AR 502 - Sodom and Egypt

AR 502

Sodom symbolizes, in the spiritual sense,
a love of ruling springing from a love of self . . .
and Egypt symbolizes, in the spiritual sense,
a love of holding sway
from a conceit in one's own intelligence . . ..

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. 

 

~ Manoah and His Wife and the Angel of the Lord ~

A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah,
from the clan of the Danites,
had a wife who was sterile and remained childless.
The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said,
"You are sterile and childless,
but you are going to conceive and have a son.
Now see to it that you drink no wine
or other fermented drink
and that you do not eat anything unclean,
because you will conceive and give birth to a son.
No razor may be used on his head,
because the boy is to be a Nazirite,
set apart to God from birth,
and he will begin the deliverance of Israel
from the hands of the Philistines."

. . . Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the Lord,
"What is your name,
so that we may honor you when your word comes true?"

He replied, "Why do you ask my name?
It is beyond understanding"
Then Manoah took a young goat,
together with the grain offering,
and sacrificed it on a rock to the Lord.
And the Lord did an amazing thing
while Manoah and his wife watched:
As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven,
the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame.
Seeing this,
Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground.
When the angel of the Lord
did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife,
Manoah realized that it was the angel of the Lord.

(Judges 13:2-5, 17-21)

AR 490 - The Two Witnesses; AR 493 - Two Olive Trees and Two Lampstands

AR 490 [1, 3]

"And I will give power to my two witnesses."
(Revelation11:3)

This symbolizes 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.

These are the people meant here by the two witnesses
because these two characteristics
are the two essential elements of the New Church.

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.

AR 493 [1-2]

These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands
standing before the God of the earth.
(Revelation 11:4)

This symbolizes love and intelligence, or charity and faith,
both of which people have in them from the Lord.

For these two form the church -
love and charity forming its life,
and intelligence and faith its doctrine.

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.
Olive oil was also used
to light the lamps of the lampstand in the Tabernacle
every evening.

~ Which Tree Will Be King? ~

Abimelech . . . went to his father's home in Ophrah
and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers,
the sons of Jerub-Baal.
But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerub-Baal,
escaped by hiding.
Then all the citizens of Schechem and Meth Millo
gathered beside the great tree at the pillar in Shechem
to crown Abimelech king.

When Jothan was told about this,
he climbed up on the top of Mount Gerizim
and shouted to them,
"Listen to me, citizens of Shechem,
so that God may listen to you.
One day the trees went out
to anoint a king for themselves.
They said to the olive tree, 'Be our king.'

But the olive tree answered,
"Should I give up my oil,
by which both gods and men are honored,
to hold sway over the trees?'

"Next, the trees said to the fig tree,
'Come and be our king.'

"But the fig tree replied,
'Should I give up my fruit,
so good and sweet,
to hold sway over the trees?'

"Then the trees said to the vine,
'Come and be our king.'

"But the vine answered,
'Should I give up my wine,
which cheers both gods and me,
to hold sway over the trees?'

"Finally all the trees said to the thornbush,
'Come and be our king.'

"The thornbush said to the trees,
'If you really want to anoint me king over  you,
come and take refuge in my shade;
but if not, then let fire come of the thornbush
and consume the cedars of Lebanaon!'"

(Judges 9:5-15)

 

AR 485 - Rods; AR 486 - Measuring; AR 487 - The Court

AR 485 [1, 3]

Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod.
(Revelation 11:1)

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.

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.

AR 486 [3]

To measure means, symbolically,
to learn and investigate the character of a thing
because the measure of something
symbolizes its character or state.

AR 487

"But leave out the court which is outside the temple,
and do not measure it."
(Revelation 11:2)

The court outside the temple
symbolizes the church on earth,
because that church is outside heaven,
heaven being the temple.

~ Gideon ~

Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon,
"Why have you treated us like this?
Why didn't you call us when you went to fight Midian?"
And they criticized him sharply.

But he answered them,
"What have I accomplished compared to you?
Aren't the gleanings of Ephraim's grapes
better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer?
God gave
Oreb and Zeeb, the Midianite leaders,
into your hands.
What was I able to do compared to you?"
At this, their resentment against him subsided.

. . . No sooner had Gideon died
than the Israelites again prostituted themselves
to the Baals.
They set up Baal-Berith as their god
and did not remember the Lord their God,
who had rescued them
from the hands of all their enemies on every side.
they also failed to show kindness
to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon)
for all the good things he had done for them.

