaven into the Church for the purpose of disclosing the evils and untruths there, as may be seen above (n. 672, 676, 677, 683, 690, 691, 699, 700). Here therefore by those ‘seven angels’ is signified the Lord speaking out of the inmost of the heaven and revealing what state the Roman Catholic form of religion is in at its end. Consequently also, one of those seven angels took John upon a high mountain and showed him the Lamb’s wife, which is the New Jerusalem (chap. xxi 9, 10).
719. ‘Saying to me, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot sitting upon many waters’ signifies a revelation concerning that form of religion as to its profanations and adulterations of the truths (veritas) of the Word. By ‘to say’ and ‘to show’ is signified a revelation. By ‘the judgment’ is signified the state thereof at its end. By ‘the great harlot’ is signified the profanation of the holy things of the Word and the Church, and the adulteration of good and truth. By ‘many waters’ are signified the truths of the Word adulterated. By ‘to sit upon them’ is signified to be and to live in them. That by to commit ‘harlotry’ (meretricari), ‘fornication’ (maechari), ‘whoredom’ (scortari), and ‘adultery’ (adulterari) is signified to falsify and adulterate the Word, may be seen above (n. 134, 620, 632); also that by ‘waters’ are signified the truths thereof (n. 50, 563, 614, 685); here, those truths adulterated and profaned, because ‘the harlot’ is said to be ‘upon’ them. From these things it is plain that by ‘saying to me, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot sitting upon many waters’ is signified a revelation concerning that form of religion as to its profanations and adulterations of the truths (veritas) of the Word.
[2] A similar thing is said of ‘Babel’ in Jeremiah:-
Jehovah shall do that which He has spoken against the inhabitants of Babel. O thou who art dwelling upon many waters, great in treasures, thy end is coming, the measuring of thy gain Jer. li 12, 13.
Its being said that the truths of the Word have been adulterated and profaned by them, is because they have applied the truths of the Word for the purpose of obtaining dominion over the holy things of the Church and over heaven, and for claiming the Lord’s Divine authority to themselves. And to apply the truths of the Word to obtaining dominion over the holy things of the Church and of heaven is to adulterate them; while to apply them for claiming the Lord’s Divine authority to themselves is to profane them. That they have confirmed their dogmas out of the Word is known; but read them and pay attention, and you will see that they have applied all the things they have taken out of the Word to [establish] a dominion over men’s souls, and for acquiring for themselves Divine authority, influence and majesty. It is on this account that Babylon is termed ‘the mother of the whoredoms and abominations of the land’ (verse 5).
720. [verse 2] ‘With whom the kings of the land have committed whoredom’ signifies that they have adulterated the truths and goods of the Church that are derived from the Word. By ‘to commit whoredom’ is signified to falsify and adulterate truths, as just above (n. 719). By ‘the kings of the land’ are signified the truths of the Church that are derived from the Word, by ‘kings’ truths derived from good, and by ‘the land’ the Church. That by ‘kings’ are signified those who are in truths derived from good out of the Lord, and therefore abstractly truths derived from good, may be seen above (n. 20, 644); here, those truths adulterated and profaned. It is said that ‘the kings of the land have committed whoredom with the great harlot’, as though it were the truths of the Church that are derived from the Word which are signified by ‘the kings of the land’. This, however, is in accordance with the style of the Word in the sense of the letter. In this there is ascribed to God and to Divine things from Himself the things that are truths of the Word, which yet are done by a man and his evils, as often above. Therefore the genuine sense, which is the spiritual sense, is that that form of religion has adulterated the truths of the Church that are derived from the Word, has in fact profaned them. He who does not know the spiritual sense of the Word can easily be misled, believing that by ‘the kings of the land’ are understood kings of the land, when yet not ‘kings’ but truths derived from good, and in the opposite sense untruths derived from evil, are understood.
[2] That it may be seen further that by ‘the kings of the land’ nothing else but the truths or untruths of the Church are understood and by their ‘whoredoms’ the truths of the Church that are derived from the Word, falsified, adulterated and profaned, some passages out of the Apocalypse and Daniel shall be quoted, whereby every one who is capable of reflection can see that kings are not understood. These are:-
Jesus Christ has made us kings and priests Rev. i 6.
Thou hast made us to our God kings and priests that we may reign over the land Rev. v 10.
You shall eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of horses and of those sitting upon them Rev. xix 18.
The seven heads of the scarlet beast are seven mountains, and they are seven kings; five have fallen, and one is; and the beast is the eighth king, and is of the seven Rev. xvii 9-11.
The ten horns are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom Rev. xvii 12.
It is also said as here, that:-
The kings of the land have committed whoredom and lived luxuriously with the harlot Rev. xviii 3, 9.
Who that is able to reflect does not see that by ‘kings’ here kings are not understood?
[3] In like manner in Daniel, as:-
That by the rough goat is understood the king, and by the great horn
between his eyes the first king; and when the transgressions were come to the full, a king hard of face and understanding subtle things should rise up Dan. viii 21, 23.
That the four beasts coming up out of the sea were four kings, who shall rise up from the land, and that the ten horns of the fourth beast were ten kings, and that another should arise after them, who shall humble the three kings Dan. vii 17, 24.
In like manner that the king of the south and the king of the north should fight each other; and that the king of the south should send his daughter to the king of the north, and that this king should exalt himself against God, and that he should not acknowledge a strange god; and that he should honour with gold, silver, a precious stone, and desirable things those who acknowledge that god, and should cause them to have dominion over many, and should divide the land for a price; and that he should plant the tent of his tabernacle amid the seas, around the mountain of the ornament of holiness, but that he is going to come to his end; besides many other things Dan. xi to the end.
[4] By ‘the king of the south’ is signified a kingdom or Church from those who are in truths, and by ‘the king of the north’ is signified a kingdom or Church from those who are in untruths, for it is a prophetic utterance concerning Churches to come, what they are going to be like in the beginning, and what at the end. The reason why those who are in truths derived from good from the Lord are termed ‘kings’ is because they are called the Lord’s ‘sons’; and because they have been regenerated by Him they are called ‘born from Him’ and also ‘heirs’; and because the Lord is the King Himself, while heaven and the Church are His kingdom.
They have been made drunk without wine, they are staggering without strong drink Isa. xxix 9.
Hear, thou afflicted [Jerusalem], drunk but without wine Isa. li 21.
Babel is a goblet of gold in the hand of Jehovah, making the entire land drunken. The nations have drunk of her wine, therefore the nations are mad Jer. li 7.
Let Babel be for hissing, when they have become warm I will set their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may exult, and may sleep the sleep of an age, and not awake Jer. li 37, 39.
It has fallen, Babylon has fallen, because she has made all the nations drink the wine of her whoredom Rev. xiv 8; xviii 3.
Let every bottle be filled with wine; behold I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, the kings, the priests and the prophets, with drunkenness Jer. xiii 12, 13.
Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the goblet of devastation and desolation Ezek. xxiii 32, 33.
O daughter of Edom, also to thee shall the goblet pass, thou shalt be drunken and shalt be uncovered Lam. iv 21.
Thou also shalt be drunken Nahum iii 11.
Drink and be drunken, and vomit and fall, that you may not rise again Jer. xxv 27.
Woe to the wise in their own eyes, and intelligent before their own faces, woe to the heroes to drink wine, and to the men of strength to mingle strong drink Isa. v 21, 22;
besides elsewhere, as Isa. xix 11, 12, 14; xxiv 20; xxviii 1, 3, 7-9; lvi 12; Jer. xxiii 9, 10; Lam. iii 15; Hosea iv 11, 12, 17, 18; Joel i 5-7; Hab. ii 15; Ps. lxxv 8 [H.B. 9]; cvii 27.
722. [verse 3] ‘And he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness’ signifies carried away in a spiritual state to those with whom all things of the Church have been devastated. By ‘a wilderness’ is signified a Church in which there is no longer any truth, thus where all things thereof have been devastated (n. 546); and by to be ‘in the spirit’ is signified to be in a spiritual state as the result of Divine influx, concerning which [see] above (n. 36). Consequently by ‘he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness’ is signified to be carried away in a spiritual state to those with whom all things of the Church have been devastated.
723. ‘And I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet beast, full of names of blasphemy’ signifies that form of religion [based] upon the Word profaned by them. By the woman’ is signified the Roman Catholic or Babylonian form of religion, for there follows ‘Upon her forehead a name was written, Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of the whoredoms and abominations of the land’. That the ‘woman’ signifies the Church by virtue of the affection of truth, may be seen (n. 434); here the Roman Catholic form of religion which is in an opposite affection. By ‘a scarlet beast’ is signified the Word, concerning which [something] follows: and by ‘full of names of blasphemy’ is signified entirely profaned, for by ‘blasphemy’ is signified the denial of the Lord’s Divine in His Human, and the adulteration of the Word (n. 571, 582, 692, 715), thus profanation. For he who does not acknowledge the Lord’s Divine in His Human, and falsifies the Word, but not intentionally, does indeed commit profanation, though lightly. Those, however, who assign all the power of the Lord’s Divine Human to themselves, and on that account deny it, and who apply all things of the Word to acquiring dominion for themselves over the holy things of the Church and heaven, and on that account adulterate the Word, commit profanation grievously. From these considerations it can he established that by ‘I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet beast, full of the names of blasphemy’ is signified that form of religion [based] upon the Word profaned by them. By ‘scarlet’ is signified the truth of the Word from a celestial origin.
[2] That by ‘a scarlet beast’ is signified the Word as to celestial Divine Truth appears at first thought as if remote and strange, even absurd, because it is called ‘a beast’. However, it may be seen above (n. 239, 405, 567) that by ‘a beast’ in the spiritual sense is signified a natural affection, and that it is said of the Word, of the Church, and of man; that the ‘four animals’, of which one was a lion, the second a calf, and the fourth an eagle, signify the Word, and are also called ‘beasts’ in Ezekiel (n. 239, 275, 286, 672); that a ‘horse’, which also is a beast, signifies the understanding of the Word (n. 298). That ‘a lamb’ signifies the Lord, ‘a sheep’ the man of the Church, and ‘a flock’ the Church itself, is known. These things have been brought forward lest anyone should wonder that by ‘a scarlet beast’ the Word is signified. And because the Roman Catholic form of religion founds its strength and dignity upon the Word, therefore that woman was seen ‘sitting upon a scarlet beast’, as before seen ‘upon many waters’ (verse 1), by which are signified the truths (veritas) of the Word adulterated and profaned (n. 719 above). That the Word is signified by that ‘beast’ is manifestly plain from the things that are said of it in the following passages of this chapter, as in verse 8:-
The beast that thou hast seen was, and is not; and the inhabitants upon the land shall wonder, seeing the beast that was and is not, but yet is.
In verse 11:-
The beast that was and is not, himself is the eighth king, and is of the seven, and is going into perdition.
In vers. 12, 13:-
That the ten horns are ten kings, who shall surrender their authority and power to the beast.
In verse 17:-
God has put in their heart to give their kingdom to the beast.
Such things can only be said of the Word.
724. ‘Having seven heads and ten horns’ signifies intelligence derived from the Word, in the beginning holy, afterwards none, and at last insanity, and continually much power derived from the Word. That ‘the head’ signifies intelligence and wisdom when [it is said] of the Lord and of the Word, and in the opposite sense insanity and foolishness, may be seen above (n. 538, 576); that the ‘seven’ do not signify seven but all of it, and are said of holy things (n. 10, 391); that ‘a horn’ signifies power (n. 270), and that ‘ten horns’ signify much power (n. 539). That by ‘seven heads’ is signified intelligence, in the beginning holy, afterwards none, and at last insanity, is plain from vers. 9, to of this chapter, where it is said by the angel what is signified by the seven heads, concerning which [see] below. From these considerations it is plain that by ‘the beast having seven heads and ten horns’ is signified intelligence derived from the Word, in the beginning holy, afterwards none, and at last insanity, and continually much power derived from the Word.
725. [verse 4] ‘And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet’ signifies the celestial Divine Good and Divine Truth that are of the Word, with them. By ‘purple’ is signified celestial Divine Good, and by ‘scarlet’ is signified celestial Divine Truth, concerning which [something] follows. ‘To be arrayed’ with them signifies to be around them, thus with them. The reason why those things are derived from the Word with them is because by ‘the scarlet beast’ upon which the woman was sitting is signified the Word (n. 723). That the Divine Good and Truth of the Word is about them as clothing, thus with them, is known; for they adore the Word from without and not from within, they acknowledge it because it treats of the Lord, and of His authority over heaven and the Church, which they transfer to themselves. Also it treats of the keys given to Peter, whose successors they say they are; and because their majesty, dignity and authority is founded upon these two [statements] they of necessity acknowledge the holiness of the Word. But still the Word to them is only like the garment ‘of purple and scarlet, and gold, precious stone, and pearls’ upon the harlot holding’ in her hand a golden cup full of the abominations and uncleanness of her whoredom’. [2] Since ‘purple and scarlet’ are mentioned, and then ‘gold, precious stone and pearls’, and by ‘purple and scarlet ‘is signified celestial Divine Good and Truth, and by ‘gold and precious stone’ spiritual Divine Good and Truth, each of them derived from the Word, therefore something shall be said concerning the celestial Divine and the spiritual Divine. There are two kingdoms into which the entire heaven of the Lord has been distinguished, the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. The celestial kingdom consists of angels who are in love from the Lord, and the spiritual kingdom of angels who are in wisdom from the Lord. In each one of the kingdoms there is good and truth, the good and truth with the angels of the celestial kingdom being signified by ‘purple and scarlet’, and the good and truth with the angels of the spiritual kingdom by ‘gold and precious stone’. The angels have both the latter and the former goods and truths from the Lord by means of the Word. In the Word there are therefore two interior senses, the celestial and the spiritual. This then is the reason why ‘the woman sitting upon the scarlet beast’ was seen ‘arrayed in purple and scarlet’ as well as ‘decked with gold, precious stone, and pearls’.
[3] Something similar to what is meant by this woman is signified by:-
The rich man, who was clothed with purple and fine linen and was indulging splendidly every day in sumptuous living, at whose forecourt Lazarus was cast desiring to be filled with the morsels falling from his table Luke xvi 19-21.
By ‘the rich man clothed with purple and fine linen’ are understood the Jews, who had the Word; and by ‘Lazarus’ are understood the Gentiles, who did not have it. Similar things are signified in the following passages:-
Those who have eaten delicacies have been devastated in the streets; those who have been brought up upon scarlet have embraced the dunghill Lam. iv 5.
Therefore thou wasted one, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with scarlet, though thou adornest thyself with an ornament of gold, in vain shalt thou make thyself beautiful Jer. iv 30.
Daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who covered you in scarlet with delicate things, and who put an ornament of gold upon [your] apparel 2 Sam. i 24.
Fine linen of needlework was thy spread [sail], hyacinthine and purple was thy covering Ezek. xxvii 7;
speaking of Tyre, by which are signified cognitions of truth and good out of the Word. [4] Since celestial good and truth are signified by purple and scarlet’, therefore Aaron’s garments, as also the veils and curtains of the tabernacle, were woven of hyacinthine, purple, scarlet and fine linen (Exod. xxv 4; [xxvi] 31, 36; xxvii 16; xxviii 6, 15. The curtains (Exod. xxvi 1). The veil before the ark (Exod. xxvi 31). The covering for the door of the tent (Exod. xxvi 36). The covering of the gate of the court (Exod. xxvii 16). The ephod (Exod. xxviii 6). The girdle (Exod. xxviii 8). The breastplate of judgment (Exod. xxviii 15). The fringe of the coat of the ephod (Exod. xxviii 33). The cloth of scarlet over the bread of faces (Num. iv 8). From these references it is plain what is signified by the ‘purple and scarlet’ with which the woman sitting upon the scarlet beast appeared arrayed. In like manner in the things following, where it is said:-
Alas, the great city that had been clothed with fine linen and purple and scarlet, decked with gold and precious stone and pearls; for in one hour so great riches have been laid waste Rev. xviii 16, 17.
Also that purple and scarlet, gold, precious stone and pearls were among the merchandise of Babylon (Rev. xviii 12).
726. ‘And decked with gold and precious stone’ signifies the spiritual Divine Good and Divine Truth that are of the Word, with them. By ‘gold’ is signified the good (n. 211), by ‘precious stone’ is signified the truth (n. 231, 540, 570) of the Word in each case. Spiritual good and truth is signified because by ‘purple and scarlet’ is signified celestial good and truth, and each of them in the Word is conjoined on account of the marriage of good and truth there (n. 373*). And celestial good and truth, because they are of love, are in their essence of good, while spiritual good and truth, because they are of wisdom, are in their essence truth. That celestial good and truth are of love, while spiritual good and truth are of wisdom, may be seen above (n. 725). What further is understood by the woman’s having appeared clothed and adorned thus may be seen in the preceding paragraph.
* The Original Edition has n. 106, clearly an error. Perhaps n. 373 was intended.
727. ‘And pearls’ signifies the cognitions of good and truth that are of the Word, with them. By ‘pearls’ in the spiritual sense are signified the cognitions of both celestial and spiritual good and truth that are derived from the Word, specifically from the sense of its letter; and because ‘pearls’ signify those cognitions, therefore they are named after the ‘purple and scarlet’ and the ‘gold and precious stone’. The same cognitions are signified by ‘pearls’ in these passages:-
The kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one precious pearl, going away sold all that he had, and bought it Matt. xiii 45, 46.
By this the cognition of the Lord is signified.
The twelve gates of the wall of the New Jerusalem were twelve pearls, each one of the gates was one pearl Rev. xxi 21.
‘The gates of the New Jerusalem’ signify entering into the New Church, and the entering is effected by means of cognitions of good and truth derived from the Word.
Cast not your pearls before swine, lest they trample on them with their feet and tear you to pieces Matt. vii 6.
By ‘swine’ are signified those who love only worldly wealth, and not the spiritual wealth consisting of cognitions of good and truth derived from the Word. Because by ‘Babylon’ is signified the form of religion by which the cognitions of good and truth derived from the Word have been rejected, it is said of her:-
The merchants of the land shall weep and mourn over Babylon, because no one is buying their merchandise, merchandise of gold and silver, of precious stone and pearls Rev. xviii [11,] 12.
728. ‘Having a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and the uncleanness of her whoredom’ signifies that form of religion derived from the profaned holy things of the Word, and from its goods and truths defiled by means of dreadful untruths. That by a ‘cup’ or goblet the same is signified as by ‘wine’, for it is the containant, may be seen above (n. 672); and by ‘the wine of Babylon’ is signified that form of religion as to its dreadful untruths (n. 632, 635). By ‘abominations’ are signified profanations of what is holy; and by ‘the uncleanness of whoredom’ are signified defilements of the good and truth of the Word. Consequently by ‘having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and the uncleanness of her whoredom’ is signified that form of religion consisting of the profaned holy things of the Church, and of the goods and truths of the Word defiled by means of dreadful untruths. These things are similar to those that the Lord said to the Scribes and Pharisees:-
Woe unto you hypocrites, for you make yourselves like whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful on the outside, but within are full of the bones of the dead, and of all uncleanness Matt. xxiii 27.
729. [verse 5] ‘Upon her forehead was written, Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of the whoredoms and abominations of the land’ signifies what the Roman Catholic form of religion is like interiorly, which has been concealed; that as the result of its origin from the love of dominating out of the love of self over the holy things of the Church and over heaven, thus over all things of the Lord and His Word, it has defiled and profaned the things that are of the Word and of the Church therefrom. By ‘written on the forehead’ is signified inherent (insitum) in the love, for ‘the forehead’ signifies the love (n. 347, 605). By ‘mystery’ is signified what is interiorly hidden. By ‘Babylon the great’ is signified the Roman Catholic form of religion and all its quality, as above (n. 717). By ‘whoredoms’ are signified the adulterations of the good and truth of the Word (n. 719-721), and also their defilements, as just above (n. 728); by ‘abominations’ are signified the profanations of the holy things of the Church, as also just above (n. 728); by ‘the land’ is signified the Church (n. 285). Consequently by ‘the mother of the whoredoms and abominations of the land’ is signified the origin of these. Now because those words were written on her forehead, and by ‘written on the forehead’ is signified inherent in the love, and their love is the love of dominating out of the love of self over all things of the Church and over heaven, thus over all things of the Lord and His Word, therefore this is signified. [2] From these considerations it can be seen that by ‘upon her forehead was written, Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of the whoredoms and abominations of the land’ is signified what the Roman Catholic form of religion is like interiorly, which has been concealed; that as the result of its origin from the love of dominating out of the love of self over the holy things of the Church and over heaven, thus over all things of the Lord and His Word, it has defiled and profaned the things that are of the Word and of the Church therefrom. That there is the love of dominating over all things of the Church is known from the legal right claimed for themselves over the souls of men, and over all things of their worship. That it is over heaven is known from the authority taken to themselves of loosing and binding, and thus of opening and shutting. That it is over all things of the Lord is known from the vicarship by means of which they attribute all things of His to themselves. That it is over all things of the Word is also known from their having reserved its interpretation to themselves only. It is termed the love of dominating out of the love of self because a love of dominating out of the love of uses also exists. These two loves are diametrically opposed to each other. For the love of dominating out of the love of self is diabolical, for it regards itself only and the world for the sake of itself; but the love of dominating out of the love of uses is heavenly, for it regards the Lord, from Whom all things that proceed are uses, and uses to it are to do good to the Church for the sake of the salvation of souls; and therefore this love abominates the love of dominating out of the love of self.
730. [verse 6] ‘And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus’ signifies that form of religion being insane as the result of the adulterated and profaned Divine Truths and Goods of the Lord, of the Word, and of the Church therefrom. By ‘the woman’ is signified that form of religion, as above (n. 723, 725). By ‘to be drunk’ is signified to be insane in spiritual things (n. 721). By ‘the blood’ is signified the falsification, adulteration, and profanation of the Word (n. 327, 379, 681, 684). By ‘the saints’ are signified those who are in Divine Truths from the Lord by means of the Word, and abstractly the Divine truths of the Lord, the Word, and the Church therefrom (n. 173, 586, 666). By ‘the witnesses of Jesus’ are signified abstractly the truths and goods in the Church from the Lord by means of the Word (n. 6, 16, 490, 506, 669), here those profaned, because it is said ‘the blood of the martyrs or witnesses of Jesus’, and it is said of ‘Babylon’, by which is also signified the profanation of the good and truth of the Word and the Church (n. 717, 718). From these considerations it is established that by ‘I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus’ is signified that form of religion being insane as the result of the adulterated and profaned Divine Truths and Goods of the Lord, the Word, and the Church therefrom.
731. ‘And I wondered, seeing her with a great wonder’ signifies astonishment at that form of religion being such interiorly, when yet exteriorly it appears otherwise. ‘To wonder with a great wonder’ is to be exceedingly astonished. ‘Seeing her’ signifies that the woman, that is, the form of religion is such interiorly, when yet outwardly it appears otherwise. For he was astonished at seeing the woman sitting upon the scarlet beast, arrayed with purple and scarlet, decked with gold, precious stone and pearls, having the golden cup in her hand, which things were the appearances thereof in externals; and yet the cup was full of the abomination and uncleanness of whoredom, and he saw written on her forehead ‘the mother of the whoredoms and abominations of the land’, which things are the internals thereof. These things were said by John, because anyone even at this day cannot but be astonished when he sees that form of religion so holy and magnificent in externals, and does not know that it is so profane and abominable in internals.
732. [verse 7] ‘And the angel said unto me, Why dost thou wonder? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman and of the beast carrying her, having the seven heads and ten horns’ signifies the disclosure: what the things that precede and were seen signify. These [words] have no need of further exposition.
733. [verse 8] ‘The beast that thou hast seen, was and is not’ signifies the Word with them acknowledged as holy, and yet in reality not acknowledged. That by ‘the beast’ is signified the Word, may be seen above (n. 723). By ‘was and is not’ is signified the same acknowledged as holy, and yet in reality not acknowledged. That the Word has been with them, and also is, and that yet it is not, is known. It is indeed acknowledged as holy because it treats of the Lord, and of his authority over the Church and over heaven, and of Peter and his keys; but still it is not acknowledged, for it is not read by the people because they are kept back from reading it, and it is taken away, indeed, even prohibited, under various pretences devised by monks, and is kept solely in the libraries and monasteries, where also few read it, much less pay attention to anything true therein. But they pay attention only to the dictates of the Pope, which they say are likewise holy; indeed, when they are speaking from the heart they disparage and blaspheme the Word. From these things it can be established that by ‘the beast that was and is not’ is signified the Word with them acknowledged as holy, and yet in reality not acknowledged.
734. ‘And is going to come up out of the deep, and go away into perdition’ signifies [that it was] several times deliberated in the Papal Consistory concerning the reception and reading of the Word by the laity and common people, but it was rejected. By ‘the beast that is going to come up’ is signified the Word, as above (n. 723, 733). By ‘the deep’ out of which it is going to come up, nothing else can be signified than that form of religion, and chiefly where its throne is, thus the Papal Consistory. The reason why this is ‘the deep’ is because what is decreed there has regard to dominion over the holy things of the Church and over heaven, thus over all things of the Lord and His Word (n. 729). They have these things for an end as the essentials, but the good of the Church and the salvation of souls as formal things [serving] as means to the end. By ‘to go away into perdition’ is signified to be rejected. It is known from ecclesiastical history that the reception and reading of the Word by the laity and common people has been deliberated there several times, but rejected. It was also proposed by a Pontiff* who is now among the Reformed and the blessed, of whom [something has been said] in the CONTINUATION [CONCERNING THE LAST JUDGMENT AND] CONCERNING THE SPIRITUAL WORLD (n. 59), but it was not accepted. This has also primarily been known from the Bulla Unigenitus, and besides from the Councils.
* This was Clement XII (1730-1740).
735. And those dwelling upon the land shall wonder, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, seeing the beast that was and is not, but yet is’ signifies the bewilderment of all those who are of that form of religion, who from its establishment have aimed at dominion over heaven and earth, that the Word, although thus rejected, is still in existence. By ‘to wonder’ is signified to be bewildered. By ‘those dwelling upon the land’ are signified those who belong to the Church, here those who are of that form of religion, as above (n. 721). ‘Whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world’ signifies all who do not believe in the Lord, and are not in doctrine out of the Word, from the establishment of the Church, here from the establishment of that form of religion (n. 588, 589); and these are no others than those who aim at dominion over heaven and earth. By ‘the beast that was and is not, but yet is’ is signified that the Word thus rejected is still in existence. From these things it is plain that by ‘those dwelling upon the land shall wonder, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, seeing the beast that was and is not, but yet is’ is signified the bewilderment of all those who are of that form of religion, who from its establishment have aimed at dominion over heaven and earth, that the Word, although thus rejected, is still in existence. For all who aim at dominion over the holy things of the Church and over heaven hate the Word, because they hate the Lord, at heart if not by word of mouth. That this is the case few in the world know because they are then in the body; but it is made manifest after death when every one is in his spirit. It is in consequence of this that they wonder that the Word is still in existence, although thus rejected, as was said above (n. 734). That the Word is still in existence is because it is Divine, and the Lord is in it.
737. ‘The seven heads are seven mountains, where the woman is sitting upon them, [verse 10] and they are seven kings’ signifies the Divine Goods and Divine Truths of the Word, upon which the Roman Catholic form of religion has been founded, in time destroyed and finally profaned. Since the Word is signified by ‘the scarlet beast’, and therefore by its ‘heads’ are signified the goods of love and truths of wisdom there, therefore what the Word is like as to these two with those who are understood by ‘Babylon’ is here described, the Divine Good of love there by the ‘mountains’, and the Divine Truth there by the ‘kings’. That by ‘mountains are signified goods of love, may be seen (n. 336, 339, 714a); and that by ‘kings’ are signified truths of wisdom (n. 20, 664, 704); and that by ‘the head’, when concerning the Lord, is signified His Divine Love of Divine Wisdom and Divine Wisdom of Divine Love (n. 47, 538, 568); and that by ‘the seven’ are signified all and what is complete, and that this is said of holy things (n. 10, 391, 657); and that by ‘the woman’ is signified the Roman Catholic form of religion (n. 723). Now therefore by ‘the seven heads are seven mountains, where the woman is sitting upon them’ are signified the Divine Goods and Divine Truths of the Word upon which the Roman Catholic form of religion has been founded. This is because the whole Word has been profaned and adulterated by that form of religion, of which above (n. 717, 759-721, 723, 728-730).
[2] ‘In time profaned’ is said since in the beginning the Word was holy to them; but as they saw themselves able to dominate by means of the holy things of the Church they departed from the Word and acknowledged their own edicts, precepts and statutes as of equal, but in reality of superior, holiness. And at length they transferred all the Lord’s authority to themselves, not leaving anything. It is on account of their first state, when they held the Word holy, that Lucifer (by whom is understood Babel, n. 717) was termed ‘son of the dawn’; but on account of the later state that he was ‘sent down into hell’ (Isa. xiv). Concerning this, however, more may be seen in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE PROVIDENCE (n. 257). It may seem that by the ‘seven mountains where the woman is sitting’ Rome is understood, because it is built upon seven mountains, being indeed renowned on account of them. Although it may be Rome that is understood, since the throne and tribunal of that form of religion is there, nevertheless by ‘the seven mountains’ here are signified the profaned Divine Goods of the Word and of the Church therefrom, for the number seven adds nothing else but what is holy, here what has been profaned, as the same number does elsewhere, as where are mentioned:-
The seven spirits before the throne of God Rev. i 4.
The seven candlesticks, in the midst of which was the Son of Man Rev. 13; iii.
The seven stars Rev, ii 1; iii 1.
The seven lamps of fire before the throne Rev. iv 5.
The seven seals with which the book was sealed Rev. v 1.
The seven horns and seven eyes of the Lamb Rev. v 6.
The seven angels with seven trumpets Rev. viii 2.
The seven thunders Rev. x 3, 4.
The seven angels having seven plagues in phials Rev. xv 1, 6, 7.
Similarly here, that the scarlet beast had ‘seven heads’, and that the seven heads were ‘seven mountains’ and also were ‘seven kings’.
738. ‘Five have fallen, and one is, and another is not yet come, and when he comes he must remain a short while’ signifies that all the Divine Truths of the Word have been destroyed except this one, that to the Lord was given all authority in heaven and on earth; and except this other one-which has not yet come into question, and when it does come it is not going to continue-which is, that the Lord’s Human is Divine. By the ‘five’ are not signified five, but all the rest, here all the rest of the Divine Truths of the Word that are signified by the ‘kings’. For the numbers in the Apocalypse, and in the Word generally, signify the quality of the things with which they are connected. They are like certain adjectives connected with substantives, or like certain predicates adjoined to subjects, as can be seen from the numbers two, three, four, six, seven, ten, twelve, a hundred and forty-four, of which [something has been said] above. Here, therefore, the ‘five’ signify all the rest, because the ‘seven’ signify all the holy things of the Word, and it follows on that ‘one is’ and that ‘another’ is going to come, thus that there are two out of them all that have remained. It is in consequence plain that by ‘five have fallen’ is signified that all the rest have been destroyed. ‘To fall’ is said because it concerns kings, who fall by the sword. By ‘one is’ nothing else is signified but this Divine Truth, that TO THE LORD HAS BEEN GIVEN ALL AUTHORITY IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH, in accordance with the words of the Lord Himself (Matt. xxviii 18; John xiii 3; xvii 2, 3, 10), as may be seen above (n. 618). The reason this ‘one’ has not been destroyed is because otherwise they could not have assigned to themselves dominion over all things of the Church and the Word, and over heaven. [2] By ‘another who is not yet come, and when he comes he must remain a short while’ is signified a Divine Truth that has not yet come into question, and when it does come it is not going to continue with them, which is, that THE LORD’S HUMAN IS DIVINE. ‘He must remain a short while’ is said, because it is in accordance with Divine Providence, of which [something was said] above (n. 686). That it is a Divine Truth that the Lord’s Human is Divine, may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD from beginning to end. But that this has not yet come into question is because after they have transferred all the Lord’s authority to themselves they have not been able to acknowledge the Lord’s Human as Divine, because then it would be said by the laity and the common people that they have transferred the Divine Authority to themselves, and that thus the Pope himself was God, and his ministers were gods. But that still this is going to come into question can be established by reason of the fact that it has been foretold here in the Apocalypse.
[3] *That they have seen this other truth, which is that the Lord’s Human is Divine, although as with closed eyes, is plain on account of these things with them, that they say that in the Eucharist there is not only the Lord’s Body and Blood but also His Soul and Divinity, thus that there is the Omnipresence of His Human as well as of His Divine, and the Human cannot be omnipresent unless it is Divine. Also they say that Christ as to His Body and Blood, and at the same time as to His Soul and Divinity, is in them by means of the Eucharist, and they are in Him. And this is said of His Human; which cannot be said, because it is not possible, unless His Human is Divine. Besides these things they also say that the saints will reign with Christ, and that Christ should be adored, and the saints invoked and revered; also that Christ is the true Light, and that in Him they live and have merit, and similar things that involve the Divinity of His Human. These things are from the Council of Trent and the Bull [confirming it]. So it is, as has been said, that they see this truth, but as though with closed eyes.
* In the Original Edition this section is marked with quotation marks.
739. [verse 11] ‘And the beast that was and is not, himself is the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going into perdition’ signifies that the Word, concerning which [something was said] before, is Divine Good Itself, and that it is Divine Truth, and that it is being taken away from the laity and the common people lest the profanations and adulterations made by the leaders should appear, and they [the laity and common people] should withdraw. By ‘the beast that was and is not’ is signified the Word, as before (verse 8). By ‘himself is the eighth’, here the eighth mountain, is signified that it is Divine Good Itself, for by the ‘seven mountains’ are signified the Divine Goods of the Word (n. 737). Consequently by ‘the beast himself is the eighth’ mountain is signified that it is Divine Good Itself. Good is also signified by ‘the eighth’; and because all the goods of the Word with them have been profaned, ‘himself’ is not said of the seven mountains, as just after of the seven kings, by whom are signified the Divine Truths of the Word, not all of which have been adulterated (n. 737, 738). From these few things can be seen the arcanum that lies hidden in these words. By his ‘going into perdition’ is signified that it is rejected, as above (n. 734). But because the Word is not so rejected, being acknowledged as holy, but is taken away from the laity and common people lest the profanations of good and adulterations of truth made there by the leaders should appear, and on account of this the laity withdraw, therefore this, because it is the cause itself, is signified by ‘to go into perdition’. The Word is Divine Good and Divine Truth itself because in all things thereof, collectively and separately, there is the marriage of the Lord and the Church, and consequently a marriage of good and truth; also because in each of its details there is a celestial sense and a spiritual sense, and in the celestial sense is Divine Good, and in the spiritual sense is Divine Truth; and these are in the Word because the Lord is the Word; which things have all been demonstrated in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, published at Amsterdam.
740. [verse 12] ‘And the ten horns* are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom’ signifies the Word as to the power derived from Divine Truths with those who are in the kingdom of France and are not in that manner under the yoke of the Papal dominion, among whom, however, there has not yet been formed a Church thus separated from the Roman Catholic form of religion. That these things have been said of those in the kingdom of France can be established out of the series of things in the spiritual sense; for it now treats of the reception of the Word by those who are in Christendom: of the reception of the Word and the state of the Church therefrom with the Roman Catholics (vers. 9-11); of the reception of the Word and the state of the Church therefrom with those who have been attached to that religion only as to external things, who are chiefly in the kingdom of France (vers. 12-14); of the rest who indeed profess that form of religion, but still dissent in various things (verse 15); also of the Protestants or Reformed who have openly withdrawn from that form of religion (vers. 16, 17). [2] It can, however, by no means be known that all these (his et illis) are treated of, unless it is known that by ‘the scarlet beast’ is understood the Word, and that the Church is in accordance with the reception of the Word. That by ‘the scarlet beast’ is understood the Word may be seen above (n. 723); and that the Church is a Church out of the Word and in accordance with the understanding thereof, in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 76-79). By ‘horns’, here the horns of the beast, is signified the power of the Word, and by ‘the ten horns’ much power, here Divine power because it is the Lord’s power by means of the Word. That ‘horns’ signify power, and ‘ten horns’ much power, may be seen above (n. 270, 539, 724) that by ‘kings’ are signified those who are in Divine truths out of the Word, and abstractly the Divine Truths there (n. 20, 664, 704), and that by ‘ten’ are signified not ten but many, people or things (n. 101). By ‘a kingdom ‘is signified a Church out of the Word because by ‘kings’ are signified those who are in Divine Truths out of the Word, and abstractly the Divine Truths there. Consequently by ‘they have not yet received a kingdom’ is signified with whom there has not yet been formed a Church thus separated from the Roman Catholic form of religion. [3] From these considerations it can be seen that by ‘the ten horns are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom’ is signified the Word as to power out of Divine Truths with those who are in the kingdom of France and in some other places, who also are called Jansenists, and are not so much under the yoke of the Papal dominion. With these, however, there has not yet been formed a Church thus separated from the Roman Catholic form of religion. The Church with those who are in the kingdom of France is said to be not yet separated from the Roman Catholic form of religion because it coheres with that in external but not in internal things, the external things being the formal and the internal the essential. The reason they still cohere there is because there are so many monasteries there, and because the priests there are under the rule of the Pontiff, and in all formal things they follow (sunt secundum) the Papal edicts and statutes, and consequently are still very much in the essentials of the same form of religion. The Church there has therefore not yet been separated. This is what is signified by ‘they have not yet received a kingdom’.
* The Original Edition omits ‘that thou hast seen’ here and at 717.
742. [verse 13] ‘These have one purpose, and shall surrender their power and authority to the beast’ signifies that they unanimously acknowledge that government and dominion over the Church is solely by means of the Word. By ‘to have one purpose’ is signified to acknowledge unanimously. By ‘to surrender power and authority to the beast’ is signified to attach government and dominion over the Church to the Word. The reason that it is government and dominion over the Church is because it treats of those because it treats of the Word. It is plain from these things that by ‘these have one purpose, and shall surrender their power and authority to the beast’ is signified that they unanimously acknowledge that government and dominion over the Church is solely by means of the Word. They indeed acknowledge the Pontiff as head of the Church, but they do not acknowledge his government and dominion over the Church as like that of the head over the body, but as what is supreme over the body, which rules and dominates not out of itself but out of God by means of the Word; and that it is in such case to be obeyed. Consequently [they acknowledge] that the interpretation of the Word does not belong to him only of right, as has come to pass, because thus the Divine authority of the Word is perverted and perishes.
743. [verse 13] ‘These shall fight with the Lamb, but the Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings’ signifies the Lord’s fight with them about the acknowledgment of His Human, because the Lord in That is the God of heaven and earth, and also is the Word. By their fight with the Lord, and the Lord’s with them, is not understood the sort of fight there is from the evil and with the evil, but such as there is from and with those who are not yet in truths concerning the Lord. By ‘the Lamb’ is understood the Lord as to the Divine Human and also as to the Word (n. 269, 291, 595); and by ‘to overcome them ‘is signified to convince by means of the Word. ‘For He is Lord of lords and King of kings’ signifies because He is the God of heaven and earth. On account of His dominion over all the goods of heaven and the Church He Himself is called ‘Lord of lords’, and on account of His government over all the truths of heaven and the Church He is called ‘King of kings’ (n. 664). From these considerations it is plain that by ‘they shall fight with the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings’ is signified the Lord’s fight with them about the acknowledgment of the Lord’s Divine Human, because the Lord in His own Divine Human is the God of heaven and earth.
[2] That the Lord is the God of heaven and earth He Himself teaches in plain words, for He says:-
All things whatsoever the Father has are Mine [John xvi 15.
He who sees Me sees Him Who sent Me] John xii 45.
The Father has given all things into the Son’s hand John iii 35, 36; xiii 3.
Father, Thou hast given Me authority over all flesh; all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine John xvii 2, 3, 10.
All authority in heaven and earth is given unto Me Matt. xxviii 18.
I am the Way, the Truth (veritas) and the Life: no one comes to the Father but by Me. He who recognises and sees Me, is recognising and seeing the Father, for I am in the Father and the Father is in Me John xiv 6-11.
The Father and I are one John x 30.
That everyone who believes in the Lord has eternal life, and he who does not believe in Him does not see life John iii 15, 17, i8, 36; vi 47; xi 26; and elsewhere.
Also, who does not know that the Lord was conceived from God the Father (Luke i 34, 35); and who is unable to know from this that God the Father, Who is Jehovah, begot the Human in the world, and consequently that the Human is God the Father’s Human, and thus that God the Father and He are one as the soul and body are one? Accordingly, is anyone able to approach a man’s soul and descend thence to his body? Is not his human to be approached, and then his soul? [3] By these and many other things that are in the Word the Lamb will overcome them. Therefore, because they have given up worshipping the Pope, let them worship Him from Whom the Pope says that he has all authority over the Church and heaven. The Pope is a man, and the Lord is God, and God only is to be approached, invoked, and adored, that is, worshipped. The Lord only is the Holy One Who is to be invoked (Rev. xv 4). I know that they are going to be thinking, How can Jehovah the Father, Who is the Creator of the universe, descend and assume a Human? But let them think also, How can a Son from eternity, Who is equal to the Father, and also Creator of the universe, do it? Is it not the same thing? It is said, the Father and the Son from eternity, but there is not any Son from eternity. There is the Divine Human, Which is called ‘the Son sent into the world’ (Luke i 34, 35). But concerning these things [more] may be seen below (n. 962).*
* The Original Edition has n. 990, clearly an error. It seems most probable that 962:4 was intended, but other editions have suggested n. 961.
744. ‘And they who are with Him are called, chosen and faithful’ signifies that those who approach and worship the Lord Only are the ones who come into heaven, both those who are in the external things of the Church and those who are in the internal and inmost things thereof. ‘They who are with Him’ signify those who approach the Lord, for they are with Him. By the ‘called, chosen and faithful’ are signified those who are in the external, internal and inmost things of the Church, who come into heaven because they are in the Lord. By the ‘called’ all are indeed understood, because all have been called; but by the ‘called who are with the Lord’ are understood those who are in heaven with the Lord, as are all the ‘called’ who are at the nuptials with the Bridegroom. By the ‘chosen’ is not understood that some have been chosen as a result of predestination, but those who are with the Lord are so called. By the ‘faithful’ are understood those who have faith in the Lord. [2] The reason they are those who are in the external, internal and inmost things of the Church is because the Lord’s Church, like heaven, is distinguished into three degrees. In the ultimate degree are those who are in its external things, in the second degree are those who are in its internal things, and in the third degree are those who are in its inmost things. Those who are with the Lord in the external things of the Church are termed ‘called’, those in its internal things are termed ‘chosen’, and those in the inmost are termed ‘faithful’; for so they are called in the Word, where Jacob is said to be ‘called’ and Israel ‘chosen’, since by ‘Jacob’ there are understood those who are in the external things of the Church and by ‘Israel’ those who are in the internal things thereof. The reason that it is said here ‘they who are with Him are called, chosen and faithful’ is because it says before (praecedit) that they will fight with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them’, so that they may know that those whom the Lord overcomes, that is, convinces by means of the Word, are with Him in heaven, some in the ultimate heaven, some in the second, and some in the third, each in accordance with the reception.
745. [verse 15] ‘And he says to me, The waters that thou hast seen, where the harlot is sitting, are peoples and crowds, nations and tongues’ signifies that under the Papal dominion, but in the truths of the Word variously adulterated and profaned by that form of religion, there are those who belong thereto out of a diversity in doctrine and discipline, and in religion and confession. The waters’ that he saw ‘where the harlot is sitting’ are the waters that are mentioned in verse 1 of this chapter, where it is said I will show thee the judgment of the harlot sitting upon many waters’. That there by ‘the waters’ are signified the truths of the Word adulterated and profaned may be seen above (n. 719). It is said that those waters are ‘peoples, crowds, nations and tongues’ because by these are signified all who are under the Papal dominion out of a diversity in doctrine and discipline and religion and confession; for by ‘peoples’ are signified those who are in doctrine (n. 483), by ‘crowds’ those who are in discipline, by ‘nations’ those who are in religion (n. 483), and by ‘tongues’ those who are in confession (n. 282, 483). These things are said now because what precedes is concerning the reception and understanding of the Word by those who are in the Roman Catholic form of religion itself (from vers. 8 to 11); and afterwards concerning the reception and understanding of the Word by the noble French nation (from vers. 12 to 14). Here, therefore, it is concerning the reception and understanding of the Word with the remainder under the Papal dominion. After this follow vers. 16 and 17 concerning the Protestants. Thus all things have been foretold in a regular (justus) order. That under the Papal dominion there are those who are in a diversity of doctrine, discipline, religion, and confession, is known; for that form of religion is not practised in the same manner in different kingdoms.
746. [verse 16] ‘And the ten horns that thou hast seen upon the beast, these shall hate the harlot’ signifies the Word as to its power derived from Divine Truths with the Protestants, who have altogether cast off from themselves the yoke of Papal dominion. It is said here, as above (verse 12), ‘the ten horns that thou hast seen’. There they are ‘ten kings’, but here ‘these’, because there as here it treats of those who have withdrawn from the Roman Catholic form of religion. There, however, they have partly withdrawn, but here altogether. That this treats of the Protestants or Reformed is plain from the things following: that ‘they shall make the harlot desolate and naked, shall eat her flesh, and burn her up with fire, and give their kingdom to the beast’. That by ‘the ten horns that thou hast seen upon the beast’ is signified the Word as to its power derived from Divine Truths may be seen above (n. 740). ‘To hate the harlot’ is not to endure the Roman Catholic form of religion, and therefore to cast off from themselves the yoke of Papal dominion.
747. ‘And shall make her desolate and naked’ signifies that they will divest themselves of its untruths and evils. By ‘to make her desolate’ is signified to divest themselves of its untruths, and by ‘to make her naked’ is signified to divest themselves of its evils; for they make her desolate and naked with themselves. In the Word desolation is predicated of truths and untruths, and nakedness of goods and evils, as can be established from the things that have been adduced concerning nakedness, above (n. 213, 706). From these things it can be established that by ‘they shall make her desolate and naked’ is signified that they will divest themselves of all the untruths and evils of that form of religion. That the Protestants or Reformed have done so is known.
748. ‘And they shall eat up her flesh, and burn her up with fire’ signifies that out of hatred they will condemn and destroy with themselves the evils and untruths that are proper to that form of religion, and execrate and blot out with themselves the form of religion itself. This is concerning the Protestants who are going to do this with the harlot, that is, with the Roman Catholic form of religion. By ‘to eat up her flesh’ is signified to condemn with themselves out of hatred and to destroy the things proper to that form of religion, which are evils and untruths, concerning which [something] follows; and by ‘to burn her up with fire’ is signified to execrate the form of religion itself as profane and to blot it out with themselves. This is [the signification of] ‘to burn up with fire’ because the penalty for the profanation of what is holy was burning; and therefore it was of the Divine Law that:-
Those who profaned the Name of Jehovah by worshipping other gods should themselves and all that they had be burnt up with fire Deut. xiii 12-18 [H.B. 13-19].
Therefore:-
Moses burned with fire the golden calf that the sons of Israel were profanely worshipping Exod. xxxii; Deut. ix 21.
And two sons of Aaron were consumed by fire out of heaven, because they were profaning holy things Lev. x 1-6.
Nor is anything else signified by ‘the fire and pile in Tophet’ (Isa. xxx 33; Jer. vii 11, 31, 32; xix 5,6; 2 Kings xxiii 10), than the fire of hell which is for those who profane holy things, for there they used to worship Molech by means of an abominable sacrifice.
[2] Since by ‘the fourth beast’ in Daniel (chap. vii) is signified a form of religion that profanes the Word and the holy things of the Church therefrom (n. 717), it is therefore said that ‘it was burnt up with fire’ (Dan. vii 11). Now, because it is profane worship to worship a man in place of the Lord, therefore here it is said that they have burned the harlot up with fire, by which is signified that they have execrated that form of religion and blotted it out with themselves. The reason that by ‘to eat up her flesh’ is signified to condemn out of hatred and destroy with themselves the evils and untruths that are proper to that form of religion, is because that is signified by ‘to eat up her flesh’; for by ‘flesh’ are signified the things proper to anyone, and these have relation to goods and truths, and in the opposite sense tin) evils and untruths, and by ‘to eat up’ is signified to consume, thus to blot out. That by ‘flesh’ is signified the proprium of anyone, which in itself is evil, is established from these passages:-
It is the spirit that enlivens, the flesh is no use at all John vi 63.
What has been born of the flesh is flesh, what has been generated by the spirit is spirit John iii 6.
As many as received, He has given them authority that they might be the sons of God, who are neither of blood nor of the will of the flesh John i 12, 13.
God has remembered that they are flesh, a breath that would go away and not return* Ps. lxxviii 39.
Egypt is man and not God; and its horses are flesh and not spirit Isa. xxxi 3.
Jerusalem has committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt, great in flesh Ezek. xvi 26.
Jesus said to Peter, Flesh and blood has not revealed this to thee Matt. xvi 17.
Cursed is he who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm Jer. xvii 5.
[3] Because ‘flesh’ signifies man’s proprium, and those who hate another attack his proprial things with the intention (animus) of destroying them, therefore this is signified by to eat flesh’, as also in these passages:-
Let the dying one die, and let one that has been cut off be cut off, any of the rest shall eat up the flesh of another Zech. xi 9.
They shall eat up Israel with every mouth, they shall eat up a man the flesh of his own arm, Manasseh Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh Isa. ix 12, 20, 21 [H.B. 11, 19, 20].
I will feed thine oppressors with their flesh Isa. xlix 26.
They shall eat everyone the flesh of his companion Jer. xix 9.
By ‘to eat the flesh of sons and daughters’ (Jer. xix 9; Lev. xxvi 29; Deut. xxviii 53) is signified to destroy truths and goods with themselves, for by ‘sons’ are signified truths and by ‘daughters’ goods, as may be seen above (n. 139, 543, 545, 612). Besides, in the Word ‘all flesh’ is said, and by it is signified every man (Gen. vi 12, 13, 17, 19; Isa. xl 5, 6; xlix 26; lxvi 16, 23, 24; Jer. xxv 31; xxxii 27; xlv 5; Ezek. xx 48; xxi 4, 5).
* Reading abiret (would go away) instead of abivit (has gone away). Cf. AE 1082:7.
749. [verse 17] ‘Forasmuch as God has put in their heart to do His purpose, and to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast’ signifies the judgment with them from the Lord, that they should altogether repudiate and execrate the Roman Catholic form of religion, and should blot it out and uproot it among themselves, and the unanimous judgment that they should acknowledge the Word and found the Church upon it. Since by ‘the harlot ‘is signified the Roman Catholic form of religion, and by ‘the ten horns that shall hate the harlot’ the Protestants are signified, as above (n. 746-748), it is plain that by ‘to do His purpose’ is signified that they have judged and concluded that that form of religion should be repudiated and execrated, and should be blotted out and uprooted with themselves, as above (n. 748). And it is also plain that by ‘to be of one mind and to give the kingdom to the beast’ is signified to judge and conclude unanimously that they should acknowledge the Word and found the Church upon it. By ‘the beast’ everywhere above is signified the Word, as may be seen (n. 723); and by ‘the kingdom’ is signified the Church, and the government over it, about which [there is something] here below. By ‘God has put in their heart’ is signified that those things are from the Lord.
[2] That ‘the kingdom’ signifies the Church can be established from these passages:-
The sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness Matt. viii 12.
The seed are the sons of the kingdom Matt. xiii 38.
He who hears the Word of the kingdom and does not give heed Matt. xiii 19.
The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you and given to a nation producing fruits Matt. xxi 43.
Everyone putting his hand to the plough [and looking back] has not been made fit for the kingdom of God Luke ix 62.
Let Thy kingdom come, and Thy will be done, as in heaven so on earth Matt. vi 10.
Jesus, John, and the disciples preached that:-
The kingdom of God was at hand Matt. iii 2; iv 17; x 7; Luke x 11; xvi 16.
Also:-
The gospel of the kingdom Matt. iv 23; ix 35; xxiv 14; Luke viii 1.
If by the finger of God I cast out demons, no doubt the kingdom of God has come to you Luke xi 20;
besides in many other places where ‘the kingdom of God’ is spoken of. In like manner in these:-
If you hear My voice and keep My covenant, you shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests Exod. xix 5, 6.
Thou, O tower of the flock, O hill of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall the former kingdom return, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem Micah iv 8.
Afterwards the saints shall receive the kingdom, and shall strengthen the kingdom even for ages of ages Dan. vii 18, 22.
The kingdom and the dominion and the majesty of the kingdoms under all the heavens shall be given to the people of the saints [of the Most High], Whose kingdom is an eternal kingdom and all dominions shall worship Him, and be obedient Dan. vii 27.
To the Son of Man was given a kingdom that shall not perish, and all peoples, nations, and tongues shall worship Him Dan. vii 14;
besides elsewhere. The reason that the Church is signified by ‘the kingdom’ is because the Lord’s kingdom is in heaven and on earth, and His kingdom on earth is the Church. In consequence also the Lord is called ‘King of kings’.
750. ‘Until God’s words shall be consummated’ signifies until all the things that have been foretold concerning them have been fulfilled. By ‘to be consummated’ is signified to be fulfilled; and by ‘God’s words’ are signified the things that have been foretold in the Word; and because it is said ‘to be consummated’ it signifies until all [have been fulfilled]. This is said of the Protestants, and of the fact that they are going ‘to give the kingdom to the beast’, that is, that they are going to acknowledge the Word, and the Church is going to be founded upon it, as just above (n. 749). But indeed they acknowledge the Word and say that the Church should be founded upon it; nevertheless they found the doctrine of their Church upon the single saying of Paul, that MAN IS JUSTIFIED BY FAITH ALONE WITHOUT THE WORKS OF THE LAW (Rom. iii 28), understood altogether falsely (n. 417). Because here it is said ‘until God’s words shall be consummated’ it shall also be stated what is signified by these, the Lord’s last words to His disciples:-
Going, make all nations disciples, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days even until the consummation of the age, Amen Matt. xxviii 19, 20.
‘Even until the consummation of the age’ is even until the end of the Church (n. 658); and then if they do not approach the Lord Himself and live in accordance with His precepts, they are left by the Lord; and having been left by the Lord they become like pagans who have no religion. And then the Lord is only with those who will be of His New Church (e nova Ipsius Ecclesia). These things are signified by ‘until God’s words shall be consummated’, and by ‘even until the consummation of the age’.
That they approach God the Father and not the Lord.
That they do not acknowledge the Lord’s Human as Divine.
That His suffering of the cross is an expiation, propitiation, and satisfaction with God the Father.
On the imputation of the Lord’s merit.
Some things concerning Baptism, original sin, free-will.
And with the Lutherans:-
That they come very nearly to transubstantiation.
These doctrinal tenets, left over from Papal Catholicism and agreeing with it in part, are the things by virtue of which it is said that ‘the woman’ who is ‘the great city’ has ‘a kingdom over the kings of the land’. By ‘the woman’ is signified the Roman Catholic form of religion, as above. By ‘the city’ is signified the doctrine (n. 194, 501, 502, 712). By ‘a kingdom’ is signified the Church (n. 749); consequently by ‘to have a kingdom’ is signified the government. By ‘the kings of the land’ are signified the truths or untruths of the Church (n. 20, 483, 664, 704, 720, 737, 740), consequently also the doctrinal tenets. By ‘the land’ the Church is signified (n. 285). From these things it is plain that by these words, ‘The woman whom thou hast seen is the great city, having a kingdom over the kings of the land’, is signified that as to doctrine the Roman Catholic form of religion reigns in Christendom, and to some extent also with the Reformed, although they are not under the Papal dominion.
* * * * * * * * * *
752. To these things I will add this MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE. It was given [me] to speak with the Pontiff SEXTUS THE FIFTH. He was going out of a certain society in the west towards the left. He said to me that he was appointed as chief governor of a society gathered together from Catholics who excel the rest in judgment and activity; and that he became their chief governor on account of his having, for half a year before his death, believed that the vicarship was an invention for the sake of dominion; and that the Lord the Saviour, because He is God, is He Who Only ought to be adored and worshipped; also that the Sacred Scripture is Divine, and is thus holy above the edicts of Popes. He said that until the end of his life he remained firm in the faith of these two principles of religion. He said also that their saints are not anything. He was astonished when I related that it had been decreed in a synod, and confirmed by a bull, that they should be invoked. He said that he is in such a life of activity as he had been in the world; and that every morning he proposes nine or ten things to himself which he wants to have accomplished before the evening. I asked whence he obtained within so few years such a great treasure as he laid up in the Castelo del Angelo. He replied that he wrote with his own hand to the rulers of rich monasteries to send of their wealth as much as they would from choice because it was for a holy use; and that because they were afraid of him they sent abundantly. And when I said that that treasure is still in existence, he said, ‘What use is it now?’ [2] In the course of speaking with him I related that since his time the treasure at Loretto has been immensely augmented and enriched, and so likewise have the treasures in certain monasteries, especially in Spain. However, at the present day this increase has not been so much as in former ages. And I added, that they are keeping them without any useful purpose other than that they should be pleased on account of possessing them. And when I related this, I also said that they are such as the infernal gods, which the ancients used to call Plutos. When I mentioned Plutos, he replied, ‘Hush! I know.’ He said again that no others are admitted into the society that he is set over but those who excel in judgment, and are able to receive [the truth] that the Lord Only is the God of heaven and earth, and that the Word is the Divine Holy (Sanctum Divinum); and that under the Lord’s auspices he is perfecting that society every day. He also said that he has spoken with so-called saints, but that they become foolish when they hear and believe that they are saints. He was even calling stupid those Pontiffs and cardinals who wish to be adored as Christ, although not in person, and who do not acknowledge the Word as the Divine Holy itself in accordance only with which one ought to live.
[3] He wishes me to say to those who are living today that Christ is the God of heaven and earth, and that the Word is the Divine Holy; also that the Holy Spirit does not speak through anyone’s mouth, but Satan does who wishes to be adored as God; and that those who do not give heed to these things, as the stupid, go away to their own kind and after a time are cast down into hell to those who labour under the phantasy that they are gods and these have no other life than the life of a wild beast. To this I said, ‘Perhaps these things are too harsh for me to write.’ But he replied, ‘Write, and I will sign them, for they are true.’ And then he went away from me into his own society, and he signed one copy and transmitted it as a BULL to other societies attached to the same religion.
1. And after these things I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority, and the land was illuminated by his glory.
2. And he shouted vigorously with a great voice, saying, It has fallen, Babylon the great has fallen, and has become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird.
3. For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her whoredom, and the kings of the land have committed whoredom with her; and the merchants of the land have become rich through the abundance of her luxuries (deliliae).
4. And I heard another voice out of heaven Saying, Come out of her, my people, lest you become partakers of her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.
5. For her sins have reached even unto heaven, and God has remembered her injustices.
6. Render unto her even as she has rendered unto you, double unto her double in accordance with her works; in the cup that she has mixed, mix unto her double.
7. As much as she has glorified herself and lived luxuriously, give unto her so much torment and mourning; because she says in her heart, I sit a queen and am not a widow, and I Shall not see mourning.
8. On account of this in one day her plagues shall come, death and mourning and hunger; and she shall be burned up in fire, for strong is the Lord God judging her.
9. And they shall weep for her, and wail over her, the kings of the land who have committed whoredom and lived luxuriously with her, when they see the smoke of her burning;
10. Standing afar off for fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, that great city Babylon, that powerful city, for in one hour thy judgment has come.
11. And the merchants of the land shall weep and mourn over her, because no one is buying their merchandise any more.
12. Merchandise of gold and silver, and precious stone and pearl, and of fine linen and purple, and silk and scarlet, and all thyme wood, and every ivory vessel, and every vessel of precious wood, and of bronze, and iron, and marble.
13. And cinnamon, and incenses, and ointment (pigmentum), and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour and wheat, and beasts of burden, and sheep, and of horses, and of carriages, and of bodies, and the souls of men.
14. And the fruits of the longing of thy soul have departed from thee, and all things fat and splendid have departed from thee, and thou shalt not find them any more.
15. The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for fear of her torment, weeping and mourning,
16. And saying, Woe, woe, that great city, clothed with fine linen and purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, for in one hour so many riches have been devastated.
17. And every steersman, and everyone voyaging upon ships, and sailors, and as many as work at sea, stood afar off,
18. And shouted seeing the smoke of her burning, saying, Was there ever anything like this great city!
19. And they cast dust upon their heads, and cried out weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, that great city, in which all having ships in the sea have been made rich by reason of her preciousness, for in one hour they have been devastated.
20. Exult over her, O heaven, and the holy apostles and prophets, for God has judged your judgment on her.
21. And one robust angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, With such impetus shall Babylon be cast down, that great city, and shall not be found any more.
22. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and flute-players, and trumpeters, shall not be heard in thee any more, and every craftsman of every craft shall not be found in thee any more, and the voice of a mill shall not be heard in thee any more.
23. And the light of a lamp shall not shine in thee any more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in thee any more; because thy merchants were the great ones of the land, because by thy sorcery all the nations have been led astray.
24. And in her has been found the blood of the prophets and saints, and of all those slain upon the land.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
There is a continuation concerning the Roman Catholic form of religion.
That on account of adulterations and profanations of the truths (veritas) of the Word, and of the Church therefrom, it is going to perish (vers. 1-8).
Concerning the highest ones in the ecclesiastical order there, what they are like, and concerning their mourning (vers. 9, 10).
Concerning the lower ones in that order (vers. 11-16).
Concerning the laity and common people who are under obedience to them (vers. 17-19).
The joy of the angels on account of the removal thereof (verse 20).
Concerning its destruction in the spiritual world on account of there being no acknowledgment, investigation, enlightenment, or reception, of the truth, and consequently no conjunction of truth and good, which makes the Church (vers. 21-24).
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. After these things I saw
signifies a continuation concerning the Roman Catholic form of religion.
I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority, and the land was illuminated by his glory
signifies the Lord’s strong influx out of heaven by means of Divine Truth, in consequence of which His Church was in a heavenly light.
2. And he shouted vigorously with a great voice, saying, It has fallen, Babylon the great has fallen
signifies that he made it known that by the Lord’s Divine power all who have been in that form of religion, and at the same time in the love of dominating thereby, have been destroyed in the spiritual world and cast into many hells.
And has become a habitation of demons
signifies that their hells are hells of the lusts of dominating derived from the fever of the love of self, and of the lusts of profaning the truths of heaven derived from the spurious zeal of that love.
And a hold of every unclean spirit and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird
signifies that the evils of will and thence of deed, and the untruths of thought and thence of deliberation, of those who are in those hells are diabolical, because they are turned away from the Lord to their own selves.
3. For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her whoredom, and the kings of the land have committed whoredom with her
signifies that they have brought forth wicked dogmas, which are adulterations and profanations of the good and truth of the Word, and with them have infected all those born and brought up in the kingdoms under their domination.
And the merchants of the land have become rich through the abundance of her luxuries (delitiae)
signifies the greater and the less in rank in that hierarchy, who by a dominion over holy things aspire to Divine majesty and more than regal glory, and continually aim to establish it by a multiplication of monasteries and the possessions under them and by the treasures which without end they gather together and accumulate from the world, and thus procure for themselves bodily and natural delights as a result of the attribution of heavenly and spiritual dominion to themselves.
4. And I heard another voice out of heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, lest you become partakers of her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues
signifies an exhortation from the Lord to all, both those who are in that form of religion and those who are not to beware of conjunction therewith by acknowledgment and affection, lest as to their souls they be conjoined with its abominations and perish.
5. For her sins have reached even unto heaven, and God has remembered her injustices
signifies that its evils and untruths are infesting the heavens, and that the Lord is going to protect these [heavens] from the violence thence.
6. Render unto her even as she has rendered unto you, double unto her double in accordance with her works, in the cup that she has mixed, mix unto her double
signifies the just retribution and penalty after death, that then the evils and untruths with which they have led others astray and destroyed them are going to return upon themselves in accordance with the quantity and quality thereof.
7. As much as she has glorified herself and lived luxuriously, give unto her so much torment and mourning
signifies that in proportion to the elation of heart resulting from dominion, and to the exultation of mind (animus) and body resulting from riches, after death they have internal grief in consequence of casting down and mockery, and of destitution and misery.
Because she says in her heart, I sit a queen and am not a widow, and shall not see mourning
signifies that they have these things because, as a result of the elation of heart over dominion and the exultation of mind (animus) over riches, they are in a trust and confidence that they are going to dominate perpetually and protect their own selves, and that they can never be deprived of these things.
8. On account of this in one day* her plagues shall come, death and mourning and hunger
signifies that on account of this at the time of the last judgment the penalties for the evils that they have done are going to return upon them, these being a death that is infernal life and the inward (intestinus) grief resulting from the casting down from dominion, a mourning that is the internal grief resulting from destitution and misery in the place of opulence, and a hunger that is the deprivation of the understanding of everything true.
