属天的奥秘 # 4535
4535. 第35章
最后的审判 (续)
自26章以后的各章开头几节解释了主关于祂的降临或世代末了的预言; 并反复说明祂的降临或世代末了表示教会的末期, 这在圣言中被称为最后的审判. 那些目光无法超越字义的人必以为最后的审判就是这个世界的毁灭, 这种想法尤其出自《启示录》, 在那里, 经上说:
我看见一个新天新地. 因为先前的天和先前的地已经过去了, 海也不再有了. 我又看见圣城新耶路撒冷由神那里从天而降. (启示录 21: 1-2节)
还出自以赛亚书中的预言, 那里有类似的话:
看哪, 我造新天新地; 从前的事不再被记念, 也不再涌上心头了. 你们当因我所造的永远欢喜快乐! 因为看哪, 我造耶路撒冷为人所喜, 造其中的居民为人所乐. (以赛亚书 65:17, 18; 66:22节)
那些目光无法超越字义的人必断定, 整个天堂连同这个大地要毁灭; 到那时, 死人 (第一次) 要复活, 住在新天新地上. 但圣言不是这么理解的, 这一点从提到天与地的许多其它经文可以看出来. 对内义但凡有点相信的人能清楚看出, “一个新天新地” 是指一个新教会; 当前教会过去时, 这个新教会就会取而代之 (参看1733, 1850, 3355节); “天” 是该教会的内在, “地” 是该教会的外在.
前教会的末期和新教会的初期就称作 “世代的末了” (consummation of the age), 主在马太福音 (24章) 中曾论及这 “世代的末了”. 它们还称作 “主的降临”, 因为那时, 主会离开前教会, 进入新教会. 这就是 “世代的末了” (consummation, 经上或译为灭绝的事, 毁灭之事, 毁灭, 灭绝等), 这一点也可从圣言中的其它经文看出来, 如以赛亚书:
到那日, 所剩下的, 就是雅各所剩下的, 必归回全能的神. 以色列啊, 你的百姓虽多如海沙, 惟有剩下的归回. 原来灭绝的事已定, 必有公义涨溢. 因为主万军之耶和华在全地之中, 必行毁灭之事, 铁定之事. (以赛亚书 10:21-23节)
同一先知书:
现在你们不可亵慢, 恐怕你们的刑罚加剧. 因为我从主万军之耶和华那里听见, 要施行毁灭之事, 铁定之事. (以赛亚书 28:22节)
耶利米书:
耶和华如此说, 全地必然荒凉, 我却不毁灭净尽. (耶利米书 4:27节)
西番雅书:
我要使人受困苦, 以致他们像瞎子行走, 因为他们得罪耶和华. 他们的血必倒出如灰尘; 他们的肉必抛弃如粪土. 因为耶和华要彻底毁灭这地的一切居民, 必猝然灭绝. (西番雅书 1:17-18节)
从此处提到的每个细节明显可知, “毁灭” (或灭绝) 是指教会的末期.
“地 (或陆地)” (earth or land) 表示教会, 原因是: 迦南陆地是自上古时代起教会一直所在的陆地, 后来则是建在雅各后代当中的教会代表所在的陆地. 当说这陆地或地 “毁灭或灭绝” 时, 意思不是说住在那里的民族, 而是说存在于教会所在的那个民族当中敬拜的神圣. 因为圣言是属灵的, 这陆地或地本身并不是属灵的, 住在那里的民族也不是属灵的, 唯有构成那里教会的东西才是属灵的. 迦南陆地是自上古时代起教会一直所在的陆地 (567, 3686, 4447, 4454, 4516, 4517节); 因此, 在圣言中, “陆地” 表示教会 (566, 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 3355, 4447节). 由此明显可知以赛亚书中 “在全地之中, 必行毁灭之事”, 以及西番雅书中 “猝然灭绝这地的一切居民” 是什么意思. 众所周知, 住在那地的犹太民族并未被 “灭绝”, 被 “灭绝” 的是他们当中敬拜的神圣.
