954. (Verse 7) And one of the four animals gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the anger of God, who liveth unto ages of ages. That this signifies manifestation from the Lord by means of Divine truth, or the Word, of all the falsities of evil which have destroyed the spiritual life of the men of the church, is evident from the signification of the four animals, as denoting the inmost heaven (concerning which see n. 277, 322, 462), and as denoting the Word (n. 717); consequently, the Lord as to heaven and as to the Word; for heaven is heaven from the Lord, and in like manner the Word; and from the signification of the seven angels, as denoting manifestations by Divine truth, or the Word (see above, n. 949); and from the signification of the seven vials as denoting all falsities and evils. For by the seven vials similar things are signified as by the seven plagues (ver. 6), namely, evils and the falsities therefrom, and falsities and the evils therefrom (see above, n. 949). These are said to be full of the anger of God, who liveth unto ages of ages, because they lay waste the church, and destroy the spiritual life of the men of the church. These are the things signified by the anger of God. From these considerations it is evident, that by one of the four animals giving unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the anger of God, who liveth unto ages of ages, is signified, manifestation from the Lord by means of Divine truth, or the Word, of all the falsities of evil that have destroyed the spiritual life of the men of the church. The reason why vials are mentioned instead of plagues is, that vials are things containing, and plagues are things contained; and, in the Word, the things containing are frequently mentioned instead of the things contained, because the things containing are ultimates, in order that the sense of the letter of the Word may be in ultimates; similarly, where cups and chalices are mentioned instead of wine. But we shall speak further upon this subject in the following chapter, where the seven vials and the seven plagues therein are treated of.

Continuation concerning the First Precept:-

[2] So far as a man resists his own two loves, which are the love of ruling from the sole delight of it, and the love of possessing the goods of the world from the delight of mere possession, and thus, so far as he shuns as sins the evils mentioned in the Decalogue, so far there flows in through heaven from the Lord [that which causes him to acknowledge] that there is a God, who is the Creator and Preserver of the universe, and also indeed that God is one. The reason why this then flows in is that when evils are removed, heaven is opened; and when heaven is opened, a man no longer thinks from himself, but by heaven from the Lord. This is the universal [principle] in heaven, embracing all others, that there is a God, and also that God is one. That, man from influx alone knows and, as it were, sees that God is one, is evident from the common confession of all nations, and from repugnance to think that there are several. The interior thought of man, which is the thought of his spirit, is either from hell or from heaven; it is from hell before evils are removed, but from heaven when they are removed. When it is from hell, then a man recognises only nature as God, and considers that the inmost of nature is what is called Divine. Such a man after death, when he becomes a spirit, calls any one a god who prevails in power, and he also seeks for power himself, in order that he may be called a god; all the evil have such madness lurking inwardly in their spirit. But when man thinks from heaven, as is the case when evils are removed, then he sees from the light from heaven that there is a God, and that He is one. Seeing from light from heaven is what is meant by influx.

5658. 'Our silver in its full weight' means truths commensurate with each one's state. This is clear from the meaning of 'silver' as truth, dealt with in 1551, 2954; and from the meaning of 'weight' as the state of something as regards good, dealt with in 3104, so that truths commensurate with each one's state means commensurate with the good they are able to receive. Many places in the Word make reference to weights or to measures, but no weight nor any measure is meant in the internal sense. Rather states so far as the good involved in some reality is concerned are meant by 'weights', while states so far as the truth involved in it is concerned are meant by 'measures'. The same applies to the properties of gravity and spatial magnitude; gravity in the natural world corresponds to good in the spiritual world, and spatial magnitude to truth. The reason for this is that in heaven, where correspondences originate, neither the property of gravity nor that of spatial magnitude exists because space has no existence there. Objects possessing these properties do, it is true, seem to exist among spirits, but those objects are appearances that have their origins in the states of goodness and truth in the heaven above those spirits.

[2] It was very well known in ancient times that 'silver' meant truth; therefore the ancients divided up periods of time ranging from the earliest to the latest world epochs into the golden ages, the silver ones, the copper ones, and the iron ones, to which they also added the clay ones. They applied the expression 'golden ages' to those periods when innocence and perfection existed, when everyone was moved by good to do what was good and by righteousness to do what was right. They used 'silver ages' however to describe those times when innocence did not exist any longer, though there was still some sort of perfection, which did not consist in being moved by good to do what was good but in being moved by truth to do what was true. 'Copper ages' and 'iron ages' were the names they gave to the times that were even more inferior than the silver ones.

[3] What led those people to give periods of time these names was not comparison but correspondence. For the ancients knew that 'silver' corresponded to truth and 'gold' to good; they knew this from being in communication with spirits and angels. For when a discussion takes place in a higher heaven about what is good, this reveals itself among those underneath them in the first or lowest heaven as what is golden; and when a discussion takes place about what is true this reveals itself there as what is silvery. Sometimes not only the walls of the rooms where they live are gleaming with gold and silver but also the very air within them. Also, in the homes of those angels belonging to the first or lowest heaven who are moved by good to live among what is good, tables made of gold, lampstands made of gold, and many other objects are seen; but in the homes of those who are moved by truth to live among what is true, similar objects made of silver are seen. But who at the present day knows that correspondence was what led the ancients to call ages golden ones and silver ones? Indeed who at the present day knows anything at all about correspondence? Anyone who does not know this about the ancients, and more so anyone who thinks pleasure and wisdom lie in contesting whether such an idea is true or untrue, cannot begin to know the countless facets there are to correspondence.