And she shall be burned up in fire, for strong is the Lord God judging her
signifies that they are going to be hatreds against the Lord and against His heaven and Church, because they see then that the Only Lord has dominion and reigns over all things in the heavens and on earth, and not at all any man of himself.
9. And they shall weep for her, and wail over her, the kings of the land who have committed whoredom and lived luxuriously with her, when they see the smoke of her burning
signifies the interior griefs of those who have been in higher dominion and its delights by means of the falsified and adulterated truths of the Word which they have made holy things of the Church, when they see them turned into profane things.
10. Standing afar off for fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, that great city Babylon, that powerful city, for in one hour thy judgment has come
signifies their fear of the penalties, and then a grievous lamentation that that form of religion, so fortified, could be overturned so suddenly and clearly, and they could perish.
11. And the merchants of the land shall weep and mourn over her, because no one is buying their merchandise any more
signifies the lesser ones in rank who are ministering and making gain by means of holy things, here their griefs that after the destruction of Babylon they cannot profit by those means as before.
12. Merchandise of gold and silver and precious stone and pearl
signifies that they no longer have those things, because they do not have the spiritual goods and truths to which such things correspond.
And of fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet
signifies that they no longer have those things, because they do not have the celestial goods and truths to which such things correspond.
And all thyme wood and every ivory vessel
signifies that they no longer have those things, because they do not have the natural goods and truths to which such things correspond.
And every vessel of precious wood and of bronze and iron and marble
signifies that they no longer have those things because they do not have the scientific goods and truths in the things of the Church (scientifica bona et vera in rebus Ecclesiae) to which such things correspond.
13. And cinnamon and incenses and ointment (pigmentum) and frankincense
signifies that they no longer have a worship out of spiritual goods and truths, because they do not have anything inwardly in the worship that corresponds to the things named above.
And wine and oil and fine flour and wheat
signifies that they no longer have a worship out of celestial goods and truths, because they do not have inwardly in the worship the things that correspond to those named above.
And beasts of burden and sheep
signifies that they no longer have a worship out of external or natural goods and truths of the Church, because they do not have anything inwardly in the worship that corresponds to the things named above.
And of horses and of carriages and of bodies and the souls of men
signifies all those things in accordance with the understanding of the Word and the doctrine therefrom, and in accordance with the goods and truths of the sense of the letter thereof, which they do not have because they have falsified and adulterated them.
14. And the fruits of the longing of thy soul have departed from thee, and all things fat and splendid have departed from thee, and thou shalt not find them any more
signifies that all the blessings and felicities of heaven, even such external ones as are desired by them, are going to flee away altogether and no longer appear, because there are not any celestial and spiritual affections of good and truth with them.
15. And the merchants of these things who were made rich by her shall stand afar off for fear of her torment, weeping and mourning
signifies the state before damnation, and the fear and lamentation then of those who have made gain by means of various dispensations and promises of heavenly joys.
16. [And saying, Woe, woe, that great city, clothed with fine linen and purple and scarlet and decked with gold, precious stone and pearls, for in one hour so many riches have been devastated
signifies a grievous lamentation that their magnificent things and gains have been destroyed so suddenly and so clearly.]
17. And every steersman, and everyone voyaging upon ships, and sailors, and as many as work at sea
signifies those who are called the laity, both those who have been placed in greater and those in lesser dignity even to the common people, who have been attached to that form of religion and love and embrace it or acknowledge and venerate it at heart.
Stood afar off, [18] and shouted seeing the smoke of her burning, saying, Was there ever anything like this [great] city!
signifies their mourning in a remote state over the damnation of that form of religion which they have believed to be supereminent above every religion in the world.
19. And they cast dust upon their heads, and cried out weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, that great city
signifies their interior and exterior grief and mourning, which is a lamentation that such an eminent form of religion has been altogether destroyed and damned.
In which all having ships in the sea have been made rich by reason of her preciousness, for in one hour they have been devastated
signifies on this account, that by means of the holy things of that form of religion all, as many as were willing to buy, have been pardoned (propitiati sunt), and for worldly and temporal riches have received heavenly and eternal riches [; and that now no one can buy them].
20. Exult over her, O heaven, and the holy apostles and prophets, for God has judged your judgment on her
signifies that now the angels of heaven, and the men of the Church who are in goods and truths out of the Word, may rejoice at heart that those who are in the evils and untruths of that form of religion have been removed and rejected.
21. And one robust angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, With such impetus shall Babylon be cast down, that great city, and shall not be found any more
signifies that by means of the Lord’s strong influx out of heaven that form of religion with all its adulterated truths of the Word will be cast headlong into hell, and that it is never going to appear to the angels any more.
22. And the voice of harpers and musicians and flute-players and trumpeters shall not be heard in thee any more
signifies that with them there will not be any affection of spiritual truth and good, nor any affection of celestial good and truth.
And every craftsman of every craft shall not be found in thee any more
signifies that those who are in that form of religion by virtue of doctrine and a life in accordance with it do not have any understanding of spiritual truth, and consequently neither any thought of spiritual truth, so far as this is of themselves.
And the voice of a mill shall not be heard in thee any more
signifies that those who are in that form of religion by virtue of its doctrine and a life in accordance therewith do not have any searching into, examination and confirmation of spiritual truth, because the untruth received and confirmed, and thus implanted, stands in the way.
23. And the light of a lamp shall not shine in thee any more
signifies that those who are in that form of religion by virtue of doctrine and a life in accordance therewith do not have any enlightenment from the Lord, nor consequently any perception of spiritual truth.
And the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in thee any more
signifies that those who are in that form of religion by virtue of doctrine and a life in accordance therewith do not have the conjunction of good and truth that makes the Church.
Because thy great ones** were the merchants of the land
signifies that the higher ones in their ecclesiastical hierarchy are such because, by means of various, even arbitrary, rights left to them in the statutes of the order, they trade and make a profit.
Because by thy sorcery all the nations have been led astray
signifies their wicked arts and devices by means of which they have led the minds (animus) of all away from a holy worship of the Lord to a profane worship of men living and dead and of idols.
24. And in her has been found the blood of the prophets and saints, and of all those slain upon the land
signifies that as the result of the form of religion that is understood by ‘the city Babylon’ there is the adulteration and profanation of every truth of the Word, and consequently of the Church, and that untruth has emanated therefrom into the whole of Christendom.
* Reading die (day) instead of hera (hour), to conform with n. 765 and the text of the chapter.
** In the Original Edition here and at verse 23 of the Contents the words magnates (great ones) and mercatores (merchants) appear in the reverse order
compared with the text at the beginning of the chapter and in the Greek.
THE EXPOSITION
[verse 1] ‘And after these things I saw’ signifies a manifestation concerning the destruction and damnation of those who were in the Roman Catholic form of religion, and have exercised authority over the holy things of the Church and heaven with the purpose of having dominion over all and of obtaining possession of all the things belonging to others. These things are here signified by ‘after these things I saw’ because in this chapter it treats of them. The dogmas of that form of religion have been set out in the front of this work so that those who are in enlightenment from the Lord can see that they regard nothing else but dominion over men souls, to the end that they may be worshipped as gods and have sole possession of the goods of the whole world. And because that was the end, and not at all the salvation of souls, they could not select their dogmas from any other source than hell; for they could not [select them] out of heaven, that is, from the Lord, but only from themselves, because they transferred all things of the Lord to themselves. What is more detestable than to divide the Lord’s body and blood, or the bread and wine, in the Holy Supper, in manifest contrast to the institution, and this by means of invented reasons (figmenta), and solely for the sake of the sacrifice of the Mass by day and night, by which they ‘gain the world’? What is more detestable than to worship dead men with a Divine invocation, and to fall down on the knees to representations of them, and to kiss them with holy reverence, even the bones and remains of their corpses, and thus to lead the people away from a Divine worship and lead them into a profane worship, and this also for the sake of gains? What is more detestable than to place Divine worship on the Lord’s days and feasts in masses not understood, thus in external things that are of the body and of the things that affect it, without the internal things that are of the soul and its affections, and to attribute all holiness to the former, and thus to keep all in ignorance and a blind faith so that they may have dominion and become enriched? What is more detestable than to transfer all things of the Lord’s Divine authority to themselves, which is nothing else than to dethrone the Lord and set up themselves instead? What is more detestable than to take the Word, which is Divine Truth itself, away from the laity and common people, and in place of it issue edicts and dogmas in which there is scarcely one genuine truth of the Word? These are the things of which [the Word] treats in this chapter of the Apocalypse.
754. ‘I saw an angel coming down out of heaven having great authority, and the land was illuminated by his glory’ signifies the Lord’s strong influx out of heaven by means of Divine Truth, in consequence of which His Church was in a heavenly light. By ‘an angel’ is signified the Lord. By ‘an angel coming down out of heaven’ is signified the Lord’s influx out of heaven. By ‘having great authority’ is signified a strong influx. By ‘the land was illuminated by his glory’ is signified the Church in a heavenly light from the Lord by means of Divine Truth. That by ‘an angel’ and by ‘angels’ in the Word is understood the Lord may be seen (n. 258, 344, 465, 649, 657, 718). By ‘to come down’ is signified to inflow, because [it is said] of the Lord. That by ‘the land’ is signified the Church (n. 285, 721). That ‘glory’ is said of Divine Truth and signifies it (n. 249, 629). Divine Truth is said to be in a heavenly light because the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord is the light of heaven, which enlightens the angels and makes their wisdom. The reason mention is made of the Lord’s influx by means of Divine Truth, and of the enlightenment of the Church thereby, is because by that influx those who are in untruths are separated from those who are in truths, and because also by virtue of the light of truth untruths appear as they really are.
755. [verse 2] ‘And he shouted vigorously with a great voice, saying, It has fallen, Babylon the great has fallen’ signifies that he made it known that by the Lord’s Divine power all who have been in that form of religion and at the same time in a love of dominating thereby have been destroyed in the spiritual world and cast into many hells. That these things are signified by these words can be established out of the little work CONCERNING THE LAST JUDGMENT AND CONCERNING BABYLON DESTROYED, published at London in the year 1758, where its destruction is described from n. 53 to 64. As a result of this it can be seen that those of that form of religion who, out of the fever of the love of self, have exercised dominion over the Lord’s Holy Divine things that are of heaven and the Church, and were purely and simply idolators, have been destroyed and cast into hell. But that those of the same form of religion who have lived in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue, fleeing from evils as sins, and have at the same time looked to the Lord, have been saved, may be seen in A CONTINUATION CONCERNING THE LAST JUDGMENT AND THE SPIRITUAL WORLD (n. 58), to which things there is no need to add more. A similar thing is said of Babel in Isaiah:-
A lion cried upon the watch-tower and said, It has fallen, Babel has fallen, and all the graven images of her gods has he shattered upon the land Isa. xxi 8, 9.
Similar persons of that form of religion are being gathered together since the last judgment, and from time to time are sent to their own [companions].
756. ‘And has become a habitation of demons’ signifies that their hells are the hells of the lusts of dominating derived from the fever of the love of self, and of the lusts of profaning the truths of heaven derived from the spurious zeal of that love. By ‘demons’ are signified lusts of evil (n. 458), and also lusts of falsifying truths. But demons, like lusts, are of many kinds. The worst are those who are the lusts of dominating over the holy things of the Church and over heaven derived from the fever of the love of self. And because this tyranny occupies their hearts they are also the lusts of profaning the truths of heaven derived from the spurious zeal of that love. And as these when they become demons, which occurs after death, know that the Only Lord has dominion over heaven and earth, they become hatreds against Him until at length, as after the lapse of an age, they cannot bear to hear Him being named. It is plain from these things that by ‘Babylon has become a habitation of demons’ is signified that their hells are the hells of the lusts of dominating derived from the fever of the love of self, and of the lusts of profaning the truths of heaven derived from the spurious zeal of that love. [2] It is not known in the world that after death all become the affections of the love ruling with themselves, good affections those who have looked to the Lord and to heaven and have at the same time fled from evils as sins, but evil affections that are lusts those who have looked only to self and the world and have not fled from evils as sins, but only [from them] as hurtful to reputation and honour. Those affections appear and are perceived livingly in the spiritual world, but in the natural world only the thoughts derived from the affections [are perceived]. The result is that a man does not know that hell occupies the affections of the love of evil, and heaven the affections of the love of good. His not knowing is in consequence of this; and his not perceiving is because the lusts of the love of evil derive from heredity that they are delightful in the will and consequently pleasant in the understanding; and the man does not reflect upon that which is delightful and pleasant, because it draws his mind (animus) along just as the current of a rushing river does a ship. Those therefore who have immersed themselves in those delights and pleasures cannot come to the delights and pleasures of the affections of the love of good and truth otherwise than those who, with the force of a strong arm, urge the oars against the current of a rushing river. But it is otherwise with those who have not immersed themselves deeply.
757. ‘And a hold of every unclean spirit and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird’ signifies that the evils of will and thence of deed, and the untruths of thought and thence of deliberation, of those who are in those hells are diabolical, because they are turned away from the Lord to their own selves. By ‘a hold’ is signified hell, because they have been imprisoned there. By ‘spirit’ is signified everything that is of affection or will and thence of deed; and by ‘bird’ is signified everything that is of thought or understanding and thence of deliberation. Therefore by ‘unclean spirit’ and unclean bird’ are signified all the evils that are of will and thence of deed and all the untruths that are of thought and thence of deliberation; and because these are in the hells with them it is therefore signified that they are diabolical; and because they are turned away from the Lord to their own selves the ‘bird’ is termed ‘hateful’. Babel is described by similar things in the prophets, thus in Isaiah:-
Babel shall be as God’s overthrowing Sodom and Gomorrah, it shall not be inhabited to eternity, so that the Arab shall not tarry there. The ziim shall lie down there, and their houses shall be filled with ochim, and the daughters of the owl shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there; the ijim also shall answer in her palaces, and dragons also in the palaces of her delights Isa. xiii 19-22.
In the same:-
I will cut off from Babel the name and remnant; I will make her an inheritance of the bittern Isa. xiv 22, 23.
And in Jeremiah:-
In Babel shall dwell the ziim and the ijim and the daughters of the owl, according to God’s overthrowing Sodom and Gomorrah and the suburbs thereof; no son of man shall dwell there Jer. 1 39, 40.
It is plain from these that by ‘a hold of every unclean spirit, and of every unclean and hateful bird’ is signified that the evils of will and thence of deed, and the untruths of thought and thence of deliberation, of those who are in the hells are diabolical because they are turned away from the Lord to their own selves.
[2] That’ birds ‘signify such things as are of the understanding and thought and thence of deliberation in both a good and a bad sense is plain from the Word. In the bad sense there in these passages:-
In the midst of the week He shall make* the sacrifice to cease, at length upon the bird of abominations [shall be] desolation, until the consummation the devastation shall drip down Dan. ix 27.
The cormorant and the bittern shall possess the land, the screech-owl and the raven shall dwell therein Isa. xxxiv 11.
Nothing else but infernal untruths are signified by ‘ochim’, ‘ziim’, ‘daughters of the owl’ and ‘dragons’ in the passages cited above; also by:-
The birds that came down upon the carcass, which Abram drove away Gen. xv 11.
The birds to which their carcasses would be given for food Jer. vii 33; xv 3; xvi 4; xix 7; xxxiv 20; Ezek. xxix 5; Ps. lxxix 1, 2.
The birds that devour what has been sown Matt. xiii 3, 4.
[3] In a good sense in these passages:-
Creeping thing and bird, let them praise the Name of Jehovah Ps. cxlviii 10.
I will make a covenant with them in that day, with the bird of the heavens and the creeping thing of the land Hosea ii 18.
Ask the beasts and they shall teach thee, and the birds of heaven and they shall tell thee. Who does not know from all these that the hand of Jehovah does it? Job xii 7-9.
I saw when, behold, there is no man, every bird of the heavens has flown away Jer. iv 24-26.
From the bird of the heavens even to the beast they have fled, because I will make Jerusalem heaps, a habitation of dragons Jer. ix 10, 11 [H.B. 9, 10]; xii 9.
There is no truth (veritas), no mercy, no recognition of God; on account of this the land shall mourn as to the beast of the field and as to the bird of the heavens Hosea iv 1, 3.
I am God, calling the bird from the east, the man of deliberation from afar off Isa. xlvi 9 [, 11].
Asshur is a cedar in Lebanon, in his branches all the birds of the heavens have built their nests, and in his shadow all the great nations have dwelt Ezek. xxxi 3, 6.
[4] Things similar to this said of Asshur as a cedar are said elsewhere, as Ezek. xvii 23; Dan. iv 10-14, 20, 21 [H.B. 7-11, 17, 18]; Matt. xiii 31, 32; Mark iv 32; Luke xiii 19.
Say to the bird of every wing, and to every beast of the field, Come to a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel; thus will I give My glory among the nations Ezek. xxxix 17 21; Rev. xix 17;
besides elsewhere, as Isa. xviii 1, 6; Ezek. xxxviii 20; Hosea ix 11; xi 10, 11; Zeph. i 3; Ps. viii 6-8 [H.B. 7-9]; l 11; civ 10, 12. That ‘birds’ signify things that are of the understanding and thence of thought and deliberation is quite plain from the birds in the spiritual world. Birds of every genus and species also appear there, the most beautiful ones in heaven, birds of paradise, turtle-doves and doves. In hell dragons, screech-owls, horned owls and others like them. All of these are life-like representations of thoughts derived from good affections in heaven, and of thoughts derived from evil affections in hell.
* Reading faciet (he shall make) instead of faciam (I will make).
758. [verse 3] ‘For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her whoredom, and the kings of the land have committed whoredom with her’ signifies that they have brought forth wicked dogmas, which are adulterations and profanations of the good and truth of the Word, and with them have infected all those born and brought up in the kingdoms under their domination. That these things are signified by these words can be established from the things expounded above (n. 631, 632 and n. 720, 721) where there are similar words, to which there is no need to add more; only that similar things are said of Babel in Jeremiah:-
Babel is a goblet of gold in the hand of Jehovah making the entire land drunk. The nations have drunk of her wine, therefore they are mad Jer. li 7.
Let Babel be for hissing; when they have become warm, I will set their feasts and will make them drunk, that they may exult, and may sleep the sleep of an age, and not awake Jer. li [37,] 39.
By the ‘wine’ that they drink, and by which they are made drunk, their dogmas are signified; and how wicked these are may be seen above (n. 753). Among them also there is this wicked thing, that the works that are done in accordance with their doctrinal tenets produce merits by transcribing the merit and justice of the Lord into those works, and thus into themselves; when yet everything of charity and everything of faith, or every good and truth, is from the Lord; and what is from the Lord remains the Lord’s with the recipients. For what is from the Lord is Divine, and this can never be made the proprium of a man. The Divine can be with a man, but not in his proprium, for the man’s proprium is nothing but evil; and therefore he who attributes the Divine to himself as proprium not only defiles it but also profanes it. The Divine from the Lord is exquisitely separated from the proprium of a man, and is elevated above it and never immersed therein. But because they have transferred to themselves everything of the Lord’s Divine, and have thus appropriated it to themselves, it flows like bituminous water while it is raining, out of a spring which is bitumen. It is similar with the dogma that justification is a real sanctification, and that their saints are holy in themselves, when yet the Lord only is Holy (Rev. xv 4). More things may be seen concerning merit in the work CONCERNING THE NEW JERUSALEM AND ITS HEAVENLY DOCTRINE, published at London in the year 1758, (n. 150-158).
759. ‘And the merchants of the land have become rich through the abundance of her luxuries (delitiae)’ signifies the greater and less in rank in that hierarchy, who by a dominion over holy things aspire to Divine majesty and more than regal glory, and continually aim to establish them by a multiplication of monasteries and the possessions under them, and by the treasures which without end they gather together and accumulate from the world, and thus procure for themselves bodily and natural delights and pleasures as a result of the attribution of heavenly and spiritual dominion to themselves. By ‘the merchants’ of Babylon no others can be understood than the greater and less in rank in their ecclesiastical hierarchy, because in verse 23 of this chapter it is said that they are ‘the great ones of the land’; and by ‘the abundance of luxuries’ by which they ‘have become rich’ nothing else can be understood than the dogmas by which as means they procure for themselves a dominion over the souls of men, and thus also over their possessions and wealth. That they gather these together without end and fill up their treasuries with them is known; then also that they trade with the holy things of the Church, as that by offerings and gifts made to monasteries and to the saints and images thereof, and by masses, indulgences and various dispensations they sell salvation, that is, heaven.
[2] Who is unable to see that if the papal dominion had not been broken at the time of the Reformation they would have scraped together the possessions and wealth of all the kingdoms in the whole of Europe, and that then they would have become the only lords, and all the rest slaves? Do they not have their principal wealth from the preceding ages, when they had authority over emperors and kings whom they could excommunicate and dethrone if they were not obedient? And do they not still have annual incomes that are immense, and treasuries full of gold, silver and precious stones? A like uncivilised dominion still possesses the minds (animus) of many of them, and it is restrained solely through the fear of its loss, if extended beyond limits. But of what use are such great incomes, treasures and possessions except that they may have delight and pride in them, and that they may strengthen their domination to eternity? From these considerations it can be established what is signified by ‘the merchants of the land’ who ‘have become rich through the abundance of the luxuries’ of Babylon. They are called ‘merchants’ also in Isaiah:-
The inhabitants of Babel have become as stubble, fire has scorched them, they do not snatch away their soul out of the hand of the flame; such are thy merchants from youth Isa. xlvii 14, 15.
[3] By ‘to traffic and trade’ (mercari et negotiari) in the Word is signified to procure for oneself spiritual wealth, consisting of cognitions of what is true and good, and in the opposite sense cognitions of what is false and evil, and to gain the world by the latter, and to gain heaven by the former. Therefore the Lord compared:-
The kingdom of the heavens to a trader seeking beautiful pearls Matt. xiii 45, 46;
And the men of the Church to the servants to whom were given talents with which they should trade and make a profit Matt. xxv 14-20;
And to those to whom were given ten pounds (mina), with which likewise they should trade and make a profit Luke xix 12-26.
And because the Church as to cognitions of what is true and good is signified by ‘Tyre’, it therefore treats of her trading and gain in the whole of chap. xxvii in Ezekiel, and it is said of her:-
In thy wisdom and in thine intelligence thou hast made for thyself gold and silver in thy treasures, and by the multitude of wisdom in thy trading thou hast multiplied wealth for thyself Ezek. xxviii [4,] 5;
and elsewhere:-
Tyre has been laid waste, whose merchants are princes, and traders are the honourable of the land Isa. xxiii 1, 8.
And the perverted Church with the Jews in the land of Canaan is called ‘the land of trading’ (Ezek. xvi 3, 29; xxi 30 [H.B. 35]; xxix 54).
760. [verse 4] ‘And I heard another voice out of heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, lest you become partakers of her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues’ signifies an exhortation from the Lord to all, both those who are in that form of religion and those who are not, to beware of conjunction therewith through acknowledgment and affection, lest as to their souls they be conjoined with its abominations and perish. By ‘another voice out of heaven saying’ is signified an exhortation from the Lord to all, both those who are in that form of religion and those who are not, because it follows on, ‘Come out of her my people’, that is, all who approach the Lord. The exhortation is from the Lord because the voice was ‘out of heaven’. By ‘lest you become partakers of her sins’ is signified to beware lest as to their souls they be conjoined with its abominations and because conjunction is effected through acknowledgment and affection, this also is signified. The reason why their ‘sins’ are abominations is because they are so called in the preceding chapter (verse 4). By ‘lest you receive of her plagues’ is signified lest they perish, for by ‘plagues’ are signified evils and untruths, and at the same time destruction by their means. These were signified by the ‘plagues’ above (n. 657, 673, 676) and elsewhere. Similar things are said of Babel in the Word in these passages:-
Go out of the midst of Babel, O my people, deliver every one his soul from the growing anger of the wrath of Jehovah, lest your heart become soft and you be afraid of the rumour Jer. li 45, 46.
Flee out of the midst of Babel, and deliver every one his soul, lest you be cut off for her iniquity Jer. li 6.
Forsake Babel, and let us go up every one into his own land, for her judgment has reached to the heavens, and has lifted itself up even to the clouds Jer. li 9.
Go out of Babel, flee from the Chaldean with the voice of singing; declare this and make it to be heard, utter this even to the extremity of the land, say Jehovah has redeemed Isa. xlviii 20, 21; Jer. l 8.
761. [verse 5] ‘For her sins have reached even unto heaven, and God has remembered her injustices’ signifies that their evils and untruths are infesting the heavens, and that the Lord is going to protect these [heavens] from the violence thence. By her sins having reached even unto the heavens is signified that their evils and untruths are infesting the angels of heaven. By God having remembered her injustices is signified that the Lord is going to protect the heavens from the violence thence. These things are signified by those words because all things in the heavens are goods and truths and all things in the hells are evils and untruths, and consequently the heavens and the hells have been entirely separated and are in an inverted position like the antipodes; and therefore evils and untruths are unable to reach to the heavens. Nevertheless, when evils and untruths are multiplied beyond the degrees of opposition, and thence beyond a just measure, the heavens are infested. And unless the Lord then protects the heavens, which is done by means of a stronger influx from Himself, violence is brought upon the heavens; and when this has reached its height, He then effects a last judgment, and thus they are delivered. On this account it follows on in this chapter (verse 20):-
Exult over her, O heaven, for God has judged your judgment upon her,
and in the following chap. xix (vers. 1-9). In Jeremiah also:-
Then shall the heavens and the earth and everything that is therein sing over Babel, when the wasters shall come upon her Jer. li 48.
762. [verse 6] ‘Render unto her even as she has rendered unto you, double unto her double in accordance with her works, in the cup that she has mixed mix unto her double’ signifies the just retribution and penalty after death, that then the evils and untruths with which they have led others astray and destroyed them are going to return upon themselves in accordance with the quantity and quality thereof, which is called the law of retaliation (jus talionis). ‘Render unto her even as she has rendered unto you’ signifies the just retribution and penalty after death. ‘Double unto her double in accordance with her works’ signifies that the evils with which they have led others astray and destroyed them are going to return upon themselves in accordance with the quantity and quality thereof. ‘In the cup that she has mixed mix unto her double’ signifies that the untruths [are going to return] in like manner; for by ‘the cup’ or wine, untruths are signified (n. 316, 635, 649*, 672). Things almost the same are said of Babel in the prophets:-
Pay Babel back according to her work, according to all that she has done do unto her, for she has acted insolently against Jehovah, against the Holy One of Israel Jer. l 29.
This is the vengeance of Jehovah, take vengeance on Babel; even as she has done, do unto her Jer. l 15.
The daughter of Babylon has been devastated, happy is he who shall pay back to thee thy retribution as thou hast repaid us Ps. cxxxvii 8.
[2] It is in accordance with the sense of the letter that those whom they have led astray and destroyed are going to pay them back, but it is in accordance with the spiritual sense that those will not do this to them but they will do it to themselves, because every evil carries its own penalty with it. This is similar to what is said in various places in the Word, that God will repay and avenge the injustices and injuries done to Himself, and will destroy them in consequence of wrath and growing anger; when yet the evils themselves that they have done against God do this, thus they do it to themselves. For this is the law of retaliation (jus talionis), which takes its very origin out of this Divine Law:-
All things whatsoever you wish that men should do to you, even so do you to then ; this is the Law and the Prophets Matt. vii 12; Luke vi 31.
This law in heaven is the law of mutual love or charity, as a result of which an opposite law is made in hell, which is that to every one should be done just as he had done to another. Not that those who are in heaven do this, but that they do it to themselves, for the retribution of retaliation is the result of opposition to that law of life in heaven, as if inscribed with their evils.
[3] By ‘double’ is signified much in accordance with the quantity and quality, in these passages also:-
Let my persecutors be ashamed, bring upon them a day of evil, and break them with a double breaking Jer. xvii 18.
Also much in accordance with the quantity and quality of their turning from evils, in these:-
Comfort my people, for her military service has been fulfilled and her iniquity expiated, inasmuch as she has received of Jehovah’s hand double [Isa. xl 1, 2].
Return to the stronghold, O prisoners of hope, this day I am announcing the double that I will pay back to thee Zech. ix 2.
For your shame you shall have double; and in their land they shall possess double, they shall have the joy of eternity Isa. lxi 7.
* The Original Edition has 642, clearly an error. Previous editors have amended this to 649 as above, but perhaps it should be 652 or 653 or it should be omitted altogether.
763. [verse 7] ‘As much as she was glorified herself and lived luxuriously, give unto her so much torment and mourning’ signifies that in proportion to the elation of heart resulting from dominion, and to the exultation of mind (animus) and body resulting from riches, after death they have internal grief as the result of casting down and mockery, and of destitution and misery. By ‘as much as she has glorified herself’ is signified in proportion to the elation of heart resulting from dominion, for they glorify themselves on this account. By ‘as much as she has lived luxuriously’ is signified in proportion to the exultation of mind (animus) and body resulting from riches, and the delights and pleasures therefrom, as above (n. 759). By ‘to give unto her torment’ is signified internal grief as the result of casting down from dominion, and mockery then. Their torment after death is from no other source. And by ‘to give unto her mourning’ is signified internal grief as the result of destitution and misery, their mourning after death being therefrom.
[2] The delight of the love of having dominion derived from the love of self over all things of the Lord’s, which are all things of heaven and the Church, is turned after death into such torment; and the pleasure of the love of filling the mind and body with the luxuries obtained as the result of opulence, with those who are in the said love of having dominion, is turned into such mourning. For the delights and pleasures proceeding out of the loves make everyone’s life; and therefore when those are turned into opposite things it becomes torment and mourning. These are the retributions and penalties that in the Word are understood by the ‘torments’ in hell; and consequently hatred against the Lord and against all things of heaven and the Church is understood by the ‘fire’ there. Similar things are said of Babel in the prophets, as:-
I will repay to Babel every evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes Jer. li 24.
The waster shall come upon Babel, for Jehovah the God of retributions repaying will repay Jer. li 55, 56.
Thy pomp has been brought down into hell, under thee has spread the worm (the torment that is internal grief); thou hast said in thy heart, I will climb the heavens, I will exalt my throne above God’s stars, I will become like the Most High; nevertheless thou hast been brought down to hell; those seeing thee shall say, Is this the man shaking the land, making kingdoms tremble? etc. Isa. xiv 11, 13-16.
These things are concerning Lucifer, who there is Babel, as is plain from vers. 4 and 22 there.
764. ‘Because she says in her heart, I sit a queen and am not a widow, and shall not see mourning’ signifies that they have these things because, as a result of the elation of heart over dominion, and the exultation of mind (animus) over riches, they are in a trust and confidence that they are going to have the dominion perpetually, and protect their own selves, and that they can never be deprived of these things. ‘To say in her heart’ signifies to be in [a state of] trust as a result of the elation of heart over dominion, also to be in confidence as a result of the exultation of mind (animus) over riches. ‘I sit a queen’ signifies that they are going to have dominion, perpetually here, because ‘I shall not see mourning’ follows. ‘I am not a widow’ signifies that they are going to protect their own selves; by ‘a widow’ is signified one who is without protection because without a man. It is said ‘a queen’ and ‘a widow’ and not ‘a king’ and a man because Babylon as a Church is understood. ‘And I shall not see mourning’ signifies that they cannot ever be deprived of those two things. That in consequence they have mourning after death may be seen just above (n. 763).
[2] Things almost similar are said of Babel in Isaiah:-
Thou shalt not add [that] they call thee a mistress of kingdoms; thou hast said in thy heart, I shall be mistress for ever, saying in thy heart, I and none such as I besides, I shall not sit a widow, nor shall I know bereavement. But these two things shall come unto thee in one day, bereavement and widowhood. They shall come upon thee for the multitude of thy sorceries and for the great abundance of thine enchantments. Thou hast trusted in wickedness; thou hast said, There is no one seeing me. Thy wisdom has led thee astray, when thou hast said in thy heart, I and none such as I besides; therefore devastation shall come upon thee suddenly Isa. xlvii 5, 8-11.
By ‘a widow’ in the Word is understood one who is without protection, for in the spiritual sense by ‘a widow’ is signified one who is in good and not in truth, for by ‘a man’ is signified truth and by his ‘wife’ good. Consequently by ‘a widow’ is signified good without truth, and good without truth is without protection, for truth protects good. This is signified by ‘a widow’ where mentioned in the Word, as Isa. ix 14, 15, 17 [H.B. 13, 14, 16]; x 1, 2; Jer. xxii 3; xlix 10, 11; Lam. v 2, 3; Ezek. xxii 6, 7; Mal. iii 5; Ps. lxviii 5 [H.B. 6]; cxlvi 7-9; Exod. xxii 21-24 [H.B. 20-23]; Deut. x 18; xxvii 19; Matt. xxiii 14; Luke iv 24 [-26]; xx 47.
765. [verse 8] ‘On account of this in one day her plagues will come, death and mourning and hunger’ signifies that on account of this at the time of the last judgment the penalties for the evils that they have done are going to return upon them, these being a ‘death’ that is infernal life and the inward (intestinus) grief resulting from the casting down from dominion, a ‘mourning’ that is the internal grief resulting from destitution and misery in the place of opulence, and a ‘hunger’ that is the deprivation of the understanding of everything true. By ‘on account of this’ is understood because she has said in her heart ‘I sit a queen and am not a widow, and shall not see mourning’, of which just above (n. 764). By ‘in one day’ is signified at the time of the last judgment, which is indeed called ‘the day of judgment’. By the ‘plagues’ are signified the penalties for the evils that they have done in the world, which are then going to return upon them. By ‘death’ is signified the infernal life and inward grief resulting from the casting down from dominion which was above (n. 763) called torment, concerning which death something follows. By ‘mourning’ is signified the internal grief resulting from destitution and misery in place of opulence, as also above (n. 764). By ‘hunger’ is signified the deprivation of the understanding of everything true. Into these three ‘plagues’ or penalties come those of that form of religion who have had a dominion resulting from the love of self and no love of uses except for the sake of self. These are also atheists at heart, since they attribute all things to the prudence of the proprium and to nature. The rest of that kind, who are such but do not think interiorly in themselves, are idolaters. That by the plague or penalty that is called ‘hunger’ is understood the deprivation of the understanding of everything true may be seen above (n. 323). Every man indeed, so long as he is living in the world, has rationality, that is, the faculty of understanding what is true. This faculty remains with every man after death. Yet those who out of the love of self and the pride of self-intelligence have absorbed untruths of religion in the world are not willing after death to understand what is true; and to be unwilling is as it were not to be able. This inability resulting from unwillingness is with all such and is increased for this reason, that out of the delight of the lust for untruth for the sake of dominion they continually absorb new confirming untruths, and thus become nothing but untruths and remain so to eternity. Similar things are understood by these words concerning Babel in Jeremiah:-
Your mother has been exceedingly ashamed, she who bare you has blushed with shame; behold the outcome is a wilderness, a dryness and a desert. From the wrath of Jehovah it shall not be inhabited, but shall be a total devastation. Every one passing by Babel shall be astonished, and shall hiss over all her plagues Jer. 1 12, 13.
766. ‘And she shall be burned up in fire, for strong is the Lord God judging her’ signifies that they are going to be hatreds against the Lord and against His heaven and Church, because they see then that the Only Lord has dominion and reigns over all things in the heavens and on earth, and not at all any man of himself. By the ‘fire’ with which ‘she shall be burned up’ is signified hatred against the Lord and against His heaven and Church, concerning which [there is something] below. By ‘for strong is the Lord [God] judging her’ is signified because they see then, that is, in the spiritual world into which they come after death, that the Only Lord has dominion and reigns over all things in the heavens and on earth, and not at all any man of himself. The reason these things are signified by ‘for strong is the Lord God judging her’ is because the Lord does not judge anyone to hell, but they themselves do so; for when they feel the angelic sphere flowing down from the Lord out of heaven they flee away and cast themselves into hell, as can be established out of the things that have been shown above (n. 233, 325, 340, 387, 502).
[2] That by ‘fire’ is signified love in both senses, the heavenly love that is the love of the Lord and the infernal love that is the love of self, may be seen above (n. 468, 494). The reason infernal love is hatred is because the love of self hates, for all who are in that love break out into wrath in accordance with the degree thereof and are inflamed with hatred and revenge against those who oppose; and those who are of Babylon [are so opposed] against those who deny that they are to be worshipped and adored as holinesses. When therefore they hear that in heaven the Only Lord is worshipped and adored and that it is profane to worship any man in place of the Lord, adoration of the Lord becomes with them hatred against Him, and the adulteration of the Word on account of the end that they may be worshipped becomes profane. This, therefore, is what is signified by [the statement] that Babylon ‘will be burned up with fire’. That ‘to be burned up with fire’ is the penalty for the profanation of what is holy may he seen above (n. 748). The like is understood by these words in Jeremiah:-
I am against thee, O Babel, the destroying mountain destroying the entire land. I will roll thee down out of the rocks, and I will give thee for a mountain of burning. The walls of Babylon overthrowing shall be overthrown, and her high gates shall be burned up with fire Jer. li 25, 58.
767. [verse 9] ‘And they shall weep for her, and wail over her, the kings of the land who have committed whoredom and lived luxuriously, when they see the smoke of her burning’ signifies the interior griefs of those who have been in higher dominion and its delights by means of the falsified and adulterated truths of the Word which they have made the holy things of the Church, when they see them turned into profane things. In this and the following verse it treats of the mourning of ‘the kings of the hand’ by whom are understood the highest in rank who are called great men and primates. From vers. 11-16 it treats of the mourning of ‘the merchants of the land’ by whom are understood those lower in rank who are called monks. And from vers. 17-19 it treats of the mourning of ‘shipmasters and sailors’ by whom are understood those who make contributions who are called the laity. Here now [it treats] of ‘the kings of the land’ by whom are signified the highest in rank. That by ‘kings’ are not understood kings, but those who are in truths derived from good, and in the opposite sense, in untruths derived from evil, may be seen above (n. 483, 704, 737, 740, 720). Here, therefore, by ‘the kings of the land who have committed whoredom and lived luxuriously with the harlot’ are signified those who are in dominion and its delight by means of the falsified and adulterated truths of the Word, especially by means of that truth falsified and adulterated by them which the Lord told Peter, concerning which something follows. That ‘to commit whoredom’ signifies to falsify and adulterate the truths of the Word may be seen (n. 134, 632, 635); and that ‘to live luxuriously’ signifies to enjoy the delights of dominion and at the same time of opulence (n. 759). By [the statement] that ‘they shall weep and wail’ their interior griefs are signified. ‘To weep and wail’ is said because ‘to weep’ is said of grief over the casting down from dominion, and ‘to wail’ is said of grief over the deprivation of opulence. And because the griefs of these are more interior than those of ‘the merchants of the land’, it is therefore said of ‘the kings of the land’ by whom are understood those higher in rank that they would ‘weep and wail’, and of ‘the merchants of the land’ by whom are understood those lower in rank it is said that they would ‘weep and mourn’. By ‘to see the smoke of her burning’ is signified that they are seeing the untruths of their form of religion, which are falsified and adulterated truths of the Word, turned into profane things. By ‘the smoke’ those untruths are signified (n. 422, 452), and by the ‘burning’ is signified what is profane (n. 766). From these things, and those that have been expounded above (n. 766), it is plain that by ‘they shall weep for her and wail over her, the kings of the land who have committed whoredom and lived luxuriously with her, when they see the smoke of her burning’ are signified the interior griefs of those who have been in higher dominion and its delights by means of falsified and adulterated truths of the Word, when they see them turned into profane things.
768. Something shall be said here concerning that truth which the Lord told Peter concerning ‘the keys of the kingdom of the heavens’ and ‘the authority of binding and loosing’ (Matt. xvi 15-20). They say that that authority was given to Peter and that it has been transferred to them as his successors, and that thus the Lord left to Peter, and after him to them, all His authority, and that [the pope] should act as His vicar on earth. But still it is quite plain from the very words of the Lord that He gave no authority at all to Peter, for the Lord says ‘Upon this Rock will I build My Church’. By ‘the Rock’ is signified the Lord as to His Divine Truths, and the Divine Truths that is ‘the Rock
is there what Peter confessed before the Lord said those words. The statement is this:-
Jesus said to the disciples, Whom do you declare Me to be? Simon Peter answering said, THOU ART THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD Matt. xvi 15. 16.
This is the truth upon which the Lord builds His Church, and Peter then was representing that truth. It is plain from this that it is the confession of the Lord, THAT HE IS THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD, Who has authority over heaven and earth (Matt. xxviii 18), upon which the Lord builds His Church, thus upon Himself and not upon Peter. That the Lord is understood by ‘the Rock’ is known in the Church.
[2] *On one occasion I spoke with the Babylonish clan in the spiritual world about the keys given to Peter, [asking] whether they believe in the transfer to him of that authority from the Lord over heaven and earth. Because this was the fountainhead (caput) of their religion they were vehemently insisting on it, saying that there is no doubt about it because it is manifestly said. But to the question whether they know that within the details of the Word there is a spiritual sense, which is the sense of the Word in heaven, they were saying first that they did not know, but afterwards they were saying that they were going to inquire. And when they were inquiring they were instructed that there is a spiritual sense in the details of the Word, which differs from the sense of the letter as what is spiritual from what is natural. Moreover they were instructed that no person named in the Word is named its heaven, but that in place of him something spiritual is there understood. Finally they were informed that instead of ‘Peter’ in the Word is understood the Church’s truth derived from good, and in like manner [this is understood] by ‘the Rock’ which is then named together with ‘Peter’. Also that thereby it can be known that it was not to Peter that any authority was given, but to truth derived from good, for all the authority in the heavens belongs to truth derived from good, or to good by means of truth. And because all good and truth are derived from the Lord and nothing from man, that the Lord has all the authority. Indignant at having heard these things they said that they wished to know whether that spiritual sense is in those words. The Word that is in heaven was therefore given to them, in which Word there is not the natural but the spiritual sense because it is for angels who are spiritual. And when they were reading it they saw clearly that Peter is not there named, but in place of him TRUTH DERIVED FROM THE GOOD THAT IS FROM THE LORD. Having seen this they wrathfully rejected that [Word]. They would almost have torn it in pieces with their teeth if it had not at that moment been taken away. As a result they were convinced, although they did not wish to be convinced, that the Only Lord has that authority and not in the least any man, because it is a Divine authority.
* In the Original Edition this section appears with quotation marks. It is quoted from LJ 57 with a few variations and omissions.
769. [verse 10] ‘And standing afar off for fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, that great city Babylon, that powerful city, for in one hour thy judgment has come’ signifies their fear of the penalties, and then a grievous lamentation that that form of religion, so fortified, could be overturned so suddenly and clearly, and they could perish. ‘To stand afar off for fear of the torment’ signifies a state as yet remote from the state of those who are in damnation because they are in fear of torment, concerning which it follows on. ‘Woe, woe’ signifies grievous lamentation. That ‘woe’ signifies lamentation over misfortune, unhappiness and damnation may be seen above (n. 416), consequently ‘Woe, woe’ signifies a grievous lamentation. By the ‘great city Babylon’ is signified that form of religion; here as above (n. 751), Babylon as a woman or harlot, because it is said ‘her torment’. By the ‘powerful city’ is signified the form of religion so fortified. By ‘in one hour thy judgment has come’ is signified that it can be so suddenly overthrown, and they can perish. ‘In one hour’ signifies so suddenly, and by ‘judgment’ is signified its overthrow and the destruction of those who have committed whoredom and lived luxuriously with that harlot, who are here treated of. That they perished by means of the last judgment can be seen in the little work concerning THE LAST JUDGMENT AND BABYLON DESTROYED, published at London, 1758. The things here were said of that destruction.
[2] The reason that ‘they stood afar off for fear of her torment’ signifies a state as yet remote from the state of those who are in damnation because in fear of torment, is because by ‘afar’ is not understood remoteness of space but the remoteness of state when one is in fear of the penalties. For, so long as a man is in a state of fear, he then sees, ponders and laments. The remoteness of state, which is remoteness in the spiritual sense, is also signified by ‘afar off’ elsewhere in the Word, as in these instances:-
Hear, you afar off, what I will do; and you near, recognise My vigour Isa. xxxiii 13.
Am I God near by, and not God afar off? Jer. xxiii 23.
[The people] found grace in the wilderness; Israel has said, Jehovah has appeared to me afar off Jer. xxxi 2, 3.
Bring My sons from afar Isa. xliii 6.
Hear, O peoples from afar Isa. xlix 1, 2.
The peoples and nations coming out of a hand afar off Isa. v 26;
besides elsewhere, as Jer. iv 16; v 15; Zech. vi 15; where by the ‘nations and peoples from afar’ are understood those more remote from the truths and goods of the Church. In common speech close relations are said to be near, and those more remote in relationship distant.
770. That form of religion is called a ‘powerful city’ because it had fortified itself strongly; for it had fortified itself not only by the great number of nations and peoples which acknowledge it but also by many other things; as by the plurality of monasteries and by the army of monks there (this is said because they call their ministry military service); by possessions of wealths without any measure or satiety; also by the inquisitorial judgment; and above all by threats and terrors, especially in regard to the purgatory into which everyone is said to come; by the extinction of the light of the Gospel and the consequent blindness in spiritual things which is effected by prohibitions and preventions of the reading of the Word; by masses uttered in a language not known to the common people; by various external sanctities; by the worship of the dead and of images implanted with the populace, who are kept in ignorance of God; and by various glittering displays in external things; so that by all these things (haec et illa) they may be in a bodily faith concerning the holiness of all the things of that form of religion.
[2] The result is that it is altogether unknown what lies hidden inwardly in that form of religion, when yet that form of religion is altogether as is described above by these words:-
The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and the uncleanness of her whoredom Rev. xvii 4.
But howsoever much Babylon had thus fortified herself, even likewise in the spiritual world (of which below n. 772), yet at the day of the last judgment she was utterly destroyed. Concerning her devastation Jeremiah prophesies thus:-
If Babel mounts into the heavens, and if she fortifies the height of her strength, from Me shall come spoilers Jer. li 53.
The mighty men of Babel sit in the fortifications, her power is given to oblivion, they have set her habitations* on fire, her bars have been broken; the city has been taken from [one] end. Even the wall of Babel has collapsed Jer. li 30, 31, 44.
Babel has suddenly fallen and broken down; howl over her, take balm for the grief; peradventure she will he healed Jer. li 8.
* The Original Edition has munitiones (fortifications) here as in the previous line, but this appears to be a slip for habitationes (habitations) as in the Hebrew.
771. [verse 11] ‘And the merchants of the land shall weep and mourn over her, because no one is buying their merchandise any more’ signifies the lesser ones in rank who are ministering and making gain by means of holy things, here their griefs that after the destruction of Babylon their forms of religion are not acknowledged as being holy, but as being adulterated and profaned goods and truths of the Word and of the Church therefrom, and thus that they cannot any more profit by those means as before. By ‘the merchants’ are understood the lesser ones in rank of their ecclesiastical hierarchy because by ‘the kings of the hand’, treated of thus far, are understood the higher ones in that rank as may be seen above (n. 767); thus by ‘the merchants of the land’ are understood those who are ministering and making gain by means of holy things. By ‘they shall weep and mourn’ their griefs are signified, as also above (n. 767). By ‘their merchandise’ are signified the holy or religious things by means of which they make gain or profit. By ‘to buy them no more’ is signified not to wish to have them, because they are not holy things but adulterated and profaned goods and truths of the Word and of the Church therefrom. ‘To buy’ is to procure for themselves (n. 606). Of this [we read] in Jeremiah:-
O Babel, who dwellest upon many waters, great in treasures, thy end has come, the measure of thy gain Jer. li 13.
772. [verse 12] ‘Merchandise of gold and silver and precious stone and pearl’ signifies that they no longer have those things because they do not have the spiritual goods and truths to which such things correspond. By ‘their merchandise’ no other things are signified than those that are named there; for it is known that they have gold, silver, and precious stone and pearls in abundance, and that they have gained them by their forms of religion which they have made Divine holy things. Those who were of Babylon had such things before the last judgment; for they were then allowed to form to themselves as it were heavens and to procure such things to themselves out of heaven by various arts, even to fill cellars with them as in the world. After the last judgment, however, when their fictitious heavens were destroyed, all those things were then reduced to dust and ashes and carried away by an east wind and strewn over their hells as a profane dust. But concerning these things let the things be read which, from things seen, have been described in the little work concerning THE LAST JUDGMENT AND BABYLON DESTROYED, published at London, 1758. [2] Since that overthrowing and their casting down into hell they are in a state so miserable that they do not know what gold, silver, precious stone and pearl are. This is because gold, silver and precious stone correspond to spiritual goods and truths, and pearls to the cognitions thereof. And because they do not have truths and goods any more, nor the cognitions thereof, but instead of them evils and untruths and the cognitions of these, they cannot have those things but such as correspond [to their state], which are cheap materials of a horrid colour, besides some sea-shells on which they set their heart just as they did before on the precious things named above. [3] It is to be known that there are in the spiritual world all the things that are in the natural world, with the difference only that all the things in the spiritual world are correspondences, for they correspond to their interiors. There are splendid and magnificent things with those who are in wisdom out of Divine truths and goods from the Lord by means of the Word, and opposite things with those who are in insanity derived from untruths and evils. Such a correspondence results from a creation when what is spiritual of the mind is allowed to sink into what is sensual of the body; for which reason every one there knows what another is like when he comes into his own room. [4] From these considerations it can be established that by ‘merchandise of gold and silver and precious stone and pearls’ is signified that they have those things no longer because they do not have the spiritual goods and truths, nor the cognitions of good and truth, to which such things correspond. That as the result of correspondence ‘gold’ signifies good, and ‘silver’ truth, maybe seen above (n. 211, 726). That ‘precious stone’ signifies spiritual truths (n. 231, 540, 726). That ‘pearls’ signify cognitions of good and truth (n. 727).
773. ‘And of fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet’ signifies that they no longer have those things because they do not have the celestial goods and truths to which such things correspond. By the things named above, which were gold, silver, precious stone and pearl, as a class are signified spiritual goods and truths as was said above (n. 772). But by these, which are fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, as a class are signified celestial goods and truths. For with those who are in heaven and in the Church there are spiritual goods and truths and there are celestial goods and truths. The spiritual goods and truths are of wisdom, while the celestial goods and truths are of love. And because they do not have the latter goods and truths, but evils and untruths opposed to them, therefore these things are said, for they follow in order. Now because the case is similar with these as with the former there is no need of a further exposition than what has been given in the preceding paragraph. What ‘fine linen’ specifically signifies will be told in the following chapter at these words, ‘fine linen is the just deeds of the saints’ (verse 8, n. 814, 815). That ‘purple’ signifies celestial good and ‘scarlet’ celestial truth may be seen above (n. 725). By ‘silk’ is signified mediating celestial good and truth, good by virtue of softness and truths by virtue of brightness. It is mentioned only in Ezek. xvi 10, 13.
774. ‘And all thyme wood and every ivory vessel’ signifies that they no longer have those things because they do not have the natural goods and truths to which such things correspond. These things are similar to those that have been expounded above (n. 772, 773), with the difference only that by those named first are understood the spiritual goods and truths treated of above (n. 772), and that by those named second are understood the celestial goods treated of just above (n. 773), and that by those named now which are ‘thyme wood’ and ‘ivory vessel’ are understood natural goods and truths. [2] For there are three degrees of wisdom and love and consequently three degrees of truth and good. The first degree is called celestial, the second spiritual, and the third natural. These three degrees exist with every man from births; and they also exist in general in heaven and the Church. This is why there are three heavens, the highest, the middle, and the lowest altogether distinct from each other in accordance with those degrees; in like manner the Lord’s Church on earth. But what it is like with those who are in the celestial degree, and what it is like with those who are in the spiritual degree, and what it is like with those who are in the natural degree, does not require to be set forth here. However, [something] may be seen concerning them in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, in the third section, where degrees have been treated of. Here [it suffices to set forth] only that with those who are of Babylon there are neither spiritual goods and truths nor celestial goods and truths, and not even natural goods and truths. The spiritual things are named in the first place because many of them can be spiritual provided at heart they hold the Word holy, as they say [it is] by mouth. They cannot become celestial, however, because they do not approach the Lord but approach living and dead men and worship them. This is why the celestial things are named in the second place. [3] The reason why ‘thyme wood’ signifies natural good is because ‘wood’ in the Word signifies good and ‘stone’ truth, and ‘thyme wood’ derives its name from ‘two’, and ‘two’ also signifies good. That it is a natural good is because wood is not a precious material like gold, silver, precious stone, pearl, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet. Stone likewise is not. It is similar with ‘ivory’ by which natural truth is signified. ‘Ivory’ signifies natural truth because it is white and can be polished, and because it protrudes out of an elephant’s mouth and also makes his strength. In order that the ‘ivory’ may be the natural truth of the good that is signified by ‘thyme wood’ it is said ‘ivory vessel’, for by a vessel is signified something containing, here the truth containing the good.
[4] That ‘wood’ signifies good may to some extent be established from these statements:-
That the bitter waters at Marah were made sweet by wood cast in Exod. xv 25.
That the tablets of stone on which the law was inscribed were laid up in an ark made of shittim wood Exod. xxv 10-16.
That the Jerusalem temple was covered without and lined within with wood 1 Kings vi 10, 15.
That the altar in the wilderness was made out of wood Exod. xxvii 1, 6.
Besides from these:-
The stone cries out from the wall, and the beam of wood answers Hab. ii 11.
They shall seize thy riches and despoil thy merchandise, and they shall put thy stones and thy woods into the midst of the sea Ezek. xxvi 12.
It was said to the prophet that he should take one [piece of] wood so that he might write upon it the name of Judah and of the sons of Israel, and also [another piece and write upon it] the name of Joseph and Ephraim; and I will make them into one [piece of] wood Ezek. xxxvii 16, 19.
We drink our waters for silver, and our woods come for a price Lam. v 4.
If anyone comes with a companion into a forest and his axe falls out of the wood upon the companion so that he dies, he shall flee into a city of refuge Deut. xix 5.
This was because ‘wood’ signifies good, and thus that he had not put the companion to death as the result of evil or an evil intention but as a result of a mistake, because he was in good; besides elsewhere. [5] But by ‘wood’ in the opposite sense is signified what is evil and accursed, as that they made graven images out of wood and adored them (Deut. iv 23-28; Isa. xxxvii 19; xl 20; Jer. x 3, 8; Ezek. xx 32); also that ‘hanging upon wood’ was a curse (Deut. xxi 22, 23). That ‘ivory’ signifies natural truth can also be established from the passages where it is named, as Ezek. xxvii 6, 15; Amos iii 15; vi 4; Ps. xlv 8 [H.B. 9].
775. ‘And every vessel of precious wood, and of bronze and iron and marble’ signifies that they no longer have these things because they do not have the scientific goods and truths in the things of the Church (scientifica bona et vera in rebus Ecclesiae) to which such things correspond. These are similar to the things that have been expounded above (n. 772-774), with the difference that by these are signified the knowledges (scientifica) that are the ultimates of a man’s natural mind. Because these differ in quality from the essence that is in them they are called ‘vessels of precious wood, of bronze, of iron and marble’. For by the ‘vessels’ are signified the knowledges, here in the things of the Church, because knowledges are containants of good and truth just as vessels are containants of oil and wine. The knowledges also exist in great variety, and their receptacle is the memory. The reason that they are of great variety is because the man’s interior things are in them. Also they are introduced into the memory as a result either of intellectual thought or of hearing or reading and in accordance with the changing perception out of the rational at the time. All these things are inwardly in the knowledges, which is evident when they are reproduced. This is done when the man speaks or thinks. [2] But what is signified by ‘vessels of precious wood, of bronze, of iron and of marble’ will be stated in a few words. By ‘a vessel of precious wood’ is signified knowledge derived from rational good and truth; by’ a vessel of bronze’ is signified knowledge derived from natural good; by ‘a vessel of iron’ is signified knowledge derived from natural truth; and by ‘a vessel of marble’ is signified knowledge derived from appearances of good and truth. That ‘wood’ signifies good may be seen just above (n. 774). That here by ‘precious wood’ is signified good and at the same time rational truth is because ‘wood’ signifies good and ‘precious’ is predicated of truth; for one kind of good is signified by the wood of an olive tree, another by that of a cedar tree, a fig tree, a fir, a poplar and an oak. That ‘a vessel of bronze and iron’ signifies knowledge derived from natural good and truth is because all the metals, as gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin and lead in the Word signify goods and truths. They signify because they correspond, and because they correspond they exist also in heaven, for all the things there are correspondences.
[3] This, however, is not the place to confirm out of the Word what each of the metals signifies as the result of correspondence, but only to confirm by some passages that’ bronze signifies natural good, and consequently ‘iron’ natural truth, as may be seen from these that:-
The feet of the Son of Man were seen like bronze, as if burned in a furnace Rev. i 15.
By Daniel was seen a Man whose feet were as the brightness of polished bronze Dan. x 5, 6.
Also the feet of the cherubs were seen sparkling like the brightness of polished bronze Ezek. i 7.
That ‘feet’ signify what is natural may be seen (n. 49, 468, 470, 510).
An angel was seen like the appearance of bronze Ezek. xl 3.
The statue seen by Nebuchadnezzar was as to its head gold, as to its breast and arms silver, as to its belly and side bronze, as to the legs iron Dan. ii 32, 33.
By this statue the successive states of the Church were represented, which by the ancients were termed the golden, silver, bronze and iron ages. Since ‘bronze’ signifies what is natural and the Israelitish people was purely natural, therefore the Lord’s Natural was represented by:-
The bronze serpent which those bitten by serpents should look upon and be healed Num. xxi 6, 8, 9; John iii 14, 15.
That ‘bronze’ signifies natural good can also be seen in Isa. lx 17; Jer. xv 20, 21; Ezek. xxvii 13; Deut. viii 7, 9; xxxiii 24, 25.
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 18). And that the hereditary evil that is called original sin is not from Adam but from parents in succession, in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE PROVIDENCE (n. 277). What ‘Adam’ in the Word means [may be seen in] n. 241 there.
777. [verse 13] ‘And cinnamon and incenses and ointment (pigmentum) and frankincense’ signifies that they no longer have a worship out of spiritual goods and truths because they do not have anything inwardly in the worship that corresponds to the things named above. In the preceding verse [the Word] treats of all the things that are of the doctrine of the Church, but in this verse it treats of all those that are of the Church’s worship. The things that are of the doctrine are dealt with first and those that are of the worship follow, because the quality of the worship is derived from the goods and truths of the doctrine; for worship is nothing but an external act in which the internal things that are of doctrine should be. Without these worship is without its essence, life, and soul. Now because all the things that are of the doctrine relate to the goods that are of love and charity and to the truths that are of wisdom and faith, and those goods and truths are celestial, spiritual and natural in accordance with their degrees of order, this also is the case with all things of the worship. And because in the preceding verse the spiritual things of the doctrine are named in the first place, so also here are the spiritual things of worship, these being ‘cinnamon’, incenses’, ‘ointment’ and frankincense’. And the celestial things of the worship, which are ‘wine’, ‘oil’, ‘fine flour’ and ‘wheat’ are named in the second place; and in the third place the natural things of the worship are named, these being’ beasts of burden’ and ‘sheep’. That all those goods and truths of the worship will be derived from the Word is signified by [its being said] that they are ‘of horses’, ‘of carriages’, ‘of bodies’ and ‘of the souls of men’. This is the series of the things in the spiritual sense in this verse. But by all the things that have been enumerated in this verse the like is understood as by those that have been enumerated in the preceding verse, that is, that those goods and truths are not with them because they do not have with themselves such things as correspond to them. This is plain from the things that precede where it states that the city Babylon shall be burnt up with fire and no one shall buy her merchandise any more (vers. 8-11); also from those that follow where it states that all things fat and splendid have departed from her and shall not be found any more (verse 14), and that they have been devastated (vers. 16, 19).
[2] But something shall now be said about the things that have been named, which are ‘cinnamon’, ‘incenses’, ‘ointment’ and ‘frankincense’. These are named because they are the kind of things by means of which incense-offerings used to be made. That by ‘incense-offerings’ is signified worship of the Lord out of spiritual goods and truths may be seen above (n. 277, 392); and that the incense-offerings were pleasing because they were [composed] of fragrant [odours] that were corresponding (n. 394). All the fragrant things by means of which it was prepared are understood by ‘cinnamon’, ‘incenses’ and ‘ointment’, and their essential quality by ‘frankincense’. This is plain from the recital of the spices of which it was made up, in Moses:-
Jehovah said unto Moses, Take unto thee spices, stacte, onycha and galbanum, and pure frankincense; and thou shalt make it an incense, an ointment, the work of a perfumer (pigmentum, opus pigmentarii), salted, pure, holy Exod. xxx 34-37.
The incense-offering was made out of these things, by which as has been stated was signified worship out of spiritual goods and truths. ‘Cinnamon’ is named here in place of all the spices there. But what these spices severally signify in the spiritual sense can be seen in ARCANA CAELESTIA on Exodus, where [the significations] have been expounded one by one.
778. ‘And wine and oil and fine flour and wheat’ signifies that they no longer have a worship out of celestial goods and truths, because they do not have inwardly in the worship the things that correspond to those named above. These things are similar to those that have been said just above and before, with the difference only that by these are signified celestial goods and truths. Which goods and truths are termed celestial, and which spiritual, may be seen above (n. 773); also that because they do not have them neither are they in the worship pertaining to them; for, as was said above, the goods and truths of doctrine are in worship as the soul is in the body. Therefore worship without them is an inanimate worship. Such is the worship that is holy in external things, in which there is not any holy internal. That ‘wine’ signifies truth out of the good of love maybe seen above (n. 316). That ‘oil’ signifies the good of love will be seen in the following paragraph. By ‘fine flour’ is signified celestial truth, and by ‘wheat’ celestial good.
[2] The reason the truths and goods of worship are signified by ‘wine’, ‘oil’, ‘fine flour’ and ‘wheat’ is because the drink-offerings and meal-offerings used to be composed of them, and these were offered upon the altar together with the sacrifices; and by sacrifices and gifts offered upon an altar worship is signified, for worship used to consist chiefly of these. That the drink-offerings, which were wine, were offered upon the altar together with the sacrifices can be seen (Exod. xxix 40; Lev. xxiii 12, 13, 18, 19; Num. xv 2-15; xxviii 11-15, 18 to the end; xxix 1-7 seq.; and besides Isa. lvii 6; lxv 11; Jer. vii 18; xliv 17-19; Ezek. xx 28; Joel i 9; Ps. xvi 4; Deut. xxxii 38). That oil also was offered upon the altar together with the sacrifices (Exod. xxix 40; Num. xv 2-15; xxviii to the end). That the meal-offerings, which were of fine flour of wheat, were offered upon the altar together with the sacrifices (Exod. xxix 40; Lev. ii 1-13; v 11-13; vi 14-21 [H.B. 7-14]; vii 9-13; xxiii 12, 13, 17; Num. vi 14-21; xv 2-15; xviii 8-19; xxviii 1-15; xxix 1-7; besides Jer. xxxiii 18; Ezek. xvi 13, 19; Joel i 9; Mal. i 10, 11; Ps. cxli 2). The [cakes of] bread of faces or shewbread (panes facierum seu propositionis) upon the table in the tabernacle were also made of fine flour of wheat (Lev. xxiii 17; xxiv 5-9). It can be seen from these references that these four things, wine, oil, fine flour and wheat were holy and celestial things of worship.
779. Since ‘oil’ is here named among the holy things of worship, and signifies celestial good, something will be said here of the’ oil of anointing’ that was in use with the ancients and was afterwards commanded for the sons of Israel. That in ancient times they anointed stones erected as pillars is plain from Gen. xxviii 18, 19, 22. That they also anointed the arms of war, oval shields and round shields (scuta et clypeos) (2 Sam. i 21; Isa. xxi 5). That it was commanded that they should prepare the ‘oil of holiness’ with which they should anoint all the holy things of the Church; that with it they anointed the altar and all its vessels, also the tabernacle and all the things thereof (Exod. xxx 22-33; xl 9-11; Lev. viii 10-12; Num. vii 1). That with it they anointed those who should exercise the priestly office, also their garments (Exod. xxix 7, 29; xxx 30; xl 13-15; Lev. viii 12; Ps. cxxxiii 1-3.) That with it they anointed the prophets (1 Kings xix 15, 16). That they anointed the kings with it, and that the kings were therefore termed ‘the anointed of Jehovah’ (1 Sam. x 1; xv 1; xvi 3, 6, 12, 13; xxiv 6, 10 [H.B. 7, 11]; xxvi 9, 11, 16, 23; 2 Sam. i 16; ii 4, 7; v 3, 17; xix 21 [H.B. 22]; 1 Kings i 34, 35; xix 15, 16; 2 Kings ix 3; xi 12; xxiii 30; Lam. iv 20; Hab. iii 13; Ps. ii 2, 6; xx 6; xxviii 8; xlv 7 [H.B. 8]; lxxxiv 9; lxxxix 20, 38, 51 [H.B. 21, 39, 52]; cxxxii 17. [2] Anointing with (per) the ‘oil of holiness’ was commanded because the oil used to signify the good of love and to represent the Lord, Who as to His Human is the Very and Only Anointed of Jehovah, anointed not with oil but with the very Divine Good of Divine Love. For this reason He was named ‘the Messiah’ in the Old Testament and ‘the Christ’ in the New (John i 41; iv 25), and ‘Messiah’ and ‘Christ’ mean ‘the Anointed’. This is why the priests, the kings, and all the things of the Church were anointed, and when anointed were termed holy; not that they were holy in themselves, but because through this they were representing the Lord as to the Divine Human. It was consequently sacrilege to harm the king, because he was ‘the anointed of Jehovah’ (1 Sam. xxiv 6, 10 [H.B. 7, 11]; xxvi 9; 2 Sam. i 16; xix 21 [H.B. 22]. [3] Moreover, it was an accepted custom to anoint themselves and others to testify of gladness of mind and benevolence, but with a common oil or another noble oil but not with the oil of holiness (Matt. vi 17; Mark vi 13; Luke vii 46; Isa. lxi 3; Amos vi 6; Micah vi 15; Ps. xcii 10 [H.B. 11]; civ 15; Dan. x 3; Deut. xxviii 40). That it was not permitted to anoint themselves or others with the oil of holiness (Exod. xxx 32, 33).
