62. And being turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. That this signifies, the New Heaven and the New Church, which are in the good of love, is evident from the signification of turned to see, as denoting to understand from enlightenment (concerning which see what has just been said, n. 61); and from the signification of seven, as denoting all and what is full, and as being said of the holy things of heaven and the church (concerning this see above, n. 20, 24); from the signification of lampstands, as being the New Heaven and the New Church, as will be seen in what follows; and from the signification of gold, as being the good of love (respecting which, see Arcana Coelestia 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 9510, 9874, 9881). That the seven lampstands signify heaven and the church, is evident from the last verse of this chapter, where it is said, "The seven lampstands which thou sawest are the seven churches." That the seven churches signify all who belong to the church of the Lord, thus the church in general, may be seen above (n. 20); the reason why they also signify heaven, is, that heaven and the church make one. Heaven also is in those in whom the church is; the reason is, that the good of love and the good of faith constitute the church with man, and also constitute heaven with him, as with the angels; therefore those who, while in the world, had the church in them, that is to say, the goods and truths of the church, come into heaven after death. (That this is the case, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 12; and in the work, Heaven and Hell 57, 221-227.) The reason why the New Heaven and the New Church are here meant by the seven lampstands is, that these are ultimately treated of in the Apocalypse (as may be seen, chap. 21), and thus form the conclusion of all things therein; and since that which is ultimate is also the primary, therefore a prediction concerning them is presented in the beginning of that book.

In the Word it is also usual to mention those things in the first place which are done in the last, because intermediate things are included in them; for the primary thing, in the spiritual sense, is the end for which all the other things exist, inasmuch as the end is the primary and the ultimate, and all other things have respect to it (as may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 98).

[2] That a lampstand signifies heaven and the church, may be evident from the description of the lampstand which was in the tabernacle; for by the tabernacle was represented heaven in its whole extent; and by the lampstand therein the spiritual heaven, which is the second heaven (see Arcana Coelestia 3478, 9457, 9481, 9485, 9548-9577, 9783). That this is the case is clearly evident from the fact, that John saw in the midst of the seven lampstands one like unto the Son of man; and the Son of man is the Lord as to the Divine Human, from which Divine truth proceeds, which is the all in all of heaven and the church. In the spiritual heaven the inhabitants see lampstands of great splendour; their heaven is represented by these; I have also been permitted to see them. It is, therefore, evident what is meant, in the spiritual sense of the Word, by lampstands and by lamps, in the following passages. In the Apocalypse:

"I will remove thy lampstand out of its place, except thou repent" (2:5)

To remove their lampstand, is to take away heaven or the church from them. In Zechariah:

The angel said to the prophet: "What seest thou? And I said, I saw, and behold a lampstand all of gold, its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps thereon, with seven pipes to the lamps" (4:2, 3).

In this passage Zerubbabel is treated of, who was to lay the foundation of the house of God, and to perfect it; by whom is represented the Lord, who was about to come, and to restore heaven and the church, which are signified by the lampstand; and the holy truths therein are the seven lamps. Because a lampstand derives its representative signification from lamps, and lamps theirs from light, which in heaven is the Divine truth, therefore the Lord also is called a lamp, as in the Apocalypse:

The holy Jerusalem "had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof" (21:23; 22:5).

This is why David, and the kings after him, were called "lamps of Israel" (2 Sam. 21:17; 1 Kings 11:36; 15:4; 2 Kings 8:19). For by David was represented the Lord as to his regal function; and similarly by the kings of Judah and Israel. (The representation by David may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 1888, 9954; and by kings, above, n. 31.) The reason why the lampstands that were seen were of gold, was, that gold signifies the good of love, and all that proceeds from the Lord is from Divine love; wherefore the Divine of the Lord in the heavens is love to Him and love towards the neighbour, which is charity (as may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 13-19). This is the reason why the lampstands here mentioned, and also the lampstand lit the tabernacle, was of gold.

6914. 'And I will give this people favour in the eyes of the Egyptians means fear, on account of the plagues, which those steeped in falsities had of those belonging to the spiritual Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'giving favour' as fear on account of the plagues, dealt with below; from the representation of the children of Israel, to whom 'people' refers here, as those belonging to the spiritual Church, dealt with in 6637; and from the representation of 'the Egyptians' as those who are steeped in falsities, often dealt with already. The fact that 'giving favour in the eyes of the Egyptians' means fear on account of the plagues that is present in those steeped in falsities is clear when one understands the matters described in the internal sense; for the subject is those who are steeped in falsities, meant by 'the Egyptians' - with the truths and forms of good which are to be taken away from them and passed on to those who belong to the spiritual Church. And since the subject is those who are steeped in falsities, 'favour' does not mean favour, for people who are steeped in falsities and evils do not feel in any way at all disposed to show favour towards anyone. If they treat anyone well or do not treat him badly they do so through fear of 'plagues'; these are the reason for their show of favour. This favour is the kind meant here in the internal sense. The internal sense displays things as they really are, not as they are made to stand in the letter, and makes every detail relevant to the subject. The truth of this is also evident from what follows regarding the Egyptians, where it is evident that they did not let the children of Israel go out of any disposition to show them favour, only out of fear on account of further plagues, Exodus 11:1; 12:33.

[2] These two verses, when they say that the women of Israel were to ask the Egyptian women for silver, gold, and clothes, refer to 'the plundering' of the Egyptians. And because what is meant by this cannot at all be known except from a revelation describing things that take place in the next life - for the internal sense contains the kinds of things that take place among angels and spirits - the matter must therefore be discussed. Before the Lord's Coming the lower parts of heaven had been occupied by evil genii and spirits; but afterwards they were driven out from there and that region was given to those who belonged to the spiritual Church, see above in 6858. As long as the evil genii and spirits were there they were under constant watch by angels belonging to a higher heaven and were thereby restrained from committing evil deeds openly. At the present day too some who are more devious than others because they mislead people by their pretence of innocence and charity are under watch by celestial ones, and so long as they are under it they are held back from their unspeakable tricks. They are directly overhead; but the celestial angels under whose watch they are kept are even higher. This has allowed me to know what the situation was like of the evil genii and spirits who occupied the lower region of heaven before the Lord's Coming; during that time they were held back by angels belonging to a higher heaven from committing evil deeds openly.

[3] But as for the way in which they were held back from committing evil deeds openly, this too I have been allowed to know. They were kept in check by external restraints, which were fear of the loss of position and reputation, and fear that they would be deprived of places they hold in that region of heaven and would be thrust down into hell; and at that time good yet simple spirits were attached to them. It was like what happens with people in the world. Even though inwardly they may be devils those external restraints force them to keep up a pretence of honourableness and righteousness and to do good. And to ensure that they go on behaving in these ways spirits who are governed by simple good are attached to them. The situation was similar with the evil who were in the lower region of heaven before the Lord's Coming. At that time too they could be driven by selfish kinds of love to speak what was true and do what was good. They were not unlike wicked priests, indeed even very wicked ones, who inwardly are devils, but who can proclaim the teachings of their Church with such passion and seeming zeal that they move the hearts of their hearers to godliness. Yet all the while they are ruled by self-love and love of the world, for the thought of their own position and gain reigns in every part of them and is what fires them to proclaim those teachings in such a way. There are evil spirits present with them, ruled by the same kind of love and consequently thinking in the same kind of way, who lead them; but good yet simple spirits are attached to them. From all this one may recognize what the state of heaven was like before the Lord's Coming.

[4] But after the Lord's Coming the states of heaven and hell were completely altered; for then the evil genii and spirits who occupied the lower region of heaven were cast down and were replaced by those raised up there who belonged to the spiritual Church. At that time the evil who were cast down had the external restraints taken away from them, which, as stated above, were fear of the loss of position and gain and deprivation of places they hold in that region. They were thus left to their inner selves, which were entirely devilish and hellish, and so were banished to the hells. The removal of external restraints is effected in the next life by withdrawing the good spirits who have been attached to them; and when they have been withdrawn the evil can no more maintain any pretence of goodness, righteousness, or honourableness, but can only behave in accord with what they had been like inwardly in the world, that is, in accord with what they had really thought and desired, which they had concealed from others there, their only wish being to do what is evil. The good yet simple spirits who were withdrawn from those evil spirits were assigned or attached to those who belonged to the spiritual Church, to whom that region of heaven was given as a possession. This is why they were enriched with the truths and forms of good which the evil genii and spirits had had previously. Enrichment with truths and forms of good is effected in the next life by means of the attachment of spirits with whom truth and goodness are present; for communication is effected through them.

[5] These things are what are meant by the statement that the children of Israel would not go out of Egypt empty-handed, and that a woman should ask of her female neighbour, and of the female guest in her house, vessels of silver, vessels of gold, and clothes, and in so doing would plunder the Egyptians. Anyone can see that unless the kinds of things described above had been represented the Divine would never have commanded them to use that kind of guile against the Egyptians; for all behaviour like that is very far removed from the Divine. But since those people were completely representative they were allowed by the Divine, because such a thing would be done to the evil in the next life, to act in that kind of way. It should be recognized that very many things which were commanded by Jehovah or the Lord do not in the internal sense mean things that were commanded by Him but those that were permitted.