Bibliorum

 

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?

Commentarius

 

The Meaning of the Book of Revelation: the Four Horsemen

By 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.

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

Ludere Video
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

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #9668

Studere hoc loco

  
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9668. 'And you shall set up the dwelling-place according to the plan which you saw on the mountain' means in the four quarters, according to the states of good and of the truth springing from it in the heaven that is represented. This is clear from the meaning of 'the dwelling-place' as a representative of heaven, dealt with in 9594; and from the meaning of 'according to the plan which you saw on the mountain' as to the four quarters according to the states of good and of the truth springing from it in heaven. This is what 'the plan according to which the dwelling-place was to be set up' serves to mean, Mount Sinai where it was seen being heaven, see 9420. From the description that is given it is evident that the dwelling-place was positioned lengthways from east to west, and that the entrance was at the east end and the ark at the west. The sides therefore were to the south and to the north. The eastern quarter of the dwelling-place represented the state of good on the rise, the western quarter the state of good on the decline, the southern quarter the state of truth dwelling in light, and the northern quarter the state of truth dwelling in shade.

[2] The entrance was towards the eastern quarter because the Lord enters heaven by way of the good of love, as also becomes clear in Ezekiel, where the new temple is the subject and the following words occur,

He brought me to the gate which was facing towards the east, and behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. And the glory of Jehovah entered the house by the way of the gate, the face of which is towards the east; and the glory of Jehovah filled the house. Ezekiel 43:1-6.

And after this,

Jehovah said to me, The gate facing east shall be shut and not opened, and no man (vir) shall enter by it; but Jehovah, the God of Israel, will enter by it. Ezekiel 44:1-2.

From these words it is plainly evident that the Lord alone enters heaven by way of the good of love, and that the good of love from the Lord fills heaven and composes it. 'The east' means the Lord in respect of the good of love because the Lord is the Sun of heaven, 3636, 3643, 7078, 7083, 7171, 8644, 8812. But in heaven things are positioned in such a way that the east is where the Lord appears as the Sun, straight before the right eye, 4321 (end), 7078, 7171. From there towards the west, thus in a direct line from the east and towards the west, are those with whom the good of love is present; but to the south are those dwelling in the light of truth, and to the north those in the shade of truth. All who are in heaven look towards the Lord, for to look frontwards there is to look towards Him. No one there can look backwards away from Him, no matter how far they turn themselves about, see 4321 (end). But this is an arcanum which the natural man cannot take in. These are the kinds of things that were represented by the plan seen by Moses on the mountain, according to which the dwelling-place was to be set up.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.