123. (iv) REDEMPTION WAS AN ENTIRELY DIVINE DEED.
If anyone knows the nature of hell, and how high it rose to flood the whole of the world of spirits at the time of the Lord's coming, as well as the power the Lord used to cast it down and scatter it, and afterwards to reduce it, together with heaven, to order, it must make him cry out in wonder that that deed was entirely Divine. First, the nature of hell: it consists of myriads of myriads of spirits, since it contains all those who from the creation of the world have estranged themselves from God by wicked lives and false beliefs. Secondly, the height to which hell rose to flood the whole of the world of spirits at the time of the Lord's coming has been described to some extent in the preceding paragraphs. No one has had knowledge of the situation at the time of the first coming, because it was not revealed in the literal sense of the Word; but I have been permitted to see with my own eyes the situation at the time of His second coming, and this allows some conclusions to be drawn about the earlier event. A description is contained in my short book THE LAST JUDGMENT, published in London in 1758; and, thirdly, this also shows the power the Lord used to cast down and scatter that hell. But it is superfluous to repeat here the eye-witness descriptions given there, since the book is available, and there is still a large stock of copies at the printer's in London. Anyone who reads that can see clearly that it was the work of almighty God.
[2] Fourthly, I have not yet written a description of how the Lord reduced to order everything both in heaven and in hell, because the ordering of the heavens and the hells has continued from the time of the Last Judgment until the present day, and is still going on. But after the publication of this book, I shall publish this too, if there is a demand. For my part in this affair, I have seen day by day, and continue to see, the Lord's Divine omnipotence, as it were face to face. This last action is really concerned with redemption, the earlier one is really part of the Last Judgment. Those who are prepared to look for this distinction can see that much which is concealed under metaphors in the prophetical parts of the Word is none the less a description of it, when the understanding is enlightened by the explanation of the correspondences.
[3] Both of these Divine actions can only be illustrated by. comparisons, and then only to a limited extent. A possible comparison might be with a battle against the armies of all the nations of the whole world equipped with spears, shields, swords, muskets and cannon, and led by skilled and cunning generals and officers. I say this because many in hell possess skills unknown in our world, and devote themselves to practising how they can attack, ambush, besiege and engage those who are from heaven.
[4] The Lord's battle against hell can also be compared, though very imperfectly, with a battle against the wild beasts of the whole earth, in which they are killed or subdued, until not a single one dares to venture out and attack anyone under the Lord's protection. If any of them shows a threatening face, it retires at once, as if it felt a vulture battening upon its breast in the attempt to break through to its heart. The Word too describes the spirits in hell as wild beasts, and this is also the meaning of the wild beasts among which the Lord spent forty days (Mark 1:13).
[5] It can also be compared with stemming the whole ocean, when it bursts the dykes and breaks into fields and towns with its waves. The subduing of hell by the Lord is also meant by His calming the sea, when He said 'Hush, be still' (Mark 4:38, 39; Matt. 8:26; Luke 8:23, 24). The sea there, as in many other passages, means hell.
[6] The Lord employs similar Divine power to-day to fight against hell in every person who is undergoing re-birth. For all these people are attacked by hell with devilish fury, and unless the Lord resisted and subdued hell, they would inevitably be overcome. For hell is like a single monstrous person, or a huge lion, another comparison found in the Word. So unless the Lord kept that lion or monster fettered hand and foot, that person would inevitably in trying to escape one evil fall into many others, one after another, of his own accord.