392. The souls of those slain because of the Word of God, and because of the testimony that they held, signifies those who were rejected and concealed because of Divine truth and because of their confession of the Lord. This is evident from the signification of "those slain," as being those who were rejected by the evil and concealed by the Lord (of whom presently); also from the signification of "the Word of God," as being Divine truth. What the Lord speaks is called the Word of God, and that is Divine truth. The Word or the Sacred Scripture is nothing else; for in it all Divine truth is contained, but it is only before the angels that the truth itself in its glory is manifest in it, because to them the interior things of the Word, which are spiritual and celestial, become manifest and also constitute their wisdom. "The Word of God," therefore, signifies in the genuine sense Divine truth, and in the highest sense the Lord Himself who spoke it, for He spoke from Himself, or from His Divine, and what proceeds from Him that also is Himself.

[2] That the Divine proceeding is the Lord may be illustrated by this: About every angel there is a sphere that is called the sphere of his life; this spreads abroad to a great distance from him. This sphere flows out or proceeds from the life of his affection or love; it is therefore an extension outside of him of such life as is in him. This extension is effected by means of the spiritual atmosphere or aura, which is the aura of heaven. By means of that sphere the quality of an angel in respect to affection is perceived at a distance by others; this has been granted me sometimes to perceive. But about the Lord there is a Divine sphere, which near Him appears as a sun, which is His Divine love, and from this that sphere proceeds into the whole heaven and fills it and constitutes the light that is there; this sphere is the Divine proceeding from the Lord, which in its essence is Divine truth. This comparison with angels is made as an illustration, to show that the Divine proceeding from the Lord is the Lord Himself, because it is a proceeding of His love, and the proceeding is Himself outside of Himself. The above is further evident from the signification of "testimony," as being the confession of the Lord, and the Lord Himself (of which presently).

[3] That "those slain" here mean those who were rejected by evil spirits and concealed by the Lord, or removed from the eyes of others and preserved to the day of the Last Judgment, can be seen from what was said in the article above, also from what follows in the two verses in which they alone are described. In the article above it was said that "the former heaven" that passed away consisted of those who in externals lived a moral life, and yet were merely natural and not spiritual, or who lived a sort of spiritual life merely from the affection or love of fame, honor, glory, and gain, thus for the sake of appearance. Although these were inwardly evil, they, nevertheless, were tolerated, and constituted societies in the higher places in the spiritual world. These societies, taken together, were called a heaven, but "the former heaven" that afterwards passed away. From this it came to pass that all those who were spiritual, that is, who were inwardly as well as outwardly good, not being able to be with these, withdrew from them, either voluntarily or being driven away, and wherever found they were persecuted; on this account they were concealed by the Lord and preserved in their places until the day of judgment, that they might constitute "the new heaven." These therefore are those that are meant by "the souls of those slain seen under the altar." This makes clear that "those slain" signify those who were rejected and concealed, for they were hated by the others, because of Divine truth and because of their confession of the Lord; and those who are hated are called "those slain," because to hate is spiritually to slay. That such are meant by "the souls of those slain," can be seen further from what follows in the two verses where it is said of them, "And they cried out with a great voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on those that dwell on the earth? And there were given to every one of them white robes; and it was said unto them that they should rest yet a little time, until their fellow-servants, as well as their brethren, who were to be killed, as they also were, should be fulfilled." That those above described are meant by "those slain," no one can know but those to whom it has been revealed; for who can know, except by revelation, of whom "the former heaven" (Revelation 21:1) consisted, and of whom "the new heaven" was formed; and that those of whom the new heaven was to be formed, were in the meantime concealed and preserved by the Lord? And unless these things had been revealed to someone, all things contained in Revelation in its internal sense must have remained hidden; for in it such things as were to take place in the spiritual world before the Last Judgment, and while it was going on, and after it are chiefly treated of.

[4] That "testimony" signifies the confession of the Lord, and the Lord Himself, can be seen from the passages in the Word that follow. This signification has its origin from this, that the Word in each and every particular testifies respecting the Lord; for in its inmost sense it treats of the Lord alone, and in its internal sense of the celestial and spiritual things that proceed from the Lord, and in particular the Lord testifies respecting Himself in everyone who is in the life of love and charity; for the Lord flows into their heart and life and teaches them, especially respecting His Divine Human; for He grants to those who are in a life of love to think of God under the human form, and God under the human form is the Lord.

