342.(5:13) And every created thing which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying. That this signifies the acknowledgment and thence the glorification of the Lord by the angels who are in the lowest parts of heaven, is clear from the signification of every created thing, as denoting all who are reformed. That to be created signifies to be reformed and regenerated, may be seen above, n. 294. Hence created thing signifies what is reformed and regenerated; but with respect to the angels, concerning whom these things are said, it signifies those who were reformed in the world, that is, created anew, for all such are in heaven. By created thing is meant the same as by creature in Mark:

Jesus said to the disciples, "Going into all the world, preach ye the gospel to every creature" (16:15).

Here by every creature are meant all those who receive the gospel, and can thereby be reformed; the rest are not meant by creatures, because they do not receive, but hear and reject.

[2] From these considerations it is evident what the quality of the Word is in the sense of the letter, namely, that it is said creature, and that it is said every created thing, which is in heaven and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them. He who does not know that the sense of the letter is composed of such things as appear before the eyes, and that by these things spiritual [things] are meant, may easily be led to believe, that by every created thing which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, are meant the birds that fly in the heaven, the beasts that walk upon the earth, and the fishes that are in the sea; and the more so, because in various passages elsewhere in the Word, similar things are said of the birds of the heaven, the beasts of the earth, and also whales and fishes (as Ezekiel 39:17; Psalms 148:7; Job. 12:7, 8; Rev. 19:17; and elsewhere). But still those whose minds can be somewhat elevated above the sense of the letter, instantly perceive by interior sight that by those things are meant the angels and spirits who are in heaven and under heaven, and that these are those whom John heard when he was in the spirit; for it is said, "Heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever"; from which it is evident that the angels in the lowest parts of heaven are those who are meant by everything created which is in them. This indeed follows from the consideration, that in the verses which precede, the subject treated of is the angels of the higher heavens and the angels of the lower heavens, that they acknowledged and glorified the Lord (see above, n. 322, 355).

[3] It shall now be explained who are meant by those in heaven, who by those on the earth, and under the earth, and who by those in the sea; by all of whom are meant those who are in the ultimates of heaven, the higher there by those who are in heaven, the lower there by those who are on the earth and under the earth, and the lowest there by those who are in the sea. There are three heavens, and each heaven is divided into three degrees, and similarly the angels who are in them; therefore in each heaven there are higher, middle, and lower [angels]; these three degrees of the ultimate heaven are meant by those who are in heaven, who are on the earth, and such as are in the sea. (Concerning which distinction of the heavens and of each heaven, see the Arcana Coelestia 4938, 4939, 9992, 10005, 10017, 10068; and concerning the ultimate degree, n. 3293, 3294, 3793, 4570, 5118, 5126, 5497, 5649, 9216; and in the work concerning Heaven and Hell 29-40.) It ought to be known, that in the spiritual world, where spirits and angels are, the appearance of all things is similar to that of the natural world where men are, namely, that there are mountains, hills, earths, and seas (see above, n. 304). Upon the mountains dwell the angels who are in the third or inmost heaven, upon the hills there those who are in the second or middle heaven, and upon the earth, and under the earth, and in the seas, those who are in the first or ultimate heaven. But the seas in which the inhabitants of the lowest heaven dwell, are not as the seas in which the evil dwell; they differ in the waves. The waves of the seas of the lowest heaven in which are the well-disposed, are light and pure; but the waves of the seas in which the evil are, are gross and impure; thus the seas are altogether different.

[4] I have been sometimes granted to see those seas, and also to converse with those who are in them; and it was found that those were there who had been merely sensual in the world, but yet well-disposed; and because they were sensual, they could not understand what the Spiritual is, but only what the Natural is, nor could they perceive the Word, and the doctrine of the church from the Word, otherwise than sensually. All these appear to be as in a sea; but those who are there do not seem to themselves to be in a sea, but, as it were, in an atmosphere of a kind similar to that in which they lived when in the world; that they are in the sea appears only before those who are above them. At this day there is an immense number there, because so many at this day are sensual. This ultimate part of heaven corresponds to the soles of the feet. On this account it is, that seas are so often mentioned in the Word, and also the fishes therein; and by the seas there are signified the general things of truth which belong to the natural man, and by the fishes sensual scientifics, which are the lowest things of the natural man, consequently, those are signified who are of such a quality, or those who are in them [i.e. sensual scientifics]. (What sensual things, and what sensual men are, and that they are both good and evil, see the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 50.) From these considerations it can now be known what is meant by every created thing which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and which are in the sea, and all that are in them.

