601. Verse 3. And cried out with a great voice, as a lion roareth, signifies the testification of grievous distress on account of the desolation of Divine truth in the church. This is evident from the signification of "crying out with a great voice," as being the testification of grievous distress (of which presently); and from the signification of "as a lion roareth," as being on account of the desolation of Divine truth in the church; for a "lion" signifies Divine truth in its power (See above, n. 278), and "to roar" signifies the result of distress because of the desolation of truth.

[2] That this is the signification of "crying out with a great voice, as a lion roareth," can be seen from what follows in this chapter, where the desolation of Divine truth in the church is treated of; for "a strong angel coming down out of heaven" means the Lord in relation to the Word, which is Divine truth, of whom it is said afterwards that "the angel lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages, that there shall be time no longer," which signifies that there shall be no longer any understanding of Divine truth, and thence no state of the church.

[3] And afterwards it is said, "In the days of the voice of the seventh angel the mystery of God shall be finished," which signifies the Last Judgment that was to come when there should be no faith in Divine truth because there would be no good of charity. From this it can be seen that "He cried out with a great voice, as a lion roareth," signifies the testification of grievous distress on account of the desolation of Divine truth in the church.

[4] Moreover, a "lion" is often mentioned in the Word; and in the highest sense a "lion" signifies the Lord in relation to Divine truth, likewise heaven and the church in respect to Divine truth from the Lord; and from this a "lion" signifies Divine truth in respect to power (See above, n. 278). This makes evident what "to roar" or "the roaring of a lion" signifies, namely, an ardent affection for defending heaven and the church, and thus for saving the angels of heaven and the men of the church, which is done by destroying the falsities of evil by means of Divine truth and its power; but in the contrary sense "to roar" or "the roaring of a lion" signifies an ardent desire to destroy and devastate the church, which is done by destroying Divine truth by means of the falsities of evil. Such is the signification of a "lion's roaring," because when a lion is hungry and seeks its prey, and also when it is enraged with anger against its enemy, it is its habit to roar.

[5] That this is the signification of "to roar" and "roaring" in the Word can be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:

Thus Jehovah said unto me, Like as the lion, and the young lion roareth over his prey, when a multitude of shepherds goeth out against him, and he is not dismayed at their voice nor affected by their tumult, so shall Jehovah of Hosts come down to wage war upon Mount Zion and upon the hill thereof (Isaiah 31:4).

Jehovah is compared to a lion roaring, because a "lion" signifies the Lord in relation to Divine truth and its power, and "to roar" signifies the eagerness to defend the church against evils and falsities; therefore it is said, "so shall Jehovah of Hosts come down to wage war upon Mount Zion, and upon the hill thereof," "Mount Zion" meaning the celestial church, and "the hill thereof" (or Jerusalem) the spiritual church; the "prey over which the lion roareth" signifies deliverance from hell.

[6] In Joel:

Jehovah shall roar out of Zion, and shall give forth His voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall quake; but Jehovah shall be a shelter for His people, and a stronghold for the sons of Israel (Joel 3:16).

The protection of the faithful by the Lord by means of Divine truth is described by "Jehovah shall roar out of Zion, and shall give forth His voice from Jerusalem;" the vehement power of Divine truth, and consequent terror, are described by "the heavens and the earth shall quake;" and salvation and protection by "Jehovah shall be a shelter for His people, and a stronghold for the sons of Israel;" "the people of Jehovah" and "the sons of Israel" being the faithful who are of the church.

[7] In Hosea:

I will not return to destroy Ephraim. They shall go after Jehovah; He shall roar like a lion, for He shall roar, and sons from the sea shall draw near with honor, with honor shall they come as the bird out of Egypt and as the dove out of the land of Assyria; and I will make them to dwell upon their houses (Hosea 11:9-11).

"Ephraim" signifies the church in respect to the understanding of truth, concerning which therefore what follows is said. "To go after Jehovah" signifies to worship the Lord and to live from Him; "He shall roar like a lion, for He shall roar," signifies the protection of such by the Divine truth; "the sons from the sea shall draw near with honor," signifies that those who are in natural good shall draw near to the church; "with honor shall they come as a bird out of Egypt," signifies their natural thought from true knowledges [scientifica]; the "bird" meaning thought, and "Egypt" knowledge, which is natural truth; "and as the dove out of the land of Assyria," signifies that they shall have rational good and truth, a "dove" meaning rational good, and "the land of Assyria" the church in respect to rational truth; for in man there are both natural and rational good and truth; the natural is lower or exterior, looking to the world, the rational is higher or interior, conjoining the natural with the spiritual; the natural is meant by "Egypt," the rational by "Assyria," and the spiritual by "Israel." "To make them to dwell upon their houses" signifies life from the will of good and from the understanding of truth; the human mind, which consists of these, is meant by a "house," and "to dwell" signifies to live.

[8] In Amos:

The Lord Jehovih will not do ¹ a word unless He shall reveal His secret unto His servants the prophets. The lion hath roared, who will not fear? The Lord Jehovih hath spoken, who will not prophesy? (Amos 3:7, 8).

"The Lord Jehovih will not do a word unless He hath revealed His secret to His servants the prophets" signifies that the Lord opens the interior things of the Word and of doctrine to those who are in truths from good; "to reveal a secret," signifies to enlighten and to open the interior things of the Word; "His servants the prophets" signify those who are in the truths of doctrine and who receive; "the lion hath roared, who will not fear?" signifies a powerful revelation and manifestation of Divine truth; "the Lord Jehovih hath spoken, who will not prophesy?" signifies its reception and manifestation. The Lord is called "Lord Jehovih" when good is treated of.

[9] In Zechariah:

The voice of the howling of the shepherds that their magnificence is devastated; the voice of the roaring of the young lions that the pride of Jordan is devastated (Zechariah 11:3).

"The voice of the howling of the shepherds that their magnificence is devastated" signifies the grief of those who teach, because the good of the church has perished; those are called "shepherds" who teach truth and by truth lead to the good of life, and "magnificence" means the good of the church; "the voice of the roaring of the young lions that the pride of Jordan is devastated" signifies grief, because of the desolation of Divine truth in the church. Those are called "lions" who are in Divine truths; "roaring" signifies grief; "the pride of Jordan, which is devastated," signifies the church in respect to Divine truth which introduces.

[10] In Job:

God roareth with His voice; He thundereth with the voice of His majesty; nor yet doth He overthrow when His voice is heard; God thundereth marvelously with His voice (Job 37:4, 5).

"To roar" and "to thunder with the voice" signify the power and efficacy of Divine truth or the Word.

[11] In the passages that have been cited, "to roar" signifies in a broad sense the ardent affection of protecting heaven and the church, or the angels of heaven and the men of the church, which is done by destroying the falsities of evil by means of Divine truth and its power. But in the contrary sense, "to roar" signifies an eager cupidity for ruining and destroying the church, which is done by destroying Divine truth by means of the falsities of evil. In this sense "to roar" is used in the following passages. In Jeremiah:

Babylon shall become heaps, the abode of dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing. They shall roar together like lions; they shall growl like lions' whelps; when they are heated I will set ² their feasts, and I will make them drunken that they may exult and may sleep the sleep of an age and not awake (Jeremiah 51:37-39).

The destruction of Babylon so that there may be in it no truth or good, is signified by "Babylon shall become heaps, the abode of dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing." "Babylon" signifies those who abuse holy things for the sake of dominion; their eager cupidity for destroying Divine truth by means of the falsities of evil is signified by "they shall roar together like lions, they shall growl like lions' whelps." The eagerness of those who unite in doing this crime is signified by "when they are heated I will set their feasts;" that such will become insane from the falsities of evil is signified by "I will make them drunken that they may exult." That they will never understand anything of truth, and therefore will not see life, is signified by "that they may sleep the sleep of an age and not awake."

[12] In the same:

Is Israel a servant? Is he one born of the house? Why has he become a prey? The young lions roar against him, they give forth their voice, they reduce his land to a waste; his cities are burned, even so that there is no inhabitant (Jeremiah 2:14, 15).

"Is Israel a servant? Is he one born of the house?" signifies the church that had been in truths and goods, but is so no longer. "Israel" signifies the church; a "servant" those who are in truths, and "one born of the house," those who are in goods; "why has he become a prey?" signifies its devastation; "the young lions roar against him, they give forth their voice" signifies the desolation of Divine truth in the church by the falsities of evil; "they reduce his land to a waste" signifies the destruction of the church itself by evils; "his cities are burned even so that there is no inhabitant" signifies the destruction of the doctrinals also of the church by evils, so that there is no good of the church left.

[13] In Ezekiel:

One of the whelps of the lioness grew up, it became a young lion, and it learned to tear the prey; it devoured men. It ravished widows and devastated their cities, and the land was devastated ³ and the fullness thereof by the voice of his roaring (Ezekiel 19:3, 7).

