418. Holding the four winds of the earth, signifies the moderation of its influx. This is evident from the signification of "the four winds of the earth" as being everything Divine in heaven (of which presently); also from the signification of "holding them," as being to moderate its influx. But what is meant by moderating the influx of the Divine in heaven no one can know unless it is revealed to him, nor consequently can it be known what is signified by "holding the four winds of the earth." Without revelation, who would not think that "winds" here mean winds held back by angels, since it also follows "that the wind should not blow upon the earth, nor upon the sea, nor upon any tree." But "the winds of the earth," here as elsewhere in the Word signify everything Divine that is from the Lord in heaven, in particular, Divine truth, and because Divine truth flows from the Lord as a sun into the whole heaven, and from that into the whole earth, so "holding the winds" signifies to moderate influx. But that these things may be more clearly understood, it shall be told how it is with respect to that influx. The Lord is the sun of the angelic heaven; from Him as a sun all light and all heat there proceed. The light that proceeds is in its essence Divine truth, because it is spiritual light; and the heat that proceeds is in its essence Divine good, because it is spiritual heat. From the Lord as a sun these flow out into all the heavens accommodated to reception by the angels there, thus sometimes more moderately, sometimes more intensely. When they flow out more moderately the good are separated from the evil, but when more intensely the evil are cast out. When, therefore, the Last Judgment is at hand the Lord first flows in moderately, in order that the good may be separated from the evil. Because this separation is what is treated of in this chapter, the "holding of the four winds of the earth" is first mentioned, which signifies the moderation of the influx of Divine good and Divine truth from the Lord. It is evident from what follows in this chapter that this refers to the separation of the good from the evil, for it is said, "Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor any tree, till we shall have sealed the servants of God on their foreheads" (verse 3); and afterwards, to the end of the chapter, "those sealed," that is, the good separated from the evil are treated of. But respecting this separation more will be said in what follows, likewise respecting the casting out of the evil into the hells, which takes place afterwards.

[2] "The four winds" signify all the Divine proceeding, because "the winds of heaven" signify the quarters of heaven, for the whole heaven is divided into four quarters, namely, east, west, south, and north. Into two quarters, the east and the west, the Lord flows with Divine good more powerfully than with Divine truth; and into two quarters, the south and the north, with Divine truth more powerfully than with Divine good; consequently those who are in the latter are more in wisdom and intelligence, and those in the former more in love and charity; and as the whole heaven is divided into four quarters, and those quarters are meant by "the four winds," therefore "the four winds" signify all the Divine proceeding. They are called "the four winds of the earth," because "the earth" means all the earth in the spiritual world, but in the spiritual sense "the earth" signifies heaven and the church (respecting which see the preceding article).

[3] From this the meaning of "the four winds" in other passages of the Word can be seen, as in Ezekiel:

The Lord Jehovih said unto me, Prophesy about the spirit, prophesy, and say to the spirit, Thus the Lord Jehovih hath said, Come from the four winds, O spirit, and breathe into these slain that they may live. And when I had prophesied the spirit came, and they revived (Ezekiel 37:9, 10).

This is said of "the dry bones" seen by the prophet, by which the sons of Israel are meant (as is evident from verse 11 there); and this vision describes the reformation and establishment of a new church from those who have not before had any spiritual life. "The dry bones" are those who have nothing of spiritual life; the spiritual life given them by the Lord, from which the church is in them, is described by these words; "the spirit" about which the prophet prophesied, and by which they were revived, signifies spiritual life, which is a life according to the truths of the Word. "Come from the four winds, O spirit," signifies from the Divine of the Lord in heaven; "the four winds" meaning the four quarters in heaven, and the four quarters are everything Divine there (as has been said above). In the sense of the letter, "spirit" here means the breath (spiritus) of respiration, which is wind; it is therefore said that it should "come and breathe into these slain;" but the breath of respiration signifies as well the spiritual life, as will appear from what follows. "The slain" have a similar signification as "dry bones," namely, those who have no spiritual life.

[4] In Zechariah:

There were seen four chariots coming out from between two mountains of copper, to which there were horses; and the angel said, These are the four winds of the heavens, going forth from standing by the Lord of the whole earth (Zechariah 5:1, 5).

This treats of the church which is to be extended among those who have not yet been in any light of truth of the church, because they have not had the Word. What "the four chariots" and "the four horses," and the many things respecting them signify, may be seen above n. 355, and what "the mountains of copper" signify, also above (n. 364, 405), where they are explained. Here "the four winds" signify every Divine proceeding, or the Divine good and Divine truth that constitute the church; it is therefore said "the winds of the heavens going forth from standing by the Lord of the whole earth;" "to go forth from standing by Him" signifying to proceed. "Chariots" and "horses" are called winds because "chariots" signify the doctrinals of good and truth, and "horses" an understanding of them, and both of these proceed from the Divine of the Lord.

[5] In the Gospels:

The Son of man shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other end (Matthew 24:31; Mark 13:27).

All the successive states of the church, even to its end, when the Last Judgment takes place, are here predicted by the Lord; and "the angels with a great sound of a trumpet" signifies proclaiming the good tidings respecting the Lord; and "gathering together the elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other end," signifies the establishment of a new church; "the elect" mean those who are in the good of love and of faith; "the four winds" mean all states of good and truth; "from one end of the heavens to the other end" means the internals and the externals of the church. (This may be seen more clearly explained in Arcana Coelestia 4060.)

[6] In Daniel:

The he-goat made himself very great; but when he was strong the great horn was broken, and there came up in appearance four in its place towards the four winds of the heavens (Daniel 8:8).

What is meant by "the he-goat" and "ram" in this chapter may be seen above n. 316, namely, that "he-goat" signifies faith separate from charity, and therefore those who expect to be saved because they know the doctrinals and truth of the Word, and who give no thought to a life according to them; "horns" signify truths, and in the contrary sense, as here, falsities; "the great horn" signifies the ruling falsity, which is, that salvation comes merely through knowing and thus believing; "the great horn was broken, and there came up four in its place toward the four winds of heaven," signifies that out of the one principle, faith alone, many falsities conjoined with evils arise; "the great horn" signifying the ruling falsity, which is, that faith alone saves; "broken" signifying its division into many falsities arising therefrom; "four in its place" signifying the conjunction of these with evils; "toward the four winds of the heavens," signifying in respect to each and all things of falsity and evil, for "the four winds of heaven" signify every good and truth of heaven and the church and their conjunction, but in the contrary sense every evil and falsity and their conjunction. "The four winds of the heavens" signify also every evil and falsity, because in the four quarters in the spiritual world not only those who are in the good of love and in truths therefrom dwell, but also those who are in evils and in falsities therefrom; for the hells are in the same quarters, but deep beneath the heavens, for the most part in caverns, caves, and vaults (respecting which see above, n. 410.

[7] In this same sense "the winds of the heavens" are mentioned in Jeremiah:

Upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four ends of the heavens, and I will disperse him toward all those winds, that there may be no nation to which the outcasts of Elam shall not come (4 Jeremiah 49:36).

Here "Elam" signifies those who are in the knowledges that are called the knowledges of faith, but not at the same time in any charity; "the four winds from the four ends of the heavens" signify falsities conjoined with evils; and "to disperse him toward all those winds" signifies into falsities of evil of every kind; "that there may be no nation to which the outcasts of Elam shall not come" signifies that there may be no evil to which falsity cannot be adapted, "nation" meaning evil, for knowledges alone without a life of charity bring forth innumerable falsities of evil.

[8] In Daniel:

I was seeing in my vision when it was night, and behold, the four winds of the heavens rushed upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea (Daniel 7:2, 3).

Here, too, "the four winds" signify falsities conjoined with evils, "the great sea" signifies hell from which they are, and "the four beasts" signify evils of every kind: but on this more in what follows. "The four winds" have a similar signification in Daniel (Daniel 11:4; also in Zechariah (Zechariah 2:6, 7). That "the four winds" signify the four quarters is clearly evident in Ezekiel (Ezekiel 42:16-19), where the measure of the house according to the four winds, that is, the four quarters, is treated of; and there the quarter is named by the same word in the Hebrew by which wind and spirit are named. But more will be seen concerning winds in the article that now follows.

5897. 'To establish for you a remnant on the earth' means the middle and inmost part of the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'a remnant' as forms of good coupled with truths and inwardly stored away by the Lord in a person, dealt with in 468, 530, 560, 561, 660, 1050, 1906, 2284, 5135, 5342; in this case the middle and inmost part of the Church is meant. The description 'middle and inmost part' is used because what is inmost in a person occupies the middle of the natural, where inmost things and relatively internal ones coexist. In general, where there is a series of things following one another consecutively, and another series in which they spread out and coexist, as they do in the natural, the inmost of that series are one and the same as those in the middle or centre of the second series. Such is the way that inmost things arrange themselves within more external ones. 'To establish for you a remnant on the earth 'implies that an inmost part of the Church will exist among the sons of Jacob. Not that they themselves were to be in that inmost part but that a representative of the Church, to all outward appearance a real Church, was to be established among them, where also the Word was to exist. These are the things that are meant by 'a remnant' when the expression refers to the Church understood separately from the nation.

