Spiritual Meaning of
Spiritual Meaning of |
|
Back to Words index | Back to Seven_Churches words index |
12. And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, These things saith He that hath the sharp two-edged sword.
13. I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s throne is; and thou holdest fast My name, and hast not denied My faith, even in those days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth.
14. But I have a few things against thee, that thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat idol-sacrifices, and to commit whoredom.
15. So thou hast, even thou, them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which I hate.
16. Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight with them with the sword of My mouth.
17. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh I will give to eat of the hidden manna; and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it.
To the churches in the Christian world:Ver. 13. "I know thy works," signifies here, as before (AR 109). "And where thou dwellest," signifies their life in darkness (AR 110). "And thou holdest fast My name, and hast not denied My faith," signifies when yet they have religion and worship according to it (AR 111). "Even in those days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth," signifies when all truth was extinguished by falsities in the church (n. 112).
Ver. 14. "But I have a few things against thee," signifies that the things which follow are against them (AR 113). "That thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat idol-sacrifices, and to commit whoredom," signifies that there are some among them who do hypocritical works, by which the worship of God in the church is defiled and adulterated (AR 114).
Ver. 15. "So thou hast, even thou, them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which I hate," signifies that there are some among them also who make works meritorious (AR 115).
Ver. 16. "Repent," signifies that they should take heed of such works (n. 116). "Or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight with them with the sword of My mouth," signifies, if not, that the Lord will contend with them from the Word (AR 117).
Ver. 17. "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches," signifies here, as before (AR 118). "To him that overcometh," signifies here, the same as before (AR 119). "I will give to eat of the hidden manna," signifies the appropriation then of the good of celestial love, and thus conjunction of the Lord with those who work (AR 120) "And I will give him a white stone," signifies truths favoring and united to good (AR 121). "And in the stone a new name written," signifies that thus they will have good of a quality such as they had not before (AR 122). "Which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it," signifies that it does not appear to anyone, because it is inscribed on their life.
THE EXPLANATION
AR 107. Verse 12. And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, signifies to those and concerning those who place the all of the church in good works, and not anything in the truths of doctrine. That these are meant by "the church in Pergamos," is evident from what is written to it, when understood in the spiritual sense. But something must be premised concerning these, that it may be known who they are in the church, and what is their quality. There are two kinds of men of whom the Christian church at this day for the most part consists; one, who are in works alone, and in no truths; the other, who are in worship alone, and neither in works nor in truths; the former are here treated of; the latter in what is written to the church in Sardis (AR 154). They who are in works alone and in no truths, are like those who act and do not understand, and deeds without understanding are inanimate. They appear before the angels like images carved out of wood; and they who have placed merit in their works, appear like those carved images, naked, without any covering whatever, they appear also like sheep without wool; and they who place merit in them, like such sheep covered with dung; for all works are done from the will by the understanding, and in the understanding they receive life, and at the same time clothing; hence it is, as was said, that they appear to the angels as things inanimate and naked.
AR 108. These things saith He that hath the sharp two-edged sword, signifies the Lord as to the truths of doctrine from the Word, by which evils and falsities are dispersed. In the preceding chapter, where the Son of man is described, Who is the Lord as to the Word, it is said that:--
A sharp two-edged sword was seen to go out of His mouth (Apoc. 1:16).
That by this is signified the dispersion of falsities by the Word, and by doctrine thence from the Lord, may be seen in (AR 52). This is said to those and concerning those, who place the all of the church in works alone, and not anything in the truths of doctrine; to whom, because they omit or lightly esteem truths of doctrine which yet are necessary, it is said in what follows:--
Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight with them with the sword of My mouth (Apoc. 2:16).
AR 109. Verse 13. I know thy works; that this signifies that the Lord sees all their interiors and exteriors at once, may be seen in (AR 76), where the same is explained; here that the Lord sees that they are in works alone, and not in doctrinals.
AR 110. And where thou dwellest, where Satan‘s throne is, signifies their life in thick darkness. That by "Satan" is meant the hell of those who are in falsities, may be seen in (AR 97); and to be in falsities, is to be in spiritual thick-darkness. "Spiritual thick darkness," "the shadow of death," and "darkness," are nothing else but the states of those in hell, who are in the falsities of evil; therefore, in the Word, falsities are described by them; from which it may appear, that by "Satan’s throne" is signified mere thick darkness. But by thick darkness here, is not meant that they are in mere falsities, but that they are in no truths of doctrine; for truths of the doctrine, which are from the Word, are in light, therefore not to be in truths, is not to be in light, consequently to be in thick darkness. That truths are in the light of heaven, may be seen in the work concerning Heaven and Hell (HH n. 126-140); and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture (Sacred n. 73, 104-113). The Word in many places treats of those who are in "darkness," in "the shadow of death," and in "thick darkness," whose eyes the Lord will open; and by them are meant the Gentiles, who were in good works, but not in any truths, because they did not know the Lord, nor did they have the Word. Exactly similar to these are they in the Christian world, who are in works alone and in no truths of doctrine, therefore they cannot be called anything else than Gentiles; they know the Lord indeed, but yet do not approach Him, and they have the Word, but yet do not search for the truths therein. By "I know where thou dwellest," is signified to know their quality, because in the spiritual world everyone dwells according to the quality of his affection. Hence it may appear, that by "thou dwellest where Satan‘s throne is," is signified the life of their good in thick darkness. Satanic spirits also have power through those in the spiritual world who are in works alone, but without them they have none; for they adjoin them to themselves, provided one of them says, I am thy neighbor, and on this account good offices ought to be extended to me; on hearing this they approach, and give aid; nor do they inquire who and what he is, because they do not have truths, by which alone one can be distinguished from another. This also is signified by "thou dwellest where Satan’s throne is."
AR 111. And thou holdest fast My name, and hast not denied My faith, signifies when yet they have religion and worship according to it, and also acknowledge the Word to be the Divine truth. That by the "name" of Jehovah, or of the Lord, is meant all by which He is worshiped, thus the all of religion (AR 81); here therefore it signifies that they have religion, and, according to religion, worship. By "faith," here, is not meant that which exists in the church at this day, but the Divine truth, because faith is of truth and truth is of faith; nothing else is meant by "faith" in heaven, nor by the "faith of God" in the Word; hence it is that faith and truth are expressed in the Hebrew language by one and the same word, and are called Amuna. Since then by "the faith of God" is meant the Divine truth, and the Word is Divine truth itself, it is evident that by "thou hast not denied My faith," is meant, that they acknowledge that the Word is the Divine truth.
AR 112. Even in those days wherein Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth, signifies when all truth was extinguished by falsities in the church. By "martyr" is signified confession of the truth, the same as by "a witness" (AR 6, 16), because "martyr" and "witness" are expressed in the Greek language by one expression. "Antipas" is named from the spiritual or angelic language. Since by "Antipas the martyr" is signified a confessor of the truth, and, abstractly, the truth itself, it is evident that, by "in the days wherein Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth," is signified, when truth was extinguished by falsities in the church. That by "Satan" is meant the hell where and from whence falsities are, may be seen in (AR 97).
AR 113. Verse 14. But I have a few things against thee, signifies that the things which follow are against them, as is evident without explanation.
AR 114. Because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat idol-sacrifices, and to commit whoredom, signifies that there are some among them who do hypocritical works, by which the worship of God in the church is defiled and adulterated. That by these things are meant they who do works by which worship is defiled and adulterated, is evident from the historical parts of the Word concerning Balaam and Balak king of Moab. For Balaam was a hypocrite, and a diviner; for he spoke well of the sons of Israel from Jehovah, when yet he cherished in his heart a desire to destroy them, and also he did destroy them by the counsel he gave Balak; from which it was evident that his works were hypocritical. That he was a diviner we read (Num. 22:7; 24:1; Josh. 13:22). That he spoke in favor of the children of Israel, by blessing them (Num. 23:7-15, 18-24; 24:5-9, 16-19). But that he spake these things from Jehovah (Num. 23:5, 12, 16; 24:13). That he cherished in his heart a desire to destroy them, and also did destroy them by the counsel given to Balak (Num. 31:16). The counsel which he gave (Num. 25:1, 9, 18). This was the stumbling block which be cast before the sons of Israel, concerning which it is thus written:--
In Shittim the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab, and they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods; the people did eat and bowed themselves down to their gods, especially they adjoined themselves unto Baalpeor: therefore there were slain of Israel twenty-four thousand (Num. 25:1-3, 9, 18).
By "the sons of Israel" is signified the church; by eating of their sacrifices, is signified the appropriation of what is holy; therefore by eating of the sacrifices of other gods, or idol-sacrifices, is signified the defilement and profanation of what is holy; by "committing whoredom," is signified to adulterate and pervert worship; that by "Moab," and therefore by its king, and its daughters, are also signified they who defile and adulterate worship, see (AC n. 2468). From hence it is evident, that this is the spiritual sense of these words.
AR 115. Verse 15. So thou hast, even thou, them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which I hate, signifies that there are some among them also who make works meritorious. That the "works of the Nicolaitans" are meritorious works, may be seen in (AR 86). Among those who place the all of the church and of salvation in good works, and not anything in truths of doctrine, who are those who are meant by "the church in Pergamos," there are some who do hypocritical works and also meritorious works, but still not all; therefore it is said, "Thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam;" as also, "So thou hast, even thou, them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans;" and all works of worship are either good, or meritorious, or hypocritical, therefore the two latter are here spoken of, and good works afterwards in what follows.
