Apocalypse Explained #584
584. Verse 20. And the rest of the men who were not killed in these plagues, signifies who did not perish by the cupidities above mentioned. This is evident from the signification of "the rest of the men who were not killed," as being all those who did not perish. "To be killed" signifies in the Word to be killed spiritually, which is to perish in eternal death (See above, n. 547, 572). Also from the signification of "these plagues," as being the cupidities above mentioned, namely, those signified by "fire, smoke, and brimstone going out of the mouth of the horses," which signify the cupidities that arise from the love of evil and the love of falsity, also the lusts of destroying the truths and goods of the church by the falsities of evil (as may be seen above, n. 578. These are called "plagues," because "plagues" signify in the Word such things as destroy the spiritual life, consequently the church in men, and which therefore induce death understood in the spiritual sense. These in brief have reference to the cupidities springing from the loves of self and of the world; for these loves are the roots from which evils and falsities of every genus and species spring up and grow.
[2] Such also is the signification of "plagues" in the following passages in Revelation:
The two witnesses have power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague as often as they will (Revelation 11:6).
Again:
Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for the plague thereof was exceeding great (Revelation 16:21).
Again:
In one day shall the plagues of Babylon come, death and mourning and famine (Revelation 18:8).
And again:
I saw seven angels having the seven last plagues, through which is to be finished the wrath of God (Revelation 15:1, 6, 8). That "plagues" mean such things as induce upon man spiritual death, consequently that wholly destroy and devastate the church with men in particular and thus in general, will be seen in the explanation of the passages that follow, where "plagues" are mentioned, and especially where "the seven last plagues" are treated of.
[3] "Plagues" have a like meaning in the following passages in the prophets. In Isaiah:
The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, in the day that Jehovah shall bind up the breach of His people, and shall heal the wound of their plague (Isaiah 30:26).
In Jeremiah:
It is desperate for thy bruise, thy plague is sore. I have smitten thee with the plague of an enemy. I will make health to ascend upon thee; I will heal thee of thy plague (Jeremiah 30:12, 14, 17).
In the same:
Everyone that passeth by Edom shall hiss at all the plagues thereof (4 Jeremiah 49:17).
In the same:
Everyone that passeth by Babylon shall hiss at all her plagues (Jeremiah 50:13).
In Moses:
If they will 1 not take heed to do all the words of the law, Jehovah will make thy plagues wonderful, great plagues and lasting, and evil and lasting diseases. Also every disease and every plague which is not written in the book of this law will Jehovah secretly send upon thee until thou be destroyed (Deuteronomy 28:58, 59, 61).
"Plagues" here signify spiritual plagues, which destroy the soul, not the body, and which are enumerated in this chapter of Deuteronomy (verses 20-68).
[4] What "plagues" signify in the spiritual sense is described by correspondences in Zechariah:
This shall be the plague wherewith Jehovah will plague all the peoples that shall wage war against Jerusalem; his flesh shall waste away as he standeth upon his feet, and his eyes shall waste away in their sockets, and his tongue shall waste away in his mouth. So shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, of the ass, and of every beast that shall be in those camps, as this plague (Zechariah 14:12, 15).
This is said of those who endeavor to destroy the truths of the church by falsities; "Jerusalem" signifies the church in respect to the truths of doctrine, and "to wage war against it" means to endeavor to destroy these truths by falsities. That "one's flesh shall waste away as he standeth upon his feet" signifies that with those who attempt this, all the will of good will perish, and that they will thus become merely corporeal-natural, for "flesh" signifies the will and its good or evil; "feet" signify the things of the natural man, therefore "to stand upon the feet" signifies to live from such things only; "his eyes shall waste away in their sockets" signifies that all understanding of truth will perish, "eyes" signifying that understanding; "his tongue shall waste away in his mouth" signifies that all perception of truth and affection of good will perish. (This prophecy is explained above, n. 455.) Almost the same things are signified by "the plagues of the horse, the mule, the camel, the ass, and every beast," for the "plague" of these signifies the loss of all understanding of truth, as well spiritual as natural; and "the plague of the beast" signifies the loss of all affection for good.
[5] In Luke:
In the same hour in which John sent unto Him, Jesus cured many of diseases and plagues of evil spirits; and on many that were blind He bestowed sight (Luke 7:21).
"The plagues of evil spirits" mean the obsessions and calamitous conditions then inflicted upon men by evil spirits, all of which however signify correspondent spiritual states; for all the healings of diseases performed by the Lord signified spiritual healings, and from this the miracles of the Lord were Divine; as this, that "on many that were blind He bestowed sight," which signified that to those who were in ignorance of truth He gave the understanding of the truths of doctrine:
The wounds [plagas] that the robbers inflicted on the man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho (Luke 10:30);
also signifies spiritual wounds, which were the falsities and evils infused into sojourners and Gentiles by the scribes and Pharisees. (See above, n. 444, where this parable is explained in its spiritual sense.)
Bilješke:
1. Latin has "they will," the Hebrew "thou whilt," as also in Apocalypse Explained 696; Arcana Coelestia 2826, 6752.
Deuteronomy 28:20-68
20
Yahweh will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke, in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly; because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me.
21
Yahweh will make the pestilence cling to you, until he has consumed you from off the land, where you go in to possess it.
22
Yahweh will strike you with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with fiery heat, and with the sword, and with blight, and with mildew; and they shall pursue you until you perish.
23
Your sky that is over your head shall be brass, and the earth that is under you shall be iron.
24
Yahweh will make the rain of your land powder and dust: from the sky shall it come down on you, until you are destroyed.
25
Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them, and shall flee seven ways before them: and you shall be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.
26
Your dead body shall be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there shall be none to frighten them away.
27
Yahweh will strike you with the boil of Egypt, and with the tumors, and with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you can not be healed.
28
Yahweh will strike you with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart;
29
and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways: and you shall be only oppressed and robbed always, and there shall be none to save you.
30
You shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: you shall build a house, and you shall not dwell therein: you shall plant a vineyard, and shall not use its fruit.
31
Your ox shall be slain before your eyes, and you shall not eat of it: your donkey shall be violently taken away from before your face, and shall not be restored to you: your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have none to save you.
32
Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people; and your eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day: and there shall be nothing in the power of your hand.
33
The fruit of your ground, and all your labors, shall a nation which you don't know eat up; and you shall be only oppressed and crushed always;
34
so that you shall be mad for the sight of your eyes which you shall see.
35
Yahweh will strike you in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore boil, of which you can not be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.
36
Yahweh will bring you, and your king whom you shall set over you, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone.
37
You shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples where Yahweh shall lead you away.
38
You shall carry much seed out into the field, and shall gather little in; for the locust shall consume it.
39
You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine, nor gather [the grapes]; for the worm shall eat them.
40
You shall have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olive shall cast [its fruit].
41
You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity.
42
All your trees and the fruit of your ground shall the locust possess.
43
The foreigner who is in the midst of you shall mount up above you higher and higher; and you shall come down lower and lower.
44
He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him: he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.
45
All these curses shall come on you, and shall pursue you, and overtake you, until you are destroyed; because you didn't listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you:
46
and they shall be on you for a sign and for a wonder, and on your seed forever.
47
Because you didn't serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things;
48
therefore you shall serve your enemies whom Yahweh shall send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron on your neck, until he has destroyed you.
49
Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies; a nation whose language you shall not understand;
50
a nation of fierce facial expressions, that shall not respect the person of the old, nor show favor to the young,
51
and shall eat the fruit of your livestock, and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; that also shall not leave you grain, new wine, or oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish.
52
They shall besiege you in all your gates, until your high and fortified walls come down, in which you trusted, throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land, which Yahweh your God has given you.
53
You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you.
54
The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining;
55
so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he has nothing left him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your gates.
56
The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,
57
and toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she shall bear; for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your gates.
58
If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH YOUR GOD;
59
then Yahweh will make your plagues wonderful, and the plagues of your seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and severe sicknesses, and of long continuance.
60
He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they shall cling to you.
61
Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, Yahweh will bring them on you, until you are destroyed.
62
You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of the sky for multitude; because you didn't listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.
63
It shall happen that as Yahweh rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Yahweh will rejoice over you to cause you to perish, and to destroy you; and you shall be plucked from off the land where you go in to possess it.
64
Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone.
65
Among these nations you shall find no ease, and there shall be no rest for the sole of your foot: but Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of soul;
66
and your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you shall fear night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life.
67
In the morning you shall say, "I wish it were evening!" and at evening you shall say, "I wish it were morning!" for the fear of your heart which you shall fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see.
68
Yahweh will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I said to you, You shall see it no more again: and there you shall sell yourselves to your enemies for bondservants and for bondmaids, and no man shall buy you.
