208. Behold I have given before thee an opened door, and no one is able to shut it, signifies that they will be admitted into heaven, and that to no one of such a quality will it be refused. This is evident from the signification of "giving an opened door," as being to admit into heaven (of which presently) and from the signification of "no one is able to shut," as being that it will not be refused; for when a door is shut entrance is refused, but when it is not shut it is not refused. This refers to those who are in charity, because they are treated of in what is written to this church (See above, n. 203). From this it is clear that "I have given before thee an opened door, and no one is able to shut it," signifies that all such will be admitted into heaven, and that to none of these will entrance be refused. It is indeed plain from the common use of language, that "to give an opened door" signifies to admit into heaven; and still this is from correspondence; for a house and all things pertaining to a house correspond to the interiors of man which are of his mind, and from that correspondence they also signify in the Word the things of the mind. That this is so can be seen from representatives and appearances in heaven, where there are palaces, houses, rooms, bed-chambers, hallways, courts, and within them a variety of things for uses; these things the angels have from correspondence; and for this reason the wiser angels have palaces more magnificent than the less wise have (but respecting these, see in The work on Heaven and Hell 183-190, where The Habitations of the angels of Heaven are treated of); and as palaces, houses, and all things pertaining to a house have a correspondence, so evidently do doorways, doors, and gates, which correspond to entrance and admission; and when the doorway appears open, it is a sign that there is opportunity to enter, and when it is closed, that there is no opportunity.

[2] Moreover, when newly arrived spirits are introduced into a heavenly society, the way that leads to it is opened to them by the Lord; and when they come thither there appears a gate with a door at the side, where there are guards who admit them, and afterwards there are others who receive and introduce them. From this it can now be seen what "doorways," "doors," and "gates," signify in the Word, namely, admission into heaven: and as the church is the Lord's heaven on earth, they also signify admission into the church; and as heaven or the church is within man, "doorways," "doors," and "gates" signify approach and entrance, with man (of which presently). And because all things that signify heaven and the church signify also the things of heaven and the church, and here the things that introduce, which are truths out of good from the Lord, and because these truths are from the Lord, and are therefore His, yea, are Himself in them, therefore "doorway," "door," and "gate" to heaven and the church, mean in the highest sense the Lord. From this is clear the signification of what the Lord says in John:

Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, he that entereth not through the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up another way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in through the door is the shepherd of the sheep; to him the porter openeth. I am the door of the sheep, through Me if anyone enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out, and find pasture (John 10:1-3, 7, 9).

Here "to enter in through the door" is evidently to enter in through the Lord, for it is said, "I am the door of the sheep." To enter in through the Lord is to approach Him, acknowledge Him, believe in Him, and love Him, as He teaches in many passages; thus is man admitted into heaven, and in no other way; consequently the Lord says, "Through Me if anyone enter in, he shall be saved;" also "he that climbeth up another way, the same is a thief and a robber."

[3] Therefore he that approaches the Lord, acknowledges Him, and believes in Him, is said to open the door to the Lord, that he may enter in. In Revelation:

Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me (Revelation 3:20).

What this means will be told in what follows where this part of the chapter will be explained. Here something shall merely be said about doors or gates, in respect to man, since it is said, "I stand at the door and knock." To man's rational two ways lead, one from heaven, the other from the world. By the way from heaven good is introduced, by the way from the world truth is introduced. So far as the way from heaven is opened with man, so far he is affected by truth and becomes rational, that is, sees truth from the light of truth. But if the way from heaven is shut, man does not become rational; for he does not see truth, and yet it is truth from the light of truth that makes the rational; he can, indeed, reason about truth, and from reasoning or from memory can talk about it; but he is not able to see whether truth is truth.

