612. The mystery of God shall also be finished, as He hath declared the good tidings to His servants the prophets, signifies prediction in the Word respecting the Lord's coming, to be fulfilled when the end of the church is at hand. This is evident from the signification of "to be finished," as being to be fulfilled; also from the signification of "the mystery of God as He hath declared the good tidings," as being the Lord's coming (of which presently); also from the signification of "His servants the prophets," as being the truths of doctrine, here the Word. That those are called "servants of the Lord" who are in truths from good, may be seen above (n. 6, 409); and that those are called "prophets" who teach doctrine, and in the abstract sense "prophets" mean doctrines, will be further shown below. The Word also is meant, because the Word is the doctrine of Divine truth, and because the Word was written through the prophets; also because everything of doctrine must be from the Word. From this it now follows that "the mystery of God shall be finished, as He hath declared the good tidings to His servants the prophets," signifies the prediction in the Word respecting the Lord's coming, to be fulfilled when the end of the church is at hand. That this is the signification of these words is evident from what just precedes and from what follows. In what just precedes it is said that this shall be "in the days of the voice of the seventh angel," which means that this shall be when the end of the church is at hand. In what follows, after the seventh angel had sounded it is said "The kingdoms of the world are become our Lord's and His Christ's;" and afterwards, that "the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His Covenant" (Revelation 11:15-19). The same is evident from this, that when the end of the church is at hand the Word is opened and a new church established. This is meant also by the Lord's coming, for the Lord is the Word, wherefore when the Word is opened the Lord appears. That the Word was opened when the Lord came into the world is known; that it has now also been opened by the revelation of its spiritual sense can be seen from the little work on The White Horse, and in the work on Heaven and Hell 1); and that now is the end of the church, in the little work on The Last Judgment 33-39, 45-52, et seq.).

[2] The end of the church is meant also by "evening," and the Lord's coming by "morning" in Daniel:

Unto evening and morning two thousand three hundred (Daniel 8:14, 26).

"Evening" signifies the end of a former church, and "morning" the Lord's coming and the beginning of a new church. "Morning" has a similar signification in Ezekiel:

Behold an evil cometh, the end is come, the end is come; it hath awaked upon thee; behold it is come, the morning is come upon thee, O inhabitant of the land, the time is come (Ezekiel 7:5-7).

Here, too, the "end" signifies the end of the church, and "morning" the Lord's coming and the beginning of a new church. So, too, in Zechariah:

It shall be one day that shall be known to Jehovah, not day nor night; for about the time of evening it shall be light (Zechariah 14:7).

"One day that shall be known to Jehovah" means the Lord's coming, "the time of evening" the end of the church, when all Divine truth has been obscured and falsified; and "light" signifies Divine truth made manifest. This new light, or this morning which shall appear in the end of the church, is here meant also by "the mystery of God that shall be consummated, as He hath declared the good tidings to His servants the prophets."

[3] In the Word, "to proclaim good tidings" and "good tidings" are frequently mentioned, and this signifies the Lord's coming, as can be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:

O Zion, proclaimer of good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, proclaimer of good tidings, lift up thy voice with power; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God; behold, the Lord Jehovih cometh in strength, and His arm shall rule for Him; He shall feed His flock like a shepherd (Isaiah 40:9-11).

It is very clear that this is said of the Lord's coming; and this is why Zion and Jerusalem are called "proclaimers of good tidings." "Zion" means all who are of the celestial church, who are those that are in love to the Lord, therefore it is said, "get thee up into the high mountain," "high mountain" signifying that love (See above, n. 405). "Jerusalem" means all who are of the spiritual church, who are those that are in the doctrine of genuine truth, therefore it is said, "lift up thy voice with power;" which signifies confession from genuine truths. "The cities of Judah," to which it is said, "Your God, the Lord Jehovih, cometh in strength," signify doctrinals from the Word, "cities" signifying doctrinals, and "Judah" the Word. Evidently Zion and Jerusalem are called "proclaimers of good tidings," for the reason that "good tidings" mean the coming of the Lord, for it is said, "Behold your God, behold the Lord Jehovih cometh in strength." That He will effect judgment, and will protect those who acknowledge Him, is signified by "His arm shall rule for Him, He shall feed His flock like a shepherd."

[4] In the same:

How joyous upon the mountains are the feet of him that proclaimeth good tidings, that maketh peace to be heard, that proclaimeth good tidings of good, that maketh salvation to be heard; that saith unto Zion, Thy king ¹ shall reign, when he shall see eye to eye that Jehovah returneth to Zion (Isaiah 52:7, 8).

This, too, is said of the Lord's coming, who is evidently meant by "thy king shall reign, when he shall see eye to eye that Jehovah returneth to Zion," likewise in what follows in that chapter; this is why it is said "proclaim good tidings." (The rest of the verse may be seen explained above, n. 365).

In Nahum:

Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that proclaimeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; celebrate thy feasts, O Judah (Mark 1:15).

