1. Prólogo del Autor

Cuando el Señor, ante Sus discípulos, habla de la consumación del siglo, por lo cual se entiende el último período de la vida de la iglesia, al final de la predicción acerca de los sucesivos estados de la misma con respecto al amor y a la fe, dice así:

Luego... después de la aflicción de aquellos días el sol se oscurecerá y la luna no dará su lumbre, y las estrellas caerán del cielo y las potencias del cielo serán conmovidas, y entonces aparecerá la señal del Hijo del Hombre en el cielo y entonces lamentarán todas las tribus de la tierra, y verán al Hijo del Hombre venir en las nubes del cielo con potencia y grande gloria, y enviará sus ángeles con trompeta y magna voz, y juntará sus escogidos de los cuatro vientos, del extremo de los cielos hasta el extremo de ellos (Mateo 24:29-31).

Él que toma estas palabras en el sentido literal cree que todo cuanto expresan según la descripción en ese sentido se verificará en el postrer tiempo llamado el último juicio, es decir, no solamente que el sol y la luna se oscurecerán y que las estrellas caerán del cielo, así como que la señal del Señor aparecerá en el cielos y que verán a Él en las nubes y también a los ángeles con trompetas, sino que también según la predicción en otro lugar, el mundo visible entero perecerá y que luego aparecerá un nuevo cielo con una nueva tierra. En esta creencia está hoy día la mayor parte en la iglesia. Pero los que así creen no conocen los arcanos que están ocultos en cada detalle del Verbo; porque en cada detalle del Verbo hay un sentido interior, el cual no expresa cosas naturales y mundanas como las que se hallan en el sentido literal, sino espirituales y celestiales, y esto no tan sólo con respecto a la significación de una pluralidad de palabras, sino también con respecto a cada palabra en particular, porque el Verbo es compuesto de puras correspondencias, a fin de que haya sentido interior en cada detalle. La índole de este sentido se puede conocer por todo cuanto con respecto al mismo se ha dicho y manifestado en "Arcana Coelestia, " lo cual también puede verse en compendio en la explicación de "El Caballo Blanco, " del cual se habla en el Apocalipsis. Según este sentido deben entenderse las cosas que en el lugar arriba indicado dijo el Señor acerca de Su venida en las nubes del cielo. Allí, el "sol" que se oscurecerá significa el Señor con respecto al amor, la "luna" el Señor con respecto a la fe, las "estrellas" los conocimientos del bien y de la verdad o sea del amor y de la fe la "señal del Hijo del Hombre en el cielo" la aparición de la Divina verdad; las "tribus de la tierra, " que lamentarán, todo cuanto pertenece a la verdad y al bien o sea a la fe y al amor; " la venida del Señor en las nubes del cielo con potencia y gloria, " Su presencia en el Verbo y la revelación; por "nubes" se significa el sentido literal del Verbo, y por "gloria" el sentido interior del Verbo; por "ángeles con trompeta y potente voz" se significa el cielo de donde procede la Divina verdad. Por esto es evidente que por aquellas palabras del Señor se entiende que al final de la iglesia, cuando ya no quede amor alguno y por ello tampoco fe alguna, abrirá el Señor Su Verbo con respecto a su sentido interior, y revelará los arcanos del cielo. Los arcanos que en lo siguiente serán revelados se refieren al cielo y al infierno así como a la vida del hombre después de la muerte. El hombre de la iglesia hoy día apenas sabe cosa alguna acerca del cielo y del infierno, ni de su vida después de la muerte, por más que todas estas cosas se hallan consignadas en el Verbo; hasta hay muchos, nacidos dentro de la iglesia, que las niegan, diciendo en su corazón: "¿Quién ha venido de allí y las ha contado?" Con el fin, pues, de que semejante negación, la cual reina principalmente entre aquellos que tienen mucho de la sabiduría del mundo, no contamine y corrompa también a los de sencillo corazón y de sencilla fe, me ha sido otorgado estar con los ángeles, y hablar con ellos como hombre con hombre y así como ver las cosas que hay en el cielo y también las que hay en el infierno, y esto por espacio de trece años, siéndome ahora permitido referirlas por oídas y vistas, esperando que así la ignorancia será iluminada y la incredulidad disipada. La razón por la cual tal inmediata revelación tiene lugar actualmente es que esta revelación es lo que se entiende por "la venida del Señor."