The simple in the Christian world so think, as also the heathen who live in charity according to their religious principle. Both these are astonished when they hear the learned speak of God as not to be perceived in any human form, for they know that thinking thus they could not see any God in thought, and therefore could have little belief in the existence of a God, since the faith which is the faith of charity wishes to comprehend in some way what is believed; for faith is of thought, and to think what is incomprehensible is not to think, but only to have knowledge and to speak from that without any idea. Angels, even the wisest, do not think of God otherwise than as in the human form; it is impossible for them to think otherwise, for the reason that their perceptions flow according to the form of heaven, which is the human form from the Lord's Divine Human (on which see Heaven and Hell 59-86); and for the reason that the affections from which are their thoughts, are from influx, and influx is from the Lord.

This has been said that it may be known why "testimony" signifies the Lord, namely, because the Lord testifies respecting Himself with all who accept His testimony, and these are such as live a life of love to the Lord, and a life of charity towards the neighbor. These receive His testimony and confess Him, because a life of love and charity opens the interior mind by the influx of light from heaven, for a life of love and charity is the Divine life itself; for the Lord loves everyone, and does good to everyone from love; consequently where that life is received the Lord is present and is conjoined to the man, and thus flows into his higher mind which is called the spiritual mind, and by light from himself opens it.

[5] That "testimony" signifies the Lord, and with man the confession of the Lord from the heart, and in particular, the acknowledgment of the Lord's Divine in His Human, can be seen from this, that the law which was given on Mount Sinai and written upon two tables, and afterwards placed in the ark, is called the "Testimony;" whence also the ark was called "the ark of the Testimony," and the tables also were called "the tables of Testimony;" and because this was most holy, the mercy-seat was placed upon the ark, and over the mercy-seat were sculptured two cherubim, between which Jehovah, that is, the Lord, spoke with Moses and Aaron. This makes clear that "the Testimony" signifies the Lord Himself; otherwise the mercy-seat would not have been placed upon the ark, nor would the Lord have spoken with Moses and Aaron between the cherubim which were upon the mercy-seat. Moreover, when Aaron entered within the veil, which he did once every year, he was first sanctified, and afterwards he burnt incense till the smoke of the incense covered the mercy seat; it is said that unless he did this he would have died. From this it is clearly evident that the Testimony that was in the ark, and that was the law given on Mount Sinai and inscribed on two tables of stone, signified the Lord Himself.

[6] That the law is called "the Testimony" is evident in Moses:

Thou shalt put into the ark the Testimony which I shall give thee (Exodus 25:16).

He put the Testimony into the ark (Exodus 40:20).

The mercy-seat that is upon the Testimony (Leviticus 16:13).

Lay up the rods of the tribes before the Testimony (Numbers 17:4).

That the tables and the ark were therefore called the tables and the ark of the Testimony (Exodus 25:22; 31:7, 18; 32:15).

That the mercy-seat was placed upon it, and over the mercy-seat two sculptured cherubim (Exodus 25:17-22; 26:34).

That the Lord spoke with Moses and with Aaron between the two cherubim (Exodus 25:16, 21-22; Numbers 17:4 and elsewhere).

That they sanctified themselves before they entered thither, and that the smoke of the incense covered the mercy-seat lest they should die (Leviticus 16:1-34).

[7] That "the testimony" signifies the Lord is evident also from this, that what was upon the ark was called the mercy seat [propitiatorium], and the Lord is the propitiator; the ark also, from the testimony in it, was the holy of holies, both in the tabernacle and in the temple, and from this the tabernacle was holy, and also the temple. The tabernacle represented heaven, and also the temple, and heaven is heaven from the Lord's Divine Human; from this it follows that "testimony" signifies the Lord in respect to His Divine Human. (That "the tent of meeting" represented heaven, see Arcana Coelestia 9457, 9481, 9485, 10545; likewise the temple, see above, n. 220; and that heaven is heaven from the Lord's Divine Human, see Heaven and Hell, n. 59-86.) The law proclaimed from Mount Sinai is called "the Testimony" because that law, in a broad sense, signifies the whole Word, both historical and prophetical, and the Word is the Lord, according to these words in John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word; and the Word was made flesh, (John 1:1) John 1:14).

The Word is the Lord because the Word signifies Divine truth, and all Divine truth proceeds from the Lord, for it is the light in heaven, that enlightens the minds of the angels and also the minds of men, and gives them wisdom; this light in its essence is Divine truth proceeding from the Lord as a sun (of which light, see Heaven and Hell 126-140); therefore it is afterwards said, "the Word was with God, and God was the Word." It is also said in John:

In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man coming into the world (John 1:4, 1:9).

[8] This makes clear that the Lord is meant by "the Testimony;" for the law written on the two tables, which was called the "Testimony," signifies the Word in the whole complex, and the Lord is the Word. (That "the law" in a broad sense signifies the Word in the whole complex, in a sense less broad the historical Word, and in a strict sense the ten commandments of the Decalogue, see Arcana Coelestia 6752.) This law was also called "a Covenant," and so the tables on which it was inscribed were called "the tables of the Covenant," and the ark was called "the ark of the Covenant" (See Exodus 34:28; Numbers 14:44; Deuteronomy 9:9, 15; Revelation 11:19; and elsewhere); and this because "Covenant" signifies conjunction, and the Word or Divine truth is what conjoins man with the Lord; from no other source is there any conjunction. (That "Covenant" signifies conjunction, see Arcana Coelestia 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804, 8767, 8778, 9396, 10632.)

This law is called both "a Covenant" and "a Testimony," because when called "a Covenant" it means the Word by which there is conjunction; and when called "a Testimony" it means the Lord Himself who conjoins; and on man's part, the confession of the Lord and the acknowledgment of His Divine in His Human, which conjoin. From this it can be seen why the Word is called in the church "a Covenant," the Word before the Lord's coming "the Old Covenant," and that after His coming "the New Covenant;" it is called also "the Old and the New Testament," but it is to be called "the Testimony."

[9] That "Testimony" signifies the Lord, and on man's part the confession of the Lord and the acknowledgment of His Divine in His Human, is evident also from these passages in the Word. In Revelation:

They overcame the dragon by the blood of the Lamb, and by the Word of the testimony. And the dragon was angry, and went away to make war with the remnant of her seed, that keep the commandment of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (Revelation 12:11 17).

I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Revelation 19:10).

"The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" signifies that the confession of the Lord and the acknowledgment of His Divine in His Human is the life of all truth, both in the Word and in doctrine from the Word.

[10] And elsewhere:

The souls of those slain with the axe for the testimony of Jesus, and for the Word of God, received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand (Revelation 20:4).

These passages will be explained in what follows. In David:

Jerusalem is builded as a city that is conjoined together; and thither the tribes go up, the tribes of Jah, a testimony to Israel, to confess to the name of Jehovah. For there are set thrones for judgment (Psalms 122:3-5).

"Jerusalem" signifies the church in relation to doctrine, which is said to be "builded" when it is established by the Lord; "as a city that is conjoined together" signifies doctrine in which all things are in order, "city" meaning doctrine; "thither the tribes go up, the tribes of Jah," signifies that in it are all truths and goods in the complex; "a testimony to Israel, to confess to the name of Jehovah," signifies the confession and acknowledgment of the Lord there; "for there are set thrones for judgment" signifies that Divine truth is there according to which judgment is executed. That this is what "thrones" signify, see above n. 253.

[11] In the same:

Jehovah hath set up a testimony in Jacob, and a law in Israel (Psalms 78:5).

"Jacob" and "Israel" signify the church, "Jacob" the external church, and "Israel" the internal church; and "testimony" and "law" signify the Word, "testimony" that in the Word which teaches the goods of life, and "the law" that in it which teaches the truths of doctrine. Because those who are in the external church are in the good of life according to the truths of doctrine, and those who are in the internal church are in the truths of doctrine according to which is the life, so "testimony" is predicated of Jacob, and "the law" of Israel.

[12] In the same:

If thy sons shall keep My covenant, and the testimony that I shall teach them, their ¹ sons shall sit upon the throne for thee forevermore (Psalms 132:12).

This is said of David, but David here means the Lord; "his sons" mean those who do the Lord's commandments; of these it is said, "if thy sons shall have kept My covenant and My testimony," "covenant" meaning the like as "law" above, namely, the truth of doctrine, and "testimony" the like as "testimony" above, namely, the good of life according to the truths of doctrine. Like things are signified by "covenant" and "testimonies" in David (Psalms 25:10).

