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.

2540. That 'in the morning Abimelech rose up early' means a clear perception and confirmatory light flowing from celestial good is clear from the meaning of 'rising in the morning', also of 'Abimelech', as well as of 'early'. What 'the morning' means has been shown in 2333, 2405. From these meanings - and also from the whole train of thought, which is that at first the Lord's perception was obscure, 2513, 2514, and after that less obscure, 2528 - it is evident that here a clear perception is meant. As for 'Abimelech' - that he means the doctrine of faith which has regard to rational things - see above 2509, 2510. And what 'in the early morning' means is evident from the meaning of 'the morning'. Here, since it is said that 'he rose up in the morning - in the early morning', not only a clear perception is meant but also confirmatory light flowing from celestial good; for celestial good is the source from which the confirmatory light of truth is derived. These considerations now show that such things are meant.

[2] The reason why the perception which the Lord had when He was in the Human, and why His thought concerning that which was rational with the doctrine of faith, are dealt with so extensively in the internal sense is that stated above. A further reason is that it is angel-like to think in a distinct manner about the various aspects of the Lord's life in the world, and about how He cast off the human rational and by His own power made it Divine, and at the same time to think about the nature of the doctrine of charity and faith when the rational mixes with it, besides many more things dependent on these, which are interior features of the Church and of man. To anyone whose heart and mind are set on worldly and bodily interests, such matters seem of little importance, and perhaps of no advantage to him; whereas to angels whose hearts and minds are set on celestial and spiritual interests, those same matters are precious. Their ideas and perceptions regarding them are beyond description. From this it is evident that very many matters which to man are of little importance because they are above and beyond his grasp of things are to angels of the highest worth since those matters come within the light of their wisdom; and conversely, the matters of highest worth to man, because they are worldly and so come within his grasp of things, are to angels of little importance since those matters go on away from the light of angels' wisdom. This difference between angels and men with regard to the internal sense of the Word occurs in many places.