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.

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

10505. 'And if not, blot me out, I beg You, from Your book which You have written' means that the internal side of the Word, the Church, and worship will not be destroyed. This is clear from the representation of Moses, who says these words, as the internal side of the Word, the Church, and worship, dealt with in 10468; from the meaning of 'book which You have written' as what exists there from the Lord, for 'book' means that which is present in the internal, while 'writing' - when attributed to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord - means what exists there from the Lord; and from the meaning of 'blotting out of it' as being destroyed. But at this point not being destroyed is meant because the reply which follows - 'him who has sinned against Me I will blot out of My book' - means that the internal side of the Word, the Church, and worship will not be destroyed but those who turn themselves away from the Divine, thus those whose interest lies in external things and not in what is internal.

[2] The reason why the book written by Jehovah, which in the next verse is called 'My book' or Jehovah's book, and elsewhere 'the book of life', means what is internal is that a person's internal resides in heaven, thus where the Lord is. Consequently the things within his internal are derived from heaven and exist from the Lord, and all are Divine and celestial or spiritual. They are able to be received by the person's internal, but not by his external separated from his internal. This is because his external resides in the world and has been fashioned to receive natural things existing in the world, which without influx through the internal things possess no heavenly life and are therefore said to be dead.

[3] All this helps to show what should be understood in the Word by 'the book of life' and who exactly should be understood by those written in that book, namely those who lead a life of truth and good, thus who in love and faith obey Divine commandments. A life in keeping with those commandments opens and fashions the internal man; and what has been inscribed there has been inscribed by the Lord and remains forever. They are the ones who should be understood by 'those written in the book of life' in the following places: In Daniel,

At that time Your people will be rescued, every one who is found written in the book. Daniel 12:1.

In John,

He who conquers will be clad in white garments; I will not blot his name out of the book of life. Revelation 3:5.

In the same book,

None will enter ¹ the new Jerusalem except those who have been written in the Lamb's book of life. Revelation 21:27.

In the same book,

I saw that the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged by the things written in the books, according to their works. And if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:12-13, 15.

In the same book,

All will worship the beast whose names have not been written in the Lamb's book of life. Revelation 13:8; 17:8.

There are other places in addition to these.

[4] It should be remembered that everything inscribed on a person's internal has been inscribed by the Lord; that what is inscribed there constitutes the person's actual spiritual and celestial life; and also that every single thing inscribed there has been inscribed on his love. See also 2474, 8620, 9386.

სქოლიოები: