16 HEAVEN and HELL §23
e. The good of the heavenly kingdom is the good of love for the Lord, and the good of the spiri-
tual kingdom is the good of thoughtfulness toward one’s neighbor: 3691 , 6435 , 9468 , 9680 ,
9683 , 9780.
f. Heavenly angels are far wiser than spiritual angels: 2718 , 9995. On the nature of the difference
between heavenly angels and spiritual angels: 2088 , 2669 , 2708 , 2715 , 3235 , 3240 , 4788 , 7068 , 8121
[ 8521 ], 9277 , 10295.
g. Heavenly angels do not reason about truths of faith, because they grasp them within them-
selves, while spiritual angels do reason about whether they are true or not: 202 , 337 , 597 , 607 , 784 ,
1121 , 1387 [ 1384 ], 1398 [ 1385 , 1394 ], 1919 , 3246 , 4448 , 7680 , 7877 , 8780 , 9277 , 10786.a matter of love (since whatever we love is good in our estimation), the good
of the one kingdom is called heavenly and the good of the other, spiritual.
We can see from this the way in which these two kingdoms are distin-
guished from each other: namely, that it is like the way the good of love for
the Lord is distinguished from the good of thoughtfulness toward our
neighbor.e Since the former good is a deeper good and the former love is a
deeper love, heavenly angels are more inward angels, and are called “higher.”24 The heavenly kingdom is also called the Lord’s priestly kingdom—in
the Word, “his dwelling”; and the spiritual kingdom is called his royal
kingdom—in the Word, “his throne.” The Lord in the world was called
“Jesus” because of his heavenly divine nature, and “the Christ” because
of his spiritual divine nature.
25 The angels in the Lord’s heavenly kingdom far surpass the angels of
the spiritual kingdom in regard to wisdom and splendor because they
accept the Lord’s divine nature on a deeper level. They live in love for
him, and are therefore more intimately united to him.f The reason for
their excellence is that they have accepted divine truths directly into their
lives and continue to do so, rather than taking them into memory and
thought fi rst, the way spiritual angels do. This means they have them
engraved on their hearts and grasp them, virtually see them, within
themselves. They never calculate whether or not they are true.g They are
like the people described in Jeremiah,I will put my law in their midst and I will write it on their heart. No
longer will people teach their friends or their family, saying, “Know
Jehovah”; they will know me, from the least of them to the greatest of
them. (Jeremiah 31 : 33 , 34 )In Isaiah, they are called “the people who have been taught by Jehovah”
(Isaiah 54 : 13 ). In John 6 : 45 – 46 , the Lord himself teaches that those who
are taught by Jehovah are the ones who are taught by the Lord.