Apocalypse Explained # 502
502. And the first angel sounded.- This signifies influx out of heaven, and thence the first change, as is evident from the signification of sounding a trumpet, as denoting the influx of Divine Truth out of heaven; and because the first change resulting therefrom is now described, therefore this is also signified. To sound the trumpet signifies the influx of Divine Truth out of heaven, because when the Divine Truth flows down out of heaven, it is sometimes heard in the spiritual world as the sound of a horn [buccina], and as the clangour of a trumpet [tuba]; and by those who stand below there are also seen as it were angels having trumpets. But these things are representations and appearances, such as exist beneath the heavens, for it is the Divine Truth descending or flowing down out of heaven towards the lower parts, that is represented in this manner. This now is the reason that to sound a trumpet signifies the flowing down of the Divine Truth out of heaven.
[2] This flowing down, when powerful, produces one effect with the good and another with the evil. With the good, it enlightens the understanding, conjoins them more closely with heaven, and consequently gladdens and vivifies their minds; but with the evil it causes a disturbance of the understanding, separates them from heaven, conjoins them more closely with hell, carries terror to their minds, and at length induces spiritual death. It is therefore evident, that to sound a trumpet, signifies in regard to the effect, revelation and manifestation of Divine Truth, as may be seen above (n. 55, 262), and in the opposite sense, the deprivation of truth, and desolation. Since it is now said that the angels sounded seven times, it is necessary to show from the Word the signification of sounding, and thence why it is said that the angels sounded.
[3] That to sound with trumpets (tuba) and horns (buccina) signifies the revelation of Divine Truth, and its manifestation, is evident from the sound of a trumpet being heard when Jehovah descended upon Mount Sinai and promulgated the law; concerning which it is thus written in Moses:
"And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were voices and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon Mount Sinai, and the voice of a trumpet exceeding loud; and all the people that were in the camp trembled when Jehovah descended upon them in fire; and the voice of the trumpet sounded long and waxed louder. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto Jehovah, to gaze, and many of them perish" (Exodus 19:16-21).
The law which was promulgated at that time, signifies the Divine Truth; the voice of the trumpet represented the descent of that truth out of heaven, and its manifestation. The voice of the trumpet sounding long, and waxing louder, represented [Divine Truth] increasing toward the lower parts, for it is said that the people stood on the lower parts of the mount. The people trembling, and charged not to approach nearer to the mount lest they should perish, signified the effect of the flowing down of Divine Truth with people of such a nature and quality as the sons of Jacob were. It is evident that they were altogether evil interiorly, for they worshipped the golden calf after a month of days, and they would have perished if they had not stood afar off; hence their terror of death.
[4] That to sound with horns and trumpets represented and thence signified the Divine Truth descending and flowing in out of heaven, is plain from the institution and use of trumpets among the sons of Israel. It was commanded that trumpets should be made of silver, and that the sons of Aaron should sound them for the assemblies, for their journeyings, on days of gladness, at the feast, at the beginnings of months, over the sacrifices, for a memorial and for war (Num. 10:1-10). They were made of silver, because silver signifies truth from good, consequently the Divine Truth (see Arcana Coelestia 1551, 1552, 2954, 5658). The reason why the sons of Aaron sounded with them, was, that Aaron himself, as the chief priest, represented the Lord as the Divine Good, and his sons, the Lord as to the Divine Truth (see the Arcana Coelestia 9806, 9807, 9966, 10017). They were sounded for the assemblies and journeyings, because it is the Divine Truth which calls together, gathers together, teaches the way, and leads. They were sounded on the day of gladness, at the feasts, in the beginning of months, and over the sacrifices, because the Divine Truth, descending out of heaven, forms and fills with gladness what is holy in worship. They were sounded also for war and for battle, to signify that the Divine Truth flowing down out of heaven strikes with the terror of death, puts to flight, and scatters the evil who are called in the Word enemies. In this sense, and on account of this effect, it is here said, that the seven angels sounded in their order.
[5] Since it was commanded that they should sound with trumpets for their assemblies, therefore it is said by the Lord, in Matthew,
"He 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 heaven to the other" (24:31).
By the angels with a great sound of a trumpet is here signified the Divine Truth to be revealed at the consummation of the age, that is, when the end of the church should come.
[6] And in Isaiah:
"In that day, the great trumpet shall be blown, and those perishing in the land of Assyria shall come, and the outcasts from the land of Egypt, and shall worship Jehovah in the mountain of holiness at Jerusalem" (27:13).
