because of the warm color of the makeup. The state of the church after
the Lord’s coming is like a young woman who is beautiful because of the
blush of her own natural complexion.
The state of the church before the Lord’s coming is like the skin from
a piece of fruit—like an orange, an apple, a pear, or a grape—and like the
taste of that skin. The state of the church after his coming is like the flesh
of those types of fruit and like the taste of that flesh. And so on.
This is because ever since the Lord added on a divine physical form,
he enlightens our inner spiritual self and our outer earthly self at the
same time. When just our inner self is enlightened but not our outer self,
a shadow is cast. The same is true when our outer self is enlightened but
not our inner self.
Here I will add the following memorable occurrences. 110
The first memorable occurrence.In the spiritual world I once saw a
strange light in the [night] sky that fell slowly down to the earth. It had a
glow around it. It was a strange aerial phenomenon that the local popula-
tion called “the dragon.” I made a note of the place where it landed; but
in the early dawn as the sun was first coming up it disappeared, as all
strange lights at night do.
Later in the morning I went to the place where I had seen it fall in
the night. To my surprise, the ground there was a mixture of sulfur, iron
filings, and white clay. Then I suddenly noticed two tents, one directly
over the spot and the other beside it to the south. I looked up and I saw
a spirit falling down from heaven like a thunderbolt. He was hurled
right onto the tent that stood directly over the spot where the strange
aerial phenomenon had come down. I was in the other tent that was
next to it to the south. I stood up in the doorway of my tent, and I saw
that the spirit, too, was standing in the doorway of his tent.
I asked him why he had fallen out of heaven like that. He answered
that Michael’s angels had thrown him down as an angel of the dragon.
“It was because I voiced some of the beliefs I had convinced myself of
in the world,” he said. “Among them was this one: God the Father and
God the Son are not one; they are two. As it turns out, though, all who
are in the heavens today believe that God the Father and God the Son are
one like a soul and a body. Any statement to the contrary is like a stinging
§110 the lord the redeemer & redemption 147