that a new heaven is formed, for he was expelled from it, verse 8,9; he knows also that there is about to be a New Church upon earth, from what is foretold in the Apocalypse, chap. xxi.; and he knows, likewise, that he and his like are then to be cast into hell, from what is also foretold, Apoc. xx. 1, 2, 10. 560. "And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman who brought forth the man child," signifies, that the dragonists in the world of spirits, immediately upon their being thrust down, began to infest the New Church on account of its doctrine. When the dragon saw that he was cast upon the earth, signifies that when the dragonists saw that they were sep arated from heaven, and in conjunction with men upon earth, n. 552, 558; he persecuted the woman, signifies that they immediately began to infest the Lord's church; that the woman whom he persecuted is that church, may be seen, n. 533; who brought forth a son, signifies on account of its doctrine; that the son, which the woman brought forth, is the doctrine of the New Church, see n. 535, 542, 543, 545. 561. "And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place," signifies, the divine circumspection over that church, and its protection, while as yet confined to a few. By the woman, is signified the New Church, n. 533; by wings, are signified power and protection, n. 245; by an eagle is signified intellectual sight, and consequent thought, n. 245; by flying, is signified seeing and circumspection, n. 245; by a wilderness, is signified the church desolated, and thus among a few, n. 546; by her place, is signified its state there; from which it follows, that by there being given to the woman two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, is signified the divine circumspection over the New Church, and its protection, while as yet confined to a few. 562. "Where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent," signifies, that by reason of the craftiness of seducers, provision is made with circumspection that its numbers may increase until it comes to maturity. By being nourished, when said of the New Church, is signified to provide for its increase, as above, n. 547; by a time, and times, and half a time, is signified to the end and beginning, thus during its increase from a few to many, until it reaches its appointed station, as above, n. 547; by the face of the serpent, is signified the subtle arts of seducers; by the face, subtle artfulness; and by the serpent, seducers. That by the serpent are signified seducers, is plain from the following passage in this chapter: "The great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, which seduceth the whole globe of earth," verse 9. And again: "He laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, and cast him into the bottomless pit, that he should seduce the nations no more," Apoc. xx. 2, 3. The like is here meant as by the serpent who seduced Eve and Adam, of whom it is written: "And the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field; and the woman said to Jehovah, The serpent seduced me," Gen. iii. 1, 13. By face, in the Word, is signified that which is interior in man, because his face is the type of his mind formed to the correspondence; therefore, by the face of the serpent, is signified, anger, hatred, and subtlety. By a time, and times, and half a time, is signified the same here, as by a thousand two hundred and sixty days, verse 6, where it is said: " And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her a thousand two hundred and sixty days," which may be seen explained above, n. 547. The same is also signified by three days and a half, Apoc. xi. 9, 10: also by the three years and six months of famine, Luke iv. 25: and in Daniel, by a stated time of stated times and a half, and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, Dan. xii. 7. 563. "And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood," signifies, ratiocinations from falses in abundance, with a view to destroy the church. By the serpent, is here signified, as above, the dragon which seduces; by the woman, the New Church, n. 533; by water, are signified truths, and, in an opposite sense, falses, n. 50, 409; by a flood, are signified truths in abundance, and, in an opposite sense, falses in abundance, n. 409; out of the mouth of the serpent, signifies ratiocinations; therefore by casting out water as a flood, are signified ratiocinations from falses in abundance. The ratiocinations of those, who are meant by the dragon, are all grounded in fallacies and appearances, which, if confirmed, appear outwardly like truths, but within they conceal falses in abundance. This I can declare, that those in the church, who hereafter confirm themselves in' faith alone, cannot recede from it, except by serious repentance, because they conjoin themselves with the dragonists, who now are in the world of spirits, giving rise to much tumult, where, out of hatred to the New Church, they infest all whom they meet; and as they are in conjunction with men on earth, as observed above, they will not suffer those who have once been caught by their reasonings, to disengage themselves, for they keep them bound in chains, as it were, and then blind their eyes so that they can no longer see any one truth in its light. 564. "And the earth helped the woman; and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth," signifies, that those ratiocinations, in all their abundance, fall to nothing before the spiritual truths rationally understood, which the Michaels, of whom the New Church consists, can bring forward. By the earth, which helped the woman, is signified the church as to doctrine, n. 285; and because the ratiocinations from falses, which the dragonists produce, are treated of, they are truths from the Word, by which the earth, that is, the church, helps the woman; by opening her mouth, is signified to adduce those truths; by the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth, are signified ratiocinations from falses in abundance, n. 563; by carrying away, is signified to make them come to nothing; by the Michaels, are meant the men of the New Church; by Michael, such as are wise therein; and by his angels, the rest of them. Since in the New Church this tenet is rejected, that the understanding is to be kept in subjection to faith, and in the place of it, it is a received maxim, that the truth of the church should be seen, in order that it may be believed, n. 224; and since truth cannot be seen otherwise than rationally, therefore it is said, from truths rationally understood. How can any man be led by the Lord, and conjoined with heaven, who shuts up his understanding against such things as relate to salvation and eternal life? Is it not the understanding which requires to be illuminated and instructed? And what is the understanding closed by religion, but thick darkness, and such darkness too as rejects from itself the light that would illuminate? Again, who can acknowledge truth and retain it, unless he sees it? What is truth not seen but a voice not understood, which, by sensual-corporeal men, is usually retained in the memory, but not so by the wise? The wise, indeed, cast off empty or unmeaning words from the memory, that is, such as have not entered into their minds by being understood; as that one God consists of three persons, also that the Lord, born from eternity, is not one and the same with the Lord born in time, that is, that one Lord is God and not the other; and again, that a life of charity, which consists in good works, and likewise in repenting of evil works, contributes nothing to salvation; a wise man does not understand such things; therefore from his rationality he says, Is religion then of no consequence? Does not religion consist in shunning evil and doing good? Should not the doctrine of the church teach this, as well as a man ought to believe, that he may do the good things of religion from God? 565. "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ," signifies, the burning hatred of those who think themselves wise from their confirmations of the mystical union of the Divinity and Humanity in the Lord, and of justification by faith alone, against those who acknowledge the Lord alone to be the God of heaven and earth, and that the decalogue is the law of life; and their attempts on novitiates with intent to seduce them. All this is contained in those few words, because it follows in a series from what went before, where it is said, that the earth helped the woman, and opened her mouth, and carried away the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth, by which is signified that their reasonings from falses came to nothing, n. 564; consequently that their endeavors to destroy the New Church were vain; therefore by the dragon being wroth with the woman, is signified that he burned with hatred and breathed revenge against the church; by the dragon's wrath is signified hatred, n. 558; by making war, is signified to assault and impugn by ratiocinations grounded in falses, n. 500; by the remnant of her seed which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ, are meant novitiates, who receive the doctrine concerning the Lord and the decalogue; what the testimony of Jesus Christ is, may be seen above, n. 6, 490. The reason why by the dragon are here meant those who think themselves wise from confirmations of the mystical union of the Lord's Divinity and Humanity, is, because these are proud of their own wisdom, and skilled in reasoning; and from pride proceeds hatred, and from hatred proceed revenge and wrath against those who are not of the same opinion. By the mystical union, which is also called the hypostatic union, are meant their fictions concerning the influx and operation of the Divinity upon the Lord's Humanity as upon another; not knowing that God and Man, or Divinity and Humanity in the Lord, are not two but one person, united like soul and body, according to the doctrine received throughout the whole Christian world, which has its name from Athanasius; but to adduce their notions respecting this mystical union would be an idle thing, because they are absurd. That by the seed of the woman, are here meant those who are of the New Church, and are principled in the truths of its doctrine, may appear from the signification of seed, in the following passages: "Their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people, all that see shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which Jehovah hath blessed," Isaiah |