186. That thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead, signifies the quality of their thought, in that they think themselves to be alive, because they are living a moral life, when yet they are dead. This is evident from the signification of "name," as being quality of state (See above, n. 148); also from the signification of "living," as being to have spiritual life (of which presently); also from the signification of "being dead," as being not to have spiritual life, but only moral life without it. This is "being dead," because in the Word "life" signifies the life of heaven with man, which is there also called "life eternal;" while "death" signifies the life of hell, which life in the Word is called "death," because it is the privation of the life of heaven. Here, therefore, "thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead," signifies thinking that they have spiritual life, and thus are saved, because they are living a moral life, when yet they are spiritually dead. But how this is to be understood can be seen from what was said above n. 182 of each life, spiritual and moral, namely, that moral life apart from spiritual life is the life of the love of self and the love of the world, while moral life that is from spiritual life is a life of love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor; this life is the life of heaven, but the other life is what is called spiritual death. When this is understood (See above, n. 182), it can be known what is meant here by "being alive and yet being dead."

[2] That "to live," or "being alive," signifies spiritual life in man, and "being dead" deprivation of that life, and damnation, can be seen from many passages in the Word, of which I will cite the following. Thus in Ezekiel:

When I shall say unto the wicked, In dying he ¹ shall die, and thou shalt not give him warning, nor speak to warn the wicked one from his evil way, that he may be made alive, the wicked shall die in his iniquity. But if thou shalt give warning to the wicked, and he shall not ² turn back from his wickedness nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; yet hast thou delivered thy soul. So if thou shalt give warning to a righteous man that he sin no more, ³ and he sin not, living he shall live, because he took warning (Ezekiel 3:18-21).

Here "dying he shall die" is to perish in eternal death, which is damnation, for it is said of the wicked; and "living he shall live" is to enjoy eternal life, which is salvation, for it is said of those who repent, and of the righteous.

[3] In the same:

Ye have profaned Me with My people, to kill the souls that should not die, and to keep alive the souls that should not live, whilst ye lie to My people, to them that hear a lie (Ezekiel 13:19).

This treats of the falsification of truth, which is meant by "Ye have profaned Me with My people," and by "ye lie to the people, to them that hear a lie." Here "a lie" signifies what is false, and what is falsified. "To kill the souls that should not die" is to deprive them of the life that comes from truths; and "to keep alive the souls that should not live" is to persuade them that life eternal is from falsities. That this is here meant by "making alive" is evident from the preceding verse there.

[4] In David:

Behold the eye of Jehovah is upon them that fear Him, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine (Psalms 33:18-19).

In the same:

Thou hast delivered my soul from death, and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living (Psalms 56:13).

In Jeremiah:

Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death (Jeremiah 21:8).

In John:

Jesus said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My Word hath eternal life, and shall not come into condemnation, but shall pass from death into life (John 5:24).

[5] It is clear that in these passages "death" means damnation, and "life" salvation. Because "death" is damnation it is also hell, for which reason hell is commonly called "death" in the Word, as in these passages. In Isaiah:

Hell will not confess Thee, nor will death praise Thee; they that go down into the pit will not hope on Thy truth. The living, the living, he shall confess Thee (Isaiah 38:18-19).

In the same:

We have made a covenant with death, and with hell we have made a vision (Isaiah 28:15).

In Hosea:

I will ransom them from the hand of hell; I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be thy plague! O hell, I will be thy perdition! (Hosea 13:14).

In David:

In death there is no remembrance of Thee; in hell who shall confess Thee? (Psalms 6:5).

In the same:

The cords of death compassed me, and the cords of hell (Psalms 18:4-5).

In the same:

Like sheep shall they be laid in hell; death shall feed them (Psalms 49:14).

In the same:

Jehovah, thou hast brought up my soul from hell; Thou hast made Me to live (Psalms 30:3).

In Revelation:

A pale horse, and he that sat upon him whose name was death, and hell will follow ⁴ him (Revelation 6:8).

And in another place:

Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14).

[6] As "death" signifies damnation and hell, its meaning in the following passages is evident. In Isaiah:

He will swallow up death for ever; and the Lord Jehovih will wipe away tears from off all faces (Isaiah 25:8).

