548. But that they should torment them five months.- That this signifies that the understanding should be darkened by the falsities of evil, and be drawn away from seeing truth, so long as they are in that state, is evident from the signification of tormenting, which denotes to darken as to the understanding, and to be withdrawn from seeing truth, of which we shall treat presently; and from the signification of five months, as denoting so long as they remain in that state. To torment here signifies to darken as to the understanding, and to be drawn away from seeing truth, because it is stated of the locusts, and their power of hurting like scorpions, and by the locusts is meant the ultimate of the life of man, which is called the Sensual, and by the power of hurting like scorpions is signified the persuasive [power], which is of such a nature, as to take away from the understanding the light of truth, and bring on infernal darkness; therefore it now follows, that their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when he strikes a man, for the scorpion signifies such a persuasive [power], as may be seen above (n. 544). This is said to torment, because it is said above, that the locusts should hurt men, but should not kill them; and he who hurts, and does not kill, torments. The persuasive [power] also in the sensual man, that is in the falsities of evil, hurts the understanding by darkening and drawing it away from seeing truth, although it does not deprive it of the power of understanding and perceiving; and because it is compared with the pain inflicted by a scorpion when it strikes a man, it is said to torment.

[2] The reason why five months signify so long as men are in that state, is, that a month signifies a state, and the number five signifies somewhat, and hence also, so long as. Months signify states, because all times, in the Word, as ages, years, weeks, days, and hours, signify states of life; hence also months, see the Heaven and Hell 162-169).

That five signifies somewhat, is evident from those passages in the Word, where that number occurs. For the numbers 10, 100, 1000, signify much and all, hence five signifies somewhat. For those numbers which signify much, arise from the number five, which signifies somewhat, and the numbers that are compounded and derived, take their signification from the simple numbers, from which, by multiplication, they are compounded and derived, see above (n. 429, 430:2). The number five also signifies so long as, because it is said, five months, and by five months is there signified a state of duration. This signification of five months appears to be a remote one, from this fact, that man so long as he lives in the world, is in natural thought, and natural thought derives its ideas from spaces and times, and also from numbers and measures; for these things are proper to nature, because all things in nature are determined by them. But spiritual thought is without any fixed idea of space, time, number, and measure; and therefore it appears far fetched and strange to man in the world, that five months should signify "so long as that state continues," that is to say, so long as the state of the persuasion of falsity continues, for so long is the understanding darkened, and drawn away from seeing the truth; but when the persuasion of falsity is removed, man comes into the faculty of seeing truth, if he desire to see it, and this faculty is given to every man.

[3] That five, in the Word, signifies somewhat and some, also all of such a quality, and similar things, is clear from the following: Jesus said that the kingdom of the heavens is like to ten virgins of whom "five were wise, and five were foolish" (Matthew 25:1, 2). The Lord compared the kingdom of the heavens to ten virgins, because the kingdom of the heavens signifies the church, and a virgin has a similar signification; and ten virgins signify all who are of the church. It is said, that five were wise and five foolish, because five signifies some of them, or all who are of such a quality on one part. That a virgin signifies the church, is evident from many passages in the Word, where mention is made of the virgin of Zion, the virgin of Jerusalem, the virgin of Israel, for these signify the church.

[4] The same is signified by ten, and by five, in the parable of the Lord concerning the nobleman who gave talents (minoe, mna [Greek]) to his servants to trade with, and one made of his talent ten talents, and another made five talents of his talents, and therefore they had authority over as many cities (Luke 19:13-20). The numbers ten and five were mentioned by the Lord, because ten signifies much, and five, somewhat; but by their trading is signified the acquisition and procuring of heavenly intelligence; and by their having authority over cities, is signified intelligence and wisdom, for a city signifies in the Word, doctrine, and to have authority over it, signifies to be intelligent and wise, and over ten cities, signifies much, and over five, signifies some.

