The Spiritual Meaning of Daniel's Prophecy of the Statue of Nebuchadnezzar

The book of Daniel, which means "God is Judge" - concerns the final end state of the church, when its good and truth have been corrupted by evils and falsities.  In it, there are a series of prophecies, which unknown to most, predict the present decline and fall of the Christian Church, before the birth of a new one.  The prophecies also contain time periods, which shows that the last judgment of the Second Coming should have taken place in the 18th century (e.g., analysis of Dan. 7:25 and other passages, discussed in previous blog posts).  In the New Church, it was revealed that the Second Coming was fulfilled in the revelation of the internal spiritual sense of the Word.  And just as the prophecies of Daniel predicted, this was all fulfilled in the 18th century when the Lord decided to reveal everything that had been kept hidden from the Jews and even Christians concerning the hidden spiritual sense contained in the Word.

But a new revelation means one must reject the old.  And by old, I mean the false doctrines of the Catholic and Protestant churches.  It was foreseen in the prophecies of scripture that the Christian church would decline, until nothing of good or truth remained in it. This decline and corruption of the Christian church is foretold in the prophecies of Daniel, but as those born in the church cannot see their own falsehoods, there is a tendency to demonize other groups, to propose a future Antichrist, or propose that these prophecies are "always future."  This is known as the Futurist view, and just like the Jews, they continually place prophecies in the future and do not see them fulfilled in the current state of religion as we have it today.

THE SPIRITUAL SYMBOLISM OF BABYLON

The book of Daniel begins with the following historical account of Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Jerusalem in the 6th century  B.C. -

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.  And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god. (Dan. 1:1-2)

One thing that the revelations given to Swedenborg reveal, is that every word of scripture is Divinely inspired.  To see it, one must abstract the meaning from particular historical events, or any particular time or place.  Jerusalem, in the spiritual sense, represents the doctrine of truth of the Christian Church.  The vessels and treasures in the temple represent the knowledges of good and truth.  Nebuchadnezzar was a king of Babylon, and Babylon represents those who wish to rule others through means of religion.  For Babylon to plunder Jerusalem signifies that those who wish to rule others by means of religion, through a priesthood, will plunder the knowledge of the Christian Church and use it for evil ends, thus profaning it.  In scripture, Babylon is thus a symbolic representation of those within the Catholic Church who abused the Christian revelation in order to gain power.  This siege of Jerusalem of the 6th century B.C. was a type for things to come: in the literal sense, Jerusalem was plundered by the Romans in the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D.  When the Roman Empire collapsed, the power center of Christianity shifted to Rome, and Rome made use of the knowledge of scripture in order to create a religious rule that lasted for centuries.

The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem, by David Roberts

In scripture, one can show that this is the spiritual meaning of Babylon, and it was foreseen that a "New Babylon" would be re-established in the future (see Zech. 5:5-11).  This was known to the early Protestants, and the revelations of Swedenborg confirm it.  There are other interpretations out there that are caught up in the literal sense and do not understand the spiritual meaning of Babylon.  Popular misinterpretations include those that think the future Babylon points to some future political empire in the Middle East.  Another is the western financial system.  But neither of these interpretations are correct, for the Bible is concerned about one's spiritual development and destiny, not in temporal earthly matters.  Babylon refers to any system of religion, where spiritual knowledge is abused for the sake of gaining power and control over others, and over their way of thinking, due to one's selfish pride and ego.  This is the overall subject of the book of Daniel as it was written in ancient Babylon, with a special focus on the Catholic Church, and later the Protestant Church that grew from it.

Many within the Catholic and Protestant churches who read the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation do not see this, as they put on certain "blinders" based on what they have been told by others, and false assumptions. For everyone reads scripture through the eyeglasses of their own doctrine, and if not, believe what religious leaders tell them.  Thus what they do, in order to maintain their mental blind, is to propose a "gap" theory in the prophecies, where the current Christian dispensation is excluded in the prophecies.

THE DREAM VISION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR

The book of Daniel contains a series of dream visions, concerning the progression of the Christian church to its ultimate decline.  The first one appears in chapter 2, where King Nebuchadnezzar sees a statue with a head of gold, arms and breast of silver, thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of part iron and part clay.  This statue is destroyed and toppled by a huge stone that crushes it, which then becomes a mountain. Nebuchadnezzar is so troubled by the dream, he ask his Chaldean astrologers to explain the dream without even telling them the dream.  Ultimately, the dream and its interpretation is revealed to Daniel in a dream shown to him.  His explanation is as follows:

"You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are the head of gold.
Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.
And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these.
And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay.
And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle.
As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage,  but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay.
And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure." (Dan. 2:37-45)

THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION OF THE DREAM VISION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR

Nebuchadnezzar himself took the interpretation of the dream quite literally, and thought it referred completely to himself.  Perhaps thinking he could make his kingdom last forever, he next made a statue of gold and attempted to force everyone to bow down and worship it (see Dan. 3).  This is the most literal or base interpretation, one based on the selfish ego, and it thus the most limited.  The next level of interpretation is based on historical political kingdoms that arose in the Middle East, culminating in the Roman Empire.  This traditional interpretation is supported from statements in the other dream visions of Daniel, and is one that was also followed by the Jews as well.  Thus the dream vision can be represented by the following successive political kingdoms:

Head of Gold = Kingdom of Babylon, ca. 607 - 537 B.C.

Arms & Breast of Silver = Kingdom of Medo-Persia, ca. 537 - 332 B.C.

Thighs of Bronze = Grecian Empire, ca. 332-31 B.C.

Legs of Iron = Roman Empire, ca. 31 B.C. - 476 A.D.

Feet of Iron and Clay = Kingdoms of Europe

Beyond the Roman Empire is where disagreements begin.  There are two main views: the Historical view and Futurist view.  In the Historical view, the feet of iron & clay represent represent the various kingdoms of Europe begining with the collapse of the Roman Empire.  This is followed by the Seventh Day Adventists, but it actually dates back much earlier, and it was the view adopted by Isaac Newton in his commentary on Daniel.  In the Futurist view, there is a "gap" of time after the Fall of the Roman Empire, and it is proposed that it refers to some future empire that arises in Europe.  One favorite of modern interpreters of late was the European Union.  Another interesting proposal is NATO, which of course includes both the U.S. and Europe.  Either one has to admit that the last and final kingdom built in opposition to God are the different kingdoms of Europe under the rule of the Papacy.  The other option is to state that the final world Empire is that of the United States and NATO.  This would indicate that the strongest opposition to the future kingdom of God would come not from the Middle East, but ironically, from the United States and/or Europe. Historically, we are seeing the U.S. degenerate from a republic to an Empire, just as what happened with the ancient Roman Republic which was transformed into the Roman Empire.

THE FINAL EMPIRE - THE NEW WORLD ORDER?

THE SPIRITUAL INTEPRETATION OF THE DREAM VISION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR

All dreams have several levels of interpretation, and they correspond with each other. At the lowest level, it refers to Nebuchadnezzar's own personal ego.  Next level up is that it concerns historical political kingdoms.  However at the highest level, scripture is concerned with eternal spiritual truths, and earthly matters are but temporal representations of these eternal truths.  Each of these levels are different, but they don't exactly disagree with each other - instead, they correspond with each other, each providing a higher level or more universal meaning.  In the visions of Emanuel Swedenborg, he shown an interesting interpretation: the dream-vision of the statue of Nebuchadnezzar represent four world ages or dispensations, as follows:

The Age of Gold = from Adam to the flood of Noah, also known as the "Most Ancient Church."

The Age of Silver = from flood of Noah to Moses, also known as the "Ancient Church."

The Age of Bronze = from Moses to the time of Jesus Christ, the Mosaic or Jewish dispensation.

The Age of Iron = the Christian dispensation

The Age of Iron/Clay = the corrupted Christian church

Here is a graphic that is an approximate representation of the different dispensations that are recognized in the New Church.  Most scholars recognize these ages, but call them by different names:

These "ages of the world" were actually well known in ancient times; one can find evidence of that in Greek myths as well as Zoroastrianism.  Recognizing that there are different dispensations or world ages leads to interesting observations.  One is, each dispensation begins with a Divine revelation.  During an age, the Divine revelation declines and become corrupted.  Then another revelation is given.  One age dies, another one is born anew, similar to the life cycle of a Phoenix.  This cycle of decline is broken with a new dispensation, the "kingdom of God," which does not go through a period of decline.

If we compare this spiritual interpretation with the literal interpretation, we can see a level of correspondence.  First, note that right after the flood of Noah, there is the story of the fall of the tower of Babel, ancient Babylon, which corresponds with the fall of Babylon to the Medo-Persian empire in 537 B.C.  Second, note that the Age of Iron corresponds to the Christian dispensation in both interpretations.  Thus the lower level literal interpretations are "compressed" views of a higher level view.  Sort of like a hologram, where the part contains the whole.  This is not unique - these multiple levels of interpretation can be found throughout all of scripture, which Swedenborg discusses at length for certain passages (e.g., the 10 commandments, as explained in Heavenly Arcana and True Christian Religion).  Another interesting observation: the loins of the statue corresponds with the beginning of the Christian dispensation, which began with the incarnation through the virgin birth.

Now, as said above, each world age or dispensation begins with a Divine revelation.  Each successive revelation is inferior to the one that preceded it.  The Age of Gold begins with direct heavenly contact in the Garden of Eden.  The Age of Silver begins with God's covenant with Noah, and represents ancient religions of the Middle East that preceded Moses.  The Age of Bronze begins with the Mosaic dispensation, the revelation of God's law on Mt. Sinai.  The Age of Iron begins with the revelation of the Divine incarnation in Jesus Christ.

The final revelation of the Christian church, leading to a new dispensation of Christianity, is the revelations given to Emanuel Swedenborg in the 18th century.  This is known as the "New Church."  It is small, as it is strongly opposed by the churches that preceded it due to false doctrines.

THE CELESTIAL OR UNIVERSAL INTERPRETATION OF THE DREAM VISION

Above the literal sense is the spiritual sense, and above the spiritual sense is the celestial or universal sense.  Swedenborg, in his interpretation of scripture, concentrates for the most part on the highest universal meaning of scripture.  In heaven, there are universal truths, and these are manifested in different ways in the temporal realm according to one's understanding.  In heaven, these symbols are eternal and universal, and manifest in dreams.  So in the highest spiritual sense, the dream vision of Nebuchadnezzar signifies how the love of self corrupts the good and truth of the church, until in the end there is nothing but evil and falsity within it.  For the love of self seeks to rule over others through pride, and when spiritual knowledge is used for evil ends, it becomes perverted and profaned.

Gold, in the spiritual sense, signifies the good of love.  Silver signifies truth, or those who are in good from truth.  Bronze or brass represents those who are in an external form of good, in a form of obedience, but without a spiritual affection for truth.  Iron represents knowledge of spiritual truth.  Clay represents falsified and profane knowledge derived from the self.  The dispensational ages in scripture correspond to these higher spiritual states.  One can apply these universal truths in many different ways; it has multiple applications because these higher level truths are universal.  Here is one passage from Swedenborg on this particular dream vision of the statue of Nebuchadnezzar, where it is applied to the ultimate decline and last judgment upon the Christian church:

