1. I. THE LAST JUDGMENT HAS BEEN COMPLETED

My earlier work on THE LAST JUDGMENT dealt with the following subjects:

The day of the Last Judgment does not mean the destruction of the world (The Last Judgment 1-5).

The reproduction of the human race will never cease (6-13).

Heaven and Hell are from the human race (14-22).

All people who have ever been born since the beginning of creation and have died are in heaven or in hell (23-27).

The Last Judgment is to be where all are together, and so in the spiritual world, not on earth (28-32).

The Last Judgment takes place when a church comes to an end; and this happens when there is no faith because there is no charity (33-39).

All the predictions made in the Book of Revelation are today fulfilled (40-44).

The Last Judgment has taken place (45-52).

On Babylon and its destruction (53-64);

on the former heaven and its abolition (65-72);

on the future state of the world and the church (73-74).

73. XI. THE FUTURE STATE OF THE WORLD AND THE CHURCH.

The future state of the world will be exactly the same as it has been up to now; for the mighty change which has taken place in the spiritual world does not cause any change in the external appearance of the natural world. So just as before there will be politics, peace-treaties, alliances and wars, and all the other general and particular features of society. When the Lord said:

There will be wars, and then nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines, plagues and earthquakes in various places. Matthew 24:6-7.

He did not mean such events in the natural world, but corresponding ones in the spiritual world. For the Word in its prophecies is not concerned with kingdoms on earth or the peoples on it, so not with their wars either; nor is it concerned with famine, plague and earthquakes on earth, but with the events in the spiritual world which correspond to them. The nature of these has been explained in ARCANA CAELESTIA, a collection of references to which may by seen at the end of the chapter. ¹

[2] The future state of the church, however, will not be the same. It may seem much the same in outward appearance, but inwardly it will be different. In outward appearance the churches will be divided from one another as before, their teachings will differ as before, and so will the religious systems of the heathen. But people in the church will henceforward have more freedom in thinking about matters of faith, and so about the spiritual matters which have to do with heaven, because of the restoration of spiritual freedom. For now everything in the heavens and the hells has been restored to order, and it is from there that all thought is influenced about Divine matters or against them; from the heavens when thought favours what is Divine, from the hells when it opposes it. But people will be unaware of this change of state, since they do not reflect on it, nor indeed do they know anything about spiritual freedom or influence from the spiritual world. However, in heaven this is perceived, and people after their deaths can do so too. It is because people have had their spiritual freedom restored that the spiritual sense of the Word has now been disclosed, and by this means Divine truths of a more inward kind have been revealed. For in their previous state people would not have understood them, and if anyone did so, he would have profaned them. It may be seen in HEAVEN AND HELL 597-603) that people's freedom depends upon an equilibrium between heaven and hell; and that people can only be reformed, if they enjoy freedom.

Footnotes:

7102. 'Lest perhaps He fall on us with pestilence and sword' means to avoid the damnation of evil and falsity. This is clear from the meaning of 'lest perhaps He fall on' as lest they run into - into damnation; from the meaning of 'pestilence' as the damnation of evil, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'sword' as the vastation of truth, and also the punishment of falsity, dealt with in 2799, and so also as damnation, since the punishment of falsity, when truth has been devasted, is damnation.

[2] The Word mentions four kinds of vastation and punishment - sword, famine, evil wild animal, and pestilence. 'Sword' means the vastation of truth and the punishment of falsity; 'famine' the vastation of good and the punishment of evil; 'evil wild animal' the punishment of evil that arises out of falsity; and 'pestilence' the punishment of evil that does not arise out of falsity but out of evil. And since punishment is meant, damnation is meant also, since damnation is the punishment suffered by those who persist in evil. Those four kinds of punishment are referred to as follows in Ezekiel,

. . . when I shall send My four severe ¹ judgements - sword, and famine, and evil wild animal, and pestilence - onto Jerusalem, to cut off man and beast from it. Ezekiel 14:21.

In the same prophet,

I will send famine and evil wild animals upon you, and I will make you bereft. And pestilence and blood will pass through you; in particular I will bring the sword upon you. Ezekiel 5:17.

[3] The meaning of 'pestilence' as the punishment of evil and its damnation is evident from the following places: In Ezekiel,

Those in waste places will die by the sword, and the one who is in the open field ² I will give to the wild animals to devour him, and those who are in fortifications and caverns will die from pestilence. Ezekiel 33:27.

'In waste places dying by the sword' stands for suffering the vastation of truth and consequently the damnation of falsity. 'The one who is in the open field being given to the wild animals to devour him' stands for the damnation of those ruled by evil arising out of falsity. 'Those who are in fortifications and caverns, dying from pestilence' stands for the damnation of evil which uses falsity to fortify itself.

[4] In the same prophet,

The sword is without, and pestilence and famine within; he that is in the field will die by the sword, but him that is in the city famine and pestilence will devour. Ezekiel 7:15.

'The sword' stands for the vastation of truth and the damnation of falsity; 'famine' and 'pestilence' stand for the vastation of good and the damnation of evil. The sword is said to be 'without' and famine and pestilence 'within' because the vastation of truth takes place externally but the vastation of good internally. When however a person leads a life that rests on falsity, damnation is meant by the words 'he that is in the field will die by the sword'; and when a person leads a life ruled by evil which he defends by the use of falsity, damnation is meant by the words 'him that is in the city famine and pestilence will devour'.

[5] In Leviticus,

I will bring upon you a sword executing the vengeance of the covenant; wherever you are gathered into your cities, I will send pestilence into the midst of you, and you will be delivered ³ into the hand of the enemy. When I have cut off your supply of bread ⁴ ... Leviticus 26:25-26.

Here in a similar way 'a sword' stands for the vastation of truth and the damnation of falsity, 'pestilence' for the damnation of evil. The vastation of good, meant by 'famine', is described when [the Lord] speaks of cutting off their supply of bread. 'Cities' into which they would be gathered has the same meaning as 'the city' just above - falsities that are used to defend evils. For the meaning of 'cities' as truths, and so in the contrary sense as falsities, see 402, 2268, 2712, 2943, 3216, 4492, 4493.

[6] In Ezekiel,

Therefore because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your abominations, a third part of you will die from pestilence, and be annihilated [by famine] in your midst; then a third will fall by the sword around you; finally I will scatter a third to every wind, so that I will draw out a sword after them. Ezekiel 5:11-12.

'Famine' stands for the damnation of evil, 'sword' for the damnation of falsity. 'Scattering to every wind' and 'drawing out a sword after them' stand for getting rid of truths and seizing on falsities.

[7] In Jeremiah,

If they offer burnt offering or minchah, I am not accepting those things, but I will consume those people by sword, famine, and pestilence. Jeremiah 14:12.

In the same prophet,

I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die from a great pestilence. Afterwards I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and those in this city left from the pestilence, and from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. He who remains in this city will die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and defects to the Chaldeans besieging you will live, and his soul will become spoil to him. Jeremiah 21:6-7, 9.

In the same prophet,

I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, till they are consumed from upon the earth. Jeremiah 24:10.

Here also 'sword' means the vastation of truth, 'famine' the vastation of good, and 'pestilence' damnation; and 'sword', 'famine', and 'pestilence' have the same meanings in the following places as well: Jeremiah 27:8; 29:17-18; 32:24, 36; 34:17; 38:2; 42:17, 22; 44:13; Ezekiel 12:16.

[8] Since those three scourges follow in their own particular order [of severity], David was presented by the prophet Gad with the three. He had to choose between the coming of seven years of famine, fleeing three months before his enemies, or three days of pestilence in the land, 2 Samuel 24:13. ('Fleeing before his enemies' implies 'the sword'.) In Amos,

I have sent the pestilence upon you in the way of Egypt, I have killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. ⁵ Amos 4:10.

'The pestilence in the way of Egypt' stands for the vastation of good by means of falsities, which are 'the way of Egypt'. 'Killing young men with the sword, along with captured horses' stands for the vastation of truth, truths being meant by 'young men' and intellectual concepts by 'horses', ⁵ 2761, 2762, 3217, 5321, 6534.

[9] In Ezekiel,

Pestilence and blood will pass through you. Ezekiel 5:17.

In the same prophet,

I will send upon her pestilence and blood in her streets. Ezekiel 28:23.

Here 'pestilence' stands for good that has been adulterated, and 'blood' for truth that has been falsified. For the meaning of 'blood' as falsified truth, see 4735, 6978.

[10] In David,

You will not be afraid of the terror of the night, of the arrow that flies by day, of the pestilence that creeps in thick darkness, of death that lays waste at noonday. Psalms 91:5-6.

'The terror of the night' stands for falsity which lies concealed; 'the arrow that flies by day' for falsity which is out in the open; 'the pestilence that creeps in thick darkness' for evil which lies concealed; 'death which lays waste at noonday' for evil which is out in the open. The fact that 'pestilence' means evil and the damnation of evil is evident from the use of the word 'death', which is distinguished here from pestilence solely by its being said of death that it 'lays waste at noonday' but of pestilence that it 'creeps in thick darkness'. In the same author,

He opened a way for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death, and He subjected their life to pestilence. Psalms 78:50.

This refers to the Egyptians, 'pestilence' standing for every kind of evil and its damnation.

Footnotes: