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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?

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The Meaning of the Book of Revelation: the Four Horsemen

Av 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.

(Referenser: 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

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Arcana Coelestia #6269

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6269. 'And Israel put out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim's head' means that he considered truth to occupy the first place. This is clear from the meaning of 'putting out his right hand' as considering to occupy the first place - 'right hand' meaning in first place, as is self-evident; and from the representation of' Ephraim' as the understanding, and so the truth of faith since it dwells in the understanding part of a person s mind when sight provided by the light of heaven, thus spiritual sight, exists there, see 6222. The fact that Israel put his right hand on Ephraim's head and his left on Manasseh's is referred to in this verse and also in verses 17-19 below; and by that action is meant the fact that he considered the truth of faith to occupy first place and the good of charity second place. The reason he thought that way was that the spiritual man, represented by 'Israel', 4286, 6256, does not consider them, before he has been regenerated, any differently. For the spiritual man is directly conscious of what the truth of faith is; but he is not conscious of what the good of charity is since it comes to him by an interior route, whereas the truth of faith comes by an exterior one, just as factual knowledge does.

[2] But people who are not being regenerated say quite categorically that faith occupies the first place, that is, that it is the essential element of the Church, because they can then lead whatever kind of life they like and still say that they entertain the hope of salvation. This also is the reason why at the present day charity has disappeared so completely that scarcely anyone knows what it is, or even consequently what faith is since the one does not exist without the other. If charity occupied the first place and faith the second the whole appearance of the Church would be different, for in that case no others would be called Christians but those who led a life in keeping with the truth of faith, which is a charitable life. People would also know what charity was, and they would not on the basis of particular ideas about the truths of faith distinguish between and make many Churches out of different groups. Instead they would speak of one Church that included all leading a good life, and not only those within that part of the world where the Church exists but also those outside. If they spoke in this way the Church would have an enlightened view of such things as belong to the Lord's kingdom; for charity is what brings light, and never faith without charity. And the mistaken ideas that faith separated from charity introduces would also be clearly recognizable.

[3] From this one may see how different the whole appearance of the Church would be if the good of charity were to occupy the first place, that is, if it were the essential element, and the truth of faith occupied the second place, that is, if it were the outward form that expressed it. The whole appearance of the Church would then be like that of the Ancient Church, which identified the Church with charity and had no other teachings of the Church than those concerned with charity, as a consequence of which they had wisdom from the Lord. The nature of that Church is described by these words in Moses,

Jehovah encompassed him, instructed him, and kept him as the pupil of His eye. As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreads out its wings, He took him, He carried him on His wing. Jehovah alone led him, nor was any foreign god with him. He caused him to ride on the heights of the land, and He fed [Him] from the produce of the fields; He caused him to suck honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock - butter from the herd, and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs and of rams, the breed 1 of Bashan, and of goats, with the kidney-fat of wheat; and of the blood of the grape you drink unmixed wine. Deuteronomy 32:10-14.

Those who belonged to that Church are consequently in heaven, enjoying complete happiness and glory there.

Fotnoter:

1. literally, sons

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