Spiritual Meaning of REVELATION 6:12
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AR 330. Verse 12. And I saw when He had opened the sixth seal, signifies exploration by the Lord of their state of life, who were interiorly evil, and on whom the Last Judgment was to be executed. That these are treated of is evident from what now follows; but that they may be understood, two arcana are to be revealed: First, that the Last Judgment was executed only on such as appeared in their external form as Christians, and orally professed the things of the church, but in their internal form, or in heart, they were against them; and because they were such, they were therefore in conjunction with the ultimate heaven as to their exteriors, but with hell as to their interiors. Secondly, that as long as they were in conjunction with the ultimate heaven, so long the internals of their will and their love were closed, for which reason they did not appear evil before others; but when they were separated from the ultimate heaven, then their interiors were disclosed, and found to be totally in opposition to their exteriors, from which they dissembled and feigned that they were angels of heaven, and that the places they inhabited were heavens. These heavens, so called, were those which passed away at the time of the Last Judgment (Apocalypse 21:1). But more on this subject may be seen in the small work on The Last Judgment (LJ n. 70, 71); and in The Continuation of the Last Judgment (CLJ n. 10).

AR 331. And, behold, there was a great earthquake, signifies the state of the church with these altogether changed, and terror. "Earthquakes" signify changes of state in the church, because "the earth" signifies the church (n. 285); and because in the spiritual world, when the state of the church is perverted anywhere, and there is a change, there is an earthquake, and as this is a prelude to their destruction, they are in terror. For the earths in the spiritual world are in appearance like the earths in the natural world (n. 260); but as the earths there, like all other things in that world, are from a spiritual origin, therefore changes occur according to the state of the church among the inhabitants, and when the state of the church is perverted, they quake and tremble, yea, sink down and are moved out of their place. That this was the case, when the Last Judgment was at hand and accomplished, may be seen in the small work on The Last Judgment. Hence it may appear what is meant by "earthquakes," "shakings," and "commotions" of the earth, in the following passages:--

This is said of the Last Judgment:--

But these things are to be understood as being done in the spiritual world, but not in the natural world; in this respect they signify such things as are explained above.

AR 332. And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, signifies the adulteration of all the good of love in them, and the falsification of all the truth of faith. That "the sun" signifies the Lord as to Divine love, and thence the good of love from Him; and in the opposite sense, the denial of the Lord’s Divinity, and thence the adulteration of the good of love, may be seen in (n. 53). And as "the sun" signifies the good of love, "the moon" therefore signifies the truth of faith; for the sun is red from fire, and the moon is white from the light of the sun; and fire signifies the good of love, and light, the truth from that good. Concerning the moon, see also the passages adduced in (n. 53). It is said, "the sun became black as sackcloth of hair," because adulterated good in itself is evil, and evil is black; and the reason why it is said "the moon became as blood," is, because "blood" signifies the Divine truth, and in the opposite sense, the Divine truth falsified, as may be seen below (n. 379, 684). Nearly the same is said of the sun and moon in Joel:--

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

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