This is said of the Jewish Church, which is here meant by "the mother of lions." A "young lion" signifies the falsity of evil in eagerness to destroy the truth of the church; "to tear the prey" signifies the destruction of the truth and good of the church. "It devoured men, it ravished widows, and devastated cities," signifies the destruction of all the understanding of truth and of good desiring truth, likewise of doctrinals; "men" signifying the understanding of truth, "widows" good desiring truth, and "cities" doctrinals; "the land was laid waste and the fullness thereof by the voice of his roaring" signifies the devastation of the church and the extinction of all truth from the Word by the falsity of evil, "land" meaning the church, "fullness" its truths from the Word, and "the voice of roaring" the falsity of evil destroying.

[14] In Jeremiah:

I call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the land. Therefore say unto them, Jehovah shall roar from on high, and give forth His voice from the abode of His holiness; in roaring He shall roar against their habitations; a tumult cometh even to the end of the earth; for Jehovah hath a controversy against the nations. He shall enter judgment with all flesh, He shall give the wicked to the sword (25 Jeremiah 25:29-31).

The vastation of the church is attributed to Jehovah, although men are the cause of it. "I call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the land" signifies falsity destroying every truth in the universal church. "Jehovah shall roar from on high, and give forth His voice from the abode of His holiness," signifies the testification of grief in heaven on account of the vastation of Divine truth. "In roaring He shall roar against their habitations" signifies great grief and lamentation over all things of the church; "a tumult cometh even to the end of the earth" signifies the disturbance of all things of the church from first to last; "for Jehovah hath a controversy against the nations, He shall enter judgment with all flesh," signifies visitation and judgment upon all who are in evils; "He shall give the wicked to the sword" signifies their destruction by falsities.

[15] In Amos:

Jehovah shall roar from Zion, and give forth His voice from Jerusalem; that the habitations of the shepherds may mourn, and the head of Carmel dry up (Amos 1:2).

"Roaring from Zion" signifies grievous distress, and "the voice from Jerusalem" lamentation; "the mourning of the habitations of the shepherds, and the drying up of the head of Carmel," signifies because of the vastation of all the goods and truths of the church; "the habitations of shepherds" signifying all the goods of the church; "the head of Carmel" all its truths, and "mourning" and "drying up" vastation. "The head of Carmel" signifies the truths of the church, because in Carmel there were vineyards, and "wine" signifies the truth of the church.

[16] In Isaiah:

The anger of Jehovah is kindled against His people. He hath lifted up an ensign to the nations from far, and hath hissed to him from the end of the earth. His roaring is like that of a lion, He roareth like young lions; He growleth and seizeth the prey, he shall snatch and none shall deliver, and he growleth against him like the growling of the sea; and if He shall look unto the earth, behold darkness and distress, and the light is darkened in the ruins thereof (5 Isaiah 5:25-30).

Here, too, "the roaring like that of a lion, and like that of young lions," signifies grief and lamentation over the vastation of Divine truth in the church by the falsities of evil. "He seizeth the prey and none shall deliver" signifies the deliverance and salvation of those who are in truths from good. The vastation itself is described by "behold darkness, distress, and the light is darkened in the ruins thereof;" "darkness" meaning falsities; "distress" evil; "the darkening of the light" the disappearance of Divine truth, and "ruins" total overthrow.

[17] In David:

The enemy hath destroyed all things in the sanctuary; the adversaries have roared in the midst of thy feast (Psalms 74:3, 4).

"The enemy" signifies evil from hell; "the sanctuary" the church, and "feast" worship. This makes clear what is signified by these words in series. That roaring signifies grievous lamentation from grief of heart can be seen from these passages. In David:

When I kept silence my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day (Psalms 32:3).

In the same:

I am weakened and crushed exceedingly; I have roared by reason of the roaring of my heart (Psalms 38:8).

And in Job:

My sighing cometh before bread, and my roarings are poured out like the waters (Job 3:24).

