536. And there was given unto him the key of the pit of the abyss, signifies communication and conjunction with the hells. This is evident from the signification of "key," which is opening (of which presently); and from the signification of "the pit of the abyss," as meaning the hells where and from which are the falsities of evil (of which in the following articles). It is said that the key of the pit of the abyss was given to "the star from heaven fallen unto the earth," because the "star" signifies the knowledges of truth from the Word falsified by application to evils and falsities therefrom; and the evils of falsity and the falsities of evil that are with man open the hells where there are like evils and falsities. But what is meant by opening the hells will also be explained in the following article, for immediately it is said, "and he opened the pit of the abyss."

[2] It is from the appearance in the spiritual world that a "key" signifies opening; in that world there are houses and chambers, there are doors through which there is entrance, and locks and keys by which they are opened, and every one of these things signifies such things as are with man. The house itself corresponds to the interiors of his disposition and mind; likewise the chambers; and the doors correspond to the communication between the interior things of the mind and disposition; and a "key" corresponds to the admission and opening from one part into another; in a word, each particular thing in a house in which angels and spirits dwell corresponds to the particular things within them. Few of the spirits know this, because few know anything about correspondences, for being in them they do not reflect upon them. It is the same as it is with men in the world; few of whom know what their affections and thoughts are, because being in them they thence do not reflect upon them, and yet they are innumerable, as can be seen from the results of mental analysis set forth by many of the learned, all which are operations of the mind. This makes clear why a "key" is mentioned, and that it signifies admission and opening.

[3] So elsewhere in the Word, as in Matthew:

Jesus said to Peter, I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of the heavens (Matthew 16:19).

(This may be seen explained above, n. 206.) Also in Isaiah (Isaiah 22:20, 22), where the like is said of Eliakim (this, too, is explained above, n. 206.

Also in Revelation:

I have the keys of hell and of death (Revelation 1:18). (Respecting this see above, n. 86.)

Again:

These things saith the Holy, the True, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth and no one shutteth, and shutteth and no one openeth (Revelation 3:7). (See above, n. 205, 206.)

And again:

I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a great chain upon his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, and bound him a thousand years (Revelation 20:1, 2). (This will be explained hereafter.)

And in Luke:

Woe unto you lawyers! For ¹ ye take away the keys of heaven; ² ye enter not in yourselves, and those entering in ye hinder (Luke 11:52).

Those were called "lawyers" who searched the Scriptures and taught how their contents must be understood; and as it is by means of the Sacred Scripture or the Word that there is communication and consequent conjunction with heaven, as was said in the article just above, and as truths are what open the communication, and the goods of truth are what constitute conjunction, while truths falsified, which in themselves are the falsities of evil, are what cause disjunction, so they are said "to take away the keys of heaven," that is, that they are able by means of truths to open communication with heaven to those whom they teach; but because they perverted the Word by applications to their loves and to false principles therefrom, therefore it is said, "Ye enter not in yourselves, and those entering in ye hinder." From this it can be seen that "the key that opened the pit" signifies communication and conjunction with the hells by means of the falsities into which the truths of the Word are turned by those who falsify them by applying them to the evils of life and to the false principles derived therefrom.

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315. As if slain, signifies as yet acknowledged by few. This is evident from the signification of "slain," as being, in reference to the Lord, that He has not been acknowledged; here that few have acknowledged His Human to be Divine, for it is said "a Lamb standing as if slain," a "lamb" signifying the Lord in respect to the Divine Human (as was shown just above, n. 314. The meaning here is similar to what was said of the Lord (Revelation 1:18), "and I became dead," which signifies that He was rejected (See above, n. 83). In the spiritual or internal sense, "slain" does not mean slain in respect to the body, but in respect to the soul; and man is slain in respect to the soul when he is no longer in any good of faith, for he then has no spiritual life, but death instead, which is called spiritual death. But this is not what the term "slain" signifies when applied to the Lord, since the Lord is life itself, and gives spiritual life to everyone; but it signifies either that He is rejected or that He is not acknowledged; for with those who do not acknowledge, and still more with those who deny, He is as nothing. The Lord Himself, to be sure, and also His Divine, is acknowledged in the church, but in respect to the Human as a mere man and not as God; thus it is that His Divine Human is not acknowledged; this, therefore, is what is meant by "a Lamb standing as if slain." But that the Lord is God also as to the Human, can be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 280-310), and will be seen at the end of this work, where it will be plainly shown.

[2] Those who think solely from the sense of the letter of the Word, and not at the same time from the doctrine of genuine truth, know no otherwise than that "slain" in the Word means slain in respect to the body; but that it means slain in respect to the soul will be seen from the passages to be quoted presently. For it is acknowledged that the Word in its inmost is spiritual, although in the sense of the letter it is natural; and to be slain spiritually is to perish in respect to the soul, as is the case with those who do not receive the life of heaven, which is called "life eternal," and also simply "life," and who thus in place of this have death, which is damnation. And because this is acknowledged, it follows that "to be slain" means in the Word to perish by falsities and evils. But spiritually the Lord is said "to be slain" when the truth from Him is denied and the good from Him is rejected; with these the Lord is also not acknowledged, for he who denies and rejects what is from Him, denies and rejects Him also, for the Lord is with man in his truths and goods.

[3] But here His Divine Human is treated of; that this is not acknowledged as yet, is known. I will state the reasons: One is, that the popish body has transferred to its own primate all Divine power that the Lord has, also that in respect to His Human, and are unwilling to hear that it is Divine, since it is from His Human. The other reason is, that those who are not of that body have made faith alone the sole means of salvation, and not the life of charity; and those who do this are unable to perceive the Lord's Human as differing from the human of another man; they therefore abide blindly in the doctrine of the Trinity from the creed of Athanasius, and cannot be illustrated.

[4] That "to be slain" in the Word signifies to be slain spiritually, can be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:

Thou, like an abominable shoot, the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with the sword: for thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people. Prepare slaughter for His sons (Isaiah 14:19-21).

This is said of Babylon, which signifies the profanation of good and truth, and the consequent destruction of the church. It is compared to "the raiment of those that are slain, who are thrust through with the sword," because "the raiment of those that are slain" signifies abominable falsity, defiling and destroying the things of the church; they are therefore said "to be thrust through with the sword," because "sword" signifies falsity destroying truth. Therefore it is said, "thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people," "land" means the church, and "people" those therein who are in truths; to "slay" these is to destroy by falsities. "Prepare slaughter for his sons" signifies that their falsities are to be destroyed, "his sons" meaning falsities.

[5] In Jeremiah:

The slain of Jehovah shall be at that day from the end of the earth unto the end of the earth (Jeremiah 25:33).

"The slain of Jehovah from the end of the earth unto the end of the earth" signify those with whom all the truths of the church have been destroyed by falsities; "the slain of Jehovah" signifying those with whom they have been destroyed, and "from the end of the earth unto the end of the earth" signifying all things of the church.

[6] In the same:

Therefore give their sons to the famine, and make them flow down upon the hands of the sword, that men may become rare, ¹ slain with death, their young men smitten with the sword in war (Jeremiah 18:21).

"To give the sons to the famine, and to make them flow down upon the hands of the sword," signifies to extinguish the truths of the church through failure of the knowledges of truth and through falsities, "sons" are truths, "famine" is a failure of knowledges, and "sword" falsity destroying truth; "that men may become rare, slain with death," signifies that there is no affection of truth or wisdom therefrom, "men" signifying the affection of truth and wisdom therefrom (See above, n. 280; "their young men smitten with the sword in war" signifies because truths have been destroyed by the assaults of falsity, "young men" meaning truths, "sword" falsity destroying, and "war" the assault of falsity.

[7] In Ezekiel:

Pass ye through Jerusalem, and smite; neither let your eye spare; slay ye to destruction the old man, the young man, and the virgin, and the infant; but come not near against any man upon whom is the sign (Ezekiel 9:5-6).

This was said by "the man clothed in linen," or by the angel, to other angels, and was heard by the prophet. It does not mean that they should pass through Jerusalem, and should smite and slay to destruction old men, young men, virgins, and infants; but "Jerusalem" means the church in respect to doctrine, and it is meant that the church is altogether vastated in respect to all the goods and truths that constitute it; "old man" means wisdom which is of good; "young man" intelligence which is of truth; "virgin" the affection of these; and "infant" every good and truth in its birth, in a special sense the good of innocence, by which all things of the church with man are begotten; "the man [vir] upon whom was the sign and to whom they should not come near," signifies truth from good.

[8] In the same:

That they may stone them with a stone, may cleave them with swords, may slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire (Ezekiel 23:47).

