918. Saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the vintage of the clusters of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. That this signifies that the collecting and separation of the good from the evil may take place, because there are no longer any truths of faith, since there is no spiritual good, which is charity, is evident from the signification of thrusting in the sharp sickle and gathering the vintage, as denoting to collect the good and to separate them from the evil (concerning which see above, n. 911). The same is here signified by gathering the vintage as above by reaping. But gathering the vintage is spoken of, because it relates to clusters and grapes; and reaping is spoken of because it relates to the harvest; and by each is signified to devastate and make an end of the church, which is signified both by the harvest and vintage. And when the church is devastated, and thereby brought to its end, then the good are collected and separated from the evil. What is further signified by gathering the vintage, will be seen in what follows; and from the signification of clusters, as denoting the goods of faith and the truths therefrom, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of, for her grapes are fully ripe, as denoting, because there are no longer any goods of charity, thus because it is the end of the church. From these things it is evident that by, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vintage of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe, is signified that the collecting and separation of the good from the evil may take place, because there are no longer any goods and truths of faith, since there is no spiritual good, which is charity. The reason why there are no truths of faith is that there is no good of charity, and that truth is not possible without good; for truth derives its essence or its life from good. Whence it follows that truths and the faith thereof have no existence, if there is no good or charity.

[2] What charity is, which is the same as spiritual good, shall be briefly explained. Charity, or spiritual good, consists in doing good because it is truth; that is, it is to do truth. And to do truth is to do those things which the Lord has commanded in His Word. It is evident, therefore, that charity is spiritual good. And when a man does good because it is truth, or does truth, then charity becomes moral good, which, in the external form, is like the good that is done at this day with every man who is a moral and civil man. But there is this difference, that genuine moral good is good from the spiritual good from which it proceeds. For spiritual good is from the Lord, but moral good is from man. Therefore, unless the good from man is from the Lord, that is, through man from the Lord, it is not good. The end for the sake of which [a thing is done], declares its quality. Moral good separated from spiritual good, regards man, his honour, profit, and pleasure, as the end for which it is done. But moral good from spiritual good has regard to the Lord, heaven, and eternal life, as the end. These things are said, in order that it may be known, why it is that there is no truth of faith where there is no good of charity; consequently, that where these two do not exist, the church is devastated; this is the subject treated of here and in what now follows in the Apocalypse. That there is no faith where there is no charity, may be seen also in the small work concerning the Last Judgment 33-39).

[3] That clusters and grapes signify the good of charity, is evident from the passages in the Word where they are mentioned, as in the following.

In Jeremiah:

"Consuming I will consume them; there shall be no grapes on the vine, neither figs on the fig-tree, and the leaf shall fall off; and I will give them to those who pass by over them" (8:13).

No grapes on the vine, signifies that there is no spiritual good in man. No figs on the fig-tree, signifies that there is no natural good in him. The vine and the fig-tree signify man as to the church, thus the church with him. But these may be seen further explained above (n. 403).

[4] In Isaiah:

"My beloved had a vineyard in the horn of a son of oil, which he fenced about, and gathered out the stones thereof; and he planted it with a noble vine, and built a tower in the midst of it; also he hewed out a wine-press in it, and he waited for it to bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes" (5:1, 2, 4).

By the vineyard of the beloved, is signified the spiritual church, which was instituted with the sons of Israel. In the horn of a son of oil, signifies, which had truths from the good of charity. Which he fenced about, and gathered out the stones, signifies the guarding it from falsities and evils. He planted it with a noble vine, signifies that it was gifted with genuine truths. He built a tower in the midst of it, signifies the interior things, which receive influx, and by which there is communication with heaven. Also he hewed out a wine-press in it, signifies the production of truth from good. And he waited for it to bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes, signifies the hope of the fructification of those things from the good of charity; but in vain, because there was iniquity in the place of good.

[5] In Micah:

"Woe is me, I am become as the gatherings of the summer, as the gleanings of the vintage; not a cluster to eat; my soul desireth the first-fruits. The holy one has perished from the earth, and the upright one amongst men; all lie in wait for bloods" (7:1, 2).

Grief because of the vastation of good and the truth therefrom in the church, is meant and described by, Woe is me, I am become as the gatherings of the summer, as the gleanings of the vintage. That there is no longer any spiritual good, nor natural good, from which the Lord is worshipped, is signified by, there is no cluster to eat, my soul desireth the first-fruits. That there is no longer spiritual or natural truth, is signified by the holy one has perished, and the upright one amongst men. That the truths and goods of the Word, and thence of the Church, are destroyed by falsities and evils, is signified by, all lie in wait for bloods.

[6] In Hosea:

"I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness: as the first-fruit on the fig-tree in the beginning. I saw your fathers" (9:10).

These things are said concerning the Ancient Church, and its establishment. That church is here meant by Israel; its first state by, in the wilderness, and in the beginning; and the spiritual good with them, by grapes; and the good therefrom arising in the natural man, by the first-fruit in the fig-tree. That the men of the Ancient Church are there meant by Israel in the wilderness, and by their fathers in the beginning, and not the sons of Jacob, is evident in Moses:

[7] "Their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall, clusters of bitterness to them" (Deuteronomy 32:32).

Here the sons of Jacob are described, such as they were in the wilderness. That religion with them was infernal, because they worshipped the gods and idols of the nations, is signified by their vine being of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah. That instead of the goods of charity, they were given to hatred and to the falsities breaking forth therefrom, instead of truths. This is signified by, their grapes are grapes of gall, clusters of bitterness to them.

[8] In Moses:

"He tieth to the vine his ass, and to the choice vine the son of his she-ass; he washeth his garment in wine, and his covering in the blood of grapes" (Genesis 49:11).

These form the last address of the father of Israel to his sons, here [spoken] to Judah, by whom, in the highest sense, is meant the Lord as to the celestial church, and the Word. And by the blood of grapes is signified the Divine truth from His Divine good; and, in a relative sense, the good of charity. But this and the rest may be seen explained in Arcana Coelestia 6375-6379).

[9] By the blood of the grapes is also signified truth from spiritual good, the same as by wine (also Deuteronomy 22:14). The reason why grapes signify the good of charity is, that by a vineyard is signified the spiritual church, and by a vine the man of that church. Therefore, by clusters or bunches, and by grapes, which are the fruits, are signified the goods which constitute that church; these are called spiritual goods, and also goods of charity. And because all truth is from good, as all wine is from grapes, therefore by wine, in the Word, is signified truth from good. Concerning this signification of wine see above (n. 219, 376). But by clusters or bunches are properly signified the variations of the state of spiritual good, or of the good of charity, because in them many grapes cohere in series. But what is meant by variations of the state of good will be explained elsewhere.

[10] Because the land of Canaan represented and thence signified the church, and the church being a church from spiritual good - for this is the mark of the church, therefore

those who went to explore that land brought from it a cluster of grapes of a remarkable size, which was carried on a staff by two (Numbers 13:23, 24).

This was a representative sign of the church signified by the land of Canaan. The reason why the church is a church from the good of charity is, that this good, strictly considered, is the good of life arising from love to the Lord; consequently, it is the effect of that love. By the good of charity is meant justice, sincerity, and uprightness in every work and in every function, from the love of justice, sincerity, and uprightness; this love comes solely from the Lord.

[11] Because it has been hitherto unknown, what was represented by the Nazarite, and what was signified by his abstaining from grapes and from wine, and by making the hair of his head to grow, it is permitted here to make it known. Concerning his abstinence from grapes and from wine it is thus written:

"He shall abstain from wine and strong drink, vinegar of wine and vinegar of strong drink he shall not drink, yea, he shall not drink any bruising of grapes; the grapes also either fresh or dry he shall not eat. All the days of his Nazariteship, he shall not eat anything that is made of the grape of the vine, from the kernels even to the skin" (Numbers 6:3, 4).