625. Over peoples, and nations, and tongues, and many kings.- That this signifies with all those who are in truths and goods as to life, and at the same time in goods and truths as to doctrine according to every one's religion, consequently that the Word may be taught as to goods of life and as to truths of doctrine, is evident from the signification of peoples and nations, as denoting those who are of the spiritual church, and those who are of the celestial church. Those who are of the spiritual church are called in the Word peoples, but those who are of the celestial church are called nations. Those who are of the spiritual church, and are called peoples, are in truths as to doctrine and life; and those who are of the celestial church, and are called nations, are in the good of love to the Lord, and thence in good as to life (concerning this signification of people and nations in the Word, see above, n. 175, 331); and from the signification of tongues, and many kings, as denoting those who are in goods and truths as to life and doctrine, but according to each one's religion. For tongues signify the goods of truth, and confession thereof according to each one's religion (see above, n. 330, 455); and kings signify truths which are from good, and many kings, various truths which are from good, but according to each one's religion (concerning this signification of kings, see above, n. 31, 553).

[2] Various truths from good are signified by "many kings," because the peoples and nations out of the church were for the most part in falsities as to doctrine, but still, because they lived a life of love to God and of charity towards the neighbour, the falsities of their religion were accepted by the Lord as truths, because the good of love was interiorly in their falsities, and the good of love qualifies all truth, and in such case qualifies the falsity that is believed by such to be truth; the good also, which lies concealed within, causes such, when they come into the other life, to perceive genuine truths, and receive them. Moreover there are truths that are only appearances of truth, such as are those contained in the sense of the letter of the Word; these appearances of truth are also accepted by the Lord as genuine truths when the good of love to the Lord, and the good of charity towards the neighbour are in them; in the other life also the good that lies hidden within dissipates appearances, and lays bare spiritual truths, that are genuine truths. From these things the meaning of "many kings" is evident. But concerning falsities with the Gentiles in which there is good, see the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 21).

[3] From what has been said and shown in this and the preceding article, it is plain, that the command to John that he must prophesy again over peoples, and nations, and tongues, and many kings, signifies that the Word must as yet be taught to those who are in goods and truths as to doctrine, and thence as to life. But because it is said, "over peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings," also these words signify, that the Word must be taught as to goods of life and as to truths of doctrine, for the Word in its whole extent contains these two.

[4] This is the sense of those words apart from persons, which is the truly spiritual sense. The sense of the letter in most places is concerned with persons, and it also names them, but the truly spiritual sense is entirely apart from persons. For the angels, who are in the spiritual sense of the Word, in everything which they think and speak, have no idea of person or place, because the idea of person and place limits and confines the thoughts, and consequently renders them natural. But it is different when the idea is abstracted from persons and places; and this is the reason why they have intelligence and wisdom, and why angelic intelligence and wisdom are inexpressible. For while man lives in the world, he is in natural thought; and natural thought derives its ideas from persons, places, and times, and from material things, and, if these were taken away from man, his thought which comes to perception would perish, for he comprehends nothing without such things. But angelic thought is without ideas derived from persons, places, times, and material things; for this reason angelic thought and speech therefrom are inexpressible, and are also incomprehensible to man.

[5] The man, however, who has in the world lived a life of love to the Lord and of charity towards his neighbour, comes into that inexpressible intelligence and wisdom after his departure out of the world; for his interior mind, which is the very mind of his spirit, is then opened, and the man, when he becomes an angel, then thinks and speaks from it, and therefore thinks and speaks such things as he could neither utter nor comprehend in the world. Every man possesses such a spiritual mind, which is like the angelic mind; but because, in the world, he speaks, sees, hears, and feels, by means of the material body, it lies hid within the natural mind, or lives above it, and he is then altogether ignorant of what he is thinking in the spiritual mind; for the thought of that mind then flows into the natural mind, and is there limited, bounded, and so presented as to be seen and perceived. A man does not know so long as he lives in the body in the world that he interiorly possesses such a mind, and therein angelic wisdom and intelligence, because, as stated, all things that concern that mind flow into the natural mind, and thus become natural according to correspondences. These things are said in order that the quality of the Word in the spiritual sense may be known, when that sense is regarded altogether apart from persons and places, that is apart from those things that take their quality from the material things pertaining to the body and the world.