343. Holding back the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. This symbolizes the Lord's holding back and restraining a closer and thus stronger influx into the lower regions where good people were attached to evil ones.

It must be known that a last judgment takes place when evil people multiply below the heavens in the world of spirits, and this to such a degree that angels in the heavens cannot continue in the state of their love and wisdom, as they are then without a support and foundation. Since this results from a multiplication of evil people below, therefore in order to preserve the angels' state, the Lord flows in more and more strongly with His Divinity, and this continually until no influx can preserve them unless the evil people below are separated from the good. This is accomplished by a subsidence and closing in of the heavens, with a consequently stronger influx, until the evil cannot bear it. And at that point the evil flee away and cast themselves into hell.

This, too, is what is symbolized in the preceding chapter by the statement, "They said to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?'" (Revelation 6:16-17)

[2] Now for the exposition:

The four winds symbolize an influx of the heavens. The earth, the sea, and every tree symbolize all the lower regions and all that they contain - the earth and sea symbolizing all the lower regions, and every tree all that they contain.

That a wind symbolizes influx - properly speaking, the influx of truth into the intellect - can be seen from the following passages:

Thus says the Lord Jehovih, "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live." (Ezekiel 37:9-10)

(There appeared four chariots to which were harnessed four horses.) These are the four winds of the heavens... (Zechariah 6:1-5)

You must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and... cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. (John 3:7-8)

The Maker of the earth... prepares the world by His wisdom... He brings the wind out of His treasuries. (Jeremiah 10:12-13; 51:15-16, cf. Psalms 135:7)

He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow. He declares His Word..., His statutes and His judgments... (Psalms 147:18-19)

It praises Jehovah..., the stormy wind, doing His Word... (Psalms 148:7-8)

(Jehovah) makes His angels winds... (Psalms 104:4)

(Jehovah) rode... upon the wings of the wind. (Psalms 18:10, cf. 104:3)

The wings of the wind are Divine truths that flow in. The Lord is therefore called "the breath of our nostrils" (Lamentations 4:20), and we are told that He "breathed into (Adam's) nostrils the breath of life" (Genesis 2:7); moreover, that "He breathed on (the Disciples) and said..., "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:21-22). The Holy Spirit is the Divine truth emanating from the Lord, the influx of which into the Disciples was represented and thus symbolized by the Lord's breathing on them.

[3] A wind and breathing symbolize the influx of Divine truth into the intellect, owing to the correspondence of the lungs with the intellect, a treatment of which may be seen in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, nos. 371-429.

Since a closer and stronger Divine influx through the heavens dispels truths in the case of evil people, therefore a wind symbolizes the dispersion of truth in them, and thus their conjunction with hell and perishing - as may be seen from the following passages:

I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four ends of heaven and scatter him. (Jeremiah 49:36)

You shall scatter them, that the wind may carry them away and the storm disperse them. (Isaiah 41:16)

The breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, sets them on fire. (Isaiah 30:33)

The workers of iniquity... perish by the breathing of God, and by the breath of His nostrils they are consumed. (Job 4:8-9)

...the foundations of the world were uncovered at the rebuke (of Jehovah), at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils. (Psalms 18:15)

I saw in my vision..., and behold, the four winds... were rushing upon the Great Sea. And four beasts came up... (Daniel 7:2-3ff.)

...from a storm of Jehovah has gone forth fury... It will rush upon the head of the wicked. (Jeremiah 23:19; 30:23)

O my God..., ...pursue them with Your storm, ...frighten them with Your tempest. (Psalms 83:13, 15)

(Jehovah's) way in the storm and in the tempest... (Nahum 1:3)

And so also elsewhere, as in Jeremiah 25:32, Ezekiel 13:13, Hosea 8:7, Amos 1:14, Zechariah 9:14, Psalms 11:6; 50:3; 55:8, and Psalms 107, where we read:

...He commands the stormy wind to blow... (God) causes the storm to subside, so that its waves are still. (Psalms 107:25, 29)

[4] It is apparent from this what is symbolically meant in the spiritual sense by the following:

(Jesus in the boat) rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ."..be still!" And... there was a... calm. (Mark 4:39, cf. Luke 8:23-24)

The sea here symbolizes hell, and the wind an influx from it.

A strong influx, too, is symbolically meant by the east wind in Ezekiel 17:10, Jeremiah 18:17, Ezekiel 19:12, Hosea 13:15, Psalms 48:7. And by that same wind which dried up the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21), regarding which Moses said:

At the blast of Your nostrils the waters were heaped up... You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them. (Exodus 15:8, 10)

It can now be seen from this that holding back the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, symbolizes the holding back and restraining of a closer and thus stronger influx into the lower regions.

948. 22:11 "He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still." This symbolizes the state of everyone in particular after death and before being judged, and in general before the Last Judgment, that those caught up in evils will have their goods taken away, and those caught up in falsities will have their truths taken away, and conversely, that people prompted by goods will have their evils taken away, and those prompted by truths will have their falsities taken away.

He who is unjust symbolizes someone caught up in evils, and he who is righteous someone prompted by goods (no. 668). He who is filthy or unclean symbolizes someone caught up in falsities (nos. 702, 728, 924), and he who is holy someone prompted by truths (nos. 173, 586, 666, 852). It follows from this that to let him who is unjust be unjust still means, symbolically, that someone caught up in evils will be still more caught up in evils, and that to let him who is filthy be filthy still means, symbolically, that someone caught up in falsities will be still more caught up in falsities; and conversely, that to let him who is righteous be righteous still means, symbolically, that someone prompted by goods will be still more prompted by goods, and that to let him who is holy be holy still means, symbolically, that someone prompted by truths will be still more prompted by truths.

Moreover, it also symbolically means that people caught up in evils will have their goods taken away, and those caught up in falsities will have their truths taken away, and conversely, that people prompted by goods will have their evils taken away, and those prompted by truths will have their falsities taken away. For someone caught up in evils is still more caught up in evils to the extent that his goods are taken away, and someone caught up in falsities is still more caught up in falsities to the extent that his truths are taken away; and conversely, someone governed by goods is still more governed by goods to the extent that his evils are taken away, and someone governed by truths is still more governed by truths to the extent that his falsities are taken away.

Either the one or the other befalls everyone after death, for thus they are prepared, the evil for hell, and the good for heaven. For an evil person cannot take goods and truths with him to hell, nor can a good person take evils and falsities with him into heaven, since that would throw both heaven and hell into disorder.

[2] It must be rightly known, however, that we mean the inwardly evil and the inwardly good. For the inwardly evil may be outwardly good, since they can behave and speak as though they were good, as hypocrites do, and the inwardly good may at times be outwardly evil, since they can do evil things and utter falsities, and yet repent and wish to be instructed in truths.

The case here is the same as that declared by the Lord:

...to everyone who has, more will be given, that he may have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away." (Matthew 13:12; 25:29; Mark 4:25; Luke 8:18; 19:26)

This befalls all people after death before being judged. It also was the case with people collectively who either perished or were saved at the time of the Last Judgment. For the Last Judgment could not take place before then, because as long as the evil held on to their goods and truths, they were conjoined in outward appearances with angels in the lowest heavens. And yet they had to be separated. This, too, was foretold by the Lord in Matthew 13:24-30, 38-40, an event that may be seen explained in nos. 324, 329, 343, 346, 398 above.

It can be seen from this what is symbolically meant in the spiritual sense by letting him who is unjust be unjust still, by letting him who is filthy be filthy still, by letting him who is righteous be righteous still, and by letting him who is holy be holy still.

Something similar is meant by these verses in Daniel:

Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purged and cleansed...; the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand; but those who understand shall understand. (Daniel 12:9-10)