[5] In Isaiah:

The spirit of the Lord Jehovih is upon me, therefore Jehovah hath anointed me to proclaim good tidings unto the poor; He hath sent me to bind up the broken in heart, to preach liberty to the captives, to the bound, to the blind; to proclaim the year of Jehovah's good pleasure and the day of vengeance for our God; to comfort all that mourn (Isaiah 61:1, 2).

That this was said of the Lord and His coming is evident in Matthew (Matthew 5:3, et seq.) and in Luke (Luke 4:16-22). The coming itself is meant by "the year of Jehovah's good pleasure and the day of vengeance for our God." "The poor to whom the Lord will proclaim good tidings," also "the captives," "the bound" and "the blind," mean the Gentiles who are said to be such because they have been ignorant of truth from not having had the Word. The Gentiles are also meant in Matthew by:

The poor hear the gospel (Matthew 11:5).

In David:

Sing unto Jehovah, bless His name; proclaim the good tidings of His salvation from day to day; for Jehovah cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth; He shall judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in His truth (Psalms 96:2, 13).

[6] The acknowledgment and celebration of the Lord with joy of heart because of His coming is signified by "Sing unto Jehovah, bless His name; proclaim the good tidings of His salvation from day to day." The coming itself is described by "Jehovah cometh;" and as He comes when the Last Judgment is at hand it is said "He cometh to judge the earth; He shall judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in truth," "the earth" meaning the church, "the world" those in the church who are in the good of charity, and "the peoples" those who are in truths therefrom. That the Lord comes when the Last Judgment is at hand has been said above, for the evil will then be separated from the good, or the goats from the sheep, and the evil will be judged to hell, and the good to heaven; this also is signified by the words of Isaiah, just above, "to proclaim the day of vengeance for our God, to comfort all that mourn." This is why, where the Last Judgment is treated of, "proclaiming good tidings" is also mentioned, as also in the following in Revelation:

And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having the everlasting gospel to proclaim unto those that dwell on the earth, and unto every nation and tribe and tongue and people, saying with a great voice, Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come (Revelation 14:6, 7).

That when the end of the church is at hand the good tidings of the Lord's coming will be proclaimed, is predicted also by the Lord Himself in the Gospels:

These good tidings of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all the nations; and then shall the end come (Matthew 24:14; Mark 13:8-10).

[7] That the Lord's coming is meant by "proclaiming good tidings" and by "good tidings" can be seen also from the following passages. In Luke:

The angel said to Zacharias, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak unto thee, and to proclaim to thee these good things (Luke 1:19).

In the same:

The angel said to the shepherds, Be not afraid, behold I proclaim to you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For there is born to you this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:10, 11).

In the same:

That John proclaimed to the people the good tidings respecting Jesus (Luke 3:16-18);

Jesus said, The law and the prophets are proclaimed until John (Luke 16:16).

And elsewhere:

That the Lord Himself and His disciples also proclaimed the good tidings of the kingdom of God (Matthew 4:23; 9:35; Mark 1:15; Luke 7:22; 8:1; 9:1, 2, 6).

"The kingdom of God" means a new heaven and a new church from the Lord.

[8] Because "to proclaim good tidings" signifies to announce the Lord's coming, "the good tidings" in the highest sense signify the Lord Himself in relation to His coming, in relation to judgment, and to the salvation of the faithful, in these passages in Mark:

Jesus said, Whosoever shall wish to save his soul shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his soul for My sake and the Gospel's shall save it (Mark 8:35; 10:29, 30).

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

Примітки:

58. Where in the spiritual world their dwellings have been up to now. I said above (48) that the arrangement of all the nations and peoples in the spiritual world were seen to be as follows. In the centre were seen gathered those called the Reformed; around this centre those of the Roman Catholic religion, beyond them the Mohammedans, and in the last place the different heathens. This will show that the Roman Catholics made up the circle nearest to the Reformed in the centre. They occupy this position because the centre is occupied by those who enjoy the light of truth coming from the Word; and those who enjoy that light also enjoy the light of heaven, since the light of heaven comes from Divine truth, and it is the Word which contains this. For the light of heaven coming from Divine truth see HEAVEN AND HELL 126-140, and for the Word being Divine truth (303-310). The light spreads outwards from the centre and gives illumination. This is why those of the Roman Catholic religion are in the circle closest to the centre; for they have the Word, and it is read by those in religious orders, though not by the people. This is the reason why the Roman Catholics in the spiritual world were given their dwellings surrounding those who enjoy the light of truth coming from the Word.

[2] I shall now relate how they lived before their dwellings were utterly destroyed and turned into a desert. Most of them lived in the south and the west, only a few in the north and the east. Those who lived in the south were those who were more intelligent than the rest and had convinced themselves of their religious belief; and there too lived a large number of nobles and wealthy people. They did not live above ground there, but underground for fear of robbers, with guards at the entrances. In that quarter there was a large city, extending almost from the east to the west of it, and also a short distance into the west, occupying the position nearest to the centre where the Reformed were. That city was the home of tens of thousands of people or spirits. It was full of churches and monasteries. The ecclesiastics also brought together into that city all the precious objects they were able to amass by various devices, and hid them there in their cells and underground crypts. These crypts were so elaborately constructed that no one else could find their way in, since they were entered circuitously as in a maze. Their heart was in the treasures heaped up there, and they were confident that they could never be destroyed. I visited the crypts and was surprised to see how cunningly they were contrived and how they could be enlarged without limit. Most of those belonging to what they call the Society of Jesus were there, and they kept up friendly relations with the wealthy who were all round them. In that quarter there was towards the east a Council chamber, where they deliberated about extending their power and about methods of keeping the people in blind obedience (on this see above 56). So much for their dwellings in the southern quarter.

[3] In the north were living those who were less intelligent and had less convinced themselves of their religious belief, because their powers of perception were dim and they lived in blind faith. There was not such a large number there as in the south. Most of them were in a large city extending in length from the eastern corner towards the west, and a short distance into the west. This city too was full of churches and monasteries. On its extreme eastern edge were many from different religions including some of the Reformed. A few districts in that quarter outside the city were also occupied by Roman Catholics.

[4] In the east lived those of them whose chief delight in the world had been in ruling; and they enjoyed a natural kind of illumination. They were to be seen in the mountains there, but only on the side facing north, not on the other side facing south. In the corner towards the north there was a mountain, on the summit of which they placed someone out of his mind, whom they could influence to give any orders they wished by a method of sharing thoughts well known in the spiritual world, but unknown in the natural. They gave it out that he was the God of heaven Himself appearing in human form, and thus secured Divine worship for him. This was because the people wanted to abandon their idolatrous worship, so they had thought up this means of holding them to their obedience.

[5] That is the mountain meant in Isaiah (Isaiah 14:13) by the mountain of meetings on the sides of the north; those who live in the mountains are meant by Lucifer there (Isaiah 5:12). For those of the Babylonian crowd who were in the east had more illumination than the rest, but it was artificial illumination they had contrived for themselves. Some were to be seen building a tower intended to reach heaven where the angels are; but this was only a representation of their designs. For designs are presented in the spiritual world by many things visible to those standing a way off, though they are not really produced among the people devising them. This is a common event there. By means of this appearance I was given to understand the meaning of the tower, the top of which was in heaven, from which the place was called Babel (Genesis 11:1-10). So much for their dwellings in the east.

[6] In the west towards the front lived those of that religion who had lived during the Dark Ages, most of them underground, one generation beneath another. The whole front region, which faces north, was as if hollowed out and filled with monasteries. Their entrances were through caves with covers over them. They went in and out through these caves, but rarely talked with those who had lived in later centuries since they differed in character. They were not so malicious, because in their time there had been no struggle with the Reformed, so they did not have such cunning and malice arising from hatred and a desire for vengeance. In the western quarter beyond that region there were many mountains inhabited by the most malicious of this people, who denied the Divine at heart, although their oral confession and their pious gestures displayed a more pious attitude than that of the rest. The people there had thought out unspeakable schemes to keep the common herd obedient to their rule, and to force others to submit to it. I am not allowed to describe those schemes because they are unspeakable, but there is a general account of their nature in HEAVEN AND HELL 580.

[7] The mountains where they lived are what is meant in the book of Revelation by the seven mountains, and those who lived there are meant by the woman mounted upon the scarlet beast in this passage:

I saw a woman mounted on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names and having seven heads and ten horns. She had a name written on her forehead, Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of whoredoms and abominations of the earth. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits. Revelation 17:3, 5, 9.

Woman in the internal sense means the church; here in the contrary sense a profane religious system. The scarlet beast means the profanation of heavenly love; and the seven mountains the profane love of ruling. So much for the dwellings of those in the west.

[8] The reason why their homes are in different quarters is that all in the spiritual world move to a quarter and a place within the quarter corresponding to their affections and loves, and none can go anywhere else; on this see the discussion of the four quarters of heaven in HEAVEN AND HELL 141-153.

[9] Generally speaking all the deliberations of these Babylonian people have the tendency to establish their rule not only over heaven, but also over all the earth, and so to possess heaven and earth, earth by means of heaven and heaven by means of earth. To achieve this they continually think out and devise new rules and new teachings. They labour to produce the same kind of results in the other life as in the world, for each individual remains after death such a person as he was in the world, especially as regards his religious belief. I was allowed to listen to some of their prelates deliberating about a doctrine to serve as a standard for the ordinary people. It contained a number of paragraphs, but they were all intended to seize control over the heavens and lands upon earth, claiming all power for themselves and allowing none to the Lord. These doctrinal statements were later read to those present upon which they heard a voice from heaven declaring that, although they were unaware of it, these statements had been dictated from the deepest hell. To prove this a crowd of devils of the blackest and foulest appearance came up from that hell, and tore the statement away from them, not with their hands, but with their teeth, and carried it down to their hell. The ordinary people who witnessed this were thunderstruck.