499. Our Second State after Death

Our second state after death is called a state of our deeper interests because then we are given access to the deeper reaches of our minds, or of our intentions and thoughts, while the more outward interests that engaged us in the first state become dormant.

Anyone who is observant of our life and our words and actions can recognize that we all have more outward and more inward natures, or more outward and more inward thoughts and intentions. We can recognize this from the fact that if we are involved in civic life, we think about other people in terms of their reputation, or of what we have picked up about them when they were the subjects of conversation. However, we do not talk with them the way we think about them, and even if the others are evil people, we still behave courteously toward them. This is particularly noticeable in pretenders and sycophants whose words and deeds are wholly at odds with their thoughts and intentions, and in hypocrites who talk about God, heaven, the salvation of souls, the truths of the church, the welfare of the country, and their neighbor as though they were motivated by faith and love when at heart they believe otherwise and love no one but themselves.

[2] We may gather from this that we have two thought processes, one more outward and one more inward, and that we talk on the basis of our more outward thinking and feel differently on the basis of our more inward thinking. Further, these two thought processes have been separated to prevent the inner from flowing into the outer and becoming somehow visible.

We have been so created that our inner thought may act in unison with our outer by means of correspondence; and it does act as one when we are involved in something constructive, since we do not think anything that is not good, and what we say is good. But if we are involved in something evil, our deeper thought does not act as one with our outer thought, because we are thinking something evil and saying something good. This means that the pattern is inverted, since the good is on the outside for us and the evil lies within. As a result, the evil controls the good and suppresses it like a slave, to make it serve as a means to securing its own ends, the objects of its love. Since this kind of purpose is latent in the good we say and do, we can see that now the good is not really good but is infected with evil, no matter how good it may look in outward form to people who are not aware of deeper matters.

[3] It is different for people who are involved in something good. For them, the pattern is not inverted; rather, the good flows from their deeper thought into their more outward thought and therefore into their words and deeds. This is the pattern into which we were created. In this way, our deeper reaches are in heaven and in the light there, and since heaven's light is divine truth emanating from the Lord and is in fact the Lord in heaven (see 126-140), the Lord is leading us.

I mention this to show that each of us has a more inward thought and a more outward thought, and that these are distinguishable. When I say "thought," I mean volition as well, since thought comes from volition. No one can actually think without intent.

We can see from this what our states of outer concerns and of inner concerns are.

297. Verse 1. And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne, signifies the Lord in respect to omnipotence and omniscience. This is evident from the signification of "right hand," as being, in reference to the Lord, omnipotence and also omniscience (of which presently); also from the signification of "Him that sat upon the throne," as being the Lord in respect to Divine good in heaven; for in general "throne" signifies heaven, in particular the spiritual heaven, and abstractly Divine truth proceeding, from which heaven is, and by which judgment is effected (See above, n. 253). By "Him that sat upon the throne," and also by "the Lamb," that took the book from Him that sat upon the throne, the Lord is meant, because by "Him that sat upon the throne" the Lord in respect to Divine good is meant, and by "the Lamb" the Lord in respect to Divine truth. There are two things that proceed from the Lord as the sun of heaven, namely, Divine good and Divine truth. Divine good from the Lord is called "the Father in the heavens," and is here meant by "Him that sat upon the throne;" and Divine truth from the Lord is called "the Son of man," but here "the Lamb." And because Divine good judges no one, but Divine truth judges, therefore it is here said that "the Lamb took the book from Him that sat upon the throne." That Divine good judges no one, but Divine truth judges, is meant by the Lord's words in John:

The Father doth not judge anyone, but hath given all judgment unto the Son; because He is the Son of man (John 5:22, 27).

"Father" means the Lord in respect to Divine good; "the Son of man," the Lord in respect to Divine truth. Divine good "doth not judge anyone," because it explores no one; but Divine truth judges, for it explores everyone. Yet it should be known, that neither does the Lord Himself judge anyone from the Divine truth that proceeds from Him, for this is so united to Divine good that they are one; but the man-spirit judges himself; for it is the Divine truth received by himself that judges him; but because the appearance is that the Lord judges, therefore it is said in the Word that all are judged by the Lord. This the Lord also teaches in John:

Jesus said, If any man hear My words and yet believe not, I judge him not; for I have not come to judge the world but to save the world. He that rejecteth Me and receiveth not My words hath one that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day (John 12:47-48).

[2] For in respect to judgment, the case is this: The Lord is present with all, and from Divine Love He wills to save all, and He turns and leads all towards Himself. Those who are in good and in truths therefrom follow, for they apply themselves, but those who are in evil and in falsities therefrom do not follow, but turn backwards from the Lord, and to turn themselves backwards from the Lord is to turn from heaven to hell; for every man-spirit is either his own good and the truth therefrom, or his own evil and the falsity therefrom. He who is a good and the truth therefrom permits himself to be led by the Lord; but he who is an evil and the falsity therefrom does not permit himself to be led; he resists with all his strength and endeavor, for his will is toward his own love; for this love is his breath and life; therefore his desire is toward those who are in a like love of evil. From this it can be seen that the Lord does not judge anyone, but that Divine truth received judges to heaven those who have received Divine truth in the heart, that is, in love; and it judges to hell those who have not received Divine truth in the heart, and who have denied it. Thence it is clear what is meant by the Lord's saying that "all judgment is given to the Son, because He is the Son of man," and elsewhere, that "He came not to judge the world but to save the world," and that the Word which He has spoken is to judge man. "

[3] These, however, are truths that do not fall into man's self-intelligence, for they are among the arcana of the wisdom of angels. (But the matter is somewhat elucidated in the work on Heaven and Hell 545-551, under the heading, The Lord casts no one into Hell, but the Spirit casts Himself Thither.) That it is the Lord who is meant by "Him that sat upon the throne," and not another whom some distinguish from the Lord and call "God the Father," can be seen by anyone from this, that the Divine that the Lord called "Father" was no other than His own Divine; for this took on the Human; consequently it was the Father of the Human; and that this Divine is infinite, eternal, uncreate, omnipotent, God, Lord, and in no way differing from the Divine Itself that some distinguish from Him and call the Father, can be seen from the received faith called Athanasian, where it is also said:

That no one of them is greatest or least, and no one of them first or last, but they are altogether equal; and that as is one, so is the other, infinite, eternal, uncreate, omnipotent, God, Lord; and yet there are not three infinites, but one; not three eternals, but one; not three uncreates, but one; not three omnipotents, but one; not three Gods and Lords, but one.

These things have been said that it may be known that by "Him that sat upon the throne" and "the Lamb," also in what follows by "God" and "the Lamb," not two, distinct from each other, are meant; but that by the one, Divine good is meant, and by the other, Divine truth in heaven, both proceeding from the Lord. That the Lord is meant by "Him that sat upon the throne," is clear also from the particulars of chapter 4 preceding, where the throne and One sitting thereon are treated of (which may be seen explained, n. 258-295); and still further in Matthew:

When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory (Matthew 25:31; 19:28-29).

Also in Ezekiel:

Above the expanse that was over the head of the cherubim was as it were the appearance of a sapphire stone, the likeness of a throne; and upon the likeness of the throne a likeness as the appearance of a man sitting upon it (Ezekiel 1:26; 10:1).

And in Isaiah:

I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filling the temple (Isaiah 6:1).

[4] Since by "throne" heaven is signified, and by "Him that sat upon the throne" the Lord in respect to His Divine in heaven, it is said above, in chapter 3:

He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit with Me on My throne (Revelation 3:21);

signifying that he shall be in heaven where the Lord is (See above, n. 253); and therefore in what follows in this chapter it is said:

I saw, and behold in the midst of the throne a Lamb standing (Revelation 5:6);

and in chapter 22:

He showed me a river of water of life, going forth out of the throne of God and of the Lamb (Revelation 22:1).

"The throne of God and of the Lamb" means heaven and the Lord there in respect to Divine good and as to Divine truth; "God" meaning the Lord in respect to Divine good; and "the Lamb," the Lord in respect to Divine truth. A distinction is here made between the two, because there are those that receive the one more than the other. Those that receive Divine truth in good are saved; but those that receive Divine truth (which is the Word) not in good are not saved, since all Divine truth is in good and not elsewhere; consequently those that do not receive it in good reject it and deny it, if not openly yet tacitly, and if not with the mouth yet with the heart; for the heart of such is evil, and evil rejects. To receive Divine truth in good is to receive it in the good of charity; for those who are in that good receive.