4229. 第32章

最后的审判 (续)

我们从第三卷 (系指拉丁文的第3卷) 开始解释主在马太福音 24章关于最后审判的预言. 这些解释被放在了那一卷最后几章的开头部分, 目前已解释到31节 (参看3353-3356, 3486-3489, 3650-3655, 3897-3901, 4056-4060节).

概括地说, 主的这些预言的内义从所给出的解释很清楚看出来, 即祂预言了教会的逐渐毁灭和最终一个新教会的建立, 其次序如下:

⑴教会成员不再知道何为良善与真理, 反而开始彼此争论它们.

⑵他们蔑视它们.

⑶他们从心里不承认它们.

⑷他们亵渎它们.

⑸由于信之真理和爱之良善仍存留在某些被称为 “选民” 的人当中, 故经上描述了那时信之真理所具有的状态.

⑹然后描述了仁的状态.

⑺最后论述了一个新教会的开始, 由最后所解释的那些话来表示, 即:

祂要差遣祂的使者, 用号筒的大声, 将祂的选民从四风, 从天这边到天那边, 都招聚了来. (马太福音 24:31)

这些话表示一个新教会的开始 (参看4060末尾节).

4060. 因此, 前面 (4056节) 所引用的那些话表示那时教会在良善, 就是在对邻之仁和对主之爱方面的状态. 这一点从它们的内义明显可知, 内义如下:

“那些日子的灾难一过去” 表示教会在信之真理方面的状态, 如刚才所述. 在圣言中, 真理的荒废在各处都被称作 “灾难”, “日子” 是指状态 (参看23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785节). 由此明显可知, 这些话表示, 一旦信不复存在, 仁也就不存在了. 事实上, 信通向仁, 因为信教导何为仁, 仁从信之真理接受其品质. 然而, 信之真理从仁接受其本质和生命, 这一点在前几卷已反复说明.

“日头就变黑了, 月亮也不放光” 表示对主之爱, 就是 “日头”; 对邻之仁, 就是 “月亮”. “就变黑了” 和 “也不放光” 表示那爱与仁不会出现, 因而会消失. “日头” 表示爱的属天种类, “月亮” 表示爱的属灵种类; 也就是说, “日头” 表示对主之爱, “月亮” 表示通过信而来的对邻之仁 (参看1053, 1529, 1530, 2120, 2441, 2495节). 太阳和月亮之所以具有这样的含义, 是因为在来世, 主向那些处于对主之爱, 被称为属天的人显为一轮太阳, 向那些处于对邻之仁, 被称为属灵的人显为一轮月亮 (参看1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 3636, 3643节).

天上的太阳和月亮, 也就是主从不变黑, 也不会失去它们的光, 而是永远发光; 因而在天上, 属天天使所具有的对主之爱不会变黑, 属灵天使所具有的对邻之仁也不会失去它的光; 地上与这些天使同在的人, 也就是那些处于爱与仁的人也不会. 然而, 那些没有爱与仁, 而是陷入自我之爱和尘世之爱, 因而陷入仇恨和报复的人就给自己招来这种 “变黑”. 这就像是这个世界的太阳不断发光, 但当有乌云介入时, 这太阳就看不见了 (2441节).

“众星要从天上坠落” 表示对良善与真理的认知要灭亡. 在圣言中, 当提及 “众星” 时, 它们没有其它含义 (1808, 2849节). “天势都要震动” 表示教会的根基, 当这些认知灭亡时, 就说这些根基 “震动” 或 “摇撼”. 这是因为地上的教会就是天堂的根基; 良善与真理从主经由天堂的流注最后终结于教会成员所具有的良善与真理. 所以, 当教会成员的状态如此败坏, 以致他不再允许良善或真理流入他里面时, 就说天势要 “震动”. 正因如此, 主一直规定, 教会的某种遗迹要存留下来; 并且当旧教会灭亡时, 一个新教会要再次兴起.

“那时, 人子的兆头要显在天上” 表示那时神性真理的显现; “兆头” 表示显现; “人子” 表示神性真理方面的主 (参看2803, 2813, 3704节). 门徒们所问的, 就是这种显现或 “兆头”, 当时他们对主说:

请告诉我们, 什么时候有这些事? 你降临和这时代的完结, 有什么预兆呢? (马太福音 24:3)

因为他们从圣言知道, 当世代要终结时, 主就会到来; 他们从主自己得知, 祂会 “再来”, 他们将主的 “再来” 理解为主第二次降世; 殊不知每当教会被毁时, 主都会到来, 但不是以人的形式到来, 如祂通过生在世上披上人身并使这人身变成神性时的情形, 而是通过祂自己的显现或显明到来, 如当祂在幔利向亚伯拉罕显现, 在荆棘中向摩西显现, 在西乃山向以色列人显现, 在约书亚进入迦南地的时候向他显现时的情形; 或不是如此显现, 而是通过领受启示并由此给出圣言, 后来则通过圣言本身显现时的情形. 因为主就存在于圣言中; 圣言中的一切细节都出自祂, 并论及祂, 这一点从直到目前的多次说明可以看出来. 这后者就是此处 “人子的兆头” 所表示的显现, 也就是本节所论述的主题.

“地上的众支派都要哀哭” 表示所有处于爱之良善和信之真理的人都要悲伤. 这就是 “哀哭” 的意思 (参看撒迦利亚书 12:10-14); “支派” 表示良善与真理的一切事物, 就是爱与信的一切事物, 因而表示那些处于这些事物的人 ( 参看3858, 3926节). 经上之所以用 “地上的支派” 这个词, 是因为所指的是那些在教会之内的人, “地” 是指教会 (参看662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2928, 3355节).

“他们要看见人子有能力, 有大荣耀, 驾着天上的云降临” 表示那时圣言的内义将被揭示出来, 主就存在于内义中. “人子” 表示圣言里面的神性真理 (2803, 2813, 3704节); “云” 表示字义; “能力” 论及良善, “荣耀” 论及其中的真理. “看见人子驾着天上的云降临” 表示这些事 (参看18章的序言). 这就是此处所指的主的到来, 不是字面上所说的祂要显现在云中. 接下来的主题是一个新教会的建立, 一旦旧教会被毁坏和抛弃, 这种事就会发生.

“祂要差遣祂的使者, 用号筒的大声” 表示拣选, 不是通过可见的天使, 更不是通过号筒的大声拣选, 而是通过从主经由天使而来的神圣良善与神圣真理的流注拣选; 因此, 在圣言中, “使者或天使” 表示本质上属于主的某种事物 (1925, 2821, 3039节); 在此表示出于主并涉及主的事物. “号筒” 和 “大声” 表示福音传播, 和在圣言别处的一样.

“将祂的选民从四风, 从天这边到天那边, 都招聚了来” 表示一个新教会的建立. “选民” 是指那些处于爱与信之良善 (3755-3900节); 他们要被招聚所来的 “四风” 是指良善与真理的一切状态 (3708节); “从天这边到天那边” 表示教会的内在和外在. 这些就是主的这些话所表示的事.

2715. Two arcana exist here, the first being that, compared with the good of the celestial man, that of the spiritual man is obscure, the second that this obscurity is brightened by light from the Lord's Divine Human. As regards the first of these - that the good residing with the spiritual man is obscure compared with the celestial man's - this may be seen from what has been stated above in 2708 about the state of the spiritual man in comparison with that of the celestial man. From a comparison of the two states the fact of that obscurity is quite evident. With those who are celestial good itself exists implanted in the will part of their mind, and from there light enters the understanding part. But with those who are spiritual the whole of the will part is corrupted, so that they have no good at all from there, and therefore the Lord implants good in the understanding part of their mind, see 863, 875, 895, 927, 928, 1023, 1043, 1044, 2124, 2256. The will part is, in the main, the part of man's mind that possesses life, whereas the understanding part receives life from the will. Since therefore the will part in the case of the spiritual man is so corrupted as to be nothing but evil, and yet evil is flowing in from there unceasingly and constantly into the understanding part, that is, into his thought, it is clear that the good there is obscure compared with the celestial man's good.

