This opening verse of the prophecies of Daniel has a resounding similarity to the opening verses of most of the preceding chapters of the book of Daniel. Like them, it places the vision in a context, we are shown the point of our regeneration at which the Lord is directing us: the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon.

In the internal sense, time is an indication of state. This means that the events and prophecies of Daniel do not follow in a strict chronological order, but rather happen on different levels at the same time. While Nebuchadnezzar is king of Babylon, representing selfishness in our inner self, Belshazzar rules our outer self. The work of overcoming selfish motives has to go hand in hand with the removal of that very selfishness in our external—otherwise the exercise is purely intellectual. Daniel’s visions in the last six chapters of the book, indicate the process by which we become aware of the effects of selfishness in our daily lives: when Belshazzar is king.

In spiritual development, we sometimes delude ourselves that change follows effort without delay. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our habits are very powerful—often we are not even aware that we have them. Yet "regeneration" literally means "re-birth," which entails casting out each and every obstacle in the path of our spiritual development. This can only be done by examining the exterior motives in our lives, and getting to the very bottom or root of our behaviors.

Daniel’s vision traces this exploration for us. Each of the four beasts he saw rising up from the sea depict the states of an evil life in us, with the added twist in their relationship to the religious principles a person purports to hold. Each must be examined and rejected. Every detail of the vision, therefore is important.

As with all numbers in the Word, the number "four" has a special meaning vitally important to the exposition. "Four" represents a joining together, and so has the same meaning as the number "two," (Arcana Coelestia 1686, 9103, 9601) which is obvious since "four" is the result of two multiplied into itself.

In a general sense, when the term "four winds" is mentioned in the Word, it means "all things of good and of truth, thus all things of heaven and of the church" (Arcana Coelestia 9642:10) flowing into a person, for "wind" means the influx of life from the Lord (Apocalypse Revealed 343). Thus the Lord breathed life into Adam in the Garden of Eden, and again on His disciples, filling them with the Holy Spirit. In an ideal situation, the presence of the Lord, both in our will and our understanding, in equal measure, indicates a state of regeneration. In that state, we are as "four-square" as the New Jerusalem.

As in so many cases in the book of Daniel, the symbolism needs to be reversed in order to see its full meaning. Daniel is in Babylon, a servant to the king, and thus anything usually relating to the Lord is inverted to relate to the king of Babylon, as selfishness: the opposite of love to the Lord.

The influx then is not goodness and truth, but evil and falsity, specifically love of self and control over others. The "sea" in this vision depicts the great restless tide of selfishness controlling our external being. The book of Daniel is a picture of a person whose conscience is restricted to thoughts and feelings, yet whose behavior, attitudes, and habits still reflect the old states of selfishness (Apocalypse Explained 316). Babylon reigns. In the vision that follows, the states and their effects are revealed.

The vision of the four beasts coming up from the sea tells our story when we cynically misuse truth to live selfishly, until evil completely takes over and would destroy us (Apocalypse Explained 556, Apocalypse Revealed 574). Evil will succeed unless the power of the truth, in our conscience, overcomes evil and allows us to reject it.

The first of these beasts was like a lion with eagle’s wings. Lions are mentioned many times in the Word, and usually describe the power of truth to destroy falsity and evil (Apocalypse Explained 556). But in this vision, describing Babylon, the lion takes on the opposite meaning: the lion represents the power of the love of self (Arcana Coelestia 6367), and the power of falsity to destroy truths.

The eagle's wings, representing human reason, were taken away from the lion, and he was made to stand on his two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to him. A person engrossed in selfishness loses their ability to appreciate religion, and weighted down by their own contrary thoughts, find themselves alienated from the truth.

Next, Daniel saw a bear raised up on one side. This posture indicates our eagerness to misinterpret the Word to suit our own means (Arcana Coelestia 781). This a vision of the human state when self love (Nebuchadnezzar) rules our internal being, and the expression of that selfishness (Belshazzar) controls our daily actions. The bear is the pleasure of justifying evil with our own 'superior' reasoning.

It is easy to be kind, while manipulating other people for our own benefit. It is easy to present oneself as a spiritual being in order to deceive other people. In such a life, charity is a dead form. Thus the bear had three ribs hanging from its mouth.

Daniel never tells who commanded the bear to 'arise, and devour more flesh,' but perhaps the urging comes from deeper states of selfishness which control our external actions. Whatever its origin, these words give voice to the heart of a person misusing the Word for his or her own gain.

A leopard is "a ferocious beast" which loves to "kill harmless animals." Its very appearance, black spots on white, illustrates the effect of falsity on truth (Apocalypse Revealed 57). But the leopard in Daniel also had four wings like a bird. As in the case of the lion which had the wings of an eagle, the wings here also signify our intellect destroying the truth. The four wings on the leopard depict "confirmations of what is false" (Apocalypse Revealed 574).

The leopard not only had four wings, but also four heads. This is a depiction of human degradation when falsity rules. It is a state of spiritual insanity, for when a selfish internal acts with a falsified external, there is nothing to prevent a person engaging in all kinds evil (Arcana Coelestia 1944:3). In this state, the conscience is enslaved, powerless to stop the madness.

The fourth beast, whose appearance is not described, signifies the "destruction of truth and good" (Apocalypse Revealed 574). Once a person reaches this state of degeneration, they stop at nothing to destroy any restraining influences. Falsity is used to destroy truth through denial or twisting it to suit one’s own ends. This process is described as "teeth like iron" devouring and breaking in pieces (see ¹ explanation of Daniel 2 for a description of 'iron')(Apocalypse Revealed 556).

'A horn' is usually a symbol of power, and in the highest sense, the power of truth against falsity. But again, in this story the opposite sense applies, and the power here is of falsity for evil (Apocalypse Explained 316). These ten horns depict the complete power falsity has over the way we act.

The whole sordid description of the four beasts culminates on a little horn. This is the complete perversion of anything good and true drawn from the Word, and so represents the final profanation. If there was no counter-balancing conscience, a person would be irrevocably in hell.

The casting out of the three horns depicts the power of evil and falsity to destroy and remove the truths of the Word (Apocalypse Explained 316). The number "three" represents fullness or completeness, and thus the power of evil when brought into action to destroy all truths. Hence, the old saying 'when you break one of the Commandments, you break them all,' takes on a more powerful meaning.

The next image shifts: we see the thrones "cast down" signifying the falsities (Arcana Coelestia 8215) from the beasts, judged by the truths of the Word forming our conscience. All judgment begins with truth, for truth provides the balances upon which our lives are measured.

In the image of God’s throne, symbolizing judgment, it is important to remember that His judgment is always a product of love and mercy. But the Lord’s love should not be confused with license: just because He loves the human race, individually and collectively, this does not mean evil is permissible. Evil interferes with a person’s reception of the Lord, putting barriers between Him and ourselves. For the most part, the Lord permits evils, but does not will them, because they are useful reminding us to turn away from them (Divine Providence 275, 278). Yet there are times when human beings overstep the mark.

The judgment in this chapter must be seen in its context, which is in the reign of Belshazzar. It is the story of both the beasts and the fact that Belshazzar was weighed in the balances, found wanting, and killed by Darius. That in essence is a judgment on the external’s of our lives, on our behavior. and attitudes which have their origin in the Nebuchadnezzar states of our inner being.

Here, however, we see the origin of truth as "the Ancient of Days," sitting on the throne of judgment, heralding the destruction of one state and the beginning of another (Apocalypse Revealed 574). The "Ancient of Days" is an image of the love of the Lord (Arcana Coelestia 9470), and in a sense is the Divine counterpart to the love we are led to by means of truth. The object of all truth is to lead one to a love of God, and a love of the neighbor, and a life expressive of both. Our love for God is a reflection of His love for us.

In the Word, a garment corresponds to truth one knows and which forms a part of a person’s mind. Thus the garment of the Ancient of Days represents the truth veiling over the Divine Good. This truth is truth in our minds, in our conscious minds (Arcana Coelestia 9470, Apocalypse Explained 67). These garments were as white as snow to show us the quality of the intelligence and wisdom we can have from the Lord (Apocalypse Explained 195:18).

'Hair' means the most external parts of our lives—the natural thoughts and feelings we have which prompt us into action, all perfectly conscious. While we are in this world, this very external part of us seems to be vitally important, but in fact it is only driven by the inner things. If these are from the Lord, then our external will also appear as virgin wool.

The fire of the throne is the appearance of the Lord's love. The wheels represents the wisdom and intelligence we have from the Lord, which are full of love and so are described as "burning."

All judgment is done by the Lord. The Lord’s birth in Bethlehem was the beginning of a last judgment on the ancient churches, and that judgment from love by means of wisdom, came about through the life and death of Jesus Christ, the Divine Human of the Lord.

In Daniel’s vision, there is a similar relationship between the Ancient of Days, seated on His throne, and the Son of Man to whom was given all power. The Ancient of Days represents the Lord, and in that vision we saw the unity of the Divine love and Divine wisdom in the fiery throne upon which He sat.

Once the presence of the Lord has been established in us by the overthrow of evil and falsity, we will continue to develop in goodness and truth. This spiritual growth is described in the words that 'the Son of Man was given an everlasting dominion,' a theme repeated in verses 18 and 27. The kingdom of the Son of Man extended over "all peoples, nations and tongues," representing the different states of the human mind which will be made subject to truth from the Word. "Peoples" are the truths of doctrine—in this case, the false ideas which affect our behavior to be judged against the truth introduced into our minds by the conscience. "Nations" mean the evils of life, overthrown in the process of judgment (Apocalypse Revealed 483, Apocalypse Explained 175, 455). Thus in the process of judgment, both our habitual thoughts and feelings will be confronted by truth, and replaced by feelings drawn from the goodness and truth of the Lord. Finally, "tongues" signify the actions drawn from evil feelings and false thoughts—these too will be brought down in our personal "last judgment."

The "time, times, and half a time" are the states of temptation and combat we need to go through in order to regenerate. Yet each minute of that combat is a temptation, and temptation only takes place within the framework or regeneration. Thus a person being tempted, who resists the evil, sits in judgment on that evil, and from the power of the Lord will eventually prevail over it.

These final verses are a vision of things yet to come. This is before our entrance into the Lord’s kingdom, before the power of falsity is broken. We still have growing to do. There are still states we need to face and overcome. Even with this marvelous promise of ultimate victory, Daniel found that his thoughts still troubled him.

Imibhalo yaphansi:

186. More on regeneration. We are regenerated by means of the truths that belong to religious faith and through living by them: 1904, 2046, 9088, 9959, 10028. This is the meaning of the Lord's words "Unless you have been born of water and the spirit you cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5); "water" means the truth that belongs to religious faith and "the spirit" means a life in accord with that truth: 10240. Water in the Word means the truth that belongs to religious faith: 2702, 3058, 5668, 8568, 10238. Spiritual purification, which is purification from evil and falsity, is effected by means of the truths that belong to religious faith: 2799, 5954, 7044, 7918, 9088, 10229, 10237. When we are being regenerated, truths are sown and rooted in doing good so that they become part of our life: 880, 2189, 2675, 2697. What truths must be like before they can be rooted in doing good: 8725. In the process of regeneration, truth is introduced and joined to doing good, and likewise doing good is introduced and joined to truth: 5365, 8516. How that mutual introduction and joining takes place: 3155, 10067. Truth becomes rooted in doing good when we come to will it, because it then becomes something that we love: 10367.

[2] There are two states we go through when we are being regenerated: the first is when we are being led to do what is good by means of truth, and the second is when we act on the basis of what is good and see what is true from what is good: 7992, 7993, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8512, 8516, 8643, 8648, 8658, 8685, 8690, 8701, 8772, 9227, 9230, 9274, 9509, 10057, 10060, 10076. What our state is like when truth is in first place for us and goodness is second: 3610. We can see from this that when we are being regenerated we look toward goodness from the perspective of truth, but when we have been regenerated, we look toward truth from the perspective of goodness: 6247. So there is a kind of reversal in which our state is turned upside down: 6507.

[3] It is important to know, though, how things really stand: while we are being regenerated, truth is only apparently but not actually in first place and goodness in second place; but when we have been regenerated goodness is actually and observably in first place and truth in second place: 3324, 3325, 3330, 3336, 3494, 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603, 3701, 4243, 4244, 4247, 4337, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930, 4977, 5351, 6256, 6269, 6273, 8516, 10110. This means that goodness comes both first and last in our regeneration: 9337. Because truth seems to come first and goodness seems to come second when we are being regenerated (or when we are becoming a form of the church, which amounts to the same thing), this appearance led to a difference of opinion among the ancients as to which was the firstborn of the church, the truth that belongs to religious faith or the good actions that come from caring: 367, 2435. The good actions that come from caring are the firstborn of the church in actual fact, while the truth that belongs to religious faith is only apparently so: 3325, 3494, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930, 8042, 8080. "Firstborn" in the Word means what comes first in the church and has preference and higher rank: 3325. That is why the Lord is called "the firstborn"-because all the good that comes from love and caring and faith exists within him and originates from him: 3325.

[4] Once we are in the later state (looking at truth from the perspective of goodness) we should not turn back to the earlier state (looking at goodness from the perspective of truth), and why that is the case: 2454, 3650-3655, 5895, 5897, 7857, 7923, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8512, 8516, 9274, 10184 (which include discussion of the Lord's words "Those who are in the field then ¹ should not go back to get their outer garments" [Matthew 24:18] and "Those who are in the field then should not turn back. Remember Lot's wife" [Luke 17:31-32], showing that this is what those sayings mean).

[5] A description of the way the process of our regeneration unfolds: 1555, 2343, 2490, 2657, 2979, 3057, 3286, 3310, 3316, 3332, 3470, 3701, 4353, 5122, 5126, 5270, 5280, 5342, 6717, 8772, 8773, 9043, 9103, 10021, 10057, 10367. There are countless mysteries concerning regeneration, because regeneration goes on throughout our entire lifetime: 2679, 3179, 3665, 3690, 3701, 4377, 4551, 4552, 5122, 5126, 5398, 6751, 9103, 9258, 9296, 9297, 9334. Hardly any of these mysteries come into our knowledge or perception: 3179, 9336. This is what is meant by these words of the Lord: "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it is coming from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit" (John 3:8). Information about the process of regeneration of those who are part of the spiritual church: 2675, 2678, 2679, 2682. Information about the process of regeneration of those who are part of the heavenly church, and the differences between the two: 5113, 10124.

[6] It is much the same for someone who is being regenerated as it is for a baby who first learns to talk, then to think, later to live rightly, until finally everything flows freely, seemingly on its own: 3203, 3701. So someone who is being regenerated is led by the Lord through stages: the first is like infancy, the next is like childhood, and the one after that is like adulthood: 3665, 3690, 4377, 4378, 4379, 6751. When we are being regenerated by the Lord, at first we are in a state of outward innocence, which is a state like infancy for us. Then step by step we are led through to a state of inward innocence, which is a state of wisdom for us: 9334, 9335, 10021, 10210. The nature and characteristics of the innocence of infancy and the nature and characteristics of the innocence of wisdom: 1616, 2305, 2306, 3494, 4563, 4797, 5608, 9301, 10021. A comparison between our regeneration and the conception and formation of an embryo in the womb: 3570, 4931, 9258. Because of this parallel, references to conception and birth in the Word mean spiritual conception and birth-that is, stages in our regeneration: 613, 1145, 1255, 2020, 2584, 3860, 3868, 4070, 4668, 6239, 10204. Our regeneration is illustrated by the process of germination in the plant kingdom: 5115, 5116. In the spiritual world the stage of our regeneration is represented as a rainbow: 1042, 1043, 1053.

[7] Both the inner or spiritual self and the outer or earthly self need to be regenerated, and the one is regenerated by means of the other: 3868, 3870, 3872, 3876, 3877, 3882. The inner self is regenerated before the outer because the inner is in heaven's light and the outer is in this world's light: 3321, 3325, 3469, 3493, 4353, 8748, 9325. The outer or earthly self is regenerated by means of the inner or spiritual self: 3286, 3288, 3321. We are not regenerated until our outer or earthly self has been regenerated: 8742-8747, 9043, 9046, 9061, 9325, 9334. If our earthly self is not being regenerated, our spiritual self is closed off (6299) and is in effect blind to the truths and the good actions that are related to faith and love (3493, 3969, 4353, 4588). When the earthly self has been regenerated the whole person has been regenerated: 7442, 7443. This is the meaning of the washing of the disciples' feet and by these words of the Lord: "Those who have bathed need only to have their feet washed to be completely clean" (John 13:10): 10243. Washing in the Word means spiritual washing, which is purification from evils and falsities (3147, 10237, 10241), and feet mean the attributes of our earthly self (2162, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952), so "washing our feet" means purifying our earthly self (3147, 10241).

[8] How the earthly self is regenerated: 3502, 3508, 3509, 3518, 3573, 3576, 3579, 3616, 3762, 3786, 5373, 5647, 5650, 5651, 5660. The nature of the earthly self when it has been regenerated and its nature when it has not been regenerated: 8744, 8745. The less our earthly self fights with our spiritual self, the more regenerated we are: 3286. When we have been regenerated, our earthly self perceives the spiritual things that are flowing in: 5651.

[9] Our sensory level, which is the lowest level of our earthly self, is not regenerated nowadays, but instead we are raised above it: 7442. When we are being regenerated we are actually lifted up from the sensory level into the light of heaven: 6183, 6454. The nature and characteristics of sense-oriented people may be seen in the references assembled in §50 above.

[10] We are regenerated by means of an inflow into whatever knowledge we have about goodness and truth: 4096, 4097, 4364. When we are being regenerated we are led by means of intermediate forms of goodness and truth into genuine forms of them, after which the intermediate forms are left behind and the genuine ones take their place: 3665, 3690, 3686, 3974, 4063, 4067, 4145. This then brings our truths and our desires to do good into a completely different arrangement: 4250, 4251, 9931, 10303. They are arranged according to our goals (4104); therefore they are arranged according to the use to which we wish to put our spiritual life (9297). When we are being regenerated we undergo many different states, but are steadily being led deeper into heaven and therefore closer to the Lord: 6645. Those who have been regenerated are patterned after heaven: 8512. Their inner reaches are opened into heaven: 8512, 8513. Through regeneration we come into angelic intelligence, but this lies hidden in our deeper levels as long as we are living in this world. It is opened up in the other life, however, and then we have the same kind of wisdom as angels have: 2494, 8747. The state of enlightenment that is given to those who are being regenerated: 2699, 2701, 2704. Through regeneration we are given a new faculty of understanding: 2657. How goodness becomes more fruitful and truth multiplies in people who are being regenerated: 984. When goodness takes charge in those who have been regenerated, the truths that come forth around it form little stars, so to speak, and each of these generates more starlike truths around itself, without end: 5912. In a person who has been regenerated, the truths that come from goodness are arranged in a pattern so that the genuine truths connected with that goodness are in the center; these are like parents to the next group of truths; and still other truths are placed farther away according to the degree of kinship or family ties, extending all the way to the outermost areas, where it is dark: 3128, 4551, 4552, 5134, 5270. In people who have been regenerated, truths that come from goodness are arranged in the form of heaven: 3316, 3470, 3584, 4302, 5704, 5709, 6028, 6690, 9931, 10303. In the book Heaven and Hell, see also the chapters "Heaven's Form, Which Determines How People Associate and Communicate There" (§§200-212) and "The Wisdom of Heaven's Angels" (§§265-275).

[11] In people who have been regenerated there is a correspondence between the spiritual and the earthly contents of their minds: 2850. In people who have been regenerated the whole hierarchy of their lives has been completely inverted: 3332, 5159, 8995. In their spirits, those who have been regenerated are completely new people: 3212. Those who have been through regeneration may seem outwardly like those who have not, but they are not like them inwardly: 5159. Regeneration is the only way we can gain spiritual goodness-which is intending and doing good because we are moved by a love for goodness: 4538. Whatever emotion instilled a given truth in us before has the power to evoke that truth again: 5893. The more our truths are disconnected from their origin in our self-focused life, the more they can be joined to goodness and receive spiritual life: 3607, 3610. Our truths have life to the extent that the evils stemming from our love for ourselves and for the world are put aside: 3610.

[12] When we are being regenerated, the first desire we feel for truth is not pure, but over time that desire is gradually purified: 3089, 8413. When we are being regenerated, the evil and false things in us are put aside slowly, not quickly: 9334, 9335. The evil and false things that have become part of us still continue to exist and are only put aside by our regeneration: 865, 868, 887, 929, 1581, 2406, 4564, 8206, 8393, 9014, 9333-9336, 9445, 9447, 9448, 9451-9454, 9938, 10057. There is no way we can be so completely regenerated that we are declared perfect: 894, 5122, 6648. Evil spirits do not dare attack someone who has been regenerated: 1695. People in the church who believe in justification know very little about regeneration: 5398.

[13] We need freedom in order to be regenerated: 1937, 1947, 2876, 2881, 3145, 3146, 3158, 4031, 8700. Through regeneration we are brought into heavenly freedom: 2874, 2875, 2882, 2892. No joining of goodness and truth takes place under coercion, so no regeneration does either: 2875, 2881, 4031, 8700. For more on our freedom in regard to regeneration, see the teachings given in the chapter on freedom above [§§141-149].

[14] When we are being regenerated, we must of necessity undergo spiritual crises (3696, 8403) because such crises happen for the sake of joining goodness and truth together in us and also joining our inner and outer selves together (4248, 4572, 5773).

Imibhalo yaphansi: