783. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority, signifies that those who separate faith from life support and corroborate their doctrinals by reasonings from fallacies, and thus powerfully seduce. This is evident from the signification of the "beast" to which the dragon gave his powers, as being reasonings from the natural man confirming the separation of faith from life (See above, n. 774). These reasonings are from the fallacies of the senses, because that beast appeared like a leopard, and his feet were "as of a bear," and "the feet of a bear" signify fallacies, 781.

Also from the signification of "giving his power, his throne, and great authority," as being to support and corroborate doctrinals; "power" signifying efficacy; "throne" the church in respect to doctrine that is from falsities, and "great authority" support and corroboration thereby. That this is added to their reasonings and their fallacies has been shown above.

[2] It is not because the falsities in which they are have any power in themselves that those who separate faith from life, that is, from good works, have "power, a throne, and great authority," for falsities from evil have no power whatever, since all power is in truths from good. But falsities have power over falsities, as like over like. This can be clearly seen from the power of infernal spirits with one another, which they exercise by things imaginary and by semblances of correspondences, by which they are desirous of seeming most powerful and mighty; but yet they have no power whatever against truths, and so wholly none that it is nothing at all. This I could confirm by much experience were there space to digress so far in these explanations of Revelation. But this can be seen from the fact that the hells, in which there are myriads of myriads, are so held bound by Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, that no one in them dares raise up a finger of his hand; also from this fact that a single angel by means of truths from the Lord is able to lead, to control, to bind, or to scatter a thousand companies of evil spirits, and this merely by a look from an intention of the will. Such power also has been sometimes granted to me by the Lord. It may seem strange that the church at its end should be in falsities and in evils from them, and in evils and in falsities from them, and yet that truths from good have all power; and it seems as if such truths might be given by the Lord by means of truths from the Word. But the reason is that falsities have power against those who are in falsities from evil; and at the end of the church these falsities reign, and when these reign truths are not received. For this reason falsities cannot be dispersed by truths, and therefore the devil is then called powerful, and loosed from bonds. This is why infernal falsity is called in the Word a "lion," a "bear," a "wolf," a "beast," also a "wild beast" strong and fierce.

[3] For the same reason those who are in falsities are called in the Word "powerful," "vigorous," "mighty," "strong," "heroes," "rulers," "terrible," "dreadful," and "wasters," as can be seen from various passages, as from the following.

In Jeremiah:

Behold I bring upon you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, a vigorous nation, all strong men (Jeremiah 5:15, 16).

In the same:

Go up ye horses, rage ye chariots, ye strong men go forth (Jeremiah 46:9).

In the same:

O sword against the strong, that they may be dismayed (Jeremiah 50:36).

In Ezekiel:

I will give Pharaoh into the hand of a strong one of the nations (Ezekiel 31:11, 12).

In Hosea:

Thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy strong ones (Hosea 10:13).

In Joel:

A people great and vigorous, like heroes they run, they climb over the wall (Joel 2:2, 7).

In Amos:

The refuge of the swift perisheth, and the strong shall not confirm his might, neither shall the powerful deliver his soul; he that is strong in his heart among heroes shall flee naked in that day (Amos 2:14, 16).

In David:

Rebuke the wild beast of the reed; the congregation of the strong (Psalms 68:30).

In the first book of Samuel:

The bows of the strong are broken (1 Samuel 2:4).

In Revelation:

All the kings, the great ones, the rich, the commanders of thousands, and the powerful, hid themselves in caves and in the rocks (Revelation 6:15).

In Matthew:

The rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them (Matthew 20:25).

And in Luke:

This is your hour and the authority of darkness (Luke 22:53);

and various other passages.

[4] To what has been said above it may be added, that infernal spirits believe themselves to be stronger and more powerful than others, but this for the reason that they prevail over those who are in evils and in falsities therefrom, thus one infernal spirit over another infernal spirit, or one evil by means of falsity over another evil by falsity; from this appearance they believe themselves to be powerful. But such power may be compared to that of a mite against a mite, or of a flea against a flea, of dust against dust, or of chaff against chaff, the power of which is merely relative to their mutual forces. Add to this that infernal spirits are elated in mind, and wish to be called vigorous, strong, and heroes for the most trivial reasons.

[5] As "the power and great authority" that the dragon gave from himself to "the beast coming up out of the sea," thus the power of infernal spirits among one another, are here treated of, I will unfold some arcana respecting their arts for acquiring power in the spiritual world. There are some who acquire for themselves power by means of the Word, for they are acquainted with some passages of it, and these they recite, and by these a communication with the simple good is effected and conjunction with them in respect to externals; and so far as they are in that conjunction they prevail over others. The reason is that all things of the Word are truths, and truths have all power, and the simple good are in truths; so from conjunction with them they have power, but only so long as that conjunction continues, and this does not continue long, because they are very soon separated from each other by the Lord. Some acquire for themselves power by simulated affections of good and truth and by the affections belonging to the love of what is sincere and just; by these they lead the simple good to feel well disposed towards them and to cherish good will towards them, and to join themselves to them. And so long as that kindly feeling continues to be mutual they continue more powerful than others. Some acquire for themselves power by representatives of various kinds, which are abuses of correspondences; and some in other ways. And as truths that are from good have all power, and these are found with angels, so nothing is more desired by evil spirits than to attract good spirits to their side, because thus the evil prevail; but as soon as they are separated from these they are in the falsities of their own evil, and when they are in these they are deprived of all power.

[6] This, too, is why all the evil who flock out of this world are first separated from the goods and truths that they have merely known from memory, and thus carried in the mouth; and when they have been separated from these their interiors appear, which consist of nothing but masses of falsities from evils. And when they are in these, because they no longer have any power they fall down headlong into hell, as heavy bodies in the air fall to the earth. That goods and truths are taken away from the evil is known from the Word; for the Lord says:

Take the talent from him and give it to him that hath the ten talents; for unto everyone that hath shall be given that he may have abundance, but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye out the useless servant into the outer darkness; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:28-30; Mark 4:25; Luke 8:18; 19:26).

666. And they stood upon their feet, signifies a new life, such as the regenerate man of the church has. This is evident from the signification of "standing," as meaning to be and to live, and also to sustain (See above, n. 414); also from the signification of "feet," as being the natural, which is the ultimate of Divine order, and the base upon which prior or higher things rest, and upon which they subsist (See above, n. 69, 600, 606); so "to stand upon the feet" signifies life in fullness, because in the ultimate. A new life is signified because the "witnesses" who are here treated of were killed and lived again. "To stand upon the feet" here means such life as the regenerate man of the church has, because this is said of "the two witnesses," by whom all who are in the goods of love through the truths of doctrine are meant, who are such as have been regenerated; also because when the natural, which is signified by the "feet," has been regenerated, the whole man has life such as the regenerated man has.

[2] This the Lord teaches in John:

Jesus said to Peter, He that hath bathed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is all clean (John 13:10).

"To wash" signifies to be purified from evils and falsities, which is to be regenerated, therefore "he that hath bathed" signifies he that has been purified, that is, regenerated in respect to the spiritual, which is the good of love and the truth of doctrine; these must first be received in the memory and understanding, that is, must be known and acknowledged. "Needeth not save to wash his feet" signifies that the natural or external man must then be purified or regenerated, which is done by a life according to the precepts of love and faith, that is, according to the goods and truths of doctrine from the Word. As this is done the man himself is purified or regenerated; for to live according to the goods and truths of doctrine from the Word is to will them and thence to do them, which is the same as to be affected by them and to love them; for what comes to be of the will comes to be of the affection and love, and therefore of the man himself; for the will is the very man, since a man is his own love and his own affection. This is why it is said that then "the whole man is clean. "

[3] From this it is clear why "to stand upon the feet" means such life as a regenerate man has. Therefore of "the dry bones" seen by the prophet on the face of the valley, when they had been covered with sinews, flesh, and skin, it is said:

When I had prophesied about the spirit, the spirit entered into them, and they revived and stood upon their feet (Ezekiel 37:10).

Here also "to stand upon the feet" signifies a new life, such as the regenerate man has; for "the dry bones" to which the house of Israel is likened signify the state of the church with them, namely, that it had no goods of love or truths of doctrine; and "being clothed with sinews, flesh, and skin" signifies regeneration; and "the spirit that entered in" signifies a new life through the influx and reception of Divine truth; therefore it is then said that "they revived and stood upon their feet."

[4] "To stand upon the feet" has the same signification elsewhere in the same prophet:

A voice speaking to me said, Son of man, stand upon thy feet that I may speak to thee; then the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and stood me upon my feet, and I heard him that spake to me (Ezekiel 2:1, 2).

And again:

I fell upon my face, but the spirit entered into me and raised me upon my feet (Ezekiel 3:23, 24).

This was done because "to stand upon the feet" signifies life itself when it is in its fullness; and life is in its fullness when the natural lives from the spiritual. For the ultimate of man's life is in his natural; this ultimate is like a base to man's interior and higher parts; for these close into the ultimate and subsist in it, consequently unless life is in the ultimate it is not full, and thus not perfect. Moreover, all things interior or higher exist together in the ultimate as in their simultaneous. For this reason such as the ultimate is such are the interior or higher parts, for these adapt themselves to the ultimate because it receives them.

[5] "To stand upon the feet" has a similar signification in David:

Thou hast made my feet to stand in a broad place (Psalms 31:8).

"A broad place" signifies the truth of doctrine from the Word, therefore "to make my feet to stand in a broad place" signifies to cause one to live according to Divine truths. Again, in the same:

He made me come up out of the pit of devastation, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock (Psalms 40:2).

"The pit of devastation" signifies the falsity of doctrine, and "the miry clay" the evil of life; and "to set the feet upon a rock" has a similar signification as above, "to make the feet to stand in a broad place," for "rock" signifies the truth of doctrine from the Word, and in the highest sense, the Lord in relation to Divine truth. Thence it is clear what is signified in the spiritual sense by:

Jehovah will not suffer my ¹ foot to totter (Psalms 121:3);

namely, that he will not suffer the natural to go astray from truths; for so far as the natural goes astray, so far the interiors which belong to the understanding and will, also go astray.

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