AR 456-457 (portions) - The Sixth Angel Sounded (part 6) - The Work of Our Hands

AR 456

But the rest of mankind,
who were not killed in these plagues.
(Revelation 9:20)

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 . . ..

AR 457 [1, 2, 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.

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.

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.