That Great Dragon Was Cast Out
That Old Serpent
Selection from
APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED
According to the spiritual sense
in which the arcana there predicted
but heretofore concealed
are revealed
A posthumous work
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the
dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither
was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast
out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole
world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Rev 12:7-9
And that great dragon was cast
out, that old serpent, signifies that those who were in evils of life and
who had thence become sensual, and had perverted all things of the Word and thus
of the church, were separated from heaven and were cast down into hell. This is
evident from the signification of "to be cast out," as being, in reference to
the dragon, to be separated from heaven and to be cast down into hell. ... The
serpent is called "old," because in olden times there were those who perverted
all things of the Word and the church. According to the historical sense
of the letter "the old serpent" means the serpent that seduced Eve and Adam in
paradise, but both by that serpent and by this all such are meant as seduce the
whole world, as can be seen from what follows in this paragraph. From this
it is clear that that great dragon was cast out, that old serpent,
signifies that those who were in evils of life, and who had perverted all things
of the Word, and thus of the church, were separated from heaven and were cast
down into hell.
[2] That all who are in evils of life become sensual, and that those who thus
become sensual pervert all things of the church, can be seen from this, that
there are with men three degrees of life, an inmost, a middle, and an ultimate,
and that these degrees with man are opened successively as he becomes wise.
Every man at his birth is altogether sensual, so that even the five senses of
his body must be opened by use; he next becomes sensual in thought, since he
thinks from the objects that have entered through his bodily senses; afterwards
he becomes more interiorly sensual; but so far as by visual experiences, by knowledges [scientiae], and especially by the practices of moral life, he
acquires for himself natural light [lumen], he becomes interiorly natural. This
is the first or ultimate degree of man's life.
[3] And as at this time from parents, masters, and preachers, and from reading
the Word and books thence, he imbibes knowledges of spiritual truth and good,
and stores them up in his memory like other knowledges [scientifica], he lays
the foundations of the church with himself; and yet if he goes no further he
continues natural. But if he goes on further, namely if he lives according to
these knowledges from the Word, the interior degree is opened in him and he
becomes spiritual, but only so far as he is affected by truths, understands
them, wills them, and does them; and for the reason that evils and the falsities
thence which by heredity have their seat in the natural and sensual man, are
removed and as it were scattered in this and in no other way. For the spiritual
man is in heaven and the natural in the world, and so far as heaven, that is,
the Lord through heaven, can flow in through the spiritual man into the natural,
so far evils and the falsities thence, which, as was said, have their seat in
the natural man, are removed; for the Lord removes them, as he removes hell from
heaven. The interior degree with man can be opened in no other way, because the
evils and falsities that are in the natural man keep it closed up; for the
spiritual degree, that is, the spiritual mind, contracts itself against evil and
the falsity of evil of every kind as a fibril of the body does at the touch of a
sharp point; for like as the fibers of the body contract themselves at every
harsh touch, so does man's interior mind, which is called the spiritual mind, at
the touch or breath of evil or the falsity thence. But on the other hand, when
things homogeneous, which are Divine truths from the Word that derive their
essence from good, approach that mind, it opens itself; yet the opening is
effected not otherwise than by the reception of the good of love flowing in
through heaven from the Lord, and by its conjunction with the truths that man
has stored up in his memory, and this conjunction is only effected by a life
according to Divine truths in the Word, for when these truths come to be of the
life they are called goods. Thence it may be clear how the second or middle
degree is opened.