(Judges 8:1-3, 33-35)

AR 484 [9] - Doing Good

AR 484 [9]

. . . to do good to the neighbor for God's sake,
thus in association with God and impelled by God,
is what we call religion. 

 

~ Gideon and the Fleece ~

The angel of the Lord came
and sat down under the oak in Ophrah
that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite,
where his son Gideon was threshing wheat
in a winepress to keep it from the Mideanites.
When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon,
he said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior."

"But sir," Gideon replied,
"if the Lord is with us,
why has all this happened to us?
Where are all His wonders
that our fathers told us about when they said,
'Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?'
But now the Lord has abandoned us
and put us into the hand of Midian."

The Lord turned to him and said,
"Go in the strength you have
and save Israel out of Midian's hand.
Am I not sending you?"

. . . Gideon said to God,
"If you will save Israel by my hand
as You have promised --
look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor.
If there is dew only on the fleece
and all the ground is dry,
then I will know that You will save Israel by my hand,
as You said."
And that is what happened.
Gideon rose early the next day;
he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew --
a bowlful of water.

Then Gideon said to God,
"Do not be angry with me.
Let me make just one more request.
Allow me one more test with the fleece.
This time make the fleece dry
and the ground covered with dew."
That night God did so.
Only the fleece was dry;
all the ground was covered with dew.

(Judges 6:11-14, 36-40)

AR 475 - To Create; AR 478 - The Mystery of God

AR 475

. . . in the spiritual sense to create means, symbolically,
to reform and regenerate, which is also to enliven.

AR 478 [6]

Our being told
that the mystery of God would be concluded
(Revelation 10:7)
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.

~ Deborah and a bit of Her Song ~

Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth,
was leading Israel at that time.
She held court under the Palm of Deborah
between Ramah and Bethel
in the hill country of Ephraim,
and the Israelites came to her
to have their disputes decided.

"When the princes in Israel take the lead,
when the people willing offer themselves --
praise the Lord!

"Hear this,you kings!
Listen you rulers!
I will sing to the Lord, I will sing;
I will make music to the Lord, the God of Israel.

. . . "So may all your enemies perish, O Lord!
But may they who love You
be like the sun whit it rises in its strength."

Then the land had peace for forty years.

(Judges 4: 4-5; 5:2-3, 31)

AR 469 - A Little Open Book; AR 470 - Right Foot, Left Foot; AR 472 - Seven Thunders

AR 469

He had in his hand a little book open.
(Revelation10:2)

This symbolizes 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.

AR 470

And he set his right foot on the sea
and his left foot on the land.
(Revelation10:2)

This symbolically means that the Lord
has the entire church under His auspices and governance,
both those people in
it who concern themselves with its external elements,
and those in it who concern themselves
with its internal ones.

AR 472 [1, 3]

And when he cried out,
seven thunders uttered their voices.
(Revelation10:3)

This symbolically means
that the Lord has disclosed
throughout the whole of heaven
what is in the little book.

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.
Consequently thunder also symbolizes
instruction and a perception of truth,
 and here discovery and disclosure as well.

Jehovah thundered from heaven,
and the Most High uttered His voice.
(2 Samuel 22:14)

~ The Lord Provides Prophets to Lead Israel ~

After that whole generation
had been gathered to their fathers,
another generation grew up,
who knew neither the Lord
nor what He had done for Israel.
Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord
and served the Baals.

. . . In His anger against Israel
the Lord handed them over to raiders
who plundered them.
He sold them to their enemies all around,
whom they were no longer able to resist.

. . . Then the Lord raised up judges,
who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.
. . . Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them,
He was with the judge
and saved them out of the hands of their enemies
as long as the judge lived;
for the Lord had compassion on them
as they groaned
under those who oppressed and afflicted them.
But when the judge died,
the people returned to ways even more corrupt
than those of their fathers,
following other gods and serving and worshiping them.
They refused to give up
their evil practices and stubborn ways.

. . . Othniel son of Kenaz,
Caleb's younger brother,
who saved them.
. . . So the land had peace for forty years,
until Othniel son of Kenaz died.

Again the Israelites cried out ot the Lord,
and He gave them a deliverer --
Ehud, a left-handed man,
the son of Gera the Benjamite.
. . . and the land had peace for eighty years.

