1066. That 'from them the whole earth was overspread' means that from these three all doctrines have been derived, both true and false, is clear from the meaning of 'the earth'. In the Word 'the earth' has various meanings. In the universal sense it stands for the place or region where the Church is or once was, for example, the land of Canaan, the land of Judah, the land of Israel. It thus stands in that universal sense for every member of the Church, for a land takes its name from the people who inhabit it, as is also well known from everyday speech. In ancient times therefore when people spoke of 'the whole earth' they did not mean every land throughout the world but only that part of the earth where the Church existed, and so the Church itself, as becomes clear from the following places in the Word: In Isaiah,

Jehovah is emptying the earth, the earth will be utterly emptied. The earth will mourn and be turned upside down. And the earth will be polluted under its inhabitants. Therefore a curse will devour the earth, therefore the inhabitants of the earth will be scorched and few men left. The floodgates from on high have been opened, and the foundations of the earth have been shaken. The earth has been utterly broken. The earth has been utterly rent asunder. The earth is violently shaken. The earth staggers altogether like a drunken man, and sways to and fro like a hut. Its transgression will lie heavily upon it, and it will fall, and it will not rise again. Isaiah 24:1, 3-6, 18-21.

'Earth' stands for the people inhabiting it, in particular the people of the Church, and so stands for the Church itself, and the things that are the Church's that have been vastated. These when being vastated are spoken of as 'being emptied', 'being shaken', 'staggering like a drunken man', 'swaying', 'falling and not rising'.

[2] That 'earth' or 'land' means man, and consequently the Church which is made up of men, is seen in Malachi,

All the nations will declare you blessed, for you will be a land of delight. Malachi 3:12.

That 'the earth' stands for the Church is seen in Isaiah,

Do you not understand the foundations of the earth? Isaiah 40:21.

Here 'foundations of the earth' stands for the foundations of the Church. In the same prophet,

Behold I am creating new heavens and a new earth. Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; Revelation 21:1.

'New heavens and a new earth' stands for the Lord's kingdom and the Church. In Zechariah,

Jehovah is He who stretches out the heavens and founds the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. Zechariah 12:1.

'Earth' stands for the Church, as in earlier chapters,

In the beginning God created heaven and earth. Genesis 1:1.

The heavens and the earth were finished. Genesis 2:1.

These are the generations of heaven and earth. Genesis 2:4.

In each instance 'earth' stands for the Church being 'created', 'formed', and 'made'. In Joel,

The earth quaked before Him, the heavens trembled. The sun and the moon were darkened. Joel 2:10.

'Earth' stands for the Church, and for the things that are the Church's. When these things are being vastated, 'heaven and earth' are said to quake, 'the sun and moon' to grow dark, that is, love and faith.

[3] In Jeremiah,

I looked to the earth, when behold, that which is void and empty; and to the heavens, and they had no light. Jeremiah 4:23.

Here 'the earth' plainly stands for the person who does not have anything of the Church within him. In the same prophet,

The whole earth will be desolate, yet I will not bring it to a close. For this the earth will mourn and the heavens be black. Jeremiah 4:27, 18.

Here likewise the Church is meant, whose exterior things are 'the earth' and interior 'the heavens'. These are referred to as 'being black and having no light' when there is no longer any wisdom arising from good or intelligence from truth. In that case the earth is also 'void and empty', as is the member of the Church who ought to be an embodiment of the Church. That 'the whole earth' is also used in other places to mean the Church alone is seen in Daniel,

The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, and trample it down, and break it in pieces. Daniel 7:23.

'The whole earth' stands for the Church and for the things that are the Church's; for the Word does not deal, as secular authors do, with the powers of monarchs, but with sacred matters, and with states of the Church, which are meant by 'kingdoms of the earth'.

[4] In Jeremiah,

A great tempest will be raised up from the sides of the earth, and the slain ¹ of Jehovah on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. Jeremiah 25:32, 33.

Here 'from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth' stands for the Church and for everything that is the Church's. In Isaiah,

The whole earth is at rest and is quiet; they burst into cries of joy. Isaiah 14:7.

Here 'the whole earth' stands for the Church.

In Ezekiel,

As the whole earth rejoices. Ezekiel 35:14.

Here too 'the whole earth' stands for the Church.

In Isaiah,

I swore that the waters of Noah should go no more over the earth. Isaiah 54:9.

Here 'the earth' stands for the Church since the Church is the subject here. Because in the Word the earth means the Church it also means what is not the Church, for every such expression has a contrary or opposite sense. This applies, for example, to the various lands of the gentiles, in general to all lands outside the land of Canaan. 'Land' also stands therefore for the people and for the individual outside of the Church, and from this for the external man - for his will, for his proprium, and so on.

[5] In the Word 'earth' rarely stands for the whole world except when it is used to mean the state of the whole human race, whether of the Church or not of the Church. And because the earth includes the ground, which also means the Church, and the ground includes the field, the expression 'earth', entailing many things, has many meanings. But what it means is evident from the subject under discussion to which it refers. From this it now becomes clear that here 'the whole earth was overspread by the sons of Noah' does not mean the whole world, that is, the whole human race, but all doctrines, both true and false, which Churches possessed.

Footnotes:

670. And they ascended into heaven in a cloud.- That this signifies separation as to things internal, and their protection, is evident from the signification of ascending into heaven, when spoken of the two witnesses, as denoting separation from the evil, that is, from those who are in falsities of doctrine from evils of life, and also protection (concerning this see the preceding article, n. 669); and from the signification of a cloud, as denoting the ultimate of Divine Truth, or the external of the Word, which is called the sense of its letter (concerning this see above, n. 36, 594). It is this external in which also many of the evil are. For all who lead an evil life think in themselves in opposition to the truths and goods of the Word, of doctrine, and of the church, although they are in externals. The reason of this is, that they are in the love of evil from life, and love attracts to its side the interiors of the mind, thus the thoughts of its spirit; such persons therefore, when left to themselves to think alone, altogether deny those things which with their lips they confess before the world. It is this external, which also exists with the impious and the evil, that is here meant by a cloud; therefore their ascending into heaven in a cloud signifies separation as to internals, but not as to externals. Separation as to internals, and not as to externals, is meant, because the internals of the two witnesses were spiritual and celestial, but the internals of the evil were infernal and devilish; and spiritual and celestial internals are actually in heaven, therefore it is said that they ascended thither, in order that they might be separated from the evil as to internals, lest the latter should suffer injury.

[2] In order that what is particularly involved in the ascent into heaven of the two witnesses that were slain and lived again may be known, it shall be stated in a few words. At the end of the church, when there is no faith because no charity, the interior things of the Word, which are to serve the new church for doctrine and life, are disclosed. This was done by the Lord Himself, when the end of the Jewish Church was at hand, for then the Lord Himself came into the world, and opened the interior things of the Word, especially those relating to Himself, to love to Him, to love towards the neighbour, and to faith in Him; these previously lay concealed in the interiors of the Word, because they were in its representatives, and consequently in everything pertaining to the church and worship. Those truths therefore which the Lord unfolded were interior truths, and in themselves spiritual, which afterwards served the new church for doctrine and life, as stated just above. But still they were not immediately received, nor till after a considerable lapse of time, as is well known from ecclesiastical history. The reason was, that they could not be received until all things in the spiritual world had been reduced to order, for the spiritual world is conjoined to the natural world with men; unless therefore that world had been first reduced to order, the goods of love and truths of doctrine could not have been understood or perceived by men in the natural world. This was the reason why so long a period intervened before the Christian church was universally established in Europe; for all effects existing in the natural world, especially those which relate to the things of the church, derive their origin from causes in the spiritual world. These things are mentioned in order that it may be known that by the two witnesses being commanded to ascend into heaven is signified in particular that the goods of love and truths of doctrine disclosed at the last time of the church, might not be injured by the evil.

[3] The case was similar when the most ancient church, which was before the flood, came to its end, for then the representatives of celestial things, which existed among the most ancient people, were collected together by those who were called Enoch, and reserved for the use of the new church after the flood. This was called a representative church, because its laws and statutes, and in general its worship, consisted of representatives, or of such things in the natural world as corresponded to spiritual things in the spiritual world. The same thing was done with these, for they were separated from the evil by being taken into heaven, and thus protected, and this went on until the old church reached its close and the time when the new church was to be established; this is described by these words in Genesis:

"And Enoch walked with God, and he was no more, for God took him" (5:24).

That such is meant in the spiritual sense by Enoch, his walking before God, and his being taken by God, see the explanation in the Arcana Coelestia 518-523).

[4] The case is similar to-day. The church, which is called the Christian church, has to-day (hodie) come to its end, therefore the arcana of heaven and of the church are now revealed by the Lord, to serve as the doctrine of life and faith for the new church which is meant by the New Jerusalem in the Apocalypse. This doctrine also has been taken up into heaven, lest harm should be done to it by the evil before the establishment of the New Church. This then is the signification of these words concerning the two witnesses, that "they ascended into heaven"; and also of the words of the following chapter, where of the woman about to bring forth a child, before whom the dragon stood, it is said, "that the child was caught up to God, and to His throne" (Apoc. 12:5). What is specifically meant there by the woman and by the child will be stated in the explanation of the following chapter. From these considerations it is now evident what kind of interior truth is involved in what is said of the two witnesses that ascended by command into heaven in a cloud.