[4] The third or inmost degree is opened with those who apply Divine truths at
once to life, and do not reason about them from the memory, and thus bring them
into doubt. This is called the celestial degree. As there are these three
degrees of life with every man, which yet are opened in diverse ways, thence
there are three heavens. In the third or inmost heaven are those with whom the
third degree is opened; in the second or middle heaven those with whom the
second degree only is opened; and in the first or lowest heaven those with whom
the interior natural man, which is also called the rational man, is opened; for
this man, if truly rational, receives influx from the Lord through heaven. All
these come into heaven. But those who have received Divine truths in the memory
only, and not at the same time in the life, continue natural and even become
sensual; and for the reason that the evils into which man is born have their
seat, as was said above, in the natural and sensual man; and in such these evils
have not been removed and as it were dispersed by the influx of good from the
Lord and its reception by man; consequently with such the loves of the body
rule, which in general are the love of self and the love of the world, and the
consequent love and pride of self-intelligence. These loves, and the evils and
their falsities that flow from them, fill the interiors of their natural mind,
although these are covered without by things respectable and becoming which
pertain to moral life, that are put on for the sake of the world and the laws
enacted for the external man. Such although they may have filled their memory
with knowledges from the Word, from the dogmas of their several religions and
from the sciences, are yet natural and even sensual; for the interiors of their
natural mind, which are nearest to the spiritual mind, are closed up by
confirmations, even from the Word, against the spiritual life, which is a life
according to Divine truths and is called charity towards the neighbor. These
because they are sensual, are "the dragon," and are called "serpents," for
"serpent" signifies the sensual, because the sensual is the lowest part of man's
life, and as it were creeps upon the ground and licks the dust like a serpent.
[5] To illustrate this I will quote what is related in Genesis respecting "the
old serpent" that seduced Eve and Adam, and will explain what it signifies in
the spiritual sense:
Out of the ground Jehovah God made to grow forth every tree that is desirable to
the sight and good for food, and the tree of lives in the midst of the garden,
and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And Jehovah God commanded the
man, saying, Of every tree of the garden eating thou mayest eat, but of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil thou mayest not eat, because in the day thou
shalt eat of it dying thou shalt die. And the serpent was more crafty than any
wild beast of the field which Jehovah God made; and he said unto the woman, Yea,
hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said
unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the tree of the garden we may eat, but of the
fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God hath said, Ye shall
not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said,
Dying ye shall not die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then
your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil. And the
woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes,
and a tree to be desired to give intelligence, and she took of the fruit thereof
and did eat, and she gave also to her husband with her and he did eat. And the
eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they
sewed fig-leaves together and made themselves girdles. And Jehovah said unto the
serpent, Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above every beast and
above every wild beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust
shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and
the woman and between thy seed and her seed; he shall trample on thy head,* and
thou shalt wound his heel. And Jehovah God sent forth the man from the garden of
Eden and made to dwell from the east of the garden of Eden cherubim, and the
flame of a sword turning itself to guard the way of the tree of lives
(Gen. 2:8, 9, 16, 17; 3:1-7, 14, 15, 23, 24).
How the historical narratives of the creation of heaven and earth that are
contained in the first chapters of Genesis down to the story of the Flood, are
to be understood, no one can know except from the spiritual sense that is within
every particular of the sense of the letter of the Word. For these historical
narratives of the creation of heaven and earth, and of the garden in Eden, and
of the posterity of Adam even to the Flood, are composed historicals; and yet
they are most holy, because every particular idea and every particular
expression therein are correspondences, and thence signify spiritual things. Anyone of clear intelligence might discover this from the history of the
creation in the first chapter, which began with light when the sun did not yet
exist, and from various other things there; also from the creation of Eve the
wife of Adam out of one of his ribs; also from the two trees in paradise, and
from the prohibition to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and
yet, although they were the wisest of all they were seduced by the serpent and
did eat; and that Jehovah should place such trees in the midst of the garden and
suffer them to be seduced by the serpent to eat of the forbidden tree, which yet
He might have averted; and finally that the whole human race was condemned to
eternal death merely because they ate of that tree. Who cannot see that these
things, with other like things which an obscure understanding might believe in
simplicity, would be contrary to the Divine love and contrary to the Divine
Providence and foresight? And yet there is no harm while children and the simple
believe these things according to the historical letter, since they serve, as
well as the rest of the Word, to conjoin human minds to angelic minds, for
angels are in the spiritual sense when men are in the natural sense. But what is
involved in these historicals in the spiritual sense shall be told in a few
words.
[6] The first chapter treats of the new creation or establishment of a church,
which was the Most Ancient Church on this globe, as well as the most excellent
of all, for it was a celestial church, because it was in love to the Lord; and
consequently the men of that church were most wise, having almost immediate
communication with the angels of heaven, through whom they received wisdom from
the Lord. Because they were in love to the Lord, and had revelations from
heaven, and because they at once applied to life the Divine truths revealed to
them, they were in a similar state as the angels of the third heaven;
consequently that heaven consists chiefly of the men of that church. That church
is meant by "Adam and his wife." But "the garden in Eden" signifies their
intelligence and wisdom, and this is also described by all that is told about
that garden understood in the spiritual sense. Also how wisdom was lost in their
posterity is described by "eating of the tree of knowledge." For the two trees
placed in the midst of the garden mean perception from the Lord and perception
from the world; "the tree of lives" perception from the Lord, and "the tree of
knowledge of good and evil" perception from the world, which yet in itself is
mere cognition and knowledge. But "the serpent" that seduced them signifies the
sensual of man, which communicates immediately with the world, therefore their
seduction by the "serpent" means their seduction by the sensual, which derives
all it has from the world and nothing from heaven. For the men of the celestial
church are such that they perceive all the truths and goods of heaven from the
Lord by influx into their interiors, whence they see truths and goods inwardly
in themselves as if they were innate, and they do not need to acquire them by a
posterior way, and to enrich the memory with them. So neither do they reason
about truths whether they are so or not; for those who see truths in themselves
do not reason, since reasoning implies a doubt whether a thing is true. For the
same reason they never make mention of faith, for faith implies something
unknown which must be believed although it is not seen. That the men of the Most
Ancient Church were such has been revealed to me from heaven, for it has been
granted me to speak with them and to be informed, as can be seen from the
various things related concerning the men of that church in Arcana Coelestia.
[7] But it is to be known that they were never forbidden to acquire for
themselves the knowledges of good and evil from heaven, for by these their
intelligence and wisdom was perfected; neither were they forbidden to acquire
for themselves the knowledges of good and evil from the world, for from this
source their natural man had its knowledge [scientia]. But they were forbidden to
view these knowledges by a posterior way, because it was granted them to see all
things that appeared before their eyes in the world by a prior way. To view the
world and the things in it and to deduce knowledges from it by a prior way is to
view them from the light of heaven, and to know in that way their quality. Therefore they were also able by knowledges from the world to confirm heavenly
things, and thus to strengthen their wisdom. But they were forbidden to view knowledges from the world by a posterior way, which is done when conclusions are
drawn from them respecting heavenly things, which is an inverted order that is
called by the learned the order of physical or natural influx, and of this there
is none in things heavenly. Such did the men of the Most Ancient Church become
when they began to love things worldly more than things heavenly, and to exalt
themselves and to boast of their own wisdom; from this their posterity became
sensual, and then their sensual, which is meant by "the serpent," seduced them;
and the sensual is not willing to advance by any other than a posterior way.
This, therefore, is the signification of "the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil," of which they were forbidden to eat.
[8] That they were permitted to acquire knowledges from the world and to view
them by a prior way is signified by "out of the ground Jehovah God made to grow
every tree that is desirable to the sight and good for food;" for "trees"
signify knowledges and perceptions; "desirable to the sight" signifies what the
understanding desires; and "good for food" signifies what conduces to the
nourishment of the mind. The knowledges of good and evil from the Lord from
which is wisdom, and the knowledges of good and evil from the world from which
is science, were represented by "the tree of lives" and by "the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil" in the midst of the garden. That they were permitted
to appropriate to themselves knowledges from every source, not only from heaven
but also from the world, provided they did not proceed in the inverted order, by
reasoning about heavenly things from worldly knowledges, instead of thinking
about worldly things from heavenly things, is signified by "Jehovah God
commanded them to eat of every tree of the garden, but not of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil;" that if they did, heavenly wisdom and the church
would perish with them is signified by "in the day that thou shalt eat of it
dying thou shalt die," "to eat" signifying in the spiritual sense to appropriate
to oneself.
