Apocalypse Explained # 199
199. And I will not blot out his name out of the book of life. That this signifies that they will be in heaven because they are fitted for it is evident from the signification of name, as denoting the quality of the state of man's life (see above, n. 148) and from the signification of the book of life, as denoting heaven, concerning which we shall speak presently. Hence, not to blot their name out of the book of life signifies that they will be in heaven because their state as to love and faith is heavenly, thus because they are fitted for heaven. The reason why heaven is signified by the book of life is, that a man who is in love and faith to the Lord is a heaven in its least form, and this heaven corresponds to heaven in the greatest form: therefore he who has heaven in himself, also comes into heaven, for he is fitted for it. (That there is such a correspondence, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 51-58, 73-77, 87-102; and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 230-236.) Hence it is, that the book of life is that in man which corresponds to the heaven in which he is; and because the former remains with him to eternity, if he becomes spiritual by the knowledges of truth and good applied to life in the world, therefore, it is here said, "I will not blot out his name from the book of life. In the world, indeed, it may be blotted out, if a man does not remain spiritual even unto the end of his life; but if he does remain spiritual it cannot be blotted out, because he is conjoined to the Lord by love and faith; and conjunction with the Lord, such as took place in the world, remains with man after death.
From these considerations it is evident, that by the book of life is meant that from the Lord which is inscribed on a man's spirit, that is, which is inscribed on his heart and soul, or, what is the same, on his love and faith; and that which is inscribed by the Lord on man, is heaven.
[2] It is therefore evident what is meant by the book of life in the following passages; in Daniel:
"The Ancient of days did sit, and the books were opened" (7:9, 10).
Again:
"The people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book" (12:1).
In David:
"Let them be blotted out of the book of lives, and not be written with the righteous" (Psalms 69:28).
In Moses:
Moses said, "Blot me, I pray thee, out of the book which thou hast written. And Jehovah said, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book" (Exodus 32:32, 33).
In the Apocalypse:
"All shall worship the beast, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb" (13:8; 17:8).
In another place:
"And the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And if any one was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire" (Apoc. 20:12, 13, 15).
Again:
"And there shall not enter into the New Jerusalem any but those that are written in the Lamb's book of life" (Apoc. 21:27).
In David:
"My bone was not hid from thee when I was made in secret. Upon thy book all my days were written in which they were formed: not one of them is wanting" (Psalms 139:15, 16).
By all the days being written, are meant all the states of man's life. (That all the separate things which he has thought, willed, spoken and done, yea, which he has seen and heard, are with man in his spirit as if inscribed therein, so that nothing whatever is wanting, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 462, 463, and in Arcana Coelestia, 2469-2494, 7398; and that this is the book of man's life, 2474, 9386, 9841, 10505; and likewise, n. 5212, 8067, 9334, 9723, 9841.)
Heaven and Hell # 73
73. THEREFORE EVERY ANGEL IS IN A COMPLETE HUMAN FORM.
In the two preceding chapters it has been shown that heaven in its whole complex, and likewise each society in heaven, reflects a single man. From the sequence of reasons there set forth it follows that this is equally true of each angel. As heaven is a man in largest form, and a society of heaven in a less form, so is an angel in least. For in the most perfect form, such as the form of heaven is, there is a likeness of the whole in the part and of the part in the whole. This is so for the reason that heaven is a common sharing, for it shares all it has with each one, and each one receives all he has from that sharing. Because an angel is thus a recipient he is a heaven in least form, as shown above in its chapter; and a man also, so far as he receives heaven, is a recipient, a heaven, and an angel (see above, 57). This is thus described in the Apocalypse:-
He measured the wall of the holy Jerusalem, a hundred and forty and four cubits, the measure of a man, which is that of an angel (Apocalypse 21:17).
"Jerusalem" means here the Lord's church, and in a more eminent sense, heaven; 1 the "wall" means truth, which is a defence against the assault of falsities and evils; 2 "a hundred and forty and four" means all goods and truths in the complex; 3 "measure" means what a thing is, 4 a "man" means one in whom are goods and truths in general and in particular, thus in whom is heaven. And as it is from this that an angel is a man, it is said "the measure of a man, which is that of an angel." This is the spiritual meaning of these words. Without that meaning how could it be seen that "the wall of the Holy Jerusalem" is "the measure of a man, which is that of an angel?" 5
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. [Swedenborg's footnote] "Jerusalem" means the church (Arcana Coelestia 402, 3654, 9166).
2. [Swedenborg's footnote] The "wall" means truth defending against the assault of falsities and evils (6419).
3. [Swedenborg's footnote] "Twelve" means all truths and goods in the complex (577, 2089, 2129-2130, 3272, 3858, 3913).
Likewise "seventy-two," and "a hundred and forty-four," since this comes from twelve multiplied into itself (7973).
All numbers in the Word signify things (482, 487, 647-648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 5265).
Multiplied numbers have a like signification as the simple numbers from which they arise by multiplication (5291, 5335, 5708, 7973).
4. [Swedenborg's footnote] "Measure" in the Word signifies the quality of a thing in respect to truth and good (3104, 9603).
5. [Swedenborg's footnote] In regard to the spiritual or internal sense of the Word see the explanation of The White Horse in the Apocalypse, and the Appendix to The Heavenly Doctrine.
