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Apocalypse Revealed # 1

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1. THE APOCALYPSE OR BOOK OF REVELATION

CHAPTER 1

1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,

2. who bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to whatever he saw.

3. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it, for the time is near.

4. John, to the seven churches which are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before His throne,

5. and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth, who loves us and washes us from our sins in His blood,

6. and makes us kings and priests to His God and Father. To Him be glory and might forever and ever. Amen.

7. Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail because of Him. Even so, Amen.

8. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

9. I, John, who am also your brother and your companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patient awaiting of Jesus Christ, was on the island called Patmos for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

10. I became in the spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,

11. saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. What you see, write in a book and send it to the churches which are in Asia - Ephesus and Smyrna, Pergamum and Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."

12. Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me, and having turned I saw seven golden lampstands,

13. and in the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and girded about the breasts with a golden girdle.

14. His head and hair were white, like wool as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire.

15. His feet were like fine brass, as though fired in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters;

16. having in His right hand seven stars, and issuing from His mouth a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance as the sun shines in its power.

17. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,

18. and am He who lives, and was put to death, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of hell and death.

19. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.

20. The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches."

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING

The Contents of the Whole Chapter:

The meaning is that this revelation comes from the Lord alone, and is received by people who will be in His New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, and who will acknowledge the Lord as God of heaven and earth. The Lord also is described in relation to the Word.

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The Contents of the Individual Verses:

Verse ContentsSpiritual Meaning
1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, Predictions from the Lord regarding Himself and His church, what the church will be like at its end, and what it will be like thereafter,
which God gave Him to show His servants for people who have faith arising from charity.
things which must shortly take place. They must surely come to pass to keep the church from perishing.
And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, The things that have been revealed by the Lord through heaven to people who possess goodness of life arising from charity and its accompanying faith,
2. who bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, who from the heart and so in a state of light receive Divine truth from the Word and acknowledge the Lord's humanity to be Divine.
to whatever he saw. Their enlightenment in all matters contained in this revelation.
3. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it, Their communion with angels in heaven who live according to the doctrine of the New Jerusalem,
for the time is near. the state of the church being such that it can no longer continue to maintain its conjunction with the Lord.
4. John, to the seven churches To all who are in the Christian world where the Word exists and where through it the Lord is known, and who turn to the church,
which are in Asia: to those who from the Word possess the light of truth.
Grace to you and peace A Divine salutation
from Him who is and who was and who is to come, from the Lord who is eternal and infinite, and who is Jehovah,
and from the seven spirits who are before His throne, from the whole of heaven, where the Lord is in His Divine truth,
5. and from Jesus Christ, His Divine humanity,
the faithful witness, which is Divine truth itself,
the firstborn from the dead, and which is Divine good itself,
and the ruler of the kings of the earth, from whom originates all truth from good in the church,
who loves us and washes us from our sins in His blood, who out of love and mercy reforms and regenerates people by His Divine truths drawn from the Word,
6. and makes us kings and priests who grants those who are born from Him, that is, who are reborn or regenerated, to possess wisdom from Divine truths, and love from Divine goods,
to His God and Father. thus images of His Divine wisdom and of His Divine love,
To Him be glory and might forever and ever. to whom alone belong Divine majesty and Divine omnipotence to eternity.
Amen. A Divine confirmation springing from truth, thus from Himself.
7. Behold, He is coming with the clouds (of heaven), The Lord will reveal Himself in the literal sense of the Word and lay open its spiritual meaning at the end of the church.
and every eye will see Him, All those will acknowledge Him who possess, from an affection for it, an understanding of Divine truth.
even they who pierced Him, Even those will see Him who are caught up in falsities in the church.
and all the tribes of the earth will wail.... This will be when there are no longer any goods and truths in the church.
Even so, Amen. A Divine confirmation that it will be so.
8. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," Who is the one and only reality from firsts to lasts, from whom springs all else, thus who is the one and only love, the one and only wisdom, and the one and only life in itself, and so the one and only Creator, Savior and Enlightener from Himself, and therefore the all in all of the church and heaven.
says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, Who is eternal and infinite, and Jehovah.
the Almighty. Who exists, lives, and has power of Himself, and who directs all things from the first of them through the last.
9. I, John, who am also your brother and companion Those people who possess the goodness of charity and consequent truths of faith,
in the tribulation and kingdom and patient awaiting of Jesus Christ, which in the church have been infested by evils and falsities, but which will be removed by the Lord when He comes.
was on the island called Patmos A state and place in which he could be enlightened,
for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. so as to receive Divine truth from the Word with the heart and so in a state of light, and to acknowledge the Lord's humanity to be Divine.
10. I became in the spirit on the Lord's day, A spiritual state then owing to Divine influx.
and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, A manifest perception of Divine truth revealed from heaven.
11. saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. Who is the one and only reality from firsts to lasts, from whom springs all else (as so on as stated above).
What you see, write in a book That these things may be revealed for posterity,
and send it to the churches which are in Asia - for those in the Christian world who have the light of truth from the Word
Ephesus and Smyrna, Pergamum and Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea." in every case according to each one's state of reception.
12. Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me, A turning around of the state of those people who possess goodness of life, in respect to their perception of the truth in the Word, when they turn to the Lord.
and having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, A new church, which will have an enlightenment from the Lord from the Word.
13. and in the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man, The Lord in relation to the Word, from whom that church originates.
clothed with a long robe The emanating Divinity which is Divine truth.
and girded about the breasts with a golden girdle. The emanating and at the same time conjoining Divinity which is Divine good.
14. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, The Divine love accompanying Divine wisdom in first things and last.
and His eyes like a flame of fire. The Divine wisdom accompanying Divine love.
15. His feet were like fine brass, as though fired in a furnace, Natural Divine good.
and His voice as the sound of many waters; Natural Divine truth.
16. having in His right hand seven stars, All concepts of goodness and truth in the Word from the Lord.
and issuing from His mouth a sharp two-edged sword, A dispersion of falsities by the Lord by means of the Word and doctrine drawn from it.
and His countenance as the sun shining in its power. The Divine love and wisdom which are the Lord and which emanate from Him.
17. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. A failure of his own life owing to such a presence of the Lord.
But He laid His right hand on me, Life then infused from the Lord.
saying to me, "Do not be afraid. A revival, and from the deepest humility then, adoration.
"I am the First and the Last, He is eternal and infinite, thus the only God,
18. and am He who lives, who alone is life, and the only source of life.
and was put to death, Disregarded in the church, and His Divine humanity not acknowledged,
and behold, I am alive forevermore. He is eternal life.
"Amen." A Divine confirmation that it is the truth.
"And I have the keys of hell and death." He alone is able to save.
19. "Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. So that everything now being revealed may be saved for posterity.
20. "The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The secrets contained in the visions having to do with a new heaven and a new church.
"The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, A new church in the heavens, which is the New Heaven.
and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches." A new church on earth, which is the New Jerusalem descending from the Lord out of the New Heaven.

THE EXPOSITION

People have hitherto not known what the spiritual meaning is. We have shown in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 5-26, that it exists in every constituent of the Word, and that in many places the Word cannot be understood apart from it. This meaning is not apparent in the literal sense, for it is present in it as the soul is in the body.

People do know that there is a spiritual reality and a natural one, and that the spiritual one flows into the natural one and presents itself to be seen and felt in forms that fall within the scope of people's vision and touch. Moreover, they know that apart from these forms the spiritual component is perceived only as affection and thought, or as love and wisdom, which are properties of the mind. They acknowledge that affection and thought, or love, which has the capacity to be affected, and wisdom, which has the capacity to think, are spiritual. They know that these two faculties of the soul present themselves in forms in the body that are called sensory and motor organs, and furthermore, that these forms operate in harmony with those faculties, so much so that when the mind thinks something, the mouth in an instant expresses it, and when the mind wills something, the body in an instant does it. It is apparent, therefore, that there is a perfect union of spiritual and natural components in the human being.

[2] The case is the same with each and every constituent of the world. Each has in it something spiritual as the inmost of its cause, and something natural as its effect, and these two function as one. Moreover, the spiritual component is not apparent in the natural one, because, as we said, it is present in the natural one as the soul is in the body and as the inmost of a cause is in the effect.

It is the same with the Word. Because it is Divine, no one can deny that it is spiritual at its core. But because the spiritual component is not apparent in the literal sense, which is natural, therefore the spiritual meaning has been hitherto unknown. Nor could it have been known previously, before the Lord revealed genuine truths, as the spiritual meaning consists in those truths.

It is on this account that the book of Revelation has heretofore not been understood. But lest there be any doubt that it contains such truths, its contents must be explained phrase by phrase and demonstrated by similar passages elsewhere in the Word. The explanation and demonstration now follow.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

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Matthew 28:18

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18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

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Apocalypse Revealed # 932

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932. 1 REVELATION: CHAPTER 22

1. And he showed me a pure river of water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

2. In between the street and the river on the one side and the other was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, yielding its fruit according to the month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

3. And nothing accursed shall be there, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.

4. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.

