966. And it became blood as of one dead, signifies that these have all been falsified. This is evident from the signification of "blood," as being the Divine truth, and in the contrary sense Divine truth falsified (See n. 30, 328, 329, 476, 748); so here that all knowledges of truth from the Word have been falsified. Knowledges of truth from the Word are the truths of the sense of its letter, that is, the truths in the Word that are for the natural man, and these, too, are Divine truths. These wholly falsified are signified by the words, "the sea became blood as of one dead." The Divine truths of the sense of the letter of the Word are said to be falsified when they are perverted even to the destruction of interior Divine truth, that is, Divine truth in the heavens. In the heavens they then appear with man as the blood of one dead. It has been frequently shown above that those who separate faith from the goods of life falsify the Word; and it is of such that these things are said, as is evident from the second verse of this chapter.

(Continuation: The Fourth Commandment)

[2] The fourth commandment of the Decalogue is that parents must be honored.

This commandment was given because honor to parents represented and thus signified love to the Lord and love towards the church, for "father" in the heavenly sense, that is, the Heavenly Father, is the Lord; and "mother" in the heavenly sense, that is, the heavenly mother, is the church; "honor" signifies the good of love; and "length of days," which they will have, signifies the happiness of eternal life. So is this commandment understood in heaven, where no other father but the Lord is known, and no other mother but the kingdom of the Lord, which is also the church. For the Lord gives life from Himself, and through the church He gives nourishment. That in the heavenly sense no father in the world can be meant, and indeed, when man is in a heavenly idea, can be mentioned, the Lord teaches in Matthew:

Call no man your father on earth; for one is your Father who is in the heavens (Matthew 23:9).

That "Father" signifies the Lord as to the Divine good may be seen above (n. 32, 200, 254, 297).

That "mother" signifies the Lord's kingdom, the church, and the Divine truth, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 289, 2691, 2717, 3703, 5581, 8897.

That "length of days" signifies the happiness of eternal life (n. 8898); and that "honor" signifies the good of love (n. 8897, and above, n. 288, 345). All this makes clear that the third and fourth commandments involve arcana relating to the Lord, namely, the acknowledgment and confession of His Divine, and the worship of Him from the good of love.

477. Verse 15. Therefore are they before the throne of God, signifies that for this reason they are conjoined to the Lord. This is evident from the signification of "are before the throne of God," as being to be conjoined to the Lord. (That conjunction with the Lord is signified by "standing around the throne of God," may be seen above, n.462; and the like is signified by "are before the throne of God.") "Before the throne of God" means before the Lord, for the Lord was upon the throne, as is said in verse 17 following, "The Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them."