THE APOCALYPSE REVEALED
DISCLOSING THE ARCANA FORETOLD
THERE, WHICH HAVE PREVIOUSLY
LAIN HIDDEN
By
Emanuel Swedenborg
[First published 1766]
[Translator’s Table of Contents]
Preface
The Doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church and Religion in Summary
The Doctrines of the Protestant Reformed Church and Religion in Summary
Revelation: Chapter 1 (nos. 1-67)
Revelation: Chapter 2 (nos. 68-153)
Revelation: Chapter 3 (nos. 154-224)
Revelation: Chapter 4 (nos. 225-255)
Revelation: Chapter 5 (nos. 256-294)
Revelation: Chapter 6 (nos. 295-341)
Revelation: Chapter 7 (nos. 342-386)
Revelation: Chapter 8 (nos. 387-417)
Revelation: Chapter 9 (nos. 419-463)
Revelation: Chapter 10 (nos. 464-484)
Revelation: Chapter 11 (nos. 485-531)
Revelation: Chapter 12 (nos. 532-566)
PREFACE
Many people have toiled at an explanation of the book of Revelation, but since the spiritual meaning of the Word has been previously unknown, they have been unable to see the arcana that lie hidden in it. For only the spiritual meaning discloses these. Expositors have therefore produced various conjectures, and most have applied the contents there to the circumstances of empires, mixing in as well some observations regarding matters affecting the church.
In its spiritual meaning, however, the book of Revelation, like the rest of the Word, does not deal at all with worldly affairs, but with heavenly ones – dealing thus not with empires and kingdoms, but with heaven and the church.
It should be known that following the Last Judgment – which was completed in the spiritual world in 1757 (as described in a special small work published in London in 1758) – a new heaven was formed of Christians, but only of those who could accept that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, according to His words in Matthew 28:18,* and who at the same time repented of their evil deeds in the world. From this heaven has descended and will continue to descend a new church on earth, which is the New Jerusalem.
* “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.'”
That this new church will acknowledge the Lord alone is apparent from these words in Revelation:
…one of the seven angels…came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” And he…showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God…. (Revelation 21:9, 10)
And elsewhere:
Let us be glad and rejoice…, because (the time of) the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready…. Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb! (Revelation 19:7, 9)
The fact that there will be a new heaven, and that a new church on earth will descend from it, is apparent from these words there:
I saw a new heaven and a new earth….And…I…saw the holy city�Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband?. And He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, because these words are true and faithful.” (Revelation 21:1, 2, 5)
The new heaven is a new heaven of Christians. The new Jerusalem is a new church on earth, which will exist in union with that new heaven. The Lamb is the Lord in respect to his Divine Humanity.
To this I will add some remarks to illuminate the matter. The Christian heaven exists below the ancient heavens. Into it have been admitted people who, from the time when the Lord was in the world, worshiped one God in the form of three persons, without at the same time having an idea of three gods, and this for the reason that a trinity of persons was accepted throughout the Christian world. On the other hand, those who entertained no other idea of the Lord’s Humanity than of its being like the humanity of any other person could not accept the faith of the New Jerusalem, namely, that the Lord is the only God, in whom is the trinity. These people were separated therefore, and sent off in various directions. It was granted me to see the separations after the Last Judgment, and the banishments.
The fact is that heaven in its entirety is founded on a right idea of God, and so, too, the entire church on earth, and all religion in general. For that idea leads to conjunction, and through conjunction to light, wisdom, and eternal happiness.
Everyone can see that the book of Revelation cannot possibly be explained except by the Lord alone, for every single word in it contains arcana – arcana which never would be known without a singular enlightenment and thus revelation. Consequently it has pleased the Lord to open for me the sight of my spirit and teach me. Do not suppose therefore that I have acquired anything there on my own, or from any angel, but from the Lord alone.
The Lord also said through the angel to John, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book” (Revelation 22:10), which means that they are to be presented to view.
THE DOCTRINES OF
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC
CHURCH AND RELIGION
IN SUMMARY
Since chapters 17, 18 and 19 in the book of Revelation deal also with Babylon, which is the Roman Catholic religion, we need at the outset to set forth its teachings, and these in the following order: namely, regarding Baptism, the Eucharist or Holy Supper, Masses, Penance, Justification, Purgatory, the Seven Sacraments, Saints, and Authority.
1. Regarding Baptism, Roman Catholics teach that:
After the offense of his transgression, Adam was completely changed for the worse in both body and soul.
This sin was transmitted throughout the whole human race.
This original sin is taken away solely through the merit of Christ; the merit of Christ is applied by the sacrament of baptism; and the guilt of original sin is thus totally removed by baptism.
Lust still remains in the baptized as a stimulus to sin, but not as sin.
The baptized thus put on Christ, become new creatures, and gain full and complete forgiveness of sins.
Baptism is called the laver of regeneration and faith.
When the baptized grow up, they are to be questioned regarding the promises made by their sponsors, which is the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Owing to lapses following baptism, the sacrament of penance is necessary.
2. Regarding the Eucharist or Holy Supper:
Immediately after consecration of the elements, the actual body and actual blood of Jesus Christ are, by virtue of the words,* really and substantially contained in them under the appearance of bread and wine – His body under the appearance of bread, and His blood under the appearance of wine – together with His soul and Divinity. And yet the same body is present there under the appearance of wine, and the same blood under the appearance of bread, and the soul under the appearance of both, by virtue of the natural connection and concomitant existence by which the parts of Christ the Lord are coupled together, including as well His Divinity, owing to its wonderful hypostatic union with the body and soul. Thus the same content is contained under the one appearance as under both. In a word, Christ exists wholly and completely under the appearance of the bread and under every part of that appearance, and wholly also under the appearance of the wine and its constituent parts. The two appearances are therefore separated, with the bread given to the laity, and the wine to the clergy.
* I.e., “This is My body,” and “this is My blood,” taken from Matthew 6:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:19, 20.
Water is to be mixed with the wine in the chalice.
The laity must receive Communion from the clergy, while the clergy administer Communion to themselves.
After the consecration of the elements, the actual body and actual blood of Christ exist in the consecrated pieces of the host;* and the host is therefore to be venerated when it is displayed and conveyed about.
* I.e., the bread.
This marvelous and singular conversion of the entire substance of the bread into Christ’s body, and of the entire substance of the wine into His blood, is called transubstantiation.
Under certain conditions an administration of Communion with both elements may be granted by the Pope.
The bread is called supersubstantial and the bread of angels, which they eat without any veilings. It is also called spiritual food, and the antidote by which they are set free from sins.
3. Regarding Masses:
Roman Catholics call it the sacrifice of the mass, since the sacrifice by which Christ offered Himself to God the Father is represented in it under the appearance of the bread and wine. It is a truly propitiatory sacrifice, therefore, and a pure one, having nothing but what is holy in it.
If the people do not receive Communion in the sacrament, but only the celebrator of it, the people in that case receive it spiritually, because the celebrators of it celebrate it not for themselves only, but for all the faithful who belong to the body of Christ.
Masses ought not to be celebrated in the vernacular tongue, because they contain the great learning of the congregation of the faithful, but the celebrators may make some explanation on the Lord’s days.
The practice has been established to pronounce some of the mystical words in a low voice, and others in a louder voice; and, for the majesty of so great a sacrifice being offered to God, to use lights, fumigations with incense, vestments, and other like things.
The sacrifice is to be offered for the sins, punishments, satisfactions, and anything else required of the living, and for the dead.
Masses in commemoration of saints are expressions of thanksgiving for their interceding when implored.
4. Regarding Penance:
In addition to baptism there is the sacrament of penance, by which the benefit of the death and merit of Christ is applied to people who have lapsed after baptism. Therefore it is called a kind of elaboration of baptism.
The steps of penance are contrition, confession, and satisfaction.
Contrition is a gift of God, and an impulse of the Holy Spirit not yet indwelling, but only moving in a person; thus it is a disposition.
Confession ought to be made of all mortal sins, even the most hidden, and of one’s intentions.
Sins retained are not forgiven; but those which, after examination, do not recur, are included in the confession.
Confession ought to be made at least once a year.
Sins are to be absolved by ordained holders of the keys,* and sins are forgiven when these say, “I absolve you.” Absolution is like the act of a judge when he pronounces sentence.
* I.e., ordained clergy.
The more grievous sins must be absolved by bishops, and still more grievous ones by the Pope.
Satisfaction is made by having expiatory penalties imposed by a cleric at his discretion, commensurate with the offense.
When eternal punishment is set aside, so too is the temporal penalty.
The authority to grant indulgences was left to the Church by Christ, and employment of them is especially saving.
5. Regarding Justification:
Passage from the state in which a person is born a child of Adam, into a state of grace through the Savior as a second Adam, is impossible without the washing of regeneration and faith, or baptism.
A second commencement of justification results from a prevenient grace, which is a calling with which a person cooperates by changing himself.
A disposition is formed by faith, to which a person is freely moved, when he believes what has been revealed to be true. After that, by hope, when he believes that God is gracious for the sake of Christ. And by charity, as he begins to love the neighbor and hate sin.
The justification which follows means not only a forgiveness of sins, but a sanctification and renewal of the inner self. People are then not regarded as righteous, but are in fact righteous, admitting righteousness into themselves; and because they receive the merit of Christ’s passion, their justification is thus introduced through faith, hope and charity.
Faith is the beginning of human salvation, the foundation and root of justification, and this is what it means to be justified by faith.
Moreover, because none of the things that precede justification, whether faith or works, merits the grace of justification, to be justified is to be justified by grace, for it is a prevenient grace.
Yet a person is nevertheless justified by works, and not by faith only.
The righteous may fall into light and venial sins and still be righteous.
Therefore the righteous ought also to continually labor by prayers, offerings, alms and fasts not to fall, because they have been reborn into the hope of glory, and not into glory.
If the righteous fall from the grace of justification, they may be justified again by the sacrament of penance.
By every mortal sin grace is lost, but not faith, whereas by infidelity, which is a turning away from religion, faith also is lost.
The works of one who has been justified are meritorious; and by the works which they do by the grace of God and the merit of Christ, the justified merit eternal life.
Free will was not lost or extinguished by the sin of Adam. A person cooperates by acceding to the calling of God. Otherwise he would be an inanimate body.
Roman Catholics assert predestination, saying that no one knows whether he is among the number of the predestinated, or among those whom God has chosen for Himself, except by a special revelation.
6. Regarding Purgatory:
Justification does not remove all the guilt of a temporal penalty paid. All therefore enter into purgatory to be set free of the guilt, before the entrance to heaven lies open.
The souls of the faithful detained there are helped by intercessory prayers, and especially by the sacrifice of the mass; and this must be diligently taught and preached.
(The torments there are variously described, but they are inventions, mere fictions.)
7. Regarding the Seven Sacraments:
There are seven sacraments: baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, penance, extreme unction, orders, and matrimony. There are no more, nor fewer.
One is of more worth than another.
They contain grace, and grace is conferred by them ex opere operato [simply by the performance of them].
The same number of sacraments existed in the ancient law [of the Old Testament].
(We have dealt already with baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, and penance.)
Regarding the Sacrament of Extreme Unction:
It is based on James 5:14, 15.*
* “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”
It is administered to the ill near the end of life, which is why it is called the sacrament of the departing.
If the recipients recover, it may be administered again.
It is administered with oil blessed by a bishop, and uses these words: “God grant you indulgence for whatever offense you have committed by fault of the eyes, nostrils or touch.”
Regarding the Sacrament of Orders:
The service of the priesthood has in it seven orders, which differ in rank and together are called the ecclesiastical hierarchy, a hierarchy ordered like the battle lines of an army camp.
Inaugurations into the service are effected by anointings, and by transfers of the Holy Spirit into those inaugurated.
Ordinations of bishops and priests do not require any secular authority, or the consent, calling, or authority of a magistrate. Men who ascend to the service merely by the appointment of such secular authorities, at their calling, are not ministers, but thieves and robbers, who do not “enter by the door.”*
* A reference to John 10:1.
Regarding the Sacrament of Matrimony:
Dispensation in regard to degrees [of consanguinity and affinity] and divorce belong to the Church.
Clergy may not contract matrimony.
It is possible for all to have the gift of chastity, and if anyone says he is not capable of it, even though he has vowed it, he is an anathema, because God does not deny it to those who rightly ask it, nor does He allow anyone to be tempted beyond what he can bear.
The state of virginity and celibacy is to be preferred to the state of marriage. And so on.
8. Regarding Saints:
The saints reigning together with Christ offer their prayers to God for mankind.
Christ is to be adored and saints invoked. The invoking of saints is not idolatrous, neither is it contrary to the honor due the one Mediator between God and man. It is called dulia.*
* A lesser veneration paid by Roman Catholics to saints and angels, in contrast to latria, the worship due only to God and Christ.
Images of Christ, of Mary, mother of God, and of saints are to be venerated and honored – not that they should be believed to have any Divinity or power in them, but that the honor shown them may be assigned to the original people whom they represent. Moreover, through the images which Roman Catholics kiss, and before which they kneel and bare their heads, they adore Christ and venerate the saints.
The miracles performed by saints are miracles of God.
9. Regarding Authority:
The Roman Pope is the successor of the Apostle Peter, and is the Vicar of Christ, the Head of the Church, and Universal Bishop. He is above councils.
He has the keys to open and close heaven, thus the power to forgive and retain sins. As the key-bearer of eternal life, he has right, therefore, to earthly and heavenly rule.
From him flows the same power to bishops and priests as well, because it was given also to the rest of the apostles, and they are therefore called ministers of the keys.
It belongs to the Church to judge of the true meaning and interpretation of the Holy Scripture, and those who contradict this are to be punished with penalties established by law.
It is not fitting for laity to read the Holy Scripture, since no one but the Church knows its meaning. Therefore its ministers boast of their knowing it.
10. These tenets come from councils and bulls, especially from the Council of Trent* and the papal bull confirming [its decrees],** in which they condemn by anathema all who think, believe and act contrary to what it has decreed, which in general are what we have cited above.
* An ecumenical council convened in 1545 at Trento in northern Italy to answer the Protestant Reformation by formally defining the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church and introducing certain moral and administrative reforms. The Council met off and on over a number of years, finally concluding its deliberations at the end of 1563.
** “Benedictus Deus,” issued by Pope Pius IV on January 26, 1764.
THE DOCTRINES OF
THE PROTESTANT REFORMED
CHURCH AND RELIGION
IN SUMMARY
Since in its spiritual sense the book of Revelation deals at length with the Protestant Reformed, therefore before embarking on the expositions we need to set forth its teachings also, and these in the following order: namely, regarding God, Christ the Lord, Justification by Faith and Good Works, the Law and the Gospel, Repentance and Confession, Original Sin, baptism, Holy Supper, Free Will, and the Church.
1. Regarding God:
Regarding God, the Protestant Reformed believe in accord with the Athanasian Creed,* which we do not take up here because it is in everyone’s hand.**
* A profession of faith beginning with the words “Quicunque vult” and once widely used in western Christianity. Attributed in earlier centuries to Athanasius, Archbishop of Alexandria in the 4th century, it became known also as the Athanasian Creed; but modern scholarship no longer ascribes it to him but to some other, unknown, western writer(s), perhaps originating in Gaul toward the end of the 5th century.
** As the Athanasian Creed is not, however, in everyone’s hand today, we include our translation of it here:
“Whoever wishes to be saved must above all hold to the Catholic faith. And unless one has kept it intact and inviolate, he will surely perish to eternity.
“This now is the Catholic faith: that we revere one God in trinity, and the trinity in unity, neither confounding their persons nor dividing their essence. For the person of the Father is one person, that of the Son another, and that of the Holy Spirit still another. But the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit possess one Divinity, an equal glory, a coeternal majesty. As the nature of the Father is, such is the nature of the Son, and such also the nature of the Holy Spirit. The Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, and the Holy Spirit is uncreated. The Father is immeasurable, the Son is immeasurable, and the Holy Spirit is immeasurable. The Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, and the Holy Spirit is eternal. And yet there are not three eternal Gods, but one eternal God. Even as there are not three uncreated Gods, nor three immeasurable Gods, but one uncreated God, and one immeasurable God. Similarly, the Father is omnipotent, the Son is omnipotent, and the Holy Spirit is omnipotent. And yet there are not three omnipotent Gods, but one omnipotent God. Thus the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. And yet there are not three Gods, but one God. Thus the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Spirit is Lord. And yet there are not three Lords, but one Lord. For as Christian verity compels us to confess each person individually as God and Lord, so Catholic religion forbids us to say three Gods or Lords. The Father was not made by anyone, nor created or begotten. The Son exists from the Father, being neither made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Spirit exists from the Father and Son, being neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but emanating. There is therefore one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. Moreover in this trinity nothing is prior or subsequent, nothing greater or lesser; but the three persons are altogether coeternal and coequal with each other. Thus, in every respect, we must, as stated already before, revere a unity in trinity, and a trinity in unity. Whoever wishes to be saved, therefore, let him think in this way about the trinity.
“For eternal salvation, however, it is necessary that one also faithfully believe in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. A right faith, therefore, is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man – being God, having been begotten from the essence of the Father before the world was, and being man, having been born from the essence of the mother in the world – being perfect God, perfect man, consisting of a rational soul and human flesh, equal to the Father as regards Divinity, less than the Father as regards humanity. But although He is God and man, nevertheless there are not two Christs but one, yet one not by a conversion of His Divinity into flesh, but by an assumption of His humanity into God; being completely one, but not by a confounding of any essence, but by the unity of His person. For as a rational soul and flesh are one person, so God and man are one Christ, who suffered for our salvation. He descended to hell. On the third day He rose from the dead. He ascended to heaven. He sits on the right hand of the Father. He will come from there to judge the living and the dead. At His coming all people will have to rise with their bodies and give an accounting of their individual deeds. And those who have done good deeds will enter into eternal life, while those who have done evil deeds will enter into eternal fire.
“This is the Catholic faith, and unless one believes it faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved.”
People also know that they believe in God the Father as the Creator and Preserver, in God the Son as the Savior and Redeemer, and in the Holy Spirit as the Enlightener and Sanctifier.
2. Regarding Christ the Lord:
Regarding the person of Christ the Protestant Reformed do not all teach the same thing.
Lutherans teach that:
The virgin Mary conceived and bore not only a real person, but also the real Son of God, on which account she is rightly called, and truly is, the Mother of God.
Christ has in Him two natures, Divine and human – Divine from eternity, and human in time. These two natures are united as to person, so completely united that there are not two Christs, one the Son of God, the other the Son of Man, but so that the one and the same person is the Son of God and the Son of Man – not that the two natures were commingled into one essence, nor that one was changed into the other, but that each nature retains its own essential properties, and what these are is also described.
The union of these natures is a hypostatic union, and it is a most perfect partnership, like that of soul and body. It is therefore rightly said that in Christ God is Man and Man is God.
He suffered for us not as a mere man only, but as a man whose human nature had such a close and indescribable union and partnership with the Son of God as to form one person with it.
Truly the Son of God suffered for us, but only in respect to the properties of His human nature.
The Son of Man, meaning Christ as to His human nature, was in fact raised to the right hand of God when He was taken up into God, which happened as soon as He was conceived of the Holy Spirit in His mother’s womb.
Christ always had that majesty by reason of the union in His person, but in His state of exinanition He exercised it only to the extent that it seemed good to Him. After the resurrection, however, He fully and completely put off the form of a servant and set His human nature or essence into complete appropriation of the Divine majesty; and in this way He entered into glory.
In a word, Christ is true God and man in one indivisible person, and remains so to eternity. And as true, omnipotent, and eternal God, He also, in respect to His humanity abiding at the right hand of God, governs all things in heaven and on earth, and moreover fills all things, is present with us, and dwells and operates in us.
There is no difference in adoration [of the Divine and human natures], because through the nature that is seen, the Divinity is adored that is not seen.
The Divine essence communicates and imparts its own excellent properties to the human nature, and it performs its Divine operations through the body as through its instrument. Thus all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily, as Paul said.
* Colossians 2:9
The Incarnation took place in order that He might reconcile the Father to us, and become a sacrificial victim for the sins of the whole world, both original sin and sins actually committed. He was incarnated from the essence of the Holy Spirit, but the human nature came from the Virgin Mary, which He, as the Word, took on and united to Himself.
He sanctifies those who believe in Him, by sending the Holy Spirit into their hearts to govern, comfort, and animate them, and to defend them against the devil and the power of sin.
Christ descended to those below and destroyed hell for all believers.* How this was accomplished, however, He does not wish to be closely investigated. Rather knowledge of this occurrence is reserved for another age, when not only this mystery, but many others too will be revealed.
* See 1 Peter 3:18-20.
These tenets come from Luther,* the Augsburg Confession,** the Council of Nicea,*** and the Schmalkaldic Articles.**** See The Formula of Concord.*****
* I.e., Martin Luther, 1483-1546, German leader of the Protestant Reformation, founder of Lutheranism, and author of numerous theological treatises.
** A detailed confession of faith drawn up by Philipp Melanchthon primarily and approved by Martin Luther, which was presented to the Emperor Charles V at Augsburg in Bavaria on June 25, 1530, a confession which became the principal creed of the Lutheran Church.
*** A council convened by the Roman emperor Constantine in 325 A.D. at Nicea (now Iznik) in Bithynia, primarily to settle a theological controversy between eastern and western theologians over Arianism, which the council condemned in a statement known as the Nicene Creed. A second creed of unknown origin appearing somewhat later and bearing a close resemblance to the earlier creed is also known as the Nicene Creed, and is the one more often meant.
**** A doctrinal statement produced by Martin Luther and presented on February 23, 1537, to an assembly of Lutheran princes and theologians at Schmalkalden in Thuringia, Germany. The articles were subsequently published, and in 1580 included in the Book of Concord, a compilation of doctrinal formulations and creeds published in German at Dresden.
***** The last of the classical Lutheran statements of faith, composed in 1577 by a number of theologians in response to schisms in the Lutheran Church and subsequently published in 1580 along with other formulas and creeds in The Book of Concord.
Some of the Protestant Reformed, as discussed also in The Formula of Concord, believe that:
Christ, in keeping with His human nature, received by His exaltation created gifts and finite power only, so that He is a man like any other, retaining the properties of the flesh. In respect to His human nature He is therefore not omnipresent or omniscient. Although absent, He rules as a king does matters at a distance from Him.
As God from eternity He abides with the Father, while as a man born in time He abides with angels in heaven. The saying that in Christ God is Man and Man is God is a figure of speech. Along with other like statements.
This disagreement, however, is settled by the Athanasian Creed, which everyone in the Christian world accepts, where we find these words:
The true faith…is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man – being God, having been begotten from the essence of the Father before the world was, and being man, having been born from the essence of the mother in the world – being perfect God and perfect man… But although He is God and man, nevertheless there are not two Christs but one, …one not by a conversion of His Divine essence into flesh, but by an assumption of His humanity into God; being completely one, but not by a confounding of any essence, but by the unity of His person. For as a rational soul and flesh are one person, so God and man are one Christ.
3. Regarding Justification by Faith, and Good Works:
The justifying and saving faith of the clergy is this: God the Father turned away from the human race because of its iniquities, and so in accord with justice condemned it to eternal death. Therefore He also sent His Son into the world to atone and redeem, and to make satisfaction and effect a reconciliation, and this the Son did by taking upon Himself the condemnation of the Law and suffering Himself to be crucified. In so doing, and by obedience, He fulfilled all the requirements of God’s justice, even so that He became righteousness; and God the Father imputes and applies His merit to believers, and sends to them the Holy Spirit, which produces charity, good works, and repentance as a good tree produces good fruit, and so justifies, renews, regenerates, and sanctifies. This faith is also the one and only means of salvation, and by it alone are sins forgiven a person.
They draw a distinction between the act and state of justification. By the act of justification they mean the beginning of justification, which takes place the moment a person through that faith alone embraces with confidence the merit of Christ. By the state of justification they mean the progress of that faith, which results from an inner operation of the Holy Spirit, an operation that does not manifest itself beyond certain signs, concerning which they have various teachings. They speak also of manifest good works, which are done by a person and of his volition, and which follow that faith, but they do not include them as part of justification because a person’s native character and thus his merit-seeking is in them.
This is today’s faith in summary, but the arguments in its defense and the teachings concerning it are many and manifold, some of which we must also cite, as the following: People cannot be justified before God by their own powers, merits or works, but they are justified gratis for the sake of Christ, through faith, by believing that they are received into grace and that their sins are forgiven for the sake of Him who by His death made satisfaction for us, and that God the Father imputes this to believers as righteousness in His sight.
This faith includes not only the historical knowledge that Christ suffered and died for us, but also an assent of the heart, confidence and trust that sins are forgiven gratis for Christ’s sake, and that they are justified. And these three elements then coincide: the unearned promise, the merit of Christ as the price, and propitiation.
Faith is the righteousness by which we are regarded as righteous before God because of the promise.
To be justified, then, is to be absolved of sins, and one may also be said to be in some measure animated and regenerated.
Faith is imputed to us as righteousness, not because it is so good a work, but because it embraces Christ’s merit.
Christ’s merit is His obedience, suffering, death, and resurrection.
It is necessary that there be something by which God can be approached, and it is nothing else than faith, which is the means of reception.
In the act of justification faith enters through the Word and the hearing, and it is not an act of the person, but is the operation of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, a person then does not cooperate any more than a pillar of salt, or a log or stone, doing nothing of himself and knowing nothing of its occurrence; but he cooperates after the act, though not with any will of his own in spiritual matters (otherwise than is the case in natural, civil and moral matters). Nevertheless, in spiritual matters people can then progress to the point that they will good and are delighted by it; but in fact this is owing not to their own will, but to the Holy Spirit, and thus they cooperate not by virtue of their own powers, but by virtue of new powers and gifts which the Holy Spirit initiated upon their conversion. In a true conversion, moreover, a transformation, renewal and movement take place in a person’s intellect and heart.
Charity, good works, and repentance do not enter into the act of justification, but they are requisite in a state of justification, primarily because commanded by God; and through them people merit material rewards in this life, but not forgiveness of sins or the glory of eternal life, because faith alone justifies and saves without the works of the Law.
Faith justifies a person as regards the act, but renews him as regards the state.
Being commanded by God, the honorable works imposed by the Ten Commandments must of necessity be done during renewal, because God wills that the lusts of the flesh be restrained by civil discipline. It is for this reason that He has given us doctrine, laws, officials, and penalties.
It is consequently false to say, therefore, that we merit forgiveness of sins and salvation by our works, or that works contribute anything to preserving faith. And it is consequently also false to say that a person may be regarded as righteous because of the righteousness of his reason, or that his reason can by its own powers love God above all things and obey His law.
In short, faith and salvation are preserved and maintained in people not by good works, but only by the Spirit of God and faith. Good works, however, are nevertheless testimonies to the presence of the Holy Spirit and to its indwelling in them.
Condemned as detrimental is the statement that good works are harmful to salvation, because good works are to be understood as the inner workings of the Holy Spirit, which are good, and not the outer works issuing from a person’s own will, which, being merit-seeking, are not good but evil.
The Protestant Reformed say, furthermore, that at the Last Judgment Christ will pass sentence on good and evil works as effects belonging to or not belonging to a person’s faith.
This faith reigns today throughout the Protestant Reformed Christian world among the clergy, but not among the laity, save for a very few. For laymen take faith to mean nothing more than to believe in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and think that anyone who lives rightly and believes rightly is saved. Regarding the Lord, moreover, they believe that He is their Savior. For they do not know the mysteries of justification taught by their preachers, and even though the preachers preach them, still among their lay listeners these mysteries go in one ear and out the other. Indeed, the teachers themselves regard themselves as learned on account of their knowledge, and in their colleges and universities they toil mightily to comprehend those mysteries. That is why we said above that this faith is the faith of the clergy.
But even so, the preachers teach this same faith in kingdoms inhabited by the Protestant Reformed in different ways.
In Germany, Sweden, and Denmark they teach that the Holy Spirit operates through that faith and so justifies and sanctifies people, and that afterward it progressively renews and regenerates, but does so apart from works of the Law. Moreover they say that people who possess that faith as the result of trust and confidence are in a state of grace with God the Father. They say, too, that although the evils that they commit do indeed appear, still they are then continually forgiven.
In England they teach that this faith produces charity without the person’s knowing, and that a person’s feeling the Holy Spirit operating inwardly in him is also the good of charity. But if he does not feel it, and yet does good in order to be saved, it can be called good, but good that nevertheless derives from the person the character of having merit-seeking in it.
This faith, moreover, can produce the good of charity in the last hour of a person’s life, although they do not know how.
In Holland they teach that through this faith God the Father justifies and purifies a person inwardly for the sake of the Son by means of the Holy Spirit, but only as far as his native will, from which it turns away without touching it – or as some say, touching it only lightly – and that thus the evils of the person’s will do not appear before God.
Few of the laity, however, know anything of these mysteries of the clergy, nor do the clergy wish to proclaim them as they are, because they know that the laity have no taste for them.
4. Regarding the Law and the Gospel:
The Law was given by God to make known what sin is and thus to restrain it by threats and fear, and afterward by the promise and annunciation of grace. The chief function of the Law, therefore, is to reveal the reality of original sin and all its fruits, and to make known the horrendous extent to which human nature has fallen and become thoroughly depraved. In this way it terrifies, humiliates, and prostrates a person, to the point that he despairs of himself and anxiously wishes for help. This effect of the Law is called contrition, which is neither active nor imaginary, but passive and a torment of conscience.
The Gospel, on the other hand, is the whole doctrine regarding Christ and faith, and so the forgiveness of sins, thus a most welcome messenger, neither accusing nor terrifying, but comforting.
The Law reveals the wrath of God at all impiety and condemns mankind, so as to cause a person to pay attention to Christ and the Gospel. Both must be preached, because they are connected.
The Gospel teaches that Christ took upon Himself all the curse of the Law and atoned for all sins, and that we attain forgiveness through faith.
The Holy Spirit is not given or received, nor the human heart renewed, through preaching of the Law, but through preaching of the Gospel. The Holy Spirit then employs the ministry of the Law to teach, and in the Ten Commandments show, what the will and good pleasure of God are. Thus the Holy Spirit mortifies and animates.
A distinction must be drawn between works of the Law and works of the Holy Spirit. Consequently the faithful are, for that very reason, not under the Law but under grace.
The righteousness of the Law does not justify, which is to say, it does not reconcile or regenerate, nor does it by itself make people acceptable to God; but when the Holy Spirit has been given, fulfillment of the Law follows.
The works of the second table of the Ten Commandments do not justify, because they enable us to live in harmony with our fellow man, and not properly with God, and yet in a state of justification we must live in harmony with God.
Because Christ, though without sin, underwent the punishment of sin and became a sacrificial victim on our behalf, He bore the just burden of the Law so that it would not condemn believers, as He is the propitiatory substitute for them, on which account they are regarded as righteous.
5. Regarding Repentance and Confession:
Repentance consists of two components, one being contrition or a smiting of the conscience with terror due to sins, the other being faith conceived from the Gospel which comforts the conscience with the forgiveness of sins and liberates from terrors.
Someone who confesses his whole self to be sin encompasses all sins, excludes none, and forgets none. Being thus purged of his sins, the person is purified, rectified, and sanctified, since the Holy Spirit does not permit sin to have dominion, but curbs and restrains it.
Any enumeration of sins ought to be free, according as one chooses or does not choose. But the option of a private confession and absolution should be emphasized, so that if anyone wishes, he can confess his sins and receive absolution from a confessor, and have his sins then forgiven. The words that the minister is to say then in reply are, “May God be gracious to you and strengthen your faith; be it done to you according as you believe; and by the Lord’s command I forgive you your sins.” Others, however, say, “I proclaim to you the forgiveness of your sins.”
Still, sins are nevertheless not forgiven through repentance, as they are not through works, but are forgiven through faith.
The repentance of the clergy is consequently only a confession before God that they are sinners, and a prayer that they may remain steadfast in their faith.
Atonements and the satisfaction of penalties are not necessary, because Christ is the atonement and satisfaction.
6. Regarding Original Sin the Protestant Reformed teach that:
After the fall of Adam, people begotten according to laws of nature are all born with sin, that is, without fear of God and with lusts, and this condemns and still inflicts eternal death now on those who are not reborn by baptism and by the Holy Spirit.
Sin is the loss of original righteousness and with it a disordered disposition of the constituents of the soul and a corrupt state of being.
There is a difference between the underlying nature into which mankind was created, which exists still after the Fall and remains a creation of God, and original sin. Thus there is a difference between a corrupt nature and a corruption that has been attached to people’s nature by which the nature is corrupted. No one but God alone can separate the corruption of the nature from the underlying nature. This He will wholly do in the blessed resurrection, because the underlying nature that a person carries around in the world will then rise again without original sin and enjoy eternal happiness. The difference is like that between a work of God and a work of the devil. This is not the way this sin invaded people’s nature, as though Satan created some evil in essence and commingled it with their nature, but the original righteousness created along with mankind was lost.
Original sin is something additional; and by reason of it a person is as though spiritually dead before God.
This evil is covered and pardoned only through Christ.
The seed itself from which a person is formed has been contaminated by this sin.
It is owing to this as well that a person receives corrupt inclinations from his parents and an inner uncleanness of heart.
7. Regarding baptism:
Baptism involves not water simply, but water employed by Divine command and sealed by the Word of God, and thus sanctified.
The power, work, fruit and goal of baptism is to save people and incorporate them into the Christian Communion.
Baptism confers victory over death and the devil, forgiveness of sins, the grace of God, Christ with all His works, the Holy Spirit with all its gifts, and eternal blessedness, for each and every one who believes.
Whether faith also is granted by baptism in the case of little children is too deep a question for serious inquiry.
Immersion in the water symbolizes a dying of the old self and the rising of a new one. It may be called, therefore, the washing of regeneration, and in truth a washing in the Word, and in the death and burial of Christ.
A Christian’s life is a daily baptism, once it is thus begun.
It is not the water that accomplishes this, but the Word of God which is present in and accompanies the water, and the faith in the Word of God added to the water. It follows, therefore, that baptism in the name of God may indeed be performed by men; yet it is not, but is performed by God Himself.
Baptism does not take away original sin by extinguishing base lust, but it takes away the guilt.
Others, however, of the Protestant Reformed believe that:
Baptism is an outward washing of water, which symbolizes an inner cleansing from sins.
It does not confer regeneration, faith, the grace of God, or salvation, but only symbolizes and seals them. Neither are these conferred in or with baptism, but afterward with a growing maturity. Moreover, only the elect attain the grace of Christ and the gift of faith.
Because salvation does not depend on baptism, furthermore, it is therefore permissible for someone else to administer it in the absence of a regular minister.
8. Regarding Holy Supper:
The Protestant Reformed called Lutherans teach that:
In Holy Supper or the Sacrament of the Altar, the body and blood of Christ are really and substantially present, and are actually distributed and received together with the bread and wine. Therefore the actual body and actual blood of Christ are also present in, with, and under the form of the bread and wine, and are given to Christians to eat and drink. Moreover, they are not simply bread and wine, therefore, but are encompassed by and joined to the Word of God, and this causes Christ’s body and blood to be present. For it becomes a sacrament when the Word is added to the element.
Nevertheless, there is no transubstantiation such as exists for Roman Catholics.
Holy Supper is food for the soul, nourishing and strengthening the new self.
It was instituted so that faith might recover or receive its vitality, and that a forgiveness of sins might be granted, together with a new life, which Christ merited for us.
Thus the body and blood of Christ, by reason of their sacramental union with the bread and wine, are assimilated not only spiritually through faith, but also with the mouth, in a supernatural way.
The value of this Supper consists solely in obedience, and in the merit of Christ which is applied by a genuine faith.
In short, the sacraments of the Lord’s Supper and baptism are testimony to God’s will and grace toward men; and the sacrament of the Supper is a promise of the forgiveness of sins through faith. It moves hearts to believe; and the Holy Spirit works through the Word and the sacraments.
Consecration by the minister does not produce these effects, but they are to be attributed to the omnipotent power of the Lord alone.
Both worthy and unworthy people receive the actual body and actual blood of Christ as He hung upon the cross, but the worthy do so to their salvation, the unworthy to their condemnation. The worthy are those who have faith. No one is to be compelled to partake of the Supper, but everyone may come to it when a spiritual hunger prompts him.
Others, however, of the Protestant Reformed teach that:
In Holy Supper the body and blood of Christ are assimilated only spiritually, and the bread and wine employed are merely signs, stamps, symbols, tokens, representations, and counterparts. Christ is present not bodily, but only by the power and operation emanating from His Divine essence. There is, however, a conjunction in heaven, according to the communication of specific phrases.
The value of this Supper depends not only on faith, but also on one’s preparation.
Only the worthy receive its efficacy, and the unworthy merely the bread and wine.
Even though they have these disagreements, still all the Protestant Reformed agree on this, that people who wish to partake of that Holy Supper worthily must altogether repent – Lutherans saying that if people do not repent of their evil works, and yet approach, they are damned to eternity. And the English say that otherwise the Devil will enter into them as he did into Judas. This follows from their prayers recited prior to Communion.*
* The English text of their customary prayer is quoted in The Doctrine of Life, no. 5, as follows: “The way and means to be received as worthy partakers of that Holy Table is First, to examine your lives and Conversations by the rule of God’s commandments, and wherein soever ye shall perceive yourselves to have offended either by will, word or deed, there to bewail your own sinfulness, and to confess yourselves to Almighty God, with full purpose of amendment of life; and if ye shall perceive your offences to be such, as are not only against God, but also against your neighbors, then ye shall reconcile yourselves unto them, being ready to make restitution and satisfaction according to the utmost of your power, for all injuries and wrongs done by you to any other, and being likewise ready to forgive others that have offended you, as ye would have forgiveness of your offences of God’s hand, for otherwise the receiving of the Holy Communion doth nothing else but increase your damnation. Therefore if any of you be a blasphemer of God, or hinderer or slanderer of His word, or adulterer, or be in malice or envy, or in any other grievous crime, repent you of your sins, or else come not to the Holy Table; lest after the taking of that Holy Sacrament the Devil enter into you, as he entered into Judas, and fill you with all iniquities, and bring you to destruction both of body and soul.”
9. Regarding Free Will:
The Protestant Reformed distinguish between the state before the Fall, the state since the Fall, the state following a person’s reception of faith and renewal, and his state after his resurrection.
Since the Fall a person is utterly incapable by his own powers of embarking at all on spiritual and Divine matters, of thinking about them, of understanding them, of believing them, of willing them, of putting them into practice or of cooperating with them. Neither is he able to adapt or accommodate himself for grace. Rather his natural bent is solely for such things as are contrary to God and displease God. Consequently in spiritual matters a person is like a log, and yet he still has a capacity – not active but passive – by which he can be turned to good by the grace of God. Nevertheless, since the Fall a person has the free will remaining to him of being able to hear the Word of God or not, and so of having a spark of faith kindled in his heart, which includes a forgiveness of sins for Christ’s sake and brings consolation.
At the same time the human will has the freedom to practice civil justice and to choose among matters subject to reason.
10. Regarding the Church:
The church is the congregation and communion of saints, and is spread throughout the entire world among people who have the same Christ and same Holy Spirit, and the same sacraments, whether they possess the same traditions or different ones.
It is above all, moreover, a society of faith. And this Church alone is the body of Christ, in which good people are the Church in fact and in name, but the evil in name only.
Evil people and hypocrites (being classed together) are members of the Church as regards its external manifestations, provided they have not been excommunicated; but they are not members of the body of Christ.
Church rites, called ceremonies, are not essential and do not constitute worship of God, not even a part of the worship of God. Therefore it falls within the freedom of the Church to institute, alter, or abrogate such things as differences in vestments, times, days, things ingested, and others. And accordingly no church ought to condemn another because of them.
11. These are the doctrines of the Protestant Reformed Church and religion in summary. However, doctrines taught by Schwenkfeldians,* Pelagians,** Manichaeans,*** Donatists,**** Anabaptists,***** Arminians,****** Zwinglians,******* Antitrinitarians,******** Socinians,********* Arians,———- and currently Quakers———-* and Herrnhuters———-** – these we have passed over, as their adherents have been denounced and rejected as heretics.
* Followers of Kaspar von Schwenkfeld, 1490-1561, a German religious reformer who promoted a strict church discipline. Once an admirer of Luther, Schwenkfeld later withdrew from the Lutheran Church owing to doctrinal disputes, and after his death his followers, also known as Schwenkfelders, were persecuted and in the 18th century fled to America and other parts of Europe. The sect still exists in Pennsylvania.
** Holders of the view – initially advanced by the British theologian Pelagius in the late 4th and early 5th centuries and later revived in the Reformation – that people have the freedom to choose between good and evil and can by their own efforts embark on the path of salvation and make themselves righteous.
*** Followers of the teachings of Mani in the 3rd and 4th centuries, whose ideas survived into medieval times, including belief in a dualistic universe of good and evil in constant conflict, and in extreme asceticism as the path of righteousness.
**** A schismatic group originating in 4th century North Africa which maintained that the sacraments were invalid if administered by priests who, during the Roman persecution, had weakened or given out any information. Named after Donatus, an early leader, the Donatist Church became a separate church lasting into the 8th century, which taught that the Church consisted of the elect who were holy and in whom the Holy Spirit was present.
***** “Rebaptizers,” members of a separatist movement in the early Reformation arising in the 16th century who opposed infant baptism, insisting that one had to be an adult before baptism could be effective, and thus rebaptizing the first generation of their membership. They also disdained the civil state, often refusing to take up arms, and saw the Church as a spiritual body consisting of holy people only. Two of their groups survive today as Hutterites and Mennonites, including among the latter the Amish.
****** Disciples of Jacobus Arminius, 1560-1609, a Dutch theologian who denied the strict predestination taught by John Calvin and his followers, and taught instead human free will and a predestination qualified by God’s foresight of a person’s faith. Methodism and the more liberal Unitarianism, as well as some other sects, were influenced by Arminian ideas.
******* Followers of Huldreich (or Ulrich) Zwingli, 1484-1531, Swiss theologian and early Church Reformer, who broke with Martin Luther over the nature of the Eucharist. Whereas Luther maintained the actual presence of the body and blood of Christ in the bread and wine, Zwingli taught that the elements were essentially symbolic.
******** An umbrella term for various groups throughout the history of the Christian Church, including Arians and Socinians, which denied the orthodox doctrine of a trinity of persons in the Godhead. Antitrinitarianism survives most notably today in the Unitarian Universalist Association’s denial of the Divinity of Christ and acknowledgment only of the Divine called the Father.
********* Disciples of Laelius Socinus (born Lelio Francesco Maria Sozini), 1525-1562, and his nephew Faustus Socinus (Fausto Paolo Sozzini), 1539-1604, who rejected a number of traditional Christian doctrines, such as the Trinity, the Divinity of Christ, and original sin, and who held that Christ was miraculously begotten and that salvation is granted to those who adopt Christ’s virtues as a model for their lives.
———- Adherents of Arianism, a theological view based on the teachings of Arius (c. 250-336), who taught that Christ the Son was a created being, not consubstantial with God the Father, and thus not fully Divine.
———-* Members of the Religious Society of Friends, founded by George Fox, 1624-1691, in mid-17th-century England, now in the United States sometimes called the Friends Church, which taught and still teaches that the Holy Spirit by an “inner light” may operate in and through anyone. It therefore did away with formal creeds, an ordained ministry and external rituals, and is most known for its opposition to violence of any kind. Elsewhere the writer gives an unflattering account of Quakers in the spiritual world.
———-** Moravian Brethren, called Herrnhuters after the name of a village in Saxony built and settled in 1722 by Hussite emigrants from Moravia. Moravians hold the Bible as the only rule in matters of faith and morals, and although retaining from their Roman Catholic roots in Bohemia among followers of John Huss a modified episcopal form of government, they appear to represent in their worship a simple form of other-worldly Christianity. Elsewhere the writer gives a condemnatory account of Moravians in the spiritual world.
1. THE APOCALYPSE
OR
BOOK OF REVELATION
CHAPTER 1
1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, 2 who bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to whatever he saw. 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it, for the time is near.
4 John, to the seven churches which are in Asia:
Grace to 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, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth, who loves us and washes us from our sins in His blood, 6 and makes us kings and priests to His God and Father. To Him be glory and might forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail because of Him. Even so, Amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
9 I, John, who am also your brother and your companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patient awaiting of Jesus Christ, was on the island called Patmos for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10 I became in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, 11 saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. What you see, write in a book and send it to the churches which are in Asia – Ephesus and Smyrna, Pergamum and Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” 12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke 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 long robe and girded about the breasts with a golden girdle. 14 His head and hair were white, like wool as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire. 15 His feet were like fine brass, as though fired in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; 16 having in His right hand seven stars, and issuing from His mouth a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance as the sun shines in its power. 17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last, 18 and am He who lives, and was put to death, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of hell and death. 19 Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. 20 The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.”
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
The meaning is that this revelation comes from the Lord alone, and is received by people who will be in His New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, and who will acknowledge the Lord as God of heaven and earth.
The Lord also is described in relation to the Word.
The Contents of the Individual Verses
1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ,
Predictions from the Lord regarding Himself and His church, what the church will be like at its end, and what it will be like thereafter,
which God gave Him to show His servants
for people who have faith arising from charity.
things which must shortly take place.
They must surely come to pass to keep the church from perishing.
And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,
The things that have been revealed by the Lord through heaven to people who possess goodness of life arising from charity and its accompanying faith,
2 who bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ,
who from the heart and so in a state of light receive Divine truth from the Word and acknowledge the Lord’s humanity to be Divine.
to whatever he saw.
Their enlightenment in all matters contained in this revelation.
3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it,
Their communion with angels in heaven who live according to the doctrine of the New Jerusalem,
for the time is near.
the state of the church being such that it can no longer continue to maintain its conjunction with the Lord.
4 John, to the seven churches
To all who are in the Christian world where the Word exists and where through it the Lord is known, and who turn to the church,
which are in Asia:
to those who from the Word possess the light of truth.
Grace to you and peace
A Divine salutation
from Him who is and who was and who is to come,
from the Lord who is eternal and infinite, and who is Jehovah,
and from the seven spirits who are before His throne,
from the whole of heaven, where the Lord is in His Divine truth,
5 and from Jesus Christ,
His Divine humanity,
the faithful witness,
which is Divine truth itself,
the firstborn from the dead,
and which is Divine good itself,
and the ruler of the kings of the earth,
from whom originates all truth from good in the church,
who loves us and washes us from our sins in His blood,
who out of love and mercy reforms and regenerates people by His Divine truths drawn from the Word,
6 and makes us kings and priests
who grants those who are born from Him, that is, who are reborn or regenerated, to possess wisdom from Divine truths, and love from Divine goods,
to His God and Father.
thus images of His Divine wisdom and of His Divine love,
To Him be glory and might forever and ever.
to whom alone belong Divine majesty and Divine omnipotence to eternity.
Amen.
A Divine confirmation springing from truth, thus from Himself.
7 Behold, He is coming with the clouds (of heaven),
The Lord will reveal Himself in the literal sense of the Word and lay open its spiritual meaning at the end of the church.
and every eye will see Him,
All those will acknowledge Him who possess, from an affection for it, an understanding of Divine truth.
even they who pierced Him,
Even those will see Him who are caught up in falsities in the church.
and all the tribes of the earth will wail….
This will be when there are no longer any goods and truths in the church.
Even so, Amen.
A Divine confirmation that it will be so.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,”
Who is the one and only reality from firsts to lasts, from whom springs all else, thus who is the one and only love, the one and only wisdom, and the one and only life in itself, and so the one and only Creator, Savior and Enlightener from Himself, and therefore the all in all of the church and heaven.
says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come,
Who is eternal and infinite, and Jehovah.
the Almighty.
Who exists, lives, and has power of Himself, and who directs all things from the first of them through the last.
9 I, John, who am also your brother and companion
Those people who possess the goodness of charity and consequent truths of faith,
in the tribulation and kingdom and patient awaiting of Jesus Christ,
which in the church have been infested by evils and falsities, but which will be removed by the Lord when He comes.
was on the island called Patmos
A state and place in which he could be enlightened,
for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
so as to receive Divine truth from the Word with the heart and so in a state of light, and to acknowledge the Lord’s humanity to be Divine.
10 I became in the spirit on the Lord’s day,
A spiritual state then owing to Divine influx.
and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,
A manifest perception of Divine truth revealed from heaven.
11 saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.
Who is the one and only reality from firsts to lasts, from whom springs all else (as so on as stated above).
What you see, write in a book
That these things may be revealed for posterity,
and send it to the churches which are in Asia –
for those in the Christian world who have the light of truth from the Word
Ephesus and Smyrna, Pergamum and Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”
in every case according to each one’s state of reception.
12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me,
A turning around of the state of those people who possess goodness of life, in respect to their perception of the truth in the Word, when they turn to the Lord.
and having turned I saw seven golden lampstands,
A new church, which will have an enlightenment from the Lord from the Word.
13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man,
The Lord in relation to the Word, from whom that church originates.
clothed with a long robe
The emanating Divinity which is Divine truth.
and girded about the breasts with a golden girdle.
The emanating and at the same time conjoining Divinity which is Divine good.
14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow,
The Divine love accompanying Divine wisdom in first things and last.
and His eyes like a flame of fire.
The Divine wisdom accompanying Divine love.
15 His feet were like fine brass, as though fired in a furnace,
Natural Divine good.
and His voice as the sound of many waters;
Natural Divine truth.
16 having in His right hand seven stars,
All concepts of goodness and truth in the Word from the Lord.
and issuing from His mouth a sharp two-edged sword,
A dispersion of falsities by the Lord by means of the Word and doctrine drawn from it.
and His countenance as the sun shining in its power.
The Divine love and wisdom which are the Lord and which emanate from Him.
17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead.
A failure of his own life owing to such a presence of the Lord.
But He laid His right hand on me,
Life then infused from the Lord.
saying to me, “Do not be afraid.
A revival, and from the deepest humility then, adoration.
“I am the First and the Last,
He is eternal and infinite, thus the only God,
18 and am He who lives,
who alone is life, and the only source of life.
and was put to death,
Disregarded in the church, and His Divine humanity not acknowledged,
and behold, I am alive forevermore.
He is eternal life.
“Amen.
A Divine confirmation that it is the truth.
“And I have the keys of hell and death.
He alone is able to save.
19 “Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.
So that everything now being revealed may be saved for posterity.
20 “The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands:
The secrets contained in the visions having to do with a new heaven and a new church.
“The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches,
A new church in the heavens, which is the New Heaven.
and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.”
A new church on earth, which is the New Jerusalem descending from the Lord out of the New Heaven.
THE EXPOSITION
People have hitherto not known what the spiritual meaning is. We have shown in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 5-26, that it exists in every constituent of the Word, and that in many places the Word cannot be understood apart from it. This meaning is not apparent in the literal sense, for it is present in it as the soul is in the body.
People do know that there is a spiritual reality and a natural one, and that the spiritual one flows into the natural one and presents itself to be seen and felt in forms that fall within the scope of people’s vision and touch. Moreover, they know that apart from these forms the spiritual component is perceived only as affection and thought, or as love and wisdom, which are properties of the mind. They acknowledge that affection and thought, or love, which has the capacity to be affected, and wisdom, which has the capacity to think, are spiritual. They know that these two faculties of the soul present themselves in forms in the body that are called sensory and motor organs, and furthermore, that these forms operate in harmony with those faculties, so much so that when the mind thinks something, the mouth in an instant expresses it, and when the mind wills something, the body in an instant does it. It is apparent, therefore, that there is a perfect union of spiritual and natural components in the human being.
[2] The case is the same with each and every constituent of the world. Each has in it something spiritual as the inmost of its cause, and something natural as its effect, and these two function as one. Moreover, the spiritual component is not apparent in the natural one, because, as we said, it is present in the natural one as the soul is in the body and as the inmost of a cause is in the effect.
It is the same with the Word. Because it is Divine, no one can deny that it is spiritual at its core. But because the spiritual component is not apparent in the literal sense, which is natural, therefore the spiritual meaning has been hitherto unknown. Nor could it have been known previously, before the Lord revealed genuine truths, as the spiritual meaning consists in those truths.
It is on this account that the book of Revelation has heretofore not been understood. But lest there be any doubt that it contains such truths, its contents must be explained phrase by phrase and demonstrated by similar passages elsewhere in the Word. The explanation and demonstration now follow.
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ” symbolizes all predictions, which, being from the Lord, are called “the Revelation of Jesus Christ.” Their being about the Lord and His church will be apparent from the exposition.
The book of Revelation does not have as its subject the successive states of the church, still less the successive states of kingdoms, as some people have previously believed. Rather, from beginning to end it has as its subject the last state of the church in heaven and on earth, and the Last Judgment, and after that the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem.
It is apparent that this New Church is the final object of this work. Consequently the things that precede have to do with what the state of the church will be immediately before it. But the order in which these are described may be seen from the contents of the individual chapters, and more clearly from the exposition of each verse.
To show means, symbolically, to make evident, and servants here symbolize people who have faith arising from charity. The following things are made evident to them because they understand and accept.
Servants mean, in the spiritual sense, people who are governed by truths; and because truths spring from goodness, servants mean people who are governed by truths arising from goodness, thus also people governed by wisdom arising from love, because wisdom has to do with truth, and love with goodness. They also are people who have faith arising from charity, because faith, too, has to do with truth, and charity with goodness. And because the spiritual sense in reality is abstracted from person, therefore servants in that sense symbolize truths.
Now because truths, by teaching goodness, serve it, therefore in general, and properly speaking, by a servant in the Word is meant something serving, or someone or something that serves. In this sense not only were prophets called servants of God, but so, too, was the Lord in respect to His humanity.
That prophets were called servants of God is evident from the following passages:
Jehovah has sent to you all His servants the prophets…. (Jeremiah 25:4)
…He has revealed His secret to His servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7)
…He has set before us by the hand of His servants the prophets. (Daniel 9:10)
Moses, too, is called a servant of Jehovah (Malachi 4:4). That is because a prophet, in the spiritual sense, means doctrinal truth, as discussed below.
[2] Moreover, because the Lord was the very embodiment of Divine truth, which also is the Word, and for that reason was called the prophet, and because He served in the world and serves all people to eternity by teaching, therefore He, too, is here and there called the servant of Jehovah, as in the following passages:
Of the labor of His soul He shall see; He shall be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many…. (Isaiah 53:11)
Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. (Isaiah 52:13)
Behold! My Servant on whom I rest, My Elect. My soul has good pleasure! I have put My Spirit upon Him…. (Isaiah 42:1, 19)
These things are said of the Lord. David is spoken of similarly, where by him is meant the Lord, as in the following:
I, Jehovah, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them…. (Ezekiel 34:24)
David My servant shall be king over them, so that they all have one shepherd…. (Ezekiel 37:24)
I will protect this city to save it, for My sake and for My servant David’s sake. (Isaiah 37:35)
So, too, Psalm 78:70-72, 89:3, 4, 20. (That by David in these places is meant the Lord, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 43, 44.)
The Lord Himself speaks similarly of Himself:
…whoever desires to become great among you must be your attendant, and whoever desires to be first among you must be your servant, even as the Son of Man did not come to be ministered to, but to minister…. (Matthew 20:25-28. Cf. Mark 10:42-45, Luke 22:27. So, too, Luke 12:37)
The Lord says this, because by a servant and attendant are meant one who serves and ministers by teaching, and abstractly from person, Divine truth, which He embodied.
[3] Since a servant therefore means someone who teaches Divine truth, it is apparent that servants in this place in the book of Revelation mean people who possess truths arising from goodness, or faith arising from charity, because they are able to teach from the Lord, that is to say, because the Lord is able to teach and minister through them.
It is in this sense that they are called servants in Matthew:
(At the end of the age,) who…is the faithful and prudent servant, whom his lord set over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his lord, when he comes, will find so doing. (Matthew 24:45, 46)
And in Luke:
Blessed are those servants whom the lord, when he comes, will find watching. Truly I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will (himself) come and attend to them. (Luke 12:37)
In heaven, all people in the Lord’s spiritual kingdom are called His servants, while those in His celestial kingdom are called His ministers. That is because people in His spiritual kingdom are governed by wisdom derived from Divine truth, and those in the celestial kingdom by love derived from Divine good. And good ministers, while truth serves.
In an opposite sense, however, by servants are meant people who serve the devil. These are in a real state of servitude, whereas people who serve the Lord are in a state of freedom – as the Lord also teaches in John 8:31-36.*
* Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:31-36)
“Which must shortly take place” does not mean that the things predicted in the book of Revelation are going to happen immediately or quickly, but that they will happen surely, and that unless they come to pass, the church will perish.
In the Divine view, and so in the spiritual sense, time does not exist, but instead of time, state. And because “shortly” has to do with time, it symbolically means certainty and that something will happen before its time. For the book of Revelation was written in the first century, and seventeen centuries have now gone by, from which it is apparent that “shortly” means, symbolically, what corresponds to it, which is certainty.
[2] Something quite similar is involved in these words of the Lord:
Unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. (Matthew 24:22)
This, too, means that unless the church should be ended before its time, it would perish entirely. That chapter has as its subject the end of the age and the Lord’s advent, and by the end of the age is meant the last state of the old church, and by the Lord’s advent, the first state of a new church.
[3] We said that in the Divine view there is no time, but the presence of everything that has happened and will happen. Accordingly we are told in the Psalms,
…a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday… (Psalm 90:4)
And in the same book:
I will declare the decree: Jehovah has said to Me, “You are My Son, today I have begotten You.” (Psalm 2:7)
“Today” is the presence of the Lord’s advent.
For this reason, too, a whole period in the Word is called a day, its first state being called dawn and morning, and its last state evening and night.
“He sent and signified it by His angel” means, in the spiritual sense, things that have been revealed by the Lord from heaven or through heaven. For in the Word an angel frequently means the angelic heaven, and in the highest sense the Lord Himself. That is because no angel ever speaks with a person in dissociation from heaven, for each has such a conjunction with all the rest there that everyone speaks in accord with the communion, even though the angel is not conscious of it.
In the Lord’s sight, in fact, heaven is as a single person, whose soul is the Lord Himself. Therefore the Lord speaks with a person through heaven, as a person does from his soul through his body in speaking with another. And this the person does in conjunction with each and every part of his mind, at whose center are the things that he is saying. But this secret cannot be explained in a few words. We have explained it in part in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom.
In the highest sense the Lord is meant by an angel because heaven is not heaven in consequence of the angels’ own qualities, but owing to the Lord’s Divinity from which they have their love and wisdom, indeed their life. It is on this account that in the Word the Lord is Himself called an angel.
It is apparent from this that the angel did not of himself speak with John, but that the Lord did so by means of heaven through the angel.
[2] As for saying that this statement means that these things have been revealed to people who possess goodness of life arising from charity and its accompanying faith, that is because it is they who are meant by John. For by the Lord’s twelve disciples or apostles are meant all in the church who possess truths arising from goodness, and in an abstract sense, all constituents of the church. By Peter are meant all who are governed by faith, and abstractly, faith itself. By James are meant those who are impelled by charity, and abstractly, charity itself. And by John are meant those who possess goodness of life arising from charity and its accompanying faith, and abstractly, the resulting goodness of life itself. That these are what are meant by John, James and Peter in the Gospels may be seen in the short work The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine (London, 1758), no. 122.
[3] Now because goodness of life arising from charity and its accompanying faith is what forms the church, therefore it was through the apostle John that secrets were revealed concerning the state of the church, the secrets that are contained in his visions.
The fact that the names of persons and places in the Word all symbolize things having to do with heaven and the church is something we showed many times in Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), also published in London.
It can be seen from this that the phrase, “He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,” means, in the spiritual sense, the things that have been revealed by the Lord through heaven to people who possess goodness of life arising from charity and its accompanying faith. For charity produces goodness through faith, and not charity by itself or faith by itself.
John is said to have borne witness to the Word of God, but because John means all people who possess goodness of life arising from charity and its accompanying faith, as said just above in no. 5, therefore all these are meant in the spiritual sense. The angels, who are concerned with the spiritual sense of the Word, never know the name of any person mentioned in the Word, but only what the person represents and so symbolizes, which in the case of John is goodness of life or goodness in act, and consequently all people as a whole who possess that goodness. These bear witness, which is to say, they see, acknowledge, and accept from the heart in a state of light, and confess the truths of the Word, especially this truth there, that the Lord’s humanity is Divine, as can be seen from the copious passages cited from the Word in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord.
Jesus Christ and the Lamb in the book of Revelation mean the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity, and God means the Lord in respect to the Divine itself from which springs all else.
[2] As regards the spiritual signification of bearing witness, this is said of truth, because in the world it is truth to which one is to bear witness, and which, when borne witness to, is acknowledged. But in heaven truth bears witness to itself, because it is the very light of heaven. For when angels hear the truth, they at once recognize it and acknowledge it. And because the Lord is the embodiment of truth, as He Himself teaches in John 14:6,* He is, in heaven, self-witnessing. This makes apparent what is meant by the testimony of Jesus Christ. Therefore the Lord says,
You have sent to John, and he bore witness to the truth. Yet I do not receive testimony from man…. (John 5:33, 34)
And in another place:
(John) came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light…. He was not that Light…. (The Word that was with God and was God, and became flesh,) was the true Light which gives light to every man…. (John 1:1, 2, 7-9, 14, 34)
Elsewhere:
Jesus…said…, “…I bear witness of Myself, (and) My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going…. (John 8:14)
When the Counselor comes…, the Spirit of truth…, it will testify of Me. (John 15:26)
The Counselor, the spirit of truth, means the truth itself emanating from the Lord. Therefore it is said concerning it that it will not speak of itself but from the Lord (John 16:13-15).**
* Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
** [Jesus said,] “However, when it, the Spirit of truth, has come, it will guide you into all truth; for it will not speak on its own authority, but whatever it hears it will speak; and it will tell you things to come. It will glorify Me, for it will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that it will take of Mine and declare it to you.”
“Whatever he saw” means, in the spiritual sense, not what John saw – they were simply visions – but what those people meant by John see, people who possess goodness of life arising from charity and its accompanying faith, as we said above. These see in John’s visions secrets concerning the state of the church, not so much when they read them themselves, but when they see them revealed.
“To see,” moreover. This means, symbolically, to understand. Consequently we even say in common speech that one sees a matter, or that one sees it to be the truth. For a person has a sight belonging to his spirit as well as a sight belonging to his body. But with his spirit a person sees spiritual matters as they appear in the light of heaven, whereas with his body he sees natural objects as they appear in the light of the world. Spiritual matters are also realities, while natural objects are their forms. The sight of a person’s spirit is what we call the intellect.
It is apparent from this what is meant in the spiritual sense by “whatever he saw,” and likewise in places after this where it is said that he saw.
“Blessed is he” here means someone who in respect to his spirit is in heaven, thus someone who, while living in the world, is in communion with angels in heaven, inasmuch as he is in heaven in respect to his spirit.
“The words of this prophecy” mean nothing else than the doctrine of the New Jerusalem, for in an abstract sense a prophet symbolizes the doctrine of the church drawn from the Word, thus here the doctrine of the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem. The same is meant by prophecy. To read, hear and keep those things which are written in it means, symbolically, to wish to know it, to pay attention to the things written in it, and to do the things that are found in it – in sum, to live according to it. It is apparent that people are not blessed if they simply read, hear and keep or preserve in memory the things seen by John (see below, no. 944).
[2] A prophet symbolizes the doctrine of the church drawn from the Word, and the same is meant by a prophecy, because the Word was written by prophets, and in heaven a person is regarded in relation to something pertaining to his occupation or function. So, too, every person, spirit and angel mentioned in the Word. Because it was a prophet’s function to write and teach the Word, therefore when a prophet is mentioned, the Word in relation to doctrine is meant, or doctrine drawn from the Word.
It is for this reason that the Lord, being the embodiment of the Word, was called a prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15-20,* Matthew 13:57,** 21:11,*** Luke 13:33****).
To show that a prophet means the doctrine of the church drawn from the Word, we will cite several passages from which this may be concluded. In Matthew:
(At the end of the age) many false prophets will rise up and lead many astray…. …false christs and false prophets will rise…and lead astray, if possible, …the elect. (Matthew 24:11, 24)
The end of the age is the final period of the church, which is the one that exists now, when there are not false prophets but doctrinal falsities.
[3] In the same gospel:
Whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And whoever receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. (Matthew 10:41)
To receive a prophet in the name of a prophet is to accept doctrinal truth because it is true; to receive a righteous man in the name of a righteous man is to accept goodness because of its goodness; and to receive a reward is to be saved in accordance with that acceptance. Obviously no one receives a reward or is saved because he received a prophet or righteous man in the name of such.
Without a concept of what a prophet and righteous man mean, no one could understand these words, or those that follow:
Whoever gives one of these little ones just a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple…, shall by no means lose his reward. (Matthew 10:42)
A disciple means charity and at the same time faith from the Lord.
[4] In Joel:
…I will pour out My spirit on all flesh, so that your sons and your daughters prophesy… (Joel 2:28)
This is said of the church about to be established by the Lord, in which they did not prophesy but received doctrine, which is “to prophesy.”
In Matthew:
(Jesus said,) “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name…?’ But then I will confess to them, ‘I have not known you; depart from Me, you workers of iniquity!'” (Matthew 7:22, 23)
Who does not see that they are not going to say they have prophesied, but that they have known the doctrine of the church and taught it?
In Revelation:
…the time has come to judge the dead and give the reward to…the prophets…. (Revelation 11:18)
In another place:
Rejoice…, O heaven, …you holy apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you…. (Revelation 18:20)
It is plain that a reward is not to be given solely to prophets when the Last Judgment is about to take place, or that only apostles and prophets are going to rejoice, but that all will be rewarded and rejoice who have accepted doctrinal truths and lived according to them. These, therefore, are meant by apostles and prophets.
[5] In Exodus:
Jehovah said to Moses: “…I have made you a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.” (Exodus 7:1)
“A god” means Divine truth in its reception from the Lord, and in this sense angels, too, are called gods; and a prophet means one who teaches and gives voice to that truth. It is because of this that Aaron is there termed a prophet.
A prophet has the same symbolic meaning elsewhere, as in the following:
…the law shall not perish from the priest…, nor the Word from the prophet. (Jeremiah 18:18)
…from the prophets of Jerusalem hypocrisy has gone out into all the land. (Jeremiah 23:15, 16)
…the prophets will become wind, and the Word will not be in them. (Jeremiah 5:13)
The priest and the prophet err through intoxicating drink, they are swallowed up by wine…, they stumble in judgment. (Isaiah 28:7)
The sun is going down on the prophets, and the day is becoming dark upon them. (Micah 3:6)
From the prophet even to the priest, everyone works a falsehood. (Jeremiah 8:10)
[6] In these passages prophets and priests mean, in the spiritual sense, not prophets and priests but the entire church – prophets the church in respect to doctrinal truth, and priests the church in respect to goodness of life, both of which had been lost. These statements are so understood by angels in heaven when people read them in the world according to their literal sense.
To be shown that prophets represented the state of the church in respect to doctrine, and that the Lord represented it in respect to the Word itself, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 15-17.
* The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me
from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, according to all you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, “Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.” And the LORD said to me: “What they have spoken is good. I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.”
** So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.”
*** So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”
**** Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.
There are two essential elements which make possible a conjunction with the Lord and so salvation: an acknowledgment of one God, and repentance of life. But at the present day instead of an acknowledgment of one God we have an acknowledgment of three, and instead of repentance of life, a repentance solely of the lips that one is a sinner; and these two do not lead to any conjunction. Consequently, unless a new church arises which acknowledges the two essential elements and lives them, no one can be saved. Because of this danger, the Lord has shortened the time, in accordance with His words in Matthew:
…then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until now, nor shall be. Indeed, unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. (Matthew 24:21, 22)
This does not mean near at hand or a nearness in time, as may be seen in no. 947 below.
The seven churches mean, not seven churches, but all who are constituents of the church in the Christian world. For numbers in the Word symbolize properties, and seven symbolizes all things or all people, and so also fullness and completeness, and it occurs in the Word where the subject is something holy, and in an opposite sense, something profane. Consequently this number involves holiness, and in an opposite sense, profanation.
Numbers symbolize properties, or rather they serve as a class of adjectives to substantives, assigning some attribute to their subjects, because a number in itself is a natural quantity. For natural things are measured by numbers, but spiritual things by properties and their states. Therefore someone who does not know the symbolism of numbers in the Word, and particularly in the book of Revelation, cannot know the many secrets that it contains.
Now, because seven symbolizes all things or all people, it is apparent that the seven churches mean all people in the Christian world where the Word exists and where through it the Lord is known. If these live according to the Lord’s commandments in the Word, they form the real church.
[2] It is because of this that the Sabbath was instituted on the seventh day, and that the seventh year was called a sabbatical year, and the forty-ninth year the year of Jubilee, which symbolized everything holy in the church.
It is because of this, too, that a week in Daniel and elsewhere symbolizes an entire period from beginning to end and is predicated of the church.
Similar things are symbolized by seven hereafter, as for example, by the seven golden lampstands, in the midst of which was the Son of Man (Revelation 1:13); by the seven stars in His right hand (1:16, 20); by the seven spirits of God (1:4, 4:5); by the seven lamps of fire (4:5); by the seven angels to whom were given seven trumpets (8:2); by the seven angels having the seven last plagues (15:5, 6); by the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues (16:1, 21:9); by the seven seals with which the book was sealed (5:1).
Likewise in the following places: That their hands should be filled for seven days (Exodus 29:35). That they should be sanctified for seven days (Exodus 29:37). That when they were inaugurated they should go in seven days, clothed in holy garments (Exodus 29:30). That for seven days they should not go out of the Tabernacle while being initiated into the priesthood (Leviticus 8:33, 35). That atonement should be made for the altar seven times on its horns (Leviticus 16:18, 19). That the altar was sanctified with oil seven times (Leviticus 8:11). That blood should be sprinkled seven times toward the veil (Leviticus 4:16, 17), and also seven times toward the east (Leviticus 16:12-15). That the water of separation should be sprinkled seven times toward the Tabernacle (Number 19:4). That Passover should be celebrated for seven days and unleavened bread eaten for seven days (Exodus 12:1ff., Deuteronomy 16:4-7).
So, too, that the Jews should be punished sevenfold for their sins (Leviticus 26:18, 21, 24, 28), on which account David says, “Requite our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom” (Psalm 79:12). “Sevenfold” means fully.
[3] Also in these places:
The words of Jehovah are pure words, silver…in a furnace…purified seven times. (Psalm 12:6)
The hungry have ceased, until the barren has borne seven, while she who has many children has become feeble. (1 Samuel 2:5)
“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 did have the Word. Similarly,
She will languish who has borne seven; she will breath out her soul. (Jeremiah 15:9)
Those who dwell in the cities of Israel will…set on fire and burn the weapons…; and they will make fires with them for seven years…. …they will bury Gog, and…for seven months…will be cleansing the land. (Ezekiel 39:9, 11, 12)
(The unclean spirit) will take seven other spirits more wicked than himself…. (Matthew 12:45)
Profanation is described there, and the seven spirits with which he would return symbolize all falsities of evil, thus a complete extinguishing of goodness and truth.
The seven heads of the dragon, and the seven jewels* on its heads (Revelation 12:3), symbolize the profanation of all goodness and truth.
This makes apparent that “seven” involves holiness or profanation, and symbolizes completeness and fullness.
* The word translated as “jewels” here means diadems or crowns in the original Greek and Latin, but the writer’s definitions of the term elsewhere make plain that he regularly and consistently interpreted it to mean jewels or gems.
Since, as we said before, all the names of persons and places in the Word mean things having to do with heaven and the church, so too does Asia, and likewise the names of the seven churches there, as will be apparent from considerations that follow.
Asia means those who possess the light of truth from the Word because the Most Ancient Church existed there, followed by the Ancient Church, and later the Israelite Church, and because the Ancient Word existed among them, and later the Israelite Word. For all light of truth comes from the Word.
To be shown that there were ancient churches in the Asiatic world, and that they had a Word which was afterward lost, and that there finally existed there the Word that we have today, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 101-103.
That, now, is the reason that Asia here symbolizes all those who from the Word possess the light of truth.
[2] Regarding the aforementioned Ancient Word which existed in Asia before the Israelite Word, this new information deserves to be reported, that it is still preserved there among peoples who live in Great Tartary.* I have spoken with spirits and angels in the spiritual world who came from there, who said that they possessed a Word, that they had possessed it from ancient times, that they conduct their worship in accordance with it, and that it consists of nothing but things that correspond. They said that it also contains the book of Jasher, which is mentioned in Joshua (Joshua 10:12, 13)** and in the Second Book of Samuel (2 Samuel 1:17, 18),*** and that they have among them as well The Wars of Jehovah and Prophecies, books which Moses mentions in Numbers (Numbers 21:14, 15, 27-30).**** Moreover, when I read in their presence the words that Moses took from those books, they looked to see whether they existed there, and they found them.
It was apparent to me from this that the Ancient Word still exists among them.
In the course of my conversation with them they said they worship Jehovah – some of them worshiping Him as an invisible God, some as a visible one.
Furthermore, they related that they do not allow foreigners to enter their midst, with the exception of the Chinese, with whom they cultivate a peaceful relationship, because the Chinese emperor came from them. They said, too, that their country is so populous that they do not believe any region in the whole world to be more populous – which is also believable on account of the wall extending so many miles which the Chinese once built to protect themselves from being invaded by them.
Inquire concerning the Ancient Word in China, and perhaps you will find it there among the Tartars.*****
* A vast region controlled by Mongols in the 13th and 14th centuries, extending from eastern Europe over much of Asia. After the Turkish groups known as Tatars were conquered and assimilated by the Mongols in the early 13th century, the Mongol invaders of Russia and Hungary became known to Europeans as Tatars or Tartars, and their territory was depicted in maps as Great Tartary.
** “Then Joshua spoke to Jehovah in the day when Jehovah delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel: ‘Sun, stand still over Gibeon; and Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.’ So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the people had revenge upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher?”
*** “Then David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son, and he told them to teach the children of Judah the Song of the Bow; indeed it is written in the Book of Jasher.”
**** “Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Jehovah: ‘Waheb in Suphah, the brooks of the Arnon, and the slope of the brooks that reaches to the dwelling of Ar, and lies on the border of Moab.'” “…Therefore the Prophecies say: ‘Come to Heshbon, let it be built; let the city of Sihon be repaired. For fire went out from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon; it consumed Ar of Moab, the lords of the heights of the Arnon. Woe to you, Moab! You have perished, O people of Chemosh! He has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to Sihon king of the Amorites. But we have shot at them; Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon. Then we laid waste as far as Nophah, which reaches to Medeba.'”
***** I.e., among the descendants of the Mongols.
What grace and peace mean specifically will be told in explanations to follow. “Peace to you” was the Lord’s greeting to His disciples, thus a Divine salutation, as may be seen in Luke 24:36, 37* and John 20:19-21,** and by the Lord’s command it was the greeting of the disciples to all those into whose houses they might enter (Matthew 10:11-15).***
* “Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, ‘Peace to you.’ But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit.
** “Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, ‘Peace to you.’ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
*** “Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. And when you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!
That it is the Lord is clearly apparent from verses that follow in this chapter, where it is said that John heard a voice from the Son of Man saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and afterward, “I am the First and the Last” as well as in the next chapter, 2:8, and later in 21:6, 22:12, 13). Also in Isaiah:
Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah of Hosts: “I am the First and I am the Last, and besides Me there is no God.” (Isaiah 44:6; also 48:12)
Moreover, He who is the First and the Last is He who is, who was, and who is to come.
[2] This also is the meaning of “Jehovah.” For the name “Jehovah” means “He is” and “He who is,” or He who is being itself.* It also means “He was” and “He is to come,” since the past and the future in Him are present. Consequently He is eternal independently of time, and infinite independently of place.
The church also confesses this in conformity with the doctrine of the trinity called the Athanasian Creed, where these words are found:
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 eternal and infinite Gods, but one.
* See Exodus 3:13-15.
That one is the Lord, as we demonstrated in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord.
The seven spirits mean all who are governed by Divine truth, and in an abstract sense, Divine truth itself. The number seven in the Word means all things or all people, as may be seen in no. 10 above, and the throne means the whole of heaven, as will be seen shortly. Therefore “before His throne” means where His Divine truth is; for heaven is not heaven in consequence of the angels’ own qualities, but owing to the Lord’s Divinity, as we have shown many times in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Providence and Divine Love and Wisdom.
That the Lord’s throne symbolizes heaven is apparent from the following passages:
Thus said Jehovah: “The heavens are My throne….” (Isaiah 66:1)
Jehovah has established His throne in the heavens…. (Psalm 103:19)
He who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God…. (Matthew 23:22)
Above the firmament that was over the head (of the cherubim), in appearance like a sapphire stone, was the likeness of a throne, and on (it)…the appearance of a man…. (Ezekiel 1:26, cf. 10:1)
The expanse over the head of the cherubim means heaven. Further, in the book of Revelation:
To him who overcomes I will grant to sit…on My throne…. (Revelation 3:21)
To be on His throne means to be in heaven. Specifically it means to be where His Divine truth reigns. Consequently, where judgment is the subject, it is also said that the Lord will sit upon His throne, for judgment is effected by means of truths.
It may be seen in no. 6 above that Jesus Christ and the Lamb in the Word mean the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity.
It may be seen in no. 6 above that witnessing is said of truth, and that truth bears witness to itself, as does the Lord, who is Divine truth itself and the Word.
No one as yet knows what it is to be firstborn from the dead. Moreover, the ancients debated what it symbolized. They knew that the firstborn symbolized the first or primary constituent from which sprung everything having to do with the church. Many also believed that it was truth in doctrine and faith, but a few thought it was truth in act and deed, which constitutes goodness of life. We will see that the latter is the first and primary constituent of the church, and therefore that, properly speaking, it is what is meant by the firstborn.
First, however, we must say something about the opinion of those who believed that truth in doctrine and faith is the first and primary constituent of the church, thus the firstborn. They believed this because truth is learned first, and because the church is a church in consequence of its truth, though not before the truth is lived. Prior to that it exists only in the thought and memory of the intellect, and not in any action of the will; and truth that is not truth in act or deed has no life in it. It is merely like a tree abounding in branches and leaves without any fruit, or like knowledge without any useful application. Or it is like a foundation upon which a house is being built for people to live in. These things are first in time, but they are not first in end, and those which are first in end are primary. For first in end is the living in the house, while the first in time is the foundation. The first in end, too, is useful application, while the first in time is knowledge. Likewise, when a tree is planted, the first in end is its fruit, while first in time are its branches and leaves.
[2] The same is the case with the intellect, which is formed first in a person, but to the end that the person may put into practice what he sees with the intellect. Otherwise the intellect is like a preacher who teaches rightly but lives an evil life.
Every truth, furthermore, is sown in the inner self and takes root in the outer one. Consequently, unless the truth that is sown takes root in the outer self, which it does by being put into practice, it becomes like a tree placed not in the ground but on top of it, which in the radiating heat of the sun immediately wilts.
This root is something a person takes with him after death if he has put truths into practice, but not the person who has known and acknowledged them in faith only.
Now, because many of the ancients made what is first in time first in end or primary, therefore they said that something firstborn symbolized truth in the church in doctrine and faith, unaware that it is the firstborn apparently, but not actually.
[3] Those, however, who made truth in doctrine and faith primary, were all condemned, because not a bit of practice or deed, or of life, was found in that truth. Cain, who was the firstborn of Adam and Eve, was condemned for that reason. That he symbolizes truth in doctrine and faith may be seen in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Providence, no. 242.
For the same reason too, Reuben, who was the firstborn of Jacob, was condemned by his father (Genesis 49:3, 4), and the birthright was taken from him (1 Chronicles 5:1). In the spiritual sense Reuben means truth in doctrine and faith, as we will see hereafter.
The firstborn of Egypt were all struck down, having been condemned, and in the spiritual sense they mean nothing else than truth in doctrine and faith apart from goodness of life – truth which in itself is lifeless.
The goats mentioned in Daniel and Matthew* mean no others than people who possess a faith apart from life, as discussed in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding Faith, nos. 61-68.
Around the time of the Last Judgment, people who possessed a faith apart from life were rejected and condemned, as may be seen in A Continuation Concerning the Last Judgment, no. 16ff.
[4] It can be seen from these few considerations that the firstborn of the church is not truth in doctrine and faith, but truth in practice or deed, which constitutes goodness of life. For the church does not exist in a person until truth becomes a matter of life, and when truth becomes a matter of life, it is then goodness. That is because the thought of the intellect and memory do not flow into the will and through the will into practice. Rather the will flows into the thought and memory of the intellect and acts. Moreover, whatever issues from the will through the intellect does so from affection, which is a matter of love, through thought, which is a matter of the intellect. And it is all called good and enters into the life. Therefore the Lord says that he who does the truth does it in God (John 3:21).
[5] Since John represented goodness of life, and Peter the truth of faith (see no. 5 above), therefore John is said to have reclined at the Lord’s breast and followed Jesus, and not Peter (John 21:18-23). The Lord also said of John that John would remain till He came (John 21:22, 23), thus to the present day, which is the day of the Lord’s coming. Consequently the Lord is now teaching goodness of life for people who will be constituents of His New Church, which is the New Jerusalem.
In sum, the firstborn is that which truth first produces from good, thus what the intellect produces from the will, because truth has to do with the intellect, and good with the will. This first element is primary, because it is like a seed from which everything else springs.
[6] As for the Lord, He is the “firstborn from the dead” because in respect to His humanity He is truth itself united to Divine good, from whom all people live, who in themselves are dead.
The like is meant in Psalms,
I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. (Psalm 89:27)
This is said of the Lord’s humanity.
So it is that Israel is called the firstborn (Exodus 4:22, 23). “Israel” means truth in practice, “Jacob” truth in doctrine; and because no church is formed in consequence of the latter alone, therefore Jacob was named Israel. (In the highest sense, however, Israel means the Lord.)
[7] Because of this representation of the firstborn, all the firstborn of people and animals were consecrated to Jehovah (Exodus 13:2, 12, 22:28, 29).
Because of this representation of the firstborn, in the Israelite church the Levites were taken in place of all the firstborn, and it is said that they therefore belonged to Jehovah (Numbers 3:12, 13, 40-46, 18:15-18). For Levi symbolizes truth in practice, which constitutes goodness of life, and therefore his descendants were given the priesthood, on which subject more later.
For the same reason, too, the firstborn was given a double portion of the inheritance, and he is called the beginning of strength (Deuteronomy 21:15-17).
[8] The firstborn symbolizes the primary constituent of the church because natural births in the Word symbolize spiritual births, and what first produces them in a person is then meant by his firstborn. For the church does not exist in him until the doctrinal truth conceived in the inner self is given birth in the outer self.
* Daniel 8:5, 8, 21, Matthew 25:32, 33.
This follows from the preceding, because “a faithful witness” symbolizes the Lord in respect to Divine truth, and “the firstborn” the Lord in respect to Divine good. Thus “the ruler of the kings of the earth” means, symbolically, that from Him originates all truth from good in the church. This is symbolically meant by “the ruler of the kings of the earth” because in the spiritual sense of the Word, kings mean people who possess truths from good, and abstractly, truths from good themselves, and the earth means the church.
That these are the symbolic meanings of kings and earth may be seen in nos. 20 and 285 below.
It is apparent that to wash us from our sins is to purify us from evils, thus to reform and regenerate, for regeneration is a spiritual washing. However, “His blood” does not mean the suffering of the cross, as many believe, but the Divine truth emanating from Him, as can be seen from many passages in the Word, which it would be too tedious to present in their entirety here. We will present them in nos. 379 and 684 below. In the meantime, see what we have said and shown regarding the symbolic meaning of the Lord’s blood and flesh in the Holy Supper, in The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine, (London, 1758), nos. 210-222, and in the same place regarding spiritual washing, which is regeneration, nos. 202-209.
People know that in the Word the Lord is called a king and also a priest. He is called a king owing to His Divine wisdom, and a priest owing to His Divine love. People who are governed by wisdom from the Lord are consequently called children of the king, and also kings, while people who are governed by love from Him are called ministers and priests. For the wisdom and the love in them do not originate from them, and so are not theirs but the Lord’s. It is these people who are therefore meant in the Word by kings and priests. Not that they are kings and priests, but that they have the Lord in them, and He causes them to be termed such.
Such people are called also children born of Him, children of the kingdom, children of the Father, and heirs – children born of Him in John 1:12, 13, which is to say, born anew or regenerated (John 3:1ff.), children of the kingdom in Matthew 8:12, 13:38, children of their Father in heaven in Matthew 5:45, and heirs in Psalm 127:3, 1 Samuel 2:8, Matthew 25:34. And being heirs, children of the kingdom, and children born of the Lord as their Father, they are therefore called kings and priests. Moreover, in Revelation 3:21 it is also said that they will sit with the Lord on His throne.
[2] The whole of heaven has been divided into two kingdoms – the spiritual kingdom and the celestial kingdom. The spiritual kingdom is what is called the Lord’s kingship, and because all who are in it are governed by wisdom founded on truths, therefore it is they who are meant by the kings that the Lord will make those people who are governed by wisdom from Him. The celestial kingdom, on the other hand, is what is called the Lord’s priesthood, and because all who are in it are governed by love arising from goodness, therefore it is they who are meant by the priests that the Lord will make those people who are governed by love from Him. The Lord’s church on earth is likewise divided into two kingdoms. Regarding these two kingdoms, see nos. 24, 226 in the book Heaven and Hell, published in London, 1758.
[3] Someone who does not know the spiritual meaning of kings and priests may be deluded in regard to many things said in the prophets and in the book of Revelation about them. For example, in regard to these statements in the prophets:
The sons of foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you…. You shall suck the milk of gentiles, even the breasts of kings you shall suck, that you may know that I, Jehovah, am your Savior and your Redeemer…. (Isaiah 60:10, 16)
Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their princesses your wet nurses. (Isaiah 49:23)
Also elsewhere, as in Genesis 49:20; Psalm 2:10; Isaiah 14:9, 24:21, 52:15; Jeremiah 2:26, 4:9, 49:3; Lamentations 2:6, 9; Ezekiel 7:26, 27; Hosea 3:4; Zephaniah 1:8. Kings there do not mean kings, but people who are governed by Divine truths from the Lord, and abstractly, Divine truths themselves, from which comes wisdom.
“The king of the south” and “the king of the north” who waged war with each other in Daniel 11 do not mean kings either, but the king of the south means people who are governed by truths, and the king of the north people who are caught up in falsities.
[4] Likewise in the book of Revelation, which many times mentions kings, as in the following passages:
The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared. (Revelation 16:12)
(With) the great harlot who sits on many waters…the kings of the earth committed whoredom…. (Revelation 17:1, 2)
…of the wine of the wrath of (Babylon’s) whoredom all the nations have drunk, and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her…. (Revelation 18:3)
And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war with Him who sat on the (white) horse…. (Revelation 19:19)
And the nations that are saved shall walk in His light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into (the New Jerusalem). (Revelation 21:24)
Elsewhere also, as in Revelation 16:14, 17:9-14, 18:9, 10. The kings there means people who are governed by truths, and in an opposite sense, people caught up in falsities, and abstractly, truths or falsities themselves. The whoredom of Babylon with the kings of the earth means the falsification of the truth of the church. Obviously Babylon, or the woman who sat on the scarlet beast, did not commit whoredom with kings, but rather falsified truths of the Word.
[5] It is apparent from this that the Lord’s going to make people who are wise from Him kings does not mean that they will be kings, but that they will be wise. The reality of this is also something that enlightened reason sees.
Likewise in the following:
You have made us kings and priests to our God, that we may reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:10)
That by king the Lord meant truth is apparent from His words to Pilate:
Pilate…said to Him, “Are You a king then?”
Jesus answered, “As you have said, because I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” (John 18:27, 38)
To bear witness to the truth is to be Himself the embodiment of truth. And because He called Himself a king by virtue of it, Pilate said, “What is truth?” – which is to say, “Is truth a king?
As for priests, we will see in later explanations that they symbolize people who are governed by the goodness of love, and abstractly, goods of love themselves.
In the spiritual sense “God and Father” does not refer to two persons, but God means the Divine in respect to wisdom, and Father the Divine in respect to love. For the Lord has in Him two attributes: Divine wisdom and Divine love, or Divine truth and Divine good. These two are meant in the Old Testament by “God” and “Jehovah,” and here by “God” and “Father.”
Now because the Lord teaches that He and the Father are one, and that He is in the Father and the Father in Him (John 10:30, 14:10, 11), therefore “God and Father” does not mean two persons, but the Lord alone. The Divine, moreover, is one and indivisible. Consequently the statement that Jesus Christ has made us kings and priests to His God and Father means, symbolically, that they appear before Him as images of His Divine wisdom and of His Divine love. The image of God consists in these two qualities in people and angels.
It may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord that the Divine, which in itself is one, is designated by various names in the Word.
That the Lord is also Himself the Father follows from the following declarations. In Isaiah:
…unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given…, (whose) name will be called Wonderful…, God, Mighty One,* Father of eternity, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
In the same prophet:
You, Jehovah, are our Father, our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name. (Isaiah 63:16)
And in John:
“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father….”
Jesus said to him, “…He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how then can you say, ‘Show us the Father’… …Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me….” (John 14:7-9, 11)
See no. 962 below.
* The writer follows the rendering of Sebastian Schmidt here, though the word in the original Hebrew text is an adjective modifying “God,” as it is interpreted in standard English translations.
When glory is mentioned in the Word in relation to the Lord, it means His Divine majesty and is predicated of His Divine wisdom, and might means His Divine omnipotence and is predicated of His Divine love. “Forever and ever” means to eternity.
That these are the meanings of glory, might and forever when said of Jehovah or the Lord can be confirmed by many passages in the Word.
“Amen” signifies truth, and because the Lord was the very embodiment of truth, therefore He so often said, “Assuredly, I say to you,”* as in Matthew 5:18, 26, 6:16, 10:23, 42, 17:20, 18:13, 18, 25:12, cf. 28:20; John 3:11, 5:19, 24, 25, 6:26, 32, 47, 53, 8:34, 51, 58, 10:7, 12:24, 13:16, 20, 21, cf. 21:18, 25; and in the following passage in the book of Revelation, “These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness” (Revelation 3:14), which is to say, the Lord.
That the Lord is the very embodiment of truth, He Himself teaches in John 14:6, 17:19.
* Literally, “Amen, I say to you.”
Someone who knows nothing of the internal or spiritual meaning of the Word cannot know what the Lord meant by His coming in the clouds of heaven. For He said to the high priest who was adjuring Him to say whether He was the Christ, the Son of God,
As you have said…. I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven. (Matthew 26:63, 64, Mark 14:61, 62)
Moreover, in speaking to His disciples about the end of the age, the Lord said,
And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear…, and they will see (Him) coming in the clouds of heaven with power and…glory. (Matthew 24:30, Mark 13:26)
The clouds of heaven in which He will come mean nothing else than the Word in its literal sense, and the glory in which they will see Him, the Word in its spiritual meaning.
The reality of this can hardly be believed by people who do not think of the Word beyond the sense of its letter. To them a cloud is a cloud, and so they believe that the Lord will appear in the clouds of the sky when the Last Judgment is at hand. But this idea collapses when the meaning of a cloud is known, that it is Divine truth in its outmost expressions, thus the Word in its literal meaning.
[2] One sees clouds in the spiritual world just as in the natural world. However, clouds in the spiritual world appear beneath the heavens, in the region of people who are caught up in the literal meaning of the Word – clouds that are darker or brighter according to their understanding of the Word and at the same time acceptance of it. That is because the light of heaven there is Divine truth, and degrees of darkness falsities. Bright clouds, therefore, are Divine truth veiled in truthful appearances, like the Word in its letter with people who possess truths, while dark clouds are Divine truth wrapped in misconceptions affirmed on the basis of appearances, like the Word in its letter with people caught up in falsities. I have seen these clouds often, and their origin and nature have been apparent.
Now because, after the glorification of His humanity, the Lord became the embodiment of Divine truth or the Word even in its outmost expressions, He said to the high priest that thereafter they would see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven.*
[3] Moreover, He said to His disciples that at the end of the age the sign of the Son of Man would appear, and that they would see Him coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory,** which symbolically means that at the end of the church, when the Last Judgment takes place, He will appear in the Word and reveal its spiritual meaning, an event that has occurred at the present day, because now is the time of the church’s end and of the accomplishment of the Last Judgment, as may be seen from short works recently published.***
This, then, is what is meant here in the book of Revelation by the declaration, “Behold, He is coming with clouds,” and in the following one,
I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud One sitting like the Son of Man…. (Revelation 14:14)
As also in Daniel,
I was watching in the night visions, and behold…, the Son of Man coming with…clouds…! (Daniel 7:13)
To be shown that the Son of Man means the Lord in relation to the Word, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 19-28.
[4] Clouds elsewhere in the Word, too, mean Divine truth in its outmost expressions, and so also the Word in its letter, as may be seen from passages there where clouds are mentioned, as in the following:
There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides in heaven…, and in magnificence on the clouds. (Deuteronomy 33:26)
Sing to God, praise His name; extol Him who rides on the clouds…. (Psalm 68:4)
…Jehovah rides on a light cloud…. (Isaiah 19:1)
To ride on clouds means, symbolically, to possess the Word’s wisdom, for a horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word. Who does not see that God does not ride upon clouds?
Similarly:
(God) rode upon cherubs…, (and) made…His canopy…the clouds of the heavens. (Psalm 18:10, 11)
Cherubs, too, symbolize the Word, as may be seen in nos. 239, 672, below. A canopy symbolizes an abode.
[5] (Jehovah) lays the beams of His dining chambers in the waters; He makes a cloud His chariot…. (Psalm 104:3)
Waters symbolize truths, dining chambers doctrinal tenets, and a chariot doctrine, all of which are called clouds, because they are derived from the literal meaning of the Word.
Similarly:
He binds up the waters in His clouds, and the cloud is not broken under them…; (and) He spreads His cloud over (His throne). (Job 26:8, 9)
…God…causes the light of His cloud to shine. (Job 37:15)
Ascribe strength to God, …strength upon the clouds. (Psalm 68:34)
The light of a cloud symbolizes the Divine truth of the Word, and strength symbolizes the Divine power in it.
[6] (Lucifer,) you have said in your heart…: “I will ascend above the heights of a cloud, I will be like the Most High.” (Isaiah 14:13, 14)
Forsake (Babylon)…, for…she has lifted herself up to the clouds. (Jeremiah 51:9)
Lucifer and Babylon symbolize people who profane the goods and truths of the Word. Consequently those are things meant there by clouds.
(Jehovah) spreads a cloud for a covering…. (Psalm 105:39)
Jehovah has created above every dwelling place of Mount Zion…a cloud by day…. For over all the glory there will be a covering. (Isaiah 4:5)
A cloud here, too, means the Word in its literal sense, which, because it encloses and covers the spiritual meaning, is called a covering over the glory. To be shown that the literal sense of the Word is a covering, to prevent its spiritual meaning from being injured, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, no. 33, and that it is a protection, no. 97.
[7] Divine truth in its outmost expressions, which is the same as the Word in its literal sense, was also represented by the cloud in which Jehovah descended upon Mount Sinai and proclaimed the Law (Exodus 19:9, 34:5). Also by the cloud which covered Peter, James and John when Jesus was transfigured, concerning which we are told:
While (Peter) was still speaking, behold, a…cloud overshadowed them; and lo, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son…. Hear Him!” (Matthew 17:5; cf. Mark 9:7, Luke 9:34, 35)
In this transfiguration the Lord caused Himself to be seen as the Word, which is why a cloud overshadowed them and a voice was heard from the cloud, saying that this was the Son of God. The voice from the cloud means from the Word.
We will see elsewhere that in an opposite sense, a cloud means the Word falsified in respect to its literal meaning.
* Matthew 26:63, 64, Mark 14:61, 62.
** Matthew 24:30, Mark 13:26.
*** A reference probably to The Last Judgment (London, 1758) and A Continuation Concerning the Last Judgment and the Spiritual World (Amsterdam, 1763).
In the spiritual sense an eye means not an eye but the intellect. Consequently the declaration that every eye will see. This symbolically means that all those will acknowledge Him who possess, from an affection for it, an understanding of Divine truth, since it is they alone who understand and acknowledge. Others, indeed, see and also understand, but they do not acknowledge.
Those who acknowledge are symbolically meant because it is next said that they also who pierced Him will see, meaning people who are caught up in falsities.
To be shown that an eye symbolizes the intellect, see no. 48 below.
To “pierce Jesus Christ” means nothing else than to destroy His Divine truth in the Word. This also is meant by the report that one of the soldiers pierced His side, and blood and water came out (John 19:34). Blood and water are spiritual and natural Divine truth, thus the Word in its spiritual and natural senses; and to pierce the Lord’s side is to destroy both by falsities, as the Jews did also. For everything connected with the Lord’s suffering represented the state of the Jewish Church in relation to the Word – on which subject, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 15-17.
To pierce Him means, symbolically, to destroy the Word by falsities because it is said of Jesus Christ, who is shortly called the Son of Man, and “the Son of Man” means the Lord in relation to the Word. Therefore to pierce the Son of Man is to do it to the Word.
We will see that the tribes of the earth symbolize the goods and truths of the church, in the explanation of chapter seven where we deal with the twelve tribes of Israel. Wailing symbolizes mourning that they are dead.
The declaration here has the same meaning as the Lord’s words in Matthew:
…after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven…. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear…, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn…. (Matthew 24:29, 30)
This He said regarding the end of the age, which is the final period of the church. The darkening of the sun means, symbolically, that there will no longer be any love and charity. The moon’s not giving its light means, symbolically, that there will no longer be any intelligence and faith. The stars’ falling from heaven means, symbolically, that there will no longer be any concepts of goods and truths. That all the tribes of the earth will mourn means, symbolically, that there will no longer be any goods and truths. Tribulation symbolizes the state of the church then.
These and still more are the ideas contained in these words, which describe the Lord. It is clearly apparent that they are said of the Lord, and indeed of His humanity, for we are told next that John heard a voice saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” that he turned to see the voice that spoke with him, and that he saw the Son of Man in the midst of the seven lampstands (Revelation 1:10-13) – who shortly also said, “I am the First and the Last, and am He who lives, and was put to death” (Revelation 1:17, 18, cf. 2:8).
As for all the particulars listed above, however, it is impossible to confirm these briefly, since to confirm them to people’s comprehension would take many pages. Still, we have confirmed them in part in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, recently published in Amsterdam, q.v.
The Lord calls Himself the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, because Alpha and Omega have reference to His Divine love, while Beginning and End have reference to His Divine wisdom. For present in every particular of the Word is a marriage of love and wisdom or of goodness and truth, on which subject see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 80-90.
[2] The Lord is called the Alpha and the Omega because alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, and they consequently symbolize all things in their entirety. That is because in the spiritual world every alphabetic letter has some symbolic meaning, and a vowel, since it serves to provide tone, symbolizes something having to do with affection or love. From this origin springs spiritual and angelic speech, and also writing. But this is an arcanum previously unknown. For there is a universal language, which all angels and spirits possess, and it has nothing in common with any language of people in the world. Everyone comes into use of this language after death, as it is implanted in everyone from creation. Everyone can therefore understand everyone else throughout the whole spiritual world. I have been granted often to hear that language, and also to speak it, and I have compared it with languages in the world and found that it does not accord, even in the least particular, with any natural language on earth. It differs from them from its first characteristic, which is that every letter in each word has some symbolic meaning, both in speaking and in writing.
That, then, is why the Lord is called the Alpha and the Omega, which symbolically means that He is the all in all things of heaven and the church. And because they are both vowels, they have reference to love, as said above.
Regarding this language and the writing of it flowing from the spiritual thought of angels, see also some observations in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, no. 295.
Since all things originate from the Lord, created from their first elements that emanate from Him, and since nothing exists that does not spring from that origin, as we showed many times in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, it follows that He is the Almighty or omnipotent.
Postulate a single entity from which all others spring. Are they not all connected with that single entity, on which they depend one after another, like the links of a chain on the one at the head? Or like the blood vessels throughout the body on the heart? Or like every single constituent of the whole of creation on the sun – thus on the Lord, who is the sun of the spiritual world, from whom springs all the essence, life and power which exist among those who are under that sun? In short, from Him we have our being, live, and move (Acts 17:28). That is Divine omnipotence.
That the Lord directs all things from the first of them through the last is an arcanum not previously revealed, but which has been explained in many places in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord and Regarding the Sacred Scripture, and also in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Providence, no. 124, and Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, no. 221.
People know that the Divine, being infinite, does not fall within the scope of anyone’s mental conceptions, nor those of any angel, because those conceptions are finite, and a finite person is incapable of perceiving infinity. Nevertheless, in order that it may be perceived in some way, it has pleased the Lord to describe His infinity with these words, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. Consequently these words include everything that an angel or person could ever conceive of, spiritually and naturally, regarding the Divine, concepts which in general are those universally that we have cited above.
The Apostle John represented those people who possess the goodness of charity, as we said in no. 5 above, and people who possess the goodness of charity also possess truths of faith, since charity is the soul and life of faith.
It is because of this that John calls himself the brother and companion of the people in the church to whom he was writing, for he was writing to the seven churches. In the spiritual sense of the Word a brother means someone who possesses the goodness of charity, and a companion someone who for that reason possesses truths of faith. For people are all as though blood relatives through charity, and relatives by marriage through faith. That is because charity unites, but not so much faith unless it springs from charity. When faith springs from charity, then the charity unites and the faith affiliates. Moreover, because the two go together, therefore the Lord commanded all to be brothers; for He said,
…One is your Teacher, the Christ, while you are all brethren. (Matthew 23:8)
[2] The Lord also calls those brothers who possess the goodness of charity or goodness of life. He said,
My mother and My brothers are these who hear the Word of God and do it. (Luke 8:21; cf. Matthew 12:49, Mark 3:33-35)
Mother means the church, and brothers those who possess charity. Moreover, because the goodness of charity is “a brother,” therefore the Lord names those who possess it His brothers (see also Matthew 25:40); and so likewise the disciples (Matthew 28:10, John 20:17). But we do not read that the disciples called the Lord brother, because “a brother” is the goodness that emanates from the Lord. It is comparatively like the case of a king, prince, or eminent person, who calls his relatives by blood and marriage brothers, even though they do not call him so in return. For the Lord says,
…One is your Teacher, the Christ, while you are all brethren. (Matthew 23:8)
And so, too:
You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say rightly, for so I am. (John 13:13)
The children of Israel called brothers all those who were descended from their ancestor Jacob, and in a wider sense those also who were descended from Esau. But people not descended from those ancestors they called companions.
However, because in its spiritual sense the Word deals only with people who are in the Lord’s church, therefore in that sense brothers mean those who possess the goodness of charity emanating from the Lord, and companions those who possess truths of faith, as in the following passages:
Thus every one of you shall say to his companion, and every one to his brother, “What has Jehovah answered?” (Jeremiah 23:35)
You have not (proclaimed) liberty, every one to his brother and every one to his companion. (Jeremiah 34:17)
Let him not press his companion or his brother…. (Deuteronomy 15:1, 2)
For the sake of my brethren and companions, I will…say…. (Psalm 122:8)
Everyone helps his companion, and says to his brother, “Be strong!” (Isaiah 41:6)
And in an opposite sense:
Everyone beware of his companion, and do not trust in any brother; …every brother…supplants, and every companion slanders. (Jeremiah 9:3)
I will embroil Egypt with Egypt; each will fight against his brother, and…against his companion…. (Isaiah 19:2)
And elsewhere.
I have adduced these particulars to make known why John calls himself a brother and companion – that in the Word a brother means one who possesses charity or goodness, and a companion one who possesses faith or truth.
Still, because charity is the foundation from which faith springs, therefore the Lord does not call anyone a companion, but a brother or neighbor. Everyone also is the neighbor in accordance with the quality of his goodness (Luke 10:36, 37*).
* “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” And [the lawyer] said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
The state of the church is meant by tribulation, when there are no longer any goods of charity and truths of faith, but evils and falsities instead. The church is meant by kingdom. And the patient awaiting of Jesus Christ means the Lord’s advent. Consequently these words, “in the tribulation and kingdom and patient awaiting of Jesus Christ,” when condensed into a single meaning, symbolically mean, when the goods and truths of the church have been infested by evils and falsities, but ones which the Lord will remove when He comes.
That tribulation means the state of the church when it has been infested by evils and falsities is apparent from the following statements:
(At the end of the age) they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you…. …there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world…, nor shall be…. …after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven…. (Matthew 24:9, 21, 29, cf. Mark 13:19, 24)
We will see in subsequent explanations that a kingdom symbolizes the church.
The revelation to John occurred on Patmos because it was an island in Greece, not far from the land of Canaan, and between Asia and Europe; and islands symbolize nations relatively removed from the worship of God, but which will yet accede to it, because they can be enlightened. Greece has a similar meaning. But the church itself is meant by the land of Canaan. Asia symbolizes those of the church who from the Word have the light of truth, and Europe those to whom the Word will come. The island of Patmos accordingly symbolizes a state and place in which John could be enlightened.
That islands in the Word symbolize nations relatively removed from the worship of God, but which will yet accede to it, is apparent from the following passages:
In the Urim honor Jehovah, in the islands of the sea the name of…the God of Israel. (Isaiah 24:14)
He will not extinguish nor break in pieces till He has set judgment in the earth, and the islands hope in His law…. Sing to Jehovah a new song…, let the islands and the inhabitants of them…give glory to Jehovah, and declare His praise in the islands. (Isaiah 42:4, 10, 12)
Listen, O islands, to Me, and…you peoples from afar! (Isaiah 49:1)
The islands will hope in Me, and on My arm they will trust. (Isaiah 51:5)
…In Me the islands will trust, and the ships of Tarshish…. (Isaiah 60:9)
Hear the words of Jehovah, O nations, and declare them in the islands afar off. (Jeremiah 31:10)
…that they may worship Jehovah, each one in his place, all the islands of the nations. (Zephaniah 2:11)
And elsewhere.
That Greece has also a similar meaning is not so apparent from the Word, because Greece is mentioned only in Daniel 8:21, 10:20, 11:2,* as also in John 12:20, Mark 7:26.**
That the land of Canaan means the Lord’s church, which is therefore called “the Holy Land” and “the heavenly Canaan,” is apparent from many places in the Word.
That Asia means those in the church who from the Word have the light of truth, may be seen in no. 11 above. And that Europe means those to whom the Word will come, follows.
This we explained in no. 6 above.
* Greece is mentioned in Zephaniah 9:13 too, but it was not so translated in the 1696 Latin Bible of Sebastian Schmidt, which the writer regularly used.
** The references here, as elsewhere, are to Greeks, rather than Greece.
“I became in the spirit” means, symbolically, a spiritual state, the state in which John was while he was experiencing the visions, and which we will take up in the following exposition. “On the Lord’s day” symbolizes influx from the Lord then, for that day brings the Lord’s presence, as it is a holy day.
Concerning the prophets we read that they were in the spirit or in vision, and that the Word came to them from Jehovah.
When they were in the spirit or in vision, they were not in the body, but in their spirit, a state in which they saw phenomena such as are found in heaven. But when the Word came to them, they were then in the body and heard Jehovah speaking.
These two states of the prophets must be properly distinguished. In the state of vision the eyes of their spirit were open and the eyes of their body closed; and they heard then what angels said, and what Jehovah said through angels, and also saw representations produced for them in heaven. Moreover, they sometimes seemed to themselves to be taken then from place to place, their body remaining where it was.
[2] This was the state in which John was when he wrote the book of Revelation, and the state sometimes experienced by Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Daniel. They also said that they were then in vision or in the spirit. For Ezekiel says,
The Spirit lifted me up…and brought me back into Chaldea, to those in captivity, in a vision (of God), in the spirit of God. (Thus) went up from me the vision that I had seen. (Ezekiel 11:1, 24)
He also says that the Spirit lifted him up, and he heard behind him an earthquake, and more (Ezek. 3:12, 24). So, too, that the Spirit lifted him up between earth and heaven, that it brought him in visions of God to Jerusalem, and that he saw abominations (Ezekiel 8:3f.). He was likewise in a vision of God or in the spirit when he saw the four living creatures, which were cherubim (Ezek. 1, 10), as also when he saw a new earth and a new temple, and an angel measuring them (Ezek. 40-48). That he was then in the visions of God, he himself says (Ezek. 40:2), and that the spirit lifted him up (Ezek. 43:5).
[3] The same was the case with Zechariah, who had an angel with him at the time, when he saw a man riding a horse among the myrtle trees (Zechariah 1:8ff.); when he saw the four horns, and then a man with a measuring line in his hand (Zech. 1:18, 2:1ff.); when he saw Joshua the high priest (Zech. 3:1ff.); when he saw the lampstand and two olive trees (Zech. 4:1ff.); when he saw the flying scroll and the ephah (Zech. 5:1, 6); when he saw the four chariots coming from between two mountains, and the horses (Zech. 6:1ff.).
Daniel was in a like state when he saw the four beasts coming up from the sea (Daniel 7:1ff.), and when he saw the combat between the ram and the male goat (Dan. 8:1ff.). He himself says that he saw these things in visions (Dan. 7:1, 2, 7, 13, 8:2, 10:1, 7, 8), and that the angel Gabriel appeared to him in a vision (Dan. 9:21).
[4] The same was the case with John, as when he saw the Son of Man in the midst of the seven lampstands (Revelation 1); when he saw the throne in heaven, and one sitting upon it, and around the throne the four living creatures (Rev. 4); when he saw the book sealed with seven seals (Rev. 5); when he saw the four horses going out from the open book (Rev. 6); when he saw the four angels standing at the four corners of the earth (Rev. 7); when he saw the locusts coming out of the pit of the abyss (Rev. 9); when he saw the angel who had in his hand a little book, which the angel gave him to eat (Rev. 10); when he heard the seven angels sounding their trumpets (Rev. 8, 9, 11); when he saw the dragon and the woman whom the dragon pursued, and its battle with Michael (Rev. 12), and afterward the two beasts rising up, one from the sea, the other from the earth (Rev. 13); when he saw the seven angels having the seven last plagues (Rev. 15, 16); when he saw the harlot sitting on the scarlet beast (Rev. 17, 18), and afterward the white horse and the one sitting on it (Rev. 19), and finally, the new heaven and the new earth, and then the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven (Rev. 21, 22). John himself says that he saw these things in the spirit and in vision (1:10, 4:2, 9:17, 21:10). This, too, is meant by the statement, “I saw,” everywhere it occurs in this book.
[5] It is clearly apparent from this that to be in the spirit is to be in a state of vision, which is brought about by an opening of the sight of a person’s spirit; and when this is opened, phenomena found in the spiritual world are as clearly visible as those in the natural world are to the sight of the body.
The reality of this is something I can attest to from many years’ experience.
The disciples were in this state when they saw the Lord after His resurrection, which is why are told that their eyes were opened (Luke 24:30, 31).
Abraham was in a like state when he saw the three angels and spoke with them.*
So, too, Hagar, Gideon, Joshua and others, when they saw angels of Jehovah. Likewise when Elisha’s lad saw the mountain full of fiery chariots and horses all around Elisha, for Elisha prayed and said,
“Jehovah, open, I pray, his eyes that he may see.” And Jehovah opened the eyes of the lad, and he saw. (2 Kings 6:17)
As regards the Word, however, it was not revealed in a state of the spirit or of vision, but the Lord dictated it to the prophets in an audible voice. Consequently we are nowhere told that the prophets spoke it from the Holy Spirit, but from Jehovah. See The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, no. 53.
* Genesis 18.
A loud voice, when heard from heaven, symbolizes Divine truth, as we will show next. It sounded like the voice of a trumpet for the reason that when Divine truth descends from heaven, it is sometimes heard as such by angels of the lowest heaven, and they then manifestly perceive it. That is why “a voice, as of a trumpet” symbolizes a manifest perception. More on the symbolism of a trumpet will be seen in nos. 397 and 519 below.
That a loud voice, when heard from heaven, symbolizes Divine truth, is apparent from the following passages:
The voice of Jehovah is over the waters…. The voice of Jehovah is powerful; the voice of Jehovah is accompanied with honor. The voice of Jehovah breaks the cedars…. The voice of Jehovah falls like a flame of fire. The voice of Jehovah shakes the wilderness…. The voice of Jehovah makes the deer give birth…. (Psalm 29:3-9)
You kingdoms of the earth…, sing praises to the Lord…. Behold, He will send out His voice, a mighty voice. (Psalm 68:32, 33)
Jehovah has given voice before His army…; for numerous is he who obeys His word. (Joel 2:2)
Jehovah…will utter His voice from Jerusalem. (Joel 3:16)
Moreover, because a voice symbolizes Divine truth from the Lord, therefore the Lord said that “the sheep hear His voice,” that “they know His voice” (John 10:3, 4). Also,
Other sheep I have…; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice…. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (John 10:16, 27)
And elsewhere:
The hour is coming…when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of Man,* and those who hear will live. (John 5:25)
The voice here is the Lord’s Divine truth emanating from His Word.
* Sic. The Greek text has “the Son of God.”
That these words contain all these ideas, and infinitely more, may be seen in nos. 13 and 29 above. We said there that in the spiritual world the characters or letters of the alphabet all have symbolic meanings, and that the Lord therefore describes His Divinity and infinity by alpha and omega, which symbolically mean that He is the all in all things of heaven and the church.
Since every letter has a symbolic meaning in the spiritual world and so in the language of angels, therefore David composed the 119th Psalm in a progression ordered according to the letters of the alphabet, beginning with aleph and ending with tau, as can be seen from the beginnings of the verses there. Something similar is seen in the 111th Psalm, but not so obviously.
On this account, too, Abram was called Abraham, and Sarai was called Sarah, which came to pass because in heaven Abraham and Sarah were not taken to mean those people, but something Divine, as is also the meaning, for H involves infinity, because it is simply an aspirate sound.
More on this subject may be seen in no. 29 above.
That these are meant by the churches in Asia may be see in nos. 10 and 11 above.
That these seven names symbolize, in the spiritual sense, all states of reception for the Lord and His church is something we will see below. For when John received this command, he was in a spiritual state, and in that state nothing is mentioned by name that does not symbolize some thing or state. Consequently the messages written by John were not sent to any church in those places, but were addressed to their angels, meaning people who receive.
That all names of places and persons throughout the Word have spiritual meanings is something we showed many times in Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), published in London. For example, the names of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, called also Israel, and the names of his twelve sons. The names also of various places in the land of Canaan, and of places round about that land, such as Egypt, Syria, Assyria, and more.
The same is the case with these seven names. However, for one who wishes to stay with the literal meaning, let him stay with it, because that meaning conjoins. Only let him know that by these names angels perceive matters and states having to do with the church.
John says that he heard the voice behind him (verse 10), and now that he turned to see the voice, and secondly, that having turned he saw seven lampstands. From this it is apparent that he heard the voice in back of him, and that he turned to see where it was coming from.
Clearly in this lies an arcanum. The secret to it is that before a person turns to the Lord and acknowledges Him as God of heaven and earth, he cannot see the Divine truth in the Word. That is because God is one both in person and in essence, in whom is the Trinity, that God being the Lord. People who accept a trinity of persons, therefore, look primarily to the Father, and some to the Holy Spirit, but rarely to the Lord; and if they do look to the Lord, they think of His humanity in the same way that they do an ordinary person. When a person does this, he can by no means be enlightened in the Word, for the Lord embodies the Word, since it comes from Him and has Him as its subject. Therefore people who do not turn to the Lord alone regard Him and His Word as being behind them and not before them, or as being in back of them and not in front of them.
This is the secret that lies concealed in these words, that John heard the voice behind him, that he turned to see the voice, and that 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 alone is God of heaven and earth, He now teaches in a clear statement, for He says,
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come….” (Revelation 1:8)
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.” (Revelation 1:11)
And later,
“I am the First and the Last.” (Revelation 1:17, cf. 2:8)
To be shown that a voice, when coming from the Lord, means Divine truth, see no. 37 above; and that John means those people of the church who possess goodness of life, see nos. 5 and 6 above.
It can now be seen from this that these words, “Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me,” symbolize a turning around of the state of those people who possess goodness of life, in respect to their perception of the truth in the Word, when they turn to the Lord.
We are told in the last verse of this chapter that the seven lampstands are the seven churches, and it may be seen in no. 10 above that the seven churches mean all in the Christian world who turn to the church – and this in every case according to each one’s state of reception (no. 41).
The seven lampstands mean a new church because the Lord is in it and in the midst of it. For we are told that in the midst of the seven lampstands John saw one like the Son of Man, and the Son of Man means the Lord in relation to the Word.
The lampstands appeared golden, because gold symbolizes goodness, and every church is a church by virtue of the goodness that is formed through truths. That gold symbolizes goodness will be seen in subsequent explanations.
[2] These lampstands were not next to one another or placed so as to touch each other, but stood at some intervals forming a kind of circle, as it apparent from this statement in the following chapter,
These things says He who…walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. (Revelation 2:1)
We are not told anything about the lamps on the lampstands, but later it is said that the Holy Jerusalem, which is to say, the New Church, “has no need of the sun or of the moon,” because “its lamp is the Lamb, and the nations that are saved shall walk in its light” (Revelation 21:23, 24). And furthermore,
They need no lamp…, for the Lord God gives them light. (Revelation 22:5)
For those people who will be constituents of the Lord’s New Church are the only “lampstands” that will shine with light from the Lord.
[3] The golden lampstand in the Tabernacle represented nothing else than the church in relation to its enlightenment by the Lord. Regarding this lampstand, see Exodus 25:31-40, 37:17-24, 26:35, Leviticus 24:3, 4, Numbers 8:2-4. That it represented the Lord’s church as to Divine spiritual love, which is love for the neighbor, see Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), nos. 9548, 9555, 9558, 9561, 9570, 9783. See also no. 493 below.
The lampstand in Zechariah 4 also symbolizes a new church to be established by the Lord, since it symbolizes a new house of God or temple, as is apparent from what follows there; and a house of God or temple symbolizes the church, and in the highest sense, the Lord’s Divine humanity, as He Himself teaches in John 2:19-21,* and elsewhere.
But we will say what in turn is symbolically meant in Zechariah 4, when the lampstand appeared to him:
The particulars contained in verses 1 to 7 symbolize the Lord’s enlightenment of a new church from the goodness of love by means of truth. The olive trees there symbolize the church in regard to the goodness of love.
The particulars from verse 8 to 10 there mean, symbolically, that the enlightenment comes from the Lord. Zerubbabel there, who is to build the house, thus the church, represents the Lord.
The particulars from verse 11 to 14 mean, symbolically, that that the church will also have in it truths from a heavenly origin.
This explanation of that chapter was given to me by the Lord through heaven.
* Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
People know from the Word that the Lord called Himself the Son of God and also the Son of Man. By “the Son of God” He meant Himself in respect to His Divine humanity, and by “the Son of Man” He meant Himself in relation to the Word. This we fully demonstrated in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 19-28, and since we confirmed it thoroughly from the Word there, we refrain from confirming it further here.
Now because the Lord presented Himself to John as the Word, therefore in His appearance to him He is called the Son of Man.
The Lord presented Himself as the Word because the subject is the New Church, which is a church founded on the Word, according to its understanding of it. To be shown that the church is founded on the Word, and that its character is such as its understanding of the Word, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 76-79.
Since the church is a church from the Lord by means of the Word, therefore the Son of Man appeared in the midst of lampstands. “In the midst” means, symbolically, in the inmost, from which those things that are round about or exterior to it draw their essence, in this case their light or intelligence.
That the inmost is everything in the things that are round about or exterior to it is something we showed many times in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom. It is like a light or flame at the center, in consequence of which all the peripheries shine with light and are warm.
[2] “In the midst” has the same symbolic meaning in the following passages in the Word:
Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst! (Isaiah 12:6)
God is my King…, working salvation in the midst of the earth. (Psalm 74:12)
…God…(working) lovingkindness in the midst of (the) temple.
God stands in the congregation of God; in the midst of the gods He will judge. (Psalm 82:1)
Gods are what those people who possess Divine truths from the Lord are called, and in an abstract sense, the truths themselves.
Behold, I am sending an angel before you…. Beware of his presence…; for My name is in the midst of him. (Exodus 23:20, 21)
The name of Jehovah means everything Divine. In the midst means in the inmost and so in every part.
In the midst or within symbolizes the inmost and so every part in many other places in the Word, even where the subject is evils, as in Isaiah 24:13, Jeremiah 23:9, Psalm 5:9, Jeremiah 9:5, 6, and Psalms 36:1, 55:4, 62:4.
We have cited these places to make known that “in the midst of the lampstands” means, symbolically, in the inmost of the church, from which the church and everything connected with it originates; for the church and everything connected with it comes from the Lord through the Word.
To be shown that the lampstands symbolize a new church, see no. 43 just above.
A long robe symbolizes the emanating Divinity which is Divine truth because garments in the Word symbolize truths. Thus a long robe, being an outer garment, symbolizes, when said of the Lord, Divine truth emanating.
Garments in the Word symbolize truths because people in heaven are clothed in accordance with the truths emanating from their goodness, on which subject see the book Heaven and Hell (London, 1758), nos. 177-182.
In subsequent explanations we will see that garments in the Word mean nothing else in its spiritual sense, accordingly that nothing else is meant by the Lord’s garments when He was transfigured, which appeared as white as the light (Matthew 17:1-4, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36). So, too, neither is anything else meant by the Lord’s garments which the soldiers divided (John 19:23, 24).
In Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), published in London, it may be seen that the like was represented and so symbolized by Aaron’s garments (nos. 9814, 10,067); in particular, by the ephod (nos. 9477, 9824, 10,005), the robe (nos. 9825, 10,005), the tunic (nos. 9826, 9942), and the turban (no. 9827). For Aaron represented the Lord’s priestly function.
Regarding the symbolism of garments in the Word, see nos. 166 and 328 below.
The golden girdle has this symbolism because the Lord’s breast, and specifically the nipples there, symbolize His Divine love. Therefore the golden girdle which encircled them symbolizes the emanating and at the same time conjoining Divinity, which is the Divine goodness of Divine love. Gold, too, symbolizes goodness (see no. 913 below).
A girdle or sash in the Word symbolizes a common bond which holds everything in order and connection. For example, in Isaiah:
There shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse…, and righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and truth the girdle of His loins. (Isaiah 11:1, 5)
The rod coming forth from the stem of Jesse is the Lord.
It may be seen in Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), published in London, nos. 9837 and 9944, that the girdle of Aaron’s ephod and the belt of his tunic symbolized conjunction.
Since a girdle symbolizes a bond conjoining the goods and truths of the church, therefore when the church with the children of Israel was destroyed, Jeremiah the prophet was commanded to buy himself a sash and put it on his loins, and then hide it in a hole in a rock by the Euphrates. And when, at the end of many days, he recovered it, behold, it was ruined and profitable for nothing. (Jeremiah 13:1-12) This represented that the goodness of the church had then come to nothing, with its truths therefore gone.
A sash has the same symbolic meaning in Isaiah 3:24, in the phrase, “instead of a sash, a rent.” And so also elsewhere.
That nipples or paps symbolize Divine love is apparent from passages in the Word where they are mentioned, and from their correspondence with love.
A person’s head symbolizes everything connected with his life, and everything connected with a person’s life has some relation to love and wisdom. A head consequently symbolizes both wisdom and love. However, because there is no love without its wisdom, nor wisdom without its love, therefore it is the love accompanying wisdom that is meant by a head; and when describing the Lord, it is the Divine love accompanying Divine wisdom. But on the symbolism of the head in the Word, more will be seen in nos. 538 and 568 below.
Since a head means both love and wisdom in their first forms, it follows accordingly that hair means love and wisdom in their final forms. And because the hair mentioned here describes the Son of Man, who is the Lord in relation to the Word, His hair symbolizes the Divine good connected with love, and the Divine truth connected with wisdom, in the outmost expressions of the Word – the outmost expressions of the Word being those contained in its literal sense.
[2] The idea that the hair of the Son of Man or the Lord symbolizes the Word in this sense may seem absurd, but still it is the truth. This can be seen from passages in the Word that we cited in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 35 and 49. We showed there as well that Nazirites in the Israelite Church represented the Lord in relation to the Word in its outmost expressions, which is its literal sense, as a nazir in Hebrew is a hair or head of hair.* That is why the power of Samson, who was a Nazirite from the womb, lay in his hair. The Divine truth similarly has power in the literal sense of the Word, as may be seen in the aforementioned Doctrine Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 37-49.
For the same reason, too, the high priest and his sons were strictly forbidden to shave their heads.
For that reason as well, forty-two of the boys who called Elisha a baldhead were torn apart by two she-bears. Like Elijah, Elisha represented the Lord in relation to the Word. A baldhead symbolizes the Word without its outmost expression, which, as said, is its literal sense, and she-bears symbolize this sense of the Word divorced from its inner meaning. Those who so divorce it, moreover, appear in the spiritual world as bears, though only at a distance. It is apparent from this why what happened to the boys happened as it did.
It was, therefore, also the highest disgrace and a mark of extreme mourning to inflict baldness.
[3] Accordingly, when the Israelite nation had completely perverted the literal sense of the Word, this lamentation over them was composed:
Her Nazirites were whiter than snow, brighter white than milk…. Darker than blackness is their form. They go unrecognized in the streets. (Lamentations 4:7, 8)
Furthermore:
Every head was made bald, and every shoulder shaved bare. (Ezekiel 29:18)
Shame will be on every face, and baldness on all their heads. (Ezekiel 7:18)
So similarly Isaiah 15:2, Jeremiah 48:37, Amos 8:10.
Because the children of Israel by falsities completely dissipated the literal sense of the Word, therefore the prophet Ezekiel was commanded to represent this by shaving his head with a razor and burning a third part with fire, striking a third part with a sword, and scattering a third part to the wind, and by gathering a small amount in his skirts, to cast it, too, afterward into the fire (Ezekiel 5:1-4).
[4] Therefore it is also said in Micah:
Make yourself bald and cut off your hair, because of your precious children; enlarge your baldness like an eagle, for they have departed from you. (Micah 1:16)
The precious children are the church’s genuine truths from the Word.
Moreover, because Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, represented Babylon’s falsification of the Word and destruction of every truth there, it accordingly came to pass that his hair grew like eagles’ feathers (Daniel 4:33).
Since the hair symbolized that holy component of the Word, therefore it is said of Nazirites that they were not to shave the hair of their head, because it was the consecration of God upon their head (Numbers 6:1-21). And therefore it was decreed that the high priest and his sons were not to shave their heads, lest they die and the whole house of Israel be angered (Leviticus 10:6).
[5] Now, because hair symbolizes Divine truth in its outmost expressions, which in the church is the Word in its literal sense, therefore something similar is said also of the Ancient of Days in Daniel:
I watched till the thrones were thrown down, and the Ancient of Days was seated. His garment was as white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. (Daniel 7:9)
That the Ancient of Days is the Lord is clearly apparent in Micah:
You, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from antiquity, from days of old. (Micah 5:2)
And in Isaiah, where He is called Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6).
[6] From these passages and many others – too many to cite – it can be seen that the head and hair of the Son of Man, which were like wool, as white as snow, mean the Divine expression of love and wisdom in first things and last. And because the Son of Man means the Lord in relation to the Word, it follows that the Word, too, is meant in its first elements and last. Why else should it be that the Lord here in the book of Revelation and the Ancient of Days in Daniel are described even in respect to their hair?
That hair symbolizes the literal sense of the Word is clearly apparent from people in the spiritual world. Those who have scorned the literal sense of the Word appear bald there, and conversely, those who have loved the literal sense of the Word appear possessed of handsome hair.
The head and hair are described as being like wool and like snow because wool symbolizes goodness in outmost expressions, and snow symbolizes truth in outward expressions – as is the case also in Isaiah 1:18** – inasmuch as wool comes from sheep, which symbolize the goodness of charity, and snow comes from water, which symbolizes truths of faith.
* The Hebrew [Hebrew] (nazir) fundamentally means “one consecrated” or “one set apart;” but as a condition of the Nazirite vow was to let the hair grow, by extension a cognate word [Hebrew] (nezer) came to mean also the hair of a Nazirite’s consecration, and by analogy, a woman’s long hair.
** “Come now, and let us reason together,” says Jehovah. “Though your sins be like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
Eyes in the Word mean the intellect, and the sight of the eyes, therefore, intelligence. Consequently, when said in reference to the Lord, they mean Divine wisdom. A flame of fire, moreover, symbolizes spiritual love, which is charity, and consequently, when said in reference to the Lord, it means Divine love. So now, the statement that His eyes were like a flame of fire symbolizes the Divine wisdom accompanying Divine love.
That the eye symbolizes the intellect is because they correspond. For as the eye sees as a result of natural light, so the intellect sees as a result of spiritual light. Consequently seeing is predicated of both.
That the eye in the Word symbolizes the intellect is apparent from the following passages:
Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears. (Isaiah 43:8)
In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and out of darkness…the eyes of the blind shall see. (Isaiah 29:18)
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf…. (Isaiah 35:5)
…I will give You…as a light to the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind…. (Isaiah 42:6, 7)
The last is said of the Lord, who, when He comes, will open the intellect in people who are ignorant of the truth.
[2] That this is what is meant by opening the eyes is further apparent from the following passages:
Make the heart of this people fat…, and smear over their eyes, lest they see with their eyes…. (Isaiah 6:10, John 12:40)
For Jehovah has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes; the prophets and your leaders, the seers, He has covered. (Isaiah 29:10, cf. 30:10)
…who shuts his eyes so as not to see evil. (Isaiah 33:15)
Hear this…, O foolish people…, who have eyes and see not…. (Jeremiah 5:21)
(The punishment of) the shepherd, who deserts the flock: a sword shall be…against his right eye…, and his right eye shall be totally darkened. (Zechariah 11:17)
…the plague with which Jehovah will strike all the peoples who fought against Jerusalem: …their eyes shall waste away in their sockets…. (Zechariah 14:12)
…I will strike every horse with stupor, and…every horse of the peoples with blindness. (Zechariah 12:4)
A horse in the spiritual sense is an understanding of the Word (no. 298).
…hear me, Jehovah my God; enlighten my eyes, lest (perchance) I sleep the sleep of death. (Psalm 13:3)
Everyone sees that eyes in these places symbolize the intellect.
[3] It is apparent from this what the Lord meant by the eye in the following places:
The lamp of the body is the eye. If…your eye is whole, your entire body will be full of light. If…your eye is bad, your entire body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! (Matthew 6:22, 23, cf. Luke 11:34)
If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is better for you…to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. (Matthew 5:29, 18:9)
The eye in these places does not mean an eye, but an understanding of truth.
Since the eye symbolizes an understanding of truth, it was therefore one of the statutes among the children of Israel that a blind man of the posterity of Aaron or one blurry-eyed not approach to offer a sacrifice, nor enter within the veil (Leviticus 21:18, 20, 23), and that nothing blind be offered as a sacrifice (Leviticus 22:22, Malachi 1:8).
[4] It is apparent from this what an eye means when said in reference to a person. It follows then that when said in reference to the Lord, it means His Divine wisdom, and also His omniscience and providence, as in the following passages:
Open Your eyes, Jehovah, and see. (Isaiah 37:17)
I will set My eye on them for good, and…I will build them…. (Jeremiah 24:6)
Behold, the eye of Jehovah is on those who fear Him…. (Psalm 33:18)
Jehovah is in His holy temple…; His eyes behold, (and) His eyelids test the children of man. (Psalm 11:4)
Inasmuch as cherubim symbolize the Lord’s protection and providence to keep the spiritual meaning of the Word from being harmed, therefore it is said of the four living creatures – which were cherubim – that they were full of eyes in front and in back, and that their wings were likewise full of eyes (Revelation 4:6, 8). And it is also said that the wheels on which the cherubim rode were full of eyes all around (Ezekiel 10:12).
[5] “A flame of fire” means the Lord’s Divine love, as will be seen in subsequent expositions where flame and fire are mentioned. And because it is said that His eyes were like a flame of fire, it symbolizes the Divine wisdom accompanying Divine love.
The concept that the Lord has in Him Divine love as a property of Divine wisdom, and Divine wisdom as a property of Divine love, thus a reciprocal union of the two, is an arcanum disclosed in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, nos. 34-39, and elsewhere.
The Lord’s feet symbolize His natural Divinity. Fire or being fired symbolizes goodness. And fine brass symbolizes the natural goodness of truth. Consequently the feet of the Son of Man like fine brass, as though fired in a furnace, symbolize natural Divine good.
His feet have this symbolic meaning because of their correspondence.
Present in the Lord, and so emanating from the Lord, are a celestial Divinity, a spiritual Divinity, and a natural Divinity. His celestial Divinity is meant by the head of the Son of Man; His spiritual Divinity by His eyes and by His breast girded with a golden girdle; and His natural Divinity by His feet.
[2] Because these three elements are present in the Lord, therefore the same three are also present in the angelic heaven. The third or highest heaven exists on the celestial Divine level, the second or middle heaven on the spiritual Divine level, and the first or lowest heaven on the natural Divine level. The like is the case with the church on earth. For the whole of heaven is, in the Lord’s sight, like a single person, in which those who are governed by the Lord’s celestial Divinity form the head, and those who are governed by His spiritual Divinity form the trunk, while those who are governed by His natural Divinity form the feet.
For this reason, too, every person, having been created in the image of God, has in him the same three degrees, and as they are opened he becomes an angel either of the third heaven, or of the second, or of the last.
It is owing to this also that the Word contains three levels of meaning – a celestial one, a spiritual one, and a natural one.
The reality of this may be seen in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, particularly in Part Three, in which we discussed these three degrees.
To be shown that feet, the soles of the feet, and heels correspond to natural attributes in people, and that in the Word, therefore, they symbolize natural attributes, see in Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), published in London, nos. 2162 and 4938-4952.
[3] Natural Divine good is also symbolically meant by feet in the following passages. In Daniel:
I lifted my eyes and looked; behold, a…man clothed in linen garments, whose loins were girded with the gold of Uphaz! And his body was like beryl, and…his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and his feet like the sheen of burnished bronze. (Daniel 10:5, 6)
In the book of Revelation:
I saw…an angel coming down from heaven, …his feet like pillars of fire. (Revelation 10:1)
And in Ezekiel:
(The feet of the cherubim) sparkled like the sheen of burnished bronze. (Ezekiel 1:7)
Angels and cherubim so appeared for the reason that the Lord’s Divinity was represented in them.
[4] Since the Lord’s church exists below the heavens, thus under the Lord’s feet, it is therefore called His footstool in the following places:
The glory of Lebanon shall come to you…, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; …I will make the place of My feet honorable. And…they shall bow themselves at the soles of your feet. (Isaiah 60:13, 14)
Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. (Isaiah 66:1)
(God) does not remember His footstool in the day of His anger. (Lamentations 2:1)
…worship (Jehovah) in the direction of His footstool. (Psalm 99:5)
Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah (Bethlehem)…. We will go into His dwelling places, we will bow ourselves at His footstool. (Psalm 132:6, 7)
That is why worshipers fell at the Lord’s feet (Matthew 28:9, Mark 5:22, Luke 8:41, John 11:32), and why they kissed His feet and wiped them with their hair (Luke 7:37, 38, 44-46, John 11:2, 12:3).
[5] Because feet symbolize the natural self, therefore the Lord said to Peter, when He washed Peter’s feet,
He who is washed needs only to have his feet washed, and he is completely clean. (John 13:10)
To wash the feet is to purify the natural self. When it has been purified, the whole self also is purified, as we showed many times in Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), and in The Doctrines of the New Jerusalem.* The natural self, which is also the outer self, is purified when it refrains from the evils which the spiritual or inner self sees to be evils and ones to be shunned.
[6] Now because the feet mean the natural component of a person, and this perverts everything if it is not washed or purified, therefore the Lord says,
If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than to have two feet and be cast into hell, into the unquenchable fire…. (Mark 9:45)
The foot here does not mean the foot, but the natural self.
The like is meant by treading down the good pasture with the feet and troubling waters with the feet (Ezekiel 32:2, 34:18, 19, Daniel 7:7, 19, and elsewhere).
[7] Since the Son of Man means the Lord in relation to the Word, it is apparent that His feet mean the Word in its natural sense as well, which we dealt with at length in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, and also that the Lord came into the world to fulfill everything in the Word and to become thereby an embodiment of the Word, even in its outmost expressions (The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 98-100). But this is a secret for people who will be in the New Jerusalem.
[8] The Lord’s natural Divinity was also symbolized by the bronze serpent that Moses was commanded to set up in the wilderness, so that all who had been bitten by serpents were healed by looking at it (Numbers 21:6, 8, 9). That this symbolized the Lord’s natural Divinity, and that those people are saved who look to it, 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, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:14, 15)
The serpent was made of bronze because bronze, like fine brass, symbolizes the natural self in respect to good, as may be seen in no. 775 below.
* Perhaps The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem, and The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding Faith (Amsterdam, 1763). But perhaps The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine (London, 1758).
A voice, when coming from the Lord, symbolizes Divine truth, as may be seen in no. 37 above. Waters symbolize truths, and specifically natural truths, which are concepts from the Word, as follows from many passages in the Word, of which we cite only the following:
…the earth is full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:9)
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. (Isaiah 12:3)
He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly…: bread will be given him, (and) his water will be constant. (Isaiah 33:15, 16)
The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongue fails for thirst…. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will turn the wilderness into a pool of water, and the dry land into springs of water…, that they may see, know, consider and understand…. (Isaiah 41:17, 18, 20)
I will pour out water on him who is thirsty, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit…. (Isaiah 44:3)
…your light shall rise in the darkness…, that you may be like a watered garden, and like an issue of water, whose waters do not deceive. (Isaiah 58:10, 11)
…My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns…that hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:13)
Their great ones have sent their young ones for water. They went to the cisterns and found no water. Their vessels came back empty. (Jeremiah 14:3)
…they have forsaken Jehovah, the fountain of living waters. (Jeremiah 17:13)
They shall come with weeping, and with prayers I will lead them. I will lead them to a fountain of waters, in the way of rectitude…. (Jeremiah 31:9)
…I will break the staff of bread…and they shall drink water by measure and with astonishment…, so that…they waste away because of their iniquities. (Ezekiel 4:16, 17; cf. 12:18, 19, Isaiah 51:14)
Behold, the days will come…when I will send hunger on the land, not a hunger for bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of Jehovah. They shall wander from sea to sea, and…shall run to and fro, to hear the word of Jehovah, but shall not find it. In that day the…young women and the young men shall faint for thirst. (Amos 8:11-13)
In that day…living waters shall flow from Jerusalem…. (Zechariah 14:8)
Jehovah is my shepherd…, He leads me to still waters. (Psalm 23:1, 2)
They did not thirst…; He caused waters to flow from the rock for them, and He split the rock, so that waters gushed out. (Isaiah 48:21)
O God…, in the morning will I seek You; My soul thirsts…; …(I am) weary, without water. (Psalm 63:1)
(Jehovah) sends out His word…; He causes (the) wind to blow, so that the waters flow. (Psalm 147:18)
Praise (Jehovah), you heavens of heavens, and you waters from above the heavens! (Psalm 148:4)
(Jesus sitting by Jacob’s well said to the woman,) “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will not thirst to eternity. And the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:7-15)
(Jesus said,) “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture says, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37, 38)
To him who thirsts I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely. (Revelation 21:6)
He showed (him) a…river of the water of life…, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. (Revelation 22:1)
And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)
Waters in these passages mean truths, and it is apparent from this that the sound of many waters means the Lord’s Divine truth in the Word, as also in the following places:
Behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east, and His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth was illumined by His glory. (Ezekiel 43:2)
I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters…. (Revelation 14:2)
The voice of Jehovah is on the waters…; Jehovah is on many waters. (Psalm 29:3)
When it is known that waters in the Word mean truths in the natural self, it can be seen what washings in the Israelite Church symbolized, and also what baptism symbolizes, and moreover what is symbolically meant by these words of the Lord in John,
Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (John 3:5)
“Of water” means, symbolically, “by truths,” and “of the Spirit” means, symbolically, “by a life in accordance with them.”
In an opposite sense, waters symbolize falsities, as we will see in subsequent explanations.
When angels are below the heavens, a great number of what look like little stars appear around them, and likewise around spirits who, when they lived in the world, acquired concepts of goodness and truth for themselves from the Word, or truths of life and doctrine. These little stars appear fixed, however, in the case of those who possess genuine truths from the Word, but wandering in the case of those who possess falsified truths.
(Regarding these little stars, and the stars appearing in the sky there, I could relate marvelous things, but that is not the subject of this work.)
It is apparent from this that stars symbolize concepts of goodness and truth from the Word.
The Son of Man’s having them in His right hand means, symbolically, that they come from the Lord alone through the Word. Seven symbolically means all, as may be seen in no. 10 above.
[2] That stars symbolize concepts of goodness and truth from the Word may be seen also from the following passages:
(I will) turn the earth into a wasteland…. …the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. (Isaiah 13:9, 10)
The earth that will be turned into a wasteland is the church, in which, having been laid waste, concepts of goodness and truth in the Word are not seen.
When I put out your light, I will cover the heavens…. All the bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you, and bring darkness upon your land. (Ezekiel 32:7, 8)
Darkness upon the land is the darkness of falsities in the church.
The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars diminish their brightness. (Joel 2:10, 3:15)
…after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven…. (Matthew 24:29, cf. Mark 13:24)
The stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs…. (Revelation 6:13)
…a star (fell) from heaven to the earth. (Revelation 9:1)
Stars falling from heaven do not mean stars, but concepts of goodness and truth perishing.
[3] This is still more apparent from the statement that a dragon swept down a third of the stars from heaven, in Revelation 12:4, and the statement that a he-goat cast down some of the stars and trampled them, in Daniel 8:8-11. That is why the next verse in Daniel goes on to say that it cast truth to the ground (Daniel 8:12).
Stars also symbolize concepts of goodness and truth in the following passages:
(Jehovah) counts…the stars; He gives all of them names. (Psalm 147:4)
Praise (Jehovah), all you stars of light! (Psalm 148:3)
The stars from their courses fought…. (Judges 5:20)
From this it is apparent what is meant by the following statement in Daniel:
The intelligent shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, …those turning many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. (Daniel 12:3)
The intelligent are people concerned with truths, and those turning many to righteousness are those concerned with goodness.
Swords are often mentioned in the Word, and they symbolize nothing else than truth combating falsities and destroying them. In an opposite sense they also symbolize falsity combating truths. For wars in the Word symbolize spiritual wars, which are those of truth against falsity, and of falsity against truth. Therefore the weapons of war symbolize the means by which the combat is carried on in these wars.
It is apparent that the sword here means a dispersion of falsities by the Lord, because it was seen to issue from His mouth, and to issue from the Lord’s mouth is to do so from the Word, for the Lord spoke it with His mouth. Furthermore, because the Word is understood by means of doctrine drawn from it, this too is symbolically meant.
It is called a sharp two-edged sword because it pierces the heart and soul.
[2] To show that the sword here means a dispersion of falsities by the Lord by means of the Word, we will cite some passages which mention a sword, from which the reality of this can be seen. Namely:
A sword against…Babylon, …her princes and her wise men! A sword against the liars, that they may become fools! A sword against her mighty men, that they may be dismayed! A sword against her horses and her chariots…! A sword against her treasures, that they may be plundered! A drought upon her waters, that they may be dried up! (Jeremiah 50:35-38)
The subject here is Babylon, and by it are meant people who falsify and adulterate the Word. Consequently the liars who are to become fools, the horses and chariots with a sword upon them, and the treasures that will be plundered symbolize their doctrinal falsities. The waters that will have a drought upon them that they may be dried up symbolize truths, as may be seen just above in no. 50.
[3] …prophesy and say…, “A sword…is sharpened and also polished! Sharpened to make a great slaughter…. Let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain, a sword for a great slaughter, piercing the innermost recesses, that…stumbling blocks may be multiplied.” (Ezekiel 21:9-15, 19, 20)
A sword here means also the laying waste of truth in the church.
Jehovah will contend…with His sword against all flesh, and the slain by Jehovah shall be multiplied. (Isaiah 66:16)
Here and elsewhere in the Word, the slain by Jehovah are what people are called who perish as a result of falsities.
On all the desolate heights in the wilderness the plunderers have come, …the sword of Jehovah devouring from one end of the land to the other. (Jeremiah 12:12)
At the peril of our lives we bring in our bread, because of the sword in the wilderness. (Lamentations 5:9)
Woe to the worthless shepherd who deserts the flock! A sword shall be against his arm and against his right eye. (Zechariah 11:17)
The sword against the shepherd’s right eye is falsity in his intellect.
…the sons of men are set on fire…, their tongue a sharp sword. (Psalm 57:4)
Behold, they belch with their mouth; a sword is in their lips. (Psalm 59:7)
(The workers of iniquity) sharpen their tongue like a sword…. (Psalm 64:3)
A sword has similar symbolic meanings elsewhere, as in Isaiah 13:15, 21:14, 15, 37:6, 7, 38, 31:7, 8, Jeremiah 2:30, 5:12, 11:22, 14:13-18, Ezekiel 7:15, 32:10-12.
[4] It can be seen from this what the Lord meant by a sword in the following places:
(Jesus said that He did not come) to bring peace on the earth…but a sword. (Matthew 10:34)
(Jesus said,) “…he who does (not) have a purse…and…knapsack…, let him sell his garments and buy (a sword)….” (The disciples) said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said…, “It is enough.” (Luke 22:36, 38)
…all who take the sword will perish by the sword. (Matthew 26:51, 52)
Regarding the end of the age, Jesus says,
They will fall by the edge of the sword, and be taken captive among all the nations. And (finally) Jerusalem will be trampled…. (Luke 21:24)
The end of the age is the final period of the church. The sword is falsity destroying truth. The nations are evils. The Jerusalem which will be trampled is the church.
[5] It is apparent from this, now, that a sharp sword issuing from the mouth of the Son of Man symbolizes a dispersion of falsities by the Lord by means of the Word.
So, too, in the following places in the book of Revelation:
…to the one who sat on (the fiery red horse)…there was given…a great sword. (Revelation 6:4)
From the mouth (of Him who sat on the white horse) came a sharp sword, that with it He might strike the nations…. …the rest were killed with the sword…of Him who sat on the horse. (Revelation 19:15, 21)
He who sat on the white horse means the Lord in relation to the Word, something that is openly stated there in verses 13 and 16.
The like is meant in the book of Psalms:
Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One…ride upon the word of truth….Your arrows are sharp…. (Psalm 45:3-5)
The subject is the Lord. Moreover, elsewhere:
Let the saints exult…and let a two-edged sword be in their hand. (Psalm 149:5, 6)
And in Isaiah:
(Jehovah) has made My mouth like a sharp sword. (Isaiah 49:2)
The fact that the face of Jehovah or of the Lord means the Divine itself in its essence, which is Divine love and wisdom, thus Himself, will be seen in explanations below where the face of God is mentioned. “The sun shining in its power” has the same symbolic meaning.
In the sight of angels the Lord is seen as the sun in heaven, and it is His Divine love accompanied by Divine wisdom that so appears. This may be seen in the book Heaven and Hell (London, 1758), nos. 116-125, and in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, nos. 83-172. [2] It remains here simply to confirm from the Word that when the subject is the Lord, the sun is His Divine love and at the same time His Divine wisdom. This can be seen from the following passages:
…in (that) day…the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days…. (Isaiah 30:25, 26)
That day is the Lord’s advent, when the old church has been destroyed and a new one is about to be established. The light of the moon is faith arising from charity, and the light of the sun is intelligence and wisdom arising from love emanating then from the Lord.
Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon wane; for Jehovah will be your everlasting light…. (Isaiah 60:20)
The sun that will not go down is love and wisdom from the Lord.
…the Rock of Israel spoke to me…like the light of the morning when the sun rises…. (2 Samuel 23:3, 4)
The Rock of Israel is the Lord.
…his throne (shall be) as the sun…. (Psalm 89:36, 37)
This is said in reference to David, but David there means the Lord.
They shall fear You as long as the sun endures…. In His days the righteous shall flourish, and abundance of peace, until the moon is no more…. Before the sun He will have the name of Son, and all nations shall be blessed in Him…. (Psalm 72:5, 7, 17)
These statements, too, are made in reference to the Lord.
[3] Because the Lord appears in heaven to angels as the sun, therefore when He was transfigured,
His face shone like the sun, and His garments became…as the light. (Matthew 17:1, 2)
Moreover, in Revelation 10:1 it is said of the mighty angel coming down from heaven that he was “clothed with a cloud,” and “his face was like the sun,” and of the woman in Revelation 12:1 that she appeared “clothed with the sun.” The sun there is love and wisdom emanating from the Lord. The woman there is the church called the New Jerusalem.
[4] Since the sun means the Lord with respect to love and wisdom, it is apparent what the sun symbolizes in the following places:
Behold, the day of Jehovah is coming, cruel…. The sun will be darkened at its rising, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. I will visit upon the world its wickedness, and upon the impious their iniquity. (Isaiah 13:9-11)
…Jehovah will visit [punishment] in the high place upon the host of the high place, and on the earth upon the kings of the earth…. Then the moon will blush and the sun be ashamed. (Isaiah 24:21, 23)
When I put out your light, I will cover the heavens, and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine…and I will…bring darkness upon your land. (Ezekiel 32:7, 8)
…the day of Jehovah is coming…, a day of darkness…. The sun and moon (will not cause their light to shine), and the stars have diminished their brightness. (Joel 2:1, 2, 10)
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great…day of Jehovah. (Joel 2:31)
…the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon have grown dark…. (Joel 3:14, 15)
The fourth angel sounded: and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars…, and a third of the day did not shine…. (Revelation 8:12)
…the sun became as black as sackcloth of goat’s hair, and the moon became as blood…. (Revelation 6:12)
…the sun was…darkened because of the smoke of the pit. (Revelation 9:2)
The sun in these places does not mean the world’s sun, but the sun of the angelic heaven, which is the Lord’s Divine love and wisdom. These are said to be obscured, darkened, covered, or become black when falsities and evils are present in a person.
[5] It is apparent, therefore, that something similar is meant by the Lord’s words when speaking of the end of the age, which is the final period of the church:
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven…. (Matthew 24:29, cf. Mark 13:24, 25)
So, too, in the following places:
The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be dark for them. (Micah 3:6)
…in that day…I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in broad daylight. (Amos 8:9)
She…who has borne seven…will breath her last; her sun will go down while it is yet day. (Jeremiah 15:9)
The subject here is the Jewish Church, which will breathe its last or perish. The sun’s going down means that there will no longer be any love or charity.
[6] It is said in Joshua that the sun stood still in Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Aijalon (Joshua 10:12, 13). This seems to be an historical statement, but in fact it is prophetic, for it comes from the book of Jasher, which was a prophetic book; for in verse 13 it says, “Is this not written in the Book of Jasher?” The same book is called a prophetic one by David in 2 Samuel 1:17, 18. A similar statement is found in Habakkuk:
The mountains…were shaken…. The sun and moon stood still in their habitation. (Habakkuk 3:10, 11)
[In Isaiah:]
Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon wane. (Isaiah 60:20)
For to cause the sun and moon to stand still would be to destroy the universe.
[7] Since the sun means the Lord with respect to Divine love and wisdom, therefore in their holy worship ancient peoples turned their faces to the rising sun, and their temples also, a practice that continues to this day.
That the sun in these passages does not mean the world’s sun is clear from the fact that it was profane and an abomination for people to worship the world’s sun and moon (see Numbers 25:1-4, Deuteronomy 4:19, 17:3, 5, Jeremiah 8:1, 2, 43:10, 13, 44:17-19, 25, Ezekiel 8:16, 17). For the world’s sun means self-love and a conceit in one’s own intelligence, and self-love is diametrically opposed to Divine love, while a conceit in one’s own intelligence is opposed to Divine wisdom. To worship the world’s sun is also to accept nature as the creator of all things and one’s own prudence as the effecter of all things, which entails a denial of God and a denial of Divine providence.
A person’s own life cannot endure the presence of the Lord such as the Lord is in Himself, indeed such as He is in the inmost constituents of His Word. For His Divine love is altogether like the sun, which no one can endure as it is in itself, because it would consume him.
This is the meaning of the declaration that no one can see God and live (Exodus 33:20, Judges 13:22).
This being the case, the Lord therefore appears to angels in heaven as the sun, at a distance from them, like the world’s sun from people. That is because the Lord in that sun is present as He is in Himself.
But still the Lord moderates and tempers His Divinity so as to make it possible for a person to endure His presence. This He does by veilings. It was what He did when He revealed Himself to many people in the Word. Indeed, it is by veilings that He is present in everyone who worships Him. As He says in John,
He who…keeps (My commandments)…, in him (I) will make (My) abode. (John 14:21, 23)
And He says that He must be in them and they in Him (John 15:4, 5).
It is apparent from this why, when John saw the Lord in such glory, he fell at His feet as though dead. And why, too, when three of the disciples saw the Lord in His glory, they were “heavy with sleep,” and a cloud covered them (Luke 9:32, 34).
The Lord laid His right hand on him because a communication is effected through the touch of the hands. That is because the life of the mind and so of the body projects itself into the arms and through them into the hands. It is on this account that the Lord touched with His hand the people He brought back to life and healed (Mark 1:31, 41, 7:32, 33, 8:22-26, 10:13, 16; Luke 5:12, 13, 7:14, 18:15, 22:51); and that He likewise touched His disciples after they saw Jesus transfigured and fell on their faces (Matthew 17:6, 7).
The fundamental reason for this is that the Lord’s presence in a person is an adjunction, thus a conjunction by contiguity, and this contiguity becomes closer and fuller in the measure that the person loves the Lord, which is to say, as he keeps His commandments.
From these few observations it can be seen that the Lord’s laying His right hand on John means, symbolically, that He infused His life into him.
That it means a revival or bringing back to life follows from what we said just before this in no. 55; and it is apparent that it includes an adoration from the deepest humility, since John fell at the Lord’s feet. Moreover, because upon his revival a holy fear seized him, the Lord said, “Do not be afraid.”
A holy fear is sometimes combined with a reverent trembling of the interior constituents that belong to the mind, and sometimes with a standing on end of the hair, and it comes over a person when life from the Lord enters in place of one’s own life. One’s own life is to look to the Lord from oneself, while life from the Lord is to look to the Lord from the Lord, and yet doing so as though of oneself. When a person is seized by this life, he sees that he is nothing, and that only the Lord is anything.
Daniel was seized by this holy fear when he saw a man clothed in linen garments, whose loins were girded with the gold of Uphaz, his body like beryl, his face like lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, and his arms and his feet like the sheen of burnished bronze. On seeing him Daniel, too, became as though dead, and a hand touched him, and a voice said, “Do not fear, Daniel” (Daniel 10:5-12).
Something similar happened with Peter, James and John when they saw the Lord transfigured and He appeared with a face like the sun and garments like light, on which account they also fell on their faces and feared for themselves greatly, and Jesus then came and touched them, saying, “Do not be afraid for yourselves” (Matthew 17:2, 6, 7).
The Lord also said to women who saw Him at the sepulchre, “Do not be afraid” (Matthew 28:10) And an angel, whose countenance looked like lightning and his clothing like snow, said to the same women as well, “Do not be afraid for yourselves” (Matthew 28:3-5)
An angel also said to Zacharias, “Do not be afraid” (Luke 1:12, 13). An angel likewise said to Mary, “Do not be afraid” (Luke 1:30). And to the shepherds as well, when the glory of the Lord shone around them, an angel said, “Do not be afraid” (Luke 2:9, 10).
The same holy fear seized Simon Peter because of the catch of fish, so that he said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” But Jesus said to him, “Do not be afraid.” (Luke 5:8-10)
And so on elsewhere.
We cite these instances to show why the Lord said to John, “Do not be afraid” – that it means a revival, and from the deepest humility then, adoration.
In the Word of the Old Testament, Jehovah calls Himself living and one who lives, because He alone has life; for He is love itself and wisdom itself, and these constitute life.
That there is only one life, namely God, and that angels and people are recipients of life from Him, is something we showed many times in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom.
Jehovah calls Himself living and one who lives in Isaiah 38:18, 19, Jeremiah 5:2, 12:16, 16:14, 15, 23:7, 8, 46:18, Ezekiel 5:11.
The Lord is life also in respect to His Divine humanity, because the Father and He are one. Therefore He says,
…as the Father has life in Himself, so He has given the Son to have life in Himself…. (John 5:26)
Jesus said…, “I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25)
Jesus said…, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)
In the beginning was the Word…, and God was the Word…. In Him was life…. And the Word became flesh…. (John 1:1-4, 14)
Because the Lord alone is life, it follows that He is the only source of life. Therefore He says, Because I live, you will live also. (John 14:19)
His being put to death does not mean that He was crucified and so died, but that He was disregarded in the Church and His Divine humanity not acknowledged, for thus He became dead to people.
People do indeed acknowledge the Lord’s Divinity from eternity, but this is in actuality Jehovah. They do not, however, acknowledge His humanity to be Divine, even though the Divinity and the humanity in Him are like soul and body, and so are not two entities but one, in fact one person, in agreement with the doctrine accepted throughout the Christian world which has its name from Athanasius.
When people divorce the Lord’s Divinity from His humanity, therefore, saying that His humanity is not Divine but like the humanity of any other person, He becomes then dead to them.
Regarding this divorce, however, and thus the death of the Lord, more may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord; and also in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Providence, nos. 262, 263.
Since the declaration, “I am He who lives,” symbolically means that the Lord alone is life and the only source of life (see no. 58 above), it follows that saying, “Behold, I am alive forevermore,” symbolically means that He alone is life to eternity, and thus that He is the only source of eternal life. For He has eternal life in Him, and He is therefore its source. Forevermore means to eternity.
That the Lord is the only source of eternal life is clear from the following passages:
(Jesus said,) “…whoever believes in (Me) shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
He who believes in the Son has everlasting life, while he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. (John 3:36, cf. 6:40)
Assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. (John 6:47, 48)
I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, shall live. …whoever…believes in Me shall never die. (John 11:25, 26)
And elsewhere.
This, now, is why the Lord is also called He who lives forever and ever in the following verses in the book of Revelation: 4:9, 10, 5:14, and 10:6. And also in Daniel 4:34.
That amen means the truth, which the Lord embodies, see no. 23 above.
Keys symbolize the power to open and close – here the power to open hell so that a person can be brought out, and to close it to keep him from going back in once he has been brought out. For people are born into evils of every kind, thus in a state of hell, for evils constitute hell. They are brought out of it by the Lord, who has the power to open it.
To have the keys of hell and death does not mean the power to cast into hell, but the power to save, and this because it immediately follows the declaration, “Behold, I am alive forevermore,” which symbolically means that the Lord alone is eternal life (no. 60). Moreover, the Lord never casts anyone into hell, but it is the person himself who casts himself.
Keys symbolize the power to open also in Revelation 3:7, 9:1, 20:1; in Isaiah 22:21, 22; in Matthew 16:19; and in Luke 11:52.
The Lord’s power extends not only over heaven but also over hell, for hell is kept in its order and connection by forces directed against and opposed to heaven. Consequently He who rules the one must necessarily rule the other. Otherwise no one could be saved. To be saved is to be brought out of hell.
This is clear without explanation.
The seven stars symbolize the church in the heavens, and the seven lampstands symbolize the church on earth, as we will see in the explanations that follow next.
The church exists in heaven as well as on earth, for the Word exists in heaven as on the earth, and people there draw doctrines from it, and preach sermons from it (on which subject see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 70-75, and nos. 104-113). This church is the new heaven that we said something about in the Preface.
The church in the heavens or New Heaven is meant by the seven stars, because we are told that the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and an angel symbolizes a heavenly society.
The sky in the spiritual world appears filled with stars as in the natural world, and this appearance is owing to the angelic societies in heaven. Every society there shines like a star in the eyes of inhabitants who dwell below. Because of this they know there where the angelic societies are situated.
To be shown that seven symbolically does not mean seven, but all who are constituents of the church there, according to each one’s state of reception, see nos. 10, 14, and 41 above. Thus the angels of the seven churches mean the whole church in the heavens, thus the New Heaven in its entirety.
That the lampstands mean the church may be seen in no. 43 above. And because seven symbolically means all (no. 10), the seven lampstands do not mean seven churches but the church in its entirety, which in itself is one, though varied in accordance with people’s reception. These variations may be compared to the various jewels in a royal crown; and they may also be compared to the various members and organs in an intact body, which nevertheless form a single unit. The perfection of every form arises from various components suitably arranged in their proper order. That is why the seven churches describe the entire New Church in its varieties in what now follows.
———-
[2] We say, in universal form, because it is a universal tenet of faith, and a universal tenet of faith must enter into each and every component of that faith.
It is a universal tenet of 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 tenet of faith that no mortal could have been saved unless the Lord came into the world.
It is universal tenet of faith that the Lord came into the world to dislodge hell from mankind, and that He dislodged it by combats against it and victories over it. Thus He conquered it and forced it back into order, in obedience to Him.
It is a universal tenet of faith also that the Lord came into the world to glorify the humanity that He assumed in the world, or in other words, to unite it to the Divine from which He came. Thus He keeps hell, having been conquered by Him, in order and in obedience to Him to eternity.
Since neither of these objectives could have been achieved except through temptations or trials even to the last of them, and the last of them was the suffering of the cross, therefore He underwent even that.
These are the universal tenets of faith as regards the Lord.
[3] The universal tenet of Christian faith on the part of mankind is to believe in the Lord, for believing in Him brings about conjunction with Him, through which comes salvation. To believe in Him is to have confidence that He saves, and because no one is capable of this confidence but one who lives rightly, therefore living rightly, too, is meant by believing in Him.
[4] We have considered these two articles of Christian faith in particular elsewhere: first, as regards the Lord, in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord; and secondly, as regards mankind, in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding Charity, in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding Faith, and in The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem. And we now consider both in our explanations dealing with the book of Revelation.
68. CHAPTER 2
1 “To the angel of the church of Ephesus 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 your works, your labor, and your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have explored those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3 and you have endured and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. 4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first charity. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen and repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place, if you do not repent. 6 But this you have, that you hate the deeds 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 from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.’
8 “And to the angel of the church of the people of Smyrna write, ‘These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and is alive: 9 I know your works, and tribulation, and poverty, and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you 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 your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith, even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. 15 Thus you have also those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 16 Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against 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 white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows except him who receives it.’
18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, ‘These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass: 19 I know your works, and charity and ministry, and faith, and your patience, and your works, and the last more than the first. 20 Nevertheless I have a few things against you, that you allow the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. 21 And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. 22 Behold, I am casting her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless she repents of her deeds. 23 I will kill her sons with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the reins and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to his works. 24 Yet 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 will put on you no other burden. 25 Still, hold fast what you have till I come. 26 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations. 27 He shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels, as I also have received 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 MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
To the churches in the Christian world: to people there who regard primarily doctrinal truths and not goods of life, those meant by the church of Ephesus, nos. 73-90.
To those there who are engaged in good endeavors as regards life, and caught up in falsities as regards doctrine, those meant by the church of the people of Smyrna, nos. 91-106.
To those there who place everything of the church in good works and not anything in truths, those meant by the church in Pergamum, nos. 107-123.
And to those there who possess a faith springing from charity, as well as to those who possess a faith divorced from charity, those meant by the church in Thyatira, nos. 124-152.
These are all called to the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem.
The Contents of the Individual Verses
1 “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write,
To people and concerning people who regard doctrinal truths primarily, and not goods of life:
‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand,
The Lord, the source of all truths by means of the Word,
who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:
the source of all enlightenment for people who are part of His church.
2 I know your works,
The Lord sees all a person’s inner and outer qualities simultaneously,
your labor, and your patience,
their effort and perseverance,
and that you cannot bear those who are evil.
that they cannot endure to have evils called goods, or the converse.
And you have explored those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;
They have examined what in the church are called goods and truths, which nevertheless are evils and falsities.
3 and you have endured and have patience,
Their perseverance with them.
and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.
Their effort and work in acquiring for themselves the constituents of religion and its accompanying doctrine.
4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first charity.
But this is against them, that they do not hold goods of life in first place.
5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen
A calling to mind of their going astray,
and repent and do the first works,
in order to turn the state of their life around.
or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place, if you do not repent.
Otherwise it is certain that enlightenment will not be granted for them to continue to see truths.
6 But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Owing to their truths they know this and therefore do not wish works to be merit-seeking.
7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Anyone who understands these things, let him obey what the Divine truth of the Word teaches those who will be members of the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem.
To him who overcomes
To him who fights against evils and falsities and is reformed,
I will give to eat from the tree of life,
an assimilation of the goodness of love and charity from the Lord,
which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.’
inwardly in the truths of wisdom and faith.
8 “And to the angel of the church of the people of Smyrna write,
To people and concerning people who as to life are engaged in good endeavors, but as to doctrine are caught up in falsities:
‘These things says the First and the Last,
The Lord, that He alone is God,
who was dead, and is alive:
that He has been disregarded in the church and His humanity not acknowledged to be Divine, even though in respect to it, too, He alone is life and the only source of eternal life.
9 I know your works,
The Lord sees all those people’s inner and outer qualities simultaneously,
and tribulation, and poverty,
that they are caught up in falsities and so are not engaged in good practices,
and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not,
their false speaking in saying that they have among them goods of love, when in fact they do not,
but are a synagogue of Satan.
because as to doctrine they are caught up in falsities.
10 Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer.
Do not despair when you are infested by evils and attacked by falsities.
Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison,
Their goodness of life will be infested by evils emanating from hell,
that you may be tested,
through falsities assailing them.
and you will have tribulation ten days.
This will continue the whole time.
Be faithful until death,
Their reception of truths until their falsities are removed.
and I will give you the crown of life.
They will then have eternal life, their reward for overcoming.
11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
The same here as before [verse 7].
He who overcomes
He who fights against evils and falsities and is reformed
shall not be hurt by the second death.’
will not later succumb to evils and falsities from hell.
12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write,
To people and concerning people who place everything having to do with the church in good works, and not anything in doctrinal truths:
‘These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword:
The Lord in relation to doctrinal truths from the Word, by which evils and falsities are dispelled.
13 I know your works,
The same here as before [verses 2, 9].
and where you dwell, [where Satan’s throne is].
Their life in darkness,
And you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith,
even though they have religion and worship in accordance with it,
even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
at a time when all truth has been extinguished by falsities in the church.
14 But I have a few things against you,
Against them are the following:
because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
that they have among them people who perform hypocritical works, by which the worship of God in the church is defiled and adulterated;
15 Thus you have also those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
that they have among them also people who make works deserving of merit.
16 Repent,
They should guard themselves against such works.
or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
If they do not, the Lord will contend with them from the Word.
17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
The same here as before [verses 7, 11].
To him who overcomes
The same here as before [verses 7, 11].
I will give to eat of the hidden manna.
An assimilation of the good of celestial love then, and thus a conjunction of the Lord with those who perform works.
And I will give him a white stone,
Truths supportive of and united to good.
and on the stone a new name written,
Thus they will have a quality of good that they did not have before,
which no one knows except him who receives it.’
which is not apparent to anyone, because it is engraved on their life.
18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write,
To people and concerning people who are governed by a faith arising from charity, and so are engaged in good works; and also to people and concerning people who are governed by a faith divorced from charity, and so are engaged in evil works.
‘These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire,
The Lord in respect to the Divine wisdom of His Divine love.
and His feet like fine brass:
Natural Divine good.
19 I know your works,
The same here as before [verses 2, 9, 13].
and charity and ministry,
The spiritual affection called charity, and the practice of it.
and your faith and patience,
Truth and their effort to acquire it and teach it.
and your works, and the last more than the first.
The growth of these from an affection for spiritual truth.
20 Nevertheless I have a few things against you,
These are the things that follow:
that you allow the woman Jezebel,
that they have among them people in the church who divorce faith from charity,
who calls herself a prophetess,
and who make faith the only doctrine of the church,
to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality
in consequence of which faith the truths of the church are falsified.
and eat things sacrificed to idols.
The defilement of worship and profanations.
21 And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.
Those who confirm themselves in that doctrine do not turn back from it, even if they see things contrary to it in the Word.
22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation,
Therefore they must be left to their doctrine with its falsifications and be sorely infested by falsities,
unless she repents of her deeds.
if they refuse to turn back from divorcing faith from charity.
23 I will kill her sons with death,
Truths from the Word will all be turned into falsities,
that all the churches may know that I am He who searches the reins and hearts.
so that the church may know that the Lord sees the quality of truth and the quality of good in everyone,
And I will give to each one of you according to his works.
and gives to everyone according to the charity and its accompanying faith present in his works.
24 Yet to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine,
To those in whose case the doctrine of faith is divorced from charity, and to those in whose case the doctrine of faith is combined with charity,
and who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say,
who do not understand the interior constituents of their tenets, which are nothing but falsities:
I will put on you no other burden.
Only let them guard themselves against those people,
25 Still, hold fast what you have till I come.
so that they may retain the few things that they know from the Word about charity and its resulting faith, and live according to them, until the Lord’s advent.
26 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end,
Those who are in fact governed by charity and its resulting faith, and continue to be governed by them to the end of their life,
to him I will give power over the nations.
will overcome the evils in themselves that come from hell
27 He shall rule them with a rod of iron;
by truths drawn from the literal sense of the Word and at the same time by rational considerations from a natural sight,
they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels,
as being of little or no account.
as I also have received from My Father;
And this owing to the Lord, who, when He was in the world, acquired for Himself all power over the hells, by virtue of His Divinity that He had in Him.
28 and I will give him the morning star.
Intelligence and wisdom then.
29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'”
The same here as before [verses 7, 11, 17].
69. THE EXPOSITION
This and the following chapter have as their subject seven churches which describe all those people in the Christian Church who have religion, and out of whom a new church can be formed, which is the New Jerusalem; and it is formed of those who go to the Lord alone and at the same time repent of their evil works. The rest, who do not go to the Lord alone, owing to their entrenched denial that His humanity is Divine, are indeed in the church, but they do not have anything of the church in them.
That it is He alone who speaks to the churches is apparent from these passages:
To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, “These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.” (Revelation 2:1)
To the angel of the church of the people of Smyrna write, “These things says the First and the Last….” (Revelation 2:8)
To the angel of the church in Pergamum write, “These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword.” (Revelation 2:12)
To the angel of the church in Thyatira write, “These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass.” (Revelation 2:18)
To the angel of the church in Sardis write, “These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars.” (Revelation 3:1)
To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, “These things says He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David….” (Revelation 3:7)
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.” (Revelation 3:14)
These characterizations are taken from the first chapter, which has as its subject the Lord alone, and they are all means of describing Him there.
To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7)
To the church of the people of Smyrna:
…I will give you the crown of life…. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. (Revelation 2:10, 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 white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows except him who receives it. (Revelation 2:17)
To the church in Thyatira:
…to him I will give power over the nations…and I will give him the morning star. (Revelation 2:26, 28)
To the church in Philadelphia:
He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God…. And I will write on him the name of My God…, the name of…the New Jerusalem…, and My new name. (Revelation 3:12)
To the church in Laodicea:
To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne…. (Revelation 3:21)
From these passages it is apparent, too, that the Lord alone is acknowledged in the New Church. That is why that church is called the Lamb’s wife (Revelation 19:7, 9, 21:9, 10).
I know your works…. I have…against you, that you have left your first charity…. …repent and do the first works, or else I will…remove your lampstand from its place, if you do not repent. (Revelation 2:2, 4, 5)
To the church in Pergamum:
I know your works…. Repent…. (Revelation 2:13, 16)
To the church in Thyatira:
…I will deliver her…into…tribulation, unless she repents of her deeds…. I will give to each one of you according to his works. (Revelation 2:19, 22, 23)
To the church in Sardis:
…I have not found your works perfect before God…. …repent. (Revelation 3:1-3)
To the church in Laodicea:
I know your works…. Be zealous…and repent. (Revelation 3:15, 19)
The exposition itself now follows.
In no. 66 above we showed that the seven churches do not mean seven churches, but the church in its entirety, which in itself is one, but varied in accordance with people’s reception. We said as well that these variations may be compared to the various members and organs in an intact body, which nevertheless form a single unit; indeed that they may be compared to the various jewels in a royal crown; and that that is why the seven churches describe the entire New Church in its varieties in what now follows.
That the church of Ephesus means people in the church who regard doctrinal truths primarily, and not goods of life, is apparent from the particulars written to it, understood in their spiritual sense.
The letter was written to the angel of that church, because the angel means the angelic society corresponding to a church consisting of such people, as indicated in no. 65 above.
It may be seen in no. 51 above 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 concepts of goodness and truth in the Word, which exist therefore from the Lord in angels in heaven and in people in the church. Concepts of goodness and truth from the Word are truths.
It may be seen in nos. 43 and 66 above that the seven lampstands with the Son of Man in the midst of them mean, symbolically, a church that will have an enlightenment from the Lord.
He is said here to walk, because to walk means, symbolically, to live (no. 167); and in the midst means, symbolically, in the inmost and so in every part (nos. 44, 383).
Works are often mentioned in the book of Revelation, but few know what works mean. This much is known, that ten people may do works which outwardly appear alike, but which are nevertheless not alike within them all, because the works emanate from different ends and different causes, and it is the end and cause that make works to be either good or evil. For every work is a work of the mind. Consequently whatever the character of the mind, such is the character of the work. If the mind is an embodiment of charity, the work becomes an expression of charity. But if the mind is not an embodiment of charity, the work does not become an expression of charity. Yet the two may appear alike outwardly.
Works are visible in their outward form to people, but in their inward form to angels, and to the Lord they appear as they are from their inmost elements to their outmost ones.
Works in their outward form have an appearance not unlike that of unpeeled fruit, while works in their inward form have an appearance like that of the fruit inside the peel, where one finds countless edible parts, and at the center seeds containing once again countless constituents, which are far too small to be seen by the eyes, indeed which surpass the scope of the human intellect.
Such is the nature of all works, whose inward character the Lord alone sees, and which angels also perceive from the Lord when a person is doing them.
But more on this subject may be seen in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, nos. 209-220, and nos. 277-281; and also here below, nos. 141, 641, 868.
It can be seen from this that the declaration, “I know your works,” means, symbolically, that the Lord sees all a person’s inner and outer qualities simultaneously.
That this declaration has this symbolic meaning is apparent from the one that directly follows, which means, symbolically, that they have examined what in the church are called goods and truths, when in fact they are evils and falsities.
Knowing whether goods are good or evil is a matter of doctrine, and a part of its truths, whereas doing goods or evils is a matter of life. The present declaration is made, therefore, of people who regard doctrinal truths primarily, and not goods of life (no. 73).
In the spiritual sense those who are evil do not mean evil people, but evils themselves, because that sense is abstracted from person.
That this is the symbolic meaning can be seen only by recourse to the spiritual sense, and only if one knows from that sense what apostles and liars mean. Apostles do not mean apostles, but all who teach the church’s goods and truths, and in an abstract sense, its doctrinal goods and truths themselves.
That apostles do not mean apostles is clearly apparent from this declaration to them:
…when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you…will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Matthew 19:28; cf. Luke 22:30)
Who does not see that the apostles would not judge anyone, and cannot judge anyone, much less the twelve tribes of Israel, but that the Lord alone would do so in accordance with the goods and truths of the church’s doctrine that it has from the Word?
The same is clearly apparent also from the following:
The wall of the city (of the New Jerusalem) had twelve foundations, and on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. (Revelation 21:14)
The same is clearly apparent from this since the New Jerusalem symbolizes the New Church (nos. 880, 881), and its foundations all the goods and truths of its doctrine (nos. 902ff.)
[2] The same is apparent as well from this:
Rejoice…, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets…. (Revelation 18:20)
What is the rejoicing of apostles and prophets, unless apostles and prophets mean all those people who possess doctrinal goods and truths in the church?
The Lord’s disciples mean people who are instructed by the Lord in doctrinal goods and truths, while apostles mean those who, after having been instructed, teach them. For we are told,
(Jesus) sent (His twelve disciples) to preach the kingdom of God…, and when the apostles had returned, they told Him whatever they had done. (Luke 9:1, 2, 10; cf. Mark 6:7, 30)
Liars mean people who are caught up in falsities, and abstractly the falsities themselves, as can be seen from many passages in the Word where liars and lies are mentioned – so many that if we were to cite them they would fill pages. In the spiritual sense lies are nothing else than falsities.
It can be seen from this now that the statement, “You have explored those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars,” means, symbolically, that they have examined what in the church are called goods and truths, which nevertheless are evils and falsities.
The name of Jehovah or the Lord in the Word does not mean His name, but everything by which He is worshiped. And because He is worshiped in accordance with doctrine in the church, His name means everything pertaining to doctrine, and in the broadest sense, everything pertaining to religion.
These are the meanings of the name of Jehovah, and the reason is that in heaven the only names found are ones that reflect a person’s character, and God’s character includes everything by which He is worshiped.
One who is not aware of this symbolic meaning of a name in the Word can understand it only as a name; and in this alone there is nothing pertaining to worship and religion.
[2] Someone who keeps in mind, therefore, this symbolic meaning of “the name of Jehovah” when it is mentioned in the Word, will of himself understand its symbolic meaning in the following passages:
In that day you will say: “Confess to Jehovah, call upon His name.” (Isaiah 12:4)
…O Jehovah, we have waited for You; the desire of our soul is for Your name…. …by You we make mention of Your name. (Isaiah 26:8, 13)
From the rising of the sun My name shall be called on. (Isaiah 41:25)
…from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered to My name…; for My name shall be great among the nations…. …you profane (My name) when you say, “The table of Jehovah is defiled….” But you sneer at (My name)…, when you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick. (Malachi 1:11-13)
…all peoples walk in the name of their god, but we will walk in the name of Jehovah our God…. (Micah 4:5)
Everyone who is called by My name, for My glory I have created him, I have formed him…. (Isaiah 43:7)
You shall not take the name of Jehovah your God in vain; …Jehovah will not hold him innocent who takes His name in vain. (Deuteronomy 5:11)
They were to worship Jehovah in one place, where He should put His name (Deuteronomy 12:5, 11, 13, 14, 18, 16:2, 6, 11, 15, 16). And so on in many other places. Who does not see that the name in them does not mean simply a name?
[3] It is the same with the name of the Lord in the New Testament, as in the following places:
(Jesus said,) “You will be hated by all because of My name. (Matthew 10:22; cf. 24:9, 10)
…where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20)
Everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters…for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and…eternal life. (Matthew 19:29)
As many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. (John 1:12)
…many believed in His name…. (John 2:23)
He who does not believe is judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:17, 18)
…believing (they will) have life in His name. (John 20:31)
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! (Matthew 21:9, 23:39; Luke 13:35, cf. 19:38)
[4] In respect to His humanity the Lord is the name of the Father, as witness the following:
Father, glorify Your name. (John 12:28)
Hallowed be Your name (and) Your kingdom come. (Matthew 6:9, 10)
See also Exodus 23:20, 21,* Jeremiah 23:6,** Micah 5:3.***
“Name” in the case of other people refers to a quality of worship, as in the following:
(A shepherd) calls his own sheep by (their) name…. (John 10:3)
You have a few names in Sardis…. (Revelation 3:4)
I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem…, and My new name. (Revelation 3:12)
And the like elsewhere.
It can be seen from this now that the statement, “You have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary,” symbolizes their effort and work in acquiring for themselves and also teaching the constituents of religion and its accompanying doctrine.
* Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him.
** In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
*** And He shall stand and feed His flock in the strength of Jehovah, in the majesty of the name of Jehovah His God; and they shall abide, for now He shall be great to the ends of the earth.
This statement is addressed to the church of Ephesus, because it means people in the church who regard doctrinal truths primarily or in first place, and not goods of life (no. 73), even though goods of life ought to be regarded in first place or primarily. For to the extent that a person is engaged in good endeavors in his life, to the same extent he is in possession of doctrinal truths really, but not the reverse. The reason is that goods of life open the inner recesses of the mind, and when these have been opened, truths appear in their own light, causing them to be not only understood, but also loved. Not so when doctrinal teachings are regarded primarily or in first place. Truths may indeed be known then, but they cannot be seen interiorly or loved with a spiritual affection. However, more light may be shed on this in no. 17 above.
In its beginning, every church regards goods of life in first place, and secondly doctrinal truths. But as a church declines, it begins to regard doctrinal truths in first place, and secondly goods of life. And in the end it at last regards faith only, and it not only divorces goods of charity from faith then, but even gives up practice of them.
It can be seen from this now that the statement, “You have left your first charity,” means, symbolically, that they do not hold goods of life in first place, as they did, however, before, and as people do at the beginning of every church.
Everyone regards doctrinal truths in first place, but as long as he does this, he is like unripe fruit. After he has absorbed those truths, however, someone who is being regenerated regards goods of life in first place, and in proportion as he does so, he is like ripening fruit, and as that fruit ripens, the seed in it becomes fertile.
I have seen these two states in people after they became spirits, and in the first state they appeared to be facing toward valleys situated above hell, while in the second state they appeared to be facing toward the paradisal gardens that are found in heaven.
This turning around of their state of life is what is meant here. It is achieved by repentance, and after that by goodness of life, and this is what is meant by the statement, “Repent and do the first works.”
“Quickly” or “shortly” means, symbolically, surely or of a certainty (nos. 4, 947), and a lampstand means the church in respect to its enlightenment (nos. 43, 66). Removing it from its place, therefore, symbolically means to take away enlightenment so that people do not see truths in their own light, and at last do not see them at all.
This follows from what we said in no. 82 above, namely that if doctrinal truths are regarded primarily or in first place, they may indeed be known, but they cannot be seen interiorly or loved with a spiritual affection, and therefore they gradually perish. For to see truths by their own light is to see them with a person’s inner mind, which we call the spiritual mind, a mind that is opened by charity, and when it has been opened, light flows in from the Lord with an affection for understanding truths from heaven. This is what produces enlightenment.
A person who has this enlightenment recognizes truths as soon as he reads or hears them, but not one whose spiritual mind has not been opened, namely one who is not engaged in goods of charity, however much he may possess doctrinal truths.
That the deeds of the Nicolaitans are merit-seeking works is something I have been granted to know by revelation.
We are told that the people of this church hate those works, because the church knows this owing to the truths of its doctrine, and therefore does not will them, which is why the verse says, “But this you have.”
Nevertheless, people who put truths of faith in first place, and goods of charity second, all do works that are merit-seeking. But not people who put goods of charity in first place. The reason is that genuine charity does not wish to be rewarded, as it loves to do good. For it is prompted by goodness, and acts out of goodness, and from goodness looks to the Lord, knowing from its truths that all good comes from the Lord. It is therefore averse to seeking reward.
Now because people who regard truths of faith in first place cannot help but do works that are merit-seeking, and yet know from their truths that such works are to be hated, therefore the present statement comes after their being told that if they do not have charity in first place, they do works that they ought to be averse to.
We say that it is contrary to the Lord’s merit and righteousness, because those who place merit in their works claim righteousness for themselves. For they say that righteousness is on their side because they have earned it, even though it is the height of unrighteousness, as the Lord alone has merited it and He alone does the good in them.
That the Lord alone is righteous is taught in Jeremiah:
Behold, the days are coming…when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch…. And this is His name by which He will be called: JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. (Jeremiah 23:5, 6, cf. 33:15, 16)
To hear means, symbolically, both to perceive and to obey, because a person pays attention in order to perceive and obey. That both are symbolically meant by hearing is apparent from common speech, in which people speak of hearing someone or something, and of listening to someone or something, the first signifying to perceive, the latter to obey.
To hear has both symbolic meanings owing to correspondence, for the province of the ears in heaven is occupied by people who possess perception and at the same time are obedient.
Since hearing has both symbolic meanings, therefore the Lord says so many times, “He who has an ear to hear, let him hear!” (Matthew 11:15, 13:43; Mark 4:9, 23, 7:16; Luke 8:8, 14:35) And the same command is also addressed to all the churches here, as is apparent from verses 11, 17, and 29 in this chapter, and from verses 6, 13, and 22 in the following chapter.
The spirit that speaks to the churches, moreover, symbolizes the Divine truth of the Word, and the churches symbolize the entire church throughout the Christian world. To be shown that the Divine truth emanating from the Lord is meant by the spirit of God, which is the same as the Holy Spirit, see The Doctrine of the New Church Regarding the Lord, no. 51. And because the entire church is meant, we are told not what the spirit says to the church (singular), but what the spirit says to the churches (plural).
Now because the letters to the seven churches describe the states of all those people in the Christian church who can accept the doctrine of the New Jerusalem and live according to it, thus who can, through combats against evils and falsities, be reformed, therefore to each it is said, “He who overcomes,” as to the church of Ephesus here:
To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life…. (Revelation 2:7)
To the church of the people of Smyrna:
He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. (Revelation 2:11)
To the church in Pergamum:
To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the hidden manna. (Revelation 2:17)
To the church in Thyatira:
He who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations. (Revelation 2:26)
To the church in Sardis:
He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments…. (Revelation 3:5)
To the church in Philadelphia:
He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God…. (Revelation 3:12)
And to the church in Laodicea:
To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne…. (Revelation 3:21)
“He who overcomes” in these places means, symbolically, one who fights against evils and falsities and so is reformed.
In the Word, to eat means, symbolically, to assimilate, and the tree of life symbolizes the Lord in respect to the goodness of love. Thus eating of the tree of life symbolizes an assimilation of the goodness of love from the Lord.
To eat means, symbolically, to assimilate because as natural food, when eaten, is assimilated into the life of a person’s body, so spiritual food, when received, is assimilated into the life of his soul.
The tree of life symbolizes the Lord in respect to the goodness of love because that is what the tree of life symbolizes in the Garden of Eden, and because a person has celestial and spiritual life from the goodness of love and charity that he receives from the Lord.
Many passages make mention of a tree, and it means a person of the church, and in the broadest sense the church itself, its fruit meaning goodness of life. The reason is that the Lord is the tree of life, the source of every good in the church and in a person of the church. But more on this subject in its proper place.
We say the goodness of love and charity, because the goodness of love is celestial good, which is an expression of love toward the Lord, and the goodness of charity is spiritual good, which is an expression of love for the neighbor. The nature and character of each good will be told in discussions to follow. Something about them may be seen in the book Heaven and Hell, nos. 13-19.
In the midst means, symbolically, the inmost (nos. 44, 383), here within or inwardly. The Paradise of God symbolizes truths of wisdom and faith. Consequently the tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God symbolizes the Lord accompanied by the goodness of love and charity inwardly in the truths of wisdom and faith. Good also exists inwardly within truths, for good is the essence of life, and truth is the consequent expression of life, as we showed many times in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom.
That the Paradise of God is the truth of wisdom and faith is apparent from the symbolic meaning of a garden in the Word. A garden there symbolizes wisdom and intelligence, because trees symbolize the people of the church, and their fruits goods of life. That is what the Garden of Eden symbolizes, for it describes the wisdom of Adam.
[2] The garden of God in Ezekiel has the same meaning:
With your wisdom and your understanding you have gained riches for yourself…. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering…. (Ezekiel 28:4, 13)
The subject is Tyre, which symbolizes the church in respect to its concepts of truth and good, thus in respect to its intelligence. Accordingly it is said, “With your wisdom and your understanding you have gained riches for yourself.” The precious stones which served as its covering symbolize truths of intelligence.
[3] In the same book:
Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon…. The cedars in the garden of God did not hide it…. No tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty…. All the trees of Eden envied it…in the garden of God. (Ezekiel 31:3, 8, 9)
This is said of Egypt and Assyria, because Egypt symbolizes knowledge, and Assyria rationality, which leads to intelligence. A cedar has a similar symbolism.
But because Egypt’s rationality led also to a conceit in its own intelligence, therefore it is said of it,
To which of the trees in Eden were you then likened in glory and greatness, when you were brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth below, and you lay in the midst of the uncircumcised…? (Ezekiel 31:18)
The uncircumcised are people who lack the goodness of charity.
[4] In Isaiah:
…Jehovah will comfort Zion…, and make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah. (Isaiah 51:3)
Zion there is the church. The wilderness and desert are a deficiency of truth and ignorance of it. Eden and the garden of God are wisdom and intelligence.
Wisdom and intelligence are also symbolically meant by a garden in Isaiah 58:11, 61:11, Jeremiah 31:12, Amos 9:14, and Numbers 24:6.
[5] A person of the church is also like a garden in respect to his intelligence when he possesses goodness of love from the Lord, because the spiritual warmth that enlivens him is love, and spiritual light is the resulting intelligence.
People know that these two, warmth and light, cause gardens in the world to bloom. It is the same in heaven. Paradisal gardens are seen in heaven, with trees bearing fruit in accordance with the inhabitants’ wisdom that springs from their goodness of love from the Lord. But around people who possess intelligence without the goodness of love, no gardens are seen, but grass, while around those whose faith is divorced from charity, not even grass is seen, but sand.
That people of this character are meant by the church of the people of Smyrna is apparent from the letter addressed to it, understood in its spiritual meaning.
The Lord calls Himself the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, and the Alpha and the Omega, also He who is and who was and who is to come. See chapter 1, verses 4, 8, 11, 17. And for the symbolic meaning of these, see nos. 13, 29, 30, 31, 38, 57 above, where it is apparent that they mean as well that He alone is God.
That this is the meaning may be seen in nos. 58-60 above, where these words have been explained.
This statement and the one immediately preceding it are made because the primary falsity of the people described by this church is their failure to acknowledge the Lord’s Divine humanity, and therefore they do not go to Him.
This follows from our explanation in no. 76 above – in this case that He sees that they are caught up in falsities, and yet as to life are engaged in good endeavors, which they believe to be goods of life, even though they are not.
Knowing their tribulation means, symbolically, seeing that they are caught up in falsities, and knowing their poverty means, symbolically, seeing that they are not engaged in good practices. For tribulation in the Word is predicated of falsities, as in no. 33 above, while poverty is predicated of the absence of goods. That is what spiritual poverty is. The Word quite often speaks of the poor and needy, and in the spiritual sense a poor person means someone who is lacking in truths, and a needy person someone who is lacking in goods.
Added to the verse are also these words, “But you are rich,” though in parentheses, and this because they are not found in some codices.
Blasphemy here means, symbolically, false speaking. Jews do not mean Jews, but people who possess the goodness of love, and abstractly goods of love themselves. Consequently the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not means, symbolically, their false speaking in saying that they have among them goods of love, when in fact they do not.
Jews mean people who possess the goodness of love because in the highest sense in the Word, Judah means the Lord in respect to the Divine goodness of His Divine love, and Israel means the Lord in respect to the Divine truth of His Divine wisdom. Therefore Jews symbolize people who possess the goodness of love from the Lord, and Israel people who possess Divine truths from the Lord.
That Jews mean people of this character can be seen from many passages in the Word, which will be cited in no. 350 below. See also some remarks in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, no. 51.
Jews abstractly mean goods of love because the spiritual sense is abstracted from person, as may be seen in no. 78, 79 above.
When reading the Word in the Prophets, someone may be much deluded if he does not know that in the Word Jews mean people who belong to the Lord’s celestial church, who are people prompted by love toward Him. But see no. 350 below.
They are termed a synagogue because they call themselves Jews, and since Jews taught in synagogues, a synagogue symbolizes doctrine. Moreover, because Satan means a hell composed of people caught up in falsities, therefore they are termed a synagogue of Satan.
Hell is called the Devil and Satan, and a hell called the Devil means people there who are caught up in evils – properly speaking, people caught up in a love of self. And Satan means people there who are caught up in falsities – properly speaking, people caught up in a conceit in their own intelligence.
These hells are called the Devil and Satan because all who are in them are called devils and satanic spirits.
It can be seen from this now that their being a synagogue of Satan means, symbolically, that as to doctrine they are caught up in falsities.
[2] Still, because the subject here is people who as to life are engaged in good, but as to doctrine are caught up in falsities, and these do not know otherwise than that they are engaged in good and that their falsities are true, we must say something about them.
Every good pertaining to worship is formed in accordance with truths, and every truth is formed from good. Therefore goodness without truth is not good, nor is truth without goodness true. In outward form, indeed, they appear as though they were, but still they are not.
We call the union of goodness and truth the heavenly marriage. It is this that forms the church in a person and that forms heaven in him. Consequently if falsities are substituted for truths in a person, he then does the good of falsity, which is not good, being either pharasaic or merit-seeking, or something natural inborn.
[3] But let examples serve to illustrate:
Someone caught up in the falsity of believing that he does good of himself because he has the ability to do good – his good is not good, because he is at the core of it, and not the Lord.
Someone caught up in the falsity of believing that he can do good that is good without recognizing any evil in himself, thus who acts without repentance – such a person, when doing good, does not do good, because without repentance he is prompted by evil.
Someone caught up in the falsity of believing that good purifies him of evils, unaware of any of the evils that motivate him – the only good that he does is spurious good, which is inwardly contaminated with his evils.
Someone caught up in the falsity of believing in the existence of more than one god, who confirms himself in that belief – the good that he does is a fragmented good, and a fragmented good is not good.
Someone caught up in the falsity of believing that the Divine does not reside in the Lord’s humanity like the soul in its body cannot do good from the Lord, and good that does not come from the Lord is not good, for it is contrary to these words of the Lord:
(If anyone does not abide in Me, and I in him, he cannot bear any fruit,) for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch (that is) withered; and (it is thrown) into the fire, and…burned. (John 15:4-6)
The like is found in many other places. For good takes its character from truths, while truths take their essence from good.
[4] Who does not know that the church is not a church without doctrine? And the doctrine must teach a person how to think about God and from God, and how to behave from God and with God. Therefore the doctrine must be composed of truths, according to which the person does what is called good. It follows from this that to act in accordance with falsities is not good.
People suppose that the good that a person does has in it nothing derived from truths or falsities, when in fact the character of the good is due to nothing else; for the two go together like love and wisdom, and also like love and foolishness. A wise person’s love is what does good, while a foolish person’s love does something like it outwardly, but something altogether unlike it inwardly. A wise person’s good is accordingly like pure gold, while a foolish person’s good is like excrement overlaid with gold.
That this is the meaning is apparent from what follows next.
Being thrown into prison by the devil has this symbolic meaning because the devil means a hell that is inhabited by people caught up in evils, and so abstractly the evil that exists there and that emanates from there (no. 97).
To be thrown into prison is to be infested, because people who are infested by evils from hell are as though bound in prison, for they cannot help but meditate evil, even if they will good. This gives rise to an inner combat and distress from which they cannot be set free, almost like people in chains. That is because their good is not good as long as it is bound up with falsities; and to the extent that it is bound up with falsities, evil is present in it. This good is accordingly what is infested.
[2] This infestation, however, occurs not in the natural world, but in the spiritual world, thus after death. I have often been granted to see the infestations of people there. They lament, saying that they have done good, and wish to continue doing good, and yet are unable to now because of the evils surrounding them.
Not all, however, are infested alike. They are infested more or less severely in the measure that they have confirmed themselves in falsities. We are accordingly told that the devil will throw “some of you” into prison. Confirmation of falsity is harmful, as may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 91-97.
[3] “The bound” in the Word have the same symbolic meaning as those thrown into prison here, as in the following passages:
…I will give You as a covenant to the people…, to bring out the bound from the prison, (and) those who sit in darkness from the house of confinement. (Isaiah 42:6, 7, cf. 49:8, 9)
(Jehovah) has sent Me…to proclaim liberty to the captives, and…to those who are bound. (Isaiah 61:1)
By the blood of your covenant I will set free your bound ones from the pit. (Zechariah 9:11)
God…has brought out those who are bound with fetters. (Psalm 68:6)
The groaning of the bound will come before You. (Psalm 79:11)
To hear the groaning of the bound, to let loose those consigned to death. (Psalm 102:20)
Jehovah (who) sets the bound free. (Psalm 146:7)
It is apparent that the bound in these places do not mean people in bonds in the world, but people bound by hell, thus by evils and falsities.
The following words of the Lord have the same symbolic meaning:
I was…in prison and you did not visit Me. (Matthew 25:43)
Since the Lord brings out of prison or liberates from infestation people who as to life were engaged in good, even if as to doctrine they were caught up in falsities, therefore He says, “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer,” and, “Be faithful…, and I will give you the crown of life.”
This is the symbolic meaning because every spiritual temptation or trial is a combat between the devil and the Lord as to who will possess the person. The devil or hell puts forth its falsities so as to reproach and condemn, while the Lord puts forth truths by which to lead away from falsities and liberate.
This combat is one that appears to a person to take place in him, because it is caused by evil spirits with him, and it is called a temptation or trial. I know from experience that this is what a spiritual temptation is, because in my temptations I have seen the infernal spirits who induced them and have perceived the influx from the Lord that delivered me from them.
Tribulation, which we discussed in nos. 33 and 95 above, here symbolizes infestation, thus temptation or trial; and ten days symbolize the duration of that state to its completion. Therefore the people of this church are told next, “Be faithful until death,” which symbolizes their reception and acknowledgment of truths until their falsities have been set aside and seemingly abolished.
Ten days symbolize the duration of their state to its completion because a day symbolizes a state, and ten completeness. For intervals of time in the Word symbolize states (no. 947), and numbers add their character (no. 10).
[2] Since ten symbolizes completeness, it also symbolizes much or many, and every or all, as can be seen from the following passages:
…the men who have seen My glory…have put Me to the test…ten times…. (Numbers 14:22)
…ten times you have reproached me. (Job 19:3)
(Daniel was found) ten times better than…the astrologers. (Daniel 1:20)
…ten women shall bake your bread in one oven…. (Leviticus 26:26)
…ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man…. (Zechariah 8:23)
Because ten symbolizes much and also all, therefore the precepts that Jehovah wrote upon the tablets of the Decalogue are called the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 4:13, 10:4). The Ten Commandments embody all truths, for they encompass them.
Moreover, because ten symbolizes all, therefore the Lord likened the kingdom of heaven to ten virgins (Matthew 25:1). And in a parable He said of a certain nobleman that the nobleman gave his servants ten minas with which to do business (Luke 19:12-27).
Much is also symbolically meant by the ten horns of the beast that came up from the sea in Daniel 7:7; by the ten horns and the ten jewels* upon the horns of the beast rising up from the sea in Revelation 13:1; by the ten horns of the dragon in Revelation 12:3; and by the ten horns of the scarlet beast with the woman sitting upon it in Revelation 17:3, 7, 12. The ten horns symbolize much power.
[3] From the symbolic meaning of ten as being complete, much, and all, it can be seen why it was instituted that a tenth part of all the produce of the earth be given to Jehovah, and by Jehovah in turn to Aaron and the Levites (Numbers 18:24, 28, Deuteronomy 14:22), and why Abram gave to Melchizedek a tithe of all (Genesis 14:18, 20). For this symbolically meant that everything they had therefore was from Jehovah and sanctified by Him (see Malachi 3:10).
It can be seen from this now that having tribulation ten days means, symbolically, that their temptation or trial will continue the whole time, that is, as long as they wish to remain caught up in falsities. For falsities are never taken from a person against his will, but in accord with it.
* The word translated as “jewels” here means diadems or crowns in the original Greek and Latin, but the writer’s definitions of the term elsewhere make plain that he regularly and consistently interpreted it to mean jewels or gems.
“Be faithful until death” means, in the natural sense, that they are not to turn away from their faithfulness until the end of their life, but in the spiritual sense it means that they will receive and acknowledge truths until the truths remove their falsities and seemingly eradicate them. For the spiritual sense is rightly for people in the spiritual world, for whom there is no death. Consequently death here means the end of their temptation or trial.
We say until their falsities are seemingly eradicated, because the falsities and evils in a person are never eradicated but set aside; and when they have been set aside they appear as though eradicated, because with the setting aside of evils and falsities a person is kept focused on goods and truths by the Lord.
Because the subject is temptations or trials until death, they are told that they will be given the crown of life, such as was given to martyrs who were faithful until death. Moreover, because the martyrs hoped for it, they were therefore given crowns after their death, which was a symbolic reward for their overcoming. They appear still with their crowns in heaven, as I have been granted to see.
This is apparent from the explanation in no. 87 above, where the same words occur.
The first death refers to the death of the body, and the second death to the death of the soul, which is damnation (see nos. 853, 873 below). So, because the exhortation, “Be faithful until death,” means, symbolically, that they will acknowledge truths until the truths remove their falsities (no. 102), it follows that saying “they shall not be hurt by the second death” means, symbolically, that they will not later succumb to evils and falsities from hell, since as a consequence of that removal they are exempt from damnation.
That people of this character are meant by the church in Pergamum is apparent from the particulars written to it, understood in their spiritual meaning. To this, however, we must preface something in order that it may be known just who these are in the church, and what their character is.
The Christian church today consists for the most part of two kinds of people. People who are concerned only with works and have no truths constitute one kind. People who focus only on worship and are without works or truths constitute the other. The first kind is the subject here, the second the subject of the letter to the church in Sardis (nos. 154ff.).
People who are concerned only with works and have no truths are like people who act without understanding, and deeds without understanding are lifeless. Such people appear to angels as figures carved out of wood, and those who place merit in their works as those same figures naked, without a covering over their private parts. Such people appear also as sheep without any wool, and those who place merit in their works as those same sheep covered with dung. For all works are done by the will by means of the intellect, and in the intellect they receive life and at the same time clothing. That is why, as we said, such people appear to angels as lifeless figures and naked.
In the preceding chapter where the Son of Man is described, who is the Lord in relation to the Word, we are told that a sharp two-edged sword was seen to issue from His mouth (verse 16). This symbolizes a dispersion of falsities by the Lord by means of the Word and doctrine drawn from it, as may be seen in no. 52 above.
The declaration here is made to people and concerning people who place everything having to do with the church in good works only, and not anything in doctrinal truths; and because they ignore or have little regard for doctrinal truths, even though those truths are indispensable, they are later told, “Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth” (verse 16 in this chapter).
It may be seen in no. 97 above that Satan means a hell composed of people caught up in falsities, and to be caught up in falsities is to live in darkness. Darkness and the shadow of death, spiritually speaking, describe nothing other than the states of people in hell who are caught up in the falsities of evil. Consequently these terms are used in the Word to describe falsities, and it can be seen from this that Satan’s throne symbolizes nothing but darkness.
Darkness here, however, does not mean that the people are caught up in nothing but falsities, but that they lack any truths of doctrine. For doctrinal truths that are drawn from the Word bring light. To be without truths, therefore, is to be without light, and so to be in a state of darkness. (That truths appear in the light of heaven may be seen in the book Heaven and Hell, nos. 126-140, and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 73, 104-113.)
[2] In many places the Word speaks of people in darkness or the shadow of death, people whose eyes the Lord will open, and these people mean gentiles who have engaged in good works, but did not have any truths, because they did not know the Lord or have the Word. Altogether like these are people in the Christian world who are concerned with works only and are without any doctrinal truths. Consequently they can only be called gentiles. They know the Lord, indeed, but do not turn to Him; and they have the Word, but nevertheless do not look for any truths in it.
Knowing “where you dwell” means, symbolically, knowing their character, since in the spiritual world everyone dwells there in accordance with the character of his affection.
It can be seen from this that “you dwell where Satan’s throne is” symbolizes their life of doing good in a state of darkness.
[3] Satanic spirits, moreover, have power through those in the spiritual world who are concerned with works only, but without them they have no power. For satanic spirits attach such spirits to themselves if only one of the satanic spirits says, “I am your neighbor, and am therefore due the performance of kind offices.” On hearing this, the spirits concerned only with works go over and render assistance, without inquiring who or of what character the satanic spirit is. That is because they are without any truths, and it is by truths alone that one person can be told apart from another. This, too, is symbolically meant by the statement, “You dwell where Satan’s throne is.”
The name of Jehovah or of the Lord means everything by which He is worshiped, thus everything connected with religion, as may be seen in no. 81 above. Therefore it means here that they have religion and worship in accordance with it.
Faith in this instance does not mean faith as faith is defined in the church today, but rather Divine truth, since faith is connected with truth and truth with faith. It is precisely what is meant by faith in heaven, and by the faith of God in the Word. It is because of this that faith and truth in Hebrew are the same word and are called ’emuna.
Now because the faith of God means Divine truth, and the Word is Divine truth itself, it is apparent that “you did not deny My faith” means that they acknowledge the Word to be Divine truth.
A martyr symbolizes a confessor of truth, having the same meaning as a witness (nos. 6 and 16 above), because “martyr” and “witness” in Greek are the same word. The name Antipas comes from the spiritual or angelic language.
Since the martyr Antipas symbolizes a confessor of truth, and abstractly truth itself, it is apparent that “in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells,” means symbolically, at a time when all truth has been extinguished by falsities in the church.
That Satan means a hell where falsities exist and from where they emanate, see no. 97 above.
That this means people who perform works which defile and adulterate worship is apparent from the stories in the Word about Balaam and Balak, king of Moab. For Balaam was a hypocrite and sorcerer. He spoke favorably, indeed, from Jehovah regarding the children of Israel, and yet at heart he harbored a wish to destroy them, and also did destroy them by the counsel he gave Balak. It is apparent from this that his works were hypocritical.
We are told that he was a sorcerer (Joshua 13:22, Numbers 22:7, 24:1). That he spoke favorably on behalf of the children of Israel by blessing them (Numbers 23:7-10, 18-24, 24:3-9, 15-19), but that he uttered what he did from Jehovah (Numbers 23:7-10, 18-24, 24:3-9, 15-19. That at heart he harbored a wish to destroy them, and also did destroy them by the counsel he gave Balak (Numbers 31:16). The counsel that he gave is found in Numbers 25:1-3. The latter was the stumbling block that he put before the children of Israel, which is described in this way:
…in Shittim…the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab, and they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods. The people ate and bowed down to their gods. Israel (especially) was joined to Baal of Peor…. (Therefore there were killed of Israel) twenty-four thousand. (Numbers 25:1-3, 9)
The children of Israel symbolize the church. Eating of their own sacrifices symbolizes an assimilation of what is holy. Consequently eating of the sacrifices of other gods or of things sacrificed to idols symbolizes a defiling and profanation of what is holy. To commit sexual immorality means, symbolically, to adulterate and corrupt worship. Moab and thus its king and its women also symbolize people who defile and adulterate worship, as may be seen in Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), published in London, no. 2468.
It is apparent from this now that the spiritual meaning of these words is as stated.
That the works of the Nicolaitans are merit-seeking works may be seen in no. 86 above.
Among people who place everything having to do with the church and salvation in good works, and not anything in doctrinal truths – those meant by the church in Pergamum – there are some who perform hypocritical works, and some merit-seeking works, but still not all. So we are told that “you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam,” and, “you have also those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.” Moreover, all works connected with worship are either good, or merit-seeking, or hypocritical. Therefore the latter two are spoken of here, and afterward good works in the next verse.
To repent has this symbolic meaning, because the subject has just been goods that are merit-seeking and hypocritical, and these must be guarded against by people who place everything having to do with the church and salvation in good works, and not anything in doctrinal truths, even though it is doctrinal truths that must teach how and what one ought to will and think, or love and believe, in order for works to be good.
For the explanation of this, however, see no. 108 above.
This is apparent from the explanation in no. 87 above, where the same words occur.
This is apparent as well from the explanation in no. 88 above.
The hidden manna that people will have who are engaged in good works and at the same time add doctrinal truths to the works, means a private wisdom, such as people have who are in the third heaven. For as these were focused on good works and doctrinal truths simultaneously in the world, they enjoy a wisdom beyond that of other angels, but a private wisdom, for it is engraved on their life and not so much on their memory. Therefore people of this character are such that they do not talk about doctrinal truths but practice them, and they practice them because they know them and also see them when others talk about them.
The goodness of love is imparted to people who add doctrinal truths to their good works, and the Lord conjoins Himself with them and thus grants them wisdom in their good works; and that this is what it is to give to eat of the hidden manna can be seen from these words of the Lord:
…the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world…. I am the bread of life…. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that anyone who eats of it does not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. (John 6:31-58)
It is apparent from this that the Lord Himself is the hidden manna that will be in their works if they turn to Him alone.
Whether you say the Lord or the good of celestial love and the wisdom of that love, the meaning is the same. But this is an arcanum that falls with difficulty into anyone’s natural comprehension, as long as it is clouded over with worldly notions. However, it does fall within the comprehension when it comes into a state of serenity and sunshine, as can be seen from beginning to end in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom.
A white stone has this symbolism because in cases requiring decision, votes used to be tallied by collecting stones, and white stones meant affirming votes. Affirming truths are symbolized here, because whiteness is predicated of truths (nos. 167, 379). Consequently a white stone symbolizes truths supportive of good. It means also truths united to good, because goodness attracts truths and unites them to itself. Indeed, all good loves truth and joins to itself such truth as is in harmony with it, and especially so the goodness of celestial love. This so unites truth to itself that they form an indivisible whole.
For this reason celestial people view truths from the perspective of good. They are the people meant by those who have the law written on their hearts, of whom we read in Jeremiah:
I will put My law in the midst of them and write it on their hearts…. No more shall each teach his companion, or each his brother, saying, “Know Jehovah,” for everyone shall know Me…. (Jeremiah 31:33, 34)
Of such a character are all the inhabitants of the third heaven. They do not talk about truths from some memory of them, but clearly see truths whenever they hear other people talking about them, and especially when they read the Word. That is because they possess a real marriage of goodness and truth.
People become of this character in the world if they have turned to the Lord alone and done good works because they accord with the Word’s truths.
Something regarding these angels may be seen in the book Heaven and Hell, nos. 25, 26, 270, 271.
A name symbolizes the character of a thing, as may be seen in no. 81 above, and here therefore the character or quality of good. Good has all its character from the truths with which it is united, for good without truths is like bread without wine or food without water, which do not nourish. It is also like a fruit that contains no juice. Such goods appear, too, like trees stripped of their leaves, with wizened apples left hanging on them from autumn.
This, moreover, is the meaning of these words of the Lord:
…everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be salted with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its saltiness, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves…. (Mark 9:49, 50)
The salt there is a desire for truth.
In the case of the people here described, truths united to good are not matters of memory, but are engraved on their life, as may be seen just above in nos. 121 and 122. And what is engraved on the life only and not on the memory is not apparent to anyone, not even to the people themselves, except in this respect, that they perceive whether something is true, and what is true, whenever they hear or read it. For the interior regions of their minds are opened toward the Lord; and because the Lord is present in them, and He sees everything, therefore He causes them to see as though of themselves. But owing to their wisdom, they nevertheless know that they do not see truths of themselves, but from the Lord.
It can be seen from this, now, what is meant by all these words, that “I will give him to eat of the hidden manna,” and, “I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows except him who receives it.” The symbolic meaning in sum is that they will be angels of the third heaven if they read the Word, draw from it doctrinal truths, and turn to the Lord.
That people of the one character and the other are meant by the church in Thyatira is apparent from the particulars written to it, understood in their spiritual meaning.
That this is the symbolic meaning may be seen explained in no. 48 above.
Charity is a spiritual affection because charity is love for the neighbor, and a love for the neighbor is that affection.
Ministry is the practice of it, because in the Word those are called ministers who put into practice things that are matters of charity.
In the Word, a worshiper of God is called sometimes a servant, sometimes a minister; and a servant of God is the term used for one who is governed by truths, and a minister of God for one who is governed by goods. The reason is that truth serves good, and good ministers to truth. That servant is a term used for someone governed by truths, see no. 3 above. That minister, on the other hand, is a term used for someone governed by good is apparent from the following passages:
You shall be named the priests of Jehovah, …the ministers of our God. (Isaiah 61:6)
…My covenant will also be broken…with the Levites…, My ministers. (Jeremiah 33:21)
They are called ministers because priests represented the Lord in relation to Divine good.
Bless Jehovah, all you His hosts, His ministers who do His will. (Psalm 103:21)
(Jehovah) makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire. (Psalm 104:4)
Angel spirits are ones who are governed by truths, and angel ministers are ones who are governed by goods. A flame of fire also symbolizes the goodness of love.
(Jesus said,) “whoever desires to become great…, let him be your minister. And whoever desires to be first…, let him be your servant.” (Matthew 20:26, 27, cf. 23:11, 12)
“Minister” there refers to good, and “servant” to truth.
Ministering and ministry have the same symbolic meaning in Isaiah 56:6, John 12:26, Luke 12:37, and elsewhere.
It is apparent from this that charity and ministry symbolize the spiritual affection called charity and the practice of it. For good is connected with charity, and truth with faith.
Faith symbolizes truth, as may be seen in no. 111 above. And it follows then that patience symbolizes the people’s effort and labor to acquire it and teach it.
The last works that are more than the first mean everything connected with the people’s charity and faith, for these are the inner qualities from which works spring (nos. 73, 76, 94). These have their growth when charity is in first place and faith in second place. For charity is a spiritual affection for doing good, and from it springs a spiritual affection for knowing truth, since good loves truth as food does drink. Indeed it wishes to be nourished, and it is nourished by truths. As a consequence, people in a state of genuine charity experience continual growths of truth.
This, then, is what is symbolically meant by “I know your last works to be more than the first.”
That the woman Jezebel means faith divorced from charity is apparent from the depictions that follow next when they are explained in order according to their spiritual meaning and compared then with that faith. For the evil deeds of Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, were as follows:
She went and served Baal, and set up an altar for Baal in Samaria, and made a shrine (1 Kings 16:31-33).
She killed the prophets of Jehovah (1 Kings 18:4, 13).
She wanted to kill Elijah (1 Kings 19:1, 2).
Through a subterfuge, by appointing two false witnesses, she stole the vineyard from Naboth and had him killed (1 Kings 21:6, 7ff.).
Because of these evil deeds, Elijah predicted to her that dogs would eat her (1 Kings 21:23).
She was thrown down from the window where she stood painted up, and some of her blood was spattered on the wall and on the horses which trampled her (2 Kings 9:30, 32-34).
[2] Since all of the historical portions of the Word as well as the prophetic ones symbolically refer to the spiritual components of the church, so also do the foregoing events. That they symbolize a faith divorced from charity follows from their spiritual meaning and then from comparing the two. For to go and serve Baal and set up an altar for him and make a shrine means, symbolically, to serve lusts of every kind, or to say the same thing, the devil, by giving no thought to any evil lust or any sin, as people do who have no doctrine having to do with charity or life, but only one having to do with faith.
Killing the prophets means, symbolically, destroying doctrinal truths drawn from the Word.
Wanting to kill Elijah means, symbolically, wanting to do the same with the Word.
Stealing the vineyard from Naboth and killing him means, symbolically, doing the same with the church. For a vineyard means the church.
The dogs which ate Jezebel symbolize lusts.
Being thrown down from the window, the spattering of the blood on the wall, and the trampling by horses, symbolizes the death of these things, for each of these also has a symbolic meaning, the window symbolizing truth in a state of light, the blood symbolizing falsity, the wall symbolizing truth in outward expressions, and a horse symbolizing an understanding of the Word.
It may be concluded from this that when the two are compared, these depictions accord with a faith divorced from charity, as can be seen as well from subsequent descriptions in the book of Revelation where this faith is the subject.
A prophet in the Word symbolizes the doctrine of the church, as may be seen in no. 8 above, and so likewise does a prophetess.
As people know, the Protestant Reformed Christian Church has accepted faith alone as the only means of salvation, and therefore works of charity have been divorced from faith as being not saving. As a result, the entire doctrine of human salvation, called theology, consists today of that faith, and accordingly is “the woman Jezebel.”
To teach and seduce the Lord’s servants means, symbolically, to teach and seduce people who can be and are willing to be instructed in truths from the Word. That servants of the Lord are what people governed by truths are called may be seen in nos. 3 and 128 above; and to commit sexual immorality means, symbolically, to adulterate and falsify the Word. To commit sexual immorality has this symbolic meaning because every particular of the Word contains a marriage of good and truth, and this marriage is broken when goodness is divorced and estranged from truth.
To be shown that every particular of the Word contains a marriage of good and truth, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 80-90. It is because of this that to commit sexual immorality means, symbolically, to adulterate the goods of the Word and falsify its truths. Moreover, because this is spiritual licentiousness, therefore people who have employed their own reason to falsify the Word become sexually licentious people when they enter the spiritual world after death. And something as yet unrecognized in the world is the fact that people who have affirmed faith alone to the exclusion of any works of charity are prompted by the lust of an adultery of a son with his mother. In the spiritual world I have often perceived them to be impelled by the lust of so unspeakable an adultery. Remember this and inquire into it after death, and you will be convinced. I have not dared to reveal this previously, because it offends the ears.
[2] This adultery is symbolized by the adultery of Reuben with Bilhah, his father’s concubine (Genesis 35:22), inasmuch as Reuben symbolizes that faith. Therefore he was cursed by his father Israel, and the birthright was subsequently taken from him. For in prophesying concerning his sons, his father Israel said of Reuben,
Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength…. Unstable as water, you shall not excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, then defiled it. He went up to my pallet. (Genesis 49:3, 4)
And therefore the birthright was taken from him:
…Reuben (was) the firstborn of Israel…, but because he defiled his father’s pallet, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph…. (1 Chronicles 5:1)
We will see in the explanation of Revelation 7:5 that Reuben represented truth arising from good or faith springing from charity, and afterward truth divorced from good or faith divorced from charity.
[3] That references to sexual licentiousness in the Word symbolize adulterations of good and falsifications of truth can be seen from the following passages:
…when Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” And he said, “What peace, as long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft are many?” (2 Kings 9:22)
The harlotries of Jezebel do not mean any acts of licentiousness, but her deeds, as cited in no. 132 above.
Your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms…. (Numbers 14:33)
The person who has regard to mediums and soothsayers, to go whoring after them…, I will cut him off…. (Leviticus 20:6)
(Do not) make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, (lest) they go whoring after their gods…. (Exodus 34:15).
(Jerusalem,) you trusted in your own beauty and played the harlot because of your fame, (so that) you poured out your harlotries on everyone passing by…. You also committed harlotry with the Egyptians, your very carnal neighbors, and multiplied your acts of harlotry…. You also played the harlot with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable, (with whom) you played the harlot…. You multiplied your harlotry as far as…Chaldea…. The adulterous woman, who in place of her husband takes strangers. All men give payment to their harlots, but you made your payments to them all, (that they may) come to you from all around for your harlotries…. Therefore, harlot, hear the word of Jehovah. (Ezekiel 16:15, 16, 26, 28, 29, 32, 33, 35ff.)
Jerusalem there is the Israelite and Jewish Church. Its harlotries mean adulterations and falsifications of the Word. And because Egypt symbolizes the knowledge of the natural self, Assyria reasoning on the basis of it, Chaldea the profanation of truth, and Babel the profanation of good, therefore the passage says that it played the harlot with them.
[4] …two women, the daughters of one mother, committed harlotry in Egypt; in their youth they committed harlotry…. (One,) my subject, played the harlot, and she doted on her lovers, the neighboring Assyrians…. She committed her harlotries with them…. (Yet) she has not given up her harlotries in Egypt….
(The other) became more corrupt in her loving than she, and in her harlotries more corrupt than her sister’s harlotries…. She increased her harlotries…. She loved (Chaldeans)…. Then the Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and they defiled her with their harlotry. (Ezekiel 23:2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 14, 16, 17ff.)
The two daughters of the same mother are likewise the Israelite and Jewish Church, whose adulterations and falsifications of the Word are described here, as above, by harlotries.
[5] So, too, in the following passages:
…you have played the harlot with many lovers…. You have profaned the land with your harlotries and your wickedness…. Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and…played the harlot…. Treacherous Judah…went and played the harlot also. So that…by the report of her harlotry she defiled the land; …she committed adultery with stone and wood. (Jeremiah 3:1, 2, 6, 8, 9)
And elsewhere:
Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see…if you can find a man…who executes judgment and seeks the truth…. I satiated them, and they committed harlotry and came by troops into the harlots’ house. (Jeremiah 5:1, 7)
I have seen your adulteries…your neighings, the wickedness of your harlotry, your abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! You will not be made clean…. (Jeremiah 13:27)
I have seen a horrible obstinacy in the prophets of Jerusalem: they commit adultery and walk in a lie. (Jeremiah 23:14)
…they have committed folly in Israel, have committed adultery…, and have spoken (My) word in My name falsely…. (Jeremiah 29:23)
…they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into disrepute…. They committed harlotry…, because they have forsaken Jehovah. Harlotry…enslaved (their) heart…. …your daughters commit harlotry, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. (Hosea 4:7, 10, 11, 13)
I know Ephraim…, (that) he has (altogether) committed harlotry, (and) Israel is defiled. (Hosea 5:3)
I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel: Ephraim committed harlotry there, (and) Israel is defiled. (Hosea 6:10)
Israel there is the church, and Ephraim is its understanding of the Word, from which and in accordance with which the church is formed. Therefore Ephraim is said to have committed harlotry and Israel to be defiled.
[6] Since the church had falsified the Word, the prophet Hosea was commanded to take himself a harlot as a wife, as follows:
…take yourself a woman of harlotries and children of harlotries, for the land has committed great harlotry behind Jehovah. (Hosea 1:2).
Again:
…love a woman who is loved by a companion and is an adulteress…. (Hosea 3:1)
Since the Jewish Church was such as described, therefore the Lord called the Jewish nation an adulterous generation (Matthew 12:39, 16:4, Mark 8:38); and in Isaiah, the offspring of an adulterer (Isaiah 57:3).
In Nahum:
Woe to the bloody city! Full of lying…. The multitude of the slain…because of the multitude of the harlotries of the harlot…, who sells nations through her harlotries…. (Nahum 3:1, 3, 4)
[7] Since Roman Catholicism adulterates and falsifies the Word more than any others in the Christian world, it is therefore called Babylon, the Great Harlot, and the following things are said of it in the book of Revelation:
Babylon…has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her harlotry. (Revelation 14:8)
(Babylon has made) all the nations (drink) of the wine of the wrath of her harlotry, and the kings of the earth have committed harlotry with her…. (Revelation 18:3)
(The angel said,) “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot…with whom the kings of the earth committed harlotry. (Revelation 17:1, 2)
…He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her harlotry. (Revelation 19:2)
It is apparent from this now that to commit adultery and to commit sexual immorality mean, symbolically, to adulterate and falsify the goods and truths of the Word.
To turn back from sexual immorality here means, symbolically, to turn back from falsifying the Word. The fact that those people see things contrary to their doctrine is apparent from a thousand places in the Word where we are told that evils are to be abstained from and good deeds done, that people who do good deeds go to heaven and people who do evil deeds go to hell, and that faith without works is lifeless and diabolic.
But the question is, what part of the Word did they falsify? Or in what way did they commit sexual immorality spiritually with the Word? The answer is that they falsified the entire Word, inasmuch as the entire Word teaches nothing else than love toward the Lord and love for the neighbor. For the Lord says that “on these two commandments hang…the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:40). One also finds faith taught in the Word, yet not their kind of faith, but a faith connected with love.
A bed symbolizes doctrine, as we will see momentarily. Those committing adultery mean, symbolically, falsifications of truth (see nos. 134 and 136 above). And tribulation symbolizes an infestation by falsities (nos. 33, 95, 101), thus a great tribulation a severe infestation.
A bed symbolizes doctrine because of its correspondence; for as the body rests in its bed, so the mind rests in its doctrine. The doctrine symbolized by a bed, however, is the kind that each person acquires for himself, either from the Word or from his own intelligence. For it is in this that his mind finds repose and, so to speak, sleeps.
The beds that people rest in in the spiritual world come from just such an origin. For everyone there has a bed in keeping with the character of his knowledge and intelligence – the wise having magnificent beds, those without wisdom having humble beds, and falsifiers having squalid beds.
[2] This is the symbolic meaning of a bed in Luke:
I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. (Luke 17:34)
The subject is the Last Judgment. The two men in one bed are two who share the same doctrine, but not the same life.
In John:
Jesus said to (the sick man), “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And…he took up his bed, and walked. (John 5:8-12)
And in Mark:
…(Jesus) said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” (And to the scribes He said,) “Which is easier, to say…, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘…take up your bed and walk’?…” (Then He said,) “Rise, take up your bed (and walk.)” And…he took up the bed and went out (from their presence). (Mark 2:5, 9, 11, 12)
It is apparent that a bed has some symbolic meaning here, because Jesus said, “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” To carry one’s bed and walk means, symbolically, to meditate on doctrine. That is how it is understood in heaven.
[3] A bed symbolizes doctrine also in Amos:
As a shepherd rescues from the mouth of a lion…, so shall the children of Israel be rescued who dwell in Samaria at the corner of a bed and on the edge of a couch. (Amos 3:12)
At the corner of a bed and on the edge of a couch means relatively removed from the truths and goods of doctrine.
A bed or a couch has the same symbolic meaning elsewhere, as in Isaiah 28:20, 57:2, 7, 8, Ezekiel 23:41, Amos 6:4, Micah 2:1, Psalm 4:4, 36:4, 41:3, Job 7:13, Leviticus 15:4, 5.
Because Jacob in the prophecies of the Word symbolizes the church in respect to its doctrine, therefore it is said of him that “he bowed himself on the head of the bed” (Genesis 47:31), that when Joseph came, “he sat up on the bed” (Genesis 48:2), and that “he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last” (Genesis 49:33).
Since Jacob symbolizes the church’s doctrine, therefore at times, when thinking of Jacob, I have seen at a height before me a man lying on a bed.
This can be seen without further explanation.
Sons in the Word symbolize truths, and in an opposite sense falsities. To kill sons, therefore, symbolically means to turn truths into falsities, for thus the truths perish. Nothing else is meant by “the slain of Jehovah.”*
To kill her sons with death also means, symbolically, to condemn those people’s falsities.
Sons symbolize truths, and in an opposite sense falsities, because in the spiritual sense of the Word generations mean spiritual generations. The case is the same with blood relations and relations by marriage, and so with terms referring to these, such as father, mother, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, and the rest. No other sons or daughters are born of a spiritual generation than truths and goods (see nos. 542 and 543 below).
* See Isaiah 66:16. Jeremiah 25:33.
The seven churches symbolize the whole church, as before. Searching the reins and hearts means, symbolically, to see everything that a person believes and loves, thus the quality of truth and the quality of good in him.
This is the symbolic meaning of searching the reins and hearts because of their correspondence, for the Word in its literal sense consists only of things that correspond. The correspondence results from the fact that as the reins or kidneys purify the blood of its impurities called urinous, and as the heart purifies the blood of its contaminants called pollutants, so the truth of faith purifies a person of his falsities, and the goodness of love purifies a person of his evils.
[2] For this reason the ancients located love and its affections in the heart, and intelligence and its perceptions in the reins or kidneys, as can be seen from the following passages in the Word:
Behold, You desire truth in the reins,* and in secret You make wisdom known to me. (Psalm 51:6)
…You possess my reins…. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret…. (Psalm 139:13, 15)
…my heart is provoked, and with my reins I sharpen myself. (But) I am stupid and ignorant. (Psalm 73:21, 22)
I, Jehovah, search the heart (and) test the reins, even to give every man according to his ways…. (Jeremiah 17:10)
You are near in their mouth, but far from their reins. …You, O Jehovah…, will see me, and You will test my heart…. (Jeremiah 12:2, 3)
…Jehovah, a judge of righteousness, testing the reins and the heart…. (Jeremiah 11:20, cf. 20:12)
…establish the righteous, (for) You who test the hearts and reins are a righteous God. (Psalm 7:9)
Test me, O Jehovah, and try me; examine my reins and my heart. (Psalm 26:2)
The reins in these passages symbolize truths of intelligence and faith, and the heart symbolizes the goodness of love and charity.
To be shown that the heart symbolizes love and its affections, see Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, nos. 371-393.
* This is the reading of the writer’s Latin Bible (Schmidt, 1996). The Hebrew has simply “inward parts.”
Works are the containing vessels of charity and faith, and charity and faith without works are merely like images in the air, which after they have appeared, then vanish. See no. 76 above.
This is apparent from what we have already said, and so needs no further explanation.
Satan means a hell composed of people caught up in falsities, and abstractly the falsities themselves, as may be seen in no. 97 above. Thus its depths symbolize the interior constituents of a doctrine divorced from charity, which are nothing but falsities.
The depths or interior constituents of that doctrine are those that are expressed in their books, in their lectures in the universities, and so in their sermons, whose character may be seen in the treatments preceding Chapter 1 where we presented their doctrinal tenets, in particular the section titled, “Regarding Justification by Faith, and Good Works.” See our observation there that only the clergy know the mysteries of that doctrine, and not the laity. Consequently it is the latter principally that are meant by people who have not known the depths.
The reason is that those people support their falsities with reasonings issuing from their natural self, and with some statements from the Word which they falsify. For these enable them to lead others astray. They are like snakes in the shrubbery that bite passers-by, or hidden poisons that kill the unaware.
To overcome is to fight against evils and falsities, as may be seen in no. 88 above. And that works are charity and its resulting faith in practice, see nos. 76 and 141. It is apparent that to keep until the end is to be governed by these and to continue to be governed by them to the end of life.
Nations in the Word mean people impelled by good, and in an opposite sense, people impelled by evil, thus abstractly goods or evils themselves, as may be seen in no. 483 below. Here, therefore, to give power over the nations means, symbolically, to make it possible for the people to overcome the evils in themselves that come from hell.
A rod or staff of iron has this symbolic meaning because a rod or staff in the Word symbolizes power, and iron symbolizes natural truth, consequently the natural sense of the Word, and at the same time a person’s natural sight. It is in these two that the power of truth resides.
To be shown that Divine truth exists in its power in the Word’s natural meaning, which is its literal sense, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 37-49, the reason being that the sense of the letter is the foundation, containing vessel, and buttress of its spiritual sense, nos. 27-36. And to be shown that all power resides in final elements, called natural, see Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, nos. 205-221. Consequently it resides in the natural sense of the Word’s letter, and in a person’s natural sight. These, then, are the rod of iron with which he who overcomes will rule the nations, that is to say, with which he will overcome the evils that come from hell.
A rod of iron has similar symbolic meanings in the following passages:
You shall crush (the nations) with a rod of iron; You shall shatter them like a potter’s vessel. (Psalm 2:9)
(The woman) bore a male Child who would rule all nations with a rod of iron. (Revelation 12:5)
Out of the mouth (of Him who sat on the white horse) went a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. (Revelation 19:15)
(Jehovah) shall strike (the wicked) with the rod of His mouth. (Isaiah 11:4)
Their evils are called potter’s vessels because potter’s vessels symbolize things having to do with a person’s own intelligence, all of which are false and in themselves of no account. So likewise in the book of Psalms:
You shall crush (the nations) with a rod of iron; You shall shatter them like a potter’s vessel. (Psalm 2:9)
When the Lord was in the world, He conquered the hells and glorified His humanity through the temptations or trials that He suffered, and finally through the last of them, which was His suffering of the cross. See The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 29-36, and no. 67 above. It may be seen from these that to receive from His Father is to receive from the Divine that was in Him; for He said that the Father was in Him and He in the Father,* and that He and the Father are one,** and He referred to “the Father who is in Me,”*** and more.
* John 10:38, 14:10, 11, 20, 17:21.
** John 10:30, 17:11.
*** John 14:10.
Stars symbolize concepts of goodness and truth, as may be seen in no 51 above; and because concepts of goodness and truth are the means to intelligence and wisdom, therefore these concepts are symbolically meant by the morning star. It is called the morning star, because the people meant here will be given intelligence and wisdom by the Lord when He comes to establish the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem; for He says, “Hold fast what you have till I come” (verse 25), which symbolically means, “so that they may retain the few truths that they know from the Word about charity and its resulting faith, and live according to them, until the New Heaven and New Church are formed, which are the Lord’s advent” (no. 145).
[2] It is called the morning star because the morning symbolizes the Lord’s advent, when the New Church is formed. That this is the meaning of the morning in the Word is apparent from the following passages:
Till the two thousand three hundredth evening and morning, then the sanctuary shall be made right…. The vision of the evening and the morning…is the truth. (Daniel 8:14, 26)
One is calling to me from Seir, “Watchman…, watchman, what of the night?” The watchman said, “The morning comes, and also the night. (Isaiah 21:11, 12)
Evening and night symbolize the final period of the old church, and morning the initial period of a new church.
An end has come…. The morning has come upon you, you who dwell in the land…. Behold, the day…has come! The morning has gone forth. (Ezekiel 7:6, 7, 10)
Jehovah…every morning will bring His judgment to light, and it shall not be lacking. (Zephaniah 3:5)
God is in the midst of her…; God shall help her when He beholds the morning. (Psalm 46:5)
I have waited for Jehovah…. My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, [indeed] than those who watch for the morning…. For…with Him is abundant redemption, and He shall redeem Israel…. (Psalm 130:5-8)
[3] And elsewhere. Morning in these passages means the Lord’s advent, when He came into the world and established a new church, and likewise now. Moreover, because the Lord alone imparts intelligence and wisdom to the people who will be people of His New Church, and as everything that the Lord imparts embody Him because they are His, therefore the Lord says that He is the morning star:
I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star. (Revelation 22:16)
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 Samuel 23:3, 4)
152. “‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'” (2:29) This symbolically means, anyone who understands these things, let him obey what the Divine truth of the Word teaches those who will be members of the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, as in no. 87 above.
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1. When they are physically dead and come to life again in the spirit, which generally happens on the third day after the heart has stopped beating, they appear to themselves to have the same body that they had before in the world, so much so that they do not know otherwise than that they are living in the prior world. Yet they do not have a material body, but rather a spiritual one, and to their senses, which are also spiritual, their body appears as though material, even though it is not.
[2] 2. After several days they see that they are in a world where various societies have been established – a world called the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell. All the societies there, of which there are a countless number, have been marvelously organized in accordance with the inhabitants’ natural affections, good and evil. Societies organized in accordance with good natural affections communicate with heaven, while societies organized in accordance with evil affections communicate with hell.
[3] 3. A newly arrived spirit or new spiritual person is taken about and conveyed into various societies, both good and evil, and he is examined to see whether he is affected by truths, and in what way, or whether he is affected by falsities, and in what way.
[4] 4. If the person is affected by truths, he is led away from evil societies and introduced into good ones, and into various good ones, until he comes to a society corresponding to his natural affection, and there he experiences a goodness in harmony with that natural affection. This continues until he sheds the natural affection and takes on a spiritual one, at which point he is raised into heaven. But this is what happens in the case of people who in the world lived a life of charity and so also a life of faith, which consisted in their believing in the Lord and refraining from evils as sins.
[5] 5. In contrast, people who in both doctrine and life had confirmed themselves in the doctrine of faith alone to the point of believing it alone to be justifying – these, because they are affected not by truths but by falsities, and because they have dismissed goods of charity or good works from being means of salvation, are led away from good societies and introduced into evil ones, and into various evil ones, until they come to a society corresponding to the lusts of their self-love. For anyone who loves falsities cannot help but love evils.
[6] 6. However, because they feigned good affections in outward appearances in the world (even though they inwardly harbored nothing but evil affections or lusts), they are periodically kept at first in states of outward pretense. Moreover, those who in the world had presided over companies of others are set here and there over societies in the world of spirits, in overall charge or in part, according to the scope of the positions they had held before. Yet because they like neither truth nor justice, and cannot be enlightened sufficiently to know what truth and justice are, therefore after several days they are discharged. I have seen spirits like this conveyed from one society to another, and though everywhere given some administrative position, after a short time they are just as often discharged.
[7] 7. After repeated dismissals, some of these people out of weariness do not wish to seek further positions, and some out of a fear of losing their reputation do not dare to. Therefore they go off and sit sadly, and at that point they are led away into an uninhabited region where they find cabins, which they enter. There they are given some work to do, and to the extent that they do it they are given food. But if they do not do it, they go hungry and are not given any. Necessity accordingly compels them.
Foodstuffs in that world are like those in our world, only they come from a spiritual origin and are given by the Lord from heaven to all in accordance with the useful functions they perform. Idle people, as they perform no useful function, are not given any.
[8] 8. After a while these people loathe work, and they then leave the cabins. If they were priests, they wish to become builders, and instantly then piles of hewn stones, bricks, boards and wooden panels appear, with heaps of reeds and rushes, clay, plaster and asphalt. When they see these, they are fired with an urge to build, and they begin to construct a house, taking now a stone, now a piece of wood, now a reed, now wet clay, and placing one upon another in haphazard fashion, though in their eyes an ordered one. Yet what they build by day collapses overnight; and the following day they gather the fallen materials from the rubble and build again, and this repeatedly until they grow weary of building.
This is the case because they used to pile up falsities to confirm the doctrine of salvation through faith alone, and that is how these falsities build the church.
[9] 9. Out of weariness these people next go off and sit solitary and idle, and because, as we said, idle people are not given any food from heaven, they begin to hunger. They also begin to think of nothing else than how to get food and relieve their hunger.
When they are in this state, some people come to them, from whom they beg assistance. But those other people say to them, “Why are you sitting so idle? Come with us to our houses, and we will give you jobs to do and feed you.”
They joyfully then arise and go away with those people to their houses, and each is there given his job, and in exchange for the work food. However, because all who have confirmed themselves in falsities of faith cannot do works of good and useful service, but only works that serve evil, and because they do not do the works faithfully, but only so that people may see them, for the sake of acclaim or material gain, therefore they abandon their jobs and care only to socialize, talk, walk, and sleep. And then, because their employers can no longer induce them to work, they are therefore forced to leave as serving no useful function.
[10] 10. When they have been forced to leave, their eyes are opened and they see a path leading to a certain cavern. When they go to it, the entrance opens and they go in, inquiring whether there is any food there, and when they are told that there is, they ask permission to remain. They are then told that they may, and they are taken in, with the entrance closing behind them.
The master of the cavern then comes and says to them, “You cannot leave anymore. See your fellow inhabitants. They all work, and as they work, they are given food from heaven. I tell you this so that you know.”
Their fellow inhabitants say, moreover, “Our master knows for what work each of us is suited, and every day he assigns it to us. Every day that you finish it you are given food. But if you do not finish it, you are given neither food nor clothing. Also, if anyone does evil to another, he is forced to a corner of the cavern, onto a bed of accursed dust,* where he is miserably tortured, and this until the master sees some sign of repentance in him. He is then taken out and ordered to do his work.”
They are told, too, that after they have done their work, they are all allowed to walk about, converse, and later sleep. They are also taken deeper into the cavern where there are whores, and they are each permitted to choose one of them to be his woman, but are forbidden under threat of penalty to go whoring promiscuously.
[11] The whole of hell consists of such caverns, which are nothing less than eternal workhouses. I have been given to go into some and see, in order that I might make this known, and the people all appeared to be of a low class, nor did any one of them know who he had been in the world or what his occupation had been. But an angel who accompanied me told me that this one had been a household servant in the world, this one a soldier, this one an administrator, this one a priest, this one a person of high rank, this one a person of wealth; and yet none of them knew anything other than that they had been servants, and their fellows likewise. That is because they had been inwardly alike, even though unalike outwardly, and it is people’s inner qualities that affiliate them in the spiritual world.
Such is the lot of people who have set aside a life of charity, and so have not lived it in the world.
[12] As regards the hells in general, they consist solely of such caverns and workhouses, but of one sort where they are inhabited by satanic spirits, and of another where they are inhabited by diabolical spirits. Satanic spirits are ones who have been governed by falsities and their resulting evils, while diabolical spirits are ones who have been governed by evils and their accompanying falsities.
Satanic spirits appear in the light of heaven as cadaverous, and some black, like mummies, while diabolical spirits appear in the light of heaven dark and fiery, and some as black as soot. All, however, in face and body are monstrous. Yet in their own light, which is like that of burning coal, they do not appear as monstrous, but as human. This appearance is granted to them to enable them to associate with one another.
* The dust of certain hells is so named. See Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, no. 341:2.
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 your works, that you have a name that you are alive, when you are dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works full before God. 3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard, and pay heed and repent. If, then, you will not watch, I will come upon you like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you. 4 You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the book of life; but 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 He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens: 8 I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have little strength, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. 9 Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie – behold, I will make them come and worship at your feet, and know that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to put to the test those who dwell on the earth. 11 Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. 12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from My God. Also 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 workmanship of God: 15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, it shall come to pass that I vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, “I am rich and wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and do not know that you are miserable, wretched and poor, blind and naked, 18 I urge you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be enriched, and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and to anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sit with My Father on His throne. 22He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'”
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
People in the Christian world who are engaged in a lifeless worship, one without charity and faith, are described by the church in Sardis (nos. 154-171).
People who are governed by truths springing from goodness derived from the Lord are described by the church in Philadelphia (nos. 172-197).
People who base their beliefs sometimes on their own thinking, sometimes on the Word, and so profane holy things, are described by the church in Laodicea (nos. 198-223).
All of these, too, are called to the Lord’s New Church.
The Contents of the Individual Verses
1 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write,
To people and concerning people who are engaged in a lifeless worship, or in a worship that lacks the goods expressive of charity or the truths connected with faith.
‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars:
The Lord from whom spring all truths and all concepts of goodness and truth.
“I know your works,
The Lord sees people’s inner and outer qualities all simultaneously,
that you have a name that you are alive, when you are dead.
that they seem to themselves and others to be spiritually alive, and are believed by themselves and others to be so, when in fact they are spiritually lifeless.
2 Be watchful,
They should have truths and live in accordance with them,
and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die,
so that the things of which their worship consists may be given life.
for I have not found your works full before God.
The inner qualities of their worship are not conjoined with the Lord.
3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard,
They should reflect that all worship in the beginning is natural, and later becomes spiritual through truths, and so on.
and pay heed and repent.
They should pay attention to these things and give life to their lifeless worship.
If, then, you will not watch,
The same here as before [verse 2].
I will come upon you like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.
The things of which their worship consists will be taken from them, without their knowing when or how.
4 You have a few names even in Sardis
They also have among them some people who do have life in their worship,
who have not defiled their garments;
who possess truths, and have not soiled their worship by evil practices and the falsities attendant on these.
and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.
They will live with the Lord, because they are governed by truths from Him.
5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments,
Anyone who is reformed becomes spiritual
and I will not blot out his name from the book of life;
and will be saved.
but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
Those people are to be accepted who are governed by Divine good and Divine truths from the Lord.
6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
The same here as before [chapter 2, verse 7].
7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,
To people and concerning people who are governed by truths springing from goodness derived from the Lord.
‘These things says He who is holy, who is true,
The Lord in relation to Divine truth,
who has the key of David, who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens:
who alone has the omnipotence to save.
8 “I know your works.
The same here as before [verse 1].
See, I have set before you an open door,
To those who are governed by truths springing from goodness derived from the Lord, heaven is opened.
and no one can shut it;
Hell does not prevail against them,
for you have little strength,
because they know they have no power of themselves,
and have kept My word,
because they live in accordance with the Lord’s commandments in His Word,
and have not denied My name.
Being moved by worship of the Lord.
9 Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan,
People who are caught up in falsities as regards doctrine,
who say they are Jews and are not, but lie –
who say they have embraced the church, and have not –
behold, I will make them come and worship at your feet,
many of them who are caught up in falsities as regards doctrine will accept the truths of the New Church.
and know that I have loved you.
They will see they are loved and accepted into heaven by the Lord.
10 Because you have kept My command to persevere,
Because they have fought against evils,
I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to put to the test those who dwell on the earth.
they will be protected and preserved on the day of the Last Judgment.
11 Behold, I am coming quickly!
The Lord’s advent.
Hold fast what you have,
In the meantime they should remain steadfast in their truths and goods,
that no one may take your crown.
lest they lose the wisdom from which comes eternal happiness.
12 He who overcomes,
Those who persevere in truths springing from goodness,
I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God,
the truths they possess, springing from goodness derived from the Lord, sustain the church,
and he shall go out no more.
and they will remain in it to eternity.
And I will write on him the name of My God
They will have Divine truth engraved on their hearts.
and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem,
They will have the doctrine of the New Church engraved on their hearts,
which is coming down out of heaven from My God.
doctrine that will come from the Lord’s Divine truth, such as it is in heaven.
Also My new name.
Worship of the Lord alone, with new elements that did not exist in the prior church.
13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”‘
The same here as before [chapter 2, verse 7].
14 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,
To people and concerning people in the church who base their beliefs sometimes on their own thinking, sometimes on the Word, and so profane holy things.
‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness,
The Lord in relation to the Word, which is Divine truth originating from Him.
the beginning of the workmanship of God:
The Word.
15 I know your works,
The same here as before [verses 1],
that you are neither cold nor hot.
that people such as these sometimes deny that the Word is Divine and holy, and sometimes acknowledge that it is.
Would that you were cold or hot.
It would be better for them either to deny wholeheartedly the holy things of the Word and church, or to acknowledge them wholeheartedly.
16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, it shall come to pass that I vomit you out of My mouth.
Their profanation and separation from the Lord,
17 Because you say, “I am rich and wealthy,
because they believe they possess in great abundance concepts of goodness and truth having to do with heaven and the church,
and have need of nothing,”
having no more need to grow in wisdom.
and do not know that you are miserable,
Nothing at all of what they know about these things has any coherence.
wretched and poor,
They have no truths or goods.
blind and naked,
They lack any understanding of truth or will for good.
18 I urge you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be enriched,
An admonition to acquire for themselves the goodness of love from the Lord by means of the Word, in order to become wise,
and white garments, that you may be clothed,
in order to acquire for themselves genuine truths of wisdom,
that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed;
so as not to profane and adulterate the goodness of heavenly love,
and to anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
so as to heal their understanding.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.
Because they are loved then, it must be that they are introduced into temptations or trials,
Be zealous, therefore, and repent.
in order for this goal to come about from an affection for truth.
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
The Lord is present with everyone in the Word, and He presses there to be received, teaching how He can be.
If anyone hears My voice and opens the door,
Anyone who believes the Word and lives according to it,
I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
the Lord conjoins Himself with them and they with Him.
21 To him who overcomes
Those who live in conjunction with the Lord through a life in accordance with His precepts in the Word,
I will grant to sit with Me on My throne,
will have a conjunction with the Lord in heaven,
as I also overcame and sit with My Father on His throne.
As He and the Father are one and constitute heaven.
22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ‘”
The same here as before [chapter 2, verse 7].
THE EXPOSITION
“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write.” (3:1) This symbolically means, to people and concerning people who are engaged in a lifeless worship, or in a worship that lacks the goods expressive of charity or the truths connected with faith.
That the church in Sardis means people engaged in such worship is apparent from the particulars written to it, understood in their spiritual sense.
By lifeless worship we mean simply worship by itself, which consists in people’s going often to church, listening to sermons, partaking of the Holy Supper, reading the Word and books of piety, talking about God, heaven and hell, the life after death, and especially piety, and praying morning and evening, and yet without desiring to know any truths of faith or wishing to do any goods of charity, believing that salvation is theirs simply by virtue of their worship. This they believe even though apart from truths, and without a life in accordance with those truths, worship is merely the external mark of charity and faith, which may harbor within it evils and falsities of every kind if charity and faith are not present in it. Charity and faith are what characterize genuine worship. Otherwise worship is like the skin or rind of a piece of fruit, which conceals within rotten or wormy flesh, so that the fruit is dead.
People know that such is the worship prevalent in the church today.
The seven spirits of God mean the Divine truth emanating from the Lord, as may be seen in no. 14 above. And the seven stars mean all concepts of goodness and truth from the Word (no. 51), by which the church is formed in heaven (no. 65).
These are the particulars said by the Lord now because the subject is lifeless worship and living worship, and worship has life from truths and from a life in accordance with those truths.
To have a name means, symbolically, to see and believe that people are of this or that character – here that they are alive, even though they are lifeless. For spiritual life, which properly speaking is what life is, is not a matter simply of worship, but of what is present in the worship, and present in it must be Divine truths from the Word. Then when a person lives those truths, there is life in his worship. That is because the outward expression takes its quality from what lies within, and the inner constituents of worship are truths having to do with life.
The kind of people described here are meant by these words of the Lord,
(Then) you will begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, “Lord, Lord, open for us,” and He will answer and say to you, “I do not know you, where you are from.” (And) you will begin to say, “We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.” But…”I will tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.” (Luke 13:25-27)
[2] I have been given to hear many people in the spiritual world saying that they partook often of the Holy Supper and so ate and drank that which is holy, and every time were absolved of their sins; that every Sabbath day they listened to the teachers; and that at home they prayed devoutly morning and evening, and more. But when the inner components of their worship were revealed, these appeared full of iniquities and infernal, so that they were rejected. Then, when they asked the reason for this, they received the reply that they did not care at all about Divine truths, and yet a life not in accordance with Divine truths is not the kind of life people in heaven lead. Moreover, people not engaged in the life of heaven cannot endure the light of heaven, which is Divine truth emanating from the Lord as the sun there. Still less can they endure the warmth of heaven, which is Divine love.
But even though they were told these things, and also understood them, nevertheless when left to themselves, to return to their brand of worship, they said, “What need do we have of truths? And what are truths?”
However, because they could no longer accept truths, they were left to their appetites which lay within their worship, and these at last rejected every part of their worship of God. For inner qualities adapt outward expressions to suit themselves, and reject whatever does not accord with them. After death, indeed, people’s outward qualities are in every case forced to become like their inner ones.
To be watchful has precisely this symbolic meaning in the Word, for a person who learns truths and lives according to them is like someone who awakens from sleep and becomes alert. By contrast, a person who lacks truths, but who is engaged simply in worship, is like someone who is asleep and dreaming.
Natural life, regarded in itself or apart from spiritual life, is really no more than a state of sleep, whereas natural life that contains spiritual life is a state of alertness. This alertness, moreover, is obtained only through truths – truths which appear in their own light and in their own clarity when a person lives in accordance with them.
This is the symbolic meaning of watching in the following passages:
Watch…, for you do not know at what hour your Lord will come. (Matthew 24:42)
Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he comes, will find watching…. Be ready, for the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect. (Luke 12:37, 40)
Watch…, for you do not know when the lord of the house will come…, lest, when he comes suddenly, he find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: Watch! (Mark 13:35-37)
While the bridegroom was delayed, (the virgins)…slumbered and slept…. And the (five foolish) virgins came…, saying, “Lord, Lord, open to us!” But (the Lord) answered…, “…I do not know you.” Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour at which the Son of Man will come. (Matthew 25:1-13)
Because the Lord’s coming is called the morning (no. 151), and truths are then revealed and light dawns, therefore that time is called “the beginning of the watches” in Lamentations 2:19, and the Lord is called “a watcher” in Daniel 4:13. Moreover we read in Isaiah,
Your dead shall live…. Awake…, you who dwell in dust. (Isaiah 26:19)
To be shown that the state of a person who lacks truths is called slumbering and sleep, see Jeremiah 51:39, 57, Psalms 13:3, 76:6, Matthew 13:25, and other places.
How this is to be interpreted we will explain as follows: In outward form lifeless worship is altogether like living worship, for people governed by truths do the same things. They listen to sermons, partake of the Holy Supper, pray upon their knees morning and evening, and do everything else that is a customary and normal expression of worship. Consequently people engaged in a lifeless worship have need of nothing more than to learn truths and live according to them. In so doing they “strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die.”
Works mean inner and outer qualities, and “I know your works” means that the Lord sees all a person’s inner and outer qualities simultaneously, as may be seen in no. 76 above. They are called full before God when they have been conjoined with the Lord.
It should be known that lifeless worship or simply an outward expression of worship occasions the Lord’s presence, but not conjunction. On the other hand, an outward expression of worship which has in it inner qualities that are living, occasions both presence and conjunction. For conjunction with the Lord is a conjunction with qualities in a person that come from the Lord, which are truths springing from goodness. Unless these truths are present in worship, a person’s works are not full before God, but empty.
In the Word, emptiness is used to describe a person who has in him nothing but falsities and evils, as in Matthew 12:44,* and elsewhere. Fullness, therefore, is used to describe a person who has in him truths and goods.
* When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, “I will return to my house from which I came.” And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation. (Matthew 12:43-45)
This is what is these words mean. They also mean that from the Word, from the teaching of the church drawn from the Word, and from sermons, everyone knows that truths must be learned, and that it is through truths that a person has faith and charity and everything else having to do with the church.
[2] The reality of this is something we showed many times in Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), which we published in London. See, for example, the following:
That faith is acquired through truths, nos. 4353, 4977, 7178, 10367.
That love for the neighbor or charity is acquired through truths, nos. 4368, 7623, 7624, 8034.
That love toward the Lord is acquired through truths, nos. 10,143, 10,153, 10,310, 10,578, 10,645.
That intelligence and wisdom are acquired through truths, nos. 3182, 3190, 3387, 10,064.
That regeneration is accomplished through truths, nos. 1555, 1904, 2046, 2189, 9088, 9959, 10,028.
That power against evils and falsities and against hell is gained through truths, nos. 3091, 4015, 10,488.
That purification from evils and falsities is accomplished through truths, nos. 2799, 5954, 7044, 7918, 10,229, 10,237.
That the church is formed by means of truths, nos. 1798, 1799, 3963, 4468, 4672.
That heaven is formed through truths, nos. 6690, 9832, 9931, 10,303.
That the innocence of wisdom is attained through truths, nos. 3183, 3494, 6013.
That conscience is formed through truths, nos. 1077, 2053, 9113.
That order is achieved through truths, nos. 3316, 3417, 3570, 4104, 5339, 5343, 6028, 10,303.
The beauty of angels is due to truths, and so, too, is the beauty of people as regards their inner qualities which are those of their spirit, nos. 553, 3080, 4985, 5199.
That a person is human as a result of truths, nos. 3175, 3387, 8370, 10,298.
Even so, however, all of these effects are occasioned by truths springing from goodness, and not by truths apart from goodness, goodness that comes from the Lord, nos. 2434, 4070, 4736, 5147.
That all goodness comes from the Lord, nos. 1614, 2016, 2904, 4151, 5147, 9981.
[3] But who gives any thought to this? Is it not a matter of indifference today whether someone knows this or that truth, provided he attends services of worship? Moreover, because few explore the Word in order to learn truths and live by them, people do not know anything about their worship as to whether it is lifeless or living, and yet it is according to the character of his worship that a person is himself dead or alive.
Of what value otherwise are the Word and doctrine drawn from it? Of what value otherwise are observance of the Sabbath and sermons, or theological treatises? Indeed, of what value otherwise are the church and religion?
That all worship in the beginning is natural, and later becomes spiritual through truths from the Word and a life according to them, is something people know. For a person is born natural, but is taught to become civic-minded and moral, and later spiritual, for thus he is reborn.
All of this is symbolically meant, then, by the directive, “Remember therefore how you have received and heard.”
It is evident that to pay heed is to pay attention to those things that are meant by the directive, “Remember therefore how you have received and heard.” And it follows then that to repent is to give life to their lifeless worship through truths from the Word and by a life in accordance with them.
This says that the Lord will come like a thief because a person engaged in a lifeless worship has the outward good of worship taken from him. For lifeless worship has some good in it, inasmuch as the worshipers think about God and eternal life. Still, good without its truths is nevertheless not good, unless it is merit-seeking or hypocritical, and evils and falsities take that away, like a thief. This occurs progressively in the world, and totally after death, and moreover without the person’s knowing when or how.
It is said in attribution to the Lord that He will come like a thief, but in the spiritual sense the meaning is that hell will take something away and rob people of it. The case here is the same as when the Word says that God does evil to a person, lays him waste, takes revenge, becomes wrathful, and leads into trial or temptation, when in fact it is hell that does these things; for it is so stated in accordance with the appearance to mankind.
In Matthew 25:26-30 and Luke 19:24-26 it may be seen that a talent or mina with which a person is to do business is taken from him if does not make a profit by it. To do business and make a profit means, symbolically, to acquire for oneself truths and goods.
[2] Since the taking away of goodness and truth from people engaged in a lifeless worship comes about as though by a thief in the dark, therefore in the Word it is sometimes likened to a thief, as in the following places:
Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked…. (Revelation 16:15)
Watch therefore, for you do not know at what hour your Lord will come. Know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief would come, he would certainly have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. (Matthew 24:42, 43)
If thieves have come to you, if robbers by night – oh, how you will be cut off! – will they not steal till they have enough? (Obadiah v. 5)
They run to and fro in the city, they run on the wall; they climb into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief. (Joel 2:9)
They have concocted a lie, and a thief comes, and a mob spreads outside. (Hosea 7:1)
Do not lay up…treasures on earth…, but…in heaven…, where thieves do not come and will not steal. (Matthew 6:19, 20)
A person should watch and not know the hour at which the Lord comes in order that he may think and act as though of himself, thus in freedom in accordance with his reason, and not have fear interject anything. For everyone would be fearful if he were to know. Moreover, whatever a person does of himself in freedom remains to eternity, while what he does out of fear does not remain.
A few names means, symbolically, some who are of such a character as now described, for a name symbolizes someone’s character. That is because everyone in the spiritual world is named in accordance with his character (no. 81). The character of the people described now is that they have life in their worship.
Garments in the Word symbolize truths that clothe good, and in an opposite sense, falsities that clothe evil. For a person embodies either his goodness or his evilness. Truths or falsities are therefore his garments.
Angels and spirits all appear dressed in clothing that reflects the truths of their goodness or the falsities of their evilness – on which subject, see the book Heaven and Hell, published in London, nos. 177-182. It is apparent from this that not defiling their garments symbolizes their possessing truths and not soiling their worship by evil practices and the falsities attendant on these.
[2] It is apparent from the following passages that garments in the Word symbolize truths, and in an opposite sense, falsities:
Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem…. (Isaiah 52:1)
(Jerusalem), I clothed you in embroidered cloth, gave you sandals of badger skin, clothed you with fine linen…, and adorned you with ornaments…. You were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth…, (so that) you became exceedingly beautiful…. But you took some of your garments and made for yourself multicolored high places, so as to play the harlot on them…. You took your embroidered garments…and made for yourself male images with which you played the harlot.* (Ezekiel 16:10-18)
The Jewish Church is described here, as having been given truths, because they had the Word, but that they falsified them. To play the harlot means to falsify (no. 134).
[3] The king’s daughter is all glorious within, (and) her clothing is woven with gold. She shall be brought to the King in embroidered garments. (Psalm 45:13, 14)
The king’s daughter is the church in relation to its affection for truth.
O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet elegantly, and put ornamentation of gold on your apparel. (2 Samuel 1:24)
This is said of Saul because as a king he symbolized Divine truth (no. 20).
…I will visit judgment on the princes and the king’s children, and on all clothed with foreign apparel. (Zephaniah 1:8)
(Your enemies) shall also strip you of your garments, and take away your adornments. (Ezekiel 23:26)
Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing (thus) before the Angel, (who said) “Take away the filthy garments from him (and clothe him with other garments). (Zechariah 3:3-5)
…the king came in and saw the guests, and he saw a man…who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, “Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?” (Matthew 22:11-13)
A wedding garment is Divine truth from the Word.
[4] Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing…. (Matthew 7:15)
No one puts a piece of cloth from a new garment on an old garment; otherwise the new one tears (the old), and the piece from the new one does not match the old. (Luke 5:36, 37)
Because a garment symbolizes truth, therefore the Lord compares the truths of the previous church, which were external and representative of spiritual ones, to a piece of cloth belonging to an old garment, while comparing the truths of the new church, which were internal and spiritual, to a piece of cloth from a new garment.
…on the thrones…twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments. (Revelation 4:4)
(Those who stood) before the throne…in the presence of the Lamb (were) clothed with white robes…, and they washed their robes and made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:9, 13, 14)
…white robes were given to each (of those who were under the altar). (Revelation 6:11)
…the armies (of Him who sat on the white horse) followed Him…, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. (Revelation 19:14)
[5] Because angels symbolize Divine truths, therefore angels seen in the Lord’s sepulchre appeared in white and shining garments (Matthew 28:3, Luke 24:4).
Because the Lord is Divine good and Divine truth, and truths are meant by garments, therefore when He was transfigured “His face shone like the sun, and His garments became [as white] as the light” (Matthew 17:2), or “blazing white (Luke 9:29), or “shining white, like snow, such that no launderer on earth can whiten them” (Mark 9:3).
Of the Ancient of Days, which also is the Lord, it is said that “His garment was as white as snow” (Daniel 7:9).
Moreover we find the following, too, said of the Lord:
He has anointed…all your garments with myrrh, aloes and cassia. (Psalm 45:7, 8)
…He washed his clothing in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes. (Genesis 49:11)
Who is this who comes from Edom, having sprinkled his garments from Bozrah? This One honorable in His apparel…? …Why are You red in Your apparel? Your garments as though of one who treads in the winepress…? Their victory is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have polluted all My vesture. (Isaiah 63:1-3)
This also is said of the Lord. His garments there are the Word’s truths.
…He who sat on (the white horse)…was clothed with a garment dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. (Revelation 19:11, 13)
[6] From the symbolic meaning of garments it can be seen why the Lord’s disciples put their garments upon the donkey and its colt when the Lord was ready to enter Jerusalem, and why the people spread their garments on the road (Matthew 21:7-9, Mark 11:7, 8, Luke 19:35, 36). It can be seen, too, what is symbolized by the soldiers’ dividing the Lord’s garments into four parts (John 19:23, 24), thus what is symbolically meant by this verse in the Psalms,
They divided My garments…, and over My vesture they cast lots. (Psalm 22:18)
[7] The symbolism of garments makes it apparent moreover why the people rent their garments whenever someone spoke against the Divine truth of the Word (Isaiah 37:1 and elsewhere). Also why they washed their garments in order to purify themselves (Exodus 19:14, Leviticus 11:25, 40, 14:8, 9, Numbers 19:11-22). And why in consequence of transgressions against Divine truths they took off their garments and put on sackcloth (Isaiah 15:3, 22:12, 37:1, 2, Jeremiah 4:8, 6:26, 48:37, 49:3, Lamentations 2:10, Ezekiel 27:31, Amos 8:10, Jonah 3:5, 6, 8).
Someone who knows what garments symbolize in general and in particular can know what the vestments of Aaron and his sons symbolized – the ephod, the robe, the lace tunic, the girdle, the breeches, and the turban.
Since light symbolizes Divine truth, and a garment likewise, therefore we find it said in the Psalms that Jehovah covers Himself “with light as a with garment ” (Psalm 104:2).
* The last two clauses are reversed from the order in which they appear in the original Hebrew.
This is the meaning of these words because to walk in the Word symbolically means to live, and to walk with God symbolically means to live from Him, and because to be in white means, symbolically, to be guided by truths. For the color white in the Word is predicated of truths, because it takes its origin from the light of the sun, while red is predicated of goods, because it takes its origin from the sun’s fire, and blackness is predicated of falsities, because it takes its origin from the darkness of hell.
People who are governed by truths from the Lord, being conjoined with Him, are called worthy, for all worth in the spiritual world comes from conjunction with the Lord.
It is apparent from this that “they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy,” means, symbolically, that they will live with the Lord, because they are governed by truths from Him.
We say that they will live with the Lord in His spiritual kingdom because the whole of heaven has been distinguished into two kingdoms – the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom – and in the celestial kingdom live people who are governed by the goodness of love from the Lord, while in the spiritual kingdom live those who are governed by the truths of wisdom from the Lord. The latter are also said to walk with the Lord in white. Moreover, they are dressed in white garments.
[2] That to walk means, symbolically, to live, and to walk with God means to live with Him because it is to live from Him, is clear from the following passages:
He walked with Me in peace and rectitude…. (Malachi 2:6)
You have delivered my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living. (Psalm 56:13)
…David…kept My commandments and…walked after Me with all his heart…. (1 Kings 14:8)
Remember…, O Jehovah…, how I have walked before You in truth…. (Isaiah 38:3)
If you…walk contrary to Me…, and…do not obey (My voice)…, I also will walk contrary to you…. (Leviticus 26:23, 24, 27, 28)
They would not walk in the ways (of Jehovah). (Isaiah 42:24; cf. Deuteronomy 11:22, 19:9, 26:17)
…all people walk…in the name of (their) god, but we will walk in the name of Jehovah…. (Micah 4:5)
A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light…. …believe in the light…. (John 12:35, 36; cf. 8:12)
…the scribes asked…, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders…?” (Mark 7:5)
Walking is also said of Jehovah, that He walks among people, which is to say that He lives in them and together with them:
I will make My dwelling among you, and…I will walk among you and be your God…. (Leviticus 26:11, 12)
It is apparent from this what is meant by the statement,
These things says He…who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. (Revelation 2:1)
To be shown that someone who overcomes means, symbolically, someone who is reformed, see no. 88 above. And to be shown that being clothed in white garments means, symbolically, to become spiritual through truths, see nos. 166, 167.
All those people become spiritual who possess truths and live according to them.
We have said before what a name means, and we will say below what the book of life means.
It is plain to everyone that not to have one’s name blotted out from the book of life means to be saved.
It follows from the symbolism of a name, explained in nos. 81 and 122 above, that to confess someone’s name is to acknowledge his character or his being of this or that character. My Father means Divine good, and His angels mean Divine truths, both of which originate from the Lord.
In the Gospels the Lord often mentions His Father, and He everywhere means Jehovah, from whom and in whom exists all else, and who was present in Him. Never did He mean any separate Divinity apart from Him. The reality of this is something we showed many times in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, and also in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Providence, nos. 262, 263.
To be shown that the Father is the Lord Himself, see nos. 21 and 962 in the present work.
The Lord mentions His Father, because a father symbolizes, in the spiritual sense, goodness, and God the Father symbolizes the Divine goodness of the Divine love. Angels never understand the Father to mean anything other than the Lord when the term is encountered in the Word, nor can they understand it to mean anything else, because no one in heaven knows his father, the one from whom they are said to have been born, and whose children and heirs they are called. This is the meaning of the Lord’s words in Matthew 23:9.*
It is apparent from this that to confess someone’s name before the Father means, symbolically, that he is to be accepted among those who are governed by Divine good from Him.
Angels mean people who are governed by Divine truths from the Lord, and abstractly Divine truths themselves, because angels are recipients of Divine good in the Divine truths that they have among them from the Lord.
* “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.”
That these are meant by the church in Philadelphia is apparent from the particulars written to it, understood in their spiritual sense.
Clearly it means the Lord. He who is holy, who is true, is the Lord in relation to Divine truth, because the Lord is called holy owing to His Divine truth, and called just or righteous owing to His Divine goodness. It is in consequence of this that His emanating Divinity – which is Divine truth – is called the Holy Spirit; and here the Holy Spirit is He who is holy, who is true.
[2] Holiness is often mentioned in the Word, and it is everywhere predicated of truth; and because all truth that is true in itself originates from goodness and from the Lord, it is that truth that is called holy. In contrast, the goodness from which truth originates is called just or righteous. It is owing to this that angels governed by truths of wisdom, called spiritual angels, are termed holy, while angels governed by the goodness of love, called celestial angels, are termed just or righteous. The same is the case with people in the church.
It is because of this also that prophets and apostles are called saints, or holy, for prophets and apostles symbolize the church’s doctrinal truths.
It is because of this, too, that the Word is called holy, for the Word is Divine truth. That is why the Law in the ark in the Tabernacle was called the most holy place and also the sanctuary.
That, too, is why Jerusalem is called holy, for Jerusalem symbolizes a church which possesses Divine truths.
For the same reason the altar, the Tabernacle, and the garments of Aaron and his sons were called holy after they were anointed with oil; for oil symbolizes the goodness of love, and this sanctifies or makes a thing holy, and everything made holy relates to truth.
[3] From the following passages it is apparent that the Lord alone is holy, because He is Divine truth itself:
Who shall not…O Lord…, glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. (Revelation 15:4)
…your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall He be called. (Isaiah 54:5)
Thus said Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One…. (Isaiah 49:7)
As for our Redeemer, Jehovah of Hosts is His name, the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 47:4)
Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel…. (Isaiah 43:14)
…in that day…they will depend on Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. (Isaiah 10:20)
And also elsewhere, as Isaiah 1:4, 5:19, 12:6, 17:7, 29:19, 30:11, 12, 41:16, 45:11, 15, 48:17, 55:5, 60:9, Jeremiah 50:29, Daniel 4:13, 23, Psalm 78:41.
Since the Lord is holiness itself, therefore the angel said to Mary,
…the holy thing that will be born of you shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)
And regarding Himself the Lord said,
(Father,) sanctify them with the truth. Your word is truth…. …for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified with truth. (John 17:17, 19)
[4] It is apparent from this that the truth that comes from the Lord is holiness itself, because He alone is holy – concerning which the Lord says the following:
When…the Spirit of Truth has come, He will guide you into all truth. …He will not speak on His own…. …He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. (John 16:13-15)
The Counselor, the Holy Spirit…, He will teach you all things…. (John 14:26)
To be shown that the Holy Spirit is the life in the Lord’s wisdom, thus Divine truth, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, no. 51.
It can be seen from this that He who is holy, who is true, is the Lord in relation to Divine truth.
That holiness is predicated of truth, and justice or righteousness of goodness, is apparent from passages in the Word where the two are mentioned, as in the following:
He who is just, let him be just still; he who is holy, let him be holy still. (Revelation 22:11)
Just and true are Your ways, O King of saints! (Revelation 15:3)
…to serve Him, in holiness and righteousness. (Luke 1:75)
…Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man…. (Mark 6:20)
…the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. (Revelation 19:8)
David means the Lord in respect to Divine truth. The key symbolizes the Lord’s omnipotence over heaven and hell. And to open so that no one shuts, and to shut so that no one opens, means, symbolically, to lead out of hell and introduce into heaven, thus to save, the same as in no. 62 above, where this was explained.
To be shown that David means the Lord in respect to Divine truth, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 43, 44.
The symbolic meaning of the key here is the same as that of the keys of Peter (Matthew 16:15-19),* as may be seen explained in no. 798 below. The same is also meant by this declaration to all the disciples,
Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 18:18)
For the twelve disciples represented all elements of the church as regards its goods and truths, while Peter represented the church in respect to its truth; and it is truths and goods, thus the Lord from whom they come, that save a person.
The key of David given to Eliakim has also the same meaning, concerning which we read,
I will give your government into his hands, that he may be as a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah, and I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David, so that he may open and no one shut, and close and no one open. (Isaiah 22:21, 22)
The person referred to as he here was the person over the house of the king, and the house of the king symbolizes the church in respect to Divine truth.
* [Jesus] said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:15-19)
An open door clearly symbolizes an entryway. The door is said to be open for people who belong to the church in Philadelphia because people governed by truths springing from goodness derived from the Lord are meant by that church, and to them the Lord opens heaven.
But on this subject we will say something previously not known: The Lord alone is God of heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18),* and consequently people who do not go to Him directly do not see the way to heaven and therefore do not find the door. If by chance they are permitted to approach it, it is closed, and if someone knocks, it is not opened.
In the spiritual world there are actually paths that lead to heaven, and here and there one finds gates. People who are being led by the Lord to heaven go along paths that lead to it, and they enter through the gates. The existence of paths in that world may be seen in the book Heaven and Hell, nos. 479, 534, 590, and also gates, nos. 429, 430, 583, 584. For everything seen in the heavens is a correspondent form, and so, too, are paths and gates. Paths, indeed, correspond to truths and consequently symbolize them, and gates correspond to an entryway and so symbolize it.
[2] Since the Lord alone leads a person to heaven and opens the door, therefore He calls Himself the way and also the door – the way in John,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14:6)
And in the same gospel the door,
I am the door of the sheep…. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved…. (John 10:7, 9)
Since both ways and doors exist in the spiritual world, and angelic spirits actually travel along those ways or paths and enter through doors when they enter into heaven, therefore doors and gates are often mentioned in the Word, and they symbolize an entryway, as in the following passages:
Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you doors of the world! That the King of glory may come in. (Psalm 24:7, 9)
Open the gates, that the righteous nation which exercises faithfulness may enter in. (Isaiah 26:2)
(The five wise virgins) went in…to the wedding, and the door was shut. (Then the five foolish virgins came and knocked, but it was not opened.) (Matthew 25:10-12)
(Jesus said,) “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many…will seek to enter and will not be able. (Luke 13:24, 25)
And so also elsewhere.
Because a door symbolizes an entryway, and the New Jerusalem symbolizes a church formed of people who are governed by truths springing from goodness derived from the Lord, therefore the New Jerusalem is described also in respect to its gates, with angels upon them, and they are said to be not shut (Revelation 21:12, 13, 25).
* And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” (Matthew 28:18)
More relating to this explanation may be seen in no. 174 above.
People who are governed by truths springing from goodness derived from the Lord know that of themselves they do not have any power against evils and falsities, thus against hell. Moreover, they also know that they cannot from any power of their own do good or introduce themselves into heaven, but that all power is the Lord’s, and thus that they have it from the Lord, and this to the extent that they are governed by truths springing from goodness, a power that nevertheless appears to them as their own.
This, then, is what is meant by the statement, “For you have little strength.”
The name of Jehovah or of the Lord in the Word symbolizes everything by which He is worshiped, thus everything pertaining to the church’s doctrine, and in the broadest sense, everything pertaining to religion, as may be seen in no. 81 above. It is clear from this what is symbolically meant by the statement here, that “you have not denied My name.”
Jews here mean people who belong to the church, because a church had been established with them, and consequently their Jerusalem still means the church as regards doctrine. More specifically, however, Jews mean people who are impelled by the goodness of love (as described in no. 96 above), thus also the church, for the goodness of love is what produces the church.
That they nevertheless have not embraced any church is what is symbolically meant by the words, “And are not, but lie.”
This is said of those people who are of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie, and they mean people caught up in falsities as regards doctrine, yet not in falsities springing from evil, but in falsities as regards doctrine while impelled by good as to life. These, and not people caught up in falsities springing from evil, accept and acknowledge truths when they hear them. That is because goodness loves truth, and truth in accord with goodness rejects falsity. To accept and acknowledge truths is what is symbolically meant by coming and worshiping at the feet – not at their feet, but at the feet of the Lord, from whom they have truths that accord with good. A similar symbolic meaning as the one here occurs, therefore, in this verse in the Psalms:
Worship Jehovah our God, worship at His footstool. (Psalm 99:5)
This follows in context from the preceding explanations.
The command to persevere means, symbolically, a spiritual battle, called temptation or a trial. This is apparent from the words that follow next, “I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come,” for someone who is tried in the world is not tried after death.
A spiritual battle, which is what temptation or a trial is, is called the Lord’s command to persevere or endure, because in temptations or trials the Lord battles for a person, and He does so by means of truths derived from His Word.
That these words mean the protection and preservation of these people on the day of the Last Judgment may be seen from what we wrote and related concerning the Last Judgment in a small work on that very subject,* and later in a continuation concerning it.** These make clear that people who underwent the Last Judgment were conveyed into a state of temptation or trial and examined to discover their character, and those who were inwardly evil were rejected, while those who were inwardly good were saved. The inwardly good were people governed by truths springing from goodness derived from the Lord.
* The Last Judgment, London, 1758.
** A Continuation Concerning the Last Judgment and the Spiritual World, Amsterdam, 1763.
The Lord said here, “Behold, I am coming quickly,” because the declaration just before this means the Last Judgment, and the Last Judgment is also called the coming of the Lord, as in Matthew,
(The disciples said to Jesus,) “…what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3)
The end of the age is the final period of the church, at which time the Last Judgment takes place.
This statement, “Behold, I am coming quickly,” also means a new church, because after the Last Judgment the Lord establishes a new church. This church now is the New Jerusalem, into which will come people who are governed by truths springing from goodness derived from the Lord – the people to whom this announcement is addressed.
A person acquires wisdom from no other source than goodness gained through truths from the Lord. A person acquires wisdom through these truths because they are the means by which the Lord conjoins Himself with the person and the person with Himself, and the Lord is wisdom itself. Wisdom consequently perishes in a person when he stops putting truths into practice, that is, when he stops living in accordance with them. He also then ceases to love wisdom, and accordingly ceases to love the Lord.
By wisdom we mean wisdom in spiritual matters. From this as a wellspring flows wisdom in all else, which we call intelligence, and through this knowledge, which results from an affection for knowing truths.
A crown symbolizes wisdom, because wisdom occupies the highest place in a person and so crowns him. Nor is anything else symbolized by the crown of a king, for a king in the Word’s spiritual sense is Divine truth (no. 20), and from Divine truth comes all wisdom.
[2] Wisdom is symbolically meant by a crown also in the following passages:
…I will make the horn of David grow…, and upon Him His crown shall flourish. (Psalm 132:17, 18)
(Jehovah) put…earrings in your ears, and an ornate crown on your head. (Ezekiel 16:12)
This is said of Jerusalem, which symbolizes the church in respect to doctrine, and therefore the ornate crown is wisdom originating from Divine truth or the Word.
In that day Jehovah of Hosts will be for an ornate crown and a beautiful turban to the remnants of His people. (Isaiah 28:5)
This is said of the Lord, because it says “in that day.” The ornate crown for which He will be is wisdom, and the beautiful turban is intelligence. The remnants of the people are people among whom the church will be.
[3] The crown and turban in Isaiah 62:1, 3 have the same symbolic meaning. So, too, does the plate upon the turban of Aaron in Exodus 28:36, 37, which is also called a miter.
Furthermore, in the following:
Say to the king and his lady, “Lower yourselves, sit down, for the ornament of your head has come down, the crown of your beauty.” (Jeremiah 13:18)
The joy of our heart has ceased…. The crown has fallen from our head. (Lamentations 5:15, 16)
He has stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head. (Job 19:9)
You have profaned [by casting it] to the ground the crown (of Your anointed). (Psalm 89:39)
The crown in these places symbolizes wisdom.
A temple symbolizes the church, and the temple of My God symbolizes the Lord’s church in heaven. It is apparent from this that a pillar symbolizes what sustains and stabilizes the church, and that is the Divine truth in the Word.
In the highest sense, a temple symbolizes the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity, particularly in respect to Divine truth. In a representative sense, however, a temple symbolizes the Lord’s church in heaven, and so also the Lord’s church in the world.
That a temple in the highest sense symbolizes the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity, and particularly in respect to Divine truth, is apparent from the following passages:
(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 2:19, 21)
I saw no temple in (the New Jerusalem), for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. (Revelation 2:19, 21)
Behold…, the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire. (Malachi 3:1)
I will bow myself toward Your holy temple…. (Psalm 138:2)
…I will look again toward Your holy temple…. And my prayer went to You, to Your holy temple. (Jonah 2:4, 7)
Jehovah is in His holy temple. (Habakkuk 2:20)
The holy temple of Jehovah or of the Lord is His Divine humanity, for it is to this that people bow, look to, and pray, and not to the temple merely, as the temple is not, in itself, holy. It is called a holy temple, because holiness is predicated of Divine truth (no. 173).
“The temple that sanctifies the gold” in Matthew 23:16, 17 means nothing else than the Lord’s Divine humanity.
[2] That a temple in a representative sense symbolizes the Lord’s church in heaven, is apparent from the following passages:
(The) voice (of Jehovah) from the temple…! (Isaiah 66:6)
…a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven…. (Revelation 16:17)
The temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. (Revelation 11:19)
…the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. And out of the temple came the seven angels…. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God…. (Revelation 15:5, 6, 8)
I called upon Jehovah, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple…. (Psalm 18:6)
I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty, and His skirts filled the temple. (Isaiah 6:1)
[3] That a temple symbolizes the church in the world is apparent from these passages:
Our holy…temple…has become a conflagration…. (Isaiah 64:11)
I will shake all nations…, that I may fill this house with glory…. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former…. (Haggai 2:7, 9)
The new temple in Ezekiel 40-48 describes a church to be established by the Lord. A church is also meant in Revelation 11:1 by the temple that the angel measured. So likewise elsewhere, as in Isaiah 44:28, Jeremiah 7:2-4, 9-11, Zechariah 8:9.
…the disciples (of Jesus) came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “…Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left…upon another, that shall not be demolished.” (Matthew 24:1, 2, cf. Mark 13:1-5, Luke 21:5, 6)
The temple here symbolizes the church today; and its demolition means, symbolically, that not one stone would be left upon another. This symbolizes the end of that church, when not any truth would remain. For when the disciples spoke with the Lord about the temple, the Lord foretold the consecutive states of this church, even to its last one, or the end of the age; and the end of the age means the final period of the church, which is the one that exists today. This was represented by the destruction of that temple to its foundations.
[4] A temple has these three symbolic meanings, namely the Lord, the church in heaven, and the church in the world. Because these three are bound up together, they cannot be separated. Consequently one cannot be meant without the other. Therefore anyone who divorces the church in the world from the church in heaven, or the one or the other from the Lord, is without the truth.
The temple here means the church in heaven, because reference to the church in the world follows after this (no. 194).
To engrave something on someone means, symbolically, to engrave it on him so that it is in him as something his own, and the name of My God symbolizes Divine truth.
Here we must say something about My God’s being Divine truth. In countless places the Word of the Old Testament uses the name Jehovah God, and also the two terms separately, saying sometimes Jehovah, sometimes God; and Jehovah means the Lord in respect to Divine good, while God means the Lord in respect to Divine truth. Or to say the same thing, Jehovah means the Lord in respect to Divine love, and God means the Lord in respect to Divine wisdom. Both terms are used because of the heavenly marriage in every part of the Word, which is a marriage of love and wisdom or a marriage of goodness and truth. Concerning this marriage, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 80-90.
[2] The Word of the New Testament does not use the name Jehovah God, but instead Lord God, for like Jehovah, the term Lord symbolizes Divine good or Divine love.
It can be seen from this that the name of My God symbolizes the Lord’s Divine truth.
A name, when used of the Lord, means everything by which He is worshiped, as may be seen no. 81 above, and everything by which He is worshiped has some relation to Divine good and Divine truth.
Because people do not know the meaning of these words of the Lord, “‘Father, glorify Your name,’ and a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again,'”* therefore we will say what they mean. When the Lord was in the world, He made His humanity the embodiment of Divine truth, which is also the Word, and when He departed from the world, He fully united the Divine truth to the Divine good that He had in Him from conception. For the Lord glorified His humanity, or made it Divine, in the same way that He makes a person spiritual. That is, He first instills in a person truths from the Word, and afterward unites these to goodness, and by that union makes the person spiritual.
* John 12:28.
The New Jerusalem symbolizes the New Church, and when it is called a city, it symbolizes the New Church in respect to its doctrine. Therefore to “write on him the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem,” means, symbolically, that they will have the doctrine of the New Church engraved on their hearts.
To be shown that Jerusalem symbolizes the church, and that as a city it means the church in respect to its doctrine, see nos. 880, 881, below.
A city symbolizes doctrine because a land, and particularly the land of Canaan, symbolizes a church in its entirety; and the inheritances into which the land of Canaan was divided consequently symbolized various components of the church, and the cities in it doctrines. Because of this, when cities are mentioned in the Word, the angels understand them to mean nothing else. I have also had this attested for me through a good deal of experience.
The case with this is the same as with the symbolic meanings of mountains, hills, valleys, springs, and rivers, all of which symbolize such things as have to do with the church.
[2] That cities symbolize doctrines can be seen to some extent from the following passages:
The land shall be…emptied…, the land shall be turned upside down…, the land shall be profaned…. The empty city shall be broken down…. What is left in the city shall be waste, and the gate shall be stricken even to its destruction. (Isaiah 3-5, 10-12)
The lion has come up from his thicket…, to make your land a wasteland. Your cities will be destroyed…. I beheld…Carmel a wilderness, and all its cities desolate…. …the land shall mourn…. The whole city shall flee…, forsaken…. (Jeremiah 4:7, 26-29)
The land there is the church, and the city is its doctrine. The devastation of the church by doctrinal falsities is described in this way.
The despoiler shall come upon every city, so that no city escapes. The valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed…. (Jeremiah 48:8)
Likewise:
Behold, I have made you this day as a fortified city…against the whole land…. (Jeremiah 1:18)
This was addressed to the prophet because a prophet symbolizes the doctrine of the church (no. 8).
On that day they will sing…in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.” (Isaiah 26:1, 2)
…the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. (Revelation 16:18, 19)
(The prophet saw) on a very high mountain…the structure of a city to the south…. (And an angel measured the wall, the gates, their chambers, and the vestibule of the gate,) and the name of the city…shall be JEHOVAH IS THERE. (Ezekiel 40:1ff., 48:35)
There is a river whose streams have made glad the city of God? (Psalm 46:4, 5)
I will embroil Egypt with Egypt, so that…city (fights) against city, and kingdom against kingdom. (Isaiah 19:2)
Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city…divided against itself will not stand. (Matthew 12:25)
Cities in these passages mean, in the spiritual sense, doctrines, as is the case also in Isaiah 6:11, 14:4, 17, 21, 19:18, 19, 25:1-3, 33:8, 9, 54:3, 64:10, Jeremiah 7:17, 34, 13:18, 19, 32:42, 44, 33:4, Zephaniah 3:6, Psalm 48:1, 8, 107:2, 4, 5, 7, Matthew 5:14, 15, and elsewhere.
[3] From the symbolic meaning of a city it can be seen what cities mean in this parable of the Lord:
A…nobleman (going) into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom…, delivered to (his servants) minas (with which to) do business…. …when he returned…, he (called the) servants…. The first came, saying, “…your mina has earned ten minas,” and he said to him, “…good servant…, you shall have authority over ten cities.” And the second came, saying, “…your mina has earned five minas.” And he said…to him, “You also be over five cities.” (Luke 19:12-19)
Cities here likewise symbolize doctrines or doctrinal truths, and to be over them is to be intelligent and wise. Thus to give power over them is to impart intelligence and wisdom. Ten symbolizes much, and five some. It is apparent that to do business and earn a profit means to acquire intelligence for oneself by making use of one’s abilities.
[4] That the holy city Jerusalem symbolizes the doctrine of the New Church is clearly apparent from its description in chapter 21 of the book of Revelation, for it is described in respect to its dimensions, its gates, and its wall and foundations, and inasmuch as Jerusalem symbolizes the church, these can symbolize nothing other than matters having to do with its doctrine. Neither is the church a church on any other basis.
Because the city Jerusalem means the church in respect to doctrine, it is therefore called the City of Truth (Zechariah 8:3, 4), and in many places a holy city, and this because holiness is predicated of truths derived from the Lord (no. 173).
Since “My God” symbolizes Divine truth (no. 193), it follows, when it is said of the Lord and of the doctrine of the New Church, that coming down out of heaven from My God symbolizes doctrine that will come from the Lord’s Divine truth such as it is in heaven.
To be shown that the Lord’s name symbolizes everything by which He is worshiped, see no. 81 above. Thus it means here worship of the Lord alone, with new elements that did not exist in the prior church.
That worship in the New Church will be worship of the Lord alone is apparent from chapter 21, verses 9 and 10, where this church is called the Lamb’s wife.
That this church will have new elements in it is apparent from chapter 21, verse 5, where we are told, “Behold, I make all things new.”
This is therefore the symbolic meaning of “My new name” which will be engraved on them.
But we need first to say something about these people. There are in the church people who both believe and do not believe – who believe, for example, that there is a God, that the Word is holy, that life is eternal, and many other things connected with the church and its doctrine, and yet who at the same time do not believe them. They believe them when they are in their sense-oriented natural self, and yet do not believe them when they are in their reasoning natural self. Thus they believe them when they are focused on things round about them, and so when engaged in association and conversation with others; but do not believe them when they are focused inward, and so when they are not engaged in association with others, and when their conversation then is with themselves. It is these people of whom it is said that they are neither cold nor hot and will be vomited out.
“Amen” is a Divine confirmation springing from the truth itself, which the Lord is, and so which is from Him, as may be seen in no. 23 above. Moreover, a faithful and true witness, when applied to the Lord, is the Divine truth which originates from Him in the Word (nos. 6, 16).
Whether you say that the Lord testifies of Himself, or that the Word does, the meaning is the same, since the Son of Man, who is the one addressing the churches here, is the Lord in relation to the Word (no. 44).
This declaration is made first to this church, because the subject here is people in the church who base their beliefs both on their own thinking and on the Word, and people who base their beliefs on the Word, form them from the Lord.
That the Word is the beginning of the workmanship of God is something not yet known in the church, because it has not understood these words in John:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was 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 through Him, but the world did not know Him…. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father…. (John 1:1-14)
Someone who understands these words in respect to their inner meaning, and at the same time compares them with what we wrote in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, as well as with some sections in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, can see that the Word which was in the beginning with God, and which was God, means the underlying Divine truth in the Word that previously existed in this world (as reported in no. 11), and that which is present in the Word that we have today. It does not mean the Word viewed in respect to the words and letters of its languages, but viewed in terms of its essence and life which is inmostly present in the meanings of its words and letters. By this life the Word animates the will’s affections of the person who reads it reverently, and by the light of this life it enlightens the thoughts of his intellect. Therefore we are told in John, “In the Word was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:4) The Word does this because the Word comes from the Lord and has the Lord as its subject and so is the Lord.
All thought, speech, or writing takes its essence and life from the one doing the thinking, speaking, or writing. It has the person in it, along with his character. And the Word has in it the Lord alone.
Still, no one senses or perceives the Divine life in the Word but one who, when reading it, is impelled by a spiritual affection for truth, for through the Word he is conjoined with the Lord. He experiences something inmostly affecting his heart and spirit, which flows with enlightenment into in his intellect and testifies.
[2] The following words in the first chapter of Genesis have a similar symbolic meaning to those in John:
In the beginning God created heaven and earth…. And the spirit of God moved over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Genesis 1:1-3)
The spirit of God is Divine truth, and also light, the Divine truth being the Word; and therefore in John 1:4, 8, 9 the Lord calls Himself the Word, and also the light.
A similar meaning is found in this declaration in the book of Psalms:
By the word of Jehovah the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. (Psalm 33:6)
In short, without the Divine truth of the Word, which in its essence is the Divine goodness of the Lord’s Divine love and the Divine truth of His Divine wisdom, no mortal could have life. The Word is the means of the Lord’s conjunction with a person, and of the person with the Lord, and through that conjunction comes life. There must be something from the Lord that a person can receive which makes possible that conjunction and so eternal life.
[3] It can be seen from this that “the beginning of the workmanship of God” means the Word, and if you would believe it, the Word such as it is in the sense of its letter, for this sense embraces the inner, holy levels, as we showed many times in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture.
Moreover, wonderful to say, the Word has been so written that it communicates with the whole of heaven, and every particular with some society there, as I have been given to know through personal experience, of which more elsewhere.
That the Word in its essence is such as described is still more apparent from these words of the Lord:
The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63)
To sometimes deny in oneself the holiness of the Word, and sometimes acknowledge it, is to be neither cold nor hot, for such people are both against the Word and for the Word.
The same people are of a like character also with respect to God. They sometimes deny Him and sometimes acknowledge Him. So likewise with respect to everything else connected with the church. They are accordingly at times with the inhabitants of hell, and at times with the inhabitants of heaven. They fly, as it were, up and down between the two, and they turn their face in the direction they are flying.
Those who become of such a character are people who have affirmed in themselves the existence of God, of heaven and hell, and eternal life, and who afterward have turned away from these. In their case, when the earlier affirmation recurs, they acknowledge, but when it does not recur, they deny.
The reason they turn away is that they afterward think only about themselves and the world, continually seeking to be superior to others, and as a result they immerse themselves in their native selves, so that hell swallows them up.
To be vomited out of My mouth means, symbolically, to be separated from the Lord, and to be separated from the Lord is consequently to be in neither heaven nor hell, but in a place apart, bereft of human life, surrounded by nothing but hallucinations. The reason is that they have mixed truths with falsities, and goods with evils, thus holy things with profane ones, to the point that these cannot be separated in them. And because a person cannot be prepared then to be in either heaven or hell, every bit of his rational life is eradicated, with only the lowest capacities of his life remaining, and when these have been separated from his life’s interior capacities, they are nothing but hallucinations.
For more on the state and lot of such people, see Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Providence, nos. 226-228, 231, which should suffice to give a concept of them.
They are said to be vomited out because after death everyone comes first into the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, and is there prepared; and this world corresponds to the stomach, in which everything ingested is prepared, either to become blood and flesh or to become excrement and urine. The first have a correspondence with heaven, the latter with hell. But whatever is vomited out of the stomach is matter not separated, but mixed together.
Because of this correspondence we find vomiting out and vomit mentioned in the following passages:
(Drink and make drunk) that your uncircumcised foreskin may be exposed. The cup…of Jehovah will come around to you, so that a disgraceful vomit is upon your glory. (Habakkuk 2:15, 16)
Make (Moab) drunk…, that (he) may applaud in his vomit…. (Jeremiah 48:26)
…all tables are full of vomit thrown up…. To whom will he teach knowledge? (Isaiah 28:8, 9)
So, too, elsewhere, as in Jeremiah 25:27, Leviticus 18:24, 25, 28.
The reason lukewarm water induces vomiting is owing also to the correspondence.
To be rich and wealthy means, symbolically, nothing else here than to have full knowledge and understanding of such things as have to do with the church and heaven, things which are called spiritual and theological, because they are the subject here. Spiritual riches and wealth are nothing else.
People who base their beliefs on their own thinking, and not on the Lord through the Word, also believe that they know and understand everything. That is because their spiritual mind is closed and only their natural mind open, and without spiritual light the natural mind has no other sight.
That riches and wealth in the Word symbolize spiritual riches and wealth, which are concepts of truth and goodness, is apparent from the following passages:
By your wisdom and your intelligence you have gained riches for yourself…, gold and silver in your treasuries; by the increase of your wisdom…you have increased your riches…. (Ezekiel 28:4, 5)
This is said of Tyre, which symbolizes the church in respect to its concepts of truth and good. Similarly:
The daughter of Tyre (the daughter of the king) (will bring you) a gift; the rich among the people will seek to placate your face. (Psalm 45:12)
…(Jehovah) will impoverish (Tyre); He will destroy its wealth in the sea…. (Zechariah 9:4)
They will plunder (O Tyre) your riches…. (Ezekiel 26:12)
(Asshur said,) “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am intelligent…; (therefore) I…will plunder the treasures of the peoples…. My hand will find…the wealth of the peoples….” (Isaiah 10:13, 14)
Asshur symbolizes the rational faculty – here that it perverts the goods and truths of the church, which are the treasures and wealth of the peoples that it will plunder.
I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places…. (Isaiah 45:3)
Blessed is the man who fears Jehovah…. Wealth and riches will be in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. (Psalm 112:1, 3)
(God) has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. (Luke 1:53)
…woe to you who are rich, for you have received your joy. Woe to you who are filled, for you shall hunger. (Luke 6:24, 25)
The rich here mean people who possessed concepts of truth and good because they had the Word, namely the Jews. So, too, the “rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen” (Luke 16:19).
The rich and riches have a similar meaning elsewhere, as in Isaiah 30:6; Jeremiah 17:11; Micah 4:13, 6:12; Zechariah 14:14; Matthew 12:35, 13:44; Luke 12:21.
Misery here symbolizes a lack of coherence; thus to be miserable symbolizes someone who thinks incoherently about matters connected with the church. The reason is that the people who are the subject here at times deny the reality of God, heaven, eternal life, the holiness of the Word, and at other times acknowledge them. Consequently what they build with one hand, they destroy with the other. Thus they are like people who build a house and then tear it down. Or they are like people who dress themselves in beautiful garments and then rend them. Their houses are consequently rubble and their garments in pieces.
Such is the nature of everything these people think regarding heaven and the church, although they are not aware of it.
This is the meaning of misery also in the following passages:
Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, when you said in your heart, “I am, and there is no one else besides me.” …Therefore…misery shall fall upon you…. (Isaiah 47:10, 11)
Misery will come upon misery…. The king will mourn, and the prince will be clothed with insensibility…. (Ezekiel 7:26, 27)
The king who will mourn and the prince who will be clothed with insensibility are people who are impelled by the truths of the church.
…there is no rectitude in their mouth; in their inward part is misery. (Psalm 5:9)
Walls have a similar symbolic meaning in Jeremiah 49:3, Ezekiel 13:10-13, and Hosea 2:6.
Wretched and poor people mean, in the spiritual sense of the Word, people who lack concepts of truth and good, for they are spiritually wretched and poor. They are also meant by the people in the following passages:
I am wretched and poor, O Lord; be mindful of me. (Psalm 40:18, cf. 70:5)
Incline Your ear, O Jehovah, and answer me, for I am wretched and poor. (Psalm 86:1)
The impious bare the sword and bend their bow, to cast down the wretched and poor…. (Psalm 37:14)
(The impious man) persecuted the wretched and poor man, even to slay the downcast in heart. (Psalm 109:16)
(God) will judge the wretched of the people; He will save the children of the poor…. …He will deliver the poor man when he cries, and the wretched man…. (Psalm 72:4, 12, 13)
Jehovah…delivers the wretched man from one who is too strong for him, and the poor man…from those who plunder him. (Psalm 35:10)
(The impious man) devises wicked plans to destroy the wretched with lying words, even when the poor man speaks justly. (Isaiah 37:7)
The wretched shall have their joy in Jehovah, and the poor of mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 29:19)
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3)
See also elsewhere, as Isaiah 10:2; Jeremiah 22:16; Ezekiel 16:49, 18:12, 22:29; Amos 8:4; Psalm 9:18, 69:32, 33, 74:21, 109:22, 140:12; Deuteronomy 15:11, 24:14; Luke 14:13, 21, 23.
The wretched and poor mean chiefly people who lack concepts of truth and goodness and yet desire them, since the rich mean people who possess concepts of truth and goodness (no. 206).
The blind in the Word mean people who lack truths, either because of a deficiency of truths in the church and thus their ignorance of them, or because of their failure to understand them. And the naked mean people who are consequently without goods, for all spiritual good is attained through truths.
It is just these who are meant by the blind in the following passages:
Then in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and out of darkness…the eyes of the blind shall see. (Isaiah 29:18)
Behold, your God will come…. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened…. (Isaiah 35:4-6)
I will…give You…as a light to the gentiles, to open blind eyes…. (Isaiah 42:6, 7)
I will lead the blind by a way they did not know…. I will turn their darkness into light…. (Isaiah 42:16)
Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears. (Isaiah 43:8)
His watchmen are (all) blind…and do not know understanding. (Isaiah 56:10, 11)
He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they do not see with their eyes or understand with the heart…. (John 12:40)
Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind. (John 9:39-41)
(Blind guides, stupid and foolish.) (Matthew 23:16, 17, 19, 24)
…blind leaders of the blind. (Matthew 15:14, cf. Luke 6:39)
Because of the symbolism of a blind man and blindness, it was forbidden for someone blind to make a sacrifice, or for someone to offer anything blind as a sacrifice (Leviticus 21:18, Deuteronomy 15:21). They were not to put a stumblingblock before the blind (Leviticus 19:14). Cursed would be anyone who caused the blind to go astray (Deuteronomy 27:18).
For the symbolism of the naked and nakedness, see no. 213 below.
That is because to buy means, symbolically, to acquire for oneself. “From Me” symbolically means, from the Lord by means of the Word. Gold symbolizes goodness, and gold refined in the fire, the goodness of celestial love. And to be enriched means, symbolically, to understand and become wise.
Gold symbolizes goodness because metals in their hierarchy symbolize qualities connected with goodness and truth. Gold symbolizes celestial and spiritual goodness; silver, the truth accompanying those good qualities; bronze, natural goodness; and iron, natural truth.
These are the symbolic meanings of the metals of which Nebuchadnezzar’s statue consisted, the head of which was gold, the breast and arms silver, the belly and thighs bronze, the legs iron, and the feet partly iron and partly clay (Daniel 2:32, 33). These metals represented the successive states of the church in respect to the goodness of its love and the truth of its wisdom.
Because the states of the church followed in succession in this way, the ancients therefore gave the ages these same names, calling them the golden age, the silver age, the bronze age, and the iron age. And by the golden age they meant the first period, when the goodness of celestial love reigned. Celestial love is love toward the Lord received from the Lord. From this love they then had their wisdom.
To be shown that gold symbolizes the goodness of love, see no. 913 below.
To be shown that garments symbolize the truths clothing goodness, see no. 166 above, and that white is predicated of truths, no. 167. White garments, therefore, symbolize genuine truths of wisdom, and this because gold refined in fire symbolizes the goodness of celestial love, the truths accompanying this love being genuine truths of wisdom.
No one can know the symbolic meaning of the shame of nakedness unless he knows that the reproductive organs in both sexes, called also the genitalia, correspond to celestial love.
To be shown that the human body and all its constituents have a correspondence with the heavens, see the book Heaven and Hell, published in London in 1758, nos. 87-102. And to be shown that the reproductive organs correspond to celestial love, see Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), also published in London, nos. 5050-5062.
Now because these organs correspond to celestial love, which is the love found in the third or inmost heaven, and because a person is born of his parents into loves contrary to that love, it is apparent that if he does not acquire for himself the goodness of love and the truth of wisdom from the Lord, which are symbolically meant by gold refined in fire and white garments, he will be seen to be impelled by a contrary love, which in itself is profane.
[2] This latter circumstance is symbolically meant by uncovering nakedness and manifesting the shame of it, in the following places:
Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and his private parts be seen. (Revelation 16:15)
…daughter of Babylon (and of the Chaldeans), sit on the ground…. Uncover your hair…, uncover the thigh, pass through the rivers. Let your nakedness be uncovered; yes, let your shame be seen. (Isaiah 47:1-3)
Woe to the bloody city! …Because of the multitude of (her) harlotries…I will uncover your skirts in front of you, and I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your disgrace. (Nahum 3:1, 4, 5)
Contend with your mother…lest I strip her naked…. (Hosea 2:2-4)
When I passed by you…I covered your nakedness…. Then I washed you…and…I clothed you…. But you…played the harlot…not remembering your youth, when you were naked and bare…. (Therefore) your nakedness was uncovered…. (Ezekiel 16:6ff.)
Jerusalem has sinned gravely; therefore…all…despise her, because they have seen her nakedness. (Lamentations 1:8)
Jerusalem, of which these things were said, means the church; and to play the harlot means, symbolically, to adulterate and falsify the Word (no. 134).
Woe to him who makes his neighbor drink…, making him drunk, that you may look on his nakedness! …Drink, you too, that your uncircumcised foreskin may be exposed! (Habakkuk 2:15, 16)
[3] Someone who knows what nakedness symbolizes can understand what is symbolically meant by the statement that when Noah was drunk from drinking wine he lay uncovered inside his tent, and Ham saw and laughed at his nakedness, but Shem and Japheth covered his nakedness, turning their faces away so as not to see it (Genesis 9:21-23). He can understand also why it was decreed that Aaron and his sons should not go up by steps to the altar, that their nakedness might not be exposed (Exodus 20:26). And so, too, why it was decreed that they should make for them linen trousers to cover their naked flesh, that they should have these on when they came near the altar, and that otherwise they would bear their iniquity and die (Exodus 28:42, 43).
Nakedness in these places symbolizes the evils into which a person is born, which, because they are contrary to the goodness of celestial love, are in themselves profane and are removed only by truths and by living in accordance with those truths. Linen also symbolizes truth (no. 671).
[4] Nakedness in addition symbolizes innocence, and also ignorance of goodness and truth. Innocence is symbolized by the statement, “they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they had no cause for shame” (Genesis 2:25). Ignorance of goodness and truth is symbolized by the following:
…this…fast that I choose: …to break bread with the hungry…, and…when you see the naked man, to cover him. (Isaiah 58:6, 7)
He gives his bread to the hungry man, and covers the naked one with clothing. (Ezekiel 18:7)
…I was hungry and you gave Me food…; I was naked and you clothed Me. (Matthew 25:35, 36)
Eyes symbolize the intellect, and the sight of the eyes intelligence and wisdom, as may be seen in no. 48. And since eye salve symbolizes medicine for it, it follows that to anoint the eyes with eye salve means, symbolically, to heal the intellect, so that it may see truths and become wise. Otherwise the genuine truths of the Word are profaned and adulterated.
It is apparent that this is what this statement means, for it says, “as many as I love,” which means those people who “buy from the Lord gold refined in the fire” and who “anoint their eyes with eye salve, that they may see.” It says “I rebuke and chasten them,” which means temptation or trial as regards falsities and evils – to rebuke meaning temptation or trial as regards falsities, and to chasten, temptation or trial as regards evils.
The people who are the subject here have to be introduced into temptations or trials, since without these, denials of Divine truths and arguments against them cannot be rooted out.
Temptations or trials are spiritual battles against the falsities and evils in oneself, thus battles against oneself.
The origin of temptations or trials, furthermore, and what good they do, may be seen in the book The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, published in London in 1758, nos. 187-201.
The text here says, “Be zealous,” because it said in verse 15 above, “Would that you were cold or hot,” and the meaning here is for the angel to be hot; for zeal is a spiritual heat, and spiritual heat is an affection of love, here the affection of a love of truth. Moreover, someone who acts from an affection of the love of truth acts also from an aversion to falsity. Consequently this is the symbolic meaning of the command to repent.
In the Word, when zeal or jealousness is applied to the Lord, it symbolizes both love and anger – love in John 2:17, Psalm 69:9, Isaiah 37:32, 63:15, Ezekiel 39:25, Zechariah 1:14, 8:2, anger in Deuteronomy 32:16, 21, Psalm 79:5, 6, Ezekiel 8:3, 5, 16:42, 23:25, Zephaniah 1:18, 3:8.
In the Lord’s case, however, zeal or jealousness is not anger. It only seems as though it were in outward appearances. Inwardly it is love. It seems in outward appearances as though it were anger because the Lord appears to be angry when He admonishes a person, especially when the person is being punished by his evil, which love permits in order that his evil may be removed. The case is entirely like that of a parent. If he loves his children, he allows them to be chastised in order to remove their evils.
It is apparent from this why Jehovah declares Himself to be a jealous God (Deuteronomy 4:24, 5:9, 10, 6:14, 15).
Similar to this is the Lord’s statement in Luke,
You yourselves (must) be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. (Luke 12:36)
That a door symbolizes admittance and an entryway may be seen in no. 176 above.
To hear His voice is to believe the Word, for the Word’s Divine truth is the voice of Jehovah (nos. 37, 50). And to open the door is to live according to the Word, since one opens the door and receives the Lord not only by hearing His voice, but by living according to it. For the Lord says,
He who has My commandments and keeps them…, I will…manifest Myself to him…, and (I) will come to him and make (My) abode with him. (John 14:21-24)
In The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem we showed that a person ought to open the door as though on his own, by refraining from evils as sins and doing good acts; and that this is the case is apparent from the Lord’s words in the present verse, “If anyone…opens the door,” as well as from His words in Luke 12:36.*
* Quoted in no. 217 above.
To come in and dine with him means, symbolically, to conjoin Himself with him; and because reciprocity is necessary for conjunction to take place, the statement says also, “and he with Me.”
That to come in and dine means, symbolically, to be conjoined is apparent from the Holy Supper instituted by the Lord, which brings about the Lord’s presence in the case of people who hear His voice, that is to say, who believe the Word, but which brings about conjunction in the case of people who live according to the Word. To live according to the Word is to repent and believe in the Lord.
Dining and the Lord’s supper are mentioned because a supper takes place in the evening, and evening symbolizes the final period of the church. Consequently when the Lord departed from the world, at the time of the last period of the church, He dined with His disciples and instituted the sacrament of the Holy Supper.
To be shown that evening symbolizes the final period of the old church, and morning the initial period of a new church, see no. 151 above.
To be shown that the Lord’s throne is heaven, see no. 14 above. Consequently to sit with the Lord on His throne symbolizes a conjunction with Him in heaven.
That the Father and the Lord are one is something we showed fully in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord. And elsewhere we have shown that heaven is not heaven in consequence of the angels’ own qualities, but owing to the Lord’s Divinity that is present in the angels and among them. Therefore the statement, “as I sit with My Father on His throne,” symbolically means, as He and the Father are one and constitute heaven. The throne is heaven (nos. 14, 221).
“As I also overcame” means, symbolically, that through the temptations or trials that His human nature suffered, and through the last of them which was His suffering of the cross, as well as by His fulfilling all things of the Word, the Lord overcame the hells and glorified His humanity, which is to say that He united it to His Divinity that He had within Him from conception, which is called Jehovah, the Father. (Concerning this, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 8-11, 12-14, 29-36, and also no. 67 above.)
[2] The Lord says, “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sit with My Father on His throne,” and He says this because the Lord’s union with the Father, that is to say, with His Divinity within Him, had as a goal to make it possible for a person to be conjoined with the Divinity in the Lord called the Father. That is because it is impossible for a person to be conjoined with the Divinity of the Father directly, but is possible indirectly through His Divine humanity, which is Divinely natural. Therefore the Lord says,
No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has exhibited Him. (John 1:18)
And in another place,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6)
The Lord’s conjunction with a person takes place through His Divine truth, and this truth is the Lord’s in the person, thus the Lord, and is not at all the person’s, thus is not the person. The person indeed feels it to be his own, and yet it is not his, for it does not become one with him, but is only an adjunct to him. It is otherwise with the Divinity of the Father. This is not an adjunct to the Lord’s humanity but united with it, as the soul is with its body.
Whoever understands this can understand the following declarations by the Lord:
He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (John 15:4, 5)
On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. (John 14:20)
And this:
Sanctify them in Your truth. Your word is truth…. For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified in the truth…, that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us…, I in them, and You in Me. (John 17:17, 19, 21, 23)
———-
I saw a gathering of spirits, all upon their knees, praying to God to send them angels they could speak with face to face and to whom they could disclose the thoughts of their heart.
Then when they arose, three angels appeared in white linen standing before them, and the angels said, “The Lord Jesus Christ has heard your prayers, and has therefore sent us to you. Disclose to us the thoughts of your heart.”
[2] The spirits then replied, “Priest have told us that in theological matters it is not the intellect but faith that accomplishes anything, and that in such matters an intellectual faith is of no help to anyone, because it takes it origin from man.
“We are English, and we have heard many things from our sacred ministry which we believed. However, when we spoke with some other people who call themselves Reformed, and with some who call themselves Roman Catholics, and moreover with some Nonconformists, they all seemed to us learned, and yet in many matters not one of them agreed with another. But nevertheless they all said, ‘Believe us.’ And some said, ‘We are God’s ministers and we know.’
“Still we knew that the Divine truths that are called truths of faith and are the church’s truths are no one’s heritage by birth alone, or by heredity, but that they descend out of heaven from God. And because these show the way to heaven, and enter into one’s life together with the good of charity and so lead to eternal life, we became anxious and prayed on our knees to God.”
[3] At that the angels replied, “Read the Word and believe in the Lord, and you will see the truths that must be those of your faith and life. All in the Christian world draw their doctrinal teachings from the Word as from a single font.”
[4] But two of the gathering of spirits said, “We have read it, but have not understood.”
The angels replied, “You have not turned to the Lord, and you have also confirmed yourselves in falsities.”
The angels also said further, “What is faith without light? And what is thinking without understanding? It isn’t human. Ravens too and magpies can learn to speak without understanding. We can assure you that everyone whose soul longs for it can see the truths of the Word in a state of light. There is no animal that does not know the right food for its life when it sees it, and the human being is a rational and spiritual animal. If he hungers for it and seeks it from the Lord, the human being sees for his life not food for his body but food for his soul, which is the truth of faith. Moreover, whatever he does not receive with his intellect, also does not stick in his memory as a concept, but only as words. Consequently when we have looked down from heaven into the world, we have not seen anything, but have only heard sounds, mostly lacking in any harmony.
[5] “But we will list some truths that the learned of the clergy have banished from the intellect, not knowing that there are two paths to the intellect, one from the world and the other from heaven, and not knowing that the Lord raises the intellect from the world when He enlightens it. However, if the intellect is closed by religion, the path to it from heaven is closed, and a person then sees no more in the Word than a blind man sees. We have seen many of this sort fall into pits, from which they have not risen.
“Let examples serve to illustrate. You can understand what charity and faith are, can you not? That charity is to comport oneself well with the neighbor, and that faith is to think rightly about God and the essential constituents of the church? And therefore that anyone who behaves well and thinks rightly, that is, who lives rightly and believes rightly, is saved?”
In response to this the spirits said that they understood.
[6] The angels went on, “You understand, do you not, that to be saved a person must repent of his sins, and that unless a person repents, he remains caught up in the sins into which he was born? Moreover, that to repent means not to will evils because they are sins against God, and once or twice a year to examine oneself, see one’s evils, confess them before the Lord, implore His aid, desist from them, and embark upon a new life? And that to the extent a person does this and believes in the Lord, his sins are forgiven?”
Then some of the gathering of spirits said, “This we understand, and so also what the forgiveness of sins is.”
[7] At that the spirits then asked the angels to tell them something more, and specifically this time about God, the immortality of the soul, regeneration, and baptism.
To this the angels replied, “We shall say nothing but what you can understand. Otherwise what we say will fall like rain on sand, and however much they may be watered from heaven, any seeds there will still dry up and die.”
Regarding God then they said, “People who enter heaven are all allotted a place there and accordingly come into eternal joy in accord with their idea of God, because this idea reigns universally throughout all aspects of worship.
“An idea of God as invisible is not focused on anyone, and so has no focus in anyone. Consequently it passes away and dies.
“An idea of God as a spirit, when one believes a spirit to be like the ether or a puff of wind, is an idea empty of content.
“But an idea of God as a man is a proper idea. For God is Divine love and wisdom, with every property of these, and their containing vessel is man, not ether or a puff of wind.
“The idea of God found in heaven is an idea of the Lord. He is God of heaven and earth, as He Himself taught. Let your idea of God be like ours, and we will be comrades.”
When the angels said this, their faces shone.
[8] Regarding the immortality of the soul the angels said, “A person lives to eternity because through love and faith he can be conjoined with God. This is possible for everyone. You can understand that the immortality of the soul results from this possibility if you think about it a little more deeply.”
[9] Regarding regeneration they said, “Who does not see that everyone has the freedom to think about God or not to think about Him, provided he has been taught that God exists. Thus everyone has just as much freedom in spiritual matters as he does in civil and moral matters. The Lord gives this freedom to all people continually. Consequently it is his fault if he does not think about God. A person is human because of this ability [to think about God], while an animal is an animal because it lacks the ability. Therefore a person can reform and regenerate himself as though of himself, provided he acknowledges at heart that the ability comes from the Lord. Everyone who repents and believes in the Lord is reformed and regenerated. A person must do both as though of himself, but the “as though of himself” comes from the Lord.
“It is true that a person can contribute nothing to this end – nothing at all – but still you were not created sculpted forms, but were created human beings, in order that you might accomplish this from the Lord as though of yourselves. This reciprocation of love and faith is the one thing that the Lord above all wishes a person to do for Him.
“In a word, do it of yourselves, but believe that you do it from the Lord, thus doing it as though of yourselves.”
[10] The spirits, however, then asked the angels whether doing things as though of oneself was not something with which a person was endowed from creation.
One of the angels replied, “It is not something with which a person is endowed, because to do something of oneself is God’s alone, but He grants the ability to a person continually, that is to say, He attaches it to a person continually; and then to the extent that a person does good and believes truth as though of himself, he is an angel of heaven. But to the extent that he does evil and so believes falsity, which he does also as though of himself, he is to that extent an angel of hell. You are surprised to be told that he does this also as though of himself, but yet you see it when you pray to be protected from the devil, that he not lead you astray, lest he enter into you as he entered into Judas, fill you with all iniquity, and destroy both soul and body.*
“Still, everyone makes himself responsible for an action if he believes that he does it of himself, be it good or evil, but does not make himself responsible for it if he believes that he does it as though of himself.”
[11] Regarding baptism the angels said that it was a spiritual washing, which is reformation and regeneration, and that a little child is reformed and regenerated when he becomes an adult and does the things that his sponsors promised for him, of which there are two, namely, repentance and faith in God. For his sponsors promise first that he will renounce the devil and all his works, and second that he will believe in God. All little children in heaven are initiated into these two, though for them the devil is hell and God is the Lord.
“Moreover, baptism is a sign to angels that a person belongs to the church.”
[12] Having heard this, some of the gathering of spirits said, “We understand it.” But a voice from the side was heard crying, “We don’t understand it.” And another voice, “We don’t want to understand it.”
The spirits then inquired into whose voices they were, and they found that they belonged to people who had confirmed themselves in the falsities of their faith, and who wished to be credited as oracles so as to be revered.
The angels said, “Do not be astonished. Such is the character of very many people today. From heaven they look to us like sculpted forms, so skillfully made that they can move their lips and make organism-like sounds, but they do not know whether the breath they use to make sounds comes from hell or from heaven, because they do not know whether anything is false or true. They reason and reason, and defend and defend, but they do not see whether anything is so.
“You should know, however, that human ingenuity can defend whatever it wishes, even to the point that it appears to be the case. Heretics, therefore, can do this. So can the impious. Atheists indeed can make it appear that there is no God, but only nature.”
[13] After this the gathering of English spirits, burning with a desire to become wise, said to the angels, “People say such different things about the Holy Supper. Tell us what the truth is.”
The angels said, “The truth is that anyone who turns to the Lord and repents is, by that most holy act, conjoined with the Lord and introduced into heaven.”
But some of that gathering said, “This is a mystery.”
To which the angels replied, “It is a mystery, but yet of the sort that one can understand.
“The bread and wine do not create the conjunction. There is no holiness in them. But material bread and heavenly bread correspond to each other, and so do material wine and heavenly wine. Heavenly bread is the holiness in love, and heavenly wine is the holiness in faith, both originating from the Lord, and both being the Lord. This occasions a conjunction of the Lord with man and of man with the Lord – a conjunction not with the bread and wine but with the love and faith of a person who has repented – and conjunction with the Lord is also an introduction into heaven.”
Then, after the angels taught them something about correspondence and its effect, some of the gathering said, “Now for the first time we understand.”
And when they said, “We understand,” suddenly something flame-like descending with its light from heaven affiliated the spirits with the angels, and they loved each other.
* A reference to the prayer recited before Anglican celebrations of Holy Communion, the English text of which is quoted in The Doctrine of Life, no. 5, which concludes, “Therefore if any of you be a blasphemer of God, or hinderer or slanderer of His word, or adulterer, or be in malice or envy, or in any other grievous crime, repent you of your sins, or else come not to the Holy Table; lest after the taking of that Holy Sacrament the Devil enter into you, as he entered into Judas, and fill you with all iniquities, and bring you to destruction both of body and soul.”
1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice that I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”
2 Immediately I was in the spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. 3 And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. 6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a human being, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 8 The four living creatures, each individually having six wings about it, were full of eyes within. And they did not rest day or night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” 9 And when the living creatures gave glory and honor and thanks to Him who sat on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fell down before Him who sat on the throne and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
This chapter describes the organization and preparation of everything in heaven for the judgment that would be based on the Word and take place in accordance with it. Also, an acknowledgment that the Lord is the sole judge.
The Contents of the Individual Verses
1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven.
A manifestation of the organization of the heavens for a last judgment by the Lord, to take place in accordance with His Divine truths in the Word.
And the first voice that I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here,
A Divine influx, resulting in an elevation of the mind and consequent clear perception.
“and I will show you things which must take place after this.”
Revelations regarding events to come before the Last Judgment, during it, and after it.
2 Immediately I was in the spirit;
John’s conveyance into a spiritual state, in which the things that occur in heaven clearly appear.
and behold, a throne set in heaven,
The Judgment in a representative image.
and One sitting on the throne.
The Lord.
3 And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance;
An appearance of the Lord’s Divine wisdom and love in outmost expressions.
and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.
An appearance of them also around the Lord.
4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting,
The organization of everything in heaven for judgment,
clothed in white robes;
a judgment based on the Divine truths of the Word,
and they had crowns of gold on their heads.
which are truths of wisdom springing from love.
5 And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices.
Enlightenment, perception, and instruction from the Lord.
And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.
A resulting new church in heaven and on earth, established by the Lord through the Divine truth emanating from Him.
6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal.
A new heaven formed of Christians.
And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures
The Word of the Lord from the firsts of it in its lasts, and its protections.
full of eyes in front and in back.
The Divine wisdom in it.
7 The first living creature was like a lion,
The Divine truth of the Word in respect to its power.
the second living creature like a calf,
The Divine truth of the Word in respect to its affection.
the third living creature had a face like a human being,
The Divine truth of the Word in respect to its wisdom.
and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.
The Divine truth of the Word in respect to its concepts and the understanding they afford.
8 The four living creatures, each individually having six wings about it,
The Word in respect to its powers and protections.
were full of eyes within.
The Divine wisdom in the Word in its natural sense, springing from its spiritual and celestial meanings.
And they did not rest day or night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
The Word teaches the Lord continually, that He alone is God, and that therefore He alone is to be worshiped.
“who was and is and is to come!”
The Lord.
9 And when the living creatures gave glory and honor and thanks to Him who sat on the throne,
The Word ascribes all truth and good and all worship to the Lord, who is about to judge.
who lives forever and ever,
The Lord alone is life, and from Him alone springs eternal life.
10 the twenty-four elders fell down before Him who sat on the throne and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever,
The humility of all in heaven before the Lord.
and cast their crowns before the throne,
Their acknowledgment that their wisdom comes from Him alone.
saying, 11 “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power;
Their confession that, being Divine truth and good, the Lord possesses the kingdom by His merit and righteousness;
“for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”
that everything in heaven and the church has been created and formed out of the Lord’s Divine love by His Divine wisdom, or out of Divine good by Divine truth, which is also the Word, and that so likewise are people reformed and reborn.
THE EXPOSITION
After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. This symbolizes a manifestation of the organization of the heavens for a last judgment by the Lord, to take place in accordance with His Divine truths in the Word. (4:1)
When said of heaven, an open door symbolizes an entryway, as in no. 176 above. Here it symbolizes also a manifestation, because John says, “I looked, and behold….” And because he saw then the things related in this chapter, which have to do with the organization of the heavens for a last judgment by the Lord, to take place in accordance with His Divine truths in the Word, therefore the statement, “I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven,” symbolizes a manifestation of those things.
When a voice is heard from heaven, it means Divine truth flowing in (see nos. 37, 50 above), thus a Divine influx. And a voice like a trumpet symbolizes a clear perception (see again no. 37 above). “Come up here,” moreover, symbolizes an elevation of the mind, for in the spiritual world, the higher one ascends, the purer the light that he comes into, by which the intellect is progressively opened or the mind elevated. Consequently the statement also follows that John was then in the spirit, meaning that he was conveyed into a spiritual state, in which the things found in heaven clearly appear.
The voice sounded like a trumpet because the subject is the organization of the heavens for a last judgment. Moreover voices like trumpets are heard in heaven when assemblies and organizations are taking place. Consequently in the case of the children of Israel also, with whom everything was representative of heaven and the church, it was a statute that they make trumpets of silver, and that the sons of Aaron sound them to assemble the congregation; to decamp; on days of celebration; at festivals; at the beginnings of months; upon the offering of sacrifices; as a memorial; and to go to war (Numbers 10:1-10).
But we shall speak of trumpets and the sounding of them in our exposition of chapter 8, where the subject is the seven angels who were given seven trumpets.
These are symbolically meant, because the book of Revelation has as its only subject the state of the church at its end, thus the events to come before the Last Judgment, and during it, and after it, as said in no. 2 above.
It may be seen in no. 36 above that to be in the spirit is to be conveyed into a spiritual state by a Divine influx. It may be seen there also what a spiritual state is, the nature of it, and the fact that a person in that state sees the phenomena in the spiritual world as clearly as he sees the phenomena in this world when in the natural state of the body.
It may be seen in no. 14 that a throne symbolizes heaven. That a throne also symbolizes judgment is apparent from the following passages:
When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. (Matthew 25:31ff.)
The subject there is the Last Judgment.
…You [Jehovah] have executed my judgment…; You sat on the throne as a righteous judge…. Jehovah…will prepare His throne for judgment. (Psalm 9:4, 5, 7)
I watched (when)…the Ancient of Days was seated…, His throne (like) a fiery flame…. A thousand thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. He sat in judgment, and the books were opened. (Daniel 7:9, 10)
Jerusalem is built…; to it the tribes go up…. …thrones are set there for judgment…. (Psalm 122:3-5)
I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was turned over to them. (Revelation 20:4)
The throne that Solomon made, as described in 1 Kings 10:18-20, symbolized both royal authority and judgment, since kings sat upon thrones when they pronounced judgments.
We say that the throne symbolizes the Judgment in a representative image, because the things that John saw were representative visions. He saw them as he described them, but they were images representative of future events, as can be seen from the descriptions that follow, such as his seeing living creatures, a dragon, beasts, a temple, a tabernacle, an ark, and many other things.
Similar images were seen by the prophets, as noted in no. 36 above.
In the Word a stone symbolizes truth in outmost expressions, and a precious stone symbolizes truth made translucent by the presence of good (no. 915).
Two colors are fundamental to all the rest in the spiritual world: the color white and the color red. The color white takes its origin from the light of the sun in heaven, thus from spiritual light, which is bright white; and the color red takes its origin from the fire of the sun there, thus from celestial light, which is flaming.
Because spiritual angels are governed by truths of wisdom from the Lord, they live in that bright white light, and are therefore attired in white; and because celestial angels are governed by goods of love from the Lord, they live in that flaming light, and are therefore attired in red. These two colors are consequently found in precious stones in heaven, where they exist in great abundance.
It is owing to this that in the Word precious stones symbolize qualities connected with either the truth of wisdom or the goodness of love; and because jasper is bright white, it symbolizes qualities connected with the truth of wisdom, while because sardius is red, it symbolizes qualities connected with the goodness of love.
These stones symbolize an appearance of Divine wisdom and Divine love in outmost expressions because all precious stones in heaven draw their origin from the outmost constituents of the Word, and they owe their translucence to the spiritual meaning of the outmost expressions in it. The reality of this may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 44, 45. The outmost expressions of the Word are the truths and goods in its literal sense.
Someone in our world can hardly believe that this is the origin of precious stones in heaven, because he does not know that everything found in the spiritual world is a correspondent form, and that everything found in the natural world takes its spiritual origin from those forms. From conversation with angels I have been given to know that this is the origin of precious stones in heaven, and also to see that it is the origin with my own eyes. It is the Lord alone, however, who causes their formation.
In contrast, dark colors take their origin from hell, of which there are also two. One is the opposite of white, the kind of darkness that exists with people who have falsified the truths of the Word. The other is the opposite of red, the kind of darkness that exists with those who have adulterated the goods of the Word. The first kind of darkness is satanic, the latter diabolical.
Regarding what jasper and sardius symbolize, more may be seen in the exposition of chapter 21, verses 11, 18-20.
Rainbows of many kinds are seen in the spiritual world. They are seen as having several different colors as on earth, and they are seen as having just one color. The rainbow here was of one color, because it is said to have been like an emerald. This phenomenon was seen around the Lord because it is said to have been around the throne. To be around Him means also to be in the angelic heaven.
The Divine atmosphere which surrounds the Lord emanates from both His Divine love and Divine wisdom together, and when that atmosphere is represented in the heavens, it appears in the celestial kingdom red like a ruby, in the spiritual kingdom blue like lapis lazuli, and in the natural kingdom green like an emerald – everywhere with an indescribable splendor and radiance.
Someone unacquainted with the spiritual meaning of the Word and at the same time the genuine truths of the church may believe that when the time of the Last Judgment comes, the Lord will sit upon a throne, and will be surrounded by other judges, also on thrones. But someone who is acquainted with the Word’s spiritual meaning and at the same time the church’s genuine truths knows that the Lord will not then sit upon a throne, nor be surrounded by other judges – indeed, that neither will the Lord judge anyone to hell, but that He will occasion the Word to judge everyone, under His oversight to ensure that everything proceeds in accordance with justice. The Lord in fact says,
…the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son…. …He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. (John 5:22, 27)
[2] But elsewhere He says,
I did not come to judge the world but to save the world…. The Word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. (John 12:47, 48)
These two statements are in harmony when one knows that the Son of Man is the Lord in relation to the Word (see no. 44 above). Consequently it is the Word that will judge, under the Lord’s oversight.
To be shown that the twelve tribes of Israel and their elders symbolize all people who are part of the Lord’s church in heaven and on earth, and in an abstract sense all the truths and goods in it, see nos. 251, 349, 369, 808. That the like is meant by apostles, nos. 79, 790, 903.
It is apparent from this what the symbolic meaning is of these words of the Lord:
Jesus said to (His disciples), “…when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Matthew 19:28, cf. Luke 22:30)
The number twelve symbolizes all, and it is predicated of the truths and goods of heaven and the church (no. 348). So, too, the number twenty-four. Therefore the twelve apostles and the twenty-four elders symbolize all the constituents of the church, and the twelve disciples, as also the twenty-four thrones, symbolize all judgment. Who cannot understand that the apostles and elders are not going to judge, and are unable to do so?
From this it can now be seen why thrones and elders are mentioned where the subject is judgment, as also in Isaiah:
Jehovah will enter into judgment with the elders of His people…. (Isaiah 3:14)
In the book of Psalms:
Jerusalem is built…(and) to it the tribes go up…. …thrones are set there for judgment…. (Psalm 122:3-5)
And in the book of Revelation:
I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was turned over to them. (Revelation 20:4)
To be shown that white garments symbolize the genuine truths of the Word, see nos. 166, 212 above.
To be shown that a crown symbolizes wisdom, see no. 189 above, and that gold symbolizes the goodness of love, nos. 211, 913. Therefore a crown of gold symbolizes wisdom springing from love.
From that wisdom flow all the constituents of heaven and the church, constituents which are symbolized by the twenty-four elders (no. 233), and therefore crowns of gold were seen on their heads.
It should be known that the spiritual sense is abstracted from persons, as said in nos. 78, 79, 96 above. So also here.
Because of the flash of light that strikes the eyes, lightnings symbolize enlightenment, and because of the crash that strikes the ears, thunderings symbolize perception. And since these two together symbolize enlightenment and perception, voices then symbolize instruction.
These phenomena were seen to proceed from the throne because they emanated from the Son of Man or from the Lord in relation to the Word, and all enlightenment, perception and instruction comes from the Lord by means of the Word.
Lightnings, thunderings and voices have similar symbolic meanings elsewhere in the Word, as in the following places:
You have with Your arm redeemed Your people…; the skies sent out a voice…. The voice of Your thunder was into the world; the lightnings lit up the world…. (Psalm 77:15, 17, 18)
(Jehovah’s) lightnings light the world…. (Psalm 97:4)
In distress you called, and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder…. (Psalm 81:7)
I heard…the voice of a great multitude…, as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty has taken the kingdom. (Revelation 19:6)
[2] Because lightnings, thunderings and voices symbolize enlightenment, perception and instruction, therefore when Jehovah descended on Mount Sinai and promulgated the Law, “there were thunderings and lightnings” (Exodus 19:16). Moreover, when a voice issued from heaven to the Lord, it sounded like thunder (John 12:28, 29). And because James and John represented charity and its works, and from these spring every perception of truth and good, the Lord called them “Boanerges, that is, ‘Sons of Thunder'” (Mark 3:17).
It is apparent from this that lightnings, thunderings and voices have similar symbolic meanings in the following places in the book of Revelation:
I heard one of the four living creatures…with a voice like thunder…. (Revelation 6:1)
I heard a voice from heaven…like the voice of loud thunder. (Revelation 14:2)
(When) the angel…threw (the censer) to the earth…, there were thunderings, voices, and lightnings…. (Revelation 8:5)
When (the angel) cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. (Revelation 10:3, 4)
(When) the temple of God was opened in heaven…there were lightnings, voices, and thunderings…. (Revelation 11:19)
So likewise elsewhere.
The seven lamps here have the same symbolic meaning as the seven lampstands previously, and also the seven stars. To be shown that the seven lampstands mean a new church on earth, which will have an enlightenment from the Lord, see no. 43 above; and that the seven stars mean a new church in the heavens, no. 65. Moreover, because the church is a church by virtue of the Divinity that emanates from the Lord, which is Divine truth and is called the Holy Spirit, therefore the text says, “which are the seven spirits of God.” To be shown that the seven spirits of God symbolize that Divine emanation, see nos. 14, 155 above.
Atmospheres are seen in the spiritual world, and also bodies of water, as in our world – ethereal atmospheres seemingly where angels of the highest heaven dwell, airy atmospheres seemingly where angels of the intermediate heaven dwell, and watery ones seemingly where angels of the lowest heaven dwell. These watery atmospheres, moreover, are seas that are seen at the borders of heaven, and the inhabitants there are people who possess general truths taken from the literal sense of the Word. To be shown that waters symbolize truths, see no. 50 above.
As the place where waters terminate and are collected, a sea therefore symbolizes Divine truth in its terminal expressions.
Accordingly, since the One sitting on the throne means the Lord (no. 230), and since the seven lamps which are the seven spirits of God before the throne mean a new church which will possess Divine truth from the Lord (no. 237), it is apparent that the sea of glass that was before the throne means the church with people who are at its peripheries.
[2] Seas at the borders of the heavens are something I have been granted to see, and it has been given me to speak with the inhabitants there and so to learn the truth of this matter through personal experience. The inhabitants appeared to me to be living in a sea, but they said that they did not live in a sea but in an atmosphere. It was apparent to me from this that a sea is an appearance of the Divine truth emanating from the Lord in its terminal expressions.
The existence of seas in the spiritual world is clearly apparent from the fact that they were often seen by John, as in the present instance, and in verses 5:13, 7:1-3, 8:8, 9, 10:2, 8, 13:1, 14:7, 15:2, 16:3, 18:17, 19, 21, 20:13.
The sea is called a sea of glass like crystal owing to the translucence of the Divine truth emanating from the Lord.
[3] Since Divine truth in its terminal expressions produces the appearance of a sea in the spiritual world, therefore a sea elsewhere in the Word has a similar symbolic meaning, as in the following passages:
On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, part of them to the eastern sea and part of them to the western sea. (Zechariah 14:8)
Living waters from Jerusalem are the church’s Divine truths from the Lord. The sea is consequently where they terminate.
(Jehovah,) Your way was in the sea, and Your path in many waters. (Psalm 77:19)
Thus said Jehovah, who made a way in the sea, and a path through the many waters…. (Isaiah 43:16)
(Jehovah) has founded (the world) on the seas, and established it on the rivers. (Psalm 24:2)
(Jehovah) set the earth on its foundations, so that it should not be moved to eternity. You covered it with the deep (or sea) as with a garment. (Psalm 104:5, 6)
The earth was “founded on the sea” because the church, which is meant by the earth, is founded on general truths. For these are its footings and foundations.
[4] I will dry up (Babylon’s) sea and make her spring dry…. The sea will come up over Babylon; she will be covered with the multitude of its waves. (Jeremiah 51:36, 42)
To dry up Babylon’s sea and make her spring dry means, symbolically, to extinguish all the church’s truth from the firsts to the lasts of it.
They shall walk after Jehovah…, and His sons shall come with honor from the sea. (Hosea 11:10)
The sons from the sea are people who possess general truths or truths in their terminal expressions.
(Jehovah,) who builds His ascents in the heavens…, who calls the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth…. (Amos 9:6)
By the word of Jehovah the heavens were made…. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap, putting the depths in storehouses. (Psalm 33:6, 7)
…by My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness. (Isaiah 50:2)
And so likewise in other places.
[5] Since a sea symbolizes Divine truth with people who live on the borders of heaven, therefore Tyre and Sidon, which were on the seacoast, symbolized the church in respect to its learned concepts of goodness and truth. And therefore “the islands of the sea”* likewise symbolize people engaged in a relatively remote Divine worship (no. 34).
For the same reason, too, the word used for the sea in Hebrew is “the west,” that is, the direction in which the sun’s light turns into its evening state, or truth into haziness.
We will see in subsequent discussions that a sea also symbolizes the natural component of a person divorced from his spiritual one, thus also hell.
* Also called “the isles of the sea” and “the coastlands of the sea.” See Isaiah 11:11, 24:15. Cf. Esther 10:1, 1 Maccabees 14:5, 15:1.
I know people will be surprised at my saying that the four living creatures symbolize the Word. This is nevertheless their symbolic meaning, as we will later show.
The four living creatures here are the same as the cherubim in Ezekiel. In chapter 1 there they are called likewise living creatures, but cherubim in chapter 10, and they were, as here, a lion, an ox, a human being, and an eagle.*
In the Hebrew there they are called hayyoth,** a word which indeed means creatures, but one derived from hayyoh,*** meaning life, from which the name of Adam’s wife, Hawwah,**** also was derived (Genesis 3:20). In Ezekiel a creature is also called hayyah, so that these creatures can be called living ones.
It does not matter that the Word is described by creatures, since the Lord Himself is sometimes called in the Word a lion, and often a lamb, and people possessing charity from the Lord are called sheep. Moreover, an understanding of the Word, too, is in subsequent chapters called a horse.
It is apparent that these living creatures or cherubim symbolize the Word from the fact that they were seen in the midst of the throne and around the throne. The Lord was in the midst of the throne, and because the Lord embodies the Word, it could not appear elsewhere. They were also seen around the throne, because they were seen in the angelic heaven, where the Word exists also.
[2] The fact that cherubim symbolize the Word and its protection is something we showed in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, no. 97, where we said the following:
…the literal sense of the Word is a protection for the genuine truths which lie within; and the protection consists in the fact that the literal sense can be turned this way or that, (or) explained in accordance with one’s comprehension, and yet without harming or violating the Word’s inner meaning. For it does no harm for the literal sense to be interpreted differently by different people. But harm is done if the Divine truths that lie within are distorted, for this does violence to the Word.
The literal sense protects this from happening, and it does so in the case of people caught up in falsities derived from their religion, who do not defend those falsities; for they do not inflict any violence.
This protection is symbolized by the cherubim and also described by them in the Word. The same protection is symbolized by the cherubim which, after Adam and his wife were cast out of the Garden of Eden, were placed at its entrance, regarding which we read the following:
(When) Jehovah God…drove out the man…, He caused cherubim to dwell at the east of the Garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:23, 24)
The cherubim symbolize a protection. The way to the tree of life symbolizes an entryway to the Lord, which people have through the Word. The flaming sword which turned every way symbolizes Divine truth in outmost expressions, which is like the Word in its literal sense, which can (as we said) be turned in the way stated.
[3] The cherubim of gold positioned on either end of the mercy seat which was on top of the ark (Exodus 25:18-21) have the same meaning. Because this is what the cherubim symbolized, therefore Jehovah spoke with Moses from between them (Exodus 25:22, 30:6, 36, Numbers 7:89)….
This, too, was what the cherubim on the curtains of the Tabernacle and on the veil in it symbolized (Exodus 26:1, 31). For the curtains and veils of the Tabernacle represented the outmost elements of heaven and the church, thus also the outmost expressions of the Word.
This was also what the cherubim inside the temple at Jerusalem symbolized (1 Kings 6:23-28), and what the cherubim carved on the walls and doors of the temple symbolized (1 Kings 6:29, 32, 35). Likewise the cherubim in the new temple (Ezekiel 41:18-20)….
[4] Since cherubim symbolized a protection to prevent a direct approach to the Lord and heaven and to Divine truth such as it is inwardly in the Word, so that people must approach indirectly through its outward expressions, therefore the following is said of the king of Tyre:
You, the seal of the measure, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, were in Eden, the garden…; every precious stone was your covering…. You were the cherub, the spreader of a covering…. I destroyed you, O covering cherub, in the midst of fiery stones. (Ezekiel 28:12-14, 16)
Tyre symbolizes the church in respect to its concepts of truth and goodness, and therefore its king symbolizes the Word where those concepts are found and from which they are drawn. It is apparent that here he symbolizes the Word in its outmost expression, which is its literal meaning, and the cherub, its protection, for the passage says, “You, the seal of the measure,” “every precious stone was your covering,” “You were the cherub, the spreader of a covering.” The precious stones mentioned here as well symbolize the truths in the Word’s literal sense (no. 231).
[5] Since cherubim symbolize Divine truth in outmost expressions as a protection, therefore we are told in the book of Psalms:
…O Shepherd of Israel…, You who sit upon the cherubim, shine forth! (Psalm 80:1)
Jehovah…, sitting upon the cherubim. (Psalm 99:1)
(Jehovah) bowed the heavens and came down…. And He rode upon cherubim…. (Psalm 18:9, 10)
To ride upon cherubim, to sit on them and be seated on them is to do so upon the outmost meaning of the Word.
The Divine truth in the Word and its character is described by cherubim in the first, ninth and tenth chapters in Ezekiel. But inasmuch as no one can know what the particulars of their description symbolize except one to whom the spiritual meaning has been disclosed, and inasmuch as this meaning has been disclosed to me, we will relate briefly what is symbolized by each of the particulars mentioned regarding the four creatures or cherubim in the first chapter in Ezekiel. They are as follows:
[6] The outward Divine atmosphere of the Word is described in verse 4.
It is represented as human in verse 5; as conjoined with spiritual and celestial qualities in verse 6.
The character of the natural component of the Word is described in verse 7.
The character of the spiritual and celestial components of the Word conjoined with the natural one, in verses 8, 9.
The Divine love of the celestial, spiritual and natural goodness and truth present in it, separately and together, in verses 10, 11.
Their looking to a single end, in verse 12.
The atmosphere of the Word emanating from the Lord’s Divine goodness and truth, which give the Word life, in verses 13, 14.
The doctrine of goodness and truth present in the Word and emanating from the Word, in verses 15 to 21.
The Lord’s Divinity transcending it and present in it, in verses 22 and 23; and emanating from it, in verses 24, 25.
The Lord’s transcending the heavens, in verse 26.
His possessing Divine love and wisdom, in verses 27, 28.
These are the symbolic meanings in summary form.
* See Ezekiel 1:10, 10:14, 22.
** [Hebrew]
*** [Hebrew]
**** [Hebrew]
When eyes are mentioned in application to people, they symbolize the intellect, but when they are mentioned in application to the Lord, they symbolize Divine wisdom (nos. 48, 125). So likewise in application to the Word, as in the present instance, because the Word comes from the Lord, and is about the Lord, and so embodies the Lord.
The same statement is made in reference to the cherubim in Ezekiel, that they were “full of eyes” (Ezekiel 10:12).
“In front and in back,” when said of the Word given by the Lord, symbolizes the Divine wisdom and love present in it.
A lion symbolizes truth in its power, here the Divine truth of the Word in respect to its power, as can be seen from the power of the lion, which surpasses that of every other animal on the earth. It can be seen as well from lions in the spiritual world and the fact that they are images representative of the power of Divine truth. And it can be seen, too, from the Word, in which lions symbolize Divine truth in its power. The nature of the power of Divine truth in the Word may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, no. 49, and in the book Heaven and Hell, nos. 228-233.
So it is that Jehovah or the Lord is likened to a lion, and also called a lion, as in the following passages:
A lion has roared! Who does not fear? The Lord Jehovih has spoken! Who does not prophesy? (Amos 3:8)
I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim…. They shall walk after Jehovah. He roars like a lion. (Hosea 11:9, 10)
As a lion roars, and a young lion…, so Jehovah…will come down to fight upon Mount Zion…. (Isaiah 31:4)
Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed…. (Revelation 5:5)
Judah is a lion’s whelp…. He bowed down, he lay down…as an old lion. Who rouses him? (Genesis 49:9)
[2] A lion in these passages describes the power of the Divine truth emanating from the Lord. Roaring symbolizes His speaking and acting with power against the hells, which try to carry off a person as a lion does its prey, but from which the Lord rescues him. To bow down means to put Himself into a condition of power. Judah, in the highest sense, symbolizes the Lord (nos. 96, 266).
(The angel) cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. (Revelation 10:3)
He bows down, he lies down…as an old lion. Who rouses him? (Numbers 24:9)
Lo, the people rises like an old lion, and like a young lion lifts itself up. (Numbers 23:24)
This last declaration is said of Israel, which symbolizes the church, whose power, which lies in Divine truths, is thus described.
So likewise:
The remnant of Jacob shall be…in the midst of…peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep…. (Micah 5:7, 8)
And so on in many other places, as in Isaiah 11:6, 21:6-9, 35:9; Jeremiah 2:15, 4:7, 5:6, 12:8, 50:17, 51:38; Ezekiel 19:3, 5, 6; Hosea 13:7, 8; Joel 1:6, 7; Nahum 2:12; Psalm 17:12, 22:13, 57:4, 58:6, 7, 91:13, 104:21, 22; Deuteronomy 33:20.
Beasts of the earth symbolize various natural affections. They are also embodiments of them. And a calf symbolizes an affection for knowing. This affection is represented by a calf in the spiritual world, and in the Word it is consequently also symbolized by a calf, as in Hosea,
…we repay (to Jehovah) the calves of our lips. (Hosea 14:2)
“Calves of the lips” are confessions from an affection for truth.
In Malachi:
To you who fear My name the sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in its wings…that you may grow fat like fattened calves. (Malachi 4:2)
A comparison is made with fattened calves because they symbolize people who are filled with concepts of truth and goodness owing to an affection for knowing them.
In the book of Psalms:
The voice of Jehovah…makes (the cedars of Lebanon) dance like a calf…. (Psalm 29:5, 6)
The cedars of Lebanon symbolize concepts of truth. That is why the passage says that the voice of Jehovah makes them dance like a calf. The voice of Jehovah is Divine truth, in the process here of affecting.
[2] Since the Egyptians loved knowledge, they therefore made themselves calves as a sign of their affection for it. But after they began to worship the calves as deities, then calves in the Word symbolized affections for knowing falsities, as in Jeremiah 46:20, 21, Psalm 68:30, and elsewhere. The calf that the children of Israel made for themselves in the wilderness (Exodus 23) has accordingly the same symbolic meaning, and so, too, the calves in Samaria (1 Kings 12:28-32, Hosea 8:4, 5, 10:5). Therefore we are told in Hosea:
…they have made for themselves a molten image…of their silver…. Sacrificing a human being, they kiss the calves. (Hosea 13:2)
To make for oneself a molten image of silver means, symbolically, to falsify truth. To sacrifice a human being means, symbolically, to destroy wisdom. And to kiss calves means, symbolically, to accept falsities out of an affection for them.
In Isaiah:
There the calf will feed; there it will lie down and consume its branches. (Isaiah 27:10)
The same is symbolically meant by the calf in Jeremiah 34:18-20.
[3] Since all Divine worship springs from affections for truth and goodness and so for concepts of them, therefore the sacrifices in which the worship of the church primarily consisted among the children of Israel used various animals, such as lambs, she-goats, kids, sheep, he-goats, calves, and oxen; and calves were used because they symbolized an affection for knowing truths and goods, which is the first natural affection. This affection was symbolically meant by the sacrifices of calves in Exodus 29:11, 12, Leviticus 4:3, 13ff., 8:14ff., 9:2, 16:3, 23:18, Numbers 8:8ff., 15:24, 28:19, 20, Judges 6:25-28,* 1 Samuel 1:25, 16:2, 1 Kings 18:23-26, 33.
The second living creature looked like a calf because the Divine truth of the Word, which it symbolizes, affects hearts, and so teaches and instills.
* Prima editio: 29.
A human being in the Word symbolizes wisdom, because the human being was born to receive wisdom from the Lord and become an angel. The wiser someone is, therefore, the more human he is. True human wisdom consists in perceiving the existence of God, the nature of God, and what pertains to God. This is what the Divine truth of the Word teaches.
That a human being symbolizes wisdom is apparent from the following passages:
I will make a man more rare than fine gold, and a human being more rare than the gold of Ophir. (Isaiah 13:12)
A man means intelligence, and a human being wisdom.
…the inhabitants of the earth shall be burned up, and rare will be the human being left. (Isaiah 24:6)
…I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of a human being and the seed of an animal. (Jeremiah 31:27)
You are My flock…; you are humankind, I am your God. (Ezekiel 34:31)
…the ruined cities shall be filled with a flock of humankind. (Ezekiel 36:38)
I looked upon the earth when, lo, it was empty and void, and to the heavens when they had not their light…. I looked when, lo, there was no human being…. (Jeremiah 4:23, 25)
They sacrifice a human being, they kiss the calves. (Hosea 13:2)
He measured the wall (of the Holy Jerusalem): one hundred and forty-four cubits, the measure of a human being, which is that of an angel. (Revelation 21:17)
So, too, in many other places, where a human being symbolizes someone who is wise, and in an abstract sense, wisdom itself.
Eagles have various symbolic meanings, but flying eagles symbolize concepts which lead to understanding, since when they fly, they recognize and see. They also have sharp eyes so as to see keenly, and eyes symbolize the intellect (nos. 48, 214).
To fly means, symbolically, to perceive and teach, and in the highest sense, which has the Lord as its subject, it means to foresee and provide.
That this is the symbolic meaning of eagles in the Word is apparent from the following passages:
Those who wait on Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings like eagles. (Isaiah 40:31)
To mount up on wings like eagles means to be raised into concepts of truth and goodness and so into intelligence.
Does the hawk fly by your wisdom…? Does the eagle mount up at your command…(and) spy out its food? Its eyes observe from afar. (Job 39:26, 27, 29)
The eagle here describes a faculty for recognizing, understanding, and foreseeing, and the fact that this does not result from one’s own intelligence.
(Jehovah,) who satisfies your mouth with good, so that you are renewed in your youth like an eagle. (Psalm 103:5)
To satisfy the mouth with good means to give understanding by means of concepts. Thus an analogy is made with an eagle.
A great eagle with large wings and long pinions…came upon Lebanon and took from the cedar a little branch…. Then it took some of the seed of the land and planted it in the field of a growing crop…, and it grew and became a vine…. But there was another great eagle…, to which the vine bent its roots…. (Ezekiel 17:1-8)
The two eagles here describe the Jewish and Israelite churches, each in respect to its concepts of truth and consequent intelligence.
In an opposite sense, however, eagles symbolize false concepts, by which the intellect is corrupted, as in Matthew 24:28, Jeremiah 4:13, Habakkuk 1:8, 9, and elsewhere.
We have already shown above that the four living creatures symbolize the Word. We will see below that wings symbolize powers and also protections.
The number six symbolizes completeness in respect to truth and goodness, as six is formed of three and two multiplied together, and three symbolizes completeness in respect to truth (no. 505), while two symbolizes completeness in respect to goodness (no. 762).
Wings symbolize powers because they are means of rising upward. Moreover, in the case of birds they take the place of the arms in the human being, and arms symbolize powers.
Since wings symbolize powers, and each living creature had six wings, it is apparent from what we said above what power is symbolized by each one’s wings, namely, that the wings of the lion symbolize the power of combating the evils and falsities arising from hell, this being the power of the Word’s Divine truth from the Lord; that the wings of the calf symbolize the power to affect hearts, for the Divine truth of the Word affects people who read it reverently; that the six wings of the human being symbolize the power to perceive the nature of God and what pertains to God, as this is peculiarly the mark of a human being in reading the Word; and that the wings of the eagle symbolize the power to recognize truth and good, and so to acquire for oneself intelligence.
[2] As regards the wings of cherubim, we read in Ezekiel that their wings kissed each other, that they had wings also covering their bodies, and that they had the likeness of hands under their wings (Ezekiel 1:23, 24, 3:13, 10:5, 21). Kissing each other symbolizes conjoint and unanimous action. Covering their bodies symbolizes protection against violation of the interior truths which constitute the spiritual sense of the Word. And having the likeness of hands under their wings symbolizes powers.
Regarding seraphim, too, we are told that they had six wings, and that with two of them they covered their face, and with two their feet, and with two they flew (Isaiah 6:2). Seraphim likewise symbolize the Word, or more accurately doctrine drawn from the Word. The wings with which they covered their faces and feet likewise symbolize protections. And the wings with which they flew symbolize powers, as before.
That flying symbolizes to perceive and teach, and in the highest sense to foresee and provide, is clear as well from the following:
(God) rode upon a cherub, He flew, and He traveled on the wings of the wind. (Psalm 18:10, cf. 2 Samuel 22:11)
I saw (an) angel flying through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel…. (Revelation 14:6)
[3] That wings symbolize protections is apparent from the following:
(Jehovah) covers you under His wing. (Psalm 91:4)
(To be hidden) under the shadow of (God’s) wings…. (Psalm 17:8)
(To trust) in the shadow of (His) wings. (Psalm 36:7, 57:1, cf. 63:7)
I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. (Ezekiel 16:8)
To you (shall be) healing in His wings. (Malachi 4:2)
As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings…, carrying them on its wings, so Jehovah…leads him…. (Deuteronomy 32:11, 12)
(Jesus said,) “O Jerusalem…! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings…. (Matthew 23:37, Luke 13:34)
To be shown that living creatures full of eyes in front and in back symbolize the Divine wisdom in the Word, see no. 240 above. The wings being full of eyes has the same meaning here. Moreover, because the Divine wisdom in the natural sense of the Word derives from its spiritual and celestial meanings that lie within, therefore we are told that the wings were full of eyes within.
For more on the spiritual and celestial meanings which exist within every constituent of the Word, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 5-26.
The living creatures not resting day or night means, symbolically, that the Word teaches continually and without interruption, and that it teaches what the living creatures were saying, namely, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,” meaning that the Lord alone is God and that He is therefore to be worshiped. The word “holy” repeated three times has this symbolic meaning, because the tripling of it includes all holiness being in Him alone.
In The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord we fully showed that the Divine Trinity exists in the Lord, moreover that the Word has as its subject the Lord alone, and that this is the reason for its holiness.
To be shown that the Lord alone is holy, see no. 173 above.
That it means the Lord is clearly apparent in chapter one, verses 4, 8, 11, 17, where the subject is the Son of Man, who is the Lord in relation to the Word. It openly says there that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. Moreover, in nos. 13, 29, 30, 31, 38, and 57 we explained the symbolic meanings of these attributions. Here now “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” means the Lord.
The living creatures are the Word, as we have shown. Glory and honor referring to the Lord mean that all truth and good belong to Him and spring from Him. Thanks means all worship. He who sat on the throne is the Lord in relation to judgment, as before. Hence it is apparent that the statement, “when the living creatures gave glory and honor and thanks to Him who sat on the throne,” symbolically means that the Word ascribes all truth and good and all worship to the Lord, who is about to judge.
To give glory and honor to the Lord has no other meaning in the Word than to acknowledge and confess that all truth and good come from Him, thus that He alone is God; for glory belongs to Him owing to His Divine truth, and honor owing to His Divine good.
[2] Glory and honor have these symbolic meanings in the following places:
Jehovah made the heavens. Glory and honor are before Him. (Psalm 96:5, 6)
Jehovah…God, You are very great; You are clothed with glory and honor. (Psalm 104:1)
Great are the works of Jehovah…. Glory and honor are His work…. (Psalm 111:2, 3)
Glory and honor You will place upon him…blessings to eternity. (Psalm 21:5, 6, said in reference to the Lord.)
Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One in…glory and…honor. In Your honor mount up, ride upon the word of truth…. (Psalm 45:3, 4)
You have made him a little less than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor. (Psalm 8:5)
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the honor of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of Jehovah, (and) the honor of our God. (Isaiah 35:2)
All of this is said in reference to the Lord, and also elsewhere, as in Psalm 145:4, 5, 12 and Revelation 21:24, 26.
Moreover, where the Word speaks of Divine truth, it uses the term glory (no. 629), and where it speaks of Divine good, it uses the term honor.
The twenty-four elders mean all people who are part of the Lord’s church (see no. 233 above), here all who are part of His church in heaven. As leaders elders represent all. Their humility before the Lord, and adoration springing from humility, are apparent without explanation.
252. And cast their crowns before the throne. This symbolizes their acknowledgment that their wisdom comes from Him alone.
That a crown symbolizes wisdom may be seen in nos. 189 and 235 above. Therefore to cast their crowns before the throne means, symbolically, to acknowledge that their wisdom is not their own, but is attributable to the Lord in them.
Confession is symbolically meant by “saying.” His merit and righteousness are symbolically meant by “You are worthy, O Lord.” That the Lord is Divine truth and Divine good is symbolically meant by glory and honor, as in no. 249 above. And that He possesses the kingdom is symbolically meant by receiving power.
Brought together into a single expression of the meaning therefore, these phrases symbolize their confession that, being Divine truth and good, the Lord possesses the kingdom by His merit and righteousness.
This is the spiritual meaning of this statement, because creating symbolically means to reform and regenerate by Divine truth, and the Lord’s will symbolizes Divine good.
Whether one says Divine good and truth or Divine love and wisdom, the meaning is the same, as all good is connected with love, and all truth with wisdom.
In Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom we showed many times that everything in heaven and the church spring from Divine love and wisdom, in fact that the world was created out of them; and we showed too that love and good are connected with the will, and wisdom and truth with the intellect. Thus it is apparent that the Lord’s will means His Divine good or love.
[2] That to create in the Word means to reform and regenerate is apparent from the following passages:
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)
You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good…. You send forth Your Spirit, they are created. (Psalm 104:28, 30)
…a people yet to be created will praise Jah. (Psalm 102:18)
…behold, I am creating a new heaven and a new earth…. …rejoice forever in what I am creating; …behold, I shall create Jerusalem an exultation…. (Isaiah 65:17, 18)
…Jehovah, who created the heavens…, who spread forth the earth…, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it. (Isaiah 42:5, cf. 45:12, 18)
…thus says Jehovah, your Creator, O Jacob, and your Former, O Israel: …I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name…. Everyone who is called by My name, for My glory I have created him. (Isaiah 43:1, 7)
On the day that you were created they were prepared…. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till perversity was found in you. (Ezekiel 28:13, 15)
The latter is said of the King of Tyre, who symbolizes people who possess intelligence through Divine truth.
…that they may see and know, and consider and understand…, that the hand of Jehovah has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it. (Isaiah 41:19, 20)
———-
To prevent someone from entering into the spiritual meaning of the Word and perverting the genuine truth found in that meaning, the Lord has set protections, which in the Word are meant by cherubim, which is what the four living creatures here are.
That protections have been set was represented to me in the following way:
[2] I was given to see large purses, looking like sacks, which had stored away in them a great deal of silver. And since they were open, it seemed as if anyone might take the silver deposited in them, even to make off with it, but next to those purses two angels were sitting as guards. The place where the purses rested looked like a manger in a stable. In the next room I saw modest maidens, together with a chaste wife. Near that room were two little children, and I heard it said that they were not to be played with in a childish way, but wisely. And afterward a harlot appeared, then a horse lying dead.
[3] Having seen these things, I was told that they represented the literal meaning of the Word, which has a spiritual meaning within. The large purses full of silver symbolized concepts of truth and goodness in great abundance. The purses’ being open and yet guarded by angels, meant symbolically that anyone might acquire concepts of truth there, but that one should take care not to falsify the spiritual meaning, which contains only truths.
The manger in the stable where the purses were sitting symbolized spiritual instruction for the intellect. (A manger has this symbolism, like the manger where the newborn Lord lay, because a horse, which eats from it, symbolizes an understanding of the Word.)
[4] The modest maidens I saw in the next room symbolized affections for truth, and the chaste wife the conjunction of truth and good. The little children symbolized the innocence of the wisdom in the Word (they were angels from the third heaven, all of whom appear like little children). The harlot together with the dead horse symbolized the falsification of the Word by many people today, by which all understanding of the truth has perished. (A harlot symbolizes falsification, and a dead horse no understanding of truth.)
[5] I have been given to speak with many people after death who believed they would shine like stars in heaven. They believed this, they said, because they held the Word holy, read it often, took many things from it, and used them to defend the tenets of their faith. As a result they were celebrated as learned in the world, so that they believed they would become Michaels or Raphaels.* A number of them were examined, however, to see what love prompted them to study the Word. And it was discovered that some did so out of self-love, in order to appear great in the world and to be worshiped as leaders of the church, while others did so out of a love of the world, in order to acquire riches.
When they were explored to discover what they knew from the Word, they were found to know no genuine truth, but only what we call falsified truth, which in itself is false; and in the spiritual world this stinks in the nostrils of angels. Moreover the people were told that this was the case with them because their objectives were focused on themselves and the world, or to say the same thing, on their loves of these, and not on the Lord and heaven. And when people have themselves and the world as their focus, then when they read the Word their mind fastens on themselves and the world, and therefore they think continually in accord with their self-interest, which is in darkness regarding everything connected with heaven. In this state a person cannot be withdrawn from his own light and so be raised into the light of heaven. Consequently, neither can he receive anything flowing in from the Lord through heaven.
[6] I have also seen people like this let into heaven. But when they were discovered to be without truths, they were divested of their clothing and were seen with their private parts exposed. And because those who had falsified truths stunk, they were expelled. Still, however, there remained in them the conceit and confidence that they were deserving.
The outcome was different with people who had studied the Word out of an affection for knowing the truth because it is true, and because it served the useful ends of a spiritual life, not only their own life, but their neighbor’s as well. I saw them raised into heaven and so into the light in which Divine truth exists there, and raised at the same time then into angelic wisdom and into its felicity, which is eternal life.
* I.e., archangels.
1 And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2 Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and to loose its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book, or to look in it. 4 So I wept much, that no one was found worthy to open and read the book, or to look in it. 5 But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the book and to loose its seven seals.” 6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing as though slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 Then He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
8 Now when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a lyre, and a golden bowl full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals, because You were slain and have redeemed us to God by Your blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.”
11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and…honor and glory and blessing!”
13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying, “Blessing and honor and glory and strength be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
14 Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
The meaning is that the Lord in His Divine humanity will execute a judgment based on the Word and in accordance with it, because He embodies the Word; and that all in the three heavens acknowledge this.
The Contents of the Individual Verses
1 And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back,
The Lord in respect to His underlying Divinity from eternity, to whom belongs omnipotence and omniscience, and who embodies the Word,
sealed with seven seals.
the Word completely hidden from angel and man.
2 Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice,
Divine truth flowing in from the Lord deeply in angels and people.
“Who is worthy to open the book and to loose its seals?”
Who has the power to know the states of life of all in heaven and on earth and to judge each one according to his state?
3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able
No one in the higher heavens or in the lower heavens [had the power]
to open the book,
to know the states of life of all and to judge each one according to his state.
or to look in it.
Not the least power.
4 So I wept much, that no one was found worthy to open and read the book, or to look in it.
Grief of heart, that if no one could do this, all would perish.
5 But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep.
Consolation.
Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed
The Lord, who by His own power conquered the hells and put everything into order when He was in the world, through the Divine goodness united to the Divine truth in His humanity.
to open the book and to loose its seven seals.”
The same here as before [verses 2, 3].
6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders,
From the inmost elements of heaven, the Word, and the church, and so in all their constituents.
a Lamb standing as though slain,
The Lord in respect to His humanity not acknowledged in the church as Divine.
having seven horns
His omnipotence.
and seven eyes,
His omniscience and Divine wisdom,
which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
that from it emanates Divine truth throughout the whole world, wherever religion is found.
7 Then He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
The Lord in respect to His Divine humanity embodies the Word, and this from His Divinity within Him, and thus He will execute judgment based on His Divine humanity.
8 Now when He had taken the book,
When the Lord prepared to execute judgment, and thereby put back into order everything in heaven and on earth.
the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb,
A humility and worship of the Lord on the part of the higher heavens.
each having a lyre,
A confession of the Lord’s Divine humanity springing from spiritual truths.
and a golden bowl full of incense,
A confession of the Lord’s Divine humanity springing from spiritual goods.
which are the prayers of the saints.
Thoughts that are matters of faith springing from affections that are matters of charity in people who worship the Lord in accord with spiritual goods and truths.
9 And they sang a new song,
An acknowledgment and glorification of the Lord as being the only judge, redeemer and savior, thus God of heaven and earth.
saying, “You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals,
The same here as before [verses 2, 3].
because You were slain and have redeemed us to God by Your blood,
Deliverance from hell and salvation by conjunction with Him.
out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
The Lord has redeemed those in the church or in any other religion who are impelled by truths in respect to their doctrine and by goods in respect to their life.
10 and have made us kings and priests to our God;
They have from the Lord wisdom from Divine truths and love from Divine goods.
and we shall reign on the earth.”
And they will dwell in His kingdom, He in them and they in Him.
11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders;
A confession and glorification of the Lord by angels of the lower heavens,
and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,
all possessing truths and goods.
12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and…honor and glory
A confession from the heart that to the Lord in His Divine humanity belong omnipotence, omniscience, Divine good and Divine truth –
and blessing!”
all these being in Him, and from Him in them.
13 And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying,
A confession and glorification of the Lord by angels of the lowest heavens,
“Blessing and honor and glory and strength be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
that present in the Lord from eternity and so in His Divine humanity is everything of heaven and the church – Divine good and truth, and Divine power – and that these are present in them from Him.
14 Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!”
A Divine confirmation from the Word.
And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.
Humility before the Lord on the part of all in the heavens, and out of humility worship of Him, from whom and in whom is eternal life.
THE EXPOSITION
And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back. (5:1) This symbolizes the Lord in respect to His underlying Divinity from eternity, to whom belongs omnipotence and omniscience, and who embodies the Word, who also of Himself knows the states of life of all in heaven and on earth, in every particular and in their entirety.
He who sat on the throne means the Lord in respect to His underlying Divinity from which His humanity originates, for the statement follows that the Lamb took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne (verse 7), and the Lamb means the Lord in respect to His humanity. The book written inside and on the back means the Word in every particular and in its entirety – “inside” meaning in every particular, and “on the back,” in its entirety. Inside and on the back also mean the inner meaning of the Word, which is spiritual, and its outer meaning, which is natural. The right hand means the Lord in respect to His omnipotence and omniscience, because the subject is the exploration of all in heaven and on earth on whom the Last Judgment would fall, and their separation.
As the embodiment of the Word, the Lord knows of Himself the states of life of all in heaven and on earth, because He is Divine truth itself, and Divine truth itself, of itself, knows everything. This, however, is a secret which we disclosed in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom.
The fact that the Lord was the Word, that is to say, Divine truth, in respect to His Divinity from eternity is apparent from this statement in John:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
And the fact that the Lord came to embody the Word even in respect to His humanity, from this statement also in John:
And the Word became flesh…. (John 1:14)
It can be seen from this what is meant by the testimony that the book was in right hand of Him who sat on the throne, and that the Lamb took the book from it (verse 7).
[2] Since the Lord embodies the Word, and the Word is the Divine truth which forms heaven and the church in general, and each angel in particular so as to have heaven in him, and each person so as to have the church in him, and because the Word is here meant by the book on the basis of which and according to which all are to be judged, therefore we find references here and there to being written in the book, to being judged on the basis of the book, and to being blotted out from the book, where the subject is someone’s state of eternal life, as in the following places:
(The Ancient of Days) sat in judgment, and the books were opened. (Daniel 7:10)
…your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book. (Daniel 12:1)
My frame was not hidden from You…. …on Your book were written all the days…, and not one of them is missing. (Psalm 139:15, 16)
(Moses said,) “…I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.” And Jehovah said…, “He who has sinned against Me, him I will blot out of My book.” (Exodus 32:32, 33)
Let them be blotted out of the book of life, and not be written with the righteous. (Psalm 69:28)
I saw (that) books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to the things which were written in the Book, according to their works…, and if anyone was not found written in the Book of Life, he was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:12-15)
There shall not enter into (the New Jerusalem) anything…but those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. (Revelation 21:27)
All…will worship (the beast), whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb…. (Revelation 13:8, cf. 17:8)
That the Book means the Word may be seen in the book of Psalms:
In the scroll of the book it is written of me. (Psalm 40:7)
And in Ezekiel:
I looked, and lo, there was a hand stretched out to me, and…in it the scroll of a book…written in front and in back…. (Ezekiel 2:9-10)
…the book of the words of Isaiah…. (Luke 3:4)
…the Book of Psalms…. (Luke 20:42)
It is apparent that to be sealed with a seal means, symbolically, to be hidden. Therefore to be sealed with seven seals means, symbolically, to be completely hidden, for seven symbolizes all (no. 10), thus also completely. That the Word was completely hidden from angel and man is soon declared in the following words, “And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book and read it, or to look in it” (verses 3, 4). Such is the Word to all to whom the Lamb, or Lord, does not open it.
Because the subject here is the exploration of all people before the Last Judgment, it is the states of life of all in general and in particular that are completely hidden.
In the spiritual sense an angel proclaiming means the Lord, because an angel does not proclaim and instruct on his own, but from the Lord, even though he does so as though on his own. The angel is called a strong angel because he acts with power, and something proclaimed with power flows deeply into the thought. A loud voice symbolizes Divine truth from the Lord with power or force.
Investigation is symbolically meant as well, because the angel asks, “Who is worthy to open the book?” which follows next.
“Who is worthy?” symbolically means, “Who can, or who has the power?” To open the book and to loose its seals means here, symbolically, to know the states of life of all in heaven and on earth and also to judge each one according to his state; for when the book is opened, an inquiry takes place into the people’s character, followed by a verdict or judgment, comparatively as a judge judges with the book of the law and in accordance with it.
That opening the book symbolizes an inquiry into the character of each and every person’s state of life is apparent from the following chapter, which describes what John saw when the Lamb opened its seven seals one by one.
In heaven, on the earth, and under the earth mean in the higher and lower heavens, as also below in verse 13, where these words occur:
And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying…. [Revelation 5:13]
Because John heard them all speaking, it is apparent that the speakers were angels and spirits, inasmuch as John was in the spirit, as he himself says in the preceding chapter – chapter 4, verse 2 – and when he was in that state the only earth that appeared to him was that of the spiritual world. For there are lands there as in the natural world, as can be seen from the description of that world in the book Heaven and Hell, and in A Continuation Concerning the Last Judgment and the Spiritual World, nos. 32-38.
The higher heavens in the spiritual world appear on mountains and hills, the lower heavens on lands below, and the lowest heavens as though underground. For the heavens are expanses, one above another, and each expanse is as ground beneath the feet of its inhabitants. The highest expanse is like a mountaintop, with the second expanse below it, but one spreading more broadly all around, with the lowest expanse being still more broadly spread. And because the last exists below the second, its inhabitants are those who are below ground.
The three heavens also so appear to angels in the higher heavens, because to them there are two heavens below them. To John they appeared likewise, therefore, for he was in the presence of those higher angels, having ascended to them, as is apparent from chapter 4, verse 1, where he is told, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”
Someone who knows nothing of the spiritual world and the lands there cannot possibly know what “under the earth” means, or by the same token what the lower parts of the earth in the Word mean, as in Isaiah,
Sing, O heavens…! Exult, you lower parts of the earth; ring with singing, you mountains…! For Jehovah has redeemed Jacob…. (Isaiah 44:23)
And so elsewhere.
Who does not see that the lands of the spiritual world are meant there? For no one lives underground in the natural world.
Since to open the book means, symbolically, to know the states of life of all, to look in it means, symbolically, to see the character of this or that person’s state of life. Consequently, that no one could open the book or look in it means, symbolically, that they had not the least power to do so. For the Lord alone sees the state of each person’s life from its inmost qualities to its outmost ones, including what the person was like from infancy to old age and what he will be like to eternity, as well as to what place he will be assigned in heaven or in hell. Moreover, the Lord sees this instantaneously, and does so of Himself, because He is Divine truth itself or the Word. Angels and people, on the other hand, cannot do this in the least, because they are finite, and finite people see only a few, outward qualities; and even these they do not see of themselves, but from the Lord.
It is apparent that to weep much means to grieve at heart. The reason John grieved at heart was because all would otherwise perish. Indeed, if everything in heaven and on earth had not been put back into order by the Last Judgment, the case could not have been otherwise. For the book of Revelation has as its subject the last state of the church when it reaches its end, and what this will be like the Lord describes in these words:
…there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. (Matthew 24:21, 22)
This refers to the last period of the church, when a judgment takes place.
[2] That this is the state of the church today can be known simply from the fact that the largest part of the Christian world is occupied by people who have transferred the Lord’s Divine power to themselves, wishing to be worshiped as gods, and who call on people who have died, and scarcely anyone there on the Lord. As for the rest of the church, they make God three, and the Lord two, and place salvation not in amendment of life, but in certain phrases that they utter in a devout tone. Thus they place it not in repentance, but in having confidence that they have been justified and sanctified, provided they folds their hands and look upward and pray the customary ritual phrases.
That a lion symbolizes the Divine truth of the Word in respect to its power may be seen in no. 241 above. And because the Lord is Divine truth itself or the Word, therefore He is called a lion.
That when the Lord was in the world He conquered the hells and put everything in the heavens into order, and also glorified His humanity, may be seen in no. 67 above. Moreover, how He did so may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 12-14.
This makes plain the meaning of the statement that the Lion has prevailed.
In the Word, Judah means a church governed by the goodness of love toward the Lord, and in the highest sense the Lord Himself in respect to the Divine goodness of His Divine love; and David means the Lord in respect to the Divine truth of His Divine wisdom. That the first is the meaning of Judah may be seen in nos. 96 and 350, and that the latter is the meaning of David, in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 43, 44.
It is apparent from this that “Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed” symbolically means that the Lord overcame the hells and put everything into order through the Divine goodness united to the Divine truth in His humanity.
In the literal sense it cannot be seen that this is the meaning of these words, but only that it is the Lord who was born in the world of the tribe of Judah and of the lineage of David. But still these same words carry within them a spiritual sense, in which people’s names have meanings, as we have said here and there above. Thus Judah does not mean Judah, nor David, David, but Judah means the Lord in respect to Divine good, and David the Lord in respect to Divine truth. It is because of this that the spiritual meaning is thus formed. We are here setting forth that meaning, because the book of Revelation is now being opened in respect to its spiritual meaning.
“In the midst” means, symbolically, in inmost elements and so in all (no. 44). The throne symbolizes heaven (no. 14). The four living creatures or cherubim symbolize the Word (no. 239). And the twenty-four elders symbolize the church in respect to all its constituents (no. 233, 251). It follows from this that the statement, “in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders,” means, symbolically, from the inmost elements in all the constituents of heaven, the Word, and the church.
A lamb in the book of Revelation means the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity, and a lamb as though slain His humanity not acknowledged in the church as Divine – much as in chapter 1, verse 18, where we are told, “[I] was put to death, and behold, I am alive forevermore,” which means that the Lord was disregarded in the church and His humanity not acknowledged as Divine (no. 59). The reality of this may be seen in no. 294 below.
Therefore, since the Lamb means the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity, and it is said of the Lamb that it took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne, and afterward that it opened it and loosed its seven seals, and since no mortal could have done this, but God alone, it follows that the Lamb means the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity, and that being slain means that He was not acknowledged as God in respect to His humanity.
The Word often mentions horns, and a horn everywhere symbolizes power. Consequently, when a horn is mentioned in connection with the Lord, it symbolizes omnipotence. Seven horns are specified, because seven symbolizes all (no. 10), thus all power or omnipotence.
That a horn symbolizes power, and when mentioned in connection with the Lord, omnipotence, can be seen from the following passages:
You who rejoice over nothing, who say, “Have we not taken horns for ourselves by our own strength?” (Amos 6:13)
I said…to the wicked, “Do not lift up the horn. Do not lift up your horn on high….” All the horns of the wicked I will cut off; the horns of the righteous shall be exalted. (Psalm 75:4, 5, 10)
Jehovah…has exalted the horn of your adversaries. (Lamentations 2:17)
The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken…. (Jeremiah 48:25)
…you have pushed with side and shoulder, and struck all the weak sheep with your horns…. (Ezekiel 34:21)
(Jehovah) has exalted the horn of His people…. (Psalm 148:14)
(Jehovah God of hosts,) the glory of their strength…, He has exalted our horn. (Psalm 89:17)
The brightness (of Jehovah God) will be like the light; He will have horns* coming from His hand, and the hiding of His power there. (Habakkuk 3:4)
…My arm shall strengthen (David)…, and in My name his horn shall be exalted. (Psalm 89:21, 24)
…Jehovah, my strength…, my rock…(my) horn…. (Psalm 18:1, 2, cf. 2 Samuel 22:3)
Arise…, O daughter of Zion; for I will make your horn iron…, that you may break in pieces many peoples. (Micah 4:13)
(The Lord) has destroyed in His wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah…, (and) He has cut off…every horn of Israel. (Lamentations 2:2, 3)
Powers are also symbolized by the horns of the dragon in Revelation 12:3; by the horns of the beast rising up out of the sea in Revelation 13:1; by the horns of the scarlet beast upon which the woman sat in Revelation 17:3, 7, 12; by the horns of the ram and the goat in Daniel 8:3-12, 20-22; by the horns of the beast that came up from the sea in Daniel 7:3, 7, 8, 20, 21, 23, 24; by the four horns that scattered Judah and Israel in Zechariah 1:18-21; by the horns of the altars of burnt offering and incense in Exodus 27:2, 30:2, 3, 10. The last symbolized the power of Divine truth in the church. And conversely, that that power would perish, by the horns of the altars in Bethel, in Amos:
…I will visit punishment on the transgressions of Israel, I will visit destruction on the altars of Bethel, so that the horns of the altar are cut off and fall to the ground. (Amos 3:14)
* Probably descriptive of rays of light.
Eyes, in connection with the Lord, symbolize His Divine wisdom, as may be seen in nos. 48 and 125 above, thus also His omniscience. And seven means, symbolically, all, and is predicated of something holy (no. 10). The Lamb’s seven eyes, therefore, symbolize the Lord’s Divine wisdom, which is also His omniscience.
The seven spirits of God are the Divine truth emanating from the Lord, as shown in nos. 14 and 155 above. Their being sent out into all the earth clearly means throughout the world, wherever religion is found. For wherever religion is found, the people are taught that God exists and that the devil exists, that God is goodness itself and the source of good, and that the devil is evil itself and the source of evil, and that because these are opposed to each other, evil, being from the devil, must be shunned, and good, being from God, must be practiced. The people are taught accordingly that to the extent someone does evil, to the same extent he loves the devil and acts contrary to God. Such is the Divine truth that exists throughout the whole world, wherever any religion is found.
Therefore one need know only what evil is. This, too, is something all who have any religion know. For the precepts of all religions are like those of the Ten Commandments – that one must not kill, behave licentiously, steal, or bear false witness. These are in general the Divine truths sent out from the Lord into all the earth, as may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 101-118.
Consequently whoever lives according to these, on the ground that they are Divine truths or the commandments of God and so of religion, is saved. But someone who lives according to them only because they are civil and moral truths, is not saved; for one who rejects God may also live in the same way, but not one who believes in God.
It is clearly apparent here that the Lamb and He who sat on the throne are the same person, and that He who sat on the throne means His Divinity from which all else comes, while the Lamb is His Divine humanity; for we are told in the preceding verse that John saw the Lamb standing in the midst of the throne, and now that He took the book from Him who sat on the throne.
That the Lord was to execute judgment based on His Divine humanity, because He embodies the Word, is clear from the following passages:
Then (they will see) the sign of the Son of Man…and they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and…glory. (Matthew 24:30)
…when the Son of Man sits on (His) throne…, (He will judge) the twelve tribes of Israel. (Matthew 19:28)
…the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father…, and then He will reward each according to his works. (Matthew 16:27)
Watch…always that you may be counted worthy…to stand before the Son of Man. (Luke 21:36)
…the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. (Matthew 24:44)
…the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son…, because He is the Son of Man. (John 5:22, 27)
The Son of Man is the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity, and this is the Word that was God and became flesh (John 1:1, 14).
To take the book and open it. This symbolically means to explore the states of life of all people and to judge each one according to his state, as we said before. Consequently His having taken the book here means, symbolically, to have the intention to execute a last judgment. And because He executed a last judgment in order to put back into order everything in heaven, and through heaven on earth, this too is symbolically meant.
There follows now a glorification of the Lord on account of the foregoing, for as we said in no. 263 above, if the Lord had not executed a last judgment and thereby put back into order everything in heaven and on earth, all would have perished.
The glorification of the Lord that follows now comes first from the higher heavens, then from the lower heavens, and finally from the lowest heavens – from the higher heavens in verses 8-10, from the lower heavens in verses 11, 12, and from the lowest heavens in verse 13. And lastly there is a confirmation and worship by the higher heavens in verse 14.
The higher heavens, then, are symbolically meant by the four living creatures and twenty-four elders, for cherubim in the midst of the throne – which the four living creatures are – symbolize the Lord in relation to the Word, while the cherubim around the throne, or the four living creatures, symbolize heaven in relation to the Word. For we are told that “in the midst of the throne, and around the throne,” John saw “four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back” (chapter 4, verse 6). That is because the heavens are heavens in consequence of their reception of Divine truth from the Lord through the Word.
The twenty-four elders, too, symbolize angels in the higher heavens, since these elders were the closest ones around the throne (chapter 4, verse 4).
To fall down before the Lamb clearly means humility, and out of humility, worship.
We know that in the Temple in Jerusalem, confessions of Jehovah were made with songs and musical instruments, and these had a correspondence. The instruments were principally horns and timbrels, harps and lyres. Horns and timbrels corresponded to celestial goods and truths, while harps and lyres corresponded to spiritual goods and truths. The correpondences were with their sounds.
The difference between celestial good and truth and spiritual good and truth may be seen in the book Heaven and Hell, nos. 13-19 and 20-28.
That lyres symbolize confessions of the Lord springing from spiritual truths can be seen from the following passages:
Confess Jehovah with the lyre; make music to Him with a harp of ten strings. (Psalm 33:2)
…on the lyre I will confess You, O God, my God. (Psalm 43:4)
…I will confess you with the instrument of a harp…. I will sing to You with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel. (Psalm 71:22)
Awake (me), harp and lyre…. I will confess You among the nations, O Lord. (Psalm 57:8, 9, 108:2, 3)
Answer Jehovah by confession, make music to our God with the lyre. (Psalm 147:7)
It is good to confess to Jehovah…on the harp, and on the melodious sound of the lyre. (Psalm 92:1-3)
Make a noise to Jehovah, all the earth…. Sing to Jehovah with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of singing. (Psalm 98:4, 5)
And so on in many other places, as in Psalm 49:3, 4, 137:1, 2, Job 30:31, Isaiah 24:7-9, 30:31, 32, Revelation 14:2, 18:22.
Since lyres corresponded to a confession of the Lord, and evil spirits cannot endure it, therefore David used a lyre to drive away the evil spirit from Saul (1 Samuel 16:14-16, 23).
To learn that it was not lyres that John heard, but confessions of the Lord that sounded like lyres, see no. 661 below.
Incense symbolizes worship springing from spiritual goods – although here a confession springing from those goods – because worship in the Jewish and Israelite churches consisted principally in sacrifices and the burning of incense. Consequently they had two altars, one for sacrifices and one for the burning of incense. The first stood outside the Tabernacle and was called the altar of burnt offering, while the second was inside the Tabernacle and was called the golden altar.* The reason for the two was that all worship springs from two kinds of goods – celestial good and spiritual good. Celestial good is the good of love toward the Lord, while spiritual good is the good of love for the neighbor. Worship by means of sacrifices was worship springing from celestial good, whereas worship by means of the burning of incense was worship springing from spiritual good.
It makes no difference whether you say worship or confession, as all worship is a confession.
The symbolic meaning of incense is also the symbolic meaning of the bowls that contained the incense, since a container and its contents, like an instrumental and principal cause, form a single unit.
[2] Worship springing from spiritual good is symbolized by incense in the following passages:
…from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the nations, and in every place incense shall be offered to My name…. (Malachi 1:11)
They shall teach Jacob Your judgments…. They shall present the smell of incense to Your nose, and a whole burnt offering on Your altar. (Deuteronomy 33:10)
I will offer to You burnt offerings of fatlings, with the incense…. (Psalm 66:15)
They shall come from (round about) Judah…bringing a burnt offering…, a grain offering and frankincense…. (Jeremiah 17:26)
…from Sheba they shall come; they shall bring gold and frankincense, and they shall proclaim the praises of Jehovah. (Isaiah 60:6)
Frankincense has the same symbolic meaning as incense, because frankincense was the principal aromatic substance from which incense was made.
So likewise in Matthew:
(Wise men from the east) opened their treasures, (and) they presented (to the newborn Lord) gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2:11)
They presented these three gifts, because gold symbolized celestial good, frankincense spiritual good, and myrrh natural good, and it is from these three goods that all worship springs.
* Exodus 39:38.
Prayers mean matters having to do with faith in people who pour forth prayers, and at the same time matters having do to with charity, since without these, prayers are not prayers but empty sounds.
That saints symbolize people who are impelled by spiritual goods and truths may be seen in no. 173 above.
Burnings of incense are called the prayers of the saints because fragrant aromas correspond to affections for goodness and truth. That is why reference is made so often in the Word to a pleasing aroma or a restful aroma to Jehovah, as in Exodus 29:18, 25, 41, Leviticus 1:9, 13, 17, 2:2, 9, 12, 3:5, 4:31, 6:15, 21, 8:28, 23:13, 18, 26:31, Numbers 28:6, 8, 13, 15:3, 29:2, 6, 8, 13, 36, Ezekiel 20:41, Hosea 14:7.
Prayers called incense have the same symbolic meaning in the following verses in the book of Revelation:
(An angel, standing at the altar,) having a golden censer…, was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar…. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. (Revelation 8:3, 4)
And in the book of Psalms:
Give ear to my voice…. My prayers are accepted as incense before You…. (Psalm 141:1, 2)
These are the themes contained in the song that they sang, and whatever is contained is also symbolized. To illustrate, an acknowledgment that the Lord is a judge in contained in the words that follow next, “You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals”; that He is a redeemer, in the words, “because You were slain and have redeemed us by Your blood”; that He is a savior, in the words, “and have made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth”; and that He is God of heaven and earth, in the words, they “fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever” (verse 14).
An acknowledgment that the Lord alone is God of heaven and earth and that His humanity is Divine, or else He could not be called Redeemer and Savior, is something that did not exist in the church before. Therefore it is called a “new song.”
[2] A song also symbolizes a glorification, which is a joyful confession of the heart, because a song uplifts, causing the heart’s affection to break out into sound and display itself powerfully in its life.
The Psalms of David, too, are nothing other than songs, for they had musical accompaniment and were sung. Consequently in many places they are called songs, as in Psalm 18:1, 33:1, 3, 45:1, 46:1, 48:1, 65:1, 66:1, 67:1, 68:1, 75:1, 76:1, 87:1, 88:1, 92:1, 96:1, 98:1, 108:1, 120:1, 121:1, 122:1, 123:1, 124:1, 125:1, 126:1, 127:1, 128:1, 129:1, 130:1, 132:1, 133:1, 134:1.
[3] That songs served to heighten the life’s love and thus its joy is apparent from the following:
Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! …Make a joyful noise to Jehovah, all the earth; break forth in song, rejoice…. (Psalm 98:1, 4-8)
Sing to Jehovah a new song…. Let Israel rejoice in its Maker…. Let them sing praises to Him…. (Psalm 149:1-3)
Sing to Jehovah a new song…. Let (them) lift up their voice…. (Isaiah 42:10, 11)
Sing, O heavens…! Shout, you lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, you mountains…. (Isaiah 44:23, 49:13)
Sing aloud to God our strength; make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob. Raise a song…. (Psalm 81:1, 2)
Gladness and joy will be found in (Zion), confession and the sound of singing. (Isaiah 51:3, cf. 52:8, 9)
Sing to the Lord…. Cry out and shout, O daughter of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel! (Isaiah 12:5, 6)
My heart is ready…, I will sing and make music. Awake, my glory! …I will confess You, O Lord, among the nations; I will play to You among the peoples. (Psalm 57:7-9)
And so likewise many other places.
We need not have recourse to the spiritual sense to explain the specific symbolic meanings of the particulars here, such as what it means to be slain, to redeem us to God, and the meaning of His blood, for they are arcana which are not apparent in the literal sense. It is enough to say that it is redemption that is thus described. And because redemption is deliverance from hell and salvation by conjunction with the Lord, these are what are symbolically meant.
Here we will simply confirm from the Word that Jehovah Himself came into the world, was born a human being, and became the Redeemer and Savior for all who by a life of charity and its faith are conjoined with His Divine humanity, and that Jehovah is the Lord from eternity, so that the Lord’s Divine humanity, with which one must be conjoined, is the Divine humanity of Jehovah Himself.
[2] We will accordingly cite here passages which confirm that Jehovah and the Lord are one, and that because they are one and not two, the Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah Himself, is, by assuming a human form, the Redeemer and Savior. This is apparent from the following:
You, O Jehovah, are our Father; our Redeemer from of old is Your name. (Isaiah 63:16)
Thus said Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah of Hosts: “I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God.” (Isaiah 44:6)
Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer, and He who formed you…: “I am Jehovah, who makes all things and…alone…by Myself. (Isaiah 44:24)
Thus says Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am Jehovah your God….” (Isaiah 48:17)
…Jehovah, my rock, and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
Their Redeemer is strong; Jehovah of Hosts is His name. (Jeremiah 50:34)
…Jehovah of Hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He shall be called the God of the whole earth. (Isaiah 54:5)
…that all flesh may know that I, Jehovah, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. (Isaiah 49:26, 60:16)
As for our Redeemer, Jehovah of Hosts is His name…. (Isaiah 47:4)
“…with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you.” Thus said Jehovah your Redeemer. (Isaiah 54:8)
…said Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 43:14)
…said Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One…. (Isaiah 49:7)
You have redeemed me, O Jehovah, God of truth. (Psalm 31:5)
Let Israel hope in Jehovah, for…with Him is abundant redemption. He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. (Psalm 130:7, 8)
Arise (O Lord) for our help, and redeem us for Your mercies’ sake. (Psalm 44:26)
(Jehovah God said,) I will redeem them from the power of hell; I will redeem them from death. (Hosea 13:4, 14)
(O Jehovah,) hear my voice…. He will redeem my soul…. (Psalm 55:17, 18)
See also Psalm 49:15, 69:18, 71:23, 103:1, 4, 107:2, Jeremiah 15:20, 21.
[3] People in the church do not deny that the Lord is the Redeemer in His humanity, because it accords with Scripture, including this statement:
Who…comes from Edom…, traveling in the greatness of His strength? …the year of My redeemed has come…. …He redeemed them…. (Isaiah 63:1, 4, 9)
Say to the daughter of Zion, “Surely your salvation is coming; behold, His reward is with Him, and…they shall call them The Holy People, The Redeemed of Jehovah.” (Isaiah 62:11, 12)
Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people…. (Luke 1:68)
And so, too, elsewhere.
For still more passages confirming that the Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah Himself, came into the world and assumed human form in order to redeem mankind, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 37-46.
Jehovah is also called a Savior in many places, too many to cite them here.
Tribes mean, symbolically, the church in respect to religion. Tongues symbolize its doctrine, as we will see presently. People mean, symbolically, people impelled by doctrinal truths, and abstractly doctrinal truths themselves (no. 483). And nations mean, symbolically, people who are impelled by goods of life, and abstractly goods of life themselves (no. 483). It is apparent from this that every tribe and tongue and people and nation has the symbolic meaning stated, as it does also in no. 627.
[2] We will now confirm here that tongues in the spiritual sense symbolize the doctrine possessed by a church and by every religion. This is apparent from the following:
My tongue ponders Your righteousness, Your praise all the day long. (Psalm 35:28)
My tongue shall ponder Your righteousness all the day long. (Psalm 71:24)
Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness…. (Isaiah 35:6)
…the tongue of stammerers will be swift to speak…. (Isaiah 32:4)
It seems as though tongue there means speech, but in the spiritual sense it means that which is spoken, which is the doctrinal truth that they will have from the Lord.
So likewise:
I have sworn…that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue swear an oath. (Isaiah 45:23)
The time will come to gather all nations and tongues, that they may come and see My glory. (Isaiah 66:18)
In those days ten men from all the tongues of the nations shall take hold of the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, “We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” (Zechariah 8:23)
These passages describe as well the Lord’s conversion of the nations to doctrinal truth.
[3] On the other hand, in the following places tongues in an opposite sense symbolize doctrinal falsities:
A smooth-tongued man shall not continue to exist in the land. (Psalm 140:11)
You hide them…in Your tabernacle from the strife of tongues. (Psalm 31:20)
…I will bring a nation against you…whose language you do not know…. (Jeremiah 5:15)
(To be sent to peoples heavy in tongue.) (Ezekiel 3:5, 6). (To a people barbarous in tongue.) (Isaiah 33:19).
It should be known that the tongue as an organ symbolizes doctrine, while as speech it symbolizes also religion.
[4] Someone who knows that the tongue symbolizes doctrine can understand what is symbolically meant by the plea of the rich man in hell to Abraham to send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool his tongue, to keep him from being tormented in the flame (Luke 16:24). The water symbolizes truth, and the tongue doctrine, by whose falsities the rich man was being tormented, and not by any flame. For no one in hell is on fire, but a flame there is how a love of falsity appears, and fire how a love of evil appears.
To reign on the earth means nothing other than to be in the Lord’s kingdom and to be united with Him in it, according to these words of the Lord:
…that all (those who believe in Me) may be one; (and one) as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us…. The glory which You gave Me I have given to them, that they may be one as We are one, I in them, and You in Me…, that they also…may be with Me where I am…. (John 17:20-24)
So then, since they are thus one with the Lord, and together with the Lord form the kingdom that is called the kingdom of God, it is apparent that nothing else is symbolically meant by reigning.
Reigning is mentioned because of the prior statement, “You have made us kings and priests”; and because kings symbolize people who are governed by wisdom springing from Divine truths from the Lord, and priests symbolize people who are governed by love springing from Divine good from Him (no. 20).
It is because of this that the Lord’s kingdom is also called a kingdom of saints (Daniel 7:18, 27); and of the Apostles it is said that with the Lord they will judge the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28), even though it is the Lord alone who judges and reigns. For He judges and reigns from Divine good by means of Divine truth, which they have in them as well from Him. But anyone who believes that what they have from the Lord is something of their own, is expelled from the kingdom, that is, from heaven.
Reigning has the same symbolic meaning in the following places in the book of Revelation:
…they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:6, cf. 20:4)
And of those who will come into the New Jerusalem, it is said:
(The Lamb) gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever. (Revelation 22:5 [cf. 21:23])
Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes (the earth) waste, and will overturn its surface…. The land shall be entirely emptied…. The (habitable) earth will mourn and…be turned upside down…. The earth will be profaned under its inhabitants…. Therefore a curse shall devour the earth…and…the inhabitants of the earth shall be burned, and few men will be left…. …in the midst of the land…it shall be like the stripping of an olive tree…. …the cataracts on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth are shaken. The earth is violently broken, the earth is utterly split open, the earth is shaken exceedingly. The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard…. (Isaiah 24:1-23.)
[2] The lion has come up from his thicket…to make your land desolate…. I beheld the earth (when) lo, it was empty and void…. …Jehovah has said, “The whole land shall be desolate…. For this shall the earth mourn…. (Jeremiah 4:7, 23-28)
How long will the land mourn…? The whole land is made desolate, because no one lays it to heart. (Jeremiah 12:4, 11-13)
The earth mourns and languishes, Lebanon is shamed and withered away. (Isaiah 33:9)
Its land shall become burning pitch…(and) it shall lie waste. (Isaiah 34:9, 10)
…I have heard from the Lord…a destruction decreed upon the whole earth. (Isaiah 28:22)
Behold, the day of Jehovah comes…to lay the land desolate…, and the earth will be shaken out of its place…. (Isaiah 13:9-13)
The earth shook and trembled, and the foundations of the mountains quaked…. (Psalm 18:7)
…we will not fear when the earth is transformed…. When He uttered His voice, the earth melted. (Psalm 46:2, 3, 6, 8)
Have you not understood the foundations of the earth? (Isaiah 40:21)
O God, You have forsaken us…. You have made the earth tremble…; heal its breaches, for it is shaken. (Psalm 60:1, 2)
[3] The earth and all its inhabitants will melt away; I will firm up its pillars. (Psalm 75:3)
Woe to a land overshadowed by wings…. Go, …messengers, to…a nation…trodden down, whose land rivers have despoiled. (Isaiah 18:1, 2)
By the wrath of Jehovah of Hosts the land is darkened…. (Isaiah 9:19)
…you will be a delightful land…. (Malachi 3:12)
…I have given You as a covenant of the people to restore the earth…. Sing, O heavens! And exult, O earth! (Isaiah 49:8, 13)
I shall not see Yah…in the land of the living. (Isaiah 38:11)
…who caused terror in the land of the living. (Ezekiel 32:23-27)
I would not have believed I would see the goodness…in the land of life. (Psalm 27:13)
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5)
I am Jehovah, who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens alone, who spreads out the earth by Myself. (Isaiah 44, 24, cf. Zechariah 12:1, Jeremiah 10:11-13, 51:15, Psalm. 136:6)
Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation…. …thus said Jehovah, who created the heavens…, who formed the earth…. (Isaiah 45:8, 12, 18, 19)
…behold, I create new heavens and a new earth…. (Isaiah 65:17, cf. 66:22)
And in many other places as well, which, if I were to cite them, would fill a page.
[4] The earth or land symbolizes the church for the reason that it very often means the land of Canaan, which is where the church was. That is the heavenly Canaan. Moreover, when the earth or land is mentioned, angels, being spiritual, do not think of the earth or land, but of the human race dwelling upon it and its spiritual state; and its spiritual state is the state of the church.
The earth or land also has an opposite meaning, and in that sense it symbolizes damnation, since when the church is not present in a person, damnation is. The earth or land is mentioned in that sense in Isaiah 14:12, 21:9, 26:19, 21, 29:4, 47:1, 63:6, Lamentations 2:2, 10, Ezekiel 26:20, 32:24, Numbers 16:29-33, 26:10, and elsewhere.
It may be seen in no. 275 above that a confession and glorification of the Lord was made by angels of the three heavens – by angels of the higher heavens in verses 8 to 10, and so now by angels of the lower heavens in verses 11, 12. Thus the voice of the angels around the throne means a confession and glorification of the Lord by angels of the lower heavens.
John also saw then the living creatures and the elders along with the angels, because the living creatures and elders symbolize angels of the higher heavens (no. 275), and the lower heavens never act independently of the higher heavens, but conjointly with them. For the Lord flows in directly from Himself into all the heavens, thus also into the lower ones, but at the same time indirectly through the higher heavens into the lower ones.
This then is the reason that John first saw and heard the living creatures and elders by themselves, and afterward together with the angels.
The meaning of a number in its natural sense has relation to measure or weight, while the meaning of a number in its spiritual sense has relation to character; and here the people’s character is described by there being ten thousand times ten thousand of them and thousands of thousands; for ten thousand is predicated of truths, while a thousand is predicated of goods.
Ten thousand is predicated of truths and a thousand of goods because ten thousand is the greater number, and a thousand the lesser, and truths are complex, while goods are not; also because where the subject in the Word is truths, it deals as well with goods, owing to the marriage of truth and goodness in every part of the Word. Without that marriage the text could have said only ten thousand times ten thousand.
Because these two numbers have these symbolic meanings, they are specified therefore also elsewhere, as in the following places:
The chariots of God are twice ten thousand, even thousands of angels of peace, the Lord among them, in Sinai, in the Holy Place. (Psalm 68:17)
I watched when…the Ancient of Days was seated…. Thousands of thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. (Daniel 7:9, 10)
(Moses said of Joseph,) …his horns are the horns of a unicorn; with them He will smite the peoples to the ends of the earth, and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and…the thousands of Manasseh. (Deuteronomy 33:17)
You shall not be afraid (for yourself)…of the pestilence that creeps in the darkness, or of the death that lays waste at noonday. A thousand will fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand…. (Psalm 91:5-7)
…our sheep thousands, ten thousands in our streets. (Psalm 144:13)
Is Jehovah pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? (Micah 6:7)
When (the Ark) rested, (Moses) said: “Return, O Jehovah, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel.” (Numbers 10:36)
In all of these places ten thousands refer to truths, and thousands to goods.
Saying in a loud voice symbolizes a confession from the heart. “You are worthy” means, symbolically, that in the Lord are the qualities that follow. The Lamb symbolizes the Lord in respect to His Divine Humanity. Power means, symbolically, Divine power, which is omnipotence. Riches and wisdom symbolize Divine knowledge and wisdom, which are omniscience. Honor and glory symbolizes Divine good and Divine truth.
It may be seen in no. 206 above that riches symbolize concepts of goodness and truth and thus knowledge, and therefore when said of the Lord, omniscience. And in no. 249 above, that honor and glory, when said of the Lord, symbolize His Divine goodness and Divine truth.
A blessing means every good that a person has from the Lord, such as power and wealth, and everything that accompanies these, but especially every spiritual good, such as love and wisdom, charity and faith, and the accompanying joy and happiness, which have to do with eternal life. And because all of these come from the Lord, it follows that He has them in Him; for if He did not have them in Him, they could not be present in others from Him.
It is for this reason that in the Word the Lord is called blessed, and also a blessing, which is to say, blessing itself.
That Jehovah, or the Lord, is called blessed, is apparent from the following passages:
…the high priest asked (Jesus)…, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” (Mark 14:61)
(Jesus said,) “you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'” (Matthew 23:39, cf. Luke 13:35)
(Melchizedek) blessed (Abram) and said: “…blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” (Genesis 14:18-20)
Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Shem…. (Genesis 9:26)
Blessed be Jehovah (who) has heard (my) voice…. (Psalm 28:6)
Blessed be Jehovah, for He has shown me His marvelous clemency…. (Psalm 31:21)
Blessed be Jehovah…from everlasting to everlasting! (Psalm 41:13)
So likewise Psalm 66:20, 68:19, 35, 72:18, 19, 89:52, 119:12, 124:6, 135:21, 144:1, Luke 1:68.
It is owing to this that blessing is mentioned in this verse, as again in verse 12, and in chapter 7, verse 12. And in the book of Psalms:
Glory and honor You have placed upon Him, for You have made Him a blessing forever. (Psalm 21:5, 6)
The subject is the Lord.
[2] It can be seen from this what blessing God means in the Word: that it is to attribute all blessing to Him, to pray for Him to bless, and to thank Him for blessing, as can be seen from the following passages:
(Zacharias’s) mouth was opened…and he spoke, blessing God. (Luke 1:64, 68)
(Simeon) took (the infant Jesus) up in his arms and blessed God…. (Luke 2:28, 30, 31)
I will bless Jehovah who has given me counsel. (Psalm 16:7)
…bless (Jehovah’s) name; proclaim His salvation from day to day. (Psalm 96:1-3)
Blessed be the Lord from day to day…. Bless God in the congregations, the Lord, from the fountain of Israel. (Psalm 68:19, 26)
That it is a confession and glorification of the Lord by angels of the lowest heavens is apparent from the series, because the preceding confessions and glorifications of the Lord were made by angels of the higher and lower heavens (nos. 275ff., 286ff.). For there are three heavens, and in each countless societies, every one of which is called a heaven.
It is apparent that angels are meant by every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and in the sea, for we are told, “I heard (them) saying,” and they said “Blessing and honor and glory and strength be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
[2] Their being called created things accords with the style of the Word, in which all created things, both those of the animal kingdom and those of the plant kingdom, symbolize various constituents in a person – in general constituents having to do with his will or affection, and constituents having to do with his intellect or thought. They have symbolic meanings because they are correspondent forms. And because the Word was written solely in terms of things that correspond, similar things are therefore said in it about angels in heaven and people of the church. To confirm this we will cite just a few passages, as the following:
(Jesus) said (to the disciples,) “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)
But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or…the vegetation of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will recount to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of Jehovah has done this…. (Job 12:7-9)
Let heaven and earth praise (Jehovah), the seas and everything that moves in them. For God will save Zion…. (Psalm 69:34, 35)
Praise Jehovah from the earth, you whales and all the depths. (Psalm 148:7)
I will utterly consume everything from the face of the earth…; I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea. (Zephaniah 1:2, 3. Cf. Isaiah 50:2, 3, Ezekiel 38:19, 20, Hosea 4:2, 3, Revelation 8:7-9)
The heavens will be glad, the earth will rejoice, the sea will pitch and roll, and all its fullness; the field will exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing before Jehovah. For He is coming, coming to judge the earth. (Psalm 96:11-13)
And so on in many other places.
[3] The text says, “every created thing,” and the meaning is every reformed thing, or all reformed people. For to create means, symbolically, to reform and regenerate (no. 254).
To be shown the meaning of “in heaven,” “on the earth,” and “under the earth,” see no. 260 above. And for the meaning of the sea, no. 238. It is apparent from this what is symbolically meant by “such as are in the sea, and all that are in them.” Such things as are in the Word are meant by the fish of the sea, and these are sensual affections, which are the lowest affections of the natural self. For in the spiritual world people’s affections look at a distance like fish, and as being in a sea, because the atmosphere in which they exist appears as though made of water, and thus as a sea, in the eyes of the inhabitants who dwell in the heavens and on the earth there, as may be seen in no. 238 above, and as regards fish, in no. 405.
To be shown that the Lord from eternity is Jehovah, who in the process of time took on human form in order to redeem and save mankind, see no. 281 above. He who sits on the throne, therefore, means the Lord from eternity, who is called the Father, and the Lamb means the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity, which is the Son. Moreover, because the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, so that they are one, it follows that both the one sitting on the throne and the Lamb mean the Lord. And because they are one, we are also told that the Lamb was in the midst of the throne (verse 6, and so, too, 7:17).
To be shown that blessing, when said in connection with the Lord, means everything of heaven and the church present in Him, and from Him in people who are in heaven and in the church, see no. 289 above; and that honor and glory mean Divine good and truth, also no. 249. It is apparent, moreover, that strength, when said in connection with the Lord, means Divine power.
