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.