533. APOCALYPSE. CHAPTER 9.

1. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth; and there was given unto him the key of the pit of the abyss.

2. And he opened the pit of the abyss; and there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke ¹ of a great furnace; and the sun was darkened, and the air, by the smoke of the pit.

3. And out of the smoke there went forth locusts on the earth; and there was given unto them power as the scorpions of the earth have power.

4. And it was said to them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but the men only that have not the seal of God on their foreheads.

5. And it was given to them that they should not kill them, but that they should torment them five months; and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when it striketh a man.

6. And in those days shall men seek death and shall not find it; and they shall long to die and death shall flee from them.

7. And the likenesses of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for battle; and upon their heads as it were crowns like gold, and their faces as men's faces.

8. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as those of lions.

9. And they had breastplates as iron breastplates; and the voice of their wings was as the voice of chariots of many horses running into battle.

10. And they had tails like scorpions, and stings were in their tails; and their power was to hurt men five months.

11. And they had over them a king, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew Abaddon, and in Greek he hath the name Apollyon.

12. One woe is past; behold there come yet two woes after this.

13. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God.

14. Saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, Loose the four angels bound at the great river Euphrates.

15. And the four angels were loosed that had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, that they should kill the third part of men.

16. And the number of the armies of the horsemen was two myriads of myriads; and I heard the number of them.

17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those that sat on them, having breastplates fiery and hyacinthine and brimstone-like; and the heads of the horses as the beads of lions; and out of their mouths proceeded fire and smoke and brimstone.

18. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone that proceeded out of their mouths.

19. For their power was in their mouth, for their tails were like serpents and had heads, and with them do they hurt.

20. And the rest of men who were not killed in these plagues, and repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not adore demons and idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.

21. And repented not of their murders nor of their enchantments nor of their whoredoms nor of their thefts.

Poznámky pod čarou:

535. And I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth, signifies the knowledges of truth falsified, and thus turned into falsities. This is evident from the signification of "stars," as being the knowledges of good and truth (of which above, n. 72, 402); and from the signification of "gliding" and "falling from heaven," as being to perish; and the knowledges of truth perish when denied and when falsified, here when falsified; for this book does not treat of those who deny truths, but of those who falsify them. For those who deny truths are not among those who are in "the former heaven," and who are cast down therefrom into hell at the day of the Last Judgment, for such are cast down thither immediately after death. But in this book those who, for various reasons, falsify truths are treated of, for such made for themselves a heaven that was afterwards destroyed. Those falsify the knowledges of truth and good from the Word who acknowledge the Word but apply it to favor their loves and to favor principles that are from self-intelligence, thus they turn the truths of the Word into falsities, and thus the knowledges of good and truth with them perish. From this it can be seen that "a star from heaven fallen unto the earth" signifies that the knowledges of truth are falsified, and thus turned into falsities (See above, n. 517).

[2] "To fall down" or "to fall from heaven unto the earth" signifies to perish, that is, to have no longer any place in heaven but to be cast down therefrom and conjoined with hell, as is evident from what follows, where it is said "there was given unto him the key of the pit of the abyss, and he opened it," "the pit of the abyss" signifying the hell where and from which are the falsities of evil. "To fall from heaven unto the earth" has a similar signification above in Revelation:

And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth (Revelation 6:13).

The dragon with his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth (1 Revelation 12:4).

In Daniel:

The horn of the he-goat waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and some of the host and of the stars it cast down to the ground and trampled upon them (Daniel 8:10).

In Matthew:

Immediately after the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the stars shall fall from heaven (Matthew 24:29).

The like is signified by the Lord's words in Luke:

Jesus said, I beheld Satan as lightning falling from heaven (Luke 10:18).

"Satan" means every falsity that destroys truth, for the hells where and from which are such falsities are called "Satan," while the hells where and from which are the evils that destroy goods, are called the "devil," therefore "Satan as lightning falling from heaven" means that every falsity that destroyed the truth of the Word was cast down out of heaven. So in Revelation:

The great dragon was cast down to the earth, and his angels with him, and their place was not found anymore in heaven (Revelation 12:8, 9).

From this it can be seen that "to glide down," "to fall" and "to be cast down out of heaven to the earth" signify to have place no more in heaven, but in hell, thus to perish, the "earth" here also signifying what is cursed (as was shown above at the end of n. 304.

[3] Because heaven is conjoined with man by means of the Word, those who falsify the truths of the Word by interpretations to confirm evils of life avert themselves from heaven and turn themselves to hell. For heaven is in the spiritual sense of the Word, and man is in its natural sense; consequently heaven is conjoined with the world by means of the Word. For this reason the Word is also called a "covenant" and a covenant is a conjunction. This is why those who apply the Word to evils of life and to the false principles that are from self-intelligence cannot be conjoined with heaven; and those who are not conjoined with heaven are conjoined with hell; for man must be either in heaven or in hell; it is not permitted him to hang between the two. But those who apply the Word to such falsities as do not disagree with the good of life, such as exist with the upright Gentiles that do not have the Word and with the simple in the church who believe in the Lord and lead a good life, because from their falsities they look to good, have such falsities applied by the Lord to good, and are turned towards heaven; for the essential thing in heaven is the good of life, which is the same as the good of love to the Lord and the good of charity towards the neighbor; for in heaven everyone has perception of truth, intelligence, and wisdom, in accordance with that good. This makes clear what is meant by falsifying the truth from the Word, which is here signified by "a star from heaven fallen unto the earth."