1012. Verse 17. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air, signifies the state of the church manifested in regard to all things of thought. This is evident from the signification of "the angel pouring out the vial," as being the state of the church manifested (as above); also from the signification of the "air," as being thought, here everything of thought, because the last state of the church is here described; therefore when this state has been manifested it is said, "It is done," that is, it is consummated. The "air" signifies thought because respiration, which is effected by means of the air, corresponds to thought, which is of the understanding, as the motion of the heart corresponds to affection, which is of the will. That the respiration of the lungs corresponds to thought is clearly evident from the fact that they operate simultaneously and harmoniously, for as man thinks so he breathes. If he thinks quietly he breathes quietly, and reversely if forcibly. If he thinks intensely and interiorly in himself, respiration is gradually arrested and withdrawn. Thus man varies the state of his respiration in accommodation to every state of his thought. The reason of this is that man has two lives, namely, the life of the understanding and the life of the will; and all things of the body correspond to these two lives of the mind. Thus in general the life of the respiration corresponds to the life of the understanding and consequent thought; and the life of the motion of the heart corresponds to the life of the will and the consequent love. These two lives are meant by "soul" and "heart" in the Word, where it is said "with the whole soul and with the whole heart," which signifies with the whole understanding and the whole will, or with every thought which is of faith and with every affection which is of love. This is said to make known that the "air," since respiration is effected by it, signifies thought.

[2] "The last vial was poured out into the air," because all things of man close into his thoughts. For such as a man is as to the church and as to the goods and truths of the church, also as to love, in a word, such as he is as to his spiritual, moral, and civil life, such is he as to thought. This can be perceived especially in the spiritual world. When any angel goes out of his own society into a society not his own his breathing labors, because he is not thinking from a like affection. So, too, when an infernal spirit ascends into an angelic society he comes into distress of breathing, and thus into anguish, or into fantasy, or into blindness of thought; which makes clear that such as a man is such is his thought.

(The Seventh Commandment) ¹

[3] In what now follows something shall be said about the seventh commandment, which is, "Thou shalt not kill." In all the commandments of the Decalogue, as in all things of the Word, two internal senses are involved (besides the highest which is a third), one that is next to the letter and is called the spiritual moral sense, another that is more remote and is called the spiritual celestial sense. The nearest sense of this commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," which is the spiritual moral sense, is that one must not hate his brother or neighbor, and thus not defame or slander him; for thus he would injure or kill his reputation and honor, which is the source of his life among his brethren, which is called his civil life, and afterwards he would live in society as one dead, for he would be numbered among the vile and wicked, with whom no one would associate. When this is done from enmity, from hatred, or from revenge, it is murder. Moreover, by many in the world this life is counted and esteemed in equal measure with the life of the body. And before the angels in the heavens he that destroys this life is held to be as guilty as if he had destroyed the bodily life of his brother. For enmity, hatred, and revenge, breathe murder and will it; but they are restrained and curbed by fear of the law, of resistance, and of loss of reputation. And yet these three are endeavors towards murder; and every endeavor is like an act, for it goes forth into act when fear is removed. This is what the Lord teaches in Matthew:

Ye have heard that it was said to them of old, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be liable to the judgment. But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother rashly shall be liable to the judgment; whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be liable to the council; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be liable to the Gehenna of fire (Matthew 5:21-26).

This may be seen explained above (n. 693, 746).

[4] But the more remote sense of this commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," which is called the celestial spiritual sense, is that one shall not take away from man the faith and love of God, and thus his spiritual life. This is murder itself, because from this life man is a man, the life of the body serving this life as the instrumental cause serves its principal cause. Moreover, from this spiritual murder moral murder is derived; consequently one who is in the one is also in the other; for he who wills to take away a man's spiritual life is in hatred against him if he cannot take it away, for he hates the faith and love with him, and thus the man himself. These three, namely, spiritual murder, which pertains to faith and love, moral murder, which pertains to reputation and honor, and natural murder, which pertains to the body, follow in a series one from the other, like cause and effect.

Poznámky pod čarou:

9051. 'Eye for eye' means if anything is injured by them in the inner part of the understanding. This is clear from the meaning of 'the eye' as the understanding, in this instance the inner part of it, the life of which is the life of faith. A person's understanding has an outer part and an inner part The outer part of his understanding is where thought that enters his awareness is, whereas the inner part is where thought that does not enter his awareness is, though it enters that of the angels. This part of the understanding is what the Lord enlightens when a person receives faith, for it exists in the light of heaven and holds within it a person's spiritual life. This is not made plainly evident to the person while in the world, but it is made so to that person in the next life when he becomes an angel among angels in heaven. In the meanwhile that life lies hidden within the thought belonging to the outer part of the understanding, producing there the holiness and reverence for the Lord, for love and faith in Him, for the Word, and for everything else that is the Church's. The reason why 'the eye' means the understanding is that the eye corresponds to the understanding; for the understanding sees in the light of heaven, but the eye sees in the light of the world. The things that the former eye, that is, the understanding, sees are spiritual, and its field of vision is the factual knowledge contained in the person's memory. But the things which the physical eye sees are earthly, and its field of vision consists in every object that appears in the world. Regarding 'the eye', that in the spiritual sense it means the understanding, and also faith since faith composes the life of the inner part of the understanding, see 2701, 4403-4421, 4523-4534.

[2] Anyone who does not know that 'the eye' is used in the Word to mean the understanding cannot know what the meaning is of the things which the Lord spoke concerning the eye in the Gospels, first of all these,

If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into the Gehenna of fire. Matthew 5:29; Mark 9:47.

Everyone recognizes that the eye should not be plucked out even if it does cause a person to stumble, and that no one enters the kingdom of God with only one eye. But 'the right eye' means falsity in a person's belief about the Lord; this is what must be plucked out. Then there are these things spoken by the Lord,

The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light. If your eye is evil your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! Matthew 6:22-23; Luke 11:34.

Nor is 'the eye' used here to mean the eye, but an understanding composed of the truth of faith. This is why the eye is called 'the lamp of the body' and why the Lord says, 'If the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!' For 'darkness' in the spiritual sense is falsities constituting faith, 1839, 1860, 4418, 4531, 7688, 7711.

[3] There are these words too spoken by Him,

Why do you notice the speck which is in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank that is in your own eye? Matthew 7:3-5.

'Noticing a speck in a brother's eye' means seeing something erroneous in a person's understanding of truth; 'the plank in one's own eye' is huge evil of falsity, since 'wood' in the internal sense means good and in the contrary sense evil, 643, 2784, 2812, 3720, 8354. Good is also represented in the next life by a plank, which is why those who pretend to have good within themselves are seen carrying a plank, walking in safety as they do so. If 'eye' and 'plank' did not have these meanings, would 'seeing a plank in an eye' have any meaning at all? If it is not known that 'eye' in the Word means the understanding of truth, which is faith, neither can it be known what is implied by the Lord's action when He healed the blind man,

He spat on the ground and made clay with His saliva, and said to him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam. John 9:6-7.

Since all the Lord's miracles, like all Divine miracles, had to do with those things that belong to the Lord's kingdom and the Church, 7337, 8364, so did this miracle too.