665. The spirit of life from God entered into them.- That this signifies enlightenment and the reception in some of Divine Truth from the Lord for the beginning of a new church, is evident from the signification of the spirit of life from God, as denoting the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord, concerning which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of entering into them, namely, into the witnesses that were slain and cast forth, as denoting enlightenment and the reception of influx, namely, of Divine Truth, which is signified by the spirit of life. That this takes place with some for establishing a new church is evident from the verse that follows, where it is said, that they ascended into heaven in a cloud, thus with some. For the two witnesses signify the goods of love and truths of doctrine, and those are meant with whom these are, for all such are witnesses.

[2] When the end of the church is at hand, it is then provided by the Lord that a new church shall succeed, because without a church in which the Word is, and in which the Lord is known, the world could not continue to exist. For without the Word, and the knowledge and acknowledgment of the Lord, heaven could not be conjoined to the human race, and consequently the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord could not flow-in with new life. And without conjunction with heaven, and by that means with the Lord, a man would not be a man, but a beast; for this reason a new church is always provided by the Lord, when the old comes to its end. The reason why the beginning only of a new church is meant, and not yet its establishment, will be shown in the explanation of the verse that follows.

[3] That by the spirit of life from God, or by the spirit of God, and by the Holy Spirit, is meant the proceeding Divine from the Lord, called the Divine Truth, from which are all wisdom and intelligence, has been said and shown above (n. 24, 183, 318). It is this proceeding Divine that illustrates man, and flows into him, when he is being reformed and regenerated, thus when the church commences and is being established in him, as is very clear from the passages quoted from the Word above (n. 183), and also from this in Ezekiel:

Jehovah "said unto me, Prophesy about the spirit, and prophesy, Son of Man, and say unto the wind, Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, Come, O spirit, from the four winds, and breathe into these slain, that they may live; and when I prophesied, the spirit entered into them, and they lived again, and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army" (37:9, 10).

[4] This treats of the dry bones seen by the prophet upon the faces of the valley, by which the house of Israel is signified, as is plainly declared in verse 11 of the same chapter. And the house of Israel signifies the church, which house or church is there compared to dry bones, because it possesses no good of love or truth of doctrine. The establishment of a new church by the in-breathing of new life, or by regeneration, is described by the sinews, flesh, and skin, with which the bones were clothed and encompassed, and especially by the spirit which entered into them, and from which they lived. The spirit in them also signifies there the reception of the influx of Divine Truth, and spiritual life therefrom. The prophet said unto the wind, "come, O spirit, from the four winds," because the four winds signify the four quarters in the spiritual world, and the four quarters there signify the goods of love and the truths of doctrine in their entirety. Concerning the signification of these things it may be seen above (n. 417, 418, 419, 422, and in the Heaven and Hell, 141-150).

4319. Much experience has shown me that no man or spirit, or any angel, thinks, says, or does anything at all from himself, but from others. Nor are these others themselves the source of anything they think, say, or do but others again, and so on with these. Thus all, corporately and individually, think, speak, and act from the First Source of life, that is, from the Lord, no matter how completely they seem to do so independently, by themselves. This has often been shown to spirits who had believed during their lifetime, and had convinced themselves of the idea, that nothing lay outside themselves, that is, the whole source of their thought, speech, and activity lay within themselves and their own souls in which life has been implanted and shows itself. They have also been shown through actual experiences (such as one can have in the next life but are not possible in the world) that the source of evil people's thought, will, and action is hell, and the source of good people's is heaven, that is, the Lord through heaven; yet for all that, their evil or else their good seems to begin within those people themselves. This is something Christians know from teaching drawn from the Word, that is to say, the teaching that all evil comes from the devil and all good from the Lord. Yet there are few who believe it. And because they do not believe it they make their own the evils which they think, will, and do. They do not however make any good their own, for people who believe that the source of the good they do lies within themselves lay claim to it and attribute it to themselves, and in so doing place merit in it. They also know from what is taught in the Church that no one is able independently, by himself, to do anything good, insomuch that whatever originates in himself and in his proprium is evil, no matter how much it may seem to be good. This also few people believe, even though it is the truth.

[2] Evil people who have convinced themselves of the idea that they live independently by themselves, and therefore that whatever they think, will, and do begins in themselves, have declared, when shown that the truth of the matter is exactly as doctrine teaches, their readiness to believe it. But they have been told that knowing does not amount to believing, and that believing is something internal and cannot exist except within the affection for good and truth, and therefore can exist only with those who are governed by the good of charity towards the neighbour. Those same spirits, being evil ones, insisted that they were ready to believe it because they had seen it. But they were subjected to examination in a way commonly experienced in the next life, namely that of close inspection by angels. When they were inspected the upper part of their heads seemed to have been removed and their brains to be rough and hairy and also full of darkness. This showed the inner nature of people whose faith is no more than knowledge and not true faith, and that knowing something does not amount to believing it. For the heads of those who know and also believe look like human heads, and their brains look well-ordered, white, and shining, since heavenly light is received by them. But with those who merely know and imagine that in knowing they therefore believe, when in fact they do not believe because they lead an evil life, heavenly light is not received, nor consequently intelligence and wisdom which are present within that light. For this reason when they approach angelic communities, that is, heavenly light, it turns for them into darkness. This is why their brains are seen to be full of darkness.