14. XIV. The Word in the heavens.

The Word exists in all the heavens, and it is read there as it is in the world, and sermons are based on it. For it is the Divine Truth which is the source of the angels' intelligence and wisdom. For without the Word no one knows anything about the Lord, love and faith, redemption, and all the other secrets of heavenly wisdom. In fact without the Word heaven would not exist, just as without the Word there would be no church in the world, so that there would be no linking with the Lord. I demonstrated above that natural theology is impossible without revelation, and in the Christian world without the Word. If it is not granted in the world, neither would it be granted after death. For the nature of a person's religious belief in the world dictates its nature after death, when he becomes a spirit. The whole of heaven is not made up of angels created before the world or at the same time as it, but of those who were people on earth, and were then angels inwardly. By means of the Word these in heaven acquire spiritual, that is, inner wisdom, because the Word there is spiritual.

[2] The Word in the Lord's spiritual kingdom is not the same as the Word in the world. In the world there is the natural Word, but in that kingdom there is a spiritual Word. The difference is like that between its natural and spiritual senses. The nature of the spiritual sense has been demonstrated at length in my Arcana Caelestia, where the whole contents of Genesis and Exodus have been explained in accordance with that sense. The difference is such that no word is the same. Things take the place of names, and likewise of numbers; the histories are replaced by matters concerning the church. The surprising thing is that, when an angel reads it, he is unaware that it is not the same as what he read in the Word while in the world. This is because he no longer has any natural ideas, since they are replaced with spiritual ones; and the natural and the spiritual are linked by correspondences into a kind of unity.

So when someone passes from the natural into the spiritual, it seems to him as if they were the same. In fact an angel does not know that he is wiser than he was in the world, though his wisdom is really so superior as to be comparatively indescribable. He is unable to recognise the difference, because in his spiritual state he knows nothing of the natural state, which he had in the world; and he is unable to compare and differentiate them, because he cannot return to his former state so as to make a comparison. Still an angel in heaven is constantly being brought to a higher degree of perfection in wisdom than he had in the world, because his affection for spiritual truth is purer. ¹

[3] However, the Word in the Lord's celestial kingdom is far superior and wiser than the Word in His spiritual kingdom. The difference is of the same kind as that which distinguishes the natural Word in the world from the spiritual Word, as has been stated. For that Word contains an inmost sense, called celestial, which in all its details refers to nothing but the Lord. In this Word the Lord is read in place of Jehovah, and of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and also the Lord is named in place of David, Moses, Elijah and the rest of the Prophets; and His divinity is distinguished by special marks. The names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and also the names of the Apostles, when read there, convey something about the Lord as regards the church; and so with all the rest. From this it became plain to me that the whole of the Sacred Scripture deals in its inmost sense with nothing but the Lord.

The difference which distinguishes the two Words, the spiritual and the celestial, is like that between thoughts, the province of the intellect, and affections, the province of the will. For the angels of the celestial kingdom are guided by love to the Lord and so affection for good; the angels of the spiritual kingdom are guided by faith in the Lord and so by perception of truth.

[4] Another difference between the celestial and spiritual Words is their script. The script of the spiritual Word is made up of letters resembling the printed letters of our world; but each letter has a meaning. If therefore you were to see that script, you would not understand a single word. For one letter succeeds another without a break, with dashes and dots above and below, since it is in accordance with spiritual speech, which has nothing in common with natural speech. The wiser angels are, the more they see of the inner secrets of their Word so written, more so than the simpler angels. What is stored there is plainly visible to the eyes of the wise, but not to the eyes of the simple. It is similar to what happens with our Word, but to a greater degree; here too the wise see more than the simple.

The script of the celestial Word, however, is made up of letters not known in the world. They are indeed alphabetical, but each one of them is composed of curved lines with serifs above and below, and there are small marks or dots in the letters, and also above and below them. I was told that the most ancient people on this earth had such a script. Some details agree with the Hebrew script, but not much. Such a script expresses the affections which make up a love; so it contains more secrets than they themselves can ever utter. They express these unutterable secrets which they perceive from their Word by means of representations. The wisdom hidden away in this Word surpasses the wisdom in the spiritual Word as a thousand does one.

[5] To make the difference between the three Words, the natural, the spiritual and the celestial, intelligible, let us take as an example the first chapters of Genesis, which deal with Adam, his wife and the Garden. ² In the natural Word which we have in this world there is a description of the creation of the world, the first creation of man, and the earthly pleasures and delights of man and the world. By the persons named following him up to the Flood are meant his descendants, and the numbers mean their ages. But in the spiritual Word the angels of the spiritual kingdom have, this is not what is meant. The first chapter is a description of the reform and regeneration of the people of the most ancient church; this too is called a new creation. The second chapter describes as the Garden the intelligence of the people of that church; Adam and his wife stand for the church itself, and their descendants down to the Flood describe the changes in the state of that church, up to the time when it came to an end and was finally destroyed by the Flood.