To think well about the Lord and about the neighbor opens the way from heaven; while to think not well about the Lord and to think evil about the neighbor shuts that way. As there are two ways that lead into man, so there are two doorways or gates through which entrance is effected. Through the gate or doorway that is opened from heaven the spiritual affection of truth from the Lord enters, because through that door (as was said above), good enters, and all spiritual affection of truth is from good; but by the gate or doorway that is open from the world all knowledge from the Word and from preaching from the Word enters, since by this way truth enters (as was also said above), for the knowledges from the Word and from preaching therefrom are truths. The spiritual affection of truth joined with such knowledges constitutes man's rational, and enlightens it according to the quality of the truth conjoined to good, and according to the quality of the conjunction. Let these few words suffice respecting the two doorways or gates pertaining to man.

[4] As "doorways," "doors," and "gates," signify admission into heaven and into the church, they therefore also signify truths from good which are from the Lord, because by them admission is effected; as in the following passages.

In Isaiah:

Open ye the gates, that the righteous nations keeping faithfulness may enter in (Isaiah 26:2).

This means, in the sense of the letter, that they will admit those who are righteous and faithful into the cities; but in the internal sense, that they will admit them into the church; for "gates" signify admission; "a righteous nation" signifies those who are in good; "keeping faithfulness" signifies those who are in truths from good.

[5] In the same:

Thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night, that the army of the nations may be brought unto Thee, and their kings shall be led; for the nation and kingdom that will not serve Thee shall perish. Thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise (Isaiah 60:11-12, 18).

This treats of the Lord and of the church about to be established by Him, and these words describe the continual admission of those who are in good and in truths therefrom. "The gates shall be opened continually, and shall not be shut day nor night," signifies perpetual admission; "the army of the nations" signifies those who are in good, and "kings" those who are in truths; and that all shall serve the Lord is meant by "the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish." That "nation" or "nations" signify those who are in good, may be seen above n. 175, and that "kings" signify those who are in truths n. 31.

[6] In the same:

Thus saith Jehovah to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; that I may loose the loins of kings, to open before him the doors that the gates may not be shut. And I will give thee the treasures of dark places, and hidden riches of secret places (Isaiah 45:1, 3).

This likewise treats of the Lord and of the church to be established by Him. "To open the doors that the gates may not be shut" signifies perpetual admission; "nations and kings" signify those who are in goods and truths, and in the abstract, goods and truths (as above); "treasures of dark places and hidden riches of secret places" signifies interior intelligence and wisdom from heaven, for the things that enter by the gate that is open from heaven (of which above) come in secretly and affect all things that are with man; from this comes the spiritual affection of truth, through which things before unknown are revealed.

[7] In Jeremiah:

If ye bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, then shall there enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes, sitting upon the throne of David, riding upon the chariot and on horses, and the city shall be inhabited to eternity (Jeremiah 17:24-25).

Anyone can see what is meant by these things in the sense of the letter; but that something more holy is contained in them may be known, for this is the Word, and everything in the Word contains things that are of heaven and the church and these alone are holy; the holy thing meant is known from the internal sense. "The Sabbath day" in that sense means the conjunction of the Lord's Divine Human with heaven and the church; "the city" which here is Jerusalem, means the church; "to bring in no burden through the gates of this city" means not to admit that which is from man's own [proprium], but that which is from the Lord. "Kings and princes that shall enter in by the gates of the city" mean Divine truths which they should then have; "sitting upon the throne of David" means truths from the Lord; "riding upon the chariot and on horses" means that from these they should be in the doctrine of truth and in intelligence; "to be inhabited to eternity" means life and eternal salvation. (That "Sabbath" signifies the conjunction of the Lord's Divine Human with heaven and the church, see Arcana Coelestia 8494, 8495, 8510, 10356, 10360, 10367, 10370, 10374, 10668, 10730. That "Jerusalem" signifies the church, see n. 402, 3654, 9166. That "burden" or "work" on the Sabbath day signifies not to be led by the Lord but by one's own [proprium], n. 7893, 8495, 10360, 10362, 10365. That "kings and princes" signify those who are in Divine truths, and in the abstract, Divine truths, see above 29, 31. That "chariot" signifies the doctrine of truth, and "horses" the intellectual, see in the small work concerning The White Horse 1-5.)

