Apocalypse Explained, volume 1 - Swedenborg Foundation

APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED 599[10] In the same:Behold, I am with you, and I will look unto you, and ye shall betilled and sown; then I will multiply man upon you, the whole house ofIsrael; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall bebuilded. I will cause man to walk upon you, My people Israel. Thus theLord Jehovah hath said, Because ye say, Thou hast been a devourer ofman and a bereaver of thy peoples, therefore thou shalt devour man nomore, and thy sword shall not bereave any more; the desolate cities shallbe full of the flock of man (36:9–14, 38).The restoration of the church is here treated of; “Israel” signifies thespiritual church, or the church that is in spiritual good, which is thegood of charity; this church is here called “man” from the spiritualaffection of truth that makes the church; therefore it is said, “I willmultiply man upon you, the whole house of Israel, and I will causeman to walk upon you, My people Israel.” “The flock of mail,” ofwhich “the desolate cities shall be full,” signifies spiritual truths ofwhich the doctrines of the church shall be full; “the sword whichshall not bereave any more” signifies that falsity shalt no longerdestroy truth.[11] In the same:Thy mother is a lioness, she lay down among lions; one of herwhelps rose up, it learned to tear the prey, it devoured men (19:2, 3, 8).“Mother” means the church, here the church perverted; the falsityof evil destroying truth is signified by “the lioness lying downamong lions;” “her whelp which learned to tear the prey anddevoured men” signifies the primary falsity of their doctrine, whichdestroyed truths and consumed every affection of them. Thesethings were said of the princes of Israel, by whom primary truthsare signified, but here, in a contrary sense, primary falsities.[12] In Jeremiah:Hazor shall become an abode of dragons, a waste even for ever; aman shall not dwell there, nor a son of man sojourn in her (49:33).