2759. A kind of swell surged up from the underground realm on my right. I learned that it was composed of a large number of spirits from among the common people, uneducated but not immoral. They were peasants and other simple people. When I spoke with them, they said they knew the Lord and commended themselves to his name. Beyond this they knew little of faith or its mysteries. Later, there rose up another group that knew a little more. I sensed that their inner depths were capable of opening up. (This is something that can be perceived plainly in the other world.) They had a conscience, which was communicated to me so I would know, and I learned that they had led lives of simple love for their married partners. They themselves said they loved their spouses and shunned adultery. Clearly this was a matter of conscience for them, because they said, "We have to; anything else would go against our will."

In the other life, people like this receive instruction and learn to love goodness and believe truth more fully. In the end they are welcomed among the angels.

[Continued in Volume 4]

2130. To turn to an explanation of the other picture of the Last Judgment, the one good spirits face when they are being let into heaven, let me report the following:

The Word says that a door was closed so that people could not be let in any longer [Matthew 25:1-13]. It says that their oil ran out, that they came too late, and that for this reason they would not be admitted. These images too symbolize conditions at the Last Judgment. The implications and the way to understand it all were shown to me.

[2] I heard whole societies of spirits, one after another, saying in a clear voice that the wolf had wanted to carry them off but the Lord had rescued them, so that they were restored to him, for which they rejoiced from the bottom of their hearts. They had been in despair and consequently in fear, thinking that the door would shut, that they had come too late to be allowed in. Spirits referred to as wolves had instilled this thought into them, but it evaporated when they did get in, or in other words, when they were accepted by angelic communities. That is all that entry into heaven is.

I seemed to see societies being let in, one after another, until there were twelve. The twelfth had a harder time getting in, or being accepted, than the first eleven. Afterward, what appeared to be eight more societies were also admitted, and I was informed that they were made up of women.

After watching, I was told that this is what the process of entry (acceptance into heavenly communities) looks like. I learned that it goes on constantly, as newcomers go in order from one location to the next. Heaven will never, ever fill up completely, nor will the door be closed. The more numerous the arrivals, the more of a blessing and a joy it is to the inhabitants of heaven, since it strengthens their unity.

[3] After these spirits had entered, it did seem as though heaven closed, because there were others who then wanted to be allowed in too, or accepted, but were told they could not enter now. That is what is symbolized by their late arrival, the shutting of the door, their knocking on it, and the lack of oil in their lamps. The reason they were not let in was that they were not yet ready to participate in angelic communities, where love is shared with all. As noted above at the end of §2119, the Lord gradually raises people into heaven if their life in the world was one of charity for their neighbor.

[4] There was yet another group of spirits, who had no idea what heaven was or that it consisted in shared love and who also wanted to be let into heaven immediately. Their thought was that it is just a matter of getting in. The answer they received, however, was that it was not the right time for them yet, that they would be allowed in another time, when they were ready.

The reason I saw twelve societies was that twelve symbolizes all aspects of faith, as noted above near the end of §2129.