884. 21:4 "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more toil, for the former things have passed away." This symbolically means that the Lord will take away from them all grief of mind, all fear of damnation, all fear of evils and falsities from hell, and of temptations or trials on account of them, and they will remember them no more, because the dragon that inflicted them has been cast out.

God's wiping away every tear from their eyes means, symbolically, that the Lord will take away from them all grief of mind, for shedding tears is caused by grief of mind. The death that will be no more symbolizes damnation, as in nos. 325, 765, 853, 873 - here, the fear of it. The sorrow that will be no more symbolizes a fear of evils from hell, for sorrow has various symbolic meanings, being everywhere a sorrow over whatever is portrayed as its cause. Here it is a fear of evils from hell, because it is preceded by a fear of damnation and followed by a fear of falsities from hell, and of temptations or trials on account of them. Crying symbolizes a fear of falsities from hell, as will be seen in the next number. The toil that will be no more symbolizes temptations or trials (no. 640). Its being no more because the former things have passed away means, symbolically, that the temptations or trials will not be remembered, because the dragon that inflicted them has been cast out; for these are the former things that have passed away.

[2] But this needs to be illustrated. Every person after death comes first into the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, and there he is prepared, a good person for heaven, and an evil one for hell. Regarding this world, see nos. 784, 791, 843, 850, 866, 869 above. And because associations are formed there as in the natural world, it had to be the case, before the Last Judgment, that people who outwardly were civic-minded and moral but inwardly evil met up with and conversed with people who likewise were outwardly civic-minded and moral but inwardly good. And because inherent in evil people is a desire to lead astray, therefore the good people with whom they associated were harassed by them in various ways. But those who grieved because of their torments and began to experience fears of being damned, of evils and falsities flowing in from hell, and of undergoing severe temptation or trial - these the Lord removed from association with the evil and conveyed them into a land below the one they were on, where they formed new associations, and there were protected. Moreover, this continued until all the evil had been separated from the good, which was brought about by the Last Judgment; and then those who were protected in the lower land or earth were raised by the Lord into heaven.

[3] The torments were inflicted primarily by the people meant by the dragon and its beasts. That is why the dragon and its two beasts were cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. Then, because all harassment ceased, and so also any grief over and fear of damnation and hell, those who had been tormented were told that God would wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there would be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, neither would there be any more toil, for the former things had passed away, which symbolically means that the Lord would take away from them all grief of mind, all fear of damnation, all fear of evils and falsities from hell, and of severe temptation or trial on account of them, and they would remember them no more, because the dragon that inflicted them had been cast out.

That the dragon had been cast out along with its two beasts and cast into the lake of fire and brimstone may be seen in 19:20 verses and 20:10 above. Moreover, that the dragon inflicted torments is apparent from many passages. For it fought with Michael and tried to devour the child that the woman bore, and after pursuing the woman, it went off to make war with the rest of her offspring (12:4 verses, 5, 7-9, 13-17; 16:13-16, and elsewhere).

Many people who were inwardly good were protected by the Lord to keep them from being tormented by the dragon and its beasts. This is apparent from 6:9-11 verses. That they were tormented is apparent from 7:13-17 verses, and that they were afterward taken up into heaven from 20:4-5 and elsewhere.

The same people are also meant by prisoners and those bound in a pit, and by those set free by the Lord (Isaiah 24:22; 61:1; Luke 4:18-19; Zechariah 9:11; Psalms 79:11).

This is symbolized as well in the Word where we are told that graves were opened, ¹ and where we are told of souls awaiting a last judgment and resurrection then. ²

V:

784. As regards the dispensations by which they profit, these are of various kinds. Some dispensations have to do with the contracting of matrimony within degrees of relationship prohibited by law. Some have to do with divorces; some with evils, even heinous ones, and freedom then from temporal penalties, as may be granted also by indulgences. Some dispensations have to do with the governmental appointments of secular candidates without any power or authority. Among these are also the confirmations of duchies and principalities. Moreover, they profit by promises of heavenly joys made to those who enrich monasteries and swell their treasuries, calling their gifts "good works," in themselves sacred, and also merits. They induce them to do this by impressing on them a belief in the power and assistance of their saints, and in the miracles done by them.

Especially do they plot against the wealthy when they are ill, and they also inspire in them then a terror of hell and so extort legacies from them, promising sacrifices of the mass for their souls according to the value of their bequest, and thereby a gradual delivery from the place of torment they call purgatory so as to enter into heaven.

[2] As regards purgatory, I can assert that it is nothing but a Roman Catholic fiction invented for the sake of material gains, and that it neither exists nor can exist.

Every person comes first after death into the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, and there he is prepared either for heaven or for hell, each according to his life in the world. Moreover, no one suffers any torment in that world, but an evil person first meets with torment when, after being prepared, he enters hell.

The world of spirits contains countless societies, and found in them are joys like those on earth, because the inhabitants there are associated with people on earth, who also are in between heaven and hell. In the world of spirits their outward facades are gradually stripped away and their inner characters thus exposed, and this until their reigning love is revealed, which, being their life's love, is the inmost one and predominant over more external ones. When this is revealed, the person's real character becomes apparent, and he is sent according to the character of that love from the world of spirits to his own place, a good person to a place in heaven, and an evil one to a place in hell.

The reality of this I have been given to know for certain, because the Lord has granted me to be with people in that world and to see everything, and thus to report it from personal experience, and this for twenty years now.

Consequently I can assert that purgatory is a fiction, which may be called a diabolical one, because it was invented for the sake of material gains, and for the sake of power over souls, even those of the deceased, after death.