3901. The reason why the final state of the Church is compared to eagles gathered together where there is a carcass or body is that 'eagles' means man's rational ideas. When used in reference to forms of good 'eagles' means true rational ideas, but when used in reference to forms of evil 'eagles' means false rational ideas, or reasonings. 'Birds' in general means a person's thoughts, and in both the genuine and the contrary senses, 40, 745, 776, 866, 991, 3219; and each species has some individual meaning, 'eagles' meaning rational ideas because they are high-flyers and sharp-sighted. This meaning may be seen from many places in the Word, from which let the following be brought forward to confirm it. First, places where true rational ideas are meant: in Moses,

Jehovah found His people [Jacob] in a wilderness land and in the emptiness, the howling, the lonely place He encompassed him, instructed him, and kept him as the pupil of His eye. As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreads out its wings, takes one, carries it on its wings. Deuteronomy 32:10-11.

That which is described here and compared to the eagle is instruction in the truths and goods of faith. The actual process up to the point when a person becomes rational and spiritual is what this description and comparison contains. All comparisons in the Word are made by means of meaningful signs, in this case by 'the eagle', which means the rational.

[2] In the same author,

Jehovah said to Moses, You have seen the things which I did to the Egyptians, and I bore you on eagles' wings so that I might bring you to Myself. Exodus 19:3-4.

Here the meaning is similar. In Isaiah,

Those who await Jehovah will be renewed with strength; they will mount up with strong wings like eagles; they will run and not be weary, they will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31.

'Being renewed with strength' stands for growth in the willing of good, 'mounting up with strong wings like eagles' for growth in the understanding of truth, and so growth of the rational. Here, as elsewhere, dual expressions are used to present the subject, the first of a pair involving good which belongs to the will, the second truth which belongs to the understanding. 'Running and not being weary' and 'walking and not fainting' are similar dual expressions.

[3] In Ezekiel,

Speak a parable about the house of Israel, and say, Thus said the Lord Jehovih, A great eagle with long pinions, full of feathers, in its embroidery, came on Lebanon and took a twig of the cedar. He carried it into a land of trade, he placed it in a city of perfumers. It sprouted and became a spreading vine. There was another great eagle with great wings and full of feathers, towards which, behold, this vine directed its roots, and sent out its branches towards it to water it from the beds of its young plants in a good field, by many waters. But it will be laid waste. He sent his ambassadors to Egypt that they might give him horses and many people. Ezekiel 17:2-9, 15.

The eagle mentioned first stands for the rational enlightened by the Divine, the eagle mentioned second for the rational originating in the proprium, subsequently perverted by means of reasonings based on sensory evidence and factual knowledge - 'Egypt' standing for factual knowledge, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, and 'horses' for understanding resulting from all this, 2761, 2762, 3217.

[4] In Daniel,

A vision of Daniel. Four beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion, but had eagle's wings. I watched it until its wings were torn away and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on its feet like a human being; and the heart of a human being was given to it. Daniel 7:3-4.

That which is described by 'a lion which had eagle's wings' is the first state of the Church, 'eagle's wings' in this case meaning rational ideas originating in the proprium. And when these had been removed, rational ideas and desires in the will which had a Divine origin were given to it. These are meant by the lifting up of the eagle from the ground and the standing of it on its feet like a human being, and the gift to it of the heart of a human being.

[5] In Ezekiel,

As for the likeness of the faces of the four living creatures or cherubs, each of the four had the face of a human being, and the face of a lion on the right side; and each of the four the face of an ox on the left side; and each of the four had the face of an eagle. Ezekiel 1:10.

Their wheels were called Galgal; and each one had four faces - the first face was the face of a cherub, the second face the face of a human being, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. Ezekiel 10:13-14.

In John,

Around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature was like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a human being, the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. Revelation 4:7.

Clearly, those living creatures that were seen mean Divine arcana, as consequently does the likeness of their faces. But exactly which arcana are meant cannot be known unless one knows what 'lion', 'calf', 'human being', and 'eagle' mean in the internal sense. It is evident that 'the face of an eagle' means vigilance and therefore providence, for the cherubs who were represented by the living creatures in Ezekiel mean the Lord's providence which guards against anyone entering the mysteries of faith from himself and his own rationality as the starting point, see 308. This also shows that when 'an eagle' is used in reference to a human being the rational is meant in the internal sense. It has this meaning because an eagle is a high-flyer and from its more exalted position has a wide view of things below.

[6] In Job,

Is it through your intelligence that the hawk flies up and spreads its wings towards the south? Is it at your command ¹ that the eagle lifts itself up and makes its nest up high? Job 39:26-27.

In this verse it is evident that 'the eagle' means reason which is an attribute of intelligence. This was what 'eagle' meant in the Ancient Church, for the Book of Job is a book of the Ancient Church, 3540 (end). In fact the writing of almost all the books of that period involved the use of meaningful signs, but with the passage of time meaningful signs have been so eclipsed that it is not even known that 'birds' in general means thoughts, even though these are referred to many times in the Word and in those places quite clearly is meant something different from birds.

[7] As regards 'the eagle' in the contrary sense meaning rational ideas that are not true, and so are false, this is evident from the following places: In Moses,

Jehovah will raise up above you a nation from far away, from the end of the earth, as an eagle flies, a nation whose language you do not understand, a hard-faced nation. Deuteronomy 28:49-50.

In Jeremiah,

Behold, he comes up [like] clouds, and his chariots like a whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we have been laid waste! Jeremiah 4:13.

In the same prophet,

Your bragging has deceived you, and the pride of your heart, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill; because, like the eagle, you have made your nest up high, I will cast you down from there. Behold, he mounts up and flies like an eagle, and spreads his wings over Bozrah; and the heart of the powerful men of Edom has become on that day like the heart of a woman in distress. Jeremiah 49:16, 22.

In the same prophet,

Our pursuers were swifter than eagles; they pursued us over the mountains, they laid in wait for us in the wilderness. Lamentations 4:19.

In Micah,

Make yourself bald, and shave your head for the children of your delight; extend your baldness like an eagle, for they have departed from you. Micah 1:16.

In Obadiah,

If you raise yourself up like the eagle, and if you place your nest among the stars, I will bring you down from there. Obad. verse 4.

In Habakkuk,

I am rousing the Chaldeans, a bitter and headlong nation, marching into the breadths of the earth, to inherit habitations that are not its own. Its horses are swifter than leopards. ² Its horsemen will come from afar. They will fly in like an eagle hastening to devour. Habakkuk 1:6, 8.

[8] In all these places 'eagles' means falsity that has been introduced through reasonings - the delusions of the senses and external appearances being the source of that falsity. 'The Chaldeans' referred to in the last of the Prophets quoted means people who outwardly are holy but inwardly are under the influence of falsity, see 1368, and these like Babel are those who lay waste the Church, 1367. 'The breadths of the earth' means truths (the vastation of which is meant by 'marching into the breadths of the earth') see 3433, 3434, and 'horses' their intellectual concepts, which are similar, 2761, 2762, 3217. What is meant by 'an eagle hastening to devour' is clear from all this, namely a hastening to make man desolate of truths, for the desolation of the Church is the subject in these verses. Comparisons are made with eagles, but as has been stated, comparisons in the Word are made by means of meaningful signs. From all this one may now see what is meant by the comparison with the eagles which will be gathered together where the carcass is.

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683. Saying, The kingdoms of the world are become our Lord's and His Christ's, signifies all things in the heavens and on earth subject to the Lord, when the evil have been separated from the good, and that then the Divine good and Divine truth proceeding from the Lord are clearly received. This is evident from the signification of "the kingdoms of the world when they have become the Lord's," as being that the Divine proceeding from the Lord is received in love and faith (of which presently); also from the signification of "the Lord and His Christ," as being the Lord in relation to the Divine good of the Divine love, and in relation to the Divine truth proceeding from that love. That the Lord is called "Lord" from Divine good, and "Christ" from Divine truth, will be seen below.

[2] That "the kingdom of the Lord" means the reception of Divine good and Divine truth, thus with those who receive, can be seen from this, that with the angels of heaven and with the men of the church the Lord reigns through that which proceeds from Him, which is commonly called Divine good and Divine truth, likewise justice and judgment, also love and faith. It is through these that the Lord reigns, consequently these are strictly the Lord's kingdom with those who receive them; for when these reign with angels and men then the Lord Himself reigns, for the things that proceed from Him are Himself. The Lord in heaven is no other than the Divine proceeding.

[3] The Lord indeed not only rules those that receive Divine celestial and spiritual things from Him, but also those that do not receive, as all who are in hell; still it cannot be said that the Lord's kingdom is in hell, since those there are altogether unwilling to be ruled by the Divine that proceeds and according to the laws of its order; they even deny the Lord and turn themselves away from Him; yet the Lord does rule them, not like subjects and citizens of His kingdom, but like those who are refractory and rebellious, holding them in bonds that they may not do evil to one another, and especially to those who belong to His kingdom.

[4] That the Lord's kingdom is that which proceeds from Him and is received can be seen from passages in the Word where "the kingdom of God" is mentioned, as in the Lord's Prayer:

Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, as in heaven so also upon the earth (Matthew 6:10).

"Kingdom" evidently means here the reception of Divine good and Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, and in which the Lord is with the angels of heaven and the men of the church, for it is added, "Thy will be done, as in heaven so also upon the earth," and the will of God is done when these are received in heart and soul, that is, in love and faith.

[5] And elsewhere:

Seek ye first the kingdom of the heavens ¹ and His righteousness and all things shall be added to you (Matthew 6:33).

"The kingdom of the heavens" means in the spiritual sense Divine truth, and "righteousness" Divine good, therefore it is said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of the heavens and His righteousness." But in the highest sense "the kingdom of the heavens" means the Lord, since He is the all of His kingdom, and in the same sense "righteousness" signifies the Lord's merit. And as a man who is ruled by the Lord desires and loves only such things as are of the Lord, he is, unknown to himself, forever led to felicities; and this is why it is said that "all things shall be added to him," meaning that all things that tend to his salvation shall come to pass according to his desire.

[6] Since heaven is heaven from the reception of Divine truth from the Lord, likewise the church, so in a general sense heaven and the church are meant by "the kingdom of God" and "the kingdom of the heavens;" therefore those who receive Divine truth are called by the Lord "sons of the kingdom," in Matthew:

The field is the world, the seed are the sons of the kingdom, the tares are the sons of the evil one (Matthew 13:38).

It is evident that those who receive Divine truth are meant by "the sons of the kingdom," for it is said, "the seed are the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one," "seed" meaning Divine truth, and "tares" infernal falsity; such are called "sons" because in the spiritual sense of the Word "sons" signify truths, and in the contrary sense falsities (See above, n. 166).

[7] Moreover, "the kingdom of God" signifies the church in respect to truths from good, and also heaven (as may be seen above, n. 48; and "the kingdom of God" with man signifies to be in truths from good from the Lord, thus in wisdom, and consequently in the power to resist falsities and evils, therefore "to reign" belongs to the Lord alone (See also above, n. 333.

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