799. Verses 21-22 And all flesh creeping over the earth breathed its last - birds, beasts, wild animals, and every creeping thing that creeps over the earth; and every man. Everything which had the breath of the spirit of life ¹ in its nostrils, everything that was on the dry land, died. 'All flesh creeping over the earth breathed its last' means that those who belonged to the final descendants of the Most Ancient Church were annihilated. 'Birds, beasts, wild animals, every creeping thing that creeps over the earth' means their persuasions, among which 'birds' were affections for falsity, 'beasts' were evil desires, 'wild animals' pleasures, 'creeping things' bodily and earthly interests. These in their entirety are called 'every man'. 'Everything which had the breath of the spirit of life' in its nostrils' means people belonging to the Most Ancient Church, who had 'the breath of the spirit of life ¹ in their nostrils', that is, the life of love and of faith deriving from love. 'Everything that was on the dry land' means those in whom nothing of that kind of life existed any more. 'They died' means that they breathed their last.

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