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Du skal indrette Boligen og alt dens Tilbehør nøje efter det Forbillede, jeg vil vise dig.
Exodus 25:9
The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University
Apocalypse Revealed # 940
940. 22:5 There shall be no night there: They have no need of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. This symbolically means that in the New Jerusalem there will be no falsity in its faith, and the people in that church will not acquire their concepts of God from any natural sight, namely from their own intelligence, or out of a desire for glory springing from conceit, but they will acquire those concepts from the Lord alone in a state of spiritual light from the Word.
There being no night there has the same symbolic meaning as verse 25 in chapter 21, which says, "Its gates shall not be shut by day, for there shall be no night there," which symbolically means that the New Jerusalem continually receives into it people who possess truths that spring from the goodness of love from the Lord, because it has no falsity in its faith (no. 922).
The people's having no need of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light, has the same symbolic meaning as verse 23 in chapter 21, which says, "The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb is its lamp," which symbolically means that people of the New Church will not be caught up in self-love and their own intelligence so as to possess a natural sight only, but from the Word's Divine truth will possess a spiritual light from the Lord alone (no. 919). Only instead of the moon there, the verse here says a lamp, and instead of the sun there, the verse here says the light of the sun, and a lamp, like the moon, symbolizes the natural sight of one's own intelligence, and the light of the sun symbolizes a natural sight out of a desire for glory springing from conceit.
[2] But we must briefly explain what we mean by a natural sight out of a desire for glory springing from conceit:
A natural sight may be due to a desire for glory springing from conceit, or it may be due to a desire for glory that does not spring from conceit. A sight out of a desire for glory springing from conceit is found in people caught up in a love of self and so in evils of every kind. If they do not do those evils for fear of losing their good name, and if they also condemn them as being destructive of morality and the public good, still they do not regard them as sins. Such people possess a natural sight due to a desire for glory springing from conceit; for a love of self in the will becomes conceit in the intellect, and this conceit, owing to that love, is capable of raising the intellect even into the light of heaven. Such a capability is granted to a person in order for him to be human and to be capable of being reformed.
I have seen and heard many absolute devils who, when they heard them or read them, understood secrets of angelic wisdom as well angels themselves. Yet as soon as they returned to their self-love and their accompanying conceit, not only did they not understand any of those secrets, but they had the opposite sight in the light of the affirmation of falsity in them.
On the other hand, a natural sight due to a desire for glory that does not spring from conceit is present in people who find a delight in useful endeavors out of a genuine love for the neighbor. Their natural sight is also a rational sight that has inwardly in it a spiritual light from the Lord. The desire for glory in them comes from the brilliance of the light flowing in from heaven, where everything is radiant and harmonious, for all useful endeavors in heaven shine. From them arises a gratification in the ideas of their thoughts which they perceive as a glorious one. The glory enters through the will and its goods into the intellect and its truths and presents itself in them.
Revelation 22
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He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,
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in the middle of its street. On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
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There will be no curse any more. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants serve him.
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They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
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There will be no night, and they need no lamp light; for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever.
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He said to me, "These words are faithful and true. The Lord God of the spirits of the prophets sent his angel to show to his bondservants the things which must happen soon."
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"Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."
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Now I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who had shown me these things.
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He said to me, "See you don't do it! I am a fellow bondservant with you and with your brothers, the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God."
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He said to me, "Don't seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.
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He who acts unjustly, let him act unjustly still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him do righteousness still. He who is holy, let him be holy still."
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"Behold, I come quickly. My reward is with me, to repay to each man according to his work.
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I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
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Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.
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Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
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I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify these things to you for the assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David; the Bright and Morning Star."
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The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" He who hears, let him say, "Come!" He who is thirsty, let him Come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely.
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I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them, may God add to him the plagues which are written in this book.
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If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, may God take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.
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He who testifies these things says, "Yes, I come quickly." Amen! Yes, come, Lord Jesus.
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The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints. Amen.