5. There shall be no night there: They have no need of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.

6. Then he said to me, "These words are faithful and true." And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place.

7. "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."

8. Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.

9. Then he said to me, "See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God."

10. And he said to me, "Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.

11. He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still."

12. "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.

13. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last."

14. Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have their power in the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.

15. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.

16. "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star."

17. And the spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

18. For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add upon him the plagues that are written in this book;

19. and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

20. He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

21. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING

The Contents of the Whole Chapter

The New Church is further described as to its intelligence gained from Divine truths received from the Lord (Revelation 22:1-5). This revelation has been presented by the Lord, and in its own time its meaning will be revealed (Revelation 22:6-10). The Lord's advent and His conjunction with people who believe in Him and live according to His commandments (Revelation 22:11-17). What has been revealed must altogether be kept (Revelation 22:18-19). The betrothal (Revelation 22:17, 20-21).

The Contents of the Individual Verses:

Verse ContentsSpiritual Meaning
1. And he showed me a pure river of water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.The book of Revelation, now opened and expounded as to its spiritual meaning, in which the Lord has revealed an abundance of Divine truths for people who will be in His New Church, which is the New Jerusalem.
2. In between the street and the river on the one side and the other was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits,Inmostly present within the doctrinal truths and consequent life in the New Church is the Lord in His Divine love, from whom flow all the goods that a person in that church does, apparently as though of himself.
yielding its fruit according to the month.The Lord produces the goods in a person in accordance with every state of truth in him.
The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.The resulting rational truths by which people caught up in evils and the accompanying falsities are brought to think sanely and to live decently.
3. And nothing accursed shall be there, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.In the church that is the New Jerusalem, people will not live apart from the Lord, because the Lord Himself will reign there, and people who are governed by truths acquired from Him through the Word and keep His commandments will abide with Him, being conjoined with Him.
4. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.They will turn to the Lord and the Lord to them, being conjoined by love.
5. There shall be no night there: They have no need of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light.In the New Jerusalem there will be no falsity in its faith, and the people in that church will not acquire their concepts of God from any natural sight, namely from their own intelligence, or out of a desire for glory springing from conceit, but they will acquire those concepts from the Lord alone in a state of spiritual light from the Word.
And they shall reign forever and ever.They will be in the Lord's kingdom and live in conjunction with Him to eternity.
6. Then he said to me, "These words are faithful and true."People may know this for certain, because the Lord Himself has attested to it and said it.
And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place.The Lord who gave the Word contained in both Testaments has revealed through heaven to people who possess truths from Him what must surely come to pass.
7. "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."The Lord will surely come and give eternal life to people who keep and obey the doctrinal truths or precepts in this book, now laid open by the Lord.
8. Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.John supposed that the angel sent to him by the Lord to keep him in a state of the spirit was the God who revealed these things, when in fact that was not the case, as the angel only showed him what the Lord presented.
9. Then he said to me, "See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God."Angels in heaven are not to be worshiped or invoked, because they have nothing Divine in them, but are affiliated as brethren with brethren with people who have the doctrine of the New Jerusalem and obey its commandments, and the Lord alone is to be worshiped in fellowship with them.
10. And he said to me, "Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.The meaning of the book of Revelation shall not remain hidden, but must be disclosed, and that this is necessary at the end of the church for anyone to be saved.
11. He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still."The state of everyone in particular after death and before being judged, and in general before the Last Judgment, that those caught up in evils will have their goods taken away, and those caught up in falsities will have their truths taken away, and conversely, that people prompted by goods will have their evils taken away, and those prompted by truths will have their falsities taken away.
12. "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.The Lord will surely come, and His presence is heaven and the felicity of eternal life for everyone in accordance with his faith in the Lord and his life in obedience to the Lord's commandments.
13. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last."For the Lord is God of heaven and earth, and He created all things in heaven and earth, and they are governed by His Divine providence and take place in accordance with it.
14. Blessed are those who do His commandments, that their power may be in the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.Eternal happiness awaits those who live in accordance with the Lord's commandments, in order that through love, and in His New Church through concepts of Him, they may be in the Lord and have the Lord in them.
15. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.No one is received into the New Jerusalem who disregards the Ten Commandments and does not refrain from any of the evils listed there as being sins, and therefore lives caught up in them.
16. "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches.A testification by the Lord before the whole Christian world of the truth that the Lord alone has presented the visions described in this book, and that their meaning is now disclosed.
I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star."He is the same Lord who was born into the world and who then was its light, and who is about to come with new light, which will arise before the eyes of His New Church, which is the Holy Jerusalem.
17. And the spirit and the bride say, "Come!"Heaven and the church long for the Lord's advent.
And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.Anyone who has any knowledge of the Lord's coming and of the New Heaven and New Church, thus of the Lord's kingdom, let him pray for the Lord's coming; and anyone who desires truths, let him pray for the Lord to come with light. And anyone who loves truths will then receive them from the Lord apart from any endeavors of his own.
18. For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add upon him the plagues that are written in this book;People who read and know the doctrinal truths in this book now laid open by the Lord, and yet acknowledge some other God than the Lord and some other faith than faith in the Lord by adding something which destroys these two tenets, cannot but perish as a result of the falsities and evils symbolized by the plagues described in this book.
19. and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.People who read and know the doctrinal truths in this book now laid open by the Lord, and yet acknowledge some other God than the Lord, and some other faith than faith in the Lord, by taking away something in order to destroy these two tenets, cannot perceive or acquire for themselves anything from the Word or be received into the New Jerusalem, or have their lot with people in the Lord's kingdom.
20. He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!The Lord, who presented the visions in the book of Revelation and has now laid the book open, testifying to the gospel that He is coming as a bridegroom and husband in His Divine humanity which He assumed in the world and glorified, and that the church longs for Him as His bride and wife.

