503. And there was hail and fire mingled with blood, signifies the destroying infernal falsity and evil mingled with the truths and goods of the Word, to which violence was offered. This is evident from the signification of "hail," as being the destroying infernal falsity (of which presently); from the signification of "fire" as being the destroying infernal evil (of which also presently); and from the signification of "blood," as being the Divine truth, here that to which violence was offered, consequently Divine truth falsified, because it is said "hail and fire mingled with blood." That "blood" signifies Divine truth proceeding from the Lord and received by man, and in the contrary sense its destruction by the falsities of evil, and thus violence offered to it, may be seen above n. 329.

[2] This signification of "hail and fire," as being destroying falsity and evil, is also from the appearances in the spiritual world when Divine truth flows down there out of heaven and flows into the sphere where those are who are in falsities from evil and who are eager to destroy the truths and goods of the church; to those who stand afar off there is then an appearance of a shower of hail and fire, a shower of hail in consequence of their falsities, and a shower of fire from their evils. The reason of this appearance is that when Divine truth flows into the sphere where falsities and evils are, it is changed into something similar to what is in that sphere; for all influx is changed in the recipient subject according to its quality, as with the light of the sun in black subjects, and the heat of the sun in putrid subjects. So it is with Divine truth (which is the light of heaven) and Divine good (which is the heat of heaven) in evil subjects, which are spirits who are in falsities from evil; thence is this appearance. From this it is that "hail and fire" have these significations in the Word; for the sense of the letter of the Word comes for the most part from appearances in the spiritual world.

[3] That "hail" signifies infernal falsity destroying the truth of the church is evident elsewhere in the Word, where the destruction of truth is described by "hail;" as in Egypt, when Pharaoh would not let the people of Israel go, which is thus described in Moses:

Moses said to Pharaoh that he would cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as had not been in Egypt. There shall be hail upon man and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt. And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven; and Jehovah sent voices and hail, and the fire ran along the earth; and Jehovah caused hail to rain upon the land of Egypt; and there was hail, and fire with it, raining in the midst of the very grievous hail. And the hail smote all that was in the field, from man even to beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and broke down every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, was there no hail. And the flax and the barley were smitten; for the barley was a ripening ear, and the flax was a stalk. But the wheat and the spelt were not smitten, for these were covered (Exodus 9:18-35).

"The hail in Egypt" has a similar signification as the "hail" here in Revelation; for this reason many like things are said; as that "the hail and the fire ran together," and "the hail smote the herb of the field, and broke down the trees." Many like things are here mentioned, because the plagues of Egypt and the plagues of Revelation that came when the seven angels sounded have a similar signification; for the "Egyptians" signify merely natural men, the "sons of Israel" spiritual men, the "plagues of Egypt" the changes that precede the Last Judgment, the same as here in Revelation; for the drowning of Pharaoh and the Egyptians in the Red Sea represented the Last Judgment and damnation. This makes clear that here, too, "hail and fire" signify falsities and evils destroying the church. (But those things may be seen explained in Arcana Coelestia 7553-7619.)

[4] So "hail" and "coals" (or fire) have a like signification in David:

He smote their vine with hail, and their sycamore trees with a grievous hail; and He shut up their beast to the hail, and their herds to the coals. He sent among them the fierceness of His anger, an incursion of evil angels (Psalms 78:47-49).

Because "hail" signifies falsity destroying the truths of the church it is said "He smote their vine with hail, and their sycamore trees with a grievous hail," for "vine" signifies the spiritual truth of the church, and "sycamores" its natural truth; and as "coals" signifies the love of evil and its ardor for destroying the goods of the church, it is said, "He shut up their beast to the hail, and their herds to the coals," "beast" and "herds" signifying the evil affections or cupidities that arise from evil love, and "coals" the cupidity and ardor for destroying; "an incursion of evil angels" signifies the falsity of evil from hell.

[5] In the same:

He gave them hail for their rain, a fire of flames in their land; and He smote their vine and their fig tree, and broke down the tree of their border (Psalms 105:32, 33).

This, too, is said of the "hail of Egypt" which signifies infernal falsity destroying the truths of the church; and the "vine" and the "fig tree" here also signify similar things as the "vine" and the "sycamore trees" above, namely, the "vine" spiritual truth, and the "fig tree" natural truth, each belonging to the church; and "tree" signifies the perceptions and knowledges of truth and good.

[6] "Hail" has a similar signification in Joshua, when Joshua fought against the five kings of the Amorites, of which it is said:

It came to pass when the kings fled before Israel, and they were in the going down to Beth-horon, that Jehovah cast down great hailstones from heaven upon them unto Azekah; and more died from the hailstones than the sons of Israel slew with the sword (Joshua 10:11).

As the histories of the Word, the same as the prophecies, are representative and contain an internal sense, therefore also does this that is related of the five kings of the Amorites and the battle of the sons of Israel with them; for the "nations" that were driven out of the land of Canaan signified the evil who are to be cast out of the Lord's kingdom, and the "sons of Israel" signified those to whom it would be granted to possess the kingdom, for the "land of Canaan" signified heaven and the church, thus the Lord's kingdom; thence the "five kings of the Amorites" signified those who are in the falsities of evil and who wish to destroy the truths of the good of the church; this is why they were slain by "hailstones out of heaven," that is, were destroyed and perished by their own falsities of evil; for the evil themselves perish in consequence of their evils and falsities, with which they wish to destroy the truths and goods of the church.

[7] In David:

At the brightness before Him His clouds passed, with hail and coals of fire. Jehovah thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered His voice, hail and coals of fire. And He sent forth His arrows and scattered them, and many lightnings and discomfited them (Psalms 18:12-14).

Here "hail and fire" have a similar signification as the "hail and fire" in this passage in Revelation, namely, falsities and evils destroying the truths and goods of the church. It is said that such things are from Jehovah, because Divine truth coming down out of heaven is changed with the evil into infernal falsities, as has been said above; and from this change there spring forth many appearances such as the fall of hail and fire; and yet these things are not out of heaven from the Lord, but from those who are in the falsities of evil, who turn the influx of Divine truth and good into the falsity of evil. It has been granted me to perceive these changes, when Divine truth flowed down out of heaven into some hell. On the way it was successively turned into the falsity of evil, like that which was with them; just as it is with the sun's heat when it falls into dung heaps, or the sun's light when it falls into subjects that turn its rays into horrid colors; or when the sun's light and heat produce in fetid marshy lands noxious plants that nourish serpents, while in good lands they produce trees and grasses that nourish men and useful beasts. The cause that such effects are produced in putrid land is not the light and heat of the sun, but the lands themselves which are such, and yet these effects may be ascribed to the sun's fire and heat. From this it can be seen what the origin is of the appearances of hail and fire in the spiritual world, and why it is said that "Jehovah causes them to rain," when yet there is nothing from Jehovah but what is good; and when Jehovah, that is, the Lord, renders the influx powerful, it is not that He may destroy the evil but that He may rescue and protect the good, for He thus conjoins the good to Himself more closely and interiorly, and thus they are separated from the evil, and the evil perish; for if the evil were not separated the good would perish and the angelic heaven would fall to ruin.

[8] "Hail" and "the rain of hail" have a similar signification in the following passages. In Isaiah:

Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim. Behold, the Lord strong and mighty, as an inundation of hail, as a tempest of slaughter (Isaiah 28:1, 2).

In the same:

The hail shall overthrow the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place (Isaiah 28:17).

In the same:

Then Jehovah shall cause His glorious voice to be heard, and shall cause His resting arm to be seen in the indignation of anger, and in the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering and inundation, and with hailstones (Isaiah 30:30).

In the same:

It shall hail until the forest shall sink down and the city be laid low in lowliness (Isaiah 32:19).

In Ezekiel:

And I will plead with Gog with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him an overflowing rain, and hailstones, fire and brimstone (Job 38:22).

In Revelation:

Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of the Covenant; and there were lightnings and voices and thunders and an earthquake and great hail (Revelation 11:19).

And again:

And a great hail as of a talent-weight cometh down out of heaven upon men; and the men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for the plague thereof was exceeding great (Revelation 16:21).

[9] So those who are in falsities of evil are called "hailstones" in Ezekiel:

Say unto them that daub on what is unfit, that it shall fall; there shall come an overflowing rain, in which ye, O great hailstones, shall fall (Ezekiel 13:11).

Here "them that daub on what is unfit" signify those who confirm falsities to make them appear outwardly as truths; such are called "hailstones" because they thus destroy truths; the dispersion of such falsities is signified by "an overflowing rain. "

[10] In Job:

Hast thou come to the treasuries of the snow, and hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail, which I keep back against the time of battle and war, which is the way in which light is diffused? (Job 38:22-24).