“末了” (consummation, 经上或译为终止, 结局) 的这种含义在但以理书看得更清楚:
为你百姓和你圣城, 已经定了七十个七, 要终止罪过, 封住罪恶, 赎尽罪孽, 引进永义, 封住异象和预言, 并膏至圣所. 一七中间, 他必使祭祀与供献止息. 最终荒凉临到那毁坏可憎的鸟身上, 并且有忿怒倾在那行毁坏的身上, 直到所定的结局. (但以理书 9:24, 27节)
由此可见, 门徒对主说 “你降临和世代的末了, 有什么预兆呢” (马太福音 24:3节) 这句话时所问的 “世代的末了” 无非表示教会的末期. 主的这些话, 就是该福音书最后一节所表相同:
耶稣对门徒说, 凡我所吩咐你们的, 都教训他们遵守, 我就天天与你们同在, 直到世代的末了. (马太福音 28:20节)
主之所以说, 祂与门徒同在, 直到世代的末了, 是因为主的十二门徒与以色列十二支派所表相同, 也就是说表示爱与信的一切事物, 因而表示教会的一切事物 (参看3354, 3488, 3858节); 十二支派所表相同 (3858, 3926, 3939, 4060节). 前面已反复说明, 当仁, 因而信不复存在时, 教会的终结或末了就到来了. 蒙主的神性怜悯, 我们将在下文说明, 当今教会, 就是所谓的基督教会几乎毫无仁和由此而来的信幸存下来; 因此, 其世代的末了就在眼前.
Apocalypse Explained # 1
1. APOCALYPSE. CHAPTER 1.
[Note: The text from the Book of Revelation is shown first, followed by an explanation of its meaning.]
1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave Him to show unto His servants the things which must quickly come to pass, and signified, sending by His angel, unto His servant John.
2. Who bare witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, whatsoever things he saw.
3. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear, the words of the prophecy, and keep the things which are written therein; for the time is near.
4. John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you, and peace, from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come; and from the seven spirits which are in sight of His throne;
5. And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the Firstborn from the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loveth us, and washeth us from our sins in His blood;
6. And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father: to Him be the glory and the might unto the ages of the ages. Amen.
7. Behold, He cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth shall lament over Him. Even so; Amen.
8. I am the Alpha and the Omega, Beginning and End, saith the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.
9. I, John, who also am your brother and partaker in the affliction and in the kingdom and patient expectation of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, 1 for the Word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
10. I was in the spirit on the Lord's day; and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
11. Saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last; and what thou seest write in a book, and send to the churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and Smyrna, and Pergamum, and Thyatira, and Sardis, and Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
12. And I turned to see the voice which spake with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands,
13. And in the midst of the seven lampstands one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the paps with a golden girdle.
14. And His head and hairs white as white wool, as snow: and His eyes as a flame of fire.
15. And His feet like unto burnished brass, as if glowing in a furnace; and His voice as the voice of many waters.
16. And having in His right hand seven stars; and out of His mouth a sharp two-edged sword going forth; and His face as the sun shineth in his power.
17. And when I saw Him I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the First and the Last;
18. And the Living One; and I became dead; and behold I am alive unto the ages of the ages, Amen: and I have the keys of hell and of death.
19. Write the things which thou sawest, and the things which are, and the things which are to be hereafter.
20. The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches; and the seven lampstands which thou sawest are the seven churches.
1. Many have expounded this prophetical book called Revelation, but none of them understood the internal or spiritual sense of the Word. They have therefore applied the particular things in the book to the successive states of the church, which they have learned from histories; many things, moreover, they have applied to civil affairs. For this reason those expositions are for the most part conjectures, which can never appear in such light that they can be affirmed as truths. As soon, therefore, as they are read, they are put aside as speculations. The expositions of Revelation now extant are of this character, because, as has been said, their authors had no knowledge of the internal or spiritual sense of the Word. Yet, in fact, all things recorded in Revelation are written in a style similar to that of the Old Testament prophecies, and to the style, in general in which everything in the Word is written. The Word in the letter is natural, but in its bosom it is spiritual; and being such, it contains within it a sense that is not at all apparent in the letter. How the one sense differs from the other may be seen from what is said and shown in the small work on the The White Horse and in the appendix there from the Arcana Coelestia. 2
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. The Photolithograph has in every case "Parmos" for "Patmos."
2. [NCBS note: We have added links to the beginnings of the works referred to by Swedenborg in the last sentence of this section. The link to the "appendix" appears to be a reference to the appendix in The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, which begins at section n. 255. See Heaven and Hell 73, 305 as places where similar, and more specific, references are made.
