first-born signifies the primary of the church, is, because in the Word by natural births, spiritual births are signified, and then what first produces them in man, is understood by his first-born; for there is no church in him, until the truth of doctrine conceived in the internal man is brought forth in the external.

18. "And the prince of the kings of the earth," signifies, from whom is derived all truth proceeding from good in the church. This follows from what has gone before, because by faithful witness, the Lord as to divine truth is signified; and by first-begotten, the Lord as to divine good; therefore by prince of the earth, is signified, that all truth from good in the church is from him; the reason why this is signified by prince of the kings of the earth, is, because by kings, in the spiritual sense of the Word, are meant those that are in truths derived from good, and, abstractedly, truths from good; and by earth. is understood the church: that this is the signification of kings and earth, may be seen below, n. 20, and n. 285.

19. "To him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his blood," signifies, who out of love and mercy reforms and regenerates men by his divine truths from the Word. That to wash us from our sins is to purify from evils, thus to reform and regenerate, is evident; for regeneration is spiritual washing; but that by his blood, is not meant the passion of the cross, as many believe, but divine truth proceeding from him, may appear from many passages in the Word, which it would be too tedious here to adduce, but they will be adduced below, n. 379, 654. In the mean time, see what is said and shown concerning the signification of the Lord's flesh and blood in the holy supper, as set forth in The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, n. 210-222; and concerning spiritual washing, which is regeneration, in the same, n. 202-209.

20. "And hath made us kings and priests," signifies, who gives to those who are born of him, that is, who are regenerated, to be in wisdom from divine truths, and in love from divine goods. It is well known, that in the Word the Lord is called a king, and also a priest; he is called a king from his divine wisdom, and a priest from

his divine love; therefore, they who are in wisdom from the Lord are called king's sons, and also kings; and they who are in love from him, are called ministers and priests; for the love and wisdom in them is not from themselves, thus not their own, but the Lord's; hence it is that they are meant in the Word by kings and priests; not that they are such, but that the Lord is such in them, and causes them to be so called. They are also called born of him, sons of the kingdom, sons of the father, and heirs; "born of him," John i. 12, 13, that is, born again, or regenerated, John iii. 1. and subsequent verses, "children of the kingdom," Matt. viii. 12; xiii. 38: "children of your father which is in heaven," Matt. v. 45: "heirs," Psalm cxxvii. 3; 1 Sam. ii. 8; Matt. xxv. 34: and because they are called heirs, sons of the kingdom, and born of the Lord as their father, they are denominated kings and priests; then also it is said that "they will sit with the Lord upon his throne," Apoc. iii. 21. There are two kingdoms into which the universal heaven is distinguished, the spiritual kingdom and the celestial kingdom; the spiritual kingdom is what is called the Lord's royalty, and as all who are therein are in wisdom from truths, therefore they are meant by kings, which the Lord will make those men who are in wisdom from him; and the celestial kingdom is what is called the Lord's priesthood, and all who are there, are in love from good, therefore they are meant by priests, which the Lord will make those men who are in love from him in like manner, the Lord's church upon earth is distinguished into two kingdoms; concerning those two kingdoms, see the work On Heaven and Hell, n. 24, 226. He who does not know the spiritual signification of kings and priests, may be led into mistakes by many things which are recorded concerning them in the prophets and in the Apocalypse; as in the following instances in the prophets: "The sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee; thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breasts of kings; and thou shalt know that I Jehovah am thy saviour and thy redeemer," Isaiah lx. 10-16. "Kings

shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers, Isaiah xlix. 23: and in other places, as in Genesis, xlix. 20; Psalm ii. 10; Isaiah xiv. 9; xxiv. 21; lii. 15; Jerem. ii. 26; iv. 9; xlix. 3; Lament. ii. 6, 9; Ezek. vii. 26, 27; Hosea iii. 4; Zephan. i. 8: by kings in these passages, kings are not understood, but they who are in divine truths from the Lord, and, abstractedly, divine truths, from which is derived wisdom. Neither are kings meant by the king of the south and the king of the north, who waged war with each other, Daniel xi. 1, and subsequent verses; but by the king of the south are meant those who are in truths, and by the king of the north those who are in falses. It is the same in the Apocalypse where kings are frequently mentioned; as in the following passages: "And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates, and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared," xvi. 12. "The kings of the earth have committed fornication with the great whore that sitteth upon many waters," xvii. 2. "For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of the fornication of Babylon, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her," xviii. 3. "And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the white horse," xix. 19. "And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into the New Jerusalem," xxi. 24: and in other places, as xvi, 12; xvii. 2, 9—14; xviii. 9, 10: by kings are here meant those who are in truths, and, in an opposite sense, those who are in falses; and, abstractedly, truths or falses ; by the fornication of Babylon with the kings of the earth is meant, the falsification of the truth of the church; that Babylon, or the woman who sat upon the scarlet-colored beast, did not commit fornication with kings, but that she falsified the truths of the Word, is evident. It appears, therefore, that by kings, which the Lord will make those who are in wisdom from him, it is not to be understood that they will be kings, but that they will be wise; the

So

evidence of which enlightened reason can discern. in the following passages: "Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign upon the earth," Apoc. v. 10. That the Lord, by a king, meant truth, is evident from his own words to Pilate: "Pilate said unto him, Art thou not a king then? Jesus answered, thou sayest that I am a king; to this end was I born, and for this cause came 1 into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth; every one that is of the truth heareth my voice: Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?" John xviii. 37, 38: to bear witness unto the truth, means that he himself is truth; and because from it he called himself a king, Pilate said, what is truth? that is, truth is a king. That priests signify those who are in the good of love, and, abstracted from person, the goods of love, will appear in what follows.

21. "Unto God and his Father," signifies, and thus images of his divine wisdom, and of his divine love. By God and Father, in the spiritual sense, two persons are not understood; but by God is understood the Divinity as to wisdom, and by Father the Divinity as to love; for there are two things in the Lord, divine wisdom and divine love, or divine truth and divine good; these two are understood in the Old Testament by God and Jehovah, and here, by God and the Father. Now because the Lord teaches, that he and the Father are one, and that he is in the Father and the Father in him, John x. 30, xiv. 10, 11: by God and the Father are not understood two persons, but only the Lord; the Divinity also is one and indivisible, therefore by Jesus Christ making us kings and priests unto God and his Father, is signified, that they appear in his sight as images of his divine wisdom and of his divine love; for in these two consists the image of God in men and angels. That the divinity, which in itself is one, is expressed by various names in the Word, may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord. That the Lord himself is also the Father, is evident from the following places in Isaiah: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Coun

sellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace," ix. 5. In the same: " Thou, Jehovah, art our Father, our Redeemer, thy name is from everlasting," lxiii. 16: and in John, " If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also, and from henceforth ye do know him, and have seen him: Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father; Jesus saith unto him, he that hath seen me hath seen the Father, and how sayest thou then, show us the Father? believe me, that I am in the Father, and the Father in me," xiv. 7, 8, 9, 11. See n. 960, below.

22. "To him be glory and might for ever and ever," signifies, to whom alone belongs divine majesty, and divine omnipotence to eternity. By glory, in the Word, where the Lord is treated of, is understood the divine majesty ; this being predicated of his divine wisdom; and by might, is meant divine omnipotence, this being predicated of his divine love; and by, for ever and ever, is meant eternity. That such is the meaning of glory, might, and ever and ever, when spoken of Jehovah or the Lord, may be confirmed from many passages in the Word.

23. "Amen," signifies, divine confirmation from the truth, thus from himself. Amen signifies truth; and because the Lord was truth itself, he so often said, amen, (verily) I say unto you, as in Matt. v. 18, 26; vi. 16; x. 23, 42; xvii. 20; xviii. 13, 18; xxv. 12; xxviii. 20; John iii. 11; v. 19, 24, 25; vi. 26, 32, 47, 53; viii. 34, 51, 58; x. 7; xiii. 16, 20, 21; xxi. 18, 25; and in the following passage in the Apocalypse: "These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness," iii. 14; that is, the Lord. That the Lord is truth itself, he himself teaches in John xiv. 6; xvii. 19.

24. "Behold, he cometh with clouds," signifies, that the Lord will reveal himself in the literal sense of the Word, and will open its spiritual sense at the end of the church. He who does not know any thing of the internal or spiritual sense of the Word, cannot know what was meant by the Lord concerning his coming in the clouds of heaven; for he said unto the high priest, who adjured him, to declare whether he was the Christ the Son of