After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath,
who struck down six hundred Philistines
with an oxgoad.
He too saved Israel.

(Judges 2:10-15,16, 18-19; 3:9.5, 11, 15, 30.5-31)
 

AR 465 - A Mighty Angel; AR 466 - Rainbows

AR 465

I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven.
(Revelation 10:1)

This symbolizes the Lord in His Divine majesty and power.

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.

AC 466

Clothed with a cloud, with a rainbow over his head.
(Revelation 10:1)

This symbolizes His Divinity on the natural plane
and His Divinity on the spiritual plane.

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,
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.

~ Joshua, Joseph's Bones & Eleazar Buried in the Promised Land ~

After these things,
Joshua son of Nun,
the servant of the Lord,
died at the age of a hundred and ten.
And they buried him in the land of his inheritance,
at Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim,
north of Mount Gaash.

Israel served the Lord
throughout the lifetime of Joshua
and of the elders who outlived him
and who had experienced everything
the Lord had done for Israel.

And Joseph's bones,
which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt,
were buried at Shechem
in the tract of land that Jacob bought
for a hundred pieces of silver from the sons of Hamor,
the father of Shechem.
This became the inheritance of Joseph's descendants.

And Eleazar son of Aaron died
and was buried at Gibeah,
which had been allotted to his son Phinehas
in the hill country of Ephraim.

(Joshua 24:29-33)

AR 459 - Idols and Repentance

AR 459

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.

~ Joshua to the Children of Israel ~

"Now I am about to go the way of all the earth.
You know with all your heart and soul
that not one of all the good promises
the Lord your God gave you has failed.
Every promise has been fulfilled;
not one has failed.
But just as every good promise
of the Lord your God has come true,
so the Lord will bring on you
all the evil He has threatened,
until He has destroyed you
from this good land He has given you.
If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God,
which He commanded you,
and go and serve other gods
and bow down to them,
the Lord's anger will burn against you,
and you will quickly perish from the good land
He has given you."

(Joshua 23:14-16)

More from the Sixth Angel: AR 452 - Fire, Smoke, and Brimstone; AR 455 - Sensual People; AR 457 - Works of a Person's Hands and His Hands

AR 452

And out of their mouths came
fire, and smoke, and brimstone.
(Revelation 9:17)

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.
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.
And brimstone symbolizes
the lusts attendant on evil and falsity,
which are a characteristic trait flowing from them both.

AR 455 [1, 4]

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.

AR 457 [1, 3, 4]

Still did not repent of the works of their hands.
(Revelation 9:20)

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.

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 . . ..

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.

~ All His Promises Were Fulfilled ~

So the Lord gave Israel all the land
He had sworn to give their forefathers,
and they took possession of it and settled there.
The Lord gave them rest on every side,
just as He had sworn to their forefathers.
Not one of their enemies withstood them;
the Lord handed all their enemies over to them.
Not one of all the Lord's good promises
to the house of Israel failed;
every one was fulfilled.

(Joshua 21:43-45)
 

The Sixth Angel Sounded: AR 442; AR 444 - The Euphrates

AR 442

Then the sixth angel sounded.
(Revelation 9:13)

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.

AR 444

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.

~ Seven More Tribes Need Their Inheritance ~

The whole assembly of the Israelites
gathered at Shiloh
and set up the Tent of Meeting there.
The country was brought under their control,
but there were still seven Israelite tribes
who had not yet received their inheritance.

So Joshua said to the Israelites:
"How long will you wait
before you begin to take possession of the land
that the Lord, the God of your fathers,
has given you?
Appoint three men from each tribe.
I will send them out to make a survey of the land
and to write a description of it,
according to the inheritance of each.
Then they will return to me.
You are to divide the land into seven parts.
Judah is to remain in its territory on the south
and the house of Joseph in its territory on the north.
After you have written descriptions
of the seven parts of the land,
bring them here to me
and I will cast lots for you
in the presence of the Lord our God."

(Joshua 18:1-6)

Last from the Opening of the Fifth Seal: AR 434 - Women's Hair; AR 435 - Teeth; AR 436, 440 - Falsifications

AR 434

They had hair like women's hair.
(Revelation 9:8)

Hair in the Word symbolizes
the lowest level of a person's life,
which is the sensual level.
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.

AR 435

And their teeth were like lions' teeth.
(Revelation 9:8)

Teeth symbolize the lowest elements
of the natural self's life,
which are called sensual.
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;
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.

AR 436

. . . from a false proposition
nothing but falsities can flow.

AR 440

. . . a total falsification of the Word
has destroyed the church.

~ Allotments for Ephraim and Manasseh ~

So Manasseh and Ephraim, the descendants of Joseph,
received their inheritance.

They did not dislodge the Canaanites living in Gezer;
to this day the Canaanites live
among the people of Ephraim
but are required to do forced labor.

(Joshua 16:4,10)

More from the Opening of the Fifth Seal: AR 423 - Darkness; AR 424 - Locusts; AR 425 - Scorpions

AR 423

And the sun and the air were darkened
because of the smoke of the pit.
(Revelation 9:2)

This symbolically means that therefore
the light of truth became thick darkness.

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.

AR 424 [2]

. . . falsities of the lowest sort,
such as existed in the people here,
are in the Word symbolized by locusts . . ..

AR 425

And to them was given power,
as the scorpions of the earth have power.
(Revelation 9:3)

This symbolizes their power to persuade
that their falsities are true.

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.
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.

~ Joshua Left Nothing Undone ~

Joshua took all these royal cities and their kings
and put them to the sword.
He totally destroyed them,
as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded.
Yet Israel did not burn any of the cities
built on their mounds -- except Hazor,
which Joshua burned.
The Israelites carried off for themselves
all the plunder and livestock of these cities,
but all the people they put to the sword
until they completely destroyed them,
not sparing anyone that breathed.
As the Lord commanded his servant Moses,
so Moses commanded Joshua,
and Joshua did it;
he left nothing undone
of all that the Lord commanded Moses.

(Joshua 11:12-15)

AR 419, 420, 421 - The Fifth Angel Sounded

AR 419

Then the fifth angel sounded.
(Revelation 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.

AR 420

And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth.
(Revelation 9:1)

This symbolizes spiritual Divine truth
flowing in from heaven
into the church with them,
examining and exposing them.

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.

AR 421

. . . an affirmation of falsity constitutes a denial of the truth.

~ Joshua Renews the Covenant with the Lord ~

Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal 
an altar to the Lord,
the God of Israel,
as Moses the servant of the Lord
had commanded the Israelites.
He built it according to what is written
in the Book of the Law of Moses --
an altar of uncut stones,
on which no iron tool had been used.
On it they offered to the Lord burnt offerings.

There, in the presence of the Israelites,
Joshua copied on stones the law of Moses,
which he had written.
All Israel, aliens and citizens alike,
with their elders, officials and judges,
were standing on both sides
of the ark of the covenant of the Lord,
facing those who carried it --
the priests, who were Levites.
Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim
and half of them in front of Mount Ebal,
as Moses the servant of the  Lord
had formerly commanded
when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel.

Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law --
the blessings and curses --
just as it is written in the book of the Law.
There was not a word of all Moses had commanded
that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel,
including the women and children,
and the aliens who lived among them.

(Joshua 8:30-35)

AR 412, 413 - And the Fourth Angel Sounded

AR 412

Then the fourth angel sounded.
(Revelation 8:12)

This symbolizes 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.

AR 413

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.
(Revelation 8:12)

This symbolically means
that 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.

A third means, symbolically, all.
The sun symbolizes love.
The moon symbolizes intelligence and faith.
The stars symbolize concepts
of truth and goodness from the Word.
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.

Darkness symbolizes these falsities
because light symbolizes truth,
and when the light has been extinguished,
darkness is left.

~ Ai Falls ~

Then the Lord said to Joshua,
"Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand,
for into your hand I will deliver the city."
So Joshua held out his javelin toward Ai.
As soon as he did this,
the men in the ambush
rose quickly from their position
and rushed forward.
they entered the city and captured it
and quickly set it on fire.

. . . So Joshua burned Ai
and made it a permanent heap of ruins,
a desolate place to this day.
He hung the king of Ai on a tree
and left him there until evening.
At sunset,
Joshua ordered them to take his body from the tree
and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate.
And they raised a large pile of rocks over it,
which remains to this day.

(Joshua 8:18-19, 28-29)
 

AR 402, 403 - The Second Angel Sounded; AR 407, 408 - The Third Angel Sounded; AR 411 - Bitterness

AR 402

Then the second angel sounded.
(Revelation 8:8)

This symbolizes an examination and disclosure
of the state of the church and its character
in people caught up externally in that faith.

