665. The spirit of life from God entered into them.- That this signifies enlightenment and the reception in some of Divine Truth from the Lord for the beginning of a new church, is evident from the signification of the spirit of life from God, as denoting the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord, concerning which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of entering into them, namely, into the witnesses that were slain and cast forth, as denoting enlightenment and the reception of influx, namely, of Divine Truth, which is signified by the spirit of life. That this takes place with some for establishing a new church is evident from the verse that follows, where it is said, that they ascended into heaven in a cloud, thus with some. For the two witnesses signify the goods of love and truths of doctrine, and those are meant with whom these are, for all such are witnesses.

[2] When the end of the church is at hand, it is then provided by the Lord that a new church shall succeed, because without a church in which the Word is, and in which the Lord is known, the world could not continue to exist. For without the Word, and the knowledge and acknowledgment of the Lord, heaven could not be conjoined to the human race, and consequently the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord could not flow-in with new life. And without conjunction with heaven, and by that means with the Lord, a man would not be a man, but a beast; for this reason a new church is always provided by the Lord, when the old comes to its end. The reason why the beginning only of a new church is meant, and not yet its establishment, will be shown in the explanation of the verse that follows.

[3] That by the spirit of life from God, or by the spirit of God, and by the Holy Spirit, is meant the proceeding Divine from the Lord, called the Divine Truth, from which are all wisdom and intelligence, has been said and shown above (n. 24, 183, 318). It is this proceeding Divine that illustrates man, and flows into him, when he is being reformed and regenerated, thus when the church commences and is being established in him, as is very clear from the passages quoted from the Word above (n. 183), and also from this in Ezekiel:

Jehovah "said unto me, Prophesy about the spirit, and prophesy, Son of Man, and say unto the wind, Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, Come, O spirit, from the four winds, and breathe into these slain, that they may live; and when I prophesied, the spirit entered into them, and they lived again, and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army" (37:9, 10).

[4] This treats of the dry bones seen by the prophet upon the faces of the valley, by which the house of Israel is signified, as is plainly declared in verse 11 of the same chapter. And the house of Israel signifies the church, which house or church is there compared to dry bones, because it possesses no good of love or truth of doctrine. The establishment of a new church by the in-breathing of new life, or by regeneration, is described by the sinews, flesh, and skin, with which the bones were clothed and encompassed, and especially by the spirit which entered into them, and from which they lived. The spirit in them also signifies there the reception of the influx of Divine Truth, and spiritual life therefrom. The prophet said unto the wind, "come, O spirit, from the four winds," because the four winds signify the four quarters in the spiritual world, and the four quarters there signify the goods of love and the truths of doctrine in their entirety. Concerning the signification of these things it may be seen above (n. 417, 418, 419, 422, and in the Heaven and Hell, 141-150).

318. Which are the seven spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth. That this signifies that thence are all wisdom and intelligence in heaven and in the church, is evident from the signification of the seven spirits of God, as denoting the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord (concerning which see above, n. 183); and because they signify the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, they also signify the Divine Wisdom or omniscience; and from the signification of, sent forth into all the earth, as denoting whence are all wisdom and intelligence in heaven and in the church. By being sent forth is signified to be communicated, and by all the earth is signified the church both in the heavens and on the earth (as may be seen above, n. 304). Hence it is clear why it is said that the seven eyes of the Lamb were the seven spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth, for by seven eyes is signified the omniscience which the Lord has from Divine good by Divine truth. All wisdom and intelligence are thence, because man cannot understand truth and relish good from himself, but from the Lord, and all wisdom and intelligence pertain to truth from good. Unless wisdom and intelligence are formed from that, they are not wisdom and intelligence, but folly and insanity, which appear before the ignorant and the evil as wisdom and intelligence, from the fact of their being able to speak and reason from the memory. For man's proprium is nothing but evil and falsity; his voluntary proprium is evil, and his intellectual proprium thence is falsity; therefore whatever is from the proprium, is opposed to wisdom and intelligence, and what is opposed to wisdom is folly, and what is opposed to intelligence is insanity. Hence it is evident, that unless a man is raised up out of his proprium by the Lord, which is effected when he receives Divine truth, not only in the memory but also in the life, he cannot at all be wise and intelligent. But such elevation out of the proprium by the Lord does not appear to man, nor is it perceived by him so long as he is in the world, but then for the first time when he comes into his spirit, which takes place after its separation from the material body; but even then by those only who come into heaven. The reason why it is said wisdom and intelligence, is, because wisdom pertains to truth from good, for then man relishes good in truth: but intelligence pertains to truth by which good is produced, for then man has not yet a relish for good in truth, but is affected with truth because it is truth. Those who are in the Lord's celestial kingdom are in wisdom, because they are in truths from good; but those who are in the Lord's spiritual kingdom are in intelligence, because they are in truths by which good is produced. (But concerning those who are in truths by which good is produced see the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 23; and concerning those who are in truths from good, n. 24, in the same; and concerning the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom, in the work concerning Heaven and Hell 20-28.)