542. Verses 3-12. And out of the smoke came forth locusts [upon the earth]; and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was said to them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but those men only which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should torment them five months; and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when it striketh a man. And in those days men shall seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. And the likenesses of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for war; and on their heads as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the voice of their wings was as the voice of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails; and their power was to hurt men five months. And they had a king over them, the angel of the abyss, his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he hath the name Apollyon. One woe is past; behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

"And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth," signifies, that from infernal falsities they became corporeal sensual in the church; "and unto them was given power as the scorpions of the earth have power," signifies their persuasiveness, and its effect and power. "And it was said to them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree," signifies, that they should not hurt any true and living scientific from the sense of the letter of the Word, nor any cognitions of truth and good therein; "but those men only which have not the seal of God in their foreheads," signifies, but only the understanding of truth and perception of good with those who are not in truths from good from the Lord. "And to them it was given that they should not kill them," signifies, that they should not be deprived of the faculty of understanding truth and perceiving good; "but that they should torment them five months," signifies, that by the falsities of evil the understanding should be darkened and drawn away from seeing the truth so long as they are in that state; "and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when it striketh a man," signifies that the darkening and hindering from seeing the truth is from the persuasion with which the mind is infatuated. "And in those days men shall seek death, and shall not find it," signifies, that in such case they desire to destroy the power to understand truth, but that still they cannot; "and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them," signifies that they desire to destroy the power to perceive good, which belongs to spiritual life, but in vain. "And the likenesses of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for war," signifies that man having become sensual reasons as though from understanding of truth; "and on their heads as it were crowns like gold," signifies that they seem to themselves, when they reason, to be wise and victorious; "and their faces were as the faces of men," signifies that they seem to themselves to be spiritual affections for truth. "And they had hair as the hair of women," signifies that they also seem to themselves to be natural affections for truth; "and their teeth were, as the teeth of lions," signifies that sensual things, which are the ultimates of the intellectual life, are to them apparently powerful over all things. "And they had breast-plates as it were breast-plates of iron," signifies the persuasions with which they gird themselves for combats, against which the truths of the spiritual rational man do not prevail; "and the voice of their wings was as the voice of chariots of many horses running to battle," signifies reasonings as though from truths of doctrine understood from the Word, for which they must zealously fight. "And they had tails like unto scorpions," signifies sensual scientifics which are persuasive; "and there were stings in their tails," signifies the craftiness of deceiving by means of them; "and their power was to hurt men five months," signifies that they would induce stupor as to the understanding of truth, and the perception of good, so long as they are in that state. "And they had a king over them, the angel of the abyss," signifies that they received influx from the hell where are those who are in the falsities of evil and are purely sensual; "whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he hath the name Apollyon," signifies its quality, which is destructive of all truth and good. "One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter," signifies one lamentation over the devastation of the church, and that lamentation over its further devastation follows.

5081. 'With his two courtier-ministers' means from both kinds of sensory powers in the body; that is to say, from these [the new natural man] turned away. This is clear from the meaning of 'courtier-ministers', who in this case are the cupbearer and the baker, as both kinds of sensory powers, dealt with above in 5077, 5078. In relation to the interior man, meant by 'lord the king', the bodily senses - sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch - are also ministers, courtiers so to speak. For they serve to provide the interior man with evidence gathered from experience in the visible world and in human society, thereby enabling it to become intelligent and wise. For the human being is born with not even any knowledge, let alone with any intelligence or wisdom. He is born with no more than the capacity to receive and be endowed with these. Such reception and endowment is effected through two different channels, an internal channel and an external one. By the internal channel that which is from the Divine flows in, by the external that which is from the world. The two meet within a person, in which case, so far as the person allows himself to receive light from the Divine, he enters into wisdom. The things that flow in by the external channel come through the bodily senses; yet they do not flow in of their own accord but are called forth by the internal man to serve as a base laid down for celestial and spiritual things flowing in from the Lord by the internal channel. From this it may be seen that the bodily senses are like courtier-ministers. In general everything exterior, in relation to what is interior, is a minister; the entire natural man in relation to the spiritual man is nothing else.

[2] The word used in the original language means minister, courtier, bed-chamber servant, and eunuch. In the internal sense the good and truth of the natural man are meant, as is the case here. But specifically the good of the natural man is meant, as in Isaiah,

Do not let the son of the foreigner who clings to Jehovah say, Jehovah surely separates me from being with His people. Do not let the eunuch say, Behold, I am dry wood. For thus said Jehovah to the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths and choose that in which I delight, and are holding fast to My covenant, I will give those in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an eternal name which will not be cut off. Isaiah 56:3-5.

In this case 'the eunuch' stands for the good of the natural man, and 'the son of the foreigner for the truth of the natural man; for the Lord's Church is both external and internal. Those who belong to the external Church are natural; those who belong to the internal Church are spiritual. Those who are natural and yet are governed by good are 'the eunuchs', while those governed by truth are 'the sons of the foreigner'. Also, since the truly spiritual or internal ones are to be found solely within the Church, 'the sons of the foreigner' in addition means therefore those who are outside the Church - the gentiles - who are nevertheless governed by the truth as taught by their religion, 2049, 2593, 2599, 2600, 2602, 2603, 2861, 2863, 7263, while 'the eunuchs' means those governed by good.