48. At this point I shall insert the following account of an experience. ¹

Once I had a talk with two angels, one from the eastern and one from the southern heaven. When they perceived that I was pondering the mysteries of wisdom on the subject of love, they said: 'Don't you know anything about the contests of wisdom in our world?' 'Not yet,' I replied.

'There are many of them,' they said, adding that those who love truths with a spiritual affection, that is, love them because they are truths and are the way to wisdom, meet when the signal is given, to discuss matters requiring profound understanding and form conclusions about them.

They then took me by the hand saying, 'Come with us, and you will see and hear. The signal has been given for a meeting to-day.'

I was taken across a plain to a hill, at the foot of which there was an avenue of palm trees extending all the way to the top. We went into it and climbed the hill. On the top or summit of the hill we saw a wood, among the trees of which a rise in the ground formed a sort of theatre. Inside this was a flat space paved with pebbles of different colours, and around this were ranged seats in a square; these were occupied by the lovers of wisdom. In the middle of the theatre was a table, and a document secured with a seal lay on it.

[2] Those who were sitting on the seats invited us to occupy some which were still vacant, but I replied: 'I have been brought here by two angels to see and listen, not to take part in the session.'

Then the two angels went up to the table in the middle of the arena and broke the seal on the document; they then read out to the meeting the mysteries of wisdom written in the document, which they were to discuss and expound. It had been written by angels of the third heaven, and sent down to lie on the table. There were three mysteries: the first, 'What is the image of God and the likeness of God in which man was created?', the second, 'Why is man born without knowledge of what he should love, yet animals and birds, the highest as well as the lowest, are born knowing all their loves require?'; the third, 'What is the meaning of "the tree of life," "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," and "eating of them"?'

Underneath was written: 'Link these three subjects into a single statement of opinion, and write it on a fresh sheet of paper; then replace it on this table, and we shall look at it. If the opinion appears well-balanced and fair, each of you will be awarded a prize for wisdom.' After reading this out the two angels went away and rose up into their own heavens.

Then those taking part in the session began to discuss and expound the mysteries set before them. They spoke in turn, beginning with those who sat on the north side, then those who sat on the west, then the south and finally the east. They took up the first subject for discussion, which was: 'What is the image of God and what is the likeness of God in which man was created?' First of all the following passages were read aloud from the Book of Creation:

God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and God created man in His own image, to be an image ² of God He made him, Genesis 1:26-27.

On the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God, Genesis 5:1.

[3] Those who sat on the north side were the first to speak. They said that the image and the likeness of God are the two lives breathed into man by God, the life of the will and the life of the understanding. 'For we read,' they said,

Jehovah God breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of lives ³ , and man became a living soul, Genesis 2:7.

This seems to mean that the will to do good and the perception of truth was breathed into him, which could be called the breath of lives. And because life was breathed into him by God, image and likeness mean his uprightness arising from love and wisdom, and from righteousness and the powers of judgment present in him.'

Those who sat on the west side supported this view, with, however, this addition, that the state of uprightness breathed into Adam by God, is constantly breathed into every person after Adam; but it is present in man as it were in a receiver, and a person is an image and likeness of God in accordance with his effectiveness as a receiver.

[4] Then the third group, who sat on the south side, said: 'The image of God and the likeness of God are two separate things, but in man they are combined from his creation. Some kind of inward illumination shows us that the image of God can be destroyed by man, but not His likeness. This is visible as it were through a screen from the fact that

Adam retained the likeness of God, after he had lost the image of God. For we read after his cursing:

See, man is as one of us, knowing good and evil, Genesis 3:22.

and afterwards he is called a likeness of God, but not an image of God (Genesis 5:1). But we would leave our colleagues on the east, who are therefore in better illumination, to say what the image of God and the likeness of God properly are.'

[5] Then, when there was silence, those who sat on the east side rose from their seats and looked up to the Lord. Then they sat down again and said that an image of God was a receiver of God, and since God is Love itself and Wisdom itself, the image of God is the receiving of love and wisdom from God in the man; but the likeness of God was the perfect likeness and complete appearance of love and wisdom being present in man and of belonging to him. 'For man does not know but that he loves and is wise of himself, or that he wills good and understands truth of himself. In fact not a whit is of himself, but from God. It is only God who loves of Himself and is wise of Himself, because God is Love itself and Wisdom itself. The likeness or appearance that love and wisdom, or good and truth, are present in man as if they belonged to him is what makes a man human, and thus able to be linked to God and so to live for ever. The consequence of this is that man's humanity is the result of his ability to will good and understand truth exactly as if he did so of himself, while at the same time knowing and believing that he does so from God. For to the extent that he knows and believes this, God places His image in man; it would be otherwise if he believed it was of himself and not from God.'

[6] After saying this, their love of truth made zeal overcome them and this led them to say: 'How can a person receive any love and wisdom, keep it and reproduce it, unless he feels that it is his own? And how can he be linked with God by love and wisdom, unless he is granted some reciprocal function to permit linking? No linking is possible without reciprocation, and the reciprocal function is man's loving God and doing His will, as if he acted of himself, yet believing that these things come from God. Again, how can a man live for ever, unless he is linked to the everlasting God? So how can a person be human, without that likeness in him?'

[7] All applauded this speech and asked for a conclusion to be drawn from what had been said. The following statement was adopted: 'Man is a receiver of God, and a receiver of God is an image of God. Because God is Love itself and Wisdom itself, man is a receiver of both of these. The receiver becomes an image of God to the extent that he receives them. Man is a likeness of God by virtue of the fact that he feels in himself that what he receives from God is his as if it belonged to him. But still that likeness makes him an image of God to the extent that he acknowledges that the love and wisdom, or good and truth, in him are not his, and do not come from him, but are present only in God and therefore come from Him.

[8] They then took up the next subject for discussion, 'Why is man born without knowledge of what he should love, yet animals and birds, the highest as well as the lowest, are born knowing all their loves require?'

First they established the truth of the proposition by various observations. For instance that man is born without any knowledge, not even knowing about conjugial love. ⁴ They made enquiry and heard from researchers that a baby does not even know its mother's breast from birth, but learns about it by having it repeatedly offered by its mother or nurse; it only knows how to suck, and that is because it has learnt this by continually sucking in its mother's womb. Later on, it does not know how to walk, or to adapt the sounds it makes to form any human word, not even how to express its emotions by sounds as animals do. Moreover, it does not know what food is suitable for it, as animals do, but grabs anything it finds, whether clean or dirty, and puts it in its mouth. The researchers reported that without instruction man knows nothing of the manner of sexual intercourse, and not even young men and women know about this without being told by others. In short, a man is born a mere bodily being like a worm, and bodily he remains unless he learns from others to know, understand and be wise.

[9] They then established that both the higher and lower animals, such as land animals, the birds of the air, reptiles, fish and insects, are born knowing all their loves require in order to live; for instance, everything they need to know about feeding, about where to live, how to copulate and produce young, and about how to bring up their young. They established these facts by remarkable observations which they recalled to mind from what they had seen, heard and read during their previous life in the natural world, where the animals that exist are not representative but real. When they had fully approved the truth of the proposition, they turned their minds to seeking and finding the reasons which would allow them to explain and elucidate this mystery. They all asserted that it must inevitably be due to the Divine Wisdom, that a man is a man and an animal an animal, and thus the imperfection in the birth of man becomes his perfection, and the perfection in the birth of an animal is its imperfection.

[10] The northerners then began to state their opinion. They said that man is born without knowledge, so that he can receive all kinds of knowledge. But if he acquired these by birth, he could never receive any others than those he acquired by birth, and then neither could he make any his own. They illustrated this by a simile. Man at birth is like soil in which no seeds have been planted, but which can receive every kind of seed, grow them and bring them to fruiting. But an animal is like soil which has already been sown, filled with grass and plants, and unable to receive any seeds other than those implanted. If others were sown, it would choke them. That is the reason why it takes man many years to grow up, a period long enough to allow him to be cultivated like the soil, and to bring forth, so to speak, all kinds of crops, flowers and trees. An animal, however, takes only a few years, because it does not need time to be cultivated to produce anything but what it possesses from birth.

