330. [verse 12] 'And I saw when He had opened the sixth seal' signifies the examination by the Lord of the states of life of those who were interiorly evil, upon whom there is going to be the judgment. That it treats of these things is plain from those now following; but in order that they may be understood two arcana must be revealed:-
THE FIRST: that the last judgment took place upon no others than those who appeared in outward form like Christians, and orally professed the things that are of the Church, but were in inward form or at heart, against them; and because they were such, therefore they had been conjoined as to their exterior things with the ultimate heaven, and as to their interior things with hell.
THE SECOND: that as long as they had been conjoined with the ultimate heaven, so long the internals of their will and love had been closed, as a result of which they did not appear evil before others; but when they were separated from the ultimate heaven, then their interior things were laid open, and these were in every respect opposite to the exterior things by virtue of which they had pretended and lied that they were angels, and that the places where they were dwelling were heavens. These were the 'heavens', so called, that 'passed away' at the time of the last judgment (Rev. xxi 1).
But more may be seen concerning these things in the little work concerning THE LAST JUDGMENT (n. 70, 71); and in the CONTINUATION CONCERNING THE LAST JUDGMENT (n. 10).
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