1094. And the earth was lightened with his glory.- That this signifies the church now in light from the influx and reception of Divine Truth, is evident from the signification of the earth, as denoting the church, of which we have frequently spoken; and from the signification of being lightened, as denoting to be in light; and from the signification of glory, is here said of the Lord, who is meant there by the angel, as denoting Divine Truth (concerning which see n. 33, 288, 345, 874). That the Divine Truth is denoted by glory, because it is the light of heaven from which the angels derive all their wisdom and happiness, and also their magnificence, may be seen above (n. 678).

It is said of the angel coming down out of heaven, that he had great power, and that the earth was lightened with his glory because the Last Judgment was accomplished upon those meant by the harlot, or Babylon, this being the meaning of the words of the angel: "Fallen, fallen is Babylon, and is become a habitation of demons and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird" (verse 2). And when judgment was accomplished upon them, then the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord came into its light and into its power; for as long as the Babylonians were tolerated under heaven, they were like dense and dusky clouds between heaven and the earth which intercept the rays of light from the sun, and obscure the day. The reason was that they not only falsified, but also rejected the Divine Truth, that is the Word, and also destroyed the Lord's Divine Power by transferring it to themselves. As long as they were permitted to make habitations for themselves under the heavens, these and several other things were like dusky clouds between heaven and earth, through which the Divine Truth could not pass and enlighten any man of the Church. But as soon as they had been driven away and cast into hell, then the Divine truth which proceeded from the Lord as a Sun, increased in power and light to such a degree that the Lord could not only more powerfully lead, and more clearly enlighten, the spirits under the heavens, but also men in the Church. This is the reason why the spiritual sense of the Word was not revealed before, nor the state of heaven and hell manifested until the Last Judgment was accomplished, for previous to this, the Divine Truth would not have had power and light.

[2] Continuation concerning the Athanasian Creed.- Since a man at his birth, is not in any society either heavenly or infernal, being without thought, and yet is born for eternal life, it follows that, in course of time, he opens either heaven or hell to himself, enters into societies, and becomes an inhabitant either of heaven or of hell, even while he is in the world. The reason why a man becomes an inhabitant there is, that his real dwelling place, and country, as it is called, is in the spiritual world; after he has dwelt a few years in the natural world, he will live there for ever. It may be inferred, from these things, how necessary it is for a man to know, what it is that opens heaven in him, and introduces him into its societies; also, what it is that opens hell in him, and introduces him into its societies. This will be shown in the sections appended to the following articles. We will merely state here that a man introduces himself successively into more and more societies of heaven, according to the increase of wisdom, and successively into more and more interior societies, according to the increase of the love of good; again, so far as heaven is opened to him, so far hell is closed; but it is man himself that opens hell to himself, for heaven is opened to man by the Lord.

5272. 'This is the word which I have spoken to Pharaoh' means what the natural was led to think by the celestial of the spiritual. This is clear from the meaning of 'the word' as the real thing, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'speaking' as thinking, dealt with in 2271, 2287, 2619, 5259; from the representation of 'Joseph', who is the speaker here, as the celestial of the spiritual, and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the natural, both of whom are dealt with above. From all this it is evident that 'this is the word which I have spoken to Pharaoh' means the real thing, or what the natural was led to think by the celestial of the spiritual; see also 5262. Regarding the term 'the word', this is used in the original language to express the idea of the real thing. This also explains why Divine revelation is called the Word, and why too in the highest sense the Lord Himself is called such. And when 'the Word' is used to refer to the Lord, as also when it is used to refer to revelation received from Him, Divine Truth - the source of every real thing that comes into being - is meant in the proximate sense.

[2] This idea that all real things have been brought and are being brought into being by means of Divine Truth going forth from the Lord, thus by means of the Word, is an arcanum which has yet to be disclosed. People's belief and understanding of this is that all things have been created because God has spoken and issued His command, as a king does in his kingdom. But that is not what is meant by saying that all things have been made and created by the Word. Rather, the meaning is that Divine Truth which goes forth from Divine Good, that is, which goes forth from the Lord, is the originator of all things that have been brought and are being brought into being. Divine Truth going forth from Divine Good is the ultimate reality and the essential being within all creation; and this Divine Truth is what makes and creates all things. But scarcely anyone has any other idea of Divine Truth than this - a word or utterance issuing from a speaker's mouth and transmitted into the air. This idea about Divine Truth leads to the notion that 'the Word' means simply a command, so that all things that have been made exist solely because a command has been delivered, not because of some reality that has come forth from the Lord's Divine. But as has been stated, the Divine Truth going forth from the Lord is the ultimate reality and essential being from which all things derive their existence. Every form of what is good and true owes its existence to this. But in the Lord's Divine mercy more will be said later on regarding this arcanum.