537.“看哪，有一条大红龙”表改革宗教会中那些将神一分为三，将主一分为二，将仁与信分离，认为拯救人的是信，而非仁连同信的人。此处和下文中的“龙”就表示这些人，因为他们反对新教会的两大基本要素，即：神在本质和位格上是一，祂里面有一个三位一体，主就是这神；仁与信为一，就像本质与其形式为一那样；除了那些照十诫生活，也就是不做那些恶的人外，其他人没有仁与信；人不作恶并避之如反对神的罪到什么程度，就践行属于仁的良善，相信属于信的真理到什么程度。
人若仔细考虑这个问题，就会看出，那些将神一分为三，将主一分为二，将仁与信分离，认为拯救人的是信，而非仁的人反对新教会的这两大基本要素。
我们所说的那些将神一分为三，将主一分为二的人是指那些视三个位格为三位神，将主的人性与其神性分开的人。当照着信条祷告说“父神为了子的缘故会差圣灵来”时，谁会想到别的，或谁能想到别的？他岂不是向作为一位神的父神、为了作为另一位神的子的缘故，又涉及作为第三位神的圣灵而祷告？由此明显可知，他虽在思维上视三位格为一位神，但仍将这三者分别开来，也就是说当他如此祷告时，将自己观念分为三位神。这种信仰模式还将主一分为二，因为他仅思想主的人性，而非同时思想主的神性；“为了子的缘故”意思是为了其遭受十字架苦难的人性的缘故。综上所述，明显可知想吃那妇人的孩子、因这孩子而将妇人追到旷野的“龙”所表示的那些人是谁。
这龙之所以被称为“大”，是因为除了零星的一些人对三位一体和信不是这样思想的外，改革宗的所有教会都将神分为了三个位格，认为唯信得救。他们将神分裂为三个位格，并坚持《亚他那修信经》中这些话：“父一位，子一位，圣灵一位”，还有这些话：“父是神，子是神，圣灵是神”；我就说，这些人不可能把三者合为一位神；诚然，他们会说他们是一位神，但无法如此思想。同样，那些将主的永恒神性视为神性的第二个位格，视祂在时间中的人性为另一人的人性之人也只能将主一分为二，尽管《亚他那修信经》上说祂的神性与人性为一个位格，如灵魂与身体那样相结合。
经上之所以说这龙是“红”的，是因为“红”表示源于欲望邪恶的虚假，也就是地狱的虚假。由于改革宗教会中这个教义的两大基本要素是虚假，而虚假毁灭教会，因它们夺走教会的真理与良善，所以它们由“龙”来代表。原因在于，在圣言中，“龙”表示教会的毁灭。这一点从以下经文明显看出来：
我必使耶路撒冷变为乱堆，成为龙的住处，也必使犹大的城邑变为荒场。（耶利米书9:11）
看哪，有大扰乱从北地出来，要使犹大的城邑变为荒凉，成为龙的住处。（耶利米书10:22）
夏琐必成为龙的住处，永远凄凉。（耶利米书49:33）
要作龙的住处，猫头鹰女儿的苑囿。（以赛亚书34:13）
他的榻在龙的住处。（以赛亚书35:7）
我必赤脚露体而行，又要呼号如龙，哀鸣如猫头鹰的女儿。（弥迦书1:8）
我求救，我与龙为兄弟，与鸮鸟的女儿为同伴。（约伯记30:28，29）
豺狼必在他宫中呼应，龙必在殿内吼叫。（以赛亚书13:22）
巴比伦必成为乱堆，为龙的住处，令人惊骇、嗤笑。（耶利米书51:37）
你在龙之地压伤我们，用死荫遮蔽我们。（诗篇44:18，19）
我使以扫的山荒凉，把他的地业交给旷野的龙。（玛拉基书1:3）
此外还有其它地方（如以赛亚书43:20；耶利米书14:6；诗篇91:13，14；申命记32:33）。
“龙”在此表示那些陷入唯信并以律法行为不能拯救而弃绝它们的那些人，在灵界，这一点有时以活生生的经历向我证明。我见过他们有数千人聚集在一起，从远处看，他们就像一条拖拉着长尾巴的龙，龙的脊柱像荆棘，荆棘表示虚假。有一次，我还看见一条更大的龙，拱起背，尾巴向天翘起，试图将天上的星辰拖下来。由此在我眼前显明，“龙”并非表示其他人。
537. Behold, a great, fiery red dragon. This symbolizes people in the Protestant Reformed Church who make God three entities and the Lord two, and who divorce charity from faith, making faith saving and not at the same time charity.
These are the people meant by the dragon here and in the following verses. For they are antagonistic to the two essential elements of the New Church, namely, that God is one in essence and person, in whom is the Trinity, and that that God is the Lord; moreover, that charity and faith are one, like an essence and its form, and that only those people possess charity and faith who live in accordance with the Ten Commandments, which teach that evils are not to be done. To the extent anyone does not do evils then, by refraining from them as sins against God, to the same extent he does goods which are goods of charity and believes truths that are truths of faith.
[2] Everyone who considers it can see that people who make God three entities and the Lord two, and who divorce charity from faith, making faith saving and not at the same time charity, are antagonistic to these two essential elements of the New Church.
When we say that they make God three entities and the Lord two, we mean people who think of three persons as three gods and distinguish the Lord's humanity from His Divinity. Who, moreover, entertains any other thought, or can entertain any other thought, when he prays in accordance with the formal expression of his faith "that God the Father may send the Holy Spirit for His Son's sake"? Does he not pray to God the Father as one God, for the sake of the Son as another, concerning the Holy Spirit as a third?
It is apparent from this that even though someone intellectually may make the three persons one God, still he distinguishes between them, which is to say that he pictures them as three Gods when he prays these words. The same formal expression of his faith also makes the Lord two entities, since one thinks then only of the Lord's humanity and not at the same time of His Divinity; for the phrase, "for His Son's sake," means for the sake of His humanity that suffered the cross.
From this it can now be seen just who those are who are meant by the dragon which attempted to devour the woman's child, and which, because of the child, afterward pursued the woman into the wilderness.
[3] The dragon is called great because, with the exception of some people here and there who do not believe in the same way regarding the Trinity and faith, all the Protestant Reformed churches distinguish God into three persons and make faith alone saving. People who distinguish God into three persons and cling to this statement in the Athanasian Creed, "There is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit," and also to this, "The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God" - these people, I say, cannot make one God out of three. They can indeed say they are one God, but they cannot think it.
By the same token people who think of the Lord's Divinity from eternity as a second person in the Godhead, and of His humanity in time as being like the humanity of any other person, cannot help but make the Lord two entities, despite the statement in the Athanasian Creed that His Divinity and humanity are one person, united like soul and body.
[4] The dragon is called fiery red because a fiery red color symbolizes falsity arising from the evils attendant on lusts, which is a falsity of hell.
Now because these two fundamental doctrinal tenets in the Protestant Reformed churches are false, and falsities destroy the church, inasmuch as they take away its truths and goods, therefore they were represented by the dragon. That is because a dragon in the Word symbolizes the destruction of the church, as can be seen from the following passages:
I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a habitation of dragons; and I will turn the cities of Judah into a wasteland... (Jeremiah 9:11)
Behold..., there has come... a great tumult out of the north country, to turn the cities of Judah into a wasteland, a habitation of dragons. (Jeremiah 10:22)
Hazor shall be a habitation of dragons, a desolation forever. (Jeremiah 49:33)
...that it may be a habitation of dragons, a courtyard for the offspring of owls. (Isaiah 34:13)
In the habitation of dragons, her couch... (Isaiah 35:7)
I will go stripped and naked; I will make a wailing like dragons, and a mourning like the offspring of owls. (Micah 1:8)
...I cried out for help. I am a brother of dragons, and a companion of the offspring of the screech owl. (Job 30:28-29)
The iyyim 1will reply in her palaces, and dragons in her... temples. (Isaiah 13:22)
Let Babylon be a heap, a habitation of dragons, as a hissing and an astonishment... (Jeremiah 51:37)
You have crushed us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death. (Psalms 44:18-19)
I have made (Esau's) mountains a wasteland, and his inheritance one for dragons of the wilderness. (Malachi 1:3)
And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 43:20, Jeremiah 14:6, Psalms 91:13-14, Deuteronomy 32:33.