[11] The westerners spoke next. They said that man has by birth, not knowledge like an animal, but ability and inclination, the ability to know and the inclination to love. He has by birth not only the ability [to know, but also to understand and to be wise. Also he is born with the most perfect inclination not only] ⁵ to love what is his own and worldly, but also what is God's and heavenly. As a result man is born an organ which lives with difficulty and dimly by its external senses, and he has by birth no internal senses, so that he may by stages acquire life and become first a natural man, then a rational and finally a spiritual man. This would not happen, if he were endowed by birth with knowledge and loves, like animals. For inborn knowledge and affections of love limit that progress, but mere abilities and inclinations can be inborn without limiting it. Consequently man is capable of becoming more perfect in knowledge, intelligence and wisdom for ever.

[12] The Southerners followed on with their statement. They said that it is impossible for man to acquire any knowledge from himself, but he must do so from others, since he has no inborn knowledge. 'Since he cannot acquire any knowledge from himself, neither can he acquire any love, since where there is no knowledge, there is no love. Knowledge and love are inseparable companions, and can no more be divided than will and understanding, or affection and thought, indeed no more than essence and form. Therefore as a person acquires knowledge from others, so love attaches itself to him as his companion. The universal love which attaches itself is the love of knowing, and later on the loves of understanding and being wise. Only man has these loves, animals have none; they flow in from God.

[13] 'We agree with our colleagues on the west that man has by birth no love and consequently no knowledge, but only the inclination to love, and consequently the ability to receive knowledge, not from himself, but from others, that is, by way of others. We say "by way of others," because neither have they received anything from themselves, but in origin all knowledge is from God. We also agree with our colleagues on the north that man immediately at birth is like soil in which no seeds have been planted, but where fine as well as worthless seeds can be planted. That is why man (homo) is so called from soil (humus), and is called Adam from adama, which means soil. ⁶ We would add that animals have by birth natural loves, and consequently the kinds of knowledge that correspond to them, yet this knowledge does not enable them to know, think, understand and be wise, but they are guided to this knowledge by their loves, almost like blind people being guided through the streets by dogs. As far as their understanding is concerned, they are blind, or rather, like sleepwalkers who do what they do by blind knowledge while the understanding is asleep.'

[14] The last to speak were the easterners. 'We are in agreement,' they said, 'with what our brothers have said, that man knows nothing from himself, but only from others and by way of others, so that he may recognise and acknowledge that all he knows, understands and is wise about he owes to God. Man could not in any other way be born and be created by God, and become His image and likeness. For he becomes an image of God by his acknowledgment and belief that he has received and continues to receive all the good of love and charity and all the truth of wisdom and faith from God, and not a whit from himself. He is a likeness of God by his feeling these things in himself as if from himself. He has this feeling because he has no knowledge from birth, but receives different kinds of knowledge, and it seems to him as if he received them from himself. Man is permitted by God to have this feeling so that he should be a man and not an animal, since by willing, thinking, loving, knowing, understanding and being wise as if from himself he receives different kinds of knowledge and sublimates them into intelligence, and by using them into wisdom. Thus God links man to Himself, and man links himself to God.

These things could not happen if God had not provided that man was born in a state of complete ignorance.'

[15] After this statement there was a general move to draw a conclusion from the matters discussed, and the following was adopted. 'Man is born without any knowledge so that he can acquire knowledge of all kinds and advance to intelligence and through this to wisdom. He is born without any loves so that he can acquire all kinds of loves, by putting to use his knowledge derived from his intelligence, and acquire love to God by means of love towards the neighbour. Thus he may be linked with God and so become fully man and live forever.'

[16] Then they took up the document again and read out the third subject for discussion. This was: 'What is the meaning of "the tree of life," "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," and "eating of them"?' They all begged those on the east to expound this mystery, since it required a more profound understanding, and those who are from the east enjoy a flame-like light, that is, the wisdom of love. This wisdom is what is meant by "the Garden of Eden," in which those two trees were placed.

'We will tell you.' they replied, 'but since man gets nothing from himself, but from God, we shall draw our statement from God, but still speak as if it were we ourselves who were speaking. "A tree,' they went on to say, "Means man, and its fruit the good of life. So "the tree of life" means a man who has life from God. And since love and wisdom, charity and faith, or good and truth make up life from God in man, "the tree of life" means the man who has these qualities from God, and thus everlasting life. "The tree of life" from which people will be given to eat (Revelation 2:7; 22:2, 14) has a similar meaning.

[17] "‘The tree of the knowledge of good and evil" means a man who believes that he has life from himself, and not from God; and so, that love and wisdom, charity and faith, that is, good and truth in him are his and not God's. He believes this because in what he thinks and wills, says and does, he seems and appears to behave exactly as if he did so of himself. So since he goes so far as to persuade himself that he is God, the serpent said:

God knows that on the day you eat of the fruit of that tree your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil,Genesis 3:5.

[18] "Eating" from those trees means receiving and making one's own. "Eating of the tree of life" means receiving everlasting life; "eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" means receiving damnation. "The serpent" means the devil, a personification of self-love and pride in one's own intelligence. Self-love is the owner of that tree, and people who are proud of that love are those trees. It is therefore a huge error if people believe that Adam was wise and did good of himself, and this was his uncorrupted state, when in fact Adam himself was cursed for holding that belief. For this is the meaning of "eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." He therefore fell from his uncorrupted state, which he had by virtue of his belief that he was wise and did good entirely from God and in no respect of himself; for this is what "eating of the tree of life" means. Only the Lord, during His life on earth, had wisdom from Himself and did good of Himself, because the Divine itself was in Him and was His from birth. Therefore by His own power He became the Redeemer and Saviour.'

[19] From both these points they reached the following conclusion: ‘"The tree of life" and "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" and "eating of them" mean that life for a person is having God in him, and then he enjoys heaven and everlasting life; and that it is death for a person to be persuaded and believe that life for a man is not God but himself, for thus he finds hell and everlasting death, in other words, damnation.'

[20] Then they looked at the document the angels had left on the table and read the words written at the bottom: 'Link these subjects into a single opinion.' Then they brought the three subjects together and saw that they hung together in a single series. This series or opinion was as follows: 'Man has been created so that he may receive love and wisdom from God, yet it appears exactly as if he did so from himself, which is to allow him to receive them and so be linked; therefore man is born without any love or any knowledge, without even the ability to love and be wise of himself; therefore if he attributes all the good of love and all the truth of wisdom to God he becomes a living man, but if he attributes them to himself he becomes a dead man.'

They wrote these words on a fresh sheet of paper and laid it on the table. Suddenly the angels appeared in a shining cloud and carried the document off to heaven. When it had been read there, those who sat on the seats heard the words, Well done, well done, well done. At once there appeared one as it were flying; he had two wings at his feet and two more at his temples. He brought as prizes gowns, hats and laurel-wreaths. He came down and gave those who sat on the north gowns of iridescent colour; to those on the west gowns of scarlet; to those on the south hats decorated at the rim with bands of gold and pearls, and on the raised left side with diamonds cut into the shape of flowers. To those on the east he gave laurel-wreaths decorated with rubies and sapphires. All who had taken part in the contest of wisdom went cheerfully home resplendent in their prizes.

Footnotes:

573. And the number of the armies of the horsemen was two myriads of myriads.- That this signifies innumerable falsities of evil, from which and on behalf of which there are reasonings, which conspire against the truths of good, is evident from the signification of armies, as denoting the falsities of evil, of which in what follows; and from the signification of horsemen, as denoting reasonings thence; for horses, in the Word, signify the understanding of truth, and in the opposite sense, the understanding perverted and destroyed, as may be seen above (n. 355, 364, 372, 373, 381, 382); horsemen, therefore, in this sense, signify reasonings from falsities, because these are of the understanding perverted and destroyed, for truths form the understanding, but falsities destroy it; and from the signification of two myriads of myriads, as denoting that they are innumerable and conspire against the truths of good; that the term myriads signifies what is innumerable and is used in reference to truths, may be seen above (n. 336). And it is said two myriads of myriads because things innumerable that conjoin, and unite, are signified, for the number two signifies conjunction, agreement, and union, as may be seen above (n. 283, 384). The reason why it is said, against the truths of good, is that the subject treated of in what follows is the destruction of truth by the armies of such horsemen. From these considerations it is clear, that the number of the armies of the horsemen being two myriads of myriads, signifies that the falsities of evil from which, and on behalf of which reasonings exist, are innumerable and conspire against the truths of good.