"The successive states of this church even to the last are depicted by the head, breast, arms, belly, thighs, legs, and feet of that statue; likewise by the gold, silver, brass, iron and clay, of which the statue consisted from top to bottom. All this makes clear that this church in its beginning was full of wisdom from the good of love to the Lord. For its "head," which is the highest part, signifies wisdom, and "gold" signifies the good of love to the Lord. That the toes of its feet were "part of iron and part of clay" signifies that the last state of that church would be without any good of love and without any wisdom; for this is thus interpreted by Daniel:
Whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of man; but they shall not cohere one with the other, even as iron doth not mingle with clay (Dan. 2:43). "The seed of man" signifies the Divine truth, thus the truth of the Word; and by this no coherence is effected, because at the end of the church it is falsified by application to the worship of men. The destruction of this church is described by "the stone brake in pieces all parts of the statue." "Stone" signifies the Divine truth; and the "rock" which the stone became signifies the Lord as to the Divine truth. Its destruction is the Last Judgment." (Apocalypse Explained, n. 1029.5)

The state of iron and clay, which do not intermix with each other, also signifies a state of life where one's spiritual beliefs (iron) does not mix with how one lives (clay).  Thus in the present age, religion is a matter of belief alone, without regard to how one lives their life.  The stone, made without hands, which falls from heaven and destroys the statue, represents the Divine truths that were revealed from heaven in the 18th century to Emanuel Swedenborg.  For it to become a mountain, signifies that love and charity will become the first and primary doctrine, instead of faith or belief alone.  For the stone to be made without hands, indicates that these truths are purely Divine, without human influence, or corruption from doctrines of men.  But to see this, one must be willing to recognize the falsehoods of the past, the falsehoods taught by one's own religion, and reject them in favour of what is true.  Then the truth can appear in greater light.

False Ideas of Religion based on Ignorance

Humanity is constantly growing, and as humanity grows, so does its understanding.  However resisting our increased understanding of the universe are the older forms of religion, for many religions were formed by doctrines and beliefs that were useful for their time, but are now out of date.  As humans are born, grow and die, so religions are born, grow and die.  And this is true of Christianity as well, and Jesus described this in his prophecy of end times.  The time when Christianity reaches its period of time is known in scripture as the "end of the world" or "end of an age."  But Christianity will not die, it will be reborn.  This rebirth is the Second Coming.

Resisting this change will be the older forms of religion, for many religions are not spiritual in nature but rather a means of control. For as a religion begins to die, it degenerates into one of two forms: either it will degenerate into a means of gaining control over others, or it will degenerate into just a system of mere belief.  This can be seen in Christianity: for many centuries it degenerated into a means of political control, under the dominion of the Roman Catholic Papacy and the priesthood.  Later it degenerated into one of belief only or lip service, which is demonstrated by the Protestant doctrine of faith alone. In the Apocalypse, the religion that seeks to have dominion or control over others is symbolized by Babylon, and the religion that seeks to deceive people into one of belief alone is symbolized by the dragon, the beast and the false prophet.

Something new is coming in the form of the New Jerusalem out of heaven, and it is destined to transform the older religions.  But before we can discuss the new, let us discuss the old ideas that are destined to die.  For as long as the older ideas remain, people will be held back in ignorance.

FALSE IDEA #1: HUMANITY ON EARTH IS THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE

The selfish ego tends to think of itself as the center of the universe.  Thus in ancient times, many tribal societies viewed outsiders and others as "evil" - you were only "good" if you belonged to the community.  As primitive as this sounds, one can find this selfish pride in many forms today. On a family level, parents may regard a new son-in-law or daughter-in-law as "outside the family" or "not good enough," when in fact they are encountering their limited level of toleration for others. On a national level, people may tend to think of their nationality as "better" than others. This often shows up in the public media, for more often than not public media is nothing but national propaganda, especially in times of war. On a religious level, this selfish pride is evident when one thinks the religion they are born into makes them "better" than others.  Any time one encounters a thought that elevates one above others, it is nothing more than the pride and evil from the selfish ego.

The selfish ego not only shows its pride and self-centeredness on an individual, family, national and religious level, but also on a world level. It was once held that the earth was the center of the universe - this was followed by the sun as the center, then it was discovered there are multiple galaxies, and now there may be even multiple universes. Thus it is very narrow minded to think that life only exists on our planet among the countless stars and galaxies. In fact, mathematically according to science we should already have been visited by civilizations more advanced than our own. And yet no apparent direct contact has been made. This is known as the Fermi Paradox. An explanation of no direct contact is that they may be withholding revealing themselves directly until we reach a certain level of awareness - this is known as the Zoo Hypothesis.

I have already spoken at length concerning UFOs who observe us from a distance, and concerning Emanuel Swedenborg who had visions of other extraterrestrial races, some perhaps dwelling on underground outposts on planets in our solar system. Howard Storm had a Near Death Experience in which he met Jesus, and apparently asked about extraterrestrial life. He was then shown a vision of other extraterrestrial races, beginning with those who looked like us, then starting to get a bit different:



So what of scripture which says that man was created in the image of God?  We are images of God inasmuch as we become forms of the Divine Love in what we do, and images of Divine Truth in how we think:

And God created man in His own image; in the image of God created He him. The word image is twice used here, because faith, which is of the understanding, is called His own image; and love, which is of the will — and which in the spiritual man comes after, but in the celestial man precedes — is called the image of God. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 53)

FALSE IDEA #2: ISRAEL AND THE JEWS ARE A CHOSEN RACE ABOVE OTHERS

This would seem to be a repetition of first false idea, but it bears repeating because many religious fundamentalists believe and teach this from a very literal interpretation of the Bible, where it is said that the Jews were a "chosen nation" above all other nations. But the Jews are not a chosen people above others, but rather represent the spiritual Church - for in reality it is those who follow God's commandments who will be chosen to belong to his kingdom. Based on a literal interpretation of the Bible, many believe future prophecies will be fulfilled by a future kingdom of God based in Israel. Blinded by religion, with the support of the United States, Israel has been allowed to create an apartheid racist state. In reality, the Old Testament is written in this manner because this is the kind of revelation that could be received at the time. The revelation given to the Jews as a nation was designed to be representative of a future spiritual Church to come. Externally the Jews could represent such a Church in their rituals and national identity, but inwardly they were idolatrous and were not ready to receive spiritual truths. Expecting a literal kingdom of this world, they rejected their own Messiah Jesus. This is the mistake the Jewish nation made, and unfortunately many Christians who study prophecy make the same mistake by expecting a literal political kingdom on earth. In truth, the kingdom of God is within one's heart, and his kingdom on earth is the church.