Job is asked by Jehovah about many things, whether he knows them, and the things he is asked about signify such things as belong to heaven and the church; and "Hast thou come to the treasuries of the snow, and hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail?" signifies whether he knows why truth is taken away and is destroyed by the falsities of evil, which in the spiritual world appears like a fall of snow and hail out of the sky there. That there are such appearances when the evil are to be dispersed is signified by "which I keep back against the time of battle and war;" thence it is added, "which is the way in which light is diffused?" This signifies the process by which truth is insinuated, "light" meaning truth.

[11] "Hail" signifies the falsity of evil, and "a storm of hail" the destruction of truth, because hail in itself is cold and cannot bear the heat of heaven, and "coldness" signifies the deprivation of the good of love; the good of love is the heat in the angelic heaven (See the work on Heaven and Hell 126-140). Another reason for this meaning is that "stones" in the Word signify truth, and in the contrary sense falsities, and great hail appears to be made up of stones cast down out of heaven, which destroy the crops and herbs of the field, as well as the smaller animals as stones would, and this is why they are called "hailstones." (That "stones" signify in the Word truths, and in the contrary sense falsities, see Arcana Coelestia 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8609, 10376)

1038. That 'this is the sign of the covenant' means a token of the Lord's presence in charity is clear from the meaning of 'a covenant' and of 'the sign of a covenant'. That the covenant means the Lord's presence in charity has been shown already at Chapter 6:18, and above at verse 9 of the present chapter; and that a covenant is the Lord's presence in love and charity is clear from the very nature of a covenant. The purpose of any covenant is conjunction, that is to say, its purpose is that people may live together in friendship or in love. This also is why marriage is called a covenant. The Lord's conjunction with man does not exist except in love and charity, for the Lord is love itself and mercy. He wills to save everyone and by His mighty power to draw them towards heaven, that is, towards Himself. From this anyone may know and conclude that it is impossible for anybody to be joined to the Lord except by means of that which He Himself is, that is, except by acting like Him, or becoming one with Him - that is to say, by loving the Lord in return, and loving the neighbour as oneself. In this way alone is conjunction brought about; this constitutes the very essence of a covenant. When conjunction results from this, it quite plainly follows that the Lord is present. The Lord is indeed present with each individual, but that presence is closer or more remote, all depending on how near the person is to love or distant from it.

[2] Since 'the covenant' is the conjunction of the Lord with man by means of love, or what amounts to the same, the Lord's presence with man in love and charity, the covenant itself is called in the Word 'a covenant of peace', for 'peace' means the Lord's kingdom, and the Lord's kingdom consists in mutual love, in which alone peace resides, as is said in Isaiah,

The mountains will depart and the hills be removed, but My mercy will not depart from you, and the covenant of My peace will not be removed, said Jehovah, the One who takes pity on you. Isaiah 54:10.

Here mercy, which is an attribute of love, is called 'a covenant of peace'.

In Ezekiel,

I will raise up over them one shepherd, and He will pasture them - My servant David. He will pasture them and He will be a shepherd to them. And I will make with them a covenant of peace. Ezekiel 34:23, 25.

Here 'David' is plainly used to mean the Lord, and His presence with a regenerate person is described by the words 'He will pasture them'.

[3] In the same prophet,

My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. And I will make with them a covenant of peace; it will be an eternal covenant with them. And I will bless ¹ them and cause them to multiply, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst for evermore. And I will be their God and they will be My people. Ezekiel 37:14, 16-17.

Here similarly the Lord is meant by David. Love is meant by the 'sanctuary in their midst', the Lord's presence and conjunction in love by the promise that 'He will be their God, and they will be His people', which is called 'a covenant of peace' and 'an eternal covenant'.

In Malachi,

You will know that I have sent this command to you, that it may be My covenant with Levi, said Jehovah Zebaoth. My covenant was with him, [a covenant] of life ² and peace, and I have given them to him in fear, and he will fear Me. Malachi 2:4-5.

In the highest sense 'Levi' means the Lord, and from this the person who has love and charity; and this being so 'a covenant of life' and peace with Levi' means in love and charity.

