989. And his kingdom became dark. That this signifies the church therefrom in absolutely dense falsities is evident from the signification of a kingdom, as denoting the church as to truths (concerning which see (n. 48, 684, 685); and from the signification of darkness, as denoting falsities (concerning which see n. 526); in the present case, absolutely dense falsities, because it follows, that they gnawed their tongues, and blasphemed the God of heaven by reason of their anguish and sores.

[2] That by faith alone, or by faith separated from good works, they have banished all the truths of the church, and that they have brought in absolute falsities in their place, has been everywhere shown above. Nor can it possibly be otherwise, when life is separated from faith, and thus shut out from religion.

Continuation concerning the Sixth Precept:-

That heaven is from marriages, and that hell is from adulteries, has been said above. It shall now be stated how this is to be understood. The hereditary evils into which a man is born are not from Adam because he ate of the tree of knowledge, but from parents through the adulteration of good and the falsification of truth; thus, through the marriage of evil and falsity, from which the love of adultery exists. The ruling love of the parents is carried over and transmitted into the offspring and becomes part of their nature. If the love of the parents is that of adultery, it is also the love of evil for falsity, and of falsity for evil. From this origin man derives all evil, and through evil he is subject to hell. From these things it is evident that, through adulteries, a man is subject to hell, unless he is reformed of the Lord by means of truths, and by a life according to them. Nor can any one be reformed unless he shuns adultery as infernal and loves marriage as heavenly. Thus, and in no other way, is hereditary evil broken, and rendered milder in the offspring.

[3] It is, however, to be observed that, although a man may be born a hell from adulterous parents, yet still he is born not for hell, but for heaven. For it is provided by the Lord that no one should be condemned to hell on account of hereditary evils, but on account of the evils that the man has actually made his own by his life, as is evident from infants after death, all of whom are adopted by the Lord, educated under His auspices in heaven, and saved. From this it is clear that every man, although from innate evils he is a hell, yet is born not for hell, but for heaven.

The case is similar with every man born from adultery, if he does not become an adulterer himself. By becoming an adulterer is meant to live in the marriage of evil and falsity by thinking evils and falsities from delight in them, and by doing them from the love of them; every man who acts in this way becomes an adulterer. It is also a matter of Divine justice that no one suffers punishments because of the evils of his parents, but on account of his own; therefore it is provided by the Lord that after death a man's hereditary evils shall not recur, but his own evils; and it is because of those evils that recur that a man is then punished.

685. And He shall reign unto the ages of the ages.- That this signifies His dominion to eternity by means of Divine Truth, is evident from the signification of reigning, when said of the Lord, as denoting to have dominion by means of Divine Truth, concerning which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of unto the ages of the ages as denoting to eternity. Unto the ages of the ages denotes to eternity, because the sense of the letter of the Word is natural, to which the spiritual sense corresponds. The natural sense of the Word consists of such things as are in nature, which have reference in general to times and spaces, and to places and persons; and the ages of the ages have relation to times, to which eternity corresponds in the spiritual sense. It is the same with generation of generations, where the extension of faith and charity in the church is treated.

[2] To reign, in reference to the Lord, signifies to have dominion by means of Divine Truth, because dominion is said of good, and to reign of truth, for the Lord is called Lord (Dominus) from Divine Good, and king from Divine Truth. This is why both terms are mentioned everywhere in the Word, namely, dominion and kingdom, or to have dominion and to reign, as in the following passages.

[3] In Micah:

"Thou O hill of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall come and return the former dominion, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem" (4:8).

Since the daughter of Zion signifies the celestial church, whose essential is the good of love, therefore dominion is said of it, and because the daughter of Jerusalem signifies the spiritual church, whose essential is truth of doctrine, therefore the term kingdom is applied to it.

[4] In David:

"Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all the ages, and thy dominion to every generation and generation" (Psalm 145:13).

In Daniel:

To the Son of man "was given dominion, glory and a kingdom; his dominion is the dominion of an age, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" (7:14).

In the same:

"The kingdom and the dominion, and majesty of the kingdoms, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High" (7:27).

In these passages dominion is said of good, because from good the Lord is called Lord, and kingdom is said of truth, because from this the Lord is called king.

As in the Apocalypse:

He who sat upon the white horse "had upon his garment and upon his thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords " (19:16).

King of kings is said of the name upon the vesture, and Lord of lords of the name upon the thigh, for garment signifies truth, here Divine Truth, because the Lord is meant, and thigh signifies good, here the Divine Good of Divine Love.

Similarly, as applied to men, in David:

"The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers consulted together" (Psalm 2:2).

From this it is evident what reigning unto the ages of the ages signifies in particular. That kingdom signifies heaven and the church as to the truth of doctrine, see above (n. 48). That to reign belongs to the Lord alone; and, that when said of men, it denotes to be in truths from good from the Lord, and to have power therefrom of resisting falsities from evil (n. 333).