The Last Judgment
and
The Second Coming of the Lord

Lesson 8

^{(From Arcana Coelestia  ~ Emanuel Swedenborg)}

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:

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).

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,* 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.

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] 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] 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] 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] 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] 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] 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] 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] 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.

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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.

(from Arcana Coelestia 4332-4335 ~ Emanuel Swedenborg)