Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble-bush gather they grapes," Luke vi. 44. When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes, when the vintage is done," Isaiah xxiv. 13. "If grape-gatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes?" Jerem. xlix. 9; Obad. verses 4, 5. "The spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits, and upon thy vintage," Jerem. xlviii. 32, 33. "Many days and years shall ye be troubled, for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come," Isaiah xxxii. 9, 10: not to mention other passages in which the vine and the fruit of the vine are mentioned. There are goods of celestial love, and there are goods of spiritual love: the goods of celestial love are of love to the Lord, and the goods of spiritual love are of love towards our neighbour; the latter goods are called goods of charity, and are meant by the fruit of the vine, which consists of grapes and clusters; and the good things of love to the Lord are meant in the Word by the fruits of trees, particularly by olives.

For her grapes are ripe, signifies because it is the last state of the Christian church. The same is signified by the grapes of the vineyard being ripe as by the harvest being ripe, but a harvest is spoken of the church in general and a vineyard of the church in particular; that by the harvest being ripe is sig nified the last state of the church, see above, n. 645; therefore the same thing is denoted by the grapes of the vine being ripe. A vineyard signifies the church, where the divine truth of the Word is, and where the Lord is known thereby; because wine. signifies interior truth, which comes from the Lord by the Word, therefore a vineyard in the present instance signifies the Christian church. That wine signifies truth from the good of ove, thus from the Lord, see above, n. 316.

650. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, signifies the end of the present Christian church. By thrusting in his sickle and gathering the vine, the same is signified as by putting forth his sickle and reaping, but the latter is said of a harvest and the former of a vine; that to gather the vine signifies to cut the vine and gather its grapes, and that to reap signifies to cut down the harvest and gather the corn, is evident. That a vine or vineyard signifies the church where the Word is, by which the Lord is known, consequently in this case the Christian church, may appear from the following passages: Jesus said, "I am the vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered, and men gather them and cast them Into the fire," John xv. 5, 6. Jesus likened the kingdom of

heaven to a householder, who brought labourers into his vine yard, Matt. xx. 1, 8. Of the sons who were to labour in the vineyard, Matt. xxi. 28. Of the fig-tree planted in the vineyard which bare no fruit, Luke xiii. 6-9. "Jesus spake a parable; a certain householder planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and let it out to husbandmen, that he might receive the fruits of it, but they slew his servants whom he sent to them, and last of all his son," Matt. xxi. 33-39; Mark xii. 1-9; Luke xx. 9-16. "Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard. And he fenced it about, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine,” Isaiah v. 1, 2, &c. "In that day sing ye, unto her, a vineyard of red wine. I, Jehovah, do keep it; I will water it every moment,?"" Isaiah xxvii. 2, 3. "Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard; they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness," Jerem. xii. 10, 11. "Jehovah will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, for ye have eaten up the vineyard," Isaiah iii. 14. "And in all vineyards shall be wailing," Amos v. 17, 18. "And in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting," Isaiah xvi. 10.

651. And cast it into the great wine-press of the wrath of God, signifies an exploration of the quality of their works, that they were evil. By casting the clusters of the vine into the wine-press, is signified to explore the nature of their works, for these are signified by clusters, as may be seen above, n. 649: but as it is called the great wine-press of the wrath of God, it signifies an exploration of their works as being evil, for the wrath of God is said of what is evil, n. 634. A wine-press signifies exploration, because, in presses, wine is expressed from clusters of grapes, and oil from olives, and from the wine and oil which are expressed is perceived the quality of the grapes and olives; and as by a vine is signified the Christian church, and by its clusters are signified works, therefore the exploring of these with the men of the Christian church is signified by casting them into the press; but inasmuch as they have sepa rated faith from charity, and have made the former competent to salvation without the works of the law; and since from faith separated from charity none but evil works proceed, therefore it is called the great wine-press of the wrath of God. The exploration of works is also signified by a press or wine-press in the following passages: "My beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill, and he planted it with the choicest vine, and also made a wine-press therein, and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes," Isaiah v. 1 2. "Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow, for their wickedness is great," Joel iii. 13. "The floor and the wine-press

shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her," Hosea ix. 1, 2, &c. "The spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage, I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses, none shall tread with shouting, the shouting shall be no shouting," Jerem. xlviii. 32, 33. "There was a certain householder which planted a vineyard, and digged a wine-press in it, and let it out to husbandmen, but they slew the servants whom he sent unto them, and last of all his son," Matt. xxi. 33. A press is also spoken of the goods of charity, from which truths of faith proceed, in Joel: Be glad then, O daughters of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, and the floors shall be full of wheat, and the presses shall overflow with wine and oil,” ii. 23, 24.

[ocr errors]

652. And the wine-press was trodden without the city, signifies that an exploration was made from the divine truths of the Word, into the quality of the works resulting from the doctrine of faith in the church. By the wine-press being trodden is signified that the quality of their works was explored; to tread the wine-press signifies to explore, and the clusters which are trodden signify works, as above, n. 649, in the present case, works resulting from the doctrine of faith of the church, which are evil works; by the city is here meant the great city, of which mention is made above, chap. xi. 11, v. 8, which is called the great city, spiritually Sodom and Egypt; that it means the doctrine of faith separated from charity, which is the doctrine of the church of the Reformed, see above, n. 501, 502; and as all exploration of church doctrine is made by the divine truth of the Word, and this not being in that doctrine, but out of it, that also is signified by the wine-press being trodden without the city. From these considerations it may appear, that by the wine-press being trodden without the city, is signified that examination was inade, from the divine truths of the Word, into the quality of the works resulting from the doctrine of faith of the church. To tread the wine-press not only signifies to explore evil works, but likewise to bear with them in others, also to remove and cast them into hell, in the following places: "I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like Him that treadeth in the wine-press? I have trodden the wine-press alone, Isaiah lxiii. 1-3. "The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me, the Lord hath trodden the virgin the daughter of Judah as a wine-press," Lam. i. 15. "He that sitteth on the white horse shall rule the nations with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and the wrath of Almighty God," Apoc. xix. 15.

