New Christian Bible Study

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #387

Study this Passage

  
/ 962  
  

387. CHAPTER 8

1. When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

2. And I saw the seven angels who stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

3. Then another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and he was given much incense, that he should offer it for the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

4. And the smoke of the incense for the prayers of the saints ascended before God from the angel's hand.

5. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were voices, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.

6. And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

7. The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were cast down to the earth, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

8. Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood.

9. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

10. Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.

11. The name of the star is Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it was made bitter.

12. Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, and a third of them was darkened, so that a third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.

13. And I looked, and I heard an angel flying in the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!"

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING

The Contents of the Whole Chapter

This chapter has as its subject the church of the Protestant Reformed and what the people are like in it who are caught up in faith alone. It describes the preparation of the spiritual heaven for communication with them (verses 1-6); the examination and disclosure of those there who are immersed in the interior elements of that faith (verse 7), and of those who are immersed in its exterior elements (verses 8, 9); and what they are like as regards their understanding of the Word (verses 10, 11), showing that they are caught up in falsities and their accompanying evils (verses 12, 13).

The Contents of the Individual Verses:

Verse ContentsSpiritual Meaning
1. When He opened the seventh seal,An examination by the Lord of the state of the church and consequent life of people who are in His spiritual kingdom - people who are governed by charity and its accompanying faith - here people caught up in faith alone.
there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.Angels from the Lord's spiritual kingdom were quite dumbfounded when they saw people who claimed to have faith to be in the state they were.
2. And I saw the seven angels who stood before God,The entire spiritual heaven in the Lord's presence, hearing and doing whatever He commanded.
and to them were given seven trumpets.An examination and exposure of the state of the church and consequent life of people caught up in faith alone.
3. Then another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer,Spiritual worship, which originates from the goodness of charity expressed through truths of faith.
and he was given much incense, that he should offer it for the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.A propitiation, lest angels of the Lord's spiritual kingdom be harmed by the spirits of the satanic kingdom situated below.
4. And the smoke of the incense for the prayers of the saints ascended before God from the angel's hand.Their protection by the Lord.
5. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth.Spiritual love, containing celestial love, and its influx into the lower regions where those people were who were caught up in a faith divorced from charity.
And there were voices, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.After a communication with them was opened, the angels heard reasonings about faith alone and arguments in support of it.
6. And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.Their being prepared and ready to examine the state of the church and consequent life in people for whom religion is faith alone.
7. The first angel sounded:An examination and disclosure of the state of life and its character in people caught up interiorly in that faith.
And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood,Falsity springing from a hellish love, destroying goodness and truth and falsifying the Word.
and they were cast down to the earth, and a third of the trees were burned up,In such people all affection for truth and perception of truth, which make a person a person of the church, had perished,
and all green grass was burned up.and thus every constituent of faith having life.
8. Then the second angel sounded:An examination and disclosure of the state of the church and its character in people caught up externally in that faith.
And something like a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea,The appearance of a hellish love in them.
and a third of the sea became blood.General truths had all been falsified in them.
9. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died,Those who had lived that faith and continued to live it could not be reformed and receive life.
and a third of the ships were destroyed.Concepts of goodness and truth from the Word that are serviceable for application to life, in them had all been destroyed.
10. Then the third angel sounded:An examination and disclosure of the state of the church in people for whom religion is faith alone as regards their affection for truths from the Word and reception of them.
And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch,The appearance of their personal intelligence owing to a conceit arising from a hellish love.
and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.Consequently all the Word's truths had been completely falsified.
11. The name of the star is Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood,Hellish falsity, the origin of their personal intelligence, by which they had falsified all the Word's truths.
and many people died from the water, because it was made bitter.The extinction of spiritual life because of the falsification of the Word's truths.
12. Then the fourth angel sounded:An examination and disclosure of the state of the church in people for whom religion is faith alone, that they are caught up in the evils accompanying falsity and in the falsities accompanying evil.
And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, and a third of them was darkened,Because of their evils springing from falsities and their falsities springing from evils, they did not know what love is, or what faith is, or any truth.
so that a third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.They no longer have in them any spiritual truth or natural truth from the Word serviceable for doctrine and life.
13. And I looked, and I heard an angel flying in the midst of heaven,Instruction and prediction from the Lord.
saying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!"The utmost lamentation over the state of damnation of people in the church who in doctrine and life have confirmed themselves in a faith divorced from charity.

THE EXPOSITION

The whole of heaven has been divided into two kingdoms - the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. The celestial kingdom consists of people who are governed by love toward the Lord and its accompanying wisdom; and the spiritual kingdom consists of people who are governed by love for the neighbor and its accompanying intelligence. But because love for the neighbor is today called charity, and intelligence faith, this latter kingdom consists of people who are governed by charity and its accompanying faith.

Now because heaven has been divided into two kingdoms, hell also has been divided into two kingdoms opposite to these - the diabolical kingdom and the satanic kingdom. The diabolical kingdom consists of people who are governed by a love of ruling stemming from a love of self and by its accompanying foolishness, for that love is the opposite of celestial love, and its foolishness is the opposite of celestial wisdom. The satanic kingdom, on the other hand, consists of people who are governed by a love of ruling from a conceit in their own intelligence and by its accompanying irrationality, for that love is the opposite of spiritual love, and its irrationality is the opposite of spiritual intelligence.

By foolishness and irrationality we mean foolishness and irrationality in celestial and spiritual matters.

What we have said about heaven is to be understood to apply likewise to the church on earth, for the two are inseparable.

Regarding these two kingdoms, see the book, Heaven and Hell, published in London, nos. 20-28 and many other numbers elsewhere.

[2] Now because the book of Revelation has as its sole subject the state of the church at its end, as we said in the Preface and in no. 2, therefore from this point on it deals with the inhabitants of the two kingdoms of heaven and the inhabitants of the two kingdoms of hell, and their character: with the inhabitants of the spiritual kingdom and of the satanic kingdom opposite to that kingdom, from chapter eight here to chapter sixteen, and with the inhabitants of the celestial kingdom and of the diabolical kingdom opposite to it in chapters seventeen and eighteen. After that it describes the Last Judgment, and finally the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem. This concludes everything that precedes, because it is to this end that they looked.

Here and there in the Word we find mention of the devil and Satan, and both mean hell. Each is mentioned because all the inhabitants in one hell are called devils, and all in the other hell, satanic spirits.

  
/ 962  
  

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #840

Study this Passage

  
/ 962  
  

840. REVELATION: CHAPTER 20

1. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

2. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound it for a thousand years;

3. and he cast it into the bottomless pit, and shut it up, and set a seal on it, so that it should not lead the nations astray any more till the thousand years were completed. But after that it must be released for a little while.

4. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was entrusted to them. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

5. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.

6. Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

7. Then, when the thousand years have been completed, Satan will be released from his prison,

8. and he will go out to lead astray the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.

9. And they went up over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.

10. Then the devil who led them astray was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

11. Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away. And there was not found any place for them.

12. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and their books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, in accordance with the things which were written in their books.

13. Then the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hell delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.

14. Then Death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING

The Contents of the Whole Chapter

The removal of those people meant by the dragon (verses 1-3), and the ascent then of those in the lower earth, 1 who worshiped the Lord and refrained from evils as being sins (verses 4-6). The judgment on those having no religion in their worship (verses 7-9). The damnation of the dragon (verse 10). The universal judgment on all the rest (verses 11-15).

The Contents of the Individual Verses:

