bygrace's Tistory Blog

※ (주2). The Lord’s predictions in Matthew (24 and 25), respecting the consummation of the age and His coming, and the consequent successive vastation of the church and the final judgment, are explained in the prefaces to chapters 26–40 of Genesis (n. 3353–3356, 3486–3489, 3650–3655, 3751–3757, 3897–3901, 4056–4060, 4229–4231, 4332–4335, 4422–4424, 4635–4638, 4661–4664, 4807–4810, 4954–4959, 5063–5071).

THE LAST JUDGMENT (마25:31-33)

4807

Before the preceding chapter (n. 4661–4664) a beginning was made of unfolding what the Lord says in Matthew (chap. 25 from verse 31 to the end) concerning the judgment upon the good and the evil, who are there called sheep and goats. What the internal sense of these words is, has not yet been unfolded, but is now to be unfolded before this and some following chapters. And it will then be evident that by the last judgment is not there meant the last time of the world, and that the dead will then for the first time rise again and be gathered together before the Lord and judged; but that there is meant the last time of everyone who passes out of the world into the other life; for then is his judgment, and this is the judgment which is meant.

Yet that this is so does not appear from the sense of the letter, but from the internal sense. The reason why the Lord so spoke is that he spoke here, as everywhere else in the Word of the Old and the New Testament, by representatives and significatives; for to speak by representatives and significatives is to speak at the same time to the world and to heaven, or to men and to angels. Such speech is Divine, because universal, and hence is proper to the Word. Wherefore they who are in the world and care for worldly things only, do not apprehend anything else from what the Lord says here concerning the last judgment than that all are to rise again at one and the same time, and even that the Lord will then sit upon a throne of glory, and will speak to those gathered together according to these words. But they who care for heavenly things know that the time of everyone’s resurrection is when he dies, and that the Lord’s words here involve that everyone will be judged according to his life, thus that everyone carries his judgment with him, because he carries his life.

4808

That this is involved in the internal sense of the words in question will appear from the explication of the particulars according to this sense; but here only those things will be unfolded which are contained in verses 31 to 33:

31인자가 자기 영광으로 모든 천사와 함께 올 때에 자기 영광의 보좌에 앉으리니 32모든 민족을 그 앞에 모으고 각각 구분하기를 목자가 양과 염소를 구분하는 것 같이 하여 33양은 그 오른편에 염소는 왼편에 두리라 (마25:31-33) When the son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory; and before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one from another as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats; and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. (Matt. 25:31–33).

4809

인자가 자기 영광으로 올 때에  When the son of man shall come in his glory;

signifies when the Divine truth shall appear in its light, which takes place with every man when he dies, for he then comes into the light of heaven, in which he can perceive what is true and good, and hence what is his quality. The “son of man,” in the internal sense of the Word is the Lord as to Divine truth, thus is the Divine truth which is from the Lord. “Glory” is the intelligence and wisdom thence derived, which appear as light, and before the angels as the resplendence of light. This resplendence of light, in which are wisdom and intelligence derived from the Divine truth which is from the Lord is what in the Word is called “glory.” (That the “son of man” in the internal sense is the Divine truth, may be seen n. 2159, 2803, 2813, 3704.)

[2] 모든 천사와 함께 And all the holy angels with him;

signifies the angelic heaven. The “holy angels” are the truths which are from the Lord’s Divine good; for by “angels” in the Word are not meant angels, but those things which are from the Lord (see n. 1925, 4085); for the angels are recipients of the life of truth proceeding from the Lord’s Divine good, and insofar as they receive, so far they are angels. From this it is plain that “angels” are these truths. As the subject here treated of is the state of everyone after death, and the judgment of everyone according to his life, it is said that all the holy angels will be with him; and by this is signified that the judgment will be effected by means of heaven; for all influx of Divine truth takes place through heaven, and immediate influx can be received by no one.

[3] 자기 영광의 보좌에 앉으리니 Then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory;

signifies the judgment, for a “throne” is predicated of the Lord’s royalty, and the Lord’s royalty is the Divine truth (n. 1728, 2015, 3009, 3670), and the Divine truth is that from which and according to which is the judgment.

[4] 모든 민족을 그 앞에 모으고 And before him shall be gathered all nations;

signifies that the goods and evils of all will be made manifest; for by “nations” in the internal sense of the Word are signified goods, and in the opposite sense evils (n. 1259, 1260, 1416, 2588, 4574); thus that goods and evils will appear in Divine light, that is, in light from the Divine truth, is signified by all nations being gathered before him.

[5] 각각 구분하기를 목자가 양과 염소를 구분하는 것 같이 하여 And he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats;

signifies the separation of good from evil; for the “sheep” are they who are in good, and the “goats” they who are in evil. They are properly called “sheep” who are in charity and thence in faith, and they “goats” who are in faith and not in charity—both being here treated of. That “sheep” are they who are in charity and thence in faith may be seen above (n. 2088, 4169), and “goats” they who are in faith and not in charity (n. 4769).

[6] 양은 그 오른편에 염소는 왼편에 두리라 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left;

signifies separation according to truths from good, and according to falsities from evil. In the other life they who are in truths from good actually appear to the right, and they who are in falsities from evil to the left. Hence to be set on the right hand and on the left is to be set in order according to the life.

4810

From all this it is evident what these words of the Lord involve, and that they are not to be understood according to the letter (namely, that the Lord at some last time will come in glory, and all the holy angels with him, and will sit upon a throne of glory, and judge all nations gathered before him), but that everyone will be judged according to his life, when he passes out of life in the world into life eternal.

※ (주2). The Lord’s predictions in Matthew (24 and 25), respecting the consummation of the age and His coming, and the consequent successive vastation of the church and the final judgment, are explained in the prefaces to chapters 26–40 of Genesis (n. 3353–3356, 3486–3489, 3650–3655, 3751–3757, 3897–3901, 4056–4060, 4229–4231, 4332–4335, 4422–4424, 4635–4638, 4661–4664, 4807–4810, 4954–4959, 5063–5071).

THE LAST JUDGMENT (마25:31-46)

4661

Before the preceding chapter the explication was continued of what the Lord foretold concerning the last time of the church, and there was unfolded what he foretold by the parable of the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1–13). After this follows another parable—that of the servants to whom the man going into a far country gave talents, to one five, to another two, and to another one, that they might trade therewith; and of these servants he who received five talents gained by them five more, he who received two also gained by them two, and he who received the one hid it in the earth. As this parable involves almost the same things as the parable of the ten virgins, I may pass on to explain the concluding part of the same chapter, which in the letter is as follows:

4662

31인자가 자기 영광으로 모든 천사와 함께 올 때에 자기 영광의 보좌에 앉으리니 32모든 민족을 그 앞에 모으고 각각 구분하기를 목자가 양과 염소를 구분하는 것 같이 하여 33양은 그 오른편에 염소는 왼편에 두리라 34그 때에 임금이 그 오른편에 있는 자들에게 이르시되 내 아버지께 복 받을 자들이여 나아와 창세로부터 너희를 위하여 예비된 나라를 상속받으라 35내가 주릴 때에 너희가 먹을 것을 주었고 목마를 때에 마시게 하였고 나그네 되었을 때에 영접하였고 36헐벗었을 때에 옷을 입혔고 병들었을 때에 돌보았고 옥에 갇혔을 때에 와서 보았느니라 37이에 의인들이 대답하여 이르되 주여 우리가 어느 때에 주께서 주리신 것을 보고 음식을 대접하였으며 목마르신 것을 보고 마시게 하였나이까 38어느 때에 나그네 되신 것을 보고 영접하였으며 헐벗으신 것을 보고 옷 입혔나이까 39어느 때에 병드신 것이나 옥에 갇히신 것을 보고 가서 뵈었나이까 하리니 40임금이 대답하여 이르시되 내가 진실로 너희에게 이르노니 너희가 여기 내 형제 중에 지극히 작은 자 하나에게 한 것이 곧 내게 한 것이니라 하시고 41또 왼편에 있는 자들에게 이르시되 저주를 받은 자들아 나를 떠나 마귀와 그 사자들을 위하여 예비된 영원한 불에 들어가라 42내가 주릴 때에 너희가 먹을 것을 주지 아니하였고 목마를 때에 마시게 하지 아니하였고 43나그네 되었을 때에 영접하지 아니하였고 헐벗었을 때에 옷 입히지 아니하였고 병들었을 때와 옥에 갇혔을 때에 돌보지 아니하였느니라 하시니 44그들도 대답하여 이르되 주여 우리가 어느 때에 주께서 주리신 것이나 목마르신 것이나 나그네 되신 것이나 헐벗으신 것이나 병드신 것이나 옥에 갇히신 것을 보고 공양하지 아니하더이까 45이에 임금이 대답하여 이르시되 내가 진실로 너희에게 이르노니 이 지극히 작은 자 하나에게 하지 아니한 것이 곧 내게 하지 아니한 것이니라 하시리니 46그들은 영벌에, 의인들은 영생에 들어가리라 하시니라 (마25:31-46) When the son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory; and before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats; and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come ye blessed of my father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and ye gathered me; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee, or thirsty, and gave thee to drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and gathered thee, or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me ye cursed into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and ye gave me not to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me not to drink; I was a stranger, and ye gathered me not; naked, and ye clothed me not [sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not]. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into life eternal (Matt. 25:31–46).

4663

One who is unacquainted with the internal sense cannot but think that these words were spoken by the Lord of some last day, when all in the whole world will be gathered before him, and will then be judged; and also that the procedure of the judgment will be just as is described in the letter, namely, that he will set those who are to be judged on the right hand and on the left, and will speak to them as in the parable. But one who is acquainted with the internal sense, and who has learned from other passages in the Word that the Lord judges no one to eternal fire, but that everyone judges himself, that is, casts himself into it; and who has also learned that the last judgment of everyone is when he dies, may know in some measure what these words involve in general. And one who from the internal sense and from correspondence knows the interior meaning of the words may know what they specifically mean, namely, that in the other life everyone receives a reward in accordance with his life in the world.

[2] Those who vaunt the salvation of man through faith alone cannot explain these words in any other way than by saying that what the Lord said of works means the fruits of faith, and that he mentioned them merely for the sake of the simple, who are unacquainted with mysteries. But even according to their opinion it would still follow that the fruits of faith are what make man blessed and happy after death. The fruits of faith are nothing else than a life in accordance with the precepts of faith; consequently a life in accordance with these precepts saves, but not faith without life; for after death man carries with him all the states of his life, so that he is such as he has been in the body. For instance: one who in the life of the body has despised others in comparison with himself, in the other life also despises others in comparison with himself; one who in the life of the body has regarded the neighbor with hatred, also in the other life regards the neighbor with hatred; one who in the life of the body has acted deceitfully toward his companions, in the other life also acts deceitfully toward his companions; and so in other instances. Everyone retains in the other life the nature which he has acquired in the life of the body; and it is known that a man’s nature cannot be cast out, and that if it is cast out, nothing of life remains.

[3] It is for this reason that only works of charity are mentioned by the Lord; for he who is in the works of charity, or what is the same, in a life of faith, is capable of receiving faith, if not in the body, yet in the other life; but one who is not in the works of charity, or in a life of faith, is by no means capable of receiving faith, either in the body or in the other life. For evil does not accord with truth, but the one rejects the other; and if those who are in evil speak truths, they speak them from the lips, and not from the heart, and thus evil and truths are still very far apart.

4664

But what is involved in the internal sense in these things which the Lord here says concerning the last judgment, that is, concerning the last judgment of everyone after death, is too much to be unfolded before this chapter, and therefore will of the Lord’s Divine mercy be unfolded in order before the chapters which follow.