"The

Zion, and Jerusalem, in the Word, are called virgins and daughters; for by Israel, Zion, and Jerusalem, is signified the church. That all they who are such in the Lord's church, whether they be virgins or young men, wives or husbands, boys or old men, girls or old women, are meant by virgins, may appear from the Word, where virgins are mentioned, as the virgin Israel, Jerem. xviii. 13; xxxi. 4, 21; Amos v. 2; Joel i. 8. "The virgin daughter of Judah," Lam. i. 15. "The virgin daughter of Zion," 2 Kings xix. 21; Isaiah xxxvii. 22; Lam. i. 4; ii. 13. "The virgins of Jerusalem," Lam. ii. 10. virgin daughter of my people," Jer. xiv. 17. Therefore the Lord likened the church to ten virgins, Matt. xxv. 1, and following verses; and it is said in Jeremiah, "I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin Israel, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry," xxxi. 4, 13; and in David: They have seen thy goings, O God, even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary, among them were the virgins playing with timbrels," Psalm lxviii. 25, 26; and again: "Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women, upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir: hearken, O daugh ter, and consider; so shall the King greatly desire thy beauty: the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift, even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favour: the King's daughter is all glorions within; her clothing is of wrought gold, she shall be brought unto the King in raiment of needle-work; the vir gins her companions that follow her, shall enter into the King's palace," Psalm xlv. 9-15; by the King in this passage is meant the Lord, by the queen, the church as a wife, by daughters and virgins, the affections of good and truth. Similar affections are signified by virgins in other parts of the Word, where mention is made at the same time of young men, because young men signify truths, and virgins affections thereof; as in the following places: "Behold, the days come, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of Jehovah; in that day shall the fair virgins and the young men faint for thirst," Amos viii. 11, 13. "Be thou ashamed, Ŏ Zidon; for the sea hath spoken, I travail not, nor bring forth, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins," Isaiah xxiii. 4. "The Lord hath trodden the virgin the daughter of Judah as in a wine-press: be hold my sorrow, my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity," Lam. i. 15, 18. "For how great is his goodness and how great is his beauty! Corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the virgins," Zech. ix. 17. "And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof," Zech. viii. 5. "The virgins of Jerusalem bang down their heads to the ground; what thing shall I liken to thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? my virgins and my young men

are fallen by the sword," Lam. ii. 10, 13, 21: besides other passages, as Jerem. li. 20-23; Lam. v. 10-12; Ezek. ix. 4, 6; Psalm lxxviii. 62-64; Deut. xxxii. 25.

621. These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, signifies that they are conjoined to the Lord through love and faith in him, because they have lived according to his cominandments. That this is what is signified, appears from these words of the Lord: "He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me, and I will love him, and will come to him, and make my abode with him," John xiv. 20-23. And in another place: The shepherd of the sheep, when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice: my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me," John x. 4, 5.

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622. These were bought from among men, signifies that they are such as were capable of being regenerated by the Lord, and thus redeemed in the world, as above, n. 619, where the like

occurs.

623. Being the first-fruits unto God and the Lamb, signifies the beginning of the Christian heaven, which acknowledges one God in whom there is a trinity, and that the Lord is that God. By first-fruits is meant that which first springs up, also what is first gathered, thus the beginning, in this case, the beginning of the new heaven of Christians; by God and the Lamb is here meant, as above, the Lord as to the Divinity itself from which are all things, and as to the Divine Humanity, and also as to the proceeding Divinity, thus the one God in whom there is a trinity. It may be expedient on this occasion to say something concerning the first-fruits. In the Israelitish church it was commanded, "That the first of thy ripe fruits, of all corn, oil, and wine, of the fruits of trees, as also of the fleece, should be offered to Jehovah as holy, and be given by Jehovah to Aaron, and after him to the high priest," Exod. xxii. 29; xxiii. 10; Numb. xiii. 20; xv. 17-22; xviii. 8--20; Deut. xviii. 4; xxvi. 1, and following verses. And likewise, That they should celebrate the feast of the first fruits of harvest and of bread, Exod. xxiii. 14-16, 19, 26; Levit. xxiii. 9-15, 20-25; Numb. xxviii. 26 to the end. The reason was, because the first-fruits signified that which first springs up, and afterwards grows, as a child grows up to a man, or as a young plant grows up to a tree, and hence they signified all the subsequent stages even to the completion of the thing, for all that is to follow exists in the first, as the man in the infant, and the tree in the tender shoot: and as this first exists before its suc cessions, in like manner in heaven and in the church, therefore the first-fruits were holy unto the Lord, and the feast of the first-fruits was celebrated. The same is signified by first

fruits in Jerem. xxiv. 1, 2; Ezek. xx. 40; Micah vii. 1; Deut xxxiii. 15, 21.

624. And in their mouth was found no guile, signifies that they do not, from cunning and design, speak and persuade to what is false and evil. By the mouth is signified speech, preaching, and doctrine, n. 453, and by guile is signified persuasion to evil by means of falsity, properly speaking, from cunning and design; for he who persuades another to something from cunning or guile, the same also persuades from design, for cunning or guile proposes something to itself, conceals its purpose, and puts it into execution when opportunity offers itself. By a lie, in the Word, is signified falsity and false speaking; by guile is signified both as grounded and originating in design; as in the following passages: Jesus said of Nathaniel, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile," John i. 47. “The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity nor speak lies, neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth," Zeph. iii. 13. "Because he had done no violence, neither was there any guile in his mouth," Isaiah liii. 9. "For the rich men are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth," Mic. vi. 12. "Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing, Jehovah will abhor the bloody and deceitful man," Psalm v. 6. "Deliver my soul, O Jehovah, from lying lips and a tongue of guile," Psalm cxx. 2, 3. "They have taught their tongue to speak lies, thine habitation is in the midst of guile, through guile they refuse to know me, saith the Lord," Jerem. ix. 5. "Ephraim encompassed me with lies, and the house of Israel with guile," Hosea xi. 12. "If any man come presumptuously upon his neighbour to slay him with guile, thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die," Exod. xxi. 14. "Cursed be he that doeth the work of Jehovah with guile," Jerem. xlviii. 10: besides other pas sages, as Jerem. v. 26, 27; viii. 5; xiv. 14; xxiii. 26; Hosea vii. 16; Zeph. i. 9; Psalm xvii. 1; Psalm xxiv. 4; Psalm xxxv. 20, 21; Psalm xxxvi. 4; Psalm 1. 19; Psalm lii. 3, 4; Psalm lxxii. 14; Psalm cix. 2; Psalm cxix. 118; Job xiii. 7; xxvii. 4. The deceitful are signified in the Word by poisonous serpents, and by vipers and crocodiles, and deceit is signified by their poison.

625. For they are without fault before the throne of God, signifies because they are principled in truths grounded in good from the Lord. By the unspotted are signified those who are not in falsities, consequently who are in truths; for spots sig nify falsities, properly falsities grounded in evil; by the throne of God is signified the Lord and heaven, n. 14, 233; and as all who are in good from the Lord, appear as if they were in truths, therefore by their being unspotted before the throne of God is signified that they are in truths grounded in good from the Lord; for all who are led by the Lord are kept by him in good,

and from that good there proceeds nothing but truth; and if a falsity does proceed from it, it is an apparent falsity, which is regarded by the Lord as like unto truth, solely by the modifica tion of the light of heaven in another colour; for the good that is within it, so qualifies it; for there is such a thing as falsity from evil, and also falsity from good; both may appear alike in the external form, when in reality they are altogether dissimilar, because that which is within constitutes the essence, and produces its quality. Since spots signify falsities, therefore it was commanded that "none of the seed of Aaron in whom there was a spot, should approach the altar, or enter within the vail," Levit. xxi. 17, 23; by which was signified that they should be unspotted; "and every ox, calf, sheep, goat, lamb, on which there was a spot, was forbid to be offered for sacrifice," Levit. xxii. 19-25. The kind of spots is also recited.

626. And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, signifies the annunciation of the Lord's advent, and of the new church about to come down out of heaven from him. By an angel, in a supreme sense, is meant the Lord, and thence also heaven, n. 5, 344, 465; by another angel is signified something new from the Lord; by flying in the midst of heaven is signified to survey, to investigate, and to provide for, n. 415, in this case, something new out of heaven from the Lord in the church; by the everlasting gospel is signified the annunciation of the coming of the Lord and of his kingdom, n. 478, 553; by them that dwell on the earth, are signified the men of the church to whom the annunciation will be made. The reason why it also means to announce that a new church is now about to descend out of heaven from himself, is, because the Lord's advent involves two things, the last judgment, and after it the new church; the last judgment is treated of in chapters xix. xx., and the new church, which is the New Jerusalem, in chapters xxi. xxii. That by the gospel and the preaching of the gospel is signified the annunciation of the coming of the Lord and of his kingdom, appears evidently from the passages cited in n. 478, which see.

627. And to every nation, and tribe, and tongue, and people, signifies to all who from religion are in good, and from doctrine in truths. By nation are signified they who are in good, and abstractedly goods, n. 483; by tribe is signified the church as to religion, n. 349; by tongue is signified doctrine, n. 282; and by people are signified they who are in truths, and abstractedly truths, n. 483: therefore by preaching the gospel to every nation, and tribe, and tongue, and people, is signified to announce it to all who are in good from religion, and in truths from doctrine; for these, and no others, receive the gospel. Such is the signification of these words in the spiritual sense.

628. Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, signifies an admonotion not to do evil, because this is against the Lord. By a great voice is signified admonition; and by fearing God is signified not to do evil, because this is against the Lord; that to fear God is to love him, by fearing to do evil because it is against him, and that all love has within it this kind of fear, may be seen above, n. 527. These things are now said to those who will be of the new church upon earth, because the first step to reformation is to live according to the commandments of the decalogue, where those evils are recited which ought not to be done; for he who does them, fears not God; but he who does them not, by shunning them, because they are against the Lord, the same fears, and also loves the Lord, as he himself teaches in John, chap. xiv. 20-24.

629. And give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come, signifies acknowledgment and confession that every truth of the Word, by virtue of which the church is a church, is from the Lord, according to which every man will be judged. That to give glory to him signifies to acknowledge and confess that all truth is from the Lord, may be seen above, n. 249; and as every truth, by virtue of which the church is a church, is from the Word, therefore the truth of the Word is understood; for the hour of his judgment is come, signifies, because every man will be judged according to the truth of the Word; this is signified, because by giving glory to him is signified to acknowledge and confess that every truth of the Word is from the Lord, and it is now said, For the hour of the judgment is come, and for involves this as the cause. That the truth of the Word will judge every one, may be seen above, n. 233, 273, and that the church exists from the Word, and its quality is according to its understanding of the Word, may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture, n. 76—

79. From these considerations it is plain that such is the spiritual sense of these words. The reason why it is such, is, because the angels of heaven by glory perceive nothing else but the divine truth, and as all divine truth is from the Lord, by giving glory to him, they perceive that the acknowledgment and confession that all trutli is from him is what is meant; for all glory in the heavens is from this source and no other, and so far as a society in heaven is in divine truth, so far all things are resplendent, and so far the angels are in the splendour of glory. That by glory is meant divine truth, may appear from the following passages: "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, and the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together," Isaiah xl. 3, 5. "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee. Jehovah shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee," Isaiah lx. 1 to the