711. She cried out travailing and pained to bring forth, signifies non-reception by those in the church who are natural and sensual, and their resistance. This is evident from the signification of "to cry out, travailing," and "to be pained to bring forth," when this has reference to the nascent doctrine of truth from celestial love, which is meant by "the male" that the woman brought forth, as being non-reception thereof, and also resistance; it is by those in the church who are natural and sensual, because such are meant by "the dragon" treated of in what follows. That "to travail" and "to bring forth" mean to be in labor over and to bring forth such things as belong to the church, here to the doctrine of truth and good, can be seen from what has been shown in the preceding article about the womb, and the opening of it, and birth, also from what is said about bringing forth in the rest of this chapter. In the meantime it may be mentioned that "the male" which the woman brought forth means the doctrine of the New Jerusalem which has been given by the Lord out of heaven; that the dragons then stood around and vehemently and strenuously opposed, and this even to the crying out and torment of those who favored that doctrine, I can testify; which shows that those who are like them in the world will also oppose to prevent this doctrine from being received. Who these are will be told in what follows, where "the dragon and the beasts" are treated of. But what in particular is signified elsewhere in the Word by "to cry out travailing" and "to be pained to bring forth" can be seen below n. 721, where the signification of "travailing" and "bringing forth" is explained.

538. I have sometimes been allowed to sense the aura of malevolent falsity flowing out of hell. It was like a constant effort to destroy everything good and true, united to an anger, a kind of rage at not being able to do so. Especially, it was an effort to destroy the divine nature of the Lord because this is the source of everything good and true.

I have sensed an aura of benevolent truth from heaven, though, that served to restrain the rage of the effort rising up from hell, which yielded an equilibrium. I perceived that the sole source of this aura was the Lord, even though it seemed to be coming from angels in heaven. The reason it comes solely from the Lord and not from angels is that every angel in heaven admits that nothing of what is good and true comes from herself or himself, but that it all comes from the Lord.