9093. And they shall divide the silver of it. That this signifies that the truth thereof shall be dissipated, is evident from the signification of “dividing,” as being to banish and dissipate (see n. 6360, 6361); and from the signification of “silver,” as being truth (n. 1551, 2048, 5658, 6112, 6914, 6917, 7999). That “to divide” denotes to dissipate, is because if those things which have been associated together are divided, they are also scattered, as he who divides his mind destroys it. For the mind of man is an association of two parts, one part being called the understanding, the other the will. He who divides these two parts scatters the things which belong to one part, for one part must live from the other; consequently the other also perishes. It is the same with him who divides truth from good, or what is the same, faith from charity. He who does this destroys both. In a word, all things which ought to be united in a one, if divided perish.

[2] This division is meant by the Lord’s words in Luke:

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will prefer the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Luke 16:13).

That is, by faith serve the Lord, and by love the world; thus acknowledge truth, and do evil. He who does this has a divided mind, from which comes its destruction. From all this it is evident whence it is that “to divide” denotes to dissipate; as is also evident in Matthew:

The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall divide him, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites (Matthew 24:50-51); where “to divide” denotes to separate and remove from goods and truths (n. 4424), thus to dissipate.

[3] In Moses:

Cursed be their anger, for it was vehement; and their wrath, for it was hard. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel (Genesis 49:7); where Israel speaks prophetically of Simeon and Levi. By Simeon and Leviticus are there represented those who are in faith separate from charity (n. 6352), by Jacob and Israel the church external and internal, and also the external and internal man (n. 4286, 4598, 5973, 6360, 6361). “To divide them in Jacob” denotes to expel them from the external church; and “to scatter them in Israel” denotes from the internal church; thus to dissipate the goods and the truths of the church appertaining to them.

[4] That “dividing” has this signification is also plain from the words written on the wall when Belshazzar king of Babel, together with his lords, his wives, and his concubines, drank wine from the vessels of gold and of silver which belonged to the temple that was at Jerusalem. The writing was:

Numbered, numbered, weighed, and divided (Daniel 5:2-4, 25-28); where “divided” means separated from the kingdom. In this passage it is plain how all things were at that time representative. In it is described the profanation of good and truth, which is signified by “Babel” (that Babel” denotes profanation, see n. 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304-1308, 1321, 1322, 1326); “vessels of gold and of silver” denote the goods of love and the truths of faith from the the Lord, (n. 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917). Profanation is signified by “drinking therefrom, and at the same time praising the gods of gold, of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone,” as we read in the fourth verse of the chapter, which denote evils and falsities in a series (n. 4402, 4544, 7873, 8941). By the “temple at Jerusalem” from which the vessels came, is signified in the supreme sense the Lord, in the representative sense His kingdom and church (n. 3720). The kingdom of Belshazzar being “divided” signified the dissipation of good and truth, and he himself being “slain that night” signified the loss of the life of truth and good, thus damnation; for “to be divided” denotes to be dissipated; “a king” denotes the truth of good (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148); the like is signified by “kingdom” (n. 1672, 2547, 4691); “to be slain” denotes to be deprived of the life of truth and good (n. 3607, 6767, 8902); and the “night” in which he was slain denotes a state of evil and falsity (n. 2353, 7776, 7851, 7870, 7947). From this it is plain that all things there were representative.

[5] It says in David:

They divided My garments among them, and upon My vesture did they cast a lot (Psalms 22:18).

They divided His garments, casting a lot; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet (Matthew 27:35).

The soldiers took His garments, and made four parts; and the tunic, the tunic was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore, Let us not divide it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be; that the Scripture might be fulfilled (John 19:23-24).

He who reads these words and knows nothing of the internal sense of the Word, is not aware that anything secret lies hidden in them, when yet in each word there is a Divine secret. The secret was that Divine truths had been dissipated by the Jews, for the Lord was the Divine truth; and hence He is called “the Word” (John 1). “The Word” denotes Divine truth; His garments represented truths in the external form; and His tunic, truths in the internal form; the division of the garments represented the dissipation of the truths of faith by the Jews. (That “garments” denote truths in the external form, see n. 2576, 5248, 5954, 6918; also that “a tunic” denotes truth in the internal form, n. 4677.) Truths in the external form are such as are those of the Word in the literal sense; but truths in the internal form are such as are those of the Word in the spiritual sense. The division of the garments into four parts signified total dissipation, in like manner as the division in Zechariah 14:4, and in other passages; likewise the division into two parts, as we read of the veil of the temple (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38). The rending of the rocks also at that time (Matthew 27:51) represented the dissipation of all things of faith, for a “rock” denotes the Lord as to faith, consequently it denotes faith from the Lord.

735. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels.- That this signifies combat between those who are for a life of love and charity, and for the Divine of the Lord in His Human, and those who are for faith alone and separated from charity, and who are opposed to the Divine of the Lord in His Human, is evident from the signification of Michael and his angels, as denoting those who are for the Divine of the Lord in His Human, and for a life of love and charity (of which we shall speak presently); and from the signification of the dragon, as denoting those who are for faith alone and separated from the life of love and of charity, and also opposed to the Divine of the Lord in His Human. That those who are in faith separated from charity, which is called faith alone, are meant by the dragon, was shown above (n. 714, 715, 716). The reason why these are also opposed to the Divine of the Lord in His Human, that is the Divine Human, is that most of those who have confirmed themselves in faith alone are merely natural and sensual; and the natural and sensual man, separated from the spiritual, can have no idea of the Divine in the Human. For they think of the Human of the Lord, naturally and sensually, and not at the same time from any spiritual idea; therefore they think of the Lord as of an ordinary man like themselves, and this they also teach; consequently in the idea of their thought they place the Divine of the Lord above His Human, and thus completely separate these two. And they do this although their doctrine, which is the doctrine of Athanasius, concerning the Trinity teaches otherwise, for this teaches that the Divine and Human are united in person, and that these two are one, like the soul and body. Let any one of these examine himself, and he will perceive that such is their idea concerning the Lord.

From these things it is evident what is meant by Michael and his angels, who fought with the dragon, namely, those who acknowledge the Divine Human of the Lord and are for a life of love and charity. For such cannot but acknowledge the Divine Human of the Lord, because otherwise they could not be in any love to the Lord, nor thus in any charity towards the neighbour, since these are solely from the Lord's Divine Human, and not from the Divine separated from His Human, nor from the Human separated from His Divine; consequently, after the dragon with his angels was cast down unto the earth, a voice out of heaven said, "Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the power (potestas) of His Christ" (verse 10). This makes it clear what is meant by Michael and angels.

[2] In regard to Michael in particular, it is believed from the sense of the letter that he is one of the archangels, but there is no archangel in the heavens. There are indeed higher and lower angels, and also wiser and less wise; and in the societies of angels there are governors who are set over the rest, yet there are no archangels who keep others in obedience by the exercise of arbitrary authority. Such government has no place in the heavens, for there no one acknowledges in heart that any one is above himself but the Lord alone; this is meant by these words of the Lord in Matthew:

"Be not ye called teacher, for one is your teacher, the Christ, but all ye are brethren. And call no man your father on earth, for one is your Father who is in the heavens. Neither be ye called master, for one is your Master, the Christ. He that is greatest among you shall be your minister" (23:8-11).

But those angels that are mentioned in the Word, as Michael and Raphael, mean administrations and functions, and, in general, fixed and determined parts of the administration and function of all the angels. So here Michael means that part of the angelic function which was spoken of above, namely, the defending of that part of doctrine from the Word which teaches that the Human of the Lord is Divine, and also that man must live a life of love to the Lord and of charity towards the neighbour in order that he may receive salvation from the Lord. That part of the angelic function is therefore meant which fights against those who separate the Divine from the Human of the Lord, and who separate faith from the life of love and of charity; in fact those who show forth charity with the lips but not with the life.

[3] Moreover, angels, in the Word, in the spiritual sense do not mean angels, but Divine truths from the Lord, as may be seen above (n. 130, 302), for the reason that angels are not angels from their proprium, but from the reception of Divine Truth from the Lord; it is similar in respect to archangels, who signify that Divine Truth, as said above. The angels in the heavens have not names like men on earth, but they have names expressive of their functions, and, in general, every angel has a name given to him according to his quality; this is why "name," in the Word, signifies the quality of a thing and state. The name Michael, from its derivation in the Hebrew, means "who is like God," therefore Michael signifies the Lord as to the Divine Truth that the Lord is God even as to the Human, and that man must live from Him, that is, in love to Him from Him, and in love towards the neighbour. Michael is also mentioned in Daniel (10:13, 21; 12:1), and signifies there as here, genuine truth from the Word, which is for those who will belong to the church to be established by the Lord; for Michael means those who will be in favour of the doctrine of the New Jerusalem, the two essentials of which doctrine are, that the Human of the Lord is Divine, and that a life of love and charity must be lived.

[4] Michael is also mentioned in the Epistle of Jude, in these words:

"When Michael the archangel, contending with the devil, disputed about the body of Moses, he durst not utter a sentence of reproach, but said, The Lord rebuke thee" (verse 9).

The apostle Jude quoted these words from ancient books which were written by correspondences, and by Moses in those books the Word was meant, and by his body, the sense of the letter of the Word. And as the same persons are here meant by the devil as are meant in the Apocalypse by the dragon, called also the devil and Satan, it is evident what is signified by Michael, contending with the devil, disputed about the body of Moses, namely, that such falsified the sense of the letter of the Word. And because the Word in the letter is of such a nature that the evil can turn it aside from its real meaning, and that nevertheless it can be received by the good according to its true meaning, therefore it was said by the ancient peoples, from whom these words of Jude were received, that "Michael durst not utter a sentence of reproach." That Moses, in the spiritual sense, signifies the law, thus the Word, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 4859 at end, 5922, 6723, 6752, 6827, 7010, 7014, 7089, 7382, 8787, 8805, 9372, 9414, 9419, 9429, 10234, 10563, 10571, 10607, 10614).