426. Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees. That this signifies lest the good everywhere perish with the evil, is evident from the signification of hurt not, as denoting lest they should perish, concerning which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of the earth, the sea, and the trees, which denote everywhere in the spiritual world, even to its ultimates, with those in whom there is any perception (see above, n. 420), consequently the good with the evil, wherever they are. That this is the meaning of these words, is evident from the series of things in the spiritual sense. For the separation of the good from the evil is the subject that now follows, and this separation is signified by the sealing of the servants of God on their foreheads, and by the twelve thousand of every tribe, and by those who appeared clothed in white robes; for the present chapter treats of all these. Both the latter and the former mean the good, who must first be separated from the evil, before the evil are cast down into hell. As the separation of the good from the evil, and the casting out of the evil into hell, is caused by the Divine influx from the Lord as the Sun, and as the separation of the good from the evil is effected by a gentle and modified influx, and the casting down of the evil into hell by a strong and powerful influx (as may be seen above, n. 413:2, 418:1, 419:1), therefore the former influx, by which the good are separated from the evil, is the subject of these three verses, while the good who are separated are treated of in the rest of the chapter, to the end.

[2] But something shall first be said here concerning the fact, that unless the good are separated from the evil, before the latter are cast down into hell, they would perish with them, because the good not having yet been taken, but being about to be taken to heaven, after the casting out of the evil, have been brought into a somewhat intimate communication with the evil by means of the external worship of the latter. For, as we have stated above, and shown in the small work on The Last Judgment 51, 70), the evil, who had been tolerated till the Last Judgment, were in external worship but not in any internal worship. By lip and gesture they had made a show and pretence of the holy things of the Church, but in soul and heart they were untouched; therefore they had communication by means of external worship with those who were also interiorly good. On account of this communication the evil could not be cast down until the good had been separated from them, for otherwise, the good, with whom the evil were conjoined by means of external worship, would have been injured, that is, they would have perished, because the evil would have drawn them away with them.

[3] This the Lord taught also in Matthew:

"The kingdom of the heavens is likened unto a man who sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares, and went his way. But when the blade sprang up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. And the servants of the householder came, and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it tares? He saith unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? but he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn" (Matthew 13:24-30).

By the man who sowed is meant the Lord; by the field are meant the church and the spiritual world, where both the good and the evil are; the good seed and the wheat mean the good, and the tares the evil. That they could not be separated until the time of the Last Judgment, on account of the conjunction referred to above, is meant by the answer given to the servants, who wished to gather up the tares beforehand, that is, to separate the evil from the good, "Lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest." The harvest is the Last Judgment. That this is the signification, the Lord Himself teaches, where He says, "He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good seed are the sons of the kingdom; the tares are the sons of the evil (mali) ¹ ; the harvest is the consummation of the age. As, therefore, the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be in the consummation of the age" (Matthew 13:37-40). It is evident, that the householder who sowed the good seed in his field means the Lord, who there calls Himself the Son of man; and that "the field is the world" means the church and the spiritual world, where both the evil and the good are. That the spiritual world is meant is evident from the words, "The kingdom of the heavens is likened unto a man who sowed good seed in his field." The kingdom of the heavens is the spiritual world and the church.

It is evident also from this fact that the words refer to the Last Judgment, and a last judgment takes place in the spiritual world, and not in ours, as shown in the small work on The Last Judgment. The good seed and the wheat are the good, called "the sons of the kingdom"; the tares are the evil there, called the sons of the evil [one]; and the harvest, the period when separation takes place, is the time of the Last Judgment, for it is said, "the harvest is the consummation of the age." The consummation of the age is the time of a last judgment, as may be seen above (n. 397). That the tares shall then be gathered into bundles and burned, and the wheat gathered into the barn, signifies, that the evil, according to the class and species of their evil, have to be gathered together, and cast into hell, which takes place with the evil when they are rejected, and is meant by their being gathered into bundles. That the good are to be preserved, is meant by the wheat being gathered into the barn, for where the good are gathered together is denoted by "the barn." From these things it is clear, that a complete separation of the good from the evil takes place at the time of a last judgment, and that it cannot take place before on account of the conjunction above mentioned, otherwise the good would perish with the evil; for it is said, "Nay, lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them"; and it is further said, "Let both grow together until the harvest," which is the consummation of the age. Now, since the separation of the good from the evil is effected by a gentle and modified influx of the Divine which proceeds from the Lord, and the casting out of the evil into hell by a strong and intense influx of the Divine, it is plain how all the particulars contained in the first three verses of this chapter are to be understood, when from the spiritual sense it is known what is signified by the winds which were to be restrained, lest the earth, the sea, or any tree, should be hurt, before the servants of God had been sealed on their foreheads.

[4] How this separation takes place shall also be explained, in a few words. When the good are being separated from the evil, which is effected by the Lord by means of a modified influx of His Divine, and by looking into those things which pertain to spiritual affection with angels and spirits, then the Lord causes those who are interiorly, and therefore also exteriorly good, to turn themselves to Him, and so away from the evil, and on turning themselves away they become invisible to the evil; for in the spiritual world it is a common experience for one to become invisible when one turns away from another. This being the case, the evil are separated [from the good], and at the same time also from that holiness which they had externally counterfeited, and then they look towards hell into which they are also soon cast. More may be seen upon this subject in Heaven and Hell 17, 123, 142, 144, 145, 151, 153, 251, 255, 272, 510, 548, 561). That the evil who possessed the power of being in external worship, or in external piety and holiness, although not so internally, were tolerated until the Last Judgment, and no longer, and the reason why, may be seen in the small work on The Last Judgment 59 70).

Fußnoten: