1. Prefazione dell’Autore

Il Signore parlando ai suoi discepoli della fine dei tempi, cioè nell’ultimo periodo della chiesa, ¹ dice, all’avvicinarsi della predetta fine, in merito al successivo stato di amore e fede: ²

Subito dopo l’afflizione di quei giorni il sole si oscurerà e la luna non darà il suo splendore, e le stelle cadranno dal cielo, e le potenze dei cieli saranno scosse. Ed allora apparirà nel cielo il segno del Figlio dell’uomo; ed allora tutte le tribù della terra faranno cordoglio, e vedranno il Figliuolo dell’uomo venire sulle nuvole del cielo con gran potenza e gloria. E manderà i suoi angeli con gran suono di tromba a radunare i suoi eletti dai quattro venti, da un capo all’altro dei cieli. (Matteo 24:29-31)

Coloro che si soffermano sul mero significato letterale di queste parole, hanno la convinzione che alla fine dei tempi, quando vi sarà il giudizio universale, tutte queste cose avranno luogo, così come sono descritte nel senso letterale, cioè che il sole e la luna si oscureranno e le stelle cadranno dal cielo, e che il segno del Signore apparirà nel cielo, ed egli stesso sarà visto sulle nubi, con gli angeli e con le trombe al seguito; inoltre è predetto in altri passi che l’intero universo sarà distrutto, e poi sorgerà un nuovo cielo e una nuova terra. Tale è la convinzione della maggior parte degli uomini nella chiesa, nel presente. Ma coloro che sono in questa fede ignorano i segreti che sono nascosti in ogni minimo dettaglio della Parola; in realtà in ogni singolo vocabolo della Parola vi è un significato interiore che concerne le cose spirituali e celesti anziché le cose naturali e mondane, così come appaiono nel senso letterale. E questo è vero non solo per il significato di gruppi di parole, ma per ciascuna parola. ³ Perché la Parola è scritta esclusivamente per corrispondenze ⁴ , affinché vi possa essere un significato interiore in ogni singolo particolare di essa. Quale sia questo significato lo si può vedere da tutto ciò che è stato scritto al riguardo in Arcana Coelestia [pubblicato nel 1749-1756]; e dalle citazioni attinte da quell’opera, nell’illustrazione del Cavallo Bianco [dell’Apocalisse, pubblicato nel 1758] cui si fa riferimento nell’Apocalisse.

È in conformità di quel significato spirituale, che deve essere inteso l’avvento del Signore dal cielo, sulle nuvole, di cui al passo sopra citato. Ivi il sole che si oscura significa il Signore quanto all’amore; ⁵ la “luna” si riferisce alla fede; ⁶ le stelle indicano la conoscenza del bene e della verità, o dell’amore e della fede; ⁷ il “segno del Figlio dell’uomo nel cielo” indica la manifestazione della Divina verità; le “tribù della terra” significano tutte le cose concernenti la verità ed il bene, o la fede e l’amore; ⁸ “l’avvento del Signore sulle nuvole del cielo, in gloria e potenza,” significa la sua presenza nella Parola e la sua rivelazione; ⁹ le “nuvole” significano il senso letterale della Parola, ¹⁰ e la “gloria” il senso interiore della Parola; ¹¹ gli “angeli con gran suono di tromba” indicano il cielo quale sorgente della Divina verità. ¹² Tutto questo chiarisce cosa deve intendersi con queste parole del Signore, vale a dire che alla fine della chiesa, quando non vi sarà più alcun amore, e quindi alcuna fede, il Signore svelerà il significato interiore della Parola e rivelerà i segreti del cielo. I segreti rivelati nelle seguenti pagine riguardano il cielo e l’inferno, nonché la vita dell’uomo dopo la morte. L’uomo della chiesa attualmente ha una scarsa conoscenza del cielo e dell’inferno, o della sua vita dopo la morte, sebbene questi argomenti siano contemplati e descritti nella Parola; ciò nondimeno molti di quelli nati in seno alla chiesa, negano queste cose, dicendo nel loro intimo, “Chi mai è venuto da quel mondo e ha confermato queste cose?” Per evitare che questo atteggiamento negazionista, invalso specialmente presso quelli pervasi dalla saggezza mondana, possa contaminare e traviare le persone semplici nel cuore e nella fede, mi è stato concesso di essere associato agli angeli e di parlare con loro, come tra uomo e uomo, e anche di vedere come sono i cieli e gli inferni, e questo da tredici anni, ormai; quindi, adesso posso descrivere ciò che ho visto è udito, nell’auspicio che l’ignoranza possa essere illuminata, e l’incredulità, dissipata. Le presenti rivelazioni sono estese ora perché questo deve intendersi per la venuta del Signore.