780. ‘And beasts of burden and sheep’ signifies that they no longer have a worship out of external or natural goods and truths of the Church because they do not have anything inwardly in the worship that corresponds to the things named above. These things are similar to those that have been expounded above (n. 777, 778), with the difference that there they are spiritual goods and truths and celestial goods and truths, but here natural goods and truths, concerning the distinction of which n. 774 above may be seen. By ‘beasts of burden and sheep’ are signified the sacrifices that were made with (per) oxen, bullocks, he-goats, sheep, kids, rams, she-goats and lambs. The oxen and bullocks are understood by ‘beasts of burden’ and the kids, rams, she-goats and lambs by ‘sheep’; and the sacrifices were the external things of worship that are also called natural worship.
781. ‘And of horses and of carriages and of bodies and the souls of men’ signifies all those things in accordance with the understanding of the Word and the doctrine therefrom, and in accordance with the goods and truths of the sense of the letter thereof, which they do not have because they are falsifying and adulterating the Word by applying the things that are there to dominion over heaven and the world, contrary to its genuine sense. These things are said in the genitive case because they belong to the things that precede. That by ‘horses’ the understanding of the Word is signified may be seen (n. 298). That by ‘chariots doctrine out of the Word is signified (n. 437); consequently the like by ‘carriages’. That the goods and truths of the sense of the letter of the Word are signified by ‘bodies and the souls of men’ is because similar things are signified by them as by the body and blood in the Holy Supper. In that, by the ‘body’ is signified the Lord’s Divine Good and by the ‘blood’ the Lord’s Divine Truth; and because they signify those they also signify the Divine Good and Divine Truth of the Word, because the Lord is the Word. But here instead of ‘blood’ it is termed ‘soul’. This is because by ‘soul’ in like manner Truth is signified as may be seen above (n. 681), and because in the Word the blood is called ‘the soul’ (Gen. ix 4, 5; Lev. xvii 12-14; Deut. xii 23-25). The like is signified by ‘the soul of man (Ezek. xxvii 13); also by ‘the seed of man’ (Dan. ii 43).
[2] Similar things are signified by ‘horses’ and ‘carriages’ in Isaiah:-
Then shall they bring all your brothers upon horses and upon the chariot and upon carriages, and upon mules and upon swift horses unto the mountain of My holiness, Jerusalem Isa. lxvi 20.
These things are said of the Lord’s New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, concerning those there who are in the understanding of the Word and in doctrine therefrom, which are ‘horses’, ‘the chariot’ and ‘carriages’. Now because those who are of the Roman Catholic form of religion falsify and adulterate the Word by the application [thereof] to dominion over heaven and the world, it is signified that they do not have any goods and truths out of the Word, and therefore neither do they have them in their doctrine. On this point Jeremiah says thus:-
The king of Babel has eaten me up, he has thrown me into confusion, he has made me an empty vessel, he has swallowed me up like a whale, he has filled his belly with my luxuries Jer. li 34, 35.
The sword is against the horses of Babel, and against its chariots, and against its treasures, that they may be pillaged; a drought is upon its waters that they may be dried up; because it is a land of graven images, and they boast of their terrible things Jer. l 37, 38.
782. [verse 14] ‘And the fruits of the longing of thy soul have departed from thee, and all things fat and splendid have departed from thee, and thou shalt not find them any more’ signifies that all the blessings and felicities of heaven, even such external ones as are desired by them, are going to flee away altogether and no longer appear, because there are not any celestial and spiritual affections of good and truth with them. By ‘the fruits of the longing of the soul’ nothing else is signified but the blessings and felicities of heaven, because these are the fruits of all the things of doctrine and worship that are treated of, and because they are the longings of men when they are dying and their longings also when they come fresh into the spiritual world. By ‘things fat and splendid’ are signified celestial and spiritual affections of good and truth; by ‘fat things’ affections of good, concerning which [something] follows, and by ‘splendid things’ affections of truth. These are termed ‘splendid’ because they come into existence out of the light of heaven and its brilliance in minds, whence are the intelligence of good and truth as well as wisdom. By ‘to depart’ and ‘not to find them any more is signified that they are going to flee away and not make any further appearance, because they are not in any celestial and spiritual good and truth. It is said ‘even such external ones as are desired by them’ because by them are desired none but bodily and worldly blessings and felicities and affections, and consequently they cannot know what the ones that are called celestial and spiritual are, or what they are like.
[2] But let these things be illustrated by the disclosure of their lot after death. All those of that form of religion who have been in a love of dominion derived from the love of self and consequently in a love of the world, when they come into the spiritual world, which is immediately after death, do not breathe forth anything but dominion and the resulting pleasures of the mind (voluptates animi) and the pleasures of the body procurable by wealth; for the ruling love with its affections or lusts and desires remains with everyone after death. But because the love, derived from the love of self, of dominating over the holy things of the Church and heaven which all are the Lord’s Divine things is diabolical, therefore after a certain time they are separated from their companions and cast down into hells. But still because they have been in an external worship derived from their form of religion they are first instructed as to what heaven is and what it is like also what the happiness of eternal life is and what it is like. [They are instructed] that there are pure blessings inflowing from the Lord with each and every one in heaven in accordance with the quality of the celestial affections of good and truth with them. But because they have not approached the Lord, and consequently have not been conjoined with Him, and also have not been in any such affection of good and truth, they are averse to them and turn themselves away. And then they desire the pleasures of the love of self and the world which are merely natural and bodily. But because it is inherent in those pleasures to do evil, especially to do it to those who worship the Lord, thus to the angels of heaven, therefore they are deprived of those pleasures also and are then rejected among their companions who are in contempt and misery in infernal workhouses. But these things are done to them in accordance with the degree of the love of dominion over the Lord’s Divine things, in accordance with which degree is their rejection of the Lord.
[3] From these things it can now be established that by ‘the fruits of the longing of thy soul have departed from thee, and all things fat and splendid have departed from thee, and thou shalt not find them any more’ is signified that all the blessings and felicities of heaven, even such external ones as are desired by them, are going to flee away altogether and no longer appear because there are not any affections of good and truth with them. That ‘fat things’ signify celestial goods as well as the affections thereof and the delights of the affections, can be established from the following passages:-
Pay attention unto Me, eat that which is good, that your soul may be delighted with fatness Isa. lv 2.
I will fill the soul of the priests with fatness, and My people shall be satisfied with good Jer. xxxi 14.
My soul shall be satisfied with grease and fatness, and my mouth shall praise with lips of songs Ps. lxiii 5 [H.B. 6].
They are being filled with the fatness of Thy house, and Thou dost make them drink from the liver of Thy delights Ps. xxxvi 8 [H.B. 9].
Jehovah shall make for every people in this mountain a feast of fat things, of fat things full of marrow Isa. xxv 6.
They shall still produce in old age, they shall be fat and green for proclaiming that Jehovah is upright Ps. xcii 14, 15 [H.B. 15, 16].
That in the feast that Jehovah shall make, they shall eat fatness till they are full and drink blood till they are drunken Ezek. xxxix 19.
Jehovah will make fat thy burnt-offering Ps. xx 3 [H.B. 4].
Because ‘fatness’ signifies celestial good, therefore there was a statute that ‘all the fat out of the sacrifices should be burned upon the altar’ (Exod. xxix 13, 22; Lev. i 8; iii 3-16; iv 8-35; vii 3, 4, 30, 31; xvii 6; Num. xviii 17, 18). In the opposite sense by ‘fats’ are signified those who are nauseated at goodness and condemn and reject it because there is too much (Deut. xxxii 15; Jer. v 28; l 11; Ps. xvii 10; xx 3 [H.B. 4]; lxxviii 31; cxix 70; and elsewhere).
783. [verse 15] ‘And the merchants of these things who were made rich by her shall stand afar off for fear of her torment, weeping and mourning’ signifies the state before damnation, and the fear and lamentation then of those who have made gain by various dispensations and promises of heavenly joys. By ‘the merchants of these things’, namely of ‘the fruits of the longing of the soul’ and of the ‘things fat and splendid’ treated of in the preceding verse, are signified those who have become rich by means of various dispensations and promises of heavenly joys, that is, have made gain. By these ‘merchants’ are understood all in their ecclesiastical order, both the higher and the lower ones, who have made gain by such means. That the higher ones are included is plain from verse 23 of this chapter where it is said:-
Because thy merchants used to be the great ones of the land.
That the lower ones [are understood also is plain] from verse it, as may be seen above (n. 771). By ‘to stand afar off for fear of her torment, weeping and mourning’ is signified while they are still in a state remote from damnation, and even then in fear of the penalties and in lamentation, as above (n. 769) where similar things are said.
784. As regards the dispensations by which they make gain there are various forms: There are dispensations respecting marriages contracted within the degrees prohibited by law; respecting divorce; respecting evils, even enormous ones, and release at the time from temporal penalties. Then also by means of indulgences there are dispensations respecting official services without any legal sanction or authority of the secular powers; among which are also confirmations of dukedoms and principalities; not to mention by means of the promises of heavenly joys made to those who enrich monasteries and augment their treasuries, by calling their gifts good works in themselves holy and also meritorious. They are led to these by an impressed faith concerning the authority and might of the saints and the miracles done by them. Especially do they lie in wait for the rich when they are sick, and then also infuse a terror of hell and so make extortions by promising the sacrifice of the Mass for their souls in accordance with the value of the legacy, and a gradual delivery thereby from the place of torment which they call Purgatory, and thus admission into heaven. [2] As regards Purgatory, I can firmly assert that it is purely a Babylonish fiction for the sake of profits, and that it does not and cannot exist. Every man after death first comes into the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, and is there prepared either for heaven or for hell, each one in accordance with his life in the world. And in that world no one has torment, but then the evil first come into torment when after preparation they come into hell. In that world there are innumerable societies, the joys in them being similar to those on earth. This is because those who are there are conjoined with men on earth, who also are in the midst between heaven and hell. Their externals are put off gradually, and so the internals are opened. And this takes place until the ruling love is revealed because this is the life’s love and is inmost and dominant over the externals. From this revelation it is plain what the man is like; and in accordance with the quality of that love he is sent forth out of the world of spirits to his own place, if good in heaven and if evil in hell. That such is the case it has been given to know for certain because it has been granted to me by the Lord to be together with those who are in that world and to see all, and thus to relate it from actual experience, and this now for twenty years. Therefore I can firmly assert that Purgatory is a fiction which can be called diabolical, because it is for the sake of the profits and the authority over souls, even of the deceased after death.
785. [verse 16] ‘And saying, Woe, woe, that great city, clothed with fine linen and purple and scarlet and decked with gold, precious stone and pearls, for in one hour so many riches have been devastated’ signifies a grievous lamentation that their magnificent things and gains have been destroyed so suddenly and so clearly. By ‘woe, woe’ is signified a grievous lamentation, as above (n. 769). By ‘that great city’ is signified the Roman Catholic form of religion because it is said ‘clothed with fine linen and purple’ and ‘decked with gold’, which cannot be said of a city but can of a form of religion. By ‘clothed with fine linen, purple and scarlet, and decked with gold, precious stone and pearls’ are signified things similar to those above (n. 725-727) where the same words are, in general things magnificent in external form. By ‘for in one hour so many riches have been devastated’ is signified that their gains have been destroyed so suddenly and so clearly. By ‘in one hour’ is signified suddenly and clearly, as above (n. 769), because by time and all things of time states are signified (n. 476). It is plain from these things that by those words are signified the things that have been set forth above. Very similar things are said in Jeremiah concerning the devastation of Babel:-
The land of Babel is full of a sense of guilt from the Holy One of Israel: the thoughts of Jehovah stand against them to place them in desolation: they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner nor a stone of foundations, because thou shalt have been laid waste for an age. Babel shall become heaps, a habitation of dragons, an astonishment and a hissing. Babel has been reduced to desolation, the sea has gone up over her, she has been covered with the multitude of the waves, her cities have been thriven back to desolation, a hand of drought and solitude Jer. li 5, 26, 29, 37, 41-43.
786. [verse 17] ‘And every steersman and everyone voyaging upon ships, and sailors and as many as work at sea’ signifies those who are called the laity, both those who have been placed in greater and those in lesser dignity even to the common people, who have been attached to that form of religion, and love and embrace it or acknowledge and venerate it at heart. From verse 9 to verse 16 [this chapter] has treated of the clergy who have been in the dominion resulting from that form of religion, and have made use of the Lord’s Divine authority and by that means gained the world. It now treats of those who are not in any order of the ministry but yet love and embrace that form of religion or acknowledge and venerate it at heart, who are known as the laity. By ‘every steersman’ are understood the highest of them who are emperors, kings, dukes and princes. By ‘everyone voyaging upon ships’ are understood those who are in the various functions of greater or lesser degree. By ‘sailors’ are understood the lowest who are called the common people. By ‘as many as work at sea’ are understood all in general who have been attached to that form of religion and love and embrace it or acknowledge and venerate it at heart.
[2] That here all these (hi et illi) are understood is plain from the series of the things in the spiritual sense; also from the signification of ‘steersmen’* and of ‘voyaging upon ships’ and of ‘sailors’, and from the signification of ‘those working at sea’. By ‘steersmen of ships’, also ‘those voyaging upon them’ and ‘sailors’, no others can be understood but those who bring the things that above are called merchandise, which are the things that they gather together into their treasuries, also properties (possessiones), and who take back benedictions and blessings in return for them as things merited, and other similar things which they desired for their souls. And when these are understood it is plain that by ‘every steersman’ the highest of them is understood, by ‘everyone voyaging upon ships’ all in offices subordinate to those, and by ‘sailors’ the lowest. That by ‘ships’ are signified the cognitions of good and truth that are spiritual merchandise may be seen above (n. 406). Here the merchandise is natural, and they get spiritual things in return as they think. By ‘as many as work at sea’ are signified all, whoever they may be, who love and embrace that form of religion or acknowledge and venerate it at heart. This is because by ‘the sea’ that form of religion is signified, for by ‘the sea’ is signified the external of the Church, as may be seen above (n. 238, 290, 403-405, 470, 565 1/2, 659, 661), and that form of religion is purely external. Similar things are signified by these words in Isaiah:-
Thus has said Jehovah your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, For your sake have I sent to Babel, and I will cast down all the bars, of which there is a cry in the ships. Thus has said Jehovah, I Who have given a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters Isa. xliii 14, 16.
It is said ‘a cry in the ships’, as also here that ‘they stood afar off and cried’ out of the ships. And also in Ezekiel:-
At the voice of the cry of thy skippers the suburbs shall quake, and all handling an oar shall come down from their ships, all the sailors and skippers of the sea, and they shall cry out bitterly over thee Ezek. xxvii 28-30.
But all these things [are said] concerning the devastation of Tyre, by which is signified the Church as to cognitions of truth and good. [3] It must, however, be known that no others are understood here but those who love and embrace that form of religion or acknowledge and venerate it at heart. But those of the same form of religion, who indeed acknowledge it because of being born and brought up in it, and do not know anything of their sly tricks and snares for arrogating Divine worship to themselves and for getting possession of all the property of all in the world, and still do good things out of a sincere heart, and also have turned their eyes to the Lord, these after death come among the blessed. For when instructed there they receive truths (veritas), rejecting the adoration of the pope and the invocation of saints; and they acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven and earth, are taken up into heaven, and become angels. Therefore there are also many heavenly societies of them in the spiritual world over which are set honoured persons who have lived in like manner. It has been granted to see that over those societies some were set who also have been emperors, kings, dukes and princes, who indeed have acknowledged the pontiff as the highest person of the Church but not as the Lord’s vicar, and have also acknowledged some things out of the papal bulls but yet held the Word to be holy and acted justly in their administration. Concerning these some things may be seen in the CONTINUATION CONCERNING THE LAST JUDGMENT AND CONCERNING THE SPIRITUAL WORLD (n. 58 and 60), related from experience.
* The text of the Original Edition here does not make sense, nor is it grammatically correct. We have read gubernatorum (of steersmen) instead of super navibus (upon ships); and in the next sentence versantes super illis et nautas (those voyaging upon them and sailors) instead of versantium super illis et nautarum (of those voyaging upon them and of sailors).
787. ‘Stood afar off, [verse 18] and shouted, seeing the smoke of her burning, saying, Was there ever anything like this [great] city!’ signifies their mourning in a remote state over the damnation of that form of religion which they have believed to be supereminent above every religion in the world. By ‘stood afar off’ is signified while still in a state remote from damnation and yet in fear of the penalties (n. 769, 783). By ‘cried’ is signified their mourning, by ‘the smoke of her burning ‘is signified damnation on account of the adulteration and profanation of the Word (n. 766, 767). By ‘saying, Was there ever anything like this city!’ is signified that they have believed that form of religion to be supereminent above every religion in the world. By that ‘great city’ is signified that form of religion, as frequently above. That they believe that form of religion to be supereminent above every religion and that it is ‘mother Church, queen and mistress’ is known. Then also it is known to those who direct their attention to it that it is continually being infused by clerics (canonicus) and monks that they may so believe, and that they do this out of the fire of dominating and making gain. Still, however, on account of the authority of their domination they are unable to withdraw from all the external things thereof; but yet they can withdraw from its internal things, since all liberty has been left, and is left, to man’s will and understanding and consequently to his affection and thought.
788. [verse 19] ‘And they cast dust upon their heads, and cried out weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, that great city’ signifies their interior and exterior grief and mourning, which is a lamentation that such an eminent form of religion has been altogether destroyed and damned. By ‘to cast dust upon heads ‘is signified interior grief and mourning on account of the destruction and damnation, concerning which [something] follows. By ‘to cry out weeping and mourning’ is signified exterior grief and mourning; by ‘to weep’ is signified mourning of the soul, and by’ to mourn ‘grief of the heart. By ‘Woe, woe, that city’ is signified the grievous lamentation over the destruction and damnation. That ‘woe’ signifies lamentation over misfortune, unhappiness and damnation, and consequently ‘woe, woe’ grievous lamentation, may be seen (n. 416, 769, 785); and that ‘the city’ signifies that form of religion (n. 785; and elsewhere). That by ‘to cast dust upon the head’ is signified interior grief and mourning on account of destruction and damnation is established from the following passages:-
They shall cry bitterly and shall cast up dust upon their head, and shall roll in ashes Ezek. xxvii 30.
The daughters of Zion sit on the earth, they have cast up dust upon their head Lam. ii 10.
Job’s friends rent their coats (tunica), and sprinkled dust upon their heads Job ii 12.
Go down and sit upon the dust, O daughter of Babel, sit on the earth, there is no throne for thee Isa. xlvii 1;
besides elsewhere. The reason why they put dust upon their heads when they were inmostly grieving was because ‘dust’ used to signify what was damned, as is plain from Gen. iii 14; Matt. x 14; Mark vi 11; Luke x 10-12; and ‘dust upon the head’ used to represent the acknowledgment that of themselves they were damned, and thus repentance (as in Matt. xi 21; Luke x 13). The reason why ‘dust’ signifies damnation is because the land over the hells in the spiritual world consists of pure dust without grass and herbage.
789. ‘In which all having ships in the sea have been made rich by reason of her preciousness, for in one hour they have been devastated’ signifies on this account, that by means of the holy things of that form of religion all, as many as were willing to buy, have been pardoned (propitiati sint), and for worldly and temporal riches have received spiritual and eternal riches, and that now no one [can buy them]. By ‘to be made rich by reason of her preciousness’ is signified by means of the holy things of that form of religion to be pardoned by God, or to believe that for temporal and temporary merchandise or riches they are receiving spiritual and eternal merchandise or riches, that is, that for gold, silver, precious stone, pearls, purple and the rest that are enumerated (vers. 12, 13) they are acquiring blessings and felicities after death. These things are understood by the ‘preciousness’ with which they declare themselves to be enriched out of that city. That they speak in this manner is known. By the statement that ‘in one hour they have been devastated’ is signified that on account of the destruction of that form of religion no one hereafter can buy their holy things. From these things it is plain that by these words the things that have been set forth above are signified. That the holy things of the Church are signified by ‘precious things’ is plain from these passages:-
Blessed by Jehovah is the hand of Joseph, in respect of the precious things of heaven, of the precious things of the products of the sun, of the precious things of the products of the months, of the precious things of the hills of eternity and of the precious things of the land Deut. xxxiii 13-15.
Ephraim is a precious son to Me, a child of delights Jer. xxxi 20 [H.B. 19].
By ‘Ephraim’ is meant the understanding of the Word.
The precious sons of Zion were esteemed above pure gold Lam. iv 2.
‘The sons of Zion’ are the truths of the Church. Besides elsewhere, as Isa. xiii 12; xliii 4; Ps. xxxvi 7 [H.B. 8]; xlv 9 [H.B. 10]; xlix 8 [H.B. 9]; cxvi 15. This is why it is now said that out of that city ‘all having ships in the sea have been made rich’ in respect of’ her preciousness
790. [verse 20] ‘Exult over her, O heaven, and the holy apostles and prophets, for God has judged your judgment on her’ signifies that now the angels of heaven, and the men of the Church who are in goods and truths out of the Word, may rejoice at heart that those who are in the evils and untruths of that form of religion have been removed and rejected. ‘Exult over her, O heaven’ signifies that now the angels of heaven may rejoice at heart, for exultation is joy of heart. ‘And the holy apostles and prophets’ signifies and together with them the men of the Church who are in goods and truths out of the Word. By ‘apostles’ are signified those who are in the goods and thence in the truths of the Church out of the Word, and abstractly, the goods and truths of the Church out of the Word (n. 79); and by ‘prophets’ are signified truths derived from good out of the Word (n. 8, 133). They are called ‘holy’ because ‘apostles and prophets’, as has been said, signify abstractly the goods and truths of the Word, which in themselves are holy because the Lord’s (n. 586, 666). ‘For God has judged your judgment on her’ signifies because those who are in the evils and untruths of that form of religion have been removed and rejected. That no others have may be seen above (n. 786). The joy of the angels of heaven over the removal and rejection of those who are in the evils and untruths of that form of religion is treated of in the following chapter from verse 1 to verse 9; here only that they may rejoice. But the angelic joy is not derived from their damnation, but from the New Heaven and the New Church and the salvation of the faithful; which things cannot be given sooner than those have been removed, which is being done and has been done by means of the last judgment, on which subject something will be seen in the exposition of vers. 7-9 of the following chapter. From these considerations it can be established that by ‘Exult over her, O heaven, and the holy apostles and prophets, for God has judged your judgment on her’ is signified that the angels of heaven, and the men of the Church who are in goods and truths out of the Word, may rejoice at heart that those who are in the evils and untruths of that form of religion have been removed and rejected. Who cannot see that the apostles and prophets treated of in the Word are not here understood, these having been few and not more excellent than other men? But by them are understood all in the Lord’s Church who are in goods and truths out of the Word, as also by the twelve tribes of Israel treated of above (n. 349). By ‘the apostle Peter’ is understood the truth (veritas) or faith of the Church, by ‘the apostle James’ the charity of the Church, and by ‘the apostle John’ the works of charity of the men of the Church.
791. [verse 21] ‘And one robust angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, With such impetus shall Babylon be cast down, that great city, and shall not be found any more’ signifies that by means of the Lord’s strong influx out of heaven that form of religion with all its adulterated truths of the Word will be cast headlong into hell, and that it is never going to appear to the angels any more. By ‘one robust angel took up’ is signified the Lord’s strong influx out of heaven, for by an’ angel is signified the Lord, and His operation which is effected through heaven (n. 258, 415, 465, 649). Here, because he is called a ‘robust angel’ and ‘he took up a stone [like] a great millstone’, a strong operation is signified, which is a strong influx. By ‘a stone like a great millstone’ is signified the adulterated and profaned truths of the Word; for by ‘a stone’ is signified truths, and by ‘a mill’ is signified a search into, examination of, and confirmation of truth out of the Word, concerning which [see] n. 794. But here the adulteration and profanation of the truths of the Word is signified because it treats of Babylon. By ‘to cast into the sea’ is signified into hell. By ‘with such impetus shall Babylon be cast down, that great city’ is signified that thus will that form of religion be cast headlong into hell. By ‘shall not be found any more is signified that it is never going to appear to the angels any more. [2] This is signified because all those of that form of religion who are in its evils and untruths indeed come into the world of spirits after death; for that world is like a forum in which all are first gathered together, and it is like the stomach into which all foods are first gathered together. Indeed, the stomach corresponds to that world. At this day, however, because it is after the last judgment, which took place in the year 1757, it is not as before allowed them to stay in that world and to form for themselves as it were heavens; but as soon as they arrive (illuc alluunt) they are transferred to the societies there that are in conjunction with the hells. Into these also they are cast from time to time; and thus care is taken by the Lord lest they ever again appear to the angels. This therefore is what is signified by ‘that city’, that is, that form of religion, ‘shall not be found any more’.
[3] Since by ‘a millstone’ is signified the truth of the Word adulterated, and by ‘the sea’ hell, therefore the Lord said:-
He who offends one of the little ones believing in Me, it is better for him to have an ass-millstone about his neck and be immersed in the depths of the sea Matt. xviii 6.
It is termed ‘a stone for grinding’ (Mark ix 42; Luke xvii 2). Almost the same thing is said of ‘Babel’ in Jeremiah:-
When thou hast finished reading this book thou shalt bind a stone upon it and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates and shalt say, Thus shall Babel be submerged and shall not rise again Jer. li 63, 64.
By ‘the midst of the Euphrates’ a like thing is understood as by ‘the sea’, because the river Euphrates used to bound and separate Assyria, where Babel was, from the land of Canaan.
792. [verse 22] ‘And the voice of harpers and musicians and flute-players and trumpeters shall not be heard in thee any more’ signifies that with them there will not be any affection of spiritual truth and good, nor affection of celestial truth and good. By ‘the voice’ is understood the sound, and every sound corresponds to an affection that is of love, since it arises therefrom. Consequently the sounds of the harp, of music, and of the flute, by virtue of the correspondence signify affections. But affections are of two kinds, spiritual and celestial. Spiritual affections are affections of wisdom, and celestial affections are affections of love. They differ from each other in the same way as the heavens, which, as has frequently been said above, are distinguished into two kingdoms, the celestial and the spiritual. There are therefore musical instruments the sounds of which relate to spiritual affections, and there are those that relate to celestial affections. The voice or sound of harpers and musicians relates to spiritual affections, and the voice or sound of flute-players and trumpeters to celestial affections. For the instruments the sounds of which are discrete, as stringed instruments, pertain to the class of spiritual affections; and the instruments of which the sounds are continuous, as wind instruments, pertain to the class of celestial affections. This is why the voice or sound ‘of harpers and musicians’ signifies the affection of spiritual truth and good, while the voice or sound ‘of flute-players and trumpeters’ signifies the affection of celestial truth and good. That the sound of the harp from correspondence signifies confession out of the affection of spiritual truth may be seen (n. 276, 661). [2] It is here understood that those who are in the evils and untruths of the Roman Catholic form of religion have neither affections of spiritual truth and good nor affections of celestial truth and good, for it is said that ‘the voice of harpers and musicians and flute-players and trumpeters shall not be heard in thee any more’. The reason why they do not have them is because with them they cannot be given, for they do not have any truth out of the Word; and because there is no truth, neither is there any good. This is given only with those who desire truths; but no others desire truths out of a spiritual affection than those who approach the Lord. These, in accordance with this desire of theirs, are instructed after death by angels and receive those truths. The external affections in which they are while they are hearing masses and in the other devotions that are without truths from the Lord by means of the Word are nothing but merely natural, sensual and corporeal affections; and because they are such, and without internals derived from the Lord, it is not to be wondered that in a dense darkness and blindness they are brought to the worship of living and dead persons, and to sacrifices to demons, who are called plutos, in order to make an atonement for their souls.
793. ‘And every craftsman of every craft shall not be found in thee any more’ signifies that those who are in that form of religion by virtue of doctrine and a life in accordance with it do not have any understanding of spiritual truth, and consequently neither any thought of spiritual truth, so far as this is of themselves. By ‘a craftsman’ in the spiritual sense of the Word is signified being intelligent, also thinking out of the understanding; in a good sense thinking truths out of the understanding, which are heavenly; and in a bad sense thinking untruths out of the understanding, which are infernal. And as the latter and the former are of many kinds, and each kind of many species, and each species again of many kinds and species, which, however, are called particulars and details (singularia), therefore it is said ‘craftsman of every craft’. By ‘craftsman’ also by virtue of their skills and crafts are signified from correspondence such things as are of wisdom, intelligence and knowledge. It is said ‘from correspondence’ because every work of man, likewise every operation if only it be of some use, corresponds to such things as are of angelic intelligence. But there are some matters or subjects of angelic intelligence pertaining to the works of craftsmen in gold, silver and precious stones; others pertaining to those of craftsmen in bronze, iron, wood and stone; and others pertaining to those of the craftsmen of other desirable uses, such as cloths, linens, garments and clothing of various kinds. All of these correspond, as has been said, because they are works. From these considerations it can be established that by the ‘craftsman of every craft’ who ‘shall not be found’ in Babylon, it is not understood that there shall be no craftsman there but that there will not be any understanding of spiritual truth, and consequently not any thought of spiritual truth either. But this is the case only with those who are in that form of religion by virtue of its doctrine and a life in accordance therewith, and also so far as this is of themselves.
[2] That ‘a craftsman’ signifies those who are in the understanding of truth and consequently in the thought of truth can be established from these passages:-
Bezaleel and Ohohiab the craftsmen shall make the tabernacle because they are filled with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge Exod. xxx 13; xxxvi 1, 2.
Every one wise-hearted among those doing the work made the dwelling- place, the work of the craftsman Exod. xxxvi 8.
Thou shalt make the dwelling-place of fine twined linen, and hyacinthine and purple, and double-dyed scarlet, and cherubs, with the work of the craftsman thou shalt make them Exod. xxvi 1.
Thou shalt make the veil likewise with the work of the craftsman Exod. xxvi 31; xxxv 35.
Likewise the ephod with the work of the craftsman; as also the breastplate Exod. xxviii 6; xxxix 8.
The ‘craftsman’ there is named by a word that also signifies a designer.
Thou shalt engrave two stones, which thou shalt put upon the shoulders of the ephod, with the work of a craftsman in gems Exod. xxviii 11.
[3] In the opposite sense by ‘the work of a craftsman’ is signified the kind of work that is derived from self-intelligence, out of which only what is false can be produced. This is understood by ‘the work of the craftsman’ in these places:-
They shall make a molten image out of their silver in their own intelligence, all of it the work of craftsmen Hosea xiii 2.
The craftsman casts the graven image, and the founder spreads it over wills gold and forges silver chains; he seeks for a wise craftsman Isa. xl 19, 20.
He cuts wood from the forest, the work of the hands of the workman. Silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman; hyacinthine and purple, their clothing, all of them the work of wise ones Jer. x 3, 9.
Also Deut. xxvii 15. That ‘idols’ signify the untruths of worship and religion derived from self-intelligence may be seen above (n. 459, 460).
794. ‘And the voice of a mill shall not be heard in thee any more’ signifies that those who are in that form of religion by virtue of its doctrine and a life in accordance therewith do not have any searching into, examination and confirmation of spiritual truth, because the untruth received and confirmed, and thus implanted, stands in the way. By ‘the voice of a mill’ nothing else is signified but a searching into, examination and confirmation of spiritual truth, especially out of the Word. This is signified by ‘the voice of a mill’ or by grinding because by the wheat and barley that are ground is signified celestial and spiritual good, and consequently by fine flour and meal is signified the truth derived from that good; for every truth is derived from good, and every truth that is not derived from spiritual good is not spiritual. ‘The voice of a mill’ is said because throughout the Word spiritual things are denoted by the instrumental things that are the ultimates of nature, just as spiritual truths and goods [are denoted] by cups, phials, bottles, plates and many other vessels, as may be seen above (n. 672). That by ‘wheat’ is signified the good of the Church out of the Word [may be seen] (n. 315); and that the truth derived from that good is signified by fine flour from wheat (n. 778).
[2] That ‘a mill’ signifies the searching into, examination and confirmation of spiritual truth can be seen from these passages:-
Jesus said, In the consummation of the age two [men] shall be in the
field, one shall be taken and the other left; two [women] shall be grinding at the mill, one shall be taken and the other left Matt. xxiv 40, 41.
By ‘the consummation of the age’ is understood the end of the Church, when there is the last judgment; by ‘the field’ is signified the Church because the harvest is there; by [the women] ‘grinding at the mill’ are signified those in the Church who search for truths; by the ones ‘taken’ are signified those who find and receive them, and by the ones ‘left’ those who neither search after nor receive them because they are in untruths.
I will take away from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride, the voice of the mill stones and the light of the lamp Jer. xxv 10.
By ‘the voice of the millstones’ in this passage a similar thing is signified as here in the Apocalypse.
[3] Thou shalt not accept a mill or a millstone as a pledge, for it is accepting the soul as a pledge Deut. xxiv 6.
‘A mill’ here is called ‘the soul’ because by ‘the soul’ is signified the truth of wisdom and faith (n. 681). In the opposite sense by ‘a mill’ is signified the examination and confirmation of untruth, as is plain from these passages:-
They have led the young men away for grinding and the boys fall down at the wood Lam. v 13.
Sit upon the dust, O daughter of Babel, take the mill and grind meal, uncover thy locks, uncover the thigh, pass over the streams, let thy nakedness be uncovered and let thy shame be seen Isa. xlvii 1-3.
‘Take the mill and grind meal’ signifies that they may search after and examine untruths in order to confirm them.
795. But let this be illustrated by an example. Who cannot see that those who are in Babylon have searched after and examined how they can confirm this enormous untruth, that the bread and the wine in the Eucharist should be divided, so that the bread may be given to the laity and the wine to the clergy? This can be seen from merely reading the confirmation enacted in the Council of Trent and ratified by a bull, which reads thus:-
That Immediately after the consecration the very Body of Jesus Christ and the very Blood, together with His Soul and Divinity, are really and substantially contained under the form (species) of bread and wine; the Body under the form of bread and the Blood under the form of wine, BY VIRTUE OF THE WORDS; but the Body itself under the form of wine, and the Blood under the form of bread, and the soul under each, by virtue of the natural connection and concomitance whereby the parts of Christ the Lord are joined together; and the Divinity on account of that admirable hypostatic union with the body and soul; and that as much is contained under either form as under each; and that Christ whole and entire is manifest under the form of bread, and under each h)art of that form, and the whole also is manifest under the form of wine and its parts. Also that water should be mixed wills the wine.
These are their very words; and they themselves confess that they are contrary to the force of the Lord’s words. Who being of sound judgment does not see there truths inverted and turned into untruths by reasonings, which the upright in heart can only abominate? But why is this? Is it not solely for the sake of the masses which they call propitiatory sacrifices, most holy, pure, with nothing but what is holy in them, by which they would infuse sanctity into the bodily senses of men, and at the same time night into all things of faith and spiritual life, and this for the purpose of dominating and making gain in a dense darkness? Is it not also so that there may he the idea concerning the ministers, that they are full of the Lord, and that the Lord is in them? And so that lest they should be fatigued the wine is for them, and lest they be inebriated there is water in the wine?
796. [verse 23] ‘And the light of a lamp shall not shine in thee any more’ signifies that those who are in that form of religion by virtue of doctrine and a life in accordance therewith do not have any enlightenment from the Lord, nor consequently any perception of spiritual truth. By ‘the light of a lamp’ is signified enlightenment from the Lord, and consequently a perception of spiritual truth; for by ‘the light’ is understood the light of heaven in which angels are, and men also as to the understanding. This light in its essence is Divine Wisdom, for it proceeds from the Lord as the Sun of the spiritual world, and this in its own substance is Divine Love of Divine Wisdom out of which no other light can proceed than that which is of Divine Wisdom, nor any other heat than that which is of Divine Love. That this is the case has been demonstrated in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WI5DOM (n. 83-172). Since that light is from the Lord, and the Lord by means of it and in it is omnipresent, therefore by its means all enlightenment is effected, and consequently the perception of spiritual truth which those have who love Divine Truths spiritually, that is, who love truths because they are true, thus because they are Divine. That this is to love the Lord, is plain; for the Lord is omnipresent in that light, because Divine Love and Wisdom are not in space but are where they are received and in accordance with the reception. [2] That those who are in the Roman Catholic form of religion do not have any enlightenment and consequent perception of spiritual truth can be established from the fact that they do not love any spiritual light. For the origin of spiritual light is from the Lord, as has been said, and no others can accept or receive that light but those who have been conjoined with the Lord; and conjunction with the Lord is effected solely by the acknowledgment and worship of Him, and at the same time by a life in accordance with His precepts out of the Word. The acknowledgment and worship of the Lord and the reading of the Word bring about the Lord’s presence, but those two together with a life in accordance with His precepts effect a conjunction with Him. In Babylon it is the contrary; there the Lord is acknowledged, but without dominion, and the Word is acknowledged, but without the reading of it. Instead of the Lord the pope is worshipped there, and in place of the Word papal bulls are acknowledged. They live in accordance with these and not in accordance with the precepts of the Word. Also those bulls have for an end the dominion of the pope and his ministers over heaven and the world, whereas the precepts of the Word have for an end the Lord’s dominion over heaven and the world; and the latter and the former are diametrically opposite to each other, like hell and heaven. These things have been said so that it may be known that there is no ‘light of a lamp’ at all, that is, no enlightenment and consequent perception of spiritual truth, with those who are in the Babylonish form of religion by virtue of doctrine and a life in accordance therewith.
[3] That the Lord is ‘the Light’ out of which there is all enlightenment and perception of spiritual truth is plain from these statements:-
He was the true Light, which enlightens every man coming into the world John 4-12.
These [words were said] of the Lord.
This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world; he who does the truth comes to the Light John i 19, 21.
Jesus said, Yet a little while is the Light with you; walk while you have the Light, lest darkness seize upon you: while you have the Light believe in the Light, that you may be sons of the Light John xii 35, 36
Jesus said, I the Light have come into the world, that every one who believes in Me may not remain in darkness John xii 46.
Jesus said, lam the Light of the world John ix 5.
Simeon said, Mine eyes have seen Thy Salvation, the Light for the revelation pertaining to the nations Luke ii 30-32.
The people sitting in darkness has seen the great Light, to those sitting in the region and shadow of death the Light has arisen Matt. iv 16; Isa. ix 2 [H.B. 1].
I will give Thee for the Light of the nations, that Thou mayest be My salvation to the extremity of the land Isa. xlix 6.
The city New Jerusalem has no need of the sun and the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God enlightens it, and the Lamp thereof is the Lamb Rev. xxi 23; xxii 5.
It is plain from these statements that the Lord is the Light out of which there is all enlightenment and the consequent perception of truth; and because the Lord is the Light, the devil is a dense darkness. And the devil is the love of dominating over all the holy Divine things of the Lord, and thus over Him; and in proportion as dominion is given to that love, so far it darkens, extinguishes, sets on fire and burns up the holy Divine things of the Lord.
797. ‘And the voice of the bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in thee any more’ signifies that those who are in that form of religion by virtue of doctrine and a life in accordance therewith do not have the conjunction of good and truth that makes the Church. By voice here is signified joy because it is the voice of the bridegroom and bride. By ‘the bridegroom’ in the highest sense is understood the Lord as to Divine Good, and by ‘the bride’ is understood the Church as to Divine Truth from the Lord; for the Church is a Church by virtue of the reception of the Lord’s Divine good in the Divine truths that are from Himself. That the Lord is termed ‘Bridegroom’ and also ‘Husband’, and that the Church is termed ‘Bride’ and also ‘Wife’, is plain from the Word. That consequently there is a heavenly marriage, which is the conjunction of good and truth, will be seen in a little work on MARRIAGE.* Now because this heavenly marriage is effected through the reception of Divine Good from the Lord in Divine Truths out of the Word by the men of the Church, it is plain that there is not any conjunction of good and truth with those who are in that form of religion by virtue of doctrine and a life therefrom, because they have no conjunction with the Lord, but a conjunction with men living and dead. And this conjunction with those who are in the love, derived from the love of self, of dominating over the Lord’s holy Divine things and over the Lord, is as it were a conjunction with the devil who, as was said in the preceding paragraph, is that love; and to approach the devil so that through him one may come to God, is detestable.
[2] That the Lord is termed ‘the Bridegroom’ and the Church ‘the
Bride’ is plain from these passages:-
He Who has the Bride is the Bridegroom, but the friend of the Bridegroom, who stands and hears Him, rejoices with joy because of the Bridegroom’s voice John iii 29.
John the Baptist [said] these things of the Lord.
Jesus said, As long as the Bridegroom is with them the sons of the wedding cannot fast; the day will come when the Bridegroom shall be taken away from them, then shall they fast Matt. ix 15; Mark ii 19, 20; Luke v 34, 35.
I saw the holy city New Jerusalem prepared as a Bride adorned for [her] Husband Rev. xxi 2.
The angel said, Come and I will show thee the Bride the Lamb’s wife Rev. xxi 9, 10.
The time of the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready. Blessed are those who have been called to the supper of the wedding of the Lamb Rev. xix 7, 9.
The Lord is also understood by:-
The Bridegroom Whom the ten virgins went out to meet Matt. xxv 1, 2 seq.
[3] From these things it is plain what is signified by the voice and the joy of’ the bridegroom ‘And’ the bride’ in these passages:-
As the joy of the bridegroom over the bride, thy God shall rejoice over thee Isa. lxii 5.
My soul shall exult over my God, as a bridegroom puts on a mitre, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels (vasae) Isa. lxi 10.
There shall still be heard in this place the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, and the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, of them saying. Let us confess unto Jehovah Zebaoth Jer. xxxiii 10, 11.
Let the bridegroom go forth out of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet Joel ii 16.
I will make to cease from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride Jer. vii 34; xvi 9.
I will deprive them of the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, and the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of the mills and the light of the lamp, and the whole land shall be for a desolation by the king of Babel Jer. xxv 10, 11.
[4] From these considerations the series of things in these two verses can now be seen, which is:-
That those who are in that form of religion do not have any affection of spiritual truth and good (n. 792).
That they do not have any understanding of spiritual truth, and consequently any thought of it (n. 793); for thought is derived from affection and is in accordance therewith.
That neither do they have any searching into, examination and confirmation of spiritual truth (n. 794).
That neither do they have any enlightenment from the Lord, nor consequently a perception of spiritual truth (n. 796).
And finally that they do not have any conjunction of good and truth, which makes the Church (n. 797).
Thus do these things follow in order.
* The work on ‘Conjugial Love’, published in 1768.
798. Since it is said that they do not have any conjunction of good and truth because there is no marriage of the Lord and the Church with them, something shall here be said concerning the authority for opening and shutting heaven which acts as one with the authority to remit and to retain sins, which they claim for themselves as the successors of Peter and the apostles. The Lord said to Peter:-
Upon this same Rock (Petra) I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail over it. I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in the heavens, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in the heavens Matt. xvi 18, 19.
The Divine Truth that is understood by the ‘Rock’ (Petra) upon which the Lord is going to build His Church is what Peter then confessed, which was (verse 16 there):-
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
By ‘the keys of the kingdom of the heavens’, which are that whatsoever that ‘Rock’, which is the Lord, ‘shall bind on earth shall be bound in the heavens, and whatsoever He shall loose on earth shall be loosed in the heavens’, is understood that the Lord has authority over heaven and earth, as He also says (Matt. xxviii 18), thus the authority for saving the men who from a faith of the heart are in that confession of Peter’s. [2] The Lord’s Divine operation for saving men is from first things by means of ultimates, and this is what is understood by ‘whatsoever He shall bind or loose on earth shall be bound or loosed in heaven’. The ultimates by means of which the Lord operates are on earth, and are indeed with men. On account of this He came into the world and put on the Human so that the Lord Himself might be in ultimates just as He is in first things. That every Divine operation of the Lord is from first things by means of ultimates, thus from Himself in first things and from Himself in ultimates, may be seen in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (n. 217-219, 221); and that as a result of this the Lord is termed ‘the First and the Last, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the Almighty’, may be seen above (n. 29-31, 38, 57). [3] Who cannot see, if he will, that the salvation of a man is the Lord’s continuous operation with the man from the first moment of his infancy to the last moment of his life, and that this is a purely Divine thing and never assignable to any man? This is so Divine that it is the operation at the same time of Omnipresence, Omniscience and Omnipotence. Also that a man’s reformation and regeneration, thus his salvation, is all of the Lord’s Divine Providence can be seen in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE PROVIDENCE from beginning to end. [4] The actual coming of the Lord into the world was solely for the sake of man’s salvation. For the sake of this He assumed the Human, removed the hells, also glorified Himself and put on Omnipotence even in ultimates, which is understood by ‘to sit at the right hand of God’. What therefore is more abominable than to fashion a form of religion by means of which it is sanctioned that a man has that Divine authority and power, and no longer the Lord; and that heaven is opened and shut if only a priest (canonicus) says, ‘I absolve’ or ‘I excommunicate’; and that even an enormous sin is remitted if he only says ‘I remit’? There are many devils in the world who, for the purpose of avoiding the temporal penalties, seek and obtain absolution from a diabolical crime by means of stratagems and gifts. Who can be so insane as to believe that authority is given to admit devils into heaven?
[5] It was said above (n. 790 at the end) that Peter represented the Church’s truth of faith, James the Church’s good of charity, and John the good works of the men of the Church, and that the twelve apostles together represented the Church as to all the things thereof. That they did represent those things is quite clear from the Lord’s words to them in Matthew:-
When the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of His glory, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel Matt. xix 28; Luke xxii 30.
By those words nothing else can be signified than that the Lord is going to judge all in accordance with the goods and truths of the Church. If these things were not understood by those words, but the apostles themselves, all those in the great city Babylon who say they are the successors of the apostles might have also claimed for themselves that from pontiff down to monk they are going to sit upon thrones as many in number as themselves, and are going to judge all in the whole wide world.
799. ‘Because thy great ones* were the merchants of the land’ signifies that the higher ones in their ecclesiastical hierarchy are such, because by means of various, even arbitrary, rights left to them in the statutes of the order they trade and make a profit. By ‘great ones’ are understood the higher ones in their ecclesiastical hierarchy, who are called cardinals, bishops and primates. These are called ‘merchants’ because they make gain by means of the holy things of the Church as by merchandise (n. 771, 783). Here they are those who by means of various, even arbitrary, laws left to them in the statutes of the order trade and make a profit. Why this is said is plain from the things preceding, for this is a consequence of them. In the preceding statements it is said that ‘there shall not be heard any more in Babylon the voice of harpers, of musicians, of flute-players and of trumpeters, that there shall not be a craftsman of any craft, there shall not he heard the voice of a mill, there shall not be the light of a lamp, neither the voice of the bridegroom and bride’. By these things is signified that in Babylon there is not any affection of spiritual truth, nor any understanding of it and consequent thought, neither any search after and examination of it, nor enlightenment and a perception of it, and consequently no conjunction of good and truth that makes the Church, as may be seen above (n. 792-794, 796, 797). The reason why they do not have these things is because the higher ones in the order also trade and make gain and thus set an example to the lower ones. This therefore is why it is said ‘because thy great ones were the merchants of the hand’. [2] But perhaps someone may say, ‘What are those even arbitrary rights which are called tradings?’ They are not their annual revenues and stipends, but they are the dispensations resulting from the authority of the keys. These are, that they remit sins even enormous ones, and thereby release from the temporal penalties; that by intercessions with the pope they get the power for contracting marriages within the prohibited degrees, and for breaking off those within the degrees not prohibited. And they [do the same] themselves by tolerations without intercession; by gifts of the privileges pertaining to their rights; by ordinations of ministers, and confirmations; by gratuities general and particular derived from monasteries; by awards of revenues from one source which belong by right to another; and by many other things. These things, and not their annual revenues if they have been content with them, are the cause of their not having any affection, thought, examination and perception of spiritual truth, nor conjunction of truth and good, because they are the gains of the unjust mammon, and an unjust person perpetually lusts after natural wealth and is averse to the spiritual riches that are the Divine Truths (veritas) out of the Word.
[3] From these considerations it can now be established that by ‘because thy great ones were the merchants of the land’ is signified that the higher ones in their ecclesiastical hierarchy are such because by means of various even arbitrary rights left to them in the statutes of their order they trade and make a profit. Something further shall be said here concerning the dispensation, derived from the authority of the keys, over even enormous crimes, by means of which they not only liberate the guilty from eternal but also from temporal penalties; and if they do not liberate them, they still protect them by giving sanctuary (per azyla). Who does not see that this is not a matter of ecclesiastical but of civil jurisdiction; and that it is to extend dominion over everything secular; and that this is to destroy public security; also that by this authority still reserved to themselves they are in the power of bringing back their former despotic domination over all matters of judgment established by kings, thus over even the highest judges? This also they would do but for their fearing a withdrawal [of adherents]. This is understood in Daniel by this, that:-
The fourth beast coming up out of the sea shall think to change times and the law (tempora et jus) Dan. vii 25.
* In the Original Edition here and at verse 23 of the Contents the words magnates (great ones) and mercatores (merchants) appear in the reverse order compared with the text at the beginning of the chapter and in the Greek.
Continue its thine enchantments, O Babel, and in the multitude of thy tricks wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth. Perhaps they can be of use, perhaps thou mayest become terrible. Thou hast been wearied with the multitude of thy counsel. Let now the observers of the heavens, the star-gazers*, those making predictions in the months, stand up and save thee. Behold they have become as stubble, the fire has burned them up, they shall not snatch away the soul from the hand of the flame. Such have thy merchants become from youth, each one has wandered out of his own district, there is no one saving thee Isa. xlvii 12-15.
* Reading stellas (stars) as in Hebrew, instead of terram (land).
There are the slain of every land Jer. li 49, 52;
and in Isaiah that:-
Lucifer (who there is Babel) has destroyed his hand, and slain his people Isa. xiv 20.
That out of the Babylonish form of religion many untruths have emanated into the Churches of the Reformed may be seen above (n. 751), where was expounded the statement that:-
The woman thou hast seen is the great city having the kingdom over the kings of the land Rev. xvii 18.
* * * * * * * * * * *
802. It is said that as a result of the form of religion that is understood by ‘the city Babylon’ there is the adulteration and profanation of every truth of the Word, and consequently of every holy thing of the Church; and it is said many times in the things preceding that that form of religion has not only adulterated the goods and truths of the Word but has also profaned them, and that therefore ‘Babel’ in the Word signifies the profanation of what is holy. It shall now be said how that profanation has been and is effected. It was said above that the love, derived from the love of self, of dominating over the holy things of the Church and over heaven, thus over all the Divine things of the Lord, is the devil. Now because that dominion as the end in view has occupied the minds of all those who fashioned that form of religion, they could not do otherwise than profane the holy things of the Word and the Church. Suppose that that love, which is the devil, occupies the mind of anyone interiorly, as does every ruling love; then place some Divine Truth exteriorly before its eyes; will it not tear it in pieces, cast it to the earth and trample upon it, and in place of it summon an untruth in accord with itself? [2] The love of possessing all the things of the world is satan, and the devil and satan act as one, as if joined by a covenant, with such as from the one love are in the other. It can be concluded from these considerations whence it is that by ‘Babylon’ in the Word is signified profanation. For example: place before that love which is the devil this Divine Truth, that the Only God is to be worshipped and adored, and not any man; and that the Vicariate is an invention and figment that must be rejected. In like manner this truth, that to invoke dead men, to fall down before their images, to kiss them and their bones, is an utterly and disgustingly idolatrous practice that also must be rejected. Would not that love which is the devil reject these two truths in the vehemence of its anger, fulminate against them, and tear them to bits? [3] But if anyone should say to that love which is the devil, that to open and shut heaven, or to loose and to bind, thus to remit sins, which is the same as to reform and regenerate and thus to redeem and save a man, is purely Divine; and that a man cannot claim anything Divine to himself without profanation; and that Peter did not claim any such thing to himself nor had he exercised any such authority; moreover that the succession is a thing invented by that love, as also the transference of the Holy Spirit from man to man; on hearing these things would not that love which is the devil belabour the speaker with anathemas, and in the fire of its fury order him to be delivered to the inquisitors and cast into the condemned cell? If anyone should say further, How can the Lord’s Divine authority be transferred into you? How can the Lord’s Divinity be separated from His Soul and Body? Is it not in accordance with your faith that it cannot? How can God the Father being His own Divine Power into the Son, if not into His Divinity which is the receptacle? How can this be transcribed into a man so as to be his? Besides other similar things. On hearing them would not that love which is the devil be silent, burn with rage inwardly, gnash the teeth and cry out, ‘Bring him forth, crucify him, crucify him, go forth, let all go forth, let them see the great heretic and entertain themselves’?
1. After these things I heard as it were the voice of a great crowd in heaven saying, Hallelujah, salvation and glory and honour and power to the Lord our God:
2. For true and just are His judgments, for He has judged the great harlot who has corrupted Use land with her whoredom, and He has avenged the blood of His servants from (de) her hand.
3. And a second time they said, Hallelujah; and her smoke goes up for ages of ages.
4. And the twenty-four elders and the four animals fell down, and they adored God sitting upon the throne saying, Amen Hallelujah.
5. And a voice came out of the throne saying, Praise our God, O all His servants, and those fearing Him, both the small and the great.
6. And I heard as it were the voice of a great crowd, and as it were the voice of many waters, and as it were the voice of powerful thunders, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord God Almighty reigns.
7. Let us rejoice and exult and give glory to Him, for the Lamb’s wedding has come, and His wife has made herself ready.
8. And it was granted to her that she should be arrayed with fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen [signifies] the just deeds of the saints.
9. And he said unto me, Write, Blessed are those who are called unto the supper of the Lamb’s wedding; and he said, These are the true words of God.
10. And I fell down before his feet to adore him, and he said unto me, See thou, do it not (vide, ne), I am thy fellow- servant and of thy brothers having the testimony of Jesus; adore God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
11. And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and the One sitting upon it is called Faithful and True, and in justice He judges and fights.
12. And His eyes as it were a flame of fire, and upon His head many diadems, having a Name written that no one knew but Himself.
13. And clothed with a blood-stained garment, and His Name is called The Word of God.
14. And the armies that are in heaven were following Him upon white horses, clothed with fine linen white and clean.
15. And out of His mouth a sharp sword was proceeding, that by means of it He should smite the nations, and He Himself shall lead them to pasture with an iron rod, and He Himself is treading the wine-press of the fury and wrath of Almighty God.
16. And upon the garment and upon His thigh He has a Name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
17. And I saw one angel standing in the Sun, and he cried out with a great voice, saying to all the birds flying in the midst of heaven, Come and flock together to the Supper of the Great God;
18. That you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of rulers of thousands, and the flesh of strong men, and the flesh of horses, and of those sitting upon them, and the flesh of all, freemen and bondmen, both small and great.
19. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the land and their armies gathered together to wage war with the One sitting upon the horse and with His army.
20. And the beast was arrested, and with him the false prophet who did signs before him, with which he led astray those accepting the mark of the beast and adoring his image. These two were sent away alive into the lake of fire burning with sulphur.
21. And the rest were slain by the sword of the One sitting upon the horse, [the sword] proceeding out of His mouth, and all the birds were satiated with their flesh.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
The glorification of the Lord by the angels of heaven because the Roman Catholic form of religion has been put away in the spiritual world, in consequence of which they have come into the light and into their happiness (vers. 1-5).
The proclamation of the Lord’s Coming, and of the New Church from Himself (vers. 6-10).
The opening of the Word as to its spiritual sense for that Church (vers. 11-16).
The calling of all men to that [Church] (vers. 17, 18).
The resistance by those who are in faith separated from charity (verse 19).
Their removal and damnation (vers. 20, 21).
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. After these things I heard as it were the voice of a great crowd in heaven saying, Hallelujah
signifies a thanksgiving, confession and celebration of the Lord by the angels of the lower heavens on account of the removal of the Babylonians.
Salvation and glory and honour and power unto the Lord our God
signifies that now there is salvation from the Lord, because now there is the reception of Divine Truth and Divine Good out of His Divine authority.
2. For true and just are His judgments, for He has judged the great harlot who has corrupted the land with her whoredom
signifies because out of justice the profane Babylonian form of religion has been condemned, which has destroyed the Lord’s Church by foul adulterations of the Word.
And He has avenged the blood of His servants from (de) her hand
signifies retribution on account of the injuries and violent deeds inflicted on the souls of the worshippers of the Lord.
3. And a second time they said, Hallelujah, her smoke goes up for ages of ages
signifies thanksgiving and celebration of the Lord for joy that that profane form of religion has been damned for ever.
4. And the twenty-four elders and the four animals fell down and adored God sitting upon the throne, saying, Amen Hallelujah
signifies the adoration of the Lord as the God of heaven and earth and as the Judge of the universe by the angels of the higher heavens, and the confirmation of the thanksgiving, confession and celebration of the Lord by the angels of the lower heavens.
5. And a voice came out of the throne saying, Praise our God, O all His servants, and those fearing Him
signifies an influx from the Lord into heaven, and thus the unanimity of the angels that all who are in the truths of faith and goods of love should worship the Lord as the Only God of heaven.
Both the small and the great
signifies those who out of the truths of faith and goods of love worship the Lord in a lesser or greater degree.
6. And I heard as it were the voice of a great crowd, and as it were the voice of many waters, and as it were the voice of powerful thunders, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord God Almighty reigns
signifies the joy of the angels of the lowest heaven, of the angels of the middle heaven, and of the angels of the highest heaven, that the Only Lord reigns in the Church that is now about to come.
7. Let us rejoice and exult and give glory to Him, for the Lamb’s wedding has come
signifies joy of soul and heart, and the consequent glorification of the Lord that henceforth there may be effected a full marriage of Himself with the Church.
And His wife has made herself ready
signifies that those who will belong to this Church, which is the New Jerusalem, are being assembled, inaugurated and instructed.
8. And it was granted to her that she should be arrayed with fine linen clean and bright
signifies that they are being instructed by the Lord in genuine and pure truths by means of the Word.
For the fine linen [signifies] the just deeds of the saints signifies that by means of truths out of the Word those who belong to the Lord’s Church have the goods of life.
9. And he said unto me, Write, Blessed are those who are called unto the supper of the Lamb’s wedding
signifies one angel out of heaven sent to John and speaking with him concerning the Lord’s New Church, and saying that on earth it would be given to know that those who receive the things that are of that Church have eternal life.
And he said, These are the true words of God
signifies that this is to be believed because it is from the Lord.
10. And I fell down before his feet to adore him, and he said, See thou, do it not, I am thy fellow-servant and of thy brothers having the testimony of Jesus; adore God
signifies that the angels of heaven are not to be adored and invoked because nothing Divine belongs to them, but that they are associated with men as brothers with brothers with those who worship the Lord, and thus that in company with them the Only Lord is to be adored.
For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy
signifies that the acknowledgment that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and at the same time a life in accordance with His precepts, is in the universal sense everything of the Word and of the doctrine thence.
11. And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse
signifies the spiritual sense of the Word revealed by the Lord, and thereby the disclosure of the interior understanding of the Word, which is the Lord’s coming.
And the One sitting upon it is called Faithful and True, and in justice He judges and fights
signifies the Lord as to the Word, which is Divine Good and Divine Truth Itself, out of both of which He effects judgment.
12. And His eyes as it were a flame of fire
signifies the Lord’s Divine Wisdom of Divine Love.
And upon His head many diadems
signifies the Divine truths of the Word from Himself.
Having a Name written that no one knew but Himself
signifies that no one sees what the Word is like in its spiritual and celestial sense but the Lord and he to whom He Himself reveals it.
13. And clothed with a blood-stained garment, and His Name is called The Word of God
signifies Divine Truth in the ultimate sense, or the Word in the letter, on which violence has been inflicted.
14. And the armies that are in heaven were following Him upon white horses, clothed with fine linen white and clean
signifies the angels in the Christian New Heaven who were conjoined with the Lord in the interior understanding of the Word, and were thus in pure and genuine truths.
15. And out of His mouth a sword was proceeding
signifies the dispersion of untruths by means of the doctrine derived thence from the Lord.
That by means of it He should smite the nations, and He Himself shall lead them to pasture with an iron rod
signifies that by means of the truths of the sense of the letter of the Word and by rational things He will convince all who are in a dead faith.
And He Himself is treading the wine-press of the fury and wrath of Almighty God
signifies that the Lord Only has endured all the evils of the Church, and all the violence inflicted on the Word, thus on Himself.
16. And upon the garment and upon His thigh He has a Name written, King of kings and Lord of lords
signifies that the Lord teaches in the Word what He is like, that He is the Divine Truth of Divine Wisdom and the Divine Good of Divine Love, thus that He is the God of the universe.
17. And I saw one angel standing in the Sun, and he cried out with a great voice, saying to all the birds flying in the midst of heaven, Come and flock together for the Supper of the Great God
signifies the Lord out of Divine Love, and consequently out of Divine Zeal, calling and assembling all who are in the affection of spiritual truth and who think about heaven to the New Church and to conjunction with Himself, thus to eternal life.
18. That you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of rulers of thousands and the flesh of strong men, and the flesh of horses, and of those sitting upon them, and the flesh of [all] freemen and bondmen, both small and great
signifies the appropriation of goods from the Lord by means of the truths of the Word and the doctrine thence derived, in every sense, degree and kind.
19. And I saw the beast and the kings of the land and their armies gathered together to wage war with the One sitting upon the horse and with His army
signifies that all the interiorly evil who have made profession of faith alone, with the leaders and their adherents, are going to attack the Lord’s Divine Truths in His Word and to infest those who will be of the Lord’s New Church.
20. And the beast was arrested, and with him the false prophet who did signs before him with which he led astray those accepting the mark of the beast and those adoring his image
signifies all those who made profession of faith alone and were interiorly evil, the laity and common people as well as the clergy and the learned, who by means of reasonings and entreaties [to the effect] that faith alone is the sole means of salvation led others to receiving that faith and living in accordance therewith.
These two were sent away alive into the lake of fire burning with sulphur
signifies that all those, just as they were, were cast into the hell where there are the loves of untruth and at the same time the lusts of evil.
21. And the rest were slain by the sword of the One sitting upon the horse, proceeding out of His mouth
signifies that all [who are] of the various heresies among the Reformed who have not lived in accordance with the Lord’s precepts in the Word that they were aware of, being judged out of the Word, perish.
And all the birds were satiated with their flesh
signifies that the infernal genii are nourished as it were upon the lusts of their evil, which are their own (propria).
THE EXPOSITION
[verse 1] ‘After these things I heard as it were the voice of a great crowd in heaven saying, Hallelujah’ signifies a thanksgiving, confession and celebration of the Lord by the angels of the lower heavens on account of the removal of the Babylonians. By ‘a great crowd in heaven’ are signified the angels of the lower heavens. By its voice saying Hallelujah’ is signified a thanksgiving, confession and celebration of the Lord by them. By ‘Hallelujah’ in the Hebrew language is signified ‘Praise God’. Thus it was a voice of thanksgiving, confession and celebration of the Lord from joy of heart, as is plain from these quotations:-
Bless Jehovah, O my soul, Hallelujah Ps. civ 35.
Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting, and let all the people say, Amen Hallelujah Ps. cvi 48.
We will bless Jah from now and even for evermore, Hallelujah Ps. cxv 18.
Let every soul praise Jah, Hallelujah Ps. cl 6;
besides elsewhere, as Ps. cv 45; cvi 1; cxi 1; cxii 1; cxiii 1, 9; cxvi 19; cxvii 2; cxxxv 3; cxlviii 1, 14; cxlix 1, 9; cl 1. That it is on account of the rejection of the Babylonians is plain from the preceding chapter in which the Babylonians are treated of. Therefore it is said, ‘After these things’. It is also plain from the things following in vers. 2 and 3 in this chapter. That those who are understood by ‘a great crowd in heaven’ are the angels of the lower heavens is established from verse 4 of this chapter, where it is said that ‘the twenty-four elders and the four animals adored the One sitting upon the throne, saying, Amen Hallelujah’, by whom are understood the angels of the higher heavens.
804. ‘Salvation and glory and honour and power unto the Lord our God’ signifies that now there is salvation from the Lord, because now there is the reception of Divine Truth and Divine Good out of His Divine authority. By ‘let there be salvation unto the Lord our God’ is signified the acknowledgment and confession that from the Lord there is salvation. By ‘let there be glory and honour to the Lord our God’ is signified the acknowledgment and confession that from the Lord there is Divine Truth and Divine Good, thus the reception of them (n. 249, 629, 693). By ‘let there be power unto the Lord our God’ is signified the acknowledgment and confession that authority belongs to the Lord. To say that salvation, glory, honour and authority belong to the Lord is in accordance with the sense of the letter, as also elsewhere that blessing belongs to the Lord; but in the spiritual sense this is [to say] that because those things are in the Lord they are also from the Lord. Here [the spiritual sense] is that now they are with angels and men. This is because of the removal and rejection of the Babylonians who altered, weakened and impeded their influx from the Lord. This is like black clouds in the world [coming] between the sun and men, for just as the light of the sun of the world is altered, weakened and impeded by the interposition of black clouds, so likewise is the light of the Sun of heaven, which is the Lord, by the dark black falsities interposed from the Babylonians. The case is entirely similar, except that the one is natural and the other spiritual. In the spiritual world also falsities appear as clouds, dark and black in accordance with their quality. This is also the reason why not before but after the last judgment was the spiritual sense of the Word revealed, and [the truth] that the Only Lord is the God of heaven and earth. For by means of the last judgment the Babylonians were removed, and also the Reformed who made confession of faith alone. Their falsities were like dusky clouds interposed between the Lord and the men on earth, and also were like frosts that took away spiritual heat, which is the love of good and truth.
805. [verse 2] ‘For true and just are His judgments, for He has judged the great harlot who has corrupted the land with her whoredom’ signifies because out of justice the profane Babylonian form of religion has been condemned, which has destroyed the Lord’s Church by foul adulterations of the Word. By ‘true and just are Thy judgments’ are signified the Divine truths and goods of the Word in accordance with which judgment is effected by the Lord (n. 668, 689). These together are called ‘justice’, for by ‘justice’ where it treats of the Lord nothing else is signified; as [in] verse 11 below; also Isa. lxiii 1; Jer. xxiii 5, 6; xxxiii 15, 16. By ‘for He has judged the great harlot’ is signified because the profane Babylonian form of religion has been condemned, which was treated of in the preceding chapter. That is called ‘the great harlot’ by reason of the adulteration and profanation of the Word. By ‘who has corrupted the land with her whoredom’ is signified which has destroyed the Lord’s Church by foul adulterations of the Word. By ‘her whoredom’ is signified the adulteration of the Word (n. 134), and by ‘the land’ the Church (n. 285, 721).
The day of vengeance is in My heart, the year of My redeemed has come Isa. lxiii 4;
treating there of the Lord and of the last judgment.
The day of Jehovah’s vengeance, the year of retributions for the contention of Zion Isa. xxxiv 8.
Behold, your God will come with vengeance, He will come with God’s retribution, and save you Isa. xxxv 4.
These are the days of vengeance, that all the things that have been written may be fulfilled Luke xxi 22;
treating there of the consummation of the age when there is the last judgment.
The spirit of the Lord Jehovih is upon Me to proclaim the day of Jehovah’s good pleasure, and the day of vengeance for our God, to comfort all who mourn Isa. lxi [1,] 2.
Shall not My soul take revenge for this? Jer. v 9, 29.
I will take vengeance on Babel, nor will I make a man to intercede Isa. xlvii 3.
Against Babel is the thought to destroy it, because this is Jehovah’s vengeance, the vengeance of His temple Jer. li 11, 36.
Sing, O nations, His people: for He has avenged the blood of His servants, and He will render vengeance to His enemies, and will atone for His land, His people Deut. xxxii 43.
807. [verse 3] ‘And a second time they said, Hallelujah, her smoke goes up for ages of ages’ signifies thanksgiving and celebration of the Lord for joy that that profane form of religion has been condemned for ever. That ‘they said a second time’ results from the varying affection of joy, that they have been liberated from infestation on the part of those who were in that religion, also out of fear of their rising and infesting them again. That by ‘Hallelujah’ is signified thanksgiving and celebration of the Lord may be seen above (n. 803). By ‘her smoke’ is signified that form of religion as to its dreadful falsities, since untruths derived from evil appear as smoke from fire (n. 422), the fire there being the love of self (n. 468 end, 494, 766). By ‘the smoke of her burning’, where it treats of Babylon, is signified profanation (n. 766, 767). By ‘to go up for ages of ages’ is signified her damnation for ever.
The Lamb Who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them (verse 17);
and in Matthew:-
When the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of His glory about to
Judge Matt. xix 28.
When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He shall sit upon the throne of His glory Matt. xxv 31.
809. [verse 5] ‘And a voice came out of the throne saying, Praise our God, O all His servants, and those fearing Him’ signifies an influx from the Lord into heaven, and thus the unanimity of the angels that all who are in the truths of faith and goods of love should worship the Lord as the Only God of heaven. By the ‘voice’ that ‘came out of the throne’ is signified an influx from the Lord into heaven. Its being from the Lord is because the One sitting upon the throne was the Lord, as has been shown just above (n. 808). Therefore by the ‘voice’ coming out therefrom is understood influx, for the Lord, because He is above the heavens and appears before the angels as the Sun, does not speak thence to the angels but inflows; and that which inflows is received in heaven and declared. For this reason that voice, although out of the throne’, yet was heard by John ‘out of heaven’, thus from the angels there; and whatever the angels speak ‘out of heaven’ is from the Lord. By ‘praise our God’ is signified that they should worship the Lord as the Only God of heaven. That ‘to praise God’ is to worship Him will be seen below. By ‘all His servants’ are signified all who are in the truths of faith (n. 3, 380). By ‘all fearing Him are signified those who are in the goods of love (n. 527, 628).
[2] That ‘to praise God’ signifies to worship Him, and consequently that the praise of Him is the worship of Him, is established from many passages in the Word, of which only some will be quoted:-
Suddenly there came to be with the angel a crowd of those praising God Luke ii 13, 20.
The whole crowd of disciples began to praise God with a loud voice Luke xix 37.
They were in the temple praising and blessing God Luke xxiv 53.
Cause to be heard, praise, and say, O Jehovah save Thy people Jer. xxxi 7.
Praise Jehovah in the heavens, praise Him in the heights, praise Him O His angels, praise Him O His armies, praise Him O sun and moon, praise Him O all the stars of light, praise Him O heavens of heavens; let them praise the Name of Jehovah, O praise Jehovah from the earth. He has exalted praise from all peoples Ps. cxlviii 1-5, 7, 13, 14.
Out of the mouth of little children and sucklings thou hast perfected praise Matt. xxi 16.
All the people gave praise to God Luke xviii 43;
besides elsewhere, as Isa. xlii 8; lx 18; Joel ii 26; Ps. cxiii 1-3; cxvii 1. The things that are said in this verse do not relate to the things preceding concerning Babylon, but to those following concerning the New Church to be set up by the Lord, of which it treats in the things here following.
812. [verse 7] ‘Let us rejoice and exult and give glory to Him, for the Lamb’s wedding has come’ signifies joy of soul and heart, and the consequent glorification of the Lord that henceforth there may be effected a full marriage of Himself with the Church. By ‘to rejoice and exult’ is signified joy of soul and heart. Joy of soul is a joy of the understanding or by reason of the truths of faith, and joy of heart is a joy of the will or by reason of the goods of love. The two are mentioned on account of the marriage of truth and good in the details of the Word, treated of above (n. 373, 689). By ‘to give glory to Him’ is signified to acknowledge and confess that all truth is from the Lord (n. 629), also to acknowledge that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth (n. 693). Here, therefore, to glorify is signified, because this involves both of these. By’ for the Lamb’s wedding has come’ is signified because henceforth there may be a full marriage of the Lord and the Church. So that this may be signified it is said ‘the Lamb’, and by ‘the Lamb’ is understood the Lord as to the Divine Human (n. 269, 291). [2] That when the Lord’s Human is acknowledged to be Divine a full marriage of the Lord and His Church is effected can be established almost without an exposition, for it is known in Reformed Christendom that the Church is a Church by virtue of the Lord’s marriage with her, for the Lord is called the Lord of the vineyard and the Church is the vineyard. Moreover the Lord is called the Bridegroom and Husband and the Church is called the bride and wife. That the Lord is termed ‘the Bridegroom’ and the Church ‘the bride’ may be seen above (n. 797). That there will be a full marriage of the Lord and the Church at the time when His Human is acknowledged to be Divine is plain, for then God the Father and Himself are acknowledged to be one as soul and body. When this is acknowledged the Father is not approached for the sake of the Son, but then the Lord Himself is approached and through Him God the Father because, as has been said, the Father is in Him in the same manner as the soul is in the body. Before the Lord’s Human is acknowledged to be Divine there is indeed a marriage of the Lord with the Church, but only with those who approach the Lord and think of His Divine and do not think at all whether His Human is Divine or not. The simple in faith and heart do this, but rarely the learned and erudite. Moreover there cannot he three husbands for one wife nor three souls for one body, and therefore unless the One God is acknowledged in Whom is the Trinity, and unless it is acknowledged that that God is the Lord, there can be no marriage.
[3] The reason that that marriage is effected ‘from henceforth’ is because it could not be fully effected until after the Babylonians were separated in the spiritual world by means of the last judgment, as also the Philistines, who are those who make profession of faith alone; and because in the preceding chapter it has treated of their separation, it is said ‘from henceforth’. That the Church’s wedding is with the Lord can be established from these passages:-
Jesus said, The sons of the wedding cannot mourn so long as the Bridegroom is with them Matt. ix 15; Mark ii 19.
The kingdom of the heavens is like unto a man, a king, who made a wedding for his son, and sent out servants and gave invitations to the wedding Matt. xxii 1-14.
The kingdom of the heavens is like unto ten virgins who went out to meet the Bridegroom, of whom five made ready went in with the Bride groom to the wedding Matt. xxv 1-12.
That here the Lord meant Himself is plain from the subsequent verse 13 where He said:-
Watch, for you do not know the day and the hour when the Son of Man is going to come;
and elsewhere:-
Let your loins be girded and your lights shining, and [be] like those waiting for their Lord when He is about to return from the wedding Luke xii [35,] 36.
813. ‘And His wife has made herself ready’ signifies that those who will belong to this Church, which is the New Jerusalem, are being assembled, inaugurated and instructed. By the ‘wife’ is signified the Lord’s New Church, which is the New Jerusalem. This is plainly evident from a subsequent chapter (xxi) where are these words:-
I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her Husband (verse 2);
and in the same chapter:-
An angel came unto me saying, Come, I will show thee the Bride the Lamb’s wife, and he showed me the great city the holy Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God (vers. 9, 10).
By the wife’s having made herself ready is signified that those who will be of that New Church of the Lord are being assembled, inaugurated and instructed. And because these things are signified by ‘she has made herself ready’ it therefore follows that the wife ‘was arrayed with fine linen clean and bright’, by which is signified inauguration by means of instruction; and therefore also [something] follows concerning ‘a white horse’, by which is signified the understanding of the Word by the Lord for them.
814. [verse 8] ‘And it was granted to her that she should be arrayed in fine linen clean and bright’ signifies that those who will be of the Lord’s New Church are being instructed by the Lord in genuine and pure truths by means of the Word. By ‘it was granted to her’ is understood to the wife, by whom is signified the Lord’s New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, as just above (n. 812). By ‘to be arrayed’ is signified to be instructed in truths because truths are signified by ‘garments’ (n. 166), and genuine truths by ‘white garments’ (n. 212). By ‘fine linen clean and bright’ is signified shining by virtue of good and pure by virtue of truths; and because pure truths is not given from any other source than the Lord by means of the Word, therefore this also is signified. It is said to be ‘clean and bright’ because ‘clean’ signifies that which is free from evil, thus what is shining by virtue of good, and ‘bright’ signifies that which is free from untruth, thus pure by virtue of truth. By ‘linen’ or ‘fine linen’ is signified genuine truths in the following places also:-
O Jerusalem, I have clothed thee with needlework, I have girded thee with linen and I have covered thee with silk; thus wast thou adorned with gold and silver, and thy raiment was linen and silk Ezek. xvi 10, 13.
Linen in needlework out of Egypt was thy spread [sail] Ezek. xxvii 7.
This is concerning ‘Tyre’, by which is signified the Church as to cognitions of truths and good.
The armies in heaven were following Him upon white horses, clothed with fine linen white and clean Rev. xix 14.
The like is signified by [the statement] that:-
Joseph was clothed with garments of linen by Pharaoh Gen. xli 42.
Truth out of the Word with them, though not in them, is signified by:-
The fine linen with Babylon Rev. xviii 12, 16.
And with the rich man Luke xvi 19.
Fine linen is also called cotton (xylinum), and therefore genuine truths is also signified thereby in these instances in Moses:-
Thou shalt make a chequer-work coat of cotton for Aaron; and thou shalt make a mitre of cotton Exod. xxviii 39.
They made coats of cotton for Aaron and his sons Exod. xxxix 27.
Thou shalt make the habitation of cotton interwoven, and hyacinth, and purple, and double-dyed scarlet Exod. xxvi 1; xxxvi 8.
Thou shalt make the hangings for the court omit of cotton interwoven Exod. xxvii 9, 18; xxxviii 9.
Also the veil of the court with cotton interwoven Exod. xxxviii 18.
817. ‘And he said, These are the true words of God’ signifies that this is to be believed because it is from the Lord; namely that ‘blessed are those who are called to the supper of the Lamb’s wedding’, that is, that those on earth who receive the things that are of the Lord’s New Church have eternal life.
819. ‘For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy’ signifies that the acknowledgment that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and at the same time a life in accordance with His precepts, is in the universal sense everything of the Word and of the doctrine thence. By ‘the testimony of Jesus’ is signified the Lord’s bearing witness in heaven that it is His, and thus that He is in heaven one among the angels there. And because that witness cannot be given to any others than those who are in conjunction with the Lord, and those are in conjunction with the Lord who acknowledge Him as the God of heaven and earth as He Himself teaches in Matt. xxviii 18, and at the same time live in accordance with His precepts, especially in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue, therefore these two things are signified by ‘the testimony of Jesus’, as may be seen above (n. 6, 490). By [the statement] that that testimony ‘is the spirit of prophecy’ is signified that it is everything of the Word and of the doctrine thence; for the Word in the universal sense treats only of the Lord and of a life in accordance with His precepts. This is why the Lord is the Word. For He is the Word because the Word is derived from Himself and treats of Himself Only and is solely concerned with teaching how He is to be acknowledged and worshipped. Also these things are the precepts of the Word that are called the Divine Truths in accordance with which one must live in order to be able to come into conjunction with the Lord. That the Word treats of the Only Lord, and that this is why the Lord is said to be the Word, may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 1-7, 8-11, 19-28, 37-44) and in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 80-90, 98-100). This also is what the Lord says:-
That the Spirit of the Truth (veritas), Who is the Holy Spirit, is going to bear witness concerning the Lord, and that He is not going to speak of Himself (ex seipso), but He is going to take the things that are the Lord’s and announce them John xv 26; xvi 13, 15.
820. [verse 11] ‘And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse’ signifies the spiritual sense of the Word revealed by the Lord, and thereby the disclosure of the interior understanding of the Word, which is the Lord’s coming. By ‘I saw heaven opened’ is signified a revelation by the Lord and a making manifest at that time, concerning which [something] follows. By ‘a horse’ is signified the understanding of the Word, and by ‘a white horse’ the interior understanding of the Word (n. 298) ; and because this is signified by ‘a white horse’, and the spiritual sense is the interior understanding of the Word, therefore that sense is signified by the ‘white horse’ here. The reason why this is the Lord’s coming is because by means of that sense it appears manifestly that the Lord is the Word, and that the Word treats of Himself Only, and that He is the God of heaven and earth, and that from Himself Only does the New Church come into existence. The Lord said that they should ‘see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with glory and vigour (virtus)’ (Matt. xvii 5; xxiv 30; xxvi 64; Mark xiv 61, 62; Luke ix 34, 35; xxi 27; Rev. i 7; Acts i 9, 11). And in fact the Lord said this when He spoke with the disciples of the consummation of the age, which is the last time of the Church when there is the judgment. Everyone who does not think beyond the sense of the letter believes that when the last judgment comes the Lord is going to appear in the clouds of heaven with angels and the sounds of trumpets. That this, however, is not the meaning, but that He is going to appear in the Word, can be established from the exposition above (n. 24, 642); and the Lord appears manifestly in the spiritual sense of the Word. [From that sense] it appears not only that He is the Word, that is, the Divine Truth itself, and that He Himself is the inmost of the Word and thence is everything thereof, but it also appears that He Himself is the one God in Whom is the Trinity, and thus the only God of heaven and earth; and, moreover, that He came into the world so that He might glorify His Human, that is, make it Divine.
[2] The Human that He glorified, that is, made Divine, was the Natural Human, which He could not glorify or make Divine except by means of taking on the Human in a virgin in the natural world. To this He then united His own Divine, which He had from eternity. The unition was effected by means of the temptations admitted into His own assumed Human, the last of which was the passion of the cross, and at the same time by the fulfilment of all things of the Word. [This was done] not only by the fulfilment of all the things of the Word in its natural sense, but also by the fulfilment of all the things of the Word in its spiritual sense and in its celestial sense, in which as was said above it treats of Himself Only. But on these matters the things may be seen that have been made manifest in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD and in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. Now because the Lord is the Word, and the Word was made flesh (John i 1, 2, 14), and the Word was made flesh so that He might fulfil it, it is plain that the Lord’s coming in the Word is understood by His appearing ‘in the clouds of heaven’. That ‘the clouds of heaven’ signify the Word in the sense of the letter may be seen above (n. 24, 642). That the appearing of the Lord in the Word is understood is plain because by the ‘white horse’ is signified the interior understanding of the Word, and it is said that the Name of the One sitting upon the horse is THE WORD OF GOD, also that His Name is ‘King of kings and Lord of lords’ (vers. 13, 16). [3] From these considerations it is plain that by ‘I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse’ is signified the spiritual sense of the Word revealed by the Lord, and by this means the disclosure of the interior understanding thereof; which indeed is the Lord’s coming. That the spiritual sense of the Word, of which no one in Christendom has known anything before, has been revealed at this day, can be seen in ARCANA CAELESTIA, where two books of Moses, Genesis and Exodus, have been expounded in accordance with that sense; also in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 5-26); in the little work CONCERNING THE WHITE HORSE from beginning to end, and the things collected there out of ‘Arcana Caelestia concerning the Sacred Scripture’; and, moreover, in THESE EXPOSITIONS ON THE APOCALYPSE where not one little verse can be understood at all without the spiritual sense.
821. ‘And the One sitting upon it is called Faithful and True, and in justice He judges and fights’ signifies the Lord as to the Word, which is Divine Good and Divine Truth itself, out of both of which He effects judgment and separates the good from the evil. By ‘the One sitting upon it’, that is, upon the white horse, is understood the Lord as to the Word. That it is the Lord as to the Word is plain from the following verse 13, where it is said ‘clothed with a blood-stained garment, and His Name is called the Word of God’. By ‘Faithful and True’ is signified Divine Good and Divine Truth, by ‘Faithful’ Divine Good because this is faithful. That where [it treats] of men, he is faithful who is in the inmost or third heaven, thus who is in celestial good, may be seen above (n. 744). That by ‘True’, when [it treats] of the Lord, is signified Divine Truths is plain. That by ‘justice’ is signified both, good as well as truth, and Divine Good and Divine Truth where [it treats] of the Lord, may be seen above (n. 805). It follows from this that by ‘to judge out of justice’ is signified to effect judgment out of Divine Good and Divine Truth. That all judgment is effected by the Lord through the Word, thus that the Word itself judges each one may be seen above (n. 233). ‘To fight out of justice’ signifies to separate the good from the evil. This is because the Lord does not fight against anyone but He separates the good from the evil, and when the good have been separated from the evil then the evil cast themselves into hell.
822. [verse 12] That ‘And His eyes as it were a flame of fire’ signifies the Lord’s Divine Wisdom of Divine Love may be seen above (n. 48) where there are similar things, and they are said of the Son of Man by Whom is understood the Lord as to the ‘Word (n. 44).
823. ‘And upon His head many diadems’ signifies the Divine Truths of the Word from Himself. ‘Upon his head’ signifies from the Lord, for by the ‘head’ is signified wisdom derived from love and a man is ruled out of the head by means of wisdom derived from love. The ‘diadems’ were seen ‘upon the head’ because the Divine Truths of the Word, which are signified by ‘diadems’, are from Himself. That ‘diadems’ signify the Divine Truths of the Word may be seen (n. 231, 540); that ‘the head’, where [it treats] of the Lord, signifies the Divine Wisdom of Divine Love (n. 47); what more ‘the head’ [signifies] (n. 538, 568). In the spiritual world the Divine Truths of the Word correspond to diadems, and as the result of the correspondence they appear there. And in heaven they appear upon the heads of those who hold the Word holy. Consequently’ diadems’ signify the Divine truths of the Word in the sense of its letter, for the reason that the sense of the letter is transparent from the spiritual and celestial sense thereof just as a diadem is from the light.
824. ‘Having a Name written that no one knew but Himself’ signifies that no one sees what the Word is like in its spiritual and celestial sense but the Lord and he to whom He Himself reveals it. By ‘a name’ is signified the quality of anyone (n. 165 and elsewhere), here the quality of the Word or what the Word is like within, that is, in its spiritual and celestial sense. It is said ‘a Name ‘written’ because the Word exists both with men on earth and with angels in the heavens; see THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 70-75). By ‘that no one knew but Himself’ is signified that no one sees but the Lord Himself and he to whom He Himself reveals it, that is, what the Word is like in the spiritual sense. That no one but the Only Lord sees the spiritual sense of the Word, and consequently that no one sees that sense except from the Lord, and that no one [does this] from the Lord unless he is in Divine truths from Himself, may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 26).
825. [verse 13] ‘And clothed with a blood-stained garment, and His Name is called the Word of God’ signifies Divine Truth in the ultimate sense or the Word in the letter, on which violence has been inflicted. By ‘a garment’ is signified truth clothing good (n. 166, 212, 328); and when the Word is treated of it signifies the Word in the sense of the letter, for this is like a garment with which its spiritual and celestial sense has been clothed. By ‘blood’ is signified violence inflicted on the Lord’s Divine and on the Word (n. 327, 684). The reason that this is signified is because by ‘blood’ is signified the Lord’s Divine Truths in the Word (n. 379, 653), and therefore by ‘to shed blood’ is signified to inflict violence on the Lord’s Divine and on the Word. By ‘the Word of God’ is here signified the Word in the sense of the letter, for to this violence has been inflicted but not on the Word in the spiritual sense, because this sense was not known; and if it had been known violence would still have been inflicted on it. For this reason that sense was not revealed until after the last judgment was accomplished and a new Church was to be set up by the Lord. Nor is it being revealed at this day to anyone unless he is in Divine Truths from the Lord; see THE DOCTRINE or THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 26). [2] That violence has been inflicted on the Lord’s Divine and on the Word is quite plain from the Roman Catholic form of religion, and from the form of religion of the Reformed concerning faith alone. The Roman Catholic form of religion maintains that the Lord’s Human is not Divine, and they have therefore transferred all things of the Lord to themselves. Again they maintain that the Word is to be interpreted exclusively by them; and the interpretation by them is everywhere contrary to the Divine Truth of the Word, as has been shown in the exposition of the preceding chap. xviii. In consequence it is plain that violence has been inflicted on the Word by that form of religion. The like has been done by the form of religion with the Reformed concerning faith alone. This, too, does not make the Lord’s Human Divine. Also it founds theology upon a single saying of Paul falsely understood, and therefore makes of no account all the things that the Lord taught concerning love and charity and good works, which yet are so prominent that anyone can see them if only he has eyes to see.
[3] The like was done with the Word by the Jews. Their religious view was that the Word had been written for no others but them, and thus that no others are there understood, and that the Messiah about to come would uphold them above all in the whole wide world. By these means and many others they have falsified and adulterated all things of the Word. This is understood by these words in Isaiah:-
Who is this who comes out of Edom, with sprinkled garments out of Bozrah? Wherefore art thou red as to thy garments, and thy garments as of one treading in the wine-press? whence their victory has been sprinkled upon my garments, and I have befouled all my raiment Isa. lxiii 1-3.
By ‘garments’ here also are signified the Divine Truths of the Word. By ‘Edom’ is meant red, here red derived from blood. Consequently it is plain that by ‘clothed with a blood-stained garment, and His Name is called the Word of God’ is signified Divine Truth in the ultimate sense, or the Word in the letter, on which violence has been inflicted.
826. [verse 14] ‘And the armies in heaven were following Him upon white horses, clothed with fine linen white and clean’ signifies the angels in the Christian New Heaven who were conjoined with the Lord in the interior understanding of the Word, and were thus in pure and genuine truths. By’ the armies in heaven’ are understood the angels who are in Divine truths and goods (n. 447). By ‘heaven’ here is understood the Christian New Heaven treated of above (n. 612, 613, 626, 659, 661). This heaven is understood for the reason that this is the New Heaven that is treated of in the Apocalypse. By ‘to follow the Lord’ is signified to be conjoined to Him. (n. 621). By the ‘white horses’ upon which they were appearing are signified the interior understanding of the Word, as above (n. 820). By ‘fine linen white and clean’ is signified pure and genuine truth by means of the Word from the Lord (n. 814). It is also said of the New Church that she should be ‘arrayed with fine linen clean and bright’ (verse 8 of this chapter); and so it is said here of the Christian New Heaven by means of which that Church will exist from the Lord.
827. [verse 15] That ‘And out of His mouth a sharp sword was proceeding’ signifies the dispersion of untruths by means of the doctrine derived thence from the Lord, is plain from the things expounded above (n. 52) where similar things [are said] of the Lord, Who is there called the Son of Man, and by ‘the Son of Man’ is understood the Lord as to the Word (n. 44). Likewise here by the One riding upon the white horse; for the dispersion of untruths is effected by means of the Word from the Lord.
828. ‘That by means of it He should smite the nations, and He Himself shall lead them to pasture with an iron rod’ signifies that by means of the truths of the sense of the letter of the Word and by rational things He will convince all who are in a dead faith. That these things are signified is established from the similar things above (n. 544). It may be seen there and also n. 148, 485 that by the ‘iron rod with which the nations should be smitten are signified truths out of the sense of the letter of the Word confirmed by rational things out of the natural man. That faith alone without works is dead is clearly evident in [the epistle of] James (ii 17, 20), who also says:-
Be doers of the Word, not just hearers; how you deceive yourselves James i 22 Seq.
Paul says in like manner:-
Not the hearers of the law will be justified by God, but the doers of the law will be justified Rom. ii 13.
829. ‘And He Himself is treading the wine-press of the fury and wrath of Almighty God’ signifies that the Lord alone has endured all the evils of the Church and all the violence inflicted on the Word, thus on Himself. By ‘the wine of the fury and wrath of God’ are signified the Church’s goods and truths, which are derived from the Word, profaned and adulterated, thus the evils and untruths of the Church (n. 316, 632, 635, 758). By ‘to tread the wine-press of that wine’ is signified to endure them, to fight against them and condemn them, and thus to liberate the angels in the heavens and the men on earth from infestation thereby. For the Lord came into the world in order to subjugate the hells, which were then increasing from beneath so as to begin to infest the angels; and He subjugated them by combats against them, thus by temptations; for spiritual temptations are nothing else but fights against the hells. And because every man is in company with spirits as to his affections and the consequent thoughts, an evil man with spirits out of hell and a good man with angels out of heaven, therefore when the Lord subjugated the hells He not only liberated the angels of heaven from infestation but also the men of the earth.
[2] This therefore is what is signified by these words in Isaiah:-
He has borne our diseases, and He has carried our woes; moreover He has been wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities; and by His wound health has been given to us: Jehovah has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all; He sustained exaction, He was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of My people, a stroke upon them, and He has laid guilt upon His soul Isa. liii 4-10.
These things are concerning the Lord and His temptations by the hells, and at lengths by the Jews, by whom He was crucified. The Lord’s combats are also described in Isaiah lxiii 1-10, in the course of which there are these words:-
Thy garments as of one treading the wine-press; I have trodden the wine-press alone [Isa. lxiii 2, 3];
by which is signified that He Only endured the evils and untruths of the Church and all the violence inflicted on the Word, thus on Himself. It is said ‘the violence inflicted on the Word, thus on Himself’ because the Lord is the Word, and on the Word and on the Lord Himself has violence been inflicted by the Roman Catholic form of religion, also by the form of religion with the Reformed concerning faith alone. The Lord endured the evils and untruths of both of these when He effected the last judgment, by which He again subjugated the hells; and unless the hells had been subjugated again no flesh could have been saved, as He Himself says in Matthew (xxiv 21, 22).
830. [verse 16] ‘And upon the garment and upon His thigh He has a Name written, King of kings and Lord of lords’ signifies that the Lord teaches in the Word what He is like, that He is the Divine Truth of Divine Wisdom and the Divine Good of Divine Love, thus that He is the God of the universe. By the Lord’s ‘garment’ is signified the Word as to Divine Truth, as above (n. 825). By the Lord’s ‘thigh’ is signified the Word as to Divine Good. The ‘thighs’ and ‘loins’ signify conjugial love, and because that love is fundamental to all loves therefore the ‘thighs’ and ‘loins’ signify the good of love. That this is the result of correspondence may be seen above (n. 213). Therefore when ‘thigh’ is said of the Lord it signifies Himself as to the Good of Love, here also the Word as to that. By ‘a Name written’ is signified what the Lord is like, as above (n. 824). By ‘King of kings’ is understood the Lord as to the Divine Truth of Divine Wisdom, and by ‘Lord of lords’ is understood the Lord as to the Divine Good of Divine Love. The like is signified by the Lord’s ‘kingdom’ and ‘dominion’, where both are mentioned, as may be seen above (n. 664).
[2] Because it is said ‘King of kings and Lord of lords’ and by those [terms] is understood the Lord as to Divine Truth and as to Divine Good, therefore also it is said ‘a Name written upon the garment and upon the thigh’, and by the ‘Name written upon the garment’ is signified the Word as to Divine Truth and by the ‘Name written upon the thighs’ is signified the Word as to Divine Good. Each of the two is in the Word. The Divine Truth of the Word is in its spiritual sense, which is for the angels of the middle or second heaven who are in intelligence derived from Divine Truths, and the Divine Good of the Word is in its celestial sense, which is for the angels of the highest or third heaven who are in wisdom derived from Divine Goods. But the latter sense is deeply hidden, perceptible only to those who from the Lord are in a love directed to the Lord. That it is the Lord is said above openly in the Apocalypse:-
These shall fight with the Lamb; the Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings Rev. xvii 14.
[3] That ‘the thigh’ signifies the good of love, and when [said] of the Lord the Divine Good of Divine Love, is established from these [statements] in the Word:-
Justice shall be the girdle of His loins, and the Truth (veritas) the girdle of His thighs Isa. xi 5.
Above the head of the cherubs was the appearance of the Man upon a throne; from the appearance of His loins and upwards and from the appearance of His loins and downward, was the appearance of fire and brightness round about Ezek. 26-28.
By ‘the Man upon a throne’ is understood the Lord. By ‘the appearance of fire from the loins upward and downward’ is signified His Divine Love, and by ‘the brightness round about’ is signified the Divine Wisdom therefrom. The ‘man’ seen by Daniel,
whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz Dan. x 5,
was an angel in whom the Lord was. By ‘gold of Uphaz’ is signified the good of love. The like is signified by ‘the thighs (Isa. v 27; Ps. xlv 3 [H.B. 4]; and elsewhere). Concerning the correspondence of the thighs or loins with conjugial love, which is fundamental to all loves, ARCANA CAELESTIA may be seen (n. 5050-5062).
831. [verse 17] ‘And I saw one angel standing in the Sun, and he cried out with a great voice saying to all the birds flying in the midst of heaven, Come and flock together to the Supper of the Great God’ signifies the Lord out of Divine Love, and consequently out of Divine Zeal, calling and assembling all who are in the affection of spiritual truth and who think about heaven to the New Church and to conjunction with Himself, thus to eternal life. By the ‘angel standing in the Sun’ is understood the Lord in Divine Love. By ‘an angel’ is understood the Lord, and by the Sun’ His Divine Love. By ‘to cry out with a great voice’ is signified out of Divine Zeal, for a ‘voice’ or influx from the Lord out of Divine Love is out of Divine Zeal, for the Zeal is of the Love. By ‘the birds flying in the midst of heaven’ are signified all who are in the affection of spiritual truth and consequently think about heaven. By ‘to come and flock together to the Supper of the Great God’ is signified a calling and assembling to the New Church and to conjunction with the Lord; and because the result of conjunction with the Lord is eternal life, therefore that also is signified. By ‘to cry out, Come’ the calling is signified, and by ‘to flock together’ is signified the assembling. [2] That by ‘an angel’ in the Word is understood the Lord may be seen above (n. 5, 170, 258, 344, 465, 649, 657, 718); the more so here because He was seen to stand in the Sun, and no angel appears in the Sun, for the Lord is the Sun of the spiritual world, and therefore the Only Lord is there. That by the Sun’, where it treats of the Lord, is signified Divine Love may be seen (n. 53, 414). Because Divine Zeal is of Divine Love here [Zeal] for the salvation of men, it is plain that by ‘to cry out with a great voice’ when said of the Lord in Divine Love is signified to speak or to inflow out of Divine Zeal. That by ‘birds’ are signified such things as are of the understanding and consequently of the thought [may be seen] above (n. 757). Here [are signified] those who are in the affection of spiritual truth and think about heaven, since it is said ‘the birds flying in the midst of heaven’, and by ‘to fly in the midst of heaven’ is signified to perceive, pay attention to and think (n. 245, 415). That by ‘the Supper of the Great God’ is signified the New Church and thus conjunction with the Lord, [see] n. 816, where their Supper is called ‘the Supper of the Lamb’s wedding’.
832. [verse 18] ‘That you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of rulers of thousands, and the flesh of strong men, and the flesh of horses and of those sitting upon them, and the flesh [of all] freemen and bondmen, both small and great’ signifies the appropriation of goods from the Lord by means of the truths of the Word and the doctrine derived thence, in every sense, degree and kind.
Just above (n. 831) it treats of conjunction with the Lord by means of the Word; here it treats of the appropriation of goods from Himself by means of the truths of the Word. By ‘to eat’ is signified appropriation (n. 89); by ‘the flesh’ that they should eat are signified the goods of the Word and of the Church therefrom; and by ‘kings’, ‘rulers of thousands’, ‘strong men’, ‘horses’, ‘those sitting upon them’, ‘freemen and bondsmen lesser and greater’ are signified truths in every sense, degree and kind. By ‘kings’ are signified those who are in truths of the Church out of the Word, and abstractly the truths of the Church out of the Word (n. 20, 483). By ‘rulers of thousands’ are signified those who are in cognitions of good and truth, and abstractly those cognitions (n. 337). By ‘strong men’ are signified those who are in erudition out of doctrine derived from the Word, and abstractly the erudition therefrom (n. 337). By ‘horses’ are signified the understanding of the Word, and by those sitting upon horses are signified those who are in wisdom out of the understanding of the Word, and abstractly the wisdom thence derived (n. 298, 820). By ‘freemen and bondmen are signified those who know from themselves and those who know from others (n. 337, 604). By ‘small and great’ are signified those who are in a lesser and a greater degree (n. 527, 810). It is plain from these things that by ‘they should eat the flesh of those’ is signified the appropriation of goods from the Lord by means of the truths of the Word and the doctrine thence derived in every sense, degree and kind. [2] It is to be known that no man has any spiritual good from the Lord except by means of truths out of the Word: for the truths of the Word are in the light of heaven and the goods are in the heat of that light, and therefore unless the understanding is in the light of heaven by means of the Word, the will cannot come into the heat of heaven. Love and charity cannot be formed except by means of truths out of the Word; a man cannot be reformed except by means of truths thence derived. The Church itself with a man is formed by means of them, but not by those truths in the understanding only but by a life in accordance with them. The truths thus enter into the will and become goods. In this way the outward form (facies) of truths is turned into the outward form of good; for that which is of the will and thus of love is called good, and everything that is of the will or love is also of the man’s life. From these considerations it can be seen that the appropriation of good by means of truths in every sense, degree and kind by means of the Word from the Lord is understood here by ‘to eat the flesh’ of those who are named. Who cannot see that flesh is not understood here by ‘the flesh’? Who can be so insane as to believe that the Lord calls and assembles all to the great Supper in order to give them to eat the flesh of kings, of rulers of thousands, of strong men, of horses, of those sitting thereon, of freemen and bondmen, small and great? Who cannot see that in these things there is a spiritual sense, and that without that sense no one knows what the things signify? Who ventures to deny that the Word in its bosons is spiritual? Would it not be more than material if those things were understood in accordance with the sense of the letter and not in accordance with the spiritual sense? [2] Similar to those things are these in Ezekiel:-
Thus has the Lord Jehovih said, Say to the bird of every wing and to every beast of the field, Flock together and come; gather yourselves together from round about upon My great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel that you may eat flesh and drink blood; you shall eat the flesh of strong men, and you shall drink the blood of the princes of the land, you shall eat fat to satiety, and you shall drink blood even to drunkenness, of My sacrifice which I will sacrifice for you; you shall be satiated at My table with horse and chariot and every man of war. Thus will I give My glory among the nations Ezek. xxxix 17-21.
Here in like manner by ‘flesh’ is signified the good of the Church from the Lord by means of the Word, and by ‘blood’ the truth of the Church. Who does not see that blood would not be given for drinking even to drunkenness, and that they would not be satiated at the table of the Lord Jehovih with horse, chariot, the strong, and every man of war? Since, therefore, by ‘flesh’ is signified the good of the Church, and by ‘blood’ the truth of the Church, it is quite plain that by the Lord’s ‘flesh’ and ‘blood’ in the Holy Supper is signified Divine Good and Divine Truth from the Lord, similarly as by the ‘bread’ and ‘wine’ of which John vi 51-58 [treats]. ‘Flesh’ signifies good also in many other places in the Word, as in these:-
I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh, and I will give them a heart of flesh Ezek. xi 19; xxxvi 26.
My flesh longs for Thee in a land of drought Ps. lxiii 1 [H.B. 2].
My heart and my flesh are shouting aloud towards the living God Ps. lxxxiv 2 [H.B. 3].
My flesh shall dwell confidently Ps. xvi 9.
When thou seest the naked and coverest him, and dost not hide thyself from thine own flesh Isa. lviii 7.
834. [verse 20] ‘And the beast was arrested and with him the false prophet who did signs before him, with which he led astray those accepting the mark of the beast and those adoring his image’ signifies all those who made profession of faith alone and were interiorly evil, the laity and common people as well as the clergy and the learned, who by means of reasonings and entreaties [to the effect] that faith alone is the sole means of salvation led others to receiving that faith and living in accordance therewith. By ‘the beast’ here is understood ‘the beast out of the sea’ treated of in Rev. xiii 1-10; and by ‘the false prophet’ is understood ‘the beast out of the land’ treated of in the same chapter (vers. 11-17). That by ‘the beast out of the sea’ are understood the laity and common people who are in the form of religion of faith alone, and that by ‘the beast out of the land’ are understood the clergy and the learned who are in that form of religion, can be seen from the expositions of that chapter. That ‘the false prophet’ here is ‘the beast out of the land’ of which it treats in that chapter (vers. 11-18) is quite plain because it is said here of the false prophet that it is he ‘who did signs before’ the other beast ‘with which he led astray those accepting the mark of the beast and those adoring his image’. For similar things are said of ‘the beast of the land’ (chap. xiii) namely, that:-
He did great signs before the beast out of the sea and led astray those
dwelling upon the hand so that they might adore his image and accept his mark upon the right hand and upon the forehead (vers. 12-17);
from which it is plain that here by ‘the false prophet’ are signified the clergy and the learned who confirmed themselves in the form of religion of faith alone and led astray the laity and common people. They are called ‘the false prophet’ because by a ‘prophet’ are signified those who teach and preach untruths, perverting the truths of the Word (n. 8, 701). That by ‘the signs’ of that beast are signified reasonings and entreaties that faith alone is the sole means of salvation may be seen above (n. 598, 599, 704). By ‘to accept the mark of the beast and to adore his image’ is signified to acknowledge and receive that faith (n. 634, 637, 679).
835. ‘These two were sent away alive into the lake of fire burning with sulphur’ signifies that all those, just as they were, were cast into the hell where there are the loves of untruth and at the same time the lusts of evil.
By ‘alive’ is signified just as they were. By ‘these two’, namely the beast and the false prophet, are signified all those who have made profession of faith alone and are interiorly evil, the laity as well as the clergy, as just above (n. 834). By ‘the lake of fire burning with sulphur’ is signified the hell where those are who are in the loves of that untruth and at the same time in the lusts of evil. By ‘the lake’ are signified untruths in abundance, concerning which [something] follows. By ‘fire’ is signified love, here the love of their untruth. That ‘fire’ signifies love in both senses, good and evil, may be seen (n. 468, 494, 599). Here it signifies the love of untruth because it is termed ‘the lake of fire’. By ‘sulphur’ is signified the lusts of evil and consequently of untruth (n. 452). A similar thing is said of ‘the dragon’ and of ‘these two’ in the following chapter in these words:-
The devil (that is, the dragon) who led them astray was cast into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet are, and they shall be tormented day and night for ages of ages Rev. xx 10.
[2] It is to be known that the hell where such are appears from afar like a fiery lake with a greenish flame as of sulphur. Those, however, who are therein do not see this. They are shut up there in their workhouses where they quarrel vehemently among themselves, and sometimes there appear in their hands knives with which they make threats rather than yield. It is their love of untruth together with the lusts of evil which causes the appearance of such a lake. That appearance is the result of correspondence.
[3] That by ‘a lake’ is signified where there is truths in abundance, and in the opposite sense where there is untruths in abundance, can be established out of the Word; where there is truths in abundance from these passages:-
Out of the wilderness waters shall break forth, and rivers its the plain of the wilderness, and the dry places shall become a lake Isa. xxxv 6, 7.
I will change the wilderness into a lake of waters, and the dry land into springs of waters Isa. xli 18; Ps. cvii 33, 35.
I will change the rivers into islands, and I will dry up the lakes Isa. xlii 15.
The God of Jacob Who turns the rock into a lake of waters, and the flint into a fountain of waters Ps. cxiv 7, 8.
All those making a profit out of the lakes of the soul Isa. xix 10.
In the opposite sense from these:-
I will cut off from Babel the name and remnant, and I will make her into an inheritance of the bittern, and into lakes of waters Isa. xiv 22, 23.
Deaths and hell were cast into the lake of fire Rev. xx 14.
Whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire Rev. xx 14.
Their part [is] in the lake of fire burning wills sulphur, which is the second death Rev. xxi 8.
836. [verse 21] ‘And the rest were slain by the sword of the One sitting upon the horse, proceeding out of His mouth’ signifies that all [who are] of the various heresies among the Reformed who have not lived in accordance with the Lord’s precepts in the Word that they were aware of, being judged out of the Word, perish. By ‘the rest’ are understood all [who are] of the various heresies among the Reformed, who have not lived in accordance with the Lord’s precepts in the Word that they were aware of, which are the precepts of the Decalogue, thus who do not flee from evils as sins. For those who do not flee from them are in evils of every kind, for they are lodged with them from birth and consequently from infancy even to the end of life, and they increase daily if not removed by actual repentance. It is said of these that ‘they were slain by the sword of the One sitting upon the horse’. By ‘to be slain’ is signified here, as often before, to be slain spiritually, which is to perish as to the soul. By ‘the sword of the One sitting upon the horse, proceeding out of His mouth’ are signified truths of the Word fighting against untruths of evil; for by ‘sword’ (gladius), ‘short sword’ (machoera) and ‘long sword’ (romphaea) is signified truth fighting against untruth and untruth fighting against truth (n. 52). But a ‘sword’ is upon the thigh, resulting in a combat from love; a ‘short sword’ is in the hand, resulting in a combat from power; a ‘long sword’ is of the mouth, resulting in a combat from doctrine; and therefore ‘the long sword proceeding out of the Lord’s mouth’ is combat out of the Word against untruth (n. 108, 117, 827), for the Word proceeded out of the Lord’s mouth. The reason why it treats here of combat with the Reformed and not with the Babylonians, is because the Reformed read the Word and acknowledge the truths there as Divine truths. It is otherwise with the Babylonians. They indeed acknowledge the Word, but still they do not read it, and everyone regards the Pope’s pronouncements as more excellent and of greater value (priori loco, et procul pro aequali); and therefore with them there cannot be any combat out of the Word. Also they put themselves above it and not under it. Nevertheless they are judged out of the Word and out of the Pope’s pronouncements so far as these are in agreement with the Word.
837. ‘And all the birds were satiated with their flesh’ signifies that the infernal genii are nourished as it were upon the lusts of their evil, which are their own (propria). By ‘the birds’ are signified the untruths that are out of hell, and because in those untruths are the infernal genii who are together with men in the untruths that are of [each] man’s love, therefore these are here signified by ‘the birds’. A man also who is in those untruths becomes such an [infernal] genius after death. That by unserviceable and hurtful birds, especially the unclean and rapacious ones that derive nourishment from carrion, are signified falsities that are of the love, may be seen above (n. 757). By ‘flesh’ here are signified the evils of the lusts that are a man own (propria) (n. 748). By ‘to be satiated with them’ is signified to be as it were nourished by them and attracted to them with delight; for the infernal genii who are in similar lusts of evil greedily inhale and fill their nostrils, and thence their life, with the lusts exhaled from the thoughts and aspirations of such men for which reason they also live and dwell together.
838. Let everyone therefore beware of the heresy that A MAN IS JUSTIFIED BY FAITH WITHOUT THE WORKS OF THE LAW; for he who is in it and does not fully retract from it before his life ends is associated after death with infernal genii; for they are the ‘goats’ of whom the Lord says:-
Depart from Me, O cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels Matt. xxv 41;
for the Lord does not say of the ‘goats’ that they did evils, but that they did not do goods. The reason they did not do goods is because they say to themselves, ‘I cannot do good from myself; the law does not condemn me; Christ’s blood cleanses me and liberates me; the passion of the cross has borne the guilt of sin; Christ’s merit is imputed to me through faith; I am reconciled to the Father, in grace, I am regarded as a son; and He considers our sins as infirmities which He instantly remits for the sake of His Son; thus He justifies through faith alone; and if this were not the sole means of salvation no mortal (nemo mortalium) could be saved. For what other end should the Son of God suffer the cross, and fulfil the law, but that He might take away the damnation of our transgressions?’ These and further similar things do they say to themselves, and so they do not do goods that are goods; for no goods proceed out of their faith alone, which is nothing but a faith of cognitions, in itself an historical faith, thus knowledge only. For it is a dead faith into which no life or soul comes unless the man directly approaches the Lord and as of himself flees from evils as sins. In that event the goods that the man does as of himself are from the Lord, thus goods in themselves. Concerning this matter it is thus [written] in Isaiah:-
Woe to the sinful nation laden with iniquity, the seed of evildoers, souls misled; when you spread forth your hands I hide Mine eyes from you, even if you multiply prayer I will not hear. Wash you, purify you, put away the wickedness of your doings from before Mine eyes, cease to do evil, learn to do good; then though your sins have been as scarlet, they shall become white as snow; though they have been as purple, they shall be as wool Isa. i 4, 15-18.
And in Jeremiah:-
Stand at the gate of the house of Jehovah and proclaim there this word, Do not trust the words of a lie, saying, The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah are these (the Church of God, the Church of God, the Church of God where our faith is); will you, with stealing, killing, committing adultery and swearing by means of a lie, then come and stand before Me in this house whereupon My Name is named and say, We have been delivered, while you are doing those abominations? Has this house become a den of robbers? Behold, even I have seen, Jehovah has said Jer. vii 2-4, 9-11.
I looked forth into the world of spirits and saw an army upon red horses and black horses. Sitting upon them were visible what looked like apes, with their faces and chests turned to the horses’ loins and tails, and the backs of their heads and their backs towards the necks and heads of the horses, while the halters were hanging round the riders’ necks. And they were crying, Let us fight against those riding upon white horses’ And they kept on jogging the halters with both hands, thus continually pulling the horses back from the fight. At that time two angels travelled down out of heaven and were approaching me and saying, ‘What do you see?’ And I told of my seeing such a ridiculous riding display, and I asked what it was and who they were? [2] And the angel answered, ‘They are from the place that is called Armageddon (Rev. xvi 16), in which up to several thousands have been gathered together to fight against those who are of the Lord’s New Church, which is called the New Jerusalem. In that place they used to talk about the Church and religion, and yet there was nothing of the Church with them because there was not any spiritual truth, nor anything of religion because no spiritual good. They used to pay lip service to both of these, but with a view to ruling by means of them. In their youth they learned to confirm faith alone, a Trinity in God and a Duality in Christ (Trinitatem Dei et Dualitatem Christi). When, however, they were promoted to higher offices in the Church they held on to those things for some time; but because they then began to think no more about God and heaven but about themselves and the world, thus not about eternal blessedness and happiness but about temporal eminence and wealth, they cast the doctrinal tenets absorbed in their youth out of the interiors of the rational mind, which are in communication with heaven and consequently in the light of heaven, into the exteriors of the rational mind that are in communication with the world and consequently in the light of the world, and at length relegated them to the sensual natural. Consequently with them the doctrinal tenets of the Church have become things of the mouth only and are no longer matters of thought derived from reason, and still less of an affection derived from love; and because they have made themselves such they do not admit any genuine truth that is of the Church nor any genuine good that is of religion. The interiors of their mind have become comparatively like bottles filled with fragments of iron mixed with a sulphureous powder. If water is poured into this [mixture] there is first a growing hot and then a flame, with the result that the bottles are burst. In like manner when they hear anything about the living water that is the genuine truth of the Word, and this enters through the ears, they are violently heated and inflamed and cast it out as a thing that would burst their heads. [3] These are the ones who appeared to you like apes riding back to front with the halters round their necks upon the red and the black horses; since those who do not love the Church’s truths and good out of the Word are unwilling to look at the front parts of any horse, but only at its hinder parts. For a horse signifies the understanding of the Word, a red horse the understanding of the Word destroyed as to good and a black horse the understanding of the Word destroyed as to truth. They clamoured to fight against those riding upon the white horses because a white horse signifies the understanding of the Word as to truth and good. Their being seen to pull back the horses with the neck was because they were afraid to fight, lest the truth of the Word come to many and so come to light. This is the interpretation.
[4] The angels said further: ‘We are [members] of a society of heaven that is called Michael, and we have been sent by the Lord to go down to the place termed “Armageddon” from which the cavalry you saw sallied forth. By “Armageddon” with us in heaven is signified the state and purpose of fighting prompted by falsified truths arising from the love of command and supremacy; and because we perceive a desire with you of knowing about the fight there we will give you an account of it. After our descent out of heaven we drew near to the place termed “Armageddon” and saw several thousands assembled there. We did not, however, go into the assembly, but there were two houses to the south side of that place where there were boys with their masters. When we went in there they made us welcome. We were delighted with their company. They were all good looking, with life in their eyes and eagerness in their conversation. They had the life in their eyes derived from the perception of truth, and the eagerness in their conversation derived from the affection of truth*; on which account also caps had been given to them out of heaven, the borders of these being decorated with gold braid interwoven with pearls. They were also given garments variegated with white and blue. We asked them if they ever looked into the neighbouring place called Armageddon. They said that they did look through a window below the roof of the house, and that they saw a gathering there, but under various shapes, at one time as top-ranking men and at another not as men but as statues and graven images, and around them the assembly kneeling down. These also appeared to us under various forms, now like men, then like leopards, and again as goats; the latter with horns thrust downwards with which they were digging up the ground. We interpreted those transformations, [being aware of] whom they were representing and what they were signifying. [5] But to come to the point: when the assemblage heard that we had gone into those houses they said among themselves, “What are those persons doing with the boys? Let us send some of our assembly to cast them out.” They did indeed send them, and when they came they said to us, “Why have you gone into those houses? Where do you come from? We by authority command you to go away.” But we replied, “You cannot command this by authority. In your own eyes you are indeed like the Anakim, and those who are here are like dwarfs, but still you have no authority and right here, unless perhaps by cunning you derive it from your three places of diversion here, which, however, will be of no avail. So take back word to your companions that we have been sent to this place out of heaven to see whether there is any religion with you or not; and if not, you will be cast out of this place. Propose, therefore, this question to them, one involving the very essence of the Church and consequently of religion. How do they understand these words in the Lord’s Prayer: OUR FATHER WHO ART IN THE HEAVENS, HALLOWED BE THY NAME, THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE AS IN HEAVEN SO ALSO ON EARTH? When they heard these things they said at first, “What is this?” but afterwards that they would propose it. And they went away and related these things to their companions, whose response was, “What kind of proposition is this?” However, they understood what was behind it (intellexerunt arcanum), that they [the angels] wanted to know whether those words confirmed “the way of our faith to God the Father”. They therefore said, “The words are clear that prayer should be directed to God the Father, and because Christ is our Saviour that prayer ought to be to God the Father for the sake of the Son.” And presently they came indignantly to the conclusion that they would go to us and declare it orally, saying also that they would pull our ears. They also left that place and entered a grove near the two houses in which were the boys with their masters, where there was an elevated level space like a sports arena. And hand in hand they came into that arena. We were there and waited for them. There were mounds of turf there [rising] out of the ground like hillocks upon which they were leaning back, for they said among themselves, “Let us not stand before them, but sit down.” And then one of them who could make himself look like an angel of light, on whom it had been enjoined by the rest to speak with us, said: “You have proposed to us to open our mind about the first words in the Lord’s Prayer [to tell] how we understand them. I therefore say to you that we understand them this way, that prayer should be directed to God the Father; and because Christ is our Saviour and we are saved by His merit, we should pray to God the Father out of faith in His merit.” [6] But we then said to them, “We are from the society of heaven that is called Michael, and we have been sent to see you and find out whether you who are assembled in this place have any religion or not; and we cannot get to know this otherwise than by an inquiry concerning God, for the idea of God enters into everything of religion, and by means of it there is a conjunction and by the conjunction salvation. We in heaven like men on earth recite that prayer daily, and then we are not thinking of God the Father, because He is invisible, but of Himself in His own Divine Human, because in This He is visible. And He Himself in This is called by you ‘Christ’, but by us ‘the Lord’, and thus the Lord to us is the Father in heaven. The Lord also taught that He Himself and the Father are one, that the Father is in Him and He in the Father, and that he who sees Him is seeing the Father, also that no one comes to the Father but by Him, and again that it is the Father’s will that they should believe in the Son, and that he who does not believe in the Son does not see life, indeed, that the wrath of God abides upon him. From these considerations it is plain that the Father is approached through Him and in Him. And because this is the case He also taught that to Himself has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. It is said in that prayer, HALLOWED BE THY NAME, and THY KINGDOM COME, and we have shown from the Word that His Divine Human is the Father’s ‘Name’, and that the Father’s ‘kingdom’ exists whenever the Lord is approached directly, and not at all when God the Father is approached directly; and therefore also the Lord said to the disciples that they should preach the kingdom of God; and this is ‘the kingdom of God’. [7] We instructed them further out of the Word that the Lord came into the world that He might glorify His own Human with the end in view that the angels of heaven and the men of the Church might be united to God the Father through Himself and in Himself; for He taught that those who believe in Him are in Him, and Himself in them; which is as the Church teaches, that they are in ‘the Body of Christ’. Finally we informed them that at this day a New Church is being set up by the Lord, which is understood by the NEW JERUSALEM in the Apocalypse, in which the worship will be of the Lord more exclusively (solius), as it is in heaven; and that thus EVERYTHING THAT IS INVOLVED IN THE LORD’S PRAYER FROM BEGINNING TO END WILL BE FULFILLED. All the things that we have said above we confirmed in such abundance, from the Evangelistic Word and the Prophetical Word (ex Verbo apud Evangelistas, et ex Verbo apud Prophetas), that they were tired of hearing.
[8] I. We confirmed that OUR FATHER IN THE HEAVENS is the Lord Jesus Christ from these passages:-
Unto us a Boy is born, unto us a Son is given, and His Name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God, the Father of Eternity, the Prince of Peace Isa. ix 6 [H.B. 5].
Thou O Jehovah, art Our Father, the Redeemer from an age is Thy Name Isa. lxiii 16.
Jesus said, He who sees Me sees Him Who sent Me John xii 45.
If you have known Me, you have known the Father also, and henceforth you have known Him and seen Him John xiv 7.
Philip said, Lord, show us the Father: Jesus said to him, He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how dost thou then say, Show us the Father? John xiv 8, 9.
Jesus said, The Father and I are one John x 30.
All things whatsoever the Father has are Mine John xvi 15; xvii 10.
The Father is in Me, and I in the Father John x 38; xiv 10, 11, 20.
That no one has seen the Father, except the Only Son Who is in the Father’s bosom John i 18; v 37; vi 46.
And therefore He also says:-
That no one comes to the Father except by Him John xiv 6;
and that to come to the Father is by means of Him, by virtue of Him, and in Him (per Ipsum, ex Ipso, et in Ipso) (John vi 56; xiv 20; xv 4-6; xvii 19, 23).
But concerning the Unity of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, more passages may be seen in the MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE, n. 962.
[9] ‘II. That HALLOWED BE THY NAME means (sit) to approach the Lord and worship Him, we confirmed by these passages:-
Who shall not glorify Thy Name? for Thou Only art holy Rev. xv 4;
concerning the Lord.
Jesus said, Father glorify Thy Name, and there came a voice out of heaven, I have both glorified it and will glorify it John xii 28.
The Father’s Name that was glorified is the Divine Human.
Jesus said, I come in My Father’s Name John v 43.
Jesus said, He who receives this boy in My Name receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him Who sent Me Luke ix 48.
These things have been written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His Name John xx 31.
As many as received Him to them He gave authority to be the sons of God, to those believing in His Name John i 12.
Whatsoever you ask in My Name, this will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son John xiv 13, 14.
He who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the Name of God’s Only-begotten Son John iii 15, 16, 18.
Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them Matt. xviii 19, 20.
Jesus said to the disciples that they should preach in His Name Luke xxiv 47;
besides elsewhere where “the Name of the Lord” is mentioned, by which is understood Himself as to His Human, as Matt. vii 22; x 22; xviii 5; xix 29; xxiv 9, 10; Mark xi 10; xiii 13; xvi 17; Luke x 17; xix 38; xxi 12, 17; John ii 23; from which it is plain that the Father is hallowed in the Son, and by angels and men through the Son, and that this is “Hallowed be Thy Name”, as is more fully established in John (xvii 19, 21-23, 26).
[10] III. That THY KINGDOM COME means (sit) that the Lord reigns, we confirmed by these passages:-
The Law and the Prophets were until John, since then the kingdom of God is being preached (evangelizatur) Luke xvi 16.
John preaching the gospel of the kingdom said, The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has drawn near Mark i 14, 15; Matt. iii 2.
Jesus Himself preached the gospel of the kingdom, and that the kingdom of God drew near Matt. iv 17, 23; ix 35.
Jesus commanded the disciples to preach and evangelise the kingdom of God Mark xvi 15 Luke viii 1; ix 60.
In like manner [He spoke of the gospel of the kingdom] to the seventy whom He sent out (Luke x 9, 11); besides elsewhere, as Matt. xi 5; xvi 27, 28; Mark viii 35; ix 1, 47; x 29, 30; xi 10; Luke i 19; ii 10, 11; iv 43; vii 22; xvii 20, 21; xxi 30, 31; xxii 18. The kingdom of God that was being proclaimed (Evangelizabatur) was the Lord’s kingdom, and thus the Father’s kingdom. That this is the case is plain from these passages:-
The Father has given all things into the Son’s hand John 35.
The Father has given to the Son authority over all flesh John xvii 2.
All things have been delivered to Me by the Father Matt. xi 27.
All authority has been given unto Me in heaven and on earth Matt. xxviii 18.
And further from these:-
Jehovah Zebaoth is His Name, and [thy] Redeemer the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole land shall He be called Isa. liv 5.
I saw, and behold one like the Son of Man, to Whom was given dominion and glory and the kingdom, and all peoples and nations shall worship Him; His dominion is the dominion of an age that shall not pass away, and His kingdom is one that shall not perish Dan. vii 13, 14.
When the seventh angel sounded loud voices were produced in heaven saying, The kingdoms of the world have become our Lord’s and His Christ’s, and He shall reign for ages of ages Rev. xi 15; xii 10;
which kingdom of the Lord is treated of in the Apocalypse from beginning to end; and into it are going to come all who will be of the Lord’s New Church, which is the New Jerusalem.
[11] IV. THY WILL BE DONE AS IN HEAVEN SO ALSO ON EARTH, we confirmed by these passages:-
Jesus said, This is the Father’s will, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life John vi 40.
God so loved the world that He gave His Only-begotten Son, that every one who believes in Him may not perish, but have eternal life John iii 15, 16.
He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him John iii 36;
besides elsewhere. ‘To believe in Him’ is to go to Him and have faith that He will save because He is the Saviour of the world. Besides, it is known in the Church that the Lord God Jesus Christ reigns in heaven. He Himself says also that His kingdom is there. When therefore the Lord in like manner reigns in the Church, then the Father’s will is done as in heaven so also on earth.
[12] Finally we added these things: It is said in the whole of Christendom that those who are in the Church make ‘the Body of Christ’ and are ‘in His Body’. How then can the man of the Church approach God the Father except through Him in Whose Body he is? If otherwise, then he must go entirely out of the Body and approach.
[13] Having heard these and still more things out of the Word, the Armageddonists wanted to interrupt our discourse and to quote such things as the Lord spoke with His Father in the state of exinanition, but then their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths, since it was not permitted them to contradict the Word. But when at length the restraint on their tongues had been relaxed they cried out, “You have spoken against the doctrine of our Church, which is that God the Father is to be approached directly, and that belief should be in Him. Thus you have made yourselves guilty of a violation of our faith. Leave this place, therefore; and if not, you will be cast out.” And with their minds (animus) inflamed they tried to carry out their threats. Whereupon with the power given to us we struck them with a blindness. As the result of this, not seeing us, they rushed forth into the level space, which was a wilderness; and the ones who appeared to you like apes upon horses are some of those who were seen by the boys out of the window as statues and idols before which the rest knelt down.’
* The Original Edition has veri (of truth), but probably boni (of good) was intended. See TCR 113:4.
1. And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the deep, and a great chain in (super) his hand.
2. And he arrested the dragon, the serpent of old who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
3. And he cast him into the deep, and shut him up and set a seal upon him, lest he should lead the nations astray any more until the thousand years were finished, and after that he must be let loose for a short time.
4. And I saw thrones and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and the souls of those beheaded with the axe for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God, and who did not adore the beast or his image, and did not accept the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they lived and reigned with Christ for the thousand years.
5. And the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6. Blessed and holy is he having part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no authority, but they shall be priests of God and Christ, and shall reign with Him for the thousand years.
7. And when the thousand years are finished Satan shall be let loose out of his prison.
8. And he shall go forth to lead astray the nations that are at the four corners of the land, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for war, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9. And they went up upon the breadth of the land and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire from God came down from heaven and consumed them.
10. And the devil leading them astray was cast into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet are, and they shall be tormented days and nights for ages of ages.
11. And I saw a great white throne, and One sitting upon it, from Whose face the land and the heaven fled away; and no place was found for them.
12. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is of life; and the dead were judged out of the things written in the books according to their works.
13. And the sea gave up those who were dead in it, and death and hell gave up those dead in them, and they were judged, each one, according to their works.
14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire: this is the second death.
15. And if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
Concerning the removal of those who are understood by the dragon’ (vers. 1-3),
and then concerning the ascent out of the lower land of those who have worshipped the Lord and fled from evils as sins (vers. 4-6).
The judgment upon those who had nothing of religion in worship (vers. 7-9).
The damnation of ‘the dragon’ (verse 10).
The general judgment upon the rest (vers. 11-15).
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the deep, and a great chain in (super) his hand
signifies the Lord’s Divine operation into lower things by virtue of the Divine authority of shutting and opening, also of binding and letting loose.