That these are all properties of the Lord can be seen from the following verses in Daniel:
Behold, One like the Son of Man (came) with the clouds of heaven! And He came to the Ancient of Days…. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, and all peoples, nations, and languages will serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one which shall not perish. (Daniel 7:13, 14)
The Ancient of Days is the Lord from eternity, as is apparent from this verse in Micah:
You, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me One who will be Ruler in Israel, and whose goings forth are from of old, from the days of eternity. (Micah 5:2)
And so, too, from this verse in Isaiah:
…unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; …the government will be upon His shoulder. …His name will be called…Counselor, God, Hero, Father of eternity, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
To be shown that the four living creatures or cherubim symbolize the Word, see no. 239 above. And that “Amen” symbolizes a Divine confirmation springing from truth itself, nos. 23, 28, 61, thus that it springs from the Word.
———-
In the natural world people possess two levels of speech, because they possess two levels of thought, one inward and one outward. For a person can speak from his inner thought and at the same time then from his outer one, or he can speak from his outer thought and not from his inner one, and even contrary to his inner one. This is what makes possible pretenses, flatteries, and hypocrisies.
In the spiritual world, however, people do not possess two levels of speech, but a single one. A person there speaks as he thinks. Otherwise his voice becomes grating and hurts the ears. Still, he can remain silent and so not divulge the thoughts of his mind. Consequently, when a hypocrite comes into the company of people who are wise, either he goes away, or he hurries to a corner of the room and makes himself inconspicuous, and sits silent.
[2] Many spirits once gathered in the world of spirits and discussed this circumstance with each other, saying that being unable to speak as one thinks in the company of good spirits was a hardship for those who had not thought correctly about God and the Lord.
At the center of the gathering were the Protestant Reformed, and many of their clergy, and next to them Roman Catholics with some monks. Both groups said at first that it was not a hardship. What need is there to speak otherwise than as one thinks? And if perchance one does not think correctly, can he not purse his lips and remain silent?
Moreover, one of the clergy said, “Who does not think correctly about God and the Lord?”
But some of the gathering said, “Still, let’s put it to the test.”
And regarding God, there were some who had confirmed themselves in a trinity of persons – particularly because of the statement in the Athanasian doctrine,
The person of the Father is one person, that of the Son another, and that of the Holy Spirit still another.
And,
As the Father is God, so is the Son God, and the Holy Spirit God.
These were told to say “one God.” But they could not. They contorted their lips and twisted them into many convolutions, but they could not articulate the sound into any other words than those in keeping with the ideas of their thought, which were ideas of three persons and so of three Gods.
[3] Moreover, those who had affirmed a faith divorced from charity were told to say the name Jesus. But they could not, even though they could all say Christ, and also God the Father. They were surprised at this, and inquiring into the reason, they found that they prayed to God the Father for the sake of the Son, and did not pray to the Savior Himself. For Jesus means Savior.
[4] They were further told to speak from their thought about the Lord’s humanity and say, “Divine humanity.” But none of the clergy present there could do so, though some of the laity could, and therefore the subject was presented for a serious ventilation.
So then, 1. They had read to them these statements in the Gospels:
The Father…has given all things into (the Son’s) hand. (John 3:35)
(The Father has) given (the Son) authority over all flesh…. (John 17:2)
All things have been delivered to Me by My Father. (Matthew 11:27)
All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (Matthew 28:18)
They were then told to retain in thought therefore the idea that Christ is God of heaven and earth, both in respect to His Divinity and in respect to His humanity, and so to utter the term, “Divine humanity.” But still they could not. And they said that they even retained from the quotations some thought of the idea from an understanding of it, but nevertheless without any acknowledgment of it, and that for that reason they could not.
[5] 2. After that they had read to them statements from Luke 1:32, 34, 35,* saying that the Lord in respect to His humanity was the Son of Jehovah God, and statements showing that in respect to His humanity He is everywhere in the Word called the Son of God, and also the only-begotten.** And the examiners asked them to retain this idea in their thought, along with the idea that the only begotten Son of God born into the world could not but be God, as the Father is God, and to utter the term, “Divine humanity.”
But they said, “We cannot, because our spiritual thought, which is the inner one, does not allow into the thought nearest our speech any other than like ideas.”
They said, too, that they perceived from this that it is now not possible to keep separate their levels of thought as in the natural world.
[6] 3. Next they had read to them the Lord’s words to Philip:
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father….” (And the Lord) said to him, “…He who sees Me has seen the Father…. Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?” (John 14:8-11)
And moreover other passages, saying that the Father and He are one (John 10:30, and elsewhere). And they were told to retain this idea in thought and then say “Divine humanity.” But because their thought was not rooted in an acknowledgment that the Lord was God even in respect to His humanity, therefore they could not. They contorted their lips into convolutions to the point of becoming irate, and they tried to force their mouths into uttering it and to spit it out. But without success. The reason was that mental ideas flowing from an acknowledgment unite with spoken words in people who live in the spiritual world; and when those ideas do not exist, words are lacking, for ideas become words when uttered in speech.
[7] 4. Then they had read to them statement from the church’s doctrine accepted throughout the world, saying that the Divine and human in the Lord are not two but one, indeed one person, united altogether like soul and body – statements from the Athanasian Creed. And they were told, “You may take from this an idea in keeping with your acknowledgment, that the Lord’s humanity is Divine, because His soul is Divine, for it comes from your church’s doctrine which you acknowledged in the world. Moreover the soul is the underlying essence and the body the form, and the essence and form are united, like being and expression, or like the efficient cause of an effect and the effect itself.”
The spirits retained this idea and tried in accord with it to utter the term, “Divine humanity.” But they could not, for their inner idea of the Lord’s humanity dismissed and expunged this novel new idea, as they called it.
[8] 5. Again they had read to them the following from John:
…the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh…. (John 1:1, 14)
And the following from Paul:
…in (Christ Jesus) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. (Colossians 2:9)
And they were told to think hard that God, who was the Word, became flesh, and that all the Divine dwells in Him bodily. “Perhaps,” they were told, “you can then utter the term, ‘Divine humanity.'”
But they could not, saying openly that they could not entertain the idea of a Divine humanity, as God is God and man is man, and God is a spirit, “and we can think of a spirit only as being like a puff of wind or bit of ether.”
[9] 6. Finally they were told, “You know that the Lord said, “Abide in Me, and I in you…. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (John 15:4, 5)” And because some of the English clergy were present, they had read to them also something from one of their prayers before 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 you now think that this would not be possible unless the Lord’s humanity is Divine, utter then the term, “Divine humanity,” from an acknowledgment in the thought.”
But still they could not. For they had the idea so deeply impressed on them that the Lord’s Divinity was one thing and His humanity another, so that His Divinity was like the Divinity of the Father, and His humanity like the humanity of any other man.
The examiners said to them, however, “How can you think so? Is it possible for a rational mind ever to think that God is three and the Lord two?”
[10] 7. After that the examiners turned to the Lutherans, saying that the Augsburg Confession and Luther taught that the Son of God and the Son of Man in Christ are one person, that He is also in respect to His human nature the true, almighty and eternal God, and that being in respect to that nature at the right hand of almighty God, He governs everything in heaven and on earth, fills everything, is present with us, and dwells and acts in us. Moreover, there is no difference in any worship of them, since through the nature that is seen, the Divinity that is not seen is worshiped. Thus in Christ, God is man, and man is God.
Hearing this, the Lutherans replied, “Is that right?” And having looked around, they presently said, “We have not known this before. Consequently we cannot.”
But one or two of them said, “We have read this and written it, yet when we have thought about it to ourselves on our own, the words were still only words, of which we could not form an interior idea.”
[11] 8. Finally, turning to the Roman Catholics, the examiners said, “Perhaps you can pronounce the term ‘Divine humanity,’ because you believe that Christ is wholly present in the bread and wine of your Eucharist and in every particle of it, and you also worship Him as God when you present the host and distribute it, and you call Mary the mother of God. Consequently you acknowledge that she gave birth to God, which is to say, to His Divine humanity.”
They then tried to utter the term in accord with those mental ideas they had of the Lord. But they could not, because of the physical idea they had of His body and blood, and because of their assertion that it was human power and not Divine power that He conferred on the Pope.
A monk then rose and said that he could think of the term “Divine humanity” as applying to the Virgin Mary, mother of God, and also to the patron saint of his monastery.
And another monk came forward saying, “I can, in accord with my mental idea of it, say ‘Divine humanity’ as a term applying to our most holy Pope rather than to the Christ.”
But at that other monks pulled him back and said, “Shame on you.”
[12] After that I saw heaven opened, and I saw little flame-like tongues descending and flowing into some of those present, and they then began to celebrate the Lord’s Divine humanity, saying, “Put aside the idea of three Gods and believe that in the Lord dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, that the Father and He are one as a soul and body are one, and that God is not a puff of wind or bit of ether, but human, and you will then be conjoined with heaven, and the Lord will enable you thereby to say the name Jesus and utter the term, Divine humanity.
* “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David…. Then Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I do not know a man?’ And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.'”
** John 1:14, 18, 3:16, 18. See also Hebrews 11:17, 1 John 4:9, 2 Esdras 6:58.
1 Now I saw when the Lamb opened the first of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as though with a voice of thunder, “Come and see.” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. And he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” 4 And another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, so that people might kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.
5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a scale in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.”
7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” 8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with famine, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.
9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, who are holy and true, will You not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then white robes were given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until the number of both their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was complete.
12 Then I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became as black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 Then the sky departed like a book rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 15 And the kings of the earth and the great men, the rich men and the commanders, and the powerful, and every slave and every freeman, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and they said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
This describes the examination of those people on whom the Last Judgment would fall, and they were examined to see what understanding of the Word they had among them, and so what their state of life was. Some were found to possess truths springing from goodness (verses 1, 2); some to be without any goodness (verses 3, 4); some to have a contempt for the truth (verses 5, 6); and some to be utterly devastated and purged as regards both goodness and truth (verses 7, 8).
Described, too, is the state of people who, because of the evil, were protected by the Lord in a lower earth, who would be set free at the time of the Last Judgment (verses 9-11).
Also the state of people who were caught up in evils and so in falsities – what it would be like on the day of the Last Judgment (verses 12-17).
The Contents of the Individual Verses
1 Now I saw when the Lamb opened the first of the seals;
An examination by the Lord of all those people on whom the Last Judgment would fall, as to their understanding of the Word and thus their states of life,
and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as though with a voice of thunder,
in accordance with the Divine truth in the Word.
“Come and see.”
A manifestation regarding the people first in order.
2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse.
An understanding of truth and goodness from the Word among them.
And he who sat on it had a bow;
Their having a doctrine of truth and goodness from the Word, from which they fought against falsities and evils emanating from hell.
and a crown was given to him,
A token of their combat.
and he went out conquering and to conquer.
Their victory over evils and falsities to eternity.
3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.”
The same here as before [verse 1].
4 And another horse, fiery red, went out.
An understanding of the Word among them extinguished as to goodness and thus extinguished as regards their life.
And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth,
The abolition of charity, of spiritual security, and of inner rest.
so that people might kill one another;
Intestine hatreds, infestations by the hells, and inner anxieties.
and there was given to him a great sword.
The destruction of truth by the falsities accompanying evil.
5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.”
The same here as before [verse 1].
So I looked, and behold, a black horse,
An understanding of the Word among them extinguished as to truth, thus extinguished as regards their doctrine.
and he who sat on it had a scale in his hand.
Their valuation of goodness and truth, what it was like among them.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying,
The Divine protection of the Word by the Lord,
“A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius;
because the value they placed on goodness and truth was so little as to be scarcely anything.
and do not harm the oil and the wine.”
The Lord’s provision that they not violate and profane the goods and truths concealed inwardly in the Word.
7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.”
The same here as before [verse 1].
8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse.
An understanding of the Word extinguished as to both goodness and truth.
And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hell followed with him.
The extinction of spiritual life and thus damnation.
And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill
The destruction of all good in the church
with sword, with famine, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.
by doctrinal falsities, by evil practices, by self-love, and by lusts.
9 When He opened the fifth seal,
An examination by the Lord of the states of life of people who would be saved on the day of the Last Judgment, and who in the meantime were sequestered.
I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.
People who, having been expelled by the evil because of their life in accordance with the Word’s truths and their acknowledgment of the Lord’s Divine humanity, were protected by the Lord to keep them from being led astray.
10 And they cried with a loud voice,
Pain of heart
saying, “How long, O Lord, who are holy and true, will You not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
over the fact that the Last Judgment was so long delayed, and that those who did violence to the Word and to the Lord’s Divinity were not being removed.
11 Then white robes were given to each of them;
A communication and conjunction of them with angels possessing Divine truths,
and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until the number of both their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was complete.
that the Last Judgment would be delayed a little while longer, until those people should be gathered together who likewise were expelled by the evil.
12 Then I looked when He opened the sixth seal,
An examination by the Lord of the states of life of people who were inwardly evil, on whom the Last Judgment would fall.
and behold, there was a great earthquake;
The state of the church among them completely changed, and their terror.
and the sun became as black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.
All goodness of love was adulterated in them, and every truth of faith falsified.
13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth,
All concepts of goodness and truth were dispelled
as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.
by reasonings of the natural self divorced from the spiritual self.
14 Then the sky departed like a book rolled up,
The people’s separation from heaven and conjunction with hell.
and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.
All goodness of love and truth of faith vanished.
15 And the kings of the earth and the great men, the rich men and the commanders, and the powerful, and every slave and every freeman,
Those who before the separation had possessed an understanding of truth and good, a knowledge of their concepts, and learning, acquired from others or on their own, and yet who lacked a life in accordance with them,
hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains,
were now caught up in evils and in the falsities accompanying evil.
16 and they said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!
Affirmations of evil by falsities springing from evil, until they did not acknowledge anything of the Lord’s Divinity.
17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
They became of such a character of themselves as a result of their separation from good and faithful people, because of the Last Judgment, which they could not otherwise endure.
THE EXPOSITION
Now I saw when the Lamb opened the first of the seals. (6:1) This symbolizes an examination by the Lord of all those people on whom the Last Judgment would fall, as to their understanding of the Word and thus their states of life.
This is the symbolic meaning because there follows next in order an examination of all the people on whom the Last Judgment would fall as to their states of life, and this by the Lord in accordance with the Word. Consequently this is what is symbolically meant by the Lamb’s opening the seals of the book.
To be shown that to open the book and loose its seals means, symbolically, to know the states of life of all people and to judge each one according to his state, see nos. 259, 265-267, 273, 274 above.
To be shown that the four living creatures or cherubim mean the Word, see nos. 239, 275, 286 above; and that the voice of thunder means a perception of Divine truth, no. 236.
A voice of thunder is mentioned here because this living creature refers to the lion, which symbolizes the Divine truth of the Word in respect to its power (no. 241). That is why this living creature is said to speak as though with a voice of thunder. For later we are told that the second living creature spoke, and then the third and fourth.
We said above that this chapter describes an examination of all the people on whom the Last Judgment would fall as to their states of life, and this by the Lord in accordance with the Word (no. 295). Described here therefore is an examination of the first people in order, as to their character in respect to their understanding of the Word and thus as to their states of life.
To be shown that the church is founded on the Word, and that its character is such as its understanding of the Word, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 76-79.
A horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word, and a white horse an understanding of truth from the Word. For the color white is predicated of truths (no. 167).
That a horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word is something we showed in a separate short work titled The White Horse. But because we cited only some passages there, we will present more here by way of confirmation. The reality of it is clearly apparent from the fact that horses were seen to go forth from the book which the Lamb opened, and that the living creatures said, “Come and see.” For the living creatures symbolize the Word (nos. 239, 275, 286). So, too, does the book (no. 256). And the Son of Man, who here is the Lamb, is the Lord in relation to the Word (no. 44).
It is apparent from this, first, that nothing else is meant here by the horse than an understanding of the Word. This can be still more clearly seen from this later description in the book of Revelation:
I saw heaven opened, when behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called…The Word of God…. And He has on His garment and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS…. And His armies in heaven…followed Him on white horses. (Revelation 19:11, 13 14, 16)
[2] That a horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word can be further seen from the following passages:
O Jehovah…, is Your wrath against the sea, that You ride on Your horses, Your chariots of salvation? …You trampled the sea with your horses, the mud of many waters. (Habakkuk 3:8, 15)
The hooves of Jehovah’s horses are regarded as rocks…. (Isaiah 5:28)
On that day…I will strike every horse with stupor, and its rider with madness…; and I will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. (Zechariah 12:4)
On that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, “Holiness to Jehovah.” (Zechariah 14:20)
Because God has made her forget wisdom, and did not impart to her understanding. When she lifts herself on high, she scorns the horse and its rider. (Job 39:17, 18, and following verses)
I will cut off…the horse from Jerusalem…. Rather He shall speak peace to the nations. (Zechariah 9:10)
At Your rebuke, (O Jehovah,) both the chariot and horse fell asleep. (Psalm 76:6)
I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms…and I will overthrow the chariots and those who ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down…. (Haggai 2:22)
With you I will disperse…kingdoms; with you I will disperse the horse and its rider. (Jeremiah 51:20, 21)
Assemble yourselves…from round about to My sacrifice…. You will be satisfied at My table with horses and riders…. (Thus) I will set My glory among the nations. (Ezekiel 39:17, 20, 21)
…gather together for the great supper of God, (and) you (will) eat…the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them…. (Revelation 19:17, 18)
Dan shall be…a viper by the path, that bites the horse’s heels, so that its rider falls backward. I have waited for your salvation, O Jehovah! (Genesis 49:17, 18)
Gird Your sword…, O Mighty One…. Mount up…, ride upon the Word of truth…. (Psalm 45:3, 4)
Sing to God…; extol Him who rides on the clouds…. (Psalm 68:4)
Behold, Jehovah is riding on a…cloud…. (Isaiah 19:1)
Sing praises to the Lord…, to Him who rides on the heaven of the heaven of old…! (Psalm 68:32, 33)
(God) rode upon a cherub…. (Psalm 18:10)
Then you shall delight yourself in Jehovah; and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the earth…. (Isaiah 58:14)
Jehovah alone led him…. (And) He made him ride in the heights of the earth…. (Deuteronomy 32:12, 13)
I will make Ephraim ride. (Hosea 10:11)
Ephraim also symbolizes an understanding of the Word.
[3] Since Elijah and Elisha represented the Lord in relation to the Word, therefore they were called the chariot of Israel and his horsemen. Elisha said to Elijah,
“My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” (2 Kings 2:12)
And Joash said to Elisha,
“O my father…, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” (2 Kings 13:14)
Jehovah opened the eyes of (Elisha’s) servant, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2 Kings 6:17)
A chariot symbolizes doctrine from the Word, and a horseman one who is wise as a result of it.
The following have similar symbolic meanings: The four chariots coming from between the bronze mountains in Zechariah, and the four horses harnessed to them, which were red, black, white, and dappled, called also four spirits, and said to go out from their station before the Lord of all the earth (Zechariah 6:1-8, 15). Horses in these places symbolize an understanding of the Word, or an understanding of truth from the Word. So, too, in other places.
[4] This can be further seen from horses mentioned in an opposite sense, in which they symbolize an understanding of the Word or of truth falsified by reasonings, and also extinguished, and likewise a person’s own intelligence, as in the following passages:
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses…, and do not look to the Holy One of Israel…. Egypt is man and not God, and its horses are flesh and not spirit. (Isaiah 31:1, 3)
You shall…set a king over (Israel) whom Jehovah… chooses…. Only let him not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses. (Deuteronomy 17:15, 16)
These statements are made because Egypt symbolizes knowledge and reasoning springing from a person’s own intelligence, the result of which is a falsification of the Word’s truth, which is the meaning of horses here.
Assyria shall not save us. We will not ride on a horse…. (Hosea 14:3)
Some glory in chariots, and some in horses; but we will glory in the name of…our God. (Psalm 20:7)
A horse is a false means for safety. (Psalm 33:17)
(Jehovah) does not delight in the strength of the horse. (Psalm 147:10)
…thus says…the Holy One of Israel: “…In…confidence shall be your strength.” But…you said, “No…, …we will flee on a horse….” And, “We will ride on a swift horse.” (Isaiah 30:15, 16)
…Jehovah…will make (Judah) as a glorious horse…. …the riders on horses shall be put to shame. (Zechariah 10:3, 5)
Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies…. …and the neighing horse, and the jolting chariot…. The horseman causing to ascend…. (Nahum 3:1-4)
…I will bring against Tyre…the king of Babylon…, with horses, with chariots, and with horsemen…. Because of the abundance of his horses, their dust will cover you; your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen…and the chariots…. With the hooves of his horses he will trample all your streets. (Ezekiel 26:7-11)
Tyre symbolizes the church in respect to its concepts of truth, in this case these concepts falsified in it, which are the horses of Babylon. And so on in other places, as in Isaiah 5:28; Jeremiah 6:22, 23, 8:16, 46:4, 9, 50:37, 42; Ezekiel 17:15, 23:6, 20; Habakkuk 1:6, 8-10; Psalm 66:12.
An understanding of the Word extinguished is symbolized also by the horses, fiery red, black and pale, in the verses that now follow.
To be shown that a horse symbolizes an understanding of truth from the Word owing to appearances in the spiritual world, see my small book titled The White Horse.
He who sat on the white horse in Revelation 19:11-13 means the Lord in relation to the Word, but he who sat on this white horse means an angelic person in relation to a doctrine of truth and goodness from the Word, thus a doctrine from the Lord, like the army of the Lord in heaven which followed the Lord on white horses in Revelation 19:14.
Regarding Him who sat on the white horse in Revelation 19, we are told that out of his mouth went a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations, and the sword going out of His mouth symbolizes the Divine truth of the Word fighting against falsities and evils (nos. 52, 108, 117). Here, however, we are told that he who sat on this white horse had a bow, and the bow symbolizes a doctrine of truth and goodness from the Word fighting against evils and falsities.
To fight against falsities and evils is also to fight against the hells, as evils and falsities emanate from there, and therefore this, too, is symbolically meant.
[2] That a bow in the Word symbolizes doctrine doing battle in both senses can be seen from the following passages:
(Jehovah’s) arrows are sharp, and all His bows bent; His horses’ hooves are accounted as rocks. (Isaiah 5:28)
(The Lord) has bent his bow like an enemy…. (Lamentations 2:4)
O Jehovah…, You ride on Your horses; …Your bow will be bared. (Habakkuk 3:8, 9)
He gave the nations before Him, and made Him rule over kings. He gave them as the dust to His sword, as…stubble to His bow. (Isaiah 41:2)
Because the subject is Jehovah or the Lord, a bow in these places symbolizes the Word, from which the Lord fights in a person against evils and falsities.
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem; the war bow shall be cut off. Rather He shall speak peace to the nations. (Zechariah 9:10)
They bend their tongue, their bow a lie, and not the truth…. (Jeremiah 9:3)
Lo, the wicked bend their bow; they make ready their arrows on the bowstring, to shoot in the dark the upright in heart. (Psalm 11:2)
They will provoke Joseph and shoot at him; the archers will hate him. But he will rest on the tautness of his bow…by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob…. (Genesis 49:23, 24)
Set yourselves in array against Babylon…. All you who bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrow, for she has sinned against Jehovah. (Jeremiah 50:14, cf. 50:29)
David lamented…over Saul…to teach the children of Judah the Bow. (2 Samuel 1:17, 18)
This lamentation describes the combat of truth against falsities.
[3] Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: “Lo, I am breaking the bow of Elam, the source of its might.” (Jeremiah 49:35)
(Jehovah) made Me a polished arrow; in His quiver He has hidden Me. (Isaiah 49:2)
Behold, children are a heritage from Jehovah…. Blessed is the man who has filled his quiver with them. (Psalm 127:3-5)
Children here and elsewhere symbolize doctrinal truths.
In Salem shall be (Jehovah’s) tabernacle…. There He broke the strings of the bow, the shield, the sword, and the war. (Psalm 76:1-3)
(Jehovah) will make wars cease…. He will break the bow…, cut asunder the spear; He will burn the chariot with fire. (Psalm 46:9; cf. Ezekiel 39:8, 9, Hosea 2:18)
In these places a bow symbolizes a doctrine of truth fighting against falsities, and in an opposite sense, a doctrine of falsity fighting against truths. Arrows accordingly symbolize truths or falsities.
Since a war in the Word symbolizes a spiritual war, therefore the weapons of war – such as the sword, spear, shield, buckler, bow, and arrows – symbolize the kind of things that have to do with that war.
A crown symbolizes a token of combat because in ancient times kings wore crowns into battle, as can be seen from historical accounts, and to some degree from 2 Samuel 1:10, where we read that a man said to David concerning Saul, that when Saul was about to die in battle, he took the crown upon his head and the armlets upon his arms. And from what is related about the king in Rabbah and David in 2 Samuel 12:29, 30.
Moreover, because trials or temptations are the kind of spiritual battles which the martyrs endured, therefore they were given crowns as tokens of their combat (no. 103).
It is apparent from this that a crown here symbolizes a token of their combat, on which account the statement also follows, “and he went out conquering and to conquer.”
He is said to be conquering and to conquer because people who overcome in spiritual battles in the world, which are what temptations or trials are, overcome to eternity. For the hells cannot attack someone who has overcome.
The symbolism here is similar to the symbolism before in no. 295, with the difference described in what follows.
A horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word (no. 298), and a fiery red color symbolizes good extinguished. To be shown that the color white is predicated of truths, because it takes its origin from the light of the sun in heaven, and that the color red is predicated of goods, because it takes its origin from the fire of the sun in heaven, see nos. 167, 231 above.
A fiery red, on the other hand, is predicated of good extinguished, because a fiery red means a hellish red, which takes its origin from hellfire, which is a love of evil. A fiery red, being a hellish red, is hideous and dreadful, because it has no spark of life in it, but is totally lifeless. So it is that a fiery red horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word extinguished as to goodness. This, too, can be seen from the description of its rider, that it was granted him “to take peace from the earth, so that people might kill one another,” as said next.
Moreover, it was the second living creature, which was like a calf, symbolizing the Divine truth of the Word in respect to its affection (no. 242), that said, “Come and see,” thus showing that the people described had no affection for good, thus no goodness, among them.
That redness is predicated of both a love of good and a love of evil, can be seen from the following passages:
Who…washed his garment in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes, with eyes redder than wine, and teeth whiter than milk. (Genesis 49:11, 12)
This is said in reference to the Lord.
Who is this who comes from Edom…, red as to apparel, and apparel like that of one who treads in the winepress? (Isaiah 63:1, 2)
This, too, said in reference to the Lord.
Her Nazirites were whiter than snow and brighter white than milk. Redder were they in their bones than rubies…. (Lamentations 4:7)
Redness in these places is predicated of a love of good. In the following places it is predicated of a love of evil:
The shield…is made reddish, and the…men are in crimson. The chariots come with flaming torches…; their appearance is like that of torches…. (Nahum 2:3, 4)
Though your sins have been like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they have been red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18)
This is also the symbolic meaning of the fiery red dragon in Revelation 12:3, and of the fiery red horse standing among the myrtle trees in Zechariah 1:8.
Similar meanings are predicated of colors that derive their hue from the color red, such as scarlet and crimson.
Peace symbolizes everything whatever that comes from the Lord, and so everything pertaining to heaven and the church, and the blessings of life in them. In the highest or inmost sense, these are blessings of peace.
It follows from this that peace means charity, spiritual security, and inner rest, for when a person abides in the Lord, he is at peace with his neighbor, which is a state of charity, and he has protection from hell, which is spiritual security. And when he is at peace with his neighbor and has protection from hell, he enjoys an inner rest from evils and falsities.
Accordingly, since all these blessings come from the Lord, it can be seen what is symbolically meant by peace in general and in particular in the following passages:
…unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; the government will be upon His shoulder. His name will be called…God, Hero, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end…. (Isaiah 9:6, 7)
(Jesus said,) “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you.” (John 14:27)
(Jesus said,) “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.” (John 16:33)
In His days the righteous shall flourish, and much peace…. (Psalm 72:3, 7)
Then I will make a covenant of peace…. (Ezekiel 34:25, 27, 37:25, 26, Malachi 2:4, 5)
How delightful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace…, who says to Zion, “Your King reigns!” (Isaiah 52:7)
Jehovah bless you and…lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)
Jehovah will bless His people with peace. (Psalm 29:11)
(Jehovah) will redeem my soul in peace…. (Psalm 55:18)
The work of (Jehovah) is peace, [and] the labor of righteousness, rest and security forever, that (they) may dwell in a tabernacle of peace, in secure tents, and in tranquil places of rest. (Isaiah 32:17, 18)
(Jesus said to the seventy that He sent out,) “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it.” (Luke 10:5, 6, cf. Matthew 10:12-14)
The wretched shall possess the earth, and shall delight themselves in an abundance of peace…. …observe the upright man, for the final state for that man is peace. (Psalm 37:11, 37)
(Zacharias, prophesying, said,) “…the Dayspring from on high has appeared…, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78, 79)
Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. (Psalm 34:14)
Much peace have those who love Your law…. (Psalm 119:165)
“Oh, that you had heeded My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river….” “There is no peace,” says Jehovah, “for the impious.” (Isaiah 48:18, 22)
(Jehovah) will speak peace to His people…. Righteousness and peace will kiss. (Psalm 85:8, 10)
There is no peace in my bones because of my sin. (Psalm 38:3)
He has filled me with bitterness…. …moved (is) my soul far from peace; I have forgotten goodness. (Lamentations 3:15, 17)
And so on in many other places, from which it can be seen that the aforesaid blessings are meant by peace. Fix your mind on spiritual peace, and you will clearly see.
So likewise in the following places: Isaiah 26:12, 53:5, 54:10, 13; Jeremiah 33:6, 9; Haggai 2:9; Zechariah 8:16, 19; Psalm 4:6-8, 120:6, 7, 122:6-9, 128:5, 6, 147:14.
To be shown that peace is what inmostly affects every good with bliss, see the book Heaven and Hell, nos. 284-290.
These are symbolized inasmuch as to take peace from the earth means, symbolically, to take away charity, spiritual security, and inner rest, and a fiery red horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word extinguished as to goodness. For these result when there is no more goodness, and there is no more goodness when people do not know what good is.
It is apparent that intestine hatreds occur when there is no charity, that infestations by the hells occur when there is no spiritual security, and that inner anxieties occur when there is no rest from evils and their lusts. But they occur after death, if not before in the world.
That to kill has this symbolic meaning follows from the symbolism of a sword, which is the subject next.
It may be seen in no. 52 above that swords symbolize truth combating falsities and destroying them, and in an opposite sense, falsity combating truths and destroying them. The great sword here symbolizes the falsities accompanying evil destroying the truths accompanying goodness.
We say the falsities accompanying evil, because there are falsities that are not connected with evil, and these do not destroy truths, as those accompanying evil do.
That this is the symbolic meaning of the great sword is apparent from the fact that a black horse is seen next, which symbolizes an understanding of the Word extinguished as to truth, and truth is extinguished only by evil.
The symbolism of this is similar to the symbolism before in no. 295, with the difference described in what follows.
We showed above that a horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word. Blackness symbolizes a lack of truth, thus falsity, because blackness is the opposite of whiteness, and whiteness is predicated of truth (nos. 167, 231, 232). Whiteness is also the result of light, while blackness results from darkness, thus from the absence of light, and light means truth.
In the spiritual world, however, blackness has a double origin, one resulting from the absence of a flaming light, the light possessed by inhabitants of the Lord’s celestial kingdom, and the other resulting from the absence of a bright white light, the light possessed by inhabitants of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom. The first kind of blackness has the same symbolism as a thick darkness, the second the same as a gloomy darkness. The two kinds differ from each other. One is dreadful, the other not so dreadful. It is the same with the falsities that they symbolize. The spirits who appear in a terrible darkness are called devils. They also abhor truth as owls do the light of the sun. In contrast, the spirits who appear in a darkness that is not so dreadful are called satanic spirits. They do not abhor truth, though they are still averse to it, and therefore they may be likened to barn owls, but the first to eagle owls.
The fact that blackness in the Word is predicated of falsity can be seen from the following passages:
Her Nazirites were brighter than snow…. Darkened more than blackness is their form. (Lamentations 4:7, 8)
…on the prophets…the day shall grow black. (Micah 3:6)
On the day that you go down to hell…, I will make Lebanon dark over you…. (Ezekiel 31:15)
…the sun became as black as sackcloth of goat’s hair…. (Revelation 6:12)
The sun, moon and stars are darkened in Jeremiah 4:27, 28, Ezekiel 32:7, Joel 2:10, 3:15, and elsewhere.
It was the third living creature that displayed the black horse because it had a face like a human being, which symbolized the Divine truth of the Word in respect to its wisdom (no. 243). Consequently it was this living creature that displayed the fact that there was no longer any truth of wisdom in the people who were third in order.
A scale in the hand symbolizes a valuation of goodness and truth, for all measures in the Word, including weights, symbolize a valuation of the subject which they describe.
That measures and weights have such symbolic meanings is apparent from the following account in Daniel: When Belshazzar, king of Babylon, was drinking wine from the vessels of gold and silver taken from the Temple in Jerusalem, writing appeared before him, saying, “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN,” meaning, “numbered, numbered, weighed, and divided.” (Daniel 5:1-5) And this was the interpretation of it:
MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balance and found wanting. PERES: Your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians. (Daniel 5:25-28)
Drinking from vessels of gold and silver from the Temple in Jerusalem, and at the same time worshiping other gods, symbolizes the profanation of goodness and truth, which is also the symbolism of Babylon. Mene, or to number. This symbolically means to know its character in respect to truth. Tekel, or to weigh. This symbolically means to know its character in respect to goodness. And peres, or to divide. This symbolically means to disperse.
That measures and scales in the Word symbolize the character of truth and goodness is apparent in Isaiah:
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, measured the heavens with the span of His hand, comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, weighed the mountains in a balance, and the hills in scales? (Isaiah 40:12)
And in the book of Revelation:
(The angel) measured the wall (of the Holy Jerusalem): one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. (Revelation 21:17)
To be shown that the four living creatures or cherubim symbolize the Word from the firsts of it in its lasts, and its protections to keep its interior truths and goods from being violated, see no. 239 above. Moreover, because these protections come from the Lord, therefore John heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures. In the midst of them means the Word in respect to its inner, spiritual sense, which the Lord protects.
That the symbolism is one of protection is apparent from what the voice said, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine,” which symbolically means that because the value these people placed on goodness and truth was so little as to be scarcely anything, provision had to be made to keep them from violating and profaning the sacred goods and truths that lie hidden interiorly in the Word. And the Lord provided this by their at last knowing not any good and so not any truth, but only evil and falsity. For people who know goods and truths can violate them, indeed profane them, but not people who are ignorant of them.
To be shown that this is Divinely provided to protect the Word, see Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Providence, nos. 221-233, 257 at the end, and 258 at the beginning.
This is the symbolic meaning because a quart, which is a measure and its contents, symbolizes the character of a thing, as shown in no. 313 above. Wheat and barley symbolize goodness and truth, and a denarius, being a very small coin, symbolizes a value so little as to be scarcely anything.
Three quarts of barley are specified because the number three symbolizes all and is predicated of truths (no. 400).
Wheat and barley symbolizes goodness and truth, here the goodness and truth of the church acquired from the Word, because everything connected with a field or vineyard symbolizes something having to do with the church – a field symbolizing the church in respect to its goodness and consequent truth, and a vineyard symbolizing the church in respect to its truth and consequent goodness. Therefore, where these are mentioned in the Word, angels, who perceive everything spiritually, have no other understanding of them – as for example in Joel:
The field is wasted, the land mourns, because the grain is wasted, the new wine is dried up, the oil fails. Ashamed are the farmers, the vinedressers wail, over the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. (Joel 1:10-12)
All of these things symbolize things having to do with the church.
[2] That wheat and barley symbolize the goodness and truth of the church can be seen from the following passages:
(John said of Jesus that He would) gather his wheat into the granary and burn the chaff with fire…. (Matthew 3:11, 12)
(Jesus said,) “Let (weed and wheat) grow together…, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather together the weeds…to burn them, but gather the wheat into my granary.'” (Matthew 23:24-30)
…I have heard from Jehovah God…a consummation and determination…. Plant the measured wheat, and the appointed barley…. (Thus) He instructs him for judgment; His God teaches him. (Isaiah 28:21-26)
…Jehovah…will bring you into…a land of wheat and barley…. (Deuteronomy 8:7, 8)
The land of wheat and barley here is the land of Canaan, which symbolizes the church.
They shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of Jehovah, for wheat and new wine…. (Jeremiah 31:12)
(Jehovah) will fill you with the finest wheat. (Psalm 147:12-14, cf. Deuteronomy 32:13, 14, Psalm 81:13, 16)
Jehovah told the prophet Ezekiel to make himself a cake of barleycorn mixed with dung and eat it (Ezekiel 4:12, 15). And He told the prophet Hosea to take to himself an adulterous woman, whom he bought for one and a half omers of barleycorn (Hosea 3:1, 2). The prophets did these things to represent the falsifications of truth in the church, for barleycorns are truths, and barleycorns mixed with dung are truths falsified and profaned. An adulterous woman also symbolizes truth falsified (no. 134).
Oil symbolizes the goodness of love, and wine the truth springing from that goodness. Thus the oil here symbolizes sacred goodness, and the wine sacred truth. The Lord’s provision that these not be violated and profaned is symbolized by the people’s being told not to harm them. For this instruction came from the midst of the four living creatures, thus from the Lord (no. 314). Whatever the Lord says He also provides. That this is something He provides may be seen in nos. 314 and 255 above.
That oil symbolizes the goodness of love – this we will see in nos. 778, 779 below.
That wine symbolizes the truth springing from that goodness is clear from the following passages:
Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes…, buy wine and milk without money…. (Isaiah 55:1)
It shall come to pass in that day that the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills flow with milk…. (Joel 3:18, cf. Amos 9:13, 14)
Joy is taken away…from Carmel, and in the vineyards there will be no singing…. No treaders will tread out wine in the presses; I have made their shouting cease. (Isaiah 16:10, cf. Jeremiah 48:32, 33)
Carmel symbolizes the spiritual church, because it had vineyards there.
[2] …wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth…. The vinedressers have wailed…. (Joel 1:5, 10, 11)
Almost the same images occur in Hosea 9:2, 3, Zephaniah 1:13, Lamentations 2:11, 12, Micah 6:15, Amos 5:11, Isaiah 24:6, 7, 9, 11.
He washes his clothing in wine, and His vesture in the blood of grapes. His eyes are red with wine…. (Genesis 49:11, 12)
The subject is the Lord, and the wine symbolizes Divine truth. That is why the Lord instituted the Holy Supper, in which the bread symbolizes the Lord in respect to Divine good, and the wine the Lord in respect to Divine truth; and in their recipients the bread symbolizes a sacred goodness, and the wine sacred truth, received from the Lord. Therefore He said,
I say to you, that I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you…in My Father’s kingdom. (Matthew 26:29, cf. Luke 22:18)
Because bread and wine have these symbolic meanings, so too Melchizedek, going to meet Abram, brought out bread and wine, he being a priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram (Genesis 14:18, 19).
[3] The grain offering and drink offering used in sacrifices had similar symbolic meanings, as described in Exodus 29:40, Leviticus 23:12, 13, 18, 19, Numbers 15:2-15, 28:6, 7, 18 to the end, 29:1-7ff. The grain offering was an offering of wheat flour, thus taking the place of bread, and the drink offering was an offering of wine.
It can be seen from this what these words of the Lord symbolize:
Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins…. But they put the…wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved. (Matthew 9:17, cf. Luke 5:37, 38)
New wine is the Divine truth in the New Testament, thus in the New Church, and the old wine is the Divine truth in the Old Testament, thus in the old church.
A similar idea is symbolized by these words of the Lord at the wedding in Cana of Galilee:
Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now! (John 2:1-10)
[4] Something similar is symbolized by the wine in the Lord’s parable concerning the man wounded by thieves, on whose wound the Samaritan poured oil and wine (Luke 10:33, 34); for the man wounded by thieves means people whom the Jews wounded spiritually by evils and falsities, and to whom the Samaritan brought aid by pouring oil and wine on their wounds, that is, by teaching them goodness and truth, and as far as possible, healing them.
Sacred truth is symbolized by wine and new wine also elsewhere in the Word, as in Isaiah 1:21, 22, 25:6, 36:17; Hosea 7:4, 5, 14, 14:6-8; Amos 2:8; Zechariah 9:15, 17; Psalm 104:14, 15.
[5] Because of this, a vineyard in the Word symbolizes a church that possesses truths from the Lord.
That wine symbolizes sacred truth can be seen also from its opposite meaning, in which it symbolizes truth falsified and profaned, as in the following places:
Harlotry, wine, and new wine have taken hold of the heart…. Their wine is gone, they commit harlotry continually. (Hosea 4:11, 18)
Harlotry symbolizes the falsification of truth, and so, too, do the wine and new wine here.
…in the hand of Jehovah a cup, and He mixed it with wine; He filled it with the mixture and poured it out, and its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth, sucking, drink. (Psalm 75:8)
Babylon was a golden cup in Jehovah’s hand, that made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they are deranged. (Jeremiah 51:7)
Babylon has fallen…, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication…. If anyone worships the beast…, he shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed with undiluted wine in the cup of the wrath (of God). (Revelation 14:8-10)
(Babylon has made) all the nations (drink) of the wine…of her fornication. (Revelation 18:3)
…great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath. (Revelation 16:19)
…the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. (Revelation 17:1, 2)
[6] The wine that Belshazzar, the king of Babylon, and his lords and wives and concubines drank from the vessels of the Temple in Jerusalem, while they praised the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone (Daniel 5:2-4) – that wine symbolized nothing else but the sacred truth of the Word and church profaned, which is why the writing then appeared on the wall, and the king that very night was slain (Daniel 5:25, 30)
Wine symbolizes truth falsified also in Isaiah 5:11, 12, 21, 22, 28:1, 3, 7, 29:9, 56:11, 12, Jeremiah 13:12, 13, 23:9, 10.
The drink offering that they poured out as an offering to idols has the same symbolic meaning in Isaiah 65:11, 57:6; Jeremiah 7:18, 44:17-19; Ezekiel 20:28; Deuteronomy 32:38.
It is owing to its correspondence that wine symbolizes sacred truth, and in an opposite sense, truth profaned. For when a person reads “wine” in the Word, angels – who apprehend everything spiritually – have just this interpretation of it. Such is the correspondence between the natural thoughts of people and the spiritual thoughts of angels. The case is the same with the wine in the Holy Supper. That is why the Holy Supper occasions an introduction into heaven (no. 224 at the end).
A horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word (no. 298), and paleness symbolizes a lack of vitality.
The Word lacks vitality for people who are without goods of life in accordance with doctrinal truths. For the Word in the sense of the letter is not understood apart from doctrine, and doctrine is not seen without a life in accordance with it. That is because a life in accordance with doctrine drawn from the Word opens the spiritual mind, and light from heaven flows into the mind, enlightening it and giving it the ability to see. The reality of this is not known by one who is acquainted with truths of doctrine, and yet does not live according to them.
It was the fourth living creature that displayed the pale horse because that living creature was like a flying eagle, and it therefore symbolized the Divine truth of the Word in respect to its concepts and the understanding they afford (no. 244). It showed, therefore, that the people now seen were without any concepts of goodness and truth from the Word, and without any understanding of them. And people of that character appear pale in the spiritual world, like people without life.
Death here symbolizes spiritual death, which is the extinction of spiritual life. And Hell symbolizes damnation, which results from that death.
Everyone from creation and so from birth has, indeed, spiritual life, but that life is extinguished when the person denies God, the sanctity of the Word, and eternal life. He extinguishes it in his will, but it remains in his intellect, or rather, in his ability to understand. This is what distinguishes the human being from animals.
Since death symbolizes the extinction of spiritual life, and hell the resulting damnation, therefore death and hell are mentioned together in several places, as in the following:
From the hand of hell I will redeem them; I will free them from death. O death, I will be your plague! O hell, I will be your destruction! (Hosea 13:14)
The cords of death surrounded me…. The cords of hell surrounded me; the snares of death came to meet me. (Psalm 18:4, 5, cf. 116:3)
Like sheep they are set for hell; death shall be their shepherd…; hell shall be their home. But God will redeem my soul from the hand of hell…. (Psalm 49:14, 15)
I have the keys of hell and death. (Revelation 1:18)
Since death means the extinction of a person’s spiritual life, and hell his damnation, it follows that to kill here means to destroy the life of a person’s soul. The life of the soul is spiritual life.
A fourth of the earth means, symbolically, all good in the church. The earth is the church (no. 285).
That a fourth means all good can be known only by someone who knows what numbers in the Word symbolize. The numbers two and four are said in application to goods, and they symbolize those goods. And the numbers three and six are said in application to truths, and they symbolize those truths. Thus a fourth part, or simply a fourth, symbolizes all good, while a third part, or simply a third, symbolizes all truth. Therefore to kill a fourth of the earth here means, symbolically, to destroy all good in the church.
Clearly he who sat on the pale horse was not given the power to kill a fourth part of the habitable earth.
[2] In addition, the number four in the Word symbolizes the union of goodness and truth.
That the number four has these symbolic meanings can, indeed, be confirmed from the Word, as by the four living creatures or cherubim in Ezekiel 1, 3, 10, and Revelation 4; by the four chariots between two mountains in Zechariah 6:1; by the four horns in Zechariah 1:18ff.; by the four horns of the altar in Exodus 27:1-8, and Revelation 9:13; and by the four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, in Revelation 7:1 (cf. Matthew 24:31). It can be confirmed, too, by the “visiting the iniquity to the third and fourth generation” in Numbers 14:18, and by the third and fourth generation mentioned elsewhere. By these passages in the Word and more, I say, one can confirm that the number four is said in application to goods, and that they symbolize those goods, and also the conjunction of goodness and truth. But because it would take a lengthy explanation of these passages to make this apparent, it is enough to briefly state that this is the meaning that the number four and a fourth part have in heaven.
To be shown that a sword symbolizes truths fighting against evils and falsities and destroying them, and in an opposite sense, falsity fighting against goods and truths and destroying them, see nos. 52, 108, 117 above. Accordingly, because the subject is the destruction of all good in the church, a sword here symbolizes doctrinal falsities.
That a famine symbolizes evil practices – this we will confirm below.
Death symbolizes a person’s self-love because death symbolizes the extinction of spiritual life, and thus natural life divorced from any spiritual life, as shown in no. 321 above, and this life is the life of a person’s self-love; for this life causes a person to love nothing but himself and the world, and so to love also evils of every kind, evils which, because of that life’s love, are delightful to him.
That beasts of the earth symbolize lusts arising from the love will be seen in no. 567 below.
Here we will say something about the symbolic meaning of famine. A famine symbolizes the privation and rejection of concepts of truth and goodness, springing from evil practices. It symbolizes as well an ignorance of concepts of truth and goodness, owing to an absence of these in the church. And it symbolizes also a desire to know and understand them.
[2] I. That a famine symbolizes the privation and rejection of concepts of truth and goodness, springing from evil practices, and thus symbolizes evil practices, can be seen from the following passages:
They shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, so that their corpses become food for the birds of heaven and for the beasts of the earth. (Jeremiah 16:4)
These two things shall befall you…: devastation and ruin, and famine and sword…. (Isaiah 51:19)
Behold, I am visiting punishment upon them. The young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine. (Jeremiah 11:22)
…deliver up her children to famine, and cause them to flow down upon the hands of the sword…, that their men may be put to death…. (Jeremiah 18:21)
…I will send on them the sword, famine, and pestilence, and will make them like rough figs that cannot be eaten, they are so bad. And I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence. (Jeremiah 29:17, 18)
I will send upon them the sword, famine, and pestilence, till they are consumed from the land…. (Jeremiah 24:10)
…I proclaim liberty to you…, to the sword, to pestilence, and famine! And I will deliver you for turmoil to all nations. (Jeremiah 34:17)
…because you have defiled My sanctuary…, a third of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine…; and a third shall fall by the sword…. When I send against them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for destruction…. (Ezekiel 5:11, 12, 16, 17)
The sword is outside, and the pestilence and famine within. (Ezekiel 7:15)
…for all the evil abominations…they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. (Ezekiel 6:11, 12)
…I will send My four evil judgments on Jerusalem – the sword, famine and wild beast, and pestilence – to cut off man and beast from it. (Ezekiel 14:13, 15, 21)
And so, too, elsewhere, as in Jeremiah 14:12, 13, 15, 16, 42:13, 14, 16-18, 22, 44:12, 13, 27, Matthew 24:7, 8, Mark 13:8, Luke 21:11. Sword, famine, pestilence and beasts in these places have similar symbolic meanings to those of the sword, famine, death, and beasts of the earth in the present verse. For the Word has a spiritual meaning in it in every single constituent, in which a sword means the destruction of spiritual life by falsities, in which famine means the destruction of spiritual life by evils, in which a beast of the earth means the destruction of spiritual life by the lusts accompanying falsity and evil, and in which pestilence and death means a complete destruction and thus damnation.
[3] II. That famine, or hunger, symbolizes an ignorance of concepts of truth and goodness, owing to an absence of these in the church, is clear as well from various passages in the Word, as in Isaiah 5:13, 8:19-22, Lamentations 2:19, 5:8-10, Amos 8:11-14, Job 5:17, 20, and elsewhere.
III. That famine or hunger symbolizes a desire to know and understand the church’s truths and goods is apparent from the following: Isaiah 8:21, 32:6, 49:10, 58:6, 7: 1 Samuel 2:4, 5: Psalm 33:18, 19, 34:9, 10, 37:18, 19, 107:8, 9, 35-37, 146:7; Matthew 5:6, 25:35, 37, 44; Luke 1:53; John 6:35; and elsewhere.
That these people are the subject here is apparent from what now follows. But it should be known that these and others like them are the subject throughout chapter 20ff., an explanation of which chapter may be seen in nos. 840-874, which makes apparent just who they were and why they were sequestered.
“Under the altar” symbolizes a lower earth where the inhabitants were protected by the Lord. An altar symbolizes worship of the Lord out of the goodness of love.
The souls of those who had been slain mean here, symbolically, not martyrs, but people who were hated, treated with scorn, and expelled by the evil in the world of spirits, and who could be led astray by followers of the dragon and by heretics.
“For the word of God and for the testimony which they held” means, symbolically, “because of their life in accordance with the Word’s truths and their acknowledgment of the Lord’s Divine humanity.” Testimony in heaven is given only to people who acknowledge the Lord’s Divine humanity, for it is the Lord who testifies, and who enables angels to testify (no. 16); “for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10).
[2] Since the souls were under the altar, it is apparent that they were being protected by the Lord. For the Lord protects all people who have lived some life of charity, to keep them from being harmed by the evil; and after the Last Judgment, when the evil have been removed, they are released from their asylums and elevated into heaven. I have often seen them after the Last Judgment being let out of the lower earth and conveyed into heaven.
[3] The fact that those who are slain mean people who are expelled, treated with scorn, and hated by the evil in the world of spirits, and who can been led astray, as also people who wish to know truths, but cannot because of the falsities in the church – this can be seen from the following passages:
Thus said the Lord…God, “Feed the sheep for slaughter, whose owners slaughter them…. So I fed the sheep for slaughter because of you, you poor of the flock.” (Zechariah 11:4, 5, 7)
…we are slain all day long; we are accounted as a flock for the slaughter…. Do not forsake us, O Jehovah! (Psalm 44:22, 23)
Those who are coming, Jacob will cause to take root…. Has He been slain according to the slaughter of his slain? (Isaiah 27:6, 7)
…I have heard…the voice of the daughter of Zion…, saying, ‘Woe is me…, my soul is weary because of the murderers!” (Jeremiah 4:31)
…they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated…for My name’s sake. (Matthew 24:9, cf. John 16:2, 3)
The Lord said this last to His disciples, but by disciples He meant all who worship the Lord and live according to His Word’s truths. [4] The evil in the world of spirits continually wish to kill these people. But because they cannot do so physically there, they continually try to do so as regards the soul. And when they cannot do this, they burn with such hatred against these people that they feel nothing more delightful than to do them harm. The reason [they cannot kill them] is that the Lord protects them, and when the evil are cast out into hell, which happens after the Last Judgment, they are brought out of their asylums. But see the explanations to chapter 20, and no. 846 there regarding these people.
That killing or slaying in the Word symbolizes the destruction of souls, which is to kill spiritually, is apparent from many passages there, including also the following: Isaiah 14:19-21, 26:21; Jeremiah 25:33; Lamentations 2:21; Ezekiel 9:1, 6; Revelation 18:24.
“How long, O Lord, will You not judge” means, symbolically, “Why is the Last Judgment delayed?” And “how long will You not avenge our blood” means symbolically, “Why in accordance with justice are those not condemned who have done violence to them because of their acknowledgment of the Lord’s Divine humanity and their life according to the truths of His Word?” Blood symbolizes the violence done to them (no. 379).
“Those who dwell on the earth” mean evil people in the world of spirits, from whom they were being protected so as not to be harmed.
Garments symbolize truths (no. 166), and white garments symbolize genuine truths (no. 212). This is the symbolism of garments because all the inhabitants in heaven are clothed in accordance with the truths they possess, and every spirit has a garment in keeping with his conjunction with angelic societies. Consequently, when a conjunction exists, spirits instantly appear similarly clothed. So it is that white robes being given to each of the people here. This symbolically means that they were given a communication and conjunction with angels who possessed Divine truths.
Robes, gowns, and cloaks symbolize truths in general, because they are general coverings. Someone who knows this symbolism that these have can know the secrets that lie concealed in the following instances:
That when Elijah found Elisha, he threw his mantle on him (1 Kings 19:19).
That Elijah used his mantle to part the waters of the Jordan (2 Kings 2:8).
That Elisha did likewise (2 Kings 2:14).
That when Elijah was taken up, the mantle that was upon him fell, and Elisha picked it up (2 Kings 2:12, 13)
For Elijah and Elisha represented the Lord in relation to the Word, and therefore their mantle symbolized the Word’s Divine truth in general.
That same person may know, too, what was symbolized by the robe of Aaron’s ephod, on whose hem were pomegranates of blue and purple, and bells of gold (Exodus 28:31-35). It symbolized Divine truth in general, as may be seen in Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), published in London, no. 9825.
Mantles and robes have a similar symbolism in the following passages:
…all the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones and cast aside their mantles…. (Ezekiel 26:16)
(The scribes and Pharisees) to be seen by men…enlarge the borders of their mantles. (Matthew 23:5)
My people have set themselves as an enemy over a garment; you pull off the robe…from those who pass by…. (Micah 2:8)
And so on elsewhere.
That this is the symbolic meaning is apparent from what we have already said.
A similar symbolism is found in the following passage in Isaiah:
Your dead shall live…. Awake and rejoice, you who dwell in dust…. Go, my people, enter into your chambers, and shut the door behind you; hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, until the anger is past. For behold, Jehovah is coming from His place, to punish the inhabitant of the earth for his iniquity; then the earth will disclose her blood, and will no more conceal her slain. (Isaiah 26:19-21)
But as we said before, these people and others like them are the subject in chapter 20ff., a chapter which we have explained in nos. 840-874.
That these people are the subject is apparent from what now follows. But for those things to be understood, two secrets need to be revealed:
First, that the Last Judgment was not executed on any but people who in outward appearance seemed to be Christians, professing with their mouth matters having to do with the church, but who in their inner makeup or heart were in opposition to them. And because they were of such a character, therefore as to their outward lives they were conjoined with the lowest heaven, and as to their inner ones, with hell.
Second, that as long as they were conjoined with the lowest heaven, the inner qualities of their will and love were kept closed off, so that they did not appear evil to others. But when they were separated from the lowest heaven, then their inner qualities were disclosed, which were in total opposition to their outer qualities, qualities by which they had pretended and feigned themselves to be angels of heaven and the places where they dwelled to be heavens. These so-called heavens were the ones that passed away at the time of the Last Judgment (Revelation 21:1).
More on this subject, however, may be seen in the short work, The Last Judgment, nos. 70, 71, and in A Continuation Concerning the Last Judgment, no. 10.
Earthquakes symbolize changes in the state of the church because the earth symbolizes the church (no. 285), and because in the spiritual world, when the state of the church is corrupted somewhere and a change is made, an earthquake occurs. And because this presages the people’s destruction, they are in terror. For lands in the spiritual world are in appearance like lands in the natural world (no. 260). But because lands there, like everything else in that world, have a spiritual origin, therefore those lands change in accordance with the state of the church among the inhabitants upon them, and when the state of the church is corrupted, the lands tremble and quake, even sinking down and being moved from their location.
That this is what happened when the Last Judgment was imminent and taking place may be seen in the short work, The Last Judgment.
It can be seen from this what quakes, shakings and removals of the earth symbolize in the following places:
…there will be pestilences, famines, and earthquakes in various places. (Matthew 24:7, cf. Mark 13:8, Luke 21:11)
(These things are said there of the Last Judgment.)
…in the fire of My wrath I have spoken, if in that day there is not a great earthquake…so that…every person on the face of the earth shakes…and the mountains are overthrown…. (Ezekiel 38:18-20).
…there was a great earthquake, such as had not occurred since people came on the earth. (Revelation 16:18)
…I will shake the heavens, and the earth will be moved out of her place, in the wrath of Jehovah of hosts…. (Isaiah 13:13)
…the foundations of the earth are shaken…. The earth is shaken exceedingly…(because) its transgression is heavy upon it…. (Isaiah 24:18-20)
The earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the hills…, because He was angry. (Psalm 18:7)
The mountains quake before (Jehovah)…and the rocks are overthrown…. (Nahum 1:5, 6)
So likewise in other places, as in Jeremiah 10:10, 49:21, Joel 2:10, Haggai 2:6, 7, Revelation 11:19, and elsewhere.
These things, however, must be understood as taking place in the spiritual world, and not in the natural world. In the natural world they symbolize such things as stated above.
The sun symbolizes the Lord in respect to His Divine love, and thus the goodness of love emanating from Him; and in an opposite sense it symbolizes the Lord’s Divinity denied, and thus the goodness of love adulterated. See no. 53 above. And because the sun symbolizes the goodness of love, therefore the moon symbolizes the truth of faith. For the sun has a reddish glow owing to its fire, while the moon glows white from the light radiating from the sun, and fire symbolizes the goodness of love, while light symbolizes the truth arising from that goodness. Regarding the moon, see also the places cited above in no. 53.
The sun is said to have become as black as sackcloth of hair because good adulterated is, in itself, evil, and evil is black.
The moon is said to have become like blood because blood symbolizes Divine truth, and in an opposite sense Divine truth falsified. See nos. 379, 684 below.
The sun and moon are described in almost the same way in Joel:
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and terrible day of Jehovah. (Joel 2:31)
Stars symbolize concepts of goodness and truth, as may be seen in no. 51 above. To fall from heaven to the earth is, clearly, to be dispelled.
Stars in the spiritual world appear to fall from the sky onto the earth there, too, wherever concepts of goodness and truth cease to exist.
We say that this is its symbolic meaning even though the characterization is a metaphor, because all metaphors in the Word are at the same time correspondent expressions, and they cohere in the spiritual sense with the subject being addressed.
Such is the case here. For a fig tree by correspondence symbolizes a person’s natural goodness conjoined with his spiritual goodness, and here, in an opposite sense, a person’s natural goodness divorced from his spiritual goodness, which is not good. Moreover, because the natural self divorced from the spiritual self corrupts by its reasonings any concepts of goodness and truth, symbolized by the stars, it follows that this is what is symbolized by a fig tree shaken by a mighty wind.
That a wind or a storm symbolizes reasoning is apparent from many passages in the Word, but because we are dealing with a metaphor, it is not necessary for us to cite them here.
A fig tree symbolizes a person’s natural goodness because every tree symbolizes some element of the church in a person, and so also the person himself in respect to it. By way of confirmation we cite the following:
All the host of heaven…shall fall down, as the leaf falls from the vine, and as it falls from a fig tree. (Isaiah 34:4)
I will surely consume them…. No grapes shall be on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall float down. (Jeremiah 8:13)
All your strongholds are as fig trees with their first ripe figs, which, if they are shaken, fall into the mouth of the eater. (Nahum 3:12)
And so also elsewhere, as in Jeremiah 24:2, 3, 5, 8; Isaiah 38:21; Jeremiah 29:17, 18; Hosea 2:12, 9:10; Joel 1:7, 12; Zechariah 3:10; Matthew 21:18-21, 24:32, 33; Mark 11:12-14, 20-26; Luke 6:44, 13:6-9. In these places a fig tree has exactly this meaning.
The text says that the sky departed like a book rolled up because a person’s inner intellect and thus thought is as the sky or a kind of heaven, for his intellect can be raised into the light of heaven and can think about God, love and faith, and eternal life on the same elevated level as angels. But if his will is not raised at the same time into the warmth of heaven, the person is not yet united with the angels of heaven, thus is not a kind of heaven. The reality of this may be seen in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, Part Five.
Through this faculty of the intellect, the evil people who are the subject here could be associated with angels of the lowest heaven. But when the two were separated, their heaven then departed, like a book rolled up.
A book rolled up means a parchment rolled up, since their books were scrolls of parchment, and the comparison is made with a book, since a book also means the Word (no. 256). Consequently, when it is rolled up like a scroll, whatever it contains is not visible, and it is as though gone.
Something similar is accordingly said in Isaiah:
All the host of heaven shall waste away, and the heavens shall be rolled up like a book, and…it falls down as the leaf falls…from a fig tree. (Isaiah 34:4)
The host of heaven is the church’s goods and truths from the Word (no. 447).
It can be seen from this that “the sky departed like a book rolled up” symbolizes separation from heaven and conjunction with hell. That separation from heaven means conjunction with hell, is apparent.
No one can see that this is the symbolic meaning except by recourse to the spiritual sense. It is the symbolic meaning because mountains mean people who possess the goodness of love, inasmuch as angels dwell upon mountains – those motivated by love toward the Lord on loftier mountains, and those motivated by love for the neighbor on less lofty ones. Consequently “every mountain” symbolizes all goodness of love. Islands mean people relatively removed from the worship of God, as may be seen in no. 34 above – here people who are impelled by faith, and not so much by the goodness of love. Therefore in an abstract sense “every island” means, symbolically, all truth of faith. To be moved out of their places means, symbolically, to go away.
It derives from the abodes of angels on mountains and hills, therefore, that mountains and hills in the Word symbolize heaven and the church where love toward the Lord and love for the neighbor are found, and in an opposite sense, hell where self-love and love of the world are found.
[2] It is apparent from the following passages that mountains and hills symbolize heaven and the church where love toward the Lord and love for the neighbor are found, thus where the Lord is present:
Lift up your eyes to the mountains, whence comes your help. (Psalm 121:1)
Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who proclaims…peace! (Nahum 1:15, cf. Isaiah 52:7)
Praise Jehovah…, you mountains and…hills…! (Psalm 148:7, 9)
A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan; a mountain of hills is the mountain of Bashan. Why do you leap, you mountains, you hills of the mountain? Jehovah has desired to inhabit them; (Jehovah) also will inhabit them forever. (Psalm 68:15, 16)
The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like the young of the flock…. You travail, O earth, at the presence of the Lord…. (Psalm 114:4-7)
I will bring forth a seed from Jacob, and from Judah an heir of My mountains, that My elect may inherit them, and My servants dwell there. (Isaiah 65:9)
(In the consummation of the age:) then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. (Matthew 24:16)
(O Jehovah,) Your righteousness is as the mountains of God. (Psalm 36:6)
Jehovah will go forth and fight…. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, opposite Jerusalem on the east. (Zechariah 14:3, 4)
[3] Since the Mount of Olives symbolized Divine love, therefore during the days the Lord preached in the Temple, but during the nights He went out and spent the night on the Mount of Olives (Luke 21:37, 22:39, John 8:1). And therefore the Lord spoke upon that mountain with His disciples regarding His coming and the end of the age (Matthew 24:3, Mark 13:3, 4). Moreover, He also went from there to Jerusalem and suffered the cross (Matthew 21:1, 26:30; Mark 11:1, 14:26; Luke 19:29, 37, 21:37, 22:39).
Since a mountain symbolized heaven and love, therefore Jehovah came down upon the top of Mount Sinai and proclaimed the Law (Exodus 19:20, 24:17). And therefore the Lord was transfigured before Peter, James and John on a high mountain (Matthew 17:1). Therefore Zion also was located on a mountain, and so, too, Jerusalem, and the two were called the mountain of Jehovah and the mountain of holiness in many places in the Word.
Mountains and hills have similar symbolic meanings elsewhere, as in Isaiah 7:25, 30:25, 40:9, 44:23, 49:11, 13, 55:12; Jeremiah 16:15, 16; Ezekiel 36:8; Joel 3:17, 18; Amos 4:1, 13, 9:13, 14; Psalm 65:6, 80:10, 104:5-10, 13.
[4] That mountains and hills symbolize these loves can be seen still more clearly from their opposite meaning, in which they symbolize hellish loves, namely, self-love and a love of the world, as is apparent from the following passages:
…the day of Jehovah…shall come…upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up…. (Isaiah 2:12, 14)
Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low. (Isaiah 40:4)
The mountains shall be overthrown, and its ascents shall fall…. (Ezekiel 38:20, 21)
Behold, I am against you, O…mountain, that destroys all the earth…. …I will make you a burnt mountain. (Jeremiah 51:25)
I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they are shaken, and all the hills are overthrown. (Jeremiah 4:23-25)
…a fire is kindled in my anger…, and it will set on fire the foundations of the mountains. (Deuteronomy 32:22)
I will lay waste the mountains and hills…. (Isaiah 42:15)
Behold, (O Jacob,) I will make you like a threshing sledge…that you may thresh the mountains and crush them, and make the hills like chaff…, that the wind may carry them away. (Isaiah 41:15, 16)
Give glory to Jehovah…before your feet stumble on the dark mountains…. (Jeremiah 13:16)
Nor is anything else meant by the seven mountains on which the woman – namely Babylon – sat (Revelation 17:9). And so also elsewhere, as in Isaiah 14:13; Jeremiah 50:6, 9:10; Ezekiel 6:2, 3, 34:6; Micah 6:1, 2; Nahum 1:5, 6; Psalm 46:2, 3.
It can now be seen from this what is meant by the statement that “every mountain and island was moved out of its place,” and later by the statement that “every island fled away, and the mountains were not found” (Revelation 16:20, no. 714).
All these things are symbolized in turn by these classes of people, and this no one can know but one who knows what kings, great men, rich men, commanders, the powerful, and a slave and a freeman mean symbolically. In the spiritual sense kings symbolize people who possess truths; great men, people who possess good qualities; rich men, people who possess concepts of truth; commanders, people who possess concepts of goodness; the powerful, people who possess learning; slaves, people who acquire these things from others, thus as a matter of memory; and freemen, people who acquire these things on their own, thus with judgment.
It would take too long, however, to confirm from the Word that these are the symbolic meanings of all these designations. We have previously shown what kings symbolize, in no. 20; and what rich men symbolize, in no. 206. What great men symbolize is apparent in Jeremiah 5:5, Nahum 3:10, Jonah 3:7; for greatness is predicated of goodness (nos. 896, 898). And we will see below that the powerful and slaves and freemen are people who possess learning, acquired from others or on their own.
We say that they possess these things and yet lack a life in accordance with them, since evil people, even the worst of them, can have a knowledge and understanding of concepts of truth and goodness, and a great deal of learning as well. But because they lack a life in accordance with them, they do not really possess them. For whatever resides in the intellect alone, and is not present at the same in a person’s life, does not exist in the person, being outside of him, as though in a forecourt. But whatever is present at the same time in a person’s life exists in the person, being within him as though in the house. Consequently these people are preserved and the former rejected.
Hiding themselves in caves and in mountain rocks means, symbolically, to be caught up in evils and in the falsities accompanying evil, because the people who pretended before the world that they were prompted by the goodness of love, and yet were caught up in evil, after death hid themselves in caves. And those who pretended that they were prompted by truths of faith, and yet were caught up in the falsities accompanying evil, hid themselves in mountain rocks.
The entrances appear as holes in the ground and as crevices in the mountains, into which they slip like snakes and there hide themselves.
That such is the nature of their abodes is something I have often seen.
It is in consequence of this that caves in the following places symbolize the evils in such people, and holes and crevices the falsities accompanying evil:
(In that day) they shall go into caves in the rocks, and into crevices in the cliffs…, when (Jehovah) rises to terrify the earth. (Isaiah 2:19)
In that day…(they shall) go into clefts in the rocks and into crevices in the cliffs, because of their terror of Jehovah…. (Isaiah 2:20, 21)
(They shall) live in crevices in the valleys, (and) in holes in the earth, and in rocks. (Job 30:6)
The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in crevices…. (Obadiah v. 3)
…in that day…they will come, and…will rest in the desolate river beds and in the crevices of the rocks…. (Isaiah 7:18, 19)
…the palace will be a wilderness…. The stronghold and watchtower shall be upon caves forever…. (Isaiah 32:14)
…the pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the holes of the rock…. (Jeremiah 49:16)
…they shall hunt them upon every mountain and hill, and out of the holes of the rocks…. They are not hidden before Me, nor is their iniquity hidden…. (Jeremiah 16:16, 17)
(In that day) the nursing child shall play on the viper’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the basilisk’s* cave. (Isaiah 11:8)
* Legendary serpents or dragons, whose breath and glance were said to be lethal. Formerly identified in English translations of the Latin Vulgate with the cockatrice, and retained as such in the King James Bible.
Mountains symbolize loves of evil, thus evils themselves (no. 336), and rocks symbolize falsities of faith. Falling on these people and hiding them means, symbolically, protecting them from influx from heaven. And because this is accomplished by affirmations of evil by means of falsity, and of falsity springing from evil, therefore this is the symbolic meaning. Hiding from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb means, symbolically, until they no longer acknowledge anything of the Lord’s Divinity. He who sits on the throne means the Lord’s Divinity from which all else springs, and the Lamb means the Lord Himself in respect to His Divine humanity. The Lord was upon the throne in both respects, as we have shown above.*
The verse says, from His face and wrath, because all those people who live in caves and rocks do not dare to set foot out of them, or even to stick out a finger, on account of the torment and torture they experience if they do. The reason is that they hate the Lord, even so much that they cannot speak His name. And the Lord’s Divine atmosphere pervades everything, which they cannot drive away from themselves except by affirmations of evil by means of falsity, and of falsity springing from evil. It is the delights of evil that cause this.
[2] Similar symbolic meanings are found in the following verse in Hosea:
They shall say to the mountains, “Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!” (Hosea 10:8)
And in Luke:
Then they will begin to say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” (Luke 23:30)
That this is the spiritual meaning of these words cannot be seen in the letter, but it is seen in the spiritual sense from the fact that when a last judgment is being executed, then those people who are caught up in evil, but wish to be directed by good, suffer hardships to begin with, but less hard than those who confirm themselves in their evil by means of falsities. For whereas the former lay bare their evil, the latter cover their evil by falsities; and the latter cannot bear Divine influx then, as shown in the following verse.
The caves and caverns into which they cast themselves are correspondent phenomena.
* No. 291.
The great day of the Lamb’s wrath symbolizes the day of the Last Judgment. And “who is able to stand” symbolizes an inability to bear it because of the torture experienced. For when a last judgment is at hand, the Lord draws near with heaven, and of the people who are below in the world of spirits, only those are able to bear the Lord’s coming who are inwardly good, and the inwardly good are people who refrain from evils as being sins and turn to the Lord.
That the day of the Lord’s wrath symbolizes a last judgment is clearly apparent from the following passages:
While the wrath of the anger of Jehovah has not yet come upon you, while the day of the anger of Jehovah has not yet come upon you…, it may be that you will be hidden in the day of the anger of Jehovah. (Zephaniah 2:2, 3)
Behold, the day of Jehovah comes, cruel, and one of ire and the wrath of His anger…. (Isaiah 13:9, cf. 13:13)
The great day of Jehovah is near…. That day is a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish…, a day of darkness and pitch darkness…. (Zephaniah 1:14, 15)
…Your wrath has come, and the time for judging the dead, and for rewarding Your servants…, and for destroying those who destroy the earth. (Revelation 11:18)
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, because His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. (Psalm 2:12)
———-
I saw some English clergymen assembled – as many as six hundred -who were praying to the Lord to allow them to ascend into one of the societies of a higher heaven, and it was granted them. So they ascended, and upon entering it, they saw their king, the grandfather of the king presently reigning,* and they rejoiced. The king then came over to two bishops that they had among them, whom he had known in the world, and speaking to them, he asked, “How came you here?”
They replied that they had petitioned the Lord, and that it had been granted.
The king said to them, “Why did you petition the Lord, and not God the Father?”
And the bishops said that it was what they had been told to do below.
Then the king said, “Did I not tell you this at times in the world, that one must go to the Lord, and furthermore, that charity is the primary thing. What was your answer in regard to the Lord then?”
It was then given them to remember that they had replied that when one goes to the Father, one goes also to the Son.
But the angels surrounding the king said, “You are mistaken. That’s not what you thought, nor does one go to the Lord when one goes to God the Father. Rather, one goes to God the Father when one goes to the Lord, because they are one, like soul and body. Who approaches someone’s soul and in that way his body? Is it not the case that when one approaches a person’s body, something that he sees, he approaches also the person’s soul, which he does not see?”
To this the bishops made no answer. And the king drew near to the two bishops, holding in his hand two gifts, saying, “These are gifts from heaven.”
The gifts were heavenly figurines of gold, and the king tried to hand them over. But suddenly then a dusky cloud covered them and separated them, and the clergymen descended the way they had come. They then recorded this event in a book.
[2] All the other English clergymen who heard that their colleagues had been granted to ascend to a higher heaven, assembled at the foot of a mountain, where they awaited their return. And when those colleagues did return, they greeted their brethren and related what had befallen them in heaven, saying that the king had given the bishops two heavenly figurines of gold most beautiful to look at, but that these had fallen out of their hands. And then they disappeared into a nearby wood and conferred with each other, looking around to see if anyone was overhearing. But they were overheard nevertheless.
They were talking about unanimity and harmony, and then about primacy and dominion. The bishops did the speaking, and the rest favored them with their assent. But suddenly, to my surprise, they no longer appeared as many, but as one great person, with a face like that of a lion, having on his head a towering miter, and upon that a crown. And he spoke with a deep voice, and went forward with a broad step. And looking behind him he said, “Who else has a right to primacy but me?”
The king looked down from heaven and saw – seeing them all first as one, and then as many in harmony, most in secular clothing, he said.
* The English king presently reigning was George III (1760-1820), grandson of George II (1727-1760).
1 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of Israel: 5 of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed; 6 of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed; 7 of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed; 8 of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels stood around the throne, with the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving, and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” 14 And I said to him, “Lord, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who are coming out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. 16 They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; neither shall the sun strike them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
This chapter describes people who are and who will be in the Christian heaven. It describes first their separation from evil people (verses 1-3); after that, those of them who are impelled by love toward the Lord and so by wisdom, of whom the higher heavens consist (verses 4-8); and those who are impelled by charity from the Lord and its accompanying faith because they fought against evils, of whom the lower heavens consist (verses 9-17).
The Contents of the Individual Verses
1 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth,
The whole of heaven now in an effort to execute the Last Judgment.
holding back the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.
The Lord’s holding back and restraining a closer and thus stronger influx into the lower regions where good people were attached to evil ones.
2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun,
The Lord providing and moderating,
having the seal of the living God.
who alone knows the character of each and every person, and can distinguish and separate them from each other.
And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees
The Lord’s restraining and holding back the closer and stronger influx into the lower regions,
till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
before those people were separated who were governed by truths springing from goodness from the Lord.
4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand,
All people who acknowledge the Lord as God of heaven and earth and are governed by truths of doctrine springing from the goodness of love, received from Him through the Word.
sealed out of every tribe of Israel:
The heaven and the Lord’s church formed from them.
5 of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;
Celestial love, which is love toward the Lord, and this in all those people who will be in the New Heaven and in the New Church.
of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed;
Wisdom springing from celestial love in those people who will be there.
of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;
Useful life endeavors, which are the exercises of wisdom springing from that love, in those people who will be there.
6 of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;
Mutual love in those people.
of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;
A perception of useful endeavor, and of what is useful, in those people.
of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;
A will to serve and to put into practice in those people.
7 of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;
Spiritual love, which is love for the neighbor, in those people.
of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;
An affection for truth springing from goodness, producing intelligence in those people.
of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;
Goodness of life in those people.
8 of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;
The conjugal love of goodness and truth in those people.
of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed;
A doctrine of goodness and truth in those people.
of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.
A life of truth springing from goodness in accord with doctrine in those people.
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could number,
All other people who are not among those enumerated and yet are in the New Heaven and the Lord’s New Church, who form the lowest heaven and the external church, and whose character is known to the Lord alone.
of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues,
All in the Christian world who have some religion springing from goodness and are guided by truths from doctrine,
standing before the throne and before the Lamb,
listening to the Lord and doing what He commands.
clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
A communication and conjunction with the higher heavens, and a confession springing from Divine truths.
10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
An acknowledgment from the heart that the Lord is their Savior.
11 And all the angels stood around the throne, with the elders and the four living creatures,
All in the whole of heaven listening and doing what the Lord commands.
and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
A humbling of their heart, and in their humility an adoration of the Lord.
12 saying, “Amen!
Divine truth and an affirmation in response to it.
Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving,
The Lord’s spiritual Divine attributes;
and honor and power and might,
the Lord’s celestial Divine attributes;
be to our God forever and ever.
these being in the Lord and emanating from the Lord to eternity.
Amen.”
The agreement of all.
13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” 14 And I said to him, “Lord, you know.”
Their desire to know and wish to inquire, and the reply and instruction given.
So he said to me, “These are ones who are coming out of the great tribulation,
They are people who have undergone temptations or trials, and have fought against evils and falsities,
and have washed their robes
who have cleansed their religious beliefs of the evils accompanying falsity,
and made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb.
and by truths have purified those religious beliefs from the falsities accompanying evil, and so have been reformed by the Lord.
15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.
They are in the Lord’s presence, and live constantly and faithfully in His church in accordance with the truths that they receive from Him.
16 They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore;
Hereafter they will not lack goods and truths.
neither shall the sun strike them, nor any heat;
Hereafter they will not possess lusts for evil, nor for the falsity accompanying evil.
17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them
The Lord alone will teach them
and lead them to living fountains of waters.
and lead them by the truths in the Word to conjunction with Him.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
They will be caught up no longer in battles against evils and the accompanying falsities, and so will no longer experience times of distress, but will be surrounded by goods and truths and thus by heavenly joys emanating from the Lord.
THE EXPOSITION
After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. (7:1) This symbolizes the whole of heaven now in an effort to execute the Last Judgment on the people who were in the world of spirits.
There follows now much concerning the state of the spiritual world just before the Last Judgment, which no one could know without its being revealed by the Lord. And because I have been given to see how the Last Judgment was executed, including the transformations which preceded it and the dispositions following it, I can relate therefore the symbolic meaning of everything in this chapter and in the chapters that follow.
[2] The four angels here symbolize the whole of heaven. The four corners of the earth symbolize the entire world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell. For the Last Judgment was executed on people who were in the world of spirits, and not on anyone in heaven, nor on anyone in hell.
Angels symbolize heaven because an angel in the highest sense means the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity (no. 344), and as heaven is heaven owing to the Lord, angels symbolize heaven as well.
[3] The four angels here symbolize the whole of heaven because they were seen standing at the four corners of the earth, and the four corners symbolize the four quarters of the compass.
They symbolize that the whole of heaven was now in an effort to execute the Last Judgment for the reason that when the Last Judgment was at hand, the Lord caused the heavens to draw closer over the world of spirits, and the closeness of the heavens produced such a change in the state of the inner constituents of the people’s minds below that they saw nothing but terrors before their eyes.
[4] That corners symbolize quarters of the compass, and thus the four quarters all points, can be seen from the following passages:
You shall measure, outside the city, the corner toward the east…, the corner toward the south…, the corner toward the west…, and the corner toward the north…. (Numbers 35:5)
You shall make the boards for the Tabernacle, …for the south corner…, and for…the north corner…. (Exodus 26:18, 20, 23)
And…the court…, for the south corner…, for the north corner…, for the west corner…, and…for the east corner…. (Exodus 27:9, 11-13)
[5] The four quarters are also called four corners often in Ezekiel, as in Ezekiel 47:18-20, and 48.
Since corners symbolize the quarters of the compass, they also therefore symbolize everything, such as everything in heaven or in hell, or everything pertaining to goodness or to truth, as is apparent from the following:
(Satan) will go out to lead astray the nations which are at the four corners of the earth…. (Revelation 20:8)
I will cut off nations, (and) their corners will be devastated. (Zephaniah 3:6)
…(Israel) gathered together as one man…. And the corners of all the people stationed themselves…. (Judges 20:1, 2)
A scepter shall rise out of Israel, and crush the corners of Moab…. (Numbers 24:17)
A day of trumpet and alarm…upon the high corners. (Zephaniah 1:16)
I will cast them into the ends of the corners. (Deuteronomy 32:26)
[6] That a corner symbolizes the lowest component supporting higher ones, as a foundation does a house, and so symbolizes also everything, is apparent from the following:
(He) will lay in Zion a corner stone…, the price of the laying of a foundation. (Isaiah 28:16)
They shall not take from it a stone for a corner…. (Jeremiah 51:26)
From (Judah) shall come the corner stone…. (Zechariah 10:4)
The stone which (they) rejected has become the corner stone. (Psalm 118:22, Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17, 18)
It must be known that a last judgment takes place when evil people multiply below the heavens in the world of spirits, and this to such a degree that angels in the heavens cannot continue in the state of their love and wisdom, as they are then without a support and foundation. Since this results from a multiplication of evil people below, therefore in order to preserve the angels’ state, the Lord flows in more and more strongly with His Divinity, and this continually until no influx can preserve them unless the evil people below are separated from the good. This is accomplished by a subsidence and closing in of the heavens, with a consequently stronger influx, until the evil cannot bear it. And at that point the evil flee away and cast themselves into hell.
This, too, is what is symbolized in the preceding chapter by the statement, “They said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?'” (Revelation 6:16, 17)
[2] Now for the exposition:
The four winds symbolize an influx of the heavens. The earth, the sea, and every tree symbolize all the lower regions and all that they contain – the earth and sea symbolizing all the lower regions, and every tree all that they contain.
That a wind symbolizes influx – properly speaking, the influx of truth into the intellect – can be seen from the following passages:
Thus says the Lord Jehovih, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” (Ezekiel 37:9, 10)
(There appeared four chariots to which were harnessed four horses.) These are the four winds of the heavens…. (Zechariah 6:1-5)
You must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and…cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. (John 3:7, 8)
The Maker of the earth…prepares the world by His wisdom…. He brings the wind out of His treasuries. (Jeremiah 10:12, 13, 51:15, 16, cf. Psalm 135:7)
He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow. He declares His Word…, His statutes and His judgments…. (Psalm 147:18, 19)
It praises Jehovah…, the stormy wind, doing His Word…. (Psalm 148:7, 8)
(Jehovah) makes His angels winds…. (Psalm 104:4)
(Jehovah) rode…upon the wings of the wind. (Psalm 18:10, cf. 104:3)
The wings of the wind are Divine truths that flow in. The Lord is therefore called “the breath of our nostrils” (Lamentations 4:20), and we are told that He “breathed into (Adam’s) nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7); moreover, that “He breathed on (the Disciples) and said…, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:21, 22). The Holy Spirit is the Divine truth emanating from the Lord, the influx of which into the Disciples was represented and thus symbolized by the Lord’s breathing on them.
[3] A wind and breathing symbolize the influx of Divine truth into the intellect, owing to the correspondence of the lungs with the intellect, a treatment of which may be seen in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, nos. 371-429.
Since a closer and stronger Divine influx through the heavens dispels truths in the case of evil people, therefore a wind symbolizes the dispersion of truth in them, and thus their conjunction with hell and perishing – as may be seen from the following passages:
I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four ends of heaven and scatter him. (Jeremiah 49:36)
You shall scatter them, that the wind may carry them away and the storm disperse them. (Isaiah 41:16)
The breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, sets them on fire. (Isaiah 30:33)
The workers of iniquity…perish by the breathing of God, and by the breath of His nostrils they are consumed. (Job 4:8, 9)
…the foundations of the world were uncovered at the rebuke (of Jehovah), at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils. (Psalm 18:15)
I saw in my vision…, and behold, the four winds…were rushing upon the Great Sea. And four beasts came up…. (Daniel 7:2, 3ff.)
…from a storm of Jehovah has gone forth fury…. It will rush upon the head of the wicked. (Jeremiah 23:19, 30:23)
O my God…, …pursue them with Your storm, …frighten them with Your tempest. (Psalm 83:13, 15)
(Jehovah’s) way in the storm and in the tempest…. (Nahum 1:3)
And so also elsewhere, as in Jeremiah 25:32, Ezekiel 13:13, Hosea 8:7, Amos 1:14, Zechariah 9:14, Psalm 11:6, 50:3, 55:8, and Psalm 107, where we read:
…He commands the stormy wind to blow…. (God) causes the storm to subside, so that its waves are still. (Psalm 107:25, 29)
[4] It is apparent from this what is symbolically meant in the spiritual sense by the following:
(Jesus in the boat) rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “…be still!” And…there was a…calm. (Mark 4:39, cf. Luke 8:23, 24)
The sea here symbolizes hell, and the wind an influx from it.
A strong influx, too, is symbolically meant by the east wind in Ezekiel 17:10, Jeremiah 18:17, Ezekiel 19:12, Hosea 13:15, Psalm 48:7. And by that same wind which dried up the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21), regarding which Moses said:
At the blast of Your nostrils the waters were heaped up…. You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them. (Exodus 15:8, 10)
It can now be seen from this that holding back the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, symbolizes the holding back and restraining of a closer and thus stronger influx into the lower regions.
The angel here means the Lord in respect to Divine love, because he ascended from the rising of the sun, and from the rising of the sun or from the east means from Divine love. For in the spiritual world the Lord is the sun and the east, and He is called that in respect to that love. His providing and moderating is apparent from His commandment to the four angels not to harm the earth and sea till the servants of God had been sealed on their foreheads.
That in the highest sense an angel means the Lord’s Divine humanity is apparent from the following verses:
…the Angel of (Jehovah’s) presence delivered them because of His love and His clemency. He redeemed them, and took them up, and carried them all the days of eternity. (Isaiah 63:9)
The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless (them). (Genesis 48:16)
The Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Angel of the covenant, whom you are desiring. (Malachi 3:1)
…I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way…. Beware of his presence…; for My name is in the midst of him. (Exodus 23:20-23)
“Angel” and “one sent” are, in Hebrew, the same word. That is why the Lord so often calls Himself one sent by the Father, meaning by it His Divine humanity.
In a relative sense, on the other hand, an angel is anyone who accepts the Lord, whether in heaven or in the world.
Since they were sealed on their foreheads with the seal, therefore having the seal of the living God, being said in reference to the Lord, means to know the character of each and every person, and to be able to distinguish and separate the servants of God from those who are not servants of God.
That this is the symbolism is apparent from the exposition above in no. 343.
It seems from the literal sense that the four angels held back the influx, but according to the spiritual sense it was the Lord. That they should not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees means, symbolically, that it was not by an intense influx but by a temperate one. For the Lord employs varying degrees of influx into the heavens to dispose, order, temper and regulate everything in them and in the hells, and through the heavens and the hells, everything in the world.
Sealing them on the foreheads does not mean to seal them there actually, but to distinguish and separate people who are impelled by the goodness of love from the Lord; for the forehead symbolizes the goodness of love. They are people who are governed by truths springing from goodness from the Lord, because these are the kind of people meant by servants of God (no. 3).
The forehead symbolizes the goodness of love because the face images a person’s affections, and the forehead is the highest part of the face. Just underneath the forehead is the brain, from which originates everything connected with the person’s life.
Because the forehead symbolizes love – a good love in the case of good people, and an evil love in the case of evil people – therefore to seal them on the foreheads means, symbolically, to distinguish and separate one from the other according to their love.
The like is symbolically meant in Ezekiel:
Go through…the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men who groan…over…the abominations…. (Ezekiel 9:4-6)
[2] Since the forehead symbolizes love, therefore regarding the plate on Aaron’s turban which had “Holiness to Jehovah” engraved on it, we read that it was on the front of the turban, so as to be on Aaron’s forehead, and to be always on Aaron’s forehead, that the people might find favor before Jehovah (Exodus 28:36-38). And it was also commanded that the words, “You shall love your God with all your heart and with all your soul,” be on the hand and on the forehead (Deuteronomy 6:5, 8, 11:18); that they have the name of the Father written on their foreheads (Revelation 14:1), and the name of God and of the Lamb on their foreheads (Revelation 22:4).
It should be known that the Lord views angels by looking upon their foreheads, and they in turn view the Lord with their eyes. The reason is that the Lord regards all in accordance with the goodness of their love, and wills that they in turn regard Him in accordance with the truths of wisdom, so as to bring about a conjunction.
[3] In an opposite sense the forehead in the following instances symbolizes an evil love: people who have the mark of the beast on their foreheads (Revelation 13:16, 14:9, 20:4); and also people with the name of Babylon on their foreheads (Revelation 17:5). The forehead of a woman who is a harlot (Jeremiah 3:3). People having an obstinate forehead and a hard heart (Ezekiel 3:7, 8).
…you were obstinate…, and your forehead was bronze…. (Isaiah 48:4)
These are symbolized by the number 144,000 from the twelve tribes of Israel because the twelve tribes of Israel symbolize a church that consists of people who possess goodness and truth from the Lord and acknowledge Him as God of heaven and earth. The number 144,000 means all such. For that number has the same symbolism as the number twelve, since it is the product of twelve times twelve, which is then multiplied by 1000; and any number multiplied by itself and then by 10, 100, or 1000, has the same symbolism as the original number. Thus the number 144,000 has the same symbolism as 144, and this the same symbolism as twelve, as 144 is the product of twelve times twelve. Similarly, the product of the 12,000 sealed from each tribe times twelve is 144,000.
The number twelve means, symbolically, all, and is predicated of truths springing from goodness, because twelve is the product of three times four, and the number three symbolizes everything connected with truth, and the number four, everything connected with good. Thus the number twelve here symbolizes everything connected with truth that springs from the goodness of love.
[2] Numbers all symbolize additional properties of things that determine their quality or quantity, and this can be clearly seen from numbers in the book of Revelation, which in many places would not have any meaning unless they were symbolic.
From the foregoing it can now be seen that the 144,000 sealed, and the 12,000 from each tribe, mean not that these many were sealed or chosen from the tribes of Israel, but that all those were who are governed by truths of doctrine springing from the goodness of love received from the Lord.
This is the general symbolism of the twelve tribes of Israel, and also of the Lord’s twelve apostles, but each tribe and each apostle individually symbolizes some truth springing from good. What each tribe symbolizes here, however, we will say in the following considerations.
Since the twelve tribes symbolize all doctrinal truths springing from the goodness of love received from the Lord, therefore they also symbolize all constituents of the church. Consequently the church was represented by the twelve tribes of Israel, and likewise by the twelve apostles.
[3] Because the number twelve is predicated of the church’s truths and goods, therefore the New Jerusalem, meaning the Lord’s New Church, is described in its individual parts by the number twelve. So for instance, the city had a length and breadth of 12,000 stadia.* Its wall was 144 cubits** (144 being twelve times twelve). It had twelve gates, and the gates consisted of twelve pearls. Over the gates were twelve angels, and on the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. It had twelve foundations, and on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. These consisted also of twelve precious stones. Moreover, the city had in it the tree of life which bore twelve fruits, in correlation with the twelve months. All of this may be seen in Revelation, chapters 21 and 22.
Out of the kind of people described here the Lord formed a new heaven and is in the process of forming a new church. For they are the same people mentioned in chapter fourteen and thereafter, where we read about them the following:
Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand…. And they sang…a new song before the throne…; and no one could learn the song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. …they are virgins…, (and) follow the Lamb wherever He goes. (Revelation 14:1, 3, 4)
[4] Since the twelve tribes symbolize the Lord’s church in respect to all its truths and goods, therefore the number twelve became an ecclesiastical number, and one customary in its sanctities. So for example, on the breastpiece of judgment, containing the Urim and Thummim, there were twelve precious stones (Exodus 28:21). Twelve cakes of showbread were placed on the table in the Tabernacle (Leviticus 24:5, 6). Moses built an altar at the foot of Mount Sinai and set up twelve pillars (Exodus 24:4). Twelve men were sent to explore the land of Canaan (Deuteronomy 1:23). Twelve men carried twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan (Joshua 4:1-9, 20). At the dedication of the altar, twelve leaders brought twelve silver plates, twelve silver bowls, twelve gold censers, twelve young bulls, twelve rams, twelve lambs, and twelve goats (Numbers 7:84, 87). Elijah took twelve stones and built an altar (1 Kings 18:31, 32). Elijah found Elisha when Elisha was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was the twelfth, and Elijah then threw his mantle over him (1 Kings 19:19). Solomon placed under the bronze Sea twelve oxen (1 Kings 7:25, 44). He made a throne, and standing on its steps twelve lions (1 Kings 10:19, 20). On the head of the woman clothed with the sun was a crown of twelve stars (Revelation 12:1).
It can now be seen from this that 144,000 sealed, 12,000 from each tribe, means not this number of Jews and Israelites, but all who, as part of the new Christian heaven and of the New Church, will be governed by truths of doctrine springing from the goodness of love, received from the Lord through the Word.
* Plural of stadium, an ancient Greek measure of distance equal to about 607 feet or 185 meters.
** An ancient unit of linear measure based on the length of a man’s forearm from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow, equivalent to approximately 18 inches or 46 centimeters.
A tribe symbolizes religion as regards goodness of life, and every tribe symbolizes the church in respect to every good of love and every truth springing from that good, which produces goodness of life. For there are two elements which form the church: the goodness of love and doctrinal truth. The marriage of these two constitutes the church. The twelve tribes of Israel represented and so symbolized the church with respect to that marriage, and each tribe represented and so symbolized some universal truth accompanying goodness or some goodness accompanying truth present in that marriage.
But what each tribe symbolized has not been revealed previously to anyone, nor could it have been revealed, lest an ill-connected exposition profane the holiness that lies within these things when joined together, since their symbolism depends on their conjunction.
[2] They have one symbolism in the order in which they are listed according to their births (Genesis 29, 30, 35:18). The order there is: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin.
They have another symbolism in the order in which they are listed when they went into Egypt, namely, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali (Genesis 46:8-25).
Still another symbolism in the order in which they were blessed by their father Israel, namely, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, Benjamin (Genesis 49).
Still another symbolism in the order in which they were blessed by Moses, namely, Reuben, Judah, Levi, Benjamin, Joseph, Ephraim, Manasseh, Zebulun, Gad, Dan, Naphtali, Asher (Deuteronomy 33) – Ephraim and Manasseh being listed there, and not Simeon or Issachar.
[3] Still another symbolism in the order in which they encamped and set out, namely, the tribes of Judah, Issachar and Zebulun on the east side, the tribes of Reuben, Simeon and Gad on the south side, the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin on the west side, and the tribes of Dan, Asher and Naphtali on the north side, with the tribe of Levi in the middle (Numbers 2:1-34).
And still another symbolism in the order in which they are listed elsewhere, as in Genesis 35:23-26, Numbers 1:5-16, 7:1-89, 13:4-15, 26:5-57, 34:17-28, Deuteronomy 27:12, 13, Joshua 15-19, Ezekiel 48:1-35.
Consequently, when Balaam saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes, he said, “How good are your tents, O Jacob, and your tabernacles, O Israel” (Numbers 24:1-4ff.).
[4] On the breastpiece of judgment, namely, the Urim and Thummim, containing twelve precious stones according to the names of the children of Israel (Exodus 28:15-21), the symbolism of the tribes in their arrangement depended on the inquiry to which they provided a response.
But what they symbolized in the order in which they are mentioned here in the book of Revelation, which is still another order, will be told in what follows.
Tribes symbolize religion, and the twelve tribes the church and everything pertaining to it, because “tribe” and “scepter” are, in Hebrew, the same word,* and a scepter means a kingdom, and the Lord’s kingdom is heaven and the church.
* Hebrew [Hebrew] or [Hebrew], and also [Hebrew].
In the highest sense Judah symbolizes the Lord in relation to celestial love; in the spiritual sense, the Lord’s celestial kingdom and the Word; and in the natural sense, the doctrine of a celestial church drawn from the Word. Here, however, Judah symbolizes celestial love, which is love toward the Lord; and because it is named first in the series, it symbolizes that love in all those people who will be in the New Heaven and in the Lord’s New Church. For the tribe named first is everything in the rest, being to them as though their head and serving as a universal property entering into all those that follow, tying them together, qualifying them and affecting them. This property is love toward the Lord.
To be shown that twelve thousand symbolizes all who possess that love, see no. 348 above.
[2] People know that after the death of Solomon the twelve tribes of Israel were divided into two kingdoms: the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel. The kingdom of Judah represented the celestial kingdom or the Lord’s priestly kingdom, while the kingdom of Israel represented the spiritual kingdom or the Lord’s royal kingdom. But the latter was destroyed when the people had nothing spiritual left in them, whereas the kingdom of Judah was preserved, for the sake of the Word, and because the Lord would be born there. However, when the people adulterated the Word completely, and thus could not recognize the Lord, then their kingdom was destroyed.
It can be seen from this that the tribe of Judah symbolizes celestial love, which is love toward the Lord. But because the people were of the character they were with respect to the Word and with respect to the Lord, the tribe of Judah symbolizes also the opposite love, which is love of self – properly speaking, a love of dominating springing from a love of self – a love which we call diabolical love.
[3] The fact that Judah and his tribe symbolize the celestial kingdom and its love, which is love toward the Lord, follows from these passages:
Judah, your brothers shall praise you…. The scepter shall not be taken from Judah…until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people. Binding his donkey’s foal to the vine, his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he washes his garment in wine…. His eyes are redder than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk. (Genesis 49:8-12)
…David shall be their prince forever, and I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them…, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. (Ezekiel 37:25, 26)
Exult and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! …Jehovah will make Judah an inheritance for Himself, His portion on the holy land. (Zechariah 2:10-12)
O Judah, celebrate your feasts, perform your vows. For Belial* shall no more pass through you; he is utterly cut off. (Nahum 1:15)
The Lord…will suddenly come to His temple…. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be sweet to Jehovah as in the days of old…. (Malachi 3:1, 4)
Judah shall abide forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. (Joel 3:20)
Behold, the days are coming…, that I will raise to David a righteous Branch…. In His days Judah will be saved…. (Jeremiah 23:5, 6)
I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, and from Judah an heir of My mountains, that My elect may possess it…. (Isaiah 65:9)
Judah became His sanctuary, and Israel His dominion. (Psalm 114:2)
Behold, the days are coming…, when I will make a new covenant…with the house of Judah…. …this will be the covenant…: I will put My law within them, and write it on their heart…. (Jeremiah 31:27, 31, 33, 34)
In those days ten men…shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, “We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” (Zechariah 8:23)
…as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me…, so shall your offspring and your name remain.
Kings (of the nations) shall be your foster fathers, their princesses your nursing mothers. They shall bow down to you, their faces to the ground, and lick the dust of your feet. (Isaiah 66:22, 49:23)
[4] From these and many other passages, which we do not have the space to cite because of their number, it can be clearly seen that Judah means not Judah but the church. We are told, for example, that the Lord would make a new and eternal covenant with that nation, that He would make it His heir and His sanctuary forevermore, and that kings of the nations and their princesses would bow down to them, licking the dust of their feet, and so on.
[5] That the tribe of Judah, regarded in itself, means the diabolic kingdom, which is one of a love of dominating springing from a love of self, can be seen from the following passages:
I will hide My face from them, I will see what their posterity will be. …they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faith…. …they are a nation void of counsel…. …their vine is of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah; its grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps. Is this not laid up in store with Me, sealed up in My treasuries? (Deuteronomy 32:20-34)
(Know that) it is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart…that Jehovah…is…giving you (the land of Canaan)…, for you are a stiff-necked people. (Deuteronomy 9:5, 6)
…according to the number of your cities have been your gods, O Judah…. …according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you have set up altars…to burn incense to Baal. (Jeremiah 2:28, 11:13)
You are of your father the devil, and you choose to do the desires of your father. (John 8:44)
Jews are said to be full of hypocrisy, iniquity, and uncleanness (Matthew 23:27, 28). They are called an adulterous generation (Matthew 12:39, Mark 8:38). And Jerusalem, where they lived, was called Sodom (Isaiah 3:9, Jeremiah 23:14, Ezekiel 16:46, 48, Revelation 11:8). Not to mention other places where that nation is said to have been utterly lost, and that Jerusalem would be destroyed, as in Jeremiah 5:1, 6:6, 7, 7:17, 18ff., 8:6-8ff., 9:10, 11, 13ff., 13:9, 10, 14, 14:16, Lamentations 1:8, 9, 17, Ezekiel 4:1-17, 5:5-17, 12:18, 19, 15:6-8, 16:1-63, 23:1-49.
* In the Old Testament, the personification of wickedness and destruction, originally conceived perhaps as some sort of spirit demon.
In the highest sense Reuben symbolizes omniscience; in the spiritual sense, wisdom, intelligence and knowledge, also faith; and in the natural sense, sight. Here, however, Reuben symbolizes wisdom, because he comes after Judah, who symbolizes celestial love, and celestial love produces wisdom. For there is no love without its partner, which is knowledge, intelligence, or wisdom. The partner of natural love is knowledge; that of spiritual love is intelligence; and that of celestial love is wisdom.
[2] Reuben symbolizes these three because his name was derived from a word meaning to look or see, and natural sight spiritually is knowledge, spiritual sight is intelligence, and celestial sight is wisdom.
Reuben was also Jacob’s firstborn, and therefore Israel called him “my might, the beginning of my strength, excellent in eminence and excellent in valor” (Genesis 49:3). Of such a character also is wisdom springing from celestial love.
Moreover, because by virtue of his primogeniture Reuben represented and so symbolized the wisdom possessed by people of the church, therefore he urged his brothers not to kill Joseph, and he grieved when he found Joseph not in the pit (Genesis 37:21, 22, 29, 30).
For the same reason his tribe camped on the south side of the Tabernacle, and the tribes camped on that side were called the Camp of Reuben (Numbers 2:10-16). The south, too, symbolizes wisdom springing from love. Consequently people in heaven who have that wisdom dwell toward the south (see the book Heaven and Hell, nos. 148-150).
This wisdom is symbolized by Reuben in the prophetic utterance of Deborah and Barak:
Among the divisions of Reuben were great resolves of heart…. Why do you sit among the packs, (Issachar,) to hear the rustling of the flocks? To listen to the divisions of Reuben (where there are) great searchings of heart? (Judges 5:15, 16)
The divisions of Reuben are concepts of every kind, which have to do with wisdom.
[3] Because the tribes all symbolize their opposites as well, so too does the tribe of Reuben; and in an opposite sense he symbolizes wisdom divorced from love, and thus also faith divorced from charity. Therefore his father Israel cursed him (Genesis 49:3, 4). And therefore he was deprived of his primogeniture (1 Chronicles 5:1; see no. 17 above). For the same reason, too, the tribe was given an inheritance in the Trans-Jordan and not in the land of Canaan. And Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph’s sons, were acknowledged in the place of Reuben and Simeon (Genesis 48:5).
Nevertheless, he still retained the representation and consequent symbolism of wisdom.
In the highest sense Gad symbolizes omnipotence; in the spiritual sense, goodness of life, which also is useful endeavor; and in the natural sense, work. Here he symbolizes useful life endeavors, because he comes after Reuben and Judah, and celestial love by means of wisdom produces useful endeavors.
There are three things that hang together and cannot be separated: love, wisdom and useful life endeavor. If one is taken away, the other two collapse. (See Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, nos. 241, 297, 316.)
That Gad symbolizes useful life endeavors, called also fruits, can be seen from the derivation of his name from a word meaning a troop or accumulation (Genesis 30:10, 11). Also from the blessing he received from his father Israel (Genesis 49:19), and from the blessing he received from Moses (Deuteronomy 33:20, 21). And from his inheritance as well (Numbers 32:1-42, 34:14, Deuteronomy 3:16, 17, Joshua 13:24-28). It can be seen, too, from his symbolism in an opposite sense (Isaiah 65:11, Jeremiah 49:1-3).
It should be known that the tribes of Israel here are all distinguished into four groups, as they were in the Urim and Thummim, and as they were in their encampment, and that each group contains three tribes, because the three go together as a unit, like love, wisdom and useful service, and like charity, faith and work. For, as we said, if one is missing, the other two have no reality.
In the highest sense Asher symbolizes eternity; in the spiritual sense, eternal bliss; and in the natural sense, an affection for goodness and truth. Here, however, Asher symbolizes a love of performing useful services, which is found among people who are in the Lord’s celestial kingdom, and is called there mutual love. This love descends directly from love toward the Lord, since the Lord’s love is to perform useful services to the community and to each society in the community, and He does these through the agency of people who possess a love for Him.
That Asher has the aforesaid symbolic meanings can be seen to some extent from the blessing he received from his father Israel:
As regards Asher, his bread shall be rich, and he shall yield royal dainties. (Genesis 49:20)
And from the blessing he received from Moses:
Asher is most blessed of sons; let him be acceptable to his brothers…. As his days shall his fame be. (Deuteronomy 33:24, 25)
His name, too, is derived from a word meaning bliss, and people who have a love for performing useful services to the community and society enjoy in heaven a greater state of bliss than others.
In the highest sense Naphtali symbolizes the intrinsic power of the Lord’s Divine humanity; in the spiritual sense, temptation or trial, and victory; and in the natural sense, resistance on the part of the natural self. For his name was derived from a word meaning wrestling. Here, however, Naphtali symbolizes a perception of useful endeavor, and of what is useful, because in the series he comes after Asher, who symbolizes a love of useful services. Moreover those people who have overcome in temptations or trials have an interior perception of useful ends; for temptations or trials open the interior constituents of the mind.
The perception that those people have is described in Jeremiah 31:33, 34.* They sense in themselves what is good, and see in themselves what is true.
That the tribe of Naphtali symbolizes angels and people in respect to that perception can be confirmed from the following verses in the Word:
…Naphtali…on the heights of the field. (Judges 5:18)
The heights of the field are the interior qualities of the Church as regards perception.
O Naphtali, abounding in favor, and full of the blessing of Jehovah, possess the west and the south. (Deuteronomy 33:23)
To possess the west is to possess the goodness of a love that serves, and the south is the light of wisdom which constitutes the aforesaid perception.
Naphtali is a deer let loose, who provides elegant discourses. (Genesis 49:21)
Thus is described the state after temptation or trial as to its free expression from perception.
It is recorded also that a certain man of the tribe of Naphtali, “being filled with wisdom, understanding and knowledge,” did all work in bronze for Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 7:14).
The narrative portions of the Word as regards names and tribes are just as symbolic as the prophetic portions.
* “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Jehovah: I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know Jehovah,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says Jehovah. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
There are three things that follow in order: love toward the Lord, wisdom, and useful endeavor, as we said in no. 352 above. So again here: mutual love, understanding or perception, and will or action. These also form a unit, so that if one is missing, the other two have no reality. A will to serve, combined with action, constitute the effect, thus the final element, in which the two prior ones are present and coexist.
Manasseh has this symbolism because Joseph, who was the father of Manasseh and Ephraim, symbolizes the spiritual component of the church, and the spiritual component of the church is goodness of will and at the same time truth in the intellect. Manasseh consequently symbolizes the volitional component of the church, and Ephraim its intellectual component.
Manasseh symbolizes the volitional component of the church because Ephraim symbolizes its intellectual component, as is clearly apparent in Hosea, where Ephraim is so often mentioned. And because Manasseh symbolizes the volitional component of the church, he also symbolizes action or practice; for will is the impetus in every action, and where impetus exists, there action takes place whenever possible.
Manasseh is mentioned in several places, as when he was born (Genesis 41:50-52); when Jacob took him in place of Simeon (Genesis 48:3-5), and blessed him (Genesis 48:15, 16); and when Moses blessed him (Deuteronomy 33:17). He is mentioned as well also in Isaiah 9:19-21, and Psalms 60:7, 80:2, 108:8. From these places it can in some measure be seen that Manasseh means the volitional component of the church.
In the highest sense Simeon symbolizes providence; in the spiritual sense, love for the neighbor or charity; and in the natural sense, obedience and giving ear.
In the first two series the subject was people who are in the Lord’s celestial kingdom. In this series, now, the subject is people who are in the Lord’s spiritual kingdom. Their love is termed a spiritual love, which is love for the neighbor and charity.
Simeon and his tribe represented this love and thus symbolize it in the Word because he was born after Reuben and was the next before Levi, and these three – Reuben, Simeon and Levi – in that sequence symbolized truth in the intellect or faith, truth in the will or charity, and truth in practice or good work, like Peter, James and John. As Simeon and his tribe consequently represented truth in the will, which is both charity and obedience, therefore he was given a name derived from a word meaning to hear, and to hear symbolizes both to understand truth and to will it or obey – to understand it in the phrase to “hear someone,” and to will it and obey in the phrase to “listen to someone” or hearken.
[2] We will say something here about love for the neighbor or charity. Love for the neighbor is a love of obeying the Lord’s commandments, especially those in the second table of the Ten Commandments, namely, you shall not kill, you shall not commit whoredom, you shall not steal, you shall not bear witness falsely, and you shall not covet anything that is your neighbor’s. A person who wills not to do these things because they are sins, loves his neighbor. For someone who hates his neighbor, and who out of hatred wishes to kill him, does not love his neighbor. Someone who wishes to commit whoredom with his neighbor’s wife, does not love his neighbor. Neither does someone who wishes to steal and plunder his neighbor’s goods love his neighbor, and so on.
Paul, too, teaches this in these words:
…he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit whoredom,” “You shall not kill,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not be a false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” …Charity therefore is the fulfillment of the law.” (Romans 13:8-10)
In the highest sense Levi symbolizes love and mercy; in the spiritual sense, charity in practice, which constitutes goodness of life; and in the natural sense, association and conjunction. The name Levi also comes from a word meaning to attach, which in the Word symbolizes a conjunction by love. Here, however, Levi symbolizes a love or affection for truth and the resulting intelligence, because he comes after Simeon and is the middle one in this series.
Since this is what Levi represents, therefore that tribe became the priesthood (Numbers 3:1-51, Deuteronomy 21:5, and elsewhere).
That the tribe of Levi symbolizes a love of truth, which is the fundamental love that causes a church to be a church, and at the same time the resulting intelligence, can be seen from the following passages:
…Jehovah…has chosen (the sons of Levi) to minister to Him and to bless in (His) name. (Deuteronomy 21:5)
To bless in the name of Jehovah is to teach, and only those people can do this who possess an affection for truth and the resulting intelligence.
…they guard Your Word and keep Your covenant. They shall teach Jacob Your judgments, and Israel Your law. (Deuteronomy 33:8-11)
The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple…, and He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; and He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver…. (Malachi 3:1-4)
To purify the sons of Levi is to purify people who have an affection for truth.
Because intelligence causes that affection to blossom, therefore the rod of Levi, with the name of Aaron written on it, blossomed with almonds (Numbers 17:2-11).
In the highest sense Issachar symbolizes the Divine good of truth and truth of good; in the spiritual sense, the conjugal love of heaven, which is one of goodness and truth; and in the natural sense, recompense. Here, however, it is goodness of life, because in this group Issachar is the third in order, and the third element in every group symbolizes the final one, which is the product of the first two, as an effect is of its causes. And the effect produced by spiritual love, which is love for the neighbor and symbolized by Simeon, operating through an affection for truth, which is symbolized by Levi, is goodness of life, which is Issachar. The name Issachar also comes from a word meaning payment (Genesis 30:17, 18), thus recompense; and goodness of life has in it its own recompense.
Something of the kind is symbolized by Issachar, too, in Moses’ blessing of him:
Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out, and Issachar in your tents! They shall call peoples to the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness; for they shall suck the affluence of the sea and the hidden objects of the sand. (Deuteronomy 33:18, 19)
In his father Israel’s blessing of him (Genesis 49:14, 15), however, Issachar symbolizes a merit-seeking goodness of life. See Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), no. 6388.
In the highest sense Zebulun symbolizes the union of the Divine itself and the Divine humanity in the Lord; in the spiritual sense, the marriage of goodness and truth in those people who are in heaven and in the church; and in the natural sense, married love itself. Thus Zebulun here symbolizes the conjugal love of goodness and truth. His name also comes from a word meaning cohabitation (Genesis 20:19, 20), and cohabitation is a word used of married partners, whose minds are joined into one; for that conjunction is a spiritual cohabitation.
The conjugal love of goodness and truth that Zebulun symbolizes here is the conjugal love of the Lord and the church. For the Lord is love’s goodness itself, and He grants that the church be the truth springing from that love; and a cohabitation results when the person of the church receives in truths goodness from the Lord. The person then has formed in him a marriage of goodness and truth, which is the essential church, and he becomes a heaven.
It is because of this that God’s kingdom – which is to say, heaven and the church – is so often likened in the Word to a marriage.
In the highest sense Joseph symbolizes the Lord in respect to His Divinity on the spiritual plane; in the spiritual sense, the spiritual kingdom; and in the natural sense, reproduction and multiplication. Here, however, Joseph symbolizes the doctrine of goodness and truth that is found in people who are in the Lord’s spiritual kingdom. Joseph has this symbolism here because he is named after the tribe of Zebulun and before the tribe of Benjamin, thus in between them, and the tribe mentioned first in a series or group symbolizes some love pertaining to the will; the tribe mentioned after that symbolizes some aspect of wisdom pertaining to the intellect; and the tribe mentioned last symbolizes some useful outcome or effect resulting from them. Every series is thus a complete one.
Since Joseph symbolized the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, therefore He was made ruler in Egypt (Genesis 41:38-44, Psalm 105:17-22), where every particular has a symbolic meaning that has to do with the Lord’s spiritual kingdom.
The spiritual kingdom is the Lord’s royal one, while the celestial kingdom is His priestly one.
[2] Joseph here symbolizes a doctrine of goodness and truth because he is substituted here for Ephraim, and Ephraim symbolizes the intellectual component of the church (see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, no. 79), the intellectual component of the church being everything derived from the doctrine of goodness and truth drawn from the Word.
Joseph is substituted here for Ephraim because Manasseh, Joseph’s second son, who symbolized the volitional component of the church, was already included among the tribes (no. 355).
Because the intellectual component of the church is derived from a doctrine of goodness and truth, therefore Joseph symbolizes this intellectual component and also that doctrine in the following places:
Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring…. His bow remained in strength…. (He will be blessed) with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies beneath…. (Genesis 49:22-26)
The spring symbolizes the Word, and the bow doctrine (no. 299).
Blessed of Jehovah is (Joseph’s) land, with the precious things of heaven, with the dew, and the deep lying beneath, and with the precious fruits of the sun, with the precious produce of the months, and…with the precious things of the earth and its fullness…. Let it come on the head of Joseph…. (Deuteronomy 33:13-17)
The precious things symbolize concepts of goodness and truth, from which comes doctrine.
…who drink from goblets of wine, and…are not grieved over the shattering of Joseph. (Amos 6:6)
I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph…. (Hence) they shall be like mighty Ephraim, and their heart shall rejoice as if with wine. (Zechariah 10:6, 7)
Here, too, Joseph stands for doctrine, the wine symbolizing its truth springing from goodness (no. 316).
Since Zebulun symbolizes the conjugal love of goodness and truth, and Joseph symbolizes a doctrine of goodness and truth, Benjamin, being third in the series, symbolizes a life of truth springing from goodness.
Benjamin bears this symbolic meaning because he was the last-born. Moreover, his father Jacob called him “Son-of-the-Right-Hand”* (Genesis 35:18), and a son of the right hand symbolizes truth springing from goodness.
This tribe also dwelled, therefore, in the vicinity of Jerusalem, which was in the territory of Judah, the city of Jerusalem symbolizing the church in respect to doctrine, and the places around it such matters as proceed from doctrine. (See Joshua 18:11-28, Jeremiah 17:26, 32:8, 44, 33:13, and elsewhere.)
* The meaning in Hebrew of the name Benjamin.
* I.e., the last to be allotted an inheritance (land) in Israel (Joshua 19:40-49).
That a great multitude symbolizes all other people who are not among those enumerated, and yet are in heaven and in the Lord’s church, is apparent from verses 9, 10, 13-17, where we are told that they stood “before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,” and that they “serve Him…in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them,” and so on.
To number in the spiritual sense means, symbolically, to discern the character of something or someone. That numbering has this symbolic meaning will be seen in the next number.
Who specifically these people are, however – those meant by the ones called a great multitude – cannot be known without an Arcanum that must first be disclosed. [2] The arcanum is this: Heaven in its entirety, together with the church on earth, is in the Lord’s sight as though a single person. And because it is as though a single person, there are people there who constitute the head and thus the face with all of its sensory organs, and there are people there who constitute the body with all of its members. The people enumerated before this are ones who constitute the face with all of its sensory organs. The people referred to now, however, are ones who constitute the body with all of its members. That this is the case has been revealed to me, and so, too, the fact that the people who make up the first group of tribes (verse 5) are ones who correspond to the forehead down to the eyes; that those who make up the second group (verse 6) are ones who correspond to the eyes, together with the nose; that those who make up the third group (verse 7) are ones who correspond to the ears and cheeks; and that those who make up the fourth group (verse 8) are ones who correspond to the mouth and tongue.
[3] The Lord’s church, furthermore, is internal and external. The people meant by the twelve tribes of Israel are ones who make up the Lord’s internal church, whereas the people referred to now are ones who make up His external church, and who cohere as one with those enumerated before, as lower things do with higher ones, thus as the body with the head. The twelve tribes of Israel therefore symbolize the higher heavens and also the internal church, while the latter symbolize the lower heavens and the external church. That these people are called a great multitude elsewhere, too, may be seen in nos. 803ff. below, and in no. 811.
To know this character is what angels mean by numbering, and likewise what is meant in the Word in the following places, as when Belshazzar drank wine from vessels of the temple in Jerusalem, and the writing appeared on the wall, saying,
You have been numbered. You have been numbered. (Daniel 5:2, 3, 5, 25)
…I shall go to the gates of hell; I have been numbered…. (Isaiah 38:10)
A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms…! Jehovah of hosts is numbering the army for war. (Isaiah 13:4)
…see who has created these things, who has brought out by number their host. (Isaiah 40:26)
(Jehovah who) numbers the host of the stars…. (Psalm 147:4)
…the flocks shall again pass under the hands of him who numbers them. (Jeremiah 33:13)
…my steps are numbered. (Job 14:16)
The houses and towers of Zion and Jerusalem were numbered (Isaiah 22:9, 10, 33:18, 19, Psalm 48:11-13). Numbering stands for knowing the character of.
From the symbolic meaning of numbers and numbering, it can be seen why David was faced with punishment for numbering the people, the tribes of Israel, and why he said to the prophet Gad, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done” (2 Samuel 24). Moreover, why, when Moses numbered the people and all its tribes, the command was given for each man to “give a ransom for his soul to Jehovah when they were numbered, that that there might be no plague among them when they were numbered” (Exodus 30:12). The reason was that numbering symbolized knowing the character of the people in respect to their spiritual state, thus in respect to the state of the church, meant by the twelve tribes of Israel, which only the Lord knew.
All nations and tribes mean people who have some religion springing from goodness, who are those of the lowest heaven (no. 363) – nations meaning people prompted by goodness (nos. 920, 921), and a tribe, religion (no. 349). Peoples and tongues mean people who are guided by truths from doctrine – peoples meaning people guided by truths (no. 483), and a tongue, doctrine (no. 282).
Thus “all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues,” taken together, symbolize in the spiritual sense all people who have some religion springing from goodness and are guided by truths from doctrine.
To stand before the Lord means, symbolically, to hear and do what He commands, like one who stands before a king.
This is also the symbolic meaning of standing before God, or in the presence of God, elsewhere in the Word, as when the angel said to Zacharias,
I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God…. (Luke 1:19)
A man who stands before Me shall not be cut off forever. (Jeremiah 35:19)
These are the two offspring of the olive tree, who stand before the Lord of the whole earth. (Zechariah 4:14)
(He) separated the tribe of Levi…to stand before Jehovah…. (Deuteronomy 10:8)
And so on elsewhere.
To be clothed with white robes means, symbolically, to have a communication and conjunction with the heavens (see no. 328 above). Holding palm branches in the hands symbolizes confessions springing from Divine truths because palm branches symbolize Divine truths. For every tree symbolizes some element of the church, and palm branches symbolize Divine truth in outmost expressions, which is the Divine truth in the literal sense of the Word.
Engraved, therefore, on all the walls of the Temple in Jerusalem, inside and out, and also on its doors, were cherubim and palm trees (1 Kings 6:29, 32). Likewise in the New Temple described in Ezekiel 41:18-20. Cherubim symbolize the Word (no. 239), and palm trees the Divine truths in it.
That palm trees symbolize Divine truths in the Word, and palm branches in the hands confessions springing from them, can be seen from the fact that the Israelites were commanded to take, at the feast of Tabernacles, “the fruits of honorable trees and branches of palms, and rejoice before Jehovah.” (Leviticus 23:39, 40)
It can be seen also from the fact that when Jesus came to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, the people “took palm branches and went to meet Him, crying, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'” (John 12:12, 13)
These symbolize a confession of the Lord springing from Divine truths.
A palm tree symbolizes Divine truth also in the book of Psalms:
The righteous man shall flourish like a palm tree; he shall grow…planted in the house of Jehovah; he shall sprout in the courts of our God. (Psalm 92:12, 13)
So, too, elsewhere.
Because Jericho was a city near the Jordan, and the Jordan river symbolized that which is first in the church, namely Divine truth such as it is in the literal sense of the Word, therefore the city was called the city of palms (Deuteronomy 34:3, Judges 1:16, 3:13). For the Jordan was the first boundary of or point of entrance into the land of Canaan, and the land of Canaan symbolizes the church.
To cry with a loud voice symbolizes an acknowledgment from the heart. “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb,” means, symbolically, that the Lord is the true salvation, and that the salvation of all people depends on Him, thus that He is the Savior.
The one sitting on the throne and the Lamb symbolize the Lord alone – the one sitting on the throne symbolizing His Divinity from which all else flows, and the Lamb His Divine humanity, as also in no. 273 above. Both are depicted because the Lord was the Savior by virtue of His Divinity from which all else flows, by means of His Divine humanity. Their unity is apparent from places where the Lamb is said to be “in the midst of the throne” (Revelation 5:6, 7:17).
The Lord many times in the Word is called salvation, meaning that He is the Savior, as for example:
My salvation shall not linger, and I will place salvation in Zion. (Isaiah 46:13)
Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your salvation is coming.” (Isaiah 62:11)
I have given You…to be My salvation to the end of the earth. (Isaiah 49:6)
This is Jehovah whom we have waited for; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation. (Isaiah 25:9)
The word for salvation in the Hebrew is yeshu’ah, the same as for the name Jesus.
The living creatures and elders mean the angels of the higher heavens, as above, and also in no. 808 below. The angels here, however, mean the angels of the lower heavens, thus all in the whole of heaven. To stand means, symbolically, to hear and do what the Lord commands (no. 366).
To fall on their faces and worship is plainly a humbling of their heart and consequent worship. Humility before the Lord and worship of Him is symbolically meant by falling before the throne and adoring God because God means His Divinity – the Divine from which all else springs – and at the same time His Divine humanity (no. 368); for the two constitute one God, being one Person.
All acknowledgment and confession of the Lord in general includes these two affirmations, that He is Divine love itself and Divine wisdom itself, and therefore that the love possessed by people in heaven and in the church, and everything connected with it, comes from Him, and likewise their wisdom and everything connected with it.
Whatever emanates from the Lord’s Divine love, this we call His celestial Divinity; and whatever emanates from His Divine wisdom, this we call his spiritual Divinity.
The Lord’s spiritual Divinity is meant by glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, and His celestial Divinity by honor, power and might, which follow next. Blessing, which is mentioned first, symbolizes both of these (see no. 289 above).
Glory is predicated of Divine truth, thus of spiritual Divinity (no. 249). Wisdom is predicated of it also, plainly. Thanksgiving too, because it is prompted by Divine truth; for a person gives thanks because of it and by expressions of it.
We said in the preceding number that where the subject is the Lord, these three – honor, power and might – are predicated in the Word of His celestial Divinity, or of His Divine love or Divine goodness. Regarding honor, see no. 249. Regarding might, no. 22. That power is predicated of this, too, can be seen from many passages in the Word where is it mentioned.
It should be known that every particular in the Word contains a marriage of goodness and truth, and that some terms relate to goodness, and some to truth. These terms can be distinguished, however, only by someone who focuses on their spiritual meaning. This meaning makes plain what term is connected with goodness or love, and what term is connected with truth or wisdom. And I have been granted to know, on the basis of many passages, that the terms honor, power and might are used when the subject is Divine goodness. That “power” is used then as well, can be seen in Matthew 13:54, 24:30; Mark 13:25, 26; Luke 1:17, 35, 9:1, 21:27; and elsewhere.
To be shown that every particular of the Word contains a marriage of the Lord and the church, and therefore a marriage of goodness and truth, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 80-90.
This verse begins with the word “Amen,” and now ends with it. When it is said at the beginning, it symbolizes truth and an affirmation in response to it (no. 371). But when it is said at the end, it symbolizes an affirmation and agreement by all that what has been said is the truth.
John was asked these questions because it is common in all Divine worship for a person to first wish, desire, and pray, and for the Lord then to reply, instruct, and effect. A person does not otherwise accept anything Divine.
Now because John saw those who were arrayed in white robes, and desired to know and ask who they were, and because this was perceived in heaven, therefore he was first asked about them, and afterward informed.
The case was similar with the prophet Zechariah when he saw the many representations displayed before him, as can be seen from Zechariah 1:9, 19, 21, 4:2, 5, 11, 12, 5:2, 6, 10, 6:4.
Moreover in the Word we frequently read that the Lord answers when people call on Him or cry out to Him (as in Psalms 4:1, 17:6, 20:9, 34:4, 91:15, 120:1), and that He gives to people when they ask (Matthew 7:7, 8, 21:22, John 14:13, 14, 15:7, 16:23-27). Yet, even so, it is the Lord who gives people to ask and what they should ask for, and the Lord knows it, therefore, beforehand. But still it is the Lord’s will that a person first ask, in order that the person may do so as though on his own, and that the petition may thus be assigned to him. Otherwise, if the petition itself did not emanate from the Lord, it would not have been said in those passages that people would receive whatever they ask.
To be shown that tribulation means an infestation by evils and falsities and a spiritual battle against them, which is a temptation or trial, see nos. 33, 95, 100, 101.
Washing in the Word symbolizes a cleansing oneself of evils and falsities, and robes symbolize general truths (no. 328). General truths are concepts of goodness and truth drawn from the literal sense of the Word, in accordance with which these people have lived, so that they are religious beliefs. And because every matter of religion has relation to goodness and truth, therefore robes are mentioned twice – “have washed their robes” and “have made their robes white.”
Robes or religious beliefs are cleansed only in the case of people who fight against evils and so reject falsities, who thus undergo temptations or trials, which are symbolically meant by “the great tribulation” (no. 377).
That to be washed means, symbolically, to be cleansed of evils and falsities, and so to be reformed and regenerated, can be seen from the following passages:
When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and rinsed away the blood of Jerusalem…by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of purification…. (Isaiah 4:4)
Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from My eyes. Cease to do evil…. (Isaiah 1:16)
Wash your heart of its wickedness, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved. (Jeremiah 4:14)
Wash me clean of my iniquity…, and I shall be whiter than snow. (Psalm 51:2, 7)
…if you wash yourself with soda, and use much soap, your iniquity will still retain its spots. (Jeremiah 2:22)
If I wash myself with melted snow, and cleanse my hands with soap…, yet…my own clothes will abhor me. (Job 9:30, 31)
Who…has washed his clothing in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes. (Genesis 49:11)
This is said of the celestial church, from which come people prompted by love toward the Lord, and in the highest sense it is said of the Lord Himself. Wine and the blood of grapes are spiritual and celestial Divine truth.
I washed you with water, and rinsed off your blood from upon you…. (Ezekiel 16:9)
This is said of Jerusalem. Water is truth, and blood is an adulteration of truth.
[2] It can be seen from this what washing in the Israelite Church represented and thus symbolized. As, for example, that Aaron was to wash himself before he put on the vestments of his ministry (Leviticus 16:4, 24), and before he approached the altar to minister (Exodus 30:18-21, 40:30, 31). That Levites likewise were to be washed (Numbers 8:6, 7). So too others, who by their sins were rendered unclean, and they even washed vessels (Leviticus 11:32, 14:8, 9, 15:5-12, 17:15, 16, Matthew 23:25, 26). That they were sanctified by washing (Exodus 29:4, 40:12, Leviticus 8:6). That Naaman from Syria washed himself in the Jordan (2 Kings 5:10, 14). To enable them to wash themselves, therefore, a bronze sea and a number of lavers were placed beside the Temple (1 Kings 7:23-39). Moreover the Lord washed the feet of His disciples (John 13:5-10), and He told the blind man to wash in the pool of Siloam (John 9:6, 7, 11, 15).
[3] It can be seen from this that among the children of Israel washing represented a spiritual washing, which is a cleansing from evils and falsities, and thus reformation and regeneration.
It is apparent also from the aforesaid what baptism by John in the Jordan symbolized (Matthew 3, Mark 1:4-13), and what the symbolic meaning of the following words by John regarding the Lord is, that He baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Luke 3:16, John 1:33), and regarding himself, that he baptized with water (John 1:26). The meaning is that the Lord washes or purifies a person by Divine truth and Divine goodness, and that John by his baptism represented this. For the Holy Spirit is Divine truth, the fire is Divine goodness, and the water is representative of these. For water symbolizes the truth in the Word, which becomes goodness by one’s living in accordance with it (no. 50).
Some evils are evils that accompany falsity, and some falsities are falsities that accompany evil. Evils that accompany falsity are found among people who, in accord with their religion, believe that evils do not condemn, provided they orally confess that they are sinners. And falsities that accompany evil are found among people who justify the evils they harbor.
As in no. 378 above, robes here symbolize general truths drawn from the Word, which constitute the people’s religious beliefs. They are said to have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb because the color white is predicated of truths (nos. 167, 231, 232), meaning therefore that they used truths to purify their falsities.
This symbolically means also that thus they were reformed by the Lord, because all who have fought against evils in the world and have believed in the Lord are, after their departure from the world, taught by the Lord and led by truths away from the falsities of their religion. And so they are reformed. That is because people who refrain from evils as being sins possess goodness of life, and goodness of life desires truths, and acknowledges and accepts them. But this is never the case with evil of life.
People believe that the blood of the Lamb here and elsewhere in the Word symbolizes the Lord’s suffering of the cross. But the suffering of the cross was the final temptation or trial by which the Lord completely overcame the hells and fully glorified His humanity. By these two means He saved mankind (see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 12-14, 15-17, and also no. 67 above). Moreover, because by His suffering of the cross the Lord fully glorified His humanity, which is to say, made it Divine, therefore nothing else can be meant by His flesh and blood but the Divinity in Him and emanating from Him – His flesh meaning the Divine goodness of His Divine love, and His blood meaning the Divine truth emanating from that goodness.
[2] Blood is mentioned many times in the Word, and everywhere it symbolizes, in the spiritual sense, either the Lord’s Divine truth, which is the same as the Divine truth of the Word, or in an opposite sense, the Divine truth of the Word falsified or profaned, as can be seen from the following passages.
First, that blood symbolizes the Lord’s Divine truth or the Divine truth of the Word can be seen from these passages:
Blood was called the blood of the covenant, and a covenant conjoins, a conjunction that the Lord accomplishes by His Divine truth. So, for example, in Zechariah:
By the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the pit…. (Zechariah 9:11)
After Moses read the Book of the Law in the hearing of the people, he sprinkled half the blood on the people and said,
This is the blood of the covenant which Jehovah has made with you in accordance with all these words. (Exodus 24:3-8)
Moreover,
(Jesus) took the cup…, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. …this is My blood, the blood of the new covenant…. (Matthew 26:27, 28, cf. Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20)
The blood of the new covenant or testament symbolizes nothing else than the Word, which is called a covenant or testament – the Old Covenant or Testament, and the New Covenant or Testament – thus symbolizing the Divine truth in it.
[3] Since blood has this symbolic meaning, the Lord therefore gave His disciples wine, saying, “This is My blood” – wine symbolizing Divine truth (no. 316). Wine is also on that account called “the blood of grapes” (Genesis 49:11, Deuteronomy 32:14).
This is still further apparent from these words of the Lord:
Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you will have no life in you…. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. (John 6:53-56).
It is clearly apparent that blood here means Divine truth, because the text says that he who drinks has life, and abides in the Lord, and the Lord in him. This is the effect of Divine truth and a life in accordance with it, and an effect confirmed by the Holy Supper, as everyone in the church may know.
[4] Since blood symbolizes the Lord’s Divine truth, which is the same as the Divine truth of the Word, and this is the essence of the Old and New Covenants or Testaments, therefore blood was the holiest representative symbol in the Israelite Church, in which every single thing corresponded to something spiritual. So, for example, the people were to take some of the blood of the paschal lamb and put it on the doorposts and lintel of their houses to keep the plague from coming upon them (Exodus 12:7, 13, 22). The blood of the burnt offering was to be sprinkled on the altar, at the base of the altar, on Aaron and his sons, and on their vestments (Exodus 29:12, 16, 20, 21; Leviticus 1:5, 11, 15, 3:2, 8, 13, 4:25, 30, 34, 5:9, 8:15, 24, 17:6; Numbers 18:17: Deuteronomy 12:27). And it was to be sprinkled on the veil that was over the Ark, on the mercy seat there, and on the horns of the altar of incense (Leviticus 4:6, 7, 17, 18, 16:12-15).
[5] The blood of the Lamb has a like symbolism in the following verses in the book of Revelation:
…war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon…. And they overcame it by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…. (Revelation 12:7, 11)
For no one can think that Michael and his angels overcame the dragon with anything other than the Lord’s Divine truth in the Word. Angels in heaven, indeed, cannot think of any blood, nor do they think of the Lord’s suffering, but of His Divine truth and resurrection. Consequently, when a person thinks about the Lord’s blood, angels perceive His Divine truth, and when a person thinks about the Lord’s suffering, they perceive His glorification, and then only His resurrection. I have been granted to know the reality of this by much experience.
[6] That blood symbolizes Divine truth is apparent also from these verses in the book of Psalms:
(God) will save the souls of the needy…. Precious shall be their blood in His sight. And they shall live, and He will give them the gold of Sheba. (Psalm 72:13-15)
The blood, precious in the sight of God, stands for Divine truth among those people. The gold of Sheba is the resulting wisdom.
In Ezekiel:
Gather together…to My great sacrifice…on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. You shall…drink the blood of the princes of the earth…. You shall…drink blood till you are drunk at My sacrifice which I am sacrificing for you…. (Thus) I will set My glory among the nations. (Ezekiel 39:17-21)
Blood here does not mean blood, because the statement is that they will drink the blood of the princes of the earth and that they will drink blood till they are drunk. But the true meaning of the word emerges when blood is understood to mean Divine truth. The subject there, too, is the Lord’s church, which He would establish among gentiles.
[7] Second, that blood symbolizes Divine truth can be clearly seen from its opposite meaning, in which it symbolizes the Divine truth of the Word falsified or profaned, as is apparent from these passages:
He who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil…. (Isaiah 33:15)
You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; Jehovah abhors the bloody and deceitful man. (Psalm 5:6)
…everyone recorded for life in Jerusalem, when the Lord has…rinsed away (her) blood…from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of purification. (Isaiah 4:3, 4)
…on the day you were born…I saw you trampled in your blood, and I said to you in your blood, “Live!” …I washed you and rinsed away the blood upon you…. (Ezekiel 16:5, 6, 9, 22, 36, 38)
They wandered blind in the streets; they have defiled themselves with blood, and what they cannot touch, they touch with their garments. (Lamentations 4:13, 14)
The garment is polluted with blood. (Isaiah 9:5)
Also on your skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent…. (Jeremiah 2:34)
Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings…. (Isaiah 1:15, 16)
…your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken a lie…. They make haste to shed innocent blood. (Isaiah 59:3, 7)
…Jehovah is coming out…to visit the iniquity…of the earth; then the earth will disclose her blood…. (Isaiah 26:21)
…as many as received Him, to them He gave the ability to be children of God…, who were born, not of blood…. (John 1:12, 13)
In (Babylon) was found the blood of prophets and saints…. (Revelation 18:24)
…the sea…became as the blood of a dead man…. …the springs of water…became blood. (Revelation 16:3, 4. Cf. Isaiah 15:9, Psalm 105:29)
The like is symbolized by the rivers, ponds, and pools of water in Egypt being turned into blood (Exodus 7:15-25).
…the moon (shall be turned) into blood, before the coming of the great…day of Jehovah. (Joel 2:31)
…the moon became…blood. (Revelation 6:12)
In these places and many others, blood symbolizes the truth of the Word falsified, and also profaned. But this can be seen more clearly when these passages in the Word are read in context.
So, then, since blood in an opposite sense symbolizes the truth of the Word falsified or profaned, it is apparent that blood in a true sense symbolizes the truth of the Word not falsified.
Their being therefore before the throne of God means, symbolically, that they are in the Lord’s presence; and their serving Him day and night means, symbolically, that they constantly and faithfully live in accordance with the truths they receive from Him, which is to say, His commandments. Serving the Lord has no other symbolic meaning. To be in His temple means, symbolically, to be in His church (no. 191). “He who sits on the throne will dwell among them” means, symbolically, that the Lord continually implants goodness in the truths that they receive from Him. Dwelling among them has this symbolic meaning because in the Word, dwelling is predicated of goodness, and serving of truth.
At this point I must now disclose the following secret, that the marriage of the Lord and the church consists in the Lord’s flowing into angels and people with the goodness of love, and in the angels’ and peoples’ reception of Him, or of the goodness of His love, in truths. By this means a marriage of goodness and truth is formed, a marriage that is the essence of the church, and one that becomes heaven in the recipients.
Because such is the nature of the Lord’s inflowing and people’s reception of Him, therefore the Lord looks upon angels and people by looking at their foreheads, and people look back at the Lord through their eyes. For the forehead corresponds to the goodness of love, and the eyes correspond to truths springing from that goodness – truths which, as a result of that conjunction, thus become truths belonging to goodness.
The Lord’s flowing into angels and people with truths, on the other hand, is not like the flowing in of goodness in them, for it is a mediated one emanating from goodness, as light does from fire, and they receive it intellectually, and in the will only in so far as they practice the truths.
This, then, is the marriage of love and wisdom, or of goodness and truth, from the Lord, among those who receive it in heaven and on earth.
I have disclosed this secret to make known how the statement is to be understood, that the Lord continually implants goodness in their truths.
Not to hunger means, symbolically, to have no lack of goodness, and not to thirst means, symbolically, to have no lack of truth. For hungering is predicated of bread and food, while thirsting is predicated of wine and water; and bread and food symbolize goodness, while wine and water symbolize truth. (See no. 323 above.)
That the sun will not strike them means, symbolically, that they will not have lusts for evil; and that no heat will strike them means, symbolically, that they will not have lusts for falsity. To be shown that the sun symbolizes Divine love and therefore affections for goodness, and in an opposite sense, diabolical love and therefore lusts for evil, see no. 53 above.
That heat, on the other hand, symbolizes lusts for the falsity accompanying evil – the reason is that evil produces falsity, as the sun does heat; for when the will loves evil, the intellect loves falsity, and it burns with a lust to justify the evil, and evil justified in the intellect is the falsity of evil. The falsity accompanying evil is therefore evil in its true expression.
Heat and burning have like symbolic meanings in the following passages:
Blessed is the man who trusts in Jehovah…. He will not see when heat comes. (Jeremiah 17:7, 8)
…you have been…a refuge for the needy…from flood, a shade from the heat…. He will temper…heat by the shadow of a cloud…. (Isaiah 25:4, 5)
When they are inflamed, I will…make them drunk, until they…sleep a perpetual sleep…. (Jeremiah 51:39)
They are all as hot as an oven…. None among them calls upon Me. (Hosea 7:7)
They regard not the way of the vineyards. Drought and heat snatch away the snow’s waters…. (Job 24:18, 19)
…the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given to him to scorch men…with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God…. (Revelation 16:8, 9)
To say to the prisoners, “Go forth”…. They shall neither hunger nor thirst, neither shall heat…strike them. (Isaiah 49:9, 10)
The Lamb in the midst of the throne symbolizes the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity in the inmost of heaven and thus in everything connected with it (no. 44). The throne is heaven (no. 14), and the Lamb is the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity (nos. 269, 291). And He who is in the inmost of heaven and thus in everything connected with it is the only one who shepherds all people, that is, who teaches them.
If a question is raised as to how He alone can shepherd all, be it known that it is because He is God, and because He is present in the whole of heaven like the soul in its body; for heaven, arising from Him, is like a single person.
To shepherd means to teach because in the Word the church is called a flock, and the people in the church are called sheep and lambs. Therefore to shepherd means, symbolically, to teach, and the shepherd one who teaches, and this in many places, as for example:
On that day your flocks will graze in a broad meadow. (Isaiah 33:23)
He will feed His flock like a shepherd. (Isaiah 40:11)
They shall graze along the roads, and have their pasture on all the hillsides. (Isaiah 49:9)
(Israel) shall graze on Carmel and Bashan. (Jeremiah 50:19)
…I will seek out My sheep…. I will feed them in good pasture, and…in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. (Ezekiel 34:12-14)
You, Bethlehem Ephrathah, it is a small thing that you are among the thousands of Judah. Out of you shall come forth to Me One who will be Ruler in Israel…. He shall stand and graze in the strength of Jehovah…. (Micah 5:2, 4)
Feed Your people…. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead…. (Micah 7:14)
The remnant of Israel…shall graze and lie down…. (Zephaniah 3:13)
Jehovah is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in pastures of tender grass. (Psalm 23:1, 2)
(The Lord) chose David…to shepherd Jacob…and Israel…and he shepherded them…. (Psalm 78:70-72)
Jesus said to Peter, “Feed My lambs.” And a second and third time He said, “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:15-17)
Since a living fountain of waters symbolizes the Lord and also the Word, and waters symbolize truths (no. 50), and because when Divine truths in the Word are applied to life, which happens when a person lives in accordance with them, they bring about a conjunction with the Lord, therefore to lead people to living fountains of waters means, symbolically, to lead them by the truths in the Word to conjunction with the Lord.
That a fountain or fountains symbolize the Lord and also the Word is clear from these passages:
All my fountains are in You (Jehovah). (Psalm 87:7)
…they have forsaken Jehovah, the fountain of living waters. (Jeremiah 17:13)
(The people) have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters…. (Jeremiah 2:13)
…You give them drink from the river of Your delights, for with You is the fountain of life. (Psalm 36:8, 9)
On that day a fountain shall be opened…for the inhabitants of Jerusalem…. (Zechariah 13:1)
Israel dwelt alone in safety at the fountain of Jacob. (Deuteronomy 33:28)
(When the Lord sat by Jacob’s well, He said to the woman,) “The water that I shall give…will become…a fountain of water springing up into eternal life.” (John 4:5-20)
Joseph is a fruitful son…by a fountain. (Genesis 49:22)
Bless…the Lord, from the fountain of Israel. (Psalm 68:26)
Then with joy you will draw waters from the fountains of salvation. (Isaiah 12:3)
To him who thirsts I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely. (Revelation 21:6)
I will lead them to fountains of waters by a straight way…. (Jeremiah 31:9)
Words like these here and just above in the book of Revelation are found also in Isaiah:
They shall neither hunger nor thirst, neither shall heat…strike them; for He who has mercy on them will lead them, even to springs of waters…. (Isaiah 49:10)
This is the symbolic meaning of the Lamb’s wiping away every tear from their eyes because we are told in verse 14 above that they are “ones who are coming out of the great tribulation,” which means, symbolically, that they are people who have undergone temptations or trials, and have fought against evils (no. 377). And people who after that are not caught up in battles against evils are people surrounded by goods and truths and thus by heavenly joys.
The following passage in Isaiah has a similar symbolic meaning:
He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord Jehovih will wipe away tears from all faces…. Then they will say in that day: “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, to set us free. This is Jehovah, for whom we have waited; we will rejoice and be glad in His salvation.” (Isaiah 25:8, 9)
———-
When I once looked about in the spiritual world, I heard what sounded like the gnashing of teeth, and like a thumping, too, intermixed with a harsh noise. So I asked what I was hearing, and the angels who were with me said, “There are clubs, which we call taverns, where people argue with each other. This is the way their debates sound at a distance, but close by they sound only like arguments.
I went over and saw cottages constructed of interwoven rushes, with clay for mortar. I wanted to look through a window, but there wasn’t one. I looked for a window because I was not permitted to enter through the door, as light from heaven would then flow in and befuddle the people.
Suddenly, however, a window materialized on the right side, and I heard the people complain then that everything had gone dark. But shortly a window materialized on the left side, with the window on the right side closing, and then the darkness was by degrees dispelled, and they saw each other in a state of light. After that I was allowed to enter through the door and listen.
There was a table in the middle of the room, with benches surrounding it, yet the people all seemed to me to be standing on the benches, and to be arguing sharply with each other about faith and charity, the people on one side saying that faith was the principal tenet of the church, and on the other side that charity was.
Those who made faith the principal tenet said, “Do we not deal with God as regards faith, and with people as regards charity? Is not faith therefore something heavenly, and charity something earthly? Are we not saved by what is heavenly, and not by anything earthly?
“Furthermore, cannot God confer faith from heaven, because it is something heavenly, and must not a person confer on himself charity, because it is something earthly? What a person confers on himself is unrelated to the church and is therefore not saving. Can works that are called works of charity justify anyone in that case before God?
“Believe us when we say that by faith alone we are not only justified but also sanctified, provided our faith is not contaminated by hopes for merit that spring up from works of charity.”
And so on.
[2] In reply, the people who made charity the principal tenet of the church sharply refuted them, saying that charity is saving, and not faith. “Does not God hold all people dear and will good to all? How can God do this except through the agency of people? Does God enable people to speak with one another only about matters having to do with faith, and not enable them to do things for one another that are matters of charity?
“Do you not see how absurdly you spoke about charity, saying that it is something earthly? Charity is something heavenly, and because you do not do the good pertaining to charity, your faith is earthly. How do you receive faith other than as a log or rock? You say that it is simply by hearing the Word, but how can the Word do anything simply by being heard, and how can it have any effect on a log or rock? Perhaps you are animated without being aware of it. However, what is that animation except to enable you to say that faith alone is saving? Yet what that faith is, and what saving faith is, you do not know.”
[3] But one among them then arose, whom an angel speaking with me called a syncretist.* He took the cap from his head and placed it on the table, but quickly replaced it, as he was bald. He said, “Listen, you are all wrong. The truth is that faith is spiritual, and charity moral; but still they are conjoined, and they are conjoined by the Word, by the Holy Spirit, and by the effect these have, without the person’s knowing. Indeed, the person may be said to be a compliant form, but one in which the person has no part.
“I have thought to myself a long time about this, and I eventually found that God can enable a person to receive a faith that is spiritual, but cannot move him to a charity that is spiritual without his being like a pillar of salt.”
[4] When he said this, the people caught up in faith alone applauded, while those espousing charity booed. And the latter said with annoyance, “Listen, my friend, you do not know that a moral life can be spiritual, and that it can be merely natural – being a moral life that is spiritual in the case of people who do good from the Lord, though doing it as if of themselves, and being a moral life that is merely natural in the case of people who do good from hell, though doing it as if of themselves.”
[5] I said before that the arguing sounded like the gnashing of teeth, and like a thumping, too, intermixed with a harsh noise. The particular arguing that sounded like the gnashing of teeth came from those who were espousing faith alone; the arguing that sounded like a thumping came from those who were espousing charity alone; and the intermixed harsh noise came from the syncretist. I heard their voices at a distance thus because they had all argued in the world, but did not refrain from any evil and so did not do any moral good that was spiritual. Moreover, they also did not know at all that the totality of faith is truth, and that the totality of charity is goodness, and that truth without goodness is not truth in spirit, and that goodness without truth is not goodness in spirit; thus that one must form the other.
The reason everything became dark when a window materialized on the right side is that light flowing in from heaven on that side affects the will. And a state of light returned when the window on the right side closed and a window materialized on the left side, because light flowing in from heaven on the left side affects the intellect, and everyone can be in the light of heaven as regards his intellect, provided his will is closed as regards the evil in him.
* An espouser of syncretism, a system of belief that attempts to reconcile differing religious and philosophic positions. The term was applied especially to the views of George Calixtus, a Lutheran theologian in the 17th century, and to his followers.
1 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. 3 Then another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and he was given much incense, that he should offer it for the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense for the prayers of the saints ascended before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were voices, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. 6 And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
7 The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were cast down to the earth, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
8 Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 9 And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it was made bitter.
12 Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, and a third of them was darkened, so that a third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. 13 And I looked, and I heard an angel flying in the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
This chapter has as its subject the church of the Protestant Reformed and what the people are like in it who are caught up in faith alone. It describes the preparation of the spiritual heaven for communication with them (verses 1-6); the examination and disclosure of those there who are immersed in the interior elements of that faith (verse 7), and of those who are immersed in its exterior elements (verses 8, 9); and what they are like as regards their understanding of the Word (verses 10, 11), showing that they are caught up in falsities and their accompanying evils (verses 12, 13).
The Contents of the Individual Verses
1 When He opened the seventh seal,
An examination by the Lord of the state of the church and consequent life of people who are in His spiritual kingdom – people who are governed by charity and its accompanying faith – here people caught up in faith alone.
there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
Angels from the Lord’s spiritual kingdom were quite dumbfounded when they saw people who claimed to have faith to be in the state they were.
2 And I saw the seven angels who stood before God,
The entire spiritual heaven in the Lord’s presence, hearing and doing whatever He commanded.
and to them were given seven trumpets.
An examination and exposure of the state of the church and consequent life of people caught up in faith alone.
3 Then another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer,
Spiritual worship, which originates from the goodness of charity expressed through truths of faith.
and he was given much incense, that he should offer it for the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
A propitiation, lest angels of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom be harmed by the spirits of the satanic kingdom situated below.
4 And the smoke of the incense for the prayers of the saints ascended before God from the angel’s hand.
Their protection by the Lord.
5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth.
Spiritual love, containing celestial love, and its influx into the lower regions where those people were who were caught up in a faith divorced from charity.
And there were voices, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.
After a communication with them was opened, the angels heard reasonings about faith alone and arguments in support of it.
6 And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
Their being prepared and ready to examine the state of the church and consequent life in people for whom religion is faith alone.
7 The first angel sounded:
An examination and disclosure of the state of life and its character in people caught up interiorly in that faith.
And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood,
Falsity springing from a hellish love, destroying goodness and truth and falsifying the Word.
and they were cast down to the earth, and a third of the trees were burned up,
In such people all affection for truth and perception of truth, which make a person a person of the church, had perished,
and all green grass was burned up.
and thus every constituent of faith having life.
8 Then the second angel sounded:
An examination and disclosure of the state of the church and its character in people caught up externally in that faith.
And something like a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea,
The appearance of a hellish love in them.
and a third of the sea became blood.
General truths had all been falsified in them.
9 And a third of the living creatures in the sea died,
Those who had lived that faith and continued to live it could not be reformed and receive life.
and a third of the ships were destroyed.
Concepts of goodness and truth from the Word that are serviceable for application to life, in them had all been destroyed.
10 Then the third angel sounded:
An examination and disclosure of the state of the church in people for whom religion is faith alone as regards their affection for truths from the Word and reception of them.
And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch,
The appearance of their personal intelligence owing to a conceit arising from a hellish love.
and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.
Consequently all the Word’s truths had been completely falsified.
11 The name of the star is Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood,
Hellish falsity, the origin of their personal intelligence, by which they had falsified all the Word’s truths.
and many people died from the water, because it was made bitter.
The extinction of spiritual life because of the falsification of the Word’s truths.
12 Then the fourth angel sounded:
An examination and disclosure of the state of the church in people for whom religion is faith alone, that they are caught up in the evils accompanying falsity and in the falsities accompanying evil.
And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, and a third of them was darkened,
Because of their evils springing from falsities and their falsities springing from evils, they did not know what love is, or what faith is, or any truth.
so that a third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.
They no longer have in them any spiritual truth or natural truth from the Word serviceable for doctrine and life.
13 And I looked, and I heard an angel flying in the midst of heaven,
Instruction and prediction from the Lord.
saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”
The utmost lamentation over the state of damnation of people in the church who in doctrine and life have confirmed themselves in a faith divorced from charity.
THE EXPOSITION
The whole of heaven has been divided into two kingdoms – the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. The celestial kingdom consists of people who are governed by love toward the Lord and its accompanying wisdom; and the spiritual kingdom consists of people who are governed by love for the neighbor and its accompanying intelligence. But because love for the neighbor is today called charity, and intelligence faith, this latter kingdom consists of people who are governed by charity and its accompanying faith.
Now because heaven has been divided into two kingdoms, hell also has been divided into two kingdoms opposite to these – the diabolical kingdom and the satanic kingdom. The diabolical kingdom consists of people who are governed by a love of ruling stemming from a love of self and by its accompanying foolishness, for that love is the opposite of celestial love, and its foolishness is the opposite of celestial wisdom. The satanic kingdom, on the other hand, consists of people who are governed by a love of ruling from a conceit in their own intelligence and by its accompanying irrationality, for that love is the opposite of spiritual love, and its irrationality is the opposite of spiritual intelligence.
By foolishness and irrationality we mean foolishness and irrationality in celestial and spiritual matters.
What we have said about heaven is to be understood to apply likewise to the church on earth, for the two are inseparable.
Regarding these two kingdoms, see the book, Heaven and Hell, published in London, nos. 20-28, and many other numbers elsewhere.
[2] Now because the book of Revelation has as its sole subject the state of the church at its end, as we said in the Preface and in no. 2, therefore from this point on it deals with the inhabitants of the two kingdoms of heaven and the inhabitants of the two kingdoms of hell, and their character: with the inhabitants of the spiritual kingdom and of the satanic kingdom opposite to that kingdom, from chapter eight here to chapter sixteen, and with the inhabitants of the celestial kingdom and of the diabolical kingdom opposite to it in chapters seventeen and eighteen. After that it describes the Last Judgment, and finally the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem. This concludes everything that precedes, because it is to this end that they looked.
Here and there in the Word we find mention of the devil and Satan, and both mean hell. Each is mentioned because all the inhabitants in one hell are called devils, and all in the other hell, satanic spirits.
That this is the symbolic meaning can be seen from the particulars of this chapter, understood in its spiritual sense. For the spiritual sense in this chapter and in those that follow up to chapter sixteen deals with the inhabitants of His spiritual kingdom, who, as we said just above in no. 387, are people governed by love for the neighbor and its accompanying intelligence. But because love for the neighbor is today called charity, and intelligence is called faith, and because the examination here does not fall on people governed by charity and its accompanying faith, as these are qualities belonging to people who are in heaven, therefore the examination is one that falls on people caught up in faith alone.
Faith alone is also faith divorced from charity, because there is no conjunction of the two (see no. 417 below).
To be shown that opening a seal symbolizes an examination of the state of life, or to say the same thing, an examination of the state of the church and the consequent life, see nos. 295, 302, 309, 317, 324 above.
The silence in heaven means nothing else than an astonishment there over people who claim to have faith and yet are in such a state. For their state is described in the following verses, and their character can be seen from the explanations given.
Half an hour means, symbolically, much or quite, because an hour symbolizes a completed state.
That time symbolizes state is something that will be seen below.
The seven angels symbolize the whole of heaven because the number seven means, symbolically, all people or all things, and thus the whole or entirety (no. 10), and angels in the highest sense symbolize the Lord, and in a relative sense, heaven (nos. 5, 65, 342, 344) – here the spiritual heaven, as can be seen from what we said above in nos. 387, 388. To be shown that standing before God means, symbolically, to hear and do what He commands, see no. 366 above.
Trumpets here have the same symbolism as sounding, because the angels used them to produce the sound, and to sound with trumpets means, symbolically, to call together for ceremonial occasions, of which there were a variety. Here it means to examine and expose what people caught up in faith alone are like, thus what people of the Protestant Reformed churches are like today.
It should be known that the church in the Protestant Reformed world today is divided into three branches, originating from three leaders, namely Luther, Calvin, and Melanchthon; and although these three branches differ on various points, they all agree on this one, that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law – a remarkable circumstance.
That sounding with trumpets means, symbolically, to call together will be seen in no. 397 below.
The altar at which the angel stood, and the golden censer that he had in his hand, symbolize worship of the Lord springing from a spiritual love, which is worship that originates from the goodness of charity expressed through truths of faith.
The children of Israel had two altars, one outside the Tabernacle, the other inside the Tabernacle. The altar outside the Tabernacle was called the altar of burnt offering, because burnt offerings and other sacrifices were presented on it. The altar inside the Tabernacle was called the altar of incense, and also the golden altar.
They had these two altars because worship of the Lord originates from celestial love and from spiritual love – from celestial love in the case of angels in His celestial kingdom, and from spiritual love in the case of angels in His spiritual kingdom. Regarding these two kingdoms, see no. 387 above.
Regarding the two altars, see the following passages in the books of Moses: On the altar of burnt offering, Exodus 20:24-26, 27:1-8, 29:36-43, Leviticus 6:8-12, 8:11, 16:18, 19, 33, 34. On the altar of incense, Exodus 30:1-10, 31:8, 37:25-29, 40:5, 26, Numbers 7:1.
John saw altars, censers, and the burning of incense, not because things of that kind are found in heaven. They were simply images representative of the worship of the Lord there. John saw them because such things were instituted among the children of Israel, and are often mentioned, therefore, in the Word. Moreover that church was a representational church, for every aspect of their worship was representative, and therefore those things now symbolize the Lord’s Divinely given celestial and spiritual elements which are connected with His church in heaven and on earth.
[2] These same things are therefore symbolically meant in the Word by these two altars in the following places:
Send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me…to Your habitations. Then I will go to the altar of God, to God…. (Psalm 43:3, 4)
I wash my hands in innocence, and go around your altar, O Jehovah, and I will make to be heard the voice of confession…. (Psalm 26:6, 7)
The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron…on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of your altars…. (Jeremiah 17:1, 2)
God is Jehovah, who gives us light; bind the festal sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. (Psalm 118:27)
In that day there will be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt…. (Isaiah 19:19)
An altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt symbolizes worship of the Lord originating from love in the natural person.
The thistle and thorn shall rise up on their altars. (Hosea 10:8)
These symbolize worship originating from evils and from the falsities accompanying evil.
See also elsewhere, such as Isaiah 27:9, 56:6, 7, 60:7; Lamentations 2:7; Ezekiel 6:4-6, 13; Hosea 8:11, 10:1, 2; Amos 3:14; Psalm 51:18, 19, 84:2-4; Matthew 5:23, 24, 23:18-20.
[3] Since an altar represented and so symbolized worship of the Lord, it is apparent that the altar here in the book of Revelation has no other meaning, and so, too, elsewhere. As for example:
…I saw under the altar the souls of those slain for the Word of God…. (Revelation 6:9)
…the angel stood and said, “…measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it.” (Revelation 11:1)
…I heard another (angel) from the altar saying, “…true and just are Your judgments.” (Revelation 16:7)
Since representative worship was carried out principally upon the two altars, and since it was abolished by the Lord when He came into the world because He laid open the inner qualities of a church, we are accordingly told in Isaiah,
In that day a man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will regard the Holy One of Israel, and….not…to the altars, the work of his hands. (Isaiah 17:7, 8)
The incense and golden altar symbolize worship of the Lord springing from a spiritual love (nos. 277, 392). Prayers symbolize those expressions of charity and so of faith that are found in worship (no. 278). And saints mean people who are of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, while the just or righteous are those of His celestial kingdom (no. 173). It can be seen from this that people in the Lord’s spiritual kingdom are the subject here.
The much incense here, given for the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar, symbolizes a propitiation lest the angels be harmed by the spirits of the satanic kingdom situated below, because incense was used for propitiations and expiations, especially when dangers threatened – as can be seen from the following:
When the congregation murmured against Moses and Aaron and they suffered a plague, Aaron took fire from the altar, put incense in the censer, and ran between the living and the dead to make atonement, and the plague was stopped. (Numbers 16:42-50)
The altar of incense also was placed in the Tabernacle in front of the mercy seat upon the ark, and incense was offered on it every morning when they trimmed the lamps. (Exodus 30:1-10)
Moreover, Aaron was commanded to offer incense whenever he entered inside the veil, and a cloud of incense would cover the mercy seat, lest he die. (Leviticus 16:11-13)
It can be seen from this that in the representational Israelite Church, propitiations were made with the burning of incense. So, too, here, lest the angels be harmed by the satanic spirits living below.
The smoke of incense ascending before God symbolizes something accepted and pleasing. Therefore David says similarly,
Let my prayers be accepted as incense before You. (Psalm 141:2)
That was because the smoke of incense was fragrant owing to the aromatic substances of which incense was composed – stacte, onycha, galbanum, and frankincense (Exodus 30:34). Moreover, the fragrances of these aromatic substances correspond to qualities connected with spiritual love, or with charity and the attendant faith. In heaven, indeed, angels experience the most fragrant aromas corresponding to their perceptions arising from their love. Consequently we also read in many places in the Word that Jehovah smelled a sweet odor.*
That this symbolizes protection by the Lord follows from what we said just above in no. 393.
* See Genesis 8:21. Exodus 29:18, 25, 41. Leviticus 1:9, 13, 17, 2:2, 9, 12, 3:5, 16, 4:31, 6:15, 21, 8:21, 28, 17:6, 23:13, 18. Numbers 15:3, 7, 10, 13, 14, 24, 18:17, 28:2, 6, 8, 13, 24, 27, 29:2, 6, 8, 13, 36. Psalm 66:15. Ezekiel 20:28, 41. Literally, a restful odor.
A censer, just like incense, symbolizes worship springing from a spiritual love. This is apparent from what we have already shown, and from the fact that in the Word, a container has the same symbolism as what it contains, even as a cup and plate have the same symbolism as wine and food (Matthew 23:25, 26, Luke 22:20, and elsewhere).
Fire from the altar of burnt offering symbolizes Divinely given celestial love, because that altar symbolized worship springing from that love (see no. 392 above). And fire in the highest sense symbolizes Divine love (no. 494).
Spiritual love, or charity, takes its essence from celestial love, or love toward the Lord. Apart from that love, spiritual love or charity has in it no vitality, for spirit and life have no other origin than the Lord.
This was represented in the Israelite Church by their taking fire for their censers and burning incense only from the altar of burnt offering, as can be seen in the books of Moses (Leviticus 16:12, 13, Numbers 16:46, 47), and from the fact that two of Aaron’s sons were consumed by fire from heaven because they burnt incense using strange fire, that is, fire not taken from the altar (Leviticus 10:1, 2).
It was also a statute, therefore, that fire burn continually on the altar of burnt offering and not go out (Leviticus 6:13). The reason was that the fire of that altar symbolized the Lord’s Divine love, and thus love toward the Lord.
Throwing the censer to the earth symbolizes an influx into lower regions.
Lightnings, thunderings and voices symbolize states of enlightenment, perception, and instruction following an influx from heaven, as can be seen in no. 236 above. Here, however – in reference to people caught up in faith alone, who had no enlightenment, perception or instruction by virtue of an influx from heaven – the voices, thunderings and lightnings symbolize reasonings about faith alone, and arguments and proofs in support of it.
Earthquakes symbolize changes in the state of the church (no. 331), here that the state of the church among those below was perceived as heading for destruction. For earthquakes occur in the world of spirits when the state of the church in its societies is corrupted and turned upside down.
The angel threw the censer to the earth before the seven angels began to sound with their trumpets, in order that the influx might open a communication between the angels in the spiritual heaven and the spirits below who were caught up in faith alone. It was owing to that communication that reasonings about that faith arose, and proofs in support of it, and these were also audible and perceptible. That is why we say that after the communication was opened, the angels heard and perceived them.
The symbolism of trumpets follows from the statute governing their use among the children of Israel, which Moses describes in this way: Jehovah told Moses to make silver trumpets for summoning the assembly and for the setting out of the camps, and they were also to sound them on days of celebration, feasts, new moons, and over burnt offerings and sacrifices. Furthermore, when they went to war against enemies oppressing them, they were to sound an alarm with the trumpets, and then they would come into remembrance before Jehovah God and be saved from their enemies. (Numbers 10:1-10)
It can be seen from this what sounding with trumpets symbolizes. Here, that the seven angels sounding symbolizes an examination and exposure of the state of the church and its character among people for whom religion is faith alone, as is apparent from the particulars in this chapter and from the particulars in the following chapters up to chapter 16 inclusive, understood in their spiritual sense.
[2] From the ways trumpets were used among the children of Israel it can also be seen what trumpets and sounding them symbolize in the following places:
Sound a trumpet in Zion, and sound it in My holy mountain! …For the day of Jehovah is coming…. (Joel 2:1, 2)
Jehovah will be seen over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning; and the Lord Jehovih will sound the ram’s horn…. (Zechariah 9:14)
Jehovah shall go forth like a lion… (and) sound an alarm…. (Isaiah 42:13)
…on that day a great ram’s horn will be sounded, and those who perish in the land of Assyria, and those who are exiled in the land of Egypt, will come and bow themselves to Jehovah on the holy mountain…. (Isaiah 27:13)
He will send His angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:31)
Blessed are the people who know the trumpet’s sound! They walk, O Jehovah, in the light of Your countenance. (Psalm 89:15)
When the morning stars sing together, and…the sons of God sound the trumpet. (Job 38:7)
[3] Since the soundings of trumpets had these symbolic meanings, and in the Israelite Church everything was presented concretely in accordance with correspondences and the consequent symbolism, therefore it also came to pass, when Jehovah descended upon Mount Sinai, that there were voices and lightnings and a thick cloud, and the sound of a ram’s horn, loud, with the sound of the ram’s horn growing and becoming louder and louder, so that the people in the camp trembled greatly. (Exodus 19:16-25)
Therefore it also came to pass that when the three hundred men with Gideon sounded their ram’s horns in the campaign against Midian, then every Midianite man’s sword was set against his companion and they fled (Judges 7:16-22). Likewise that twelve thousand of the children of Israel with holy vessels and trumpets in their hands overcame Midian (Numbers 31:1-8). Also that the wall of Jericho fell after seven priests with seven ram’s horns went around the city seven times (Joshua 6:1-20).
Therefore we read in Jeremiah:
Sound against (Babylon) all around…, her walls are thrown down. (Jeremiah 50:15)
And in Zephaniah:
…a day of darkness and blackness…, a day of ram’s horn and its sounding against the fortified cities…. (Zephaniah 1:15, 16)
To sound a trumpet means, symbolically, to examine and expose (no. 397). The sounding of the first angel means an examination and exposure of the state of the church among people caught up interiorly in that faith, because it produced its effect on the earth, as said next, and the sounding of the second angel produced its effect on the sea; and throughout the book of Revelation, when both earth and sea are mentioned, the whole church is meant – the earth meaning the church composed of people concerned with its internal elements, and the sea meaning the church composed of people concerned with its external ones. For the church is internal and external – internal in the case of the clergy, external in the laity, or internal in the case of people who study its doctrines interiorly and defend them by the Word, and external in the case of people who do not do that.
[2] Both kinds of people are meant by the earth and the sea in the following places in the book of Revelation:
…that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea…. (Revelation 7:1)
Do not harm the earth or the sea…. (Revelation 7:3)
(The angel coming down from heaven) set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the earth. (Revelation 10:2, cf. 10:5, 6)
I saw a beast rising up out of the sea…and another beast coming up out of the earth…. (Revelation 13:1, 11)
Worship (God) who made heaven, the earth, and the sea…. (Revelation 14:7)
(The first angel) poured out his bowl upon the earth…. Then the second angel poured out his…on the sea…. (Revelation 16:2, 3)
Earth and sea symbolize the internal and external church, thus the whole church, because people in the spiritual world who are concerned with the internal elements of the church appear to live on dry land, while people who are concerned with its external elements are seemingly at sea, although the seas are appearances caused by the general truths which they possess.
To be shown that the earth symbolizes the church, see no. 285. And that the world does, too, no. 551.
Hail symbolizes falsity destroying goodness and truth. Fire symbolizes hellish love. And blood symbolizes the falsification of truth.
The reason that hail symbolizes falsity destroying goodness and truth will be seen below. To be shown that fire is love in both senses, heavenly and hellish, see no. 468; and that blood is the Lord’s Divine truth, which is also the Word, and in an opposite sense, the Word falsified, no. 379.
When these are assembled into a single meaning, it is apparent that “hail and fire followed, mingled with blood,” symbolizes falsity springing from a hellish love, destroying goodness and truth and falsifying the Word.
This is the symbolic meaning because these are the kinds of things that appear in the spiritual world when the atmosphere of the Lord’s Divine love and wisdom dips down from heaven into societies where there are falsities springing from hellish love and these are used to falsify the Word.
[2] Hail and fire together have the same symbolism in the following places:
From the brightness before Him, …clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire…. …the Most High uttered His voice, hailstones and coals of fire. And He sent out His (many) arrows and scattered them…. (Psalm 18:12-14)
I will dispute…with pestilence and blood, and I will rain down on (them)…hailstones, fire, and brimstone. (Ezekiel 38:22)
Then Jehovah will cause His…voice to be heard…, with the flame of a devouring fire…and hailstones. (Isaiah 30:30)
He made their rain hail, a flaming fire in their land…, and splintered the trees of their border. (Psalm 105:32, 33)
He smote their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with heavy hail, and…their cattle with burning coals…. He sent in the wrath of His anger…an incursion of evil angels. (Psalm 78:47-49)
The latter passages refer to Egypt, of whom we read in the books of Moses the following:
Moses stretched out his rod…and Jehovah sent voices and hail…. And there was hail and fire together proceeding in the midst of heavy hail…. And the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field. (Exodus 9:23-35)
All the miracles done in Egypt symbolized those evils and falsities, springing from a hellish love, that existed in the Egyptians, each miracle symbolizing some evil and falsity. For the church with them had been representational, as it was in many Asiatic kingdoms, but one that became idolatrous and given to sorcery. The Red Sea symbolizes hell, in which the Egyptians finally perished.
[3] The hailstones which killed many more of the enemy than the sword in Joshua 10:11 have a similar symbolism. So, too, hail in the following passages:
Woe to the crown of pride…. …strong is the Lord, like an inundation of hail…. The hail overturns the refuge of lies…. (Isaiah 28:1, 2, 17)
It will hail until it flattens the forest…. (Isaiah 32:19)
The temple of God was opened in heaven…, and there were lightnings, voices, and thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail. (Revelation 11:19)
And great hail with the weight of a talent fell from heaven upon men. (Revelation 16:21)
…have you seen the treasuries of hail, which have been reserved…for the day of battle and war? (Job 38:22, 23)
Say to those who plaster the unsuitable that it will fall. There will be flooding rain, in which you, hailstones, shall fall. (Ezekiel 13:11)
To plaster the unsuitable is to defend falsity so that it appears as true. Consequently people who do this are called hailstones.
To be shown that the earth to which the hail and fire mingled with blood were cast down symbolizes the church among people concerned with its internal elements and caught up in faith alone, and that these are the clergy, see no. 398 above. A third part symbolizes everything in relation to truth, as a fourth part symbolizes everything in relation to goodness (no. 322). That the number three symbolizes all, completeness, and totally, will be seen in no. 505 below. A third part or a third consequently has the same symbolism.
To be burned up means, symbolically, to perish – in this case to perish by falsity springing from a hellish love, which is what is meant by hail and fire mingled with blood, as just explained in no. 399 above.
A tree symbolizes a person. And because a person is human by virtue of the affection of his will and the perception of his intellect, these also are therefore symbolized by a tree.
There is as well a correspondence between a person and a tree. Consequently in heaven one sees paradisal parks formed of trees that correspond to the affections and resulting perceptions of angels. And elsewhere, in hell, there are forests formed of trees that bear harmful fruit, in accordance with their correspondence to the lusts and resulting thoughts of the inhabitants there.
That trees in general symbolize people in respect to their affections and consequently perceptions can be seen from the following passages:
All the trees of the field shall know that I, Jehovah, bring low the tall tree and raise up the low tree, and dry up the green tree and make the dry tree burgeon. (Ezekiel 17:24)
Blessed is the man who trusts in Jehovah…. He shall be like a tree planted by the waters…. Nor will He cease from bearing fruit. (Jeremiah 17:7, 8)
Blessed is the man…(whose) delight is in the law…. He shall be like a tree planted by rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season…. (Psalm 1:1-3)
Praise Jehovah…you fruitful trees…. (Psalm 148:7-9)
Satiated are the trees of Jehovah…. (Psalm 104:16)
…the ax is laid to the root of the tree…. …every tree which does not bear good fruit will be cut down…. (Matthew 3:10; cf. 7:16-20)
Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree rotten and its fruit rotten; for a tree is known by its fruit. (Matthew 12:33, cf. Luke 6:43, 44)
…I will kindle a fire…, (which) shall devour every green tree and every dry tree…. (Ezekiel 20:47)
Since a tree symbolizes a person, therefore it was a statute that the fruit of a tree serving for food in the land of Canaan be uncircumcised (Leviticus 19:23-25). Furthermore, that when the people besieged a city, they not take an axe to any tree bearing good fruit (Deuteronomy 20:19, 20). And so, too, that during the feast of tabernacles, they take the fruits of a fine tree and rejoice before Jehovah (Leviticus 23:40, 41). And still other regulations, which we do not cite here owing to their number.
To be burned up means, symbolically, to perish, as said just above in no. 400.
Green grass, in the Word, symbolizes the goodness and truth of the church or faith that is born first in the natural self. It has the same symbolic meaning as “the herb of the field.”* And because faith has life owing to goodness and truth, therefore “all green grass was burned up” means, symbolically, that every constituent of faith having life had perished. Every constituent of faith having life perishes, moreover, when there is no affection for goodness or perception of truth, as said just above.
Grass has this symbolic meaning also because of its correspondence. Consequently, people who separate faith from charity, not only in doctrine by also in life, in the spiritual world live in a desert where there is no grass.
Since a fruit tree symbolizes a person in respect to his affections for goodness and perceptions of truth, so green grass symbolizes a person in respect to that constituent of the church that is first conceived in him and also given birth, while grass that is not green symbolizes that constituent now perished.
In general, everything found in gardens, forests, fields and plains symbolizes a person in respect to some constituent of the church, or to say the same thing, some constituent of the church in him. That is because they correspond. That this is true of grass can be seen from the following passages:
A voice said, “Cry out!” And he said, “What shall I cry?”
“All flesh is grass…. The grass withered, and the flower faded, because the wind…blew upon it. Truly the people are grass. The grass withered, and the flower faded, but the Word of our God shall stand forever. (Isaiah 40:6-8)
Their inhabitants…became the herb of the field, tender grass, the grass on the housetops, and a field scorched before the standing grain. (Isaiah 37:27, 2 Kings 19:26)
…I will pour…My blessing on your offspring; they will spring up among the grass…. (Isaiah 44:3, 4)
Also elsewhere, as Isaiah 51:12, Psalm 37:2, 103:15, 129:6, Deuteronomy 32:2.
That a green plant or something green symbolizes something living or alive is apparent in Jeremiah 17:8, 11:16; Ezekiel 17:24, 20:47; Hosea 14:8; Psalm 37:35, 52:8, 92:10.
The same thing said here in the book of Revelation came to pass in Egypt, namely that by hail and fire mingled, every tree and every herb of the field were burned up (Exodus 9:22-35, Psalm 78:47, 48, 105:32, 33).
* Genesis 2:5, 3:18. Exodus 9:22, 25.
To be shown that to sound a trumpet means, symbolically, to examine and disclose the state of the church and so of the life in people for whom religion is faith alone, see no. 397 above.
What is said here concerns people caught up externally in that faith because the subject now is people who are at sea, whereas previously it was people upon the earth; and those on the earth mean people concerned with the internal elements of the church, namely the clergy, while those at sea mean people concerned with the external elements of the church, namely the laity (see no. 398 above).
These people in the spiritual world are seemingly at sea (nos. 238, 290).
The sea symbolizes the church in people concerned with its external elements and caught up in faith alone; and people concerned with its external elements are in common speech termed the laity, because those concerned with its internal elements are called the clergy (no. 398, 402). A mountain symbolizes love (no. 336), and a mountain burning with fire symbolizes hellish love (nos. 494, 599). That is how this love appears in the case of people who are the subject here, for the love appears to emanate from them in the presence of angels. That is because faith alone is faith divorced from charity (no. 388); and where there is no charity, that is, no love for the neighbor, which is a spiritual love, a hellish love exists. An intermediate love is not found except among the lukewarm, who are the subject in Revelation 3:15, 16.
A third means, symbolically, all (no. 400). Blood symbolizes the falsification of the Word’s truth (no. 379). The sea symbolizes the church in people concerned with its external elements and caught up in faith alone (nos. 398, 402). General truths are falsified among such people because they are concerned with those truths alone, as they do not know the particulars of that faith, as the clergy do. It is because of those general truths in them that they appear in the spiritual world to be at sea. That is because waters symbolize truths (no. 50), and the sea is the general receptacle of them (no. 238).
A third symbolizes all such, as said above. Creatures mean people who can be reformed (no. 290). The reason is that to create means, symbolically, to reform (no. 254). Their living means, symbolically, to be able by reformation to receive life. That they died means, symbolically, that people who live that faith alone cannot receive life. They cannot, because people are all reformed by a faith united to charity, thus by a faith accompanying charity, and none by faith alone; for charity is the life of faith.
[2] Since in the spiritual world the affections and consequent perceptions and thoughts of spirits and angels appear at a distance in the forms of animals or creatures on the earth called beasts, of creatures in the air called birds, and of creatures in the sea called fish, therefore the Word so often mentions beasts, birds, and fish, which nevertheless have precisely the meaning stated. So for example in the following places:
…Jehovah has a quarrel with the inhabitants of the land, for there is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God…. And everyone who dwells in it will waste away along with the beast of the field and the bird of the air; even the fish of the sea will be gathered up. (Hosea 4:1, 3)
I will consume man and beast…, the bird of the heavens, the fish of the sea, …the stumbling blocks along with the impious…. (Zephaniah 1:3)
There shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, and the fish of the sea, the bird of the heavens, and the beast of the field…shall tremble before Me. (Ezekiel 38:18-20)
You have made Him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet…the beasts of the fields, the bird of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the path of the seas. (Psalm 8:6-8)
The latter is said of the Lord.
Pray ask the beasts, and they will teach you; or the birds of the air, and they will inform you…; and the fish of the sea will tell you. Who of all these does not know that the hand of Jehovah has done this? (Job 12:7-9)
And in many other places as well.
[3] Fish, moreover, and creatures of the sea, as they are called here, mean the affections and consequent thoughts of such people as are concerned with general truths, and so who take more from a natural source than from a spiritual one. These people are meant by fish in the preceding passages, and also in the following ones:
By My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness; their fish stink…and die of thirst. (Isaiah 50:2)
…the king of Egypt, a great whale, you who lie in the midst of your rivers, you said, “The river is mine; I made myself.”… (Therefore) I will cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales…, and I will leave you in the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers. (Ezekiel 29:3-5)
This was addressed to the king of Egypt, because Egypt symbolizes the natural level divorced from the spiritual one, and so the fish of his rivers mean people governed by doctrines, who because of them are caught up in faith separated from charity, a faith that is simply knowledge.
Because of that separation, moreover, one of the miracles in Egypt was the turning of their waters into blood, so that the fish died (Exodus 7:17-25, Psalm 105:29).
[4] Furthermore:
Why do You make mankind like fish of the sea…? Everyone draws them up with a hook, and gathers them in a net…. (Habakkuk 1:14-16)
Fish here stand for people concerned with general truths and caught up in faith divorced from charity. In contrast, fish stand for people concerned with general truths and governed by a faith conjoined with charity in Ezekiel:
He said to me: “These waters flowing to the eastern boundary…enter the sea, (from which comes) every living soul that creeps…and very much fish…. …fishermen will stand by it…with a spreading of their nets. Its fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many. (Ezekiel 47:1, 8-10)
In Matthew:
(Jesus said,) the kingdom of heaven is like a net cast into the sea, and they gathered (fish)…. And they put the good ones into vessels and threw the bad away. (Matthew 13:47-49)
And in Jeremiah:
I will bring (the children of Israel) back into their land…. And I will send for many fishermen…(who) shall fish them. (Jeremiah 16:15, 16)
[5] Consequently, anyone who knows that fish symbolize people and things of the kind stated, can see the following: Why the Lord chose fishermen to be His disciples, and said,
Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Matthew 4:18, 19, Mark 1:16, 17)
Why the disciples, with the Lord’s blessing, caught a huge multitude of fish, and the Lord said to Peter,
Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men. (Luke 5:2-10)
Why, when they wished to exact tribute from the Lord, He told Peter to go to the sea and draw out a fish, and to give them the coin found in it for Him and for himself (Matthew 16:24-27).
Why, after His resurrection, the Lord gave His disciples fish and bread to eat (John 21:2-13).
And why He told them to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). For the nations they were converting possessed only general truths, and were concerned more with natural things than spiritual ones.
A third means, symbolically, all, as in nos. 400, 404, 405 above. Ships symbolize concepts of goodness and truth from the Word that are serviceable for application to life. Ships have this symbolism because ships travel the sea and bring back the necessities that the natural self needs for its every endeavor, and concepts of goodness and truth are the necessities that the spiritual self needs for its every endeavor. For out of them is formed the doctrine of the church, and in accordance with that a person’s life.
Ships symbolize these concepts because they are vessels, and in many places in the Word a vessel is used to express what it contains, as a cup for wine, a dish for food, the Tabernacle or Temple for the sacred objects in it, the Ark for the Law, altars for worship, and so on.
[2] Ships symbolize concepts of goodness and truth in the following places:
Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore, and serve as a haven for ships…. (Genesis 49:13)
Zebulun means the conjunction of goodness and truth.
Your builders (O Tyre) have perfected your beauty. They made all your planks of fir trees from Senir; they took a cedar from Lebanon to make you a mast. Of oaks from Bashan they made your oars; they made your beam of ivory, your deck of pines from the isles of Kittim…. Inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your oarsmen; your wise men were…your shipmasters…. All the ships of the sea and their sailors were in you to market your merchandise…. Ships of Tarshish were your companies in your commerce, by which you were filled and honored greatly in the midst of the seas. (Ezekiel 27:4-9, 25)
This is said of Tyre, because Tyre in the Word symbolizes the church in respect to its concepts of truth and goodness, as can be seen from the particulars about it in this chapter, and in the following one, chapter 28, understood in its spiritual sense. Moreover, because the church’s concepts of truth and goodness are symbolically meant by Tyre, therefore the ship is described in its various parts, and each part symbolizes some aspect of those concepts leading to intelligence. What does the Word have in common with ships of Tyre and its commerce?
[3] The devastation of that same church is afterward described in the following way:
The common-land will shake at the sound of the cry of your shipmasters, and all who handle the oar will come down from your ships; all the sailors and shipmasters of the sea…because of you will cry bitterly…. (Ezekiel 27:28-30; see also Isaiah 23:14, 15)
The devastation of Babylon is similarly described in respect to all its concepts of truth in the following verses in the book of Revelation:
…in one hour such great riches were devastated. Every shipmaster, and everyone traveling on ships, and sailors…cried out…saying, “Alas, alas, the great city (Babylon), in which all became rich who had ships on the sea….” (Revelation 18:17, 19)
See below for the exposition.
[4] Ships symbolize concepts of truth and goodness also in the following places:
My days have been swift…; they fled away, they saw no good. They passed by with ships of longing…. (Job 9:25, 26)
Those who go down to the sea in ships, doing work on many waters, they see the works of Jehovah, and His wonders in the deep. (Psalm 107:23, 24)
…the coastlands shall trust in Me, and ships of Tarshish will be first to bring your sons from afar…. (Isaiah 60:9)
…the kings assembled…; fear took hold of them…. With an east wind You will break the ships of Tarshish. (Psalm 18:4, 6, 7)
Wail, you ships of Tarshish! (Isaiah 23:1, 14)
And so on elsewhere, as in Numbers 24:24, Judges 5:17, Psalm 104:26, Isaiah 33:21.
That this is the symbolic meaning follows from what now follows when understood in its spiritual sense.
A great star falling from heaven symbolizes the appearance of their personal intelligence owing to a conceit arising from a hellish love, because it appeared to burn like a torch, and because its name was Wormwood, as we are told in the next verse. Both a star and a torch symbolize intelligence, here the people’s personal intelligence, because it appeared to burn, and everyone’s personal intelligence burns with conceit, a conceit that arises from a hellish love, a love symbolized by the mountain burning with fire (no. 403). Wormwood symbolizes hellish falsity, which gives rise to and composes that intelligence.
To be shown that a star symbolizes intelligence, see nos. 151, 954, and that a torch or lamp does also, no. 796.
Rivers symbolize truths in abundance, because waters symbolize truths (no. 50); and springs of water or fountains symbolize the Word (no. 384). The meaning is that the Word’s truths had been completely falsified, because in the next verse we are told that a third of the waters became wormwood, and wormwood symbolizes hellish falsity (no. 410).
[2] That rivers symbolize truths in abundance can be seen from the following passages:
…I am doing a new thing…. …I will give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen. (Isaiah 43:19, 20)
…I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and rivers on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your offspring, and My blessing on your descendants. (Isaiah 44:3)
Then…the tongue of the dumb shall sing; for waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert plain. (Isaiah 35:6)
I will open rivers in the heights, and put fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. (Isaiah 41:18)
(Jehovah) has founded (the world) upon the seas, …established it upon the rivers. (Psalm 24:2)
I will set His hand over the sea, and His right hand on the rivers. (Psalm 89:25)
Was Jehovah angry with the rivers? Was Your anger against the rivers? Was Your wrath against the sea, that You rode on Your horses…? (Habakkuk 3:8)
There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God…. (Psalm 46:4)
He showed me a pure river of water of life…, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. (Revelation 22:1)
He split the rocks in the wilderness, and made the great abysses drink…. …He struck the rock…, and rivers flowed out…. (Psalm 78:15, 16, 20, cf. 105:41)
The waters will fail in the sea, and the river will be…dried up. (Isaiah 19:5-7; cf. 42:15, 50:2, Nahum 1:4, Psalm 107:33, Job 14:11)
(Jesus said, “If anyone comes to Me,) as the Scripture has said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37, 38)
And so, too, elsewhere, such as Isaiah 33:21, Jeremiah 17:7, 8, Ezekiel 31:3, 4, 47:1-12, Joel 3:18, Zechariah 9:10, Psalm 80:11, 93:2-4, 98:7, 8, 110:7, Numbers 24:6, 7, Deuteronomy 8:7.
[3] In an opposite sense, however, rivers symbolize falsities in abundance, as can be seen from the following:
(It) will send ambassadors by sea…to a nation…downtrodden, whose land the rivers have despoiled. (Isaiah 18:2)
If not for Jehovah on our side…, …the waters would have overwhelmed us, (and) the river would have gone over our soul. (Psalm 124:2, 4, 5)
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. (Isaiah 43:2)
The cords of death surrounded me, and the rivers of Belial terrified me. (Psalm 18:5)
(The dragon) spewed water out of its mouth like a river after the woman, that it might cause her to be swallowed up by the stream. (Revelation 12:15)
…behold, Jehovah will cause to rise over them the waters of the river, strong and many…, and it will…overflow and pass through, and reach up to the neck. (Isaiah 8:7, 8)
…the floods came, and…rushed upon that house; and (yet) it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. (Matthew 7:25; cf. 7:27, Luke 6:48, 49)
Rivers here, too, stand for falsities in abundance, because the rock symbolizes the Lord in relation to Divine truth.
Rivers also symbolize temptations or trials, because temptations or trials are inundations of falsities.
The star symbolizes their personal intelligence owing to a conceit arising from a hellish love (no. 408). The name symbolizes its character (nos. 81, 122, 165). Wormwood symbolizes hellish falsity, which we will consider next. Waters symbolize truths (no. 50), here the Word’s truths, because the subject is faith. A third means, symbolically, all, as said before. Gathering these into a single meaning yields the meaning presented above.
As for wormwood, it symbolizes hellish falsity because of its extreme bitterness, which renders foods and beverages unpalatable. Wormwood symbolizes such falsity, therefore, in the following places:
Behold, I feed…this people with wormwood, and will give them water of gall to drink. (Jeremiah 9:14, 15)
…thus says Jehovah…against the prophets: Behold, I feed them with wormwood, and will make them drink water of gall; for from the prophets of Jerusalem hypocrisy has gone out into all the land. (Jeremiah 23:15)
…you turn justice into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood. (Amos 6:12, cf. 5:7)
…that there may not be among you a root bearing gall or wormwood. (Deuteronomy 29:18)
Since the Jewish Church falsified all the Word’s truths, like the church which is the subject here, and the Lord represented it by all the events of His suffering, by permitting the Jews to treat Him as they had the Word, because He embodied the Word, therefore “they gave Him vinegar mingled with gall,” which is like wormwood, “but when He had tasted it, He would not drink” (Matthew 27:34, Mark 15:23, cf. Psalm 69:21).
As that was the character of the Jewish Church, it is therefore described in this way:
He has filled me with bitterness, (and) He has made me drunk on wormwood. (Lamentations 3:15, 19)
“Many people died” symbolizes the extinction of spiritual life, as a person is called living by virtue of the spiritual life in him, and on the other hand is called dead when his natural life is divorced from spiritual life. “From the water, because it was made bitter,” symbolically means, because of the falsification of the Word’s truths. That waters are the Word’s truths may be seen just above in no. 410. Bitterness symbolizes falsification because the bitterness of wormwood is meant, and wormwood symbolizes hellish falsity (no. 410).
[2] Spiritual life, for a Christian, comes only from the Word’s truths, for in them is life. But when the Word’s truths have been falsified, and a person interprets them and views them in accordance with falsities connected with his religion, then the spiritual life in him is extinguished. That is because the Word communicates with heaven. Consequently, when a person reads it, the truths in it ascend into heaven, while the falsities to which truths have been attached or joined lead to hell. As a result the person is torn apart, which extinguishes the Word’s life. This occurs, however, only in the case of people who use the Word to defend falsities, but not in the case of people who do not defend them.
I have seen people thus torn apart, and I have heard coming from them a noise like that of wood in a fireplace split apart by the fire.
[3] Bitterness symbolizes falsification also in the following passages:
Woe to those who speak good of evil, and evil of good…; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20)
They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. (Isaiah 24:9)
Something similar is symbolically meant by the little book eaten, which was sweet in the mouth, but made the stomach bitter (Revelation 10:9, 10). And by the following:
They came to Marah, but they could not drink the waters for their bitterness…. But Jehovah showed him a piece of wood, which he cast into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. (Exodus 15:23-25)
Wood in the Word symbolizes goodness.
Something similar is symbolically meant also by the gourds put into the stew, which caused the company of prophets to cry out, “There is death in the pot!” which Elisha cured by putting in some flour (2 Kings 4:38-41).
Flour symbolizes truth arising from goodness.
That this is the symbolic meaning follows from what follows next, understood in the spiritual sense.
To sound a trumpet here means, symbolically, to examine and expose, as in nos. 398, 402, and 407, above.
A third means, symbolically, all (no. 400). The sun symbolizes love (no. 53). The moon symbolizes intelligence and faith (no. 332). The stars symbolize concepts of truth and goodness from the Word (no. 51). To be darkened means, symbolically, to be unseen and unknown because of evils springing from falsities and falsities springing from evils.
Evils springing from falsities are found in people who adopt falsities having to do with religion and defend them to the point that they appear to be true. Then, when they live in accordance with them, they do evils as a result of the falsities, or the evils of falsity.
On the other hand, falsities springing from evils are found in people who do not regard evils as being sins, and still more in people who employ reasonings issuing from their natural self, and moreover from the Word, to establish in themselves that evils are not sins. Their very arguments are falsities springing from evils, and what we call the falsities of evil.
[2] Darkness symbolizes these falsities because light symbolizes truth, and when the light has been extinguished, darkness is left.
To confirm this we will first cite passages where things similar to those here in the book of Revelation are said regarding the sun, moon and stars, and darkness ensuing upon their being extinguished:
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and terrible day of Jehovah. (Joel 2:31)
…the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be darkened in its rising, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. (Isaiah 13:10, cf. 24:21, 23)
When I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens…, I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. All the luminaries of light in the heavens I will make dark over you, and bring darkness upon your land…. (Ezekiel 32:7, 8)
…the day of Jehovah…is at hand…. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars diminish their brightness. (Joel 2:1, 10)
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven…. (Matthew 24:29, cf. Mark 13:24, 25)
Who, if he elevates his mind, cannot see that in these places it is not the world’s sun, moon and stars that are meant.
[3] That darkness symbolizes falsities of various kinds is clear from these passages:
Woe to you who desire the day of Jehovah! …It will be one of darkness, and not light…. Is not the day of Jehovah darkness and not light? Very dark, without any brightness? (Amos 5:18, 20)
(The day of Jehovah will be) a day of darkness and thick darkness, a day of clouds and overcast…. (Zephaniah 1:15)
In that day…it will look to the land, which, behold, will be darkness…; and the light will grow dark in its ruins. (Isaiah 5:30, cf. 8:22)
…behold, the darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness the peoples. (Isaiah 60:2)
Give glory to Jehovah…before He causes darkness…; you look for light, but He turns it into thick darkness. (Jeremiah 13:16)
We look for light, but there is darkness and no brightness; we walk in thick darkness…. We stumble at noonday as at twilight; among the living we are as dead men. (Isaiah 59:9, 10)
Woe to those…who put darkness for light, and light for darkness. (Isaiah 5:20)
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. (Isaiah 9:2, cf. Matthew 4:16)
…the rising sun from on high (has appeared) to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death…. (Luke 1:78, 79)
If you give your soul to the hungry…, your light shall rise in the darkness, and your thick darkness shall be as the noonday. (Isaiah 58:10)
In that day…the eyes of the blind who are in thick darkness and gloom shall see. (Isaiah 29:18, cf. 42:16, 49:9)
(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 8:12)
Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you…. I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. (John 12:35, 46)
When I sit in darkness, Jehovah is a light to me. (Micah 7:8)
This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness more than light…. (John 3:19, cf. 1:4, 5)
If…the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (Matthew 6:23, cf. Luke 11:34-36)
…this is your hour, and the power of darkness. (Luke 22:53)
Darkness in these places symbolizes falsity arising either from ignorance of truth or from some false tenet of religion, or from a life of evil.
Regarding people caught up in falsities having to do with religion, who are therefore caught up in evils in life, the Lord says that they should be “cast out into outer darkness” (Matthew 8:12, cf. 22:13, 25:30).
The day’s not shining means that they had no light from the sun, and “likewise the night” means that they had no light from the moon and stars. Light in general symbolizes Divine truth, which is truth from the Word. The light of the sun symbolizes spiritual Divine truth, and the light of the moon and stars symbolizes natural Divine truth, both acquired from the Word. Divine truth in the spiritual sense of the Word is like the light of the sun during the day, and Divine truth in the natural sense of the Word is like the light of the moon and stars at night. The spiritual sense of the Word, moreover, flows into its natural sense, as the sun does with its light to the moon, and this reflects the light of the sun indirectly.
In this way also does the spiritual sense of the Word enlighten people, even people who know nothing of that sense, when they read the Word in its natural sense. However, it enlightens a spiritual person as light from the sun does his eye, but a natural person as light from the moon and stars does his eye. Everyone is enlightened in accordance with his spiritual affection for truth and goodness, and at the same time in accordance with the genuine truths by which he has opened his rational faculty.
[2] Day and night also have this meaning in the following places:
God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night….” Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule by day, and the lesser light to rule by night. He made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule by day and by night, and to divide the light from the darkness. (Genesis 1:14-19)
(Jehovah) made great lights…, the sun to rule by day…, the moon and stars to rule by night…. (Psalm 136:7-9)
The day is Yours, (O Jehovah,) the night also is Yours; You have prepared the light and the sun. (Psalm 74:16)
…Jehovah…gives the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night…. (Jeremiah 31:35)
If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, then My covenant also may be broken with David My servant…. If I have not appointed My covenant with day and night, the ordinances of heaven and earth, I also will reject the offspring of Jacob and David…. (Jeremiah 33:20, 21, 25, 26)
I cite these passages to make known that the darkening of both kinds of light is meant.
In the highest sense an angel means the Lord, and so also something from the Lord (no. 344). And to fly in the midst of heaven and speak means, symbolically, to perceive and understand, and when said of the Lord, to foresee and provide (no. 245). But here it means to instruct and predict.
“Woe” symbolizes a lamentation over the evil in someone, and so over his unhappy state. Here it means over the state of damnation of those people who are the subject of the next chapter and later. “Woe, woe, woe,” moreover, symbolizes the utmost lamentation; for tripling it forms a superlative, since three symbolizes all and complete (no. 505).
Inhabitants of the earth mean people who are in a church which has the Word and where by it the Lord is known. To be shown that the earth symbolizes the church, see no. 285 above.
The blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound symbolize the examination and exposure of the state of the church and life in people who in doctrine and life have confirmed themselves in a faith divorced from charity, over whose state the lamentation takes place.
“Woe” symbolizes a lamentation over the present or future calamity, unhappiness, or damnation of various other people in the following:
Woe to you, …Pharisees (and) hypocrites…. (Matthew 23:13-16, 23, 25, 27, 29)
…woe to (the) man by whom (the Son of man) is betrayed! (Luke 22:22)
…woe to him through whom (offenses) do come! (Luke 17:1)
Woe to those who join house to house…. Woe to those who rise early in the morning; they pursue intoxicating drink…. Woe to those who draw to themselves iniquity…. Woe to those who speak…good of evil…. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes…. Woe to men mighty at drinking wine…. (Isaiah 5:8, 11, 18, 20, 21, 22)
And so also in many other places.
———-
I saw in the spiritual world two flocks, one a flock of goats, and the other a flock of sheep. I wondered who they were, since I knew that animals seen in the spiritual world are not really animals, but are correspondent forms of the affections and consequent thoughts of the local inhabitants. Therefore I drew nearer, and as I approached, the likenesses of animals disappeared, and instead of them I saw people. It also became clear that those who formed the flock of goats were people who had confirmed themselves in the doctrine of justification by faith alone, and that those who formed the flock of sheep were people who believed that charity and faith are inseparable, as goodness and truth are inseparable.
[2] I then spoke with those who had looked like goats, and I said, “Why are you gathered together like this?”
They were mostly clergy, who vaunted themselves on account of their reputation for learning, because they knew the arcana of justification by faith alone. They said they had assembled to convene a council, because they had heard that the saying of Paul in Romans 3:28, that “a person is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law,” was not rightly understood, since by deeds of the law Paul meant the deeds prescribed by Mosaic law, which existed for Jews.
“We see this clearly,” they said, “also from Paul’s words to Peter, whom he rebuked for Judaizing, even though Peter knew that no one is justified by the works of the law (Galatians 2:14-16). Moreover, Paul distinguishes between the law of faith and the law of works,* and between Jews and gentiles,** or between circumcision and uncircumcision;*** and by circumcision he means Judaism, as he does everywhere else. He also then concludes with these words: ‘Do we then abolish the law by faith? Not at all. Rather we establish the law.’ He says all of this in one series of verses, in Romans 3:27-31.
“In addition, he says as well in the preceding chapter, ‘not the hearers of the law will be justified in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified’ (Romans 2:13). Furthermore, that God will render to each one according to his deeds (Romans 2:6). And still further, ‘We must all appear before the judgment seat of the Christ, that each one may give an account of the things done in the body…, whether good or evil’ (2 Corinthians 5:10). Not to mention many other statements in Paul’s writing, which make it apparent that Paul rejected faith apart from good works, just as much as James (James 2:17-26).
[3] “That Paul meant the deeds prescribed by Mosaic law, which existed for Jews – this we have further confirmed from the fact that all the statutes for the Jews in the books of Moses are called the Law, being thus works prescribed by the Law, which we see to be so from the following statements:
This is the law of the grain offering. (Leviticus 6:14ff.)
This is the law of the trespass offering…. (Leviticus 7:1, 7)
This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings…. (Leviticus 7:11ff.)
This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering and trespass offering, the consecrations, and the sacrifice of the peace offerings…. (Leviticus 7:37)
This is the law regarding animals and birds…. (Leviticus 11:46f.)
This is the law regarding her who gives birth, to a son or a daughter. (Leviticus 12:7)
This is the law regarding a leprous plague…. (Leviticus 13:59, cf. 14:2, 32, 54, 57)
This is the law regarding one suffering a discharge of fluid…. (Leviticus 15:32)
This is the law regarding jealousness…. (Numbers 5:29, 30)
This is the law for the Nazirite…. (Numbers 6:13, 21)
This is the law (regarding cleanness). (Numbers 19:14)
This is…the law (regarding the red heifer). (Numbers 19:2)
(The law for a king.) (Deuteronomy 17:15-19)
“In fact,” the speakers said, “the whole five books of Moses are called the Book of the Law, in Deuteronomy 31:9, 11, 12, 26, and also in the Gospels, in Luke 2:22, 24:44, and in John 1:45, 7:22, 23, 8:5, and elsewhere.”
To this they added also that they saw in Paul that the law in the Ten Commandments ought to be lived, and that it is fulfilled by charity, which is love for the neighbor (Romans 13:8-10), thus not by faith alone.
They said that this was why they had come together.
[4] In order not to disturb them, however, I withdrew, and at a distance then they looked again like goats, sometimes like ones lying down, and sometimes like ones standing, but turned away from the flock of sheep. They looked like goats lying down when they were deliberating, and like ones standing when they drew conclusions.
