The Last Judgment
and
The Second Coming of the Lord

Lesson 6

^{(From Arcana Coelestia  ~ Emanuel Swedenborg)}

In volume 3, by way of preface to chapters 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30, there have been unfolded the things spoken and foretold by the Lord concerning the consummation of the age or Last Judgment, in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, from the third to the twenty-eighth verse. The words which follow there in order remain to be explained, in this place the contents of verses 29, 30, and 31, where we read these words:

But immediately after the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth wail; and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send forth His angels with a trumpet and a great voice, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the end of the heavens even to the end thereof (Matt. 24:29-31).

What the consummation of the age, or Last Judgment is, has already been explained, namely, that it is the last period of the Church. Its last period is said to be when there is no longer in it any charity and faith; and it has also been shown that there have been several such consummations, or last periods. The consummation of the first church was described by the flood; and the consummation of the second church by the extirpation of the nations in the land of Canaan, and also by the extirpations and cuttings off frequently described in the Prophets. The consummation of the third church is not described in the Word, but is foretold-that is, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the dispersion of the Jewish nation, with which was the church, over the whole world. The fourth consummation is that of the present Christian church, which is foretold by the Lord in the Evangelists, and also by John in Revelation, and which is now at hand.*

In the foregoing verses of this chapter of Matthew there is described the successive vastation of the church; namely, that first they began not to know what good and truth are, but disputed about them; next that they treated them with contempt; in the third place that they did not acknowledge them at heart; and fourthly, that they profaned them. These states are described from the third to the twenty-second verse; and as the truth of faith and the good of charity were still to remain in the midst (that is, with some who are called the "elect") the quality of the state of the truth of faith at that time is described in verses 23 to 28; and in the following verses, now to be explained, there is described the state of the good that is of charity and of love; and also the beginning of a New Church.

From the particulars contained in these verses it is very manifest that they have an internal sense, and that unless this sense is understood, it is impossible to know what they involve-as that the sun shall be darkened, that the moon shall not give her light, that the stars shall fall from heaven, and that the powers of the heavens shall be shaken; and then that the Lord shall appear in the clouds of heaven, that His angels shall sound with a trumpet, and shall gather together His elect. He who knows not the internal sense of these words, must believe that such things are to come to pass; nay, that the world is to perish, with everything we behold in the universe. And yet that by the Last Judgment there is not meant any destruction of the world, but the consummation or vastation of the church in respect to charity and faith, may be seen above (n. 3353); and is plainly manifest from the words which follow in this same chapter of Matthew:

Then shall two men be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left; two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left (Matt. 24:40-41).

Therefore that by the words now before us there is signified the state of the church at that time in respect to good (that is, as to charity toward the neighbor and love to the Lord), is evident from their internal sense, which is as follows:

But immediately after the affliction of those days;

signifies the state of the church in respect to the truth of faith (concerning which just above). In the Word the desolation of truth in various places is called "affliction." (That "days" are states may be seen above, n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785.) From this it is manifest that by these words is signified that after there is no longer any faith, there will be no charity. For faith leads to charity, because it teaches what charity is, and charity receives its quality from the truths of faith; but the truths of faith receive their essence and their life from charity, as has been repeatedly shown in the preceding volumes.

[2] The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light;

signifies love to the Lord, which is the "sun;" and charity toward the neighbor, which is the "moon." "To be darkened and not to give their light" signifies that they will not appear, and thus will vanish away. (That the "sun" is the celestial of love, and the "moon" the spiritual of love; that is, that the "sun" is love to the Lord, and the "moon" charity toward the neighbor, which comes forth through faith, may be seen above, n. 1053, 1529, 1530, 2120, 2441, 2495.) The reason why this is the signification of the "sun and moon," is that in the other life the Lord appears as a sun to those in heaven who are in love to Him, and who are called the celestial; and as a moon to those who are in charity toward the neighbor, and who are called the spiritual (see n. 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 3636, 3643).

