5. Heaven’s perfection increases as the number of its inhabitants increases.

This follows from its form, which determines the patterns in which people associate and the ways communication flows there.

Heaven’s form is the most perfect form of all; and in the case of the most perfect form, the more people there are, the more there is a shared motion toward oneness among them; and they are therefore joined together more closely and harmoniously. The harmony and consequent joining together increase as the numbers increase because each new constituent there is placed between two or more others in order to connect them together, and therefore the new element provides strength and connection.

Heaven’s form is like the form of the human mind, whose perfection grows as the mind gains more goodness and truth, leading to greater intelligence and wisdom. The reason the form of a human mind devoted to heavenly wisdom and intelligence is like the form of heaven is that a mind like this is in fact a miniature image of heaven’s form. That is why, both for people like this and for angels, there is such complete communication of their thoughts and feelings regarding what is good and true with the communities of heaven that surround them. That communication extends farther into heaven the more their wisdom grows—that is, the more varied are the kinds of knowledge of truth that have taken root in their understanding and the greater is the abundance of desires to do good that have taken root in their will. In other words, it depends on what has taken root in their minds, because the mind consists of the understanding and the will.

It is the nature of the human and angelic mind that it can be enriched more and more to eternity; and as it is enriched, it is perfected. This happens especially when people are being led by the Lord, because then they are introduced to genuinely true thoughts that become rooted in their understanding and to genuinely good desires that become rooted in their will, since the Lord is arranging everything in this kind of mind into a form of heaven—so completely that eventually it becomes a heaven in miniature. This comparison makes it possible for us to see that the increase in the number of angels perfects heaven, because the situation in that case is much the same.

Every form is made up of varied elements. A form that is not made up of varied elements is not really a form at all, because it has no characteristics and is incapable of undergoing changes of state. The characteristics of any form are determined by the way its constituent elements are related to each other, the way they interact with each other, and the way they agree to be one, which factors determine the extent to which any form is regarded as a single entity. The nature of a form is such that the more constituent elements there are that are arranged in a given way within it, the more perfect it is, because as just stated, each of its constituents strengthens, reinforces, interconnects, and thus perfects it.

These facts can be better confirmed, though, by material presented in the book Heaven and Hell, especially where it deals with the fact that each community of heaven is a heaven in smaller form and each angel a heaven in smallest form (Sections 51–58); where it treats of heaven’s form, which determines how people associate and communicate there (Sections 200–212); and where it treats of the wisdom of heaven’s angels (Sections 265–275). 13

from Last Judgment Supplements, Section 12

Heaven and Hell:

Sections 51-58: Published 6/11/2019-6/13/2019

Sections 200-212: Published 4/30/2019-5/5/2019

Sections 265-275: Published 11/24/2019-11/30/2019

4. So far, heaven is made up of relatively few people.

On the fact that so far, heaven is made up of relatively few people, see Section 126 in my booklet on the planets in the universe.

from Last Judgment Supplements, Section 11 (Cont’d)

The Planets in the Universe:

Anyone can conclude that there are many solar systems from the fact that we can see so many stars in the universe. It is common knowledge in the learned world that each star is a sun in its own region, remaining fixed the way the sun of our planet does in its own position, and only their great distance from us makes stars appear small. So we may conclude that like our sun, each star has planets around it that are worlds. We cannot see them with our eyes because they are at a vast distance from us and because the light they have from their star is not strong enough to be reflected all the way to us.

What other use could there be for such a huge expanse of space and so many stars? After all, the purpose of the creation of the universe is humankind and, through humankind, a heaven of angels. If the human race and the resulting angelic heaven came from just one planet, how would that satisfy an infinite Creator, for whom a thousand planets or even millions would not be enough?

I once calculated that if there were a million planets in the universe, with three hundred million (300,000,000) people on each planet, and two hundred generations over six thousand years, and if each individual or spirit were given a space of three cubic ells, then the total of all these people or spirits gathered into one place would not fill the space of a thousandth part of this planet—perhaps the space, then, of one of the moons of Jupiter or of Saturn. This would be an almost invisibly small space in the universe—we can scarcely see those moons with the naked eye. What would this be for the creator of the universe, for whom it would not be enough if the whole universe were full? The Creator is, after all, infinite.

I discussed this with angels and they said they have a similar idea of the meager extent of the human race in comparison to the infinity of the Creator, although they think of it in terms of states rather than of space; to their minds, no matter how many millions of planets one could ever imagine, they would still be absolutely nothing compared to the Lord. But the source of the material that follows about extrasolar planets is [not theory or imagination but] my own personal experience. Among other things the accounts will show how my spirit traveled to those planets while my body stayed where it was.

from The Planets in the Universe, Section 126

3. The full extent of heaven, which exists for the sake of angels, is so vast that it cannot be filled to eternity.

In support of this, see the book Heaven and Hell, particularly the chapter on the vastness of heaven, Sections 415-420.

from Last Judgment Supplements, Section 11

Heaven and Hell:

Sections 415-420: Published 12/1/2019-12/4/2019

2. Humankind is the seedbed of Heaven

This assertion will be further supported in the next chapter [Sections 14–22], where I will be showing that heaven and hell come from humankind, which means that humankind is the seedbed of heaven.

As a preface to that, here I will state that just as heaven has been formed from humankind thus far—that is, since the beginning of creation—so it will continue being formed and enriched from now on.

Now, it is within the realm of possibility that humankind on a given planet could perish. This occurs if humankind completely separates itself from the Divine, because in that case people no longer have any spiritual life, only an earthly life like that of animals. Once people are like this, they cannot be formed into a community and restrained by the bonds of law, because without an inflow from heaven, that is, without being governed by the Divine, people become insane and, forsaking all self-control, plunge into every kind of unspeakable behavior toward each other.

But even if humankind were to perish on one planet by separating itself from the Divine (an outcome the Lord provides against), it would still continue on others. There are hundreds of thousands of [inhabited] planets in the universe—see my booklet, The Earthlike Bodies Called Planets in Our Solar System and in Deep Space.

I have been told by a heavenly source that if the Lord had not come into the world, taken on a human nature on this planet, and made that nature divine, humankind on this planet would have died off and left not a single survivor today. I have also been told that the same thing would have happened if the Lord had not given us the kind of Word we have, which serves as a foundation for the angelic heaven and a way of joining it to us. On the Word as the means of joining heaven and humankind together, see Heaven and Hell 303–310.

However, the truth of this can be grasped only by people who think spiritually—that is, people who are joined to heaven through their acknowledgment of the divine nature in the Lord, since they are the only ones who can do this kind of thinking.

from Last Judgment Supplements, Section 10

Heaven and Hell:

Sections 303-310: Published 11/18/2019-11/23/2019

1. Humankind is the foundation on which heaven rests. (Continued)

As for the dwellings of angels being right with us in our feelings for what is good and what is true, that is the intent of the Lord’s words “Those who love me will keep my word; and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make a home with them” (John 14:23). What is said of the Father and the Lord in this verse also includes heaven, because wherever the Lord is, heaven is there. In fact, it is the divine nature emanating from the Lord that makes heaven, as you can see in Heaven and Hell 7–12, 116–125.

See also these words of the Lord: “The Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, dwells among you and is in you” (John 14:16–17). The Comforter is the divine truth that emanates from the Lord; this is why the Comforter is also called “the Spirit of Truth.” And divine truth constitutes heaven and also constitutes the angels, because they are receptive to it. On the fact that the divine nature emanating from the Lord is divine truth and that this is what makes the heaven of angels, see Heaven and Hell 126–140.

This is also the meaning of the Lord’s words “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). The kingdom of God is the divine goodness and divine truth in which the angels live.

The presence of angels and spirits with us and in our feelings is something I have been granted to see thousands of times from their presence and dwelling with me. However, the angels and spirits do not know which people they are with, and the people do not know which angels and spirits they are living among. Only the Lord knows and arranges this. In a word, in heaven all feelings about things that are good and true extend outward, so people there who share similar feelings communicate with one another and are connected. In hell all feelings about things that are evil and false extend outward, so people there who share similar feelings communicate with one another and are connected. Feelings in the world of spirits extend outward very much in the way sight in our earthly world extends outward. The modes of communication are very much alike in the two places, but with the difference that in this world we see objects, while in the spiritual world we see angelic communities.

