674. There was a great earthquake, signifies a notable change of state of the interiors with those who are of the church. This is evident from the signification of "a great earthquake," as being a notable change of the state of the church; for the "earth" signifies the church, "quaking" change of state, and "great" what is notable. (That an "earthquake" signifies in the Word a change of state of the church, see above, n. 400, 499.)

[2] The change of state in respect to the truths and goods of the church evidently sprang from causes that are described in the preceding verse, that is, because the two witnesses that had been killed and restored to life went up by command into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them. Thence it may be seen that the cause of this was the separation of the good from the evil, as has been shown in the preceding articles, where the going up of the two witnesses is explained. But this cannot be presented to the understanding unless it first be told how things are in the spiritual world; for the things described in this verse, namely, that "there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and there were killed in the earthquake names of men seven thousand, and the rest became afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven," are things that take place, and in fact have already taken place at the time when the Last Judgement was at hand, but in the spiritual world, and not in the natural world; for when the good there are to be separated from the evil, and the good are to be protected from being harmed by the evil, then the good are taken away from the societies and the evil are left, according to the Lord's words in Matthew:

Two [men] shall be in the field, one shall be taken, the other shall be left; two [women] shall be grinding, one shall be taken, the other shall be left (Matthew 24:40, 41).

This may be seen explained in the Arcana Coelestia 4334, 4335). When the good are taken away there occurs in the societies in which the good and evil had been together, a notable change in respect to the things that pertain to the church.

[3] But the cause of this change shall be further disclosed. In the spiritual world there is a communication of all affections, and sometimes of thoughts; and within each society there is a general communication, extending itself from the middle of the society in every direction even to the boundaries, much as light spreads forth from a center to the circumferences. The variations and changes of the affections that arise from this communication and its extension spring from an influx of the affections from other societies, either above or at the sides, also from the newcomers that enter the society, and also from a few or many being taken away from the society.

[4] The societies upon which the Last Judgment came consisted both of the good and of the evil, but of such evil as were interiorly but not exteriorly opposed to the goods of love and the truths of doctrine; for exteriorly these were able to act rightly and justly and to speak piously and truly, not however for the sake of the right, of justice, of piety, and of truth, but from habit acquired in the world, for the sake of fame, glory, honor, gain, and the various delights of the natural loves, also on account of the laws and their penalties. For this reason, although they were interiorly evil, yet they could be together with those who were both exteriorly and interiorly good. When, therefore, the good were to be separated from those who merely appeared good in external form, their external good vanished, and their internal evil appeared; for they were held in that external good by communication with those within the same society who were not only exteriorly but also interiorly good, as has been said above. So when external good was taken away from the evil their interiors were opened; and these were full of mere evil and filthy things, which made evident of what quality they were in themselves. Such, then, is what is meant in particular by "the two witnesses going up by command into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beholding them;" and here that "in that hour there was a great earthquake," namely, that when that state came a notable change took place in respect to those things that pertain to the church.

4335. In the Word 'those who are grinding' means those within the Church who are led to know the truth by an affection for good, and in the contrary sense those within the Church who are led to know it by an affection for evil, as may be seen from the following places: In Isaiah,

Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babel; sit on the ground, without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans. Take a mill and grind flour; uncover your hair, bare your feet, uncover your thigh, pass through the rivers. Isaiah 47:1-2.

'The daughter of Babel' stands for those among whom externally things give the appearance of being holy and good but interiorly they are unholy and evil, 1182, 1326. 'The daughter of the Chaldeans' stands for those among whom externally things give the appearance of being holy and true, but interiorly they are unholy and false, 1368, 1816. 'Taking a mill and grinding flour' stands for producing teachings out of the truths which they pervert; for 'flour', being the product of wheat or of barley, means truths which are products of good, but in the contrary sense truths which they pervert so as to lead people astray. In Jeremiah,

I will banish from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of mills, and the light of the lamp. And this whole land will be a waste and desolation. Jeremiah 25:10-11.

[2] In John,

No craftsman of any craft will be found in Babylon any more; no sound of a mill will be heard in it any more; and the light of a lamp will not shine in it any more, and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride will not be heard in it any more. Revelation 18:21-23.

'No sound of a mill will be heard in Babylon any more' means that there will not be any truth. 'The light of the lamp will not shine any more' means that neither will there be any understanding of truth. In Lamentations,

They have ravished women in Zion, virgins in the cities of Judah. Princes have been hung up by their hands, the faces of the old men have not been honoured. The young men have been led away to grind at the mill, and the boys collapse under the wood. Lamentations 5:11-14.

'The young men have been led away to grind at the mill' stands for being led away to produce falsities by the use of truths, and so by the power of persuasion.

[3] In Moses,

Ah the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from Pharaoh's firstborn seated upon his throne, even to the servant-girl's firstborn who is behind the mill. Exodus 11:5.

'The firstborn of Egypt' stands for truths of faith which have been separated from the good of charity and therefore become falsities, 3325.

'The servant-girl's firstborn who is behind the mill' stands for the affection for such truth from which falsities are obtained. These were the things represented by such historical events.

[4] In the same author,

He shall not take as a pledge the mill or the milling stone, for they are the livelihood ¹ of him who pledges them. Deuteronomy 24:6.

This law was laid down because 'the mill' meant matters of doctrine and 'the milling stone' the truths that were an integral part of them and are called 'the livelihood of him who pledges them'. But for the spiritual meaning which 'mill' and 'milling stone' possess that law would obviously not have been given; nor would it have been said that they were 'his livelihood'.

[5] I have been shown that 'grinding' derives its spiritual meaning from the representatives which manifest themselves in the world of spirits. For I have seen people there who seemed to be grinding; these spirits, I have been told, mean those who gather large numbers of truths together not with any use in view, other than for the sake of their own pleasure. Because truths in that case are devoid of their own affection which originates in good, they do indeed look like truths to external appearance; but because there is no inner substance to them they are sheer fancies. But if evil is present within them truths are used to support that evil, and so are made falsities through that use of them.

Fußnoten: