Apocalypse Explained #421
421. Verses 2, 3. And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried with a great voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea; Saying, Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.
2. "And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun," signifies the Divine love going forth from the Lord. n. 422); "having the seal of the living God," signifies the Divine will (n. 423); "and he cried with a great voice," signifies Divine command (n. 424); "to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea," signifies as yet preventing the influx from becoming intense (n. 425).
3. "Saying, Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees," signifies lest the good perish with the evil wherever they are n. 426; "till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads," signifies that those who are in truths from good are first to be separated n. 427.
Heaven and Hell #118
118. That the Lord is actually seen in heaven as a sun I have not only been told by angels, but it has occasionally been granted me to see it; and therefore what I have heard and seen respecting the Lord as a sun I shall be glad to tell in a few words. The Lord is seen as a sun, not in heaven, but high above the heavens; and not directly overhead or in the zenith, but before the faces of the angels at a middle height. He is seen at a considerable distance, in two places, one before the right eye and the other before the left eye. Before the right eye He is seen exactly like a sun, as it were, with a glow and size like that of the sun of the world. But before the left eye He is not seen as a sun, but as a moon, glowing white like the moon of our earth, and of like size, but more brilliant, and surrounded with many little moons, as it were, each of them of similar whiteness and splendor. The Lord is seen so differently in two places because every person sees the Lord in accordance with the quality of his reception of the Lord, thus He is seen in one way by those that receive Him with the good of love, and in another by those that receive Him with the good of faith. Those that receive Him with the good of love see Him as a sun, fiery and flaming, in accordance with their reception of Him; these are in His celestial kingdom; while those that receive Him with the good of faith see Him as a moon, white and brilliant in accordance with their reception of Him, and these are in His spiritual kingdom. 1 This is so because good of love corresponds to fire; therefore in the spiritual sense fire is love; and the good of faith corresponds to light, and in the spiritual sense light is faith. 2 And the Lord appears before the eyes because the interiors, which belong to the mind, see through the eyes, from good of love through the right eye, and from good of faith through the left eye; 3 since with angels and also with men all things at the right correspond to good from which truth is derived, and all at the left to truth that is from good. 4 Good of faith is in its essence truth from good.
Footnotes:
1. [Swedenborg's footnote] The Lord is seen in heaven as a sun, and is the sun of heaven (Arcana Coelestia 1053, 3636, 3643, 4060).
The Lord is seen as a sun by those who are in His celestial kingdom, where love to Him reigns, and as a moon by those who are in His spiritual kingdom, where charity to the neighbor and faith reign (1521, 1529-1531, 1837, 4696).
The Lord is seen as a sun at a middle height before the right eye, and an a moon before the left eye (1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 3636, 3643, 4321, 5097, 7078, 7083, 7173, 7270, 8812, 10809).
The Lord is seen as a sun and as a moon (1531, 7173).
The Lord's Divine Itself is far above His Divine in heaven (7270, 8760).
2. [Swedenborg's footnote] "Fire" in the Word signifies love, both in a good sense and in a bad sense (934, 4906, 5215).
Holy or heavenly fire signifies the Divine Love (934, 6314, 6832).
Infernal fire signifies love of self and of the world and every lust of those loves (1861, 5071, 6314, 6832, 7575, 10747).
Love is the fire of life and life itself is really from it (4906, 5071, 6032, 6314). "Light" signifies the truth of faith (3195, 3485, 3636, 3643, 3993, 4302, 4413, 4415, 9548, 9684).
3. [Swedenborg's footnote] The sight of the left eye corresponds to truths of faith, and the sight of the right eye to their goods (4410, 6923).
4. [Swedenborg's footnote] The things on man's right have relation to good from which is truth, and those on his left to truth from good (9495, 9604).
