the Divine truth that flows in from the Lord and is received by angels, and not at all from any self-intelligence of the angels, for this is no intelligence, so the same words signify that no one has any knowledge or perception whatever from himself. That angels in heaven as well as men in the world have a selfhood (proprium), which regarded in itself is nothing but evil (see Heaven and Hell, n. 592), and as evil receives nothing of intelligence and wisdom, it follows that angels as well as men understand nothing at all of truth from themselves, but solely from the Lord. Angels are such for the reason that all angels are from the human race, and every man retains after death what is his own (suum proprium), and angels are withheld from the evils that pertain to what is their own (proprii eorum) and are kept in goods by the Lord.

(That all angels are from the human race, and not one is created such from the beginning, see Last Judgment, n. 14-22; and that they are all withheld from evil, and kept in good by the Lord, see Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n. 166.) [2.] “In heaven," "upon the earth," and "under the earth," signify the three heavens, because the angels that are in the third or highest heaven dwell upon mountains; and those that are in the second or middle, upon hills; and those that are in the first or lowest, in plains and valleys below these. For in the spiritual world, where spirits and angels dwell, it is just as it is in the natural world where men dwell, that is, there are lands, hills, and mountains; and in appearance the resemblance is such that there is no difference at all; therefore men after death scarcely know otherwise than that they are still living on the earth, and when the privilege is granted them to look into our world, they see nothing dissimilar. Moreover, the angels who are in the lowest heaven call that heaven where the angels of the third heaven dwell, because it is high above them, and where they themselves dwell they call earth; and further, the third or highest heaven, which is upon mountains, appears, to those who are below or upon that earth, as the highest region of the atmosphere covered with a thin bright cloud appears to us, thus as the sky appears to us. From this it can be seen what is here meant, specifically, by "in heaven," "upon the earth" and "under the earth." (But more can be seen on this subject in Heaven and Hell, where Appearances in Heaven are treated of, n. 170-176; and The Habitations and Dwelling-places of Angels, n. 183-189.)

[b.] [3.] As men have not known that the face of the earth appears alike in both worlds, the natural and the spiritual, they have not perceived otherwise when they have read the Word than that "heaven" and "earth" there mean the sky visible before our eyes, and the earth inhabited by men; from this arose the belief in the destruction of heaven and earth, and the creation

of a new heaven and a new earth at the day of the last judgment; when yet "heaven" and "earth" there mean the heaven and the earth where spirits and angels dwell, and in the spiritual sense the church with angels and with men (for there is a church with angels as well as with men, as may be seen in Heaven and Hell, n. 221-227). It is said, in the spiritual sense, for an angel is not an angel, nor is a man a man because of the human form, which both have, but because of heaven and the church with them. This is why "heaven" and "earth," where angels and men dwell, signify the church; "heaven" the internal church and the church with angels; and "earth" the external church and the church with men. But since it can scarcely be believed that "earth" in the Word means the church, because it is not yet known that in every particular of the Word there is a spiritual sense, and as a consequence, a material idea adheres and keeps the thought fixed in the nearest meaning of the expression, I wish to illustrate and prove it by some quotations. [4.] In Isaiah: "Behold, Jehovah maketh the earth void, and maketh it empty, and He shall disfigure the faces thereof;.... in emptying the earth shall be emptied, and in spoiling it shall be spoiled...: the habitable earth shall mourn and be confounded;.... the world shall be confounded;....the earth shall be profaned under its inhabitants;.... therefore a curse shall devour the earth,.... and the inhabitants of the earth shall be burnt up, and a man shall be rare. .... A shout over the wine in the streets;.... the gladness of the earth shall be banished; it shall be in the midst of the earth....as the shaking of an olive tree, as the gleanings when the vintage is ended. .... From the uttermost part of the earth we have heard songs, Glory to the righteous. .... The flood-gates from on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth are moved; in breaking the earth is broken, in rending the earth is rent asunder, in moving the earth is moved; in tottering the earth shall totter as a drunkard; and it shall be moved to and fro as a veil ;.... but it shall be in that day that Jehovah will visit upon the host of the height in the height, and upon the kings of the earth who are upon the earth" (xxiv. 1, 3-6, 11, 13, 16, 18-21).

Here it is very clear that "earth" does not mean the earth, but the church. Let the particulars be run over and considered. One who is in spiritual thought does not think, when "earth" is mentioned, of the earth itself, but of the people on it and their quality; still more is this true of those who are in heaven; who, since they are spiritual, perceive that the church is meant. Here the church destroyed is treated of; its destruction in respect to good of love and truth of faith, which constitute it, is described by "Jehovah maketh the earth void and maketh it empty," "in emptying the earth shall be emptied, in spoiling it shall be spoiled;" "it shall

In what here follows, terra is generally translated "earth," but sometimes "land."

mourn and be confounded," "it shall be profaned,” and “a curse shall devour it ;" "the flood-gates from on high are opened, and the foundations of it are moved;" "it is broken," "it is rent asunder," "it is moved," "it shall totter as a drunkard." These things can be said neither of the earth, nor of any nation, but only of the church. [5.] In the same,

"Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh,.... to lay the earth waste; and He shall destroy the sinners out of it. For the stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof do not give their light, the sun hath been darkened in its rising, and the moon maketh not her light to shine. .... I will make a man more rare than pure gold;.... wherefore I will move the heavens, and the earth shall be shaken out of its place" (xiii. 9, 10, 12, 13).