The Jews were revealed only external rituals, and not the hidden spiritual truths that lay hidden behind their symbolic rituals. They were not revealed these hidden spiritual truths, as being idolatrous in nature they would have profaned what is holy:

"It was not even told them plainly that they were to live after death, nor that the Lord would come into the world to save them. Nay, in such ignorance and stolidity were they kept, and still are kept, that they did not know and do not know that there is an internal man, or that there is any thing internal; for if they had known or now knew, so as to acknowledge it, their quality is such that they would profane it; and so there would be no hope of any salvation for them in the other life. This is what is meant by the Lord in John: He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that they might not see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and turn and I should heal them (xii. 40). And for this reason the Lord spake to them in parables, and explained none to them, that seeing they should not see, and hearing they should not hear and understand, as He says in Matthew (xiii. 13). For this reason also all the mysteries of faith were covered and concealed under the representatives of their church; and the prophetic style was similar for the same reason." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 302).

The Jews were only allowed to know God through their external rituals, in order to symbolically represent eternal truths:

The Jews and the Israelites were such that they had no thought about the internal man, nor willingness to know any thing about it; thus none at all concerning celestial and spiritual things, relating to the life after death. But yet, lest all communication with heaven and thus with the Lord should perish, they were bound to external rites, whereby internal things were signified. All their captivities and plagues were in general for this end, that external rites might be strictly observed for the sake of representation. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 3147.10)

The Jews are not more holy than others, but their history is designed to present symbolic eternal truths of the true spiritual Church which would include all nations and races:

Every one who thinks somewhat more deeply or interiorly, may know that in the Divine Word, by the seed of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob — which is so often mentioned, and of which it is so frequently said that it should be blessed, and this above all nations and people in the world — cannot be signified their posterity; for these among all nations were least of all in the good of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor, and not even in any truth of faith. For what the Lord is, what His kingdom, thus what heaven is, and what a life after death, they were altogether ignorant, as well because they were not willing to know, as because, if they had learned concerning those things, they would in heart have totally denied, and would thus have profaned interior goods and truths, as they profaned exterior by so many times becoming open idolaters, which is the reason that interior things so rarely stand forth in the sense of the letter of the Word of the Old Testament. ...when they said they were Abraham's seed — We are Abraham's seed. . . . Our father is Abraham. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were the sons of Abraham, ye would do the works of Abraham. . . . Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will to do (John viii. 33, 39, 44). By Abraham here is also meant the Lord, as everywhere in the Word. That they were not His seed, or sons, but the seed of the devil, is plainly said. Hence it is very manifest that by the seed of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, in the historical and prophetical Word, are by no means meant their posterity — for the Word throughout is Divine — but all those who are the seed of the Lord, that is, who are in the good and truth of faith in Him. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 3373.2)

Thus the Jews represent the true spiritual Church who follow God's commandments, and the land of Canaan is not the literal land of Israel but is designed to represent the kingdom of heaven. Even Jesus said that in the future people would not worship in Jerusalem, but would worship God in spirit and truth, and that his kingdom was not of this world. Many may see Judaism itself as a primitive national religion for its age and time, but what is unknown to most is that everything that was given to them are symbolic of heavenly matters. Some of these hidden truths were revealed in the New Testament, but all the details of the internal symbolism of the Jewish rituals are described in detail in Swedenborg's work Heavenly Arcana (aka Arcana Coelestia, meaning "Heavenly Secrets").  By the time Jesus came and revealed the heavenly message of love and forgiveness, the Jewish representations were no longer necessary and were abrogated as they had been fulfilled.

The truth is, God is not partial to any single group and does not favour one nation over another. The more one loves others and repents from sin, the more God can dwell inside of you - and it is only then you become a part of his holy kingdom. It is a spiritual inheritance, not a natural inheritance derived from parents or one's nationality.

And for those of you who only receive information from the media, the fact of the matter is is that the state of Israel is an apartheid racist state, and has taken away basic human rights from the Palestinians. And many are blinded by a literalist interpretation of the Bible to cover up this horrendous crime. Here is a clip of former President Jimmy Carter who speaks on the issue, and notice how the interviewer is trying to cover it up with the questions he asks:

FALSE IDEA #3: YOU NEED TO BELONG TO A PARTICULAR RELIGION TO GO TO HEAVEN

This again repeats the first false idea, but it again bears repeating as many who are so-called religious, believe that you must belong to their religion in order to go to heaven. You can find this idea in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It is a product of the selfish ego: everyone believes that they are better than others. They put God in a box, and believe that constitutes the absolute truth. This is a very narrow and limited view. The truth of the matter, is that all who do good by the truth that they know will go to heaven, for everyone has a conscience. And for those who know the truth of their religion, and do not follow it themselves, are worse than those who do not know. There are many Christians who are so in name only, for they believe the truth and yet they do not live by it. Many who follow this narrow mindset are thus very focused on converting others. Religion is not in converting others, it is living by the truth that you know: and the answer to all questions is found in loving and serving others to the best of our ability.

It is not wise to assume that the religion you were born into and taught by parents and religious authorities is absolutely correct.  Learn to question what you have been taught, ask yourself, WHY is that the truth.  And when you investigate yourself you then become stronger in the truth: doubt is replaced by an internal acknowledgment. I have learned that there are different degrees of truth and falsehood in all religions.

In Swedenborg's visions of heavens, he found that many who were not born into Christianity and who knew nothing about Jesus could receive the truths from angels better than the very so-called Christians themselves? Why so? Because they acted out of the goodness of their heart according to their conscience, whereas many Christians explicitly disobeyed or ignored what they knew. This truth Swedenborg explains from what he observed from direct experience -

"Without seed sown by the Lord, man can do nothing of good. All good of charity is seed from the Lord, even with the gentiles. Although with these it is not the good of faith, as it may be within the church, yet it may become the good of faith. For the gentiles who have lived in charity, as they are wont to do in the world, in the other life when they are instructed by angels, also embrace and receive the doctrine of true faith and the faith of charity much more easily than Christians." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 932).

"The man of the church thinks that all who are out of the church, and are called gentiles, cannot be saved, because they have no knowledges of faith, and are therefore wholly ignorant of the Lord. He says that without faith and without knowledge of the Lord there is no salvation, and thus he condemns all who are out of the church. Indeed many of this sort who are in some doctrine, even if it be heresy, think that all who are out of it, or all who do not hold the same opinion, cannot be saved; when in fact the case is not so at all. The Lord has mercy toward the whole human race, and wishes to save and draw to Himself all who are in the universe."(Heavenly Arcana, n. 1032)

I have been instructed in many ways that Gentiles who have led a moral life, and have been obedient, and have lived in mutual charity, and have received some sort of conscience according to their religion, are accepted in the other life, and are there instructed by angels with watchful care in the goods and truths of faith. While receiving instruction they conduct themselves modestly, intelligently, and wisely, and easily receive and become imbued with the instruction; for they have formed to themselves no principles contrary to the truths of faith, which are to be dispersed, still less scandals against the Lord; as many Christians have, who have led a life of evil. Moreover, such do not hate others, nor avenge injuries, nor plot artifices and deceits. Indeed, they wish well to Christians; when on the other hand Christians despise them and even do them violence, as far as they can: but they are withdrawn by the Lord from their unmercifulness and are protected. For the case of Christians and Gentiles in the other life is such that Christians who have acknowledged the truths of faith, and have at the same time led a life of good, are received before Gentiles; but such at this day are few.  (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2590)

God is love itself, and desires for everyone to be happy:

"It is a common opinion that those born out of the Church, who are called heathen or gentiles, cannot be saved, because they have not the Word and thus do not know the Lord, and without the Lord there is no salvation. But still it may be known that they also are saved, from this alone, that the mercy of the Lord is universal, that is, toward every one; that they are born men as well as those within the Church, who are respectively few; and that it is not their fault that they do not know the Lord. Every one who thinks from any enlightened reason, may see that no man is born for hell, for the Lord is love itself, and His love is to will to save all. Therefore He has provided that all may have religion, and by it acknowledgment of the Divine, and interior life; for to live according to one's religious belief is to live interiorly, as he then looks to the Divine; and as far as he looks to This, so far he does not look to the world, but removes himself from the world, thus from the life of the world, which is exterior life.
"That gentiles are saved as well as Christians, may be known by those who know what it is that makes heaven with man; for heaven is in man, and those who have heaven in themselves come into heaven. Heaven in man is to acknowledge the Divine and to be led by the Divine. The first and primary thing of every religion is to acknowledge the Divine. A religion which does not acknowledge the Divine, is not religion; and the precepts of every religion look to worship; thus they teach how the Divine is to be worshipped, so that the worship may be acceptable to Him; and when this is fixed in one's mind, thus as far as he wills it, or as far as he loves it, he is led by the Lord. It is known that gentiles live a moral life as well as Christians, and many of them a better life than Christians. Moral life is lived either for the sake of the Divine, or for the sake of men in the world; the moral life which is lived for the sake of the Divine is spiritual life. Moral life and spiritual life appear alike in outward form, but in inward form they are altogether different; the one saves man, the other does not save him. For he who lives a moral life for the sake of the Divine, is led by the Divine, but he who lives a moral life for the sake of men in the world, is led by himself." (Heaven an Hell, n. 318-319).

How many wars are fought in the name of religion?  Look at what people can do when led by ignorance and blind religious leaders. So what unites all religions of the world?  One thing: the golden rule.  Found this very interesting video on how the golden rule unites all religions:



If religions concentrating on doing well, doing what is right, the differences would disappear, for all the varieties of truth is derived from one principle, and that is love. And this was the central principle of the most ancient religion on this earth, where they followed the doctrine of charity

"...the doctrine of charity was the doctrine in the Ancient Churches, and that this doctrine conjoined all the churches, and thus of many made one; for they acknowledged as of the church all who lived in the good of charity, and called them brethren, however they might differ as to truths, which at this day are called the truths of faith. In these one instructed another, and this was among their works of charity; nor were they indignant if one did not accede to the opinion of another, knowing that every one receives truth just so far as he is in good. ...But in process of time that ancient wisdom decreased; for so far as the human race withdrew from the good of love to the Lord, and of charity toward the neighbor, so far it withdrew also from wisdom, because so far it withdrew from heaven; consequently man from internal became external, and this by successive degrees. ...In consequence the doctrine of charity, which was so precious to the ancients, is now among things that are lost; for who at this day knows what in the genuine sense charity is and what the neighbor? when yet that doctrine abounds in arcana so many and so great as cannot be described as to a thousandth part. The whole Sacred Scripture is nothing else than the doctrine of love and charity — which the Lord also teaches, saying, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind; this is the first and great commandment; and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; on these two commandments hang . . . the law and the prophets (Matt. xxii. 37-40). The law and the prophets are the Word in all and each of its parts." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 6628-32).

And notice how far removed we are today from that central principle, for religion has become just a matter of mere belief. Thus religions of today tend to emphasize faith over that of love, faith over that of doing good works.

FALSE IDEA #4: GOD IS ANGRY AND WRATHFUL AND CONDEMNS PEOPLE TO HELL

In truth, God is Love itself, and Mercy itself, and desires nothing more than for all of his creation to be happy. This sort of follows from the previous false idea. And yet there are many passages in scripture which declares that God gets angry and wrathful.  This indeed appears in the sense of the letter of scripture, but the reality is that God only appears angry and wrathful to those who have committed evil.  For those who in evil, are in the punishment of evil:

"In the Word in many passages it is said of Jehovah that He burns with anger and is wroth, and also that He consumes and destroys. But it is so expressed because it so appears to the man who turns himself away from the Lord, as is the case when he does evil; and since then he is not heard and is even punished, he believes that the Lord is in anger against him, when yet the Lord is never angry and never consumes, for He is mercy itself and good itself.” (Heavenly Arcana, n. 10431)

Moreover, it is our own conscience which will judge our own actions after death, and nothing that we have said, done or thought can be hidden or denied.  Those who live a life of evil do not wish to be among those who are in good: it is so repulsive to them that they turn away from heaven and cast themselves into hell.  Hell is the darkness of their own mind, and it is the fire of their own hatred. It is not God who casts anyone to hell, it is each person who casts their own self to hell:

"An opinion has prevailed with some that God turns away His face from man, rejects him from Himself and casts him into hell, and that He is angry with him on account of evil; and with some, further, that God punishes man and does evil to him. In this opinion they confirm themselves from the literal sense of the Word, where such things are said, not being aware that the spiritual sense of the Word, which explains the sense of the letter, is altogether different; and that hence the genuine doctrine of the church, which is from the spiritual sense of the Word, teaches otherwise, namely, that God never turns away His. face from man and rejects him from Himself, that He does not cast any one into hell, and that He is not angry with any one. Every one also whose mind is in a state of enlightenment when he reads the Word, perceives this to be the case, from the mere fact that God is good itself, love itself, and mercy itself; and that good itself cannot do evil to any one, also that love itself and mercy itself cannot reject man from itself, because this is contrary to the very essence of mercy and love, thus contrary to the Divine Itself. And so they who think from an enlightened mind, when they read the Word, clearly perceive that God never turns Himself away from man; and that since He never turns Himself away from him, He deals with him from good, love, and mercy; that is, that He wills good to him, loves him, and is merciful to him." (Heaven and Hell, n. 545)

"How this comes about shall also be told. When man enters into the other life, he is first received by angels who perform for him all good offices and also talk with him of the Lord, of heaven, and of angelic life, and instruct him in things that are true and good. But if the man, now a spirit, be of such sort that he had indeed known such things in the world, but in heart denied or despised them, he then after some conversation desires and seeks to depart from these angels. When the angels perceive this, they let him go, and after keeping company a while with others he is at length associated with those who are in like evil with himself (see above, n. 445-452); and when this comes to pass, he turns himself away from the Lord and turns his face to the hell with which he had been conjoined in the world, where are those who are in a similar love of evil. From these things it is plain that the Lord draws every spirit to Himself, by means of angels and also by influx from heaven; but that spirits who are in evil utterly resist, and as it were tear themselves away from the Lord, and are drawn by their own evil as by a rope, thus by hell; and inasmuch as they are drawn and by reason of the love of evil are willing to follow, it is manifest that they from freedom cast themselves into hell." (Heaven and Hell, n. 548)

In another encounter, Swedenborg met an evil spirit who preferred hell over heaven as they enjoy the evils that they did while they were in the world. Thus they are in the constant punishment of themselves.  Because of the opposition between heaven and hell, between good and evil, between the two there is a great gulf or divide (Luke 16:26).  And at this point I now have a perfect excuse to include an awesome song New Divide by Linkin Park. Pay attention to the lyrics.

FALSE IDEA #5: THERE WILL BE AN END OF THE WORLD. SOME TIME. TOMORROW. NO WAIT, TOMORROW AFTER TOMORROW. THIS FALSE IDEA IS GETTING TOO LONG, ISN'T IT?

I thought it would be good to end with this one. So many people who study scripture in the literal sense believe that there will come a time when the world will come to some cataclysmic end, Jesus will appear again in the sky visible to everyone, and that everyone here on earth will be judged.  But this comes from a false literal application of scripture. First the phrase "end of the world" does not mean the end of this planet, but rather it means the "end of the age."  And the age we are talking about is the old age of Christianity - for it has become so corrupt there is little truth left in it.  How so? Emphasis is placed on belief alone rather than living well, and monotheism has been replaced by tritheism.  The truth of the matter, as I said at the beginning, is that all religions are born, grow old, and die.  In the case of Christianity, it has been destroyed from within, based on a false theology unknown to the apostles. This Jesus described symbolically by the destruction of the temple, where no stone would be left standing: for in a symbolic sense the temple is the church, and no stone standing is no truth will be left in it. This is the end of the world, and the false teachings are the abomination of desolation - for many churches are desolate in truth. And like the Jews before them, many who are born into the religion are too blind to see it.

And yet it is said there will be a final judgment, where the evil will be separated from the good at the end of the age. This is true. But this event, which takes place periodically towards the end of world ages, occurs in the spiritual world.  Many who die are judged right after death, and go to heaven or hell according to how they lived. But many are not ready for this judgment, and enter a waiting state in a region between heaven and hell which Swedenborg described as "the world of spirits." Such a final judgment occurred upon the death of Jesus on the cross, for he entered the spiritual realm and reordered heaven and hell, and many captive souls caught in the world between were taken up into heaven.  This is when in the middle region a large group of souls are judged in mass, and the good are separated from the evil.  This is the final or last judgment. When such a judgment occurs in the spiritual world, the way is opened for angels to interact with men, and a new church is born on earth.  Such happened with the end of Judaism and the birth of Christianity, and such is happening now with the death of old Christianity and a rebirth of it in a new age.