[5] Also some, and all who are of such quality, are signified by the number five in the parable of the Lord concerning the rich man and Lazarus, in which it is said that the rich man told Abraham that he had five brethren, and he besought that Lazarus might be sent to them (Luke 16:27, 28). The rich man said that he had five brethren because by five are signified all who are of such a quality.

Similarly, in the parable of the Lord concerning those who were invited to the great supper, one of them excused himself on the ground that he had bought five yoke of oxen, and must go to prove them (Luke 14:19). By oxen in the Word are signified the natural affections, and by five yoke of oxen are signified all those affections or disorderly desires that lead away from heaven; heaven and the church, in regard to spiritual nourishment or instruction, are signified by the great supper to which they were invited. Who cannot see that the number five in these four parables involves some interior truth, since it is used by the Lord?

[6] So again, in Isaiah:

"In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking with the lips of Canaan, and swearing to Jehovah of hosts. In that day shall there be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt" (19:18, 19).

In that day, signifies the coming of the Lord; "five cities in the land of Egypt speaking with the lips of Canaan," signifies, that some who are then natural shall become spiritual, and shall acknowledge the truths of genuine doctrine, and shall worship the Lord from the good of charity. These things are explained in detail above (n. 223:14). Here, therefore, mention is made of five cities, as some at that time are meant, and also some truths of doctrine.

[7] So again:

"Gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two-three berries in the top of the bough, four-five in the branches of the fruitful tree" (17:6).

And Jesus said in Luke:

"From henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three" (12:52).

That in these passages five also signifies some, and all who are of such a quality, may be seen above (n. 532), where both these passages are explained.

A law was given to the Israelites that he who stole, or slew, or sold an ox, should restore five oxen (Exodus 22:1). Here an ox, in the spiritual sense, means the good of the natural man; by restoring five oxen for an ox, is signified that he shall sufficiently amend what he had perverted and extinguished. To steal means to take away, to kill is to extinguish, and to sell is to pervert.

[8] By the fifth part also is signified as much as is sufficient in the following passages: Leviticus 5:16; 6:5; 22:14; 27:13, 15, 19, 27, 31; Num. 5:6-8. The same is also signified by the fifths which Pharaoh took up from the land of Egypt during the seven years of plenty (Genesis 41:34; 47:24). Again, the same is signified by Abner's smiting Asahel with the hinder end of his spear at the fifth [rib] (2 Sam. 2:23); at the fifth rib signifies as much as was sufficient for death; for the same number that signifies somewhat, and the all of one part, also signifies as much as is sufficient, when it is used of quantity, and so long as, when it is used of time.

[9] Since this number signifies some, and the all of one part, therefore it also signifies little and few, when a great quantity, which is also marked by numbers, follows or precedes; for then the all of one part is respectively few.

Thus in Isaiah:

"One thousand at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee" (30:17).

And in Moses it is said among the curses that five should chase a hundred, and a hundred, ten thousand (Leviticus 26:8). And in the Evangelists it is stated that the Lord fed five thousand men with five loaves and two fishes (Matthew 14:15-22; Mark 6:38-43; Luke 9:13-16; John 6:9-13). The taking up of twelve baskets of the fragments on that occasion signifies fulness, thus fulness of instruction, and also full benediction.

[10] In Luke by five are signified few, where it is said,

"Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? Fear not therefore; ye are of more value than many sparrows" (12:6, 7).

Here five sparrows are mentioned, because five denotes what is few and of little value compared to men, for it is afterwards said, "ye are of more value than many sparrows." Any one can see that this number would not have been mentioned so often by the Lord unless it had been significative. Since five signifies all of one part, therefore it was also commanded that over the tabernacle they should make ten curtains, five curtains to be coupled together one to another, and five curtains to be coupled one to another (Exodus 26:1, 3). That ten signifies all in the aggregate, and five the all of one and of the other part, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 9595, 9604).

107. I need to append some information about the teachings concerning love for the Lord and concerning caring that were held by the ancient people among whom there was a church. The purpose is to make known the nature of a body of teaching that used to exist but is not in existence today. This is drawn from Secrets of Heaven 7257-7263.

Good that is done out of love for the Lord is called "heavenly good," and good that is done out of love for one's neighbor or caring is called "spiritual good. " The angels who live in the inmost or third heaven are devoted to doing good because they love the Lord, so they are called "heavenly angels"; while the angels who live in the intermediate or second heaven are devoted to doing good because they love their neighbor and are therefore called "spiritual angels. "

[2] The teachings concerning how to do good in a heavenly way, which is good that is done out of love for the Lord, are the most extensive and at the same time the deepest of all teachings. They are the teachings that are followed by the angels of the inmost or third heaven, which are so extensive and deep that if we heard them from the angels' own mouths we would understand scarcely a thousandth part of them. These teachings also contain things that simply cannot be expressed. While it is the inner meaning of the Word that contains teachings concerning spiritual love, it is the Word's inmost meaning that contains these heavenly teachings. ¹

[3] The teachings concerning how to do good in a spiritual way, which is good that is done out of love for one's neighbor, are also extensive and deep, but much less so than the teachings concerning how to do good in a heavenly way, which is good that is done out of love for the Lord. How extensive the teachings are that concern loving our neighbor or caring is established by the fact that they touch every least thing we think and intend and therefore everything we do and say, and also from the fact that caring is not the same thing in one person as in another and that one neighbor is not the same as another.

[4] Because the teachings concerning caring were so extensive, the ancient people (for whom that was the main thing taught by their church) distinguished caring about one's neighbor into many categories. These they then went on to subdivide, assigning designations to the individual types and teaching how caring was to be practiced toward people of one particular type and toward people of another particular type. In this way they imposed an order on their teachings about caring and on the practice of caring so that it was clearly understandable.

[5] They had many designations for the people to whom caring was extended. Some they called "the blind"; some "the deaf"; some "the lame"; some "the poor," as well as "the wretched" and "the afflicted"; some "orphans"; and some "widows. " In general, though, they spoke of "the hungry" to whom they would give food, "the thirsty" to whom they would give drink, "the strangers" whom they would take in, "the naked" whom they would clothe, "the sick" whom they would attend, and those "bound and in prison" whom they would visit.

The particular kinds of people intended by each category have been laid out in Secrets of Heaven as follows: "the blind" in §§2383, 6990; "the deaf" in §4302; "the poor" in §§2129, 4459, 9209, 9253, 10227; "the wretched" in §2129; "the afflicted" in §§6663, 6851, 9196; "orphans" in §§4844, 9198, 9199, 9200; "widows" in §§4844, 9198, 9200; "the hungry" in §§4958, 10227; "the thirsty" in 4958, 8568; "the strangers" in 4444, 7908, 8007, 8013, 9196, 9200; "the naked" in §§1073, 5433, 9960; "the sick" in §§4958, 6221, 8364, 9031; and those "bound in prison" in §§5037, 5038, 5086, 5096.

Everything we can be taught about caring is summed up in the services extended to the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the naked, the sick, and those bound in prison, of whom the Lord spoke in Matthew 25:34, 35, 36, and following; see §§4954-4959.

[6] These designations were given from heaven to the ancient people who were part of the church; they used them to refer to the spiritual condition of others. That church's teachings, focused on caring, told them not only what other people were like but also which particular kind of caring was appropriate for each.

That is why we find these same designations in the Word and why when spiritually understood they mean people of these kinds.

The Word truly understood teaches nothing else except loving the Lord and caring about our neighbor, as the Lord himself taught:

You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. The second is like it: you are to love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments. (Matthew 22:37, 38, 39, 40)

"The Law and the Prophets" are the whole Word: 2606, 3382, 6752, 7463.

[7] These designations are found in the Word so that the Word, which in its own right is spiritual, might be earthly in its outermost form. As a result, people whose devotion was external would show caring toward people who were in that condition physically; but those whose devotion was internal would show caring toward people who were in that condition spiritually. Therefore the simple would understand and do what the Word teaches in a simple way and the wise would do so in a wise way; and through their outward caring the simple might be introduced into its inner forms.

Faith

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