377. Verses 7-8. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth animal saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a pale horse; and he that sat upon him his name was Death, and hell followed with him. And there was given unto them power over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with famine, and with death, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

7. "And when he had opened the fourth seal," signifies prediction still further manifested (n. 378); "I heard the voice of the fourth animal saying," signifies out of the inmost heaven from the Lord. n. 379); "Come and see," signifies attention and perception (n. 380).

8. "And I saw, and behold a pale horse," signifies the understanding of the Word then become nought in consequence of evils of life and then of falsities therefrom n. 381; "and he that sat upon him," signifies the Word (n. 382); "his name was Death, and hell followed with him," signifies eternal damnation (n. 383); "and there was given unto them power over the fourth part of the earth, to kill," signifies the loss of every good and thence of every truth from the Word, and in consequence, in the doctrine of their church from the Word n. 384; "with sword," signifies by falsity (n. 385); "and with famine," signifies by the loss, lack, and ignorance of the knowledges of truth and good (n. 386); "and with death," signifies the consequent extinction of spiritual life (n. 387); "and by the wild beasts of the earth," signifies the evils of life or lusts and falsities therefrom springing from the love of self and of the world, which devastate all things of the church with man n. 388.

920. And cast it into the great wine-press of the anger of God, signifies the falsification of the Word as to all spiritual truth, and consequent damnation, because there is no spiritual good, which is charity. This is evident from the signification of "wine-press" as being the bringing forth of truth from good; for "clusters" and "grapes," which were put into the wine-press, signify spiritual good, and "wine" which is produced, signifies truth from that good (See above, n. 220, 376). As "the wine-press" signifies the bringing forth of truth from spiritual good, so in the contrary sense it signifies the bringing forth of falsity from evil. For in like manner as good brings forth truth, so evil opposite to good, brings forth falsity. "Wine-press" signifies here the falsification of the Word as to all spiritual truth, because it is called "the great wine-press of the anger of God," and "the anger of God" signifies man's contempt for truth and good and his rejection of it, and the full rejection of it is the falsification of the sense of the letter of the Word even to the destruction of spiritual truth, that is, of the Divine truth which is in heaven. That this falsification closes heaven may be seen n. 888. Moreover, those who are in evil (and all are in evil who are not in the good of charity) cannot do otherwise than bring forth falsities; for as good brings forth truths so evil brings forth falsities. "The great wine-press of the anger of God" signifies also damnation, because this is a consequence, and because the terms "anger of God" and "great wine-press" are used. That this is what a "wine-press" signifies will be confirmed from the Word in the next article.

[2] Here a few words shall be said about the bringing forth of truth from good, and also of falsity from evil, which is signified by "wine-press" in the spiritual sense. The origin and cause of such bringing forth is that all good is from love, and that which is loved gives delight; and as delight is grateful and pleasing, that which is of the love man thinks about with delight and also confirms. And since love with its delight constitutes the life of man, when man thinks from love and its delight he thinks from self and from his life. That this is so can be clearly seen from men after death, when they have become spirits; for then, when they think from self, they can think in no other way than from their love, since their whole life is their love. Since, therefore, good is from love and truth is from thought, it is clear how truth is brought forth from good.

[3] The same that has been said of good and truth can be said of the will and understanding; for as all good is from the love it is from the will, and as all truth from good is from the thought it is from the understanding; for the will loves, and the understanding thinks. The same that has been said of good and truth can be said of heat and light; for spiritual heat is the love that enkindles the will, and the spiritual light is the truth that enlightens the understanding. For all love, which is from the will, presents an effigy of itself in the light of the understanding, where it recognizes itself and wishes to see itself, because it loves itself; and this is why man thinks what he loves.

[4] The same that has been said of the bringing forth of truth from good can be said of the bringing forth of falsity from evil. For all evil is from the love, and therefore it loves falsity; and evil is from the will, and falsity is from the thought from evil. This has been said because "wine-press" signifies in the spiritual sense the bringing forth of truth from good, also the bringing forth of falsity from evil. "The great wine-press of the anger of God" signifies also the falsification of the word, because the falsification of the Word is the bringing forth of falsity from evil; for evil is what falsifies, since evil loves the idea of itself in the thought, and the thought, that it may persuade, wishes to find confirmation of the evil in the Word.