1. Prefazione dell’Autore

Il Signore parlando ai suoi discepoli della fine dei tempi, cioè nell’ultimo periodo della chiesa, ¹ dice, all’avvicinarsi della predetta fine, in merito al successivo stato di amore e fede: ²

Subito dopo l’afflizione di quei giorni il sole si oscurerà e la luna non darà il suo splendore, e le stelle cadranno dal cielo, e le potenze dei cieli saranno scosse. Ed allora apparirà nel cielo il segno del Figlio dell’uomo; ed allora tutte le tribù della terra faranno cordoglio, e vedranno il Figliuolo dell’uomo venire sulle nuvole del cielo con gran potenza e gloria. E manderà i suoi angeli con gran suono di tromba a radunare i suoi eletti dai quattro venti, da un capo all’altro dei cieli. (Matteo 24:29-31)

Coloro che si soffermano sul mero significato letterale di queste parole, hanno la convinzione che alla fine dei tempi, quando vi sarà il giudizio universale, tutte queste cose avranno luogo, così come sono descritte nel senso letterale, cioè che il sole e la luna si oscureranno e le stelle cadranno dal cielo, e che il segno del Signore apparirà nel cielo, ed egli stesso sarà visto sulle nubi, con gli angeli e con le trombe al seguito; inoltre è predetto in altri passi che l’intero universo sarà distrutto, e poi sorgerà un nuovo cielo e una nuova terra. Tale è la convinzione della maggior parte degli uomini nella chiesa, nel presente. Ma coloro che sono in questa fede ignorano i segreti che sono nascosti in ogni minimo dettaglio della Parola; in realtà in ogni singolo vocabolo della Parola vi è un significato interiore che concerne le cose spirituali e celesti anziché le cose naturali e mondane, così come appaiono nel senso letterale. E questo è vero non solo per il significato di gruppi di parole, ma per ciascuna parola. ³ Perché la Parola è scritta esclusivamente per corrispondenze ⁴ , affinché vi possa essere un significato interiore in ogni singolo particolare di essa. Quale sia questo significato lo si può vedere da tutto ciò che è stato scritto al riguardo in Arcana Coelestia [pubblicato nel 1749-1756]; e dalle citazioni attinte da quell’opera, nell’illustrazione del Cavallo Bianco [dell’Apocalisse, pubblicato nel 1758] cui si fa riferimento nell’Apocalisse.

È in conformità di quel significato spirituale, che deve essere inteso l’avvento del Signore dal cielo, sulle nuvole, di cui al passo sopra citato. Ivi il sole che si oscura significa il Signore quanto all’amore; ⁵ la “luna” si riferisce alla fede; ⁶ le stelle indicano la conoscenza del bene e della verità, o dell’amore e della fede; ⁷ il “segno del Figlio dell’uomo nel cielo” indica la manifestazione della Divina verità; le “tribù della terra” significano tutte le cose concernenti la verità ed il bene, o la fede e l’amore; ⁸ “l’avvento del Signore sulle nuvole del cielo, in gloria e potenza,” significa la sua presenza nella Parola e la sua rivelazione; ⁹ le “nuvole” significano il senso letterale della Parola, ¹⁰ e la “gloria” il senso interiore della Parola; ¹¹ gli “angeli con gran suono di tromba” indicano il cielo quale sorgente della Divina verità. ¹² Tutto questo chiarisce cosa deve intendersi con queste parole del Signore, vale a dire che alla fine della chiesa, quando non vi sarà più alcun amore, e quindi alcuna fede, il Signore svelerà il significato interiore della Parola e rivelerà i segreti del cielo. I segreti rivelati nelle seguenti pagine riguardano il cielo e l’inferno, nonché la vita dell’uomo dopo la morte. L’uomo della chiesa attualmente ha una scarsa conoscenza del cielo e dell’inferno, o della sua vita dopo la morte, sebbene questi argomenti siano contemplati e descritti nella Parola; ciò nondimeno molti di quelli nati in seno alla chiesa, negano queste cose, dicendo nel loro intimo, “Chi mai è venuto da quel mondo e ha confermato queste cose?” Per evitare che questo atteggiamento negazionista, invalso specialmente presso quelli pervasi dalla saggezza mondana, possa contaminare e traviare le persone semplici nel cuore e nella fede, mi è stato concesso di essere associato agli angeli e di parlare con loro, come tra uomo e uomo, e anche di vedere come sono i cieli e gli inferni, e questo da tredici anni, ormai; quindi, adesso posso descrivere ciò che ho visto è udito, nell’auspicio che l’ignoranza possa essere illuminata, e l’incredulità, dissipata. Le presenti rivelazioni sono estese ora perché questo deve intendersi per la venuta del Signore.

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503. And there followed hail and fire mingled with blood.- That this signifies infernal falsity and evil destroying, intermingled with the truths and goods of the Word to which violence was done, is evident from the signification of hail, as denoting infernal falsity destroying, concerning which more will be said presently; and from the signification of fire, as denoting infernal evil destroying, concerning which also we shall speak presently; and from the signification of blood, as denoting the Divine Truth, in the present case, the Divine Truth to which violence was done, consequently, Divine Truth falsified, for it is said, "hail and fire mingled with blood."

[2] That blood signifies Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord and received by man, and the opposite sense its destruction by the falsities of evil, and thus violence done to it may be seen above (n. 329). That hail and fire signify infernal falsities and evil destroying, is also a result of appearances in the spiritual world. When the Divine Truth flows down there out of heaven, and flows into the sphere where those are who are in falsities from evil and who desire to destroy the truths and goods of the church, then as it were a raining down of hail and fire appears to those who stand afar off; as it were a raining down of hail, as a result of their falsities, and of fire, as a result of their evils. The reason of this appearance is, that the Divine Truth, when it flows into the sphere where evils and falsities are, is changed into what is similar to that sphere. For all influx is changed in the recipient subject according to the quality thereof, just as the light of the sun when it flows into dark objects, and the heat of the sun when it flows into putrid things. The case is similar with the Divine Truth, which is the light of heaven, and with the Divine Good, which is the heat of heaven, when they flow into evil subjects, which are those spirits who are in falsities from evil. This is the reason of that appearance. It is from this fact that hail and fire have such significations in the Word; for the sense of the letter of the Word as to the greater part of it is from appearances in the spiritual world.

[3] That hail signifies infernal falsity destroying the truth of the church, is clear from other places in the Word, where the destruction of truth is described by hail as in Egypt, when Pharaoh would not let the people of Israel go, concerning which it is thus written:

Moses told Pharaoh that it should rain a very grievous hail, such as had not been in Egypt. "And the hail shall be upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt. And Moses stretched forth his rod towards heaven; and Jehovah sent thunder and hail, and the fire walked to the earth; and Jehovah rained hail upon the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and at the same fire walking in the midst of the hail, very grievous. And the hail smote all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, was there no hail. And the flax and barley were smitten; for the barley was a ripening ear, and the flax a stalk. But the wheat and the rye were not smitten; for they were hidden" (Exodus 9:18-32).

Similar things are signified by the hail in Egypt as by the hail here mentioned in the Revelation; therefore several things of a similar kind are said concerning it; as that the hail and the fire walked together, that the herb of the field was smitten, and the trees broken. The reason why several things of a similar kind are here related is, that the signification of the plagues of Egypt is similar to that of the plagues in the Apocalypse which took place when the seven angels sounded. For the Egyptians signified merely natural men, the sons of Israel spiritual men, and the plagues of Egypt, the changes which precede a last judgment, just as here in the Apocalypse. For the drowning of Pharaoh and the Egyptians in the Sea Suph [or Red Sea] represented a last judgment, and condemnation; therefore hail and fire here also signify falsities and evils destroying the church. But these things are more fully explained in the Arcana Coelestia 7553-7619).

[4] The signification also of hail and hot thunderbolts, mentioned in David, is similar:

"He destroyed their vine with hail, and their sycamore trees with great hailstones. He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to burning coals. He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, the sending of evil angels" (Psalm 78:47-59).

Because hail signifies falsity destroying the truths of the church, it is therefore said, "He destroyed their vine with hail, and their sycamore trees with great hailstones;" for vine signifies the spiritual truth of the church, and a sycamore its natural truth; and because burning coals, or fire, signify the love of evil, and its eagerness to destroy the goods of the church, it is therefore said, "he gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to burning coals." Cattle and flocks signify evil affections or inordinate desires which arise from evil love, and burning coals, or fire, the lust and burning desire to destroy; by the sending of evil angels, is signified the falsity of evil from hell.

[5] So again:

"He gave them hail for rain; flaming fire in their land, and he smote their vine, and their fig tree; and brake the tree of their border" (Psalm 105:32, 33).

These things are also said concerning the hail of Egypt, which signifies infernal falsity destroying the truths of the church. The vine and the fig tree have here a similar signification to the vine and sycamores mentioned above, the vine signifying spiritual truth, and the fig tree, natural truth, each pertaining to the church, and tree signifies the perceptions and cognitions of truth and good.

[6] The signification of hail mentioned in Joshua, when he fought against the five kings of the Amorites, is similar, of which it is said:

"And it came to pass," as the kings "fled before Israel, while they were in the going down to Bethhoron, that Jehovah cast down great stones of hail from heaven upon them unto Azekah; and they were more that died from the hailstones than they whom the sons of Israel slew with the sword" (10:11).

