which had the trumpet," signifies, a command from the Lord out of the spiritual heaven to those who were to explore and make manifest. By a voice, is signified a divine command; by the golden altar, or altar of incense, is signified the spiritual heaven, n. 277, 392; by the four horns of that altar, is signified its power, n. 270; here, the power of loosing the four angels bound at the river Euphrates, as follows; by the sixth angel who had the trumpet, is signified to those to whom the office of exploring and laying open these things, was committed, n. 442. 444. "Loose the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates," signifies, that external restraints should be removed from them, that the interiors of their minds might appear. That this is the signification of these words, no one can know, and scarcely can suspect, unless he knows what is meant by the great river Euphrates, and what by the four angels bound there. By Euphrates, in the Word, are signified the interiors of man's mind, which are called things rational, which, with those who are in truths derived from good, are full of wisdom, but in those who are in falses derived from evil, are full of insanity. The reason why these are signified in the Word by the river Euphrates, is, because that river divided the land of Canaan from Assyria; and by the land of Canaan, was signified the church; and, by Assyria, its rational principle; and thence by the river which bounded it, are signified the interiors of the mind which are called things rational, in both senses: for there are three things which constitute a man of the church, the spiritual principle, the rational or intellectual, and the natural, which is also the scientific. The spiritual principle of the church was signified by the land of Canaan and its rivers; the rational or intellectual principle of the church, by Ashur or Assyria and its river Euphrates; and the natural, which is also the scientific principle of the church, by Egypt and its river Nile: but concerning these more may be seen below, n. 503. By the four angels bound at the river Euphrates, are signified those interiors with the men of the church which are said to be bound, because they are not openly avowed; for they are infernal spirits, who are meant by these four

angels, since it is said of them, in what follows, n. 446, that they were prepared to kill the third part of men, and the interiors of men make one with spirits, either infernal or celestial, because they cohabit: by loosing them, is signified to remove external restraints, that the interiors of their minds may appear. Such is the signification of these words. By Euphrates are signified the interiors of man's mind bordering upon or bounding the spiritual things of his church, as may appear from those places in the Word where Ashur or Assyria is mentioned; but Euphrates occurs, in an opposite sense, in which it signifies the interiors full of falses and thence of insanities, in these passages: "Behold the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria. And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow, and go over," Isaiah viii. 7, 8. "And now

what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do with the way of Assyria, that thou shouldest drink the waters of the river?" Jerem. ii. 18. "And Jehovah shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and shake his hand over the river Euphrates," Isaiah xi. 15. "And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates, and the water thereof was dried up," Apoc. xvi. 12. The prophet was commanded to put a girdle upon his loins, and to hide it afterwards in a hole of a rock beside the Euphrates, and after a short time when he took it, behold it was rotten, nor was it useful for any thing, Jerem. xiii. 1-7, 11. And he was also commanded, When he had done reading the Book, to cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, and to say, thus shall Babylon sink, and not rise again, Jerem. li. 63, 64; by these things were represented the interiors of the state of the church with the children of Israel. That the river of Egypt, the Nile, and the river of Assyria, the Euphrates, were the boundaries of the land of Canaan, appears from this passage: "Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river Euphrates," Gen. xv. 18. That the Euphrates was a boundary, may be seen, Exod. xxiii. 31, Deut. i. 7, 8, xi. 24, Joshua i. 4, Micah vii. 12.

445. "And the four angels were loosed," signifies, that when external restraints were removed, the interiors of their minds appeared. This follows from what was said above.

446. "Who were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, to slay the third part of men," signifies, that they were perpetually in the effort to take away spiritual light and life from men of the church. Being prepared, signifies to be in the endeavor; by an hour, a day, a month, and a year, is signified continually and perpetually, in like manner as by at all times; to slay, signifies to take away spiritual light and life from men of the church, n. 325; and the third part, signifies all, n. 400.

