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.

8495. 'A holy sabbath to Jehovah shall tomorrow be' means the joining together of goodness and truth into eternity. This is clear from the meaning of 'sabbath' as the joining together of goodness and truth, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'tomorrow' as into eternity, dealt with in 3998. Anyone who does not know what the sabbath represented, and what it was consequently a sign of, also cannot know why it was held to be the holiest institution of all. It was held to be the holiest because in the highest sense it represented the union of the Divine and the Divine Human within the Lord, and in the relative sense the joining together of the Lord's Divine Human and the human race. This is why the sabbath was the holiest. And since it represented those realities it also represented heaven in respect of the joining together of goodness and truth, that is, the joining together called the heavenly marriage. And since the joining together of goodness and truth is accomplished by the Lord alone and nothing at all of it by man, and since it is accomplished in a state of peace, people were most strictly forbidden to do any work on that day. The prohibition was so strict that the soul who did do any was to be cut off. This is stated in Moses as follows,

You shall keep the sabbath, for it is holy to you. He who profanes it must certainly die; for everyone who does work on that day, this soul shall be cut off from the midst of his people. Exodus 31:14.

This was why the one who merely gathered sticks on that day was stoned, Numbers 15:32-36. It is also why the command regarding the sabbath is the third of the Ten Commandments, coming immediately after the two regarding holy worship of Jehovah, Exodus 20:8; Deuteronomy 5:12. And it is why the sabbath is called 'an eternal covenant', Exodus 31:16; for 'a covenant' means a joining together, 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804.

[2] From all this one may now see what is meant in the internal sense by the things said about the sabbath in the following places, as in Isaiah,

Blessed is the person keeping the sabbath so that he does not profane it. Thus said Jehovah to the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths and choose that in which I delight, and hold fast to My covenant, I will give those in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an eternal name which will not be cut off. Whoever keeps the sabbath so that he does not profane it, and those who hold fast to My covenant, I will bring them onto My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Isaiah 56:2-7.

From these words it is evident that those who are joined to the Lord are meant by those who keep the sabbath holy. That they will be in heaven is meant by the promise that those in Jehovah's house will be given a place and a name better than sons and daughters, an eternal name which will not be cut off, and that they will be brought onto the holy mountain.

[3] In the same prophet,

If you turn away your foot from the sabbath, so that you do not do your own will on My holy day, but call the sabbath, Delights holy to Jehovah, honourable, and honour it, so that you do not do your own ways, nor find your own desire or speak [your own] words, then you will take delight in Jehovah, and I will convey you into the high places of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob. Isaiah 58:13-14.

What was represented by the requirement that they should not do any work on the sabbath day is clearly evident here, namely that they must not do anything that begins in themselves, only what begins in the Lord. For the angelic state in heaven is such that they do not will or do, they do not even think or utter, anything that begins in themselves or what is properly their own. This is what their being joined to the Lord consists in. Not doing anything that begins in themselves is meant when it says that they should not do their own will, nor do their own ways, nor find their own desire, nor speak [their own] words. This state existing with the angels is the heavenly state itself; and when they are in it they experience peace and rest. Also the Lord has rest, for when they have been joined to Him their labour ceases; they now abide in the Lord. These things are meant by the words 'so shall you call the sabbath, Delights holy to Jehovah' and that they will take delight in Jehovah. The Lord's rest is meant where it says that after creating on six days 'He rested on the seventh day', Genesis 2:2.

[4] The same things are meant by the following words in Jeremiah,

If you most certainly hear Me, so that you do not bring a burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, and you keep the sabbath day holy, so that you do not do any work in it, then there will enter through the gates of this city kings and princes seated on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men (vir) of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city will be inhabited forever. Jeremiah 17:24-25

'Work on the sabbath' means everything that springs from the self. The state of people who are not led by self but by the Lord is what 'there will enter through the gates of the city kings and princes seated on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses' describes. 'Kings' means the truths of faith, 'princes' leading aspects of them, 'seated on the throne of David' the fact that they come from the Lord, and 'chariots and horses' religious teachings and intellectual concepts belonging to faith. It should be recognized that everything coming from a person's self is bad, and everything coming from the Lord is good. The fact that everything, in the case of those who are led by the Lord, flows in, down to the smallest particle of life in both their understanding and their will, thus down to every single part of the faith and charity they possess, see what has been shown abundantly from experience in 2886-2888, 6053-6058, 6189-6215, 6307-6327, 6466-6495, 6598-6626, 6982, 6985, 6996, 7004, 7055, 7056, 7058, 7147, 7270.

[5] As regards the sabbath and its being a representative of the joining together of the Lord and the human race, this is clear in Ezekiel,

I gave them My sabbaths, in order that they might be a sign between Me and them, to know that I am Jehovah who sanctifies them. Ezekiel 20:12.

See too Exodus 31:13. Therefore also it was forbidden to kindle fire on the sabbath day, Exodus 35:3, because 'fire' meant all that composed life, and 'kindling fire' that which composed life beginning from self. From all that has been stated it is evident that the Lord is Lord of the sabbath, in accordance with His words in Matthew 12:1-9. It is evident too why a large number of healings by the Lord were performed on sabbath days, Matthew 12:10-14; Mark 3:1-6; Luke 6:6-12; 13:10-17; 14:1-6; John 5:9-18; 7:22-23; 9:14, 16; for the sicknesses from which the Lord healed people involved spiritual sicknesses which exist as a result of evil, 7337, 8364.