But in the celestial Word possessed by the angels of the Lord's celestial kingdom, the first chapter describes the glorification of the Lord's Human; the Garden describes his Divine wisdom. Adam himself is understood to mean the Lord as regards the Divine itself and at the same time the Divine Human. His wife stands for the church, which since it has life from the Lord is called Eve from [the Hebrew word for] life. Adam says of her that she was to be his bone and his flesh, and [they should be] one flesh, because the church comes from the Lord, and is out of Him and with Him as if one. The names of the descendants of Adam describe the successive states by which the Lord was received by the people of that church and linked with them, until there was nothing at all received and so no linking.

[6] So when the first chapters in our Word are read by upright people, especially by boys and girls, and they feel joy at the state when everything was created and at the Garden, then these meanings are unfolded, and the spiritual angels understand them in accordance with their Word, and the celestial angels in accordance with theirs, without being aware that a person or a child is reading it. These meanings are unfolded in their due sequence because they correspond, and correspondences are from creation like this. This makes it plain what the Word is like in its depths, that is, it has three senses. The last is the natural one for men on earth; this deals mainly with worldly matters and where it deals with Divine matters, they are still described by the kind of things which the world contains. The middle sense is the spiritual one, which describes the kind of things which belong to the church. The inmost sense is the celestial one, which contains the kind of things which belong to the Lord. For the whole of nature is a theatre representing the Lord's kingdom; and the Lord's kingdom, heaven and the church, is a theatre representing the Lord Himself. For just as the Lord glorified His Human, so too He regenerates a person; and as He regenerates a person, so too did He create him.

[7] These facts may establish what the Word is like in its depths. The natural Word as possessed by the Christian part of the world contains within itself a spiritual and a celestial Word. For the spiritual sense of our Word is the Word in the heavens which make up the Lord's spiritual kingdom; and the celestial sense of our Word, its inmost sense, is the Word in the heavens which make up the Lord's celestial kingdom. Our Word therefore contains both the spiritual and the celestial Words; but the spiritual Word and the celestial Word do not contain the natural Word. The Word of our world is therefore the one most full of Divine wisdom, and consequently more holy than the Word of the heavens.

Mga talababa:

677. And the rest became afraid, signifies the disturbance of mind and turning away of those who were to some extent spiritual. This is evident from the signification of "the rest," as being those who had not been merely external and natural, but also to some extent internal and spiritual (of which presently); also from the signification of "to become afraid," as being to be disturbed in mind and to be turned away from those who have been merely natural, and thus in mere falsities and evils.

[2] That "to become afraid" signifies such disturbance and turning away will be seen below. In the first place, let something be said about those who are meant by "the rest that became afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven," as being not merely natural, but also to some extent spiritual. For when from those who are merely natural the truths of good that resided in their externals are taken away, they are not disturbed by the influx of falsities and evils from hell, still less do they turn away; for their proper thought and will, which has been interiorly concealed with them, consists of mere falsities and evils therefrom and of evils and falsities therefrom; and when they are in these they are enraged against truths and goods, and thence are eager to destroy them. This is why the evil, when they are no longer in externals, are not afraid of evils and falsities, or even of hell, for these belong to their love, consequently to the delights of their life. But it is not so with those who are also spiritual; these are disturbed in mind and become afraid when they are infested by evils and falsities, which takes place when they are among the evil; for they fear the loss of their spiritual life, respecting which they are disturbed in mind and are alarmed, and supplicate the Lord for aid, and turn themselves away from the evil.

[3] When societies in the spiritual world are purified, which takes place whenever those who are evil, especially hypocrites, have insinuated themselves into them, and mingled themselves with the good there (the signs of whose presence are an obscuration of the understanding, a loss of the perception of good, a dullness of the affection of truth, and the like), then influx is let in from hell, at which the evil rejoice, but the good are disturbed in mind, and turn themselves away; thus there is a separation, and those who become afraid and turn themselves away are preserved, while the rest are cast out. Thence it is clear why it is that it is said that some "became afraid," and why this signifies the disturbance of mind and turning away of those who are to some extent spiritual.

[4] In the Word "to become afraid," "to be dismayed," and like expressions are often used in reference both to the good and to the evil, and "terror" and "dismay" signify a state of the mind disturbed and changed by an imminent or visible danger to the life; but this is one thing with the good and another with the evil; with the good it is a disturbance of mind and a change of state from imminent and visible danger to the soul, but with the evil it is from imminent and visible danger to the life of the body. This is because the good regard the life of the soul and not so much the life of the body as the chief and final thing, while the evil regard the life of the body and not so much the life of the soul as the chief and final thing; in fact, the evil do not in heart believe in that life, and such as do believe still love only the things that are of the body, such as the appetites and pleasures of various kinds. But with the good the reverse is true.

[5] To make clear that "to become afraid," "to be dismayed," "to dread," and the like, signify to be disturbed in mind from a change of state of the interiors, I will cite some passages from the Word by way of confirmation. In David:

My heart is agitated in the midst of me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me; fear and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath covered me (Psalms 55:4, 5).

This is said of temptations, in which evils and falsities break in from hell and inspire terror in regard to damnation; for as has been said above, the good become afraid and tremble on account of imminent dangers to the soul, thus from the invasion of evils into the thoughts and intentions of the will. Thus there are various disturbances of mind that in particular are signified by "agitation of heart," "terrors of death," "fear," "trembling," and "horror," which are here mentioned according to the order of their succession.

[6] In Isaiah:

The islands came ¹ and feared, the ends of the earth were agitated, they drew near and came (Isaiah 41:5).

This is said of the Lord's coming; and "the islands and ends of the earth" mean the Gentiles that are remote from the truths of the church; and their "fear and agitation" signify disturbances of mind from fear of being destroyed.

[7] In Ezekiel:

All hands are relaxed, and all knees go into waters, whence they shall gird themselves with sackcloth, terror shall cover them, and upon all faces there shall be shame; they shall cast their silver into the streets, and their gold shall be an abomination (Ezekiel 7:17-19).

This, too, treats of the Lord's coming, and these things are said of it; the various disturbances of the mind from grief on account of evils and from joy on account of goods are described by various expressions of fear and grief, as that "the hands are relaxed," "the knees go into waters," "terror shall cover them," and "upon all faces shall be shame," which signify not only various disturbances of mind and changes of state of the life, but also turnings from falsities and evils; for the falsities that they will reject are signified by the "silver that they shall cast into the streets," and the evils by "the gold that shall be an abomination;" "all knees shall go into waters" signifies grief on account of the loss of the good of love, and joy that it is now recovered, "knees" signifying the love of good, and "to go into waters" signifying to weep.

[8] The holy tremor that seizes upon, agitates, and convulses the inner parts of the head, when the Divine flows in and fills them is called "fear," "terror," "dread," as can be seen from the following passages. In Luke:

When Zacharias saw the angel he was troubled, and fear fell upon him; the angel therefore said to him, Fear not, Zacharias (Luke 1:12, 13).

Likewise when the virgin Mary saw the angel (Luke 1:29, 30).

When the angel of the Lord stood by the shepherds, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, they were afraid with a great fear; but the angel said to them, Be not afraid; behold, I proclaim unto you good tidings of great joy, which is ² to all the people (Luke 2:9, 10).

When Jesus was transfigured and was seen in glory, it is said that Peter, James, and John feared when they entered into the cloud (Luke 9:34).

And when they heard the voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, they fell upon their faces and feared exceedingly; but Jesus drawing near touched them, saying, Arise, be not afraid (Matthew 17:5-7; Mark 9:6).

When the Lord healed the palsied man, it is said that fear took hold on all, and they glorified God; and they were filled with fear, saying, We have seen wonderful things today (Luke 5:26).

And when the Lord raised to life the dead young man of Nain, it is said that fear took hold on all, and they praised God (Luke 7:16).

So here in Revelation it is said that "they became afraid, and gave glory to the God of heaven." Furthermore:

When the women entered into the tomb they saw an angel sitting at the right side, clothed in a white robe; and they were terrified (Mark 16:5, 6).

And when the women departed from the tomb they were seized with fear, trembling, and amazement, and at the same time with great joy; and they told no one, for they were afraid; therefore Jesus said to them, Fear not; tell the brethren (Matthew 28:8, 10; Mark 16:8).

The two disciples going to Emmaus said to Jesus, Certain women terrified us (Luke 24:22).

From these passages it can be concluded that "terror" and "alarm" mean in the Word various disturbances of mind arising from the influx of such things as cause amazement, connected also with joy.

[9] Again, "terror" signifies in the spiritual sense terror on account of evils and falsities that are from hell, for these terrify the spiritual man, because they are the opposites of the goods and truths, which the spiritual man loves and the loss of which he fears. In this sense "terror" is mentioned in many passages of the Word. Thus in Isaiah:

About the time of evening behold terror; before the morning it is not (Isaiah 17:14).

"Evening" signifies the last time of the church, when there are mere evils and falsities; these are called "terror" because they are hell. But the "morning" signifies the first time of the church, when there are no evils and falsities, therefore it is said, "before the morning the terror is not."

[10] In Jeremiah:

Fear thou not, my servant Jacob, and be not terrified, O Israel, for behold, I save thee from afar; Jacob shall be tranquil and quiet, none shall make him afraid (Jeremiah 30:9, 10).

And in Zephaniah:

The remnant of Israel shall feed and be at rest, none making them afraid (Zephaniah 3:13).

"Jacob" and "Israel" mean those in the church who are in goods and truths; and "none terrifying and making afraid" signifies that nothing of evil and falsity from hell shall infest them. It is similar in many other passages. But what is signified by "fearing God" in the spiritual sense will be told in the explanation of the eighteenth verse of this chapter.