Footnotes:

193.I will come on thee as a thief. That this signifies an unexpected time of death, when all knowledges procured from the Word which have not acquired spiritual life will be taken away, is evident from the signification of I will come as a thief, when it is said of those who are not wakeful, that is, who do not procure for themselves spiritual life, as being that all such knowledges will be taken away from them. The reason why an unexpected time of death is also signified by the same words is, that death comes unexpectedly, and yet man, after death, remains in that state of life to eternity which he had procured for himself in the world; therefore he must be wakeful. Because it is known but to few, that all knowledges (cognitiones) procured from the Word which have not acquired spiritual life are taken away, it is therefore expedient to say how this is effected. All the things that are in a man's spirit remain with him to eternity; but the things that are not there, after death, when he becomes a spirit, are dissipated. Those things remain in his spirit which he had thought from himself, consequently which, when he was alone, he had thought from his own love; for then his spirit thinks from itself, and not from the things in his bodily memory which do not make one with his love.

There are two states of man, one when he thinks from his spirit, and the other when he thinks from his bodily memory; if these two states do not make one, a man can think one thing with himself, and think and speak another thing with others.

[2] For example, a preacher who loves himself and the world above all things, and lightly esteems the Divine, so that he even denies it in heart, and consequently devises evils of every kind with the crafty and deceitful of the world, nevertheless, when he speaks with others, especially when he is preaching, can speak as it were from zeal for the Divine and for Divine truths, and indeed on such occasions he can think in like manner; but this is a state of his thought from the bodily memory, which is evidently separated from the state of his thought from the spirit; for when he is left alone he thinks against them. This is the state which remains with man after death, whereas the former does not remain, because it belongs to his body and not to his spirit. Wherefore, when he becomes a spirit, as is the case when he dies, all the knowledge, which he had acquired from the Word, and which do not agree with the life of the love of his spirit, he rejects; but the case is different with those who, when left to themselves, think justly concerning the Divine, concerning the Word and the truths of the church therefrom, and love them, so as to desire to live according to them. The thoughts in the spirit of such persons make one with their thoughts from the bodily memory, thus one with the knowledges of truth and good which they have obtained from the Word; and so far as they do so, so far those knowledges obtain spiritual life; for they are raised up by the Lord from the external or natural man into the internal or spiritual man, and constitute the life of the latter, that is, of the understanding and will. The truths in the internal man are those which live, because they are Divine, and hence man has life in his internal from them. That this is the case, I have known from much experience; if I were to adduce the whole of it, it would fill many pages (something concerning it may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 491-498, 499-511; and above, n. 114).

[3] From these considerations it is now evident what is meant in the spiritual sense by I will come on thee as a thief, namely, that after death all knowledges procured from the Word which have not acquired spiritual life will be taken away. The same is also meant in the Apocalypse, where it is said,

"Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked" (16:15).

It is said as a thief, because evils and the falsities thence derived in the natural man take away and cast out the knowledges of truth and good which are therein from the Word; for the things which are not loved are cast out. There is in every man either the love of evil, and thence of falsity, or the love of good, and thence of truth; these two loves are opposed to each other, wherefore he who is in the one cannot be in the other;

"For no one can serve two masters," but will love the one and hate the other (Matthew 6:24).

[4] Because evils and falsities thence penetrate from the interior, and, as it were, break through the wall which is between the state of man's thought from the spirit and the state of his thought from the body, and cast out the knowledges of good and truth which have their abode outwardly in man, therefore those evils and falsities are what are meant by thieves. So also in the following passages. In Matthew:

"Lay not up treasures upon earth, but in heaven, where thieves do not break through nor steal" (6:19, 20).

Treasures are knowledges of truth and good; to lay them up in heaven is in the spiritual man, for the spiritual man is in heaven. (That treasures signify knowledges of truth and good, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 1694, 4508, 10227; and that the internal spiritual man is in heaven, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 36-50.)

[5] Again:

"Be wakeful, therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord will come. Know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up" (24:42, 43).

By this is meant, that if a man knew the hour of his death, he would prepare himself, not indeed from the love of truth and good, but from the fear of hell; and whatever a man does from fear remains not with him, but what he does from love remains; therefore he must prepare himself continually (see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 143, 168).

[6] In Obadiah:

"If thieves come to thee, if destroyers by night, how wilt thou be cut off, will they not steal till they have enough?" (verse 5).

