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:

843. 20:3 And he cast it into the bottomless pit, and shut it up, and set a seal on it, so that it should not lead the nations astray any more. This symbolically means that the Lord removed entirely those who were caught up in faith alone and took away all their communication with the rest, to keep them from inspiring any of their heresy in people who were being raised into heaven.

The dragon here means people caught up in falsities as regards their faith, as in no. 842 just above. We are told that the dragon was laid hold of, bound, cast into the bottomless pit, and shut up, and had a seal set on it; and this symbolically means that it was entirely removed and kept from having any communication with the rest. Its being laid hold of means, symbolically, that the people meant by it were brought together and detained. Its being bound means, symbolically, that the people were forcibly drawn away and separated. Its being cast into the bottomless pit means, symbolically, that the people were sent down in the direction of hell. Its being shut up means, symbolically, that the people were entirely removed. A seal's being set on it means, symbolically, that communication with the rest was completely taken away.

[2] The dragon was entirely removed for a time in order that the people who had been hidden away by the Lord might be raised from the lower earth (the subject of verses 4-6) without being led astray by the dragon-people as they were being raised. Consequently the text also says, "so that it should not lead the nations astray any more," which symbolically means, to keep them from inspiring any of their heresy in those other people.

This event occurred in the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, and it took place because in that world evil people have dealings with the good while the good are being prepared for heaven and the evil for hell, and the good there are tried and tested by having some association with the evil and being explored as to their character and constancy.

The good are meant by the nations that the dragon-people were kept from leading astray. That nations mean people who are good in the way they live, and in an opposite sense people who are evil, may be seen in no. 483 above.

It can be seen from this that the dragon's being cast into the bottomless pit, shut up, and having a seal set on it, symbolically means that the Lord removed entirely those who were caught up in falsities as regards their faith, and took away from them any communication with the rest, to keep them from inspiring any of their heresy in people being raised into heaven.