give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division." And in another place, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword," Matt. x. 34; that is, not a false peace, or heedless and fatal security, but the power of divine truth, whereby all spiritual enemies may be subdued, and true heavenly peace established in the mind, agreeably to these his divine words, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you," John xiv. 27; thus proving himself to be what the prophet of old declared He would be, "the Prince of peace," Isa. ix. 6.-See A. C. 4843, 5023, 5291. Ap. Ex. 504, 532, 548, 724.

And

(10.) Luke xiv. 16 to 20. "A certain man made a great supper, and bade many. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come."- -By the great supper to which many were invited, is signified heaven and the church, where spiritual nourishment or instruction is communicated by the Lord to man. It is called a supper or evening repast, in reference

to the end of a former church and the commencement of a new one. The persons invited were the Jews, who yet excused themselves from attending the supper, urging reasons which were all grounded in the love of external, worldly and corporeal things, separate from those of an internal and heavenly nature. By the first stating that he had bought a piece of ground and must needs go and see it, is signified that he had procured to himself such religious principles as were congenial with his love, and that his attention and thoughts would henceforth be directed to them in preference to any other: a piece of ground or a field, being that which is fitted to receive seeds, denotes in the genuine sense a state of spiritual good in the mind qualifying it for the reception of heavenly truths; but in the opposite sense, a state of evil in the mind which will admit only of falsities or gross errors: and the desire of going to see it, implies that the powers of the understanding would be willingly employed in confirmation of the same. By the second excusing himself on the ground of his having bought five yoke of oxen, which he was desirous of proving, is signified that all his natural affections, lusts and pleasures arising from his intercourse with the world, were too dear

and captivating to be renounced, and therefore he was still disposed to indulge them: oxen denote natural affections, either good or evil, but in the present case evil affections or lusts which withdraw the mind from heaven; and five yoke of oxen denote all such affections and lusts to prove them, is to live in the indulgence of them. By the answer which the third made to the invitation, viz., that he had married a wife and therefore could not come, is signified that evils. and falsities arising from self-love and the love of the world, were so united or conjoined in him, as in a kind of infernal marriage, and had likewise gained such an ascendancy over him, that all his affections were already engaged, and consequently that he had no desire to change his life: marriage in a good sense denotes the conjunction of goods and truths, but in an opposite sense, as here, the conjunction of evils and falsities. See A. C. 5291. Ap. Ex. 252, 548, 1162. H. & H. 377.

(11.) Luke xvi. 27, 28. "The rich man in hell said unto Abraham, I pray thee, father, that thou wouldst send Lazarus to my father's house; for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment."-By the rich man are meant the Jews, who are said to be rich, because they were in possession of the Word, or the divine truths of revelation which constitute the riches of heaven: by Lazarus are meant the gentiles, who are said to be poor because they were then destitute of the Word: and by Abraham in whose bosom Lazarus was seen, is signified the Lord. Hence by the five brethren of the rich man are signified all of a similar quality and description with himself. The torment which he experienced in hell, did not consist in any pain or punishment inflicted upon him by natural fire, as is generally supposed; for a spirit cannot possibly be injured or tormented by such fire. Neither did his prayer to Abraham spring from any love or kindness to his brethren, who were still in the body; for an infernal spirit is not susceptible of affection or tenderness to either friend or foe. But by the pain or torment of which he complained, is signified the restraint he was under, and the pungent distress he experienced, in no longer having the opportunity of perverting the divine truths of the Word, and consequently of doing mischief to others thereby; it being the chief delight of every infernal spirit to infest the good, and if possible to destroy them without mercy; which delight, on being prohibited from rushing into action, is converted into wretchedness and unspeakable misery. The ardent desire on the

part of the rich man to pervert the Word and to destroy souls, together with the punishment attending it, is thus expressed in ver. 24: "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame." By the water into which he wished Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger, is signified the divine truth of the Word: and by his tongue which was heated and tormented by flame, is signified his ardent desire and lust of perverting such truth, with the punishment annexed to it. To cool the tongue, is to assuage the thirst or desire of perverting truth by indulging the inclination: but as he was denied this gratification, he therefore complained that he was tormented by the flame, that is, by the lust within him, which is described as a burning flame. And the only reason why he expressed a desire that his five brethren might not come into a similar state of torment with himself, was, that, if he could not by his own malicious exertions accomplish the above purpose, he hoped that all others who were in spirit like himself, might, while they had the opportunity, still continue to act as he had done, that is, pervert the divine truths of the Word with a view to the destruction and final ruin of the innocent.-See A. R. 282, 725. Ap. Ex. 455, 548. (12.) Apoc. ix. 5. "And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months."By the locusts which came forth out of the smoke, that ascended from the bottomless pit, mentioned in the preceding verses, are signified the ultimate or sensual principles in man, which receive the influx of infernal falsities. By their being commanded not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only those men who have not the seal of God in their foreheads, is signified the divine providence of the Lord in preserving the literal or external sense of the Word from being openly denied, and thereby destroyed, at the end of the church, though the true sense of it is perverted by those who are not in truths derived from good: the grass of the earth is scientific truth grounded in the literal sense of the Word: the green thing is the good of faith, or the life thereof: trees are the knowledges or perceptions of truth and good: and the men, who have not the seal of God in their foreheads, are those who are not in truths derived from good. By their not being permitted to kill such men, but only to torment them five months, is signified that the faculty or capacity of understanding what is true and of choosing what is good, is not absolutely taken away from them, but