Here also falsities and evils are called thieves, and are said to steal; falsities are signified by thieves, and evils by destroyers by night; it is said by night, because night signifies a state in which there is neither love nor faith.

[7] In Joel:

"They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up into the houses, they shall enter in at the windows like a thief" (2:9).

The subject here treated of is the vastation of the church by falsities from evil; a city and a wall signify things of doctrine; houses and windows, things of the mind that receives; houses, that part of the mind which is called the will, where good is, and windows that part of the mind which is called the understanding, where truth is. (That city in the Word signifies doctrine, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 402, 2449, 2712, 2943, 3216, 4492, 4493; that wall denotes the truth of doctrine protecting, n. 6419; that house denotes that part of the mind which is called the will, where good is, n. 2231, 2233, 2559, 3128, 5023, 6690, 7353, 7910, 7929, 9150; and that windows denote that part of the mind which is called the understanding, where truth is, n. 655, 658, 3391.) Hence it is evident what is signified by running on the wall, climbing up into the houses, and entering in at the windows like a thief.

[8] In Hosea:

"I healed Israel; then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the evils of Samaria; for they commit falsehood, and the thief cometh in, and the troop spreadeth itself without" (7:1).

The iniquity of Ephraim signifies the falsities of the understanding; and the wickedness of Samaria, the evils of the will; to commit falsehood, is to think and will falsity from evil; the thief signifies falsity taking away and dissipating truth; and the troop spreading itself without signifies evil casting out good. (That Ephraim is the understanding of such things as pertain to the church, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 3969, 5354, 6222, 6234, 6238, 6267, 6296; that a lie denotes falsity from evil, n. 8908, 9248; that a troop denotes good casting out evil, and, in the opposite sense, evil casting out good, n. 3934, 3935, 6404, 6405.)

[9] These things are adduced, in order that it may be known that a thief in the Word signifies falsity laying waste, that is, taking away and destroying truth. It was shown above that after death all knowledges of truth and good from the Word, which have not been used to acquire spiritual life, are taken away, consequently from those who have not become spiritual by knowledges from the Word. The same thing is also signified by many passages in the historical parts of the Word; still no one can see this, unless he is acquainted with the spiritual sense of the Word. This is signified by the sons of Israel borrowing from the Egyptians vessels of gold, and vessels of silver, and garments, and thus taking them away as it were by theft; concerning which it is thus written in Moses:

They were commanded to borrow "of the Egyptians vessels of gold, and vessels of silver, and raiment. And Jehovah gave the people favour in the eyes of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them; and thus they spoiled the Egyptians" (Exodus 12:35, 36).

By the Egyptians are represented those who are merely natural, although they possess many knowledges (cognitiones); by the sons of Israel those who are spiritual; by vessels of silver and of gold, and also by raiment, are signified the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth and good which those who are spiritual apply to good, but which the natural apply to evil and thus destroy.

Similar things are signified by the nations being given up to the curse, and at the same time all things pertaining to them being either burnt with fire or pulled down, which are frequently treated of in the book of Joshua, and in the books of Samuel and of the Kings; for the nations of the land of Canaan represented those who are in evils and falsities, and the sons of Israel those who are in truths and goods.

[10] That the knowledges of good and truth derived from the Word are to be taken away from those who have not procured for themselves spiritual life, is also meant in the Lord's parables concerning the talents and pounds, given to the servants, with which to trade and make gain, and concerning the servant who traded not and gained nothing; of this one it is thus said:

To him who hid his talent in the earth, the lord said, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him that hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not shall be taken away that which he hath, and cast the useless servant into outer darkness (Matthew 25:14-30).

And in another place:

He came who had received one pound saying, "Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin." The Lord said, "Wherefore then gavest thou not my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury? And he said, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. I say unto you, That unto every one that hath shall be given; but from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him" (Luke 19:13-26).

In these passages, talents, pounds, and money signify knowledges of truth and good from the Word. To trade with these, to gain by them, to give them to the exchangers, or into the bank, signifies, to procure to themselves spiritual life and intelligence by them; putting them away in the earth, and in a napkin, signifies that they are only in the memory of the natural man; of these it is therefore said that what they have shall be taken away from them, according to what has been explained in the beginning of this article.

[11] This is the case with all in the other life who have procured to themselves knowledges from the Word, and have not committed them to life, but only to memory. Those who have knowledges from the Word in the memory only, however numerous such knowledges may be, and have not committed them to life, remain still natural as before. To commit to life knowledges from the Word is to think from them when man, left to himself, thinks from his spirit, and to will them and do them; for this is to love truths because they are truths; and those who thus act, are those who become spiritual by means of knowledges from the Word.