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※ (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).

CHARITY (마25:34-36)

4954

In the prefatory remarks to the preceding chapter, the Lord’s words in Matthew 25, verses 31 to 33, concerning the judgment upon the good and the evil were unfolded (see n. 4807–4810). There now come to be unfolded the words which there follow in order, namely:

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 (마25:34-36) Then shall the king say to 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 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 (Matt. 25:34–36).

4955

이들 본문에 들어있는 속뜻은 이제 이어질 내용을 보시면 되는데요, 먼저 아셔야 할 것은, 여기 순서대로 주욱 나열된 행위들은 바로 체어리티의 행위들이라는 것입니다. 이것은 말씀의 속뜻에 익숙하지 않은 사람은 아무도 알 수 없는 건데요, 즉

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

하신 이 말씀이 의미하는 게 뭔지를 말입니다. 이런 행위들을 그저 겉 글자의 뜻으로만 생각하는 사람은 이 행위들은 겉보기에 그냥 평범한 선행일뿐 거기 무슨 다른 비밀이 있을 수 있나 합니다만, 그러나 이 하나하나의 행위에는 어떤 비의(秘義, secret), 곧 신성(神性, Divine)이 들어있습니다. 주님의 말씀이기 때문이지요. 그러나 오늘날 이 비의는 이해되지 않습니다. 오늘날엔 체어리티의 교리가 없기 때문인데요, 사람들이 신앙(faith, 믿음)에서 체어리티를 분리해 온 이래 이들 교리는 사라졌고, 이 교리들이 있던 자리를 신앙(믿음)의 교리가 대신 고안되어 받아들여져 왔기 때문입니다. 이 후자의 교리는 체어리티가 무엇이며, 이웃이 무엇인지를 전혀 가르치지 않습니다. 고대인들 사이에 있었던 교리들은 체어리티의 모든 종(種, species)과 속(屬, genera)을 가르쳤고, 체어리티가 베풀어져야 할 이웃이 누구이며, 어떤 사람이 다른 사람과 어느 정도로, 그리고 어떤 면에서 어떻게 이웃인지를, 그리고 그 결과 체어리티의 실천이 여러 다른 사람들에게 어떻게 다양하게 적용되어야 하는지를 가르쳤습니다. 이 교리들은 또한 이웃을 여러 클래스로 그룹지어 이름들을 주었는데요, 부르기를 가난한 사람들(the poor), 궁핍한 사람들(needy), 불행한 사람들(miserable), 고난 중에 있는 사람들(afflicted)로, 또 어떤 그룹들은 앞 못 보는 사람들(the blind), 다리 저는 사람들(lame), 장애를 가진 사람들(halt), 고아들(fatherless), 과부들(widows)로, 또 어떤 그룹은 굶주린 사람들(the hungry), 목마른 사람들(thirsty), 나그네들(strangers), 헐벗은 사람들(naked), 병든 사람들(sick), 옥에 갇힌 사람들(bound) 등으로 불렀습니다. 이런 식으로 그들은 이 사람과 저 사람을 향해 자신들이 어떤 의무를 지고 있는지를 알았는데요, 그러나 앞서도 말씀드렸듯, 이들 교리들이 이젠 사라졌고, 그와 함께 말씀에 대한 이해도 사라져서, 즉 말씀을 속뜻으로 볼 줄 아는 능력이 사라져서, 오늘날은 말씀에 나오는 이 ‘가난한 자들’, ‘과부들’, ‘고아들’이라는 표현들이 그런 이름으로 불린다는 것 말고 무슨 다른 의미, 즉 비의가 있음을 아는 사람은 아무도 없는 실정입니다. 오늘 본문, ‘주린 자들’, ‘목마른 자들’, ‘나그네들’, ‘헐벗은 자들’, ‘병든 자들’ 및 ‘옥에 갇힌 자들’ 역시 그 비의를 모르기는 마찬가지입니다. 하지만 그럼에도 불구하고 이들 체어리티는 그 본질 그대로 설명되어야 하며, 그 실천 역시 실천에 생명이 있는 것처럼 해야 합니다. What these words involve in the internal sense will appear from what follows. Be it known in the first place that the works here enumerated are the very works of charity in their order. This no one can see who is not acquainted with the internal sense of the Word, that is, who does not know what is meant by giving the hungry to eat, giving the thirsty to drink, gathering the stranger, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, and coming unto those who are in prison. He who thinks of these acts from the sense of the letter only, infers that they mean good works in the external form, and that there is nothing secret in them beyond this; and yet there is something secret in each of them, which is Divine, because from the Lord. But the secret is not at this day understood, because at this day there are no doctrinals of charity; for ever since men have separated charity from faith, these doctrinals have perished, and in place of them the doctrinals of faith have been invented and received, which do not at all teach what charity is and what the neighbor. The doctrinals existing among the ancients taught all the genera and all the species of charity, and also who the neighbor is toward whom charity is to be exercised, and how one is the neighbor in a different degree and in a different respect from another, and consequently how the exercise of charity varies in its application toward different persons. They also grouped the neighbor together into classes, and assigned them names, calling some the poor, needy, miserable, afflicted; some the blind, lame, halt, and also fatherless and widows; and others the hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, bound, and so on; thus knowing what duty they owed toward one and toward another. But as before said these doctrinals perished, and with them the understanding of the Word, insomuch that no one at this day knows otherwise than that by the “poor,” the “widows,” and the “fatherless,” in the Word, none other are meant than they who are so called; in like manner here by the “hungry,” the “thirsty,” the “strangers,” the “naked,” the “sick,” and those who are “in prison”; when yet by these charity is described such as it is in its essence, and the exercise of it such as it must be in its life.

4956

이웃을 향한 체어리티의 본질은 선과 진리에 관한 애정(the affection of good and truth)이며, 자아를 악과 거짓으로 인식하는 것(the acknowledgment of self as being evil and false)입니다. 네, 그렇습니다. 이웃은 선과 진리 그 자체이며, 선과 진리에 의해 영향받는 것이 곧 체어리티를 갖는 것입니다.

※ ‘이웃은 선과 진리 그 자체’라는 말은 아마도 천국은 주님의 신성, 곧 선과 진리로 이루어진 나라라는 사실을 말하는 것 같습니다. 그 나라에서는 주님의 선과 진리가 ‘이웃’이기 때문이지요. 즉 주님의 선과 진리에 대한 천국에서의 태도를 지상에서는 체어리티라고 한다는 것으로 저는 이해가 됩니다.

이웃의 반대는 악과 거짓이며, 이 악과 거짓은 체어리티를 가진 사람이 싫어하는 것입니다. 이런 이유로 이웃을 향한 체어리티를 가진 사람은 선과 진리에 의해 영향을 받는데요, 이 선과 진리는 주님으로부터 오기 때문이며, 또한 악하고 거짓된 것을 싫어하는데, 그 이유는 악과 거짓은 자아로 말미암기 때문입니다. 그가 이것을 하면, 곧 체어리티의 사람이 되어 자아로 말미암는 악과 거짓을 싫어하는 사람이 되면 그는 자인(自認)으로 인한 굴욕 가운데 있게(in humiliation from self-acknowledgment) 되는데, 바로 그때 그는 주님으로 말미암는 선과 진리를 받는 상태가 됩니다.

※ ‘자인(自認)으로 인한 굴욕 가운데 있게 된다’는 건, 원래 사람은 그 본성상 자아를 부인하는 걸 좋아하는 존재가 아니기에 ‘제 안에는 선과 진리가 없어요. 저는 본질적으로 악하고 거짓된 존재입니다.’ 이렇게 시인하는 건 어찌 보면 참 굴욕적이라는, 그런 말이 아닐까 합니다. 그러나 역설적이게도 사람이 주님 앞에 이렇게 자기를 부인할 수 있어야 비로소 그는 주님의 모든 좋은 것을 받을 수 있게 되지요.

이런 것이 다음 주님의 말씀, ‘내가 주릴 때에 너희가 먹을 것을 주었고 목마를 때에 마시게 하였고 나그네 되었을 때에 영접하였고 헐벗었을 때에 옷을 입혔고 병들었을 때에 돌보았고 옥에 갇혔을 때에 와서 보았느니라’에 들어있는 체어리티의, 속뜻으로 본 특징들입니다. 이 말씀들이 그런 내용을 포함하고 있다는 사실을 속뜻이 아니고서는 아무도 알 수 없습니다. 체어리티의 교리들을 갖고 있었던 고대인들은 이런 것들을 알고 있었습니다만 그러나 오늘날 이런 사실은 너무도 엉뚱해 보여 그 안에 이런 내용이 들어있다는 말을 들으면 다들 어리둥절해할 것입니다. 게다가 천사들, 사람한테 와있는 천사들은 이 말씀들을 다른 방식으로는 지각조차 못 하는데요,

※ ‘사람한테 와있는 천사들’(the angels who are with man), 모든 사람한테는 저마다 천사 둘, 악한 영 둘이 와있습니다. 이는 다음과 같은 사실들로 말미암는 건데요, 먼저 사람은 ‘의지’(will)와 ‘이해’(understanding)가 있어 사람이며, 둘째, 천국은 두 나라, 곧 천적(天的, celestial, 의지, 선, 사랑 등) 나라와 영적(靈的, spiritual, 이해, 진리, 신앙 등) 나라로 되어 있고, 지옥 역시 그에 대응하는 두 지옥으로 되어 있다는 사실입니다. 그래서 천적 천국과 그에 대응하는 지옥에서 각각 천사 하나, 악령 하나, 영적 천국과 그에 대응하는 지옥에서 각각 천사 하나, 악령 하나, 이렇게 둘씩 와있는 것이며, 천사들은 와서 그 사람의 선한 기억과 생각 속으로, 악령들은 와서 그 사람의 악한 기억과 생각 속으로 들어가게 됩니다. 이렇게 해서 모든 사람은 천사들을 통해서는 주님 및 천국과, 악령들을 통해서는 지옥과 결합한 상태로 살아가는 것입니다. 참고로, 각 사람에게 와있는 천사들과 악령들은 그 사람의 기억과 생각을 자기 걸로 압니다. 모든 피조물은 누구나 자기 걸 소중히 여기므로 그렇게 해서 그 사람의 모든 기억과 생각 또한 저들에게 보호받게 하시려는 주님의 배려라고 합니다.

천사들은 ‘주린 사람들’(the hungry) 하면, 애정을 가지고 선을 간절히 원하는 사람들로 지각하고, ‘목마른 사람들’(the thirsty) 하면, 애정을 가지고 진리를 간절히 원하는 사람들로, ‘나그네’(a stranger) 하면, 기꺼이 가르침을 받고자 하는 사람을, ‘헐벗은 사람들’(the naked) 하면 자신들 안에 아무런 선과 진리가 없음을 시인하는 사람들을, ‘병든 사람들’(the sick) 하면, 자신들 안에 악밖에 없음을 시인하는 사람들을, ‘결박, 즉 옥에 갇힌 사람들’(the bound or those who are in prison) 하면, 자신들 안에 거짓밖에 없음을 시인하는 사람들로 지각하기 때문입니다. 이런 내용들을 한 문장으로 요약한 것이 바로 위에 주욱 말씀드린 내용입니다. The essence of charity toward the neighbor is the affection of good and truth, and the acknowledgment of self as being evil and false; yea, the neighbor is good and truth itself, and to be affected by these is to have charity. The opposite to the neighbor is evil and falsity, which are held in aversion by one who has charity. He therefore who has charity toward the neighbor is affected by good and truth, because they are from the Lord, and holds in aversion what is evil and what is false because these are from self; and when he does this, he is in humiliation from self-acknowledgment, and when he is in humiliation, he is in a state of reception of good and truth from the Lord. These are the characteristics of charity which in the internal sense are involved in these words of the Lord: “I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me 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.” That these words involve such things, no one can know except from the internal sense. The ancients, who had the doctrinals of charity, knew these things; but at this day they appear so remote that everyone will wonder at its being said that these things are within. Moreover, the angels who are with man perceive these words no otherwise, for by the “hungry” they perceive those who from affection desire good; by the “thirsty,” those who from affection desire truth; by a “stranger,” those who are willing to be instructed; by the “naked,” those who acknowledge that there is nothing of good and of truth in themselves; by the “sick,” those who acknowledge that in themselves there is nothing but evil; and by the “bound,” or those who are “in prison,” those who acknowledge that in themselves there is nothing but falsity. If these things are reduced into one meaning, they signify what has been stated just above.

4957

From all this it is evident that there were Divine things within everything the Lord said, although to those who are in merely worldly things, and especially to those who are in bodily things, his words appear to be such as any man might say. Nay, they who are in bodily things will say of these and all other words of the Lord, that they have not so much grace, and therefore not so much weight, as the discourse and preaching of those of the present age who speak with eloquence and learning; when yet their discourse and preaching are like the husk and chaff in comparison with the kernel and grain.

4958

That “to hunger” is from affection to desire good is because “bread” in the internal sense is the good of love and of charity, and “food” in general is good (n. 2165, 2177, 3478, 4211, 4217, 4735). That “to thirst” is from affection to desire truth is because “wine” and also “water” denote the truth of faith (that it is so with “wine,” see above n. 1071, 1798; and with “water,” n. 2702). That a “stranger” is one who is willing to be instructed, may also be seen above (n. 1463, 4444). That the “naked” means one who acknowledges that there is nothing of good or truth in himself, the “sick” one who acknowledges that he is in evil, and the “bound,” or he that is “in prison,” one who acknowledges that he is in falsity is plain from the many passages in the Word in which they are mentioned.

4959

The reason why the Lord says these things of himself is that he is in those who are such, and therefore he also says:

임금이 대답하여 이르시되 내가 진실로 너희에게 이르노니 너희가 여기 내 형제 중에 지극히 작은 자 하나에게 한 것이 곧 내게 한 것이니라 하시고 (마25:40) Verily I say unto you, Insofar as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it to me (Matt. 25:40).

※ (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.

※ (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 (마25:1-13)

4635

As in prefatory remarks to preceding chapters of Genesis there have been unfolded the Lord’s predictions in Matthew 24 concerning the last time of the church, and as the same predictions are continued in Matthew 25, I may unfold these also in respect to the internal sense. These predictions as given in their order in the letter are as follows:

1그 때에 천국은 마치 등을 들고 신랑을 맞으러 나간 열 처녀와 같다 하리니 2그 중의 다섯은 미련하고 다섯은 슬기 있는 자라 3미련한 자들은 등을 가지되 기름을 가지지 아니하고 4슬기 있는 자들은 그릇에 기름을 담아 등과 함께 가져갔더니 5신랑이 더디 오므로 다 졸며 잘새 6밤중에 소리가 나되 보라 신랑이로다 맞으러 나오라 하매 7이에 그 처녀들이 다 일어나 등을 준비할새 8미련한 자들이 슬기 있는 자들에게 이르되 우리 등불이 꺼져가니 너희 기름을 좀 나눠 달라 하거늘 9슬기 있는 자들이 대답하여 이르되 우리와 너희가 쓰기에 다 부족할까 하노니 차라리 파는 자들에게 가서 너희 쓸 것을 사라 하니 10그들이 사러 간 사이에 신랑이 오므로 준비하였던 자들은 함께 혼인 잔치에 들어가고 문은 닫힌지라 11그 후에 남은 처녀들이 와서 이르되 주여 주여 우리에게 열어 주소서 12대답하여 이르되 진실로 너희에게 이르노니 내가 너희를 알지 못하노라 하였느니라 13그런즉 깨어 있으라 너희는 그 날과 그 때를 알지 못하느니라 (마25:1-13) Then shall the kingdom of the heavens be likened unto ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were prudent, but five were foolish. They that were foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them; but the prudent took oil in their vessels with their lamps. And while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight a cry was made, Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. But the foolish said unto the prudent, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. But the prudent answered, saying, Perchance there will not be enough for us and you; but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour wherein the son of man cometh (Matt. 25:1–13).

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That by this parable the Lord described his own coming is evident from the particulars, and from the end, where he says, “Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour wherein the son of man cometh,” as he also says in the foregoing chapter [Matt. 24], where he is speaking expressly of his coming: “Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord cometh” (Matt. 24:42). That his “coming” is the consummation of the age, or the last time of the church, has been shown before.

4637

It is very evident that each and all things the Lord spoke in parables are representative and significative of the spiritual and celestial things of his kingdom, and in the highest sense, of the Divine things with him; and therefore the man who does not know this must suppose that the Lord’s parables have no more in them than ordinary comparisons. Such must be the case with the parable of the ten virgins unless it is known what is signified in the internal sense by the virgins, and also by ten and five, and by the lamps, the vessels, and the oil, and by them that sell, the wedding, and all the rest; and the same with all the other parables. The things which the Lord spoke in these parables appear in the outward form like ordinary comparisons; but in their inward form they are of such a nature as to fill the universal heaven. For there is an internal sense in every particular, which is of such a nature that its spiritual and celestial diffuses itself through the heavens in every direction like light and flame. This sense is quite uplifted above the sense of the letter, and flows from the several expressions, and from the several words, nay, from every jot. But what this parable involves in the internal sense will appear from what follows.

4638

그 때에 천국은 마치 열 처녀와 같다 하리니 Then shall the kingdom of the heavens be likened unto ten virgins.

This signifies the last period of the old church and the first of the new. The church is the Lord’s kingdom on earth. The “ten virgins” are all who are in the church, namely, both those who are in good and truth, and those who are in evil and falsity. “Ten” in the internal sense denotes remains, and also fullness, thus all; and “virgins” denote those who are in the church, as also elsewhere in the Word.

[2] 등을 들고 Who took their lamps;

signifies spiritual things in which is the celestial, or truths in which there is good, or what is the same, faith in which there is charity toward the neighbor, and charity in which there is love to the Lord; for “oil” is the good of love, as shown hereafter. But lamps in which there is no oil denote the same in which there is no good.

[3] 신랑을 맞으러 나간 And went forth to meet the bridegroom;

signifies their reception.

그 중의 다섯은 미련하고 다섯은 슬기 있는 자라 And five of them were prudent, but five were foolish;

signifies a part of them in truths in which there is good, and a part of them in truths in which is no good. The former are the “prudent,” and the latter the “foolish.” In the internal sense “five” denotes some, here therefore a part of them.

미련한 자들은 등을 가지되 기름을 가지지 아니하고 They that were foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them;

signifies not having the good of charity in their truths; for in the internal sense “oil” denotes the good of charity and of love.

슬기 있는 자들은 그릇에 기름을 담아 등과 함께 가져갔더니 But the prudent took oil in their vessels with their lamps;

signifies that they had the good of charity and of love in their truths; their “vessels” are the doctrinal things of faith.

[4] 신랑이 더디 오므로 다 졸며 잘새 And while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept;

signifies delay, and hence doubt. To “slumber” in the internal sense is to grow sluggish from the delay in the things of the church, and to “sleep” is to cherish doubt—the prudent, a doubt in which there is affirmation; the foolish, a doubt in which there is negation.

밤중에 소리가 나되 But at midnight a cry was made;

signifies the time which is the last of the old church and the first of the new. This time is what is called “night” in the Word, when the state of the church is treated of. The “cry” denotes a change.

보라 신랑이로다 맞으러 나오라 하매 Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him;

signifies the same as the judgment, namely, acceptance and rejection.

[5] 이에 그 처녀들이 다 일어나 등을 준비할새 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps;

signifies preparation of all; for those who are in truths in which there is no good are equally in the belief of being accepted as are those who are in truths in which there is good, for they suppose that faith alone saves, not knowing that there is no faith where there is no charity.

미련한 자들이 슬기 있는 자들에게 이르되 우리 등불이 꺼져가니 너희 기름을 좀 나눠 달라 하거늘 But the foolish said unto the prudent, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out;

signifies that they desire good to be communicated by others to their empty truths, or to their destitute faith. For in the other life all spiritual and celestial things are mutually communicated, but only through good.

[6] 슬기 있는 자들이 대답하여 이르되 우리와 너희가 쓰기에 다 부족할까 하노니 But the prudent answered, saying, Perchance there will not be enough for us and you;

signifies that it cannot be communicated, because the little of truth that they had would be taken away from them. For as to the communication of good in the other life to those who are in truths without good, these as it were take away good from those who have it, and appropriate it to themselves, and do not communicate it to others, but defile it; for which reason no communication of good to them is possible. These spirits will be described from experience at the end of the next chapter [Gen. 37].

[7] 차라리 파는 자들에게 가서 너희 쓸 것을 사라 하니 But go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves;

signifies the good of merit. They who boast of this are “they that sell.” Moreover, in the other life they who are in truth in which there is no good, above all others make a merit of all they have done which appeared good in the outward form, although in the inward form it was evil, according to what the Lord says in Matthew:

22그 날에 많은 사람이 나더러 이르되 주여 주여 우리가 주의 이름으로 선지자 노릇 하며 주의 이름으로 귀신을 쫓아 내며 주의 이름으로 많은 권능을 행하지 아니하였나이까 하리니 23그 때에 내가 그들에게 밝히 말하되 내가 너희를 도무지 알지 못하니 불법을 행하는 자들아 내게서 떠나가라 하리라 (마7:22, 23) “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied by thy name, and by thy name have cast out demons, and in thy name done many mighty works? But then will I confess unto them, I know you not; depart from me, ye workers of iniquity” (Matt. 7:22, 23).

And in Luke:

26그 때에 너희가 말하되 우리는 주 앞에서 먹고 마셨으며 주는 또한 우리를 길거리에서 가르치셨나이다 하나 27그가 너희에게 말하여 이르되 나는 너희가 어디에서 왔는지 알지 못하노라 행악하는 모든 자들아 나를 떠나 가라 하리라 (눅13:26, 27) “When the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, then shall ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, lord, open to us. But he shall answer and say to you, I know you not whence ye are; then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets; but he shall say, I tell you I know you not whence ye are, depart from me all ye workers of iniquity” (Luke 13:26, 27).

Such are those who are here meant by the foolish virgins, and the like is therefore said of them in these words: “they also came, saying, Lord, lord, open to us; but he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.”

[8] 그들이 사러 간 사이에 신랑이 오므로 And while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came.

This signifies their too late application.

준비하였던 자들은 함께 혼인 잔치에 들어가고 And they that were ready went in with him to the wedding;

signifies that they who were in good and thence in truth were received into heaven. Heaven is likened to a wedding from the heavenly marriage, which is the marriage of good and truth; and the Lord is likened to the bridegroom, because they are then conjoined with him; and hence the church is called the bride.

문은 닫힌지라 And the door was shut;

signifies that others cannot enter.

[9] 그 후에 남은 처녀들이 와서 이르되 주여 주여 우리에게 열어 주소서 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, lord, open to us;

signifies that they desire to enter from faith alone without charity, and from works in which there is not the Lord’s life, but the life of self.

대답하여 이르되 진실로 너희에게 이르노니 내가 너희를 알지 못하노라 하였느니라 But be answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not;

signifies rejection. His not knowing them means in the internal sense that they were not in any charity toward the neighbor and thereby in conjunction with the Lord. They who are not in conjunction are said not to be known.

[10] 그런즉 깨어 있으라 너희는 그 날과 그 때를 알지 못하느니라 Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour wherein the son of man cometh;

signifies an assiduous application of life in accordance with the precepts of faith, which is “to watch.” The time of acceptance, which is unknown to man, and the state are signified by their not knowing the day nor the hour in which the son of man is to come. Elsewhere also in Matthew he who is in good, that is, he who acts according to the precepts, is called “prudent”; and he who is in knowledges of truth and does them not is called “foolish”:

24그러므로 누구든지 나의 이 말을 듣고 행하는 자는 그 집을 반석 위에 지은 지혜로운 사람 같으리니, 26나의 이 말을 듣고 행하지 아니하는 자는 그 집을 모래 위에 지은 어리석은 사람 같으리니 (마7:24, 26) Everyone that heareth my words and doeth them, I will liken him unto a prudent man; and everyone that heareth my words and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man (Matt. 7:24, 26).

※ (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 (마24:42-51)

4422

Prefatory to this chapter the Lord’s words in Matthew 24, verse 42 to the end, remain to be unfolded. These words are the last in that chapter which treat of the consummation of the age, or the advent of the Lord, and which in the letter are these:

42그러므로 깨어 있으라 어느 날에 너희 주가 임할는지 너희가 알지 못함이니라 43너희도 아는 바니 만일 집 주인이 도둑이 어느 시각에 올 줄을 알았더라면 깨어 있어 그 집을 뚫지 못하게 하였으리라 44이러므로 너희도 준비하고 있으라 생각하지 않은 때에 인자가 오리라 45충성되고 지혜 있는 종이 되어 주인에게 그 집 사람들을 맡아 때를 따라 양식을 나눠 줄 자가 누구냐 46주인이 올 때에 그 종이 이렇게 하는 것을 보면 그 종이 복이 있으리로다 47내가 진실로 너희에게 이르노니 주인이 그의 모든 소유를 그에게 맡기리라 48만일 그 악한 종이 마음에 생각하기를 주인이 더디 오리라 하여 49동료들을 때리며 술친구들과 더불어 먹고 마시게 되면 50생각하지 않은 날 알지 못하는 시각에 그 종의 주인이 이르러 51엄히 때리고 외식하는 자가 받는 벌에 처하리니 거기서 슬피 울며 이를 갈리라 (마24:42-51) Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord cometh. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would assuredly have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken through. Therefore be ye also ready, for in an hour that ye think not the son of man will come. Who therefore is the faithful and prudent servant, whom his lord hath set over his domestics, to give them their food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he will set him over all his goods. But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth to come; and shall begin to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

What these words involve may be seen from the series of things, for the subject treated of in this whole chapter of the evangelist is the last period of the church, which in the internal sense is the consummation of the age and the advent of the Lord. That this is the case is evident from the explication of all the contents of the chapter, as may be seen in the prefaces to the immediately preceding chapters of Genesis (namely, 26, n. 3353–3356; 27, n. 3486–3489; 28, n. 3650–3655; 29, n. 3751–3757; 30, n. 3897–3901; 31, n. 4056–4060; 32, n. 4229–4231; 33, n. 4332–4335).

[2] What these contents are in a series has also been there stated, namely, that when the Christian church that was set up after the Lord’s coming began to vastate itself, that is, to recede from good, then: (1) They began not to know what good and truth are, but disputed about them. (2) They despised them. (3) Next they did not at heart acknowledge them. (4) Afterwards they profaned them. (5) And as the truth of faith and the good of charity were still to remain with some, who are called the “elect,” the state of faith at that time is described. (6) And then the state of charity. (7) Lastly, the beginning of a new church is treated of; and, (8) The state as to good and truth within the so-called church, when that church is being rejected and a new church is being adopted. From this series it may appear what is involved in the words that have been transcribed above, and are the last of the chapter, namely, that they are words of exhortation to those in the church, that they should be in the good of faith, and that if not they must perish.

4423

Scarcely anyone knows how the case is with the rejection of an old church and the adoption of a new church. He who does not know man’s interiors and their states, and consequently man’s states after death, cannot but infer that those who are of the old church, and in whom good and truth have been laid waste, that is, are no longer at heart acknowledged, are to perish, either as the antediluvians perished by the flood, or as did the Jews by expulsion from their land, or in some other way. But when the church has been laid waste, that is, when it is no longer in any good of faith, it perishes chiefly in respect to the states of its interiors, thus in respect to its states in the other life. Heaven then removes itself away from them—and consequently the Lord—and transfers itself to others, who are adopted in their stead; for without a church somewhere on the earth there is no communication of heaven with man; for the church is like the heart and lungs of the grand man on the earth (see n. 468, 637, 931, 2054, 2853).

[2] They who are then of the old church, and thus are removed from heaven, are in a kind of inundation as to their interiors, and in fact in an inundation over the head. This inundation the man himself does not observe while he lives in the body, but he comes into it after death. In the other life this inundation plainly appears like a thick cloud by which they are encompassed and separated from heaven. The state of those who are in this thick cloud is that they cannot possibly see what the truth of faith is, and still less what is its good; for the light of heaven, in which is intelligence and wisdom, cannot penetrate into this cloud. This is the state of a vastated church.

4424

What the Lord’s words quoted above involve in the internal sense may be seen without explication; for the Lord spoke them not so much by representatives and significatives, as by comparatives. There shall be stated merely what is signified by the words of the last verse, namely: “He shall cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

엄히 때리고 He shall cut him asunder;

signifies separation and removal from goods and truths; for they who are in knowledges of good and truth, as are those who are within the church and yet in a life of evil, are said to be “cut asunder” when they are removed from these knowledges. For the knowledges of good and truth are separated from them in the other life, and they are kept in evils, and therefore also in falsities; which is done in order to prevent them from communicating with heaven by the knowledges of truth, and with hell by evils and the derivative falsities, and thus hanging between the two; and also to prevent them from profaning goods and truths, which is done when these are commingled with falsities and evils. The same is also signified by the Lord’s words to him who hid the talent in the earth: “Take therefore the talent from him; and give it unto him that hath ten talents; for unto everyone that hath shall be given, and from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away” (Matt. 25:28, 29); also by what the Lord says in another place in Matthew 13:12; and in Mark 4:25; and in Luke 8:18.

[2] 외식하는 자가 받는 벌에 처하리니 And appoint his portion with the hypocrites;

signifies his lot (which is his “portion”) with those who outwardly appear to be in truth as to doctrine and in good as to life, but inwardly believe nothing of truth and will nothing of good, who are the “hypocrites.” In this manner they are “cut asunder.” Therefore when their externals are taken away from them, as takes place with all in the other life, they appear such as they are as to their internals, namely, devoid of faith and charity, of which they nevertheless have made a show in order to win others and acquire honors, gain, and reputation. Those within a vastated church are almost all of this character, for they have externals, but no internals. This is the origin of that inundation of their interiors which has been already spoken of (n. 4423).

[3] 거기서 슬피 울며 이를 갈리라 There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth;

signifies their state in the other life, “wailing,” their state as to evils, and “gnashing of teeth,” their state as to falsities. For in the Word the “teeth” signify the lowest natural things, in the genuine sense the truths of these natural things, and in the opposite sense their falsities. The teeth moreover correspond to these things, and therefore the “gnashing of teeth” is the collision of falsities with truths. They who are in mere natural things, and who are in these from the fallacies of the senses, and who believe nothing but what they see thereby, are said to be in the “gnashing of teeth,” and also in the other life appear to themselves to be so when they draw conclusions from their fallacies concerning the truths of faith. In a church vastated as to good and truth such persons abound. The like is signified elsewhere also by the “gnashing of teeth,” as in Matthew:

그 나라의 본 자손들은 바깥 어두운 데 쫓겨나 거기서 울며 이를 갈게 되리라 (마8:12) The sons of the kingdom shall be cast forth into the outer darkness, there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 8:12);

the “sons of the kingdom” are those who are in a vastated church; the “darkness” is falsities (n. 4418), for they are in darkness when they are in the thick cloud mentioned above; the “gnashing of teeth” is the collision of falsities therein with truths. In like manner elsewhere, as in Matt. 13:42, 50; 22:13; 25:30; and Luke 13:28.

※ (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 (마24:36-42)

4332

By way of preface to the preceding chapter there were unfolded the things foretold by the Lord in Matthew, chapter 24, verses 32 to 35, concerning his coming; by which is understood (as there and in other places previously shown) the last period of the former church and the first of a new church. The last period or end of the former church, and the first period or beginning of a new church, have been treated of thus far (see what precedes, chapter 31, n. 4056–4060, and chapter 32, n. 4229–4231). There are now to be unfolded the words that follow in the same chapter of the evangelist, from verses 36 to 42, namely these:

36그러나 그날과 그때는 아무도 모르나니 하늘의 천사들도, 아들도 모르고 오직 아버지만 아시느니라 37노아의 때와 같이 인자의 임함도 그러하리라 38홍수 전에 노아가 방주에 들어가던 날까지 사람들이 먹고 마시고 장가들고 시집가고 있으면서 39홍수가 나서 그들을 다 멸하기까지 깨닫지 못하였으니 인자의 임함도 이와 같으리라 40그때에 두 사람이 밭에 있으매 한 사람은 데려가고 한 사람은 버려둠을 당할 것이요 41두 여자가 맷돌질을 하고 있으매 한 사람은 데려가고 한 사람은 버려둠을 당할 것이니라 42그러므로 깨어 있으라 어느 날에 너희 주가 임할는지 너희가 알지 못함이니라 (마24:36-42) But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not the angels of the heavens, but my father only. And as were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the son of man. For as they were in the days before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; one shall be taken, and one shall be left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; one shall be taken, and one shall be left (Matt. 24:36–42).

4333

What is signified by these words in the internal sense will appear from the following explication—that there is described what the state will be when the old church is being rejected and the new is being set up. That the rejection of the old church and the setting up of the new is what is meant by the “consummation of the age,” and by the “coming of the son of man,” and in general by the last judgment, has been already repeatedly shown; and also that a last judgment has several times taken place on this globe: first, when the Lord’s celestial church, which was the most ancient, perished in the antediluvians by an inundation of evils and falsities, which in the internal sense is the “flood.”

[2] Second, when the spiritual church, which was after the flood, and is called the ancient, being spread over much of the Asiatic world, ceased of itself.

[3] Third, when the representative of a church among the posterity of Jacob was destroyed, which took place when the ten tribes were carried away into perpetual captivity and dispersed among the nations; and finally when Jerusalem was destroyed, and the Jews also were dispersed. Because there was then a consummation of the age after the Lord’s coming, therefore also many things said by the Lord in the evangelists concerning the consummation of that age are also applicable to the Jewish nation, and are likewise applied to them by many at this day. Nevertheless the subject treated of in the above words is specifically and especially the consummation of the age now at hand,1 namely, the end of the Christian church, which is also treated of by John in Revelation. This will be the fourth last judgment on this globe. What the words involve that are contained in verses 36 to 42 adduced above, will appear from their internal sense, which is as follows.

4334

그러나 그날과 그때는 아무도 모르나니 But of that day and hour knoweth no one;

signifies the state of the church at that time as to goods and truths, that it would not appear to anyone, neither on earth nor in heaven. For by “day and hour” here is not meant day and hour, or time; but state as to good and truth. That times in the Word signify states, see n. 2625, 2788, 2837, 3254, 3356; as also do “days,” n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785; and thence also hours, but specifically state. That it is here state as to good and truth is because the subject treated of is the church, for good and truth make the church.

[2] 하늘의 천사들도, 아들도 모르고 오직 아버지만 아시느니라 Not the angels of the heavens, but my father only;

signifies that heaven does not know the state of the church as to good and truth specifically, but the Lord alone, and also when that state of the church will come. That the Lord himself is meant by the “father,” see n. 15, 1729, 2004, 2005, 3690; and that the Divine good in the Lord is what is called the “father,” and the Divine truth from the Divine good “the son,” n. 2803, 3703, 3704, 3736; and therefore they who believe that the father is one and the son another, and who separate them from each other, do not understand the Scriptures.

[3] 노아의 때와 같이 인자의 임함도 그러하리라 홍수 전에 For as they were in the days before the flood;

signifies the state of vastation of those who are of the church, which is compared to the state of vastation of the first or most ancient church; the consummation of the age or last judgment of which is described in the Word by the “flood.” That by the “flood” is signified an inundation of evils and falsities and the consequent consummation of that age, see n. 310, 660, 662, 705, 739, 790, 805, 1120. That “days” signify states, see above.

[4] 사람들이 먹고 마시고 장가들고 시집가고 있으면서 Eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage;

signifies their state as to the appropriation of evil and falsity, and the consequent conjunction with these. That “to eat” denotes the appropriation of good, and “to drink” the appropriation of truth, see n. 3168, 3513e, 3596; thus in the opposite sense the appropriation of evil and falsity. That “to marry” denotes conjunction with evil, and “to give in marriage,” conjunction with falsity, may be seen from what has been said and shown respecting marriage and conjugial love (n. 686, 2173, 2618, 2728–2729, 2737–2739, 2803, 3132, 3155), namely, that in the internal sense this is the conjunction of good and truth, but here in the opposite sense the conjunction of evil and falsity. Whatever the Lord spoke, being Divine, is not the same in the internal sense as in the letter. Thus eating and drinking in the holy supper do not signify in the spiritual sense eating and drinking, but the appropriation of the good of the Lord’s Divine love (n. 2165, 2177, 2187, 2343, 2359, 3464, 3478, 3735, 4211, 4217). And as when predicated of the church and the Lord’s kingdom the conjugial is the conjunction of the good of love with the truth of faith, therefore from this conjunction the Lord’s kingdom is called in the Word the heavenly marriage.

[5] 노아가 방주에 들어가던 날까지 Until the day that Noah entered into the ark;

signifies the end of the former church, and the beginning of the new. For by “Noah” is signified the ancient church in general which succeeded the most ancient after the flood (n. 773, and elsewhere); and by the “ark,” the church itself (n. 639). “Day,” which is mentioned several times in these verses, signifies state, as shown just above.

[6] 홍수가 나서 그들을 다 멸하기까지 깨닫지 못하였으니 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away;

signifies that the men of the church will not then know that they are inundated by evils and falsities, because on account of the evils and falsities in which they are they will not know what the good of love to the Lord is, and the good of charity toward the neighbor, and also what the truth of faith, and that this is from that love and charity, and is not possible except with those who live in this love and in this charity. They will also be ignorant that the internal is what saves and condemns, but not the external separate from the internal.

[7] 인자의 임함도 이와 같으리라 So shall the coming of the son of man be;

signifies the Divine truth, and that they will not receive it. It has been said before (Mat. 24:27, 30), that the “coming of the son of man” is the Divine truth which will then be revealed (also in n. 2803, 2813, 3004–3009, and 3704).

[8] 그때에 두 사람이 밭에 있으매 한 사람은 데려가고 한 사람은 버려둠을 당할 것이요 Then shall two be in the field; one shall be taken, and one shall be left;

signifies those within the church who are in good, and those within the church who are in evil—that they who are in good will be saved, and that they who are in evil will be condemned. That a “field” denotes the church as to good, see n. 2971, 3196, 3310, 3317, 3766.

[9] 두 여자가 맷돌질을 하고 있으매 한 사람은 데려가고 한 사람은 버려둠을 당할 것이니라 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; one shall be taken, and one shall be left;

signifies those within the church who are in truth, that is, in the affection of it from good, that they will be saved; and those within the church who are in truth, that is, in the affection of it from evil, that they will be condemned. That in the Word “to grind” and a “mill” have this signification will be evident from what now follows. From all this it is now evident that by these words is described what the state as to good and truth will be within the church when it is being rejected, and a new church is being adopted.

4335. That in the Word by “those who grind” are meant those within the church who are in truth from the affection of good, and in the opposite sense those within the church who are in truth from the affection of evil, may be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:

1처녀 딸 바벨론이여 내려와서 티끌에 앉으라 딸 갈대아여 보좌가 없어졌으니 땅에 앉으라 네가 다시는 곱고 아리땁다 일컬음을 받지 못할 것임이라 2맷돌을 가지고 가루를 갈고 너울을 벗으며 치마를 걷어 다리를 드러내고 강을 건너라 (사47:1, 2) Come down, and sit upon the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit in the earth, there is not a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans; take a millstone and grind meal, uncover thy hair, make bare the foot, uncover the thigh, pass through the rivers (Isa. 47:1–2);

the “daughter of Babylon” denotes those whose externals appear holy and good, but their interiors are profane and evil (n. 1182, 1326); the “daughter of the Chaldeans,” those whose externals appear holy and true, but their interiors are profane and false (n. 1368, 1816); “to take a millstone and grind meal” denotes to hatch doctrinal things from the truths which they pervert; for as meal is from wheat or barley, it signifies truths from good, but in the opposite sense truths which they pervert in order to mislead. In Jeremiah:

10내가 그들 중에서 기뻐하는 소리와 즐거워하는 소리와 신랑의 소리와 신부의 소리와 맷돌 소리와 등불 빛이 끊어지게 하리니 11이 모든 땅이 폐허가 되어 놀랄 일이 될 것이며 이 민족들은 칠십 년 동안 바벨론의 왕을 섬기리라 (렘25:10, 11) I will destroy from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of the millstones and the light of the lamp; and this whole land shall be for a waste and a desolation (Jer. 25:10–11).

[2] And in John:

21이에 한 힘 센 천사가 큰 맷돌 같은 돌을 들어 바다에 던져 이르되 큰 성 바벨론이 이같이 비참하게 던져져 결코 다시 보이지 아니하리로다 22또 거문고 타는 자와 풍류하는 자와 퉁소 부는 자와 나팔 부는 자들의 소리가 결코 다시 네 안에서 들리지 아니하고 어떠한 세공업자든지 결코 다시 네 안에서 보이지 아니하고 또 맷돌 소리가 결코 다시 네 안에서 들리지 아니하고 23등불 빛이 결코 다시 네 안에서 비치지 아니하고 신랑과 신부의 음성이 결코 다시 네 안에서 들리지 아니하리로다 너의 상인들은 땅의 왕족들이라 네 복술로 말미암아 만국이 미혹되었도다 (계18:21-23) Every craftsman of every craft shall not be found in Babylon any more, every voice of the millstone shall not be heard therein any more; and the light of a lamp shall not shine therein any more; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall not be heard therein any more (Rev. 18:21–23);

“the voice of a millstone being heard no more in Babylon” denotes that there will be no truth; and “the light of a lamp shining no more,” that there will be no intelligence of truth. In Lamentations:

11대적들이 시온에서 부녀들을, 유다 각 성읍에서 처녀들을 욕보였나이다 12지도자들은 그들의 손에 매달리고 장로들의 얼굴도 존경을 받지 못하나이다 13청년들이 맷돌을 지며 아이들이 나무를 지다가 엎드러지오며 14노인들은 다시 성문에 앉지 못하며 청년들은 다시 노래하지 못하나이다 (애5:11-14) They ravished the women in Zion, the virgins in the cities of Judah; princes were hanged up by their hand, the faces of the old men were not honored; the young men were carried away to grind, and the children fall in the wood (Lam. 5:11–14);

“the young men being carried away to grind” denotes to hatch falsities by applying truths, and thus persuading.

[3] In Moses:

애굽 땅에 있는 모든 처음 난 것은 왕위에 앉아 있는 바로의 장자로부터 맷돌 뒤에 있는 몸종의 장자와 모든 가축의 처음 난 것까지 죽으리니 (출11:5) Every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, to the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mills (Exod. 11:5);

the “firstborn of Egypt” denotes the truths of faith separated from the good of charity, which truths become falsities (n. 3325); the “firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mills” denotes the affection of such truth, whence come falsities. These things were represented by these historicals.

[4] In the same:

사람이 맷돌이나 그 위짝을 전당 잡지 말지니 이는 그 생명을 전당 잡음이니라 (신24:6) He shall not take in pledge the mills or the millstone, for they are the soul of him that pledgeth (Deut. 24:6).

This law was enacted because by “mills” were signified doctrinal things, and by a “millstone,” the truths thereof, which are what are called the “soul of him that pledgeth.” It is manifest that this law would not have been given, nor would it have been said that it was his “soul,” unless mills and a millstone had a spiritual signification.

[5] That grinding derives its signification from representatives that come forth in the world of spirits has been shown me; for I have seen there those who were as if grinding without any end of use, and merely for their own pleasure. And as in such a case truths are devoid of their own affection from good, they do indeed appear as truths in the outward form; but as there is no internal in them, they are phantasms; and if there is an evil internal, they are then employed to confirm the evil; and thus by application to evil they become falsities.

※ (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 (마24:32-35)

4229

In volume 3(주1) a commencement was made with the explication of the Lord’s predictions in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew concerning the last judgment, the explication being prefixed to the last chapters of that volume, and being continued as far as the thirty-first verse of the chapter in the evangelist just referred to (see n. 3353–3356, 3486–3489, 3650–3655, 3897–3901, 4056–4060). The internal sense in a summary of these predictions of the Lord plainly appears from the explications already given, namely, that prediction is there made concerning the successive vastation of the church, and the ultimate setting up of a new church, in the following order:

1. That the members of the church would begin not to know what good and truth are, and would dispute about them.

2. That they would hold them in contempt.

3. That at heart they would not acknowledge them.

4. That they would profane them.

5. And because the truth of faith and the good of charity would still remain with some, who are called the “elect,” a description is given of the state of the faith as it then existed.

6. Next of the state of the charity.

7. And finally the commencement of a new church is treated of, which is meant by the words that were last explained:

그가 큰 나팔소리와 함께 천사들을 보내리니 그들이 그의 택하신 자들을 하늘 이 끝에서 저 끝까지 사방에서 모으리라 (마24:31) He shall send forth his angels with a trumpet and a great voice, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the end of the heavens even to the end thereof (Matt. 24:31),

by which is meant the commencement of a new church (see n. 4060e).

4230

When the end of an old church and the beginning of a new church is at hand, then is the last judgment. This is the time that is meant in the Word by the “Last Judgment” (see n. 2117–2133, 3353, 4057), and also by the “coming of the son of man.” It is this very coming that is now the subject before us, as referred to in the question addressed to the Lord by the disciples:

예수께서 감람산 위에 앉으셨을 때에 제자들이 조용히 와서 이르되 우리에게 이르소서 어느 때에 이런 일이 있겠사오며 또 주의 임하심과 세상 끝에는 무슨 징조가 있사오리이까 (마24:3) Tell us when shall these things be, especially what is the sign of thy coming, and of the consummation of the age? (Matt. 24:3).

It remains therefore to unfold the things predicted by the Lord concerning this very time of his coming and of the consummation of the age which is the last judgment; but in the preface to this chapter only those contained in verses 32 to 35:

32무화과나무의 비유를 배우라 그 가지가 연하여지고 잎사귀를 내면 여름이 가까운 줄을 아나니 33이와 같이 너희도 이 모든 일을 보거든 인자가 가까이 곧 문 앞에 이른 줄 알라 34내가 진실로 너희에게 말하노니 이 세대가 지나가기 전에 이 일이 다 일어나리라 35천지는 없어질지언정 내 말은 없어지지 아니하리라 (마24:32-35) Now learn a parable from the fig tree. When her branch is now become tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that the summer is nigh. So also ye, when ye see all these things, know that it is nigh, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away till all these things be accomplished. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away (Matt. 24:32–35).

The internal sense of these words is as follows.

4231

무화과나무의 비유를 배우라 그 가지가 연하여지고 잎사귀를 내면 여름이 가까운 줄을 아나니 Now learn a parable from the fig tree. When her branch is now become tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that the summer is nigh;

signifies the first of a new church; the “fig tree” is the good of the natural; her “branch” is the affection of this; and the “leaves” are truths. The “parable from which they should learn” is that these things are signified. He who is not acquainted with the internal sense of the Word, cannot possibly know what is involved in the comparison of the Lord’s coming to a fig tree and its branch and leaves; but as all the comparisons in the Word are also significative (n. 3579), it may be known from this signification what is meant. A “fig tree” wherever mentioned in the Word signifies in the internal sense the good of the natural (n. 217); that her “branch” is the affection of this is because affection springs forth from good as a branch from its trunk; and that “leaves” are truths may be seen above (n. 885). From all this it is now evident what the parable involves, namely, that when a new church is being created by the Lord, there then appears first of all the good of the natural, that is, good in the external form together with its affection and truths. By the good of the natural is not meant the good into which man is born, or which he derives from his parents, but a good which is spiritual in respect to its origin. Into this no one is born, but is led into it by the Lord through the knowledges of good and truth. Therefore until a man is in this good (that is, in spiritual good), he is not a man of the church, however much from a good that is born with him he may appear to be so.

[2] 이와 같이 너희도 이 모든 일을 보거든 인자가 가까이 곧 문 앞에 이른 줄 알라 So also ye, when ye see all these things, know that it is nigh, even at the doors;

signifies that when those things appear which are signified in the internal sense by the words spoken just before (verses 29–31), and by these concerning the fig tree, then it is the consummation of the church, that is, the last judgment, and the coming of the Lord; consequently that the old church is then being rejected, and a new one is being set up. It is said, “at the doors,” because the good of the natural and its truths are the first things which are insinuated into a man when he is being regenerated and is becoming the church.

내가 진실로 너희에게 말하노니 이 세대가 지나가기 전에 이 일이 다 일어나리라 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all these things be accomplished;

signifies that the Jewish nation shall not be extirpated like other nations, for the reason shown above (n. 3479).

[3] 천지는 없어질지언정 내 말은 없어지지 아니하리라 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away;

signifies that the internals and the externals of the former church would perish, but that the Word of the Lord would abide. (That “heaven” is the internal of the church, and “earth” its external, may be seen above, n. 82, 1411, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355e). By the Lord’s “words” are plainly meant not only these now spoken respecting his coming and the consummation of the age, but also all that are in the Word. These words were said immediately after what was said about the Jewish nation, because that nation was preserved for the sake of the Word, as may be seen from the number already cited (n. 3479). From all this it is now evident that the beginnings of a new church are here foretold.

※ (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 (마24:29-31)

4056

In volume 3,(주1) by way of preface to chapters 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30, there have been unfolded the things spoken and foretold by the Lord concerning the consummation of the age or last judgment, in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, from the third to the twenty-eighth verse. The words which follow there in order remain to be explained, in this place the contents of verses 29–31, where we read these words:

29그 날 환난 후에 즉시 해가 어두워지며 달이 빛을 내지 아니하며 별들이 하늘에서 떨어지며 하늘의 권능들이 흔들리리라 30그 때에 인자의 징조가 하늘에서 보이겠고 그 때에 땅의 모든 족속들이 통곡하며 그들이 인자가 구름을 타고 능력과 큰 영광으로 오는 것을 보리라 31그가 큰 나팔소리와 함께 천사들을 보내리니 그들이 그의 택하신 자들을 하늘 이 끝에서 저 끝까지 사방에서 모으리라 (마24:29-31) But immediately after the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth wail; and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send forth his angels with a trumpet and a great voice, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the end of the heavens even to the end thereof (Matt. 24:29–31).

4057

What the consummation of the age, or last judgment is, has already been explained, namely, that it is the last period of the church. Its last period is said to be when there is no longer in it any charity and faith; and it has also been shown that there have been several such consummations, or last periods. The consummation of the first church was described by the flood; and the consummation of the second church by the extirpation of the nations in the land of Canaan, and also by the extirpations and cuttings off frequently described in the prophets. The consummation of the third church is not described in the Word, but is foretold—that is, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the dispersion of the Jewish nation, with which was the church, over the whole world. The fourth consummation is that of the present Christian church, which is foretold by the Lord in the evangelists, and also by John in Revelation, and which is now at hand.(주2)

4058

In the foregoing verses of this chapter of Matthew there is described the successive vastation of the church; namely, that first they began not to know what good and truth are, but disputed about them; next that they treated them with contempt; in the third place that they did not acknowledge them at heart; and fourthly, that they profaned them. These states are described from the third to the twenty-second verse; and as the truth of faith and the good of charity were still to remain in the midst (that is, with some who are called the “elect”) the quality of the state of the truth of faith at that time is described in verses 23 to 28; and in the following verses, now to be explained, there is described the state of the good that is of charity and of love; and also the beginning of a new church.

4059

From the particulars contained in these verses it is very manifest that they have an internal sense, and that unless this sense is understood, it is impossible to know what they involve—as that the sun shall be darkened, that the moon shall not give her light, that the stars shall fall from heaven, and that the powers of the heavens shall be shaken; and then that the Lord shall appear in the clouds of heaven, that his angels shall sound with a trumpet, and shall gather together his elect. He who knows not the internal sense of these words, must believe that such things are to come to pass; nay, that the world is to perish, with everything we behold in the universe. And yet that by the last judgment there is not meant any destruction of the world, but the consummation or vastation of the church in respect to charity and faith, may be seen above (n. 3353); and is plainly manifest from the words which follow in this same chapter of Matthew:

40그 때에 두 사람이 밭에 있으매 한 사람은 데려가고 한 사람은 버려둠을 당할 것이요 41두 여자가 맷돌질을 하고 있으매 한 사람은 데려가고 한 사람은 버려둠을 당할 것이니라 (마24:40, 41) Then shall two men be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left; two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left (Matt. 24:40–41).

4060

Therefore that by the words now before us there is signified the state of the church at that time in respect to good (that is, as to charity toward the neighbor and love to the Lord), is evident from their internal sense, which is as follows:

그 날 환난 후에 즉시 But immediately after the affliction of those days;

signifies the state of the church in respect to the truth of faith (concerning which just above). In the Word the desolation of truth in various places is called “affliction.” (That “days” are states may be seen above, n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785.) From this it is manifest that by these words is signified that after there is no longer any faith, there will be no charity. For faith leads to charity, because it teaches what charity is, and charity receives its quality from the truths of faith; but the truths of faith receive their essence and their life from charity, as has been repeatedly shown in the preceding volumes.

[2] 해가 어두워지며 달이 빛을 내지 아니하며 The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light;

signifies love to the Lord, which is the “sun”; and charity toward the neighbor, which is the “moon.” “To be darkened and not to give their light” signifies that they will not appear, and thus will vanish away. (That the “sun” is the celestial of love, and the “moon” the spiritual of love; that is, that the “sun” is love to the Lord, and the “moon” charity toward the neighbor, which comes forth through faith, may be seen above, n. 1053, 1529, 1530, 2120, 2441, 2495.) The reason why this is the signification of the “sun and moon,” is that in the other life the Lord appears as a sun to those in heaven who are in love to him, and who are called the celestial; and as a moon to those who are in charity toward the neighbor, and who are called the spiritual (see n. 1053, 1521, 1529–1531, 3636, 3643).

[3] The sun and moon in the heavens (that is, the Lord) is never darkened, nor does it lose its light, but it shines perpetually; and so neither is love to the Lord darkened with the celestial, nor does charity toward the neighbor lose its light with the spiritual, in the heavens; nor on earth with those with whom these angels are, that is, those who are in love and charity. Those however who are in no love and charity, but in the love of self and of the world, and consequently in hatred and revenge, bring that “darkening” upon themselves. The case herein is as it is with the sun of this world, which shines continuously; but when the clouds interpose, it does not appear (n. 2441).

[4] 별들이 하늘에서 떨어지며 하늘의 권능들이 흔들리리라 And the stars shall fall from heaven; and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.

signifies that the knowledges of good and truth will perish. Nothing else is signified by “stars” when these are mentioned in the Word (n. 1808, 2849). And the powers of the heavens shall be shaken; signifies the foundations of the church, which are said to be “shaken” and “made to quake” when they perish. For the church on earth is the foundation of heaven, because the influx of good and truth from the Lord through the heavens finally terminates in the goods and truths that are with the man of the church. When therefore the man of the church is in such a perverted state as no longer to admit the influx of good and truth, the powers of the heavens are said to be “shaken.” For this reason it is always provided by the Lord that something of the church shall remain; and that when an old church perishes, a new one shall be set up again.

[5] 그 때에 인자의 징조가 하늘에서 보이겠고 And then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven;

signifies the appearing of Divine truth at that time; the “sign” signifies the appearing; the “son of man,” the Lord as to Divine truth (see n. 2803, 2813, 3704). It was this appearing or this “sign,” concerning which the disciples asked when they said, “Tell us when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the consummation of the age” (verse 3). For they knew from the Word that when the age should be consummated, the Lord would come; and they learned from the Lord himself that he would “come again,” by which they understood that the Lord would once more come into the world; not yet knowing that the Lord has come whenever the church has been vastated, not indeed in person, as when he assumed the human by birth and made it Divine; but by means of appearings—either manifest, as when he appeared to Abraham in Mamre, to Moses in the bush, to the people of Israel on Mount Sinai, and to Joshua when he entered the land of Canaan; or not so manifest, as by inspirations through which the Word was given, and afterwards through the Word; for the Lord is present in the Word, because all things in the Word are from him and concerning him, as may be seen from what has already been frequently shown. This latter is the appearing here signified by the “sign of the son of man,” and which is described in this verse.

[6] 그 때에 땅의 모든 족속들이 통곡하며 And then shall all the tribes of the earth wail;

signifies that all who are in the good of love and the truth of faith shall be in grief. That “wailing” signifies this, may be seen in Zechariah 12:10–14; and that “tribes” signify all things of good and truth, or of love and faith, and consequently those who are in them, may be seen above (n. 3858, 3926). They are called the “tribes of the earth,” because those are meant who are within the church. (That the “earth” is the church may be seen above, n. 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2928, 3355.)

