The Bible

 

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?

Commentary

 

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.

(References: 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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #29

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29. And the prince of the kings of the earth. That this signifies from whom is all truth from good in the church, is evident from the signification of prince of the kings, as denoting from whom is all truth, prince denoting what is primary, and kings truths; and because this is said of the Lord, who is here called the prince of the kings, it denotes that all truth is from Him (that a prince denotes what is primary, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 1482, 2089, 5044; and that kings denote truths, will be seen in the explanation of the following verse, where it is said, "and hath made us kings and priests," n. 31); and from the signification of the earth, as denoting the church; concerning which more will be said in what follows. He who knows not the internal sense of the Word, cannot know anything else than that the kings of the whole earth are here meant; but kings are not meant, nor earth but by kings are meant all those who are in truths from good and by the earth, the church.

[2] (That by earth is signified the church is shown in many places in Arcana Coelestia, from which these particulars may be seen. That by earth, or land, is signified the kingdom of the Lord and the church, see the same, n. 662, 1066, 1068, 1262, 1413, 2928, 3355, 4447, 4535, 5577, 8011, 9325, 9643; the principal reason for which is, because by the earth, or land, is meant the land of Canaan, where the church was situated from the most ancient times, n. 567, 3686, 4447, 4454, 4516, 4517, 5136, 6516, 9325, 9327; and because, in the spiritual sense, by earth, or land, is meant the people who dwell there, and their worship, n. 1262. That the new heaven the new earth signify the church in the heavens on earth, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355, 4535, 10373.

[3] That by the creation of heaven and earth, spoken of in the first chapters of Genesis, in the internal sense, is described the establishment of the Most Ancient Church, see n. 8891, 9942, 10545. That to create is to restore and to regenerate, see n. 10373. That ground also signifies the church; but it is called ground from the reception of seeds, which are truths, and earth or land, from the nation therein, and their worship, see n. 566, 1068, 10570. Moreover, earth, or land, as it signifies the church, signifies also religion, whence it also signifies an idolatry; as the land of Egypt, the land of the Philistines, the land of Chaldea, and of Babel; and many others. That earth, or land, signifies the church, may also be seen briefly shown in the small work, The Last Judgment 3, 4.)

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