[2] Reference is made in various places in the Word to 'the remnant', and also to 'the ones who are left'; but so far these two expressions have been taken in a purely literal way to mean a remnant or those that are left of a people or nation. The fact that forms of good and truth stored away by the Lord in the interior man are meant in the spiritual sense has remained totally unknown till now. Examples of this meaning occur in the following places:

In Isaiah,

On that day the branch of Jehovah will be honour and glory, and the fruit of the land will be magnificence and an adornment for the escape of Israel. And it will happen, that he who remains in Zion, and he who is left in Jerusalem, will be called holy, everyone who has been written for life in Jerusalem. Isaiah 4:2-3.

Those who remained in Zion and those who were left in Jerusalem were never made holy, nor were they 'written for life' any more than anyone else. Plainly therefore 'those who remained' and 'those who were left' mean things that are holy and that have been 'written for life'; and these things are forms of good joined to truths that have been stored away by the Lord in the interior man.

[3] In the same prophet,

On that day, the remnant of Israel and those of the house of Jacob that escaped will no more lean on him that smote them; but they will lean on Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the God of power. Isaiah 10:20-22.

'The remnant' is not used to mean the remnant of any people or nation, as may be recognized from the fact that in the Word, especially the prophetical part, 'Israel' has not been used to mean Israel, or 'Jacob' to mean Jacob; both are used to mean the Church and what constitutes the Church. This being so, 'the remnant' is not used to mean a remnant of Israel and Jacob but the truths and forms of good that constitute the Church. When the expressions 'remnant of the people' and 'those left of the nation' are used they do not mean a remnant of any people or those that are left of any nation, for 'people' in the internal sense means truths, 1259, 1260, 3295, 3581, and 'nation' forms of good, 1259, 1260, 1416. The reason why this has remained unknown and seems strange - that 'a remnant' means truths and forms of good - is that the literal sense, especially where it takes the form of history, draws the mind away and powerfully withholds it from contemplating such ideas.

[4] In the same prophet,

Then there will be a highway for the remnant of the people, which will be left from Asshur, as there was for Israel through the sea when they came up out of the land of Egypt.

In a similar way 'those left from Asshur' are people who have not been corrupted by means of perverted reasonings; for 'Asshur' means such reasonings, see 1186. In the same prophet,

On that day Jehovah Zebaoth will be a crown of adornment and a tiara of beauty for the remnant of His people. Isaiah 18:5.

In the same prophet,

Moreover, those that are left of the house of Judah and who escape will take root downwards and bear fruit upwards. For out of Jerusalem will go a remnant, and those who escape from Mount Zion. Isaiah 37:31-32.

In the same prophet,

He will eat butter and honey, everyone that is left in the midst of the land. Isaiah 7:22.

In Jeremiah,

I will gather the remnant of My flock from all lands where I have scattered them, and I will bring them back to their fold to give birth and to multiply. Jeremiah 23:3.

In the same prophet,

The people which were left from the sword found grace in the wilderness, when He went to give rest to him, to Israel. Jeremiah 31:2.

'The people which were left from the sword in the wilderness' were those who were called the young children - those who were led into the land of Canaan after all the rest had died. These 'young children' were those who were left', by whom were meant forms of good embodying innocence; and the leading of those people into Canaan represented incorporation into the Lord's kingdom.

[5] In Ezekiel,

I will cause some to be left, in that you will have some who will have escaped the sword among the nations when you are dispersed in the earth Then those of that escape will remember Me among the nations where they will be captives. Ezekiel 6:8-9.

The reason why the forms of good and the truths stored away by the Lord in a person interiorly were represented by the ones who were left or were a remnant among the nations where they were dispersed and made captives is that a person is constantly among evils and falsities, held in, captivity by them; for evils and falsities are what is meant by 'the nations'. When separated from the internal man the external man is altogether among them, and unless the Lord gathered forms of good and truth together, which are instilled into a person at various stages during the course of his life, he could not possibly be saved. Without remnants salvation comes to none.

[6] In Joel,

It will happen, that everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will escape. For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be an escape, as Jehovah has said, and among those that are left whom Jehovah is calling. Joel 2:32.

In Micah,

The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest. Micah 5:8.