In the same:

That he might give the wicked to their sepulcher, and the rich in their deaths (Isaiah 53:9).

In David:

Jehovah, Thou liftest me up from the gates of death (Psalms 9:13).

Thou shalt not be afraid for the arrow that flieth by day, nor for the death that wasteth at noonday (Psalms 91:5-6).

In John:

If any one keep My word he shall never see death John 8:51).

In Revelation:

He that overcometh shall not be destroyed in the second death (Revelation 2:11).

In another place:

Many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter (Revelation 8:11).

In the same:

The second angel poured out a bowl upon the sea, and it became blood as of one dead, whence every living soul died in the sea (Revelation 16:3).

[7] From these passages it can be seen what is meant by "the dead," namely, those who have not in themselves the life of heaven, and consequently are in evils and in falsities therefrom. These are meant also in the following passages. In David:

They joined themselves also unto Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead (Psalms 106:28).

In the same:

He hath made me to sit in darkness, like the dead of eternity (Psalms 143:3).

In Matthew:

One of His disciples said, Lord, suffer me first to go away and bury my father. Jesus said, Follow Me, and let the dead bury the dead (Matthew 8:21-22).

On account of this signification of "the dead":

The sons of Aaron were forbidden to touch any dead body (Leviticus 21:2-3, 11);

Likewise the priests, the Levites (Ezekiel 44:25);

Likewise the Nazirite (Numbers 6:6-7);

And whoever of the sons of Israel touched the dead must be cleansed by the water of separation (Numbers 19:11-22 end).

[8] As "death" signifies damnation and hell, so on the other hand "life" signifies salvation and heaven; as in the passages that follow. In Matthew:

Narrow is the gate and straitened is the way which leadeth unto life (Matthew 7:14).

In the same:

It is good to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire (Matthew 18:9).

If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments (Matthew 19:17).

In John:

They shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life (John 5:29).

From this it is that salvation is called "eternal life" (as in Matthew 19:16, 29; 25:46; Mark 10:30, 31; Luke 10:25; 18:18, 30; John 3:14-16, 36; 17:2, 3; and other places). For the same reason heaven is called "the land of the living," as in David:

"the land of the living," as in David:

O Jehovah, Thou art my reliance, my part in the land of the living (Psalms 142:5).

In the same:

That thou mayest see the good of Jehovah in the land of the living (Psalms 27:13).

In the same:

O bless our God, ye peoples, who places our soul among the living (Psalms 66:8, 9).

[9] That the Lord alone has life in Himself, and that even man has life from Him, the Lord Himself teaches in the following passages. In John:

As the Father raiseth up the dead and maketh them alive, even so the Son maketh alive whom He will. For as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself (John 5:21, 26).

In the same:

Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in Me, though he die, shall live (John 11:25, 26).

In the same:

I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

In the same:

I am the bread of life that cometh down out of heaven, and giveth life unto the world (John 6:33, 35, 47, 48).

From this it is that the Lord is said to be "Living" and "the Living One" (Revelation 4:9, 10; 5:14; 7:2; 10:6). The same is said of Jehovah in many passages in the prophets.

[10] And as the Lord is life, so all have life from Him; this also the Lord teaches. In John:

He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life (John 3:36).

In the same:

Jesus said, I came that the sheep may have life. I give unto them eternal life (John 10:10, 28).

In the same:

He that believeth on Me, though he die, shall live (John 11:25, 26).

In the same:

Ye will not come to Me, that ye may have life (John 5:40).

[11] "Life" signifies the Lord, and thence salvation and heaven, because all of life is from one only Fountain, and that only Fountain of life is the Lord, while angels and men are merely forms receiving life from Him. The Life itself that proceeds from the Lord and fills heaven and the world, is the life of His love, and in heaven this appears as light, and because this light is life it enlightens the minds of angels, and enables them to understand and be wise. From this it is that the Lord calls Himself not only "the Life" but also "the Light." As in John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. 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 1:1, 4-12).

In the same:

Jesus said, I am the Light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (John 8:12).

In David:

Jehovah, with Thee is the fountain of life, in Thy light shall we see light (Psalms 36:9).

