503. And there followed hail and fire mingled with blood.- That this signifies infernal falsity and evil destroying, intermingled with the truths and goods of the Word to which violence was done, is evident from the signification of hail, as denoting infernal falsity destroying, concerning which more will be said presently; and from the signification of fire, as denoting infernal evil destroying, concerning which also we shall speak presently; and from the signification of blood, as denoting the Divine Truth, in the present case, the Divine Truth to which violence was done, consequently, Divine Truth falsified, for it is said, "hail and fire mingled with blood."

[2] That blood signifies Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord and received by man, and the opposite sense its destruction by the falsities of evil, and thus violence done to it may be seen above (n. 329). That hail and fire signify infernal falsities and evil destroying, is also a result of appearances in the spiritual world. When the Divine Truth flows down there out of heaven, and flows into the sphere where those are who are in falsities from evil and who desire to destroy the truths and goods of the church, then as it were a raining down of hail and fire appears to those who stand afar off; as it were a raining down of hail, as a result of their falsities, and of fire, as a result of their evils. The reason of this appearance is, that the Divine Truth, when it flows into the sphere where evils and falsities are, is changed into what is similar to that sphere. For all influx is changed in the recipient subject according to the quality thereof, just as the light of the sun when it flows into dark objects, and the heat of the sun when it flows into putrid things. The case is similar with the Divine Truth, which is the light of heaven, and with the Divine Good, which is the heat of heaven, when they flow into evil subjects, which are those spirits who are in falsities from evil. This is the reason of that appearance. It is from this fact that hail and fire have such significations in the Word; for the sense of the letter of the Word as to the greater part of it is from appearances in the spiritual world.

[3] That hail signifies infernal falsity destroying the truth of the church, is clear from other places in the Word, where the destruction of truth is described by hail as in Egypt, when Pharaoh would not let the people of Israel go, concerning which it is thus written:

Moses told Pharaoh that it should rain a very grievous hail, such as had not been in Egypt. "And the hail shall be upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt. And Moses stretched forth his rod towards heaven; and Jehovah sent thunder and hail, and the fire walked to the earth; and Jehovah rained hail upon the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and at the same fire walking in the midst of the hail, very grievous. And the hail smote all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, was there no hail. And the flax and barley were smitten; for the barley was a ripening ear, and the flax a stalk. But the wheat and the rye were not smitten; for they were hidden" (Exodus 9:18-32).

Similar things are signified by the hail in Egypt as by the hail here mentioned in the Revelation; therefore several things of a similar kind are said concerning it; as that the hail and the fire walked together, that the herb of the field was smitten, and the trees broken. The reason why several things of a similar kind are here related is, that the signification of the plagues of Egypt is similar to that of the plagues in the Apocalypse which took place when the seven angels sounded. For the Egyptians signified merely natural men, the sons of Israel spiritual men, and the plagues of Egypt, the changes which precede a last judgment, just as here in the Apocalypse. For the drowning of Pharaoh and the Egyptians in the Sea Suph [or Red Sea] represented a last judgment, and condemnation; therefore hail and fire here also signify falsities and evils destroying the church. But these things are more fully explained in the Arcana Coelestia 7553-7619).

[4] The signification also of hail and hot thunderbolts, mentioned in David, is similar:

"He destroyed their vine with hail, and their sycamore trees with great hailstones. He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to burning coals. He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, the sending of evil angels" (Psalm 78:47-59).

Because hail signifies falsity destroying the truths of the church, it is therefore said, "He destroyed their vine with hail, and their sycamore trees with great hailstones;" for vine signifies the spiritual truth of the church, and a sycamore its natural truth; and because burning coals, or fire, signify the love of evil, and its eagerness to destroy the goods of the church, it is therefore said, "he gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to burning coals." Cattle and flocks signify evil affections or inordinate desires which arise from evil love, and burning coals, or fire, the lust and burning desire to destroy; by the sending of evil angels, is signified the falsity of evil from hell.

[5] So again:

"He gave them hail for rain; flaming fire in their land, and he smote their vine, and their fig tree; and brake the tree of their border" (Psalm 105:32, 33).

These things are also said concerning the hail of Egypt, which signifies infernal falsity destroying the truths of the church. The vine and the fig tree have here a similar signification to the vine and sycamores mentioned above, the vine signifying spiritual truth, and the fig tree, natural truth, each pertaining to the church, and tree signifies the perceptions and cognitions of truth and good.

[6] The signification of hail mentioned in Joshua, when he fought against the five kings of the Amorites, is similar, of which it is said:

"And it came to pass," as the kings "fled before Israel, while they were in the going down to Bethhoron, that Jehovah cast down great stones of hail from heaven upon them unto Azekah; and they were more that died from the hailstones than they whom the sons of Israel slew with the sword" (10:11).

Because the historical parts of the Word are representative, and contain an internal sense, equally as the prophetical parts, therefore this is the case also in regard to what is related of the five kings of the Amorites, and of the battle of the sons of Israel with them. For the nations that were driven out of the land of Canaan signified the evil who were to be cast out of the kingdom of the Lord, and the sons of Israel signify those to whom it is granted to possess the kingdom. The land of Canaan signified heaven and the church, and therefore the kingdom of the Lord; hence the five kings of the Amorites signified those who are in falsities of evil, and desire to destroy the truths of the good of the church. It was for this reason, that they were slain by hailstones from heaven, that is to say, they perished and were destroyed by their own falsities of evil; for the evil themselves perish by their own evils and falsities, by means of which they desire to destroy the truths and goods of the church.

[7] Again, in David:

"At the brightness before him his clouds passed, with hailstones and coals of fire. Jehovah thundered in the heavens, and the Most High gave his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. Yea, he sent out his darts and scattered them and many lightnings and discomfited them" (Psalm 18:12-14).

In these passages, hailstones and fire signify the same things as the hail and fire here in the Apocalypse, that is, falsities and evils destroying the truths and goods of the church.

It is said that such things are from Jehovah, because the Divine Truth descending out of heaven is changed into infernal falsities with the evil, as stated above. Out of this change various appearances arise, such as the flowing down of hail and fire; still these things do not proceed out of heaven from the Lord, but from those who are in falsities of evil, who turn the influx of Divine Truth and Good into the falsity of evil. It has also been granted me to perceive those changes, when the Divine Truth has flowed down out of heaven into some hell. During its course it was successively changed into the falsity of evil, according to the quality of that evil in those [who were there]; just as the heat of the sun, when it falls upon dunghills, and the light of the sun, when it falls upon subjects which turn its rays into dismal colours; or as the light and heat of the sun, in putrid marshy lands, produce noxious herbs which nourish serpents, while in good lands they cause trees and grasses to grow, which nourish men and useful beasts. The cause of such effects in putrid lands is not in the light and heat of the sun, but in the nature of the lands themselves, and yet those effects may be ascribed to the fire and heat of the sun. From these things the source from which hail and fire appear in the spiritual world is evident, and also why it is said that Jehovah causes them to be rained down, when nevertheless nothing comes from Jehovah but what is good. When Jehovah, that is the Lord, causes a powerful influx, it is not for the purpose of destroying the evil, but to rescue and protect the good, for by this means he conjoins the good to himself more closely and interiorly, and therefore they are separated from the evil, and the evil perish. For if the evil were not separated, the good would perish, and the angelic heaven would fall to ruin.

[8] Similar things are signified by hail, and by a tempest of hail, in the following passages.

In Isaiah:

"Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, and behold, the Lord, strong and mighty, as a tempest of hail, as a destroying storm" (28:1, 2).

Again:

"The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place" (28:17).

Again:

"And Jehovah shall cause the glory of his voice to be heard, and shall cause his arm to see rest, in the indignation of his anger, and in the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering and inundation, and hailstones" (30:30).

And again:

"It shall hail until the forest come down, and the city humble herself with humility" (32:19).

In Ezekiel:

"And I will plead with" Gog "with pestilence and with blood; and I will cause to rain upon him, an overflowing rain, and hailstones, fire, and brimstone" (38:22).

In the Apocalypse,

"Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of the covenant; and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail" (11:19).

And in another place:

"And great hail, as it were the weight of a talent, came out of heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great" (16:21).

[9] Therefore those who are in falsities are called hailstones in Ezekiel:

"Say unto them that cover over with untempered [mortar], that it shall fall; there shall be an overflowing rain, and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall" (13:11).

Here by them "that cover over with untempered [mortar]," are signified those who confirm falsities in order that they may outwardly appear as truths. They are called hailstones, because they thus destroy truths; and the dispersion of such falsities is signified by the words "there shall be an overflowing rain."

[10] In Job,

"Hast thou entered into the treasuries of the snow? and hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail? which I reserve against the time of battle and of war? Which is the way where the light is spread abroad?" (Job 38:22-24).

Job is being questioned by Jehovah about many things, to see whether he knows them; but these things about which he is questioned signify such things as have reference to heaven and the church. Hast thou entered into the treasuries of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail? signifies, whether he knows whence come the deprivation of truth and the destruction of it by the falsities of evil, which appear in the spiritual world like a fall of snow and hail from heaven. That these appearances are seen when the evil have to be dispersed, is signified by the words, "Which I reserve against the time of battle and of war." It is therefore also said, "Which is the way where the light is spread abroad?" which signifies, by what way is truth insinuated? light denoting truth. Hail signifies the falsity of evil, and a storm of hail, the destruction of truth, because hail in itself is cold, and cannot support the heat of heaven, and cold signifies the deprivation of the good of love; and heat in the angelic heaven, is the good of love. As may be seen in the Heaven and Hell 126-140); also, because stones in the Word, signify truths, and in the opposite sense falsities; and large hail appears to consist as it were of stones cast down from heaven, which destroy the crops and herbs of the field, as well as the smaller animals, just as stones would do; therefore it is also said, hailstones. That stones, in the Word, signify truths, and in the opposite sense falsities, may be seen in the Arcana. Coelestia (n. 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8609, 10376).

152. Who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire. That this signifies Divine providence from His Divine love, and Divine wisdom and intelligence communicated to those who are in love to and thence in faith towards Him is evident from what was said above (n. 68), where it was shown, that eyes like unto a flame of fire, when said of the Lord, signify His Divine providence from His Divine love. The reason why by this are also denoted Divine wisdom and intelligence communicated to those who are in love to and thence in faith towards Him is, that by eyes, in the Word, when said of man, is signified the understanding of truth, and the understanding of truth is intelligence and wisdom; hence by eyes, when said of the Lord, are signified Divine wisdom and intelligence proceeding from Him, and what proceeds from Him is communicated to angels and to men who are in love to, and thence in faith towards Him. All wisdom and intelligence also, pertaining to angels and men, are not of themselves, but of the Lord with them. This is also well known in the church; for it is there known that all the good of love, and all the truth of faith are from God, and nothing of them from man; and truths interiorly seen and acknowledged, constitute intelligence, and being united with goods interiorly perceived, and thence seen, they constitute wisdom. Hence then it is, that by having his eyes like unto a flame of fire, is also signified the Divine wisdom and intelligence of the Lord communicated to those who are in the goods of love, and thence in faith towards Him.

[2] The reason why eyes signify the understanding is, that all the sight of the eyes with men and angels is therefrom. That all the sight of the eyes is from the understanding, seems like a paradox to those who do not know the interior causes of things, from which effects are manifested in the body. Those who are ignorant of those causes believe simply that the eye sees of itself, that the ear hears of itself, that the tongue tastes of itself, and that the body feels of itself, when, nevertheless, the interior life of man, which is the life of his spirit, this being the life of his understanding and will, or of his thought and affection, feels by the organs of the body the things that are in the world, and thus perceives them naturally. The whole body, with all its sensories, is only an instrument of its soul or spirit. This also is the reason why, when the spirit of man is separated from his body, the latter is altogether without sensation, but the former afterwards sensates as before. (That a man's spirit sees, hears and feels, after it is freed from the body, just as it did before in the body, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 461-469. Concerning the correspondence of the understanding with the sight of the eye, see Arcana Coelestia 4403-4421, 4523-4534.) With beasts also, their interior life, which is also called their soul, sensates in a similar manner by means of the external organs of their body, but with this difference, that a beast does not sensate rationally like man, thus does not think from understanding and will, as man does (as may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 108; and in the work, The Last Judgment 25).

[3] This then is why eye in the Word signifies the understanding of truth or intelligence and wisdom, as may be seen from the following passages:

"Say to this people, hear ye in hearing, but understand not; and see ye in seeing, and know not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and smear their eyes, lest they see with their eyes" (Isaiah 6:9, 10; John 12:40).

To smear the eyes lest they see with their eyes, is to darken their understanding lest they should understand.

[4] In the same:

"Jehovah hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes; the prophets and your heads, the seers, hath he covered" (29:10).

Here closing the eyes, covering the prophets, and the heads and the seers hath He covered denotes the [covering] of the understanding of truth. By prophets are meant those who teach truths; these are also called heads, because the head signifies intelligence; and they are also called seers, from the revelation of Divine truth with them.

[5] In the same:

"The eyes of them that see shall not blink, and the ears of them that hear shall harken" (32:3).

The eyes of them that see denote those who understand truths. In the same:

"Who shutteth his eyes lest they may see evil. Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty" (33:15, 17).

To shut the eyes lest they may see evil denotes not to admit evil into the thought; that their eyes should see the king in his beauty denotes that they should understand truth in its own light with pleasantness; for by the king in this passage, is not meant a king, but truth (as may be seen above, n. 31).

[6] In Jeremiah:

"Hear this, O foolish people, who are without heart who have eyes, and see not; who have ears, and hear not " (5:21; Ezekiel 12:2).

In Lamentations:

"The crown of our head hath fallen; for this our heart is become faint, and for this our eyes are dim" (5:17).

By the crown of the head is denoted wisdom (as may be seen above, n. 126); the heart being faint denotes that the will of good is no more. (That the heart denotes the will and love, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 95.) The eyes denote the understanding of truth, and are said to grow dim when truth is no more understood.

[7] In Zechariah:

"The punishment of the shepherd deserting the flock, a sword upon his right eye; and his right eye in darkening shall be darkened" (11:17).

By the sword upon the right eye, and the right eye in darkening shall be darkened, is meant that all truth in the understanding should perish by falsity. (That sword denotes the destruction of truth by falsity, may be seen above, n. 131.)

[8] Again:

"The plague wherewith Jehovah will smite all peoples who shall fight against Jerusalem; their eyes shall consume away in their sockets" (14:12).

The peoples who shall fight against Jerusalem denote those who fight against the church: Jerusalem is the church; that their eye should consume away denotes that all intelligence should perish, because they fight from falsities against truths.

[9] Again, in Zechariah:

"I will smite every horse with astonishment, and every horse of the peoples with blindness" (12:4).

The vastation of the church is there treated of; by horse is signified the Intellectual, wherefore by the horse being smitten with astonishment and blindness is denoted the stupidity and blindness of the understanding. (That horse signifies the Intellectual, may be seen in the small work, The White Horse 1-5.)

[10] In David:

"Hear me, O Jehovah, my God! enlighten mine eyes lest I sleep death" (Psalm 13:3).

Here eyes denote the understanding. In Moses:

"Thou shalt not take a gift, for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise" (Deuteronomy 16:19).

To blind the eyes of the wise denotes to prevent them from seeing or understanding the truth.

[11] In Matthew:

"The lamp of the body is the eye; if thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness" (6:22, 23; Luke 11:34).

By eye in this passage is not meant eye, but the understanding; by a single eye, the understanding of truth; by an evil eye, the understanding of falsity; darkness denotes falsities, the whole body denotes the whole spirit, for this is wholly of such a quality as the will and the understanding therefrom.

If man's spirit has the understanding of truth from the will of good, it is then an angel of light, but if it has only the understanding of falsity, it is a spirit of darkness. In the above passage is described the reformation of man by the understanding of truth; hence it is clear, that he who knows what the eye signifies, may know the arcanum contained in those words. (That man is reformed by means of truths received in the understanding, may be seen above, 112, 126.)

[12] In Matthew:

"If thy right hand offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee; for it is good to enter into life one-eyed, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the gehenna of fire" (5:29; 18:9; Mark 9:47).

By eye in these passages is not meant eye, but the understanding thinking; by the right eye offending, the understanding thinking evil; to pluck it out, and cast it away, denotes not to admit such evil, but to reject it; one-eyed, denotes the understanding not thinking evil, but truth only; for the understanding can think truth: if it thinks evil, it is from the will of evil. The reason why the right eye is mentioned, is, that the right eye signifies the understanding of good, and the left eye the understanding of truth (see Arcana Coelestia 4410, 6923).

[13] In Isaiah:

"In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness" (29:18).

In the same:

"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf" (35:5).

In the same:

Again:

"I will give thee for a light of the nations; to open the eyes of the blind, to lead him that is bound out of the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house" (42:6, 7).

Again:

"Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears" (43:8).

To open the eyes of the blind is to instruct those who as yet are ignorant of truths, but who, yet, desire them; these are signified by the nations. Similar things are signified by the

Lord's healing the blind (Matthew 9:27-29; 20:30 to the end; 21:14; Mark 8:23, 25; Luke 18:35 to the end; John 9:1-21).

For all the miracles of the Lord involve those things that belong to the church and heaven, and therefore they were all Divine (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 7337, 8364, 9031).

[14] Because the eye signified the understanding, it was commanded among the statutes given to the sons of Israel,

That no one of the seed of Aaron who was blind, or had a blemish in the eye, should approach to offer the sacrifice, nor enter within the veil (Leviticus 21:17-23);

That what was blind should not be offered for a sacrifice (Leviticus 22:22; Mal. 1:8):

hence also it was among the curses,

That a fever should consume the eyes (Leviticus 26:16).

From these considerations it may now be known that, by the eyes of the Son of man which were as a flame of fire is signified the Divine wisdom and intelligence communicated to those who are in love and thence in faith towards the Lord.

[15] That His Divine providence is also hereby signified, is evident from what was shown above (n. 68), to which may be added what was said of the cherubim in Ezekiel, and of the four animals about the throne mentioned in the Apocalypse, by which is also signified the Divine providence, and specifically a guard that the Lord should not be approached except by means of good. In Ezekiel:

"I looked, behold four wheels near the cherubim: their whole flesh, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes round about" (10:9, 12).

And in the Apocalypse:

"About the throne were four animals full of eyes, before and behind; each one had wings about him, and they were full of eyes within" (4:6, 8).

These four animals also were cherubim, for the description given of them is almost similar to that of the cherubim in Ezekiel. So many eyes are ascribed to them because the Divine providence of the Lord, which is signified by cherubim, is His government of all things in the heavens and in the earths from Divine wisdom; for the Lord from His Divine providence sees all things, disposes all things, and foresees all things. (That by cherubim is signified the Divine providence of the Lord, and specifically a guard that the Lord should not be approached except by means of good, may be seen, n. 9277, 9509, 9673.)