[3] The sun and moon in the heavens (that is, the Lord) is never darkened, nor does it lose its light, but it shines perpetually; and so neither is love to the Lord darkened with the celestial, nor does charity toward the neighbor lose its light with the spiritual, in the heavens; nor on earth with those with whom these angels are, that is, those who are in love and charity. Those however who are in no love and charity, but in the love of self and of the world, and consequently in hatred and revenge, bring that "darkening" upon themselves. The case herein is as it is with the sun of this world, which shines continuously; but when the clouds interpose, it does not appear (n. 2441).

[4] And the stars shall fall from heaven;

signifies that the knowledges of good and truth will perish. Nothing else is signified by "stars" when these are mentioned in the Word (n. 1808, 2849).

And the powers of the heavens shall be shaken;

 signifies the foundations of the church, which are said to be "shaken" and "made to quake" when they perish. For the church on earth is the foundation of heaven, because the influx of good and truth from the Lord through the heavens finally terminates in the goods and truths that are with the man of the church. When therefore the man of the church is in such a perverted state as no longer to admit the influx of good and truth, the powers of the heavens are said to be "shaken." For this reason it is always provided by the Lord that something of the church shall remain; and that when an old church perishes, a new one shall be set up again.

[5] And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven;

signifies the appearing of Divine truth at that time; the "sign" signifies the appearing; the "Son of man," the Lord as to Divine truth (see n. 2803, 2813, 3704). It was this appearing or this "sign," concerning which the disciples asked when they said, "Tell us when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the consummation of the age" (verse 3). For they knew from the Word that when the age should be consummated, the Lord would come; and they learned from the Lord Himself that He would "come again," by which they understood that the Lord would once more come into the world; not yet knowing that the Lord has come whenever the church has been vastated, not indeed in person, as when He assumed the human by birth and made it Divine; but by means of appearings--either manifest, as when He appeared to Abraham in Mamre, to Moses in the bush, to the people of Israel on Mount Sinai, and to Joshua when he entered the land of Canaan; or not so manifest, as by inspirations through which the Word was given, and afterwards through the Word; for the Lord is present in the Word, because all things in the Word are from Him and concerning Him, as may be seen from what has already been frequently shown. This latter is the appearing here signified by the "sign of the Son of man," and which is described in this verse.

[6] And then shall all the tribes of the earth wail;

signifies that all who are in the good of love and the truth of faith shall be in grief. That "wailing" signifies this, may be seen in Zechariah 12:10-14; and that "tribes" signify all things of good and truth, or of love and faith, and consequently those who are in them, may be seen above (n. 3858, 3926). They are called the "tribes of the earth," because those are meant who are within the church. (That the "earth" is the church may be seen above, n. 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2928, 3355.)

[7] And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of the heavens with power and great glory;

signifies that the Word will then be revealed as to its internal sense, in which the Lord is; the "Son of man" is the Divine truth therein (n. 2803, 2813, 3704); the "cloud" is the literal sense; "power" is predicated of the good, and "glory" of the truth, therein. (That these things are signified by "seeing the Son of man coming in the clouds of the heavens," see the preface to the eighteenth chapter.) This is the "coming of the Lord" here meant, and not that He will literally appear in the clouds. Now follows the subject of the setting up of a New Church, which takes place when the old one is vastated and rejected.

[8] He shall send forth His angels with a trumpet and a great voice;

signifies election, not by visible angels, still less by trumpets, and by great voices; but by the influx of holy good and holy truth from the Lord through angels; and therefore by "angels" in the Word there is signified something of the Lord (n. 1925, 2821, 3039); here, there are signified things that are from the Lord and concerning the Lord. By the "trumpet" and the "great voice" there is signified evangelization, as elsewhere in the Word.

[9] And they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the end of the heavens even to the end thereof;

signifies the setting up of a New Church. The "elect" are those who are in the good of love and of faith (n. 3755-3900); the "four winds" from which they shall be gathered together, are all states of good and truth (n. 3708); "from the end of the heavens to the end of them" denotes the internals and the externals of the church. Such therefore are the things signified by these words of the Lord.

(from Arcana Coelestia 4056-4060 ~ Emanuel Swedenborg)

* This statement was published in the year 1752, five years before the Last Judgment on the Church in question. [REVISER.]