only a state of stupefaction or insensibility to truth is induced upon them for a short time, that is, so long as they suffer themselves to be seduced by fallacious reasonings: to kill men, is to deprive them of the faculty or capacity of understanding, perceiving and choosing what is true and good; for man is man by virtue of such faculty, which always remains with him, though the actual understanding of truth and perception of good may be suspended, and for a time extinguished to torment them five months, is to induce a degree of stupor and insensibility as to the understanding of truth for a short time, or so long as they are in the state above described; for a month, like all other times, is expressive of state, and the number five denotes something, a little, a short time, and consequently so long as the state alluded to continues.-See A. R. 424 to 427. Ap. Ex. 543 to 548.

Six.

The number six belongs to the spiritual class of expressions, being predicated of truths or falsities, and denotes all truth or falsity in the complex.-A. C. 10624. A. R. 322. Ap. Ex. 194, 430, 532.

It also signifies all things of truth from good.-A. C. 9555.

All things of faith and charity, or of truth and good, like the number twelve.-A. C. 3960, 7973. A. R. 245.

All states of labor, combat and temptation before rest and peace arising from the conjunction of good and truth.-A. C. 737, 1903. 4178, 8494, 8975, 10360.

Man's proprium.—A. R. 519.

First states of instruction and regeneration, when man is in combat, and is led by truth to good.-A. C. 9272, 10667, 10729.

All states of labor, combat and temptation preceding full regeneration.-A. C. 6 to 13, 737, 900, illustrated.

The dispersion of what is false in temptations, also the holy principle of faith which is implied in temptations.-A. C. 737. Preparation for celestial marriage.—A. C. 10637.

Reception of truth before conjunction with good.-A. C. 8506. The end of a preceding state.-A. C. 8421.

What is complete from the beginning to the end.-A. R. 489. The end of the former church, and commencement of the new.A. C. 9741.

When the number six has relation to twelve, or to three, being considered as the half of one, and double the other, it then signifies the holy principle of faith; because twelve signifies all things belonging

to faith, and three signifies what is holy.-A. C. 737, 3239, 3960, 8148.

When considered as compounded of three multiplied by two, it then signifies all things relating to truth and good; for the number three signifies fulness, or the all of truth, and the number two signifies the marriage or conjunction of truth with good.-A. R. 245, 610.

The sixth part, sixth day, and sixth hour, have the same signification as the number six itself, viz., what is full, complete and perfect from beginning to end.-A. R. 610. A. C. 8421.

EXAMPLES.

(1.) Gen. i. 31. "And God saw every thing that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."- -By the six days of creation are meant all states of labor, combat and temptation during the process of man's regeneration, until, by repeated advances from lower to higher degrees of the spiritual life called evening and morning, he enters into a state of heavenly rest and peace, signified by the seventh day. And as this cannot be effected by any power belonging to man, but only by a divine agency operating through the medium of truth received into the understanding and affections, it is therefore said. that God created, that is regenerated man, and then ceased from all his labor. Thus the sixth day denotes the completion or end of the states above described, whereby man first becomes an image, and afterwards a likeness of the Lord. The former states or stages are declared to be good, but this last very good, by reason of the end which is now attained, namely, the conjunction of good and truth, or the heavenly marriage.-See A. C. 6 to 13, 60 to 63.

(2.) Ex. xvi. 26. "Six days ye shall gather it (manna); but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.". By manna is signified the good which is acquired by means of truth, or by living according to the dictates of truth. By the Israelites gathering manna six days, but not on the seventh, is signified that such good may, according to divine order, be acquired in states of labor, combat and temptation, or before the actual conjunction of truth with good takes place, but not afterwards: six days denote states of labor, combat and temptation, during which truth leads or introduces to good: the seventh day denotes the conjunction of good and truth, consequently a state of rest and tranquillity when man is