674. There was a great earthquake, signifies a notable change of state of the interiors with those who are of the church. This is evident from the signification of "a great earthquake," as being a notable change of the state of the church; for the "earth" signifies the church, "quaking" change of state, and "great" what is notable. (That an "earthquake" signifies in the Word a change of state of the church, see above, n. 400, 499.)

[2] The change of state in respect to the truths and goods of the church evidently sprang from causes that are described in the preceding verse, that is, because the two witnesses that had been killed and restored to life went up by command into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them. Thence it may be seen that the cause of this was the separation of the good from the evil, as has been shown in the preceding articles, where the going up of the two witnesses is explained. But this cannot be presented to the understanding unless it first be told how things are in the spiritual world; for the things described in this verse, namely, that "there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and there were killed in the earthquake names of men seven thousand, and the rest became afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven," are things that take place, and in fact have already taken place at the time when the Last Judgement was at hand, but in the spiritual world, and not in the natural world; for when the good there are to be separated from the evil, and the good are to be protected from being harmed by the evil, then the good are taken away from the societies and the evil are left, according to the Lord's words in Matthew:

Two [men] shall be in the field, one shall be taken, the other shall be left; two [women] shall be grinding, one shall be taken, the other shall be left (Matthew 24:40, 41).

This may be seen explained in the Arcana Coelestia 4334, 4335). When the good are taken away there occurs in the societies in which the good and evil had been together, a notable change in respect to the things that pertain to the church.

[3] But the cause of this change shall be further disclosed. In the spiritual world there is a communication of all affections, and sometimes of thoughts; and within each society there is a general communication, extending itself from the middle of the society in every direction even to the boundaries, much as light spreads forth from a center to the circumferences. The variations and changes of the affections that arise from this communication and its extension spring from an influx of the affections from other societies, either above or at the sides, also from the newcomers that enter the society, and also from a few or many being taken away from the society.

[4] The societies upon which the Last Judgment came consisted both of the good and of the evil, but of such evil as were interiorly but not exteriorly opposed to the goods of love and the truths of doctrine; for exteriorly these were able to act rightly and justly and to speak piously and truly, not however for the sake of the right, of justice, of piety, and of truth, but from habit acquired in the world, for the sake of fame, glory, honor, gain, and the various delights of the natural loves, also on account of the laws and their penalties. For this reason, although they were interiorly evil, yet they could be together with those who were both exteriorly and interiorly good. When, therefore, the good were to be separated from those who merely appeared good in external form, their external good vanished, and their internal evil appeared; for they were held in that external good by communication with those within the same society who were not only exteriorly but also interiorly good, as has been said above. So when external good was taken away from the evil their interiors were opened; and these were full of mere evil and filthy things, which made evident of what quality they were in themselves. Such, then, is what is meant in particular by "the two witnesses going up by command into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beholding them;" and here that "in that hour there was a great earthquake," namely, that when that state came a notable change took place in respect to those things that pertain to the church.

4334. But of that day and hour no one knows means that the state of the Church at that time so far as forms of good and truth are concerned is not going to be visible to anyone either on earth or in heaven, for 'day' and 'hour' in this case are not used to mean day and hour, that is, a period of time, but a state so far as good and truth are concerned. Periods of time in the Word mean states, see 2625, 2788, 2837, 3254, 3356, and 'day' also has the same meaning, 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785. 'Hour,' too therefore is descriptive of state, but some specific aspect. The reason why state so far as good and truth are concerned is meant is that the subject is the Church, for good and truth constitute the Church.

[2] Not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only means that heaven does not know the specific nature of the state of the Church so far as good and truth are concerned; the Lord alone knows. Nor does it know when that state of the Church is going to be reached. The Lord Himself is meant by 'the Father', see 15, 1729, 2004, 2005, 3690; also the Divine Good within the Lord is called 'the Father' and the Divine Truth originating in Divine Good is called 'the Son', see 2803, 3703, 3704, 3736. People therefore who believe that the Father is one and the Son another, and who keep the two apart, do not understand the Scriptures.

[3] But as they were in the days before the Flood means the state of vastation undergone by those who belonged to the Church. This state is compared to the state of vastation which the first or Most Ancient Church underwent, the close of their age, that is, their last judgement, being described in the Word by means of the Flood. For 'the Flood' means a deluge of evils and falsities and the close of that age which followed as a result, see 310, 660, 662, 705, 739, 790, 805, 1120; and 'days' means states, see above.

[4] Eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage means their state insofar as they made evil and falsity their own, and by doing this became joined to these. For 'eating' means making good one's own, and 'drinking' making truth one's own, see 3168, 3513 (end), 3596; and so in the contrary sense they mean making evil and falsity one's own. 'Marrying' means becoming joined to evil and 'giving in marriage' becoming joined to falsity, as may be seen from what has been stated and shown about marriage and conjugial love in 686, 2173, 2618, 2728, 2729, 2737-2739, 2803, 3132, 3155, to the effect that in the internal sense the joining together of good and truth is meant by them, though here in the contrary sense the joining together of evil and falsity is meant. Everything the Lord has said, since it is Divine, is of a different nature in the internal sense from what it is in the letter. So eating and drinking in the Holy Supper do not in the spiritual sense mean eating and drinking but making the good of the Lord's Divine love one's own, 2165, 2177, 2187, 2343, 2359, 3464, 3478, 3735, 4211, 4217. And as the joining of good which is the good of love to truth which is the truth of faith is meant when the idea of a marriage is used in reference to the Church or to the Lord's kingdom, so therefore is the Lord's kingdom in the Word called the heavenly marriage.

[5] Up to the day on which Noah entered the ark means the end of the former Church and the beginning of the new one, for 'Noah' means the Ancient Church in general which replaced the Most Ancient after the Flood, 773 and elsewhere, while 'the ark' means the Church itself, 639. The word 'day' which is used several times in these verses means state, as shown just above.

[6] And they were unaware of anything until the flood came and took them all away means that members of the Church at that time will not know that they have been swamped by evils and falsities because, on account of the evils and falsities in which they are immersed, they will have no knowledge of what the good of love to the Lord is and what the good of charity towards the neighbour is, nor also what the truth of faith is. Nor will they know that such truth originates in those forms of good and that it cannot exist except with people who lead lives filled with such love and charity, in addition to which they will have no knowledge of the fact that what is internal saves or condemns, not what is external separated from internal.

[7] So also will be the coming of the Son of Man means Divine Truth which they will not entertain. The meaning of 'the coming of the Son of Man' as Divine Truth which will be revealed at that time has been discussed already at verses 27-30, and in 2803, 2813, 3704, as well as 3004-3006, 3008, 3009.

[8] At that time two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left behind means those within the Church who are governed by good and those within the Church who are governed by evil; the former will be saved and the latter condemned. For 'the field' means the Church as regards good, see 2971, 3196, 3310, 3317, 3766.

[9] Two women grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left behind means the future salvation of those within the Church who know the truth, that is, who are led by good to have an affection for it, and the future condemnation of those within the Church who know the truth, but who are led by evil to have an affection for it. These meanings which 'grinding' and 'mill' have in the Word will be clear from what appears immediately below.

From all this it is now evident that the words under consideration describe what the state of good and truth will be like within the Church when that Church is set aside and the new one is adopted.