. . . These people in the spiritual world
are seemingly at sea.

AR 403

And something like a great mountain burning with fire
was cast into the sea.
(Revelation 8:8)

This symbolizes the appearance
of a hellish love in people concerned
with the external elements of the church
and caught up in faith alone.

. . . where there is no charity,
that is, no love for the neighbor,
which is a spiritual love,
a hellish love exists.

AR  407

Then the third angel sounded.
(Revelation 8:10)

This symbolizes an examination
and disclosure of the state of the church
in people for whom religion is faith alone
such as they are as regards
their affection for truths from the Word
and reception of them.

AR 408

And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch.
(Revelation 8:10)

This symbolizes the appearance
of their personal intelligence
owing to a conceit arising from a hellish love.

AR 411 [1-2]

Bitterness symbolizes falsification
because the bitterness of wormwood is meant,
and wormwood symbolizes hellish falsity.

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.

~ The First Try to Take Ai Fails ~

The Lord said to Joshua,
"Sand up!
What are you doing down on our face?
Israel has sinned;
they have violated My covenant,
which I commanded them to keep.
They have taken some of the devoted things;
they have stolen,
they have lied,
they have put them with their possessions.
That is why the Israelites cannot
stand against their enemies;
they turn their backs and run
because they have been made liable to destruction.
I will not be with you anymore
unless you destroy whatever among you
is devoted to destruction."

(Joshua 7:10-12)
 

AR 388, 389, 390 - The Seventh Seal; AR 398 - The First Angel - The Earth; AR 400 - Trees

AR 388

When He opened the seventh seal.
(Revelation 8:1)

This symbolizes 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.

Faith alone is also faith divorced from charity,
because there is no conjunction of the two.

AR 389

There was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
(Revelation 8:1)

This symbolically means
that 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.

AR 390

And I saw the seven angels who stood before God.
(Revelation 8:2)

This symbolizes
the entire spiritual heaven in the Lord's presence,
hearing and doing whatever He commanded.

AR 398

The first angel sounded.
(Revelation 8:7)

This symbolizes an examination and exposure
of the state of life and its character
in people caught up interiorly in that faith,
because it produced its effect on the earth . . ..

. . . 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.

AR 400

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.

 

~ The Israelites Have a New Food Source ~

On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month,
while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho,
the Israelites celebrated the Passover.
The day after the Passover,
that very day,
they ate some of the produce of the land:
unleavened bread and roasted grain.
The manna stopped
the day after they ate this food from the land;
there was no longer any manna for the Israelites,
but that year they ate the produce of Canaan.

(Joshua 5:10-12)

AR 380 - Being in the Lord's Presence and in His Service

AR 380

"Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve Him day and night in His temple.
(Revelation 7:15)

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.
"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.

. . . 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.

~ The Lord's Commands to Joshua ~

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord,
the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses's aide:
"Moses My servant is dead.
Now then, you and all these people,
get ready to cross the Jordan River
into the land I am about to give to them --
to the Israelites.
I will give you every place where you set your foot,
as I promised Moses.
Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon,
and from the great river, the Euphrates --
all the Hittite country --
to the Great Sea on the west.
No one will be able to stand up against you
all the days of your life.
As I was with Moses,
so I will be with you;
I will never leave you nor forsake you.

"Be strong and courageous,
because you will lead these people
to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.
Be strong and very courageous.
Be careful to obey all the law
My servant Moses gave you;
do not turn from it to the right or to the left,
that you may be successful wherever you go.
Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth;
mediate on it day and night,
so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.
Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Have I not commanded you?
Be strong and courageous.
Do not be terrified;
do not be discouraged,
for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

(Joshua 1:1-9)

AR 376 - Asking of the Lord

AR 376

Then one of the elders answered, saying to me,
"Who are these arrayed in white robes,
and where did they come from?"
And I said to him, "Lord, you know."
(Revelation 7:13-14)

This symbolizes their desire to know and wish to inquire,
and the reply and instruction given.

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.

. . . in the Word we frequently read
that the Lord answers
when people call on Him or cry out to Him,
and that He gives to people when they ask.
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.

~ Moses Blesses the Tribes and Dies ~

This is the blessing that Moses the man of God
pronounced on the Israelites before his death.
He said:

"The Lord came from Sinai
and dawned over them from Seir;
He shone forth from Mount Paran.
He came with myriads of holy ones from the south,
from His mountain slopes.
Surely it is You who love the people;
all the holy ones are in Your hand.
At Your feet they all bow down,
and from You receive instruction,
the law Moses gave us,
the possession of the assembly of Jacob.

Blessed are you O Israel!
Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord?
He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword.
Your enemies will cower before you,
and you will trample down their high places."

(Deuteronomy 33:1-4, 29)

And Moses the servant of the Lord
died there in Moab,
as the Lord had said.
He buried him in Moab,
in the valley opposite Beth Peor,
but to this day no one knows where his grave is.
Moses was a hundred and twenty years old
when he died,
yet his eyes were not weak
nor his strength gone.

(Deuteronomy 34:5-7)

AR 359 - Zebulun - The Marriage of Good and Truth; AR 360 - Joseph - Doctrine of Goodness and Truth; AR 361 - Benjamin - A Life of truth Springing from Goodness

AR 359

Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed.
(Revelation 7:8)

This symbolizes the conjugal love of goodness and truth
in those people who will be part of
the New Heaven and of the Lord's New Church.

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.

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.

AR 360

Of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed.
(Revelation 7:8)

This symbolizes a doctrine of goodness and truth
in those people who will be
part of the New Heaven and of the Lord's New Church.

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,
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.

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.

AR 361

Of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.
(Revelation 7:8)

This symbolizes a life of truth springing from goodness
in accord with doctrine in those people who will be in
the New Heaven and in the Lord's New Church.

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",
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.

~ The Beginning of the Song of Moses ~

Listen, O heavens, and I will speak;
hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
Let my teaching fall like rain
and my words descend like dew,
like showers on new grass,
like abundant rain on tender plants.

I will proclaim the name of the Lord.
Oh, praise the greatness of our God!
He is the Rock,
His works are perfect,
and all His ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is He.

(Deuteronomy 32:1-4)

 

AR 356 - Simeon - Providence; AR 357 - Levi - Love & Mercy; AR 358 - Issachar - Divine Good of Truth & Truth of Good

AR 356

Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed.
(Revelation 7:7)

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.

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.

AR 357

Of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed.
(Revelation 7:7)

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.

 ...they guard Your Word and keep Your covenant.
They shall teach Jacob Your judgments,
and Israel Your law.
(Deuteronomy 33:8-11)

AR 358

Of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed.
(Revelation 7:7)

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.

~ Choose Life! ~

When all these blessings and curses
I have set before you
come upon you
and you take them to heart
wherever The Lord your God disperses you
among the nations,
and when you and your children
return to the Lord your God
and obey Him
with all your heart and with all your soul
according to everything I command you today,
then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes
and have compassion on you
and gather you again
from all the nations where he scattered you.
Even if you have been banished
to the most distant land under the heavens,
and from there
the Lord your God will gather you
and bring you back.
He will bring
you to the land that belonged to your fathers,
and you will take possession of it.
He will make you more prosperous and numerous
than your fathers.
The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts
and the hearts of your descendants,
so that you may love Him
with all your heart and with all your soul,
and live.
The Lord your God will put these curses on your enemies
who hate and persecute you.
You will again obey the Lord
and follow all His commands I am giving you today.
Then the Lord your God will make you
most prosperous in all the work of your hands
and in the fruit of your womb,
the young of your livestock
and the crops of your land.
The Lord will make delight in you
and make you prosperous,
just as He delighted in your fathers,
if you obey the Lord your God
and keep His commands and decrees
that are written in the Book of the Law
and turn to the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul.

Now what I am commanding you today
is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.
It is not up in heaven, so you have to ask,
"Who will ascend into heaven
to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?
Nor is it beyond the sea,
so that you have to ask,
"Who will cross the sea to get it
and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?"
No, the word is very near you;
it is in your mouth and in your heart
so you may obey it.

See, I set before you today life and prosperity,
death and destruction.
For I command you today to love the Lord your God,
to walk in His ways,
and to keep His commands, decrees and laws,
then you will live and increase,
and the Lord your God will bless you in the land
you are entering to posses.

But if your heart turns away
and you are not obedient,
and if you are drawn away
to bow down to other gods and worship them,
I declare to you this day
that you will certainly be destroyed.
You will not live long in the land you
are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

This day I call heaven and earth
as witnesses against you
that I have set before you life and death,
blessings and curses.
No chose life,
so that you and your children may live
and that you may love the Lord your God,
listen to His voice,
and hold fast to Him.
For the Lord is your life,
and He will give you many years
in the land he swore to give your fathers,
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

(Deuteronomy 30)

___________________

I love this chapter - 
so reassuring on a personal level,
especially when remembering
that 'land' means the church.

