584. And the rest of the men who were not killed in these plagues.-That this signifies those who have not perished from the disorderly desires above mentioned, is evident from the signification of the rest of the men who were not killed, as denoting all those who have not perished. That to be killed, in the Word, signifies to be spiritually killed, or to perish in eternal death (morte aeterna), may be seen above (n. 547, 572); and from the signification of "these plagues," as denoting the disorderly desires above mentioned, or, the disorderly desires springing from the love of evil, and the love of falsity, also the lust (concupiscentia) of destroying the truths and goods of the church by the falsities of evil; all these are signified by the fire, smoke, and brimstone, going forth out of the mouths of the horses, (see above, n. 578). These are called plagues, because by plagues in the Word, are signified such things as destroy spiritual life with men, and therefore the church; they also signify those things that cause death understood in a spiritual sense, and these refer mainly to the disorderly desires arising from the loves of self and of the world; for these loves are the roots from which evils and falsities of every class and species are born and spring up.
[2] Such things are also signified by plagues in the following passages in the Apocalypse:
The two witnesses "have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with every plague as often as they desire" (xi. 6).
So again:
"Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great" (xvi. 21).
And again:
"In one day shall the plagues come to" Babylon, "death, and mourning, and famine" (xviii. 8).
And again:
"I saw seven angels having the seven last plagues, through which must be consummated the wrath of God" (xv. 1, 6, 8).
By plagues are meant such things as bring spiritual death upon man, which, consequently, altogether destroy and devastate the church with men individually, and thus generally, as will be seen in the explanation of the passages that follow where plagues are mentioned, and especially where the seven last plagues are treated of.
[3] Similar things are understood by plagues in the following passages in the prophets.
Thus in Isaiah:
"The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, in the day that Jehovah shall bind up the breach of his people, and heal the wound of their plague" (xxx. 26).
And in Jeremiah:
"Thy bruise is incurable, and thy plague is grievous. For I have smitten thee with the plague of an enemy. I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy plagues" (xxx. 12, 14,17).
Again, in the same prophet:
"Every one that goeth by" Edom, "shall hiss at all the plagues thereof" (xlix. 17).
Again:
"Every one that goeth by Babylon shall hiss at all her plagues" (l. 13).
And in Moses:
"If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of the law, Jehovah will make thy plagues wonderful, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and evil diseases, and of long continuance. Every disease, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, will Jehovah secretly bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed" (Deut. xxviii. 58, 59, 61).
Plagues here signify spiritual plagues, which do not destroy the body, but the soul, and which are also enumerated in that chapter in Deuteronomy (verses 20-68).
[4] What plagues signify in the spiritual sense, is described by correspondences in Zechariah:
"This shall be the plague, wherewith Jehovah shall smite all the people that shall fight against Jerusalem; the flesh of each one shall consume away so that he shall stand upon his feet, and his eyes shall consume away in their holes, and his tongue shall consume away in his mouth. And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of every beast that shall be in those camps, as this plague" (xiv. 12, 15).
These things are said concerning those who endeavour to destroy the truths of the church by means of falsities. Jerusalem signifies the church as to the truths of doctrine, and to fight against her denotes to endeavour to destroy those truths by means of falsities. That the flesh of each one shall consume away so that he shall stand upon his feet, signifies that all the will of good will perish with those who attempt this, and that thus they will become merely corporeal-natural, for flesh signifies the will and its good or evil, while the feet signify those things that pertain to the natural man; therefore to stand upon the feet signifies to live from them alone. The eyes consuming away in their holes signifies that all understanding of truth shall perish, eyes signifying that understanding and by the tongue consuming away in his mouth, is signified, that all perception of truth and affection for good shall perish. Concerning these things it may be seen above (n. 455:8),where this prophecy also is explained. Almost similar things are signified by the plagues of the horse, the mule, the camel, the ass, and every beast; for by the plague of these is signified the loss of all understanding of truth, both spiritual and natural; and by the plague of the beast is signified the loss of all affection for good.
[5] In Luke it is said that in the same hour in which John sent, Jesus "cured many of their diseases and plagues of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight" (vii. 21). The plagues of evil spirits mean the obsessions, and calamitous states at that time brought upon men by evil spirits, all of which nevertheless signified corresponding spiritual states. For all the cures of diseases wrought by the Lord signified spiritual healings, and therefore the miracles of the Lord were Divine; as for example, that He gave sight to many that were blind, which signified to impart the understanding of the truths of doctrine to those who were in ignorance of truth. So again, by the wounds (plagas) which the thieves inflicted on the man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho (Luke x. 30), are also signified spiritual plagues, which were the falsities and evils insinuated into sojourners and Gentiles by the Scribes and Pharisees, as may be seen above (n. 444:13), where the spiritual sense of this parable is explained.
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