Will Jesus come again in the flesh?  His kingdom is not of this world, but in the heart and spirit. When he came in the flesh, he was the Word incarnate.  And how has he come again? This time, as the Word revealed in the spiritual sense in scripture.  No longer do we need to wonder about the hidden truths of scripture, for the internal spiritual sense of scripture has been revealed in the revelations given to Swedenborg for all to see. But one will not see it if one holds on to former ideas of falsehood. This is the coming of the Son of Man in glory, for in the spiritual sense the Son of Man is the Divine Truth - now it is laid open for all to see, if one just simply opens their mind and begins reading it. It is an internal truth, that one sees internally - not literally with one's eyes. It is a spiritual psychology of the soul. We are not talking about a coming from the sky above, but a Second Coming out of heaven - and heaven can only be seen in visions.


Why the above song? In his visions Swedenborg was shown the spiritual symbolism of a trumpet:

"And I heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet, signifies the manifest perception of Divine truth revealed from heaven. A great voice, when it is heard from heaven, signifies the Divine truth, treated of in what follows. It was heard as a trumpet, because, when the Divine truth passes down from heaven, it is sometimes so heard by the angels of the ultimate heaven, and is then manifestly perceived. It is hence that by a voice as of a trumpet manifest perception is signified." (Apocalypse Revealed, n. 37).

"And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound, signifies that they were prepared and qualified to explore the state of the church and hence of the life of those whose religion is faith alone. What is signified by the trumpets is evident from the statute respecting their use among the children of Israel, of which it is said in Moses: Jehovah spake unto Moses, to make trumpets of silver for the convocation of the assembly, and the setting forth of the camp, and that they should sound them on days of joy, on the festivals, the new-moons, and over the burnt-offerings and sacrifices: also, that when they went to war against enemies that infested them, they should give the signal with trumpets, and that then they should come into remembrance before Jehovah God, and should be preserved from their enemies (Num. x. 1-11). From this may be seen what is signified by sounding with trumpets. That here by the seven angels sounding is signified the exploration and manifestation of the quality of the state of the church with those whose religion is faith alone, is manifest from the particulars in this chapter, and from those in the following chapters as far as the sixteenth inclusive, when understood in the spiritual sense." (Apocalypse Revealed, n. 397)

The Prophecy of the Last Judgment

In previous blog posts I have been discussing the meaning of prophecies in the Bible which have associated time periods.  In particular, I focused on this prophecy of Daniel, which mentions a period of 1290 and 1335 days, which correspond to a long time period of 1290 years and 1335 years:

And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.  Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. (Dan. 12:11-12)

In Biblical history, there was a 1290 year period from 1883 - 593 B.C., which begins with the time of Abraham's sojourning to the land of Canaan, to the time when God shows the "abomination" of idol worship in the Jewish temple to the prophet Ezekiel.  The 1290 year period can be divided into three periods of 430 years each, thus there is a prophecy where Ezekiel is commanded to lie on his side for a period of 430 days (a day for each year).  Contained within the 1290 year period is a shorter 1260 year period lasting from 1853 to 593 B.C., which closely follows the solar eclipses of a particular Saros cycle.

Daniel speaks of a future 1290 year period, associated with another period of 1335 years.  As discussed before, it is possible that they refer to the following periods of time:

455 - 1790 A.D. (1335 years)

499 - 1789 A.D. (1290 years)

Both periods end at the same time, the year 1789-90, the exact time of the French Revolution which broke the political and spiritual power of the Catholic Church.  The "abomination of desolation" does not concern the desecration of a Jewish temple, but rather the non-acknowledgment of the Divine in the human of the Lord, and the corruption of the Christian Church which turns away from love into belief only.  It was in 451 A.D. where the Council of Chalcedon declared that Jesus has two natures - the Divine and the human - which was done so that the Papacy could claim to be the Vicar of Christ on earth.  The year 455 A.D. was when the Vandals sacked Rome, stealing the treasures of Jerusalem, symbolizing the "desecration" of Christianity - for now not only was God divided into 3 persons, but His human - the Son of God, was no longer Divine, but an ordinary human. The Vandals, moreover, followed Arianism, which does not acknowledge Jesus as Divine. The Council of Chalcedon was opposed - and is still opposed - by the Oriental Orthodox Church, the largest of which is the Coptic Church. It was in 499 A.D. that the question b became settled in the Catholic Church, after an internal schism concerning the Papacy over this question.

Knowing the time period of the 1290 year prophecy means we are now in a position to determine the time period of the 1260 years - the "time, times and half a time" in Biblical prophecy.  For the 1260 year period is a shorter version of the longer 1290 year period.  We need to understand here: the prophecies do not concern political events of nations, but rather spiritual events involving the Church.  Prophecies concerning particular nations in scripture symbolize spiritual states within the Church.  The Nicene Creed and the Council of Chalcedon greatly changed the nature of the Christian Church, slowly corrupting it until there is no truth left in the majority of theology as understood today.

With that preface, I would like to summarize the vision that Daniel had of the future, described in chapter 7 of the book of Daniel.  He sees four beasts rise of out of the sea, the last one having 10 horns.  This is then followed by a "little horn", which then makes war upon the saints and utters blasphemies against God.  Here is a summary of the vision, as traditionally interpreted in its lowest, literal sense:

The Lion = Babylonian Empire (626 - 539 B.C.)

The Bear = Medo-Persian Empire (539 - 332 B.C.)

The Leopard = Grecian Empire (332 - 31 B.C.)

A Fourth Beast with 10 horns = Roman Empire (31 B.C. - 493 A.D.)

A Little Horn = the Roman Catholic Papacy

Most other interpreters of Biblical prophecy will agree with this interpretation. Others, however, will try to put a "gap" in the prophecy and apply the 10 horns to the nations of Europe and the little horn to a future Antichrist. This is the "Futuristic" interpretation, which has a tendency to place all prophecies in the future - just as the Jews still expect a Messiah to come some time in the future.

The above interpretation, however, is its lowest most literal interpretation: for whatever happened to the Jews was representative of the spiritual church, thus the empires which ruled over the Jewish peoples were representative as well.  What the vision describes is how a spiritual revelation degenerates over time until there is no truth left in the church. Thus, there are many details which are skipped over by most interpreters:

The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man's heart was given to it. (Dan. 7:4)

This symbolizes the first state of the church, where the revelation of the Divine truth elevates a person from a lower natural state (an animal) to a higher spiritual state (a standing man). The eagle's wings is one's own rationality, which is replaced by a higher spiritual truth. This is a state where the Word transforms one's life, redeeming a person from sin.

And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: 'Arise, devour much flesh! (Dan. 7:5)

The second state is when the Word is read, but not understood.  Appropriation of the Word in one's mind is symbolized by "eating" it. That there are many truths is signified by "much flesh", but that it is applied literally where fallacious appearances are taken as the truth, is symbolized by the three ribs between the teeth.

After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. (Dan. 7:6)

This is the third state of the church. The Word is indeed read, but scripture is now used to confirm false heresies.  The confirmed falsities are the wings of the bird. Reading the Word and not understanding it is one thing, but to then take it and confirm a false belief is a worse state than the one preceding it. The reason why the Grecian Empire represents this is that they took ancient truths and converted them into fables and myths which were used to support their idolatry.

After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. (Dan. 7:7)

This is the fourth state of the church, in which all truth and good are destroyed. It becomes powerful among many, the many falsehoods are symbolized by the "10 horns" (ten means all, a horn symbolize power from falsehood).

I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words. (Dan. 7:8)

Later in the vision the angel explains:

The ten horns are ten kings Who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first ones, And shall subdue three kings.He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time. (Dan. 7:24-25)

This is the part I wanted to get to: for the "little horn" reigns over the saints - those of the church - for a "time, times, and half a time".  This is a period of three and a half years, or 1260 days, which symbolizes a period of 1260 years. So what does this "little horn" symbolize? The "horn" signifies the power of a particular falsehood. It is "little" because so few see it.  In this particular case, it is making use of religion to confirm the love of self and the love of dominion over others.  Thus it signifies the Papacy.  The "three horns" that are subdued and humbled means that all the truths of the Word were subdued and warped to support this line of thinking. Thus it signifies the dominion of the Papacy, and from its theology, it also signifies a religion of belief alone, with no love or charity.

It can be confirmed in any history book that the western Roman Empire fell in 493 A.D.  And, as discussed earlier, the 1260 year period is based on a Saros cycle of solar eclipses.  Moreover, this 1260 year period is the smaller or shorter period of the 1290 year period (499 - 1789 A.D.).  Based upon that, the time period of the 1260 years during which time the Roman Catholic Church would rule over the church is as follows:

499 - 1759 A.D.

It was in 1759 A.D. in which the suppression of the Jesuits in Europe began, which was the political power of the Catholic Church. This was an outcome of the Enlightenment, which culminated in the French Revolution.  However, what takes place on earth first takes place in the spiritual world. For before these events took place, there was a last judgment in heaven, as seen in the visions of Emanuel Swedenborg.

THE LAST JUDGMENT IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD

What confuses everyone concerning this particular vision of Daniel is what comes next: for the prophecy states that after this time period of rule by the Papacy for 1260 years, a judgment will take place:

I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire;A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened.I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame.As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him.Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed. (Dan. 7:9-14)

What people misunderstand here is that they expect a visible coming of the Lord upon the clouds of heaven, to judge all and establish a kingdom here on earth.  But this is not the case.  What Swedenborg was shown was that final judgments periodically take place in the spiritual world upon large groups of people, who have not entered heaven or hell.  This happens in the spiritual world upon those who have already died but have not been judged yet. These final judgments tend to take place on those who are outwardly religious, but inwardly evil.  These kinds of souls are permitted for a time as they do help to lead others towards God. When these judgments take place, a new revelation is given, and a new church begins to form on earth.  And this is what Swedenborg saw which took place beginning in the year 1757, and lasted to the end of that year: there was a spiritual judgment on the religious leaders, especially those of the Roman Catholic religion.  This took place in the spiritual world, and it is no coincidence that the Catholic Church began to lose its political power and authority soon after.  The Lord coming on the clouds of heaven means the revelation of the spiritual sense of the Word, which was revealed in the visions of Swedenborg: every small detail is revealed, showing that behind the literal sense there is a hidden spiritual sense.

This final judgment which took place in the year 1757 was described in detail in Swedenborg's work, The Final Judgment (see to the left).  What is significant is the timing: for it came towards the end of Daniel's prophecy of 1260 years.  Even Swedenborg was not aware of the literal meaning of the time period of the prophecy, interpreting it generally as the time "from the beginning to the end" for that phase of the church.  But for those who interpret the Bible literally, who expect to see things visibly in front of their own eyes, and for those who deny or who do not know anything of the afterlife, the prophecies of the Lord's coming and the final judgment will always be closed to them.  Hopefully I have given enough pointers for people to reconsider their understanding of these Biblical prophecies, and will research the visions of Swedenborg more closely to understand the spiritual sense of the Word.  So how was the Lord given dominion at this time?  The kingdom or dominion is the formation of  New Church on earth. He is given dominion, when one acknowledges that He is Jehovah in human form. For the Father is not a separate being, the Father lives inside of Him, and we know the Father through the human form, the Son.

And when you realize that, the older dominion, the one in which God was worshiped as three distinct beings, begins to fall apart, and becomes destroyed.  This falsehood will then no longer rule over your spiritual life.