2. And he arrested the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan
signifies that those were held back who are understood by ‘the dragon’, who, because they think sensually and not spiritually about matters of faith are termed ‘the serpent of old’, and because they are in evils as to life are termed ‘the Devil’, and because they are in untruths as to doctrine are termed ‘Satan’.
And bound him for a thousand years
signifies that those who are here understood by ‘the dragon’ were withdrawn and torn away from the rest in the world of spirits, so that for a while or for a considerable time there should not be communication with them.
3. And cast him into the deep, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him lest he should lead the nations astray any more
signifies that the Lord entirely removed those who were in faith alone and took away all communication between them and the rest, lest they should inspire anything of their heresy into those who were being taken up into heaven.
Until the thousand years were finished, and after that he must be let loose for a short time
signifies these things for a while or for a considerable time, until those who were in truths derived from good were taken up by the Lord into heaven; after which those who are understood by ‘the dragon’ are to be let loose for a short time and communication between them and the rest opened.
4. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgement was given unto them
signifies that the truths of the Word in accordance with which all are judged were opened, and that then those who had been hidden by the Lord were taken up out of the lower land lest they should be led astray by ‘the dragon’ and his ‘beasts’.
And the souls of those beheaded with the axe for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God
signifies [that they were] rejected by those who are in untruths derived from self-intelligence, because they worshipped the Lord and lived in accordance with the truths of His Word.
And who did not adore the beast or his image, and did not accept the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand
signifies who did not acknowledge and receive the doctrine concerning faith alone.
And they lived and reigned with Christ for the thousand years
signifies who had already been in conjunction with the Lord and in His kingdom for some time.
5. And the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished
signifies that besides those mentioned no others were taken up into heaven until after ‘the dragon’ was let loose, and those were then tested and examined [to discover] what they were like.
This is the first resurrection
signifies that salvation and eternal life is first of all to worship the Lord and to live in accordance with His precepts in the Word, because by their means there is conjunction with the Lord and association with the angels of heaven.
6. Blessed and holy is he having part in the first resurrection
signifies that those who come into heaven have the happiness of eternal life and enlightenment through conjunction with the Lord.
Over these the second death has no authority
signifies that they do not suffer damnation.
But they shall be priests of God and Christ
signifies because they are kept by the Lord in the good of love and consequently in the truths of wisdom.
And they shall reign with Him for the thousand years
signifies that they were already in heaven when the rest who did not live again, that is, accept heavenly life, were in the world of spirits.
7. And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be let loose out of his prison
signifies that, after those who had till then been hidden and guarded in the lower land were taken up by the Lord into heaven and by means of them the Christian New Heaven was increased, all those who confirmed untruths of faith with themselves should be let out.
8. And shall go forth to lead astray the nations that are at the four corners of the land, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for war
signifies that those who are here understood by ‘the dragon’ would draw to their side all who were of the territories in the entire world of spirits and lived there in a worship only external natural and in no internal spiritual worship, and would rouse them up against those who worshipped the Lord and lived in accordance with His precepts in the Word.
The number of whom is as the sand of the sea
signifies the multitude of such.
9. And they went up upon the breadth of the land and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city
signifies that being roused up by the dragonists they would despise every truth of the Church and endeavour to destroy all the things of the New Church, and the doctrine itself concerning the Lord and concerning Life.
And fire from God came down out of heaven and consumed them
signifies that they perished from the lusts of infernal love.
10. And the devil leading them astray was cast into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet are, and they shall be tormented days and nights for ages of ages
signifies those cast into hell, who were in evils as to life and in untruths as to doctrine.
11. And I saw a great white throne, and One sitting upon it, from Whose face the heaven and the land* fled away [,and no place was found for them]
signifies the universal judgment executed by the Lord upon all the former heavens that were occupied by (super quibus fuerunt) those who were in civil and moral good but in no spiritual good, thus who in external things were pretending to be Christians but in internal things were devils; which heavens with their territory were entirely done away with so that nothing of them would appear any more.
12. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God
signifies all those of whatever condition and quality from on earth who, having died, were now among those who were in the world of spirits, gathered together by the Lord for judgment.
And the books were opened, and another book was opened which is of life
signifies that the interior things of the mind of all of them were laid open, and by means of the influx of light and heat out of heaven it was seen and perceived what they were like as to the affections that are of love or of the will, and consequently as to the thoughts that are of faith or of the understanding, the evil as well as the good.
And the dead were judged out of the things written in the books according to their works
signifies that they were all judged in accordance with their internal life in external things.
13. And the sea gave up those who were dead in it
signifies the external and natural men of the Church called to judgment.
And death and hell gave up those who were dead in them
signifies the wicked-hearted men of the Church, who in themselves were devils and satans, called together to judgment.
And they were judged, each one, according to their works signifies here as before.
14. And deaths and hell were cast into the lake of fire
signifies that the wicked-hearted who in themselves were devils and satans, and yet in external things like men of the Church, were cast down into hell among those who were in the love of evil and consequently in the love of untruths agreeing with evil.
This is the second death
signifies that these suffer damnation itself
15. And if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire
signifies that those who did not live in accordance with the Lord’s precepts in His Word, and did not believe us the Lord, were condemned.
* Here and in the ‘Contents of each of the Verses’ the words ‘land’ and heaven’ are transposed. Cf. the text of the chapter and the exposition in subsection 2 of this paragraph.
THE EXPOSITION
[verse 1] ‘And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the deep, and a great chain in (super) his hand’ signifies the Lord’s operation into lower things by virtue of the Divine authority of shutting and opening, also of binding and letting loose. By ‘an angel coming down from heaven’ is understood the Lord, as may be seen (n. 5, 170, 344, 465, 657, 718), also the Lord’s operation (n. 415, 631, 633, 649), here into lower things because it is said coming down’. By ‘to have the key of the deep’ is signified the Divine authority of opening and shutting hell, as may be seen (n. 62, 174); and by ‘to have a great chain in the hand’ is signified the endeavour and from it the act of binding and letting loose. It follows from this that there was not any key or chain in the Lord’s hand, but that its having been so seen by John was a representative of the Lord’s Divine Authority. In this chapter it treats a second and a third time of the opening of hell and the closing thereof.
841. [verse 2] ‘And he arrested the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan’ signifies that those were held back who are understood by ‘the dragon’, who, because they think sensually and not spiritually about matters of faith, are termed the serpent of old, and because they are in evils as to life are termed ‘the Devil’, and because they are in untruths as to doctrine are termed ‘Satan’. Who they are who are understood by ‘the dragon’ may be seen above (n. 537). The reason why both here and there he is called ‘the serpent of old’, ‘the Devil’ and ‘Satan is because a ‘serpent’ signifies those who think sensually and not spiritually (n. 455, 550). ‘The Devil’ signifies those who are in evils as to life, and ‘Satan’ signifies those who are in untruths as to doctrine (n. 97, 550). For all those who do not approach the Lord directly think sensually about matters of the Church, and they cannot think spiritually, for the Lord is the light itself (n. 796, 799*). ‘Therefore those who do not approach the Lord directly cannot think out of the spiritual light that is the light of heaven but out of natural light separated from spiritual light, which is to think sensually. This is why they are termed ‘the serpent of old’. Those who do not approach the Lord directly, nor flee from evils as sins, remain in sins, in consequence of which the dragon is termed ‘the Devil’; and because the same are in untruths as to doctrine, the dragon is in consequence termed ‘Satan
* Perhaps n. 797 was intended.
842. ‘And bound him for a thousand years’ signifies that those who are here understood by ‘the dragon’ were withdrawn and torn away from the rest in the world of spirits, so that for a while or for a considerable time there should not be communication with them. That by ‘to bind’ here is signified to withdraw and tear away from the rest in the world of spirits so that there should not be communication with them will be seen in the paragraph following. The reason why by ‘a thousand years’ is not understood a thousand years but for a while or for a considerable time is because a thousand without other numbers added signifies that in the spiritual world. He who believes that ‘a thousand years’ signifies a thousand years does not know that all the numbers in the Word signify things, and thus he can be misled about the meaning of the things, especially in the Apocalypse where numbers are read, as where the numbers 5, 7, 10, 12, 144, 666, 1200, 1600, 12,000, 144,000 and many others occur. In these latter numbers the ‘thousand’ only signifies something added, and when the ‘thousand’ is applied to designate times it signifies somewhat more; but when it is mentioned on its own, as here, it signifies for a while or for a considerable time. That it is so has been told me out of heaven, where in the Word that is there not any number is read but instead of the number a thing, and instead of ‘a thousand’ a while. They are astonished there that, when the men of the Church see in the Apocalypse so many numbers that can but signify things, they still adhere to the conjectures of the Chiliasts or Millenarians, and thereby have become impressed with empty ideas about the last state of the Church.
843. [verse 3] ‘And cast him into the deep, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him that he should not lead the nations astray any more’ signifies that the Lord entirely removed those who were in faith alone and took away all communication between them and the rest, lest they should inspire anything of their heresy into those who were being taken up into heaven. By ‘the dragon’ here those are understood who are in untruths of faith, as just above (n. 842*). It is said of the dragon that he was ‘arrested’, ‘bound’, ‘cast into the deep’, ‘shut up’ and ‘had a seal set upon him’, whereby is signified that he was entirely removed, and that all communication was taken away between him and the rest. By his being ‘arrested’ is signified that those who are understood by him were gathered together and held back. By his being’ bound ‘is signified that they were withdrawn and torn away [from the rest]. By his being ‘cast into the deep’ is signified that they were sent down towards hell. By his being shut up’ is signified that they were entirely removed. By his having ‘a seal set upon him’ is signified that all communication between him and the rest was entirely taken away. [2] The reason why ‘the dragon’ was entirely removed for a time was so that those who had been hidden by the Lord (treated of in vers. 4-6) might be taken up from the lower land, lest they might be led astray by the dragonists while being taken up; and therefore it is also said ‘lest he should lead the nations astray any more’, by which is signified lest he should inspire into them anything of his heresy. The reason why this was done in the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, is because there the evil have communication with the good, and in that world the good are prepared for heaven and the evil for hell, and there the good are tested by having some companionship with the evil and are examined to find out what they are like and how steadfast they are. By ‘the nations’ which ‘he should not lead astray’ are understood the good. That by ‘the nations’ are understood those who as to life are good, and in the opposite sense, evil, may be seen above (n. 483). From these considerations it can be established that by ‘he cast him into the deep, and shut him up and set a seal upon him’ is signified that the Lord entirely removed those who were in untruths of faith, and took away all communication between them and the rest, lest they should inspire anything of their heresy into those who were being raised up into heaven.
* Perhaps n. 841 was intended.
844. ‘Until the thousand years were finished, and after that he must be let loose for a short time’ signifies these things for a while or for a considerable time, until those who were in truths derived from good were taken up into heaven by the Lord; after which those who are understood by ‘the dragon’ are to be let loose for a short time and a communication between them and the rest opened.
By ‘until the thousand years were finished’ is signified for a while or for a considerable time. This is because by ‘the thousand years’ is not signified a thousand years but for a while and for a considerable time, as above (n. 842). By its being necessary for him to be loosed for a short time is signified that after this those who are understood by ‘the dragon’ (treated of above) are to be released from their confinement, and then communication is to be opened between them and the rest. That these things are signified is plain from the things said above, thus from the series of the things, and from the connection with the things following in the spiritual sense. In the things now following from vers. 4-6 [the Word] treats of those who were taken up into heaven by the Lord, on whose account the dragon was removed and shut up.
845. [verse 4] ‘And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them’ signifies that the truths of the Word in accordance with which all are judged were opened, and that then those who had been hidden by the Lord were taken up out of the lower land lest they should be led astray by ‘the dragon’ and his ‘beasts’. These things are signified by these words because by the ‘thrones’ upon which they sat are not signified thrones but judgment in accordance with the truths of the Word. That by the ‘thrones’ seen in heaven judgment was represented may be seen above (n. 229). That nothing else was represented by the ‘thrones’ upon which the twenty-four elders sat, and upon which the twelve apostles are going to sit, and that all are judged in accordance with the truths of the Word, may also be seen above (n. 233). From this it is plain that by ‘judgment’ being ‘given unto them’ is signified that judgment was given to the truths of the Word. [2] The reason why those are [meant] who, having meanwhile been hidden there, were taken up out of the lower land into heaven by the Lord lest they should be led astray by ‘the dragon’ and his ‘beasts’, is because it is said of ‘the souls of those beheaded with the axe’ and of ‘the dead’ (as it follows on); not that they had been dead to themselves but to others. The place where they were hidden is called the lower land, which is next above hell under the world of spirits, and there by means of a communication with heaven and conjunction with the Lord they are in safety. There are many such places where they live cheerfully on their own and worship the Lord, not knowing anything about hell. Those who are there, when their turn comes after the last judgment, are raised up into heaven by the Lord, and when they are being raised up those who are understood by ‘the dragon’ are removed. It has quite often been given [me] to see that they were taken up and brought into association with the angels in heaven. This is understood in the Word by [the statement] that ‘the graves were opened’ and ‘the dead were raised up’ [Matt. xxvii 52, 53].
846. ‘And the souls of those beheaded with the axe for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God’ signifies [that they were] rejected by those who are in untruths derived from self-intelligence, because they worshipped the Lord and lived in accordance with the truths of the Word. By ‘the souls of those beheaded with the axe for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God’ are understood men after death who are then called spirits, or men clothed with a spiritual body, who were concealed by the Lord in the lower land until the evil were removed by the last judgment. They are said to be ‘beheaded with the axe’ because they were rejected by those who are in untruths derived from self-intelligence, these being all who are in evils and consequently in untruths, or who are in untruths and by their means in evils, and yet in external things are in Divine worship. That by ‘the axe’ this kind of untruth is signified will be seen in the following paragraph. By ‘the testimony of Jesus and the Word of God’ is signified the acknowledgment of the Lord’s Divine in His Human, the like as by these statements above:-
John bare witness of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ Rev. i 2.
Michael and the angels overcame the dragon by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony Rev. xii 11.
The dragon went away to wage war with the remnant of her seed, who were keeping the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ Rev. xii 17.
I am the fellow-servant of thy brothers having the testimony of Jesus
Christ: the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy Rev. xix 10.
That by these statements is signified the acknowledgment of the Lord’s Divine in His Human, and also a life in accordance with the truths of His Word, specifically in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue, may be seen in the expositions on those passages. These souls are the same ones of whom these things are said above:-
I saw underneath the altar the souls of those slain for the Word of God and for the testimony that they held; and they were crying out with a great voice, saying, How long, O Lord, Who art Holy and True, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on those dwelling upon the land? And white robes were given to each one, and it was said unto them that they should rest yet a little while until both their fellow-servants and their brothers, who were going to be slain as they also had been, are made up no the full extent Rev. vi 9-11;
which may be seen expounded (n. 325-329).
847. In the Word in various passages it is said [of certain persons] that they were ‘slain’, ‘pierced’, even ‘dead’, and yet it is not understood that they were slain, pierced or dead, but that they were rejected by those who are in evils and untruths, as may be seen (n. 59, 325, 589). The like is signified by ‘the dead’ in the following verse where it is said that ‘the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished’. From these considerations it is plain that by those who are said to be ‘beheaded with the axe’ is signified that they were rejected by those who are in untruths derived from self-intelligence. That by an ‘axe’ is signified untruth derived from self-intelligence is plain from these passages:-
The statutes of the nations are vanity, if one hews wood out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe Jer. x 3.
The voice of Egypt goes as a serpent, they came with axes like hewers of logs Jer. xlvi 22.
He is known as one lifting up axes on a trellis (implexum) of wood, and now they demolish the carved work thereof at once with the axe and hammers; in the land they have profaned the habitation of Thy Name Ps. lxxiv 5-7.
When thou shalt besiege a city, thou shalt not destroy the tree thereof by wielding an axe against it Deut. xx 19.
By ‘an axe’ in these places is signified untruth derived from self-intelligence. This is because by ‘iron’ is signified the truth in ultimates that is called sensual truth, which when it is separated from rational and spiritual truth is turned into untruths. The untruth is derived from self-intelligence because what is sensual is in the proprium, as may be seen (n. 424). On account of this signification of ‘iron’ and ‘an axe’ it was commanded that:-
If a stone altar should be built, it should be built of whole stones, and that iron should not be moved upon the stones, lest it be profaned Exod. xx 25 [H.B. 22]; Deut. xxvii 5.
Therefore these words are said of the Jerusalem temple:
The house itself was being built with whole stone, neither hammer nor axe nor any instrument of iron was heard in the house when it was being built 1 Kings vi 7;
and on the contrary, where graven images are treated of, by which is signified untruth derived from self-intelligence, it is said that:-
He shall work it with iron, with tongs, or with the axe and hammers Isa. xliv 12.
That untruths derived from self-intelligence is signified by ‘a graven image’ and ‘an idol’ may be seen above (n. 459).
848. That ‘and who did not adore the beast or his image, and did not accept the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand’ signifies who did not acknowledge and receive the doctrine concerning faith alone’ is plain from the things expounded above (n. 634) where the Words are similar.
849. ‘And they lived and reigned with Christ for the thousand years’ signifies who had already been in conjunction with the Lord and His kingdom for some time.
Those who ‘lived with Christ’ signify those who have been in conjunction with the Lord, because they are living. Those who ‘reigned with Christ’ signify those who have been in His kingdom, concerning which [something] follows. That by ‘for the thousand years’ is signified for some time may be seen above (n. 842). These things were said of those who its their life in the world worshipped the Lord and lived in accordance with His precepts in the Word, and after deaths were guarded lest they should be led astray by the dragonists, thus who already for some time had been conjoined with the Lord and in association with the angels of heaven as to interior things. That ‘to reign with the Lord is not to reign with Him but to be in His kingdom by conjunction with Him may be seen above (n. 284). For Only the Lord reigns, and every one in heaven who is in any function performs a duty in his own society, just as in the world, but under the Lord’s auspices. They indeed act from themselves, but because they have regard to uses its the first place they act from the Lord, from Whom is every use.
850. [verse 5] ‘And the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished’ signifies that besides those mentioned no others were taken up into heaven till after ‘the dragon’ was let loose, and those were then tested and examined [to discover] what they were like. By ‘the rest of the dead’ are signified those who were also rejected by those who are in faith alone, because they worshipped the Lord and lived in accordance with His precepts, but who were not yet tested and examined [to discover] what they were like. That here those are signified by ‘the dead’ may be seen above (n. 847). For all after their departure from the world first come into the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, and there they are tested and examined, and there prepared, the evil for hell and the good for heaven. It is said of these that they ‘did not live again’ yet, that is, they were not yet so conjoined with the Lord and in association with the angels of heaven as the former. That afterwards many also were saved is plain from vers. 12 and 15 of this chapter, where it is said that also ‘the book of life was opened, and if anyone was not found written in the book of life he was cast into the lake of fire’.
I saw the souls of those beheaded with the axe for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God, and who did nor adore the beast or his image, and did not accept the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand, and they lived and reigned with Christ.
That by ‘the souls beheaded with the axe for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God’ are signified those who were rejected by those who are in untruths derived from self-intelligence because they worshipped the Lord and lived in accordance with His precepts in the Word, may be seen above (n. 846, 847). That by ‘they did not adore the beast or his image, and did not accept the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand’ is signified that they rejected the heretical [doctrine] concerning faith alone may be seen above (n. 848); and that by ‘they lived and reigned with Christ for the thousand years’ is signified that they had conjunction with the Lord and an association with the angels of heaven may be seen above (n. 849). These therefore are the things that ‘this is the first resurrection’ involve. By ‘resurrection’ is signified salvation and eternal life, and by ‘the first’ is not understood the first resurrection but the very and primary thing of resurrection, thus salvation and eternal life; for there is only one resurrection to life, a second is not given. And therefore a second resurrection is not mentioned anywhere for they who have once been conjoined to the Lord have been conjoined to Him for ever and are in heaven, for the Lord says:-
I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he were dead, shall live; every one who lives and believes in Me shall never John xi 25, 26.
‘That these things are understood by ‘the first resurrection’ is established also from the verse now following.
852. [verse 6] ‘Blessed and holy is he having part in the first resurrection’ signifies that those who come into heaven have the happiness of eternal life and enlightenment through conjunction with the Lord. He is termed ‘blessed’ who has the happiness of eternal life (n. 639); and he is termed ‘holy’ who has enlightenment in Divine truths through conjunction with the Lord, for Only the Lord is Holy; and the Divine proceeding from Himself, by which there is enlightenment, is what is called the Holy Spirit (n. 173, 586, 666). By ‘the first resurrection’ is signified elevation into heaven by the Lord, and thus salvation, as just above (n. 851). Consequently it is plain that by ‘blessed and holy is he having part in the first resurrection’ is signified that those who come into heaven have the happiness of eternal life and enlightenment through conjunction with the Lord.
853. ‘Upon these the second death has no authority’ signifies that they do not suffer damnation. By ‘the second death’ is signified nothing else but spiritual death, which is damnation; for the first death is the natural death that is the death of the body, but the second death is the spiritual death that is the death of the soul, which is known to be damnation. Also, because the second death is damnation and the first is decease, this death not being spiritual, therefore the first death is not mentioned anywhere in the Apocalypse, but the second death is mentioned again in this chapter (verse 14), then in the following chapter (xxi 8), and also earlier on (chap. ii 11). He who does not notice this can easily believe that there are two spiritual deaths because it is said ‘the second deaths’, when yet there is but the one spiritual death that is understood here by ‘the second death’. He can likewise believe that there are two resurrections because ‘the first resurrection’ is mentioned, when yet there can be only the one resurrection; and therefore a second resurrection is not mentioned anywhere, as may be seen above (n. 851). From these considerations it is plain that by ‘upon these the second death has no authority’ is signified that they do not suffer damnation.
854. ‘But they shall be priests of God and Christ’ signifies because they are kept by the Lord in the good of love and consequently in the truths of wisdom. By ‘priests’ in the Word are understood those who are in the good of love, and by ‘kings’ those who are in the truths of wisdom; and therefore it is said above:-
Jesus Christ makes us kings and priests Rev. i 6;
and also:-
The Lamb made us kings and priests so that we may reign over the land Rev. v 10;
and it can be clearly seen that the Lord is not going to make men kings and priests, but that He is going to make angels of those who will be in the truths of wisdom and the good of love from Himself. That by ‘kings’ are understood those who are in the truths of wisdom from the Lord, and that the Lord is termed ‘King’ by reason of Divine Truth, may be seen above (n. 20, 483, 664, 830); but that by ‘priests’ are understood those who are in the good of love from the Lord is because the Lord is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, or what is the same, Divine Good and Divine Truth, and the Lord by reason of Divine Love or Divine Good is called ‘Priest’ and by reason of Divine Wisdom or Divine Truth is called ‘King’. This is why there are two kingdoms into which the heavens are distinguished, a celestial and a spiritual; and the celestial kingdom is called the Lord’s priestly kingdom, for the angels there are recipients of Divine Love or Divine Good from the Lord; and the spiritual kingdom is called the Lord’s regal kingdom, for the angels there are recipients of Divine Wisdom or Divine Truth from the Lord. But more concerning these two kingdoms may be seen above (n. 647, 725). [2] It is said that they are recipients of Divine Good and of Divine Truth from the Lord; but it should be known that they are perpetually receiving, for Divine Good and Divine Truths cannot be appropriated by any angel or man so as to be his but only so as to appear as his, for they are Divine. Therefore no angel or man is able from himself to produce anything good and true that in itself is good and true. From this it is plain that they are kept in what is good and true by the Lord, and that they are continually being [so] kept. Consequently if anyone comes into heaven and thinks that good and truth have been appropriated by him as his own, he is there and then sent down out of heaven and instructed. From these considerations it can now be established that by ‘they shall be priests of God and Christ’ is signified because they are kept by the Lord in the good of love and consequently in the truths of wisdom. [3] That by ‘priests’ in the Word are understood those who are in the good of love from the Lord can be established from many passages there; and because these have been quoted in ARCANA CAELESTIA published at London, I wish only to quote from it the following statements:-
That priests represented the Lord as to Divine Good (n. 2015, 6148).
That the priesthood was representative of the Lord as to the work of salvation, because this was out of the Divine Good of His Divine Love (n. 9809).
That the priesthood of Aaron, his sons, and the Levites was representative of the Lord’s work of salvation in successive order (n. 10,017).
That therefore by priests and the priesthood is signified the good of love from the Lord (n. 9806, 9809).
That by the two names, Jesus and Christ, is signified both the priestly and the regal [office] of the Lord (n. 3004, 3005, 3009).
That priests administer ecclesiastical matters and kings civil matters (n. 10,793).
That priests shall teach truths, and by means of them lead to good and thus to the Lord (n. 10,794).
That they shall not claim to themselves authority over men souls (n. 10,795).
That there shall be respect for priests for the sake of holy things, but that they shall not attribute the respect to themselves but to the Lord from Whom Only holy things exist, because the priesthood is not in the person but adjoined to the person (n. 10,796, 10,797).
That priests who do not acknowledge the Lord have in the Word the signification of contrary things (n. 3670).
855. ‘And they shall reign with Him for the thousand years’ signifies that they were already in heaven when the rest who did not live again, that is, accept heavenly life, were in the world of spirits. By ‘to reign with Christ’ is not signified to reign with Him but to be in His kingdom or in heaven, as may be seen above (is. 284, 849). By ‘the thousand years’ is not signified a thousand years, but it signifies for a while, as above (n. 842). It is plain that ‘the thousand years’ does not signify anything else but that space of time which existed between the shutting up of the dragon in the deep and his release, because it is said that he was cast into the deep, shut up, and that a seal was set upon him for a thousand years, and at length that he was let loose (vers. 3 and 7). This same space of time is signified here also; and therefore by ‘they shall reign with Christ for the thousand years’ is signified that they were already in heaven when the rest of the dead ‘who did not live again’ (treated of in verse 5) were in the world of spirits. But these things are not comprehended by those who do not know that by the numbers in the Apocalypse are not understood numbers but things. I can definitely state that angels do not understand any number naturally, as men do, but spiritually; indeed that they do not know what a thousand years are, only that it is some interval of time, small or great, and this cannot be expressed otherwise than by ‘a while’.
* There is no n. 857 in the Original Edition, but references to it are found in n. 550, 858 and 870. In view of the statement at the end of n. 856 it is possible that a paragraph treating in greater detail of the signification of both the ‘Devil’ and ‘Satan’ was omitted by the printer.
858. [verse 8] ‘And shall go forth to lead astray the nations that are at the four corners of the land, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for war’ signifies that those who are here understood by ‘the dragon’ would draw to their side all who were of the territories in the entire world of spirits and lived there in a worship only external natural and in no internal spiritual worship, and would rouse them up against those who worshipped the Lord and lived in accordance with His precepts in the Word. By ‘he shall go forth to lead astray the nations that are at the four corners of the land’ is signified that those who are understood by ‘the dragon’ (treated of just above, n. 856, 857) would draw to their side all who were in the entire world of spirits. By ‘to lead astray’ here is signified to draw to their side. By ‘the nations’ are signified both the good and the evil (n. 483). By ‘the four corners of the land’ is signified the entire spiritual world (n. 342), here those who were in the entire world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell and where all first come together after their departure from on earth (treated of n. 784, 791); for those who were in hell could not come into the dragon’s field of vision, nor those who were in the heavens. By ‘Gog and Magog’ are signified those who are in external natural worship separate from internal spiritual worship, treated of in the following paragraph. By ‘to gather them together for war’ is signified to rouse up those who are understood by ‘the nations’ against those who worship the Lord and live in accordance with His precepts in the Word, because all who do not worship the Lord and do not live in accordance with His precepts are evil, and the evil act together with the dragon or the dragonists. That by ‘war’ is understood the spiritual war that is of untruth against truth and of truth against untruth may be seen above (n. 500, 586).
859. That by ‘Gog and Magog’ are signified those who are in external worship and not in any internal worship can be established in Ezekiel from chap. xxxviii, where from beginning to end it treats of ‘Gog’; also from chap. xxxix there (vers. 1-16). But that those are signified by ‘Gog and Magog’ is not clearly evident there except by means of the spiritual sense. Because this has been disclosed to me it shall be opened; first what the things that are contained in those chapters signify. In chap. xxxviii in Ezekiel, they are these:-
It treats of those who are in the sense of the letter of the Word only, and consequently in a worship that is external without an internal, who are ‘Gog’ (vers. 1, 2).
That all things of that worship, collectively and separately, are going to perish (vers. 3-7).
That that worship will take possession of the Church, will vastate it, and thus it will be in external things without internal (vers. 8-16).
That the state of the Church is consequently changed (vers. 17-19).
That consequently the truths and goods of religion are going to perish, and untruths are going to succeed (vers. 20-23).
[2] In chap. xxxix in Ezekiel, they are these:-
Concerning those who are in the sense of the letter of the Word only, and in external worship; that they, who are ‘Gog’, are going to come into the Church, but that they are going to perish (vers. 1-6).
That this will take place when the Lord comes and sets up the Church (vers. 7, 8).
That this Church will then disperse their evils and untruths (vers. 9, 10).
That it will destroy them altogether (vers. 11-16).
That the New Church about to be set up by the Lord will be trained (informare) in truths and goods of every kind, and imbued with goods of every kind (vers. 17-21).
Also that the former Church on account of evils and untruths will be destroyed (vers. 23, 24).
That then a Church will be gathered together by the Lord from all nations (vers. 25-29).
[3] But something shall be said about those who are in external worship without internal spiritual worship. They are those who, going habitually to churches on sabbaths and festivals, then sing psalms and pray, listen to sermons and then pay attention to the eloquence but little if at all to the subject, and are somewhat moved by prayers uttered with affection to the effect that they are sinners, but do not reflect at all upon themselves and their life. They also attend the sacrament of the [Holy] Supper every year. They utter prayers morning and evening and also pray at mid-day and evening meals, and sometimes also have discussions about God, heaven, and eternal life, and then also they know how to quote some passages Out of the Word and to pretend to be Christians, although they are not; for after they have done all these things (haec et illa), they make nothing of adulteries and obscenities, revenge and hatred, clandestine thefts and despoilings, lies and blasphemies, and lusts and intentions of evils of every kind. Those who are such do not believe in any God, let alone in the Lord. If they are asked what is the good and the truth of religion, they know nothing and think that it is of no importance to know. In a word, they live for themselves and the world, thus for their inclination (genius) and body and not for God and the neighbour, thus not for the spirit and soul. From these considerations it is plain that their worship is an external worship without an internal. These also are inclined to receive the heresy of faith alone, especially when they hear that a man cannot do good from himself and that they are not under the yoke of the law. This is why it is said that the dragon ‘shall go forth to lead astray the nations, Gog and Magog’. By ‘Gog and Magog’ also in the Hebrew language is signified roof and floor, which is the external.
The valley of their burial, the Multitude of God, and the name of the city where they are, the Multitude Ezek. xxxix 15 [, 16].
O Jehovah, Thou hast not shut me up into the hand of the foe, Thou
hast made my feet to stand in the breadth Ps. xxxi 8 [H.B. 9].
Out of the narrowness I have called upon Jah, He has answered me in the breadth Ps. cxviii 5.
Jehovah has brought me forth into the breadth, He has delivered me Ps. xviii 19 [H.B. 20].
I, raising up the Chaldeans, a nation bitter and swift, walking in the breadth of the land Hab. i 6.
Asshur shall pass through Judah, he shall overflow and go over, and the stretchings out of his wings shalt be the fullness of the breadth Isa. viii 8.
Jehovah shall lead them no pasture as a sheep in the breadth Hosea iv 16;
besides elsewhere as Ps. iv [H.B. 2]; lxvi 12; Deut. xxxiii 20.
[3] Nothing else is understood by:-
The breadth of the city New Jerusalem Rev. xxi 16;
for when by ‘the New Jerusalem’ is understood the New Church, by ‘the breadth and the lengths of it’ there cannot be signified the breadth and the length but its truth and good; for these are the things of the Church. So also in Zechariah:-
I said to the angel, Where art thou going? He said, To measure Jerusalem to see what is the breadth thereof and what is the length thereof Zech. ii 2 [H.B. 6].
Likewise by ‘the breadth and the length’ of the new temple and the new land in Ezekiel (chaps. xl-xlvii). Also by ‘the length and the breadth’ of the altar of burnt-offering, of the tabernacle, of the table on which [were the cakes of] bread, of the altar of incense, and of the ark therein; and also by ‘the length and the breadth’ of the Jerusalem temple, and by those of the many other things that have been described by measurement.
The sun and moon have been blackened, and the stars have withdrawn their shining. Jehovah has uttered His voice before His army because His camp is very great, for those doing His Word are innumerable Joel ii 10, 11.
I will encamp about My house because of the army Zech. ix 8.
God has scattered the bones of those encamping against thee, because God has rejected them Ps. liii 5 [H.B. 6].
The angel of Jehovah encamps around those fearing Him, and delivers them Ps. xxxiv 7 [H.B. 8].
The angels of God were meeting Jacob, and Jacob said, This is God’s camp, therefore he called the name of the place Mahanaim (the two camps) Gen. xxxii 1, 2 [H.B. 2, 3];
besides elsewhere, as Isa xxix 3; Ezek. i 24; Ps. xxvii 3. That by ‘an army’ in the Word are signified the truths and goods of the Church, also its untruths and evils, may be seen (n. 447, 826, 833); therefore [this] also [is signified] by ‘a camp’.
[2] Since by ‘the sons of Israel’ and their twelve tribes is signified the Church as to all its truths and goods (n. 349, 350) those tribes were called ‘the armies of Jehovah’ (Exod. vii 4; xii 41, 51), and where they used to halt assembled together they were called ‘the camp’ (as in Lev. iv 12; viii 17; xiii 46; xiv 8; xvi 26, 28; xxiv 14, 23; Num. i, ii, iii, iv 5 seq.; v 2-4; ix 17 to the end; x 1-28; xi 31, 32; xii 14, 15; xxi 10-15; xxxiii 1-49; Deut. xxiii 9-14 [H.B. 10-15]; Amos iv 10). From these considerations it is now plain that by ‘they surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city’ is signified that they would endeavour to destroy all the truths and goods of the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, and also its doctrine concerning the Lord and concerning Life. A similar thing is signified by these words in Luke:-
When you shall see Jerusalem encompassed by armies, then know that the devastation is near: at length Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the nations until the times of the nations shall be fulfilled Luke xxi 20, 24.
These things are concerning the consummation of the age, which is the last time of the Church. By ‘Jerusalem’ here also is signified the Church. That ‘Gog and Magog’, that is, those who are in external worship separate from internal worship, are then going to invade the Church and endeavour to destroy it is said also in Ezekiel (xxxviii 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16; xxxix 2), and that then there will be the New Church from the Lord (xxxix 17 to the end).
863. ‘And fire from God came down from heaven and consumed them’ signifies that they perished from the lusts of infernal love. By the ‘fire coming down out of heaven’ which ‘consumed them’ are signified the lusts of evils, or of infernal love, as above (n. 494, 748), inasmuch as those who are in external worship separate from internal worship are in evils of every kind and in lusts, because the evils with them have not been removed by any actual repentance (n. 859). It is said that fire from God came down out of heaven. This was the case in ancient times when all the things of the Church used to be represented before their eyes, consequently when Churches were representative. But at the present day, when the representatives have ceased, it is said in a like manner, and by it the same thing is signified as formerly when it was represented. That fire came down out of heaven upon those who profaned holy things may be seen above (n. 494, 748). Something similar is said of ‘Gog and Magog’ in Ezekiel:-
I will cause fire and sulphur to rain upon Gog, and upon his wings, and upon the many peoples that are with him Ezek. xxxviii 22.
I will send fire upon Magog Ezek. xxxix 6.
864. [verse 10] ‘And the devil leading them astray was cast into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet are, and they shall be tormented days and nights for ages of ages’ signifies those who were in evils as to life and in untruths as to doctrine cast into hell, where they will be interiorly infested by the love of their own untruth and by the lusts of their own evil continually forever. By ‘the devil leading them astray’ is understood the dragon as is plain from the things preceding, and by ‘the dragon’ are understood in general those who are in evils as to life and in untruths as to doctrine (n. 841). He is termed ‘the devil leading them astray’ that it might be known that it was the dragon, because he led astray (as is plain from vers. 2, 3, 7, 8 of this chapter). By ‘the lake of fire’ into which he was cast is signified hell where are the loves of untruth and the lusts of evil (n. 835). By ‘the beast and the false prophet’ are signified those who by both life and doctrine are in faith alone, the unlearned as well as the learned; by ‘the beast’ the unlearned, and by ‘the false prophet’ the learned (n. 834). By ‘to be tormented days and nights’ is signified to be interiorly infested continually, and by ‘for ages of ages’ forever. And because it is said that ‘they were cast into the lake of fire and sulphur’, and by that is signified where the loves of untruth and the lusts of evil are (n. 835), it is these by which they will be infested interiorly; for every one in hell is tormented by reason of his own love and the lusts thereof, for these make the life of each one there, and the life is tormented: and therefore there are degrees of torment in accordance with the degrees of the love of evil and of the untruth therefrom.
865. [verse 11] ‘And I saw a throne white and great, and One sitting upon it, from Whose face the heaven and the land* fled away [, and no place was found for them]’ signifies the universal judgment executed by the Lord upon all the former heavens that were occupied by (super quibus fuerunt) those who were in civil and moral good but in no spiritual good, thus who in external things were pretending to be Christians but in internal things were devils; which heavens with their territory were entirely done away with so that nothing of them would appear any more. Before these things are expounded in an order following the letter, something must be premised concerning the universal judgment that is treated of here. From the time that the Lord was in the world when He Himself in Person executed a last judgment, it was permitted that those who were in civil and moral good although in no spiritual good, whence in external things appeared like Christians but in internal things were devils, should stay longer than the rest in the world of spirits which is midway between heaven and hell. Then at length it was allowed them to make permanent dwellings there for themselves, and also by an abuse of correspondences and by phantasies to form for themselves as it were heavens, which they did indeed form in great abundance. But when these were multiplied to such an extent as to intercept spiritual light and spiritual heat between the higher heavens and men on earth, then the Lord effected the last judgment and did away with these imaginary heavens. This was done in such a way that the external things by means of which they were pretending to be Christians were taken away, and the internal things in which they were devils were opened, and then they were seen for what they were in themselves, and those who were seen to be devils were cast into hell, each one in accordance with the evils of his own life. This was done in the year 1757. But more concerning this universal judgment may be seen in the little work concerning THE LAST JUDGMENT published at London in 1758, and in THE CONTINUATION CONCERNING THAT [JUDGMENT] published at Amsterdam in 1763. [2] Now to the exposition. By the ‘throne white and great, and the One sitting upon it’ is signified the universal judgment effected by the Lord. By ‘a throne’ is signified heaven and also judgment (n. 229); by ‘the One sitting upon the throne’ is understood the Lord (n. 808 at the end). The throne appeared ‘white’ because the judgment was effected out of Divine truths, for ‘white’ is predicated of truths (n. 167, 379). The throne appeared ‘great’ because the judgment was also effected out of Divine Good, for ‘great’ is predicated of good (n. 656, 663). ‘From Whose face the land and the heaven fled away’ signifies that those heavens which they had made for themselves (treated of just above), with their territories, were done away wills; for in the spiritual world just as in the natural world there are lands, as may be seen (is. 260, 331); but the lands, like all the other things there, are of a spiritual origin. ‘And no place was found for them’ signifies that the heavens with their territories were thus altogether done away with, so that nothing of them would appear any more. From these considerations it can be established that by ‘I saw a throne white and great, and One sitting upon it, from Whose face the land and the heaven fled away, and no place was found for them’ is signified the universal judgment effected by the Lord upon all the former** heavens that were occupied by those who were in civil and moral good but in no spiritual good, thus who in external things were pretending to be Christians but in internal things were devils; which heavens with their territory were altogether done away with so that nothing of them would appear any more.
* Here and in the ‘Contents of each of the Verses’ the words ‘land’ and heaven’ are transposed. Cf. the text of the chapter and the exposition in subsection 2 of this paragraph.
** Reading priores (former) as in the heading, instead of novos (new).
866. [verse 52] ‘And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God’ signifies all those of whatever condition and quality from on earth who, having died, were now among those who were in the world of spirits, gathered together by the Lord for judgment. By ‘the dead’ are signified all who have departed from on earth, or who have died as to the body, concerning whom more [is said] below. By ‘small and great’ are signified of whatever condition and quality (as n. 604). By ‘to stand before God’, that is, before ‘the One sitting upon the throne’ is signified to be present and gathered together for judgment. By ‘the dead’ in the Word the same is signified as by deaths, and by ‘deaths’ various things are signified; for ‘death’ not only signifies the extinction of natural life, which is decease, but also the extinction of spiritual life, which is damnation. By ‘death’ is signified also the extinction of the body’s loves or the lusts of the flesh, after which there is a new beginning (innovatio) of life. In like manner by ‘death’ is signified resurrection, because a man after death immediately rises again. Also by ‘death’ is signified neglect, non-acknowledgment and rejection by the world. But in the most general sense by ‘death’ is signified the same as by the Devil, and therefore also the Devil is called ‘Death’, and by ‘the Devil’ is understood the hell where are those who are called devils. Consequently also by ‘death’ is understood the evil of the will that causes a man to be a devil. ‘Death’ is understood in this last sense in the following verse[s] where it is said that ‘death and hell gave up their dead’ and that ‘they were cast into the lake of fire’. From these things it can be established who are signified by ‘the dead’ in every sense (in vario sensu). Here they signify all those who had departed out of the world or who had died from on earth, and were then in the world of spirits. [2] It is said in the world of spirits because all come at first into that world after their decease, and there the good are prepared for heaven and the evil for hell; and some stay there only for a month or for a year and others for ten years up to thirty years; and those who had been allowed to make as it were heavens for themselves [stayed] for several centuries; but at this day no [one stays] longer than twenty years. The crowd there is enormous, and there are societies there as in the heavens and in the hells. Concerning this world [something] may be seen above (n. 784, 791). The last judgment was executed upon those who were in that world and not upon those who were in heaven nor upon those who were in hell, for those who were in heaven were saved before and those in hell were damned before. From these things it can be seen how much they are deceived who believe that the last judgment is going to take place on earth, and that then men are going to be raised again as to their bodies. For from the world’s first creation all who have lived are together in the spiritual world and are clothed with a spiritual body. In the sight of those who are spiritual they appear as men in a similar form, just as those who are in the natural world do in the sight of those who are natural.
867. ‘And the books were opened, and another book was of the mind of all of them were laid open, and by means opened which is of life’ signifies that the interior things of the influx of light and heat out of heaven it was seen and perceived what they were like as to the affections that are of the love or of the will, and consequently as to the thoughts that are of faith or of the understanding, the evil as well as the good. By ‘the books’ are not understood books but the interior things of the mind of those who are being judged, by the books’ the interior things of the mind of those who are evil and are being judged to death, and by ‘the book of life’ those who are good and are judged to life. They are termed ‘books’ because in the interior things of the mind of every one have been inscribed all the things that each one has thought, intended, spoken and done out of the will or love, and consequently out of the understanding or faith. All these things are inscribed on the life of every one with so much exactness that nothing at all is missing. These things appear as to their qualities with lifelike reality when the spiritual light that is wisdom from the Lord and the spiritual heat that is love from the Lord inflow through heaven. The spiritual light discloses the thoughts that are of the understanding and faith, and the spiritual heat discloses the affections that are of the will and love; while the spiritual light and spiritual heat together disclose the intentions and endeavours. ‘That this is the case, I do not say that a rational man can see out of the light of his own understanding; but he can see if he will, provided he is willing to understand that there exists a spiritual light that illumines the understanding and a spiritual heat that enkindles the will.
868. ‘And the dead were judged out of the things written in the books according to their works’ signifies that they were all judged in accordance with their internal life in external things. By ‘the dead’ are signified all who died from on earth and were then in the world of spirits, as above (n. 866). ‘Out of the things written in the books’ signifies out of the interior things of every one’s mind then laid open, as just above (n. 867). ‘According to their works’ signifies in accordance with every one’s internal life in external things. That this is signified by ‘works’ in the Word may be seen above (n. 72, 76, 94, 141, 641); to which I will add this, that there are works of the mind and works of the body, both of them at once internal and external. The works of the mind are intentions and endeavours, and the works of the body are utterances and actions. Both of these (haec et illa) proceed out of a man’s internal life, which is of his will or love. Whatever does not terminate in works, whether it be internal things that are of the mind or external things that are of the body, these are not in the man’s life, for they inflow out of the world of spirits but are not being received. Therefore they are like images that strike the eyes and like odours that impinge on the nostrils, from which the man turns away his face. But more things concerning these matters may be seen in the places cited above, where also some passages have been quoted out of the Word confirming that a man is judged in accordance with his works. Besides them there are also these [words] from Paul:-
In the day of wrath and of the revelation of God’s just judgment. Who will render to every one in accordance with his works Rom. ii 5, 6.
We must all be exposed before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may obtain the things that he has done by means of the body, according to the things he has done, whether good or evil 2 Cor. v 10.
869. [verse 13] ‘And the sea gave up those who were dead in it’ signifies the external and natural men of the Church called together to judgment. By ‘the sea’ is signified the external of the Church, which is natural; consequently by those whom the sea gave up are signified the external and natural men of the Church. That ‘the sea’ signifies the external of the Church, which is natural, may be seen above (n. 238, 398 at the end, 402-404, 470, 565 1/2, 659, 661). By ‘the dead’ are understood those who had died from on earth, as above (n. 866, 868). The reason why by ‘the dead’ whom ‘the sea gave up’ are understood the men of the external Church is because no others were judged but those who had been in some worship, for all those who spurned the holy things of the Church and denied the Lord, the Word and the life after death were judged immediately after death and conjoined with those who were in hell, whither they were subsequently cast down. But those who had been external and natural men, and professed by mouth that there is a God, that there are a heaven and a hell, and in a certain way acknowledged the Word, they are the ones who were called together to judgment. From these, who were out of ‘the sea’, many were saved, for we do not read that all of them ‘were cast into the lake of fire’, as ‘death and hell’ were, but that ‘if any one of them was not found written in the book of life’ he was cast therein (verse 15). Those of them who were saved are also understood by ‘the rest of the dead’ who ‘did not live again until the thousand years were finished’ (verse 5). From these considerations it can now be established that by ‘the sea gave up those who were dead in it’ are signified the external and natural men of the Church called together to judgment.
870. ‘And death and hell gave up those who were dead in them’ signifies the wicked-hearted men of the Church who in themselves were devils and satans, called together to judgment. By ‘death and hell’ no others are understood than those who interiorly in themselves were devils and satans, by ‘death’ those who interiorly in themselves were devils and by ‘hell’ those who interiorly in themselves were satans, therefore all the wicked-hearted who yet in external things appeared as men of the Church. For no others were called together to this universal judgment; for those, whether they are of the laity or the clergy, who in external things are like men of the Church and in internal things are devils and satans are judged, because with them the external things must be separated from the internal. And also they can be judged because they have known and professed the things that are of the Church. That by ‘death’ are understood the wicked-hearted who in themselves were devils and by ‘hell’ those who in themselves were satans is plain from the fact that it is said that ‘death and hell were cast into the lake of fire’ (the following verse, 14), and neither death nor hell can be cast into hell, but those can be who as to their interior things are ‘death and hell’, that is, in themselves devils and satans. Who are understood by ‘the Devil’ and ‘Satan’ may be seen above (n. 97, 841, 857); also that those are ‘death’ who in themselves are devils, just above (n. 866). Elsewhere also ‘deaths and hell’ is said, as:-
The Son of Man said, I have the keys of deaths and hell Rev. i 8.
The name of him sitting on the pale horse was death and hell was following him Rev. vi 13;
in like manner Hosea xiii 14; Ps. xviii 4, 5 [H.B. 5, 6]; xlix 14, 15 [H.B. 15, 16]; cxvi 3.
871. That ‘And they were judged, each one, according to their works’ signifies that they were all judged in accordance with their internal life in external things is plain from the things expounded above (n. 868) where the words are similar. To which things I will add this, that every one is judged in accordance with the quality of his soul, and a man’s soul is his life, for it is the love of his will, and the love of every one’s will is entirely in accordance with the reception of the Divine Truths proceeding from the Lord, and the Church’s doctrine that is out of the Word teaches this reception.
872. [verse 14] ‘And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire’ signifies that the wicked-hearted, who in themselves were devils and satans and yet in external things like men of the Church, were cast down into hell among those who were in the love of evil and consequently in the love of untruths agreeing with evil. By ‘death and hell’ are signified the wicked-hearted who interiorly in themselves were devils and satans, and yet in external things like the men of the Church, as above (n. 870). By ‘the lake of fire’ is signified hell, where those are who are in the love of evil and consequently in the love of the untruth agreeing with evil, thus who love evil and confirm it by reasonings derived from the natural man, and still more those who confirm it by means of the sense of the letter of the Word. These cannot interiorly in themselves do other than deny God, for this lies concealed in evil of life confirmed by untruths. The ‘lake’ signifies where there is untruth in abundance, and ‘fire’ signifies the love of evil, as above (n. 835, 864). Its being said that ‘death and hell were cast into the lake of fire’ is in accordance with angelic speech, in which persons are not named but that which is in the person and makes him, here what in the person makes his death and hell. That this is the case can be seen from the fact that hell cannot be cast into hell.
873. ‘This is the second death’ signifies that these suffer damnation itself. That by ‘the second death’ is signified the spiritual death that is damnation may be seen above (n. 853). This is said because those who are wicked-hearted and in themselves devils and satans and yet are like the men of the Church are damned beyond the rest.
874. [verse 15] ‘And if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire’ signifies that those who did not live in accordance with the Lord’s precepts in the Word, and did not believe in the Lord, were condemned. That by ‘the book of life’ is signified the Word, and by ‘to be judged out of that book’ is signified in accordance with the truths of the Word, may be seen above (n. 256, 259, 295, 302, 309, 317, 324, 330); and no other is ‘found written in the book of life’ but he who has lived in accordance with the Lord’s precepts in the Word and has believed in the Lord. This therefore is understood. That he who does not live in accordance with the Lord’s precepts in the Word is condemned, the Lord teaches in John:-
If anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; he has that which judges him, the Word that I have spoken; that shall judge him in the last day John xii 47 48;
and that he who does not believe in the Lord is condemned, also in John:-
He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not believe in the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him John iii 36.
* * * * * * * * * * *
875. To these things I will add these MEMORABLE OCCURRENCES.
One morning, having wakened from sleep, I saw two angels coming down out of heaven, one out of the south of heaven and the other out of the east of heaven, both of them in chariots to which white horses were harnessed. The chariot in which the angel from the south of heaven was carried was shining as if of silver, and the chariot in which the angel from the east of heaven was carried was shining as if of gold. And the reins which they were holding in their hands were gleaming as if from the flame-coloured light of the dawn. Thus were these two angels seen by me from afar off but when they were coming nearer they did not appear in a chariot but in their own angelic form, which is the human form. He who came from the east of heaven was in a shining purple garment, and he who came from the south of heaven was in one of shining blue. When these were in lower [states] below the heavens they were running to meet each other as if they were striving who should be first, and they embraced and kissed each other. I heard that these two angels when they lived in the world had been conjoined by an interior friendship, but now one was in the eastern heaven and the other in the southern heaven. In the eastern heaven are those who are in love from the Lord. In the southern heaven, however, are those who are in wisdom from the Lord. [2] After they had spoken for some time about the magnificent things in their heavens this question came into their conversation, whether heaven in its essence is love or whether it is wisdom. They were in agreement right away that one is of the other, but were discussing of which one the other has its origin. The angel who was from the heaven of wisdom asked the other angel what love is, and he answered that love, having originated from the Lord as the Sun, is the vital heat of angels and men, thus it is their life. He also said that the derivations of love are termed affections, and that by means of them perceptions are produced and thus thoughts. ‘From this it follows that wisdom by virtue of its origin is love; consequently that thought in its origin is the affection of that love. And [it follows] that it can be seen from a survey of the derivations in their order that thought is nothing else but the form of affection, and that this is not known because thoughts are in light but affections are in heat, and that therefore one reflects upon thoughts but not upon affections, as is the case with sound and speech. That thought is nothing else but the form of affection can also be illustrated by speech, for this is nothing else but the form of sound. It is also similar because sound corresponds to affection and speech to thought, and therefore affection sounds and thought speaks. This also can become clearly evident when put in this way (dicitur), “If you take sound away from speech, is there anything of speech?” Similarly “If you take affection away from thought, is there anything of thought?” From this it is plain that Love is everything of Wisdom, consequently that the essence of the heavens is Love and that their existence is Wisdom, or what is the same, that the heavens exist out of Divine Love and that they come into existence out of Divine Love by means of Divine Wisdom, and therefore, as was said before, the one is of the other.’ [3] At that time there was with me a novitiate spirit who on hearing this asked whether it is similar with charity and faith, because charity is of affection and faith is of thought. And the angel answered, ‘It is entirely similar, for faith is nothing else but the form of charity as plainly as speech is the form of sound, for faith is also formed by charity just as speech is formed by sound. We in heaven also know about the mode of the formation, but there is not time to explain that here.’ He added, ‘By faith I understand spiritual faith in which the spirit and life is derived solely from charity, for charity is spiritual and by means of it faith is. Therefore faith without charity is a merely natural faith, and this faith is a dead faith. It also conjoins itself with the merely natural affection that is nothing else but lust.’ The angels were speaking about these things spiritually, and spiritual speech embraces thousands of things that natural speech cannot express, and what is astonishing, that cannot at all fall into the ideas of natural thought. Please remember this, and when you come out of natural light into spiritual light, which is effected after death, ask then what faith is and what charity is, and you will clearly see that faith is charity in form and therefore that charity is everything of faith, consequently that it is the soul, life and essence of faith, precisely as affection is of thought and as sound is of speech. And if you desire it, you will come to see the formation of faith from charity like the formation of speech out of sound, because they correspond. After the angels had spoken of all these things (haec et illa) they departed, and as they retired each to his own heaven stars appeared around their heads, and when they had gone from me to a distance they were seen again in the chariots as before.
[4] After these two angels had gone out of my sight I saw on the right a certain garden where there were olive trees, vines, fig trees, laurels and palm trees planted in order according to correspondence. I had a look at it, and among the trees I saw angels and spirits walking and talking. And then one of them, an angelic spirit, looked back at me. They are called angelic spirits who are being prepared for heaven in the world of spirits and afterwards become angels. That spirit came to me from the garden and said, ‘Will you go with me into our paradise, and you shall hear and see wonderful things?’ And I went with him, and then he said to me, ‘Those whom you see (for there were many) are all in the affection of truth and consequently in the light of wisdom. Here also is the building that we call THE TEMPLE OF WISDOM; but no one who thinks himself to be very wise sees it, even less any one who thinks himself wise enough, and still less one who thinks that he is wise from himself. This is because such persons are not in the reception of the light of heaven out of the affection of genuine wisdom. It is genuine wisdom for a man to see out of the light of heaven that the things that he knows, understands and is wise in are so little in respect to what he does not know, understand and have wisdom in as a drop to the ocean, consequently scarcely anything. Everyone who is in this paradisial garden and by virtue of a perception and sight in himself acknowledges that he is comparatively so little wise sees that temple of wisdom, for interior light enables him to see it, but not exterior light without that.’ [5] And because I have often thought, and as the result of knowledge and then of perception and at length of sight out of interior light have acknowledged, that a man is so little wise, behold, it was given me to see that temple. Its form it was wonderful. It was raised above the ground, quadrangular, with walls of crystal, the roof of transparent jasper elegantly arched, and a foundation of various precious stones. The steps leading up to it were of polished alabaster. At the sides of the steps as it were lions with their whelps were visible. And then I asked whether it was allowed to enter, and it was said that it was. I therefore went up and when I entered saw as it were cherubs flying under the roof but presently vanishing. The floor on which one walked was of cedar, and by reason of the transparency of the roof and walls the whole temple was almost the form of light. [6] The angelic spirit entered with me and I told him what I heard from the two angels concerning love and wisdom, as also concerning charity and faith. And he said then, ‘Did they not also speak of a third?’ ‘What third?’ I said. He replied, ‘It is USE. Love and wisdom without use are not anything. They are only ideal entities, and they do not become real before they are in use. For there are love, wisdom and use, the three of them, which cannot be separated. If they are separated, none of them is anything. Love is not anything without wisdom, but in wisdom it is formed for something. This something for which it is formed is use, and therefore when love by means of wisdom is in use then it is something, in fact it then first comes into existence. They are altogether as end, cause and effect. An end is not anything unless by means of a cause it is in an effect. If one is loosed out of those three, then everything is loosed and it comes to naught. [7] It is similar with charity, faith and works. Charity without faith is not anything, neither is faith without charity, nor charity and faith without deeds; but in deeds they become something, the quality of which is determined by the use of the deeds. It is similar with affection, thought and operation; and it is similar with will, understanding and action. That it is so can be clearly seen in this temple, because the light in which we are here is a light enlightening the interior things of the mind. Geometry also teaches that there is not given a complete and perfect thing unless it is a trine; for a line is not anything unless it becomes an area, nor is an area anything unless it becomes a body, and therefore the one must be directed into the other that they may have existence, and they exist together in the third. Just as it is in this instance, so also it is in all created things collectively and separately, which are fixed in their third. It is in consequence of this now that THREE in the Word spiritually understood signifies complete and altogether. This being the case I have not been able to avoid marvelling that some profess faith alone, some charity alone, and some works alone; when yet the first without the second, and the first and second together without the third, is not anything.’ [8] But then I asked, ‘Cannot a man have charity and faith and still not have deeds? Cannot a man be in affection and thought concerning some matter and yet not be in the performance of it?’ The angelic spirit said to me, ‘He cannot except only ideally but not really. He must still be in the endeavour or will to perform, and the will or endeavour is action in itself, because there is a continuous striving for action, and when determination is present it becomes an outward act. Effort and will as an inward act is therefore accepted by every wise man, because it is accepted by God, altogether as an outward act, provided it does not fail when the opportunity is given.’
[9] After this I went down the steps out of the temple of wisdom and walked in the garden, and I saw some [spirits] sitting under a certain laurel eating figs. I turned aside to them and asked them for figs, and they gave me some. And behold, the figs became grapes in my hand. When I marvelled at this the angelic spirit who was still with me, said to me, ‘The figs have become grapes in your hand because by correspondence figs signify the goods of charity and of faith therefrom in the natural or external man, but grapes signify the goods of charity and faith in the spiritual or internal man; and because you love spiritual things it has therefore so happened to you. For in our world all things are produced and come into existence and also are changed in accordance with correspondences.’ And then there came over me the desire to know how a man can do good from God and yet as from himself and I therefore inquired of the fig-eaters how they comprehended this. They said that they could not comprehend it otherwise than that ‘God operates it inwardly in the man, and through the man when he does not know it; since if the man should be conscious of it and thus do it as from himself, which is also to do it from himself, he would not do good but evil. For everything that proceeds from the man so as to be from himself proceeds from his proprium, and the man’s proprium is evil from birth. How then can the good from God and the evil from the man be conjoined and proceed thus conjointly into act? A man’s proprium also in matters of salvation continually breathes merit and in so far as it does this it detracts from the Lord His merit, which is the height of injustice and impiety. In a word, if the good that God operates in a man by means of the Holy Spirit should inflow into the man’s willing and consequent doing, that good would be entirely defiled and also profaned; which, however, God never permits. A man can indeed think that the good that he does is from God and call it the good of God [done] through himself and as from himself, but still we do not comprehend this.’
[10] But then I opened my mind and said, ‘You do not comprehend because you are thinking from an appearance, and thought from a confirmed appearance is a fallacy. An appearance and the consequent fallacy is with you because you believe that all the things that a man wills and thinks and thence does and speaks are in him, and consequently derived from himself, when yet there is in him nothing of them except the state of receiving what inflows. A man is not life in himself but is an organ receiving life. The Lord Only is Life in Himself as He Himself says in John:-
Just as the Father has Life in Himself, so also does He give to the Son to have Life in Himself John v 26;
besides elsewhere, as John xi 25; xiv 6, 19. [11] There are two things that make life, love and wisdom, or what is the same, the good of love and the truth of wisdom. These inflow from God and are received by a man and are felt in the man as if in him, and because they are felt by the man as if in him they also proceed as if from him. Their being so felt by the man has been given by the Lord so that what inflows affects him and thus is received and remains. But because all evil also inflows, not from God but from hell, and this is received with delight because the man has been born such an organ, therefore no more of good is received from God than the amount of evil removed by the man as if by himself. This is done by repentance and at the same time by faith in the Lord. [12] That love and wisdom, charity and faith, or speaking more generally, the good of love and charity and the truth of wisdom and faith, inflow, and that the things that inflow appear in the man as if in him and consequently as if from him, can be clearly seen from sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. All the things that are felt in the organs of those senses inflow from without and are felt in them. It is similar in the organs of the internal senses, the only difference being that into the latter inflow spiritual things that are not visible, but into the former natural things inflow that are visible. In a word, the man is an organ recipient of life from God. Consequently he is a recipient of good to the extent that he desists from evil. The Lord gives to every man the ability to desist from evil because He gives him to will and understand as if from himself; and whatever the man does out of the will as his own in accordance with the understanding as his own or, what is the same, whatever he does out of the freedom that is of the will in accordance with the reason that is of the understanding, this remains. By this means the Lord leads the man into a state of conjunction with Himself and in it reforms, regenerates and saves him. [13] The life that inflows is the life proceeding from the Lord, which is also called the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit in the Word, of which it is said also that it enlightens and enlivens, indeed that it operates in the man. This life, however, is varied and modified in accordance with the organization induced on the man by his love and point of view (aspectus). That all the good of love and charity and all the truth of wisdom and faith inflow, and are not in the man, you can know also from the fact that he who thinks that such [good and truth] is inherent in the man from creation cannot think otherwise than that God has infused Himself into the man, and thus that men would in part be gods. Nevertheless those who think this from faith become devils and stink like corpses. [14] Besides, what is a man’s action if it is not the mind (mens) acting, for that which the mind wills and thinks, it performs by means of its organ the body; and therefore when the mind is led by the Lord the action is also led, and the mind and the action therefrom are led by the Lord when it believes in Him. Unless it were so, say if you can why the Lord in thousands and thousands of places in the Word has commanded that a man must love his neighbour, carry out the good works of charity, bear fruit like a tree and keep the commandments, and all this in order to be saved. Also why He has said that a man will be judged according to his deeds or works, he who has done good deeds to heaven and life and he who has done evil deeds to hell and death. How could the Lord have spoken such things if everything that proceeds from a man were merit-seeking and therefore evil? Know therefore that if a mind is charity the action also is charity, but if a mind is faith alone, which also is faith separated from spiritual charity, the action also is that faith, and such faith is merit-seeking because its charity is natural and not spiritual. It is otherwise with the faith of charity, because charity does not want to have merit, and consequently neither does its faith.’ [15] Having heard these things those sitting under the laurel said, ‘We comprehend that you have spoken justly, but still we do not comprehend.’ To which I replied, ‘That I have spoken justly, you comprehend from the common perception that a man has from the light out of heaven when he hears anything true, but you do not comprehend from the personal perception (ex propria perceptione) that a man has from the light of the world. Those two perceptions, namely internal and external, or spiritual and natural, make one with the wise. You also can make them one if you look to the Lord and put away evils.’ Because they understood these things also I selected some boughs from the laurel under which we sat and held them out and said, ‘Do you believe that this is from me or from the Lord?’ And they said that they believed it to be ‘by means of me as if from me’. And behold, those boughs in their hands were beginning to blossom forth. But when I departed I saw a table of cedar-wood with a book on it, under a green olive-tree around the trunk of which a vine was entwined. I looked, and behold it was the book written by means of me called ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, and also concerning DIVINE PROVIDENCE; and I said that in that book it has been fully shown that a man is an organ recipient of life, and is not life.
