444. 'Release the four angels bound at the great river Euphrates' signifies that external bonds should be taken away from them so that the interiors of their minds might appear. That these things are signified by these words no one can know, and scarcely can suspect, unless he knows what is understood by 'the great river Euphrates', and what by 'the four angels bound' there. By 'Euphrates' in the Word the interiors of a man's mind are signified, that are called rational; and in the case of those who are in truths derived from good these are full of wisdom, but in the case of those who are in untruths derived from evil they are full of insanity. The reason why these [interiors] are signified by 'the river Euphrates' in the Word is because that river used to form the boundary between the land of Canaan and Assyria, and by 'the land of Canaan' was signified the Church, and by 'Assyria' the rational thereof. Consequently by the river acting as a boundary the interiors of the mind that are called rational, in either sense, are signified. There are three things that make the man of the Church, the spiritual, the rational or intellectual, and the natural that is also the [man's] knowledge. The spiritual of the Church was signified by the land of Canaan and by the rivers therein, the rational or intellectual of the Church by Asshur or Assyria and by its river Euphrates, while the natural that is also the knowledge was signified by Egypt and its river Nile; but concerning these more may be seen below (n. 503). By 'the four angels bound at the river Euphrates' are signified those interiors with the men of the Church which are said to be 'bound' because they are not made public; for they are infernal spirits who are understood by these 'angels', because it is said of them that 'they were prepared to slay a third part of the men', as presently follows (n. 446), and the interiors of men make one with spirits, either infernal or heavenly, since they dwell together. By 'release them' is signified to take away external bonds so that the interiors of their minds may appear. These are the things that are signified by these words. [2] That by 'Euphrates' are signified the interiors of a man's mind bordering upon the spiritual things of his Church, can be established from passages in the Word where Asshur or Assyria is named; but 'Euphrates' occurs in an opposite sense, in which it signifies interiors full of untruths and the resultant insanities, in these places:-
Behold the Lord brings up upon them the waters of the river (Euphrates), strong and many, the king of Asshur, he shall go through Judah, he shall overflow and go over Isa. viii 7, 8.
What hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, that thou drinkest the waters of Sichor, and what hast thou to do with the way of Assyria, that thou drinkest the waters of the river? Jer. ii 18.
Jehovah shall devote the tongue of the Egyptian sea to destruction, and shall shake [His] hand over the river Euphrates Isa. xi 15, 16.
The sixth angel poured out the phial upon the river Euphrates, the water of which was dried up Rev. xvi 12.
It was commanded to the prophet that he should put a girdle upon his loins, and afterwards should hide it in a hole of the rock by the Euphrates, and when after a short time he took it back, behold it was rotten, nor was it good for anything Jer. xiii 1-7, 11.
And it was also commanded him
that after he should finish reading the book, he should cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, and he should say, Thus shall Babel be sunk and not rise again Jer. li 63, 64.
By these things the interiors of the state of the Church with the sons of Israel were represented. That 'the river of Egypt' the Nile, and 'the river of Assyria' the Euphrates, were boundaries of the land of Canaan is plain from these words:-
Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, Unto thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt even to the great river Euphrates Gen. xv 18.
That the Euphrates was a boundary may be seen (Exod. xxiii 31; Deut. i 7, 8; xi 24; Josh. i 4; Micah vii 12).
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