932. And them that have victory over the beast, signifies who have lived a life of charity, and thus have not falsified the Word. This is evident from the signification of "having victory over the beast," as being to live a life of charity; for "the beast" signifies those who are in faith separated from charity, or what is the same, those who are in faith without good works, and who live according to that faith; consequently those who do not live that faith but the faith of charity "have victory over the beast," for they fight against that faith in their life; and as they come off victors they receive the reward of victory after their life in the world. As "the beast" signifies also the confirmation from the Word of faith separate, and thus falsification of the Word, so "to have the victory over the beast" signifies also not to have falsified the Word. (That "the two beasts" of the dragon treated of in chapter 13 signify faith separated from the goods of life, also falsification of the Word to confirm that faith, may be seen above, n. 773, 815.)

[THE GOODS OF CHARITY]

As faith separated from the goods of charity, which are good works, also the faith that is from charity, have been treated of in the explanations of two preceding chapters (the twelfth and thirteenth), the goods of charity shall be treated of in the explanations of this and the following chapter. What is meant by the goods of charity or good works is at this day unknown to most in the Christian world, because of the prevalence of the religion of faith alone, which is faith separated from the goods of charity. For if only faith contributes to salvation, and goods of charity contribute nothing, the idea that these goods may be left undone has place in the mind. But some who believe that good works should be done do not know what good works are, thinking that good works are merely giving to the poor and doing good to the needy and to widows and orphans, since such things are mentioned and seemingly commanded in the Word. Some think that if good works must be done for the sake of eternal life they must give to the poor all they possess, as was done in the primitive church, and as "the Lord commanded the rich man to sell all that he had and give to the poor, and take up the cross and follow Him" (Matthew 19:21). But what is meant in the Word by good works shall be told in order in what follows.

816. And he had two horns like a lamb, signifies a power as if from the Lord, of persuading that there is a conjunction with the Word of faith separate. This is evident from the signification of "horns," as being power (See above, n. 316, 776); also from the signification of "two," as being conjunction (See above, n. 532 at the end); also from the signification of a "lamb," as being the Lord in relation to the Divine Human (See also above, n. 314; therefore "to have two horns like a lamb" signifies a power as if from the Lord of persuading that there is a conjunction with the Word of faith separate, as can be seen from what precedes and from what follows; from what precedes, in that "the beast coming up out of the earth" signifies confirmations from the sense of the letter of the Word in favor of faith separate from life (See just above, n. 815; and from what follows, in that it is said that this beast "spake as the dragon," and that "all the authority of the first beast he exercised before him," which signifies a similar affection, thought, doctrine, and preaching as belong to those who separate faith from the life of faith, which is charity, also the conjunction of the reasonings from the natural man, by which the religion of faith separate is strengthened, which will be treated of in the next articles. Thence it is clear that as the "horns" of this beast signify the power of persuading, "two" signifies conjunction, and "a lamb" the Lord, so "this beast having two horns like a lamb" signifies a power as if from the Lord of persuading that there is a conjunction with the Word of faith separate from life. Upon the head of this beast two horns only were seen, but upon the head of the former beast ten horns, because this beast signifies confirmations from the Word; and in the Word there is the marriage of good and truth, and this marriage is signified by "two." So, too, the horns appeared "like a lamb," because a "lamb" means the Lord, here the Lord in relation to the Word. That the Lord in respect to His Divine Human is the Word, that is, the Divine truth, is declared in the plainest terms in John:

That the Word became flesh (John 1:14).

[2] Such a power of persuading and confirming any heresy whatever from the Word is well known in the Christian world from the many heresies there, every one of which is confirmed from the sense of the letter of the Word and thus they are persuaded. The reason is that the sense of the letter of the Word is accommodated to the apprehension of the simple, and therefore consists in large part of appearances of truth; and it is the nature of appearances of truth to be capable of being adapted to confirm anything that anyone may adopt as a principle of religion and thence of doctrine, thus even when it is false. Consequently those who place genuine truth itself in the sense of the letter of the Word only, are open to many errors unless they are in enlightenment from the Lord, and in that enlightenment form doctrine for themselves that will serve them as a lamp. In the sense of the letter of the Word there are naked truths as well as truths clothed, and these latter are appearances of truth, and appearances of truth can be understood only from passages where naked truths stand out; out of these doctrine can be formed by one who is enlightened by the Lord, and according to that doctrine all other things can be explained. This is why those who read the Word without doctrine are led into manifold errors. The Word was so written in order that there might be a conjunction of heaven with man; and there is a conjunction because every expression in the Word, and in some passages every letter, contains a spiritual sense, in which the angels are; consequently when man perceives the Word according to its appearances of truth the angels that are about man understand it spiritually. Thus the spiritual of heaven is conjoined with the natural of the world in respect to such things as contribute to man's life after death. If the Word had been written otherwise no conjunction of heaven with man would have been possible.

[3] And because the Word in the letter is such it serves as it were as a support for heaven; for all the wisdom of the angels of heaven in respect to things pertaining to the church terminates in the sense of the letter of the Word as in its basis; consequently the Word in the letter may be called the support of heaven. For this reason the sense of the letter of the Word is most holy, and is even more powerful than its spiritual sense, as has been made known to me by much experience in the spiritual world, for when spirits bring forward any passage according to the sense of the letter they immediately excite some heavenly society to conjunction with them. From this it can be seen that all things of the doctrine of the church are to be confirmed from the sense of the letter of the Word that there may be in them any sanctity and power, and moreover from those books of the Word in which there is a spiritual sense. Thence it is also evident how dangerous it is to falsify the Word even to the destruction of the Divine truth that is in its spiritual sense; for by so doing heaven is closed to man. That this is done by those who confirm by the Word the separation of faith from its life, which is good works, has been shown above.

The story in John 9 about the Lord giving sight to a man born blind is dramatic and deeply touching. We sense in it the joy and wonder of the man who received sight after so many years of utter darkness. We are warmed by the compassion and mercy which the Lord showed toward the blind man. And we are amazed, astonished and dumbfounded by the hostility and antagonism which the Pharisees exhibited toward the man who had been blind, and by their fanatical desire to discredit the Lord. Instead of rejoicing at this man's good fortune and marvelling at this wonderful miracle, they rebuked and persecuted the man and his family and finally expelled him from the synagogue.

Dramatic as this story may be, and wonderful as the miracle was in itself, this story is not merely history. It is not an event which is done and finished. The miracle of giving sight to the blind is one which the Lord is continually effecting with all people who genuinely desire it. Remarkable as all the Lord's miracles were in themselves, they were not the fulfillment of His mission on earth. Because the Lord is infinite, everything He did while on earth looked to spiritual and eternal ends. The Lord did not come on earth to heal people's bodies. The body lives for only a few short years and then it is discarded, like clothing that has served its use. He came to heal the spirits of people, which live on in the spiritual world when the body has been put off. All the miracles which the Lord performed were ultimate representations of spiritual things - things that pertain to the hearts and minds of people (see Apocalypse Explained 475:19).

All the diseases which the Lord healed while on earth have their spiritual correspondences (see Apocalypse Explained 815:5). The man born blind whom the Lord healed represents all those people who are ignorant of Divine truth, and who, through a genuine desire to know the truth, are enlightened by the Lord at His coming.

In Isaiah 29:11-12 we read of a closed book that none could understand, neither the learned nor the simple. This book was the Word. Through their refusal to obey the Lord's precepts, the Jewish church of the time had closed its understanding to the truth revealed by the Lord in His Word. Thus the book was closed to the leaders and teachers of the Jews, and so the learned also closed it to the simple who depended on them for instruction from the Word. Instead of teaching genuine truths from the Word they taught man-made precepts: "their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men" (Isaiah 29:13).

Because of this situation the Lord prophesied that He would do a marvelous work when He came on earth. "In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness... These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, and those who murmured will learn doctrine" (Isaiah 29:18, 24).

Here we see described one of the purposes of the Lord's coming: to open the understanding of people-their spiritual sight-so that they could see Divine truths in the Word. He came to open the closed "Book" so that people could learn doctrine from it: doctrine applicable to life, Divine doctrine and not the commandments of people. This is the interior meaning of the miracle which the Lord performed for the man born blind. And the means by which He healed the man also describe the means by which He may open the interior understanding of each individual and impart a genuine rational faith.

The clay which the Lord used to anoint the man's eyes represents good-the good affections which a person has acquired by living a life according to truth (see Arcana Coelestia 6669:6). After anointing the man's eyes, the Lord told him to wash in the pool of Siloam. This represents a cleansing by repentance from what is evil and false, for all the ceremonial washings in the Word represent repentance, for example, the baptism of John in the fords of the river Jordan.

This miracle represents the fulfillment of one of the Lord's purposes in coming on earth. He prophesied in Isaiah that He would come to open the human understanding so that people could see the inner contents of the "Book" which was closed by their spiritual blindness. He was going to teach them doctrine so that they would cease to err. He proclaimed this purpose again immediately before and after He had healed the blind man, saying,

"I am the light of the world.... For judgment I have come into this world that those who do not see may see, and those who see may be blind" (John 9:5,39).

Those who think they see are blinded, because they see from self-intelligence rather than from the Lord who is the "light of the world"-their self-illumined understanding in an illusory light. They see what is false as the truth, and what is true they see as false. They close their eyes against the genuine light of Divine truth.

The purpose of the Lord's Second Coming is the same as that of His First Coming. In the book of Revelation we read of a "Book" sealed with seven seals, which nobody was worthy to open except the Lord Himself. This was a prophecy of how, in the Christian Church, the Word would again become a closed Book, no longer understood by the learned or the simple, a book which only the Lord Himself could open in His Second Advent. And it is opened! The spiritual meaning of the Word is now revealed! It gives spiritual understanding-spiritual sight-to those who receive and acknowledge it.

So this story of the healing of the blind man is not just an historical record of the Israelites, of the Lord's life on earth and the wonders He performed during the three short years of His ministry. The Word contains within it living truth which can heal our spiritual blindness and cleanse our minds and hearts from what is false and evil. In the revelation of His Second Advent, the Lord has opened the Book that was closed. He has revealed Himself anew so that those who err in spirit may come to understanding and those who murmur may learn true doctrine.

May the Lord, through His open Word, heal all of us who have been born in ignorance. As we apply these revealed truths to our lives and repent of our sins, may our understandings be opened so that we become seeing. And may we be led to acknowledge, as did the man born blind, that only the Lord Himself can open the interior sight of our minds and illumine their darkness, so that we may say of the truth when it is presented to our minds, "Lord, I believe."

(References: Apocalypse Explained 5, 19; Arcana Coelestia - Index 6669:6)