. And the Lord God of the holy prophets hath sent His angel to show unto His servants the things which must be done quickly, signifies that the Lord, from whom is the Word of both covenants, has revealed through heaven unto those who are in truths from Him, the things which will certainly come to pass. "The Lord God of the holy prophets," signifies the Lord, from whom is the Word of both covenants, for by "the prophets" are signified they who teach truths from the Word, and, in the abstract sense, the doctrine of the truth of the church (n. 8, 173); and in a wide sense, the Word itself; and because the Word is signified by "the holy prophets," therefore by them is signified the Word of both covenants. "He hath sent His angel to show unto His servants the things which must be done quickly," signifies that the Lord has revealed to those who are in truths from Him, the things which will certainly come to pass; by "an angel" is here signified heaven, as above (n. 5, 65, 644, 647, 648, 910); by "servants" are signified they who are in truths from the Lord (n. 3, 380, 937); by "quickly" is signified certainly (n. 4); therefore, by "the things which must be done quickly" is signified which will certainly come to pass. The reason why by "an angel" is here signified heaven, is, because the Lord spake with John through heaven, and through heaven He also spake with the prophets, and through heaven He speaks with everyone with whom He speaks. The reason is that the angelic heaven in general is as one man, whose soul and life is the Lord; wherefore all that the Lord speaks He speaks through heaven, just as the soul and mind of man speak through his body. That the whole angelic heaven in one complex relates to one man, and that this is from the Lord, may be seen above (n. 5), and in the work on Heaven and Hell, published at London, 1758 (HH n. 59-86), and in The Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Providence (DP n. 64-69, 162-164, 201-204), and in the Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Love and Wisdom (DLW n. 11, 19, 133, 288). But I will explain this mystery: the Lord speaks through heaven, but still the angels there do not speak, nor do they indeed know what the Lord speaks, unless some of them are with the man through whom the Lord speaks openly from heaven, as with John and some of the prophets; for there is an influx of the Lord through heaven, just as there is an influx of the soul through the body. The body indeed speaks and acts, and also feels something from influx, but still the body does nothing from itself as from itself, but is acted upon. That such is the speech, yea, all the influx of the Lord through heaven with men, has been given me to know from much experience. The angels of heaven, and also the spirits under the heavens, know nothing concerning man, as man knows nothing concerning them; because the state of spirits and angels is spiritual, and the state of men is natural, which two states are consociated solely by correspondences, and consociation by correspondences does indeed cause them to be together in affections, but not in thoughts; wherefore one does not know anything of the other, that is, man does not know anything of the spirits with whom he is consociated as to affections, nor do spirits know anything of man, for that which is not in the thought, but only in the affection, is not known, because it does not appear nor is it seen. The Lord alone knows the thoughts of men.
REVELATION 22:6previous
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