858. [verse 8] 'And shall go forth to lead astray the nations that are at the four corners of the land, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for war' signifies that those who are here understood by 'the dragon' would draw to their side all who were of the territories in the entire world of spirits and lived there in a worship only external natural and in no internal spiritual worship, and would rouse them up against those who worshipped the Lord and lived in accordance with His precepts in the Word. By 'he shall go forth to lead astray the nations that are at the four corners of the land' is signified that those who are understood by 'the dragon' (treated of just above, n. 856, 857) would draw to their side all who were in the entire world of spirits. By 'to lead astray' here is signified to draw to their side. By 'the nations' are signified both the good and the evil (n. 483). By 'the four corners of the land' is signified the entire spiritual world (n. 342), here those who were in the entire world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell and where all first come together after their departure from on earth (treated of n. 784, 791); for those who were in hell could not come into the dragon's field of vision, nor those who were in the heavens. By 'Gog and Magog' are signified those who are in external natural worship separate from internal spiritual worship, treated of in the following paragraph. By 'to gather them together for war' is signified to rouse up those who are understood by 'the nations' against those who worship the Lord and live in accordance with His precepts in the Word, because all who do not worship the Lord and do not live in accordance with His precepts are evil, and the evil act together with the dragon or the dragonists. That by 'war' is understood the spiritual war that is of untruth against truth and of truth against untruth may be seen above (n. 500, 586).