[13] "Testimonies" are mentioned in many passages in the Word, together with "law," "precepts," "commandments," "statutes," and "judgments;" and "testimonies and commandments" there signify such things as teach life, "law and precepts" such as teach doctrine, "statutes and judgments" such as teach rituals, as in the following passages in David:

The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of Jehovah is sure, making wise the simple. The commandments of Jehovah are right, making glad the heart; the precept of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes; the judgments of Jehovah are truth, they are righteous altogether (Psalms 19:7-9).

In the same:

Blessed are the perfect in the way, who walk in the law of Jehovah. Blessed are they that observe His testimonies, that seek after Him with the whole heart. Thou hast enjoined Thy commandments to be strictly kept. O that my ways may be directed to keep Thy statutes! Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all Thy precepts. I will confess to thee in uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned the judgments of Thy righteousness (Psalms 119:1-7 manner in verses 12-15, 88-89, 151-156, etc.).

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2722. That 'he planted a grove in Beersheba' means doctrine from this with the cognitions composing it and the nature of it is clear from the meaning of 'a grove' and from the meaning of 'Beersheba'. As regards 'groves', holy worship in the Ancient Church was offered on mountains and in groves. It was offered on mountains because 'mountains meant the celestial things of worship, and in groves because 'groves' meant the spiritual things of it. As long as that Church - the Ancient Church - retained its simplicity their worship on mountains and in groves was holy, the reason being that celestial things, which are those of love and charity, were represented by places that were high and lofty, such as mountains and hills, while spiritual things, which derive from celestial, were represented by places with fruits and foliage such as gardens and groves. But after representatives and meaningful signs began to be made idolatrous because people worshipped external things without internal, that holy worship became profane; and they were therefore forbidden to hold worship on mountains and in groves.

[2] The fact that the Ancients held holy worship on mountains becomes clear from what is said about Abram in Chapter 12,

He removed from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, Bethel being towards the sea and Ai towards the east. ¹ And there he built an altar and called on the name of Jehovah. Genesis 12:8 (1449-1455).

It is also clear from the meaning of 'a mountain' as the celestial entity of love, 795, 796, 1430. The fact that people also held worship in groves is clear from what is said in the present verse, 'Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of [Jehovah,] the God of Eternity', and also from the meaning of 'a garden' as intelligence, 100, 108, 1588, and of 'trees' as perceptions, 103, 2163. The fact that worship on mountains and in groves was forbidden is clear from the following: In Moses,

You shall not plant for yourself a grove of any kind of tree beside the altar of Jehovah your God which you shall make for yourself. And you shall not erect for yourself a pillar, which Jehovah your God hates. Deuteronomy 16:21-22.

In the same author,

The altars of the nations you shall destroy; you shall break down their pillars and cut down their groves. Exodus 34:13.

They were also commanded to burn the groves of the nations with fire, Deuteronomy 12:3.

[3] Now because the Jews and Israelites, among whom the representative ritual observances of the Ancient Church were introduced, were steeped solely in external things and were at heart nothing but idolaters, and because they were people who neither had nor wished to have knowledge of anything internal or of the life after death, and who did not know that the Messiah's kingdom was a heavenly kingdom, therefore whenever they were in freedom they held profane worship on mountains and hills, and also in groves and forests. They also made for themselves high places to serve instead of mountains and hills, and carved images of a grove instead of groves, as becomes clear from many places in the Word, as in the Book of Judges,

The children of Israel served the baals and the groves. Judges 3:7.

In the Book of Kings,

Israel made groves, provoking Jehovah to anger. 1 Kings 14:15.

And elsewhere in the same book,

Judah built for themselves high places and pillars and groves on every high hill, and under every leafy tree. 1 Kings 14:23.

Elsewhere in the Books of Kings,

Israel built for themselves high places in every city. And they set up pillars and groves on every high hill and under every leafy tree. 2 Kings 17:9-10.

And elsewhere in the same book,

Manasseh king of Judah erected altars to Baal and made a grove, as Ahab king of Israel had done. And the carved image of a grove that he had made he placed in the house of God. 2 Kings 21:3, 7,

From this it is evident that they also made for themselves carved images of a grove. The fact that king Josiah destroyed these images is mentioned in the same book,

Josiah made them bring out of the temple of Jehovah all the vessels made for Baal and for the grove, and for the sun and moon, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem, and the booths which the women had woven [in the house of Jehovah] for the grove. He also cut down the groves which Solomon had made, as well as the grove in Bethel which Jeroboam had made. 2 Kings 23:4-5, 7, 14-15.

The fact that King Hezekiah as well demolished such things is also stated in the same book,

Hezekiah king of Judah removed the high places, and broke the pillars, and cut down the grove, and broke to pieces the bronze serpent which Moses had made. 2 Kings 18:4.

[4] The bronze serpent, it is clear, was holy in the time of Moses, but when that which was external came to be worshipped, that bronze serpent became profane and was therefore smashed to pieces, for the same reason that worship on mountains and in groves was forbidden. These matters are made clearer still in the Prophets: In Isaiah,

You who inflame yourselves among the gods under every leafy tree, who slay the children in the rivers, under projections of the rocks. Even in the rivers you have poured out a drink offering. you have brought a gift. On a high and lofty mountain you have set your habitation and presented yourself there to offer sacrifice. Isaiah 57:5-7.

In the same prophet,

On that day a man will look to his Maker and his eyes will regard the Holy One of Israel. And he will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and will not see what his fingers have made, both the groves and the solar pillars. Isaiah 17:7-8.

In Micah,

I will cut down your carved images and your pillars from the midst of you, and you will bow down no more to the work of your hands. And I will root out your groves from the midst of you and destroy your cities. Micah 5:13-14.

In Ezekiel,

That the slain may be in the midst of their idols, around their altars at every lofty hill, on all the mountain tops, and under every leafy tree, and under every entangled oak, the place where they offered an odour of rest to all their idols. Ezekiel 6:13.

[5] From all this it is now evident where idolatrous worship originated, namely in the worship of the objects themselves that were representative and carried a spiritual meaning. The most ancient people, who lived before the Flood, saw in every single thing - in mountains, hills, plains, and valleys, in gardens, groves, forests, rivers, and waters, in fields and crops, in trees of every kind, also in living creatures of every kind, and in the heavenly bodies giving light - something that was a representative and a meaningful sign of the Lord's kingdom. But they never let their eyes, still less their minds, linger over such objects; for them these objects served instead as the means for thinking about the celestial and spiritual things that exist in the Lord's kingdom. Indeed so much was this the case with those objects that there was nothing at all in the whole natural world that failed to serve those people as means. It is indeed true that in itself every single thing in the natural order is representative; but at the present day this is an arcanum and scarcely believed by anyone. But after that which is celestial, which is essentially love to the Lord, had perished with man, the human race existed no longer in that state, that is, in the state of seeing from worldly objects the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom.

[6] Nevertheless the Ancients after the Flood knew from traditions, and from collections made by certain people, that worldly objects had such meanings; and because these had such meanings they also regarded them as holy. From this arose the representative worship of the Ancient Church, which Church, being spiritual, did not enjoy any perception, only the knowledge, that a thing was so; for that Church, compared with the Most Ancient Church, dwelt in obscurity, 2715. It did not however worship external things but by means of external things people called to mind those which were internal. Consequently when they turned to those representatives and meaningful signs they entered the holiness of worship. They were able to turn to them because they were moved by spiritual love, that is, by charity, which they made the essential of worship, and as a consequence holiness from the Lord was able to flow into their worship. But when the state of the human race had become so changed and perverted that people departed from the good of charity, and thus did not believe any longer in the existence of a heavenly kingdom or in life after death, but supposed - as is also supposed at the present day - that their condition was no different from that of animals (apart from the fact that they as human beings could think), holy representative worship was turned into idolatrous worship and external things came to be worshipped. This was why worship among many gentiles at that time, and even among Jews and Israelites, was not representative, but a worship of the representatives and meaningful signs, that is, of external things devoid of internal.

[7] As regards 'groves' in particular, these had, among the ancients, varying meanings, such meanings depending in fact on the kinds of trees that the groves had in them. Groves where there were olives meant the celestial things of worship, groves where there were vines the spiritual things of worship, but groves where there were figs, cedars, firs, poplars, oaks, meant various things that were of a celestial and spiritual kind. Here however simply 'a grove' or plantation of trees is mentioned and by it was meant ideas belonging to the rational that were allied to doctrine and its cognitions; for trees in general mean perceptions, 103, 2163, but when they have reference to the spiritual Church they mean cognitions, the reason being that the member of the spiritual Church has no other perceptions than those acquired through cognitions drawn from doctrine or from the Word. For such cognitions become part of his faith, and so of his conscience, from which he has perception.

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