447. "And the number of the armies of horsemen were two myriads of myriads," signifies, reasonings concerning faith alone, with which the interiors of their minds were filled, from the great abundance of mere falses of evil. By armies, are signified goods and truths; and, in the opposite sense, evils and falses; here, the falses of evil, of which below. By horsemen, are signified reasonings concerning faith alone; because by a horse is signified the understanding of the Word, n. 298; and also the understanding of the Word destroyed, n. 305, 312, 321; therefore by horsemen, are signified reasonings from the understanding of the Word destroyed: in the present instance, concerning faith alone; because they who are principled therein, are treated of. By two myriads of myriads, are not meant the precise number, but a great abundance; two are mentioned, because two are predicated of good, and, in the opposite sense, of evil, n. 322; and myriads are predicated of truths, and, in the opposite sense, of falses, n. 336. Hence it may be seen, that by the number of the armies of horsemen, two myriads of myriads, are signified reasonings concerning faith alone, with which the interiors of their minds were filled, from the great abundance of mere falses of evil. That by armies, in the Word, are signified the goods and truths of heaven and the church, and, in the opposite sense, evils and falses, may appear from those places where the sun, moon, and stars, are called armies or hosts; and by the

sun is signified the good of love; by the moon, the truth of faith; and by the stars, knowledges of what is good and true; and the contrary, in the opposite sense, n. 51, 53, 332, 413; both the former and the latter are called armies or hosts, in these passages: "Praise Jehovah all

ye

his hosts, praise ye him sun and moon, praise him all ye stars of light," Psalm cxlviii. 2, 3. "My hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded," Isaiah xlv. 12. "By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth," Psalm xxxiii. 6. The heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them, Gen. ii. 1. The horn of the goat grew even "to the host of heaven, and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host-and an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground: then I heard one saint speaking, How long is the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot," Dan. viii. 10-14. "Jehovah shall utter his voice before his army," Joel ii. 11. On the housetops they offered incense to all the host of heaven, Jerem. xix. 13. Lest thou worship and serve the sun, the moon, the stars, and all the host of heaven, Deut. iv. 19, xvii. 3, Jerem. viii. 2; in like manner in Isaiah xiii. 4, xxxiv. iv. xl. 26, Jerem. xxxiii. 22, Zech. ix. 15, Apoc. xix. 14. Because the host of heaven signifies the goods and truths of heaven and the church, therefore the Lord is called Jehovah Zebaoth, that is, Jehovah of hosts: and, for the same reason, the ministry of the Levites was called military service, Numb. iv. 3, 23, 30, 39; and it was written in David: "Bless Jehovah all ye his hosts, ye ministers of his that do his pleasure," Psalm ciii. 21. Evils and falses in the church are signified in Isaiah, by the army of the Gentiles, xxxiv. 2; and by the army of the king of the north, with which he came against the king of the south," Dan. xi. 13, 15, 20. The king of the north is the false of evil in the church, and the king of the south is the truth of good there. It is said by the Lord, "When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know

that the desolation thereof is nigh," Luke xxi. 20. By Jerusalem is here signified the church, and by armies the evils and falses which would lay it waste; speaking of the consummation of the age, which is the last time of the church. Evils and falses are signified by an army, in Joel: "And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, my great army, which I sent among you," ii. 25. That by the locust and the other things, is signified the false in extreme or lowest principles, see above, n. 424.

448. "And I heard the number of them," signifies, that the quality of them was perceived, which was as follows. To hear, signifies to perceive; number, signifies the quality and state of a thing, n. 10, 348, 364: it denotes the quality of their state, as given below, because it is described in what now follows, wherefore it is said, And thus I saw.

449. "And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them," signifies, that then it was discovered that the reasonings of the interiors of their minds concerning faith alone, were imaginary and visionary, and that they themselves were infatuated with them. To see, signifies to discover their quality; by horses, are signified the reasonings of the interiors of their minds concerning faith alone; in the present case, imaginary and visionary reasonings, because it is said, that he saw them in vision. By those that sit on horses, are signified such as are intelligent from the Word understood, but here, such as are infatuated by imaginary and visionary notions, which are contrary to the Word. Because the interiors of their minds appeared under such forms as signify imaginary and visionary reasonings concerning faith alone, a few of them, which I have heard from their own mouths, shall be made public; thus, for instance: "Was not faith alone, after the grievous fall of man, made the only medium of salvation? How can we appear before God without that medium? Is it not the only medium? Are we not born in sins, and is not our nature entirely corrupted by the transgression of Adam? Can there be any other means of