377. Verses 7-8. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth animal saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a pale horse; and he that sat upon him his name was Death, and hell followed with him. And there was given unto them power over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with famine, and with death, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

7. "And when he had opened the fourth seal," signifies prediction still further manifested (n. 378); "I heard the voice of the fourth animal saying," signifies out of the inmost heaven from the Lord. n. 379); "Come and see," signifies attention and perception (n. 380).

8. "And I saw, and behold a pale horse," signifies the understanding of the Word then become nought in consequence of evils of life and then of falsities therefrom n. 381; "and he that sat upon him," signifies the Word (n. 382); "his name was Death, and hell followed with him," signifies eternal damnation (n. 383); "and there was given unto them power over the fourth part of the earth, to kill," signifies the loss of every good and thence of every truth from the Word, and in consequence, in the doctrine of their church from the Word n. 384; "with sword," signifies by falsity (n. 385); "and with famine," signifies by the loss, lack, and ignorance of the knowledges of truth and good (n. 386); "and with death," signifies the consequent extinction of spiritual life (n. 387); "and by the wild beasts of the earth," signifies the evils of life or lusts and falsities therefrom springing from the love of self and of the world, which devastate all things of the church with man n. 388.

228. These things saith the Amen, the faithful and the Witness, signifies from whom is every truth and everything of faith. This is evident from the signification of "amen," as being verity or truth (of which presently); also from the signification of "the faithful and true Witness," as being, in reference to the Lord, everything of faith from Him; "for witness," in reference to the Lord signifies Divine truth which is from Him, and therefore everything of faith, for faith is of truth and truth is of faith. Divine truth proceeding from the Lord is called "a witness," because it is His Divine in heaven and in the church in which He is, and which is Himself there; for this proceeds from His Divine Human and fills the whole heaven and forms and makes it; and from this it is that heaven in the whole complex resembles one man. Because Divine truth is from that source and is such, it is called "a witness;" for it bears witness respecting the Lord's Divine Human, and makes it clear with all who receive the Divine truth from Him. From this it is that the angels of the higher heavens do not and cannot perceive any other Divine than the Lord's Divine Human, and this from the influx of the whole heaven into their minds. From this it can be seen why, in reference to the Lord, "witness" signifies the Lord in respect to Divine truth in heaven and in the church; and why "to bear witness," in reference to those who receive Divine truth from the Lord, signifies to acknowledge in heart the Lord's Divine in His Human (See above, n. 27). That heaven as a whole and in every part resembles one man, and that this is from the Lord's Divine Human, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 59-86, seq., 101; and that the Divine that proceeds from the Lord, which forms heaven, and forms angels into the image of heaven, is Divine truth, n. 13, 133, 139-140).

[2] This Divine truth is called by the Lord "the Comforter, the Spirit of truth," about which it is said that it should "bear Witness of Him," and that it is "from Him;" that it bears witness of Him, in John :

When the Comforter is come, the Spirit of truth, He shall bear witness of Me (John 15:26).

And that it is from Him, in the same:

The Comforter, the Spirit of truth, shall guide you into all the truth; for He shall not speak from Himself, but whatsoever things He shall hear, He shall speak. He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall declare it unto you. All things whatsoever the Father hath are Mine; therefore said I, He shall take of Mine and shall declare it unto you (John 16:13-15).

That Divine truth is from the Lord, is meant by "He shall not speak from Himself, but He shall take of Mine, and shall declare it unto you;" and that Divine truth is from the Lord's Divine Human is meant by "All things whatsoever the Father hath are Mine, therefore said I that He shall take of Mine, and shall declare it unto you;" and that Divine truth manifests the Lord's Divine Human is meant by "He shall glorify Me;" "to glorify" is to make known the Lord's Divine Human. (That "to glorify," in reference to the Lord means this, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 294.)

[3] The like is signified by these words of the Lord:

I tell you the truth; it is expedient that I go away; if I go, I will send the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, unto you (John 16:7, 8).

From this it is clear that Divine truth is from the Lord's Divine Human. The Lord calls Himself the "Amen," because "amen" signifies verity, thus the Lord Himself, because when He was in the world He was Divine verity itself, or Divine truth itself. It was for this reason that He so often said "Amen," and "amen, amen [verily, verily]" (as in Matthew 5:18, 26; 6:16; 10:23, 42; 17:20; 18:3, 13, 18; 24:2, 28:20; John 1:51; 3:11; 5:19, 24, 25; 6:26, 32, 47, 53; 8:34, 51, 58; 10:1, 7; 12:24; 13:16, 20, 21; 21:18, 25).

[4] That the Lord was Divine truth itself when He was in the world, He teaches in John:

I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

In the same:

For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth (John 17:19).

That "holy" in the Word is predicated of Divine truth, and "to be sanctified [made holy]" is predicated of those who receive Divine truth, see above n. 204; therefore the Lord's sanctifying Himself [making Himself holy], is making His Human to be Divine. (But on these things more may be seen shown in the Arcana Coelestia, in the quotations therefrom inThe Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 303-306.) Moreover, that "Amen" signifies Divine confirmation, see above (n. 34); as also in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 27:15-26; 1 Kings 1:36; Isaiah 65:16; Jeremiah 11:5; 28:6; Psalms 41:13; 72:19; 89:52; 106:48).