[5] The dragon here means people who are caught up in faith alone and who reject works of the Law as not saving, and I have had this attested several times by personal experience in the spiritual world. I have seen many thousands of such people assembled into companies, and at a distance then they looked like a dragon with a long tail, which seemed to be covered with thorn-like spikes, symbolizing falsities.
I also once saw a still bigger dragon, which arched its back and extended its tail up to the sky in an effort to draw down the stars from there.
I thus had it visually shown to me that these and no others are the people meant by the dragon.
Footnotes:
1. A Hebrew word אִיִּים, appearing only three times in the Old Testament (Isaiah 13:22; 34:14
537. 'And behold a great red dragon' signifies those in the Church of the Reformed who make God three and the Lord two, and who separate charity from faith and make faith saving and not charity at the same time. It is these who here and in the things following are understood by 'the dragon,' for they are against the two Essentials of the New Church, which are: that God is One in essence and person in Whom is the Trinity, and that that God is the Lord; also that charity and faith are one like an essence and its form, and that no others have charity and faith but those who live in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue. These precepts are that evils are not to be done, and in so far as any one does not do evils by fleeing from them as sins against God, so far he does the goods that are of charity and believes the truths that are of faith.
[2] That those who make God three and the Lord two, and who separate charity from faith and make the latter saving and not the former at the same time, are against the two Essentials of the New Church can be seen by any one who has considered the matter. It is said 'those who make God three and the Lord two,' and those who think of three Persons as of three Gods and who separate the Lord's Human from His Divine are understood. And who thinks otherwise, or can think otherwise, if he prays according to the formula of faith 'that God the Father may send the Holy Spirit for the sake of the Son'? Is he not praying to God the Father as to one God, and for the sake of the Son as concerning a second, and concerning the Holy Spirit as a third? It is plain as a consequence that, although anyone in his thought makes the three Persons one God, still he divides them, that is, he divides his idea into three Gods when he so prays. The same formula of faith also makes the Lord two, since then only the Human of the Lord and not at the same the His Divine is thought of, for [the idea] 'for the sake of the Son' is for the sake of His Human that has suffered the cross. In consequence of these considerations it can now be established who they are who are understood by 'the dragon' who wanted to devour the offspring of the woman, and afterwards pursued the woman even into the wilderness on account of her offspring.
[3] The dragon is said to be 'great' because all the Churches of the Reformed separate God into three Persons and make faith the only means of salvation, except for some here and there who do not believe in like manner concerning the Trinity and concerning faith. Those who separate God into three Persons and adhere to these words of the ATHANASIAN DOCTRINE, 'There is One Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit,' and also to these, 'The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God'; those, I say, cannot make one God out of the Three. They are indeed able to say that they are One God, but are not able to think so. Equally, those who think of the Lord's Divine from eternity as of the Second Person of the Divinity, and of His Human in the as of the human of another man, cannot do otherwise than make the Lord two, notwithstanding its being said in the ATHANASIAN DOCTRINE that His Divine and Human are One Person, united as soul and body.
[4] The dragon is said to be 'red' because 'red' signifies the untruth derived from the evils of lusts, and this is infernal untruth. Now because these two Essentials of the doctrine in the Churches of the Reformed are untrue, and untruths lay the Church waste, for they deprive it of its truths and goods, therefore they were represented by a 'dragon.' This is because in the Word by a 'dragon' the devastation of the Church is signified, as can be established from the following passages:
I will make Jerusalem into heaps, a habitation of dragons, and I will reduce the cities of Judah into a waste. Jeremiah 9:11; [H.B. 10].