[16] After these occurrences I went away home out of the garden exhilarated, and the angelic spirit was with me. On the way he said to me, ‘You want to see clearly what faith is, and charity, and what faith separated from charity is, and what faith conjoined to charity, and I will show this before your very eye’. I replied, ‘Do so.’ And he said, ‘Instead of faith and charity, think of light and heat, and you will see clearly; for faith in its essence is the truth (veritas) that is of wisdom, and charity in its essence is the affection that is of love, and the truth (veritas) of wisdom in heaven is light and the affection of love in heaven is heat. The light and heat in which the angels are nothing else. By reason of this you can clearly see what faith separated from charity is, and what faith conjoined with charity is. Faith separated from charity is like a winter light, whereas faith conjoined to charity is like the light in spring. The light in winter, which is a light separated from heat, for it is conjoined to cold, strips the trees quite bare of leaves, hardens the land and kills off the grass, and also freezes the waters. But the light in spring, which is a light conjoined to heat, makes the trees grow, first into leaves, then into flowers and at length into fruits. It opens and softens the land that it may produce grasses, herbage, flowers and fruits, and also melts the ice so that waters may flow out of springs. [17] It is entirely similar with faith and charity. Faith separated from charity deadens all things and faith conjoined to charity enlivens all things. The enlivening and the deadening can be seen in living reality in our spiritual world, because here faith is light and charity is heat. For where there is faith conjoined to charity there are paradisial gardens, flower beds and lawns in their own pleasantness in accordance with the conjunction. But where there is faith separated from charity there is not even grass, and where it is green it is from thorns, brambles and nettles. The heat and light proceeding from the Lord as the Sun effect this in angels and spirits, and consequently outside of them.’ There were then not far from us some of the clergy, whom the angelic spirit called justifiers and sanctifiers of men by faith alone, and also arcanists. We said these same things to them and gave a demonstration of them until they could see that it was so. And when we asked whether it was not so, they turned away and said, ‘We did not hear.’ But we shouted to them, saying, ‘Hear this time, then!’ Then putting both hands over their ears they yelled, ‘We are not willing to hear.’
1. And I saw a new heaven and a new land, for the former heaven and the former land were passed away; and the sea was no more.
2. And I John saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold God’s tabernacle is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and He Himself shall be with them their God.
4. And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither sorrow, nor crying, nor labour (hardship) shall be any more, for the former things have passed away.
5. And the One sitting upon the throne said, Behold I am making all things new. And He said unto me, Write, for these words are true and trustworthy.
6. And He said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending. To the thirsting one I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be God to him, and he shall be a son to Me.
8. But as for the fearful, and the untrustworthy, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and enchanters, and idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake burning with fire and sulphur; which is the second death.
9. And there came unto me one of the seven angels having the seven phials full of the seven last plagues, and spoke with me saying, Come, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.
10. And he carried me away in the spirit above a great and high mountain, and showed me the great City the holy Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.
11. Having the glory of God, and the light thereof like a most precious stone, as it were a jasper stone shining crystal clear.
12. Having a great and high wall, having twelve gates, and over the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon which are those of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.
13. Towards the east three gates, towards the north three gates, towards the south three gates, towards the west three gates.
14. And the wall of the city having twelve foundations and in them the names of the Lamb’s twelve apostles.
15. And the one speaking with me had a golden reed that he might measure the City, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
16. And the city lies foursquare, and the length thereof is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand stadia*; the length and the breadth and the height of it were equal.
17. And he measured the wall thereof a hundred and forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.
18. And the construction of the wall thereof was of jasper, and the city was pure gold like unto pure glass.
19. And the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald.
20. The fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.
21. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each one of the gates was of one pearl, and the Street of the city was of pure gold as it were transparent glass.
22. And I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty is the temple thereof, and the Lamb.
23. And the city has no need of the sun, nor of the moon, to shine in it, for the glory of God has enlightened it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb.
24. And the nations that are being saved shall walk its the light thereof, and the kings of the land shall bring their glory and honour into it.
25. And the gates thereof shall not be closed during the day, for night shall not be there; and they shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations into it.
26. And there shall not enter into it any unclean thing nor one doing abomination and a lie; but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
* Plural of stadium=approx. one-eighth of a mile.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
In this chapter it treats of the state of heaven and the Church after the last judgment.
That after it by means of the New Heaven there is going to come into existence a New Church on earth, which will worship the Only Lord (vers. 1-8).
Its conjunction with the Lord (vers. 9, 10).
A description of it as to intelligence derived from the Word (verse 11);
as to the doctrine thence (vers. 12-21);
and as to its every quality (vers. 22-26).
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. And I saw a new heaven and a new land
signifies that by the Lord a new heaven has been formed out of Christians, which at this day is called the Christian heaven, where those are who had worshipped the Lord and lived in accordance with His precepts in the Word, who consequently have charity and faith; in which heaven are all the little children of Christians.
For the former heaven and the former land were passed away
signifies the heavens not made by the Lord but by those who came into the spiritual world out of Christendom, which were all done away with at the day of the last judgment.
And the sea was no more
signifies the external of the heaven composed of Christians since the first establishment of the Church likewise having been done away with, after those who were written in the Lord’s book of life were taken out of it and saved.
2. And I John saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven
signifies the New Church going to be set up by the Lord at the end of the former one, which [New Church] in companionship with the New Heaven will be in Divine truths as to both doctrine and life.
Prepared as a bride [adorned] for her husband
signifies that Church conjoined with the Lord by means of
the Word.
3. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold God’s tabernacle is with men
signifies the Lord out of love speaking and declaring the glad tidings that He Himself is now going to be present with men in His Divine Human.
And He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and He Himself shall be with them their God
signifies the Lord’s conjunction, which is such that they are
in Him, and He in them.
4. And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither sorrow, nor crying, nor labour shall be any more, for the former things have passed away
signifies that the Lord will take from them all grief of mind, fear of damnation, of evils and untruths out of hell and of the temptations resulting from them, and they shall not remember them, because the dragon who had inflicted them has been cast out.
5. And the One sitting upon the throne said, Behold I am making all things new, and He said unto me, Write, for these words are true and trustworthy
signifies the Lord confirming all concerning the New Heaven and the New Church after the last judgment has been completed.
6. And He said unto me, It is done
signifies that it is the Divine Truth (veritas).
I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending
signifies that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and that all things in the heavens and on earth (in terris) were made by Him, and are governed by His Divine Providence, and are done in accordance therewith.
To the thirsting one I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely
signifies that to those who desire truths on account of any spiritual use the Lord out of Himself by means of the Word is going to give all the things that conduce to that use.
7. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be God to him, and he shall be a son to Me
signifies that those who overcome the evils with themselves, that is, the devil, and do not yield when they are being tempted by the Babylonians and the dragonists, are going to come into heaven and live there in the Lord and the Lord in them.
8. But as for the fearful and the untrustworthy and the abominable
signifies those who are in no faith, and in no charity, and consequently are in all kinds of evils.
And murderers, and whoremongers, and enchanters, and idolaters, and [all] liars
signifies all those who make the precepts of the Decalogue of no account, and do not flee from any of the evils there mentioned as sins, and therefore live in them.
Their part is in the lake burning with fire and sulphur
signifies theirs is the hell where are the loves of untruth and the lusts of evil.
Which is the second death
signifies damnation.
9. And there came unto me one of the seven angels having the seven phials full of the seven last plagues, and spoke with me saying, Come, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife
signifies an influx and making manifest from the Lord out of the inmost of heaven concerning the New Church, which will be conjoined to the Lord by means of the Word.
10. And he carried me away in the spirit above a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God
signifies John transported into the third heaven, and his sight opened there, before whom was made manifest the Lord’s New Church as to doctrine in the form of a city.
11. Having the glory of God, and the light thereof like a most precious stone as it were a jasper stone shining crystal clear
signifies that in that Church the Word will be understood, because it will be transparent by virtue of its spiritual sense.
12. Having a great and high wall
signifies the Word in the sense of the letter from which the doctrine of the New Church will be derived.
Having twelve gates
signifies all the cognitions of truth and good there by means of which a man is introduced into the Church.
And over the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon which are those of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel
signifies the Divine truths and goods of heaven, which also are the Divine truths and goods of the Church, in those cognitions, and guards lest anyone should enter unless he be in them by derivation from the Lord (ex Domino).
13. Towards the east three gates, towards the north three gates, towards the south three gates, and towards the west three gates
signifies that the cognitions of truth and good, in which they have spiritual life out of heaven from the Lord, by means of which introduction into the New Church is effected, are for those who are in the love or affection of good, [some] more and [some] less, and for those who are in the wisdom or affection of truth, [some] more and [some] less.
14. And the wall of the city having twelve foundations
signifies that the Word in the sense of the letter contains all the things of the doctrine of the New Church.
And in them the names of the Lamb’s twelve apostles
signifies all the things of the doctrine derived from the Word concerning the Lord and concerning a life in accordance with His precepts.
15. And the one speaking with me had a golden reed that he might measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof
signifies that by the Lord there is given to those who are in the good of love the capability of understanding and knowing the quality of the Lord’s New Church as to the doctrine and its introductory truths, and as to the Word from which it is derived.
16. And the city lies foursquare
signifies justice in that [Church].
The length thereof is as large as the breadth
signifies that the good and truth in that Church make one like essence and form.
And he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand stadia*; the length and the breadth and the height of it were equal
signifies the quality of that Church out of the doctrine was shown, that all the things thereof were derived from the good of love.
17. And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty-four cubits
signifies that it was shown what the quality of the Word is in that Church, that from it are derived all its truths and goods.
The measure of a man, that is, of an angel
signifies that Church’s quality of making one with heaven.
18. And the construction of the wall thereof was of jasper
signifies that every Divine truth in the sense of the letter with the men of that Church is transparent by virtue of the Divine Truth in the spiritual sense.
And the city was pure gold like unto pure glass
signifies that consequently everything of that Church is the good of love inflowing together with light out of heaven from the Lord.
19. And the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every precious stone
signifies that all the things of the doctrine of the New Jerusalem selected out of the sense of the letter of the Word with those who are there are going to appear in light according to reception.
The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, [20] the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysohite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst
signifies all the things of that doctrine derived from the sense of the letter of the Word in their order with those who approach the Lord directly and live in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue by fleeing from evils as sins; for these and no others are in the doctrine of love directed to God and of love towards the neighbour, which two are the foundations of religion.
21. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, and each one of the gates was of one pearl
signifies that the acknowledgment and cognition of the Lord conjoins into one all the cognitions of truth and good that are derived from the Word, and introduces into the Church.
And the street of the city was pure gold as it were transparent glass
signifies that every truth of that Church and of its doctrine is in form the good of love inflowing together with light out of heaven from the Lord.
22. And I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty is the temple thereof, and the Lamb
signifies that in this Church there will not be any external separated from what is internal, because the Lord Himself in His Divine Human, from Whom is everything of the Church, is the only One being approached, worshipped and adored.
23. And the city has no need of the sun and the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God has enlightened it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb
signifies that the men of that Church will not be in the love of self and in self-derived intelligence (in propria intelligentia), and consequently in natural light only, but in spiritual light out of the Divine truth of the Word from the Only Lord.
24. And the nations that are being saved shall walk in the light thereof
signifies that all who are in good of life and believe in the Lord shall live there in accordance with Divine truths, and they shall see those truths inwardly in themselves, as the eye sees objects.
And the kings of the hand shall bring their glory and honour into it
signifies that all who are in truths of wisdom derived from spiritual good will confess the Lord there and ascribe to Him all the truth and all the good that are with them.
25. And the gates thereof shall not be closed during the day, for night shall not be there
signifies that those who are in truths derived from the good of love from the Lord are continually being received into the New Jerusalem, because there is not anything untrue of faith there.
And they shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations into it
signifies that those who enter will bring with them the confession, acknowledgement and faith that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and that every truth of the Church and every good of religion is from Him.
26. And there shall not enter into it any unclean thing, nor one doing abomination and a lie
signifies that no one is received into the Lord’s New Church who adulterates the goods and falsifies the truths of the Word, and who does evils from confirmation and thus also untruths.
But only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life
signifies that no others are received into the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, but those who believe in the Lord and live in accordance with His precepts in the Word.
* Plural of stadium=approx. one-eighth of a mile.
THE EXPOSITION
[verse 1] ‘And I saw a new heaven and a new land’ signifies that by the Lord a new heaven has been formed out of Christians, which at this day is called the Christian heaven, where those are who had worshipped the Lord and lived in accordance with His precepts in the Word, who consequently have charity and faith; in which heaven are all the little children of Christians. By ‘a new heaven’ and by ‘a new land’ is understood neither the natural heaven visible before the eyes, nor the natural land inhabited by men, but a spiritual heaven and the land of that heaven, where there are angels. That this heaven and the land of this heaven is understood everyone sees and acknowledges, provided that he can be withdrawn in some measure from a purely natural and material idea when he is reading the Word. It is plain that the angelic heaven is understood, because in the verse immediately following it is said that he ‘saw the holy city Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband’. By this there is not understood any Jerusalem coming down, but the Church; and the Church on earth (in terris) comes down from the Lord out of the angelic heaven because the angels of heaven and the men of the earth in all the things of the Church make one (n. 626). From these considerations it can be seen how naturally and materially those have thought and do think, who out of these words and the ones following in this verse have contrived for themselves a dogmatic tenet about the destruction of the world and about a new creation of all things. [2] This new heaven has been treated of several times in the Apocalypse, especially in chaps. xiv and xv. It is called the Christian heaven because it is distinct from the ancient heavens, which came into existence from the men of the Church before the Lord’s coming. These ancient heavens are above the Christian heaven; for the heavens are like expanses, one above another. The case is similar with each heaven, for each heaven by itself is distinguished into three heavens, an inmost or third, a middle or second, and a lowest or first. Likewise in the case of this New Heaven. I have seen them and I have spoken with them. In this new Christian heaven are all those who from the first establishment of the Christian Church have worshipped the Lord and lived in accordance with His precepts in the Word, and who consequently have been in charity and faith together from the Lord by means of the Word, thus who are not in a dead but a living faith. Concerning this heaven various things may be seen above (n. 612, 613, 626, 631, 659, 661, 845, 846, 856). In that heaven there are as well all the little children of Christians, because they have been educated by angels in the two Essentials of the Church, which are the acknowledgment of the Lord as the God of heaven and earth, and a life in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue.
877. ‘For the former heaven and the former land were passed away’ signifies the heavens not made by the Lord but by those who came into the spiritual world out of Christendom, which [heavens] were all done away with at the day of the last judgment. That these heavens and no others are understood by ‘the former heaven’ and by ‘the former land’ may be seen above (is. 865) where these words have been expounded:-
I saw a throne white and great, and One sitting upon it, from Whose face the heaven and the land fled away Rev. xx 11.
There it has been shown that by these words is signified the universal judgment executed by the Lord upon all the former heavens, in which were those who were in civil and moral good but in no spiritual good, thus who in external things were pretending to be Christians but in internal things were devils; which heavens together with their territories were entirely done away with. The rest [of the things revealed] concerning these heavens may be seen in the little work concerning THE LAST JUDGMENT published at London in 1758, and in A CONTINUATION CONCERNING THAT [JUDGMENT] published at Amsterdam. It is unnecessary to add more to them here.
878. ‘And the sea was no more’ signifies the external of the heaven composed of Christians since the first establishment of the Church likewise having been done away with, after those who were written in the Lord’s book of life were taken out of it and saved. By ‘the sea’ is signified the external of heaven and the Church, in which are the simple who have thought naturally but little spiritually about the things of the Church. The heaven in which these are is called external, as may be seen (n. 238, 398 at the end, 403, 404, 466, 470, 659, 661). Here by ‘the sea’ is understood the external of the heaven composed of Christians since the first establishment of the Church. But the internal of the heaven of Christians was not fully formed by the Lord until some time before the last judgment, and also after it, as can be established from chaps. xiv and xv, where it is treated of, and from chap. xx vers. 4, 5. The expositions may be seen. The reason why it was not sooner was because the dragon and his two beasts were exercising dominion in the world of spirits and were burning with the lust of leading astray everyone they could, and therefore to gather the simple into any heaven was [attended with] risk. The separation of the good from the dragonists, and the damnation of the latter, and at length the casting down into hell, is treated of in many places, and lastly in chap. xix verse 20 and in chap. xx verse 10; and after this it is said that ‘the sea gave up the dead in it’ (verse 13), by which is understood the external and natural men of the Church called together to judgment, as may be seen above (n. 869), and those who were written in the Lord’s book of life being taken out and saved then, this subject being treated of there. [2] This is ‘the sea’ that is understood here. It is also said elsewhere, in treating of the Christian New Heaven, that it extended to ‘the sea of glass mingled with fire’ (chap. xv 2). By this ‘sea’ also the external of the heaven [composed] of Christians is signified. Let the exposition be seen (n. 659-661). From these things it can be established that by ‘the sea was no more is signified that the external of the heaven composed of Christians since the first establishment of the Church was likewise done away with, after those who were written in the Lord’s book of life were taken out and saved. Concerning the external of the heaven composed of Christians since the first establishment of the Church it has been granted [me] to know many things, but there is not time to announce them here; only that the former heavens, which passed away at the day of the last judgment, were permitted for the sake of those who were in that external heaven or sea because they were conjoined by external means but not by internal, on which subject something may be seen above (n. 398). The reason why the heaven where the external men of the Church are is termed ‘the sea’ is because their dwelling-place in the spiritual world appears from afar off as if in the sea; for celestial angels, who are the angels of the highest heaven, dwell as it were in an ethereal atmosphere; spiritual angels, who are the angels of the middle heaven, dwell as it were in an airy atmosphere; and natural angels, who are the angels of the lowest heaven, dwell as it were in a watery atmosphere, which from afar off appears as the sea, as was said. This is why the external of heaven is understood by ‘the sea’ in many other places in the Word also.
879. [verse 2] ‘And I John saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven’ signifies the New Church going to be set up by the Lord at the end of the former one, which [New Church] in companionship with the New Heaven will be in Divine truths as to doctrine and life. The reason why John here mentions himself saying ‘I John’, is because by him as an apostle is signified the good of love directed to the Lord, and consequently the good of life; and therefore he was loved more than the rest of the apostles, and at the supper reclined upon the Lord’s breast (John xiii 23; xxi 20); and the Church that is now treated of does likewise. That by ‘Jerusalem’ is signified the Church will be seen in the following paragraph. This is called ‘a city’ and described as a city on account of doctrine and of a life in accordance therewith, for ‘a city’ in the spiritual sense signifies doctrine (n. 194, 712). It is called ‘holy’ on account of the Lord Who Only is Holy, and on account of the Divine truths that are derived out of the Word from the Lord in those who are called ‘holy’ (n. 173, 586, 666, 852); and it is called ‘new’ because the One sitting upon the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new’ (verse 5); and it is said to be ‘coming down from God out of heaven’ because it descends from the Lord by means of the New Heaven of Christians treated of in verse 1 of this chapter (n. 876), for the Church on earth is formed by the Lord by means of heaven so that they may act as one and be associated together.
For Zion’s sake will I not be silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the justice thereof go forth as brightness and the salvation thereof as a lamp burns. Then the nations shall see thy justice and all kings thy glory; and a new name shall be called to thee, which the mouth of Jehovah shall declare; and thou shalt be a crown of comeliness in the hand of thy God. Jehovah shall be well pleased in thee, and thy hand shall be married. Behold thy Salvation shall come, behold His reward is with Him. And they shall call them the people of holiness, the redeemed of Jehovah; and thou shalt be called a city sought out, not forsaken Isa. lxii 1-4, 11, 12.
[2] In the whole of that chapter it treats of the Lord’s coming, and of the New Church to be set up by Him. It is this New Church that is understood by the ‘Jerusalem’ to which a new name shall be called, which the mouth of Jehovah shall declare, and which shall be a crown of comeliness in the hand of Jehovah, and a mitre of royalty in the hand of God, in which Jehovah shall be well pleased, and which shall be called a city sought out and not forsaken. By these words there cannot be understood the Jerusalem in which the Jews were when the Lord came into the world, for it was in everything contrary. This was rather to be called ‘Sodom’, as also it is called (Rev. xi 8; Isa. iii 9; Jer. xxiii 14; Ezek. xvi 46, 48).
[3] Elsewhere in Isaiah:-
Behold I am creating a new heaven and a new land; the former shall not be remembered. Rejoice and exult in the eternities that I am creating. Behold I am going to create Jerusalem an exultation and her people a joy, that I may exult over Jerusalem and rejoice over My people. Then shall the wolf and the lamb feed together. They shall do no evil in all the mountain of My holiness Isa. lxv 17-19, 25.
In this chapter also it treats of the Lord’s coming and of the Church to be set up by Him, which was not set up among those who were in Jerusalem but among those who were outside it; and therefore this Church is understood by the ‘Jerusalem’ which shall be an exultation to the Lord, and whose people shall be a joy to Him; also where the lamb and the wolf shall feed together and where they shall do no evil. Here also it is said just as us the Apocalypse, that the Lord is going to create ‘a new heaven and a new land’, and also that He is going to create ‘Jerusalem’, by which similar things are signified.
[4] Elsewhere in Isaiah:-
Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion, put on the garments of thy comeliness, O Jerusalem the city of holiness; for henceforth [lit. = it shall not add that] there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust, arise, be thou seated, O Jerusalem. The people shall recognise My Name in that day, for I am He Who is speaking, behold Me. Jehovah has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem Isa. lii 1, 2, 6, 9.
In this chapter also it treats of the Lord’s coming and of the Church to be set up by Him; and therefore by the ‘Jerusalem’ to which there shall no more come the uncircumcised and the unclean, and which the Lord has redeemed, is understood the Church; and by ‘Jerusalem the city of holiness’ the Church as to doctrine from the Lord and concerning the Lord.
[5] In Zephaniah:-
Shout, O daughter of Zion, be glad with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem; the King of Israel is in the midst of thee; do not fear evil any more; He will rejoice over thee with joy, He will rest in thy love, He will exult over thee with shouting; I will give you for a name and a praise to all the peoples of the land Zeph. iii 14-17, 20;
here likewise concerning the Lord and the Church from Him, over which the King of Israel, Who is the Lord, will rejoice with joy, will exult with shouting, and in whose love He will rest, and Who will give them for a name and a praise to all the peoples of the land.
[6] In Isaiah:-
Thus has said Jehovah thy Redeemer and thy Former, saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited, and to the cities of Judah, You shall be built Isa. xliv 24, 26;
and in Daniel:-
Know and perceive from the going forth of the Word until the restoring and building of Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince, seven weeks Dan. ix 25.
It is plain that by ‘Jerusalem’ here also is understood the Church, since this was being restored and built from the Lord, but not Jerusalem the seat of the Jews.
[7] By ‘Jerusalem’ is understood the Church from the Lord in the following passages also; in Zechariah:-
Thus has said Jehovah, I will return to Zion, and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; whence Jerusalem shall be called a city of the truth (veritas), and the mountain of Jehovah Zebaoth the mountain of holiness Zech. viii 3, 20-23;
in Joel:-
Then shall you know that I am Jehovah your God, dwelling in Zion the mountain of holiness, and Jerusalem shall be holiness; and it shall come to pass in that day, the mountains shall drop new wine (mustum), and the hills shall flow with milk, and Jerusalem shall be seated to generation and generation Joel iii [H.B. iv] 17-21;
in Isaiah:-
In that day shall the offshoot of Jehovah be for ornament and glory; and it shall come to pass, the one left in Zion, and the one remaining in Jerusalem, shall be termed holy; everyone has been written unto life in Jerusalem Isa. iv 2, 3;
in Micah;-
In the extremity of days shall the mountain of the house of Jehovah be made to stand at the head of the mountains; for Out of Zion shall go forth doctrine, and the Word of Jehovah out of Jerusalem; to thee shall the former kingdom come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem Micah iv 1, 2, 8;
in Jeremiah:-
At that time shall they call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah, and all the nations shall be gathered together on account of the Name of Jehovah at Jerusalem, and they shall not go any more after the confirmation of their evil heart Jer. iii 17;
in Isaiah:-
Look at Zion the city of our set feast; let thine eyes see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be done away with; the stakes thereof shall not be removed forever, and all its cords shall not be pulled apart Isa. xxxiii 20;
besides also elsewhere, as Isa. xxiv 23; xxxvii 32; lxvi 10-14; Zech. xii 3, 6, 8, 9, 10; xiv 8, 11, 12, 21; Mal. iii 2, 4; Ps. cxxii 1-7; cxxxvii 5-7. [8] That by ‘Jerusalem’ in these passages is understood the Church which was to be set up by the Lord, and not the Jerusalem in the land of Canaan inhabited by the Jews, can be established from the passages in the Word where it is said of the latter that it has been entirely destroyed, and that it must be destroyed; as Jer. v 1; vi 6, 7; vii 17, 18 seq.; viii 6-8 seq.; ix 10, 11, 13 seq.; xiii 9, 10, 14; xiv 16; Lam. i 8, 9, 17; Ezek. iv 1 to the end; v 9 to the end; xii 18, 19; xv 6-8; xvi 1-63; xxiii 1-49; Matt. xxiii 37, 38; Luke xix 41-44; xxi 20-22; xxiii 28-30, and in many other places.
882. [verse 3] ‘And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold God’s tabernacle is with men’ signifies the Lord out of love speaking and declaring the glad tidings that He Himself is now going to be present with men in His Divine Human. This is the celestial sense of those words. The celestial angels, who are the angels of the third heaven, understand them no otherwise, for by ‘to hear a great voice out of heaven saying’ there is understood by them the Lord out of love speaking and declaring good tidings, because no one but the Lord speaks out of heaven; for heaven is not heaven by virtue of the propria* of the angels but from the Lord’s Divine, of which they are recipients. By ‘a great voice is understood speech out of love, for ‘great’ is predicated of love (n. 656, 663). By ‘behold God’s tabernacle is with men’ is understood the Lord now present in His Divine Human. By ‘God’s tabernacle’ is understood the celestial Church, and in the universal sense the Lord’s celestial kingdom, and in the highest sense His Divine Human, as may be seen above (n. 585). The reason why by ‘the tabernacle’ in the highest sense is understood the Lord’s Divine Human is because this is signified by ‘the temple’, as can be established from John ii 18-21; Mal. iii 1; Rev. xxi 22; and elsewhere. [This is signified] likewise by ‘the tabernacle’, with the difference that by ‘the temple’ is understood the Lord’s Divine Human as to Divine Truth or Divine Wisdom, and by ‘the tabernacle’ is understood the Lord’s Divine Human as to Divine Good or Divine Love. It follows from this that by ‘behold God’s tabernacle is with men is understood that the Lord is now going to be present with men in His Divine Human.
883. ‘And He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and He Himself shall be with them their God’ signifies the Lord’s conjunction, which is such that they are in Him and He in them. By ‘He will dwell with them’ is signified the Lord’s conjunction with them, concerning which [something] follows. By [the statement] that ‘they shall be His people, and He Himself shall be with them their God’ is signified that they are the Lord’s, and the Lord is theirs; and because by ‘to dwell with them’ is signified conjunction, it is signified that they shall be in the Lord and the Lord in them, otherwise no conjunction is effected. That such is the case is clearly evident from the Lord’s words in John:-
Abide in Me and I in you. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for without Me you cannot do anything John xv 4, 5;
and elsewhere:-
In that day you shall recognise that I am in My Father, and you in Me and I in you John xiv 20.
He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him John vi 56.
[2] That the assumption of the Human, and the uniting of It with the Divine that was in Himself from birth and is called ‘the Father’, had for an end a conjunction with men is plain also in John:-
For them I am making Myself holy, that they also may be made holy in the truth (veritas), that they may be one as we are one, I in them, Thou in Me John xvii 19, 21, 22, 26;
from which it is established that the conjunction is with the Lord’s Divine Human, and that it is reciprocal, and that thus and not otherwise there is a conjunction with the Divine that is called ‘the Father’. [3] The Lord also teaches that conjunction is effected by means of the truths of the Word and by a life in accordance with them (John xiv 20-24; xv 7). This therefore is what is understood by ‘He shall dwell with them and they shall be His people, and He Himself shall be with them their God’. In like manner elsewhere where the same words are (Jer. vii 23; xi 4; xxiv 7; xxx 22; Ezek. xi 20; xiv 11; xxxvi 28; xxxvii 23, 27; Zech. viii 8; Exod. xxix 45). [4] The reason why by ‘to dwell with them’ is signified conjunction with them is because ‘to dwell’ signifies a conjunction out of love, as can be established from many passages in the Word; also from the dwellings of the angels in heaven. Heaven is distinguished into innumerable societies, the distinction among them all being in accordance with the differences of the affections that are of love, generally and specifically. Any one society is one species of affection, and they dwell there distinctly in accordance with the relationships and affinities of that species of affection, and in one house those who are most closely related. Consequently ‘cohabitation’ when said of married partners, in the spiritual sense signifies conjunction through love. It should be known that conjunction with the Lord is one thing, and His presence another. Conjunction with the Lord is not granted except to those who approach Him directly; to the rest, presence only.
* The Latin word proprium (plural propria) means ‘what is one’s own’. Swedenborg uses it in a special sense involving ‘what is of the self’.
884. [verse 4] ‘And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither sorrow, nor crying, nor labour shall be any more, for the former things have passed away’ signifies that the Lord will take from them all grief of mind, fear of damnation, of evils and untruths out of hell, and of the temptations resulting from them, and they shall not remember them, because the dragon who afflicted them has been cast out. By ‘God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes’ is signified that the Lord will take from them all grief of mind, for shedding tears is the result of grief of mind. By the ‘death’ that shall be no more is signified damnation (as n. 325, 765, 853, 873), here fear of it. By the ‘sorrow’ that shall be no more is signified fear of evils from hell, for ‘sorrow’ signifies various things, being in every instance on account of some thing that is treated of. Here it is the fear of evils out of hell, because what goes before [treats of the fear] of damnation, and it follows on [to treat of the fear] of untruths out of hell, and of the temptations resulting from them. By ‘crying’ is signified fear of untruths out of hell, treated of in the following paragraph. By the ‘labour’ that shall be no more are signified temptations (n. 640). By ‘shall not be any more, for the former things have passed away’ is signified that they shall not remember them, because the dragon who had inflicted them has been cast out, for these are ‘the former things’ which ‘have passed away’. [2] But these things must be illustrated. Every man after death first comes into the world of spirits which is midway between heaven and hell, and is there prepared, a good man for heaven and an evil man for hell. Concerning this world [something] may be seen above (n. 784, 791, 843, 850, 866, 869); and because the companionships (consortia) there are just as in the natural world, it could not be otherwise before the last judgment than that those who were civil and moral in external things but evil in internal things should mix and converse with those who likewise in external things were civil and moral but in internal things were good. And because there is continually inherent in the evil the lust of leading astray, therefore the good who were in companionship with them were infested in various ways. But those who were in sorrow through the infestations originating from them, and came into the fears of damnation, and of the evils and untruths out of hell and of grievous temptation, were taken away from their company and sent to a certain land below that, where there are also societies, and were guarded there; and this was done until all the evil were separated from the good. This separation was effected by the last judgment; and then those who had been guarded in the lower land were taken up by the Lord into heaven. [3] These infestations were chiefly brought about by those who are understood by ‘the dragon’ and his ‘beasts’. And then when the dragon and his two beasts were cast into the lake of fire and sulphur, because all the infestation and consequent sorrow and fear of damnation and of hell ceased, it is said to those who had been infested that God would ‘wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither sorrow, nor crying, nor labour shall be any more, for the former things have passed away’, by which is signified that the Lord will take from them all grief of mind, fear of damnation and of the evils and untruths out of hell, and of the grievous temptation originating from them, and that they shall not remember them, because the dragon who had inflicted them has been cast out. That the dragon with his two beasts was cast Out and cast into the lake of fire and sulphur may be seen above (xix 20; xx 10); and that the dragon infested is plain from many passages; for he fought with Michael and wanted to devour the offspring which the woman brought forth, and he persecuted the woman and went away to wage war with the remnant of her seed (xii 4, 5, 7-9, 13-18*; also xvi 13-16, and elsewhere). That many who were interiorly good were guarded by the Lord lest they should be infested by the dragon and his beasts is plain from chap. vi 9-11; and that they were infested (vii 13-17), and that they were afterwards taken up into heaven (xx 4, 5, and elsewhere). The same are also understood by ‘the captives’ and ‘those bound in the pit’, and liberated by the Lord (Isa. xxiv 22; lxi 1; Luke iv 18, 19; Zech. ix 11; Ps. lxxix 11). This is also signified in the Word where it is said that the graves were opened, also where it is said that souls shall wait for the last judgment and a resurrection then.
* AV Chapt. xiii 1.
885. That ‘crying’ (clamor) in the Word is said of grief and fear of untruths out of hell, and consequently of devastation thereby, is plain from these passages:-
The former troubles shall be forgotten, and they shall be hidden from Mine eyes; then the voice of weeping shall not be heard in her, nor the voice of crying Isa. lxv 16, 19.
These words are also concerning ‘Jerusalem’, as here in the Apocalypse.
They have been blackened into the land, and the crying of Jerusalem goes up Jer. xiv 2 seq.;
where it also treats of sorrow over the untruths that devastate the Church.
Jehovah looked for judgment, but behold a scab, for justice, but behold a cry Isa. v 7.
A voice of the crying of shepherds, because Jehovah is laying waste their pasture Jer. xxv 36.
A voice of crying from the fish-game, because their wealth is become a booty and their house a desolation Zeph. 10, 13;
besides elsewhere, as Isa. xiv 31; xv 4-6, 8; xxiv 11; xxx 19; Jer. xlvi 12, 17. But it should be known that ‘crying’ in the Word is said of every affection breaking forth from the heart, and therefore it is a voice of lamentation, of imploring, of supplication arising from distress, of entreaty, of indignation, of confession, even of exultation.
886. [verse 5] ‘And the One sitting upon the throne said, Behold I am making all things new, and He said unto me, Write, for these words are true and trustworthy’ signifies the Lord speaking about the last judgment to those who were going to come into the world of spirits, or who were going to die from the time when he was in the world until now, these things: that the former heaven with the former land, and the former Church, with all the things in them collectively and separately, are going to perish; and that a new heaven with a new land, and a new Church which is to be called the New Jerusalem, is going to be created, and that they know these things for certain and will remember them, because the Lord Himself has testified it. The things that are in this verse, and in the following verses as far as the 8th inclusive, were said to those in Christendom who were going to come into the world of spirits, which happens immediately after decease, with the end in view that they might not suffer themselves to be led astray by the Babylonians and dragonists. For, as was said above, all after death are gathered together in the world of spirits and like to have companionships among themselves as in the natural world. They are there at the same time as the Babylonians and dragonists, who continually burn with the lust of leading astray. These latter were also allowed to fashion for themselves by imaginary and illusory arts as it were heavens, by means of which they could lead astray. To prevent this these things were said by the Lord, so that they might know for certain that those heavens with their lands were going to perish, and that the Lord was going to create a new heaven and a new land, and that then those were to be saved who did not suffer themselves to be led astray. It should, however, be known that these things were said to those who had lived from the time of the Lord up till the last judgment, which was effected in the year 1757, because they could have been led astray; but those there subsequently cannot, because the Babylonians and dragonists have been separated and cast out. [2] But now to the exposition: by ‘the One sitting upon the throne’ is understood the Lord (n. 808 at the end). The Lord here spoke ‘upon the throne’ because He said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new’, by which is signified that He is going to effect the last judgment and then create a new heaven and a new land, and also a new Church, with all the things collectively and separately that are in them. That ‘a throne’ is judgment in a representative form may be seen (n. 229, 845, 865); that the former heaven and the former Church have perished in the day of the last judgment (n. 865, 877). By ‘He said unto me, Write, for these words are true and trustworthy’ is signified that they know these things for certain and will remember them, because the Lord Himself has testified it. By the Lord’s making use a second time of the word ‘He said’ (dixit) is signified that they know it for certain. By ‘Write’ is signified for remembrance, or that they will remember it (n. 639); and by ‘these words are true and trustworthy’ is signified that they are to be believed, because the Lord has testified it.
887. [verse 6] ‘And He said unto me, It is done’ signifies that it is the Divine Truth (veritas). The reason why by ‘He said unto me, It is done’ is signified that it is the Divine Truth (veritas) is because the Lord a third time said ‘He said unto me’, also because He said ‘It is done’ in the present tense; and what the Lord says a third time is what is to be believed because it is a Divine truth, as well what He says in the present tense; for ‘three times’ signifies what is complete to the end (n. 505). In like manner when [something] is going to be done it is said, ‘It is done.’
888. ‘I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending’ signifies so that they might know that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and that all things in the heavens and on earth (in terris) were made by Him, and are governed by His Divine Providence, and are done in accordance therewith. That the Lord is ‘Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending’, and that by this is understood that by Him all things were made, are governed and done, and more, may be seen above (n. 13, 29-31, 38, 57, 92). That the Lord is the God of heaven and earth is established from His words in John:-
Authority has been given to Me over all flesh John xvii 2;
and in Matthew:-
All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth Matt. xxviii 18;
and:-
That by Him all things have been made that are made John i 3, 14.
That all the things that have been made or created by Him are governed by His Providence, is plain.
889. ‘To the thirsting one I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely’ signifies that to those who desire truths on account of any spiritual use the Lord out of Himself by means of the Word is going to give all the things that conduce to that use. By ‘a thirsting one’ is signified one who desires truth on account of a spiritual use, concerning which [something] follows. By ‘the fountain of the water of life’ is signified the Lord and the Word (n. 384); by ‘to give freely’ is signified out of the Lord and not out of any self-intelligence of a man. The reason why by ‘to thirst’ is signified to desire on account of some spiritual use is because there is given a thirst or desire for cognitions of truth out of the Word on account of a natural use, and also on account of a spiritual use. It is on account of a natural use with those who have learning as an end, and by means of learning fame, honour and gain, thus self and the world; but it is on account of a spiritual use with those who have as an end to serve the neighbour out of a love of him, to have a regard for the souls of those [who are the neighbour], also for their own, thus for the sake of the Lord, the neighbour and salvation. To the latter, out of ‘the fountain of the water of life’, that is, out of the Lord by means of the Word, there is given truth so far as it conduces to that use. To the rest truth is not given thence. They read the Word, and every doctrinal truth there they either do not see or, if they do see it, they turn it into untruth, not doing this in speech when it is uttered out of the Word, but in the idea of the thought concerning it. That ‘to hunger’ signifies to desire good, and ‘to thirst’ to desire truth, may be seen (n. 323, 381).
890. [verse 7] ‘He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be God to him, and he shall be a son to Me’ signifies that those who overcome the evils with themselves, that is, the devil, and do not yield when they are being tempted by the Babylonians and the dragonists, are going to come into heaven and live there in the Lord and the Lord in them. By ‘to overcome’ here is understood to overcome the evils with themselves, thus the devil, and not to yield when they are being tempted by the Babylonians and the dragonists. The reason why to overcome the evils with themselves is also to overcome the devil is because by ‘the devil’ is understood all evil. By ‘to inherit all things’ is signified to come into heaven and to come then into possession of the goods that are there from the Lord, thus into the goods that are from the Lord and of the Lord, as a son and heir, heaven being therefore called an inheritance (Matt. xix 29; xxv 34). By ‘I will be God to him and he shall be a son to Me’ is signified that in heaven they will be in the Lord and the Lord will be in them, as above (n. 883) where similar [words occur], except that there it is said that ‘they shall be His people, and He Himself shall be with them their God’. The reason why those who approach the Lord directly are His sons is because they have been born anew from Him, that is, regenerated, for which reason He called His disciples ‘sons’ (John xii 36; xiii 33; xxi 5.
891. [verse 8] ‘But as for the fearful and the untrustworthy and the abominable’ signifies those who are in no faith, and in no charity, and consequently in all kinds of evils. By ‘the fearful’ are signified those who are in no faith, concerning which [something] follows. By ‘the untrustworthy’ are signified those who are in no charity towards the neighbour, for they are insincere and fraudulent, thus untrustworthy. By ‘the abominable’ are signified those who are in all kinds of evils, for ‘abominations’ in the Word signify in general the evils that are named in the last six precepts of the Decalogue, as can be established in Jeremiah:-
Do not put your trust in lying words, saying, The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah are these: will you with stealing, killing, and committing adultery and swearing by a lie, at length come and stand before Me in this house, while you are doing these abominations? Jer. vii 2-4, 9-11;
and so in all other places. That by ‘the fearful’ are signified those who are in no faith, is established from these passages:-
Jesus said to the disciples, Why are you fearful, O men of little faith? Matt. viii 26; Mark iv 39, 40; Luke viii 25.
Jesus said unto the ruler of the synagogue, Do not be afraid, believe only, then [thy] daughter shall be preserved Luke viii 49, 50; Mark v 36.
Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom Luke xii 32.
Likewise by ‘Do not be afraid’ (Matt. xvii 6, 7; xxviii 3-5, 10; Luke i 12, 13, 30; ii 9, 10; v 8-10; and elsewhere). From all these passages (ex his et illis) it can be established that by ‘but the fearful and the untrustworthy and the abominable’ are signified those who are in no faith, and in no charity, and consequently in all kinds of evils.
892. ‘And murderers and whoremongers and enchanters and idolaters and [all] liars’ signifies all those who make the precepts of the Decalogue of no account and do not flee from any of the evils there mentioned as sins, and therefore live in them. What is signified by the four precepts of the Decalogue that are ‘Thou shalt not kill’, ‘thou shalt not commit adultery’, ‘thou shalt not steal’ and ‘thou shalt not bear false witness’, in a threefold sense, natural, spiritual and celestial, may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE FOR THE NEW JERUSALEM (n. 62-91). There is therefore no need to expound them again here. But instead of the seventh precept, which is ‘thou shalt not steal’, there are mentioned here ‘enchanters and idolaters’; and by ‘enchanters’ are signified those who search for truths, which they falsify so as to confirm untruths and evils, just as those do who take up this truth, that no one can do good from himself, and by means of it confirm faith alone, for this is a kind of spiritual theft. What ‘enchantment’ is besides may be seen above (n. 462). By ‘idolaters’ are signified those who establish worship or are in worship derived not from the Word, thus not from the Lord, but from self-intelligence (n. 459), as also those have done who out of a single saying of Paul falsely understood, and not out of any Word of the Lord, have fabricated the Church’s universal doctrine. This also is a kind of spiritual theft. By ‘liars’ are signified those who are in untruths derived from evil (n. 924).
893. That ‘their part is in the lake burning with fire and sulphur’ signifies that theirs is the hell where are the loves of untruth and the lusts of evil is plain from the things expounded above (n. 835, 872), where there are similar words.
894. That ‘which is the second death’ signifies damnation is plain also from the things expounded above (n. 853, 873).
895. [verse 9] ‘And there came unto me one of the seven angels having the seven phials full of the seven last plagues, and spoke with me saying, Come, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife’ signifies an influx and making manifest from the Lord out of the inmost of heaven concerning the New Church, which will be conjoined to the Lord by means of the Word. By ‘one of the seven angels having the seven phials full of the seven last plagues, and he spoke with me’ is understood the Lord inflowing out of the inmost of heaven, and speaking through the inmost heaven, here making manifest the things that follow. That by this ‘angel’ is understood the Lord is plain from the exposition of chap. xv, vers. 5 and 6, where are these words:-
After these things I saw, when behold the temple of the tabernacle was opened in heaven, and the seven angels having the seven plagues went out.
That by those words is signified that the inmost of heaven was seen, where the Lord is in His holiness, and in the Law which is the Decalogue, may be seen above (n. 669, 670). Then also [it is plain] from the exposition of chap. xvii verse 1, where are these words:-
And there came one of the angels having the seven phials, and spoke with me saying, Come, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot.
That by those words is signified an influx and revelation from the Lord out of the inmost of heaven concerning the Roman Catholic form of religion, may be seen above (n. 718, 719). From this it is plain that by ‘there came unto me one of the seven angels having the seven phials full of the seven last plagues and spoke with me saying’ is understood the Lord inflowing out of the inmost of heaven; and that by ‘Come, I will show thee’ is signified making manifest; and that by ‘the bride, the Lamb’s wife’ is signified the New Church, which will be conjoined to the Lord by means of the Word (as n. 881). That Church is called ‘the bride’ when it is being set up, and ‘wife’ when it has been set up, here ‘the bride, the wife’ because of the certainty of the setting up.
896. [verse 10] ‘And he carried me away in the spirit above a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God’ signifies John transported into the third heaven, and his sight opened there, before whom was made manifest the Lord’s New Church as to doctrine in the form of a city. By ‘he carried me away in the spirit above a great and high mountain’ is signified that John was transported into the third heaven, where are those who are in love from the Lord and in the doctrine of genuine truth from Him; ‘great’ being predicated of the good of love, and ‘high’ of truths. The reason why by to be carried away ‘into a mountain’ is signified into the third heaven is because it is said ‘in the spirit’, and he who is ‘in the spirit’ is as to his mind and sight in the spiritual world, and there the angels of the third heaven dwell upon mountains, the angels of the second heaven upon hills, and the angels of the ultimate heaven in the valleys between the hills and mountains. When, therefore, anyone is carried away in the spirit into a mountain, there is signified [his being taken up] into the third heaven. This carrying away is effected in a moment because it is effected by means of a change of state of the mind. By ‘he showed me’ is signified the sight then opened, and a making manifest. By ‘the great city the holy Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God’ is signified the Lord’s New Church, as above (n. 879, 880), where it has also been expounded, which is the reason why it is termed ‘holy’ and is said to be descending out of heaven from God. Its being seen in the form of a city is because ‘a city’ signifies doctrine (n. 194, 712), and the Church is a Church by virtue of doctrine and a life in accordance therewith. It was also seen as a city so that it might be described as to its every quality, and this is described by its wall, gates, foundations, and by the various measurements. The Church is described in a similar manner in Ezekiel, where it is also said that the prophet:-
In visions of God was brought upon a very high mountain [and] saw a city on the south, which an angel also measured as to the wall and gates, and as to the breadth and height Ezek. xl 2 seq.
A similar thing is understood by these words in Zechariah:-
I said unto the angel, Where art thou going? He said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, that I may see what is the breadth thereof and what is the length thereof Zech. ii 2 [H.B. 6].
897. [verse 11] ‘Having the glory of God, and the light thereof like a most precious stone as it were a jasper stone shining crystal clear’ signifies that in that Church the Word will be understood, because it will be transparent by virtue of its spiritual sense. By ‘the glory of God’ is signified the Word in its Divine light, concerning which [something] follows. By ‘the light thereof’ is signified the Divine Truth there, for this is understood by ‘light’ in the Word (n. 796*). By ‘like a most precious stone as it were a jasper stone shining crystal clear’ is signified this [Word] shining and transparent by virtue of its spiritual sense, concerning which also [something] follows. By those words there is described the understanding of the Word with those who are in the doctrine of the New Jerusalem and in a life in accordance therewith. With them the Word shines as it were when it is being read. It shines from the Lord by means of the spiritual sense, because the Lord is the Word, and the spiritual sense is in the light of heaven that proceeds from the Lord as the Sun. And the light that proceeds from the Lord as the Sun is in its essence the Divine Truth of His Divine Wisdom. That in the details of the Word there is the spiritual sense in which the angels are and from which their wisdom is, and that the Word is transparent by virtue of the light of that sense with those who are in genuine truths from the Lord, has been shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE.
[2] That by ‘the glory of God’ is understood the Word in its Divine light can be established from these passages:-
The Word was made flesh, and we saw His glory as the glory of the Only begotten by the Father John i 14.
That by ‘the glory’ is understood the glory of the Word or the Divine Truth in Himself is plain, since it is said ‘the Word was made flesh’. The like is understood by ‘the glory’ in the words following, where it is said:-
The glory of God has enlightened it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb (verse 23).
A similar thing is understood by:-
The glory in which they are going to see the Son of Man when He comes in the clouds of heaven Matt. xxiv 30; Mark xiii 26;
as may be seen above (n. 24, 642, 820). Nor is anything else understood by:-
The throne of glory upon which the Lord will sit when He comes to the last judgment Matt. xxv 31;
because He is going to judge everyone in accordance with the truths of the Word; and therefore it is also said that He is going to come ‘in His glory’. When the Lord was transformed, it is also said that:-
Moses and Elijah were seen in glory Luke ix 30, 31.
By ‘Moses and Elijah’ is signified the Word there. The Lord Himself also permitted the seeing of Himself before the disciples as the Word in its glory. That ‘glory’ signifies Divine Truth may be seen many times out of the Word above (n. 629).
[3] The reason why the Word is compared to ‘a most precious stone as it were a jasper stone shining crystal clear’ is because ‘a most precious stone’ signifies the Divine Truth of the Word (n. 231, 540, 726, 823), and ‘a jasper stone’ signifies the Divine Truth of the Word in the sense of the letter transparent by virtue of the Divine Truth in the spiritual sense. This is signified by ‘a jasper stone’ (Exod. xxviii 20; Ezek. xxviii 53), and in the things following in this chapter, where it is said:-
That the construction of the wall of the holy Jerusalem was of jasper (verse 18);
and because the Word in the sense of the letter is transparent by virtue of its spiritual sense, it is said ‘a jasper shining crystal clear’. All the enlightenment which those have who are in Divine Truths from the Lord is therefrom.
* The Original Edition has n. 796, 799; but 799 cannot be correct. Perhaps it should be 920 or 940.
898. [verse 12] ‘Having a great and high wall’ signifies the Word in the sense of the letter from which the doctrine of the New Church will be derived. When by ‘the holy city Jerusalem’ is understood the Lord’s New Church as to doctrine, by its ‘wall’ nothing else is understood but the Word in the sense of the letter from which the doctrine is derived, for that sense protects the spiritual sense which is concealed within just as a wall protects a city and its inhabitants. That the sense of the letter is the basis, the containant and the support of its spiritual sense may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 27-36); and that that sense is a guard lest the interior Divine Truths that are of its spiritual sense should be harmed (n. 97 there); also that the Church’s doctrine is to be drawn out of the sense of the letter of the Word, and confirmed by it (n. 50-65 there). It is said ‘a great and high wall’ because there is understood the Word as to Divine Good and Divine Truth, for ‘great’ is predicated of good and ‘high’ of truth, as above (n. 896).
[2] By ‘a wall’ is signified that which protects, and where it concerns the Church it signifies the Word in the sense of the letter in the following passages also:-
I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem; by day and night they shall not be silent, making mention of Jehovah Isa. lxii 6.
They shall call thee the city of Jehovah, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel, and thou shalt call thy walls salvation, and thy gates praise Isa. lx 14, 18.
Jehovah shall be for a wall of fire round about, and for the glory in the midst of her Zech. ix 5 [H.B. 9].
The sons of Arvad are upon thy walls, and the Gammadians have hung their shields upon the walls round about, and they have perfected thy beauty Ezek. xxvii 11;
these things being said concerning Tyre, by which is signified the Church as to the cognitions of truth derived from the Word.
Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see if there is [any one] seeking the truth (veritas); go up onto her walls, and cast down Jer. v 1, 10.
Jehovah has thought to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion, He has made the rampart and the wall to mourn, they languish together; the law and the prophets are no more Lam. ii 8, 9.
They shall run to and fro in the city, they shall run on the wall, they shall climb up into the houses, they shall get in through the windows Joel ii 9;
these things concerning the falsifications of truth.
Day and night the wicked go about in the city upon its walls, destructions are in the midst of it Ps. lv 10, 11 [H.B. 11, 12];
besides elsewhere, as Isa. xxii 5; lvi 5; Jer. i 15; Ezek. xxvii 11; Lam. ii 7. That the Word in the sense of the letter is signified by ‘a wall’ is quite plain from the following things of this chapter, which treat much of the wall, its gates, foundations and measurements. This is because the doctrine of the New Church, which is signified by ‘the city’, is solely derived from the sense of the letter of the Word.
899. ‘Having twelve gates’ signifies all the cognitions of truth and good there by means of which a man is introduced into the Church. By ‘gates’ are signified cognitions of truth and good derived from the Word, because by means of them a man is introduced into the Church, for ‘the wall’ in which the gates were signifies the Word, treated of just above (n. 898), and in the things following it is said that:-
The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each one of the gates was [of] one pearl (verse 21),
and by ‘pearls’ are signified cognitions of truth and good (n. 727). That by means of them a man is introduced into the Church, thus through the gates into the city, is plain. That ‘twelve’ signify all may be seen above (n. 348). By ‘gates’ are signified cognitions of truth and good also in these passages:-
I will lay thy foundations in sapphires, and I will make thy windows (soles) of the fiery stone (pyropus), and thy gates in carbuncle stones Isa. liv 11, 12.
Jehovah loving the gates of Zion more than all the habitations of Jacob, glorious things are to be declared in thee, O city of God Ps. lxxxvii 2 [, 3].
Enter through His gates with confession, confess unto Him, bless His Name Ps. c 4.
Our feet have been standing in thy gates, O Jerusalem; Jerusalem is built as a city that coheres together Ps. cxxii 2, 3.
Praise Jehovah, O Jerusalem, for He makes firm the bars of thy gates, He blesses thy sons in the midst of thee Ps. cxlvii 12, 13.
That I may recount all thy praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion Ps. ix 14 [H.B. 15].
Open the gates, that the just nation keeping faithfulness may enter in Isa. xxvi 2.
Lift up the voice that they may come to the gates of the princes Isa. xiii 2.
Blessed are those who do His commandments, and enter through the gates into the city Rev. xxii 14.
Lift up your heads, O gates, that the King of Glory may come in Ps. xxiv 7, 9.
The ways of Zion are mourning, all her gates have been devastated, her priests are groaning Lam. i 4.
Judah mourns and his gates have been made to languish Jer. xiv 2.
Jehovah has thought to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion, her gates have sunk into the ground Lam. ii 8, 9.
Who make a man to sin in the Word, and entrap him who reproves in the gate Isa. xxix 21.
He chose new gods, then he began to assault the gates Judg. v 8;
besides elsewhere, as Isa. iii 25, 26; xiv 31; xxii 7; xxiv 12; xxviii 6; lxii 10; Jer. i 15; xv 7; xxxi 38, 40; Micah ii 13; Nahum iii 13; Judg. v 11. Since ‘gates’ signify introductory truths, which are cognitions derived from the Word, therefore the elders of a city used to sit in the gates and judge, as is plain from Deut. xxi 18-21; xxii 15; Lam. v 14; Amos v 12, 15; Zech. viii 16.
900. ‘And over the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon which are those of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel’ signifies the Divine truths and goods of heaven, which also are the Divine truths and goods of the Church, in those cognitions, and also guards lest anyone should enter unless he is in them by derivation from the Lord (ex Domino). By ‘twelve angels’ are here signified all the truths and goods of the Church; since by ‘angels’ is signified in the highest sense the Lord, in a general sense heaven by virtue of the angels, and in a particular sense the truths and goods of heaven from the Lord, as may be seen (n. 5, 170, 258, 344, 415, 465, 647, 648, 657, 718). Here are signified the truths and goods of heaven, because it follows on ‘and names written thereon which are those of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel’, by which is signified all the truths and goods of the Church (n. 349). By ‘over the gates’ is signified in those cognitions, because ‘over’ in the Word signifies within. This is because that which is highest in successive order is the inmost in simultaneous order, and therefore the third heaven is called both the highest and the inmost heaven. This is why ‘over the gates’ signifies in the cognitions of truth. By ‘names written thereon’ is signified every quality thereof, thus also therein, for every quality is derived from the internals in external things. That by the same words are signified guards lest anyone should enter into the Church unless he is in those cognitions by derivation from the Lord, is plain, because the angels were seen standing over the gates, and also the names of the tribes of Israel were written upon them. It is said that the truths and goods of heaven and the Church are in the cognitions that are derived from the Word by which introduction into the Church is effected, because the cognitions of truth and good derived from the Word, when what is spiritual is in them out of heaven from the Lord, are not called cognitions but truths. But if what is spiritual is not in them out of heaven from the Lord, they are nothing but knowledges.
901. [verse 13] ‘Towards the east three gates, towards the north three gates, towards the south three gates, and towards the west three gates’ signifies that the cognitions of truth and good, in which they have spiritual life out of heaven from the Lord, by means of which introduction into the New Church is effected, are for those who are in the love or affection of good, [some] more and [some] less, and for those who are in the wisdom or affection of truth, [some] more and [some] less. By ‘the gates’ are now signified the cognitions of truth and good in which there is spiritual life out of heaven from the Lord, because over the gates were twelve angels, and the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel written, by which is signified that life in those cognitions, as is plain from the exposition just above (n. 900). That ‘the gates’ signify the cognitions of truth and good by which introduction into the New Church is effected, may be seen above (n. 899). The reason why there were three gates towards the east, three towards the north, three towards the south and three towards the west, is because by ‘the east’ is signified the love and affection of good in a higher degree, thus more; and by ‘the west’ is signified the love and affection of good in a lower degree, thus less; and by ‘the south’ is signified the wisdom and affection of truth in a higher degree, thus more; and by ‘the north’ is signified the wisdom and affection of truth in a lower degree, thus less. The reason why those things are signified by ‘east’, ‘west’, ‘south’ and ‘north’ is because the Lord is the Sun of the spiritual world, and facing Him are the east and the west, and the south and north are towards the sides, the south on the right and the north on the left. Those therefore who are in love directed to the Lord and consequently are more in affection dwell in the east, those who are less so being in the west, and those who are more in wisdom derived from the affection of truth dwell in the south, while those who are less so dwell in the north. That the dwelling-places of the angels of heaven are in such an order may be seen in the work CONCERNING HEAVEN AND HELL, published at London in 1758 (n. 141-153). The reason why there were three gates towards each quarter is because ‘three’ signify all (n. 400, 505).
902. [verse 14] ‘And the wall of the city having twelve foundations’ signifies that the Word in the sense of the letter contains all the things of the doctrine of the New Church. By ‘the wall of the city’ is signified the Word in the sense of the letter (n. 898); and by ‘twelve foundations’ are signified all the things of the doctrine of the Church. By ‘foundations’ are signified doctrinal tenets, and by ‘twelve’ all. The Church also is founded upon the doctrine, for it teaches how we are to believe and how we are to live, and the doctrine is to be drawn from no other source than the Word. That it is derived from the sense of the letter of the Word may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 50-61). Since all the things of the doctrine are signified by ‘the twelve foundations of the wall of the city New Jerusalem’, and the Church is a Church by virtue of the doctrine, therefore its foundations are treated of specifically below (vers. 19, 20). In the Word ‘the foundations of the land’ are mentioned several times, and by them are not understood the foundations of the land but the foundations of the Church, for ‘the land’ signifies the Church (n. 285); and the foundations of the Church are nothing else but the things that are derived from the Word and are called doctrinal tenets. For it is the Word itself that lays the foundations of the Church.
[2] Doctrinal tenets derived from the Word are also signified by ‘foundations’ in these passages:-
Do you not understand the foundations of the land? Isa. xl 21.
I will put My words in thy mouth, to plant the heavens and lay the foundations of the land Isa. li 16.
They do not acknowledge, neither do they understand, they walk in darkness, all the foundations of the land totter Ps. lxxxii 5.
The Word of Jehovah, Who is stretching out the heavens and laying the foundations of the land and forming man’s spirit in the midst of him Zech. xii 1.
Jehovah has kindled a fire in Zion which has devoured the foundations thereof Lam. iv 11.
The wicked are shooting in the darkness at the upright in heart, because the foundations are undermined Ps. xi 2, 3.
Hear, O mountains, Jehovah’s controversy, the strong, O foundations of the land, because Jehovah has a controversy with His people Micah vi 2.
The waterfalls are opened from on high, and the foundations of the land are shaken, the land is broken in pieces, the land is broken up, the land is shaken Isa. xxiv 18-20;
besides elsewhere as Isa. xiv 32; xlviii 13; li 13; Ps. xxiv 2; cii 25 [H.B. 26]; civ 5, 6; 2 Sam. xxii 8, 16. He who does not think that ‘the land’ signifies the Church can think only in a purely natural manner, in fact materially, here where he reads ‘the foundations of the land’. This is like what it would be if he did not think that ‘the city Jerusalem’ here signifies the Church, when he reads ‘wall’, ‘gates’, ‘foundations’, ‘streets’, its ‘measurements’ and more things besides that are described in this chapter as ‘the city’, when yet they are things of the Church, thus not to be understood materially but spiritually.
903. ‘And in them the names of the Lamb’s twelve apostles’ signifies all the things of the doctrine derived from the Word concerning the Lord and concerning a life in accordance with His precepts. The reason why ‘the names of the Lamb’s twelve apostles’ were written in the foundations is because by ‘the twelve apostles’ is signified the Lord’s Church as to all the things thereof (n. 79, 233, 790), here as to all the things of its doctrine, because their names ‘were written upon the twelve foundations’, by which are signified all the things of the doctrine of the New Jerusalem (n. 902). By ‘the twelve names’ is signified every quality thereof, and every quality of it has reference to two things in the doctrine and in the Church therefrom, concerning the Lord and concerning a life in accordance with His precepts. Therefore these are signified. The reason why all the things of the doctrine of the New Jerusalem have reference to these two is because they are its universals upon which all the details (singularia) depend, and they are the essentials out of which all the formal things proceed, consequently they are as the soul and life of all its doctrine. There are indeed the two, but the one cannot be separated from the other, for to separate them would be like separating the Lord from man and man from the Lord, and then the Church would not exist. These two have been conjoined like the two tables of the Law, of which the one contains the things that are the Lord’s and the other those that are man’s. They are therefore called a covenant and a ‘covenant’ signifies conjunction. Think what would be the case with these tables of the Law if the first only remained and the second were torn away. Would it not be as if God were not seeing man or as if man were not seeing God, and as if the one were receding from the other. These things have been said so that it may be known that all the things of the doctrine of the New Jerusalem are related to love directed to the Lord and to love towards the neighbour. Love directed to the Lord is to have faith in the Lord and do His precepts, and to do His precepts is love towards the neighbour, since to do His precepts is to do uses to the neighbour. That those love the Lord who do His precepts, the Lord Himself teaches in John (xiv 21-24); also that love directed to the Lord and love towards the neighbour are the two precepts upon which the Law and the Prophets depend (Matt. xxii 37-40 [Schm. 35-38]). By ‘the Law and the Prophets’ is understood the Word as a complete whole.
904. [verse 15] ‘And the one speaking with me had a golden reed that he might measure the city and the gates thereof and the wall thereof’ signifies that by the Lord there is given to those who are in the good of love the capability of understanding and knowing the quality of the Lord’s New Church as to the doctrine and its introductory truths, and as to the Word from which it is derived. ‘And the one speaking with me’ signifies the Lord out of heaven, because the angel was one of ‘the seven angels having the seven phials’, treated of at verse 9 above, by whom is understood the Lord speaking out of heaven (n. 895). By ‘the reed’ is signified power or capability derived from the good of love, by ‘a reed’ power or capability (n. 485), and by ‘gold’ the good of love (n. 211, 726). By ‘to measure’ is signified to get to know the quality of a thing, thus to understand and know (n. 486). By ‘the city’, which was the holy Jerusalem, is signified the Church as to the doctrine (n. 879, 880). By ‘the gates’ are signified the cognitions of truth and good derived from the sense of the letter of the Word, which by virtue of the spiritual life in them are truths and goods (n. 899); and by ‘the wall’ is signified the Word in the sense of the letter, from which they are derived (n. 898). It is plain from these things that by ‘the one speaking with me had a golden reed that he might measure the city and the gates thereof and the wall thereof’ is signified that by the Lord there is given to those who are in the good of love the capability of understanding and knowing the quality of the Lord’s New Church as to the doctrine and its introductory truths, and as to the Word from which it is derived.
[2] That these things are signified cannot at all be seen in the sense of the letter for it is seen only that one angel speaking with John had a golden reed that he might measure a city, gates and a wall. Nevertheless, that another sense, which is spiritual, is within these things is quite plain from the fact that by ‘the city Jerusalem’ is not understood any city, but the Church; and therefore all the things that are said of Jerusalem as a city signify such things as are of the Church, and all the things of the Church in themselves are spiritual. Such a spiritual sense is also within the things that are said above at chap. xi, where are these words:-
There was given me a reed like a staff, and the angel stood by, saying, Arise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those adoring therein (verse 1).
A like spiritual sense is also within all the things that ‘the angel measured with a reed’ in Ezekiel (chap. xl-xlviii). Also within these in Zechariah:-
I lifted up mine eyes and saw, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand, and I said, Where art thou going? And he said to me, To measure Jerusalem that I may see what is the breadth thereof and what is the length thereof Zech. ii 1, 2 [H.B. 5, 6].
Indeed such a spiritual sense is within all the things of the tabernacle, and all those of the temple in Jerusalem, of which we read the measurements, and also in the measures themselves; and yet nothing thereof can be seen in the sense of the letter.
905. [verse 16] ‘And the city lies foursquare’ signifies justice in that [Church]. The reason why the city was seen ‘foursquare’ is because ‘a quadrangle’ or ‘a square’ signifies what is just, for ‘a triangle’ signifies what is right, all these in the ultimate degree, which is the natural. ‘A quadrangle’ or ‘a square’ signifies what is just because it has four sides, and the four sides look to the four quarters, and to look equally to the four quarters is to regard all things from what is just; for which reason there were three gates opening into the city from each quarter, and it is said in Isaiah:-
Open up the gates, that the just nation keeping fidelities may enter in Isa. xxvi 2.
