865. [verse 11] 'And I saw a throne white and great, and One sitting upon it, from Whose face the heaven and the land* fled away [, and no place was found for them]' signifies the universal judgment executed by the Lord upon all the former heavens that were occupied by (super quibus fuerunt) those who were in civil and moral good but in no spiritual good, thus who in external things were pretending to be Christians but in internal things were devils; which heavens with their territory were entirely done away with so that nothing of them would appear any more. Before these things are expounded in an order following the letter, something must be premised concerning the universal judgment that is treated of here. From the time that the Lord was in the world when He Himself in Person executed a last judgment, it was permitted that those who were in civil and moral good although in no spiritual good, whence in external things appeared like Christians but in internal things were devils, should stay longer than the rest in the world of spirits which is midway between heaven and hell. Then at length it was allowed them to make permanent dwellings there for themselves, and also by an abuse of correspondences and by phantasies to form for themselves as it were heavens, which they did indeed form in great abundance. But when these were multiplied to such an extent as to intercept spiritual light and spiritual heat between the higher heavens and men on earth, then the Lord effected the last judgment and did away with these imaginary heavens. This was done in such a way that the external things by means of which they were pretending to be Christians were taken away, and the internal things in which they were devils were opened, and then they were seen for what they were in themselves, and those who were seen to be devils were cast into hell, each one in accordance with the evils of his own life. This was done in the year 1757. But more concerning this universal judgment may be seen in the little work concerning THE LAST JUDGMENT published at London in 1758, and in THE CONTINUATION CONCERNING THAT [JUDGMENT] published at Amsterdam in 1763. [2] Now to the exposition. By the 'throne white and great, and the One sitting upon it' is signified the universal judgment effected by the Lord. By 'a throne' is signified heaven and also judgment (n. 229); by 'the One sitting upon the throne' is understood the Lord (n. 808 at the end). The throne appeared 'white' because the judgment was effected out of Divine truths, for 'white' is predicated of truths (n. 167, 379). The throne appeared 'great' because the judgment was also effected out of Divine Good, for 'great' is predicated of good (n. 656, 663). 'From Whose face the land and the heaven fled away' signifies that those heavens which they had made for themselves (treated of just above), with their territories, were done away wills; for in the spiritual world just as in the natural world there are lands, as may be seen (is. 260, 331); but the lands, like all the other things there, are of a spiritual origin. 'And no place was found for them' signifies that the heavens with their territories were thus altogether done away with, so that nothing of them would appear any more. From these considerations it can be established that by 'I saw a throne white and great, and One sitting upon it, from Whose face the land and the heaven fled away, and no place was found for them' is signified the universal judgment effected by the Lord upon all the former** heavens that were occupied by those who were in civil and moral good but in no spiritual good, thus who in external things were pretending to be Christians but in internal things were devils; which heavens with their territory were altogether done away with so that nothing of them would appear any more. * Here and in the 'Contents of each of the Verses' the words 'land' and heaven' are transposed. Cf. the text of the chapter and the exposition in subsection 2 of this paragraph. ** Reading priores (former) as in the heading, instead of novos (new).