[5] Similar things are signified by seas and by the things that are therein, which are called fishes and whales, in the following passages. In David:

"Let the heaven and the earth praise" Jehovah, "the seas, and everything that creepeth therein. For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah" (Psalms 69:34, 35).

It is said also everything that creepeth therein, and those who are sensual are meant. By Zion which God shall save, and by the cities of Judah which He shall build, are meant the celestial church and its doctrine, - by Zion that church, and by cities the doctrine thereof. The same are meant by these words in David:

"Praise Jehovah from the earth, ye whales and all deeps" (Psalms 148:7).

The same are meant by whales. Hence also it is that Egypt is called a whale (Ezekiel 29:3); for by Egypt is signified the scientific part in the natural man, and by a whale the Scientific in general.

[6] Similar things are also signified elsewhere by those expressions. In the same:

"Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet; the flock and all herds; and also the beasts of the field; the bird of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea" (Psalms 8:6-8).

Here the subject treated of is the Lord, and His Divine power over heaven and earth; and by the flock and the herds, the beasts of the field, the bird of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, are meant men, spirits, and angels, as to their spiritual and natural [qualities]; and by the fishes of the sea those who are in the ultimates of heaven, as shown above.

In Job:

"Ask the beasts now, and they shall teach thee; or the birds of the heaven, and they shall tell thee; or the shoot of the earth, and it shall teach thee; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not from all these that the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this?" (Job 12:7-9).

[7] In Ezekiel:

"The angel brought me again unto the door of the house; where, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house towards the east. Then he said unto me, These waters issue out toward the eastern border, and descend into the plain, and come towards the sea; they are sent out into the sea that the waters may be healed; whence it comes to pass, every living soul that creepeth, whithersoever the rivers come, shall live; whence it cometh that there is exceeding many fish, because these waters shall come thither; and they are healed, that everything may live whither the river cometh. According to their kind shall the fish be, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. The miry places thereof and the marshes thereof are not healed; they go away into salt" (47:1, 8-11).

By the waters issuing from under the threshold of the house towards the east, are signified truths from a heavenly origin, the waters denoting truths; the east denoting the good of heavenly love, and the house denoting heaven and the church. The plain into which the waters descend, and the sea into which they come, signify the ultimates of heaven and the church, consequently, those who are in ultimates, concerning whom we have spoken above, namely, those who are in knowledges of truth only from the ultimate sense of the Word, and apprehend them naturally and sensually. These, when they are in simple good, receive influx out of the higher heavens, whence it is that they also receive the spiritual in their knowledges, and thence some spiritual life. This is meant by "the waters are sent out into the sea, that the waters may be healed; whence it comes to pass that every living soul which creepeth, whithersoever the rivers come, shall live." Likewise by these words: "Whence it cometh that there is exceeding many fish, because these waters come hither, and are healed." But those who are of such a nature, and not good, are meant by these words: "The miry places thereof, and the marshes thereof are not healed; they go away into salt." To go away into salt signifies not to receive spiritual life, but to remain in a life merely natural, which, separated from spiritual life, is defiled with falsities and evils, which miry places and marshes denote.

[8] Similar things are signified by the sea, and by the fishes of the sea, in Isaiah:

"Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers into a wilderness; their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst" (50:3).

By rebuke is signified the desolation of all truth; by the sea is signified where truth is in its ultimate; by water is signified truth from a spiritual origin; by dying for thirst is signified desolation from a lack of that truth; by the fishes of the sea are signified those who are in the ultimates of truth, in whom there is no life from a spiritual origin.

