545. Verse 4. And it was said to them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, signifies that they should do no harm to any true and living knowledge [scientificum] from the sense of the letter of the Word, nor to any cognitions of truth and good therein. This is evident from the signification of "not to hurt," as being not to do harm to; from the signification of "grass," as being true knowledge [scientificum]; and from the signification of "green thing," as being living knowledge [scientificum] (of which see above, n. 507); and as every true and living knowledge is from the Word, "not to hurt the grass of the earth nor any green thing" signifies not to do harm to true and living knowledge from the Word. It is evident also from the signification of "trees," as being the cognitions of truth and good, also from the Word (see above, n. 109, 420). [2] Knowledges [scientifica] from the Word mean all things of the sense of its letter there in which doctrine does not appear, while cognitions of truth and good mean all things of the sense of the letter of the Word in which and from which is doctrine. That harm should not be done to any true and living knowledge [scientificum], nor to the cognitions of truth and good from the Word, means that the sensual man by his persuasiveness must not pervert any meaning of the letter of the Word by denying it to be true; for if he does this all is lost with him, for there is then no hope of his reformation, nor has he any faculty of understanding the truth of the church. For he who denies that the Word is Divine in the entire sense of the letter, breaks off his connection with heaven, because it is through the Word that man has conjunction with heaven (see in the work on Heaven and Hell, n. 303-310). [3] This describes what the state of the man of the church is when it is near its end, namely, that from internal or spiritual he becomes external and sensual; but yet lest he should wholly perish the Lord provides and takes care that he does not do injury to anything in the sense of the letter of the Word by denying it to be true and living, that is, Divine, although by means of the sense of the letter he confirms his falsities and evils; for so long as he does not deny the Divine in the Word he still reads it or listens to it, and is thereby in some conjunction with heaven. This makes clear that these words signify that this much of the church will still remain; but what follows, namely, that they should hurt "those men only that have not the seal of God on their foreheads" signifies that this ultimate sensual should do harm only to the understanding of truth with those who are not in truths from good from the Lord.