439. And there were stings in their tails, and their power was to hurt men five months. This symbolizes their clever falsifications of the Word, by which for a short time they darkened and enchanted the intellect, and so deceived and captivated it.

Stings in the tails symbolize clever falsifications of the Word - stings symbolizing cunning and guile, and tails the Word's truths falsified (no. 438). Their power to hurt means, symbolically, that they could induce a mental numbness, or in other words, that they could darken and enchant the intellect and so deceive and captivate it. For their tails were like scorpions, and scorpions have this symbolism (no. 425). Five months means, symbolically, for a short time, as in no. 427 above.

Such is the case when people like this take some things from the Word and apply them. For the Word was written in terms of things that correspond, and the correspondent expressions are partly apparent truths, which conceal genuine truths within them. If these genuine truths are unknown in the church, it is possible for people to take from the Word many things which at first appear to support heresy. But when genuine truths are known in the church, then the apparent truths are laid bare, and the genuine truths come into view. Before this comes about, however, a heretic may use various things from the Word to draw a veil over the intellect and enchant it, and so to deceive and captivate it.

This is what those people do who assert that a person's sins are forgiven him so that he is justified, by an act of faith of which no one is at all aware, and this in a moment - if not before, then in the last hour of dying. This also can be illustrated by examples, but here is not the place for it.

Stings symbolize falsities arising from evil and doing harm also in Amos:

Behold, the days shall come upon you when they will take you away with stings... (Amos 4:2)

And in the book of Numbers, that the people should drive out the inhabitants of the land, lest they be thorns in their eyes and stings in their sides (Numbers 33:55).

Thorns, briers, nettles, and thistles also symbolize falsities accompanying evil because of their stings.