[9] Similar things are signified by the fishes of the sea in Ezekiel:

"In my zeal, in the fire of mine indignation I will speak; that the fishes of the sea may tremble before me, and the bird of the heavens, and the beast of the field, and every reptile that creepeth upon the earth" (Ezekiel [38]:19 ¹ , 20).

In Hosea:

"They rob on the highway, and bloods touch bloods; therefore the earth shall mourn, and everyone who dwelleth therein shall pine away, as to the beast of the field, and as to the bird of the heavens, and also the fishes of the sea they shall be gathered together" (4:2, 3).

And in Zephaniah:

"In consuming I will consume all things from upon the faces of the earth; I will consume man and beast; I will consume the bird of the heavens, and the fishes of the sea" (1:2, 3).

By man and beast when they are mentioned together, are signified the interior and exterior affections of good (see n. 7424, 7523, 7872). And by the fowls of the heaven and the fishes of the sea, are signified the affections of truth, and thoughts spiritual and natural, but, in the passages adduced, that they are about to perish.

[10] The reason that the sea and fishes signify such things is from the appearance in the spiritual world. All the societies there appear surrounded with an atmosphere corresponding with their affections and thoughts. Those in the third heaven, appear in an atmosphere pure as the ethereal [atmosphere]; those in the second heaven, appear in an atmosphere less pure, according to the nature of the air; the societies, however, in the ultimate heaven, appear surrounded with an atmosphere watery, as it were; but those who are in the hells appear surrounded with gross and impure atmospheres, some of them as in black waters, and others differently. It is the affections and the thoughts thence that produce those things around them; for spheres are exhaled from all, and these spheres are changed into such appearances. (Concerning those spheres, see the Arcana Coelestia 2489, 4464, 5179, 7454, 8630.) That those, however, who are in spiritual affection and the thought therefrom are signified by birds of the heaven, and those who are in natural affection and the thought therefrom, by fishes, is also from the appearance in the spiritual world; for there appear there both birds and fishes, over the earths birds, and in the seas fishes. It is the affections and the thoughts therefrom of those who are there that so appear. All know this who are in that world, and both the birds and the fishes have been often seen by me; that appearance is from correspondence. From these considerations it is evident why it is, that seas signify general things of truth, and whales and fishes the affections and thoughts of those who are in the generals of truth. That seas signify the general things of truth, may be seen in what was shown above, n. 275.

[11] The quality of those in the spiritual world who dwell in that watery atmosphere meant by seas, I wish to illustrate by one example only. Such, when they read these words in David,

"Everything that Jehovah willeth, he doeth in heaven and earth, in the seas and all deeps" (Psalms 135:6),

suppose that by heaven is meant the heaven visible before our eyes, and by the earth the habitable earth, and by the seas and deeps the seas and deeps, and thus that Jehovah does in them whatsoever He wills; and they cannot be led to believe that by heaven is meant the angelic heaven; by earth there, those who are below; and that by seas and by depths those there who are in ultimates. These things being spiritual, and above the sense of the letter, they are not willing, and scarcely are able, to perceive, because they see all things naturally and sensually.

[12] Hence also it is that by these words in the Apocalypse,

"I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away" (21:1),

it has been hitherto understood that the visible heaven and the habitable earth would perish, and that a new heaven and a new earth would appear; that by heaven here is meant the heaven where the angels are, and by the earth here is meant the church where men are. That they will become new, those who think merely naturally and sensually are unwilling [to admit], and, consequently, do not understand. For they do not suffer the mind to be raised out of merely natural light into spiritual light; for with them this is difficult, so much so that they can scarcely bear the Word to be understood otherwise than as the letter declares in its own sense, and as the natural man apprehends it. These persons are not unlike those birds that see and sing in obscure places, and in the light of day blink with the eyes and see little. The good among them are like those birds, and also like flying fishes; but the evil of that sort are like owls and horned-owls, which altogether shun the light of day, and they are like fishes which cannot be taken into the air without being deprived of life. The reason is, because with the good of that class, the internal spiritual man receives for a time spiritual influx from heaven, and hence some perception that it is so, although they do not see. With the evil, however, of that class the internal spiritual man is altogether shut; for every one has an internal and an external man, or both a spiritual and a natural; the internal or spiritual man sees from the light of heaven, but the external or natural man sees from the light of the world.