This law was for the Nazarite before he fulfilled the days of his Nazariteship, because he then represented the Lord as to His first state. The Lord, like every man, passed through a first state which was sensual. For every man is first sensual; afterwards he is made natural and rational, then, spiritual; and lastly, if the third degree is opened in him, he becomes celestial, such as an angel of the third heaven becomes. The Sensual of man is signified by the hair of the head (concerning which see above, n. 66, 555). And because the Sensual is the most external of man's life, where all power resides, therefore the Nazarites had such great strength. That all power resides in the extremes or ultimates, consequently, in the ultimate sense of the Word, this being the sense of the letter, which also corresponds to and signifies hair, may be seen above (n. 346, 417, 567, 666, 726). Such power pertained to the Lord in His childhood, by which He overcame and subjugated the most direful hells, where all are sensual.

This state of the Lord was represented by the days of fulfilment with the Nazarites, which being fulfilled, the Lord entered from the sensual and natural into the spiritual and celestial Divine. Now because that state, together with its good and truth, is signified by grapes and wine, therefore it was not lawful for the Nazarite to eat grapes and drink wine, before he had fulfilled those days.

[12] That afterwards it was lawful for him is evident from the twentieth verse of that chapter, where it is said,

"And after that the Nazarite may drink wine."

That at the end of the days of fulfilment,

he should shave his head, and put the hair of his head upon the fire, which was under the sacrifice of the peace offerings (ver. 18),

represented the sensual, then new, from the celestial Divine; for new hair grew afterwards upon the Nazarite. This also represented that the Lord from ultimate Divine truth, which is the sense of the letter, entered into interior Divine truth, which is the Word in the internal sense, even to the highest there. For the Lord, while He was in the world, was the Word, because He was the Divine truth, and that more interiorly by degrees, as He grew up, even to the highest, which is purely Divine, entirely above the perceptions of the angels.

It must be known that the Lord, during His abode in the world, from infancy to the last day there, successively advanced to union with the very Divine that was in Him from conception (concerning this successive progression see the Arcana Coelestia 1864, 2033, 2632, 3141, 4585, 7014, 10076). From these considerations it is evident, what was represented by its not being granted to the Nazarite to eat anything of the grape, nor to drink anything of wine, before the fulfilment of the days of his Nazariteship.

417. Four angels standing on the four corners of the earth. That this signifies the Divine proceeding from the Lord in the whole spiritual world, is plain from the signification of angels, for they denote the Divine which proceeds from the Lord; concerning which see above, n. 130, 200, 302; and from the signification of the four corners of the earth, which denote the whole spiritual world. By four corners is signified the spiritual world, because there are lands there just as on our globe; for in that world, as is the case on our earth, there are mountains, hills, rocks, plains, valleys, and many other things. This has been often stated above. And as the Last Judgment upon all in the spiritual world is treated of in the Apocalypse, and in this place the separation of the good from the evil, therefore that world is meant by the earth. The reason why the earth also signifies the church, as frequently stated before, is, that the appearance of the land (terra) in the spiritual world is exactly in agreement with the state of the church with spirits and angels there. The appearance is the most beautiful where the angels of the superior heavens dwell, and beautiful also where the angels of the lower heavens dwell, but it is totally wanting in beauty where evil spirits dwell. For where the angels dwell, are gardens, fruit gardens, flower-beds, palaces, and everything in heavenly form and harmony, whence pleasantnesses issue forth, imparting inmost delight to the mind; but where evil spirits are, every place is marshy, stony, and barren, and they live in huts of a vile appearance, and also in caverns and dens.

[2] These things are mentioned to show that "the earth," in the proximate sense, means the spiritual world; nor could any other earth (terra) appear to John, for it was seen by him when he was in the spirit. Man also, when in the spirit, cannot see any thing on our Earth (tellus), but only what is in the spiritual world. Therefore John saw four angels, and they were standing on the four corners of that earth. Four angels were seen, because by their standing on four corners is signified the Divine which proceeds from the Lord in the whole spiritual world, for that entire world has four quarters; these are the eastern, western, southern, and northern, that world being thus divided. Those who are in the good of love to the Lord dwell in the eastern quarter, and also in the western, but the former in the clear good of love because they are in the interior [good of love]; the latter, in the obscure good of love, because they are in the exterior [good of love]; in the southern quarter dwell those who are in the clear light of truth, and in the northern those who are in an obscure light of truth. Concerning these quarters see Heaven and Hell 141-153, where they are treated of. And since all things have reference to the good of love, and to the truth from that good, or generally to good and truth, therefore by those four quarters are also meant all things of heaven and the church. Those quarters are also meant in the Word by the four winds, here also by the four corners. It is therefore evident, that the angels were not seen standing on the four corners of the earth, but in the four quarters. They are called the four corners, because corners signify the extremes, and the extremes signify all things, because they include all.

[3] That corners signify quarters is evident from these passages in the Word, where quarters are described by corners, as in the following:

In Moses:

"For the tabernacle thou shalt make twenty boards for the south corner southwards. And for the second side of the tabernacle, towards the north corner, twenty boards," and so forth (Exodus 26:18, 20; 27:9, 11; 36:21, 23, 25).

Here the south corner denotes the southern quarter, and towards the north corner, the northern quarter, for there were twenty boards for each side.

So in Ezekiel:

"By the border of Dan, from the east corner unto the west corner, Asher one. And thence by the border of Asher, from the east corner even unto the corner towards the west," and company (48:1-8).

In the same prophet:

"These the measures; the north corner four thousand and five hundred, and the south corner as many, and the east corner as many, and the west corner as many, by the boundary to the east corner towards the west, and so forth" (48:16, 17, 23-25, 26, 27, 28, 33, 34; also 47:17-20).

Again, in Moses:

"Ye shall measure from without the city the corner towards the east two thousand cubits, and the south corner as many, and the west corner as many, and the north corner as many" (Num. 35:5; also in Joshua 15:5; 18:12, 14, 15, 20).

In these passages, by the east, the south, the west, and the north corners are meant the sides facing the eastern, southern, western, and northern quarters; from which it is evident, that by the four angels standing upon the four corners of the earth, is not meant upon its four corners, but in its four quarters. Similarly in another passage in the Apocalypse, it is said:

Satan "shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth" (20:8).

[4] The reason why four corners are mentioned, and not the four quarters, is that corners signify all things, since they are the extremes; for the extremes embrace all things from the centre to the ultimate circumferences; for they are the ultimate boundaries. It was for this reason that horns were placed upon the four corners of the altar, and that blood was poured on them, and thus the whole altar expiated; as is evident from Exodus 27:2; 29:12; 30:2, 3, 10; 38:2; Leviticus 4:7, 18, 25, 30, 34; 16:18, 19; Ezekiel 41:22; 43:20.

[5] That corners signify all things, because they signify the extremes, for the reason stated above, that the extremes include and embrace all things, is clearly evident from certain statutes given to the sons of Israel; as for instance, that they should not round off or shave the corner of their head (Leviticus 19:27). That they should not cut off the corner of their beards (Leviticus 19:27; 21:5).

Again:

And when they reaped the harvest of their land, they should not wholly reap the corner of the field (19:9; 23:22).

Why such statutes were given them cannot be understood, unless it be known what the hair of the head, the beard, a field, and also a corner mean. The hair of the head, and the beard, signify the ultimate of the life of man, which is called the Corporeal Sensual; a field signifies the Church; and reaping, the truth of doctrine. Wherefore, by these [statutes], it was represented that the extremes should be preserved, because they signify all things; for unless there are extremes, intermediates cannot be held together, but are dissipated, just as the interiors of man would be scattered unless they were enclosed by the skin. The same is the case in every thing and therefore also in regard to the signification of the hair of the head, the beard, and the harvest of the field. That the hair of the head signifies the extreme of the life of man, which is called the Corporeal Sensual, may be seen above (n. 66), and that the same is signified by the beard, see the Arcana Coelestia 9660); that extremes or ultimates, signify all things in the aggregate, thus the whole (n. 10044, 10329, 10335). Now since a field signifies the church, and harvest the truths of the church, therefore by their not wholly reaping the corner of the field when they reaped the harvest, is meant the preservation of all those things which are signified by the harvests of the field.

