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:

740. Called the devil and Satan.- That this signifies because they were interiorly in evils and in falsities from hell, is evident from the signification of the devil and Satan, as denoting hell as to evils and falsities, of which we shall speak presently. It means those who were interiorly in evils and falsities therefrom, because those who are here meant by the dragon, and are called the devil and Satan, are not outwardly, but interiorly such; for outwardly they talk like men of the church, and some like angels of heaven, about God, the Lord, faith in and love to Him, and about heaven and hell, and they gather many things from the Word by which they confirm their dogmas. Thus by means of these exterior things they are conjoined to heaven, and yet interiorly they are not influenced by them, much less delighted with them; but they are influenced by and delighted with bodily and worldly things only, and even regard heavenly things as respectively of no account. In a word, they love above all things bodily and worldly affairs, but heavenly things merely as subservient matters, so that the things which belong to the body and the world are made the head, and heavenly things the feet. They are such because they make no account of life, saying that faith alone saves, and not any good of life. Therefore they are devils and satans; for a man is such as he is interiorly, and not such as he is merely outwardly except when he speaks and acts outwardly from the interior. Moreover, a man continues to be such after death; for such as a man is interiorly, such also he is as to the spirit, and the spirit of man is affection, from which is the will and the life therefrom. From this it follows that those who make no account of life are interiorly devils and satans, and also become devils and satans when their life in the world is ended and they become spirits.

[2] The reason why they are called the devil and Satan is, that the devil and Satan signify hell, the devil signifying that hell from which evils come, and Satan that hell from which falsities come; the latter hell is called Satan, because all who are in it are called satans, and the former hell is called the devil because all who are in it are called devils. That there was no devil or Satan who before the creation of the world had been an angel of light, and was afterwards cast down with his crew into hell, is evident from what has been said in Heaven and Hell 311-316), under the head "Heaven and hell are from the human race."

[3] It must be understood that there are two kingdoms into which the heavens are divided, namely, the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom, as may be seen in Heaven and Hell 20-28). To these two kingdoms correspond oppositely the two kingdoms into which the hells are divided; to the celestial kingdom corresponds oppositely the infernal kingdom, which consists of devils, and is therefore called the devil; and to the spiritual kingdom corresponds oppositely the infernal kingdom, which consists of satans, and is therefore called Satan. And as the celestial kingdom consists of angels who are in love to the Lord, so the infernal kingdom corresponding oppositely to the celestial kingdom consists of devils, who are in the love of self, and therefore from that hell evils of every kind flow forth. And as the spiritual kingdom consists of angels who are in charity towards the neighbour, so the infernal kingdom, which corresponds oppositely to the spiritual kingdom, consists of satans, who are in falsities from the love of the world, and therefore from that hell falsities of every kind flow forth.

[4] From these things it is evident what the devil and Satan signify in the following passages in the Evangelists:

"Jesus was led into the wilderness, that he might be tempted of the devil" (Matthew 4:1 and following verses; Luke 4:1-13).

The signification of the wilderness, and of the Lord's temptations for forty days and forty nights, may be seen above (n. 730:41). He is said to have been tempted by the devil, to signify that He was tempted by the hells whence evils come, thus by the worst of the hells; for these were the hells that chiefly fought against the Lord's Divine Love, the love reigning in those hells being the love of self, and this love is the opposite of the Lord's love and thus of the love which is from the Lord.

[5] In Matthew:

"The tares are the sons of the evil; the enemy who soweth them is the devil" (13:38, 39).

Tares signify the falsities of doctrine, of religion and of worship, which are from evil, wherefore also they are called the sons of the evil [one]; and since evil produces them, it is said that it is the devil who soweth them.

[6] In Luke:

"Those upon the way are they that hear, then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their heart, that they may not believe and be saved" (8:12).

And in Mark:

"These are they upon the way, where the word is sown; and when they have heard, immediately Satan cometh and taketh away the word which hath been sown in their hearts" (4:15).

Respecting this the term devil is used in Luke, and Satan in Mark, for the reason that the seed which fell upon the way signifies truth from the Word, received in the memory only and not in the life, and as this is taken away both by evil and falsity, therefore both the devil and Satan are mentioned. And in Luke it is said "that the devil cometh and taketh away the word out of their heart, that they may not believe and be saved; while in Mark, "that Satan cometh and taketh away the word which hath been sown in their hearts."

[7] In Matthew:

"The king shall say to them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels" (25:41).

The term devil is here used because these words are said of those who did not do good works, and therefore did evil works. For those who do not do good works do evil works, and the works which they did not do are recounted in the preceding verses; for when goods are lightly esteemed, evils are loved.

[8] And the Lord called Judas Iscariot a devil (6:70); and it is said that "the devil put into his heart" (John 13:2); and that after he had taken the sop "Satan entered into him" (John 13:27; Luke 22:3). This is said because Judas Iscariot represented the Jews, who were in falsities from evil, therefore from evil he is called a devil, and from falsities Satan. It is therefore said that "the devil put into his heart," to put into the heart meaning into the love which is of the will. Also it is said that "after he had taken the sop Satan entered into him," to enter into him with the sop meaning to enter into the belly, and to enter into the belly signifies into the thought, and falsities from evil belong to the thought.

[9] In John:

Jesus said to the Jews, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father ye will do; he was a murderer from the beginning, and stood not in the truth, because the truth was not in him; when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh from his own (ex proprio)" (8:44).

The Jewish nation is here described as to what it had been from the beginning, namely, that it was in evil and in falsities therefrom. Their father the devil means evil from hell, in which their fathers were in Egypt and afterwards in the wilderness. That they wished to remain in the evils of their own desires is signified by "the desires of your father ye will do"; that they destroyed every truth of the understanding is signified by "he was a murderer from the beginning, and stood not in the truth, because the truth was not in him"; as man signifies the truth of intelligence, so a murderer signifies its destruction. Falsities from their evil are signified by When he speaketh a lie he speaketh from his own (ex proprio), his own signifying the evil of the will, and a lie the falsity therefrom.

[10] In Matthew:

The Pharisees said of Jesus, "He doth not cast out demons but by Beelzebub, the prince of the demons. Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, If Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand? If I in the spirit of God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come unto you" (12:24, 25, 26, 28).

Here the term satan, and not devil, is used because Beelzebub, who was the god of Ekron, means the god of all falsities, for Beelzebub, by derivation, means the lord of flies, and flies signify the falsities of the sensual man, thus falsities of every kind. This is why Beelzebub is called Satan; therefore the Lord also said, "If I in the spirit of God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come unto you," the spirit of God meaning Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord, and the kingdom of God, heaven and the church which is in Divine truths.

[11] In the Evangelists:

Peter rebuking Jesus for desiring to suffer, Jesus "turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me Satan, thou art a stumbling-block, because thou savourest not the things which are of God, but the things which are of men" (Matthew 16:22, 23; Mark 8:32, 33).

The Lord spoke these words to Peter, because in a representative sense Peter signified faith; and as faith is of truth, and also of falsity, as in the present case, therefore Peter is called Satan; for as already said, Satan denotes that hell from which falsities arise. Peter represented faith in both senses, namely, faith from charity, and faith without charity; and faith without charity is the faith of falsity. Those also who are in faith without charity find a stumbling-block in the Lord's suffering Himself to be crucified, therefore this is called a stumbling-block. As the passion of the cross was the Lord's last temptation, and the complete victory over all the hells, and also the full union of His Divine with the Divine Human, and as this is unknown to those who are in a faith of falsity, the Lord said, Thou savourest not the things which are of God, but the things which are of men.

[12] In Luke:

Jesus said to Simon, "Lo, Satan hath demanded you, that he may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not; when, therefore, thou hast turned again, strengthen thy brethren" (22:31, 32).

Here also Peter represents faith without charity, which faith is a faith of falsity, for this was said to him by the Lord, just before he denied Him thrice. Because he represented faith, therefore the Lord says, "I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not"; that he represented the faith of falsity is evident from the fact that the Lord said to him, "When therefore thou hast turned, strengthen thy brethren." As the faith of falsity is like chaff before the wind, therefore it is said that "Satan hath demanded them, that he may sift them as wheat," wheat denoting the good of charity separated from the chaff. It is therefore evident why the term satan is here used.

