699. Verse 19. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, signifies the appearing of the new heaven and the New Church, where there is worship of the Lord. This is evident from the signification of "temple" as being heaven and the church, here the new heaven and the New Church; the appearing of these is signified by "the temple was opened." (That "temple" signifies in the highest sense the Lord in relation to His Divine Human and Divine truth proceeding from Him, and in a relative sense heaven and the church, may be seen above, n. 220, 391, 630.)

The "temple" signifies here the new heaven and the New Church where there is worship of the Lord, because this chapter treats of the changes of state that precede the Last Judgment, namely, the separation of the evil from the good, and their removal from the places where they had been previously. When this is done, the new heaven and the New Church appear to those who are in the higher heavens. These could not appear so long as the good were conjoined with the evil, because their interiors were closed that they might not be harmed by the evil with whom they had communication in respect to externals. But when the evil had been separated and removed, then the interiors with the good, which were in themselves heavenly, were opened, and when these had been opened, heaven and the church lay open; for so far as the interiors which are heavenly and celestial are opened, what heaven is in relation to the church with those who have heaven and the church in them, becomes manifest.

[2] From self-intelligence no one can know that these things are so, for they are arcana of heaven, that must be learned from revelation. For who can know how the Last Judgment was accomplished, or what changes in the spiritual world preceded it and what followed it? But that these things might be known they have been manifested to me, wherefore it is permitted me to describe them here from revelation. It is said, the new heaven and the New Church, where there is worship of the Lord, because in the new heaven and the New Church the Lord alone is worshipped; for there the Divine is not distinguished into three persons, but into a Trine in one person. (Respecting this Trinity see what has been said in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n.280-310). This also is what is meant in Revelation where the New Jerusalem is treated of:

I saw heaven ¹ and no temple therein, for the Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple thereof (Revelation 21:22).

"The Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb" mean the Lord in relation to the Divine Itself and the Divine Human. It is here said that no temple was seen, because "temple" signifies in the highest sense, the Lord in relation to Divine truth and worship (See above n. 220, 391, 630), also because "the New Jerusalem" means the church in respect to doctrine, or the doctrine of the New Jerusalem. Nevertheless there are temples in heaven, in which the Lord is preached and Divine truth is taught.

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