316. "And do not harm the oil and the wine." This symbolizes the Lord's provision that they not violate and profane the goods and truths concealed inwardly in the Word.

Oil symbolizes the goodness of love, and wine the truth springing from that goodness. Thus the oil here symbolizes sacred goodness, and the wine sacred truth. The Lord's provision that these not be violated and profaned is symbolized by the people's being told not to harm them. For this instruction came from the midst of the four living creatures, thus from the Lord (no. 314). Whatever the Lord says He also provides. That this is something He provides may be seen in nos. 314 and 255 above.

That oil symbolizes the goodness of love - this we will see in nos. 778, 779 below.

That wine symbolizes the truth springing from that goodness is clear from the following passages:

Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes..., buy wine and milk without money... (Isaiah 55:1)

It shall come to pass in that day that the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills flow with milk... (Joel 3:18, cf. Amos 9:13-14)

Joy is taken away... from Carmel, and in the vineyards there will be no singing... No treaders will tread out wine in the presses; I have made their shouting cease. (Isaiah 16:10, cf. Jeremiah 48:32-33)

Carmel symbolizes the spiritual church, because it had vineyards there.

[2] ...wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth... The vinedressers have wailed... (Joel 1:5, 10-11)

Almost the same images occur in Hosea 9:2-3.

He washes his clothing in wine, and His vesture in the blood of grapes. His eyes are red with wine... (Genesis 49:11-12)

The subject is the Lord, and the wine symbolizes Divine truth. That is why the Lord instituted the Holy Supper, in which the bread symbolizes the Lord in respect to Divine good, and the wine the Lord in respect to Divine truth; and in their recipients the bread symbolizes a sacred goodness, and the wine sacred truth, received from the Lord. Therefore He said,

I say to you, that I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you... in My Father's kingdom. (Matthew 26:29, cf. Luke 22:18)

Because bread and wine have these symbolic meanings, so too Melchizedek, going to meet Abram, brought out bread and wine, he being a priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram (Genesis 14:18-19).

[3] The grain offering and drink offering used in sacrifices had similar symbolic meanings, as described in Exodus 29:40, Leviticus 23:12-13, 18-19ff. The grain offering was an offering of wheat flour, thus taking the place of bread, and the drink offering was an offering of wine.

It can be seen from this what these words of the Lord symbolize:

Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins... But they put the... wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved. (Matthew 9:17, cf. Luke 5:37-38)

New wine is the Divine truth in the New Testament, thus in the New Church, and the old wine is the Divine truth in the Old Testament, thus in the old church.

A similar idea is symbolized by these words of the Lord at the wedding in Cana of Galilee:

Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now! (John 2:1-10)

[4] Something similar is symbolized by the wine in the Lord's parable concerning the man wounded by thieves, on whose wound the Samaritan poured oil and wine (Luke 10:33-34); for the man wounded by thieves means people whom the Jews wounded spiritually by evils and falsities, and to whom the Samaritan brought aid by pouring oil and wine on their wounds, that is, by teaching them goodness and truth, and as far as possible, healing them.

Sacred truth is symbolized by wine and new wine also elsewhere in the Word, as in Isaiah 1:21-22; 25:6; 36:17.

[5] Because of this, a vineyard in the Word symbolizes a church that possesses truths from the Lord.

That wine symbolizes sacred truth can be seen also from its opposite meaning, in which it symbolizes truth falsified and profaned, as in the following places:

Harlotry, wine, and new wine have taken hold of the heart... Their wine is gone, they commit harlotry continually. (Hosea 4:11, 18)

Harlotry symbolizes the falsification of truth, and so, too, do the wine and new wine here.

...in the hand of Jehovah a cup, and He mixed it with wine; He filled it with the mixture and poured it out, and its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth, sucking, drink. (Psalms 75:8)

Babylon was a golden cup in Jehovah's hand, that made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they are deranged. (Jeremiah 51:7)

Babylon has fallen..., because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication... If anyone worships the beast..., he shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed with undiluted wine in the cup of the wrath (of God). (Revelation 14:8-10)

(Babylon has made) all the nations (drink) of the wine... of her fornication. (Revelation 18:3)

...great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath. (Revelation 16:19)

...the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. (Revelation 17:1-2)

[6] The wine that Belshazzar, the king of Babylon, and his lords and wives and concubines drank from the vessels of the Temple in Jerusalem, while they praised the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone (Daniel 5:2-4) - that wine symbolized nothing else but the sacred truth of the Word and church profaned, which is why the writing then appeared on the wall, and the king that very night was slain (Daniel 5:25, 30)

Wine symbolizes truth falsified also in Isaiah 5:11-12, 21-22; 28:1, 3, 7; 29:9; 56:11-12.

The drink offering that they poured out as an offering to idols has the same symbolic meaning in Isaiah 65:11; 57:6; Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17-19; Ezekiel 20:28; Deuteronomy 32:38.

It is owing to its correspondence that wine symbolizes sacred truth, and in an opposite sense, truth profaned. For when a person reads "wine" in the Word, angels - who apprehend everything spiritually - have just this interpretation of it. Such is the correspondence between the natural thoughts of people and the spiritual thoughts of angels. The case is the same with the wine in the Holy Supper. That is why the Holy Supper occasions an introduction into heaven (no. 224 at the end).

295. CHAPTER 6

1. Now I saw when the Lamb opened the first of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as though with a voice of thunder, "Come and see."

2. And I looked, and behold, a white horse. And he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

3. When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come and see."

4. And another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, so that people might kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.

5. When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come and see." So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a scale in his hand.

6. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine."

7. When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come and see."

8. So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with famine, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.

9. When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.

10. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, who are holy and true, will You not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"

11. Then white robes were given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until the number of both their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was complete.

12. Then I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became as black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.

13. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.

14. Then the sky departed like a book rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.

15. And the kings of the earth and the great men, the rich men and the commanders, and the powerful, and every slave and every freeman, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains,

16. and they said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!

17. For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING

The Contents of the Whole Chapter

This describes the examination of those people on whom the Last Judgment would fall, and they were examined to see what understanding of the Word they had among them, and so what their state of life was. Some were found to possess truths springing from goodness (verses 1, 2); some to be without any goodness (verses 3, 4); some to have a contempt for the truth (verses 5, 6); and some to be utterly devastated and purged as regards both goodness and truth (verses 7, 8).

Described, too, is the state of people who, because of the evil, were protected by the Lord in a lower earth, who would be set free at the time of the Last Judgment (verses 9-11).

Also the state of people who were caught up in evils and so in falsities - what it would be like on the day of the Last Judgment (verses 12-17).

The Contents of the Individual Verses:

THE EXPOSITION

Now I saw when the Lamb opened the first of the seals. (6:1) This symbolizes an examination by the Lord of all those people on whom the Last Judgment would fall, as to their understanding of the Word and thus their states of life.

This is the symbolic meaning because there follows next in order an examination of all the people on whom the Last Judgment would fall as to their states of life, and this by the Lord in accordance with the Word. Consequently this is what is symbolically meant by the Lamb's opening the seals of the book.

To be shown that to open the book and loose its seals means, symbolically, to know the states of life of all people and to judge each one according to his state, see nos. 259, 265-267, 273, 274 above.