The city lay foursquare, so that its length and breadth were equal, and by ‘length’ is signified the good of that city, and by ‘breadth’ its truth, and when good and truth are equal then there is what is just. It is from this signification of ‘a square’ that in common parlance one is termed a ‘square man’, who does not deviate to one side or another from an unjust motive. Because ‘square’ signifies what is just, therefore ‘the altar of burnt-offering’, by which was signified worship derived from good and heavenly truth therefrom, was ‘square’ (Exod. xxvii 1). Again, ‘the altar of incense’, by which was signified worship derived from good and thence from spiritual truth, also was ‘square’ (Exod. xxx 1, 2). So also ‘the breastplate of judgment’, in which was the Urim and Thummim, was a ‘doubled square’ (Exod. xxviii 15, 16; xxxix 9); besides other instances.
906. ‘The length thereof is as large as the breadth’ signifies that the good and truth in that Church make one, like essence and form. By the ‘length’ of the city Jerusalem is signified the Church’s good, and by its ‘breadth’ is signified the Church’s truth. That by ‘breadth’ is signified truth has been shown from the Word (n. 861 above). That by ‘length’ is signified good, here the Church’s good, is derived from the same cause as that ‘breadth’ signifies truth. This is because the extension of heaven from east to west is understood by ‘length’, and the extension of heaven from south to north is understood by ‘breadth’; and the angels who dwell in the east and the west of heaven are in the good of love, and the angels who are in the south and the north of heaven are in the truths of wisdom, as may be seen above (n. 901). [2] It is similar with the Church on earth, for every man who is in the goods and truths of the Church derived from the Word has been associated with the angels of heaven, and he dwells with them as to the interior things of the mind, those who are in the good of love being in the east and west of heaven, and those who are in the truths of wisdom in the south and north of heaven. This the man does not know, but yet each one comes after death into his own place. It is for this reason then that by ‘length’ when [said] of a Church is signified its good, and by ‘breadth’ its truth. It is plain that ‘long’ and ‘broad’ cannot be predicated of a Church, but they can of ‘a city’ by which a Church is signified. The reason why it is signified that the good and truth in that Church make one like essence and form is because it is said that ‘the length thereof is as large as the breadth’, and by ‘the length’ is signified the Church’s good, and by ‘the breadth’ its truth, as has been said. The reason why they make one like essence and form is because truth is the form of good, and good is the essence of truth, and the essence and form make one.
907. ‘And he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand stadia*; the length and the breadth and the height of it were equal’ signifies the quality of that Church out of the doctrine was shown, that all the things thereof were derived from the good of love. By ‘to measure with a reed’ is signified to get to know the quality of a thing (n. 904); and because the angel did the measuring in the presence of John, there is signified to show it that he might get to know. By’ the city’, here Jerusalem, is signified the Lord’s New Church as to the doctrine (n. 879, 880). By ‘twelve thousand stadia’ are signified all the goods and truths of that Church. That ‘twelve thousand’ signify much the same as ‘twelve’, and that ‘twelve’ signify all goods and truths and that they are said of the Church, may be seen above (n. 348). By ‘stadia’ are signified similar things as by measures, and by ‘measures’ the quality is signified (n. 313, 486). The reason why the length, breadth and height are said to be equal is that it might be signified that all the things of that Church were derived from the good of love; for by ‘length’ is signified the good of love, and by ‘breadth’ the truth derived from that good (n. 906), and by ‘height’ is signified good and truth together in every degree, for ‘height’ is from the highest to the lowest, and what is highest descends to what is lowest by degrees, which are called degrees of altitude. In these degrees are the heavens from the highest or third to the lowest or first. A treatise (actum) concerning these degrees may be seen in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM in the Third Part. The reason why ‘the length and the breadth and the height are equal’ signifies that all the things are derived from the good of love is because ‘the length’, which signifies the good of love, precedes, and ‘the breadth’ is equal to this, thus like the length, and ‘the height’ likewise. Otherwise to what purpose would it be that the height of the city would be 12000 stadia, thus it would go up far above the clouds, even above the aerial atmosphere, the height of which does not exceed 30 stadia? In fact, it would go up far into the ether towards the zenith. That by these three [measurements] being equal is signified that all the things of that Church are derived from the good of love is plain from the things following, for it is said that ‘the city was of pure gold like unto pure glass’
(verse 18), and also that ‘the street of the city was of pure gold as it were transparent glass’ (verse 21), and by ‘gold’ is signified the good of love. That all the things of heaven and the Church are derived from the good of love, and the good of love is derived from the Lord, will be seen in the following paragraph.
* Plural of stadium=approx. one-eighth of a mile.
908. That all the things of heaven and the Church are derived from the good of love, and the good of love is derived from the Lord, cannot be seen, and therefore cannot be known, unless it is demonstrated. The reason why it cannot be known because it is not seen is because good does not enter into a man’s thought as truth does, for truth is seen in thought because it is derived from the light of heaven, but good is only felt because it is derived from the heat of heaven, and it is rare for anyone, while reflecting on the things that he is thinking, to pay attention to the things that he is feeling, but [he is only concerned with] the things that he sees. This is because the learned have attributed all things to thought and not to affection; and it may be seen above (n. 875) that the Church has attributed all things to faith and not to love, when yet the truth that is at present in the Church called ‘the truth of faith’ or ‘faith’ is only the form of the good that is of love. Now because a man does not see the good in his thoughts, for the good, as was said, is only felt, and is felt under various species of delight; and because the man does not pay attention to what he feels in his thought, but to what he sees there; therefore he calls good all that he feels delightful (ex jucundo), and he feels evil delightful because this has been engendered in him by birth, and proceeds out of the love of self and the world. This is why it is not known that the good of love is everything of heaven and the Church, and that this does not exist in a man except from the Lord, and that it does not inflow from the Lord with any other man but one who flees from evils with their delights as sins.
[2] These are the things that are understood by the Lord’s words, that the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments:-
Thou shalt love God above all things, and the neighbour as thyself Matt. xxii 37-40 [Schm. 35-38].
And I can firmly assert that not a grain of truth that in itself is truth is given with a man except so far as it is derived from the good of love from the Lord; and consequently not a grain of faith that in itself is faith, that is, a living, saving and spiritual faith, except so far as it is derived from the charity that is from the Lord. Since the good of love is everything of heaven and the Church, therefore the entire heaven and the entire Church have been arranged by the Lord in accordance with the affections of love, and not in accordance with anything of thought separated from them; for thought is affection in form, just as speech is sound in form.
909. [verse 17] ‘And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty-four cubits’ signifies that it was shown what the quality of the Word is in that Church, that from it are derived all its truths and goods. By ‘he measured’ is signified that the quality was shown, as above (n. 907). By ‘the wall’ is signified the Word in the sense of the letter (n. 898). By ‘a hundred and forty-four’ are signified all the truths and goods of the Church derived from the Word (n. 348). By ‘cubits’ is signified the quality, the like as by ‘measure’; for by 144 is signified the like as by 12, because out of 12 multiplied or calculated (multiplicatis seu ductis) into 12 arises the number 144, and the multiplication does not take away the signification.
910. ‘The measure of a man, that is, of an angel’ signifies that Church’s quality of making one with heaven. By ‘measure’ is signified the quality of a thing (n. 313, 486). By ‘a man’ here is signified the Church [composed] of men, and by ‘an angel’ is signified heaven [composed] of angels. Consequently by ‘the measure of a man, that is, of an angel’ is signified the Church’s quality of making one with heaven. By ‘a man’ in the Word is signified intelligence and wisdom derived from the Word (n. 243), intelligence and wisdom derived from the Word with a man being the Church with him. Consequently by ‘a man’ in the aggregate or in general, that is, when a society or assembly is called ‘a man’, in the spiritual sense is understood the Church. This is why the prophets were termed ‘sons of man’ and the Lord Himself called Himself ‘the Son of Man’, and ‘Son of Man’ is the Truth of the Church derived from the Word, and when said of the Lord it is the Word Itself from which the Church is derived. By ‘an angel’ is signified three things, in the highest sense the Lord, in a general sense heaven or a heavenly society, and in particular Divine Truth. That these three are signified by ‘an angel’ may be seen (n. 5, 65, 570, 258, 342, 344, 415, 465, 644, 647, 648, 657, 718), here the heaven with which the Lord’s New Church will make one. That the Church that is derived from the Word, thus is from the Lord, is a Church in consociation with heaven and in conjunction with the Lord, may be seen above (n. 818). It is otherwise with a Church that is not derived from the Word of the Lord.
911. [verse 18] ‘And the construction of the wall was of jasper’ signifies that every Divine Truth of the Word in the sense of the letter with the men of that Church is transparent by virtue of the Divine Truth in the spiritual sense. By ‘the wall’ is signified the Word in the sense of the letter (n. 898). By ‘the construction’ is signified everything of it, because everything of it is in the construction. By ‘jasper’ is signified much the same as by ‘a precious stone’ on the whole, and by ‘a precious stone’ when said of the Word is signified the Divine Truth of the Word in the sense of the letter transparent by virtue of the Divine Truth in the spiritual sense (n. 231, 540, 726, 823). That much the same is signified by ‘jasper’ may be seen above (n. 897). The reason why it is transparent is because Divine Truth in the sense of the letter is in natural light and Divine Truth in the spiritual sense is in spiritual light, and therefore when spiritual light inflows into the natural light with a man who is reading the Word, he is enlightened and sees the truths there, for the objects of spiritual light are truths. Indeed the Word in the sense of the letter is such that the more a man is enlightened by means of an influx of the light of heaven the more he sees truths by virtue of their connection and resultant form, and the more he so sees them the more interiorly is his rational opened, for the rational is the very receptacle of the light of heaven.
912. ‘And the city was pure gold like unto pure glass’ signifies that consequently everything of that Church is the good of love inflowing together with light out of heaven from the Lord. By ‘the city’, or Jerusalem, is understood the Lord’s New Church as to everything thereof regarded interiorly, or inside the wall. By ‘gold’ is signified the good of love from the Lord, concerning which [something] follows; and by ‘like unto pure glass’ is signified being transparent by virtue of Divine Wisdom, and because this appears in heaven as light and inflows from the Lord as the Sun, by ‘like unto pure glass’ is signified inflowing together with light out of heaven from the Lord. It has been shown above (n. 908) that all the things of heaven and the Church are derived from the good of love, and the good of love is derived from the Lord. Now it is said here that the city was seen as ‘pure glass’, by which is signified that everything of the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, is the good of love from the Lord; but because the good of love is not given on its own or alienated from the truths of wisdom, but so that the good of love may exist it must be formed, and it is formed by means of the truths of wisdom, therefore it is here said ‘pure gold like unto pure glass’. For the good of love without the truths of wisdom does not have any quality, because there is no form, and its form is in accordance with its truths in their own order and connection inflowing together with the good of love from the Lord, thus in a man in accordance with the reception. It is said ‘in a man’, but it is understood not as ‘of the man’ but as ‘of the Lord in him’. From these considerations it is now plain that by ‘the city was pure gold like unto pure glass’ is signified that consequently everything of that Church is the good of love inflowing together with light out of heaven from the Lord.
913. The reason why gold signifies the good of love is because metals, just the same as all things collectively and separately that appear in the natural world, correspond; gold to the good of love, silver to the truths of wisdom, copper or bronze to the good of charity, and iron to the truths of faith. This is why these metals also exist in the spiritual world, since all the things that appear there are correspondences, for they correspond to the affections and consequently to the thoughts of the angels, which in themselves are spiritual. That ‘gold’ by reason of the correspondence signifies the good of love can be established from these passages:-
I counsel thee to buy from Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich Rev. iii 18.
How the gold has become dim, the best refined gold changed; the stones of holiness have been poured Out at the head of all the streets; the sons of Zion were esteemed equal to pure gold Lam. iv 1, 2.
He shall preserve the souls of the poor, and give them of the gold of Sheba Ps. lxxii 13, 15.
For bronze I will bring gold, and for iron silver, and for wood bronze and for stones iron, and I will make thy property (censum tuum) peace, and thine exactors justice Isa. lx 17.
Behold, thou art wise no secret has been hidden from thee, in thy wisdom and in thine intelligence thou hast made gold and silver for thyself in thy treasuries; thou hast been in the garden of Eden, every precious stone was thy covering, and gold Ezek. xxviii 3, 4, 13.
A troop of camels shall cover thee, all they from Sheba shall come, they shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praises of Jehovah Isa. lx 6, 9; Matt. ii 11.
I will fill this house with glory, the silver is Mine and the gold is Mine; the glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former Hagg. ii 7-9.
King’s daughters were among thy precious ones, the queen stood at thy right hand in the best gold of Ophir, her clothing was of woven gold Ps. xlv 9, 13 [H.B. 10, 14]; Ezek. xvi 13.
Thou hast accepted the vessels of thine adornment of My gold and of My silver, which I had given thee, and thou hast made to thyself images of a male Ezek. xvi 17.
You have taken My silver and My gold, and you have carried My desirable things into your temples Joel iii 5 [H.B. iv 5].
[2] Since ‘gold’ used to signify the good of love, therefore when:-
Belshazzar with his magnates was drinking wine out of the vessels of gold brought from the temple at Jerusalem, and at the same time was praising the gods of gold, silver, bronze and iron, the wall was written on, and that same night he was slain Dan. v 2 seq.;
besides in many other places. Since ‘gold’ used to signify the good of love, therefore:-
The ark, in which was the Law, had been overlaid with gold inside and outside Exod. xxv 11.
And therefore the propitiatory and the cherubs over the ark were of pure gold Exod. xxv 18.
The altar of incense was of pure gold Exod. xxx 3.
Likewise the lampstand with the lamps Exod. xxv 31, 38.
And the table upon which was the bread of faces was overlaid with gold Exod. xxv 23, 24.
[3] Since ‘gold’ used to signify the good of love, ‘silver’ the truth of wisdom, ‘bronze’ the good of natural love that is called charity, and ‘iron’ the truth of faith, therefore the ancients used to call the successions of the times from the most ancient up to the last the golden, silver, bronze and iron ages. Similar things are signified by the statue seen by Nebuchadnezzar in a dream:-
Whose head was good gold, the breast and arms silver, the belly and thighs bronze, the legs iron, the feet part iron part clay Dan. ii 32, 33.
By these things were signified the successive states of the Church in this world from the most ancient times up to the present day. The state of the Church at present is described thus, that:-
Thou didst see iron mixed with miry clay; they shall mix themselves together by means of the seed of man, but they shall not cohere together the one to the other, even as iron is not mixed with clay (verse 43) [of Dan. ii].
By ‘iron’ is signified the truth of faith, as was said, but when there is no truth of faith, but faith without truth, then there is ‘iron mixed with miry clay’, and these do not cohere. By ‘the seed of man’ with which those will mix themselves together is signified the truth of the Word. This is the state of the Church at this day. What it is going to be afterwards is described there in a few words (verse 45), but more fully in chap. vii 13-18, 27.
914. [verse 19] ‘And the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every precious stone’ signifies that all the things of the doctrine of the New Jerusalem, selected out of the sense of the letter of the Word with those who are there, are going to appear in light according to reception. By ‘the twelve foundations’ are signified all the things of the doctrine (n. 902). By ‘the wall’ is signified the Word in the sense of the letter (n. 898). By ‘the holy city, Jerusalem’ is signified the Lord’s New Church (n. 879, 880). By ‘a precious stone’ is signified the Word in the sense of the letter transparent by virtue of its spiritual sense (n. 231, 540, 726, 911); and because this is effected according to reception, therefore it is signified that all the things of the doctrine derived from the Word with those are going to appear in light according to reception. Everyone who does not think soundly is unable to believe that all the things of the New Church can appear in light, but let them know that they can, for every man has an exterior and an interior thought. The interior thought is in the light of heaven and is called perception, and the exterior thought is in the light of the world; and the understanding with every man is such that it can be raised up even into the light of heaven, and also is raised up if by virtue of any delight he wants to see the truth. That this is the case it has been given to know through much experience, concerning which wonderful things may be seen in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE PROVIDENCE; and still more in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM. For the delight of love and wisdom raises the thought up enabling one to see as in the light that it is so, although he had not heard the thing before. This light that enlightens the mind inflows from no other source than out of heaven from the
Lord; and because those who will belong to the New Jerusalem are going to approach the Lord directly, that light inflows by the way of order, which is through the love of the will into the perception of the understanding. [2] But those who have confirmed with themselves the dogma, that in theological matters the understanding is going to see nothing, but that what the Church teaches must be believed blindly, are not able to see any truth in the light, for they have obstructed the way of light with themselves. This dogma the Church of the Reformed has retained by derivation from the Roman Catholic form of religion, which passes on the teaching that no one except the Church itself, by which they understand the Pontiff and the Papal Consistory, is going to interpret the Word, and that he who does not by faith embrace all the doctrines passed on by the Church is to be considered as a heretic, and that he is anathema. That this is the case is established from the conclusion of the Council of Trent, in which all the dogmas of that form of religion have been confirmed, where these things are stated at the end:-
Then the president, Moronus, said, ‘Go in peace.’ There followed acclamations, among others these of the cardinal of Lorraine and the fathers: We all so believe, we are all of this very opinion, we all consenting and embracing subscribe to it. This is the faith of the blessed Peter and of the Apostles, this is the faith of the Fathers, this is the faith of the orthodox. So be it, Amen, Amen, Anathema to the whole body of heretics, Anathema, Anathema.’
The decrees of that Council are those that have been quoted at the beginning of this work in a summary, in which however there is scarcely one truth. These things have been quoted so that it may be known that the Reformed have retained from that form of religion a blind faith, that is, a faith separated from the understanding; and those who retain it hereafter cannot be enlightened in Divine Truths by the Lord. So long as the understanding is held captive under obedience to faith, or the understanding is removed from seeing the truths of the Church, theology becomes nothing but a matter of memory. And a matter solely of the memory comes to naught like every matter freed from the judgment pertaining to it, and perishes on account of its obscurity. Consequently:-
There are blind leaders of the blind, and when one blind man leads another, both fall into the ditch Matt. xv 14;
and they are blind because they do not enter in by the door, but some other way; for Jesus said:-
I am the door, by Me if anyone enters in, he shall be saved, and shall
go in and out, and find pasture John x 9.
‘To find pasture’ is to be taught, enlightened and nourished in Divine truths. All who do not enter by the door, that is by the Lord, are called ‘thieves’ and ‘robbers’; but those who enter by the door, that is, by the Lord, are called ‘shepherds of the sheep’, in the same chap. x, vers. 1, 2. Therefore, my friend, go to the Lord, and flee from evils as sins, and reject faith alone, and then your understanding will be opened and you will see wonderful things and be affected by them.
915. ‘The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, [20] the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst’ signifies all the things of that doctrine derived from the sense of the letter of the Word in their order with those who approach the Lord directly and live in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue by fleeing from evils as sins; for these and no others are in the doctrine of love directed to God and of love towards the neighbour, which are the two foundations of religion. That by ‘the twelve foundations of the wall’ are signified all the things of the doctrine of the New Jerusalem derived from the sense of the letter of the Word, may be seen above (n. 902, 914); that by ‘precious stones’ in general are signified all the truths of the doctrine derived from the Word transparent by means of the spiritual sense, above (n. 231, 540, 726, 911, 914). Here by each stone is signified some specific truth transparent in that manner. That the Word in the sense of the letter as to the doctrinal things thereof corresponds to precious stones of every kind, may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 43-45). [2] There are two colours in general that shine forth in precious stones, the colour red and the colour bright white. The rest of the colours, as green, yellow, sky-blue and many more, are composed of those modified with black (ex illis mediante nigro); and by the red colour is signified the good of love, and by the bright white colour is signified the truth of wisdom. The reason why the red colour signifies the good of love is because it derives its origin from the fire of the sun, and the fire of the sun of the spiritual world is in its essence the Lord’s Divine Love, thus the good of love; and the reason why the bright white colour signifies the truth of wisdom is because it derives its origin from the light that proceeds out of the fire of that sun, and that proceeding light is in its essence Divine wisdom, thus the truth of wisdom; and black derives its origin from the shade of those, which is ignorance.
[3] But to explain in detail what [kind] of good and what [kind] of truth is signified by each stone would be too tedious. Nevertheless in order to know what of good and truth any one stone in this order signifies, the things may be seen that have been expounded above (chap. vii from vers. 5-8, n. 349-361), where the twelve tribes of Israel are treated of. For a similar thing is signified by each stone here as by each tribe there named, since by the twelve tribes there described are likewise signified all the goods and truths of the Church and of its doctrine in their order. And therefore also it is said in this chapter (verse 14) that ‘in the twelve foundations were written the names of the Lamb’s twelve apostles’, and by the twelve apostles’ are signified all the things of the doctrine concerning the Lord, and concerning a life in accordance with His precepts (n. 903). Similar things also are signified by these twelve stones as by the twelve precious stones in Aaron’s breastplate, which was called the Urim and Thummim (treated of in Exod. xxviii 15-21, of which the details have been expounded in ARCANA CAELESTIA from n. 9856-9882), with the difference that in the latter were the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, but in the former the names of the Lamb’s twelve apostles.
[4] That the foundations are of precious stones is also said in Isaiah:-
O thou afflicted, behold I will set thy stones with stibium*, and lay thy foundations in sapphires, and thy gates in carbuncle stones; all thy sons have been taught by Jehovah Isa. liv 11-13.
By ‘the afflicted’ is understood the Church set up by the Lord with the Gentiles. In the same:-
Thus has the Lord Jehovih said, I lay for a foundation in Zion a stone, a stone of trial, founded as a precious corner-stone; I will make thy judgment straight (in regulam), and thy justice upright (in perpendiculum) Isa. xxviii 16, 17.
[5] Since every truth of doctrine derived from the Word is founded upon the acknowledgment of the Lord, therefore the Lord is called ‘the stone of Israel’ (Gen. xlix 24); also ‘the corner-stone which the builders rejected’ (Matt. xxi 42; Mark xii 10, 11; Luke xx 17, 18). That a corner-stone is a stone of foundations is established from Jer. li 26. The Lord also in the Word in many places is called a’ Rock’, and therefore by’ the Rock ‘He meant Himself when He said:-
Upon this Rock will I build My Church Matt. xvi 18, 19;
and also when He said:-
He who hears My words and does them is compared to a prudent man who builds a house and lays the foundation upon a rock Luke vi 47, 48; Matt. vii 24, 25.
By ‘a rock’ is signified the Lord as to the Divine Truth of the Word. That all the things of the Church and its doctrine relate to these two things, that the Lord is to be approached directly, and that one should live in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue by fleeing from evils as sins; and that all the things of the doctrine relate to love directed to God and to love towards the neighbour, will be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING CHARITY, where these things will be set forth in their order.
* A word meaning antimony used as a cosmetic or pigment.
916. [verse 21] ‘And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, and each one of the gates was of one pearl’ signifies that the acknowledgment and cognition of the Lord conjoins into one all the cognitions of truth and good that are derived from the Word, and introduces into the Church. By ‘the twelve gates’ are signified in a summary the cognitions of truth and good by which a man is introduced into the Church (n. 899, 900). By the ‘twelve pearls’ are also signified cognitions of truth and good in a summary (n. 727). This is why the gates were pearls. The reason why ‘each one of the gates was of one pearl’ is because all the cognitions of truth and good that are signified by’ the gates’ and ‘the pearls’ relate to one cognition which is holding them together, and this one cognition’ is the cognition of the Lord. It is said ‘one cognition’, although there are many cognitions making up that one cognition’; for the cognition of the Lord is the universal of all the things of the doctrine and consequently of all the things of the Church. All worship draws its life and soul therefrom, for the Lord is everything in all the things of heaven and the Church, and consequently in all the things of worship.
[2] The reason why the acknowledgment and cognition of the Lord conjoins all the cognitions of truth and good derived from the Word into one is because there is a connection of all spiritual truths (veritas), and, if you are willing to believe it, their connection is like the connection of all the members, viscera and organs of the body. And therefore just as the soul holds together all those things in their order and connection, so that they are not felt otherwise than as one, in like manner the Lord holds together all the spiritual truths (veritas) with a man. That the Lord is the very Gate by which entry should be made into the Church and thereby into heaven, He Himself teaches in John:-
I am the Door, by Me if anyone enters in, he shall be saved John x 9.
And that the acknowledgment and cognition of Himself is the ‘pearl’ itself is understood by these words of the Lord in Matthew:-
The kingdom of the heavens is like unto a merchant man seeking beautiful pearls who, when he had found one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it Matt. xiii 45, 46;
the ‘one pearl of great value’ being the acknowledgment and cognition of the Lord.
917. ‘And the street of the city was pure gold as it were transparent glass’ signifies that every truth of that Church and its doctrine is in form the good of love inflowing together with light out of heaven from the Lord. These things are similar to the things that are said of the city itself (verse 18 above), that it ‘was pure gold like unto pure glass’, by which is signified that everything of that Church is the good of love inflowing together with light out of heaven from the Lord, as may be seen (n. 912, 913), with the difference that here it is said that ‘the street of the city’ is such, and by ‘the street of the city’ is signified the truth of the Church’s doctrine (n. 501). That every truth of the Church’s doctrine derived from the Word is in form the good of love may be seen above (n. 906, 908).
918. [verse 22] ‘And I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty is the temple thereof, and the Lamb’ signifies that in this Church there will not be any external separated from what is internal, because the Lord Himself in His Divine Human, from Whom is everything of the Church, is the Only One being approached, worshipped and adored. By ‘I saw no temple therein’ is not understood that in the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, there will be no temple, but that in it there will not be what is external separated from what is internal. This is because by ‘a temple’ is signified the Church as to worship, and in the uppermost (supernus) sense the Lord Himself as to the Divine Human, Who is to be worshipped, as may be seen above (n. 191, 529, 585); and because everything of the Church is from the Lord it is therefore said ‘for the Lord God Almighty is the temple thereof and the Lamb’, by which is signified the Lord in His Divine Human. By ‘the Lord God Almighty’ is understood the Lord from what is eternal, Who is Jehovah Himself, and by ‘the Lamb’ is signified His Divine Human, as frequently above.
919. [verse 23] ‘And the city had no need of the sun and the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God has enlightened it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb’ signifies that the men of that Church will not be in the love of self and in self-derived intelligence (in propria intelligentia), and consequently in natural light only, but in spiritual light out of the Divine Truth of the Word from the Only Lord. By ‘the sun’ here is signified natural love separated from spiritual love, and this is the love of self; and by ‘the moon’ is signified natural intelligence, also natural faith, separated from spiritual intelligence and faith, and this is self-derived intelligence and faith from self. This love, and this intelligence and faith, are signified here by ‘the sun and the moon’, and those who will be in the Lord’s New Church will have no need of such shining. By ‘the glory of God’ that enlightens it is signified the Divine Truth of the Word (n. 629); and because that enlightenment is from the Lord it is said ‘and the lamp thereof is the Lamb’. Things similar to those here are signified by these words in Isaiah:-
Thou shalt call thy walls salvation, and thy gates praise. The sun shall no more be for a light to thee by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light to thee, but Jehovah shall be to thee for a light of eternity, and thy God for thy grace. Thy sun shall no more set, neither shall thy moon wane; for the Lord shall be to thee for a light of eternity: thy people shall all be just Isa. lx 18-21.
By ‘the sun and moon’ which shall shine no more are understood the love of self and self-derived intelligence; and by ‘the sun and moon’ which shall no more set are understood love from the Lord directed to the Lord and intelligence, also faith, from Him. And by [the statement] that ‘Jehovah shall be for a light of eternity’ is signified a similar thing as here, that ‘the glory of God has enlightened it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb’. That ‘the sun’ signifies love directed to the Lord, and in the opposite sense the love of self, may be seen above (n. 53, 414); and that ‘the moon’ signifies intelligence from the Lord and faith from Him (n. 332, 413, 414). Consequently ‘the moon in the opposite sense signifies self-derived intelligence and faith from self. Since by ‘the sun’ in the opposite sense is signified the love of self, and by ‘the moon’ self-derived intelligence and faith from self, therefore it was an abomination to adore the sun, the moon and the stars, as can be established (in Jeremiah viii 1, 2; in Ezekiel viii 15, 16; in Zephaniah i 5); and that those [who did so] were stoned (Deut. xvii 2-5).
920. [verse 241 ‘And the nations that are being saved shall walk in the light thereof’ signifies that all who are in good of life and believe in the Lord shall live there in accordance with Divine truths, and they shall see those truths inwardly in themselves as the eye sees objects. By ‘the nations’ are signified those who are in good of life, and also those who are in evil of life (n. 483), here those who are in good of life and believe in the Lord, because it is said ‘the nations that are being saved’. ‘To walk in the light’ signifies to live in accordance with Divine truths, and to see those inwardly in themselves as the eye sees objects, for the objects of spiritual sight, which is of the interior understanding, are spiritual truths, and these are seen by those who are in that understanding just as natural objects are seen before the eyes. By ‘the light’ here is signified the perception of Divine Truth by virtue of interior enlightenment from the Lord with them (n. 796); and by ‘to walk’ is signified to live (n. 167). It is therefore plain that by to walk in the light of the New Jerusalem’ is signified to perceive and see Divine truths by virtue of an interior enlightenment, and to live in accordance therewith. [2] But this must be illustrated, because it is not known who are understood here by the nations’, and who by ‘the kings’ concerning whom [something] follows in this verse. By ‘the nations’ are signified those who are in the good of love from the Lord, this good being called celestial good; and by ‘the kings’ are signified those who are in truths of wisdom by virtue of spiritual good from the Lord, treated of in the following paragraph. Those who are in celestial good from the Lord all have Divine truths inscribed on their life, and therefore they ‘walk’, that is, live justly in accordance therewith, and also they see them inwardly in themselves just as the eye sees objects, concerning whom the things recorded above (n. 120-123) may be seen. All the heavens have been distinguished into two kingdoms, the celestial and the spiritual. The good of the celestial kingdom is called celestial good, which is the good of love directed to the Lord, and the good of the spiritual kingdom is called spiritual good, and is the good of wisdom, which in its essence is truth. Concerning these two kingdoms the things above (n. 647, 725, 854) may be seen.
[3] It is similar with the Church, and the men there are celestial who live in accordance with just precepts because they are Divine laws, just as a citizen (homo civilis) lives in accordance with just precepts because they are civil laws. But the difference between them is that the former, by virtue of his life in accordance with the precepts or laws, is a citizen of heaven in so far as he makes the civil laws that are of justice Divine laws also. Those who are signified here by ‘the nations’, upon whom, as was said, Divine truths have been inscribed, are those who are understood in Jeremiah:-
I will put My law in the midst of them, and will write it upon their heart; and they shall no more teach every man his neighbour or every man his brother, saying, Recognise Jehovah, for they shall all recognise Me from the least of them unto the greatest of them Jer. xxxi 33, 34.
921. ‘And the kings of the land shall bring their glory and honour into it’ signifies that all who are in truths of wisdom derived from spiritual good will confess the Lord there and ascribe to Him all the truth and all the good that are with them. By ‘the kings of the land’ are signified those who are in truths derived from good from the Lord (n. 20, 854), here therefore those who are in truths of wisdom derived from the good of spiritual love, because ‘the nations’ are mentioned first, by which are signified those who are in the good of celestial love, treated of in the preceding paragraph. By ‘to bring glory and honour into it’, or into the New Jerusalem, is signified to confess the Lord and to ascribe to Him all the truth and all the good that are with them. That these things are signified by ‘to bring and give glory and honour’ may be seen (n. 249, 629, 693), for ‘glory’ is predicated of the Divine Truth, and ‘honour’ of the Divine Good, of the Lord (n. 249). By ‘the nations’ and ‘the kings’ similar things are signified as by the’ nations and peoples’ treated of above (n. 483), by ‘nations’ those who are in the good of love and by ‘peoples’ those who are in the truths of wisdom; also in the opposite sense. Therefore in different places in the Word they are termed ‘nations and kings’, just as they are termed ‘nations and peoples’, as in these places:-
All kings shall bow down to Him, and all nations shall serve Him Ps. lxxii 11.
Thou shalt suck the milk of the nations, and shalt suck the breasts of kings Isa. lx 16.
Many nations and great kings shall make them serve Jer. xxv 14.
The Lord at thy right hand has smitten kings in the day of wrath, He has judged between the nations Ps. cx 5, 6;
besides elsewhere.
922. [verse 25] ‘And the gates thereof shall not be closed during the day, for night shall not be there’ signifies that those who are in truths derived from the good of love from the Lord are continually being received into the New Jerusalem, because there is no untruth of faith there. By [the statement] that ‘the gates shall not be closed during the day’ is signified that those who wish to enter in are being continually admitted. By ‘during the day’ is signified continually, because it is always light there, as above (vers. 11 and 23), and there is not any ‘night’, as it follows on. The reason why those who are in truths derived from the good of love from the Lord are continually being received is because the light of the New Jerusalem is truth derived from the good of love, and the good of love is from the Lord, as has been frequently shown above; and into that light no others can enter but those who are in truths derived from good from the Lord. If strangers enter they are not received because they are not in agreement, and then they either go out voluntarily because they find that light unendurable, or they are sent out. By [the statement] that ‘night shall not be there’ is signified that there shall be no untruth of faith; for by ‘night’ is signified what is opposite to the light, and by ‘the light’ is signified truth derived from the good of love from the Lord, as has been said. Consequently by ‘night’ is signified that which is not derived from the good of love from the Lord, and this is untruth of faith. Untruth of faith is also understood by ‘night’ in John:-
Jesus said, I must work God’s works while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work John ix 4;
and in Luke:-
In that night there shall be two men in one bed, the one shall be taken, the other shall be left Luke xvii 34.
It treats there of the last time of the Church when there shall be nothing but untruth of faith. By ‘a bed’ is signified a doctrine (n. 137).
923. ‘And they shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations into it’ signifies that those who enter will bring with them the confession, acknowledgment and faith that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and that every truth of the Church and every good of religion is from Him. That by ‘to bring glory and honour into it’ is signified to confess the Lord and to attribute to Him all the good that is with them, may be seen above (n. 921). Here similar things are signified, with the difference that there those who are understood by ‘the kings of the land’ should bring it with them, [but] here that it is those who are understood by ‘the nations’ for it is said ‘they shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations into it’, and by ‘the nations’ are signified those who are in good of life and believe in the Lord (n. 920); and it also treats of the reception of those who are in truths derived from the good of love from the Lord, just above (n. 922). It follows therefore that by ‘they shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations into it’ is signified that those who enter will bring with them the confession, acknowledgment and faith that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and that every truth of the Church and every good of religion is from Him. Almost the same things are signified by these words in Isaiah:-
I will extend peace over Jerusalem. the glory of the nations like a torrent Isa. lxvi 12.
It is said ‘the truth of the Church’ and ‘the good of religion’ because the Church is one thing and religion another. The Church is termed ‘the Church’ by virtue of a doctrine and religion is termed ‘religion’ by virtue of a life in accordance with a doctrine. Everything of a doctrine is called a truth, and the good thereof is also truth because it only teaches it; but everything of a life in accordance with the things that the doctrine teaches is called good. In fact to do the truth of a doctrine is good. In this way the Church and religion are distinguished. Nevertheless, where there is doctrine and not life there cannot be said to be either the Church or religion, because doctrine regards life as one with itself, exactly as truth and good, as faith and charity, wisdom and love, and as understanding and will; and therefore where there is doctrine and not life the Church does not exist.
924. [verse 26] ‘And there shall not enter into it any unclean thing, nor one doing abomination and a lie’ signifies that no one is received into the Lord’s New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, who adulterates the goods and falsifies the truths of the Word, and who does evils from confirmation, and thus also untruths. By ‘not to enter’ is signified not to receive, as above. By ‘an unclean thing’ is signified spiritual whoredom, which is the adulteration of the good and falsification of the truth of the Word (n. 720 and 728), for this is uncleanness and impurity itself; because the Word is cleanness and purity itself, and this is defiled by evils and untruths when it is perverted. That adultery and whoredom correspond to the adulteration of good and the falsification of the truth of the Word may be seen (n. 134, 632). By ‘to do abomination and a lie’ is signified to do evils and thus also untruths. By ‘abominations’ are signified evils of all kinds, especially those that are named in the Decalogue (n. 891); and by ‘a lie’ are signified untruths of every kind, here untruths of evil that in themselves are evils, thus untruths confirming evil, which are the same as the evils confirmed.
[2] The reason why ‘a lie’ signifies untruth of doctrine is because a spiritual lie is nothing else; consequently by ‘to do a lie’ is signified to live in accordance with an untruth of doctrine. That ‘a lie’ in the Word signifies untruth of doctrine can be established from the following passages:-
We have entered into a covenant with death, and with hell have we made a vision, we have put our trust in a lie, and in falsity have we hidden ourselves Isa. xxviii 15.
They are mocking, a man at his companion, and are not speaking the truth (veritas), and they have taught their tongue to speak a lie Jer. ix 4.
This is a people of rebellion, lying sons, they are not willing to hear the law of Jehovah Isa. xxx 9.
Behold, I am against those prophesying the dreams of a lie; they narrate them that they may lead My people astray by their lies Jer. xxiii 32.
The diviners are seeing a lie, and are speaking dreams of vanity Zech. x 2.
They have seen vanity and the divination of a lie; because you are speaking vanity and seeing a lie, therefore behold I am against you, that My hand may be against the prophets speaking a lie Ezek. xiii 6-9; xxi 29 [H.B. 34].
Woe to the city of bloods, it is all a lie and full of robbery Nahum iii 1.
In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible obduracy, in committing adultery and walking in a lie Jer. xxiii 14.
From the prophet even unto the priest, everyone is doing a lie Jer. viii 10.
In Israel they have done a lie Hosea vii 1.
You are of your father the devil, he was a murderer from the beginning, because the truth is not in him, when he is speaking a lie he is speaking out of his own things, because he is speaking a lie, and is the father of it John viii 44.
Here also by ‘a lie’ is understood untruth.
925. ‘But only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life’ signifies that no others are received into the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, but those who believe in the Lord and live in accordance with His precepts in the Word. That these things are signified by ‘to be written in the book of life.’ may be seen above (n. 874), to which there is no need to add more here.
* * * * * * * * * *
926. To these things I will add this MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE.
While I was engaged on the exposition of the twentieth chapter, and was meditating on the dragon, the beast and the false prophet, a certain one appeared to me and asked ‘What are you meditating on?’ I said that it was about the false prophet. Then he said ‘I will lead you to the place where those are who are understood by “the false prophet”.’ He said that they were the same as those who in chap. xiii are understood by ‘the beast out of the land, which had two horns like the lamb and spoke as the dragon’. I followed him, and behold, I saw a crowd in the midst of which were the leaders, who taught that nothing else saves a man but faith; and that works are good, but not for salvation; and that still they should be taught from the Word so that the laity, especially the simple, may be kept more closely in bonds of obedience to magistrates, and as from religion, thus interiorly, may be compelled to exercise moral charity. [2] And then one of them seeing me said, ‘Would you like to see our shrine in which there is the image representative of our faith?’ I drew near and saw, and behold it was magnificent, and in the midst of it there was the image of a woman clothed with a scarlet garment, and holding in the right hand a gold coin and in the left a string of pearls. But both the shrine and the image had been brought about by means of phantasies; for infernal spirits are able by means of phantasies to represent magnificent things by closing up the interiors of the mind and opening only its exteriors. But when I became aware that they were such illusions I prayed to the Lord, and suddenly the interiors of my mind were opened, and then I saw instead of the magnificent shrine a house with cracks from the roof right down to the bottom, in which nothing held together. And instead of the woman I saw hovering in that house an apparition (simulachrum) of which the head was like a dragon’s, the body like a leopard’s, and the feet like those of a bear, just as ‘the beast out of the sea’ is described (Rev. xiii). And instead of the floor there was a swamp swarming with frogs. And it was said to me that beneath the swamp was a large hewn stone under which the Word was lying well hidden. [3] Having seen these things, I said to the illusionist, ‘Is this your shrine?’ And he said that it was. But then suddenly interior sight was opened to him, and he saw the same things as I did. Having seen them he cried out with a great cry, ‘What is this? Where has it come from?’ And I said that it was by virtue of the light out of heaven, which discloses the quality of every form, and here [it has disclosed] the quality of your faith separated from spiritual charity. Whereupon there came an east wind and it carried away everything that was there, and it was also drying up the swamp and thus laying bare the stone under which the Word lay. And afterwards it breathed a spring-like warmth out of heaven, and then, behold, in the same place a tabernacle was seen, simple in its outward form; and the angels who were with me were saying, ‘Behold the tabernacle of Abraham, what it was like when the three angels came to him and brought news of the forthcoming birth of Isaac. Before the eyes this appears simple, but in accordance with the influx of light out of heaven it becomes more and more magnificent.’ And they were permitted to open the heaven in which were the spiritual angels who are in wisdom. And then by virtue of the light inflowing therefrom that tabernacle was appearing just like the Jerusalem temple. When I looked into it I saw the foundation stone under which the Word had been deposited. It was set around with precious stones from which as it were lightning flashed forth on to the walls, upon which were the forms of cherubs, and it beautifully variegated them with colours.
[4] When I had admired these things the angels said, ‘You shall see things still more wonderful.’ And they were permitted to open the third heaven, in which were the celestial angels who are in love. And then by virtue of the light inflowing therefrom the whole of that temple disappeared, and instead of it there was seen standing upon the foundation stone, which was the Word, the Lord Only in an appearance similar to that in which He was seen by John (Rev. i). But because the holiness then filled the interiors of the minds of the angels, with the result that they were impelled to fall prostrate on their faces, suddenly the passage of light out of the third heaven was closed by the Lord, and the passage of light out of the second heaven was opened, in consequence of which the former view of the temple came back, and also that of the tabernacle, but in the temple. By this was portrayed what is understood by these words in this chapter:-
Behold God’s tabernacle is with men, and He shall dwell with them (verse 3, n. 882);
and by these:-
I saw no temple in the New Jerusalem, for the Lord God Almighty is the temple thereof and the Lamb (verse 22, n. 918).
1. And he showed me a pure river of water of life, shining crystal clear, going forth out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
2. In the midst of the street of it [the city] and of the river on this side and on that (et fluvii hinc et hinc) is a tree of life bearing twelve fruits, each month yielding its own fruit; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
3. And no accursed thing shall be there; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall minister unto Him.
4. And they shall see His face, and His Name shall be in their foreheads.
5. And night shall not be there, and they have no need of a lamp and of the light of the sun, for the Lord God enlightens them; and they shall reign for ages of ages.
6. And he said unto me, These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets has sent His angel to show unto His servants the things that must be done quickly.
7. And I am coming quickly; blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.
8. And it was I, John, seeing and hearing these things, and when I heard and saw I. fell down to adore before the feet of the angel who was showing me these things.
9. And he says unto me, See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brothers the prophets, and of those keeping the words of this book: adore God.
10. And he says unto me, Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.
11. Let the unjust [man] go on being unjust, and let the filthy one go on getting filthy, and let the just one go on becoming just, and let the holy one go on being made holy.
12. And behold I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, rendering to every one according as his work shall be.
13. I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last.
14. Blessed are those doing His commandments, that their authority may be in the tree of life, and they may enter in by the gates into the city.
15. For outside are dogs and enchanters, and whoremongers and murderers and idolaters, and everyone loving and doing a lie.
16. I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify unto you these things in the Churches; I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright and the morning Star.
17. And the spirit and the bride are saying, Come, and let the one hearing say, Come, and let the thirsting one come, and let the willing one take the water of life freely.
18. For I call to Witness all those hearing the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to these things. God shall add upon him the plagues written in this book.
9. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and the things written in this book.
20. The One testifying these things says, Indeed I am coming quickly, Amen. Come indeed, Lord Jesus.
21. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, Amen.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENT OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
That Church is still being described as to intelligence derived from Divine Truths from the Lord (vers. 1-5).
That the Apocalypse has been made manifest by the Lord, and that in its own time it is to be revealed (vers. 6-10).
Concerning the Lord’s coming, and His conjunction with those who believe in Him and live in accordance with His precepts (vers. 11-17).
That the things that have been revealed are definitely to be taken care of (vers. 18, 19).
The betrothal (vers. 17, 20, 21).
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. And he showed me a pure river of water of life, shining crystal clear, going forth out of the throne of God and of the Lamb
signifies the Apocalypse now opened and expounded as to the spiritual sense, where Divine Truths in abundance have been revealed by the Lord for those who will be in His New Church, which is the New Jerusalem.
2. In the midst of the street and of the river on this side and on that is a tree of life bearing twelve fruits
signifies that in the inmost things of the truths (veritas) of the doctrine and consequently of the life in the New Church is the Lord in His Divine Love, from Whom are flowing forth all the goods that a man there does apparently as of himself.
Each month yielding its own fruit
signifies that the Lord produces goods with the man in accordance with every state of truth with him.
And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations
signifies the rational truths therefrom by means of which those who are in evils and consequently in untruths are led to thinking soundly and living properly.
3. And no accursed thing shall be there, and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall minister unto Him
signifies that in the Church that is the New Jerusalem there will not he any who are separated from the Lord, because the Lord Himself will rule there, and those who are in truths by means of the Word. from Him and are doing His commandments will be with Him, because conjoined with Him.
4. And they shall see His face, and His Name shall be in their foreheads
signifies that they will turn to the Lord and the Lord to them, because they have been conjoined by means of love.
5. And night shall not be there, and they have no need of a lamp and of the light of the sun, for the Lord [God] enlightens them
signifies that in the New Jerusalem there will not be any untruth of faith, and that the men will not be in cognitions of God there out of the natural light that is derived from self-intelligence and from the glory arising from pride, but they will be in spiritual light out of the Word from the Only Lord.
And they shall reign for ages of ages
signifies that they will be in the Lord’s kingdom and in conjunction with Him to eternity.
6. And he said unto me, These words are trustworthy and true
signifies that they know these things for certain, because the Lord Himself has said what is published (id testatus dixit).
And the Lord God of the holy prophets has sent His angel to show unto His servants the things that must be done quickly
signifies that the Lord, from Whom is derived the Word of both covenants, has revealed through heaven to those who are in truths derived from Himself the things that are certainly going to be.
7. Behold I am coming quickly, blessed is he who keeps the words of this prophecy
signifies that the Lord is certainly going to come, and will give eternal life to those who protect and do the truths or precepts of the doctrine of this book now opened by the Lord.
8. And it was I, John, seeing and hearing these things, and when I heard and saw I fell down to adore before the feet of the angel who was showing me these things
signifies that John supposed that the angel, who was sent by the Lord to him that he might be kept in a state of the spirit, was God Who revealed these things, when yet it was not so, for the angel was only showing what the Lord made manifest.
9. And he says unto me, See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brothers the prophets, and of those keeping the words of this book: adore God
signifies that the angels of heaven are not to be adored and invoked, because nothing Divine belongs to them, but that they are associated as brothers with brothers with the men who are in the doctrine of the New Jerusalem and do its precepts, and that in fellowship with them the Only Lord is to be adored.
10. And he says unto me, Do not seal the words of this prophecy, for the time is near
signifies that the Apocalypse is not to be closed up, but must be opened, and that this is necessary at the end of the Church in order that any may be saved.
11. Let the unjust [man] go on being unjust, and let the filthy one go on getting filthy, and let the just one go on becoming just, and let the holy one go on being made holy
signifies the state of all in particular after death, and prior to the judgment of each, and in general before the last judgment; that goods will be taken away from those who are in evils, and truths will be taken away from those who are in untruths, while on the other hand that evils will be taken away from those who are in goods, and untruths will be taken away from those who are in truths.
12. And behold I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, rendering to everyone according as his work shall be
signifies that the Lord is certainly going to come, and that He Himself is heaven and the happiness of eternal life, to each one in accordance with faith in Him and a life in accordance with His precepts.
13. I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last
signifies because the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and all things in the heavens and on earth (in terris) have been made by Him, and are being governed by His Divine Providence, and are happening in accordance with it.
14. Blessed are those doing His commandments, that their authority may be in the tree of life, and they may enter in by the gates into the city
signifies that they have eternal happiness who live in accordance with the Lord’s precepts to the end that they may be in the Lord and the Lord in them by means of love, and that they may be in His New Church by means of cognitions concerning Him.
15. For outside are dogs, and enchanters and whoremongers, and murderers and idolaters, and everyone loving and doing a lie
signifies that no one is received into the New Jerusalem, who makes the precepts of the Decalogue of no account, and does not flee from any evils there named as sins, and therefore lives in them.
16. I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify unto you these things in the Churches
signifies a testification by the Lord before the whole of Christendom, that it is true that the Only Lord has made manifest the things that have been described in this book, as also those that have now been opened.
I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright and the morning Star
signifies that He Himself is that Lord who was born in the world and was then the Light, and Who is going to come with the new Light that is going to dawn upon His New Church, which is the holy Jerusalem.
17. And the spirit and the bride are saying, Come
signifies that heaven and the Church will long for the Lord’s coming.
And let the one hearing say, Come, and let the thirsting one come, and let the willing one take the water of life freely
signifies that he who knows anything of the Lord’s coming, and of the New Heaven and the New Church, thus of the Lord’s kingdom, will pray that it may come, and that he who longs for truths will pray that the Lord may come with light, and that he who loves truths is then going to accept those things from the Lord without any exertion of his own.
18. For I call to witness all those hearing the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to these things, God shall add upon him the plagues written in this book
signifies that those who read and know the truths of the doctrine of this book now opened by the Lord, and go on acknowledging a God other than the Lord and a faith – other than one directed to Him, by adding anything by which these two may be destroyed, cannot do otherwise than perish on account of the untruths and evils that are signified by the plagues described in this book.
19. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and the things written in this book
signifies that those who read and know the truths of the doctrine of this book now opened by the Lord, and go on acknowledging a God other than the Lord and a faith other than directed to Him, by taking away anything by which they may destroy these two, cannot be wise in and appropriate to themselves anything out of the Word, nor be received into the New Jerusalem, nor have their lot with those who are in the Lord’s kingdom.
20. The One testifying these things says, Indeed I am coming quickly [,Amen]. Come indeed, Lord Jesus
signifies the Lord Who has revealed the Apocalypse, and now has opened it, testifying the glad tidings that in His Own Divine Human, Which He took upon Himself in the world and glorified, He is coming as the Bridegroom and Husband, and that the Church as the Bride and Wife will long for Him.
THE EXPOSITION
[verse 1] ‘And he showed me a pure river of water of life shining crystal clear, going forth out of the throne of God and of the Lamb’ signifies the Apocalypse now opened and expounded as to the spiritual sense, where Divine Truths in abundance have been revealed by the Lord for those who will be in His New Church, which is the New Jerusalem. By ‘a pure river of water of life shining crystal clear’ is signified the Divine Truth of the Word in abundance transparent by virtue of its spiritual sense, which is in the light of heaven. The reason why Divine Truth in abundance is signified by ‘a river’ (n. 409) is because by ‘the waters’ of which a river consists are signified truths (n. 50, 685, 719), and by ‘waters of life’ those truths out of the Lord by means of the Word, as it follows on. And by ‘shining crystal clear’ are signified these truths transparent by virtue of the spiritual sense, which is in the light of heaven (n. 897). By [the statement that] ‘the river was seen to go forth out of the throne of God and of the Lamb’ is signified that it is out of heaven from the Lord; for by ‘a throne’ is signified the Lord as to judgment and as to government and as to heaven; as to judgment (n. 229, 845, 865), as to government (n. 694, 808 end), and as to heaven (n. 14, 221, 222); here, therefore, out of heaven from the Lord. By ‘God and the Lamb’ is signified here, as frequently above, the Lord as to the Divine Itself from Whom [are all things] and as to the Divine Human.
[2] That the Divine Truths in abundance revealed here now in the Apocalypse by the Lord are understood specifically by this ‘river of water of life’ is plain from vers. 6, 7, 9, 10, 14, 16-19 of this chapter, where ‘the book of this prophecy’ is treated of, and [it is stated] that the things written there are to be kept. These things could not be kept before the things that are contained therein were revealed by means of the spiritual sense, because they had not been understood before. Besides, the Apocalypse is a Word similar to the prophetical Word of the Old Testament, and now in the Apocalypse there have been disclosed the evils and untruths of the Church from which there must be a fleeing and turning away, also the goods and truths of the Church which must be done, especially those concerning the Lord and eternal life from Him. These things are indeed taught in the Prophets, but not ‘so manifestly as in the Evangelists and in the Apocalypse; and the Divine Truths concerning the Lord being the God of heaven and earth, which then proceed from Himself and are received by those who will be in the New Jerusalem, which [Divine Truths] are treated of in the Apocalypse, are those that are specifically understood by the’ pure river of water of life shining crystal clear, going forth out of the throne of God and of the Lamb’, as can also be established from these passages:-
Jesus said, Whosoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, Out
of his belly shall flow rivers of living water John vii 38.
Jesus said, He who drinks of the water that I shall give him, shall not be thirsty to eternity, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life John iv 14.
To the thirsting one I will give of the water of life freely Rev. xxi 6; xxii 17.
And the Lamb Who is in the midst of the throne shall feed (pascere) them and conduct them to living fountains of waters Rev. vii 7.
In that day living waters shall go forth out of Jerusalem; Jehovah shall become one King over all the earth; in that day there shall be one Jehovah, and His Name one Zech. xiv 8, 9.
By ‘living waters’ or ‘waters of life’ are there signified Divine Truths from the Lord.
933. [verse 2] ‘In the midst of the street and of the river on this side and on that is a tree of life bearing twelve fruits’ signifies that in the inmost things of the truths (veritas) of the doctrine and consequently of the life in the [New] Church is the Lord in His Divine Love, from Whom are flowing forth all the goods that a man does apparently as of himself. By ‘in the midst’ is signified in the inmost, and thence in the things around (n. 44, 383). By ‘the street’ is signified the truth of the Church’s doctrine (n. 501, 917). By ‘the river’ is signified Divine Truth in abundance (n. 409, 932). ‘On this side and on that (hinc et hinc)’ signifies on the right and on the left, and the truth on the right is what is in clarity and on the left what is in obscurity; for the south in heaven, by which is signified truth in clarity, is on the right, and the north, by which is signified truth in obscurity, is on the left (n. 901). By ‘a tree of life’ is signified the Lord as to Divine Love (n. 89). By ‘fruits’ are signified the goods of love and charity that are called good works, treated of in the following paragraph. By ‘twelve’ are signified all, and it is said of the goods and truths of the Church (n. 348). From these things gathered together into one meaning it follows that by ‘in the midst of the street and of the river on this side and on that is a tree of life bearing twelve fruits’ is signified that in the inmost things of the truths (veritas) of the doctrine and of the life in the New Church is the Lord in His Divine Love, from Whom are flowing forth all the goods that a man does apparently as of himself.
[2] This comes to pass with those who approach the Lord directly and flee from evils because they are sins, thus who will be in the Lord’s New Church, which is the New Jerusalem; for those who do not approach the Lord directly cannot be conjoined to Himself, nor thus to the Father, and consequently cannot be in the love that is from the Divine. For visibility (aspectus) conjoins, not an intellectual visibility only, but an intellectual visibility derived from an affection of the will, and an affection of the will is not given unless a man does His precepts; and therefore the Lord says:-
He who does My precepts, that one loves Me, and I will come unto Him and make an abode with him John xiv 21-24.
[3] It is said ‘in the inmost things of the truths (veritas) of the doctrine and consequently of the life in the New Church’, because in spiritual things all things exist and proceed from the inmost, as fire and light at the centre [proceed] into the circumferences; or as from the sun, which also is at the centre, heat and light [proceed] into the universe. It takes place thus in the least things as in the greatest. Because the inmost of every truth is signified, therefore it is said ‘in the midst of the street and of the river’ and not ‘on each side of the river’, although this is understood. That from the Lord, while He is in the inmost, all the goods of love and charity exist and proceed is plain from the words of the Lord Himself in John:-
Jesus said, As the branch cannot bear fruit from itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine, you are the branches: he who abides in Me and I in him, this one bears much fruit, because without Me you cannot do anything John xv 4-6.
934. That ‘fruits’ signify the goods that a man does out of love or charity is known indeed without confirmation out of the Word, for the reader understands nothing else by ‘fruits’ in the Word. The reason why by ‘fruits’ are understood the goods of love or charity is because a man is compared to a tree, and is also called ‘a tree’ (n. 89, 400). That ‘fruits’ signify the goods of love or charity, which in common parlance are called good works, can be confirmed from these passages:-
The axe is laid to the root of the tree, every tree not bearing good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire Matt. iii 10; vii 16-20.
Either make the tree good and the fruit good, or make the tree corrupt and the fruit corrupt; the tree is recognised by the fruit Matt. xii 33; Luke vi 43, 44.
Every branch not bearing fruit shall be taken away, but every one bearing fruit shall be pruned that it may bear more fruit. He who abides in Me and I in him, this one bears much fruit John xv 2-8.
Bear fruits worthy of repentance Matt. iii 8.
He who was seeded into the good ground, this is the one who hears the Word and pays attention and bears fruit Matt. xiii 23.
Jesus said to the disciples, I have chosen you that you may bear fruit, and that your fruit may remain John xv 16.
A certain man had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard: he came seeking fruit on it, but found none: he says to the vinedresser, Cut it down, why does it make the land unfruitful? Luke xiii 6-9.
A man, a householder, let out his vineyard to farmers, that he might get its fruits, but they killed the servants sent to them, and at length, the Son; he therefore will let the vineyard out to others who shall render Him the fruits in their season. So shall the kingdom of God be taken away from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof Matt. xxi 33-35, 38-41, 43;
besides many other places.
Blessed by Jehovah is the land of Joseph, in respect of the precious things of the products of the sun, and of the precious things of the products of the months Deut. xxxiii 14,
It shall come to pass from month to month, and from sabbath to sabbath, all flesh shall come to bow before Jehovah Isa. lxvi 23.
On account of the signification of ‘a month’, which is a lunar measure, ‘sacrifices were made at the beginning of each month or of the new moon’ (Num. xxix 6; Isa. i 14). And then also they used ‘to sound the trumpets’ (Num. x 10; Ps. lxxxi 3 [H.B. 4]); and it was commanded that ‘they should observe the month Abib, in which they used to celebrate the Passover’ (Exod. xii 2; Deut. xvi 1). By ‘months’ are signified states of truth, and in the opposite sense states of untruth with a man, in the Apocalypse above also (chap. ix 5, 10, 15; xi 2; xiii 5). Something similar to what is here is signified by ‘month’ in Ezek. xlvii 12.
936. ‘And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations’ signifies the rational truths therefrom by means of which those who are in evils and consequently in untruths are led to thinking soundly and living properly. By ‘the leaves of the tree’ are signified rational truths, treated of below. By ‘the nations’ are signified those who are in goods and consequently in truths, and in the opposite sense those who are in evils and consequently in untruths (n. 483). Here it is those who are in evils and consequently in untruths, because it is said ‘for their healing’, and those who are in evils and consequently in untruths cannot be healed by the Word, because they do not read it; but if they have a strong judgment they can be healed by means of rational truths. Things similar to those in this verse are signified by these words in Ezekiel:-
Behold waters going forth from under the threshold of the house from which there is a river, upon the banks of which is a tree of very much food on this side and that, whose leaf does not fall, nor is consumed; it is reborn month by month (in menses), whence its fruit is for food, and its leaf for medicine Ezek. xlvii 1, 7, 12;
where also the New Church is treated of. The reason why by ‘the leaves’ are signified rational truths is because by ‘a tree’ is signified a man (n. 89, 400); and then by all [the parts] of a tree are signified the things agreeing to them with the man, as by the branches, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds. By ‘the branches’ are signified the man’s natural and sensual truths, by ‘the leaves’ his rational truths, by ‘the flowers’ the earliest spiritual truths in the rational, by ‘the fruits’ the goods of love and charity, and by ‘the seeds’ are signified the man’s last and first things. [2] That by ‘the leaves’ are signified rational truths appears clearly from the things seen in the spiritual world; for trees appear there also, with leaves and fruits. There are gardens and paradises composed of them there. With those who are in goods of love and at the same time in truths of wisdom there appear fruit trees with beautiful luxuriant foliage; but with those who are in truths of some wisdom and speak reasonably and are not in goods of love, there appear trees with plenty of leaves but without fruit. But with those who have neither goods nor truths of wisdom, trees only appear stripped of leaves like those in the world in the time of winter. A man not rational is nothing else but such a tree.
[3] Rational truths are those that proximately receive spiritual truths, for a man’s rational is the first receptacle of spiritual truths; for in the man’s rational there is a perception of truth in some form, which the man himself does not see by a process of thought as he does those that are beneath the rational in ‘the lower kind of thought that conjoins itself with external sight. Rational truths are signified by ‘leaves’ also (Gen. iii 7; viii 11; Isa. xxxiv 4; Jer. viii 13; xvii 8; Ezek. xlvii 12; Dan. iv 12, 14 [H.B. 9, 11]; Ps. i 3; Lev. xxvi 36; Matt. Xxi 19; xxiv 32; Mark xiii 28); but [the leaves] are significant according to the species of the trees. The leaves of the olive and the vine signify truths rational by virtue of celestial and spiritual light, the leaves of the fig-tree truths rational by virtue of natural light, while the leaves of the fir, poplar, oak and pine signify truths rational by virtue of sensual light. The leaves of these excite terror in the spiritual world when they are shaken by a strong wind. These are the ones understood in Lev. xxvi 36; Job xiii 25. But with the leaves of the former [species] it is not so.
937. [verse 3] ‘And no accursed thing shall be there, and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall minister unto Him’ signifies that in the Church that is the New Jerusalem there will not be any who are separated from the Lord, because the Lord Himself will rule there, and those who are in truths by means of the Word from Him and are doing His commandments will be with Him, because conjoined with Him. By ‘no accursed thing shall be there’ is signified that in the New Jerusalem there will not be anything evil or untrue from evil that sets the Lord apart; and because evil and untruth are not given except in a recipient who is a man, it is signified that there will not be any there who are separated from the Lord. By ‘an accursed thing’ in the Word is understood all the evil and untruth that separate and turn away a man from the Lord, for then the man becomes a devil and a satan. By [the statement] that’ the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it’ is signified that the Lord Himself is going to rule in that Church, for by ‘the throne’ is signified the kingdom, and the Lord’s kingdom is where Himself Only is worshipped. By [the statement] that ‘His servants shall minister unto Him’ is signified that those who are in truths by means of the Word from the Lord will be with Him and doing His commandments, because conjoined with Him. That by the Lord’s ‘servants’ are signified those who are in truths from Him may be seen above (n. 3, 380), and by ‘ministers’ those who are in good from Him (n. 128). Consequently by the ‘servants who shall minister unto Him’ are signified those who are in truths derived from good by means of the Word from the Lord, and are doing His commandments.
[2] Because the Church at this day does not know that conjunction with the Lord makes heaven, and that conjunction is effected by the acknowledgment that He Himself is the God of heaven and earth, and at the same time by a life in accordance with His precepts, therefore something shall be said concerning these things. He who knows nothing concerning them can say, ‘What is conjunction? How can acknowledgment and life make the conjunction? What need is there of these? Cannot every one be saved out of mercy alone? What need is there of another means of salvation than faith alone? Is not God merciful and omnipotent?’ But let him know that in the spiritual world recognition and acknowledgment (cognitio et agnitio) bring about all presence, and that the affection that is of love brings about all conjunction; for the spaces there are nothing else but appearances in accordance with the likeness of minds (animus), that is, the affection and the thought therefrom. And therefore when anyone is acquainted with another, either by reputation, or as the result of business or conversation with him, or by being related to him, while he is thinking of him out of the idea of that acquaintance he appears as present, even though to all appearance he might be a thousand stadia* away. And if anyone also loves another whom he has known he dwells with him in one society, and in one house if he loves him inmostly. This is the state of all in the whole spiritual world; and this state of all derives its origin from the fact that the Lord is present – with everyone in accordance with faith, and conjoined according to love. Faith and the consequent presence of the Lord is given by means of cognitions of the truths (veritas) derived from the Word, especially the truths there concerning the Lord Himself; but love and the consequent conjunction is given by means of a life in accordance with His precepts, for the Lord says:-
He who has My precepts and does them, he it is who loves Me, and I will love him and make an abode with him John xiv 21-24.
[3] But how this comes about will also be stated. The Lord loves every one and wills to be conjoined with them, but he cannot be conjoined so long as a man is in the delight of evil, as in the delight of hating and avenging, in the delight of committing adultery and whoredom, in the delight of robbing or stealing of any kind, in the delight of blaspheming and lying, and in the lusts of the love of self and the world. For everyone who is in those things is in company with devils who are in hell. The Lord indeed loves them even there, but He cannot be conjoined with them unless the delights of those evils are removed; and these cannot be removed by the Lord unless the man examines himself so that he may know his own evils, acknowledge and confess them before the Lord, and be willing to give them up and thus to practise repentance. This the man must do as from himself, because he does not feel that he does anything from the Lord; and this [faculty] is given to the man, because conjunction in order to be conjunction must be reciprocal, of the man with the Lord and of the Lord with the man. In so far therefore as evils with their delights are being removed, so far the Lord’s love enters, which, as was said, is universal towards all; and then the man is led away from hell and into heaven. The man must do this in the world, for such as a man is in the world as to his spirit such he remains to eternity, with the difference only that, if he has lived well, his state becomes more perfect, because then he is not enveloped with a material body but lives spiritually in a spiritual body.
