A heavenly secret I have been instructed about several times, is that those who had been bound in the pit, or purged, of whom the prophets spoke so many times, are not set free from thence until their punishment or chastening has been completed. When this is completed, liberation ensues like [the delivery] with a woman in labor, in the sense that there is a certain necessity which can no longer be resisted, urging them to struggle forth, and to be set free from slavery. But in this connection very many things come to mind about the condition of those who are being purged, or punished - regarding [the nature of] their chastening and punishment, and the state of liberty into which they struggle, and the modes by which they are set free - which would fill many pages, but which I do not think would really increase belief. Heavenly states are of such a nature that if they were laid bare to anyone living in the world, they would not be believed, but would drive them crazy. This is due to the incredulity of those who want to believe nothing but what they understand, and [yet] are not able to understand the causes in nature that lie nearest to their physical senses. How then could they understand spiritual and heavenly things so remote, in fact the most remote, from the senses which they nevertheless want to use to investigate them? 1747, 12 November (old calendar).