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Revelation 6 : The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

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1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Commentaire

 

The Meaning of the Book of Revelation: the Four Horsemen

Par Jonathan S. Rose, Curtis Childs

Transparency is needed to sort things out. Before big change happens, God first reveals what’s really going on.

In the Book of Revelation - the last book of the Word - the apostle John describes a series of apocalyptic visions that he experienced during his exile on the Isle of Patmos, in the Aegean Sea.

In one of these visions, he saw four horsemen, the first riding a white horse, the second a red horse, the third a black, and the fourth - named Death - riding a pale horse. These "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" - oft-pictured - are described in Revelation 6:1-8.

What do these horses, and their riders, represent? What do they have to do with us, today? Watch as Curtis Childs and Jonathan Rose explore the hidden Bible meaning of the Four Horsemen in the Book of Revelation, in this video from the Swedenborg and Life Series, from the Swedenborg Foundation.

Plus, to go straight to the source, follow the links below to the places in "Apocalypse Revealed" where Swedenborg explained the inner meaning of this famous Bible story. A good place to start would be Apocalypse Revealed 298.

(références: Apocalypse Explained 315; Apocalypse Revealed 262-263, 301, 306, 314, 316, 320, 322-323)

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This video is a product of the Swedenborg Foundation. Follow these links for further information and other videos: www.youtube.com/user/offTheLeftEye and www.swedenborg.com

Des oeuvres de Swedenborg

 

Apocalypse Explained #366

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366. That they should kill one another. That this signifies the falsification or extinction of truths, is manifest from the signification of killing, as denoting to extinguish truths; for by killing in the Word is signified to kill spiritually, or to kill the spiritual part of man or his soul, which is to extinguish truths. The reason why it also denotes to falsify, is, because when truths are falsified, they are also extinguished; for by falsification a different understanding of them is arrived at, and truth is truth according to the understanding of any one concerning it; for the love and the principle which have rule in man, draw and apply all things to them, even truths themselves; wherefore, when the love is evil, or the principle false, then the truths are infected with the evil of the love, or the falsity of the principle, and so are extinguished; this therefore is what is here signified by, "that they should kill one another." That this takes place when there is no good with man, and especially when there is no good in the doctrine of his church, is manifest from the preceding words, where it is said: "When he had opened the second seal, there went out a red horse; and it was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth"; by which is signified a second state of the church, when the understanding of the Word is destroyed as to good, whence divisions arise in the church (concerning which see above, n. 361, 364, 365).

[2] That the understanding of the Word, or, what is the same, the understanding of truth, is destroyed when there is no good with man, that is, where there is no love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour, may be seen above (n. 365); for good in man, or what is the same, love in him, is the fire of his life, and truth in him, or the faith of truth, is the light thence; therefore according to the quality of the good or the quality of the love in him, such is the truth, or the faith of truth in him. Hence it is evident that if man is in evil, or in an evil love, he cannot be in the truth, or in the faith of truth; for the quality of the light which issues from that fire, is light to those who are in hell, which is a fatuous light, like the light from burning coals, which light is turned into mere darkness from the light flowing in from heaven. Such also is the light called natural light (lumen) with the evil, when they reason against the things of the church.

[3] That they should falsify truths and thereby extinguish them, is also meant by the Lord's words in Matthew:

Jesus said to the disciples, "The brother shall deliver up the brother, the father the son; the children shall rise up against the parents, and cause them to be put to death" (10:21).

And in Luke:

"Ye shall be betrayed by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolk, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death" (21:16).

By parents, brethren, children, [kinsfolk,] and friends, are not meant here parents, brethren, children, kinsfolk, friends, nor by disciples are meant disciples, but the goods and truths of the church, also evils and falsities; and that evils will extinguish goods, and falsities truths. (That such things are signified by these names, see the Arcana Coelestia 10490.)

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.