554. And their faces were as the faces of men.- That this signifies that they appear to themselves as spiritual affections for truth, is evident from the signification of faces, as denoting the interiors of the mind and affection; see above (n. 412); and from the signification of man, as denoting the spiritual affection for truth, and thence intelligence and wisdom; see above (n. 280). And because faces are types of the interiors of man, they therefore signify the same as men themselves, namely, affections of truth. But in the present case it is said that they appear to themselves as affections for truth, and thence to be intelligent and wise, because it is stated of the locusts that their faces were seen as the faces of men.

[2] The locusts appeared with such faces, on account of the strong persuasive [power] which sensual men possess who are in falsities from evil, and who are signified by the locusts, the persuasive [power] itself presenting such appearance, but this only before themselves, and before such others as are also in falsities from evil, but not before the angels of heaven. The reason of this is, that the angels are in the light of heaven, and whatsoever they see, they see from that light; and the light of heaven, because it is Divine Truth, dissipates everything that is imaginative originating in the persuasive [power]. Sensual men appear to themselves to be such, because sensual men persuade themselves that they are in truths from good above others, although they are in falsities from evil; for they cannot view anything interiorly from heaven, but only outwardly from the world, and those who see from the world alone see only from an illusory light, from which they imagine themselves to be wiser and more intelligent than others, not knowing wherein intelligence and wisdom consist, and whence they come. It is from this persuasive faith that they believe themselves to be in the spiritual affection for truth, this therefore is signified by the faces of the locusts appearing like the faces of men.

[3] But these things must be illustrated by experience from the spiritual world. All in the heavens, are men as to their faces and the other parts of the body, for they are in the spiritual affection for truth, and the spiritual affection for truth is itself in form a man, because this affection is from the Lord, who is the only Man, and because from Him the entire heaven conspires to the human form; hence it is that the angels are the forms of their own affections, which also appear from their faces. But these things are amply explained in Heaven and Hell 59-102). But in hell, where all are external and sensual, because in falsities from evil, they also appear to themselves as men, even as to their faces, but only amongst their own; but when they are seen in the light of heaven, they appear as monsters, with horrible faces, and sometimes in place of the face only something hairy, or with a horrible grate of teeth, and sometimes ghastly pale, as though dead, in which there is not any living human faculty, for they are forms of hatred, revenge, and cruelty, in which there is spiritual death, because in opposition to the life which is from the Lord. That they appear amongst themselves with a face like men, is the result of fantasy and persuasion therefrom. Concerning these appearances see also in Heaven and Hell 553).

7933. 'As He has spoken' means in accordance with the promise contained in the Word. This is clear from the meaning of 'speaking', when the Lord talks of heaven to which those belonging to the spiritual Church are to come, as the promise contained in the Word. For the internal sense of the Word, both in the Books of Moses and in the Prophets, deals with the deliverance of those who before the Lord's Coming were held back on the lower earth, where they were molested by the evil, and with their being raised into heaven. And these people are meant in those books by 'the children of Israel'. This promise [of deliverance] is what 'as Jehovah has spoken' means here.

[2] When the Lord says in various places that all things in Scripture are to be or have been brought to completion in Him, He means the things contained in the internal sense of the Word; for that sense deals exclusively with the Lord's kingdom, and the highest sense with the Lord Himself. For example in Luke,

Jesus said to the disciples, These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me. Then He opened their minds, in order that they might understand the Scriptures. Luke 24:44-45.

In the same gospel,

Behold, we are going up into Jerusalem where all things will be accomplished that have been written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man. Luke 18:31.

And in Matthew,

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law and the Prophets; I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. Truly I say to you, Even until heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one little horn [on a letter] will not pass away in the Law till all things are done. Matthew 5:17-18.

[3] In these statements and in those which the Lord makes elsewhere about the fulfilment of the Law or Scripture He means, as has been stated, the things foretold about Himself in the internal sense. Every single detail in that sense, even to each jot or each smallest tittle, has to do with the Lord. This is why He says that 'one jot or one little horn will not pass away in the Law till all things are done'. And in Luke,

It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the Law to fall. Luke 16:17.

Anyone who does not know that every detail even to the smallest of all has to do in the internal sense with the Lord and His kingdom, and that for this reason the Word is most holy, cannot begin to understand what this may mean, that not one tittle will fall, that not one jot or little horn will pass away, and that it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away. For although the details that present themselves in the outward sense do not seem to be so important, the continuity of the text inwardly is such that not a part of a word could be left out without causing a break in the sequence of thought.