417. Four angels standing on the four corners of the earth. That this signifies the Divine proceeding from the Lord in the whole spiritual world, is plain from the signification of angels, for they denote the Divine which proceeds from the Lord; concerning which see above, n. 130, 200, 302; and from the signification of the four corners of the earth, which denote the whole spiritual world. By four corners is signified the spiritual world, because there are lands there just as on our globe; for in that world, as is the case on our earth, there are mountains, hills, rocks, plains, valleys, and many other things. This has been often stated above. And as the Last Judgment upon all in the spiritual world is treated of in the Apocalypse, and in this place the separation of the good from the evil, therefore that world is meant by the earth. The reason why the earth also signifies the church, as frequently stated before, is, that the appearance of the land (terra) in the spiritual world is exactly in agreement with the state of the church with spirits and angels there. The appearance is the most beautiful where the angels of the superior heavens dwell, and beautiful also where the angels of the lower heavens dwell, but it is totally wanting in beauty where evil spirits dwell. For where the angels dwell, are gardens, fruit gardens, flower-beds, palaces, and everything in heavenly form and harmony, whence pleasantnesses issue forth, imparting inmost delight to the mind; but where evil spirits are, every place is marshy, stony, and barren, and they live in huts of a vile appearance, and also in caverns and dens.

[2] These things are mentioned to show that "the earth," in the proximate sense, means the spiritual world; nor could any other earth (terra) appear to John, for it was seen by him when he was in the spirit. Man also, when in the spirit, cannot see any thing on our Earth (tellus), but only what is in the spiritual world. Therefore John saw four angels, and they were standing on the four corners of that earth. Four angels were seen, because by their standing on four corners is signified the Divine which proceeds from the Lord in the whole spiritual world, for that entire world has four quarters; these are the eastern, western, southern, and northern, that world being thus divided. Those who are in the good of love to the Lord dwell in the eastern quarter, and also in the western, but the former in the clear good of love because they are in the interior [good of love]; the latter, in the obscure good of love, because they are in the exterior [good of love]; in the southern quarter dwell those who are in the clear light of truth, and in the northern those who are in an obscure light of truth. Concerning these quarters see Heaven and Hell 141-153, where they are treated of. And since all things have reference to the good of love, and to the truth from that good, or generally to good and truth, therefore by those four quarters are also meant all things of heaven and the church. Those quarters are also meant in the Word by the four winds, here also by the four corners. It is therefore evident, that the angels were not seen standing on the four corners of the earth, but in the four quarters. They are called the four corners, because corners signify the extremes, and the extremes signify all things, because they include all.

[3] That corners signify quarters is evident from these passages in the Word, where quarters are described by corners, as in the following:

In Moses:

"For the tabernacle thou shalt make twenty boards for the south corner southwards. And for the second side of the tabernacle, towards the north corner, twenty boards," and so forth (Exodus 26:18, 20; 27:9, 11; 36:21, 23, 25).

Here the south corner denotes the southern quarter, and towards the north corner, the northern quarter, for there were twenty boards for each side.

So in Ezekiel:

"By the border of Dan, from the east corner unto the west corner, Asher one. And thence by the border of Asher, from the east corner even unto the corner towards the west," and company (48:1-8).

In the same prophet:

"These the measures; the north corner four thousand and five hundred, and the south corner as many, and the east corner as many, and the west corner as many, by the boundary to the east corner towards the west, and so forth" (48:16, 17, 23-25, 26, 27, 28, 33, 34; also 47:17-20).

Again, in Moses:

"Ye shall measure from without the city the corner towards the east two thousand cubits, and the south corner as many, and the west corner as many, and the north corner as many" (Num. 35:5; also in Joshua 15:5; 18:12, 14, 15, 20).

In these passages, by the east, the south, the west, and the north corners are meant the sides facing the eastern, southern, western, and northern quarters; from which it is evident, that by the four angels standing upon the four corners of the earth, is not meant upon its four corners, but in its four quarters. Similarly in another passage in the Apocalypse, it is said:

Satan "shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth" (20:8).

[4] The reason why four corners are mentioned, and not the four quarters, is that corners signify all things, since they are the extremes; for the extremes embrace all things from the centre to the ultimate circumferences; for they are the ultimate boundaries. It was for this reason that horns were placed upon the four corners of the altar, and that blood was poured on them, and thus the whole altar expiated; as is evident from Exodus 27:2; 29:12; 30:2, 3, 10; 38:2; Leviticus 4:7, 18, 25, 30, 34; 16:18, 19; Ezekiel 41:22; 43:20.

[5] That corners signify all things, because they signify the extremes, for the reason stated above, that the extremes include and embrace all things, is clearly evident from certain statutes given to the sons of Israel; as for instance, that they should not round off or shave the corner of their head (Leviticus 19:27). That they should not cut off the corner of their beards (Leviticus 19:27; 21:5).

Again:

And when they reaped the harvest of their land, they should not wholly reap the corner of the field (19:9; 23:22).

Why such statutes were given them cannot be understood, unless it be known what the hair of the head, the beard, a field, and also a corner mean. The hair of the head, and the beard, signify the ultimate of the life of man, which is called the Corporeal Sensual; a field signifies the Church; and reaping, the truth of doctrine. Wherefore, by these [statutes], it was represented that the extremes should be preserved, because they signify all things; for unless there are extremes, intermediates cannot be held together, but are dissipated, just as the interiors of man would be scattered unless they were enclosed by the skin. The same is the case in every thing and therefore also in regard to the signification of the hair of the head, the beard, and the harvest of the field. That the hair of the head signifies the extreme of the life of man, which is called the Corporeal Sensual, may be seen above (n. 66), and that the same is signified by the beard, see the Arcana Coelestia 9660); that extremes or ultimates, signify all things in the aggregate, thus the whole (n. 10044, 10329, 10335). Now since a field signifies the church, and harvest the truths of the church, therefore by their not wholly reaping the corner of the field when they reaped the harvest, is meant the preservation of all those things which are signified by the harvests of the field.

[6] That corners signify all things because they are extremes, is also evident from the following passages in Moses:

"I will cast them into the farthest corners, I will make the remembrance of them cease from among men" (Deuteronomy 32:26).

To cast into the farthest corners signifies to deprive of all good and truth; therefore it is also said, "I will make the remembrance of them to cease from among men," which signifies, that they no longer possess any thing of spiritual life, which comes to pass when man remains only in the ultimates of life, called the Corporeal Sensual; in this condition are very many, who have not attained to anything of spiritual life. Such persons then become not unlike beasts, which have no other life, with this difference, that a man, because he is born a man, can speak and reason, but he does this from the fallacies of the senses, or of the outermost things of nature, the world, and the body. This is what is meant here by being cast into the farthest corners.

[7] In Jeremiah:

"And their camels shall be a prey, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil; and I will scatter them into every wind into the cut off of the corner; and I will bring their destruction from all the passages thereof, saith Jehovah" (49:32).

These things are said concerning the devastation of Arabia and Hazor by the king of Babylon, and by Arabia and Hazor are signified the knowledges of good and truth, and by the king of Babylon evil and falsity vastating. The vastation of all confirmatory scientifics and of the knowledges of good and truth, is signified by their camels being a prey, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil; for camels denote confirmatory scientifics, and cattle the knowledges of good and truth. The vastation of all things pertaining to good and truth, until none remains, is signified by, "I will scatter them into every wind into the cut off of the corner;" the cut off of the corner denoting the extremes where good and truth no longer exist. That evils and falsities will then break in on every side, is signified by, "I will bring their destruction from all the passages thereof." For in the spiritual world, where the evil are, ways from the hells lie open on all sides, and through these, evils and falsities therefrom break in; and all who are in similar evils and falsities pass through the same ways, and associate with them. These things are said in order that it may be known what is meant by "I will bring their destruction from all the passages." By their becoming a prey and a spoil, as well as by being scattered and destroyed, is signified devastation.

[8] In the same prophet:

"Behold, the days come, in which I will punish all them which are circumcised in their uncircumcision; Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the sons of Ammon, and Moab, and all the utmost of the corner, that dwell in the wilderness; for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart" (9:25, 26).

Here, by "all the utmost of the corner," are signified those who are in the ultimates of the church separated from interior things, interior things being spiritual, therefore, those who are in sensual things only, which are the ultimates of the natural man. Concerning the nature and quality of those who are merely sensual, see the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem. (n. 50).

These are signified by the cut off of the corner, because corners signify the quarters of the spiritual world, and those quarters signify all the goods and truths of heaven and the church, as previously stated. The dwellings of spirits and angels in that world, are so arranged, that those who possess the greatest wisdom and intelligence dwell in the midst, and those who are successively in less and less, from the midst even to the outmost boundaries, and this gradation proceeds accurately according to distances from the centre. In the outermost parts are those who have no wisdom and intelligence, and beyond these those who are in evils and the falsities thence. The latter are those denoted by the cut off of the corner; and because there are deserts there they are said to dwell in the wilderness. Concerning these gradations in the spiritual world, see Heaven and Hell 43, 50, 189). The same are signified by the uncircumcised nations, and by the house of Israel uncircumcised in heart; for the uncircumcised signify those who, being without love and charity, and therefore without good, are consequently in the loves of self and of the world; and those who are in these loves are in the ultimates of the natural man, which are altogether separated from spiritual things; they are therefore "the cut off of the corner that dwell in the wilderness." By Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon and Moab, are meant all those who by means of those loves have separated themselves from the goods and truths of the church; therefore they are beyond the influence of these truths, and are thus the cut off of the corner. The same is signified by the cut off of the corner in Jeremiah (25:23).

[9] Again, in Moses:

"There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall break in pieces the corners of Moab" (Num. 24:17).

By the corners of Moab are meant all things signified by Moab. By Moab are signified those who are in the ultimates of the Word, of the church, and of worship; and in the opposite sense, those who adulterate such things by looking to themselves, and regarding their own honour in every one of these things. The corners of Moab, therefore, mean adulterations of the Word, and consequently of the church and worship, as they exist with those who are of such a character. Similar things are signified by the corner of Moab in Jeremiah (48:45).

[10] In Zephaniah:

"A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high corners" (1:16).

Here, "a day of the trumpet and alarm," signifies spiritual combat against evils and falsities. The fenced cities signify confirmatory false doctrinals, and the high corners those things which favour their loves. Hence the signification of "a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high corners" is evident.

Again:

"I will cut off the nations; their corners shall be laid waste; I will make desolate their streets, that none passeth by; and I will lay waste their cities, so that there is no inhabitant" (3:6).

The destruction of all the goods of the church, is signified by "I will cut off the nations" and "their corners shall be laid waste." Nations mean the goods of the church, and corners, being the extremes (as above), all things belonging to it. By "I will make desolate their streets," and by "their cities shall be laid waste," is signified the destruction of the truths of doctrine; streets denoting truths and cities doctrinals; the total destruction, until no good and truth remain, is signified by there being no inhabitant, none to pass by; for to pass by is used in the Word of truths, and to inhabit of goods.

[11] In the book of Judges:

"Then all the sons of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, and the corners of all the people, even all the tribes of Israel, stood together in the assembly of the people of God" (20:1, 2).

That "the corners of all the people stood together in the assembly of the people of God," signifies all from every side, or from every quarter, is evident from its being said, that all the sons and all the tribes of Israel went out, and that the congregation was gathered together from Dan even to Beersheba. But in the spiritual sense, by "the corners of all the people" are meant all the goods and truths of the church; and similarly also by all the tribes of Israel from Dan even to Beersheba, are signified those things from ultimates to primaries (prima), and by the assembly of the people of God, is signified consultation concerning the things of the church. For in the historical parts of the Word, equally as in the prophetical, there is everywhere a spiritual sense. Therefore in the historical sense, by corners are signified quarters, such as are in the spiritual world; but in the spiritual sense, for the reason stated above, they signify all the truths and goods of the church.

[12] From these considerations the signification of corner stone in the following passages is evident:-

In Isaiah:

"He will lay in Zion a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone of sure foundation" (28:16).

In Jeremiah:

"And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone of foundations" (51:26).

In Zechariah:

Out of Judah, "the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow" (10:4).

In David:

"The stone which they rejected is become the head of the corner" (Psalm 118:22). Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10, 11; Luke 20:17, 18.

Corner stone signifies all Divine Truth upon which heaven and the church are founded, thus every foundation; and, because the foundation is the basis upon which a house or temple rests, it therefore signifies all things. Because by corner stone are signified all things upon which the church is founded, it is therefore said, "He will lay in Zion a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone of sure foundation." It is also called a stone for a corner and a stone of foundations; and because corner stone signifies all Divine Truth upon which the church is founded, it therefore also signifies the Lord as to the Divine Human because from That all Divine Truth proceeds. The builders, or architects, who rejected that stone, as we read in the Evangelists, mean those who are of the church, in this case, of the Jewish church, which rejected the Lord, and together with Him all Divine Truth; for there remained with them nothing but vain traditions from the sense of the letter of the Word, in which the very truths of the Word were falsified, and its goods adulterated. That ultimates signify all things, and the reason of this signification, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 634, 5897, 6239, 6451, 6465, 9216, 9824, 9828, 9836, 9905, 10044, 10099, 10329, 10335, 10548).

9325. 'None will suffer miscarriage or be barren in [your] land' means that forms of good and truths will develop in their proper order, in continuous progression. This is clear from the meaning of 'none will suffer miscarriage or be barren' as the progress of regeneration in its proper order, and therefore the development of forms of good and of truths in their proper order, in continuous progression, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'in the land' as in the Church. In the Word 'the land' or 'the earth' means the Church, see 566, 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 2571, 2928, 3355, 3368, 3379, 4447, 4535, 5577, 8011, 8732; and the reason why 'the land' means the Church is that it implies the land of Canaan, where the Church existed, indeed where it had existed since most ancient times, 3686, 4447, 4454, 4516, 4517, 5136, 6306, 6516, 8317. In the spiritual world furthermore, when a land is spoken of no one envisages a land but what the people and their religion in a land are like. Consequently when 'the land' is mentioned in the Word and it implies the land of Canaan, the Church is envisaged. All this goes to show what a new heaven and a new earth is used to mean in the prophetical parts of the Word, namely the internal Church and the external Church, 1850, 3355, 4535; for there are internal people and there are external people.

[2] The reason why 'none will suffer miscarriage or be barren in the land' means that forms of good and truths will develop in their proper order, in continuous progression, is that all things connected with childbirth are used in the internal sense of the Word to mean such things as are connected with spiritual birth, thus such as are connected with regeneration, 2584, 3860, 3868, 3905, 3915. The things connected with spiritual birth or regeneration are the truths of faith and forms of the good of charity; for through these a person is conceived and born anew. It is evident from a large number of places in the Word that such things are meant by 'births', and plainly so from the Lord's words to Nicodemus,

Jesus said to him, Truly, truly I say to you, Unless a person is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said, How can a person be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Truly, truly I say to you, Unless a person has been born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, but that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit. Nicodemus said, How can these things happen? Jesus answered, Are you a teacher in Israel, and do not know these things? John 3:3-6, 9-10.

'Being born through water and the Spirit' means being born again through the truths of faith and the good of love, see the places referred to in 9274.

[3] The origin of this meaning of 'births' in the Word lies in the correspondence of marriages on earth with the heavenly marriage, which is the marriage of goodness and truth. Regarding this correspondence, see 2727-2759. But scarcely anyone at the present day knows, and perhaps scarcely anyone is willing to recognize that truly conjugial love comes down from that marriage; for earthly and bodily things are before people's eyes, and those things have a dampening and smothering effect when they think about such correspondence. Furthermore, since that is the source of truly conjugial love, 'births' and 'generations' in the internal sense of the Word mean things connected with new birth and generation effected by the Lord. So it is also that father, mother, sons, daughters, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, grandsons, and many more who are the product of marriages, mean forms of good and truths, and derivations from them, dealt with many times in explanatory sections.

[4] From all this it now becomes clear that 'none will suffer miscarriage or be barren in the land' means that forms of good and truths will develop in their proper order, in continuous progression. The fact that 'one suffering miscarriage' and 'one who is barren' mean instances of miscarriage and barrenness in a spiritual sense, that is, the perversions of goodness and truth, and also the destruction and total rejections of them, is evident from the following places: In Hosea,

Ephraim, when I saw it reaching as far as Tyre, was planted in a beautiful [place]; and Ephraim must lead out its sons to the killer. Give them, O Jehovah, a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. On account of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house. Hosea 9:13-15.

Unless people know what it is that 'Ephraim', 'Tyre', 'the killer', 'sons', 'a miscarrying womb', and 'dry breasts' mean in the internal sense, they cannot have any knowledge at all of what those prophetic statements imply. 'Ephraim' is the Church's power of understanding, which is an understanding enlightened in regard to the truths and forms of the good of faith obtained from the Word, see 3969, 5354, 6222, 6234, 6238, 6267; 'Tyre' is the cognitions or knowledge of truth and good, 1201; and from this it is evident what 'Ephraim, when I saw it reaching as far as Tyre, was planted in a beautiful place' means. 'A killer' is one who deprives another of spiritual life, that is, the life provided by truth and good, 3607, 6767, 8902; 'sons' are the truths of faith, 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 2813, 3373, 3704, 4257; and from this it is evident what 'Ephraim must lead out its sons to the killer' means. 'Breasts' are affections for goodness and truth, 6432, so that 'dry breasts' are the absence of affections, and desires to pervert instead; and from this it is evident what 'a miscarrying womb' means, namely a perversion of goodness and truth. Things connected with spiritual life are clearly meant by all these words, for it says, 'On account of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house', 'out of Jehovah's house' meaning out of the Church and out of heaven, 2233, 2234, 3720, 5640.

[5] In Malachi,

I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that he does not ruin for you the fruit of the land, nor will the vine in the field miscarry for you. All the nations will declare you blessed, and you will be a land of delight. Malachi 3:11-12.

The prophecy that the vine in the field would not miscarry means that the truths and forms of the good of faith among those who are within the Church will develop in their proper order; for 'the vine' is the spiritual Church's truth and good, 1069, 6375, 6376, 9277, and 'the field' is the Church, 2971, 3766, 7502, 9139, 9295. 'A land of delight' is a Church pleasing to the Lord; for everyone within the Church who has been regenerated through truth and good is an embodiment of the Church. From this it is evident what it is that 'you will be a land of delight' means, 'a land' being the Church, see above.

[6] In Moses,

If you hear My judgements, to keep and do them, you will be blessed above every people; none will be unfruitful or barren among you, or among [your] beasts. Jehovah will take away all sickness from you, and all the evil diseases of Egypt. Deuteronomy 7:12, 14-15.

'None will be unfruitful or barren' stands for not being devoid of the life provided by truth and good; thus it is a promise that spiritually they will have life. Since 'barrenness' had such a meaning, women in the ancient Churches did not think of themselves as being alive if they were barren. This was so with Rachel, who spoke of herself to Jacob - see 3908 - in the following words,

Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob [any children]; and she said to Jacob, Give me sons; if you do not, I am dead. Genesis 30:1.

[7] 'The barren' also means those who are without good because they do not possess truths, yet have a desire for truths in order that they may be governed by good, as with upright nations outside the Church. An example of this meaning occurs in Isaiah,

Sing, O barren one that did not bear; resound with singing and cry out with joy, O one that has not been in travail, for the sons of her that is desolate will be more than the sons of her that was married. Isaiah 54:1.

In David,

Jehovah lifts one who is crushed out of the dust, He raises the needy one from the dunghill, to set him with the princes of His people. He causes the barren one of the house to dwell as a joyful mother of children. Psalms 113:7-9.

[8] In Hannah's prophetic utterance after she had given birth to Samuel,

The full have been hired out [for bread], and the hungry have ceased [to be hungry], till she who was barren has borne seven, while the one who has many children has become feeble. 1 Samuel 2:5.

In these places 'the barren' is used to mean gentile nations who are being summoned to the Church, and to whom the Church is transferred when the old Church has come to an end, that is, when those who formerly belonged to the Church no longer possess faith because they do not have any charity. This old Church is meant by 'the one who has many children has become feeble' and by 'her that was married', while the new one among gentile nations is meant by 'her that is barren and desolate who will have many more sons' and by 'the barren one of the house [who dwells as] a joyful mother of children'. 'Bearing seven' means being regenerated completely, for 'seven' in this prophetic utterance does not mean seven but to completion, 9228. From all this it is evident what the following words spoken by the Lord serve to mean,

The days will come in which they will say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne, and the breasts which have not nursed! Luke 23:29.

This refers to the close of the age, which is the final period of the Church.

[9] In the second Book of Kings,

The men of Jericho said to Elisha, Behold, the city's situation is good, but the water is bad and the land barren. Then Elisha told them to put salt in a new dish and to throw the salt from it into the source of the water. And the water was healed, and no more death or barrenness came from it. 2 Kings 2:19-21.

No one can know what this description holds within it except from the internal sense; for all the miracles described in the Word hold within them the kinds of things that happen within the Lord's kingdom, that is, within the Church, 7337, 7465, 8364, 9086. A person needs to know therefore what 'Elisha' represented, what 'the city of Jericho' meant, what 'bad water and barren land' meant, what 'a new dish and salt in it' meant, and also what 'the source of the water' into which they were to throw the salt meant. 'Elisha' represented the Lord in respect of the Word, see 2762. 'Water' means the truths of faith, 28, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 6346, 7307, 8137, 8138, 8568, and therefore 'bad water' means truths devoid of good, while 'barren land' means the Church's good which as a consequence is not alive. 'A new dish' or new vessel means factual knowledge and cognitions of goodness and truth, 3068, 3079, 3316, 3318. 'Salt' means truth's desire for good, 9207. 'The source of the water' means the human natural which receives the cognitions or knowledge of truth and good and is improved by truth's desire for good.

[10] From all this it is evident what that miracle held within it, namely the improvement of the Church and its life by the Lord's Word and by truth's desire for good from there. The improvement is brought about when the human natural receives truths from the Word as a result of such a desire. The reason why the miracle took place at the city of Jericho was that this city was located not far from the Jordan, and 'the Jordan' means that with a member of the Church which first receives truths, which is the natural, 1585, 4255. The human natural is the first to receive truths from the Lord which are present in the Word, but it is regenerated last; and when it has been regenerated the whole person has been regenerated. This was meant by the Lord's words to Peter when He washed the disciples' feet,

Jesus said, He who has been washed has no need except to wash his feet, and the whole person is clean. John 13:10.

'The feet' are those things that belong to the human natural, and in general are the natural, see 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952, 5327, 5328. The natural or external man must be in agreement with the spiritual or internal man if a person is to be regenerated. Thus a person has not been regenerated until the natural has been, see 2850, 3167, 3286, 3321, 3470, 3493, 3508, 3509, 3518, 3573, 3576, 3579, 3620, 3623, 3671, 3882, 3969, 4353, 4588, 4612, 4618, 5168, 5326, 5373, 5651, 6299, 6454, 7442, 7443, 8742-8747, 9043, 9046, 9061.