[6] That corners signify all things because they are extremes, is also evident from the following passages in Moses:

"I will cast them into the farthest corners, I will make the remembrance of them cease from among men" (Deuteronomy 32:26).

To cast into the farthest corners signifies to deprive of all good and truth; therefore it is also said, "I will make the remembrance of them to cease from among men," which signifies, that they no longer possess any thing of spiritual life, which comes to pass when man remains only in the ultimates of life, called the Corporeal Sensual; in this condition are very many, who have not attained to anything of spiritual life. Such persons then become not unlike beasts, which have no other life, with this difference, that a man, because he is born a man, can speak and reason, but he does this from the fallacies of the senses, or of the outermost things of nature, the world, and the body. This is what is meant here by being cast into the farthest corners.

[7] In Jeremiah:

"And their camels shall be a prey, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil; and I will scatter them into every wind into the cut off of the corner; and I will bring their destruction from all the passages thereof, saith Jehovah" (49:32).

These things are said concerning the devastation of Arabia and Hazor by the king of Babylon, and by Arabia and Hazor are signified the knowledges of good and truth, and by the king of Babylon evil and falsity vastating. The vastation of all confirmatory scientifics and of the knowledges of good and truth, is signified by their camels being a prey, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil; for camels denote confirmatory scientifics, and cattle the knowledges of good and truth. The vastation of all things pertaining to good and truth, until none remains, is signified by, "I will scatter them into every wind into the cut off of the corner;" the cut off of the corner denoting the extremes where good and truth no longer exist. That evils and falsities will then break in on every side, is signified by, "I will bring their destruction from all the passages thereof." For in the spiritual world, where the evil are, ways from the hells lie open on all sides, and through these, evils and falsities therefrom break in; and all who are in similar evils and falsities pass through the same ways, and associate with them. These things are said in order that it may be known what is meant by "I will bring their destruction from all the passages." By their becoming a prey and a spoil, as well as by being scattered and destroyed, is signified devastation.

[8] In the same prophet:

"Behold, the days come, in which I will punish all them which are circumcised in their uncircumcision; Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the sons of Ammon, and Moab, and all the utmost of the corner, that dwell in the wilderness; for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart" (9:25, 26).

Here, by "all the utmost of the corner," are signified those who are in the ultimates of the church separated from interior things, interior things being spiritual, therefore, those who are in sensual things only, which are the ultimates of the natural man. Concerning the nature and quality of those who are merely sensual, see the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem. (n. 50).

These are signified by the cut off of the corner, because corners signify the quarters of the spiritual world, and those quarters signify all the goods and truths of heaven and the church, as previously stated. The dwellings of spirits and angels in that world, are so arranged, that those who possess the greatest wisdom and intelligence dwell in the midst, and those who are successively in less and less, from the midst even to the outmost boundaries, and this gradation proceeds accurately according to distances from the centre. In the outermost parts are those who have no wisdom and intelligence, and beyond these those who are in evils and the falsities thence. The latter are those denoted by the cut off of the corner; and because there are deserts there they are said to dwell in the wilderness. Concerning these gradations in the spiritual world, see Heaven and Hell 43, 50, 189). The same are signified by the uncircumcised nations, and by the house of Israel uncircumcised in heart; for the uncircumcised signify those who, being without love and charity, and therefore without good, are consequently in the loves of self and of the world; and those who are in these loves are in the ultimates of the natural man, which are altogether separated from spiritual things; they are therefore "the cut off of the corner that dwell in the wilderness." By Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon and Moab, are meant all those who by means of those loves have separated themselves from the goods and truths of the church; therefore they are beyond the influence of these truths, and are thus the cut off of the corner. The same is signified by the cut off of the corner in Jeremiah (25:23).

[9] Again, in Moses:

"There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall break in pieces the corners of Moab" (Num. 24:17).

By the corners of Moab are meant all things signified by Moab. By Moab are signified those who are in the ultimates of the Word, of the church, and of worship; and in the opposite sense, those who adulterate such things by looking to themselves, and regarding their own honour in every one of these things. The corners of Moab, therefore, mean adulterations of the Word, and consequently of the church and worship, as they exist with those who are of such a character. Similar things are signified by the corner of Moab in Jeremiah (48:45).

[10] In Zephaniah:

"A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high corners" (1:16).

Here, "a day of the trumpet and alarm," signifies spiritual combat against evils and falsities. The fenced cities signify confirmatory false doctrinals, and the high corners those things which favour their loves. Hence the signification of "a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high corners" is evident.

Again:

"I will cut off the nations; their corners shall be laid waste; I will make desolate their streets, that none passeth by; and I will lay waste their cities, so that there is no inhabitant" (3:6).

The destruction of all the goods of the church, is signified by "I will cut off the nations" and "their corners shall be laid waste." Nations mean the goods of the church, and corners, being the extremes (as above), all things belonging to it. By "I will make desolate their streets," and by "their cities shall be laid waste," is signified the destruction of the truths of doctrine; streets denoting truths and cities doctrinals; the total destruction, until no good and truth remain, is signified by there being no inhabitant, none to pass by; for to pass by is used in the Word of truths, and to inhabit of goods.

[11] In the book of Judges:

"Then all the sons of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, and the corners of all the people, even all the tribes of Israel, stood together in the assembly of the people of God" (20:1, 2).

That "the corners of all the people stood together in the assembly of the people of God," signifies all from every side, or from every quarter, is evident from its being said, that all the sons and all the tribes of Israel went out, and that the congregation was gathered together from Dan even to Beersheba. But in the spiritual sense, by "the corners of all the people" are meant all the goods and truths of the church; and similarly also by all the tribes of Israel from Dan even to Beersheba, are signified those things from ultimates to primaries (prima), and by the assembly of the people of God, is signified consultation concerning the things of the church. For in the historical parts of the Word, equally as in the prophetical, there is everywhere a spiritual sense. Therefore in the historical sense, by corners are signified quarters, such as are in the spiritual world; but in the spiritual sense, for the reason stated above, they signify all the truths and goods of the church.

[12] From these considerations the signification of corner stone in the following passages is evident:-

In Isaiah:

"He will lay in Zion a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone of sure foundation" (28:16).

In Jeremiah:

"And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone of foundations" (51:26).

In Zechariah:

Out of Judah, "the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow" (10:4).

In David:

"The stone which they rejected is become the head of the corner" (Psalm 118:22). Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10, 11; Luke 20:17, 18.

Corner stone signifies all Divine Truth upon which heaven and the church are founded, thus every foundation; and, because the foundation is the basis upon which a house or temple rests, it therefore signifies all things. Because by corner stone are signified all things upon which the church is founded, it is therefore said, "He will lay in Zion a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone of sure foundation." It is also called a stone for a corner and a stone of foundations; and because corner stone signifies all Divine Truth upon which the church is founded, it therefore also signifies the Lord as to the Divine Human because from That all Divine Truth proceeds. The builders, or architects, who rejected that stone, as we read in the Evangelists, mean those who are of the church, in this case, of the Jewish church, which rejected the Lord, and together with Him all Divine Truth; for there remained with them nothing but vain traditions from the sense of the letter of the Word, in which the very truths of the Word were falsified, and its goods adulterated. That ultimates signify all things, and the reason of this signification, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 634, 5897, 6239, 6451, 6465, 9216, 9824, 9828, 9836, 9905, 10044, 10099, 10329, 10335, 10548).