• "The Lord will come and will execute judgment, when falsity and evil from the sensual has destroyed the whole church."

• "…Jerusalem is called ‘the mountain of holiness,’ also ‘the hill;’ for ‘the mountain of holiness,’ likewise ‘hill,’ signify spiritual good, which in its essence is truth from good, as can be seen from the following passages." Joel 2:1 is cited.

• "That ‘darkness’ signifies falsity, and ‘thick darkness’ evil, may be seen from the following passages in the Word." Joel 2:1-2 is cited.

• "In Joel…2:1, 2…The Lord’s advent and His kingdom are treated of; it is said a ‘day of darkness and of thick darkness,’ because the good are then being separated from the evil…and after the good have been separated, then the evil perish."

• "In these passages ‘darkness’ signifies falsities. In the Word ‘darkness’ also signifies ignorance of truth, such as the Gentiles are in who have not the Word and know nothing of the Lord." Joel 2:1-2 is cited.

• "That in the Word both ‘darkness’ and ‘thick darkness’ are mentioned together, and that ‘darkness’ then denotes the privation of truth, and thick darkness the privation of both truth and good, can be seen from the following passages." Joel 1:1-2 is cited.

• "…it may be seen what is signified by ‘sounding with trumpets.’ That here…is signified the exploration and manifestation of what the state of the church is with those whose religion is faith alone…" Joel 2:1-2 is cited.

• "…‘sounds of trumpets’ signify Divine truth coming down out of heaven, and terrifying the evil and dispersing them…In Joel 2:1, 2…‘The day of Jehovah’ is the coming of the Lord, when also the Last Judgment takes place on the evil."

• "In these passages by a ‘devouring fire’ is meant the fire of the cupidities which arise from the loves of self and of the world, because this is the fire which consumes a man, and which vastates the church…" Joel 2:1-3 is cited as an example passage.

• "…‘the day of Jehovah,’ which is the Last Judgment, is predicated in the Prophets…In Joel…2:1-3…"

• "…in the Word those are called ‘mighty’ who are in evils and falsities therefrom, and have fortified themselves by means of devices against the goods and truths of the church, thus those with whom the church is devastated, and who devastate the church with others. As in Joel…2:1, 2, 7…where also the Last Judgment is treated of, which is signified by ‘the day of Jehovah, a day of darkness and of thick darkness.’ Those who are in falsities of evil and have fortified their falsities against truths by reasonings and by falsifications of the Word, are signified by ‘a people great and mighty;’ that they reason from falsities against truths, and thus assail truths…"

• "That the ‘great luminaries’ signify love and faith, and are also called ‘sun, moon, and stars,’ is evident from the Prophets, as in…Joel 2:1, 2, 10…"

• "In Joel 2:1, 2, 10; 3:15…‘The day of Jehovah’ means the Lord’s advent, which took place when there was no longer anything good and true left in the church, and not any knowledge of the Lord."

• "In all these passages it treats of the last time of the Jewish Church, which was when the Lord came into the world…" Joel 2:1, 2, and 10 are cited.

• "By ‘the day of Jehovah’ the coming of the Lord is meant, which took place when there no longer remained in the church any good of love or truth of faith, or any knowledge of the Lord; therefore it is called ‘a day of darkness and of thick darkness.’" Joel 2:1, 2, 10, and 3:15 are cited.

• "…the Last Judgment…is meant by ‘the day of Jehovah great and terrible;’ and as this comes when the church is in darkness and in thick darkness…" Joel 2:1, 2, and 10 are cited.

• "In Joel…2:1, 2…where ‘day’ signifies a state of darkness and thick darkness, of cloud and of obscurity, with each one in particular, and with all in general."

• "I shall in this first chapter merely adduce passages from the Word which contain the expressions ‘that day,’ ‘in that day,’ and ‘in that time;’ in which, by ‘day,’ and ‘time,’ is meant the Lord’s advent." Joel 2:1-2 is cited along with eight other verses in the chapters of Joel.

• "…there are many more [passages], in which the Lord’s coming and the New Church from Him at that time are meant by ‘the day of Jehovah’…" Joel 2:1, 2, and 11 are cited.

• "…that it was Jehovah God Himself who descended and became Man, is made clear in the following passages…see also the places where the Lord’s coming is called ‘the day of Jehovah’ as in…Joel 2:1, 2, 11…"

• "From all this it is clear that unless a way had been made ready for Jehovah when He was descending into the world, by means of baptism, the effect of which in heaven was to close up the hells and guard the Jews against total destruction [they would all have perished]." Joel 2:1, 2, 11, and 3:2, 4 are cited.

• "…‘fire’ denotes the infernal punishment of those who…pass their lives in the falsity of hatred. In the sense of the letter such ‘fire’ and ‘fury’ are attributed to Jehovah, but in the internal sense it is quite the contrary." Joel 2:1 and 3 are cited.

• "That by ‘a wilderness’ is signified the church devastated, or in which all the truths of the Word are falsified, such as it was among the Jews in the Lord’s time, appears from these passages…" Joel 2:1 and 3 is cited.

• "In [Joel 2:1, 3] ‘The day of Jehovah’ means the end of the church, called the consummation of the age, and the Lord’s coming at that time. That at the end of the church the love of self and the consequent pride of self-intelligence consume all its goods and truths is signified by ‘a fire devoureth before him, and behind him a flame kindleth,’ ‘fire’ signifying the love of self, and ‘flame’ the pride of self-intelligence…"

• "From this it can be seen that ‘black (nigrum)’ and ‘black (atrum)’ in the Word signify the absence of truth; and ‘darkness,’ ‘clouds,’ ‘obscurity,’ and many things from which blackness arises have a like signification. As in Joel…2:2…"

• "So the Last Judgment, when those who are in the falsities of evil are to perish, is called: ‘A day of cloud and of obscurity’ (Joel 2:2…)…"

• "In Joel…2:2, 3…it is evident that desolation is the apparent deprivation of truth with those who are being regenerated, but is the absolute deprivation of it with those who are not being regenerated."

• "…those who are in falsities are called in the Word ‘powerful,’ ‘vigorous,’ ‘mighty,’ ‘strong,’ ‘heroes,’ ‘rulers,’ ‘terrible,’ ‘dreadful,’ and wasters, as can be seen from various passages, as from the following." Joel 2:2 and 7 are cited.

• "…in the consummation of the age (or last period of the church) there will no longer be any love, or charity, nor therefore any faith. That this is the meaning is evident from similar words of the Lord in the Prophets, as in…Joel…2:2, 10."

• "Sound" signifies the influx of truths and also the announcement of truth (AC 9926).
• In AC 8815, we read "…‘the voice,’ or sound, ‘of a trumpet,’ [signifies] the truth of celestial good…and ‘a trumpet’ celestial good…"
• To "sound" a "trumpet," or "horn," signifies to announce that the intellectual of the church has been laid to waste (AC 4592 [10]).
• "Zion" signifies heaven and the church where the Lord alone is worshipped (AR 612).
• "Zion" signifies a new church among the gentiles that should acknowledge the Lord (AE 721 [8] and AE 730 [27]).
• "Zion" signifies the advent of the Lord, and the establishment of the church by Him among those who are in the good of love (AE 433 [8]).
• To "warn" the people represents "that they should not desire to go up to the heaven where the Divine celestial is." In other words, the warning was issued that they should not seek to bring damnation upon themselves by seeking to become god-like (AC 8830).
• "Mountain of holiness" signifies heaven, especially the inmost heaven where love to the Lord prevails (AE 314 [4]).
• The "mountain of Jehovah" and "rock of Israel" signify the Lord and goods of love, and the Lord and goods of charity, respectively (AC 795 [3]).

• "Inhabitants of the world" in the positive sense signify people of the church who are in the goods of doctrine, and so of life (AE 741 [6]).
• It would appear that those who were not in the goods of doctrine and a life in accordance to them needed to tremble. "Trembling" signifies feeling distress during temptation (AE 282 [6]).
• "Land" signifies various things: the internal man of the church, the region where the church is, the church itself, the doctrine of love and charity where the faith of the church resides (AC 2571).

• As an important reminder of what this passage means, recall the direct teachings of AE 1135 [2]. The people of this church played games with the power of their reasoning. They took falsities and used them to assault truths, to make truths look like lies. We are given an example of the magnitude of their malignancy. They imagined themselves to be invincible giants in the land. "…nor will there ever be any such after them." That is not a compliment. That is a reassuring promise from the Lord. The rise and establishment of the Lord’s New Church would subdue the spiritual lunacy of hell. Hell’s imagined invincibility would melt away in the presence of the Sun of Heaven. Never again! Never again!

The last paragraph of the Derived Doctrine section sets us on course to "put it all together" in this section.

P&P teaches that the Lord will come and execute judgment. For the evil, it will be a day of terrible judgment. Of course! The evil sense that their power to twist truth into lies is over. Evil’s imagined power over others will end. For the evil, it will be a day of darkness and gloominess. The evil will feel the loss of their control, and they are not happy about that. The giants of hell are to be made insignificant "midgets," and they are sad about that reality. How do we know that this is so? The Lord has said so! He is the all-knowing and all-powerful Lord of heaven. Nothing can stand in His presence and challenge Him.

On the other side of this prophecy stands the Sun of Heaven offering light, warmth, and optimism to the faithful remnant preserved by the Lord. The Lord shares with the faithful the news that never again will there be the likes of these adulterers, prevaricators, deceivers, intimidators, and haters of the Lord. Their reign of terror is over! To the faithful, this is a day of joy and good news. Take heart all you who wait for the Lord. He is coming. Sound the alarm. Spread the good word from His holy mountain: "This is the day that the Lord has made. We will be glad and rejoice in it."

Does your heart thrill at the news of this righting of wrong and terror? It needs to because the next portion of Joel’s prophecy speaks of the hells attempting to be men of war and heroes. Hell threatens the city. The hells act like strong horses leaping over mountaintops. They climb the walls of the city and break in through windows. They lunge with weapons. Chaos breaks out throughout the city.

While reading further in Joel, we must come back to these verses to remember the Lord’s promise that hell will be defeated. Knowing this truth calms the spirit and builds our anticipation of good winning out over evil.

Read the selection from P&P.

Read Joel 2:1-3.

1. Why is it that evil never learns that it cannot stand against the Lord and win?

2. How can evil love to twist truth to falsity?

3. Hellish spirits want to make others unhappy. They enjoy and burn with a plan to pull people away from the Lord. Does the thought of this plan rally you to the cause of working with the Lord to overcome their plan?

4. The lunacy of hell is sad, empty, and illogical. The sanity of heaven is happy, full, and lucid. Is there really a question about which one we want for our lives to eternity?

• "Falsity of evil will destroy all things of it by various insanities."

• "In Joel 2:7 and 9…a ‘great people and mighty’ denotes falsities fighting against truths…and because they fight mightily in destroying truths, they are said to be ‘like heroes and men of war;’ the ‘city’ through which they are said to ‘run to and fro’ denotes the doctrinals of truth…The ‘houses into which they shall climb’ denote the goods which they destroy…The ‘windows through which they shall enter in’ denote things intellectual and the derivative reasonings…hence they are compared to a ‘thief’ because they take possession of the abode previously occupied by truths and goods."

• "In Joel 2:6…this treats of evils and falsities devastating the church, and of the judgment upon those who are in them; those who are in falsities are signified by ‘the peoples who tremble;’ their interiors which are in falsities of evil are signified by ‘the faces that have gathered blackness;’ ‘faces’ meaning the interiors, and ‘blackness’ the falsity of evil. The infernals who are in falsities from evil appear black in the light of heaven."

• "‘Man and brother’ signify truth and good, and in the contrary sense falsity and evil…‘brother and companion’ signifying good from which is truth and truth from good, and in the contrary sense evil from which is falsity and falsity from evil…" AE 746 [6] quotes Joel 2:8 as an example.

• "In [Joel 2:9]…speaking of the evils and falsities of the last days of the church; ‘climbing up into the houses’ denotes destroying the goods of the will (that ‘house’ denotes the goods of the will may be seen…n. 710, 2233, 2334); and ‘entering in by the windows’ denotes destroying truths and their knowledges which are of the understanding."

• "Since good and truth are taken away from those who are in dead worship, as if it were done by a thief in the dark, therefore in the Word the same is sometimes likened to a thief, as in the following passages…" Joel 2:9 is cited as an example.

• "…a wall great and high, signifies the Word in the sense of the letter from which is the doctrine of the New Church…Nothing else is meant by its ‘wall’ but the Word in the sense of the letter…for that sense protects the spiritual sense, which lies hidden within, as the wall does a city and its inhabitants…And that this sense is the guard, lest the interior Divine truths, which are those of the spiritual sense, should be injured…It is called ‘a wall great and high,’ because…‘great’ is predicated of good, and ‘high’ of truth…[as may been seen] in the following passages…" Joel 2:9 is cited.

• "…to steal means to deprive others of the truths of their faith, which is done by means of falsities and heresies. Priests, who minister solely for gain or from a lust for honor, and teach what they see or might see from the Word to be untrue, are spiritual thieves, since they take away from the people the means of salvation, which are the truths of faith. Such are called thieves in the Word, in the following passages…" Joel 2:9 is cited.

• "In Joel (2:9)…The vastation of the church through falsities from evil is here treated of; ‘city’ and ‘wall’ signify the things of doctrine; ‘houses’ and ‘windows’ things pertaining to the mind that receives; ‘houses’ that part of the mind that is called the will, where good is, and ‘windows’ that part of the mind that is called the understanding, where truth is. (That ‘city’ in the Word is doctrine, see Arcana Coelestia, n. 402, 2449, 2712, 2943, 3216, 4492, 4493; that ‘wall’ is the truth of doctrine defending, n. 6419; that ‘house’ is that part of the mind which is called the will, where good is, n. 2231, 2233, 2559, 3128, 5023, 6690, 7353, 7910, 7929, 9150; and ‘windows’ that part of the mind which is called the understanding where truth is, n. 655, 658, 3391.) From this it is clear what is signified by ‘running upon the wall,’ ‘coming up into the houses,’ and ‘entering in through the windows like a thief."

• "‘Behold I come as a thief, signifies the Lord’s coming and the Last Judgment at that time. This is evident from the signification of ‘coming as a thief,’ as being in reference to the Lord, His coming and the Last Judgment…This is the signification of ‘coming as a thief,’ because taking away the knowledges of good and truth, and devastating the church, as a thief takes away wealth and robs a house, is attributed to the Lord; also because the church is then in night and in darkness, that is, in falsities from evil, and the last state of the church is called ‘night,’ and the falsities of evil that then prevail are called ‘darkness,’ and a thief comes in the night when it is dark. This is why the Lord’s coming and Last Judgment are compared to a thief…" Joel 2:9 is cited as an example.

• AC 589 teaches "…the Word was spoken according to the appearances with man. Whoever therefore desires to confirm false principles by the appearances, according to which the Word was spoken, can do so by passages without number. But it is one thing to confirm false principles by the Word, and another to believe in simplicity what is in the Word. He who confirms false principles…scrapes together and accumulates confirmations wherever he can, thus also from the Word, until he so strongly persuades himself that he can no longer see the truth" (emphasis added).
• The word "appearances" is mentioned twice. Could such a repetition be used to illustrate how the will and understanding are influenced to confirm an error by appearances?
• AR 298 teaches that "horses" signify the Word and the understanding of the Word. Think about the colors of the horses mentioned in Revelation 6: white, red, black, and pale. The progression of colors from white to pale is used to signify the stages the Word goes through when it is falsified.

• "Swift" is used when referring to intelligence and the affection of truth. In the opposite sense, "swift" signifies reasoning against truth. See AE 281 [7 & 10].
• The word "steed" is used when referring to a spirited horse, a stud horse, or a war horse, according to Webster’s Dictionary.
• "…like swift steeds" has a positive and negative usage in the Word. Which way are we to understand the meaning of this passage? It seems that we are led to see it in the negative sense. Hell imagines itself to be swift, virile, and so clever.

• Picture the meaning of this in your mind. We have an expression, "running with our thoughts." Can we see the hells running with their insane thoughts like wild steeds? What kind of emotions do they display to all they hope to intimidate? Listen to the next part!

• AC 5321 [10] defines "chariots," in the negative sense, as representing the doctrine of evil and falsity with the outward (worldly) knowledge or "facts" confirming it. The noisy shouting of how wise and true evil’s thinking is comes to mind.
• If these things had been said of the Lord, they would have corresponded to doctrinal things of good and truth leading the way to salvation (AE 355 [4] and AC 5321 [6]).

• "Over" signifies having a glimpse of what is within (AR 800).
• Because we know this passage is describing the hells, we can turn to the negative correspondence of "mountain." AR 336 and AE 411 describe "mountains" as signifying evils which spring from the love of self and of the world.
• "Leaping" in the positive sense represents an expression of joy from the conjunction of good and truth. Thus, there is a sense of joyousness (AE 710 [31]). Once again, we must consider this correspondence of "leaping" in its negative sense. In a negative sense, this meaning of "leaping" suggests that the hells were delighted with themselves over their delusional false perception of their mighty disjunction of good and truth.
• "…the noise of a flaming fire…" Can we hear the snap and crackle and see the flying sparks of self-love burning away within their hearts? AC 306 describes the meaning of "flame of a sword" as self-love "with its insane desires and consequent persuasions…carried away to corporeal and earthly things…"
• "Devours" signifies the destruction of doctrine at its inception (AR 542). AC 9348 [4] teaches that "devours" signifies the destruction of goods and truths.
• "Stubble" signifies outward knowledges we are taught by other people (AC 7131). Stubble is also referred to as "chaff," which signifies the casting down and subjugation of the hells by the Lord when external knowledges are scattered and removed (AC 2468).

• "Strong" in the good sense signifies truth, which cannot be resisted (AC 426 [3]). "Strong" in the good sense also signifies the celestial church that is in the good of love to the Lord (AC 4545 [2]). "Strong" in the negative sense describes the evil of the love of self (AC 6306 [4]).
• "Battle" in the negative sense signifies falsity fighting the truth of the New Church (AR 431 and 704). "Battle array" refers to armament, or battle clothing, worn by a warrior. What would an angel wear? What would an evil warrior wear? For hellish spirits, the clothing would consist of secular reasoning that would support their claim of invincibility and power over the Lord and His church. They would use practiced, smooth, cunning angles to prey on the unsuspecting, spiritually uninformed, and uneducated souls. In contrast, angels would be clothed with the finest truths of eternal unity with the Lord and His Word.

• "Writhing" signifies cunning and deceit (AE 581 [8]).
• "Pain," "sore," and "sorrow" signify conflicts with resulting anxieties (AC 261).
• "Pain" signifies lusts that cause misery (AC 4496).

• Note Bene: The New King James Bible uses "faces are drained of color," and the Revised Standard Version has "all faces grow pale." Whereas the King James Bible and the Writings read "all faces gather blackness." What do we do with this difference? My inclination is to go with the "faces gathering blackness" because of the direct teaching we have in AE 412 [30].

• AC 3901 [7 & 8] explains the meaning of "marching through the breadth of the land" as signifying the vastation of the truths of the church. In the positive sense, "marching" signifies the enlightenment of the gentiles by the Lord when He assumed the Human (AE 594 [13]). In this verse, it appears that "marching" is meant to illustrate both senses. In the negative sense, it announces the inevitable judgment on the vastated church, which would occur even though it appeared solidly organized, in step, and unified. And it could be a positive prophetical promise that enlightenment would be restored to the world and church through the advent of the Lord.

• Let’s first focus on the spiritual meaning of "push," shove, or jostle. AC 8593 describes the nature of hellish genii as "pushers" of anyone who tires or weakens in the process of regeneration. AC 4585 describes the minds of people who don’t want to believe in things that belong to eternal life as people who like to "push" ideas from themselves and at heart reject truth from the moment they see it. New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 71 describes the spiritually insane and those with immoderate lusts as people who aspire to "unlimited power and glory," who desire "to push their rule into heaven and transfer to themselves the Divine power of the Lord…and constantly crave to go even beyond this" (emphasis added). Spiritual Experiences (SE) 2121 describes vicious groups, hard to control, who gang up and harass people, relishing the chance to push people around in an insolent manner, constantly trying to bring harm and destruction upon many.
• What does the above information tell us about the possible meaning of this verse? I sense that hell doesn’t argue with itself when it purposes to "push" the spiritual things of the Word around. Hell hopes to find the Lord’s believers in a tired and wavering state. Hell is unified in its rejection of the Lord’s truth from the moment it sees or hears it. Hell is marching in unison to usurp the Divine power of the Lord. Hell is an unruly gang that acts up in an insolent way to bring harm and destruction to those who love the Lord. Therefore, they don’t push each other, and they all assume their own column to wage war against the Lord and His followers.
• The image of everyone marching in his own column seems to be representative of the idea that they had their cadence, their own ideas, and eventually, their own spiritual rut. The expression, "Johnny One-Note," refers to this kind of absence of variety or harmony. It describes the shouting of one idea without consideration of the myriad avenues truth has to offer.

• How are we to picture what this passage means? Do we see them thrusting their weapons wildly to and fro? Do they jump between the thrusts, narrowly avoiding being cut or killed?
• AC 9141 [4] teaches that in the negative sense, "weapons" signify the consuming and desolating of good and truth. In the positive sense, "weapons" signifies the truths of doctrine from the Word, which afford protection from the falsities of evil.
• Will the rebellious ones escape accountability for their assault on the city? We know the answer to this question. In the end, evil loses. The Lord will win!

The Lord outlines for us in this section of the Word a story of hell’s imagined power. He shows us the hoard of spirited warriors. He lets us see their imagined agility and likens them to horses, swift steeds, and chariots. They have a leaping ability; they run like mighty men and climb the walls of buildings, entering through the windows. It appears that they march in ordered rows with a cadence of deafening proportion. Their faces are blackened and ugly. They thrust their weapons in chaotic motions. Amazingly, they don’t do harm to themselves. They are not our friends. Instead, they are called thieves, and they wish to rob us of our goods.

Is the Lord’s purpose in telling us this just to scare us? I don’t think that is the plan. Instead, I believe He shows us this picture so that we have a feeling of revulsion for the hells. Listen to this teaching in AC 1740 [3]:

CL 249 urges us to become involved in the uses and resistance plan outlined by the Lord in the Word. By doing this, we let our mind be "bound and circumscribed as by a circle, within which it is successively integrated into a form truly human. From this as from a house [each person] sees the various lusts as outside of himself, and from sanity of reason within, banishes them."

Scary as hell might appear in these verses, it is essential that we know and remember, at all times, that hell is not what it appears to be. The Lord has a plan for us that is powerfully summed up in this passage of AC 1717 [2]: "…he who is in combats of temptations, and conquers, acquires more power over evil spirits…until at last they dare not attempt anything" (emphasis added).

Read the selection from P&P.

Read Joel 2:4-9.

1. Were you able to put the bullies of hell in their proper perspective after reflecting on the meaning and uses of these verses? When do we most need to do this?

2. Do you feel you can use the Lord’s plan for revulsion against the hells? If yes—how? If no—why not?

3. Why were the hells able to thrust their weapons wildly and not bring harm to themselves?

4. Doesn’t the Lord do this in the deepest of the hells as well? He mercifully sends His tender angels there to snap them, ever so briefly, back to a moment of sanity so they can’t do harm to themselves and others. What does this tell us about the Lord?

5. What did you think about the passages in the Putting It All Together section that tell us of the great victories we can have over hell?

• "All good and truth has been dispersed, together with the knowledges (cognitions) of them."

• "In Joel 2:10…The church and the things of the church…are said to quake…when these are vastated, ‘heaven and earth’ are said to quake, and the ‘sun and moon’ to grow dark, that is, love and faith."

• "Every one can see that by ‘the stars’ and ‘constellations’ here are not meant stars and constellations, but things true and good; and by ‘the sun,’ and by ‘the moon,’ faith; for the evils and falsities which cause darkness are treated of…by ‘the sun’ the celestial things of love, by ‘the moon’ the spiritual things, by ‘the stars’ things good and true, that is, the knowledges of what is good and true, which are thus darkened near the consummation of the age, when there is no faith, that is no charity." Joel 2:10 is cited.

• "To those who are in evils of the love of self and of the world, that is, to those who are in hatreds against all things of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor, the light of heaven actually appears as thick darkness; on which account it is said in the Word that to such the ‘sun was blackened;’ by which is signified that they rejected everything of love and charity, and received everything that is contrary thereto…As in Joel 2:10…"

• "In Joel 2:10…the subject is the day of the Last Judgment; the ‘earth quaking’ denotes a changed state of the church; the ‘sun and moon,’ the good of love and its truth (n. 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495), which are said to ‘become black,’ when goods and truths are no longer acknowledged; the ‘stars’ denote the knowledges of good and truth (n. 2495, 2849)."

