"Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 3:3

Additional readings: Isaiah 1:1-20

In the childhood of the human race, before men had departed from right ways of life, heaven was near to them. They could be led directly by the Lord, for their hearts and minds were open to him. Of this Golden Age of the human race it is written, "Man walked with God." But we have all read in the history of the human race as revealed in the Scripture the account of how many departed from the way of life and, following the devices of his own heart, closed his mind to the direct reception of goodness and truth from the Lord, until finally he reached a state in which all true knowledge of God and heaven was lost.

Then the Lord came to bring salvation to mankind, and preparation for His reception was made through John the Baptist, the messenger sent in fulfillment of a prophecy given centuries before. John’s message is our text: "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And when John was put to death, and the Lord began His active ministry in the world, the words of our text were also His first message. For He came to make clear the way of life, and wrong ideas held possession of the minds of men then, as they do of many minds today.

It is not by chance that this first message turns our thoughts to heaven. The purpose of our creation is that we may so live that we shall find our homes in heaven. Belief in heaven had been lost, along with the knowledge about it. And today belief in heaven is for the most part vague, and many think that eternal life does not mean personal existence in the spiritual world, but only the persistence of one’s influence in this world. Great men like Homer, Plato, Moses, Shakespeare, Gladstone, Lincoln, Pasteur, and many others perpetuate themselves in the influence they exert in the minds of living men. This, they say, is what is meant by immortality, by everlasting life. But we should realize that this type of everlasting life is open to the evil as well as to the good. A Diocletian may be remembered forever as well as the beloved Apostle. We need to know the truth that men and women, as individuals, live forever after death in the spiritual world.

But this is not the implication of the text which I have chosen for consideration this morning." The kingdom of heaven is at hand." We know that heaven is not in some remote part of the natural sky, that we cannot say, "Lo, here, or Lo, there" (Luke 17:21). But we are still apt to think of it as far away. We are also inclined to think of it as remote in time. We speak commonly of the "future" world. In the thought of some even, it lies at the indefinitely remote time, when they expect a general resurrection along with others; death is the gateway of heaven, but heaven still seems too distant to be of much practical and present interest.

But the truth is that heaven is far away neither in space nor in time. It is here, it is now, it is "at hand." We live in it now, or we may do so. It is a present reality, the most real and the most important element of the life we are now living. When we speak of heaven, and of living for heaven, we are not, as some charge, setting our hearts on something far away, and despising the real world in which we now are. If one lives for a far-off heaven — and no doubt some have lived so — he may be careless of this world’s joys and sorrows, of opportunities for usefulness, keeping his eyes fixed on some vision of the future. But we may live for heaven and still live thoroughly in the present. We ought to value heaven as the most real of present realities. The Gospel is true: "The kingdom of heaven is at hand."

We are taught in the New Church that heaven is essentially a state of human feeling, thought and life, a state in which love to the Lord and love to the neighbor are the ruling motives. We are taught that no outward paradise which could be made by human or by Divine skill would be a heaven if those affections were absent from the heart, that there is no real or lasting satisfaction except in the exercise of these affections. It follows that we can come into heaven in this world, and live in heaven while we live on earth, for we may learn here to love the Lord and one another, and to find our chief enjoyment in the exercise of these heavenly loves.

But this is an abstract way of speaking. Concretely, heaven is not merely a heavenly state in ourselves; it is the great world of human beings who are living in that state, those people in whose hearts are heavenly affections, whose minds are bright with spiritual light, and whose hands are busy with heavenly works. There are many such people in this world. There are countless more who have gone from the earth to the spiritual world, and are there living the same good life under freer and happier conditions. All these people are heaven.

When we have love to the Lord and the neighbor in ourselves, we are brought spiritually near to those in like affections, both of this world and of the spiritual world. It is not a figure of speech when we say that heaven is about us when we are in heavenly states. It is a literal and positive fact. Heaven is so really around us at such times that if it were granted to us, as it was to Elisha’s servant and to others in Bible days to have our spiritual eyes opened, we should see the angels who are our companions and the beautiful land in which they dwell. Among them we should see and recognize some who were dear to us on earth, who still love and help us, and there would be some whom we had not known before but who would from the first glance seem to us as old friends, because they have similar desires and thoughts. And we should recognize them as the source of our happiness.

