165. "'You have a few names even in Sardis.'" (3:4) This symbolically means that they also have among them some people who do have life in their worship.

A few names means, symbolically, some who are of such a character as now described, for a name symbolizes someone's character. That is because everyone in the spiritual world is named in accordance with his character (no. 81). The character of the people described now is that they have life in their worship.

In Genesis 14:1, kings signify apparent goods and truths having the upper hand. In the next verse, they stand for the dominant evils and falsities against which the Lord fought as he passed He grew up on Earth.

In Genesis 14:3, we see that these evils and falsities were unclean; and in Genesis 14:4, that they burst forth later. (Arcana Coelestia 1661-1664).

In Genesis 14:14-15, this signifies that the Lord gained victory over them the evils represented earlier in the chapter. (Arcana Coelestia 1711-1715)

In Isaiah 33:17, a king signifies seeing genuine truth. (Apocalypse Explained 304[31])

In Revelation 9:11, a king signifies one who is in truth from an affection for what is good, and abstractly that truth itself -- here, in the opposite sense. (Apocalypse Revealed 440)