8295. 'My hand will drive them out' means that by its power heaven will be destroyed. This is clear from the meaning of 'driving out' as dislodging and so destroying; and from the meaning of 'hand' as power, dealt with in 878, 4931-4937, 6292, 6947, 7188, 7189, 7518. Heaven is meant because of the words 'will drive them out', that is, from heaven; for when the restraint placed on the evil is loosened they become so bold and arrogant as to think that they have the power to destroy heaven itself. For all who are in the hells are opposed to heaven because they are opposed to goodness and truth and consequently have a constant desire to destroy it, and so far as they are allowed, try to do so, 8273(end).

[2] Seeking to destroy heaven or to dislodge those who are there is not accomplished by a hostile incursion as on earth, for no incursion or conflict such as that takes place in the next life. Instead it is accomplished by the destruction of truth which belongs to faith and of good which belongs to love; for the truth of faith and the good of love constitute heaven. These are the things in which conflicts and wars in the next life consist. How terrible and horrid they are will in the Lord's Divine mercy be told at the ends of the chapters where the hells will be the subject. ¹ The war described in John should not be understood in any other kind of way,

War took place in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, while the dragon fought and his angels, but they did not prevail. Revelation 12:7-8.

Poznámky pod čarou:

6947. 'What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod' means the power of the Lord's Divine Human. This is clear from the meaning of 'hand' as power, dealt with in 878, 3387, 4931-4937, 5327, 5328, 5544; and from the meaning of 'a rod' too as power, dealt with in 4013, 4876, 4936. The reason why it is the power of the Lord's Divine Human is that 'Moses' represents the Lord in respect of the law of God, which is the Word, and this is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Human, 6752. The power meant by 'hand' is the power emanating from the Lord's Divine Rational, whereas the power meant by 'the rod' is the power emanating from the Lord's Divine Natural. The reason why 'a rod' is the power emanating from the Lord's Divine Natural is that a rod is like a foot in that it supports the body, and by 'the foot' is meant the natural, 2161, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952; and 'lifting up the hand' is power in the spiritual, while 'lifting up the foot' is power in the natural, see 5727, 5328. And since 'hand' and 'rod' have these meanings, then depending on how high the things described in the internal sense rise Moses was sometimes told, when he was to work miracles, to lift up his hand, at other times his rod.