This was said of Samaria and Jerusalem, which are here called Oholah and Oholibah; by which are signified the two churches, namely, the spiritual and the celestial, here those churches devastated by falsities and evils. "To stone with a stone, and to cleave with swords," signifies the destruction of truth by falsities, for "stoning" signified punishment and death because of violence offered to Divine truth; "cleaving by swords" has a like signification. "To slay sons and daughters" signifies to destroy all truths and goods, "sons" meaning truths and "daughters" goods; and "to burn up the houses with fire" signifies to destroy all things that are of love and charity by the evils of the love of self and the world, "houses" mean man's interiors, thus the things that are of his love, here that these are destroyed; "fire" meaning love in both senses.

[9] In Jeremiah:

They have lain on the earth, lad and old man in the streets; my virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword; Thou hast slain in the day of Thine anger, Thou hast not pitied (Lamentations 2:21).

Here, too, the church devastated is treated of. "To lie on the earth and in the streets" signifies to be destroyed by evils and falsities; "lad and old man, virgins and young men have fallen by the sword," signifies here, as above, all goods and truths with intelligence and wisdom; "thou hast slain in the day of Thine anger, Thou hast not pitied," signifies their extinction, "the day of anger" signifying the last state of the church, when judgment takes place. Slaying, that is, extinguishing these things, is attributed to Jehovah; but it is man himself, the sense of the letter being such as to attribute to Jehovah what belongs to the man himself (See Arcana Coelestia 2447, 5798, 6071, 6991, 6997, 7533, 7632, 7643, 7679, 7710, 7877, 7926, 8227, 8282, 8483, 8632, 9010, 9128, 9306, 10431).

[10] In Amos:

I will cut off the judge out of the midst of Moab, and will slay all the princes thereof with him (Amos. Amos 2:3).

"Moab" in the Word, means those who adulterate the goods of the church; the "judge who will be cut off," and the "princes who will be slain," signify the good which is adulterated, and the truths which are thereby falsified, "judge" meaning good, and "prince" truth.

[11] In Zechariah:

A voice of the howling of the shepherds, that their magnificence is devastated. Thus said Jehovah my God, Feed the sheep of the slaughter, which their possessors slay. I have fed the sheep of the slaughter for your sakes, O miserable of the flock (Zechariah 11:3-5, 7).

"The sheep of the slaughter which their possessors slay," signify those who are in good, and are led astray by the falsities of doctrine; those are called "sheep" who are in the good of charity; "shepherds" are those who teach truths, and by means of these lead to good.

[12] In David:

We are slain every day; we are reckoned as a flock for slaughter. Awake, O Lord, cast us not off always (Psalms 44:22-23).

"We are slain every day" signifies that of ourselves we are constantly falling into falsities, and are being led astray by them, especially in a time when falsities reign; this makes clear what a "flock for slaughter" signifies; that we may be elevated out of falsities by the Lord is signified by "Awake, O Lord, cast us not off always."

[13] In Ezekiel:

They shall draw forth the swords upon the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall profane thy radiance. They shall bring thee down into the pit, and thou shalt die the death of the slain (Ezekiel 28:7-8).

This is said of the prince of Tyre, by whom is signified the intelligence that is from the knowledges of truth, here that intelligence extinguished by falsities. "To draw forth swords upon the beauty of thy wisdom" signifies its extinction by falsities; "to bring down into the pit" signifies immersion in falsities; and "to die the death of the slain" signifies destruction and damnation, the "slain" signifying those with whom all truth is extinguished (Arcana Coelestia 4503[1-11], 9262), and "death" signifying damnation.

[14] In Isaiah:

Hath he smitten him according to the stroke of him that smiteth him? Hath he been slain according to the slaughter of his slain? (Isaiah 27:7).

This treats of Jacob and Israel, by whom the church is signified, "Jacob" the external church, and "Israel" the internal. The temptations of those who are of the church are thus described, which are signified by "Hath he smitten him according to the stroke of him that smiteth him?" And that they should not succumb in temptations and thus perish is signified by "Is he slain according to the slaughter of the slain?" "the slaughter of the slain" signifying perdition by falsities.

[15] "Slaughter" signifies perdition and damnation in other places in the same prophet:

In the day of the great slaughter the towers shall fall (Isaiah 30:25).

"The day of the great slaughter" signifies the Last Judgment, when the wicked are condemned and perish, "towers" signifying the doctrines of falsity.

[16] In the same:

I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant (Isaiah 14:30).

This was said respecting Philistia, by which is signified truth without good, or faith without charity. "To kill the root with famine" signifies to perish utterly from having no good, "root" meaning everything from which a thing lives; therefore it is also said, "he shall slay thy remnant," "remnant" signifying all the remains of the church.

[17] In Jeremiah:

I have heard the voice of the daughter of Zion; she sobbeth and spreadeth her hands, for my soul is wearied by the slayers (Jeremiah 4:31).

Thus is described the grief of a church that is falling from truths into falsities. "The daughter of Zion" is the church; "she sobbeth and spreadeth her hands" signifies grief; "for my soul is wearied by the slayers" signifies by falsities that extinguish spiritual life," "slayers" meaning such falsities.

[18] In Isaiah:

Behold, Jehovah going forth out of His place to visit the iniquity of the earth; then shall the earth reveal her bloods, and shall no longer hide her slain (Isaiah 26:21).

This is said of the day of visitation or judgment, when the iniquities of all shall be uncovered, which is meant by "then the earth shall reveal her bloods, and shall no longer hide her slain;" the "earth" signifies the church, here the evil men in the church; "bloods" are the evils that have destroyed the goods of the church; and the "slain" the falsities that have destroyed its truths; whether it be said that the "slain" signify falsities or those who are in falsities, it is the same, for they are in the falsities and the falsities in them, and the falsities in them are what destroy. The like is signified by the "slain" elsewhere in Isaiah:

What will ye do in the day of visitation and of devastation? They shall fall beneath the slain (Isaiah 10:3-4).

Likewise in Revelation:

In Babylon was found the blood of the prophets and of the saints, and of all that have been slain upon the earth (Revelation 18:24).

What is here signified will be seen in what comes after.

[19] In Isaiah:

I will visit evil upon the world. Everyone that is found shall be thrust through; and everyone gathered together shall fall by the sword (Isaiah 13:11, 15).

This also is said of Babylon. That "everyone that is found shall be thrust through" signifies that they shall perish by evil; and that "everyone gathered together shall fall by the sword" signifies that they shall perish by falsity.

[20] In Matthew:

In the end of the age they shall deliver you up unto tribulation and shall slay you (Matthew 24:9).

In John:

They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the hour cometh that everyone who killeth you will think that he offereth sacred worship to God (John 16:2).

This was said to the disciples; and by "disciples," in the spiritual representative sense, are meant all truths and goods of the church; whence it is clear what is meant in that sense by "they shall kill them," namely, that the truths and goods of the church shall then be destroyed.

[21] In Mark:

In the consummation of the age, brother shall deliver up brother to death, the father the children; children shall rise up against parents, and shall cause them to be put to death (Mark 13:12).

The consummation of the age is the last time of the church, when falsities shall destroy truths and evils shall destroy goods. "Brother," "father," and "children," do not mean here brother, father, and children, but falsity and truth, and good and evil. "Brother shall deliver up brother to death" signifies that falsity shall destroy good; especially that faith alone shall destroy charity, for faith in the Word is called the brother to charity; "the father shall deliver up the children to death" signifies that the good of the church shall perish by the falsities of evil, "father" meaning the good of the church, and "children" the falsities of evil; "children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death," signifies that the falsities of evil shall assault the goods and truths of the church and destroy them.

[22] In Luke:

The man who planted a vineyard sent a servant that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard; but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. Again he sent another servant; and beating him also, they sent him away empty. Again he sent a third, and wounding him, they cast him out. Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. But they said, This is the heir; come, let us kill him; and casting him out of the vineyard they killed him (Luke 20:10-16; Mark 12:2-9).

This is said respecting the church instituted among the Jews, and it describes the perversion and falsification by traditions and by applications to self of every truth they had from the Word. All the particulars here contain a spiritual sense; for whatever the Lord spoke, He spoke also spiritually, because from the Divine. The "vineyard which the man planted," signifies the church that is in truths; the "servants whom he sent thrice," mean the Word given them through Moses and the prophets; there is mention of three times, because "three" signifies what is full and complete; "their beating them, wounding them, and sending them away empty out of the vineyard," signifies that they falsified and perverted the truths contained in the Word; "to send away empty out of the vineyard" signifies that they deprived the Word of its goods and truths. "The beloved son" means the Lord in respect to Divine truth, who is therefore called also the Word; "they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him" signifies killing not only the Lord, but also all Divine truth from Him (See also above, n. 83.

[23] In Daniel:

After sixty and two weeks the Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself (Daniel 9:26).

"The Messiah" also means the Lord in respect to Divine truth (See Arcana Coelestia 3008, 3009); "He shall be cut off" means not only Himself, but also all Divine truth with that people; "but not for Himself" signifies that with those who are in a new church Divine truth will live again, like as before in the first chapter of Revelation:

I am the Living One, and I became dead; and behold I am alive unto the ages of the ages (Revelation 1:18).

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