[2] In the Word, the term armies (hosts) is frequently used, and also the Lord is called Jehovah of Hosts or Zebaoth, and by hosts are there signified truths from good fighting against falsities from evil, and in the opposite sense, falsities from evil fighting against truths from good. Hosts signify such things in the Word, because the wars there mentioned, both in the historical and prophetical parts, signify in the internal sense spiritual wars waged against hell and the diabolical crew there, and such wars have relation to truths and goods combating against falsities and evils, and hence it is that armies signify all truths from good, and in the opposite sense, all falsities from evil. That they signify all truths from good, is evident from this fact, that the sun, the moon, the stars, and also the angels, are called the armies of Jehovah, because they signify all truths from good in their whole extent. Also the sons of Israel, because they signify the truths and goods of the church, are called armies; and because all truths and goods are from the Lord, and He alone combats for all in heaven, and for all in the church, against falsities and evils from hell, therefore He is called Jehovah Zebaoth, that is, [Jehovah] of armies [or hosts].

[3] That the sun, the moon, and the stars, are called armies [or hosts], is plain from numerous passages.

Thus in Moses:

"The heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them (Genesis 2:1).

So in David:

"By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth" (Psalm 33:6).

Again:

"Praise ye" Jehovah, "all his angels; praise ye him, all his hosts. Praise ye him, sun and moon; praise him, all ye stars of light" (Psalm 148:2, 3).

And in Isaiah:

"All the host of the heavens shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling [fig] from the fig-tree" (34:4).

And again, in the same prophet:

"I have made the earth, and created man upon it; my hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded" (45:12).

And again:

"Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by name" (40:26).

So in Jeremiah:

"As the host of the heavens is not numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured:" (33:22).

In these passages, the sun, the moon, and stars, are called a host [or army], because the sun signifies the good of love, the moon, truth from good, while the stars signify the cognitions of truth and good, consequently they signify goods and truths in their whole extent, and they are called an army, because they resist evils and falsities, and continually conquer them as enemies.

[4] So in Daniel:

One horn of the he-goat "waxed great, even to the host of the heavens; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and trampled upon them. Yea, it magnified itself even to the prince of the host, and from him the continual [burnt-offering] was taken away, and the dwellingplace of his sanctuary was cast down. And the host was delivered up upon the continual [burnt-offering] for transgression, because it cast down the truth to the ground. One holy one said, How long this vision, the continual [burnt-offering], and the desolating transgression, to give both the holy place and the host to be trampled upon? And he said unto the evening morning" (8:10-14).

The signification of the he-goat, here mentioned, of his horns, and of this horn which waxed great even to the host of the heavens, may be seen above (n. 316:16, 336, 535). By the host of the heavens, which he cast down to the earth, are meant the truths and goods of heaven; for the subject here treated of is the last state of the church, when the truths and goods of heaven are thought to be of no importance, and are rejected, which is signified by their being trampled upon; wherefore it also follows, that he cast down the truth to the earth. The prince of the host means the Lord, who is also called Jehovah God Zebaoth, or of armies [or hosts]. That all worship from the good of love and the truths of faith would perish, is signified by the continual [burnt-offering] being taken away from him, and the dwelling-place of his sanctuary being cast down. That this would come to pass at the end of the church, when the Lord would come into the world, is signified by unto the evening morning, the evening denoting the last time of the old church, and the morning, the commencement of the new church.

[5] That the angels are called hosts is evident from the following passages.

Thus in Joel:

"Jehovah uttered his voice before his army; for his camp is very great" (2:11).

And in Zechariah:

"I will place a camp to my house concerning the army, because of him that goeth away, and because of him that returneth; that the exactor may no more pass through over them" (9:8).

And in David:

"Bless ye Jehovah, all ye his hosts, ye ministers of his that do his pleasure" (103:21).

And in the 1st Book of Kings:

Micah the prophet said to the king, "I saw Jehovah sitting on his throne and all the host of the heavens standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner" (22:19, 20).

So in the Apocalypse:

"His armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean" (19:14).

And again:

"I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the white horse, and against his army" (19:19).

The reason why angels gathered together or a consociation of them are called armies, is, that angels, like armies, signify Divine truths and goods, because they are the recipients of them from the Lord, concerning which, see above (n. 130, 200, 302).

[6] It is for the same reason also, that the sons of Israel are called armies, because they signify the truths and goods of the church.

Thus in Moses:

"Jehovah said, Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies" (Exodus 6:26).

Again:

"I will bring forth mine army, my people the sons of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments" (Exodus 7:4; 12:17).

Again:

"It came to pass even the self same day, that all the armies of Jehovah went out from the land of Egypt" (12:41).

And again:

Thou shalt number "every one going into the army" (Num. 1:3).

Again it is said:

That the camp should be pitched around the tent of meeting, and also that they should set out according to their armies (Num. 2:3, 9, 24);

and again,

that the Levites were chosen to wait upon the service (militia) to do the work in the tent of meeting (Num. 4:3, 23, 30, 39).

The sons of Israel were called the armies of Jehovah, because they represented the church, and signified all its truths and goods, as may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 5414, 5801, 5803, 5806, 5812, 5817, 5819, 5826, 5833, 5879, 5951, 6637, 6862, 6868, 7035, 7062, 7198, 7201, 7215, 7223, 7957, 8234, 8805, 9340). They were called armies in the plural, because each tribe was called an army, as is evident in Moses, for when it was commanded that all should be numbered according to their armies, they were numbered according to their tribes (Num. 1:3, and following verses). Similarly when the camp was pitched around the tent of Meeting, according to the tribes, it is said "according to their armies" (Num. 2:3, 9, and following verses). The tribes were called armies, because the twelve tribes taken together represented all the truths and goods of the church, and each tribe some universal essential of it; see above (n. 431).

[7] From these considerations it is evident, that the truths and goods of heaven and the church are meant by armies in the Word; and from these things the reason why Jehovah is called in the Word, Jehovah Zebaoth, and Jehovah God Zebaoth, that is, of armies, is perfectly clear (as in Isaiah 1:9, 24; 2:12; 3:1, 15; 5:7, 9, 16, 24; 6:3, 5; 8:13, 18; 14:22, 23, 24, 27; 17:3; 25:6; 28:5, 22, 29; 29:6; 31:4, 5; 37:16; Jerem. 5:14; 38:17; 44:7; Amos 5:16; Haggai 1:9, 14; 2:4, 8, 23; Zech. 1:3; Malachi 2:12; and various other places).

[8] From these things it is now evident, that armies signify the truths and goods of heaven and the church in their whole extent; and because most things in the Word have also an opposite sense, so also have armies, in which sense they signify falsities and evils in their whole extent. This will appear from the following passages of the Word.

Thus in Jeremiah:

"Upon the roofs" of the houses "they have burned incense unto all the host of the heavens, and have poured out drink-offerings unto other gods" (19:13).

And in Zephaniah:

"They worship the host of the heavens upon the house tops" (1:5).

And in Moses:

"Lest thou bow thyself and worship the sun, and moon, and the stars, and all the host of the heavens" (Deuteronomy 4:19; 17:3).

And in Jeremiah:

"They shall spread" the bones brought out from the sepulchre "before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of the heavens, whom they have loved, and whom they have served" (8:2).

Here by the host of the heavens, are meant the sun, moon, and stars, because these signify all goods and truths in the aggregate, but, in this case, all evils and falsities in the aggregate; for the sun, in the opposite sense, as here, signifies all evil springing from the love of self, the moon, the falsity of faith, while the stars signify falsities in general. That by the sun, moon, and stars, in the natural world, when they are worshipped instead of the sun and moon of the angelic heaven, are signified abominable evils and falsities, may be seen in Heaven and Hell 122, 123), and also above (n. 401, 402, 525). And since truths from good fight against falsities from evil, and, on the contrary, falsities from evil against truths from good, therefore they are called armies. There is therefore continual combat, because evils and falsities continually exhale from the hells, and endeavour to destroy the truths from good that are in heaven, and from heaven, and which continually offer resistance. For everywhere in the spiritual world there is an equilibrium between heaven and hell; and where an equilibrium exists, there two forces continually act against each other, one acting and the other reacting, and continual action and reaction is continual combat; but an equilibrium is always provided by the Lord, as may be seen in the Heaven and Hell 589-596, and n. 597-603). And because there is such a continual combat between heaven and hell, therefore, as all things of heaven are called armies, so also are all things of hell.

All things of heaven have reference to goods and truths, and all things of hell, to evils and falsities. Hence it is that in the following passages hosts signify the falsities of evil.

[9] Thus in Isaiah:

"The anger of Jehovah is against all nations, and his wrath against all their army; he hath devoted them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter" (34:2).

Here nations signify evils, and army, falsities from evil; the total destruction of these is signified by he hath devoted them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.

