702. And there were lightnings, voices, and thunders.- That this signifies that at that time, in the lower places where the evil are, there were conflicts and disturbances of thought, and reasonings from evils and falsities concerning goods and truths, is evident from the signification of lightnings, voices, and thunders, as denoting enlightenment, thoughts, and perceptions (concerning which see above, n. 273); and, in the opposite sense, as here, conflicts and disturbances of thought, and reasonings from evils and falsities concerning the goods and truths of the church (concerning which also see above, n. 498). In a strict sense, lightnings signify darkenings of the understanding, voices, reasonings, while thunderings signify conclusions of falsity from evil; and since, according to the state of the interiors of those with whom they are, there then arise conflicts and disturbances of affections and thoughts, and consequent reasonings from evils and falsities concerning the goods and truths of the church, therefore this is the signification of these words in their logical connection with what precedes. That the lightnings, voices, and thunders, as well as the earthquake and the great hail, were in the lower parts, is clear. For it was in the higher parts that the temple and the ark of the covenant in the temple were seen, which signify the manifestation of a new heaven where there is worship of the Lord, and a representation of Divine Truth through which conjunction takes place, as is evident from the explanations of the preceding particulars. That such things took place in the lower parts through influx out of the higher heavens has been already made clear. But since these things are such as not to fall into any one's understanding except by living revelation, and consequent knowledge respecting the influx of higher things into lower things in the spiritual world, and because these things have been revealed to me, and thus made known, I will briefly explain this interior fact (arcanum).

[2] In the spiritual world - by which both the heavens and the hells are meant - the arrangement is such, that the heavens are like expanses one above the other, and under the heavens is the world of spirits, and under this are the hells, one below another. Influx from the Lord takes place according to this successive arrangement, thus through the inmost heaven into the middle, and through this into the ultimate, and from these in their order into the hells which lie beneath. The world of spirits is in the midst, and receives influx from both the heavens and the hells, each one there according to the state of his life.

[3] But this arrangement of the heavens and the hells underwent changes from one judgment to another, for the reason that the men who passed from the earths, of whom the heavens and the hells are constituted, were various in their affections, some being more or less spiritual or internal, and some more or less natural or external. And because the Lord does evil to none, but good to all, therefore He permitted those who had lived a moral and apparently spiritual life in externals from custom and habit in the world, however interiorly they were conjoined with hell, to form for themselves, in the world of spirits, a similitude of heaven in various places. And then the heavens above them, and the hells below them, were so arranged, that their interiors, through which they were conjoined with hell, might as far as possible be kept closed, while their exteriors, through which they were conjoined with the ultimate heaven, be kept open. And then it was provided that the higher heavens should not flow in immediately, for by such immediate influx their interiors, which were infernal, would be opened, and their exteriors, which were apparently spiritual, closed; for the influx of the higher heavens is into the interiors, which are the spirits' own, and not into the exteriors, which are not really their own. But when such apparent heavens had increased to such an extent that the influx from the hells had begun to prevail over the influx from the heavens, and that consequently the ultimate heaven, which was conjoined with them, had begun to totter, then the Last Judgment was at hand, and by degrees a separation of the evil from the good in those new apparent heavens took place, and this by immediate influx from the higher heavens; and by such influx their interiors, which were infernal, were opened, and their exteriors, which were apparently spiritual, were closed, as stated above.

From these things it is now clear why the temple appeared and the ark in the temple, which signifies the Divine Truth, by which the higher heavens were enlightened, in order that from them influx might pass into the lower parts, where the evil had their abode. From this influx it resulted that, in the lower parts where the evil were, lightnings were seen, and voices and thunders heard. Also there was a great earthquake, and hail fell. The influx out of the heavens, that is, through the heavens from the Lord, is nothing else but an influx of the love of good and of affection for truth; but with the evil it is turned into such things as correspond to their evils, and to the falsities therefrom, or as correspond to their love of evil and affection for falsity. And because the conflicts and disturbances of thought, and reasonings from evils and falsities concerning the goods and truths of the church, in which they were, correspond to lightnings, voices, and thunders, therefore they are here signified by these. For the subject here treated of is the state of heaven, such as it was about to become immediately before the Last Judgment. The existence of conflicts and disturbances of thought, and of reasonings from evils and falsities concerning the goods and truths of the church with those who are interiorly evil, and appear outwardly good after their interiors have been opened and their exteriors closed, arises from the conflict of their interiors with their exteriors in the first state of separation. But as soon as the exteriors have been completely closed, and they are left to their own interiors, then the conflict ceases, for then they are entirely in the love of their own evil, and in the affection for their own falsity, and thus in the delight of their life; therefore they then cast themselves down into hell to their like, which takes place at the time of a last judgment.

10360. 'And you shall keep the sabbath' means that the Lord's Divine Human is to be worshipped. This is clear from the meaning of 'keeping', when it refers to what is Divine, as worshipping; and from the meaning of 'the sabbath' in the highest sense as the union of the Divine, called the Father, and the Divine Human, called the Son, thus the Divine Human in which that union exists. The reason why 'the sabbath' means this union is that by the six days of labour which come before the seventh every state of conflict is meant; for in the spiritual sense 'labour' does not mean the kind of labour that people go out to in the world but the kind that those in the Church experience before they enter and become the Church, that is, labour that involves them in conflict with evils and the falsities of evil. Labour such as this that is meant in the spiritual sense was experienced by the Lord when He was in the world; for He engaged in conflict then against the hells, and restored them, and the heavens as well, to a state of order. At the same time He glorified His Human, that is, united it to the Divine itself that was His from conception, see 9715, 9809.

[2] The time and state when the Lord was engaged in conflicts is meant by the six days of labour; but the state when the union had been accomplished is meant by the seventh day, which is called the sabbath on account of the rest it brings, because then the Lord had rest. Consequently 'the sabbath' also means the joining together of the Lord with heaven, with the Church, with the angels of heaven, and with members of the Church. The reason for this is that all who will come into heaven must first engage in conflicts against evils and the falsities of evil; and when these have been separated those people enter heaven and are joined to the Lord, and then they have rest. The like applies to people in the world. It is well known that they must engage in conflicts or undergo temptations before they become the Church, that is, before the goodness and truth which constitute the Church have been implanted in them, thus before they have been joined to the Lord, consequently before they have rest. From all this it is evident why it is that a state of conflict is meant by six days of labour, and rest as well as a joining together by the seventh day or the sabbath.

[3] The reason why the joining together of goodness and truth is also meant by 'the sabbath' is that while a person is engaged in conflicts truths play the leading role within him; but when the truths have been joined to good, thus when good plays the leading role within that person, he has rest. This is similar to how it was with the Lord. While He was in the world and was engaged in conflict with the hells He was, in respect of His Human, Divine Truth; but when He had united His Human to the Divine itself He became also, in respect of His Human, Divine Good or Jehovah.

[4] The six days which come before the sabbath mean the conflicts that come before and are preparatory to the heavenly marriage, which is the joining together of goodness and truth, see 8510, 8888, 9431.

Regarding the former state - when truths play the leading role within a person and he is engaged in conflicts against evils and the falsities of evil, that is, the state meant by six days of labour - and regarding the latter state, when good plays the leading role within him and he is led by the Lord, meant by 'the sabbath', see 7923, 7992, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8512, 8516, 8539, 8643, 8648, 8658, 8685, 8690, 8701, 8772, 9139, 9224, 9227, 9230, 9274, 9832.

First of all the Lord made His Human, when He was in the world, Divine Truth, and afterwards Divine Good, see in the places referred to in 9199(end), 9315(end).

He achieved this through conflicts brought about by temptations, see in the places referred to in 9528(end).