[7] 그들이 인자가 구름을 타고 능력과 큰 영광으로 오는 것을 보리라 And they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of the heavens with power and great glory;

signifies that the Word will then be revealed as to its internal sense, in which the Lord is; the “son of man” is the Divine truth therein (n. 2803, 2813, 3704); the “cloud” is the literal sense; “power” is predicated of the good, and “glory” of the truth, therein. (That these things are signified by “seeing the son of man coming in the clouds of the heavens,” see the preface to the eighteenth chapter.) This is the “coming of the Lord” here meant, and not that he will literally appear in the clouds. Now follows the subject of the setting up of a new church, which takes place when the old one is vastated and rejected.

[8] 그가 큰 나팔 소리와 함께 천사들을 보내리니 He shall send forth his angels with a trumpet and a great voice;

signifies election, not by visible angels, still less by trumpets, and by great voices; but by the influx of holy good and holy truth from the Lord through angels; and therefore by “angels” in the Word there is signified something of the Lord (n. 1925, 2821, 3039); here, there are signified things that are from the Lord and concerning the Lord. By the “trumpet” and the “great voice” there is signified evangelization, as elsewhere in the Word.

[9] 그들이 그의 택하신 자들을 하늘 이 끝에서 저 끝까지 사방에서 모으리라 And they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the end of the heavens even to the end thereof;

signifies the setting up of a new church. The “elect” are those who are in the good of love and of faith (n. 3755–3900); the “four winds” from which they shall be gathered together, are all states of good and truth (n. 3708); “from the end of the heavens to the end of them” denotes the internals and the externals of the church. Such therefore are the things signified by these words of the Lord.

※ (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 (마24:23-28)

3897

In accordance with the plan adopted it is now necessary to explain, as a preface to this chapter, what the Lord taught concerning the last judgment, or the last times of the church, in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew. Before the preceding chapter of Genesis there was explained what is contained in this chapter of Matthew from verse 19 to 22. Now follows what is contained in verses 23 to 28.

23그 때에 사람이 너희에게 말하되 보라 그리스도가 여기 있다 혹은 저기 있다 하여도 믿지 말라 24거짓 그리스도들과 거짓 선지자들이 일어나 큰 표적과 기사를 보여 할 수만 있으면 택하신 자들도 미혹하리라 25보라 내가 너희에게 미리 말하였노라 26그러면 사람들이 너희에게 말하되 보라 그리스도가 광야에 있다 하여도 나가지 말고 보라 골방에 있다 하여도 믿지 말라 27번개가 동편에서 나서 서편까지 번쩍임 같이 인자의 임함도 그러하리라 28주검이 있는 곳에는 독수리들이 모일 것이니라 (마24:23-28) Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo here is the Christ, or there, believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall give great signs and wonders, to lead astray if possible even the elect. Behold I have told you before. If therefore they shall say unto you, Behold he is in the desert, go not out; Behold he is in the inner chambers, believe it not. For as the lightning cometh forth out of the east and appeareth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the son of man be. For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together (Matt. 24:23–28).

3898

What these words involve no one can know except from the internal sense—as that false Christs shall arise who shall give signs and wonders; and that if men should say that Christ is in the desert, they should not go out; and that if they should say that he is in the inner chambers, they should not believe it; and that the coming of the son of man shall be as the lightning which cometh forth from the east and appeareth even unto the west; and also that wheresoever the carcass is, there also will the eagles be gathered together. These things, like those which precede and that follow in this chapter, seem not to stand in any series as to the sense of the letter; but yet in the internal sense they are in a most beautiful series, which first becomes apparent when it is understood what is signified by “false Christs”; what by “signs and wonders”; what by the “desert” and the “inner chambers”; also what by the “coming of the son of man”; and lastly what by the “carcass” and the “eagles.”

[2] The reason why the Lord spoke in this manner was in order that the people might not understand the Word, lest they should profane it; for when the church has been vastated, as it then was with the Jews, if men understood it they would profane it; wherefore for the same reason the Lord also spoke by parables, as he himself teaches in Matthew (13:13–15; Mark 4:11, 12; Luke 8:10). For the Word cannot be profaned by those who do not know its mysteries; but by those who do (see n. 301–303, 593, 1008, 1010, 1059, 1327, 1328, 2051, 3398, 3402); and more by those who appear to themselves learned than by those who seem to themselves unlearned.

[3] But the reason why the interiors of the Word are now being opened, is that the church at this day has been so far vastated (that is, is so devoid of faith and love) that although men know and understand, still they do not acknowledge, and much less believe (see n. 3398, 3399), except a few who are in the life of good and are called the “elect,” who can now be instructed, and with whom a new church is to be instituted. But where these are, the Lord alone knows; there will be few within the church; it has been among the gentiles that previous new churches have been set up (see n. 2986).

3899

In what precedes in this chapter of Matthew the successive vastation of the church has been treated of—that they should first begin no longer to know what good and truth are, but should dispute about them; next that they should despise them; thirdly that they should not acknowledge them; and fourthly that they should profane them (see n. 3754). The subject now treated of is the state of the church in respect to its quality at that time as to doctrine in general, and with those specifically who are in holy external worship, but in profane internal worship; that is, who with the mouth profess the Lord with holy reverence, but at heart worship themselves and the world, so that with them the worship of the Lord is a means of gaining honors and wealth. Insofar as these persons have acknowledged the Lord, and the heavenly life and faith, so far do they profane them when they become of such a character. This state of the church is now treated of, as may better appear from the internal sense of the Lord’s words quoted above, which is as follows.

3900

그 때에 사람이 너희에게 말하되 보라 그리스도가 여기 있다 혹은 저기 있다 하여도 믿지 말라 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo here is the Christ, or there; believe it not;

signifies an exhortation to beware of their doctrine. “The Christ” is the Lord as to Divine truth, and hence as to the Word and as to doctrine from the Word. That here the contrary is meant, namely, Divine truth falsified, or the doctrine of falsity is evident. (That “Jesus” is Divine good, and “Christ” Divine truth, may be seen above, n. 3004, 3005, 3008, 3009.)

[2] 거짓 그리스도들과 거짓 선지자들이 일어나 For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets;

signifies the falsities of that doctrine. That “false Christs” are doctrinal things from the Word falsified, or truths not Divine, is manifest from what has been said just above (see also n. 3010, 3732 at the end); and that “false prophets” are those who teach such falsities (n. 2534). In the Christian world they who teach falsities are especially those who have as their end their own preeminence, and the riches of the world; for they pervert the truths of the Word in their own favor; for when the love of self and of the world is the end, nothing else is thought of. These are “false Christs and false prophets.”

[3] 큰 표적과 기사를 보여 And they shall give great signs and wonders;

signifies things that confirm and persuade from external appearances and fallacies, by which the simple suffer themselves to be led astray. That this is “giving signs and wonders” will of the Lord’s Divine mercy be shown elsewhere.

[4] 할 수만 있으면 택하신 자들도 미혹하리라 To lead astray if possible even the elect;

signifies those who are in the life of good and truth, and are consequently with the Lord. These are they who in the Word are called the “elect.” In the company of those who veil over profane worship with what is holy, such are rarely seen; or if seen, they are not known; for the Lord hides them, and thus protects them. For before they have been confirmed they suffer themselves to be easily led away by external sanctities; but after they have been confirmed they remain steadfast, being kept by the Lord in the company of angels, without knowing it; and it is then impossible for them to be led astray by that wicked crew.

[5] 보라 내가 너희에게 미리 말하였노라 Behold, I have told you before;

signifies an exhortation to prudence, that is, to beware; for they are among false prophets, who appear in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves (Matt. 7:15). The “false prophets” are the sons of the age, who are more prudent in their generation (that is, more crafty) than the sons of light (as described in Luke 16:8). For which reason the Lord exhorts them in the words, “Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye therefore prudent as serpents and simple as doves” (Matt. 10:16).

[6] 그러면 사람들이 너희에게 말하되 보라 그리스도가 광야에 있다 하여도 나가지 말고 보라 골방에 있다 하여도 믿지 말라 If therefore they shall say unto you, Behold he is in the desert, go not forth; Behold he is in the inner chambers, believe it not;

signifies that what they say about truth, and what they say about good, as well as many other things, are not to be believed. That this is what is signified, no one can see except the man who is acquainted with the internal sense. That a mystery is contained in these words may be known from the fact that the Lord spoke them, and that without any other sense more interiorly hidden the words amount to nothing— namely, that if they should say that the Christ was in the desert they were not to go forth; and if they should say that he was in the inner chambers, they were not to believe it. But it is vastated truth that is signified by the “desert”; and vastated good by the “inner chambers,” or secret recesses. The reason why vastated truth is signified by the “desert” is that when the church is vastated (that is, when there is no longer any Divine truth in it, because there is no longer any good, or love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor), it is then said to be a “desert,” or to be in a “desert”; for by a “desert” or “wilderness” is meant whatever is not cultivated or inhabited (n. 2708); also whatever has little life (n. 1927), as is then the case with truth in the church. This shows that the “desert” here is a church in which there is no truth.

[7] But the “inner chambers,” or secret recesses, in the internal sense signify the church as to good, and also simply good. The church that is in good is called the “house of God.” The “inner chambers,” and the things within the house, are goods. (That the “house of God” is Divine good; and a “house” in general, the good of love and charity, may be seen above, n. 2233, 2234, 2559, 3142, 3652, 3720.) The reason why that which men say about truth, and what they say about good, is not to be believed, is that they call falsity truth, and evil good; for they who regard themselves and the world as their end, understand nothing else by truth and good than that they themselves are to be adored, and are to receive benefits; and if they breathe forth piety, it is that they may appear in sheep’s clothing.

[8] Moreover, as the Word spoken by the Lord contains innumerable things within it, and as “desert” or “wilderness” is a word of wide signification, for all that is called a “wilderness” which is not cultivated and inhabited, and all interior things are called “inner chambers”; therefore by a “desert” is also signified the Word of the Old Testament, because this is regarded as abrogated; and by “inner chambers” the Word of the New Testament, because this teaches interior things, or those which concern the internal man. So also the whole Word is called a “desert,” because it no longer serves for doctrinal things; and human institutions are called “inner chambers,” which, because they depart from the precepts and institutes of the Word, make the Word to be a “desert.” This is also known in the Christian world; for they who are in holy external and in profane internal worship, for the sake of innovations which look to their preeminence over all and their opulence above all as the ends in view, abrogate the Word, and this so far as not even to permit it to be read by others. And although they who are not in such profane worship hold the Word to be holy, and permit it to be among the people, they nevertheless bend and explain all things therein in favor of their doctrinal matters, which causes the rest of what is in the Word, and which is not in accordance with their doctrinal matters, to be a “desert.”

This may be sufficiently evident from the case of those who make salvation to consist in faith alone, and hold in contempt the works of charity. All that the Lord himself has spoken in the New Testament, and so many times in the Old, concerning love and charity, they make as a “desert”; and all the things that belong to faith without works, they make as “inner chambers.” It is manifest from this what is signified by the words, “If they say unto you, Behold he is in the desert, go not forth; Behold he is in the inner chambers, believe it not.”

[9] 번개가 동편에서 나서 서편까지 번쩍임 같이 인자의 임함도 그러하리라 For as the lightning cometh forth from the east, and appeareth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the son of man be;

signifies that it was with the internal worship of the Lord as with lightning, which is instantly dissipated. For by the “lightning” is signified that which is of heavenly light, and thus that which is preached about love and faith, because these are of heavenly light. In the supreme sense the “east” is the Lord; and in the internal sense, the good of love, of charity, and of faith from the Lord (see n. 101, 1250, 3249). But the “west” in the internal sense is that which has gone down or has ceased to be; thus it signifies no acknowledgment of the Lord, nor of the good of love, charity, and faith; and so the lightning that cometh out of the east and appeareth even unto the west denotes dissipation. The coming of the Lord is not according to the letter, that he is to appear again in the world; but it is his presence in everyone; and this exists whenever the gospel is preached and what is holy is thought of.

[10] 주검이 있는 곳에는 독수리들이 모일 것이니라 For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together;

signifies that confirmations of falsity by means of reasonings will be multiplied in the vastated church. When the church is without the good and consequently without the truth of faith (that is, when it has been vastated), it is said to be “dead,” for its life is from good and truth; and hence when dead it is compared to a “carcass.” Reasonings concerning goods and truths that make these out to be nothing except insofar as they are apprehended, and confirmations of evil and falsity thereby, are the “eagles,” as is evident from that which now follows. That the “carcass” here is the church devoid of the life of charity and faith is manifest from the words of the Lord in Luke, where he speaks of the consummation of the age:

그들이 대답하여 이르되 주여 어디오니이까 이르시되 주검 있는 곳에는 독수리가 모이느니라 하시니라 (눅17:37) The disciples said (referring to the consummation of the age, or the last judgment), Where Lord? And he said unto them, Where the body is, thither will the eagles also be gathered together (Luke 17:37).

“Body” here stands in place of “carcass,” for it is a dead body that is meant, and it signifies the church; for that the judgment was to commence from the house of God or from the church is evident from various passages in the Word. This is what is signified in the internal sense by the Lord’s words now adduced and unfolded. That they are in a most beautiful series, although this does not appear in the sense of the letter, must be evident to anyone who contemplates them in their connection according to the explication.

3901

The reason why the last state of the church is compared to “eagles” gathered together to a “carcass,” or to a “body” is that by “eagles” are signified man’s rational things, which when predicated of the good, are true rational things; but when predicated of the evil, are false rational things or reasonings. “Birds” in general signify man’s thoughts, in both senses good and bad (n. 40, 745, 776, 866, 991, 3219); and every species has a special signification. As eagles fly high and are sharp-sighted, they signify rational things. That this is the case may be seen from many passages in the Word, of which in confirmation we may adduce the following. First, where they signify true rational things; in Moses:

10여호와께서 그를 황무지에서, 짐승이 부르짖는 광야에서 만나시고 호위하시며 보호하시며 자기의 눈동자 같이 지키셨도다 11마치 독수리가 자기의 보금자리를 어지럽게 하며 자기의 새끼 위에 너풀거리며 그의 날개를 펴서 새끼를 받으며 그의 날개 위에 그것을 업는 것 같이 (신32:10, 11) Jehovah found his people in a desert land, and in emptiness, in wailing, in solitude: he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the pupil of the eye; as the eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth out her wings, taketh him, beareth him upon her wings (Deut. 32:10–11).

Instruction in the truths and goods of faith is what is here described, and is compared to the “eagle.” The very process until man becomes rational and spiritual is contained in the description and comparison. The comparisons in the Word are all made by means of significatives; thus here by the “eagle,” which is the rational.

[2] In the same: Jehovah said to Moses:

3모세가 하나님 앞에 올라가니 여호와께서 산에서 그를 불러 말씀하시되 너는 이같이 야곱의 집에 말하고 이스라엘 자손들에게 말하라 4내가 애굽 사람에게 어떻게 행하였음과 내가 어떻게 독수리 날개로 너희를 업어 내게로 인도하였음을 너희가 보았느니라 (출19:3, 4) Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and bare you up upon eagles’ wings, that I might bring you unto myself (Exod. 19:3–4);

denoting the same. In Isaiah:

오직 여호와를 앙망하는 자는 새 힘을 얻으리니 독수리가 날개치며 올라감 같을 것이요 달음박질하여도 곤비하지 아니하겠고 걸어가도 피곤하지 아니하리로다 (사40:31) They that wait upon Jehovah shall be renewed in strength, they shall mount up with strong wing as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint (Isa. 40:31);

“to be renewed in strength” is to grow as to the willing of good; and “to mount up with strong wing as eagles” is to grow as to the understanding of truth, thus as to the rational. The subject is set forth here as elsewhere by two expressions, one of which involves the good which is of the will, and the other the truth which is of the understanding; and the case is the same with the expressions, “they shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.”

[3] In Ezekiel:

2인자야 너는 이스라엘 족속에게 수수께끼와 비유를 말하라 3여호와께서 이같이 말씀하여 이르시되 색깔이 화려하고 날개가 크고 깃이 길고 털이 숱한 큰 독수리가 레바논에 이르러 백향목 높은 가지를 꺾되 4그 연한 가지 끝을 꺾어 가지고 장사하는 땅에 이르러 상인의 성읍에 두고 5또 그 땅의 종자를 꺾어 옥토에 심되 수양버들 가지처럼 큰 물 가에 심더니 6그것이 자라며 퍼져서 높지 아니한 포도나무 곧 굵은 가지와 가는 가지가 난 포도나무가 되어 그 가지는 독수리를 향하였고 그 뿌리는 독수리 아래에 있었더라 7또 날개가 크고 털이 많은 큰 독수리 하나가 있었는데 그 포도나무가 이 독수리에게 물을 받으려고 그 심어진 두둑에서 그를 향하여 뿌리가 뻗고 가지가 퍼졌도다 8그 포도나무를 큰 물 가 옥토에 심은 것은 가지를 내고 열매를 맺어서 아름다운 포도나무를 이루게 하려 하였음이라 9너는 이르기를 주 여호와의 말씀에 그 나무가 능히 번성하겠느냐 이 독수리가 어찌 그 뿌리를 빼고 열매를 따며 그 나무가 시들게 하지 아니하겠으며 그 연한 잎사귀가 마르게 하지 아니하겠느냐 많은 백성이나 강한 팔이 아니라도 그 뿌리를 뽑으리라, 15그가 사절을 애굽에 보내 말과 군대를 구함으로 바벨론 왕을 배반하였으니 형통하겠느냐 이런 일을 행한 자가 피하겠느냐 언약을 배반하고야 피하겠느냐 (겔17:2-9, 15) Speak a parable about the house of Israel, and say, Thus said the Lord Jehovih, A great eagle, with long pinions, full of feathers, that had embroidery, came upon Lebanon, and took a twig of the cedar; he carried it into a land of traffic, he set it in a city of spice merchants. It grew, and became a spreading vine. There was another great eagle, with great and many feathers; and behold this vine did bend its roots toward him, and sent forth its branches toward him, that he might water it from the beds of its plantations in a good field, by many waters; but it shall be laid waste. He sent his ambassadors into Egypt that they might give him horses and much people (Ezek. 17:2–9, 15).

The “eagle” first mentioned denotes the rational enlightened by the Divine; the “eagle” mentioned in the second place denotes the rational from what is man’s own, afterwards become perverted through reasonings from sensuous things and memory-knowledges. (“Egypt” denotes memory-knowledges, see n. 1164–1165, 1186, 1462; “horses” the intellectual from them, n. 2761–2762, 3217.)

[4] In Daniel:

3큰 짐승 넷이 바다에서 나왔는데 그 모양이 각각 다르더라 4첫째는 사자와 같은데 독수리의 날개가 있더니 내가 보는 중에 그 날개가 뽑혔고 또 땅에서 들려서 사람처럼 두 발로 서게 함을 받았으며 또 사람의 마음을 받았더라 또 보니 (단7:3, 4) The vision of Daniel: Four beasts came up out of the sea, diverse one from another; the first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand upon its feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it (Dan. 7:3–4).

The first state of the church is what is here described by a “lion that had eagle’s wings”; and the “eagle’s wings” here are rational things from what is man’s own, on the taking away of which they were given rational and voluntary things from the Divine, which are signified by its “being taken up from the earth, and made to stand upon its feet like a man, and having a man’s heart given to it.”

[5] In Ezekiel, in the description of the likeness of the faces of the four living creatures, or cherubs:

그 얼굴들의 모양은 넷의 앞은 사람의 얼굴이요 넷의 오른쪽은 사자의 얼굴이요 넷의 왼쪽은 소의 얼굴이요 넷의 뒤는 독수리의 얼굴이니 (겔1:10) They had the face of a man, and they four had the face of a lion on the right side, and they four had the face of an ox on the left side, and they four had the face of an eagle (Ezek. 1:10).

13내가 들으니 그 바퀴들을 도는 것이라 부르며 14그룹들에게는 각기 네 면이 있는데 첫째 면은 그룹의 얼굴이요 둘째 면은 사람의 얼굴이요 셋째는 사자의 얼굴이요 넷째는 독수리의 얼굴이더라 (겔10:13, 14) As for the wheels they were called galgal [whirling wheels], and everyone had four faces; the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle (Ezek. 10:13–14).

In John:

6보좌 앞에 수정과 같은 유리 바다가 있고 보좌 가운데와 보좌 주위에 네 생물이 있는데 앞뒤에 눈들이 가득하더라 7그 첫째 생물은 사자 같고 그 둘째 생물은 송아지 같고 그 셋째 생물은 얼굴이 사람 같고 그 넷째 생물은 날아가는 독수리 같은데 (계4:6, 7) Round about the throne were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind; the first living creature was like a lion; and the second living creature was like a calf; and the third living creature had a face as a man; and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle (Rev. 4:6–7).

That the living creatures thus seen signify Divine arcana is evident; and consequently so does the “likeness of their faces”; but what arcana in particular are signified cannot be known unless it is known what in the internal sense is a “lion,” a “calf,” a “man,” and an “eagle.” That the “face of an eagle” is circumspection and consequently providence is manifest; for the cherubs represented by the living creatures in Ezekiel signify the providence of the Lord lest man should enter into the mysteries of faith from himself and his own rational (see n. 308). This shows that when it is predicated of man, the “eagle” is in the internal sense the rational; and this for the reason that the eagle flies high, and from above has a wide view of the things that are below.

[6] In Job:

26매가 떠올라서 날개를 펼쳐 남쪽으로 향하는 것이 어찌 네 지혜로 말미암음이냐 27독수리가 공중에 떠서 높은 곳에 보금자리를 만드는 것이 어찌 네 명령을 따름이냐 (욥39:26, 27) Does the hawk fly by thine intelligence, and stretch her wings toward the south? Does the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? (Job 39:26–27);

it is evident that the “eagle” here is reason, which is of intelligence. Such was the signification of the “eagle” in the ancient church; for the book of Job is a book of the ancient church (see n. 3540, end). Almost all the books of that period were written by means of significatives; but in process of time the significatives have become so completely forgotten that it is not even known that “birds” in general denote thoughts, although they are so frequently mentioned in the Word and it appears quite plain that they have another meaning.

[7] That in the opposite sense an “eagle” signifies rational things that are not true, and thus are false, is evident from the following passages. In Moses:

49곧 여호와께서 멀리 땅 끝에서 한 민족을 독수리가 날아오는 것 같이 너를 치러 오게 하시리니 이는 네가 그 언어를 알지 못하는 민족이요 50그 용모가 흉악한 민족이라 노인을 보살피지 아니하며 유아를 불쌍히 여기지 아니하며 (신28:49, 50) Jehovah shall bring upon thee a nation from far from the end of the earth, as the eagle flieth, a nation whose tongue thou hearest not, a nation hard in faces (Deut. 28:49–50).

In Jeremiah:

보라 그가 구름 같이 올라오나니 그의 병거는 회오리바람 같고 그의 말들은 독수리보다 빠르도다 우리에게 화 있도다 우리는 멸망하도다 하리라 (렘4:13) Behold he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! For we are laid waste (Jer. 4:13).

16바위 틈에 살며 산꼭대기를 점령한 자여 스스로 두려운 자인 줄로 여김과 네 마음의 교만이 너를 속였도다 네가 독수리 같이 보금자리를 높은 데에 지었을지라도 내가 그리로부터 너를 끌어내리리라 이는 여호와의 말씀이니라, 22보라 원수가 독수리 같이 날아와서 그의 날개를 보스라 위에 펴는 그 날에 에돔 용사의 마음이 진통하는 여인 같이 되리라 하시니라 (렘49:16, 22) Thy boasting hath deceived thee, the pride of thy heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill; because thou makest thy nest as high as the eagle I will bring thee down from thence. Behold he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread out his wings above Bozrah; and the heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs (Jer. 49:16, 22).

우리를 뒤쫓는 자들이 하늘의 독수리들보다 빠름이여 산 꼭대기까지도 뒤쫓으며 광야에서도 우리를 잡으려고 매복하였도다 (애4:19) Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles; they chased us upon the mountains; they laid wait for us in the wilderness (Lam. 4:19).

In Micah:

너는 네 기뻐하는 자식으로 인하여 네 머리털을 깎아 대머리 같게 할지어다 네 머리가 크게 벗어지게 하기를 독수리 같게 할지어다 이는 그들이 사로잡혀 너를 떠났음이라 (미1:16) Make thee bald, and poll thee for the sons of thy delights; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee (Micah 1:16).

In Obadiah:

네가 독수리처럼 높이 오르며 별 사이에 깃들일지라도 내가 거기에서 너를 끌어내리리라 여호와의 말씀이니라 (옵1:4) Though thou mount on high as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, I will bring thee down from thence (Obad. 4).

In Habukkuk:

6보라 내가 사납고 성급한 백성 곧 땅이 넓은 곳으로 다니며 자기의 소유가 아닌 거처들을 점령하는 갈대아 사람을 일으켰나니, 8그들의 군마는 표범보다 빠르고 저녁 이리보다 사나우며 그들의 마병은 먼 곳에서부터 빨리 달려오는 마병이라 마치 먹이를 움키려 하는 독수리의 날음과 같으니라 (합1:6, 8) I am stirring up the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation, that marcheth through the breadths of the land to inherit dwelling places that are not theirs. Their horses are swifter than eagles;1 their horsemen come from far, they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour (Hab. 1:6, 8).

[8] By “eagles” in these passages is signified falsity induced by reasonings, which is induced from the fallacies of the senses and external appearances. That by the “Chaldeans” in the prophet last cited are signified those who are in a holy external, but interiorly in falsity, may be seen above (n. 1368); also that they who vastate the church are like Babylon (n. 1327); that the “breadths of the land” denote truths (n. 3433, 3434). Vastation is signified by “marching through the breadths of the land.” Their “horses” are their intellectual things, which are similar (see n. 2761, 2762, 3217). What the “eagle hastening to devour” signifies, is thus evident, namely, the desolation of man in respect to truths; for the desolation of the church is there treated of. Comparisons are here made with eagles; but as before said, the comparisons in the Word are made by means of significatives. From all this we can now see what is signified by the comparison with the “eagles that will be gathered together to the carcass.”

※ (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 TIME OF THE CHURCH (마24:19-22)

3751

By way of preface to the preceding chapter an explication was given of what the Lord foretold in Matthew 24:15–18 concerning the last time of the church. Following this order there are now to be unfolded—by way of preface to the present chapter—the contents of the succeeding verses (19 to 22); namely, the words:

19그 날에는 아이 밴 자들과 젖 먹이는 자들에게 화가 있으리로다 20너희가 도망하는 일이 겨울에나 안식일에 되지 않도록 기도하라 21이는 그 때에 큰 환난이 있겠음이라 창세로부터 지금까지 이런 환난이 없었고 후에도 없으리라 22그 날들을 감하지 아니하면 모든 육체가 구원을 얻지 못할 것이나 그러나 택하신 자들을 위하여 그 날들을 감하시리라 (마24:19-22) But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath; for then shall be great affliction, such as was not since the beginning of the world even until now, neither shall be. And except those days should be shortened there should no flesh be preserved; but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Matt. 24:19–22).

3752

No one can possibly comprehend the signification of these words unless he is enlightened by the internal sense. That they are not said concerning the destruction of Jerusalem appears from many things in the chapter, as from this:

그 날들을 감하지 아니하면 모든 육체가 구원을 얻지 못할 것이나 그러나 택하신 자들을 위하여 그 날들을 감하시리라 Except those days should be shortened there should no flesh be preserved; but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened;

and from the following:

그 날 환난 후에 즉시 해가 어두워지며 달이 빛을 내지 아니하며 별들이 하늘에서 떨어지며 하늘의 권능들이 흔들리리라 그 때에 인자의 징조가 하늘에서 보이겠고 그들이 인자가 구름을 타고 능력과 큰 영광으로 오는 것을 보리라 After the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken; and then shall appear the sign of the son of man; and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory;

and from other passages. That neither are the words now under consideration said concerning the destruction of the world, is also evident from many things contained in the same chapter; as from those which precede:

지붕 위에 있는 자는 집 안에 있는 물건을 가지러 내려가지 말며 밭에 있는 자는 겉옷을 가지러 뒤로 돌이키지 말지어다 He that is on the housetop, let him not come down to take anything out of his house; and he who is in the field, let him not return back to take his garments;

and also from these now brought under consideration:

너희가 도망하는 일이 겨울에나 안식일에 되지 않도록 기도하라 Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath;

and from the following:

그 때에 두 사람이 밭에 있으매 한 사람은 데려가고 한 사람은 버려둠을 당할 것이요 두 여자가 맷돌질을 하고 있으매 한 사람은 데려가고 한 사람은 버려둠을 당할 것이니라 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left; two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken, and the other left.

But it is evident that the words in question are said concerning the last time of the church, that is, concerning its vastation; for the church is said to be vastated when there is no longer any charity.

3753

Everyone who thinks about the Lord with reverence and who believes that the Divine was in him, and that he spoke from the Divine, is able to know and believe that the above words, like the rest the Lord taught and spoke, were not spoken of one nation only, but of the universal human race; and not of its worldly, but of its spiritual state; and also that the Lord’s words comprehended the things which are of his kingdom and of the church, for these are Divine and eternal. Whoever believes in this manner, concludes that these words: “woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days” do not signify those who are with child and give suck; and that the words: “pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath” do not signify any flight on account of worldly enemies; and so in regard to the rest.

3754

In the preceding verses there were treated of three states of the perversion of good and truth in the church; and in the present verses a fourth state is treated of, which is also the last. Concerning the first state it was shown that it was that men began no longer to know what was good and true, but disputed among themselves concerning good and truth, whence came falsities (n. 3354). Concerning the second state, that it was that men began to despise good and truth, and also to hold them in aversion, and thus that faith in the Lord was about to expire, according to the degrees in which charity was about to cease (n. 3487–3488). Concerning the third state, that it was a state of desolation of the church in respect to good and truth (n. 3651–3652). Concerning the fourth state, we are now to show that it is that of the profanation of good and truth. That this state is here described may be seen from all the particulars in the internal sense, which is as follows.

3755

그 날에는 아이 밴 자들과 젖 먹이는 자들에게 화가 있으리로다 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days;

signifies those who have been imbued with the good of love to the Lord and the good of innocence. “Woe” is a form of expression signifying the danger of eternal damnation; “to be with child” is to conceive the good of heavenly love; “to give suck” is also a state of innocence; “those days” denote the states in which the church then is.

[2] 너희가 도망하는 일이 겨울에나 안식일에 되지 않도록 기도하라 And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath;

signifies removal from those things, that it be not done precipitately, in a state of too much cold or of too much heat. “Flight” is removal from a state of the good of love and of innocence, just now spoken of; “flight in the winter” is removal therefrom in a state of too much cold; “cold” is when there is aversion to love and innocence, which is induced by the loves of self; “flight on the sabbath” is removal from them in a state of too much heat; “heat” is external sanctity, while within are the love of self and the love of the world.

[3] 이는 그 때에 큰 환난이 있겠음이라 창세로부터 지금까지 이런 환난이 없었고 후에도 없으리라 For then shall be great affliction, such as was not since the beginning of the world even until now, neither shall be;

signifies the highest degree of the perversion and vastation of the church in respect to good and truth, which is profanation; for profanation of what is holy occasions death eternal and much more grievous than any other states of evil, and so much the more grievous in proportion as the goods and truths profaned are of a more interior kind; and inasmuch as such interior goods and truths are open and known in the Christian church, and are profaned, it is said that “then shall be great affliction such as was not from the beginning of the world even until now, neither shall be.”

[4] 그 날들을 감하지 아니하면 모든 육체가 구원을 얻지 못할 것이나 그러나 택하신 자들을 위하여 그 날들을 감하시리라 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be preserved; but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened;

signifies the removal of those who are of the church from interior goods and truths to exterior, so that those may still be saved who are in the life of good and truth; by the “days being shortened” is signified a state of removal; by “no flesh being preserved” is signified that otherwise none could be saved; by “the elect” are signified those who are in the life of good and truth.

3756

That this is the internal sense of these words could be fully shown—as that by “those who are with child” are signified those who first become imbued with good; and that by “those who give suck” are signified those who become imbued with a state of innocence; that by “flight” is signified removal from good and innocence; by “winter,” aversion to such goods through the love of self taking possession of the interiors; and by “flight on the sabbath,” profanation, which takes place when there is holiness in externals, and the love of self and the world within. But as the same words and similar expressions occur throughout in what follows, of the Lord’s Divine mercy their signification shall then be shown to be such as is here stated.

3757

But as regards the profanation of what is holy, few know what it is; yet this can be seen from what has been already stated and shown concerning it, namely, that those are able to profane holy things who know, acknowledge, and become imbued with good and truth; but not those who do not acknowledge, and still less those who do not know them (see n. 593, 1008, 1010, 1059, 3398); thus that they who are within the church can profane holy things, but not they who are without it (n. 2051); that they who are of the celestial church can profane holy goods, and that they who are of the spiritual church can profane holy truths (n. 3399); that therefore interior truths were not disclosed to the Jews, lest they should profane them (n. 3398); that the Gentiles can least of all profane (n. 2051); that profanation is a commingling and conjunction of good and evil, and also of truth and falsity (n. 1001, 1003, 2426); that this was signified by the eating of blood, which was so severely prohibited in the Jewish church (n. 1003); that therefore in so far as possible men are withheld from the acknowledgment and faith of good and truth, unless they are able to remain therein (n. 3398, 3402); and that on this account they are kept in ignorance (n. 301–303); and that worship also becomes external (n. 1327–1328); that internal truths are not revealed until the church has been vastated, because then good and truth can no longer be profaned (n. 3398, 3399); that this was the reason why the Lord then first came into the world (n. 3398); how great a danger there is from the profanation of what is holy and of the Word (n. 571, 582).