• Joel 2:10, among other references, is cited: "In these passages the ‘sun’ signifies love, and the ‘moon’ faith, and ‘stars’ knowledges of good and truth. These are said to be darkened, to lose their light, and to fall from heaven, when they are no more. That the Lord is seen as a sun in heaven is evident also from His appearance when transfigured before Peter, James, and John."

• "By ‘stars falling from heaven’ are not meant stars, but that the knowledges of good and truth will perish." Joel 2:10 is cited.

• "They who appear in the abominable kind of blackness are called devils, such holding truth in abomination as horned owls do the light of the sun. But they appear in that kind of blackness…That ‘black,’ in the Word, is spoken of falsity, may appear from these passages…" Joel 2:10 is cited.

• "‘Earthquakes’ signify changes of state in the church, because ‘the earth’ signifies the church…and because in the spiritual world, when the state of the church is perverted anywhere and there is a change, there is an earthquake, and as this is a prelude to their destruction, there is terror…But these things are to be understood as being done in the spiritual world, but not in the natural world…" Joel 2:10 is cited.

• "…by ‘the sun’ is signified love…by ‘the moon’ is signified intelligence and faith…by ‘stars’ are signified the knowledges of truth and good from the Word…by ‘being darkened’ is signified not to be seen or known by reason of evils from falsities and falsities from evils. Evils from falsities are with those who assume the falsities of religion, and confirm them till they appear as truths, and when they live according to them they do evils from falsities, or the evils of falsity…When light is extinguished, there comes darkness." Joel 2:10 is cited as an example.

• "…‘sun’ signifies the good of love, and ‘moon’ the truth of faith." Later in AE 372 [b], Joel 2:10 is cited as an example.

• "In Joel…2:10…‘Earth and the heavens’ here, as often elsewhere, signify the church; ‘earth’ the external church, and ‘heavens’ the internal church. The external church means the worship from good and truth in the natural man; and the internal church, the good of love and the faith, which is in the spiritual man, from which is worship; for as there is an internal and external man, or a spiritual and a natural man, so is it with the church…A change and perversion of the church is signified by ‘the earth trembled, and the heavens quaked;’ ‘the sun and the moon were blackened’ signifies that there is no good of love or truth of faith, and ‘the stars withdrew their brightness’ signifies that there were no longer any knowledges of truth and good."

• In this passage, Joel 2:10 is cited as an example of the following: "The progression of the church to its end, and the end itself, are described in very many places in the Word."

The direct teachings on Joel 2:10 are so complete that we have no need to use derived doctrine this time.

To get into the meaning of this verse, let’s think about end, cause, and effect. End relates to that which is first—love of the Lord. Cause relates to that which is of wisdom from the Lord. Effect relates to uses or the application of love and wisdom in life as shown by the Lord.

When love for the Lord (End), represented by the sun, is significantly perverted in the heart and mind of the church, consequences follow the pollution of that love. The faith (Cause), represented by the moon, loses its light. From science classes, we have learned that the moon has no light of its own. The moon reflects the light of the sun. On the spiritual plane, it thus makes sense that if the spiritual sun is darkened by our actions or lack of love, the spiritual moon will be darkened. Since the earliest times, stars have been likened to knowledge. Reading the stars was a science among the ancients. When love darkens and faith loses its light, it follows that the stars will fall from the heavens. The loss of love leads to a loss of wisdom; darkness covers the way of faith, and without the stars, we lose the ability to chart the course of life’s voyage.

Lastly, let’s not overlook a quote found in AR 331: "…when the state of the church is perverted anywhere and there is change, there is an earthquake…these things are to be understood as being done in the spiritual world…not in the natural world…" (emphasis added). Implied in this quote is an "end, cause, and effect" challenge to the church and each individual within the church. We need to keep the sun of heaven shining brightly. We need to seek out the Lord’s wisdom so the moon of our faith reflects the truths of the Word. Anything less perverts and pushes for changes in the alignment of the stars.

I can’t imagine how horrible and devastated our natural world would be without the sun, moon, and stars. Disorientation, psychotic feelings of hopelessness, and death would overtake life quickly. What must it be like within someone’s spiritual life when they purposefully choose to exclude the Lord from their daily life?

Read the selection from P&P.

Read Joel 2:10.

1. With a dozen direct quotes from the Writings, it appears that we should have little trouble understanding the meaning of Joel 2:10. Was this your experience? What did you get from this verse?

2. How much do you think the events of the world have caused "quakes" in the spiritual world, or vice versa?

3. When we make church policies, have you ever wondered about the long-term effects these policies might have on the life of the church? How can we guard against setting into motion things that might eclipse the sun of heaven?

4. The choice to exclude the Lord from our lives was addressed in our study of Joel 2:10. Have you come up with a mental picture of the darkness this causes within?

5. Having asked that question, let’s examine what we can do to protect the sun, moon, and stars of our spiritual life. Can a daily study regimen do us good? Will application of doctrine to life do it?

6. Lastly, the Writings teach us that thinking from END to CAUSE to EFFECT is the correct way to follow the Lord. Thinking from EFFECT to CAUSE to END is the wrong way. Why would this be so?

• "The Lord will fight with them."

• "That the ‘camp of God’ denotes heaven may…be seen in Joel…2:10-11…"

• "…‘the voice of Jehovah’ denotes truth Divine, which enlightens and perfects those who are in good, and terrifies and devastates those who are in evil." Joel 2:10-11 is cited as an example.

• "That ‘a camp’ in the spiritual sense signifies all things of the church which have relation to its truths and goods…That by ‘an army’ in the Word are signified the truths and goods of the church, also its falsities and evils…" Joel 2:10-11 is cited as an example.

• "…where the coming of the Lord is treated of…His ‘army’ denotes truths Divine. It is from this, and also because the Lord alone fights for man against the hells which are in the continual effort to assault him, that in the Word the Lord is so often called ‘Jehovah Zebaoth,’ God Zebaoth,’ the ‘Lord Zebaoth,’ that is, ‘of armies,’…" Joel 2:11 is among the various passages cited.

• In Joel 2:11, "‘the voice’…denotes Divine truth, consequently the Word of the Lord…"

• "…all truth which is from the Divine is called the ‘word,’ as in Joel…2:11…where the ‘voice which Jehovah utters’ denotes truth from the Divine…the ‘camp of Jehovah’ denotes heaven…From this it is evident that ‘countless is he that doeth His word’ denotes one who does truth Divine."

• "Their ‘strong ones,’ and ‘enemies,’ are the hells, for all there feel hatred against the Lord. His advent into the world for this purpose is meant by, ‘that day is to the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth a day of vengeance, that He may take vengeance of His enemies.’" Joel 2:11 is mentioned as an example.

• "…‘a great voice,’ when heard from heaven, signifies the Divine truth…" Joel 2:11 is cited as an example.

• "Since the goods and truths of heaven and the church are signified by ‘the hosts (armies) of the heavens,’ the Lord is therefore called ‘JEHOVAH ZEBAOTH,’ that is, Jehovah of armies (hosts)…" Joel 2:11 is cited.

• "In Joel…2:11…That Divine truth here is ‘the voice of Jehovah’ is evident, as in many places."

• "…in Joel…2:11…‘to stand,’ like walking and sitting, in the Word signifies to be and to live; and ‘to stand,’ has a similar meaning with to stand firm and stand still."

• "That the angels are called ‘hosts’ is evident from the following passages. In Joel…2:11…The angels gathered together, or a company of them, is called ‘a host,’ because ‘the angels,’ the same as ‘hosts,’ signify Divine truths and goods, because they are recipients of these from the Lord…"

It would appear from the number of direct teachings we have for this passage that there is no need for us to seek additional help from derived doctrine. Therefore, we will move on to "putting it all together."

P&P states, "The Lord will fight with them." Who are the "them" mentioned in this verse?

• The hells are "them."
• Those who feel hatred toward the Lord are "them."
• Those who oppose His advent are "them."
• Those who are in a continual effort to assault the Word of the Lord are "them."
• The ‘strong ones’ and ‘enemies’ are the ‘them’ who cannot endure the Lord’s army.

What forces will the Lord draw together to wage war against "them," and what will be the result of this war?

• His "voice," which is truth Divine, will enlighten and perfect those who are in good and truth.
• His "voice" will devastate and terrify those who are in evil.
• The Lord’s "camp," His church, will become His "army." The "camp" and its "army" will have the finest armament of goods and truths.
• Angels, the hosts, whose faces look to the Lord and receive instruction from Him, will assist the church in the fight against "them."

Those of us who feel hell is out of control and running amok in this world need to recall the words the Lord spoke in Joshua 23:6. He presents a powerful challenge to choose this day whom we shall serve: "Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left…hold fast to the Lord your God…"

We need to remain confident that hell ("them") will be devastated, that they will tremble and not endure when the day of the Lord comes. For the "voice" of the Lord has said so.

Read the selection from P&P.

Read Joel 2:11.

1. Can you imagine the voice of the Lord calling together His army? Can you see the order of the camp? Do you remember Balaam’s reaction when he was on the mountain looking down on the order and arrangement of the tribes of Israel? The order of the encampment prevented him from pronouncing a curse on Israel.

2. The hellish forces, misjudging their strength and ability to overthrow the Lord, come to a devastating end. When will they, when will we, learn that hell has no power in the presence of the Lord?

3. Did this verse boost your level of courage? Did it make you feel the worth of fighting against "them"?

4. "This day is to the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth a day of vengeance, that He may take vengeance of His enemies" (Doctrine of the Lord 14 [4 & 5]). Do these words comfort the "army" and strike fear in "them"?

• "Exhortation to be converted to Him, to repent, and to be wise."

• "‘Repentings’ plainly denote great mercy. So in Joel…2:13…where also to ‘repent’ manifestly denotes mercy."

• "That there is a distinction in the Word between ‘mercy’ and ‘grace’ is evident from many passages where Jehovah is called ‘merciful and gracious’ (as in…Joel 2:13)…That ‘grace’ relates to spiritual things, which are of faith, or of the understanding…and that ‘mercy’ relates to celestial things which are of love, or of the will…"

• "…Jehovah is said to have ‘repented,’ when yet it cannot be that He repents, because He knows all things before He does them; from which it is evident that by ‘repenting’ is signified mercy…That ‘repenting,’ when said of Jehovah, denotes mercy, is plain in…Joel 2:13…"

• "That ‘to show grace’ denotes to endow with spiritual truth and good, and ‘to show mercy’ to endow with celestial truth and good, is because ‘grace’ is predicated of faith, and ‘mercy’ of love; and…those who are in the Lord’s spiritual kingdom speak of ‘grace;’ and those who are in the Lord’s celestial kingdom speak of ‘mercy’…Unless there were such a difference between grace and mercy, it would not have been said, ‘show grace’ and ‘show mercy.’ From this it is that Jehovah is called ‘gracious and merciful." Joel 2:13 is cited as an example.

• "In Joel…2:14…‘blessing’ signifies spiritual blessing, which in general has reference to good and truth proceeding from the Lord and given to man, therefore it is said, ‘He will leave behind Him a blessing, a meal-offering and a drink-offering to our God,’ ‘the meal-offering,’ which was bread, signifying good, and ‘the drink-offering,’ which was wine, signifying truth, both from the Lord, for it is said, ‘from our God.’"

• "In Joel…2:15, 16…‘elders’ denotes the wise; ‘babes and those that suck the breasts,’ the innocent…Man is so created that when he grows old and becomes like a little child, the innocence of wisdom conjoins itself with the innocence of ignorance which he had in infancy, and so he passes into the other life as a true infant."

• "By ‘a bridegroom,’ in the highest sense, is meant the Lord as to the Divine good; and by ‘a bride’ the church is meant as to the Divine truth from the Lord." Joel 2:16 is cited among many other passages from the Word.

• "…so ‘bridegroom and the bride’ mean the conjunction of the Lord with the church, and also the conjunction of good and truth. Because all spiritual joy is from that conjunction, it follows that ‘the voice of the bridegroom and the bride’ signifies the joy therefrom. Moreover, the angels have all their wisdom and intelligence, and thus all their joy and happiness from that conjunction…This is the signification of ‘the voice of the bridegroom and bride,’…" Joel 2:16 is cited.

• "That repetitions of the same thing occur in the Word on account of the marriage of good and truth, may be seen quite clearly from passages where ‘nations’ and ‘peoples’ are mentioned…" Joel 2:17 is cited.

• "That ‘peoples’ signify those who are in truths or falsities of doctrine, and ‘nations’ signify those who are in goods or in evils of life, may appear from many passages in the Word…Where ‘peoples’ and ‘nations’ are mentioned together…‘peoples’ relate to truth, and ‘nations’ to good." Joel 2:17 is cited.

• "Nations and peoples are mentioned together, because by nations those are meant who are in good, and in the opposite sense those who are evil; and by ‘peoples’ those are meant who are in truths…Therefore those who are of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom are called ‘peoples,’ and those who are of the Lord’s celestial kingdom are called ‘nations;’..." Joel 2:17 is cited as one of many representative passages.

• Is "now" used as a means to mark a transition from one thought to the next? Or is "now" used with a sense of immediacy? The present time is always a good time to begin changing.
• To "turn" signifies to begin a period of reflection upon revelation, to diverge from what one had previously been thinking (AC 6836).
• "Turn to Me" is a Divine directive from the Lord. The Lord is asking people to turn from thinking about themselves to thinking about the Lord, and to do so with all of their heart or love.
• "Fasting" signifies doing something to get over an unhappy state when good is no longer conjoined with truths (AC 9182 [10]).
• "Weeping" signifies both sorrow and joy (AC 5773). Thus, we need to be sorry for the periods of our life when there was a separation or removal of truths and feel consolation, or joy, when truths are restored to our life by the Lord.
• "Weeping and mourning" signify the grief of the soul and grief of heart; for weeping and mourning are representatives of the loss of truth and good (AE 1164).

• "Rending" signifies mourning on account of the destruction of truth or the absence of faith (AC 4763). It also signifies mourning because of the deprivation of Divine good and Divine truth (AC 9960).
• One’s "heart" signifies the will. AC 3813 [4] reminds us that the Own (proprium) residing in the heart needs to be emptied out so that it can be vivified. Ridding ourselves of the human proprium and taking on the Lord’s Proprium is a necessary work of regeneration. See Doctrine of Life 95-97.
• "Garments" in the positive sense represent truth in its lowest form. "Garments" represent the truths of memory such as appear in the Word. See AC 9372 [8]. Are these truths what is meant in this passage?

• "Grace" and "mercy" were explained in AC 598 [3]. "Grace" relates to spiritual things, which are of faith and the understanding, and "mercy" relates to celestial things which are of love and the will. How do we get grace and mercy? By returning to the Lord with a willingness of heart and a sense of humility.
• "Slow" signifies successive states of preparation (AC 4381). "Anger" signifies in the highest sense the zeal of the Lord to protect and save. The work of the Lord to overcome evil is a slow and successive preparation. It is a plan that will root out all the tentacles of hell with a zealous love for His flock.
• The "kindness," or unfailing love, of the Lord signifies the protection afforded by His interior and superior truths (AC 4391).

• Please read AC 587. The Lord only appears to relent as He sees and provides all things from eternity. The Lord intends nothing but good. Evil resisting the Lord’s good ways calls His providential leading "doing harm." Evil projects itself in its image of the Lord, viewing His actions as interference with the way it seeks to have free rein and avoid abiding in His truth.

• Every day, in thousands of ways, the Lord’s Providence gifts us with blessings. Most of the Lord’s blessings slip by our conscious sense of awareness. It’s only later while looking back on our life that we see dimly a finite portion of the loving ways the Lord blessed our life. Our lack of perception doesn’t stop the Divine benefactions. They flow on like a mighty river, carrying us in the "stream of Providence." Like the Psalmist, we can say "My cup runs over."
• A "grain offering" signifies interior goods and truths (AC 7112).
• "Drink" signifies a spirit of inquiry to investigate things belonging to faith (AC 1071). "Drink" signifies to inquire whether truth can be conjoined or appropriated (AC 3089).
• "Who knows" is a question that can broaden our spiritual awe of the Lord’s love for us.

• A "trumpet" or horn signifies Divine truth about to be revealed out of heaven (AE 55 and 502).
• "Zion" signifies the advent of the Lord and the establishment of the church by Him among those who are in the good of love (AE 433 [8]).
• To "consecrate" represents to prepare oneself for the Lord and to receive truth by good from Him (AC 10111).
• Fasting with consecrated efforts requires taking a spiritual inventory to see what spiritual goods and truths are lacking in life and application to uses.
• "Assembly" signifies to set things in order, for goods and truths cannot be assembled if they are lacking order (AC 6338). A "sacred assembly" speaks clearly about what kind of order is needed.

• To "gather" signifies to store up truths in the memory (AC 679). To "gather" or "assemble" signifies to excite to do combat (AR 707). To "gather" or "collect" signifies to procure (AC 6451).
• By "gather the people" is signified the gathering of truths. Depending on the meaning of the internal sense, "people" can represent evil truths or good truths (AR 483).
• Elders, children, and nursing babes are discussed in AC 5608 [7 & 9].

• AC 4638 [4] describes the meaning of "bridegroom" as the Lord coming for judgment. AR 797 teaches that "in the highest sense," a bridegroom represents the Lord as to Divine good.
• A "chamber" signifies the church as to its goods (AC 3900 [1]).
• AC 9927 gives us a clue about the meaning of "going in and going out." Whatever belongs to motion, such as "walking," "going," or "advancing," signifies a state of life. "Going out" among "the ancients was a customary form of speaking to say that they knew a person’s coming in and his going out, or his entrance and his departure, when they meant that they knew every state of his life." Thus, they were talking about knowing the quality of a person’s good and truth in worship, and the thoughts and affections that flowed from worship into life. Now let’s apply this knowledge to the Lord. He knows our "coming in" and our "going out" with respect to His "judgment" as the bridegroom.

• A "bride" signifies the proprium being made new and vivified by the Lord (AC 155). A bridegroom signifies the Lord as to divine good, and a bride signifies the church as to divine truth from Him (AR 797).
• A "dressing room" is a place where one puts on clothes that are appropriate for the occasion. In this case, the bride is there to put on her wedding clothes. "A ‘wedding garment’ signifies the intelligence of the spiritual man, which is from the knowledges of truth and good; but ‘he that had not on a wedding garment’ signifies a hypocrite, who by a moral life counterfeits the spiritual life..." (AE 195 [11])
• "Clothing" signifies memory-knowledges that support one’s external life (AC 9003).
• To "clothe" a person signifies to instruct that person in truths (AE 240 [4]).
• NB: Clothing serves as a kind of protection for the body, keeping us warm and helping us to look more attractive then we would without it. In the same way, our minds can be clothed and protected by good and truth. The Lord’s Word makes our minds much more interesting and attractive!
• The word "from" in this phrase ("from her dressing room") calls our attention to AC 9927 again. "Motion" signifies a state of life, and also the quality of good and truth in one’s worship and application to life.

• "Let" means allow, permit, don’t impede, don’t obstruct, give, and offer assistance to another person.
• "Priests" are to represent the Lord as to the Divine good in the work of salvation (AC 9809). The priests of Aaron and his sons, and the Levites, represent the work of salvation in successive order (AC 10017). Priests are to teach truth, and so lead to the good, and to the Lord (AC 10794).
• To "minister" signifies to serve and to mediate (AC 9419). To "minister" signifies to serve as a representative of the Lord (AC 9809). To "minister" signifies worship and preaching (AC 9925). To" minister" means to be called into warfare or military service because to minister represents the Lord’s work of salvation in removing evils and falsities from hell that are continually fighting against goods and truths (AE 734 [14]).
• "Weeping" in the positive sense signifies the Lord’s love and mercy. It is also a sign of the Lord’s grief on account of the "night" state among His people as to the truths of faith in the church. See AC 2910. "Weeping" signifies both sorrow and joy (AC 5873).
• A "porch" signifies exterior truths that lead to interior things (AC 7353). A "vestibule" signifies truths leading to goods, which in turn reveal more interior truths (AC 9659 [5]).
• An "altar" signifies the Lord and the holy element in worshipping Him (AC 4541). An "altar" signifies the falsities from evil, which are to be dissipated (AC 10642). An "altar" signifies the preparation of the Lord’s Human Divine for undergoing the last degrees of temptation (AC 2811). Lastly, this idea regarding an altar of incense: it signifies the grateful hearing and reception by the Lord of all the elements of worship that are from love and charity (AC 10176).
• Weeping between the porch and the altar signifies having preparation for conjunction of truth and good (AC 10237a).

• Let (permit) them to say…To "say" sometimes signifies "to perceive" and sometimes "to think" because saying involves both (AC 2619).
• "Spare" signifies intercession from love (AC 2253) and also salvation (AC 2262). "Spare" signifies the destruction of falsities before they are confirmed (AE 573 [11]).
• "Heritage" signifies the truths of the good in the natural man (AE 714 [25]).
• "Reproach" is translated as shame or disgrace. "Shame" signifies lacking the power to resist evils and falsities (AC 10481). "Shame" signifies having no power to resist evils from the proprium (AE 654 [59]). "Shame" is said to those who will be of the Lord’s New Church to encourage them to learn truths and to retain them (AR 706).
• "Nations from afar," although not the exact wording of our passage, has an interesting signification. It signifies falsity from evil, or that of the sensuous person, destroying truths (AE 724 [27]). "Nations" signify evils of the will, or lusts, while "people" signify falsities of the understanding, or persuasions (AC 622).
• To "rule" signifies having a degree of dominion. What kind? Is it the dominion of freedom from the Lord or the dominion of slavery from hell?

• A believer’s understanding alone is incomplete and subject to a host of false conclusions. Love and wisdom, working together, make it possible for us to achieve a conjunction with the Lord. "People" signify falsities or persuasions from the understanding. So, based on this understanding, we can perhaps see why the people came up with the question: "Where is their God?" The Lord taught us in the Beatitudes "Blessed (Happy) are the pure in heart for they shall see God." Two people looking at the same scripture—one a believer and one an unbeliever—will not see the same thing. The believer will say "there is God!" The unbeliever will say "where is your God? I don’t see Him."

P&P sums up the prophecy of Joel 2:12-17 by saying it is an "Exhortation to be converted to Him, to repent, and to be wise."

This is a directive from the Lord and not Joel. The directive comes with a mission plan:

1. Turn to the Lord with all your heart. This is a call for our total commitment to the Lord.
2. The command to consecrate a fast means we are to take an inventory of the spiritual resources at our disposal. If a significant shortage is detected, we need to weep and mourn over the deficiencies found. But then something has to be done to restock. We need to supplicate the Lord for His help. We need to desire a new life with new resources.
3. Rending one’s heart and not one’s garments is a call to do the work of the Lord from substance and not form. This can also be seen as a call for action and not words. We are to walk the walk of love and not the walk of talk.
4. Why should people return to the Lord? His way is gracious and merciful. His way is not the way of anger. It is a way of great kindness. Hell loves all that is ungracious and unmerciful. Hell’s way is full of anger and has a plan of destructive domination.
5. Be prepared. Enlist in the military service of the Lord and His church. Hell will engage us in warfare. Don’t fear the battle. The Lord’s Intelligence and Love is sufficient to battle all disorders.
6. In preparation for what is to come, gather together the love of innocence and the wisdom of innocence so that a marriage, or conjugial conjunction, may take place.
7. The pure in heart shall see God. That which is invisible will become visible.
8. Those who see the Lord have the assurance that they will not be among the lost and confused who ask "Where is your God?" The committed solider of the Lord knows the ways of the Lord and confidently walks in them.

Read the selection from P&P.

Read Joel 2:12-17.

1. Does the Lord’s plan ask too much of us? Is it possible for us to give Him our whole heart, mind, and soul?

2. Self-examination, making one’s self guilty, supplicating the Lord for help, and living a new life are the components of a well-known process we are taught about in the Writings. This portion of Joel certainly illustrates that it is a consistent plan of the Lord’s. The Writings urge us to follow this plan once or twice a year just prior to Holy Supper. Do we follow this suggested plan?
3. AE 734 [14] calls for our enlistment in the Lord’s military service. He advises us that warfare will incur. I did not hear in His plan a call for negotiations. It is to be a battle where only one outcome is predicted. The Lord will overcome the hells. Do we ever try to "bargain" or negotiate a peaceful settlement with hell? What is the result?