[8] In Revelation:

The New Jerusalem, having a wall great and high, and twelve gates, and upon the gates twelve angels, and names inscribed, which are the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. The twelve gates were twelve pearls. The gates shall not be shut (Revelation 21:12, 21, 25).

That "gates" signify Divine truths introducing into the New Church, thus those who are in truths from good from the Lord, can be seen from the explanation of these words in the small work on The New Jerusalem 1 seq.). It is clear also from its being said that there were "twelve gates," "twelve angels upon the gates," and "the names of the twelve tribes written thereon," and that the "twelve gates were twelve pearls." (For "twelve" signifies all, and is predicated of truths from good, Arcana Coelestia 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272, 3858, 3913; in like manner "angels," see above, n. 130, 200; likewise the "twelve tribes of Israel," n. 3858, 3926, 4060, 6335; and likewise "pearls.")

[9] In Jeremiah:

Out of the north an evil shall be opened, that they may come and set every man his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls round about, because they have forsaken Me (Jeremiah 1:14-16).

This treats of the destruction of the church; the "north," signifies falsity from which is evil; "to come and set every man his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem" is to destroy truths introductory to the church by means of falsities; "and against all the walls" means to destroy all protecting truths.

[10] In Isaiah:

Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou whole Philistia art dissolved, for from the north cometh smoke (Isaiah 14:31).

In the same:

The choicest of thy valleys are full of chariots, and the horsemen setting have set themselves even to the gate; he hath uncovered the covering of Judah (Isaiah 22:7-8).

In these passages also the destruction of the church is treated of; and "gates" here signify introductory truths which are destroyed; these truths are called "the covering of Judah," because "Judah" signifies celestial love (See above, n. 119), and these truths cover and protect that love.

[11] In the same:

The remnant in the city is a waste, and the gate is beaten ¹ even to devastation (Isaiah 24:12).

In Jeremiah:

Judah hath mourned, and the gates thereof have been made to languish (Jeremiah 14:2).

In the book of Judges:

The villages have ceased in Israel; he hath chosen new gods; there was fighting at the gates (Judges 5:7-8).

In Ezekiel:

Tyre hath said about Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken, the doors of the peoples; she is brought around unto me (Ezekiel 26:2).

Here also the destruction of the church is treated of; "Tyre" signifies the knowledges of truth and good, which are introductory truths; and "Jerusalem" the church in respect to the doctrine of truth; this shows why Jerusalem is here called the "doors of the people;" also what this signifies, "Tyre says, Aha, Jerusalem is broken, the doors of the people; she is brought around unto me, I shall be filled."

[12] Since, as was said above, "doors" and "gates" signify admission, and in particular, introductory truths, which are truths from good from the Lord, it is clear what "doors" and "gates" signify in the following passage. In David:

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting portals, that the King of glory may come in (Psalms 24:7, 9).

In the same:

Recount the praises of Jehovah in the gates of the daughter of Zion (Psalms 9:14).

In the same:

Jehovah loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob (Psalms 87:2).

By "Zion" and "the daughter of Zion" the celestial church is meant.

In Isaiah:

Thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth He is called. I will make thy windows ² of rubies, and thy gates of carbuncles (Isaiah 54:5, 12).

In Matthew:

The five prudent virgins went into the marriage feast, and the door was shut; and the five foolish virgins came and knocked, but the door was not opened to them (Matthew 25:10-12).

In Luke:

Jesus said, strive to enter in through the narrow gate; for many shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the Master of the house is risen up and hath shut to the door, then shall ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and He shall answer and say, I know you not whence you are (Luke 13:24-25).

These two passages treat of the state of man after death, showing that those who are in faith and not in love cannot then be admitted into heaven, although they may wish to be admitted because they have so believed; this is meant by the "door's being shut," and they knocked but were rejected.

