389. Verses 9-11. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those slain because of the Word of God, and because of the testimony that they held. And they cried out with a great voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And there were given to every one of them white robes; and it was said unto them that they should rest yet a little time, until their fellow-servants, as well as their brethren, who were to be killed, as they also were, should be fulfilled.

9. "And when he had opened the fifth seal," signifies still further prediction (n. 390); "I saw under the altar," signifies those who were preserved under heaven n. 391; "the souls of those slain because of the Word of God, and because of the testimony that they held," signifies those who were rejected and concealed because of Divine truth and because of their confession of the Lord. n. 392).

10. "And they cried out with a great voice," signifies their grief of mind (n. 393); "saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" signifies sighings to the Lord, who is Righteousness, respecting the judgment and removal of those who persecute and infest those who acknowledge the Lord, and are in the life of charity n. 394.

11. "And there were given to every one of them white robes," signifies Divine truth from the Lord with them, and protection n. 395; "and it was said unto them they should rest yet a little time," signifies some further continuance in that state (n. 396); "until their fellow-servants, as well as their brethren, who were to be killed, as they also were, should be fulfilled," signifies until all things were consummated n. 397.

946. I have spoken to spirits about the fact that few people probably are going to believe that so many things such as these exist in the next life, the reason for that unbelief being that man has no more than a very general and hazy concept, amounting to none at all, about his life after death, a concept which people have confirmed for themselves from the fact that they do not see the soul or spirit with their eyes. This applies to the learned too. Though they refer to the existence of the soul or spirit, their belief in these is even less than that of sensory-minded people because they cling to artificial words and terms which do more to obscure and even extinguish the understanding of things, and also because they study only themselves and the world, and rarely the common good and heaven. Spirits whom I have spoken to have been amazed that man should be like this, even though he knows that nature itself and each of its kingdoms contain so many wonderful and varied things of which he is ignorant. Take just the human ear, for example. A whole book could be written about the remarkable and unheard of aspects of it, in whose existence everybody has faith. But if anything is said about the spiritual world, the source of every single thing in the realms of nature, scarcely anyone believes it, on account, as has been stated, of the preconceived and confirmed opinion that it has no existence because it is invisible.