[10] Again:

"The voice of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; the voice of the tumult of the kingdoms of nations gathered together; Jehovah Zebaoth leadeth the army" (13:4).

Here the voice of a multitude in the mountains, signifies falsities from evils, a multitude denoting falsities, and mountains denoting evils. Like as of a great people, signifies the appearance as it were of truth from good, the words, like as, denoting appearance, "people" denoting those who are in truths, and thus truths, while great is used in reference to good. The voice of the tumult of the kingdoms of nations gathered together, signifies dissension in the church springing from evils and falsities thence, the voice of the tumult denoting dissension, kingdoms, the church as to truths and falsities, and nations gathered together, as to evils and the falsities therefrom conspiring against the goods and truths of the church. Jehovah Zebaoth leadeth the army, signifies that it is accomplished by the Lord, for this is ascribed to the Lord, as is plain from the fifth verse immediately following in which it is said: "Jehovah cometh with the weapons of his anger, to destroy the whole land." This is attributed to the Lord just as evil, the punishment of evil, and the destruction of the church are also ascribed to Him in other passages of the Word, because such is the appearance of things, for the sense of the letter of the Word is written according to appearances. But in the spiritual sense, such things mean that the man of the church himself does them.

[11] Again, in Jeremiah:

"Spare ye not her young men; give to the curse all her host" (51:3).

The subject here treated of is Babylon; and by not sparing her young men, is signified the destruction of confirmed falsities. By giving to the curse all her army, is signified the total destruction of falsities from evils pertaining to her, thus the destruction of Babylon. Falsities from evil are signified also by the army of the Chaldeans, and the army of Pharaoh (Jeremiah 37:7-11, and following verses);

and in Moses, by

"The waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh" (Exodus 14:28; 15:4);

this is explained above (n. 355:37), and in the Arcana Coelestia 8230, 8275).

[12] So in Daniel:

"The king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and after the end of the times of the years he shall come with a great army and with much riches. And he shall stir up his powers and his heart against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall stir himself up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand" (11:13, 25).

The subject treated of in that chapter is the war between the king of the north and the king of the south, and by the king of the north are meant those within the church who are in the falsities of evil, and by the king of the south, those within the church who are in the truths of good; there collision and combat at the end of the church, in the spiritual sense are described by their war; therefore by the army of the king of the north are meant falsities of every kind, and by the army of the king of the south truths of every kind.

[13] So in Luke:

"When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the devastation thereof is nigh" (21:20).

In that chapter the Lord speaks of the consummation of the age, which signifies the last time of the church. Jerusalem means the church as to doctrine; and its being compassed with armies, means the possession of it by falsities. That then the destruction of it comes, and presently the last judgment, is signified by its desolation being then nigh. It is supposed that these things were said concerning the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, but from the details of the chapter it is evident that it treats of the destruction of the church at its end; similarly in Matthew 24 from the first verse to the last, an explanation of which is given in the Arcana Coelestia. Nevertheless this is not opposed to the literal meaning concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, but that destruction represented and therefore signified the destruction of the church at its end; this is confirmed by every detail in the chapter, considered in the spiritual sense.

[14] Again, in David:

"God hath cast off, and put us to shame; and he hath not gone forth with our armies. Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy" (Psalm 44:9, 10).

Here by God not going forth with their armies, signifies that he did not defend them, because they were in falsities of evil, for armies denote falsities of evil; therefore it is said that they were cast off, and put to shame, and made to turn back from the enemy, the enemy denoting evil from hell.

[15] Again, in Joel:

"I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, and the grasshopper, and the palmer-worm, my great army which I sent among you" (2:25).

That the great army signifies falsities and evils of every kind, is evident from this fact, that by those destructive little creatures, - the locust, the canker-worm, the grasshopper, and the palmer-worm, are signified the falsities and evils which vastate or consume the truths and goods of the church, as may be seen above (n. 543:9), where this passage is explained, and where it is shown that the locust and grasshopper signify the falsities [and evils] of the sensual man. The signification of armies in the Word in both senses is now evident from these things. Similar things are signified by hosts (or armies) in the historical parts of the Word, for they, as well as the prophetical parts, contain a spiritual sense; but it shines forth less clearly because the mind, being detained in the historical circumstances, can be scarcely elevated above the worldly things therein so as to see the spiritual things which are stored up in them.