The Lord created the world and all things in it. All things in the world were made for man to use and enjoy, from the very materials of the earth to all the myriad things of the vegetable and animal kingdoms, the beast of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea. For man’s needs of food, clothing, shelter, for gratification of his senses, and the improvement of his mind these things were made. All these were created and given to man for blessings. But they are subject to one important condition: man must indeed labor to make these things of service to himself, but he must also use them in the service of others. Only so can he have any security or peace. The world of nature and of human beings is not for one man, or a few men, or a nation to control or exploit. Indeed we cannot rightly claim sovereignty over ourselves. We need the guidance of the Lord. And whatever under the Divine Providence we have been able to acquire, whether of material wealth, or of skill, or of learning, we did not acquire it by our unaided efforts. Our daily knowledge of the happenings in the world, our libraries, our schools are made possible by the labor of mind and body of other men and women, great or humble, living or dead. We depend on others and they on us, and life and security today, as always, depend upon the honesty and good will of the community in which we live.

Yet we should also realize that behind the labors and sufferings and the honesty and good will of men stands the Lord. Through His power alone man achieves progress. It is a law of the Divine Providence that man must act in freedom according to reason. This applies to the life of nations as well as to the life of individuals. But the Lord is present and operative always.

For infinitely wise and good reasons, the Lord does not draw the veil aside for us and allow us to see the heavenly world. Some argue that if only they could see heaven, they would believe in it. But to see that world as an outward, objective reality would destroy our freedom. We should be lured by its outward attractiveness, and it would be less possible for us to come into its true spirit.

When we are living in selfish and evil affections, we are in hell. Not only is hell within us at such times but it is also about us, not by a figure of speech, but actually. We are breathing its poisoned atmosphere and, if our eyes were opened, we should see the forms and faces of those who find their life in evil and who exult in influencing others to evil. Why, at least then, does the Lord not draw the veil aside and show us the terribleness of evil? The sight might for the moment frighten us, but we should be less able to shun evil freely because it is evil, and our power to escape permanently from it would be greatly lessened.

If we are tempted to question the Lord’s Providence in not revealing to us more openly the conditions of the good and evil in the spiritual world, we do well to remember His words, "They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them….If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead" (Luke 16:29-31).

The Lord said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness" (Matthew 6:33). We should seek those good things which endure forever, and should not sacrifice them for the sake of money or health or life itself. To acquire love to the Lord and to the neighbor is the only thing worth living for. Our business dealings should have as their motive the love of use, of service to others. The most necessary thing in making a home is having in it the sunshine of heaven. The only absolute requirement for our happiness as we go to and fro in the ways of the world is that heaven shall go with us. This is to live for heaven, and yet to live must fully in the present. This is the practical meaning of living for heaven.

It may be stated still more simply. Heaven is not heaven from locality, neither is it heaven from anything which belongs to the angels as their own. It is heaven from what is received from the Lord into the lives and hearts of the angels. To be near the Lord, not in place merely, but in heart, to feel the protection and peace of His presence is heaven. Heaven is being near to the Lord and keeping near to Him. There is no other heaven for men or angels.

"The kingdom of heaven is at hand." When John first spoke this message, the kingdom of heaven was in a special sense at hand, because the Lord had come to live with men and to make Himself accessible to them. A power to heal and bless went forth from the Lord during His life on earth. Men obsessed felt his saving power and sat at His feet clothed and in their right mind.

At the Transfiguration Peter said, "Lord, it is good for us to be here" (Matthew 17:4, Mark 9:5, Luke 9:33). In following the Lord, in hearing His Word and in doing His work, they were tasting of heaven. But we need to note that the mere physical nearness of the Lord did not make heaven. Some cried out with fear at His approach. It was not heaven to them. It was not heaven to those who followed Him to accuse and to betray Him. His presence was a blessing only to those who in some measure drew near to Him in spirit.

Even in the Lord’s coming on earth the kingdom of heaven was not forced on me. It was made accessible to them; it was brought within their reach.

It is brought within our reach. Just as there is no royal road to knowledge, there is no royal road to heaven. We must cease to do evil before we can learn to do well. Repentance, the willingness to recognize and acknowledge our faults and weaknesses and to struggle to overcome them opens the door. Heavenly life comes into the soul when selfish desires are replaced by kindly thoughts and the desire to serve. The Lord tell us to seek these heavenly virtues now, not for the sake of honor for ourselves, but that we may be really kind and helpful to others, that our lives may have something of the Lord’s love in them. Then we shall find that life here makes one with heavenly life, and that our Heavenly Father is the Source of happiness in both alike.

