544. And there was given unto them power as the scorpions of the earth have power, signifies their ability to persuade, and its effect and might. This is evident from the signification of a "scorpion," as being an infatuating and suffocating persuasiveness (of which presently); and from the signification of "power," as being might and effect, here the might of the sensual man from his persuasiveness, and the effect which is infatuating and suffocating. Just what and of what quality this persuasiveness is which is signified by a "scorpion" scarcely anyone in the world yet knows, because it is the persuasiveness of the spirit of the sensual man, which he has when he becomes a spirit, but does not have while he is living as a man in the world. The reason is that a man in the world rarely speaks out what his spirit thinks and inmostly loves, for he is taught from infancy to utter such things as pertain to civil and moral life, and even such as pertain to the spiritual life, although his spirit, which thinks and wills inwardly, is differently inclined. So long as man's spirit remains in the body it makes a show of such things before the world, because in no other way can it captivate minds so that his spirit may accomplish the ends it aims at, which are chiefly honors and gain, and name and reputation on account of them.

This is why it is unknown in the world just what and of what quality this infatuating and suffocating persuasiveness is that is signified by a "scorpion;" and yet with the spirits in whom it is, it is such as to infuse itself into the mind and disposition of another, and to benumb and almost extinguish his rational and intellectual faculties, making it impossible for him to know otherwise than that what is spoken is truth, although it be most false. Those who are in such persuasiveness do not speak from any reason, but from blind faith without reason, because they speak from the lowest sensual, and in this there is no reason, but only a persuasive faith from such things as ascend from the body and flow in from the world, inspired by the fire of self-love; it is this fire that breathes into, draws out, and pours into another. Consequently those are more especially in this persuasiveness who have imbued themselves with falsities from the love of self, and believe themselves to be wiser than others. This persuasiveness is said to be infatuating because it induces a stupor in the understanding, and is called suffocating because it takes away the free breathing of another; for everyone breathes in harmony with the thought of his mind. But inasmuch as this persuasiveness is most noxious and pernicious, including a kind of swoon on the mind of another, so that he can see nothing rationally, spirits are strictly forbidden to make use of it; and those who do make use of it are separated from the others, and are either punished or sent down into hell; for in the spiritual world everyone is allowed to confirm the opinions of his mind, whether they be true or false, by things rational and intellectual, but not by any persuasive fascination. (More respecting this persuasiveness may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia: as, That those who are constrained by it are inwardly bound, n. 5096. Those who make use of it shut up the rational of others, and as it were suffocate them, n. 3895, 5128. The Nephilim, Anakim, and Rephaim, mentioned in the Word, were, more than others, in direful persuasions of falsity, n. 581, 1268, 1270, 1271, 1673, 7686. These, before the Lord's coming, infested all in the other life through their direful persuasions, and almost extinguished their spiritual life, n. Arcana Coelestia 7686. They were cast into hell by the Lord when He was in the world, and that hell still appears under a kind of misty crag, and those who draw near it fall into a swoon, n. 311, 581, 1268, 1270, 7686; my own experience with some of the devils from that hell who were permitted to flow into me, n. 1268-1271. How hurtful the persuasion of falsity is, n. 794, 806. There are many kinds of the persuasions of falsity, n. 1673, 1675 the end.) This deadly persuasiveness is signified by a "scorpion," because a scorpion when it stings a man induces ¹ a like swooning of the mind and thence death, if there is no cure.

[2] Murderous persuasions are signified by "scorpions" also in the following passages. In Luke:

Jesus said to the seventy whom He sent out, I beheld Satan as lightning falling from heaven. Behold, I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; that nothing may by any means hurt you (Luke 10:18, 19).

Evidently "serpents and scorpions" do not mean here serpents and scorpions, for the Lord says that "He saw Satan as lightning falling from heaven," and that He "gives them authority over all the power of the enemy;" therefore "serpents and scorpions" signify in the internal sense the crew of Satan, who were in craftiness and direful persuasiveness of falsity, by which men after death are spiritually murdered, unless they are defended by the Lord. The antediluvians, who were called the "Nephilim," were in such persuasiveness more than others, and unless the Lord when He was in the world had subjugated them and cast them into hell and had closed it up, no mortal could have been saved; for they were infesting and almost murdering whomsoever they met in the spiritual world. That the Lord delivered the spiritual world from these and like spirits is meant by His "seeing Satan falling from heaven," and by His giving to those who are in truths from good from Him "authority to tread on serpents and scorpions."

[3] This direful persuasiveness is also signified by "scorpions" in Ezekiel:

Son of man, be not afraid of them nor of their words, though the stubborn and thorny be with thee, and thou dwellest among scorpions; be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their faces. They are hard of face, and obdurate in heart (Ezekiel 2:6, 4).

"To dwell among scorpions" means among those who have persuaded themselves, and strongly persuade others, of falsities, and who do not admit any truth; therefore they are called "stubborn and thorny," also "hard of face and obdurate in heart." Moreover, in those who are in a strong persuasion of falsity the interiors which belong to the rational mind are closed up, consequently they think and speak from the lowest sensual only, and when this sensual is enkindled by the fire of self-love it is hard and obdurate, and also hardens and makes obdurate the interiors of others whom it addresses. For in the spiritual world there is a communication of minds, that is, of the thoughts and affections; and from those who are in such persuasiveness there is a pouring in, from which come the effects above mentioned.

[4] In Moses:

Jehovah God, who led thee through the great and fearful wilderness, of the serpent, the fiery serpent, and the scorpion (Deuteronomy 8:15).

The journeys and wanderings of the sons of Israel forty years in the wilderness represented and signified the temptations of the faithful, and as these come from the injections and persuasions of falsities by evil spirits, they were said to have been led "through a fearful wilderness, of the serpent, the fiery serpent, and the scorpion." Moreover, "serpents" in general signify the lowest sensual of man, and the various species of serpents the various states of that sensual in respect to evils and falsities; for sensual men are more crafty and malicious than others, and themselves believe, and induce others to believe, that they excel in genius, intellect, and judgment; but I can assert that they have nothing of understanding or judgment, but that they are as stupid in such things as are the essentials of faith and life as they are clever in scheming evils and persuading to falsities; and cunning, as is well known, is not wisdom, for wisdom is of truth from good, while cunning is of falsity from evil; and falsity from evil destroys truth from good, because they are opposites, and what is opposite destroys.

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9407. 'There was so to speak a work of sapphire [stone]' means that it is translucent with inner truths on that level, and that all things in it are translucent from the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'a work of sapphire' as the character of the literal sense of the Word when the internal sense is discerned within it, that is, when Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, as it is in heaven, shines through it. For the Word is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord. In origin it is Divine, but as it passes through the heavens it is celestial in the inmost heaven, spiritual in the second or middle heaven, spiritual-natural in the first or lowest heaven, and natural and worldly in the world; this last is its character in the sense of the letter intended for people there. From this it is evident that the sense of the letter, which is the lowest in order, contains a spiritual and a celestial level of meaning, and inmostly the Divine Himself. And since these inner levels are contained in the lowest or literal sense and are seen by those who understand the Word in a spiritual manner, that sense is represented by 'a work of sapphire', which lets rays of heavenly light through, that is, which is translucent.

[2] To give some idea of that translucence, let human speech serve to illustrate it. Such speech has its origin in the end a person has in view which he wishes to make known through speech. This end is his love; for a person has what he loves as his end in view. From that end arises the person's thought, and finally his speech. Anyone who stops to think properly about this can see and discern the truth of it. The fact that the end is the primary component of speech is clear from the general rule that all intelligence has an end within it, and devoid of the end it is not intelligence. And everyone knows that thought is a secondary component arising from the first, for nobody can speak without thinking or think without having an end in view. The fact that spoken words ensue from this, and that these are the final component, which is properly called speech, is also well known. All this being so, when a person pays attention to what another utters he pays attention not to the words the speaker uses but to the meaning conveyed by them which is present in the speaker's thought. And one who is wise pays attention to the end in view that has given rise to the thought expressed in speech, that is, he pays attention to what the speaker's aims are and what it is he loves. These three components are present in human speech, in which the spoken words serve as the outward form.

[3] This comparison enables one to gain some idea regarding the Word in the letter. For those in heaven pay attention to the Word in the letter and perceive things there in exactly the same way as anyone is accustomed to perceive a person's thought as it presents itself in spoken words, or in the inmost heaven as anyone is accustomed to perceive a person's aims or end in view. But the difference is that when someone reads the sense of the letter of the Word this is not heard or understood in heaven, only the internal sense, because in heaven they perceive solely the spiritual and celestial levels of the Word, not the natural level of it. The one sense accordingly passes over into the other, for they correspond to each other and only things which have a correspondence have been used in the writing of the Word. All this shows what to understand when reference is made to the translucent nature of the Word, meant by 'a work of sapphire'.

[4] But a person who is unable to think on a higher level of understanding, that is, on a level altogether above material things, cannot grasp any of this, not even the idea that it is possible for a sense to exist in the Word other than the one perceived in the letter. If that person is told that the letter holds within itself a spiritual sense which has to do with truth, and that this in turn holds within itself a celestial sense which has to do with good, and also that these senses shine through the literal sense, he will be taken aback at first, then dismiss the idea as nonsense, and finally ridicule it. Actual experience has shown me that this is what people are like in the Christian world at the present day, especially the learned, and that those who reason against that truth boast of being wiser than those who uphold it. Yet the learning in earliest times, which were called golden and silver ages, had consisted in speaking and in writing in ways in which no attention was be paid to the literal meaning other than to enable hidden wisdom to shine through it, as becomes perfectly clear from the oldest books, including those by gentile authors, as well as from fragments in their languages. For their knowledge was primarily the knowledge of correspondences and the knowledge of representations, which forms of knowledge at the present day are some of those which have been lost.

[5] The reason why there appeared under the Lord's feet 'so to speak a work of sapphire' and why this means the translucence of the Word in the sense of the letter is that 'stone' in general means truth, and 'precious stone' truth shining through from what is Divine and the Lord's. For the meaning of 'stone' in general as truth, see 643, 1298, 3720, 3769, 3771, 3773, 3789, 3798, 6426, 8609, 8940-8942. As for 'precious stone' being truth shining through from what is Divine and the Lord's, this was meant by the twelve precious stones in Aaron's breastplate, which was called the Urim and Thummim, 3862, 6335, 6640.

[6] Something similar occurs in Ezekiel,

Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, you were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering - ruby, topaz, diamond, tarshish, shoham, and jasper, sapphire, chrysoprase, emerald, and gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and your pipes was within you; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were perfect in your ways on the day you were created. Ezekiel 28:12-13, 15.

This refers to Tyre, by which the Church in respect of interior cognitions or knowledge of truth and good is meant, 1201. Its intelligence and wisdom as these had been in its infancy or earliest period are described by those precious stones. 'The day you were created' means the first state when they were regenerated, for 'creation' in the Word means the regeneration or new creation of a person, 16, 88.

[7] Similar things are meant by 'the precious stones' in John,

The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. Revelation 21:19-20.

This refers to the holy Jerusalem coming down from heaven, by which a new Church among gentile nations is meant, after the present-day Church in our European world has been laid waste. 'The precious stones that are its foundations' are God's truths shining through on the lowest level of order.

[8] God's truth shining through on the lowest level of order, which is the Word in the letter, is meant by 'sapphire' in particular, as in Isaiah,

O afflicted one and storm-tossed, and receiving no comfort! Behold, I am arranging your stones with antimony, and will lay your foundations in sapphires. Isaiah 54:11.

This too refers to the Church which will take the place of the former one, meant in verse 1 of that chapter by 'her that is desolate who is going to have more sons than the previously married one'. 'Arranging stones' stands for the Church's truths, 'foundations in sapphires' for truths shining through on lowest levels.

[9] 'Sapphire' is used with a similar meaning in Jeremiah,

Her Nazirites were brighter than snow, they were whiter than milk. Their bones ¹ were ruddier than pearls, ² polished like sapphire. ³ Lamentations 4:7.

