Daniel, Chapter Eight: The Vision of the Ram and the Goat

A period of time passed after Daniel’s vision of the beasts rising from the sea. It is not until the third year of Belshazzar’s reign that Daniel reports another vision. He wrote,

"In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me-- to me, Daniel-- after the one that appeared to me the first time."

The setting of this vision is extremely important - it took place in the third year of Belshazzar’s reign. There is no clear indication in the Word of how long Belshazzar reigned in Babylon ¹ , so historically we cannot pin-point this vision at any time in the kings reign other than in the third year.

However, if we turn to the inner meaning of the Word, the time frame becomes very important. As we noted at the very beginning of this exposition, the term “the third year” represents the concept of completeness and the beginning of a new state ² . The state which is finishing is, of course, the reign of King Belshazzar, who represents the love of control exhibiting itself in the evils of daily or external life.

Chapter Five gives an overview of Belshazzar’s last night in this world, and tells of the profane feast he threw for his thousand lords. In drunken revelry he used the vessels from the temple of Jerusalem to toast his own false gods. At the very height of this debauchery, however, the words of judgment were written on the palace wall - you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting. Almost as soon as Daniel had interpreted these words, Darius and his army broke into the chamber, killing Belshazzar, and presumably everyone else - except Daniel.

Belshazzar’s feast, as we saw in the treatment of the fifth chapter, describes how evil, once it has taken hold of our conscious mind leads us further and further away from the presence of the Lord, and deeper and deeper into profanation.

Daniel’s vision in chapter seven shows graphically how that decline comes about: first we stop thinking about truth, and, as this happens, falsity extends its power over our minds. Eventually we loose all sense of right and wrong, and plunge headlong into a life of evil and falsity. The only force powerful enough to arrest this decline is the power of the Lord’s love, shown as the “Ancient of Days” and the power of judgment described as the “Son of Man”.

These two images of the Lord, and the judgment on our behaviour they imply are of immense importance because they hold open to us the promise of change and redemption. If we were stuck to eternity in the states of selfishness and greed described as the four beasts arising from the sea, then human life would be very bleak indeed. Thus Daniel’s vision in chapter seven gives way to a new one in chapter eight. In many ways the theme is much the same, yet the each new vision moves us closer to freedom from evil.

Chapter eight, therefore, begins in the third year of the reign of Belshazzar, marking the end of one state and the beginning of a new - the end of a time of dominion by hell, and a new dawn of spiritual life breaking on us. Dawn, however, is always preceded by the darkest part of the night. We know light will soon break, but it is not yet here, and the anticipation of morning makes the night darker and longer still. Much the same is true of our regeneration. The more we want liberation from evil, the more powerfully the forces of our selfish loves press into our lives. The challenge of life is to continue fighting our evils in the face of their increased aggression towards us.

Apocalypse Explained 716: Falsities from evil cannot be expelled from a person in a moment, but little by little; for if they were expelled in a moment, the person would expire, because they constitute his life.

The greatest challenge we face as our spiritual life progresses is to use the things we know, rather than simply store them up as memories. In the vision in this chapter, we see a person who is making progress. We know from the historical section of the book that Belshazzar will be killed. We know from the Word the Lord’s promises that if we abide in His Word, He will abide in us, and we shall know the truth, and it will set us free ³ . It is, however, one thing to know this, and another all together to bring these things into daily and practical life. This chapter, and the rest of the book, deal with this theme.

The vision takes place while Daniel was at Shushan, the citadel, in the province of Elam, beside the River Ulai. While the doctrines do not explain this verse , it gives us important imagery about the state of selfishness within us in this state before it changes. The power of selfishness and its seeming impregnability are imaged in the picture of Shushan - protected behind the high walls of falsity and the conviction that one is absolutely right in all things.

Shushan is called “the citadel”, a strong place where the kings of Persia had their summer residence ⁴ . It is possible to imagine it as a strong fortress, designed to keep out the enemies of the king - it is a place where the kings were so confident they could relax in the summer heat. This imagery lends itself to the needs of the vision, especially in relation to the vision in chapter seven.

The only real enemy of selfishness is truth from the Lord, and so often truth can be twisted and bent in so many ways that it is an easy enemy to overcome. People do this all the time through justification of their lives, through denial and countless other ways of defusing the pangs of conscience and guilt. The whole tissue of lies which ensnares a person is like a citadel, defending one from the attack of truth. Thus while a fortress in the Word is usually used to describe a protection against evils and falsities ⁵ , in this case it is the opposite sense which is more appropriate - evil defending itself against goodness and truth.

It is not surprising, therefore that beside the citadel ran the river Ulai, for rivers in the Word mean wisdom ⁶ , and wisdom is a state of life when we use truth to guide our lives in this world. In the sense here, however, because this river is part of the Babylonian empire, the correspondence is converted into the opposite.

Arcana Coelestia 7323: Rivers are attributes of intelligence, and so are matters of truth, and therefore in the contrary sense they are the opposite of intelligence and so are matters of falsity.

Thus Daniel by correspondence saw the last states of evil and selfishness in a person as it is depicted in their external or behavioural aspects. He saw the defensiveness of falsity twisting and perverting truth to its own ends, drawing nourished by the waters of falsity and ignorance.

The side of our lives represented by this vision had a great deal of defending to do - and yet it is ironic that the very force the walls of our spiritual fortress are designed to block out, our conscience, is still with us. Daniel lived within those walls, alongside the king of Babylon. In this irony we see a foreshadowing of the judgment and final killing of Belshazzar.

Spiritual life is a battle fought on more than one plane at a time. The inner motivations, illustrated in the historical stories by Nebuchadnezzar, show how our selfish side is under continued pressure from our conscience to reform and change. The difficulty in change, however, comes in the application of this reform to our external lives. We do so many things from habit, for example, that habit seems to become our real self. Changing this is often like doing violence to our own persona.

In the vision in Chapter Seven, we saw how evil develops, and how it has to be judged. Knowing this, however, is different from the actual work. Too often people fall into the trap of believing that because they know something is wrong, and because they want to break the habit, that they have in fact broken the habit. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In Chapter 8, we have these verses:

3. Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and there, standing beside the river, was a ram which had two horns, and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last.

4. I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward, so that no beast could withstand him; nor was there any that could deliver from his hand, but he did according to his will and became great.

5. And as I was considering, suddenly a male goat came from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

6. Then he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing beside the river, and ran at him with furious power.

7. And I saw him confronting the ram; he was moved with rage against him, attacked the ram, and broke his two horns. There was no power in the ram to withstand him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled him; and there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand.

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Aware that he was in the citadel, on the banks of the river, Daniel saw the first part of this vision. A ram with two horns, the last, or rear one the higher than the other. To understand the significance of this ram, one has to look at the context in which Daniel saw it. He was surrounded by Babylon, the love of control over their own and other people’s lives from an inner state of selfishness.

As people regenerate, their lives become increasingly divided between life from the conscience, and life from their selfishness. Thus they act from a mixture of motives. From their conscience they come to express states of goodness, kindness and charity. The actions based on conscience may often be seen as a refusal to commit evil, a biting back of a nasty word, or a act of honesty based on love for someone else. These early stages of regeneration are very important, for they show us what we could be if only our selfishness could be conquered.

Selfishness, however, is also often clothed over with an external goodness - selfish people portray themselves as good in order to make it possible for them to attain their own ends in life. Their external goodness is almost indistinguishable from genuine goodness. Thus the goodness in their behaviour is not connected with any spiritual goodness from the Lord, rather it is affiliated with selfishness itself ⁷ . Part of the difficulty of bringing our external being to the point where it is willing to submit to the conscience lies in sorting out the source of the good things we do in our lives.

In his vision Daniel saw a ram on the banks of the river. In the Word a “ram” represents states of good done by a person from a religious or spiritual motive. A person in this state is one who is in faith to the Lord and in charity towards the neighbour ⁸ . In the regenerating person this state of goodness gains momentum and power as the person puts selfishness aside and learns to think in terms of the truth. As this happens, and as the power of selfishness is gradually eroded, so the person increasingly becomes a form of charity itself, and more able to fight against the evils and falsities in their lives.

