6767. 'Do you intend to kill me . . .' means, Do you wish to destroy my faith ... This is clear from the meaning of 'killing' as destroying, dealt with below; and from the meaning of a Hebrew man, to whom 'me' refers here, as one who belongs to the Church. Faith too is accordingly meant, for faith goes together with the Church, and the two are so bound up with each other that a person who destroys the faith present with someone destroys the Church with him. This is also 'to kill him', for by taking faith away he takes spiritual life away, the life that remains being a life that is called death. From this it is evident that 'Do you intend to kill me?' means, Do you wish to destroy my faith?

[2] The fact that 'killing' is taking away spiritual life is evident from many places in the Word, as in Jeremiah,

Drag them away like sheep for the slaughter, and destine them to the day of killing. How long will the land mourn and the plant of every field wither, on account of the wickedness of those who dwell in it? The beasts and the birds will be devoured. Jeremiah 12:3-4.

'The day of killing' stands for the time that the Church is laid waste, when there is no longer any faith because there is no charity. 'The land which will mourn' stands for the Church; 'the plant of every field' stands for all the facts known to the Church that hold truth within them; 'the beasts and the birds will be devoured' stands for the fact that forms of good and truths will be destroyed. For the meaning of 'the land' as the Church, see 566, 662, 1067, 1262, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 2928, 3755, 4447, 4535, 5577. The meaning of 'the plant' as factual knowledge holding truth within it is clear from places in the Word where plant is mentioned. And for the meaning of 'the field' as that which is of the Church, see 2971, 3710, 3766, of 'the beasts' as affections for good, thus forms of good, 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 719, 1823, 2179, 2180, 3218, 3519, 5198, and of 'the birds' as affections for truth, 5149. From all this one may recognize what the meaning of these words is, and also that the spiritual sense is present in every detail there. Anyone can see that without the inner meaning there could be no understanding of what 'the day of killing' is, or of what is described by the details 'will the land mourn', 'the plant of every field wither, on account of the wickedness of those who dwell in it', and 'the beasts and the birds will be devoured'.

[3] In Zechariah,

Thus said Jehovah my God, Feed the sheep for killing, whose owners kill them. Zechariah 11:4-5.

'The sheep for killing' plainly stands for people whose faith is destroyed by those who are their owners. In Ezekiel,

You have desecrated Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for crusts of bread, to kill souls that ought not to die, and to keep alive souls that ought not to live. Ezekiel 13:19.

Here also 'killing' plainly stands for destroying spiritual life, that is, charity and faith. In Isaiah,

What will you do on the day of visitation and vastation? They will fall beneath the bound and beneath the killed. Isaiah 10:3-4.

Here 'the killed' stands for those who are in hell, thus for those immersed in evils and falsities.

[4] In the same prophet,

You are cast out from your sepulchre like an abominable branch, [like] a garment of the killed, [like] those pierced with the sword. You will not be united with them in the sepulchre, for you have destroyed your land, you have killed your people. Isaiah 14:19-20.

'The killed' stands for those who have been deprived of spiritual life; 'you have killed your people' stands for his destruction of forms of the truth and good of faith. In John,

The thief does not come except in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that they may have life. John 10:10.

'Killing' stands for destroying the life of faith, and therefore it says, 'I have come in order that they may have life'. In Mark,

Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his children, and the children will rise up against parents and kill them. Mark 13:12.

This refers to the last days of the Church when there is no longer any charity and therefore no faith either. 'Brother', 'children', and 'parents' in the internal sense are the Church's forms of good and its truths; and 'killing' is destroying them.

[5] Because one who had been 'killed' meant a person who had been deprived of spiritual life, and 'the field' meant the Church, it had therefore been decreed in the representative church that if anyone on the surface of the field touched somebody who had been pierced with the sword, or who had been killed, he would be unclean for seven days, Numbers 19:16. 'Slain with the sword' means truth wiped out by falsity, see 4507; for 'the sword' is falsity that wipes out truth, 2799, 4499, 653. It was likewise decreed that if anyone was found killed in the land which was their inheritance, lying on the field, and it was not known who had killed him, the elders and judges were to measure the distances to the cities which were round about. Having found out by doing this which was the nearest city, they were to take a heifer and break its neck at a fast-flowing river, and to do many other things, Deuteronomy 21:1-10.