714. And, behold, a great red dragon.- That this signifies all who from the love of self are merely natural and sensual, and still have more or less knowledge from the Word, from doctrine therefrom, or from preaching, and who think that they will be saved by knowledge (scientia) alone without life, is evident from the signification of the dragon, as denoting the merely natural and sensual man, who has nevertheless a knowledge (scientia) of things in themselves spiritual, whether from the Word, from preaching, or from religion (concerning which we shall speak presently); and from the signification of great and red, as denoting to be in the love of self, and in its evils. For "great," in the Word, is used of good, and, in the opposite sense, of evil, as "much" is used of truths, and, in the opposite sense, of falsities (as may be seen above, n. 336, 337, 424); and "red" is used of love in each sense, namely, of celestial love, which is love to the Lord, and, in the opposite sense, of devilish love, which is the love of self (concerning which also see above, n. 364). It is evident from these things that by "a great red dragon" are meant all those that are merely natural and sensual from the love of self, and still have more or less knowledge from the Word, either from doctrine therefrom, or from preaching, and who think they will be saved by knowledge alone without a life of charity. Such think they will be saved by knowledge alone without a life of charity, because all those who live for the body and the world, and not for God and heaven, become merely natural and sensual. For every one is formed interiorly according to his life; and to live for the body and the world is to live a natural and sensual life, and to live for God and heaven is to live a spiritual life.

[2] Every man is born sensual from his parents, and, by his life in the world, becomes more and more interiorly natural, that is to say, rational, according to moral and civil life, and the light (lumen) acquired therefrom; but he afterwards becomes a spiritual man by means of truths from the Word, or from doctrine from the Word, and by a life according to them. It is therefore evident that he who knows the things taught in the Word, or in doctrine or by a preacher, and does not live according to them, however learned and scholarly he may appear to be, is nevertheless not spiritual, but natural, in fact he is sensual, for knowledge (scientia) and ability to reason do not make man spiritual, but life itself. The reason of this is that knowledge and the consequent ability to reason are merely natural, and can therefore be enjoyed by the evil, indeed by the worst of men; but truths from the Word and a life according to them make man spiritual, for life means to will truths and to do them from a love for them, and this is not possible from the natural man alone, but from the spiritual, and from the influx of this into the natural. For to love truths, and from love to will them, and from such will to do them, is from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord, and in its nature is heavenly and divine; this cannot flow in immediately into the natural mind, but mediately through the spiritual mind, which can be opened and formed for the reception of heavenly light and heat, that is to say for the reception of Divine Truth and Divine Good. These cannot flow immediately into the natural mind, because in this mind man's hereditary evils reside, which belong to the love of self and of the world; therefore the natural man, viewed in itself, loves only itself and the world, and from love wills, and from will does those evils, and these prevent anything from flowing out of heaven into the natural man and its reception there. It is therefore provided by the Lord that these evils may be removed, and thus a place given for the truths and goods of spiritual love, namely by the opening and formation of the spiritual mind, which is above the natural mind, and by means of the influx of heaven from the Lord through that mind into the natural mind.

[3] These things have been said, in order that it may be understood that to know the things of the Word, and of the doctrine of the church, does not make man spiritual, but a life according to those things which the Lord has commanded in the Word; consequently, that although men may know many things from the Word, they may yet remain natural and sensual. These are therefore those who are signified, in the Word, by the dragon. Such are signified by the dragon, because the dragon is a kind of serpent, which not only creeps upon the ground, but also flies, and thence (inde) it appears in heaven; and it is because of this flying and this appearance that those who are in the knowledge (scientia) of truths from the Word, and not in a life according to them, are meant by the dragon. For serpents in general signify the sensual things of man, as may be seen above (n. 581), and for this reason also the dragon is called the old serpent in the ninth verse of this chapter and in the second verse of the twentieth chapter.

[4] Since the dragon is treated of in the rest of this chapter, and also afterwards, it shall be stated who in general and particular are signified by it. In general it signifies those who are more or less natural, and who are yet in a knowledge of spiritual things from the Word. But in particular it signifies those who have confirmed themselves by doctrine and life, in faith separated from charity. These form the head of the dragon. But those who from their own intelligence have hatched for themselves dogmas from the Word are the body of the dragon; while those who study the Word without doctrine form the external parts of the dragon. All these also falsify and adulterate the Word, since they are in the love of self, and thus in the pride of their own intelligence, from which they become merely natural, and even sensual; and the sensual man cannot see the genuine truths of the Word, because of fallacies, obscurity of perception, and the evils of the body residing therein; for the Sensual clings to the body, whence such things come.

[5] (1) In the first place, the dragon means in general those who are more or less natural, and yet possess a knowledge of spiritual things from the Word, because serpents in general signify the sensual things of man, and thus sensual men; therefore the dragon, which is a flying serpent, signifies the sensual man, who nevertheless flies towards heaven, in that he speaks and thinks from the Word, or from doctrine from the Word. For the Word itself is spiritual, because in itself it is Divine, and is therefore in heaven. But it is not mere knowledge of spiritual things from the Word that makes man spiritual, but a life according to those things that are in the Word; therefore all those who have knowledge from the Word, and are not in a life according to that knowledge, are natural, indeed, sensual.

[6] The sensual, who are meant by the dragon, are those who see nothing from the light of heaven, but only from the light of the world, and who from this light alone are able to speak concerning Divine things, and also to reason with acuteness and readiness, when excited by the fire of the love of self and pride therefrom; but still they cannot see whether these things are true or not, declaring that to be the truth which from childhood they have imbibed from a master or preacher, and afterwards from doctrine, and which they have since confirmed by some passages of the Word not interiorly understood. Because these see nothing from the light of heaven, they do not see truths, but falsities in place of them, and these they call truths; for truths themselves can be seen only in the light of heaven, and not in the light of the world, unless the latter light be illuminated by the former. Because such is their character, they love no other than a corporeal and worldly life; and as the pleasures and lusts (concupiscentiae) of that life have their seat in the natural man, therefore the interiors of such are filthy and crowded with evils of every kind, which close up every entrance against the influx of the light and heat of heaven; consequently they are interiorly devils and satans, however much they may seem to be spiritual and Christians from their talk and simulated gestures. Such persons are utterly sensual, for outwardly they can talk about the holy things of the church, while inwardly they believe nothing; and those who think they believe, have a merely historical, and thus persuasive faith acquired from some teacher or from their own intelligence, which in itself is false; this they nevertheless hold, because it serves as a means to acquire fame, honour, and gain. Such in general are the dragons. But there are many that are signified in particular by the dragon, for there are some that have reference to the head, some to the body, and some to the external parts.

[7] (2) Those who have reference specifically to the head of the dragon are those who have confirmed themselves both in doctrine and life, in faith alone which is faith separated from charity. These have reference to the head of the dragon, because they are for the most part men of erudition and are believed to be learned; for they have confirmed themselves in the belief that they will be saved, by merely thinking about the things which the church teaches; and this they call believing. But the nature of their doctrine and their life shall be stated. Their doctrine is, that God the Father sent His Son, born from eternity, into the world, that He might become a man, fulfil all things of the law, bear the iniquities of all, and suffer the cross. That thereby God the Father was reconciled and moved to compassion, and that those who from confidence were in faith concerning these things, would be received into heaven; and that confidence in that faith, together with the Lord, would intercede and save. Consequently, that such a faith is given to mankind, who are separated from God the Father, as a medium of reception and salvation, because after Adam had eaten of the tree of knowledge (scientia) man was no longer in a state to do good of himself, having, with the image of God, thus lost his free will. Lastly, that the things above mentioned are the Lord's merit, by which alone man can be saved. These, as to doctrine, are the primary things of faith with those who are in faith alone. That no one can possibly perceive and thus believe any of these things from spiritual insight, which belongs to the understanding, but can know, and thus talk about them only from the memory, without understanding them, thus that there is nothing of intelligence in that doctrine, shall be explained and illustrated elsewhere, the Lord being willing.

[8] But what is the character of such as to life, shall also be explained. They teach that man is led of God by faith alone, even to the effort to do good, and that good itself in act contributes nothing to salvation, but faith only, and that then nothing of evil condemns him, because he is in grace, and is justified. They have also devised steps, which they call progressions of faith alone even to the last stage of justification. The first is information in such things as pertain to faith, especially in those mentioned above; the second is confirmation from the Word, or from preaching; the third is mental examination, whether it be so or not; and because doubt and consequent wavering - which is temptation - then flow in, confirmation from the Word concerning the operation of faith is necessary, whence a man has confidence and this is victory. They add that care must be taken that the understanding does not go beyond confirmations from the Word concerning justification by faith alone; and if it proceeds further, and is not kept under obedience to faith, the man succumbs. The fourth and last step is the effort to do good; this is an influx from God, and nothing of it is from man, being the fruit of faith; for they say that when a man is thus fully justified, nothing of evil afterwards condemns him, and nothing of good saves him, but faith alone. From these things the character of such persons as to life is evident, namely, that they live for themselves and not for God, and for the world and not for heaven; for this follows from the belief that evils do not condemn and that goods do not save. Nor do they know that faith without the life of charity is not faith, and that man ought to shun evils and do goods as of himself, nevertheless believing that it is from the Lord, and that otherwise evils cannot be shaken off, or goods appropriated. But more will be said on this subject elsewhere.

[9] Such is the doctrine and life with those who form the head of the dragon, who for the most part are learned dignitaries, with but few from among the common people; the reason is, that the former consider those things as secrets of theology which cannot be comprehended by the common people on account of their secular employments. These belong to the head of the dragon, because they also pervert and falsify all those things of the Word that teach love, charity, and life; for the Word, regarded in itself, is simply the doctrine of love to the Lord and of charity towards the neighbour, and in no case the doctrine of faith separated from charity. They falsify all things of the Word by calling them either faith, or a kind of fruit which they do not eat, because they give no thought to life; they are consequently not nourished by that fruit. Moreover they allow those principles to enter only as far as the memory, and from there to come into the thought nearest to it; this thought is sensual, in which there is nothing spiritual, and it does not examine whether a thing is true. Therefore they take care that nothing shall enter the interior sight which is of the understanding, being unwilling to know that all those things which we have stated concerning their faith are contrary to an enlightened understanding, as they are contrary to the genuine sense of the Word. It is for this reason that those who form the head of the dragon have no genuine truth, for from a false principle, such as that of faith alone, nothing but falsities in a continual series can proceed. Nor can there be any such thing as faith alone, for faith without charity is not faith, since charity is the soul of faith; therefore to speak of faith alone is to speak of that which is without a soul, and thus without life, a thing in itself dead.

[10] (3) That those who, from their own intelligence, have hatched for themselves dogmas from the Word form the body of the dragon, is evident from this, that all those who study the Word and are in the love of self are also in the pride of their own intelligence; and all who are in this pride, and at the same time excel in cleverness from natural light (lumen) hatch dogmas for themselves therefrom. This is the origin of all the heresies and all the falsities in the Christian world. What intelligence from man's proprium is, and what that intelligence is which is not from his proprium, must be explained. The intelligence which is from a man's proprium is from himself, but the intelligence which is not from his proprium is from the Lord. All who are in the love of self have their intelligence from their proprium, for the love of self is the very proprium of man, and those are in the love of self who read the Word and collect dogmas from it for the sake of fame, glory, and honours. And as they are unable to see any truths, but can see falsities only, therefore they are in the body of the dragon; for they collect and hatch such things from the Word as favour their loves and the evils flowing from them; and such things as are contrary to their dogmas, which are truths from good, they either do not see, or they pervert. But all those who are in the spiritual affection for truth, that is, who love truth because it is truth, and because it is serviceable to eternal life, and to the life of the souls of men, have their intelligence from the Lord. It is said that their intelligence is not from their proprium, but from the Lord, because when they read the Word they are raised above their proprium, and even into the light of heaven, and are enlightened; in this light truth is evident from the truth itself, because the light of heaven is Divine Truth. But those who are in the love of self, and consequently in the pride of their own intelligence, cannot be raised up out of their own proprium, for they continually look to themselves, and they do this in everything. This is the reason why such place the whole duty of salvation in belief in their own dogmas, that is, in knowing and thinking, and not at the same time in the life, thus not at the same time in willing and doing. These, therefore, form the body of the dragon. The heart of this body is the love of self, and the breath (anima) of respiration, or his spirit is pride in [his] own intelligence; from these two the dragon is called a great red dragon, and the term red, in the original Greek text, is derived from fire-red, thus from love and pride.