AR 353 - Asher - A Love of Performing Useful Services; AR 354 - Naphtali - The Power of the Lord's Divine Humanity; AR 355 - Manasseh - To Serve

AR 353

Of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed.
(Revelation 7:6)

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.

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.

AR 354

Of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed.
(Revelation 7:6)

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.

AR 355

Of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed.
(Revelation 7:6)

This symbolizes a will to serve and to put into practice . . ..

There are three things that follow in order:
love toward the Lord, wisdom, and useful endeavor.
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.

~ However ~

However, if you do not obey the Lord your God
and do not carefully follow all His commands and decrees
I am giving you today,
all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

You will cursed in the city
and cursed in the country.

Your basket and all your kneading trough will be cursed.

The fruit of your womb will be cursed,
and all the crops of your land,
and the calves of your herds
and the lambs of your flocks.

You will be cursed when you come in
and cursed when you go out.

All these curses will come upon you.
They will pursue you and overtake you
until you are destroyed,
because you did not obey the Lord your God
and observe the commands and decrees He gave you.

(Deuteronomy 28:15-19, 45)
 

AR 348 - 144,000; AR 350 - Judah - Love; AR 351 - Reuben - Wisdom; AR 352 - Gad - Useful Endeavors

AR 348 [1, 3]

And I heard the number of those who were sealed,
one hundred and forty-four thousand.
(Revelation 7:4)

This symbolizes 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.

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.

Out of the kind of people described here
the Lord formed a new heaven
and is in the process of forming a new church.

AR 350

Of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed.
(Revelation 7:5)

This symbolizes celestial love,
which is love toward the Lord,
and this in all those people
who will be in the Lord's New Heaven and New Church.

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.

. . . 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.

AR 351 [1, 3]

Of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed.
(Revelation 7:5)

This symbolizes wisdom springing from celestial love
in those people who will be
in the New Heaven and in the Lord's New Church.

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.

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.

AR 352

Of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed.
(Revelation 7:5)

This symbolizes useful life endeavors,
which are the exercises of wisdom
springing from the aforesaid love,
also in those people who will be
in the New Heaven and in the Lord's New Church.

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.

~ If ~

If you fully obey the Lord your God
and carefully follow all His commands I give you today,
the Lord your God will set you high above 
all the nations on earth.
All these blessings will come upon you
and accompany you
if you obey the Lord your God:

You will be blessed in the city
and blessed in the country.

The fruit of your womb will be blessed,
and the crops of your land
and the young of your livestock --
the calves of your herds
and the lambs of your flocks.

Your basket and your kneading trough
will be blessed.

You will be blessed when you come in
and blessed when you go out.

(Deuteronomy 28:1-6)

AR 342 - Angels at the Four Corners; AR 344, 347 - More on Angels

AR 342 [1, 2, 3, 5]

After these things I saw four angels
standing at the four corners of the earth.
(Revelation 7:1)

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,
and as heaven is heaven owing to the Lord,
angels symbolize heaven as well.

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.

The four quarters are also called four corners . . ..
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 . . ..

That a corner symbolizes
the lowest component supporting higher ones,
as a foundation does a house,
and so symbolizes also everything,

AR 344

. . . an angel is anyone who accepts the Lord,
whether in heaven or in the world.

AR 347 [2]

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.

~ Keep Your Camp Clean ~

When you are encamped against your enemies,
keep away from everything impure.

For the Lord your God moves about in your camp
to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you.
Your camp must be holy,
so that He will not see among you
anything indecent
and turn away from you.

(Deuteronomy 23:6,14)

 

The Sixth Seal: AR 330, 331, 336 - A Great Earthquake; Mountains and Islands

AR 330

Then I looked when He opened the sixth seal.
(Revelation 6:12)

This symbolizes an examination by the Lord
of the states of life of people who were inwardly evil,
on whom the Last Judgment would fall.

. . . 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).

AR 331

And behold, there was a great earthquake.
(Revelation 6:12)

Earthquakes symbolize changes in the state of the church
because the earth symbolizes the church,
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.
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.

