53. Verse 10. I was in the spirit, signifies a spiritual state when there is revelation. This is evident from the signification of "to be in the spirit," as being to be brought into the state in which spirits and angels are, which state is a spiritual state. Into this state a man is brought when he is let into the state of his spirit, for every man is a spirit as regards his interiors (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 432-444). When a man is in that state, the things that are in the spiritual world appear to him as clearly as objects appear in the natural world; but the things that appear, because they are of spiritual origin, are in themselves spiritual, and such things as are of heavenly wisdom are presented as it were in a natural image. In this way Divine things are presented before the eyes of spirits and angels in visible forms. From this it is that all things that are seen in heaven are representative and significative, as were also the things seen by John, as described in Revelation. (The character of such things can be further learned from what is said and shown concerning Representatives and Appearances in Heaven, in the work on He aven and Hell, n. 170-176.)

[2] While man is in the body he does not see such things as are in heaven, unless the sight of his spirit is opened; when this is opened, then he sees. In this way John saw the things described in Revelation; and in like manner the prophets saw; and they were therefore called Seers, and were said to have their eyes opened. In this way also angels were seen in ancient times, and the Lord also was thus seen by the disciples after His resurrection. This sight is the sight of the spiritual man; and because in this state all things appear representatively, John was in it. He who knows nothing about this sight, believes that angels, when seen by men, have taken on a human form, and that when they vanished from their sight they laid it aside; but this is not so; angels then appeared in their own form, which is the human form, not before the sight of men's bodily eyes, but before the sight of their spirit, which sight was then opened. This is evident from the Lord's being seen by the disciples [after His resurrection], when He Himself showed to them that He was a man in a complete human form (Luke 24:39; John 20:20-28); and yet He became invisible. When they saw Him the eyes of their spirit were opened, but when He became invisible those eyes were closed. That man has such a sight is clear to me from much experience, for all things I have seen in the heavens have been seen by that sight. At such times I was in the same state of wakefulness as when they were not seen. But at the present time that sight is seldom opened to anyone by the Lord, and for many reasons.