[11] (4) Those who study the Word without doctrine, and who at the same time are in the love of self, form the externals of the dragon's body. Exteriors proceed from interiors, and involve, inclose, and contain them, like the skins, scales, and prominences on every part. Such form the externals of the body of the dragon, because they have no understanding of the spiritual things of the Word; for they know the Word only in the sense of the letter, which is of such a nature, that unless doctrine lights the way, it may lead into errors and falsities of every kind. Consequently, those who study the Word without doctrine are able to confirm as many heresies as they choose, and to embrace and also defend them by the loves of self and of the world, and the evils arising therefrom. For the sense of the letter of the Word is the ultimate sense of Divine Truth, and is therefore for the natural and sensual man, accommodated to its apprehension, and often so as to favour it; unless, therefore, it is read and viewed from doctrine, as from a lamp, it carries the mind away into darkness respecting many things pertaining to heaven and the church. And yet such believe themselves to be wise above all others, when, in fact, they are not wise at all.

[12] (5) All those who form the dragon worship God the Father, and regard the Lord as a man like themselves, and not as God; and if they do regard Him as God, they place His Divine above His Human, and not within it. This will be made clear in what follows, where the combat of the dragon with Michael is treated of.

[13] (6) From this it is now evident that the tail of the dragon means the falsification and adulteration of the Word by those who form its head, its body, and its external parts; for its tail, as is the case with the tail of every animal, is a continuation of the spine (spinoe), which is an extension from the brains, and is therefore moved, bent, and lashed to and fro, according to the appetites, lusts, and pleasures of the head and body, which it, as it were, caresses. And as all those who form the dragon falsify and adulterate the Word because they are natural and sensual from the love of self, and are consequently proud of their own intelligence, it is therefore said that the dragon with his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and cast them unto the earth. The stars of heaven signify the knowledges of truth and good from the Word, consequently truths from good therefrom; and to cast them unto the earth signifies to pervert and adulterate, and thus destroy them.

[14] That those above described form the dragon, and that the adulteration and destruction of the truths of the Word are meant by its tail, I have been permitted to see two or three times in the spiritual world; for all the things that appear in that world are representatives of spiritual things. When such persons were seen in the light of heaven, they were seen as dragons with a long tail, and when many such were seen, the tail appeared to be extended, from the south, through the west, into the north; and that tail was seen also to draw down, as it were, stars from heaven and cast them unto the earth.

[15] Since those above described are meant by the dragon, and the falsification and adulteration of the Word by its tail, therefore the habitation and bed of dragons, in the Word, signify where there is nothing but mere falsity and evil, as in the following passages.

In Isaiah:

"The dry place shall become a pool, and the thirsty places springs of waters; in the habitation of dragons, its bed, grass instead of the reed and the rush" (35:7).

This is said of the Lord's coming, and the establishment of a new church by Him among the nations; and these words mean that the truths and goods of the church will be where they were not before, even where there were falsities and evils. Where falsities and evils were before is signified by the dry and thirsty place, and by the habitation of dragons, also by the reed and rush; but the truths and goods which they will then have are signified by the pool, the springs of waters, the bed where dragons were before, and by the grass.

[16] In Jeremiah:

"I will make Jerusalem heaps, a habitation of dragons; and the cities of Judah will I reduce to a waste, that there be no inhabitant" (9:11).

And in the same:

"The voice of a clamour, behold, a great tumult cometh from the land of the north, to reduce the cities of Judah to a waste, a habitation of dragons" (10:22).

Jerusalem means the church as to doctrine; and the cities of Judah mean doctrinals, which are truths from the Word; the falsification of truth, and adulteration of good, from which mere falsities and evils arise, are signified by making Jerusalem heaps, and by reducing the cities of Judah to a waste, a habitation of dragons; for truth falsified is mere falsity, and good adulterated is mere evil. The voice of a clamour and a great tumult from the land of the north, signifies falsities fighting against truths, and evils against goods; the land of the north means where those are who are in falsities of evil.

[17] In the same:

"Hazor shall become a habitation of dragons, a desolation even for an age; a man (vir) shall not dwell there, nor shall the son of man (homo) sojourn there" (Jeremiah 49:33).

Hazor signifies spiritual treasures, which are the knowledges of truth and good from the Word; the devastation of these even until they no longer exist, and falsities and evils take their place, is signified by "Hazor shall become a habitation of dragons, a desolation even for an age." That no truth of the church will remain is signified by "a man shall not dwell there, nor shall the son of man sojourn there," the son of man meaning the truth of the church.

