101. Verse 3. And hast borne and hast endurance, signifies resistance against those who assail the truths of faith, and diligence in instructing. This is evident from the signification of "bearing," in reference to those who are in the knowledges of truth and good, as being resistance against those who assail the truths of faith, for those who are in knowledges defend those truths, and resist those who are against them; also from the signification of having "endurance" or "patience," as being diligence in instructing.

94. EXPOSITION.

Verses 1-7. To the angel of the Ephesian church write: These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand; He that walketh in the midst of the seven golden lampstands; I know thy works and thy toil, and thy endurance, and that thou canst not bear the evil, and hast tried them that say, that they are apostles and they are not, and hast found them liars: and hast borne and hast endurance, and for My name's sake hast toiled, and hast not failed. But I have against thee that thou hast left thy first charity. Be mindful therefore of whence thou hast fallen, and repent, and do the first works; but if not I will come unto thee quickly, and will move thy lampstand out of its place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

1. "To the angel of the Ephesian church write," signifies for remembrance to those within the church who are in the knowledges of truth and good from the Word (n. 95); "these things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand," signifies from whom are all the knowledges of good and truth (n. 96); "He that walketh in the midst of the seven golden lampstands," signifies from whom is life to all in the new heaven and the new church (n. 97 [1-2]).

2. "I know thy works, and thy toil, and thy endurance," signifies all things that they think, will, and do, thus all things of love and faith in the spiritual and in the natural man n. 98; ["and that thou canst not bear the evil," signifies that they reject evils (n. 99)] and hast tried them that say they are apostles and they are not, and hast found them liars," signifies also falsities, so far as they are able to search them out n. 100.

3. "And hast borne, and hast endurance," signifies resistance against those who assail the truths of faith, and diligence in instructing (n. 101); "and for My name's sake hast toiled," signifies acknowledgment of the Lord and of the knowledges of truth that have respect to Him n. 102; "and hast not failed," signifies so far as they could (n. 103).

4. "But I have against thee that thou hast left thy first charity," signifies that they do not make such a life as those lived who were in the church at its beginning the essential of knowledges (n. 104).

5. "Be mindful therefore of whence thou hast fallen, and repent, and do the first works," signifies the remembrance of former things, and thus the remembrance of having deviated from the truth, and this in order that the good of life of the church at its beginning may come into mind n. 105; "but if not I will come unto thee quickly, and will move thy lampstand out of its place, except thou repent," signifies that if not, it is certain that heaven cannot be given (n. 106).

6. "But this thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate," signifies an aversion, derived from the Divine, towards those who separate good from truth, or charity from faith, from which separation there is no life n. 107.

7. "He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches," signifies that he who understands should hearken to what Divine truth proceeding from the Lord teaches and says to those who are of His church n. 108; "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life," signifies that he who receives in the heart shall be filled with the good of love, and with heavenly joy therefrom n. 109; "which is in the midst of the paradise of God," signifies that all knowledges of good and truth in heaven and in the church look thereto and proceed therefrom n. 110.

1754. 'Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre' means the things residing with them. This is clear from what has been stated about the same three at verse 13 above, that is to say, that by the names of these men are meant the goods and truths from which the battle was fought rather than the angels themselves; for, as has been stated, angels are meant by the expressions 'young men' and 'men', since angels do not ever have personal names but are distinguished from one another by the kinds of goods and truths with them. This is why in the Word nothing else is meant by 'a name' than the essence and the nature or character of the named, as shown already in 144, 145, 340, and as becomes clear also in Isaiah, where the Lord is spoken of,

His name will be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6-7.

'Name' is here used to mean His nature, that is to say, that He is Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace.

[2] In Jeremiah, where also the Lord is spoken of,

This is His name which they will call Him, Jehovah our Righteousness. Jeremiah 23:5-6.

Here it is quite clear that the 'name' is Righteousness. Then in Moses, where also the Lord is spoken of,

He will not endure your transgression for My name is in the midst of Him. Exodus 23:21.

Here too 'name' stands for Essence - that it is Divine. The same is in addition clear from many other places in the Word where it is said that men called on the name of Jehovah, that they should not take Jehovah's name in vain; and in the Lord's Prayer, Hallowed be Your name. The same applies with the names of angels, as it does here with the names Eshkol, Aner, and Mamre, who represent angels, in that those names mean the things that exist with angels.