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.

748. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb.- That this signifies resistance and victory by means of Divine Truth proceeding from the Divine Human of the Lord, is evident from the signification of blood, when used in reference to the Lord, as denoting the Divine Truth proceeding from Him (concerning which see above, n. 328, 329); and from the signification of the Lamb, as denoting the Lord as to the Divine Human (concerning which also see above, n. 314); from which it is evident that to overcome the dragon by the blood of the Lamb signifies to conquer him, that is, those signified by the dragon and his angels, by means of Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord's Divine Human. It is said, the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord's Divine Human, because all Divine Truth, which fills the heavens, and constitutes the wisdom of the angels in the heavens, proceeds from the Lord's Divine Human; for the Lord's Divine Human is united with the Divine itself, which was in Him from conception, so that they are one. The Divine itself, which was in Him from conception, is what he called Father, and this is united with His Human as the soul is united with the body; this is why the Lord says that He is one with the Father (John 10:30, 38); and that He is in the Father and the Father in Him (John 14:7-11.) And because there is such a union, therefore the Divine Truth, after the glorification of His Human, proceeded from His Divine Human. The Divine Truth proceeding from the Divine Human of the Lord is what is called the Holy Spirit; that this proceeds from the glorified Human of the Lord, He Himself teaches in John:

"The Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (7:39).

The glorified Human is the Divine Human. But on this subject more may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 280-310), also in Heaven and Hell, from beginning to end. That the blood of the Lamb means the Divine proceeding from the Divine Human of the Lord, may be seen above (n. 476).

[2] From these things it can be seen how much the sense of the letter of the Word differs from its spiritual sense; also, how the Word is falsified, when it is regarded exteriorly, and not also interiorly. How much it differs is plain from this, that the blood of the Lamb, in the sense of the letter, means the Lord's passion of the cross, but in the spiritual sense, the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord's Divine Human. If therefore it were to be taken as the literal truth that Michael conquered the dragon by the Lord's passion of the cross, it would follow as a consequence that the Lord by this took away all the sins of the world, and also by this moved His Father to mercy towards mankind, when yet these ideas are in harmony neither with Divine Truth which the angels in heaven possess, nor with a correct understanding of truth. Who could ever suppose that the Lord by the passion of the cross took away all the sins of the world, when notwithstanding every man's character after death is such as his life had been in the world, those who do evil coming into hell, and those who do good into heaven? Who can suppose that God the Father was moved to mercy by the blood of His Son on the cross, and that he had need of such a means, when nevertheless He is in Himself mercy itself, love itself, and good itself? From these things it is evident that the Word here, and in a thousand other places, regarded exteriorly only and not interiorly, is falsified. To regard it exteriorly is to look at it from the letter, but to regard it interiorly is to look at it from the doctrine of genuine truth. When it is believed from doctrine that the Lord subjugated the hells, and at the same time glorified His Human by means of temptations, and that the passion of the cross was the last temptation and the complete victory, by which He subjugated the hells, and glorified His Human, then this can be understood and believed; and that Michael conquered by the passion of the cross is seen to be an apparent truth; but that he conquered by means of Divine Truth proceeding from the Divine Human of the Lord is seen to be a real truth. But if the apparent truth is taken for the real truth and confirmed, the Word is then falsified, according to what was stated above (n. 719), by way of illustration.