4. The gift of seeing God is a promise in the declaration of the New Church. That which is invisible will become visible. Do you find the Lord is clearly seen at all times, or do you find it necessary to keep refreshing your view of the Lord? How do you do this? TCR mentions that the Word of the Lord is like a mirror in which we see the image of the Lord. Such a teaching makes it a necessity to read the Word with a degree of consistency. Our hope is that a project such as this one will assist in your pursuit of daily "mirrors" in which to see God.

5. Do you come in contact with those who ask "Where is your God?" What happens when you do?

• "The Lord will establish the church, to which He will give its goods and truths..."

• "…the zeal of the Lord, which in itself is love and compassion, appears to [those in falsity] as anger; for when the Lord from love and mercy protects His own in heaven, they who are in evil are indignant and angry against the good and rush…with the endeavor to destroy…‘the zeal of the house of Jehovah’ denotes His love toward those who receive good and truth…the zeal of the Lord protects the good…" Joel 2:18 is cited among other passages as an example of this truth.

• "…it can be seen how far from the truth those have wandered, who believe that at the end of time the Jews will be converted to the Lord and brought back into the land of Canaan…because they have known nothing of the spiritual sense of the Word…In these passages those also are meant who were to be brought into the church, and thence into heaven from the earth after the Lord came, not only where the Christian religion is received but everywhere else." Joel 2:18-27 is cited among many other passages.

• AC 8875 teaches that "zealous" means love and compassion. "Land" represents where the doctrine of love and charity reside in the church (AC 2571). "Land" also represents the internal spiritual person, for that is where the church is (AE 365 [41]).
• "Pity" or "compassion" signifies the inflow of charity from the Lord (AC 6737). "Compassion" signifies the influx of the Lord into those who are ignorant of truths and yet desire them (AC 9182 [7]).

• "Answer" has some very interesting representations. "Answer" signifies reciprocity when assent is given (AC 2919). "Answer" signifies influx, inspiration, perception, and information. "Answer" also signifies mercy and aid. See AE 295 [6] and AE 471 [2].
• When we read in the Word that "Jehovah said," it signifies that He perceives from the Divine Celestial (AC 2619). When "said" is predicated of Jehovah, it signifies to inform by divine truth from the literal sense of the Word (AC 8041).

• The word "behold" means to have or to keep in sight, to look at, to watch, to observe, or survey and discern. Which of these synonyms should we use when seeking the signification of behold? AC 2329, 2770, 3495, and 3711 all use one or more of these words to say they represent thought and reflection, acknowledgment and confession of the Lord. Proper "beholding" brings us into the presence of the Lord.
• "Send" signifies something being revealed by the Lord through heaven to those who are in the good of love (AE 8 [2] and AR 5).
• "Grain," "barley," "wheat," and the like denote interior truths and goods (AC 7112).
• AC 3941 [4] quotes Joel 1:10, 11, 13: "The field has been laid waste, the ground has been mourning because the grain has been laid waste, the new wine has failed, the oil languishes. It is evident to anyone that here the state of the church when it is vastated is what is described…‘the field,’ ‘the ground’ means the church, the ‘grain’ its good, and the ‘new wine’ its truth."
• "Oil" has many uses. There is oil for cooking, oil for anointing, and oil for lamps. In general, "oil" signifies the good of love or charity to the neighbor from the Lord (AC 10, AC 261, and AE 375 [24-26]).
• Is it a surprise to you that the Lord sends new "grain," new "wine," and new "oil" when He establishes His new church? The former church ended with the four kinds of locust ravenously stripping the land. There was a drying up of the grain, the wine, and the oil. There was turmoil and shock the likes of which had never been seen. Then came a new beginning with the Lord’s zeal providing for the new start for His church. Look now at the next part of this verse.

• To be "satisfied" signifies to enjoy peace and good from mercy (AE 146). "Satisfy" signifies that all spiritual nourishment is from the Lord and that as much is given as one wills (AC 8410).

• To remove "reproach" signifies that the affection of internal truth will no longer be barren or dead (AC 3969). The Lord promised the removal of shame and disgrace from the church. The torn, the tattered, the tired elements of the church were going to be removed—replaced with a new vitality by the Lord. Dignity, respectability, honor, and wholesomeness would infill the doctrines and all of the forms of worship and uses.

P&P summarizes the meaning of Joel 2:18-19 with these words:

"The Lord will establish the church, to which He will give its goods and truths…"

The direct teachings and the derived doctrine add a degree of warmth, compassion, zeal, protection, mercy, feeding, and restoration and a grand sense of hope to this summary from P&P. In place of the swarming locust and the barren fields in Chapter One, this portion of the prophecy offers the news that there will be a full crop of grain, new wine, and flowing oil once again.

As with every Old Testament prophet we study, Joel’s prophecy begins with a bleak synopsis of the trouble the church got itself into by ignoring, twisting, and misusing the literal sense of the Word. As a consequence of this failure to learn from the literal sense, the heart of the church lost its conjunction with the Lord and, blinded, couldn’t find its way to the light of heaven. Falsity needed to be emptied out. The church had to confess its evils as sins against the Lord. The church needed to admit its guilt and genuinely supplicate the Lord for help. Most importantly, the church had to want the new life that was based on the Lord’s way.

Satisfaction is promised by the Lord. There will be an enjoyment of peace and good from the Lord’s mercy. Reproaches will not follow the revitalized church. Nurturing will be accommodated to the individual level and need of all in the church. Wholesomeness of doctrine and uses will flow out of the hearts of the people in the Lord’s New Church.

As I wrote these things, I felt a sense of joy and hope that I might be part of such a grand awakening and restoration of the church. How about you? Did you want to say "How long O Lord?" Well, maybe our prayerful wish for these things to come to pass is an important step within the stream of Providence. It could be that the Lord wants more of us to feel this way so that He can usher in a church whose grain, wine, and oil is definitely new.

Read the selection from P&P.

Read Joel 2:18-19.

1. Did you find yourself challenged with a sense of hope and consolation?

2. Was the bleak theme of the opening chapter replaced with a new song of "This is the day that the Lord has made"?

3. New grain, new wine, and new oil—does any example of these gifts come to mind?

4. What kind of "putting it all together" would you have written for this section?

• "…and will remove falsities of evil, and thus hell."

• "In that day signifies His coming, and the ‘eastern sea’ signifies the last limit toward the east in the spiritual world, at which there was no reception of Divine truth before the Lord’s coming, but where there was reception when Divine truth proceeded from His Divine Human. That the ultimates in the spiritual world are like seas may be seen above (n. 342b, c); and that there are dry places and wastes there may be seen in Joel (2:20)."

• "From all these passages [Joel 2:20 is one of them] it may be seen what ‘vastation’ and ‘desolation’ are; and that it is not a vastation and desolation of the peoples of a land, and of cities, but of the goods and truths of the church, whence there is nothing but evils and falsities."

• Please note the definite sense of the opening. It is not "I may," nor is it "I might," but it is "I will." This same definiteness is carried throughout the whole of this twentieth verse of Joel.
• To "move" signifies to turn away from error (AC 6290). To "move" also means to "cut off."
• "Far" in the spiritual world is not marked off in measurable distances. Instead, it represents a remoteness of spirit (AC 9261). Thus, it seems the Lord is teachings us that evil and falsity will be removed from His church. They will be pushed to the remote or furthest limits of heaven.
• "Army," in the positive sense, signifies the truths and goods that protect the church. "Army," in the negative sense, represents the self-justifying falsities and evils that destroy the church. See AR 862. AE 573 [2] gives us the same representation.
•  
• "Northern" signifies those who are out of the church and in darkness as to the truths of faith, and also the relative darkness in people (AC 1605). "Northern" signifies what is sensuous and natural (AC 426 [2]). "Northern" signifies those who are in obscurity as to truth because they do not have the Word (AE 401 [28]).

• "Drive" signifies to put away with strength and power (AC 7189). To "drive away" signifies that evil and falsities will be separated from every truth of the church (AC 386).
• "Barren," in a positive sense, represents those who recognize they are not in the Word and long for its truths. In the negative sense, "barren" represents a picture of evil and falsities in an idolatrous worship with no capacity to reproduce itself any further. See AC 1371-1372.
• "Desolate" signifies evil without any visible truth (AC 6141).
• "Land" represents the church, the internal man, and the doctrine of love and charity where the faith of the church resides (AC 2571).
• And who is the "I" in this verse? The Lord God Jesus Christ, the One God of heaven and earth.