Because the historical parts of the Word are representative, and contain an internal sense, equally as the prophetical parts, therefore this is the case also in regard to what is related of the five kings of the Amorites, and of the battle of the sons of Israel with them. For the nations that were driven out of the land of Canaan signified the evil who were to be cast out of the kingdom of the Lord, and the sons of Israel signify those to whom it is granted to possess the kingdom. The land of Canaan signified heaven and the church, and therefore the kingdom of the Lord; hence the five kings of the Amorites signified those who are in falsities of evil, and desire to destroy the truths of the good of the church. It was for this reason, that they were slain by hailstones from heaven, that is to say, they perished and were destroyed by their own falsities of evil; for the evil themselves perish by their own evils and falsities, by means of which they desire to destroy the truths and goods of the church.

[7] Again, in David:

"At the brightness before him his clouds passed, with hailstones and coals of fire. Jehovah thundered in the heavens, and the Most High gave his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. Yea, he sent out his darts and scattered them and many lightnings and discomfited them" (Psalm 18:12-14).

In these passages, hailstones and fire signify the same things as the hail and fire here in the Apocalypse, that is, falsities and evils destroying the truths and goods of the church.

It is said that such things are from Jehovah, because the Divine Truth descending out of heaven is changed into infernal falsities with the evil, as stated above. Out of this change various appearances arise, such as the flowing down of hail and fire; still these things do not proceed out of heaven from the Lord, but from those who are in falsities of evil, who turn the influx of Divine Truth and Good into the falsity of evil. It has also been granted me to perceive those changes, when the Divine Truth has flowed down out of heaven into some hell. During its course it was successively changed into the falsity of evil, according to the quality of that evil in those [who were there]; just as the heat of the sun, when it falls upon dunghills, and the light of the sun, when it falls upon subjects which turn its rays into dismal colours; or as the light and heat of the sun, in putrid marshy lands, produce noxious herbs which nourish serpents, while in good lands they cause trees and grasses to grow, which nourish men and useful beasts. The cause of such effects in putrid lands is not in the light and heat of the sun, but in the nature of the lands themselves, and yet those effects may be ascribed to the fire and heat of the sun. From these things the source from which hail and fire appear in the spiritual world is evident, and also why it is said that Jehovah causes them to be rained down, when nevertheless nothing comes from Jehovah but what is good. When Jehovah, that is the Lord, causes a powerful influx, it is not for the purpose of destroying the evil, but to rescue and protect the good, for by this means he conjoins the good to himself more closely and interiorly, and therefore they are separated from the evil, and the evil perish. For if the evil were not separated, the good would perish, and the angelic heaven would fall to ruin.

[8] Similar things are signified by hail, and by a tempest of hail, in the following passages.

In Isaiah:

"Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, and behold, the Lord, strong and mighty, as a tempest of hail, as a destroying storm" (28:1, 2).

Again:

"The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place" (28:17).

Again:

"And Jehovah shall cause the glory of his voice to be heard, and shall cause his arm to see rest, in the indignation of his anger, and in the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering and inundation, and hailstones" (30:30).

And again:

"It shall hail until the forest come down, and the city humble herself with humility" (32:19).

In Ezekiel:

"And I will plead with" Gog "with pestilence and with blood; and I will cause to rain upon him, an overflowing rain, and hailstones, fire, and brimstone" (38:22).

In the Apocalypse,

"Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of the covenant; and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail" (11:19).

And in another place:

"And great hail, as it were the weight of a talent, came out of heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great" (16:21).

[9] Therefore those who are in falsities are called hailstones in Ezekiel:

"Say unto them that cover over with untempered [mortar], that it shall fall; there shall be an overflowing rain, and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall" (13:11).

Here by them "that cover over with untempered [mortar]," are signified those who confirm falsities in order that they may outwardly appear as truths. They are called hailstones, because they thus destroy truths; and the dispersion of such falsities is signified by the words "there shall be an overflowing rain."

[10] In Job,

"Hast thou entered into the treasuries of the snow? and hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail? which I reserve against the time of battle and of war? Which is the way where the light is spread abroad?" (Job 38:22-24).

Job is being questioned by Jehovah about many things, to see whether he knows them; but these things about which he is questioned signify such things as have reference to heaven and the church. Hast thou entered into the treasuries of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail? signifies, whether he knows whence come the deprivation of truth and the destruction of it by the falsities of evil, which appear in the spiritual world like a fall of snow and hail from heaven. That these appearances are seen when the evil have to be dispersed, is signified by the words, "Which I reserve against the time of battle and of war." It is therefore also said, "Which is the way where the light is spread abroad?" which signifies, by what way is truth insinuated? light denoting truth. Hail signifies the falsity of evil, and a storm of hail, the destruction of truth, because hail in itself is cold, and cannot support the heat of heaven, and cold signifies the deprivation of the good of love; and heat in the angelic heaven, is the good of love. As may be seen in the Heaven and Hell 126-140); also, because stones in the Word, signify truths, and in the opposite sense falsities; and large hail appears to consist as it were of stones cast down from heaven, which destroy the crops and herbs of the field, as well as the smaller animals, just as stones would do; therefore it is also said, hailstones. That stones, in the Word, signify truths, and in the opposite sense falsities, may be seen in the Arcana. Coelestia (n. 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8609, 10376).