The light which is life from the Lord in heaven is there called Divine truth, because it shines in the minds of those who are there, and thence shines before their eyes. From this it is that in the Word "light" signifies Divine truth, and intelligence and wisdom therefrom, and that the Lord Himself is called "the Light." (But this is shown more fully in the work on Heaven and Hell 126-140, 275, which see.)

[12] The Lord is the source [a quo] of everything of life, because He is the sun of the angelic heaven, and the light of that sun is Divine truth, and its heat is Divine good; the two are life. From that origin is all life in heaven and in the world. The spiritual that flows into nature, and gives life there, is from no other source; but it gives life according to reception. (On this also see the work on Heaven and Hell 116-125.) From this it is now evident why it is that the Lord calls Himself "the Life," and why it is that those are said to have life and to live who receive light which is Divine truth, from the Lord, and why those who do not receive it are said not to live, but to be dead. (That there is one only Fountain of life, and that the Lord is that Fountain, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 9; and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 278.)

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899. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth, signifies the resurrection into eternal life of those who have lived heretofore a life of charity, and will so live henceforth. This is evident from the signification of "the dead in the Lord," as being those who rise into eternal life (of which presently), also from the signification of "the dead and those that die from henceforth," as being the resurrection of those who have heretofore lived and who henceforth live a life of charity, for this is said of those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus; and these are such as live according to the Lord's commandments in the Word and acknowledge His Divine, thus who live a life of charity from the Lord (See above, n. 894, 895).

[2] It is said "from henceforth," because those are meant who have heretofore lived and who henceforth live that life. Those who have lived that life heretofore were kept by the Lord below the heavens and protected from infestation by the hells until the Last Judgment; and when this was accomplished they were raised up from their places, and elevated into heaven. This was not done before because before that the hells prevailed, and there was a preponderance on their part; but after this the heavens prevailed, and thus there was a preponderance on their part; for by the Last Judgment all things, both in the hells and in the heavens, were reduced to order. If, therefore, these had been elevated before, they could not have resisted the power with which the hells prevailed over the heavens. That they were elevated it was granted me to see; for I saw troops of them arising and being lifted up from the lower earth, where they had been kept by the Lord, and transferred to the heavenly societies. This took place after that Last Judgment that is treated of in the work on The Last Judgment. The same was done after a former judgment that was accomplished by the Lord when He was in the world, which is treated of in the same work. This mystery is what is meant by the resurrection of those who had heretofore lived a life of charity. This is meant also by these words in John:

Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out. But I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto Myself (John 12:31, 32);

and this was represented by:

Many of the saints who slept were raised up; and coming forth out of their tombs after the Lord's resurrection they entered into the holy city, and appeared unto many (Matthew 27:52, 53).

But on this more will be said where the first and second resurrection or death are treated of in what follows in Revelation.

[3] "The dead that are blessed," and "those that die," mean also those that are to rise again into life hereafter, who are such as live a life of charity, as is evident from the expressions "from henceforth," and "the dead," and "those that die," "from henceforth," referring not only to those who are such since the Last Judgment, but also to those who were such before, and who have been treated of above. "Death" signifies resurrection, and thus "the dead" signify those who rise again into eternal life, because "death" signifies hell, and thus evils and falsities; and these must die that man may receive spiritual life; for until these are dead and extinct man has no spiritual life, which is the life that is meant in the Word by "life," "eternal life," and "resurrection;" therefore "to die" means here and elsewhere in the Word the extinction of the life that is man's own, which regarded in itself consists solely of evils and falsities from them. And because when that life has been extinguished spiritual life enters in its place, so "the dead in the Lord" signify those who have been made spiritual by the Lord.

[4] Moreover, "to die" can mean in the spiritual sense resurrection, because the angels, who are in the spiritual sense of the Word, know nothing about natural death, by which man is taken out of this world; but they know only about spiritual death, which comes to those who are being regenerated by the Lord by means of temptations, and with whom evils and falsities therefrom are being subdued and put to death. Again, natural death is nothing but resurrection, for the reason that when the body dies man rises again as to his spirit, and thus death is simply a continuation of his life; for through death man passes from a life in the natural world into a life in the spiritual world, with the difference only that the life in the natural world is a more external and imperfect life, and the life in the spiritual world is a more internal and perfect life; and yet the two are alike in appearance, as can be seen from things heard and seen that are related in the work on Heaven and Hell.

[5] From all this it can be seen that "death" signifies both spiritual death, which is damnation, and resurrection into life, which is salvation. That "death" signifies damnation can be seen above (n. 186, 383, 427, 694). That "death" signifies resurrection to eternal life, and salvation, can be seen from the following passages. In John:

Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in Me, though he die yet shall he live; and everyone that liveth shall not die forever (John 11:25, 26).

"I am the resurrection and the life" signifies that resurrection and life are from Him and not from another; "he that believeth in Me" signifies, he that believes in the Lord's Divine and believes that He is the omnipotent and only God; and as no one can believe this except he that lives a life of charity, therefore a life of charity, is also meant by "believing in Him;" "though he die yet shall he live" signifies that though one die naturally, still he shall rise again into life; "and everyone that liveth and believeth in Me shall not die forever" signifies that he who has been reformed shall not die spiritually, that is, be condemned, but shall rise again into eternal life. This makes clear that "to die" does not mean to die, but to rise again to life.

[6] In the same:

Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and they are dead. This is the bread which cometh down out of heaven, that one may eat thereof and not die (John 6:49, 50, 58).

The "manna" that the sons of Jacob ate in the desert means in reference to them natural food, because they were natural; but "the bread that cometh down out of heaven" means spiritual food, which is from the Lord alone; and because it is from Him alone, in the highest sense "bread" means Himself; and therefore He says, "I am the Bread of life." For Divine good united with Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, is that from which both angels and men have spiritual life. Consequently these words mean in the spiritual sense that those who nourish themselves from the Word in a natural way only are dead, that is, condemned, as were the sons of Jacob; and this was signified by their all dying in the desert; but those who nourish themselves spiritually from the Word will not be subject to condemnation, which is meant by "they shall not die," which evidently does not mean not to die, but resurrection into life; for if death is not death it is life.

[7] In the same:

If a man keep My word he shall never see death (John 8:51, 52).

"To keep the Lord's words" signifies to live according to the Lord's commandments; "not to see death" signifies not to see condemnation but life, into which man rises and enters by death. In the same:

Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, that he that heareth My word and believeth on Him that sent Me hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment but passeth from death into life (John 5:24).

"To hear the word of the Lord and believe on Him that sent Him" has a like meaning as above, for by "the Father" the Lord meant the Divine that was in Him from conception, thus Himself. "Not to come into judgment" signifies not to be condemned; "to pass from death into life" signifies resurrection and life in heaven, "from death" signifying not only from natural death into eternal life, thus a resurrection, but also from spiritual death, which is condemnation, into eternal life; thus also resurrection; for the Word contains both a natural and a spiritual sense.

[8] In the same:

Jesus said, As the Father raiseth up the dead and vivifieth them, even so the Son vivifieth whom He will (John 5:21).

"To raise up the dead and vivify them" means resurrection into life, not only by natural death but also by spiritual death; resurrection into life is effected by reformation and regeneration, and these by the removal and separation of evils, which condemn man, and which are spiritual death. In the same:

Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, that the hour is coming when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live (John 5:25).

"The dead" signify here those who have been in evils and in falsities therefrom, but have been delivered from them by reformation; that they shall rise again is meant by these words, for they are no longer dead but alive, for they are "those that hear the voice of the Son of God," that is, those who live according to His commandments. Likewise it is said in Luke:

That such shall be recompensed in the resurrection of the dead ¹ (Luke 14:14).

"The resurrection of the dead" means not only the resurrection of those who die naturally, for these rise again immediately after death, but also the resurrection of those who die spiritually and are vivified by the Lord.

[9] In John:

Jesus said, The hour shall come, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth, they that have done goods unto the resurrection of life, but they that have done evils unto the resurrection of judgment (John 5:28, 29).

This does not mean that the tombs shall be opened and all shall go forth at the day of the Last Judgment; but the "tombs" that shall be opened mean the places in the lower earth where those who had previously lived a life of charity and had acknowledged the Lord's Divine were kept and guarded by the Lord, and in the day of the Last Judgment and after it were raised up into heaven, as has been said above in this article. These places are signified in the spiritual sense by "tombs." This does not mean that the tombs in the earth are to be opened, and that they shall come forth from them at the day of the Last Judgment, as is clearly evident from the fact that all men come into the spiritual world immediately after death, and live there in a human form in like manner as in the natural world, therefore that everyone's resurrection takes place immediately after death, resurrection to life for those who have done goods, and resurrection to judgment for those who have done evils; as is evident from the things heard and seen that are related in the work on Heaven and Hell.

[10] The same was represented by:

The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints that slept were raised up, and coming forth out of their tombs after the Lord's resurrection entered into the holy city and appeared unto many (Matthew 27:52, 53).

That the tombs were then opened and the saints who had previously died came forth and entered into the holy city and appeared to many, represented the resurrection of those who had been kept by the Lord in places under heaven until His coming into the world, and who after His resurrection were taken therefrom and raised up into heaven. This took place and was seen by those who were in Jerusalem; nevertheless it was representative of the resurrection of those here and before described. For as all things of the Lord's passion were representative, also that the veil of the temple was rent in twain, the earth quaked, and the rocks were rent (Matthew 27:51), so was this, that they came forth from the opened tombs; therefore it is added that "they entered into the holy city and appeared there;" for "Zion," which is here meant by "the holy city," still represented heaven where the Lord reigns by His Divine truth (on this signification of "Zion" see above, n. 850); and that city, together with Jerusalem, was at that time profane rather than holy, so that it was even called "Egypt and Sodom" in Revelation (Revelation 11:8). But it is called "holy" on account of its representation and consequent signification in the Word.

[11] Resurrection from the dead, both in the natural and in the spiritual sense, was represented and thus was signified by the dead whom the Lord raised:

As by the raising of Lazarus (John 11:11-44);

By the raising of the young man of Nain (Luke 7:11-18);

And by the raising of the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue (Mark 5:21-43 to the end).

For all the miracles wrought by the Lord, and all the miracles described in the Word, included in them and thus signified the holy things of heaven and the church; and for this reason those miracles were Divine, and they were distinguished from miracles not Divine. The like is signified by this:

That it was granted to the disciples to raise the dead (Matthew 10:8).

[12] Regeneration, which also is a resurrection from the dead, was represented by the vivification of the bones in Ezekiel (Ezekiel 37:1-14). That this represented regeneration is plainly evident from verses 11-14, where it is said:

These bones are the whole house of Israel; therefore prophesy and say unto them, Behold I will open your graves, O My people, and I will bring you upon the land of Israel, that ye may know that I will put My spirit in you, that ye may live.

Here again it is said that "the graves shall be opened," which signifies resurrection into life. (That "to be buried" and "burial" signify resurrection, likewise regeneration, being the rejection of things unclean, may be seen above, n. 659)

[13] That natural death, which is a rejection of the unclean things of the body, and spiritual death, which is a removal of the unclean things of the spirit, signify resurrection, can be seen also from the following passages in Revelation, where the first and the second death are treated of, which also are called the first and the second resurrection ² (Revelation 2:11; 21:8). Also in David:

Precious in the eyes of Jehovah is the death of His saints (Psalms 116:15).

Evidently "the death of the saints" does not signify damnation, but the separation and removal of the unclean things of their spirit, thus regeneration and resurrection. So also in John:

Jesus said, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die it abideth alone; but if it die it beareth much fruit (John 12:24).

The same is true of man, who, that he may rise again, must die both as to the body and as to what is his own [proprium], which is in itself infernal; for unless both of these die he does not have the life of heaven.

[14] As men rise again after death, therefore the Lord willed to undergo death and to rise again the third day, but to the end that He might put off everything human that He had from the mother and might put on the Divine Human; for everything human that the Lord took from the mother He rejected from Himself by temptations, and finally by death; and by putting on a Human from the Divine Itself that was in Him He glorified Himself, that is, made His Human Divine; therefore in heaven His death and burial do not mean death and burial, but the purification of His Human, and glorification. That this is so the Lord taught by this comparison with wheat falling into the earth, which must die that it may bear fruit. The same is involved in what the Lord said to Mary Magdalene:

Touch Me not, for I am not yet ascended unto My Father (John 20:17).

"To ascend to His Father" means the uniting of His Human with His Divine, the human from the mother being fully rejected.

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