* Plural of stadium=approx. one-eighth of a mile.
939. That by ‘to see the Lord’s faces*’ is not understood to see His faces but to recognise and acknowledge what He is like as to His Divine attributes, which are many, and that those who have been conjoined with Him by means of love recognise Him and thus see His face, can be established from the following passages:-
What to Me is a multitude of sacrifices, when you come to see the faces of Jehovah? Isa. i 11, 12.
My heart said, Seek My faces; Thy faces, O Jehovah, do I seek Ps. xxvii 8.
We shall shout to the Rock of our salvation, we shall come before His faces in confession Ps. xcv 1, 2.
My soul thirsts for the living God, when shall I come that I may be seen by the faces of God? I shall yet confess to Him the salvations of His faces Ps. xlii 3, 6.
Emptily they shall not see My faces Exod. xxiii 15.
To come to pray earnestly to the faces of Jehovah Zech. viii 21, 22; Mal. i 9.
Make Thy faces shine upon Thy servant Ps. xxxi 16 [H.B. 17].
Who has shown us what is good? Lift up upon us the light of Thy faces, O Jehovah Ps. iv 6 [H.B. 7].
O Jehovah, they shall walk in the light of Thy faces Ps. lxxxix 15 [H.B. 16].
O God, cause Thy faces to shine that we may be saved Ps. lxxx 3, 7, 19 [H.B. 4, 8, 20].
God be merciful unto us and bless us, and cause His faces to shine upon us Ps. lxvii 1 [H.B. 2].
Jehovah bless thee and keep thee, Jehovah cause His faces to shine upon thee and be merciful unto thee, Jehovah lift His faces upon thee and give thee peace Num. vi 24-26.
Thou hidest them in the secret of Thy faces Ps. xxxi 20 [H.B. 21].
Thou hast set our secret in the light of Thy faces Ps. xc 8.
Jehovah spoke to Moses, My faces shall go; Moses said, If Thy faces go not, make us not to go down from hence Exod. xxxiii 14, 15.
The bread upon the table in the tabernacle was called the bread of faces Exod. xxv 30; Num. iv 7.
[2] It is also frequently said that Jehovah has hidden, also that He has turned away [His] faces, as in these passages:-
On account of their wickedness I have hidden My faces from them Jer. xxxiii 5; Ezek. vii 22.
Your sins have hidden God’s faces from you Isa. lix 2.
The faces of Jehovah shall no more regard them Lam. iv 16.
Jehovah shall hide His faces from them as they have rendered their works evil Micah iii 4.
Thou didst hide Thy faces Ps. xxx 7 [H.B. 8]; xliv 24 [H.B. 25]; civ 29.
I will forsake them, and I will hide My faces from them, biding I will hide My faces for all the evil that they have done Deut. xxxi 17, 18;
besides elsewhere, as Isa. viii 17; Ezek. xxxix 23, 28, 29; Ps. xiii 1 [H.B. 2]; xxii 24 [H.B. 25]; [xxvii] 8, 9; lxix 17 [H.B. 18]; lxxxviii 14 [H.B. 15]; cii 2 [H.B. 3]; cxliii 7; Deut. xxxii 20.
[3] In the opposite sense by ‘the faces of Jehovah’ is signified anger and aversion. This is because an evil man turns away from the Lord, and when he turns himself away it appears to him as if the Lord turns away and is angry, as can be established from these passages:-
I have set My faces against the city for evil Jer. xxi 10; xliv 11.
I will set My faces against that man and will devastate him Ezek. xiv 7, 8.
I will set My faces against them, and fire shall devour them when I put My faces against them Ezek. xv 7.
He who eats any blood, I will set My faces against that soul Lev. xvii 10.
At the rebuke of Thy faces they have perished Ps. lxxx 16 [H.B. 17].
The faces of Jehovah are against those doing evil Ps. xxxiv 16 [H.B. 17].
I will send an Angel before thee, beware of His faces, for He does not bear your transgression Exod. xxiii 20, 21.
Let Thine enemies be scattered, and let those hating Thee flee from before Thy faces Num. x 35.
I saw the One sitting upon the throne, from whose face the heaven and the land fled away Rev. xx 11.
That no one can see the Lord as He is in Himself, as was said above, is plain from these words:-
Jehovah said unto Moses, Thou canst not see My faces, because a man shall not see Me and live Exod. xxxiii 18-23.
Yet that He has been seen, and they did live because it was by means of an angel, is plain from Gen. xxxii 30 [H.B. 31]; Judg. Xiii 22, 23; and elsewhere.
* Here and in all quotations from the Old Testament in this paragraph the plural ‘faces’ is used in accordance with the Hebrew idiom.
940. [verse 5] ‘And night shall not be there, and they have no need of a lamp and of the light of the sun, for the Lord [God] enlightens them’ signifies that in the New Jerusalem there will not be any untruth of faith, and that the men will not be in cognitions of God there out of the natural light that is derived from self-intelligence and from the glory arising from pride, but they will be in spiritual light out of the Word from the Only Lord. By ‘night shall not be there’ much the same is signified as above (chap. xxi) where are these words:-
The gates thereof shall not be closed during the day, for night shall not be there (verse 25);
by which is signified that those who are in truths derived from the good of love from the Lord are continually being received into the New Jerusalem, because there is no untruth of faith there (n. 922). By ‘they have no need of a lamp and of the light of the sun, for the Lord God enlightens them’ is signified much the same as above (chap. xxi) where are these words:-
And the city has no need of the sun and of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God has enlightened it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb (verse 23);
by which is signified that the men of that Church will not be in the love of self and in self-derived intelligence, and consequently in natural light only, but in spiritual light out of the Divine Truth of the Word from the Only Lord (n. 919). But instead of ‘the moon’ there it is here said ‘a lamp’, and instead of ‘the sun’ there it is here said ‘the light of the sun’; and by ‘the moon’ just as by ‘a lamp’ is signified natural light derived from self-intelligence, and by ‘the light of the sun’ is signified natural light derived from the glory arising from pride. [2] But what the natural light derived from the glory arising from pride is shall be expounded in a few words. There is given a natural light derived from the glory arising from pride, and also not from pride. Those have a natural light derived from the glory arising from pride who are in the love of self and consequently in evils of every kind; and if they do not do them out of fear of the loss of reputation, and if they also condemn them because they are. against morality and the public good, they still do not consider them as sins. These are in a natural light derived from the glory arising from pride, for the love of self in the will becomes pride in the understanding, and the pride from that love can raise the understanding even into the light of heaven. This [faculty] is given to the man because he is a man, and so that he can be reformed. I have seen and heard many absolute devils, who understood the arcana of angelic wisdom when they heard and read them, just as the angels themselves do; but immediately on their returning to their own love and their own pride therefrom, they not only understood nothing about those arcana but also saw contrary things by reason of the light of the confirmation of untruth with themselves. But a natural light derived from the glory that is not from pride is with those who are in a delight of uses derived from a genuine love towards the neighbour. Their natural light is also a rational light in which there is inwardly spiritual light from the Lord. The glory with them is derived from the brightness of the light inflowing out of heaven where all things are bright and harmonious, for all the uses in heaven shine brightly. By reason of these uses the pleasantness in the ideas of the thoughts with them is perceived as a glory. It enters in through the will and its goods into the understanding and its truths, and is presented in the latter.
941. That ‘And they shall reign for ages of ages’ signifies that they shall be in the Lord’s kingdom and in conjunction with Him to eternity is established from the things that have been expounded above (n. 284, 849, 855), where there are similar words.
942. [verse 6] ‘And he said unto me, These words are trustworthy and true’ signifies that they know these things for certain, because the Lord Himself has said what is published (id testatus dixit). This also is established from the things expounded above (n. 886), where there are similar words.
943. ‘And the Lord God of the holy prophets has sent His angel to show unto His servants the things that must be done quickly’ signifies that the Lord, from Whom is derived the Word of both covenants, has revealed through heaven to those who are in truths derived from Himself the things that are certainly going to be. ‘The Lord God of the holy prophets’ signifies the Lord from Whom is derived the Word of both covenants; for by ‘the prophets’ are signified those who teach truths out of the Word, and in the abstract sense the Church’s doctrine of truth (n. 8, 173); and in a wide sense the Word itself. And because the Word is signified by ‘the holy prophets’, therefore by them is signified the Word of both covenants. ‘He has sent His angel to show unto His servants the things that must be done quickly’ signifies that the Lord has revealed to those who are in truths derived from Himself the things that are certainly going to be. [2] By the ‘angel’ here is signified heaven, as above (n. 5, 65, 644, 647, 648, 910); by ‘servants’ are signified those who are in truths from the Lord (n. 3, 380, 937); by ‘quickly’ is signified certainly (n. 4); consequently by ‘the things that must be done quickly’ is signified that are certainly going to be. The reason why by the ‘angel’ here is signified heaven is because the Lord spoke through heaven with John, and He also spoke through heaven with the prophets, and He, speaks through heaven when He speaks with every individual. This is because the angelic heaven in general is like One Man, whose soul and life is the Lord; and therefore everything that the Lord speaks He speaks through heaven, just as a man’s soul and mind speaks through his body. That the entire angelic heaven as one whole resembles one Man, and that this is derived from the Lord, may be seen above (n. 5), and in the work concerning HEAVEN AND HELL, published at London, 1758 (n. 59-86). Also in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE PROVIDENCE (n. 64-69, 162-164, 201-204), and in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (n. 11, 19, 133, 288). [3] But I will declare this mystery. The Lord speaks through heaven, but still the angels there do not speak, neither do they know at all what the Lord is speaking; unless some of them by means of whom the Lord speaks out of heaven openly are with the man, as with John and some of the prophets. For the Lord’s influx is through heaven, just as the influx of the soul is through the body. The body indeed speaks and acts and also feels something as the result of the influx, but yet the body does not do anything of itself as derived from itself, but is acted upon. It has been given [me] to know from much experience that the speech, in fact all the influx of the Lord, through heaven with men, is like that. The angels of heaven, and also the spirits below the heavens, know nothing about the man, just as the man does not know anything about them, because the state of spirits and angels is spiritual, and that of men is natural. These two states are associated together solely by means of correspondences, and association by means of correspondences causes them to be together in affections but not in thoughts; and therefore the one does not know anything about the other, that is, the man does not know about the spirits with whom he is as to affections, nor do the spirits know about the man, for what is not in thought but only in affection is not known, because it does not appear nor is it seen. Only the Lord knows the thoughts of men.
944. [verse 7] ‘Behold I am coming quickly, blessed is he who keeps the words of this prophecy’ signifies that the Lord is certainly going to come, and will give eternal life to those who protect and do the truths or precepts of the doctrine of this book now opened by the Lord. ‘Behold I am coming quickly’ signifies that the Lord is certainly going to come; by ‘quickly’ is signified certainly (n. 4, 943), and by ‘to come’ is signified that He is going to come, not in Person but in the Word, in which He will appear to all who will be of His New Church. That this is His Coming ‘in the clouds of heaven’ may be seen above (n. 24, 642, 820). Blessed is he who keeps the words of this book’ signifies that He is going to give eternal life to those who protect and do the truths or precepts of the doctrine of this book now opened by the Lord. By ‘blessed’ is signified one who accepts eternal life (n. 639, 852). By ‘to keep’ is signified to protect and do the truths and precepts. ‘The words’ are the truths and precepts. By ‘the prophecy of this book’ is signified the doctrine of this book now opened by the Lord, ‘prophecy’ being doctrine (n. 8, 133, 943). [2] He who considers can see that to keep the words of the prophecy of this book is not understood, but that what is signified is to keep, that is, to protect and do the truths or precepts of doctrine that have been opened in this book now expounded. For in the Apocalypse unexpounded there are few things that can be kept, for they are prophetical things not understood up to this time. Take these for example: the things cannot be kept that are recorded in chap. vi concerning the horses going forth out of the book; in chap. vii concerning the twelve tribes; in chaps. viii and ix concerning the seven angels sounding [trumpets]; in chap. x concerning the little book eaten up by John; in chap. xi concerning the two witnesses who, having been slain, revived; in chap. xii concerning the woman and the dragon; in chaps. xiii and xiv concerning the two beasts; in chaps. xv and xvi concerning the seven angels having the seven plagues; in chaps. xvii and xviii concerning the woman sitting on the scarlet beast and concerning Babylon; in chap. xix concerning the white horse and the great supper; in chap. xx concerning the last judgment; and in chap. xxi concerning the New Jerusalem as a city. From these considerations it is plain that it is not understood that they are blessed who keep those words of prophecy, for they are closed, but that they are blessed who keep, that is, protect and do the truths or precepts of doctrine that are contained in them and have now been opened. That these [truths or precepts] are derived from the Lord may be seen in the Preface.
945. [verse 8] ‘And it was I, John, seeing and hearing these things, and when I heard and saw I fell down to adore before the feet of the angel who was showing me these things’ signifies that John supposed that the angel, who was sent by the Lord to him that he might be kept in a state of the spirit, was God Who revealed those things, when yet it was not so, for the angel was only showing what the Lord made manifest. That John supposed that the angel who was sent to him was God Himself is plain, for it is said that he fell down to adore at his feet; but that this was not the case is plain from the verse following, where the angel says that he was a fellow-servant of his, ‘Adore God’. That that angel had been sent to him by God is plain from verse i6, where are these words:-
I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify unto you these things in the Churches.
But the arcanum that lies hidden in them is this: an angel was sent by the Lord to John that he might be kept in a state of the spirit, and that in that state he might show him the things that he saw; for whatever John saw he did not see with the eyes of the body but with the eyes of the spirit, as can be established from the places where he declares himself to have been ‘in the spirit’ and ‘in a vision’ (chap. i 10; ix 17; xvii 3; xxi 10), thus everywhere that he declares himself to have ‘seen And no one can come into that state and be kept in it except by means of the angels who are closely adjoined to a man, who induce their own spiritual state on the interiors of his mind, for this is how a man is raised up into the light of heaven, and in that light sees the things that are in heaven and does not see those that are in the world.
[2] At one time or another Ezekiel, Zechariah, Daniel and others of the prophets have been in a similar state; but not when they spoke the Word. Then they were not in the spirit but in the body, and from Jehovah Himself, that is, the Lord, they heard the words that they wrote. Those two states of the prophets are to be carefully distinguished. The prophets themselves make a careful distinction, for everywhere when they have written the Word from Jehovah. they say that Jehovah spoke with them and to them, and very often, ‘Jehovah said’, ‘the saying of Jehovah’. But when they were in the other state they say that they have been ‘in the spirit’ or ‘in a vision’, as can be established from these statements. EZEKIEL said:-
The spirit lifted me up, and brought me back into Chaldea to the captivity in a vision of God. So the vision that I saw went up upon me Ezek. xi 1, 24.
He says that:-
The spirit lifted him up, and he heard behind him an earthquake, and other things Ezek. iii 12, 14.
Also that:-
The spirit lifted him up between earth and heaven and led him away into Jerusalem in the visions of God, and he saw abominations Ezek. viii 3 seq.;
and therefore in like manner ‘in a vision of God’ or ‘in the spirit’:-
He saw four animals, which were cherubs Ezek. i and x.
Also a new temple and a new land, and an angel measuring them; which is treated of in chaps. xl-xlviii. That he was then ‘in the visions of God’ is stated (chap. xl 2), also that ‘the spirit lifted him up’ (chap. xliii 5). Much the same took place with ZECHARIAH:-
In whom there was an angel when he saw the man riding among the myrtle trees Zech. i 8 seq.
When he saw four horns, and then a man in whose hand was a measuring line Zech. i 18; ii 1 seq. [H.B. ii 1, 5 seq.].
When he saw Joshua the high priest Zech. iii 1 seq.
When he saw a lampstand and two olive trees Zech. iv 1 seq.
When he saw a flying roll and an ephah Zech. v 1, 6.
And when he saw four chariots coming out between two mountains, also horses Zech. vi 1 seq.
DANIEL was in a similar state:-
When he saw four beasts coming up out of the sea. And when he saw a fight of a ram and a he-goat Dan. vii seq. Dan. viii seq.
That he saw these things ‘in visions’ we read in chap. vii 1, 2, 7, 13; viii 2; x 1, 7, 8; and that:-
The angel Gabriel was seen by him in a vision, and he spoke with him Dan. ix 21.
A similar thing happened with JOHN when he saw the things that he has described, as when he saw:-
The Son of Man in the midst of seven lampstands;
The tabernacle, the temple, the ark, and the altar, in heaven;
The dragon and his fight with Michael;
The beasts;
The woman sitting upon the scarlet beast;
The new heaven and the new land, and the holy city with its wall,
foundations and gates, and more.
These things were revealed by the Lord, but shown by means of an angel.
946. [verse 9] ‘And he says unto me, See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brothers the prophets, and of those keeping the words of this book; adore God’ signifies that the angels of heaven are not to be adored and invoked because nothing Divine belongs to them, but that they are associated as brothers with brothers with the men who are in the doctrine of the New Jerusalem and do its precepts, and that in fellowship with them the Only Lord is to be adored. By these things that the angel here spoke with John nearly the same things are signified as those spoken with him above (chap. xix) where are these words:-
And I fell down before the feet of the angel to adore him, and he said unto me, See thou do it not, I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brothers having the testimony of Jesus; adore God (verse 10).
That such things are signified by these words may be seen above (n. 818), with the difference that now it is said ‘fellow-servant of thy brothers the prophets and of those keeping the words of this book’; and by ‘brothers the prophets’ are signified those who are in the doctrine of the New Jerusalem, and by ‘those keeping the words of this book’ are signified those who protect and do the precepts of that doctrine, which has now been made manifest by the Lord, as may be seen above (n. 944).
947. [verse 10] ‘And he says unto me, Do not seal the words of this prophecy, for the time is near’ signifies that the Apocalypse is not to be closed up, but must be opened, and that this is necessary at the end of the Church in order that any may be saved. By ‘do not seal the words of this prophecy’ is signified that the Apocalypse is not to be closed up but must be opened, concerning which [something] follows. By ‘for the time is near’ is signified that this is necessary in order that any may be saved. By ‘time’ is signified state (n. 476, 562), here that the state of the Church is such that it is necessary. By near’ is signified necessary, because by ‘near’ is not understood near or nearness of time, but nearness of state, and nearness of state is necessity. That nearness of time is not understood is plain, because the Apocalypse was written in the beginning of the first century, and the Lord’s coming-when there is the last judgment and the New Church, these being understood here by the time is near’ and also by ‘the things that must be done quickly’ (verse 6) and by ‘I am coming quickly’ (vers. 7, 20)- has appeared and taken place now after seventeen centuries. The same things are said in the first chapter, that those things ‘must shortly come to pass’ (verse ), and that ‘the time is near’ (verse 3), concerning which the things above (n. 4 and 9) may be seen. [2] By them similar things are understood. That not ‘near’ or nearness of time but nearness of state is understood, shall be illustrated. The Word in the purely spiritual sense does not derive anything out of the idea of time nor from the idea of space, because the times and spaces in heaven indeed appear like the times and spaces in the world, but still there they are not like them. And therefore the angels cannot measure the times and spaces that are the appearances there otherwise than by means of states, as these proceed and are changed. From which facts it can be established that in the purely spiritual sense by ‘quickly’ and ‘near’ are not understood quickly and near of time but quickly and near of state. This can indeed seem as if it were not so. This is because with men in every idea of their lower thought, which is merely natural, there is something derived from time and space. It is otherwise in the idea of the higher thought in which men are when they are meditating about things natural, civil, moral and spiritual in an interior rational light. For then the spiritual light that is withdrawn from time and space inflows and enlightens. You can experience this and thus be confirmed if you will, if only you pay attention to your thoughts. And then you will also confirm that thought is higher and lower, since a simple thought cannot behold itself except from something higher; and if a man did not have a higher and a lower thought, he would not be a man but a brute. [3] The reason why by ‘do not seal the words of this prophecy’ is signified that the Apocalypse is not to be closed up but must be opened is because by’ to seal ‘is signified to close up, and therefore by ‘not to seal’ is signified to open; and by ‘the time is near is signified that it is necessary. For the Apocalypse is a book sealed or closed up, so long as it has not been expounded; and, as was shown above (n. 944), by ‘the words of this prophecy’ are understood the truths and precepts of the doctrine of this book opened by the Lord. That this is necessary at the end of the Church in order that any may be saved may be seen above (n. 9). From these considerations it can be established that by ‘do not seal the words of this prophecy, for the time is near’ is signified that the Apocalypse must not be closed up but opened, and that this is necessary at the end of the Church in order that any maybe saved.
948. [verse 11] ‘Let the unjust [man] go on being unjust, and let the filthy one go on getting filthy, and let the just one go on becoming just, and let the holy one go on being made holy’ signifies the state of all in particular after death, and prior to the judgment of each, and in general before the last judgment; that goods will be taken away from those who are in evils, and truths will be taken away from those who are in untruths, while on the other hand that evils will be taken away from those who are in goods, and untruths will be taken away from those who are in truths. By ‘unjust’ is signified one who is in evils, and by ‘just’ one who is in goods (n. 668). By ‘filthy’ or unclean is signified one who is in untruths (n. 702, 728, 924), and by ‘holy’ is signified one who is in truths (n. 173, 586, 666, 852). It follows from this that by ‘let the unjust [man] go on being unjust’ is signified that he who is in evils will be still more in evils, and by ‘let the filthy one go on getting filthy’ is signified that he who is in untruths will be still more in untruths; and, on the other hand, that by ‘let the just one go on becoming just’ is signified that he who is in goods will be still more in goods, and by ‘let the holy one go on being made holy’ is signified that he who is in truths will be still more in truths. But the reason why it is signified that goods will be taken away from those who are in evils, and truths will be taken away from those who are in untruths, while on the other hand that evils will be taken away from those who are in goods, and untruths will be taken away from those who are in truths, is because to the extent that goods are taken away from anyone who is in evils, so much the more is he in evils, and to the extent that truths are taken away from anyone who is in untruths, so much the more is he in untruths, while on the other hand to the extent that evils are taken away from anyone who is in goods, so much the more is he in goods, and to the extent that untruths are taken away from anyone who is in truths, so much the more is he in truths. To all after death either the one thing or the other happens, for in this way the evil are prepared for hell, and the good for heaven; for an evil man cannot carry goods and truths to hell with him, neither can a good man carry evils and untruths with him into heaven, for in that way heaven and hell would be mixed up together.
[2] But it should be rightly known that the interiorly evil are understood, and the interiorly good. For the interiorly evil can be good exteriorly, for they can act and speak like the good, as hypocrites do; and the interiorly good can from time to time be exteriorly evil, for they can do evils exteriorly and speak untruths, but still they repent and wish to be trained in truths. This is the same thing as the Lord says:-
To everyone who has, it shall be given that he may have abundance, but from him who does not have, even what he has shall be taken away Matt. xiii 12; xxv 29; Mark iv 25 Luke viii 18; xix 26.
So does it happen to all after death before the judgment upon them. It also came to pass in general with those who either perished or were saved at the day of the last judgment, for before this was done the last judgment could not take place, the reason being that so long as the evil retained goods and truths they were conjoined as to external things with the angels of the lowest heaven, and nevertheless they were to be separated. And this is what was foretold by the Lord (Matt. xiii 24-30, and 38-40), which things may be seen expounded above (n. 324, 329, 343, 346, 398). From these considerations it is possible to see what is signified in the spiritual sense by ‘let the unjust [man] go on being unjust, and let the filthy one go on getting filthy, and let the just one go on becoming just, and let the holy one go on being made holy’. Similar things are signified by these words in Daniel:-
Go away, Daniel, for the words have been closed up and sealed until the time of the end: many shall be purified and cleansed; they shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand; but the understanding ones shall understand Dan. xii 9, 10.
949. [verse 12] ‘And behold I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, rendering to everyone according as his work shall be’ signifies that the Lord is certainly going to come, and that He Himself is heaven and the happiness of eternal life, to each one in accordance with faith in Him and a life in accordance with His precepts. ‘I am coming quickly’ signifies that He is certainly going to come, that is, to effect the judgment and to establish a New Heaven and a New Church. That ‘quickly’ means certainly may be seen (n. 4, 943, 944, 947). ‘My reward is with Me’ signifies that the Lord Himself is heaven and the happiness of eternal life. That the ‘reward’ is heaven and eternal happiness may be seen (n. 526). That it is the Lord Himself will be seen below. ‘Rendering to everyone according to his work’ signifies in accordance with conjunction with the Lord by means of faith in Him and by means of a life in accordance with His precepts. The reason why these things are signified is because by ‘good works’ are signified charity and faith in internal things and at the same time the effect of them in external things. And because charity and faith are from the Lord and in accordance with conjunction with Him it is plain that they are signified. Thus also these things cohere with the former statements. That good works are charity and faith in internal things and at the same time the effect of them in external things may be seen above (n. 641, 868, 871). [2] That charity and faith are not from man but from the Lord is known; and because they are from the Lord they are in accordance with conjunction with Him, and conjunction with Him is effected by means of faith in Him and by a life in accordance with His precepts. By faith in Him is understood confidence that He will save, and they have this confidence who approach Him directly and flee from evils as sins; with others it cannot be given. It was said that ‘My reward is with Me’ signifies that He Himself is heaven and the happiness of eternal life, for the ‘reward’ is the inward blessedness that is called peace, and external joy exists from this. These are solely from the Lord, and the things that are from the Lord are not only from Himself but also are Himself, for the Lord cannot send forth anything from Himself unless it is Himself; for He is omnipresent with each individual man in accordance with conjunction, and conjunction is in accordance with reception, and reception is in accordance with love and wisdom, or if you will, in accordance with charity and faith, and charity and faith is in accordance with the life, and the life is in accordance with turning away from evil and untruth, while turning away from evil and untruth is in accordance with the cognition of what is evil and untruth, and then in accordance with repentance and at the same time looking to the Lord. [3] That the ‘reward’ is not only from the Lord but also is the Lord Himself is plain from the places in the Word where it is said that those who are conjoined with Him are in Himself and Himself in them, as can be established in John (xiv 20-24; xv 4, 5 seq.; xvii 19, 21, 22, 26), and elsewhere, as may be seen above (n. 883); and also where it is said that the Holy Spirit is in them; and the Holy Spirit is the Lord for it is His Divine presence; and also when prayer is made that God may dwell in them, teach them, lead them, the tongue to preach and the body to do what is good, besides other similar things. For the Lord is Love Itself and Wisdom Itself. These two are not in a place, but are where they are being received and in accordance with the quality of the reception. But this arcanum cannot be understood except by those who are in wisdom derived from the reception of light out of heaven from the Lord. For the benefit of these are the things that have been written in two works, the one concerning DIVINE PROVIDENCE and the other concerning DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, in which it has been demonstrated that the Lord Himself is in men in accordance with the reception, and not anything Divine separated from Him. The angels are in this idea when they are in the idea of Divine Omnipresence, and I have no doubt that some Christians also can be in a similar idea.
950. [verse 13] ‘I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last’ signifies that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and all things in the heavens and on earth (in terris) have been made by Him, and are being governed by His Divine Providence, and are happening in accordance with it. That these things and more are signified by those words may be seen above (n. 888).
951. [verse 14] ‘Blessed are those doing His commandments, that their authority may be in the tree of life, and they may enter in by the gates into the city’ signifies that they have eternal happiness who live in accordance with the Lord’s precepts to the end that they may be in the Lord and the Lord in them by means of love, and that they may be in His New Church by means of cognitions concerning Him. By the ‘blessed’ are signified those who have the happiness of eternal life (n. 639, 852, 944). By ‘to do His commandments’ is signified to live in accordance with the Lord’s precepts. ‘That their authority may be in the tree of life’ signifies to the end that they may be in the Lord and the Lord in them by means of love, that is, for the sake of the Lord, concerning which [something] follows. By ‘to enter in by the gates into the city’ is signified that they may be in the Lord’s New Church by means of cognitions concerning Him. By ‘the gates’ of the wall of the New Jerusalem are signified cognitions of good and truth derived from the Word (n. 899, 900, 922), and because ‘each gate was one pearl’ the gates principally signify cognitions concerning the Lord (n. 916); and by ‘the city’, or Jerusalem, is signified the New Church with its doctrine (n. 879, 880).
[2] The reason why by ‘that their authority may be in the tree of life’ is signified to the end that they may be in the Lord and the Lord in them, or for the sake of the Lord, is because by ‘the tree of life’ is signified the Lord as to Divine Love (n. 89, 933), and by ‘authority in that tree’ is signified authority from the Lord because they are in the Lord and the Lord in them. By these words something similar is signified as by [the statement] that they are going to reign with the Lord (n. 284, 849). That those who are in the Lord and the Lord in them have all authority, to the extent that whatever they will they are able to do, the Lord Himself says in John:-
He who abides in Me and I in him, this one bears much fruit, because without Me you cannot do anything: if you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will, even so shall it be done unto you John xv 5, 7.
In like manner concerning authority (Matt. vii 7; Mark xi 24; Luke xi 9, 10); indeed in Matthew:-
Jesus said, If you were to have faith, if you say to this mountain, Rise up, cast thyself into the sea, it shall be done; indeed all the things that you ask believing, you shall get Matt. xxi 21, 22.
By these words is described the authority of those who are in the Lord. They do not will anything, and so do not seek anything, except from the Lord, and whatever they will and ask from the Lord, the same is done, for the Lord says, ‘Without Me you cannot do anything, abide in Me and I in you.’ The angels in heaven have such authority that if only they will a thing they obtain it; but yet they do not will anything but what is of use, and they will this as from themselves, but still from the Lord.
952. [verse 15] ‘For outside are dogs, and enchanters, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and everyone loving and doing a lie’ signifies that no one is received into the New Jerusalem who makes the precepts of the Decalogue of no account, and does not flee from any evils there named as sins, and therefore lives in them. These things in general are signified by all those expressions, because they are the precepts of the Decalogue that are understood there, as can be seen from the exposition above (n. 892) where there are similar words; except that here ‘dogs’ are also named, by which are signified those who are in the lusts that are treated of in the ninth and tenth precepts of the Decalogue. [2] By ‘dogs’ in general are signified those who are in lusts of every kind and indulge them, specifically those who are in purely bodily pleasures, especially those who are in the pleasure of feasting, in which they take special delight. For this reason dogs appear in the spiritual world derived from those who have satisfied their appetite and palate, who are there called bodily appetites. Such, because they are mentally dull, make no account of the things that are of the Church. Therefore it is said that they shall stand outside’, that is, will not be received into the Lord’s New Church.
[3] Similar things are signified by ‘dogs’ in these passages in the Word:-
His watchmen are blind, they are all dumb dogs, looking on, lying down, loving to sleep, dogs hardened in soul, they know not satiety Isa. lvi 10, 11.
They are making a noise like dogs and going about in the city, they are wandering for something to eat; if they are not satisfied they pass the night like that Ps. lix 6, 14, 15 [H.B. 7, 15, 16].
By ‘dogs’ are understood the most worthless men (Job xxx 1; Sam. xxiv 14 [H.B. 15]; 2 Sam. ix 8; 2 Kings viii 13); and also the unclean. Therefore it is said in Moses:-
Thou shalt not bring the reward of a harlot and the price of a dog into the house of Jehovah for any vow whatever, because both are abomination unto Jehovah thy God Deut. xxiii 18 [H.B. 19].
953. [verse 16] ‘I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify unto you these things in the Churches’ signifies a testification by the Lord before the whole of Christendom, that it is true that the Only Lord has made manifest the things that have been described in this book, as also those that have now been opened. The reason why the Lord here names Himself ‘Jesus’ is so that all in Christendom may know that the Lord Himself Who was in the world, has made manifest the things that have been described in this book, as also those that have now been opened. By ‘to send an angel to testify’ is signified a testification by the Lord that it is true. In fact the angel testified this, yet not from himself but from the Lord, which is clearly evident in verse 20 following, from these words:-
The One testifying these things says, Indeed I am coming quickly.
The reason why it is a testification that it is true is because ‘to testify’ is said concerning the truth (veritas), since the truth (veritas) testifies of itself (ex se), and the Lord is the Truth (veritas) (n. 6, 16, 490). ‘To testify’ signifies not only to make a testification that it is true that the Lord has made manifest to John the things that have been described in this book, but also that He has now made manifest what all the things there collectively and separately signify. This is properly understood by ‘to testify’, for it is said that He testifies these things in the Churches, that is, that the things are true that are contained in the things seen and described by John; for ‘to testify’ is said of the truth (veritas), as was said. By ‘unto you these things in the Churches’ is signified before the whole of Christendom, because there are the Churches that are understood here.
954. ‘I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright and the morning Star’ signifies that He Himself is that Lord Who was born in the world and was then the Light, and Who is going to come with the new light that is going to dawn upon His New Church, which is the holy Jerusalem. ‘I am the Root and the Offspring of David’ signifies that He Himself is that Lord Who was born in the world, thus the Lord in His Own Divine Human. For this reason He is called ‘the Root and the Offspring of David’, and also ‘the branch of David’ (Jer. xxiii 5; xxxiii 15); also ‘a Rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Sprout out of his roots’ (Isa. xi 1, 2). ‘The bright and the morning Star’ signifies that He was then the Light, and that He is going to come with the new Light that is going to dawn upon His New Church, which is the holy Jerusalem. He is called ‘the bright Star’ by reason of the light with which He came into the world, and therefore He is also called a ‘Star’ and also ‘Light’; a Star (Num. xxiv 17), and Light (John i 4-12; iii 19-21; ix 5; xii 35, 36, 46; Matt. iv 16; Luke ii 30-32; Isa. ix 2 [H.B. 1]; xlix 6). And He is called ‘the morning Star’ by reason of the light that is going to dawn from Himself upon the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem; for by ‘Star’ is signified the Light from Himself which in its essence is Wisdom and Intelligence, and by the ‘morning’ or ‘morn’ is signified His coming, and a New Church then, as may be seen above (n. 151).
956. ‘And let the one hearing say, Come, and let the thirsting one come, and let the willing one take the water of life freely’ signifies that he who knows anything of the Lord’s coming, and of the New Heaven and the New Church, thus of the Lord’s kingdom, will pray that it may come, and that he who longs for truths will pray that the Lord may come with light, and that he who loves truths is then going to accept those things from the Lord without any exertion of his own. By ‘let the one hearing say, Come’ is signified he who hears and consequently knows anything of the Lord’s coming, and of the New Heaven and the New Church, thus of the Lord’s kingdom, let him pray that it may come. By ‘let the thirsting one come*’ is signified he who longs for the Lord’s kingdom, and truths then, let him pray that the Lord may come with light. By ‘let the willing one take the water of life freely’ is signified he who out of love wants to learn truths and appropriate them to himself, let him look forward to accepting them from the Lord without any exertion of his own. By ‘to be willing’ is signified to love, because what a man wills at heart this he loves, and what he loves this at heart he wills. By ‘the water of life’ are signified Divine truths derived from the Lord by means of the Word (n. 932); and by ‘freely’ is signified without any exertion of his own. Things similar to these in this verse are signified by those in the Lord’s Prayer: ‘Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as in heaven so also on earth’ (n. 839). The Lord’s kingdom is the Church that makes one with heaven, and therefore it is now said, ‘Let the one hearing say, Come, and let the thirsting one come’.
[2] That ‘to thirst’ signifies to long for truths is established from these passages:-
I will pour waters upon the thirsting one, I will pour My spirit upon thy seed Isa. xliv 3.
Everyone thirsting, go to the waters, without silver buy wine and milk Isa. lv 1.
Jesus cried, saying, If anyone thirst, let him come unto Me and drink; whoever believes in Me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water John vii 37, 38.
My soul is thirsting for the living God Ps. xlii 2 [H.B. 3].
O God, Thou art my God; my soul is thirsting for Thee, it is faint without waters Ps. lxiii 1 [H.B. 2].
Blessed are they who are thirsting for justice Matt. v 6.
To the thirsting one I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely Rev. xxi 6;
by which is signified that to those who desire truths for the sake of any spiritual use the Lord out of Himself by means of the Word is going to give all the things that serve that use.
[3] That by ‘thirst’ and ‘to thirst’ is also signified to perish on account of a lack of truth is established from these passages:-
My people shall be exiled on account of non-acknowledgment, a great number of them is dry with thirst Isa. v 13.
The fool speaks foolishness, and his heart does iniquity, and he makes the soul of one thirsting for a drink to fail Isa. xxxii 6.
When the poor and needy are seeking water, but there is none, their tongue fails for thirst, I Jehovah will hear them Isa. xli 17.
Plead with your mother, lest I strip her naked, and slay her with thirst Hosea ii [2,] 3.
The ‘mother’ here is the Church.
Behold the days are going to come in which I will send hunger into the land, not hunger for bread nor thirst for waters, but for hearing the words of Jehovah: in that day shall the beautiful virgins and the young men faint for thirst Amos viii 11, 13.
But to have no lack of truth is signified by ‘not to thirst’ in these:-
Jesus said, He who drinks of the water that I shall give him shall not thirst to eternity John iv 13-15.
Jesus said, He who believes in Me shall never thirst John vi 35.
Jehovah has redeemed Jacob; then shall they not thirst; He shall make waters to flow forth out of the Rock for them Isa. xlviii 20, 21.
* Reading sitiens veniat instead of sitiens dicat veniat (let the thirsting one say let him come). The word dicat is not found in this phrase in the text of the
chapter nor in the paragraph heading.
957. [verse 18] ‘For I call to witness all those hearing the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to these things, God shall add upon him the plagues written in this book’ signifies that those who read and know the truths of the doctrine of this book now opened by the Lord, and go on acknowledging a God other than the Lord and a faith other than one directed to Him by adding something by means of which these two may be destroyed, cannot do otherwise than perish on account of the untruths and evils that are signified by the plagues described in this book. By ‘to hear the words of the prophecy of this book’ is signified to read and know the truths of the doctrine of this book now opened by the Lord, as may be seen above (n. 944). By ‘to add to these things’ is signified by adding something by means of which those truths may be destroyed, as it follows on. By ‘the plagues written in this book’ are signified the evils and untruths that are signified by the plagues described in this book (treated of in chap. xv and xvi). That ‘the plagues’ signify the untruths and evils that those have who adore the dragon’s beast and the false prophet may be seen (n. 456, 657, 673, 676, 677, 683, 690, 691, 699, 708, 718). ‘The dragons beast’ and ‘the false prophet’ are those who make faith alone saving without good works. [2] There are two things in this prophetical book to which all the things thereof have relation. The first is that no other God is to be acknowledged but the Lord, and the second that no other faith is to be acknowledged but one directed to the Lord. He who knows these, and yet adds something with the intention of destroying them, cannot be otherwise than in untruths and evils, and perish on account of them, since the good that is of love, and the truth that is of faith, and consequently the happiness of eternal life, is not given by derivation from any other God than the Lord nor by means of any other faith than one directed to the Lord, as the Lord Himself teaches in many places in the Evangelists as may be seen above (n. 553).
[3] That this is signified, and not that God is going to add the plagues described (chaps. xv and xvi) upon him who adds anything to the words of the prophecy of this book, anyone can see from his own judgment. For an innocent person can do this, and also many can do so from a good end, as also on account of not knowing what is signified. For up to this time the Apocalypse has been a closed or mystic book; and therefore anyone can see that it is understood that not a thing is to be added or taken away which destroys the truths of the doctrine in this book now opened by the Lord; which truths all have relation to those two things. For this reason also these words in the series follow after these:-
Jesus sent His angel to testify unto you these things in the Churches, I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright and the morning Star: and the spirit and the bride are saying, Come, and let the one hearing say, Come, and let the thirsting one come, and let the willing one take the water of life freely (vers. 16, 17);
by which is signified that the Lord in His Own Divine Human is going to come, and is going to give eternal life to those who acknowledge Him; and therefore also in the series these words follow:-
The One testifying these things says, Indeed I am coming quickly, Amen. Come indeed, Lord Jesus (verse 20);
from which it is plain that no other things are understood. Also ‘to add’ is a prophetical word signifying to destroy, as in Ps. cxx 3, and elsewhere. From these considerations it can now be seen what is signified by the things that are in this verse, and by the things in the one following.
958. [verse 19] ‘And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and the things written in this book’ signifies that those who read and know the truths of the doctrine of this book now opened by the Lord, and go on acknowledging a God other than the Lord, and a faith other than directed to Him, by taking away anything by which they may destroy these two, cannot be wise in and appropriate to themselves anything out of the Word, nor be received into the New Jerusalem, nor have their lot with those who are in the Lord’s kingdom. Similar things are signified by these words as by those above, only that here it is said of those who take away and there of those who add, consequently of those who either by adding or by taking away destroy those two truths. By ‘to take away [his] part out of the book of life’ is signified that they cannot be wise in or appropriate to themselves anything out of the Word, ‘the book of life’ being the Word and also the Lord as to the Word (n. 256, 469, 874, 925). This is because the Lord is the Word, for the Word treats of Him Only, as has been fully shown in the TWO DOCTRINES OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, the one CONCERNING THE LORD and the other CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, and therefore those who do not approach the Lord directly cannot see any truth out of the Word. By ‘to take away [his] part out of the holy city’ is signified out of the New Church, which is the holy Jerusalem. For into that Church no one is received who does not approach the Only Lord. By ‘to take away [his] part out of the things written in this book’ is signified not to have their lot with those who are in the Lord’s kingdom, for all the things that have been written in this book regard as the end a new Heaven and a new Church, which make the Lord’s kingdom, and the end is that to which all the things that are written in the book have relation.
959. In order that it may be known that by these words is not understood one who takes away from the words of this book as it has been written in the sense of the letter, but one who takes away from the truths of doctrine which are in the spiritual sense of it, I will state whence this is. The Word that was dictated by the Lord passed across the heavens of His celestial kingdom and the heavens of His spiritual kingdom, and thus came to the man by means of whom it was written; and therefore the Word in its first origin is purely Divine. This Word when it passed across the heavens of the Lord’s celestial kingdom was the celestial Divine, and when it passed across the heavens of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom was the spiritual Divine, and when it came to the man it became the natural Divine. As the result of this the natural sense of the Word contains in itself the spiritual sense, and this sense contains the celestial sense, and both of them the purely Divine sense which is not open to any man nor indeed to any angel. These things are adduced so that it can be seen what is understood in heaven by ‘one shall not add nor take away’ anything from the things written in the Apocalypse, [namely] that one shall not add nor take away anything from the truths of the doctrine concerning the Lord and concerning faith directed to Him. For it is this meaning, also that concerning a life ‘in accordance with His precepts’, from which the sense of the letter is derived, as has been said.
960. [verse 20] ‘The One testifying these things says, Indeed I am coming quickly, Amen. Come indeed, Lord Jesus’ signifies the Lord Who has revealed the Apocalypse, and has now opened it, testifying the glad tidings that in His Own Divine Human, which He took upon Himself in the world and glorified, He is coming as the Bridegroom and Husband, and that the Church as the Bride and Wife will long for Him. Above at verse 16 of this chapter the Lord said ‘I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify unto you these things in the Churches’, by which is signified, as may be seen above (n. 953), a testification by the Lord before the whole of Christendom that it is true that the Only Lord has made manifest the things that have been written in this book, and which have now been opened. From this it is plain that by ‘the One testifying these things says’ is understood the Lord, Who has revealed the Apocalypse and now opened it, testifying. The reason why He is testifying the glad tidings is because here He announces His coming, His kingdom, and His spiritual marriage with the Church, for He says ‘Indeed I am coming quickly, Amen. Come indeed, Lord Jesus’, and by ‘glad tidings’ is signified the Lord’s coming to His kingdom, as may be seen (n. 478, 553, 626, 664). The reason why this coming is to a spiritual marriage with the Church is because this New Church is called the Bride and Wife, and the Lord her Bridegroom and Husband (chaps. xix 7-9; xxi 2, 9, 10; xxii 17; above). Also here at the end of the book the Lord speaks and the Church speaks, as a bridegroom and a bride. The Lord speaks these words, ‘Indeed I am coming quickly, Amen’; and the Church speaks these, ‘Come indeed, Lord Jesus’, which are the words of a betrothal for a spiritual marriage. That the Lord is going to come in the Divine Human that He took upon Himself in the world and glorified, is established from this, that He names Himself ‘Jesus’ and says that He is ‘the Root and the Offspring of David’ (verse 16), and that the Church says, ‘Come, Lord Jesus’, as may be seen above (n. 953, 954).
* * * * * * * * * *
961. To these things I will add two MEMORABLE OCCURRENCES.
This is the first. Once having awakened out of sleep I fell into a profound meditation about God; and when I looked up I saw above me in heaven a very bright white light in an oval form. And as I fixed my attention on that light, it was receding to the sides and entering into the circumferences, and then behold, heaven was open to me, and I saw some magnificent things, and angels standing in the form of a circle on the south side of the opening, and they were talking among themselves. And because I was fired with the desire to hear what they were talking about, it was therefore given me first to hear the sound, which was filled with heavenly love, and afterwards to hear the speech, which was filled with wisdom derived from that love. They were talking together of THE ONE GOD, of CONJUNCTION WITH HIM, and of SALVATION thereby. They were speaking ineffable things, most of which cannot find an utterance in the words of any natural language. But because I had on several occasions been in association with angels in heaven itself, and had then been in similar speech with them because in a similar state, I could now therefore understand them, and select some things out of their conversation which can be expressed rationally with words of natural language. [2] They were saying that THE DIVINE ESSE (Being) IS ONE, THE SAME, THE VERY SELF, AND INDIVISIBLE; thus also the Divine Essence, because Divine Esse (Being) is Divine Essence; thus also God, because Divine Essence, which also is Divine Esse (Being), is God. They were illustrating this by means of spiritual ideas, saying that the Divine Esse (Being) cannot fall into many, every one of them having the Divine Esse, and yet Itself be One, the Same, the Very Self, and Indivisible: for each would think out of its own Esse of itself and by itself. If then also he should think at the same time from and by means of the others unanimously, there would be many unanimous gods and not the One God. For unanimity, because it is the common feeling of many, and at the same time of each one of himself and by himself, does not agree with the Unity of God, but with a plurality. They did not say ‘of Gods’, because they could not; for the light of heaven from which their thought was derived, and in which their conversation was proceeding, resisted. They were also saying that when they want to speak of ‘Gods’ and of each one of them as a Person by himself, the effort of utterance spontaneously falls into ‘One’, indeed into ‘the Only God’.
[3] To these things they were adding that the Divine Esse (Being) is Divine Esse in Itself, not from Itself, because ‘from Itself’ postulates an Esse in Itself from Which it is, thus it postulates a God from God, which is not given. That which is from God is not called ‘God’ but is called ‘Divine’; for what is ‘a God from a God’, thus what is ‘a God from a God born from eternity’, and what is ‘a God proceeding from a God by means of a God born from eternity’, but words in which there is not a vestige of light out of heaven? It is otherwise in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him there is the Divine Esse Itself from Which [all things are], to Which in a man the soul corresponds; there is the Divine Human, to Which in a man the body corresponds; and there is the Divine proceeding, to Which in a man activity corresponds. This Trine is a one, because from the Divine from Which [all things are] by means of the Divine Human is derived the Divine proceeding. Therefore also in every individual angel and in every individual man, because they are images, there is a soul, a body, and activity, which make a one, since from the soul is derived the body, and from the soul by means of the body is derived the activity. [4] They were saying further that the Divine Esse (Being), which in itself is God, is THE SAME, the Same not simple (simplex) but Infinite, that is, the Same from eternity to eternity; the Same everywhere, and the Same with each individual and in each individual; but that everything diverse and subject to change is in the recipient, the recipient’s state bringing this about. That the Divine Esse (Being), which is God in Himself, is THE VERY SELF they were illustrating in this way: God is the Very Self because He is Love Itself, Wisdom Itself, Good Itself, Truth Itself, Life Itself. Unless these were the Very Self in God they would not be anything in heaven and the world, because there would not be anything in them in relation to Himself. Every quality gets its own quality by derivation from that which is the Very Self from which it is derived, and to which it is related so as to be such. This Very Self, which is the Divine Being (Esse Divinum), is not in space but, in accordance with reception, is with those and in those who are in space; since of the Love and Wisdom and of the Good and Truth which are the Very Self in God, indeed are God Himself, there can be predicated neither space nor progression from one place to another, but absence of space, whence there is Omnipresence; and therefore the Lord says that ‘He is in the midst of them’, also ‘Himself in them and they in Himself’.
[5] But because such as He is in Himself He cannot be received by anyone, He appears such as He is in Himself as the Sun above the angelic heavens. Proceeding as light from this He is the Very Self as to Wisdom, and proceeding as heat He is the Very Self as to Love. The Very Self is not the Sun; but Divine Love and Divine Wisdom going forth from the Very Self very closely round about Him appear before the angels as the Sun. He Himself in the Sun is Man. He is our Lord Jesus Christ both as to the Divine from Which [all things are] and as to the Divine Human, since the Very Self, Which is Love Itself and Wisdom Itself, was His soul from the Father, thus the Divine Life that is Life in itself. It is otherwise in each individual man. In him the soul is not life but a receiving of life. The Lord also taught this, saying:-
I am the Way, the Truth (veritas) and the Life [John xiv 6];
and elsewhere:-
As the Father has Life in Himself, so also has He given to the Son to have Life in Himself [John v 26].
Life in Himself is God. To these things they added that he who is in any spiritual light is able to perceive from these things that the Divine Esse (Being), which also is Divine Essence, because it is One, the Same, the Very Self, and consequently Indivisible, cannot be multiplied (dari in pluribus); and that if it should be said to be so there would be manifest contradictions in any additional statements.
[6] When I had heard these things, the angels perceived in my thought concerning God the general ideas of the Christian Church concerning the Trinity of Persons in Unity and their Unity in the Trinity, as also concerning the birth of a Son of God from eternity; whereupon they said, ‘What are you thinking? Are you not thinking those things out of a natural light with which our spiritual light does not agree? And therefore unless you remove the ideas of that thought, we close heaven to you and go away.’ But then I said to them, ‘Please enter more deeply into my thought, and maybe you will see an agreement.’ And they did so, and saw that by the three Persons I understood three proceeding Divine Attributes, which are Creation, Salvation and Reformation, and that those are Attributes of the One God; and that by the birth of the Son of God from eternity I understood His birth foreseen from eternity and provided in time. And then I told them that I had my natural thought concerning the Trinity and Unity of Persons, and concerning the birth of the Son of God from eternity., derived from the Church’s doctrine of faith, which has its name from Athanasius; and that that doctrine is just and right, provided that instead of a Trinity of Persons there is understood the Trinity of Person that is given solely in the Lord Jesus Christ and instead of the birth of the Son of God [from eternity] there is understood His birth foreseen from eternity and provided in time, because as to the Human that He took to Himself in time He is openly called ‘the Son of God’. [7] The angels then said, ‘It is well’; and they asked that from their mouth I might state that if anyone does not approach the God of heaven and earth Himself he cannot come into heaven, because heaven is heaven by derivation from the One and Only God; and that that God is Jesus Christ Who is Jehovah the Lord, from eternity the Creator, in time the Saviour, and to eternity the Reformer; thus He Who is at once Father, Son and Holy Spirit. After these things the heavenly light formerly seen above the opening came back again, and gradually sank down therefrom and filled the interior things of my mind and enlightened my natural ideas about the Unity and Trinity of God. And then I saw the ideas about them held at the beginning, which had been merely natural, separated as chaff from wheat by the motion of a fan and carried away as if by a wind into the north of heaven, and dispersed.
962. THE SECOND MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE.
Since it has been given me by the Lord to see the wonderful things that are in the heavens and below the heavens, I must by command speak of what has been seen. A magnificent palace was seen, and in the inmost part of it a temple. In the middle of this there was a table of gold upon which was the Word with two angels standing by. There were seats around the table arranged in three rows. The seats of the first row were covered with a material all silk of a purple colour, the seats of the second row with an all silk material of a sky-blue colour, and the seats of the third row with a white material. Beneath the roof, high above the table, there appeared an extended canopy glittering with precious stones, from the brightness of which there shone forth as it were a rainbow when the sky is clearing after rain. Then suddenly a number of the clergy were seen occupying all the seats, every one clothed with a garment of priestly ministry (veste Ministerii Sacerdotalis). At one side was a treasure chamber where a guardian angel stood, and in it there were shining garments lying in a beautiful order.
[2] It was a COUNCIL called together by the Lord; and I heard a voice out of heaven saying, ‘Deliberate.’ But they were saying, ‘What about?’ It was said, ‘Concerning THE LORD and concerning THE HOLY SPIRIT.’ But while thinking about those they were not in enlightenment and therefore were praying for it. And then a light came down out of heaven, and this at first was lighting up the backs of their heads, and afterwards their temples and lastly their faces; and then they began [the deliberation]; and, as was commanded, first concerning THE LORD. And the question first proposed and discussed was ‘Who assumed the Human in the virgin Mary?’ And an angel standing at the table upon which was the Word read out to them these words in Luke:-
The angel said unto Mary, Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a Son; and thou shalt call His Name JESUS. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And Mary said to the angel, How shall this come to pass since I have no knowledge of a man? and the angel answering said, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the Vigour of the Most High shall overshadow thee, whence what is born of thee Holy shall be called the Son of God Luke i 31, 32, 34, 35;
then also those in Matthew 20-25, and he read those in verse 25 there with emphasis. Besides these he read many passages out of the Evangelists, where the Lord as to His Human is called THE SON OF GOD, and where He Himself from (ex) His Human calls Jehovah HIS FATHER; and also out of the Prophets, where it is foretold that Jehovah Himself was going to come into the world, among which also these two in Isaiah:-
It shall be said in that day, Behold, This is our God for Whom we have
waited so that He might set us free; This is Jehovah for Whom we have waited, let us exult and rejoice in His Salvation Isa. xxv 9.
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare a way for Jehovah, level out in the desert a path for our God; for the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see together. Behold, the Lord Jehovih is coming in strength; as a Shepherd He shall feed His flock Isa. xl 3, 5, 10, 11.
[3] And the angel said, ‘Since Jehovah Himself came into the world and assumed the Human, and by that means has saved and redeemed men, therefore in the Prophets He Himself is called Saviour and Redeemer.’ And then he read out to them the following passages:-
Surely God is in thee, and there is no God besides, truly Thou art a hidden God, O God of Israel, the Saviour Isa. xlv 14, 15.
Am not I Jehovah? and there is no God else besides Me, there is no just God and Saviour besides Me Isa. xlv 21, 22.
I am Jehovah, and besides Me there is no Saviour Isa. xliii 11.
I am Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt acknowledge no God besides Me, and there is no Saviour besides Me Hosea xiii 4.
That all flesh may know that I Jehovah am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer Isa. xlix 26; lx 16.
As for our Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth is His Name Isa. xlvii 4.
Their Redeemer is strong, Jehovah Zebaoth is His Name Jer. l 34.
O Jehovah, my Rock and my Redeemer Ps. xix 14 [H.B. 15].
Thus has said Jehovah thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am Jehovah thy God Isa. xlviii 17; xliii 14; xlix 7; liv 8.
Thou O Jehovah art our Father, our Redeemer, from an age is Thy Name Isa. lxiii 16.
Thus has said Jehovah, thy Redeemer, I am Jehovah making all things, and by Myself Only Isa. xliv 24.
Thus has said Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer Jehovah Zebaoth, I am the First and the Last, and besides Me there is no God Isa. xliv 6.
Jehovah Zebaoth is His Name, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole land shall He be called Isa. liv 5.
Behold, the days shall come when I will raise up unto David a just Branch Who shall reign King, and this is His Name, Jehovah our Justice Jer. xxiii 5, 6; xxxiii 15, 16.
In that day shall Jehovah be King over the whole land; in that day there shall be one Jehovah, and His Name one Zech. xiv 9.
[4] Being confirmed by all these passages (ex his et illis), those sitting upon the seats declared unanimously that Jehovah Himself assumed the Human to save and redeem men. But then a voice was heard from some Roman Catholics who had hidden themselves in a corner of the temple, saying, ‘How can Jehovah the Father become Man? Is He not the Creator of the universe?’ And one of those sitting upon the seats of the second row turned and said, ‘Who then?’ And he from the corner answered ‘The Son from eternity.’ But he got the answer, ‘Is not the Son from eternity according to your confession also the Creator of the universe? And what is a Son or a God born from eternity? And how can the Divine Essence, which is One and Indivisible, be separated, and some of It come down and take on the Human, and not at the same time the Whole?’
[5] The second discussion was concerning THE LORD, whether God the Father and He Himself thus were one as the soul and body are one. They said that this was a consequence, because the soul was from the Father. And then one of those who were sitting upon the seats in the third row was reading from the Creed that is called ‘Athanasian’, these words:-
Although our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man, yet there are not two, but there is One Christ, indeed, altogether One, He is One Person; since just as the soul and body make one man, so God and Man is the One Christ.
The one reading said that this Faith was received throughout Christendom, even by the Roman Catholics. And then they said, ‘What need is there of more? God the Father and He Himself are One, as the soul and body are one.’ And they said, ‘Because it is so, we see that the Lord’s Human is Divine, for it is the Human of Jehovah’; also [they said] that the Lord ought to be approached as to the Divine Human, and that thus and not otherwise can the Divine that is called the Father be approached.
[6] The angel confirmed this conclusion of theirs by still more passages out of the Word, among which were these; in Isaiah:-
Unto us a Boy is born, unto us a Son is given, Whose Name is Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, the Father of eternity, the Prince of peace Isa. ix 6 [H.B. 5];
in the same:-
Thou art our Father, Abraham has not recognised us, and Israel has not acknowledged us, Thou, O Jehovah, art our Father, our Redeemer, from an age is Thy Name Isa. lxiii 16
and in John:-
Jesus said, He who believes in Me believes in Him Who sent Me, and he who sees Me is seeing Him Who sent Me John xii 44, 45.
Philip said unto Jesus, Show us the Father. Jesus says unto him, He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me John xiv 8-11;
and finally this:-
Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth (veritas) and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by Me John xiv 6.
When they had heard these things, with one voice and heart they all said that the Lord’s Human is Divine, and that This must be approached that the Father may be approached, since Jehovah God, Who is the Lord from eternity, sent Himself into the world by means of It and made Himself visible to the eyes of men, and thus accessible. In like manner He made Himself visible and accessible in a Human Form before the ancients, but then it was by means of an angel.
[7] Afterwards there followed a deliberation concerning THE HOLY SPIRIT. And first the idea of many concerning God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit was disclosed, and this was as if God the Father were sitting on high, and the Son at His right hand, and they were sending forth from themselves the Holy Spirit to enlighten and teach men. But then a voice was heard out of heaven saying, ‘We do not support that idea of thought. Who does not know that Jehovah God is Omnipresent? He who knows and acknowledges this also acknowledges that He Himself enlightens and teaches, and that there is not an intermediate God distinct from Him, and still less one distinct from the two, as person from person. Therefore let the former idea, which is devoid of meaning, be removed, and let this, which is just, be received, and you will see this clearly.’ [8] But then again a voice was heard from the Roman Catholics who had hidden themselves in the corner of the temple, saying, ‘What then is the Holy Spirit named in the Evangelists and in Paul, by which so many of the learned of the clergy, especially from ours, say they are led? Who in Christendom at this day denies the Holy Spirit and His operation?’ Whereupon one of those who were sitting upon the seats of the second row turned and said, ‘The Holy Spirit is the Divine proceeding from Jehovah the Lord. You are saying that the Holy Spirit is a Person by Himself and a God by Himself; but what is a Person going forth and proceeding from a Person except operation going forth and proceeding? One person cannot go forth and proceed out of another by means of [yet] another, but operation can. Or what is a God going forth and proceeding from a God unless it is the Divine going forth and proceeding? One God cannot go forth and proceed from another by means of [yet] another, but what is Divine can. Is not the Divine Essence One and Indivisible? And because the Divine Essence or the Divine Esse (Being) is God, is not God One and Indivisible?’ [9] When they had heard these things, those sitting upon the seats concluded unanimously that the Holy Spirit is not a Person by Himself, nor a God by Himself, but that it is the Holy Divine going forth and proceeding out of the One and Only Omnipresent God, Who is the Lord. Whereupon the angels standing by the golden table upon which was the Word said, ‘Well done! We do not read anywhere in the Old Testament that the prophets spoke the Word from (ex) the Holy Spirit, but from (ex) Jehovah the Lord; and in the New Testament where “the Holy Spirit” is said there is understood the Divine proceeding, which is the Divine enlightening, teaching, enlivening, reforming and regenerating.’
[10] After this there followed a second discussion concerning THE HOLY SPIRIT, which was: From Whom does the Divine that is called the Holy Spirit proceed? Is it derived from the Divine that is called the Father or from the Divine Human that is the Son? And when they were discussing this a light out of heaven shone upon them, by virtue of which they saw that the Holy Divine that is understood by the Holy Spirit proceeds out of the Divine in the Lord by means of His glorified Human, which is the Divine Human, comparatively as in the case of a man everything active proceeds out of the soul by means of the body. This the angel standing at the table confirmed out of the Word by these passages:-
He Whom the Father has sent speaks the words of God; He has not given the Spirit by measure unto Him; the Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand John iii 34, 35.
There shall go forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse; there shall rest upon Him the Spirit of Jehovah, the Spirit of Wisdom and Intelligence, the Spirit of counsel and vigour (virtus) Isa. xi 1, 2.
That the Spirit of Jehovah was given upon Him, and that it was in Him Isa. xlii 1; lix 19, 20; lxi 1; Luke iv 18.
When the Holy Spirit comes, which I am going to send unto you from the Father John xv 26.
He shall glorify Me, because He shall take of Mine and announce it unto you: all things whatsoever the Father has are Mine, on account of this I have said that He is going to take of Mine and announce it unto you John xvi 14, 15.
If I go away, I shall send the Comforter unto you John xvi 7.
The Comforter is the Holy Spirit John xiv 26.
The Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified John vii 39.
After the glorification, Jesus breathed upon them and said to the disciples, Accept the Holy Spirit John xx 22.
[11] Since the Lord’s Divine Operation out of His Divine Omnipresence by means of the Holy Spirit is understood, therefore when He spoke to the disciples concerning the Holy Spirit Which He was going to send from God the Father, He also said:-
I will not leave you orphans, I am going away and coming unto you: and in that day you shall recognise that I am in the Father, and you in Me and I in you John xiv 18, 20, 28;
and just before He went away out of the world, He said:-
Behold, I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age Matt. xxviii 20.
Having read these statements out to them, the angel said, ‘From these and many other passages out of the Word it is plain that the Divine that is called the Holy Spirit proceeds out of the Divine in the Lord by means of His Divine Human.’ Whereupon those sitting upon the seats said, ‘This is Divine Truth (veritas).’
[12] Finally this decree was made: ‘That from the deliberations in this Council we have clearly seen, and in consequence acknowledge as Holy Truth (veritas),that in our Lord Jesus Christ there is a Divine Trinity, which is: the Divine from Which [all things are], Which is called the Father, the Divine Human Which is called the Son, and the Divine proceeding Which is the Holy Spirit. Thus there is One God in the Church.’
[13] After these things were concluded in that magnificent Council they rose up, and the guardian angel came out of the treasure chamber bringing to each one of those who sat upon the seats shining garments interwoven here and there with golden threads, and he said, ‘Take the WEDDING GARMENTS.’ And they were conducted in glory into the Christian New Heaven, with which the Lord’s Church on earth, which is the New Jerusalem, is to be conjoined.
Apoc. xxii 21.
THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST BE WITH YOU ALL: Amen.
English
Russian
Greek
Albanian
Amharic
Arabic
Armenian
Azerbaijani
Basque
Belarusian
Bengali
Bosnian
Bulgarian
Catalan
Cebuano
Chichewa
Chinese (Simplified)
Chinese (Traditional)
Corsican
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
Esperanto
Estonian
Filipino
Finnish
French
Frisian
Galician
Georgian
German
Gujarati
Haitian Creole
Hausa
Afrikaans
Hawaiian
Hebrew
Hindi
Hmong
Hungarian
Icelandic
Igbo
Indonesian
Irish
Italian
Japanese
Javanese
Kannada
Kazakh
Khmer
Korean
Kurdish (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz
Lao
Latin
Latvian
Lithuanian
Luxembourgish
Macedonian
Malagasy
Malay
Malayalam
Maltese
Maori
Marathi
Mongolian
Myanmar (Burmese)
Nepali
Norwegian
Pashto
Persian
Polish
Portuguese
Punjabi
Romanian
Samoan
Scottish Gaelic
Serbian
Sesotho
Shona
Sindhi
Sinhala
Slovak
Slovenian
Somali
Spanish
Sundanese
Swahili
Swedish
Tajik
Tamil
Telugu
Thai
Turkish
Ukrainian
Urdu
Uzbek
Vietnamese
Welsh
Xhosa
Yiddish
Yoruba
Zulu