[13] Because "gates" signify introductory truths, therefore it was among the statutes:

That the elders should sit at the gates and judge (Deuteronomy 21:19; 22:15, 21; Amos 5:12, 15; Zechariah 8:16);

therefore it was also commanded:

That they should write the commandments upon the posts and gates (Deuteronomy 6:8-9);

and therefore it was likewise among the statutes:

That the ear of the servant who was not willing to go out free in the seventh year should be bored through at the door (Exodus 21:6; Deuteronomy 15:17).

"Servants" from the sons of Israel signified those who were in truths and not in good; and "freemen" those who are in good and in truths therefrom. That "the ear should be bored through at the door" signified perpetual obedience and servitude, since he was not willing to be introduced by means of truths into good; for those who are in truths and this not from good, are perpetually in a servile state, because they are not in the spiritual affection of truth; and yet it is the affection which is of the love that makes man free (See in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 141-149). Moreover introductory truths in respect to their quality are described by the covering of the entrance of the tent, and by the covering of the entrance of the tabernacle (Exodus 26:14, 36, 37; 38:18, 19); also by the measurements in numbers of the entrances and gates of the house of God and of the temple (in Ezekiel 40:6, 8-11, 40:13-15, 18-20, 24, 27, 28, 32, 35, 37; 41:1-3, 11, 17-20, 23-25; 42:2, 12, 15; 43:1-4; 44:1-3, 17; 46:1-3, 8, 12, 19; 47:1, 2; 48:31-34). He who knows what these particular numbers signify, may know many arcana respecting these truths. The gates of the house of Jehovah towards the north and towards the east are also spoken of in the same prophet (Ezekiel 8:3-4, 10:19).

Poznámky pod čarou:

131. These things saith He that hath the sharp two-edged sword, signifies the Lord, who alone combats in temptation. This is evident from the signification of "long sword" or "sword [romphaeae seu gladii]," as meaning truth combating against falsity, and in the opposite sense, falsity combating against truth. It is said to be "sharp two-edged," because it pierces on both sides. Because this is signified by "the long sword," dispersion of falsities is also signified by it, and also temptation. That it signifies dispersion of falsities, see above (n. 73). It signifies temptation, because in what is written to the angel of this church temptations are treated of. Moreover, "the long sword" also signifies temptation, because temptation is a combat of truth against falsity and of falsity against truth. (That spiritual temptation is such combat, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 187-201) By "these things saith He that hath the sharp long sword with two edges" is meant that the Lord alone combats in temptations, because in the preceding chapter (verse 16) it was said that:

Out of the mouth of the Son of man, walking in the midst of the seven lampstands, a sharp two-edged long sword was seen going forth (Revelation 1:16).

and by the "Son of man" is meant the Lord in respect to Divine truth (as may be seen above, n. 63. That the Lord alone combats in temptations, and not man at all, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 195-200.) By "long sword" or by "sword [romphaeam seu gladium]" is signified the combat of truth against falsity, and of falsity against truth, because by "wars" in the Word are signified spiritual wars, and spiritual wars are wars of truths against falsities and of falsities against truths; and as "wars" in the Word have such a signification, all weapons of war, as "sword," "spear," "bow," "arrows," "shield," and many others, signify each some special thing pertaining to spiritual combat; especially the "sword," because in wars they fight with swords. (That "wars" signify spiritual combats, see Arcana Coelestia 1659, 1664, 8295, 10455; consequently that each weapon of war signifies something pertaining to spiritual combat, see n. 1788, 2686)

[2] That "sword" in the Word signifies truth combating against falsity, and falsity against truth, and therefore the dispersion of falsities, and also spiritual temptation, can be seen from very many passages, of which I will introduce here only a few by way of confirmation. Thus in Matthew:

Jesus said that He came not to send peace on earth, but a sword (Matthew 10:34).

Here by "sword" is meant the combat of temptation. It was so said, because men at that time were in falsities, and the Lord uncovered interior truths, and only by combats from such truths can falsities be cast out.

[3] In Luke:

Jesus said to His disciples, Now he that hath a purse let him take it, likewise a wallet; and he that hath no sword let him sell his garments and buy one (Luke 22:35-38).

By "purse" and "wallet" spiritual knowledges, thus truths, are signified; "garments" signify what is their own; and by "sword" combat is signified.

[4] In Jeremiah:

A sword against the Chaldeans, and against the inhabitants of Babylon, and against her chiefs, and against her wise men. A sword against liars that they may become foolish; a sword against her mighty men that they may be dismayed; a sword against her horses and against her chariots; a sword against her treasures that they may be spoiled; a drought upon her waters that they may be dried up (Jeremiah 50:35-38).

By "sword" here dispersion and vastation of truth are signified; by each in particular against which the sword shall be, as the "Chaldeans," the "inhabitants of Babylon," her "chiefs" and "her wise men," "liars," "mighty men," "horses," "chariots," and "treasures," are signified the persons or things that will be vastated: as by "horses," things intellectual; by "chariots," doctrinals; and by "treasures," knowledges; it is said, therefore, "a drought upon her waters, that they may be dried up," for "waters" are the truths of the church, and "a drought that they may be dried up" is vastation. (That "drought" and "drying up" are where there is no truth, see Arcana Coelestia 8185; that "waters" are truths of the church, see above, n. 71; that "treasures" are knowledges, Arcana Coelestia, 1694, 4508, 10227; that "horses" are things intellectual, and "chariots" doctrinals, see White Horse 2-5.)

[5] In Isaiah:

Jehovah will plead, and with His sword with all flesh, and the slain of Jehovah shall be multiplied (Isaiah 66:16).

In Jeremiah:

Upon all the heights in the desert the devastators are come, because the sword of Jehovah devoureth from the end of the land even to the end of the land (Jeremiah 12:12).

In Ezekiel:

Prophesy and say, a sword sharpened and also furbished, it is sharpened to slay a slaughter, it is furbished that it may have luster; let the sword be doubled for the third time; the sword of the slain, the sword of great slaughter entering into the secret chambers that the heart may melt, and stumblings be multiplied; against all their gates will I set the point of the sword: Ah! It is made into lightning (Ezekiel 21:9-15, 28).

In Isaiah:

Bring waters to meet him that is thirsty, with bread prevent him that wandereth; for before the sword shall they wander, before the drawn sword, and before the bended bow, and for the grievousness of war (Isaiah 21:14, 15).

In Ezekiel:

They shall quake with fear when I shall make my sword to fly before their faces, that they may tremble every moment, a man for his own soul; by the swords of the mighty casting down their multitude (Ezekiel 32:10-12).

In David:

Let the saints exult in glory; let them sing upon their beds. Let the exaltations of God be in their throat, and a two-edged sword in their hand (Psalms 149:5, 6).

In the same:

Gird thy sword upon the thigh, O mighty one, in thy honor ascend the chariot, ride on the Word of truth, thy right hand shall teach thee wonderful things. Thine arrows are sharp (Psalms 45:3-5).

In Revelation:

There was given unto him that sat on the red horse a great sword (Revelation 6:4).

In another place:

Out of the mouth of him that sat on the white horse went forth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations. The rest were killed with the sword of him that sat upon the horse (Revelation 19:15, 21).

By "sword" in these passages is signified truth combating and destroying; this destruction is especially apparent in the spiritual world; there those that are in falsities cannot sustain the truth; when they come into the sphere of light, that is, where Divine truth is, they are in anguish, like those who are struggling with death; and thus also they are deprived of truths and are vastated.

[6] As most expressions in the Word have also a contrary sense, so also has "sword;" in that sense it signifies falsity combating against truth and destroying it. The vastations of the church, which take place when there are no longer any truths, but only falsities, are described in the Word by a "sword," as in the following passages:

They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive into all nations; Jerusalem shall finally be trodden down by all nations, until the times of the nations shall be fulfilled (Luke 21:24).

The consummation of the age, which is here treated of, is the last time of the church, when falsities are to prevail. "To fall by the edge of the sword" denotes that truth will be destroyed by falsity; "nations" here are evils and "Jerusalem" is the church.

[7] In Isaiah:

I will make a man more rare than fine gold. Everyone that is found shall be thrust through; and everyone gathered in shall fall by the sword (Isaiah 13:12, 15).

"A man who is rare" for those that are in truths; "to be thrust through" and "to fall by the sword" means to be consumed by falsity.

[8] In the same:

In that day they shall cast away every man the idols of his silver and the idols of his gold, which your own hands have made unto you. Then shall Asshur fall by the sword, not of a man [viri]; and the sword not of a man [hominis] shall devour him; but he who fleeth for himself before the sword, his young man shall be for tribute (Isaiah 31:7, 8).

"The idols which the hands have made" are falsities from self-intelligence; "Asshur" is the rational by which [per quod]. "To fall by the sword not of a man" [viri], and "not of a man" [hominis], is not to be destroyed by any combat of truth against falsity. "He who fleeth for himself before the sword, his young man shall be for tribute," means that the truth which is not destroyed shall be subservient to falsities. That this is the meaning of these words does not appear in the sense of the letter, which shows how far distant the spiritual sense is from the sense of the letter.

[9] In Jeremiah:

In vain I have smitten your sons; they accepted not correction; your own sword hath devoured your prophets (Jeremiah 2:30).

Behold, the prophet say, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine. By sword and by famine shall the prophets be consumed. If I go forth into the field, behold the slain with the sword; and if I enter into the city, then behold the sickness of famine (Jeremiah 14:13-18).

Both these passages treat of the vastation of the church in respect to truth; "prophets" are those who teach truths; and "the sword that consumes them" is falsity combating and destroying; "the field" is the church; "the city" is doctrine; "the slain with the sword in the field" are those in the church with whom truths are destroyed; "the famine" that is in the city is dearth of all truth in doctrine.

[10] In the same:

They have denied Jehovah when they have said, It is not He; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword and famine (Jeremiah 5:12).

In the same:

The young men shall die by the sword; and their sons and their daughters shall die by famine (Jeremiah 11:22).

"Young men" are those who are in truths, and in the abstract, truths themselves; "to die by the sword" is to be destroyed by falsities; "sons and daughters" are the knowledges of truth and good; "famine" is a dearth of these.

[11] In Lamentations:

We get our bread with peril of our souls, because of the sword of the wilderness (Lamentations 5:9).

"The wilderness" is where there is no good because there is no truth; its "sword" is the destruction of truth; "bread" is good, which is got with "peril of souls," because all good is implanted in man by means of truth.

[12] In Ezekiel:

The sword is without, and pestilence and famine within; he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him (Ezekiel 7:15).

"The sword" is the destruction of truth; "pestilence" consequent extermination; and "famine" complete dearth. Similarly in other places (as in Jeremiah 21:7; 29:17, 18; 34:17).

[13] In Zechariah:

Woe to the shepherd of nought forsaking the flock; a sword upon his arm, and upon his right eye; his arm in drying up shall dry up, and his right eye in growing dim shall grow dim (Jeremiah 11:17).

"A sword upon the arm" is the destruction of the voluntary in respect to good; "a sword upon the right eye" is the destruction of the intellectual in respect to truth; that all good and all truth are to perish is signified by "the arm in drying up shall dry up; and the right eye in growing dim shall grow dim."

[14] In Isaiah:

Thus shall ye say to your lord, Fear not for the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the lads of the king of Asshur have blasphemed Jehovah. Behold, I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. And Senacherib, king of Asshur, returned; and it came to pass, when he bowed himself in the house of Nisroch his god, his two sons smote him with the sword (Isaiah 37:6, 7, 37, 38).

As it is the rational that acknowledges and that denies the Divine, and when it denies seizes upon every falsity instead of truth, and thus perishes, there was this representative occurrence, namely, that the king of Asshur, because he blasphemed Jehovah, was smitten with the sword by his sons, in the house of Nisroch his god. "Asshur" signifies the rational in either sense (Arcana Coelestia, n. 119, 1186); the "sons" of that king signify falsities, and the "sword" signifies destruction by falsities.

[15] In Moses:

[It was commanded that] the city that worshiped other gods should be smitten with the sword, and burned up with fire (Deuteronomy 13:12-16).

This was decreed because at that time all things were representative; "to worship other gods" is to worship from falsities; "to be smitten with the sword" is to perish by falsity; and "to be burned up with fire" is to perish by the evil of falsity.

[16] In the same:

Whosoever in the field toucheth one that is slain with the sword shall be unclean (Numbers 19:16, 18, 19).

"One in the field slain with the sword" represented those within the church who destroyed truths with themselves; "the field" here is the church.

[17] That "sword" signifies falsity destroying truth is manifest in David:

The sons of man are set on fire; their teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword (Psalms 57:4).

Behold, they belch out with their mouth, swords are in their lips (Psalms 59:7).

Workers of iniquity sharpen their tongues like a sword; they hurl their arrow with a bitter word (Psalms 64:3).

From this it is clear what is signified by the Lord's words to Peter:

All they that take the sword shall perish by the sword (Matthew 26:51-52);

namely, that those who believe falsities will perish by falsities.

[18] From this it is now evident what is signified in the Word by "the long sword," "the short sword," or the "sword" [romphaea, macharera, seu gladius] in both senses. Such things are signified by "sword" by reason also of appearance in the spiritual world. When spiritual combats take place there, which are combats of truth against falsity and of falsity against truth, various weapons of war, as swords, spears, shields, and the like are seen; not that the combats are maintained by these, but they are mere appearances, representative of spiritual combats. When falsities are fiercely combating truths, there sometimes appears from heaven the brightness or flashing of a sword vibrating every way, and causing great terror, by which those who are combating from falsities are dispersed.

[19] This makes clear what is meant by these words in Ezekiel:

They shall be horribly afraid when I shall brandish My sword before their faces, that they may tremble every moment for their soul (Ezekiel 32:10-12).

And in the same:

Prophesy and say, a sword, it is sharpened and also furbished, that it may have luster, that the heart may melt. Ah! It is made into lightning (Ezekiel 21:9-10, 15).

The sword causes so great terror because "iron," of which a sword is made, signifies truth in ultimates, and the brightness and flashing are from the light of heaven and from vibration of this light upon the sword. The light of heaven is Divine truth proceeding from the Lord. Divine truth thus falling upon those who are in falsities strikes terror.

[20] This also makes clear what is signified by this, that:

Cherubim, after Adam had been driven out, were made to dwell at the east of Eden, and the flame of a sword turning and vibrating every way, to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:24).

By the "tree of life" is signified celestial love, which is love to the Lord; by "cherubim" a guard; by the "flame of a sword turning every way" the terrific driving off and rejecting of all who are in falsities; the "east of Eden" is where the Lord's presence is in celestial love; by these words, therefore, is signified that every approach to the acknowledgement of the Lord alone is closed to him who does not live a life of love. That "sword" signifies falsity is clearly evident in Ezekiel, where it is said of the prince of Tyre:

They shall unsheathe the swords upon the beauty of thy wisdom (Ezekiel 28:7).

"The prince of Tyre" signifies intelligence from the knowledges of truth; because that is extinguished by falsities it is said that they should unsheathe their swords "upon wisdom," which could not have been said unless by "swords" falsities were meant.