[4] In Moses, in reference to Phinehas,

Behold, I am giving to him My covenant of peace, and it will be to him and his seed after him a covenant of eternal priesthood. Numbers 25:12-13.

Here 'Phinehas' is not used to mean Phinehas but the priesthood which he represented and which means love and what belongs to love, as does the entire priesthood of that Church. Everyone knows that the priesthood did not remain with Phinehas for ever.

In the same author,

Jehovah your God is God Himself, a faithful God who keeps a covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and who keep His commandments, to the thousandth generation. Deuteronomy 7:9, 12.

Here the Lord's presence with man in love is clearly meant by 'the covenant', for it is said to be 'with those who love Him and keep His commandments'.

[5] Because the covenant is the conjunction of the Lord with man by means of love, it follows that it is also achieved by means of all the things allied to love, which are the truths of faith and are called commandments. For all the commandments, indeed the Law and the Prophets, are based on that single law that men ought to love the Lord above all things and the neighbour as themselves. This is clear from the Lord's words in Matthew 22:35-40; Mark 12:28-34. This is also why the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written are called 'the tablets of the covenant'. Since a covenant or conjunction is achieved by means of the laws or commandments of love it was also achieved by means of the social laws introduced by the Lord into the Jewish Church, which are called 'testimonies', as well as by the religious observances commanded by the Lord, which are called 'statutes'. All of these are called [laws] of the covenant because they have regard to love and charity.

As is said of King Josiah,

The king stood upon the pillar, and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep His commandments, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all his heart, and all his soul, to establish the words of the covenant. 2 Kings 23:3.

[6] From these references it is now clear what a covenant is, and that the covenant is internal, for the conjunction of the Lord with man is achieved by means of internal things, and never by means of external things separated from internal. External things are merely images and representatives of those that are internal, as the action of a person is an image representative of his thought and will, and as a charitable act is an image representative of charity present within, in intention and mind. Thus all the religious observances of the Jewish Church were images representative of the Lord, and so of love and charity, and of all things deriving from these. It is by means of the internal things of a person therefore that the covenant or conjunction is achieved. External things are no more than signs of the covenant, which also is what they are called. That internal things are the means by which the covenant or conjunction is achieved is quite clear, as in Jeremiah,

Behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, when I will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers, for they rendered My covenant invalid. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days: I will put My law in the midst of them and will write it on their hearts. Jeremiah 31:31-33.

This refers to a new Church. It is plainly stated that the covenant itself is achieved by means of internal things, and indeed within conscience on which the Law is written, the whole of which Law, as stated, is that of love.

[7] That external things do not constitute the covenant unless internal things are joined to them and so through that union act as one and the same cause, but are merely 'signs of the covenant' by means of which, as by representative images, the Lord might be called to mind, is clear from the fact that the sabbath and circumcision are called 'signs' of the covenant. That the sabbath is so called is clear in Moses,

The children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout their generations, an eternal covenant. Between Me and the children of Israel this is a sign eternally. Exodus 31:16-17.

And that circumcision is called 'a sign of the covenant' is clear in the same author,

This is My covenant which you shall keep between Me and you and your seed after you. Every male among you is to be circumcised. And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. Genesis 17:10-11.

For the same reason also blood is called 'the blood of the covenant', Exodus 24:7-8.

[8] The chief reason why external religious ceremonies were called signs of the covenant was so that from them people might call interior things to mind, that is, the things meant by them. All the religious observances of the Jewish Church were nothing else. For this reason they were also called signs that would serve to remind the people of interior things - for example, the practice of binding the chief commandment on the hand and of wearing frontlets, as stated in Moses,

You shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. And you shall bind these words as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. Deuteronomy 6:5, 8; 11:13, 18.

Because it means power 'the hand' here means the will, for power is an attribute of the will; while 'frontlets between the eyes' means the understanding. Thus 'a sign' means calling to mind the chief commandment, or epitome of the Law, that it may be constantly in the will and constantly in the thought, that is, that the Lord and love may be present within the whole will and the whole thought. Such is the presence of the Lord and from Him of mutual love existing with angels. That constant presence and the nature of it will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed later on. And in like manner here the statement, 'This is the sign of the covenant which I give between Me and you; I have given My bow in the cloud, and it will be for a sign of the covenant', means no other sign than a token of the Lord's presence in charity, and so man's remembrance of Him. But in what way the bow in the cloud provides that token and so remembrance will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed later on.

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