693. And the nations were angered.- That this signifies the contempt, enmity, and hatred of the evil against the Lord, and against the Divine things that are from Him, which are the holy things of heaven and of the church, is evident from the signification of nations, as denoting those who are in the goods of the church, and in the opposite sense those who are in evils, here those who are in evils, for it is said that they were angered, (That nations signify those who are in goods and those who are in evils, and in an abstract sense, the goods and evils of the church, and that peoples signify those who are in truths and those who are in falsities, and, in an abstract sense, the truths and falsities of the church, may be seen above (n. 175, 331, 625);

[2] and from the signification of being angered, when said of the evil, who are signified by nations, as denoting to be in contempt, enmity, and hatred against the Lord, and against the Divine things that are from Him, which are the holy things of heaven and of the church. These and many other similar things are signified by being angered, because every one burns with wrath, and is angry when his love and the delight of his love are attacked, this being the cause of all wrath and anger. The reason of this is, that every one's love is his life, therefore to do injury to the love is to do injury to the life, and when this is injured the mind is disturbed, and thus anger and wrath follow. It is similar with the good when their love is attacked, but with this difference, that they are filled not with wrath and anger, but with zeal. This zeal is indeed called anger in the Word, although it is not anger; it is called anger because in external form it appears like anger although it is interiorly nothing but charity, goodness and mercy; therefore zeal does not last like anger after the one against whom it was enkindled has come to himself and turned away from evil. Anger with the evil is of a different nature, for it interiorly conceals in itself hatred and revenge, which the evil love, it therefore persists and is rarely extinguished. It consequently follows that anger belongs to those who are in the loves of self and of the world, for such also are in evils of every kind, but zeal belongs to those who are in love to the Lord, and in love towards the neighbour. Zeal therefore looks to the salvation of man, but anger to his damnation; the latter is in the purpose of an evil man when angry, but salvation is in the purpose of a good man when zealous.

[3] The nations being angered here signifies the contempt, enmity, and hatred of the evil against the Lord, and against the Divine things that are from Him, thus against the holy things of heaven and of the church, because at the end of the church, a little before a last judgment, which is here treated of, a change takes place in the state of those who are in the former heaven and former earth, which is effected by the separation of the good from the evil. And when this is accomplished, the externals of the evil, by and from which they spoke truths and did goods from pretence and hypocrisy, are closed, and their interiors, which are infernal, are opened, and when these are opened, their contempt, hostility, and hatred openly burst forth with invectives against the Lord and against the holy things of heaven and of the church. For these things with such have lain interiorly stored up, but covered over by the loves of self and of the world; and these loves are of such a kind that they can do good and speak truths for the sake of self and of the world, because the holy things of heaven and of the church serve them as means to ends, which are reputation, glory, honour, and gain, in a word, self and the world, and the means are loved for the sake of the ends. But, because with such the end which is of man's love, and thence of his intention and will, is corporeal and worldly, and consequently infernal, therefore the goods and truths which pertain to heaven and the church remain with them only in their externals, and none in their internals, because evils and falsities are therein. For the goods and truths of heaven penetrate into the internals with those only who make the holy things of heaven and of the church their ends, that is, cause them to be of their love, and thus of their intention and will; and when these are the ends regarded then the spiritual mind is opened, and by means of this man is led by the Lord. But the contrary is the case when the goods and truths of heaven and of the church are not regarded as ends but as means; for, as said just above, ends pertain to man's ruling love, and when this is the love of self, it is also the love of his proprium, which, considered in itself, is nothing but evil, and so far as man acts from it he acts from hell, consequently also in opposition to the Divine.

[4] It must be moreover understood that in all evil there is anger against the Lord, and against the holy things of the church. That this is so has been made clearly evident to me from the hells, where all are in evils, and from which all evils are; for when those who are there merely hear the Lord named, they become inflamed with vehement anger, not only against Him, but also against all who confess Him. For this reason hell is the direct opposite of heaven, and is in the continual effort to destroy it, and to extinguish the Divine things therein, which are goods of love and truths of faith. It is evident from this that evils are angry with goods, and the falsities of evil with truths; and this is why anger, in the Word, signifies evil in its whole extent.

[5] Similarly in the following passages.

In Luke:

Jesus said, "Woe to them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days, for there shall be great distress upon the land, and anger in the people" (Luke 21:23).

This is said of the consummation of the age, which is the last time of the church. That then good and truth cannot be received is signified by, woe to them that are with child and to them that give suck. The rejection of good because of the evil which will then rule in the church, and the rejection of truth because of falsity, is signified by, for there shall be great distress upon the land, and anger in the people, distress here denoting the dominating evil, and anger the dominating falsity from evil; for at the end of the church the evil feel anguish at the presence of good, and are rendered angry by truth.

[6] In Isaiah:

"Only in Jehovah is justice and strength, unto him shall [men] come, and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed" (45:24).

All that are incensed against Jehovah shall be ashamed, signifies that all who are in evils and falsities will desist from them; to be incensed against Jehovah signifies to be in falsities from evil.

[7] In Moses:

"Simeon and Levi are brethren; in their anger they slew a man, and in their good pleasure they unstrung an ox; cursed be their anger for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was hard; I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel" (Genesis 49:5-7).

Reuben, Simeon, and Levi signify faith, charity, and the works of charity, but here Reuben signifies faith separated from charity, from which there is neither charity nor any work of charity, since these three cohere together; for as is faith, so is charity, and as is charity so are the works of charity; they are therefore inseparable, the one belongs to the other, and thus the one is as the other. And because Reuben, on account of his adultery with the handmaid, his father's concubine, was accursed, therefore Simeon and Levi were also rejected; their rejection is signified by being divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel. Now because faith, which was represented by Reuben, was not to be accepted as the first thing of the church, but spiritual good, which is truth in the understanding and will, therefore Joseph was accepted as the first-begotten of the church in the place of Reuben, for Joseph represented spiritual good, which in its essence is truth in the understanding and will. It is therefore evident what is signified by the anger of Simeon and Levi which is fierce, and by their wrath which is hard, namely, a turning away from good and truth, thus evil and falsity in their whole extent; for when charity departs from faith, then there is no longer any good, or any truth. But these things may be seen explained more fully in the Arcana Coelestia 6351-6361).

[8] In Matthew:

Jesus said, "It was said to them of old, Whosoever shall kill shall be liable to the judgment, but I say unto you, Whosoever is angry with his brother rashly shall be liable to the judgment" (5:21, 22).

To be angry with his brother rashly here also signifies enmity and hatred against good and truth. Those also who have such enmity and hatred do continually kill in mind, intention, and will, and they would actually kill, if they were free to do so, that is, if they were not restrained by the laws and a consequent fear of punishment and of losing life, reputation, honour or gain; for what a man cherishes in his mind, this he carries out when the opportunity arises. He who is angry with his brother rashly is liable to the judgment, equally as he who kills, because to be angry signifies to think, intend, and wish evil to another, and all evil of the will is in the life of man's spirit, and returns after death, and this is why he is then liable to the judgment; for what is of the intention and will is considered in judgment as if actually done. But it is not necessary to cite further passages to shew the signification of anger and wrath with those who are in evil, for it is self-evident that all evil conceals in itself anger against good, since it desires to extinguish it, and even to kill him in whom good is, if not as to the body, yet [as] to the soul; this proceeds altogether from anger and is accompanied by anger.

175. To him will I give power over the nations. That this signifies power over his evils, which will be dispersed by the Lord in such case, is evident from the signification of nations, as denoting evils, concerning which we shall speak in what follows; and from the signification of giving power over them, as denoting that evils are then dispersed by the Lord. To have power, when it is said, "over the nations," is to disperse, when used in reference to evils; thus are words applied to their subjects. The reason why they are dispersed by the Lord is, that the Lord disperses evils by means of truths. He first reveals them by means of truths; and when a man acknowledges them, the Lord then disperses them. (That the Lord alone does this, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 200.) Peoples and nations are often mentioned in the Word, and it is believed by those who know nothing of the spiritual or internal sense of the Word that peoples and nations are thereby meant; whereas by peoples are meant those who are in truths, or, in the opposite sense, those who are in falsities, and by nations, those who are in goods, or, in the opposite sense, those who are in evils. And when such are meant by peoples and nations, then also, in the abstract, by peoples are meant truths or falsities, and by nations goods or evils, for the true spiritual sense is not concerned with persons, spaces, times and similar things, that are proper to nature.

[2] The natural sense of the Word, which is the sense of its letter, is one with the things of nature, and therefore serves as a basis for the sense which is without these things. For all things in nature are ultimates of Divine order; and the Divine does not stop in the midst, but flows down to ultimates, and thus subsists. This is why the Word is such in the letter; unless it were of this nature, it would not serve as a basis for the wisdom of angels, who are spiritual. It may be seen, therefore, how much those err who despise the Word on account of its style. The reason why nations signify those who are in good, and, in the abstract goods themselves, is, that men in ancient times lived divided into nations, families and houses. They then mutually loved each other; the father of a nation loved the whole nation which sprang from himself; thus the good of love was the ruling good among them. This is why by nations are signified goods; but when men went in opposition to this, as was the case in the following ages, when empires took their rise, then nations signified evils. (See what is further said upon this subject in the small work, The Earths in the Universe 49, 90, 173, 174.)

[3] That nations in the Word signify goods or evils, and peoples truths or falsities is evident from the following passages.

In Isaiah:

"The nations shall walk to thy light and kings to the splendour of thy rising. Then shalt thou see and flow, and thine heart shall be enlarged, because the multitude of the sea is converted unto thee, the hosts of the nations come unto thee: thy gates shall be open continually, they shall not be shut day and night, to bring unto thee the host of the nations; and their kings shall be led down; for the nation or kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish. And the nations by wasting shall be wasted. Thou shalt suck the milk of nations, yea, the breasts of kings shalt thou suck; a little one shall become a thousand, and the few a numerous nation" (60:3, 5, 11, 12, 16, 22).

Here the Lord is treated of; and by nations are meant all those who are in the good of love, and by kings all those who are in the truths of faith towards Him. It is therefore evident who are meant by the nations of whom it is said, they "shall walk to thy light," and by "the host of the nations that shall be brought;" and also who are meant by kings, respecting whom it is said, "they shall walk to the brightness of thy rising," and "the kings of the nations shall be led down." It is also plain what is meant by sucking the milk of the nations and the breasts of kings; milk is the delight of the good of love, similarly breasts, as milk is from them. The multiplication of truth and the fructification of good, are described by a little one becoming a thousand, and the few a numerous nation. But by the nations which shall perish are meant all those who are in evils, and also the evils themselves.

[4] In the same:

"Behold I will lift up my hand towards the nations, and towards the peoples I will lift up my standard, that they may bring thy sons in the bosom and carry thy daughters upon the shoulder; and kings shall be thy nourishers, and princesses those who shall suckle thee; with the face to the earth shall they bow down to thee" (49:22, 23).

The subject here treated of is also the Lord, and those who shall worship and adore Him. To lift up His hand towards the nations, and His standard towards the peoples is to claim to Himself all who are in the goods of love and thence in truths; concerning whom it is said, that they shall bring thy sons in the bosom, and carry thy daughters upon the shoulder, sons denoting the affections of truth and daughters the affections of good (as may be seen above, n. 166). And of these it is said, kings shall be thy nourishers, and princesses those who shall suckle thee. Kings signify truths themselves, and princesses the goods thereof; and because a man is regenerated by means of these, and also nourished, it is therefore said that they shall be nourishers and those who shall give suck. (That man is regenerated by truths and by a life according to them, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 23, 24, 27, 186.) This is the internal sense of those words; and without that sense who could understand them?

[5] In the same:

"Jehovah said, Behold I spread out upon" Jerusalem "peace as a river, and as a torrent the glory of the nations that ye may suck. He shall come to gather together all nations and tongues, that they may come and see my glory. They shall announce my glory in the nations; then shall they bring your brethren from all nations, a gift to Jehovah upon horses and upon the chariot, to the mountain of my holiness" (66:12, 18, 19, 20).

Jerusalem here signifies the church of the Lord in the heavens and on earth. It is said the church in the heavens, because the church is there also (as may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 221-227). By nations and tongues, are meant all those who are in the goods of love and thence in truths. To bring from all nations a gift to Jehovah, upon horses and upon the chariot, denotes worship from the good of love, which is signified by a gift to Jehovah. Horses and chariots signify intellectual and doctrinal things, for from these and upon these worship is founded. (That horses and chariots have such a signification may be seen in the small work, The White Horse 1-5.)

[6] In the same:

"In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the peoples; the nations shall seek" (11:10).

The root of Jesse is the Lord; to stand for an ensign of the peoples denotes that He may be seen by those who are in truths. The nations which shall seek, denote those who are in the good of love.

It is supposed that by nations are here meant the nations that will accede to, and acknowledge the Lord, from which there will be a church, called the church of the Gentiles. Yet these are not meant by the nations, but all those who are in love and faith towards the Lord, whether within the church or without it (which may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 308, 318-328).

[7] In the same:

"A strong people shall honour thee, the city of the powerful nations shall fear thee" (25:3).

"Open ye the gates that the righteous nation may enter in. Thou hast added to the nation, Jehovah, thou hast added to the nation, thou art glorified" (26:2, 15).

"Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples" (34:1).

In the same:

"I, Jehovah, have called thee in justice, for a covenant to the people, for a light of the nations" (42:6).

In Jeremiah:

"And the nations shall bless themselves in him - and in him shall they glory" (4:2).

In the same:

Who shall not fear thee, O king of nations? - and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee" (10:7).

And in Daniel:

"I saw in visions of the night, and behold with the clouds of heaven one like the Son of man. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, and all peoples, nations, and tongues shall serve him" (7:13, 14).

And in David:

"Let the peoples confess thee, O God; let all the peoples confess thee. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the peoples in rectitude, and shalt lead the nations upon earth" (67:3-4).

In the same:

"That I may see the good of thy chosen and be glad in the joy of thy nations" (106:5).

In the Apocalypse:

The glory and honour of the nations shall be brought into the New Jerusalem (21:26).

In Isaiah:

"Ye shall be called the priests of Jehovah; the ministers of our God, shall be said to you; ye shall eat the riches of the nations, and in their glory shall ye glory" (61:6).

In Lamentations:

"The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Jehovah, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, In his shadow we shall live among the nations" (4:20).

In these places, by nations are meant all those who are in love to the Lord, whether they be within the church, where the Word is, or out of it. That by nations, in an opposite sense, are meant those who are in evils, and, in the abstract, evils themselves, is evident from the following passages;

[8] as in Jeremiah:

"I will bring a nation upon you from far: it is a strong nation, it is a nation of an age, a nation whose language thou knowest not. It shall eat up thine harvest and thy bread, and shall eat thy sons and thy daughters: it shall eat up thy vine and thy fig-tree; it shall desolate cities with the sword" (5:15, 17).

The vastation of the church is here treated of. By nation is meant the evil which will consummate it; hence it is said, that it shall eat up the harvest and the bread, the sons and daughters, the vine and the fig-tree, and impoverish cities with the sword. By these things are signified all the goods of love and truths of faith: by the harvest is signified a state of reception of truth from good (see Arcana Coelestia 9295); by bread, the good of love (see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 218); by sons and daughters, the affections of truth and good (see above, n. 166); by vine, the internal church, thus the internal things of the church (see Arcana Coelestia 1069, 5113, 6376, 9277); by the fig-tree, the external church, thus the external things of the church (n. 5113); by cities, doctrines (see Arcana Coelestia 402, 2449, 2712, 2943, 3216, 4492, 4493); by sword, falsity destroying (see above, n. 73, 131). From these considerations it is evident that by nation is signified the evil which destroys everything of the church.

[9] In the same:

"Behold I lay stumbling blocks before this people, that they may stumble upon them, the fathers and the sons together. Behold a people cometh from the land of the north, and a great nation from the sides of the land. They have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea, and they ride upon horses" (6:21-23).

In this passage also, nation denotes evil, and people falsities; the stumbling blocks upon which the fathers and the sons stumble denote perversions of good and truth; fathers denote goods, and sons the truths therefrom. It is said, a people from the land of the north, and a nation from the sides of the land, because the north signifies that falsity from evil, and the sides of the land those things that are outside the church, thus they signify evils remote from the goods of the church. To roar like the sea, and to ride upon horses, denotes to persuade from the fallacies of the senses, and by reasonings therefrom.

[10] In Ezekiel:

"The land is full of the judgment of bloods, and the city is full of violence, therefore I will bring upon them the worst of the nations, and they shall occupy their houses; the king shall mourn and the prince shall be clothed with stupor" (7:23, 24, 27).

The land is the church; being full of the judgment of bloods, signifies that it is immersed in falsities destroying goods; city denotes doctrine; to be full of violence signifies offering violence to the good of charity; the worst of the nations denotes dire falsities from evil; to occupy their houses denotes to possess their minds; the king who shall mourn is the truth of the church; the prince who shall be clothed with stupor signifies truth subservient. (That the land signifies the church, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 662, 1066, 1068, 1262, 1413, 1607, 2928, 3355, 4447, 4535, 5577, 8011, 9325, 9643; that bloods denote falsities destroying goods, n. 374, 1005, 4735, 5476, 9127; that city denotes doctrine, n. 2268, 2449, 2451, 2712, 2943, 3216, 4492, 4493; that violence denotes to violate the good of charity, n. 6353; that house denotes the things that belong to a man's mind, n. 710, 2231, 2233, 2559, 3128, 3538, 4973, 5023, 6690, 7353, 7848, 7910, 7929, 9150; that the king who shall mourn denotes the truth of the church, may be seen above, n. 31.)

[11] Again, in David:

"Jehovah rendereth vain the counsel of the nations, he subverteth the thoughts of the peoples" (Psalms 33:10).

Nations denote those who are in evils, and peoples those who are in falsities; and because both the former and the latter are signified, it is therefore said, that Jehovah rendereth vain the counsel of the nations, and subverteth the thoughts of the peoples, which are two expressions as it were signifying one thing, but yet they are distinct in the internal sense, in which nations signify one thing, and peoples another.

[12] In Luke:

"Then they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be taken captive among all nations, and at length Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the nations, until the times of the nations be fulfilled. And there shall be signs in the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and upon the earth distress of nations, the sea and the waves roaring" (21:24, 25).

The consummation of the age is here treated of, which is the last time of the church, when there is no longer any faith because no charity, or no truth because no good. This is described in the above passage by correspondences. To fall by the edge of the sword is to be destroyed by falsities; to be taken captive among all nations is to be possessed by evils of every kind; Jerusalem, which shall be trodden under foot is the church; the sun denotes love to the Lord; the moon, faith towards Him; the stars denote knowledges (cognitiones) of good and truth; the signs in them denote that they therefore would perish; the sea and the waves roaring are fallacies and reasonings.

[13] In Matthew:

"Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places; and they shall deliver you up to tribulation; and ye shall be hated by all nations for my name's sake" (24:7, 9; Luke 21:10, 11).

These things are also said by the Lord concerning the last time of the church; and by nation rising against nation, and kingdom against kingdom is signified that there will be dissensions of evils and falsities among themselves. By famines and pestilences are signified defect and consumption of truths; by earthquakes, the perversion of the church; by being hated by all nations is signified to be hated by all those who are in evil; by the name of the Lord, on account of which they shall be hated are signified all things of love and faith by which the Lord is worshipped (as may be seen above, n. 102, 135).

[14] In Ezekiel:

"Behold, Asshur a cedar in Lebanon, he is become high and his branches are multiplied: in his branches have all the birds of the heavens built their nests, and under his branches all the beasts of the field have brought forth, and in his shade have dwelt great nations. But his heart is lifted up in his height, wherefore I will give him into the hand of the strong, one of the nations, strangers shall cut him off, and the violent of the nations shall cast him down; whence all peoples of the earth have descended from his shade, and have deserted him" (31:3, 5, 6, 11, 12).

These things could not be understood by any one without a knowledge of the spiritual or internal sense of the Word. It may be supposed that they are mere comparisons, in which there is not any spiritual signification, when, nevertheless, the most minute particulars therein signify something pertaining to heaven and the church; therefore they shall be briefly explained. Asshur denotes the enlightened Rational of the man of the church; this is called a cedar in Lebanon, because a cedar signifies the same thing as Asshur, specifically truth from good in the Rational; and Lebanon denotes the mind wherein the Rational resides, because cedars grew in Lebanon. By his branches being multiplied are meant truths therefrom. The fowls of heaven building their nests in his branches signify the affections of truth; and the beasts of the field which brought forth under his branches, the affections of good. The great nations which dwell under his shade, are the goods of love; his heart lifted up in his height, is the love of self. To be delivered into the hands of the strong one of the nations, and to be cast down by the violent of the nations, denote his being destroyed as to goods and truths by the evils derived from the love of self. The people of the earth who went down from his shade and left him, signify all the truths of the church. It is therefore evident that by nations are signified goods, and, in the opposite sense, evils; by the nations which dwelt under his shade, goods, and by the nations which cut him off and cast him down, evils. (See moreover what is said and shown concerning nations and their signification in Arcana Coelestia, namely, that by nations in the Word are signified those who are in good, and hence that they signify goods themselves, n. 1059, 1159, 1258, 1260, 1416, 1849, 6005; concerning the assembly of the nations as denoting truths and goods, n. 4574, 7830; concerning the holy nation, as denoting the spiritual kingdom, n. 9255, 9256. When it is said nation and people, by nation are meant those who are in celestial good, and by people those who are in spiritual good, n. 10288. That by nations, especially those of the land of Canaan, are meant evils and falsities of every kind, n. 1059, 1205, 1868, 6306, 8054, 8317, 9320, 9327.)