It is clear from the particulars understood in a spiritual sense, that "earth" here means the church. The end of the church is here treated of, when truth and good, or faith and charity, are no more. For "the stars and constellations," that do not give their light, signify knowledges of truth and good; the "sun," that has been darkened in its rising, signifies love; the "moon," that maketh not her light to shine, signifies faith; a "man," made more rare than pure gold, signifies intelligence and wisdom: this makes clear what is signified by "Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh to lay the earth waste. .... I will move the heavens, and the earth shall be shaker out of its place." "The day of Jehovah" is the last end of the church, when there is a judgment; the "earth" is the church. It can be seen that the earth itself is not shaken out of its place, but that the church is removed when love and faith are not. "To be shaken out of its place" signifies to be removed from its former state. [6] In the same,

"Behold, the Lord,....as a deluge of hail, a storm of slaughter, as a deluge of mighty waters, . He shall cast down to the earth with the hand. A consummation and decision I have heard from the Lord Jehovih of Hosts upon the whole earth” (xxviii. 2, 22).

This was said of the day of judgment upon those who are of the church. The day of judgment, when the church is at an end is meant by "a consummation and decision I have heard from the Lord Jehovih of Hosts upon the whole earth;" it is therefore said "as a deluge of hail, a storm of slaughter, as a deluge of mighty waters,.... He shall cast down to the earth with the hand." By "hail" and "deluge of it" falsities that destroy the truths of the church are signified; by "slaughter," and "a storm of it," evils that destroy the goods of the church are signified; by "mighty waters" falsities of evil are signified. (That a "deluge" or "flood" sig

nifies immersion into evils and falsities, and consequent destruction of the church, see A. C., n. 660, 705, 739, 756, 799, 5725, 6853; the same is meant by "casting down to the earth," that is, a violent rain. [7.] In the same,

"The land shall become burning pitch;...from generation to generation it shall lie waste" (xxxiv. 9, 10).

"Burning pitch" signifies every evil springing from love of self, through which the church entirely perishes and is wasted; it is therefore said, "the land shall become burning pitch; .... from generation to generation it shall lie waste." Who does not see that such things are not said of the land itself? [8.] In the same,

"The land mourneth and languisheth; Lebanon is ashamed and hath withered away" (xxxiii. 9).

Here also the "land" means the church, which is said to mourn" and "to languish" when falsities begin to be accepted as truths, and acknowledged in place of truths; it is therefore said, "Lebanon is ashamed and hath withered away;" "Lebanon" signifying the same as "cedar," namely, the truth of the church. [9.] In Jeremiah: "A lion is gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of the nations hath gone forth....from his place to make thy land a waste; thy cities shall be destroyed. .... I looked at the earth, when lo, it is void and empty; and towards the heavens, and lo, they have no light. I beheld the mountains, and lo, they are moved, and as the hills are overturned. .... Jehovah said, The whole earth shall be a For this shall the land mourn, and the heavens above be black" (iv. 7, 23, 24, 27, 28).

waste.

Here also the vastation of the church is treated of, which takes place when there are no longer truth and good, but falsity and evil in place of them. This vastation is described by "a lion going up from his thicket, and a destroyer of the nations going forth from his place;" a "lion" and a "destroyer of the nations” signifying falsity and evil laying waste. The "mountains," that are moved, and the "hills," that are overturned, signify love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbor. This is the signification of "mountains" and "hills," because those who are in love to the Lord dwell upon mountains in heaven, and those who are in charity towards the neighbor, upon hills (see what has been said above, also in Heaven and Hell, n. 188, and the notes there, letter c, first edition). "The heavens where there was no light, and that were to be black" signify the interiors of the men of the church, which, when closed by evils and falsities, do not admit light from heaven, but darkness from hell instead. From all this it can be seen what is signified by “the lion and the destroyer of the nations making the land a waste;" likewise by "I looked at the earth, and lo, it was void and empty;"

also by "the whole earth shall be a waste;.... for this shall the land mourn," namely, that the earth is not meant, but the church. [10.] In the same,

"How long shall the land mourn, and the herb of every field [wither]? for the wickedness of them that dwell therein the beasts shall be consumed, and the birds. .... The whole land is made desolate because no man layeth it to heart. Spoilers are come upon all the bare heights in the desert; for the sword of Jehovah devoureth from one end of the land even to the other. .... They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns" (xii. 4, 11-13).

That the "land" here signifies the church is evident, from its being said that "the land shall mourn, and the herb of every field [wither]," and that "the beasts and the birds shall be consumed for the wickedness of them that dwell therein, and because no man layeth it to heart." "The herb of every field" signifies every truth and good of the church, and the "beasts and birds" signify affections for good and truth: and since the church is signified by the "land," and it is here described as vastated, it is said "spoilers are come upon all the bare heights in the desert; for the sword of Jehovah devoureth from one end of the land even to the other. They have sown wheat, and have reaped thorns." "The bare heights in the desert," upon which the spoilers came, signify the things that are of charity, “desert" meaning where there is no good because no truth; "the sword of Jehovah" signifies falsity destroying truth; "from one end of the land to the other" signifies all things of the church; "to sow wheat and reap thorns" signifies to take from the Word the truths of good and to turn them into falsities of evil, "wheat" meaning truths of good, and "thorns" falsities of evil.

....

[c.] [.] In Isaiah :

"Upon the land of my people shall come up the thorn and briar ;

the palace shall be deserted; the multitude of the city shall be forsaken" (xxxii. 13, 14).

The "thorn and briar" that shall come upon the land, signify falsity and evil; the "palace" that shall be deserted, signifies where good dwells; and the "multitude of the city" that shall be forsaken, signifies where there are truths, for "city" signifies doctrine of truth. [12.] In the same,

"All the land shall be a place of briars and brambles; but as to all the mountains that shall be weeded with the hoe, there shall not come thither the fear of briars and brambles; but there shall be the sending forth of the ox and the treading of the sheep" (vii. 24, 25).

"Briars and brambles" signify falsity and evil; which makes evident what is signified by "all the land shall be a place of briars