But I kept my eyes on their horns, and I was surprised to see that the horns on their foreheads appeared sometimes as though extending forward and upward, and sometimes curving back to the rear, and finally to be completely turned backward. At that they suddenly all turned then to face the flock of sheep, though they looked like goats.
I went over to them again, therefore, and asked what was happening now. They said they had concluded that faith alone produces the goods of charity called good works, as a tree produces fruit.
But then we heard a clap of thunder and saw a flash of lightning from above; and presently an angel appeared, standing between the two flocks, who cried out to the flock of sheep, “Do not listen to them! They have not abandoned their earlier faith, which teaches that God the Father took pity for the sake of the Son. That faith is not faith in the Lord. Nor is faith a tree. Rather a person is a tree. Only repent and turn to the Lord, and you will have faith. Before then faith is not faith having any life in it.”
The goats with their horns turned backward then tried to approach the sheep, but the angel standing between them divided the sheep into two groups and said to those on the left, “Attach yourselves to the goats. But I tell you that a wolf is going to come that will carry them off, and you with them.”
[5] However, after the two groups of sheep had been separated, and those on the left heard the angel’s warning, they looked at each other and said, “Let’s confer with our former comrades.”
So then the group on the left addressed the one on the right, saying, “Why did you leave your pastors? Are not faith and charity inseparable, as a tree and its fruit are inseparable? For a tree continues on through the branch into the fruit. Take away anything from the branch that flows by an unbroken connection into the fruit, and will not the fruit perish? Ask our priests if that is not the case.”
So then they asked, and the priests looked around at the rest, who winked to tell them to speak well. And after that they replied that such was the case. “Faith is preserved by its fruits,” they said. But they would not say that faith is contained in the fruits.
[6] At that one of the priests among the sheep on the right rose and said, “They replied to you that such is the case, but still they tell their own flock that it is not the case, as they think otherwise.”
The group on the right asked, therefore, how those priests think then. “Do they not teach as they think?”
“No,” the priest replied. “They think that every good of charity that is called a good work, that a person does for his salvation or for the sake of eternal life, is not good but evil, because by the work the person is trying of himself to save himself, claiming for himself the righteousness and merit of Him who is the only Savior. And this is the case, they think, with every good work in which a person is conscious of his own will. Consequently among themselves they call good works done by a person of himself not blessings but curses, saying that they merit hell rather than heaven.”
[7] However, those of the group on the left said, “You are telling lies about them. Do they not clearly in our presence preach charity and its works, which they call works of faith?”
But the priest replied, “You do not understand their preaching. Only a clergyman who is present pays attention and understands. They think only of moral charity and its civic and political goods, which they call goods of faith, but which are absolutely not. For an atheist can do the same things in the same way and give them the same appearance. Therefore they unanimously say that no one is saved by any works, but by faith alone.
“But let us illustrate this with analogies. They say that an apple tree produces apples; however, if a person does good deeds for his salvation, as the tree does apples by an unbroken connection, then the apples are rotten inside and full of worms. They say, too, that a grapevine produces grapes; but if a person were to produce spiritual goods as a grapevine does grapes, he would produce wild grapes.”
[8] At that those of the group on the left asked in response, “What then is the nature of their goods of charity or good works, which are the fruits of faith?”
The priest replied that they are unseen, being within a person from the Holy Spirit, of which the person is totally unaware.
Responding, they said, “If a person is totally unaware of them, there must at least be some connection. Otherwise how can they be called works of faith? Perhaps those unfelt goods are then insinuated into the person’s volitional works by some mediating influx, as by some affecting, influencing, inspiring, prodding or spurring of the will, by a silent perception in the thought and a resulting admonition, contrition, and thus conscience, and so by an impulse, an obedience to the Ten Commandments and the Word, either as a little child or as a wise adult, or by some other means like these.”
But the priest replied, “No, they are not. Even if their proponents say that it comes about by such means because good works come about by faith, still they sew these up in their sermons with words whose result is to deny that they originate from faith. Some of them still teach such means, but as signs of faith, and not as its bonds with charity.”
Some of those on the left nevertheless conceived of a connection by means of the Word, and they said, “Is there not thus a connection, that a person acts voluntarily in accord with the Word? “
But the priest replied, “That’s not what they think. Rather they think it is formed simply by hearing the Word, thus not by understanding the Word, lest something enter perceptibly through the intellect into a person’s thought and will. For they assert that everything in a person’s volitional makeup is merit-seeking, and that in spiritual matters a person cannot undertake, will, think, understand, believe, do or cooperate in anything any more than a log.
“Still, however, the case is different with the influx of the Holy Spirit through faith into the discourses of preachers, because these are actions of the mouth and not actions of the body, and because by faith a person acts with God, but by charity with men.”
[9] But when one of those on the left heard that a connection is formed simply by hearing the Word and not by understanding the Word, he said irately, “Is it then by an understanding of the Word gained from the Holy Spirit only, when a person in church turns away or sits as deaf as a post, or when he sleeps, or gained simply from some exhalation from the Word, the book? What could be more absurd?”
After that a man from the group on the right, who excelled the rest in judgment, asked to be heard, and speaking said, “I heard someone say, ‘I have planted a vineyard. Now I will drink wine till I am drunk.’ But someone else said, ‘Will you drink wine from your glass with your right hand?’ And the first one said, ‘No. I will drink it from an unseen glass with an unseen hand.’ So the second one said, ‘Then you surely won’t get drunk!'”
Then the same man said, “Only listen to me, please. I say to you, drink wine from the Word understood. Do you not know that the Lord embodies the Word? Does the Word not come from the Lord? Is He not therefore present in it? If then you do good in obedience to the Word, do you not do it from the Lord, in obedience to His utterance and will? And if you then look to the Lord, He Himself also will lead you and do the good, and do it through you, so that you do it as though of yourself. Who can say, if he does something for a king, in obedience to his utterance and will, ‘I do this of myself, in compliance with my own utterance or command, by my own will?'”
Following that the priest turned to the clergy and said, “Ministers of God, do not lead the flock astray!”
[10] Hearing this, a large majority of the group on the left went back and joined the group on the right. Some of the clergy also then said, “We have heard something we have not heard before. We are pastors. We will not abandon the sheep.” And they went back with them and said, “That man spoke a true word. Who can say, if he acts in obedience to the Word, thus from the Lord, in obedience to His utterance and will, ‘I do this of myself’? Who says, if he does something for a king, in obedience to his utterance and will, ‘I am doing this of myself’?
“We see now the Divine providence in why the conjunction of faith and works acknowledged by the ecclesiastical body has not been found. It could not be found, because it cannot be imparted; for that faith is not faith in the Lord who embodies the Word, and so is not a faith derived from the Word.”
But the rest of the priests went away, and waving their caps they cried, “Faith alone, faith alone! It will yet survive!”
* Romans 3:27.
** Romans 3:29, 9:24. Galatians 2:14, 15.
*** Romans 2:25-27, 3:30, 4:9, 10. 1 Corinthians 7:18, 19. Galatians 2:7, 5:6, 6:15. Ephesians 2:11. Colossians 2:13, 3:11.
1 Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth, and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And it was given them not to kill them, but to torment them for five months, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. 7 The locusts in appearance were like horses prepared for battle, and on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. 8 They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of many horse-drawn chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails, and their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but who in Greek has the name Apollyon. 12 One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.
13 Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from 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 who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels were released, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, to kill a third of mankind. 16 Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million, and I heard the number of them. 17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision and those who sat on them, having breastplates that were fiery, hyacinthine and sulfurous; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. 18 By these three a third of mankind was killed – by the fire and smoke and brimstone coming out of their mouths. 19 Their power was in their mouth [and in their tails]; for their tails were like serpents, having heads, and with them they do harm.
20 But the rest of mankind, who were not killed in these plagues, still did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their enchantments or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
An examination and disclosure of the state of life of those people in the Protestant Reformed church who are called learned and wise because of their defense of faith divorced from charity and of justification and salvation by it alone. This is the subject of verses 1-12.
An examination and disclosure of the state of life of those people in that church who are not so learned and wise, who are caught up in faith alone and live as they please. This is the subject of verses 13-19.
Finally, concerning people in that church who know only that faith is the whole means by which a person is saved, and nothing more beyond that. Verses 20, 21.
The Contents of the Individual Verses
1 Then the fifth angel sounded,
An examination and disclosure of the state of life of those people in the Protestant Reformed Church who are called learned and wise because of their defense of faith divorced from charity and of justification and salvation by it alone.
and I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth,
Spiritual Divine truth flowing in from heaven into the church with them, examining and exposing them.
and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit.
Their hell opened.
2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace,
Falsities accompanying the lusts of the natural self springing from those people’s evil loves.
and the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.
Therefore the light of truth became thick darkness.
3 Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth,
From them issued falsities of the lowest sort, such as are found in the case of people who have become sensual and who view and judge everything in accordance with the senses and their fallacies.
and to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
Their power to persuade that their falsities are true.
4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
The Lord’s Divinely providing that they be unable to take away any truth or good of faith, or any affection for or perception of these, from any others than people lacking in charity and so having no faith,
5 And it was given them not to kill them, but to torment them for five months,
and that they also be unable to take away their faculty for understanding and willing truth and good, but be able only for a short time to induce a mental numbness,
and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man.
and this owing to their persuasiveness.
6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
They wish the intellect to be closed and the will stopped up in matters of faith, which extinguishes spiritual light and life, but that this is impossible.
7 The locusts in appearance
The appearance and likeness of those people who affirmed in themselves a faith divorced from charity,
were like horses prepared for battle,
who because of their ability to reason appeared to themselves to be battling from an understanding of truth founded on the Word.
and on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold,
They seemed to themselves to be conquerors.
and their faces were like the faces of men.
They seemed to themselves to be wise.
8 They had hair like women’s hair,
They seemed to themselves to have an affection for truth.
and their teeth were like lions’ teeth.
Matters of the senses, which constitute the lowest elements of the natural self’s life, appeared to them to have power over all else.
9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron,
Their arguments based on fallacies, with which they battled and prevailed, appeared to them too strong to be refuted.
and the sound of their wings was like the sound of many horse-drawn chariots rushing into battle.
Their reasonings, as though founded on doctrinal truths from the Word fully understood, which they had to ardently defend.
10 They had tails like scorpions,
The Word’s truths falsified, by which they induce a mental numbness.
and there were stings in their tails, and their power was to hurt men five months.
Their clever falsifications of the Word, by which for a short time they darkened and enchanted the intellect, and so deceived and captivated it.
11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but who in Greek has the name Apollyon.
Those caught up in falsities springing from lusts, who by a total falsification of the Word destroyed the church, are in a satanic hell.
12 One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.
Further lamentations over the state of the church.
13 Then the sixth angel sounded,
An examination and exposure of the state of life among those people in the Protestant Reformed Church who were not so wise, and yet who placed the whole of religion in faith, thinking of it alone and living as they pleased.
and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet,
A command by the Lord out of the spiritual heaven to those who were to examine and expose it,
“Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”
to remove from them external bonds, to enable the interiors of their minds to appear.
15 And the four angels were released,
When the external bonds were removed, the interiors of their minds became apparent.
who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, to kill a third of mankind.
Their being in a perpetual effort to take away spiritual light and life from the people of the church.
16 Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million,
Their reasonings concerning faith alone, with which they had filled the interiors of the minds, springing from nothing but an abundance of falsities accompanying evil.
and I heard the number of them.
Their character perceived.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision and those who sat on them,
The discovery then that the reasonings of the interiors of their minds concerning faith alone were fanciful and illusory, and that they themselves were insane because of them.
having breastplates that were fiery, hyacinthine and sulfurous;
Their fanciful and illusory arguments springing from a hellish love and their own inherent intelligence, and from the attendant lusts.
and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions;
Their delusions with respect to faith alone, as though they had power.
and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone.
Interiorly regarded, their thoughts and discourses contained nothing else, and issuing from them was nothing but a love of self and the world, a conceit in their own intelligence, and from these two the lusts attendant on evil and falsity.
18 By these three a third of mankind was killed – by the fire and smoke and brimstone coming out of their mouths.
It is because of these that the people of the church perish.
19 Their power was in their mouth
They prevailed only by their discourse affirming faith.
[and in their tails,] for their tails were like serpents, having heads, and with them they do harm.
The reason being that they are sensual and turned upside down, speaking truths with their mouths, but falsifying them by the postulate which forms the chief tenet of their religion, and thus deceiving others.
20 But the rest of mankind, who were not killed in these plagues,
Those people in the Protestant Reformed Church who were not as spiritually dead as the former were because of their illusory reasonings and love of self, a conceit in their own intelligence, and the attendant lusts, and yet who made faith alone the chief tenet of their religion.
still did not repent of the works of their hands,
Nor did they refrain from their native proclivities, which are evils of every kind, as being sins.
so as not to worship demons,
Thus they were caught up in the evils of their lusts, and acted in concert with their like in hell.
and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood,
Thus they engage in worship founded on nothing but falsities,
which can neither see nor hear nor walk.
which do not have in them any spiritual or truly rational life.
21 And they did not repent of their murders or their enchantments or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
The heretical belief in faith alone induces in their hearts stupidity, backsliding, and intransigence, so that they give no thought to the Ten Commandments, not even to any sin as something to be shunned because it is on the side of the Devil and against God.
THE EXPOSITION
Then the fifth angel sounded. (9:1) This symbolizes an examination and disclosure of the state of life of those people in the Protestant Reformed Church who are called learned and wise because of their defense of faith divorced from charity and of justification and salvation by it alone.
That this is the subject in what follows now up to verse 12, is clear from the several particulars, understood in their spiritual sense.
To sound a trumpet means, symbolically, to examine and expose the state of the church and consequent life in people for whom religion is faith alone, as may be seen in no. 397 above.
A star here symbolizes spiritual Divine truth, because it fell from the spiritual heaven, as described in nos. 387, 388 above. And the earth here symbolizes the church with people concerned with its internal elements, as said in no. 398 above.
Spiritual Divine truth means intelligence springing from a spiritual love, which is love for the neighbor. But because this intelligence is today called faith, and this love, charity, it is faith springing from charity, or rather, it is the truth of faith springing from the goodness of charity, symbolized here by the star.
A star in the singular has a similar symbolic meaning in Revelation 2:28, 22:16. For stars in the plural symbolize concepts of goodness and truth (no. 51), and these are the means to intelligence.
That it is Divine truth examining and exposing is apparent from what follows.
A key symbolizes the power to open, and also to close (nos. 62, 174, 840). And a bottomless pit symbolizes hell, where those people reside who have affirmed in themselves justification and salvation by faith alone, all of whom come from the Protestant Reformed Church. Here, however, they are people who appear in their own eyes and so in the eyes of many others to be educated and erudite – even though in the sight of angels in heaven they appear to be bereft of intellect as regards matters having to do with heaven and the church, since people who affirm such a faith, even so far as to affirm its inner tenets, close the higher constituents of their intellect, and this at last to such an extent that they can no longer see any spiritual truth in any light. The reason is that an affirmation of falsity constitutes a denial of the truth. Consequently, whenever they hear some spiritual truth, namely, a truth of the Word serviceable for doctrine and life for people of the church, they keep their mind in the falsities they have affirmed; and then they either shroud the truth they have heard in falsities or reject it as nothing but words, or they yawn at it and turn away, and this the more conceited they are owing to their erudition. For conceit glues the falsities together until they at last stick together, like solidified sea foam. The Word is therefore hidden from them, like a book sealed with seven seals.
[2] I will describe, furthermore, their character, and the character of their hell, because it has been given me to see it and speak with the inhabitants there, and also to see the locusts that issued from it:
That pit, which is like the mouth of a furnace, appears in the southern zone, and the abyss beneath it extends a great distance toward the east. The inhabitants in it have light, but if light from heaven is let in, the hell becomes dark. Consequently the pit is closed above.
Seen there are huts with arched roofs, built seemingly of brick, which are divided into several small rooms, and each room has in it a table, with sheets of paper lying on it, along with some books. At each table sits someone who in the world affirmed justification and salvation by faith alone, making charity a merely natural moral act, and deeds of charity simply those of civil life by which people are able to achieve rewards in the world; but if people should do those deeds for the sake of salvation, they condemn those deeds, and some of them do so severely, because the deeds have in them human reason and human will.
All the people in this abyss were educated and erudite in the world. And among them are some metaphysicians and scholastics who are held in higher esteem than the rest there. I recognized several when it was granted me to speak with them.
[3] Their fate, however, is this: When they are first admitted there, they sit in the first small rooms; but as they argue for faith to the exclusion of works of charity, they leave their former seats and go into little rooms nearer the east, and this repeatedly until they reach the end, where those people reside who use the Word to defend those tenets. And because they cannot help but falsify the Word then, their huts vanish, and they see themselves in a desert; and at that point they undergo such experiences as described in no. 153 above.
There is also another abyss beneath that abyss, where the residents are people who have similarly argued for justification and salvation by faith alone, but who within themselves, in their spirit, have denied God, and at heart have laughed at the sanctities of the church. They do nothing but argue there, tearing their garments, climbing up on the tables, stamping their feet and battling each other with invectives. And because no one is permitted to do physical harm there, they threaten vocally and shake their fists.
The environment there is unclean and squalid. But this a subject for another time.
The bottomless pit symbolizes the hell described just above in no. 421. The smoke from it symbolizes falsities arising from lusts, and because the smoke is said to be like that of a great furnace, it means falsities accompanying lusts springing from evil loves, inasmuch as fire symbolizes love (no. 468), and the fire of hell, evil love (no. 494). A great furnace has the same symbolism, since it smokes owing to fire.
Spirits of hell are not caught up in any material fire, but in a spiritual fire, which is the fire of their love. Consequently they do not feel any other fire. On this subject, see the book Heaven and Hell, nos. 134, 566-575.
When any love is aroused in the spiritual world, it appears at a distance like fire – in the hells like a brightly burning fire, and outside the hells like the smoke of a conflagration or the smoke of a furnace.
Falsities accompanying lusts springing from evil loves are described also elsewhere in the Word by smoke from a fire or from a furnace or oven, as in the following places:
(Abraham) looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah…, and behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. (Genesis 19:28)
…the sun went down and it was dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between the pieces. (Genesis 15:17)
…they sin more and more…. Therefore they shall be…like smoke from a flue. (Hosea 13:2, 3)
…the wicked shall perish…. In smoke they shall be consumed. (Psalm 37:20)
I will show wonders in heaven and on the earth: …fire and pillars of smoke. (Joel 2:30)
(They) will cast (the evil) into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:41, 42, 49, 50)
And elsewhere.
The sun and the air here symbolize the light of truth, for the sun symbolizes love, and the light from it, Divine truth. Consequently, when we are told that the sun was darkened, and with it the air, it symbolically means that Divine truth became thick darkness. That this resulted from falsities accompanying lusts is symbolically meant by its being because of the smoke of the pit.
Falsities that we term falsities of the lowest sort are those which occur on the lowest level of a person’s life, called sensual, which we will speak of below. These falsities are symbolized in the Word by locusts. It should be known, however, that the locusts here did not look like the locusts found in fields, which hop about and devastate pastures and crops. Instead they looked like pygmies or midgets, as is apparent also from their description, as for instance, that they had crowns on their heads, faces like the faces of men, hair like women’s hair, teeth like lions’ teeth, breastplates of iron, and the angel of the bottomless pit as king over them.
Ancient peoples, too, called midgets locusts, as we can conclude from these verses:
(Those who spied out the land of Canaan said:) “…we saw the Nephilim, the descendants of the Anakim…, and we were like locusts…in their sight.” (Numbers 13:33)
(Jehovah) who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants like locusts…. (Isaiah 40:22)
[2] However, because falsities of the lowest sort, such as existed in the people here, are in the Word symbolized by locusts, therefore in Nahum the people are called locusts, as well as being termed crowned and commanders:
…the fire will devour you…, it will eat you up like a locust’s larva. Make yourself many like the locust’s larva! Make yourself many like locusts! …Your crowned ones are like locusts, and your commanders like great locusts…. (Nahum 3:15-17)
Because falsities of the lowest sort devour the growing truths and goods of the church in a person, they are symbolized by locusts which devour the grasses in fields and the vegetation on farms, as is clear from the following passages:
You shall carry much seed out to the field, but…the locust shall consume it. (Deuteronomy 28:38)
What the caterpillar left, the locust will eat; what the locust left, the beetle grub will eat; and what the beetle grub left, the locust’s larva will eat. (Joel 1:4)
I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten, the beetle grub, the locust’s larva, and the caterpillar…. (Joel 2:25)
[3] The locusts in Egypt have the same symbolic meaning, of which we read the following in Exodus:
Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and…the east wind brought the locusts. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt…; previously there had been no such locusts…; and they ate every herb…of the field…. (Exodus 10:12ff.)
And afterward Moses stretched out his rod, and the locusts were cast into the Red Sea.
Further, in the book of Psalms:
He gave their produce to the locust’s larva, and their labor to the locust. (Psalm 78:46, cf. 105:34, 35)
The miracles in Egypt describe the devastation of the church, and this particular miracle, its devastation by falsities of the lowest sort. And when the inner levels of a person’s life are closed, on which the lowest levels depend, the lowest levels become hellish. Therefore the locusts were cast into the Red Sea, which symbolizes hell.
[4] Since few people today know what we mean by the sensual level, or what the character of a sensual person is, and since this is what locusts symbolize, therefore we will introduce from our Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven) the following extracts regarding it:
The sensual level is the lowest of a person’s mental life, attaching to and uniting with his five physical senses (nos. 5077, 5767, 9212, 9216, 9331, 9730).
That person is called sensual who judges of everything in accordance with his physical senses, and who believes in nothing but what he can see with his eyes and touch with his hands, saying that if he can, it is real, and rejecting everything else (nos. 5094, 7693).
The inner levels of that person’s mind, which see in the light of heaven, are closed, so that he sees no truth on those levels which has to do with heaven and the church (nos. 6564, 6844, 6845).
A person like that thinks on the lowest levels, and not interiorly in any spiritual light (nos. 5089, 5094, 6564, 7693).
In a word, people like that have a crude natural sight (nos. 6201, 6310, 6564, 6844, 6845, 6612, 6614, 6622, 6624).
Inwardly they are therefore hostile to matters having to do with heaven and the church, though it is possible for them to speak in favor of them outwardly, even ardently, according to the power they have by virtue of them (nos. 6201, 6316, 6844, 6845, 6948, 6949).
The educated and learned who have deeply confirmed themselves in falsities, and still more those who are hostile to the Word’s truths, are more sensual than others (no. 6316).
Sensual people reason keenly and skillfully, because their thinking is so near to speech as to almost reside in it, and to be, so to speak, on the lips, and because they place all intelligence in speech from the memory alone; moreover, some of them can cleverly defend falsities, and after they have done so, believe they are true (nos. 195, 196, 5700, 10,236).
They reason from fallacies of the senses and defend them, which they use to captivate and persuade the populace (nos. 5084, 6948, 6949, 7693).
Sensual people are craftier and more malicious than others (nos. 7693, 10,236).
Greedy people, adulterers, hedonists, and the deceitful are especially sensual, even though to the world they do not appear so (no. 6310).
The interiors of their minds are foul and filthy (no. 6201).
Through them they are in communication with the hells (no. 6311).
People residing in the hells are sensual, and the more so the deeper the hell (nos. 4623, 6311).
The atmosphere of spirits in hell mixes with a person’s sensual level from behind (no. 6312).
People who have based their reasoning on the evidence of the senses only, and so are hostile to the genuine truths of the church, were called by ancient peoples serpents of the tree of knowledge (nos. n. 195, 196, 197, 6398, 6399, 10,313).
In addition, a person’s sensual level and the sensual person are described (no. 10,236), together with the extent of the sensual things in a person (no. 9731).
Sensual things ought to be held in last place, and not in first place, and in a wise and intelligent person they are held in last place, subject to more interior ones, while in a foolish person they are in first place and dominant; the latter are those properly called sensual (nos. 5077, 5125, 5128, 7645).
If sensual things are in last place, they are the means by which a path is opened to understanding, and truths are refined by a process of abstraction (no. 5580).
These sensual things are the closest to the world, and they admit things that flow in from the world and, so to speak, sift them (no. 9726).
By these sensual things a person is in communication with the world, and by rational things with heaven (no. 4009).
Sensual things supply materials that are of service to the interior levels of the mind (nos. 5077, 5081).
Some sensual things are of service to the intellectual faculty, and some are of service to the volitional faculty (no. 5077).
If a person does not raise his thought from sensual things, he is hardly wise (no. 5089).
A wise person thinks above the level of sensual things (nos. 5089, 5094).
When a person raises his thinking above the level of sensual things, he comes into a clearer sight, and finally into the light of heaven (nos. 6183, 6313, 6315, 9407, 9730, 9922).
An elevation above the level of sensual things and withdrawal from them was something known to ancient peoples (no. 6313).
A person can be conscious in his spirit of things that occur in the spiritual world, if he can be withdrawn from sensual things by the Lord and elevated into the light of heaven (no. 4622). That is because it is not the body that thinks, but a person’s spirit in the body, and to the extent that it dwells in the body, it thinks dimly and in a state of darkness; however, to the extent that it does not dwell in the body, it thinks clearly and in a state of light – but only as regards spiritual matters (nos. 4622, 6614, 6622).
The lowest level of the intellect is sensual knowledge, and the lowest level of the will is sensual delight (no. 9996).
The difference between sensual characteristics possessed in common with animals, and those not possessed in common with them (no. 10,236).
Some sensual people are not evil, because their interior levels have not been closed: their state in the other life (no. 6311).
A scorpion symbolizes a deadly persuasiveness, and a scorpion of the earth a deadly persuasiveness in matters having to do with the church, as the earth symbolizes the church (no. 285). For when a scorpion stings a person, it produces a numbness in the limbs, and if it is not treated, death. Persuasiveness does something similar to the intellect. A scorpion, moreover, has the same symbolism in the following places:
…do not be afraid of them or…of their words; they are…thorny…, …you dwell among scorpions…. …they are brazen-faced and hard-hearted…. (Ezekiel 2:4, 6)
(Jesus said to the seventy He had sent out,) “Behold, I give you the power to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, even so that nothing whatever hurts you. (Luke 10:19)
Their being told symbolizes the Lord’s Divinely providing, because they were told from heaven. Their not harming the grass of the earth, or any green thing, symbolizes their inability to take away any truth or good of faith; for grass symbolizes the truth of faith that is born first in a person (no. 401), and a green thing symbolizes the life force in faith, which springs from goodness (no. 401). Their not harming any tree symbolizes their inability to take away any affection for or perception of truth and goodness; for a tree symbolizes a person in respect to these (no. 400). Those men not having the seal of God on their foreheads symbolize people lacking in charity and so having no faith; for the forehead symbolizes love and charity (no. 347), and having the seal means, symbolically, to know them and distinguish them from others (no. 345).
[2] People who have affirmed faith alone to the point of embracing the mysteries of justification and salvation by it are unable to take away any truth or good of faith, or any affection for or perception of these, from any others than people lacking the faith that accompanies charity, because scarcely anyone comprehends them other than the prelate who teaches and preaches these. The layman hears them, but they fly in one ear and out the other, as the mystery-preaching priest himself may know for certain from the fact that he himself spent the whole force of his genius on learning them in his youth, and afterward on retaining them in his later age, and from the fact that he reckons himself especially well-educated on account of them. What then does the layman comprehend who, when he hears these mysteries, thinks in simplicity of the faith accompanying charity?
It can be seen from this that a justifying faith alone is the faith of the clergy, and not of the laity, except in the case of those who live heedlessly. The latter learn from the clergy’s mysteries only that faith alone saves, that they cannot do good of themselves, that neither can they fulfill the law, and that Christ suffered for them, along with a few other general tenets like these.
Its being given them means, symbolically, that it was owing to the Lord’s Divine providence, as said just above. Their being unable to kill the men lacking the seal of God means, symbolically, that it was impossible for them to take away from those without the faith accompanying charity their faculty for understanding and willing truth and good; for if this faculty were to be taken away from a person, it would kill him spiritually. To torment for five months means, symbolically, to induce a mental numbness for a short time. The number five symbolizes a little something or for a short time, and to torment means, symbolically, to induce a mental numbness, because this is the symbolic meaning of a scorpion (no. 425), and of torment like the torment of a scorpion, as said next in no. 428.
That the faculty of understanding truth and willing it, or rationality and freedom, cannot be taken away from a person, is something we showed many times in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Providence, nos. 73, 74, 82-86, 92-99, 138-149, 322.
[2] “Five months” means, symbolically, a little something or for a short time because this is the symbolic meaning of the number five. For periods of time, whether they be hours, days, weeks, months, or years, do not signify a period of time, but a state, and numbers define its character (nos. 4, 10, 348, 947).
That the number five symbolizes something, and also a little, can be seen from the following passages:
A thousand shall flee…at the threat of five…. (Isaiah 30:17)
Five…shall chase a hundred…. (Leviticus 26:8)
(Jesus said that) the kingdom of heaven (is like) ten virgins…, five (of whom) were prudent, and five foolish. (Matthew 25:1, 2)
The ten virgins symbolize all in the church. Five of them symbolize a part or some.
The like is symbolically meant by the numbers ten and five in the parable in which minas were given to some servants with which to do business, and one of them used his mina to earn ten minas, and a second used his to earn five (Luke 19:13-20). Ten minas symbolize much, and five minas a little. So, too, elsewhere, as in Isaiah 17:6, 19:18, Matthew 14:15-21.
This follows from what we said in no. 427 just above; for the torment symbolizes a mental numbness, which the persuasiveness of those meant by the locusts induces in the intellect, like the numbness a scorpion induces in the body by its sting. A scorpion symbolizes that persuasiveness (no. 425).
In the spiritual world one finds a persuasiveness which takes away an understanding of truth, and which induces a mental numbness and thus an anguish of heart. But this power of persuasion is unknown in the natural world.
“In those days” symbolizes the last state of the church, when the doctrine of faith alone has been universally accepted. “Men will seek death” means, symbolically, that they wish the intellect to be closed in matters of faith. “And will not find it” means, symbolically, that the Lord has provided that this not happen. “They will desire to die” means, symbolically, that they also wish the will in them to be stopped up. “And death will flee from them” means, symbolically, that the Lord has provided that this not happen either. For in that case spiritual light and life would be extinguished, and the person would spiritually die. Seeking is said in application to the intellect, and desiring to the will, and death is said in application to both.
It is apparent that this is the symbolic meaning of these words. Otherwise what would it mean that men in those days will seek death and not find it, or desire to die and have death flee from them? For the only death meant by death here is spiritual death, which is induced when the intellect is banished from tenets to be believed; for a person then does not know whether he is thinking and putting into practice truth or falsity, thus whether he is thinking and acting in concert with angels in heaven or in concert with devils in hell.
The appearance symbolizes their appearance in a representative image. Locusts symbolize falsities of the lowest sort (no. 424); and because falsities are inseparable from the people who possess them, those people too are symbolically meant by locusts.
That locusts mean people who have affirmed in themselves faith alone, or the falsities of those people, was made clearly apparent to me from seeing church elders who espoused that faith embracing and kissing those who looked like locusts, and wishing to invite them into their homes. For likenesses, which are forms representative of the affections and thoughts of angels and spirits in the spiritual world, seem to be alive, in like manner as animals, birds and fish, as previously described.
A horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word (no. 298). The battle symbolizes a spiritual battle, which is waged by reasonings and argumentation (no. 500, 586). Their being like them or likenesses of them signifies their appearance, as in no. 430 just above.
Crowns on their heads like crowns of gold denote the insignia of victory, because kings once wore golden crowns into battle (no. 300); and we are told that they looked like horses, which is to say, riding on horses, prepared for battle (no. 431). For they had the faces of men, as we are told next, and they were caught up in the persuasion that they could not be overcome.
A human being in the Word symbolizes someone who is wise and intelligent (no. 243), and his face symbolizes wisdom and intelligence. It is because of this that the locusts’ faces being like the faces of men means, symbolically, that they seemed to themselves to be wise. They are also called wise, educated and learned, even though they are among the “foolish virgins” who had no oil in their lamps (Matthew 25:1-3). Oil symbolizes love and charity. They are also among the foolish who hear what the Lord says, that is, who read the Word, and do not do it (Matthew 7:26).
In the Word a man symbolizes an understanding of truth, and a woman an affection for truth, because a man is by birth a form of the intellect, and a woman a form of affection, as we say in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Marriage.* Hair in the Word symbolizes the lowest level of a person’s life, which is the sensual level, as said in no. 424. It is on this level that it seems to these people that they have an affection for truth, when in fact they have an affection for falsity, since they believe it to be true.
That a woman symbolizes an affection for truth can be seen from many passages in the Word. So it is that the church is called a wife, woman, daughter, and virgin. The church, moreover, is a church by virtue of its love or affection for truth, for this is what gives rise to an understanding of truth.
[2] The church is called a woman in the following places:
…there were two women, the daughters of one mother, (who) committed harlotry in Egypt…, Oholah (being) Samaria, and Oholibah (being) Jerusalem. (Ezekiel 23:2-4)
…Jehovah has called you like a woman forsaken and afflicted in spirit, and a youthful woman…. (Isaiah 54:6, 7)
…Jehovah has created a new thing in the earth – a woman shall encompass a man. (Jeremiah 31:21, 22)
The woman clothed with the sun, whom the dragon pursued (Revelation 12), symbolizes the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem.
Women symbolize affections for truth, by virtue of which the church is a church, in many other places, as in the following:
The women of My people you cast out from its delightful house. (Micah 2:9)
(The families of the houses shall mourn by themselves,) and…women by themselves…. (Zechariah 12:11-13)
Rise up, you women at ease, hear…my speech. (Isaiah 32:9)
Why do you do…evil…, to cut off from you man and woman…? (Jeremiah 44:7)
…I will scatter man and woman…. (Jeremiah 51:22)
A man and woman, here and elsewhere, mean, symbolically in the spiritual sense, an understanding of truth and an affection for truth.
* A reference to a work by that title never published by the writer. Extant in manuscript are a brief outline, a relatively short preliminary draft, and two indices for a longer draft on the subject of marriage that has not been found. The content of the existing material makes clear that these manuscripts, including the missing longer draft, were written in preparation for Delights of Wisdom Relating to Married Love (or Conjugial Love), Followed By Pleasures of Insanity Relating to Licentious Love, which the writer published in 1768, two years after publishing the present work on the Apocalypse.
Teeth symbolize the lowest elements of the natural self’s life, which are called sensual, as discussed in no. 424 above. These sensual elements are of two kinds, one having to do with the will, the other with the intellect. Sensual elements having to do with the will are symbolized by women’s hair, as said just above in no. 434; and sensual elements having to do with the intellect are symbolized by teeth. The latter, which is to say, sensual people caught up in falsities by conviction, appear to themselves to have power over everything, so that they cannot be overcome. Therefore the locusts’ teeth, which symbolize such sensual elements, were like lions’ teeth – a lion symbolizing power (no. 241).
That teeth symbolize the lowest elements of a person’s life – those elements called sensual – and that when these are divorced from the interior levels of the mind, they are caught up in nothing but falsities and attack truths and destroy them, can be seen from the following passages:
With my soul I lie down among lions…; their teeth are a spear and arrows…. (Psalm 57:4)
O God, destroy their teeth in their mouth! Turn aside the molars of the young lions…. (Psalm 58:6)
…a nation has come up against My land, strong…, its teeth the teeth of a lion, and it has the molars of a fierce lion. (Joel 1:6)
…O Jehovah…, You have broken the teeth of the impious. (Psalm 3:7)
…a beast (came up from the sea), terrible, dreadful, and exceedingly strong, which had huge iron teeth; it was devouring and breaking in pieces…. (Daniel 7:3, 7).
Blessed be Jehovah, who has not given us as prey to their teeth. (Psalm 124:6)
Since sensual people do not see any truth in its own light, but reason and argue about everything as to whether it is so, and since these altercations in the hells sound outside the hells like the gnashing of teeth, which regarded in itself is a colliding of falsity and truth, it is apparent what the gnashing of teeth symbolizes in Matthew 8:12, 13:42, 50, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30, and Luke 13:28; and in some measure what to gnash with the teeth symbolizes in Job 16:9, Psalm 35:15, 16, 37:12, 112:10, Micah 3:5, and Lamentations 2:16.
Breastplates symbolize protections, because they protect the breast. Here they symbolize protections of falsities, which are concocted by arguments based on fallacies, which people use to defend a false proposition. For from a false proposition nothing but falsities can flow. If truths are advanced, they are regarded only externally or superficially, thus also sensually, and so are falsified, becoming then fallacies in the people who entertain them.
Breastplates have this symbolism because battles in the Word symbolize spiritual battles, and weapons of war therefore symbolize various defenses connected with such a battle – as in Jeremiah,
Harness the horses, and mount up, you horsemen! And station yourselves in your helmets, polish the spears, put on the cuirass. (Jeremiah 46:4)
In Isaiah,
He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head. (Isaiah 59:17)
In the book of Psalms,
…under His wings you shall be confident; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. (Psalm 91:4)
And so also elsewhere, as Ezekiel 23:24, 38:4, 39:9, Nahum 2:3, Psalm. 5:12, 35:2, 3.
Their breastplates being breastplates of iron means, symbolically, that their arguments seemed to them too strong to be refuted; for owing to its hardness iron symbolizes strength.
The sound of wings symbolizes reasonings, because to fly means, symbolically, to perceive and teach (nos. 245, 415). Chariots symbolize doctrinal teachings, as we are about to show. Horses symbolize an understanding of the Word (no. 298), and many horses a full understanding. Plainly to rush into battle symbolizes an ardor to fight.
That a chariot symbolizes doctrine is clear from the following passages:
The chariots of God are twenty thousand, thousands of peaceful ones, the Lord among them…. (Psalm 68:17)
(Jehovah) makes the clouds His chariots, He walks on the wings of the wind. (Psalm 104:3)
O Jehovah…, …You ride on Your horses, Your chariots are salvation. (Habakkuk 3:8)
…behold, Jehovah will come with fire, and like a whirlwind His chariots…. (Isaiah 66:15)
You shall be filled at My table with horses and chariots…. (Thus) I will set My glory among the nations. (Ezekiel 39:20, 21)
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. (Zechariah 9:10)
I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms…. I will overthrow the chariots and those who ride in them. (Haggai 2:22)
…set a watchman, let him declare what he sees. He saw therefore a chariot, a pair of horsemen…, a chariot of camels…, and…the chariot of a man…. And he…said, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen!” (Isaiah 21:6, 7, 9)
Since Elijah and Elisha represented the Lord in respect to the Word and thus symbolized doctrine drawn from the Word, as did all the prophets (no. 8), therefore they were called “the chariots of Israel and its horsemen”; and for the same reason Elisha saw Elijah taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire, and Elisha’s servant saw chariots and horses of fire around Elisha (2 Kings 2:11, 12, 6:17, 13:14).
See also elsewhere where chariots are mentioned, as in Isaiah 31:1, 37:24, 66:20; Jeremiah 17:25, 22:4, 46:2, 3, 8, 9, 50:37, 38, 51:20, 21; Ezekiel 26:7, 8, 10, 11; Daniel 11:40; Nahum 3:1-3; Joel 2:5; Zechariah 6:1-3.
A tail symbolizes the last extension of the head, because the brain extends through the spinal column into the tail. Consequently the head and the tail are united as their first and last elements. Consequently, when the head symbolizes a justifying and saving faith alone, the tail symbolizes in summary all its proofs, and as these are taken from the Word, it symbolizes the Word’s truths falsified.
Everyone who assumes some principle of religion on the basis of on his own intelligence and puts it at the head of the rest, also takes proof passages from the Word and puts them at the tail, thus inducing a mental numbness in others and so doing them injury. That is why we are told that “they had tails like scorpions,” and next, that “there were stings in their tails,” and that “their power was to hurt men.” For a scorpion symbolizes a persuasiveness that induces a numbness in the intellect (no. 425).
To be assured that the tail is an extension of the brain through the spinal column to its final point, ask any anatomist and he will tell you. Or look at a dog or some other fierce animal that has a tail, and if you treat it kindly and make yourself agreeable to it, you will see its stiffened back soften and its tail move in a corresponding manner. But on the other hand, if you annoy it, its backbone stiffens.
[2] The primary tenet of the intellect that is assumed as a principle is symbolized by the head, and its final expression by the tail, also in the following passages:
…He will cut off head and tail from Israel…. The elder and honorable man is the head; but the prophet who teaches lies is the tail. (Isaiah 9:14, 15)
There will not be any work for Egypt that the head or tail…may do. (Isaiah 19:15)
Nothing else is symbolized by the dragon’s seven heads and the tail by which it drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth, in Revelation 12:3, 4; and also by the tails like serpents, having heads, with which they do harm, in verse 19 of this chapter.
Since the tail symbolizes the final element, and the final element embraces all the rest, therefore Jehovah said to Moses,
“…take (the serpent) by the tail.” And he…caught it, and it became a rod…. (Exodus 4:3, 4)
The priests were also commanded therefore to remove the whole tail close to the backbone and to sacrifice it with the fat on the entrails, the kidneys, the intestines, and the liver (Leviticus 3:9-11, 8:25, 9:19, Exodus 29:22).
To be shown that the final element contains and embraces all the prior ones, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 38, 65, and Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, nos. 209-216, 217-222.
Stings in the tails symbolize clever falsifications of the Word – stings symbolizing cunning and guile, and tails the Word’s truths falsified (no. 438). Their power to hurt means, symbolically, that they could induce a mental numbness, or in other words, that they could darken and enchant the intellect and so deceive and captivate it. For their tails were like scorpions, and scorpions have this symbolism (no. 425). Five months means, symbolically, for a short time, as in no. 427 above.
Such is the case when people like this take some things from the Word and apply them. For the Word was written in terms of things that correspond, and the correspondent expressions are partly apparent truths, which conceal genuine truths within them. If these genuine truths are unknown in the church, it is possible for people to take from the Word many things which at first appear to support heresy. But when genuine truths are known in the church, then the apparent truths are laid bare, and the genuine truths come into view. Before this comes about, however, a heretic may use various things from the Word to draw a veil over the intellect and enchant it, and so to deceive and captivate it.
This is what those people do who assert that a person’s sins are forgiven him so that he is justified, by an act of faith of which no one is at all aware, and this in a moment – if not before, then in the last hour of dying. This also can be illustrated by examples, but here is not the place for it.
Stings symbolize falsities arising from evil and doing harm also in Amos:
Behold, the days shall come upon you when they will take you away with stings…. (Amos 4:2)
And in the book of Numbers, that the people should drive out the inhabitants of the land, lest they be thorns in their eyes and stings in their sides (Numbers 33:55).
Thorns, briers, nettles, and thistles also symbolize falsities accompanying evil because of their stings.
The angel of the bottomless pit as king does not signify that some angel is king there, but that falsity reigns in it. For a king in its genuine sense symbolizes someone who possesses truths owing to an affection for goodness, and abstractly truth itself (no. 20); and in an opposite sense, therefore, a king symbolizes someone who is caught up in falsities owing to a lust for evil, and abstractly falsity itself. The bottomless pit symbolizes the satanic hell where such people reside (nos. 387, 421). A name symbolizes the character of someone’s or something’s state (nos. 81, 122, 165).
Abaddon in Hebrew is someone who destroys, or a destroyer, and likewise Apollyon in Greek, and this is falsity of the most fundamental sort, which by a total falsification of the Word has destroyed the church.
Abaddon in the Hebrew text means destruction in the following places:
Your truth in destruction? (Psalm 88:11)
Hell is naked before Him, and destruction has no covering. (Job 26:6)
For it will be a fire that consumes to destruction…. (Job 31:12)
Destruction and death say…. (Job 28:22)
Elsewhere hell and the devil are called destruction or a destroyer (Isaiah 54:16, Ezekiel 5:16, 9:1, Exodus 12:13), but by using another term.
“Woe” symbolizes a lamentation over some calamity, some misfortune, or damnation, as may be seen in no. 416. Here, therefore, the two woes coming afterward symbolize further lamentations over the state of the church.
That these people are the subject to the end of the chapter will be evident from the exposition of the following verses.
To sound a trumpet means, symbolically, to examine and expose the state of the church and its consequent life among people for whom religion is faith alone, as may be seen in no. 397 above.
[2] The people who are the subject now are totally different from those who have been the subject so far in this chapter, whose falsities in matters of faith were seen in the form of locusts. They differ in this respect, that the people described so far devote themselves to zealously exploring the mysteries of justification by faith and to teaching its signs and its testimonies, which to them are the goods of a moral and civic life, asserting that although the precepts of the Word are in themselves indeed Divine, in people they become natural, because they emanate from a person’s will, and being natural, they lack any connection with the spiritual components of faith. Moreover, because they defend these ideas by rational arguments which have the sound of learning, they live in the southern zone in an abyss, in keeping with the description in no. 421 above.
[3] In contrast, however, the people who are the subject in the verses that follow now to the end of the chapter, do not pursue these mysteries, but simply make plain faith the whole of religion, and nothing beyond it and ritual worship, and so live as they please.
I have been granted to see these, too, and to speak with them. They live in the northern zone in huts constructed of rushes and reeds, covered with plaster, and having dirt floors.
These huts are scattered about. The more clever among the inhabitants know how to employ their natural sight to defend that faith by rational arguments and to establish that it has nothing to do with one’s way of life. They live in front, moreover, with the more simple behind them, and the more stupid toward the western part of that zone. There is such a multitude of them as to be beyond belief.
They are instructed by angelic spirits, but those who do not accept truths pertaining to faith or live in accordance with them are conveyed down into the hell that lies beneath them, where they are imprisoned.
A voice symbolizes a Divine command. The golden altar, or the altar upon which incense was burned, symbolizes the spiritual heaven (nos. 277, 392). The four horns of the altar symbolize its power (no. 270), here the power to release the four angels that were bound at the river Euphrates, as we are told next. The sixth angel having a trumpet symbolizes a directive to those on whom was enjoined the task of examining and disclosing these things (no. 442).
It is impossible for anyone to know that this is the symbolic meaning of these words, and scarcely possible for anyone to suspect it, if he does not know what is meant by the great river Euphrates, and by the four angels bound there.
In the Word, the Euphrates symbolizes the inner constituents of the human mind, called rational, which in people governed by truths springing from goodness are full of wisdom, but which in people caught up in falsities springing from evil are full of irrationality.
This is the symbolic meaning of the river Euphrates in the Word. The reason is that this river formed the boundary between the land of Canaan and Assyria, and the land of Canaan symbolized the church, and Assyria its rational component. Therefore the river that formed the boundary between them symbolizes the inner constituents of the mind called rational, and this in both senses. For there are three components that form the person of the church: the spiritual component; the rational or intellectual component; and the natural component, which is one of knowledge. The spiritual component of the church is symbolized by the land of Canaan and its rivers; the rational or intellectual component of the church by Asshur or Assyria and its river, the Euphrates; and the natural component of the church, which is one of knowledge, by Egypt and its river, the Nile. But for more on this subject, see no. 503 below.
The four angels bound at the river Euphrates symbolize these interior constituents in people of the church, and they are said to be bound because they are kept hidden from public view. For it is hellish spirits that are meant by these four angels, inasmuch as we are told that they were prepared to kill a third of mankind, as we will presently see in no. 446; and people’s inner constituents are affiliated with spirits, either hellish ones or heavenly ones, since they dwell together. To release them means, symbolically, to remove external bonds, to enable the interiors of their minds to appear.
This is the symbolic meaning of these words.
[2] That the Euphrates symbolizes the interiors of a person’s mind coextensive with the spiritual tenets of his church can be seen from passages in the Word where Asshur or Assyria are mentioned. In the following passages, however, the Euphrates occurs in an opposite sense, in which it symbolizes interiors full of falsities and thus insanities:
…behold, (God) is causing to rise up upon them the waters of the River (Euphrates), strong and mighty – the king of Asshur…. It will pass through Judah, flood it and pass over it…. (Isaiah 8:7, 8)
…why take the road to Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? Or why take the road to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River? (Jeremiah 2:18)
Jehovah will devote to destruction the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; …He will shake His hand over the River (Euphrates)…. (Isaiah 11:15, 16)
The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the…river Euphrates, and its water was dried up…. (Revelation 16:12)
The prophet Jeremiah was commanded to put a sash around his loins, and afterward to hide it in a hole in a rock by the Euphrates; and when, after a short time, he recovered it, behold, it was ruined and profitable for nothing (Jeremiah 13:1-7, 11).
The same prophet was also commanded, after he had finished reading a book, to throw it into the middle of the Euphrates and say, “Thus shall Babylon sink and not rise” (Jeremiah 51:63, 64).
These events represented the interior qualities of the state of the church among the children of Israel.
That the river Nile in Egypt and the river Euphrates in Assyria were boundaries of the land of Canaan is apparent from the following verse:
…Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I will give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river…Euphrates.” (Genesis 15:18)
To be shown that the Euphrates was one boundary, see Exodus 23:31, Deuteronomy 1:7, 8, 11:24, Joshua 1:4, Micah 7:12.
This follows from the explanations above.
To be prepared means, symbolically, to be in the effort to do something. For the hour, day, month and year means, symbolically, continually and perpetually, the same meaning as for all time. To kill means, symbolically, to take away spiritual light and life from people of the church (no. 325). And a third symbolically means all (no. 400).
Armies symbolize goods and truths, and in an opposite sense, evils and falsities – here falsities accompanying evil, as we will see presently. Horsemen symbolize reasonings concerning faith alone, because a horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word (no. 298) and also a destroyed understanding of the Word (nos. 305, 312, 320). Horsemen consequently symbolize reasonings based on a destroyed understanding of the Word – here reasonings concerning faith alone, because the subject is people caught up in that faith. Two hundred million does not mean two hundred million, but an abundance. The number two is used because two is said in application to goodness, and in an opposite sense, to evil (no. 322); and a hundred million, or ten thousand times ten thousand, is said in application to truths, and in an opposite sense, to falsities (no. 287).
It can be seen from this that the number of the army of horsemen being two hundred million symbolizes reasonings concerning faith alone, with which these people had filled the interiors of their minds, springing from nothing but an abundance of falsities accompanying evil.
[2] That armies in the Word symbolize the goods and truths of heaven and the church, and in an opposite sense, evils and falsities, can be seen from passages where the sun, moon and stars are called armies or hosts, and where the sun symbolizes the goodness of love, the moon the truth of faith, and stars concepts of goodness and truth, and the antithesis in an opposite sense (nos. 51, 53, 332, 413). All of these are called armies or hosts in the following passages:
Praise (Jehovah), all His hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all you stars…! (Psalm 148:2, 3)
My hands stretched out the heavens, and all their host I have commanded. (Isaiah 45:12)
By the word of Jehovah the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. (Psalm 33:6)
Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. (Genesis 2:1)
(The male goat’s horn) grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground…. He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host…. And the host was sent under the yoke for its transgression, (because) it cast truth to the ground…. Then…a holy one said…, “How long will…the sanctuary and the host be trampled under foot?” (Daniel 8:10-14)
Jehovah has given forth His voice before His army. (Joel 2:11)
…(on the roofs of the houses) they have burned incense to all the host of heaven…. (Jeremiah 19:13)
(Lest you bow down to and serve) the sun, the moon, the stars, and all the host of heaven…. (Deuteronomy 4:19; cf. 17:3, Jeremiah 8:2)
So, too, Isaiah 13:4, 34:4, 40:26, Jeremiah 33:22, Zechariah 9:8, Revelation 19:14.
[3] Since the hosts of heaven symbolize the goods and truths of heaven and the church, therefore the Lord is called Jehovah Zebaoth, or Jehovah of Hosts. And therefore the ministry of the Levites was called military service (Numbers 4:3, 23, 30, 39).
Moreover, we read in the book of Psalms,
Bless Jehovah, all you His hosts, you ministers of His, who do His will. (Psalm 103:21)
Evils and falsities in the church are symbolically meant by the armies of the nations in Isaiah 34:2; and by the army of the king of the north with which he came against the king of the south, in Daniel 11:13, 15, 20. The king of the north is the falsity accompanying evil in the church, and the king of the south is the truth accompanying goodness in it.
The Lord says,
When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its devastation is near. (Luke 21:20)
Jerusalem there symbolizes the church, and the armies symbolize the evils and falsities that will devastate it. The subject is the end of the age, which is the final period of the church.
Evils and falsities are symbolically meant by armies in Joel,
I will restore to you the years that the locust, the beetle grub, the locust’s larva, and the caterpillar has eaten, My great army which I sent among you. (Joel 2:25)
To be shown that the locust and the rest symbolize falsity of the lowest sort, see no. 424 above.
To hear means, symbolically, to perceive. A number symbolizes the character of a thing or a state (nos. 10, 348, 364). It is the character of these people’s state as described hereafter because that is what is now described in the following verses, which is why it begins, “And thus I saw.”
To see means, symbolically, to perceive their character. The horses symbolize the reasonings of the interiors of their minds concerning faith alone – here their fanciful and illusory reasonings, because we are told that John saw them in vision. People sitting on horses symbolize people who are intelligent owing to their understanding of the Word – here people who are insane because of their fanciful and illusory reasonings contrary to the Word.
[2] Because the interiors of these people’s minds appeared in such guises, guises which symbolize fanciful and illusory reasonings concerning faith alone, we should disclose some of them that I took from their own mouths. As for example:
“After the so grievous fall of man, was faith alone not made the one means of salvation? How can we appear before God apart from that means? Is it not the only means? Are we not born in sin? Is our nature not utterly corrupted by Adam’s transgression? Is there any other means of healing than faith alone? What shall our works contribute to this? Who can do any good work of himself? Who can purify himself, absolve himself, or justify and save himself? Do not merit-seeking and self-righteousness lie concealed in every little work that a person does of himself? And if perchance we were to do something that is good, could we do it all and fulfill the law? Furthermore, if one sins again one precept, one sins against them all, because they are bound up together.
“Why did the Lord come into the world and so grievously suffer the cross except to take away from us the condemnation and curse of the law, to propitiate God the Father, to become Himself alone merit and righteousness, which are imputed to a person through faith? Otherwise what good or for what good purpose was His advent?
“So, then, since Christ suffered for us and fulfilled the law for us, and took away its power to condemn, can evil in that case any longer condemn us? Or goodness save us? Consequently we who have faith are at complete liberty to think, will, speak and do whatever we please, provided we do not suffer any loss of reputation, esteem, or material gain, or incur the penalties of civil law, which would bring infamy and disgrace.”
Some of these people who wandered about further north said that good works done for the sake of salvation are hurtful, destructive, and cursed. Among them were also some church elders.
[3] This much I heard; but they kept prattling on and muttering about more, which I did not hear.
They spoke, moreover, shamelessly, without constraint, and behaved wantonly in both word and deed, free of any fear over any wickedness except to keep up pretenses in order to appear respectable.
Such are the interior workings of the minds, and so the outer actions of the bodies, of people who make the whole of religion faith alone.
All of this that they told me collapses, however, if one turns to the Lord directly as Savior, believing in Him and doing good, both of these for the sake of salvation, and this by the person as if of himself, yet believing that it is the Lord’s doing. Unless a person does this as if of himself, no faith is possible, and no charity, and thus no religion and so no salvation.
Breastplates symbolize the arguments people use to do battle for faith alone (no. 436). Fire symbolizes heavenly love, and in an opposite sense, hellish love (nos. 452, 468, 494). Hyacinthine symbolizes intelligence springing from a spiritual love, and in an opposite sense, intelligence springing from a hellish love, which is one’s own inherent intelligence, as explained below. And sulfur symbolizes lust arising from that hellish love and expressed through their own inherent intelligence (no. 452). It follows from this that breastplates fiery, hyacinthine and sulfurous have the symbolic meaning stated.
[2] The reason their arguments in defense of faith alone are thus described is that all those people who believe themselves to be justified by faith alone, which is to say, absolved from sins, never give any thought to repentance, and an impenitent person engages in nothing but sins. All sins, moreover, spring from and so draw their character from a hellish love, from one’s own inherent intelligence, and from the attendant lusts; and people caught up in them not only act on them, but they also speak, indeed think and will, in conformity with them, and accordingly reason and argue in conformity with them. These are who they are because they are their life; but who they are is a devil, and their life a hellish one.
In actual fact, however, people who live a moral life solely for the sake of themselves and the world do not know this. The reason is that although they inwardly are such as described, in outward appearances they are like people who live a Christian life. But they should know that when anyone of them dies, he comes into his interior life, because it is the life of his spirit, and he is his internal self. Moreover, his inner character then accommodates his outward one to itself, and they become alike. Consequently the moral virtues of these people’s life in the world then become like the scales of fish that are scraped away.
The case is altogether different with people who regard the precepts of a moral life as Divine, and who make them at the same time civil precepts because they are expressive of a love for the neighbor.
[3] Hyacinthine symbolizes intelligence springing from the affection of a spiritual love because this color takes its hue from the redness of fire and the whiteness of light; and fire symbolizes love, and light intelligence. This intelligence is symbolically meant by the hyacinthine blue in the coverings and veils of the tabernacle (Exodus 26:31, 36, 27:16), and in Aaron’s ephod (Exodus 28:6, 15); by the cloth of hyacinthine blue placed on the ark, table, lampstand, and altar [in the tabernacle] when the people prepared to journey (Numbers 4:6, 7, 9, 11, 12); by the thread of hyacinthine blue on the borders of their garments (Numbers 15:38, 39); and by the blue stuff in Ezekiel 27:7, 24.
On other hand, intelligence springing from the affection of a hellish love is symbolically meant by hyacinthine in Ezekiel 23:
Oholah (or Samaria) played the harlot…and she doted on her lovers, the neighboring Assyrians, clothed in hyacinthine blue…, horsemen riding on horses. (Ezekiel 23:4-6)
Thus is described a church which by the reasonings of its own inherent intelligence had falsified the Word’s truths.
And in Jeremiah:
They are altogether foolish and grow stupid; the teaching of vanities is wood. Beaten silver…is brought from Tarshish…, the work of the craftsman and the hands of the metalsmith; hyacinthine blue and purple are their clothing, all the work of skillful men. (Jeremiah 10:8, 9)
The work of the craftsman and the hands of the metalsmith, and all the work of skillful men, symbolize here that they spring from their own inherent intelligence.
Heads symbolize the fanciful and illusory ideas that these people have regarding faith alone, which are the subject here, and for which we use the single term delusions. Horses symbolize the reasonings in the interiors of their minds, which are of this character (no. 449). Lions symbolize power (no. 241). It is a power based on fallacies, because these people are sense-oriented, and sense-oriented people base their reasoning on fallacies, which they use to persuade and captivate (no. 424).
[2] That their arguments in defense of faith alone are fanciful and illusory is something everyone can see who elevates his mind to some degree. What is faith in practice or faith as a condition but something illusory according to their notion of them? Who among them knows anything about putting faith into practice? And what constitutes faith as a condition when nothing good enters from the person into a faith in practice?
What is an instantaneous forgiveness of sins and consequent salvation but an illusory idea of the imagination? It is the “fiery flying serpent”* in the church, as may be seen in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Providence, no. 340.
An attribution of immunity, merit, righteousness, and sanctification by imputation – what are these but illusory notions? See The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, no. 18.
[3] What else is a Divine operation in someone’s internal constituents without the person’s cooperation as though of himself in external actions? For the idea that an internal condition can be divorced from its external expression, so that there is no conjunction of the two, is nothing but an illusory notion. See no. 606 below.
Faith divorced from charity is such an illusory notion, for charity expressed in works contains and supports faith. It is its soil and ground, its essence and life. In a word, faith arising from charity is the real person; but faith divorced from charity is a mirage, and a figment of the imagination, like a bubble floating in the air.
But perhaps someone will say, “If you detach the intellect from faith, you will not see any illusions.” However, he should know that if he can detach the intellect from faith, he can also impose on any religious tenet a thousand illusory notions, as Roman Catholics have done for centuries.
* Isaiah 14:29, 30:6.
Out of their mouths means from their thoughts and discourses. Fire symbolizes a love of self and the world, which is a characteristic trait of the will (nos. 450, 468, 494). Smoke symbolizes a conceit in one’s own intelligence, which is a characteristic trait of the intellect, emanating from the love of self and the world like smoke from a fire (no. 422). And brimstone symbolizes the lusts attendant on evil and falsity, which are a characteristic trait flowing from them both.
This is not, however, apparent from these people’s discourses in public in the world. But it is clearly apparent to angels in heaven. Consequently we say that their thoughts and discourses, interiorly regarded, are of this character.
Fire symbolizes hellish love, and brimstone the lusts flowing from that love through a conceit in one’s own intelligence, in the following places:
I will rain down on him…fire and brimstone. (Ezekiel 38:22)
Upon the wicked (Jehovah) will rain…fire and brimstone…. (Psalm 11:6)
…the day of Jehovah’s vengeance…. Its streams shall be turned into pitch, and its dust into brimstone…; its smoke shall ascend forever. (Isaiah 34:8-10)
On the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone…. Even so will it be in the day the Son of Man is revealed. (Luke 17:29, 30. Cf. Genesis 19:24)
If anyone worships the beast and his image…, he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone…. (Revelation 14:9.10)
The beast, the false prophet, and the devil were cast into the lake of fire and brimstone (Revelation 19:20, 20:10, 21:8).
The breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, shall kindle (the pyre). (Isaiah 30:33)
The whole land is brimstone, salt, and burning; it shall not be sown, nor shall it sprout…, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah…. (Deuteronomy 29:22, 23)
Brimstone is scattered on the habitation (of the wicked). (Job 18:15)
A third of mankind killed means, symbolically, that the people of the church perish because of these three things, as explained just above in no. 452. For to be killed means, symbolically, to be killed spiritually, which is to perish as regards the soul, and a third symbolizes all those people who are caught up in the aforesaid falsities, as enumerated often above. For the symbolic meaning of fire, smoke and brimstone, and of their coming out of the horsemen’s mouths, see no. 452 just above.
It is owing to these falsities that no one knows anywhere in the whole Christian world that the fire mentioned here is the love of self and the world, and that this love is the devil. Nor does anyone know that the smoke issuing from this fire is a conceit in one’s own inherent intelligence, and that this conceit is satan. Neither does anyone know that the brimstone ignited by this fire through that conceit is the lusts attendant on evil and falsity, and that these lusts are the diabolical and satanic crew of which hell consists. And when these things are not known, it is impossible for anyone to know what sin is; for sin finds its every delight and gratification in them.
Power in the mouth symbolizes a power in discourse affirming doctrine. For a harmony, elegance, feigned zeal and clever defense of falsity in speaking, especially in citing appearances of truth in the Word, with an air of authority, a closing of the intellect, and many other such expedients, accomplish everything, and neither the truth nor the Word anything. For truth shines only in the eyes of people who are directed by charity and its accompanying faith, and it is only these that the Word teaches.
The symbolism here is similar to that earlier in the case of the locusts (nos. 438, 439), but there we were told that they had tails like scorpions, and here tails like serpents. For the people described by locusts there speak and persuade using the Word, scholarship and learning, whereas the people described here employ arguments that consist only of appearances of truth and fallacies; and people who use these to speak harmoniously and seemingly wisely do indeed deceive others, but not to the same extent.
[2] Serpents in the Word symbolize sensual elements, which are the lowest constituents of a person’s life, as described in no. 424 above. The reason is that all animals symbolize human affections. Consequently, in the spiritual world the affections of angels and spirits also look at a distance like animals, and merely sensual affections like serpents. That is because serpents slither along the ground and lick the dust, and sensual matters are the lowest in the intellect and in the will, being most closely connected with the world and being fed by its objects and delights, which affect only the physical senses of the body.
Harmful serpents, of which there are many kinds, symbolize sensual matters dependent on the evil affections that form the interior motivations of the mind in people who, owing to the falsities accompanying evil, are irrational. And harmless serpents symbolize sensual matters dependent on the good affections that form the interior motivations of the mind in people who, owing to the truths accompanying goodness, are wise.
[3] Sensual matters dependent on evil affections are symbolized by serpents in the following passages:
They shall lick the dust like a serpent. (Micah 7:17)
Dust shall be the serpent’s food. (Isaiah 65:25)
(The serpent was told:) On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. (Genesis 3:14)
The sensual level in a person is thus described, and because it communicates with hell, where the people are all sensual, it turns heavenly wisdom in spiritual matters into hellish insanity.
Do not rejoice, Philistia…; for out of the serpent’s roots will come forth a viper, whose offspring will be a fiery flying serpent. (Isaiah 14:29)
They hatch a viper’s eggs…; he who eats of its eggs dies, and when anyone squeezes them, a viper breaks out. (Isaiah 59:5)
Because the children of Israel wished to return to Egypt, they were bitten by serpents (Numbers 21:4-9). To return to Egypt means, symbolically, to go from being spiritual to being sensual. So we read,
(The) mercenaries (of Egypt)…are turned back…. Its sound shall go like that of a serpent…. (Jeremiah 46:21, 22)
[4] Because Dan was the furthest out of the tribes and so symbolized the outmost component of the church, which is the sensual one subject to its interior ones, therefore this is said of it:
Dan shall be a serpent by the way…that will bite the horse’s heels so that its rider falls backward. (Genesis 49:17)
A horse’s heels symbolize the lowest constituents of the intellect, which are its sensual ones. To bite means, symbolically, to cling to them. The rider symbolizes the ignorance produced by them, by which it perverts truths. We are told, therefore, that the rider will fall backward.
Since sensual people are cunning and crafty like foxes, therefore the Lord says, “Be as wise as serpents” (Matthew 10:16). For a sensual person speaks and reasons on the basis of appearances and fallacies, and if he possesses a talent for arguing, he knows how to skillfully defend every falsity, including as well the heresy of faith alone; and yet he is so dim-sighted at seeing truth that almost no one could be more so.
The rest of mankind mean people who are not like those described, but who still make faith alone the chief tenet of their religion. Their not being killed symbolizes people not so spiritually dead. The plagues in which the former were killed mean a love of self, a conceit in their own intelligence, and the attendant lusts for evil and falsity, because these three are symbolized by fire, smoke and brimstone, as discussed above in nos. 452, 453. We will see below that plagues have this symbolism. But first we must say something about the people:
[2] I have been given to see these people, too, and to speak with them. They live in the northern zone over to the west. Some of them have huts there with roofs, others huts without roofs. Their beds are made of rushes, their clothes of goats’ hair. Seen in the light that flows in from heaven, their faces have a leaden color and also lack vitality. The reason is that they know nothing more from their religion than that there is a God, that there are three persons, that Christ suffered the cross for them, and that they are saved by means of faith alone, and in addition by worship in churches and prayers at set times. To anything else pertaining to religion and its tenets they pay no attention. For the worldly and personal concerns that occupy and fill their minds shut their ears to them.
Many of them were church elders, and I asked them what their thinking was when they read about works, love and charity, fruits, precepts for life, repentance – in word, about things that must be done. They replied that they had indeed read these things and so had seen them, but still did not see them, because they kept their mind focused on faith alone. Consequently they said that these all constitute faith, and that they did not think of them as being the effects of faith.
The ignorance and stupidity of people once they have embraced faith alone and made it the whole of their religion is such as to be scarcely believable, even though I have been given to witness it by a good deal of experience.
[3] That plagues symbolize spiritual plagues, which cause a person to die in spirit or as regards his soul, is apparent from the following passages:
Your rupture is hopeless, your plague severe…. …I will restore health to you and heal you of your plagues…. (Jeremiah 30:12, 14, 17)
Everyone who goes by Babylon shall…hiss at all her plagues. (Jeremiah 50:13)
…plagues will come (to Babylon) in one day – death and mourning…. (Revelation 18:8)
I saw…seven angels having the seven last plagues, by which the wrath of God is to be consummated. (Revelation 15:1, 6)
Woe to a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity…. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it. A wound and a scar and a fresh plague – these have not been expressed, bound up, or soothed with ointment. (Isaiah 1:4, 6)
In the day that Jehovah will bind up the fracture of His people and heal the wound of its plague. (Isaiah 30:26)
So, too, elsewhere, as in Deuteronomy 28:59, Jeremiah 49:17, Zechariah 14:12, 15, Luke 7:21, Revelation 11:6, 16:21.
The works of a person’s hands symbolize a person’s native proclivities, which are evils and their attendant falsities, because the hands symbolize in summary the things that emanate from a person; for the forces of the mind and consequently of the body are directed into the hands and terminate there. Consequently the hands in the Word symbolize power. For the same reason the works of a person’s hands symbolize his native proclivities, which are evils and falsities of every kind. Evils are the native proclivities of his will, and the attendant falsities the native proclivities of his intellect.
We are told regarding the people who are the subject here that they did not repent, because people who make faith alone the totality of religion say to themselves, “What need do I have of repentance, when through faith alone our sins are forgiven and we are saved? What do our works contribute to this? I know that I was born in sin and that I am a sinner. If I confess this and pray that my faults not be imputed to me, then I have repented. What need do I have of anything more?”
Thus the person then gives no thought to sin, even to the point of not knowing what sins are. Consequently the delight and gratification they afford continually carry him along in them and into them, the way a favorable wind and current carry a ship onto rocks when both captain and crew are asleep.
[2] In the natural sense of the Word, the works of a person’s hands mean carved images, cast images, and idols; but in its spiritual sense, they symbolize evils and falsities of every kind, which are a person’s native proclivities. As, for example, in the following passages:
…do not provoke Me to anger by the work of your hands…; (if you were) to provoke Me to anger by the work of your hands to your own hurt…, I will repay them according to their work and according to the deeds of their hands. (Jeremiah 25:6, 7, 14)
…the children of Israel have provoked Me…to anger by the work of their hands…. (Jeremiah 32:30, cf. 44:8)
I will utter My judgments against them concerning all their wickedness, because they…bowed themselves to the works of their hands. (Jeremiah 1:16)
In that day…people’s eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel, and…not to the altars, the work of their hands, and…what their fingers have made…. (Isaiah 17:7, 8, cf. 31:7, 37:19, Jeremiah 10:9)
[3] The work of a person’s hands is his own doing, thus evil and falsity, and this can be clearly seen from the fact that it was for this reason that the Israelites were forbidden to built an altar or temple out of hewn stones, or to use an iron tool on those stones; for they symbolized the work of a person’s hands:
If you make Me an altar of stones, you shall not build it of hewn stones; for if you use your chisel on it, you will profane it. (Exodus 20:25)
Joshua built…an altar of…stones, on which he did not use an iron tool. (Joshua 8:30, 31)
The temple (at Jerusalem)…was built of whole stone, and no hammer or axe or any iron tool was heard…while it was being built. (1 Kings 6:7)
[4] Everything that the Lord does is likewise called the work of His hands, and these are His inherent attributes, which in themselves are goods and truths. As, for example, in the following places:
The works of (Jehovah’s) hands are truth and judgment. (Psalm 111:7)
Your mercy, O Jehovah, endures forever; do not cease the works of Your hands. (Psalm 138:8)
Thus said Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: “Seek from Me signs concerning My children; concerning the work of My hands, command Me.” (Isaiah 45:11)
Your people are all just…, the offshoot of My planting, the work of My hands…. (Isaiah 60:21)
…O Jehovah, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You our potter, and all we the work of Your hands. (Isaiah 64:8)
Demons symbolize lusts for evil arising from a love of the world. That is because people in hell who are caught up in those lusts are called demons, and people on earth who are caught up in them too, become demons after death. They also have an affiliation with those in hell. For everyone is affiliated with spirits in respect to his affections, so closely that the two are inseparable. It is apparent from this that to worship demons is to yield to those lusts from a love of them.
Someone, then, who invokes faith alone as the chief tenet of his religion or as his idol – he, because he does not search out any evil in himself that he calls a sin, and therefore does not determine to remove it by repentance, remains caught up in it. And because every evil is composed of lusts, and is nothing but a bundle of lusts, it follows that a person who does not search out any evil in himself and refrain from it as a sin against God, which is possible solely through repentance, after death becomes a demon.
[2] Demons symbolize just such lusts in the following passages:
They sacrifice to demons, not to God. (Deuteronomy 32:17)
(The children of Israel) no longer offered their sacrifices to demons, after whom they had played the harlot. (Leviticus 17:7, cf. Psalm 106:37)
Ziyyim will meet with ‘iyyim, and the forest demon will encounter its companion. (Isaiah 34:14)
Ziyyim will sing there, and their houses will be full of ‘ochim; the offspring of owls will dwell there, and forest demons will caper there. (Isaiah 13:21).
Ziyyim, ‘iyyim, ‘ochim, and the offspring of owls symbolize various lusts. Forest demons are the kinds of lusts exhibited by priapi and satyrs.
Babylon…has become a dwelling place of demons, and a prison for every foul spirit…. (Revelation 18:2)
The demons that the Lord cast out embodied such lusts when they lived in the world – regarding which see Matthew 8:16, 28, 9:32, 33, 10:8, 12:22, 15:22, Mark 1:32-34, Luke 4:33 ad 37, 41, 8:2, 26-40, 9:1, 37-42, 49, 13:32.
Idols in the Word symbolize falsities in worship, and therefore worshiping them symbolizes worship founded on falsities. Worshiping idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, then, symbolizes worship founded on falsities of every kind, and when taken in combination, worship founded on nothing but falsities. Moreover, the materials, figures, and garments of the idols among ancient peoples represented the falsities of religion on which they founded their worship. Idols of gold symbolized falsities regarding matters pertaining to God; idols of silver, falsities regarding matters pertaining to the spirit; idols of brass, falsities regarding charity; idols of stone, falsities regarding faith; and idols of wood, falsities regarding good works.
All of these falsities are held by people who do not repent, that is, who do not refrain from evils as being sins against God.
[2] Idols, which were carved and cast images, have this symbolic meaning in the spiritual sense in the following passages:
Everyone has been made stupid by knowledge; every metalsmith is has been put to shame by a carved image; for his cast image is a falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are futile, a work of errors; in the time of their visitation they shall perish. (Jeremiah 10:14, 15, 51:17, 18)
(Carved images are) the work of the hands of the workman…. They do not speak…. They are both foolish and stupid; the wood is a worthless teacher…. They are all the work of skillful men. (Jeremiah 10:3-5, 8-10)
What profit is the carved image, that its maker has carved it, …and a teacher of lies, that the maker of the lie trusts in it…? …in it there is no breath. (Habakkuk 2:18, 19)
In that day a man will cast away to the moles and bats his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship…. (Isaiah 2:18, 20)
…they made for themselves cast images of their silver, idols according to their skill, all of it the work of craftsmen. (Hosea 13:2)
I will sprinkle clean water on you, that you may be cleansed…from all your uncleanness and from all your idols. (Ezekiel 36:25)
Clean waters are truths; idols are falsities in worship.
You shall judge unclean the covering of your graven images of silver, and the attire of your cast images of gold. You will throw them away as a menstrual cloth; you will call it excrement. (Isaiah 30:22)
[3] Falsities in religion and thus in worship are precisely what are symbolically meant by the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone that Belshazzar, king of Babylon, praised (i.e., worshiped) when with his great men, wives and concubines he drank wine from the vessels of gold and silver taken from the temple in Jerusalem, on which account he was driven from mankind and became as a beast (Daniel 5:1-5ff.).
And so also in many other places, as in Isaiah 10:10, 11, 21:9, 31:7, 40:19, 20, 41:29, 42:17, 48:5, Jeremiah 8:19, 50:38, 39, Ezekiel 6:4, 5, 14:3-6, Micah 1:7, 5:13, Psalm 115:4, 5, 135:15, 16, Leviticus 26:30.
Properly speaking, idols symbolize falsities in worship springing from people’s own intelligence. How a person fashions them and afterward adapts them so that they appear to be true is fully described in Isaiah 44:9-20.
This is said because idolaters believe that their idols see and hear, for they make them gods. But still this is not what the statement means. Rather it means that falsities in worship do not have in them any spiritual or truly rational life, as to see and hear means, symbolically, to understand and perceive (nos. 7, 25, 87). To walk, moreover, symbolically means to live (no. 167). Thus the three together symbolize a spiritual and truly rational life.
This is the symbolic meaning because idols symbolize falsities in worship, and these have no spiritual or rational life in them.
The statement that idols do not see, hear, or walk would be too obvious to deserve mention here if it did not have in it some symbolic meaning.
Similar statements regarding idols are made elsewhere in the Word, as in the following places:
They do not know or understand; …their eyes…do not see; their hearts…do not know…. Nor do they have any knowledge or intelligence…. (Isaiah 44:9, 18, 19)
…they do not speak…, they do not walk…. (Jeremiah 10:3-10)
They have mouths, but they do not speak; they have eyes, but they do not see. (Psalm 115:5, 135:15, 16)
These statements have a similar symbolic meaning, because idols symbolize falsities in worship, and falsities in worship have in them no life that is real.
The symbolic meanings of murder, sexual immorality or licentiousness, and thefts may be seen in The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem in Accordance with the Precepts of the Decalogue, where they are shown. Therefore we need not explain them here.
As for enchantments, we will say in the next number what they symbolize.
Faith alone induces stupidity, backsliding, and intransigence in the hearts of people found in Protestant Reformed churches because goodness of life does not constitute religion where faith alone prevails; and if goodness of life does not constitute religion, then the second table of the Ten Commandments, a table calling for repentance, is as though an empty one, in which no writing appears.
It is apparent that the second table of the Ten Commandments is a table calling for repentance, since it does not say that good works should be done, but that evil works must not be done, namely, that you shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet things that are your neighbor’s. If these are not matters of religion, then the case is as stated: “And they did not repent of their murders or their enchantments or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”
In subsequent explanations we will see that goodness of life does not constitute religion where faith alone prevails.
Enchantments are listed just above in place of the eighth commandment of the Decalogue, “You shall not bear false witness,” for mentioned there are three other prohibited evils, namely, murders, sexual immorality, and thefts.
To bear false witness means, in the natural sense, to act as a false witness, to lie and defame; and in the spiritual sense it means to convince and persuade that falsity is true and that evil is good. It is apparent from this that to practice enchantment means, symbolically, to persuade someone of falsity and thus to destroy the truth.
[2] The practice of enchantments existed among ancient peoples, and they were accomplished in three ways:
First, they would keep someone else’s hearing and thus his mind continually focused on their words and declarations, without letup on any part of them, while at the same time inspiring and instilling their thought then through their breathing, coupled with the affection in the tone of their discourse, with the result that the hearer could not form any thought of his own. Thus would speakers of falsehood forcibly infuse their falsities.
Second, they would infuse a persuasion, which they would do by keeping the mind from anything contrary, and by keeping it intent only on the idea in what they were saying. Thus the spiritual atmosphere of one person’s mind dispelled the spiritual atmosphere of another person’s mind and suffocated it. This was the spiritual witchcraft that magicians once employed, and they called it overcoming and binding the intellect. This kind of enchantment was an enchantment of the spirit or thought only, whereas the first kind was a enchantment of the mouth or speech as well.
[3] Third, a hearer would keep his mind so firmly in his own opinion that he would almost close his ears to hearing anything of what someone else was saying. He would accomplish this by holding his breath, and sometimes by a tacit muttering, and thus by a continual denial of his adversary’s opinion. This kind of enchantment was practiced by people listening to others, while the first two kinds were practiced by people speaking to others.
These three kinds of enchantment were practiced among ancient peoples, and are still practiced among spirits in hell. In the case of people in the world, however, only the third kind remains, and this among people who have affirmed in themselves falsities of religion out of a conceit in their own intelligence. For when these people hear contrary views, they do not admit them any further into their thought than to superficial contact, and then they emit from the inner recess of their mind a kind of fire which consumes those views, of which the other person knows nothing beyond the indications of the facial expression and tone of voice in reply, if the enchanter does not contain that fire, that is, the anger of his conceit, by hiding it.
This kind of enchantment today causes truths not to be accepted, and in many cases, not to be understood.
[4] Many magical arts were practiced in ancient times, and that these included enchantments is apparent in the book of Deuteronomy:
When you come into the land…, you shall not learn to imitate the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found in you anyone who causes his son or his daughter to pass through fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a diviner or fortune teller, or a user of potions, or one who uses enchantments, or one who inquires of an oracle, or a reader of signs, or one who seeks the dead. For (all of these things) are an abomination to Jehovah. (Deuteronomy 18:9-12)
A persuasion to falsity and thus the destruction of truth is symbolically meant by enchantments in the following passages:
Your wisdom and your knowledge have led you astray…. Therefore evil shall come upon you…. Stay now in your enchantments, and in the multitude of your sorceries…. (Isaiah 47:10-12)
…by (Babylon’s) enchantment all the nations were deceived. (Revelation 18:23)
Outside are dogs and enchanters and the sexually immoral and murderers…. (Revelation 22:15)
(Joram said to Jehu,) “Is it peace…?” He answered, “…as long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her enchantments are many?” (2 Kings 9:22)
Harlotries symbolize falsifications (no. 134), and her enchantments symbolize destructions of truth by persuasions to falsity.
[5] Conversely, an enchantment may symbolize a rejection of falsity by truths, which was also accomplished by tacitly thinking and muttering against falsity out of a zeal for the truth, as is apparent from the following:
…Jehovah…will take away from Jerusalem…the mighty man, the man of war…, the counselor, the practiced mutterer, and the expert in enchantment. (Isaiah 3:1-3)
Their poison is like the poison of a…deaf cobra; it stops its ear, so as not to hear the voice of mutterers, of the skillful user of enchantments. (Psalm 58:4, 5)
…behold, I am sending basilisk* serpents among you, against which there is no enchantment…. (Jeremiah 8:17)
…in distress they sought you, they cried out in their muttering…. (Isaiah 26:16)
* A legendary serpent or dragon, whose breath and glance were said to be lethal. Formerly identified in English translations of the Latin Vulgate with the cockatrice, and retained as such in the King James Bible.
———-
I looked out in the direction of the seashore in the spiritual world, and I saw there a magnificent harbor. I went over and inspected it; and lo, I saw there seagoing vessels, great and small, and in them all kinds of merchandise, with boys and girls sitting on the rowers’ benches and handing it out to any who wanted it. Moreover they said, “We are waiting to see our beautiful turtles which will soon rise up for us out of the sea.” And suddenly I saw turtles, great and small, on whose shells and carapaces sat baby turtles, which were looking about at the surrounding islands.
The parent turtles had two heads, a large one covered with a shell like the carapace of their bodies, which gave them a reddish glow; and a small one, like the usual one for turtles, which they would withdraw into the foreparts of their bodies and also insert invisibly into the larger head. I kept my eyes, however, on the large, reddish head, and I saw that it had a face like that of a human being, and that it would speak with the boys and girls on the rowers’ benches and lick their hands. The boys and girls for their part would pet them then and give them food and treats to eat, and also valuable gifts, such as silk usable for garments, sandarac wood* for tablets, purple for their ornamentation, and scarlet pigment as rouge.
[2] Seeing these things, I wished to know what they represented, as I knew that everything appearing in the world of spirits is a correspondent form and represents something spiritual descending from heaven.
Angels then spoke to me from heaven and said, “You yourself know what the harbor represents, and its vessels, and the boys and girls on the benches; but you do not know what the turtles represent.”
So they said, “The turtles represent those members of the clergy there who divorce faith from charity and its good works totally, asserting to themselves that there is no conjunction whatever, but that the Holy Spirit enters into a person through faith in God the Father because of the merit of the Son, and purifies the person interiorly as far as to his native will. They make this will, then, into a kind of oval plane, and when the operation of the Holy Spirit approaches it, they say it goes around that plane on the left side and does not at all touch it. Thus the inner or higher part of a person’s nature belongs to God, they say, while the outer or lower part belongs to the person, and thus nothing that a person does, whether good or evil, appears before God – not good because it is merit-seeking, and not evil because it is evil – since if these were to appear before God, they would both cause the person to perish.
“Moreover,” they said, “because this is the case, a person is permitted to will, think, say and do whatever he pleases, provided he guards himself against the world.”
[3] I asked whether they also declare that a person is permitted to think about God as being not omnipresent and not omniscient.
They said from heaven that this, too, is permitted them, because in the case of a person who has once been purified and thus justified, God does not look at anything pertaining to his thought or will, and yet in the inner recess or higher region of his mind or nature, he still retains the faith that he had previously received in its action upon him, and that the action can sometimes return without the person’s knowing.
“This,” the angels said, “is what the small head represents, which the turtles draw into the foreparts of their bodies and hide, and which they also insert in the large head when they speak with laymen. For they do not speak with them out of the small head, but out of the large one, which out front appears as though endowed with a human face. They speak with them from the Word about love, charity, good works, the Ten Commandments, and repentance, and they take from the Word almost everything that is found there on these subjects. But then they insert the small head into the large one, and this causes them to interpret within themselves that none of these things are to be done for God’s sake, or for the sake of heaven and salvation, but only for the sake of the public good and personal good. Yet because they speak about these things from the Word, especially about the gospel, the operation of the Holy Spirit, and salvation, doing so agreeably and elegantly, therefore they appear to their listeners as beautiful human beings and wiser than any others in the entire world. That is why you saw the boys and girls sitting on the rowers’ benches give them treats to eat and valuable gifts.
[4] “These, then, are the people you saw represented as turtles. In your world one can tell them apart from others to some small extent only by the fact that they believe themselves to be wiser than any others, and ridicule them, especially their colleagues, who they say are not as wise as themselves, and whom they scorn. They carry about with them a particular little seal on their clothing, to distinguish themselves from others.”
[5] One of those speaking with me said, “I will not tell you their opinion regarding all the other tenets of faith, as for example, regarding election, free will, baptism, and Holy Supper, which are the kind of things they do not make public. But we in heaven know.
“However, because they are of such a character in the world, and because after death no one is permitted to speak otherwise than as he thinks, therefore – because they can speak then only in accord with the insanities of their thoughts – they are regarded as insane and expelled from one society after another, and at last are conveyed down into the bottomless pit and become carnal spirits having the appearance of mummies. For a callus was produced on the interiors of their minds, because in the world they had also interposed a wall.
“There is a hellish society of them bordering on a hellish society of Machiavellians, and they sometimes pass from the one into the other and call themselves comrades; but then they leave because of the difference between them, as they have among them some religion relating to faith in action, whereas among Machiavellians there is none.”
[6] After I saw them expelled from one society after another and gathered together to be cast down, I saw a ship with seven sails flying in the air, and in it officers and sailors dressed in purple clothing, with magnificent laurel wreaths on their heads, and crying, “Look, we are now in heaven! We are professors robed in purple, and laureates greater than all others, because we are the foremost of the wise out of all the clergy in Europe.”
I wondered what this was, and I was told that the figures were depictions of the conceit and the mental concepts termed fantasies emanating from the people who had appeared before as turtles, and who now, having been expelled from one society after another, appeared as insane and were gathered into a single group, standing together in one place.
At that I desired to speak with them, and I went over to the place where they were standing, and greeting them, said, “You are people who have divorced people’s internals from their externals, and divorced the operation of the Holy Spirit as though in faith from its concomitant operation with a person as though apart from faith, thus divorcing God from man. Have you not by the same token removed not only charity and its works from faith, as many other learned of the clergy do, but also faith itself as regards its manifestation by a person in the sight of God?
“But if you please, do you wish me to speak to you on this subject in accord with reason, or in accord with the Holy Scripture?”
[7] They told me to speak first from reason, and so I spoke saying, “How can the internal and the external in a person be divorced? Who does not see, or cannot see, as a matter of common sense that a person’s interiors all extend and are continued into the exteriors, and even into his outmosts, in order to produce their effects and accomplish their operations? Do the internals not exist for the sake of the externals, so as to terminate in them and subsist in them, and thus abide, much like a column upon its pedestal? Can you not see that if the continuity and thus conjunction did not exist, the outmost elements would disintegrate and drift away like bubbles in the air? Who can deny that there are millions of interior operations of God in people, of which a person knows nothing? And what help would it be for him to be aware of them, provided he is cognizant of the outmost ones, in which he, with his thought and will, act together with God?
[8] “But I will illustrate this with an example. Is a person aware of the inner operations of his speech, such as how the lungs draw in air and fill their alveoli, bronchia, and lobes with it? Or how they expel air into the trachea and there turn it into sound? Or how the 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 so that it becomes speech? All of these interior operations, of which the person knows nothing – do they not take place for the sake of the outmost effect, that the person be able to speak? Take away or divorce one of those internal processes from its continuity with the outmost effects – would a person be able to speak any more than a wooden post?
[9] “Take another example. A person’s two hands are his terminal members. Do not the interior elements that extend into it come from the head through the neck, and then through the breast, shoulders, arms and forearms? And do these not involve countless muscular tissues, countless arrays of motor fibers, countless bundles of nerves and blood vessels, and a number of articulations of bones with their membranes and ligaments? Is a person at all aware of these? And yet his hands operate as a result of them. Suppose these inner processes took a wrong turn at the wrist and did not continue into the hands? Would the hands not fall off the forearms and decay like some inanimate object plucked away? In fact, if you are willing to believe it, it would be the same as with the body if the person were beheaded.
“It would be the altogether the same with a person’s thought and will if the Divine operation should cease before reaching them and not flow into them.
“So much in accord with reason.
[10] “Now if you are willing to hear it, these arguments accord with the Holy Scripture as well. Does the Lord not say,
Abide in Me, and I in you…. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (John 15:4, 5)
“Are not the fruits good works, which the Lord does through a person, and which a person does as though of himself?
“Does the Lord not also say that He stands at the door and knocks, and that if anyone opens the door, He will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Him (Revelation 3:20)?
“Does the Lord not give minas and talents, that a person may do business with them and make a profit, and that in the measure of the person’s profit He gives eternal life (Matthew 25:14-30, Luke 19:13-26)? Moreover, that He rewards everyone in accordance with the person’s labor in His vineyard (Matthew 20:1-17)?
“But these are just a few proofs. We could fill pages with citations from the Word to the effect that a person should be like a tree and produce fruits, that he should keep the commandments, love God and the neighbor, and more. But I know that it is not possible for your intellectual acumen to have any real common ground with passages from the Word. Even though you quote them, still your ideas pervert them. Nor can you do otherwise, because you take away from a person everything having to do with God as regards any communication and so conjunction. What remains then but only all the rituals of worship?”
[11] After that I saw these people in the light of heaven, which disclosed and exposed the character of each one, and they did not appear then as before, in a ship in the air, as though in heaven. Nor were there any purple-robed figures in it, or heads wreathed with laurel. I saw them instead in a sandy area, in ragged clothing, and girded about their loins with nets, like those used by fishermen, through which their nakedness was visible. And they were then conveyed down into the previously mentioned society bordering on the hellish society of Machiavellians.
* Literally, “thyine wood.” See Revelation 18:12, where it has been variously translated.
1 I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. 2 He had in his hand a little book open, and he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. 4 Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.” 5 Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his hand to heaven 6 and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be no more time, 7 but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be concluded, as He declared to His servants the prophets.
8 Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the little book that is open in the hand of the angel standing on the sea and on the earth.” 9 So I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little book.” And he said to me, “Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.” 10 Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. 11 And he said to me, “You must prophesy again about peoples, nations, tongues, and many kings.”
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
This chapter has as its subject the examination and exposure of people in the Protestant Reformed churches – here as to what they believe with respect to the Lord’s being God of heaven and earth, as He Himself taught (Matthew 28:18), and with respect to His humanity’s being Divine – something that has not been accepted there, and which can with difficulty be accepted, as long as the dogma of justification by faith alone resides in their hearts.
The Contents of the Individual Verses
1 I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven,
The Lord in His Divine majesty and power.
clothed with a cloud, with a rainbow over his head,
His Divinity on the natural plane and His Divinity on the spiritual plane.
and his face was like the sun,
His Divine love and at the same time Divine wisdom.
and his feet like pillars of fire.
The Lord’s Divinity on the natural plane in respect to His Divine love, which sustains all things.
2 He had in his hand a little book open,
The Word in respect to this point of doctrine there, that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, and that His humanity is Divine.
and he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land,
The Lord has the entire church under His auspices and governance.
3 and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars;
A grievous lamentation that the church was taken from Him.
and when he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices.
The Lord has disclosed throughout the whole of heaven what is in the little book.
4 Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”
These things must indeed be disclosed, but they are not accepted until after those people meant by the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet have been cast out of the world of spirits, because it would be dangerous before then.
5 Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his hand to heaven 6 and swore by Him who lives forever and ever,
An attestation and testification of the Lord on His own authority,
who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it,
who animates all who are in heaven and the church, and enlivens each and every thing in them.
that there should be no more time,
There will be no church or any state of the church unless people acknowledge one God, and that the Lord is that God.
7 but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound,
The final examination and exposure of the state of the church – that it will perish if the Lord does not establish a new one –
the mystery of God would be concluded, as He declared to His servants the prophets.
that then will appear what was foretold in the Word of both Testaments and previously concealed, that after the Last Judgment upon those people who have destroyed the church, the Lord’s kingdom will come.
8 Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the little book that is open in the hand of the angel standing on the sea and on the earth.”
A commandment from heaven for people to assimilate that doctrine, but in order that John might show how it would be received in the church before those meant by the dragon, the beast and the false prophet were removed.
9 So I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little book.”
A disposition of the heart with many people to accept the doctrine.
And he said to me, “Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.”
Accepting the doctrine from an acknowledgment that the Lord is the Savior and Redeemer is pleasing and agreeable, but acknowledging that He alone is God of heaven and earth, and that His humanity is Divine, is displeasing and vexatious, owing to their falsifications.
10 Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter.
So it came to pass, and thus it was shown.
11 And he said to me, “You must prophesy again about peoples, nations, tongues, and many kings.”
Such being the case, the character of people caught up in faith alone must be further told.
THE EXPOSITION
The subject of this and the following chapter is the Lord, showing that He is God of heaven and earth, and that He is God even in respect to His humanity, thus that He is Jehovah.
That this is the subject of these two chapters may be seen from the particulars in the spiritual sense, and from their concluding verses (chapter 11, verses 15-17).
That the angel here is the Lord is apparent from his description, that he was clothed with a cloud, with a rainbow over his head; that his face was like the sun and his feet like pillars of fire; and that he kept his feet on the sea and on the land; moreover that he cried out as when a lion roars, and that his voice was like thunder.
He appeared as an angel because that is how He appears when He manifests Himself in the heavens and below the heavens. For He fills some angel with His Divinity in accommodation to the reception of those whom He gives to see Him. No angel, and still less any mortal, can endure His presence as He is in Himself or in His essence. Therefore He appears above the heavens as the sun, which is as distant from angels as the world’s sun is from people. He is present there in His Divinity from eternity and at the same time in His Divine humanity, which are united like soul and body.
He is called here a mighty angel because of His Divine power. And He is called another angel owing to the fact that described here is another aspect of His Divinity than was described before.
As the cloud with which the angel was clothed symbolizes the Lord’s Divinity on the natural plane, therefore a cloud is used to symbolize the Word in its natural sense (no. 24), which also originates from Him, and which thus pertains to Him and is Him. A rainbow symbolizes the Lord’s Divinity on the spiritual plane, and because this exists above the natural plane, the rainbow was therefore seen over the angel’s head.
It must be known that the Lord is present with people in His Divinity on the natural plane, with angels of the spiritual kingdom in His Divinity on the spiritual plane, and with angels of the celestial kingdom in His Divinity on the celestial plane. Still, He Himself is not partitioned, but He appears to each person in accordance with that person’s character.
The Lord’s Divinity on the spiritual plane is also symbolized by a rainbow in Ezekiel:
Above the expanse (of the cherubim)…was the likeness of a throne…, and (on it)…the appearance of a man…. …and from (the fire of) His loins…as it were…the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day…. This was the appearance of…the glory of Jehovah. (Ezekiel 1:26-28).
The throne symbolizes heaven; the man on it, the Lord; the fire of His loins, celestial love; and the rainbow, Divine truth on the spiritual plane, which has to do also with His Divine wisdom.
We read of a rainbow also in Genesis:
I have set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. And…when I (see it)…in the cloud, I will remember…the eternal covenant…. (Genesis 9:12-17)
Nothing else is meant by the rainbow here but Divine truth on the spiritual plane present in the natural one in a person who is being regenerated. For when a person is being regenerated, from being natural he is becoming spiritual. And because he has a conjunction of the Lord with him then, therefore we are told that the bow in the cloud would serve as sign of the covenant, a covenant symbolizing conjunction. Rainbows in the world are clearly not a means of conjunction of the Lord with man.
This, too, is apparent, from the explanation in no. 49 above, where it is said of the Son of Man that “His feet were like fine brass, as though fired in a furnace.”
The angel’s feet looked like pillars of fire because the Lord’s Divinity on the natural plane – which fundamentally is the Divine humanity that He took on in the world – supports His Divinity from eternity, as the body does the soul, and likewise as the Word’s natural meaning supports its spiritual and celestial meanings, on which subject see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 27-49. To be shown that feet symbolize something natural, see no. 49, and a pillar something that supports, no. 191.
Fire symbolizes love because spiritual fire is nothing else. Therefore it is customary in worship to pray that heavenly fire, that is to say, heavenly love, may kindle the worshipers’ hearts. People know that there is a correspondence between fire and love from the fact that a person grows warm with love, and cold with its loss. Nothing else produces vital warmth but love, in both senses. The origin of these correspondences is owing to the existence of two suns, one in the heavens, which is pure love, and the other in the world, which is nothing but fire. This, too, is the reason for the correspondence between all spiritual and natural things.
[2] Since fire symbolizes Divine love, therefore on Mount Horeb Jehovah appeared to Moses in a bush on fire (Exodus 3:1-3). Moreover He descended upon Mount Sinai in fire (Deuteronomy 4:36). For this reason, too, the seven lamps of the lampstand in the Tabernacle were lit every evening, so as to burn before Jehovah (Leviticus 24:2-4). For the same reason fire burned continually on the altar and was not extinguished (Leviticus 6:13), and the priests took fire from the altar in their censers and burned incense (Leviticus 16:12, 13, Numbers 16:46, 47).
Therefore Jehovah went before the children of Israel by night in a pillar of fire (Exodus 13:21, 22). His dwelling place had fire over it by night (Exodus 40:38, Psalm 105:39, Isaiah 4:5, 6). Fire from heaven consumed the burnt offerings on the altar, as a sign of His being well pleased (Leviticus 9:24, 1 Kings 18:38). The burnt offerings were called offerings by fire to Jehovah, and offerings by fire for a restful aroma to Jehovah (Exodus 29:18; Leviticus 1:9, 13, 17, 2:2, 9-11, 3:5, 16, 4:35, 5:12, 7:30, 21:6; Numbers 28:2; Deuteronomy 18:1).
Therefore in the book of Revelation the Lord’s eyes looked like a flame of fire (Revelation 1:14, 2:18, 19:12, cf. Daniel 10:5, 6). And seven lamps of fire burned before the throne (Revelation 4:5).
It is apparent from this what lamps containing oil and lamps without oil symbolize (Matthew 25:1-11). The oil means fire, and thus love.
And so on in many other places.
In an opposite sense fire symbolizes hellish love, and this is plain from so many passages in the Word that it would be impossible to cite them all because of their number. See something on the subject in the book Heaven and Hell, published in London, nos. 566 to 575.
It may be seen in nos. 256, 259, and 295ff. above that the book which the Lamb took from Him who sat on the throne, the seals of which the Lamb loosed (Revelation 5:1, 7, 6:1ff.), means the Word. Consequently the little book in the hand of the angel, who also is the Lord (no. 465), means nothing else here than the Word in respect to some essential in it; and it is apparent from the particulars in this and the following chapter in the spiritual sense, and also from the natural sense in chapter 11, verses 15-17, that the essential is this point of doctrine in the Word, that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, and that His humanity is Divine.
[2] The little book is said to be open because this point of doctrine is plainly evident in the Word and is apparent to anyone who reads it, if he pays attention.
This is the subject now because it is the essential doctrine of the New Church. That is because everyone’s salvation depends on a conception and acknowledgment of God. For the case is as stated in the Preface, that “heaven in its entirety is founded on a right idea of God, and so, too, the entire church on earth, and all religion in general,” inasmuch as “that idea leads to conjunction, and through conjunction to light, wisdom, and eternal happiness.”
[3] Now because the Lord is the one God of heaven and earth, therefore no one is admitted into heaven if he does not acknowledge Him, for heaven is the Lord’s body. Instead the person remains below and is bitten by serpents, that is, by hellish spirits, from whose bite there is no cure but the one the children of Israel obtained by their looking at the bronze serpent (Numbers 21:1-9). That the bronze serpent means the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity is apparent from the following verses in John,
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:14, 15)
The sea and land symbolize the entire church – the sea the external church, or those people who concern themselves with its external elements, and the land the internal church, or those people who concern themselves with its internal ones (no. 398). To set His feet on them means, symbolically, to have all these subject to Him, thus to have them under His Divine auspices and governance.
Since the Lord’s church on earth is beneath the heavens, therefore it is called His footstool, as in the following passages:
He cast down from heaven to the earth the beauty of Israel…; He does not remember His footstool…. (Lamentations 2:1)
…the earth is My footstool. (Isaiah 66:1)
Let us go into His tabernacle; let us worship at His footstool. (Psalm 132:7)
…do not swear…by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool. (Matthew 5:34, 35)
I will make the place of My feet honorable. (Isaiah 60:13)
You have made Him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under His feet…. (Psalm 8:6)
These things are said of the Lord.
He placed His right foot on the sea and His left on the land because those people who concerned themselves with the external elements of the church did confirm falsities in themselves to the same extent as those who concerned themselves with its internal elements.
That to cry aloud as when a lion roars symbolizes a grievous lamentation over the church, which was taken from Him, is apparent from the explanations in the preceding chapter, where the states of life of people in the church were examined and exposed, states that were lamentable. It is apparent also from the following declaration in this chapter, that the angel swore by Him who lives forever and ever that there should be no more time, which symbolically means that there would be no more church. And in the next chapter as well, that the beast ascending from the bottomless pit killed His two witnesses. Especially is it apparent from the fact that people do not acknowledge the Lord and turn to Him, even though He is God of heaven and earth.
A lamentation over this is what the angel’s roaring like a lion symbolizes; for a lion roars when it sees its enemies and is attacked by them, and when it sees its young or its prey carried off. The same is comparatively the case with the Lord when He sees His church carried off by devils.
[2] That this is the symbolic meaning of roaring like a lion can be seen from the following passages:
As a lion roars, and a young lion over his prey, when a multitude of shepherds comes against him…, so Jehovah of Hosts will come down to fight upon Mount Zion…. (Isaiah 31:4)
…the anger of Jehovah is kindled against His people…. His roaring is like that of a lion, He roars like young lions; He growls and lays hold of the prey…. (For) behold, darkness and distress; and the light is darkened in its ruins. (Isaiah 5:25-30)
Jehovah will roar from on high, and utter His voice from His holy habitation; He will roar mightily against His habitations. (Jeremiah 25:30)
Jehovah will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem. (Joel 3:16)
I will not…destroy Ephraim…. They shall go after Jehovah. He will roar like a lion, for He will roar…. (Hosea 11:9, 10)
A lion roars. Who does not fear? The Lord Jehovih has spoken. Who will not prophesy? (Amos 3:8)
(God) roars with His voice; He thunders with His majestic voice…. (Job 37:4, 5)
That roaring symbolizes a grievous lamentation is clear from the following passages:
…my bones grew old through my roaring all the day long. (Psalm 32:3)
I am feeble and worn; I have roared because of the roaring of my heart. (Psalm 38:8)
…my sighing comes before bread, and my roarings pour out like water. (Job 3:24)
This is the symbolic meaning, because we read next that John wished to write what the seven thunders said, but that he was told from heaven to seal those things up and not to write them, and later that he ate the little book, which in his mouth was as sweet as honey, but made his stomach bitter. The symbolic meaning is that present within were such things as would not yet be accepted. The reason may be seen in the next number.
But now I will reveal what the little book had in it. The little book had in it the same contents as found from beginning to end in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, which are as follows:
[2] The Sacred Scripture throughout has the Lord as its subject, and the Lord is the Word (nos. 1-7).
The Lord’s fulfilling all things of the Law* means that He fulfilled all things of the Word (nos. 8-11).
The Lord came into the world to conquer the hells and glorify His humanity, and His suffering of the cross was the final battle by which He fully overcame the hells and fully glorified His humanity (nos. 12-14).
By His suffering of the cross the Lord did not take away sins, but bore them (nos. 15-17).
Any imputation of the Lord’s merit is simply the forgiveness of sins following repentance (no. 18).
The Lord is called the Son of God in relation to His Divine humanity, and the Son of Man in relation to the Word (nos. 19-28).
The Lord made His humanity Divine from the Divinity in Him, and thus became one with the Father (nos. 29-36).
The Lord is God Himself, from whom the Word originated and who is the subject of the Word (nos. 37-44).
There is one God, and the Lord is that God (no. 45).
The Holy Spirit is the Divinity emanating from the Lord, and it is the Lord Himself (nos. 46-54).
The doctrine of the Athanasian Creed accords with the truth, provided a trinity of persons is interpreted to mean a trinity of person, which is present in the Lord (nos. 55-61).
[3] We are told that the seven thunders uttered their voices because the Lord’s speech descending through the heavens into the lower regions sounds like thunder. And because He speaks at the same time throughout the whole of heaven, thus in fullness, there are said to be seven thunders, for the number seven means, symbolically, all people or all things, and thus completeness (nos. 10, 390). Consequently thunder also symbolizes instruction and a perception of truth (no. 236), and here discovery and disclosure as well.
That a voice from heaven sounds like thunder when it comes from the Lord is apparent from the following:
(Jesus said,) “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” (John 12:28-30)
The multitude heard this as thunder.
(God roars with His voice;) He thunders with His majestic voice…. (Job 37:4, 5)
Jehovah thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice. (2 Samuel 22:14)
I heard a voice from heaven…like the voice of loud thunder. (Revelation 14:2)
You called…and…I answered you in secret with thunder. (Psalm 81:7)
* Luke 24:44; cf. Matthew 5:18.
The voices uttered by the seven thunders are declarations expressing what we have just said in no. 472 above. And because these constitute the essential doctrine of the New Church, they are mentioned three times.
In the natural sense, to write means to commit to paper and thus to record for posterity; but in the spiritual sense, to write means, symbolically, to commit to the heart for its acceptance. Sealing something up, therefore, and not writing it. This means, symbolically, not to commit it to the heart or accept it until after the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet have been cast out of the world of spirits, because it would be dangerous before then. That is because the dragon, beast and false prophet symbolize people caught up in a faith divorced from charity, and these cling steadfastly and tenaciously to their belief that one must go to God the Father and not to the Lord directly, and that the Lord is not God of heaven and earth as regards His humanity. Consequently, as regards the doctrine presented just above in no. 472, which was disclosed and continues to be disclosed, symbolized by the little book’s being open – if, before the dragon was cast out, that doctrine were to be received by others than people possessing charity and its accompanying faith, who also are symbolized by John (nos. 5, 17), it would be rejected not only by them, but through them by everyone else as well. And if not rejected, still it would be falsified, even profaned.
[2] The reality of this is clearly apparent from the following chapters in Revelation when viewed in their sequence, in which we are told that they killed the Lord’s two witnesses (chapter 11); that the dragon stood before the woman ready to give birth, to devour her child, and that after it fought with Michael, it pursued the woman (chapter 12); that the two beasts, one rising up from the sea and one from the earth, made common cause with him (chapter 13); that they gathered their followers together to do battle at a place called Armageddon (chapter 16); and finally that they gathered the nations Gog and Magog to do battle (chapter 20, verses 8, 9); but that the dragon, beast and false prophet were cast into the lake of fire and brimstone (chapter 20, verse 10); and that after this took place, the New Church, which was to be the Lamb’s bride, came down out of heaven (chapters 21, 22).
These are the things meant by the charge, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.” Also by the subsequent statement in this chapter, that “in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel…, the mystery of God would be concluded, as He declared to His servants the prophets” (verse 7). So, too, by this statement in the next chapter, “Then the seventh angel sounded: and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ,'” (chapter 11, verse 15). And further, by a number of similar statements in the following chapters.
On this subject, something may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, no. 61.
The angel standing on the sea and on the land means the Lord (no. 470). Lifting up the hand to heaven symbolizes an attestation, here that there should be no more time (verse 6). Swearing symbolizes a testification, here that in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel the mystery of God would be concluded (verse 7). He who lives forever and ever means the Lord, as in Revelation 1:18, 4:9, 10, and 5:14 above, and in Daniel 4:34. That the Lord swears on His own authority will be seen shortly.
It is apparent from this that the statement, “Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever,” symbolizes an attestation and testification of the Lord on His own authority.
[2] That Jehovah swears or testifies on His own authority is clear from the following passages:
I have sworn by Myself; a word has gone out of My mouth (which) shall not return…. (Isaiah 45:23)
I swear by Myself…that this house shall become a desolation. (Jeremiah 22:5)
Jehovah…has sworn by His soul. (Jeremiah 51:14, Amos 6:8)
…Jehovah has sworn by His holiness. (Amos 4:2)
Jehovah has sworn by His right hand and by the arm of His strength. (Isaiah 62:8)
Behold, I have sworn by My great name…. (Jeremiah 44:26)
That Jehovah, which is to say, the Lord, swore by Himself or on His own authority means, symbolically, that Divine truth attests; for the Lord is Divine truth itself, and this attests of itself and on its own authority.
In addition to these passages, that Jehovah swore may be seen in Isaiah 14:24, 54:9, Psalms 89:3, 35, 95:11, 110:4, 132:11.
We are told that Jehovah swore because the church established with the children of Israel was a representational church, and the conjunction of the Lord with the church was represented by a covenant, like one made between two parties who swear to their compact. Therefore, because an oath was a part of any covenant, we are told that Jehovah swore. Still, this does not mean that He swore, but that Divine truth attests to something.
[3] That an oath was a part of any covenant is apparent from the following:
I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, so that you became Mine…. (Ezekiel 16:8)
…to remember His covenant, the oath which He swore…. (Luke 1:72, 73; cf. Psalm 105:9, Jeremiah 11:5, 32:22, Deuteronomy 1:34, 10:11, 11:9, 21, 26:3, 15, 31:20, 34:4)
Because the covenant was representative of the conjunction of the Lord with the church, and reciprocally of the church with the Lord, and because an oath was a part of any covenant and was to be sworn on the ground of the truth in it, being sworn thus also in appeal to that truth, therefore the children of Israel were permitted to swear by Jehovah, and so in appeal to Divine truth (Exodus 20:7, Leviticus 19:12, Deuteronomy 6:13, 10:20, Isaiah 48:1, 65:16, Jeremiah 4:2, Zechariah 5:4).
After the representative constituents of the church were abrogated, however, the Lord also abrogated oaths to covenants (Matthew 5:33-37, 23:16-22).
In the natural sense, to create means to create, but in the spiritual sense to create means, symbolically, to reform and regenerate (nos. 254, 290), which is also to enliven. Heaven means the heaven inhabited by angels. The earth and the sea symbolize the church – the earth those people who concern themselves with its internal elements, and the sea those people who concern themselves with its external ones (nos. 398, 470). The things that are in these symbolize each and every thing in such people.
Time symbolizes state, and because the church is the subject here, it symbolizes a state of the church. Consequently, that there should be no more time means, symbolically, that there should be no state of the church.
It follows also that it means there would be no church unless people acknowledge one God, and that the Lord is that God. But what is the case today? No one denies that there is one God, but people do deny that the Lord is that God. And yet there cannot be one God in whom there is at the same time a Trinity unless that God is the Lord. No one denies that the church originates from Him who is the Savior and Redeemer, but people do deny that they should turn to Him directly as their Savior and Redeemer.
It is apparent from this that the church will die unless a new one arises, one that acknowledges the Lord alone as God of heaven and earth and accordingly turns to Him directly (see Matthew 28:18*). Consequently the statement here that there should be no more time, that is to say, no church, is related to what is said in verse 7 of this chapter,** and verse 7 in turn is related to what is said in chapter 11, verse 15,*** where we are told that there would be a church which would be the Lord’s alone.
[2] Time symbolizes state because in the spiritual world time is not measured by days, weeks, months and years, but instead by states which are progressions of the inhabitants’ lives, by which they recall the past. (On which subject, see the book Heaven and Hell, published in London in 1758, nos. 162-169, where we dealt with time in heaven.)
The state of the church is meant here by time because although day and night, morning and evening, summer and winter mark periods of time in the world, when interpreted in the spiritual sense they mark states of the church. Consequently, when these states come to an end, there is no church; and that is the case when there is no longer any good and truth, thus when the light of truth has become dark, and the warmth of goodness cold. That is what is meant by the statement that there should be no more time.
The following passages in the Word have similar meanings:
(The fourth beast) shall think to change times…. (Daniel 7:25)
There shall be one day which is known to Jehovah – neither day nor night (and so not a period of time). (Zechariah 14:7)
…I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in broad daylight (and so not in a period of time). (Amos 8:9)
…a single evil, behold, it has come! An end has come, the end has come…. The morning has come upon you, who dwell in the land; the time has come…. (Ezekiel 7:5-7)
The morning is the commencement of the New Church (no. 151), which is why it says, “The time has come.”
* “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
** “…in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, as He declared to His servants the prophets.”
*** “Then the seventh angel sounded: and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!'”
Sounding a trumpet means, symbolically, to examine and expose the state of life of people in the church, thus also the state of the church, as may be seen in no. 397 above. And because there were seven angels who sounded, the sounding of the seventh angel symbolizes the final examination and exposure, showing that the church would perish if the Lord did not establish a new one. That it would perish is meant by the statement that there should be no more time (no. 476); and that the Lord would establish a new one is meant by the statement that follows next.
To be concluded means, symbolically, to be fulfilled, to come to an end, and then to reappear. The mystery of God declared to the prophets symbolizes something foretold by the Lord in the Word and previously concealed. To declare good news means, symbolically, to proclaim the coming of the Lord and His kingdom, for the gospel is happy news. That this would come about after the Last Judgment was executed on the people who destroyed the church was also foretold in the Word. Therefore this, too, is symbolically meant.
It can be seen from this that all of these meanings are contained in these words.
[2] First we must say something here about the Lord’s advent and His kingdom’s being foretold in the Word of both Testaments:
In the Word of the Old Testament, in the spiritual sense of the prophetic portion, and also in its natural sense wherever the spiritual sense shines through, the subject is the Lord alone, namely, His advent in the fullness of time, a time when the goodness of charity and the truth of faith would no longer be present in the church, whose state then is called a consummation, a being laid waste, a desolation, and a cutting off. It includes as well His battles with the hells and victories over them, which constitute also the last judgment that He executed, and after that the creation of a new heaven and the establishment of a new church, which are the Lord’s kingdom to come. All of this is found in the Word of the New Testament, too, in the portion called the Gospels, and in particular in the book of Revelation.
[3] That it is the Lord’s kingdom that would be declared in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel is apparent in the next chapter (chapter 11) from the following:
Then the seventh angel sounded: and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” And the twenty-four elders…fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give You thanks, O Lord God…, who are and who were and who are to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned. (Revelation 11:15-17)
[4] This mystery, in almost the same words as in Revelation here, is described in Daniel, where we find the following:
I heard the man clothed in linen…, when he held up his (hands) to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a set time of set times and a half…, when…all these things shall be finished…. But he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” (Daniel 12:7, 9)
Till the time of the end refers to the present time. That the Son of Man would then receive His kingdom – this Daniel foretells in these words:
I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! …Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, and all peoples, nations, and languages will worship Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one which shall not perish. (Daniel 7:13, 14)
[5] That declaring good news symbolizes the Lord’s advent and His kingdom then, is apparent from the following passages:
Get up into the…mountain, O Zion, who brings good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, who brings good tidings…. Say…, “Behold your God!” Behold, the Lord Jehovih is coming with strength, and His arm shall rule for Him. (Isaiah 40:9, 10)
How delightful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of goodness, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your King shall reign!” (Isaiah 52:7, cf. Nahum 1:15)
Sing to Jehovah, bless in His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day…. …Jehovah, for He is coming…. (Psalm 96:2, 13)
The Spirit of the Lord Jehovih is upon Me; therefore Jehovah has anointed Me to bring good tidings to the poor…, to proclaim liberty to the captives…, to proclaim the year of Jehovah’s good pleasure…. (Isaiah 61:1, 2)
The angel said to (Zacharias), “(Behold)…, your wife…will bear…a son…, (who) will go before (the Lord God) in the spirit and power of Elijah…, to prepare a people for the Lord…. I am Gabriel…, and I was sent…to bring you these glad tidings.” (Luke 1:13, 17, 19)
…the angel said to (the shepherds), “Do not be afraid, …behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy…. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10, 11)
The Lord brought good tidings of the kingdom of God: Matthew 4:23, 9:35; Mark 1:14, 15; Luke 7:22, 8:1, 9:1, 2. So did John the Baptist: Luke 3:18.
The Lord also said to the Disciples,
Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to every creature. (Mark 16:15)
This, too, is the everlasting good news or gospel that “the angel flying in the midst of heaven” had “to proclaim to the those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 14:6).
[6] Our being told that the mystery of God would be concluded means that something would be fulfilled that was not fulfilled before, namely, the coming of the Lord’s kingdom. It was not fulfilled by the Jews because they did not acknowledge the Lord. Neither has it been fulfilled by Christians because they do not acknowledge the Lord to be God of heaven and earth even in respect to His human element; for they regard this as being like anyone else’s human element. Consequently they do not turn to Him directly, even though He is Jehovah who came into the world.
The voice which John heard from heaven now speaking to him again means the voice that told him to seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered and not to write them (verse 4), which symbolically meant that the aforesaid doctrine regarding the Lord would not be accepted until after those people meant by the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet had been cast out of the world of spirits, because it would be dangerous before then (see no. 473 above). The reality of this is clearly shown now by John’s eating the little book, as described next.
That the little book means doctrine regarding the Lord may be seen in nos. 469, 472. And that the angel standing on the sea and on the land means the Lord may be seen in nos. 465, 470.
This is the symbolic meaning because John here shows how many people in the church receive the doctrine regarding the Lord, as said just above. A disposition of the heart in them to accept it is meant because of the inclination in John to take it, since he went and asked for it.
Inasmuch as this account involves such particulars, therefore John was first told to take the little book, after which he went and asked for it, and the angel then told him he would give it to him, but that the little book would make his stomach bitter; and lastly we are told that he was given it, and that the prediction came to pass. These particulars all have a symbolic meaning.
To take the little book means, symbolically, to accept the doctrine regarding the Lord. To eat it means, symbolically, to acknowledge the doctrine. To make the stomach bitter means, symbolically, that the doctrine will be displeasing and vexatious owing to falsifications; for bitterness symbolizes truth falsified (no. 411). To be as sweet as honey in the mouth means, symbolically, that the initial acceptance of the doctrine is pleasing and delightful.
In application now to this doctrine, meant by the little book open in the hand of the angel (nos. 469, 472), these particulars mean, symbolically, that accepting it from an acknowledgment that the Lord is the Savior and Redeemer is pleasing and delightful, but that any acknowledgment that He only is God of heaven and earth, and that His humanity is Divine, is displeasing and vexatious owing to falsifications.
The falsifications which cause this doctrine to be perceived as displeasing and vexatious are chiefly these, that people do not acknowledge the Lord to be one with the Father, as He Himself nevertheless taught, and that they do not acknowledge the Lord’s humanity to be Divine, which nevertheless is the Son of God (Luke 1:35*). And so it may be said that they make God three and the Lord two. Added to these falsifications are the continual falsities flowing from them. From these flows faith alone, and faith alone afterward serves to confirm them.
From these falsities arise such a bitterness and inner repugnance that people after death cannot even pronounce the words Divine humanity from any mental acknowledgment of their meaning, as may be seen in no. 294 above.
* “And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.'”
Because this follows as a consequence from the aforesaid, it needs no further exposition.
We read that the prophet Ezekiel, too, was commanded to eat the scroll of a book, and that it was in his mouth as sweet as honey (Ezekiel 2:8-10, 3:1-3).
That this is the symbolic meaning is apparent from what follows, in which the subject is people caught up in faith alone, to the end of chapter 16. After that the subject is the Roman Catholic religion, then the casting out of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet into hell, and afterward the New Church, which will worship the Lord alone.
To prophesy means, symbolically, to teach (nos. 8, 133), and so to prophesy again means to teach further. “Peoples” symbolize people who are impelled by doctrinal truths or doctrinal falsities, and “nations” symbolize people who are impelled by good practices or evil practices. More about these later. “Tongues” symbolize people who are impelled by truths and goods or falsities and evils externally (no. 282), and “kings” people who are impelled by them internally. To be shown that kings symbolize people who are impelled by truths springing from goodness, and in an opposite sense, people who are impelled by falsities springing from evil, and abstractly truths themselves springing from goodness or falsities themselves springing from evil, see nos. 20, 664, 704, 720, 830, 921. And as the subject in what follows is in particular people impelled by interior falsities, the text says, “and many kings,” which symbolizes falsities accompanying evil in abundance.
The text says peoples, nations, tongues and kings in order to mean all people in the church who are of this character.
John’s being told that he had to prophesy again means, symbolically, to teach further the character of people caught up in faith alone, in order that their falsities may be exposed and thus eradicated, since no falsity is eradicated before it has been exposed.
[2] That “peoples” symbolize people impelled by doctrinal truths or falsities, and “nations” people impelled by good or evil practices, can be seen from many passages in the Word where peoples and nations are mentioned. However, to demonstrate this we will cite here only some passages where peoples and nations are mentioned together, from which this conclusion may be drawn, as each and every particular in the Word contains a marriage of the Lord and the church, and consequently a marriage of goodness and truth; and “peoples” refer to truth, and “nations” to goodness. The presence of such a marriage in each and every particular of the Word may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 80-90.
[3] Here are the passages in the Word:
Woe to a sinful nation, to a people laden with iniquity…. (Isaiah 1:4)
I will send him against a hypocritical nation, against the people of My wrath I will command him…. (Isaiah 10:6)
(Jehovah) who is striking the peoples…with an incurable plague, who is ruling the nations in anger…. (Isaiah 14:6)
At that time a present will be brought to Jehovah…, a people scattered and shaven…, and a nation marked off and downtrodden…. (Isaiah 18:7)
…a strong people will honor You, a city of mighty nations will fear You. (Isaiah 25:3)
(Jehovah ) will swallow up…the covering…over all peoples, and the veil…over all nations. (Isaiah 25:7)
Come near, you nations…, and pay heed, you peoples! (Isaiah 34:1)
I…have called You…as a covenant to the peoples, and as a light to the nations. (Isaiah 42:6)
Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples assemble. (Isaiah 43:9)
Behold, I will lift My hand…to the nations, and…My standard to the peoples. (Isaiah 49:22)
…I have given him as a witness to the peoples, a leader and lawgiver to the nations. (Isaiah 55:4)
Behold, a people is coming from the north country, and a great nation…from the edges of the earth. (Jeremiah 6:22)
Many peoples and numerous nations shall come to seek Jehovah of hosts in Jerusalem…. (Zechariah 8:22)
Jehovah renders the counsel of the nations of no effect, He overturns the deliberations of the peoples. (Psalm 33:10)
(Jehovah) will subdue the peoples under us, and the nations under our feet…. (Jehovah) reigned over the nations…. The willing of the peoples have gathered together…. (Psalm 47:3, 8, 9)
The peoples shall confess You…. The nations shall be glad…. For You shall judge the peoples righteously, and guide the nations on the earth. (Psalm 67:3, 4)
Remember me, O Jehovah, with good pleasure toward Your people…, that I may rejoice in the joy of Your nations…. (Psalm 106:4, 5)
…all peoples, nations, and languages shall worship (the Son of Man). (Daniel 7:14)
And so on elsewhere, as in Psalm 18:43, Isaiah 9:2, 3, 11:10, Ezekiel 36:15, Joel 2:17, Zephaniah 2:9, Revelation 5:9, Luke 2:30-32.
———-
The first event: I once heard in the spiritual world what sounded like the noise of a mill. It was in the northern zone there. I wondered at first what it was, but then I remembered that in the Word a mill and the grinding of grain means to seek from the Word something usable for doctrine (no. 794). Therefore I went over to the place that I heard the sound coming from, and when I drew near, the sound died away, and I saw a kind of domed structure over the earth, with an entrance leading into it through a cave. Seeing this, I went down and entered, and lo, I found a room in which I saw an elderly man sitting, surrounded by books, holding a copy of the Word in front of him and seeking from it something he could use for his doctrine. He had slips of paper lying all around, on which he recorded the texts he found. In an adjoining room there were clerks who would collect the slips of paper and copy them onto a whole sheet.
I began by asking him about the books he had around him. He said that they all dealt with justifying faith, profoundly so those from Sweden and Denmark, more profoundly those from Germany, and still more profoundly those from Britain, but most profoundly those from the Netherlands. And he added that though they differed on various points, they were all in agreement on the article of justification and salvation by faith alone.
After that he told me that he was now collecting from the Word texts in support of this first tenet of justifying faith, that God the Father turned away from grace toward the human race on account of its iniquities, and that to save the human race there arose a Divine need for someone to take upon himself the condemnation required by justice, in order to effect satisfaction, reconciliation, propitiation, and mediation, and that only His Son could possibly accomplish this. He said, too, that after that, a means of approach to God the Father was opened for the sake of the Son. Moreover he said, “I have seen and still see that this accords with all reason. How could God the Father be approached except by faith in this merit of the Son? I have also now found that this accords as well with Scripture.”
[2] Listening to this, I was astounded to hear him say that it accorded with reason and with Scripture, when in fact it is contrary to reason and contrary to Scripture, and I also frankly told him so. At that his zeal moved him to hotly retort, “How can you say that?”
Therefore I told him my opinion, saying, “Is it not contrary to reason to think that God the Father turned away from grace toward the human race and rejected mankind? Is not Divine grace an attribute of the Divine essence? To turn away from grace, then, would be to turn away from His own Divine essence, and to turn away from His Divine essence would mean He was no longer God. Can God be estranged from Himself? Believe me, grace on the part of God – as it is infinite, so is it eternal. The grace of God can be lost on mankind’s part if people do not accept it, but never on God’s part. If grace should depart from God, it would be all over with the whole of heaven and with the whole human race, to the point that people would no longer be in the least bit human. Therefore grace on the part of God continues to eternity, not only toward angels and people, but also toward the devil himself.
“Since this accords with reason, why do you say that the only means of approach to God the Father is through faith in the merit of the Son, when in fact there is a continuing approach through grace?
[3] “Furthermore, why do you call it a means of approach to God the Father for the sake of the Son, and not to God the Father through the Son? Is not the Son the Mediator and Savior? Why do you not approach the Mediator and Savior Himself? Is He not God and man? Who on earth goes directly to some emperor, king, or prince? Must one not find a deputy or someone to introduce him? Do you not know that the Lord came into the world to Himself introduce people to the Father, and that the only means of approach is through Him? Search the Scripture now, and you will see that this accords with it, and that your way to the Father is as contrary to Scripture as it is contrary to reason. I say to you also that it is an act of impudence to climb up to God the Father directly* and not through Him who is in the bosom of the Father** and who alone is in Him.*** Have you not read John 14:6?”****
When he heard this, the elderly man became so angry that he leapt from his chair and shouted to his clerks to throw me out. And when I immediately left of my own accord, he threw out through the exit after me a book that his hand chanced upon, and that book was the Word.
[4] The second event: After I left, I heard the noise again, but this time it sounded like the noise of two millstones crashing into each other. I went in the direction of the sound and it died away, and I saw a narrow entryway leading gradually down to a kind of domed building divided into little compartments, in each of which two men were sitting, who were also collecting from the Word proof texts in support of faith. One of them would find them, and the other would write them down, and this by turns.
I went to one of the compartments and, standing in the doorway, asked, “What texts are you collecting and writing down?”
They said, “Texts about the act of justification or faith in act, which is faith itself, justifying, vivifying and saving – the principal tenet of doctrine in Christianity.”
And at that I said to one of them, “Tell me some sign of the act when that faith is introduced into a person’s heart and soul.”
He replied, “A sign of the act exists the moment a person is moved, by grief at his being damned, to think about Christ as having taken away the condemnation of the Law, and when, conscious of that merit of Christ, with confidence in it, he turns with it in mind to God the Father and prays.”
[5] “So that is how the act occurs,” I said then, “and that is the moment.”
And I asked, “How am I to understand what we are told about the act, that nothing in a person cooperates with it any more than if he were a stock or a stone? Or that as regards the act a person cannot initiate, will, understand, think, do, or contribute anything to it, and cannot conform or accommodate himself to it?
“Tell me how this agrees with what you said, that the act happens when a person thinks about the judgment of the Law, about his damnation having been taken away by Christ, about the confidence with which he is conscious of that merit of Christ, and with it in mind turns to God the Father and prays? Does the person not do all these things as though of himself?”
But he said, “The person does not do them actively, but passively.”
[6] And I replied, “How can anyone think, have confidence, and pray passively? Take away a person’s active or reactive participation – do you not also take away his receptivity, thus everything his own, and with that the act as well? What then does that act of yours become but something purely theoretical, which we call a figment of the imagination?
“I know that you do not believe in agreement with some that an act of this kind is possible only with those people predestined to it, who are not at all aware of the infusion of faith in them. These may as well cast dice to find out if it has occurred.
“Therefore believe, my friend, that in matters of faith a person operates and cooperates as though of himself, and that without that cooperation the act of faith, which you call the principal tenet of doctrine and religion, is no more than the pillar into which Lot’s wife was turned, having the faint sound of nothing but salt when scratched with a writer’s pen or fingernail (Luke 17:32*****). I say this because as regards that act you makes yourselves to be like statues.”
When I said that, the man arose and picked up the lamp violently to throw it at my face. But suddenly then the lamp went out and the room became dark, so that he hurled it at the forehead of his companion. And I went away laughing.
[7] The third event: I heard in the northern zone of the spiritual world what sounded like the rushing of water. I went therefore in that direction, and when I drew near, the rushing sound stopped, and I heard what sounded like a gathering of people. Moreover a house full of holes then appeared, surrounded by a wall, from which I heard the sound coming. I approached and found there a doorkeeper, and I asked him who were inside. He said that they were the wisest of the wise, who were coming to conclusions together about metaphysical subjects.
He spoke as he did out of the simplicity of his faith, and I asked if I might be permitted to enter. He said that I could, provided that I not say anything.
“I can let you in,” he said, “because I have permission to let in the gentiles here who are standing with me at the door.”
I went in therefore, and lo, I found an amphitheater with a rostrum in the middle of it, and the company of the so-called wise were discussing mysteries of faith. The matter or proposition submitted for discussion then was whether the good that a person does in a state of justification by faith, or in the progress of that state after the act, constitutes the good of religion or not. They were unanimous in saying that the good of religion means good that contributes to salvation.
[8] It was an acrimonious discussion, but those prevailed who said that any good that a person does in a state of faith or its progression is only moral, civic, or political good, which contributes nothing to salvation, but that only faith contributes anything. They established this as follows:
“How can any work of man be coupled with something free? Is not salvation bestowed gratis? How can any good work of man be coupled with the merit of Christ? Is not Christ’s merit the only means of salvation? And how can any operation of man be coupled with the operation of the Holy Spirit? Does not the Holy Spirit accomplish everything without the help of man? Are not these three elements the only saving ones in any act of faith? And not do these three also continue to be the only saving ones in the state or progression of faith?
“Therefore any additional good that a person does can by no means be called a good of religion, a good which, as we said, contributes to salvation. If, however, someone does that good for the sake of salvation, it must rather be called an evil of religion.”
[9] Two of the gentiles were standing by the doorkeeper in the vestibule, and having heard this, they said to each other, “These people do not have any religion. Who does not see that to do good to the neighbor for God’s sake, thus in association with God and impelled by God, is what we call religion.” And one of them said, “Their faith has made them foolish.” And they asked the doorkeeper who the people were.
The doorkeeper said, “They are wise Christians.”
To which they replied, “Nonsense. You are wrong. They are buffoons. That is how they talk.”
I then went away. And when after a time I looked back at the place where the house had stood, behold, it was a marsh.
———-
[10] These events that I saw and heard, I saw and heard while awake in both body and spirit, for the Lord has so united my spirit to my body that I am present in both simultaneously.
My visiting those houses, and the people’s deliberations on those matters then, and its happening as described, came about under the Lord’s Divine auspices.
* Cf. John 10:1.
** John 1:18.
*** John 10:38.
**** But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
***** “Remember Lot’s wife.”
1 Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood by, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. 2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. 3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. 5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire will proceed from their mouth and devour their enemies. And if anyone wants to do them injury, he must be killed in this manner. 6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.
7 Then, when they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. 8 And their bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 9 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their bodies for three and a half days, and not allow their bodies to be put into tombs. 10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and be glad, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
11 But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. 13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth part of the city fell. And in the earthquake seven thousand people by name were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14 The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.
15 Then the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” 16 And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who are and who were and who are to come, because You have taken Your great power and entered Your kingdom. 18 The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time to judge the dead, and to reward Your servants the prophets and saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and to destroy those who are destroying the earth.”
19 Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
The subject continues to be the state of the church among the Protestant Reformed and the character of those inwardly caught up in faith alone in opposition to the two essential elements of the New Church, namely, that the Lord alone is God of heaven and earth, whose humanity is Divine, and that people ought to live in accordance with the Ten Commandments. These two essential elements were proclaimed before them (verses 3-6). But they were utterly rejected (verses 7-10). The Lord revived them (verses 11, 12). Those people perished who rejected them (verse 13). From the New Heaven the state of the New Church was shown (verses 15-19).
The Contents of the Individual Verses
1 Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod.
John was given the ability and power to learn and see the state of the church in heaven and in the world.
And the angel stood by, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.
The Lord’s presence and His command to see and learn the state of the church in the New Heaven.
2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it,
The state of the church on earth, as it is still, must be set aside and not learned.
for it has been given to the gentiles.
Because, owing to evil practices, the state of that church has been lost and forsaken.
And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.
It has dispelled every truth of the Word to the point that none remains.
3 And I will give power to my two witnesses,
Those people who confess and acknowledge from the heart that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, whose humanity is Divine, and who are conjoined with Him by a life in accordance with the Ten Commandments.
and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days,
These two – an acknowledgment of the Lord and a life in accordance with the Ten Commandments, which are the two essential elements of the New Church – must be taught until the end and a new beginning.
clothed in sackcloth.”
The grief experienced meanwhile over the truth’s not being accepted.
4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.
The love and intelligence, or charity and faith, that people have in them from the Lord.
5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire will proceed from their mouth and devour their enemies.
Anyone who wishes to destroy these two essential elements perishes from a hellish love.
And if anyone wants to do them injury, he must be killed in that way.
Anyone who condemns the two essential elements is likewise condemned.
6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy;
People who turn away from these two essential elements cannot receive any truth from heaven.
and they have power over waters to turn them to blood,
People who turn away from these two essential elements falsify the Word’s truths.
and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.
People who wish to destroy these two essential elements propel themselves into evils and falsities of every kind, as often as, and in the measure that, they do so.
7 Then, when they finish their testimony,
After the Lord has taught these two essential elements of the New Church,
the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.
those people who are caught up in the interior tenets of the doctrine regarding faith alone will reject these two elements.
8 And their bodies will lie in the street of the great city
These two elements have been utterly rejected.
which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt,
The two hellish loves, namely, a love of ruling springing from a love of self, and a love of holding sway from a conceit in one’s own intelligence, loves which are present in the church where there is not one God and where the Lord is not worshiped, and where people do not live in accordance with the Ten Commandments.
where also our Lord was crucified.
A failure to acknowledge the Lord’s Divine humanity, and thus a state in which He is rejected.
9 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their bodies for three and a half days,
All those who were or who would be caught up in doctrinal falsities and evil practices at the end of the church still existing, when they have heard and later hear about these two essential elements at the beginning of the New Church,
and not allow their bodies to be put into tombs.
have condemned them and will continue to condemn them.
10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and be glad,
The delight of the heart and soul’s affection among those people in the church caught up in faith alone.
and send gifts to one another,
Their consociation by love and friendship.
because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
These two essential elements of the New Church, opposed as they are to the two essential elements accepted in the Protestant Reformed Church, are objects of contempt, distress, and repugnance.
11 But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet,
As the New Church commences and grows, these two essential elements are made living by the Lord in people who accept them.
and great fear fell on those who saw them.
A disturbance of the mind and alarm at Divine truths.
12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.”
The two essential elements of the New Church raised by the Lord into heaven, where they originate and where they remain, and where they are protected.
And they ascended to heaven in a cloud,
Their elevation into heaven and conjunction with the Lord there through the Divine truth of the Word in its literal sense.
and their enemies saw them.
People caught up in a faith divorced from charity heard of these, but remained in their falsities.
13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth part of the city fell.
A considerable change of state occurring then in those people, and their being plucked away from heaven and sinking into hell.
And in the earthquake seven thousand people by name were killed,
All those people who professed faith alone and for that reason made works of charity of no account, perished.
and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.
People who saw their destruction acknowledged the Lord and were set apart.
14 The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.
A lamentation over the corrupted state of the church, and lastly a final lamentation, as depicted after this.
15 Then the seventh angel sounded,
An examination and exposure of the state of the church after its end, at the time of the Lord’s advent and the advent of His kingdom.
and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”
Celebrations on the part of angels, that heaven and the church had become the Lord’s, as they had been from the beginning, and that they had now become those of His Divine humanity, thus that the Lord would reign over heaven and earth as regards both aspects of Him to eternity.
16 And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God,
An acknowledgment on the part of all the angels in heaven that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, and their highest adoration of Him.
17 saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who are and who were and who are to come,
A confession and glorification on the part of the angels in heaven, that the Lord is He who exists, lives, and has power of Himself, and who governs all things, because He alone is eternal and infinite.
because You have taken Your great power and entered Your kingdom.
The New Heaven and New Church, where people will acknowledge Him alone as God.
18 The nations were angry,
People who were caught up in faith alone and thus in evil practices were enraged, and harassed those who opposed their faith.
and Your wrath has come, and the time to judge the dead,
Their destruction, and the last judgment on those people who were without any spiritual life.
and to reward Your servants the prophets and saints,
The happiness of eternal life for people who possess doctrinal truths from the Word and live in accordance with them.
and those who fear Your name, small and great,
People who love things having to do with the Lord, in a lesser or greater degree.
and to destroy those who are destroying the earth.”
The casting down into hell of the people who destroyed the church.
19 Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple.
The New Heaven, in which the Lord is worshiped in His Divine humanity, and where people live in accordance with the Ten Commandments, which constitute the two essential elements of the New Church that are the means of conjunction.
And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
The reasonings, disturbances, and falsifications of goodness and truth then in the lower regions.
THE EXPOSITION
Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. (11:1) This symbolically means that the Lord gave John the ability and power to learn and see the state of the church in heaven and in the world.
A reed symbolizes weak power, the kind a person has of himself, and a rod symbolizes strong power, the kind a person has from the Lord. Consequently John’s being given a reed like a measuring rod symbolizes power from the Lord. That it was the ability and power to learn and see the state of the church in heaven and in the world is apparent from the events that follow in this chapter to the end.
[2] That a reed or length of cane symbolizes weak power such as a person has of himself is apparent from the following:
Look, you are relying on the staff of (a) broken reed, on Egypt, which, when a man leans on it, will go into his hand and pierce it. (Isaiah 36:6)
That…the inhabitants of Egypt may know that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. When they took hold of you with the hand, you broke and punctured all their shoulders…. (Ezekiel 29:6, 7)
Egypt symbolizes the natural person who relies on his own powers, and that is why it is called the staff of a broken reed.
A reed symbolizes weak power, in Isaiah:
A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not extinguish. (Isaiah 42:3)
[3] A rod, on the other hand, symbolizes strong power, which comes from the Lord, here the power to learn the state of the church, because John used the rod to measure the temple and altar, and to measure means, symbolically, to learn, and the temple and altar symbolize the church, as depicted next.
A rod symbolizes power because in olden times people in the church made wooden rods, and wood symbolizes goodness. It also substituted for the right hand and supported it, and the right hand symbolizes power. It is owing to this that a scepter is a shortened rod, and a scepter symbolizes the power of a king. Moreover, “scepter” and “rod” in Hebrew are the same word.*
[4] That a rod symbolizes power is apparent from the following passages:
Say, “How the strong staff is broken, the beautiful rod!” …Come down from your glory, and sit in thirst. (Jeremiah 48:17, 18)
Jehovah shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. (Psalm 110:2)
You punctured with his shafts the head of the faithless. (Habakkuk 3:14)
…Israel the rod of (Jehovah’s) inheritance. (Jeremiah 10:16, 51:19)
Your rod and Your staff will comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)
Jehovah has broken the staff of the wicked…. (Isaiah 14:5, cf. Isaiah 9:4, Psalm 125:3)
My people consult a piece of wood, and their staff answers them. (Hosea 4:12)
…Jehovah…takes away from Jerusalem…the whole staff of bread and the whole staff of water. (Isaiah 3:1, cf. Ezekiel 4:16, 5:16, 14:13, Psalm 105:16, Leviticus 26:26)
A staff of bread and of water symbolizes the power of goodness and truth, and Jerusalem symbolizes the church.
The rod of Levi with the name of Aaron on it, which in the Tabernacle blossomed with almonds (Numbers 17:2-10), symbolizes, in the spiritual sense, nothing else than the power of truth and goodness, because Levi and Aaron symbolized the truth and goodness of the church.
[5] That a rod symbolizes power is apparent from the power of Moses’ rod: On being stretched out it turned water into blood (Exodus 7:20). It caused frogs to come up on the land of Egypt (Exodus 8:1ff.). It produced lice (Exodus 8:16f.). It summoned thunder and hail (Exodus 9:23ff.). It caused locusts to come (Exodus 10:12ff.). It caused the Red Sea to be parted and the waters to return (Exodus 14:16, 21, 26). It caused water to flow from the rock at Horeb (Exodus 17:5ff., Numbers 20:7-13). In Moses’ hand it enabled Joshua to prevail over the Amalekites (Exodus 17:9-12).
And an angel’s staff caused fire to come forth from a rock (Judges 6:21).
It is apparent from these instances that a rod or staff symbolizes power, and also elsewhere, as in Isaiah 10:5, 24, 26, 11:4, 14:29, 30:31, 32, Ezekiel 19:10-14, Lamentations 3:1, Micah 7:14, Zechariah 10:11, Numbers 21:18.
* I.e., [Hebrew].
The Lord is meant by the angel, here as in nos. 5, 415, and elsewhere, since an angel does nothing of himself but is impelled by the Lord. That is why the angel said, “I will give power to my two witnesses” (verse 3), when they were the Lord’s witnesses. The angel’s standing by symbolizes the Lord’s presence, and his speaking symbolizes the Lord’s command. To rise and measure means, symbolically, to see and learn. We will see below that to measure means, symbolically, to learn and investigate the character of a state.
The temple, altar, and those who worship there symbolize the state of the church in the New Heaven – the temple symbolizing the church in respect to its doctrinal truth (no. 191), the altar symbolizing the church in respect to the goodness of its love (no. 392), and those who worship there symbolizing the church in respect to its formal worship as a result of those two elements. Those who worship symbolize here the reverence that is a part of formal worship, since the spiritual sense is a sense abstracted from persons (nos. 78, 79, 96), as is apparent here also from the fact that John is told to measure the worshipers. These three elements are what form the church: doctrinal truth, goodness of love, and formal worship as a result of these.
[2] That the church meant is the church in the New Heaven is apparent from the last verse of this chapter, where we are told that “the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple” (verse 19).
This chapter begins with the measuring of the temple in order that the state of the church in heaven might be seen and learned before its conjunction with the church in the world. The church in the world is meant by the court outside the temple, which John was not to measure, because it had been given to the gentiles (verse 2). The same church is then described by the great city called Sodom and Egypt (verses 7, 8). But after that great city fell (verse 13), it follows that the church became the Lord’s (verses 15ff.).
It should be known that the church exists in the heavens just as on earth, and that the two are united like the inner and outer selves in people. Consequently the Lord provides the church in heaven first, and from it, or by means of it, then the church on earth. That is why the New Jerusalem is said to come down from God out of the New Heaven (Revelation 21:1, 2).
The New Heaven means a new heaven formed from Christians, as described several times in the following chapters.
[3] To measure means, symbolically, to learn and investigate the character of a thing because the measure of something symbolizes its character or state. All the measurements of the New Jerusalem (chapter 21) have this symbolic meaning, as does the statement there that the angel who had the gold reed measured the city and its gates, and that he measured the wall to be one hundred and forty-four cubits, the measure of a man which is that of an angel (verses 15, 17). Moreover, because the New Jerusalem symbolizes the New Church, is it apparent that to measure it and its component parts means, symbolically, to learn its character.
Measuring has the same symbolic meaning in Ezekiel, where we read that an angel measured the house of God: the temple, the altar, the court, and the chambers (Ezekiel 40:3-17, 41:1-5, 13, 14, 22, 42:1-20, and 43:1-27). Also that he measured the waters (47:3-5, 9). Therefore the prophet is told:
…show the temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and they shall measure the pattern…and…its exits and its entrances, and all its patterns…, so that they may keep its whole design…. (Ezekiel 43:10, 11)
Measuring has the same symbolic meaning in the following places:
I raised my eyes…, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand. So I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem….” (Zechariah 2:1, 2)
He stood and measured the earth. (Habakkuk 3:6)
(The Lord Jehovih) has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and gauged heaven with a span…and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance. (Isaiah 40:12)
Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? …Who determined its measurements? …Or who stretched the line upon it? (Job 38:4, 5)
The court outside the temple symbolizes the church on earth, because that church is outside heaven, heaven being the temple (no. 486). To leave out means, symbolically, to remove, here to remove from heaven, because its state is of such a character. And not to measure means, symbolically, not to learn or investigate its character (no. 486). The reason follows: “for has been given to the gentiles, and they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.”
That the court outside the temple here symbolizes the church on earth as it is still, is apparent from the following particulars in this chapter, where it is described by the great city called Sodom and Egypt, in which the Lord’s two witnesses lay dead, and which afterward fell in a great earthquake, and seven thousand people by name were killed in it – and many other particulars besides.
[2] Elsewhere in the Word the court symbolizes the outward aspect of the church. For there were two courts* to be crossed when entering the Temple itself in Jerusalem, and as the Temple symbolized the church in respect to its inner aspect, therefore the courts symbolized the church in respect to its outward one. Consequently strangers who came from the surrounding nations were admitted into the courts, but not into the Temple itself.
Moreover, because the court symbolized the outward aspect of the church, it symbolized therefore also the church on earth, and heaven as well in its outmost manifestations, inasmuch as the church on earth is an entryway into heaven, and so is heaven in its outmost manifestations.
[3] A court has this symbolic meaning in the following places:
Blessed is he whom You choose…. He shall dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, with the holiness of Your temple. (Psalm 65:4)
Praise the name of Jehovah…, O you…who stand in (His) house, in the courts of the house of our God. (Psalm 135:1, 2)
How lovely are Your habitations, O Jehovah…! My soul…indeed faints for the courts of Jehovah. (Psalm 84:1, 2)
Enter into His gates with confession, His courts with praise. (Psalm 100:4)
The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree…. Those who are planted in the house of Jehovah shall sprout in the courts of our God. (Psalm 92:12, 13)
…a day in Your courts is better than thousands. I have chosen to stand at the door in the house of my God…. (Psalm 84:10)
And so on elsewhere, as in Psalm 96:8, 116:18, 19, Isaiah 1:12, 62:9, Zechariah 3:7, Ezekiel 10:3-5.
Regarding the courts of the Temple in Jerusalem, see 1 Kings 6:36, 7:12.
Regarding the courts of the new Temple, Ezekiel 40:17-44, 42:1-14, 43:4-7.
And regarding the court outside the Tabernacle, Exodus 27:9-18.
* I.e., the inner court or court of priests, and the outer court or great court. See 1 Kings 6:36, 7:12, 2 Kings 21:5, 23:12, 1 Chronicles 23:28, 28:6, 12, 2 Chronicles 4:9, 33:5, Psalms 65:4, 84:2, 10, 92:13, 96:8, 100:4, 116:19, 135:2, Isaiah 1:12, 62:9, Jeremiah 36:10. Cf. Ezekiel 8:3, 16, 9:7, 10:3, 5, 40:14, 17, 19, 20, 23, 27, 28, 31, 32, 34, 37, 44, 42:1, 3, 6-9, 14, 43:5, 44:17, 19, 21, 27, 45:19, 46:1, 20, 21, Zechariah 3:7, Nehemiah 8:16, 13:7.
The holy city means the Holy Jerusalem, and the Holy Jerusalem means the New Church which possesses doctrinal truths, as holiness is predicated of Divine truth (no. 173). A city, moreover, symbolizes doctrine (no. 194). Consequently to tread that city underfoot means, symbolically, to dispel its doctrinal truths. Forty-two months mean, symbolically, to the end when nothing remains.
Doctrinal truths mean truths from the Word, because that is the source of the church’s doctrine and every particular of it.
People concerned with the internal elements of the church today have thus dispelled the Word’s truths and the church’s doctrine from it. All of this is described in the present chapter by the beast ascending from the bottomless pit, which killed the two witnesses (verse 7); and it may also be seen from the accounts from the spiritual world appended to each chapter.
[2] Forty-two months mean, symbolically, to the end when nothing of the church’s truth and goodness remains, because the number forty-two has the same symbolic meaning as six weeks, inasmuch as forty-two is the product of six multiplied by seven, and six weeks symbolizes a period complete to the end. For that is the symbolic meaning of the number six, and a week symbolizes a state, and the seventh week a holy state, which is the new state of the church when the Lord begins His reign.
The number forty-two has the same symbolic meaning in the following verse:
(The beast rising up out of the sea) was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and it was given the power to do this for forty-two months. (Revelation 13:5, no. 583)
The number six symbolizes a period complete to the end because that is the symbolic meaning of the number three, six being that number doubled; and doubled or not, in the case of numbers the symbolism is the same.
Furthermore, this number has the same symbolic meaning as the number three and a half, because forty-two months is equivalent to three and a half years.
The period is expressed in terms of months because a month symbolizes a complete state, as in Isaiah 66:23, Revelation 22:1, 2, Genesis 29:14, Numbers 11:18-20, Deuteronomy 21:11, 13.
These are the people meant here by the two witnesses because these two characteristics are the two essential elements of the New Church.
Regarding the first essential, that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, whose humanity is Divine – that this is a testimony, and therefore that those people are witnesses who confess and acknowledge this from the heart, may be seen in nos. 6 and 846, and still further from the following:
I am your fellow servant…of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus…. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. (Revelation 19:10)
(Michael’s angels) overcame (the dragon) by the blood of the Lamb and by the Word of His testimony…. And the dragon…went away to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12:11, 17)
…the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God…. (Revelation 20:4)
These are people who have acknowledged the Lord.
The testimony is called the testimony of Jesus because the Lord attests to it on the authority of His Word, thus on the authority of Himself. Therefore He is called the faithful and true witness (Revelation 1:5, 3:14); and He says,
…I testify of Myself, (and) My testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going. (John 8:14)
Also,
When the Counselor comes…, the spirit of truth…, it will testify of Me. (John 15:26)
The Counselor, the spirit of truth, which is also the Holy Spirit, is an emanating Divinity, and this is the Lord Himself, as may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 46-54.
Now because the Lord Himself is the witness, therefore witnesses also mean people who bear the same testimony on behalf of the Lord, as in John:
(Jesus said,) “You have sent to John, and he was a witness to the truth. Yet I do not receive testimony from man…. (John 5:33, 34)
(John) came as testimony, to testify concerning the light…. He was not that light, but was sent to testify concerning the light. (The Word that was with God, and was God,) was the true light…. (John 1:1, 2ff.; see also 1:14, 34)
[2] Regarding the second essential of the New Church, namely conjunction with the Lord by a life in accordance with the Ten Commandments – that this is a testimony is apparent from the fact that the Ten Commandments are called a testimony, as in the following:
You shall put into the ark the Testimony which I will give you. (Exodus 25:16)
…the Testimony…(Moses) put into the ark…. (Exodus 40:20)
…the mercy seat that is upon the Testimony…. (Leviticus 16:13)
(Leave the rods of the tribes) before the Testimony…. (Numbers 17:4)
And so, too, elsewhere, as in Exodus 25:22, 31:7, 18, 32:15, Psalms 78:5, 132:12.
[3] We will say something here regarding conjunction with the Lord by a life in accordance with the Ten Commandments:
There are two tables on which these commandments were written, one for the Lord and one for mankind. The contents of the first table declare that several gods are not to be worshiped, but only one. The contents of the second table declare that evils are not to be done. When one God is worshiped and people do not do evils, conjunction takes place. For in the measure that a person desists from evils, that is, in the measure that he repents, he is in the same measure accepted by God and does good from God.
But who, now, is the one God? A trinal or triune God is not one God when the trine or trinity exists in three persons. But a God who has a trine or trinity in one person is one God, and that God is the Lord. Weave your ideas as you may, you still will not extricate from the tangle the existence of one God unless He is also one in person.
The fact of this is something the whole Word teaches, both the Old Prophetic Word and the New Apostolic Word, as may be clearly seen from The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord.
That these two, an acknowledgment of the Lord and a life in accordance with the Ten Commandments, are the two essential elements of the New Church, and are meant by the two witnesses, may be seen just above in no. 490. And that to prophesy means, symbolically, to teach, in nos. 8, 133.
One thousand two hundred and sixty days means, symbolically, until the end and a new beginning, that is, until the end of the previous church and thus the beginning of a new one. This is the symbolic meaning of the number because the number has the same symbolic meaning as three and a half; for when expressed in terms of years, 1260 days is equivalent to three and a half years,* and three and a half symbolizes an end and a beginning (no. 505).
This same number has the same symbolic meaning in the next chapter:
Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. (Revelation 12:6)
* Reckoning a year to comprise 360 days, or 12 months of 30 days each, a reckoning common in the ancient Near East before the establishment of the Julian calendar.
Being clothed in sackcloth symbolizes grief over the destruction of truth in the church, for garments symbolize truths (nos. 166, 212, 328, 378, 379). Consequently to be clothed in sackcloth, which is not a garment, symbolizes grief over the lack of truth, and where there is no truth, there is no church.
The children of Israel represented grief in various ways, which, because of their correspondence, were symbolic. For example, they would put ash on their heads, roll around in the dust, sit on the ground for a long time in silence, shave themselves, beat their breasts and wail, rend their garments, and also clothe themselves in sackcloth, and so on. Each action symbolized some evil in the church among them for which they were being punished. Then, when they were being punished, they put on a representation of repentance in these ways, and because of their representation of repentance, and at the same time then of their humbling themselves, they were heard.
[2] That putting on sackcloth represented grief over the destruction of truth in the church may be seen from the following passages:
The lion has come up from his thicket…. He has gone forth from his place to make your land desolate…. For this, clothe yourself with sackcloth, lament, wail. (Jeremiah 4:7, 8)
O daughter of my people, gird yourself in sackcloth and roll about in ashes! …For the destroyer will suddenly come upon us. (Jeremiah 6:26)
Woe to you, Chorazin (and) Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented…in sackcloth and ashes. (Matthew 11:21, Luke 10:13)
After the king of Nineveh heard the words of Jonah, he “laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes.” Moreover, he proclaimed a fast and ordered that “man and beast be covered with sackcloth.” (Jonah 3:5-8)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 3:24, 15:2, 3, 22:12, 37:1, 2, 50:3; Jeremiah 48:37, 38, 49:3; Lamentations 2:10; Ezekiel 7:17, 18, 27:31; Daniel 9:3; Joel 1:8, 13; Amos 8:10; Job 16:15, 16; Psalms 30:11, 35:13, 69:10, 11; 2 Samuel 3:31; 1 Kings 21:27; 2 Kings 6:30, 19:1, 2.
An olive tree symbolizes love and charity, as explained below. And a lampstand symbolizes enlightenment in truths (no. 43), thus intelligence and faith, inasmuch as intelligence comes from an enlightenment in truths, and faith in turn from this. To stand before God means, symbolically, to hear and do what He has commanded (no. 366). Here, therefore, it means that these two characteristics in them come from the Lord who is God of the earth, that is, in people who possess the two essential elements of the New Church, as described above. It is apparent from this that the statement that the two witnesses were the two olive trees and two lampstands means, symbolically, that they were love and intelligence, or charity and faith. For these two form the church – love and charity forming its life, and intelligence and faith its doctrine.
[2] An olive tree symbolizes love and charity because the olive tree symbolizes the celestial church, and thus an olive, being its fruit, symbolizes celestial love, which is love toward the Lord. Because of this, that love is symbolized also by olive oil, with which all the holy accouterments of the church were anointed. The oil called holy oil* was extracted from olives and mixed with spices (Exodus 30:23, 24). Olive oil was also used to light the lamps of the lampstand in the Tabernacle every evening (Exodus 27:20, Leviticus 24:2).
The olive tree and olives have similar symbolic meanings in Zechariah:
Two olive trees were by (the lampstand), one at the right of the bowl, the other at its left…, (and) two olive berries…. These are the two offspring of the olive tree, which stand before the Lord of the whole earth. (Zechariah 4:3, 11, 12, 14)
In the book of Psalms:
I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. (Psalm 52:8)
And in Jeremiah:
Jehovah called your name, Green Olive Tree, lovely, of beautiful fruit. (Jeremiah 11:16, 17)
And so on elsewhere.
[3] Since Jerusalem symbolized the church, therefore many things in it and about it also symbolized such things as are connected with the church. Near it, too, was the Mount of Olives, and it symbolized Divine love, which is why Jesus “was during the days in the temple teaching, and at night He went out and spent the night on the Mount of Olives?” (Luke 21:37, cf. 22:39, John 8:1). It is also why Jesus spoke with His disciples on that mountain regarding the end of the age and His coming then (Matthew 24:3ff., Mark 13:3ff.). It was also from that mountain that He went to Jerusalem and suffered the cross (Matthew 21:1, 26:30, Mark 11:1, 14:26, Luke 19:29, 37). Moreover, this accorded with the prediction in Zechariah:
In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. (Zechariah 14:4)
Because the olive tree symbolized the celestial component of the church, therefore the cherubim inside the Temple at Jerusalem were made of olive wood, and so, too, were the doors to the inner sanctuary, and the doorposts (1 Kings 6:23-33).
* Exodus 30:25, 31, 37:29, Numbers 35:25, Psalm 89:20.
To want to harm the two witnesses means, symbolically, to wish to destroy the two essential elements of the New Church, namely, an acknowledgment of the Lord as being God of heaven and earth even as to His humanity, and a life in accordance with the Ten Commandments. To be shown that these are the two witnesses, see no. 490 above.
Fire’s proceeding from their mouth means, symbolically, that hellish love will do so; and its devouring their enemies means, symbolically, that those who harm them will perish because of it. Here, however, it is not to be supposed that fire will issue from the mouth of the witnesses, but that it will do so from people who wish to destroy these two essential elements of the New Church, meant by the two witnesses (no. 490). The fire is the fire of hell; for people who do not live according to the Ten Commandments, and who do not turn to God, their Savior and Redeemer, cannot help but be caught up in a hellish love and perish.
[2] The case is the same as elsewhere in the Word where we are told that Jehovah sends fire that consumes the wicked, or that Jehovah does other things like that out of the fire of His wrath, anger, or fury, which mean not that they come from Jehovah, but that they do so from the hellish love of the wicked.
We read of instances like that in the Word because that is how they appear, and the Word in its literal sense was composed in terms of appearances and things that correspond.
Since we are told that fire proceeded from their mouth, and this means that it originated from people caught up in a hellish love, we will cite some passages where fire is said to issue from Jehovah:
The breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, will consume it. (Isaiah 30:33)
Smoke went up from His nostrils, and fire from His mouth…; coals were kindled by it. (Psalm 18:8)
(I will) pour out on them…the wrath of My anger; for all the earth shall be devoured in the fire of My zeal. (Zephaniah 3:8)
…behold, Jehovah will come with fire…for retribution in the wrath of His anger, and His rebuke in flames of fire. (Isaiah 66:15)
You will be visited by Jehovah…with the flame of devouring fire. (Isaiah 29:6, cf. 30:30)
And so on in many places elsewhere.
To do injury here means, symbolically, to condemn, because it is followed by the statement that the person must be killed, and in the Word to be killed means, symbolically, to be killed spiritually, which is to be condemned. For the Lord says, “With what judgment you judge, you will be judged.” (Matthew 7:1, 2)
Heaven here means the angelic heaven. Thus the rain symbolizes truth for the church from there. Consequently to close heaven so that no rain falls means, symbolically, that people cannot receive any truth for the church from heaven. Truth for the church from heaven is doctrinal truth from the Word.
We are told that the two witnesses have the power to shut heaven, but as in no. 494 above, the meaning here is not that they have that power, but that people who turn away from the two essential elements of the New Church close heaven to themselves, because they continue to be caught up in their falsities.
That rain symbolizes Divine truth from heaven is clear from the following passages:
My doctrine shall drop as the rain, My word shall fall as the dew…. (Deuteronomy 32:2)
(If) you…serve other gods…, (Jehovah will) shut up heaven so that there be no rain…. (Deuteronomy 11:16, 17, see also 11:11, 14)
I will lay waste (My vineyard)…. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it. (Isaiah 5:6)
The showers have been withheld, and there has been no late rain. Yet you continue to have a harlot’s forehead…. (Jeremiah 3:3)
For as the rain comes down…from heaven…, so shall My word (go) forth from My mouth. (Isaiah 55:10, 11)
Rejoice then, you children of Zion, and be glad in Jehovah…. For He has given you seasonable rain in righteousness. (Joel 2:23)
You have caused to drop, O God, a kindly rain…. (Psalm 68:9)
He shall come down like rain upon the grass of the meadow…. In His days the righteous shall flourish…. (Psalm 72:6, 7)
He will come to us as rain, as the late…rain waters the earth. (Hosea 6:3)
…my word shall rain down on them, and they will wait for me as for the rain, and they will open their mouth for the late rain. (Job 29:22, 23)
Son of man, say…: “You are a land that is not cleansed, which will have no rain in the day of wrath. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst…. (Ezekiel 22:24, 25)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 30:23; Jeremiah 5:24, 10:12, 13, 14:3, 4, 51:16; Ezekiel 34:26, 27; Amos 4:7, 8; Zechariah 10:1; Psalms 65:9, 10, 135:7; 2 Samuel 23:3, 4.
A flooding rain stands for the destruction of truth in Ezekiel 13:11, 13, 14, 38:22. For temptation or trial in Matthew 7:24-27.
Waters symbolize truths (no. 50), and blood a falsification of the Word’s truth (no. 379). Thus turning waters to blood symbolizes a falsifying of the Word’s truths.
This has the same meaning as before, namely, that people who turn away from the two essential elements of the New Church cannot see anything but the falsities in which they are caught up, and if they use the Word to defend them, they falsify its truths.
The earth symbolizes the church (no. 285), and a plague symbolizes evil and falsity (no. 456). Thus to strike the earth with every plague means, symbolically, to ruin the church with evils and falsities of every kind.
Still, as in the case of earlier interpretations, this has to be understood, namely, that when people wish to strike these two essential elements of the New Church with plague, that is, when they wish to destroy them, which they are moved by evil to do by means of falsities, they propel themselves into evils and falsities of every kind. Moreover, because the natural sense is turned around when it becomes spiritual, therefore this statement, too, “as often as they desire,” is similarly changed into “as often as and in the measure that they do.” The reason is that to the extent someone destroys these two essential elements, to the same extent he destroys the truths of the Word, and to the extent he destroys the truths of the Word, to the same extent he propels himself into evils and falsities. For these two essential elements are truths of the Word, as may be clearly seen from two books containing the doctrine of the New Jerusalem, one being The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, and the other titled The Doctrine of Life in Accordance With the Precepts of the Decalogue.
This statement, that the two witnesses have the power to strike the earth with every plague as often as they desire, is similar to many others in the Word which attribute to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord, His striking people with a plague, and its being His will to do so, even though it is to be understood that He does not strike anyone, and that it is not His will to do so. For example, in Zechariah:
This shall be the plague with which Jehovah will strike all the people who fight against Jerusalem. (Zechariah 14:12ff.)
And in Jeremiah:
…I have stricken you with the plague of an enemy, with the chastisement of a tyrant, for the multitude of your iniquities…. (Jeremiah 30:14)
And so on in many places elsewhere. See also no. 494 above.
When they finish means, symbolically, after the Lord has taught. The two witnesses, indeed, have done the teaching, yet not of themselves, but from the Lord. That their testimony symbolizes these two essential elements may be seen in no. 490 above.
The beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit means the people who ascended out of the bottomless pit having the appearance of locusts in chapter 9, verses 1-12. That they were people caught up in the interior tenets of the doctrine regarding faith alone may be seen in the exposition there. To make war means, symbolically, to oppose and attack these two essential elements of the church, as we shall see next. To overcome them and kill them means, symbolically, to reject them and root them out, in themselves and, as far as they are able, in others.
[2] People caught up in the interior tenets of the doctrine regarding faith alone will attack and reject these two essential elements because they have established in themselves two ideas contrary to them, first, that it is not the Lord but God the Father to whom they should turn; and secondly, that a life in accordance with the Ten Commandments is not a spiritual life, but simply a moral and civic life, and they maintain this to keep anyone from believing that he is saved by works rather than by their faith alone.
All those people who in schools and universities have deeply impressed these dogmas on their minds do not afterward turn away from them. There are three reasons for this, hitherto unknown. First, they have introduced themselves as to their spirit into association with people in the spiritual world like themselves, where there are many satanic spirits who find delight only in falsities, and from these spirits they cannot possibly be set free unless they reject those falsities. Nor can they do that unless they turn to God the Savior directly and begin to live a Christian life in accordance with the Ten Commandments.
[3] The second reason is their belief that they are granted instant forgiveness for their sins and thus salvation in the act of faith, and afterward in the state or progression of it through the same act continued, preserved and retained by the Holy Spirit, apart from any exercises of charity. After that, then, once people have imbibed these ideas, they regard their sins as of no account in the sight of God, and so continue in their impure lives.
Moreover, because they know how to cleverly defend such ideas with falsifications of the Word in the presence of uneducated listeners, and with fallacious arguments in the presence of learned ones, we are told here that the beast from the bottomless pit overcame and killed the two witnesses. But this is the case only with people who love to live self-indulgently and are carried away by the delights of their appetites. Whenever these people think about salvation, they harbor at heart their lusts, and with both hands embrace that faith of theirs, because then they can be saved by uttering certain words in a confident tone and do not have to attend to anything having to do with their life for God’s sake, but only for the sake of the world.
[4] The third reason is that people who in their youth have imbibed the interior tenets of that faith, called the mysteries of justification, when afterward promoted to a respectable ministry, do not think to themselves about God and heaven, but about themselves and the world, retaining the mysteries of their faith only for the sake of their reputation so as to be respected as wise, and because of their wisdom, accounted worthy to be rewarded with riches.
Such is the case as a result of that faith because it has nothing of religion in it. The reality of this may be seen in the third narrative account above, in no. 484.
[5] That wars in the Word symbolize spiritual wars, which are attacks on truth and are waged by reasonings based on falsities, is clear from the following passages:
…spirits of demons…go out…to gather them for war on the great day of God Almighty. (Revelation 16:14)
…the dragon was angry with the woman, and it went away to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12:17)
It was granted to (the dragon’s beast) to make war with the saints…. (Revelation 13:7)
Prepare holy war against (the daughter of Zion)…, and let us go up at noon. (Jeremiah 6:4)
You have not gone up into the breaches…to stand in battle on the day of Jehovah. (Ezekiel 13:5)
In Salem is (God’s) tabernacle, and His dwelling place in Zion, where He broke the flaming arrows, the bow…and…war. (Psalm 76:2, 3)
Jehovah shall go forth like a mighty man; He shall stir up zeal like a man of war. (Isaiah 42:13, cf. Psalm 24:8)
In that day Jehovah…will be…for a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, …to those who turn back the battle at the gate. (Isaiah 28:5, 6)
Deliver me…from the evil man; preserve me from the violent man…. All day they gather for war. They sharpen their tongues like serpents. (Psalm 140:1-3)
…many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled. (Matthew 24:5-7, cf. Mark 13:6-8, Luke 21:8-10)
The wars of the kings of the north and south and other wars in Daniel 10, 11, and 12 symbolize no other than spiritual wars. And so, too, the wars in other places, as in Isaiah 2:3-5, 13:4, 21:14, 15, 31:4; Jeremiah 49:25, 26; Hosea 2:18; Zechariah 10:5, 14:3; Psalm 18:35,* 46:8, 9.
[6] As wars in the Word symbolize spiritual wars, therefore the ministry of the Levites was called military service, as is apparent from the following, that the command was given for the Levites to be numbered, to “perform military service, to do the work in the tabernacle of meeting” (Numbers 4:23, 35, 39, 43, 47).
This is the service of the Levites: …to perform military service in the ministry of the tabernacle of meeting; but at the age of fifty years he must cease the military service, and shall minister no more. (Numbers 8:24, 25)
See also no. 447 above, where we established from the Word that armies symbolize the church’s goods and truths, and in an opposite sense, its evils and falsities.
* The citation in the first edition is in error. Either this or Psalm 27:3 was perhaps intended.
The bodies of the two witnesses symbolize the two essential elements of the New Church, namely, an acknowledgment of the Lord as the only God of heaven and earth, and conjunction with Him by a life in accordance with the Ten Commandments (nos. 490ff.). The street of the great city symbolizes doctrinal falsity connected with justification by faith alone – the street symbolizing falsity, as we shall see next, and the city symbolizing doctrine (no. 194). It is called a great city because the doctrine is the prevailing doctrine throughout the Protestant Reformed Christian world among the clergy, though not in the same way among the laity.
Streets in the Word have almost the same symbolic meaning as ways, because streets are a city’s ways. Still, streets symbolize doctrinal truths or falsities, because a city symbolizes doctrine (no. 194), while ways symbolize a church’s truths or falsities, because the earth symbolizes the church (no. 285).
[2] That streets symbolize doctrinal truths or falsities can be seen from the following passages:
Justice has been rejected, and righteousness stands afar off, for truth has stumbled in the street, and rectitude cannot enter. (Isaiah 59:14)
The chariots raced madly in the streets, they rushed in every direction in the town squares. (Nahum 2:4)
In the days of Jael, the ways were deserted…. The town squares were deserted…in Israel…. (Judges 5:6, 7)
How the glorious city is forsaken…! Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets…. (Jeremiah 49:25, 26, cf. 50:30)
Those who ate delicacies are devastated in the streets…. Darker than black is the appearance (of the Nazirites); they go unrecognized in the streets…. They wandered blind in the streets…. They tracked our steps so that we could not go into our streets. (Lamentations 4:5, 8, 14, 18)
I will cut off nations, their corners will be devastated; I will make their streets desolate…. (Zephaniah 3:6)
(After) sixty-two weeks, the street (of Jerusalem) shall be built again…, but in distressful times. (Daniel 9:25)
…the street of the city (New Jerusalem) was pure gold, like transparent glass. (Revelation 21:21)
In the middle of its street…on this side and that, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits…. (Revelation 22:1, 2)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 15:3, 24:10, 11, 51:20; Jeremiah 5:1, 6:11, 7:17, 9:21, 11:13; Ezekiel 16:24, 25, 31; Jeremiah 44:17, 44:9; Lamentations 2:11, 19; Ezekiel 11:6, 26:11, 12; Amos 5:16; Zechariah 8:3-5; Psalm 144:13; Job 31:32.
As streets symbolize the church’s doctrinal truths, therefore they taught in the streets (2 Sam. 1:20). And we are told,
We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets. (Luke 13:26)
For this reason also hypocrites prayed on street corners (Matthew 6:2, 5). And for this reason the master of the house in Luke 14:21 ordered his servants to go out into the streets and squares and bring people in.
For the same reason, too, anything false or falsified is called mire, filth and excrement in the streets (Isaiah 5:25, 10:6, Micah 7:10, Psalm 18:42).
Prophets who prophesied falsely were cast out into the streets of Jerusalem, and no one buried them (Jeremiah 14:16).
Sodom symbolizes, in the spiritual sense, a love of ruling springing from a love of self, as we shall presently see; and Egypt symbolizes, in the spiritual sense, a love of holding sway from a conceit in one’s own intelligence, as we shall also presently see. So, because these two loves are symbolized, therefore the city is called, spiritually speaking, Sodom and Egypt.
These two loves are present in the church where there is not one God and where the Lord is not worshiped, and where people do not live in accordance with the Ten Commandments, because people are born with these two loves, and they come into them as they grow up. Nor can these loves be removed except by God the Savior and by a life in accordance with His commandments, and God cannot remove them unless people turn to Him, and neither is a life in accordance with His commandments possible unless a person is led by Him. Actually it is possible, but not a life that contains anything of heaven and so of the church.
A life like that is possible only from Him who is life. That the Lord is that life may be seen in John 1:1, 4, 5:26, 6:33-35ff., 11:25, 26, 14:6, 19, and in many other places.
[2] A love of ruling springing from a love of self, and a love of holding sway from a conceit in one’s own intelligence, are the principal loves of all the loves in hell, and so are the origin of all the evils and thus of all the falsities in the church. This is something unknown at the present day. The delights of these loves, which surpass the delights of all the heart’s pleasures, cause it to be unknown, even though they are, spiritually, Sodom and Egypt.
That Sodom is a love of ruling springing from a love of self can be seen from the description of Sodom in Genesis, where we are told that when angels arrived there, the inhabitants tried to forcibly assault them at the house of Lot, and that fire and brimstone rained down on them from heaven (Genesis 19:1ff.). Fire and brimstone symbolize that love, together with its appetites.
I saw similar sights when cities and societies of people like that were overthrown at the time of the Last Judgment and their inhabitants cast into hell.
These loves and their accompanying evils are symbolized by Sodom and Gomorrah in the following passages: Isaiah 1:10, 3:8, 9, 13:19; Jeremiah 23:14, 49:18, 50:37, 40; Lamentations 4:6; Ezekiel 16:46-50; Amos 4:11; Zephaniah 2:9, 10; Deuteronomy 29:23, 32:32; Matthew 10:14, 15, 11:23; Mark 6:11; Luke 10:10-12, 17:28, 29.
[3] That this love is symbolically meant by Sodom is unknown in the world, but remember it and recall it when you come after death into the world of spirits and you will be completely convinced.
It should be known, however, that a love of ruling springing from a love of self and a love of ruling springing from a love of performing useful services are two different things. The latter love is a heavenly love, while the first is a hellish one. Consequently, when one is in first place, the other is in last place; which is to say, when a love of ruling springing from a love of self forms the head, then a love of ruling springing from a love of performing useful services – which is a love of serving the neighbor originating from the Lord – forms first the feet, then the soles of the feet, and finally is trampled underfoot.
On the other hand, when a love of ruling springing from a love of performing useful services – which, as we said, is a heavenly love – forms the head, then a love of ruling springing from a love of self – which, as we said, is a hellish love – forms first the feet, then the soles of the feet, and finally is trampled underfoot.
Still, these two loves can hardly be distinguished by a person in the world. That is because in outward appearance they are similar. But they can be told apart by this, that a heavenly love is present in people who turn to the Lord and live in accordance with the Ten Commandments, while a hellish love is present in people who do not turn to the Lord, and who do not live in accordance with the Ten Commandments.
Egypt symbolizes the natural self joined to the spiritual self, and its affection for truth then and consequent knowledge and intelligence, in the following passages:
In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt…swearing an oath to Jehovah of Hosts…. In that day there will be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt…. Then Jehovah will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day…. (Isaiah 19:18-21)
In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, so that the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria – a blessing in the midst of the land, whom Jehovah of Hosts shall bless, saying, “Blessed is My people Egypt, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.” (Isaiah 19:23-25)
Egypt there is the natural component, Assyria the rational one, and Israel the spiritual one. These three form a person of the church.
That is why the king of Egypt is called “the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings,” and Egypt is called “the cornerstone of (the) tribes.” (Isaiah 19:11, 13) And regarding Solomon we are told that his wisdom excelled the wisdom of the Egyptians (1 Kings 4:30). We are also told that he “took Pharaoh’s daughter as a wife, and brought her into the city of David” (1 Kings 3:1), and that he “built a house for Pharaoh’s daughter next to the porch” (1 Kings 7:8).
[2] For this reason Joseph was carried down into Egypt and there became the ruler of the whole land (Genesis 41).
Since Egypt symbolized the natural self in respect to its affection for truth and consequent knowledge and intelligence, therefore Joseph, the husband of Mary, having been warned by an angel, went with the infant Lord into Egypt (Matthew 2:14, 15), in fulfillment of the prophecy,
When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. (Hosea 11:1)
You caused a vine to come out of Egypt; You…planted it…and caused it to send forth its roots…. (Psalm 80:8, 9)
For a person is born natural, becomes rational, and later spiritual. Thus is a vine from Egypt planted and caused to take root.
For the sake of this representation, moreover, Abraham sojourned in Egypt (Genesis 12:10ff.). And Jacob was commanded to go with his sons into Egypt, and they also abode there (Genesis 46ff.).
So, too, the land of Canaan, which symbolizes the church, is described to extend “even to the river of Egypt” (Genesis 15:18, 1 Kings 4:21, Micah 7:12). And Egypt is compared to the Garden of Eden, the garden of God (Ezekiel 31:2, 8, Genesis 13:10).
The knowledge of the natural self is also called “the precious things of Egypt” (Daniel 11:43), and “fine embroidered linen from Egypt” (Ezekiel 27:7).
And so on elsewhere where Egypt is spoken of affirmatively, as in Isaiah 27:12, 13; Ezekiel 29:13-16, 31:1-8; Hosea 11:11; Zechariah 10:10, 11, 14:16-18; Psalm 68:31, 32; 2 Kings 19:23, 24.
[3] On the other hand, in an opposite sense Egypt symbolizes the natural self divorced from the spiritual self, and its conceit in its own intelligence then and consequent irrationality in spiritual matters, in the following places:
Because…(Pharaoh’s) heart was lifted up in its height, and it set its top among the thick boughs…, aliens…will cut him off and cast him down…. In the day when he went down to hell…, I covered the deep over him…(and) you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised…. (Ezekiel 31:10-18)
…the foundations (of Egypt) shall be overthrown…. …the pride of her power shall come down…. …and shall be laid waste…her cities…in the midst of the desolate cities…. I will set fire to Egypt…, and I will disperse Egypt among the nations, and scatter them throughout the lands. (Ezekiel 30:1ff.)
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help…, and do not look to the Holy One of Israel…. For the Egyptians are men, and not God, and their horses are flesh, and not spirit. (Isaiah 31:1, 3)
Egypt rises up like a flood…. He says, “I will go up, I will cover the earth, (and) I will destroy…. Come up, O horses, and rage, O chariots! …The sword shall devour (you), and be…made drunk with blood…; there is no healing for you. (Jeremiah 46:2, 8-11)
How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, and the son of ancient kings?” Where are your wise men now? …let them know…. The princes of Zoan have become fools…; they have led Egypt astray…, the cornerstone of (the) tribes…. Neither will there be any work for Egypt, which may form the head or the tail…. (Isaiah 19:1-17)
…prophesy against…Egypt…, O great whale who lie in the midst of your rivers. Because he said, “My river, and I have made myself,” (therefore) I will put hooks in your jaws, and cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales…. And I will leave you in the wilderness…. Therefore…the land of Egypt shall become desolate and waste. (Ezekiel 29:1-12)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 30:1, 2, 7; Jeremiah 2:17, 18, 36, 42:13-18; Ezekiel 16:26, 23:2-33; Hosea 7:11, 13, 16, 9:1, 3, 6, 11:5, 12:1; Joel 3:19; Lamentations 5:2, 4, 6, 8; Deuteronomy 17:16; 1 Kings 14:25, 26; 2 Kings 18:21.
[4] Since the Egyptians became of such a character, therefore they were rendered desolate as regards all the goods and truths of the church. Their desolations are described by the miracles done there, which were plagues, and these symbolized the many lusts of the natural self divorced from the spiritual self, a natural self which acts only in accordance with its own intelligence and its conceit. The plagues symbolic of its lusts were these:
That the water in the river turned to blood so that the fish died and the river stank. (Exodus 7)
That the streams and ponds brought forth frogs upon the land of Egypt. That the dust of the ground turned into lice. That a swarm of noxious flying insects was sent. (Exodus 8)
[That a pestilence occurred so that the livestock of Egypt died.] That sores were caused to break out with pustules on man and beast. That a downpour of hail mixed with fire rained down. (Exodus 9)
That locusts were sent. That darkness occurred through all the land of Egypt. (Exodus 10).
That all the firstborn in the land of Egypt died. (Exodus 11, 12)
And finally, that the Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea (Exodus 14), which symbolizes hell.
To find what all these things symbolize specifically, see Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), published in London, where they are explained.
It is apparent from this what is symbolically meant by the plagues and diseases of Egypt in Deuteronomy 7:15, 28:60; what is symbolically meant by drowning in the river of Egypt in Amos 8:8, 9:5; and why it is that Egypt is called a land of bondage in Micah 6:4, the land of Ham in Psalm 106:22, and an iron furnace in Deuteronomy 4:20, 1 Kings 8:51.
[5] The reason Egypt symbolizes both intelligence and irrationality in spiritual matters was that the Ancient Church, which extended through many kingdoms in Asia, existed also in Egypt, and at that time the Egyptians, more than any others, cultivated a study of the correspondences between spiritual and natural things, as is apparent from the hieroglyphs there. But when that study among them was turned into magic and became idolatrous, then their intelligence in spiritual matters became irrational. Egypt symbolizes this, therefore, in an opposite sense.
It can be seen from this what the great city means, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt.
It is a saying in the church that people who blaspheme the Lord, crucify Him, and that so, too, do those who, like the Jews, deny that He is the Son of God.
People who deny that the Lord’s humanity is Divine are like Jews because everyone views the Lord as a person, and anyone who views His humanity as on par with the humanity of any other person is incapable then of thinking of His Divinity, no matter how often this is called the Son of God, born from eternity, coequal with the Divinity of the Father. When he is told this or hears it read, it penetrates his hearing, indeed, but not at the same time his belief, since he thinks of the Lord as being a material person like any other man, retaining the same properties of the flesh. And because he then sets the Lord’s Divinity aside and pays it no attention, he is therefore in the same state as he would be if he denied it; for he denies that the Lord’s humanity is the Son of God, even as the Jews did also, for which reason they crucified Him. That the Lord’s humanity is nevertheless the Son of God is something plainly said in Luke 1:32, 35, Matthew 3:16, 17, and elsewhere.
[2] It is apparent from this why people in the church turn directly to God the Father, and many also to the Holy Spirit, and rarely anyone directly to the Lord.
Since the Jews crucified the Lord owing to their denial that He was the Messiah, the Son of God, therefore their Jerusalem is also called Sodom (Isaiah 3:9, Jeremiah 23:14, Ezekiel 16:46, 48). And the Lord says,
On the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. (Luke 17:29, 30)
What the fire and brimstone are may be seen in no. 452, 494.
Peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations mean all those of the Protestant Reformed who were or who would be caught up in doctrinal falsities and the resulting evil practices owing to their faith alone. Peoples symbolize people caught up in doctrinal falsities (no. 483), tribes the falsities and evils in the church (no. 349), tongues a confession and acceptance of these (no. 483), and nations people caught up in evil practices (no. 483). Therefore the four together symbolize all those individually and collectively who were or who would be of such a character, thus all those who were in that great city and all those like them who would later come from the world.
The bodies that they would see, those of the two witnesses, symbolize the two essential elements of the New Church, as said in no. 501 above. That they would see them means, symbolically, when they have heard and later hear about them, since it is bodies that are said to be seen, and the two essential elements that are heard.
Three and a half days mean, symbolically, at the end and then the beginning, namely, at the end of the church still existing and the beginning of a new one.
Putting all these things together now into a single meaning, it is apparent that “those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their bodies for three and a half days” has, in the spiritual sense, the symbolic meaning stated above.
Three and a half days mean, symbolically, at the end and then the beginning because a day symbolizes a state, the number three symbolizes something completed to the end, and a half symbolizes a new beginning. For three and half days have the same symbolic meaning as a week, six days of which symbolize something completed to the end, and the seventh day something holy. That is because the number three and a half is one half of seven, and seven days constitute a week; and a number doubled or divided has the same symbolic meaning.
[2] That the number three symbolizes something completed, thus something completed to the end, can be seen from the following accounts in the Word:
That Isaiah was to go naked and barefoot for three years (Isaiah 20:3).
That Jehovah called three times to Samuel, and Samuel ran three times to Eli, and that the third time Eli understood (1 Samuel 3:1-8).
That Elijah stretched himself out three times on the widow’s son (1 Kings 17:21).
That Elijah ordered that water be poured on the burnt sacrifice three times (1 Kings 18:34).
That Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal (Matthew 13:33).
That Jesus told Peter he would deny Him three times (Matthew 26:34).
That the Lord asked Peter three times, “Do you love Me?” (John 21:15-17).
That Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17).
That Jesus said He would destroy the Temple and in three days build it (Matthew 26:61, John 2:19)
That Jesus prayed three times in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:39-44).
That Jesus rose on the third day (Matthew 28:1ff.).
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 16:14; Hosea 6:2; Exodus 3:18, 10:22, 23, 19:1, 11, 15, 16; Leviticus 19:23-25; Numbers 19:11 ad fin., 31:19-24; Deuteronomy 19:2, 3, 26:12; Joshua 1:11, 3:2; 1 Samuel 20:5, 12, 19, 20, 35, 36, 41; 2 Samuel 24:11-13; Daniel 10:1-3; Mark 12:2, 4-6; Luke 20:12, 13:32, 33.
Seven, like three, symbolizes something full and complete, but seven is predicated of holy things, while three is predicated of things not holy.
The bodies here symbolize the two essential elements of the New Church, as explained in no. 505 and earlier numbers. And not allowing these to be put into tombs symbolizes their rejection as condemned. This is the symbolic meaning because putting people into tombs or burying them symbolizes their resurrection and continuation of life, for committed to the earth then are the materials taken from the earth, thus things that are earthly and so unclean. Thus not to be put into tombs or buried means, symbolically, to remain immersed in earthly and unclean things, and therefore to be rejected as condemned.
It was owing to this that in the church among the children of Israel, which was a representational church, it was a statute that people regarded as condemned be cast out and not buried, as is apparent from the following passages:
(Jehovah said concerning them,) “They shall die harsh deaths. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried; they shall become dung on the face of the earth…and their dead bodies shall become food for the birds of the air and for the animals of the earth.” (Jeremiah 16:3, 4)
(Prophets who prophesy falsely) shall be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem…having no one to bury them. (Jeremiah 14:15, 16)
At that time…they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets…from their graves…. They shall not be gathered nor buried; they shall become dung on the face of the earth. (Jeremiah 8:1, 2)
The dogs would eat Jezebel on the plot of ground…having no one to bury her. (2 Kings 9:10)
…you have been cast out of your grave like an abominable twig…, like a corpse trodden underfoot. You will not be joined with them in burial…. (Isaiah 14:19, 20)
And so on elsewhere, as in Jeremiah 25:32, 33, 22:19, 7:32, 33, 19:11, 12, 2 Kings 23:16.
Those who dwell on the earth mean people in the church, here people in the church where the faith is faith alone. The earth symbolizes the church in which they are (no. 285). To rejoice and be glad symbolizes a delight of the heart and soul’s affection. A delight of the heart’s affection is a delight of the will, and a delight of the soul’s affection is a delight of the intellect, for in the Word the heart and soul mean a person’s will and intellect. Thus the people are said to rejoice and be glad, even though joy and gladness seem to be the same thing. Present in the two, however, is a marriage of the will and intellect, which is also a marriage of goodness and truth, a marriage that exists in each and every particular of the Word, as we showed in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 80-90.
That is why both terms, to rejoice and be glad, or joy and gladness, are frequently mentioned elsewhere in the Word, as in the following places:
Lo, joy and gladness, the slaying of oxen…. (Isaiah 22:13)
They shall obtain joy and gladness; sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 35:10, 51:11)
…cut off has been…joy and gladness from the house of our God. (Joel 1:16)
(Caused to cease will be) the sound of joy and the sound of gladness…. (Jeremiah 7:34, cf. 25:10)
…the fast of the tenth shall be for joy and gladness…. (Zechariah 8:19)
Be glad in Jerusalem, rejoice in her…. (Isaiah 66:10)
Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom…. (Lamentations 4:21)
The heavens shall rejoice; be glad you lands. (Psalm 96:11)
You will make me hear joy and gladness…. (Psalm 51:8)
Joy and gladness will be found in (Zion)…. (Isaiah 51:3)
You will have gladness…many will rejoice at his birth. (Luke 1:14)
I will cause to cease…the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the sound of the bridegroom and the sound of the bride. (Jeremiah 7:34, 16:9, cf. 25:10, 33:10, 11)
Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad…. (Psalm 40:16, 70:4)
Let the righteous be glad…, and let them rejoice in their gladness. (Psalm 68:3)
Be glad in Jerusalem…; rejoice for joy with her…. (Isaiah 66:10)
To send gifts means, symbolically, to consociate by love and friendship because a gift consociates; for it gives rise to love and creates friendship. “To one another” symbolizes its mutuality.
Seeing that the two prophets or witnesses mean these two essential elements of the New Church, and that those who dwell on the earth mean people caught up in these two essential teachings of the Protestant Reformed Church, this symbolic meaning follows as a self-evident conclusion. To torment means, symbolically, to be an object of contempt, distress and repugnance.
Three and a half days means, symbolically, at the end and then the beginning (no. 505), thus at the end of the church still existing and the beginning of a new one, here the beginning of the church in people in whom the New Church commences and grows, because we are told now in regard to the two witnesses that the breath of life entered them and they stood on their feet.
The breath of life from God symbolizes spiritual life, and standing on their feet symbolizes natural life in harmony with spiritual life, and thus one made living by the Lord. This is the symbolic meaning because the breath of life refers to a person’s inner being, called his inner self, which regarded in itself is spiritual. For it is a person’s spirit that thinks and wills, and to think and will is, in itself, a spiritual activity.* Standing on the feet symbolizes a person’s outer being, called his outer self, which in itself is natural. For it is the body that says and does what the spirit in it thinks and wills, and to speak and act is a natural activity. That the feet symbolize natural things may be seen in nos. 49, 468.
[2] We need to say what all this means specifically. Everyone who is reformed is reformed first in respect to his inner self, and afterward in respect to his outer self. The inner self is reformed, not by simply knowing and understanding the truths and goods by which a person is saved, but by willing and loving them, and the outer self by saying and doing what the inner self wills and loves. To the extent the outer self does this, then, to the same extent the person is regenerated. He is not regenerated prior to that because before then his inner self is not present in the effect, but subsists only in the cause, and unless a cause has an effect, it dissipates. It is like a house founded on a field of ice, a house that sinks to the bottom when the sun melts the ice. In short, it is like a person without feet on which to stand and walk. The same is the case with the inner or spiritual self unless it is founded on the outer or natural self.
This, now, is what is symbolically meant by the two witnesses’ standing on their feet after breath from God entered them, and also by similar statements in Ezekiel:
(Jehovah) said to me, “Prophesy regarding the breath….” And (when) I prophesied…breath came into them, and they…stood upon their feet…. (Ezekiel 37:9, 10)
Also in Ezekiel:
(The voice speaking to me said,) “Son of man, stand on your feet….” Then the spirit* entered me…and set me on my feet. (Ezekiel 2:1, 2)
And again in Ezekiel:
…I fell on my face. But the spirit* …entered me and set me on my feet…. (Ezekiel 3:23, 24)
This, too, is the meaning of the Lord’s words to Peter:
…Peter said…, “…(wash) not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to have his feet washed, and he is completely clean.” (John 13:9, 10)
* In the original Latin, the word for breath and spirit is the same, and it is translated here as both breath and spirit.
The symbolic meaning of fear varies, depending on what it affects. Here it symbolizes a disturbance of the mind and alarm at Divine truths, as Divine truths have this effect on evil people. For evil people are terrified as soon as they hear about hell and eternal damnation. But the terror soon dissipates, along with their belief in the existence of any life after death.
The loud voice from heaven symbolizes a command from the Lord, for a voice from heaven has no other origin. The command to come up here symbolizes the elevation of the two essential elements into heaven, where they originate and where they remain, and where they are protected.
To ascend to heaven symbolizes the elevation of the two essential elements by the Lord into heaven, as said just above in no. 512. Here it symbolizes also a conjunction with the Lord there, because they ascended in a cloud; for a cloud symbolizes the literal sense of the Word (no. 24), and that sense is the means of conjunction with the Lord and consociation with angels, as may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 62-69.
To see the two witnesses means, symbolically, to hear of the two essential elements of the New Church, and also to see confirmations of them from the Word, for the people saw them ascending in a cloud, and a cloud symbolizes the literal sense of the Word (nos. 24, 513). That the people nevertheless did not accept them, but remained in their falsities, is apparent from the fact that we are told no more than that they saw the two, and in the next verse that there was a great earthquake in which they perished.
Enemies mean people in the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, and that these were people caught up in a faith divorced from charity may be seen above in nos. 501, 502ff.
In the same hour means, symbolically, the time when those people saw the two witnesses ascend to heaven, and yet remained in their falsities, as said just above in no. 514. For those two witnesses prophesied, meaning that they taught them (verse 3); and after they were killed and came back to life, and the people also saw them ascend to heaven and yet did not turn away from their falsities, then that great earthquake occurred.
Something similar happened with the two doctrines of the New Jerusalem, one concerning the Lord, and the other teaching a life in accordance with the Ten Commandments, as may be seen to some extent from the narrative accounts appended to each chapter. These two doctrines are the two witnesses dealt with here.
The earthquake symbolizes a change of state (no. 331), here the people’s destruction, because in it a tenth part of the city fell. A tenth part means, symbolically, all the people in it, for the number ten symbolizes much or all (no. 101), and so likewise a tenth part or a tenth, just as a fourth part or a fourth has the same symbolic meaning as four (no. 322), and a third part or a third the same symbolic meaning as three (no. 400).
To fall means, symbolically, to sink down into hell, which occurs when people are plucked away from heaven. For in the case of cities in the world of spirits that are filled with evils and falsities, the people there are visited, taught and warned, and after that, if they remain still in their evils and falsities, the cities are struck with an earthquake. This then causes a chasm to open into which the people sink down, and the inhabitants at the bottom then seem to themselves to be in a desert, from which they are dispatched one by one to their places in hell. That this was the case with the city here will be seen in no. 531 below.
To be killed symbolically means, here as before, to be killed spiritually, which is to perish in soul. The earthquake symbolizes the change of state in these people and their destruction, as said just above. Seven thousand people by name means, symbolically, all who have been proponents of faith alone, who consequently have made works of charity of no account, and who therefore have condemned the sacred two essential elements of the New Church. “By name” means, symbolically, people of this character, as a name symbolizes a person’s character (nos. 81, 122, 165), and seven thousand symbolizes all who are of this character. For seven thousand has the same symbolic meaning as seven, just as twelve thousand has the same symbolic meaning as twelve (no. 348). That seven symbolizes all people or all things and is predicated of the holy things of heaven and the church, and in an opposite sense of things profane, may be seen in nos. 10, 271.
The rest here mean people who had joined some goods of charity to their faith. Their being terrified symbolizes their fear on seeing the destruction of those others. To give glory to the God of heaven means, symbolically, to acknowledge the Lord as God of heaven and earth – to give glory symbolizing to acknowledge and worship, and the God of heaven meaning the Lord, because He is God of heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18).
Because these people were moved by their fear to acknowledge the Lord, they were set apart in order that they might be examined as to the basis on which they did goods, whether they did so on their own or from the Lord. People who do goods on their own are all those who do not refrain from evils as being sins, that is, who do not live according to the Ten Commandments, whereas people who do them from the Lord are those who do refrain from evils as being sins and live according to the Ten Commandments.
That a woe symbolizes a lamentation over the corrupted state of the church may be seen in no. 416 above. The third woe symbolizes the final lamentation when a culmination and end has been reached, for three and likewise a third have this symbolic meaning (no. 505). To come quickly means, symbolically, after this, and after this means from chapter 11 to the end of chapter 16, and lastly chapter 20, where the last judgment on these people is described.
To sound the trumpet means, symbolically, to explore and expose the state of the church after its end, at the time of the Lord’s advent and the advent of His kingdom. That is because the seventh angel’s sounding has this symbolic meaning. For the first six angels and their sounding their trumpets symbolized the examinations and exposures of the church at its end, as is clear from the preceding chapter, where the whole subject is the church at its end. But the subject now is the state of the church after its end, or the Lord’s advent and the advent of His kingdom, and this is apparent from the particulars that come next in this and the following verses. In this verse:
Then the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”
And so on. The seventh angel’s sounding causes the aforesaid exposure because the number seven has the same symbolic meaning as a week, in which six days are days of labor and belong to man, while the seventh is holy and is the Lord’s.
By the church’s end we mean its ruination, when there is no more doctrinal truth or goodness of life left in it, thus when it has reached its final state (see nos. 658, 750). And because that is the time of the Lord’s advent and the advent of His kingdom, therefore both the end of the age and the Lord’s coming are mentioned in Matthew 24:3, and both are also foretold in that chapter.
“There were loud voices in heaven” symbolizes celebrations on the part of angels. “Saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ,'” means, symbolically, that heaven and the church had become the Lord’s, as they had been from the beginning, and now had become those of His Divine humanity. “And He shall reign forever and ever!” means, symbolically, that the Lord would reign over them as regards both aspects of Him.
Loud voices in heaven symbolize celebrations of the Lord for having now taken His great power, as is apparent from verse 17 following, where the substance of those great voices is presented.
The Lord here means the Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah, and the Christ here means His Divine humanity, which is the Son of God (Luke 1:32, 35).
[2] That the Lord will reign even as regards His Divine humanity is clearly apparent from the following passages:
The Father…has given all things into His (the Son’s) hand. (John 3:35)
(The Father has) given (the Son) authority over all flesh…. (John 17:2)
(Father,) all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine…. (John 17:10)
All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (Matthew 28:18)
In reference to His Divine humanity the Lord also says that the Father and He are one, and that He is in the Father, and the Father in Him (John 10:30, 38, 14:5-12).
Furthermore, if the Lord’s humanity is not acknowledged to be Divine, the church perishes, since the Lord cannot then be in man and man in the Lord, as He teaches in John 14:20, 15:4-6, 17:21, 23; and it is this conjunction that makes a person a person of the church, thus that makes the church a church.
[3] The Christ means the Lord’s Divine humanity because the Christ is the Messiah, and the Messiah is the Son of God whose coming into the world was awaited by the Jews.
That the Christ is the Messiah is apparent from the following passages:
We have found the Messiah, which, if you translate it, is the Christ. (John 1:41)
The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming, who is called Christ.” (John 4:25)
The reason is that Messiah in Hebrew means Anointed, as does Christ in Greek.
That the Messiah is the Son of God is apparent from the fact that the high priest asked Him whether He was “the Christ (i.e., the Messiah), the Son of God” (Matthew 26:63, Mark 14:61, cf. John 20:31). Also from the following:
…You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world. (John 11:27)
(Peter said,) “We believe and acknowledge that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (John 6:69)
That the Lord is the Son of God in respect to His Divine humanity:
(The angel said to Mary,) “You will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son…. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest…. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born of you will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:31, 32, 35)
And so on in many places elsewhere.
It is apparent from this what is symbolically meant by the statement that the kingdoms have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.
The twenty-four elders sitting on their thrones symbolize all those in heaven, in particular the spiritual heaven (nos. 233, 251). And falling on their faces and adoring God symbolizes their highest adoration, and their acknowledgment that the Lord is God of heaven and earth.
To give thanks symbolizes an acknowledgment and glorification of the Lord. It can be seen above in Revelation 1:8, 11, 17, 2:8, 4:8, that the Son of man, who is the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity, is the Almighty, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, and He who is and who was and who is to come. And that these symbolically mean that He exists, lives and has power of Himself may be seen in nos. 13, 29, 30, 31, 38, 57, 92 above.
Because You have taken Your great power symbolizes the Divine omnipotence that the Lord possesses, and which He has possessed from eternity. Because You have entered Your kingdom means, symbolically, that heaven and the church are now His possession, as they were before. His kingdom means here the New Heaven and New Church, as described in Revelation 21 and 22.
The book of Revelation from beginning to end has as its sole subject the state of the previous heaven and church and their termination, and after that the New Heaven and New Church and their establishment, in which the people will acknowledge one God having the Trinity in Him, and that the Lord is that God. This is what the book of Revelation tells us from beginning to end; for it tells us that the Son of man, who is the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity, is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, who is, was and is to come, the Almighty (no. 522). And finally it tells us that the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, will be the Lamb’s church, that is, a church belonging to the Lord’s Divine humanity, thus at the same time to His Divinity from which all else springs, as is clearly apparent from the following verses:
Let us be glad and rejoice…, for the time for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. (Revelation 19:7)
One of the seven angels…came…and said to me…, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he…showed me the…city, the holy Jerusalem…. (Revelation 21:9, 10)
I, Jesus…am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star. The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” (Revelation 22:16, 17)
To (the Son of man) was given dominion and glory and a kingdom…. His dominion is an everlasting dominion…, and His kingdom the one which shall not perish. (Daniel 7:14)
Nations mean people caught up in evil practices, and abstractly, the evil practices themselves (nos. 147, 483). Here, however, it means people caught up in faith alone, because they are the subject here, and they are caught up in evil practices because their religion says that the Law does not condemn them, provided they have faith that Christ took away its condemnation.
Their being angry means, symbolically, not only that they were enraged, but also that they harassed people who opposed that faith of theirs, as can be seen from the description of the dragon in the next chapter, chapter 17, and later.
Your wrath symbolizes a last judgment (no. 340), thus their destruction. This is the symbolic meaning of the Lord’s wrath because it appears to people as though the Lord casts people into hell out of anger, when in fact an evil person casts himself into hell. Indeed, the case is similar to that of an evildoer who blames his punishment on the law, or on the fire that burns him if he sticks his hand into it, or on the sword held out in the hand of someone protecting himself if he is pierced through when he rushes upon the blade. Such is the case with everyone who sets himself against the Lord and out of anger rushes upon those whom the Lord protects.
The dead who were to be judged mean, in a universal sense, people who have died and departed from the world, but in a strict sense, they mean people who are without any spiritual life. It is the latter who are spoken of in terms of judgment (John 3:18, 5:24, 29). That is because people who possess spiritual life are called the living. Spiritual life is present only in people who turn to the Lord and at the same time refrain from evils as sins.
[2] People who are without any spiritual life are those meant in the following passages:
They joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. (Psalm 106:28)
…the enemy persecutes my soul…; he has made me dwell in darkness, like the world’s dead. (Psalm 143:3)
To hear the groaning of the prisoner, (and) to release those appointed to die…. (Psalm 102:20)
I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, when you are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die…. (Revelation 3:1, 2)
These are the people meant by the dead because their death means spiritual death. Consequently, the slain also mean people who have died that same death (nos. 321, 325, and elsewhere).
Those who have died and departed from the world are meant by the dead in the following places:
The dead were judged according to…the things which were written in the books. (Revelation 20:12)
The rest of the dead did not live again…. (Revelation 20:5)
That is because the first death there means the natural death that is a passing on from the world, while the second death means spiritual death, which is damnation.
The reward given symbolizes the happiness of eternal life, as shown below. Prophets symbolize people who possess doctrinal truths from the Word (nos. 8, 133), and saints people who live in accordance with them (no. 173).
The reward given here means the happiness of eternal life arising from the delight and gratification of a love and affection for goodness and truth. For every affection of love has its own accompanying delight and gratification, and an affection of love for goodness and truth is accompanied by a delight and gratification like that of angels in heaven. Moreover, every affection remains in a person after death. That is because the affection is one of love, and love is a person’s life. Consequently everyone’s life after death is of the same character as his dominant love in the world, and a dominant love for truth and goodness is possessed by people who have loved the Word’s truths and lived in accordance with them.
Nothing else but a delight in goodness and a gratification by truth is meant by reward in the following passages:
Behold, the Lord Jehovih is coming in strength…; behold, His reward is with Him…. (Isaiah 40:10, cf. 62:11)
Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me…. (Revelation 22:12)
My judgment is with Jehovah, and the reward for my work with my God. (Isaiah 49:4)
…I, Jehovah, love justice…; I will give them the reward of their work…. (Isaiah 61:8)
…do good, and…hoping for nothing in return, then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High. (Luke 6:35)
And so on elsewhere, as in Jeremiah 31:15-17 (Matthew 2:18); Matthew 5:2-12, 10:41, 42; Mark 9:41; Luke 6:22, 23, 14:12-14; John 4:35, 36.
To fear the Lord’s name means, symbolically, to love things having to do with the Lord. To fear means, symbolically, to love, and the Lord’s name symbolizes everything by which He is worshiped (no. 81). People small and great symbolize people who fear the Lord in a lesser or greater degree.
To fear here means, symbolically, to love because everyone who loves another is afraid of injuring the one he loves. There is no genuine love without that fear. Accordingly, someone who loves the Lord is afraid of doing evil, because evils go counter to the Lord, as they go counter to His Divine laws in the Word – the Word that originates from the Lord and thus embodies Him. Indeed, they go counter to His Divine essence, which is to will the salvation of all. For He is a savior. But He cannot save a person unless the person lives in accordance with the Lord’s laws and commandments. What is more, someone who loves evils also desires to injure the Lord, indeed to crucify Him. This desire is inmostly present in every evil, even in people who in the world acknowledge Him with the lips. The reality of this is something unknown to people, but well known to angels.
[2] That to fear God means, symbolically, to love things having to do with God, by doing them and refusing to do things which go counter to Him, is apparent from the following passages:
…what does Jehovah your God require of you, but to fear Jehovah your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him…. (Deuteronomy 10:12)
You shall walk after Jehovah your God and fear Him, that you may keep His commandments…. (Deuteronomy 13:4)
You shall fear Jehovah your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast…. (Deuteronomy 10:20. Cf. 6:2, 13, 14, 24, 8:6, 17:19, 28:58, 31:12)
Who will grant them to have a heart to fear Me and keep…My commandments…. (Deuteronomy 5:29)
Teach me Your way, O Jehovah…; unite my heart to a fear of Your name. (Psalm 86:11)
Blessed is he who fears Jehovah, who walks in His ways. (Psalm 128:1, cf. 112:1, Jeremiah 44:10)
If I am a Father, where is My honor? If I am Lord, where is the fear of Me? (Malachi 1:6, cf. 2:5, Isaiah 11:2, 3)
I will give them one heart, and one way, to fear Me…and I will put fear of Me in their hearts so that they do not turn away from Me. (Jeremiah 32:39, 40)
The beginning of wisdom is fear of Jehovah…. (Psalm 111:10)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 8:13, 25:3, 29:13, 50:10; Jeremiah 33:9; Psalm 22:23, 33:8, 18, 34:7, 9, 55:19, 115:11, 13, 147:11; Revelation 14:7; Luke 1:50.
A fear of God in evil people, on the other hand, is not love, but a fear of hell.
To destroy those who are destroying the earth symbolizes the casting down into hell of people who destroyed the church, because the earth symbolizes the church (no. 285), and because this statement follows the declaration that the time has come to judge the dead, which symbolizes the last judgment on people who were without any spiritual life (no. 525). Thus the statement here, that the time has come to destroy those who are destroying the earth, symbolizes the casting down into hell of the people who destroyed the church.
Something similar is said of Lucifer, meaning Babylon, in Isaiah:
…you have destroyed your land and slain your people. (Isaiah 14:20)
The temple of God symbolizes the Lord’s Divine humanity, also heaven where angels dwell, and likewise the church on earth. To be shown that the temple of God has these three symbolic meanings, and that the three cannot be separated, see no. 191. Here, however, the temple of God symbolizes the Lord in His Divine humanity in heaven where angels dwell, because it is said to be the temple of God in heaven. The ark in the temple means the Ten Commandments, for the ark had as its sole contents the two tables on which the Ten Commandments were written.* The temple’s being opened means, symbolically, that these two, the Divine humanity and the Ten Commandments, which are the two essential elements of the New Church, are now visible, and that they became visible after the evil were cast into hell (no. 528). The ark is called the ark of His covenant in His temple because a covenant symbolizes conjunction, as we will see below. But first we must say something about the Ten Commandments.
[2] What nation in the entire world does not know that it is evil to kill, commit adultery, steal, and bear false witness? If nations did not know this and enact laws to keep people from doing these things, it would be all over with them. For society, the republic, or kingdom would collapse without these laws.
Who can suppose that the Israelite nation was so stupid in comparison to all other nations as not to know that such actions are evil? One may wonder, therefore, why these laws, being so universally known throughout the whole world, were promulgated by Jehovah Himself from Mount Sinai, attended by the great miracle they were, and written, moreover, with His finger.
But listen, they were promulgated by Jehovah with such a great miracle and written with His finger in order that people might know that these laws are not only civil and moral laws, but also spiritual laws, and that to disobey them is not only to do evil to one’s fellow citizen and to society, but is also to sin against God. Their promulgation by Jehovah from Mount Sinai made them therefore laws of religion. For it is evident that whatever Jehovah God commands, He commands to make it a matter of religion, so that it must be obeyed for His sake, and for a person’s own sake, that he may be saved.
[3] Because these laws were the first elements of the church to be established by the Lord with the Israelite nation, and because they embrace in brief summary everything having to do with religion which makes possible a conjunction of the Lord with a person and of a person with the Lord, therefore they were so holy that nothing was more holy.
That they were so very holy can be seen from the following: That Jehovah Himself, that is to say, the Lord, descended in fire; that the mountain then smoked and quaked; and that this was attended by thunderings, lightnings, a thick cloud, and the sound of a trumpet (Exodus 19:16, 18, Deuteronomy 5:22-26). That before Jehovah descended, the people readied themselves and sanctified themselves for three days (Exodus 19:10, 11, 15). That the mountain was set around with bounds to keep anyone from coming near the foot of the mountain, lest he die (Exodus 19:12, 13, 20-23, 24:1, 2). That the Law was written on two tablets of stone, and written with the finger of God (Exodus 31:18, 32:15, 16, Deuteronomy 9:10). That when Moses brought the tablets down from the mountain a second time, his face shone (Exodus 34:29-35). That the tablets were placed in the Ark (Exodus 25:16, 40:20, Deuteronomy 10:5, 1 Kings 8:9). That the place in the Tabernacle where the Ark was put was called the most holy place (Exodus 26:33, and elsewhere). That because it held the Law, the Ark was there called Jehovah (Numbers 10:35, 36, 2 Samuel 6:2, Psalm 132:8). That Jehovah spoke with Moses from above the Ark (Exodus 25:22, Numbers 7:89). That because of the holiness of the Law, Aaron was not permitted to enter within the veil where the Ark was without sacrifices and incense, lest he die (Leviticus 16:2-14ff.). That owing to the Lord’s presence and power in the Law that was in the Ark, the waters of the Jordan were cut off, and as long as the Ark rested in the middle, the people crossed on dry ground (Joshua 3:1-17, 4:5-20). That carrying the Ark around caused the walls of Jericho to fall (Joshua 6:1-20). That Dagon, the Philistine god, fell to the ground before the Ark, and later lay at the threshold of the temple with its head broken off (1 Samuel 5:3, 4). That many thousands of the people of Ekron and Beth-Shemesh were smitten because of the Ark (1 Samuel 5, 6). That David brought up the Ark into Zion with sacrifices and jubilation (2 Samuel 6:1-19). That Uzzah died then because he touched the Ark (2 Samuel 6:6, 7). That in the Temple at Jerusalem the Ark constituted the inner sanctuary (1 Kings 6:19ff., 8:3-9). That the tablets on which the Law was written were called the tablets of the covenant, and because of them the Ark was called the ark of the covenant, with the Law itself being called the covenant (Numbers 10:33, Deuteronomy 4:13, 23, 5:2, 3, 9:9, Joshua 3:11, 1 Kings 8:19, 21, and elsewhere).
The Law’s being called a covenant symbolizes conjunction. The reason is that covenants are made for the sake of love, friendship, and association, thus for the sake of conjunction. That is why we find it said of the Lord that He will be “a covenant to the people” (Isaiah 42:6, 49:8), and He is called “the Messenger of the covenant” (Malachi 3:1). His blood also is called “the blood of the covenant” (Matthew 26:28, cf. Zechariah 9:11, Exodus 24:4-10). And therefore the Word is called the Old and New Testaments or Covenants.
* 1 Kings 8:9.
Lightnings, voices and thunderings symbolize reasonings (no. 396). Earthquakes symbolize changes in the state of the church (no. 331), here disturbances. Great hail symbolizes falsifications of truth and goodness (no. 399).
These things took place in the lower regions where evil people still remained before the Last Judgment was executed on them. For we are told in the preceding verse (18) that “the time to judge the dead” has come, “and to destroy those who are destroying the earth.”
Such phenomena occur in the world of spirits owing to the presence and influx of heaven that is above them.
———-
I was suddenly seized with an almost fatal illness. My whole head was weighed down. A toxic smoke emanated from the Jerusalem called Sodom and Egypt. I was half-dead with the fierce pain. I awaited the end. In that state I lay in my bed for three and a half days. Thus was my spirit afflicted, and because of it my body.
And then I heard about me voices saying, “Look, there he lies dead in our city’s street, the one who preached repentance for the forgiveness of sins and Christ alone, a man.” And they asked some of the clergy whether they ought to bury him.
The clerics said, “No. Let him lie there for people to see.”
The people went to and fro, scoffing.
In truth this happened to me when I was expounding this chapter of the book of Revelation.
I heard then the sober words of the people scoffing, especially the following:
“How can one repent apart from faith? How can Christ, a man, be worshiped as God? Since we are saved by grace apart from any merit of our own, what need do we have then of anything but simply a faith that God the Father sent His Son to take away the condemnation of the Law, to impute His Son’s merit to us and thus justify us in His sight, to absolve us of our sins through His emissary the priest, and to grant us then the Holy Spirit to bring about any goodness in us? Does this not accord with Scripture, and also with reason?”
At that the crowd standing around applauded.
[2] I heard this, but could not reply, because I lay almost dead. But after three and a half days my spirit recovered, and in the spirit I went from the street into the city and said again, “Repent and believe in Christ, and your sins will be forgiven you and you will be saved. If you don’t, you will perish. Didn’t the Lord Himself preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and for people to believe in Him? Didn’t He command His disciples to preach this, too? The dogma attending your faith – is it not followed by a lack of concern over the way you live?”
But they said, “What nonsense are you prattling on about? Did not the Son make satisfaction? Did the Father not impute this to us and justify those of us who believe it? We are led, therefore, by the spirit of grace. What then is sin in us? What then does death have to do with us? Do you not comprehend this gospel, you preacher of sin and repentance?”
However, a voice was heard from heaven then, saying, “What is the faith of an impenitent person but a lifeless one? The end is coming. The end is coming upon you so unconcerned, so blameless in your own eyes, so justified in that faith of yours, you who are devils.”
Then suddenly a chasm opened at the center of that city and widened, and one after another their houses fell and were swallowed up. And shortly water bubbled up from that broad gulf and flooded the devastated land.
[3] When they were thus covered with water and seemingly drowned, I wished to know their fate at the bottom, and I was told from heaven, “You will see and hear it.”
And before my eyes then the water vanished – the water in which they were seemingly drowned, because bodies of water in the spiritual world are correspondent forms, which appear therefore around people who are caught up in falsities – and I saw them then in the sandy bottom. There were heaps of piled up stones there, and the people were running among them, lamenting the fact that they had been cast down from their great city. They kept crying out and bawling, “Why has this happened to us? Thanks to our faith in the world, are we not pure, just, and godly?”
And others cried, “Has our faith not cleansed us, purified us, justified and sanctified us?”
And still others, “Has our faith not made us such that in the sight of God the Father we appear, seem, and are regarded as clean, pure, just and godly, and declared to be so in the eyes of angels? Have we not been reconciled, restored to favor, and atoned for, and so freed, washed and cleansed of any sins? Has Christ not taken away the condemnation of the Law? Why, then, have we been cast down here as though condemned?
“A brazen preacher of sin told us in our great city, ‘Believe in Christ and repent.’ Have we not believed in Christ, since we believed in His merit? And have we not repented, since we confessed ourselves sinners? Why, then, has this befallen us?”
[4] At that they then heard from one side a voice speaking to them. “Are you aware of any sin gripping you? Have you ever examined yourselves? Have you as a result refrained from any evil as being a sin against God? Anyone who does not, remains caught up in it. Is not sin the devil? You are therefore the kind of people about whom the Lord says,
Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ (Luke 13:26, 27)
“And also the kind of people spoken of in Matthew 7:22, 23.*
“Go, therefore, each to his own place. You will see caves opening into caverns. Go in, and there each of you will be given his own work to do, and food then commensurate with the work. If you don’t want to go in, still hunger will drive you to.”
[5] After that a voice from heaven addressed some people aboveground who were outside that great city – people also mentioned in Revelation 11:13 – saying loudly, “Beware! Beware of allying yourselves with people like that. Can you not understand that evils called sins and iniquities render a person unclean and impure? How can a person be cleansed and purified of those evils except by actual repentance and faith in Jesus Christ? Actual repentance is to examine oneself, to recognize and acknowledge one’s sins, to make oneself guilty of them, to confess them before the Lord, to implore His aid and power in resisting them, and so to refrain from them and lead a new life, doing all this as though of oneself. Do this once or twice a year when you go to Holy Communion; and afterward, when the sins of which you have made yourself guilty recur, say to yourselves, ‘We refuse to do them because they are sins against God.’ That is actual repentance.
[6] “Who cannot understand that someone who does not examine himself and see his sins, remains caught up in them? For every evil is delightful from one’s birth, inasmuch as it is delightful to take revenge, to be licentious sexually, to prey on others, to blaspheme, and most of all to dominate others from a love of self. Does delight not cause these to go unseen? And if by chance someone says they are sins, does not the delight you find in them cause you to excuse them, even to persuade you and by false arguments convince you that they are not sins, so that you remain caught up in them and go on doing them, afterward even more than before? And this until you do not know what sin is, indeed whether there is any such thing as sin.
“It is different with someone who repents actually. His evils that he recognizes and acknowledges, he calls sins, and therefore he begins to refrain from them and to be averse to them, and to feel the delight he had felt in them as undelightful. Moreover, to the extent that he does this, to the same extent he sees and loves goods, and finally feels delight in them, a delight which is one of heaven. In a word, to the extent someone casts the devil behind him, to the same extent he is adopted by the Lord and taught, led, withheld from evils by Him and kept in goods. This is the way, the only way, from hell to heaven.”
[7] Surprisingly, it is a fact that the Protestant Reformed have a certain deep-seated resistance, opposition and aversion to actual repentance, which is so great that they cannot compel themselves to examine themselves and see their sins and confess them before God. It is as though a kind of horror besets them when they go to do it.
I have asked many of them in the spiritual world about this, and they have all said that it is beyond their power.
When they are told that Roman Catholics still do it, namely that they examine themselves and openly confess their sins to a monk, they are quite surprised, saying that the Protestant Reformed cannot do this in secret to God, even though they are likewise enjoined to do it before they take Holy Supper. Some of them there also inquired into why this was, and they found that faith alone produced in them such a state of impenitence and such a disposition.
They were then given to see, moreover, that Roman Catholics who worship the Christ and do not call on their saints, and who do not worship their so-called Vicar of Christ** or any of his keepers of the keys, are saved.
[8] After that I heard what sounded like thunder and a voice speaking from heaven, saying, “We are astonished. Tell the company of the Protestant Reformed, ‘Believe in the Christ and repent and you will be saved.'”
So I said that, and also added, “Is not Baptism a sacrament of repentance and thus an initiation into the church? What else do the sponsors promise for the one being baptized than to renounce the devil and his works?
“Is not Holy Supper a sacrament of repentance and thus an initiation into heaven? Are the communicants not told to thoroughly repent before they approach?
“Any catechism containing the universal doctrine of the Christian Church, is it not a document teaching repentance? Does it not say there in reference to the six commandments of the second table that you must not do this or that evil, and say that you must do this or that good?
“You may know from this that to the extent someone refrains from evil, to the same extent he loves good; and that before then you do not know what good is, nor even what evil is.”
* “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'” (Matthew 7:22, 23)
** I.e., the Pope.
1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven jewels* on its heads. 4 Its tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 5 She bore a male Child who would shepherd all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they may feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and its angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, which leads the whole world astray; it was cast to the earth, and its angels were cast out with it. 10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, which accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they overcame it by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that it has a short time.”
13 Now when the dragon saw that it had been cast to the earth, it pursued the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14 But the woman was given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she might be nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15 So the serpent spewed water out of its mouth like a river after the woman, that it might cause her to be swept away by the river. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon had spewed out of its mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and it went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
18 Then I stood on the sand of the sea.**
* The word translated as “jewels” here means diadems or crowns in the original Greek and Latin, but the writer’s definition of the term elsewhere make plain that he regularly and consistently interpreted it to mean jewels or gems.
** In most manuscripts, the Textus Receptus, the received text of the Greek New Testament, makes this verse part of the first verse of the next chapter (13:1), as do numerous translations into other languages. The Alexandrian text, however, and the text of Westcott and Hort, together with some translations, including those Latin versions consulted by the writer, make it verse 18 of the present chapter.
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
The subject now is the New Church and its doctrine. The woman here means the New Church, and the child that she bore, its doctrine.
Dealt with also are people in today’s church who, in accordance with their doctrine, believe in a trinity of Persons and a duality in the Person of Christ, and in justification by faith alone. These are meant by the dragon.
Depicted finally is these people’s persecution of the New Church because of its doctrine, and the Lord’s protection of it until it grows from being among few to being among many.
The Contents of the Individual Verses
1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven:
A revelation from the Lord concerning His New Church in heaven and on earth and the difficulty of its doctrine’s being accepted and the antagonism to it.
a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet,
The Lord’s New Church in heaven, which is the New Heaven, and the New Church to come on earth, which is the New Jerusalem.
and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
Its wisdom and intelligence resulting from its concepts of Divine goodness and truth drawn from the Word.
2 Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
The emerging doctrine of the New Church and the difficulty of its being accepted owing to the opposition to it by people meant by the dragon.
3 And another sign appeared in heaven:
A revelation from the Lord concerning people antagonistic to the New Church and its doctrine.
behold, a great, fiery red dragon
People in the Protestant Reformed Church who make God three entities and the Lord two, and who divorce charity from faith, making faith saving and not at the same time charity.
having seven heads
Irrationality owing to their falsifying and profaning the Word’s truths.
and ten horns,
Much power.
and seven jewels* on its heads.
All the Word’s truths falsified and profaned.
4 Its tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.
By falsifying the Word’s truths they exiled all spiritual concepts of goodness and truth from the church, and by appeals to falsity completely destroyed them.
And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.
Those people meant by the dragon endeavor to snuff out the doctrine of the New Church at its first appearance.
5 She bore a male Child
The doctrine of the New Church,
who would shepherd all nations with a rod of iron.
which by truths drawn from the literal sense of the Word, together with rational arguments in accord with people’s natural sight, will convince all those willing to be convinced whose worship is a lifeless worship owing to their divorcing faith from charity.
And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.
The Lord’s protection of the doctrine and its being guarded by angels in heaven.
6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness,
The church being at first among few.
where she has a place prepared by God, that they may feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
The state of that church then, that in the meantime provision may be made for it to exist among more people, until it grows to its appointed state.
7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and its angels fought,
The falsities of the previous church fighting against the truths of the New Church.
8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
They were convicted of being caught up in falsities and evils, and yet they persisted in them, and therefore they were forcibly withdrawn from any conjunction with heaven and cast down.
9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan,
Those people now turned away from the Lord to themselves, and from heaven to the world, and so were caught up in the evils of their lusts and in falsities.
which leads the whole world astray;
They pervert everything having to do with the church.
it was cast to the earth, and its angels were cast out with it.
They were cast into the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, from which a direct conjunction is formed with people on earth.
10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ have come,
The joy of angels in heaven that the Lord alone now reigns in heaven and the church, and that those people are saved who believe in Him.
for the accuser of our brethren, which accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
By the Last Judgment those were removed who stood in opposition to the doctrine of the New Church.
11 And they overcame it by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony,
Victory gained by the Divine truth of the Word and acknowledgment of the Lord,
and they did not love their lives to the death.
and they did not love themselves more than the Lord.
12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them!
The new state of heaven, that the inhabitants are in the Lord and have the Lord in them.
Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath,
A lamentation over people in the church who are caught up in the falsities of their faith and thus in evil practices, because they are in league with followers of the dragon,
knowing that it has but a short time.”
because it knew that a new heaven had been formed, that a new church on earth was therefore imminent, and that it would then be cast into hell, along with its followers.
13 Now when the dragon saw that it had been cast to the earth, it pursued the woman who gave birth to the male Child.
After they were cast down, followers of the dragon in the world of spirits immediately began to harass the New Church because of its doctrine.
14 But the woman was given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place,
The Divine vigilance for that Church and protection while it was still among a few.
where she might be nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
Because of the cunning of those leading astray, to provide vigilantly for the New Church to spread among more people, until it grows to its appointed state.
15 So the serpent spewed water out of its mouth like a river after the woman, that it might cause her to be swept away by the river.
A multitude of reasonings flowing from falsities in order to destroy the church.
16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon had spewed out of its mouth.
The multitude of reasonings come to nothing in the face of the spiritual truths rationally understood that are advanced by the Michaels of whom the New Church is formed.
17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and it went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
The hatred ignited in those people who believe themselves wise because of their arguments in support of the mystical union of the Divine and the human in the Lord and in support of justification by faith alone, against those who acknowledge the Lord alone as God of heaven and earth, and the Ten Commandments as law to be lived, and their attacking new converts with the intention of leading them astray.
18 Then I stood on the sand of the sea.*
John’s spiritual state now natural.
* In most manuscripts, the Textus Receptus, the received text of the Greek New Testament, makes this verse part of the first verse of the next chapter (13:1), as do numerous translations into other languages. The Alexandrian text, however, and the text of Westcott and Hort, together with some translations, including those Latin versions consulted by the writer, make it verse 18 of the present chapter.
THE EXPOSITION
Now a great sign appeared in heaven. (12:1) This symbolizes a revelation from the Lord concerning His New Church in heaven and on earth and the difficulty of its doctrine’s being accepted and the antagonism to it.
A sign from heaven means a revelation concerning things to come, and a great sign appearing in heaven means a revelation concerning the New Church, for the woman clothed with the sun, as described in this chapter, symbolizes that church. The male child that she bore symbolizes its doctrine. Her being in pain to give birth symbolizes the difficulty of that doctrine’s being accepted. The dragon’s attempting to devour the male child, and then persecuting the woman, symbolizes its antagonism. All this is the meaning of the great sign that appeared in heaven.
In the Word a sign is mentioned in relation to things to come, and it is then a revelation. It is mentioned in relation to truth, too, and it is then an attestation. And it is also mentioned in relation to the character of a state or object, and it is then an indicator.
A sign is mentioned in relation to things to come, and is then a revelation, in the following places:
Let them…declare to us what will happen…, that we may…know the latter end of them; or give us to hear things to come. Show signs for the future…. (Isaiah 41:22, 23)
(The disciples said to Jesus,) “What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3, cf. Mark 13:4, Luke 21:7)
…there will be…signs from heaven…. There will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars. (Luke 21:11, 25)
Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear…. (Matthew 24:30)
(Hezekiah the king was told:) “This will be the sign…that Jehovah will do this thing…. I will bring the shadow…on the sundial of Ahaz…backward.” (Later Hezekiah said,) “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of Jehovah?” (Isaiah 38:7, 8, 22)
And so, too, elsewhere.
That a sign is mentioned in relation to truth and is then an attestation, and in relation to the character of a state and is then an indicator, is apparent from other passages in the Word.
That the woman here symbolizes the Lord’s New Church is clear from the particulars in this chapter, understood in their spiritual meaning. To be shown that a woman elsewhere in the Word also symbolizes the church, see no. 434. A woman symbolizes the church because the church is called the Lord’s bride and wife.
The woman here appeared clothed with the sun because the church is governed by love toward the Lord; for it acknowledges Him and keeps His commandments, and that is loving Him (John 14:21-24). That the sun symbolizes love may be seen in no. 53.
The moon appeared under the woman’s feet because it means the church on earth, which was not yet conjoined with the church in heaven. The moon symbolizes the intelligence in a natural person, and faith (no. 413). And its being seen under the woman’s feet means, symbolically, that it was a church to come on earth. Feet otherwise symbolize that same church after it has been conjoined.
[2] It should be known that the church exists in heaven just as on earth. For the Word is found there, and churches, and the preaching of sermons in them. Clerical and priestly orders exist there. For all the angels there were once people, and their departure from the world was for them but a continuation of life. Consequently they are perfected in love and wisdom, each one according to the degree of the affection for truth and goodness that he brought with him from the world.
The church among these is the church meant by the woman clothed with the sun, having on her head a crown of twelve stars. But because the church in heaven does not continue in existence unless there is also a church on earth that possesses an accordant love and wisdom, and this was yet to come, therefore the moon was seen under the woman’s feet, which in particular here symbolizes faith, a faith which, as it exists today, is not a means of conjunction.
[3] The church in heaven does not continue in existence unless it is conjoined with a church on earth, because heaven where angels are, and the church where people are, function together, like the internal and external components in a person; and the internal component in a person does not continue in its proper condition unless the external component is joined to it. For the internal component without the external one is like a house without a foundation, or like seed on top of the ground and not in the ground, thus like something without a root – in a word, like a cause without an effect in which to abide.
It can be seen from this that it is an absolute necessity that a church exist somewhere in the world which has the Word and where the Lord is consequently known.
534. And on her head a crown of twelve stars. This symbolizes its wisdom and intelligence resulting from its concepts of Divine goodness and truth drawn from the Word.
A crown on the head symbolizes wisdom and intelligence (nos. 189, 235, 252). Stars symbolize concepts of Divine goodness and Divine truth drawn from the Word (nos. 51, 420). And the number twelve symbolizes everything connected with the church that relates to its goodness and truth (no. 348).
So then, the crown of twelve stars on the woman’s head symbolizes the wisdom and intelligence of the New Church resulting from its concepts of Divine goodness and truth drawn from the Word.
Being with child symbolizes the emerging doctrine because the child that she had in her womb, whose birth is described in verse 5, symbolizes the doctrine of the New Church. For to be with child, to be in labor, and to give birth means, symbolically in the spiritual sense, to conceive and give birth to such things as are matters of spiritual life, as we will show. To cry out in labor and be in pain to give birth symbolizes the difficulty of that doctrine’s being accepted owing to the opposition to it by people meant by the dragon. This is apparent from the following particulars in this chapter, as that the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child, and that afterward it pursued the woman into the wilderness.
[2] That to be with child, to be in labor, and to give birth has this symbolic meaning is apparent from the following passages:
Jesus…said…, “…unless one is born again…, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, while that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:3-6)
Sing, O barren woman, who have not given birth! …cry aloud, you who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate woman than the children of the married one. (Isaiah 54:1)
…(they) ceased…until the barren woman bore seven, and she with many children became feeble. (1 Samuel 2:5)
The barren woman symbolizes gentiles, who are without genuine truths because they do not have the Word. The married woman and the woman with many children symbolize Jews, who have the Word.
She who has borne seven will become feeble; she will take her last breath. (Jeremiah 15:9)
This likewise refers to Jews.
We have conceived, we have labored, we have, as it were, given birth to wind; we have not produced the means of the land’s salvation. (Isaiah 26:18)
Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a male child…. Shall the earth labor in one day? Shall a nation be born all at once? Shall I bring to the time of birth and not cause delivery? …Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb? (Isaiah 66:7-9)
Labor to give birth, O earth, in the presence of the Lord, in the presence of the God of Israel. (Psalm 114:7)
Oh this day! …for children have come to the mouth of the womb, and there is no strength to give them birth. (Isaiah 37:3)
Sin shall labor to give birth and shall not* be able to break through. (Ezekiel 30:15, 16)
…I heard the voice…of an ailing woman, …as of one laboring to give birth to her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion. She sighs, she stretches out her hands. “Woe is me, for my soul is weary of murderers!” (Jeremiah 4:31)
Pangs and sorrows take hold of them; like a woman in childbirth they labor to give birth. (Isaiah 13:6-8)
The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up…. The sorrows of a woman laboring to give birth shall come upon him. He is an unwise son, for he does not spend time where children are born. (Hosea 13:12, 13)
As for Ephraim, like a bird your glory shall fly away – from birth, from pregnancy, and from conception…. Give them, Jehovah…a miscarrying womb and dry breasts…. Also, when they bear offspring, I will kill the longed-for fruit of their womb. (Hosea 9:11, 12, 14, 16)
In these places also, the difficulty in accepting doctrinal truths from the Word is described by various references to the pain experienced in laboring to give birth. So, too, in many other places elsewhere.
Moreover, Jehovah, or the Lord, is called a former from the womb (Isaiah 44:2, 24, 49:1, 5), and a former from the womb means the Reformer.
* In his later citations of this text, the writer read non erit (“shall not”) for No erit (“No shall”). No (Nowe or Nuwe) was the name of the ancient capital of Egypt, later called Thebes.
536. And another sign appeared in heaven. (12:3) This symbolizes a revelation from the Lord concerning people antagonistic to the New Church and its doctrine.
A sign symbolizes a revelation from the Lord, as in no. 532 above. It is called another sign because it is a revelation concerning people who will be antagonistic to the New Church.
These are the people meant by the dragon here and in the following verses. For they are antagonistic to the two essential elements of the New Church, namely, that God is one in essence and person, in whom is the Trinity, and that that God is the Lord; moreover, that charity and faith are one, like an essence and its form, and that only those people possess charity and faith who live in accordance with the Ten Commandments, which teach that evils are not to be done. To the extent anyone does not do evils then, by refraining from them as sins against God, to the same extent he does goods which are goods of charity and believes truths that are truths of faith.
[2] Everyone who considers it can see that people who make God three entities and the Lord two, and who divorce charity from faith, making faith saving and not at the same time charity, are antagonistic to these two essential elements of the New Church.
When we say that they make God three entities and the Lord two, we mean people who think of three persons as three gods and distinguish the Lord’s humanity from His Divinity. Who, moreover, entertains any other thought, or can entertain any other thought, when he prays in accordance with the formal expression of his faith “that God the Father may send the Holy Spirit for His Son’s sake”? Does he not pray to God the Father as one God, for the sake of the Son as another, concerning the Holy Spirit as a third?
It is apparent from this that even though someone intellectually may make the three persons one God, still he distinguishes between them, which is to say that he pictures them as three Gods when he prays these words. The same formal expression of his faith also makes the Lord two entities, since one thinks then only of the Lord’s humanity and not at the same time of His Divinity; for the phrase, “for His Son’s sake,” means for the sake of His humanity that suffered the cross.
From this it can now be seen just who those are who are meant by the dragon which attempted to devour the woman’s child, and which, because of the child, afterward pursued the woman into the wilderness.
[3] The dragon is called great because, with the exception of some people here and there who do not believe in the same way regarding the Trinity and faith, all the Protestant Reformed churches distinguish God into three persons and make faith alone saving. People who distinguish God into three persons and cling to this statement in the Athanasian Creed, “There is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit,” and also to this, “The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God” – these people, I say, cannot make one God out of three. They can indeed say they are one God, but they cannot think it.
By the same token people who think of the Lord’s Divinity from eternity as a second person in the Godhead, and of His humanity in time as being like the humanity of any other person, cannot help but make the Lord two entities, despite the statement in the Athanasian Creed that His Divinity and humanity are one person, united like soul and body.
[4] The dragon is called fiery red because a fiery red color symbolizes falsity arising from the evils attendant on lusts, which is a falsity of hell.
Now because these two fundamental doctrinal tenets in the Protestant Reformed churches are false, and falsities destroy the church, inasmuch as they take away its truths and goods, therefore they were represented by the dragon. That is because a dragon in the Word symbolizes the destruction of the church, as can be seen from the following passages:
I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a habitation of dragons; and I will turn the cities of Judah into a wasteland…. (Jeremiah 9:11)
Behold…, there has come…a great tumult out of the north country, to turn the cities of Judah into a wasteland, a habitation of dragons. (Jeremiah 10:22)
Hazor shall be a habitation of dragons, a desolation forever. (Jeremiah 49:33)
…that it may be a habitation of dragons, a courtyard for the offspring of owls. (Isaiah 34:13)
In the habitation of dragons, her couch…. (Isaiah 35:7)
I will go stripped and naked; I will make a wailing like dragons, and a mourning like the offspring of owls. (Micah 1:8)
…I cried out for help. I am a brother of dragons, and a companion of the offspring of the screech owl. (Job 30:28, 29)
The iyyim* will reply in her palaces, and dragons in her…temples. (Isaiah 13:22)
Let Babylon be a heap, a habitation of dragons, as a hissing and an astonishment…. (Jeremiah 51:37)
You have crushed us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death. (Psalm 44:18, 19)
I have made (Esau’s) mountains a wasteland, and his inheritance one for dragons of the wilderness. (Malachi 1:3)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 43:20, Jeremiah 14:6, Psalm 91:13, 14, Deuteronomy 32:33.
[5] The dragon here means people who are caught up in faith alone and who reject works of the Law as not saving, and I have had this attested several times by personal experience in the spiritual world. I have seen many thousands of such people assembled into companies, and at a distance then they looked like a dragon with a long tail, which seemed to be covered with thorn-like spikes, symbolizing falsities.
I also once saw a still bigger dragon, which arched its back and extended its tail up to the sky in an effort to draw down the stars from there.
I thus had it visually shown to me that these and no others are the people meant by the dragon.
* A Hebrew word [Hebrew], appearing only three times in the Old Testament (Isaiah 13:22, 34:14; Jeremiah 50:39). The term seems to refer to howling or screeching creatures, perhaps bats (cf. Married Love, no. 233:7) or some kind of bird (cf. Married Love, no. 264:4), but the actual identity is unknown. It may not be a precise term.
538. Having seven heads. This symbolizes irrationality owing to their falsifying and profaning the Word’s truths.
A head symbolizes wisdom and intelligence, and in an opposite sense, irrationality. However, the seven heads here, being the heads of the dragon, symbolize more specifically irrationality owing to a falsification and profanation of the Word’s truths. For the number seven is predicated of things that are holy, and in an opposite sense, of things that are profane (no. 10). Consequently we are told next that on its heads were seen seven jewels,* and jewels symbolize the Word’s truths, there truths falsified and profaned.
That a head symbolizes wisdom and intelligence is apparent from the following passages:
I will give you wise and intelligent men…, and I will make them your heads. (Deuteronomy 1:13)
…Jehovah…has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; and He has covered your heads, namely, the seers. (Isaiah 29:10)
In Daniel 2:32 the head of Nebuchadnezzar’s image of fine gold symbolizes the wisdom of the first age, which existed in people of the Most Ancient Church.
That in an opposite sense a head symbolizes irrationality and foolishness is apparent in the book of Psalms:
God will smite the head of His enemies, the hairy crown of the one who walks in his guilty ways. (Psalm 68:21)
In Genesis 3:15 the head of the serpent that would be trampled has the same symbolism, and so does “striking the head over much land” in Psalm 110:6, 7. So, too, does putting dust on the head, balding the head, or placing a hand on the head when people were ashamed or grieving at having behaved irrationally or unwisely (Isaiah 7:20, 15:2; Ezekiel 7:18, 27:30; Jeremiah 2:37, 14:3, 4; Lamentations 2:10; 2 Samuel 13:19).
Moreover, seven heads later in the book of Revelation, namely, in Revelation 13:1, 3, 17:3, 7, 9, also symbolize irrationality owing to a falsification and profanation of truths.
* The word translated as “jewels” here means diadems or crowns in the original Greek and Latin, but the writer’s definition of the term elsewhere make plain that he regularly and consistently interpreted it to mean jewels or gems.
539. And ten horns. This symbolizes much power. A horn symbolizes power (no. 270), and the number ten symbolizes much (no. 101).
The dragon is said to have much power because the salvation of mankind by faith alone apart from works of the Law – the faith meant by the dragon – captivates hearts, and then arguments in support of it persuade them. It captivates, indeed, because when a person hears that the condemnation of the Law has been taken away and that the Lord’s merit is imputed to him simply by faith in that fact, he can indulge the appetites of his heart and body, without any fear of hell. This gives that faith power, which is symbolized by the dragon’s ten horns. That it has had that power is clearly apparent from the acceptance of that faith throughout the whole Protestant Reformed Christian world.
Jewels or precious stones symbolize the Word’s truths, specifically truths in the Word’s literal meaning, but here those truths falsified and profaned because the jewels were seen on the dragon’s seven heads, which symbolize irrationality owing to a falsification and profanation of truths (no. 538).
[2] That jewels or precious stones symbolize truths in the Word’s literal meaning may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 43-45. We showed there that Divine truths in their outmost expressions, which are the truths in the Word’s literal sense, were symbolized by the twelve precious stones on Aaron’s breastpiece, namely, the Urim and Thummim (Exodus 28:6, 15-21, 30), and also by the precious stones in the Garden of Eden, where the king of Tyre is said to have been (Ezekiel 28:12, 13). And they were symbolized as well by the twelve precious stones which formed the foundations of the wall of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:17-20).
Truths in the literal meaning of the Word are symbolized by jewels or precious stones because everything in the Word’s literal meaning is, in the eyes of angels, translucent in consequence of the Word’s spiritual meaning, thus in consequence of the light of heaven in which the Word’s spiritual truths reside. For a stone in the Word symbolizes truth in its outmost expressions, and thus a precious stone, that truth translucent.
[3] The Word’s truths falsified and profaned are also called jewels because they are luminous in themselves, whoever possesses them, like jewels on earth, no matter in whose hand they are. I have occasionally been given to see adulterous women adorned with jewels on their first arrival from earth into the world of spirits, and also Jews selling jewels that they acquired from heaven. It was apparent from this that the evils and falsities in those people did not alter the radiance and sparkle of the Word’s truths.
The ten jewels on the horns of the beast rising up out of the sea consequently have the same symbolism (Revelation 13:1), and so, too, the precious stones on the woman sitting on the scarlet beast (Revelation 17:3-5).
That it is the Word’s truths that jewels symbolize is clearly apparent from the statement in the book of Revelation, that on the head of Him who sat on the white horse were seen many jewels, and that His name was The Word of God (Revelation 19:12, 13).
* The word translated as “jewels” here means diadems or crowns in the original Greek and Latin, but the writer’s definition of the term elsewhere make plain that he regularly and consistently interpreted it to mean jewels or gems.
When referring to people who have used the Word to establish heresies, a tail symbolizes the Word’s truths falsified (no. 438). Stars symbolize spiritual concepts of goodness and truth (nos. 51, 420). A third symbolizes all (nos. 400, 505). And to draw stars from heaven and throw them to the earth means, symbolically, to exile these concepts from the church and completely destroy them. For when they are taken down from heaven, they are also taken away from the church, as every truth of the Word is introduced into a person of the church by the Lord through heaven. Nor are truths taken away by anything else than by falsifications of truths in the Word, since that is where the truths of heaven and the church are found and originate.
[2] The idea that those people meant by the dragon, as described in no. 537 above, have destroyed all the Word’s truths, is something no one in the world can believe; and yet they have so destroyed them that not one doctrinal truth remains. This has been investigated in the spiritual world by examining learned members of the clergy, and it has been found to be the case.
I know several reasons for this, but here I will mention only one: They assert that anything springing from a person’s will and judgment is not good, and that because goods of charity or good works are done by the person, they therefore contribute nothing to his salvation, but that only faith does. And yet the only thing that makes a person human, and the only means by which he is conjoined with the Lord, is his ability to do good and believe truths as though of himself, namely, as though of his own will in accordance with his own judgment. If this one ability were to be taken away, every means of a person’s conjunction with the Lord and of the Lord with the person would be taken away at the same time. For it is this ability to reciprocate love that the Lord confers on everyone who is born human, which He also preserves in the person even to the end of his life, and afterward to eternity.
If this were to be taken from a person, he would have every truth and good of the Word taken from him at the same time, to the point that the Word would become nothing but a dead letter and an empty book. For the Word teaches nothing else but a person’s conjunction with the Lord through charity and faith, both emanating from the person as though from himself.
[3] People meant by the dragon, as described in no. 537 above, have broken this unique bond of conjunction by asserting that the goods of charity or good works that emanate from a person and from his will and judgment are nothing more than moral, civic and political works, works by which a person has a conjunction with the world, but not at all with God and heaven. And when that bond has been thus broken, then none of the Word’s doctrinal truths remains. Moreover, if the Word’s truths are used to support faith alone as saving apart from works of the Law, then those truths are all falsified. And if the falsification progresses to an affirmation that the Lord does not command good works in the Word for the sake of a person’s conjunction with Him, but only for the sake of a conjunction with the world, then the Word’s truths are profaned. For the Word thus becomes no longer a holy book, but a profane one. But on this subject, see the account at the end of the chapter.
The following report concerning the goat in Daniel has a similar symbolic meaning:
(The male goat with his horn) cast down some of the host (of heaven) and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them…; and he cast truth down to the ground. (Daniel 8:10, 12)
542. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. This symbolically means that those people meant by the dragon endeavor to snuff out the doctrine of the New Church at its first appearance.
For the people who are meant by the dragon, see no. 537 above. That the woman symbolizes the New Church, no. 533. That to give birth means, symbolically, to accept doctrinal goods and truths from the Word, no. 535. That the Child that she bore symbolizes the doctrine of the New Church – this will be seen in the exposition following next. To devour means, symbolically, to snuff out because the Child symbolizes doctrine, and when a child is said to be devoured, the doctrine is said to be extinguished.
We say that this occurs at the doctrine’s first appearance because we are told that the dragon stood before the woman to devour her Child as soon as it was born.
A son in the Word symbolizes doctrinal truth, and also an understanding of and consequent thought about truth and goodness. A daughter, on the other hand, symbolizes the goodness taught by doctrine, and also a willing of and consequent affection for truth and goodness. A male child, moreover, symbolizes truth conceived in the spiritual self and born in the natural one.
The reason for this is that generations and births in the Word symbolize spiritual generations and births, all of which relate in general to goodness and truth (no. 535). For nothing else is begotten and born of the Lord as husband and of the church as wife.
Now because the woman who bore the child symbolizes the New Church (no. 533), it is apparent that the male child symbolizes that church’s doctrine.
The doctrine meant here is The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine (London, 1758), and also The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, and The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem in Accordance With the Ten Commandments (Amsterdam, 1763). For doctrine means all the truths of doctrine, since doctrine embraces them all. When I was writing these doctrines, followers of the dragon stood about me and with all their fury endeavored to devour them, that is, to extinguish them.
I am permitted to report this new information, because of a truth it happened as I have said. The followers of the dragon who stood about me came from all over the Protestant Reformed Christian world.
[2] Since these and no other are the offspring born of the spiritual marriage, and male offspring are truth and good in the intellect and consequent thought, while female offspring are truth and good in the will and consequent affection, therefore a son in the Word symbolizes truth. To confirm this we will cite some passages from which it can in some measure be seen:
Behold, sons are a heritage from Jehovah, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the sons of one’s youth. (Psalm 127:3-5)
Make yourself bald and shave yourself, because of your delightful sons…, for they are gone from you. (Micah 1:16)
(I saw two olive trees beside the lampstand,) and he said, “These are the two sons of the olive tree, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.” (Zechariah 4:11, 14)
My tent is destroyed…; my sons have gone from me, and they are no more. (Jeremiah 10:20)
My sons are made desolate because the enemy prevailed. (Lamentations 1:16)
Your sons, (O Jerusalem,) have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets…. (Isaiah 51:17, 18, 20)
…fathers shall eat their sons in the midst of you, and sons shall eat their fathers…, and all of you who remain I will scatter to all the winds. (Ezekiel 5:10)
Son will be divided against father, and father against son…. (Luke 12:53, cf. Matthew 10:21, Mark 13:12)
You have also taken your beautiful vessels of My gold…and made for yourself male images with which you played the harlot. (Ezekiel 16:17)
(Jesus said,) …the…seeds are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of evil. (Matthew 13:38)
[3] That the Son of Man is the Divine truth in the Word, thus the Lord, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 19-28.
In the passages cited, sons mean people who possess doctrinal truths drawn from the Word, and abstractly, those truths themselves. So, too, elsewhere, as in Isaiah 13:17, 18, 14:21-23, 43:6, 49:17, 22, 51:17, 18, 60:9; Jeremiah 3:24, 25, 5:17; Ezekiel 14:16-18, 20, 16:20, 36, 45, 20:26, 31, 23:37; Hosea 11:9-11; Zechariah 9:13; Psalm 144:11, 12; Deuteronomy 32:8.
That daughters symbolize an affection for the church’s truth, thus the church in relation to that affection, follows from so many passages in the Word that if I were to quote them, they would fill many pages. Nothing else is meant by daughter of Zion, daughter of Jerusalem, daughter of Judah, and daughter of Israel. See some passages cited in no. 612 regarding the daughter of Zion. Who cannot see that no actual daughter of Zion, of Jerusalem, of Judah or of Israel, so often mentioned in the Word, can be meant?
544. Who would shepherd all nations with a rod of iron. This symbolizes doctrine which by truths drawn from the literal sense of the Word, together with rational arguments in accord with people’s natural sight, will convince all those willing to be convinced whose worship is a lifeless worship owing to their divorcing faith from charity.
This refers to the doctrine of the New Church, because it is said about the male child, which symbolizes that doctrine (no. 543). To shepherd means, symbolically, to teach and instruct (no. 383), here to convince those people who are willing to be convinced. Nations symbolize people caught up in evil practices (no. 483), here people engaged in dead worship in consequence of their divorcing faith from charity, because these are the subject here, and they are caught up in evil practices. For when charity is set aside, no goodness is practiced, and where there is no goodness, evil is present instead. To rule with a rod of iron means, symbolically, to do so by means of the truths in the Word’s literal sense, and at the same time by rational considerations drawn from people’s natural sight, as may be seen in no. 148 above.
545. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. This symbolizes the Lord’s protection of the doctrine, because it was to be for the New Church, and its being guarded by angels in heaven.
This symbolizes the Lord’s protection of the doctrine because we are told that the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her child as soon as it was born, and the child, or male child, symbolizes doctrine for the New Church (nos. 542, 543). It symbolizes also the doctrine’s being guarded by angels in heaven because we are told that the child was caught up to God and His throne, and His throne symbolizes the angelic heaven (nos. 14, 221, 222).
The woman symbolizes the New Church (no. 533), and the wilderness symbolizes a circumstance in which there are no longer any truths. The church is symbolized as being at first among few because the statement follows, “Where she has a place prepared by God, that they may feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days,” which symbolizes the state of that church then, that in the meantime provision may be made for it to exist among more people until it grows to its appointed state (no. 547).
A wilderness in the Word symbolizes: 1. A church devastated, or one in which the Word’s truths have all been falsified, as was the case with the Jews at the time of the Lord’s advent. 2. A church without truths, because it does not have the Word, as was the case with upright gentiles at the time of the Lord’s advent. 3. A state of temptation or trial, in which a person is seemingly without truths, being surrounded by evil spirits who induce the temptation or trial and appear to rob him of his truths.
[2] 1. That a wilderness symbolizes a church devastated, or one in which the Word’s truths have all been falsified, as was the case with the Jews at the time of the Lord’s advent: This is apparent from the following passages:
Is this the man who shook the earth, who made kingdoms tremble, who made the world as a wilderness…? (Isaiah 14:16, 17)
This said in reference to Babylon.
On the land of my people will come up thorns and briers…; …the palace will be deserted…. (Isaiah 32:13, 14)
I beheld, and lo, Carmel was a wilderness…. “The whole land shall be a wasteland.” (Jeremiah 4:26, 27)
The land is the church (no. 285).
…shepherds have destroyed My vineyard…, they have made the field of My desire a desolate wilderness…. The devastators are coming…in the wilderness. (Jeremiah 12:10, 12)
…(the vine) is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. (Ezekiel 19:13)
…fire has devoured the habitations of the wilderness. (Joel 1:19, 20)
…the day of Jehovah is coming…. The land is like the Garden of Eden before it, but after it a desolate wilderness. (Joel 2:1, 3)
…see the word of Jehovah! Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of darkness? (Jeremiah 2:31)
The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of Jehovah; make level in the desert a highway for our God.” (Isaiah 40:3)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 33:9; Jeremiah 3:2, 23:10; Lamentations 5:9; Hosea 2:2, 3, 13:15; Joel 3:19; Malachi 1:3; Psalm 107:33, 34; Matthew 24:26; Luke 13:35.
That such is the state of the church today may be seen in no. 566 below.
[3] 2. That a wilderness symbolizes a church without truths, because it does not have the Word, as was the case with upright gentiles at the time of the Lord’s advent: This is apparent from these passages:
…the Spirit shall be poured upon us from on high, then the wilderness shall become a fertile field…; and judgment will dwell in the wilderness…. (Isaiah 32:15, 16)
(I will put) fountains in the midst of the valleys, [and turn] the wilderness into a pool of water…. I will put in the wilderness the shittim cedar…and the oil tree. (Isaiah 41:18, 19)
He will turn a wilderness into a pool of water, and dry land into springs of water. (Psalm 107:35, 36)
I will make a road in the wilderness, rivers in the desert…to give drink to My people, My chosen. (Isaiah 43:19, 20)
…Jehovah…will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah; gladness and joy will be found in her…. (Isaiah 51:3)
The habitations of the wilderness drip…. (Psalm 65:12, 13)
Let the wilderness…lift up (its) voice…. Let the inhabitants of the rock sing…. (Isaiah 43:10, 11)
[4] 3. That a wilderness symbolizes a state of temptation or trial, in which a person is seemingly without truths, being surrounded by evil spirits who induce the temptation or trial and appear to rob him of his truths: This is apparent from Matthew 4:1-3, Mark 1:12, 13, Luke 4:1-3; Ezekiel 20:34-37; Jeremiah 2:2, 6, 7; Hosea 2:13-16; Psalm 107:4-7; Deuteronomy 1:31, 33, 8:2-4, 15, 16, 32:10.
547. Where she has a place prepared by God, that they may feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. This symbolizes the state of that church then, that in the meantime provision may be made for it to exist among more people, until it grows to its appointed state.
A place symbolizes a state (no. 947), and to feed means, symbolically, to provide for the church’s growth, for thus is a church fed. Consequently, having a place prepared by God, that they may feed her, symbolizes the state of the church, that in the meantime provision may be made for it to exist among more people. One thousand two hundred and sixty days means, symbolically, to the end and a new beginning (no. 491), namely, to the end of the previous church and the beginning of a new one, having the same meaning as “time and times and half a time” in verse 14 (no. 562). Thus it means also to its appointed state, that is, until it comes into being as provided.
It is of the Lord’s Divine providence that the church be at first among few and that it gradually grow to be among more, because the falsities of the previous church must first be removed. For truths cannot be accepted before then, inasmuch as truths accepted and implanted before falsities have been removed do not remain, and they are also expelled by followers of the dragon. The case is the same as with the Christian Church and its gradual growth from few to many.
A second reason is that the New Heaven that must function together with the church on earth has to first be formed. Consequently we read that John saw a new heaven, and the holy Jerusalem descending from God out of heaven (Revelation 21:1, 2).
One thing is certain, that the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, will come into being, because it is foretold in the book of Revelation, chapters 21 and 22. And it is also certain that the falsities of the previous church have be removed before then, because that is the subject dealt with in the book of Revelation up through chapter 20.
548. And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and its angels fought. (12:7) This symbolizes the falsities of the previous church fighting against the truths of the New Church.
A war symbolizes a spiritual war, which is one of falsity against truth and of truth against falsity (no. 500); for that is the only war that can take place in heaven, where this war is said to have broken out. Nor can a spiritual war take place in any heaven once it is formed by angels, but it took place in the previous heaven which passed away, as said in Revelation 21:1. Regarding that heaven, see our exposition of that verse. For that heaven passed away in consequence of the Last Judgment on the dragon and his angels, which is also the symbolic meaning of the dragon’s being cast out and no place for it being found in heaven any longer, as said in the next verse.
To learn what falsities are meant by the dragon which will fight against the truths of the New Church, see no. 537 above.
Michael does not mean some archangel, and neither does Gabriel or Raphael, but ministries in heaven are meant. The ministry that is Michael there is performed by people who confirm from the Word that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, that God the Father and the Lord are one as soul and body are one, that one must live according to the Ten Commandments, and that a person then possesses charity and faith. Michael is mentioned also in Daniel 10:13, 21, 12:1, and the same ministry is meant by him, as is apparent from chapters 9-11 there, and from the last verses in chapter 12.
Gabriel, on the other hand, means the ministry performed by people who teach from the Word that Jehovah came into the world and that the humanity that he took on there is the Son of God and Divine. The angel who announced this to Mary is accordingly called Gabriel (Luke 1:19, 26-35).
People who are engaged in these ministries are also called Michaels and Gabriels in heaven.
It may be seen in numbers 5, 65, 258, 342, 344, 415, 465 above that an angel in the highest sense means the Lord, and in a relative sense heaven, which is formed of angels, and also an angelic society. But here it means a ministry, because it is named; and in Daniel Michael is called a prince,* and a prince in the Word symbolizes a principal truth, and a king, truth itself (no. 20).
* Daniel 10:13, 21, 12:1.
For this to be understood, we must first say something about the state of people who come after death into the other life. All are there instructed by angels and led from one society to another, and they are examined to see whether they are willing to accept the truths of heaven and live in accordance with them. However, all those who in the world convinced themselves of falsities do not accept the truths. Therefore they are admitted into societies where the inhabitants are caught up in the same falsities, and these societies have no conjunction with heaven, but conjunction with hell. Consequently, after a period of time in the world of spirits they sink down into hell and are relegated to their own places, each one in accordance with his evil and resulting falsity. This is what is meant by their being convicted of being caught up in falsities and evils, and yet their persisting in them, and by their being forcibly withdrawn therefore from any conjunction with heaven and cast down.
What their fate there is like may be seen in nos. 153, 531 above.
Just who are meant by the dragon may be seen in no. 537. They are people who make God three entities and the Lord two, and put the Ten Commandments among works that do not lead to any salvation, and who are therefore called “that serpent of old,” “the Devil and Satan.” A serpent symbolizes someone whose carnal nature has made him sensual (no. 424), who has turned away from the Lord to himself and from heaven to the world. The Devil symbolizes people caught up in the evils attending lusts, and Satan people caught up for that reason in falsities (nos. 97, 153 fin., 856, 857*).
Of such a character also was the serpent that seduced Eve and Adam, as is apparent from its description and the curse on it (Genesis 3:1-5, 14, 15).
The dragon here is called the Devil and Satan as though the two were one individual, but it is called these because people in hell are all devils or satanic spirits, and consequently hell in its entirety is so labeled.
* No. 857 is missing. Nevertheless we find three references to it, in nos. 550, 858 and 870, and because both nos. 550 and 858 include as well a reference to no. 856, and no. 858 in the text comes immediately after 856, it seems quite likely that no. 857 was omitted accidentally by the printer of the first edition.
551. Which leads the whole world astray. This symbolically means that they pervert everything having to do with the church.
To lead astray means, symbolically, to pervert, and the world, like the earth, symbolizes the church (no. 285).
The world does not mean the physical world, but the church in it, in the following passages:
The earth will mourn and be turned upside down; the world will languish and be turned upside down. (Isaiah 24:4)
The lands will learn Your judgments, and the inhabitants of the world Your righteousness. (Isaiah 26:9)
The Maker of the earth by His power, who prepares the world by His wisdom…. (Jeremiah 10:12, 51:15)
The foundations of the world were uncovered…at the blast of (Your) breath…. (Psalm 18:15)
The earth is Jehovah’s and its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. …He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers. (Psalm 24:1, 2)
The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; the world and its fullness, You have founded them. (Psalm 89:11)
…He will make them inherit the throne of glory. For the foundations of the earth are Jehovah’s, and He has set the world upon them. (1 Samuel 2:8)
(Babylon,) you have made the world as a wilderness…. …you have destroyed your land and slain your people. (Isaiah 14:17, 20)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 18:3, 26:18, 27:6, 34:1; Nahum 1:5; Psalm 9:8, 77:18, 98:9; Lamentations 4:12; Job 18:18; Matthew 24:14; Luke 21:26; Revelation 16:14.
It should be known, however, that when the world and the earth are mentioned together, the world symbolizes the church in relation to good, and the earth the church in relation to truth.
552. It was cast to the earth, and its angels were cast out with it. This symbolically means that they were cast into the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, from which a direct conjunction is formed with people on earth.
The earth to which the dragon is said to have been cast means the world of spirits, because this world lies directly under the heavens, and when anyone is cast out of heaven, he does not sink immediately into hell, but onto the land in this world that is the nearest one beneath. For this world is midway between heaven and hell, being situated below the heavens and above the hells. More on this world may be seen in the book Heaven and Hell (London, 1758), nos. 421-535.
The people in this world all communicate directly with people on earth. The dragon and its angels consequently communicate with people caught up in falsities and their accompanying evils, owing to the heresy they have accepted regarding faith alone. The text accordingly says later in verse 12 of this chapter,
Therefore rejoice, O heavens…! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has a short time.” (Revelation 12:12)
We are also told in verses 13-17 that the dragon pursued the woman into the wilderness, and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring.
It should be known that in respect to his affections and consequent thoughts, everyone is present in a society with people in the world of spirits, and indirectly through them with people either in heaven or in hell. Everyone’s life depends on that conjunction.
A loud voice in heaven symbolizes the joy of angels in heaven, and that is why the text later says in verse 12, “Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them!” The voice is also said to be loud because it is uplifted owing to a heartfelt joy. That salvation and power have come means, symbolically, that people are now saved by the Lord’s Divine power. And that the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come means, symbolically, because the Lord alone reigns in heaven and in the church. That God means the Divine itself from which springs all else, namely the Divine called Jehovah, the Father, and that His Christ means the Divine humanity called the Son of God, may be seen in no. 520 above. So then, because the Divine itself from which all else springs and the Lord’s Divine humanity are united as soul and body, it follows that the Lord alone reigns.
This is what is meant by the gospel of the kingdom and the kingdom of God in Matthew 3:2, 4:17, 23, 7:21, 9:35, 11:11, 12:28; Mark 1:14, 15, 9:1, 15:43; Luke 4:43, 8:1, 9:60, 10:8-11, 11:17, 18, 20, 16:16, 21:30, 31, 22:18, 23:50, 51.
[2] That the Lord has all authority in heaven and on earth is clearly apparent in Matthew 28:18, John 3:35, 17:2, 10.
That those people are saved who are in the Lord and have the Lord in them, and that it is the Divine humanity in which they are, is clearly apparent in John, chapters 14, 15, 17. And that only those are saved who believe in Him is clear from the following passages:
As many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. (John 1:12)
…that whoever believes in (the Son) should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:15)
…God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should…have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
He who believes in (the Son) is not judged, but he who does not believe is judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18)
He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; but he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. (John 3:36)
He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst…. Assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. (John 6:33, 35, 47)
Unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins. (John 8:24)
Jesus said…, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. Everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. (John 11:25, 26)
And so on elsewhere, as in John 6:38-40, 7:37, 38, 8:12, 12:36, 46.
To believe in the Lord is to turn directly to Him and have confidence that He will save. And because no one can have that confidence unless he lives rightly, therefore this, too, is meant by believing in Him. See no. 67 above.
554. For the accuser of our brethren, which accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. This symbolically means that by the Last Judgment those were removed who stood in opposition to the doctrine of the New Church.
The dragon’s being cast down means, symbolically, that those meant by the dragon were removed. They were removed by being cast down from heaven into the world of spirits, as we said before, and after that into hell, which was the Last Judgment on them. Brethren mean people who have the doctrine of the New Jerusalem and live in accordance with it. To accuse means, symbolically, to stand in opposition to a doctrine, to charge that it is false, and to expostulate against it. And because those meant by the dragon do this continually as though before God, the dragon is called the accuser of our brethren which accused them before God day and night.
The devil does this, too, whenever it tempts or subjects to trial, for it draws out various thoughts from a person which it labels as false and condemns.
555. “And they overcame it by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” (12:11) This symbolizes victory gained by the Divine truth of the Word and thus by an acknowledgment that the Lord is God of heaven and earth and that the Ten Commandments are commandments for life in accordance with which a person should live.
It may be seen in no. 379 above that the blood of the Lamb is the Divine truth emanating from the Lord, which is the Divine truth of the Word; in nos. 6, 16 above, that the testimony is Divine truth; and in nos. 490, 506, that it is in particular these two tenets, that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, and that the Ten Commandments are commandments to be lived. The Ten Commandments are also accordingly called the testimony in Exodus 25:22, 31:7, 18, 32:15, Leviticus 16:13, Numbers 17:4, Psalm 78:5, 132:12.
People caught up in faith alone today believe that the blood of the Lamb refers to the Lord’s suffering of the cross, principally because they make the Lord’s suffering of the cross the chief tenet of their dogma, saying that by this He took upon Himself the condemnation of the Law, made satisfaction to the Father, and reconciled to Him the human race, and so on.
But that is not the case. Rather the Lord came into the world to conquer the hells and glorify His humanity, and His suffering of the cross was the last battle by which He completely overcame the hells and completely glorified His humanity, as may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 12-14.
Consequently it can be seen that the blood of the Lamb does not mean here the suffering of the cross as maintained by current dogma.
That the blood of the Lamb means the Divine truth emanating from the Lord, which is the Divine truth of the Word, can be seen from the fact that the Lord embodies the Word, and that because He embodies the Word, the Divine truth in it is His blood, and the Divine goodness in it His body.
This may be clearly shown by asking whether everyone does not embody his own goodness and his own truth. And because goodness is a matter of the will, and truth a matter of the intellect, whether everyone does not embody his own will and his own intellect. What else constitutes the person? Is not a person in essence these two entities? The Lord, however, is goodness itself and truth itself, or Divine good and Divine truth, and these two also constitute the Word.
556. “And they did not love their lives to the death.” This symbolically means, and they did not love themselves more than the Lord.
To love their lives means, symbolically, to love themselves and the world; for their lives symbolize the life characteristic of a person that he has from birth, and that is to love himself and the world above all else. Therefore, not to love one’s life means, symbolically, not to love oneself and the world more than the Lord and whatever is the Lord’s. To the death means, symbolically, to wish rather to die. Consequently it is to love the Lord above all else and the neighbor as oneself (Matthew 22:37-40), and to wish to die rather than turn away from those two loves.
The like is symbolically meant by these words of the Lord:
Whoever (wishes to find) his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for (Jesus’s) sake will find it. (Matthew 10:39, cf. Luke 17:33)
He who loves his life will lose it, but he who hates his life in this world will keep it into eternal life. (John 12:25)
…Jesus said…, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…. …whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew 16:24-26, cf. Mark 8:34-37, Luke 9:23-25)
To love the Lord means to love to do what He commands (John 14:21-24). That is because He is what He commands, for His commandments originate from Him, so that He is present in them, and is thus present in the person on whose life they are engraved, and they are engraved on a person by his willing and doing them.
557. “Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them!” (12:12) This symbolizes the new state of heaven, that the inhabitants are in the Lord and have the Lord in them.
The heavens mean the heaven formed of Christians in which the Lord alone is acknowledged as God of heaven and earth. The injunction to rejoice symbolizes its new state, one full of joy. The inhabitants symbolize people who are impelled by goodness (no. 380), and since all goodness comes from the Lord, it means, symbolically, that they are in the Lord and have the Lord in them.
“Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea” symbolizes a lamentation over people in the church who are caught up in the doctrine of faith alone. “Woe” symbolizes a lamentation (no. 416). The inhabitants symbolize people in the church whose doctrine is one of faith alone. The earth means people caught up in its internal tenets, and the sea, people caught up in its external ones (no. 470). The devil’s great wrath symbolizes a hatred of the New Church, because it is directed at the woman (no. 525). To come down to them means, symbolically, to those in the world of spirits, and because these are in conjunction with people on earth, it means symbolically also, to people of the same character on earth.
That the dragon was cast out of heaven into the world of spirits, and that people there are in conjunction with people on earth, may be seen in no. 552 above.
[2] The dragon is here called the devil because those people are meant who, owing to that heresy of theirs, are caught up in evil practices, and people who, owing to that heresy, are caught up in evil practices are people who live in accordance with this tenet of their faith, that no sins attach to people who pray confidently to God the Father, and if they do, that they have been forgiven. And because they do not examine themselves, they are not aware of any sin in them, and eventually do not even know what sin is, as may be seen in no. 531 above. That the dragon as the devil means people who are caught up in the evils of their lusts, see no. 550.
Everyone is in conjunction with people in the world of spirits because, in respect to the affections and consequent thoughts of his mind, everyone is a spirit. Therefore he is continually, in respect to these, in conjunction with spirits who have the same affection and consequent thoughts. The conjunction is such that if the connection should be broken even for a single moment, the person would fall dead.
The church has previously known nothing of this. Nor has it known that a person after death is the embodiment of his affection and consequent thought, thus of his charity and consequent faith, and that no one can embody a faith divorced from charity.
559. “Knowing that it has but a short time.” This symbolically means, because it knew that a new heaven had been formed, that a new church on earth was therefore imminent, and that it would then be cast into hell, along with its followers.
This is the symbolic meaning because the dragon knew that a new heaven had been formed, inasmuch as it had been cast down from it (verses 8, 9). It knew, too, from the prophecy in Revelation 21, that a new church on earth was imminent. And it knew as well, from the prophecy in Revelation 20:1, 2, 10, that it would then be cast into hell, along with its followers.
560. Now when the dragon saw that it had been cast to the earth, it pursued the woman who gave birth to the male Child. (12:13) This symbolically means that after they were cast down, followers of the dragon in the world of spirits immediately began to harass the New Church because of its doctrine.
“When the dragon saw that it had been cast to the earth” means, symbolically, when the followers of the dragon saw that they had been separated from heaven and were in conjunction with people on earth (nos. 552, 558). Its pursuing the woman means, symbolically, that they immediately began to harass the Lord’s church. That the woman it pursued is that church may be seen in no. 533. “Who gave birth to the male Child” means, symbolically, because of the doctrine. That the male child that the woman bore is the doctrine of the New Church may be seen in nos. 535, 542, 543, 545.
561. But the woman was given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place. (12:14) This symbolizes the Divine vigilance for the New Church and protection while it was still among a few.
The woman symbolizes the New Church (no. 533). Wings symbolize power and protection (no. 245). An eagle symbolizes intellectual sight and the resulting thought (no. 245). To fly means, symbolically, to perceive and be watchful (no. 245). The wilderness symbolizes the church desolate and thus existing among a few (no. 546). Her place symbolizes its state there. It follows from this that the woman’s being given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, symbolizes the Divine vigilance for the New Church and protection while it was still among a few.
To nourish, when mentioned in connection with the New Church, means, symbolically, to provide that it spread among more people, as we said in no. 547 above. “A time and times and half a time” means, symbolically, to the end and a new beginning, thus until it grows from a few people to many more, till it reaches its appointed state, as we said also in no. 547 above. The face of the serpent symbolizes the cunning of those leading astray – the face symbolizing the cunning, and the serpent those who lead astray.
That a serpent symbolizes people who lead astray is apparent from these words in this chapter:
The great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old…, which leads the whole world astray. (Revelation 12:9)
And elsewhere:
He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old…, and he cast him into the bottomless pit…, so that he should lead the nations no more astray…. (Revelation 20:2, 3)
The meaning here is the same as that of the serpent which led Eve and Adam astray, of which it is said,
Now the serpent became more cunning than any beast of the field…. And the woman said (to Jehovah), “The serpent led me astray….” (Genesis 3:1, 13)
[2] A face in the Word symbolizes what lies within a person, because the face reflects his character, its expression being formed in correspondence with it. The face of a serpent, therefore, symbolizes anger, hatred and cunning.
“A time, times and half a time” here has the same symbolic meaning as the one thousand two hundred and sixty days in verse 6, which says,
Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they may feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. (Revelation 12:6)
An explanation of the meaning may be seen in no. 547 above.
The same is also the meaning of the three and a half days in Revelation 11:9, 11, and of the three years and six months of famine in Luke 4:25.
It is also the meaning of the appointed time of appointed times and a half in Daniel, “when they shall completely disperse the hands of the holy people” (Daniel 12:7).
563. So the serpent spewed water out of its mouth like a river after the woman, that it might cause her to be swept away by the river. (12:15) This symbolizes a multitude of reasonings flowing from falsities in order to destroy the church.
The serpent symbolizes, here as above, the dragon leading astray. The woman symbolizes the New Church (no. 533). Water symbolizes truths, and in an opposite sense, falsities (no. 50, 409). A river symbolizes truths in abundance, and in an opposite sense, falsities in abundance (no. 409). Coming out of the mouth of the serpent symbolizes reasonings. So then, its spewing out water like a river symbolizes a multitude of reasonings flowing from falsities.
The reasonings of people meant by the dragon all arise from misconceptions and appearances, and if they are defended, they seem superficially to be true, but inwardly they contain a multitude of falsities.
I can relate this fact, that people in the church who affirm faith alone in themselves cannot afterward turn away from it without serious repentance, because they unite themselves with followers of the dragon who are currently in the world of spirits and in a state of agitation, being driven by their hatred for the New Church to harass all whom they encounter there. Moreover, because they unite with people on earth, as we said, they do not allow those who have once been captivated by their reasonings to withdraw from them; for they hold them as though bound in chains, and then shut their eyes so that they are no longer capable of seeing any truth clearly.
The earth that helped the woman symbolizes the church in respect to its doctrine (no. 285). And because the subject is the reasonings flowing from falsities that followers of the dragon put forward, truths from the Word are the means by which the earth, or rather the church, “helps the woman.” To open the mouth means, symbolically, to advance those truths. The river that the dragon spewed out of its mouth symbolizes a multitude of reasonings flowing from falsities (no. 563). To swallow means, symbolically, to cause to come to nothing.
Michaels mean people of the New Church – Michael being those who are wise there, and his angels being the rest.
[2] Since in the New Church the dogma is rejected that the intellect should be held captive in obedience to faith, and accepted instead is the tenet that the church’s truth must be seen to be believed (no. 224), and because truth can be seen only when it is seen rationally, therefore we say, “in the face of the spiritual truths rationally understood.”
How can anyone be led by the Lord and affiliated with heaven if he closes up his intellect in such matters as have to do with salvation and eternal life? Is it not the intellect that must be enlightened and instructed? What else is the intellect that has been closed up by religion but a mass of darkness, and the kind of darkness that deflects away from itself any illuminating light?
Who, moreover, can acknowledge any truth and retain it if he does not see it? What is truth not seen but a word without meaning, which sensual, carnal people are accustomed to retain in memory, but which the wise cannot? Indeed, wise people cast empty words out of the memory, namely, words which have not entered from an understanding of them – as for example, that the one God is three in respect to persons, or that the Lord born from eternity is not identical with the Lord born in time, so that one Lord is God and not the other; or further, that a life of charity, which consists in good works and at the same time in repentance from evil works, contributes nothing to salvation. A wise person does not understand this, and consequently because of his rationality says, “Religion in that case accomplishes nothing. Is it not an article of religion to refrain from evil and do good? Is this not what the church’s doctrine teaches, and what a person is also meant to believe, so that he does the goods of religion from God?”
All of this is contained in these few words, because they follow in sequence from those of the preceding verse, where we are told that the earth helped the woman, and opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon had spewed out of its mouth, which means, symbolically, that their reasonings flowing from falsities came to nothing (no. 564), and accordingly that they tried in vain to destroy the New Church. The dragon’s being enraged with the woman symbolizes, therefore, hatred ignited and a longing for vengeance seething against the Church. The rage or wrath of the dragon symbolizes hatred (no. 558). To make war means, symbolically, to attack and assail with reasonings flowing from falsities (no. 500).
The rest of her offspring or seed who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ means newcomers who accept the doctrine regarding the Lord and the Ten Commandments. What the testimony of Jesus Christ is may be seen in nos. 6 and 490 above.
[2] The dragon here means people who believe themselves wise because of their arguments in support of the mystical union of the Divine and the human in the Lord and in support of justification by faith alone, because they pride themselves on their wisdom and know how to reason. From that pride or conceit then springs hatred, and from that hatred rage and a longing for vengeance against people who do not believe as they do. By the mystical union, also called a hypostatic union, we mean their fictions regarding the influx and operation of the Lord’s Divinity into His humanity as though into another entity, their not knowing that God and man, or the Divine and the human in the Lord, are not two persons, but one, united like soul and body, in accordance with the doctrine accepted throughout the Christian world which has its name from Athanasius. But this is not the place to cite their fictions regarding the mystical union, as they are absurd.
[3] That the offspring or seed of the woman here means people of the New Church, who possess its doctrinal truths, can be seen from the symbolic meaning of offspring in the following passages:
Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their descendants among peoples. All who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the offspring whom Jehovah has blessed. (Isaiah 61:9)
…they are the offspring of the blessed of Jehovah…. (Isaiah 65:23)
…as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me…, so shall your offspring…remain. (Isaiah 66:22)
Offspring that will serve Him shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation…. (Psalm 22:30)
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and the offspring (of the woman). (Genesis 3:15)
Does the one seek the offspring of God? (Malachi 2:15)
Behold, the days are coming…, (when) I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man…. (Jeremiah 31:27)
If he makes His soul a guilt offering, he shall see his offspring…. (Isaiah 53:10)
Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east…. (Isaiah 43:5, 6)
…you shall break out to the right and to the left, and your offspring will inherit the nations…. (Isaiah 54:3)
I had planted you a noble vine, the offspring of truth. How then have you turned before Me into the offshoots of an alien vine? (Jeremiah 2:21)
Their fruit You shall destroy from the earth, and their offspring from among the children of men. (Psalm 21:10)
…the…seeds are the children of the kingdom…. (Matthew 13:38)
The offspring or seed of Israel has the same symbolic meaning, because “Israel” is the church (Isaiah 41:8, 9, 44:3, Jeremiah 23:8, 31:35, 36). The offspring or seed of David, too, has the same symbolic meaning, because “David” is the Lord (Jeremiah 30:9, 33:22, 25, 26, Psalm 89:3, 4, 29). So likewise the seed of the field, in many places, because a field symbolizes the church.
On the other hand, the offspring or seed of evil people has an opposite meaning (Isaiah 1:4, 14:20, 57:3, 4). And so, too, the offspring or seed of a serpent (Genesis 3:15).
565 [repeated]. Then I stood on the sand of the sea.* (12:18) This symbolizes John’s spiritual state now natural, like that of people in the first or lowest heaven.
The sand of the sea symbolizes that state, because the sea symbolizes the external component of the church. We call this state spiritually natural, like the state of people in the first or lowest heaven.
John had previously been up above in heaven when he saw the dragon, its battle with Michael, its being cast down, and its pursuing the woman. But now that the dragon has been cast down, and it continues to be dealt with in the following chapter, John was conveyed down in spirit in order to see the further events involving the dragon beneath the heavens and describe them. In that state he saw the two beasts, one rising up out of the sea and the other coming up out of the earth, which he could not have seen from heaven, since it is not granted to any angel to look down from heaven into lower regions, though if he wishes, he may descend.
It should be known that a place in the spiritual world corresponds to the inhabitants’ state, for no one can be anywhere else than where his state of life is found. And because John now stood on the sand of the sea, it follows that his state was now a spiritually natural one.
* In most manuscripts, the Textus Receptus, the received text of the Greek New Testament, makes this verse part of the first verse of the next chapter (13:1), as do numerous translations into other languages. The Alexandrian text, however, and the text of Westcott and Hort, together with some translations, including those Latin versions consulted by the writer, make it verse 18 of the present chapter.
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An argument arose among some spirits as to whether it is possible for someone to see a doctrinal, theological truth in the Word without doing so from the Lord. They all agreed that no one could without doing so from God, because “a person can obtain nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven” (John 3:27). Thus they were arguing over whether anyone could do so without directly approaching the Lord. Spirits on one side said that the Lord must be approached directly because He embodies the Word. Spirits on the other side said that doctrinal truth may be seen when one approaches God the Father directly. The argument therefore came down to this primarily, whether any Christian might approach God the Father directly and so climb up above the Lord, or whether this would be an improper and reckless act of arrogance and audacity, because the Lord says that no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6).
They left this point, however, and said that a person could see doctrinal truth in the Word by the use of his own natural sight. But this point, too, was rejected. Therefore they insisted that those people could see it who pray to God the Father. Something from the Word was accordingly read to them, and then kneeling they prayed for God the Father to enlighten them. And in response to the words read to them from the Word, they said that such and such was the truth in them, though what they said was false. This experiment was repeated several times until they tired of it. Finally they confessed that it was not possible. Meanwhile the spirits on the other side, who approached the Lord directly, kept seeing the truths and informing them of them.
[2] After this argument thus came to an end, some spirits rose up from a pit who looked at first like locusts, but afterward as human. They were people who in the world had prayed to the Father and convinced themselves of justification by faith alone. They said that they saw with a clear sight and also from the Word that a person is justified by faith alone apart from works of the Law. They were asked what faith that was. They replied, “Faith in God the Father.” But after they had been examined, they were told from heaven that they did not know even one doctrinal truth from the Word. At that they retorted that still they saw it clearly. They were then told that they saw it in an illusory light.
“What is an illusory light?” they asked.
They were informed that an illusory light is the light of a defense of falsity, and that that light corresponded to the kind of light had by owls and bats, for which darkness is light, and light darkness. They had this confirmed for them by the fact that when they looked upward to heaven, where real light is found, they saw darkness, and when they looked downward into the pit from where they had come, they saw light.
[3] Incensed at this confirmation, the spirits said that light and dark are therefore not something real, but are only conditions of the eye that cause people to say that light is light and that dark is dark.
They were shown, however, that theirs was an illusory light, namely, the light of a defense of falsity, and that their light was only an activity of their minds arising from the fire of their lusts, not unlike the light of cats, whose eyes in storerooms at night look like candles because of their burning appetite for rats and mice.
Hearing this, the spirits angrily said that they were not cats, or even like cats, because they could see if they wished. But because they were afraid to be asked why they did not wish to, they left and descended into their pit and into their own light.
The inhabitants there and others like them are also called owls and bats.
[4] When those spirits reached their fellows in the pit and told them that angels had said that they did not know any doctrinal truth, not even one, and that they had therefore called them bats and owls, a tumult arose there. And their fellows said, “We will pray to the Lord to be allowed to ascend, and we will clearly show that we have many doctrinal truths, which even archangels will acknowledge.”
Then, because they prayed to the Lord, they were given permission, and as many as three hundred of them ascended. And on emerging above ground they said, “In the world we were celebrated and renowned, because we knew and taught the mysteries of justification by faith alone, and from our proofs we gained not only a clear sight, but also as it were brilliant flashes of light, as we continue to do currently in our chambers. And yet we have been told by our comrades who were in your company that this light is not light but darkness, because, as you said, we do not have any doctrinal truth from the Word.
“We know that every one of the Word’s truths shines, and we have believed that our flashes of light come from them when we are deeply pondering our mysteries. We will show, therefore that we possess a great abundance of truths from the Word.”
So they said, “Have we not this truth, that there is a Trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and that people must believe in the Trinity?
“Have we not this truth, that Christ is our Redeemer and Savior?
“Have we not this truth, that Christ alone is righteousness, and that He alone possess merit, and that any person who wishes to ascribe any of His merit and righteousness to himself is unrighteous and impious?
“Have we not this truth, that no mortal can do any spiritual good of himself, but that all good that is good in itself comes from God?
“Have we not this truth, that there is such a thing as merit-seeking good and also hypocritical good, and that these goods are evil?
“Have we not this truth, that no one can, by his own power, contribute anything to his salvation?
“Have we not this truth, that works of charity must still be done?
“Have we not this truth, that there is such a thing as faith, that people must believe, and that everyone has life in the measure of his belief? And so, too, many other truths from the Word.
“Who of you can deny any of these truths? And yet you have said that in our deliberations we do not have any truth, not even one. Have you not cast such accusations at us undeservedly?”
[5] But they were told in reply then, “Everything that you have cited is, in itself, true, but you have falsified those truths by using them to support a false principle, and therefore with you and in you they are truths falsified – truths which derive from the false principle the character of being themselves false.
“We will also demonstrate the reality of this visibly. Not far from here there is a place where light flows in directly from heaven. At the center of it is a table. When a piece of paper is placed on it on which a truth from the Word has been written, the piece of paper shines like a star because of the truth written on it. Write, therefore, your truths on a piece of paper and have it placed on the table, and you will see.”
They did so and gave the piece of paper to a guard, who placed it on the table and said to them, “Move back and keep your eyes on the table.”
So they moved back and watched, and lo, the piece of paper shone like a star.
Then the guard said, “You see that the things you wrote on the piece of paper are true. But come nearer and fix your gaze on the piece of paper.”
They did so, and suddenly then the light disappeared and the piece of paper turned black, as though covered with the soot of a furnace.
And speaking again the guard said, “Touch the paper with your hands, but be careful not to touch the writing.”
And when they did as bidden, a flame erupted and consumed the paper.
On seeing this the spirits fled away. And they were told, “If you had touched the writing, you would have heard a sharp report and burned your fingers.”
Some bystanders then told them from behind, “You have seen now that the truths you abused to support the mysteries of your idea of justification are true in themselves, but in you are truths falsified.
The spirits then looked up, and the sky appeared to them as though blood-red, and after that as black. Moreover, they themselves appeared to the eyes of angelic spirits, some as bats, some as barn owls, some as moles, and some as eagle owls. And they fled away into their darkness, which to their eyes shone with an illusory light.
[6] The angelic spirits who were present were astonished, because they had not known anything about that place and table before. And then a voice spoke to them from the southern zone, saying, “Come over here, and you will see something even more marvelous.”
So they went, and entered into a room whose walls shone as though with gold, and they saw a table there also, on which lay a copy of the Word, surrounded with precious stones in a heavenly pattern.
An angelic guard then said, “When the Word is opened, a beam of light radiates from it, of indescribable brilliance, and at the same time then a rainbow emanating from the precious stones appears above and around the Word. When an angel from the third heaven comes here and views the open Word, a multicolored rainbow appears above and around the Word against a red background. When an angel from the second heaven comes here and views it, the rainbow appears against a blue background. When an angel from the lowest heaven comes and views it, the rainbow appears against a white background. And when a good spirit comes and views it, a variegated light appears as though of marble.”
The reality of this was also visibly shown to them.
The angelic guard said further, “If someone comes here who has falsified the Word, then first the radiance vanishes, and if he draws near and fixes his eyes on the Word, it becomes surrounded as though by blood, and he is warned to leave because he is in danger.”
[7] One of the spirits, however, who in the world had been a leading authority on the doctrine of faith alone, boldly came forward and said, “When I was in the world I did not falsify the Word. Along with faith I also extolled charity, and I taught that a person is renewed, regenerated and sanctified in a state of faith in which he practices charity and its works. I said, too, that faith is not possible by itself, that is, without good works, as a tree is not possible without its fruit, the sun without its light, or fire without its warmth. Moreover, I also faulted those who said that good works are not necessary, and I stressed as well the importance of the Ten Commandments and also repentance. Thus in a marvelous way I applied everything in the Word to our article on faith, which I even so determined and showed to be alone saving.”
Trusting in his assertion that he had not falsified the Word, the spirit went over to the table, and despite the angel’s warning, touched the Word. And suddenly then fire and smoke poured from the Word, and there was an explosion and loud crash, which hurled the spirit to a corner of the room, and he lay there for a time as though dead.
The angelic spirits were surprised at this, but they were told that although that notable more than others had extolled the goods of charity as emanating from faith, still he meant only public works called moral and civic, which have to be done for the sake of the world and success in it, but not any of the works that must be done for God’s sake and for the sake of salvation. Moreover they were told that he also substituted for those works the invisible works of the Holy Spirit of which a person is not at all aware, which are engendered in the act of faith in a state of faith.
[8] The angelic spirits then talked together about falsification of the Word, and they agreed that to falsify the Word is to take truths from it and use them to support falsities, which is to take them out of the Word and away from it and slay them. As for example, if someone takes this truth from the Word, that the neighbor is to be loved, and that good must be done to him out of a love for him for God’s sake and for the sake of eternal life, and if he then establishes that it must be done, but not for the sake of salvation, because every good done by man is not good, then he takes that truth out of the Word and away from it and butchers it. For the Lord in His Word enjoins on everyone who wishes to be saved to do good to the neighbor as though of himself, and yet to believe that it comes from the Lord.
CHAPTER 13
1 And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on its horns ten jewels,* and on its heads a blasphemous name. 2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, whose feet were like those of a bear, and its mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave it its power, its throne, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of its heads appearing as though fatally wounded, and its mortal injury was healed. And all the earth went marveling after the beast. 4 Then they worshiped the dragon which gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who can fight against it?” 5 And it was given a mouth speaking great and blasphemous things, and it was given authority to do so for forty-two months. 6 Then it opened its mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and against His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was granted it to make war with the saints and overcome them. And it was given authority over every tribe, tongue, and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship it, all 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 Anyone who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; anyone who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and it had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. 12 And it exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose mortal injury was healed. 13 It also performs great signs, so as to even make fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of men, 14 and to lead astray those who dwell on the earth, because of the signs which it was granted to do in the presence of the beast, telling those dwelling upon the earth to make an image of the beast that was injured by the sword and lived. 15 It was also granted it to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast might speak and cause whoever does not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 And it causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive from it a mark on their right hand and on their foreheads, 17 so that no one can buy or sell if he does not have the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of its name. 18 Here is wisdom: let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and its number is 666.
* The word translated as “jewels” here means diadems or crowns in the original Greek and Latin, but the writer’s definitions of the term elsewhere make plain that he regularly and consistently interpreted it to mean jewels or gems.
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
The dragon continues to be the subject in this chapter, which describes the doctrine and faith meant by the dragon. The character of that doctrine and faith among the laity, and then its character among the clergy. The beast rising up out of the sea describes the doctrine and faith among the laity (verses 1-10), and the beast coming up out of the earth the doctrine and faith among the clergy (verses 11-17).
Lastly it describes the clergy’s falsification of the Word’s truth (verse 18).
The Contents of the Individual Verses
1 And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea,
The laity in the Protestant Reformed churches who are caught up in the doctrine and faith of the dragon regarding God and salvation.
having seven heads
The irrationality resulting from their absolute falsities.
and ten horns,
Their great power.
and on its horns ten jewels,*
* The word translated as “jewels” here means diadems or crowns in the original Greek and Latin, but the writer’s definitions of the term elsewhere make plain that he regularly and consistently interpreted it to mean jewels or gems.
Their power to falsify many of the Word’s truths.
and on its heads a blasphemous name.
Their denial of the Lord’s Divine humanity and affirmation of their church’s doctrine, drawn not from the Word but from their own intelligence.
2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard,
Their heresy destructive of the church, being founded on the Word’s truths falsified,
whose feet were like those of a bear,
full of misconceptions taken from the literal sense of the Word, read but not understood.
and its mouth like the mouth of a lion.
Their reasonings based on falsities as though on truths.
And the dragon gave it its power, its throne, and great authority.
This heresy prevails and reigns as a result of its acceptance by the laity.
3 And I saw one of its heads appearing as though fatally wounded,
Their doctrine of faith alone does not accord with the Word, in which works are so often commanded.
and its mortal injury was healed.
A remedy for this explained.
And all the earth went marveling after the beast.
That doctrine and faith then accepted with joy.
4 Then they worshiped the dragon which gave authority to the beast;
Their acknowledgment that the doctrine is such as declared by the leaders of the church and its teachers, who have caused the doctrine to prevail as a result of its acceptance by the general populace.
and they worshiped the beast,
An acknowledgment by the general populace that the doctrine is a sacred truth.
saying, “Who is like the beast? Who can fight against it?”
The preeminence of that doctrine because no one can dispute it.
5 And it was given a mouth speaking great and blasphemous things,
It teaches evils and falsities.
and it was given authority to do so for forty-two months.
The scope to teach and practice the evils and falsities accompanying that doctrine even to the end of that church, until the beginning of a new one.
6 Then it opened its mouth in blasphemies against God and His name,
Their assertions, which are scandalous, against the Divine itself and the Lord’s Divine humanity, and at the same time against everything that the church has from the Word by which the Lord is worshiped.
and against His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven.
Scandalous assertions against the Lord’s celestial church and against heaven.
7 It was granted it to make war with the saints and overcome them.
They attacked the Word’s Divine truths and overturned them.
And it was given authority over every tribe, tongue, and nation.
Their consequent dominion over everything connected with the church, over everything pertaining to its doctrine and over everything pertaining to its life.
8 All who dwell on the earth will worship it, all whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb
They all acknowledged that heresy as a sacred tenet of the church, all but those who believed in the Lord.
slain from the foundation of the world.
The Lord’s Divine humanity unacknowledged from the inception of the church.
9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear.
Let people who wish to be wise pay attention to this.
10 Anyone who leads into captivity shall go into captivity;
Someone who uses that heresy to draw others away from believing rightly and living rightly is drawn by his own falsities and evils into hell.
anyone who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword.
Someone who uses falsities to destroy another’s soul is destroyed by falsities and perishes.
Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
Through the temptations or trials occasioned by these falsities a person of the Lord’s New Church is examined to discover his character in respect to his life and faith.
11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth,
The clergy who are caught up in the dragon’s doctrine and faith regarding God and salvation.
and it had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.
They quote the Word in speaking, teaching and writing as though it were the Lord’s Divine truth, and yet it is truth falsified.
12 And it exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence,
They have defended the dogmas, and the dogmas prevail in consequence of it.
and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose mortal injury was healed.
By supporting arguments they have established that what the general populace has accepted be acknowledged as a sacred tenet of the church.
13 It also performs great signs,
Testifications that their teachings are true, even though they are false.
so as to even make fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of men,
Assertions that their falsities are true.
14 and to lead astray those who dwell on the earth, because of the signs which it was granted to do in the presence of the beast,
Through their testifications and assertions they lead people in the church into errors.
telling those dwelling upon the earth to make an image of the beast that was injured by the sword and lived.
They induce people in the church to accept as doctrine that faith is the only means of salvation, for the reason stated.
15 It was also granted it to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast might speak
They were permitted to use the Word to defend the doctrine, so as to cause the doctrine to be seemingly animated by it.
and cause whoever does not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
They pronounce damnation on people who do not acknowledge their doctrine of faith as a sacred doctrine of the church.
16 And it causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave,
All the people in Protestant Reformed church, of whatever condition, degree of education, or degree of intelligence.
to receive from it a mark on their right hand and on their foreheads,
No one is acknowledged as a Protestant Reformed Christian but one who accepts that doctrine in faith and love.
17 so that no one can buy or sell if he does not have the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of its name.
No one allowed to teach from the Word but one who acknowledges that doctrine and swears to a belief in it and love for it, and to such as is in conformity with it.
18 Here is wisdom:
From what we have said and explained in this chapter, it is the part of a wise person to see and understand the nature of the doctrine and faith among the clergy regarding God and salvation.
let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast,
One who is enlightened by the Lord can discern the character of the arguments the clergy use from the Word in defense of that doctrine and faith.
for it is the number of a man,
The character of the Word and so of the church.
and its number is 666.
Their character being this, that by them all the Word’s truth has been falsified.
THE EXPOSITION
13:1
And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea. This symbolizes the laity in the Protestant Reformed churches who are caught up in the doctrine and faith of the dragon regarding God and salvation.
The nature and character of the faith of the dragon may be seen in no. 537. The same faith continues to be the subject in this chapter, and the beast here that John saw rising up out of the sea means that faith among the laity, whereas the beast from the earth, described in verse 11, means that faith among the clergy.
That the dragon continues to be the subject here is apparent from the following statements in this chapter: that the dragon gave to the beast rising up out of the sea its power, its throne, and great authority (verse 2); that they worshiped the dragon which gave authority to the beast (verse 4); and, concerning the beast coming up out of the earth, that it spoke like a dragon (verse 11); and that it exercised all the authority of the first beast in the presence of the dragon (verse 12).
The laity are the people meant by the beast from the sea, and the clergy those meant by the beast from the earth, because the sea symbolizes the outer aspect of the church, and the land its inner aspect (no. 398 and elsewhere); and the laity are concerned with the external elements of the church’s doctrine, while the clergy are concerned with its internal elements. That is why the beast from the earth is later called a false prophet.*
That they are people in the Protestant Reformed churches is because the Protestant Reformed are the subject to the end of chapter 16, while Roman Catholics are the subject in chapters 17 and 18. Then the subject after that is the Last Judgment and finally the New Church.
[2] These people were seen as beasts because the dragon is a beast, and because a beast in the Word symbolizes a person in respect to his affections – harmless and useful beasts a person in respect to good affections, and harmful and useless ones a person in respect to evil affections. People of the church are in general called sheep, therefore, and a company of them a flock, and one who teaches is called a shepherd.
That is also why the Word in respect to its power, affection, understanding and wisdom is described above in chapter four by four living creatures – a lion, a calf, an eagle and a human being – and an understanding of the Word by horses in chapter six.
The reason is that in the spiritual world a person’s affections look at a distance like animals, as we have often said before; and regarded in themselves, animals are no more than embodiments of natural affections, while people are embodiments not only of natural affections, but also at the same time of spiritual affections.
[3] That animals mean people in respect to their affections can be seen from the following passages:
You…will cause to fall a kindly rain. You will confirm Your inheritance…. The beast, Your congregation,** shall dwell in it. (Psalm 68:9, 10)
…every wild beast of the forest is Mine, the beasts on a thousand mountains. I know every bird of the mountains; the beast of My fields is with Me. (Psalm 50:10, 11)
…Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon…. …its height was exalted…. All the birds of the heavens made their nests in its boughs, and under its branches all the beasts of the field brought forth their young, and in its shade all great nations made their home. (Ezekiel 31:3-6, cf. 31:10, 13, Daniel 4:10-16)
In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beast of the field, and with the bird of the heavens…. And I will betroth you to Me forever. (Hosea 2:18, 19)
Rejoice and be glad! …Do not be afraid, you beasts of My fields, for the habitations of the wilderness have become grassy meadows. (Joel 2:21-23)
In that day there shall be a great tumult…. Judah…will fight against Jerusalem…. And such also shall be the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, and the donkey, and every beast…. And it shall come to pass that the remnant…shall go up (to Jerusalem). (Zechariah 14:13-16)
Birds shall abominate him, and every beast of the earth shall disdain him. (Isaiah 18:6)
…you, son of man…, “Say to every winged bird and to every beast of the field, ‘…Gather together…to My sacrifice…on the mountains of Israel…. (Thus) I will set My glory among the nations.'” (Ezekiel 39:17-21)
(Jehovah) gathers the outcasts of Israel…. Every beast of My fields, come…. (Isaiah 56:8, 9)
(Jehovah) will destroy Assyria…. There shall lie down in her midst every wild beast of the nation, both the desert owl and the screech owl in her pomegranates…. (Zephaniah 2:13, 14)
(The sheep) were scattered without a shepherd, and they became food for every wild beast of the field…. (Ezekiel 34:5, cf. 34:8)
I will cast you out on the face of the field, and cause to dwell on you every bird of the heavens. And with you I will satiate the wild beasts of the whole earth. (Ezekiel 32:4; see also 5:17, 29:5, 33:27, 39:4, Jeremiah 15:3, 16:4, 19:7, 27:5, 6)
An enemy reproaches Jehovah…. Do not deliver the life of (the) turtledove to the beast ! (Psalm 74:18,19)
“I saw in…vision…four…beasts coming up from the sea…. The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings…. …a second, like a bear…. …(a third) like a leopard…. …and a fourth…, dreadful…. (Daniel 7:2-7)
…the Spirit drove (Jesus) out into the wilderness. And He was…with the beasts; and the angels ministered to Him. (Mark 1:12, 13)
[4] He was not with beasts, but with devils, who are here meant by beasts.
So also in other places where beasts and wild beasts are mentioned, such as Isaiah 35:9, 43:20; Jeremiah 12:4, 8-10; Ezekiel 8:10, 34:23, 25, 28, 38:18-20; Hosea 4:2, 3, 13:8; Joel 1:16, 18, 20; Habakkuk 2:17; Daniel 2:37, 38; Psalm 8:6-8, 80:13, 104:10, 11, 14, 20, 25, 148:7, 10; Exodus 23:28-30; Leviticus 26:6; Deuteronomy 7:22, 32:24. Beasts in these places symbolize people in respect to their affections.
[5] Man and beast mentioned together in the following passages symbolize a person in respect to his spiritual affection and in respect to his natural affection: Jeremiah 7:20, 21:6, 27:5, 31:27, 32:43, 33:10-12, 36:29, 50:3; Ezekiel 14:13, 17, 19, 25:13, 32:13, 36:11; Zephaniah 1:2, 3; Zechariah 2:3, 4, 8:9, 10; Jonah 3:7, 8; Psalm 36:6; Numbers 18:15.
All the animals that were sacrificed symbolized good affections. So, too, animals that were eaten. And the converse animals that were not to be eaten (Leviticus 20:25, 26).
* Revelation 16:13, 19:20, 20:10.
** The beast, Your congregation, reflects the Latin translation of the Bible by Sebastian Schmidt, which includes the phrase translated as Your congregation in parentheses as an alternate reading. This is actually the preferred reading, but “the beast” accords with Roman Catholic tradition.
Horns symbolize power (no. 539). Ten symbolizes much or many (no. 101). And jewels here symbolize truths of the Word falsified (no. 540). Therefore, having on its horns ten jewels means, symbolically, to have it in their power to falsify many of the Word’s truths.
Regarding the dragon, we are told that it had on its heads seven jewels, but here, as regards this beast, that it had on his horns ten jewels. The reason is that symbolized in this case is the power to falsify many of the Word’s truths, but in the previous case a falsification of all its truths.** The laity, indeed, can do the latter, though they do not. For people caught up in falsities and having a faith in them are opposed to truths, and consequently they falsify truths in the Word when they see them.
* The word translated as “jewels” here means diadems or crowns in the original Greek and Latin, but the writer’s definitions of the term elsewhere make plain that he regularly and consistently interpreted it to mean jewels or gems.
** See no. 540.
The seven heads symbolize irrationality resulting from absolute falsities, as said in no. 568 above. And this irrationality utters blasphemy when it denies the Lord’s Divinity present in His humanity. It also does this when it does not draw the doctrine of the church from the Word, but hatches it from its own intelligence.
As regards the first, that it is blasphemy to deny the Lord’s Divinity present in His humanity, the reason is that someone who denies it goes against the creed accepted throughout the Christian world called the Athanasian Creed, which plainly says that in Jesus Christ, God and man – which is to say, the Divine and the human – are not two but one, and that they constitute one person, being united as soul and body. Consequently people who deny the Divinity in the Lord’s humanity are close to being Socinians* and Arians,** especially when they think of the Lord’s humanity by itself as being like that of any other man, and do not think at all then of His Divinity from eternity.
[2] As regards the second, that it is blasphemy not to draw the doctrine of the church from the Word, but to hatch it from one’s own intelligence, the reason is that the church is founded on the Word and its character is such as its understanding of the Word (see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 76-79), and the doctrine that faith alone – that is, faith apart from works of the law – justifies and saves, comes not from the Word, but from a single saying of Paul (Romans 3:28),*** falsely interpreted (see no. 417).
Moreover, every doctrinal falsity takes it origin from no other source than people’s own intelligence. For what is more universally taught in the Word than to refrain from evil and do good? And what is more evident there than the precept that God is to be loved, and the neighbor also? Who does not see, too, that no one is capable of loving the neighbor unless he lives in conformity with the works of the law? Also, anyone who does not love his neighbor does not love God either, for it is in love for the neighbor that the Lord conjoins Himself with a person and that a person conjoins himself with the Lord; that is to say, that it is in that love that God and man join together. What, then, is it to love the neighbor except to refrain from doing evil to him, in accordance with the commandments of the Decalogue (Romans 13:8-11)? And to the extent a person wills not to do evil to the neighbor, to the same extent he wills to do good to him.
It is apparent from this that it is blasphemy to eliminate works of the law from salvation, as those people do who make faith alone the only saving faith, namely, faith divorced from good works.
The blasphemy referred to in Matthew 12:31, 32, Revelation 17:3, and Isaiah 37:6, 7, 23, 24 means to deny the Lord’s Divinity, as Socinians do, and to reject the Word. For people who so deny the Lord’s Divinity cannot enter heaven, as the Lord’s Divinity is everything in everything connected with heaven, and anyone who rejects the Word rejects everything connected with religion.
* Disciples of Laelius Socinus (born Lelio Francesco Maria Sozini), 1525-1562, and his nephew Faustus Socinus (Fausto Paolo Sozzini), 1539-1604, who rejected a number of traditional Christian doctrines, such as the Trinity, the Divinity of Christ, and original sin, and who held that Christ was miraculously begotten and that salvation is granted to those who adopt Christ’s virtues as a model for their lives.
** Adherents of Arianism, a theological view based on the teachings of Arius (c. 250-336), who taught that Christ the Son was a created being, not consubstantial with God the Father, and thus not fully Divine.
*** “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.” But by deeds of the law, Paul meant the ritual observances of the Jewish Church.
Animals in general symbolize people in respect to their affections (no. 567), and a leopard symbolizes an affection or penchant for falsifying the Word’s truths. Moreover, because it is a fierce beast and slaughters harmless animals, it also symbolizes a heresy destructive of the church.
A leopard symbolizes the Word’s truths falsified because of its black and white spots, its black spots symbolizing falsities, and the whiteness between them symbolizing truth. Consequently, because it is a fierce and savage beast, it symbolizes the Word’s truths falsified and so destroyed.
A leopard has a similar symbolism in the following places:
Shall an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its spots? Then you also can do good who have been taught to do evil. (Jeremiah 13:23)
…a lion from the forest slew (the great men), a wolf in the fields shall devastate them; a leopard is watching their cities. Everyone who goes out…shall be torn in pieces, because…their apostasies have become mighty. (Jeremiah 5:6)
A leopard lying watching their cities is to ambush doctrinal truths – a city being doctrine (no. 194).
(Because) they forgot Me…I have become to them like a lion, and like a leopard by the path I will watch them. (Hosea 13:5-7)
A path, too, symbolizes truth (no. 176).
The wolf shall tarry with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat…. (Isaiah 11:6)
The subject there is the Lord’s kingdom to come. The young goat is genuine truth in the church, and the leopard is that truth falsified.
(The third beast that came up from the sea) was like a leopard, which had on its back four wings…. (Daniel 7:6)
On the four beasts seen by Daniel, see no. 574.
Feet symbolize the natural support which is the basis on which the heresy meant by the leopard rests and, so to speak, propels itself, and that support is the literal sense of the Word. A bear symbolizes people who read the Word but fail to understand it, so that they derive from it misconceptions.
That these are the people symbolized by bears became apparent to me from seeing bears in the spiritual world, and from seeing some people there wearing bearskins. They were all people who read the Word and did not see any doctrinal truth in it. They were also people who affirmed the appearances of truth there, resulting in misconceptions.
Some bears seen in the spiritual world are dangerous and some are not, and some also are white, but they are told apart by their heads. Bears that are not dangerous have heads like those of calves or sheep.
Bears symbolize people and things like this in the following passages:
A bear lying in wait for me has overturned my paths, a lion in hidden places has corrupted my ways…. He has made me desolate. (Lamentations 3:9-11)
I will meet them like a bereaved bear…, and there I will devour them like a savage lion. The wild beast of the field shall rend them. (Hosea 13:8)
…there shall lie down…the calf and the young lion…. The heifer and the bear shall graze. (Isaiah 11:6,7)
(The second beast that came up from the sea was) like a bear…and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. (Daniel 7:5)
The lion and bear that David smote, catching the lion by its beard (1 Samuel 17:34-37), have a similar symbolic meaning. So, too, in 2 Samuel 17:8.
[2] A lion and a bear are mentioned in these places because a lion symbolizes falsity destroying the Word’s truths, and a bear symbolizes misconceptions that destroy them also, but not to the same degree. Thus we are told in Amos:
…the day of Jehovah…(a day of) darkness, and not light. It is as if one who flees from a lion comes upon a bear. (Amos 5:18, 19)
In the second book of Kings we read that Elisha was mocked by some boys and called a baldhead, and that forty-two boys were therefore torn apart by two female bears from the woods (2 Kings 2:23, 24). This occurred because Elisha represented the Lord in respect to the Word (no. 298), because baldness symbolized the Word without its literal sense, thus having no reality (no. 47), because the number forty-two symbolized blasphemy (no. 583), and because female bears symbolized the literal sense of the Word read indeed, but not understood.
A mouth symbolizes doctrine, preaching and discourse (no. 454), here reasoning based on doctrinal falsities, because the head containing the mouth symbolizes irrationality resulting from absolute falsities (no. 568). A lion symbolizes Divine truth in its power (nos. 241, 471), but here falsities in their power appearing as truth as a result of reasonings (no. 573). Consequently its mouth like the mouth of a lion symbolizes reasonings based on falsities as though on truths.
That the symbolic meanings of a leopard, bear and lion are as stated can be seen from the similar beasts that Daniel saw, which are described as follows:
Four great beasts came up from the sea…. The first was like a lion, but had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on its feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. …a second beast (was) like a bear, and it raised itself up on one side, had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth, and was told, “Arise, devour much flesh!” …(the third beast was) like a leopard, which had on its back four wings, like those of a bird, and the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. …a fourth beast (was) dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong, which had…iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces, and trampled the residue with its feet. (Daniel 7:3-7)
[2] These four beasts describe succeeding states of the church, from its first state to its last, until it was completely desolate of any good or truth of the Word prior to the Lord’s advent. The lion symbolizes the Divine truth of the Word in the first state, by which the church was established. This is what is meant by its being lifted up from the earth and made to stand on its feet like a man, and its being given a man’s heart.
The bear describes the church’s second state, a state in which the Word is indeed read, but not understood. The three ribs between its teeth symbolize appearances and misconceptions, and much flesh symbolizes the literal sense of the Word in its totality.
The church’s third state is described by the leopard, which symbolizes the Word falsified in respect to its truths. The four wings on its back, like those of a bird, symbolize affirmations of falsities.
The fourth and last state of the church is described by the beast which was dreadful and terrible, which symbolizes the destruction of any goodness or truth. That is why we are told that it broke in pieces and devoured, and trampled the residue with its feet.
Finally the Lord’s advent is described, and the destruction of the church at that time and the establishment of a new one, from verse 9 to the end of the chapter.
[3] Daniel saw these four beasts come up from the sea one after another, but John saw the aforementioned three beasts, also from the sea, united in a single body. That is because in Daniel they describe succeeding states of the church, whereas in the book of Revelation here they describe the last state, in which all the prior states are present concurrently. Moreover, because this beast was seen to have a body like a leopard, feet like a bear, and a mouth like a lion, the leopard and bear mentioned in the one place and the other have the same symbolism. However, the mouth like that of a lion symbolizes reasonings based on falsities, because we are later told that the beast used its mouth to speak blasphemies (verses 5, 6), and because its heads symbolize irrationality resulting from absolute falsities.
The dragon symbolizes this heresy, as explained in no. 537. The beast here symbolizes the laity (no. 567), who do not speak on their own, but quote their teachers, and because the laity constitute the populace, it is apparent that this heresy prevails and reigns owing to their acceptance of it.
This, then, is what is symbolized by the power, throne and great authority that the dragon gave this beast, and by the following statement in verse 4, “Then they worshiped the dragon which gave authority to the beast.”
The dragon prevails and reigns through these people, especially through this dogma of their religion, that the intellect must be held captive in obedience to faith; that faith is something that is not understood; and that in spiritual matters, a faith in something that is understood is an intellect-oriented faith, which is not justifying.
When this faith prevails among the laity, the clergy have power, veneration, and a kind of worship on account of the Divine things which they are believed by the laity to know, and which the laity soak up on their authority.
Power symbolizes influence, a throne government, and great authority dominion.
One of its heads symbolizes the principal and fundamental point of the entire doctrine of the Protestant Reformed Church; for the beast had seven heads, which symbolize irrationality resulting from absolute falsities (no. 568), thus also all their falsities in their entirety, inasmuch as the number seven in the Word symbolizes all (nos. 10, 390). And because their doctrinal falsities regarding salvation all depend on this one, that a person is justified and saved by faith alone apart from works of the law, that is the one symbolized here by one of the beast’s heads.
Its appearing as though fatally wounded means symbolically that it does not accord with the Word, in which works are so often commanded. For every tenet of the church’s doctrine that does not accord with the Word is not sound, but is sick with a deadly disease, inasmuch as the doctrine of the church must come from the Word and from nowhere else.
People see that this is the remedy for the “wounded head,” and also was the remedy given, when they understand the wounded head to be as said above in no. 576. Therefore we have no need to explain it further.
That the earth went marveling symbolizes people’s marveling that the “mortal injury” was healed, and their acceptance of that faith therefore with joy. All the earth symbolizes the entire Protestant Reformed Church, inasmuch as the earth is the church (no. 285). Consequently, that all the earth went marveling after the beast means symbolically that that faith was accepted with joy and made the doctrine of the whole church. People received it with joy because in that case they were not servants under the law, but free under faith – not knowing that the case is altogether the reverse, namely, that people who believe themselves to be free under faith, either because of that faith or by means of that faith, are servants to sin, that is to say, to the devil, for sin and the devil are one and the same. Indeed, they believe that in their case the law does not condemn. Thus they believe that to sin without the condemnation of the law is freedom, provided they have faith, even though this is the essence of servitude. On the other hand, when a person refrains from sin, that is, from the devil, he becomes no longer a servant but free.
[2] To this I will add the following account:
I have spoken with several church doctors in the world of spirits, asking what they mean by works of the law, and by the law under whose yoke, servitude and condemnation they say they are not.
They said they were the works of the law in the Decalogue.
At that I then said, “What does the Decalogue command? Is it not the following, ‘You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness’? These are the works of the law that you divorce from faith, saying that faith alone apart from works of the law justifies and saves, and that they are works for which Christ made satisfaction.”
They replied that they were the works. And they heard then a voice from heaven saying, “Who can be so irrational?” And immediately their faces were turned in the direction of some diabolical spirits, with Machiavelli* among them, and many of the Jesuit order, who permitted all of these forbidden practices, provided they took precautions against the world’s laws. And the church doctors would have joined their company, except that a society was interposed between them and separated them.
We are told that all the earth went marveling after the beast. That to go after it means to follow it and obey it, is apparent from the following passages:
…David…kept My commandments and…walked after Me with all his heart…. (1 Kings 14:8)
The…sons of Jesse went…after Saul into battle. (1 Samuel 17:13)
You shall not go after a multitude to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute…after many to pervert justice. (Exodus 23:2)
…you shall not go after other gods whom you do not know. (Jeremiah 7:9)
They have gone after other gods to serve them. (Jeremiah 11:10, cf. Deuteronomy 8:19)
…Jehovah…will destroy…[every] man…who went after Baal of Peor. (Deuteronomy 4:3)
* Niccol� Machiavelli (1469-1527), an Italian statesman and writer, whose political theories published in The Prince put expediency above morality, and excused the use of deceit and craft in maintaining the authority of the ruler and the execution of his policies.
To worship means, symbolically, to acknowledge as a sacred tenet of the church. The dragon symbolizes the doctrine of justification and salvation through faith without works of the law (no. 537). The beast here symbolizes the general populace, because it symbolizes the laity (no. 567). To give authority means, symbolically, to cause to prevail as a result of its acceptance by the laity (no. 575).
To worship means, symbolically, to acknowledge as a sacred tenet of the church, as said just above in no. 579, here that it is a sacred truth that no one can do any good work of himself or fulfill the law. And because these two truths are sacred truths, it follows that works of the law must be dissociated from faith as being not saving. But these truths have been falsified, along with a number of others, as may be seen in no. 566 above.
The beast here has the same symbolism as the dragon, because of the acceptance and acknowledgment of the doctrine. So we are told that they worshiped the dragon and worshiped the beast.
“Who is like the beast?” symbolizes the people’s opinion of that church as being preeminent over any other because of its doctrine. The beast symbolizes the general populace, thus the church, and in an abstract sense, its doctrine. “Who can fight against it?” means, symbolically, “Who can dispute that a person cannot do any spiritual good of himself,” and other doctrines, as shown in no. 566 above. And because this cannot be disputed, are we not saved, then, through faith apart from works of the law? But this conclusion is absurd, indeed in itself insane, as anyone can see who has some knowledge of and wisdom from the Word.
“Who can fight against it?” also means symbolically that the leaders of the church and its teachers after them have so cleverly and skillfully defended and thus fortified the doctrine by arguments that it cannot be attacked.
A mouth speaking symbolizes doctrine, preaching and discourse (no. 452). To speak great and blasphemous things means, symbolically, to teach evils and falsities. For greatness is predicated of goodness, and in an opposite sense, of evil (nos. 656, 663, 896, 898), and blasphemies symbolize the Word’s truths falsified, thus falsities. What blasphemies symbolize here specifically may be seen in no. 571 above.
The doctrine teaches evils because it dissociates works of the law, thus things one ought to do, from salvation, and anyone who does this becomes caught up in spiritual evils, which are sins.
Being given authority to do so symbolizes the ability to speak great and blasphemous things, namely, to teach and practice evils and falsities, as indicated just above in no. 582. Forty-two months mean, symbolically, to the end of the previous church, until the beginning of a new one, as said in no. 489 above, having the same symbolic meaning as three and a half days (no. 505), as time, times and half a time (no. 562), and as one thousand, two hundred and sixty days (no. 491). For forty-two months constitute three and a half years.
Its opening its mouth in blasphemies symbolizes assertions which are falsehoods. A mouth symbolizes doctrine, preaching and discourse (no. 452). Therefore to open the mouth means, symbolically, to utter those falsehoods. Blasphemies symbolize falsifications of the Word and more, as said in nos. 571, 582 above, here scandalous assertions as well, because the phrase follows, “against God and His name.” God symbolizes the Lord’s Divinity, as is the case often elsewhere in the book of Revelation. And His name symbolizes everything by which the Lord is worshiped, including the Word, because worship is conducted in accordance with it (no. 81).
That the name of Jehovah or of God symbolizes the Lord’s Divine humanity and at the same time the Word, as well as everything by which He is worshiped, can become further seen from the following passages:
(Jesus said,) “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” (John 12:28)
(Jesus said,) “I have manifested Your name to…men…. and I have made known to them Your name….” (John 17:6, 26)
Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. (John 14:13, 14)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name…. And the Word became flesh…. (John 1:1, 12, 14)
(Jesus said,) “…he who does not believe (in Him) is judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18)
In the second commandment of the Decalogue, the name of Jehovah God that is not to be profaned, and in the Lord’s Prayer, the name of the Father that is to be hallowed, have precisely this meaning.
The Tabernacle has almost the same symbolic meaning as the Temple, namely, in the highest sense, the Lord’s Divine humanity, and in a relative sense, heaven and the church (nos. 191, 529). But in the latter sense the Tabernacle symbolizes the celestial church, which is impelled by the goodness of love toward the Lord received from the Lord; and the Temple symbolizes the spiritual church, which is impelled by truths of wisdom received from the Lord. Those who dwell in heaven symbolize heaven.
The Tabernacle symbolizes the celestial church because the Most Ancient Church, being impelled by love toward the Lord, was a celestial church and held sacred worship in tents. And the Ancient Church was a spiritual church and held sacred worship in temples.
Tents used wood in their construction, while temples used stone, and wood symbolizes goodness, and stone truth.
[2] That the Tabernacle symbolizes the Lord’s Divine humanity in respect to Divine love, and a heaven and a church that is impelled by love toward the Lord, can be seen from the following passages:
Jehovah, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy mountain? He who walks uprightly, and practices righteousness, and speaks the truth…. (Psalm 15:1,2)
(Jehovah) shall hide me in His tabernacle; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall conceal me; He shall set me high…. (Psalm 27:4, 5)
I will abide in Your tabernacle forever. (Psalm 61:4)
Look upon Zion…; let your eyes behold Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that will not be dispelled…. (Isaiah 33:20)
(Jehovah) who…spreads (the heavens) out like a tent to dwell in. (Isaiah 40:22)
…you have made Jehovah…, the Most High, your dwelling place…, no plague shall come near your tent. (Psalm 91:9, 10)
(Jehovah) set (His) tabernacle among (them)…. (He) will walk among (them)…. (Leviticus 26:11, 12)
(Jehovah) forsook the tent of Shiloh, the tabernacle in which He dwelled among men. (Psalm 78:60)
I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them….” (Revelation 21:3)
…My tabernacle has been laid waste…. (Jeremiah 4:20, 10:20)
He shall…pluck you out of your tent, and uproot you from the land of the living. (Psalm 52:5)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 16:5, 54:2, Jeremiah 30:18, Lamentations 2:4, Hosea 9:6, 12:9, Zechariah 12:7.
[3] Since the Most Ancient Church, which was a celestial church, being impelled by love toward the Lord and being thus in conjunction with Him, held sacred worship in tents, therefore by the Lord’s command Moses erected a tent or tabernacle, in which everything relating to heaven and the church was represented. And it was so holy that no one was permitted to enter except Moses, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons; and if any of the people were to do so, they would die (Numbers 17:12, 13, 18:1, 22, 23, 19:14-19).
Inmostly in that tabernacle, containing the two tables of the Decalogue, was the Ark, on which was the mercy seat and over it the cherubim. And outside the veil was the table holding the showbread, the altar of incense, and the lampstand having seven lamps. All of these things were representative objects relating to heaven and the church. The tabernacle itself is described in Exodus 26:7-16, 36:8-37.
We also read that the design of the Tabernacle was shown to Moses upon Mount Sinai (Exodus 25:9, 26:30); and whatever he was given to see from heaven is a representation relating to heaven and the church.
In memory of the most ancient people’s sacred worship of the Lord in tents, and of their conjunction with Him through love, Israel was commanded to observe the Feast of Tabernacles, as recorded in Leviticus 23:39-44, Deuteronomy 16:13, 14, Zechariah 14:16, 18, 19.
War symbolizes spiritual war, which is a war of falsity against truth, and of truth against falsity (no. 500). To make war, therefore, symbolically means to attack. Saints mean people who are governed by Divine truths from the Lord through the Word, and thus, abstractly from persons, Divine truths themselves (no. 173). Consequently, to overcome the saints means, symbolically, to cause truths not to prevail, thus to overturn them.
The following declaration in Daniel has a similar symbolic meaning, that the fourth beast to come up from the sea, which had a mouth speaking great words, “made war with the saints and prevailed” (Daniel 7:7, 8, 21). Also this declaration there, that the male goat ran at the ram, cast it to the ground, trampled it, and then exalted itself against the Prince of the host, cast down the habitation of His sanctuary, and “cast down truth to the ground” (Daniel 8:5-7, 11, 12). To be shown that the male goat means faith divorced from charity, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding Faith, nos. 61-68.
The following has a similar meaning:
…a king shall arise, having fierce features, who understands intrigues…. He shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people…. He shall even rise against the Prince of princes…. He shall cause deceit to prosper under his hand. (Daniel 8:23-25)
The king is the male goat, as said in verse 21.
Very similar is symbolism found in the statement that “the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against (the two witnesses), overcome them, and kill them” (Revelation 11:7, no. 500). They will overcome them because the laity do not see through the clergy’s sophistries, which they call mysteries, for the clergy wrap them up in appearances and fallacious reasonings. That is why the people said, “Who is like the beast? Who can fight against it?” (verse 4, nos. 579-581).
[2] That saints (or holy ones) mean people governed by truths from the Lord through the Word can be seen from the passages cited in no. 173 above, and also from the following:
(Jesus said, “Father,) sanctify them in Your truth. Your Word is truth…. …I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified in the truth…. I in them, and You in Me. (John 17:17, 19, 23)
Jehovah came from Sinai…, He came from the ten thousands of the holy; from His right hand came a fiery law for them…. All His saints are in Your hand…; each shall receive Your words. (Deuteronomy 33:2, 3)
It is apparent from this that those people are called saints who are governed by Divine truths from the Lord through the Word. Moreover, those who live according to the commandments, that is, to the Word’s truths, are called the saints or holy people of Jehovah (Leviticus 19:2, Deuteronomy 26:18, 19. And if they kept the covenant, they would be a holy nation (Exodus 19:5, 6). The Decalogue is the covenant they were to keep (see no. 529 above, and The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem, no. 60).
It was for this reason that the place in the Tabernacle where the Ark was, containing the Decalogue, was called the holy of holies or the most holy place (Exodus 26:33,34).
[3] Those people who live according to the Word’s truths are called saints, not because they are holy, but because the truths in them are holy; and truths are holy when they come from the Lord in them, and they have the Lord in them when they have His truths in them (John 15:7).
Because of their truths from the Lord, angels are called holy (Matthew 25:31, Luke 9:26). So, too, are prophets, (Luke 1:70, Revelation 18:20, 22:6). And also apostles (Revelation 18:20).
It is because of this that the Temple is called a holy temple (Psalm 5:7, 65:4). That Zion is called a holy mountain (Isaiah 65:11, Jeremiah 31:23, Ezekiel 20:40, Psalm 2:6, 3:4, 15:1). That Jerusalem is called a holy city (Isaiah 48:2, 64:10, Revelation 21:2, 10, Matthew 27:53). That the church is called a holy people (Isaiah 62:12, 63:18, Psalm 149:1), and also a kingdom of saints (Daniel 7:18, 22, 27).
They are called saints because in an abstract sense angels symbolize Divine truths from the Lord; prophets symbolizes doctrinal truths; apostles symbolize the church’s truths; and the Temple symbolizes heaven and the church in respect to Divine truth, as do also Zion, Jerusalem, the people, and the kingdom of God.
That no one is holy in himself, not even angels, may be seen in Job 15:14-16. But they are holy from the Lord, because the Lord alone is holy (Revelation 15:4, no. 173).
Authority symbolizes dominion, as in no. 575 above. A tribe symbolizes the church in respect to its truths and goods, and in an opposite sense, its falsities and evils (nos. 27, 349). A tongue symbolizes its doctrine (nos. 282, 483). And a nation symbolizes a life in accordance with that doctrine (no. 483).
To worship means, symbolically, to acknowledge as a sacred tenet of the church, as in nos. 579, 580 above. All who dwell on the earth symbolize all in the Protestant Reformed Church, as in no. 558. Names not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb means, symbolically, all but those who believe in the Lord. Names symbolize people in respect to their character (nos. 81, 122, 165). The Book of Life symbolizes the Word of the Lord and all doctrine regarding Him (nos. 256, 257, 259, 469). And because all of the church’s doctrine from the Word has relation to people’s believing in the Lord, therefore this is here meant by having a name written in the Book of Life of the Lamb.
Regarding faith in the Lord, see nos. 67 and 553 above.
To be shown that the Lamb slain means symbolically that the Lord’s Divine humanity was not acknowledged, see nos. 59, 269, where the following declaration is explained:
I am the First and the Last, and am He who lives, and was put to death, and behold, I am alive forevermore. (Revelation 1:17, 18)
And also this:
And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne…a Lamb standing as though slain…. And they sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book…, because You were slain and have redeemed us to God…. (Revelation 5:6, 9)
From the foundation of the world means, symbolically, from the inception of the church, both Jewish and Christian. That Jews did not acknowledge the Lord’s Divine humanity is something people know. They also know that Roman Catholics did not. That the Protestant Reformed did not either may be seen in no. 294 above.
The foundation of the world does not mean the creation of the world, but the establishment of the church. For in its broadest sense the world means the whole world, including both good people and evil, and sometimes only the evil. But in a narrower sense the world has the same meaning as the earth, namely the church. That the world symbolizes the church may be seen in no. 551, and that the earth does in no. 285.
That to lay the foundation of the world or the earth means, symbolically, to establish the church, and that the foundation or founding of these symbolizes its establishment, may be seen from Isaiah 24:18, 40:21, 48:12, 13, 51:16, 17, 58:12, Jeremiah 31:37, Micah 6:1, 2, Zechariah 12:1, Psalm 18:7, 15, 24:2, 3, 82:5, 89:11.
That the world symbolizes the church may be seen from Matthew 13:37-39, John 1:9, 10, and that in relation to faith in Him the Lord is called the Savior of the world, from John 3:16-19, 4:42, 6:33, 51, 8:12, 9:4, 5, 12:46, 47.
That the world is also the people of the church may be seen from John 12:19, 18:20.
It can be seen from this what the foundation of the world symbolizes. See also Matthew 25:34, Luke 11:50, John 17:24, Revelation 17:8.
To have an ear and to hear means, symbolically, to perceive and obey, and also to pay attention (see no. 87 above). It follows that the verse also means people who wish to be wise.
We are told here, “If anyone has an ear, let him hear,” in order that people may pay attention to what goes before. Otherwise they are not wise.
To lead into captivity means, symbolically, to persuade and win over to one’s side so that people consent to and attach themselves to that heresy meant by the dragon and the beast, and thus to draw them away from believing rightly and living rightly. To go into captivity means, symbolically, to be drawn by one’s own falsities and evils into hell.
Captivity here means spiritual captivity, which is to be led astray and so to be drawn away from truths and goods into falsities and evils.
That captivity in the Word means this spiritual captivity can be seen from the following passages:
Hear now, all peoples, and behold my sorrow; my virgins and my young men have gone into captivity. (Lamentations 1:18)
(God) forsook His dwelling…, (and) the tent where He dwelt among men, and delivered His strength into captivity…. (Psalm 78:60, 61)
The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds, and your lovers shall go into captivity; …then you will be ashamed…because of all your wickedness. (Jeremiah 22:22)
I will make My arrows drunk…with the blood of the slain and the captivity…. (Deuteronomy 32:42)
They stooped (and) bowed down…, and their soul will go into captivity. (Isaiah 46:1, 2)
(Jehovah) has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, …to the bound, …to the blind…. (Isaiah 61:1, Luke 4:18, 19)
I will stir him up in righteousness…; he shall…let My captives go free, not for price nor reward…. (Isaiah 45:13)
You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive…. (Psalm 68:18)
Shall…the captivity of the righteous be delivered? …”Even the captivity of the strong shall be taken away, and the captured of the violent be delivered.” (Isaiah 49:24, 25)
Shake yourself from the dust…; sit, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion! (Isaiah 52:1, 2)
And so on elsewhere, as in Jeremiah 48:46, 47, 50:33, 34, Ezekiel 6:1-10, 12:1-12, Obadiah verse 11, Psalm 14:7, 53:6.
The captivities of the children of Israel by their enemies described in the book of Judges, in 2 Kings 25, and in the prophets represented and so symbolized spiritual captivities, as discussed elsewhere.
The bound have the same symbolic meaning as captives in the following places:
…by the blood of your covenant I will set the bound free from the…pit. (Zechariah 9:11)
The groaning of the bound shall come to You. (Psalm 79:11)
…the bound shall be gathered in the pit, and will be shut up in the prison. (Isaiah 24:22)
He made the world a wilderness…, He did not open the house to his bound ones. (Isaiah 14:17)
(The king said, “I was) in prison and you did not come to Me.” (Matthew 25:43)
(Jesus said,) “Ought not this…daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound…, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” (Luke 13:16)
Swords symbolize truths, and in an opposite sense, falsity, in both cases combative (no. 52, 836). Thus to kill means, symbolically, to destroy or to cause to perish, and to be killed means to be destroyed or to perish, both of which are occasioned by falsities.
Patience here symbolizes endurance in temptations or trials, and an examination then of a person’s character in respect to his living in accordance with the Lord’s commandments and to his faith in the Lord. Hence the statement, “Here is the patience and faith.” Saints symbolize people who belong to the Lord’s New Church, specifically people who are governed by the Divine truths in it (no. 586).
Patience is predicated of the temptations or trials by which a person’s character is examined also in other places in the book of Revelation, as in Revelation 1:9, 2:2, 3, 19, 3:10. That it is a person’s life in accordance with the Lord’s commandments and his faith in the Lord that is examined, is apparent from the following verses in that book:
…they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image…. Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. (Revelation 14:11, 12)
The nature of the dragon’s faith and its character may be seen in no. 537 above. The laity are meant by the beast that came up from the sea, and the clergy by the beast that came up from the earth, because the sea symbolizes the external component of the church, and the earth its internal component (nos. 398, 567); and the laity are concerned with the external elements of the church’s doctrine, while the clergy are concerned with the internal ones.
That the clergy are now described follows from the particulars that follow, understood according to their spiritual meaning; and clearly so from the fact that this beast is also called a false prophet (Revelation 16:13, 19:20, 20:10), especially from this statement:
Then the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who worked signs in its presence, by which he led astray those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. (Revelation 19:20)
That this beast performed signs in the presence of the other one by which to lead people astray – this we are told in the present chapter in these words:
It also performs great signs…to lead astray those who dwell on the earth, because of the signs which it was granted to do in the presence of the beast, telling (them) to make an image of the beast (and to worship it.) (Revelation 13:13-15)
Horns symbolize power (nos. 270, 443), here a power in speaking, teaching and writing, thus in reasoning and arguing. That the horns looked like those of a lamb means symbolically that the clergy peddle their doctrines as though they were the Lord’s Divine truths, having founded them on the Word. For a lamb means the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity, and also in respect to the Word, which is Divine truth springing from Divine good. That is why on this beast, which is also a false prophet (no. 594), two horns were seen like those of a lamb. But that they were Divine truths falsified is symbolized by its speaking like a dragon. To be shown that people caught up in the dragon’s faith regarding God and salvation have falsified all the Word’s truths, see no. 566 above.
[2] That these two characteristics are symbolized by the beast’s having two horns like a lamb and speaking like a dragon is clearly apparent from these words of the Lord in Matthew:
…if anyone says to you, “Look, here is the Christ!” or “There!” do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. (Matthew 24:23-25)
“Christ” has the same symbolic meaning here as a lamb, namely the Lord in respect to the Word’s Divine truth. Consequently, that people will say, “Look, here is the Christ!” means symbolically that they will say that this or that is the Word’s Divine truth. But that it is truth falsified is symbolized by the warning, “If anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise.”
That it was in reference to the clergy that the Lord made this prediction is apparent from His saying that they would show great signs and wonders and lead astray, if possible, the elect, a statement similar to what is said of the beast here, which is the false prophet, in verses 13 and 14 of this chapter.
What the Lord predicted in that chapter in Matthew concerned the final period or state of the church, a period or state which is meant there by the end of the age.*
* Matthew 24:3.
That this is the symbolic meaning can be seen from the explanations above regarding the authority that the dragon gave to the beast that rose up from the sea (nos. 575, 579). And because this beast here, which is a false prophet, exercised that authority in the presence of the dragon, nothing else is symbolically meant than that they have caused those dogmas to prevail through their defenses of them.
We skip an explanation of these words because their meanings follow from the explanations above in nos. 566, 577, 578, 579, 580, 581, 582. The earth and those who dwell in it symbolize the Protestant Reformed Church, as before. To worship means, symbolically, to acknowledge as a sacred tenet of the church, as before too. That is what is meant here by the beast from the sea whose mortal injury was healed, and it is something we explained above.
Signs symbolize certifications that things are true, because signs once occurred to attest to a truth. But after signs and miracles ceased, their symbolism still remained, which is the certification of a truth. Here, however, signs symbolize certifications by the beast or false prophet that its falsities were true, because that is how falsities appear after they are defended.
That signs symbolize certifications that something is true can be seen from the following passages:
(At the end of the age) false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:24, Mark 13:22).
There will also be fearful…signs from heaven…. There will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars…, the sea and the waves roaring. (Luke 21:11, 25)
(Jehovah) frustrates the signs of liars, drives diviners mad, turning back wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolish. (Isaiah 44:25)
Do not learn the way of the gentiles, and do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven. (Jeremiah 10:2)
…they are spirits of demons, performing signs…, to gather them to the battle of that great day…. (Revelation 16:14)
Then the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who worked signs in its presence, (and) led astray…. (Revelation 19:20)
[2] That signs were certifications that something was a truth is further apparent from the following:
(The disciples said to Jesus,) “What sign do You perform then, that we may…believe You? What work do You do?” (John 6:30-33)
The Jews, scribes and Pharisees sought a sign from the Lord, that they might know He was the Christ (Matthew 12:38-40, 16:1-4, Mark 8:11, 12, Luke 11:16, 29, 30, John 2:11, 18, 19.
(The disciples said to Jesus,) “What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3, cf. Mark 13:4)
…if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, still they will believe the message of the latter sign. (Exodus 4:8, 9)
The message of a sign is a certification.
They have set among them the messages of His signs…. (Psalm 105:27)
(Jehovah said to Ahaz,) “Ask a sign for yourself from Jehovah….” (Isaiah 7:11, 14)
This is the sign to you from Jehovah…: “Behold, I will turn back the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down on the sundial of Ahaz….” (Isaiah 38:7, 8)
Hezekiah said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of Jehovah?” (Isaiah 38:22)
This shall be a sign to you…, that I will visit you in this place, that you may know that My words will…stand…. (Jeremiah 44:29, 30)
Show me a sign (O Jehovah) for good, that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed. (Psalm 86:17)
They will…announce to us what will happen…, that we may set our heart…. Show the sign that is to come…, that we may know that you are gods. (Isaiah 41:22, 23)
Your enemies roar in the midst of your festival; they set up their banners as signs. (Psalm 74:3, 4, 9)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 45:11, 55:13; Jeremiah 32:20, 21; Ezekiel 4:3; Psalm 65:6-8, 78:42, 43; Exodus 7:3; Numbers 14:11, 22; Deuteronomy 4:34, 13:1-3; Judges 6:17, 21; 1 Samuel 2:34, 14:10; Mark 16:17, 18, 20; Luke 2:11, 12, 16.
Signs of the covenant have a similar symbolic meaning in Genesis 9:13, 17:11, Ezekiel 20:12, 20.
[3] It can be clearly seen from this that the great signs that this beast of the dragon performed do not mean signs, but certifications by the clergy that their teachings are true. For every heretic who confirms himself in falsities, afterward certifies that his falsities are true. Indeed, he does not see truths any longer, since the certification of a falsity is a denial of the truth, and truth denied loses its light. Moreover, in the measure that the light of their certification causes falsities to shine with an illusory light, in the same measure the light of truth becomes darkness (as may be seen in no. 566 above).
This is the symbolism of these words, because the greatest signs were produced by fire from heaven. It was therefore a common expression of assurance among the ancients that, when bearing witness to some truth, they could rain down fire from heaven to attest to it. And this symbolically meant that they could attest to it to such a degree of certainty.
That fire from heaven also did attest to truth is apparent from the fact that the burnt offering offered by Aaron was consumed by fire from heaven (Leviticus 9:24). So, too, the burnt offering offered by Elijah (1 Kings 18:38).
[2] In an opposite sense, fire from heaven was a sign attesting that the people were caught up in evils and the accompanying falsities, and so would perish. But that fire was a consuming fire, such as the fire from heaven that consumed Aaron’s two sons in Leviticus 10:1-6; that consumed the two hundred and fifty men in Numbers 26:10; that consumed the outskirts of the camp in Numbers 11:1-3; and that twice consumed the fifty men sent by the king to Elisha in 2 Kings 1:10, 12. Such also was the fire and brimstone rained down from heaven on Sodom in Genesis 19:24, 25; and the fire from heaven that consumed the people who surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city in Revelation 20:9. Once, when incensed at some impenitent people, the disciples said to Jesus, “Do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” (Luke 9:54).
We cite these instances to show that fire from heaven symbolizes an attestation, indeed an assurance, that truth is true, and in an opposite sense, that falsity is true, as in the present instance.
Fire also symbolizes a heavenly love and so a zeal for truth, and in an opposite sense a hellish love and so a zeal for falsity (nos. 468, 494).
To lead astray means, symbolically, to lead into errors. Those who dwell on the earth symbolize people in the Protestant Reformed Church, as in nos. 578, 588, 597 above. The signs which the second beast was granted to do in the presence of the first beast symbolize testifications and assertions (nos. 598, 599). The beast from the sea, before whom the signs were done, symbolizes the faith of the dragon among the laity (no. 567); and the beast coming up out of the earth that did the signs, which is elsewhere called a false prophet, symbolizes the faith of the dragon among the clergy (no. 594).
The Lord says something akin to this in Matthew 24:24-26.
Those dwelling upon the earth mean people in the Protestant Reformed Church, as in no. 600 above. The image symbolizes the doctrine of that church, as explained below. And the image of the beast that was injured by the sword and lived symbolizes this tenet of the doctrine, that faith is the only means of salvation, because no one can do good of himself without its being merit-seeking, and because no one can fulfill the law and in that way be saved (see nos. 576, 577ff. above).
[2] Every church appears to the Lord as a person. If it is governed by truths from the Word, it appears as an attractive person. But if it is caught up in truths falsified, it appears as a hideous person. The church appears as it does in keeping with its doctrine and in keeping with its life in accordance with that doctrine. It follows from this that a church’s doctrine presents an image of the church.
This can also be seen from the fact that every person embodies his own goodness and truth or his own evil and falsity. It is this and nothing else that makes a person human. Consequently it is doctrine and a life in accordance with it which produces the image of a person in the church – the image of an attractive person if the doctrine and his life in accordance with it conform with the Word’s genuine truths, but the image of a hideous person if they accord with the Word’s truths falsified.
[3] In the spiritual world, moreover, a person appears as a kind of animal, but it is his affection that so appears at a distance. People impelled by truths and goods from the Lord look like lambs and doves, while those caught up in falsified truths and adulterated goods look like owls and bats. People possessing a faith divorced from charity look like dragons and goats. Those caught up in falsities springing from evil look like basilisks* and crocodiles. And those who are of this character and yet have affirmed the teachings of the church look like fiery flying serpents.
It can be seen from this that the church’s doctrine and a life in accordance with it are meant by the image of the beast which the people made for those dwelling upon the earth.
[4] But what eventually became of those who worshiped the image of the beast may be seen in Revelation 14:9-11, 19:20, cf. 20:4.
Images have similar symbolic meanings in the spiritual sense in Exodus 20:4, 5, Leviticus 26:1, Deuteronomy 4:16-18, Isaiah 2:16, Ezekiel 7:20, 16:17, 23:14-16.
Among the ancients, idols and carved images were symbols of their religious faith. Consequently they symbolize doctrinal falsities and evils (no. 459).
* Legendary serpents or dragons, whose breath and glance were said to be lethal. Formerly identified in English translations of the Latin Vulgate with the cockatrice, and retained as such in the King James Bible.
Its being granted means symbolically that it was permitted. For all doctrinal falsities, like evil life practices, come about by permission (on which subject, see Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Providence, nos. 234-274, 275-284, 296). The image of the beast symbolizes the doctrine (no. 601). To give breath to the image of the beast means, symbolically, to defend the doctrine by the Word, for no church doctrine has any spirit or life from any other source. That the image of the beast might speak means symbolically that this caused the doctrine to be seemingly animated.
To give breath to the image of the beast that it might speak has this meaning because there is a spirit and life in every part of the Word. For the Lord spoke the Word. Therefore He is present in it, and He spoke it such that every particular there has a communication with heaven and through heaven with the Lord. It contains a spiritual meaning which makes the communication possible. That is why the Lord says, “The words that I speak to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63).
To worship the image of the beast means, symbolically, to acknowledge their doctrine of faith as sacred church doctrine; for to worship means, symbolically, to acknowledge as a sacred tenet of the church (nos. 579, 580, 588, 597), and the image of the beast symbolizes that doctrine. To be killed means, symbolically, to be spiritually killed, which is to be damned (no. 325 and elsewhere). And because to be killed means, symbolically, to be damned, it also means to be declared a heretic and to be excommunicated from the church. For in their eyes a heretic is regarded as damned.
This is the case with the learned of the clergy, who have been taught the mysteries of justification in schools and universities. Especially is it the case with those possessing a conceit in their erudition because of the mysteries they have learned. These condemn all who do not think as they do, and to the extent they dare, they fulminate against them.
[2] I can relate the following, that clergy who have learned those mysteries and possessed a conceit in their erudition on that account, in the spiritual world are so hostile to people who worship the Lord and do not accept faith alone as the only means of salvation, that they break out into a blaze of anger and wrath when they see them, and also when from a distance they sense the Divine atmosphere of the Lord and the atmosphere of charity surrounding them.
Since that is their character, therefore the dragon is described as a most hostile foe to such people. As for example, that it stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her child as soon as it was born; that it spewed water out of its mouth like a flood after the woman, to cause her to be carried away by the flood; and that enraged with the woman, it went off to make war with the rest of her offspring (Revelation 12:4, 15, 17). That three unclean spirits, like frogs, came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, to gather their followers to the battle of the great day of God Almighty (Revelation 16:13-16, cf. 19:19, 20, 20:8-10). And also that the beast ascending out of the bottomless pit killed the two witnesses and cast their bodies on the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, and would not allow their bodies to be put into tombs (Revelation 11:7-9). Not to permit their bodies to be put into tombs means, symbolically, to reject as damned (no. 506).
The small and great here mean people of a lesser or greater degree of status, thus of whatever condition. The rich and poor mean people of more or less knowledge and learning (no. 206), thus of whatever degree of education. Free and slave mean people who acquire wisdom on their own or who gain it from others (no. 337), thus of whatever degree of intelligence.
So then, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, mean all the people in the Protestant Reformed church of whatever condition, degree of education, or degree of intelligence. This is the meaning in the spiritual sense.
To receive a mark means, symbolically, to be acknowledged as a Protestant Reformed Christian, or to be among those who confess what the doctrine teaches. The mark is an acknowledgement that the person is such a one, and also a confession that he is such. The right hand symbolizes everything in a person relating to the power of his intellect, thus to his faith; for the right hand symbolizes a person’s power (no. 457). The forehead symbolizes everything in a person relating to the power of his will, thus to his love; for the forehead symbolizes love (no. 347).
To buy and to sell mean, symbolically, to acquire concepts, in this case concepts having to do with that doctrine, and to teach them, as shown below. The mark of the beast symbolizes an acknowledgment that one is a Reformed Christian, and a confession that one is such (no. 605). The name of the beast symbolizes the character of the doctrine, a name symbolizing character (nos. 81, 122, 165, 584), and the beast symbolizing the doctrine accepted by the laity, thus by the general populace (no. 567). Moreover, because the verse says “or the name of the beast,” it symbolizes its character or such as is in conformity with it. A number symbolizes the character of a thing (no. 448), and because the verse says “or the number of its name,” it symbolizes the character of the doctrine or such as does not conflict with it.
It is stated so, because the doctrine symbolized by the dragon and its beast is not the same throughout the kingdoms in which Reformed Protestants are found, though it is the same in respect to this postulate or principal tenet of the doctrine, that faith justifies and saves apart from works of the law.
[2] That to buy and to sell mean, symbolically, to acquire concepts for oneself and to teach them, and so likewise to market, trade, and make a profit, is clear from the following passages:
Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money…. (Isaiah 55:1)
You have sold yourselves for nothing; (therefore) you shall not be redeemed with money. (Isaiah 52:3)
With your wisdom and your understanding you have gained riches for yourself…; by your great wisdom in your trading you have increased your riches…. (Ezekiel 28:4, 5)
Since Tyre symbolized the church in respect to its concepts of goodness and truth, therefore we are told the following concerning Tyre:
All the ships of the sea…were…to market your merchandise…. Tarshish was your trader…(in) silver…. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were your merchants. With human life…they carried on your trading…. Syria was your trader…with chrysoprase…. Your riches, your wares, and your merchandise…, …those carrying on your trade…, will fall into the midst of the seas on the day of your ruin. (Ezekiel 27:9, 12, 13, 16, 27)
Wail, you ships of Tarshish! For (Tyre) is laid waste…, whose merchants are princes, and whose traders are the honored of the earth? (Isaiah 23:1-8)
Trading has the same meaning in the Lord’s parable about a man traveling to a far country, who gave his servants talents to trade with and make a profit (Matthew 25:14-30). In another parable about a man who gave his servants ten minas for them to do business with (Luke 19:12-26). In the parable regarding a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid, who sold all that he had and bought the field (Matthew 13:44). And in the one about a man seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one precious one, sold all that he had and bought it (Matthew 13:45, 46).
Such have they become…, your merchants from your youth; they shall wander each one from his region, not saving you. (Isaiah 47:15)
And so on elsewhere.
“Here,” the verse says, because it means those things that we have said and explained in this chapter, particularly about the beast from the earth, which symbolizes the doctrine and consequent faith regarding God and salvation among the clergy (no. 594). For what this verse says has to do with that beast. And because it is the part of a wise person, or of wisdom, to see and understand the nature of that doctrine and consequent faith, the verse says, “Here is wisdom.”
“Let him who has understanding” means, symbolically, to be in a state of enlightenment from the Lord. To calculate the number means, symbolically, to discern the character – a number symbolizing character (nos. 348, 364, 448), and to calculate meaning, symbolically, to discern. Moreover, because the character symbolized by the number is the character in respect to truth, and all truth having to do with the doctrine and faith of the church is founded on the Word, therefore the character meant is the character of the arguments the clergy use from the Word in defense of that doctrine and faith. This also is the character symbolized by the number 666, which we consider below.
A human being symbolizes wisdom and intelligence (no. 243), in this case wisdom and intelligence gained from the Word, thus also the Word in relation to the wisdom and intelligence in a person in the church. The church itself also appears as a person in the Lord’s sight. Therefore in respect to his spirit a person in the church appears in heaven as human in accordance with the character of the church in him gained from the Word. This is consequently the symbolic meaning of the number of a man, because it follows after the statement, “Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast,” which symbolically means that one who is enlightened by the Lord can discern the character of the arguments the clergy use from the Word in defense of their doctrine and faith regarding God and salvation.
The character of the church gained from the Word is also symbolically meant by a man in no. 910, and also elsewhere.
The number of the beast symbolizes the character of the arguments the clergy use from the Word to defend their doctrine and faith (nos. 608, 609). Six hundred and sixty-six symbolizes every truth having to do with goodness, and because the statement is made in application to the Word, it symbolizes every truth in the Word having to do with goodness, in this case that truth falsified, because the number is the number of the beast.
This is the symbolic meaning because six has the same symbolism as three multiplied by two, and three symbolizes completeness and all and is predicated of truths (no. 505), while two symbolizes the marriage of truth and good. So, because six is composed of these two numbers multiplied together, therefore it symbolizes every truth in the Word having to do with goodness, in this case that truth falsified. That it also was falsified by the clergy may be seen in no. 566 above.
The number is said to be 666, because it contains the number six repeated three times, and tripling it makes it complete. Multiplying six by one hundred to make six hundred, and by ten to make sixty, does not change the number’s symbolic meaning, as may be seen in no. 348 above.
[2] That the number six symbolizes completeness and all, and is used when the subject is truths having to do with goodness, may be seen from passages in the Word where that number is mentioned. However, the symbolism of the number appears clearly only to people who see the things contained in the spiritual sense. As for instance, the Lord’s saying that the seeds that fell on good ground yielded fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred (Mark 4:8,20, Matthew 13:8,23); and that a landowner went out and hired laborers for his vineyard at the third hour and at the sixth hour (Matthew 20:3, 5). Also that the table in the Tabernacle had on it cakes of showbread arranged in two rows, each containing six cakes (Leviticus 24:6). That there were set six waterpots for the purification of the Jews (John 2:6). That there were six cities of refuge or of asylum (Numbers 35:6, 7, Deuteronomy 19:1-9). That the measuring reed with which the angel measured all parts of the new temple and new city was six cubits long (Ezekiel 40:5). That the prophet drank water by measure, a sixth of a hin (Ezekiel 4:11). That they took as an offering a sixth of an ephah of a homer of wheat (Ezekiel 45:13).
Since the number six symbolizes completeness, therefore words for separating a sixth part came into use, which in the spiritual sense symbolizes something that is complete and entire, as that they gave a sixth part of an ephah of a homer of barley (Ezekiel 45:13). And regarding Gog, “I will turn you around and leave but a sixth part of you” (Ezekiel 39:2). This last symbolically means that in Gog all truth in the Word having to do with goodness is destroyed. Just who are meant by Gog may be seen in no. 859.
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People are prepared for heaven in the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, and at the end of that time they all to some degree or other long for heaven. Presently then their eyes are opened and they see a path leading to some society in heaven. They set out on the path and ascend, and as they ascend they come upon a gate, with a guard there. The guard opens the gate, and so they enter.
An inspector then comes to meet them, who tells them from the governor that they may go on in and look to see whether there are any houses there that they recognize as their own, for every new angel has a new house awaiting him. If newcomers find one then, they report this and remain there. But if they do not find one, they return and say that they did not find one.
At that some wise person then examines them there, to see whether the light that they possess accords with the light found in the society, and especially with the warmth in it. For the light in heaven is, in its essence, Divine truth, and the warmth in heaven is, in its essence, Divine good, both emanating from the Lord as the sun there. If the newcomers possess another light and another warmth than the light and warmth in that society, that is, a different truth and a different goodness, they are not admitted.
Therefore they leave that place and travel along paths that open between societies in heaven, and this until they find a society in complete harmony with their affections. And there they find their abode to eternity. For they are then among people like themselves, as though among relatives and friends, whom they love with a heartfelt love, because they share the same affection; and there they experience their life’s bliss and a delight that fills their whole breast, because their soul is at peace. For in the warmth and light of heaven there is an indescribable delight, in which they share.
[2] Such is the case with people who become angels. But not with people caught up in evils and falsities. They are given permission to ascend into heaven, but when they enter, they begin to draw breath or breathe with difficulty, and soon their vision dims, their intellect darkens so that they can no longer think, and death hovers before their eyes. And so they stand like wooden posts. Their heart then also begins to pound, their breast to be constricted, and their mind to be seized with anguish and to be more and more tortured; and in that state they writhe like a snake placed near a fire. Consequently they roll away from there and throw themselves over a cliff that then appears to them. Nor do they rest until they are in hell with people like themselves, where they can breathe and where their heart beats freely.
After that they hate heaven and reject truth, and at heart blaspheme the Lord, believing that the torture and torment they experienced in heaven came from Him.
[3] From these few particulars it can be seen what the lot is like of people who place little value in truths, even though truths constitute the light which angels have in heaven, and who place little value in goodness, even though goodness constitutes the warmth which angels have in heaven.
It can also be seen from this how wrong those people are who believe that everyone can enjoy the bliss of heaven just by being admitted into heaven. For it is today’s faith that to be received into heaven is to be received out of pure mercy, and that acceptance into heaven is like people’s entrance into a wedding reception and at the same time into the joys and delights there. Let them know, however, that there is a communication of affections in the spiritual world, since a person is then a spirit, and the life of the spirit is affection, and his thinking springs from it and accords with it. Let them also know that a homogeneous affection unites, and a heterogeneous one drives apart, and that something heterogeneous causes torment, such as to a devil in heaven, and to an angel in hell. People are therefore justly separated in accordance with the diversities, varieties, and differences in the affections of their love.
[4] I was given to see more than three hundred clergy from the Protestant Reformed world, all of them learned men, because they knew how to defend faith alone to the point of its being the means of justification, and some on beyond that. And because they also shared the belief that heaven is simply a matter of admittance by grace, they were given permission to ascend into a society of heaven, though not one of the higher ones. And as they ascended together, they looked from a distance like calves, and when they entered heaven, the angels received them politely. But as they were talking together, they were seized with a trembling, then a shuddering, and finally a torment as though of impending death; and at that they cast themselves down headlong, and in their descent they looked like dead horses.
They looked like calves as they ascended because the natural affection for seeing and knowing appears, by correspondence, as frolicking about like a calf. And in their descent they looked like dead horses because an understanding of the truth in the Word appears, by correspondence, as a horse, and an understanding devoid of any truth in the Word as a dead horse.
[5] There were some boys below who saw the clergymen descending, who in their descent looked like dead horses. And at that the boys turned their faces away and said to their teacher, who was with them, “What portent is this? We saw men, and now dead horses instead. And because we could not bear to look at them, we turned our faces away. Master, let us not tarry in this place, but depart.”
So they departed. And their teacher then taught them on the way what a dead horse means, saying, “A horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word. All the horses that you saw had this symbolic meaning. For when a person goes meditating on the Word, his meditation then appears from a distance like a horse – a thoroughbred and live horse as long as he ponders the Word spiritually, but a wretched and dead horse as long as he does so materially.”
[6] At that the boys asked, “What does it mean to meditate on the Word spiritually or materially?”
And the teacher replied, “I will illustrate the difference by examples. Who, when he reads the Word, does not think about God, the neighbor, and heaven? Everyone who thinks about God solely in terms of His person and not in terms of His essence, thinks materially. Everyone who thinks about the neighbor in terms of his appearance and not in terms of his character, thinks materially. And everyone who thinks about heaven solely in terms of a place, and not in terms of the love and wisdom of which heaven consists, also thinks materially.”
But the boys said, “We think about God in terms of His person, about the neighbor in terms of his appearance, that he is a human being, and about heaven in terms of a place. When we would read the Word, did we then look to anyone like dead horses?”
Their teacher said, “No. You are still boys and could not think otherwise. But I have perceived in you an affection for knowing and understanding, and because that is a spiritual affection, you thought at the same time spiritually.
[7] “However, I will go back to what I said earlier, that anyone who thinks materially when he reads the Word or meditates on the Word, looks from a distance like a dead horse, but that someone who does so spiritually, looks like a live horse. Moreover, that anyone who thinks about God and about the trinity in God solely in terms of His person and not in terms of His essence, thinks about them materially. For the Divine essence has many attributes, like omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, mercy, grace, eternity, and others. And the Divine essence has attributes emanating from it, namely, creation and preservation, salvation and redemption, enlightenment and guidance. Everyone who thinks about God solely in terms of His person supposes three gods, saying that one god is the creator and preserver, another the savior and redeemer, and a third the enlightener and guide. But everyone who thinks about God in terms of His essence supposes one God, saying that God created us and preserves us, redeems us and saves us, and enlightens and guides us.
“That is why people who think about the trinity in God in terms of His person, and thus materially, cannot help but be drawn by the ideas in their thinking, which is material in nature, to make three gods out of one. But still the same people are bound, contrary to their thought, to say that in each there is a communion of all their attributes, and this only because they have thought dimly about God in terms of His essence, as though through a screen.
“Therefore, my pupils, think about God in terms of His essence and from that about His person, and do not think in terms of His person and from that about His essence. For to think about His essence in terms of His person is to think materially also about His essence, whereas to think about His person in terms of His essence is to think spiritually also about His person.
“Because gentiles of old thought materially about God and also about the attributes of God, they imagined not only three gods, but even more, as many as a hundred.
“Know then that something material does not flow into something spiritual, but that something spiritual flows into something material.
“The same is the case with thought about the neighbor in terms of his appearance and not in terms of his character, and also with thought about heaven in terms of a place and not in terms of the love and wisdom of which heaven consists.
“The same is the case with each and every particular in the Word. Consequently it is impossible for someone who entertains a material idea of God, and also of the neighbor and heaven, to understand anything in it. For him the Word is a dead letter, and when he reads it or meditates on it, he looks at a distance like a dead horse.
[8] “Those people you saw descending from heaven, who became in your eyes as though dead horses, were people who had closed the rational sight in themselves and in others by the peculiar dogma that the intellect must be held captive in obedience to their faith. They did so not thinking that an intellect closed by religion is as blind as a mole, and has in it nothing but darkness – such darkness as repels from itself any spiritual light, obstructs any influx of it from the Lord and heaven, and in matters of faith sets a barrier to it in the carnally sensual mind, far below the rational one. In other words, they put a barrier alongside the nose and fix it in its cartilage, so that afterward they cannot even catch a scent of spiritual matters. Some of those people are therefore of such a character that when they catch a whiff of spiritual matters, they fall into a swoon. By a whiff I mean a perception.
“These are the people who make God into three gods. They say, indeed, that in terms of His essence there is one God, but still, when they pray in accordance with their faith, namely, that God the Father may have mercy for the sake of the Son and send the Holy Spirit, they clearly suppose three gods. They cannot do otherwise, for they pray to one god to have mercy for the sake of another, and to send a third.”
And the teacher then taught his pupils about the Lord, that He is one God, in whom is the Divine trinity.
CHAPTER 14
1 Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. 3 They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and before the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. 4 These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. 5 And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.
6 Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth – to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people – 7 saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” 8 And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her licentiousness.” 9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives its mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed with pure wine in the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will ascend forever and ever; and they will have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” 12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus (Christ.) 13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their works follow them.”
14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the hour has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth has dried.” 16 So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.
17 Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vintage of the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs.
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
The New Christian Heaven, described in verses 1-5. The gospel concerning the Lord’s advent preached, and a new church then, verses 6, 7, 13. An exhortation for people to forsake the faith divorced from charity that grips today’s church, verses 9-12. An examination and exposure of those people, revealing that their works are evil, verses 14-20.
The Contents of the Individual Verses
1 Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand,
The Lord now present in a new heaven formed of Christians who acknowledged Him as God of heaven and earth, and had doctrinal truths received from Him through the Word.
having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.
The acknowledgment among them of the Lord’s Divinity and of His Divine humanity.
2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters,
The Lord speaking through the new heaven with Divine truths,
and like the voice of loud thunder.
and out of Divine love.
And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps.
A confession of the Lord from a glad heart by spiritual angels in the lower heavens.
3 They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and before the elders;
A celebration and glorification of the Lord in His presence and in the presence of the angels of the higher heavens.
and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand
No other Christians could understand and so acknowledge out of love and faith that the Lord alone is God of heaven and earth but those received by the Lord into this new heaven.
who were redeemed from the earth.
They are people who could be regenerated by the Lord and so be redeemed in the world.
4 These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins.
They did not adulterate the church’s truths or defile them with the falsities of their faith, but loved the truths because they are true.
These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.
They are conjoined with the Lord through love and through faith in Him, because they lived in accordance with His commandments.
These were redeemed from among men,
The same here as before [verse [3] .
being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.
The commencement of a Christian heaven that acknowledges one God in whom is the Trinity, and acknowledges that the Lord is that God.
5 And in their mouth was found no deceit,
They do not speak with cunning or with a purpose to persuade people of falsity and evil,
for they are without blemish before the throne of God.
because they are governed by truths springing from goodness from the Lord.
6 Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth
An announcement of the Lord’s advent, and of a new church to descend from Him out of heaven,
– to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people –
to all people who, owing to religion, are prompted by goods, and owing to doctrine are guided by truths.
7 saying with a loud voice, “Fear God
An admonition not to do evil, because it is to act against the Lord.
and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come;
An acknowledgment and confession that all the Word’s truth comes from the Lord, and that everyone will be judged in accordance with it,
and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
and that the Lord alone is to be worshiped, because He alone is the Creator, Savior, and Redeemer, and because the angelic heaven and the church and everything in them originate from Him alone.
8 And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city,
The Roman Catholic religion has now been dispelled with respect to its dogmas and doctrines,
because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her licentiousness.”
because by profanations of the Word and adulterations of the church’s goodness and truth, it has led astray all the people it was able to bring under its dominion.
9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice,
Still more from the Lord concerning people caught up in faith divorced from charity.
“If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives its mark on his forehead or on his hand,
People who acknowledge and accept the doctrine of justification and salvation by faith alone, affirm it, and live in accordance with it,
10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed with pure wine in the cup of His indignation.
falsify the Word’s goods and truths and steep themselves in a life in accordance with their falsification of them.
He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will ascend forever and ever;
Their love of self and the world and the ensuing lusts, and stemming from these a conceit in their own intelligence, and torment in hell because of them.
and they will have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”
The continuing state of vexations in people who acknowledge and accept that faith, affirm it, and live in accordance with it.
12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
By temptations or trials induced by vexations, a person belonging to the Lord’s church is explored as to his character in respect to his life in accordance with the Word’s commandments and to his faith in the Lord.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ “
A prediction by the Lord concerning the state of people after death who will belong to His New Church, that they will have eternal life and happiness.
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors,
The Word’s Divine truth teaches that people who afflict their soul therefore and crucify their flesh will have peace in the Lord,
for their works follow them.”
according as they have loved and believed and so have done and spoken.
14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man,
The Lord in relation to the Word.
having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle.
The Divine wisdom emanating from His Divine love, and the Divine truth in the Word.
15 And another angel came out of the temple,
The angelic heaven.
crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the hour has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth has dried.”
A supplication by angels in heaven to the Lord to bring things to an end and execute judgment, because the church had now reached its last state.
16 So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.
The end of the church, because it no longer had any Divine truth in it.
17 Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
The heavens of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, and the Word’s Divine truth in them.
18 And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire,
The heavens of the Lord’s celestial kingdom, which are prompted by the goodness of love received from the Lord.
and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes of the vine of the earth,
The Lord’s operation from the goodness of His love through the Word’s Divine truth into the works of charity and faith among people belonging to the Christian Church,
for her grapes are ripe.”
because the Christian Church has reached its last state.
19 So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vintage of the vine of the earth,
The end of the present Christian Church.
and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
An examination of the character of the people’s works, revealing that their works were evil.
20 And the winepress was trampled outside the city,
The examination was made in accordance with Divine truths in the Word, to discover the character of the works that flowed from their church’s doctrine regarding faith.
and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles,
The violence done to the Word by their dreadful falsifications of truth, and the consequent understanding of it so closed up that it was scarcely possible for anyone any longer to be taught by it, and so to be led by the Lord through Divine truths,
for one thousand six hundred furlongs.
being nothing but the falsities accompanying evil.
THE EXPOSITION
14:1 Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand. This symbolizes the Lord now present in a new heaven composed of people in the Christian churches who acknowledged the Lord alone as God of heaven and earth, and had doctrinal truths springing from the goodness of love received from Him through the Word.
This and the rest of what is said in this chapter is symbolically meant by “I saw.” The Lamb means the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity (no. 269). Mount Zion symbolizes a heaven where the inhabitants are people impelled by love toward the Lord, as described below. One hundred and forty-four thousand symbolizes all those people who acknowledge the Lord alone as God of heaven and earth and have doctrinal truths springing from the goodness of love received from Him through the Word (nos. 348ff.).
We described these people in chapter 7, but there we were told that they were sealed on their foreheads, being thus distinguished and separated from the rest. Here we are now told that they were gathered together and a new heaven formed of them.
[2] The heaven that is the subject here is a heaven composed of Christians from the time the Lord was in the world, and formed of those who approached the Lord alone and lived in accordance with His commandments in the Word by shunning evils as sins against God.
This heaven is the new heaven from which the holy Jerusalem, or New Church, will descend on earth (Revelation 21:1, 2). The heavens that existed before the Lord’s advent are above it and are called the ancient heavens. The people in them also all acknowledge the Lord alone as God of heaven and earth. Those heavens communicate with this new heaven through influx.
[3] People know that the land of Canaan symbolizes the church, because the Word existed there, and by it the Lord was known. Moreover, in the middle of it was the city of Zion, and below it the city of Jerusalem, both situated on the mountain. Zion and Jerusalem symbolized, therefore, the innermost elements of the church. And because the church in the heavens goes hand in hand with the church on earth, therefore the church in both places is meant by Zion and Jerusalem – Zion meaning the church as to love, and Jerusalem the church as to its accompanying doctrine.
The mountain is called Zion, because a mountain symbolizes love (no. 336).
[4] That Mount Zion symbolizes heaven and the church where the Lord is worshiped can be seen from the following passages:
I have anointed My King on…Zion. I will declare the decree: …”You are My Son, today I have begotten You. …I will give You the nations for Your inheritance….” …Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish…. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. (Psalm 2:6-8, 12).
Get up into the high mountain, O Zion, you who bring good tidings…. Say…, “Behold, the Lord Jehovih is coming with might….” (Isaiah 40:9, 10)
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! …Behold, your King is coming to you, just and having salvation…. (Zechariah 9:9, cf. Matthew 21:2, 4, 5, John 12:14, 15)
Cry out and exult, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst! (Isaiah 12:6)
The redeemed of Jehovah shall return…to Zion with singing…. (Isaiah 35:10)
Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! …behold, I am coming to dwell in your midst…. (Zechariah 2:10, 11)
Who shall give in Zion the salvation of Israel? (Psalm 14:7, 53:6)
(The Lord Jehovih will) lay in Zion a testing stone…. And (then) your covenant with death will be annulled…. (Isaiah 28:16-18)
My salvation shall not linger. I will give salvation in Zion…. (Isaiah 46:13)
He will come to Zion, a Redeemer…. (Isaiah 59:20)
…Jehovah Zebaoth will reign on Mount Zion…. (Isaiah 24:23)
Jehovah loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things shall be proclaimed in you, O city of God! …”This one was born there.” …”All my springs are in you.” (Psalm 87:2, 3, 6, 7)
…Jehovah has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place. “This is My resting place forever; there I will dwell….” (Psalm 132:13, 14)
Let the children of Zion exult in their King. (Psalm 149:2, 3)
(Arise, O Jehovah) and have mercy on Zion; …the set time has come…. (Declared shall be) the name of Jehovah in Zion…, when the peoples are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve Jehovah. (Psalm 102:13-16, 22, 23)
Out of Zion…God will shine forth. Our God shall come, and…He shall call to heaven above, and to the earth…: “Gather My saints together to Me….” (Psalm 50:2-5)
And so on elsewhere, as Isaiah 1:27, 4:3-5, 31:4, 9, 33:5, 20, 37:22, 52:1, 64:10; Jeremiah 6:2; Lamentations 4:2; Amos 1:2; Micah 3:10, 12, 4:1-3, 7, 8; Zephaniah 3:14, 16; Joel 3:16, 17, 21; Zechariah 8:3; Psalm 20:2, 5, 48:2, 3, 11-14, 76:2, 78:68, 110:1, 2, 149:2, 4, 125:1, 126:1, 128:5, 6, 134:3, 135:21, 146:10.
Many passages mention the daughter, or virgin, of Zion, which does not mean some daughter or virgin there, but the church in respect to its affection for goodness and truth, like the bride of the Lamb (Revelation 21:2,9, 22:17).
The daughter, or virgin, of Zion symbolizes the Lord’s church in the following places: Isaiah 1:8, 3:16-26, 4:4, 10:32, 16:1, 37:22, 52:2, 62:11; Jeremiah 4:31, 6:2, 23; Lamentations 1:6, 2:1, 4, 8, 10, 13, 18, 4:22; Micah 1:13, 4:8, 10, 13; Zephaniah 3:14; Zechariah 2:6, 7, 10, 9:9; Psalm 9:14; and elsewhere.
The name of the Father means the Lord in respect to the Divine called the Father from which springs all else, and at the same time in respect to His Divine humanity called the Son, since the two are one and the same person, united like a soul and body. In heaven, therefore, no other father than the Lord is meant by God the Father, and in the new heaven the Lord is also called Father.
We are told here that they had the Father’s name on their foreheads because the Father also means the Divine goodness of the Lord’s Divine love, which in the Gospels is everywhere meant by the Father when referred to by the Lord, while the Divine truth of His Divine wisdom is meant by the Son. When the Lord glorified His humanity, these two were united like a soul with its body and a body with its soul (see nos. 21, 170).
Because the two are one, therefore we find reference elsewhere to the name of God and of the Lamb being “on their foreheads” (Revelation 22:4). Therefore, with respect to the people who are the subject here, we are told that they had the Father’s name written on their foreheads, inasmuch as the 144,000 that were sealed of the twelve tribes of Israel mean angels of the higher heavens, all of whom are prompted by the goodness of celestial love, and that is, as we said, the love meant by the Father.
That the angels who are the subject here are angels of the higher heavens may be seen in the exposition of chapter 7, especially in no. 369 there.
Having the name written on their foreheads symbolizes an acknowledgment in them out of love and faith – having it written or inscribed symbolizing an acknowledgment in them, and the forehead symbolizing love and the resulting intelligence or faith (nos. 347, 605).
[2] We say that the Divine called the Father and the Divine humanity called the Son are one like a soul and body, consequently that people must approach the Lord in His Divine humanity, and that in this way and in no other is the Divine called the Father approached; and this can be seen from so many passages in the Word that they would fill pages if we were to cite them all. We cited a number of them in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 29-36, 38-45, and later, and by way of confirmation we will present only some of them here, as follows:
The angel said to (Mary), “…behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest….”
But Mary said…, “How shall this be, since I do not know a man?”
The angel answered…, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore…the Holy One who is to be born of you will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:30-35)
…an angel of the Lord appeared to (Joseph) in a dream, saying, “…do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit….” …and (Joseph) did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. (Matthew 1:20, 25)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh…, and we beheld His glory, as though the glory of the only begotten of the Father…. (John 1:1, 2, 14)
…the Jews sought…to kill (Jesus), because He…said that God was His Father, making Himself equal to God. Jesus answered…, “…whatever (the Father) does, the Son also does in like manner. …as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. …assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming…when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. (John 5:18-25)
…as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself…. (John 5:26)
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
Philip said to Him, “…show us the Father….”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long a time, and have you not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how then do you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I dwell in the Father, and the Father in Me? …Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me….” (John 14:6-11)
“I give (My sheep) eternal life…. I and My Father are one.”
(Then the Jews were angered that He made Himself God. And He said, “I do the works of My Father.”) “…believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” (John 10:28-38)
“He who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.” (John 12:45)
“All things that the Father has are Mine.” (John 16:15)
…that the Father had given all things into His hands…. (John 13:3)
“Father…, …You have given (Me) authority over all flesh…. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only…God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent…. All that is Mine are Yours, and what are Yours are Mine….” (John 17:1-3, 10)
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” (Matthew 28:18)
“Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do….” (And) “I will do it.” (John 14:13, 14)
“…the Spirit of truth…will not speak on its own, but…will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:13, 14)
He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)
[3] And so on. There are still more passages in the Old Testament, some of which we will present also:
…unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
A virgin shall conceive…a Son, and His name shall be called God-With-Us. (Isaiah 7:14)
“Behold, the days are coming…when I will raise to David a righteous offshoot, who shall reign as a King…. And this is His name by which He will be called: JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Jeremiah 23:5, 6, 33:15, 16)
Then it will be said in that day: “Behold, …our God, for whom we have waited, for Him to free us, …Jehovah, for whom we have waited; we will rejoice and be glad in His salvation.” (Isaiah 25:9)
God is in you only, and…there is no other God. Surely You are God, who hide Yourself, O God of Israel, the Savior! (Isaiah 45:14, 15)
Is it not I, Jehovah? And there is no other God besides Me; a just God and a Savior, there is none besides Me. (Isaiah 45:21, 22)
I…am Jehovah, and besides Me there is no savior. (Isaiah 43:11)
I am Jehovah your God…and you shall acknowledge no God but Me; and there is no Savior besides Me. (Hosea 13:4)
…You (Jehovah) are our Father…, our Redeemer from of old Your name. (Isaiah 63:16)
Thus 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.” (Isaiah 44:6)
Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer…: “I am Jehovah, who makes all things, …all alone, …by Myself.” (Isaiah 44:24)
Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am Jehovah your God….” (Isaiah 48:17)
…O Jehovah, my rock, and my Redeemer! (Psalm 19:14)
Their Redeemer is strong, Jehovah Zebaoth His name. (Jeremiah 50:34)
…Jehovah Zebaoth is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He shall be called the God of the whole earth. (Isaiah 54:5)
That all flesh may know that I, Jehovah, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. (Isaiah 49:26, cf. 60:16)
As for our Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth is His name…. (Isaiah 47:4)
Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer…. (Isaiah 43:14, cf. 49:7)
And so elsewhere, as in Luke 1:68; Isaiah 62:11, 12, 63:1, 4, 9; Jeremiah 15:20, 21; Hosea 13:4, 14; Psalms 31:5, 44:26, 49:15, 55:17, 18, 69:18, 71:23, 103:4, 107:2, 130:7, 8.
And in Zechariah:
In that day…Jehovah shall become King over all the earth. In that day there shall be one Jehovah, and His name one. (Zechariah 14:8, 9)
These are but a few of the passages.
A voice from heaven symbolizes an utterance or declaration coming from the Lord through heaven, for when a voice is heard from heaven, it comes from the Lord. Here it comes through the new heaven formed of Christians, meant by Mount Zion on which the Lamb was seen standing, and with him the one hundred and forty-four thousand (nos. 612, 613). Many waters symbolize Divine truths (no. 50).
The Lord is similarly depicted as speaking through heaven with Divine truths in the following places:
The Son of Man’s voice was heard “as the sound of many waters” in Revelation 1:15. And the voice from the throne “as the sound of many waters” in Revelation 19:6. The voice of the God of Israel “like the sound of many waters” in Ezekiel 43:2.
The voice of Jehovah is over the waters…, Jehovah over many waters. (Psalm 29:3)
…the sound of (the cherubim’s) wings, like the sound of many waters…. (Ezekiel 1:24)
Cherubim symbolize the Word (no. 239), thus the Divine truth with which the Lord speaks.
Lightnings, thunderings and voices symbolize enlightenment, perception and instruction, as may be seen in no. 236. And seven thunders speaking symbolize the Lord’s speaking through the whole of heaven (no. 472).
When the Lord speaks through heaven, He does so from the third heaven through the second heaven, thus from love through Divine wisdom, for the third heaven is impelled by His Divine love, and the second heaven by His Divine wisdom. The Lord never speaks in any other way when He speaks from the higher heavens. This, then, is what is meant by a voice like the voice of many waters, and by a voice like the voice of loud thunder. Many waters are the Divine truths of Divine wisdom, and loud thunder is the Divine goodness of Divine love.
To play harps means, symbolically, to confess the Lord in consequence of spiritual truths, as may be seen in no. 276 above. It follows that this springs from a glad heart. Consequently harps symbolize spiritual angels.
The angels here are angels of the lower heavens, because the Lord’s voice through the higher heavens sounded like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder (nos. 614, 615).
The sound of harpists playing their harps was heard because sound or speech flowing down from the lower heavens sometimes sounds like the sound of harps. Not that the angels are playing harps, but that the sound of a confession of the Lord from a glad heart is heard as such below.
Their singing a new song symbolizes an acknowledgment and glorification of the Lord as being the only Judge, Redeemer, and Savior, thus God of heaven and earth, as may be seen in no. 279 above. Before the throne means in the Lord’s presence, because He alone sits upon the throne. Before the four living creatures and before the elders means in the presence of the angels of the higher heavens (no. 369).
As it were a new song symbolizes a celebration and glorification of the Lord in the New Christian Heaven. Here specifically it means that He was acknowledged as God of heaven and earth, as He is acknowledged in the ancient heavens. This is entailed in the phrase “as it were,” for “as it were a new song” means that it was seemingly new, when in fact it was not new.
We have already said before that the new heaven spoken of in Revelation 21:1 is a new heaven formed of Christians, that the prior heavens were formed of ancient peoples and most ancient ones, and that in those heavens the Lord is acknowledged as God of heaven and earth.
The song symbolizes an acknowledgment and glorification of the Lord as being God of heaven and earth (nos. 279, 617). To learn means, symbolically, to perceive inwardly in oneself that something is the case, which is to understand and so to accept and acknowledge. Someone who learns without perceiving learns and does not learn, because he does not retain what he has learned. The hundred and forty-four thousand mean people who acknowledge the Lord alone as God of heaven and earth (no. 612).
Other Christians were unable to learn that song, that is, to acknowledge that the Lord alone is God of heaven and earth, because from early childhood they had had impressed on them that there were three persons in the Godhead, each distinct from the others. For the doctrine of the trinity* contains the statement, “There is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit,” and also, “The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.” And even though they find it added there that the three are one, still in their thinking they divide the Divine essence into three, despite the fact that it cannot be divided.
For that reason they also approach the Father, because He is first in order. And church leaders moreover taught them to pray to the Father to send the Holy Spirit for the sake of the Son. This entrenched in their thinking the idea of three persons, and they could not then think of the Son as God, on a par with the Father and one with the Father, but thought of the Son as being on a par with any other person, even though He alone as to His humanity is the embodiment of righteousness and is called “Jehovah our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:5, 6, 33:15, 16).
[2] Because of that idea in their thinking, it came about that they could not comprehend how the Lord as one born in the world could be God of heaven and earth, and still less be alone God, despite how often they heard and read all those passages we cited in no. 613 above, including the following there:
“All things that the Father has are Mine.” (John 16:15)
“He who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.” (John 12:45)
…the Father had given all things into (the Son’s) hands…. (John 13:3)
“Father…, …You have given (Me) authority over all flesh…. All that is Mine are Yours, and what are Yours are Mine….” (John 17:1-3, 10)
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” (Matthew 28:18)
There is the further fact that He was conceived of Jehovah as His Father, and therefore that His soul came from Him (Luke 1:34, 35, 38). He possesses therefore the Divine essence. Many similar statements are found in addition elsewhere. That these statements are said in reference to the Lord born in the world is something everyone can see. As for example, that He and the Father are one, and that He is in the Father and the Father in Him. Or that whoever sees Him, sees the Father. (See John 10:28-38, 14:6-11.)
Even though those Christians hear and read these things, still they cannot let go of the idea they have conceived from childhood and later had affirmed by teachers – an idea that so closed up their rationality that they could not see, that is, could not understand these words of the Lord:
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6)
He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber…. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved…. (John 10:1, 9)
[3] They also could not see that the Lord glorified His humanity, that is, that He united it to the Divinity of the Father, namely to the Divinity that He had in Him from conception, in order that the human race might be united to God the Father in Him and through Him. This was the reason for the Lord’s advent into the world, and for the glorification of His humanity, as is plainly taught in John 14, 15, 17. For He says,
In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. (John 14:20)
He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch…withered…into the fire…. (John 15:5, 6)
For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified in the truth…that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You…, I in them and You in Me…. (John 17:19, 21, 23, 26)
See also John 6:56, and elsewhere.
It is clearly apparent from these passages that the Lord’s advent into the world and the glorification of His humanity had as a goal the conjunction of people with God the Father in the Lord and through Him, thus that it is He who is to be approached.
This the Lord also confirmed by His saying so many times that people must believe in Him to have eternal life (see no. 553 above).
[4] Who cannot see that the Lord said all these things about Himself in His humanity, and that He never would have said, or could have said, that He was in people and people in Him, and that they must believe in Him to have eternal life, unless His humanity was Divine?
To ask the Father in the Lord’s name** does not mean to go directly to God the Father, neither does it mean to ask for the sake of the Son, but it means to go to the Lord, and to the Father through Him, because the Father is present in the Son, and they are one, as the Lord Himself teaches. This is the symbolic meaning of “in His name,” as can also be seen from the following:
…he who does not believe (in the Son) is judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:17, 18)
…these things are written that you may believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:31)
(Jesus) said…, “Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” (Luke 9:48)
“Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do….” (John 14:13, 14)
And so on in other places, where something in the name of the Lord is mentioned: Matthew 7:22, 18:5, 20, 19:29, 23:39; Mark 9:37, 16:17; Luke 13:35, 19:38, 24:47; John 1:12, 2:23, 5:43, 12:13, 15:16, 16:23, 24, 26, 27, 17:6.
The symbolism of the name of God, and that the Father’s name is the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity, may be seen in nos. 81, 165, 584 above.
* I.e., the Athanasian Creed.
** John 15:16, 16:23.
The redeemed from the earth symbolize people redeemed in the world. That redemption is deliverance from hell, and salvation by conjunction with the Lord, may be seen in no. 281. And because this is achieved by regeneration, therefore the redeemed symbolize people regenerated and redeemed by the Lord. Moreover, because all people can be regenerated and thus redeemed if they are willing to be, and few are willing, therefore the redeemed from the earth symbolize that they are people who could be regenerated by the Lord and thus redeemed.
The character of these people is now described in verses 4 and 5.
A woman symbolizes the church from an affection for truth, and so in an opposite sense the church from an affection for falsity, as may be seen in nos. 434, 533 above – here the church from an affection for truth, because we are told that they were not defiled with women. Being defiled with women has the same symbolic meaning as committing adultery and behaving licentiously. To commit adultery and behave licentiously means, symbolically, to adulterate and falsify the Word, as may be seen in no. 134 above.
For they are virgins means, symbolically, because they have loved truths because they are true, thus loving them from a spiritual affection. These are meant by virgins because a virgin symbolizes the church as a bride who desires to be conjoined with the Lord and to become a wife; and a church that desires to be conjoined with the Lord loves truths because they are true. For truths bring about conjunction when people live in accordance with them.
That is why Israel, Zion and Jerusalem are called in the Word virgins and daughters; for Israel, Zion and Jerusalem symbolize the church.
[2] People in the Lord’s church who are of such a character are all meant by virgins, whether they are maidens or youths, wives or husbands, boys or old men, girls or old ladies, and this can be seen from places in the Word where virgins are mentioned, such as the virgin of Israel (Jeremiah 18:13, 31:4, 21, Amos 5:2, Joel 1:8); the virgin daughter of Judah (Lamentations 1:15); the virgin daughter of Zion (2 Kings 19:21, Isaiah 37:22, Lamentations 1:4, 2:13); the virgins of Jerusalem (Lamentations 2:10); the virgin of My people (Jeremiah 14:17).
For that reason the Lord likened the church to ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), and we read in Jeremiah:
…I will build you, that you may be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! You shall again…go forth in the dances of those who rejoice. (Jeremiah 31:4, 13)
And in the book of Psalms:
They have seen Your goings, O God, the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary…, in the midst of maidens playing timbrels. (Psalm 68:24, 25)
And elsewhere:
Kings’ daughters are among Your precious ones; at Your right hand stands the queen in pure gold from Ophir.
Listen, O daughter, and see…. The King will delight in your beauty…. The daughter of Tyre also will bring a gift; the rich among the people will appease Your face.
The King’s daughter is all precious within; her clothing is woven with gold. She shall be brought to the King in embroidered garments. The virgins after her, her companions, shall come…into the palace of the King. (Psalm 45:9-15)
The King there means the Lord; the queen the church as a wife; and the daughters and virgins affections for goodness and truth.
[3] Similar affections are symbolically meant by virgins elsewhere in the Word in places where young men are mentioned at the same time, because young men symbolize truths, and virgins affections for those truths. For instance, in the following places:
Behold, the days are coming…that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah…. In that day the fair virgins and young men shall faint from thirst. (Amos 8:11, 13)
Be ashamed, O Sidon; …the sea has said…, “I have not travailed or given birth; neither have I reared young men or brought up virgins.” (Isaiah 33:4)
The Lord trampled a winepress for the virgin daughter of Zion…. Behold my sorrow; the virgins and the young men have gone into captivity. (Lamentations 1:4, 15, 18)
…how great is His goodness, and how great His beauty! Grain shall make the young men grow up, and new wine the young women. (Zechariah 9:17)
The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in My streets. (Zechariah 8:5)
They sit on the ground…, the virgins of Jerusalem…. To what shall I liken you…, O virgin daughter of Zion… …They lay…in the streets…, My virgins and My young men…. (Lamentations 2:10, 13, 21)
And so on elsewhere, as in Jeremiah 51:20-23, Lamentations 5:11, 13, 14, Ezekiel 9:4, 6, Psalm 78:62-64, Deuteronomy 32:25.
That this is the symbolic meaning is apparent from these words of the Lord:
He who…keeps (My commandments), it is he who loves Me. And…I will love him and…I will come to him and make My abode in him. (John 14:20-23)
And elsewhere:
When (the shepherd of the sheep) brings out his own sheep, he goes before 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 10:4, 5, 27)
Firstfruits mean something that is produced first, and something gathered first, thus a commencement, here the commencement of a new heaven formed of Christians. God and the Lamb mean here, as before, the Lord in respect to the Divine itself from which springs all else, and in respect to His Divine humanity, including the emanating Divinity, thus one God in whom is the Trinity.
We will say something here about firstfruits. In the Israelite Church people were commanded to give to Jehovah as sacred the firstfuits of produce – of every kind of grain, of oil and wine, of the fruits of trees, and of wool – and these were given by Jehovah to Aaron, and after him to the high priest (Exodus 22:29, 23:19, Numbers 13:20, 15:17-21, 18:8-20, Deuteronomy 18:4, 26:1ff.). They were also commanded to celebrate a feast of firstfruits at the Feast of Harvest and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 23:14-16, 19, 34:26, Leviticus 23:9-14, 20-25, Numbers 28:26-31).
The reason for this was that firstfruits symbolized something that is produced first and afterward grows, like a child into an adult, or a cutting into a tree, and thus it symbolized every subsequent development until the thing’s completion. For every subsequent development is present in the initial one, like the adult in the child, or the tree in the cutting. And because this first development occurs before the subsequent ones, as is the case also in heaven and in the church, therefore the firstfruits were sacred to the Lord, and the people celebrated a feast of firstfuits.
Firstfruits have a similar symbolic meaning in Jeremiah 24:1, 2, Ezekiel 20:40, Micah 7:1, Deuteronomy 33:15, 21.
A mouth symbolizes speech, preaching, and doctrine (no. 452). And deceit symbolizes a persuasion to evil by means of falsity, especially with cunning and purpose. For someone who urges something with cunning or deceit also does so on purpose. Indeed, cunning or deceit proposes it to itself, conceals it, and acts on it when given the opportunity.
A lie in the Word symbolizes falsity and false speaking. Deceit symbolizes each of these on purpose. Lying and deceit are both mentioned in the following passages:
(Jesus said of Nathanael,) “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” (John 1:47)
The remnant of Israel shall…not speak a lie, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth. (Zephaniah 3:13)
…He did no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. (Isaiah 53:9)
Her rich men are full of violence, her inhabitants speak falsehood, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. (Micah 6:12)
You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; Jehovah abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. (Psalm 5:6)
Deliver my soul, O Jehovah, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue. (Psalm 120:2, 3)
They have taught their tongue to speak lies…. Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they have refused to know Me. (Jeremiah 9:5,6)
Ephraim has encircled Me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit. (Hosea 11:12)
But if someone purposes to kill his neighbor by deceit, you shall take him from My altar and he will die. (Exodus 21:14)
Cursed is he who does the work of Jehovah deceitfully…. (Jeremiah 48:10)
And so on elsewhere, as for instance in Jeremiah 5:26, 27, 8:5, 14:14, 23:26; Hosea 7:16; Zephaniah 1:9; Psalm 17:1, 24:4, 35:20, 21, 36:3, 50:19, 52:2, 4, 72:14, 109:2, 119:118; Job 13:7, 27:4.
Deceitful people are symbolically meant in the Word by poisonous reptiles, such as crocodiles and vipers, and their deceit by the reptiles’ poison.
Being without blemish symbolizes people who are not caught up in falsities, who accordingly are governed by truths; for blemishes symbolize falsities, especially falsities springing from evil. The throne of God symbolizes the Lord and heaven (nos. 14, 233). And because people governed by good from the Lord all appear as though governed by truths, therefore their being without blemish before the throne of God means symbolically that they are governed by truths that spring from goodness received from the Lord.
The reason is that people who are led by the Lord are all kept in a state of goodness received from Him, and from that goodness springs naught but truth. Even if falsity springs from it, it is apparent falsity, and this the Lord regards as akin to truth, being only of another color through a modification of the light of heaven. For the goodness that is present within it thus qualifies it.
It is possible, indeed, for falsity to spring from evil, and also for falsity to spring from goodness. The two may appear in outward form alike, but still they are totally different, because that which lies within forms the essence of each and produces its character.
Since blemishes symbolize falsities, therefore it was forbidden for any of the offspring of Aaron who had a defect to approach the altar or to enter within the veil (Leviticus 21:17-23). This meant that they were to be without blemish.
Moreover, the Israelites were also forbidden to offer a sacrifice of cattle, calves, sheep, goats, or lambs which had a blemish (Leviticus 22:19-25). The blemishes, too, are listed there.
In the highest sense an angel means the Lord, and so also heaven (nos. 5, 344, 465). Another angel symbolizes something new now from the Lord. To fly in the midst of heaven means, symbolically, to look down, to observe and to foresee (no. 415), here to foresee something new in the church from the Lord out of heaven. The everlasting gospel symbolizes an announcement of the coming of the Lord and His kingdom (nos. 478, 553). Those who dwell on the earth symbolize people in the church to whom the announcement is made.
This serves also to announce that a new church is now about to descend from the Lord out of heaven, because the Lord’s advent involves two elements: a last judgment and after that a new church. The last judgment is the subject of chapters 19 and 20; and the new church, which is the New Jerusalem, is the subject of chapters 21 and 22.
That the gospel and preaching the gospel symbolize an announcement of the advent of the Lord and His kingdom, can be clearly seen from the passages cited in no. 478, to which the reader is referred.
A nation symbolizes people prompted by goods, and in an abstract sense the goods themselves (no. 483). A tribe symbolizes the church as regards religion (no. 349). A tongue symbolizes doctrine (no. 282). And a people symbolizes people guided by truths, and in an abstract sense the truths themselves (no. 483). Consequently to preach to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people means, symbolically, to announce to all people who, owing to religion, are prompted by goods, and owing to doctrine are guided by truths. For these and no others accept the gospel.
This is the symbolic meaning of these words in the spiritual sense.
A loud voice symbolizes an admonition, and to fear God means, symbolically, not to do evil, because it is to act against the Lord. To fear God is to love Him, fearing to do evil because it is to act against Him – every love having this fear within it – as may be seen in no. 527 above.
This admonition is addressed now to people who will belong to the new church on earth, because the first step in reformation is to live according to the Ten Commandments, where the evils that are not to be done are listed. For anyone who does those evils does not fear God. But someone who does not do them, refraining from them because they are acts against God – such a one does fear God, and also loves the Lord, as the Lord Himself teaches in John 14:20-24.*
* “At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.”
To give glory to Him means, symbolically, to acknowledge and confess that every truth comes from the Lord, as may be seen in no. 249 above; and because every truth that makes the church a church is drawn from the Word, it is the Word’s truth that is meant. “For the hour of His judgment has come” means symbolically that everyone will be judged in accordance with the Word’s truth. This is the symbolic meaning because to give glory to Him means, symbolically, to acknowledge and confess that the Word’s truth all comes from the Lord, and we are told next, “for the hour of His judgment has come,” the word “for” entailing this as the cause.
That everyone will be judged by the Word’s truth may be seen in 233, 273 above. And that the church is founded on the Word, and that its character is such as its understanding of the Word, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 76-79.
It is apparent from this that the spiritual meaning of these words is as stated. It is as stated because angels in heaven perceive glory to mean nothing else than Divine truth; and because all Divine truth comes from the Lord, they perceive giving glory to Him to mean an acknowledgment and confession that all truth comes from Him. For all glory in the heavens springs from no other origin, and to the extent that any society in heaven is governed by Divine truth, to the same extent everything in it is radiant, and the angels are surrounded by a commensurate glorious radiance.
[2] That glory means Divine truth can be seen from the following 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 it….” (Isaiah 40:3, 5)
…shine, for your light has come, and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon you…. Jehovah will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. (Isaiah 60:1, 2 to the end)
I will…give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles…, and My glory I will not give to another…. (Isaiah 42:6, 8)
For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it…. And I will not give My glory to another. (Isaiah 48:11)
They shall fear…His glory from the rising of the sun…. The Redeemer will come to Zion…. (Isaiah 59:19, 20)
…your light shall break forth like the morning…; the glory of Jehovah shall gather you. (Isaiah 58:8)
…He will come to gather all nations and tongues, that they may…see My glory. (Isaiah 66:18)
(Jehovah said,) “I live, and all the earth shall be filled with the glory of Jehovah.” (Numbers 14:21)
The whole earth is full of His glory! (Isaiah 6:1-3)
In the beginning was the Word…, and the Word was God…. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men…. That was the true Light…. And the Word became flesh…, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father…. (John 1:1, 4, 9, 14)
These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory…. (John 12:41)
And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with…glory. (Matthew 24:3, 30)
The heavens shall declare the glory of God…. (Psalm 19:1)
Then the nations shall fear the name of Jehovah, and all the kings of the earth Your glory, because (He) built up Zion, (and) He appeared in His glory. (Psalm 102:15, 16)
…the glory of God (will illuminate the Holy Jerusalem) and the Lamb is its light. And the nations (which) are saved shall walk in its light…. (Revelation 21:23-25)
…the Son of Man (will come) in His glory…(to) sit on the throne of His glory. (Matthew 25:31, cf. Mark 8:38)
That the glory of Jehovah filled and covered the Tabernacle: Exodus 40:34,35, Leviticus 9:23,24, Numbers 14:10-12, 16:19, 16:42.
That it filled the house of Jehovah: 1 Kings 8:10, 11.
And so on elsewhere as in Isaiah 24:23; Ezekiel 1:28, 8:4, 9:3, 10:4, 18, 19, 11:22,23; Luke 2:32, 9:26; John 2:11, 7:18, 17:24.
To worship means, symbolically, to acknowledge as holy, as may be seen in nos. 579, 580, 588, 603 above. Consequently, when said in reference to the Lord, to worship means, symbolically, to acknowledge as God of heaven and earth and to worship. To make heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water, in the natural sense means to create them, but in the spiritual sense it symbolically means to form the angelic heaven and the church and everything in them. For heaven symbolizes, in the spiritual sense, the angelic heaven; the earth and the sea symbolize in that sense the internal church and the external church (nos. 403, 404, 420, 470); and springs of water symbolize all the Word’s truths that serve the church for its doctrine and life (no. 409).
[2] The Creator, Jehovah, is the Lord from eternity, and the Savior and Redeemer is the Lord born in time, thus the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity, as can be seen from beginning to end in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord.
Who cannot understand that one God is the creator of the universe, and that there are not three creators? And that creation has as its goal a heaven and church from the human race? (On which subject see Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Providence, nos. 27-45.) So it is that in the spiritual sense to make heaven and the earth means, symbolically, to form the angelic heaven and the church.
This is said for the same reason as in no. 613 above, where we explain what is symbolically meant by having the name of the Father written on their foreheads. And because that was said there, therefore it says here, “worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
Another angel symbolizes something new now from the Lord, as in no. 626 above. The great city Babylon symbolizes the Roman Catholic religion with respect to its dogmas and doctrines. To fall means, symbolically, to be dispersed, for falling is said of a city, but dispersed is said of a religion and its doctrine, which is what the city Babylon symbolizes. That a city symbolizes doctrine may be seen in no. 194 above.
This declaration is now made about Babylon because after the Lord formed the New Christian Heaven, He at the same time formed a new one with people who were of the Roman Catholic religion. The reason is that the Christian heaven composed of the Protestant Reformed forms the core, and Roman Catholics are situated round about it. Consequently, when the core is new, what is on the peripheries is at the same time new. For the Divine light, which is Divine truth, propagates itself from the middle as a center into the peripheries round about, and the things that are in them are also put in order. It is for this reason that this brief reference to Babylon is made now, even though it is the subject taken up specifically in chapters 17 and 18.
That Protestant Christians constitute the core, and Roman Catholics form the great peripheral area surrounding it, and that spiritual light, which is the Divine truth emanating from the Lord, radiates from the center all around to the peripheral areas, even to the last of them, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 104-113, and in the small work, The Last Judgment, no. 48.
It may be seen from this that after dealing with the New Christian Heaven and preaching the gospel, the declaration regarding Babylon follows in the sequence. This, too, is the symbolic meaning of the word “followed.”
Babylon symbolizes the Roman Catholic religion, as above. Wine symbolizes truth springing from goodness, and in an opposite sense, falsity arising from evil (no. 316). Licentiousness then symbolizes the falsification of truth, and the wrath of her licentiousness symbolizes its adulteration and profanation (no. 134). To make all nations drink means, symbolically, to lead astray all the people they were able to bring under their dominion – making to drink of that wine symbolizing to lead astray, and nations symbolizing people who are under their sway.
A third angel following the prior ones symbolizes still more from the Lord that follows in the line of thought, for in the highest sense an angel means the Lord (no. 626). That is because, when an angel utters the Word, as in the present instance, he does not speak on his own, but from the Lord. To say with a loud voice symbolizes what follows, the subject of which is the damnation of those people who in life and in doctrine confirm themselves in a faith divorced from charity.
The subject in verses 1 to 5 of this chapter is the New Christian Heaven, and in verses 6 and 7 a preaching of the gospel, namely, the gospel of the Lord’s advent to establish a new church. And because people caught up in a faith divorced from charity stand in the way, there follows now the threat and warning of damnation to people who still persist in that faith.
To worship the beast means, symbolically, to acknowledge that faith (no. 580). To worship its image means, symbolically, to acknowledge and accept that doctrine (no. 603). To receive its mark on the forehead or hand means, symbolically, to accept the doctrine with love and faith and to affirm it in oneself (nos. 605, 606); and because people who confirm themselves in that doctrine with love and faith also live in accordance with it, this too is meant.
[2] There are three steps in the acceptance of that doctrine, which are meant by the words here. The first step is to acknowledge that doctrine. The second step is to affirm it in oneself. And the third step is to live in accordance with it. To acknowledge it involves thought. To affirm it in oneself involves understanding. And to live in accordance with it involves the will.
There are people who have taken the first step who nevertheless have not progressed to the second or third. There are people who have taken the first and second steps who have nevertheless not progressed to the third. But people who have taken the third step, which is to live in accordance with that doctrine – these are the people of whom the following declarations are made in verses 10 and 11.
To live in accordance with that doctrine is to make evil of no account, thinking that evil does not condemn because works of the law do not save, but only faith. It is also to make goodness of no account, thinking to oneself that no one can do good of himself without its being merit-seeking. People who avoid evils, therefore, only on account of civil and moral laws, and not on account of Divine laws, are people who do good only for the sake of themselves and of the world, thus out of a love of self and not for the Lord’s sake, and so not out of a love of the neighbor.
[3] These are the people of whom the following declarations are made in verses 10 and 11, because nothing condemns that enters only into the thought and understanding. But what enters into the will does condemn, since it enters the life and becomes permanent; for nothing can enter the will unless it becomes a matter of love, and love is a person’s life.
These are also people who do not examine themselves, recognize their sins, and repent, and for that reason are damned. For at heart they say, “What need is there for examining, recognizing and acknowledging sins and for repentance, when faith alone encompasses them all?”
I have seen many such people in the spiritual world who avoided evils and practiced goods solely because of civil and moral law and not at the same time spiritual law, and they were cast into hell.
This is the symbolic meaning of this declaration, because the wine of the wrath of God mixed with pure wine symbolizes the Word’s truth falsified. The cup of His indignation symbolizes truth which leads to good, likewise falsified. And to drink means, symbolically, to adopt these falsified truths, or to steep oneself in a life in accordance with them.
That wine symbolizes the Word’s truth may be seen in no. 316. That the wine of the wrath of God symbolizes the Word’s truth adulterated and falsified may be seen in no. 632. Being mixed with pure wine clearly symbolizes its falsification. The cup also has the same symbolic meaning as the wine, because the cup is its containing vessel.
To drink means, symbolically, to steep one’s life in the falsifications, because this declaration is made to people who live in accordance with the doctrine of justification by faith alone, as may be seen just above in no. 634.
Mixing wine, or wine mixed, symbolizes the falsification of truth also in the book of Psalms:
…in the hand of Jehovah there is a cup, and He has mixed it with wine; He has filled it with mixed wine and poured it out, and…all the impious of the earth shall drink it. (Psalm 75:8)
[2] The Word in many places mentions wrath and indignation together, and wrath there is predicated of evil, while indignation is predicated of falsity, because people caught up in evil are wrathful, while people caught up in falsity are indignant. Both characteristics, moreover, are in the Word attributed to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord, but it means that someone is wrathful or indignant at the Lord (see no. 525 above).
That the Word mentions wrath and indignation together is apparent from the following passages there:
…Jehovah comes…with indignation and wrath…. …the earth will move out of her place…in the day (of the indignation) of His wrath. (Isaiah 13:5, 9, 13)
…Assyria, the rod of My wrath…. I will order him…against the people of My indignation (Isaiah 10:4-7)
I…will fight against you…in wrath…and in…indignation. (Jeremiah 21:5)
Behold, I am gathering them…in My wrath and in My indignation…. (Jeremiah 32:37)
…the wrath of Jehovah is against all nations, and His indignation against the whole host of them. (Isaiah 34:2)
…Jehovah…will repay in His indignation and wrath…. (Isaiah 66:15)
I have trodden down the peoples in My wrath, and made them drunk in My indignation…. (Isaiah 63:6)
…My wrath and My indignation will be poured out on this place…. (Jeremiah 7:20)
And so on elsewhere, as in Jeremiah 33:5, Ezekiel 5:13, Deuteronomy 29:28. Also the indignation of wrath, Isaiah 13:13, Psalm 78:49, 50, Deuteronomy 6:14, 15.
But in Isaiah:
Only in Jehovah…righteousness and strength…. And all shall be ashamed who are indignant against Him. (Isaiah 45:24)
Fire symbolizes a love of self and love of the world (no. 494). Brimstone symbolizes the lusts springing from these two loves (no. 452). And because all the torment in hell occurs in consequence of these three elements, therefore we are told, “he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone, and the smoke of their torment will ascend forever and ever.” The verse says in the presence of the angels and the Lamb, because these loves are opposed to Divine truth and to the Lord who embodies the Word. For angels symbolize Divine truths, being the recipients of them (no. 170); and the Lamb symbolizes the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity and at the same time in respect to the Word (no. 595).
That torments in hell occur in consequence of the aforesaid loves, and that people caught up in a faith divorced from charity experience them, may be seen in nos. 421, 502, 591 above.
To have no rest day or night symbolizes those people’s continuing state of vexations after death, because their torment was just predicted in the preceding declaration. Day or night means for all time, and symbolically, in the spiritual sense, through every state, thus continually; for day and night in that sense symbolize states of life (nos. 101, 476).
That to worship the beast and its image and receive the mark of its name means, symbolically, to acknowledge that faith, to accept its doctrine, to affirm it in oneself, and to live in accordance with it, may be seen in no. 634 above, where a similar statement occurs.
That this is the symbolic meaning of these words may be seen in no. 593 above. To keep the commandments means, symbolically, to live in accordance with the Word’s commandments, which are contained in summary form in the Ten Commandments. And the faith of Jesus symbolizes faith in Him, as people [who live in accordance with the Word’s commandments] have their faith from Him, the faith that is the faith of Jesus.
To hear a voice speaking from heaven symbolizes a prediction by the Lord. It is a prediction about the state of people after death who will belong to His New Church, because that state is the subject in this verse. Those who die from now on symbolize their state after death. The injunction to write means symbolically that it be something to be remembered by people later (nos. 39, 63). The blessed symbolize people who have eternal life and happiness, since they are the people who are blessed. The dead symbolize people who have afflicted their soul, crucified their flesh, and undergone temptations or trials. That these are the people meant here by the dead will be seen below.
[2] Regarding those who have undergone temptations or trials because of their faith in the Lord and a life in accordance with His commandments, that they will have eternal life and happiness is apparent from the verse just preceding, which says, “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus,” which symbolically means that a New Church person will be examined through temptations or trials to discover his character as regards a life in accordance with the commandments and as regards faith in the Lord (see just above, no. 638). It is apparent also from the words following, that they will have rest from their labors, which means symbolically that those who undergo temptations or trials will have peace in the Lord, as explained just below in no. 640. Temptations or trials here mean spiritual temptations or trials, which occur in the case of people who have faith in the Lord and live in accordance with His commandments when they are driving away the evil spirits in them who ally themselves with their lusts. These temptations or trials are symbolically meant by a cross in the following passages:
Whoever does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. (Matthew 10:38)
…Jesus said…, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. (Matthew 16:24, cf. Luke 9:23-25, 14:26, 27)
And by crucifying the flesh in Galatians:
Those who are Christ’s crucify the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24)
[3] The dead symbolize people who have afflicted their soul, crucified their flesh, and undergone temptations or trials, because by so doing they have ended their previous life and so become as though dead in the eyes of the world. For the Lord said,
Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. (John 12:24)
Nor are any others meant by the dead in John:
(Jesus said,) “as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.” (John 5:21)
Also in John:
(Jesus said,) “the hour is coming…, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and…live.” (John 5:25)
And also by the resurrection of the dead (Luke 14:14, Revelation 20:5, 12, 13, and elsewhere). See no. 106 above.
And in the book of Psalms:
Precious in the sight of Jehovah is the death of His saints. (Psalm 116:15)
Moreover Jesus said,
Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. (Matthew 10:39, 16:25, cf. Luke 9:24, 25, 17:33, John 12:25)
“Yes,” says the Spirit means symbolically that the Word’s Divine truth teaches (nos. 87, 104). That they may rest means symbolically that they will have peace in the Lord. Peace means a resting of the soul from being attacked by evils and falsities, thus by hell, as was the case previously. Labors means labors of the soul, which are to afflict and crucify its flesh and to undergo temptations or trials. Therefore their resting from their labors means symbolically that people who afflict their soul and crucify their flesh in the world for the Lord’s sake and for the sake of eternal life will have peace in the Lord. For the Lord says,
…in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation. (John 16:33)
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. (John 14:27)
Such an affliction is meant by labor in the following places:
He shall see by the labor of His soul, and be satisfied…(and) shall justify many…. (Isaiah 53:11).
…Jehovah…saw our affliction and our labor and our oppression. (Deuteronomy 26:7)
They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth children in terror. (Isaiah 65:23)
I know…your labor, and your patience…, but you have endured, have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake…. (Revelation 2:2, 3)
The works that follow them symbolize everything that remains in a person after death.
People know that the outward acts that people see take their essence, soul and life from internal origins that people do not see, but which are seen by the Lord and by angels. Both of these, outward acts and internal origins, taken together are works – good works if the internal origins are impelled by love and faith, and if people do their outward acts and speak in accordance with them, but evil works if the internal origins are not impelled by love and faith, and if people do their outward acts and speak in accordance with these. If they do outward acts and speak only seemingly in accord with love and faith, those works and words are either hypocritical or merit-seeking.
Ten people may do the same works in outward appearance, but still the works are not alike, because the internal origins which produce the outward actions are not alike.
[2] Who does not see that there is an internal self and an external one, and that these two operate in concert? For who does not see that the intellect and will constitute a person’s internal self, and his speech and action his external self? Indeed, who can speak or act apart from his intellect and will? And because everyone sees this, everyone can also see that works consist of the external manifestation and internal origin together. Moreover, because the external manifestation takes its essence, soul and life from its internal origin, as already said, it follows that the external manifestation is of the same character as its internal origin, consequently that the works that follow people are such as they have loved and believed and so have done and spoken.
That good works embody charity and faith may be seen in nos. 73, 76, 94, 141 above. And that a person’s inner being or internal self does not consist in understanding without willing, but in willing and so understanding, consequently that it does not consist in believing without loving, but in loving and so believing, and that doing accordingly is a person’s outward aspect or external self, may be seen in no. 625 above.
[3] It can be seen from this that the works that follow them means, symbolically, according as they have loved and believed and so have done and spoken.
Works have a similar symbolic meaning in the following passages:
…in the day of…judgment…God…will render to each one according to his works. (Romans 2:5, 6)
…we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body…, whether good or evil. (2 Corinthians 5:10)
…the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father…, and then He will reward each according to his works. (Matthew 16:27)
They shall come forth – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment. (John 5:29)
(They) were judged according to…the things which were written in the books…, each one according to his works. (Revelation 20:12, 13)
Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. (Revelation 22:12)
I will give to each one of you according to his works. (Revelation 2:23)
I know your works…. (Revelation 2:1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 13, 19, 26, 3:1-3, 7, 8, 14-16)
I will repay them according to their work and according to the doing of their hands. (Jeremiah 25:14)
Jehovah…is dealing with us according to our ways and according to our works…. (Zechariah 1:6)
And in many other places.
A cloud symbolizes the Word in its literal sense, and a white cloud the Word in its literal sense as to what it is like interiorly. And the Son of Man means the Lord in relation to the Word. Therefore we are told that on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man.
That a cloud symbolizes the Word in respect to its literal sense may be seen in nos. 24, 513 above. A white cloud symbolizes the literal sense of the Word as to what it is like interiorly because whiteness is predicated of truths in a state of light (nos. 167, 367), and the literal sense has interiorly within it spiritual truths, which appear in the light of heaven. That the Son of Man means the Lord in relation to the Word may be seen in no. 44 above, and confirmed by numerous proofs in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 19-28.
[2] The Lord often said that His disciples would see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven. He said this in Matthew 24:30, 26:64, Mark 14:61, 62, Luke 21:27, and no one knows that this symbolically means anything else than that when He comes to execute judgment He will appear on clouds in the sky. But this is not what it means. Rather it means that when He comes to judge, He will appear in the literal sense of the Word; and because He has now come, He has appeared therefore in the Word by revealing the existence of a spiritual meaning in every particular of the Word’s literal sense, having the Lord alone in it as its subject, teaching that He alone is God of heaven and earth.
This is what is meant by the Lord’s coming on the clouds of heaven.
That every particular of the Word’s literal sense has in it a spiritual meaning, that this has the Lord alone in it as its subject, and that He alone is God of heaven and earth, is something we have shown in two Doctrines of the New Jerusalem – The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, and The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture.
[3] Because the Lord’s coming on the clouds of heaven means His coming in His Word, at a time when He is ready to execute judgment, and because this is the subject of the book of Revelation, therefore we are told there, “Behold, He is coming with clouds” (Revelation 1:7). And in the present verse, “I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man.”
Moreover, in The Acts of the Apostles we are told:
…while they watched, (Jesus) was taken up (into heaven), and a cloud received Him out of their sight…. And…two men…in white apparel…said, “…This same Jesus, who was taken up…into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11)
A cloud symbolizes the Word’s literal sense because that sense is natural, and in the sight of angels, whose light is a spiritual light, Divine truth in natural light appears as a cloud – as a white cloud in the case of people who possess genuine truths from the Word’s literal sense, as a dark cloud in the case of people who lack genuine truths, as a black cloud in the case of people caught up in falsities, and as a black cloud combined with fire in the case of people caught up in a faith divorced from charity, because they are engaged in evil practices. I have witnessed it.
That a crown on the head symbolizes wisdom may be seen in nos. 189, 252 above, and a golden crown wisdom springing from love in no. 235. And because the crown was seen on the head of the Son of Man, or the Lord, the golden crown symbolizes the Divine wisdom emanating from His Divine love.
A sickle symbolizes the Divine truth in the Word because a harvest symbolizes the state of the church in respect to Divine truth – here its last state – and therefore to harvest, which is what a sickle is used for, here means, symbolically, to put an end to the state of the church and to execute judgment. Moreover, because these actions are accomplished by means of the Word’s Divine truth, therefore this is what is symbolically meant by a sickle, and by a sharp sickle its being accomplished perfectly and flawlessly.
A sickle has the same symbolic meaning as swords, but a sickle is specified when the subject has to do with harvesting, while a sword is specified when the subject has to do with war.
That swords symbolize Divine truth combating falsities, and the converse, may be seen in nos. 52, 108, 117 above.
The symbolic meaning of an angel or angels may be seen in nos. 5, 65, 170, 258, 342, 343, 344, 415, 465 above. Here it is the angelic heaven, because we are told that the angel came out of the temple, and a temple symbolizes heaven in respect to the church (nos. 191, 529, 585). For the church exists in heaven just as much as on earth.
To cry with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud symbolizes a supplication by angels in heaven to the Lord, because they lacked anything corresponding to them on earth. For the church on earth is to the angelic heaven like the foundation on which a house rests, or like the feet on which a person stands and which he uses to walk. When the church on earth has been destroyed, therefore, the angels lament and supplicate the Lord. Their supplication is that He may bring the church to an end and raise up a new one. The angel’s crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud accordingly symbolizes a supplication by angels in heaven to the Lord.
That He who sat on the cloud symbolizes the Lord in relation to the Word may be seen just above in no. 642. That to thrust in a sickle and reap means, symbolically, to put an end to something and execute judgment – this, too, may be seen in nos. 642, 643 above. For the hour has come to reap means symbolically that the church is at an end. For the harvest has dried means symbolically that the church has reached its last state. A harvest symbolizes the state of the church with respect to Divine truth. The reason is that a harvest yields the grain used to make bread, and grain and bread symbolize the church’s goodness, which is achieved through truths.
[2] That this is the symbolic meaning of these words can be more clearly seen from passages in the Word where a harvest, reaping, or sickle are mentioned, as in the following:
…I will sit to judge all the…nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe…. For their wickedness is great. (Joel 3:12, 13)
Cut off the sower…, and him who handles the sickle at harvest time. (Jeremiah 50:16)
The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor…; a little while yet till the time of her harvest comes. (Jeremiah 51:33)
It shall be when the standing grain of the harvest is gathered, and his arm reaps the ears…. …in the morning your seed flourishes…, the harvest a heap in the day of your possession and desperate sorrow. (Isaiah 17:5, 6, 11)
Be ashamed, you farmers…, because the harvest of the field has perished. (Joel 1:11)
(Jesus said to His disciples:) “There are still four months until the harvest comes. …lift up your eyes and behold the fields, that they are already white for harvest! …I sent you to reap….” (John 4:35-38)
(Jesus) said to His disciples, “The harvest…is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray…the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest.” (Matthew 9:37, 38, Luke 10:2)
In these places, and also in Isaiah 16:9, Jeremiah 5:17, 8:20, the harvest symbolizes the church with respect to Divine truth.
[3] Everything contained in these verses in the present chapter, however, and also in the following two chapters, was foretold by the Lord in the parable of a sower and his gathering in of the harvest, and because it shows and illustrates what the symbolism is, we will quote it here:
(Jesus said:) “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but…his enemy came and sowed tares…. …when the plants sprouted…, …the tares also appeared….
“The servants said…, ‘Do you want us to…gather them up?’
“But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn….” ‘ “
And His disciples came to (Jesus), saying, “Explain to us the parable….”
(Jesus) said…: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man (or the Lord). The field is the world (the church), the…seeds are the sons of the kingdom (the church’s truths), the tares are the sons of the evil one (falsities from hell), the enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the culmination of the age (the end of the church), the reapers are the angels (Divine truths). Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the culmination of this age (at then end of the church).” (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43)
This is the symbolic meaning, because He who sat on the cloud symbolizes the Lord in relation to the Word (no. 642). To thrust in the sickle and reap means, symbolically, to put an end to something and execute judgment (no. 643). The harvest symbolizes the state of the church, here its last state (nos. 643, 645). And the earth symbolizes the church (no. 285).
When these symbolic meanings are combined into one, it is apparent from them that “He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth and the earth was reaped” symbolizes the end of the church, because it no longer had any Divine truth in it.
In the highest sense an angel symbolizes the Lord, and also the angelic heaven, and likewise the Divine truth emanating from the Lord (see nos. 5, 65, 170, 258, 342-344, 415, 465 above). Here, however, the angel symbolizes the heavens of the spiritual kingdom, and consequently the Divine truths there, because we are told in the next verse that another angel came out from the altar, who symbolizes the heavens of the Lord’s celestial kingdom, thus the Divine goodness there, as shown in the next number.
All the heavens are divided into two kingdoms – the spiritual kingdom and the celestial kingdom. The spiritual kingdom is the kingdom of the Lord’s wisdom, because the angels in it are in a state of wisdom gained from Divine truths received from the Lord; and the celestial kingdom is the kingdom of the Lord’s love, because the angels there are prompted by love received from the Lord and so possess every kind of goodness.
That all the heavens are divided into two kingdoms may be seen in the book Heaven and Hell (London, 1758), nos. 20-28. Also in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom (Amsterdam, 1763), nos. 101, 381.
A temple symbolizes the whole of heaven, as in no. 644 above; but because it is called here the temple which is in heaven, and after that mention is made of the altar, the temple symbolizes the heaven of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, as said just above. And the sharp sickle symbolizes Divine truth in the Word, as in nos. 643, 645 above.
[2] Previously the text said that He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle and the earth was reaped, and now that an angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle, and he thrust it into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth; and the reason is that the earth which was reaped by Him who sat on the cloud, or the Lord, symbolizes the church throughout the world, while the vine of the earth symbolizes the church in the Christian world.
This description includes elements similar to those in what the Lord foretold in the parable of the sower and his gathering in of the harvest in Matthew 13, which we quoted above at the end of no. 645. There we said that the harvest is the culmination of the age, that is, the end of the church, and that the reapers are angels who symbolize Divine truths. For angels are not sent to reap, that is, to perform the actions symbolized, but the Lord accomplishes the actions through the Divine truths in His Word. As the Lord says, “the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). See nos. 233, 273 above.
Another angel here symbolizes the heavens of the Lord’s celestial kingdom, because he was seen to come out from the altar. For an altar symbolizes worship of the Lord prompted by love, as may be seen in no. 392 above. Moreover, fire symbolizes love (no. 468), and fire on an altar symbolizes Divine love (no. 395).
We are told that the angel had power over fire because angels guard that love in themselves.
This is the spiritual meaning of these words, inasmuch as the two angels symbolize the heavens of the Lord’s spiritual and celestial kingdoms (nos. 647, 648), and the heavens do nothing of themselves, but from the Lord. For the angels in the heavens are only recipient vessels. Consequently in the spiritual sense nothing else is symbolized but the Lord’s operation, here His operation into the church in the Christian world and into the works of charity and faith among the people in it. The vine, indeed, symbolizes that church, as we shall see after this in number 651, and grapes and clusters of grapes symbolize works of charity. This is the symbolism of grapes and clusters of grapes because they are the fruits of the vine in a vineyard, and fruits in the Word symbolize good works.
[2] The angel who came out from the altar told the angel who came out of the temple to thrust in his sickle and gather the grapes because, as we said before, the angel who came out from the altar symbolizes the heavens of the celestial kingdom, or heavens characterized by the goodness of love, while the angel who came out of the temple symbolizes the heavens of the spiritual kingdom, or heavens characterized by truths of wisdom; and the goodness of love does nothing by itself, but only through the truth of wisdom, and the truth of wisdom does nothing by itself, but only in response to the goodness of love. The reality of this is something we showed many times in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom. That is why the angel who came out from the altar told the angel who came out of the temple to thrust in his sickle and gather the clusters of grapes of the vine of the earth.
That now is why this description symbolizes the Lord’s operation from the goodness of His love through the Divine truth of His Word.
[3] That grapes and clusters of grapes symbolize goods and the works of charity can be seen from the following passages:
Woe is me! …I have become like the gatherings of summer, like the gleanings of vintage grapes; there is no cluster to eat; first-ripe fruit my soul desires. The holy man has perished from the earth, and the upright among men. (Micah 7:1, 2)
Their grapes are grapes of gall, they have bitter clusters. (Deuteronomy 32:32)
My beloved had a vineyard…. He expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced wild grapes. (Isaiah 5:1, 2, 4)
They look to other gods, they love flagons of grapes. (Hosea 3:1)
…every tree is known by its own fruit. …people do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. (Luke 6:44)
…in the midst of the land…it shall be…like the gleanings of grapes when the grape harvest is done. (Isaiah 24:12, 13)
If the gatherers of the grapes come to you, they will not leave any gleanings. (Jeremiah 49:9, cf. Obadiah verses 4, 5)
The plunderer has fallen on…your grape harvest. (Jeremiah 48:32, 33)
You will be troubled, you complacent ones, for the grape harvest is failing, the gathering will not come. (Isaiah 32:9, 10)
And so on elsewhere where the fruit of the vineyard and the fruit of the vine are mentioned.
Some goods are the goods of a celestial love, and some are the goods of a spiritual love. The goods of a celestial love are those of love toward the Lord, and the goods of a spiritual love are those of a love for the neighbor. The latter goods are called goods of charity and are those meant by the fruits of the vineyard, which are grapes and clusters of grapes. But the goods of love toward the Lord are meant in the Word by the fruits of trees, primarily olives.
[4] “For her grapes are ripe.” This symbolically means, because the Christian Church has reached its last state.
The ripening of the vineyard’s grapes has the same symbolic meaning as the drying of the harvest above, but a harvest is mentioned in reference to the church in general, while a vineyard is mentioned in reference to the church in particular. The drying of the harvest symbolizes the last state of the church, as may be seen in no. 645 above, and so likewise does the ripening of the grapes of the vineyard.
A vineyard symbolize the church which has the Word’s Divine truth and where the Lord is thereby known, since wine symbolizes the interior truth that comes from the Lord through the Word. The vineyard here accordingly symbolizes the Christian Church.
That wine symbolizes truth springing from the goodness of love, thus from the Lord, may be seen in no. 316 above.
Thrusting in his sickle and gathering the vintage has the same symbolic meaning as thrusting in his sickle and reaping, but reaping is said in reference to the crop of a field, while gathering the vintage is said in reference to a vineyard. That to gather the vintage is to harvest a vineyard and gather the grapes, and to reap is to harvest a field and gather the grain, is apparent without explanation.
That a vineyard symbolizes the church which has the Word and where the Lord is thereby known, thus in this case the Christian Church, can be seen from the following passages:
(Jesus said,) “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he shall be cast out as a branch…withered…into the fire….” (John 15:5, 6)
Jesus’ likening the kingdom of heaven to a landowner who hired “laborers for his vineyard” (Matthew 20:1-8).
The sons who worked in a vineyard (Matthew 21:28).
The fig tree planted in a vineyard that bore no fruit (Luke 13:6-9).
Jesus’ telling the following parable: A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it. And he leased it to farmers, that he might receive its fruit. But they killed the servants he sent to them, and finally killed his son (Matthew 21:33-39, Mark 12:1-9, Luke 20:9-16).
(I will) sing…a song of my beloved regarding his vineyard: My beloved has a vineyard…(which) he fenced around…and planted with a choice vine. (Isaiah 5:1, 2ff.)
In that day reply to her, “A vineyard of red wine!” I, Jehovah, keep it, I water it every moment….” (Isaiah 27:2, 3)
Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard…. They have made it desolate. (Jeremiah 12:10, 11)
Jehovah is entering into judgment with the elders…. For you have set fire to the vineyard. (Isaiah 3:14)
In all vineyards there shall be wailing. (Amos 5:17, 18)
In the vineyards there will be no singing or rejoicing. (Isaiah 16:10)
To throw clusters of grapes into a winepress means, symbolically, to examine people’s works, for clusters of grapes symbolize works (see no. 649 above). But because the winepress is called the great winepress of the wrath of God, it symbolizes a finding that their works were evil; for the wrath of God is predicated of evil (no. 635).
A winepress symbolizes examination because in presses the juice is expressed from grapes, and oil from olives, and one perceives the character of the grapes and olives from the juice and oil expressed. Moreover, because the vineyard symbolizes the Christian Church, and its clusters of grapes the people’s works, therefore throwing the clusters into a winepress symbolizes an examination among people in the Christian Church. But because they have divorced faith from charity and made faith saving without the works of the law, and because a faith divorced from charity produces only evil works, the winepress is therefore called the great winepress of the wrath of God.
An examination of people’s works is symbolized also by a winepress in the following passages:
My beloved had a vineyard on a fruitful hill. He…planted it with a choice vine. He also…hewed out a winepress in it; and he expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced wild grapes. (Isaiah 5:1, 2)
Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. …go down, for the winepress is full, the vats have overflowed; for their wickedness is great. (Joel 3:13)
The threshing floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall deceive them. (Hosea 9:1, 2)
The plunderer has fallen on…your grape harvest…. I have caused wine to fail from the winepress; no one will tread with joyous shouting. There is no joyous shouting! (Jeremiah 48:32, 33)
…a householder…planted a vineyard…, and dug in it a wine-press…, and leased it to farmers…. (Matthew 21:33)
But they killed the servants he sent to them, and finally killed his son.*
A winepress mentioned in Joel refers to goods of charity from which spring truths of faith:
Rejoice, you children of Zion…. The threshing floors are full of grain, and the presses overflow with new wine and oil. (Joel 2:23, 24)
* Matthew 21:34-39.
The trampling of the winepress means symbolically that the examination was made to discover the character of the works. To trample a winepress means, symbolically, to examine, and the clusters of grapes that were trampled symbolize works, as in no. 649 above, here the works that flowed from their church’s doctrine regarding faith, namely evil works. The city here means the great city mentioned in chapter 11, verse 8, above, “the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt.” That it means the doctrine of faith divorced from charity – the doctrine of the church of the Protestant Reformed – may be seen in nos. 501, 502 above. And because every examination of a church’s doctrine is made in accordance with the Divine truth in the Word, and because this is not found in the doctrine of the Protestant Reformed, but apart from it, this too is symbolically meant by the trampling’s having taken place outside the city.
It can be seen from this that the trampling of the winepress outside the city means symbolically that the examination was made in accordance with Divine truths in the Word, to discover the character of the people’s works that flowed from their church’s doctrine regarding faith.
In the following passages, to trample or tread a winepress means, symbolically, not only to examine for evil works, but also to hold them up to view and to remove them and cast them into hell:
I speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Why is your apparel red, and your garments like those of one who treads in the winepress? I have trodden the winepress alone…. (Isaiah 63:1-3)
The Lord has trodden underfoot all my mighty men…; the Lord has trampled the winepress of the…daughter of Judah. (Lamentations 1:15)
(He who sat on the white horse) shepherds (the nations) with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fury and wrath of…God. (Revelation 19:15)
Blood symbolizes violence done to the Word (no. 327) and the falsification and profanation of the Divine truth in the Word (no. 379). For blood from a winepress means the juice or wine produced from trampled clusters of grapes, and wine and new wine have the same symbolic meaning (no. 316). Horses’ bridles symbolize the Word’s truths by which the intellect is led, inasmuch as a horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word (no. 298). Thus a bridle symbolizes the truth by which that understanding or intellect is led. Up to the horses’ bridles means even into the mouth into which the bridle’s bit is inserted, and since a horse uses its mouth to drink and nourish itself, it also symbolically means that such violence was done to the Word by people’s dreadful falsifications of truth that it was scarcely possible for anyone any longer to be taught by it, and so to be led by the Lord through Divine truths.
A bridle also symbolizes that by which the intellect is led in Isaiah 30:27, 28, 37:29, and the blood of grapes symbolizes the Divine truth in the Word in Genesis 49:11 and Deuteronomy 32:14, though in an opposite sense in the latter case.
Furlongs have the same symbolism as paths, because furlongs are the measurements of paths, and paths symbolize truths that lead somewhere (no. 176), and in an opposite sense, falsities. And one thousand six hundred symbolizes evils in their whole entirety; for 1600 has the same symbolic meaning as 16, and 16 the same symbolic meaning as 4, and four is predicated of goodness and of the union of goodness and truth (no. 322), so that in an opposite sense it is predicated of evil and of the conjunction of evil and falsities, as in the present instance. Moreover, because the number’s being multiplied by 100 does not take away its symbolic meaning, but heightens it, therefore one thousand six hundred furlongs symbolizes nothing but the falsity of evil.
That all numbers in the Word have some symbolic meaning may be seen in no. 348 above, and that a number symbolizes the character of a thing in nos. 448, 608-610.
**********
I spoke with some of the spirits meant by the dragon. And one of them said to me, “Come with me and I will show you what pleases our eyes and hearts.”
Then he took me through a dark forest and over a hill, from which I could view the pleasures of the dragon spirits. And I saw an amphitheater built in the form of a circle, with sloping tiers of benches extending up all around on which spectators were sitting. Those who sat on the lowest benches looked to me at a distance like satyrs and priapi, some of them with a cloth covering their private parts, and some of them naked without one. On the benches above them sat whoremongers and harlots. So they appeared to me from their behavior.
The dragon spirit then said to me, “Now you will see our sport.” And I saw what looked like calves, rams, ewes, kids and lambs brought into the arena of the circus, and after they were all there, a gate opened and I saw what looked like young lions, panthers, leopards and wolves rushing upon the flock and savagely attacking them. They tore them to pieces and slaughtered them. And after that bloody carnage the satyrs spread sand over the site where the slaughter took place.
[2] The dragon spirit said to me then, “These are our sports, which please our hearts.”
But I replied, “Get away from me, you demon! In a little while you will see this amphitheater turned into a lake of fire and brimstone.”
He laughed and left me. And wondering to myself afterward why the Lord permits such things, I received in my heart the answer, that they are permitted as long as spirits are in the world of spirits; but that when their time in that world is over, such theatrical scenes are turned into dreadful ones in hell.
[3] Everything that I saw was a sight induced by the dragon spirits through beguilements. There were no calves, rams, ewes, kids or lambs, therefore, but those spirits made genuine goods and truths of the church to so appear, goods and truths that they hate. The young lions, panthers, leopards and wolves were manifestations of the lusts in those spirits who looked like satyrs and priapi. Those without a cloth over their private parts were people who believed that evils are not seen in the eyes of God, while those with a cloth are people who believed that evils are seen, but do not condemn, provided they have faith. The whoremongers and harlots were people who falsified the Word’s truth, for licentiousness symbolizes the falsification of truth.
Everything in the spiritual world appears at a distance in accordance with its correspondence, and when these correspondences take manifest form, in objects like those of natural ones, we call them representations of spiritual entities.
[4] I later saw those spirits leaving the forest, with the dragon spirit surrounded by the satyrs and priapi, followed by their lieutenants and camp followers, who were the whoremongers and harlots. The troop grew as it went, and I was given then to hear what they were saying among themselves. They were saying that they saw a flock of sheep and goats in a meadow, and that it was a sign that they were approaching one of the Jerusalem cities where charity is primary. And they said, “Let us go and seize that city, throw out its inhabitants, and plunder their goods!”
They went to it, but it had a wall around it, with angels as guards upon the wall. So then they said, “Let us take it by trickery. Let us send in an artful person skilled in casuistry, who can make black white and white black, and color the reality of any subject.”
So the spirits found a certain expert in the metaphysical art, who could turn concepts of things into considerations of terms and hide actual realities under strings of words, and so fly away like a hawk with its prey under its wings. They told him what to say to the inhabitants of the city, that they were people who shared the inhabitants’ religion and should be admitted.
Going to the city gate he knocked, and when it was opened, he said that he wished to speak with the wisest person in the city. So he was allowed in and taken to a certain man, and he addressed the man then, saying, “My brethren are outside the city and ask to be let in. They share your religion. You and we both make faith and charity to be the two essential ingredients of religion. The only difference is that you say charity is primary and faith its effect, while we say faith is primary and charity its effect. What does it matter which one is called primary, when we believe in both?”
[5] The city’s wise man replied, “Let us not speak about this matter by ourselves, but do so in the presence of a number of others, to serve as arbiters and judges. Otherwise no decision will result.”
And at that he summoned some others, and the dragon spirit’s emissary repeated to them what he had said before.
Then the city’s wise man responded, “You said that it is the same whether one takes charity to be the primary concern of the church, or faith, provided one agrees that the two together form the church and its religion. And yet the difference is as the difference between something prior and something subsequent, between a cause and its effect, between a principal cause and an instrumental cause, between an essential component and a manner of expression.
“I speak so to you, because I have observed that you are an expert in the metaphysical art, an art that we call casuistry, and that some people call mumbo jumbo. But let us put these terms aside. The difference is as the difference between something above and something below. Indeed, if you would believe it, it is as the difference between heaven and hell. For that which is primary forms the head and breast, while that which is its effect forms the feet and the soles of the feet.
“But let us first agree on what charity is and what faith is – that charity is the love’s affection for doing good to the neighbor for God’s sake, and for the sake of salvation and eternal life, and that faith is confident thought regarding God, salvation and eternal life.”
[6] However, the emissary said, “I grant that that is what faith is, and I also grant that charity is, as you say, an affection for God’s sake, because it conforms with His commandment, but not that is an affection for the sake of salvation and eternal life.”
Whereupon the city’s wise man said, “Let it be as you say, provided it is for God’s sake.”
Following this agreement the city’s wise man said, “Is not affection the primary thing and thought its effect?”
To which the dragon spirit’s emissary answered, “No, it is not.”
But he was told in reply, “You cannot deny it. A person is moved to think by his affection, is he not? Take away the affection. Can you form any thought? The case is entirely the same as if you were to take the sound out of speech. If you were to take away any sound, could you speak a word? The tone is also a matter of affection, while the words are a matter of thought, for affection produces the tone and thought the words. The case is also like that of a flame and its light. If you take away the flame, does not the light die?
“So it is with charity and faith, charity being an affection, and faith a matter of thought. Can you not comprehend, then, that the primary element is everything in the secondary one, even as sound is in speech? And from this you can see that if you do not make primary that which is primary, you do not possess the second element. Consequently, if you take faith, which is in second place, and put it in first place, you will appear no otherwise in heaven than as a person upside down, with his feet planted upward and his head pointed down. Or you will look like a clown turned upside down and walking on his hands. Since people like you will appear so in heaven, what then are your good works constituting charity but the kind that a clown might do with his feet, seeing that he cannot do them with his hands? As a consequence your charity is natural and not spiritual, as you yourself see, because it is turned upside down.”
[7] The emissary understood this, for every devil can understand truth when he hears it, even though he cannot retain it, because when his affection for evil returns, it casts out thought of truth.
After that, then, the city’s wise man described with many illustrations what faith is like when it is accepted as primary, saying that it is merely natural, that it is simply knowledge devoid of any spiritual life, and that it is consequently not faith. “For your charity,” he said, “is nothing but a natural affection, and the only kind of thought that springs from a natural affection is natural thought, which is what constitutes your faith.
“I might almost say, too,” he continued, “that in your merely natural faith there is scarcely any other spiritual life than in your knowledge of the Mongol empire, of the diamond mine there, or of its emperor’s wealth and court.”
When the dragon’s emissary heard this, he angrily departed and reported to his companions outside the city. And when they heard that he had been told that charity is an affection for doing good to the neighbor for God’s sake and for the sake of salvation and eternal life, they all cried out, “That’s a lie!”
And the dragon spirit himself said, “What an outrage! All good works that constitute charity – if done for the sake of salvation, are they not merit-seeking?”
[8] The spirits then said to one another, “Let us summon here more of our colleagues, and let us lay siege to this city. Let us make ladders, scale the wall and attack them at night, and throw out those proponents of charity.”
But when they attempted this, there suddenly appeared what looked like fire from heaven which consumed them. In fact, however, the fire from heaven was a manifestation of their anger, owing to their hatred of the city’s inhabitants, because those inhabitants cast faith out of first place into second place. It appeared to them as though they were consumed by fire because hell opened beneath their feet and swallowed them.
Events similar to this occurred in many places at the time of the Last Judgment, and this is the meaning of the following depiction in the book of Revelation:
(The dragon) will go out to lead astray the nations which are in the four corners of the earth…, to gather them together for war…. And they went up over the breadth of the land and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. But fire came down from God out of heaven and consumed them. (Revelation 20:8, 9)
CHAPTER 15
1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete. 2 And I saw as though a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over its image and over its mark and over the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass, having harps of God. 3 They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:
“Great and marvelous are Your works,
Lord God Almighty!
Just and true are Your ways,
O King of the saints!
4 Who does not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy.
Therefore all nations shall come and worship before You,
For Your judgments have been manifested.”
5 After these things I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. 6 And out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in clean bright linen, and having their chests girded with golden sashes. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power, and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
A preparation to reveal the last state of the church and expose the evils and falsities in which those who belonged to that church were caught up (verses 1, 5-8). The separation from them of those who had confessed the Lord and lived in accordance with His commandments (verses 2-4).
The Contents of the Individual Verses
1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous:
A revelation from the Lord regarding the state of the church on earth and its character with respect to love and faith.
seven angels having the seven last plagues,
The evils and falsities that exist in the church in its last state exposed in their entirety by the Lord.
for in them the wrath of God is complete.
The destruction of the church and its end then.
2 And I saw as though a sea of glass mingled with fire,
The farthest boundary of the spiritual world, where those people were gathered who had religion and consequently worshiped, but lacked any goodness of life.
and those who have the victory over the beast, over its image and over its mark and over the number of its name,
People who rejected faith alone and its accompanying doctrine, and so did not acknowledge or become imbued with its falsities, and did not falsify the Word.
standing beside the sea of glass, having harps of God.
The Christian heaven at the boundaries [of the spiritual world], and the faith accompanying charity in the people there.
3 They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb,
A confession springing from charity, thus from a life in accordance with the precepts of the Law contained in the Ten Commandments, and from a faith in the Divinity of the Lord’s humanity.
saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty!
Everything in the world, in heaven and in the church was created and formed by the Lord out of Divine love by means of Divine wisdom.
For just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!
Everything that emanates from the Lord is just and true, because He is Divine goodness itself and Divine truth itself in heaven and in the church.
4 Who does not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
The Lord alone is to be loved and worshiped.
For You alone are holy.
He embodies the Word, truth, and enlightenment.
Therefore all nations shall come and worship before You,
People who possess the goodness of love and charity will acknowledge the Lord alone to be God.
For Your judgments have been manifested.”
The truths in the Word openly attest to this.
5 After these things I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened.
The inmost of heaven appeared, where the Lord is present in His holiness in the Word and in the Law contained in the Ten Commandments.
6 And out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues,
A preparation by the Lord for influx from the inmost of heaven into the church, to expose its evils and falsities and so to separate evil people from the good,
clothed in clean bright linen, and having their chests girded with golden sashes.
this in accordance with the pure and genuine truths and goods in the Word.
7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls
The truths and goods by which evils and falsities in the church are exposed, drawn from the literal sense of the Word.
full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever.
The evils and falsities that will be exposed to view by the pure and genuine truths and goods present in the Word.
8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power,
The inmost of heaven filled with the Lord’s spiritual and celestial Divine truth,
and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.
to such a degree there that no higher truth could be endured, and this until that church was destroyed and its end became apparent.
THE EXPOSITION
15:1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous. This symbolizes a revelation from the Lord regarding the state of the church on earth and its character with respect to love and faith.
This is the subject of the present chapter and the next, and it is symbolically meant, therefore, by a sign in heaven, great and marvelous. That a sign in heaven symbolizes a revelation from the Lord regarding heaven and the church and their state, may be seen in nos. 532, 536 above. That it has to do with love and faith is because it is called great and marvelous, and greatness in the Word is predicated of things having to do with affection and love, while marvelousness is predicated of things having to do with thought and faith.
Seven angels symbolize the whole of heaven. However, because heaven is heaven owing not to the angels’ own inherent qualities, but to the Lord, therefore the seven angels symbolize the Lord. Moreover, only the Lord can expose the evils and falsities that are present in the church. That angels symbolize heaven, and in the highest sense the Lord, may be seen in nos. 5, 258, 344, 465, 644, 647, 648 above.
Plagues symbolize evils and falsities – evils that are matters of love, and falsities that are matters of faith. For these are what are described in the following chapter, symbolized by the foul and noxious sore; by the blood as though of someone dead, causing every living creature to die; by the blood into which the waters of the rivers and springs were turned; by the heat of the fire that scorched people; by the unclean spirits looking like frogs, which were demons; and by the great hail.
The evils and falsities symbolized by all of these are the plagues here. Last plagues symbolize evils and falsities in the church’s last state. Seven means, symbolically, all (nos. 10, 390). However, because the evils symbolized by the plagues in the following chapter are not all evils in particular, but all evils in general, seven here symbolically means all universally; for a universal entity embraces all of its constituents in particular.
It is apparent from this that John’s seeing seven angels having the seven last plagues means symbolically that the evils and falsities that exist in the church and their character in its last state were exposed in their entirety by the Lord.
[2] That plagues symbolize spiritual plagues, which afflict people with respect to their souls and destroy them, and that these plagues or afflictions are evils and falsities, can be seen from the following passages:
From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness…, but a fresh wound not lanced; neither has it been bound up or softened…. (Isaiah 1:6)
(Jehovah) is striking the peoples wrathfully with an incurable plague…. (Isaiah 14:6)
(Jehovah,) remove Your plague from me; I am consumed by the blow of Your hand. (Psalm 39:10)
Your fracture is beyond hope…; for I have struck you with the affliction of an enemy…for the multitude of your iniquities; your sins have become many…. But I will…heal you of your afflictions…. (Jeremiah 30:12, 14, 17)
If you do not carefully keep all the words of (the Law)…, Jehovah will bring upon you…extraordinary plagues – great and prolonged plagues – (and) every plague…which is not written in this book of the Law…until you are destroyed. (Deuteronomy 28:58, 59, 61)
No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your tent. (Psalm 91:10)
Edom shall become a desolation. Everyone who goes by…will hiss at all its plagues. (Jeremiah 49:17)
…she shall be a desolation. Everyone who passes by Babylon shall be dumbfounded, and hiss over all her plagues. (Jeremiah 50:13)
…plagues will come (upon Babylon) in one day…. (Revelation 18:8)
(The two witnesses will) strike the earth with every plague…. (Revelation 11:6)
The plagues in Egypt, which were in part like the plagues described in the following chapter, symbolized nothing else but evils and falsities. You may find the plagues in Egypt enumerated in no. 503* above. They are also called plagues in Exodus 9:14, 11:1.
It is apparent from this that plagues and afflictions mean, symbolically, nothing other than spiritual plagues and afflictions, which afflict people with respect to their souls and destroy them. So also in Isaiah 30:26; Zechariah 14:12,15; Psalm 38:5,11; Revelation 9:20, 16:21; Exodus 12:13, 30:12; Numbers 11:33; Luke 7:21; and elsewhere.
* No. 503:4.
Its being complete symbolizes the destruction of the church and its end then, as explained below. The wrath of God symbolizes the evil in people, which, because it is in opposition to God, is called the wrath of God. Not that God is angry at people, but that people’s evil causes them to be angry at God. Moreover, because, when a person is punished or tormented on account of his evil – as happens in hell after death – it seems to him that it is God’s doing, therefore in the Word we find anger and wrath, even evil, attributed to God. But that is the case only in the literal sense, because that sense has been written in terms of appearances and correspondences; but not so in the spiritual sense, for that sense contains no appearance or correspondent imagery, but truth in its own light. For more on the wrath of God, see nos. 525, 635 above.
This verse says that in the seven last plagues the wrath of God is complete, and we say that this symbolizes the destruction of the church and its end then. We need to explain why. The reason is that every church declines in the process of time as it turns away from the goodness of love and from truths of faith, until nothing is left of them, which is occasioned by gradually increasing evil and falsity. And then, when there is no longer any goodness of love and faith, there remains only evil and falsity, and when this is the case, the church is at an end. In this final state a person knows no better than to think that evil is good and that falsity is truth; for the delight he finds in them causes him to love evil and falsity and therefore to defend them.
This is the final state symbolized by an end, consummation or completion called a destruction in the following passages:
…I have heard from…Jehovah…a consummation and destruction upon the whole earth. (Isaiah 28:22)
A consummation is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. For the Lord, Jehovih of hosts, is making an end and destruction throughout the land. (Isaiah 10:22, 23)
The whole land shall be devoured by the fire of (Jehovah’s) zeal, for He will make speedy end of all those who dwell in the land. (Zephaniah 1:18)
(At length) on the bird of abominations shall be desolation, even until the consummation and destruction shall it drop upon the devastation. (Daniel 9:27)
The whole land shall be a wasteland, yet I will not make an end. (Jeremiah 4:27)
(Jehovah said,) “I will go down…and see whether they have come to an end according to the outcry…that has come to Me.” (Genesis 18:21)
The last said in regard to Sodom.
…the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. (Genesis 15:16)
The church’s end is also meant by the end of the age spoken of by the Lord in the following passages:
(The disciples asked Jesus,) “What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3)
…at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares…to burn them. Gather the wheat into my barn. …so it will be at the end of the age. (Matthew 13:30, 40)
…at the end of the age…the angels will come forth and separate the wicked from among the just…. (Matthew 13:49)
(Jesus said to His disciples,) “Lo, I am with you…even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
Even to the end of the age means to the end of the church, when there will be a new church with which the Lord will then be present.
The sea of glass in chapter 4:6 symbolized a new heaven formed of Christians who possessed general truths taken from the literal sense of the Word (no. 238). Those who possess general truths are also at the boundaries of heaven, and from a distance they appear, therefore, as though in the sea (nos. 398, 403, 404, 470). Here, however, the sea of glass symbolizes the farthest boundary of the spiritual world, where those people were gathered who had religion and consequently worshiped, but lacked any goodness of life. Because the gathering of these is symbolically meant, therefore the verse says as though a sea of glass, and the sea also appeared to be mingled with fire – the fire there symbolizing a love of evil and the accompanying evilness of life (nos. 452, 468, 494, 766, 767, 787), thus no goodness of life. For where good is absent, there evil is present.
That the gathering of these people is meant by the description, as though a sea mingled with fire, is apparent also from the depiction that follows next, that standing beside the sea of glass were those who had the victory over the beast and over his image. These symbolize people who, because of their rejection of a faith divorced from charity, had led a good life and were therefore in heaven (no. 660).
This sea is also the one meant in chapter 21:1, the sea which was no more (no. 878).
What this sea was like, and the character of the people there, is something I was also given to see. They were people who had religion, went regularly to church, listened to sermons, and partook of the Holy Supper, but beyond this gave no thought to God, salvation or eternal life, not knowing what sin is. Consequently they were human in visage, and most of them human also as regards their civic and moral life, but not at all as regards any spiritual life, which is the life that nevertheless makes a person human.
The beast symbolizes the dragon’s faith among the laity, which was the subject of chapter 13:1-10, because its image was made then (13:14). Its image symbolizes doctrine (nos. 602, 634, 637). Its mark symbolizes an acknowledgment of that faith (nos. 605, 606, 634, 637, 679). The number of its name symbolizes a falsification of the Word (no. 610).
It is apparent from this that these words symbolize people who rejected faith alone and its accompanying doctrine, and so did not acknowledge or become imbued with its falsities, and did not falsify the Word.
Since the sea of glass symbolizes a gathering of people who have religion and worship indeed, but lack any goodness of life (no. 659), therefore those whom John saw standing beside that sea symbolize the Christian heaven at its boundaries, consisting of people who have religion and worship and possess goodness of life, because they had the victory over the beast and over its image.
A higher Christian heaven was the subject of the preceding chapter. Those of whom that heaven was formed are meant by the one hundred and forty-four thousand whom John saw standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion, as explained in nos. 612-625. Their harps symbolize a confession of the Lord in consequence of spiritual truths (nos. 276, 616). Spiritual truths are those of a faith springing from charity.
[2] John’s seeing the people with harps and hearing them sing a song, as we are told next, was a representational depiction of a confession stemming from a faith accompanying charity. The affections in the thoughts of angels in heaven and the consequent intonations in their speech are heard in various ways in the spiritual world below, either as the sound of water, or as the sound of thunder, as in chapter 14:2 above. Or it may be heard as the sound of trumpets, as in chapter 4:1 above. Or, as in the present case, as the sound of harps, as also in chapter 5:8, 14:2. But still, it is not the sound of water, nor the rumbling of thunder, nor the sounding of a trumpet or harp; indeed, it is not the sound of singing. Rather it is the speech of angels and their confessions in accordance with their affections and consequent thoughts that are thus heard below, from which one may perceive the character of their love and wisdom.
The ways angels’ speech is heard is due to the correspondence of affection with sound and of thought with speech.
To sing a new song means to joyfully confess from the heart and affection that the Lord alone is the Savior and Redeemer and the God of heaven and earth, as may be seen in nos. 279, 617 above. Here, however, the song is called not a new song, but the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb; and the song of Moses symbolizes a confession springing from a life in accordance with the precepts of the Law that constitute the Ten Commandments, thus from charity, while the song of the Lamb symbolizes a confession springing from a faith in the Divinity of the Lord’s humanity. For the Lamb means the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity (nos. 269, 291, 595), while Moses in a broad sense means all the law written in his five books, and in a strict sense, the Law called the Ten Commandments; and because this serves people in the way they live, the song of Moses is called the song of Moses, the servant of God. For in the Word a servant means someone or something that serves (no. 380), in this case for the way one is to live.
[2] Moses in a broad sense is called the Law because his five books are called the Law. All the commandments, judgments and statutes given through him in his five books are called the Law, as may be seen in no. 417 above. That everything written in those books is called Moses and the Law of Moses can be seen from the following passages:
Philip…said…, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law, and of whom the prophets, wrote, Jesus….” (John 1:45)
In the law Moses commanded us to stone such. (John 8:5)
…the days of their purification according to the Law of Moses were completed…. (Luke 2:22)
…all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets…concerning Me. (Luke 24:44, cf. 24:27)
Did not Moses give you the Law? …Moses…gave you circumcision…so that the Law of Moses should not be broken…. (John 7:19, 22, 23)
Abraham said to (the rich man in hell), “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them…. If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.” (Luke 16:29, 31)
The curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us…. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this evil has come upon us. (Daniel 9:11, 13)
Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him…. (Malachi 4:4)
Jehovah said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in the mist of a cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and also believe you forever.” (Exodus 19:9)
[3] It can be seen from this that Moses in a broad sense means the Word written by him, called the Law. That Moses means the Law that constitutes the Ten Commandments also then follows, and the more so because Moses hewed out the tablets after he broke the first ones (Exodus 34:1, 4); and when he brought them down, his face shone (Exodus 34:29-35). That is why Moses in paintings is depicted holding the tablets in his hand. Moreover, we are told in Mark, “Moses said, Honor your father and your mother” (Mark 7:10). And Joshua “wrote on the stones (of the altar) a copy of the Law of Moses” (Joshua 8:32). That Law was the Ten Commandments.
It can be seen from this that in the present case, the song of Moses, the servant of God, means nothing else than a confession springing from charity, thus from a life in accordance with the precepts of the Law contained in the Ten Commandments.
The Lord’s works symbolize everything created and formed by Him, which in general is everything in the world, everything in heaven, and everything in the church, which could not possibly be enumerated in particular. These works are called great and marvelous because greatness is predicated of love, and marvelousness of wisdom, as in no. 656 above. Moreover, the Lord is also called the Lord in the Word because of the Divine goodness of His Divine love, and God because of the Divine truth of His Divine wisdom.
The Lord is called almighty because He is, lives, and can do all things of Himself, and also directs all things from Himself, as may be seen in no. 31 above.
So it is that, in a universal sense, “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty!” means symbolically that everything in the world, in heaven and in the church was created and formed by the Lord out of His Divine love by means of His Divine wisdom.
Ways symbolize truths that lead to good (no. 176). The title “king” in reference to the Lord symbolizes Divine truth, and “O King of saints” the Divine truth derived from Him in heaven and the church; for saints symbolize people who are governed by Divine truths from the Lord (nos. 173, 586). Consequently “just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!” means symbolically that everything emanating from the Lord is just and true, because He is Divine truth itself in heaven and in the church.
The Lord is called a king in reference to His Divine humanity, because this is the Messiah, the Anointed, the Christ, the Son of God. Messiah in Hebrew is Christ in Greek, and Messiah or Christ is the Son of God, as may be seen in no. 520 above. It is well known that Messiah in Hebrew means both king and anointed.
The Lord as king is the embodiment of Divine truth because that is the symbolic meaning of the title “king” (nos. 20, 483). Kings accordingly symbolize people who possess Divine truths from the Lord (Revelation 1:6, 5:10).
It is because of this that heaven and the church are called the Lord’s kingdom, and that His advent into the world is called the gospel of the kingdom.
Heaven and the church are called the Lord’s kingdom in Daniel 2:44, 7:13, 14, 27; Matthew 12:28, 16:28; Mark 1:14, 15, 9:1, 15:43; Luke 1:33, 4:43, 8:1, 10, 9:2, 11, 27, 10:11, 16:16, 19:11, 21:31, 22:18, 23:51. And His advent is called the gospel of the kingdom in Matthew 4:23, 9:35, 24:14.*
But more on this subject may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord.
[2] That the Lord is called a king is apparent from the following passages:
These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings. (Revelation 17:14)
(He who sat on the white horse) is called the Word…. And…His…name (is) Lord of lords and King of kings. (Revelation 19:13, 16, cf. Daniel 2:47)
Nathanael…said…, “…You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (John 1:49)
When the Son of Man comes in His glory…, …He will sit on the throne of His glory…. And the King will say to those on His right hand… (and) to those on the left hand…. (Matthew 25:31, 34, 41)
…they cried out: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ The King of Israel! ” (John 12:13)
Pilate (asked the Lord:) “Are You a king…?” Jesus answered, “…I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world….” (John 18:37)
Your eyes will see the King in His beauty…. …Jehovah our King, He will save us. (Isaiah 33:17 ,22)
I am Jehovah, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. (Isaiah 43:15)
Thus said Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts: “I am the First and I am the Last, and beside Me there is no God.” (Isaiah 44:6)
Jehovah shall become King over all the earth. (Zechariah 14:9, cf. Psalm 47:2, 6-8)
Lift up your heads, O you gates…, that the King of glory may come in…. Jehovah of hosts, He is the King of glory. (Psalm 24:7-10)
I will raise to David a righteous Branch, (who as) a king shall reign…and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. (Jeremiah 23:5, cf. 33:15)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 6:5, 52:7; Jeremiah 10:7, 10, 46:18; Ezekiel 37:22, 24; Zephaniah 3:15; Psalm 20:9, 45:11,13,14, 68:24, 74:12.
* See also Mark 1:14.
To fear God means, symbolically, to love Him, and to glorify His name means, symbolically, to worship Him. That He alone is to be loved and worshiped is meant by the phrase, “Who does not?” and by the statement, “For You alone are holy.”
To be shown that to fear God is to love Him, fearing to act against Him, and that this fear is present in every love, see nos. 527, 628 above.
To glorify His name is to worship Him because the name of Jehovah symbolizes everything by which He is worshiped (no. 81), and to glorify means, symbolically, to acknowledge and confess.
That the Lord alone is holy may be seen in no. 173 above, and that He is the Divine truth called holy, in nos. 173, 586. Moreover, because the Word is Divine truth, and the Lord embodies Divine truth, and because Divine truth enlightens spiritually, being the light in heaven, but emanating from the Lord, therefore the declaration, “For You alone are holy,” symbolically means that the Lord embodies the Word, truth, and enlightenment.
Since the Word is Divine truth, and Divine truth enlightens spiritually, therefore people say that Jehovah dictated the Word through the agency of the Holy Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit enlightens a person and instructs him. But who does not know that God is omnipresent, and that holiness emanates from Him and enlightens wherever it is received? Who, then, cannot but conclude that the Holy Spirit is not God per se, distinguishable from Jehovah or the Lord as one person is from another, but that it is Jehovah Himself or the Lord? Anyone who acknowledges the Divine omnipresence must also acknowledge this.
That the Holy Spirit in the Word means the Lord’s Divine life, thus Himself, and in particular the life of His Divine wisdom called Divine truth, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 50-53, where we demonstrated this from the Word.
That the Lord embodies the Word may be seen in John 1:1, 14. That He embodies the truth, John 14:6. That He embodies the light and thus enlightenment, John 12:34-36.
All nations symbolize people who possess the goodness of love and charity. That this is the meaning of nations in a good sense may be seen in no. 483 above. To come and worship before Him means, symbolically, to acknowledge the Lord as God, and because there is only one God, in whom is the Trinity, and the Lord is that God, it symbolically means to acknowledge Him alone to be God.
Judgments symbolize the Divine truths in accordance with which a person is to live, truths which reveal his character and are the precepts against which he will be judged. Moreover, because these Divine truths are found in the Word, and the Word now lies open, testifying that the Lord alone is God of heaven and earth, therefore the declaration that “Your judgments have been manifested” means symbolically that the truths in the Word attest to this.
That the Word now lies open, testifying that the Lord alone is God of heaven and earth, that a person ought to live in accordance with His precepts, and that today’s faith is to be rejected, can be seen from four doctrinal works now published, one being The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, another The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, a third The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem, and fourth The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding Faith. These are the doctrines meant by the declaration, “For Your judgments have been manifested.”
[2] Since the Lord embodies Divine good and truth, and since judgment symbolizes Divine truth, and righteousness Divine good, therefore in many passages referring to the Lord we find mention of righteousness and judgment, as for example in the following:
Zion shall be redeemed in righteousness, and her repatriates with judgment. (Isaiah 1:27)
(He will sit) upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to…establish it with judgment and righteousness…. (Isaiah 9:7)
Be Jehovah exalted, for He dwells on high, and has filled the earth with judgment and righteousness. (Isaiah 33:5)
…let him who glories glory in this…, that…Jehovah (exercises)…judgment and righteousness in the earth. (Jeremiah 9:24)
…I will raise to David a righteous Branch, who shall reign as a King…and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. (Jeremiah 23:5, 33:15)
I will betroth Myself to you forever…in righteousness and with judgment…. (Hosea 2:19)
Judgment will flow like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream. (Amos 5:24)
Your righteousness, (O Jehovah,) is like the mountains of God, Your judgments like a great deep. (Psalm 36:6)
(Jehovah) shall bring forth His righteousness as the light, and judgment as the noonday. (Psalm 37:6)
(Jehovah) will judge His people with righteousness, and His wretched with judgment. (Psalm 72:2)
Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of His throne. (Psalm 89:14)
…when I learn the judgments of Your righteousness…. Seven times a day I praise You because of the judgments of Your righteousness. (Psalm 119:7, 164)
And elsewhere that people ought to exercise righteousness and judgment, as in Isaiah 1:21, 5:16, 56:1, 58:2; Jeremiah 4:2, 22:3, 13, 15; Ezekiel 18:5, 33:14, 16, 19; Amos 6:12; Micah 7:9; Deuteronomy 33:21; John 16:8, 10, 11. Righteousness there refers to the goodness of truth, and judgment to the truth accompanying goodness.
[3] Since judgment refers to truth, and righteousness to goodness, therefore in some places we find references to truth and righteousness, as in Isaiah 11:5, Psalm 85:11. Also in Psalms:
The judgments of Jehovah are true; they are righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold…, and sweeter than honey…. (Psalm 19:9, 10)
That the Lord’s government in the celestial kingdom is termed one of righteousness, and in the spiritual kingdom one of judgment, may be seen in the book Heaven and Hell (published in London), nos. 214-216.
In the highest sense, the temple symbolizes the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity, and consequently heaven and the church (nos. 191, 529), here the Christian heaven. The tabernacle of the testimony symbolizes the inmost of that heaven, where the Lord resides in His holiness in the Word and in the Law contained in the Ten Commandments, since the Tabernacle likewise symbolizes heaven (no. 585); and the inmost of the Tabernacle was where the Ark was placed, containing the two tablets on which were written by the finger of God the ten precepts that constitute the ten commandments of the Decalogue, which are meant by the testimony here and are also called the Testimony. And it is apparent from this that John’s saying, “I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened,” means symbolically that the inmost of heaven appeared, where the Lord is present in His holiness in the Law contained in the Ten Commandments.
The tabernacle of the testimony symbolizes also where the Word exists because the term “testimony” is used not only of the Law contained in the Ten Commandments, but of the whole Word as well, and of the Lord as the embodiment of the Word, because the Word testifies concerning Him (nos. 490, 555).
[2] That the Word exists in heaven, in a repository in the inmost of heaven called a sanctuary, and that the light there is blazing and brilliant, surpassing in intensity any light in heaven outside that sanctuary, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 70-75. And with respect to the sanctuary, no. 73 there.
Regarding the holiness of the Law contained in the Ten Commandments, see The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem in Accordance With the Commandments of the Decalogue, nos. 53-61.
To be shown that the Ark containing the two tablets of the Decalogue constituted the sanctuary or inmost of the Temple in Jerusalem, and so the tabernacle there, see 1 Kings 6:19-28, 8:3-9.
That the Law contained in the Ten Commandments was called the Testimony is clear from the following passages:
Moses…went down…, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand…. The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. (Exodus 32:15, 16)
…two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God. (Exodus 31:18)
(Jehovah said,) “You shall put into the ark the Testimony which I will give you.” (Exodus 25:16, 21, 22)
Then (Moses) took the Testimony and put it into the ark…. (Exodus 40:20)
…that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the Testimony…. (Leviticus 16:13)
(Jehovah said to Moses,) “You shall place (the rods)…before the Testimony…. And…Aaron’s rod before the Testimony….” (Numbers 17:4, 10)
And Moses left the rods before Jehovah…. (Numbers 17:7)
The Ark is called the Ark of testimony in Exodus 31:7, and the Tabernacle is called the Tabernacle of the Testimony in Exodus 38:21.
That the seven angels mean the Lord may be seen in no. 657 above. That the seven plagues symbolize all evils and falsities viewed in their entirety may also be seen in no. 657 above. The temple here means the inmost of heaven where the Word and Ten Commandments reside, as may be seen just above in no. 669. The angels’ coming out of the temple symbolizes a preparation for influx because they came out to receive bowls and then pour out the plagues in the bowls onto the earth, onto the sea, onto the rivers and springs, onto the sun, upon the throne of the beast, and into the air, and these events symbolize an influx into the church in order to expose its evils and falsities. We will see in the next chapter that this was done to separate the evil from the good.
Clean bright linen symbolizes pure, genuine truth, as we will show below. A golden sash about the breast symbolizes the emanating Divinity that at the same time conjoins, namely Divine good (no. 46 above). To be clothed and girded means, symbolically, to appear and be seen in this truth and goodness, for garments symbolize truths that clothe goodness (no. 166). Sashes or girdles then symbolize truths and goods that hold everything in their order and connection (no. 46).
It is apparent from this that angels clothed in clean bright linen and girded about their breasts with golden sashes symbolize pure and genuine truths and goods, and because these come only from the Word, they symbolize truths and goods in the Word.
[2] That linen symbolizes Divine truth can be seen from the following, as that Aaron wore linen breeches when he entered the Tabernacle or approached the altar (Exodus 28:42, 43). Or that when Aaron entered the sanctuary he wore a holy linen tunic, put linen sandals on his feet, girded himself with a linen sash, and placed a linen turban on his head; that these were holy garments; and that he put on the same garments when he made atonement for the people (Leviticus 16:4,32). In similar fashion, that when the Levite priests entered the gates of the inner court, they wore linen garments, with linen turbans on their heads, and linen breeches on their loins (Ezekiel 44:17, 18). That the priests wore linen ephods (1 Samuel 22:18). That when Samuel as a child ministered before Jehovah, he wore a linen ephod (1 Samuel 2:18). That when David was transporting the Ark into his city he was girded with a linen ephod (2 Samuel 6:14).
It can be seen from this why, when the Lord washed the disciples’ feet, He girded Himself in linen and wiped their feet with linen** (John 13:4, 5). Also why angels appeared clothed in linen (Daniel 10:5, Ezekiel 9:2, 3, 11, 10:2-7.
Moreover, the angels seen in the Lord’s sepulcher appeared in dazzling bright white clothing (Matthew 28:3 [cf. Luke 24:[4]). The angel who measured the new temple had in his hand a line of linen (Ezekiel 40:3). In order that he might represent the state of the church with respect to truth, Jeremiah was told to buy a linen sash and hide it in a hole in the rock by the Euphrates, and later he found it ruined (Jeremiah 13:1-7). We read, too, in Isaiah:
A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking linen He will not quench; He will bring forth justice in truth. (Isaiah 42:3)
By linen in these places nothing else is meant but truth.
* I.e., a preparation by the Lord for influx from the inmost of heaven into the church, to expose its evils and falsities in their entirety and so to separate evil people from the good (no. 670 above).
** The writer here follows the Latin translation of Sebastian Schmidt, who mistakes the Greek lention (levntion, a towel) to have the same meaning as the Latin linteum (linen).
The four living creatures, being cherubim, symbolize the Word in its outmost expressions, and protections to keep its genuine truths and goods from being violated, as may be seen in no. 239 above. And because the interior truths and goods in the Word are protected by its literal meaning, therefore that meaning of the Word is symbolized by one of the four living creatures.
The seven bowls have the same symbolic meaning as the seven plagues, for the bowls are vessels, and vessels in the Word have the same symbolic meaning as their contents. So for example, a cup has the same symbolic meaning as the wine in it, and a dish the same symbolic meaning as the food. That cups, goblets, bowls, plates and saucers have the same symbolic meaning as their contents may be seen from the passages that follow after this.
We have already said what the seven angels symbolize above.
The angels were given the bowls because the subject is the influx of truth and goodness into the church in order to expose its evils and falsities, and naked goods and truths cannot flow in, as they are not accepted, but truths clothed can, such as are found in the literal sense of the Word. Moreover, the Lord also operates always from inmost elements through outmost ones, or in fullness. This is the reason the angels were given bowls, which symbolize containing truths and goods such as constitute the Word’s literal sense, by which falsities and evils are exposed.
That the literal sense of the Word is a containing vessel may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 27-36 and 37-49.
[2] That bowls, saucers, cups and goblets, and also wineskins, have the same symbolic meaning as the things they contain can be seen from the following passages:
(Jehovah said,) “Take this…cup of wrath from My hand, and cause all the nations…to drink…. …when they refuse to take the cup…, then you shall say to them, ‘…You shall surely drink!'” (Jeremiah 25:15, 16, 28)
Babylon was a golden cup in Jehovah’s hand, that made all the earth drunk. (Jeremiah 51:7)
…I will put (your sister’s) cup in your hand…. You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of…devastation, the cup of your sister Samaria. (Ezekiel 23:31-34)
The cup of…Jehovah will come around to you, that there may be vomit on your glory. (Habakkuk 2:16)
…O daughter of Edom…; the cup shall also pass over to you; you shall be drunk and laid bare. (Lamentations 4:21)
Upon the wicked (Jehovah) will rain…stormy winds, the portion of their cup. (Psalm 11:6)
…in the hand of Jehovah there is a cup, and He has mixed it with wine; He has filled it with the mixed wine and poured it out; …all the wicked of the earth shall drink…. (Psalm 75:8)
(Those who worship the beast) shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed with pure wine in the cup of His indignation. (Revelation 14:10)
Awake…! Arise, O Jerusalem, who have drunk from the hand of Jehovah the cup of His wrath; You have drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling…. (Isaiah 51:17)
The woman…having in her hand a golden chalice full of abominations and the filthiness of her licentiousness. (Revelation 17:4)
…repay her double…; in the cup in which she has mixed, mix double for her. (Revelation 18:6)
…I am making Jerusalem a cup of trembling to all the surrounding peoples…. (Zechariah 12:2)
Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup…, that the outside of them may be clean also. (Matthew 23:25, 26, cf. Luke 11:39)
Jesus…said (to the sons of Zebedee), “…Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink….?” (Matthew 20:22, 23, cf. Mark 10:38, 39)
…Jesus said to Peter, “…Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?” (John 18:11)
(In Gethsemane Jesus said,) “…if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” (Matthew 26:39, 42, 44)
(Jesus) taking the cup, …gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is My blood, the blood of the new covenant….” (Matthew 26:27, 28, cf. Mark 14:23, 24, Luke 22:17)
O Jehovah, You are…my cup, You uphold my lot. (Psalm 16:5)
You will prepare a table before me…; my cup shall overflow. (Psalm 23:5)
What shall I render to Jehovah…? I will take the cup of salvation…. (Psalm 116:12, 13)
…the cup of consolation to drink…. (Jeremiah 16:7)
A bowl has the same symbolic meaning as a cup or chalice, and so also does a wineskin (Matthew 9:17; Luke 5:37,38; Jeremiah 13:12, 48:12; Habakkuk 2:15).
Bowls, censers and thuribles containing incense have the same symbolic meaning as incense. Vessels of every kind in general have the same symbolic meaning as the things they contain.
The bowls are said to have been full of the wrath of God because they were full of plagues, which symbolize evils and falsities in the church (no. 657). Nevertheless they were not full of these, but were full of the pure and genuine truths and goods from the Word by which the evils and falsities in the church were exposed. Neither were there any actual bowls containing truths and goods, but they are symbols of an influx from heaven into the church. Their being said to be full of the wrath of the living God accords with the style of the Word in its literal sense, as may be seen from passages presented above in which we find anger and wrath attributed to God, even though no anger or wrath exists in Jehovah, but is found in man directed at Him. The reason that the literal sense speaks so may be seen in nos. 525, 635, 658 above.
It is apparent from this that the bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever symbolize the grievous evils and falsities that will be exposed to view by the pure and genuine goods and truths in the Word. Evils and falsities are exposed to view only by truths and goods, as truths and goods exist in the light of heaven, while falsities and evils exist in the darkness of hell, and nothing is exposed in a state of darkness, because only evil and falsity are seen in it. But light from heaven exposes everything to view, because everything is seen in it; for the light of heaven is the Divine truth of the Lord’s Divine wisdom.
The temple symbolizes the inmost of heaven, as shown in no. 669 above. Smoke symbolizes the Divine in outmost expressions, as will be seen below. Glory symbolizes spiritual Divine truth (nos. 249, 629), and power symbolizes celestial Divine truth (no. 373). Consequently the temple’s being filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power symbolizes the inmost of heaven filled with spiritual and celestial Divine truth.
Smoke symbolizes Divine truth in its outmost expressions because the fire giving off the smoke symbolizes love – the fire of the altar of burnt offering symbolizing celestial love (nos. 395, 494), and the fire of the altar of incense symbolizing spiritual love (nos. 277, 392, 394).
That smoke has this symbolic meaning can be seen from the following passages:
Jehovah will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion…a cloud by day and smoke…by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering. (Isaiah 4:5)
The posts of the thresholds were shaken by the voice of (the seraphim) that cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. (Isaiah 6:4)
The smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended before God from the angel’s hand. (Revelation 8:4)
…smoking flax He will not extinguish; in truth He will bring forth judgment. (Isaiah 42:3)
In an opposite sense smoke symbolizes the falsities of lusts, as may be seen in no. 422 above; and the falsities arising from a conceit in one’s own intelligence, in no. 452. Moreover, in many places smoke has the same symbolic meaning as a cloud.
[674 repeated.] And no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended. This symbolically means, to such a degree there that no higher truth could be endured, and this until that church was destroyed and its end became apparent.
That no one was able to enter the temple means symbolically that the inmost of heaven was filled with spiritual and celestial Divine truth to such a degree that no higher truth could be endured. The temple symbolizes, here as before, the inmost of heaven. Till the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended means, symbolically, this until the destruction of the church and its end (no. 658). And the seven plagues of the seven angels symbolize the evils and falsities that destroy the church and bring about its end (no. 657).
**********
I saw a piece of paper sent down by the Lord through heaven into a society of Englishmen – though that society was one of their smallest – in which there were also two bishops. The piece of paper contained an exhortation to acknowledge the Lord as God of heaven and earth, as He Himself taught (Matthew 28:18*), and to turn away from a doctrine of faith that justifies apart from works of the law, because the doctrine is wrong.
Many of the people read the piece of paper and made copies of it, and they thought and spoke rationally about what it contained from an interior power to judge, so that they were enlightened by the Lord and received that enlightenment with a clarity of sight more innate in the English than in others.
After their acceptance of these ideas, however, they said to each other, “Let us ask the bishops.”
And they asked the bishops, but the bishops contradicted the ideas and disapproved them. However, the bishops there were some of those who in the world had become callous with respect to the spiritual aspects of faith and charity, owing to a love of dominion over the sanctities of the church and a love of their eminence in consequence of them also in political affairs. After a brief consultation with each other, therefore, they sent the piece of paper back to the heaven from which it came.
When the bishops did this, most of the laity, after some murmuring, turned away from their earlier acceptance, and their light in spiritual matters, which before had shone, was suddenly extinguished.
Then, after they were warned a second time, but in vain, I saw that society sink down – though how deeply I did not see – so that it disappeared from the sight of angels, who worship the Lord only and reject faith alone.
[2] Several days later I saw as many as a hundred people ascend from the lower earth to which that small society had sunk. They came over to me, and a wise man among them said, “Listen to this amazing thing. When we sank down, the place looked to us at first like a lake, but a little while later like dry land, and afterward like a small city, in which we each had his own house, though a poor one.
“The next day we took counsel with each other as to what we should do. Many said we should go to the two bishops and gently blame them for sending the piece of paper back to the heaven from which it descended, on which account this has befallen us.
“They chose some representatives who went to the bishops,” and the wise man speaking with me said he was one of them. “And then some of the wiser among us spoke to the bishops,” he said, “as follows:
“‘Hear us, you church fathers. We believed that more than others we had a church among us that deserved to be called foremost in the Christian world, and a religion that deserved to be called great. But we were given an enlightenment from heaven, and in that enlightenment a perception that there is no longer any church in the Christian world today, and no longer any religion.’
[3] “The bishops said, ‘What are you saying? Does the church not exist where the Word is found? Where Christ the Savior is known? And where the sacraments are celebrated?’
“To this our spokesman replied, ‘These things embody the church and they form the church, but they do not form it around a person but within a person.’
“Going on then he said, ‘As regards the church: Can the church exist where people worship three gods? Can the church exist where its entire doctrine rests on a single saying of Paul misinterpreted, and so not on the Word? Can the church exist when people do not turn to the Savior of the world, and where they divide Him in two?
“‘As for religion: Who can deny that religion consists in refraining from evil and doing good? Is there any religion where people are taught that faith alone saves, and not charity? Is there any religion where people are taught that charity emanating from people is nothing but moral and civic charity? Who does not see that in such charity there is no religion? Is there any deed or work in faith alone? And yet religion consists in doing.
“‘In the entire world is there any nation having in it some religion that excludes anything saving from goods of charity, which are good works, even though everything connected with religion consists in goodness, and everything connected with the church consists in doctrine, which ought to teach truths, and through truths, goodness?
“‘See, church fathers, what glory we would have if a church that does not now exist and if a religion that does not now exist should begin and arise with us.’
[4] “The bishops then replied, ‘You speak too arrogantly. Faith in act, the faith that fully justifies and saves, is it not the church? And faith in state, the faith that emanates and perfects, is it not religion? Apprehend that, my children.’
“But then the wise Englishman said, ‘Listen, you church fathers. A person who produces faith in act, does he not do so like a log? Does the church exist in a log that is, according to your notion, then brought to life? Is not faith in state but a continuation and extension of faith in act? And since, according to your notion, everything saving resides in faith, and nothing in the good of charity issuing from a person, where then is religion?’
“At that the bishops said, ‘Friend, you speak as you do because you do not know the mysteries of justification by faith alone, and someone who does not know these does not know the path of salvation from within. Your path is an external and untutored way. Go that way if you wish, but provided you know that all good comes from God and none from man, and that in spiritual matters a person can therefore do nothing at all of himself.’
[5] “Annoyed at that, the Englishman speaking with them said, ‘I know your mysteries of justification better than you, and I tell you plainly that I have seen in your interior mysteries nothing but phantoms. Does religion not involve acknowledging and loving God and shunning and hating the devil? Is God not good itself, and the devil evil itself? Who in the entire world, if he has any religion, does not know this? To acknowledge and love God – is that not to do good because it is of God and from God? And to shun and hate the devil – is that not to refrain from evil because it is of the devil and from the devil?
“‘Your faith in act, which you say is faith that completely justifies and saves, or to say the same thing, your act of justification by faith alone – does it teach the doing of any good that is of God and from God? And does it teach the shunning of any evil that is of the devil and from the devil? Not in the least, because you have determined that there is no salvation in either.
“‘Your faith in state, which you say is faith that emanates and perfects – unless it is the same as faith in act, how can that faith in state be perfected when you exclude from it any good issuing from a person as though originating from him, saying, “How can a person be saved by any good issuing from him, when salvation is by grace? And what is good issuing from a person but merit-seeking? And yet the merit of Christ is everything. Consequently to do good for the sake of salvation would be to attribute to self what is Christ’s alone, and therefore it would be to try to justify and save oneself. Moreover, how can anyone do good when the Holy Spirit accomplishes everything without the least help of the person? What need then is there for any additional good on the person’s part, when any good issuing from the person is in itself not good. And so on.”
[6] “‘Are these not your mysteries? But in my eyes they are nothing but sophistries and shams concocted in order to set aside good works that are works of charity so as to establish your faith alone. And because you do this, you view people in relation to those works, and in relation to everything spiritual in general having to do with the church and religion, as being like logs or inanimate statues, and not as human beings created in the image of God, to whom have been given, and are continually given, the faculties of understanding and willing, of believing and loving, and of speaking and acting, entirely as though of themselves, especially in spiritual matters, because they are what make a person human. If a person did not think and act in spiritual matters as though of himself, what then would faith be, what then would charity be, and what then would worship be – indeed, what then would the church and religion be?
“‘You know that to do good to the neighbor out of love is charity. But you do not know what charity is, even though charity is the soul, life force and essence of faith. And because charity is all of that, what then is faith divorced from charity but lifeless? And a lifeless faith is nothing but a phantom. I call it a phantom, because the Apostle James calls faith without good works not only lifeless but also the faith of demons.’**
[7] “When he heard his faith called lifeless, the faith of demons, and a phantom, then one of the two bishops became so enraged that he snatched the miter from his head and threw it onto the table, saying, ‘I will not take it up again until I have taken vengeance on the enemies of the faith of our church.’ And he shook his head, muttering to himself and saying, ‘That James! That James!’
“His miter had on it a plaque, which had engraved on it, ‘FAITH ALONE.’
“And suddenly then a monster rising up from the earth appeared, with seven heads, having feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion, altogether like the beast described in Revelation 13:1, 2, an image of which was made and worshiped, verses 14, 15, in the same chapter.
“This phantom took the miter from the table, and widening the lower part, placed it on its seven heads. At that the earth opened under its feet and it sank into hell.
“Seeing this, the bishop cried out, ‘A violation! A violation!’
“We then departed from them, and suddenly we saw a stairway before us, by which we ascended and returned above ground into the sight of heaven, where we were before.”
This is the account the wise Englishman related to me.
* “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.'”
** James 2:14-26.
CHAPTER 16
1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God onto the earth.”
2 So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and an evil and noxious sore formed in people who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image.
3 Then the second angel poured out his bowl onto the sea, and it became blood as though of a dead man, and every living creature in the sea died.
4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl onto the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying:
“You are righteous, O Lord,
The One who is and who was, and holy,
Because You have judged these things.
6 For they have poured out the blood of saints and prophets,
And You have given them blood to drink.
For they are deserving.”
7 And I heard another from the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and just are Your judgments.”
8 Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl onto the sun, and it was given to him to scorch people with fire. 9 And people were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent so as to give Him glory.
10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of their suffering. 11 And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their sufferings and because of their sores, and did not repent of their works.
12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl upon the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be made ready. 13 And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, 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 spirits of demons that perform signs to go away to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 15 “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and preserves his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.” 16 And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew Armageddon.
17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 And there were voices and lightnings and thunderings; and there was a great earthquake, such as had not occurred since people were on the earth, so great was the earthquake. 19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath. 20 Then every island fled away, and mountains were not found. 21 And great hail from heaven about the weight of a talent fell upon people. And people blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, as the plague was exceedingly great.
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
In this chapter the evils and falsities in the church of the Protestant Reformed are exposed by influx from heaven (verse 1) – by influx into the clergy (verse 2), into the laity (verse 3), into the understanding of the Word in them (verses 4-7), into the love in them (verses 8, 9), into the faith in them (verses 10, 11), into the interior reasonings in them (verses 12-15), and into all of these at the same time (verses 17-21).
The Contents of the Individual Verses
The Literal Sense
The Spiritual Meaning
1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God onto the earth.”
An influx from the Lord from the inmost of heaven into the church of the Protestant Reformed, where those people are found who are caught up in a faith divorced from charity, as to faith and as to life,
2 So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth,
into those taken up with the interior tenets of the church of the Protestant Reformed, who study the doctrine of justification by faith alone and are called the clergy.
and an evil and noxious sore formed
Interior evils and falsities destructive of every good and truth in the church,
in people who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image.
in those clergy who live faith alone and accept the doctrine teaching it.
3 Then the second angel poured out his bowl upon the sea,
Influx into those people in the church who are concerned with its external elements and are caught up in that faith, and are called the laity.
and it became blood as though of a dead man, and every living creature in the sea died.
The infernal falsity in them by which every truth in the Word was extinguished, and so also every truth in the church and in faith.
4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl onto the rivers and springs of water,
Influx into the understanding of the Word in them.
and they became blood.
The Word’s truths falsified.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying:
The Word’s Divine truth.
“You are righteous, O Lord,
The One who is and who was, and holy,
Because You have judged these things.
This judgment is of the Divine providence of the Lord, who is and was the Word, which otherwise would be profaned,
6 For they have poured out the blood of saints and prophets,
And this because when just the one tenet is accepted, that faith alone saves apart from works of the law, it corrupts all doctrinal truths from the Word.
And You have given them blood to drink.
For they are deserving.”
Those who have confirmed themselves in faith alone in doctrine and life have been permitted to falsify the Word’s truths and to infuse their life with those falsified truths.
7 And I heard another from the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and just are Your judgments.”
The Divine goodness in the Word supporting that Divine truth.
8 Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl onto the sun,
Influx into the people’s love.
and it was given to him to scorch people with fire.
Love toward the Lord tormented them, because they were caught up in lusts for evils emanating from the delight of their love.
9 And people were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues;
Owing to the delight of the love of self arising from their grievous lusts for evils, they did not acknowledge the Divinity of the Lord’s humanity, even though from it flows every goodness of love and truth of faith.
and they did not repent so as to give Him glory.
Because of this they cannot accept with any faith that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, even in respect to His humanity, even though it is what the Word teaches.
10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast,
Influx into the people’s faith.
and his kingdom became full of darkness;
Nothing but falsities appeared.
and they gnawed their tongues because of their suffering.
They could not endure truths.
11 And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their sufferings and because of their sores,
They could not acknowledge the Lord alone to be God of heaven and earth, owing to feelings of repugnance springing from interior falsities and evils.
and did not repent of their works.
Despite being instructed from the Word, they still did not turn away from the falsities of their faith or their consequent evil practices.
12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl upon the great river Euphrates,
Influx into the people’s interior reasonings by which they defend justification by faith alone.
and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be made ready.
The falsities in those reasonings removed in the case of people who possess truths from the Lord that spring from goodness, and who are to be introduced into the New Church.
13 And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet,
A perception that from a theology founded on the doctrine of a trinity of persons in the Godhead and on the doctrine of justification by faith alone apart from works of the law
three unclean spirits like frogs.
there arose nothing but reasonings and lusts to falsify truths.
14 For they are spirits of demons
They were lusts to falsify truths and to reason on the basis of falsities.
that perform signs to go away to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
Assertions that their falsities are true, and efforts to stir up all those throughout the church who are caught up in the same falsities to attack the truths of the New Church.
15 “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and preserves his garments,
The Lord’s advent and heaven then for people who look to Him and remain steadfast in a life in accordance with His precepts, which are the Word’s truths,
lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”
so as not to be associated with people who are without any truths, and have their hellish loves appear.
16 And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew Armageddon.
A state of combat, of falsities against truths, and, arising from a love of dominion and preeminence, a mind to destroy the New Church.
17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air,
Influx into all of these things in them at the same time.
and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven from the throne, saying, “It is done!”
It was thus made manifest by the Lord that every element of the church was destroyed, and that the Last Judgment was now imminent.
18 And there were voices and lightnings and thunderings;
Reasonings, falsifications of truth, and arguments in consequence of the falsities accompanying evil.
and there was a great earthquake, such as had not occurred since people were on the earth, so great was the earthquake.
Seeming shocks, convulsions, upsets and drawings down from heaven of every element of the church.
19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell.
By these events that church was utterly destroyed as regards its doctrine, and so too all the heresies that emanated from it.
And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath.
The destruction also at that time of the dogmas of the Roman Catholic religion.
20 Then every island fled away, and mountains were not found.
There was no longer any truth of faith, nor any goodness of love.
21 And great hail from heaven about the weight of a talent fell upon people.
Dreadful and atrocious falsities, by which every truth in the Word and so in the church was destroyed.
And people blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, as the plague was exceedingly great.
Because the people entrenched such falsities in themselves, they denied truths to the extent that they could not recognize them, owing to feelings of repugnance springing from their interior falsities and evils.
THE EXPOSITION
16:1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God onto the earth.” This symbolizes an influx from the Lord from the inmost of heaven into the church of the Protestant Reformed, where those people are found who are caught up in a faith divorced from charity, as to faith and as to life, to take truths and goods from them and reveal the falsities and evils in which they are caught up, and in this way to separate them from people who believe in the Lord and who possess charity from Him and its accompanying faith.
This in brief is what is contained in this chapter. The temple means the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony previously spoken of in chapter 15:5, and it symbolizes the inmost of heaven where the Lord is present in His holiness in the Word and in the Law contained in the Ten Commandments (no. 669). The loud voice from it symbolizes a Divine command for the seven angels to go and pour out the bowls. The seven angels mean the Lord, as in no. 657 above. Pouring out the bowls containing plagues onto the earth symbolizes an influx into the church of the Protestant Reformed. Pouring out the bowls symbolizes influx, and the earth symbolizes the church (no. 285).
[2] The subject continues to be the church among the Protestant Reformed. In the following chapter it will be the church among Roman Catholics; after that it will be the Last Judgment; and finally the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, as may be seen in the Preface and in no. 2.
Chapters 8 and 9 above described seven angels who had seven trumpets, which they sounded, and because many similar things occur there, we will say here what those seven angels symbolized and what these do here. The seven trumpets which the seven angels sounded symbolize an examination and exposure of the falsities and evils possessed by people who are caught up in a faith divorced from charity. But the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues symbolize the purging and ultimate end of these people, since the Last Judgment cannot be executed upon them until they have been purged.
[3] The purging and ultimate end of them is brought about in the spiritual world in the following way: People caught up in falsities as to doctrine and so in evils as to life have taken from them all the goods and truths that they possessed merely in their natural self, by which they put on the appearance of being Christian people. When these goods and truths have been taken away, the people are separated from heaven and joined to hell. And then in the world of spirits they are arranged in accordance with the varieties of their lusts into societies, which later sink down.
[4] They have goods and truths taken from them by influx from heaven. The influx originates from genuine truths and goods by which they are tormented and tortured, much like a snake placed near a fire or cast upon an anthill. Therefore they reject the goods and truths of heaven, which are also the goods and truths of the church, and finally condemn them, because these cause them what feels like the torment of hell. When this happens they retreat into their evils and falsities and are separated from people who are good.
These are the things described in this chapter and symbolized by the emptying out of the bowls containing the seven last plagues.
The bowls did not contain these evils and falsities symbolized by the plagues, but had in them genuine truths and goods, whose effect was as described. For the angels came from the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony, which means the inmost of heaven, where nothing but truths and goods in a Divine and holy state are found (Revelation 15:6).
[5] This is the purging and ultimate end spoken of by the Lord when He said:
…whoever has, to him more will be given, that he may have greater abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. (Matthew 13:12, Mark 4:25)
…take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, that he may have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. (Matthew 25:28, 29, cf. Luke 19:24-26)
To pour out the bowl symbolizes influx, as in no. 676 above. The earth symbolizes the church (no. 285), here the church in people there who are taken up with its interior tenets, namely people who study the doctrine of justification by faith alone. They also claim to know its interior tenets. But these interior tenets are only arguments in support of a single position, that faith alone justifies apart from works of the law. These are the only interior tenets they know. And because those taken up with them are especially priests, professors of theology and college lecturers – in short, teachers and pastors – therefore this first influx took place into those who are called the clergy. That these are the people meant is because we are told that the first angel poured out his bowl onto the earth, and the second angel onto the sea; and in that case the earth means the church in people concerned with its internal elements, and the sea means people concerned with its external ones, as in nos. 398, 403, 404, 420, 470 above. That these are the people meant is apparent also from the fact that we are told a sore was formed in them.
The sore here symbolizes nothing else than evil arising from a life in accordance with this chief point of the doctrine, that faith alone justifies and saves without works of the law. For we are told next that it formed in people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image, which symbolizes that faith and a life in accordance with it. Therefore an evil and noxious sore symbolizes interior evils and falsities destructive of every good and truth in the church. Its being noxious symbolizes its destructiveness, and evil cannot but destroy goodness, and falsity truth.
This is the symbolic meaning of the sore because sores of the body arise from a vitiated condition of the blood or some other internal malignancy. So, too, with sores viewed according to their meaning in the spiritual sense. Those sores arise from lusts and their accompanying delights, which are their internal causes. The evil itself symbolized by the sore, which in its outward expressions seems to be delightful, inwardly conceals in itself lusts, from which it arises and of which it consists.
[2] It should rightly be known, however, that the interior constituents of the human mind in everyone exist in a sequential order and in a concurrent one. They exist in sequential order from its higher or prior constituents to ones lower or subsequent. They exist in concurrent order in their outmost or final expressions, though they range in these from interior elements to outer ones, as from a center to the peripheries. The reality of this is something we showed many times in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, nos. 173-281, in a section on degrees. It is apparent from those numbers that the outmost degree embraces all the prior ones.
It follows, therefore, that all lusts for evil exist inwardly in a concurrent order in the evil itself that a person perceives in himself. Every evil that a person perceives in himself exists in its outmost expressions. Consequently, when a person rejects evil, he at the same time rejects also its lusts, though he still does not do this on his own, but from the Lord. A person can indeed on his own reject evil, but not its lusts. Therefore, when he wishes to reject some evil and is fighting against it, he must look to the Lord, since the Lord operates from inmost elements to outmost ones. For He enters through a person’s soul and purifies him.
We have said this much to make known that a sore symbolizes evil appearing in its outmost or final expressions, arising from an internal malignancy. This is the case with all people who persuade themselves that faith alone saves, and for that reason do not reflect upon any evil in themselves or look to the Lord.
[3] Sores and wounds symbolize evils in outmost expressions arising from interior ones, or lusts, also in the following places:
From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness…. A wound and a scar, and a fresh blow, have not been expressed, have not been bound up, have not been softened with oil. (Isaiah 1:6, 7)
…my iniquities have passed through my head…. My wounds have putrefied, have decayed, because of my foolishness. (Psalm 38:4, 5)
In the day that Jehovah binds up the fracture of His people…He will heal the blow’s wound. (Isaiah 30:26)
…if you do not obey the voice of Jehovah…, being careful to do…His commandments…Jehovah will strike you with the sore of Egypt, with hemorrhoids and scabies, and itching…and with an evil sore upon the knees and upon the legs…from which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the top of your head. (Deuteronomy 28:15, 27, 35)
The sore of the boils that broke out on man and beast in Egypt (Exodus 9:8-11) has just this symbolic meaning; for the miracles done there symbolized the evils and falsities with which the Egyptians were taken up.
Moreover, because the Jewish nation engaged in a profanation of the Word, and this is the symbolic meaning of leprosy, therefore leprosy occurred not only in their flesh, but also in their garments, houses, and vessels. The various kinds of profanation were also symbolized by the various evil consequences of leprosy, namely swellings, the sores of the swellings, white and reddish pimples, abscesses, burning feelings, losses of skin pigmentation, scaly patches of skin, and so on (see Leviticus 13). For the church with that nation was a representational church, in which internal things were represented by external ones that corresponded to them.
To have the mark of the beast means, symbolically, to acknowledge faith alone, to affirm it in oneself, and to live in accordance with it. And to worship its image means, symbolically, to accept the doctrine teaching it (see no. 602 above, also numbers 634, 637).
To live in accordance with faith alone and to accept its doctrine means to attach no importance to living for the sake of salvation, and to attach no importance to the truth, believing that if people only pray to God the Father to have pity for the sake of the Son, they are saved.
The people who do this are especially those who know and acknowledge the interior tenets of the doctrine, as they are the subject here (see no. 677 just above).
To pour out the bowl symbolizes an influx of truth and goodness from the Lord, as in nos. 676, 677 above. The sea symbolizes the outer component of the church, consequently those who are taken up with its external elements, since the earth or land symbolizes the internal component of the church, thus people who are taken up with its internal elements (nos. 398, 403, 404, 420, 470, 677). These are the people who are called the laity and are caught up in that faith.
Blood as though of a dead man, or blood oozing and mixed with pus, symbolizes infernal falsity. For blood symbolizes Divine truth, and in an opposite sense, that truth falsified (no. 379). But blood as though of a dead man symbolizes infernal falsity, inasmuch as death symbolizes the extinction of spiritual life, and so a dead man symbolizes something infernal (nos. 321, 525). That every living creature died means symbolically that every truth in the Word, in the church, and in faith was extinguished. For a living creature symbolizes the truth of faith; accordingly a living creature that has died symbolizes the truth of faith extinguished.
A living creature in the Word, or a soul when referring to a human being, symbolizes his spiritual life, which is also the life of his intellect; and because the intellect is formed by truths, and truths have to do with faith, therefore a living creature or soul symbolizes the truth of faith. That this is the symbolic meaning of a living creature or soul can be seen from many passages in the Word, and also from those that mention both soul and heart. The soul and heart plainly mean a person’s life, but it is his life in consequence of his will and intellect, or spiritually speaking, in consequence of his love and wisdom, or of his charity and faith; and the life of the will springing from the goodness of love is meant by heart, while the life of the intellect springing from truths of wisdom or of faith is meant by soul. These are meant by soul and heart in Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, 33, Luke 10:27; Deuteronomy 6:5, 10:12, 11:13, 26:16; Jeremiah 32:41; and elsewhere. Also in passages which mention heart by itself and soul by itself.
The reason these terms are used comes from the correspondence of the heart with the will and love, and of the soul’s action in the lungs with the intellect and wisdom, as may be seem in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, Section Five, where this correspondence is discussed.
The third angel’s pouring out his bowl symbolizes, as in the case of the first two, an influx from the Lord springing from truths and goods – here an influx into the understanding of the Word in these people. For rivers symbolize an abundance of truths, of service to a person’s rational self, thus his intellect, for doctrine and life (no. 409). And a spring of water symbolizes the Lord in relation to the Word, thus the Lord’s Word, and therefore springs of water symbolize Divine truths gained from it (nos. 384, 409).
* There is no number 682 in the original Latin text as published.
Blood in a good sense symbolizes Divine truth, and in an opposite sense that truth falsified, as may be seen in no. 379 above. Blood symbolizes Divine truth falsified and profaned because Jews shed the Lord’s blood, which was Divine truth itself or the Word, and they did this because they had falsified and profaned all the Word’s truths. (That the Lord suffered as an embodiment of the Word, or in other words, that the Jewish nation did the same violence to the Lord as they had done to the Word, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 15-17.)
People caught up in faith alone falsify all the Word’s truths, because the entire Word has to do with a life in accordance with the commandments in it, and with the Lord as being Jehovah and the only God; and people caught up in faith alone give no thought to a life in accordance with the commandments in the Word, nor do they approach the Lord.
The angel of the waters symbolizes nothing else but the Word’s Divine truth, because waters symbolize truths (no. 50). And an angel symbolizes the Divinity emanating from the Lord (nos. 415, 631, 633) and also the truth flowing from Him (no. 170).
“You are righteous, O Lord, because you have judged these things,” means symbolically that this is of the Lord’s Divine providence, as will be seen below. “Who is and who was” symbolically means the Lord in relation to the Word, as embodying and having embodied the Word, in accordance with John 1:1, 2, 14.* The Lord as an embodiment of the Word is meant here because the subject is the understanding of the Word in people who are of the church. More on the symbolic meanings of is and was, beginning and end, first and last, alpha and omega, when referring to the Lord, may be seen in nos. 13, 29, 30, 31, 38, 57 above. And that He is holy means symbolically that He is Divine truth itself (nos. 173, 586, 666).
It is apparent from this that “You are righteous, O Lord, the One who is and who was, and holy, because You have judged these things,” symbolically means that this is of the Divine providence of the Lord, who is and was the Word, and Divine truth itself.
[2] It is of the Lord’s Divine providence that people caught up in faith alone falsify the Word’s truths, because if they were to know them, to the point of thinking deeply about them, they would profane them. For they are caught up in evils, because they do not refrain from evils as being sinful, nor do they turn directly to the Lord. Consequently, if they were to accept the genuine truths in the Word, they would commingle them with their evil practices, and this would give rise to a profanation of what is holy.
One of the laws of permission, therefore, which are also laws of Divine providence, is that people like this of themselves falsify truths, and this to the extent that they are caught up in evil practices.
It is a matter of Divine providence that people caught up in evil practices cannot but be caught up in falsities as to doctrine, in order to keep them from profaning the Word’s Divine truths. See Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Providence, nos. 221-233, and no. 257 at the end.
* “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God…. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
To pour out blood means, symbolically, here as before in no. 684, to falsify the Word’s truths, thus to pervert them. Saints symbolize people in the church who are governed by truths, thus also in an abstract sense the church’s truths themselves (no. 586). Prophets symbolize people who are governed by doctrines from the Word, thus also in an abstract sense the doctrines themselves from the Word (no. 133).
To drink blood symbolically means not only to falsify the Word’s truths, but also to infuse one’s life with those falsified truths; for someone who drinks, assimilates into himself what he drinks and infuses himself with it.
The text says, “For they are deserving.” And the reason is that people who accept faith alone and live in accordance with it are caught up in evils in the way they live, and it is evil that brings this about in them. It is of people caught up in evils, then, that the text says here that they are deserving, as we say of people in the world who are punished for their evil deeds that they deserve the punishment.
Regarding the Divine providence in this circumstance, see no. 686 above.
Another, namely another angel, symbolizes the Divine goodness in the Word. An angel symbolizes the Divinity emanating from the Lord (nos. 415, 631, 633), and an angel from the altar symbolizes the Divine goodness of love (no. 648), here the Divine goodness in the Word, because the Word continues to be the subject, and because the angel of the waters symbolizes the Word’s Divine truth (no. 685).
Now because the Word’s Divine goodness and the Word’s Divine truth are united, therefore the symbolic meaning of what the angel of the waters said and the symbolic meaning of what the angel from the altar said are similar. For the angel of the waters said, “You are righteous, O Lord, the One who is and who was, and holy, because You have judged these things,” while here the angel from the altar said, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and just are Your judgments.” These two utterances have the same symbolic meaning, with the sole difference that one of the angels spoke from the prompting of truth, and the other from the prompting of goodness, and that one confirmed what the other said, but using different words, one using words that belong to the classification of truth, and the other using words that belong to the classification of good. For there is a marriage of truth and goodness in every part of the Word (no. 97), and some words are words having to do with goodness, and some are words having to do with truth. They appear to differ, but still they involve similar ideas.
To pour out the bowl symbolizes here, as before, an influx springing from goods and truths, here an influx into the people’s love; for the sun symbolizes the Lord’s Divine love, and in an opposite sense a love of self (nos. 53, 383, 414). Here it is a love of self, because we are told next that people were scorched with fire, and scorched with great heat, which symbolizes the lusts of that love.
Since to pour out the bowl symbolizes an influx from the Lord springing from goods and truths, therefore to pour out the bowl onto the sun symbolizes an influx from the Lord emanating from Divine love to expose the character of the love present in people belonging to that church. Consequently, the angel’s being given to scorch people with fire means symbolically that the Lord’s Divine love tormented them. And because the Lord’s Divine love torments only people who are caught up in lusts for evils springing from the delight of self-love, it follows then that the angel’s being given to scorch people with fire means symbolically that love toward the Lord tormented them because they were caught up in lusts for evils springing from the delight of self-love.
That heat symbolizes lusts for evils and so for falsities may be seen in no. 382 above; and that fire symbolizes Divine love, and in an opposite sense, hellish love, may be seen in no. 494 above.
Self-love is a hellish love, and its accompanying delight a hellish delight, and the delight accompanying that love springs from and consists of countless lusts for evils. This we have shown many times in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Providence, and in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom. The reality of this is not known in the Christian world, because people do not know what love toward the Lord is, and it is this love that teaches what self-love is.
Heat symbolizes the lusts for evils present in self-love and its accompanying delight (nos. 382, 691). Therefore to scorch with great heat means, symbolically, to be caught up in grievous lusts and so in the delight accompanying the love. To blaspheme the name of God means, symbolically, to deny or to refuse to acknowledge the Divinity of the Lord’s humanity and the holiness of the Word (nos. 571, 582). To blaspheme is to deny or to refuse to acknowledge, and the name of God is the Lord’s Divine humanity and at the same time the Word (no. 584). To have power over the plagues means symbolically that from the Lord flow every goodness of love and truth of faith by which evils and falsities are removed (nos. 673, 680, 690). And because the seven angels having the seven plagues came out of the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony (Revelation 15:5, 6), and the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony symbolizes the inmost of heaven where the Lord is present in His holiness in the Word and in the Law contained in the Ten Commandments (no. 669), and because the influx symbolized by pouring out the plagues came from there (no. 676), it follows that God’s having power over the plagues means the Lord from whom springs all else.
[2] We will briefly describe the nature of self-love. Its accompanying delight surpasses every other delight in the world, for it consists of nothing but lusts for evils, and every one of the lusts produces its own delight. Every person is born into this delight, and because it impels the person’s mind to focus its thought continually on itself, it draws the mind away from thinking about God and the neighbor except from the perspective of self and with a focus on self. As a consequence, if God does not favor the person’s lusts, he becomes angry with God, as he becomes angry with the neighbor who does not favor them.
As this delight grows, it causes the person to be unable to elevate his thought above himself, but instead draws it down to a level beneath him, for it immerses the mind in the inherent nature of his body. As a result the person becomes gradually sensual, and a sensual person speaks in a lofty and elevated tone about worldly and civic matters, but he can speak about God and Divine matters only from memory. If he is a politician, he acknowledges nature as responsible for creation, his own prudence as his guide, and denies God’s existence. If he is a priest, he speaks about God and Divine matters from memory, even in a lofty and elevated tone; but at heart he little believes them.
Not repenting means, symbolically, not to turn away from evils, but to remain in them. And not to give Him glory means, symbolically, not to accept with any faith that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, for that is to give Him glory.
That the Lord is God of heaven and earth is something He Himself clearly teaches in Matthew 28:18, John 13:3, 17:2, 3; also that He and the Father are one in John 10:30, 12:45, 14:6-11, 16:15, and elsewhere. Furthermore, Church doctrine also teaches that the Divine and the human are one person, united as soul and body.
The angel’s pouring out his bowl means, symbolically, here as before, influx, and the throne of the beast means, symbolically, where faith alone reigns. A throne symbolizes a kingdom or realm, and the beast faith alone (nos. 567, 576, 577, 594, 601, 660).
That a throne is also mentioned in connection with the reign of evil and falsity is apparent from the following:
The dragon gave (the beast) its power, its throne, and great authority. (Revelation 13:2)
I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. (Revelation 2:13)
I watched till thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days was seated. (Daniel 7:9)
I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and…the strength of the kingdoms of the nations. (Haggai 2:22)
(Lucifer said:) “I will exalt my throne above the stars…. (Isaiah 14:13)
And elsewhere.
Darkness symbolizes falsities because light symbolizes truth. To be shown that darkness symbolizes falsities that lead to evils, and thick darkness falsities springing from evils, see no. 413 above. Thus the beast’s kingdom becoming full of darkness means symbolically that nothing but falsities appeared.
People who have confirmed themselves in a faith divorced from charity falsify the whole Word, as may be seen in nos. 136, 610 above. That they possess no truths, nos. 489, 501, 653, but only falsities, nos. 563, 597, 602.
Still, the falsities of their faith do not in fact appear to them as full of darkness, that is, as false, but they appear as though full of light, that is, as true, once they have confirmed themselves in them. Nevertheless, when these falsities are viewed in the light of heaven, which reveals everything, they appear as being full of darkness. Consequently, whenever the light of heaven flows into the rooms in their abodes in hell, the rooms become so dark that one cannot see another. Every hell is therefore closed over, so that not even a crack appears, and the inhabitants are then in their own light. They do not appear to themselves to be in darkness, but rather surrounded by light, even though they are caught up in falsities, and that is because their falsities, once they have confirmed themselves in them, appear to them as true. Thus their light is an illusory light, like the light of any falsity defended. This light corresponds to the light seen by owls and bats, which see darkness as light, and light as darkness – indeed, in whose sight the sun is nothing but thick darkness. Such is the sight acquired after death by people who in the world have confirmed themselves in falsities, to the point that they see falsity as true, and truth as false.
Suffering does not mean suffering because of falsities. Falsities do not cause these people any suffering. Rather it means distress because of truths, thus their not enduring them. Gnawing their tongues symbolizes their unwillingness to hear truths; for the tongue symbolizes a confession of truth, because the tongue serves thought for its utterance in speech, and spiritually, for its confessing. To gnaw the tongue means, symbolically, to keep one’s thought from listening to truths.
That gnawing the tongue has this symbolic meaning cannot be confirmed from the Word, because it is not mentioned anywhere else there. But I have been given to know it from experience in the spiritual world. Whenever someone there utters truths of faith, spirits who cannot endure to hear truths hold their tongues behind clenched teeth and purse their lips, as well as inducing others to hold their tongues and purse their lips, and this to the point of distress. It is apparent from this now that people’s gnawing their tongues because of their suffering means symbolically that they could not endure truths.
That the tongue as an organ of speech symbolizes thought and confession, and also the teaching of truth or doctrine, may be seen in no. 282 above.
To blaspheme the God of heaven means, symbolically, to deny or refuse to acknowledge the Lord alone as God of heaven and earth (nos. 571, 582). Their sufferings symbolize the distresses attendant on acknowledging this, as in no. 696 above, thus feelings of repugnance springing from interior falsities; for whatever one finds repugnant is also distressing. Distresses are predicated of falsities. Sores symbolize interior evils, as in no. 678 above. And because interior evils and falsities arise from an acknowledgment and acceptance of the dogma regarding faith alone, therefore this, too, is symbolically meant.
Not repenting means, symbolically, not to turn away, as in no. 693 above; and works symbolize falsities of faith and people’s consequent evil practices, as in no. 641 above.
According to the literal sense, neither sufferings nor sores could compel the people to repent of their falsities and evils, but according to the spiritual sense, instruction from the Word could not compel them to abandon their falsities and evils because they are hellish.
It is apparent from this that the people’s not repenting of their works means symbolically that despite being instructed from the Word, they still did not turn away from the falsities of their faith or from their consequent evil practices.
We say that works here are falsities of faith and the consequent evil practices. We say this because falsity of faith precedes and evil practice follows. For it is a falsity of faith that evil does not condemn a person who possesses faith. Therefore the person lives unconcernedly, not thinking about any evil, and so never reproaches himself or repents. The result is the same if he persuades himself that works contribute nothing to salvation, but that faith alone saves without works.
The sixth angel’s pouring out his bowl symbolizes, here as before, influx. The great river Euphrates symbolizes interior reasonings, the same as before in nos. 444, 445, here the interior reasonings of the Protestant Reformed church which they use to defend justification by faith alone, because this is the subject in the verses that follow next.
That the water was dried up means symbolically that the falsities in those interior reasonings were removed. Its being dried up symbolizes their removal – water symbolizing truths, and in an opposite sense falsities (nos. 50, 614), here the falsities in people’s interior reasonings, because the water was the water of the river Euphrates, which symbolizes those reasonings (no. 699). The kings for whom the way was made ready symbolize people who possess truths from the Lord that spring from goodness (nos. 18, 483). The rising of the sun symbolizes the beginning of the New Church from the Lord, the same as morning (no. 151). Preparing the way symbolizes a preparation to introduce.
It is apparent from this that the water’s being dried up, so that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be made ready, symbolically means that the falsities in their interior reasonings were removed in the case of people who possess truths from the Lord that spring from goodness, and who are to be introduced into the New Church.
[2] The context of this is as follows: The subject here is the final period or end of the present church and the establishment or beginning of a new church and its struggles. The people of the present church caught up in faith alone are meant by the dragon, beast, and false prophet, spoken of next, and their conflicts with people who will belong to the New Church are meant by the gathering of the kings of the earth to do battle. Those people who will belong to the New Church, on the other hand, with whom they will conflict, are meant by those for whom the water of the river Euphrates was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be made ready.
This involves an occurrence similar to one in the introduction of the children of Israel into the land of Canaan, with the difference that for the Israelites the river Jordan was dried up, while for the people here it is the river Euphrates. It is the river Euphrates for the people here because they use interior reasonings to carry on the conflict, reasonings that must be dried up, that is, removed, before the introduction can occur. This is also the reason that their interior reasonings are being exposed in this book. If they were not exposed, an unwitting person, no matter how intelligent, might easily be led astray.
A mouth symbolizes doctrine, and preaching and discourse from it (nos. 454, 574). The dragon symbolizes an acknowledgment of three gods and of justification by faith alone, and so a destruction of the church (no. 537). The beast from the sea, which is the beast meant here, symbolizes people of the external church who are caught up in that acknowledgment and faith (nos. 567, 576, 577, 601). The false prophet symbolizes people of the internal church, who teach a theology founded on those doctrines. The false prophet has not been mentioned by that name before, but it is the beast from the earth that is called that now (see no. 594 above).
Now because all of this is symbolically meant by the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet (who is the beast from the earth here), it follows that John’s seeing something coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, symbolizes something perceived from a theology founded on the doctrine of a trinity of persons in the Godhead and on the doctrine of justification by faith alone apart from works of the law.
Spirits here have the same symbolism as demons, since we are shortly told that they were spirits of demons, and demons symbolize lusts to falsify truths (no. 458). The number three symbolizes all (nos. 400, 505), here nothing but. Frogs symbolize reasonings prompted by lusts, because they croak and are lascivious.
It is apparent from this that three unclean spirits like frogs symbolize nothing but reasonings and lusts to falsify truths.
Frogs here have the same symbolic meaning as the frogs in Egypt, because the destruction of the church among the Egyptians is likewise described by the miracles done, regarding which we are thus told in Exodus:
Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land…. (Exodus 8:5-14, cf. Psalm 78:45, 105:30)
And later the frogs were removed, remaining only in the river (Exodus 8:11-13).
Frogs were produced from the waters of Egypt and remained in the river because the waters in Egypt, and especially those in the river there, symbolized doctrinal falsities on which the people based their reasoning.
That demons symbolize lusts to falsify truths may be seen in no. 458 above. And because they were like frogs, the lusts were also lusts to reason on the basis of falsities, as said just above in no. 702.
To perform signs is to testify and also to assert that something is true, as may be seen in nos. 598, 599 above, here that their falsities are true. Kings of the earth and of the whole world symbolize people who are caught up primarily in falsities springing from evil, here all who are caught up in the same falsities throughout the church. For kings symbolize people impelled by truths that spring from goodness, and in an opposite sense people impelled by falsities springing from evil (no. 483). The earth symbolizes the church (no. 285), and so likewise does the world (no. 551). To go away to gather them to battle means, symbolically, to stir those people to fight or attack; for war symbolizes a spiritual war, which is one of falsity against truth and of truth against falsity (nos. 500, 586). It is to attack the truths of the New Church because it is called the battle of that great day of God Almighty, and that day symbolizes the Lord’s advent and a new church then. That this is the symbolic meaning of the great day there will be seen below.
We are told that the spirits of demons would do this, because the spirits of demons symbolize lusts to falsify truths and to reason on the basis of falsities, as just said in no. 703 above.
It is apparent from this that spirits of demons performing signs to go away to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty, symbolize assertions by the people meant by the dragon, the beast and the false prophet, as described in nos. 701, 702 above, that their falsities are true, and efforts to stir up all those throughout the church who are caught up in the same falsities to attack the truths of the New Church.
[2] That the great day of God Almighty symbolizes the Lord’s advent and a new church then, is clear from many passages in the Word, as from the following:
Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day. (Isaiah 2:11)
…in that day…Israel…will depend on Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. (Isaiah 10:20)
In that day a Root of Jesse…shall the Gentiles seek, and His resting place shall be glorious. (Isaiah 11:10, 11)
In that day…eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 17:7, 9)
They will say in that day: “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, to set us free.” (Isaiah 25:9)
…My people shall know My name…(and) in that day, I am He who speaks: “Behold, it is I.” (Isaiah 52:6)
Alas! …great is (the day of Jehovah, and) there is none like it. (Jeremiah 30:7)
Behold, the days are coming…when I will make a new covenant…and the city shall be built for Jehovah…. (Jeremiah 31:27, 31, 38)
In those days…I will cause to grow up to David a righteous Branch…. (Jeremiah 33:15)
(They will not) stand in battle on the day of Jehovah. (Ezekiel 13:5)
In that day Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the children of your people…. In that day…shall be delivered everyone who is found written in the book. (Daniel 12:1)
…in that day…you will call Me “My Husband”…. In that day I will make a covenant for them…. …in that day I will hear…. (Hosea 2:16,18,21).
Behold, I am sending you Elijah…before the coming of the great…day of Jehovah. (Malachi 4:5)
Jehovah…will save them in that day, as the flock of His people. (Zechariah 9:16)
In that day Jehovah will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem. (Zechariah 12:8)
Behold, the day of Jehovah is coming…. It shall be one day which is known to Jehovah…. In that day Jehovah shall be one and His name one…. In that day there shall be a great tumult…. In that day “Holiness to the Lord” shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. (Zechariah 14:1, 4, 6-9, 13, 20, 21)
There are many other passages in addition to these in which “the day of Jehovah” means the Lord’s advent and a new church from Him then, as in the following: Isaiah 4:2, 19:16, 18, 21, 24, 22:20, 28:5, 29:18, 30:25, 26, 31:7; Jeremiah 3:16-18, 23:5-7, 12, 20, 50:4, 20, 27; Ezekiel 24:26, 27, 29:21, 34:11, 12, 36:33; Hosea 3:5, 6:1, 2; Joel 2:29, 3:1, 14, 18; Obadiah v. 15; Amos 9:11, 13; Micah 4:6; Habakkuk 3:2; Zephaniah 3:11, 16, 19, 20; Zechariah 2:11; Psalm 72:7, 8. And that day is called the day of Jehovah in Joel 1:15, 2:1, 2, 11; Amos 5:18, 20; Zephaniah 1:7, 14, 2:2, 3; Zechariah 14:1; and elsewhere.
Since the end of an age or final period of a former church is the time when the Lord’s advent takes place and a new church begins, therefore the day of Jehovah in many places symbolizes the end of a previous church, and we are told that then there will be rumors, tumult, and wars.* See the passages collected in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 4, 5.
* E.g., Matthew 24:6, Mark 13:7.
To come as a thief, when said of the Lord, symbolizes His advent, and heaven then for people who have lived a good life, but hell for those who have lived an evil life, as may be seen in no. 164 above. That person is called blessed who receives eternal life (no. 639). To watch means, symbolically, to live spiritually, that is, to possess truths and live in accordance with them and look to the Lord (no. 158). And to preserve one’s garments means, symbolically, to remain steadfast in those truths to the end of one’s life. For garments symbolize truths that clothe (nos. 166, 212, 328), thus the Lord’s precepts in the Word, because these are truths.
This meaning now follows in sequence from the preceding ones, for the subject before was the Lord’s advent and a new church, and then an attack on that church by people of the former church; and because the conflict is at hand, those people who possess truths from the Word are admonished to remain steadfast in them, lest they succumb in the battle that is the subject of the following verse.
To walk naked means, symbolically, to live without truths. The shame of nakedness or private parts symbolizes filthy loves, which are hellish loves. And because the text says, “Lest…they see his shame,” it symbolically means, so as not to have those loves appear. That nakedness symbolizes ignorance of truth, and shameful nakedness hellish love, may be seen in no. 213 above.
This admonition is for people who will belong to the Lord’s New Church, warning them to learn truths and remain constant in them, since without truths people’s innate evils, which are their hellish loves, are not removed. A person without truths may indeed be able to live as a Christian, but he does so in the eyes of men, but not in the eyes of angels.
The truths which people are to learn are truths having to do with the Lord and with the precepts according to which they are to live.
To gather together to the place, in this case for battle, means, symbolically, to incite people to use falsities to fight against truths. It is a state of combat, because a place symbolizes the state of something. It springs from a mind to destroy the New Church, because the combat meant is between the former church and a new one, and the intent of the combat is to destroy. What Armageddon symbolizes we will say below.
We were told previously that the dragon went off to make war with the rest of the woman’s offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (Revelation 12:17). Also that it was granted the beast from the sea to make war with the saints (Revelation 13:7). Then in this chapter we are told that spirits of demons coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, went away to the kings of the earth to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty (Revelation 16:13, 14). And here now the subject is the battle itself, whose outcome is not described, but only its state, which is symbolized by Armageddon.
[2] Armageddon symbolizes in heaven a love of acclaim, dominion and preeminence, and in Hebrew, too, Aram or Arom symbolizes loftiness, and Megiddo in ancient Hebrew a love in consequence of loftiness, as is apparent from its meaning in Arabic.* Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo has the same symbolic meaning in Zechariah 12:11. The subject of that chapter is also the Lord’s advent, the end of the Jewish Church then and the beginning of a new one to be established by the Lord, and a conflict, too, between those churches. That is why we find so many times in that chapter the phrase “in that day,” and that day symbolizes the Lord’s advent, as in no. 704 above. For this to be seen, I will quote the passages:
…in that day that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all peoples…. In that day…I will strike every horse with stupor, and its rider with madness…. In that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a fiery furnace in the woodpile…. In that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that there may be a force among them…. …in that day…I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. (Zechariah 12:3, 4, 6, 8, 9)
And finally:
In that day there shall be…mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad-Rimmon in the valley of Megiddo. (Zechariah 12:11)
And in the following chapter:
In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem…. It shall be in that day that the prophets will be ashamed…and…not put on a robe of coarse hair, so as to deceive. (Zechariah 13:1, 4)
[3] That day symbolizes the Lord’s advent and the end of the former church and the beginning of a new one, as said above. But what the valley of Megiddo in that chapter symbolizes cannot be seen unless the series of symbolic meanings there and in the two following chapters in that prophetic book are revealed by disclosure of the spiritual sense; and because this series of meanings has been revealed to me, I will say what it is, but in brief summation. In the spiritual sense Zechariah 12 describes the following:
The Lord will form a new church (verse 1). The former church will have no doctrine then left in it, and therefore the people will run from it (verses 2, 3). There will no longer be any understanding of truth, except in people who hold to the Word and will belong to the new church (verse 4). They will learn the goodness of doctrine from the Lord (verse 5). By means of the Word’s truths the Lord will destroy all falsities then, lest the doctrine of the new church teach anything other than truth (verses 6, 7). The church will have then a doctrine regarding the Lord (verse 8). He will destroy everyone and everything that stands in opposition to that doctrine (verse 9), and a new church will exist then from the Lord (10). Each and every part of the church will be in a state of mourning then (verses 10 to 14).
[4] These are the contents of Chapter 12 in the spiritual sense. The contents of the next chapter, Zechariah 13, are as follows:
For the new church there will be a Word, and it will lie open to them (verse 1). Falsities in their doctrine and worship will be entirely destroyed (verses 2, 3). The former prophetic or doctrinal teaching will cease, and there will no longer be any falsities in their doctrine (verses 4, 5). People in the former church will kill the Lord, with the intention of dispersing those who believe in Him (verses 6, 7). Those of the devastated church will perish, while those of the new church will be purified and taught by the Lord (verses 8, 9).
[5] These are the contents of chapter 13 in the spiritual sense. The contents of chapter 14 are as follows:
The combats of the Lord against evil people and their dispersion (verses 1 to 5). The absence of any truth then other than Divine truth from the Lord (verses 6, 7). Divine truth will emanate from the Lord (verses 8, 9). Truth in the new church will increase, and there will be in it no falsity that accompanies evil (verses 10, 11). People who fight against those truths will surrender themselves to falsities of every kind (verse 12). The destruction then of every facet of the church (verses 13 to 15). People will then turn to worship of the Lord, even from nations that are external and merely natural (verses 16 to 19). And their intelligence then, springing from the goodness of charity that produces their worship (verses 20, 21).
These are the contents of the three chapters, Zechariah 12 to 14, in the spiritual sense, disclosed because they also have as their subject the last state of a former church and the first state of a new church. Moreover, because [in the present verse] we are told that people were to be gathered together to the place called in Hebrew Armageddon, it follows that what is said in Zechariah applies equally to the last state of today’s church and to the first state of the New Church.
Armageddon symbolizes, as we said, a love of acclaim, dominion and preeminence, for it is because of that love that a conflict arises, and it is because of that love and on its account that there is the mourning described in Zechariah 12:11-14.
Megiddo also has the same symbolic meaning in 2 Kings 23:29, 30 and 2 Chronicles 35:20-24, but in the spiritual sense.
* Modern scholarship recognizes Armageddon as a combination of the Hebrew har, meaning a mountain or hill, and the place name Megiddo, etymology unknown.
The seventh angel’s pouring out his bowl symbolizes, here as before, influx. The air symbolizes the whole scope of their perception and thought, thus of their faith, and consequently also the character generally of all those people in that church caught up in a faith divorced from charity. For air symbolizes their respiration, and respiration corresponds to the intellect, thus to perception and thought, and also faith, because faith is a matter of thought in accordance with the intellect’s perception. The existence of this correspondence, and the fact that everyone in the spiritual world breathes in a way that reflects his faith, has been fully shown in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, Part Five.
The loud voice coming out of the temple of heaven symbolizes a manifestation by the Lord from the inmost of heaven – the loud voice symbolizing a manifestation, and the temple of heaven symbolizing the inmost of heaven, from which the influx came (no. 669). We are told that it came from the throne because the throne symbolizes heaven, and also judgment. That it symbolizes heaven, see nos. 221, 222; and that it symbolizes judgment, no. 229, and this because it was now made manifest that every element of the church had been destroyed, thus that it was at its end, and at the end of a church a judgment takes place. Consequently, when the last angel poured out his bowl, the statement here was heard coming out of the temple of heaven from the throne. “It is done!” symbolically means that it was finished, namely, that every element of the church was destroyed, as may be seen in no. 676 above.
Voices, lightnings and thunderings symbolize reasonings, falsifications of truth, and arguments in consequence of falsities, as can be seen from what we said above in nos. 396, 530, and the same words there.
Regarding people caught up in a faith divorced from works of the law, who consequently engage in evil practices, that they refuse to reflect on the evils in themselves, because they would not want to turn away from those evils if they were to know them, is apparent without explanation. Experience shows this. For evils are delightful, because they are expressions of love, and no one want to turn away from things that delight him unless he gives thought to life after death, first to hell and what it is like, and then to heaven and what it is like, and thinks about them when not engaged in the doing of evil. If he also then turns to the Lord and thinks, “What is something temporal in relation to eternity? Is it not as nothing?” it is then that he can reflect on his evils, with a willingness to see them and turn away from them.
But if a person has first confirmed himself in faith alone, he will then say in his heart, “Our theological faith, that God the Father takes pity on us for the sake of His Son who suffered for our sins – if I make appeal to it with some degree of trust, that faith does all the rest.” He then does not reflect on any evil in him. He also says to himself because of that faith that evil does not condemn, that salvation is a matter of pure mercy, and other like things. Thus he remains engaged in his evils and finds delight in them to the end of his life.
Such are the reasonings, falsifications of truth and arguments in consequence of falsities accompanying evil that are here symbolically meant by voices, lightnings, and thunderings.
Earthquakes symbolize changes in a church’s state, as may be seen in no. 331 above. But because some earthquakes are milder and some more severe, and the one here is very severe, since we are told that such a quake had not occurred since the appearance of people, it is apparent that the earthquake here symbolizes shocks, convulsions, upsets and drawings down from heaven of every element of the church.
We are told, too, in regard to the dragon, which is called a serpent, the devil and satan,* that its tail drew down from heaven a third of the stars and threw them to the earth (Revelation 12:4). Something similar is said in regard to the male goat in Daniel 8:10-12. The Lord also says regarding the end of the present church:
…then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, nor ever shall be. (Matthew 24:21)
The end of the church is described in the prophets as well by shocks, overturnings and castings down of the earth, and many other occurrences attendant on earthquakes.
* Revelation 12:9, 20:2.
A city symbolizes church doctrine, or what is the same, the church in respect to its doctrine, as may be seen in nos. 194, 501, 502 above. The cities of the nations accordingly symbolize the heretical doctrines or heresies that emanated from it, of which there are many. To be divided into three parts means, symbolically, to be utterly destroyed; for in the Word to be divided means, symbolically, to be scattered, because the parts do not then hold together, and the number three symbolizes everything or the totality (nos. 400, 505). Thus to be divided into three parts means, symbolically, to be utterly destroyed. Falling, which the cities of the nations are said to have done, also symbolically means to be destroyed.
We are told that the city was divided into three parts and that the cities of the nations fell because of the earthquake that occurred just before, in which such events take place.
The great city means the great city mentioned before in chapter 11, verse 8, which is there called Sodom and Egypt. Regarding it, see nos. 501-504 above.
A city symbolizes doctrine, and cities therefore doctrinal teachings, because the earth or land, in particular the land of Canaan, symbolizes the church. And because the church is a church owing to its doctrine and in consequence of it, therefore cities symbolize doctrinal teachings. People were also taught in cities, because that is where the synagogues were and in Jerusalem the Temple. Jerusalem consequently symbolizes the church in respect to its doctrine in a universal sense.
As a city, as it is here, Babylon symbolizes the Roman Catholic religion in respect to its dogmas and doctrines (no. 631). To give her the cup of the wine of the fury of God’s wrath means, symbolically, to destroy it to the point that nothing but evil and falsity remains. That this is the symbolic meaning of the cup of the wine of the fury of God’s wrath may be seen in nos. 631, 632 above.
[2] 16:20 [Then every island fled away, and mountains were not found. This symbolically means that there was no longer any truth of faith, nor any goodness of love.]*
* This text, omitted here in the original Latin, is taken from The Contents of the Individual Verses above. Since it is referred to in no. 737:1, in may have been accidentally omitted by the typesetter of the first edition.
Hail symbolizes falsity destroying truth and goodness, as may be seen in no. 399 above. And because the hail here is called great hail about the weight of a talent, it symbolizes dreadful and atrocious falsities, by which every truth and good in the Word and so in the church was destroyed.
It is said to be the weight of a talent because a talent was the largest weight of both silver and gold, and silver symbolizes truth, and gold goodness, and the two in an opposite sense, falsity and evil (no. 211).
That the hail is said to have fallen from heaven upon people is said in accordance with appearances, in terms of which and their correspondences the literal sense of the Word was written. The case here is similar to that in what we were told before regarding the plagues, that angels from heaven poured out the plagues upon men, when in fact truths and goods descended from the Lord which in people below were turned into falsities and evils (no. 673).
In the case of such people in the spiritual world, too, when they are engaged in reasoning on the basis of falsities against the Word’s truths, hail sometimes appears to fall, and in some cases, brimstone and fire; and because these things appear in the atmosphere above them, as though coming from heaven, therefore we are told in accordance with the appearance that the hail described fell from heaven.
To blaspheme God means, symbolically, to deny and not to acknowledge that the Lord alone is God of heaven and earth (no. 571, 582, 697), and to deny and not acknowledge likewise the truth in the Word. “As the plague was exceedingly great” means, symbolically, owing to the aforementioned dreadful and atrocious falsities from their entrenched dogma of justification by faith alone (no. 714). They cannot acknowledge truths owing to those falsities, because an affirmation of falsity is a denial of the truth.
It appears as though the meaning is that the plague of hail was so great that the people were driven by the torment and pain of it to blaspheme God, but that is not what is meant. Rather the meaning is that they could not acknowledge truths owing to their falsities. The case is similar to ones earlier in this chapter, where we are told that they blasphemed the name of God because of the heat (verse 9), and that they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their sufferings and because of their sores (verse 11), the explanations of which may be seen in nos. 692 and 697.
**********
I spoke with several English bishops in the spiritual world about the short works I published in London in 1758, namely, Heaven and Hell, The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, The Last Judgment, The White Horse, and The Earths in the Universe. I had sent these short works as a gift to all the Bishops and to a number of magnates or lords. The bishops said that they had received them and looked them over, but that they did not regard them as having any merit, even though artfully written. And they said, too, that they had persuaded as many as they could not to read them.
I asked why this was, since in fact the books contain secrets concerning heaven and hell, and concerning life after death, and many more worthy of much merit, having been revealed by the Lord for people who will belong to His New Church, which is the New Jerusalem.
But they said, “What is that to us?” And they poured out invectives against them as they had in the world. I heard them.
I then read in their presence these verses from the Apocalypse:
Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl upon the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be made ready. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are spirits of demons that perform signs to go away to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty…. And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew Armageddon. (Revelation 16:12-16)
Having explained these verses in their presence, I told the bishops that they, and others like them elsewhere, were the people meant by these depictions.
[2] A king, the grandfather of the king reigning today,* heard from heaven what I said to the bishops, and being somewhat annoyed, he said, “What is this?”
And then one of those bishops, who had not gone along with the others in the world, turned to the king and said, “These whom you now see with your own eyes, thought in the world, and so even now continue to think, of the Lord’s Divine humanity as being that of an ordinary person, and they attribute all salvation and redemption to God the Father, and not to the Lord except as the occasioning cause. For they believe in God the Father, and not in His Son, even though they know from the Lord that it is the Father’s will that they believe in the Son, that those who believe in the Son shall have eternal life, and that those who do not believe in the Son shall not see life.**
“In addition, the charity done by the Lord through a person as though done by the person – this they cast out from having anything to do with salvation.”
[3] Speaking further with the king, the bishop disclosed the hierarchy that many of the bishops continually aspire to and also take part in, which they establish by joining together and forming an alliance. They do this with all of their order through emissaries, messengers, letters and conversations, supported by their ecclesiastical and at the same time political authority. As a result they almost all cling together, like a single bundle of sticks. Moreover, it is in consequence of that hierarchy, too, that even though the aforementioned works for the New Jerusalem were published in London and sent to them as a gift, they have caused those works to be so shamefully rejected that they are regarded as not even worth a mention in their book catalogue.
Hearing this, the king was dumbfounded, especially on being told that the bishops thought as they did regarding the Lord, who nevertheless is God of heaven and earth, and regarding charity, which nevertheless is the essence of religion.
At that, by a shaft of light descending then from heaven, the interiors of their minds and faith were laid open; and when the king saw them, he said, “Depart! Alas, who can become so hardened against hearing anything relating to heaven and eternal life?”
[4] The king then asked why the clergy rendered the bishops such universal obedience, and the bishop said that it resulted from the power granted to every bishop in his diocese of nominating to the king only one man or candidate for a parish, and not three as in other kingdoms. Owing to that power, then, they have the ability to promote their supporters to higher positions of honor and larger incomes – each one according to the obedience that he renders.
The bishop disclosed also how far that hierarchy could go, and that it has progressed to the point that power is the essential goal and religion a formality.
He revealed, too, their passion for power, and when viewed by angels, they saw that it exceeded the passion for power of people in positions of secular authority.
* In 1766 when this work was published, the reigning monarch was George III, who in 1760 succeeded his grandfather, George II, as king of England.
** John 6:40, 3:36.
CHAPTER 17
1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed whoredom, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her licentiousness.” 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her licentiousness. 5 And on her forehead a name was written: Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of the Whoredoms and Abominations of the Earth.
6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with great wonder.
7 But the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, those whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9 This is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. 10 They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must remain a short time. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, is itself the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to destruction. 12 The ten horns which you saw are ten kings that have not yet received a kingdom, but receive authority as kings for one hour with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. 14 These will do battle with the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” 15 Then he said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes, nations and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose, and to be of one mind and give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman whom you saw is the great city which holds sway over the kings of the earth.”
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
The subject is the Roman Catholic religion. Described is the way in which it falsified the Word and so perverted all the church’s truths (verses 1-7). How it falsified these and perverted them among peoples subject to its dominion (verses 8-11), but less among peoples who had not so subjected themselves to its dominion (verses 12-15).
Regarding the Protestant Reformed, that they had withdrawn themselves from the yoke of its domination (verse 16, 17). Its continuing domination anyway (verse 18).
The Contents of the Individual Verses
1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me,
Influx now and a revelation from the Lord from the inmost of heaven about the Roman Catholic religion,
saying to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters,
a revelation about that religion as regards its profanations and adulterations of the Word’s truths,
2 with whom the kings of the earth committed whoredom,
that it adulterated the church’s goods and truths that it had from the Word.
and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her licentiousness.”
Its insanity in spiritual matters owing to the adulteration of the Word among those immersed in that religion.
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness.
John’s being carried away in a spiritual state to people in whom everything of the church had been destroyed.
And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy,
That religion resting on the Word that they profaned.
having seven heads and ten horns.
Their intelligence gained from the Word, at first reverent, later abandoned, and at last irrational, and their continued great power drawn from the Word.4The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet,
The celestial Divine good and truth contained in the Word among them.
and adorned with gold and precious stones
The spiritual Divine good and truth contained in the Word among them.
and pearls,
The concepts of goodness and truth contained in the Word among them.
having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her licentiousness.
That religion derived from the sacred contents of the Word profaned, and from its goods and truths defiled by dreadful falsities.
5 And on her forehead a name was written: Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of the Whoredoms and Abominations of the Earth.
The Roman Catholic religion such as it is interiorly, which is concealed, that from its origin, springing from a love of exercising dominion from a love of self over the sanctities of the church and over heaven, thus over everything connected with the Lord and His Word, it defiled and profaned things having to do with the Word and so with the church.
6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.
That religion irrational because of its adulterating and profaning the Divine truths and goods of the Lord, of the Word, and so of the church.
And when I saw her, I wondered with great wonder.
Astonishment that that religion is of such a character interiorly, when indeed it appears otherwise outwardly.
7 But the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.
A disclosure of the symbolic meaning of the preceding events and scenes.
8 The beast that you saw was, and is not,
The Word among them acknowledged as holy, and yet really not acknowledged.
and will ascend out of the abyss and go to destruction.
The laity’s and common people’s being given the Word and reading it deliberated several times in the papal Consistory, but rejected.
And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, those whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
The astonishment of those who belong to that religion, of all those who from its commencement strove for dominion over heaven and earth, that even though the Word had been thus rejected, still it endures.
9 This is the mind which has wisdom:
This is the interpretation in the natural sense, but intended for people who have the spiritual meaning from the Lord.
The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. 10 They are also seven kings.
The Divine goods and truths in the Word on which that religion was founded, in time destroyed and finally profaned.
Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must remain a short time.
The Word’s Divine truths have all been destroyed but this one, that the Lord was given all authority in heaven and on earth, and a second one, which has not yet been called into question, and when it is, will not survive, namely, that the Lord’s humanity is Divine.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, is itself the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to destruction.
The Word, as mentioned previously, is Divine good itself and Divine truth, and it has been taken from the laity and common people to keep the Roman Catholic hierarchy’s profanations and adulterations of it from appearing, and the people’s turning away on that account.
12 The ten horns which you saw are ten kings that have not yet received a kingdom,
The Word as to the power it has from Divine truths among Roman Catholics who live in France and are not so much under the yoke of papal dominion, who nevertheless have not yet formed among them therefore a church separate from the Roman Catholic religion.
but receive authority as kings for one hour with the beast.
The Word has force with them, and through the Word they prevail, as though they possessed its Divine truths.
13 These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.
They unanimously acknowledge that the only means of government and dominion over the church is through the Word.
14 These will do battle with the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings;
The Lord’s battle with them over an acknowledgment of His Divine humanity, because the Lord in that humanity is God of heaven and earth and also the Word.
and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”
People who turn to the Lord and worship Him alone are those who go to heaven, both those concerned with the external elements of the church and those concerned with its internal and inmost elements.
15 Then he said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes, nations and tongues.
Under papal dominion, but caught up in various ways in that religion’s adulterated and profaned truths of the Word, are peoples of a varying doctrine and discipline, and of a varying religion and confession of it.
16 And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot,
The Word as to the power it has from Divine truths among Protestants, who have thrown off entirely the yoke of papal dominion.
make her desolate and naked,
They will rid themselves of its falsities and evils.
eat her flesh and burn her with fire.
They will with hatred condemn and destroy in themselves the evils and falsities inherent in that religion, and will renounce the religion itself and expunge it in themselves.
17 For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose, and to be of one mind and give their kingdom to the beast,
A judgment among them from the Lord that they should utterly repudiate and renounce the Roman Catholic religion and expunge and eradicate it in themselves, and a unanimous judgment that they should acknowledge the Word and found the church on it.
until the words of God are fulfilled.
Until all the things foretold about them have been fulfilled.
18 And the woman whom you saw is the great city which holds sway over the kings of the earth.”
The Roman Catholic religion will reign as to doctrine in the Christian world, and to some extent still also among the Protestant Reformed, even though the latter are not under papal dominion.
THE EXPOSITION
The Protestant Reformed were the subject before this in chapters 7 to 16. The subject now in this chapter and the next is Roman Catholics, and those among them who claim for themselves the power of opening and closing heaven are meant by Babylon. We must first say here, therefore, what Babylon means specifically.
Babylon or Babel means a love of ruling over the sanctities of the church stemming from a love of self, and because this love increases to the degree it is given free rein, and the sanctities of the church are also the sanctities of heaven, therefore Babylon or Babel symbolizes dominion over heaven as well.
Moreover, because this love thus plays the part of the devil, who aspires to similar ends, it cannot help but profane sacred things by adulterating the Word’s goods and truths. Consequently Babylon or Babel also symbolizes the profanation of what is sacred and the adulteration of the Word’s goodness and truth.
These are the symbolic meanings of Babylon here in the book of Revelation, and of Babel in the following places in the prophetic and historical Word:
(Regarding) Babel…. Behold, the day of Jehovah is coming, cruel…., …the stars of heaven and their constellations do not give their light; the sun has been darkened in its rising, and the moon does not cause its light to shine….
“I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and will lay low the haughtiness of the violent….”
Babel, the glory of kingdoms…, will be as God’s overthrowing of Sodom and Gomorrah…. Ziyyim* will lie down there, their houses will be full of ‘ochim,** and the offspring of owls will dwell there, and satyrs will caper there. ‘Iyyim*** will reply in her palaces, and dragons in her pleasant palaces. (Isaiah 13:1, 9-11, 19, 21, 22)
[2] Not to mention many other declarations throughout that chapter.
…you will take up this parable regarding the king of Babel…:
“Your magnificence has been brought down into hell….
“…you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer…. …you have said in your heart, “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God…; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol….
…I will rise up against them…and cut off from Babel the name and remnant….” (Isaiah 14:4, 11-15, 22)
[3] Not to mention many other declarations throughout that chapter.
…Jehovah spoke against Babel…: “Your mother was deeply ashamed; she who bore you was ashamed. Behold, the last of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land and a solitude….
“Put yourselves in array against Babel all around…, shoot at her, spare no arrows….
“How Babel has become a desolation among the nations!
“…she has behaved insolently against Jehovah, against the Holy One of Israel….
“A drought is against her waters, so that they are dried up. For it is the land of carved images, and glories in shocking things.
“Therefore ziyyim shall dwell there with ‘iyyim, and the offspring of owls shall dwell in it…, as in God’s overthrowing Sodom and Gomorrah….” (Jeremiah 50:1, 12, 14, 23, 29, 31, 38-40)
[4] Not to mention may other declarations regarding Babel in that chapter.
“Babel was a golden cup in Jehovah’s hand, that made all the earth drunk. The nations drank of her wine; therefore (they) are demented….
“Forsake her…, for her judgment reaches to heaven and rises up to the clouds….
“Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, that destroys all the earth…. I will…roll you down from the rocks, and make you a burnt mountain….
“I will visit judgment on Bel in Babel, I will take the chewed food out of his mouth, so that the nations do not stream to him anymore. The wall of Babel also shall fall….
“…behold, the days are coming when I will visit judgment on the carved images of Babel, so that her whole land is ashamed….
“If Babel were to mount up to heaven, and if she were to fortify the height of her strength, yet from Me would come destroyers….
“Indeed, I will make drunk her princes and wise men, her leaders and her prefects…, so that they sleep the sleep of an age and do not awake….” (Jeremiah 51:7, 9, 25, 44, 47, 53, 57)
[5] Not to mention many other declarations throughout that chapter regarding Babel.
“Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground, without a throne…. Take a millstone and grind meal…. Uncover the thigh, pass through the rivers. Your nakedness shall be uncovered…, your shame will be seen….
“You said, ‘I shall be a lady forever,’ …you did not remember the end….
“You trusted in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, when you said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me’….
“Ruin shall come upon you suddenly, without your knowing.
“Persist…in your enchantments, in the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth. Perhaps they will possibly be of some use, perhaps you will become fearsome.” (Isaiah 47:1-3, 7, 10-12)
Not to mentioned many other declarations regarding Babel in that chapter.
[6] Similar qualities are symbolically meant by the city in Genesis 11:1-9 and by the tower whose top was in heaven, which the people coming from the east into the valley of Shinar began to build, people whose languages Jehovah, descending from heaven, confused, because of which the place was named Babel (confusion).
[7] Similar qualities are symbolically meant by the following things in Daniel:
By the statue that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, saw, whose feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, which the stone cut without hands struck and broke in pieces, and all the pieces of the statue became like chaff on the threshing floors, and the stone became a great rock (Daniel 2:31-47).
By the great statue that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, made, and commanded that people fall down before it and worship it, and that whoever did not do so would be cast into the fiery furnace (Daniel 3:1-7ff.).
By the tree growing until its height reached heaven and it was visible to the end of the earth, which a watcher and holy one, coming down from heaven, ordered to be chopped down, stripped, cut up, and scattered; and because it represented the king of Babel, it came to pass that he was driven from mankind, dwelled with beasts, and ate grass like an ox (Daniel 4).
By Belshazzar, king of Babel, in company with his lords, wives and concubines, and his drinking wine from the gold and silver vessels of the temple in Jerusalem and praising the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron and stone, on which account the writing appeared on the wall and on that very day the king himself was slain (Daniel 5).
By the edict of Darius the Mede, king of Babel, that for thirty days no one petition anything from God or man, but from the king alone, or else be cast into a den of lions (Daniel 6:7-28).
And by the four beasts that Daniel saw come up from the sea, the fourth of which was dreadful and strong, and having huge iron teeth, it devoured and broke in pieces, and trampled the residue with its feet; and judgment was set then, and the books were opened, and the beast was slain and its body given to the burning flame; and then one like the Son of Man was seen, coming with the clouds of heaven, to whom was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, and all people, nations and tongues will worship Him, His dominion being an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one which shall not be destroyed (Daniel 7:1-14).
* A Hebrew word ([Hebrew]), appearing six times in the Old Testament (Psalms 72:9, 74:14; Isaiah 13:21, 23:13, 34:14; Jeremiah 50:39). It seems to refer to desert dwellers, and in contexts suggesting animals, to desert creatures, but the actual identity is unknown. It may not be a precise term.
** Another Hebrew word ([Hebrew]), appearing only once in the Old Testament (Isaiah 13:21). It seems to refer to howling or screeching creatures, perhaps screech owls, but the actual identity is unknown. It, too, may not be a precise term. Married Love no. 264:4 identifies them as birds of the night.
*** Another Hebrew word ([Hebrew]), appearing only three times in the Old Testament (Isaiah 13:22, 34:14; Jeremiah 50:39). Again, the term seems to refer to howling or screeching creatures, perhaps bats (cf. no. 233:7), but the actual identity is unknown. It, too, may not be a precise term.
Up to this point the subject has been the state of the Protestant Reformed church at its end. Now the subject is the state of the Roman Catholic religion at its end. This also follows in order, as mentioned in the introduction [no. 717].
We do not call it the Roman Catholic Church, but the Roman Catholic religion, because Roman Catholics do not turn to the Lord or read the Word, and because they invoke the dead, and yet it is the Lord and the Word that make the church a church, and its perfection depends on its acknowledgment of the Lord and on its understanding of the Word.
One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with John, because the seven angels who had the seven bowls symbolize an influx from the Lord from the inmost of the Christian heaven into the church in order to expose the evils and falsities in it (see nos. 672, 676, 677, 683, 690, 691, 699, 700 above). Therefore those seven angels here symbolize the Lord speaking from the inmost of heaven and revealing the state in which the Roman Catholic religion would be at its end.
That is also why one of the seven angels took John onto a high mountain and showed him the Lamb’s wife, which is the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:9, 10).
Saying and showing symbolize a revelation. The judgment symbolizes the state of the Roman Catholic religion at its end. The great harlot symbolizes a profanation of the sanctities of the Word and the church, and an adulteration of their goodness and truth. Many waters symbolize the Word’s truths adulterated. To sit upon the waters means, symbolically, to possess them and live caught up in them.
To play the harlot, to whore, to behave licentiously and to commit adultery mean, symbolically, to falsify and adulterate the Word, as may be seen in nos. 134, 620, 632 above; and waters symbolize its truths, nos. 50, 563, 614, 685, here those truths adulterated and profaned, because a harlot is said to be on them.
It is apparent from this that “saying to me, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters,” symbolizes a revelation about the aforesaid religion as regards its profanations and adulterations of the Word’s truths.
[2] Something similar is said about Babel in Jeremiah:
…Jehovah will…do what He spoke against the inhabitants of Babel. You who dwell upon many waters, abundant in treasures, your end is coming, the measure of your material gain. (Jeremiah 51:12, 13)
We say that Roman Catholics adulterated and profaned the Word’s truths, because they used the Word’s truths to gain dominion over the sanctities of the church and over heaven and to claim for themselves the Lord’s Divine power; and to use the Word’s truths to gain dominion over the sanctities of the church and heaven is to adulterate them, and to use them to claim for oneself the Lord’s Divine power is to profane them.
People know that they use the Word to defend their dogmas. But read those dogmas attentively and you will see that they have used everything that they have taken from the Word to gain dominion over people’s souls and to acquire for themselves a power, authority and majesty that is Divine.
It is for this reason that Babylon is named the Mother of the Whoredoms and Abominations of the Earth in verse 5.
To commit whoredom means, symbolically, to falsify and adulterate truths, as said just above in no. 719. The kings of the earth symbolize the church’s truths that it has from the Word – kings symbolizing truths springing from goodness, and the earth symbolizing the church.
That kings symbolize people who possess truths springing from goodness from the Lord, and so in an abstract sense the truths themselves that spring from goodness, may be seen in nos. 20, 664 above. Here they symbolize those truths adulterated and profaned.
We are told that the kings of the earth committed whoredom with the great harlot, as though the church’s truths from the Word did so, truths being symbolized by the kings of the earth. But this accords with the style of the Word in its literal sense, in which we find attributed to God and to the Divine things emanating from Him – which include the Word’s truths – qualities and actions which nevertheless are those of mankind and its evils, as has often been shown above. Consequently the genuine meaning – namely the spiritual sense – is that the Roman Catholic religion adulterated, indeed profaned, the church’s truths which it had from the Word.
Someone who is unacquainted with the Word’s spiritual meaning may easily be deluded into believing that the kings of the earth mean earthly kings, when in fact it is not those kings that are meant, but truths springing from goodness, and in an opposite sense, falsities springing from evil.
[2] To make it still more apparent that kings of the earth mean nothing else than a church’s truths or falsities, and that kings’ whoredoms are the falsifications, adulterations and profanations of the church’s truths that is has from the Lord, we will cite several passages from the book of Revelation and Daniel, from which anyone capable of reflecting may see that it is not kings that are meant. The passages are these:
…Jesus Christ…has made us kings and priests…. (Revelation 1:5, 6)
…you have made us kings and priests to our God, that we may reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:10)
…you (shall) eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains…, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them…. (Revelation 19:18)
The seven heads (of the scarlet beast) are seven mountains…. They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, and one is…. And the beast…is…the eighth (king), and is of the seven…. (Revelation 17:9-11)
The ten horns…are ten kings that have not yet received a kingdom…. (Revelation 17:12)
We are also told later, as in the present verse, that the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with and taken delight in the harlot (Revelation 18:3, 9).
Who that is capable of reflecting does not see that kings here do not mean kings?
[3] Similar things are said in Daniel. For example, that the hairy male goat means a king, and the large horn between its eyes is the first king; and that when their transgressions have reached their height, a stern-faced king will arise who understands cunning schemes (Daniel 8:21, 23). That the four great beasts that arose out of the sea were four kings that would rise up from the earth, that the fourth beast’s ten horns were ten kings, and that another would arise after them that would lay low the three kings (Daniel 7:17, 24). So, too, that the king of the south and the king of the north would fight against each other; that the king of the south would send his daughter to the king of the north; that the king of the north would exalt himself against God, and would acknowledge a foreign god; that people who acknowledged that god he would honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and desirable things, and cause them to rule over many, and would divide the land for a price; that he would plant the tents of his tabernacle between the seas, in the vicinity of the glorious holy mountain; but that he would come to his end – besides much else (Daniel 11).
[4] The king of the south symbolizes a kingdom or church consisting of people in possession of truths, and the king of the north symbolizes a kingdom or church consisting of people caught up in falsities. For the text is prophetic of churches to come, such as they would be in the beginning, and what they would be like after that.
People who possess truths springing from good from the Lord are called kings because they are called the Lord’s children, and having been regenerated by the Lord, they are said to have been born of Him and to be His heirs, and the Lord is the King, and heaven and the church are His kingdom.
To be made drunk with the wine of her licentiousness means, symbolically, to be irrational in spiritual matters owing to a falsification of the Word’s truths, in this case owing to an adulteration of them. Wine symbolizes the Divine truth in the Word (no. 316), and licentiousness symbolizes a falsification and adulteration of it (nos. 134, 620, 632, 635). To be made drunk with that wine, therefore, symbolically means to be irrational in spiritual matters. The inhabitants of the earth symbolize the people in a church, as in verses 11:10, 12:12, 13:13, 14, and 14:6 above, but here the people in that religion, since the church does not exist there, because they do not turn to the Lord or read the Word, and because they invoke the dead, as said in no. 718 above.
That to be drunk on that wine means, symbolically, to be irrational in spiritual matters, can indeed be seen without confirmation from other passages in the Word; but since many people do not see this, because they think not spiritually but sensually, that is, materially about the particulars in the Word when they read it, I would like to present some passages from the Word which confirm that in the Word, to be drunk means, symbolically, to be irrational in spiritual matters, that is to say, in theological matters. Here are the passages:
They are drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with intoxicating drink. (Isaiah 29:9)
…hear…, O afflicted one…, drunk but not with wine…. (Isaiah 51:21)
Babel was a golden cup in Jehovah’s hand, that made all the earth drunk. The nations drank of her wine; therefore the nations are deranged. (Jeremiah 51:7)
Babel shall be…a hissing…. When they are inflamed I will set out their feasts and make them drunk, that they may rejoice and sleep a perpetual sleep and not awake…. (Jeremiah 51:37, 39)
Babylon is fallen, is fallen…, because she has made all nations drink of the wine…of her licentiousness. (Revelation 14:8, cf. 18:3)
Let every wineskin be filled with wine…. Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land – the kings…, the priests, and the prophets… – with drunkenness! (Jeremiah 13:12, 13)
You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, the cup of ruin and desolation…. (Ezekiel 23:32,33)
…O daughter of Edom…, the cup shall also pass over to you; you shall become drunk and make yourself naked. (Lamentations 4:21)
You also will be drunk. (Nahum 3:11)
Drink and become drunk, and vomit and fall, so that you rise no more…. (Jeremiah 25:27)
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and intelligent in their own sight! Woe to the mighty at drinking wine, and to men robust at mixing intoxicating drink…. (Isaiah 5:21, 22)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 19:11, 12, 14, 24:20, 28:1, 3, 7, 8, 56:12; Jeremiah 23:9, 10; Lamentations 3:15; Hosea 4:11, 12, 17, 18; Joel 1:5-7; Habakkuk 2:15; Psalm 75:8, 107:27.
A wilderness symbolizes a church in which there is no longer any truth, thus where everything in it has been destroyed (no. 546). And to be in the spirit means, symbolically, to be in a spiritual state as a result of Divine influx, as said in no. 36 above. Consequently, John’s being carried away in the spirit into the wilderness means symbolically that he was carried away in a spiritual state to people in whom everything having to do with the church was destroyed.
The woman symbolizes the Roman Catholic or Babel-like religion, for we are told in a following verse that “on her forehead a name was written: Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of the Whoredoms and Abominations of the Earth.” That a woman symbolizes the church by virtue of its affection for truth may be seen in no. 434; here it is the Roman Catholic religion, which is impelled by the opposite affection. The scarlet beast symbolizes the Word, as will be seen presently; and its being full of names of blasphemy symbolizes the Word’s being utterly profaned. For blasphemy symbolizes a denial of the Lord’s Divinity in His humanity, and an adulteration of the Word (nos. 571, 582, 692, 715), thus its profanation. For someone who fails to acknowledge the Lord’s Divinity in His humanity and falsifies the Word, but not intentionally, does indeed commit profanation, but lightly. But people who claim for themselves all the power of the Lord’s Divine humanity, and for that reason deny His Divinity, and who apply everything in the Word to acquiring dominion for themselves over the sanctities of the church and heaven, and for that reason adulterate the Word – those people commit serious profanation.
It can be seen from this that the woman John saw sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy symbolizes the aforesaid religion resting on the Word that it profaned. The color scarlet symbolize the Word’s truth from a celestial origin.
[2] The idea that the scarlet beast symbolizes the Word as to celestial Divine truth appears at first as far-fetched and foreign, indeed as absurd, because it is called a beast. But that a beast in the spiritual sense symbolizes a natural affection, and that it is used to symbolize the Word, the church and mankind, may be seen in nos. 239, 405, 567 above; that the four living creatures, one of which was a lion, the second a calf, and the fourth an eagle, symbolize the Word, and in Ezekiel are also called beasts, nos. 239, 275, 286, 672; and that a horse, which is also a beast, symbolizes an understanding of the Word (no. 298).
People know that the Lamb symbolizes the Lord, that sheep symbolize the people in a church, and that a flock symbolizes the church itself.
We cite these points lest anyone be surprised that the scarlet beast symbolizes the Word.
Moreover, because the Roman Catholic religion founds its might and its grandeur on the Word, therefore John saw the woman sitting on the scarlet beast, as before she sat on many waters (verse 1), the waters symbolizing the Word’s truths adulterated and profaned (no. 719 above).
That the beast here symbolizes the Word is clearly apparent from what is said about it in the verses of this chapter that follow. As in verse 8:
The beast that you saw was, and is not…. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel…, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
In verse 11:
The beast that was, and is not, is itself the eighth (king), and is of the seven, and is going to destruction.
In verses 12, 13:
The ten horns…are ten kings…, (who) will give their power and authority to the beast.
In verse 17:
…God has put it into their hearts to…give their kingdom to the beast….
Statements like these could be made only in reference to the Word.
The head symbolizes intelligence and wisdom when the subject is the Lord and the Word, and in an opposite sense irrationality and stupidity, as may be seen in nos. 538, 576 above. The number seven does not symbolically mean seven, but all of something, and is predicated of something holy (nos. 10, 390). A horn symbolizes power (no. 270) and ten horns symbolize much power (no. 539). That the seven heads symbolize intelligence at first reverent, later abandoned, and at last irrational, is apparent from verses 9 and 10 in this chapter, in which the angel says what the seven heads symbolize, which we will take up below.
It is apparent from this that the beast having seven heads and ten horns symbolizes intelligence from the Word, at first reverent, later abandoned, and at last irrational, and their continued great power drawn from the Word.
Purple symbolizes celestial Divine good, and scarlet symbolizes celestial Divine truth, as will be seen presently. To be arrayed in them means, symbolically, to have these about them, thus among them. They have these among them from the Word, because the scarlet beast on which the woman was sitting symbolizes the Word (no. 723).
People know that Roman Catholics have the Divine good and truth in the Word about them, thus among them, as a kind of garment, for they venerate the Word outwardly and not inwardly. They acknowledge it, because it tells about the Lord and about His authority over heaven and the church, which they have transferred to themselves. It also tells about the keys given to Peter, whose successors they say they are. So, because they found their majesty, grandeur and power on these two points, of necessity they acknowledge the holiness of the Word. But still the Word is for them only a kind of garment of purple and scarlet, and of gold, precious stones and pearls, upon a harlot holding a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and the filthiness of her licentiousness.
[2] Since the verse mentions purple and scarlet, and then gold, precious stones and pearls, and since purple and scarlet symbolize celestial Divine good and truth, while gold and precious stones symbolize spiritual Divine good and truth, both emanating from the Word, therefore we must say something about celestial Divinity and spiritual Divinity:
The Lord’s whole heaven has been divided into two kingdoms – the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. The celestial kingdom consists of angels who are impelled by love from the Lord, and the spiritual kingdom of angels who are impelled by wisdom from the Lord. Each kingdom has in it goodness and truth. The goodness and truth among angels in the celestial kingdom are symbolized by purple and scarlet, while the goodness and truth among angels in the spiritual kingdom are symbolized by gold and precious stones. Angels have both the one and the other goodness and truth from the Lord by means of the Word. Consequently the Word has in it two interior levels of meaning, one celestial and the other spiritual.
This now is the reason that the woman sitting on the scarlet beast appeared arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls.
[3] Like the symbolism of the woman here is the symbolism of the “rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day,” at whose gate Lazarus lay prostrate, “desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table” (Luke 16:19-21). The rich man clothed in purple and fine linen refers to the Jews, who had the Word, and Lazarus refers to the gentiles who did not have it.
Similar symbolic meanings are found in the following places:
Those who ate delicacies are devastated in the streets; those who were brought up on scarlet embrace dunghills. (Lamentations 4:5)
When you are plundered, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with scarlet, though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold…, in vain you will make yourself fair. (Jeremiah 4:30)
O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with luxury, (and) who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. (2 Samuel 1:24)
Fine embroidered linen…was what you spread…; blue and purple…was your covering. (Ezekiel 27:7)
The last is said of Tyre, which symbolizes concepts of truth and goodness from the Word.
[4] Since purple and scarlet symbolize celestial goodness and truth, therefore Aaron’s vestments and the veil and curtains of the Tabernacle were woven of blue, purple, scarlet and fine linen (Exodus 25:4, 26:31, 36, 27:16, 28:6, 15). Regarding the curtains (Exodus 26:1). The veil before the Ark (Exodus 26:31). The covering for the entrance of the Tabernacle (Exodus 26:36). The covering for the gate of the court (Exodus 27:16). The ephod (Exodus 28:6). The girdle (Exodus 28:8). The breastpiece of judgment (Exodus 28:15). The hem of the robe of the ephod (Exodus 28:33). The scarlet cloth over the showbread (Numbers 4:8).
It is apparent from this what is symbolized by the purple and scarlet with which the woman sitting on the scarlet beast appeared arrayed.
So likewise in the following passage, where we read:
Alas…, the great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet…, adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! For in one hour such great riches were laid waste. (Revelation 18:16, 17)
Moreover, purple and scarlet, gold, precious stones and pearls were among the merchandise of Babylon (Revelation 18:12).
Gold symbolizes goodness (no. 211), precious stones symbolize truth (nos. 231, 540, 570), both of these in the Word.
Good and truth are symbolized because the purple and scarlet symbolize celestial goodness and truth, and the two are conjoined in the Word to bring about a marriage of goodness and truth in it (no. 134). Moreover, celestial goodness and truth, being products of love, are in their essence good, while spiritual goodness and truth, being products of wisdom, are in their essence truth. That celestial goodness and truth are products of love, and spiritual goodness and truth products of wisdom, may be seen in no. 725 above.
What else is meant by the woman’s appearing here thus arrayed and adorned may be seen in the preceding number.
In the spiritual sense pearls symbolize concepts of both celestial and spiritual goodness and truth that come from the Word, in particular from its literal meaning; and because pearls symbolize those concepts, therefore they are mentioned after purple and scarlet and after gold and precious stones.
These concepts are symbolized by pearls also in the following passages:
…the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. (Matthew 13:45, 46)
The pearl here symbolizes a concept of the Lord.
The twelve gates (in the wall of the New Jerusalem) were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. (Revelation 21:21)
The gates of the New Jerusalem symbolize entrance into the New Church, and the entrance is made possible by concepts of goodness and truth from the Word.
Do not…cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and…tear you in pieces. (Matthew 7:6)
Swine symbolize people who care only for worldly wealth, and not for spiritual wealth, namely for concepts of goodness and truth from the Word.
Because Babylon symbolizes a religion that has cast out all concepts of goodness and truth from the Word, we are told concerning it:
The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over (Babylon), because no one buys their merchandise…: merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones, and pearls…. (Revelation 18:11, 12)
A cup or chalice has the same symbolic meaning as wine, because it is the containing vessel, as may be seen in no. 672 above, and the wine of Babylon symbolizes the Roman Catholic religion in respect to its dreadful falsities (nos. 632, 635). Abominations symbolize profanations of whatever is holy, and the filthiness of her licentiousness symbolizes defilings of the Word’s goodness and truth. Consequently, the woman’s having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her licentiousness symbolizes the Roman Catholic religion consisting of the sacred contents of the Word profaned, and of its goods and truths defiled by dreadful falsities.
The words here are like those the Lord spoke to the scribes and Pharisees:
Woe to you…, hypocrites! For you make yourselves like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. (Matthew 23:27)
To be written on the forehead means, symbolically, to be deep-seated in the love, for the forehead symbolizes the love (nos. 347, 605). Mystery means symbolically that it is inwardly concealed. Babylon the Great symbolizes the Roman Catholic religion and its whole character, as said in no. 717 above. Whoredoms symbolize adulterations of the Word’s goodness and truth (nos. 719-721), and also defilings of them, as in no. 728 just above. Abominations symbolize profanations of the church’s sanctities, as also in no. 728 above. The earth symbolizes the church (no. 285). Consequently the mother of whoredoms and abominations of the earth symbolizes the origin of these.
Now because these words were written on her forehead, and to be written on the forehead means, symbolically, to be deep-seated in the love, and because the love in Roman Catholics is a love of exercising dominion from a love of self over everything connected with the church and over heaven, thus over everything connected with the Lord and His Word, therefore the symbolic meaning is as stated.
[2] It can be seen from this that “on her forehead a name was written: Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of the Whoredoms and Abominations of the Earth,” symbolizes the Roman Catholic religion such as it is interiorly, which is concealed, that from its origin, springing from a love of exercising dominion from a love of self over the sanctities of the church and over heaven, thus over everything connected with the Lord and His Word, it defiled and profaned things having to do with the Word and so with the church.
That their love is a love of exercising dominion over everything connected with the church is something people know from the jurisdiction they claim they have over people’s souls and over everything connected with their worship. They know that it is a love of exercising dominion over heaven from the power they have appropriated of loosing and binding, and thus of opening and closing.* They know that it is a love of exercising dominion over everything connected with the Lord from the Vicariate, by which they attribute to themselves all that is the Lord’s. They also know that it is a love of exercising dominion over everything connected with the Word from their reserving its interpretation for themselves alone.
We say that their love of exercising dominion comes from a love of self because possible also is a love of exercising dominion from a love of performing useful services. These two loves are diametrically opposite each other. That is because a love of exercising dominion from a love of self is diabolical, for it has regard for self only and for the world in the service of self. In contrast, a love of exercising dominion from a love of performing useful services is heavenly, for it has regard for the Lord, from whom emanate only useful endeavors, and useful endeavors to it are to do good to the church for the salvation of souls. This latter love consequently abhors a love of exercising dominion from a love of self.
* The Lord said to His disciples, “…whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19, 18:18)
The woman symbolizes the Roman Catholic religion, as in nos. 723, 725 above. To be drunk means, symbolically, to be irrational in spiritual matters (no. 721). The blood symbolizes their falsification, adulteration and profanation of the Word (nos. 327, 379, 681, 684). Saints symbolize people who are governed by Divine truths from the Lord through the Word, and in an abstract sense the Divine truths themselves of the Lord, of the Word, and so of the church (nos. 173, 586, 664). The witnesses of Jesus symbolize in an abstract sense the truths and goods in the church from the Lord through the Word (nos. 6, 16, 490, 501, 669), here those truths and goods profaned, because the blood is called the blood of the saints and of the witnesses of Jesus, and the subject is Babylon, which also symbolizes a profanation of the goodness and truth in the Word and in the church (nos. 717, 718).
It follows from this that John’s seeing the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus symbolizes the Roman Catholic religion irrational because of its adulterating and profaning the Divine truths and goods of the Lord, of the Word, and so of the church.
To wonder with great wonder is to be greatly astonished. John’s seeing her means symbolically that the woman, which is to say, the Roman Catholic religion, is of such a character interiorly, when indeed it appears otherwise outwardly. For John was astonished at seeing the woman sitting on a scarlet beast, arrayed in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup – which was the way she looked in outward appearance – and yet her cup was full of abomination and the filthiness of licentiousness. Moreover, on her forehead was written the legend, “the Mother of the Whoredoms and Abominations of the Earth,” which was her internal character.
John said this because no one even at this day can but be astonished at seeing this expression of religion, so reverent and grand in outward appearances, not knowing that it is so profane and abhorrent interiorly.
This does not require further explanation.
The beast symbolizes the Word (see no. 723 above). That it was and is not means symbolically that it is acknowledged, and yet really not acknowledged.
That the Word existed among Roman Catholics, and still does, and yet does not, is something people know. Roman Catholics acknowledge the Word, indeed, as holy, because it tells about the Lord and about His authority over the church and heaven, and about Peter and his keys.* But still they do not acknowledge it, for the people do not read it, because they are kept from reading it, and monks by various fictions withhold it. Indeed even reading it is prohibited, and it is preserved only in libraries and monasteries, where also few read it, much less attend to any truth in it. They attend instead only to papal decrees, which they say possess the same holiness. In fact, when they speak from the heart, they find fault with the Word and blaspheme it.
It can be seen from this that the beast which was and is not symbolizes the Word among Roman Catholics, acknowledged as holy, and yet really not acknowledged.
* The Lord said to His disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:15-19)
The beast that will ascend out of the abyss and go to destruction symbolizes the Word, as in nos. 723, 733 above. The abyss from which it will ascend can only symbolize the Roman Catholic religion, and especially the place where the papal Throne is found, thus the papal Consistory. It is an abyss because what is decided there has regard to dominion over the sanctities of the church and over heaven, thus over everything connected with the Lord and His Word (no. 729). It has these as its essential ends, and the good of the church and the salvation of souls as formal means to those ends. To go to destruction means, symbolically, to be rejected.
That the laity’s and common people’s being given the Word and reading it has been deliberated several times in the papal Consistory, but rejected – this we know from church history. It was also proposed by a Pope who is now among the Protestant Reformed and one of the blessed – as reported in A Continuation Concerning the Last Judgment and the Spiritual World, no. 59 – but the proposal was not accepted.* It is also known principally from the papal bull Unigenitus,** and moreover from the Councils.
* Considering the publication date of the Continuation and the time indicated in no. 59 that this man was Pope, he must have been Benedict XIV (1740-1758), who is also acknowledged in Catholic history to have been one of the more liberal Popes.
** Issued by Pope Clement XI (1700-1721), an apostolic constitution in the form of a bull, condemning 101 heretical propositions of Pasquier Quesnel.
To marvel means, symbolically, to be astonished. Those who dwell on the earth symbolize people who are in the church, here those people who belong to the Roman Catholic religion, as in no. 721 above. Those whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life from the foundation of the world symbolize all those people who do not believe in the Lord, and who are not governed by doctrine from the Word, from the inception of the church, or in this case, from the inception of that religion (nos. 588, 589). These people are no other than those who have striven for dominion over heaven and earth. The beast that was, and is not, and yet is, symbolically means that the Word thus rejected still endures.
It is apparent from this that the marveling of those who dwell on the earth, whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is, symbolizes the astonishment of those who belong to the Roman Catholic religion, of all those who from its commencement strove for dominion over heaven and earth, that even though the Word had been thus rejected, still it endures. For people who strive for dominion over the sanctities of the church and over heaven hate the Word, because they hate the Lord, if not with the lips, still at heart. The reality of this is known to few in the world, because they are then in the body; but it becomes evident after death, when they are in their spirit.
This is the reason they will marvel that the Word still endures, even though it has been rejected, as said in no. 734 above.
The Word still endures because it is Divine, and the Lord is present in it.
This is the mind means symbolically that this is the meaning and interpretation of the things seen. Which has wisdom means symbolically that it is for people who are interiorly wise.
This is the interpretation in the natural sense for people who have the spiritual meaning because the interpretation given by the angel was put in terms of the natural sense and not the spiritual sense, for he said that the beast’s seven heads were seven mountains, and also that they were seven kings, and that one of them is, and the other has not yet come. He said, too, that the beast was the eighth, and of the seven, and so on with everything else he said to the end of the chapter. None of this can be understood except by people who have the spiritual meaning from the Lord. This, then, is what the mind’s having wisdom means symbolically.
The interpretation given by the angel was put in terms of the natural sense and not the spiritual meaning because the natural sense is the foundation, containing vessel, and buttress of its spiritual and celestial senses, as may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 27-49. Therefore interpretations elsewhere in the Word are given also in terms of the natural sense, which still cannot be understood without the spiritual meaning, as may be seen in many places in the Prophets and also in the Gospels.
Since the scarlet beast symbolizes the Word, and therefore its heads symbolize the goods of love and truths of wisdom in it, it follows that Word is here described such as it is in these two respects in people meant by Babylon – mountains symbolizing the Divine goodness of love in it, and kings the Divine truth in it. That mountains symbolize goods of love may be seen in nos. 336, 339, 713; that kings symbolize truths of wisdom, in nos. 20, 664, 704. A head in reference to the Lord symbolizes the Divine love of the Lord’s Divine wisdom and the Divine wisdom of His Divine love (nos. 47, 538, 568). The number seven symbolizes all and completeness, and is predicated of holy things (nos. 10, 391, 657). And the woman symbolizes the Roman Catholic religion (no. 723).
So, then, the seven heads being seven mountains, on which the woman sits, symbolizes the Divine goods and truths in the Word on which the Roman Catholic religion was founded. That is because the whole Word has been profaned and adulterated by that religion, as said in nos. 717, 719-721, 723, 728-730 above.
[2] We say in time profaned, since to begin with they regarded the Word as holy; but as they saw they could use the sanctities of the church to gain dominion, they turned away from the Word and regarded their own edicts, commandments and rules as having equal, but really greater, holiness. And at last they transferred all of the Lord’s authority to themselves, leaving nothing behind.
It is because of their first state, when they regarded the Word as holy, that Lucifer, meaning Babel (no. 717), is called the son of the morning, and because of their later state that he was brought down to hell (Isaiah 14). But on this subject more may be seen in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Providence, no. 257.
It may seem as though the seven mountains on which the woman sits means Rome, because Rome was built on seven mountains, for which it is also famous. But although Rome is meant, since the papal Throne and Curia of the Roman Catholic religion is located there, still the seven mountains here nevertheless symbolize the Divine goods in the Word and so in the church profaned, for the number seven adds only that something is holy, here that something has been profaned, as is the case with the same number elsewhere. So we find reported seven spirits before the throne of God (Revelation 1:4); seven lampstands with the Son of Man in their midst (Revelation 1:13, 2:1); seven stars (Revelation 2:1, 3:1); seven lamps of fire before the throne (Revelation 4:5); seven seals with which the book was sealed (Revelation 5:1); the Lamb’s seven horns and seven eyes (Revelation 5:6); seven angels with seven trumpets (Revelation 8:2); seven thunders (Revelation 10:3, 4); seven angels having seven plagues in their bowls (Revelation 15:1, 6, 7). So, too, the scarlet beast here had seven heads, and the seven heads were seven mountains and also seven kings.
The number five means, symbolically, not five, but all the others, here all the other Divine truths in the Word, those symbolized by kings. For numbers in the book of Revelation, and in the Word in general, symbolize the character of the things to which they are attached. They are like other adjectives attached to substantives, or like predicate adjectives appended to subjects, as may be seen from the numbers two, three, four, six, seven, ten, twelve, and one hundred and forty-four, explained previously. Here, therefore, the number five symbolizes all the others, because the number seven symbolizes all the sanctities of the Word, and we are told next that one is, and the other has not yet come, thus that out of all there are two that remain.
It is apparent from this that five’s having fallen means symbolically that all the rest have been destroyed. They are said to have fallen, because the reference is to kings, who fall by the sword. “One is” symbolizes just this Divine truth, that the Lord has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, in accordance with the Lord’s own words in Matthew 28:18, cf. John 13:3, 17:2, 3, 10 (see no. 618 above). This one has not been destroyed, because Roman Catholics could not otherwise claim for themselves dominion over everything connected with the church and the Word and over heaven.
[2] The second king that has not yet come, and who, when he comes, must remain a short time, symbolizes a Divine truth which has not yet come into question, and which, when it does, will not survive among Roman Catholics, namely, that the Lord’s humanity is Divine. We are told that it must remain a short time, because it is Divinely provided so, regarding which something has been said in no. 686 above.
To be shown that it is a Divine truth that the Lord’s humanity is Divine, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord from beginning to end.
This truth has not yet come into question, however, because after Roman Catholics transferred all of the Lord’s authority to themselves, they could not acknowledge the Lord’s humanity as Divine, for then the laity and common people would say that they had transferred to themselves a Divine authority, and thus that the Pope was God and his ministers gods. But that it still will come into question can be seen from its being so foretold here in the book of Revelation.
[3] That Roman Catholics see this second truth, namely that the Lord’s humanity is Divine – even though with eyes as though closed – is apparent from the following tenets among them: that they say that not only is the Lord’s body and blood present in the Eucharist, but also His soul and Divinity, thus that in it is an omnipresence of both His Humanity and His Divinity, and His humanity could not be omnipresent in it unless it were Divine. They also say that through the Eucharist Christ is present in them, and they in Him, with respect to both His body and blood and also His soul and Divinity, and they say this in speaking of His humanity. They could not say this, because it would be not be possible, unless the Lord’s humanity were Divine.
In addition to this, they say also that the saints will reign with Christ, and that Christ is to be worshiped and the saints invoked and venerated. They say, too, that Christ is the true light, and that in Him they live and are worthy of His merit, and other like things which involve the Divinity of His humanity.
These observations come from the proceedings of the Council of Trent and the bull confirming them. Thus Roman Catholics see this truth, as we said, but as though with eyes closed.
The beast that was and is not symbolizes the Word, as in verse 8 above. Its being itself the eighth, here the eighth mountain, means symbolically that it is Divine good itself, for the seven mountains symbolize the Divine goods in the Word (no. 737). Consequently the beast’s being itself the eighth mountain means symbolically that it is Divine good itself. The eighth in a series also symbolizes goodness. Moreover, because all of the Word’s goods among Roman Catholics were profaned, the beast is not said to be itself of the seven mountains, as it is said next to be of the seven kings, which symbolize the Word’s Divine truths, not all which had been adulterated (nos. 737, 738).
From these few observations the secret meaning that lies concealed in these words can be seen. The beast’s going to destruction means symbolically that the Word is rejected, as in no. 734 above. However, because the Word has not been so rejected as not to be acknowledged as holy, but has been taken from the laity and common people to keep the Roman Catholic hierarchy’s profanations of good and adulterations of truth from appearing and the people’s turning away on that account, therefore that is what is symbolically meant by going to destruction, because that is the reason it is said.
The Word is Divine good itself and Divine truth because in each and every particular of it there is a marriage of the Lord and the church and so a marriage of goodness and truth. It also has in every particular a celestial meaning and a spiritual meaning, and the celestial meaning has in it Divine goodness, while the spiritual meaning has in it Divine truth. Moreover, these are present in the Word because the Lord embodies the Word. All of this we have shown in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, published in Amsterdam.
That this is said in reference to Roman Catholics in France can be seen from the series of things in the spiritual sense. For the subject now is the reception of the Word by people in the Christian world. Reception of the Word and the consequent state of the church among Roman Catholics is the subject of verses 9 -11. Reception of the Word and the consequent state of the Church among people committed to that religion only in respect to its outward forms, who are found primarily in France, is the subject of verses 12-14. All other people who profess that religion indeed, yet dissent from it in various ways, are the subject of verse 15. And Protestants or the Reformed, who have completely turned away from that religion, are the subject of verses 16 and 17.
[2] One cannot possibly know, however, that these are the subjects of these verses unless he knows that the scarlet beast means the Word, and that the church is a church in accordance with its reception of the Word. That the scarlet beast means the Word may be seen in no. 723 above. And that the church is a church because of the Word and in accordance with its understanding of it, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 76 – 79.
Horns, here the horns of the beast, symbolize the power of the Word, and ten horns much power, in this case Divine power, because the power is the Lord’s by means of the Word.
That horns symbolize power, and ten horns much power, may be seen in nos. 270, 539, 724 above. That kings symbolize people governed by Divine truths from the Word, and in an abstract sense the Divine truths themselves there, may be seen in nos. 20, 664, 704, and that ten means, not ten, but many people or things, in no. 101. A kingdom symbolizes a church founded on the Word, because kings symbolize people who are governed by Divine truths from the Word, and abstractly, the Divine truths themselves there. Consequently the ten kings’ not yet having received a kingdom symbolizes people who have not yet formed among them a church separate therefore from the Roman Catholic religion.
[3] It can be seen from this that “the ten horns are ten kings that have not yet received a kingdom” symbolizes the Word as to the power it has from Divine truths among Roman Catholics who live in France and in some other places, including those called Jansenists,* and who are not so much under the yoke of papal dominion, who nevertheless have not yet formed among them a church separate therefore from the Roman Catholic religion.
We say that the church among Roman Catholics in France is not yet separate from the Roman Catholic religion because it adheres to that religion in outward aspects, but not so much in internal realities.
Outward aspects are formal ones, and internal realities the essential ones. Roman Catholics in France still adhere to the Roman Catholic religion because of the many monasteries in France, and because priestly offices there are under the jurisdiction of the Pope. Moreover, in every outward form their priests conduct themselves in accordance with papal edicts and regulations, and many of the people are as a consequence still caught up in the essential tenets of that religion. Because of that the church there has not yet separated itself.
That is what is symbolically meant by the ten kings’ not yet having received a kingdom.
* Adherents of the theological propositions of Cornelius Otto Jansen (1585-1638), which held that people cannot of themselves keep God’s commandments, that they lack free will, and that their salvation or condemnation is predestined. These propositions were condemned by the Roman Catholic Church as heretical. French Jansenists suffered persecution through most of the 18th century, and many took refuge in the Netherlands.
To receive authority with the beast means, symbolically, to prevail with the Word, thus that the Word has force with them, and through the Word they prevail. To receive authority means, symbolically, to prevail, and the beast symbolizes the Word (no. 723). “As kings” means, symbolically, as though they possessed Divine truths from the Word. Kings symbolize people who possess Divine truths from the Word, and abstractly, the Divine truths themselves in it (nos. 20, 664, 704, 740). One hour means, symbolically, for a time, and also in some measure.
It is apparent from this that the ten kings receiving authority as kings for one hour with the beast means symbolically that the Word has force with Roman Catholics in France, and through the Word they prevail, as though they possessed its Divine truths.
We say this because Roman Catholics in France acknowledge that the Word is Divinely inspired, and thus that the church is a church because of the Word. But still they do not as yet draw Divine truths from it beyond these general ones, that the God alone is to be worshiped, and no man as God, that the authority granted to Peter is not in itself Divine, and yet that to open and close heaven is a Divine work, which does not lie within the power of any man. They confirm these truths in themselves by appeal to the Word, but in the presence of others who do not listen to the Word, by appeal to the rationality that by a continual influx from heaven exists in everyone who wishes to possess truths.
It is of the Lord’s Divine providence that Roman Catholics in France do not go further and draw doctrines of faith and life from the Word, because in outward aspects and forms they still adhere to the Roman Catholic religion. It is to keep them from commingling truth and falsity, and so from an inner struggle arising, like a kind of ferment that produces a state of agitation.
To be of one mind means, symbolically, to unanimously acknowledge. To give power and authority to the beast means, symbolically, to assign government and dominion over the church to the Word. Government and dominion over the church are meant since, as the Word is the subject, the reference is to the church.
It is apparent from this that the ten kings being of one mind and giving their power and authority to the beast means symbolically that Roman Catholics in France unanimously acknowledge that the only means of government and dominion over the church is through the Word.
Roman Catholics in France do indeed acknowledge the Pope as head of the church, but view his government and dominion over the church as being not like that of the head over the body, but like something supreme above the body, which does not govern and rule of itself, but from God by means of the Word, and which is then to be obeyed. Consequently, interpretation of the Word is not the Pope’s alone as he may decide, which is the case, because the Word’s Divine authority is thus perverted and perishes.
Their battle with the Lord and of the Lord with them does not mean the kind of battle waged by evil people or with evil people, but the kind waged by and with people who do not yet possess truths concerning the Lord. The Lamb means the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity and also in respect to the Word (nos. 269, 291, 595); and to overcome them means, symbolically, to convince them by means of the Word. “For He is Lord of lords and King of kings” means, symbolically, “for He is God of heaven and earth.” It is because of His lordship over all the goods of heaven and the church that He is called Lord of lords, and because of His kingship over all the truths of heaven and the church that He is called King of kings (no. 664).
It is apparent from this that “these will do battle with the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings,” symbolizes the Lord’s battle with Roman Catholics in France over an acknowledgment of His Divine humanity, because the Lord in His humanity is God of heaven and earth.
[2] That the Lord is God of heaven and earth is something He Himself in plain words teaches, for He says:
All things that the Father has are Mine. (John 16:15)
The Father…has given all things into (the Son’s) hand. (John 3:35, cf. 13:3)
(Father,) You have given (Me) authority over all flesh…. All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine…. (John 17:2, 10)
All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (Matthew 28:18)
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me…. He who (knows and) sees Me, (knows and) sees the Father…. (For) I am in the Father, and the Father in Me…. (John 14:6-11).
The Father and I are one. (John 10:30)
He also says that everyone who believes in the Lord has eternal life, and that whoever does not believe in Him does not see life (John 3:15, 17, 18, 36, 6:47, 11:26, and elsewhere).
Who does not know that the Lord was conceived of God as His Father (Luke 1:34, 35)? And who does not know therefore that God the Father, who is Jehovah, assumed a humanity in the world, and consequently that the humanity is the humanity of God the Father, thus that God the Father and the Lord are one, as soul and body are one?
Can anyone accordingly turn to a person’s soul, and from there descend to his body? Must one not turn to his humanity, and then turn to his soul?
[3] It is by these considerations and others found in the Word that the Lamb will overcome Roman Catholics in France. Therefore, because they have ceased to worship 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 alone is to be turned to, called upon and revered, or in other words, worshiped.
The Lord alone is the Holy One who is to be called upon (Revelation 15:4).
I know that people will think, “How could Jehovah the Father, the creator of the universe, descend and assume a humanity?” But let them think at the same time, “How could a Son from eternity, who is equal to the Father, and is also the creator of the universe, do this?” Is the case not the same?
People speak of a Father and Son from eternity, but there is no Son from eternity. It is the Divine humanity that is called the Son sent into the world (Luke 1:34, 35, John 3:17).
But more on this subject may be seen in no. 962 below.
Those who are with Him symbolize people who turn to the Lord, for they are the people with Him. Those who are called, chosen, and faithful symbolize people who are concerned with the external, internal and inmost elements of the church, who, being in the Lord, go to heaven.
The called, indeed, mean all people, because all have been called, but the called who are with the Lord mean people who are in heaven with the Lord, as all those are called who are present at the wedding with the bridegroom.* The chosen do not mean that some are chosen by predestination, but people who are with the Lord are so called. The faithful mean people who have faith in the Lord.
[2] These are people who are concerned with the external, internal, and inmost elements of the church, because the Lord’s church is, like heaven, distinguished into three degrees. In the lowest degree are people concerned with its external elements; in the second degree are people concerned with its internal ones; and in the third degree are people concerned with its inmost ones. People with the Lord who are concerned with the external elements of the church are said to be called. Those who are concerned with its internal elements are said to be chosen. And those who are concerned with its inmost elements are said to be faithful. For that is how they are termed in the Word, in which Jacob is said to be called, and Israel chosen, since Jacob there means people concerned with the external elements of the church, and Israel people concerned with its internal ones.
Because it is preceded by the statement that they will do battle with the Lamb, but that the Lamb will overcome them, we are told here that “those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful,” in order that people may know that those whom the Lord overcomes, that is to say, whom He convinces by means of the Word, are with Him in heaven – some in the lowest heaven, some in the second heaven, and some in the third heaven – each according to his reception.
* Matthew 25:1-13.
The waters that John saw where the harlot sits are the waters mentioned in verse 1 of this chapter, where we are told, “I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters.” The waters there symbolize the Word’s truths adulterated and profaned, as may be seen in no. 719 above.
This verse says that the waters are peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues, because these symbolize all those peoples of various doctrines and disciplines, and of various religions and confessions, who are under papal dominion. For peoples symbolize people concerned with doctrine (no. 483); multitudes, people concerned with discipline; nations, people concerned with religion (no. 483); and tongues, people concerned with confession (nos. 282, 483).
These are now mentioned, because we are earlier told of the reception and understanding of the Word by people in the Roman Catholic religion itself (verses 8-11); and after that of the reception and understanding of the Word by the noble French nation (verses 12-14). Here then we are told about the reception and understanding of the Word among all the rest of the people under papal dominion. This is afterward followed by verses 16 and 17 regarding Protestants. Thus in due order is everything foretold.
That there are peoples under papal dominion of various doctrines and disciplines, and of various religions and confessions, is something people know; for that religion is not revered in the same way in the different kingdoms.
That Protestants or the Reformed are the subject here is apparent from the predictions that follow, that they will make the harlot desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire, and give their kingdom to the beast. That “the ten horns which you saw on the beast” symbolize the Word as to the power it has from Divine truths – this may be seen in no 740 above. That to hate the harlot is not to endure the Roman Catholic religion, and therefore to throw off entirely the yoke of papal dominion, is apparent without explanation.
To make her desolate means, symbolically, to rid themselves of the Roman Catholic religion’s falsities, and to make her naked means, symbolically, to rid themselves of its evils, for they make it desolate and naked in themselves. Desolation in the Word is predicated of truths and falsities, while nakedness is predicated of goods and evils, as can be seen from what we have presented regarding nakedness in nos. 213, 706 above.
It can be seen from this that their making her desolate and naked means symbolically that they will rid themselves of all that religion’s falsities and evils. People know that this is what Protestants or the Reformed have done.
This is said of Protestants, who will deal thus with the harlot, that is, with the Roman Catholic religion. To eat her flesh means, symbolically, with hatred to condemn and destroy in themselves the inherent characteristics of that religion, which are evils and falsities, about which we will say more below. And to burn her with fire means, symbolically, to renounce that religion as profane and expunge it in themselves.
This is what burning with fire means because the penalty for profaning something holy was burning. Therefore, according to Divine law, people who profaned the name of Jehovah by worshiping other gods were burned with fire – they and all their belongings (Deuteronomy 13:12-18). Therefore Moses burned with fire the golden calf that the children of Israel were profanely worshiping (Exodus 32:20, Deuteronomy 9:21). Moreover, because two of Aaron’s sons profaned holy things, they were consumed by fire from heaven (Leviticus 10:1-6). Nor is anything else symbolized by the fire and pyre in Tophet but the fire of hell, which awaits those who profane holy things (Isaiah 30:33, Jeremiah 7:11, 31, 32, 19:5, 6, 2 Kings 23:10), for there the people worshiped Molech with a heinous sacrifice.*
[2] Since the fourth beast in Daniel 7 symbolizes a religion that profanes the Word and consequently the sanctities of the church (no. 717), therefore we are told that it was burned with fire (Daniel 7:11).
Now, because it is profane worship to worship a person instead of the Lord, we are accordingly told here that they burnt the harlot with fire, which symbolically means that they renounced the religion itself and expunged it in themselves.
To eat her flesh means, symbolically, with hatred to condemn and destroy in themselves the inherent characteristics of that religion, which are evils and falsities, because that is the symbolic meaning of eating her flesh. For flesh symbolizes the inherent characteristics of a thing which relate to goods and truths, and in an opposite sense, to evils and falsities, and to eat means, symbolically, to consume, thus to destroy.
That flesh symbolizes a person’s inherent character, which in itself is evil, is clear from the following passages:
It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing. (John 6:63)
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:6)
As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to be children of God…: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh…. (John 1:12, 13)
(God) remembered that they were flesh, a breath that passes away and does not come again. (Psalm 78:39)
The Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses are flesh, and not spirit. (Isaiah 31:3)
(Jerusalem) committed harlotry with the Egyptians…, great of flesh. (Ezekiel 16:26)
Jesus…said to (Peter), “…flesh and blood has not revealed this to you….” (Matthew 16:17)
Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm…. (Jeremiah 17:5)
[3] Because flesh symbolizes a person’s inherent character, and people who hate others attack their personal character with the intention of destroying it, therefore to eat the flesh has also this symbolic meaning, as in the following passages:
Let the dying die, and the cut off be cut off. Those that are left eat each other’s flesh. (Zechariah 11:9)
They shall devour Israel with the whole mouth…. Every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm – Manasseh, Ephraim, and Ephraim, Manasseh. (Isaiah 9:12, 20, 21)
I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh…. (Isaiah 49:26)
…everyone shall eat the flesh of his friend…. (Jeremiah 19:9)
To eat the flesh of sons and daughters (Jeremiah 19:9, Leviticus 26:29, Deuteronomy 28:53) means, symbolically, to destroy truths and goods in oneself, for sons symbolize truths, and daughters goods, as may be seen in nos. 139, 543, 545, 612 above.
Moreover, in the Word we find reference to “all flesh,” and this symbolically means all mankind (Genesis 6:12, 13, 17, 19; Isaiah 40:5, 6, 49:26, 66:16, 23, 24; Jeremiah 25:31, 32:27, 45:5; Ezekiel 20:48, 21:4, 5).
* The heinous sacrifice consisted of “passing infants through the fire to Molech,” by burning them alive on a sacrificial altar. Vestiges of this worship have been found elsewhere, as far as northern Africa. Tophet was a site in the valley of Hinnom at the foot of Mount Zion on the south side. Because of the nature of its worship, the valley of Hinnon (Ge’ Hinnom = Gehenna) became synonymous with Hades or hell.
Since the harlot symbolizes the Roman Catholic religion, and the ten horns that will hate the harlot symbolize Protestants, as in nos. 746-748 above, it is apparent that carrying out God’s purpose means symbolically that they judged and concluded that they should utterly repudiated and renounce the Roman Catholic religion and expunge and eradicate it in themselves, as in no. 748 above. And it is apparent as well that to be of one mind and give their kingdom to the beast means, symbolically, to unanimously judge and conclude that they should acknowledge the Word and found the church on it. The beast symbolizes the Word, as it has everywhere before (see no. 723), and their kingdom symbolizes the church and government over it, about which we will say more here below. That God put it into their hearts means symbolically that their judgments came from the Lord.
[2] That a kingdom symbolizes the church can be seen from the following passages:
The children of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. (Matthew 8:12)
…the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom…. (Matthew 13:38)
Someone who hears the Word of the kingdom, and does not heed it…. (Matthew 13:19)
…the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. (Matthew 21:43)
No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:62)
Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)
Jesus, John the Baptist, and the disciples preached that the kingdom of God was at hand (Matthew 3:2, 4:17, 10:7, Luke 10:11, 16:16), and they preached also the gospel of the kingdom (Matthew 4:23, 9:35, 24:14, Luke 8:1).
If I cast out demons by the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come to you. (Luke 11:20)
And so on in many other passages where the kingdom of God is mentioned.
So, too, in the following:
…if you will…obey My voice and keep My covenant…you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests…. (Exodus 19:5, 6)
You, O tower of the flock, the ascent of the daughter of Zion, to you shall return…the former kingdom…, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. (Micah 4:8)
The saints…shall (afterward) receive the kingdom, and establish the kingdom…, even forever…. (Daniel 7:18, cf. 7:22)
The kingdom and dominion, and the majesty of the kingdoms under all the heavens, shall be given to the people of the saints…(whose) kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall worship and obey Him. (Daniel 7:27)
To (the Son of Man) was given…a kingdom (which shall not be destroyed), and all peoples, nations, and languages shall worship Him. (Daniel 7:14)
And so on elsewhere.
A kingdom symbolizes the church because the Lord’s kingdom exists in heaven and on earth, and His kingdom on earth is the church. That, too, is why the Lord is called King of kings.
To be fulfilled means, symbolically, to be brought to completion, and the words of God symbolize the things that have been foretold in the Word. Because we are also told they are to be fulfilled, it symbolically means, until they all are. This is said in reference to Protestants and the fact that they will give their kingdom to the beast, which is to say, that they will acknowledge the Word and found the church upon it, as just said in no. 749 above.
But though Protestants acknowledge the Word indeed, and say that the church is founded on it, they nevertheless found the doctrine of their church on a single saying of Paul, that “a person is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:28), which they completely misunderstand (no. 417).
Because the text says here, “until the words of God are fulfilled,” we will also say what the Lord’s last words to His disciples symbolized, when He said:
Go…and make disciples of all nations…, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. (Matthew 28:19, 20)
Even to the end of the age means even to the end of the church (no. 658); and if people then do not turn to the Lord Himself, and live in accordance with His commandments, they are forsaken by the Lord, and people forsaken by the Lord become as pagans, having no religion. The Lord then is present only with people who will be those of His New Church.
This is the symbolic meaning of the declarations, “until the Words of God are fulfilled,” and “even to the end of the age.”
These words symbolize all of this because they form a conclusion and so involve not only the declarations made about Roman Catholics, but also those made about the French nation and Protestants. Thus we are told that the woman, which is the great city, also holds sway over these.
But we must say how this is so. The Roman Catholic Church holds sway over Protestants, not to the degree that it does over those who are committed to its religion, but to the extent that Protestants in some measure have accepted its doctrines. The doctrines they have accepted are these, that they turn to God the Father and not the Lord; that they do not acknowledge the Lord’s humanity as Divine; that His suffering of the cross constitutes an atonement, conciliation and satisfaction with God the Father; the imputation of the merit of Christ; some tenets regarding baptism, original sin, and free will; and, in the case of Lutherans, that they come close to accepting the doctrine of transubstantiation.*
These doctrines taken over from Roman Catholicism, and that in some part accord with it, are the reason we are told that the woman, which is the great city, holds sway over the kings of the earth.
The woman symbolizes the Roman Catholic religion, as we have said. A city symbolizes doctrine (nos. 194, 501, 502, 712). A kingdom symbolizes the church (no. 749), and thus to hold sway symbolizes the governing of it. Kings of the earth symbolizes a church’s truths or falsities (nos. 20, 483, 664, 704, 720, 737, 740), and so also its doctrines. The earth symbolizes the church (no. 285).
It is apparent from this that the declaration that the woman whom you saw is the great city which holds sway over the kings of the earth, symbolically means that the Roman Catholic religion will reign as to doctrine in the Christian world, and to some extent still also among the Protestant Reformed, even though the latter are not under papal dominion.
* The doctrine teaching that in Holy Communion the bread and wine are as to substance converted actually into the body and blood of the Christ, under the continuing appearance of bread and wine.
**********
I was given to speak with Pope Sixtus V.* He came from a society in the west to my left. He told me that he had been put as chief governor over a society composed of Catholics who more than others excelled in judgment and industry. He said he had been made their chief governor because he had believed during the last half year before his death that the vicariate was an invention in order to gain dominion, and that the Lord the Savior, being God, was the only one who should be venerated and worshiped. He also said that the Holy Scripture is Divine and thus more holy than the edicts of popes. Pope Sixtus said that he had continued to believe in these two principal tenets of religion to the end of his life.
Pope Sixtus also said that their saints are of no account. He was surprised when I told him that it had been decided in council and confirmed by a bull that saints should be invoked.
He said that he led an active life as he had in the world, and that every morning he proposes to himself nine or ten things that he wishes to be accomplished by the end of the evening.
I asked him where he had obtained in so few years the great treasury he had placed in the Castelo del Angelo. He replied that he had written with his own hand to the prefects of wealthy monasteries, telling them to send him as much of their wealth as in their judgment they could, as it was for a holy purpose, and because they feared him, they sent it in abundance.
Moreover, when I said that the treasury still exists, he said, “Of what use is it now?”
[2] While speaking with him, I reported that since his time the treasury at Loreto had been immensely increased and enriched, and so, too, the treasuries in some monasteries, primarily in Spain, but not so much today as in earlier centuries. I added also that these treasuries are preserved for no other useful purpose than the pleasure of possessing them. Moreover, when I reported this, I said, too, that those who possessed them were thus like the gods of the underworld that the ancients called Plutos.**
When I mentioned Plutos, Pope Sixtus responded, “Hush! I know.”
Pope Sixtus said again that the only people admitted into the society over which he presides are those who excel in judgment, and who can accept that the Lord alone is God of heaven and earth, and that the Word is holy and Divine. Moreover, under the Lord’s auspices he is perfecting that society daily, he said.
He also said that he has spoken with some so-called saints, but that they become foolish when they are told and believe that they are holy.
He even called stupid those popes and cardinals who wish to be venerated like Christ, even if they are not venerated in person, and who do not acknowledge the Word to be actually holy and Divine, which alone is what people ought to live by.
[3] Pope Sixtus wishes me to tell people who are alive today that Christ is God of heaven and earth, that the Word is holy and Divine, and that it is not the Holy Spirit that speaks through someone’s mouth, but Satan, who wishes to be venerated as God.
Moreover, he said that people who do not pay attention to his words go away, as stupid, to their own kind, and after a time are cast down into hell to people who labor under the fantasy that they are gods, where the only life they have is the that of a wild animal.
At this I said, “Your words are perhaps too harsh for me to write.”
But he replied, “Write them and I will sign them, because they are true.”
And he went away from me then into his society and signed a copy, and sent it as a bull to other societies committed to the same religion.
* Born Felice Peretti, 1521-1590, Italian ecclesiastic, Pope 1585-1590.
** The Roman deity Pluto, god of the underworld, was in later times often confused with the minor Greek deity Plutus (Plou’to”), god of abundance and wealth, a confusion reflected also here and elsewhere in the writer’s works.
CHAPTER 18
1 Then after these things I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. 2 And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and it has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a prison for every unclean and loathsome bird! 3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her licentiousness, the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich owing to the potencies of her delights.”
4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my peoples, lest you participate in her sins, and lest you become recipients of her plagues. 5 For her sins have mounted even to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. 6 Render to her as she rendered to you, repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. 7 In the measure that she glorified herself and worked her pleasure, in the same measure give her torment and grief; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen and am not a widow, and will not see grief.’
8 “Therefore her plagues will come in one day – death and mourning and hunger. And she will be burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. 9 And the kings of the earth who committed whoredom with her and delighted in her will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, 10 standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’ 11 And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their merchandise anymore: 12 merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones, and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of thyine wood,* every kind of ivory vessel, every vessel of precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; 13 and cinnamon, fragrances, ointment and frankincense, and wine, oil, flour, wheat, cattle, and sheep, and merchandise of horses, and wagons, and the bodies and souls of people. 14 The fruits that your soul longed for have gone from you, and all things rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all.
15 “The merchants of these things, whom she made rich, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, 16 and saying, ‘Woe, woe, that great city, clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls,’ 17 because in one hour such great riches were laid waste.
“Every helmsman, everyone traveling by ship, and sailors, as many as work at sea, stood at a distance 18 and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What other city may be compared to this great city?’ 19 And they put dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning, and saying, ‘Woe, woe, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea were made rich by her wealth!’ because in one hour they were destroyed.
20 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has visited your judgment on her!”
21 Then a mighty angel lifted up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus shall Babylon, that great city, be forcefully thrown down, and not be found anymore. 22 The sound of harpists and musicians, flutists and trumpeters, shall not be heard in you anymore; no craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore; and the sound of a mill shall not be heard in you anymore. 23 The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the sound of a bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, because by your sorcery all the nations were led astray. 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all those slain on the earth.”
* Thyine wood has not been identified. It has been associated with citron wood, and also with scented wood in general.
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
Treatment of the Roman Catholic religion continues, that because of its adulterations and profanations of the Word’s truths and so those of the church, it will perish (verses 1-8). Concerning the highest in its ecclesiastic order, their character and grief (verses 9, 10). Concerning those lower in that order (verses 11-16). Concerning the laity and common people who are kept obedient to them (verses 17-19). The joy of the angels because of that religion’s removal (verse 20). Its destruction in the spiritual world because of its lacking any acknowledgment of truth, inquiry into truth, enlightenment in truth, or acceptance of truth, and its lacking therefore any conjunction of truth and goodness, which is what forms the church (verses 21-24).
The Contents of the Individual Verses
1 Then after these things I saw
A continuation concerning the Roman Catholic religion.
an angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory.
A powerful influx of the Lord from heaven through Divine truth, so that His church was brought into the light of heaven.
2 And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great,
It made known that by the Lord’s Divine power, people who were caught up in that religion and at the same time in a love of exercising dominion because of it, were all destroyed in the spiritual world and cast into numerous hells.
and it has become a dwelling place of demons,
Their hells are ones marked by lusts to exercise dominion from the heat of self-love, and by lusts to profane heaven’s truths from the spurious zeal of that love.
a prison for every foul spirit, and a prison for every unclean and loathsome bird!
The evils willed and so done by the people in those hells, and the falsities entertained in thought and consequent intention, are diabolical, because the people have turned away from the Lord to themselves.
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her licentiousness, the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her,
They have produced nefarious dogmas, dogmas that are adulterations and profanations of the Word’s goodness and truth, and have imbued with them all those born and brought up in the kingdoms under their domination.
and the merchants of the earth have become rich owing to the potencies of her delights.”
The greater and lower in rank in that hierarchy who by their dominion over sacred things strive for Divine majesty and superregal glory, who continually seek to establish it by multiplying the number of monasteries and possessions under their control, and by collecting and accumulating the world’s treasures without end, and who thus procure for themselves physical and natural pleasures by claiming for themselves a celestial and spiritual dominion.
4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my peoples, lest you participate in her sins, and lest you become recipients of her plagues.
An exhortation from the Lord to all people, both to those caught up in that religion and to those not caught up in it, to beware of embracing it in acknowledgement and affection, lest they embrace its abominations with their souls and perish.
5 For her sins have mounted even to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
Its evils and falsities infest the heavens, but the Lord will protect the heavens from being violated by them.
6 Render to her as she rendered to you, repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her.
A just retribution and punishment after death, that the evils and falsities with which they led astray and destroyed others will, in accordance with the magnitude and character of them, come back upon themselves.
7 In the measure that she glorified herself and worked her pleasure, in the same measure give her torment and grief;
To the degree of their elation of heart due to their dominion, and of their exultation in mind and body due to their riches, to the same degree they will experience after death an inner anguish owing to their being cast down and becoming objects of derision, and owing to their poverty and wretchedness.
for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen and am not a widow, and will not see grief.’
This is their lot, because owing to their elation of heart over their dominion, and exultation of spirit over their riches, they possess the confidence and conviction that they will dominate forever and defend themselves, and that they can never lose what they have.
8 “Therefore her plagues will come in one day – death and mourning and hunger.
Consequently, at the time of the Last Judgment the punishments for the evils they have done will come back on themselves – death, which is life in hell and an inner anguish at being cast down from their domination – mourning, which is an internal anguish owing to their poverty and wretchedness instead of opulence – and hunger, which is the loss of any understanding of truth.
And she will be burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.
They will be embodiments of animosity toward the Lord and toward His heaven and church, because they see then that the Lord alone governs and reigns over everything in heaven and on earth, and not at all any person of himself.
9 And the kings of the earth who committed whoredom with her and delighted in her will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning,
The inner feelings of anguish in those who had been in a higher degree of dominion and its delights through their falsifications and adulterations of the Word’s truths, which they made sacred tenets of the church, when they see them turned into profane ones.
10 standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’
Their fear of punishments, and grievous lamentation then that that religion, so well fortified, could be so suddenly and completely overturned, and that they could perish.
11 And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their merchandise anymore:
The lower in rank who serve and profit by its sanctities – here their feelings of anguish that after Babylon’s destruction they cannot use them to make material gains as before.
12 merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones, and pearls,
They no longer have these things because they do not have any of the spiritual goods and truths to which these things correspond.
fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet,
They no longer have these because they do not have any of the celestial goods and truths to which such things correspond.
every kind of thyine wood, every kind of ivory vessel,
They no longer have these because they do not have any of the natural goods and truths to which such things correspond.
every vessel of precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;
They no longer have these because they do not have any knowledge of the goods and truths in ecclesiastical affairs to which such things correspond.
13 and cinnamon, fragrances, ointment and frankincense,
They no longer have any worship that springs from spiritual goods and truths, because they have nothing inwardly in their worship that corresponds to the aforesaid things.
and wine, oil, flour, wheat,
They no longer have any worship that springs from celestial truths and goods, because they have nothing inwardly in their worship that corresponds to the aforesaid things.
cattle, and sheep,
They no longer have any worship that springs from the church’s external or natural goods and truths, because they have nothing inwardly in their worship that corresponds to the aforesaid things.
and merchandise of horses, and wagons, and the bodies and souls of people.
All of these things depend on an understanding of the Word and on doctrine drawn from it, and on the goods and truths in the Word’s literal sense, which these Roman Catholics do not possess, because they have falsified and adulterated them.
14 The fruits that your soul longed for have gone from you, and all things rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all.
All the blessings and felicities of heaven, including the external ones they wish for, will altogether fly away and be seen no longer, because they do not have in them any celestial or spiritual affections for goodness and truth.
15 “The merchants of these things, whom she made rich, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and mourning,
The state before damnation of those who profited by various dispensations and promises of heavenly joys, and their fear and lamentation then.
16 and saying, ‘Woe, woe, that great city, clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls,’
17 because in one hour such great riches were laid waste.
Their grievous lamentation that their magnificence and material gains were so suddenly and completely destroyed.
“Every helmsman, everyone traveling by ship, and sailors, as many as work at sea,
Those called laymen, both those established in a greater position of eminence and those in a lesser one, down to the common people, who are devoted to that religion and love it and kiss it or acknowledge and venerate it at heart.
stood at a distance 18 and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What other city may be compared to this great city?’
Their mourning in a state apart over the damnation of that religion, which they believed to be preeminent over every other religion in the world.
19 And they put dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning, and saying, ‘Woe, woe, that great city,
Their interior and exterior grief and mourning, which is a lamentation that so eminent a religion was completely destroyed and condemned,
in which all who had ships on the sea were made rich by her wealth!’ because in one hour they were destroyed.
because by the sanctities of that religion they all gained absolution, as many as were willing to purchase it, and instead of worldly and temporal riches they received heavenly and eternal ones,
20 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has visited your judgment on her!”
so that angels in heaven, and people in the church who possess goods and truths from the Word, now rejoice at heart that those caught up in the evils and falsities of that religion have been removed and cast out.
21 Then a mighty angel lifted up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus shall Babylon, that great city, be forcefully thrown down, and not be found anymore.
By a powerful influx of the Lord from heaven, that religion will be cast headlong into hell, together with all its adulterated truths of the Word, and angels will never see it again.
22 The sound of harpists and musicians, flutists and trumpeters, shall not be heard in you anymore;
They will not have in them any affection for spiritual truth and goodness, nor any affection for celestial goodness and truth.
no craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore;
Those caught up in that religion because of its doctrine and a life in accordance with it are without any understanding of spiritual truth, and so are without any thought of spiritual truth, to the extent that they are left to themselves.
and the sound of a mill shall not be heard in you anymore.
Those caught up in that religion because of its doctrine and a life in accordance with it do not inquire into, investigate, or confirm spiritual truth, because the falsity they have accepted, affirmed, and so enrooted in themselves stands in the way.
23 The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore,
Those caught up in that religion because of its doctrine and a life in accordance with it are without any enlightenment from the Lord and so without any perception of spiritual truth.
and the sound of a bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore.
Those caught up in that religion because of its doctrine and a life in accordance with it have no conjunction of goodness and truth, which is what forms the church.
For your great men were the merchants of the earth,
Those higher in their church hierarchy are of such a character because they use their various prerogatives, including ones left to their discretion in the regulations of their order, to buy and sell and make material gains.
because by your sorcery all the nations were led astray.
Their nefarious arts and cunning schemes by which they turned the hearts of all away from a reverent worship of the Lord to a profane worship of people, living and dead, and of icons.
24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all those slain on the earth.”
THE EXPOSITION
18:1 Then after these things I saw. This symbolizes a manifestation of the death and damnation of people who were in the Roman Catholic religion and exercised authority over the sanctities of the church and over heaven, with the intention of achieving dominion over all others and of acquiring all the possessions of others.
This is the symbolic meaning here of the phrase, “Then after these things I saw,” because it is the subject dealt with in this chapter.
We introduced this work by first presenting the dogmas of that religion, that readers enlightened by the Lord may see that Roman Catholics look to no other end than dominion over people’s souls, in order to be worshiped as gods and to acquire for themselves alone all the world’s goods. And because that is their goal, and not at all the salvation of souls, they could not draw their dogmas from any other source than hell. For they could not draw them from heaven, that is, from the Lord, but took them from themselves, because they transferred everything belonging to the Lord to themselves.
What is more detestable than to divide the Lord’s body and blood, or bread and wine, in the Holy Supper, clearly contrary to its institution, and this by fictions, solely for the sake of sacrifices of the Mass offered daily and nightly by which to gain the world?
What is more detestable than to worship dead people with a Divine invocation, and to fall upon the knees before their images and reverently kiss them – even to treat in this way the bones and remains of their dead bodies – so as to draw people away from worship of God and introduce them into a profane worship, and this, too, for the sake of material gains?
What is more detestable than to regard worship of God on Sundays and holy days as consisting in masses not understood, thus in external acts of the body and its feelings, apart from the internal participation of the soul and its affections, and to ascribe all holiness to those masses, so as to keep everyone in ignorance and in a blind faith, in order to obtain dominion and material gain?
What is more detestable than their transferring to themselves everything connected with the Lord’s Divine authority, which is nothing else than to drag the Lord down from His throne and place themselves on it instead?
What is more detestable than to take the Word, which is Divine truth itself, from the laity and common people, and to give them instead edicts and dogmas which contain scarcely one genuine truth of the Word.
These are the subject in this chapter of the Apocalypse.
An angel symbolizes the Lord. An angel coming down from heaven symbolizes an influx of the Lord from heaven. Having great authority symbolizes a powerful influx. The earth illuminated with his glory symbolizes the church in the light of heaven from the Lord through Divine truth.
That angels individually and collectively in the Word mean the Lord may be seen in nos. 258, 344, 465, 649, 657, 718. To come down means, symbolically, to flow in, because it is said of the Lord. That the earth symbolizes the church may be seen in nos. 285, 721; that glory is predicated of Divine truth and symbolizes it, in nos. 249, 629.
We say Divine truth in the light of heaven, because Divine truth emanating from the Lord is the light of heaven, which enlightens angels and produces their wisdom.
The Lord’s influx through Divine truth is mentioned now, and the enlightenment of the church by it, because it is by that influx that people caught up in falsities are separated from those governed by truths, and because it is the light of truth that also causes the real character of falsities to be seen.
That this is the symbolic meaning of these words can be seen from the short work, The Last Judgment and Babylon Destroyed (London, 1758), where Babylon’s destruction is described, nos. 53-64, from which it can be seen that the people of the Roman Catholic religion who were destroyed and cast into hell were those who, driven by the fire of their self-love, exercised dominion over the Lord’s Divine sanctities having to do with heaven and the church, and who were nothing but idolaters. On the other hand, those of the same religion who lived in accordance with the Ten Commandments by refraining from evils as sins, and at the same time looked to the Lord, were saved, as may be seen in A Continuation Concerning the Last Judgment and the Spiritual World, no. 58, to which there is no need to add more.
Something similar is said of Babylon in Isaiah:
A lion cried…on the watchtower…and said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! And all the carved images of her gods He has broken to the ground.” (Isaiah 21:8, 9)
People of that religion of the same character are, since the Last Judgment, gathered together and from time to time sent to their comrades.
Demons symbolize lusts to do evil (nos. 458), and also lusts to falsify truths. But demons, like lusts, are of many kinds. The worst are those which embody lusts from the heat of self-love to exercise dominion over the sanctities of the church and over heaven. And because this dominion is fixed in their hearts, they also embody lusts to profane heaven’s truths from the spurious zeal of that love.
Moreover, because they know, when they become demons, as is the case after death, that the Lord alone has dominion over heaven and earth, they become personifications of a hatred for Him, until eventually, as much as a century later, they cannot bear to hear Him named.
It is apparent from this that Babylon’s becoming a dwelling place of demons means symbolically that their hells are ones marked by lusts to exercise dominion from the heat of self-love, and by lusts to profane heaven’s truths from the spurious zeal of that love.
[2] People in the world do not know that all after death become embodiments of the affections of their dominant love – embodiments of good affections if they have looked to the Lord and heaven and at the same time refrained from evils as sins, but embodiments of evil affections, namely lusts, if they have looked only to themselves and the world and have refrained from evils, not as sins, but only as damaging to their reputation and honor.
These affections are objectively seen and perceived in the spiritual world, whereas only the thoughts emanating from these affections are seen and perceived in the natural world. As a result, people do not know that hell resides in the affections of an evil love, and heaven in the affections of a good love. So it is that people do not know this and do not perceive it, because the lusts of an evil love derive from heredity that they are delightful in the will, and thus pleasant in the intellect, and people do not reflect on something that is delightful and pleasant because it carries their minds along as the current of a swift river does a boat. Consequently people who have immersed themselves in these delights and pleasant thoughts cannot approach the delights and pleasant thoughts of the affections of a love of goodness and truth otherwise than as people who with straining arms pull on the oars against the current of a swift river.
The case, however, is otherwise with people who have not so deeply immersed themselves.
A prison symbolizes a hell, because these Roman Catholics were imprisoned there. A spirit symbolizes everything pertaining to their affection or will and of the consequent action, and a bird symbolizes everything pertaining to the thought or intellect and consequent intention. A foul spirit and an unclean bird accordingly symbolize all the evils willed and so done, and all the falsities entertained in thought and consequent intention. Moreover, since the evils and falsities entertained by these people are found in the hells, therefore the symbolical meaning is that their evils and falsities are diabolical. In addition, because these people have turned away from the Lord to themselves, every unclean bird is also called loathsome.
Similar symbolism is used to describe Babylon in the Prophets, as in Isaiah:
Babylon…will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited…, so that Arabs will not tarry there…. But ziyyim* will lie there, their houses will be full of ‘ochim,** the offspring of owls will dwell there, and satyrs will caper there. ‘Iyyim*** also will reply in its palaces, and dragons in its pleasant palaces. (Isaiah 13:19-22)
I will…cut off from Babylon the name and remnant…. I will make it a possession of the bittern…. (Isaiah 14:22, 23)
And in Jeremiah:
…in Babylon shall dwell ziyyim* and ‘iyyim*** and the offspring of owls…. As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors…, no son of man shall dwell in it. (Jeremiah 50:39, 40)
It is apparent from this that a prison for every foul spirit, and a prison for every unclean and loathsome bird, means symbolically that the evils willed and so done by the people in those hells, and the falsities entertained in thought and consequent intention, are diabolical, because the people have turned away from the Lord to themselves.
[2] It is apparent from the Word that birds symbolize such things as have to do with the intellect and thought and consequent intention, and this in both senses, bad and good. They are found in a bad sense in the following passages there:
In the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice…. (At length) on the bird of abominations shall be desolation. Even until the consummation…there shall rain down devastation. (Daniel 9:27)
The pelican and the bittern shall possess (the land). The screech owl and the raven shall dwell in it. (Isaiah 34:11)
Nothing else than hellish falsities are symbolized by ‘ochim,** ziyyim,* the offspring of owls, and dragons in the passages cited above, as also by the birds that came down on the carcasses which Abram drove away (Genesis 15:11), by the birds which were given human corpses for food (Jeremiah 7:33, 15:3, 16:4, 19:7, 34:20; Ezekiel 29:5; Psalm 79:1, 2), and by the birds which devoured what was sowed (Matthew 13:3, 4).
[3] Birds are found in a good sense in the following passages:
Creeping thing and bird…shall praise the name of Jehovah. (Psalm 148:10, 13)
In that day I will make a covenant for them…with the birds of the sky, and the creeping things of the ground. (Hosea 2:18)
…ask the beasts, and they will teach you, and the birds of the sky, and they will tell you…. Who among all these does not know that the hand of Jehovah does this? (Job 12:7-9)
I looked, when behold, there was no man; all the birds of the sky had flown away. (Jeremiah 4:24-26)
Both the birds of the sky and the beasts have fled away…, (because) I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a den of dragons. (Jeremiah 9:10, 11)
There is no truth, no mercy, no knowledge of God…. Therefore the land will mourn…as regards the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky. (Hosea 4:1, 3)
I am God…calling a bird from the east, a man of My counsel from a far country. (Isaiah 46:9, 11)
Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon…. In its branches all the birds of the sky made their nests…, and in its shade all great nations dwelled. (Ezekiel 31:3, 6)
[4] Similar statements to that made of Assyria as a cedar here are found elsewhere, as in Ezekiel 17:23, Daniel 4:10-14, 20, 21, Matthew 13:31,32, Mark 4:32, Luke 13:19.
Speak to every sort of bird and to every beast of the field: “…come…to…a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel….” (Thus) I will set My glory among the nations. (Ezekiel 39:17, 21, cf. Revelation 19:17)
And so on regarding birds elsewhere, as in Isaiah 18:1, 6; Ezekiel 38:20; Hosea 9:11, 11:10, 11; Zephaniah 1:3; Psalms 8:6-8, 50:11, 104:11, 12.
That birds symbolize such things as have to do with the intellect and its consequent thought and intention is clearly apparent from birds in the spiritual world. There, too, one sees birds of every kind and every species – in heaven very beautiful ones, birds of paradise, turtle doves, and doves – in hell dragons, screech owls, eagle owls, and others of that kind – all of which are objective representations of thoughts springing from good affections in heaven, and of thoughts springing from evil affections in hell.
* A Hebrew word ([Hebrew]), appearing six times in the Old Testament (Psalms 72:9, 74:14; Isaiah 13:21, 23:13, 34:14; Jeremiah 50:39). It seems to refer to desert dwellers, and in contexts suggesting animals, to desert creatures, but the actual identity is unknown. It may not be a precise term.
** Another Hebrew word ([Hebrew]), appearing only once in the Old Testament (Isaiah 13:21). It seems to refer to howling or screeching creatures, perhaps screech owls, but the actual identity is unknown. It, too, may not be a precise term. Married Love no. 264:4 identifies them as birds of the night.
*** Another Hebrew word ([Hebrew]), appearing only three times in the Old Testament (Isaiah 13:22, 34:14; Jeremiah 50:39). Again, the term seems to refer to howling or screeching creatures, perhaps bats (cf. no. 233:7), but the actual identity is unknown. It, too, may not be a precise term.
That this is the symbolic meaning of these words can be seen from the explanations in nos. 631, 632 and 720, 721 above, where similar imagery occurs, and we have no need to add more, except to say that similar statements regarding Babel are made in Jeremiah:
Babylon was a golden cup in Jehovah’s hand, that made all the earth drunk. The nations drank of her wine; therefore they are deranged. (Jeremiah 51:7)
And:
Babylon shall become…a hissing…. When they are inflamed I will lay their feasts; I will make them drunk, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep and not awake. (Jeremiah 51:37, 39)
The wine that they drink that makes them drunk symbolizes their dogmas, and how nefarious these are may be seen in no. 753 above. One of those dogmas is this nefarious one, that the works people do in conformity with their tenets earn merits, by causing the Lord’s merit and righteousness to be transcribed into the works and thus into them. And yet every bit of charity, and every bit of faith, or all good and truth, comes from the Lord, and what comes from the Lord continues to be the Lord’s in its recipients. For what comes from the Lord is Divine, which can never become a person’s own.
Something Divine can be present in a person, but not in his native self, for a person’s native self is nothing but evil. Therefore someone who claims for himself something Divine as his own, not only defiles it, but also profanes it. Something Divine from the Lord is kept carefully separate from a person’s native self, being elevated above it and never immersed in it.
But because Roman Catholics have transferred all the Lord’s Divinity to themselves, and so have appropriated it as their own, it flows like rainwater mixed with pitch, from a fountain of tar.
The case is the same with the dogma that justification is real sanctification, and that their saints are holy in themselves, even though the Lord alone is holy (Revelation 15:4).
For more on the subject of merit, see The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine (London, 1758), nos. 150-158.
The merchants of Babylon can only mean the greater and lower in rank in their church hierarchy, because in verse 23 of this chapter we are told that they are the great men of the earth. And the potencies of her delights with which they have become rich can only mean the dogmas that are the means by which they acquire for themselves dominion over people’s souls, and so also over their possessions and wealth. People know that they collect these without end and swell their treasuries with them, and also that they make merchandise of the sanctities of the church, by selling salvation, for example, or heaven, in exchange for offerings and gifts made to monasteries and their saints and images, or in exchange for masses, indulgences and various dispensations.
[2] Who cannot see that if the papal dominion had not been broken at the time of the Protestant Reformation, Roman Catholics would have scraped together the possessions and wealth of all the kingdoms in the whole of Europe? And that then they would have made themselves the sole lords, and everyone else their servants? Do they not have the greatest part of their wealth from preceding centuries when they had power over emperors and kings, whom they could excommunicate and depose if they did not obey? And do they not still have annual incomes that are immense, and treasuries full of gold, silver, and precious stones?
The same barbarous lust for dominion is still lodged in the hearts of many of them, and is restrained only by a fear of its loss if it should extend beyond accepted limits.
Of what use, however, are such great incomes, treasures and possessions to them, other than to be delighted by them, to pride themselves on having them, and to establish their dominion to eternity?
It can be seen from this what is here symbolized by merchants of the earth who have become rich owing to the potencies of Babylon’s delights.
They are called merchants also in Isaiah:
(The inhabitants of Babylon) are as stubble. Fire has burned them; they do not deliver their soul from the power of the flame…. Such are…your merchants from your youth. (Isaiah 47:14, 15)
[3] In the Word, to be a merchant or trader means, symbolically, to be engaged in procuring for oneself spiritual riches, which are concepts of truth and goodness, and in an opposite sense, concepts of falsity and evil, and to use the first to gain heaven, and the second to gain the world. For that reason the Lord likened the kingdom of heaven to a merchant seeking beautiful pearls (Matthew 13:45,46), and the people in the church to servants who were given talents with which to trade and gain more (Matthew 25:14-30), or who were given ten minas with which to likewise trade and gain more (Luke 19:12-26).
Moreover, because Tyre symbolizes the church in respect to its concepts of truth and goodness, therefore the whole of chapter twenty-seven in Ezekiel has trading and gain as its subject, and we are told concerning Tyre:
In your wisdom and your understanding you have gained…for yourself…gold and silver into your treasuries; and by the great wisdom in your trading you have increased your riches…. (Ezekiel 28:4, 5)
And elsewhere:
…Tyre…has been laid waste…, whose merchants are princes, and its traders the honorable of the earth. (Isaiah 23:1, 8)
Also, the corrupt church among Jews in the land of Canaan is called the land of trade (Ezekiel 16:3, 29, 21:30, 29:14).
“Another voice from heaven saying” symbolizes an exhortation from the Lord to all people, both to those caught up in the Roman Catholic religion and to those not caught up in it, because the exhortation follows, “Come out of her, my peoples,” which is to say, come out all who turn to the Lord. The exhortation comes from the Lord because the voice was a voice from heaven. “Lest you participate in her sins” means, symbolically, to beware of embracing its abominations with their souls; and because the embrace takes place through acknowledgment and affection, therefore this, too, is symbolically meant. Their sins are abominations, because that is what they are called in the preceding chapter, verse 4. “Lest you become recipients of her plagues” means, symbolically, lest they perish; for plagues symbolize evils and falsities, and at the same time destruction in consequence of them. This is the symbolic meaning of plagues in nos. 657, 673, 676 above, and elsewhere.
Similar things are said in connection with Babylon in the Word in the following places:
Come out of the midst of her, My people! Deliver everyone his soul because of the fierce anger of Jehovah, lest your heart weaken and you become fearful on account of the report…. (Jeremiah 51:45, 46)
Flee from the midst of Babylon, and deliver everyone his soul, lest you be cut off on account of her iniquity…. (Jeremiah 51:6)
Forsake (Babylon), and let us go everyone to his own country; for her judgment has reached to heaven and has risen up to the clouds. (Jeremiah 51:9)
Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans with the sound of singing! Proclaim this and cause it to be heard, utter it to the end of the earth: say, “Jehovah has redeemed….” (Isaiah 48:20, 21; cf. Jeremiah 50:8)
Her sins having mounted even to heaven means symbolically that their evils and falsities infest angels in heaven. God’s remembering her iniquities means symbolically that the Lord will protect the heavens from being violated by them.
This is the symbolic meaning of these words, because everything in the heavens is good and true, and everything in the hells is evil and false. The heavens and hells are therefore completely apart and in an inverse situation, like antipodes. Consequently evils and falsities cannot mount to the heavens. But still, when evils and falsities increase beyond the degrees of opposition and so beyond a just measure, the heavens are infested, and unless the Lord protects the heavens then, which He does by a stronger influx emanating from Him, violence is done to the heavens. And when this reaches its peak, He then executes a last judgment and so liberates them.
So we are told later in this chapter, “Rejoice over her, O heaven…, for God has visited your judgment on her!” (verse 20) – an exultation expressed in the following chapter, Revelation 19:1-9. And in Jeremiah:
Then the heavens and the earth shall sing over Babylon, and all that is in them, when the plunderers shall come upon her…. (Jeremiah 51:48)
“Render to her as she rendered to you” symbolizes their just retribution and punishment after death. “Repay her double according to her works” means symbolically that the evils with which they led astray and destroyed others will, in accordance with the magnitude and character of them, come back upon themselves. “In the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her,” means symbolically that their falsities will likewise come back upon themselves; for a cup or wine symbolizes falsities (nos. 316, 635, 649, 672).
Almost the same statement is made of Babylon in the Prophets:
Repay (Babylon) according to her work; according to all she has done, do to her; for she has behaved insolently against Jehovah, against the Holy One of Israel. (Jeremiah 50:29)
…the vengeance of Jehovah (is this): Take vengeance on (Babylon). As she has done, so do to her. (Jeremiah 50:15)
The daughter of Babylon has been destroyed. Blessed is the one who repays you your retribution as you have repaid us! (Psalm 137:8)
[2] According to the literal meaning, people whom Roman Catholics have led astray and destroyed are to visit retribution on them. But according to the spiritual meaning, it is not they who are to visit retribution on those Roman Catholics, but those Roman Catholics themselves, because every evil carries with it its own punishment. The case is similar to when the Word says here and there that God will visit retribution and avenge injustices and injuries done to Him, and will be moved by anger and wrath to destroy people, when in fact it is the evils done against God themselves that do this, thus the people themselves who do it to themselves.
This is, indeed, the lex talionis or law of retaliation, which takes its origin from the following Divine law:
Everything whatever you wish people to do to you, do you also to them. This is the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12, cf. Luke 6:31)
In heaven this law is one of mutual love or charity, from which arises its opposite in hell, namely, that everyone has done to him as he has done to another – not that it is done to them by anyone in heaven, but that they do it to themselves. For the retribution of the lex talionis arises from its opposition to the aforesaid law of life in heaven, as a law engraved on their evils.
[3] Double symbolizes much in accordance with the magnitude and character of a thing also in the following place:
Let my persecutors be shamed! …Bring on them the day of evil, and shatter them with double shattering! (Jeremiah 17:18)
And much in accordance with the magnitude and character of people’s turning away from evils in the following:
Comfort…My people! …that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is atoned for; for she has received from Jehovah’s hand double…. (Isaiah 40:1, 2)
Return to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope. This day I declare the double that I will repay to you. (Zechariah 9:12)
Instead of your shame you shall have double, and…in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be theirs. (Isaiah 61:7)
In the measure that she glorified herself means, symbolically, to the degree of their elation of heart due to their dominion, for it is owing to this that Roman Catholics glorify themselves. In the measure that she worked her pleasure means, symbolically, to the degree of their exultation in mind and body due to their riches and consequent delights and gratifications, as in no. 759 above. To give her torment symbolizes an inner anguish owing to their being cast down from their dominion and then becoming objects of derision, their torment after death having no other cause. And to give her grief symbolizes an inner anguish owing to their poverty and wretchedness, which is the reason for their grief after death.
[2] The delight of a love of exercising dominion arising from self-love over everything that is the Lord’s, which is everything connected with heaven and the church, is turned after death into such torment, and the gratification of a love of filling mind and body with delights gained from wealth is, in the case of people caught up in the aforesaid love of exercising dominion, turned into such grief. For feelings of delight and gratification resulting from loves constitute everyone’s life; consequently, when these are turned into their opposites, they become feelings of torment and grief.
These are the retributions and punishments meant in the Word by torments in hell. And hatred for the Lord, therefore, and for everything connected with heaven and the church, is what is meant by fire there.
Similar statements are made regarding Babylon in the Prophets. As for example:
I will repay Babylon…for all the evil they have done in Zion in your sight…. (Jeremiah 51:24)
…the plunderer shall come…against Babylon…. For Jehovah is a God of retributions; He will surely repay. (Jeremiah 51:55, 56)
Your magnificence is brought down to hell…. The worm is spread under you (the torment that is an inner anguish)…. You have said in your heart: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God…; I will be like the Most High.” Yet you shall be brought down to hell…. Those who see you…will say: “Is this the man who shook the earth, who made kingdoms tremble (and so on). (Isaiah 14:11, 13-16)
The last is said of Lucifer, referring there to Babylon, as is apparent from verses 4-22 in that chapter.
To say in her heart means, symbolically, to possess confidence owing to their elation of heart over their dominion, and a conviction owing to their exultation of spirit over their riches. Her saying, “I sit as queen,” means symbolically that they will have dominion, in this case forever, because the declaration follows, “I will not see grief.” Her saying, “I am not a widow,” means symbolically that they will defend themselves. A widow, being without a man, symbolizes someone without protection. The terms queen and widow are used, and not king or man, because the reference is to Babylon as the church. And her saying, “I will not see grief,” means symbolically that they can never lose these two, dominion and riches. That from this arises their grief after death may be seen just above in no. 763.
[2] Almost the same statements are made of Babylon in Isaiah:
…you shall no longer be called The Lady of Kingdoms…. You said (in your heart), “I shall be a lady forever,” …saying in your heart, “I am, and there is no one else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, nor shall I know the loss of children.” But these two things shall come to you…in one day: the loss of children, and widowhood. They shall come upon you…because of the multitude of your sorceries, and the great abundance of your enchantments. You have trusted in your wickedness. You have said, “No one sees me.” Your wisdom…led you astray, when you have said in your heart, “I am, and there is no one else besides me.” Therefore…devastation shall come upon you suddenly…. (Isaiah 47:5, 7-11)
A widow in the Word means someone without protection, for in the spiritual sense a widow symbolizes someone who possesses goodness and no truth, for a man symbolizes truth, and his wife goodness. Thus a widow symbolizes goodness without truth, and goodness without truth lacks protection, for it is truth that protects goodness. A widow has this symbolism in the Word where one is mentioned, as in Isaiah 9:14, 15, 17, 10:1, 2; Jeremiah 22:3, 49:10, 11; Lamentations 5:2, 3; Ezekiel 22:6, 7; Malachi 3:5; Psalms 68:5, 146:7-9; Exodus 22:21-24; Deuteronomy 10:18, 27:19; Matthew 23:14; Luke 4:25, 20:47.
“Therefore” refers to the fact that she said in her heart, “I sit as queen and am not a widow, and will not see grief,” as explained just above in no. 764. In one day means, symbolically, at the time of the Last Judgment, called also the Day of Judgment. Plagues symbolize punishments for the evils they did in the world, which will then come back on them. Death symbolizes life in hell, and internal anguish at being cast down from their dominion, which in no. 763 above is called torment. We will say something about this death below. Mourning symbolizes an inner anguish owing to their poverty and wretchedness instead of wealth, as explained also in no. 764 above. Hunger symbolizes the loss of any understanding of truth.
People of the Roman Catholic religion who have exercised dominion from a love of self and without a love of useful services for their own sake, suffer these three plagues or punishments. They are also atheists at heart, since they attribute everything to their own prudence or to nature. All the rest of that tribe who are of the same character, but who do not think deeply within themselves, are idolaters.
That the plague or punishment called hunger means the loss of any understanding of truth may be seen in no. 323 above.
Every person, indeed, while living in the world, possesses rationality, that is, a faculty for understanding truth. This faculty continues to exist in every person after death. Yet those who from a love of self or a conceit in their own intelligence have imbued themselves with religious falsities in the world, after death refuse to understand truth, and to refuse is be virtually unable. This inability owing to a lack of will is found in all people of the character described, and it increases as the delight in their lust for falsity to gain dominion draws them to imbue themselves with new falsities to support it, so that intellectually they become embodiments of nothing but falsity and remain so to eternity.
Similar statements are made regarding Babylon in Jeremiah:
Your mother was deeply ashamed; she who bore you was filled with shame. Behold, the last of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land and a desert. Because of the wrath of Jehovah she shall not be inhabited, but shall be a complete wasteland. Everyone who passes by Babylon shall be astounded, and shall hiss at all her plagues. (Jeremiah 50:12, 13)
The fire with which she will be burned symbolizes an animosity toward the Lord and toward His heaven and church, as discussed below. “For strong is the Lord God who judges her” means, symbolically, because they see then – that is, in the spiritual world, into which they come after death – that the Lord alone governs and reigns over everything in heaven and on earth, and not at all any person of himself. “For strong is the Lord God who judges her” has this symbolic meaning because the Lord does not judge anyone to hell. Rather people themselves do, for when they sense the angelic atmosphere flowing down out of heaven from the Lord, they flee away and cast themselves into hell, as can be seen from what we presented in nos. 233, 325, 339, 340, 387, 502 above.
[2] It may be seen in nos. 468, 494 above that fire symbolizes love in two senses – both heavenly love, which is a love for the Lord, and hellish love, which is a love of self. Hellish fire is animosity, because the love of self is filled with hatred. For people caught up in that love all burn with wrath to the degree of their love, and blaze with hatred and vengeance against people who attack them; and people coming from Babylon do so against people who deny that they are to be worshiped and adored as embodiments of holiness. When they are told, therefore, that the Lord alone is worshiped and adored in heaven, and that to worship some man instead of the Lord is profane, any adoration of the Lord in them becomes animosity toward Him, and any adulteration of the Word in order that they may be worshiped becomes profane.
This, then, is what is symbolically meant by Babylon’s being burned with fire. That to be burned with fire is the punishment for profaning what is holy may be seen in no. 748 above.
The same meaning is contained in the following verses in Jeremiah:
…I am against you, (Babylon,) O destroying mountain, who destroys all the earth…. …I will…roll you down from the rocks, and make you a burning mountain…. The…walls of Babylon shall be utterly overthrown, and her high gates shall be burned with fire. (Jeremiah 51:25, 58)
The subject in this and the following verse is the mourning of the kings of the earth, by whom the highest in rank are meant, those called prelates and primates. In verses 11 to 16 the subject is the mourning of the merchants of the earth, by whom those lower in rank are meant, those called monks. And in verses 17 to 19 the subject is the mourning of shipmasters and sailors, by whom those who provide their revenues are meant, those called the laity.
But here now the subject is the kings of the earth, by whom the highest Roman Catholics in rank are symbolically meant. To be shown that kings do not mean kings, but people governed by truths springing from goodness, and in an opposite sense, people governed by falsities springing from evil, see nos. 483, 704, 720, 737, 740 above. Consequently here the kings of the earth who committed whoredom with Babylon and delighted in her symbolize people who enjoyed her dominion and its delights by falsifying and adulterating the Word’s truths, especially by falsifying and adulterating the truth which the Lord spoke to Peter, regarding which we will say something below.
That to commit whoredom means, symbolically, to falsify and adulterate the Word’s truths may be seen in nos. 134, 632, 635. That to take delight means, symbolically, to enjoy the delights of dominion and at the same time wealth, in no. 759. The king’s weeping and lamenting symbolizes their inner feelings of anguish. They are said to weep and lament because weeping is an expression of their anguish over being cast down from their dominion, and lamenting is an expression of their anguish over losing their wealth. Moreover, because their feelings of anguish are deeper than those of the merchants of the earth, therefore the kings of the earth, by whom those higher in rank are meant, are said to weep and lament, while the merchants of the earth, by whom those lower in rank are meant, are said to weep and mourn. When they see the smoke of her burning means, symbolically, when they see the falsities of their religion – their falsifications and adulterations of the Word’s truths – turned into profane ones. The smoke symbolizes those falsities (nos. 422, 452), and burning symbolizes profanation (no. 766).
From this and what we explained in no. 766 above, it is apparent that “the kings of the earth who committed whoredom with her and delighted in her will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning” symbolizes the inner feelings of anguish in those Roman Catholics who had been in a higher degree of dominion and its delights through their falsifications and adulterations of the Word’s truths, when they see them turned into profane ones.
Roman Catholics say that Peter was given this power, that it has been handed down to the Popes as Peter’s successors, that the Lord thus left all His power to Peter and those after him, and that the Pope acts as His vicar on earth. But it is nevertheless clearly apparent from the Lord’s own words that He gave not a bit of power to Peter, since the Lord says, “On this rock I will build My church.”
The rock symbolizes the Lord in respect to His Divine truth, and the Divine truth or rock there is the one Peter confessed before the Lord spoke those words. This is what Peter confessed:
(The Lord said to His disciples,) “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:15,16)
This is the truth on which the Lord builds His church, and Peter then represented that truth. And it is apparent from this that it is a confession of the Lord as being the Son of the living God which has power over heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18), on which the Lord builds His church – thus upon Himself and not on Peter.
That the Lord is meant by Peter is something known in the church.
[2] I once spoke with the Babylonian tribe in the spiritual world about the keys given to Peter, asking whether they believe that the Lord transferred His power over heaven and earth to Peter.
Because this was the chief tenet of their religion, they vehemently insisted that He did, saying that there was no doubt about it, as it was clearly stated.
But on my asking whether they know that in every part of the Word there is a spiritual meaning, which is the meaning of the Word in heaven, they said at first that they were unaware of it. However, later they said that they would inquire into it; and when they did, they were told that there is a spiritual meaning in every part of the Word, which is as different from the literal sense as anything spiritual is from something natural. Moreover, they were also told that no person named in the Word is so named in heaven, but that instead angels understand in it something spiritual.
Finally they were informed that instead of Peter in the Word, angels understand the truth of the church springing from goodness, which is likewise meant by the rock that is mentioned there together with Peter; and that they could know therefore that Peter was not given any power, but that it belonged to truth springing from goodness. For all power in heaven is the power of truth springing from goodness, or of goodness by means of truth. And because all goodness and all truth come from the Lord, and nothing from any man, they could know that all power is the Lord’s.
When they heard this, the Babylonian tribe angrily said that they wanted to know whether that is the spiritual meaning in these words. Therefore they were given the Word that is found in heaven, which contains not the natural sense but a spiritual one, because it exists for angels, who are spiritual. And when they read that Word, they clearly saw that Peter was not mentioned there, but instead truth springing from goodness from the Lord.
Having seen this, they angrily threw it away. They would almost have torn it to pieces with their teeth, except that at that moment it was taken away.
Thus they were convinced, even though they did not want to be convinced, that the Lord alone has all power, and less so any man because the power is Divine.*
* The Last Judgment, no. 57.
To stand at a distance for fear of torment symbolizes a state as yet distant from the state of those in a state of damnation, because the people here have a fear of torment, of which we will say more below. “Woe, woe,” symbolizes a grievous lamentation. “Woe” symbolizes a lamentation over a calamity, misfortune, or damnation, as may be seen in no. 416 above; “woe, woe,” therefore symbolizes a grievous lamentation. The great city Babylon symbolizes the Roman Catholic religion, here Babylon as a woman or harlot as in no. 751 above, because the torment is said to be her torment. A mighty city symbolizes a religion so well fortified. “In one hour your judgment has come” means symbolically that it could be so suddenly overturned and that they could perish. “In one hour” means, symbolically, so suddenly, and its judgment symbolizes its overturn and the destruction of those who committed whoredom with her and delighted in her, who are the subject here. That they perished as a result of the Last Judgment may be seen in the short work, The Last Judgment and Babylon Destroyed (London, 1758). Their destruction is the subject of what is said here.
[2] We said that the kings’ standing at a distance for fear of Babylon’s torment symbolizes a state as yet distant from the state of those in a state of damnation, because the people here have a fear of torment, and the reason is that distance does not mean a spatial distance, but a distance of state when someone has a fear of being punished; for as a long as a person is in a state of fear, he then sees, considers, and laments. Distance of state, which is what distance is in the spiritual sense, is also symbolized by distance elsewhere in the Word, as in the following places:
Hear, you who are afar off, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge My might. (Isaiah 33:13)
Am I a God near at hand…, and not a God afar off? (Jeremiah 23:23)
It found grace in the wilderness…. Israel (said)…, Jehovah appeared to me from afar…. (Jeremiah 31:2, 3)
Bring My sons from afar…. (Isaiah 43:6)
Attend, O peoples, from afar! (Isaiah 49:1, 2)
(The peoples and nations that) come from a far land, Isaiah 13:4, 5.
And so on elsewhere, as in Jeremiah 4:16, 5:15, Zechariah 6:15, where nations and peoples from afar mean people relatively distant from the truths and goods of the church.
In common speech, too, some relatives are said to be near relatives, and ones more remotely related are said to be distant relatives.
[2] As a result, people are completely unaware of what lies hidden at the heart of that religion, even though that religion is altogether as described in these words explained above:
The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her licentiousness. (Revelation 17:4)
But although Babylon had so well fortified itself, even in the spiritual world as well, as described in no. 772 below, still at the time of the Last Judgment it was completely destroyed.
Its destruction was prophesied by Jeremiah thus:
If Babylon mounted up to heaven, and if she fortified the height of her strength, yet from Me plunderers would come to her…. (Jeremiah 51:53)
The mighty men of Babylon…sit in their strongholds; their might is forgotten…. They have burned her dwelling places, the bars of her gate are broken…. …(the) city is captured from one end to the other…. The wall of Babylon has also fallen. (Jeremiah 51:30, 31, 44)
Babylon has suddenly fallen and been broken. Wail over her! Take balm for her pain; perhaps she will be healed. (Jeremiah 51:8)
The merchants mean the lower in rank in their Roman Catholic Church’s hierarchy, because the kings of the earth, the subject before this, mean those higher in that order, as may be seen in no. 767 above. Thus the merchants of the earth mean those who serve and profit by that religion’s sanctities. That they will weep and mourn symbolizes their feelings of anguish, as also in no. 767 above. Their merchandise symbolizes the sanctities or religious tenets by which they profit or make material gains. No one’s buying these anymore symbolizes people’s not wanting to have them, because they are not sacred, but are adulterated and profaned goods and truths of the Word and so of the church. To buy is to acquire for oneself (no. 606).
Regarding this we find in Jeremiah:
(O Babylon,) you who dwell by many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your material gain. (Jeremiah 51:13)
Their merchandise symbolizes just the things listed here, for we know that the Roman Catholic hierarchy possesses gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls in abundance, and that they have acquired them by the sanctities of their religion which they have presented as Divine and sacred.
Those coming from Babylon had these things before the Last Judgment, for it was then granted them to form for themselves apparent heavens and by various arts to procure for themselves such things from heaven, indeed to fill their storerooms with them as they did in the world. However, after the Last Judgment, when their counterfeit heavens were destroyed, all of these were then reduced to dust and ash and were carried away by an east wind and strewn over their hells as a profane dust. But on this subject, read what we witnessed and described in the short work, The Last Judgment and Babylon Destroyed (London, 1758).
[2] Since the overthrow of that religion and its adherents’ being cast down into hell, they are in such a wretched state that they do not know what gold, silver, precious stones and pearls are. That is because gold, silver and precious stones correspond to spiritual goods and truths, and pearls to concepts of these; and since they do not have any of these truths and goods, nor any concepts of them, but instead of them have evils and falsities and concepts of these, they cannot have what they had before, but only such things as correspond, which are cheap and ugly-colored materials. They also have some seashells, and they set their heart on them, as they did previously on the valuables listed above.
[3] It should be known that the spiritual world contains everything found in the natural world, the only difference being that everything in the spiritual world is a correspondent form, for these forms correspond to the interior qualities of the inhabitants, being splendid and magnificent in the case of people governed by wisdom gained from Divine truths and goods from the Lord through the Word, and being the opposite in the case of those governed by irrational thinking arising from falsities and evils.
This correspondence from creation exists when the spiritual component of the mind descends into the sensory component of the body. Consequently, in the spiritual world everyone knows the character of another when he enters the other’s own room.
[4] It can be seen from this that no one’s buying their merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones, and pearls means symbolically that they no longer have these material gains, because they do not have any of the spiritual goods and truths, or any concepts of these, to which these things correspond.
To be shown that gold by correspondence symbolizes goodness, and silver truth, see nos. 211, 726 above. That a precious stone symbolizes spiritual truth, nos. 231, 540, 726. That pearls symbolize concepts of truth and goodness, no. 727.
The valuables mentioned previously – gold, silver, precious stones and pearls – in general symbolize spiritual goods and truths, as said in no. 772 above. However, the valuables here – fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet – in general symbolize celestial goods and truths. For in people in heaven and in the church some goods and truths are spiritual, and some goods and truths are celestial. Spiritual goods and truths are ones of wisdom, and celestial goods and truths are ones of love. And because the Roman Catholics meant here have none of these goods and truths, but evils and falsities that are their opposites, therefore these valuables are now mentioned, since they come next in sequence.
Now because the case with these valuables is the same as with the previous ones, no further explication is needed than the one presented in the previous number.
What fine linen symbolizes specifically we will say in the next chapter, in dealing with the words there, “for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints” (Revelation 19:8, nos. 814, 815). That purple symbolizes celestial good, and scarlet celestial truth, may be seen in no. 725 above. Silk symbolizes an intermediate celestial goodness and truth – goodness because of its softness, and truth because of its shine. It is mentioned only in Ezekiel 16:10, 13.
This statement is similar to the ones explained in nos. 772 and 773 above, the only difference being that the valuables named first mean spiritual goods and truths (as explained in no. 772 above), and that those named second mean celestial goods and truths (as explained just above in no. 773), while those named now – thyine wood and ivory vessel – mean natural goods and truths.
[2] To explain: There are three degrees of wisdom and love, and so three degrees of truth and goodness. We call the first degree celestial, the second spiritual, and the third natural. These three degrees are present from birth in every person, and they are present in general also in heaven and in the church. Because of this there are three heavens, a highest one, an intermediate one, and a lowest one, altogether distinct from each other in accordance with these degrees. The same is true of the Lord’s church on earth. But this is not the place to explain the nature of the church with people in the celestial degree, with people in the spiritual degree, and with people in the natural degree. See instead what we said about them in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, Part Three, where we dealt with degrees. Here we will say only that in the case of people coming from Babylon, they have no spiritual goods and truths, no celestial goods and truths, and not even any natural goods and truths.
Spiritual goods and truths are mentioned first, because many of those coming from Babylon can be spiritual, provided they hold the Word holy at heart, as they do with the mouth. But they cannot become celestial, because they do not turn to the Lord, but turn to people living and dead and worship them. It is for this reason that celestial goods and truths are mentioned second.
[3] Thyine wood symbolizes natural good because wood in the Word symbolizes goodness, and stone truth, and thyine wood derives its name from a word meaning two, and the number two also symbolizes goodness.
The good symbolized is natural good, because wood is not a valuable material like gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet. The same is true of stone. The case is similar with ivory, which symbolizes natural truth. Ivory symbolizes natural truth because it is white and can be polished, and because it protrudes from the mouth of an elephant and also constitutes its might. In order for ivory to symbolize the natural truth of the goodness symbolized by thyine wood, the text specifies a vessel of ivory, as a vessel symbolizes something that contains, here truth that contains good.
[4] That wood symbolizes goodness can be seen to some extent from the following considerations: That the bitter waters at Marah were made sweet by casting in something wooden (Exodus 15:25). That the tables of stone on which the Law was written were placed in an ark made of acacia wood (Exodus 25:10-16). That the Temple in Jerusalem was roofed with wood and paneled inside with wood (1 Kings 6:9, 15). And that the altar in the wilderness was made of wood (Exodus 27:1, 6).
It can be seen to some extent also from the following:
…the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the wood answers it. (Habakkuk 2:11)
They will plunder your riches and pillage your merchandise…, and they will cast your stones and your timber…into the midst of the sea. (Ezekiel 26:12)
The prophet Ezekiel was told to take a piece of wood and write on it the names of Judah and the children of Israel, and also on another piece of wood the names of Joseph and Ephraim; and that the Lord Jehovih would make them into one piece of wood (Ezekiel 37:16, 19).
We drink our water in exchange for silver, and our wood comes at a price. (Lamentations 5:4)
If someone goes with his neighbor into a forest…, and the ax head (falls) from the wooden handle…(onto) his neighbor so that he dies, he shall flee to (a city of refuge). (Deuteronomy 19:5)
The latter is said because wood symbolizes goodness, and so because the person did not kill his neighbor out of evil or with evil intention, therefore, but by accident, being impelled by good. And so on elsewhere.
[5] In an opposite sense, however, wood symbolizes something evil or cursed. So for example, they made graven images out of wood and worshiped them (Deuteronomy 4:23-28; Isaiah 37:19, 40:20; Jeremiah 10:3, 8; Ezekiel 20:32). Also, being hanged from a tree was a curse (Deuteronomy 21:22, 23).
That ivory symbolizes natural truth can be seen moreover from passages which mention ivory, such as Ezekiel 27:6, 15; Amos 3:15, 6:4; Psalm 45:8.
* Thyine wood has not been identified. It has been associated with citron wood, and also with scented wood in general.
This statement is similar to the ones explained in nos. 772, 773, and 774 above. The difference is that the valuables here are various forms of knowledge, which are the lowest ones in a person’s natural mind. And because they differ in character owing to the essence that lies within them, they are called vessels of precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble. For vessels symbolize forms of knowledge, here forms of knowledge in ecclesiastical affairs. Because various forms of knowledge are the containing vessels of goodness and truth, they are like vessels containing oil or wine.
Forms of knowledge are also found in great variety, and their recipient vessel is the memory. They are of great variety because they contain the interior elements of a person. They are also introduced into the memory either by intellectual deliberation or by hearing or reading them, according to the varying perception then of the rational mind. All of these things are present in forms of knowledge, as is apparent when they are reproduced, which is the case when a person speaks or thinks.
[2] But we will briefly say what vessels of precious wood, bronze, iron and marble symbolize. A vessel of precious wood symbolizes something known as the result of rational goodness and truth. A vessel of bronze symbolizes something known as the result of natural goodness. A vessel of iron symbolizes something known as the result of natural truth. And a vessel of marble symbolizes something known as the result of an appearance of goodness and truth.
That wood symbolizes goodness may be seen just above in no. 774. That precious wood here symbolizes both rational goodness and rational truth is due to the fact that wood symbolizes goodness, and preciousness is predicated of truth. For one variety of goodness is symbolized by the wood of the olive tree, another by the wood of the cedar, of the fig tree, of the fir tree, of the poplar and of the oak.
A vessel of bronze and iron symbolizes something known as the result of natural goodness and truth, because all metals, such as gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead, in the Word symbolize goods and truths. They symbolize because they correspond, and because they correspond they are also found in heaven. For everything in heaven is a correspondent form.
[3] However, this is not the place to confirm from the Word what each kind of metal symbolizes owing to its correspondence. We will cite only some passages to confirm that bronze symbolizes natural goodness, and iron, therefore, natural truth, as can be seen from the following: That the feet of the Son of Man looked like bronze, as though fired in a furnace (Revelation 1:15). That Daniel saw a man whose feet were like the gleam of burnished bronze (Daniel 10:5, 6). That the feet of cherubim were seen sparkling as with the gleam of burnished bronze (Ezekiel 1:7). (Feet symbolize something natural, as may be seen in nos. 49, 468, 470, 510.) That an angel appeared whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze (Ezekiel 40:3). And that the statue Nebuchadnezzar saw was as to its head golden, as to its breast and arms silver, as to its belly and sides bronze, and as to its legs iron (Daniel 2:32, 33). The statue represented the successive states of the church which the ancients called the golden age, silver age, bronze age, and iron age.
Since bronze symbolizes something natural, and the Israelite people were purely natural, therefore the Lord’s natural humanity was represented by the bronze serpent, which people bitten by serpents had only to look at to be cured (Numbers 21:6, 8, 9, John 3:14, 15).
That bronze symbolizes natural goodness may also be seen in Isaiah 60:17, Jeremiah 15:20, 21, Ezekiel 27:13, Deuteronomy 8:7, 9, 33:24, 25.
[2] I have spoken with Roman Catholics who have confirmed themselves in that religion, even with some who were legates at the Council of Nicaea,** the Lateran Council,*** and the Council of Trent,**** and to begin with they believed that what they had decided were pure and sacred truths. After being instructed, however, and being granted then an enlightenment from heaven, they confessed that they did not see one truth. But because they had confirmed themselves in their decrees more than others, following their state of enlightenment – which they themselves extinguished – they returned to their prior faith.
They believed especially that what they had decreed regarding baptism and justification were truths. Yet when they were still in a state of enlightenment, they saw, and from that enlightened sight confessed, that no one derives original sin from Adam, but from the successive generations of his own ancestry, and that this is not taken away in baptism by the imputation and application of the Lord’s merit; that an imputation and application of the Lord’s merit is a man-made fiction, because it is impossible; and that faith is never infused into any infant at its mother’s breast, because faith requires thought.
[3] They saw that baptism is a still a holy sacrament, because it serves as a sign and reminder that a person can be regenerated by the Lord through truths from the Word – as a sign for heaven, and a reminder for the person – and that by baptism a person is introduced into the church, as by crossing the Jordan the children of Israel were introduced into the land of Canaan, and as the inhabitants of Jerusalem were prepared to receive the Lord by the baptism of John. For without that sign in heaven in the sight of angels, the Jews could not have continued and gone on living at the coming of Jehovah, that is, of the Lord in the flesh.
Similar to this was what they had decreed regarding justification.
That no imputation of the Lord’s merit occurs or is possible may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, n. 18. Also, that the evil heredity called original sin is derived not from Adam, but from the successive generations of a person’s ancestry – this may be seen in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Providence, no. 277. What Adam means in the Word may be seen in no. 241 of that same work.
* Thyine wood has not been identified. It has been associated with citron wood, and also with scented wood in general.
** Probably the First Council of Nicaea, convened in 325, rather than the Second Council of Nicaea, convened in 787. Although True Christian Religion, no. 176, refers to both councils, in the doctrines references to Nicaea are almost always to the first.
*** Five ecumenical Lateran Councils, defined as such, were convened, the first in 1123, the second in 1139, the third in 1179, the fourth in 1215, and the fifth in 1512-17. A number of other, non-ecumenical councils were also held in the Lateran Palace of the Vatican, the last in 1725, and it may be to this that the text refers.
**** Convened 1545-63 in twenty-five sessions under three successive popes.
The preceding verse had as it subject everything having to do with the church’s doctrine. Now this verse has as its subject everything having to do with the church’s worship.
Things having to do with doctrine are put first, and things having to do with worship follow, since worship has its character from the goods and truths of doctrine. For the church’s worship is nothing but an outward act whose internal elements ought to be those of doctrine. Without them the worship is lacking its essence, life and soul.
Now because everything having to do with doctrine has relation to goods that are matters of love and charity and to truths that are matters of wisdom and faith, and these goods and truths are celestial, spiritual, or natural, according to the degrees of their succession, so too are all the ingredients of worship. Moreover, because the preceding verse mentions spiritual things having to do with doctrine first, so this verse mentions spiritual things having to do with worship first, namely cinnamon, fragrances, ointment and frankincense, and secondly then celestial things having to do with worship, namely wine, oil, flour and wheat, and thirdly natural things having to do with worship, namely cattle and sheep. That all these goods and truths having to do with worship must come from the Word is symbolized by their being merchandise of horses and wagons and the bodies and souls of people. This is the sequence of subjects in the spiritual sense of this verse.
All the valuables listed in this verse have the same meaning as the valuables listed in the preceding verse, namely, that these goods and truths are lacking in these Roman Catholics, because they do not have in them the goods and truths that correspond to the things listed. This is apparent from preceding verses, where we are told that the city Babylon will be burned with fire and that no one will buy her merchandise anymore (verses 8-11). It is apparent also from verses that follow, where we are told that all things rich and splendid have gone from her and shall be found no more (verse 14), and that they were destroyed (verses 16, 19).
[2] Now, however, we must say something about the valuables listed here, namely cinnamon, fragrances, ointment and frankincense. These are specified because they are the ingredients used in making incense. Incense symbolizes a worship of the Lord that springs from spiritual goods and truths, as may be seen in nos. 277, 392 above. And incense offerings were pleasing because they consisted of fragrant ingredients that corresponded to those goods and truths, as may be seen in no. 394.
All the fragrant ingredients used in the preparation of incense are meant by cinnamon, fragrances, and ointment, and their base by frankincense. This is apparent from the list in Exodus of the aromatic ingredients of which it was made:
Jehovah said to Moses: “Take sweet spices – stacte, onycha and galbanum – …and pure frankincense…. And you shall make of these a fragrance, an ointment the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, and holy. (Exodus 30:34-37)
They used these ingredients to make incense, which, as we said, symbolized a worship springing from spiritual goods and truths. Cinnamon is substituted here for all the fragrant ingredients listed there.
What each of these aromatic ingredients symbolizes in the spiritual sense may be seen in Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), in the treatment of Exodus where they are explained one by one.
This statement is similar to ones explained just above and in previous numbers, the only difference being that the valuables here symbolize celestial goods and truths.
Just what goods and truths are called celestial, and what spiritual, may be seen in no. 773 above. It may also be seen that the Roman Catholics meant here possess none of these, nor are there any in their worship. For, as we said above, the goods and truths of doctrine are present in worship as the soul is in the body. Consequently worship without these is a lifeless worship. Of such a character is worship that is reverent in outward appearances, but which has in it no internal reverence.
That wine symbolizes truth springing from the goodness of love may be seen in no. 316 above. That oil symbolizes the goodness of love will be seen in the next number. Flour symbolizes celestial truth, and wheat symbolizes celestial good.
[2] Wine, oil, flour and wheat symbolize the truths and goods in worship, because they were the ingredients in drink offerings and grain offerings, which were offered on the altar along with other sacrifices, and sacrifices and other offerings offered on the altar symbolize worship, since it was in these that the Israelites’ worship chiefly consisted.
That drink offerings, which were ones of wine, were offered on the altar along with other sacrifices, can be seen in Exodus 29:40; Leviticus 23:12, 13, 18, 19; Numbers 15:2-15, 28:11-15, 18-31, 29:1-7ff.; and also in Isaiah 57:6, 65:11; Jeremiah 7:18, 44:17-19; Ezekiel 20:28; Joel 1:9; Psalm 16:4; Deuteronomy 32:38.
That oil was also offered on the altar along with sacrifices, can be seen in Exodus 29:40; Numbers 15:2-15, 28:1-31.
That grain offerings, which consisted of wheat flour, were offered on the altar along with other sacrifices, can be seen in Exodus 29:40; Leviticus 2:1-16, 5:11-13, 6:14-21, 7:9-13, 23:12, 13, 17; Numbers 6:14-21, 15:2-15, 18:8-20, 28:1-15, 29:1-7; and also in Jeremiah 33:18, Ezekiel 16:13,19, Joel 1:9, Malachi 1:10, 11, Psalm 141:2. The showbread on the table in the Tabernacle was also made of wheat flour (Leviticus 23:17, 24:5-9).
It can be seen from this that these four articles – wine, oil, flour and wheat – were sacred and celestial elements in their worship.
In ancient times people anointed stones set up as pillars, as is apparent from Genesis 28:18, 19, 22. They also anointed weapons of war, shields and bucklers (2 Samuel 1:21, Isaiah 21:5). The Israelites were commanded to prepare holy oil with which to anoint all the sacred ecclesiastical vessels; and they used it to anoint the altar and all its vessels, as well as the Tabernacle and all its vessels (Exodus 30:22-33, 40:9-11; Leviticus 8:10-12; Numbers 7:1). They used it to anoint the men who exercised the functions of the priesthood and their garments (Exodus 29:7, 29, 30:30, 40:13-15; Leviticus 8:12; Psalm 133:1-3). They used it to anoint prophets (1 Kings 19:15, 16). They used it to anoint kings, and kings were called therefore Jehovah’s anointed (1 Samuel 10:1, 15:1, 16:3, 6, 12, 24:6, 10, 26:9, 11, 16, 23; 2 Samuel 1:16, 2:4, 7, 5:3, 17, 19:21; 1 Kings 1:34, 35, 19:15, 16; 2 Kings 9:3, 11:12, 23:30; Lamentations 4:20; Habakkuk 3:13; Psalm 2:2, 6, 20:6, 28:8, 45:7, 84:9, 89:20, 38, 51, 132:17).
[2] Anointing with holy oil was commanded because oil symbolized the goodness of love and represented the Lord, who in His humanity is Himself Jehovah’s anointed and His only anointed, being anointed not with oil, but with the Divine goodness itself of Divine love. Consequently He is also called the Messiah in the Old Testament and Christ in the New Testament (John 1:41, 4:25), Messiah and Christ meaning “the Anointed.”
That is why priests, kings, and all ecclesiastical vessels were anointed, and having been anointed were called holy – not that they were holy in themselves, but because by virtue of the anointing they represented the Lord in His Divine humanity. Consequently it was a sacrilege to harm a king, because he was Jehovah’s anointed (1 Samuel 24:6, 10, 26:9; 2 Samuel 1:16, 19:21).
[3] Furthermore, it was an accepted practice to anoint themselves and others to attest to their gladness of heart and goodwill, but with ordinary oil or some other fine oil, and not with holy oil (Matthew 6:17; Mark 6:13; Luke 7:46; Isaiah 61:3; Amos 6:6; Micah 6:15; Psalm 92:10, 104:15; Daniel 10:3; Deuteronomy 28:40). They were not permitted to anoint themselves or others with holy oil (Exodus 30:31-33).
This statement is similar to ones explained in numbers 777, 778 above, the difference being that the valuables there were spiritual goods and truths and celestial goods and truths, while here they are natural goods and truths. The difference between these may be seen in no. 773 above.
Cattle and sheep symbolize the sacrifices that were made by offering bulls, calves, male goats, sheep, kids, rams, female goats, and lambs. Bulls and calves are meant by cattle, and kids, rams, goats and lambs by sheep. Moreover, the sacrifices were outward shows of worship, which are also called the natural expressions of worship.
The valuables here follow the preposition “of,” because they involve all of the things that go before. That horses symbolize an understanding of the Word may be seen in no. 298. Chariots symbolize doctrine from the Word (no. 437); consequently so do wagons. The bodies and souls of people symbolize goods and truths in the literal sense of the Word, because they have the same symbolism as the body and blood in the Holy Supper. The body in that supper symbolizes the Lord’s Divine goodness, and the blood the Lord’s Divine truth; and because of this symbolism they also symbolize the Divine good and truth in the Word, because the Lord embodies the Word.
Instead of blood, however, the text here says souls. That is because the soul likewise symbolizes truth (see no. 681 above), and because blood in the Word is called the life or soul (Genesis 9:4, 5, Leviticus 17:12-14, Deuteronomy 12:23). “Human lives” in Ezekiel 27:13 has a similar symbolic meaning. So does the “seed of men” in Daniel 2:43.
[2] Horses and wagons have a similar symbolic meaning in Isaiah:
Then they shall bring all your brethren…on horses and in chariots and in wagons, and on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem…. (Isaiah 66:20)
This is said of the Lord’s New Church, which Jerusalem is, regarding people in it who have an understanding of the Word and doctrine derived from it, which are the horses, chariots, and wagons.
Now because these people of the Roman Catholic religion falsify and adulterate the Word by using it to gain dominion over heaven and the world, the symbolic meaning here is that they do not possess any goods and truths from the Word, and so do not have any in their doctrine either.
Regarding this Jeremiah says the following:
…the king of Babylon has devoured me, has thrown me into confusion; He has made me an empty vessel; He has swallowed me up like a whale; He has filled his stomach with my delicacies…. (Jeremiah 51:34, 35)
A sword is against the horses (of Babylon), against her chariots, and…against her treasures, so that they are plundered. A drought is upon her waters, so that they are dried up. For the land is one of carved images, and they boast of their dreadful deeds. (Jeremiah 50:37, 38)
Fruits that the soul longs for symbolize nothing else than the blessings and felicities of heaven, because those are the fruits of everything having to do with the doctrine and worship that are the subject here, and because they are what people desire when they are dying, and also what they continue to desire when they first come into the spiritual world.
Things rich and splendid symbolize celestial and spiritual affections for goodness and truth – rich things affections for goodness, as we will show below, and splendid things affections for truth, which are called splendid because they develop in response to the light of heaven and its splendor in human minds, giving rise to an understanding of goodness and truth and so to wisdom.
To go and not be found anymore means symbolically that the blessings and felicities of heaven will fly away and be seen no longer, because the people here do not have any celestial or spiritual goodness and truth. Moreover, the blessings and felicities that they long for are called external, because the only blessings and felicities and affections that they long for are carnal and worldly ones, and consequently they are incapable of knowing the nature and character of the blessings and felicities that are called celestial and spiritual.
[2] But we will illustrate this by disclosing the lot of those people after death. When people impelled by a love of dominion from a love of self and so by a love of the world come from that religion into the spiritual world, as they do immediately after death, they all yearn for nothing else than dominion and the pleasures of the heart resulting from that dominion, and the pleasures of the body resulting from wealth. For a person’s reigning love with its affections or lusts and desires awaits everyone after death. However, because a love of exercising dominion, springing from a love of self, over the sanctities of the church and heaven, all of which are Divine and the Lord’s, is diabolical, therefore after a period of time these people are separated from their companions and cast down into various hells.
But even so, because in consequence of their religion they have participated in an external worship of God, they are first taught the nature and character of heaven, and the nature and character of the happiness of eternal life, that its blessings are pure blessings flowing in from the Lord into everyone in heaven in accordance with the character of the heavenly affection for goodness and truth in them. Yet because they have not turned to the Lord and so have not been conjoined with Him, and also lack any such affection for goodness and truth, they reject that instruction and turn away, and long for the pleasures of the love of self and the world then, which are merely natural and carnal. But because it is inherent in those pleasures to do evil, especially to people who worship the Lord, thus to angels in heaven, therefore they are deprived of those pleasures also and are thrust among their comrades in infernal workhouses in a contemptible and wretched state.
Still, these events befall them to the degree of their love of dominion over things that are Divine and the Lord’s, which is the degree to which they rejected the Lord.
[3] It can now be seen from this that “the fruits that your soul longed for have gone from you, and all things rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all,” symbolically means that all the blessings and felicities of heaven, including the external ones they wish for, will altogether fly away and be seen no longer, because these Roman Catholics do not have in them any affections for goodness and truth.
That rich things* symbolize heavenly goods, and also affections for those goods and the delights of those affections, can be seen from the following passages:
Listen…to Me, eat what is good, that your soul may delight itself in richness. (Isaiah 55:2)
I will fill the soul of the priests with richness, and My people shall be satisfied with…goodness…. (Jeremiah 31:14)
My soul shall be satisfied…with fatness and richness, and my mouth shall praise with singing lips. (Psalm 63:5)
They are filled with the richness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your delights. (Psalm 36:8)
On this mountain Jehovah…will make for all people a feast of rich food…, of rich food full of marrow…. (Isaiah 25:6)
They shall still have produce in old age; they shall be rich and green, to declare that Jehovah is upright. (Psalm 92:14,15)
(In the feast that Jehovah will make) you shall eat rich food till you are full, and drink blood till you are drunk…. (Ezekiel 39:19)
(Jehovah) will regard your burnt offering as rich. (Psalm 20:3)
Because richness of fat symbolizes heavenly goodness, it was therefore a statute in Israel that all the fat of sacrificial animals should be burnt on the altar (Exodus 29:13, 22; Leviticus 1:8, 3:3-16, 4:8-35, 7:3, 4, 30, 31, 17:6; Numbers 18:17, 18).
In an opposite sense, the richness of fat symbolizes people who are nauseated at goodness, and who, because it is just too much, scorn it and reject it (Deuteronomy 32:15; Jeremiah 5:28, 50:11; Psalm 17:10, 20:3, 78:31, 119:70; and elsewhere).
* Literally, “fat things.” The original words in Hebrew and Greek, translated here as “rich” or “richness,” mean literally “fat” or “fatness,” but metaphorically “rich” or “richness.”
The merchants of these things, namely of fruits that the soul longs for and things rich and splendid, which we considered in the verse immediately preceding this, symbolize people who by various dispensations and promises of heavenly joys have become rich, that is, who profited by them.
The merchants meant here are all those in the Roman Catholic hierarchy, both those higher in rank and those lower in rank, who have profited by these things. That they include those higher in rank is apparent from verse 23 in this chapter, where it says, “For your merchants were the great men of the earth”; and that they include those lower in rank is apparent from verse 11, as may be seen in no. 771 above.
To stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, means, symbolically, when they are as yet in a state distant from one of damnation, and still at that time in a state of fear of punishments and in a state of lamentation, as in no. 769 above, where a similar statement is made.
Especially do they plot against the wealthy when they are ill, and they also inspire in them then a terror of hell and so extort legacies from them, promising sacrifices of the mass for their souls according to the value of their bequest, and thereby a gradual delivery from the place of torment they call purgatory so as to enter into heaven.
[2] As regards purgatory, I can assert that it is nothing but a Roman Catholic fiction invented for the sake of material gains, and that it neither exists nor can exist.
Every person comes first after death into the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, and there he is prepared either for heaven or for hell, each according to his life in the world. Moreover, no one suffers any torment in that world, but an evil person first meets with torment when, after being prepared, he enters hell.
The world of spirits contains countless societies, and found in them are joys like those on earth, because the inhabitants there are associated with people on earth, who also are in between heaven and hell. In the world of spirits their outward facades are gradually stripped away and their inner characters thus exposed, and this until their reigning love is revealed, which, being their life’s love, is the inmost one and predominant over more external ones. When this is revealed, the person’s real character becomes apparent, and he is sent according to the character of that love from the world of spirits to his own place, a good person to a place in heaven, and an evil one to a place in hell.
The reality of this I have been given to know for certain, because the Lord has granted me to be with people in that world and to see everything, and thus to report it from personal experience, and this for twenty years now.
Consequently I can assert that purgatory is a fiction, which may be called a diabolical one, because it was invented for the sake of material gains, and for the sake of power over souls, even those of the deceased, after death.
“Woe, woe,” symbolizes a grievous lamentation, as in no. 769 above. That great city symbolizes the Roman Catholic religion, because it is said to be clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls, which cannot be said of a city, but can be said of a religion. Being clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls, symbolizes the same things as in nos. 725-727 above where the same words occur, depicting in general things magnificent in outward form. Such great riches being laid waste in one hour means symbolically that their material gains were suddenly and completely destroyed – one hour meaning suddenly and completely, as in no. 769 above, because time and everything having to do with time symbolizes a state (no. 476).
It is apparent from this that the description here contains the same symbolic meanings as those reported above.
Regarding the devastation of Babylon, something similar is said in Jeremiah:
(The land of Babylon) is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel…. The thoughts of Jehovah stand against (her), to make (her) a desolation…. They shall not take from you a stone for a corner, nor a foundation stone, because you shall be desolate forever…. Babylon shall become a heap of ruins, a habitation of dragons, an astonishment and a hissing…. …Babylon has been reduced to desolation…. The sea has come up over (her), she is covered with the multitude of its waves. Her cities have become a desolation, a dry land and a wilderness…. (Jeremiah 51:5, 29, 26, 37, 41-43)
From verse 9 to verse 16 the subject has been Roman Catholic clerics who by virtue of that religion have been in positions of dominion and have exercised the Lord’s Divine authority, and who by it have gained the world. Now the subject is Roman Catholics who have not been engaged in any ministerial order, but who still love and kiss that religion, or acknowledge and venerate it at heart, and are called laymen. Every helmsman means the highest placed of these – emperors, kings, dukes and princes. Everyone traveling by ship means people engaged in various functions in a greater or lesser degree. Sailors mean the lowest class, called the masses. As many as work at sea means all people in general who are devoted to the Roman Catholic religion and love and kiss it or acknowledge and venerate it at heart.
[2] That all of these are meant here is apparent from the sequence of subjects in the spiritual sense, and from the symbolic meaning of being on ships and of travelers on ships and sailors, and from the symbolic meaning of workers at sea. The helmsmen of ships, travelers on them and sailors can only mean people who bring in the valuables that above are called merchandise, which are the valuables the clergy gather into their treasuries and have as possessions, and in exchange for which the people take away blessings and beatifications as merits, and other like things that they desire for their souls. When these are understood to be meant, it is apparent that every helmsman means the highest placed of them, that everyone traveling by ship means all those in subordinate positions, and that sailors mean the lowest class.
That ships symbolize spiritual merchandise, which are concepts of goodness and truth, may be seen in no. 406 above. Here the merchandise is natural merchandise, for which laymen take away merchandise that they think is spiritual. As many as work at sea means all Roman Catholics whatever who love and kiss that religion, or acknowledge and venerate it at heart, because the sea symbolizes that religion; for the sea symbolizes the outward form of a church, as may be seen in nos. 238, 290, 403, 404, 420, 470, 565[r], 659, 661 above, and the Roman Catholic religion is a religion in outward form only.
Similar symbolical meanings are contained in these verses in Isaiah:
Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon and break down all the bars…of those whose cry is in the ships….” Thus said Jehovah, who made a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters. (Isaiah 43:14, 16)
It says, “whose cry is in the ships,” as it does also here, saying that they stood at a distance and cried out from the ships.*
Moreover, in Ezekiel as well:
At the sound of the cry of your ship captains the countryside will shake, and all who handle the oar, all the mariners and captains of the sea, will come down from your ships…and…because of you…will cry bitterly…. (Ezekiel 27:28-30)
But this has to do with the devastation of Tyre, which symbolizes the church in respect to its concepts of truth and goodness.
[3] People should know, however, that the only Roman Catholics meant here are those who love and kiss that religion, or acknowledge and venerate it at heart. But people of that same religion, who acknowledge it indeed, having been born and raised in it, yet know nothing of the schemes and snares the hierarchy use to arrogate the worship of God to themselves and to possess all the goods of everyone in the world, and are people who do good from an honest heart and moreover turn their eyes to the Lord – these come to be among the blessed after death; for once instructed there, they accept truths and reject adoration of the pope and the invocation of saints, and they acknowledge the Lord as God of heaven and earth, are raised up into heaven, and become angels.
Consequently there are also many heavenly societies of such people in the spiritual world, and set over them are persons of honor who have lived in the same manner.
I have been given to see that some of those set over these societies have even been emperors, kings, dukes and princes, who acknowledged the pope indeed as the highest governor of the church, but not as the Lord’s vicar, and who also acknowledged some of the papal bulls, and yet held the Word holy and acted justly in their administrations.
For more on these Roman Catholics, see A Continuation Concerning the Last Judgment and the Spiritual World, nos. 58 – 60, reported from personal experience.
* Verses 17, 18.
The merchants’ standing at a distance symbolizes a time when they were as yet in a state apart from a state of damnation, and yet were afraid of being punished (nos. 769, 783). Their crying out symbolizes their mourning. The smoke of the city’s burning symbolizes a state of damnation because of its adulteration and profanation of the Word (nos. 766, 767). Their saying, “What other city may be compared to this great city,” means symbolically that they believed that religion to be preeminent over every other religion in the world. That great city symbolizes the Roman Catholic religion, here as a number of times above.
Everyone knows that Roman Catholics believe their religion to be preeminent over every other religion, and that their church is the mother, queen and mistress of them all. Everyone knows, too, that their believing so is continually instilled in them by canons and monks, and people attentive to it know also that the canons and monks are moved to do this by a fire to achieve dominion and material gain. And yet because of the power of their domination Roman Catholics cannot separate themselves from all the external practices of that religion; but they can nevertheless separate themselves from its internal constituents, since everyone’s will and intellect, and so affection and thought, have been left, and continue to be left, in complete freedom.
Putting dust on their heads symbolizes their interior and exterior grief and mourning over the destruction and damnation, as we will show below. To cry out, weeping and mourning, symbolizes their exterior grief and mourning – to weep symbolizing a mourning of the soul, and to grieve a grief of the heart. “Woe, woe, that great city!” symbolizes a grievous lamentation over the destruction and damnation. That “woe” symbolizes a lamentation over a calamity, misfortune, or damnation, and that “woe, woe,” therefore symbolizes a grievous lamentation, may be seen in nos. 416, 769, 785; and that the city symbolizes the Roman Catholic religion may be seen in no. 785 and elsewhere.
That putting dust on the head symbolizes an interior grief and mourning over a destruction and damnation is clear from the following passages:
They will cry bitterly and cast dust on their heads; they will roll about in ashes. (Ezekiel 27:30)
(The daughters) of Zion sit on the ground…; they have cast dust on their heads…. (Lamentations 2:10)
(Job’s friends) rent their tunics and sprinkled dust upon their heads…. (Job 2:12)
Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne…. (Isaiah 47:1)
And so on elsewhere.
The people put dust on their heads when they grieved deeply, because dust symbolized something damned, as is apparent from Genesis 3:14, Matthew 10:14, Mark 6:11, Luke 10:10-12, and dust on the head represented the people’s acknowledgment that of themselves they were damned, and thus their repentance, as in Matthew 11:21, Luke 10:13.
Dust symbolizes something damned because the land over the hells in the spiritual world consists of nothing but dust, without grass or plants.
To be made rich by her wealth means, symbolically, to gain absolution before God by the sanctities of the Roman Catholic religion, or to believe that in exchange for their temporal and temporary merchandise or riches, they receive spiritual and eternal merchandise or riches; or in other words, that in exchange for gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, purple, and all the other valuables enumerated in verses 12 and 13, they gain blessings and felicities after death. These are what are meant by the wealth of that city by which they say they were made rich. This is also the way they speak, as people know. Because in one hour they were destroyed, means symbolically that because of the destruction of that religion, no one could buy their sanctities after that. It is apparent from this that these words have the symbolical meaning stated above.
That the sanctities of the church are meant by things of value is apparent from the following passages:
Blessed of Jehovah is (Joseph’s) land, with the precious things of heaven…, with the precious fruits of the sun, with the precious produce of the months…, with the precious things of the ancient hills, with the precious things of the earth…. (Deuteronomy 33:13-16)
…Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful son… (Jeremiah 31:20)
An understanding of the Word is meant by Ephraim.
The precious sons of Zion were valued more than fine gold…. (Lamentations 4:2)
The sons of Zion are the church’s truths. And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 13:12, 43:4; Psalms 36:7, 45:9, 49:8, 116:15.
That, now, is why we are told that all those of that city who had ships on the sea were made rich by her wealth.
Rejoice over her, O heaven, symbolically means, so that angels in heaven now rejoice at heart, for rejoicing is a joy of the heart. And you holy apostles and prophets means, symbolically, together with them, also people in the church who possess goods and truths from the Word – apostles symbolizing people who possess the church’s goods and consequent truths from the Word, and abstractly the church’s goods themselves and consequent truths themselves from the Word (no. 79), and prophets symbolizing truths springing from goodness from the Word (nos. 8, 133). They are called holy because, as we said, apostles and prophets symbolize abstractly the Word’s goods and truths, which in themselves are holy, being the Lord’s (nos. 586, 666). For God has visited your judgment on her, symbolically means, because those caught up in the evils and falsities of the Roman Catholic religion have been removed and cast out. That no others are meant may be seen in no. 786 above.
The joy of angels in heaven over the removal and casting down of people caught up in the evils and falsities of the Roman Catholic religion is the subject of the next chapter, verses 1 to 9. Here they are only told to rejoice. The angels’ joy, however, is not a joy because of these people’s damnation, but because of the new heaven and new church, and the salvation of the faithful, which could not come into being before the aforesaid people were removed, whose removal is achieved and was achieved by a last judgment, something that will be seen in our exposition of verses 7 to 9 of the next chapter.
It can be seen from this that “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has visited your judgment on her!” symbolically means that angels in heaven, and people in the church who possess goods and truths from the Word, should now rejoice at heart that those caught up in the evils and falsities of the Roman Catholic religion have been removed and cast out.
Who cannot see that it is not the apostles and prophets found in the Word that are meant here? They were few in number and men no better than others. But the apostles and prophets meant here are all in the Lord’s church who possess goods and truths from the Word, as are meant also by the twelve tribes of Israel, as explained in no. 349 above. The apostle Peter means the church’s truth or faith; the apostle James the church’s charity; and the apostle John the charitable works of the people in the church.
A mighty angel’s lifting up symbolizes a powerful influx of the Lord from heaven; for an angel symbolizes the Lord and His operation, an operation which takes place through heaven (nos. 258, 415, 465, 649). Here, because the angel is called a mighty angel and lifts up a great millstone, the operation symbolized is a powerful one, which means a powerful influx. A stone like a great millstone symbolizes the adulterated and profaned truths of the Word; for a stone symbolizes truth, and a mill symbolizes an inquiry into, examination of, and verification of truth from the Word, as we will show in no. 794. Here, however, it symbolizes an adulteration and profanation of the Word’s truth, because the subject is Babylon. Being cast into the sea means, symbolically, into hell. “Thus shall Babylon, that great city, be forcefully thrown down,” symbolically means that thus that great religion will be cast headlong into hell. Its not being found anymore means, symbolically, that angels will never see it again.
[2] This is the symbolic meaning, because all adherents of the Roman Catholic religion who are caught up in its evils and falsities come, in fact, after death into the world of spirits. For that world is like a public square in which all first gather, and it is like the stomach into which all foodstuffs are first collected. The stomach also corresponds to that world. However, at this day, because the Last Judgment is over, having been completed in 1757, people are no longer allowed to stay in that world and to form for themselves pseudo-heavens, as was the case before, but as soon as they arrive there, they are sent off to societies in that world that are connected with the hells, and from time to time are cast into them. And in this way the Lord has taken care that the angels never see them again. This, then, is what is symbolically meant by that city’s, that is to say, that religion’s, not being found anymore.
[3] Since a millstone symbolizes the Word’s truth adulterated, and the sea symbolizes hell, therefore the Lord says:
Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. (Matthew 18:6; called simply a millstone in Mark 9:42, Luke 17:2)
Almost the same thing is said regarding Babylon in Jeremiah:
…when you have finished reading this book, you shall tie a stone to it and throw it into midst of the Euphrates. Then you shall say, “Thus Babylon shall sink and not rise again….” (Jeremiah 51:63, 64)
The midst of the Euphrates has the same meaning as the sea, because the river Euphrates formed the boundary that separated Assyria, where Babylon was located, from the land of Canaan.
A sound means tone, and every tone corresponds to some affection relating to love, since it originates from love. For this reason, the sounds of harps, music, flutes and trumpets, because of their correspondence, symbolize affections.
Affections, however, are of two types: spiritual and celestial. Spiritual affections are affections connected with wisdom, while celestial affections are affections connected with love. They differ from each other in the same way as the heavens, which have been distinguished into two kingdoms, celestial and spiritual, as we have said several times before.
The sounds of some musical instruments, therefore, relate to spiritual affections, and the sounds of others to celestial affections – the sound or tone of harpists and musicians relating to spiritual affections, and the sound or tone of flutists and trumpeters relating to celestial affections. For instruments whose tones sound in distinct intervals, like stringed instruments, belong to the spiritual class of affections, while instruments whose tones are continuous, like wind instruments, belong to the celestial class of affections. Thus the sound or tone of harpists and musicians symbolizes an affection for spiritual truth and goodness, while the sound or tone of flutists and trumpeters symbolizes an affection for celestial truth and goodness.
That the sound of a harp, owing to its correspondence, symbolizes confession from an affection for spiritual truth, may be seen in nos. 276, 661.
[2] The meaning here is that no affections for spiritual truth and goodness and no affections for celestial truth and goodness are found in people who are caught up in the evils and falsities of the Roman Catholic religion, because we are told that “the sound of harpists and musicians, flutists and trumpeters, shall not be heard in you anymore.” None are found because in their case none are possible; for they do not have any truth from the Word, and lacking truth, they do not have any goodness. Goodness is possible only in people who desire truths. But the only people who desire truths from a spiritual affection are those who turn to the Lord. After death they are instructed by angels and receive truths in accordance with their desire.
The external affections they have when they hear masses said and in other devotions, being without truths from the Lord through the Word, are nothing but merely natural, sensual and carnal affections. And because that is their character, and they have no internal affections from the Lord, it is no wonder that they are brought in that dark and blind state to a worship of men, living and dead, and to the sacrifices of demons, called plutos, to atone for their souls.
In the spiritual sense of the Word, a craftsman symbolizes an intelligent person and a thinking one by virtue of his intellect – in a good sense, someone who uses his intellect to think thoughts that are true, which are heavenly, and in a bad sense, someone who uses his intellect to think thoughts that are false, which are infernal. Moreover, because all of these thoughts are of many kinds, and each kind consists of many varieties, and each variety again of many kinds and varieties, but which we call particulars and specifics, therefore the text says, “no craftsman of any craft.”
By virtue of their arts and crafts, too, and the correspondence of these, craftsmen symbolize such things as have to do with wisdom, intelligence and knowledge. We say, by virtue of their correspondence, because a person’s every work, likewise his every undertaking, corresponds to such things as have to do with the intelligence of angels, provided it is of some use. But the works of craftsmen in gold, silver and precious stones correspond to some matters or objects of angelic intelligence, the works of craftsmen in bronze, iron, wood and stone to others, and the works of craftsmen in other valuable endeavors, such as the making of cloth, linens, garments and clothing of various kinds, to still others. All of these arts and crafts have, as we said, a correspondence, because they are works.
It can be seen from this that no craftsman of any art being found in Babylon does not mean that there will be no craftsman there, but that there will be no understanding of spiritual truth and so no thought of spiritual truth. But this is the case only with those who are caught up in the Roman Catholic religion because of its doctrine and a life in accordance with it, and this to the extent that they are left to themselves.
[2] That a craftsman symbolizes people who have an understanding of truth and so think thoughts that are true can be seen from this, that Bezaleel and Aholiab were to make the Tabernacle, because they were filled with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge (Exodus 31:3, 36:1, 2). Also from the following:
All the wise-hearted among those doing the work made (the dwelling place) with the work of a craftsman…. (Exodus 36:8)
You shall make the dwelling place…of fine woven linen and blue, purple, and double-dyed scarlet…(and) cherubim; with the work of a craftsman you shall make them. (Exodus 26:1)
You shall make a veil (in the same manner) with the work of a craftsman. (Exodus 26:31, 36:35)
So, too, the ephod with the work of a craftsman, and also the breastpiece (Exodus 28:6, 39:8). The word for craftsman there is one that also means a thinker.
With the work of a craftsman in gems…, you shall engrave the two stones…which you shall put…on the shoulders of the ephod…. (Exodus 28:11, 12)
[3] In an opposite sense, the work of a craftsman symbolizes the kind of work that is the product of one’s own intelligence, from which comes only falsity. This is meant by the work of a craftsman in the following passages:
In their intelligence they will make…a molten image…of their silver…, all of it the work of craftsmen. (Hosea 13:2)
A craftsman pours the image, and the founder covers it with gold and forges chains of silver…. He seeks…a wise craftsman…. (Isaiah 40:19, 20)
…one cuts wood from a forest, the work of the hands of the workman…. Silver…is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of a craftsman…; blue and purple their clothing, all the work of wise men. (Jeremiah 10:3, 9)
See also Deuteronomy 27:15.
That idols symbolize falsities in worship and religion originating from people’s own intelligence may be seen in no. 459, 460 above.
The sound of a mill symbolizes nothing else but an inquiry, investigation, and confirmation of spiritual truth, especially that drawn from the Word. This is the symbolic meaning of the sound of a mill or milling because wheat and barley, the grains milled, symbolize celestial and spiritual goodness, and wheat flour and barley meal symbolize the truth springing from that goodness. For all truth originates from goodness, and every truth that does not spring from spiritual goodness is not spiritual truth.
It is called the sound of a mill because spiritual entities are designated here and there in the Word by devices consisting of the most external things of nature, such as spiritual truths and goods by cups, bowls, wineskins, dishes, and many other kinds of vessels (see no. 672 above).
That wheat symbolizes the goodness of the church from the Word may be seen in no. 315; and that flour milled from wheat symbolizes truth springing from that goodness, no. 778.
[2] That a mill symbolizes an inquiry, investigation, and confirmation of spiritual truth can be seen from the following passages:
(Jesus said,) “(At the end of the age) two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be milling: one will be taken and the other left.” (Matthew 24:40, 41)
The final period of the church is meant by the end of the age, when the Last Judgment takes place. The field symbolizes the church, because that is the place of harvest. The women milling symbolize people in the church who inquire into truths. The people taken symbolize people who find and accept those truths, and the people left symbolize people who do not inquire into or accept truths, because they are caught up in falsities.
I will take from them the sound of mirth and the sound of gladness, the sound of the bridegroom and the sound of the bride, the sound of mills and the light of the lamp. (Jeremiah 25:10)
The sound of mills has the same symbolic meaning here as in this verse of the book of Revelation.
No man shall take in pledge a mill or millstone, for he would be taking the person’s life in pledge. (Deuteronomy 24:6)
The mill here is called a person’s life, because the life or soul symbolizes the truth of wisdom and faith (no. 681).
[3] In an opposite sense a mill symbolizes an investigation and confirmation of falsity, as is apparent from these passages:
They took away young men to mill, and youths collapse under the wood. (Lamentations 5:13)
…sit on the dust, O…daughter of Babylon…. Take the mill and grind meal. Uncover your hair…, uncover your thigh, pass through the rivers. Let your nakedness be uncovered and your shame be seen. (Isaiah 47:1-3)
To take the mill and grind meal means, symbolically, to inquire into and investigate in order to confirm falsities.
…that immediately after the consecration the true body and the true blood (of Jesus Christ), together with His soul and Divinity, are contained truly, really and substantially under the form 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 very same body under the form of wine and the same blood under the form of bread and the soul under both, by virtue of that natural connection and concomitance whereby the parts of Christ the Lord are mutually united; and the Divinity on account of its admirable hypostatic union with His body and soul. That as much is contained under either form as under both. And that the whole of Christ is entirely present under the form of bread and under every part of that form, and the whole also under the form of wine and all its parts.17
Moreover, that water is to be mixed with the wine.18
These are their very words, which they themselves confess to be contrary to the import of the Lord’s words.
Who possessing sound judgment does not see that real truths are there turned upside down and converted into falsities by their reasonings, which the upright in heart cannot but abominate?
Why is this? Is it not solely for the sake of their masses, which they call propitiatory sacrifices, most holy and pure, with nothing but what is holy in them – masses by which they inspire a sense of holiness in people’s bodily senses, and at the same time the darkness of night in everything having to do with faith and spiritual life – and this in order to achieve in that darkness dominion and material gain, and to implant the idea of their ministers as being full of the Lord, and having the Lord in them. And to keep themselves from wearying, they take the wine, and so as not to become inebriated, they mix it with water.
* The Council of Trent, Session XIII, October 11, 1551: Chapter III: The Excellence of the Most Holy Eucharist over the Other Sacraments.
** The Council of Trent, Session XXII, September 17, 1562: Chapter VII: The Mixture of Water with Wine in the Offering of the Chalice.
The light of a lamp symbolizes enlightenment by the Lord and a consequent perception of spiritual truth. That is because the light means the light of heaven, which is the light angels have, and people, too, as regards their intellect, because the light in its essence is Divine wisdom. For it emanates from the Lord as the sun of the spiritual world, which in its essence is the Divine love in Divine wisdom, and the only light that can emanate from it is the light of Divine wisdom, and the only warmth the warmth of Divine love. The reality of this is something we showed in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, nos. 83-172.
Since that light comes from the Lord, and the Lord is omnipresent in it and by means of it, therefore it is the means of all enlightenment and the consequent perception of spiritual truth, a perception that those people have who love Divine truths spiritually, that is, who love Divine truths because they are true, thus because they are Divine. Plainly this is what it is to love the Lord. For the Lord is omnipresent in that light, inasmuch as Divine love and wisdom do not exist in space, but are present wherever they are received, in accordance with their reception.
[2] That people caught up in the Roman Catholic religion are without any enlightenment and so without any perception of spiritual truth, can be seen from the fact that they have no love for any spiritual light. For as we said, spiritual light originates from the Lord, and the only people who can receive and accept that light are people conjoined with the Lord, and conjunction with the Lord is achieved solely by an acknowledgment and worship of Him, and at the same time by a life in accordance with His commandments from the Word. An acknowledgment and worship of the Lord and reading the Word bring about the Lord’s presence, but it is these two things combined at the same time with a life in accordance with His precepts that bring about a conjunction with Him.
The opposite is the case in Roman Catholicism. The Lord is acknowledged in it, but without His having any dominion, and the Word is acknowledged without its being read. Instead of the Lord they worship the Pope, and instead of the Word they acknowledge papal bulls, and live according to those bulls, and not according to the commandments in the Word. The bulls, moreover, have as their goal the dominion of the Pope and his ministers over heaven and the world, while the commandments in the Word have as their goal the dominion of the Lord over heaven and the world. These two goals are as diametrically opposed to each other as heaven and hell.
We have said this much for it to be known that people caught up in the Roman Catholic religion because of its doctrine and a life in accordance with it are without the least light of a lamp, that is to say, without any enlightenment from the Lord and so without any perception of spiritual truth.
[3] That the Lord is the light that produces all enlightenment and perception of spiritual truth is apparent from the following:
He was the true light which enlightens every person coming into the world. (John 1:4-12)
This in reference to the Lord.
This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world…. Whoever does the truth comes to the light…. (John 3:19, 21)
Jesus said…, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you…. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may be children of light.” (John 12:35, 36)
(Jesus said,) “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.” (John 12:46)
(Jesus said,) “…I am the light of the world.” (John 9:5)
(Simeon said,) “…my eyes have seen Your salvation…, a light for revelation to the Gentiles….” (Luke 2:30-32)
The people sitting in darkness have seen a great light; upon those sitting in the region and shadow of death, light has arisen. (Matthew 4:16, Isaiah 9:2)
I have given You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth. (Isaiah 49:6)
The city (New Jerusalem) has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb. (Revelation 21:23, cf. 22:5)
It is apparent from this that the Lord is the light that produces all enlightenment and the consequent perception of spiritual truth. And because the Lord is the light, the Devil is darkness. The Devil is also the love of exercising dominion over all the Divine sanctities belonging to the Lord, and over the Lord Himself; and to the extent it achieves that dominion, it darkens, extinguishes, sets on fire and burns up the Divine sanctities belonging to the Lord.
The sound here symbolizes joy, because it is the sound of a bridegroom and bride. In the highest sense a bridegroom means the Lord in respect to Divine good, and a bride means the church in respect to Divine truth from the Lord. For a church is a church by virtue of its reception of the Lord’s Divine goodness in the Divine truths that it has from Him.
It is apparent from the Word that the Lord is called a bridegroom and also a husband, and that the church is called a bride and also a wife. That this produces the heavenly marriage that is a marriage of goodness and truth will be seen in a short work, On Marriage.*
Now because this heavenly marriage is produced in people in the church by their receiving Divine goodness from the Lord in Divine truths drawn from the Word, it is apparent that there is no conjunction of goodness and truth in people caught up in the Roman Catholic religion because of its doctrine and so a life in conformity with it, since they have no conjunction with the Lord, but instead a conjunction with men, living and dead. This conjunction in people caught up in a love of exercising dominion from a love of self over the Divine sanctities belonging to the Lord, and over the Lord Himself, is as though a conjunction with the Devil, who, as we said in the preceding number, is that love. And to turn to the Devil in order to come by him to God is detestable.
[2] That the Lord is called a bridegroom and the church a bride is apparent from the following passages:
He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. (John 3:29)
This John the Baptist said in reference to the Lord.
Jesus said…, “As long as the bridegroom is with them, the wedding guests cannot fast. The day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast. (Matthew 9:15, cf. Mark 2:19, 20, Luke 5:34, 35)
I…saw the holy city, New Jerusalem…, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:2)
(An angel said,) “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” (Revelation 21:9, 10)
…(the time for) the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready…. Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. (Revelation 19:7, 9)
The bridegroom whom the ten virgins went out to meet, also means the Lord (Matthew 25:1-13).
[3] From these passages it is apparent what the sound and joy of a bridegroom and bride symbolize in following places:
As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. (Isaiah 62:5)
My soul shall rejoice over my God…, as a bridegroom puts on the turban, and as a bride adorns herself with her vessels. (Isaiah 61:10)
Again there shall be heard in this place…the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the sound of the bridegroom and the sound of the bride, the sound of those saying, “Confess Jehovah Zebaoth….” (Jeremiah 33:10, 11)
Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, and the bride from her room. (Joel 2:16)
I will cause to cease…from the streets of Jerusalem the sound of mirth and the sound of gladness, the sound of the bridegroom and the sound of the bride. (Jeremiah 7:34, cf. 16:9)
I will take from them the sound of mirth and the sound of gladness, the sound of the bridegroom and the sound of the bride, the sound of mills and the light of the lamp. And this whole land shall be a desolation (because of) the king of Babylon…. (Jeremiah 25:10, 11)
[4] From this one can now see the successive meanings in these two verses, that those caught up in the Roman Catholic religion will not have any affection for spiritual truth and goodness (no. 792); that they are without any understanding of spiritual truth, and so are without any thought of spiritual truth (no. 793), for thought springs from affection and accords with it; that neither do they inquire into, investigate, or confirm spiritual truth (no. 794); that they are also without any enlightenment from the Lord and so without any perception of spiritual truth (no. 796); and finally that they have no conjunction of goodness and truth, which is what forms the church (no. 797).
Thus the literal pronouncements also follow in sequence.
* A reference to a work by that title never published by the writer. Extant in manuscript are a brief outline, a relatively short preliminary draft, and two indices for a longer draft on the subject of marriage that has not been found. The content of the existing material makes clear that these manuscripts, including the missing longer draft, were written in preparation for Delights of Wisdom Relating to Married Love (or Conjugial Love), Followed By Pleasures of Insanity Relating to Licentious Love, which the writer published in 1768, two years after publishing the present work on the Apocalypse.
(The Lord said to Peter,) “…on this rock** I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:18, 19)
The Divine truth meant by Peter, on which the Lord will build His church, is the truth confessed by Peter at the time, when He said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).
The keys of the kingdom of heaven are this, that whatever that rock, meaning the Lord, has bound on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever it has loosed on earth will be loosed in heaven, and it means that the Lord has power over heaven and earth, as He also says in Matthew 28:18, thus the power of saving people who from a heartfelt faith have that confession of Peter.
[2] The Lord’s Divine operation to save mankind takes place from the firsts of creation through the lasts of it, and this is what we mean when we say that whatever He has bound or loosed on earth will be bound or loosed in heaven. The last elements by which the Lord operates are those on earth, and indeed, in people. For this reason, that the Lord Himself might be present in the lasts of creation as He is in the firsts of it, He came into the world and assumed human form.
To be shown that every Divine operation of the Lord takes place from the firsts of creation through the lasts of it, thus from Himself in the firsts of it and from Himself in the lasts of it, see Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, nos. 217-219, 221. Also that this is why the Lord is called the First and the Last, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Almighty, nos. 29-31, 38, 57 above.
[3] Who that is willing cannot see that a person’s salvation depends on a continual operation of the Lord in the person from his first infancy to the end of his life, and that it is a work purely Divine, one that can never be granted to any man? It is so Divine that it requires the combination of omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence. Moreover, that a person’s reformation and regeneration, thus his salvation, is wholly the work of the Lord’s Divine providence, may be seen from beginning to end in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Providence.
[4] The Lord’s advent itself into the world had as its sole end the salvation of mankind. For this reason He assumed human form, banished the hells, and glorified Himself, and took on omnipotence also in the lasts of creation, which is what is meant by His sitting at the right hand of God.***
What then is more abominable than to found a religion which sanctions the idea that that Divine power and authority are a man’s and no longer the Lord’s? Or that heaven will be opened or closed if only a clergyman says, “I absolve you,” or “I excommunicate you”? Or that a sin is forgiven, even a heinous one, if only he says, “I forgive it”?
The world holds many devils who, to avoid temporal punishment, use artful schemes and gifts to seek and obtain absolution for their diabolical wickedness. Who can be so insane as to believe that the power exists to let devils into heaven?
[5] We said at the end of no. 790 that Peter represented the church’s truth of faith, James the church’s charity, and John the good works of the people in the church, and that the twelve Apostles together represented the church in respect to all of its components. Their representing these things is clearly apparent from the Lord’s words to them in Matthew:
…when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you…will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Matthew 19:28, cf. Luke 22:30)
These words can have no other symbolic meaning than that the Lord will judge all people according to the goods and truths of the church. If this were not the meaning of these words, but if instead the Apostles themselves were meant, all in that great city Babylon who call themselves successors of the Apostles could also claim for themselves, from Pope down to monk, that they will sit on as many thrones as their number, and will judge all throughout the entire world.
* See John 20:21-23.
** There is a play on words here in the original Greek, which the Lord uses to draw a connection between Peter (P�tros) and a rock (p�tra), a play reflected in the Latin Petrus and petra.
*** Mark 16:19.
The great men mean those higher in the Roman Catholic hierarchy, those called cardinals, bishops and primates. They are called merchants because they use the sanctities of the church as merchandise by which to make material gains (nos. 771, 783) – here those who use their various prerogatives, including ones left to their discretion in the regulations of their order, to buy and sell and make material gains.
The reason we say this is apparent from the foregoing declarations, for this follows as a consequence of them. In the foregoing declarations we are told that the sound of harpists and musicians, flutists and trumpeters, shall not be heard in Babylon anymore, that no craftsman of any craft shall be found there, that the sound of a mill shall not be heard there, that the light of a lamp shall not shine there, and that the sound of a bridegroom and bride shall not be heard there; and these symbolically mean, as may be seen above, that in Babylon there will be no affection for spiritual truth (no. 792), no understanding of spiritual truth and so no thought of spiritual truth (no. 793), neither any inquiry or investigation into it (no. 794), nor any enlightenment or perception of it, and so no conjunction of goodness and truth, which is what forms the church (no. 797). The Roman Catholics described lack these things because those higher in rank also buy and sell and make material gains, and thus furnish those lower in rank with their examples. This then is why we are told, “For your great men were the merchants of the earth.”
[2] But perhaps someone will say, “What are those additional discretionary prerogatives which can be used as merchandise?”
They are not their annual incomes and stipends, but the dispensations they make by the power the keys give them, namely, their forgiving of sins, even heinous ones, and using this to liberate from temporal punishments; their interceding with the Pope to be able to marry people within degrees of relationship prohibited by law, and to put an end to marriages within degrees of relationship not prohibited, and allowing these themselves without interceding by acts of toleration; their granting special privileges that lie within their power to grant; their use of the power to ordain ministers and confirm them; their use of the gifts they receive in general and in particular from monasteries; their appropriation of revenues from other sources which belong by right to others; and many other things.
These, and not their annual incomes, if they are content with them, cause them not to have any affection for or thought of spiritual truth, any investigation into or perception of spiritual truth, or any conjunction of truth and goodness, because they are the quests of unrighteous mammon, and an unrighteous person continually lusts for natural riches and turns away from spiritual riches, which are Divine truths drawn from the Word.
[3] It can now be seen from this that the declaration, “For your great men were the merchants of the earth,” symbolically means that those higher in the Roman Catholic hierarchy are of such a character because they use their various prerogatives, including ones left to their discretion in the regulations of their order, to buy and sell and make material gains.
To this we will add here something more about using the power of the keys to grant dispensations over the commission of crimes, even heinous ones, by which to liberate the guilty not only from eternal punishment, but also from temporal ones, and if they are not liberated, still to protect them by giving them asylum.
Who does not see that this does not fall within ecclesiastical authority, but rather civil authority? That it is to extend ecclesiastical government over everything secular? That it serves to destroy public trust? And that by this power still reserved for them they have the power to bring back their earlier despotic dominion over all the law courts established by kings, thus over the judges, even the highest of them – something they would also do, if they did not fear people’s leaving the church.
This is what is meant in Daniel by the fourth beast that came up from the sea and its thinking to change the times and the law (Daniel 7:25).
The sorcery by which they led all the nations astray symbolizes the nefarious arts and cunning schemes by which those higher in the Roman Catholic hierarchy deluded people and persuaded the people to worship and adore them instead of the Lord, thus as though they were the Lord. And because the Lord is God of heaven and earth, as He Himself teaches in Matthew 28:18, they persuaded the people to worship and adore them as though they were gods. (That these Roman Catholics transferred the Lord’s Divine authority to themselves may be seen in no. 798 above.) Moreover, because this is the symbolic meaning of these words, they also symbolically mean that those higher in the Roman Catholic hierarchy used these nefarious arts and cunning schemes to draw the hearts of all away from reverent worship of the Lord to a profane worship of men, living and dead, and of icons.
That they are still going to have this as their end, and will continue to have it as their end in the spiritual world, is something we have said and shown before. It is described in Isaiah in this way:
Stand fast…in your enchantments (O Babylon) and in the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth. Perhaps you will be able to profit, perhaps you will inspire terror. You have become wearied in the multitude of your counsels; let the astrologers, the stargazers, and the monthly prognosticators now stand up and save you…. Behold, they have become as stubble. Fire has burnt them. They shall not deliver their souls from the reach of the flame…. Such have become…your merchants from your youth; each has wandered off from his quarter. There is no one to save you. (Isaiah 47:12-15)
Blood symbolizes a falsification, adulteration and profanation of the Word (nos. 327, 379, 684). Prophets symbolize all who possess Divine truth from the Word, and abstractly, doctrinal truths drawn from the Word (nos. 8, 133). Saints, or holy ones, symbolize people who belong to the Lord’s church, and abstractly, the church’s sacred truths (nos. 173, 586, 666). Those slain symbolize people who have been slain spiritually, and those who are said to be slain spiritually are people who perish as a result of falsities (no. 325, and in a number of places elsewhere). Moreover, because the earth symbolizes the church, all those slain on the earth symbolize all in the Christian Church who have perished as a result of falsities, because the falsity they possess has emanated from the Roman Catholic religion.
Regarding Babylon we are told also in Jeremiah that the slain of all the earth are there (Jeremiah 51:49, 52), and in Isaiah that Lucifer, who in Isaiah is Babylon, has destroyed their land and slain its people (Isaiah 14:20).
That from the Roman Catholic religion have emanated many of the falsities in the Protestant Reformed churches may be seen in no. 751 above, where we explained the statement that “the woman whom you saw is the great city which holds sway over the kings of the earth” (Revelation 17:18).
**********
We said above that the love of exercising dominion, springing from a love of self, over the sanctities of the church and over heaven, thus over all the Divine sanctities belonging to the Lord, is the Devil.* Now because that dominion was fixed as the objective in the hearts of those who founded the Roman Catholic religion, they could not help but profane the sanctities of the Word and the church.
Suppose that that love, which is the Devil, is inwardly fixed in someone’s mind, as is the case with every reigning love, and place some Divine truth outwardly before his eyes. Would he not tear it up, throw it on the ground, and trample it, and in its place summon up some falsity agreeable to him?
[2] A love of possessing all the goods of the world is Satan, and the Devil and Satan act in concert, as though bound together by covenant, in the kind of people who, owing to the one love, are caught up in the other.
One may conclude from this why it is that Babylon in the Word symbolizes profanation.
By way of illustration, place before that love, which is the Devil, this Divine truth, that God alone is to be worshiped and adored, and not some man, thus that the Vicariate is a fabrication and a fiction which ought to be rejected. Or else this truth, that to call upon the dead, to fall prostrate before their images, to kiss them and their bones, is a pure and foul idolatry that ought also to be rejected. Would not that love, which is the Devil, vehemently and angrily reject these two truths, fulminate against them, and tear them to pieces?
[3] If, moreover, someone were to say to that love, which is the Devil, that to open and close heaven or loose and bind, thus to forgive sins – which is the same thing as reforming and regenerating and thus redeeming and saving mankind – is a work purely Divine; that a person cannot claim for himself something Divine without committing profanation; that Peter did not claim it for himself, and therefore did not exercise any such power; moreover that the apostolic succession was fabricated by that love, as was also the transference of the Holy Spirit from one person to another – on hearing these things, would not that love, which is the Devil, deafen with anathemas the person saying them, and in a fiery rage command that he be turned over to an inquisitor and thrown into a prison of the condemned?
If someone still were to ask, “How can the Lord’s Divine power be transferred to you? How can the Lord’s Divinity be separated from His soul and body? Is it not according to your belief that this cannot be done? How can God the Father impart His Divine power to the Son except to His own Divinity as its receptacle? How can this be transferred to a person so as to be his?” And many other like things.
Hearing them, would not that love, which is the Devil, fall silent, rage within, gnash its teeth, and cry, “Take this person away! Crucify him, crucify him! Everyone go, go! See the great heretic and amuse yourselves!”
* Nos. 796:2, 797:1.
CHAPTER 19
1 After these things I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power to the Lord our God! 2 For true and just are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her licentiousness, and He has avenged the blood of His servants shed by her hand.” 3 And a second time they said, “Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!” 4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, “Amen! Alleluia!” 5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!” 6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as it were the sound of many waters and as it were the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! 7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And it was granted her to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said, “These are the true sayings of God.” 10 And I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “See that you do not do this! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and does combat. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many jewels.* He had a name written that no one knew but Himself. 13 He was clothed with a garment stained with blood, and His name is called “The Word of God.” 14 And the hosts in heaven followed Him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Out of His mouth went forth a sharp sword, that with it He might strike the nations, and He will shepherd them with a rod of iron. He treads the winepress of the fury and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His garment and on His thigh a name written: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”
17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, 18 that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of commanders, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.” 19 And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. 20 Then the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who worked signs in its presence, by which he led astray those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21 And the rest were slain with the sword of Him who sat on the horse, which went forth from His mouth. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
A glorification of the Lord by angels in heaven, because the Roman Catholic religion in the spiritual world has been removed, in consequence of which the angels have come into a state of light and into their bliss (verses 1-5). An annunciation of the Lord’s advent and of a new church from Him (verses 6-10). The opening of the Word in its spiritual sense for that church (verses 11-16). An invitation of all people to it (verses 17, 18). The resistance of those caught up in a faith divorced from charity (verse 19). Their removal and damnation (verses 20, 21).
The Contents of the Individual Verses
1 After these things I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia!
A thanksgiving, confession, and celebration of the Lord by angels of the lower heavens because of the Roman Catholics’ removal.
Salvation and glory and honor and power to the Lord our God!
Salvation by the Lord now possible because a reception of Divine truth and goodness now possible in consequence of His Divine power,
2 For true and just are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her licentiousness,
because in accordance with justice the profane Roman Catholic religion has been condemned, which by its foul adulterations of the Word destroyed the Lord’s church,
and He has avenged the blood of His servants shed by her hand.”
a retribution for the injuries and violence done to the souls of worshipers of the Lord.
3 And a second time they said, “Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!”
A thanksgiving and celebration of the Lord with joy, that that profane religion has been damned to eternity.
4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, “Amen! Alleluia!”
An adoration of the Lord as God of heaven and earth and judge of the universe by angels of the higher heavens, and an affirmation by them of the thanksgiving, confession and celebration of the Lord made by angels of the lower heavens.
5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him,
An influx from the Lord into heaven and a consequent accord on the part of angels that all those prompted by truths of faith and goods of love worship the Lord as the only God of heaven,
both small and great!”
who to a lesser or greater degree are moved by truths of faith or goods of love to worship the Lord.
6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as it were the sound of many waters and as it were the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!
The joy of angels of the lowest, intermediate and highest heavens that the Lord alone will reign in the church that is now to come.
7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
Their joy of soul and heart and consequent glorification of the Lord, that from now on a full marriage of the Lord with the church is possible.
and His wife has made herself ready.”
Those who will belong to this church, namely, the New Jerusalem, are being gathered together, introduced to it, and instructed.
8 And it was granted her to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright,
They are being instructed through the Word by the Lord in truths that are genuine and pure.
for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Through truths from the Word those who are of the Lord’s church live good lives.
9 Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!'”
A single angel sent from heaven to John and speaking with him about the Lord’s New Church, saying that it was granted people on earth to know that those have eternal life who accept the teachings that are the teachings of that church.
And he said, “These are the true sayings of God.”
This should be believed because it comes from the Lord.
10 And I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “See that you do not do this! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!
Angels in heaven are not to be worshiped or invoked, because they have nothing Divine in them, but are associated, as brethren with brethren, with those people who worship the Lord, and therefore the Lord alone is to be worshiped in association with them.
For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
An acknowledgment that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, and at the same time a life in accordance with His commandments, is in a universal sense the whole of the Word and of doctrine drawn from it.
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse,
The spiritual sense of the Word revealed by the Lord and the deeper meaning of the Word thereby disclosed, which is the coming of the Lord.
and He who sat on it was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and does combat.
The Lord in relation to the Word, as being Divine good itself and Divine truth itself, who exercises judgment in accordance with both.
12 His eyes were like a flame of fire,
The Divine wisdom of the Lord’s Divine love.
and on His head were many jewels.*
The Divine truths in the Word from Him.
He had a name written that no one knew but Himself.
What the Word is like in its spiritual and celestial senses, no one sees but the Lord, and the person to whom He reveals it.
13 He was clothed with a garment stained with blood, and His name is called “The Word of God.”
Divine truth in its outmost sense, or the Word in its letter, to which violence has been done.
14 And the hosts in heaven followed Him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
Angels in the New Christian Heaven, who, being conjoined with the Lord, have a deeper understanding of the Word and so possess truths that are pure and genuine.
15 Out of His mouth went forth a sharp sword,
The dispersion of falsities by the Lord by means of doctrine from the Word.
that with it He might strike the nations, and He will shepherd them with a rod of iron.
He will convince all who are caught up in a dead faith by means of truths in the literal sense of the Word and by rational considerations.
He treads the winepress of the fury and wrath of Almighty God.
The Lord alone has endured all the church’s evils and all the violence done to the Word, thus to Him.
16 And He has on His garment and on His thigh a name written: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”
The Lord teaches in the Word who He is, that He is the Divine truth of Divine wisdom and the Divine goodness of Divine love, thus that He is God of the universe.
17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the supper of the great God,
The Lord, out of Divine love and so out of Divine zeal, calling all people who have a spiritual affection for truth and think about heaven, and summoning them to the New Church and to conjunction with Himself, thus to eternal life.
18 that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of commanders, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.”
An assimilation of goods from the Lord through the truths in the Word and in doctrine drawn from it, of every level of meaning, degree or kind.
19 And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.
All inwardly evil people who professed faith alone will, together with their leaders and followers, attack the Lord’s Divine truths in His Word and assail those who will belong to the Lord’s New Church.
20 Then the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who worked signs in its presence, by which he led astray those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image.
All those who professed faith alone and were inwardly evil, both the laity and common people and the clergy and the learned, who by arguments and assertions that faith alone is the only means of salvation, had brought others to accept that faith and to live in accordance with it,
These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.
were all of them cast as they were into the hell where their loves of falsity and accompanying lusts for evil are found.
21 And the rest were slain with the sword of Him who sat on the horse, which went forth from His mouth.
All those of various heretical sects among the Protestant Reformed who had not lived according to the Lord’s commandments in the Word that they knew, having been judged in accordance with the Word, perished.
And all the birds were filled with their flesh.
By their lusts for evil, which they had made their own, they fed, as it were, the demons of hell.
* The word translated as “jewels” here means diadems or crowns in the original Greek and Latin, but the writer’s definitions of the term elsewhere make plain that he regularly and consistently interpreted it to mean jewels or gems.
THE EXPOSITION
19:1 After these things I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia!” This symbolizes a thanksgiving, confession, and celebration of the Lord by angels of the lower heavens because of the Roman Catholics’ removal.
A great multitude in heaven symbolizes angels of the lower heavens. The voice of the multitude saying, “Alleluia!” symbolizes a thanksgiving, confession and celebration of the Lord by them. “Alleluia” in Hebrew means “Praise God.”
Thus the voice was the voice of a thanksgiving, confession and celebration of the Lord out of a heartfelt joy, as is apparent from the following passages:
Bless Jehovah, O my soul! Alleluia! (Psalm 104:35)
Blessed be Jehovah, God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, “Amen! Alleluia!” (Psalm 106:48)
We will bless Jah from this time forth and forevermore. Alleluia! (Psalm 115:18)
Let every soul praise Jah! Alleluia! (Psalm 150:6)
And so on elsewhere, as in Psalms 105:45, 106:1, 111:1, 112:1, 113:1, 9, 116:19, 117:2, 135:3, 148:1,14, 149:1, 9, 150:1.
That this occurred because of the Roman Catholics’ removal is apparent from the preceding chapter, in which Roman Catholics were the subject. That is why this chapter begins, “After these things.” It is apparent also from what follows in verses 2 and 3 of this chapter.
That the angels meant by the great multitude in heaven are angels of the lower heavens follows from verse 4 in this chapter, where we are told that the twenty-four elders and four living creatures worshiped Him who sat on the throne, saying, “Amen! Alleluia!” The twenty-four elders and four living creatures mean angels of the higher heavens.
Salvation to the Lord our God symbolizes an acknowledgment and confession that salvation is made possible by the Lord. Glory and honor to the Lord our God symbolizes an acknowledgment and confession that the Lord is the source of Divine truth and Divine good, thus that these are received from Him (nos. 249, 629, 692). Power to the Lord our God symbolizes an acknowledgment and confession that the power is the Lord’s.
To say that salvation, glory, honor and power are the Lord’s accords with the sense of the letter, as we read also elsewhere that blessing is the Lord’s. But in the spiritual sense this becomes a declaration that, because these are in the Lord, they also come from the Lord, and here, that they are now present in angels and people, because those Roman Catholics have been removed and expelled who interrupted, weakened, and impeded their influx from the Lord. The case is like that in the world when dark clouds intervene between the sun and people, for as the intervening dark clouds interrupt, weaken, and impede the light of the world’s sun, so too do the black falsities interposed by Roman Catholics interrupt, weaken, and impede the light of the sun in heaven, which is the Lord. The case is entirely the same, except that one is natural and the other spiritual. Falsities in the spiritual world also appear as clouds, murky or black depending on their character.
This, too, is the reason that the spiritual sense of the Word was not revealed until after the Last Judgment, and the fact that the Lord alone is God of heaven and earth. For by the Last Judgment those Roman Catholics were removed, and likewise those Protestant Reformed who confessed faith alone, whose falsities were like dusky clouds interposed between the Lord and people on earth. Their falsities were also like cold winds that dispelled spiritual warmth, which is the love of goodness and truth.
“True and just are Your judgments” symbolizes the Word’s Divine truths and goods, in accordance with which the Lord executes judgment (nos. 668, 689), and which together are called righteousness. For righteousness in reference to the Lord has just this symbolic meaning, as in verse 11 below, and in Isaiah 63:1, Jeremiah 23:5, 6, 33:15, 16. “Because He has judged the great harlot” means, symbolically, because the profane Roman Catholic religion has been condemned, as described in the preceding chapter. It is called a great harlot because of its adulteration and profanation of the Word. “Who corrupted the earth with her licentiousness” means, symbolically, which by its foul adulterations of the Word destroyed the Lord’s church – its licentiousness symbolizing an adulteration of the Word (no. 134), and the earth symbolizing the church (nos. 285, 721).
His avenging the blood of His servants shed by her hand symbolizes a retribution for the injuries and violence done to the souls of worshipers of the Lord, because His avenging symbolizes retribution. To shed blood means, symbolically, to do violence to the Lord’s Divinity and to the Word (nos. 327, 684), in this case to worshipers of the Lord, who are meant by His servants. Roman Catholics inflicted injuries and violence on their souls by transferring Divine worship of the Lord to themselves and preventing their reading of the Word.
The Lord is said to have avenged or exacted retribution for the blood of His servants as though He did this to take revenge or punish; but still He does not act to take revenge or punish, just as He does not act out of anger or wrath, even though anger and wrath are occasionally attributed to Him in the Word (see nos. 525, 635, 658, 673 above).
Anger and revenge are attributed to the Lord when evil people are separated from the good and cast into hell, as happens at the time of a last judgment. That time is therefore called wrath and a day of wrath, and a day of vengeance. Not that the Lord is angry or vengeful, but that those people are angry at the Lord and filled with vengeance against Him. The case is like that of a criminal after sentence has been passed, who is angry at the law and filled with vengeance against the judge. For the law is not angry, nor is the judge taking revenge.
[2] Vengeance is meant in this sense in the following passages:
…the day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come. (Isaiah 63:4)
The reference there is to the Lord and the Last Judgment.
…the day of Jehovah’s vengeance, the year of retribution for the case of Zion. (Isaiah 34:8)
Behold, your God will come for vengeance; for the retribution of God He will come, and He will save you. (Isaiah 35:4)
…these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. (Luke 21:22)
The reference there is to the culmination of the age, when the Last Judgment takes place.
The Spirit of the Lord Jehovih is upon Me…to proclaim the day Jehovah’s good pleasure, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn. (Isaiah 61:1, 2)
Shall My soul not take vengeance…for this? (Jeremiah 5:9, 29)
I will take vengeance (on Babylon), and will not allow anyone to intercede. (Isaiah 47:3)
…His thought is against Babylon to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of Jehovah, vengeance for His temple. (Jeremiah 51:11, cf. 51:36)
Sing, O nations, His people, for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and visit vengeance on His adversaries; He will purge His land, His people. (Deuteronomy 32:43)
Their speaking a second time originates from a different affection of joy, because they had been freed from the assault of those who were caught up in the Roman Catholic religion, and from the fear of their resurgence and their assailing them again. That alleluia symbolizes a thanksgiving and celebration of the Lord may be seen in no. 803 above. Her smoke symbolizes the Roman Catholic religion in respect to its dreadful falsities, since falsities arising from evil appear in the spiritual world as billows of smoke from a fire (no. 422). Fire there is the love of self (nos. 468 at the end, 494, 766). The smoke produced by burning, in reference to Babylon, symbolizes profanation (nos. 766, 767). Rising up forever and ever symbolizes the damnation of that religion to eternity.
To fall down and worship symbolizes humility, and worship as a result of that humility, as in no. 370 above. The twenty-four elders and four living creatures symbolize the higher heavens (no. 369). He who sat on the throne means the Lord as God of heaven and judge of the universe, since the throne symbolizes heaven and the government there (nos. 14, 221, 222), and also judgment – in this case judgment, because it refers to the judgment on the Roman Catholic religion, which is the subject of the preceding chapter. That He who sat on the throne is the Lord will be seen below. “Amen! Alleluia!” symbolizes an affirmation of the thanksgiving, confession and celebration of the Lord by angels of the lower heavens. “Amen” symbolizes an affirmation and agreement in response to truth (nos. 23, 28, 61, 371, 375), and “alleluia” symbolizes a thanksgiving, confession and celebration of the Lord (no. 803). These were made by angels of the lower heavens, because they spoke first and celebrated the Lord as God of heaven, and as judge and avenger, saying “Alleluia!” as is apparent from the first two verses of this chapter and the exposition in nos. 803-806 above. Affirmation of these by angels of the higher heavens is symbolized here by “Amen! Alleluia!”
[2] That He who sat on the throne is the Lord is apparent from Revelation 1:4, 3:21, 4:2-6, 9, 5:13, 6:16, 7:9-11, 22:1, 3. These verses tell us that God and the Lamb were on the throne. God there means the underlying Divinity of the Lord called the Father, and the Lamb the Divine humanity called the Son (nos. 269, 291). Thus it is the Lord alone. This, too, is apparent from chapter 7 where it says, “the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them” (Revelation 7:17). And in Matthew:
…when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory (i.e., ready to judge)…. (Matthew 19:28)
When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the…angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. (Matthew 25:31)
The voice that came from the throne symbolizes an influx from the Lord into heaven. It was from the Lord because He who sat on the throne was the Lord, as shown just above in no. 808. Therefore an influx is meant by the voice that came from it; for the Lord, being above the heavens and appearing to the angels as a sun, does not speak to angels from there, but flows in, and whatever flows in is received in heaven and given voice. Consequently even though the voice here came from the throne, still John heard it from heaven, thus from angels there, and whatever angels say from heaven is from the Lord.
“Praise our God” symbolizes an injunction to worship the Lord as the only God of heaven. That to praise God is to worship Him will be seen below. All His servants symbolize all people who are governed by truths of faith (nos. 3, 380). All who fear Him symbolize people who are prompted by goods of love (nos. 527, 628).
[2] That to praise God means, symbolically, to worship Him, and therefore that praise of Him is worship of Him, is clear from many passages in the Word, of which we will cite just a few:
Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of (them) praising God…. (Luke 2:13, cf. 2:20)
…the whole multitude of the disciples began to…praise God with a loud voice…. (Luke 19:37)
…they were…in the temple praising and blessing God. (Luke 24:53)
Proclaim, give praise, and say, “O Jehovah, save Your people….” (Jeremiah 31:7)
Praise Jehovah in the heavens; praise Him in the heights! Praise Him…His angels; Praise Him…His hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all you stars of light! Praise Him, you heavens of heavens…. Let them praise the name of Jehovah…. Praise Jehovah from the earth…. He has exalted…the praise…of all His (people)…. (Psalm 148:1-5, 7, 13, 14)
Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise. (Matthew 21:16)
All the people…gave praise to God. (Luke 18:43)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 42:8, 60:18; Joel 2:26; Psalm 113:1, 3, 117:1.
What is said in the present verse does not relate to what was said before regarding the Roman Catholic religion, but to what is said hereafter regarding the New Church to be established by the Lord, which is the subject now in the following verses.
In the natural sense people small and great mean people of a greater or lesser degree of status, but in the spiritual sense they are people of a greater or lesser degree of worship of the Lord, thus who are moved to worship the Lord more or less reverently or fully by truths of faith or goods of love. This is the symbolic meaning, because it follows the injunction to praise God, all His servants and those who fear Him, and it accords with the symbolic meaning of those words (no. 809). See also nos. 527, 604.
The voice and sounds symbolize the joy of a worship, confession and celebration of the Lord, because it is followed by their saying “Alleluia!” and next, “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory.”
The voice of a great multitude symbolizes the joy of angels of the lowest heaven, as in no. 803 above.
The sound of many waters symbolizes the joy of angels of the intermediate heaven, as in no. 614 above. Their joy was heard as such because many waters symbolize truths in abundance (nos. 50, 614, 685), and angels of the intermediate heaven are prompted by truths, because they possess intelligence.
The sound of mighty thunderings symbolizes the joy of angels of the highest heaven. That their voice or speech sounds like thunder may be seen in no. 615 above.
Saying “Alleluia!” symbolizes the joy of a worship, confession and celebration of the Lord, as in no. 803 above. “For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!” means, symbolically, that the Lord alone reigns, for the Lord is called Almighty (see Revelation 1:8, 4:8, 11:17, 15:3, 16:7, 14, 19:15, 21:22, and the explanations at those points).
That what is said here has to do with a new church to be established by the Lord is clear from the following three verses, in which we are told that the marriage of the Lamb has come and His wife has made herself ready, and that blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb! This is the reason for the joy of all the heavens that is described in this and the following verse.
To be glad and rejoice symbolizes a joy of soul and heart. Joy of the soul is a joy of the intellect or joy in response to truths of faith, and joy of the heart is a joy of the will or joy springing from goods of love. Both of these are mentioned because of the marriage of truth and goodness in every particular of the Word, as explained in nos. 373 and 689 above. To give Him glory means, symbolically, to acknowledge and confess that all truth is from the Lord (no. 629), and to acknowledge that the Lord is God of heaven and earth (no. 693). Here it therefore symbolizes to glorify, because this involves both acknowledgments.
“For the marriage of the Lamb has come” means, symbolically, that from now on a full marriage of the Lord and the church is possible. For this to be symbolized, the Lord is therefore called the Lamb, and by the Lamb is meant the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity (nos. 269, 291).
[2] It is when the Lord’s humanity is acknowledged to be Divine that a full marriage of the Lord and the church is possible, and this can be seen almost without explanation. For in the Christian world of the Protestant Reformed, people know that the church is a church because of the marriage of the Lord with it, inasmuch as the Lord is called the Lord of the vineyard,* and the vineyard is the church. Moreover, the Lord is also called the bridegroom and husband, and the church is called the bride and wife. That the Lord is called the bridegroom and the church the bride may be seen in no. 797 above.
That there is a full marriage of the Lord and the church when His humanity is acknowledged to be Divine is plain. For then God the Father and the Lord are acknowledged to be one, like soul and body. And when this is acknowledged, people do not turn to the Father for the sake of the Son, but they turn then to the Lord Himself, and through Him to God the Father, because the Father is present in Him like a soul in its body, as we have said.
Before people acknowledge the Lord’s humanity to be Divine, there is indeed a marriage of the Lord with the church, but only in those who turn to the Lord and think of His Divinity, and not at all of whether His humanity is Divine or not. This is what the simple in faith and heart do, but rarely the learned and erudite.
Besides, one wife cannot have three husbands, nor can one body have three souls. Consequently, unless people acknowledge one God in whom is the Trinity, and that that God is the Lord, no marriage is possible.
[3] We say that this marriage is possible from now on, because it was not possible fully until after the adherents of the Roman Catholic religion were separated in the spiritual world by the Last Judgment, and the adherents of the Protestant Reformed faith too, who are those who professed faith alone. It is because the separation of these is described in the preceding chapters that we say from now on.
That there is a wedding of the church with the Lord can be seen from the following:
Jesus said…, “The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them.” (Matthew 9:15, cf. Mark 2:19)
The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to (invite people) to the wedding. (Matthew 22:1-14)
The kingdom of heaven (is like) ten virgins who…went out to meet the bridegroom…, five of (whom)…were ready and went in with (the bridegroom) to the wedding. (Matthew 25:1-12)
That the Lord meant Himself here is apparent from the verse that follows next, in which He says,
Watch…, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man will come. (Matthew 25:13)
And elsewhere:
Let your loins be girded and your lamps lit, and you yourselves be like people who are waiting for their lord, when he will return from the wedding…. (Luke 12:35, 36)
* Matthew 20:8, Mark 12:9, Luke 20:13, 15.
The wife symbolizes the Lord’s New Church, namely, the New Jerusalem, as is clearly apparent from chapter 21 that comes later, where we find the following:
I…saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:2)
And in the same chapter:
(An angel) came to me…, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” And he…showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God…. (Revelation 21:9, 10)
The wife’s making herself ready means, symbolically, that those who will belong to that Lord’s New Church are being gathered together, introduced to it, and instructed. And because her making herself ready has the symbolic meaning, therefore it follows next that as a wife she was “arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright,” which symbolizes an introduction through instruction. Moreover, for the same reason a white horse is also afterward described, which symbolizes an understanding of the Word provided for them by the Lord.
Being granted to her means to the wife, who symbolizes the Lord’s New Church, namely, the New Jerusalem, as in no. 813 just above. To be arrayed means, symbolically, to be instructed in truths, inasmuch as garments symbolize truths (no. 166), and white garments genuine truths (no. 212). Fine linen, clean and bright, symbolically means glistening as a result of goodness, and pure as a result of truths. And because there is no pure truth from any other source than from the Lord through the Word, therefore this, too, is symbolically meant.
The fine linen is said to be clean and bright because cleanliness symbolizes something that is free of evil, thus something that glistens as a result of goodness, and brightness symbolizes something that is free of falsity, thus something pure as a result of truth.
Fine linen, or something made of fine linen, symbolizes genuine truth also in the following passages:
I clothed you (O Jerusalem) in embroidered cloth…, I clothed you with fine linen and covered you with silk…. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk…. (Ezekiel 16:10, 13)
Fine linen with embroidery from Egypt was your sail. (Ezekiel 27:7)
The latter is said of Tyre, which symbolizes the church in respect to concepts of truth and goodness.
The hosts in heaven followed Him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. (Revelation 19:14)
Pharaoh’s clothing Joseph “in garments of fine linen” (Genesis 41:42) has the same symbolic meaning.
Truth from the Word in their possession, though not internalized by them, is symbolized by the fine linen in Babylon in Revelation 18:12, 16, and by that possessed by the rich man in Luke 16:19.
Fine linen is also called cotton, so that this, too, symbolizes genuine truth, in the following:
You shall make (for Aaron) a checkered tunic of cotton, and you shall make the turban of cotton…. (Exodus 28:39)
They made tunics of cotton…for Aaron and his sons…. (Exodus 39:27)
You shall make the tabernacle…cotton interwoven with blue, purple, and scarlet double-dyed. (Exodus 26:1, cf. 36:8)
You shall make…hangings for the court of woven cotton…. (Exodus 27:9, cf. 27:18, 38:9)
Also the screen…of the court…(with) woven cotton. (Exodus 38:18)
The fine linen symbolizes genuine truths, which are truths gained through the Word from the Lord, as in no. 814 just above. Righteous acts symbolize good lives in the case of people governed by truths (no. 668). Saints symbolize people who are of the Lord’s church (nos. 173, 586).
Righteous acts are the practices of good lives in the case of people governed by truths, because no one can be called righteous unless he lives in accordance with truths. For in the natural sense a righteous person is everyone who lives rightly in accordance with civil and moral laws. But in the spiritual sense that person is called righteous who lives rightly in accordance with Divine laws, and Divine laws are truths from the Word. Someone who believes that he is righteous and so living a good life without living in accordance with truths is much deceived. For a person cannot be reformed and regenerated and so become good, except by means of truths and by a life in accordance with those truths.
It is apparent from this that the fine linen’s being the righteous acts of the saints means, symbolically, that through truths from the Word those who are of the Lord’s church live good lives.
This is clearly apparent in the case of angels in heaven. The more they are governed by truths and live in accordance with them, the brighter white the garments in which they appear clothed. That is because they enjoy a brighter light.
That it was a single angel sent from heaven to John who spoke with him can be seen from the following verse, which says that John fell at his feet to worship him, and that the angel replied that he was his fellow servant; therefore that not he but God should be worshiped.
The first speech that John heard came from heaven itself and was uttered by many angels speaking in unison from the Lord, as is clearly apparent from the preceding verses 5, 6, and 7, where we are told that the voice came from the throne, and that it sounded like the voice of a great multitude, and like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Let us be glad and rejoice.” That was said in the plural, but this now in the singular, thus by a single angel sent to John.
[2] But let me say how the case is when angels speak with a person. They never speak with him from heaven, but any voice heard coming from there comes from the Lord through heaven. However, when angels are granted to speak with a person, they send someone from their society who is close to the person and speak with the person through him. The one sent is the instrument of many. And that is what the one was who now spoke with John. This took place in order that it might be proclaimed on earth that the whole of heaven acknowledges the Lord alone as God of heaven, that He alone is to be worshiped, and that the Lord was about to establish a new church on earth, as it had been in the heavens. For the Lord first establishes a church in the heavens, and then through the heavens on the earth. This is the hidden message contained in these words.
[3] Now for the exposition. “Write” symbolically means to commit something to posterity for its remembrance (nos. 39, 63, 639), in this case to enable it to know these things. This is the meaning of the command to write. “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!” means, symbolically, that those people have eternal life who accept the teachings that are the teachings of the New Church. Those people are called blessed who have eternal life (no. 639). The marriage of the Lamb symbolizes a new church having a conjunction with the Lord, as in no. 812 above. The people who are called mean all who accept (no. 744). All, indeed, are called, but those who do not accept, reject the call.
[4] The conjunction is called the Lamb’s marriage supper because it takes place when the church is in its final state, which is called its evening, and suppers take place in the evening. The first state of a new church is in contrast called morning. It is in its evening state that a person is called to the church, and when the people called are present, its morning state commences.
That the final state of the church is called evening and night, and its first state dawn and morning, may be seen in no. 151 above.
Now because the final period of the Jewish Church, thus its evening, occurred when the Lord went to Jerusalem to suffer, therefore the Lord supped with the disciples then and instituted the Eucharist, which is why it is called Holy Supper. It, too, is a means of the Lord’s conjunction with a person of the church, or wedding, if after repentance the person turns to Him directly. Otherwise it occasions His presence and not conjunction.
It can be seen from this what a dinner and dining symbolize elsewhere in the Word.
John’s falling at the angel’s feet to worship him, and the angel’s saying to him, “See that you do not do this,” means symbolically that no angel in heaven is to be worshiped or invoked, but the Lord only. “I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren” means symbolically that there is no Divinity in any angel, but that an angel is associated with a person as a brother with a brother. Having the testimony of Jesus means symbolically that a person is in the same way conjoined with the Lord, by an acknowledgment of the Divinity in the Lord’s humanity, and by living in accordance with His commandments. That having the testimony of Jesus has this symbolic meaning will be seen in the following number.
Angels in heaven are not superior to people, but are their equals, and therefore they are the Lord’s servants the same as people; and the reason is that all angels were once people, born in the world, and none were created angels directly, as can be seen from what we wrote and showed in the book Heaven and Hell (London, 1758). Angels excel people in wisdom indeed, but that is because they are in a spiritual state and so live in the light of heaven, and are not in a natural state and so do not live in the light of the world as people on earth do. But the more an angel excels in wisdom, the more he acknowledges that he is not better than people, but like them. Consequently people are not conjoined with angels, but are associated with them. Only with the Lord is conjunction possible.
But how conjunction with the Lord and association with angels are achieved through the Word may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 62-69.
The testimony of Jesus symbolizes an attestation of the Lord in heaven that heaven is His, and thus that He is present in heaven together with the angels there. Moreover, because that attestation cannot be given to any others than people conjoined with the Lord, and those are conjoined with the Lord who acknowledge Him as God of heaven and earth, as He Himself teaches (Matthew 28:18), and who at the same time live in accordance with His commandments, especially the Ten Commandments, therefore these two things are symbolically meant by the testimony of Jesus, as may be seen in nos. 6 and 490 above. That this testimony is the spirit of prophecy means, symbolically, that it is the whole of the Word and of doctrine drawn from it. For the Word in its universal sense deals solely with the Lord and with a life in accordance with His commandments. That is why the Lord embodies the Word. For He embodies the Word because the Word comes from Him and deals with Him alone, and teaches only how He is to be acknowledged and worshiped. These are the precepts of the Word, called Divine truths, in accordance with which a person must live in order for him to come into conjunction with the Lord.
That the Word deals with the Lord alone, and that for this reason the Lord is called an embodiment of the Word, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 1-7, 8-11, 19-28, 37-44, and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 80-90, 98-100.
This, too, is something the Lord says, that the spirit of truth, which is the Holy Spirit, will testify of the Lord, and that it will not speak on its own, but will take of what is the Lord’s and declare it (John 15:26, 16:13, 15).
Seeing heaven opened symbolizes a revelation by the Lord and a disclosure then, which we will take up below. A horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word, and a white horse a deeper understanding (no. 298). And because this is the symbolic meaning of a white horse, and a deeper understanding of the Word is an understanding of the spiritual sense, therefore that sense is here symbolized by the white horse.
This is the coming of the Lord, because that sense makes it clearly apparent that the Lord embodies the Word, that the Word deals with Him alone, that He is God of heaven and earth, and that the New Church originates from Him alone.
The Lord told His disciples that they would see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with glory and power (Matthew 17:5, 24:30, 26:64; Mark 14:61, 62; Luke 9:34, 35, 21:27; Revelation 1:7; Acts 1:9, 11). And the Lord said this also when He spoke with His disciples about the culmination of the age, which is the final period of the church when a judgment takes place.
Everyone who does not think beyond the literal sense believes that when the Last Judgment arrives, the Lord will appear in clouds of the sky, accompanied by angels and the blowing of trumpets. But this is not the meaning. Rather it means that the Lord will appear in the Word, as can be seen from the exposition above in nos. 24 and 642, and He appears clearly in the Word’s spiritual sense. He appears not only as being an embodiment of the Word, that is, of Divine truth itself, or as being inmostly present in the Word and in everything springing from it, but also as being a single God, having the Trinity in Him, thus as being the only God of heaven and earth. Moreover, it appears also that He came into the world to glorify His humanity, that is, to make it Divine.
[2] The humanity that the Lord glorified, that is, the humanity that He made Divine, was the natural humanity, which He could not glorify or make Divine except by taking on a humanity in a virgin in the natural world, to which He then united His Divinity which He had from eternity. This union was achieved by temptations suffered by the humanity He had taken on, the last of which was His suffering of the cross and at the same time His fulfilling all of the Word, not only by His fulfilling all of the Word in its natural sense, but also by His fulfilling all of the Word in its spiritual sense, and also in its celestial sense, which, as we said before, deals with Him alone.
But on this subject see what we disclosed in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture.
Now because the Lord embodies the Word, and the Word became flesh (John 1:1, 2, 14), and the Word became flesh in order that He might fulfill it, it is apparent that the Lord’s appearing on the clouds of heaven means His coming in the Word. That the clouds of heaven symbolize the Word in its literal sense may be seen in nos. 24 and 642 above.
It is apparent that it is the Lord’s appearing in the Word that is meant, because the white horse symbolizes a deeper understanding of the Word, and we are told that the name of Him who sat on the horse is “The Word of God,” and that His name is “King of kings and Lord of lords” (verses 13, 16).
[3] It is apparent from this now that John’s seeing heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, symbolizes the spiritual sense of the Word revealed by the Lord and the deeper meaning of the Word thereby disclosed, which is the coming of the Lord.
That the Word’s spiritual sense has at this day been revealed, which no one in the Christian world has previously known anything about, may be see in Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), in which we expounded two of the books of Moses – Genesis and Exodus – in accordance with that sense. It may be seen also in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 5-26; in the short treatise, The White Horse, from beginning to end, and from the numbers collected there from Arcana Coelestia regarding the sacred scripture; and furthermore in this exposition of the book of Revelation, in which not even one little verse can be understood apart from its spiritual meaning.
He who sat on it, that is, on the white horse, means the Lord in relation to the Word. That it is the Lord in relation to the Word is apparent from verse 13 below, where we are told that He was clothed with a garment stained with blood, and that His name is called “The Word of God.” “Faithful and true” symbolizes the Divine goodness and Divine truth – faithfulness symbolizing Divine goodness because Divine goodness is faithful. In reference to people, someone who is faithful is someone in the inmost or third heaven, thus someone prompted by celestial goodness, as may be seen in no. 744 above. Truth in reference to the Lord plainly symbolizes Divine truth.
That righteousness symbolizes both goodness and truth, and in reference to the Lord, Divine goodness and Divine truth, may be seen in no. 805 above. It follows, therefore, that to judge in righteousness symbolically means to exercise judgment in accordance with Divine goodness and Divine truth.
That every judgment by the Lord is given effect by means of the Word, and that it is accordingly the Word that judges everyone, may be seen in no. 233 above. To do combat in righteousness means, symbolically, to separate the good from the evil, because the Lord does not fight against anyone, but separates good people from evil ones, and when the good have been separated from the evil, the evil then cast themselves into hell.
On the head means, symbolically, from the Lord, for the head symbolizes wisdom springing from love, and a person is governed from the head by wisdom springing from love. John saw jewels on the head, because the Word’s Divine truths, symbolized by jewels, come from the Lord. That jewels symbolize the Word’s Divine truths may be seen in nos. 231, 540; that the head in reference to the Lord symbolizes the Divine wisdom accompanying Divine love, in no. 47; and what else the head symbolizes, in nos. 538, 568.
The Word’s Divine truths correspond in the spiritual world to jewels, and owing to the correspondence, so appear there, and are seen in heaven on the heads of people who regard the Word as holy. Jewels accordingly symbolize the Word’s Divine truths in its literal sense. That is because the literal sense is made translucent by its spiritual and celestial senses, as jewels are by light.
A name symbolizes someone’s character (no. 165 and elsewhere), here the character of the Word, or what the Word is like inwardly, that is, in its spiritual and celestial senses. It is said to be a name written, because the Word exists both among people on earth and among angels in heaven (see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 70-75). No one’s knowing the name but Himself means, symbolically, that no one but the Lord Himself sees it, that is, what the Word is like in its spiritual sense, and the person to whom He reveals it.
That no one sees the Word’s spiritual meaning but the Lord alone, that no one accordingly sees that meaning unless enabled to do so by the Lord, and that no one is enabled to do so by the Lord unless he possesses Divine truths from the Lord, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, no. 26.
A garment symbolizes truth that clothes good (nos. 166, 212, 328), and when referring to the Word it symbolizes the Word in its literal sense, for the literal sense is a kind of covering that clothes the Word’s spiritual and celestial senses. The blood symbolizes the violence done to the Lord’s Divinity and to the Word (nos. 327, 684). It symbolizes this because blood symbolizes the Lord’s Divine truth in the Word (nos. 379, 653). Consequently to shed blood means, symbolically, to do violence to the Lord’s Divinity and to the Word. The Word of God symbolizes here the Word in its literal sense, for it is to this that violence has been done, but not to the Word in its spiritual sense, because this sense has not been known, and if it had been known, it would have had violence done to it as well. Therefore that sense was not revealed until after the Last Judgment was over and the Lord was about to establish a new church. Nor is it revealed to anyone now unless he possesses Divine truths from the Lord, as may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, no. 26.
[2] That violence has been done to the Lord’s Divinity and to the Word is clearly apparent from the Roman Catholic religion and from the faith-alone religion of the Protestant Reformed. The Roman Catholic religion teaches that the Lord’s humanity is not Divine, and so they have transferred everything that is the Lord’s to themselves. They also maintain that it is for them alone to interpret the Word, and their interpretation is everywhere contrary to the Word’s Divine truth, as we showed in the exposition of the preceding chapter 18. It is apparent, therefore, that violence has been done to the Word by that religion.
It is apparent likewise from the faith-alone religion among the Protestant Reformed. This, too, does not make the Lord’s humanity Divine, and it founds its theology on a single saying of Paul falsely interpreted.* Therefore it takes no account of everything the Lord taught regarding love and charity and good works, even though those teachings are so obvious that anyone may see them if only he has the eyes to do so.
[3] Jews treated the Word similarly. Their religion taught that the Word was written only for them, so that only they are meant in it, and that the Messiah to come would exalt them over all others in the whole world. By these notions and many others they falsified and adulterated everything in the Word. This is the meaning of the following declaration in Isaiah:
Who is this who comes from Edom, with spattered garments from Bozrah…. Why is your apparel red, and your garments like those of one who treads in the winepress… …(Because) their victory is spattered upon My garments, and I have befouled my whole garment. (Isaiah 63:1-3)
Garments here, too, symbolize the Word’s Divine truths. Edom means red, here the redness of blood. It is apparent, therefore, that His being clothed with a garment stained with blood and His name called “The Word of God,” symbolizes Divine truth in the outmost sense, or the Word in its letter, to which violence has been done.
* “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:28).
The hosts in heaven mean angels who possess Divine truths and goods (no. 447). Heaven here means the New Christian Heaven, referred to in nos. 612, 613, 626, 659, 661 above. This is the heaven meant because it is the new heaven foretold in the book of Revelation. To follow the Lord means, symbolically, to be conjoined with Him (no. 621). The white horses on which John saw them symbolize a deeper understanding of the Word, as in no. 820 above. The fine linen, white and clean, symbolizes truth that is pure and genuine obtained through the Word from the Lord (no. 814). We are also told regarding the New Church in verse 8 of this chapter that it would be clothed in fine linen, clean and bright. So we are told the same here as well regarding the New Christian Heaven, through which that church will descend from the Lord.
That this is the symbolic meaning follows from a similar declaration in no. 544 above. The rod of iron with which He will shepherd the nations symbolizes truths drawn from the literal sense of the Word and confirmed by the rational considerations of the natural man, as may be seen in no. 544 and also in nos. 148, 485.
That faith alone without good works is dead is clearly apparent in the Epistle of James 2:17, 20,* who also says,
Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only. How you deceive yourselves! (James 1:22ff.)
Paul says something similar:
…the hearers of the law will not be made righteous by God, but the doers of the law will be made righteous. (Romans 2:13)
* “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead…. But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?”
The wine of the fury and wrath of God symbolizes the church’s goods and truths that it has from the Word, profaned and adulterated, thus the church’s evils and falsities (nos. 316, 632, 635, 758). To tread the press of that wine symbolizes to endure those evils and falsities, to fight against them and condemn them, and thus to free angels in heaven and people on earth from being assailed by them. For the Lord came into the world in order to conquer the hells, which had by then risen up to the point that they were beginning to assail the angels, and He conquered them by combats against them, thus through temptations or trials. For spiritual temptations or trials are nothing else than combats against the hells. And because every person associated with spirits in respect to his affections and consequent thoughts – an evil person with spirits from hell, and a good one with angels from heaven – therefore when the Lord conquered the hells, He freed from assault not only angels in heaven, but also people on earth.
[2] This is consequently what is symbolized by these declarations in Isaiah:
…He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…. He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities….and by His wound we were healed…. Jehovah has caused to fall on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed…, He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of My people, a plague upon them…. He has…made His soul guilty…. (Isaiah 53:4-10)
The subject here is the Lord and His temptations or trials by the hells, and lastly by the Jews who crucified Him.
The Lord’s combats are also described in Isaiah 63:1-10, where we also find the following declarations:
…Your garments like those of one who treads in the winepress. I have trodden the winepress alone…. (Isaiah 63:2, 3)
This symbolically means that the Lord endured the church’s evils and falsities, and all the violence done to the Word, thus to Himself, alone.
We say “the violence done to the Word, thus to Himself,” because the Lord embodies the Word, and violence was done to the Word and to the Lord Himself by the Roman Catholic religion and by the faith-alone religion among the Protestant Reformed. The Lord endured the evils and falsities of both when He executed the Last Judgment, by which He conquered the hells again. If He had not conquered them again, no flesh could have been saved, as He Himself says in Matthew 24:21, 22.*
* “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”
The Lord’s garment symbolizes the Word in respect to Divine truth, as in no. 825 above. The Lord’s thigh symbolizes the Word in respect to Divine goodness. Because thighs and loins symbolize married love, and because that love is the fundamental love of all loves, therefore thighs and loins symbolize the goodness of love. That this is due to its correspondence may be seen in no. 213 above. Therefore, when a thigh is mentioned in reference to the Lord, it symbolizes the Lord in respect to the goodness of love, and here the Word as well in that respect. Having a name written symbolizes the character of the Lord, as in no. 824 above. “King of kings” means the Lord in respect to the Divine truth of His Divine wisdom, and “Lord of lords” means the Lord in respect to the Divine goodness of His Divine love. The Lord’s kingdom and His dominion have the same symbolic meaning in places where both are mentioned (see no. 664 above).
[2] Because the Lord is called King of kings and Lord of lords, and this means the Lord in respect to both Divine truth and Divine good, therefore the name is said to have been written on His garment and on His thigh; and the name written on His garment symbolizes the Word in respect to Divine truth, while the name written on His thigh symbolizes the Word in respect to Divine goodness, both being contained in the Word. The Word’s Divine truth is found in its spiritual sense, which is intended for angels of the intermediate or second heaven, who possess intelligence stemming from Divine truths; and the Word’s Divine goodness is found in its celestial sense, which is intended for angels of the highest or third heaven, who possess wisdom stemming from Divine goods. But this latter sense is deeply hidden, being perceptible only to people who possess love toward the Lord from the Lord.
That the one on the white horse here is the Lord is explicitly said above in the book of Revelation:
These will do battle with the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings. (Revelation 17:14)
[3] That a thigh symbolizes the goodness of love, and in reference to the Lord, the Divine goodness of His Divine love, is clear from the following passages in the Word:
Righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and truth the girdle of His thighs. (Isaiah 11:5)
…over (the cherubim’s) heads was…the appearance of a man (on a throne)…. From the appearance of His loins and upward…, and from the appearance of His loins and downward…, (there was) the appearance of fire and of brightness all around. (Ezekiel 1:26-28)
The man on the throne means the Lord. The appearance of fire from His loins upward and downward symbolizes His Divine love, and the brightness all around symbolizes the Divine wisdom emanating from it.
(Daniel saw a man) whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz. (Daniel 10:5)
The man was an angel having the Lord in him. Gold of Uphaz symbolizes the goodness of love.
The thighs or loins have the same symbolic meaning in Isaiah 5:27, Psalm 45:3, and elsewhere.
Regarding the correspondence of the thighs or loins with married love, which is the fundamental love of all loves, see Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), nos. 5050-5062.
The angel standing in the sun means the Lord in His Divine love. The angel means the Lord, and the sun His Divine love. Crying with a loud voice means, symbolically, out of Divine zeal, for a voice or influx coming from the Lord out of Divine love is an expression of Divine zeal, inasmuch as zeal is a characteristic of love. Birds that fly in the midst of heaven symbolize all people who have a spiritual affection for truth and so think about heaven. To come and gather together for the supper of the great God symbolizes a calling and summoning to the New Church and to conjunction with the Lord; and because conjunction with the Lord is attended by eternal life, therefore this, too, is symbolically meant. To cry “come” symbolizes a calling, and “gather together” symbolizes a summoning.
[2] That an angel in the Word means the Lord may be seen in nos. 5, 170, 258, 344, 465, 649, 657, 718 above, and the more so here because he was seen standing in the sun, and no angel appears in the sun. For the Lord is the sun in the spiritual world, and therefore the Lord alone is present in it. That the sun in reference to the Lord symbolizes Divine love may be seen in nos. 53 and 414. Clearly, to cry with a loud voice in reference to the Lord in His Divine love means, symbolically, to speak or flow in out of Divine zeal; for Divine zeal is a characteristic of Divine love, in this case for the salvation of humankind. That birds symbolize such things as are connected with the intellect and consequent thought may be seen in no. 757 above, and in this case people who have a spiritual affection for truth and think about heaven, since the cry is addressed to birds that fly in the midst of heaven, and to fly in the midst of heaven means, symbolically, to discern, focus on, and think (nos. 245, 415). That the supper of the great God symbolizes the New Church and thus conjunction with the Lord, may be seen in no. 816, where that supper is called the marriage supper of the Lamb.
The subject of no. 831 above was conjunction with the Lord through the Word, and now here it is the assimilation of goods from Him through the Word’s truths.
To eat symbolically means to assimilate (no. 89). The flesh the people were to eat symbolizes goods in the Word and so in the church. And kings, commanders, mighty men, horses and those who sit on them, and people, free and slave, both small and great symbolize truths of every level of meaning, degree or kind. Kings symbolize people governed by the church’s truths from the Word, and abstractly the church’s truths from the Word themselves (nos. 20, 483). Commanders symbolize people who possess concepts of goodness and truth, and abstractly those concepts themselves (no. 337). Mighty men symbolize people who are learned in doctrine from the Word, and abstractly the learning gained from there itself (nos. 337). Horses symbolize an understanding of the Word, and those who sit on them symbolize people who are wise owing to their understanding of the Word, and abstractly the wisdom gained from there itself (nos. 298, 820). People free and slave symbolize people who acquire knowledge on their own and people who gain it from others (nos. 337, 604). People small and great symbolize people who do so to a lesser or greater degree (nos. 527, 810).
It is apparent from this that the people’s being called to eat the flesh of those listed symbolizes an assimilation of goods from the Lord through the truths in the Word and in doctrine drawn from it, of every level of meaning, degree or kind.
[2] It should be known that no one has any spiritual good from the Lord except through truths from the Word. For the Word’s truths exist in the light of heaven, and goods in the warmth of that light. Consequently unless one’s intellect is in the light of heaven through the Word, his will cannot enter into the warmth of heaven. Love and charity cannot take form except through truths from the Word. A person cannot be reformed except through truths from the Word. The church itself takes form in a person in consequence of those truths – not in consequence of those truths in the intellect alone, but by living in accordance with them. Only then do truths enter into the will and become goods. The appearance of truth is thus turned into the appearance of good. For what pertains to the will and so to the love is called good, and everything pertaining to the will or love is also part of a person’s life.
It can be seen from this that what is meant here by eating the flesh of those listed is an assimilation of goodness through truths of every level of meaning, degree or kind, through the Word, from the Lord.
Who cannot see that flesh here does not mean flesh? Who can be so irrational as to believe that the Lord calls and summons all people to a great supper in order to have them eat the flesh of kings, commanders, mighty men, horses, those who sit on them, and all people, free and slave, both small and great? Who cannot see that there is in this a spiritual meaning, and that apart from that meaning no one knows what is meant here? Who can continue to deny that the Word at its heart is spiritual? Would it not be no more than something material if people were to understand it according to its literal sense and not according to the spiritual sense?
[3] Similar to the passage here is the following one in Ezekiel:
…thus says the Lord Jehovih, “Speak to every sort of bird and to every beast of the field: ‘Gather yourselves and come; gather together from all sides to My…great sacrificial meal on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth…. You shall eat fat till you are full, and drink blood till you are drunk, at My sacrificial meal which I am sacrificing for you. You shall be filled at My table with horses and chariots and…with all the men of war…. (Thus) will I set My glory among the nations.” (Ezekiel 39:17-21)
Flesh here likewise symbolizes the church’s goodness from the Lord through the Word, and blood the church’s truth.
Who does not see that people would not be given blood to drink to the point of drunkenness, and would not eat horses, chariots, mighty men, and men of war till they were full, at the table of the Lord Jehovih?
Accordingly, when flesh symbolizes the church’s goodness and blood the church’s truth, it is clearly apparent that the Lord’s flesh and blood in holy supper symbolize Divine goodness and Divine truth from the Lord, the same as bread and wine, regarding which see John 6:51-58.*
Flesh symbolizes goodness in many other places in the Word as well, as in the following:
I will…remove the heart of stone from their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh…. (Ezekiel 11:19, cf. 36:26)
My flesh longs for You in a dry…land…. (Psalm 63:1)
My heart and my flesh shout aloud for the living God. (Psalm 84:2)
My flesh…will dwell secure. (Psalm 16:9)
When you see the naked and cover him, and do not hide yourself from your own flesh… (Isaiah 58:7)
* “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven – not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
The beast symbolizes people caught up in a religion teaching faith alone, as may be seen in nos. 567, 576, 577, 594, 598, 601 above. That they include only those people who are inwardly evil and have professed that religion will be seen below. The kings of the earth symbolize people who more than others are caught up in the falsities of that religion, thus its leaders. For kings of the earth symbolize people governed by the church’s truths from the Word, and in an opposite sense, people caught up in falsities (nos. 20, 483, 704, 737, 720, 740). Here they are people caught up in falsities. Their armies symbolize all those among them who are likewise caught up in falsities (no. 447).
To make war means, symbolically, to attack, since war in the Word symbolizes spiritual war, which is one of falsity against truth, and of truth against falsity (nos. 500, 586, 707). He that sat on the horse symbolizes the Lord in relation to the Word (nos. 820, 821). And because people cannot fight against the Lord Himself, but fight against His Divine truths found in the Word, thus fighting also against the Lord because the Lord embodies the Word, therefore this is what is meant by making war against Him who sat on the horse.
That an army or host symbolizes people who possess Divine truths, thus abstractly Divine truths themselves, accordingly people who belong to the Lord’s New Heaven and New Church, because it is they who possess Divine truths, may be seen in no. 826 above.
The beast here means the beast from the sea, described in Revelation 13:1-10, and the false prophet means the beast from the earth, described in the same chapter, verses 11 to 18. The beast from the sea means the laity and common people who are caught up in a religion teaching faith alone, and the beast from the earth means the clergy and the learned who are caught up in that religion, as may be seen from the exposition of that chapter.
It is clearly apparent that the false prophet here is the beast from the earth, described in chapter 13:11-18, because we are told here that the false prophet worked signs in the presence of the other beast, by which he led astray those who received the mark of the beast and who worshiped its image. For the same thing is said about the beast from the earth in chapter 13, namely, that it performed great signs in the presence of the beast from the sea, and led astray those who dwell on the earth, so that they worshiped its image and received its mark on their right hand and on their foreheads (Revelation 13:12-17). It is apparent from this that the false prophet here symbolizes the clergy and the learned who had confirmed themselves in a religion teaching faith alone and had led the laity and common people astray. They are called a false prophet, because a false prophet symbolizes people who teach and preach falsities by twisting the Word’s truths (nos. 8, 701).
The signs done by this beast symbolize arguments and assertions that faith alone is the only means of salvation, as may be seen in nos. 598, 599, 704 above. To receive the mark of the beast and worship its image means, symbolically, to acknowledge and accept that faith (nos. 634, 637, 679).
Being alive means, symbolically, as they were. These two, namely the beast and the false prophet, symbolize all those people who have professed faith alone and are inwardly evil, both the laity and the clergy, as said just above in no. 834. The lake of fire burning with brimstone symbolizes the hell where those people are found who are impelled by loves of that falsity and at the same time lusts for evil. A lake symbolizes an abundance of falsities, as will be seen below. Fire symbolizes love, here these people’s love of falsity. Fire symbolizes love in both senses, good and evil, as may be seen in nos. 468, 494, 599, and here it symbolizes a love of falsity, because it is described as a lake of fire. Brimstone symbolizes a lust for evil and its accompanying falsities (no. 452).
Something similar is said about the dragon and these two in the next chapter, in these words:
The devil (that is, the dragon) that deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Revelation 20:10)
[2] It should be known that the hell where people like this are appears at a distance as a lake of fire with a green flame like that of brimstone or sulfur. But those who are there do not see this. They are shut up in their workhouses where they vehemently argue with each other. Sometimes knives appear in their hands, which they brandish in a threatening manner to keep from yielding. It is their love of falsity together with their lusts for evil that occasions the appearance of such a lake. This appearance is produced because of its correspondence.
[3] That a lake symbolizes a place with an abundance of truth, and in an opposite sense, therefore, a place with an abundance of falsity, can be seen from the Word. A place with an abundance of truth from the following:
…waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a lake…. (Isaiah 35:6, 7)
I will make the wilderness into a lake of water, and the dry land into springs of water. (Isaiah 41:18, cf. Psalm 107:33, 35)
I will make the rivers into islands, and I will dry up the lakes. (Isaiah 42:15)
…the God of Jacob, who turned the rock into a lake of water, and the flint into a fountain of waters. (Psalm 114:7, 8)
…all who make payment from the lakes of the soul. (Isaiah 19:10)
In an opposite sense from the following:
I will cut off from Babylon the name and remnant…, and I will make it into a possession of the bird of prey, and into lakes of water. (Isaiah 14:22, 23)
Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:14)
If anyone was not found written in the Book of Life, he was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15)
…their part in the lake of fire burning with brimstone, which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)
The rest mean all those of various heretical sects among the Protestant Reformed who had not lived according to the Lord’s commandments in the Word that they knew, namely the commandments of the Decalogue, thus who did not refrain from evils as being sins. For people who do not for that reason refrain from these are caught up in evils of every kind, inasmuch as they have these inherent in them from birth and so from early childhood to the end of life; and these evils increase daily if they are not removed by active repentance.
These are the people of whom we are told that they were slain with the sword of Him who sat on the horse. To be slain means symbolically, here are as often before, to be slain spiritually, which is to perish in respect to one’s soul. The sword of Him who sat on the horse, which went forth from His mouth, symbolizes the Word’s truths combating the falsities accompanying evil. For various kinds of swords symbolize truth fighting against falsity, and falsity fighting against truth (no. 52). However, a sword on the thigh means a combat from love; a sword in the hand, or dagger, means a combat with power; and a sword from the mouth means a combat from doctrine. Consequently the sword that went forth from the mouth of the Lord means a combat from the Word against falsities (nos. 108, 117, 827), as it is the Word that goes forth from the mouth of the Lord.
The reference here is to combat with the Protestant Reformed and not with Roman Catholics, because the Protestant Reformed read the Word and acknowledge the truths in it to be Divine truths. Not so Roman Catholics. They acknowledge the Word indeed, but still do not read it, and each regards the pronouncements of the Pope as having priority, and the Word as far from being on par with them. Combat from the Word is therefore impossible in their case. They also put themselves above it and not under it. But even so they are judged in accordance with the Word, and in accordance with papal pronouncements insofar as these accord with the Word.
Birds symbolize falsities emanating from hell, and because caught up in those falsities are demons of hell that are present with a person in his falsities that are products of his love, therefore these demons are here symbolized by birds. A person who is caught up in such falsities also becomes such a demon after death. That useless and harmful birds, especially unclean and rapacious ones that feed on carrion, symbolize falsities that are products of a person’s love, may be seen in no. 757 above.
Flesh here symbolizes the evils attendant on the lusts that are inherent in a person (no. 748). To be filled with that flesh means, symbolically, to be as though fed by those lusts and to draw them in with delight. For the demons of hell that are caught up in the same lusts for evil eagerly inhale and fill their nostrils with them, and with the life attendant on them, because of the lusts emanating from these people’s thoughts and respiration, so that the two also live and dwell together.
Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41)
For the Lord does not say of the goats there that they did evil things, but that they did not do good ones. And they did not do good ones because they say to themselves, “I cannot do good of myself. The Law does not condemn me. The blood of Christ purifies me and liberates me. His suffering of the cross has taken away the guilt of sin. Christ’s merit is imputed to me through faith. I am reconciled to the Father, in a state of grace. He looks upon me as His child, and He regards our sins as frailties, which He instantly forgives for the sake of His Son. Thus He justifies us through faith alone, and no mortal could be saved if it were not the sole means of salvation. For what other end did the Son of God suffer the cross and fulfill the Law except to take away the condemnation due our transgressions?”
These and many more like them are the things they say to themselves, and so they do not do goods that are good. For their faith alone, which is nothing but a theoretical one, being in itself a faith they are taught and consisting therefore only of knowledge, does not produce any good works. Indeed, it is a lifeless faith, into which no life or soul enters unless the person turns directly to the Lord and refrains from evils as being sins, and this as though of himself. The good things that the person does then as though of himself are from the Lord, and are thus in themselves good.
On this theme we find the following in Isaiah:
Woe to a sinful nation…laden with iniquity, the offspring of evildoers, corrupted children! …When you spread out your hands, I hide My eyes from you; even if you make many prayers, I will not hear…. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good…. (Then) if your sins be like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; if they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:4, 15-18)
And in Jeremiah:
Stand at the gate of the house of Jehovah, and proclaim there this word…, “Do not trust in 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 is where our faith is).’ …Will you go stealing, murdering, committing adultery, and swearing falsely…, and then come and stand before Me in this house on which My name is placed and say, ‘We are rescued,’ while you do these abominations? Has this house…become a den of thieves…? ‘Behold, I, even I, have seen,’ says Jehovah. (Jeremiah 7:2-4, 9-11)
**********
Two angels then descended from heaven, and approaching me they said, “What do you see?”
So I told them that I was seeing the ludicrous display of the horsemen described, and I asked the angels what was going on and who the riders were.
[2] To that the angels replied, “They come from the place called in Revelation 16:16 Armageddon, where several thousand of them gathered to fight against people who belong to the Lord’s New Church, which is called the New Jerusalem. They talked in that place about the church and religion, and yet they had nothing of the church among them, because they lacked any spiritual truth, neither did they have any element of religion, because they lacked any spiritual goodness. They spoke there with the mouth and lips about the church and religion, but only to gain mastery by means of them.
“They learned in their youth to affirm faith alone, a trinity in God, and a duality in Christ. But when they advanced to higher offices in the church, they retained what they had learned only for a time. Then, because they began to think no more about God and heaven, but about themselves and the world, thus not about eternal bliss and happiness, but about temporal status and wealth, they expelled the doctrines they had learned in their youth from their rational mind’s interiors which communicate with heaven and so are in the light of heaven, and retained them only in their rational mind’s exteriors which communicate with the world and so are only in the light of the world. And eventually they pushed them aside into the sensual level of their natural mind.
“As a consequence the church’s doctrines with them have become ones of the mouth only, and no longer matters of thought in accord with reason, still less matters of their love’s affection.
“Moreover, because they have made themselves such, they do not accept any of the church’s genuine truths, nor any of religion’s genuine goods. The interiors of their minds have become comparatively like jars filled with iron filings mixed with powdered sulfur, a mixture which becomes first hot if water is introduced into it, and then bursts into flame, breaking the jar. So it is with these people. When they hear something regarding living water, namely, the Word’s genuine truth, and it enters their ears, they become exceedingly heated and inflamed, and reject it as something that will cause their heads to burst.
[3] “These are the people who looked to you like apes riding backward on fiery red and black horses with the reins around their necks, since people who do not like the church’s truth and goodness from the Word also do not wish to look at a horse’s foreparts, but at its hindparts. For a horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word – a fiery red horse an understanding of the Word extinguished as to goodness, and a black horse an understanding of the Word extinguished as to truth.
“They cried out for battle against riders on white horses because a white horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word as to its truth and goodness. They appeared to draw back their horses with their necks because they were afraid to fight, lest the Word’s truth spread to many and so come to light.
“This is the explanation.”
[4] The angels went on to say, “We come from a society in heaven called Michael, and have been commanded by the Lord to go down to the place called Armageddon, from which the company of horsemen you saw broke out.
“Armageddon to us in heaven symbolizes a state and disposition to fight on behalf of falsified truths, arising from a love of mastery and great status. And because we perceive in you a desire to know about the combat there, we will tell you something about it.
“After we descended from heaven, we went to the place called Armageddon and saw some several thousand people gathered there. However, we did not join their company, but there were two buildings on the place’s southern side in which there were some boys with their teachers. We entered the buildings, and the boys and teachers received us kindly. We were delighted with their company. All were fair of face because of the life in their eyes and the zeal in their speech. The life in their eyes was due to their perception of truth, and the zeal in their speech to their affection for truth. Therefore they were also given caps from heaven, and they decorated the edges of them with gold braid interwoven with pearls. They were given garments, too, with varying patterns of white and blue.
“We asked them whether they had looked over at the place nearby called Armageddon. They said that they had seen it through a window up under the building’s roof. They saw a gathering there, they said, but one of figures under various forms that appeared now and then as dignified men, and now and then as not human, but as statues and carved idols, surrounded by a crowd of people on bended knee. These people also appeared to us under various forms, sometimes as human, sometimes as leopards and sometimes as goats. As goats they appeared with their horns pointed downward, using them to dig up the ground.
“We interpreted these changes in appearance for them, saying what they represented and what they symbolized.
[5] “But in response to your question, when the people who were gathered there heard that we had gone into those buildings, they said to each other, ‘What do they have to do with those boys? Let’s send some of our company to throw them out.’
“So they sent some of them, and when they arrived they said to us, ‘Why did you go into those buildings? Where are you from? By the authority invested in us we order you to go!’
“But we replied, ‘You have no power or authority to tell us to go. In your own eyes, indeed, you are like Anakim,* and the people here like dwarfs, but still you have no power or right here, beyond that perhaps of the cunning arts emanating from the three lodging places you have here, arts which nevertheless will be of no avail. Report to your companions, therefore, that we have been sent here from heaven to find out whether you have among you any religion or not, and if not, you will be expelled from this place.
“‘Put to your companions, then, this question, in which lies the most essential element of the church and so of religion: How do they understand these words in the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father, who are in heaven. Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, as in heaven, so upon the earth.”‘
“On hearing this, the people first said, ‘What do you mean?’ But then that they would put the question.
“So they went away and put it to their companions. And their companions replied, ‘What kind of question is this?’
“However, they understood the hidden purpose, that the angels wanted to know whether the words support the path of their faith to God the Father. So they said, ‘The words clearly say that we are to pray to God the Father, and because Christ is our Savior, that we are to pray to God the Father for the sake of the Son.’
“And presently, with some irritation, they decided they would come to us and tell us this with their own mouths, saying as well that they would tweak our ears.
“So they came from that place, and entered a grove near the two buildings where the boys were with their teachers. There was a raised level area there, a kind of arena. And holding each other by the hand, they entered that arena, where we were waiting for them.
“There were mounds of turf there, forming hillocks. They seated themselves on them, for they said to each other, ‘Let us not stand in their presence, but sit.’
“And then one of them, who had the ability to disguise himself as an angel of light,** and who was told by the rest to speak with us, said, ‘You have put to us that we disclose our thinking regarding the first words in the Lord’s Prayer, as to how we interpret them. I accordingly say to you that we interpret them to mean that we are to pray to God the Father, and because Christ is our Savior and we are saved by His merit, that we are to pray to God the Father with faith in Christ’s merit.’
[6] “But then we said to them, ‘We come from a society in heaven called Michael, and we have been sent to look and see whether those of you gathered in this place have any religion or not. This we could not discover except by asking you about God. For the idea of God enters into every aspect of religion and makes possible a conjunction, and through conjunction salvation. In heaven we recite the Prayer daily, as people do on earth, and we think then not of God the Father, because He is invisible, but of God in His Divine humanity, because in this He can be seen. Moreover, you call Him in that humanity Christ, but we call Him the Lord, and thus for us the Lord is our Father in heaven.
“‘The Lord also taught us that He and the Father are one;*** that the Father is in Him, and He in the Father;**** that whoever sees Him, sees the Father;***** and that no one comes to the Father except through Him.****** Moreover, He also said that it is the will of the Father that people believe in the Son,******* and that whoever does not believe in the Son does not see life,******** indeed that the wrath of God abides on him.********* It is apparent from this that one goes to the Father through the Son and in Him. And because this is the case, He also taught that He had been given all authority in heaven and on earth.**********
“‘It says in the Prayer, “Hallowed be Your name,” and “Your kingdom come.” And we showed from the Word that the Lord’s Divine humanity is the name of the Father, and that the Father’s kingdom exists when people go directly to the Lord, and not at all when they go directly to God the Father. Therefore the Lord also told His disciples to preach the kingdom of God.*********** This, then, is the kingdom of God.
[7] “We further instructed them from the Word,” the angels said, “that the Lord came into the world to glorify His humanity, in order that angels in heaven and people in the church might by united to God the Father through Him and in Him. For He taught that people who believe in Him are in Him and He in them, meaning that, as the church teaches, they are in the body of Christ.
“Finally we informed them that the Lord is at this day establishing a new church, one meant by the New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation, that the worship in it will be worship of the Lord alone, as is the case in heaven, and that everything contained in the Lord’s Prayer from beginning to end will be thus fulfilled.
“Everything we have just said we confirmed from the Word in the Gospels and from the Word in the Prophets, so extensively that they tired of listening.
[8] “First, we confirmed that ‘our Father in heaven’ is the Lord Jesus Christ from the following passages:
…unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given…. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, …God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
…You (Jehovah) are our Father…; our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name. (Isaiah 63:16)
(Jesus said,) “He who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.” (John 12:45)
If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him. (John 14:7)
Philip said…, “Lord, show us the Father….” Jesus said to him, “…He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how then can you say, ‘Show us the Father’…” (John 14:8, 9)
I and the Father are one. (John 10:30)
All things that the Father has are Mine. (John 16:15, cf. 17:10)
…the Father is in Me, and I in (the Father). (John 10:38, cf. 14:10, 11, 20)
“And that no one has seen the Father but the Son alone, who is in the bosom of the Father (John 1:18, cf. 5:37, 6:46).
“Consequently the Lord also says that no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6), and that one comes to the Father through Him, from Him, and in Him (John 6:56, 14:20, 15:4-6, 17:19, 23).”
(But for more on the unity of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – see the account in no. 962.)
[9] “Second, that ‘hallowed be Your name’ means to go to the Lord and worship Him – this we confirmed from the following:
Who does not…glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. (Revelation 15:4)
“This in reference to the Lord.
(Jesus said,) “Father, glorify Your name.” And a voice came from heaven, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it.” (John 12:28)
“The Father’s name that was glorified is His Divine humanity.
(Jesus said,) “I come in My Father’s name….” (John 5:43)
(Jesus said,) “Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” (Luke 9:48)
These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:31)
As many as received Him, to them He gave the power to be children of God, to those who believe in His name. (John 1:12)
Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (John 14:13, 14)
…he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:15, 16, 18)
…where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:19, 20)
“Jesus also told His disciples to preach in His name (Luke 24:47). And so on elsewhere, in places that mention the Lord’s name, meaning Himself in respect to His humanity, as in Matthew 7:22, 10:22, 18:5, 19:29, 24:9; Mark 11:10, 13:13, 16:17; Luke 10:17, 19:38, 21:12, 17; John 2:23.
“It is apparent from this that the Father is hallowed in the Son, and by angels and people through the Son, and that this is the meaning of ‘hallowed by Your name,’ as is further evident in John 17:19, 21-23, 26.
[10] “Third, that ‘Your kingdom come’ means let the Lord reign – this we confirmed by the following:
The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God is preached…. (Luke 16:16)
Jesus…, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, (said,) “The time is fulfilled; the kingdom of God is at hand….” (Mark 1:14, 15, cf. Matthew 3:2)
“Jesus Himself preached the gospel of the kingdom, and said that the kingdom of God was at hand (Matthew 4:17, 23, 9:35). He commanded the disciples to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God (Mark 16:15, Luke 8:1, 9:60). He spoke similarly to the seventy He sent out (Luke 10:9,11). And so on elsewhere, as in Matthew 11:5, 16:27, 28; Mark 8:35, 9:1, 47, 10:29, 30, 11:10; Luke 1:19, 2:10, 11, 4:43, 7:22, 17:20, 21, 21:30, 31, 22:18.
“The kingdom of God whose gospel they were to proclaim was the Lord’s kingdom, and thus the Father’s kingdom. The reality of this is apparent from the following:
The Father…has given all things into (the Son’s) hand. (John 3:35)
(The Father gave the Son) authority over all flesh…. (John 17:2)
All things have been delivered to Me by My Father. (Matthew 11:27)
All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (Matthew 28:18)
And further from the following:
…Jehovah of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth He is called. (Isaiah 54:5)
I watched…, and behold, One like the Son of Man…, and to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, and all peoples (and) nations…will worship Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one that shall not perish. (Daniel 7:13, 14)
(When) the seventh angel sounded…, there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Revelation 11:15, cf. 12:10)
(This kingdom of the Lord is the subject of the book of Revelation from beginning to end, and all those who will belong to the Lord’s New Church, namely, the New Jerusalem, will come into it.)
[11] “Fourth, ‘Your will be done, as in heaven, so upon the earth’ – this we confirmed by the following:
(Jesus said,) “This is the will of My Father…, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life. (John 6:40)
…God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:15, 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 3:36)
“And so on elsewhere. To believe in the Son is to turn to Him and have confidence that He saves, because He is the Savior of the world.
“Furthermore, it is known in the church that the Lord Jesus Christ reigns in heaven. He Himself also says that His kingdom exists there. Accordingly, when the Lord reigns likewise in the church, then the will of His Father is done, as in heaven, so upon the earth.
[12] “To this we will finally add the following,” the angels said. “It is said throughout the whole Christian world that people who belong to the church constitute the body of Christ and are in His body. How then can a person in the church go to God the Father except through Him in whose body he is. Otherwise he must have to leave the body and go.
[13] “When the people from Armageddon heard these and many other things from the Word, they tried now and then to interrupt us and to cite the kinds of things the Lord addressed to His Father in a state of exinanition.************ But their tongues then stuck to roofs of their mouths, since they were not permitted to contradict the Word.
“Eventually, however, the reins on their tongues were loosened and they cried out, ‘You have spoken against the doctrine of our church, namely that we should turn to God the Father directly and believe in Him. Thus you have made yourselves guilty of violating our faith. Leave this place, therefore, and if you don’t, we will throw you out.’
“Then, their passions fired up, they proceeded from threats to the attempt. But by a power then given us we struck them blind, so that not seeing us, they broke out into a level stretch of land, which was a desert. And of those that the boys saw from the window, some became as statues and idols, before whom the rest knelt, and they are the ones who appeared to you as apes on horses.”
* A legendary race of giants mentioned in the Old Testament. Goliath may have been one of their descendants.
** Cf. 2 Corinthians 11:14.
*** John 10:30, 17:11, 21.
**** John 10:38, 14:20, 17:21.
***** John 14:9.
****** John 14:6.
******* John 3:16, 18.
******** John 3:16, 18, 6:40.
********* John 3:36.
********** Matthew 28:18.
*********** Luke 9:2, 60.
************ A term employed in 17th, 18th, and 19th century theology to mean the action or process of emptying out the self, used especially of the Christ, with reference to Philippians 2:7, 8.
CHAPTER 20
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound it for a thousand years; 3 and he cast it into the bottomless pit, and shut it up, and set a seal on it, so that it should not lead the nations astray any more till the thousand years were completed. But after that it must be released for a little while.
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was entrusted to them. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
7 Then, when the thousand years have been completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 8 and he will go out to lead astray the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 Then the devil who led them astray was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away. And there was not found any place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and their books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, in accordance with the things which were written in their books. 13 Then the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hell delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
The removal of those people meant by the dragon (verses 1-3), and the ascent then of those in the lower earth,* who worshiped the Lord and refrained from evils as being sins (verses 4-6). The judgment on those having no religion in their worship (verses 7-9). The damnation of the dragon (verse 10). The universal judgment on all the rest (verses 11-15).
* Cf. references to the lower parts of the earth in Psalm 63:9, Isaiah 44:23, Ezekiel 32:24, and also Ephesians 4:9.
The Contents of the Individual Verses
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
The Lord’s Divine operation into the lower regions by virtue of His Divine power to close and open and to bind and loose.
2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, which is the Devil and Satan,
Those meant by the dragon were detained, who because they think about matters of faith sensually and not spiritually, are called that serpent of old, who because they are caught up in evils in the way they live, are called the Devil, and who because they are caught up in falsities as regards their doctrine, are called Satan.
and bound it for a thousand years;
Those meant by the dragon here were forcibly drawn away and separated from the rest of the people in the world of spirits to keep them from having any communication with the rest for a while or a period of time.
3 and he cast it into the bottomless pit, and shut it up, and set a seal on it, so that it should not lead the nations astray any more
The Lord removed entirely those who were caught up in faith alone and took away all their communication with the rest, to keep them from inspiring any of their heresy in people who were being raised into heaven.
till the thousand years were completed. But after that it must be released for a little while.
This was the case for a while or for a period of time until people with truths springing from goodness were raised by the Lord into heaven, after which those meant by the dragon would for a short time be set loose and have a communication opened with those who were left.
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was entrusted to them.
The Word’s truths were laid open, in accordance with which all people are judged, and those in the lower earth were then raised up, who had been hidden away by the Lord to keep the dragon and its beasts from leading them astray;
I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God,
who had been rejected by those caught up in falsities hatched out of their own intelligence, because they worshiped the Lord and lived in accordance with the truths in His Word,
who had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or on their hands.
and did not acknowledge or accept the doctrine of faith alone;
And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
who possessed a conjunction with the Lord already and had been in His kingdom for some time.
5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were completed.
Besides these just described, no others were raised into heaven until after the dragon was set loose and they were then tried and examined to discover their character.
This is the first resurrection.
Salvation and eternal life consist primarily in worshiping the Lord and living according to His commandments in the Word, because these are the means to conjunction with the Lord and affiliation with angels in heaven.
6 Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection.
Through conjunction with the Lord those who enter heaven enjoy the felicity of eternal life and enlightenment.
Over such the second death has no power,
They do not suffer damnation,
but they shall be priests of God and of Christ,
because they are kept by the Lord in the goodness of love and so in truths of wisdom.
and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
They were already in heaven when the rest who did not live again, that is, who did not accept the life of heaven, were still in the world of spirits.
7 Then, when the thousand years have been completed, Satan will be released from his prison,
After the Lord raised into heaven those who previously had been hidden away and protected in the lower earth, and the New Christian Heaven was increased by their number, all those who had confirmed themselves in falsities of faith were let loose.
8 and he will go out to lead astray the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for battle,
Those meant by the dragon here drew to their side from any land throughout the world of spirits all who lived the life of an external, natural worship only and no internal, spiritual worship, and roused them up against those who worshiped the Lord and lived according to His commandments in the Word.
whose number is as the sand of the sea.
The multitude of such people.
9 And they went up over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city.
Being roused up by followers of the dragon, they scorned every truth in the church and attempted to destroy everything connected with the New Church and its fundamental doctrine regarding the Lord and life.
And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
They were destroyed by the lusts of their hellish love.
10 Then the devil who led them astray was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
People who were caught up in evils in the way they lived and in falsities as regards their doctrine were cast into hell.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away. And there was not found any place for them.
A universal judgment executed by the Lord on all the former heavens that were occupied by people possessing a civil and moral goodness, but no spiritual goodness, thus who gave the appearance of being Christians outwardly, but who inwardly were devils. These heavens with their lands were totally dispersed so that no part of them was seen anymore.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God,
All people of every condition and character, who had died from earthly lands and were now among those in the world of spirits, gathered by the Lord for judgment.
and their books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.
The interiors of their minds were opened, of both the good and the evil, and by an influx of light and warmth from heaven their characters were seen and perceived in respect to the affections of their love or will, and so in respect to the thoughts of their faith or intellect.
And the dead were judged according to their works, in accordance with the things which were written in their books.
All were judged in accordance with the inner life within their outward appearances.
13 Then the sea gave up the dead who were in it,
External and natural people in the church called together for judgment.
and Death and Hell delivered up the dead who were in them.
The impious at heart in the church, who in themselves were devils and satanic spirits, called together for judgment.
And they were judged, each one according to his works.
The same as before.
14 Then Death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire.
The impious at heart, who in themselves were devils and satanic spirits, and yet in outward appearances seemed to be people of the church, were cast down into hell among spirits who were caught up in a love of evil and so in a love of falsity according with evil.
This is the second death.
This is their final damnation.
15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
Those who had not lived in accordance with the Lord’s commandments in the Word and did not believe in the Lord were condemned.
THE EXPOSITION
20:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. This symbolizes the Lord’s operation into the lower regions by virtue of His Divine power to close and open and to bind and loose.
An angel coming down from heaven means the Lord, as may be seen in nos. 5, 258, 344, 465, 657, 718, and also the Lord’s operation, nos. 415, 631, 633, 649, here His operation into the lower regions, because the angel is described as coming down. Having the key to the bottomless pit symbolizes the Divine power to open and close hell, as may be seen in nos. 62, 174. And having a great chain in his hand symbolizes the endeavor and so the action of binding and loosing.
It follows, therefore, that there was no key or chain in the Lord’s hand, but that its appearing so to John was representative of the Lord’s Divine power. This chapter also refers two or three times to the opening and closing of hell.
Just who are meant by the dragon may be seen in no. 537 above.* It is here and there called that serpent of old, the Devil and Satan, because a serpent symbolizes people who think sensually and not spiritually (nos. 455, 550), the Devil symbolizes people caught up in evils in the way they live, and Satan symbolizes people caught up in falsities as regards their doctrine (nos. 97, 550).
All people, indeed, who do not turn directly to the Lord think sensually about matters having to do with the church, and cannot think spiritually, for the Lord is the true light (nos. 796, 797). Consequently people who do not turn to the Lord directly cannot think in the light of spiritual light, which is the light of heaven, but do so in the light of natural light divorced from spiritual light, which is to think sensually. They are for that reason called that serpent of old. People who do not turn to the Lord directly and refrain from evils as being sins, remain in their sins, which is why the dragon is called the Devil. And because the same people are caught up in falsities as regards their doctrine, the dragon is therefore called Satan.
* Namely, people in the Protestant Reformed Church who make God three entities and the Lord two, and who divorce charity from faith, making faith saving and not at the same time charity.
To bind here means, symbolically, to forcibly draw away and separate from the rest of the people in the world of spirits in order to keep them from having any communication with the rest, as we will see in the following number.
A thousand years does not mean a thousand years, but a while or a period of time, because in the spiritual world that is the symbolism of a thousand without any additional numbers. Someone who believes that a thousand years means a thousand years does not know that numbers in the Word all have symbolic meanings, and so he may develop some delusional ideas about the meanings of things, especially in the book of Revelation, when he encounters numbers such as 5, 7, 10, 12, 144, 666, 1,200, 1,600, 12,000, 144,000, and many others. The thousands in the last of these numbers symbolize only some modifier, and when thousands are used to designate periods of time, they symbolize an additional extent. When used alone, however, as in the present instance, a thousand means, symbolically, a while or a period of time.
The reality of this is something I have been told from heaven, where none of these numbers are found in the Word that exists there, but instead of the number some property, and instead of a thousand a period of time. The inhabitants there marvel that even though people in the church see so many numbers in the book of Revelation, which cannot but symbolize properties, still they cling to the conjectures of chiliasts and millenarians, and in so doing impress upon themselves vain ideas regarding the final period of the church.
* Chiliasts and millenarians are people who believe that Christ will return to earth to reign for 1000 years (the definition of a chiliad or millennium).
The dragon here means people caught up in falsities as regards their faith, as in no. 842 just above. We are told that the dragon was laid hold of, bound, cast into the bottomless pit, and shut up, and had a seal set on it; and this symbolically means that it was entirely removed and kept from having any communication with the rest. Its being laid hold of means, symbolically, that the people meant by it were brought together and detained. Its being bound means, symbolically, that the people were forcibly drawn away and separated. Its being cast into the bottomless pit means, symbolically, that the people were sent down in the direction of hell. Its being shut up means, symbolically, that the people were entirely removed. A seal’s being set on it means, symbolically, that communication with the rest was completely taken away.
[2] The dragon was entirely removed for a time in order that the people who had been hidden away by the Lord might be raised from the lower earth (the subject of verses 4-6) without being led astray by the dragon-people as they were being raised. Consequently the text also says, “so that it should not lead the nations astray any more,” which symbolically means, to keep them from inspiring any of their heresy in those other people.
This event occurred in the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, and it took place because in that world evil people have dealings with the good while the good are being prepared for heaven and the evil for hell, and the good there are tried and tested by having some association with the evil and being explored as to their character and constancy.
The good are meant by the nations that the dragon-people were kept from leading astray. That nations mean people who are good in the way they live, and in an opposite sense people who are evil, may be seen in no. 483 above.
It can be seen from this that the dragon’s being cast into the bottomless pit, shut up, and having a seal set on it, symbolically means that the Lord removed entirely those who were caught up in falsities as regards their faith, and took away from them any communication with the rest, to keep them from inspiring any of their heresy in people being raised into heaven.
Till the thousand years were completed means, symbolically, for a while or for a period of time, because the thousand years does not mean a thousand years, but a while or a period of time, as in no. 842 above. That the dragon must be released for a little while means, symbolically, that the people here meant by the dragon, described above, must be afterward set loose from their prison and have a communication opened then with the people who were left. That this is the symbolic meaning is apparent from what has been said before, thus from the context, and from its connection with what follows after this in the spiritual sense.
The subject that follows now in verses 4-6 is people raised by the Lord into heaven, for whose sake the dragon was removed and shut away.
This is the symbolic meaning of these words because the thrones on which they sat do not mean thrones, but judgment in accordance with the Word’s truths. That thrones seen in heaven represent judgment may be seen in no. 229 above. That nothing else is meant by the thrones on which the twenty-four elders sat,* and on which the twelve apostles would sit,** and that all people are judged in accordance with the Word’s truths, may be seen in no. 233 above. It is apparent therefore that the judgment entrusted to them symbolizes a judgment given to the Word’s truths.
[2] The people are those who were raised by the Lord from the lower earth into heaven, who in the meantime were hidden away there to keep the dragon and its beasts from leading them astray, because the reference is to the souls of those who had been beheaded, and to the dead, as mentioned next. Not that they seemed dead to themselves, but that they so appeared to others.
The place where they were hidden away is called a lower earth, which exists just above the hells, below the world of spirits, and there, by a communication with heaven and by a conjunction with the Lord, they lived in safety. There are many such places, and the people there live happily with each other and worship the Lord. Nor do they have any knowledge of hell. After a last judgment the people who are there are from time to time raised by the Lord into heaven, and when they are being raised, those meant by the dragon are removed.
I have often been given to see them raised into the company of angels in heaven. This is what is meant in the Word by graves being opened and the dead rising again.
* Revelation 4:4, 11:16.
** Matthew 19:28, Luke 22:30.
The souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God mean people after death, who are then called spirits, people clothed in a spiritual body, who were hidden away by the Lord in the lower earth until the evil had been removed by the Last Judgment. They are said to have been beheaded because they were rejected by people caught up in falsities hatched out of their own intelligence, who are all those caught up in evils and so in falsities, or in falsities and as a result of these in evils, and yet in outward appearances are worshipers of God.
That an axe symbolizes such falsity will be seen in the following number. The testimony of Jesus and the Word of God symbolize an acknowledgment of the Lord’s Divinity in His humanity, the same as these words earlier:
(John) bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ…. (Revelation 1:2)
(Michael and his angels) overcame (the dragon) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…. (Revelation 12:11)
(The dragon) went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12:17)
I am your fellow servant and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus…. …the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. (Revelation 19:10)
That these declarations symbolize an acknowledgment of the Lord’s Divinity in His humanity and a life in accordance with the truths in His Word, especially the Ten Commandments, may be seen in the earlier explanations of those verses.
These souls are the same ones of whom the following is said above:
…I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, who are holy and true, will You not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then white robes were given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until the number of both their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was complete. (Revelation 6:9-11)
These verses may be seen explained in nos. 325-329.
The rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were completed. (Revelation 20:5)
It is apparent from this that those who are said to have been beheaded symbolize people rejected by those caught up in falsities hatched out of their own intelligence.
That an axe used to behead someone symbolizes falsity hatched out of people’s own intelligence is apparent from the following:
…the statutes of the peoples are vanity, if indeed one cuts wood from the forest, the work of the hands of an artisan, with an ax. (Jeremiah 10:3)
(Egypt’s) voice shall go like a serpent, …they come…with axes, like hewers of wood. (Jeremiah 46:22)
He is known as one who lifts up axes against a thicket of wood, and already they are demolishing his carvings with axes and hammers…. They have profaned to the ground the dwelling place of Your name. (Psalm 74:5-7)
When you besiege a city…, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them. (Deuteronomy 20:19)
Axes in these passages symbolize falsity hatched out of people’s own intelligence, and this for the reason that iron symbolizes truth in its lowest form, which we call sensual truth, which when divorced from rational and spiritual truth turns into falsity. It is falsity hatched from people’s own intelligence because sensuality is inherent in people’s native character, as may be seen in no. 424.
Because iron and axes have this symbolic meaning, the command was given to Israel that if they built an altar of stone, it should be built of unhewn stones, and that no iron tool should be used on the stones, lest they profane it (Exodus 20:25, Deuteronomy 27:5).
Therefore, regarding the temple in Jerusalem, we are told the following:
…the edifice itself…was built with unhewn stone, and no hammer or ax or any iron tool was heard in the edifice while it was being built. (1 Kings 6:7)
Conversely, when a carved image is the subject, which symbolizes falsity hatched out of people’s own intelligence, we are told that it was fashioned with iron, with tongs or axes and hammers (Isaiah 44:12). To be shown that falsity hatched out of people’s own intelligence is symbolically meant by a carving or idol, see no. 459 above.
Those who lived with Christ symbolize people who possessed a conjunction with the Lord, because these have life. Those who reigned with Christ symbolize people who were in His kingdom, as explained below. That a thousand years symbolizes for some time may be seen in no. 842 above.
This declaration is said of people who in their life in the world worshiped the Lord and lived in accordance with His commandments in the Word. After death they were protected to keep dragon-spirits from leading them astray. Thus they were people who for some time had possessed a conjunction with the Lord already and were, in respect to their interiors, affiliated with angels in heaven.
That to reign with Christ does not mean to reign with Him, but to be in His kingdom by conjunction with Him, may be seen in no. 284 above. For the Lord alone reigns, and everyone in heaven engaged in some occupation performs some service in his society, as in the world. But he does so under the Lord’s direction. Angels act, indeed, as though of themselves, but because they regard primarily the useful services they perform, they act from the Lord, from whom originates every useful endeavor.
The rest of the dead symbolize people who were rejected by those caught up in faith alone because they worshiped the Lord and lived in accordance with His commandments, but who had not yet been tried and examined to discover their character. That these are the people symbolized by the dead here may be seen in no. 847 above. For after their departure from the world, all people first come into the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, and there they are tried and examined and in this way prepared, the evil for hell and the good for heaven. It is said of these that they did not live again, that is, that they were not yet so conjoined with the Lord and affiliated with angels in heaven as the first people were.
That many of these were afterward saved is apparent from verses 12 to 15 in this chapter, where we are told that the Book of Life was also opened, and anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
All of this is symbolized by the declaration, “This is the first resurrection,” because it follows as a conclusion from the preceding declarations and so embraces them. The preceding ones that these words embrace are contained in verse 4, and partly also in verse 5. The declarations contained in verse 4 are the following:
I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ…. (Revelation 20:4)
The souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God symbolize people who had been rejected by those caught up in falsities hatched out of their own intelligence, because they worshiped the Lord and lived in accordance with His commandments in the Word, as may be seen in nos. 846 and 847 above. Their not worshiping the beast or its image, and not receiving its mark on their foreheads and hands, means symbolically that they rejected the heretical doctrine of faith alone, as may be seen in no. 848 above. And their living and reigning with Christ for a thousand years means symbolically that they were conjoined with the Lord and affiliated with angels in heaven, as may be seen in no. 849 above. This, then, is what is involved in the declaration, “This is the first resurrection.”
Resurrection symbolizes salvation and eternal life, and the first resurrection does not mean a first resurrection but the primary and essential implication of resurrection, thus salvation and eternal life. For there is but one resurrection to life. There is no second one. Consequently nowhere is a second resurrection mentioned. For once conjoined with the Lord, people remain conjoined with Him to eternity, and this in heaven. As the Lord says,
I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, shall live. Everyone who lives and believes in Me shall not die to eternity. (John 11:25, 26)
That this is what is meant by the first resurrection is plain also from the verse that follows now.
That person is called blessed who has the felicity of eternal life (no. 639). And that person is called holy (or a saint) who has enlightenment in Divine truths through conjunction with the Lord. For the Lord alone is holy, and the Divinity emanating from Him which produces enlightenment is what is called the Holy Spirit (nos. 173, 586, 666). The first resurrection symbolizes the Lord’s raising a person into heaven and thus salvation, as in no. 851 above.
It is apparent from this that “blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection” symbolically means that through conjunction with the Lord, those who enter heaven enjoy the felicity of eternal life and enlightenment.
The second death has no other symbolic meaning than spiritual death, which is damnation. For the first death is natural death, which is a death of the body. But the second death is spiritual death, which is a death of the soul, and this is damnation, as people know. Moreover, because the second death is damnation, and the first death is a transition, a death that is not a spiritual one, therefore nowhere in the book of Revelation is the first death mentioned, but only the second death, which is mentioned here and in verse 14 in this chapter, and in the following chapter 21, verse 8, and also earlier in chapter 2, verse 11.
Someone who does not notice this may easily believe that there are two spiritual deaths, because reference is made to a second death, even though there is only one spiritual death, which is here meant by the second death. He may likewise believe that there are two resurrections, because reference is made to a first resurrection, even though there is only one resurrection, as may be seen in no. 851 above, which is why a second resurrection is nowhere mentioned.
It is apparent from this that “over such the second death has no power” symbolically means that the people described do not suffer damnation.
Priests in the Word mean people who possess the goodness of love, and kings people who possess truths of wisdom. So we are told above, “Jesus Christ makes us kings and priests” (Revelation 1:6), and also that the Lamb has “made us kings and priests” that we may “reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:10). And it can clearly be seen that the Lord will not make people kings and priests, but that He will make angels of those who possess truths of wisdom and the goodness of love from Him.
That kings mean people who possess truths of wisdom from the Lord, and that the Lord is called a king by virtue of His Divine truth, may be seen in nos. 20, 483, 664, 830 above. And priests mean people who possess the goodness of love from the Lord, because the Lord embodies Divine love and Divine wisdom, or to say the same thing, Divine goodness and Divine truth. Owing to His Divine love or Divine goodness, then, the Lord is called a priest, and owing to His Divine wisdom or Divine truth He is called a king.
That is why the heavens have been divided into two kingdoms, celestial and spiritual, and why the celestial kingdom is called the Lord’s priestly kingdom, inasmuch as the angels in that kingdom are recipient vessels of Divine love or Divine goodness from the Lord; and why the spiritual kingdom is called the Lord’s royal kingdom, inasmuch as the angels in it are recipient vessels of Divine wisdom or Divine truth from the Lord. But more on these two kingdoms may be seen in nos. 647, 725 above.
[2] We say that angels are recipient vessels of Divine goodness and Divine truth from the Lord, but it should be known that they are recipients perpetually, for no angel or mortal can so assimilate Divine goodness or Divine truth as to make it his own, but only to have them appear as though they were his own, because they are Divine. Consequently no angel or mortal can produce any good or truth that is good or true in itself. It is apparent, then, from this that they are kept in goodness and truth by the Lord, and are continually kept in them. If someone comes into heaven, therefore, and thinks that goodness or truth is so assimilated by him as to be his own, he is immediately sent down from heaven and instructed.
It can now be seen from this that the people’s being priests of God and of Christ symbolically means, because they are kept by the Lord in the goodness of love and so in truths of wisdom.
[3] That priests in the Word mean people who possess the goodness of love from the Lord can be seen from many passages in it; but because I cited them in Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), published in London, I wish only to present from there the following:
That priests represented the Lord with respect to Divine good (nos. 2015, 6148).
That the priesthood was representative of the Lord with respect to His work of salvation, because it proceeded from the Divine goodness of His Divine love (no. 9809).
That the priesthood of Aaron and his sons and of the Levites was representative of the Lord’s work of salvation in a sequential progression (no. 10,017).
That priests and the priesthood therefore symbolize the goodness of love from the Lord (nos. 9806, 9809).
That the two names, Jesus and Christ, symbolize both the Lord’s priestliness and His royalty (nos. 3004, 3005, 3009).
That priests are responsible for matters having to do with the church, and kings for ones having to do with the civil state (no. 10,793).
That priests are to teach truths and lead by them to goodness and so to the Lord (no. 10,794).
That they are not to claim for themselves any authority over people’s souls (no. 10,795).
That priests are due respect because of their sacred functions, but that they are not to attribute the respect to themselves, but to the Lord from whom alone those sacred functions emanate. For the priesthood does not lie in the person, but is attached to the person (nos. 10,796, 10,797).
That priests in the Word who do not acknowledge the Lord symbolize the opposite (no. 3670).
To reign with Christ does not mean to reign with Him, but to be in His kingdom, or in heaven, as may be seen in nos. 284, 849 above. A thousand years does not mean a thousand years, but symbolically means for a while, as in no. 842 above.
The thousand years symbolizes nothing else than that period of time which intervened between the shutting up of the dragon in the bottomless pit and its being set loose, as is apparent because we are told that it was cast into the bottomless pit, shut up, and had a seal set on it for a thousand years, and then that it was set loose (verses 3 and 7). This same period of time is also symbolically meant here. Therefore that the people described would reign with Christ a thousand years means, symbolically, that they were already in heaven when the rest of the dead who did not live again, mentioned in verse 5, were in the world of spirits.
But this is not comprehended by people who do not know that numbers in the book of Revelation do not mean numbers but properties. I can testify that angels do not entertain a natural idea of any number, as people do, but a spiritual one. Indeed, they do not know what a thousand years is, but only that it is some interval of time, short or long, which can only be expressed as a while.
When the thousand years have been completed means, symbolically, after the Lord raised into heaven those who previously had been hidden away and protected in the lower earth. When the thousand years have been completed has this symbolic meaning because the sole subject in the preceding verses 4-6 is the salvation of people who worshiped the Lord and lived in accordance with His commandments, and this period of time is what is meant by the thousand years.
We are in fact not told that the people were raised from the lower earth, but it is nevertheless apparent from chapter 6, verses 9-11, where they were seen under the altar, and under the altar means in a lower earth. That is why they are also called here in verse 6 priests of God and of Christ (see no. 854 above).
That the New Christian Heaven was increased by their number is also something we are not told here, yet it is nevertheless apparent from chapter 14 where the subject is the New Christian Heaven, as may be seen from the explanations there, especially in nos. 612, 613, 626, 631, 647, 659, 661.
Satan’s being set loose from his prison means, symbolically, that those people were let go who had confirmed themselves in faith alone as regards their doctrine, because the dragon here is called Satan, and not at the same time the Devil, as in verse 2 above; and as the Devil, the dragon means people who were caught up in evils in the way they lived, and as Satan, people caught up in falsities as regards their faith, as may be seen in no. 841 above. But the character of the one and the other will be seen in the following number.*
* A reference probably to the missing no. 857. [See number 858.]
His going out to lead astray the nations which are at the four corners of the earth means, symbolically, that the people meant by the dragon, described just above in nos. 856 and 857, drew to their side all throughout the world of spirits. To lead astray here means, symbolically, to draw to their side. The nations symbolize both good people and evil (no. 483). The four corners of the earth symbolize the entire spiritual world (no. 342), here people throughout the entire world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, and where all first gather after their departure from the earth (see nos. 784, 791). For people who were in hell could not be seen by the dragon, nor those who were in heaven.
Gog and Magog symbolize people who engage in external, natural worship divorced from any internal, spiritual worship, as discussed in the following number. To gather the nations together for battle means, symbolically, to rouse up those meant by the nations against those who worship the Lord and live according to His commandments in the Word, since all who do not worship the Lord and live according to His commandments are evil, and evil people act in concert with the dragon and its followers. The battle means a spiritual battle, which is one of falsity against truth, and of truth against falsity, as may be seen in nos. 500 and 586 above.
* No. 857 is missing. Nevertheless we find three references to it, in nos. 550, 858 and 870, and because both nos. 550 and 858 include as well a reference to no. 856, and no. 858 in the text comes immediately after 856, it seems quite likely that no. 857 was omitted accidentally by the printer of the first edition.
The contents of chapter 38 in Ezekiel are as follows: The subject is people who attend to the Word’s literal sense only, and whose worship is therefore an external worship without any internal worship, meant by Gog (verses 1, 2). That each and every component of that worship will perish (verses 3-7). That such worship will overwhelm the church and destroy it, so that it will be caught up in outward shows without any inward realities (verses 8-16). That the state of the church will change therefore (verse 17-19). That the truths and goods of religion will consequently perish and be replaced by false ones (verses 20-23).
[2] The contents of chapter 39 in the same prophetic book are as follows: Regarding people who attend to the Word’s literal sense only and whose worship is an external one, that they will come into the church meant by Gog and perish (verses 1-6). That this will be the case when the Lord makes His advent and establishes His church (verses 7, 8). That this church will then dispel all the people’s evils and falsities (verses 9, 10). It will entirely destroy them (verses 11-16). That the New Church to be established by the Lord will be instructed in truths and goods of every kind, and infused with goods of every kind (verses 17-21). That because of its evils and falsities, the previous church will be destroyed (verses 23, 24). That the Lord will then gather together His church from all nations (verses 25-29).
[3] We must say something, however, about people who engage in external worship without any internal, spiritual worship. They are the kind of people who go often to church on the sabbath and on holy days, who sing hymns then and pray, who listen to sermons and attend then to the preacher’s eloquence, but pay little or no attention to the substance, and who are moved somewhat by prayers uttered with feeling, such as that they are sinners, without reflecting on themselves or on their life; who also partake annually of the sacrament of the Holy Supper; who pour out prayers morning and evening, and pray also before midday and evening meals; and who also converse at times about God, heaven and eternal life, and know how to cite as well then some passages from the Word and to pretend to be Christians, even though they are not. For after they have done all these things, they think nothing of adulterous affairs and obscenities, of vengeance and hatred, of covert theft and robbery, of lying and blasphemy, and of lusting for and intending evils of every kind.
People of this character do not believe in any God, still less in the Lord. If asked what the good and truth of religion are, they do not know and think it of no great moment for them to know. In a word, they live for themselves and the world, thus for their inherent disposition and body, and not for God and the neighbor, thus not for their spirit and soul. It is apparent from this that their worship is an external worship without any internal worship. They also readily accept the heresy of faith alone, especially when they are told that a person cannot do good of himself, and that they are not under the yoke of the law. That is the reason we are told that the dragon will go out to lead astray the nations, Gog and Magog.
In the original Hebrew, too, Gog and Magog mean a roof and deck, which is something external.
The multitude of such people is likened to the sand of the sea, because the sea symbolizes the external component of the church (nos. 402-404, 470), and the sand is something which serves no use in the sea except to compose the bottom.
Because the number of such people is so great, therefore the valley of their burial is called “The Multitude of Gog,” and the name of the city where they are, “The Multitude” (Ezekiel 39:15, 16).
To go up over the breadth of the earth means, symbolically, to scorn every truth in the church, because going up over symbolically means to transcend and bypass, thus to scorn. And the breadth of the earth symbolizes the truth in the church, as will be seen below. To surround the camp of the saints means, symbolically, to besiege and try to destroy everything connected with the New Church, as will be seen in the number following next. And the beloved city symbolizes the doctrine of the New Church. That a city symbolizes a church’s doctrine may be seen in nos. 194, 501, 502, 712 above. The city is called beloved because its doctrine teaches about the Lord and how to live, as it is the doctrine of the New Jerusalem that is meant here.
That this is the symbolic meaning of these words, no one can see except as a consequence of the Word’s spiritual sense. For it cannot possibly enter a person’s thought that the breadth of the earth symbolizes the truth in a church, that the camp of the saints symbolizes everything connected with the New Church, both its truths and its goods, and that the city symbolizes its doctrine. Lest the mind remain in a state of doubt, therefore, we must demonstrate what breadth and the camp of the saints symbolize in the spiritual sense, which will make it possible for one to see afterward that the meaning of these words is as we have said.
[2] The breadth of the earth symbolizes the truth in a church because the spiritual world has in it four zones – eastern, western, southern and northern -and the eastern and western zones form its longitude or length, while the southern and northern zones form its latitude or breadth. Moreover, because the inhabitants in the eastern and western zones are ones impelled by the goodness of love, and therefore the east and west symbolize goodness, so likewise does longitude or length. And because the inhabitants in the southern and northern zones are ones impelled by truths of wisdom, and therefore the south and north symbolize truth, so likewise does latitude or breadth. But for more on this subject, see the book Heaven and Hell (London, 1758), nos. 141-153.
That breadth symbolizes truth can be seen from the following passages in the Word:
You (Jehovah) have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in the broad place. (Psalm 31:8)
Out of distress I called on Yah; He answered me in the broad place. (Psalm 118:5)
(Jehovah) led me out into the broad place; He delivered me…. (Psalm 18:19)
…I am raising up the Chaldeans, a bitter and impetuous nation which marches into the breadths of the earth…. (Habakkuk 1:6)
(The Assyrian) will pass through Judah, He will overflow and pass over…, and the spreading of his wings will fill the breadth…. (Isaiah 8:8)
…Jehovah will pasture them like a lamb in broad pasture. (Hosea 4:16)
And so on elsewhere, as in Psalm 4:1, 66:12, Deuteronomy 33:20.
[3] Nothing else is meant by the breadth of the city New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:16). For since the New Jerusalem means the New Church, its breadth and length cannot symbolically mean its breadth and length, but its truth and goodness. These, indeed, are the measures of a church.
So also in Zechariah:
I said (to the angel), “Where are you going?” He said…, “To measure Jerusalem, to see how great its width is and how great its length.” (Zechariah 2:2)
So likewise the breadth and length of the new temple and new earth in Ezekiel, chapters 40-47.
So, too, the length and breadth of the altar of burnt offering, of the Tabernacle, of the table of showbread, of the altar of incense, and of the ark within. So also the length and breadth of the temple in Jerusalem, and of many other things whose dimensions are given.
That a camp in the spiritual sense symbolizes everything connected with the church with respect to its truths and goods can be seen from the following passages:
The sun and moon grew dark, and the stars diminished their brightness. Jehovah uttered His voice before His army, for His camp is very great; for numberless are those who obey His Word. (Joel 2:10, 11)
I will encamp for My house some of the army…. (Zechariah 9:8)
…God has scattered the bones of them who encamp against you…, because God has rejected them. (Psalm 53:5)
The angel of Jehovah encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them. (Psalm 34:7)
(An angel of God met Jacob, and said to Jacob,) “This is God’s camp.” Therefore he called the name of that place Mahanaim (Two Camps). (Genesis 32:1, 2)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 29:3, Ezekiel 1:24, Psalm 27:3.
That an army or host in the Word symbolizes the church’s truths and goods, and also its falsities and evils, may be seen in nos. 447, 826, 833; and so, too, does a camp.
[2] Since the children of Israel and their twelve tribes symbolize the church in respect to all its truths and goods (nos. 349, 350), they were therefore called the armies or hosts of Jehovah (Exodus 7:4, 12:41, 51), and the places where they stopped and assembled were called camps, as in Leviticus 4:12, 8:17, 13:46, 14:8, 16:26, 28, 24:14, 23; Numbers 1-3, 4:5ff., 5:2-4, 9:17-23, 10:1-10, 11-28, 11:31, 32, 12:14, 15, 21:10-15, 33:1-49; Deuteronomy 23:9-14; Amos 4:10.
It is apparent from this now that the nations’ surrounding the camp of the saints and the beloved city means, symbolically, that these people tried to destroy all the truths and goods of the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, and also its doctrine regarding the Lord and life.
The same symbolism is found in these verses in Luke:
When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near…. (At length) Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luke 21:20, 24)
This is said in reference to the end of the age, which is the final period of the church. Jerusalem here also symbolizes the church.
That Gog and Magog, that is, people who engage in external worship divorced from any internal worship, will then invade the church and try to destroy it, is something we are told also in Ezekiel 38:8, 9, 11 12, 15, 16, 39:2, and that the New Church will then be established by the Lord, Ezekiel 39:17-29.
The fire that came down out of heaven and devoured them symbolizes lusts for evil, or the lusts of a hellish love, as in nos. 494, 748 above, since people who engage in external worship divorced from any internal worship are caught up in evils of every kind and in lusts for them, because the evils in them have not been removed by any actual repentance (no. 859).
We are told that the fire came down from God out of heaven. This occurred in ancient times when everything connected with the church was represented before their eyes, thus when the church was a representational one. But today, now that representations have ceased, similar imagery is used, and it has the same symbolic meaning as before when the meaning was represented.
That fire came down out of heaven on those who profaned sacred things may be seen in nos. 494, 748 above.
Something similar is said of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel:
I will cause…fire and brimstone to rain down on him, and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him. (Ezekiel 38:22)
I will send fire on Magog…. (Ezekiel 39:6)
The devil who led them astray means the dragon, as is apparent from what has gone before, and the dragon means people in general who are caught up in evils in the way they live and in falsities as regards their doctrine (no. 841). We are told that the devil led them astray, in order to make known that the devil was the dragon, because it was the dragon that led astray, as is apparent from verses 2, 3, 7, 8 in this chapter. The lake of fire into which it was cast symbolizes the hell where their loves of falsity and lusts for evil are found (no. 835). The beast and the false prophet symbolize people caught up in faith alone as to both life and doctrine, the unlearned as well as the learned – the unlearned being symbolized by the beast and the learned by the false prophet (no. 834). To be tormented day and night means, symbolically, to be inwardly afflicted continually, and forever and ever means to eternity. Moreover, because we are told that they were cast into a lake of fire and brimstone, and this symbolizes a place where loves of falsity and lusts for evil are found (no. 835), it is by these that they will be inwardly afflicted. For everyone in hell is tormented by his own love and its lusts, as these form everyone’s life there, and it is the life that is tormented. Consequently there are degrees of torment in hell in accordance with degrees in the inhabitants’ love of evil and its accompanying falsity.
Before we explain these literal images one by one, we must first say something about the universal judgment that is the subject here. From the time the Lord was in the world, when He executed a last judgment Himself in person, people who possessed a civil and moral goodness were permitted to tarry longer than others in the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, even though they were without any spiritual goodness, so that they appeared outwardly to be Christians, but inwardly were devils. And at last it was granted them to create permanent dwellings for themselves in that world, and through an abuse of correspondences and illusory appearances to form for themselves pseudo-heavens, which they also did till there was a great abundance of them. But when they multiplied those pseudo-heavens to such a degree as to cut off the spiritual light and warmth between the higher heavens and people on earth, then the Lord executed the Last Judgment and dispersed those illusory heavens. This He did by removing the outward appearances by which they feigned themselves Christians and revealing their inner selves, in which they were devils. The inhabitants were then seen to be what they were really, and those who were seen to be devils were cast into hell, each in accordance with the evils of his life. This took place in the year 1757. But regarding this universal judgment, more may be seen in a short work, The Last Judgment (London, 1758), and in A Continuation Concerning the Last Judgment and the Spiritual World (Amsterdam, 1763).
[2] Now for the exposition: The great white throne and Him who sat on it symbolizes the universal judgment executed by the Lord. The throne symbolizes heaven and also judgment (no. 229). He who sat on the throne means the Lord (no. 808 at the end). The throne appeared white because judgment is executed on the basis of Divine truths, and the color white is predicated of truths (nos. 167, 379). And the throne appeared great because judgment is also executed in accordance with Divine goodness, and greatness is predicated of goodness (nos. 656, 663). “From whose face the earth and heaven fled away” means, symbolically, that the heavens they created for themselves, referred to just above, were dispersed along with their lands. For there are lands in the spiritual world just as in the natural world, as may be seen in nos. 260, 331. But like everything else there, the lands too have a spiritual origin. And no place being found for them means, symbolically, that their heavens along with their lands were so completely dispersed that no part of them was seen anymore.
It can be seen from this that John’s seeing a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away, and there was not found any place for them, symbolizes a universal judgment executed by the Lord on all the former heavens that were occupied by people possessing a civil and moral goodness, but no spiritual goodness, thus who gave the appearance of being Christians outwardly, but who inwardly were devils; and that these heavens with their lands were so totally dispersed that no part of them was seen anymore.
The dead symbolize all who had departed from earthly lands, or who had died physically. More on this below. Small and great symbolize people of every condition and character, as in no. 604. To stand before God, that is, before Him who sat on the throne, symbolically means to be gathered and presented for judgment.
The dead in the Word have the same symbolic meaning as their deaths, and deaths have various symbolic meanings. For death symbolizes not only the extinction of natural life, which is its demise, but also the extinction of spiritual life, which is a state of damnation. Death also symbolizes the extinction of physical loves or lusts of the flesh, which is followed by a renewal of life. Death likewise symbolizes resurrection, because after death a person immediately rises again. Death also symbolizes a state of being ignored, disregarded and rejected by the world.
In its most general sense, however, death has the same symbolic meaning as the Devil, which is why the Devil is also called Death,* and the Devil means the hell where the inhabitants are called devils. Consequently death means evil of will as well, which makes a person to be a devil. It is in this last sense that Death is referred to in the next two verses, where we are told that Death and Hell delivered up their dead and that these were cast into the lake of fire.
It can be seen from this who are symbolically meant by the dead in the various senses of the term. Symbolized here are all those people who had departed from the world or died from earthly lands, and were then in the world of spirits.
[2] We say, in the world of spirits, because all people come first into that world after their demise, and are there prepared, the good for heaven and the evil for hell, and some remain there for only a month or a year, and some for as much as ten to thirty years. And those who were granted to form for themselves pseudo-heavens remained there for several centuries. People today, however, remain no more than twenty years. There is a huge multitude of them, and they form societies there as in the heavens and hells. Regarding this world, see nos. 784, 791 above.
It was on these people in the world of spirits that the Last Judgment was executed, and not on those in heaven or those in hell. For those who were in heaven had already been saved, and those who were in hell had already been damned.
It can be seen from this how deluded those people are who believe that the Last Judgment will take place on earth, and that people will then rise again with their bodies. For all who have lived from the first creation of the world are together in the spiritual world, and all are clothed with a spiritual body, so that to the eyes of spiritual people they appear in the same human form as people do in the natural world to the eyes of natural people.
* As in Revelation 6:8, 20:13, 14.
The books do not mean books, but the interiors of the minds of those being judged. The books symbolize the interiors of the minds of those who were evil and who received a verdict of death, and the Book of Life symbolizes those who were good and who received a verdict of life.
The interiors are called books because the interiors of everyone’s mind have inscribed on them everything the person thought, intended, said and did in the world that proceeded from his will or love and so from his intellect or faith. All of this is inscribed on everyone’s life so precisely that nothing at all is lost.
The character of these interiors is clearly apparent when spiritual light, which is wisdom from the Lord, and spiritual warmth, which is love from the Lord, flow in through heaven. Spiritual light reveals the thoughts that are matters of the intellect and faith; spiritual warmth reveals the affections that are matters of the will and love; and spiritual light and warmth together reveal the intentions and endeavors.
I do not say that a rational person can see the reality of this by the light of his own intellect, but he can see it if he wishes to, provided he is willing to understand that there exists a spiritual light that enlightens the intellect, and a spiritual warmth that kindles the will.
The dead symbolize all who had died from earthly lands and were then in the world of spirits, as in no. 866 above. In accordance with the things which were written in their books means, symbolically, in accordance with the interiors of each person’s mind then revealed, as in no. 867 just above. According to their works means, symbolically, according to the inner life in each person’s outward appearances. That this is the symbolic meaning of works in the Word may be seen in nos. 72, 76, 94, 141, 641 above, to which I add the following, that some works are works of the mind and some are works of the body, both of them internal and at the same time external. Works of the mind are intentions and endeavors, and works of the body are words and actions. Both spring from a person’s inner life, which is the life of his will and love. Whatever does not terminate in works, either in the internal works of the mind or in the external works of the body, is not part of a person’s life, for though it flows in from the world of spirits, it is not embraced. Such things are consequently like images that strike the eyes, or like odors that strike the nose, from which the person turns his head away.
But more on this subject may be seen in the numbers cited above, where some passages from the Word are also presented to confirm that a person is judged according to his works. In addition to those passages are these as well from Paul:
…in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each one according to his works. (Romans 2:5, 6)
…we must all appear before the tribunal of the Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or evil. (2 Corinthians 5:10)
The sea symbolizes the external component of the church, which is natural. Thus those whom the sea gave up symbolize external and natural people in the church. That the sea symbolizes the external component of the church, which is natural, may be seen in nos. 238, 398 at the end, 402-404, 470, 565[r], 659, 661 above. The dead mean people who had died from earthly lands, as in nos. 866, 868 above.
The dead that the sea gave up mean external people in the church, because the only people judged were those who engaged in some worship. For all those who scorned the sanctities of the church and denied the reality of God, the Word, and life after death, were judged immediately after death and conjoined with people in hell, to which they were subsequently cast down. But external and natural people who had professed with the mouth the reality of God and of heaven and hell, and had acknowledged the Word to some extent – these were the ones called together for judgment.
Many of those “from the sea” were saved, for we do not read that they were all cast into the lake of fire, as Death and Hell were. Rather we are told that any of them not found written in the Book of Life were cast into the lake of fire (verse 15). Those among them who were saved are also meant by the rest of the dead who did not live again until the thousand years were completed (verse 5).
It can now be seen from this that the sea’s giving up the dead who were in it symbolizes external and natural people in the church called together for judgment.
The people meant by Death and Hell are no others than people who inwardly were devils and satanic spirits – Death meaning people who inwardly were devils, and Hell people who inwardly were satanic spirits – accordingly all the impious at heart, who nevertheless in outward appearances seemed to be people of the church. For they were the only people who were called together for this universal judgment, inasmuch as only those people are judged who in outward appearances seem to be people of the church, whether laymen or clergy, but who inwardly are devils and satanic spirits. That is because in their case, their outward displays and inward realities have to be separated, and because they also can be judged, since they have known and professed the tenets of the church.
That Death means the impious at heart who in themselves were devils, and Hell those who in themselves were satanic spirits, is apparent from the statement in the next verse, verse 14, that Death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire, when neither death nor hell can be cast into hell. But those can be who, as regards their interiors, personify death and hell, that is to say, who in themselves are devils and satanic spirits.
Just who are meant by the Devil and Satan may be seen in nos. 97, 841, 857* above; and that those are Death who in themselves are devils, in no. 866 above.
Death and hell are mentioned also elsewhere, as in the following:
(The Son of Man said,) “I have the keys of hell and death.” (Revelation 1:18)
The name of him who sat on (the pale horse) was Death, and Hell followed him. (Revelation 6:8)
Likewise in Hosea 13:14; Psalm 18:4, 5, 49:14, 15, 116:3.
* No. 857 is missing. Nevertheless we find three references to it, in nos. 550, 858 and 870, and because both nos. 550 and 858 include as well a reference to no. 856, and no. 858 in the text comes immediately after 856, it seems quite likely that no. 857 was omitted accidentally by the printer of the first edition.
This is apparent from the explanation above in no. 868, where similar words occur. To which I will add this, that everyone is judged in accordance with the character of his soul, and a person’s soul is his life. For it is his will’s love, and the will’s love in everyone accords completely with his reception of the Divine truth emanating from the Lord. The doctrine of the church that is drawn from the Word teaches this reception.
Death and Hell symbolize the impious at heart, who inwardly in themselves were devils and satanic spirits, and yet in outward appearances seemed to be people of the church, as in no. 870 above. The lake of fire symbolizes hell, where those people reside who are caught up in a love of evil and so in a love of falsity according with evil, thus who love evil and justify it by arguments arising from their natural selves, and still more so those who justify it by the literal sense of the Word. Inwardly in themselves these cannot but deny God, for such a denial is subconsciously latent in any evil life practice that is justified by falsities. The lake symbolizes a circumstance in which there is an abundance of falsities, and fire symbolizes a love of evil, as in nos. 835, 864 above.
Our being told that Death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire accords with the speech of angels, in which persons are not named, but instead that which is in a person and makes him who he is. In the present case that which is in the person makes of him death and hell. The reality of this can be seen from the fact that hell cannot be cast into hell.
That the second death symbolically means spiritual death, which is damnation, may be seen in no. 853 above. It is mentioned here because the impious at heart, who in themselves are devils and satanic spirits, and yet seem to be people of the church, are more damned than others.
That the Book of Life symbolizes the Word, and to be judged on the basis of that book means, symbolically, to be judged in accordance with the Word’s truths, may be seen in nos. 256, 259, 295, 302, 309, 317, 324, 330 above. Moreover, no one is found written in the Book of Life but someone who has lived in accordance with the Lord’s commandments in the Word, and who believed in the Lord. This, therefore, is what is meant.
That someone who does not live in accordance with the Lord’s commandments in the Word is condemned, is something that 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 will judge him in the last day. (John 12:47, 48)
And that someone who does not believe in the Lord is condemned, also in John:
He who believes in the Son has eternal life, while he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. (John 3:36)
**********
On awakening from sleep one morning I saw two angels descending from heaven – one from the south of heaven and the other from the east of heaven – both in carriages to which white horses were harnessed. The carriage in which the angel from the south of heaven rode shone as though made of silver. And the carriage in which the angel from the east of heaven rode shone as though made of gold. The reins which they held in their hands glistened too, as though with the blazing light of dawn.
Thus did the two angels appear to me at a distance, but when they drew nearer, I saw them not in a carriage, but in their angelic form, which is a human one. The one who came from the east of heaven was dressed in a shiny crimson garment, and the one who came from the south of heaven in a shiny blue garment.
When these angels arrived beneath heaven in the region below, each ran to the other, as though endeavoring to see which would be first to reach the other, and they embraced and kissed each other. I was told that when these two angels lived in the world, they were bound together by an interior friendship, but one was now in the eastern heaven, the other in the southern heaven. The angels in the eastern heaven are ones impelled by love from the Lord, while those in the southern heaven are ones impelled by wisdom from the Lord.
[2] After talking a while about the magnificent sights in their heavens, they began to consider whether heaven in its essence is one of love or one of wisdom. They agreed right away that the two are inseparable, but discussed which one is the origin of the other.
The angel from the heaven of wisdom asked what love is, and the other replied that love originating from the Lord as a sun constitutes the vital warmth of angels and men so as to be their life; that offshoots of that love are called affections; and that these produce perceptions and thus thoughts.
“It follows from this,” he said, “that wisdom in its origin is love, consequently that thought in its origin is an affection of that love, and one can see from its derivations examined in turn that thought is nothing else than a form of affection. This is not known, because thoughts are seen, whereas affections are matters of warmth, and people reflect on their thoughts, therefore, but not on their affections.
“The case is the same as with sound and speech. That thought is nothing else than a form of affection can be illustrated by speech, as being nothing else than a form of sound. The case is the same, too, because the sound or tone corresponds to affection, and speech to thought. Consequently it is affection that utters sounds, and thought that speaks.
“This can also be clearly seen when the proposition is put, “Take away sound from speech. Is there any speech left? Similarly, take away affection from thought. Is there any thought left?
“It is now apparent, therefore, that love is everything in wisdom, consequently that the essence of the heavens is love, which expresses itself as wisdom. Or what is the same, that the heavens exist from Divine love, and take manifest form from Divine love by means of Divine wisdom. Accordingly the two are, as we said before, inseparable.”
[3] I had with me at the time a newly arrived spirit, who on hearing this asked whether the case is the same with charity and faith, inasmuch as charity has to do with affection and faith with thought.
The angel replied, “It is altogether the same. Faith is nothing else than a form of charity, just as speech is a form of sound. Faith is also formed from charity, as speech is formed from the utterance of sound. In heaven we also know the way it is formed, but we don’t have time to explain it here.”
The angel added, “By faith I mean spiritual faith, which has its spirit and life solely from charity; for charity is spiritual, and it causes faith to be spiritual, too. Consequently faith divorced from charity is a merely natural faith, and such a faith is a lifeless one. It also combines itself with a merely natural affection, which is nothing else than a lust.”
The angels spoke about this spiritually, and spiritual speech embraces thousands of things that natural speech is incapable of expressing. And what is surprising, they cannot even fall within the scope of the ideas of natural thought.
Please remember what has been said here, and when you go from natural light into spiritual light, which happens after death, inquire then what faith and charity are, and you will clearly see that faith is charity in form, and thus that charity is everything in faith, consequently that it is the soul, life and essence of faith, altogether as affection is of thought, and as sound is of speech. Moreover, if you wish, you will see that the formation of faith from charity is like the formation of speech from sound, because the two correspond.
After these angels said all of this, they left, and as they departed, each for his own heaven, stars appeared about their heads. And when they were at some distance from me, I saw them again in carriages as I had before.
[4] After those two angels were out of my sight, I saw to my right a garden in which there were olive trees, vines, fig trees, laurel trees, and palms, placed in order in keeping with their correspondence. I looked over there and saw among the trees angels and spirits walking and talking. One of the angelic spirits then looked back at me. (Those spirits are called angelic spirits who are being prepared in the world of spirits for heaven, and after that become angels.)
The angelic spirit came to me from the garden and said, “Please come with me into our paradise, and you will hear and see marvelous things.”
So I went with him, and he said to me then, “The people you see” – for there were many – “all possess an affection for truth and so enjoy the light of wisdom. We have also here a building that we call The Temple of Wisdom. But no one can see it who believes himself to be very wise, even less one who believes himself to be wise enough, and still less one who believes that he is wise on his own. That is because they do not experience a reception of the light of heaven from an affection for genuine wisdom. It is the mark of genuine wisdom for a person to see from the light of heaven that what he knows, understands and perceives is so little in comparison to what he does not know, understand, or perceive, as to be like a drop in the ocean, and so scarcely anything.
“Everyone in this garden paradise who acknowledges from an inner perception and sight that his wisdom is comparatively so little, sees that Temple of Wisdom. For an inner light enables him to see it, but not the light about him without that inner light.”
[5] Now because I had often had this thought, and from observation and then from perception, and finally from seeing it from an inner light, had acknowledged that a person’s wisdom is so little, it was suddenly granted me to see that temple.
The temple was marvelous in form. It was raised above ground level, foursquare, with walls of crystal, whose roof was of translucent jasper elegantly arched, and having a foundation of various kinds of precious stones. It had steps of polished alabaster leading up into it. On either side of the steps I saw figures of lions with their cubs.
I then asked if it was permissible for me to enter, and I was told that I could. Therefore I ascended, and when I entered, I saw what looked like cherubim flying about the ceiling, but which soon vanished. The floor on which I walked was of cedar, and because of the translucence of the roof and walls the whole temple seemed to be made of light.
[6] The angelic spirit went in with me, and I related to him what I had heard from the two angels regarding love and wisdom and at the same time charity and faith.
And at that the angelic spirit said, “Did they not also speak of a third thing?”
“What third thing?” I said.
“The third thing is useful endeavor,” he said. “Love and wisdom without useful endeavor are nothing real. They are only theoretical entities, and do not become real until they find expression in useful endeavor. For love, wisdom and useful endeavor are a trio that cannot be separated. If separated, none of them is real. Love is not real without wisdom; but in wisdom it takes form for some end. This end for which it takes form is useful endeavor. Consequently, when love is engaged through wisdom in some useful endeavor, then it is real. Indeed, then for the first time it exists. The three are altogether like end, cause and effect. An end is not real unless it exists through a cause in an effect. If one of the three fades, the whole fades and becomes as nothing.
[7] “It is the same with charity, faith and works. Charity without faith is not real, nor is faith without charity real, and neither charity nor faith is real without works. But in works they become real, and a reality such as the usefulness of the works.
“It is the same with affection, thought and application. And it is the same with will, intellect and action.
“The fact of this can be clearly seen in the context of this temple, because the light with which we are surrounded is a light that enlightens the interiors of the mind.
“That nothing exists that is complete and perfect without a trine is something that we learn also from geometry. For a line has no real existence unless it defines an area, nor does an area have any real existence unless it defines a volume. Thus for them to exist, one element must extend into another, and they exist together in the third.
“As the case is in this, so it is also with each and all created things, which take fixed form in their third element.
“It is for this reason, now, that the number three in the Word, spiritually understood, symbolizes something complete and entire.”
This being the case, I could not but wonder that some people profess faith alone, some charity alone, and some works alone, when in fact the first without the second, and the first and the second together without the third, have no reality.
[8] However, I asked then, “Can’t a person have charity and faith and yet no works? Can’t a person have an affection and thought regarding some matter, and yet no application of himself to it?”
The angelic spirit said to me, “He can, but only theoretically and not really. He must still have an impulse or will to put them into practice, and the will or impulse is in itself an act, because it is a continual endeavor to act, one that becomes the outward act when a conscious determination permits. Every wise person consequently accepts the impulse or will as the inward act, entirely as though it were the outward act, because it is so accepted by God, provided it does not fail when opportunity presents itself.”
[9] After that I went down the steps from The Temple of Wisdom and went walking in the garden, and I saw some people sitting under a laurel tree, eating figs. I turned aside to them and asked them for some figs, which they gave me. And lo, the figs in my hand changed into grapes.
Seeing my astonishment at this, the angelic spirit said to me, “The figs in your hand changed into grapes because figs, owing to their correspondence, symbolize goods of charity and so of faith in the natural or external self, whereas grapes symbolize the goods of charity and faith in the spiritual or internal self. So, because you love spiritual matters, this therefore has happened in your case. For in our world everything happens and comes into being, including also transformations, in accordance with correspondences.”
There came over me then a desire to know how a person can do good from God, and yet do so as though of himself. Therefore I asked the people eating figs how they understood the matter.
They said that they could understand it only in this way, that God brings it about inwardly in a person and by means of the person without the person’s knowledge. For if a person were to be aware of this and then do it as though of himself, which would be the same as doing it of himself, the person would do not good but evil. That is because everything that emanates from a person as coming from himself, emanates from his native character, and a person’s native character is from birth evil.
“How then can good from God and evil from man be combined so as to proceed jointly into act?” they said. “Moreover in matters of salvation a person’s native character continually pants after reward, and to the extent it does, it usurps from the Lord the Lord’s merit, which constitutes the highest injustice and impiety.
“In a word, if the good that God accomplishes in a person through the Holy Spirit were to flow into a person’s willing and so doing, the good would be thoroughly defiled and also profaned, something that God nevertheless never permits.
“A person can indeed think that the good he does comes from God, and call it good done by God through him, and done as though of himself, but still we do not understand this.”
[10] However, I opened my mind then and said, “You do not understand it because you think in terms of the appearance, and when affirmed, thought in terms of the appearance is fallacious. You labor under the appearance and consequent fallacious thinking because you believe that everything a person wills and thinks and so does and speaks originates in him and consequently from him, when in fact nothing of this originates in him except a state capable of receiving what flows in. The human being is not a form of life in himself, but an organ receptive of life. The Lord alone is life in Himself, as He also says in John:
…as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself…. (John 5:26)
“And so on also elsewhere, as in John 11:25, 14:6, 19.
[11] “Life is formed of two elements: love and wisdom, or what is the same, the goodness of love and the truth of wisdom. These flow in from God and are received by mankind, and a person senses them as though originating in him. And because he senses them so, as though originating in him, they also emanate from him as though they originated from him.
“That a person senses them so is something granted by the Lord, in order that what flows in may affect him and so be received and remain.
“But because every evil also flows in, not from God but from hell, and is received with delight, because the human being is born an organ of that character, therefore a person can receive good from the Lord only to the extent of his banishment of evil from himself as though of himself. This he does by repentance together with faith in the Lord.
[12] “I say that love and wisdom, and charity and faith, or in common speech, the goodness of love and charity and the truth of wisdom and faith, flow in, and that what flows in appears to be present in a person as though originating in him, and so as though originating from him; and this can be clearly seen from the illustrations of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. Everything sensed in the organs of these senses flows in from without, and yet is sensed in them. So, too, in the organs of the inner senses, with the one difference, that flowing into these are spiritual stimuli that are not apparent, whereas into the physical organs flow natural stimuli that are apparent.
“In short, a person is an organ receptive of life from God. He is accordingly receptive of good to the extent that he desists from evil. The ability to desist from evil is something the Lord grants to everyone, because He grants to everyone the ability to will and understand as though of himself, and whatever a person willingly does as though of his own will in accordance with his thinking as though of his own intellect, remains. Or what is the same, whatever a person does of his own free will, in accordance with the reason of his intellect, remains. By this means the Lord induces in a person a state of conjunction with Himself, and in that state the Lord reforms, regenerates and saves him.
[13] “The life that flows in is life emanating from the Lord, which is also called the Spirit of God – in the Word the Holy Spirit – of which it is said as well that it enlightens and vivifies, indeed that it operates in a person. But this life varies and is modified according to the organic form induced on the person by his love and sight.
“You may also know that every good of love and charity, and every truth of wisdom and faith, flow in and do not originate in a person, from the consideration that someone who thinks that such a capacity is present in a person from creation must also think that God infused Himself into mankind, and that people are therefore partly gods. And yet people who are led by their faith to this thought become devils and stink like decayed corpses.
[14] “Besides, what is a person’s action if it is not the mind acting? For whatever the mind wills and thinks, it does by means of its physical body. Therefore, when the mind is led by the Lord, the action is also led by Him; and the mind and its consequent action is led by the Lord when the person believes in the Lord.
“If it were not so, tell me if you can why the Lord has commanded in thousands of places in the Word that a person should love his neighbor, that he should practice goods of charity and produce fruits like a tree, and that he should keep His commandments, and all this in order to be saved. Why did He also say that people would be judged in accordance with their deeds or works, those who do goods to heaven and life, and those who do evils to hell and death? How could the Lord have said such things if everything emanating from a person were merit-seeking and thus evil?
“Know therefore that if the mind is charitable, the action also is charitable. But if the mind embraces faith alone, which is a faith divorced as well from any spiritual charity, the action also is one of the same faith, and that faith is merit-seeking, because its charity is natural and not spiritual. Not so the faith accompanying charity, because charity does not seek merit, and so neither does its accompanying faith.”
[15] Hearing this, the people sitting under the laurel tree said, “We discern that you have spoken correctly. But we still do not understand.”
To that I replied, “Your discerning that I have spoken correctly is due to the common perception that a person has by virtue of an influx of light from heaven when he hears some truth. But you do not understand it from a perception of your own, which a person has by virtue of an influx of light from the world. These two kinds of perception, namely an internal one and an external one, or a spiritual one and a natural one, merge in people who are wise. You too can combine them if you look to the Lord and put away evils.”
Because they comprehended this as well, I took some twigs from the laurel tree under which they were sitting and handed these to them, saying, “Do you believe that these come from me or from the Lord?”
And they said that they believed they came through me, as though from me. And suddenly the twigs in their hands blossomed.
As I was leaving then, I saw a cedar-wood table and on it a book, beneath a green olive tree whose trunk was entwined with a vine. I looked at the book, and behold, it was one I had written, titled Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, and also Divine Providence. And I said that the book fully demonstrated that a person is an organ receptive of life, and is not life itself.
[16] After that I went home in a cheerful frame of mind because of that garden, accompanied by the angelic spirit, who said to me on the way, “You would like to see clearly the nature of faith and charity, thus the nature of faith divorced from charity, and the nature of faith combined with charity, and I will demonstrate it so that you see it.”
“Go ahead and demonstrate it,” I replied.
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 that is a property of wisdom, and charity in its essence is an affection that is a property of love; and the truth of wisdom in heaven is light, and an affection of love in heaven is warmth. The light and warmth that surround angels are nothing else. You can clearly see from that the nature of faith divorced from charity, and the nature of faith combined with charity.
“Faith divorced from charity is like the light of winter, and faith combined with charity is like the light of spring. The light of winter, a light lacking in warmth, being combined with coldness, strips trees utterly of their leaves, hardens the ground, kills the grass, and freezes bodies of water. On the other hand, the light in spring, a light combined with warmth, causes trees to grow and to produce first leaves, then flowers, and finally fruit, and it expands and softens the ground so that it produces grasses, herbs, flowers and bushes. It also melts ice so that streams flow from their springs.
[17] “The case with faith and charity is entirely the same. A faith divorced from charity kills everything, whereas a faith combined with charity vivifies everything. This killing and vivifying can be empirically seen in our spiritual world, because faith here is light, and charity warmth. For wherever faith is combined with charity, we find paradisal gardens, flower beds, and fields of grass, whose pleasantness accords with the degree of the combination. But wherever faith is divorced from charity, we find not even grass, and where one encounters something green, it is the green of thorn bushes, brambles and nettles. This is the effect in angels and spirits of the warmth and light emanating from the Lord as a sun, and so around them.”
Not far from us then were some clergymen, whom the angelic spirit called justifiers and sanctifiers of people by faith alone, and also masters of mystery. We said the same things to them and demonstrated them until the clergymen saw the reality of them. But when we asked whether it was not so, they turned away and said, “We couldn’t hear.”
At that we shouted at them, saying, “We’ll tell you again then!”
They then put their hands over their ears and cried, “We don’t want to listen!”
CHAPTER 21
1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And there was no more sea. 2 Then 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 from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. And He Himself will be with them their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more toil (suffering), for the former things have passed away.”
5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” 6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who thirsts I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 But the fearful, faithless, and abominable, and murderers, the sexually licentious, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” 10 And he carried me away in the spirit onto a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God; and its light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, bright as crystal. 12 It had a great and high wall, and twelve gates, and over the gates twelve angels, with names written on them, which are those of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13 three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed at twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height were equal. 17 Then he measured its wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. 18 The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: 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, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
22 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 And the nations that are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it. 25 Its gates shall not be shut by day, for there shall be no night there. 26 And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. 27 But there shall not enter it anything unclean, or that creates an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
This chapter has as its subject the state of heaven and the church following the Last Judgment, that through the New Heaven, a New Church will afterward emerge on earth which will worship the Lord alone (verses 1-8). Its conjunction with the Lord (verses 9, 10). A description of it as regards its intelligence gained from the Word (verse 11); as regards its consequent doctrine (verses 12-21); and as regards its whole character (verses 22-26).
The Contents of the Individual Verses
1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
The Lord formed a new heaven out of Christians, which today is called the Christian heaven and is inhabited by people who worshiped the Lord and lived in accordance with His commandments in the Word, who consequently possess charity and faith. Found there also are all the little children of Christians.
for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.
The heavens formed, not by the Lord, but by the people themselves who came into the spiritual world from the Christian world, all of which were dispersed at the time of the Last Judgment.
And there was no more sea.
The outer part of the heaven composed of Christians since the church was first established was likewise dispersed, after those who were written in the Lord’s Book of Life were liberated from there and saved.
2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven,
The New Church to be established by the Lord at the end of the previous one, which will be affiliated with the New Heaven and possess Divine truths in its doctrine and in its life.
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
This church conjoined with the Lord through the Word.
3 And I heard a great voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
The Lord speaking out of love and proclaiming that He will now be present with people in His Divine humanity.
and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. And He Himself will be with them their God.
Their conjunction with the Lord, which is of such a nature that the people are in Him and He in them.
4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more toil, for the former things have passed away.”
The Lord will take away from them all grief of mind, all fear of damnation, all fear of evils and falsities from hell, and of temptations or trials on account of them, and they will remember them no more, because the dragon that inflicted them has been cast out.
5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”
The Lord assuring them all as regards the New Heaven and the New Church after the Last Judgment was completed,
6 And He said to me, “It is done!
that it is the Divine truth;
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.
that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, and that He formed everything in the heavens and on earth, and governs all things by His Divine providence and directs them in accordance with it.
To him who thirsts I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely.
To those who desire truths for some useful spiritual purpose, the Lord will give of Himself through the Word everything conducive to that useful purpose.
7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.
People who overcome the evils, that is, the Devil, in themselves, and do not succumb when tempted by adherents of Babylon or followers of the dragon, shall enter into heaven and dwell there in the Lord and have the Lord in them.
8 But the fearful, faithless, and abominable,
People who have no faith and no charity, and are consequently caught up in evils of every kind,
and murderers, the sexually licentious, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars
and all those who have no regard for the Ten Commandments, and do not refrain from any of the evils named there as sins, and therefore live caught up in them –
shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone,
for them hell awaits where their loves of falsities and lusts for evil reside.
which is the second death.”
Damnation.
9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.”
An influx and revelation from the Lord from the inmost of heaven regarding the New Church, which will be conjoined with the Lord through the Word.
10 And he carried me away in the spirit onto a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
John transported into the third heaven and his sight opened there, and the Lord’s New Church in respect to its doctrine presented to him in the form of a city.
11 having the glory of God; and its light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, bright as crystal.
In that church the Word will be understood, because its spiritual sense will come shining through.
12 It had a great and high wall,
The Word in its literal sense from which the doctrine of the New Church comes.
and twelve gates,
All the concepts of truth and goodness by which a person is introduced into the church.
and over the gates twelve angels, with names written on them, which are those of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
The Divine truths and goods of heaven in those concepts, which are also the Divine truths and goods of the church, and safeguards to keep someone from entering into them unless he does so from the Lord.
13 three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.
Concepts of truth and goodness which have in them spiritual life from the Lord out of heaven and introduce into the New Church are provided for people who possess more or less love or affection for goodness, and for people who possess more or less wisdom or affection for truth.
14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations,
The Word in its literal sense contains all of the doctrines of the New Church.
and on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
All of the doctrines from the Word regarding the Lord and living in accordance with His commandments.
15 And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.
To people who possess the goodness of love, the Lord grants a faculty for understanding and knowing the nature of the Lord’s New Church as regards its doctrine and its introductory truths, and as regards the Word from which they are drawn.
16 The city is laid out as a square;
Justice in that church.
its length is as great as its breadth.
Goodness and truth in that church are united, like essence and form.
And he measured the city with the reed at twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height were equal.
John shown the character of that church arising from its doctrine, that every part of it arose from the goodness of love.
17 Then he measured its wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits,
John shown the nature of the Word in that church, that from it come all of its truths and goods.
the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.
The character of that church, as being united with heaven.
18 The construction of its wall was of jasper;
With people of that church the Divine truth in the spiritual sense shines through every Divine truth in the literal sense.
and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
Therefore everything connected with that church embodies the goodness of love flowing in together with light out of heaven from the Lord.
19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones:
All of the doctrines of the New Jerusalem taken from the Word’s literal sense will, among the people in that church, be seen in a state of light, in accordance with their reception of it.
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, and the twelfth amethyst.
All of the doctrines of that church from the Word’s literal sense in their order, with those who turn directly to the Lord and live in accordance with the Ten Commandments by refraining from evils as being sins; for they and no others possess a doctrine of love toward God and love for the neighbor, which are the two foundations of religion.
21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each gate was of one pearl.
An acknowledgment and concept of the Lord join all the concepts of truth and goodness in the Word into one and introduce into the church.
And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
Every truth of that church and its doctrine embodies the goodness of love flowing in together with light from the Lord out of heaven.
22 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
That church will have no external element divorced from an internal one, because it turns to the Lord Himself in His Divine humanity, from whom comes everything connected with the church, and worships and adores Him alone.
23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb is its lamp.
People of that church will not be caught up in self-love and their own intelligence and so possess a natural sight only, but from the Word’s Divine truth will possess a spiritual light from the Lord alone.
24 And the nations that are saved shall walk in its light,
All those people who live a good life and believe in the Lord will live in that church in accordance with Divine truths and will see those truths inwardly in themselves as the eye sees its objects.
and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it.
All those people who possess truths of wisdom springing from spiritual goodness will in that church confess the Lord and attribute to Him all the truth and all the goodness that they possess.
25 Its gates shall not be shut by day, for there shall be no night there.
The New Jerusalem continually receives into it people who possess truths that spring from the goodness of love from the Lord, because it has no falsity in its faith.
26 And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.
Those who enter the New Jerusalem will bring with them a confession, acknowledgment and faith that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, and that every truth of the church and every good of religion comes from Him.
27 But there shall not enter it anything unclean, or that creates an abomination or a lie,
No one is received into the Lord’s New Church who adulterates the goods in the Word and falsifies its truths, and who does evils deliberately and so also devises falsities.
but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
The only people received into the New Church, or New Jerusalem, are those who believe in the Lord and live in accordance with His commandments in the Word.
THE EXPOSITION
21:1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth. This symbolically means that the Lord formed a new heaven out of Christians, which today is called the Christian heaven and is inhabited by people who worshiped the Lord and lived in accordance with His commandments in the Word, who consequently possess charity and faith. Found in that heaven also are all the little children of Christians.
The new heaven and new earth do not mean the natural heavens that are visible to our eyes or the natural earth inhabited by the human race. Rather they mean a spiritual heaven and the land of that heaven where angels dwell. That that heaven and the land of that heaven are meant is something everyone sees and acknowledges if only he can be drawn away from a purely natural and material idea when he reads the Word.
It is apparent that an angelic heaven is meant because we are told in the very next verse that John saw the holy city Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. This does not mean some Jerusalem coming down, but the church, and the church on earth descends from the Lord out of the angelic heaven, since angels in heaven and people on earth are united in everything having to do with the church (no. 626).
It can be seen from this how naturally and materially some people have thought and continue to think who, from these words and those that follow in this verse, have fabricated for themselves the dogma regarding the destruction of the world and everything’s being created anew.
[2] This new heaven was the subject several times before in the book of Revelation, especially in chapters 14 and 15. It is called the Christian heaven, because it is apart from the ancient heavens which were constituted of people of the church before the Lord’s advent. These ancient heavens are above the Christian heaven, for the heavens are like expanses, one above another. The same is the case with each of the heavens, for every heaven is in itself distinguished into three heavens – an inmost or third heaven, an intermediate or second heaven, and a lowest or first heaven. So with this new heaven. I have seen its inhabitants and spoken with them.
This new Christian heaven is inhabited by all those people who from the first establishment of the Christian Church have worshiped the Lord and lived in accordance with His commandments in the Word, and who consequently possess both charity and faith from the Lord through the Word, thus whose faith is not a lifeless one but a living one.
Regarding this heaven, see various mentions above, in nos. 612, 613, 626, 631, 659, 661, 845, 846, 856.
Found in that heaven likewise are all the little children of Christians, because they are brought up by angels in the two essential elements of the church, namely an acknowledgment of the Lord as God of heaven and earth, and living in accordance with the Ten Commandments.
That these heavens and no others are the heavens meant by the first heaven and the first earth that had passed away, may be seen in no. 865 above, where we explained the words, “I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face heaven and earth fled away” (Revelation 20:11), and where we showed that the statement symbolizes a universal judgment executed by the Lord on all the former heavens that were occupied by people possessing a civil and moral goodness, but no spiritual goodness, thus who gave the appearance of being Christians outwardly, but who inwardly were devils; whose heavens with their lands were totally dispersed.
More on this subject may be seen in the short work, The Last Judgment (London, 1758), and in A Continuation Concerning the Last Judgment (Amsterdam, 1763), to which it is unnecessary to add more.
A sea symbolizes the external component of heaven and the church, where the simple are, who think naturally and not much spiritually about matters connected with the church. A heaven inhabited by these is called external, as may be seen in nos. 238, 398 at the end, 403, 404, 470, 567, 659, 661. Here the sea means the outer part of the heaven composed of Christians from the first establishment of the church. However, the inner part of the heaven of Christians was not fully formed by the Lord until shortly before the Last Judgment, and also after it, as may be seen from chapters 14 and 15 which have that heaven as their subject, and from chapter 20, verses 4 and 5, too. See the exposition in those places.
The inner part of that heaven was not fully formed sooner because the dragon and its two beasts held sway in the world of spirits, and they burned with a desire to lead astray whomever they could. It would have been dangerous, therefore, to gather together those Christians into a heaven beforehand.
The separation of the good from adherents of the dragon and the damnation of the latter, followed by their finally being cast down into hell, is the subject in many places, and lastly in chapter 19, verse 20, and chapter 20, verse 10. And after that we are told that “the sea gave up the dead who were in it” (chapter 20, verse 13), which means that the external and natural people of the church were called together for judgment, as may be seen in no. 869 above, and that those who were written in the Lord’s Book of Life were then liberated and saved, as indicated also in the same number. This is the sea that is meant here.
[2] We are also told elsewhere regarding the New Christian Heaven that the outer part of the heaven of Christians extended to a sea of glass mixed with fire (Revelation 15:2), and the sea there also symbolizes the outer part of the heaven of Christians. See the exposition in nos. 659-661.
It can be seen from this that there being no more sea means, symbolically, that the outer part of the heaven composed of Christians since the church was first established was likewise dispersed, after those who were written in the Lord’s Book of Life were liberated from there and saved.
Regarding the outer part of the heaven composed of Christians from the first establishment of the church, I have been granted to learn many things – too many, however, to present them here. I will say only that the previous heavens which passed away at the time of the Last Judgment were permitted for the sake of those Christians who were in that outer part of heaven or sea, because they were conjoined by external concerns and not by internal ones – on which subject something may be seen in no. 398 above.
The heaven where external people of the church dwell is called a sea because their dwelling place in the spiritual world appears from a distance as being in a sea. For celestial angels, or angels of the highest heaven, dwell as though in an ethereal atmosphere. Spiritual angels, or angels of the intermediate heaven, dwell as though in an airy atmosphere. And spiritually natural angels, or angels of the lowest heaven, dwell as though in a watery atmosphere, which, as we said, from a distance looks like a sea.
For this reason the outer part of heaven is meant by the sea also in many other places in the Word.
John mentions himself by name here, saying “I, John,” because as an apostle he symbolizes the goodness of love toward the Lord and the attendant goodness of life. Consequently he was more loved than any of the rest of the apostles, and at the Last Supper he reclined on the Lord’s breast (John 13:23, 21:20). And this church, which is the subject here, has a similar symbolism.
That Jerusalem symbolizes the church will be seen in the next number. It is called a city and described as a city because of its doctrine and its life in accordance with that doctrine. For a city in the spiritual sense symbolizes doctrine (nos. 194, 712). It is called a holy city owing to the presence of the Lord, who alone is holy, and owing to the Divine truths from the Word that it has in it from the Lord, which are called holy (nos. 173, 586, 666, 852). And it is called new, because He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5). It is also said to be coming down from God out of heaven because it descends from the Lord through the New Christian Heaven, as said in no. 876 in the exposition of verse 1 in this chapter. For the church on earth is formed by the Lord through heaven, in order that heaven and the church may be in harmony and affiliated.
Jerusalem means the church, too, because the Lord was there and taught in its temple, and later glorified His humanity there.
That Jerusalem means the church with respect to its doctrine and consequent worship is apparent from many passages in the Word. As for example, from these verses in Isaiah:
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as a radiance, and her salvation as a burning lamp. Then gentiles shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You shall also be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will proclaim. And you shall be a crown of glory in the hand of Jehovah, and a royal jewel* in the hand of your God…. …Jehovah will delight in you, and your land shall be married.
Behold, your salvation is coming; behold, His reward is with Him…. And they shall call them a holy people, the redeemed of Jehovah; and you shall be called a city sought out, not forsaken. (Isaiah 62:1-4, 11, 12)
[2] The subject in that chapter is the Lord’s advent and a new church to be established by Him. This new church is the church meant by Jerusalem, which shall be called by a new name that the mouth of Jehovah will proclaim; which will be a crown of glory in the hand of Jehovah and a royal jewel* in the hand of God; in which Jehovah will delight; and which shall be called a city sought out and not forsaken. This does not mean the Jerusalem inhabited by Jews when the Lord came into the world, for that Jerusalem was of a totally opposite character. It was rather to be called Sodom, as it also is called in Revelation 11:8, Isaiah 3:9, Jeremiah 23:14, and Ezekiel 16:46, 48.
[3] Elsewhere in Isaiah:
…behold, I am creating a new heaven and a new earth; the former shall not be remembered…. Be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating. …behold, I am creating Jerusalem to be an exultation, and her people a joy, that I may exult over Jerusalem and rejoice over My people…. Then the wolf and the lamb shall feed together…. They shall not do evil…in all My holy mountain…. (Isaiah 65:17-19, 25)
In this chapter, too, the subject is the Lord’s advent and a church to be established by Him, one that was not established among the people in Jerusalem but among people elsewhere. Consequently that church is the one meant here by Jerusalem, which will be an exultation to the Lord and whose people will be a joy to Him, where the wolf and lamb will feed together, and the people will not do evil.
As in the book of Revelation, we are told here also that the Lord will create a new heaven and a new earth, and that He will create Jerusalem, which have similar symbolic meanings.
[4] Elsewhere in Isaiah:
Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come to you. Shake yourself from the dust, arise; sit down, O Jerusalem! …Therefore My people shall know My name…in that day; for it is I who speaks: behold, it is I. …Jehovah has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. (Isaiah 52:1, 2, 6, 9)
The subject in this chapter is also the Lord’s advent and the church to be established by Him. Therefore the Jerusalem into which the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come, and which the Lord will redeem, means the church, and Jerusalem, the holy city, means the church with respect to doctrine from the Lord and concerning the Lord.
[5] In Zephaniah:
Shout, O daughter of Zion! Be glad…with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! …The King of Israel…is in your midst; fear evil no longer! …He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will rest in your love, He will exult over you with exultation…. …I will give you a name and praise among all the peoples of the earth…. (Zephaniah 3:14-17, 20)
Here likewise the subject is the Lord and a church established by Him, over which the King of Israel, namely the Lord, will rejoice with gladness and exult with exultation, and in whose love He will rest, who will give them a name and praise among all the peoples of the earth.
[6] In Isaiah:
Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer and your Former…, who says to Jerusalem, “You shall be inhabited,” and to the cities of Judah, “You shall be rebuilt”…. (Isaiah 44:24, 26)
And in Daniel:
Know and perceive: from the going forth of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks…. (Daniel 9:25)
It is apparent that Jerusalem here also means the church, since it was the church that the Lord restored and rebuilt, and not Jerusalem, the Jewish capital.
[7] Jerusalem means a church established by the Lord also in the following passages. In Zechariah:
Thus said Jehovah, “I will return to Zion and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth, and the mountain of Jehovah Zebaoth a holy mountain.” (Zechariah 8:3, cf. 8:20-23)
In Joel:
Then you shall know that I am Jehovah your God, dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy…. And it will come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drip with new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk…, and Jerusalem (shall abide) from generation to generation. (Joel 3:17-21)
In Isaiah:
In that day the offshoot of Jehovah shall be beautiful and glorious…. And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy – everyone recorded among the living in Jerusalem. (Isaiah 4:2, 3)
In Micah:
…in the latter days the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established on top of the mountains…. For out of Zion doctrine shall go forth, and the Word of Jehovah from Jerusalem…. …to you…the former kingdom shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. (Micah 4:1, 2, 8)
In Jeremiah:
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah, and all the nations shall be gathered…, because of the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem. No more shall they go after the justification of their evil hearts. (Jeremiah 3:17)
In Isaiah:
Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts; let your eyes see Jerusalem, a tranquil habitation, a tabernacle that will not vanish; its stakes will never be removed, nor any of its cords be broken. (Isaiah 33:20)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 24:23, 37:32, 66:10-14; Zechariah 12:3, 6, 8-10, 14:8, 11, 12, 21; Malachi 3:2, 4; Psalm 122:1-7, 137:4-6.
[8] Jerusalem in these places means a church which the Lord would establish, and not Jerusalem in the land of Canaan inhabited by Jews. This can be seen from passages in the Word which say that Jerusalem was completely ruined and would be destroyed, as in Jeremiah 5:1, 6:6, 7, 7:17, 18ff., 8:6-8ff., 9:11-13ff., 13:9, 10, 14, 14:16; Lamentations 1:8, 9, 17; Ezekiel 4:1-17, 5:5-17, 12:18, 19, 15:6-8, 16:1-63, 23:1-49; Matthew 23:37, 38; Luke 19:41-44, 21:20-22, 23:28-30; and in many other places.
* The word translated as “jewel” here means a diadem or crown in the original Greek and Latin, but the writer’s definitions of the term elsewhere make plain that he regularly and consistently interpreted it to mean a jewel or gem.
We are told that John saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, and now that he saw the city prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. This makes it apparent that Jerusalem means the church, which John saw first as a city and then as a virgin bride – seeing it as a city representatively, and as a virgin bride spiritually. Thus he had two images, one within the other or above the other, even as angels do when they see, hear or read in the Word about a city, perceiving it in the conception of their lower thought as a city, but in the conception of their higher thought as doctrine. And if they desire it and pray to the Lord, they see the latter as a maiden, having a beauty and apparel commensurate with the character of the church. I, too, have been given to see the church in this way.
[2] The bride’s being prepared symbolizes her being attired for betrothal, and the church is made ready for betrothal and then for conjunction or marriage in no other way than by the Word; for the Word is the one and only means of conjunction or marriage, inasmuch as the Word originates from the Lord and is about the Lord, and thus embodies the Lord. It is also called a covenant therefore, and a covenant symbolizes spiritual conjunction. Moreover it was for this reason that the Word was given.
That the husband is the Lord is apparent from verses 9 and 10 in this chapter, in which the Jerusalem is called the bride, the Lamb’s wife.
To be shown that the Lord is called a bridegroom and husband, and the church His bride and wife, and that their marriage is like the marriage between goodness and truth, and takes place through the Word, see no. 797 above.
It can be seen from this that Jerusalem’s being prepared as a bride adorned for her husband symbolizes the New Church conjoined with the Lord through the Word.
This is the celestial meaning of these words. Celestial angels, or angels of the third heaven, interpret them in just this way, for to hear a great voice from heaven speaking means to them the Lord speaking and proclaiming something out of love, for it is only the Lord who speaks out of heaven. That is because heaven is not heaven owing to the angels’ own qualities, but to the Lord’s Divinity, of which they are recipients. A great voice means speech springing from love, for greatness is predicated of love (nos. 656, 663). “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men” means that now the Lord will be present in His Divine humanity. The tabernacle of God means the celestial church, in a universal sense the Lord’s celestial kingdom, and in the highest sense the Lord’s Divine humanity, as may be seen in no. 585 above.
The tabernacle in the highest sense means the Lord’s Divine humanity because that is what the Temple* symbolizes, as can be seen from John 2:19, 21, Malachi 3:1, Revelation 21:22, and elsewhere. A tabernacle has a similar symbolism, with the difference that the Temple means the Lord’s Divine humanity in respect to Divine truth or Divine wisdom, while a tabernacle means the Lord’s Divine humanity in respect to Divine goodness or Divine love. It follows therefore that “behold, the tabernacle of God is with men” means that the Lord will now be present with people in His Divine humanity.
* In Jerusalem.
His dwelling with them symbolizes a conjunction of the Lord with them, as we will see below. The people’s being His people, and His being with them their God, symbolically means that they are the Lord’s, and that He is their Lord. Moreover, because dwelling with them symbolizes conjunction, it symbolically means that they will be in the Lord and have the Lord in them. Otherwise there is no conjunction. That this is the nature of the conjunction is clearly apparent 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, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (John 15:4, 5)
And elsewhere:
At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. (John 14:20)
He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. (John 6:56)
[2] The Lord’s assuming a humanity and uniting it with the Divinity He had in Him from birth, which is called the Father, had as its goal a conjunction with people, as is apparent also in John:
For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified in the truth…, that they may be one as We are one: I in them, and You in Me. (John 17:19, 21-23, 26)
It follows from this that the conjunction is formed with the Lord’s Divine humanity, that it is a reciprocal one, and that this is the only means of conjunction with the Divine called the Father.
[3] The Lord also teaches that the conjunction is formed by the Word’s truths and by living in accordance with them (John 14:20-24, 15:7).
This, then, is what is meant by the Lord’s dwelling with them and their being His people, and His being with them their God. So, too, elsewhere where the same words occur: Jeremiah 7:23, 11:4; Ezekiel 14:11; Jeremiah 24:7, 30:22; Ezekiel 11:20, 36:28, 37:23, 27; Zechariah 8:8; Exodus 29:45.
[4] To dwell with them symbolizes a conjunction with them because to dwell symbolizes conjunction out of love, as may be seen from many passages in the Word. It may be seen also from the abodes of angels in heaven. Heaven is distinguished into countless societies, all of them different from each other in accordance with the differences in their love’s affections, in general and in particular. Each society embodies one particular variety of affection, and the people in it have dwellings distinct from each other, depending on how close or akin they are within that variety of affection, and those who are the most closely related dwell together in the same house. Dwelling together, therefore, when said of married partners, symbolizes in the spiritual sense conjunction by love.
It should be known that conjunction with the Lord is not the same as His presence. Conjunction with the Lord is possible only with people who turn to Him directly, His presence with everyone else.
God’s wiping away every tear from their eyes means, symbolically, that the Lord will take away from them all grief of mind, for shedding tears is caused by grief of mind. The death that will be no more symbolizes damnation, as in nos. 325, 765, 853, 873 – here, the fear of it. The sorrow that will be no more symbolizes a fear of evils from hell, for sorrow has various symbolic meanings, being everywhere a sorrow over whatever is portrayed as its cause. Here it is a fear of evils from hell, because it is preceded by a fear of damnation and followed by a fear of falsities from hell, and of temptations or trials on account of them. Crying symbolizes a fear of falsities from hell, as will be seen in the next number. The toil that will be no more symbolizes temptations or trials (no. 640). Its being no more because the former things have passed away means, symbolically, that the temptations or trials will not be remembered, because the dragon that inflicted them has been cast out; for these are the former things that have passed away.
[2] But this needs to be illustrated. Every person after death comes first into the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, and there he is prepared, a good person for heaven, and an evil one for hell. Regarding this world, see nos. 784, 791, 843, 850, 866, 869 above. And because associations are formed there as in the natural world, it had to be the case, before the Last Judgment, that people who outwardly were civic-minded and moral but inwardly evil met up with and conversed with people who likewise were outwardly civic-minded and moral but inwardly good. And because inherent in evil people is a desire to lead astray, therefore the good people with whom they associated were harassed by them in various ways. But those who grieved because of their torments and began to experience fears of being damned, of evils and falsities flowing in from hell, and of undergoing severe temptation or trial – these the Lord removed from association with the evil and conveyed them into a land below the one they were on, where they formed new associations, and there were protected. Moreover, this continued until all the evil had been separated from the good, which was brought about by the Last Judgment; and then those who were protected in the lower land or earth were raised by the Lord into heaven.
[3] The torments were inflicted primarily by the people meant by the dragon and its beasts. That is why the dragon and its two beasts were cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. Then, because all harassment ceased, and so also any grief over and fear of damnation and hell, those who had been tormented were told that God would wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there would be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, neither would there be any more toil, for the former things had passed away, which symbolically means that the Lord would take away from them all grief of mind, all fear of damnation, all fear of evils and falsities from hell, and of severe temptation or trial on account of them, and they would remember them no more, because the dragon that inflicted them had been cast out.
That the dragon had been cast out along with its two beasts and cast into the lake of fire and brimstone may be seen in verses 19:20 and 20:10 above. Moreover, that the dragon inflicted torments is apparent from many passages. For it fought with Michael and tried to devour the child that the woman bore, and after pursuing the woman, it went off to make war with the rest of her offspring (verses 12:4, 5, 7-9, 13-17, 16:13-16, and elsewhere).
Many people who were inwardly good were protected by the Lord to keep them from being tormented by the dragon and its beasts. This is apparent from verses 6:9-11. That they were tormented is apparent from verses 7:13-17, and that they were afterward taken up into heaven from verses 20:4, 5 and elsewhere.
The same people are also meant by prisoners and those bound in a pit, and by those set free by the Lord (Isaiah 24:22, 61:1; Luke 4:18, 19; Zechariah 9:11; Psalm 79:11).
This is symbolized as well in the Word where we are told that graves were opened,* and where we are told of souls awaiting a last judgment and resurrection then.**
* Ezekiel 37:12,13, Matthew 27:52.
** Revelation 20:4-6.
…the former distresses shall be forgotten, and…hidden from My eyes…. Then the sound of weeping shall not be heard in her, nor the sound of crying. (Isaiah 65:16, 19)
This, too, is said in reference to Jerusalem, as in the present instance in the book of Revelation.
They are dark upon the land, and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up. (Jeremiah 14:2ff.)
The reference here is to sorrow over falsities that are devastating the church.
(Jehovah) looked for judgment, but behold, scabies; for righteousness, but behold, a cry. (Isaiah 5:7)
The sound of the cry of the shepherds…. For Jehovah is laying waste their pasture. (Jeremiah 25:36)
The sound of a cry from the Fish Gate…, (because) their goods shall become booty, and their houses a desolation. (Zephaniah 1:10, 13)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 14:31, 15:4-6, 8, 24:11, 30:19, Jeremiah 46:12, 17.
It should be known, however, that crying in the Word is mentioned in reference to every affection of the heart that bursts out. It is consequently the sound of lamentation, of imploring, of supplicating out of grief, of calling to witness, of indignation, of confession, even of exultation.
The words in this and the following verses to the end of verse 8 were addressed to people in the Christian world who were about to enter the world of spirits – an event which takes place immediately after death – in order to keep them from being led astray by adherents of Babylon and followers of the dragon. For, as we have said before, all people after death are brought together in the world of spirits, and they form associations with each other like those in the natural world, where they were together with adherents of Babylon and followers of the dragon, who continually burn with a desire to lead others astray. It was also granted the latter to establish for themselves seeming heavens by using fanciful and illusory arts, and these, too, enabled them to lead people astray.
It was to prevent this from happening that the Lord spoke the words in these verses, that the people might know of a surety that those heavens would perish along with their lands, and that the Lord would create a new heaven and a new earth, when people who had not allowed themselves to be led astray would be saved.
It should be known, however, that these words were addressed to people who lived from the time of the Lord’s advent to the time of the Last Judgment, which took place in the year 1757, because they could be led astray. But that is not the case with people since, because the adherents of Babylon and followers of the dragon have been isolated and cast out.
[2] But now for the exposition: He who sat on the throne means the Lord (see no. 808 toward the end). The Lord here spoke on the throne, because He said, “Behold, I am making all things new,” which symbolically means that He would execute a last judgment and then create a new heaven and new earth, including a new church, with every single thing in them. That the throne is a form representative of judgment may be seen in nos. 229, 845, 865, and that the former heaven and former church will perish at the time of the Last Judgment, in nos. 865, 877. His saying to John, “Write, for these words are true and faithful,” symbolically means that people might know this of a surety and remember it, because the Lord Himself has declared it. The Lord’s using the verb “said” a second time symbolically means that they might know it of a surety. The command to write symbolizes that it is to be remembered, or that people should remember it (no. 639). And saying that these words are true and faithful symbolically means that the declaration is to be believed, because the Lord Himself has declared it.
His saying to me means, symbolically, that it is the Divine truth because the Lord said for the third time, “He said to me,” and because He said “It is done!” in the present tense. Whatever the Lord says a third time is something to be believed, because it is the Divine truth, and also what He says in the present tense. For three times symbolizes something completed to the end (no. 505), and so, too, when He is about to do something, we are told, “It is done!”
That the Lord is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, and that this means that He formed all things and governs and directs them, and more, may be seen in nos. 13, 29-31, 38, 57, 92 above.
That the Lord is God of heaven and earth is clear from His words in John:
…given Him (is) authority over all flesh. (John 17:2)
And in Matthew:
All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (Matthew 28:18)
And that by Him were all things made that were made (John 1:3, 14).
Plainly, everything made or created by Him is governed by His Divine providence.
One who thirsts symbolizes someone who desires truth for some useful purpose, as will be seen next. The fountain of the water of life symbolizes the Lord and the Word (no. 384). To give freely means, symbolically, that it comes from the Lord, and not from any intelligence of the person’s own.
Thirsting symbolizes a desire for something for some useful spiritual purpose because one may thirst for or desire concepts of truth from the Word for some natural purpose and also for some spiritual purpose. People who do so for some natural purpose have a reputation for learning as their goal, and in consequence of their learning prestige, honor and material gain. Thus they have themselves and the world in view. But people who do so for some spiritual purpose have serving the neighbor as their goal, out of a love for the neighbor, and they consider the welfare of his soul, as well as their own. Thus they have the Lord, the neighbor, and salvation in view. Such people are given truth from the fountain of the water of life, that is, from the Lord through the Word, to the extent that it is conducive to that purpose. No others are given truth from that source. They read the Word, and either they do not see any doctrinal truth in it, or if they do, they turn it into falsity – not so much in speech when reading aloud from the Word, but in the idea of their thought concerning it.
That to hunger symbolically means to desire good, and to thirst to desire truth, may be seen in nos. 323, 381.
To overcome here means to overcome evils, that is, the Devil, in oneself, and not to succumb when tempted by adherents of Babylon or followers of the dragon. To overcome evils in oneself is also to overcome the Devil, because the Devil means all evil. To inherit all things means, symbolically, to enter heaven and to possess then the goods that are in it from the Lord, thus to possess, as a son and heir, goods received from the Lord which are the Lord’s. Heaven is therefore called an inheritance in Matthew 19:29 and 25:34.
“I will be his God and he shall be My son” means, symbolically, that in heaven these people will be in the Lord and have the Lord in them, as in no. 883 above where a similar statement is found, only there it says that they shall be His people, and He Himself will be with them their God.
People who turn directly to the Lord are His children because they are born anew from Him, that is to say, regenerated or reborn. Therefore the Lord called His disciples children (John 12:36, 13:33, 21:5).
The fearful symbolize people who have no faith, as will be seen next. The faithless symbolize people who have no charity toward the neighbor, for they are dishonest and deceitful, thus faithless. The abominable symbolize people who are caught up in evils of every kind, for abominations in the Word symbolize in general the evils listed in the last six of the Ten Commandments, as can be seen in Jeremiah:
Do not trust in lying words, saying, “The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah are they…. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, and swear falsely…, and then come and stand before Me in this house…(while you) do…these abominations?” (Jeremiah 7:2-4, 9-11)
And so also everywhere else.
That the fearful symbolize people who have no faith is clear from the following:
(Jesus said to His disciples,) “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26, cf. Mark 4:39, 40, Luke 8:25)
(Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue,) “Do not be afraid; only believe, then (your daughter) will be made well.” (Luke 8:49, 50, cf. Mark 5:36)
Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)
The same are meant by those told not to be afraid in Matthew 17:6, 7, 28:3-5, 10; Luke 1:12, 13, 30, 2:9, 10, 5:8-10; and elsewhere.
It can be seen from all these passages that the fearful, faithless, and abominable symbolize people who have no faith and no charity, and who are consequently caught up in evils of every kind.
What is symbolically meant on three levels, natural, spiritual and celestial, by these four of the Ten Commandments – namely, you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, and you shall not bear false witness – may be seen in The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem, nos. 62-91. Consequently there is no need to expound them here again. However, in place of the seventh commandment not to steal, listed here are sorcerers and idolaters, and sorcerers symbolize people who seek truths, which they falsify in order to use them to defend falsities and evils, as those do who take this truth, that no one can do good of himself, and use it to defend faith alone. For this is a type of spiritual theft. Moreover, what enchantments are may be seen in no. 462 above. Idolaters symbolize people who institute worship, or take part in worship, not from the Word, thus not from the Lord, but from their own intelligence (no. 459), as those do also who, on the basis of a single statement of Paul’s,* wrongly interpreted, and not on the basis of any of the Lord’s words, have fabricated the whole doctrine of the church; and this, too, is a type of spiritual theft. Liars symbolize people caught up in falsities arising from evil (no. 924).
* “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.” (Romans 3:28)
One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues and who talked with John means the Lord flowing in from the inmost of heaven and speaking through the inmost of heaven, here revealing the things that follow. That this angel means the Lord is apparent from the exposition of chapter 15, verses 5 and 6, which says:
After these things I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle…in heaven was opened. And out…came the seven angels having the seven plagues…. (Revelation 15:5, 6)
This symbolically means that the inmost of heaven appeared, where the Lord is present in His holiness and in the Law contained in the Ten Commandments, as may be seen in nos. 669, 670 above.
It is apparent also from the exposition of chapter 17, verse 1, which says:
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying…, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot….” (Revelation 17:1)
This symbolizes an influx and a revelation from the Lord from the inmost of heaven about the Roman Catholic religion, as may be seen in nos. 718, 719 above.
It is apparent from this that one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues coming to John and talking with him means the Lord flowing in from the inmost of heaven; that coming to him and showing him symbolizes a revelation; and that the bride, the Lamb’s wife, symbolizes the New Church, which will be conjoined with the Lord through the Word, as in no. 881.
This church is called a bride when it is being established, and a wife after it has been established. Here it is called a bride and wife because it is of a surety going to be established.
John’s being carried away in the spirit onto a great and high mountain means, symbolically, that he was transported into the third heaven, where those people dwell who are impelled by love from the Lord and possess a doctrine of genuine truth from Him. Greatness is also predicated of goodness, and height of truths.
His being carried away onto a mountain symbolically means into the third heaven, because he is said to have been in the spirit, and someone who is in the spirit is as to his mind and sight in the spiritual world. Moreover, in the spiritual world angels of the third heaven dwell on mountains, angels of the second heaven on hills, and angels of the lowest heaven in valleys between the hills and mountains. Consequently, when someone is carried away in the spirit onto a mountain, it symbolically means into the third heaven. This carrying away takes place in a moment, because it is achieved by a change in the person’s state of mind.
The angel’s showing to John symbolizes his sight being opened then and a revelation. The great city, the holy Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God symbolizes the Lord’s New Church, as in nos. 879, 880 above, where we also explained why it is called a holy city, and why it is said to be coming down out of heaven from God. It was seen in the form of a city because a city symbolizes doctrine (nos. 194, 712), and a church is a church by virtue of its doctrine and its living in accordance with that doctrine. It was also seen as a city in order that its whole character might be described, and this is described by the city’s walls, gates, foundations, and various dimensions.
The church is similarly described in Ezekiel, where we are also told that the prophet was taken in the visions of God onto a very high mountain, where he saw a city to the south, whose wall and gates an angel also measured, together with its various widths and heights (Ezekiel 40:2ff.).
The following passage in Zechariah has a similar meaning:
I said (to the angel), “Where are you going?” He said…, “To measure Jerusalem, to see how great its width is and how great its length.” (Zechariah 2:2)
The glory of God symbolizes the Word in its Divine light, as will be seen next. Its light symbolizes the Divine truth in it, for this is the meaning of light in the Word (no. 796). “Like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, bright as crystal,” symbolizes the Word shining and translucent because of its spiritual sense, as will also be seen next.
These words describe the understanding of the Word among people who possess the doctrine of the New Jerusalem and live in accordance with it. In their case the Word seems to shine when they read it. It shines because of the Lord’s presence in the midst of the spiritual sense, because the Lord embodies the Word, and the spiritual sense exists in the light of heaven that emanates from the Lord as its sun. Moreover, the light that emanates from the Lord as a sun is in its essence the Divine truth of His Divine wisdom.
Every single thing in the Word contains a spiritual meaning, which angels see and from which they have their wisdom, and the light of that spiritual sense comes shining through with people who possess genuine truths from the Lord, as we showed in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture.
[2] That the glory of God means the Word in its Divine light can be seen from the following passage:
The Word became flesh…, and we beheld His glory, the glory as though of the only begotten of the Father…. (John 1:14)
That the glory is the glory of the Word, or the Divine truth in the Lord, is plain, since it says, “The Word became flesh.”
Glory has the same meaning in verse 23 below, where it says, “the glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb is its lamp” (Revelation 21:23).
The same is meant by the glory in which people will see the Son of Man when He comes in the clouds of heaven (Matthew 24:30, Mark 13:26). See nos. 22, 642, 820 above.
Nor is anything else meant by the throne of glory on which the Lord will sit when He comes to execute the Last Judgment (Matthew 25:31), because He will judge everyone in accordance with the Word’s truths. Therefore we are told as well that He will come in His glory.
We are, moreover, told that after the Lord was transfigured, Moses and Elijah appeared in glory (Luke 9:30, 31). Moses and Elijah there symbolize the Word. The Lord Himself also then caused Himself to appear to the disciples as the Word in its glory.
To be shown that glory symbolizes Divine truth, more citations from the Word may be seen in no. 629 above.
[3] The Word is likened to a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, bright as crystal, because a precious stone symbolizes the Divine truth in the Word (nos. 231, 540, 726, 823), and a jasper stone symbolizes the Divine truth in the spiritual sense shining through the Divine truth in the literal sense. This is the symbolic meaning of jasper stone in Exodus 28:20, Ezekiel 28:13, and in the following verses in the present chapter, where we are told that the construction of the wall of the holy Jerusalem was of jasper (verse 18). Moreover, because the Word’s spiritual sense shines through in its literal sense, we are told that the jasper stone was as bright as crystal. All enlightenment that people have who possess Divine truths from the Lord comes from that.
Since the holy city Jerusalem means the Lord’s New Church in respect to its doctrine, its wall can only mean the Word in its literal sense, from which its doctrine comes; for the literal sense protects the spiritual meaning that lies within, as a wall protects a city and its inhabitants.
That the literal sense is the foundation, containing vessel, and buttress of the Word’s spiritual meaning may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 27-36; and that the literal sense serves as a safeguard to keep the Divine truths within from being injured – truths which constitute the Word’s spiritual meaning – may be seen in no. 97 of the same work. Also, that the church’s doctrine is to be drawn from the Word’s literal sense and verified by it, in nos. 50-61 there.
The wall is said to be great and high because it means the Word in respect to its Divine goodness and Divine truth, for greatness is predicated of goodness, and height of truth, as in no. 896 above.
[2] A wall symbolizes something that protects, and when mentioned in reference to the church, it symbolizes the Word in its literal sense, as it does also in the following places:
I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they shall not keep silent day or night, who make mention of Jehovah…. (Isaiah 62:6)
They shall call you the City of Jehovah, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel…. And you shall call your walls salvation, and your gates praise. (Isaiah 60:14, 18)
(Jehovah) will be a wall of fire all around her, and…the glory in her midst. (Zechariah 2:5)
Men of Arvad…were on your walls…, and the men of Gammad…hung their shields on your walls all around, and made your beauty perfect. (Ezekiel 27:11)
The last is said of Tyre, which symbolizes the church in respect to its concepts of truth from the Word.
Run about through the streets of Jerusalem, and see…if there is anyone who…seeks the truth…. Go up on her walls and cast them down. (Jeremiah 5:1, 10)
Jehovah has purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion…. …He has caused the rampart and wall…to lament, to languish together…. The Law and her prophets are no more…. (Lamentations 2:8, 9)
They will run about in the city, they will run on the wall; they will climb up into the houses, they will enter through the windows…. (Joel 2:9)
These passages refer to falsifications of truth.
Day and night (the impious) go around (in the city) on its walls…. Destructions are in their midst. (Psalm 55:10,11)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 22:5, 56:5; Jeremiah 1:15; Ezekiel 27:11; Lamentations 2:7.
That a wall symbolizes the Word in its literal sense is clearly apparent from the following verses in the present chapter, which describe at some length the wall of the city and its gates, foundations and dimensions. That is because the doctrine of the New Church, which the city symbolizes, comes only from the Word’s literal sense.
Gates symbolize concepts of truth and goodness from the Word, because a person is introduced into the church by them. For the wall that had the gates symbolizes the Word, as explained just above in no. 898. Moreover we are later told that “the twelve gates were twelve pearls: each gate was of one pearl” (verse 21), and pearls symbolize concepts of truth and goodness (no. 727). Clearly it is by these concepts that people are introduced into the church, as through gates into a city.
That the number twelve symbolizes all people may be seen in no. 348 above.
Gates symbolize concepts of truth and goodness also in the following places:
I will…lay your foundations in sapphires; I will make your pinnacles of garnets, and your gates carbuncle-stones.* (Isaiah 54:11, 12)
Jehovah loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God! (Psalm 87:2, 3)
Enter through His gates with confession…. Confess Him, bless His name. (Psalm 100:4)
Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem! Jerusalem is built as a city that holds fast together. (Psalm 122:2, 3)
Praise Jehovah, O Jerusalem! …For He has strengthened the bars of your gates; He has blessed your children in your midst. (Psalm 147:12, 13)
…that I may recount all Your praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion. (Psalm 9:14)
Open the gates, that a righteous nation which keeps its fealties may enter in. (Isaiah 26:2)
…raise your voice…that they may enter the gate of the princes. (Isaiah 13:2)
Blessed are those who do His commandments…and enter through the gates into the city. (Revelation 22:14)
Lift up your heads, O you gates …that the King of glory may come in. (Psalm 24:7, 9)
The roads to Zion mourn…. All her gates are desolate; her priests groan…. (Lamentations 1:4)
Judah mourned, and her gates have been made to languish. (Jeremiah 14:2)
Jehovah has purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion…. Her gates have sunk into the ground. (Lamentations 2:8, 9)
…who make a man to sin against the Word, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate…. (Isaiah 29:21)
They chose new gods; then he began to attack the gates. (Judges 5:8)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 3:25, 26, 14:31, 22:7, 24:12, 28:6, 62:10; Jeremiah 1:15, 15:7, 31:38, 40; Micah 2:13; Nahum 3:13; Judges 5:11.
Since gates symbolize introductory truths, which are concepts from the Word, therefore the elders of the city used to sit as judges at the gates, as is apparent from Deuteronomy 21:18-21, 22:15; Lamentations 5:14; Amos 5:12, 15; Zechariah 8:16.
* A name variously applied in former times to precious stones of a red or fiery color.
The twelve angels symbolize here all the truths and goods of heaven, since in the highest sense angels symbolize the Lord, in a more general sense heaven, which is composed of angels, and in a more particular sense the truths and goods of heaven from the Lord. See nos. 5, 170, 258, 344, 415, 465, 647, 648, 657, 718. Here they symbolize the truths and goods of heaven, because the statement follows, “with names written on them, which are those of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel,” and these symbolize all the truths and goods of the church (no. 349).
Being over the gates means, symbolically, in those concepts, inasmuch as “over” in the Word symbolically means “within.” The reason is that the highest component in sequential order becomes the inmost in concurrent order. Consequently the third heaven is called both the highest heaven and the inmost heaven. That is why “over the gates” symbolically means in the concepts of truth. The names written on the angels symbolize their whole character, thus also the character within them, for every quality in outward expressions originates from inner attributes.
It is apparent that the same words symbolize safeguards to keep someone from entering the church without having those concepts from the Lord, because the angels were seen standing over the gates, and the names of the tribes of Israel were also written on them.
We say that the truths and goods of heaven and the church are present in the concepts coming from the Word that serve to introduce into the church, because when concepts of truth and good from the Word have in them a spiritual quality from heaven from the Lord, they are called not concepts, but truths. But if those concepts do not have in them a spiritual quality from heaven from the Lord, they are nothing more than articles of knowledge.
The gates now symbolize concepts of truth and goodness which have in them spiritual life from the Lord out of heaven, because over the gates were twelve angels with the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel written on them, and these symbolize this life in those concepts, as is apparent from the explanation just above in no. 900. That the gates symbolize concepts of truth and goodness which introduce into the New Church may be seen in no. 899 above.
There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west, because the east symbolizes love and an affection for goodness in a higher degree, thus in greater measure, whereas the west symbolizes love and an affection for goodness in a lower degree, thus in lesser measure; and the south symbolizes wisdom and an affection for truth in a higher degree, thus in greater measure, whereas the north symbolizes wisdom and an affection for truth in a lower degree, thus in lesser measure. The east, west, south and north have these symbolic meanings because the Lord is the sun in the spiritual world, and east and west are determined by the direction He faces, with the south and north on either side – to His right the south, and to His left the north. Consequently people who possess love toward the Lord and its attending affection in a greater measure live in the east, and in a lesser measure in the west, while those who possess wisdom from an affection for truth in a greater measure live in the south, and in a lesser measure in the north.
That the dwellings of angels in heaven are arranged in this way may be seen in the book Heaven and Hell (London 1758), nos. 141-153.
There are three gates facing each of the cardinal points of the compass because the number three symbolizes all (nos. 400, 505).
The wall of the city symbolizes the Word in its literal sense (no. 898), and its twelve foundations symbolize all of the doctrines of the church – its foundations symbolizing doctrines, and the number twelve all. The church, moreover, is founded on doctrine, for it teaches how a person is to believe and live, and its doctrine is to be drawn only from the Word. That it is to be drawn from the Word’s literal sense may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 50-61.
Since the twelve foundations of the wall of the city New Jerusalem symbolize all of the church’s doctrine, and the church is a church by virtue of its doctrine, therefore its foundations are described in more detail in verses 19 and 20 below.
The foundations of the earth are mentioned a number of times in the Word, and they do not mean the foundations of the earth, but the foundations of the church, inasmuch as the earth symbolizes the church (no. 285). And the foundations of the church are only ones that come from the Word and are called doctrines. For it is the Word itself that provides a foundation for the church.
[2] Doctrines drawn from the Word are symbolized by foundations also in the following passages:
Have you not understood the foundations of the earth? (Isaiah 40:21)
I will put My words in your mouth…to plant the heavens and found the earth…. (Isaiah 51:16)
They do not acknowledge, they do not understand, they walk in darkness, all the foundations of the earth shake. (Psalm 82:5)
…the Word of Jehovah…who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundations of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. (Zechariah 12:1)
Jehovah…kindled a fire in Zion, which has devoured its foundations. (Lamentations 4:11)
The impious…shoot in darkness the upright in heart, because the foundations are being destroyed…. (Psalm 11:2, 3)
Hear, O mountains, Jehovah’s quarrel, you strong foundations of the earth; for Jehovah has a quarrel with His people…. (Micah 6:2)
…the floodgates on high are open, and the foundations of the earth are shaken. The earth is violently broken, the earth is split open, the earth is shaken…. (Isaiah 24:18-20)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 14:32, 48:13, 51:13; Psalm 24:2, 102:25, 104:5, 6; 2 Samuel 22:8, 16.
Whoever does not think that the earth symbolizes the church cannot help but think only naturally, even materially, when he reads in these places about the foundations of the earth. So it would be also if he were not to think of the city Jerusalem here as symbolizing the church when he reads about its wall, gates, foundations, streets, dimensions, and more, which are described in this chapter as features of a city, when in fact they are features of the church and so must be interpreted not materially, but spiritually.
The foundations had the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb written on them because the twelve apostles symbolize the Lord’s church and everything connected with it (nos. 79, 233, 790), in this case the church in respect to all of its doctrines, because their names were written on the twelve foundations, which symbolize all of the doctrines of the New Jerusalem (no. 902). The twelve names symbolize its whole character, and its whole character has to do with two elements in the doctrine and so in that church: the Lord and living in accordance with His commandments. Therefore these are what are symbolized.
All of the doctrines of the New Jerusalem relate to these two elements, because they are its universal tenets on which all of its particular ones depend, and they are the essential elements from which all of its outward expressions originate. Therefore they are, as it were, the soul and life in all of its doctrines.
They are, indeed, two elements, but one cannot be divorced from the other. For to divorce them would be like divorcing the Lord from mankind, or mankind from the Lord, and in that case there would be no church.
These two elements are joined together like the two tables of the Ten Commandments, one of which contains commandments having to do with the Lord, and the other commandments having to do with people. There they are called a covenant, and a covenant symbolizes conjunction.
Think what the case would be with the tables of the Ten Commandments if only the first were to remain and the second were to be snatched away. Or if the second were to remain and the first were to be snatched away. Would it not be as though God did not see mankind, or as though mankind did not see God? Or as though one abandoned the other?
We say this to make it known that everything connected with the doctrine of the New Jerusalem relates to love toward the Lord and love for the neighbor. To love the Lord is to have faith in the Lord and obey His commandments, and to obey His commandments is to love the neighbor, since to obey the Lord’s commandments is to be of useful service to the neighbor. People who love the Lord are those who obey His commandments, as the Lord Himself teaches in John 14:21-24. And love toward the Lord and love for the neighbor are the two commandments on which hang the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 22:37-40). The Law and the Prophets mean the Word in its entirety.
He who spoke with me symbolizes the Lord speaking from heaven, because it was an angel speaking, one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls mentioned in verse 9, who means the Lord speaking from heaven (no. 895). A reed symbolizes a power or ability springing from the goodness of love – a reed symbolizing power or ability (no. 485), and gold the goodness of love (nos. 211, 726). To measure means, symbolically, to learn the character of a thing, thus to understand and know it (no. 486). The city, the holy Jerusalem, symbolizes the church in respect to its doctrine (nos. 879, 880). Its gates symbolize concepts of truth and goodness from the Word’s literal sense, which are truths and goods owing to the spiritual life in them (no. 899). And the wall symbolizes the Word in its literal sense from which the doctrine and concepts come (no. 898).
It is apparent from this that “he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall,” symbolically means that to people who possess the goodness of love, the Lord grants a faculty for understanding and knowing the nature of the Lord’s New Church as regards its doctrine and its introductory truths, and as regards the Word from which they are drawn.
[2] These symbolic meanings cannot be seen at all in the literal sense, for one sees in it only that an angel speaking with John had a gold reed with which to measure the city and its gates and wall. But even so, that these words contain another meaning, a spiritual meaning, is clearly apparent from the fact that the city Jerusalem does not mean a real city, but the church. Consequently everything said about Jerusalem as a city symbolizes such things as have to do with the church, and everything having to do with the church is, in itself, spiritual.
Such a spiritual meaning is present also in what is said in chapter 11 above, where we are told the following:
I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood by, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.” (Revelation 11:1)
A similar spiritual meaning is present, too, in everything that the angel measured with a reed in Ezekiel 40-48. Also in these verses in Zechariah:
I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand. So I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what its width is and what its length.” (Zechariah 2:1, 2)
Indeed, such a spiritual meaning is present in everything connected with the Tabernacle and in everything connected with the Temple in Jerusalem, whose measurements we are told, and also in the measurements themselves. And yet nothing of this can be seen in the literal sense.
The city was seen as square because a square or quadrilateral form symbolizes justice, inasmuch as a triangle symbolizes rectitude, all of these being symbols on the lowest level, which is the natural one.
A square or quadrilateral layout symbolizes justice because it has four sides, and the four sides face the four cardinal points of the compass; and to face the four cardinal points equally is to regard everything equitably. That is why there were three gates on each side giving entrance into the city, and why it is said in Isaiah,
Open the gates, that a righteous nation which keeps its fealties may enter in. (Isaiah 26:2)
The city was laid out as a square in order that its length and breadth might be equal, the length symbolizing the goodness of the New Church, and the breadth its truth, and when goodness and truth are in balance, then there is justice.
It is because a square has this symbolic meaning that we say in everyday speech that this or that man deals squarely, meaning a man who does not incline unjustly to either one party or the other.
Because a square symbolizes justice, therefore the altar of burnt offering was square (Exodus 27:1), which symbolized a worship springing from a celestial goodness and consequent truth. The altar of incense, too, was square as well (Exodus 30:1,2), which symbolized a worship springing from a spiritual goodness and consequent truth. The breastpiece of judgment, moreover, which contained the urim and thummim, was doubled into a square (Exodus 28:15, 16, 39:9). And other objects also were square.
The length of the city Jerusalem symbolizes the church’s goodness, and its breadth symbolizes the church’s truth. That the breadth of a thing symbolizes truth is something we showed from the Word in no. 861 above.
The length of a thing symbolizes goodness, here the goodness of the church, for the same reason that breadth symbolizes truth. The reason is that the sweep of heaven from east to west is meant by length, and the sweep of heaven from south to north by breadth, and angels who dwell in the eastern and western zones in heaven are impelled by the goodness of love, while angels who dwell in the southern and northern zones in heaven are impelled by truths of wisdom, as may be seen in no. 901 above.
[2] It is the same with the church on earth, for everyone impelled by the church’s goods and truths from the Word is associated with angels in heaven, and he dwells with them in the interiors of his mind – those impelled by the goodness of love in the eastern and western zones of heaven, and those impelled by truths of wisdom in the southern and northern zones of heaven. No one is aware of this, indeed, but everyone nevertheless goes to his place after death.
This, then, is the reason that length, when describing the church, symbolizes its goodness, and breadth its truth. Obviously length and breadth cannot be used to describe the church, but they can be to describe a city which symbolizes the church.
The symbolic meaning is that goodness and truth in the New Church are united, like essence and form, because we are told that its length is as great as its breadth, and, as we said, its length symbolizes the church’s goodness, and its breadth its truth.
They are united like essence and form, because truth gives formal expression to goodness, and goodness is the essence of truth, and the essence and the form are united.
To measure with a reed means, symbolically, to learn the character of a thing (no. 904); and because the angel measured in John’s presence, it symbolizes showing it to John so that John might know it. The city here, Jerusalem, symbolizes the Lord’s New Church in respect to its doctrine (nos. 879, 880). Twelve thousand furlongs symbolizes all of the goods and truths of that church. Twelve thousand has the same symbolic meaning as twelve, and twelve symbolizes all goods and truths, and is a number used in application to the church, as may be seen in no. 348 above.
Furlongs have the same symbolic meaning as any measures, and measures symbolize the character of a thing (nos. 313, 486).
The city’s length, breadth and height are said to be equal in order to symbolize the fact that everything connected with that church springs from the goodness of love. For length symbolizes the goodness of love, and breadth the truth emanating from that love (no. 906), and height symbolizes goodness and truth together in every degree. For height extends from the highest point to the lowest, and the highest descends to the lowest by degrees, degrees we call degrees of height, in which the heavens exist from the highest or third heaven to the lowest or first heaven. A treatment of these degrees may be seen in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, Part Three.
The equality of the length, breadth and height symbolizes that everything springs from the goodness of love because the word “length” is put first, which symbolizes the goodness of love, and the breadth is then equal to that, being thus like the length, and so, too, the height. What would it mean otherwise, that the height of the city was 12,000 furlongs,* so immense as to rise above the clouds, even above the atmosphere, whose height does not exceed 30 furlongs? Indeed, it would be so immense as to rise into outer space as far as the eye can see.
That the three dimensions were equal symbolically means that everything connected with the New Church springs from the goodness of love, as is apparent from verses that follow, for we are told that the city was pure gold, like clear glass (verse 18), and that the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass (verse 21). Gold symbolizes the goodness of love.
That everything connected with heaven and the church springs from the goodness of love, and that the goodness of love comes from the Lord, will be seen in the next number.
* A height of 12,000 stadia in the original Latin, or about 1379 miles.
For this reason the learned have attributed everything to thought and not to affection, and the church has attributed everything to faith and not to love, even though the truth that people in the church today call faith or the truth of faith is only a formal expression of the goodness of love, as may be seen in no. 875 above.
Now because a person does not see the goodness in his thinking, inasmuch as goodness, as we said, is only felt, and is felt in the guise of various kinds of delight, and because a person does not pay attention to what he is feeling in his thinking, but only to what he sees in it, therefore he calls good everything that he feels with delight; and he feels evil with delight, because it is inherent in him from birth to do so and emanates from his love of self and the world. That is why people do not know that the goodness of love is everything in heaven and the church, and exists in a person only from the Lord, and why it flows in from the Lord only in someone who refrains from evils and their delights as sins.
[2] This is the meaning of the Lord’s declaration that the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments: you shall love God above all things, and the neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40).
Moreover I can assert that a person cannot possess a grain of truth that is in itself true except to the extent that it springs from the goodness of love from the Lord, and so cannot possess a grain of faith that is in itself faith, that is, a living, saving and spiritual faith, except to the extent that it springs from charity from the Lord.
Since the goodness of love is everything in heaven and the church, therefore the whole of heaven and the whole church are set in order in accordance with the affections of people’s love, and not in accordance with any of their thinking divorced from those affections. For thought is affection given form, as speech is sound given form.
The angel’s measuring means, symbolically, that its character was shown, as in no. 907 above. The wall symbolizes the Word in its literal sense (no. 898). A hundred and forty-four symbolizes all the truths and goods of the church from the Word (no. 348). Cubits symbolize character, like any unit of measure.
The number 144, in fact, has the same symbolic meaning as the number 12, because the product of 12 multiplied by 12, or 12 squared, is the number 144, and multiplication does not take away its symbolism.
A measure symbolizes the character of a thing (nos. 313, 486). A man here symbolizes the church, which is composed of people, and an angel symbolizes heaven, which is composed of angels. Therefore the measure of a man, that is, of an angel, symbolizes the character of the church as being united with heaven.
A man in the Word symbolizes intelligence and wisdom gained from the Word (no. 243), and intelligence and wisdom from the Word in a person constitute the church in him. Consequently a man in a concrete or generic sense – that is, when a society or company of people is called a man – in the spiritual sense means the church. That is why prophets were called sons of man, and why the Lord called Himself Son of Man. A son of man means a church’s truth from the Word, and when applied to the Lord, it means the Word itself on which the church is founded.
An angel has three symbolic meanings: in the highest sense the Lord; in a general sense heaven or a heavenly society; and in a particular sense Divine truth. That an angel has these three symbolic meanings may be seen in nos. 5, 65, 170, 258, 342, 344, 415, 465, 644, 647, 648, 657, 718. Here the angel symbolizes the heaven with which the Lord’s New Church will be united.
A church that is founded on the Word, thus on the Lord, is a church affiliated with heaven and conjoined with the Lord, as may be seen in no. 818 above. Not so a church not founded on the Lord’s Word.
The wall symbolizes the Word in its literal sense (no. 898). Its structure symbolizes everything in it, because everything in it is in its structure. Jasper has, on the whole, the same symbolic meaning as any precious stone, and in application to the Word a precious stone symbolizes the Divine truth of the Word in its literal sense through which the Divine truth in its spiritual sense shines through (nos. 231, 540, 726, 823). That jasper has the same symbolic meaning may be seen in no. 897 above.
The Divine truth shines through because Divine truth in the literal sense is seen in natural light, whereas Divine truth in the spiritual sense is seen in spiritual light. Consequently, when spiritual light flows into the natural sight in a person who is reading the Word, it enlightens him and he sees truths in it, for the objects of spiritual light are truths. The Word in its literal sense is also such that the more enlightened a person is by the influx of the light of heaven, the more truths he sees because of their connection and consequent form; and the more truths he sees in this way, the more interiorly is his rationality opened. For the rational faculty is the indispensable receptacle of heavenly light.
The city, that is, Jerusalem, means the Lord’s New Church in respect to everything in it or within its wall. Gold symbolizes the goodness of love from the Lord, as will be seen next. Being like clear glass symbolizes its having Divine wisdom shining clearly through; and because that wisdom appears in heaven as light and flows in from the Lord as the sun, being like pure glass symbolizes its flowing in together with light out of heaven from the Lord.
In no. 908 above we showed that everything connected with heaven and the church springs from the goodness of love, and that the goodness of love comes from the Lord. Now we say here that the city’s looking as though it were pure gold means, symbolically, that everything connected with the New Church, the New Jerusalem, embodies the goodness of love from the Lord. Yet because the goodness of love does not exist by itself, divorced from the truths of wisdom, but for it to be the goodness of love must take form and does take form through truths of wisdom, therefore the city is said here to be pure gold, like clear glass. For the goodness of love without truths of wisdom does not have any character, because it lacks form. Its form accords with the truths it has flowing in in their order and connection together with the goodness of love from the Lord, thus in accord with its reception in a person. We say, in a person, but we mean not that the truths are a person’s, but that they are the Lord’s in him.
It is apparent from this now that the city’s being pure gold, like clear glass, symbolically means that everything connected with the New Church therefore embodies the goodness of love flowing in with light out of heaven from the Lord.
That gold, owing to its correspondence, symbolizes the goodness of love, may be seen from the following passages:
I urge you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be enriched…. (Revelation 3:18)
How dim the gold has become! How changed the finest gold! The stones of the sanctuary are scattered at the head of every street. The precious sons of Zion, valuable as pure gold…. (Lamentations 4:1, 2)
He will…save the souls of the poor…. And He will give them some of the gold of Sheba. (Psalm 72:13, 15)
Instead of bronze I will bring gold, instead of iron, silver, instead of wood, bronze, and instead of stones, iron. I will also make your registration peaceful, and your tax gatherers righteous. (Isaiah 60:17)
Behold, you are wise…! No secret has been hidden from you! With your wisdom and your intelligence you have gained for yourself…gold and silver in your treasuries…. You were in Eden, the garden…; every precious stone was your covering…, also gold. (Ezekiel 28:3, 4, 13)
The multitude of camels shall cover you…; all those from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and incense, and they shall proclaim the praises of Jehovah. (Isaiah 60:6, cf. 60:9, Matthew 2:11)
…I will fill this house with glory…. The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine…. The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former…. (Haggai 2:7-9)
Kings’ daughters are among Your precious ones. At Your right hand stands the queen in the finest gold of Ophir…. Her clothing is woven with gold. (Psalm 45:9, 13, cf. Ezekiel 16:13)
You have taken vessels for your adornment from My gold and My silver that I had given you, and made for yourself male images…. (Ezekiel 16:17)
…you have taken My silver and My gold, and have carried My valuable possessions into your temples. (Joel 3:5)
[2] Since gold symbolized the goodness of love, therefore when Belshazzar with his great men was drinking wine from vessels of gold taken from the temple in Jerusalem, and at the same time was praising gods of gold, silver, bronze and iron, writing appeared on the wall, and that night he was slain (Daniel 5). And so on in many other places.
Since gold symbolized the goodness of love, therefore the Ark that contained the Law was overlaid inside and out with gold (Exodus 25:11). Therefore the mercy seat and the cherubim over the Ark were also of made of pure gold (Exodus 25:17,18). The altar of incense was of pure gold (Exodus 30:3). So was the lampstand that held the lamps (Exodus 25:31, 38). And the table on which the showbread was placed was overlaid with gold (Exodus 25:23, 24).
[3] Since gold symbolized the goodness of love, silver the truth of wisdom, bronze the goodness of the natural love called charity, and iron the truth of faith, therefore people in ancient times called the succeeding periods of time from the most ancient period to the concluding one the golden, silver, bronze and iron ages. A similar symbolism is exhibited by the statue that Nebuchadnezzar saw in a dream, whose head was fine gold, its breast and arms silver, its belly and thighs bronze, its lower legs iron, and its feet part iron and part clay (Daniel 2:32, 33). This symbolizes the succeeding states of the church in this world, from most ancient times to the present day. The state of the church today is described in this way:
As you saw iron mixed with miry clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. (Daniel 2:43)
Iron symbolizes the truth of faith, as we have said, yet when there is no truth of faith, but faith without truth, then it is iron mixed with miry clay, the two of which do not bond together. The seed of men with which they will mingle symbolizes the truth in the Word. This is the state of the church today. What it will be hereafter is briefly described in verse 45 in Daniel 2, but at more length in chapter 7, verses 13-18, 27.
The twelve foundations symbolize all of the church’s doctrines (no. 902). The wall symbolizes the Word in its literal sense (no. 898). The holy city Jerusalem symbolizes the Lord’s New Church (nos. 879, 880). Precious stones symbolize the Word in its literal sense with its spiritual sense shining through (nos. 231, 540, 726, 911). And because this depends on its reception, therefore the symbolic meaning is that all of the doctrines from the Word among the people in that church will be seen in a state of light in accordance with their reception of it.
People who fail to think rationally cannot believe that everything connected with the New Church can be seen in a state of light. But I assure them that it is possible, for everyone has an outer thought and an inner one. The inner thought thinks in the light of heaven and is called perception, while the outer thought thinks in the light of the world. Moreover the intellect in everyone is so formed that it can be raised even into the light of heaven, and also is raised if it is moved by some delight to wish to see a truth. The reality of this is something I have been given to know through long experience, and marvelous things as a result of it may be seen in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Providence, and still more in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom. For the delight of love and wisdom elevates the thought to see that something is so, as though in a state of light, even if it had not heard it before. This light that enlightens the mind flows in from no other source than the Lord and heaven. And because people who will be those of the New Jerusalem will turn directly to the Lord, this light will flow in in the orderly way, namely through the will’s love into the intellect’s perception.
[2] On the other hand, people who entrench in themselves this dogma, that the intellect in theological matters is not going to see anything, but that people must believe blindly whatever the church teaches – people like that cannot see any truth in a state of light, for they have blocked up the path of the light in themselves.
The Protestant Reformed church has retained this dogma from the Roman Catholic religion, which holds that no one but the church – by which they mean the Pope or Papal Consistory – is to interpret the Word, and that anyone who does not embrace with faith all of the doctrines handed down by the church is to be regarded as a heretic and as an anathema or one accursed. The fact of this is clear from the concluding session of the Council of Trent, which established all the dogmas of that religion, where it says toward the end:
Then…Morone, the…President, …said, “…go in peace.”
There followed acclamations, and among them those of the Cardinal of Lorraine and the Fathers:
[The Cardinal:] We all thus believe; we all think the very same; we all, consenting and embracing [them], subscribe. This is the faith of blessed Peter, and of the Apostles: this is the faith of the Fathers: This is the faith of the Orthodox….
[The Fathers:] So be it…. Amen, Amen.
[The Cardinal:] Anathema to all heretics.
[The Fathers:] Anathema, anathema.
The decrees of that Council are those we presented in summary previously at the outset of this work, and they contain, indeed, scarcely one truth.
[3] We have cited this to make known that the Protestant Reformed have retained this blind faith, that is, a faith without understanding, from the Roman Catholic religion, and those who continue to hold onto it cannot be enlightened by the Lord in Divine truths.
As long as the intellect is held captive in obedience to faith, or as long as the intellect is set aside so as not to see the church’s truths, theology becomes nothing but a matter of the memory; and a matter of the memory alone fades away, like any matter disconnected from a judgment concerning it, and it perishes from its own lack of clarity. People like that are therefore “blind leaders of the blind,” and when “the blind leads the blind, both fall into a ditch” (Matthew 15:14).
They are blind also because they do not enter by the door, but in some other way.* For Jesus said:
I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. (John 10:9)
To find pasture means to be instructed, enlightened, and nourished in Divine truths.
All those who do not enter by the door, that is, by the Lord, are in that same chapter called “thieves and robbers.” But those who enter by the door, that is, by the Lord, are called “shepherds of the sheep” (John 10:1, 2).
Therefore turn to the Lord, my friend, refrain from evils as being sins, and reject faith alone. And then your intellect will be opened, and you will see marvels and be affected by them.
* Cf. John 10:1.
The twelve foundations of the wall symbolize all the doctrines of the New Jerusalem from the literal sense of the Word, as may be seen in nos. 902, 914 above. Precious stones in general symbolize all the truths in the doctrine of the New Jerusalem from the Word with the spiritual sense shining through, as may be seen in nos. 231, 540, 726, 911, 914 above. Each of the stones here symbolizes some particular truth with the spiritual meaning thus shining through. That the Word’s literal sense in respect to its doctrines corresponds to precious stones of every kind may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 43-45.
[2] Two colors in general that shine through in precious stones are the color red and the color white. The rest of the colors, such as green, yellow, blue, and many others, are composites of these, modified by shades of gray. The color red symbolizes the goodness of love, and the color white symbolizes the truth of wisdom. The color red symbolizes the goodness of love because it takes its origin from the fire of the sun, and the fire of the sun in the spiritual world is, in its essence, the Lord’s Divine love, thus the goodness of love. And the color white symbolizes the truth of wisdom because it takes its origin from the light that emanates from the fire of that sun, and that emanating light is, in its essence, Divine wisdom, thus the truth of wisdom. Shades of gray take their origin from that fire and light shaded, which is ignorance.
[3] However, to explain in detail just what good and just what truth is symbolized by each stone would be too lengthy a task. Nevertheless, to learn what good and truth each stone symbolizes in this list, see the exposition of chapter 7 above, verses 5-8, nos. 349-361, where the subject was the twelve tribes of Israel. For each stone here has the same symbolism as each tribe named there, since the twelve tribes described there likewise symbolize all the goods and truths of the church and its doctrine in their order. Consequently we are also told in this chapter, verse 14, that on these twelve foundations were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, and the twelve apostles symbolize all of the doctrines regarding the Lord and living in accordance with His commandments (no. 903).
The twelve stones here also have the same symbolism as the twelve precious stones in the breastpiece of Aaron, called the Urim and Thummim, as described in Exodus 28:15-21, which we explained one by one in Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), nos. 9856-9882, with the difference that the stones there had on them the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, while these have on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
[4] That the foundations were laid with precious stones is something we are also told in Isaiah:
O you afflicted one…, behold, I will lay your stones with antimony. I will set your foundations in sapphires…, and your gates in carbuncle stones…. All your children have been taught by Jehovah…. (Isaiah 54:11-13)
The afflicted one means a church to be established by the Lord among gentiles.
In Isaiah as well:
…thus said the Lord Jehovih: “…I will lay in Zion a foundation stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation…. I will make judgment the rule, and justice the plumb line….” (Isaiah 28:16, 17)
[5] Since every doctrinal truth from the Word is founded on an acknowledgment of the Lord, therefore the Lord is called the Stone of Israel in Genesis 49:24, and the cornerstone which the builders rejected in Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10,11, and Luke 20:17,18. That the cornerstone is a foundation stone is clear from Jeremiah 51:26.
In many places in the Word the Lord is also called a rock. Thus He meant Himself by the rock when He said, “On this rock I will build My church” (Matthew 16:18, 19), and also when He said, “Whoever hears My sayings and does them is like a prudent man who builds a house and lays the foundation on a rock” (Luke 6:47, 48, Matthew 7:24, 25). The rock symbolizes the Lord in respect to the Divine truth in the Word.
Everything connected with the church and its doctrine relates to these two points, that one must turn directly to the Lord, and that one must live in accordance with the Ten Commandments by refraining from evils as sins. Thus everything connected with the doctrine relates to love toward God and love for the neighbor, something that will be seen in The Doctrines of the New Jerusalem Regarding Charity, where these precepts will be expounded in turn.
The twelve gates symbolize in sum the concepts of truth and goodness by which a person is introduced into the church (nos. 899, 900). Twelve pearls also symbolize in sum concepts of truth and goodness (no. 727). That is why the gates were pearls. Each gate was of one pearl because all the concepts of truth and goodness symbolized by the gates and by pearls relate to a single concept, one that is their containing vessel, and that single concept is a concept of the Lord. We say, a single concept, even though there are many that make up that single concept, for a concept of the Lord pervades all other doctrinal concepts, and so all concerns having to do with the church. All matters of worship take their life and soul from that concept, for the Lord is everything in the whole of heaven and the church, and so in the whole of worship.
[2] An acknowledgment and concept of the Lord join all the concepts of truth and goodness in the Word into one because all spiritual truths are connected, and if you would believe it, their connection is like the connection between all the members, viscera and organs of the human body. Consequently, as the soul holds everything together in their organization and connection, so that they are sensed only as a unit, so the Lord holds together all the spiritual truths that a person possesses.
That the Lord is the true door by which one is to enter into the church and so into heaven, He Himself teaches in John:
I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved…. (John 10:9)
And that an acknowledgement and concept of Him is the true pearl is meant by these words of the Lord in Matthew:
…the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one precious pearl, went and sold all that he had and bought it. (Matthew 13:45, 46)
The one precious pearl is an acknowledgment and concept of the Lord.
The description here is like the one in verse 18 above, which says that the city was pure gold, like clear glass, which symbolically means that everything connected with that church embodies the goodness of love flowing in together with light out of heaven from the Lord, as may be seen in nos. 912, 913, with the difference that we are told here that the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass, and the street of the city symbolizes the truth of the church’s doctrine (no. 501).
That every truth in the church’s doctrine from the Word embodies the goodness of love may be seen in nos. 906, 908 above.
John’s not seeing a temple in the city does not mean that the New Church, or New Jerusalem, will not have any temples in it, but that it will not have any external element without an internal one. That is because a temple symbolizes the church in respect to its worship, and in a higher sense the Lord Himself in respect to His Divine humanity, which is to be worshiped, as may be seen in nos. 191, 529, 585 above. Moreover, because everything connected with the church comes from the Lord, therefore we are told that the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the city’s temple, which symbolizes the Lord in His Divine humanity. The Lord God Almighty means the Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah Himself, and the Lamb symbolizes His Divine humanity, as we have said many times above.
The sun here symbolizes natural love divorced from spiritual love, which is self-love. And the moon symbolizes a natural intelligence and faith divorced from a spiritual intelligence and faith, which is one’s native intelligence and a self-made faith. This is the love and the intelligence and faith symbolized by the sun and moon here, which people of the Lord’s New Church will have no need of to light their sight.
The glory of God which illumines the city symbolizes the Word’s Divine truth (no. 629), and because that illumination or enlightenment comes from the Lord, we are told as well that the Lamb is its lamp.
The symbolism here is similar to that found in the following verses in Isaiah:
You shall call your walls salvation, and your gates praise. The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you; but Jehovah will be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory. Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon wane; for Jehovah will be your everlasting light…. Your people shall all be righteous. (Isaiah 60:18-21)
The sun and moon that will no longer give light mean self-love and one’s native intelligence. And the sun and moon that will no longer go down mean love from the Lord for the Lord, and an intelligence and faith from Him. That Jehovah will be an everlasting light has the same symbolic meaning as what is said here, that the glory of God will illumine the city and the Lamb be its lamp.
That the sun symbolizes love for the Lord, and in an opposite sense self-love, may be seen in nos. 53 and 414 above. And that the moon symbolizes intelligence from the Lord and faith from Him, in nos. 332, 413, 414. Thus the moon in an opposite sense symbolizes one’s native intelligence and a self-made faith.
Since the sun in an opposite sense symbolizes self-love, and the moon one’s native intelligence and a self-made faith, therefore it was an abomination to worship the sun, moon and stars, as may be seen in Jeremiah 8:1,2, in Ezekiel 8:15,16, and in Zephaniah 1:5, and that people who did were stoned, in Deuteronomy 17:2, 3, 5.
The nations symbolize people who live a good life, and also people who live an evil life (no. 483). Here they symbolize people who live a good life and believe in the Lord, because they are called nations that are saved. To walk in light means, symbolically, to live in accordance with Divine truths and to see them inwardly in oneself as the eye sees objects. For the objects of spiritual sight, which are those of the inner intellect, are spiritual truths, and people who possess that intellect see them in a manner analogous to the way the eyes see natural objects. The light here symbolizes a perception of Divine truth from an inner enlightenment in those people from the Lord (no. 796), and to walk symbolizes to live (no. 167). From this it is apparent that to walk in the light of the New Jerusalem symbolically means to perceive and see Divine truths from an inner enlightenment and to live in accordance with them.
[2] But we need to illustrate this, because people do not know who are meant by the nations here, and by the kings mentioned next in this verse. The nations symbolize people who are impelled by the goodness of love received from the Lord, a goodness we call celestial goodness; and kings symbolize people who are impelled by truths of wisdom springing from a spiritual goodness received from the Lord, as we will see in the next number. People impelled by a celestial goodness from the Lord all have Divine truths engraved on their life. Therefore they walk, that is to say, live, uprightly in accordance with them, and they also see them inwardly in themselves, as the eye sees its objects. On this subject, see what we said in nos. 120-123 above.
All of the heavens have been distinguished into two kingdoms: the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. The goodness of the celestial kingdom we call celestial goodness, which is the goodness of love for the Lord, and the goodness of the spiritual kingdom we call spiritual goodness, and it is the goodness of wisdom, which in its essence is truth. Regarding these two kingdoms, see nos. 647, 725, 854 above.
[3] It is the same with the church, and those people are celestial there who live in accordance with the precepts of justice because they are Divine laws, as a civic-minded person lives in accordance with the precepts of justice because they are civil laws. But the difference between them is that, by his living in accordance with those precepts or laws, the celestial person is a citizen of heaven, to the extent that he inwardly regards civil laws that are laws of justice as also Divine laws.
Those people who are here symbolized by the nations, who have, as we said, Divine truths engraved on them, are the people meant in Jeremiah:
I will put My law in the midst of them and write it on their hearts…, and no more shall anyone teach his companion or anyone his brother, saying, “Know Jehovah,” for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them…. (Jeremiah 31:33, 34)
Kings of the earth symbolize people governed by truths that spring from a goodness received from the Lord (nos. 20, 854). Here, therefore, they are people impelled by truths of wisdom springing from the goodness of a spiritual love, because nations are mentioned first, which symbolize people impelled by the goodness of a celestial love, as described in the previous number. To bring their glory and honor into the city, or into the New Jerusalem, means, symbolically, to confess the Lord and attribute to Him all the truth and goodness that they possess. That this is the symbolic meaning of bringing or giving glory and honor, see nos. 249, 629, 693. For glory is mentioned in reference to the Lord’s Divine truth, and honor in reference to His Divine goodness (no. 249).
Nations and kings have the same symbolic meaning as nations and peoples, as explained in no. 483 above, nations symbolizing people impelled by the goodness of love, and peoples those who are impelled by truths of wisdom. The same is the case also in an opposite sense. Consequently nations and kings are mentioned as frequently in the Word as nations and peoples, as in the following places:
All kings shall prostrate themselves before Him, and all nations shall serve Him. (Psalm 72:11)
You shall suck the milk of nations, and suck the nipples of kings. (Isaiah 60:16)
…many nations and great kings shall make them serve…. (Jeremiah 25:14)
The Lord at Your right hand shall smite kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the nations…. (Psalm 110:5, 6)
And so on elsewhere.
Its gates not being closed by day means, symbolically, that people who wish to enter are continually being let in. By day means, symbolically, continually, because there is always light then, as described in verses 11 and 23 above, and no night, as said next.
People who possess truths that spring from the goodness of love from the Lord are continually received because the light of the New Jerusalem is truth springing from the goodness of love, and the goodness of love comes from the Lord, as we have often shown above. And the only people who can enter into that light are people who possess truths that spring from goodness received from the Lord. If any others enter, they are not welcomed, because they are of a discordant character, and they then either leave of their own accord because they cannot endure that light, or they are sent away.
There being no night there symbolically means that there is no falsity in its faith, for night symbolizes the opposite of light, and light, as we have said, symbolizes truth that springs from the goodness of love from the Lord. Night therefore symbolizes something that does not spring from the goodness of love from the Lord, and that is falsity in people’s faith. Falsity in people’s faith is also meant by night in John:
(Jesus said,) “I must work the works of (God) while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.” (John 9:4)
And in Luke:
…in that night there will be two people in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. (Luke 17:34)
The subject there is the final period of the church, when faith will have in it nothing but falsity. The bed symbolizes doctrine (no. 137).
To bring glory and honor into the city means, symbolically, to confess the Lord and attribute to the Lord all the goodness that people possess, as may be seen in no. 921 above. The symbolism is the same here, with the difference that before it was people meant by the kings of the earth who would bring it with them, while here it is people meant by the nations. For we are told that they will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it, and nations symbolize people who live a good life and believe in the Lord (no. 920). The verse also refers to the reception of those who possess truths that spring from the goodness of love from the Lord, as said in no. 922 above. It follows, therefore, that the people’s bringing the glory and the honor of the nations into the city means, symbolically, that those who enter will bring with them a confession, acknowledgment and faith that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, and that every truth of the church and every good of religion comes from Him.
Almost the same symbolism occurs in the following verse in Isaiah:
…I will spread peace over (Jerusalem)…, and the glory of the nations like a…stream. (Isaiah 66:12)
We say the truth of the church and the good of religion because the church is one thing and religion another. The church is called a church because of its doctrine, and religion is called religion because of its life in accordance with doctrine. Every teaching of doctrine is called truth, and the good of doctrine is also truth, because doctrine only teaches it. But every effect of a life in accordance with what doctrine teaches is what we call good. Putting the truths of doctrine into practice is also good. This is the distinction between the church and religion. But still, where there is doctrine and not life, neither the church nor religion can be said to exist, because doctrine regards life as united with it, altogether like truth and good, faith and charity, wisdom and love, and intellect and will. Consequently, where there is doctrine and not life, the church does not exist.
Not to enter in means, symbolically, not to be received, as before. Something unclean symbolizes spiritual licentiousness, which is an adulteration of the Word’s goodness and a falsification of its truth (nos. 702, 728). For this is absolutely unclean and impure, inasmuch as the Word is absolutely clean and pure, and it is defiled with evils and falsities when it is corrupted. That adultery and licentiousness correspond to an adulteration of the Word’s goodness and a falsification of its truth may be seen in nos. 134, 632. To create an abomination or a lie means, symbolically, to do evils and so also to devise falsities. Abominations symbolize evils of every kind, especially those named in the Ten Commandments (no. 891), and a lie symbolizes falsities of every kind, here the falsities that accompany evil, which in themselves are evils. Thus they are falsities used to justify evil, which are the same as evils affirmed.
A lie symbolizes doctrinal falsity because that is what a spiritual lie is. To create a lie, therefore, symbolically means to live in accordance with doctrinal falsities.
[2] That a lie in the Word symbolizes doctrinal falsity may be seen from the following passages:
We have made a covenant with death, and with hell we have produced a vision…. …we have made a lie our refuge, and in falsehood we have hidden ourselves. (Isaiah 28:15)
Everyone deceives his neighbor, and they do not speak the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak a lie. (Jeremiah 9:5)
…this is a rebellious people, lying children…, who will not hear the law of Jehovah. (Isaiah 30:9)
Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams…, and tell them in order to lead My people astray by their lies…. (Jeremiah 23:32)
The diviners see a lie, and speak false dreams. (Zechariah 10:2)
(The diviners) see vanity and a lying divination…. Therefore…, because you speak vanity and see a lie, behold, for that reason I am against you…, (so that) My hand is against the prophets who speak…a lie. (Ezekiel 13:6-9, cf. 21:29)
Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lying and robbery. (Nahum 3:1)
In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a shocking obstinacy, committing adultery and walking in lies. (Jeremiah 23:14)
From the prophet even to the priest, everyone devises lies. (Jeremiah 8:10)
(In Israel) they have devised lies. (Hosea 7:1)
You are of your father the devil…. He was a murderer from the beginning…, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own, for he is the speaker of a lie and the father of it. (John 8:44)
Here, too, a lie means falsity.
That this is the symbolic meaning of being written in the Book of Life may be seen in no. 874 above, and there is no need to add more here.
**********
When I was engaged in explaining chapter 20 and thinking about the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, someone appeared to me and asked, “What are you thinking about?”
I said, “About the false prophet.”
Then he said, “I will take you down to the place where those people reside who are meant by the false prophet. They are,” he said, “the same people as those meant in chapter 13 by the beast from the earth, which had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.”
I followed him, and behold, I saw a crowd of people, and in their midst some priests who had taught that nothing else saves a person but faith, and that works are good, but not for salvation. Yet works, they said, must still be taught from the Word in order to keep the laity, especially the simple, more tightly in bonds of obedience toward their magistrates, and to compel them, as though by religion, thus from a deeper motive, to exercise a moral charity.
[2] One of the priests then, seeing me, said, “Would you like to see our chapel? We have an image representative of our faith there.”
I went over and looked, and behold, it was magnificent. And at its center was the image of a woman, dressed in a scarlet garment, holding in her right hand a gold coin, and in her left a string of pearls. Both the chapel and the image, however, were produced by illusions. For spirits in hell can use illusions to represent magnificent things by closing the inner constituents of the mind and opening only its outer ones. But when I noticed that the spirits were such sorcerers, I prayed to the Lord, and suddenly the interiors of my mind were opened; and instead of a magnificent chapel I saw a building filled with cracks from the ceiling to the floor, with nothing in it holding together. And instead of the woman I saw in the building a statue hanging, with a head like that of a dragon, a body like that of a leopard, and feet like those of a bear, being thus like the description of the beast from the sea in the book of Revelation, chapter 13. Moreover, the floor was replaced by a swamp teeming with frogs. And I was told that beneath the swamp was a large hewn stone, under which lay the Word, well hidden.
[3] Seeing these changes, I said to the sorcerer, “Is this your chapel?” And he said it was.
But suddenly then his inner sight was opened too, and he saw the same changes I saw. And seeing them, he cried with a great cry, “What is this? And why did it happen?”
So I said that it was due to light from heaven, which exposes the true character of every form. “And in this case,” I told them, “it is the character of your faith that is divorced from any spiritual charity.”
Immediately then an eastern wind came and took everything there away; and it also dried up the swamp, and so laid bare the stone under which lay the Word. After that a spring-like warmth wafted over me from heaven, and behold, I saw in that same place a tent, simple in its outward form.
Then some angels who were with me said, “Behold, the tent of Abraham, as it was when the three angels came to him and announced the future birth of Isaac. It looks simple to the eye, but it becomes more and more magnificent in proportion to the influx of light from heaven.”
It was given them then to open the heaven inhabited by spiritual angels, who are characterized by wisdom, and owing to the light flowing in from there the tent looked like a temple, like the one in Jerusalem. And when I looked inside, I saw a foundation stone beset with precious stones, under which the Word had been placed. From the precious stones flashed light like that of lightning on the walls, which had on them figures of cherubim, and it bathed them in beautifully variegated colors.
[4] While I was admiring these things, the angels said, “You will see something still more marvelous.” And it was given them to open the third heaven, inhabited by celestial angels, who are characterized by love, and then, owing to the light flowing in from there, the temple completely vanished, and in its stead I saw the Lord alone, standing on the foundation stone, which was the Word, in an appearance like that in which John saw Him in chapter 1 of the book of Revelation. But because a reverence then filled the interiors of the angels’ minds, which produced in them an urge to fall prostrate upon their faces, suddenly the Lord closed the course of the light from the third heaven and opened the course of the light from the second heaven, and therefore the earlier appearance of a temple returned, and also that of the tent, but in the temple.
These experiences served to illustrate what is meant by the words in this chapter,
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them (verse 3, no. 882).*
And by the words,
I saw no temple in (the New Jerusalem), for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple (verse 22, no. 918).
* In the original Latin, the word for tent and the word for tabernacle are the same.
* The numbering of the text omits nos. 927 to 931, without explanation.
CHAPTER 22
1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In between the street and the river on the one side and the other was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, yielding its fruit according to the month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And nothing accursed shall be there, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. 4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 There shall be no night there: They have no need of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.
6 Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. 7 “Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” 8 Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9 Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” 10 And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. 11 He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.”
12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” 14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have their power in the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. 16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” 17 And the spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add upon him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
The New Church is further described as to its intelligence gained from Divine truths received from the Lord (verses 1-5). This revelation has been presented by the Lord, and in its own time its meaning will be revealed (verses 6-10). The Lord’s advent and His conjunction with people who believe in Him and live according to His commandments (verses 11-17). What has been revealed must altogether be kept (verses 18, 19). The betrothal (verses 17, 20, 21).
The Contents of the Individual Verses
1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
The book of Revelation, now opened and expounded as to its spiritual meaning, in which the Lord has revealed an abundance of Divine truths for people who will be in His New Church, which is the New Jerusalem.
2 In between the street and the river on the one side and the other was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits,
Inmostly present within the doctrinal truths and consequent life in the New Church is the Lord in His Divine love, from whom flow all the goods that a person in that church does, apparently as though of himself.
yielding its fruit according to the month.
The Lord produces the goods in a person in accordance with every state of truth in him.
The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
The resulting rational truths by which people caught up in evils and the accompanying falsities are brought to think sanely and to live decently.
3 And nothing accursed shall be there, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.
In the church that is the New Jerusalem, people will not live apart from the Lord, because the Lord Himself will reign there, and people who are governed by truths acquired from Him through the Word and keep His commandments will abide with Him, being conjoined with Him.
4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.
They will turn to the Lord and the Lord to them, being conjoined by love.
5 There shall be no night there: They have no need of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light.
In the New Jerusalem there will be no falsity in its faith, and the people in that church will not acquire their concepts of God from any natural sight, namely from their own intelligence, or out of a desire for glory springing from conceit, but they will acquire those concepts from the Lord alone in a state of spiritual light from the Word.
And they shall reign forever and ever.
They will be in the Lord’s kingdom and live in conjunction with Him to eternity.
6 Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true.”
People may know this for certain, because the Lord Himself has attested to it and said it.
And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place.
The Lord who gave the Word contained in both Testaments has revealed through heaven to people who possess truths from Him what must surely come to pass.
7 “Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
The Lord will surely come and give eternal life to people who keep and obey the doctrinal truths or precepts in this book, now laid open by the Lord.
8 Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.
John supposed that the angel sent to him by the Lord to keep him in a state of the spirit was the God who revealed these things, when in fact that was not the case, as the angel only showed him what the Lord presented.
9 Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
Angels in heaven are not to be worshiped or invoked, because they have nothing Divine in them, but are affiliated as brethren with brethren with people who have the doctrine of the New Jerusalem and obey its commandments, and the Lord alone is to be worshiped in fellowship with them.
10 And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.
The meaning of the book of Revelation shall not remain hidden, but must be disclosed, and that this is necessary at the end of the church for anyone to be saved.
11 He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.”
The state of everyone in particular after death and before being judged, and in general before the Last Judgment, that those caught up in evils will have their goods taken away, and those caught up in falsities will have their truths taken away, and conversely, that people prompted by goods will have their evils taken away, and those prompted by truths will have their falsities taken away.
12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.
The Lord will surely come, and His presence is heaven and the felicity of eternal life for everyone in accordance with his faith in the Lord and his life in obedience to the Lord’s commandments.
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
For the Lord is God of heaven and earth, and He created all things in heaven and earth, and they are governed by His Divine providence and take place in accordance with it.
14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that their power may be in the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
Eternal happiness awaits those who live in accordance with the Lord’s commandments, in order that through love, and in His New Church through concepts of Him, they may be in the Lord and have the Lord in them.
15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.
No one is received into the New Jerusalem who disregards the Ten Commandments and does not refrain from any of the evils listed there as being sins, and therefore lives caught up in them.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches.
A testification by the Lord before the whole Christian world of the truth that the Lord alone has presented the visions described in this book, and that their meaning is now disclosed.
I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”
He is the same Lord who was born into the world and who then was its light, and who is about to come with new light, which will arise before the eyes of His New Church, which is the Holy Jerusalem.
17 And the spirit and the bride say, “Come!”
Heaven and the church long for the Lord’s advent.
And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
Anyone who has any knowledge of the Lord’s coming and of the New Heaven and New Church, thus of the Lord’s kingdom, let him pray for the Lord’s coming; and anyone who desires truths, let him pray for the Lord to come with light. And anyone who loves truths will then receive them from the Lord apart from any endeavors of his own.
18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add upon him the plagues that are written in this book;
People who read and know the doctrinal truths in this book now laid open by the Lord, and yet acknowledge some other God than the Lord and some other faith than faith in the Lord by adding something which destroys these two tenets, cannot but perish as a result of the falsities and evils symbolized 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 from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
People who read and know the doctrinal truths in this book now laid open by the Lord, and yet acknowledge some other God than the Lord, and some other faith than faith in the Lord, by taking away something in order to destroy these two tenets, cannot perceive or acquire for themselves anything from the Word or be received into the New Jerusalem, or have their lot with people in the Lord’s kingdom.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The Lord, who presented the visions in the book of Revelation and has now laid the book open, testifying to the gospel that He is coming as a bridegroom and husband in His Divine humanity which He assumed in the world and glorified, and that the church longs for Him as His bride and wife.
THE EXPOSITION
22:1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. This symbolizes the book of Revelation, now opened and expounded as to its spiritual meaning, in which the Lord has revealed an abundance of Divine truths for people who will be in His New Church, which is the New Jerusalem.
A pure river of water of life, bright as crystal, symbolizes an abundance of Divine truth in the Word shining through from its spiritual sense, which exists in the light of heaven. A river symbolizes an abundance of Divine truth (no. 409), because the water of which a river consists symbolizes truths (nos. 50, 685, 719), and water of life symbolizes those truths received from the Lord through the Word, of which hereafter. Bright as crystal then symbolizes those truths shining through from the spiritual sense, which exists in the light of heaven (no. 897). The river’s being seen to flow from the throne of God and of the Lamb means, symbolically, that it flows out of heaven from the Lord; for a throne symbolizes the Lord in respect to judgment, government and heaven – in respect to judgment, see nos. 229, 845, 865; in respect to government, nos. 694, 808; and in respect to heaven, nos. 14, 221, 222 – and so here, out of heaven from the Lord. God and the Lamb symbolize here, as often before, the Lord in respect to the Divine itself from which flows all else, and in respect to His Divine humanity.
[2] That the river of water of life here means in particular an abundance of Divine truths in the book of Revelation, which the Lord has now revealed, is apparent from verses 6, 7, 10, 14, 16-19 in this chapter. The subject of these verses is the book of this prophecy, and we are told that the things written in it must be kept.* They could not be kept before the things contained in it were revealed by showing their spiritual meaning, because they would not have been understood before then.
The book of Revelation, moreover, is also the Word, like the prophetic Word of the Old Testament, and disclosed now in the book of Revelation are the evils and falsities of the church that one must refrain from and avoid, and the goods and truths of the church that one must do, especially those regarding the Lord and eternal life from Him. These same things, indeed, are taught in the books of the prophets, but not so plainly as in the Gospels and the book of Revelation. These Divine truths regarding the Lord as being God of heaven and earth – truths which then emanate from Him and are received by people who will be in the New Jerusalem, truths that are contained in the book of Revelation – are those meant in particular by the river of water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
This can also be seen from the following passages:
(Jesus said,) “Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:38)
(Jesus said,) “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14)
To him who thirsts I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely. (Revelation 21:6, cf. 22:17)
(And) the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. (Revelation 7:17)
In that day…waters shall flow from Jerusalem…. …Jehovah shall become (the only) King over all the earth. In that day Jehovah will be one, and His name one. (Zechariah 14:8, 9)
Living waters or waters of life in these verses symbolize Divine truth from the Lord.
* Verses 7 and 9.
In between means, symbolically, in the inmost, and so in everything round about (nos. 44, 383). The street symbolizes the church’s doctrinal truth (nos. 501, 917). The river symbolizes an abundance of Divine truth (nos. 409, 932). On the one side and the other symbolizes to the right and to the left, and truth to the right is truth seen clearly, and truth to the left is truth seen dimly. For in heaven the south is to the right, which symbolizes truth seen clearly, while the north is to the left, which symbolizes truth seen dimly (no. 901). The tree of life symbolizes the Lord in respect to His Divine love (no. 89). Fruits symbolize the goods of love and charity that are called good works, as will be seen in the next number. The number twelve symbolizes all and is predicated of the goods and truths of the church (no. 348). If we gather all of this into a single meaning, it follows that the statement, “in between the street and the river on the one side and the other was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits,” symbolically means that inmostly present within the doctrinal truths and consequent life in the New Church is the Lord in His Divine love, from whom flow all the goods that a person does, apparently as though of himself.
[2] This is the case with people who turn directly to the Lord and refrain from evils because they are sins, thus with people who will be in the Lord’s New Church, which is the New Jerusalem. For people who do not turn directly to the Lord cannot be conjoined with Him, thus not with the Father either, and therefore they cannot possess the love that comes from the Divine. Indeed, it is sight that conjoins – not an intellectual sight alone, but a sight of the intellect that springs from an affection of the will. And an affection of the will is present only if a person keeps the Lord’s commandments. Consequently the Lord says,
He who…keeps (My commandments,) it is he who loves Me…. And…(I) will come to him and make (My) abode with him. (John 14:21-24)
[3] We say “inmostly present within the doctrinal truths and consequent life in the New Church” because in spiritual matters everything comes from and emanates from what is inmost, as from a fire and its light in the center extending into the peripheries; or as from the sun, which is also in the center, come warmth and light throughout the solar system. Thus the case in the least of things is as it is in the greatest of things. Because the inmost of every truth is symbolized, therefore we say in between the street and the river, and not on either side of the river, even though that is what is meant.*
When the Lord is inmostly present, all goods of love and charity come from and emanate from Him, as is apparent from the Lord’s own words in John:
(Jesus said,) “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, 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, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-6)
* In fact that is not what is meant. The text interprets the meaning correctly, namely, that the tree of life stood between the street and the river. The failure of translators to interpret the meaning correctly may be assigned to their failure to understand the literal “in the middle” ([Greek]) as meaning “in between.” Moreover, in the Greek, what has been taken to mean “on either side” – more literally, “on this side and that” – is a phrase that follows “street” and “river” and applies to both, so that the meaning is, not “in the middle of the street and on either side of the river,” but “between the street and the river on the one side and the other.” I.e., “between the street on the one side and the river on the other.” The construction reflects Hebrew and Aramaic grammar.
Fruits symbolize the goods of love or charity because a person is likened to a tree and is also called a tree (nos. 89, 400).
That fruits symbolize the goods of love or charity, which in common speech are called good works, may be seen from the following passages:
…the ax is laid to the root of the tree. Every tree…which does not bear good fruit shall be cut down and thrown into the fire. (Matthew 3:10, cf. 7:16-20)
Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree rotten and its fruit rotten; …a tree is known by its fruit. (Matthew 12:33, cf. Luke 6:43, 44)
Every branch…that does not bear fruit (shall be taken away); and every branch that bears fruit (shall be pruned), that it may bear more fruit…. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit…. (John 15:2-8).
…bear fruits worthy of repentance…. (Matthew 3:8)
He who received seed on the good ground is someone who hears the Word and heeds it (and) bears fruit…. (Matthew 13:23)
(Jesus said to His disciples,) “…I chose you…that you should…bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain…. (John 15:16)
A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; he came seeking fruit on it and found none. He said to the keeper of his vineyard, “…Cut it down; why should it render the ground fruitless?” (Luke 13:6-9)
…a certain householder…leased (his vineyard) to husbandmen…, that (he) might receive its fruit. But the husbandmen (killed) his servants (that he sent to them)…, and last of all…his son…. (Therefore he) will lease his vineyard to (others) who will render to him the fruits in their seasons…. Therefore…the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it. (Matthew 21:33-35, 37-39, 41, 43)
And so on in many other places.
A month symbolizes a person’s state of life in respect to truth, as will be seen below. To yield fruit means, symbolically, to produce goods. That fruits are goods of love and charity is something we just showed in no. 934 above. Moreover, because it is the Lord who essentially produces these in a person – even though the person does them as though of himself, thus apparently, as we said in no. 934 above – it follows that the symbolic meaning here is that the Lord produces them inmostly when He is present there.
But we must say how one is to understand the Lord’s producing goods of charity in a person in accordance with every state of truth in him.
Someone who believes that a person does good acceptable to the Lord, good that is called spiritual good, without possessing in him truths from the Word, is much mistaken. Goods without truths are not good, and truths without goods are not true in the person, even though they are true in themselves. For good without truth is like something a person wills without understanding, a volition that is not human, but one like that of an animal, or like that of a robot that an operator causes to function.
On the other hand, volition together with comprehension becomes human in accordance with the state of the intellect by which it finds expression. For the condition of everyone’s life is such that a person’s will can do nothing without the instrumentality of the intellect, nor can the intellect entertain any thought without doing so from the will. The case is the same with goodness and truth, since goodness has to do with the will, and truth with the intellect.
[2] It is apparent from this that the good that the Lord produces in a person accords with the state of truth in him that forms his understanding.
This is what the tree of life yielding its fruit every month symbolizes, because a month symbolizes the state of truth in a person.
All periods of time, such as hours, days, weeks, months, years, and centuries, symbolize states of life, as may be seen in nos. 476, 562. Months symbolize states of life in respect to truths, because months mean times determined by the moon, and the moon symbolizes the truth of the intellect and of faith (nos. 332, 413, 414, 919).
Months have the same meaning in the following:
Blessed of Jehovah is (Joseph’s) land…, with the precious fruits of the sun, and with the precious produce of the months…. (Deuteronomy 33:13, 14)
It shall come to pass that from month to month, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to bow down before (Jehovah)…. (Isaiah 66:23)
Because of the symbolic meaning of a month, which is the same as that of the moon, sacrifices were made at the beginnings of each month or new moon (Numbers 29:1-6, Isaiah 1:14). The Israelites also sounded the trumpets then (Numbers 10:10, Psalm 81:3). And they were commanded to observe the month of Abib, in which they celebrated Passover (Exodus 12:2, Deuteronomy 16:1).
Months symbolize states of truth in a person, and in an opposite sense states of falsity in him, as may also be seen above in Revelation 9:5, 10, 15, 11:2, and 13:5.
A month has the same symbolic meaning here as in Ezekiel 47:12.
The leaves of the tree symbolize rational truths, as will be seen below. Nations symbolize people governed by goods and the accompanying truths, and in an opposite sense people caught up in evils and the accompanying falsities (no. 483). Here they symbolize people caught up in evils and the accompanying falsities, because we are told that the leaves were for healing them, and people caught up in evils and the accompanying falsities cannot be healed by the Word, because they do not read it. However, if they have the judgment, they can be healed by rational truths.
The same symbolic meanings found in this verse are found in the following verses in Ezekiel:
Behold, there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple (which turned into a river), along (whose) bank…were very many trees (good for food) on one side and the other…, (whose) leaves do not fall, and whose fruit is not consumed. They bear fruit again every month…, (on which account) their fruit is good for food, and their leaves for healing. (Ezekiel 47:1, 7, 12)
The subject there is also a new church.
Leaves symbolize rational truths because a tree symbolizes a person (nos. 89, 400), and every part of the tree – its branches, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds – then symbolizes accordant elements in the person. The branches symbolizes a person’s sensory and natural truths, the leaves his rational truths, the flowers the first spiritual truths in his rational mind, the fruits the goods of love and charity, and seeds the final elements in the person and also the first.
[2] That leaves symbolize rational truths is clearly apparent from things seen in the spiritual world. For trees are also seen there, with leaves and fruits. Gardens and parks are found there that consist of trees. In the case of people possessing goods of love and at the same time truths of wisdom, fruit trees are seen with an abundance of beautiful leaves. But in the case of people who possess the truths of some wisdom, and who speak in accordance with reason, but lack goods of love, the trees appear full of leaves, but without any fruits. And in the case of people without any goods or truths of wisdom, the only trees seen are bare of any leaves, like trees in winter in the world. An irrational person is just such a tree.
[3] Rational truths are truths which most readily welcome spiritual truths, for a person’s rational mind is the first receptacle of spiritual truths. Indeed, seated in a person’s rational mind is his perception of truth in a form that the person does not himself see by deliberation, as he does the ideas that reside beneath his rational mind in a lower level of thought that is connected with his outer sight.
Leaves also symbolize rational truths in Genesis 3:7, 8:11; Isaiah 34:4; Jeremiah 8:13, 17:8; Ezekiel 47:12; Daniel 4:12, 14; Psalm 1:3; Leviticus 26:36; Matthew 21:19, 24:32; Mark 13:28. However, their symbolic meanings vary according to the kinds of trees. The leaves of the olive tree and grape vine symbolize rational truths seen as a result of celestial and spiritual light; the leaves of the fig tree symbolize rational truths seen as a result of a natural sight; and the leaves of the fir tree, poplar, oak, and pine symbolize rational truths seen as a result of a sensual sight. The leaves of the latter strike terror in the spiritual world when blown to and fro by a strong wind. These are the leaves meant in Leviticus 26:36 and Job 13:25. However, not so the leaves of the former.
That nothing accursed shall be there means, symbolically, that no evil or falsity stemming from evil that separates people from the Lord will be found in the New Jerusalem. Moreover, because evil and falsity exist only in their recipient vessel, namely people, it symbolically means that none will live apart from the Lord there. Something in the Word that is accursed means every evil and falsity that separates people from the Lord and turns them away from Him; for in that case the person becomes a diabolical or satanic spirit.
That the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in the New Jerusalem means, symbolically, that the Lord Himself will reign in that church, for the throne here symbolizes a kingdom or reign, and the Lord reigns where He alone is worshiped.
That His servants shall serve Him means, symbolically, that people who possess truths from the Lord through the Word will abide with Him and keep His commandments, being conjoined with Him. Servants of the Lord symbolize people governed by truths from Him, as may be seen in nos. 3 and 380 above, and those who minister symbolize people governed by good from Him, as may be seen in no. 128. Consequently servants who minister to Him symbolize people governed by truths springing from goodness received from the Lord through the Word, who keep His commandments.
[2] Because the church at this day does not know that conjunction with the Lord produces heaven, and that the conjunction is formed by acknowledging that He is God of heaven and earth, and at the same time by living in accordance with His commandments, we will say something about it here:
Someone who has no knowledge of this may say, “What is the conjunction? How can such an acknowledgment and life form a conjunction? Why are these needed? Cannot everyone be saved out of mercy simply? Why is some other means of salvation than faith required? Is God not merciful and almighty?”
But he should know that in the spiritual world, knowledge and acknowledgment bring about every presence, while affection that is a matter of love brings about every conjunction. For intervals of space in the spiritual world are simply appearances that accord with similarities of hearts, that is, of affections and the accompanying thoughts. Consequently, when someone is acquainted with another, whether by reputation, or by dealings with him, or socially, or as a relative, and he thinks about him with a mental image of him, the other becomes present, even though he might be as much as a hundred miles* from where he appears. Furthermore, if someone also loves another that he knows, they dwell together in the same society. And if he loves the other intimately, they dwell together in the same house.
This condition is something experienced by everyone throughout the whole spiritual world, and it is a condition experienced by them that takes its origin from the fact that the Lord is present with everyone in accordance with his faith, and conjoined with a person in accordance with his love. Faith and the Lord’s consequent presence are brought about by concepts of truths from the Word, especially those concepts in it regarding the Lord Himself, while love and a consequent conjunction with the Lord are brought about by living in accordance with His commandments. For the Lord says,
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me…, and I will love him and…make (My) abode with him. (John 14:21-24)
[3] But we must also say how the case is with this. The Lord loves everyone and wills to be conjoined with them, but He cannot be conjoined with a person as long as the person is caught up in the delight of evil, such as the delight of hating and taking revenge, the delight of committing adultery and behaving licentiously, the delight of thieving or of stealing under some pretext, the delight of blaspheming and lying, and the lusts of the loves of self and the world. For everyone caught up in these is in the company of devils who reside in hell. The Lord, indeed, loves those who are there, too, but He cannot be conjoined with them unless the delights of these evil are removed, and the Lord cannot remove them unless a person examines himself so as to know his evils, acknowledge them and confess them before the Lord, and wish to desist from them and so repent. This a person must do as though of himself, because he has no sensation that he does anything from the Lord. And it is granted to a person to do so, because for the conjunction to be real, it must be a reciprocal conjunction of the person with the Lord, and of the Lord with the person.
To the extent, therefore, that evils with their delights are thus removed, to the same extent the Lord’s love enters, which, as we said, is universal toward all, and the person is then withdrawn from hell and introduced into heaven.
This process is something the person must accomplish in the world, for the character of a person in the world in respect to his spirit remains the same to eternity, the only difference being that if he has lived rightly, his state becomes more and more perfect, because he is then not encompassed by a material body, but lives as a spiritual being in a spiritual body.
* Literally, a thousand stadia.
To see the face of God and the Lamb, or the face of the Lord, does not mean to see His face, because no one can see the Lord’s face such as He is in His Divine love and wisdom and live, for He is the sun of heaven and of the whole spiritual world. Indeed, to see His face as He is in Himself would be like entering the sun and being consumed in a moment by its fire. Nevertheless, the Lord sometimes presents Himself to be seen outside of the sun, but He veils Himself then and so presents Himself to those who see Him, which He does by means of an angel, as He did also in the world when He appeared to Abraham, Hagar, Lot, Gideon, Joshua, and others. That is why those angels are called angels and also Jehovah, for Jehovah was present in them from afar.
[2] Here, however, that His servants will see His face does not mean that they will see His face in this way, but that they will see the truths from Him contained in the Word and will know and acknowledge Him by means of them. For the Divine truths in the Word provide the light that emanates from the Lord as a sun, the light which angels enjoy, and because those truths provide the light, they are like mirrors in which the face of the Lord is seen. That to see the Lord’s face symbolically means to turn to Him, will be explained below.
The Lord’s name being on the servants’ foreheads means, symbolically, that the Lord loves them and turns them to Him. The Lord’s name symbolizes the Lord Himself, because it symbolizes His every attribute by which He is known and in consequence of which He is worshiped (nos. 81, 584). The forehead symbolizes love (nos. 347, 605), and being written on the forehead symbolizes the Lord’s love in them (no. 729). It can be seen from this what is properly meant by the statement here.
[3] The statement, moreover, symbolically means that they will turn themselves to the Lord and the Lord to them, because the Lord gazes upon the forehead of all those who are conjoined with Him by love and so turns them to Him. Consequently, in heaven angels turn their faces only to the Lord as the sun, and this is astonishingly the case in whatever direction they turn physically. So people say in common speech that they have God ever before their eyes. The same is the case with the spirit of a person living in the world and conjoined with the Lord by love. But regarding this turning of the face to the Lord, more accounts may be seen in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, nos. 129-144, and in the book Heaven and Hell (London, 1758), nos. 17, 123, 143, 144, 151, 153, 255, 272.
To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me… …When you come to see the face of Jehovah…. (Isaiah 1:11, 12)
My heart said…, “Seek my face. Your face, Jehovah, I am seeking.” (Psalm 27:8)
We will shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His face with confession. (Psalm 95:1, 2)
My soul thirsts…for the living God. When shall I come to see the face of God? …yet shall I confess to Him the salvation of His countenance. (Psalm 42:2, 5)
They shall not see My face empty-handed. (Exodus 23:15)
…to come…to placate the face of Jehovah. (Zechariah 8:21, 22, cf. Malachi 1:9)
Make Your face shine upon Your servant. (Psalm 31:16)
Who will show us any good? Lift up the light of Your countenance upon us, Jehovah. (Psalm 4:6)
They shall walk, O Jehovah, in the light of Your countenance. (Psalm 89:15)
…O God, cause Your face to shine, that we may be saved! (Psalm 80:3, 7, 19)
God be merciful to us and bless us. May He cause His face to shine upon us. (Psalm 67:1)
Jehovah bless you and keep you; Jehovah make His face shine upon you and be merciful to you; Jehovah lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)
You hide them in the secret place of Your countenance…. (Psalm 31:20)
You have set…our hidden secret in the light of Your countenance. (Psalm 90:8)
(Jehovah) said (to Moses), “My countenance will go…. (Moses) said…, “If Your countenance does not go…, do not bring us down from here.” (Exodus 33:14, 15)
The bread on the table in the Tabernacle was called [literally] “the bread of faces” (Exodus 25:30, Numbers 4:7).
[2] We are often told, too, that Jehovah hid His face or turned His face away, as in the following:
…for (their) wickedness I have hidden My face from (them). (Jeremiah 33:5, cf. Ezekiel 7:22)
Your sins have hidden (God’s) face from you…. (Isaiah 59:2)
The face of Jehovah…will no longer regard them. (Lamentations 4:16)
(Jehovah) will hide His face from them…, according as they have made their works evil. (Micah 3:4)
You hid Your face…. (Psalm 30:7, cf. 44:24, 104:29)
I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them…. I will surely hide My face…because of all the evil which they have done…. (Deuteronomy 31:17, 18)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 8:17; Ezekiel 39:23, 28, 29; Psalm 13:1, 22:24, 27:8, 9, 69:17, 88:14, 102:2, 143:7; Deuteronomy 32:20.
[3] In an opposite sense, the face of Jehovah symbolizes anger and aversion, because an evil person turns away from the Lord, and when he turns away, it seems to him as though the Lord had turned away and was angry, as is clear from the following passages:
…I have set My face against this city for its evil…. (Jeremiah 21:10, cf. 44:11)
I will set My face against that man and…devastate him…. (Ezekiel 14:7, 8)
I will set My face against them….and…fire shall devour them…, when I set My face against them. (Ezekiel 15:7)
…(he) who eats any blood, I will set My face against that soul…. (Leviticus 17:10)
At the rebuke of Your countenance they perished. (Psalm 80:16)
The face of Jehovah is against those who do evil…. (Psalm 34:16)
…I send an angel before you…. Beware of his face…, for he will not endure your transgression. (Exodus 23:20, 21)
Let Your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate You flee from Your countenance. (Numbers 10:35)
(I saw one sitting on the throne) from whose face the earth and heaven fled away. (Revelation 20:11)
That no one can see the Lord as He is in Himself, as we said above, is apparent from the following:
(Jehovah said to Moses,) “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” (Exodus 33:18-23)
That people nevertheless saw the Lord and lived, because He appeared by means of an angel, is apparent from Genesis 32:30,* Judges 13:22, 23,** and elsewhere.
* Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
** Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!” But his wife said to him, “If Jehovah had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have told us such things as these at this time.”
There being no night there has the same symbolic meaning as verse 25 in chapter 21, which says, “Its gates shall not be shut by day, for there shall be no night there,” which symbolically means that the New Jerusalem continually receives into it people who possess truths that spring from the goodness of love from the Lord, because it has no falsity in its faith (no. 922).
The people’s having no need of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light, has the same symbolic meaning as verse 23 in chapter 21, which says, “The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb is its lamp,” which symbolically means that people of the New Church will not be caught up in self-love and their own intelligence so as to possess a natural sight only, but from the Word’s Divine truth will possess a spiritual light from the Lord alone (no. 919). Only instead of the moon there, the verse here says a lamp, and instead of the sun there, the verse here says the light of the sun, and a lamp, like the moon, symbolizes the natural sight of one’s own intelligence, and the light of the sun symbolizes a natural sight out of a desire for glory springing from conceit.
[2] But we must briefly explain what we mean by a natural sight out of a desire for glory springing from conceit:
A natural sight may be due to a desire for glory springing from conceit, or it may be due to a desire for glory that does not spring from conceit. A sight out of a desire for glory springing from conceit is found in people caught up in a love of self and so in evils of every kind. If they do not do those evils for fear of losing their good name, and if they also condemn them as being destructive of morality and the public good, still they do not regard them as sins. Such people possess a natural sight due to a desire for glory springing from conceit; for a love of self in the will becomes conceit in the intellect, and this conceit, owing to that love, is capable of raising the intellect even into the light of heaven. Such a capability is granted to a person in order for him to be human and to be capable of being reformed.
I have seen and heard many absolute devils who, when they heard them or read them, understood secrets of angelic wisdom as well angels themselves. Yet as soon as they returned to their self-love and their accompanying conceit, not only did they not understand any of those secrets, but they had the opposite sight in the light of the affirmation of falsity in them.
On the other hand, a natural sight due to a desire for glory that does not spring from conceit is present in people who find a delight in useful endeavors out of a genuine love for the neighbor. Their natural sight is also a rational sight that has inwardly in it a spiritual light from the Lord. The desire for glory in them comes from the brilliance of the light flowing in from heaven, where everything is radiant and harmonious, for all useful endeavors in heaven shine. From them arises a gratification in the ideas of their thoughts which they perceive as a glorious one. The glory enters through the will and its goods into the intellect and its truths and presents itself in them.
The Lord God of the holy prophets symbolizes the Lord who gave the Word contained in both Testaments, for prophets symbolize people who teach truths from the Word, in an abstract sense the church’s doctrinal truth (nos. 8, 173), and in a broad sense the Word itself. Moreover, because the holy prophets symbolize the Word, therefore they symbolize the Word contained in both Testaments.
The Lord God’s sending an angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place means, symbolically, that the Lord has revealed to people who possess truths from Him what must surely come to pass. The angel here symbolizes heaven, as in nos. 5, 65, 644, 647, 648, 910 above. His servants symbolize people who possess truths from the Lord (nos. 3, 380, 937). And shortly symbolically means surely (no. 4). Thus the things which must shortly take place mean things which must surely come to pass.
[2] The angel here symbolizes heaven because the Lord spoke with John through heaven, and He spoke with the prophets also through heaven. He speaks through heaven with everyone with whom He speaks. That is because the angelic heaven in general is like a single individual, whose soul and life is the Lord. Consequently everything the Lord says is uttered by Him through heaven, as everything a person’s soul and mind say is uttered through the body.
That the whole angelic heaven in its entirety resembles a single individual, and that this is owing to the Lord, may be seen in nos. 5 above, and in the book Heaven and Hell (London, 1758), nos. 59 – 86. See also Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Providence, nos. 64-69, 162-164, 201-204, and Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, nos. 11, 19, 133, 288.
[3] But I will explain this mystery. The Lord speaks through heaven, yet it is not the angels there who speak, who do not even know what the Lord is saying. Only some of them know – those who are with the person with whom the Lord is noticeably speaking from heaven, as He did with John and some of the prophets. For the influx of the Lord through heaven is like the influx of the soul through the body. It is the body, indeed, that speaks and acts, and that also senses something of the influx, yet the body does nothing of itself as though on its own, but is impelled to act. Such is the case with the Lord’s speaking with a person, indeed with all of the Lord’s influx through heaven. This I have been given to know from much empirical observation.
Angels in heaven, as well as spirits beneath the heavens, know nothing of a person, just as a person knows nothing of them, because the state of spirits and angels is a spiritual one, while that of people is a natural one. These two states are affiliated only through correspondences, and affiliation through correspondences causes them to be present together in affections, but not as regards thoughts. Consequently one knows nothing of the other. That is to say, a person knows nothing of the spirits with whom he is affiliated as to his affections, and the spirits know nothing of the person. For what is not present in a person’s thought, but only in his affection, is unknown, because it is not apparent and not seen.
The Lord alone knows people’s thoughts.
“Behold, I am coming quickly!” means, symbolically, that the Lord will surely come. Quickly symbolically means surely (nos. 4, 943), and coming symbolically means that He will come – not in person, but in the Word, in which He will be visible to all those people who will be part of His New Church. This is the meaning of His coming in the clouds of heaven, as may be seen in nos. 24, 642, 820 above.
“Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book” means, symbolically, that the Lord will give eternal life to people who keep and obey the doctrinal truths or precepts in this book, now laid open by the Lord. One who is blessed symbolizes a person who receives eternal life (nos. 639, 852). To keep symbolically means to keep and obey truths or precepts. The words are truths and precepts. The prophecy of this book symbolizes the doctrine in this book now laid open by the Lord, prophecy being doctrine (nos. 8, 133, 943).
[2] Anyone who weighs the matter can see that to keep the words of the prophecy of this book does not mean to preserve them, but to maintain them, that is, to keep and obey the doctrinal truths or precepts in this book that are now explained and laid open. Indeed, if not explained, the book of Revelation contains few things that can be kept, as they are prophecies previously not understood. Take for example the following:
It is impossible to keep what is related in chapter 6 regarding the horses emerging from the book. In chapter 7 regarding the twelve tribes. In chapters 8 and 9 regarding the seven angels sounding their trumpets. In chapter 10 regarding the little book that John ate. In chapter 11 regarding the two witnesses that were killed and lived again. In chapter 12 regarding the woman and the dragon. In chapters 13 and 14 regarding the two beasts. In chapters 15 and 16 regarding the seven angels having the seven plagues. In chapters 17 and 18 regarding the woman sitting on a scarlet beast and regarding Babylon. In chapter 19 regarding the white horse and the great supper. In chapter 20 regarding the Last Judgment. And in chapter 21 regarding the New Jerusalem as a city.
It is apparent from this that the verse does not mean that those people are blessed who preserve the words of the prophecy, for the meanings of the words are hidden, but it means that those people are blessed who maintain them, that is, who keep and obey the doctrinal truths or precepts that are contained in those words and are now laid open. That the explanations originate from the Lord may be seen in the Preface.
Clearly John supposed that the angel sent to him was the Lord Himself, for we are told that he fell down to worship before the angel’s feet. But that it was not as he supposed is apparent from the next verse, in which the angel tells him that he is his fellow servant: “Worship God.” That the angel was sent to John by the Lord is apparent from verse 16, which says, “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches.”
But behind this lies the following secret: The Lord sent the angel to John in order to keep him in a state of the spirit and to show him in that state the visions he saw. For whatever John saw, he saw not with the eyes of his body, but with the eyes of his spirit, as can be seen from the passages in which he says that he was in the spirit and seeing a vision (Revelation 1:10, 9:17, 17:3, 21:10), thus everywhere that he says “he saw.” And a person can enter that state and be kept in it only by angels who are closely attached to the person, who induce their own spiritual state on the interiors of his mind. For this raises the person into the light of heaven, and in that light he sees sights in heaven and not in the world.
[2] Ezekiel, Zechariah, Daniel, and other prophets were at times in the same state, but not when they spoke the Word. When they spoke the Word they were not in the spirit, but conscious in the body, and the words they wrote they heard from Jehovah Himself, that is, from the Lord.
These two states experienced by the prophets must be properly distinguished. The prophets themselves also properly distinguished them, for they everywhere say when they wrote the Word from Jehovah that Jehovah spoke with them and to them, and most often, “Thus says Jehovah,” or “the word of Jehovah.” However, when they were in the other state, they say that they were in the spirit or seeing in a vision, as can be seen from the following: (Ezekiel said,) “The spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision…of God into Chaldea, to those in captivity. So the vision that I saw went up upon me.” (Ezekiel 11:1, 24)
Ezekiel says that the spirit lifted him up and that he heard behind him an earthquake, among other things (Ezekiel 3:12, 14). Also that the spirit lifted him up between earth and heaven, and brought him in visions of God to Jerusalem, where he saw abominations (Ezekiel 8:3ff.). Therefore he was also seeing in a vision of God or in the spirit when he saw four living creatures, which were cherubim (Ezekiel 1 and 10). And when he saw a new temple and a new land, and an angel measuring them (Ezekiel 40-48). He says that he was then seeing in the visions of God (Ezekiel 40:2), and that the spirit lifted him up (Ezekiel 43:5).
[3] It was the same with Zechariah, who had an angel with him at the time when he saw a man riding among the myrtle trees (Zechariah 1:8ff.). When he saw the four horns, and then the man with a measuring line in his hand (Zechariah 1:18, 2:1ff.). When he saw Joshua, the high priest (Zechariah 3:1ff.). When he saw the lampstand and two olive trees (Zechariah 4:1ff.). When he saw the flying scroll and the ephah (Zechariah 5:1, 6). And when he saw the four chariots and their horses coming from between two mountains (Zechariah 6:1ff.).
Daniel was in the same state when he saw four beasts coming up from the sea (Daniel 7:1ff.), and when he saw the combat of the ram and the male goat (Daniel 8:1ff.). That he saw these sights in visions is said in Daniel 7:1, 2, 7, 13, 8:2, 10:1, 7, 8. Moreover, that he saw the angel Gabriel and spoke with him in a vision (Daniel 9:21).
It was the same with John when he saw the sights he described, as when he saw the Son of Man in the midst of the seven lampstands; when he saw the tabernacle,* the temple,** the ark,*** and the altar**** in heaven; the dragon and its combat with Michael;***** the beasts;****** the woman sitting on the scarlet beast;******* the new heaven and new earth, and the holy Jerusalem with its wall, gates, and foundations;******** and more.
These sights were revealed by the Lord, but shown by an angel.
* Revelation 15:5.
** Revelation 11:1, 2, 19, 14:15, 17, 15:5, 6, 8, 16:1, 17.
*** Revelation 11:19.
**** Revelation 6:9, 8:3, 5, 9:13, 11:1, 14:18, 16:7.
***** Revelation 12:7.
****** Revelation 13.
******* Revelation 17:3-6.
******** Revelation 21, 22.
What the angel says here to John has almost the same symbolic meaning as what he said to him in chapter 19 above, where we were told the following:
And I fell at the feet (of the angel) to worship him, but he said to me, “See that you do not this! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!” (Revelation 19:10)
That this has the same symbolic meaning may be seen in no. 818 above, the only difference being that the angel now says that he is “the fellow servant of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book”; and John’s brethren the prophets symbolize people who have the doctrine of the New Jerusalem, and those who keep the words of this book symbolize people who keep and obey the precepts of that doctrine, which the Lord has now revealed, as may be seen in no. 944 above.
Not sealing the words of the prophecy of this book means, symbolically, that the meaning of the book of Revelation shall not remain hidden, but must be disclosed, as will be explained below. “For the time is at hand” symbolically means that this is necessary for anyone to be saved. Time symbolizes state (nos. 476,562), here the state of the church as being such as to make it necessary. To be at hand symbolizes necessity, because to be at hand does not mean nearness or immediacy in time, but nearness in state, and nearness in state means necessity. Plainly it does not mean immediacy in time, because the book of Revelation was written at the beginning of the first century, and the Lord’s advent at the time of the Last Judgment and the New Church – meant here by the time being at hand, by things which must shortly take place (verse 6), and by the Lord’s coming quickly (verses 7 and 20) – has only now, after seventeen centuries, appeared and come into being.
The same words as these are found in chapter 1 – “things which must shortly take place” (Revelation 1:1) and “the time is near” (Revelation 1:3) – which may be seen explained in nos. 4 and 9 above, where they have similar meanings.
[2] That to be at hand does not mean nearness or immediacy in time, but nearness in state, shall be illustrated. In its purely spiritual sense the Word does not contain anything derived from an idea of time or from an idea of space, because although intervals of time and space in heaven seem like intervals of time and space in the world, still these do not exist there. Consequently it is impossible for angels to measure intervals of time and space there, which are appearances, except in terms of state as these progress and change.
It can be seen from this that in a purely spiritual sense immediacy and nearness do not mean an immediacy and nearness in time, but an immediacy and nearness in state.
This can admittedly seem to be without reality. That is because every idea of people’s lower thought, which is merely natural, contains something derived from time and space. Not so any idea of their higher thought, which people employ when they ponder natural, civic, moral and spiritual matters in the light of their inner, rational sight. For at those times a spiritual light flows in and enlightens, a light that is independent of time and space.
You may test this and be convinced if you wish. Simply attend to your own thoughts, and you, too, will then be convinced that you have a higher and lower thought, since a single line of thought is incapable of viewing itself, but can be viewed only by a higher one. Moreover, if a person did not have a higher and lower thought, he would not be human but an animal.
[3] Not sealing the words of the prophecy of this book means, symbolically, that the meaning of the book of Revelation shall not remain hidden, but must be disclosed, because to seal means to close up, and so not to seal means to open, and the time being at hand means, symbolically, that it is necessary. For the book of Revelation is a book sealed or closed as long as it remains unexplained. Furthermore, as shown in no. 944 above, the words of the prophecy of this book mean the doctrinal truths and precepts contained in this book, now laid open by the Lord.
That this is necessary at the end of the church for anyone to be saved may be seen in no. 9 above.
It can be seen from this that not sealing the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand, means, symbolically, that the book of Revelation shall not remain hidden, but must be disclosed, and that this is necessary at the end of the church for anyone to be saved.
He who is unjust symbolizes someone caught up in evils, and he who is righteous someone prompted by goods (no. 668). He who is filthy or unclean symbolizes someone caught up in falsities (nos. 702, 728, 924), and he who is holy someone prompted by truths (nos. 173, 586, 666, 852). It follows from this that to let him who is unjust be unjust still means, symbolically, that someone caught up in evils will be still more caught up in evils, and that to let him who is filthy be filthy still means, symbolically, that someone caught up in falsities will be still more caught up in falsities; and conversely, that to let him who is righteous be righteous still means, symbolically, that someone prompted by goods will be still more prompted by goods, and that to let him who is holy be holy still means, symbolically, that someone prompted by truths will be still more prompted by truths.
Moreover, it also symbolically means that people caught up in evils will have their goods taken away, and those caught up in falsities will have their truths taken away, and conversely, that people prompted by goods will have their evils taken away, and those prompted by truths will have their falsities taken away. For someone caught up in evils is still more caught up in evils to the extent that his goods are taken away, and someone caught up in falsities is still more caught up in falsities to the extent that his truths are taken away; and conversely, someone governed by goods is still more governed by goods to the extent that his evils are taken away, and someone governed by truths is still more governed by truths to the extent that his falsities are taken away.
Either the one or the other befalls everyone after death, for thus they are prepared, the evil for hell, and the good for heaven. For an evil person cannot take goods and truths with him to hell, nor can a good person take evils and falsities with him into heaven, since that would throw both heaven and hell into disorder.
[2] It must be rightly known, however, that we mean the inwardly evil and the inwardly good. For the inwardly evil may be outwardly good, since they can behave and speak as though they were good, as hypocrites do, and the inwardly good may at times be outwardly evil, since they can do evil things and utter falsities, and yet repent and wish to be instructed in truths.
The case here is the same as that declared by the Lord:
…to everyone who has, more will be given, that he may have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.” (Matthew 13:12, 25:29; Mark 4:25; Luke 8:18, 19:26)
This befalls all people after death before being judged. It also was the case with people collectively who either perished or were saved at the time of the Last Judgment. For the Last Judgment could not take place before then, because as long as the evil held on to their goods and truths, they were conjoined in outward appearances with angels in the lowest heavens. And yet they had to be separated. This, too, was foretold by the Lord in Matthew 13:24-30, 38-40, an event that may be seen explained in nos. 324, 329, 343, 346, 398 above.
It can be seen from this what is symbolically meant in the spiritual sense by letting him who is unjust be unjust still, by letting him who is filthy be filthy still, by letting him who is righteous be righteous still, and by letting him who is holy be holy still.
Something similar is meant by these verses in Daniel:
Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purged and cleansed…; the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand; but those who understand shall understand. (Daniel 12:9, 10)
“Behold, I am coming quickly” symbolically means that the Lord will surely come, namely, to execute judgment and to establish a new heaven and a new church. That immediacy in time means certainty may be seen in nos. 4, 943, 944, 947. “My reward is with Me” symbolically means that the Lord’s very presence is heaven and the felicity of eternal life. That the reward is heaven and eternal happiness may be seen in no. 526. That it is the Lord’s very presence will be seen below.
To give to everyone according to his work means, symbolically, to do so in accordance with a person’s conjunction with the Lord through faith in the Lord and living in obedience to His commandments. This is the symbolic meaning because good works symbolize charity and faith internally, and at the same time the effects of these outwardly. And because charity and faith come from the Lord, and are received in accordance with a person’s conjunction with Him, it is apparent that these are what are symbolically meant. The meaning here thus coheres as well with what has been said before.
That good works are charity and faith inwardly and at the same time the effects of these outwardly may be seen in nos. 641, 868, 871 above.
[2] People know that charity and faith come not from man, but from the Lord. And because they come from the Lord, they are received in accordance with a person’s conjunction with Him, and a conjunction with Him is formed through faith in Him and living in accordance with His commandments. Faith in Him means a confidence that He will save, and this confidence is found in people who turn to Him directly and refrain from evils as being sins. Such a faith is not possible in others.
We said that “My reward is with Me” symbolically means that the Lord’s very presence is heaven and the felicity of eternal life, for the reward is an inward bliss, called peace, and a consequent outer joy. This is possible only from the Lord, and whatever comes from the Lord not only emanates from Him, but also constitutes His very presence. For the Lord cannot emit anything from Himself without His being present in it. Indeed, He is omnipresent in everyone in accordance with some conjunction, and the conjunction depends on reception, and the reception on love and wisdom, or if you please, on charity and faith, and charity and faith on the person’s way of life, and the person’s way of life on an aversion to evil and falsity, and an aversion to evil and falsity on knowing what evil and falsity are, and on repenting then and at the same time looking to the Lord.
[3] That the reward not only comes from the Lord but also constitutes His very presence is apparent from passages in the Word where we are told that those people who are conjoined with Him are in Him and have Him in them, as may be seen in John 14:20-24,* 15:4, 5ff.,** 17:19, 21, 22, 26,*** and elsewhere (see no. 883 above). And also where we are told that the Holy Spirit is in them**** – the Holy Spirit being the Lord, for it is His Divine presence. So, too, when we pray that God may dwell in people, teaching them, leading them, giving them a tongue to preach and a body to do what is good, and other like things as well.
The Lord, indeed, is love itself and wisdom itself. These two do not exist in some location, but are present wherever they are received, in accordance with the character of the reception.
But this arcanum can be understood only by people who are wise owing to their receiving the light of heaven from the Lord. It is for them what we wrote in two works, one being Divine Providence and the other Divine Love and Wisdom, where we showed that the Lord Himself is present in people in accordance with their reception, and not some Divine quality apart from Him. This is the concept that angels have when they conceive of the Divine omnipresence, and I do not doubt that some Christians have a similar concept.
* “At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.”
** “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, 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, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
*** “And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth…, that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one…. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
**** E.g., John 20:22.
That this is the symbolical meaning of these words and more may be seen in no. 888 above.
The blessed symbolize people who possess the felicity of eternal life (nos. 639, 852, 944). To do the Lord’s commandments means, symbolically, to live in accordance with His commandments. That they may have their power in the tree of life means, symbolically, in order that through love, that is, for the Lord’s sake, they may be in the Lord and have the Lord in them, which we explain below. To enter through the gates into the city means, symbolically, that they may be in the Lord’s New Church through concepts of Him. The gates in the wall of the New Jerusalem symbolize concepts of goodness and truth from the Word (nos. 899, 900, 922), and because each gate consisted of a single pearl, the gates symbolize principally concepts of the Lord (no. 916). The city, that is, Jerusalem, symbolizes the New Church together with its doctrine (nos. 879, 880).
[2] That they may have their power in the tree of life means, symbolically, in order that through love, that is, for the Lord’s sake, they may be in the Lord and have the Lord in them, because the tree of life symbolizes the Lord in respect to His Divine love (nos. 89, 933). And the power in that tree symbolizes power from the Lord, because they are in the Lord and have the Lord in them. The symbolic meaning of this is similar to that of the declaration that they will reign with the Lord (nos. 284, 849).
That people who are in the Lord and have the Lord in them possess all the power needed to be able to do whatever they will, the Lord Himself says in John:
He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing…. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. (John 15:5, 7)
Something similar is said about this power in Matthew 7:7, Mark 11:24, Luke 11:9,10. Indeed, we read in Matthew:
Jesus…said…, “…if you have faith…, …if you say to this mountain, ‘Raise yourself up…cast yourself into the sea,’ it will be done. (Indeed,) everything you ask…, believing, you will receive.” (Matthew 21:21, 22)
This describes the power those people have who are in the Lord. They do not wish for and so do not ask for anything that does not come from the Lord; and whatever they wish for and ask from the Lord, this comes to pass, for the Lord says, “without Me you can do nothing. Abide in Me, and I in you.” Such is the power that angels in heaven have, that they have only to wish for something in order to obtain it. But still they wish only for things that may be of useful service, wishing this as though of themselves, but in fact from the Lord.
This is the general symbolic meaning of the items listed, because they have reference to the Ten Commandments, and what they mean here can be seen from the explanation in no. 892 above, where a similar list is found. Only here dogs are listed as well, which symbolize people caught up in lusts, the kind of people addressed in the ninth and tenth commandments of the Decalogue.
[2] Dogs in general symbolize people who are caught up in lusts of every kind and indulge in them, particularly people caught up in merely carnal pleasures, especially in the pleasure of gluttony, which constitutes their only delight. Consequently dogs in the spiritual world are the way people appear who have indulged their gullet and tongue, and they are called there carnal appetites personified. Because people of that character are dull-minded, they regard matters connected with church as unimportant. Therefore we are told that they will stand outside, which is to say that they will not be received into the Lord’s New Church.
[3] Dogs have similar symbolic meanings in the following passages in the Word:
His watchmen are blind…, they are all mute dogs…, watching, lying down, loving to sleep. They are single-minded dogs; they never have enough. (Isaiah 56:10, 11)
They make a racket like dogs, and go all around the city…. They wander about looking for food; if they do not get their fill, they are then up all night. (Psalm 59:6, 14, 15)
The vilest of people are meant by dogs in Job 30:1, 1 Samuel 24:14, 2 Samuel 9:8, and 2 Kings 8:13, and also those who are unclean. So we are told in Deuteronomy,
You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog into the house of Jehovah…for any votive offering whatever, for both…are an abomination to Jehovah your God. (Deuteronomy 23:18)
The Lord here calls Himself Jesus in order that people throughout the Christian world may know that the Lord who was in the world is Himself the one who has presented the visions described in this book, whose meanings have now been revealed. Sending an angel to testify symbolizes a testification by the Lord that something is true. The angel, indeed, testified to it, but he did so not of himself, but from the Lord, as is clearly apparent from the declaration in verse 20 below, “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.'”
It is a testification that something is true because testifying is a term used in connection with truth, since truth bears witness of itself, and the Lord is the embodiment of truth (nos. 6, 16, 490). To testify here symbolically means to testify not only that it is true that the Lord presented to John the visions described in this book, but also that He has now presented what they individually and collectively symbolize. This is properly what is meant by testifying, for we are told that the angel testified these things in the churches, which is to say that the meanings contained in things seen and described by John are true. For He testified concerning the truth, as we said.
“To testify to you these things in the churches” symbolically means before the whole Christian world, because that is where the churches meant here are found.
I am the root and the offspring of David means, symbolically, that He is the same Lord who was born into the world, thus the Lord in His Divine humanity. That is why He is called the root and offspring of David, and also the branch of David (Jeremiah 23:5, 33:15). That is why He is also called a rod from the stem of Jesse, and a sprout from his roots (Isaiah 11:1, 2).
His being called the bright and morning star means, symbolically, that He was then the light, and that He is about to come with new light, which will arise before the eyes of His New Church, which is the Holy Jerusalem. He is called a bright star because of the light with which He came into the world. For that reason, too, He is called both a star and a light – a star in Numbers 24:17, and a light in John 1:4-12, 3:19, 21, 9:5, 12:35, 36, 46; Matthew 4:16; Luke 2:30-32; Isaiah 9:2, 49:6. He is called the morning star as well because of the light which will arise from Him before the eyes of the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem. For a star symbolizes light from the Lord, which in its essence is wisdom and understanding, and the morning or dawn symbolizes His advent and a new church then, as may be seen in no. 151 above.
The spirit symbolizes heaven, the bride symbolizes the church, and saying “Come!” symbolizes a longing for the Lord’s advent. It is clear from chapter 21:2,9,10 that the church meant by the bride is the New Church, the Holy Jerusalem, as may be seen in nos. 881, 895. And the spirit means heaven because angelic spirits are meant, of whom the New Heaven consists, as symbolized in chapters 14:1-7, 19:1-9, 20:4, 5.
The church, here called the bride, does not mean a church composed of people whose faith consists of falsities, but a church composed of people whose faith consists of truths, for it is the latter who long for light, thus who long for the Lord’s advent. See no. 954 above.
“Let him who hears say, ‘Come!'” symbolically means that anyone who hears about the Lord’s coming and about the New Heaven and New Church, thus about the Lord’s kingdom, and so has some knowledge of these, should pray for the Lord to come. “Let him who thirsts say, ‘Come!'” symbolically means that anyone who longs for the Lord’s kingdom and truths at that time should pray for the Lord to come with light. “Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” symbolically means that whoever is moved by love to learn truths and assimilate them into himself will receive them from the Lord apart from any endeavors of his own. To desire symbolizes love, because whatever a person desires from the heart is something he loves, and whatever he loves is something he desires from the heart. The water of life symbolizes Divine truths obtained from the Lord through the Word (no. 932), and to obtain them freely means, symbolically, apart from any endeavors of his own.
Something similar to the symbolic meaning in this verse is that of the wish contained in the Lord’s Prayer, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, as in heaven, so upon the earth” (no. 839). The Lord’s kingdom is the church that is united with heaven. So it is that we are now told, “Let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come.”
[2] That thirsting symbolizes a longing for truths is clear from the following:
…I will pour water on him who is thirsty…; I will pour My spirit on your offspring…. (Isaiah 44:3)
Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters….buy wine and milk without money…. (Isaiah 55:1)
…Jesus…cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me…, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37, 38)
My soul thirsts…for the living God. (Psalm 42:2)
O God, You are my God…; my soul thirsts for You; …I am weary, without water. (Psalm 63:1)
Blessed are those who…thirst for righteousness…. (Matthew 5:6)
To him who thirsts I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely. (Revelation 21:6)
The last symbolically means that to those who desire truths for some useful spiritual purpose, the Lord will give of Himself through the Word everything conducive to that useful purpose.
[3] Thirst and thirsting also symbolize perishing from a lack of truth, as is clear from the following:
…my people will go into exile, because they have no acknowledgment…their multitude dried up with thirst. (Isaiah 5:13)
…the foolish person speaks foolishness, and his heart works iniquity…, and he causes the soul…of the thirsty for drink to fail. (Isaiah 32:6)
The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, their tongues fail for thirst. I, Jehovah, will hear them. (Isaiah 41:17)
Contend with your mother…, lest I strip her naked…and slay her with thirst. (Hosea 2:2, 3)
The prophet’s mother there is the church.
Behold, the days are coming…when I will send a hunger on the land, not a hunger for bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of Jehovah…. In that day the fair virgins and young men shall faint from thirst. (Amos 8:11, 13)
On the other hand, not thirsting symbolically means to have no lack of truth, in the following:
Jesus…said…, “Whoever drinks…of the water that I shall give him will not thirst to eternity.” (John 4:13-15)
Jesus said…, “…he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35)
Jehovah has redeemed…Jacob. Then they will not thirst…. He caused the waters to flow from the rock for them. (Isaiah 48:20, 21)
To hear the words of the prophecy of this book means, symbolically, to read and know the doctrinal truths in this book now laid open by the Lord, as may be seen in no. 944 above. To add to these things means, symbolically, adding something in order to destroy those truths, as will be seen below. The plagues that are written in this book symbolize the falsities and evils that are symbolically meant by the plagues described in this book, which we dealt with in chapters 15 and 16. The plagues symbolize the falsities and evils entertained by people who worship the dragon’s beast and the false prophet. See nos. 456, 657, 673, 676, 677, 683, 690, 691, 699, 708, 718. The dragon’s beast and the false prophet are people who make faith alone saving without good works.
[2] There are two principal points in this prophetic book to which all the others in it have relation: The first is that no other God than the Lord is to be acknowledged; and the second, that no other faith than faith in the Lord is to be acknowledged. Someone who knows this, and yet adds something with the intention of destroying these two points, cannot help but be caught up in falsities and evils and perish on account of them, since from no other God than the Lord, and through no other faith than faith in the Lord, is good possible that is a matter of love, and truth that is a matter of faith, and in consequence of these the felicity of eternal life, as the Lord Himself teaches in many places in the Gospels. See no. 553 above.
[3] This is what is symbolically meant, and not that God will add the plagues described in chapters 15 and 16 upon a person who adds something to the words of the prophecy of this book, as anyone can see in the light of his own ability to judge. For a person may add something innocently, and many also may do so for a good purpose, and in ignorance of what is symbolically meant. The book of Revelation, indeed, has so far been like a closed book or a mystical one. Anyone can see, therefore, that the meaning is that one is not to add or take away something that destroys the doctrinal truths in this book now laid open by the Lord, truths which have relation to the above two principal points. Therefore the declaration here also follows in this prior one in the series:
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” And the spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:16, 17)
It symbolically means that the Lord will come in His Divine humanity and grant eternal life to people who acknowledge Him. Consequently the declaration here is also followed in the series by this one:
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20)
It is apparent from this that there is no other meaning.
To add is also a prophetic term symbolically meaning to destroy, as in Psalm 120:3 and elsewhere.
It can now be seen from this what is symbolically meant by the declaration in this verse and the one in the next.
The symbolic meaning here is similar to that above, only here it applies to people who take away from these words, while there it applies to people who add to them. The warning accordingly applies to people who, either by adding to them or taking away from them, destroy these two truths.
To take away a person’s part from the Book of Life means, symbolically, that it is impossible for him to perceive or assimilate into himself anything from the Word. The Book of Life is the Word, and also the Lord in relation to the Word (nos. 256, 469, 874, 925). That is because the Lord embodies the Word, for the Word has the Lord alone as its subject, as we have fully shown in two Doctrines of the New Jerusalem, one Regarding the Lord, and the other Regarding the Sacred Scripture. Therefore people who do not turn directly to the Lord cannot see any truth emerging from the Word.
To take away a person’s part from the holy city means, symbolically, from the New Church, the Holy Jerusalem. For no one is accepted into it who does not turn to the Lord alone.
To take away a person’s part from the things which are written in this book means, symbolically, that he does not have his lot with people in the Lord’s kingdom. For everything written in this book looks forward to a new heaven and a new church, which constitute the Lord’s kingdom, as the end result, and the end result is that to which everything written in the book has relation.
The Word that was dictated by the Lord passed through the heavens of His celestial and spiritual kingdoms and so came to the person by whom it was written. Consequently the Word in its first origin is something purely Divine. As it passed through the heavens of the Lord’s celestial kingdom, it became Divinely celestial, and as it passed through the heavens of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, it became Divinely spiritual, and when it came to the person it became Divinely natural. As a result, the Word’s natural sense contains within it a spiritual sense, and this in turn a celestial sense, and both a sense purely Divine, which is not apparent to any man, and not even to any angel.
We relate this in order that people may see that not adding anything to the words written in the book of Revelation and not taking anything away from them means in heaven not to add anything to or take away anything from the doctrinal truths regarding the Lord and faith in Him. For it is this sense, including truths regarding a life in accordance with the Lord’s commandments, from which, as we said, the literal sense originated.
The Lord says before this, “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches” (verse 16 in this chapter), which symbolizes a testification by the Lord before the whole Christian world of the truth that the Lord alone has presented the visions described in this book, and that their meaning is now disclosed (see no. 953 above). It is apparent from this that He who testifies to these things, saying, symbolizes the Lord testifying, who has presented the visions in the book of Revelation and has now laid the book open. He is testifying to the gospel stated because He here announces His coming, His kingdom, and His spiritual marriage with the church; for the verse says, “‘Surely I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” and the gospel symbolizes the Lord’s coming to His kingdom. See nos. 478, 553, 626, 664. It includes here His coming to a spiritual marriage with the church, because this New Church is called His bride and wife, and the Lord its bridegroom and husband (see chapters 19:7-9, 21:2, 9, 10, and 22:17). And here, at the end of the book, the Lord speaks and the church speaks, like a bridegroom and bride. The Lord says, “Surely I am coming quickly. Amen.” And the church says, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” These are the words of a betrothal looking to a spiritual marriage.
That the Lord will come in His Divine humanity which He assumed in the world and glorified is clear from the fact that He calls Himself Jesus and says that He is the Root and the Offspring of David (verse 16), while the church here says, “Come, Lord Jesus!” See nos. 953 and 954 above.
**********
Once, on awakening from sleep, I fell into a profound meditation regarding God. And when I looked up, I saw in the sky above me a bright, oval-shaped light. Then, as I fixed my gaze on the light, the light ebbed toward the circumference and entered the perimeter. And suddenly heaven opened to me and I saw some magnificent sights, with angels standing around in a circle on the southern side of the opening and conversing together. Because I burned with a desire to hear what they were saying, I was therefore first granted to hear the sound, which was full of heavenly love, and afterward the words, which were full of wisdom arising from that love. They were talking together about the oneness of God, conjunction with Him, and so salvation.
What they were saying is beyond description. Most of it cannot be put into the words of any natural language. But because I had been myself a number of times in the company of angels in heaven, and had then used the same language as they, being in the same state, I was consequently able to understand them now and to take from their conversation some thoughts that I could express in rational terms in the words of a natural language.
They were saying that the Divine being is one, unchanging, absolute, and indivisible, and so is also the Divine essence, inasmuch as the Divine being is the Divine essence, thus also God, because the Divine essence, which is at the same time the Divine being, is God.
[2] This the angels illustrated using spiritual ideas, saying that the Divine being cannot evolve into a number of Divines, each of which possesses the Divine being, and still be one, unchanging, absolute, and indivisible. Indeed, each would think, of Himself and by Himself, from His own being. If He should then think also at the same time unanimously with others and in harmony with others, the result would be a number of like-minded gods and not one God. For unanimity is the consensus of a number, and at the same time the consensus of each one, of himself and by himself, and this does not accord with the unity of God, but with a plurality of beings. They did not say, with a plurality of gods, because they could not, since the light of heaven resisted it, being the light in accord with which they formed their thinking and in which their discussion proceeded. They even said that when they tried to say “gods,” with each one a person by himself, their effort to say it turned instantly and spontaneously into their saying one God, indeed into saying the one and only God.
[3] The angels said in addition that the Divine being is a Divine being in itself, not one derived from itself, because to say one derived from itself supposes a being in itself as its origin, thus a God derived from God, which is not possible. Something derived from God is not called God but rather Divine. For what is a God derived from God? What then is a God born from eternity from God? And what is a God emanating from God through a God born from eternity? They are but words that contain not a spark of light from heaven.
“Not so,” they said, “in the case of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him is the Divine being itself from which all else springs, to which the soul corresponds in man. He has also a Divine humanity, to which the body corresponds in man. And from Him is also the emanating Divine, to which the activity of soul and body corresponds in man. This trine is a unit, because from the originating Divine springs the Divine humanity, and from the originating Divine through the Divine humanity springs as a consequence the emanating Divine.
“For this reason, too, every angel and every person, being an image of the Divine, has a soul, body and activity which constitute a unit, since from the soul springs the body, and from the soul through the body springs the consequent activity.”
[4] The angels said further that the Divine being, which in itself is God, is unchanging – not unchanging statically, but infinitely, that is, unchanging from eternity to eternity. It is the same everywhere, and the same for every individual and in every individual, with all variation and capability of variation resting in the recipient. The state of the recipient is responsible for this.
That the Divine being, which in itself is God, is absolute, they illustrated as follows:
“God is absolute,” they said, “because He is love itself, wisdom itself, good itself, truth itself, and life itself. If these were not absolute in God, they would have no reality in heaven or in the world, as they would have no relation to anything absolute. Every quality is accorded its quality from the fact that there is something absolute from which it springs and to which it has relation so as to be what it is.
“This absolute entity, which is the Divine being, does not exist space, but is present with people and in people who live in space, in accordance with their reception, since love and wisdom, and goodness and truth, which are absolute in God, indeed which are God Himself, cannot have location predicated of them, or a progression from place to place, but are independent of space, and so omnipresent. Therefore the Lord says that He is in the midst of His disciples, and that He is in them and they in Him.*
[5] “However, because no one can receive Him as He is in Himself, He appears, such as He is in Himself, as a sun above the angelic heavens, and the light emanating from that sun is the Lord in respect to wisdom, and its warmth the Lord in respect to love.
“The Lord is not a sun, but the Divine love and wisdom radiating immediately from Him and surrounding Him appear to angels as the sun. He himself in the sun is human. He is our Lord Jesus Christ, both in respect to the originating Divine and in respect to His Divine humanity, since the originating Divine, which is love itself and wisdom itself, was the soul He had from the Father, thus Divine life, which is life in itself. Not so in any other person. The soul in him is not life, but a recipient of life. This is also something the Lord taught, saying, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”** And in another place, “As the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.”*** He who has life in Himself is God.”
To this the angels added that it is possible for someone who possesses some spiritual light to perceive from this that because the Divine being, which is also the Divine essence, is one, unchanging, absolute, and so indivisible, it cannot possibly exist in a plurality of persons. And that if someone were to say it could, there would be manifest contradictions in any added qualifications.
[6] Having said this, the angels perceived in my thought the usual notions in the Christian Church regarding a trinity of Persons in union and their union in the trinity, regarding God, and regarding as well the birth of the Son of God from eternity. And they said then, “What are you thinking? Are you not forming your thoughts from a natural sight, with which our spiritual sight does not accord? Therefore, if you do not rid yourself of those ideas in your thinking, we will close heaven to you and go away.”
But to that I said to them, “Pray enter more deeply into my thinking, and perhaps you will see an agreement.”
They then did so, and they saw that by three Persons I mean three succeeding Divine attributes, namely creation, salvation, and reformation, and that these are the attributes of a single God. They saw, too, that by the birth of the Son of God from eternity I mean His birth foreseen from eternity and provided in time. And I told them then that I acquired my natural thought regarding a trinity of Persons and their union, and the birth of a Son of God from eternity, from the church’s doctrinal creed, called the Athanasian Creed, and that the doctrine in it is right and correct, provided that for the trinity of Persons in it one substitutes the trinity of a Person, which exists only in the Lord Jesus Christ, and for the birth of the Son of God, His birth foreseen from eternity and provided in time. For it is in relation to the humanity He assumed in time that He is plainly called “the Son of God.”
[7] At that the angels said, “Good!” And they asked me to say on their authority that if someone does not turn to the God Himself of heaven and earth, he cannot enter heaven, because heaven is heaven owing to this one and only God, and that this God is Jesus Christ, who is the Lord Jehovah, our Creator from eternity, our Savior in time, and our Reformer to eternity, thus who is at once the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
After that the heavenly light that I saw before came back over the opening in the sky, and it gradually descended from there and filled the interiors of my mind, enlightening my natural ideas regarding the union and trinity of God. And the ideas I had initially acquired about these, which were merely natural, I then saw separated, as the chaff is separated from the wheat when shaken in the wind, and these ideas were carried off as though by a wind into the northern zone of heaven and vanished.
* Matthew 18:20, John 14:20, 17:23.
** John 14:6.
*** John 5:26.
Since the Lord has granted me to see marvels that exist in the heavens and beneath the heavens, I am obliged by command to relate something I saw:
I saw a magnificent palace and at its center a large chapel. In the middle of the chapel there was a table of gold on which lay the Word, with two angels standing beside it.
Placed around the table were three rows of chairs. The chairs in the first row were covered with a purple-colored silk cloth, the chairs in the second row with a blue-colored silk cloth, and the chairs in the third row with a white cloth.
Hanging high up over the table from the ceiling I saw a canopy glistening with precious stones, whose radiance shone like that of a rainbow when the sky grows calm after a rain.
Suddenly then I saw, sitting on the chairs, as many of the clergy as there were seats, all attired in the vestments of their priestly office.
On one side there was a vestry where an angel custodian stood, and in it lay a beautiful array of shining vestments.
[2] It was a council convened by the Lord, and I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Deliberate!”
However, they said, “About what?”
They were told, “About the Lord and the Holy Spirit.”
But when they began to consider these, they found themselves without enlightenment and therefore prayed for it. And light then shone down from heaven, which illumined first the backs of their heads, next their temples, and finally their faces. With that they began, and as they were commanded, they considered first the Lord.
The first question proposed and discussed was who assumed the humanity in the virgin Mary.
One of the angels standing beside the table on which lay the Word read to them the following verses in Luke:
(The angel said to Mary,) “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest?.” Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” And the angel answered and said…, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore…that Holy One who is to be born (from you) will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:31, 32, 34, 35)
The angel also read the verses found in Matthew 1:20-25, and with emphasis what is said there in verse 25.*
He read in addition more verses from the Gospels, where in respect to His humanity the Lord is called the Son of God, and where from the perspective of His humanity He calls Jehovah His Father. And from the Prophets as well, where it is foretold that Jehovah Himself would come into the world, including among others the following two passages in Isaiah:
It will be said in that day: “Behold, this is our God…. This is Jehovah; we have waited for Him; we will exult and rejoice in His salvation.” (Isaiah 25:9)
The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of Jehovah; make straight in the desert a highway for our God…. (For) the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together…. Behold, the Lord Jehovih shall come with might…. He will feed His flock like a shepherd. (Isaiah 40:3, 5, 10, 11)
[3] The angel said moreover, “Since Jehovah Himself came into the world and assumed human form and by it saved and redeemed men, therefore in the Prophets He is called a Savior and Redeemer.” And He read to them then the following passages:
Surely God is in you, and there is no other (God)…. Truly You are God, who hide Yourself, O God of Israel, the Savior! (Isaiah 45:14, 15)
Am I not Jehovah? And there is no other God besides Me. There is no just God and Savior besides Me. (Isaiah 45:21, 22)
…I am Jehovah, and besides Me there is no savior. (Isaiah 43:11)
I am Jehovah your God…, and you shall acknowledge no God but Me; there is also no Savior besides Me. (Hosea 13:4)
…that all flesh may know that I, Jehovah, am your Savior and your Redeemer…. (Isaiah 49:26, cf. 60:16)
As for our Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth is His name…. (Isaiah 47:4)
Their Redeemer is strong; Jehovah Zebaoth is His name. (Jeremiah 50:34)
…O Jehovah, my rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am Jehovah your God….” (Isaiah 48:17, cf. 43:14, 49:7, 54:8)
You, Jehovah, are our Father; our Redeemer from Eternity is Your name. (Isaiah 63:16)
Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer…: “I am Jehovah, who makes all things, …all alone, …by Myself.” (Isaiah 44:24)
Thus said Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth: “I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God.” (Isaiah 44:6)
Jehovah Zebaoth is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He shall be called God of the whole earth. (Isaiah 54:5)
Behold, the days are coming…when I will raise to David a righteous Branch, who shall reign a King…. And this is His name…: JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. (Jeremiah 23:5, 6, cf. 33:15, 16)
In that day…Jehovah shall become King over all the earth. In that day there shall be one Jehovah and His name one. (Zechariah 14:8, 9)
[4] Having been convinced by all these passages, the clergymen sitting on the chairs unanimously said that Jehovah Himself assumed human form in order to save and redeem men.
But at that a voice was heard from a group of Roman Catholics who had hidden themselves in a corner of the chapel, saying, “How can Jehovah, the Father, become a man? Is He not the Creator of the universe?”
Then one of the clergymen sitting on the chairs in the second row turned and said, “Who assumed human form then?”
And from the corner the Roman Catholic responded, “The Son from eternity.”
But he received the reply, “Is not the Son from eternity, according to your belief, also the Creator of the universe? And what is a Son or God born from eternity? How can the Divine essence, which is a single entity and indivisible, be divided, and one part of it descend and take on human form, and not at the same time the whole of it?”
[5] A second discussion regarding the Lord considered whether God the Father and the Lord were not thus one, as soul and body are one. The clergymen said that it followed as a consequence, because the father is the origin of the soul. And then one of those who were sitting on the chairs in the third row recited the following from the statement of faith called the Athanasian Creed:
But although (our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God) is God and man, nevertheless there are not two Christs but one…; indeed, being completely one…by the unity of His person. For as the soul and the body are one person, so God and man are one Christ.
The clergyman reciting this said that this is the accepted faith throughout the Christian world, accepted also by Roman Catholics. And they all said then, “What need is there of more? God the Father and the Lord are one, as soul and body are one.”
Then they said, “This being the case, we see that the Lord’s humanity is Divine, because it is Jehovah’s humanity. And we see that one must turn to the Lord in His Divine humanity, this being the only way that one can approach the Divine called the Father.”
[6] The angel confirmed this conclusion of theirs with still more passages from the Word, which included the following in Isaiah:
…unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given…whose name (is) Wonderful, Counselor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
Also in Isaiah:
…You are our Father; …Abraham was ignorant of us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Jehovah, are our Father; Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name. (Isaiah 63:16)
And in John:
Jesus…said, “He who believes in Me, believes…in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.” (John 12:44, 45)
Philip said to (Jesus), “…show us the Father….” Jesus says to him, “…He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how then can you say, ‘Show us the Father’… Do you not believe 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 14:8-11)
And finally the following:
Jesus said…, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
When they heard these passages, the clergymen all said with one heart and mouth that the Lord’s humanity is Divine, and that one must turn to Him in order to go to the Father, since Jehovah God, who is the Lord from eternity, by means of that humanity introduced Himself into the world and made Himself visible to the eyes of men and accessible. In like manner He made Himself visible and so accessible in human form to people in ancient times, but did so then by means of an angel.
[7] Following this they next took up a deliberation regarding the Holy Spirit. And they began by determining the idea many of them had of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, namely of God the Father sitting on high, so to speak, having the Son at His right hand, and the two sending out the Holy Spirit to enlighten and instruct mankind.
But then a voice was heard from heaven, saying, “We cannot abide that mental image! Who does not know that Jehovah God is omnipresent? Anyone who knows and acknowledges this must also acknowledge that it is He who enlightens and instructs, and that there is no intermediate God, distinct from Him, and still less distinct from two others, as one person is from another. Rid yourselves, therefore, of your earlier idea, which is an idle one, and accept this one, which is the right one, and you will see the matter clearly.”
[8] However, a voice was again heard then from the group of Roman Catholics who had hidden themselves in a corner of the chapel, saying, “What then is the Holy Spirit, which is mentioned in the Word by the Gospels and Paul, by which so many of the learned in the clergy say they are led, especially in our clergy? Who today in the Christian world denies the reality of the Holy Spirit and its operation?”
At that one of the clergymen sitting on the chairs in the second row turned and said, “The Holy Spirit is the Divinity emanating from the Lord Jehovah. You say that the Holy Spirit is a distinct person and a distinct God, yet what is a person that originates and emanates from a person but an operation that originates and emanates? One person cannot originate or emanate from another one by means of another, but an operation can. Or what is a God that originates and emanates from God but a Divinity that originates and emanates? One God cannot originate and emanate from another one by means of another, but a Divinity can. Is not the Divine essence one and indivisible? And because the Divine essence or Divine being is God, is not God one and indivisible?”
[9] Hearing this, the clergymen sitting on the chairs unanimously concluded that the Holy Spirit is not a distinct person or a distinct God, but that it is the holy Divinity originating and emanating from the one and only omnipresent God, who is the Lord.
At that the angels standing beside the golden table on which lay the Word said, “Good! You do not read anywhere in the Old Testament that the prophets were inspired by the Holy Spirit to speak the Word, but that they were inspired by the Lord Jehovah. And where the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the New Testament, it means the emanating Divinity, which is the Divinity that enlightens, instructs, vivifies, reforms and regenerates.”
[10] After this the clergymen took up a second discussion of the Holy Spirit, asking from whom the Divinity called the Holy Spirit emanated, whether it did so from the Divine called the Father, or from the Divine human called the Son. And as they were discussing this, a light shone from heaven which enabled them to see that the holy Divinity meant by the Holy Spirit emanates from the Divinity in the Lord by means of His glorified humanity, which is His Divine humanity, comparatively as every activity in the case of a person emanates from the soul by means of the body.
This conclusion one of the angels standing beside the table confirmed from the Word by the following verses:
…He whom (the Father) has sent speaks the words of God, …God does not give (Him) the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. (John 3:34, 35)
There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse…. The Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might…. (Isaiah 11:1, 2)
Also verses saying that Jehovah put His spirit upon Him, and that the spirit of Jehovah was in Him (Isaiah 42:1, 59:19, 20, 61:1, Luke 4:18).
When the (Holy Spirit) comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father…. (John 15:26)
He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. (John 16:14, 15)
…if I depart, I will send (the Counselor) to you. (John 16:7)
The Counselor is the Holy Spirit (John 14:26).
…the Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:39)
After His glorification Jesus breathed on His disciples and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22).
[11] Since the Lord’s Divine operation and His Divine omnipresence are meant by the Holy Spirit, therefore when He spoke to His disciples about the Holy Spirit whom God the Father would send, He also said:
I will not leave you orphans…. I am going away and coming back to you. (John 14:18, 28)
And:
At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. (John 14:20)
And just before He departed from the world He said:
Lo, I am with you always, even to the culmination of the age. (Matthew 28:20)
After he read these verses to them, the angel said, “From these and many other passages in the Word, it is apparent that the Divinity called the Holy Spirit emanates from the Divinity in the Lord by means of His Divine humanity.”
At that the clergymen sitting on the chairs said, “It is the Divine truth.”
[12] Lastly the clergymen formed this declaration, that “from the
deliberations in this council we have clearly seen and so acknowledge as a sacred truth that there is a trinity in our Lord Jesus Christ, namely, an originating Divine called the Father, a Divine humanity that is the Son, and an emanating Divinity that is the Holy Spirit. Thus there is in the church but one God.”
[13] After these proceedings in that grand council were concluded, the clergymen stood up, and the angel custodian came from the vestry, bringing for each of those sitting on the chairs shining vestments, which were interwoven here and there with gold threads. And the angel said, “Take these wedding garments.”
Then the clergymen were conveyed gloriously into the New Christian Heaven, the heaven with which the Lord’s church on earth, the New Jerusalem, will be conjoined.
Revelation 22:21
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all.
Amen.
* But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS. (Matthew 1:20-25)
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