699. Verse 19. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, signifies the appearing of the new heaven and the New Church, where there is worship of the Lord. This is evident from the signification of "temple" as being heaven and the church, here the new heaven and the New Church; the appearing of these is signified by "the temple was opened." (That "temple" signifies in the highest sense the Lord in relation to His Divine Human and Divine truth proceeding from Him, and in a relative sense heaven and the church, may be seen above, n. 220, 391, 630.)

The "temple" signifies here the new heaven and the New Church where there is worship of the Lord, because this chapter treats of the changes of state that precede the Last Judgment, namely, the separation of the evil from the good, and their removal from the places where they had been previously. When this is done, the new heaven and the New Church appear to those who are in the higher heavens. These could not appear so long as the good were conjoined with the evil, because their interiors were closed that they might not be harmed by the evil with whom they had communication in respect to externals. But when the evil had been separated and removed, then the interiors with the good, which were in themselves heavenly, were opened, and when these had been opened, heaven and the church lay open; for so far as the interiors which are heavenly and celestial are opened, what heaven is in relation to the church with those who have heaven and the church in them, becomes manifest.

[2] From self-intelligence no one can know that these things are so, for they are arcana of heaven, that must be learned from revelation. For who can know how the Last Judgment was accomplished, or what changes in the spiritual world preceded it and what followed it? But that these things might be known they have been manifested to me, wherefore it is permitted me to describe them here from revelation. It is said, the new heaven and the New Church, where there is worship of the Lord, because in the new heaven and the New Church the Lord alone is worshipped; for there the Divine is not distinguished into three persons, but into a Trine in one person. (Respecting this Trinity see what has been said in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n.280-310). This also is what is meant in Revelation where the New Jerusalem is treated of:

I saw heaven ¹ and no temple therein, for the Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple thereof (Revelation 21:22).

"The Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb" mean the Lord in relation to the Divine Itself and the Divine Human. It is here said that no temple was seen, because "temple" signifies in the highest sense, the Lord in relation to Divine truth and worship (See above n. 220, 391, 630), also because "the New Jerusalem" means the church in respect to doctrine, or the doctrine of the New Jerusalem. Nevertheless there are temples in heaven, in which the Lord is preached and Divine truth is taught.

각주:

606. Verse 5. And the angel whom I saw standing upon the sea and upon the earth, signifies the Lord, to whom all things of heaven and the church are subject. This is evident from the signification of "the angel coming down from heaven," as being the Lord (See above, n. 593); and from the signification of "standing upon the sea and upon the earth," as being to whom all things of heaven and the church are subject (See also above, n. 600, since "standing upon them" signifies that they are subject to Him. Thus in David:

Thou madest Him to have dominion over the works ¹ of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under His feet (Psalms 8:6).

This is said of the Lord; His dominion over all things of heaven and the church is meant by "all things are put under His feet." And in Isaiah:

I will make the place of My feet honorable (Isaiah 60:13).

"The place of the Lord's feet" in a general sense means all things of heaven and the church, since the Lord as a sun is above the heavens; but in a particular sense "the place of His feet" signifies the church, for the Lord's church is with men in the natural world, and the natural is the lowest, into which the Divine closes, and upon which it as it were subsists. This is why the church on the earth is also called "the footstool of the Lord," as in the same:

The earth is My footstool (Isaiah 66:1; Matthew 5:35).

Also in Lamentations:

He hath cast down from the heavens unto the earth the splendor of Israel, and doth not remember His footstool (Lamentations 2:1).

And in David:

We will come into His tabernacles, we will bow down at His footstool (Psalms 132:7).

This is said of the Lord, and "His footstool" signifies the church on the earth.

[2] From this it can be seen that "to stand upon the sea and upon the earth" signifies in reference to the Lord that all things of heaven and the church are subject to Him. But "sea and earth upon which He set His feet," signify in particular the lowest heaven and the church on earth, as has just been said; for the higher parts of the body belonging to an angel signify the higher heavens, because they correspond to them; for the inmost heaven corresponds to the head, and the middle heaven to the breast down to the loins, and the ultimate heaven to the feet, but the church on the earth to the soles of the feet, consequently the church is meant by "His footstool." From this correspondence it can be concluded what the "angel (by whom is meant the Lord) standing upon the sea and upon the earth" represented in general and in particular, namely, that He represented the universal heaven; for the Lord is heaven, and His Divine Human forms heaven to an image of itself. This is why the whole heaven is in the sight of the Lord as one man, and corresponds to all things of man, therefore heaven also is called the Greatest Man. (Respecting this see what is said in the work on Heaven and Hell 59-102.)

각주: