1072. Verse 14. They shall fight with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, signifies that these must contend with those meant by "the harlot" respecting the holiness of the Word, and the Lord's power of saving men, and that the Lord has delivered those who have been willing to be led by Him by means of the Word, and not by the woman the harlot. This is evident from the signification of "fighting with the Lamb," as being to contend about the holiness of the Word and the power of the Lord to save men; for those who contend about these things fight with the Lord, but not against the Lord, for the Lord is the Word and the Lord is salvation. Also from the signification of "and the Lamb shall overcome them," as being that He will deliver those who are willing to be taught and led by Him by means of the Word. That such are those whom the Lord conquers is evident from what follows in this verse, that they are "those who are with Him, who are called, and chosen, and faithful." These are all such, in the kingdoms subject to the papal dominion, who call the Pope merely the head of the church, and not a vicar in any such sense as would put him in the place of the Lord in the world, as to the power of opening and shutting heaven at will, since that power is the Divine power that cannot be transferred to any man; and they also hold that it is not allowable for the Pope to change the holy things of the Word, and to issue new decrees that are not in harmony with it. These are the ones here meant.
(Continuation respecting the Word)
[2] That the Word is holy and Divine from inmosts to outermosts is not evident to the man who leads himself, but is evident to the man whom the Lord leads. For the man who leads himself sees only the external of the Word, and judges from its style; but the man whom the Lord leads judges of the external of the Word from the holiness that is in it. The Word is like a garden, that may be called a heavenly paradise, in which are dainties and delightful things of every kind, dainties from the fruits, and delightful things from the flowers; and in the middle of it trees of life, and near them fountains of living water, and round about trees of the forest, and near them rivers. The man who leads himself judges of that paradise, which is the Word, from its circumference, where the trees of the forest are; but the man whom the Lord leads judges of it from the middle of it, where the trees of life are. The man whom the Lord leads is actually in the middle of it, and looks to the Lord; but the man who leads himself actually sits down at the circumference, and looks away from it to the world. [3] Again, the Word is like fruit within which there is a nutritious pulp, and in the middle of it seed vessels, in which inmostly is a living germ that germinates in good soil. Again, the Word is also like a most beautiful infant, which, except the face, is enveloped in wrappings upon wrappings; the infant itself is in the inmost heaven, the wrappings are in the lower heavens, and the general covering of the wrappings is on the earth. As the Word is such it is holy and Divine from inmosts to the externals.
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