[18] In Isaiah:

"The thorn shall come up in her palaces, the thistle and bramble in her fortresses, that it may be a habitation of dragons, a court for the daughters of the owl" (34:13).

This is said of Edom, and the nations, which mean those who are in falsities and evils; thorns, the thistle, and the bramble signify the falsities and evils in which they are; the dogmas defending them are signified by palaces and fortresses; while the devastation of all good and truth is signified by "a habitation of dragons," and "a court for the daughters of the owl," owls denoting those who see falsities as truths, and their daughters the lusts (concupiscentiae) of falsifying truths.

[19] In the same:

"The Ijim shall answer in her palaces, and dragons in the temples" (13:22).

This is said of Babel, which signifies the adulteration and profanation of good and truth; her palaces in which are the Ijim, and the temples where dragons are, signify the goods and truths of the Word and of the church, which are adulterated and profaned, the Ijim signifying adulterated and profaned truths, and dragons adulterated and profaned goods.

[20] In Micah:

"For this will I wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked, I will make a wailing like dragons, and a mourning like the daughters of the owl" (1:8).

This treats of the vastation of Samaria, which signifies the spiritual church as to doctrine, in the present case that church vastated. To go stripped and naked signifies devastation as to truth and good; lamentation over it is signified by wailing and howling, lamentation over devastated good by making a wailing like dragons, and lamentation over devastated truth by making a mourning like the daughters of the owl. The wailing and mourning are said in a representative sense to be like that of dragons and daughters of the owl, also his going stripped and naked, stripped having a signification similar to that of the dragon, namely, to be destitute of goods, and naked, similar to that of the daughters of the owl, that is, to be destitute of truths.

[21] In Jeremiah:

"Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up as a sea-monster, he hath filled his belly with my delicacies, he hath driven me away. Let Babel be a heap, a habitation of dragons, a hissing and an astonishment, without inhabitant" (51:34, 37).

Here also Babel and Nebuchadnezzar signify the adulteration and profanation of good and truth. He hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a sea-monster, he hath filled his belly with my delicacies, he hath driven me away, signifies the dispersion of all truth, and the destruction of all good therefrom. Sea-monster, signifies the same as dragon, both being denoted by the same word, in the original tongue. The devastation of all truth and good because of their adulteration and profanation is signified by Babel being a heap, a habitation of dragons, a hissing and an astonishment, without inhabitant, without inhabitant signifying good with no one.

[22] In Job:

"I walked darkened without the sun, I stood in the congregation, I cried out, I am become a brother to dragons, and a companion to daughters of the screech-owl (ululoe)" (30:28, 29).

This is said of his state in temptations, in which man thinks himself condemned; therefore to walk darkened without the sun signifies to be like a devil, without the good of love; to stand in the congregation and cry out, signifies to be among truths and yet in falsities; to become a brother to dragons, and a companion to daughters of the screech-owl, signifies to be conjoined and to be one with those who are in evils without good and in falsities without truths, dragons denoting those who have adulterated goods and turned them into evils, and the daughters of the screech-owl those who do the same to truths.

[23] In David:

"Our heart is not turned back, neither hath our step declined from thy way, for thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death" (Psalm 44:18, 19).

This also treats of temptations. That being thus shut off from influx out of heaven, as the sensual man is, he could not perceive what was good and true, is signified by God sore breaking him in the place of dragons, and covering him with the shadow of death, the place of dragons meaning the place in hell where those are who are dragons, that is, those who have destroyed all good in themselves; the falsity in which these are is called the shadow of death.

[24] Again:

"Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the asp, the lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under foot; because he hath set his desire upon me, I will deliver him, I will exalt him, because he hath known my name" (Psalm 91:13, 14).

To destroy the interior and exterior falsities, which vastate the truths of the church, is signified by treading upon the lion and asp; and to destroy the interior and exterior falsities, which vastate the goods of the church, is signified by trampling under foot the lion and dragon. To lead away from falsities, and to lead to interior truths and goods him who is in doctrine from the Word, is signified by "I will deliver him, I will exalt him, because he hath known my name," to deliver meaning to lead away from falsities, to exalt, to lead to interior truths, and to know My name, to be in doctrine from the Word.

[25] In Malachi:

"Esau I hated, and I made his mountains a waste, and gave his heritage to the dragons of the wilderness" (1:3).

Esau means those who are in good as to the natural man, here those who are in evil as to the same; it is therefore said, "Esau I hated." That the goods of love of the natural man will be destroyed is signified by "I made his mountains a waste"; and that the truths of that good will be destroyed by the falsities of the sensual man is signified by I "gave his heritage to the dragons of the wilderness."

[26] Again in Ezekiel:

"Behold I am against thee, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great dragon (or sea-monster) that lieth in the midst of his rivers, that hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for my myself" (29:3, 4; 32:2).

The pride of [man's] own intelligence pertaining to his natural and sensual man is here described; Pharaoh, king of Egypt, signifies the natural and sensual man; the dragon or sea-monster (cetus) signifies the same as to scientifics, which are falsities or things falsified by the pride of [man's] own intelligence. But these words may be seen explained above (n. 513:5).

[27] In Moses:

"Of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter, their wine is the venom of dragons, and the cruel gall of asps" (Deuteronomy 32:32, 33).

These words may be seen explained above (n. 519:7), where it is shown that "their wine which is called the venom of dragons, and the cruel gall of asps," signifies that the truth of the church with the posterity of Jacob was external, in which interiorly there were infernal evils and falsities; dragons and asps signify sensual things which are the ultimates of the natural man, full of dreadful evils and of falsities confirming them. The reason of this is that the Natural then receives nothing from the Lord through the spiritual mind, consequently what it does receive is from hell.

[28] That the dragon signifies such things as have been stated above will be seen more fully from what follows in this chapter, namely, from his enmity against the woman about to bring forth, and fleeing into the wilderness; also from his combat with Michael; and still further in chaps. 16:13-15, and 20:2, 7, 8, 10, 14, where it is said concerning him that he was bound for a thousand years, that afterwards, being loosed, he went forth to seduce the nations, and to gather Gog and Magog together to war against the saints, but that afterwards he was cast into a lake of fire and brimstone. It is evident from all these things that the dragon means those who do not possess any good of charity and love, because they do not acknowledge it to be a means serviceable for salvation, but regard it only as a kind of knowledge (scientificum) which from persuasion they call faith; and when the good of charity and love is not implanted by a man's life, evil takes its place, and where evil is there is falsity.

[29] Because serpents signify sensual things which are the ultimates of the natural man, and these are not evil except with those who are evil, and as in the Hebrew the same word ¹ is used both for dragons and non-poisonous serpents, therefore dragons, when such serpents are meant by them, signify, in the Word, sensual things that are not evil, or, in regard to persons, sensual men who are not evil. That dragons and such serpents are expressed in Hebrew by the same word, is evident in Moses. When he was commanded out of the bush to cast his rod on the ground, and when it became a serpent (serpens) he took hold of it by the tail, and it became again a rod in his hand (Exodus 4:3, 4); and afterwards, Moses took the rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, when it became a serpent (dragon = draco), and the magicians did the like with their rods; but the rod of Moses then a serpent (dragon) - swallowed up the rods [or] serpents (dragons) of the magicians (Exodus 7:9-12). In the original the word rendered serpent in the former passage and the word so translated in the latter are different; in the former passage serpent (serpens) is the rendering of the word commonly employed for serpent in other parts of the Word, but in the latter place dragon (draco) represents the same word. This might also be translated thus, "When the rod of Moses was cast before Pharaoh it was changed into a dragon." It follows from this that the dragon, equally as the serpent, signifies, in a good sense, the Sensual, which is the ultimate of the natural man when not evil or not malignant.

[30] In this milder sense dragons are also mentioned in Isaiah:

"The wild beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the daughters of the owl, because I will give waters in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people" (43:20).

And in Jeremiah:

"The hind brought forth in the field, but forsook it because there was no grass; and the wild asses stood upon the hills, they sniffed up the wind like dragons, their eyes were consumed because there was no herbage" (14:6).

In these passages the word used for dragons is commonly used for serpents, and it is also applied to whales (ceti) in the sea, which also have the same signification, namely, the Natural of man in general, which is the Sensual, and therefore the last passage might be translated, "They sniffed up the wind like whales" (ceti). Similarly in Isaiah 51:9; in Jeremiah 51:34; in Ezekiel 29:3, 4; and in David, Psalm 74:13, 14. There are also merely sensual men that are good.

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