'Great wrath,' as in Revelation 12:12, signifies hatred against the new church.

'Wrath,' as in Genesis 49:7, signifies aversion from truth.

(Odkazy: Apocalypse Revealed 635, 658; Arcana Coelestia 6343)

243. VIII. The church depends on the Word, and what the church is like in the case of each person depends on how he understands the Word.

There can be no doubt that the church depends upon the Word, for it has been shown above that the Word is Divine truth (189-192), that the Word is the source of the church's doctrine (225-233), and that the Word produces a link with the Lord (234-239). However, it may be questioned whether it is the understanding of the Word which makes the church, since there are those who believe that they belong to the church, because they possess the Word and read it, or hear it preached and know something of its literal sense. But they are unaware how this or that passage in the Word is to be understood, and some of them do not regard this as of much importance. I shall therefore prove here that it is not the Word which makes the church, but how it is understood; and that what the church is like depends on how those who belong to the church understand the Word.