Apocalypse Explained #584
584. Verse 20. And the rest of the men who were not killed in these plagues, signifies who did not perish by the cupidities above mentioned. This is evident from the signification of "the rest of the men who were not killed," as being all those who did not perish. "To be killed" signifies in the Word to be killed spiritually, which is to perish in eternal death (See above, n. 547, 572). Also from the signification of "these plagues," as being the cupidities above mentioned, namely, those signified by "fire, smoke, and brimstone going out of the mouth of the horses," which signify the cupidities that arise from the love of evil and the love of falsity, also the lusts of destroying the truths and goods of the church by the falsities of evil (as may be seen above, n. 578. These are called "plagues," because "plagues" signify in the Word such things as destroy the spiritual life, consequently the church in men, and which therefore induce death understood in the spiritual sense. These in brief have reference to the cupidities springing from the loves of self and of the world; for these loves are the roots from which evils and falsities of every genus and species spring up and grow.
[2] Such also is the signification of "plagues" in the following passages in Revelation:
The two witnesses have power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague as often as they will (Revelation 11:6).
Again:
Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for the plague thereof was exceeding great (Revelation 16:21).
Again:
In one day shall the plagues of Babylon come, death and mourning and famine (Revelation 18:8).
And again:
I saw seven angels having the seven last plagues, through which is to be finished the wrath of God (Revelation 15:1, 6, 8). That "plagues" mean such things as induce upon man spiritual death, consequently that wholly destroy and devastate the church with men in particular and thus in general, will be seen in the explanation of the passages that follow, where "plagues" are mentioned, and especially where "the seven last plagues" are treated of.
[3] "Plagues" have a like meaning in the following passages in the prophets. In Isaiah:
The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, in the day that Jehovah shall bind up the breach of His people, and shall heal the wound of their plague (Isaiah 30:26).
In Jeremiah:
It is desperate for thy bruise, thy plague is sore. I have smitten thee with the plague of an enemy. I will make health to ascend upon thee; I will heal thee of thy plague (Jeremiah 30:12, 14, 17).
In the same:
Everyone that passeth by Edom shall hiss at all the plagues thereof (4 Jeremiah 49:17).
In the same:
Everyone that passeth by Babylon shall hiss at all her plagues (Jeremiah 50:13).
In Moses:
If they will 1 not take heed to do all the words of the law, Jehovah will make thy plagues wonderful, great plagues and lasting, and evil and lasting diseases. Also every disease and every plague which is not written in the book of this law will Jehovah secretly send upon thee until thou be destroyed (Deuteronomy 28:58, 59, 61).
"Plagues" here signify spiritual plagues, which destroy the soul, not the body, and which are enumerated in this chapter of Deuteronomy (verses 20-68).
[4] What "plagues" signify in the spiritual sense is described by correspondences in Zechariah:
This shall be the plague wherewith Jehovah will plague all the peoples that shall wage war against Jerusalem; his flesh shall waste away as he standeth upon his feet, and his eyes shall waste away in their sockets, and his tongue shall waste away in his mouth. So shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, of the ass, and of every beast that shall be in those camps, as this plague (Zechariah 14:12, 15).
This is said of those who endeavor to destroy the truths of the church by falsities; "Jerusalem" signifies the church in respect to the truths of doctrine, and "to wage war against it" means to endeavor to destroy these truths by falsities. That "one's flesh shall waste away as he standeth upon his feet" signifies that with those who attempt this, all the will of good will perish, and that they will thus become merely corporeal-natural, for "flesh" signifies the will and its good or evil; "feet" signify the things of the natural man, therefore "to stand upon the feet" signifies to live from such things only; "his eyes shall waste away in their sockets" signifies that all understanding of truth will perish, "eyes" signifying that understanding; "his tongue shall waste away in his mouth" signifies that all perception of truth and affection of good will perish. (This prophecy is explained above, n. 455.) Almost the same things are signified by "the plagues of the horse, the mule, the camel, the ass, and every beast," for the "plague" of these signifies the loss of all understanding of truth, as well spiritual as natural; and "the plague of the beast" signifies the loss of all affection for good.
[5] In Luke:
In the same hour in which John sent unto Him, Jesus cured many of diseases and plagues of evil spirits; and on many that were blind He bestowed sight (Luke 7:21).
"The plagues of evil spirits" mean the obsessions and calamitous conditions then inflicted upon men by evil spirits, all of which however signify correspondent spiritual states; for all the healings of diseases performed by the Lord signified spiritual healings, and from this the miracles of the Lord were Divine; as this, that "on many that were blind He bestowed sight," which signified that to those who were in ignorance of truth He gave the understanding of the truths of doctrine:
The wounds [plagas] that the robbers inflicted on the man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho (Luke 10:30);
also signifies spiritual wounds, which were the falsities and evils infused into sojourners and Gentiles by the scribes and Pharisees. (See above, n. 444, where this parable is explained in its spiritual sense.)
Voetnoten:
1. Latin has "they will," the Hebrew "thou whilt," as also in Apocalypse Explained 696; Arcana Coelestia 2826, 6752.
Daniel 5
1
Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
2
Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink in them.
3
Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.
4
They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
5
In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
6
Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.
7
The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the sooth-sayers. And the king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whoever shall read this writing, and show me the interpretation of it, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
8
Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation of it.
9
Then was the king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonished.
10
Now the queen by reason of the words of the king and his lords came into the banquet house: and the queen spoke and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed:
11
There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and sooth-sayers;
12
Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, the interpreting of dreams, and showing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.
13
Then was Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spoke and said to Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, who art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Judea?
14
I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee.
15
And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known to me the interpretation of it, but they could not show the interpretation of the thing:
16
And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation of it, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom.
17
Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing to the king, and make known to him the interpretation.
18
O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honor:
19
And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.
20
But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:
21
And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruleth in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.
22
And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though thou knewest all this;
23
But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drank wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, thou hast not glorified.
24
Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written.
25
And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
26
This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
27
TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
28
PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
29
Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
30
In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.
31
And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about sixty and two years old.
