Apocalypse Explained, volume 1 - Swedenborg Foundation

APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED 579the likeness as the appearance of a man upon it. From the appearance ofhis loins and downwards I saw as it were an appearance of fire, and ithad brightness round about, as the appearance of the bow that is in thecloud; so was the appearance of the brightness of Jehovah round about;this appearance was the likeness of the glory of Jehovah (1:5, 6, 10, 13,22, 26–28).By these representatives the Divine of the Lord in the higherheavens, and His Providence that they be not approached exceptfront the good of love and charity, are described; and in thisdescription are contained all the things that are mentioned in thischapter of Revelation respecting the arrangement of the heavens,and signified by “the throne on which was One sitting in aspectlike a jasper stone and a sardius;” also by the “rainbow round aboutthe throne,” by the “lamps of fire burning before the throne,” andthe other things which it is not necessary therefore to explain heresingly.[3] It shall now be shown merely that “cherubim” in the Wordsignify the guard and providence of the Lord that the higherheavens be not approached except from the good of love andcharity, that lower things may be in order. This is plainly seen bythe cherubim placed before the garden of Eden, when man wasdriven from it, which are thus described in Moses:When Jehovah God had driven out the man, He made to dwell onthe east of Eden the cherubim, and the flame of a sword turning hitherand thither, to guard the way of the tree of life (Gen. 3:24).What is meant by the “man” and “his wife” in these chapters maybe seen explained in the Arcana Coelestia, namely, that “man” heremeans the most ancient church, which was a celestial church; andthe celestial is distinguished from the spiritual church in this, thatthe celestial church is in the good of love to the Lord, but thespiritual in the good of charity towards the neighbor (see in thework on Heaven and Hell, n. 20–28). Of the men who constitutethese two churches on the earth the two higher heavens are formed.When, therefore, the celestial church,which was the most ancientand primary church on this earth, declined and began to recedefrom the good of love, it is said that “cherubim were made to dwell