Arcana Coelestia #9489
9489. 'And a cubit and a half its height' means what is complete so far as degrees are concerned. This is clear from the meaning of 'a cubit and a half' as what is complete, dealt with immediately above in 9488; and from the meaning of 'height' as degrees so far as good and so far as truth are concerned. The reason why 'height' has this meaning is that all good and the truth derived from it emanates from the Lord, and the Lord is in the highest place of all, and therefore is called the Most High, 8153. For He is the Sun of heaven, 5097, 8812, and that Sun is above the heavens; it is also the centre from which the whole of heaven that is underneath is brought into being and kept in being. All heights in heaven, measured from its Sun as the centre, are differences in good and the truth derived from it. Consequently those in the inmost heaven are closer to the Lord, because they are governed by the good of love to Him, thus are governed by good more than all others are. Those in the middle heaven are further away from there because they are governed by a lower kind of good, and those in the lowest are still further away. But those in hell are altogether remote from the Lord, because they are ruled by evil and the falsity arising from it. They do not even look towards the Sun, but backwards, away from the Sun. When regarded by the angels therefore, they appear in an upside down position, feet upwards and head downwards. Now since distances and spatial dimensions in the next life are appearances determined by states of good and the truth derived from it, 9440, 'height' in the spiritual sense means degrees so far as good and so far as truth are concerned, that is, degrees away from the Most High, who is the Lord and so Divine Good itself.
[2] From this it is clear what 'height' means in the following places, as in Jeremiah,
They will come and sing on the height of Zion, and converge towards the goodness of Jehovah; and their soul will be like a watered garden. Jeremiah 31:12.
Here 'the height of Zion' stands for celestial good, which is the level of good above spiritual good. The meaning of 'height' as good is what accounts for the statement that they will 'converge towards the goodness of Jehovah'. In Ezekiel,
Asshur was a cedar in Lebanon. Its height was made high, and its branches were made long by many waters. It was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches. Ezekiel 31:3, 5, 7.
'Asshur' stands for an enlightened power of reason, 'a cedar in Lebanon' for the spiritual Church, 'its height' for the degree of good.
[3] In the same prophet,
On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it. Ezekiel 17:23.
Again in the same prophet,
On My holy mountain, and on the mountain height of Israel, all the house of Israel will serve Me. Ezekiel 20:40.
'The mountain height of Israel' stands for the highest degree of good and of the truth derived from it among those belonging to the spiritual Church. Since most things in the Word have a contrary meaning as well, so too does 'height'. In the contrary sense it means the evil of self-love, and so haughtiness of mind, as in Isaiah 14:14; Ezekiel 31:10, 14; 32:5; Amos 2:9; Daniel 4:11, 20; and a number of other places. Another reason why 'height' means degrees so far as good and the truth derived from it are concerned is that what is 'high' means what is internal, and good becomes by degrees more perfect towards more internal parts. For the meaning of what is 'high' as what is internal, see 1735, 2148, 4210, 4599.
Revelation 16
1
And I heard a great voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, Go ye, and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth.
2
And the first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth; and it became a noisome and grievous sore upon the men that had the mark of the beast, and that worshipped his image.
3
And the second poured out his bowl into the sea; and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living soul died, [even] the things that were in the sea.
4
And the third poured out his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of the waters; and it became blood.
5
And I heard the angel of the waters saying, Righteous art thou, who art and who wast, thou Holy One, because thou didst thus judge:
6
for they poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets, and blood hast thou given them to drink: they are worthy.
7
And I heard the altar saying, Yea, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8
And the fourth poured out his bowl upon the sun; and it was given unto it to scorch men with fire.
9
And men were scorched men with great heat: and they blasphemed the name of God who hath the power over these plagues; and they repented not to give him glory.
10
And the fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom was darkened; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
11
and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they repented not of their works.
12
And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river, the [river] Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way might by made ready for the kings that [come] from the sunrising.
13
And I saw [coming] out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, as it were frogs:
14
for they are spirits of demons, working signs; which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
15
(Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walked naked, and they see his shame.)
16
And they gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew Har-magedon.
17
And the seventh poured out his bowl upon the air; and there came forth a great voice out of the temple, from the throne, saying, It is done:
18
and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men upon the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty.
19
And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
20
And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
21
And great hail, [every stone] about the weight of a talent, cometh down out of heaven upon men: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof is exceeding great.