AR 116. Verse 16. Repent, signifies that they should guard themselves against such works, and do works which are good. That these things are signified by "repent," is, because it now treats of meritorious and hypocritical goods, against which they should guard themselves who place the all of the church and of salvation in good works, and not anything in the truths of doctrine; when yet the truths of doctrine teach how and what is to be willed and thought, or loved and believed, that the works may be good.
AR 117. Or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight with them with the sword of my mouth, signifies, if not, that the Lord will contend with them from the Word, and convince them that their works are evil. But the explanation of these words may be seen in (AR 108).
AR 118. Verse 17. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches, signifies that he who understands these things, ought to obey what the Divine truth of the Word teaches those who will be of the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, as appears in (AR 87), where similar words are explained.
AR 119. To him that overcometh, signifies he that fights against his evils and falsities and is reformed, as is also evident from the explanation given in (AR 88).
AR 120. I will give to eat of the hidden manna, signifies wisdom, and at the same time the appropriation of the good of celestial love in works, and thus conjunction of the Lord with those who work. By "the hidden manna," which they will have who are in good works, and who at the same time adjoin the truths of doctrine to works, is meant hidden wisdom of a quality like that which they have who are in the third heaven. For these, because they were in good works, and at the same time in truths of doctrine in the world, are in wisdom above other angels, but in hidden wisdom, for it is written in their life and not so much on their memory; therefore they are of such a nature that they do not talk of the truths of doctrine, but do them, and they do them because they know them, and also see them when others speak them. That the good of love is appropriated to them, and the Lord conjoins Himself with those who adjoin truths of doctrine to good works, and thus gives them wisdom in their good, and that this is "giving to eat of the hidden manna," may appear from these words of the Lord:--
The bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. I am the bread of life: your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that he who eateth thereof may not die. I am the living bread, that came down from heaven; if anyone eat of this bread he shall live forever (John 6:31-51).
From which it is evident, that the Lord Himself is "the hidden manna" which will be in their works, if they approach Him alone. Whether you say "the Lord" or "the good of celestial love," and "the wisdom of that love," it is the same. But this is an arcanum which enters with difficulty into the natural idea of any one, so long as it is veiled over with a cloud from worldly things; but it does enter when the mind is serene and in the sunshine, as may be seen in The Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, from beginning to end.
AR 121. And I will give him a white stone, signifies truths favoring and united to good. "A white stone" signifies this because in judgments votes were collected by stones, and by white stones those which were affirmative; that it is affirmative truths which are signified is, because "white" is predicated of truths (n. 167, 379); hence it is, that by a "white stone" are signified truths favoring good; the reason why they are also united to good, is, because good invites and unites them to itself; for all good loves truth and conjoins to itself such as agrees with itself, especially the good of celestial love; this so unites truths to itself, that they altogether make a one. Hence it is, that they see truths from good alone. These are meant by "those who have the law written in their hearts," of whom it is said in Jeremiah:--
I will put my law in the midst of them, and I will write it on their heart; neither shall they teach any longer everyone his neighbor, and everyone his brother, saying, Know ye Jehovah, for all shall know Me (Jer. 31:33, 34).
Such are all who are in the third heaven. They do not speak of truths from any memory, but clearly see them when they hear others speaking of them, especially when they are reading the Word; the reason is, because they are in the very marriage of good and truth. Such do they become in the world, who have approached the Lord alone, and have done good works, because they are according to the truths of the Word; concerning whom something may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell (HH n. 25, 26, 270, 271).
AR 122. And in the stone a new name written, signifies that thus they will have good of a quality such as they had not before. That "name" signifies the quality of a thing, may be seen in (AR 81), therefore here the quality of good. All the quality of good is from the truths that are united to it; for good without truths is like bread and food without wine and water, which do not nourish; and also like fruit in which there is no juice. It appears also like trees stripped of the leaves, on which there hang a few dry apples left from the autumn. This is also meant by these words of the Lord:--
For everyone shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves (Mark 9:49, 50).
Salt here is the desire of truth.
AR 123. Which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it, signifies that it does not appear to anyone, because it is inscribed on their life. That truths united to good are not inscribed on their memories, but on their lives, may be seen in (AR 121, 122), and what is inscribed on the life alone, and not on the memory, does not appear to anyone, not even to themselves, except from this, that they perceive whether it is true, and what is true, when they hear and read; for the interiors of their mind are open even unto the Lord; and because the Lord is in them, and He sees all things, therefore He causes them to see as from themselves; but yet from their wisdom they know that they do not see truths from themselves, but from the Lord. Hence, it may appear what is meant by all this, "I will give him to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it:" the sum of its signification is, that they will be angels of the third heaven, if they read the Word, draw therefrom truths of doctrine, and approach the Lord.