Apocalypse Explained #126
126. And I will give thee the crown of life, signifies wisdom and eternal happiness therefrom. This is evident from the signification of "crown," as being wisdom, in reference to those who are in the spiritual affection of the knowledges of truth and good (of which more in what follows); and from the signification of "life," as being eternal happiness, which is also called life eternal. Those who are in the spiritual affection of truth and good, and who are here treated of, have eternal happiness, because heaven with man is implanted by means of the knowledges of truth and good from the Word. He who believes that heaven is implanted by other means is much deceived; for man is born merely natural, with the faculty of becoming spiritual, and he becomes spiritual by means of truths from the Word and a life according to them. Who can ever become spiritual unless he has some knowledge of the Lord, of heaven, of the life after death, of faith, and of love, and of the other things that are means of salvation? If man had no knowledge of these things he would remain natural; and a merely natural man can have nothing in common with the angels of heaven, who are spiritual. Man has two minds, one exterior, the other interior.
The exterior mind is called the natural mind, but the interior is called the spiritual mind. The former or natural mind is opened by means of the knowledges of the things that are in the world; but the latter or spiritual mind by means of the knowledges of the things that are in heaven, which the Word teaches, and the church from the Word; by means of these man becomes spiritual when he knows them and lives according to them.
[2] This is meant by the Lord's words in John:
Except a man has been born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5).
"Water" signifies the truths of faith, and "spirit" a life according to them (See above, n. 71); and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 202-209). Most people at this day believe that they are to come into heaven solely by virtue of holy worship in temples and by adorations and prayers; but such of them as do not care for the knowledges of truth and good from the Word, and who fail to imbue with these the life, as well as the memory, remain natural as before, and do not become spiritual; for their holy worship, adorations, and prayers, do not proceed from any spiritual origin; since their spiritual mind has not been opened by the knowledges of spiritual things and a life according to them, but is empty; and worship that proceeds from what is empty is merely natural gesture, with nothing spiritual in it. If such persons are insincere and unjust in respect to moral and civil life, their holy worship, adorations, and prayers have within them what repels heaven from them, instead of opening heaven to them as they believe; for their holy worship is like a vessel containing things putrid and filthy, which are oozing forth, or like a splendid garment investing a body covered with ulcers. I have seen many thousands of such cast into hell. But wholly different are holy worship, adorations, and prayers with those who are in the knowledges of truth and good and in a life according to them; with such these acts are pleasing to the Lord, for they are the effects wrought by their spirit in the body, or the effects of their faith and love, thus they are not merely natural gestures, but spiritual acts.
From this it can be seen that the knowledges of truth and good from the Word, and a life according to them, alone make man spiritual; and that in him who is thereby made spiritual, angelic wisdom from the Lord can be implanted together with eternal happiness. Angels derive happiness from no other source than from wisdom.
[3] A "crown" signifies wisdom, because all things by which man is clothed or distinguished derive their signification from the part of man that they clothe or distinguish (See Arcana Coelestia 9827), and "crown" signifies wisdom, because it is a sign upon the head, and "head" in the Word signifies wisdom, for there wisdom resides. So in Ezekiel:
I decked thee with ornaments, I put bracelets upon thy hands; and a chain upon thy throat. And I put a jewel upon thy nose, and earrings in thine ears, and a crown of adorning upon thy head (Ezekiel 16:11, 12).
Jerusalem, which signifies the church, is here treated of, such as it was when it was established by the Lord; by these various insignia are meant, in the spiritual sense, such things as are of the church; and each one takes its signification from the part to which it is applied, and "the crown of adorning" here means wisdom. (But what is meant by "ornament," may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 10536, 10540; by "bracelets," n. 3103, 3105; by "chain" n . 5320; by "jewel," n. 4551; by "earrings," n. 4551, 10402) Wisdom, which is from the knowledges of truth and good from the Word and from a life according to them, is likewise signified by "crown" in many other passages in the Word (as in Isaiah 28:5; Jeremiah 13:18; Lamentations 5:15, 16; Ezekiel 21:25, 26; 23:42; Zechariah 6:11-14; Psalms 89:38, 39; Psalms 132:17, 18; Job 19:9; Revelation 3:11; 4:4). The crowning of kings is from ancient times, when men were familiar with representatives and significatives, and it was known that "kings" represented the Lord in respect to Divine truth, and that a "crown" was intended to signify wisdom (that "kings" represented the Lord in respect to Divine truth, see Arcana Coelestia 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4581, 4966, 5068, 6148); that those that are in truths are called "kings" and "king's sons" see above n. 31; and as these are called "kings" in the Word, and kings have crowns, so here where these are treated of it is said that they were to receive "the crown of life."
Job 19
2
"How long will you torment me, and crush me with words?
3
You have reproached me ten times. You aren't ashamed that you attack me.
4
If it is true that I have erred, my error remains with myself.
5
If indeed you will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach;
6
know now that God has subverted me, and has surrounded me with his net.
7
"Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard. I cry for help, but there is no justice.
8
He has walled up my way so that I can't pass, and has set darkness in my paths.
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He has stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.
10
He has broken me down on every side, and I am gone. My hope he has plucked up like a tree.
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He has also kindled his wrath against me. He counts me among his adversaries.
12
His troops come on together, build a siege ramp against me, and encamp around my tent.
13
"He has put my brothers far from me. My acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.
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My relatives have gone away. My familiar friends have forgotten me.
15
Those who dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger. I am an alien in their sight.
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I call to my servant, and he gives me no answer. I beg him with my mouth.
17
My breath is offensive to my wife. I am loathsome to the children of my own mother.
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Even young children despise me. If I arise, they speak against me.
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All my familiar friends abhor me. They whom I loved have turned against me.
20
My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh. I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21
"Have pity on me, have pity on me, you my friends; for the hand of God has touched me.
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Why do you persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?
23
"Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
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That with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!
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But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. In the end, he will stand upon the earth.
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After my skin is destroyed, then in my flesh shall I see God,
27
Whom I, even I, shall see on my side. My eyes shall see, and not as a stranger. "My heart is consumed within me.
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If you say, 'How we will persecute him!' because the root of the matter is found in me,
29
be afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishments of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment."
