8815. And the voice of a trumpet exceeding strong. That this signifies a celestial state which was round about, is evident from the signification of "the voice," or sound, "of a trumpet," as being the truth of celestial good, "a voice" denoting truth, and "a trumpet" celestial good (as above, n. 8802). That it denotes a celestial state which was round about, is because the Divine in heaven is in the midst or inmost, that is, in the highest there; but relatively to the angels heaven is around or outside of them, that is, is beneath, for that which is around is also outside, and that which is outside is also beneath. Truth Divine itself in heaven is signified by "voices" and "lightnings," but the celestial or angelic truth adjoined to what is Divine, which is beneath or around, is signified by "the voice of a trumpet," in like manner as in Zechariah:
Jehovah shall appear over them, and His arrow shall go forth as the lightning; and the Lord Jehovih shall sound with the trumpet, and shall advance in whirlwinds of the south (Zech. 9:14). And in David:
God is gone up with a sounding, Jehovah with the voice of a trumpet (Ps. 47:5);
where "a sounding" denotes the truth of spiritual good; "the voice of a trumpet," the truth of celestial good. [2] The Divine truth which passes through heaven is also meant by the trumpets with which the angels sounded (Rev. 8:2, 6-8, 12, 13; 9:14). Truth Divine from heaven was also represented by the seven trumpets with which the seven priests sounded before the ark or before Jehovah, when the walls of the city Jericho fell (Josh. 6); also by the trumpets with which the three hundred men who were with Gideon sounded round about the camp of Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east (Judg. 7). The reason why the trumpets produced this effect was that they represented the truth Divine through the heavens, which is such that it perfects the good, but destroys the evil; the reason why it perfects the good is that these receive the Divine good which is in the truth; but that it destroys the evil is because these do not receive the Divine good which is in it. The "walls of Jericho" signified the falsities which defended evils; and "Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east," round about whose camp the three hundred men of Gideon sounded the trumpets, signified those who were in evils and in the derivative falsities.
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