Verse ContentsSpiritual Meaning
1. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.The Lord's Divine operation into the lower regions by virtue of His Divine power to close and open and to bind and loose.
2. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, which is the Devil and Satan,Those meant by the dragon were detained, who because they think about matters of faith sensually and not spiritually, are called that serpent of old, who because they are caught up in evils in the way they live, are called the Devil, and who because they are caught up in falsities as regards their doctrine, are called Satan.
and bound it for a thousand years;Those meant by the dragon here were forcibly drawn away and separated from the rest of the people in the world of spirits to keep them from having any communication with the rest for a while or a period of time.
3. and he cast it into the bottomless pit, and shut it up, and set a seal on it, so that it should not lead the nations astray any moreThe Lord removed entirely those who were caught up in faith alone and took away all their communication with the rest, to keep them from inspiring any of their heresy in people who were being raised into heaven.
till the thousand years were completed. But after that it must be released for a little while.This was the case for a while or for a period of time until people with truths springing from goodness were raised by the Lord into heaven, after which those meant by the dragon would for a short time be set loose and have a communication opened with those who were left.
4. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was entrusted to them.The Word's truths were laid open, in accordance with which all people are judged, and those in the lower earth were then raised up, who had been hidden away by the Lord to keep the dragon and its beasts from leading them astray;
I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God,who had been rejected by those caught up in falsities hatched out of their own intelligence, because they worshiped the Lord and lived in accordance with the truths in His Word,
who had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or on their hands.and did not acknowledge or accept the doctrine of faith alone;
And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.who possessed a conjunction with the Lord already and had been in His kingdom for some time.
5. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were completed.Besides these just described, no others were raised into heaven until after the dragon was set loose and they were then tried and examined to discover their character.
This is the first resurrection.Salvation and eternal life consist primarily in worshiping the Lord and living according to His commandments in the Word, because these are the means to conjunction with the Lord and affiliation with angels in heaven.
6. Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection.Through conjunction with the Lord those who enter heaven enjoy the felicity of eternal life and enlightenment.
Over such the second death has no power,They do not suffer damnation,
but they shall be priests of God and of Christ,because they are kept by the Lord in the goodness of love and so in truths of wisdom.
and shall reign with Him a thousand years.They were already in heaven when the rest who did not live again, that is, who did not accept the life of heaven, were still in the world of spirits.
7. Then, when the thousand years have been completed, Satan will be released from his prison,After the Lord raised into heaven those who previously had been hidden away and protected in the lower earth, and the New Christian Heaven was increased by their number, all those who had confirmed themselves in falsities of faith were let loose.
8. and he will go out to lead astray the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for battle,Those meant by the dragon here drew to their side from any land throughout the world of spirits all who lived the life of an external, natural worship only and no internal, spiritual worship, and roused them up against those who worshiped the Lord and lived according to His commandments in the Word.
whose number is as the sand of the sea.The multitude of such people.
9. And they went up over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city.Being roused up by followers of the dragon, they scorned every truth in the church and attempted to destroy everything connected with the New Church and its fundamental doctrine regarding the Lord and life.
And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.They were destroyed by the lusts of their hellish love.
10. Then the devil who led them astray was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.People who were caught up in evils in the way they lived and in falsities as regards their doctrine were cast into hell.
11. Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away. And there was not found any place for them.A universal judgment executed by the Lord on all the former heavens that were occupied by people possessing a civil and moral goodness, but no spiritual goodness, thus who gave the appearance of being Christians outwardly, but who inwardly were devils. These heavens with their lands were totally dispersed so that no part of them was seen anymore.
12. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God,All people of every condition and character, who had died from earthly lands and were now among those in the world of spirits, gathered by the Lord for judgment.
and their books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.The interiors of their minds were opened, of both the good and the evil, and by an influx of light and warmth from heaven their characters were seen and perceived in respect to the affections of their love or will, and so in respect to the thoughts of their faith or intellect.
And the dead were judged according to their works, in accordance with the things which were written in their books.All were judged in accordance with the inner life within their outward appearances.
13. Then the sea gave up the dead who were in it,External and natural people in the church called together for judgment.
and Death and Hell delivered up the dead who were in them.The impious at heart in the church, who in themselves were devils and satanic spirits, called together for judgment.
And they were judged, each one according to his works.The same as before.
14. Then Death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire.The impious at heart, who in themselves were devils and satanic spirits, and yet in outward appearances seemed to be people of the church, were cast down into hell among spirits who were caught up in a love of evil and so in a love of falsity according with evil.
This is the second death.This is their final damnation.
15. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.Those who had not lived in accordance with the Lord's commandments in the Word and did not believe in the Lord were condemned.

THE EXPOSITION

20:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. This symbolizes the Lord's operation into the lower regions by virtue of His Divine power to close and open and to bind and loose.

An angel coming down from heaven means the Lord, as may be seen in nos. 5, 258, 344, 465, 657, 718, and also the Lord's operation, nos. 415, 631, 633, 649, here His operation into the lower regions, because the angel is described as coming down. Having the key to the bottomless pit symbolizes the Divine power to open and close hell, as may be seen in nos. 62, 174. And having a great chain in his hand symbolizes the endeavor and so the action of binding and loosing.

It follows, therefore, that there was no key or chain in the Lord's hand, but that its appearing so to John was representative of the Lord's Divine power. This chapter also refers two or three times to the opening and closing of hell.

Footnotes:

1. Cf. references to the lower parts of the earth in Psalms 63:9, Isaiah 44:23, Ezekiel 32:24, and also Ephesians 4:9.

  
/ 962  
  

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