Behold a great tumult is coming out of the land of the north, to reduce the cities of Judah into a waste, a habitation of dragons. Jeremiah 10:22.
Hazor shall become a habitation of dragons, a desolation even for an age. Jeremiah 49:33.
That it may be a habitation of dragons, a court for the daughters of the owl. Isaiah 34:13.
In the habitation of dragons is his couch. Isaiah 35:7.
I will go stripped and naked, I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning like the daughters of the owl. Micah 1:13.
I cried, I have become a brother to dragons, and a companion to the daughters of the screech owl, Job 30:28-29.
The ijim shall answer in his palaces, and dragons in the temples. Isaiah 13:22.
Let Babel be a heap, a habitation of dragons, for hissing and astonishment. Jeremiah 51:37.
Thou hast bruised us in a place of dragons, and covered us over with the shadow of death. Psalms 44:18-19 [H.B. 19-20].
I have laid the mountains of Esau waste, and set his heritage for the dragons of the wilderness, Malachi 1:[3].besides elsewhere, as Isaiah 43:20; Jeremiah 14:6; Psalms 91:13-14; Deuteronomy 32:33.
[5] That by 'the dragon' here are understood those who are in faith alone, and who reject the works of the law as not contributing to salvation, has been testified to me in the spiritual world by living experience on several occasions. I have seen many thousands of them gathered into a crowd, and then from afar off they have been seen as a dragon with a long tail that appeared set with spikes like thorns, these signifying untruths. Once also a still larger dragon was seen, and he with his back arched up lifted his tail even up to the sky in an attempt to draw the stars down therefrom. Thus it was made manifest before my eyes that by 'the dragon' no others are understood.
537. And behold, a great red dragon, signifies those in the church of the Reformed who make God three, and the Lord two, and separate charity from faith, and who make faith saving but not charity together with it. These are here meant, and in what follows, by "the dragon;" for they are against the two essentials of the New Church, which are, that God is one in Essence and in Person, in whom there is a Trinity, and that the Lord is that God; also that charity and faith are one like an essence and its form; and that no others have charity and faith, but they who live according to the commandments of the Decalogue, which are that evils are not be done; and so far as anyone does not do evils, shunning them as sins against God, in the same proportion he does the goods which are of charity, and believes the truths which are of faith.
[2] That they who make God three, and the Lord two, and who separate charity from faith, and make faith saving, and not charity, are against those two essentials of the New Church, may be seen by anyone who considers the matter. It is said, they who make God three, and the Lord two, by whom are meant those who think of three Persons as three Gods, and separate the Lord's Human from His Divine. And who thinks otherwise, or can think otherwise, whilst, according to a formula of faith, he prays, "That God the Father for the sake of the Son would send the Holy Spirit?" Does he not pray to God the Father as to one God, and for the sake of the Son as another, and concerning the Holy Spirit as a third? From which it is evident that although in thought he makes three Persons one God, still he divides them, that is, divides his idea into three gods when he so prays. The same formula of faith also makes the Lord two, since he thinks only of the Lord's Human, and not at the same time of His Divine; "for the sake of the Son" means for the sake of His Human which suffered the cross. From what has now been said, it may appear who they are that are meant by the dragon, who would devour the woman's offspring, and afterwards "pursued the woman into the wilderness on account of her offspring."
[3] The reason why the dragon is called "great," is because all the churches of the Reformed distinguish God into three Persons, and make faith alone saving, except some here and there, who do not think alike concerning the Trinity, and concerning faith. They who divide God into three Persons, and adhere to these words of the Athanasian doctrine, "There is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit;" and also to these, "The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;" these, I say, cannot make one God out of three; they may indeed say that they are one God, but they cannot think so. In like manner they who think concerning the Lord's Divine from eternity as concerning the second Person of the Divinity, and concerning His Human in time as concerning the human of another man, cannot do otherwise than make the Lord two, although it is said in the Athanasian doctrine that His Divine and Human are one Person, united as the soul and the body.