Фусноте:

9212. 'If you ever take your companion's clothing as a pledge' means if factual knowledge of truths is dispersed by illusions that are a product of sensory impressions. This is clear from the meaning of 'taking as a pledge' as receiving a token for goods that are supplied, for 'a pledge' is a token for goods that are being lent. When spiritual things are understood instead of these, supplying goods means giving instruction in truths, and the token or pledge in this instance means truth on the level of the senses. For 'the clothing' here which is given as a pledge means the lowest level of the natural, which is that of the senses. Since illusions abound on this level and illusions wipe out truths, 'taking your companion's clothing as a pledge' means the dispersing of truths by illusions that are a product of sensory impressions. The fact that these things are meant is clear from the whole train of thought in the internal sense.

[2] In general 'clothing' means everything that clothes another, and so whatever is relatively more external. Consequently the external or natural man is called the clothing in relation to the internal or spiritual man. In a similar way truth is called the clothing in relation to good, because truth clothes good; likewise factual knowledge of truth in relation to the truth of faith which belongs to the internal man. Sensory perception, which constitutes the lowest level of life with a person, is the clothing in relation to factual knowledge of truth.

'Clothes' are lower things that cover higher ones, or what amounts to the same thing, exterior things that cover interior ones, see 2576, 5248. In general they are truths, 4545, 4763, 5319, 5954, 6914, 6917, 9093, factual knowledge of truths, 6918, or truths on the level of the senses, 9158. Sensory perception constitutes the lowest level of life with a person, 4009, 5077, 5125, 5128, 5767, 5774, 6201, 6313, 7442, 7693, and sensory perception is subject to illusions, 5084, 5089, 6201, 6948, 6949, 7442.

[3] The meaning of 'clothes' as truths owes its origin to representatives in the next life. There angels and spirits appear dressed in clothes in keeping with the state of faith or truth that is theirs, and their clothes are varied in keeping with the changes which that state undergoes. Those governed by authentic truth appear dressed in white garments, and those governed by truths springing from good in shining ones. But those governed purely by good, as angels of the inmost heaven are, called celestial angels, appear naked. So it is then that clothes are truths, and that truths are meant in the Word by 'clothes', as may be seen from places referred to above. To these places let the following in the Gospels be added:

[4] In Matthew,

When Jesus was transfigured His face shone like the sun, and His garments became [white] as the light. Matthew 17:2.

'Face' in the Word means the interiors, in particular the affections, 358, 1999, 2434, 3527, 3573, 4066, 4796, 4797, 5102, 5695, 6604, 6848, 6849, and 'God's face' Goodness itself, 222, 223, 5585. 'The sun' means God's love, 2441, 2495, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4321 (end), 4696, 7083, 8644. From this it is evident what the meaning is when it says that the Lord's face shone like the Sun, namely that His interiors were the Good of Divine Love. 'His garments became [white] as the light' means Divine Truth radiating from Him, which also appears in heaven as the light, 1521, 1619-1632, 3195, 3222, 3485, 3636, 3643, 4415, 5400, 8644.

[5] In the same gospel,

When Jesus drew near to Jerusalem they brought the she-ass and the colt and laid their garments on them and set Him on them. But a very great crowd spread their garments on the road, while others were breaking off branches from trees and spreading them on the road. Matthew 21:1, 7-8.

Riding on a she-ass and her colt was a representative sign of the Supreme Judge and King, see 2781, as also is evident from what comes before in verse 5,

Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King is coming to you, meek, seated on a she-ass, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.

It is also evident in Mark 11:1-12; in Luke 19:28-41; in John 12:12-16; and in Zechariah 9:9-10, where it says of the Lord that He would ride on an ass, and on a young ass, a son of she-asses. There He is called a King, and in addition it says that His dominion will be from sea even to sea, and from the River even to the ends of the earth. The fact that the supreme judge rode on a she-ass, and his sons on young asses, see Judges 5:9-10; 10:3-4; 12:14; and that the king rode on a she-mule, and the king's sons on mules, 1 Kings 1:33, 38, 44-45; 2 Samuel 13:29.

[6] When the disciples laid their garments on the she-ass and her colt, it represented the recognition that truths in their entirety were the foundation on which the Lord as supreme Judge and King rested; for the disciples represented the Lord's Church in respect of truths and forms of good, see 2129, 3488, 3858 (end), 6397, and their garments truths themselves, 4545, 4763, 5319, 5954, 6914, 6917, 9093. This same recognition was likewise represented when the crowd spread their garments, also the branches of trees, on the road. Another reason why they spread them on the road was that 'the road' means the truth by means of which a member of the Church is led, see 627, 2333, 3477. And the reason why they also spread the branches of trees was that 'trees' meant perceptions and also cognitions or knowledge of truth and good, 2682, 2722, 2972, 4552, 7692, so that their branches are the truths themselves. Those actions were also performed then because it was customary for the chief persons among the people to lay their garments on supreme judges and kings' she-asses and mules when they rode in pomp on them, and for the people themselves to spread their garments on the road, or the branches of trees instead. For in heaven judgeship consists in Divine Truth derived from Good, and kingship in Divine Truth, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148.

[7] In Luke,

No one adds a piece of a new garment onto an old garment; in doing so he splits the new, and the binding from the new is unsuitable for the old.

Luke 5:36.

The Lord used this comparison to describe the truth of the new Church and the truth of the old Church; for 'garment' means truth. Sewing on one or binding it to the other means destroying both; for the truth of the new Church is interior truth, thus truth for the internal man, whereas the truth of the old Church is exterior truth, thus truth for the external man. The latter kind of truth prevailed in the Jewish Church, for by means of external things this Church represented internal ones, whereas the Church of today has knowledge of the internal truths that were represented then, because the Lord has revealed them. The fact that these truths are not suited to external ones in such a way that they can exist together is what the words used by the Lord serve to mean. From all this also it is evident that 'garment' means the Church's truth.

[8] In John,

Jesus said to Peter, Truly, truly I say to you, When you were a boy you girded your loins and walked where you wished. But when you are old you will stretch out your hands, [and] another will gird your loins and lead you where you do not wish. John 21:18.

No one without knowledge of the internal sense can see what these words imply; plainly, they contain arcana. In the internal sense 'Peter' means the Church's faith, see the Prefaces to Genesis 18, 22, and 3750, 6000, 6073 (end), 6344 (end). Consequently Peter when he was a boy means the nature of the Church's faith as it is initially, and Peter when he would be old means the nature of the Church's faith as it is finally. From this it is evident what 'when you were a boy you girded your loins and walked where you wished' means, namely that the Church's faith as it is initially is faith composed of truth derived from good, thus faith composed of charity towards the neighbour and of love to the Lord. And at this time a member of the Church in doing what is good acts freely, because his actions spring from the Lord. For aspects of the good of love are meant by 'the loins', 3021, 3294, 4280, 4575, 5050-5062, so that 'girding the loins' means clothing good with truths; and living is meant by 'walking', 519, 1794, 8417, 8420, so that 'walking where one wishes' means leading a life that is free. Those people lead a life that is free, or act freely, whose faith springs from love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour; for they are led by the Lord, 892, 905, 2870-2893, 6325, 9096. 'When you are old you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird your loins and lead you where you do not wish' means that the Church's faith as it is finally will be none at all, at which time falsities that arise from evil springing from self-love and love of the world will take the place of faith and enslave it. This is the arcanum which these words spoken by Lord contain and which can be seen only from their internal sense. All this shows once again the kind of way in which the Lord spoke, namely in such a way that an inner meaning might be present within every detail, to the end that heaven might be joined to the world by means of the Word. For without the Word, that is, without Divine Truth that has been revealed, they are not joined together; and if they are not so joined the human race perishes.