13. In the ninth chapter of the book of Revelation we read:

The fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth, and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.... The locusts in appearance were like horses prepared for battle, and on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of many...chariots rushing into battle. They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails, and their power was to hurt men five months. And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, who in Greek has the name Apollyon.

No one would understand this either unless the spiritual sense were revealed to him; for nothing was said there idly; everything down to the least detail has some symbolic meaning.

The subject there is the state of the church when all concepts of truth from the Word have been lost, so that people, having become sense-oriented, persuade themselves that falsities are truths.

[2] The star fallen from heaven symbolizes the lost concepts of truth. The darkened sun and air symbolize a thoroughly darkened light of truth. The locusts that came out of the smoke of the pit symbolize falsities of the lowest sort, such as are found in the case of people who have become sensual and who view and judge everything in accordance with fallacies. A scorpion symbolizes their persuasiveness.

The locusts’ looking like horses prepared for battle symbolizes their reasonings as though stemming from an understanding of truth. The locusts’ having what looked like crowns of gold on their heads, and their faces being like the faces of men, means symbolically that they seemed to themselves to be conquerors and wise. Their having hair like the hair of women means symbolically that they seemed to themselves to have an affection for truth. Their having teeth like lions’ teeth means symbolically that matters of the senses, which constitute the lowest elements of the natural self’s life, appeared to them to have power over all else.

[3] Their having breastplates like breastplates of iron symbolizes their arguments based on fallacies, with which they battled and prevailed. The sound of their wings being like the sound of chariots rushing into battle symbolizes their reasonings, as though founded on doctrinal truths from the Word, which they had to defend. Their having tails like scorpions symbolizes their persuasions. Their having stings in their tails symbolizes their clever arts to deceive by those persuasions. Their having the power to hurt men five months symbolizes their inducing a kind of numbness in people possessing an understanding of truth and a perception of goodness.

Their having as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, who has the name Abaddon or Apollyon, symbolically means that their falsities originated from hell, where the inhabitants are merely natural and caught up in their own intelligence.

[4] This is the spiritual meaning of these words, nothing of which is apparent in the literal sense. The case is the same throughout the book of Revelation.

It must be known that everything in the spiritual sense hangs together in an unbroken connection, and that every word in the literal or natural sense contributes to forming the connection. Consequently, if the smallest word were to be taken away, the connection would be broken and the continuity perish. To keep this from happening, therefore, at the end of this prophetic book a warning is added not to take away a word (Revelation 22:19).

The case is the same with the prophetic books of the Old Testament, from which nothing was to be taken away. Of the Lord’s Divine providence, it came to pass that everything in those books, even the very letters, were counted — this by the Masoretes.

3576. 'And he blessed him' means conjunction thereby. This is clear from the meaning of 'being blessed' as conjunction, dealt with in 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565. From these details which refer to Esau and Jacob it becomes clear that the good of the rational joined itself inmostly to the good of the natural, and then through the good of the natural to the truth there. For 'Isaac' represents the rational as regards good, 'Rebekah' the rational as regards truth, while 'Esau' represents the good of the natural and 'Jacob' the truth of the natural. The idea that the rational as regards good, which is 'Isaac', joined itself inmostly to the good of the natural, which is 'Esau', but not to the truth of the natural, which is 'Jacob', except indirectly, is evident from the consideration that Isaac had Esau in mind when pronouncing the blessing on Jacob. At that time he was not thinking of Jacob but of Esau. When anyone pronounces a blessing he is blessing the person of whom he is thinking, not someone of whom he is not thinking. All blessing comes forth from something interior, for though pronounced with the lips it receives its life from the will and the thought of the person pronouncing it. It belongs essentially therefore to the individual to whom he wishes to impart it and of whom he is thinking. If anyone intercepts it and so makes it his own it is like something stolen which ought to be restored to the other person. The fact that Isaac, when pronouncing the blessing, was thinking of Esau and not of Jacob becomes clear from every single detail that goes before this - from verses 18-19, where Isaac said to Jacob,

Who are you, my son? And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau your firstborn.

Then from verses 21-23,

Isaac said to Jacob, Come near now, and I will feel you, my son, whether you are my son Esau, or not.

And after feeling him he said, The voice is Jacob's voice, and the hands Esau's hands; and he did not recognize him.

Also from verse 24,

And he said. Are you my very son Esau? And he said, I am.

And at length, when kissing him,

He smelled the odour of his clothes.

That is to say, he smelled Esau's clothes, at which point he blessed him and said,

See, the odour of my son.

From all this it is clear that by the son whom he blessed he meant none other than Esau. This also was why when he heard from Esau that it had been Jacob,

Isaac trembled very greatly. Verse 33.

And he said, Your brother came in deceitfully. Verse 35.

The reason why Jacob retained the blessing however, according to what is said in verses 33-37, was that truth represented by 'Jacob' would from the point of view of time apparently have dominion, as shown frequently above.

[2] But once the time of reformation and regeneration is completed good itself which has been Lying hidden in the inmost parts and from there has been disposing every single thing which seemed to be a matter of truth, that is, which truth had ascribed to itself, comes to the fore and openly has dominion. And this is what Isaac's words addressed to Esau mean,

By your sword you will live, and you will serve your brother. And it will be when you have dominion over him, that you will break his yoke from above your neck, Verse 40.

The internal sense of these words is that all the time truth is joined to good, good appears to be in the lower position but will eventually be in the higher. At this point there will be a joining together of the rational with the good of the natural, and through the good of the natural with the truth. Truth will thus become the truth of good. In this case 'Esau' will consequently represent the good itself of the natural and 'Jacob' the truth of the natural, both joined to the rational. Accordingly in the highest sense they will represent the Lord's Divine Natural - 'Esau' as regards the Divine Good there and 'Jacob' as regards the Divine Truth.