[4] The dragon is called "red" because "red" signifies falsity from the evils of lusts, which is infernal falsity. Now because these two essentials of the doctrine in the churches of Reformed are falsities, and as falsities devastate the church, since they take away its truths and goods, therefore they were represented by "a dragon." The reason is, because by "a dragon," in the Word, is signified the devastation of the church, as may appear from the following passages:
I will make Jerusalem heaps, a habitation of dragons, and I will reduce the cities of Judah to a waste, (Jeremiah 9:11).
Behold, a great tumult out of the land of the north, to reduce the cities of Judah to a waste, a habitation of dragons, (Jeremiah 10:22).
Hazor shall become a habitation of dragons, a desolation forever, (Jeremiah 49:13).
That it may be a habitation of dragons, a court for the daughters of the owl, (Isaiah 34:13).
In the habitation of dragons is his couch, (Isaiah 35:7).
I will go despoiled and naked, I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning like the daughters of the owl, (Micah 1:8).
I cried, I am become a brother to dragons, and a companion to the daughters of the screech owl, (Job 30:28-29).
The ijim shall answer in his palaces, and dragons in temples, (Isaiah 13:22).
Babylon shall become heaps, a habitation of dragons, a hissing and an astonishment, (Jeremiah 51:37).
Thou hast broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death, (Psalms 44:19).
I have laid the mountains of Esau and his heritage a waste for the dragons of the wilderness, (Malachi 1:3, besides other places; as in Isaiah 43:20; Jeremiah 14:6; Psalms 91:13-14; Deuteronomy 32:33).
[5] That by "the dragon" are here meant those who are in faith alone, and reject the works of the law as not saving, has sometimes been testified to me in the spiritual world by living experience. I have seen several thousands of them assembled together, when from a distance they have appeared like a dragon with a long tail, that seemed set with spines like thorns, which signified falsities. Once, also, there was seen a dragon still larger, which raising his back and lifting up his tail towards heaven, endeavored to draw down the stars from thence. Thus it was made manifest before my eyes that no others are meant by "the dragon."
537. "Et ecce Draco magnus rufus" significat illos in Ecclesia Reformatorum qui Deum faciunt tres et Dominum duos, et qui charitatem a fide separant, et hanc et non illam simul salvificam faciunt. - Hi sunt qui per "Draconem" hic et in sequentibus intelliguntur; sunt enim contra duo Essentialia Novae Ecclesiae, quae sunt, quod Deus Unus sit Essentia et Persona, in Quo Trinitas, et quod Ille Deus sit Dominus, tum quod Charitas et Fides unum sint sicut essentia et forma ejus, et quod non alii Charitatem et Fidem habeant, quam qui secundum praecepta Decalogi vivunt, quae sunt quod non facienda sint mala; et quantum quis non facit mala, fugiendo illa ut peccata contra Deum, tantum bona quae sunt charitatis facit, et vera quae sunt fidei credit.
