542. Verses 3-12. And out of the smoke came forth locusts [upon the earth]; and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was said to them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but those men only which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should torment them five months; and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when it striketh a man. And in those days men shall seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. And the likenesses of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for war; and on their heads as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the voice of their wings was as the voice of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails; and their power was to hurt men five months. And they had a king over them, the angel of the abyss, his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he hath the name Apollyon. One woe is past; behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

"And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth," signifies, that from infernal falsities they became corporeal sensual in the church; "and unto them was given power as the scorpions of the earth have power," signifies their persuasiveness, and its effect and power. "And it was said to them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree," signifies, that they should not hurt any true and living scientific from the sense of the letter of the Word, nor any cognitions of truth and good therein; "but those men only which have not the seal of God in their foreheads," signifies, but only the understanding of truth and perception of good with those who are not in truths from good from the Lord. "And to them it was given that they should not kill them," signifies, that they should not be deprived of the faculty of understanding truth and perceiving good; "but that they should torment them five months," signifies, that by the falsities of evil the understanding should be darkened and drawn away from seeing the truth so long as they are in that state; "and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when it striketh a man," signifies that the darkening and hindering from seeing the truth is from the persuasion with which the mind is infatuated. "And in those days men shall seek death, and shall not find it," signifies, that in such case they desire to destroy the power to understand truth, but that still they cannot; "and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them," signifies that they desire to destroy the power to perceive good, which belongs to spiritual life, but in vain. "And the likenesses of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for war," signifies that man having become sensual reasons as though from understanding of truth; "and on their heads as it were crowns like gold," signifies that they seem to themselves, when they reason, to be wise and victorious; "and their faces were as the faces of men," signifies that they seem to themselves to be spiritual affections for truth. "And they had hair as the hair of women," signifies that they also seem to themselves to be natural affections for truth; "and their teeth were, as the teeth of lions," signifies that sensual things, which are the ultimates of the intellectual life, are to them apparently powerful over all things. "And they had breast-plates as it were breast-plates of iron," signifies the persuasions with which they gird themselves for combats, against which the truths of the spiritual rational man do not prevail; "and the voice of their wings was as the voice of chariots of many horses running to battle," signifies reasonings as though from truths of doctrine understood from the Word, for which they must zealously fight. "And they had tails like unto scorpions," signifies sensual scientifics which are persuasive; "and there were stings in their tails," signifies the craftiness of deceiving by means of them; "and their power was to hurt men five months," signifies that they would induce stupor as to the understanding of truth, and the perception of good, so long as they are in that state. "And they had a king over them, the angel of the abyss," signifies that they received influx from the hell where are those who are in the falsities of evil and are purely sensual; "whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he hath the name Apollyon," signifies its quality, which is destructive of all truth and good. "One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter," signifies one lamentation over the devastation of the church, and that lamentation over its further devastation follows.

9216. 'In which he may sleep' means resting on them. This is clear from the meaning of 'sleeping' as resting, in this instance on the external and sensory level, meant by 'clothing', 9212; for it says that it is clothing 'in which he may sleep'. How the explanation that more internal things find rest on the sensory level should be understood must be stated. The sensory level is the last and lowest of a person's life, as has been shown above. What is lowest contains all the more internal levels and is general to them all; for they terminate in it and accordingly rest on it. It is like the skin, for example, which is the outermost covering of the body. The body and all things in it terminate in the skin, because it contains them and they accordingly rest on the skin. In a similar way it is like the peritoneum within the body. Because it contains the abdominal organs, these rest on it and are also linked to it all round. Or equally it is like the pleura's relationship to the organs in the chest.

[2] A similar situation exists with all the things that compose a person's actual life, with those for instance that are connected with his understanding and those that are connected with his will. These too follow one another in order from more internal things to relatively external ones. The relatively external ones are factual knowledge together with its delights, while the outermost things are those of the senses, which are in contact with the world through sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. The more internal things rest on them since they terminate in them. These are the matters that are meant in the spiritual sense by 'the covering' or 'the clothing in which he may sleep'. The reason why things on the level of the senses are meant by 'the clothing' or 'the covering' lies in correspondences; for as stated above in 9212, spirits and angels appear dressed in garments in keeping with their truths of faith. Those governed by truths springing from good appear in shining ones, as for instance those at the Lord's tomb did, Luke 24:4; Matthew 28:3, and also in ones of fine, white linen, as for instance those referred to in Revelation 19:14 did; and others appear in garments of various colours.

[3] Furthermore it should be realized that all things without exception proceed in successive stages from their first or inmost level to their terminations on the last and lowest and rest on them. Each thing at a prior or more internal stage in order has its own connection with terminations on the lowest level. Therefore if things on the lowest level are dispelled those on interior levels are also scattered. This also explains why there are three heavens. The inmost or third heaven flows into the middle or second heaven; the middle or second heaven flows into the first or lowest heaven, which in turn flows into and resides with mankind. Consequently the human race constitutes the lowest level of order; in it heaven terminates and on it heaven rests. This being so, the Lord in His Divine [Love and Care] always provides for the presence among the human race of a Church in which truth revealed by God exists; such truth on our planet is the Word. By means of this a continuous link exists between the human race and the heavens. This is why every detail of the Word has within it an internal sense which exists for heaven's benefit and whose nature is such that it joins angels' minds to those of people on earth in so firm a bond that they act as one. All this goes to show yet again the nature of a situation in which interior things rest on those at the lowest level.