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.

9836. 'Two shoulders joined together shall it have at its two ends, and it shall be joined together' means an everlasting preservation of good and truth on every side by all exertion and power through a total uniting together. This is clear from the meaning of 'shoulders' as all the force and power, dealt with in 1085, 4931-4937, though the expressions 'placing on the shoulders' and 'carrying on them', used below in reference to the two shoham stones on which the names of the sons of Israel were engraved, mean an everlasting preservation of good and truth (for all forms of good and truths in their entirety are meant by 'the names of the sons of Israel', a subject dealt with further on); from the meaning of 'joined together' as a total uniting; and from the meaning of 'the two ends', or to the right and to the left, as on every side, dealt with in 8613.

[2] The implications of all this are that the ephod, as has been shown above, represented the outermost part of the Lord's spiritual kingdom. Thus the shoulder-pieces, on which the two shoham stones with the names of the sons of Israel had been placed, represented the everlasting preservation of good and truth; and the joining together of the ephod on the shoulders, and also in front of the breast and behind the back, represented a total uniting. This helps to make clear what is meant by the details stated further on regarding the shoulder-pieces and the engravings on them, namely the everlasting preservation of the good and truth present by all exertion and power, thus the preservation of the heavens. The stones with the names of the sons of Israel had been placed on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, which represented the outermost part of the spiritual kingdom, because all preservation is dependent on the condition of what exists on last and lowest levels. For everything within terminates and forms a base for itself there on which to rest and remain in existence. Things on last and lowest levels resemble the soles and the upper parts of the feet on which the entire body stands; they are also like the hands and arms through which the body exercises its powers. Furthermore the strength of the body is concentrated there. This also explains why the hands and arms, the soles and feet too, correspond to the last and lowest parts of heaven. The fact that power and might reside in things which are last and lowest was represented in the Ancient Church by Nazirites and the hair on their head, in which their might resided, as is evident from Samson in Judges 14-16, and also their holiness, 3301. Regarding the hair, which on those men's heads was their Naziriteship, that it corresponds to the lowest levels of good and truth, or good and truth on lowest levels, see 3301, 5247, 6437.

[3] The residing of power in last and lowest things, and also the preservation in these of more internal ones in their proper condition, are matters which may be understood by people who know what the situation is with things in the natural order which follow one another in sequence and consequently exist together with one another. Things which follow in sequence finally come together on the last and lowest level, where they exist side-by-side in the same order. This being so, the things existing together with one another, which are last and lowest, serve those following one another in sequence, which are prior and higher, as corresponding supports on which they rest and are thereby preserved.

[4] 'The shoulders' means all the force and power exerted in offering resistance, breaking, or impelling. This is clear in Ezekiel,

You push with side and shoulder, and butt with your horns all the weak sheep, until you have scattered them abroad. Ezekiel 34:21.

In the same prophet,

Egypt has been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. When they took hold of you by the hand, you were broken, and you tore open their whole shoulder. ¹ Ezekiel 29:6-7.

'Tearing open the whole shoulder' stands for depriving of all the power to grasp truths, 'Egypt' being the perverted factual knowledge which causes such deprivation.

[5] In Zechariah,

They refused to listen, and turned ² a stubborn shoulder. Zechariah 7:11.

'Turning a stubborn shoulder' stands for offering resistance. In David,

They thought a wicked deed, [but] they did not prevail; for You will set a shoulder against them. Psalms 21:11-12.

'Setting a shoulder against them' too stands for offering resistance, and so stands for power. The fact that 'shoulder' means power is evident from representatives in the next life, where those who offer resistance are seen setting an opposing shoulder.

[6] Placing onto the shoulders and carrying on them means preserving everlastingly in a state of good and truth through all exertion and power. This is clear in Isaiah,

The nations will bring your sons in their bosom, and carry your daughters on their shoulder. Isaiah 49:22.

This refers to a new Church. 'Sons' means truths, and 'daughters' forms of good; and 'carrying on the shoulder' stands for preserving them. The preservation of good in its proper condition was also represented by the action of the children of Israel, who carried their dough on their shoulder when they were going out of Egypt, Exodus 12:34; and by that of the sons of Kohath, who carried holy things ³ on their shoulder, Numbers 7:9. This explains why the Lord, who spoke by means of correspondences, said that when the lost sheep was found the owner placed it on his shoulder, rejoicing, Luke 15:5. 'The sheep that was lost and found' is good as it resides with someone who comes to his senses.

[7] Since 'carrying on the shoulder' had this meaning it is also said of those who love and preserve gold and silver that they carry them on their shoulder, Isaiah 46:7. Carrying also means holding something in its proper state or condition, see 9500. All this shows what was meant by the engraving of the names of the sons of Israel on the two shoham stones and the placement of them on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, and by the injunction that 'Aaron shall bear (or carry) them on his two shoulders for a remembrance', verse 12. 'Carrying on the shoulder', when it has reference to subjection, means servitude, see Genesis 49:15; Psalms 81:6; Isaiah 9:4; 10:27; Matthew 23:4; Zephaniah 3:9. But when it has reference to dominion it means supreme power, Isaiah 9:6; 22:22.

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