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486. And when he opened the seventh seal.- That this signifies prediction concerning the last state of the church, is evident from the signification of opening the seal, which denotes prediction and manifestation concerning the successive states of the church, as explained above (n. 352, 361, 369, 378, 390, 399); and from the signification of seventh, which denotes what is full and consummated, concerning which see above (n. 257, 299), and therefore it also denotes what is last, for what is full and consummated is also last. It is the last state of the church when there is no truth because there is no good, or what is the same, when there is no faith, because there is no charity; that the last state of the church then comes, may be seen in the small work concerning the Last Judgment 33-39); what was done in this state, is predicted in what follows.
[2] What was done, and is here predicted, took place in the spiritual world before the judgment; for the state of the church in the spiritual world at that time was similar to that [of the Church] in the natural world, but under another form. In the spiritual world there are societies, distinct according to the affections of good and truth and their varieties, into one of which every one according to his affection comes after death. But this is not the case in the natural world. And because they are thus distinguished in the spiritual world, therefore the church appears there such as it is on the earth; also the church in both worlds makes one by correspondences. When the last state of the church in the spiritual world arrived, then everything predicted in the following verses was accomplished, and because some of these were seen, they shall be recorded in the following pages.
486. Verse 1. And when he opened the seventh seal, signifies the prediction respecting the last state of the church. This is evident from the signification of "opening a seal," as being to foretell and manifest the successive states of the church (as above, n. 352, 361, 369, 378, 390, 399); also from the signification of "seventh," as being what is full and consummated (of which above, n. 257, 299), thence also the last, for what is full and consummated is also the last. It is the last state of the church when there is no truth because there is no good, or what is the same, when there is no faith because there is no charity (that then is the last state of the church see in the small work on The Last Judgment 33-39); what took place in this state is predicted in what now follows.
[2] That which took place and is here predicted, occurred in the spiritual world before the judgment; for the state of the church in the spiritual world was then similar to that in the natural world, but under another appearance. In the spiritual world there are societies, distinguished according to the affections of good and truth and their varieties, and each one after death comes into one of these according to his affection. It is not so in the natural world. Because of these distinctions in the spiritual world, the church appears there such as it is on the earth, and the church in the two worlds also makes a one by correspondences. When it was the last state of the church in the spiritual world, all the things that are foretold in what now follows were accomplished; some of these shall be related in the following pages, because they were seen.
486. [Ver. 1.] "Et cum aperuit sigillum septimum." - Quod significet praedictionem de ultimo statu ecclesiae, constat ex significatione "aperire sigillum", quod sit praedictio et manifestatio de successivis statibus ecclesiae (ut supra, n. 352, 361, 369, 378, 390, 399); et ex significatione "septimi", quod sit plenum et consummatum (de qua supra, n. 257, 299), inde quoque ultimum, nam quod plenum et consummatum est, hoc quoque ultimum est. Ultimus status ecclesiae est quando non verum quia non bonum, seu quod idem, quando non fides quia non charitas; (quod tunc ultimus status ecclesiae sit, videatur in opusculo De Ultimo Judicio 33-39); quid in hoc statu factum est, in nunc sequentibus praedicitur.
[2] Id quod factum est, et hic praedicitur, factum est in mundo spirituali ante judicium; nam similis status ecclesiae tunc in mundo spirituali fuit qui in mundo naturali, sed sub alia specie. In mundo spirituali sunt societates, quae distinctae sunt secundum affectiones boni et veri et earum varietates, in quas distincte venit quisque post mortem secundum suam affectionem; non autem in mundo naturali: et quia ita distincti sunt in mundo spirituali, ideo ibi apparet ecclesia qualis est in terris, et quoque ecclesia utrobivis unum agit per correspondentias. Quando in mundo spirituali ultimus status ecclesiae fuit, tunc omnia haec peracta sunt quae in nunc sequentibus praedicuntur; quorum aliqua in sequentibus memoranda sunt, quia visa sunt.