Voetnoten:

152. That hath His eyes as a flame of fire, signifies Divine Providence from His Divine love, also Divine wisdom and intelligence communicated to those who are in love towards Him and from that in faith in Him. That "eyes as a flame of fire," means in reference to the Lord, His Divine Providence from His Divine love, see above (n. 68). This means also Divine wisdom and intelligence communicated to those who are in love towards the Lord, and from that in faith in Him, because "eyes" in the Word signify in reference to man the understanding of truth, and the understanding of truth is intelligence and wisdom; consequently "eyes" signify, in reference to the Lord, Divine wisdom and intelligence proceeding from Him; and what proceeds from Him is communicated to angels and to men who are in love towards Him and from that in faith in Him. All the wisdom and intelligence that angels and men have is the Lord's with them and not their own; and this is also well known in the church; for it is known that all good, which is of love, and all truth, which is of faith, are from God, and nothing thereof from man; and truths interiorly seen and acknowledged constitute intelligence, and these together with goods interiorly perceived and thence seen constitute wisdom. From this then it is that "having His eyes as a flame of fire" also signifies the Lord's Divine wisdom and intelligence communicated to those who are in the goods of love, and from that in faith in Him.

[2] "Eyes" signify the understanding, because all the sight of the eyes with men and angels is from the understanding. That all the sight of the eyes is from the understanding must sound absurd to those who are ignorant of the interior causes of things, out of which effects are presented in the body; those ignorant of these causes believe no otherwise than that the eye sees of itself, that the ear hears of itself, that the tongue tastes of itself, and that the body feels of itself; when yet it is the interior life of man, the life of his spirit, which is the life of his understanding and will, or of his thought and affection that, through the organs of the body, has sensation of the things that are in the world, and thus perceives them naturally. The whole body, with all its sensories, is merely an instrument of its soul, or of its spirit; which is also the reason that when man's spirit is separated from the body the body has no sensation whatever, but the spirit afterwards continues to have sensation as before. (That man's spirit sees, hears, and feels, after it is released from the body equally as before while in the body, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 461-469; and on The Correspondence of the Understanding with the Sight of the Eye, see Arcana Coelestia 4403-4421, 4523-4534.) With beasts, moreover, their interior life, which is also called their soul, has sensation equally through the external organs of their body, but with a difference, in that the sensation of the beast is not rational like man's, thus is not formed from an understanding and will such as man has (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 108, and The Last Judgment 25).

[3] From this, then, it is, that by "eye" in the Word is signified the understanding of truth, or intelligence and wisdom, as may be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:

Say to this people, hear ye in hearing, but understand not; and see ye in seeing, and know not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and smear their eyes, lest they see with their eyes (Isaiah 6:9-10; John 12:40).

"To smear the eyes, lest they see with their eyes," is to darken the understanding, that they may not understand.

[4] In the same:

Jehovah hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes; the prophets and your heads, the seers hath He covered (Isaiah 29:10);

where "He hath closed the eyes; the prophets and the heads, and the seers hath He covered," is the understanding of truth. "Prophets" are those that teach truths, who are also called "heads," because the head signifies intelligence, and are also called "seers" from the revelation of Divine truth with them.

[5] In the same:

The eyes of them that see shall not be closed, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken (Isaiah 32:3).

"The eyes of them that see" means of those that understand truths. In the same:

Who shutteth his eyes from seeing evil. Thine eyes shall behold the king in his beauty (Isaiah 33:15, 17).

"To shut the eyes from seeing evil" is not to admit evil into the thought; "their eyes shall behold the king in his beauty" is that they are to understand truth in its light with pleasantness; for by "king" here is not meant a king but truth (See above, n. 31).

[6] In Jeremiah:

Hear now this, O foolish people, who have no heart; who have eyes and see not; who have ears and hear not (Jeremiah 5:21; Ezekiel 12:2).

In Lamentations:

The crown of our head hath fallen; for this our heart hath become faint; and for this our eyes have been darkened (Lamentations 5:16, 17).

"The crown of the head" is wisdom (See above n. 126; the "faint heart" means that the will of good is no more (that "heart" is the will and love, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 95). "Eyes" are the understanding of truth, and they are said to be darkened when truth is no longer understood.

[7] In Zechariah:

The punishment of the shepherd forsaking the flock, a sword upon his right eye; and his right eye in growing dim shall be dimmed (Zechariah 11:17).

"The sword upon the right eye," and "the right eye in growing dim shall be dimmed," means that all truth in the understanding is to perish through falsity (that "sword" is the destruction of truth by falsity, see above, n. 131.

[8] In the same:

The plague wherewith Jehovah will strike all the peoples that shall war against Jerusalem; their eyes shall consume away in their sockets (Zechariah 14:12).

"The peoples that shall war against Jerusalem" are those that fight against the church; "Jerusalem" is the church; that "their eyes shall consume away" means that intelligence is to perish because they fight by falsities against truths.

[9] In Zechariah:

I will smite every horse with astonishment, and every horse of the peoples with blindness (Zechariah 12:4).

Here the vastation of the church is treated of; by "horse" is signified the intellectual, therefore the understanding is meant when it is said that the horse should be smitten with astonishment and with blindness. (That "horse" signifies the intellectual, see the small treatise on The White Horse 1-5.)

[10] In David:

Hear me, O Jehovah, my God; lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep [the sleep of] death (Psalms 13:4).

"Lighten the eyes" means the understanding.

In Moses:

Thou shalt not take a gift, for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise (Deuteronomy 16:19).

"To blind the eyes of the wise" is that they may not see or understand the truth.

[11] In Matthew:

The lamp of the body is the eye: if the eye be single the whole body is light; if the eye be evil the whole body is darkened. If therefore the light be darkness, how great is the darkness (Matthew 6:22, 23; Luke 11:34).

By "eye" here is not meant the eye, but the understanding; by "the eye single" the understanding of truth; by "the eye evil" the understanding of falsity; "darkness" is falsities; "the whole body" is the whole spirit, which is wholly such as the will is and the understanding therefrom; but if it has the understanding of truth from the will of good it is an angel of light; but if it has an understanding of falsity it is a spirit of darkness. By these words the reformation of man through the understanding of truth is described. From this it is clear that he who knows what "eye" signifies can know the arcanum of these words. That man is reformed by means of truths in the understanding, see above (n. 112, 126).

[12] In Matthew:

If thy right eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee; for it is better for thee to enter life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire (Matthew 5:29; 18:9; Mark 9:47).

Here also, by "eye" is not meant the eye, but the understanding thinking; by "the right eye causing to stumble" the understanding thinking evil; "plucking it out and casting it away" is not admitting such evil, but rejecting it; "having one eye" is the understanding thinking not evil, but truth only, for the understanding can think the truth; if it thinks evil it is from the will of evil. It is said "the right eye," because "the right eye" signifies the understanding of good, and the "left eye" the understanding of truth (See Arcana Coelestia 4410, 6923).

[13] In Isaiah:

In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of thick darkness and out of darkness (Isaiah 29:18).

In the same:

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf (Isaiah 35:5).

In the same:

I will give thee for a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to lead him that is bound out of the dungeon, and them that sit in darkness out of the house of prison (Isaiah 42:6, 7).

In the same:

Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears (Isaiah 43:8).

"To open the eyes of the blind" is to instruct those who as yet are ignorant of truths, but nevertheless have a longing for them, that is, the Gentiles. The like is signified by:

The Lord's healing the blind (Matthew 9:27-29; 20:29-34 to the end; 21:14; Mark 8:23, 25; Luke 18:35-43; John 9:1-21);

for all the Lord's miracles involved such things as pertain to the church and heaven, therefore they were Divine (See Arcana Coelestia 7337, 8364, 9301).

[14] Because the "eye" signified the understanding it was among the statutes pertaining to the sons of Israel:

That no one of the seed of Aaron who was blind or had a blemish in the eye should come nigh to offer sacrifice, or enter within the veil (Leviticus 21:17-23).

That what was blind should not be offered for a sacrifice (Leviticus 22:22; Malachi 1:8);

so also among the curses was:

A fever that should consume the eyes (Leviticus 26:16).

From all this it can now be known what is signified by "the eyes of the Son of God that were as a flame of fire," namely, Divine wisdom and intelligence communicated to those who are in love towards the Lord and thence in faith in Him.

[15] That His Divine Providence is also signified is evident from what was shown above n. 68. To this may be added what is said of the cherubim in Ezekiel, and of the four animals about the throne in Revelation, which also signify the Divine Providence of the Lord, and in particular, a guard that the Lord be not approached except through good. In Ezekiel:

I saw, and behold four wheels near the cherubim; their whole flesh, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes round about (Ezekiel 10:9, 12).

In Revelation:

About the throne were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind; each one had wings full of eyes about and within (Revelation 4:6, 8).

These four "living creatures" also were cherubim, for the description of them is almost like that of the cherubim in Ezekiel. So many "eyes" are ascribed to them because the Lord's Divine Providence, which is signified by "cherubim," is His government of all things in the heavens and on the earth by Divine wisdom; for the Lord by Divine Providence sees all things, disposes all things, and looks out for all things. (That by "cherubim" is signified the Lord's Divine Providence, and in particular, a guard that the Lord be not approached except through good, see n. 9277, 9509, 9673)