474. And he said unto me, These are they who come out of the great tribulation, signifies information that these are they that have been in temptations. This is evident from the signification of "he said to me," as being information; also from the signification of "great tribulation" (or affliction) as being temptations (of which presently). Here something shall first be said about temptations which those in the spiritual world undergo who are in falsities from ignorance, and who are here treated of. In the spiritual world, those only undergo temptations who had lived well in the world according to their religion, in which there were falsities of doctrine which they believed; for by means of temptations falsities are shaken off and truths are implanted, and thus they are prepared for heaven; for all who are to come into heaven must be in truths; therefore so long as they are in falsities they cannot come into heaven. The reason is that Divine truth proceeding from the Lord makes heaven, and makes the life of the angels there; consequently as falsities are the opposites of truths, and opposites destroy, these must first be removed, and they can be removed only by means of temptations. (That temptations perform this use, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 187-201, where temptations are treated of.) Such after their life in the body are let into temptations in the spiritual world because they could not be tempted while in the world on account of the falsities of their religion which reigned. Everywhere it is to be noted, that all who are let into temptations are saved; while the evil, who are in falsities from evil, are not tempted, for truths cannot be implanted in them; their evils of life stand in the way; but from these their truths are taken away, and thus they remain in mere falsities, and then they are plunged into hell, to a depth according to the quality of evil from which is falsity. In a word, those who are to come into heaven are vastated in respect to falsities, while those who are to come into hell are vastated in respect to truths; that is, from those who are to come into heaven falsities are taken away, and from those who are to come into hell, truths are taken away; for no one with falsities can enter heaven, and no one with truths can enter hell, since truths from good make heaven, and falsities from evil make hell. The temptations which those undergo with whom falsities are to be scattered are treated of in many passages in the Word, especially in David, and are called "afflictions," "tribulations," and "vastations;" but there is no need to cite these passages here, because it can be known without them that "tribulations" and "afflictions," when predicated of the good, mean in the spiritual sense temptations.

9046. 'As the master of the woman imposes on him' means till it agrees with the truth that goes with the good. This is clear from the meaning of 'as he imposes on him', when it refers to a fine, as amendment to the point of satisfaction, thus to the point at which there is agreement, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'the master' - 'the master of the woman', that is, her man or husband - as truth; and from the meaning of 'the woman' as good. For 'the master of a woman', or her man, in the spiritual sense of the Word means truth, and 'the woman' good, because the marriage of a man to a woman represents the marriage of truth and good, 915, 2517, 4510, 4823. 'Amendment till it agrees' is used to mean compensating for injury caused through premature birth, in the spiritual sense through the delivery of good springing from truths or the sending out of such good from the internal man into the external or natural man in a way that is not right and orderly. The compensation has been paid or the restoration made when agreement is reached; and this is reached when the external or natural man does not act independently but under the direction of the internal or spiritual man. For the internal must reside within the external, or the spiritual within the natural, as the soul does within its body. When this comes about the external or natural receives its life from the life of the internal, which is the new life or the life a regenerated person has.