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1196. After these things I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude in heaven.- This signifies the joy and gladness of the angels of the higher heavens on account of the damnation and casting out of those who are signified by Babylon and the beasts of the dragon, and the consequent shedding forth of the light of Divine Truth for a New Church, which is to be established by the Lord. Because these things form the contents of the following chapters, it is evident that by the voice of a great multitude in heaven such things are signified. The damnation and casting out of those who are meant by Babylon are treated of in verses 2, 3; the damnation and casting out of the beasts of the dragon, verses 19-21; joy on account of a New Church to be established by the Lord, verses 7-9, 17, 18; and of the light springing forth thence, verses 11-16.
[2] Continuation.- Something shall be said here concerning the life of animals, and afterwards concerning the soul of plants. The whole world and everything in it, both generally and particularly, have existed and still subsist from the Lord the Creator of the universe. There are two suns, one the Sun of the spiritual world, and the other the sun of the natural world. The Sun of the spiritual world is the Divine Love of the Lord; the sun of the natural world is pure fire. From the sun which is Divine Love the whole work of creation had its beginning, and by means of the sun which is fire it was completed. Everything proceeding from the Sun which is Divine Love is called spiritual, and everything proceeding from the sun which is fire is called natural.
[3] That which is spiritual has from its origin life in itself, but that which is natural has from its origin nothing of life in itself; and because from these two sources of the universe all things contained in both worlds have existed and still subsist, it follows that the Spiritual and the Natural exist in every created thing in this world, the Spiritual being as a soul and the Natural as the body; or the Spiritual as the internal and the Natural as the external; or the Spiritual as the cause and the Natural as the effect.
Every wise man is aware that these two things cannot in any case whatever be separated; for if you separate the cause from the effect, the effect perishes; or if you separate the internal from the external, the latter perishes, just as when the soul is separated from the body.
[4] That there is such a conjunction in the individual things of nature, even in the most minute of them, has been hitherto unknown; and this arises from the ignorance which prevails regarding the spiritual world, the Sun there, and heat and light there, and also from the insanity of sensual men, in ascribing all things to nature, and rarely any thing but creation in general to God, although there neither is nor can be, in nature, any thing in which the Spiritual does not exist. The existence of this in every thing contained in the three kingdoms of nature, will be proved in the following pages, and also how this is.
1196. Verse 1. After these things I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude in heaven signifies the joy and gladness of the angels of the higher heavens because of the condemnation and casting out of those signified by "Babylon" and by "the beasts of the dragon," and because of the light of Divine truth that will consequently arise for the sake of the New Church that is to be established by the Lord. This is evidently the signification of "the voice of a great multitude in heaven," for these are the subjects treated of in this and the following chapters; the condemnation and casting out of those meant by "Babylon" are treated of in verses 2-3; the condemnation and casting out of "the beasts of the dragon" in verses 19-21; joy because of the New Church to be established by the Lord in verses 7-9, 17-18; and the light springing therefrom in verses 11-16.
(Continuation)
[2] Something shall now be said about the life of animals, and afterwards about the soul of vegetables. The whole world, with each and every thing in it, came into existence and continues to exist from the Lord the Creator of the universe. There are two suns, the sun of the spiritual world and the sun of the natural world. The sun of the spiritual world is the Lord's Divine love, the sun of the natural world is pure fire. From the sun that is the Divine love every work of creation has begun, and by means of the sun that is fire it has been carried to completion.
[3] Everything that proceeds from the sun that is the Divine love is called spiritual, and everything that proceeds from the sun that is fire is called natural. The spiritual from its origin has life in itself, but the natural from its origin has nothing of life in itself. And because from these two fountains of the universe all things that are in both worlds have come into existence and continue to exist, it follows that there is in every created thing in this world a spiritual and a natural, a spiritual as its soul and a natural as its body, or a spiritual as its internal and a natural as its external; or a spiritual as the cause and a natural as the effect. That these two in any particular thing cannot be separated every wise person knows, for if you separate cause from effect or the internal from the external, the effect or the external goes to pieces, as when the soul is separated from the body.
[4] That there is such a conjunction in the particular and even in the most particular things of nature has not yet been known. It has not been known because of the existing ignorance respecting the spiritual world, the sun there, and heat and light there, and because of the insanity of sensual men in ascribing all things to nature, and rarely anything to God except creation in general; and yet not the least thing is possible or can be possible in nature in which there is not a spiritual. That this spiritual is in each and every thing of the three kingdoms of nature, and how it is therein, will be explained in what follows.
1196. [Vers. 1.] "Post haec audivi tanquam vocem turbae multae in caelo." - Quod significet gaudium et laetitiam angelorum superiorum caelorum propter damnationem et ejectionem illorum qui per " 1
Babylonem" et per "bestias draconis" significantur, et inde oriundam lucem Divini Veri pro nova ecclesia quae a Domino instauranda est; haec quia sunt contenta hujus capitis et sequentium, constat quod per "vocem turbae multae in caelo", illa significentur: de damnatione et ejectione illorum, qui per "Babylonem" intelliguntur, agitur in vers. 2, 3; de damnatione et ejectione bestiarum draconis in vers. 19-21; et de gaudio propter novam ecclesiam a Domino instaurandam, vers. 7-9, 17, 18; et de luce inde oriunda, vers. 11-16.
[2] (Continuatio.) [De Vita Animalium et de Vita Vegetabilium.]
Nunc aliquid dicetur de Vita Animalium, ac postea de Anima Vegetabilium. Universus mundus cum omnibus et singulis quae in illo sunt, a Domino Creatore universi exstiterunt et subsistunt. Sunt bini soles, Sol mundi spiritualis, et sol mundi naturalis: Sol mundi spiritualis est Divinus Domini Amor, sol mundi naturalis est purus ignis. A Sole qui est Divinus Amor, incohavit omne opus creationis; et per solem qui est ignis illud peractum est.
[3] Omne quod procedit ex Sole qui est Divinus Amor, vocatur spirituale; et omne quod procedit ex sole qui est ignis, vocatur naturale. Spirituale ex sua origine in se vitam habet; naturale autem ex sua origine in se nihil vitae habet. Et quia ex illis binis universi fontibus omnia, quae in utroque mundo sunt, exstiterunt et subsistunt, sequitur quod spirituale et naturale sint in omni re creata in hoc mundo, spirituale sicut anima et naturale sicut corpus, aut spirituale sicut internum et naturale sicut externum, aut spirituale sicut causa et naturale sicut effectus. Quod duo illa non separari possunt in unaquavis re, cuivis sapienti notum est; nam si separas causam ab effectu dilabitur effectus; si internum ab externo, dilabitur externum; similiter ac si animam a corpore.
[4] Quod haec conjunctio sit in singulis, immo in singularissimis Naturae, nondum notum est: quod non notum sit est ex ignorantia de mundo spirituali, de Sole ibi, deque luce et calore ibi; et quoque ex vesania sensualium hominum, quod adscribant omnia Naturae, et raro aliquid Deo praeter creationem in communi; cum tamen in Natura ne hilum datur, nec hilum dari potest, in quo non sit spirituale. Quod id omnibus et singulis, quae in tribus Naturae regnis sunt, insit, et quomodo inest, in sequentibus dicetur.
Footnotes:
1. The editors made a correction or note here.