'Nazirites' in the representative sense meant the Lord in respect of the Divine Natural, 3301, 6437, and therefore also Divine Truth emanating from Him as it exists on its lowest levels, that is, the Word in the sense of the letter. For 'the hair', which is implied by 'Nazirites' here, and is said to be 'brighter than snow and whiter than milk', means truth on its lowest levels, 3301, 5247, 5570, 'brightness' and 'whiteness' having reference to truth, 3301, 5319. 'Bones that were ruddy' means factual knowledge of truth, or truth on its lowest level, which acts as servant to all other levels, 6592, 8005, 'ruddiness' having reference to the good of love present in truths, 3300. From all this it is evident that 'sapphire' means truth on the lowest levels which is translucent with inner truths.

[10] In Ezekiel,

Above the expanse that was above the heads of the cherubs, in appearance like a sapphire stone, there was the likeness of a throne, and above the likeness of a throne there was the appearance of a man (homo) sitting upon it. Ezekiel 1:26; 10:1.

'The cherubs' are the Lord's protection and providence, guarding against access to Him except through good, 9277 (end). 'A throne over which there was the appearance of a man' is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good, 5313, 6397, 9039. From this it is evident that 'a sapphire stone' means truth translucent with inner truths; that is to say, 'a stone' means truth, and 'sapphire' translucence.

[11] The reason why all things of the Word are translucent with the Lord is that Divine Truth emanating from the Lord is the one and only source of everything there. For what is primary is the one and only vital element present in the things which follow and are derived from it, because they have their being in it and come into being from it; and the Divine Truth is the Lord. Here also lies the reason why the subject in the highest sense of the Word is the Lord alone, His love, providence, kingdom in heaven and on earth, and especially the glorification of His Human.

[12] The fact that the Divine Truth is the Lord Himself is evident from the consideration that whatever emanates from someone is the someone himself. What emanates for instance from a person when he speaks or acts originates in his will and understanding; and will and understanding constitute a person's life, thus the person himself. For the human being is not a human being by virtue of the shape of face and body but by virtue of an understanding that sees what is true and a will that intends what is good. From this it becomes clear that what emanates from the Lord is the Lord; and the fact that this is Divine Truth has been shown often in what has gone before.

[13] But anyone unacquainted with the arcana of heaven may suppose that the nature of Divine Truth which emanates from the Lord is no different from that of spoken words emanating from a human being. It is not spoken words however; rather It is the Divine filling the heavens, like light and heat from the sun filling the world. This may be illustrated by means of the spheres which emanate from the angels in heaven, dealt with in 1048, 1053, 1316, 1504-1520, 1695, 2401, 4464, 5179, 6206 (end), 6598-6613, 7454, 8063, 8630, 8794, 8797. In these places it has been shown and may be seen that they are spheres of the truth of faith and the good of love received from the Lord. But the Divine sphere which emanates from the Lord and is called Divine Truth spreads everywhere; as has been stated, it fills the whole of heaven and composes all of the life there. It appears before the eyes there as light, which enlightens not only angels' sight but also their minds. That same light is in addition what composes a person's understanding in the world. This is the meaning in John,

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. He was the true light which enlightens every person coming into the world. And the world was made by Him. John 1:4, 9-10.

These words refer to Divine Truth, which in this chapter is called 'the Word'; and Divine Truth or 'the Word' - it says - is the Lord Himself.

[14] That light, which is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, was described by the ancients as radiating rings of golden hue around the head and body of God represented as a human being. For the ancients had no thought of God except of Him in human form.

[15] When a person is governed by good, and because of good is guided by truths, this person is raised to that Divine light, and - according to the amount and essential nature of the good - to interior light. This provides him with a general enlightenment in which the Lord enables him to see countless truths and to perceive them from good. At this time that person is led by the Lord to discern and absorb those which are suitable to him. He is led to do so as regards the most specific things, in keeping with order, so far as it contributes to his eternal life. The words 'as regards the most specific things' are used because the Lord's providence reigns universally, and it does so because it is present in the most specific things. For specific things are at the same called what is universal, 1919 (end), 6159, 6338, 6482, 6483, 8864, 8865.

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