[9] That they were seduced by the sensual, because it stands next to the world
and thus is sensitive to every pleasure and delight from the world, and from
these is in fallacies and is ignorant of and also rejects heavenly things, is
signified by "the serpent;" "the serpent" means the sensual, and no other
sensual than the sensual of such. The serpent is "the devil and Satan," because
the sensual communicates with hell and makes one with it, for in it resides all
the evil of man in the complex. And because man from the sensual reasons from
fallacies and from the delights of the loves of the world and of the body, and
indeed skillfully and cunningly, therefore it is said that "the serpent was more
subtle than any wild beast of the field which Jehovah God had made;" "the wild
beast of the field" signifying in the spiritual sense the affection of the
natural man.
[10] As the sensual supposes that wisdom is acquired by means of knowledges from
the world and by natural knowledges [scientiae], and not by any influx out of
heaven from the Lord, therefore from such ignorance and fallacy the serpent said
to the woman, "Ye shall not die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat
thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as God, knowing good and
evil;" for the sensual man believes that he knows all things, and that nothing
is concealed from him; but not so the celestial man, who knows that he knows
nothing from himself but only from the Lord, and that what he does know is so
little as to be scarcely anything as compared with what he does not know. In
fact, their posterity believed themselves to be gods, and that they knew all
good and all evil; but from evil they were not capable of knowing heavenly good,
but only worldly and corporeal good, and this in itself is not good; yet from
heavenly good man is able to know what is evil.
[11] That the affection of the natural man persuaded by its sensual supposed
that intelligence in the things of heaven and the church may be acquired through
knowledge [scientia] of cognitions from the world is signified by, "the woman
saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a
tree to be desired to give intelligence;" "woman" here signifying the affection
of the natural man, which draws its desires from the sensual, and that affection
is such. That that affection seduced also the rational is signified by "the
woman took of the fruit of the tree and did eat, and gave to her husband with
her and he did eat," "the husband of the woman" signifying the rational. That
they then saw themselves to be without truths and goods is signified by "then
the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked;" the
"nakedness that is ashamed" signifying the deprivation of heavenly love, and
thence of good and truth. That they then clothed themselves with natural truths,
that they might not appear to be deprived of heavenly truths, is signified by
"they sewed fig-leaves together and made themselves girdles;" the "fig-tree"
signifying the natural man, and "its leaf" true knowledge [scientificum].
[12] Afterwards what their sensual became, namely, that it turned itself
entirely away from heaven and turned itself to the world, and thus received
nothing Divine, is described by the curse of the serpent; for the sensual with
man cannot be reformed, consequently when man is reformed it is simply removed,
since it clings to the body and stands out before the world, and thus enjoyments
from it, it calls goods, as it feels them to be. For this reason it is said that
"the seed of the woman shall crush its head, and that it shall hurt His heel;"
"the seed of the woman" meaning the Lord; "the head of the serpent" all evil;
and "the Lord's heel" Divine truth in ultimates which with us is the sense of
the letter of the Word; this the sensual man, or the sensual of man, perverts
and falsifies and thus hurts. That the sense of the letter is a guard that the
Lord be not approached except through the appearances of truth, and not through
genuine truths, by those who are in evils, is signified by "the cherubim" which
with the flame of a sword turning itself were placed at the garden of Eden to
guard the way of the tree of lives. (But this and the rest of these chapters may
be seen explained in Arcana Coelestia.)
(from Apocalypse Explained 739) |