3355. In the internal sense 'an earthquake' is an alteration of the state of the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'the earth' as the Church, dealt with in 566, 662, 1066, 1068, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928, and from the meaning of 'a quake' as an alteration of state, here an alteration as regards the things that constitute the Church, namely good and truth. This is also evident from other places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

It will happen, that he who is fleeing from the sound of the terror will fall into the pit, and he who is climbing out of the middle of the pit will be caught in the snare, for the floodgates from on high have been opened and the foundations of the earth have been made to tremble, the earth has been utterly shattered. The earth has been made to quake thoroughly, the earth staggers like a drunken man, it sways to and fro like a hut, and heavy upon it is its transgression, and it will fall and not rise again. And it will be on that day, that Jehovah will visit the host of the height on high and the kings of the ground on the ground. Isaiah 24:18-21.

Here it is quite evident that 'the earth' is the Church, for the subject is a Church whose 'foundations' are said to 'have been made to tremble', while the Church itself, having been 'shattered' and 'made to quake', 'staggers' and 'sways to and fro' when good and truth are not known any longer. 'The kings of the ground' are truths, in this case falsities, upon which visitation will take place. As regards 'kings' meaning truths and in the contrary sense falsities, see 1672, 2015, and as regards 'the ground' being similar in meaning to 'the earth', namely the Church, though there is a difference, see 566, 1068.

[2] In the same prophet,

I will make a man (homo) more rare than pure gold, and a man (homo) than the gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make heaven quake and the earth will quake out of its place, at the wrath of Jehovah Zebaoth and in the day of His fierce anger. Isaiah 13:12-13.

Here also, the subject being Judgement Day, 'the earth' plainly stands for the Church which is said to 'quake out of its place' when it undergoes a change of state - 'place' meaning state, see 1273-1275, 1377, 2625, 2837. In the same prophet,

Is this the man who, making the earth quake, making the kingdoms quake, makes the world into a wilderness and destroys its cities? Isaiah 14:16-17.

This refers to Lucifer. 'The earth' stands for the Church, which is said 'to quake' when it lays claim to all things as its own. For 'kingdoms' means the truths accepted by the Church, see 1672, 2547.

[3] In Ezekiel,

It will be on that day, that Gog will come over the land of Israel. My wrath will come up in My anger and in My zeal. In the fire of My wrath I will say, Surely on that day there will be a great earthquake on Israel's ground. Ezekiel 38:18-20.

'Gog' stands for external worship that has been separated from internal and so made idolatrous, 1151. 'Israel's land' or 'ground' stands for the spiritual Church, 'an earthquake' for an alteration of its state. In Joel,

The earth quaked before Him, the heavens trembled. The sun and the moon were darkened, and the stars withdrew their shining. Joel 2:10.

This also refers to Judgement Day. 'The earth quaked' stands for an altered state of the Church, 'the sun and moon' for the good of love and the truth of faith, 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495, which are said to be 'darkened' when goods and truths are not acknowledged any longer. 'The stars' stands for cognitions of good and truth, 2495, 2849. In David,

The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook and trembled because He was angered. Psalms 18:6-7.

'The earth trembled and quaked' stands for the Church when its state has become perverted.

[4] In John,

When he opened the sixth seal I looked again, and behold, a great earthquake took place, and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the full moon became like blood, and the stars in the sky fell to the earth. Revelation 6:12-13.

Here 'an earthquake', 'the sun', 'the moon', and 'the stars' have a similar meaning to that which they have above in Joel. In the same book,

At that hour a great earthquake took place, and a tenth part of the city fell, and there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand people. ¹ Revelation 11:13.

From all these places it is evident that 'an earthquake' means nothing other than an alteration of the state of the Church, and that 'the earth' has no other meaning in the internal sense than the Church. And since 'the earth' is the Church it is clear that 'the new heaven and the new earth' which are to take the place of the previous heaven and earth, Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; Revelation 21:1, means nothing other than a new Church, internal and external, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end).

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