Apocalypse Revealed # 546
546. Then the woman fled into the wilderness. (12:6) This symbolizes the church, namely, the New Jerusalem, being at first among few.
The woman symbolizes the New Church (no. 533), and the wilderness symbolizes a circumstance in which there are no longer any truths. The church is symbolized as being at first among few because the statement follows, "Where she has a place prepared by God, that they may feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days," which symbolizes the state of that church then, that in the meantime provision may be made for it to exist among more people until it grows to its appointed state (no. 547).
A wilderness in the Word symbolizes:
1. A church devastated, or one in which the Word's truths have all been falsified, as was the case with the Jews at the time of the Lord's advent.
2. A church without truths, because it does not have the Word, as was the case with upright gentiles at the time of the Lord's advent.
3. A state of temptation or trial, in which a person is seemingly without truths, being surrounded by evil spirits who induce the temptation or trial and appear to rob him of his truths.
[2] 1. That a wilderness symbolizes a church devastated, or one in which the Word's truths have all been falsified, as was the case with the Jews at the time of the Lord's advent: This is apparent from the following passages:
Is this the man who shook the earth, who made kingdoms tremble, who made the world as a wilderness...? (Isaiah 14:16-17)
This said in reference to Babylon.
On the land of my people will come up thorns and briers...; ...the palace will be deserted... (Isaiah 32:13-14)
I beheld, and lo, Carmel was a wilderness... "The whole land shall be a wasteland." (Jeremiah 4:26-27)
The land is the church (no. 285).
...shepherds have destroyed My vineyard..., they have made the field of My desire a desolate wilderness... The devastators are coming... in the wilderness. (Jeremiah 12:10, 12)
...(the vine) is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. (Ezekiel 19:13)
...fire has devoured the habitations of the wilderness. (Joel 1:19-20)
...the day of Jehovah is coming... The land is like the Garden of Eden before it, but after it a desolate wilderness. (Joel 2:1, 3)
...see the word of Jehovah! Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of darkness? (Jeremiah 2:31)
The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of Jehovah; make level in the desert a highway for our God." (Isaiah 40:3)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 33:9; Jeremiah 3:2; 23:10; Lamentations 5:9; Hosea 2:2-3; 13:15; Joel 3:19; Malachi 1:3; Matthew 24:26; Luke 13:35.
That such is the state of the church today may be seen in no. 566 below.
[3] 2. That a wilderness symbolizes a church without truths, because it does not have the Word, as was the case with upright gentiles at the time of the Lord's advent: This is apparent from these passages:
...the Spirit shall be poured upon us from on high, then the wilderness shall become a fertile field...; and judgment will dwell in the wilderness... (Isaiah 32:15-16)
(I will put) fountains in the midst of the valleys, [and turn] the wilderness into a pool of water... I will put in the wilderness the shittim cedar... and the oil tree. (Isaiah 41:18-19)
He will turn a wilderness into a pool of water, and dry land into springs of water. (Psalms 107:35-36)
I will make a road in the wilderness, rivers in the desert... to give drink to My people, My chosen. (Isaiah 43:19-20)
...Jehovah... will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah; gladness and joy will be found in her... (Isaiah 51:3)
The habitations of the wilderness drip... (Psalms 65:12-13)
Let the wilderness... lift up (its) voice... Let the inhabitants of the rock sing... (Isaiah 43:10-11)
[4] 3. That a wilderness symbolizes a state of temptation or trial, in which a person is seemingly without truths, being surrounded by evil spirits who induce the temptation or trial and appear to rob him of his truths: This is apparent from Matthew 4:1-3, Mark 1:12-13.
Isaiah 51
1
"Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek Yahweh: look to the rock you were cut from, and to the hold of the pit you were dug from.
2
Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and made him many.
3
For Yahweh has comforted Zion; he has comforted all her waste places, and has made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Yahweh; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
4
"Attend to me, my people; and give ear to me, my nation: for a law shall go forth from me, and I will establish my justice for a light of the peoples.
5
My righteousness is near, my salvation is gone forth, and my arms shall judge the peoples; the islands shall wait for me, and on my arm shall they trust.
6
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look on the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment; and those who dwell therein shall die in the same way: but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.
7
"Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; don't fear the reproach of men, neither be dismayed at their insults.
8
For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool; but my righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation to all generations."
9
Awake, Awake, put on strength, arm of Yahweh; Awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Isn't it you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the monster?
10
Isn't it you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?
11
The ransomed of Yahweh shall return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy shall be on their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy; [and] sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
12
"I, even I, am he who comforts you: who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the son of man who shall be made as grass;
13
and have forgotten Yahweh your Maker, who stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and fear continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he makes ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?
14
The captive exile shall speedily be freed; and he shall not die [and go down] into the pit, neither shall his bread fail.
15
For I am Yahweh your God, who stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar: Yahweh of Armies is his name.
16
I have put my words in your mouth, and have covered you in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and tell Zion, 'You are my people.'"
17
Awake, Awake, stand up, Jerusalem, that have drunk at the hand of Yahweh the cup of his wrath; you have drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it.
18
There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she has brought forth; neither is there any who takes her by the hand among all the sons who she has brought up.
19
These two things have happened to you. Who will bemoan you? Desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword; how shall I comfort you?
20
Your sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as an antelope in a net; they are full of the wrath of Yahweh, the rebuke of your God.
21
Therefore hear now this, you afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:
22
Thus says your Lord Yahweh, and your God who pleads the cause of his people, "Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath; you shall no more drink it again:
23
and I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, who have said to your soul, 'Bow down, that we may walk over you;' and you have laid your back as the ground, and as the street, to those who walk over."
