1129. And the kings of the earth shall weep for her and wail over her.- That this signifies the mourning and grief of heart of those who have exercised that power, is evident from the signification of weeping over and wailing, which denotes mourning and grief of heart, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of the kings of the earth, who denote those who are in truths from good, and, in the opposite sense, those who are in falsities from evil, concerning which see above (n. 29, 31, 625, 1034, 1063); here those who exercise that power are signified, therefore they are called kings of the earth, the earth meaning the church. That these are signified by kings of the earth, is evident from what follows, for it is said who have committed whoredom with her, and lived delicately, which signifies those who were in falsities and evils from delight in that power. Those who are in truths from good, who are also signified by kings of the earth, can neither weep nor wail over her.

[2] The terms to weep and wail are used, because to weep signifies mourning on account of falsities, and to wail, mourning on account of evils, in both cases because they are lost. To weep then has reference to the falsity which they called truth, and to wail has reference to the evil which they called good. It is for this reason, that weeping and wailing are mentioned together in the Word. As in Jeremiah:

"O daughter of my people, make thee the mourning of an only-begotten, a wailing of bitternesses, because suddenly will the spoiler come upon us" (6:26).

Here it is said "mourning" because truth is destroyed, and "wailing" because good is destroyed. The spoiler signifies the deprivation of these, and thus the end of the church.

In Micah:

"I will make a wailing like dragons, and a mourning like the daughters of the owl" (1:8).

Because wailing has reference to good, and in the opposite sense, to evil, therefore it is said, "I will make a wailing like dragons," dragons denoting those who are in the lusts (cupiditatibus) of evil. And because mourning has reference to falsity, it is said, "I will make a mourning like the daughters of the owl," the daughters of the owl denoting those who are in falsities and the pleasures of them. Owls signify falsities because they see in darkness but not in the light.

In Zechariah:

"They shall wail over him, according to the wailing over an only-begotten, and they shall mourn over him according to the mourning over a first-begotten" (12:10).

Here also "wailing" is said of the deprivation of good, and mourning of the deprivation of truth.

Similarly in Jeremiah:

"Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go away to wail" (16:5).

Both mourning and wailing are mentioned on account of the marriage of good and truth; and also on account of that marriage which is not of good and truth - which is in every part of the Word.

[3] Continuation concerning the Athanasian Creed, and concerning the Lord.- That all things are from life itself, which is God, and which is Wisdom and Love, may also be illustrated by means of created objects, when they are considered from the standpoint of order. For it is from order that the angelic heavens, consisting of thousands and thousands of societies, act as one (unum agunt), through love to the Lord, and through love towards the neighbour, and that they are maintained in order by Divine truths, which are the laws of order. It is again from order that the hells beneath them, which are also distinguished into thousands and thousands of congregations, are kept in order by means of judgments and punishments; so that although they are hatreds and insanities, still they are unable to cause the least mischief to the heavens. It is also from order, that there is between the heavens and the hells that equilibrium, in which a man is in the world, and in which he is led to heaven if led by the Lord, to hell if led by himself. For it is a law of order, that man shall act in all that he does from freedom according to reason.

[4] Since so many myriads of myriads of men, from the creation of the world, have been pouring both into heaven and hell, and are perpetually pouring in like streams, each individual being of a dissimilar genius and love, it would have been utterly impossible for them to be consociated together into one, unless God were one, who is life itself, this life being wisdom itself, love itself, and therefore order itself. These things are said concerning heaven. But in the natural world, Divine order is evident from the sun, the moon, the stars, and the planets. The sun, according to appearance, makes years, days, and hours, also the seasons of the year - spring, summer, autumn, and winter; the divisions of the day - morning, mid-day, evening, and night. It vivifies all things on the earth, according to their reception of its heat in conjunction with its light, and of its light in conjunction with its heat. According to its reception it opens, disposes, and prepares living bodies and material substances, which are in and upon the earth, to receive influx from the spiritual world. Hence, in the time of spring, through the union of heat and light at that season, the birds of heaven and the beasts of the earth return into the love of prolification, and into the knowledge (scientia) of everything belonging to it. Plants also renew their functions and activities in the production of leaves, flowers, and fruits, and in these, seeds, for the continual perpetuation of their kinds and for their increase to infinity.

[5] It is also from order, that the earth produces plants, and that these supply animals with nourishment, while both the one and the other are serviceable to man, for food, clothing, and pleasure; and since man is the being in whom God dwells, all things in this way return to God from whom they are. From these considerations it is evident, that created things succeed each other in such order, that one exists for another; that they are perpetual ends - which are uses, and that ends which are uses constantly operating in such a way that they may return to God from whom they are. These things then testify, that all things were created from life itself, which is wisdom itself; and they further testify that the created universe is full of God.

31. (Verse 6) And hath made us kings and priests. That this signifies, that from Him we are in His spiritual and celestial kingdom, is evident from the signification of kings as being those who are in truths from good, and, because these constitute the spiritual kingdom of the Lord, as being those who are in His spiritual kingdom - that such are signified by kings in the Word, will be evident from what follows; and from the signification of priests, as denoting those who are in the good of love, and, because these constitute the celestial kingdom of the Lord, as denoting those who are in His celestial kingdom. (That there are two kingdoms into which the heavens are in general distinguished, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 20-28; and that the spiritual kingdom is called the regal kingdom of the Lord, and the celestial kingdom His priestly kingdom, may be seen in the same work, n. 24.) Mention is made of kings in many places in the prophetic Word, and those who are ignorant of the internal sense, believe that kings are there meant; kings, however, are not meant, but all those who are in truths from good, or in faith from charity, from the Lord; the reason is, that the Lord is the only King, and those who, from the Lord, are in truths from good, are called His sons. This is why, by princes, sons of the kingdom, sons of kings, and also by kings such are meant; and that abstractedly from persons, as is the case in heaven, truths from good are meant, or, what is the same thing, faith from charity; because truth pertains to faith, and good to charity.

[2] That kings are not meant, may be evident from the expression alone here used, namely, that Jesus Christ hath made us kings and priests; and afterwards,

"Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth" (Apoc. 5:10);

And in Matthew:

"The [good] seed are the sons of the kingdom" (13:38)

the seed sown in the field denotes truths from good, which man has from the Lord (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 3373, 10248, 10249). Every one also may perceive that the Lord will not make all those who are there treated of kings, that He calls them kings from the power and the glory belonging to those who are in truths from good from the Lord.

From these considerations it may now be seen, that by king, in the prophetic Word, is meant the Lord as to Divine truth, and by kings and princes, those who are in truths from good from the Lord; and, as most terms used in the Word have also an opposite sense, in that sense kings signify those who are in falsities from evil.

[3] That by king in the Word is meant the Lord as to Divine truth, is evident from the words of the Lord Himself to Pilate:

"Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is in the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?" (John 18:37, 38).

From the question of Pilate, What is truth? it is evident that he understood that the Lord called truth a king; but because he was a Gentile, and knew nothing from the Word, he could not be instructed that Divine truth was from the Lord, and that He was Divine truth; therefore, immediately after his question, "He went out to the Jews, saying, I find no fault in him"; and afterwards put upon the cross,

"This is Jesus, the king of the Jews. And when the chief priests said unto him, Write not, The king of the Jews, but that he said, I am the king of the Jews, Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written" (John 19:19-22).

[4] These things being understood, it may be known what is meant by kings in the following passages in the Apocalypse:

"The sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates, and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared" (16:12).

With the great whore that sitteth upon many waters, "the kings of the earth have committed fornication" (17:1, 2).

"The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth, and they are seven kings; five are fallen, the other is not yet come. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, who have not yet received the kingdom, but they receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them; for he is Lord of lords and King of kings" (17:9, 10, 12, 14).

"And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth" (17:18).

"All nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of the fornication" of Babylon, "and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her" (18:3).

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

"And the nations which are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honour into it" (21:24).

In these passages by kings are not meant kings, but all who are either in truths from good, or in falsities from evil, as said above.

In like manner in Daniel, by "the king of the south," and "the king of the north," who made war against each other (11:1to the end). By the king of the south are there meant those who are in the light of truth from good, and by the king of the north those who are in darkness from evil. (That the south in the Word signifies those who are in the light of truth from good, may be seen,Arcana Coelestia 1458, 3708, 3195, 5672, 9642, and the north those who are in the darkness of falsity from evil, n. 3708, and in general in the work, Heaven and Hell 141-153; where the four quarters in heaven are treated of.)

[5] Kings are also frequently mentioned by the prophets in the Old Testament, where also are likewise meant those who are in truths from good from the Lord, and, in an opposite sense, those who are in falsities from evil; as in Isaiah:

"He shall disperse many nations; kings shall shut their mouths upon him; because what was [not] told them they have seen, and what they have not heard they have understood" (52:15).

And in the same:

"Zion of the Holy One of Israel, thou shalt suck the milk of the nations, and shalt suck the breasts of kings" (60:16).

Also, in the same:

"Kings shall be thy nursing fathers and princesses thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to thee with their face to the earth" (49:23).