THE EXPOSITION

22:1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. This symbolizes the book of Revelation, now opened and expounded as to its spiritual meaning, in which the Lord has revealed an abundance of Divine truths for people who will be in His New Church, which is the New Jerusalem.

A pure river of water of life, bright as crystal, symbolizes an abundance of Divine truth in the Word shining through from its spiritual sense, which exists in the light of heaven. A river symbolizes an abundance of Divine truth (no. 409), because the water of which a river consists symbolizes truths (nos. 50, 685, 719), and water of life symbolizes those truths received from the Lord through the Word, of which hereafter. Bright as crystal then symbolizes those truths shining through from the spiritual sense, which exists in the light of heaven (no. 897). The river's being seen to flow from the throne of God and of the Lamb means, symbolically, that it flows out of heaven from the Lord; for a throne symbolizes the Lord in respect to judgment, government and heaven - in respect to judgment, see nos. 229, 845, 865; in respect to government, nos. 694, 808; and in respect to heaven, nos. 14, 221, 222 - and so here, out of heaven from the Lord. God and the Lamb symbolize here, as often before, the Lord in respect to the Divine itself from which flows all else, and in respect to His Divine humanity.

[2] That the river of water of life here means in particular an abundance of Divine truths in the book of Revelation, which the Lord has now revealed, is apparent from verses 6-7, 10, 14, 16-19 in this chapter. The subject of these verses is the book of this prophecy, and we are told that the things written in it must be kept. 2 They could not be kept before the things contained in it were revealed by showing their spiritual meaning, because they would not have been understood before then.

The book of Revelation, moreover, is also the Word, like the prophetic Word of the Old Testament, and disclosed now in the book of Revelation are the evils and falsities of the church that one must refrain from and avoid, and the goods and truths of the church that one must do, especially those regarding the Lord and eternal life from Him. These same things, indeed, are taught in the books of the prophets, but not so plainly as in the Gospels and the book of Revelation. These Divine truths regarding the Lord as being God of heaven and earth - truths which then emanate from Him and are received by people who will be in the New Jerusalem, truths that are contained in the book of Revelation - are those meant in particular by the river of water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

This can also be seen from the following passages:

(Jesus said,) "Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water." (John 7:38)

(Jesus said,) "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4:14)

To him who thirsts I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely. (Revelation 21:6, cf. 22:17)

(And) the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. (Revelation 7:17)

In that day... waters shall flow from Jerusalem... ...Jehovah shall become (the only) King over all the earth. In that day Jehovah will be one, and His name one. (Zechariah 14:8-9)

Living waters or waters of life in these verses symbolize Divine truth from the Lord.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. The numbering of the text omits nos. 927 to 931 without explanation.

2. Verses 7 and 9.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

©2024 New Christian Bible Study Corporation. All rights reserved. Printed from newchristianbiblestudy.org