7297. 'And they also, the magicians of Egypt, did so with their enchantments' means that thus to outward appearances they did something similar, by perverting the ends that order has in view. This is clear from the meaning of 'they also did', when said in reference to the magicians of Egypt, as presenting something that to outward appearances is similar, for the effects that flow from order are not altered by its misuse but are similar in outward form though they are not similar in inward form since they are contrary to the ends that order has in view; and from the meaning of 'enchantments' as the actual tricks that are used to pervert order. Sorceries and enchantments where they are mentioned in the Word mean the art of presenting falsities to look like truths and of presenting truths to look like falsities, which is done especially by means of illusions.

[2] These things are meant by 'sorceries' and 'enchantments' in the following places: In Isaiah,

But these two things will come to you in a moment in one day - loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in their fullness on account of the multitude of your sorceries, because of the very great abundance of your enchantments. Persist in your enchantments, and in the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have laboured from your youth. Isaiah 47:9, 12.

This refers to Babel and the Chaldeans. In the same prophet,

Draw nearer, sons of the sorceress, seed of the adulterer, and [of her who] committed whoredom. Isaiah 57:3.

In Nahum,

Woe to the city of blood, ¹ because of the multitude of the acts of whoredom of a harlot of goodly grace, ² the mistress of sorceries, the seller of nations through her acts of whoredom, and of families through her sorceries. Nahum 3:1, 4.

'The city of blood' stands for the falsification of truth, 'the acts of whoredom' for falsified good of truth, and 'sorceries' for tricks used to present falsities as truths and truths as falsities.

[3] In Malachi,

I will draw near to you to judgement, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against adulterers, and against those who swear falsely. Malachi 3:5.

In John,

By your enchantment all nations were led astray. Revelation 18:13.

This refers to Babylon. In Micah,

I will cut off your horses from your midst and destroy your chariots, and I will cut off the cities of your land and pull down all your fortifications, and I will cut off sorceries from your hand. Micah 5:10-12.

From this quotation it is evident that 'sorceries' means tricks used to present truths as falsities and falsities as truths. For by 'the horses' which are to be cut off are meant things of the understanding, 2761, 2762, 7217, 5321, 6125, 6534; by 'the chariots' which are to be destroyed are meant matters of doctrine concerning truth, 2760, 5321; by 'the cities of the land' which are also going to be cut off are meant the Church's truths - 'cities' being truths, 2268, 2451, 2712, 2943, 4492, 4493, and 'the land' the Church, 662, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355, 4447, 4535, 5577; and by 'fortifications' are meant truths insofar as they protect forms of good. From all this one may now know what is meant by the 'sorceries which are to be cut off from their hand, namely tricks used to present truths as falsities and falsities as truths. These tricks also correspond to the delusions which the evil in the next life employ to make a visual presentation of beautiful things as loathsome ones and loathsome things as beautiful ones. These delusions as well are a type of sorceries, since they too are misuses and inversions of Divine order.

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4535. The preliminary sections of previous chapters - Chapter 26 onwards - explained what the Lord foretold about His Coming or THE CLOSE OF THE AGE. Frequently in those sections it has been shown that His Coming or the Close of the Age means the last period of the Church, which in the Word is called the Last Judgement. Those who do not look beyond the literal sense cannot know of the Last Judgement as anything else than the destruction of the world, the particular source for such an idea being the Book of Revelation. There it is said that [John] saw 'a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away; and there was no more sea', and in addition that he saw 'the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven', Revelation 21:1-2. Prophetical utterances in Isaiah, where similar predictions occur, are also a source of the same idea,

Behold, I am creating new heavens and a new earth; therefore the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. ¹ Be glad and rejoice for ever in the things I am creating; behold, I will create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. Isaiah 65:17-18; 66:22.

[2] Those who do not look beyond the literal sense cannot conceive of anything else than this - that the whole sky together with this planet will be annihilated, and then the dead - for the first time - will rise again and dwell in the new heaven and on the new earth. But these places in the Word should not be understood in that way, as may be recognized from other places in the Word where the heavens and the earth are referred to. Those who have any belief in an internal sense can see plainly that 'a new heaven' and 'a new earth' are used to mean a new Church which takes over when the previous one passes away, 1733, 1850, 3355 (end), and that 'heaven' is the internal aspect of that new Church and 'earth' the external aspect of it.

[3] This last period of the previous Church and the first of the new one are also called the Close of the Age, about which the Lord has spoken in Matthew 24. They are called also His Coming, for at that time the Lord departs from the previous Church and comes to the new. The description of that period as the Close of the Age may also be seen from other places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

On that day a remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the God of power. For though your people Israel will be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of it will return. The close has been determined, overflowing with righteousness, for the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth is bringing the whole earth to its close and to its determined end. Isaiah 10:20-23.

In the same prophet,

Now do not be derisive, lest your punishments increase, for a close and a cutting off I have heard from the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth over the whole earth. Isaiah 28:22.

In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah, The whole earth will be a waste, yet I will not bring it to a close. Jeremiah 4:27.

In Zephaniah,

I will bring men into distress, and they will go as the blind, because they have sinned against Jehovah; and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. For Jehovah will bring to a close, indeed to a hasty one, all the inhabitants of the earth. Zephaniah 1:17-18.

From each detail stated here it is evident that 'a close' means the last period of the Church and 'the earth' the Church itself.

[4] The reason why 'the earth (or land)' means the Church is that the land of Canaan was the land where the Church had existed since most ancient times, and later on where among the descendants of Jacob a representative of the Church existed. When this land is said to have been 'brought to a close' it is not the nation dwelling there that is meant but the holiness of worship which existed with the nation where the Church was. For the Word is spiritual; but the actual land is not spiritual, nor is the nation dwelling in it, only that which constitutes the Church there. For evidence that the land of Canaan was the land where the Church had existed from most ancient times, see 567, 3686, 4447, 4454, 4516, 4517; and this explains why 'the land' or 'the earth' in the Word means the Church, 566, 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 3355, 4447. From all this one may see what is meant in Isaiah by 'bringing the whole earth to a close', and in Zephaniah by 'bringing all the inhabitants of the earth to a hasty one'. It is well known that the Jewish nation which inhabited that land was not 'brought to a close' but that the holiness of worship among them was.

[5] This meaning of 'the close' is even clearer in Daniel,

Seventy weeks have been decreed concerning your people and your holy city to bring transgression to a close and to seal up sins and to atone for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. In the middle of the week he will cause sacrifice and offering to cease. At length upon the bird of desolations will come desolation; until a close and a cutting off will it drop upon the devastation. Daniel 9:24, 27.

[6] From this one may now see that the close of the age - about which the disciples were asking when they said to the Lord 'What will be the sign of Your coming and of the close of the age?' Matthew 24:3 - does not mean anything else than the final period of the Church. The same is also meant by the Lord's words, which are the very last in the same gospel,

Jesus said to the disciples, Teaching them to observe ² all things whatever I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you at all times ³ even to the close of the age. Matthew 28:20.

The reason why the Lord said that He would be with the disciples even to the close of the age is that the Lord's twelve disciples are similar in meaning to the twelve tribes of Israel. That is to say, they mean all things of love and faith, and therefore all things of the Church, see 3354, 3488, 3858, as do the twelve tribes, 3858, 3926, 3939, 4060. The fact that the Church reaches its close when no charity exists there any longer, nor consequently any faith, has been shown several times already; and that within the Church at the present day, called the Christian Church, scarcely any trace of charity or consequently of faith survives there; and that the close of the age is accordingly now at hand, will in the Lord's Divine mercy be shown further on.

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