AR 336

And every mountain and island
was moved out of its place.
(Revelation 6:14)

This symbolically means
that all goodness of love and truth of faith vanished.

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 --
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.

~ A Bird's Nest ~

If you come across a bird's nest beside the road,
either in a tree on on the ground,
and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs,
do not take the mother with the young.
You may take the young,
but be sure to let the mother go,
so that it may go well with you
and you may have a long life.

(Deuteronomy 22:6-7)

The Fifth Seal: AR 324, 325 - The Souls Under the Altar

AR 324

When He opened the fifth seal.
(Revelation 6:9)

This symbolizes 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.

AR 325 [1, 4]

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.
(Revelation 6:9)

This symbolizes people who were hated by the evil,
treated with scorn and expelled
because of their life in accordance with the Word's truths
and their acknowledgment of the Lord's Divine humanity,
and who were protected by the Lord
to keep them from being led astray.

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 . . ..

~ When the King Takes His Throne ~

When he takes the throne of his kingdom,
he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law,
taken from that of the priests, who are Levites.
It is to be with him,
and he is to read it all the days of his life
so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God
and follow carefully
all the words of this law and these decrees
and not consider himself better than his brothers
and turn from the law to the right or to the left.
Then he and his descendants
will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

(Deuteronomy 17:18-20)

The Fourth Seal: AR 320, 323 - A Pale Horse

AR 320

So I looked, and behold, a pale horse.
(Revelation 6:8)

This symbolizes
an understanding of the Word destroyed
as to both goodness and truth.

A horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word,
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.

AR 323

With sword, with famine, with death,
and by the beasts of the earth.
(Revelation 6:8)

This symbolically means,
by doctrinal falsities, by evil practices,
by self-love, and by lusts.

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.
Accordingly, because the subject is
the destruction of all good in the church,
a sword here symbolizes doctrinal falsities.

. . . Death symbolizes a person's self-love
because death symbolizes the extinction of spiritual life,
and thus natural life divorced from any spiritual life,
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.

. . . 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.

~ The Poor and the Rich ~

However, there should be no poor among you,
for in the land the Lord our God 
is giving you to possess as your inheritance,
He will richly bless you,
if only you fully obey the Lord your God
and are careful to follow all these commands
I am giving you today.
For the Lord your God 
will bless you as He has promised,
and you will lend to many nations
but will borrow from none.
You will rule over many nations
but none will rule over you.

If there is a poor man among your brothers
in any of the towns of the land
that the Lord your God is giving you,
do not be hardhearted or tightfisted
toward your poor brother.
Rather be openhanded
and freely lend him whatever he needs.
Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought:
"The seventh year,
the year for canceling debts, is near,"
so that you do not show ill will
toward your needy brother and give him nothing.
He may then appeal to the Lord against you,
and you will be found guilty of sin.
Give generously to him
and do so without a grudging heart;
then because of this
the Lord your God will bless you
in all your work
and in everything you put your hand to.
There will will always be poor people in your land.
Therefore I command you to be openhanded
toward your brothers
and toward the poor and needy in your land.

(Deuteronomy 15:4-11)

The Third Seal - AR 312, 315, 316 - A Black Horse

AR 312

So I looked, and behold, a black horse.
(Revelation 6:5)

This symbolizes an understanding of the Word
among them extinguished as to truth,
thus extinguished as regards their doctrine.

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.
Whiteness is also the result of light,
while blackness results from darkness,
thus from the absence of light, and light means truth.

AR 315

"A quart of wheat for a denarius,
and three quarts of barley for a denarius."
(Revelation 6:6)

This symbolically means,
because the value these people
placed on goodness and truth was so little
as to be scarcely anything.
This is the symbolic meaning because a quart,
which is a measure and its contents,
symbolizes the character of a thing.
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

AR 316

"And do not harm the oil and the wine."
(Revelation 6:5)

This symbolizes the Lord's provision
that they not violate and profane
the goods and truths concealed inwardly in the Word.

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.
Whatever the Lord says He also provides.

The Second Seal - AR 305, 306 - A Red Horse

AR 305

And another horse, fiery red, went out.
(Revelation 6:4)

This symbolizes an understanding of the Word
among them extinguished as to goodness
and thus extinguished as regards their life.

A horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word,
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.

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.

AR 306

And it was granted to the one who sat on it
to take peace from the earth.
(Revelation 6:4)

This symbolizes the abolition
of charity, of spiritual security, and of inner rest.

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.