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:

791. 18:21 Then a mighty angel lifted up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "Thus shall Babylon, that great city, be forcefully thrown down, and not be found anymore." This symbolically means that by a powerful influx of the Lord from heaven, the Roman Catholic religion will be cast headlong into hell, together with all its adulterated truths of the Word, and angels will never see it again.

A mighty angel's lifting up symbolizes a powerful influx of the Lord from heaven; for an angel symbolizes the Lord and His operation, an operation which takes place through heaven (nos. 258, 415, 465, 649). Here, because the angel is called a mighty angel and lifts up a great millstone, the operation symbolized is a powerful one, which means a powerful influx. A stone like a great millstone symbolizes the adulterated and profaned truths of the Word; for a stone symbolizes truth, and a mill symbolizes an inquiry into, examination of, and verification of truth from the Word, as we will show in no. 794. Here, however, it symbolizes an adulteration and profanation of the Word's truth, because the subject is Babylon. Being cast into the sea means, symbolically, into hell. "Thus shall Babylon, that great city, be forcefully thrown down," symbolically means that thus that great religion will be cast headlong into hell. Its not being found anymore means, symbolically, that angels will never see it again.

[2] This is the symbolic meaning, because all adherents of the Roman Catholic religion who are caught up in its evils and falsities come, in fact, after death into the world of spirits. For that world is like a public square in which all first gather, and it is like the stomach into which all foodstuffs are first collected. The stomach also corresponds to that world. However, at this day, because the Last Judgment is over, having been completed in 1757, people are no longer allowed to stay in that world and to form for themselves pseudo-heavens, as was the case before, but as soon as they arrive there, they are sent off to societies in that world that are connected with the hells, and from time to time are cast into them. And in this way the Lord has taken care that the angels never see them again. This, then, is what is symbolically meant by that city's, that is to say, that religion's, not being found anymore.

[3] Since a millstone symbolizes the Word's truth adulterated, and the sea symbolizes hell, therefore the Lord says:

Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. (Matthew 18:6; called simply a millstone in Mark 9:42, Luke 17:2)

Almost the same thing is said regarding Babylon in Jeremiah:

...when you have finished reading this book, you shall tie a stone to it and throw it into midst of the Euphrates. Then you shall say, "Thus Babylon shall sink and not rise again...." (Jeremiah 51:63-64)

The midst of the Euphrates has the same meaning as the sea, because the river Euphrates formed the boundary that separated Assyria, where Babylon was located, from the land of Canaan.