In Zephaniah,

The remnant of Israel will not do iniquity or speak any lie; nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth. They will feed and rest, with none making them afraid. Zephaniah 3:13.

These words describe the character of the remnant, a character which the people who were called Israel never possessed, as is well known. From this also it is evident that 'the remnant' has some other meaning, and this, it is plain, is forms of good and truth since these are what 'do not do iniquity, do not speak any lie, and no deceitful tongue is found in their mouth'.

[7] In Zechariah,

The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. This will be a marvel in the eyes of the remnant of My people. Now I will not be as in former days to the remnant of this people. For this will be the seed of peace; the vine will give its fruit, and the land will give its increase, and the heavens will give their dew. I will make the remnant of this people the heirs of all those things. Zechariah 8:5-6, 11-12.

'The remnant' here is called 'the seed of peace' and they are ones in possession of truths derived from good, the fruitfulness of which truths is described by the statement that the vine will give its fruit, the land its increase, and the heavens their dew.

[8] The remnants that are meant in the spiritual sense become so sealed off through evil living and false convictions that they cease to be seen any longer. And they are destroyed when from affection truth has first been accepted and then from affection afterwards denied; for when this happens truth and falsity become mixed together, and this is called profanation. Such remnants are referred to in the Word in the following places: In Isaiah,

He will remove man (homo); and the wilderness will be multiplied in the midst of the land. Scarcely any longer will there be a tenth part in it; it will be however an uprooting. Isaiah 6:12-13.

'Ten' means remnants, see 576, 1906, 2284. In the same prophet,

I will kill your root with famine, and it will kill the ones of you who are left. Isaiah 14:30.

'This refers to the Philistines, meaning those who have a knowledge of cognitions but do not live in accordance with them, 1197, 1198, 3412, 3413. The ones who are left are called a 'root' because forms of good and truth which make man truly human spring from remnants as their root. Therefore 'He will remove man', as stated in the quotation from Isaiah immediately above, means a destroying of remnants.

[9] In Jeremiah,

The young men will die by the sword; their sons and their daughters will die by famine, and they will not have any remnant. Jeremiah 11:22-23.

This has to do with the men of Anathoth. In the same prophet,

I will take the remnant of Judah, who have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt, to sojourn there, so that all are consumed; and none will escape, nor will any of the remnant of Judah be left, who have gone to dwell in the land of Egypt. Jeremiah 44:12, 14, 28.

The reason why people from Judah could not sojourn in Egypt or reside there, and why they were so strictly forbidden to do so, was that the tribe of Judah represented the Lord's celestial Church, and celestial people have no desire at all to know facts meant by 'Egypt'. For everything they know grows out of celestial good present with them and that good would perish if they were to resort to factual knowledge. Indeed since celestial good is present with members of the Lord's celestial kingdom, and celestial truth is charity whereas spiritual truth is faith, they refuse even to speak of faith, for fear that they may come down from good and look back, see, 202, 337, 2715, 3246, 4448. These matters are also what is meant by the prohibition,

He who is on the housetop must not go down to take anything out of his house, and he who is in the field must not turn back to take his clothes. Matthew 24:17, 18.

See just above in 5895. Those same matters are likewise meant by the words in Luke 17:32, 'Remember Lot's wife' - she looked back and became a pillar of salt. About looking and turning back, see 2454, 3652.

[10] The utter destruction of nations with not a single person left represented the condition among them when iniquity was so complete that no goodness or truth at all, nor thus any remnant, was surviving, as in Moses,

They struck down Og the king of Bashan, and all his sons, and all his people, until they did not leave him any remainder. Numbers 21:35; Deuteronomy 3:3.

[11] In the same author,

They took all Sihon's cities, and utterly destroyed every inhabited city, and the women, and the young children; they did not leave any remainder. Deuteronomy 2:34.

And there are other places where one reads about the utter destruction of nations.

The situation with remnants - or forms of good and truth stored away by the Lord in a person interiorly - is this: Goodness and truth are implanted in a person when he seeks them with affection and so in freedom. When this happens angels from heaven draw nearer and link themselves to that person. Their link with him is what causes the forms of good coupled with truths to come to exist in the person interiorly. But when external interests occupy the person's attention, as when he is engaged in worldly and bodily pursuits, the angels depart; and once they have departed not a trace of those forms of good and truth is apparent. Nevertheless because such a link has been effected once, this person now has the capability of being linked to angels and so to the goodness and truth residing with them. But this linking does not take place any more often or fully than the Lord pleases, who controls the situation as is entirely best for that person's life.