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.

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

2. The passages in the Word which mention the destruction of heaven and earth are as follows:

Lift up your eyes to heaven, and look down upon the earth. The heavens shall perish like smoke, and the earth like a worn-out garment. Isaiah 51:6.

Lo, I will create new heavens and a new earth, and the former ones will not be mentioned. Isaiah 65:17.

I will make new heavens and a new earth. Isaiah 66:22.

The stars of heaven fell to earth, and the heaven departed like a scroll which is rolled up. Revelation 6:13-14.

I saw a mighty throne and one sitting on it, earth and heaven fled from his gaze, and their place was found no more. Revelation 20:11.

I saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had gone away. Revelation 21:1.

In these passages a new heaven does not mean the sky we see with our eyes, but the real heaven, where the human race is gathered. For heaven is a collection of the whole human race right from the beginning of the Christian church; but those in it were not angels, but spirits from various religious bodies. This is what is meant by the first heaven which is to be destroyed; but how this can be, I shall explain in more detail in what follows. At this point it is merely mentioned so that it may be known what is meant by the first heaven which is to be destroyed. Anyone indeed whose thoughts are at all enlightened can see that it is not the starry sky, the immense firmament of creation, which is meant, but heaven in the spiritual sense, where the angels and spirits are.