We can see from this that the connection between the heaven of angels and humankind is such that each depends on the other, and that without humankind, the heaven of angels would be like a house without a foundation. This is because heaven is completed in humankind and rests on it.

The same holds true in each of us as individuals. Our thinking and our willing, which are spiritual, flow down into our sensations and actions, which are earthly, and are completed and take on a permanence there. If we did not have these latter functions as well, if we lacked these sensations and actions at our outermost boundaries, the thoughts and feelings of our spirits would dissipate like things that had no defined outlet or foundation. On this principle, when we make the transition from the earthly world to the spiritual world (which happens when we die), since we are then spirits we no longer depend on our individual base but on a communal base, which is humankind.

People who do not know the mysteries of heaven may believe that angels exist apart from us and that we exist apart from angels, but I can solemnly testify on the basis of all my experience of heaven and my conversations with angels that no angel or spirit exists apart from humankind and that no human being exists apart from angels and spirits. I can testify also that the way we are joined together is mutual and reciprocal.

This leads to the prime conclusion that humankind and the heaven of angels make up a single whole and depend on each other mutually and reciprocally for their existence, which means that neither can be parted from the other.

from Last Judgment Supplements, Section 9 (Cont’d)

Heaven and Hell:

Sections 7-12: Published 10/4/2019-10/6/2019

Sections 116-125: Published 6/25/2019-7/1/2019

Sections 126-140: Published 7/2/2019-7/12/2019

1. Humankind is the foundation on which heaven rests.

This is because humankind was created last, and what is created last serves as a base for all the [higher] things that preceded it. Creation began from the highest or inmost things because it began from the Divine, and it proceeded to the last or outermost things and there it came to rest. (The outermost level of creation is the physical world, including our globe of lands and seas and everything on it.)

Once all this was finished, then humanity was created, and into humanity was gathered every level of the divine design from first to last. Things on the first level of that design were incorporated into what is inmost in us, and things on the outermost level were incorporated into what is outermost in us. The result is that we have been made embodiments of the divine design. This is why everything within and about us is as much from heaven as it is from this world. From heaven we get the contents of our minds and from the world we get the contents of our bodies. That is, things from heaven flow into our thoughts and feelings and cause them to take shape depending on how those things are received by our spirit, while things of this earth flow into our sensations and feelings of pleasure and cause them to take shape depending on how those things are received by our body, although only in a way that is adapted to suit the thoughts and feelings of our spirit.

For material in support of this, see several relevant points in Heaven and Hell, particularly that the whole heaven, grasped as a single entity, reflects a single individual ( Sections 59–67); and the same can be said for each community in the heavens (Sections 68–72); therefore every angel is in perfect human form (Sections 73–77); and this is because of the Lord’s divine-human nature (Sections 78–86). There is more in the chapters on the correspondence of everything in heaven with everything in the human being (Sections 87–102), on the correspondence of everything in heaven with everything earthly (Sections 103–115), and on heaven’s form (Sections 200–212).

As this design of creation shows, there is such an unbroken connection between things first and last that when we have both in view they make a single whole in which what is prior cannot be separated from what is subsequent, exactly as a cause cannot be separated from its effect. By the same token, the spiritual world cannot be separated from the earthly world or the latter from the former; so the heaven of angels cannot be separated from humankind or humankind from the heaven of angels. Therefore the Lord has provided that each does work that is of benefit to the other—the heaven of angels to humankind and humankind to the heaven of angels.

That is why, even though the dwelling places of angels are in heaven and appear to be at a remove from the dwellings where we live, the angels are still right with us, in our feelings for what is good and what is true. Our seeming to be separate from them is only a matter of outward appearance, as you may conclude from the chapter in Heaven and Hell that deals with space in heaven (Sections 191–199).

from Last Judgment Supplements, Section 9

Notes:

Section 8 was not written.

Heaven and Hell:

Sections 59-67: Published 2/20/2020-2/23/2020

Sections 68-72: Published 2/24/2020-2/25/2020

Sections 73-77: Published 12/27/2019-12/28/2019

Sections 78-86: Published 2/26/2020-2/28/2020

Sections 87-102: Published 5/18/2019-5/26/2019

Sections 103-115: Published 7/29/2019-8/7/2019

Sections 191-199: Published 6/21/2019-6/24/2019

Sections 200-212: Published 4/30/2019-5/5/2019

The Reproduction of Humankind on Earth Will Never Cease (Continued)

Many points provide support for the idea that the reproduction of humankind is going to continue forever. Some of these have been presented in my book about heaven. The following points are the most relevant:

1. Humankind is the foundation on which heaven rests.

2. Humankind is the seedbed of heaven.

3. The full extent of heaven, which exists for the sake of angels, is so vast that it cannot be filled to eternity.

4. So far, heaven is made up of relatively few people.

5. Heaven’s perfection increases as the number of its inhabitants increases. 6. And every divine work aims at what is infinite and eternal.

from Last Judgment Supplements, Section 7

The Reproduction of Humankind on Earth Will Never Cease

People who have adopted the belief that the Last Judgment will entail the destruction of everything in the heavens and on earth and that a new heaven and a new earth will come into being in their stead also believe, because it logically follows, that the reproduction and successive generations of humankind will come to an end after that.

They think that all this will be over and humanity will then be in a different state than before. However, as explained in the preceding chapter [Sections 1–5], the day of the Last Judgment does not mean the destruction of the world; it follows, then, that humankind is in fact going to continue and its reproduction will not cease.

from Last Judgment Supplements, Section 6

Sections 1-5: Published 9/19/2022-9/22/2022

“Judgment Day” Does Not Mean the End of the World (Continued)

Further, in the spiritual meaning of the Word “to create” means to form, to set up, and to regenerate, so creating a new heaven and a new earth means establishing a new church in heaven and on earth. You can see this from the following passages:

A people yet to be created will praise Jah. (Psalms 102:18)

You send out your spirit, and they are created; you renew the face of the earth. (Psalms 104:30)

Thus says Jehovah, who is your Creator, O Jacob, and your Maker, O Israel: “I have redeemed you and called you by your name. You are mine. For my glory I have created, I have formed, and I have made all those who are called by my name.” (Isaiah 43:1, 7)

There are other such passages as well. This is why our own individual “new creation” is our reformation—because we become new, and spiritual rather than earthly; and that is why a “new creation” is someone who has been reformed.

On the spiritual meaning of the Word, see my booklet The White Horse Described in Revelation.

from Last Judgment Supplements, Sections 4-5

“Judgment Day” Does Not Mean the End of the World (Continued)

Until now, people have not realized that “a new earth” means a new church on earth, for the simple reason that they have thought “earth” in the Word means earth, when in fact it means the church. In a nonspiritual sense it does mean the earth, but spiritually understood it means the church. This is because if we are focused on the spiritual meaning—that is, if we ourselves are as spiritual as angels—when it says “earth” in the Word we do not understand it to mean the earth itself but the people who live on it and their worship of God. That is why “earth” means the church (on this point see the references from Secrets of Heaven cited in the footnote).

I would like to cite a few passages from the Word here that may offer some help in understanding that “earth” means the church.

The flood gates from on high are open and the foundations of the earth are shaken. The earth is violently broken; the earth is shaken exceedingly. The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard, it totters like a hut, and its transgression is heavy upon it. (Isaiah 24:18, 19, 20)

I will render a human more rare than pure gold. Because of this I will violently move heaven, and the earth will be moved from its place, in the day of the raging of Jehovah’s anger. (Isaiah 13:12, 13)

The earth quaked before him, and the heavens trembled; the sun and the moon were darkened, and the stars withheld their light. (Joel 2:10)

The earth shook and trembled, and the foundations of the mountains quaked and were shaken. (Psalms 18:7, 8)

There are many other such passages.

from Last Judgment Supplements, Section 3