12 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. -Revelation 12:1-2 Bible, King James Version (KJV)
705. EXPOSITION. Verses 1, 2. And a great sign was seen in heaven; a woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And being with child she cried out, travailing, and pained to bring forth. 1. "And a great sign was seen in heaven," signifies Divine attestation respecting the coming church and the reception of its doctrine, and by whom it will be assaulted (n. 706); "a woman arrayed with the sun," signifies the church with those who are in love to the Lord, and thence in love towards the neighbor (n. 707); "and the moon under her feet," signifies faith with those who are 705-1 in charity (n. 708); "and upon her head a crown of twelve stars," signifies the wisdom and intelligence of those who are of that church through doctrinals and the knowledges of all things of truth and good from the Word (n. 709). 2. "And being with child," signifies the... doctrine from the good of celestial love (n. 710); "and 705-2 she cried out, travailing, and pained to bring forth," signifies non-reception by those who are in the church...
706. Verse 1. And a great sign was seen in heaven, signifies Divine attestation respecting the coming church and the reception of its doctrine, and by whom it will be assaulted.. The "woman" means the church, her "son a male" doctrine, and "the dragon and his angels" and afterwards "the beasts," mean those who will assault the church and its doctrine...
707. A woman arrayed with the sun, signifies the church with those who are in love to the Lord, and thence in love towards the neighbor... This means the New Church to be established by the Lord after the end of the present church, which is in the Christian world... That this "woman" signifies the New Church, which is to be established by the Lord after the end of the church now existing in the Christian world, can be seen from what follows in this chapter, namely, that "she brought forth a son, a male child which the dragon wished to devour, and that was caught up to God," and that "the woman fled into the wilderness," and there too "the dragon wished to destroy her;" for from what follows it will be seen that "the son a male" means the truth of the doctrine of that church, and "the dragon" means those who are opposed to the truths of that doctrine. That the church here meant by the "woman" is the same church as "the New Jerusalem" that is described chap. 21...
708. ..."the woman arrayed with the sun" signifies the church with those who are celestial and thence spiritual, and "the moon under her feet" signifies the church with those who are natural... and at the same time in the faith of charity; for the goods and the truths therefrom of heaven and the church succeed in order, like the head, the body, and the feet with man. In the head of the Greatest Man, which is heaven, are those who are in love to the Lord from the Lord, and these are called celestial; but in the body, from the breast even to the loins of that Greatest Man, which is heaven, are those who are in love towards the neighbor, and these are called spiritual; but in the feet of the Greatest Man, which is heaven, are those who are obscurely in the faith of charity, and these are called natural. [2] But that this may be clearly apprehended it must be known that there are two kingdoms into which the heavens are divided, one called the celestial, and the other the spiritual; and that there are three heavens, the highest called the celestial, the middle called the spiritual, and the lowest called the celestial-natural and the spiritual-natural. Besides these distinctions in the heavens, however, there is the further distinction between those who receive light, that is, intelligence, from the Lord as a sun, and those who receive light and intelligence from the Lord as a moon... (But a fuller idea of this can be gained from what is said and shown in the work on Heaven and Hell, under the heads, Heaven is Divided into Two Kingdoms, n. 20-28; The Sun and the Moon in Heaven, Light and Heat in the Heavens, n. 116-140; and The Correspondence of Heaven with all Things of Man, n. 51-102...) That "the sun" signifies the Lord in relation to Divine love, and thus love to the Lord from the Lord, and "the moon" the truth of faith, may be seen above (n. 401); moreover, respecting the heavens that are under the Lord as a sun, and those under the Lord as a moon, see also above (n. 411, 422, 527). To this is to be added, that there are three heavens that are under the Lord as a moon, a higher, a middle, and a lower; or what is the same, an interior, a middle, and an exterior, but yet all who are in these heavens are natural. These heavens are interior, middle, and exterior, because the natural like the spiritual is divided into three degrees; the exterior-natural communicates with the world, the interior with heaven, and the middle conjoins. Nevertheless, those who are in the heavens under the Lord as a moon cannot enter into the heavens that are under the Lord as a sun, because their interior sight or understanding has been formed to receive the lunar light there, and not to receive the solar light. They are comparatively not unlike those birds that see in the night and not in the daytime, consequently when they come into the sunlight that those have who are under the Lord as a sun their sight is darkened. Those who are in these heavens are those who have been in charity according to their religious principle, or according to their faith; but such as are natural and are not in the faith of charity are in the hells under these heavens. From this it is evident that the "moon" here means faith with those who are natural and are in charity; and the moon was seen "under the feet" because those who are in the heavens under the Lord as a moon have nothing in common with those who are in the heavens under the Lord as a sun, even to the extent that they are unable to rise up to them.
709. And upon her head a crown of twelve stars, signifies the wisdom and intelligence of those who are of that church through doctrinals and knowledges of all things of truth and good from the Word...
710. Verse 2. And being with child, signifies... doctrine from the good of celestial love. This is... in reference to the church...[33] It is to be known that the goods of heaven and the church are of three degrees; the good of the inmost degree, thus also of the inmost heaven, is called the good of celestial love; the good of the lower degree, which is also the good of the middle heaven, is called the good of spiritual love; and the good of the lowest degree, which is the good of the lowest heaven, is called natural good...
711. She cried out travailing and pained to bring forth, signifies non-reception by those in the church who are natural... and their resistance... because such are meant by "the dragon" treated of in what follows... It may be mentioned that "the male" which the woman brought forth means the doctrine of the New Jerusalem which has been given by the Lord out of heaven; that the dragons then stood around and vehemently and strenuously opposed, and this even to the crying out and torment of those who favored that doctrine, I can testify; which shows that those who are like them in the world will also oppose to prevent this doctrine from being received. Who these are will be told in what follows, where "the dragon and the beasts" are treated of...
709. And upon her head a crown of twelve stars, signifies the wisdom and intelligence of those who are of that church through doctrinals and knowledges of all things of truth and good from the Word...
710. Verse 2. And being with child, signifies... doctrine from the good of celestial love. This is... in reference to the church...[33] It is to be known that the goods of heaven and the church are of three degrees; the good of the inmost degree, thus also of the inmost heaven, is called the good of celestial love; the good of the lower degree, which is also the good of the middle heaven, is called the good of spiritual love; and the good of the lowest degree, which is the good of the lowest heaven, is called natural good...
711. She cried out travailing and pained to bring forth, signifies non-reception by those in the church who are natural... and their resistance... because such are meant by "the dragon" treated of in what follows... It may be mentioned that "the male" which the woman brought forth means the doctrine of the New Jerusalem which has been given by the Lord out of heaven; that the dragons then stood around and vehemently and strenuously opposed, and this even to the crying out and torment of those who favored that doctrine, I can testify; which shows that those who are like them in the world will also oppose to prevent this doctrine from being received. Who these are will be told in what follows, where "the dragon and the beasts" are treated of...
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