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)

856. 20:7 Then, when the thousand years have been completed, Satan will be released from his prison. This symbolically means that 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.

When the thousand years have been completed means, symbolically, after the Lord raised into heaven those who previously had been hidden away and protected in the lower earth. When the thousand years have been completed has this symbolic meaning because the sole subject in the preceding verses 4-6 is the salvation of people who worshiped the Lord and lived in accordance with His commandments, and this period of time is what is meant by the thousand years.

We are in fact not told that the people were raised from the lower earth, but it is nevertheless apparent from chapter 6, 6:9-11, where they were seen under the altar, and under the altar means in a lower earth. That is why they are also called here in verse 6 priests of God and of Christ (see no. 854 above).

That the New Christian Heaven was increased by their number is also something we are not told here, yet it is nevertheless apparent from chapter Revelation 14 where the subject is the New Christian Heaven, as may be seen from the explanations there, especially in nos. 612, 613, 626, 631, 647, 659, 661.

Satan's being set loose from his prison means, symbolically, that those people were let go who had confirmed themselves in faith alone as regards their doctrine, because the dragon here is called Satan, and not at the same time the Devil, as in verse 2 above; and as the Devil, the dragon means people who were caught up in evils in the way they lived, and as Satan, people caught up in falsities as regards their faith, as may be seen in no. 841 above. But the character of the one and the other will be seen in the following number. ¹

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