Quod illi qui Deum faciunt tres, et Dominum duos, ac qui charitatem a fide separant, et hanc et non illam simul salvificam faciunt, contra illa duo Essentialia Novae Ecclesiae sint, videri potest ab unoquovis qui expendit. Dicitur "qui faciunt Deum tres, et Dominum duos," ac intelliguntur qui cogitant de tribus Personis ut de Tribus Diis, ac Humanum Domini separant a Divino Ipsius; et quis aliter cogitat, ac aliter cogitare potest, qui ex formula fidei orat, "Ut Deus Pater propter Filium mittat Spiritum Sanctum." Oratne ad Deum Patrem ut ad unum Deum, et propter Filium ut de altero, et de Spiritu Sancto ut de tertio; ex quo patet, quod tametsi aliquis in cogitatione sua facit ires Personas unum Deum, usque dividat, hoc est, ideam suam, In tres Deos, quando ita orat. Eadem formula fidei etiam facit Dominum duos, quoniam tunc solum de Humano Domini et non simul de Divino Ipsius cogitatur, nam "propter Filium" est propter Ipsius Humanum quod passum est crucem. Ex his nunc constare potest, quinam sunt qui per "Draconem" intelliguntur, qui "fetum Mulieris voluit devorare," ac postea "persecutus est Mulierem propter fetum ejus usque in desertum." Quod Draco dicatur "magnus," est quia omnes Ecclesiae Reformatorum distinguunt Deum in tres Personas, ac fidem faciunt unice salvificam, praeter aliquos hic et ibi, qui de Trinitate et de Fide non similiter credunt; illi qui Deum distinguunt in tres Personas, et haerent in his verbis Doctrinae Athanasianae, "Una Persona est Patris, alia Filii, et alia Spiritus Sancti;" tum illi his, "Pater est Deus, Filius est Deus, et Spiritus Sanctus est Deus," illi, inquam, non possunt unum Deum facere ex tribus; loqui quidem possunt quod sint Unus Deus, sed non possunt id cogitare. Pariter qui cogitant de Divino Domini ab aeterno ut de Secunda Persona Divinitatis, ac de Humano Ipsius in tempore sicut de humano alterius hominis, illi nec possunt aliter quam Dominum facere duos, utcunque in Doctrina Athanasiana dicitur quod Divinum et Humanum Ipsius sint una Persona, unita sicut anima et corpus. Quod Draco dicatur "rufus," est quia "rufum" significat falsum ex malis concupiscentiarum, quod est falsum infernale. Nunc quia haec duo Essentialia doctrinae in Ecclesiis Reformatorum sunt falsa, et falsa devastant Ecclesiam, auferunt enim vera et bona ejus, ideo repraesentata sunt per "Draconem." Causa est, quia per "Draconem" in Verbo significatur devastatio Ecclesiae, ut constare potest ex sequentibus his locis:
"Dabo Hierosolymam in acervos, habitaculum Draconum, et urbes Jehudae redigam in vastitatem," (Jeremias 9:10 (B.A. 11)); 1
"Ecce venit tumultus magnus e terra septentrionis, ad redigendum urbes Jehudae in vastitatem, habitaculum Draconum," (Jeremias 10:22);
"Fiet Chazor in habitaculum Draconum, desolationem usque in saeculum," (Jeremias 49:33);
"Ut sit habitaculum Draconum, atrium filiabus noctuae," (Esaias 34:13);
"In habitaculo Draconum cubile ejus," (Esaias 35:7);
"Ibo spoliatus et nudus, faciam planctum sicut Dracones, et luctum sicut filiae noctuae," (Micham 1:8). 2
"Clamavi, frater factus sum Draconibus, et socius filiabus ululae," (Hiob 30:28-29);
"Respondebunt Ijim in palatiis ejus, et Dracones in templis," (Esaias 13:22);
"Sit Babel acervus, Habitaculum Draconum, in sibilum et stuporem," (Jeremias 51:37);
"Contrivisti nos in loco Draconum, et obduxisti super nos umbram mortis, (Psalm 44:20 (B.A. 19)); 3
"Posui montes Esavi vastitatem, et haereditatem ejus Draconibus deserti," (Malachias 1:3). 4
(Praeter alibi, ut Esaias 43:20; Jeremias 14:6; Psalm 91:13-14; Deuteronomius 32:33).
Quod per "Draconem" hic intelligantur qui in sola fide sunt, et opera Legis ut non salutifera rejiciunt, aliquoties per vivam experientiam in mundo spirituali testatum mihi factum est. Vidi plura millia ex illis in caetus collecta, et tunc e longinquo visa sunt sicut Draco cum longa cauda, quae apparuit obsita spiculis sicut sentis, quae significabant falsa. Semel etiam visus est Draco adhuc major, qui elato dorso erexit caudam usque versus Caelum cum conatu detrahendi stellas inde ita coram oculis meis manifestatum est, quod per "Draconem" non alii intelligantur.
Footnotes:
1. 10 pro "11"
2. 8 pro "5"
3. 20 pro "19, 20"
4. Malach. pro "Mich."