987. Verses 10, 11. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom became dark; and they gnawed their tongues for anguish; and they blasphemed the God of heaven by reason of their anguish, and by reason of their sores; and they repented not of their works.

"And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the throne of the beast," signifies the state of the church manifested as to the doctrine of faith; "and his kingdom became dark," signifies the church thence in absolutely dense falsities; "and they gnawed their tongues for anguish," signifies that by reason of loathing they were not willing to perceive and to know genuine goods and truths.

"And they blasphemed the God of heaven," signifies falsification of the Word; "by reason of their anguish, and by reason of their sores," signifies from the loathing and nauseating of genuine truths and goods, arising from the falsities and evils in which those are who are in faith alone; "and they repented not of their works," signifies that they were not willing to live according to the Lord's precepts.

324. As for today's non-Christians, they are not that wise; but many of them are simple-hearted. However, in the other life they do accept wisdom from others who have lived lives of thoughtfulness together. I may offer a couple of examples.

When I read chapters 17, 18 of Judges about Micah (whose idol, household gods, and Levite were stolen by the Danites), there was one non-Christian spirit who had revered an idol during his physical life. He listened intently to what happened to Micah and was deeply pained because of the idol that the Danites stole. His distress overcame him and moved him so deeply that he scarcely knew what he was thinking because of the depth of his pain. I sensed his pain and at the same time the innocence within his particular affections. There were some Christian spirits present who were surprised that this idolater was moved by such mercy and such an affection of innocence.

Later some good spirits talked with him and told him that he should not revere idols and that he could understand this because he himself was a human being. Rather, his thought should reach beyond the idol to the God who was creator and ruler of the whole heaven and the whole earth, and who was the Lord. When he was told this, I could sense his deep feeling of reverence. It was communicated to me as something much holier than what could be found among Christians. I could gather from this that non-Christians come into heaven more readily than Christians nowadays, in keeping with the Lord's words in Luke:

Then they will come from the east and the west and the north and the south and will recline in the kingdom of God; and indeed there will be many of the last who will be first, and of the first who will be last. (Luke 13:29-30)

Because of the state he was in, that is, he could absorb all matters of faith and could accept them with a deep inner affection. There was a loving mercy about him and in his ignorance an innocence; and when these are present, all matters of faith are accepted spontaneously, so to speak, and with joy. After this, the non-Christian spirit was accepted among the angels.