387. And with death, signifies the consequent extinction of spiritual life. This is evident from the signification of "death," as being the extinction of spiritual life (See above, n. 78, 186). That this is what "death" here signifies is evident from the series of things in the internal sense; for it is said that "there was given unto them power to kill with sword, with famine, and with death;" and "sword" signifies falsity destroying truth, "famine" the deprivation of the knowledges of truth and good; thence "death" signifies the extinction of spiritual life; for where falsity reigns, and where there are no knowledges of truth and good, there is no spiritual life, for spiritual life is acquired by means of the knowledges of truth and good applied to the uses of life. For man is born into all evil and falsity from evil; he is therefore born also into an entire ignorance of all spiritual knowledges; therefore in order that he may be led away from the evils and consequent falsities into which he is born, and be led into the life of heaven and be saved, he must needs acquire the knowledges of truth and good, by means of which he can be led into spiritual life and become spiritual. From this series of things in the internal sense it is evident that "death" here signifies the extinction of spiritual life; this is meant, too, by spiritual death.

259. The existence of writings in the heavens is a provision of the Lord for the sake of the Word; for the Word in its essence is Divine truth, and from it is all heavenly wisdom, both with men and with angels; for the Word was dictated by the Lord, and what is dictated by the Lord passes through all the heavens in order and terminates with man. Thereby it is adapted both to the wisdom of angels and the intelligence of men. Thereby, too, the angels have a Word, and read it the same as men do on the earth, and also draw from it their doctrinals, and preach from it (221). It is the same Word; but its natural sense, which is the sense of the letter with us, does not exist in heaven, but only the spiritual sense, which is its internal sense. What this sense is can be seen in the small treatise on The White Horse spoken of in the Apocalypse.