702. And there were lightnings, voices, and thunders, signifies that at that time in the lower parts where the evil are there were conflicts and disturbances of the thoughts, and reasonings from evils and falsities respecting goods and truths. This is evident from the signification of "lightnings, voices, and thunders," as being enlightenment, thoughts, and perceptions (of which above, n. 273; and in the contrary sense, as here, conflicts and disturbances of the thoughts, and reasoning from evils and falsities respecting the goods and truths of the church (of which above, n. 498. In a strict sense "lightnings" signify the darkenings of the understanding, "voices" reasonings, and "thunders" conclusions respecting falsity from evil, and because from these, according to the state of the interiors with them there then arise conflicts and disturbances of the affections and thoughts, and consequent reasonings from evils and falsities respecting the goods and truths of the church, therefore from logical connection with what precedes, this is what these words signify. It was evident that "the lightnings, voices, and thunders," also "the earthquake and great hail" occurred in the lower parts, since it was in the higher parts that the "temple" and "the ark of the Covenant in the temple" were seen, which signify the appearing of a new heaven where there is worship of the Lord, and a representation of Divine truth through which there is conjunction, as can be seen from the explanation above; and from this it follows that these things occurred in the lower parts through influx from the higher heavens. That such things occurred in the lower parts through influx out of the higher heavens has already been made clear. But since these are such things as do not fall into anyone's understanding except through living revelation and consequent knowledge respecting the influx of higher things into lower in the spiritual world, so as these things have been revealed to me, and have thus been made known to me, I will briefly explain this arcanum.
[2] In the spiritual world, by which are meant both the heavens and the hells, the arrangement is such that the heavens are like expanses one above another, and under the heavens is the world of spirits, and under this are the hells, one below another. Influx from the Lord takes place according to this consecutive arrangement, thus through the inmost heaven into the middle, and through this into the lowest, and from these in their order into the hells which lie beneath. The world of spirits is between, and receives influx both from the heavens and from the hells, each one there according to the state of his life.
[3] But this arrangement of the heavens and of the hells underwent changes from one judgment to another, for the reason that the men who arrived from the earth, of whom the heavens and the hells are constituted, had various affections, some more or less spiritual or internal, and some more or less natural or external. And as the Lord does evil to no one, but good to all, He permitted those who had lived a moral and as it were spiritual life in externals from custom and habit in the world, however interiorly they were conjoined with hell, to form for themselves in the world of spirits a similitude of heaven in various places; and then the heavens above them and the hells below them were so arranged that their interiors through which they were conjoined with hell might be as far as possible kept closed, while their exteriors through which they were conjoined with the lowest heaven were kept open. And then it was provided that the higher heavens should not flow in immediately, because by immediate influx their interiors which were infernal would be opened, and their exteriors which were as it were spiritual would be closed; for the influx of the higher heavens is into the interiors, which are properly the spirits' own, and not into the exteriors, which are not properly their own.
[4] But when such seeming heavens had so greatly increased that the influx from the hells had thereby begun to prevail over the influx from the heavens, and thereby the lowest heaven, which was conjoined with them, began to be weakened, then the Last Judgment was at hand, and by turns a separation was effected of the evil from the good in those new seeming heavens, and this by immediate influx from the higher heavens; and by this influx their interiors which were infernal were opened, and their exteriors which were seemingly spiritual were closed, as has been said above. From this then it is clear why it was that the "temple" appeared, and "the ark in the temple," which signifies the Divine truth by which the higher heavens were enlightened from which influx might come into the lower parts where the evil were. From this influx it came to pass that, in the lower parts where the evil were, lightnings were seen, and voices and thunders were heard, also there was an earthquake, and hail fell. The influx out of the heavens, that is, through the heavens from the Lord, is nothing else than an influx of the love of good and the affection of truth, but with the evil this is turned into such things as correspond to their evils and to the falsities therefrom, thus that correspond to their love of evil and affection of falsity; and as conflicts and disturbances of the thoughts and reasonings from the evils and falsities respecting the goods and truths of the church in which they were correspond to lightnings, voices, and thunders, therefore they are signified by these; for the state of heaven, what it was to be immediately before the Last Judgment, is what is here treated of. The conflicts and disturbances of the thoughts and the reasonings from evils and falsities respecting the goods and truths of the church that arise with those who are inwardly evil but who outwardly appear good, when their interiors have been opened and their exteriors closed, are from the conflict of their interiors with their exteriors in the first stage of separation; but as soon as the exteriors have been wholly closed and they have been left to their own interiors the conflict ceases, for then they are completely in the love of their own evil and in the affection of their own falsity, and thus in the delight of their life. Therefore they then cast themselves down into hell to their like, which takes place at the day of the Last Judgment.
