1124. Verse 8. For this reason in one day shall her plagues come, signifies that being such it is their last state, and then comes destruction. This is evident from the signification of "for this reason," as being such, namely, that they are in glory and delight from domination over heaven and the church, and trust in their own and not in the Divine power and protection. Also from the signification of "in that day," as being their last state, "day" signifying state, here the last, because it is added that then there is "death, mourning, and famine." Also from the signification of "plagues," as being such things as destroy spiritual life, thus destruction (see n. 584). The last state, here signified by the "day" in which their plagues shall come, signifies the state when there is no longer any good and truth left with them; and as their spiritual life is then wholly destroyed, destruction, that is, the Last Judgment, then comes upon them. It comes then and not before, because then there can be no longer any connection or conjunction of heaven with them, and when there is no connection or conjunction a separation takes place, and separation is the Last Judgment. When this takes place the evil are cast into hell, and the good are drawn away from them and raised up into heaven; for as soon as the connection of anyone with heaven is broken he at once falls into hell. It is only the connection with heaven, thus with the Lord, that withholds from hell.
(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord)
[2] If it is said and thought that life itself is God, or that God is life itself, and with this there is no idea of what life is, then beyond these expressions there is no understanding of what God is. In the thought of man there are two ideas, one abstract, which is spiritual, and one not abstract, which is natural. The abstract idea, which is spiritual, about the life which is God is that it is love itself and that it is wisdom itself, and that love is of wisdom and that wisdom is of love. But the idea that is not abstract which is natural about the life which is God is that His love is like fire and His wisdom like light, and that together they are like a sunbeam. This natural idea is acquired from correspondence, for fire corresponds to love and light corresponds to wisdom, and therefore in the Word "fire" signifies love and "light" signifies wisdom. And when one preaches from the Word he also prays that heavenly fire (which means the Divine love) may warm all hearts, and that heavenly light (which means the Divine wisdom) may enlighten all minds. The Divine love, which in the Divine wisdom is the life itself which is God, is not in its essence thinkable, for it is infinite and thus transcends comprehension, but in its appearance it is thinkable. Before the eyes of angels the Lord appears as a sun, and from that sun proceed heat and light. The sun is the Divine love, the heat is the Divine love proceeding, which is called the Divine good, and the light is the Divine wisdom proceeding, which is called the Divine truth. And yet the life that is God must not be thought of as a fire or heat or light, unless there goes with it the thought at the same time of love and of wisdom, that is, that the Divine love is like fire, and the Divine wisdom is like light, and the Divine love and the Divine wisdom together are like a sunbeam. For God is a perfect Man, in face like Man and in body like Man, with no difference as to form but only as to essence; His essence is that He is love itself and wisdom itself, thus life itself.
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