[ocr errors]

653. And blood came out of the wine-press even unto the bridles of the horses, signifies violence done to the Word by direful falsifications of trith, and the understanding so closed

thereby, that man is scarcely capable any longer of being taught, and thus led by divine truths from the Lord. By blood is signified violence done to the Word, n. 327, and the divine truth of the Word falsified and profaned, n. 379; for by the blood cut of the wine-press is meant the juice and wine from the clusters that were trodden, and the juice of the grape and wine have a similar signification, n. 316; by the bridles of the horses are signified the truths of the Word, by which the understanding is guided, for a horse signifies the understanding of the Word, n. 298; hence a bridle signifies truth by which the understanding is guided; even unto the bridles of the horses means quite into the mouth, into which the bridle is inserted, and by the mouth the horse drinks and feeds, therefore it also signifies that such violence is done to the Word by dire falsifications, that man is scarcely capable of being taught any longer, and thus of being led of the Lord by divine truths. By a bridle is also signified that by which the understanding is guided or led, Isaiah xxx. 27, 28; xxxvii. 29; and by the blood of the grapes is signified the divine truth of the Word, Gen. xlix. 11; Deut. xxxii. 14; but in the present instance it is used in an opposite sense.

654. For a thousand six hundred furlongs, signifies mere falsities of evil. By furlongs the same is signified as by ways, because furlongs are measured ways, and by ways are signified leading truths, n. 176, and, in an opposite sense, leading falses; and by a thousand six hundred are signified evils in the whole complex, for by a thousand six hundred the same is signified as by sixteen, and by sixteen the same as by four, because sixteen. is the product of four multiplied by itself, and four is said of good and of the conjunction of good with truth, n. 322, hence, in an opposite sense, of evil and the conjunction of evil with the false, as in the present instance; and as the multiplying of any number by a hundred does not take away its signification, but only exalts it, therefore, for a thousand six hundred furlongs signifies mere falses of evil. That all numbers in the Word signify things, may be seen above, n. 348, and that a number signifies the quality of a thing, n. 448, 608, 609, 610.

655. Here I will subjoin this Memorable Relation. I was conversing with some of those who are meant by the dragon in the Apocalypse; and one of them said to me, "Come along with me, and I will show you the amusements which are the delight of our eyes and hearts." And he carried me through a gloomy wood to the top of a hill, from which I could have a view of the diversions of the dragons. And I saw an amphitheatre erected in the form of a circus, with rows of benches one above another, on which the spectators were seated; they who sat on the lowest seats appeared to me, at a distance, like

as

satyrs and priapi, some covered and others entirely naked. On the benches above them sat the whoremongers and harlots, as I judged from their gestures and behaviour; and then the dragon said to me, "Now thou shalt see our pastime." And I And I saw, it were, oxen, rams, sheep, goats, and lambs, driven into the area of the circus, and when they were in, a gate was opened, and there rushed in, as it were, young lions, panthers, leopards, and wolves, which attacked the flock with great fury, and tore them in pieces and killed them; but the satyrs, when the bloody slaughter was over, strewed sand over the place where the butchery had been executed. Then the dragon said to me, "These are our sports and pastimes, with which we are delighted;" and I replied, "Get thee hence, demon, in a short time thou wilt see this amphitheatre converted into a lake of fire and sulphur;" at this he laughed and went away. Afterwards I began to think within myself, "Why are such things permitted by the Lord?" and I received an answer in my heart, that they are permitted so long as these dragons continue in the world of spirits, but when the time of their stay in that world is at an end, those exhibitions are changed into such as are direful and infernal. All the appearances above mentioned were produced by the dragonists by means of phantasies; therefore they were not real oxen, rams, sheep, kids, and lambs, but it was thus that they represented the genuine goods and truths of the church, which are the objects of their hatred; the young ions, panthers, leopards, and wolves were appearances of the lusts abiding in those who seemed like satyrs and priapi; they who were totally destitute of any covering, were such as believed that evils do not appear in the sight of God; and they who had a covering, were such as believed that they do indeed appear, but yet do not condemn, provided they are principled in faith; the whoremongers and harlots were falsifiers of the truth of the Word, for whoredom signifies the falsification of truth. In the spiritual world all things appear, at a distance, according to correspondences, the forms of such appearances being called representations of spiritual things in objects similar to those that are natural.

After this I saw them go out of the wood, the dragon being in the midst of the satyrs and priapi, and after them, their slaves and scullions, for such were the whoremongers and harlots; their company increased as they went along, and then it was given to hear what they were conversing about: they were saying that they perceived a flock of sheep and lambs in a meadow, which was a token that one of the cities of Jerusalem, where charity had the pre-eminence, was not far off. And they said, "Let us go and take that city, and cast out its inhabitants, and plunder their goods." Accordingly they drew near; but the city was encompassed with a wall, which was guarded by

« AnteriorContinuar »