And moreover in Isaiah 14:9; 24:21; 60:10; Jerem. 2:26; 4:9; 49:38; Lament. 2:6, 9; Ezekiel 7:26, 27; Hosea, 3:4; Zeph. 1:8; Psalm 2:10; 110:5. Falsities, Genesis 49:20.

[6] Because kings signify those who are in truths from good from the Lord, therefore it became a custom from ancient times, that kings, when they were crowned, should be distinguished by certain insignia which signify truths from good; as, for example, that the king should be anointed with oil, that he should wear a crown of gold, that he should hold a sceptre in the right hand, that he should be clothed with a crimson robe, that he should sit upon a throne of silver, and that he should ride with his insignia upon a white horse. (For oil signifies good from which is truth, as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 886, 4683, 9780, 9954, 10011, 10261, 10268; a crown of gold upon the head has a similar signification, n. 9930; a sceptre, which is a staff, signifies the power of truth from good, n. 4581, 4876, 4966; a robe and cloak signifies Divine truth in the spiritual kingdom, n. 9825, 10005; and crimson, the spiritual love of good, n. 9467; a throne, the kingdom of truth from good, n. 5313, 6397, 8625; and silver, that truth itself, n. 1551, 1552, 2954, 5658.) A white horse signifies the understanding enlightened from truths (as may be seen in the little work, The White Horse 1-5. That rituals observed at the coronation of kings involve such things, but that the knowledge thereof is at this day lost, see also n. 4581, 4966).

[7] Since it is evident from these things what is signified by king in the Word, I will add to the above, why the Lord, when He entered Jerusalem, sat upon the foal of an ass, and why the people then proclaimed Him king, and also strewed their garments in the way (Matthew 21:1-8; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-40; John 12:14-16); which is predicted in Zechariah:

"Exult, O daughter of Zion! shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy king cometh unto thee, just and having salvation; riding upon an ass, and upon the foal of an ass" (9:9; Matthew 21:5; John 12:15).

The reason of this was, that to sit upon an ass, and upon the foal of an ass, was the mark of distinction belonging to a chief, judge and also to a king. This is evident from the following passages:

"My heart is toward the lawgivers of Israel, ye who ride upon white asses" (Judges 5:9, 10).

"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; who shall bind his ass's foal to the vine, and the son of his she-ass to the noble vine" (Genesis 49:10, 11).

Because to sit upon an ass and the foal of an ass was a sign of such rank, therefore the judges rode upon white asses (Judges 5:9, 10), and their sons upon asses' colts (Judges 10:4, and 12:14); and a king himself, when he was crowned, upon a she-mule (1 Kings 1:33), and his sons upon mules (2 Sam. 13:29). He who does not know what is signified in a representative sense by a horse, a mule, and the foal of an ass, supposes that the Lord's riding upon the foal of an ass, signified affliction and humiliation; whereas it signified regal magnificence; therefore also the people then proclaimed the Lord king, and strewed their garments upon the way. (The reason why this was done when He went into Jerusalem was because by Jerusalem is signified the church, as may be seen in the small work, The New Jerusalem and its Doctrine, n. 6; that garments signify truths clothing good, and ministering to it, may be seen in Arcana Coelestia, n. 1073, 2576, 5248, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216, 9952, 10536, and in the work, Heaven and Hell 177-182.)

[8] From these things it is now evident what is signified by king and by kings in the Word, so also, what by the Anointed, Messiah, and Christ; for Anointed, Messiah, and Christ, just as King, signify the Lord as to Divine truth going forth from His Divine good; for a king is called the anointed, and the term signifying anointed is Messiah in Hebrew and Christ in Greek. (But that the Lord, as to His Divine Human was alone "the Anointed of Jehovah," because in Him alone was the Divine good of the Divine love from conception, because He was conceived of Jehovah; but all the anointed only represented Him, as may be seen, n. 9954, 10011, 10269. But that priests signified the good that exists in the celestial kingdom may be seen in Arcana Coelestia, where it is shown that priests represented the Lord as to Divine good, n.2015, 6148; that the priesthood was representative of the Lord as to the work of salvation, because this was from the Divine good of His Divine love, see n. 9809; that the priesthood of Aaron, of his sons, and of the Levites was representative of the work of salvation in successive order, see n. 10017; that hence by the priesthood, and by priesthoods in the Word, is signified the good of love which is from the Lord, see n. 9806, 9809. That by the two names, Jesus and Christ, is signified both His priestly and His regal function, that is, by Jesus is signified the Divine good, and by Christ the Divine truth, n.3004, 3005, 3009. That priests who do not acknowledge the Lord, and also kings, represent the contrary of the above, or evil and the falsity from evil, n. 3670.)