531. Woe, woe, woe, to them that dwell on the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are about to sound.- That this signifies grievous lamentation over the changes of the state of the church at its end, on account of aversion from good and truth, and thence damnation, is evident from the signification of woe, which denotes lamentation over aversion from good and truth, and consequent damnation; and from its being said three times, which denotes grievous lamentation, concerning which we shall speak presently; from the signification of them that dwell on the earth, as denoting those who are of the church, the earth denoting the church, as may be seen above (n. 29, 304, 417); and from the signification of the voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are about to sound, as denoting the changes of the state of the church; for by the angels sounding the trumpets, are signified changes from influx out of heaven; see above (n. 502). That three signifies what is complete even to the end, will be seen in the following article. It is therefore evident that these words, "Woe, woe, woe, to those that dwell on the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are about to sound," signify grievous lamentation over the changes of the state of the church at its end, on account of aversion from good and truth, and consequent damnation.

[2] That woe signifies lamentation over calamity, danger, misery, destruction, and so forth, is clear from the passages in the Word where it occurs; but here it signifies lamentation over aversion from good and truth, and consequent damnation, because this is the subject treated of in that which follows. And because aversion from good and truth becomes successively more grievous in the church, even unto its end, therefore it is three times named, to denote every successive increase of the grievousness of evil. This is evident from the following passages, where it is said,

"One woe is past; and behold, there come two woes more hereafter" (9:12).

And afterwards:

"The second woe is past; and behold, the third woe cometh quickly" (11:14).

That woe in the Word signifies lamentation over various accidents, especially over the evils which devastate the church, is evident from various passages therein; as in Matthew:

"Woe unto you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites!" (23:13, 14, 15, 16, 23, 25, 27, 29).

And in Luke:

"Woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed!" (22:22).

Again, in the same:

"Woe unto him, through whom offences come!" (17:1).

And in Isaiah:

"Woe unto them that join house to house" (5:8).

"Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink" (5:11).

"Woe unto them that draw iniquity" (5:18).

"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil" (5:20).

"Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes" (5:21).

"Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine (vinum)" (5:22).

See also Isaiah, chap. 3:11; 10:1; 17:12; 18:1; 29:1, 15; 30:1; 31:1; 33:1; 45:9, 10, etc.; Jeremiah 22:13; Ezekiel 13:3; Apoc. 18:16, 19.

10545. 'And Moses took a tent' means the holiness of worship, the Church, and the Word. This is clear from the meaning of 'a tent' in the highest sense as the Lord, also heaven and the Church, and in the relative sense as everything holy belonging to heaven and the Church, consequently also the holiness of worship and the holiness of the Word; for worship and the Word belong to the Church, and they are the Lord's since they are derived from Him. The reason why 'a tent' means these things is that the most ancient people used to live in tents and also to hold their holy worship in them. Among these people the celestial Church existed, and this was holier than all the Churches that came after it. For the one they worshipped was the Lord; for them Jehovah was none other than Him. And since it was He who led them, they were in direct contact with the angels of heaven, as a consequence of which they possessed heavenly wisdom that comes from the Lord. The establishment of that Church is what the creation of heaven and earth in the first chapter of Genesis describes, and their wisdom is what paradise describes; for 'heaven and earth' in the Word means the Church, 'paradise' means intelligence and wisdom, and 'man' (homo) means the Church itself, as does 'the ground', from which the name Adam derives.

'Heaven and earth' in the Word means the Church, 'heaven' the internal Church and 'earth' the external Church, see 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355(end), 4535, 10373.

Intelligence and wisdom is described by paradise-like and other gardens, 100, 108, 2702, 3220.

'Man' means the Church, 478, 768, 4287, 9276, and so does 'the ground', 566, 1068.

'Creating man' means establishing the Church, 16, 88, 10373.

See in addition 8891, 9942.

[2] Because this Church was the Lord's beloved more than all the rest and the Lord had His home with them in their tents (for the Lord is said to have His home with the person who loves Him, John 14:23), therefore to commemorate these things the tabernacle or tent of meeting was erected among the Israelite nation, to house their holy worship. And this was why the feast of tabernacles or tents was instituted.

[3] The fact that 'tent' means those holy things, and in particular the holiness of worship, is clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

Sing, O barren one that did not bear. Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwelling-places. Isaiah 54:1-2.

'Enlarging the place of the tent' means doing so to the things which belong to the Church and consequently to those which belong to worship. 'Stretching out the curtains of the dwelling-places' means multiplying truths, 'curtains' meaning the Church's truths, see 9595, 9596, 9606, 9756. 'Barren one' means the person with whom the Church's truths and forms of good have not existed hitherto, 3908, 9325.

[4] In Jeremiah,

The whole land has been laid waste. Suddenly My tents have been laid waste, My curtains in a moment. Jeremiah 4:20.

'The land' means the Church, see in the places referred to in 9325; and since the Church is the Church by virtue of forms of the good of love and by virtue of the truths of faith it says that tents and curtains have been laid waste, 'tents' being the Church's forms of good and 'curtains' its truths.

[5] In the same prophet,

My tent has been laid waste, and all My ropes torn away. My sons have gone away from Me, and they are not. There is no one stretching out My tent any more, or setting up My curtains. For the shepherds have become stupid. Jeremiah 10:20-21.

Similar things are meant here by 'tent' and 'curtains'. 'Ropes torn away' means that goodness and truth are no longer joined together, nor truths to one another. Therefore also it says 'My sons have gone away', for truths are meant by 'sons'.

'Ropes' means a joining together, see 9777, 9854, 9880.

'Sons' means truths, 489, 491, 533, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3373, 3704, 4257, 9807.

[6] In David,

O Jehovah, who will sojourn in Your tent? Who will dwell on Your holy mountain? He who walks blameless and who does righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart. Psalms 15:1-2.

'Sojourning in Jehovah's tent' means abiding in heaven, and in the good of love there. In the same author,

I will remain in Your tent forever. Psalms 61:4.

Here the meaning is similar.

[7] In Amos,

On that day I will raise up the tent of David that is fallen down, and I will close up its breaches and restore its destroyed places. Amos 9:11.

'The tent of David' means the Lord's Church and the holiness that goes with worship of Him. 'Closing up breaches and restoring destroyed places' means renewing those things by moving falsities away from them. 'David' in the Word means the Lord, see 1888, 9954, so that 'the tent of David' means the Lord's Church and the holiness that goes with worship. In Jeremiah,

Behold, I will bring back the captivity ¹ of the tents of Jacob, and will have compassion on his dwellings. Jeremiah 30:18.

'The tents of Jacob' and 'his dwellings' stand for the Church's forms of good and its truths.

[8] Since forms of good present in the Church and in worship are meant by 'tents', forms of evil present in worship and in the Church are meant in the contrary sense by 'tents', as may be recognized from the following places: In Jeremiah,

I will liken the daughter of Zion to one who is comely. Shepherds and their flocks will come to her and pitch their tents against her round about. Jeremiah 6:2-3.

In the same prophet,

Go up against Arabia, and lay waste the sons of the east. They will take their tents and their flocks, their curtains and all their vessels. Jeremiah 49:28-29.

In Hosea,

What will you do on the solemn day, and on the day of the feast of Jehovah? For behold, they have gone away on account of the devastation; the thorn will possess their precious things of silver, the nettle will be in their tents. Hosea 9:5-6.

In David,

He smote all the firstborn of Egypt, the beginning of strength in the tents of Ham. Psalms 78:51.

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