These things were said concerning the coming of the Lord. A calling together to the church, and salvation by the Lord, are signified by the great trumpet being sounded in that day, and by the coming of those that were perishing in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts from the land of Egypt. To sound the trumpet signifies the Divine Truth calling together and saving; those who were perishing in the land of Assyria, are those who are deceived by false reasonings, and the outcasts from the land of Egypt, are those who are deceived by scientifics, thus the Gentiles who were in falsities from ignorance of the truth. That they will adore the Lord from love, and in truth, is signified by the words "and shall worship Jehovah in the mountain of holiness at Jerusalem." The mountain of holiness signifies the church as to the good of love, consequently also the good of love of the church; and Jerusalem signifies the church as to the truth of doctrine, consequently the truth of the doctrine of the church. It is therefore evident, that to sound with the trumpet signifies the Divine Truth descending out of heaven.
[7] Since the Divine Truth descending from the Lord through the heavens gladdens the heart, and infills worship with what is holy, and therefore the trumpets were sounded on the days of gladness, and in the feasts, it is therefore said in David:
"Sing unto Jehovah with the harp; with the harp and the voice of melody. With trumpets and sound of the horn make a joyful noise before Jehovah, the King" (Psalm 98:5, 6).
And in Zephaniah:
"Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem" (3:14).
This is spoken of the establishment of the church by the Lord. The trumpets, the sound of the horn, and the making of a joyful noise, signify joy on account of the Divine Truth descending out of heaven.
So in Job:
"When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy" (38:7).
This is said concerning the state of the church in its beginning, and by stars are signified the knowledges of truth and good, and by the sons of God, Divine truths; their joy, that is, the joy of men under their influence, is signified by their singing and shouting.
[8] Again, in David:
"Praise" God "with the sound of the trumpet" (Psalm 150:3).
And again:
"Blessed are the people that know the sound of the trumpet; they shall walk, O Jehovah, in the light of thy faces" (Psalm 89:15).
The trumpet sound signifies Divine Truth gladdening the heart, it is therefore said, "light of thy faces," which signifies Divine Truth. That the sound of the horn and of the trumpet signifies Divine truths descending out of heaven, terrifying the evil and scattering them, as here in the Apocalypse by the trumpets with which the seven angels sounded, is evident from the following passages.
In Isaiah it is said,
"Jehovah shall go forth as a lion, 1 he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war; he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail over his enemies" (42:13).
Enemies are the evil.
So in Joel:
"Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of Jehovah cometh, a day of darkness and of gloominess" (2:1, 2).
The day of Jehovah is the coming of the Lord, when a last judgment upon the evil also takes place.
[9] And in Zechariah:
"And Jehovah shall be seen over them, and his dart shall go forth as the lightning; and the Lord Jehovah shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south" (9:14).
Here also the coming of the Lord is treated of, when the evil shall perish. By blowing the trumpet and sounding an alarm, is signified to disperse by means of Divine Truth; the dart also which shall go forth as lightning, signifies truth dispersing and destroying. The same is signified by blowing the trumpet in Jeremiah (51:27), and in Hosea (5:8, 9).
[10] Since the evil, when they are gathered together in the spiritual world, are deprived of the truths and goods of which they made a pretence in externals by the influx of Divine Good and Divine Truth, and are let into their own evils and falsities which they inwardly cherished, and are thus separated from the good and cast down into the hells, and since there is heard from a distance, when this takes place, as it were trumpets and horns sounding as stated above several times, therefore it was a statute with the children of Israel, that they should sound with the trumpets for battle; as is also related concerning Phinehas, and concerning Gideon, when they fought against the Midianites, and also when Jericho was taken. Thus, in Moses, it is said of Phinehas, that Moses sent twelve thousand men armed, a thousand from each tribe, with the vessels of holiness and the trumpets in the hand of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, against Midian, and they slew every male, and their kings (Num. 31:1-8).
[11] Concerning Gideon it is said in the book of Judges, that he divided three hundred men into three companies, and placed a trumpet in the hand of each man, and empty pitchers, and torches within the pitchers; and he said,
"When I blow with the trumpet, I and all who are with me, blow ye also with the trumpets on every side around all the camp;" and when they sounded with the trumpets, Jehovah set every man's sword against his fellow, and against the whole camp, and the Midianites fled (7:16-22).
And in Joshua, concerning the taking of Jericho it was commanded that seven priests should carry seven trumpets sounding them before the ark, and should go round the city six days, once on each day, and that on the seventh day they should go round the city seven times, and blow with the trumpets; and "when the people in Jericho heard the voice of the trumpet, and the shoutings of the people, the wall of the city fell down flat, and the people went up into the city, and took it" (6:1-20). These things represented the routing of the evil in the spiritual world, which is effected by means of the Divine Truth out of heaven, which, when it flows down, is heard there as a trumpet sounding, as said above. All the miracles related in the Word were representative and thence significative of things Divine in the heavens. Hence the effect of the sound of the trumpets upon enemies on earth was similar to the effect upon the evil in the spiritual world. For enemies, in the Word, represented and thence signify the evil; the Midianites, those who are in the falsities of evil; and the city of Jericho, in this passage, signifies the falsification of the knowledges of truth.
[12] From these considerations the signification of these words in Jeremiah is clear:
"Shout against" Babel "round about; she hath given her hand; her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down" (50:15).
And in Zephaniah:
"A day of wasting and desolation, a day of darkness and thick darkness, a day of cloud and thick cloudiness, a day of the trumpet and alarm upon the fenced cities, and upon the high towers" (1:15, 16).
From what has been stated the signification of the seven angels sounding the trumpets is now evident, and that such effects followed as are here described. Thus, to sound with trumpets, signifies the influx of the Divine Truth out of heaven, and the changes which follow. For the subjects treated of in this chapter and in the following chapters of the Apocalypse are the state of the church in the spiritual world before the judgment, the scattering of the evil, and the casting of them down into hell.
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. "As a lion." The Latin is "sicut Leo." This is the reading of the photolithograph MS., and also of the A.R. 397; but "heros" is the reading in A. 100[5323], 8261, 8293, 8875, and elsewhere.
Judges 6
1
The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh: and Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.
2
The hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.
3
So it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east; they came up against them;
4
and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, until you come to Gaza, and left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor donkey.
5
For they came up with their livestock and their tents; they came in as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number: and they came into the land to destroy it.
6
Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried to Yahweh.
7
It happened, when the children of Israel cried to Yahweh because of Midian,
8
that Yahweh sent a prophet to the children of Israel: and he said to them, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, 'I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;
9
and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land;
10
and I said to you, "I am Yahweh your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell." But you have not listened to my voice.'"
11
The angel of Yahweh came, and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained to Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
12
The angel of Yahweh appeared to him, and said to him, "Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor!"
13
Gideon said to him, "Oh, my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, 'Didn't Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?' But now Yahweh has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian."
14
Yahweh looked at him, and said, "Go in this your might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Haven't I sent you?"
15
He said to him, "O Lord, how shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house."
16
Yahweh said to him, "Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man."
17
He said to him, "If now I have found favor in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who talk with me.
18
Please don't go away, until I come to you, and bring out my present, and lay it before you." He said, "I will wait until you come back."
19
Gideon went in, and prepared a young goat, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of meal. He put the meat in a basket and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the oak, and presented it.
20
The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth." He did so.
21
Then the angel of Yahweh stretched out the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire went up out of the rock, and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of Yahweh departed out of his sight.
22
Gideon saw that he was the angel of Yahweh; and Gideon said, "Alas, Lord Yahweh! Because I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face!"
23
Yahweh said to him, "Peace be to you! Don't be afraid. You shall not die."
24
Then Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh, and called it "Yahweh is Peace." To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25
It happened the same night, that Yahweh said to him, "Take your father's bull, even the second bull seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is by it;
26
and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold, in an orderly way, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down."
27
Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Yahweh had spoken to him: and it happened, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, so that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.
28
When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bull was offered on the altar that was built.
29
They said one to another, "Who has done this thing?" When they inquired and asked, they said, "Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing."
30
Then the men of the city said to Joash, "Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it."
31
Joash said to all who stood against him, "Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? He who will contend for him, let him be put to death while [it is yet] morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has broken down his altar."
32
Therefore on that day he named him Jerub-Baal, saying, "Let Baal contend against him, because he has broken down his altar."
33
Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel.
34
But the Spirit of Yahweh came on Gideon; and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together after him.
35
He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they also were gathered together after him: and he sent messengers to Asher, and to Zebulun, and to Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
36
Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken,
37
behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there be dew on the fleece only, and it be dry on all the ground, then shall I know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken."
38
It was so; for he rose up early on the next day, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.
39
Gideon said to God, "Don't let your anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once. Please let me make a trial just this once with the fleece. Let it now be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew."
40
God did so that night: for it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