[2] As a consequence those who are spiritual do not have love to the Lord, as those who are celestial do; nor therefore does that humility exist with them which is essential in all worship and by means of which good can flow in from the Lord; for a heart that is haughty is not at all receptive, only one that is humble. Nor do those who are spiritual have love towards the neighbour, as those who are celestial do, because self-love and love of the world are constantly flowing in from the will part of their mind, bringing obscurity into the good that goes with that love towards the neighbour. This may also become clear to one who reflects from the fact that when he helps another he does so for worldly reasons; thus though he may not consciously have it in mind he is nevertheless thinking about what he will get in return either from those he helps or in the next life from the Lord, which being so his good is still defiled with merit-seeking. It may also become clear to him from the fact that when he has done anything good and is able to speak about it to others and so set himself up above others, he is in his element. But those who are celestial love the neighbour more than they love themselves, and do not ever think about repayment or in any way set themselves up above others.

[3] The good residing with those who are spiritual is in addition made obscure by persuasive beliefs that are the product of various assumptions, which likewise have their origin in self-love and love of the world. For the nature of their persuasive beliefs even in matters of faith, see 2682, 2689 (end). This too is a product of the influx of evil from the will part of their mind.

[4] It may in addition become clear that the good residing with the spiritual man is obscure compared with the celestial man's, from the fact that he does not know what truth is, as those who are celestial do, from any perception. Instead he knows what truth is from what he has learned from parents and teachers, and also from the doctrine into which he was born. And when he adds to this anything from himself and from his own thinking, it is for the most part the senses and the illusions of the senses, also the rational and the appearances present within the rational, that predominate, and these make it barely possible for him to acknowledge any pure truth like that acknowledged by those who are celestial. But in spite of this, within things that are seemingly true the Lord implants good, even though these truths are mere illusions or else appearances of truth. But this good is made obscure by such truths, for it derives its specific nature from the truths to which it is joined. It is like the light of the sun falling upon objects. The nature of the objects receiving the light causes the light to be seen within those objects in the form of colours, which are beautiful if the nature of the recipient form and the manner of its receiving are fitting and correspondent, hideous if the nature of the recipient form and the manner of its receiving are not fitting and so not correspondent. In the same way good itself acquires a specific nature from the truth [to which it is joined].

[5] The same arcanum is also evident from the fact that the spiritual man does not know what evil is. He scarcely believes that any other evils exist than actions contrary to the Ten Commandments. Of evils present in affection and thought, which are countless, he has no knowledge nor does he reflect on them or call them evils. All delights whatever that go with evil desires and pleasures he does not regard as other than good; and the actual delights that are part of self-love he both pursues, approves of, and excuses, without knowing that such things have an effect on his spirit and that he becomes altogether such in the next life.

[6] From this it is in a similar way clear that although the whole of the Word deals with scarcely any other matter than the good which goes with love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, the spiritual man does not know that that good is the sum and substance of faith, nor even what the essential nature of love and charity is. It is also clear that though something which is a matter of faith may be known to him - faith being considered by him to be essential in itself - he nevertheless discusses whether it is true, unless he has been confirmed by much experience of life. Those who are celestial do not discuss the same because they know and have a perception that it is true hence the Lord's statement in Matthew,

Let your words be, Yes, yes; No, no; anything beyond this is from evil. ¹ Matthew 5:37.

For those who are celestial are immersed in the truth itself about which those who are spiritual dispute. Consequently because those who are celestial are immersed in the truth itself, they are able to see from it numberless facets of that truth, and so from light to see so to speak heaven in its entirety. But those who are spiritual, because they dispute whether it is true, cannot - so long as they do so - arrive at the remotest boundary of the light existing with those who are celestial, let alone behold anything from their light.

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