[5] A person therefore who knows that 'the sabbath' serves in the highest sense to mean the union of the Divine itself within the Lord's Divine Human can recognize the meaning of statements made so many times in the Word regarding the sabbath, such as the following in Isaiah,

If you turn your foot away from the sabbath, so that you do not do your own will on My holy day, but call the sabbath delights honourable to the Holiness of Jehovah, and honour it, so that you do not do your own ways, nor find your own desire or speak [your own] words, then you will take delight in Jehovah, and I will convey you into the high places of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. Isaiah 58:13-14.

Anyone who is acquainted with the internal sense of the Word can see plainly that 'the sabbath' here is used to mean a state in which a person is joined to the Lord, thus a state when the person is led by the Lord and not by self, that is, a state which exists when good resides in him. For being led by the Lord and not by self is meant by 'turning one's foot away from the sabbath', 'not doing one's own will', 'not doing one's own ways', 'not finding one's own desire', and 'not speaking [one's own] words'. The presence of the Church and of heaven in that person is meant by the promise that he will be conveyed into the high places of the earth and will be fed with the heritage of Jacob. And the truth that the sabbath denotes the Divine Human in which there was a union is meant by the sabbath being called 'My holy day' and 'delights [honourable] to the Holiness of Jehovah'.

[6] And in Jeremiah,

If you keep the sabbath day holy, kings and princes will enter through the gates of this city, sitting on the throne of David, riding in a chariot and on horses. Jeremiah 17:24-25.

A person who has no knowledge of the internal sense of the Word will suppose that these words must be understood according to their literal meaning, which is that if people kept the sabbath holy kings and princes would enter through the gates of the city Jerusalem, riding in a chariot and on horses. But this is not how they should be understood. Rather they mean that those who worship the Lord's Divine Human in a holy manner must be governed by the Divine Truths of heaven and the Church. For 'Jerusalem' is used to mean the Church, 'kings and princes' its Divine Truths, 'the throne of David' heaven where the Lord is, 'a chariot' teachings that convey what is good and true, and 'horses' an enlightened power of understanding.

'Jerusalem' means the Church, see 2117, 3654.

'Kings' means Divine Truths, 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148.

'Princes' means primary truths, 1482, 2089, 5044.

'David' means the Lord, 1888, 9954.

'The throne' means heaven, 5313.

'A chariot' means teachings conveying what is good and true, 5321, 8215.

'Horses' means a power of understanding that receives enlightenment, 2760-2762, 3217, 5321, 6534.

[7] Because 'the sabbath' meant the Lord in respect of the Divine Human, in which there was a union, it was decreed that the loaves of the Presence should be set in order on the table every sabbath, Leviticus 24:8. (It is well known in the Church that the Lord's Divine Human should be understood by 'bread'.) For the same reason the Lord, when in the world, calls Himself the Lord of the sabbath, Matthew 12:7, 8; Mark 2:27-28; Luke 6:1-5.

[8] For the same reason also the Lord, when He was in the world and united His Human to the Divine itself, did away with the sabbath as an occasion on which representative worship or the kind of worship established among the Israelite people took place, and made the sabbath day a day for instruction in teachings about faith and love. This is what the following words in John imply,

Jesus healing a certain man on the sabbath day said to him, Take up your bed and walk. And he took up the bed and walked. The Jews said that he ought not to carry a bed on the sabbath day. And they sought to kill the Lord, because He broke the sabbath. John 5:8-11, 18.

'The healing of one who is sick' means the purification of a person from evils and the falsities of evil; his 'bed' means religious teachings; and 'walking' means 'life'.

[9] Every healing from sickness carried out by the Lord implies purification from evils and falsities, or restoration of spiritual life, see 8364(end), 9031(end), 9086.

'Walking' means life, 519, 1794, 8417, 8420.

The fact that 'bed' means religious teachings is clear from places in the Word where a bed is mentioned, and also from representatives in the next life. When a bed is seen there and someone is lying on it, the teachings on which that person relies are meant. Consequently beds which are most highly adorned are seen there; these belong to those who rely on truths springing from good. Yet the fact that things such as these are meant by the Lord's words no one can know without the aid of the internal sense; for when the Lord spoke He used correspondences and so images carrying a spiritual meaning, since the Divine was the Source of the things He said.