78. As dead. That this signifies the failing of his own life, is evident from the signification of as dead, when the Divine presence with man is treated of, as being the failing of one's own life. For a man's own life is that into which he is born, which in itself is nothing but evil, for it is altogether inverted, regarding only itself and the world, and therefore turning itself backwards from God and from heaven. The life which is not man's own, is that into which he is led when he is regenerated by the Lord; and when he comes into this life, he looks to God and heaven in the first place, and himself and the world in the second. This life flows into man when the Lord is present; hence it is clear, that, so far as it flows in, so far there is effected a turning of the life; this turning, when it is effected suddenly, causes man to appear to himself as dead; hence it is that by these words is signified the failing of his own life. But these two states cannot be described to the apprehension; they are different also with man from what they are with a spirit, and they differ altogether with the evil and with the good.
[2] It is impossible for man to live in the body in the presence of the Divine; and they who do live are surrounded with a column of angels, which moderates the Divine influx; for the body of no man whatever is capable of receiving of the Divine, therefore it dies and is cast off. That man cannot live in the body in the presence of the Divine, is evident from the words of the Lord to Moses,
"Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me, and live" (Exod. xxxiii. 20);
therefore Moses, because he desired to see Him, was placed in the hole of a rock, and covered until the Lord had passed by. It was known also to the ancients that man could not see God and live, as is evident from the book of Judges:
"Manoah said unto his wife, Dying we shall die, because we have seen God" (xiii. 22).
This was also testified among the sons of Israel, when the Lord was seen from Mount Sinai, concerning which it is thus written in Moses:
"Be ready against the third day; for the third day Jehovah will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai. And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves that ye go not up into the mountain, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mountain, dying he shall die; and because terror seized upon them, they said to Moses, "Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die" (Exod. xix. 11, 12; xx. 19).
(That by Mount Sinai is signified heaven, where the Lord is, and that by touching is signified to communicate, to transfer, and to receive, and that for this reason it was forbidden to touch the border of that mountain, may be seen in the explanation of that chapter in Arcana Coelestia.)
[3] The reason why Jehovah was seen by many, as recorded in the Word, was, that they were at the time surrounded with a column of spirits, and thus preserved, as said above: thus also the Lord has been oftentimes seen by me. But the state of spirits before the Divine presence differs from the state of man: spirits cannot die; therefore, if they are evil, they undergo a spiritual death at the Divine presence, the nature of which death will be presently described; but those who are good, are taken to societies, where the sphere of the Divine presence is tempered and accommodated to reception. This is why there are three heavens, and in each heaven many societies, and those who are in the higher heavens are nearer to the Lord, and those who are in the lower are more remote from Him (concerning this see what is said in the work, Heaven and Hell, n. 20-28, 29- 40, 41-50, 206-209). What the spiritual death is which evil spirits undergo at the Divine presence, shall be briefly stated. [4] Spiritual death is an aversion and removal from the Lord; but, when evil spirits who are not yet vastated, that is, determined to their ruling love, enter any angelic society, then, because the Divine of the Lord is there present, they are direfully tortured, and not only avert themselves, but also cast themselves into the deep, where no light from heaven enters; some into dark caverns of rocks; in a word, into the hells (concerning this see what is shown in the work, Heaven and Hell, n. 54, 40, 410, 525, 527). This aversion and removal from the Lord is called spiritual death; the spiritual of heaven is also dead with them.
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