Apocalypse Explained 600: "'Sheep' mean those who are in the good of charity towards the neighbour thence in faith." Thus the ram, on the banks of the river is an image of the goodness coming into a regenerating person’s life. The horns on its head represent the power of that goodness faith against the influence of evil falsity ⁹ . Daniel makes specific mention of the relative sizes of the two horns, the higher of the two “came up last”.

In spiritual development there is an interplay between faith and charity. On a conscious level (remember this vision was seen during the reign of Belshazzar), the beginning of our spiritual development lies in our faith. Yet faith by itself does not constitute spiritual life. As we have seen before in the book of Daniel, knowledge about spiritual things, and even an intellectual humility do not bring a person to regeneration - if that were the case, then surely the book would finish at the end of chapter four when Nebuchadnezzar is humbled and praises God. Much of the work of regeneration takes place in changing the external things of our lives which are drawn from a selfish interior, and manifest themselves in our attitudes and behaviour. Thus our knowledge must be converted into action from truth, in other words, changed into charity.

The two horns on the rams head represent this process. In the process of rebirth, our faith is paramount, and our charity secondary. Thus one horn was higher than the other to depict this imbalance. In a regenerated person faith and charity would be equal in a person’s life, for as soon a one learned something, the person would bring it into action. True power against evil comes from charity.

Daniel watched the ram as it moved about, pushing in all four directions of the compass. It is simple to see this as the extension of goodness in a regenerating person into the various parts of life. However, there is more to it than that. The doctrines make an interesting point in relation to directions in the spiritual world, for there quarters are determined by a person’s relationship to the Lord.

In the natural world directions are determined according to the rising and setting of the sun, and generally directions are determined in relation to north. In the spiritual world, however, the Lord is seen in the east like a sun, and all the directions there are drawn from that direction ¹⁰ .

Daniel does not specify which direction he was looking in when he saw the ram, but it must have been the east, for it pushed westward, northward and southward. If, as we have seen, the ram represents goodness in our lives as a result of living according to the Lord’s Word, then it makes sense that the ram must have stood in the east, for the east represents the Lord and all goodness and truth flow from Him.

Apocalypse Explained 600: "An angel perpetually faces the Lord as a sun, and therefore before him is the Lord as the east, and behind him the Lord as the west, and at his right hand is the south, and at his left hand the north."

The ram pushed first westward. The “west” takes its meaning in relation to the east, and if the east is where the Lord is present, then the west is where the Lord is seen in a state of obscurity ¹¹ . Perhaps another way of saying that is that in a regenerating person good actions from genuinely good motives begin to make their presence felt in the daily activities of a person so that his or her expressions of charity become more genuine and heartfelt, and less in service to the selfish side of one’s nature.

As the ram pushed westward, so it also pushed northward and southward. If one thinks of directions on two axes, one has east/west and north/south. The east west axis relates to a person’s love, to his or her charity and the presence of goodness in the actions a person does. The north/south axis, on the other hand, has reference to the way a person thinks. The south end of this axis represents thoughts based on truths when they are clearly seen and understood, while the northern end depicts things less clearly seen ¹² .

The ram pushing in these directions, therefore illustrates the progress made by a regenerating person whose thoughts and feelings are being greatly influenced by the presence of truth in the mind, and a commitment to bringing that truth into daily life. This becomes more apparent when one thinks of the context in which Daniel’s dream takes place - the third year of the reign of Belshazzar, meaning the end of the state of selfishness in the external. As we know from the historical series, Belshazzar would be killed by Darius the Mede. At the same time we know that the internal motivating force in a person’s life, represented by Nebuchadnezzar is also undergoing profound change, shown by that king’s gradual recognition and acceptance of the Lord.

Thus regeneration is marching onward. This progress is aptly described by Daniel’s words that nothing “could withstand [the ram]; nor was there any that could deliver from his hand, but he did according to his will and became great.”

Regeneration, as we have seen before, is not possible without the combats of temptation. As we make spiritual progress, our states of selfishness reassert themselves. We have seen this phenomena several times in this study. Nebuchadnezzar, after he was shown how he must be humbled, still exalted in his pride, and was reduced to the level of a wild animal. So too Belshazzar, warned of that he was found wanting, continued his wild debauchery. In our own lives we often become aware that the more primed we become to break a habit, the more strongly the habit exerts its control over us.

Arcana Coelestia 760: "Temptation is severe. In fact it impinges on, attacks, breaks down, and alters a person’s essential life."

The challenge came without warning. Daniel’s words echo the drama of the changes of state we go through as we struggle to bring selfish feelings, thoughts, attitudes and actions under control. One minute a person may be acting from the very best of intentions, and the next selfishness emerges to utterly destroy the activity by subverting it and leading into an act of selfishness. The mechanism used by the selfish, unrepentant and unregenerate side of our minds to accomplish this is depicted by the goat Daniel saw coming “from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground”.

Every detail of this and the next verses shows how strongly selfishness reasserts itself. Goats and sheep are closely related animals. Yet from time immemorial the difference in their nature has been used as symbolism for good and evil.

Sheep are portrayed in the Word as gentle creatures ¹³ , willing to follow the Shepherd, as we are shown so often in the Psalms and the Gospels. The Lord frequently used the image of sheep being rescued, or let into the sheep-fold. He is referred to as the gentle shepherd ¹⁴ .

Psalm 23:1: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."

In sharp contrast to the gentle and peaceful image of sheep and shepherd is the harsh and destructive goat. The most damaging image given to the goat is the Lord’s teaching that at the day of judgment the sheep will be separated from the sheep, and be cast into hell. In that story in the Word, the goats represent those who had the opportunity to help the Lord in his times of distress, but had failed to do so.

Matthew 25:41: "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'"

It is not surprising therefore that Daniel’s vision of the ram pushing its way to the four corners of our minds is upset by the appearance of a goat. In every respect the ram and the goat are opposites, beginning with the fact that the ram must have come from the east, where the Lord is present, while the goat came from the west.

The west, as we saw earlier is a state of lack of charity. The goat came from our selfishness, and represents the selfish, unregenerate side of our minds re-exerting itself in an attempt to roll back the gains made by our conscience. To some degree this is similar to the action in the historical section of the book of Daniel as Darius the Mede’s one hundred and twenty satraps conspired to trick Daniel and thus destroy him.

Understanding that the goat came from the west makes it possible to grasp the spiritual concept of the goat itself. “Goats” represent states in people in which their charity, their love for the neighbour, does not form a part of their spiritual life. Such a person may have great stores of knowledge, but their lives remain untouched by this knowledge ¹⁵ . The cause of this is the basic selfishness which dominates a person’s life and which is described as Nebuchadnezzar. This inner selfishness naturally affects the way a person lives his or her life, depicted by Belshazzar. Any good done while a person is in this state is not real good, it is done only for the sake of one’s own person gain. The origin of a person’s goodness in this state, therefore, is not love for the neighbour, or charity, but is self. Thus the person cannot be a “sheep”, but rather is a goat, destructive of all spiritual values, and ultimately doomed to hell ¹⁶ .

This then is the male goat Daniel saw, coming from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground. Notice the distinction between “earth” and “ground”. In general the “ground” in human minds is the ability to receive goodness and truth from the Lord, and thus be regenerated ¹⁷ , while the earth represents the state of love a person has ¹⁸ . The implication is, therefore, that the challenge, or temptation to put aside the actual practice of good invades our minds with little warning. The goat’s feet touched neither earth, nor ground, meaning that this temptations do not draw from the sources of our spiritual life, which is goodness and truth from the Lord, as sheep do, but derive their origin in the reasoning of the human mind.

Arcana Coelestia 566: "In the Word a careful distinction is made between ground and land or earth. Whenever “ground” is used it means the Church or some aspect of the Church… But when “land” or “earth” occurs in the Word it frequently means where the Church or some aspect of the Church does not exist…"

This is the great challenge of spiritual life. So often we know what the Word teaches, and we know how and why we should use the truths there. A part of us is willing. Yet we still have external behaviour represented by the third year of Belshazzar’s reign - we still have attitudes and habits which are resistant and unwilling to change. Thus we fall into the trap of separating the things we know from the things we do. We fall into faith separated from charity, and as we stop acting according to what we know to be true, so states of goodness in our external life begin to perish ¹⁹ . When this happens, truth itself begins to perish, for the things a person then chooses to believe are things which favour their own tastes ²⁰ . The result is a slide into both false thinking and evil action.

A Brief Summary of New Church Doctrine 84: "When charity is thus removed, good works, which are of charity, slip away from the mind, and are obliterated, so that they are never remembered, nor is the least effort made to recall them to mind from the Law of the Decalogue."

We fall into this trap by believing certain fundamental falsities which undermine spiritual progress, for example, we start to believe that we are incapable of actually doing good, or that we cannot do good without expecting some reward from it ²¹ . This challenge is extremely powerful, and the power is represented by the “notable horn between his [ie. the goat’s eyes]”. This horn represents the attractive power human reasoning exerts over people ²² - a power so strong that it puts all our advances into spirituality to flight.

Thus as Daniel watched the he-goat approaching from the west, the animal ran at the ram “with furious power.” The goat “was moved with rage against the him, attacked the ram, and broke his two horns.” This violent action describes the rage with which evil and falsity attacks goodness and truth. We have seem some of this before, in the rage of Nebuchadnezzar against Shadrack, Meshack and Abed-nego for refusing to worship his image. Later in the rage of the one hundred and twenty of Darius’ satraps against Daniel for worshipping God.

It is the nature of evil to attack goodness, to continually resist goodness and to drag goodness down into the states of hell ²³ . The tragedy for people who give in to this evils side of themselves, is that gradually their conscience is broken and lost - a decline shown in chapter seven when the four beasts arising from the sea are spoken of. In this chapter, however, it is the decline of one’s conscience and its ability to lead a person through life and is described by the ram’s horns being broken. As we saw earlier, the ram’s horns represent the power of good and truth in a person’s life, but when a person is in the grip of evil, good and truth have no influence over the way they feel and think, and consequently over how they act.

Arcana Coelestia 1683: "The inherent nature of evil is to wish to injure everyone, but the inherent nature of good is to injure no one. The evil are acting in conformity with their own life when they are attacking, for their constant desire is to destroy."

The actions of the he-goat illustrate the violence of evil against goodness perfectly. As the goat attacked the ram, there was no resistance from the ram, and so the goat “cast him down to the ground and trampled him.”

As Daniel watched the ram was defeated, and he observed that “there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand”. This is the darkest hour before the dawn. Remember that this vision takes place in the third year of the reign of Belshazzar, and the “third year” represents the end of one state and the beginning of a new one. We know from the historical series that Belshazzar is finally killed by Darius the Mede, who elevates Daniel to a place of honour in his empire - but this state has yet to dawn. In the meantime, darkness is on the land - although morning is going to break.

Here's the next set of verses from Daniel 8:

8 Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven.

9 And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land.

10 And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them.

11 He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down.

12 Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered.

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This next section of Daniel’s vision describes the progress of evil and falsity in a person who separates him or herself from goodness. In order for our lives to be transformed by truth, the truths we know must come forth into activity, otherwise they simply remain exercises of the mind. When we act according to truth, our lives are transformed because they become reflections of the Lord’s Word. Our actions themselves become expressions of the Lord love from which the truths originated. Thus by living according to truth a person is changed by the Lord.

The exact opposite happens when we chose to ignore truth and live according to our own interpretations of right and wrong. When we do this, our actions do not draw themselves from the Word, but from our own self-centred version of what we claim truth to be. The result is that we only believe and only do things which serve us. In this state we can say that Nebuchadnezzar rules the internals of our minds, and Belshazzar our external thoughts and actions. The result is the profanation of Belshazzar’s feast, and the cruelty of Nebuchadnezzar’s decrees.

While the conscience is bound around by these evils, it seems as thought “nothing can deliver us from his hand”, and indeed without the intervention of the Lord, we would be lost. How easy it would be for hell to claim our lives is described in the events Daniel saw after the ram was put to flight.

As he watched, the male goat grew very great. The evils of life flooding into us when we turn aside from the power of good and evil, is powerful. They have the ability to obliterate everything else. This growth in power is described by the he-goat growing in size, and becoming strong.

More important than the sheer size of the goat, however, was that happened to its horn. When Daniel first describes this horn in verse five, he comments that the goat “had a notable horn between his eyes”, which represents the power of human reasoning over matters of goodness and truth. As he watched, the horn was broken, and from it grew four other horns.

This dramatic change in the horn has an ominous meaning in the depiction of the slide into evil. If the central “notable” horn represents human reasoning on spiritual matters, it also represents the false conclusions people come to. When we reason apart from the teachings of the Word, we open our minds to the selfish side of our being, with the result that we slip deeper and deeper into self-orientation.

Thus we could say that the single horn represents the basic principle that we know better than the Lord, that our belief and interpretation about life is more valid than what the Lord teaches in the Word. It also means that we will pick and choose the things we wish to believe in. If one starts from that point of view, it soon becomes apparent that every area of our thinking, and thence of our action, is going to be affected.

The horn breaking is not so much a destruction of the power of human reasoning, but a development into other areas of our lives. The horn “breaking”, therefore is the division of our false reasoning into many different falsities ²⁴ .

The four smaller horns which came up in its place represent the joining together of these falsities with evil affections in our minds which are only too happy to be justified by our thoughts ²⁵ . Thus as a person slips into this line of thinking, he or she may well find him or herself enjoying things which the conscience had labelled unacceptable, but has now been made acceptable by the new outlook, or excuse offered by the understanding. The result is a powerful combination of the will and understanding acting in unison and bent on gratifying self.

Notice that the four horns are deployed according to the “four winds of heaven”. As in the case of the ram, who came from the east, and pushed to the west, the north and the south, so without mentioning those quarters in detail, we are told that the four horns occupied those same areas. The four quarters in the Word represent different states of goodness and truth in a person. But by taking the negative correspondence, they can also describe the states of evil and falsity. Thus the areas of our minds, which had once been opened up to goodness and truth by the ram, are now changed into strongholds of evil and falsity by the goat’s horns.

So far, however, the challenge of evil to good in a regenerating person is still somewhat straight forward. Each person has two distinct aspects to themselves - the selfish and the good. During the course of regeneration these two sides alternate in the battles of temptation, and sometimes it seems as thought the darker side of our being is going to win. As the dawn of new life approaches, so that appearance grows increasingly stronger. Sooner or later it will take a great effort to throw off our evils altogether - but at this stage of the story we are not ready for that yet. Thus deeper and darker temptations swirl around us.

In these states one is reminded of Jesus on the cross, when all the world was plunged into darkness, and He cried out “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” It was still necessary for Him to die before the victory of resurrection.

So too with us. With the ram set to flight, and the goat grown so huge, with the four horns at the four corners of heaven, it seems as though things could not get any worse. The end is not yet near. “My time has not yet come!”

Thus as Daniel watched, one of the horns sprouted a little horn, “which grew exceedingly great towards the south, towards the east, and toward the Glorious Land”. This little horn marks a change in the decline of a person towards hell. The first four horns each represent the power of falsity in our lives, a falsity which generates evil, and which leads us further and further from heaven.

This little horn, however, represents a new kind of falsity, not a falsity which produces evil, but a falsity which is the result of evil ²⁶ . At this point one may wonder what the difference is between a falsity which produces evil and a falsity produced by evil. The falsity which produces evil arises in a willingness or approve or justify some evil in a person’s life. The evil, however, is still only potential, and only comes into being when the person acts on that falsity. One could call this a falsity of permission, for it gives a person permission to act in certain ways.

However, the falsity which comes from evil is a natural consequence of this. When a person acts according to evil, when he or she embraces evil, then the evil changes the way that person views life. They no longer need the original falsity to give them permission to act evilly. Now they have tasted the fruit of evil, and draw nourishment from it. The result is a falsity arising in direct consequence of the evil.

Thus the little horn grew, as the power of falsity grows at speed when it draws its origin from evil. When one comes into this state, one had passed the point of reasoning about whether it is permissible to act in certain ways, now one does so without any conscience, without any bonds to hold one back. Thus the horn’s influence spread throughout, like a cancer.

The danger this type of falsity represents in our development cannot be underplayed. We are told that the horn grew towards the south, towards the east. As was shown before, the south represents a state of spiritual light ²⁷ , while the east, where the Lord is in heaven, is a state of goodness ²⁸ . The horn growing into these regions illustrates how the falsities rooted in evil actually begin to obscure and obliterate the light of truth and warmth of love we have from heaven itself.

The impact of this can be seen in the lives of people who give in to evil. They may know that a certain action is wrong because they have read so in the Word. Yet they continue nevertheless. In time, their persistence in that activity puts to flight the restraining bonds of the conscience, and as a result they come into the fullness of the activity. As this happens, so they begin to think in terms of the activity, and to loose the ability to think or will contrary to it. When this happens one passes out of a state of temptation, and into an acquiescence to evil itself.

As Daniel watched the progress of the little horn, he noted that it “grew up to the host of heaven, and cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them.” In this action it was very similar to the fourth beast in chapter seven, with its great iron teeth, which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped the residue ²⁹ .

The horn cast down some of the “host” or army and some of the stars of heaven, which we told symbolises the goods and truths of heaven ³⁰ . “Stars” represent the knowledges of truth drawn from the Word. As we have seen throughout this study, truths are a person’s first line of defence against evil and falsity. The whole of Daniel’s life is a testimony to this. However, when a person lapses into a life of selfishness, which is made possible by misusing the things of the Word, then the person gives him or herself permission to act as they will. The result is the destruction of real faith and charity ³¹ . These are most dangerous to a person’s spiritual life, for they blot out any sense of sin, remorse or shame, and leave the person to the mercy of a life of unrestricted evil. The destruction of the sense of sin, and the knowledge that one has indeed committed evil, is described by the little horn growing towards the south which cast down the host and stars and trampled on them ³² . To trample them down means to utterly destroy them ³³ .

Arcana Coelestia 4897: "That 'stars' have this signification in the Word is because they are small luminaries which shine at night, when they give forth into our atmosphere gleams of light, just as knowledge gives forth gleams of good and truth."

In the historical series this blotting out of the “stars” of heaven can be seen in the denial by Nebuchadnezzar of Daniel’s true name. By calling him “Belteshazzar”, the represents the way we deny the source and origin of truth, and when that is denied, it becomes only too easy to relegate it to the farthest corners of our minds and finally forget about it all together. However, this little horn casting down the host and stars of heaven is doing something far more sinister than simply forgetting the truth. It is the actual destruction of truth as far as possible. This is done by twisting it around until it looses all meaning and power.

The state of evil and falsity which then rules the person mind are worse than any other sort ³⁴ . If a person lapsed into evil because of ignorance, or from having been taught falsities they still have a spiritual defence. On the other hand, to commit falsity with malice of forethought, when one knows the truth and chooses to reject it, and misuses the truth in such a way to make it permissible, then that person comes into a deeper level of falsity. The result is that without a recognition of goodness and truth from the Lord, the person in this state looses their intelligence and wisdom, for these originate in truth ³⁵ . In this state falsity and evil are confirmed in the person’s mind, and that person is alienated from the presence of the Lord.

To compound this matter, the horn exalted itself as high as the Prince of hosts. Here again we see the similarity of imagery to the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah, which treats of Lucifer, son of the dawn, exalting himself to God. This is the very nature of selfishness, and the end to which all selfishness tends, for loving self is opposite to loving God, and should a person allow unbridled selfishness in his or her life, then eventually that person will challenge God Himself.

In this state there is no possibility of genuine worship of God at all. Thus the horn “took away the daily sacrifices”. Sacrifices in the Word are part of worship, and worship is based on humility. If a person cannot, or will not humble him or herself before the Lord, then there can be no worship. The effect of the horn exalting itself to the level of God in a person’s mind, is to destroy humility, for a person in that state thinks he or she knows best, and is willing to please self.

It is also said that the horn cast down the sanctuary of the Prince of Hosts, meaning that nothing would be considered sacred or holy any longer.

A person in this state lapses into the very depths of hell, for all spiritual value, all real hope for salvation, disintegrates in the face of the terrible selfishness rampant in the person’s heart. In its place is a sea of self-centred willing, thinking and acting. The horn, with all its power, was given an army "to oppose the daily sacrifices, and he was cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered."

The next two verses are:

13 Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, "How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled under foot?"

14 And he said to me, "For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed."

---

The vision Daniel witnessed describes the final states of evil in a regenerating person. From states of spiritual progress, represented by the ram pushing in all directions, one comes into alternate states of degeneration, depicted as the ram with his fearful horns. These alternations of state are of vital importance to ones spiritual development, because in the process of regeneration one moves from a state in which one has no spiritual life to one in which he or she has. Because regeneration is a process which takes place during the whole course of a person’s life, a person is often between these two states, and yet one has to be in one or within the other. So they alternate.

Arcana Coelestia 933: "The state of a person when he is being regenerated resembles ‘cold’ and ‘heat’, that is, a point when faith and charity do not exist and then when they do."

The Writings offer insight into how these alternations work:

Every time a person is engrossed in his own bodily and worldly interests faith and charity do not exist, that is, it is a period of cold. For at such times it is bodily and worldly interests that are active… When, however, the bodily interests in a person and those of his [unregenerate] will are inactive and quiescent, the Lord acts by way of his internal man and at that pint faith and charity are present with him, which here is called ‘heat’ ³⁶ .

We see the roots of this alternation very clearly in chapter seven. When a person sees evil and the power of falsity in their lives, as described by the four beasts arising from the sea, and one judges them according to their knowledge and love for truth itself, then life begins to change. As we saw in chapter seven, however, although the beast was killed, nevertheless the lion, the bear and the leopard had “their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time” ³⁷ . Judgment changes the way we look at our lives, but it doesn’t by itself take away the evils to which we are prone. Those have to be overcome by temptation.

It is in this vision that we see the mechanism of overthrow. First the one state, the ram, then the other, the goat. Of course the most pertinent question arising about this progress is how long it will last. Remember that this vision was seen in the third year of Belshazzar, and that the third year represents the end of one state and the beginning of the next. According to this we know that eventually the states of evil will pass away completely, and we will be delivered. But how long?

Daniel heard this very question from heaven: “How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled under foot?” The answer is one of those verses in the Word which, without the internal sense to explain is, has exercised human minds for centuries.

And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary will be cleansed.”

This is how the verse is translated in the New King James Version of the Bible. Unfortunately it is not an accurate translation, leaving out some very important words. If one turns to the American Standard Version, one find the verse translated as follows:

And he said to me, Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

The difference seems minor, but by leaving out the “mornings” and “evenings”, the translators have left out a vital part of the information the Lord has given us. Swedenborg translates the passage differently, relying on a literal interpretation of the original Hebrew. Translated from his Latin the verse reads:

"And he said unto me, Even unto the evening, the morning, two thousand three hundred; for then shall the holy thing be justified."

This is the translation we shall use for this purposes of this exposition, for it does no good to leave words out, or to lump “evening” and “morning” together and turn them into “day”. Similarly, although the meaning is much the same, it does not use to speak of “the sanctuary shall be cleansed” when in fact the original says that “the holy thing shall be justified.”

How long, then, shall this state of alternation between goodness and evil last? The answer is quite clear. It involves the evening and the morning. As in all matters related to time in the Word, the internal sense deals with spiritual state, not temporal time. It is important, therefore to view this verse as a whole. Evening and morning are seen most clearly in juxtaposition to each other.

The terms evening and morning are frequently used in the Word to describe the end of one state and the beginning of the next. We have already seen in many places how “night” represents states of spiritual darkness and obscurity.

Arcana Coelestia 7844: "In the Word throughout mention is made of “evening”, and by it is signified the last time of the church, and also the first time; the last with those among whom the church is ceasing, and the first with those among whom it is beginning."

Evening as a prelude to the night means much the same. Spiritual obscurity has its origins in the things which belong to human selfishness and greed, for as we have seen, these block out the light of truth from the Lord ³⁸ .

In sharp contrast to this is the breaking light of dawn, when shadows are put to flight and the world is transformed by the sun. This early light has precisely the opposite meaning from the darkness of evening. It is the time when truth shines into human minds, and the Lord’s kingdom can be clearly seen in its light ³⁹ .

In the Arcana Coelestia, a series of distinctions are made between evening and dawn, which help greatly in understanding these two different states:

Evening:

• a state of shade, or of falsity and of no faith

• all things that are a person’s own

• a state of no faith

Dawn

• A state of light, or of truth, and of the knowledges of truth.

• whatever with a person which is from the Lord

• a state where there is faith

• the coming of the Lord.

Now perhaps it is possible to grasp the answer to the question of how long the states of alternation will last - to the evening and the dawn, in other words, when one passes from a state of no faith, and a life according to one’s own selfishness, to a state in which truth rules completely. In this latter state one will live from the Lord, for the power of selfishness will have been destroyed, and the person will be free to draw from their conscience for spiritual leadership.

In the historical series this state is the end of the reign of Belshazzar and the subsequent leadership of Darius the Mede, for Darius, even though he ruled Babylon, and even though he was susceptible still to flattery, prised Daniel. In this reign Daniel became second only to the king himself, wielding real power. Thus we see the triumph of the conscience over selfishness.

One should not ignore the concept of time in this verse, however. The evening and morning would continue two thousand three hundred. As elsewhere the numbers are vitally important. Two thousand draws on two basic numbers: two and multiplies of ten. Two, as we have seen in earlier chapters, contains the concept of joining two things into a marriage or union ⁴⁰ . This conjunction, however, only comes about through states of conflict and toil ⁴¹ . The number “ten” represents states of completion and fullness.

The implication, therefore, is that these alternations of state will continue through the temptations of a person’s life until the state described as three hundred occurs. Again this number is a composite between “three” and multiples of ten. “Three” describes, as we have seen earlier, a state which is full and thus the beginning of a new state. Ten represents fullness.

The answer, therefore, as to how long alternations of state will last is that they will last until they have run their course, and the person is ready to put aside the evening states, and fully embrace the morning.

Here's a fourth set of verses:

15 Then it happened, when I, Daniel, had seen the vision and was seeking the meaning, that suddenly there stood before me one having the appearance of a man.

16 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of the Ulai, who called, and said, "Gabriel, make this man understand the vision."

17 So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid and fell on my face; but he said to me, "Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end."

18 Now, as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me, and stood me upright.

19 And he said, "Look, I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation; for at the appointed time the end shall be.

20 "The ram which you saw, having the two horns-- they are the kings of Media and Persia.

21 "And the male goat is the kingdom of Greece. The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king.

22 "As for the broken horn and the four that stood up in its place, four kingdoms shall arise out of that nation, but not with its power.

23 "And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their fullness, a king shall arise, having fierce features, who understands sinister schemes.

24 His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; he shall destroy fearfully, and shall prosper and thrive; he shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people.

25 "Through his cunning he shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule; and he shall exalt himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity. He shall even rise against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without human means.

26 "And the vision of the evenings and mornings which was told is true; therefore seal up the vision, for it refers to many days in the future."

The prophets of the Old Testament saw visions, but they had no idea what these visions meant. Daniel was no exception. He had seen a ram defeated by a goat, not an ordinary goat, but one with a “notable” horn. He must have grown increasingly puzzled as he watched the horn break and four lesser horns grow out of it. His puzzlement may have turned to fright and despair when he saw the power of the little horn as it grew towards the south and interfere with the daily sacrifices. He watched all if this, but didn’t understand what it meant.

He writes that he saw the vision, and was “seeking the meaning”, when the next vision broke upon him. This time he heard the voice of a man between the banks of the Ulai, and suddenly saw a man standing before him. He was afraid and fell on his face.

As in chapter seven, once again the vision is explained. In chapter seven, however, it is Daniel who asks for interpretation. In chapter eight the angel Gabriel is sent to explain it to him. The explanation in chapter seven is largely a reiteration of what Daniel had already seen. In chapter eight new information is introduced which leads to a deeper understanding.

Daniel begins by commenting that he wanted to understand the things he saw, and suddenly “there stood before him one having the appearance of a man”. In chapter seven we are not sure who Daniel asks, for he says he asked “one of them who were standing near” ⁴² . In this vision, however, it is very different. Daniel sees a man.

Remember that Daniel was in the citadel at Shushan, on the banks of the River Ulai when he sees this vision. As he saw the man so he heard a voice from between the banks of the Ulai river. Earlier it was noted that “rivers” refer to matters of truth and wisdom in a person. When describing the citadel at Shushan on the banks of the Ulai, it was pointed out that the river took its negative meaning, being the falsities which feed and protect the love of self.

However, each correspondence has both a positive and a negative correspondence. When the River Ulai is seen in context of the Babylonian palace, it makes sense to draw out the negative sense. Yet when the voice calls to the angel Gabriel from within the banks of the river, then one must assume a positive correspondence. In this context therefore, the river Ulai represents the wisdom of God being communicated to Daniel by means of the angel Gabriel.

Gabriel is mentioned four times in the Word, in Daniel chapters eight and nine, and twice in the Christmas story given in the book of Luke. Daniel refers to Gabriel as “the man Gabriel” who could fly swiftly (more about this in chapter nine), while in Luke Gabriel is clearly identified as an angel, who, as he said to Zacharias in the temple, stands in the presence of God.

In Hebrew the name “Gabriel” means a warrior, a valiant man, which is a very apt description of the angel. The Writings tell us that Gabriel was not a single angel, but the human appearance of an entire society or community of angels ⁴³ . The name given to the angel, is in accordance with the function he performs ⁴⁴ . Angels, or rather societies of angels in human form appeared to prophets to communicate Divine Truth to them ⁴⁵ . The Arcana Coelestia makes this point when it says:

Arcana Coelestia 8192: "'Angels' signify Divine truth, for the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord makes heaven, consequently also the angels who constitute heaven; for in so far as they receive the Divine truth which is from the Lord, so far they are angels."

Apocalypse Explained 302: "A 'strong angel' signifies heaven because the whole angelic heaven before the Lord is as one man, or as one angel, likewise each society of heaven; therefore by 'angel' in the Word an angel is not meant, but an entire angelic society, as by 'Michael', 'Gabriel', 'Raphael'.

The truth Gabriel came to present to Daniel, therefore, was the meaning of the vision the prophet had just witnessed. As he approached Daniel, the latter was afraid and fell to his face. Here we have a response of the conscience when it is brought into close approximation to truth itself.

One must be wary of the trap of believing Daniel to be some disconnected observer of visions. The historical series in the first part of the book shows that this is not so. Daniel represents a person’s conscience, or the presence of truth guiding the human mind. Such a presence can never be simply neutral. The conscience plays a tremendous role in the way our minds develop, partly because it is through the conscience that we are able to understand the end result of selfishness and evil. The conscience reminds us of what good and truth really are, and how to come back into these states.

When we are in alternate states of evil, the conscience somewhat goes into abeyance, but it does not leave us, otherwise all our spiritual development would cease. Thus Daniel, while he watched the visions was seeing, correspondentially, the interaction of the conscience with the life of selfishness.

It is no surprise, therefore, that when the angel Gabriel, representing the Divine truth itself, came near to our human conscience, representing Daniel, that Daniel fell on his face. Symbolically this means the submission of the conscience to a higher authority - truth itself.

When a person is in a state of temptation, as is represented by this vision, it often appears that one’s knowledge and understanding of the Word disappears ⁴⁶ . This is the state represented by Daniel falling on his face in submission to a higher truth, and is later shown by his statement in the next verse that he “was in a deep sleep”, for, as we have seen earlier, sleep represents a state of spiritual obscurity.

Arcana Coelestia 1999: "True adoration, or humiliation of heart, carries with it prostration to the earth upon the face before the Lord, as a gesture naturally flowing from it. For in humiliation of heart there is the acknowledgement of self as being nothing but filthiness, and at the same time the acknowledgement of the Lord's infinite mercy toward that which is such; and when the mind is kept in these two acknowledgements, the very mind droops in lowliness toward hell, and prostrates the body; nor does it uplift itself until it is uplifted by the Lord. This takes place in all true humiliation, with a perception of being uplifted by the Lord's mercy."

It is part of the Lord’s mercy that He never leaves people in this state. The angel Gabriel, representing the power of the Lord’s truth, came to Daniel to begin the task of explaining what the vision meant. He begins by putting it into context: “Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end.” Notice that all the words of this statement are addressed to the understanding, the part of our minds which draws information from the Word, processes it into useful spiritual guidance. The conscience is the function of that truth in the understanding.

Thus the angel begins, “understand, son of man.” This latter phrase also speaks to the truth within us. Generally in the Word “sons” represent truths ⁴⁷ , while the “son of man” is the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, and received in our minds ⁴⁸ . Prophets were called “sons of men” because they represented the Lord in that they communicated His truth to the people of this world ⁴⁹ .

Thus when a person is in an state where the evil or selfish side of his or her personality is in ascendancy, and when our conscience has been set aside, the Lord lifts our minds to higher things. This is the dawn of the new state about to be break into our minds. The truth present with us comes forward to remind us of the presence of the Lord, and to reawaken our conscience and thus spur us on to resist the evil.

The angel reminds Daniel that this “vision refers to the time of the end”, the states when evils in our external man will finally be brought under control, and we will be freed from their influence ⁵⁰ . In places where the “time of the end” is referred to in the Word, it deals with “the consummation of the age is the last time of the church or its end”. Thus “end” represents a completion of a state, “when there is no Divine truth left except what has been falsified or set aside.” Using this concept, the angel’s words describing Daniel’s vision as a vision of “the end” refers to the final states of evil in a person before they are completely rejected and set aside. This idea is also contained in the opening words of the chapter, that Daniel saw this vision “in the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar”.

That time, however, has not yet come. Daniel, flat on his face on the ground, and asleep, is touched by Gabriel, who stood him upright. In this new state, the explanation of the vision could begin.

Gabriel describes the dream in terms of the kings of the world. Thus the ram’s horns are the kings of Media and Persia. The goat is the kingdom of Greece, and the four horns coming from the broken “notable” horn are four kingdoms. The little horn growing to the south is a king with fierce features, “who understands sinister schemes”.

Over the centuries there have been many attempts to explain this vision in human and political terms, and in some ways the explanations often work. The kingdom of Media and Persia were in fact overrun by Alexander the Great, the Greek king. On his death his empire was divided into four regions. The king with the fierce features, then replaced them, and could be compared to the Roman Empire. This king would even rise against the “Prince of princes”, meaning that the Lord Himself would be put to death by the Romans. Finally however, the last king would be “broken without human means”, depicting the collapse of the Roman Empire ⁵¹ .

The difficulty with this interpretation of Gabriel’s words is that they do not really address the issues of the human soul. Perhaps historically this prophecy did come true in the events of the times, but the Lord is not concerned with temporal and political things. His concern is for the salvation of the human soul, and for this reason the Word is given to us. Each and every detail of the Word deals with, amongst other things, human salvation. It is necessary then to turn aside from political speculation and delve into the meanings given in the Writings.

Footnotes:

543. Verse 3. And out of the smoke there went forth locusts upon the earth, signifies that from infernal falsities they became corporeal-sensual in the church. This is evident from the signification of "smoke," as being infernal falsity (See above, n. 539). Infernal falsity is what is here signified by "smoke," because it has just been said that this smoke "went up out of the pit of the abyss," and "the pit of the abyss" signifies the hell where and from which are the falsities of evil that falsify the truths of the Word. The above is evident also from the signification of "locusts," as being man's ultimate sensual, which is in the falsity of evil (of which presently); also from the signification of "to go forth upon the earth," as being upon the church, for the "earth" signifies the church; moreover, the things contained in Revelation are predictions respecting the church and its state.

[2] That "locusts" signify man's ultimate sensual which is in the falsity of evil, can be seen from each and all the particulars related in this chapter to verse 12, in the explanation of which it is shown that "locusts" have no other meaning. But here it shall first be told what is meant by man's ultimate sensual. It does not mean the sensual of sight, of hearing, of smell, of taste, and of touch, for these things are proper to the body, but the ultimate of thought and affection, which is the first to be opened with infants, and which is such that they think of nothing else and are affected by no other objects than what make one with the senses just named. For infants learn to think by means of the senses, and to be affected by objects that are in accord with the things that are pleasing to the senses; consequently the first internal that is opened with them is the sensual that is called man's ultimate sensual, or the corporeal-sensual. But afterwards, as the infant grows older and becomes a boy, a more interior sensual is opened, from which he thinks naturally, and is also affected naturally. Later, in youth and early manhood, a still more interior sensual is opened, from which he thinks rationally, and if he is in the good of charity and faith, he thinks spiritually, and is also affected rationally and spiritually. This thought and affection is what is called the rational and spiritual man, while the former is called the natural man, and the first the sensual man.

[3] With every man the interiors that are of his thought and affection are opened successively, and this by a continuous influx out of heaven from the Lord. By this influx the sensual that most nearly adheres to the body is first formed, and from this man becomes sensual; afterwards the natural from which he becomes natural; and after this the rational and with it the spiritual, from which he becomes a rational and spiritual man; but this he becomes only so far as he thinks about God and about the Divine things that are from God, and this is formed and perfected so far as he is affected by these things, that is, so far as he wills and lives according to them. If he does not do this the spiritual man is opened in a general way, but is not formed, still less perfected. By the general opening of his spiritual man, man has the faculty of thinking, and from thought of speaking rationally; this is the general effect of the influx of heaven with every man. This makes clear that man's thoughts and affections may be spiritual, or natural, or also sensual; and that spiritual thoughts and affections are with those who think from God respecting God and Divine things; while there are only natural thoughts and affections with those who do not think from God respecting God and Divine things, but think only from themselves or from the world respecting themselves or the world. But it should be known that to think from self or from the world is to think not from these but from hell; for whoever does not think from God thinks from hell; no one can think from both at the same time. But those who deny God, and thence the Divine things of heaven and the church, and confirm themselves against these, all become sensual men more or less, according to confirmations; when they are thinking about spiritual things they think falsities only, and are affected by evils; and if they think any truths, whether spiritual, moral, or civil, it is only from the knowledge (scientia) of such things as are in the memory; and they see nothing beyond the nearest causes which they also are able to prove; and if they are affected by goods, it is only from a delight for the sake of self or the world, thus from a cupidity belonging to the love of self or the love of the world. The thought of the sensual man is what is called material thought, and its affection is what is called corporeal affection, which is cupidity.

[4] Furthermore, it is to be known that all the evils that man derives from his parents, which are called hereditary evils, have their seat in his natural and sensual man, but not in the spiritual; consequently the natural man, and especially the sensual man, is the opposite of the spiritual. For the spiritual man from infancy is closed, and is opened and formed only by Divine truths received by the understanding and will; and so far in extent and quality as the spiritual man is opened and formed, the evils of the natural and sensual man are removed, and goods are implanted in place of them. As all evils have their seat in the natural and sensual man it follows that falsities do also, because all falsities are of evil; for when man lusts and wills from evil he thinks and speaks from falsity. For the evil of the will, when it so forms itself in thought that it is manifest to others or to oneself as to its quality, is called falsity; thus falsity is the form of evil, as truth is the form of good. From this it can be seen who and of what quality the man is who is called a sensual man; also that a man becomes sensual when he follows out in act the evils into which he is born, and adds more to them from himself. So far as he does this and confirms himself in these evils, so far the spiritual man is kept closed; and when it is closed the natural and sensual man denies the Divine things that belong to heaven and the church, and acknowledges such things only as belong to the world and nature; and indeed, the sensual man is then so blind as to believe nothing but what he sees with his eyes and touches with his hands. Such are many of the learned, however intelligent and wise they may be thought to be from their ability of speaking from the knowledges [scientia] that are in the memory, and this apparently as the rational man speaks, since the spiritual mind is opened with them, as it is in every man in a general way, as has been said above.

[5] Because in what now follows in this chapter the locust is much treated of, and by it the sensual, which is the ultimate or extreme of the natural man, is signified, it is important that what the sensual is and what its quality is should be fully known, and thus who and what the sensual man is. I will therefore present here what is said and shown respecting it in the Arcana Coelestia, as follows: The sensual is the ultimate of man's life, adhering to and inhering in his corporeal, n. 5077, 5767, 9212, 9216, 9331, 9730. He is called a sensual man who judges all things from the senses of the body, and who believes nothing but what he can see with his eyes and touch with his hands, saying that this is something, and rejecting everything else, n. 5094, 7693. Such a man thinks in what is ultimate, and not interiorly from any spiritual light, n. 5089, 5094, 6564, 7693.

The interiors of his mind, which sees from the light of heaven, are closed, so that he sees there nothing of the truth of heaven and the church, n. 6564, 6844, 6845. In a word, he is in a gross natural light, and thus perceives nothing that is from the light of heaven, n. 6201, 6310, 6564, 6844, 6845, 6598, 6612, 6614, 6622, 6624. Thence interiorly he is against the things of heaven and the church, n. 6201, 6317, 6844, 6845, 6948, 6949. The learned who have confirmed themselves against the truths of the church are sensual, n. 6316. Sensual men reason acutely and readily, because their thought is so near their speech as to be almost in it, and because they place all intelligence in speaking merely from the memory, n. 195, 196, 5700, 10236. But they reason from the fallacies of the senses, by which the common herd are captivated, n. 5084, 6948, 6949, 7693. Sensual men are more crafty and malicious than others, n. 7693, 10236. The covetous, adulterers, the voluptuous, and the deceitful, are especially sensual, n. Arcana Coelestia 6310. Their interiors are foul and filthy, n. Arcana Coelestia 6201. Through their interiors they communicate with the hells, n. 6311. Those who are in the hells are sensual, and this in proportion to the depth of their hells, n. 4623, 6311. The sphere of infernal spirits conjoins itself with the sensual of man from behind, n. 6312. Those who reasoned from the sensual, and thence against the genuine truths of faith, were called by the ancients "serpents of the tree of knowledge [scientia]," n. 195, 196, 197, 6398, 6949, 10313. The sensual of man and the sensual man are further described, n. Arcana Coelestia 10236; and the extension of the sensual principle in man, n. 9731. Sensual things ought to be in the last place and not in the first, and with a wise and intelligent man they are in the last place, and are subject to things interior, but with an unwise man they are in the first place, and are dominant, and these are such as are properly called sensual, n. 5077, 5125, 5128, 7645. If sensual things are in the last place, through them a way is opened to the understanding, and truths are disengaged by a kind of extraction, n. Arcana Coelestia 5580. These sensual things of man stand next to the world, and admit the things that flow from the world, and as it were sift them, n. 9726.

Through these the external or natural man communicates with the world, and through rational things with heaven, n . 4009. Sensual things thus supply such things as are serviceable to the interiors belonging to the mind, n. 5077, 5081. There are sensual things that minister to the intellectual part, and others that minister to the will part, n. 5077. Unless the thought is elevated from sensual things, man has but little wisdom, n. 5089. A wise man thinks above the sensual, n. 5089, 5094. When a man's thought is elevated above sensual things he comes into a clearer light, and at length into heavenly light, n. 6183, 6313, 6315, 9407, 9730, 9922. Elevation above sensual things and withdrawal from them were known to the ancients, n. 6313. Man in his spirit is able to see things that are in the spiritual world if he can be withdrawn from the sensual things which are from the body and be elevated into the light of heaven by the Lord, n. 4622. The reason is that it is not the body that thinks, but the spirit of man in the body, and so far as man thinks in the body so far he thinks grossly and obscurely, thus in darkness, but so far as he does not think in the body he thinks clearly and in light, n. 4622, 6614, 6622. The ultimate of the understanding is sensual knowledge, and the ultimate of the will is sensual delight, concerning which see n. 9996. The difference between the sensual things that man has in common with the beasts and those not in common with them, n. 10236. There are sensual persons not evil because their interiors are not shut in the manner above referred to; the state of such in the other life, n. 6311.

[6] That the "locust" signifies nothing else but this sensual of man that has now been described can be seen also from other passages in the Word where the locust is mentioned. As in Moses:

Moses stretched forth his staff over the land of Egypt, and Jehovah brought along an east wind all the day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locust. And the locust went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the border of Egypt, very grievous; before it there was no such locust, nor after it shall there be such. And they covered the surface of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left remaining; so that there remained not any green thing in the tree or in the herb of the field, in all Egypt. And the locust filled the house of Pharaoh, and the house of all his servants, and the house of all the Egyptians (Exodus 10:13-15, 6).

All the miracles in Egypt, like all other miracles recorded in the Word, involve and signify spiritual things pertaining to heaven and the church, thus the Egyptian plagues signify spiritual plagues; this plague of the locusts signifies the destruction of the whole natural man by the breaking in of evil and falsity from the sensual; "Egypt" signifies the natural man in respect to knowledge [scientificum] and to what is pleasurable in it, and "the locust" the falsity and evil of the sensual man laying waste the natural man, that is, driving out from it or destroying there all the truth and good of the church; it is therefore said, "and the locust went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all its border," "the land of Egypt" signifying the natural with the men of the church, and "its border" the sensual with them, for the sensual is the ultimate or most external of the natural, consequently its border; the "locust" means falsity and evil there. Because the falsity and the evil of the sensual man are the most grievous, for they are corporeal and earthly, it is said that the locust was "very grievous, and that before it there was no such locust, nor after it shall there be such;" and this for the reason that the Egyptians had a knowledge of correspondences, and from that a knowledge of the spiritual things which belong to heaven; but these they turned into magic. Because the falsity and the evil of the sensual man, when they break into the natural man, entirely lay it waste by destroying every truth and every good therein, it is said that "the locust covered the whole surface of the earth so that the land was darkened, and did eat every herb of the land, ¹ and all the fruit of the tree," "the land of Egypt" meaning the natural with the men of the church, "the herb of the land" the truth there, and "the fruit of the tree" the good there. "The locust filling the house of Pharaoh, and of his servants, and of all the Egyptians," has a similar meaning, for "the house of Pharaoh, of his servants, and of all the Egyptians," signifies the natural mind in its whole extent, "house" in the Word signifying the interiors of man which belong to his mind and disposition, here the things of his natural mind.

[7] It is said that here "the locust going up over all the land of Egypt" signifies the breaking in of falsity and evil out of the sensual man into the natural; and yet the natural man is interior and the sensual exterior, and there is no breaking in or influx from the exterior into the interior, but only from the interior into the exterior. It should be known, therefore, that the breaking in or influx of the sensual man into the natural means the blocking up of the natural man until it becomes like the sensual, whereby evil and falsity become more widely extended, and the natural and the sensual become alike corporeal and earthly. In other cases, man learns from infancy to separate the sensual man from the natural, by speaking truth and doing good, even while his thoughts from the sensual man are false, and his will is evil; and this he continues to do until they are entirely separated, which is done when man is reformed and regenerated by the Lord. But if these are not separated man can think and will no otherwise than insanely, and thus speak ² and act insanely.

[8] Because the "locust" here signifies the sensual in respect to falsity and evil, or, what is the same, the falsity and evil of the sensual man, the "locust" and the "caterpillar" have the same signification in David:

He sent among them a swarm that devoured them, and the frog that destroyed them. He also gave their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labor unto the locust (Psalms 78:45, 46).

And in the same:

He spake, and the locust came, and the caterpillar without number, which did eat up every herb in the land, and did eat up the fruit of their land (Psalms 105:34, 35).

But here the "locust" signifies the falsity of the sensual man, and the "caterpillar" its evil, or the falsity and evil in the sensual man and from it. The latter is signified by "caterpillar," and the former by "locust," because the caterpillar is also a locust, as is evident from this fact that this was said by David respecting the locusts in Egypt, and yet in Moses the locust only is mentioned, and not the caterpillar.

[9] The "locust" and the "caterpillar" have a similar signification in Joel:

That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten. Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine which has been cut off from your mouth (Joel 1:4, 5).

And elsewhere in the same:

The floors shall be full of pure grain, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. And I will recompense to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, My great army which I sent among you (Joel 2:24, 25).

Evidently these noxious little animals signify falsities and evils devastating or consuming truths and goods with the man of the church, since it is said that "all drinkers of wine should howl because of the new wine which is cut off from your mouth," "wine" and "new wine" signifying the truth of the church; likewise because it is said that "the floors shall be full of grain, and the presses shall overflow with new wine and oil," the "floor" signifying the doctrine of the church, "grain" and "oil" its goods, and "new wine" its truths.

[10] So in Nahum:

The fire shall devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall devour thee like the caterpillar; make thyself many as the caterpillar; make thyself many as the locust. Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of the heavens; the caterpillar spreadeth itself abroad and flieth away. Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy commanders as the locust of locusts, which encamp in the walls in the day of cold; when the sun ariseth they fly away, and their place is not known where they are (Nahum 3:15-17).

This is said of "the city of bloods," which signifies doctrine fabricated out of falsified truths, thus out of falsities; the destruction of those who are in a faith and life according to that doctrine is signified by "the fire shall devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off," "the fire that shall devour" signifying evil destroying good, and "the sword" falsity destroying truth; and because evil and falsity from the sensual man are meant it is said, "the caterpillar shall devour thee; make thyself many as the caterpillar; make thyself many as the locust; thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of the heavens." Multiplication like that of the caterpillar and of the locust is mentioned because falsifications of the Word are made in the greatest abundance by those who are sensual, thus by the sensual man, for the sensual man is signified here by the "caterpillar and locust" as has been said above. The sensual man falsifies the Word more than others, because the ultimate sense of the Word, which is the sense of its letter, is for the natural and sensual man, while the interior sense is for the spiritual man; consequently when man is not a spiritual man, but is natural and sensual, and is in evil and in falsities therefrom, he does not see the truths and goods in the Word, but applies its ultimate sense to confirm his falsities and evils. "Merchants" signify those who falsify and who communicate and who offer for sale. "Thy crowned are as the locust, and thy commanders as the locust of locusts," signifies that the primary and chief things of doctrine, that is, "a city of bloods," are the falsities of evil, and from these again come the falsities of evil; "which sit in the walls in the day of cold" signifies in the truths of the Word that do not appear to be truths, because they have become falsified, and are from evil, "walls" meaning truths that do not appear because they are falsified, and "the day of cold" meaning a state of the love of evil; "the sun ariseth, they fly away, and their place is not known where they are," signifies that they consume every truth and good, so that there is nothing left. "Multiplying as the locust" has a similar signification in Jeremiah 46:20, 22, 23; also in the (Judges 6:5) book (Judges 7:12) of Judges 6:5; 7:12.

[11] The "locust" signifies also falsity in the most external things, or the densest falsity, in Moses:

Thou shalt carry out much seed into the field, but shall gather but little; for the locust shall consume it (Deuteronomy 28:38);

which is one of the curses if they did not keep and do the commandments of Jehovah. "The seed of the field" means the truth of the Word, and the "locust" dense falsity from the sensual man that consumes and destroys it. "Locust" has a similar signification in Amos 7:1, 2; Isaiah 33:3, 4; and in David Psalms 109:22, 23.

[12] Because the sensual of man is the ultimate and lowest of the life of man's thought and affection (as has been said above) and because the lowest, when viewed by those who are in a higher or more eminent place, is little, for this reason it is compared to locusts. As in Isaiah:

Jehovah who dwelleth above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as locusts (Isaiah 40:22).

This signifies that men in respect to intelligence are in things lowest, and the Lord in things highest.

[13] In like manner, men viewed by those who are in the persuasion of their superiority over others are compared to locusts, in Moses:

The spies of the land of Canaan said, We saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak which come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own eyes as locusts, and so we were in their eyes (Numbers 13:33).

The "Nephilim" and the "Anakim" signify in the Word those who are in the strongest persuasion of their being more eminent and wise than others; and in the abstract sense they signify direful persuasions (See Arcana Coelestia 311, 567, 581, 1268, 1270, 1271, 1673, 3686, 7686). That the spies appeared to these and also to themselves like locusts, is in agreement with the appearances in the spiritual world, for there, when those who are in a persuasion of their own superiority look at others, they see them as little and vile, and these then also appear such to themselves.

[14] As the "locust" signifies the sensual, which is the ultimate of the life of man's thought, or the ultimate in which the understanding closes, and upon which it rests, so this ultimate is like a base and foundation upon which interior or higher things stand, which belong to man's understanding and will, likewise the interior and higher things in the Word that are called spiritual and celestial. And as all things, to continue and to subsist, must have a foundation, so the sense of the letter of the Word, which is its ultimate and base, is natural and sensual; and this in a good sense, and, consequently, its truth and good, are meant by the "locust." This is why John the Baptist ate locusts, and why the sons of Israel were allowed to eat them. Of John the Baptist it is said:

That he had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:4; Mark 1:6).

John the Baptist was so clothed because like Elijah he represented the Word; and by "his raiment of camel's hair, and leathern girdle, and eating locusts and wild honey," he represented the ultimate sense of the Word, which, as was said, is sensual-natural, because it is for the sensual-natural man. "Raiment" signifies truth clothing good; "camel's hair" the ultimate of the natural man, which is the sensual; the "locusts and wild honey" also signify that ultimate or the sensual as regards appropriation; the "locust" the sensual in respect to truth, "wild honey" the sensual in respect to good, and "eating" appropriation. It is to be known that in ancient times, when the churches were representative churches, all who were in ministries were clothed and also ate according to what they represented.

[15] That the sons of Israel were permitted to eat locusts is evident from these words in Moses:

Every winged thing that creeps, that walks on four feet, shall be an abomination unto you, but that which walks upon four, which has legs above its feet to leap withal upon the earth, ye shall eat; and among these the locust is mentioned (Leviticus 11:20-22).

To eat locusts was permitted on account of their having legs above the feet to leap with, because "legs" signify natural good conjoined to spiritual good, and "feet" natural truth from that good; and every truth that is from good ought to be appropriated and conjoined to man, but not truth that is not from good, for such truth is conjoined with some evil; therefore it is said that "every winged thing that creeps, that walks upon four, that had no legs above its feet, shall be an abomination." It is said also "to leap upon the earth," because "leaping," in reference to flying things, signifies to live, the same as "walking" in reference to the animals of the earth; and spiritual living comes from truths that are from good, which are signified by "leaping with the feet, above which are legs;" but spiritual dying comes from truths conjoined to evil, which is signified by "walking upon four feet, above which are no legs;" therefore to eat such is said to be "an abomination. "

[16] As a "horse" signifies the intellectual, and a "locust" the sensual, which is the ultimate of the intellectual, and the intellect lives when it is in its ultimate, the ancients spoke of horses as leaping and jumping like locusts. Thus in Job:

Dost thou give the horse might? Dost thou clothe his neck with shaking? Dost thou make him to leap as a locust? The glory of his nostril is terror (Job 39:19, 20).

The understanding is here described by a horse, namely, that like a horse it is mighty, it shakes and curves the neck, and leaps as it goes; and as the ultimate of the understanding is the sensual, and this is signified by the "locust," and the life of the understanding in this ultimate is signified by "jumping and leaping as it goes," therefore the horse is said "to leap as a locust." The most ancient books, among which is Job, were written by pure correspondences; for a knowledge [scientia] of correspondences was then the knowledge of knowledges; and those writers were held in highest esteem who were able to compose books abounding in the most numerous and significant correspondences. Such is the book of Job; but the spiritual sense therein collected from correspondences does not treat of the holy things of heaven and the church, as the spiritual sense in the Prophets does; consequently that book is not among the books of the Word; but yet passages are quoted from it on account of the correspondences of which it is full.

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