[13] In the same:

"I saw Satan as lightning falling from heaven" (10:18).

Here Satan has a similar signification to that of the dragon who was also seen in heaven, and was cast down out of heaven; but it is the dragon that is properly meant by the devil, while his angels are meant by Satan. That the angels of the dragon mean the falsities of evil will be seen in a subsequent paragraph. By Satan falling down from heaven, in the above passage, is signified that the Lord, by means of Divine Truth, which He then was, expelled all falsities out of heaven, and subjugated those hells which are called Satan; and this has a similar meaning to that of Michael casting down the dragon and his angels, concerning which see above (n. 737).

[14] In Job:

"There was a day when the sons of God came to stand near Jehovah, and Satan came in the midst of them. And Jehovah said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? And Satan answered Jehovah, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking through it. And Jehovah gave into the hand of Satan all things belonging to Job, but he was not to put forth his hand upon him; although afterwards he might touch his bone and his flesh" (1:6-12; chap. 2:1-7).

That this is composed in the form of history is evident from many things in this book. The book of Job is a book of the Ancient Church, full of correspondences, according to the mode of writing at that time, and yet it is a book of great excellence and use. Angels at that time were called the sons of God, because the sons of God, the same as the angels, mean Divine truths, while Satan means infernal falsities. And as the hells tempt man by means of falsities, as Job was afterwards tempted, and as infernal falsities are dispersed by Divine Truths, therefore it is said that Satan stood in the midst of the sons of God. What the rest signifies will not be explained here, since those things must examined in their connection.

[15] In David:

"They lay upon me evil for good, and hatred for my love; set thou a wicked one over him, and let Satan stand at his right hand" (Psalm 109:5, 6).

This, like most things in the Psalms of David, is a prophecy concerning the Lord and His temptations; and He, above all, endured the most terrible temptations. And as the Lord, in His temptations, fought from Divine Love against the hells, and these were most hostile to Him, it is said, "They lay upon me evil for good, and hatred for my love"; and as infernal evil and falsity prevail in the hells, it is said, "Set thou a wicked one over him, and let Satan stand at his right hand," to stand at the right hand signifying to be completely beset, while Satan signifies infernal falsity with which he was beset.

[16] In Zechariah:

"Afterwards he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Jehovah, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary; and Jehovah said unto Satan, Jehovah rebuke thee, he who chooseth Jerusalem; is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? And Joshua was clothed in filthy garments, and thus stood before the angel" (3:1-3).

What these words involve can be seen only from the things which in their connection precede and follow; and it is evident that here the manner in which the Word was falsified was represented. Joshua, the high priest, here signifies the law or the Word, and falsification of it is signified by his standing before the angel in filthy garments. It is therefore plain that Satan there means falsity of doctrine from the falsified Word; and as this began to prevail at that time, it appeared to Zechariah that Satan stood at his right hand, to stand at the right hand signifying to fight against Divine Truth. Since only the sense of the letter of the Word can be falsified, because those truths are only apparently truths, and since those who interpret the Word according to the letter can with difficulty be convinced of falsities, therefore Jehovah said, "Jehovah rebuke thee," as above (n. 735), where it is explained what is signified by the words "Michael disputed with the devil about the body of Moses, and said to the devil, The Lord rebuke thee" (Jude, verse 9). Because truth of doctrine from the Word which has been falsified is here meant, it is said, Jehovah who chooseth Jerusalem; is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" Jerusalem signifying the doctrine of the church, and a brand plucked out of the fire signifying that there was but little of truth remaining.

[17] In these passages in the Old Testament, Satan only is mentioned, and nowhere the devil, but instead of the latter the terms foe, enemy, hater, adversary, accuser, demon, also death and hell, are made use of. From these things it is evident that the devil signifies the hell whence evils arise, and Satan the hell which is the source of falsities; as also in the following passage in the Apocalypse:

"Afterwards I saw an angel coming down out of heaven having the key of the abyss, and a great chain upon his hand, and he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are consummated, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison," and shall seduce the nations; "and the devil who seduced them was cast into a lake of fire and sulphur" (20:1, 2, 7, 8, 10).

But what demons, demoniacs, and spirits of demons signify may be seen above (n. 586).