• "Face" signifies the interior things, or thoughts and affections within the internal man. The Lord beholds the internal face and not the external face. See AC 4299.
• "Face toward the eastern sea…" represents the last limits in the spiritual world where there was no reception of Divine truth prior to the coming of the Lord (AE 422 [16]). Could these words represent the falsities that were brought into the spiritual world prior to the advent of the Lord? The thick dark clouds of falsity, prior to the advent, entering in from the World of Spirits, needed to be turned away from the face of all people. The true east became clear when the Lord made His advent. He came to show heaven and earth the true, inner, source of light from the East.
• "Sea" signifies a collection of spiritual and natural knowledges in the memory (AC 28 and AC 991).
• "Back," in the positive sense, signifies the externals of the Word, the church, and worship (AC 10584). "Back" signifies the subordination of voluntary (love) things (AC 8194). In the negative sense, "back" signifies a denial of the Lord God, and this was one of the abominations of the decadent Jerusalem (AE 401 [32]). "Back" signifies departing from truth by not wanting to understand the Word (AC 6401).
• "West" signifies those who are in self-love and interior thick darkness who think themselves wise (SE 5676). "West" signifies faith separated from charity because of the evils of life (AE 316 [16]). AC 7702 describes "…the signification of a ‘sea’ or west ‘wind’ as being the cessation of Divine influx through heaven…"

• Those who oppose the Lord and His truth give off an odor of decay (death), a stink, a stench of aversion and abomination (AC 4516).
• The "foul odor", in the Writings, is coupled with the word "cupidities." "Foul" is linked with cesspools, excrement, and many other horrible stenches. Essentially, the "foul" hells are made up of people who have wholly engrossed themselves in the pursuit of their own pleasure. See AC 1, 285, and 540 for examples of the "foul."
• "Monstrous things," or forms, are graphically presented in the Writings by faces. There are faces that are devoid of life. There are faces that are sunken, faces twisted because of their hatred toward the Lord, faces that take on the forms of hatred, cruelty, deceit, adultery, and hypocrisy. But in their own light, the spirits with these grotesque faces see themselves as attractive because of their own fantasies (AC 4798). Sadly, these monstrous forms want to get away from the Lord, so they cast themselves headlong into hell. The deeper the hell, the better. See AC 5057.

In light of this verse, is there any doubt about what the Lord will do for His church?

1. He will remove the northern army far from the church. The Lord will remove the self-justifying falsities and evils that destroy a church. Those who turned their back to the true East will have their shallow wisdom exposed.
2. The Lord promises to remove the non-productive things of idolatry that carry with them no potential usefulness for the future. Idolatry and barrenness are a spiritually sad end—cause—effect choice of the heart and mind.
3. Without the Lord’s advent, the collection of knowledges (seas) would have held the minds of people in a state of denial regarding the Lord. Without the Lord, there would have been a "wanting" to know and understand the Word without fulfillment of this desire.
4. Without the day of the Lord and His judgment, the dead church would have continued giving off its stench of aversion, abomination, and self-serving cupidities. These attitudes and ways of life put on the face of respectability, but they represented a fantasy world. The Lord saw the reality of their faces. To His eyes, their faces were masks of monstrous forms of hatred, cruelty, deceit, adultery, and hypocrisy. Before the Lord’s advent, those who lived contrary to the Lord lived "wholly engrossed in the pursuit of their own pleasure." No more. It is over. How do we know this will be so? The great "I will" has said so, and He keeps His word.

Read the selection from P&P.

Read Joel 2:20.

1. Is there any doubt in your mind that the end of the dead church has come about and that a New Church will come?

2. What monstrous masks are you aware of? Do you think these masks continue to fool people into mistaking them for forms of respectability?
3. AC 5056 said something sad about those who vehemently oppose the Lord. They cast themselves into hell. The deeper the hell, the better. Can you picture someone so opposed to the Lord that they would choose the deepest hell? That is a lot of hate.

4. Is there a growing sense of the "good news" for the church in our study of Joel? Are we finished hearing about the disorders of the church? Do you suppose we might have some more overturning of church disorders before a flurry of positive things finishing the prophecy of Joel?

5. Well, looking ahead to the next five verses, we can expect more good news about the restoration of the internal church. "Fear not," "Be glad," and "Rejoice" are some of the messages ahead. Are we ready for these encouraging words from the Lord to help us with our travails?

• "They will have trust in the Lord, from which they will have goods and felicities"

• "In all these passages, ‘exultation’ signifies delight from love and from the affection of good, and ‘gladness’ signifies pleasure from the love and affection of truth." Joel 2:21 is cited.

• "…the affections of a man, in the spiritual world, appear at a distance as beasts, as has been stated before; and beasts, considered in themselves, are nothing but forms of natural affections, but men are not only forms of natural, but of spiritual affections…That men, as to their affections, are meant by ‘beasts,’ may appear from these passages…" Joel 2:21-22 is cited.

• "In [Joel 2:21-23]…This is said of the establishment of the church by the Lord; and the ‘earth which will fear, but rejoice and be glad’ signifies the church and its delight; its establishment by the Lord is signified by ‘Jehovah hath done great things;’ therefore ‘the beasts of His fields’ mean those who are in the affections of good and long for instruction from the Word, ‘beasts’ meaning those who are in the affections of good belonging to the natural man, and ‘fields’ the doctrinals from the Word."

• "That the states of the church are likewise described in the Word by beasts…is evident from numberless passages…[Joel 2:21 and 22 are cited.]…Hence it is that ‘beasts’ are so often named in the Word; and by them in the spiritual sense are signified affections, inclinations, perceptions, and thoughts."

• "That ‘beasts’ signify man’s affections—evil affections with the evil, and good affections with the good—is evident from numerous passages in the Word…" Joel 2:22 is cited.

• "…in Joel…2:22…The ‘vine’ here denotes spiritual good, and the ‘fig-tree’ natural good."

• "…‘pastures of herb’ denote the spiritual nourishment which is of the soul…" Joel 2:22, along with other passages, is cited as an example.

• "Moreover, the things that are on trees, as leaves and fruit, signify such things as are with man; ‘leaves,’ the truths with him, and ‘fruits,’ the goods, as in the following passages…" Joel 2:22 is cited.

• "In [Joel 2:22]…This treats of the establishment of the church, therefore ‘the beasts of the field’ do not mean beasts of the field, but the affections of good in the natural man, consequently those in whom are such affections. Who does not see that it cannot be beasts to whom it is said, ‘Fear not, ye beasts of My fields?’ ‘The habitations of the desert are made full of herbs’ signifies that with such there will be knowledges of truth where there were none before, ‘the habitations of the wilderness’ meaning the interiors of the mind of those in whom these did not exist before, ‘full of herbs’ signifying the increase and multiplication of these; ‘for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig-tree and the vine shall yield their strength,’ signifies that they have natural good and spiritual good, ‘strength’ here meaning the production of fruit."

• "As in the genuine sense a ‘vine’ signifies the good of the intellectual part, and a ‘fig-tree’ the good of the natural man, or what is the same, that a ‘vine’ signifies the good of the interior man, and a ‘fig-tree’ the good of the exterior man, therefore a ‘fig-tree’ is often mentioned in the Word at the same time as a ‘vine;’ as in the following passages…" Joel 2:22 is cited along with Joel 1:6, 7, and 12.

• "…by ‘rain,’ the truth of the church thence is signified…That ‘rain’ signifies the Divine truth from heaven, appears from these passages…" Joel 2:23 is cited as an example.

• The passage refers to Joel 2:23-24 and to Joel 3:18, " where the Lord’s kingdom is treated of; and by ‘sweet wine,’ by ‘milk,’ and by ‘waters,’ are signified spiritual things whose abundance is thus described."

• "That a ‘threshing-floor’ signifies where are the good of truth and the truth of good, thus where are the things of the church, is evident in Joel…2:23, 24…where the ‘sons of Zion’ denote truths from good; the ‘threshing-floors full of grain,’ the abundance of truths and goods."

• "A winepress is also spoken of the goods of charity, from which truths of faith proceed, in Joel…2:23, 24."

• "In Joel…2:23, 24…‘new wine and oil’ signify the truth and good of the church, for ‘sons of Zion,’ to whom these things are said, signify those who are of the church; ‘the former rain in righteousness’ signifies Divine truth flowing into good, from which is there conjunction, fructification, and multiplication; and ‘floors full of pure grain’ signify fullness." Note this num