Apocalypse Explained (Whitehead) n. 48

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48. And in the kingdom, signifies in the church where truths are. This is evident from the signification of "kingdom" in the Word, as being heaven and the church. It means the church in respect to truth, or where truths are, because by the royalty of the Lord is signified Divine truth proceeding from Him, and therefore by "kings" are signified truths (see what is shown above, n. 31). It is said the church in respect to truth, by which is meant the church in respect to truths from good; and for the reason that there are no truths without good, for truths have their life from good. Truths with a man who is not in good are indeed truths in themselves, but they are not truths in him (as may be seen abundantly shown in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n. 11-27). [2] That "kingdom" in the Word signifies heaven and the church in respect to truths, is evident from many passages in the Word, some of which I will cite. Thus in Matthew:

The sons of the kingdom shall be cast forth into the outer darkness (Matt. 8:12);

the "sons of the kingdom" here are those of the church where truths do not prevail, but falsities. In the same:

He that heareth the Word of the kingdom, and giveth not heed to it, the evil one cometh, and snatcheth away that which hath been sown in his heart. This is he that was sown by the wayside. The field is the world; the seed are the sons of the kingdom (Matt. 13:19, 38). "To hear the Word of the kingdom" is to hear the truths of the church; and because "seed" signifies truths, they who receive truths are called "sons of the kingdom." (That "seed" is the truth of the church, see Arcana Coelestia, n. 3038, 3373, 3671, 10248, 10249.) In the same:

Therefore the kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth fruit (Matt. 21:43). It is evident that "the kingdom of God" here signifies the church in respect to truths, thus also the truths of the church, from its being said that "it should be taken away from them, and given to a nation bringing forth fruit;" "fruit" is good. Again in the same:

In the consummation of the age, nation shall be stirred up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom (Matt. 24:3, 7). The consummation of the age" is the last time of the church, "nation against nation" is evil against good, and "kingdom against kingdom" is falsity against truth. (That "nation" is the good of the church, and in the opposite sense the evil there, see Arcana Coelestia, n. 1059, 1159, 1258-1260, 1416, 1849, 6005.) [3] From this it is plain what is meant by "kingdom" in the Lord's prayer:

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so also upon the earth. Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory (Matt. 6:10, 13). "Thy kingdom come" is a prayer that truth may be received; "Thy will be done," that it may be received by those who do God's will; "Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory," means Divine truth from God alone; it is also said "power and glory," because Divine truth has all power and glory (see above, n. 33). From all this it can be seen what "the kingdom of God" signifies in very many passages in the Word, namely, the church in respect to truths, and also heaven, and in the highest sense the Lord in respect to the Divine Human. "Kingdom," in the highest sense, signifies the Lord in respect to the Divine Human, because from Him all Divine truth proceeds; and "kingdom" signifies heaven, because heaven with the angels is from no other source than from the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord's Divine Human (see in the work on Heaven and Hell, n. 7-12, 78-86, 126-140).


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