879. Verses 10-11 And he waited yet another seven days, and then proceeded to send out the dove from the ark. And the dove came back to him at evening time; and behold, in its mouth an olive leaf plucked off. And Noah knew that the waters had abated from over the earth.

'He waited yet another seven days' means the beginning of the second state of regeneration, 'seven days' meaning that which is holy, because now charity is the subject. 'And he proceeded to send out the dove from the ark' means a state of receiving the goods and truths of faith. 'And the dove returned to him at evening time' means that these started to show themselves a little, 'evening time' being similar in meaning to pre-morning twilight. 'And behold, in its mouth an olive leaf plucked off means a small measure of the truth of faith, 'leaf' meaning truth,' olive good that stems from charity, 'plucked off' the fact that the truth of faith derives from that charity, and 'in its mouth' the fact that it was made visible. 'And Noah knew that the waters had abated from over the earth' means that all this was so because the obstructive falsities were now fewer than previously.

231. It is the divine truth emanating from the Lord that possesses all power in the heavens, because the Lord in heaven is divine truth united to divine good (see 126-140). To the extent that angels are open to this truth, they are powers. ¹

Further, each individual angel is her or his own truth and own good, because the nature of each one is determined by her or his discernment and intent, discernment being a matter of what is true because all its functions originate in truths, and intent being a matter of what is good because all its functions originate in aspects of the good. You see, whatever we understand we call true and whatever we intend we call good. This is why each one of us is his or her own truth and own good. ² Therefore, to the extent to which an angel is truth from the Divine and good from the Divine, that angel is a power because the Lord is with her to that extent. Further, since no one enjoys exactly the same good and truth as anyone else (for in heaven and in this world there is constant variety, 20), one angel does not enjoy the same power as another.

The angels who constitute the arm in the universal human or heaven have the most power because they are the ones who more than any others are focused on things true, and good flows into their truths from the entire heaven. So too, all our strength is concentrated in our arms, and the whole body expresses its powers through them. This is why "arms" and "hands" in the Word mean power. ³

Sometimes a bare arm appears in heaven that has so much power that it could crush any obstacle, even if it were a boulder on earth. Once it moved toward me, and I saw that it could crush my bones to powder.

Poznámky pod čarou: