966. And it became blood as of one dead. That this signified that all were falsified, is evident from the signification of blood, as denoting Divine truth; and, in the opposite sense, Divine truth falsified (concerning which see n. 30, 328, 329, 476, 748). In this case, therefore, that all the knowledges of truth from the Word were falsified. The knowledges of truth from the Word are the truths of the sense of the letter, or the truths in the Word for the natural man, which also are Divine truths. These altogether falsified are signified by the sea becoming blood, as of one dead.

The Divine truths of the sense of the letter of the Word are said to be falsified, when they are perverted even to the destruction of interior Divine truth, or of Divine truth in the heavens. They then also appear in the heavens with man as the blood of one dead. That those who separate faith from the goods of life falsify the Word has been often shown above; and it is of such that these things are said, as is evident from the second verse of this chapter.

Concerning the Fourth Precept of the Decalogue, that parents are to be honoured.

This precept also was given, because the honour of parents represented and thence signified love to the Lord, and love towards the church. For father, in the heavenly sense, or the heavenly Father, is the Lord; and mother, in the heavenly sense, or the heavenly mother, is the church. Honour signifies the good of love; and length of days, which is the consequence, signifies the felicity of life eternal. This precept is thus understood in heaven, where no other father is known but the Lord, and no other mother but the Lord's kingdom, which is also the church. For the Lord gives life from Himself, and by the church He gives spiritual nourishment. That in the heavenly sense of this precept, not any father in the world is meant, or indeed to be named, while man is in a heavenly idea, the Lord teaches in Matthew:

"Call no one your father on earth; for one is your Father, who is in the heavens" (23:9).

That Father signifies the Lord as to Divine Good may be seen above (n. 32, 200, 254, 297). That mother signifies the Lord's kingdom, the church, and Divine truth may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 289, 2691, 2717, 3703, 5581, 8897). That length of days signifies the felicity of eternal life, n. 8898 in the same work; and that honour signifies the good of love, n. 8897 there, and above, n. 288, 345.

From these things it is now evident that the third and fourth precepts involve mysteries concerning the Lord; that is, the acknowledgment and confession of His Divine, and the worship of Him from the good of love.

30. To him that loveth us, and washeth us from our sins in his own blood. That this signifies His love, and regeneration by truths from Him, is evident from the signification of washing from sins, as denoting to regenerate (concerning which see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 202-209); and from the signification of in His own blood, as denoting by truths from Him (concerning this see the same work, n. 210-213; and the extracts from Arcana Coelestia there, n.217, 219, 222). That the blood of the Lord signifies truths from good, thus truths from the Lord, can scarcely be perceived and believed by those who have no knowledge of the spiritual sense of the Word. Besides, it appears to be far-fetched to understand, in this case, truths from the Lord instead of His blood, and yet nothing else is meant in heaven by the blood of the Lord, the reason being that the Lord there is Divine truth united to Divine good, therefore no one there thinks of His flesh and blood; thought concerning these they call material, which is not possible with them. They say also, that they do not know that flesh and blood are mentioned in the Word; the reason of which is, that the things of the literal sense of the Word are with them turned into spiritual things, since they themselves are spiritual and not natural; thus flesh, when it is said, of the Lord, is turned into Divine good, and blood into Divine truth, each going forth from the Lord.

[2] The reason why flesh and blood are mentioned in the literal sense of the Word is, that the spiritual things corresponding to them may be perceived in heaven; for all spiritual things terminate in natural things, in which they have their ultimate plane, therefore the Divine passing through the heavens terminates in that plane, and there subsists, comparatively like a house upon its foundation, and then it is in its fulness. This is why the Word in the letter is of such a quality, and flesh and blood are there mentioned. Nevertheless, the angels are astonished that the man of the church, who may also become spiritual from the Word, does not suffer himself to be raised above the literal sense, and thinks not spiritually but materially of the Lord, and of His flesh and blood. But because they wondered at this, and were told that most people, especially the simple, think spiritually concerning those things, they therefore investigated whether it was so; and they discovered that most people, and almost all the simple, when they go to the Holy Supper, do not think of flesh and blood, but only of the holiness which they then have from the Lord. The angels also perceived that this is continually provided by the Lord, in order that the man of the church, at such time, may be in a spiritual, and not a material idea.

[3] The reason why material eating is meant, and is understood in the particular doctrines of the churches is, because they have thought of the Human of the Lord as of the human of another man, and not at the same time of the Divine in His Human, rejecting the expression, "Divine Human." Those who have thus thought of the Human of the Lord, could not but think materially of His flesh and blood. The case would have been different if they had thought of the Lord according to the universal doctrine of the church, that His Divine and Human are one Person, being united as soul and body (as may be seen above, n. 10 and 26). Moreover, blood is mentioned in many other places in the Word, as also again in the Apocalypse (chap. 6:12; 7:14; 8:7, 8; 11:6; 12:11; 14:20; 16:3, 4, 6; 18:24; 19:2, 13); therefore I wish, in the following pages, more fully to prove the fact, that by blood is signified truth from the Lord, and in an opposite sense, falsity that offers violence to that truth.