1. THE LAST JUDGMENT AND BABYLON DESTROYED

The Last Judgment and Babylon Destroyed, Showing That at This Day All the Predictions of the Book of Revelation Have Been Fulfilled, Drawn from Things Heard and Seen

“Judgment Day” Does Not Mean the End of the World

1. If people have no knowledge of the Word’s spiritual meaning, ¹ they cannot help but understand the Last Judgment to mean the end of everything visible to the eye in this world, since it says that at that time both heaven ² and earth will pass away and that God will create a new heaven and a new earth. ³ They find further support for this interpretation in the fact that it says all people will then rise from their graves and that the good will then be separated from the evil, and so on [Matthew 25:31-46; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; Revelation 20:11-15].

That, however, is what a literal reading of the Word says, because the literal meaning of the Word is earthly ⁴ and resides on the lowest level of the divine design ⁵ (though even there absolutely everything contains some spiritual meaning). As a result, people who understand the Word only in its literal meaning can be led to various conclusions, as has indeed happened throughout the Christian world ⁶ -resulting in any number of heresies, for each of which people find biblical support.

[2] Still, since no one has as yet realized that there is spiritual meaning throughout the Word and in every detail, or has even realized what spiritual meaning is, people who have held this opinion of the Last Judgment are to be forgiven. However, let them now know that the heavens we see above us are not going to pass away, and neither is this earth that we are living on. No, both of them are going to survive. And let them now know that the “new heaven” and “new earth” mean a new church ⁷ both in heaven and on earth. I speak of a new church in heaven since there is a church there just as there is on earth, because the Word and sermons exist in heaven as on earth and angels have a divine worship that is similar to ours. The difference, though, is that everything there is in a more perfected state because it exists in a spiritual world ⁸ rather than an earthly one. So all the people there are spiritual people and not earthly, the way they were in this world. On this subject, see my book about heaven, ⁹ especially where it discusses our union ¹⁰ with heaven through the Word (Heaven and Hell 303-310) and deals with divine worship in heaven (Heaven and Hell 221-227).

Footnotes:

9. In the Word there is a spiritual sense which is called its internal sense.

No one can know what is the spiritual or internal sense of the Word unless he knows what correspondence is: 2895, 4322. Every single thing which is in the natural world, right down to the very least thing, corresponds to something spiritual, and so signifies it: 1886-1889, 2987-3003, 3213-3227. Spiritual things, to which the natural things correspond, appear in nature under another guise, with the result that they are not recognized: 1887, 2395, 8920. Hardly anyone knows where divine quality is in the Word, though it is there in its internal or spiritual sense, the existence of which is not known today: 2899, 4989.

What lies hidden in the Word is nothing other than what its internal or spiritual sense contains, in which the Lord, the glorification of His human form, His kingdom, and His Church are dealt with, and not natural things, which are of the world: 4923. In very many places the prophetical elements are not understood, and so are of no benefit, without the internal sensefrom examples in 2608, 8020, 8398 just as what is signified by the White Horse in the Book of Revelation, from 2760. What is meant by the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven given to Peter: Preface to Genesis 22 and 9410. What is meant by flesh, blood, bread, and wine in the Holy Supper: 8682. What is meant by the prophecies of Jacob concerning his sons: Genesis 49 and 6306, 6333-6465. What is meant by many other prophecies about Judah and Israel which do not match with [aspects of] that nation, and do not coincide with one another in their literal sense: 6333, 6361, 6415, 6438, 6444. In addition there are very many others: 2608. Further, what is said about correspondence may be seen in the work Heaven and Hell, 87-115, 303-310.

Concerning the internal or spiritual sense of the Word in general: 1767-1777, 1869-1879. There is an internal sense in every single part of the Word: 1143, 1984, 2135, 2333, 2395, 2495, 2619. These ideas do not appear in the literal sense but still they are in it: 4442.

6333. THE INTERNAL SENSE

The statements made in this chapter by Jacob show plainly that the Word has a meaning in it which is different from that seen in the letter. For in verse 1 Jacob, who by now is Israel, says that he will tell what will happen to his sons at the end of days; yet nothing of what he tells and foretells in fact happened to them. He says for example that the descendants of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, who are the subject in verses 3-7, will be cursed more than the rest, and that Simeon and Levi will be divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel. Yet the opposite happened to Levi - he was blessed, for the priesthood was invested in him.

[2] Nor did what is said about Judah happen to that tribe, apart from the fact [implied in verse 10] that the representative of the Church remained longer with it than with the rest. And in addition to that, things are stated about it, the nature of which no one can know except from the different meaning concealed inwardly, such as the statements in verses 9, 11-12, that he crouched and lay down like a lion; bound his young ass to the vine, the foal of his she-ass to an outstanding vine; washed his clothing in wine, his garment in the blood of grapes; or the statement that his eyes were red from wine, and his teeth white from milk. All these statements are of such a nature that anyone may see that they hold something which is well known in heaven but cannot become plain to man except from heaven.

[3] The same applies to what Israel said about the rest of his sons, for example, regarding Zebulun, that he will dwell at the haven of the seas and of ships, with his side towards Sidon; regarding Issachar, that being a bony ass lying down between burdens he will bend his shoulder to bear burdens; regarding Dan, that he will be a serpent on the road, a darting serpent on the path, biting the horse's heels, and its rider will fall backwards; and so on regarding the rest of his sons. All this, as has been stated, plainly demonstrates the existence of an internal sense. The Word is given so that it may unite heaven and earth, that is, angels with men, and for that reason it has been written in such a way that angels may understand it in a spiritual manner while a person understands it in a natural one. And this brings a holy influence by way of the angels that causes the two to be united.

[4] Such is the nature of the Word both in the historical sections and in the prophetical parts. Yet the internal sense is less apparent in the historical sections than the prophetical parts because the historical narratives have been written in a different style, though that style nevertheless employs meaningful signs. Those narratives have been provided so that children, younger or older, may be introduced through them into reading the Word, for they give children delight and stay in their minds. Through those narratives they are brought in contact with the heavens, a contact that is pleasing because children live in a state of innocence and charity for one another. This is the reason for the existence of the historical part of the Word. And the reason why there is a prophetical part is so that a person may have no more than a vague understanding of it when he reads it; yet when the kind of person alive today gleans a vague understanding, the angels have a clear perception. This I have been allowed to know from much experience, which in the Lord's Divine mercy will be presented elsewhere.