13
Ich schaute in Gesichten der Nacht: und siehe, mit den Wolken des Himmels kam einer wie eines Menschen Sohn; und er kam zu dem Alten an Tagen und wurde vor denselben gebracht.
Daniel 7:13
Apocalypse Revealed # 840
840. REVELATION: CHAPTER 20
1. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound it for a thousand years;
3. and he cast it into the bottomless pit, and shut it up, and set a seal on it, so that it should not lead the nations astray any more till the thousand years were completed. But after that it must be released for a little while.
4. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was entrusted to them. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
5. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.
6. Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
7. Then, when the thousand years have been completed, Satan will be released from his prison,
8. and he will go out to lead astray the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.
9. And they went up over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
10. Then the devil who led them astray was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
11. Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away. And there was not found any place for them.
12. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and their books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, in accordance with the things which were written in their books.
13. Then the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hell delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
14. Then Death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
The removal of those people meant by the dragon (verses 1-3), and the ascent then of those in the lower earth, 1 who worshiped the Lord and refrained from evils as being sins (verses 4-6). The judgment on those having no religion in their worship (verses 7-9). The damnation of the dragon (verse 10). The universal judgment on all the rest (verses 11-15).
The Contents of the Individual Verses:
| Verse Contents | Spiritual Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. | The Lord's Divine operation into the lower regions by virtue of His Divine power to close and open and to bind and loose. |
| 2. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, which is the Devil and Satan, | Those meant by the dragon were detained, who because they think about matters of faith sensually and not spiritually, are called that serpent of old, who because they are caught up in evils in the way they live, are called the Devil, and who because they are caught up in falsities as regards their doctrine, are called Satan. |
| and bound it for a thousand years; | Those meant by the dragon here were forcibly drawn away and separated from the rest of the people in the world of spirits to keep them from having any communication with the rest for a while or a period of time. |
| 3. and he cast it into the bottomless pit, and shut it up, and set a seal on it, so that it should not lead the nations astray any more | The Lord removed entirely those who were caught up in faith alone and took away all their communication with the rest, to keep them from inspiring any of their heresy in people who were being raised into heaven. |
| till the thousand years were completed. But after that it must be released for a little while. | This was the case for a while or for a period of time until people with truths springing from goodness were raised by the Lord into heaven, after which those meant by the dragon would for a short time be set loose and have a communication opened with those who were left. |
| 4. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was entrusted to them. | The Word's truths were laid open, in accordance with which all people are judged, and those in the lower earth were then raised up, who had been hidden away by the Lord to keep the dragon and its beasts from leading them astray; |
| I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God, | who had been rejected by those caught up in falsities hatched out of their own intelligence, because they worshiped the Lord and lived in accordance with the truths in His Word, |
| who had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or on their hands. | and did not acknowledge or accept the doctrine of faith alone; |
| And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. | who possessed a conjunction with the Lord already and had been in His kingdom for some time. |
| 5. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were completed. | Besides these just described, no others were raised into heaven until after the dragon was set loose and they were then tried and examined to discover their character. |
| This is the first resurrection. | Salvation and eternal life consist primarily in worshiping the Lord and living according to His commandments in the Word, because these are the means to conjunction with the Lord and affiliation with angels in heaven. |
| 6. Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection. | Through conjunction with the Lord those who enter heaven enjoy the felicity of eternal life and enlightenment. |
| Over such the second death has no power, | They do not suffer damnation, |
| but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, | because they are kept by the Lord in the goodness of love and so in truths of wisdom. |
| and shall reign with Him a thousand years. | They were already in heaven when the rest who did not live again, that is, who did not accept the life of heaven, were still in the world of spirits. |
| 7. Then, when the thousand years have been completed, Satan will be released from his prison, | 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. |
| 8. and he will go out to lead astray the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for battle, | Those meant by the dragon here drew to their side from any land throughout the world of spirits all who lived the life of an external, natural worship only and no internal, spiritual worship, and roused them up against those who worshiped the Lord and lived according to His commandments in the Word. |
| whose number is as the sand of the sea. | The multitude of such people. |
| 9. And they went up over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. | Being roused up by followers of the dragon, they scorned every truth in the church and attempted to destroy everything connected with the New Church and its fundamental doctrine regarding the Lord and life. |
| And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. | They were destroyed by the lusts of their hellish love. |
| 10. Then the devil who led them astray was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. | People who were caught up in evils in the way they lived and in falsities as regards their doctrine were cast into hell. |
| 11. Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away. And there was not found any place for them. | A universal judgment executed by the Lord on all the former heavens that were occupied by people possessing a civil and moral goodness, but no spiritual goodness, thus who gave the appearance of being Christians outwardly, but who inwardly were devils. These heavens with their lands were totally dispersed so that no part of them was seen anymore. |
| 12. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, | All people of every condition and character, who had died from earthly lands and were now among those in the world of spirits, gathered by the Lord for judgment. |
| and their books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. | The interiors of their minds were opened, of both the good and the evil, and by an influx of light and warmth from heaven their characters were seen and perceived in respect to the affections of their love or will, and so in respect to the thoughts of their faith or intellect. |
| And the dead were judged according to their works, in accordance with the things which were written in their books. | All were judged in accordance with the inner life within their outward appearances. |
| 13. Then the sea gave up the dead who were in it, | External and natural people in the church called together for judgment. |
| and Death and Hell delivered up the dead who were in them. | The impious at heart in the church, who in themselves were devils and satanic spirits, called together for judgment. |
| And they were judged, each one according to his works. | The same as before. |
| 14. Then Death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire. | The impious at heart, who in themselves were devils and satanic spirits, and yet in outward appearances seemed to be people of the church, were cast down into hell among spirits who were caught up in a love of evil and so in a love of falsity according with evil. |
| This is the second death. | This is their final damnation. |
| 15. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. | Those who had not lived in accordance with the Lord's commandments in the Word and did not believe in the Lord were condemned. |
THE EXPOSITION
20:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. This symbolizes the Lord's operation into the lower regions by virtue of His Divine power to close and open and to bind and loose.
An angel coming down from heaven means the Lord, as may be seen in nos. 5, 258, 344, 465, 657, 718, and also the Lord's operation, nos. 415, 631, 633, 649, here His operation into the lower regions, because the angel is described as coming down. Having the key to the bottomless pit symbolizes the Divine power to open and close hell, as may be seen in nos. 62, 174. And having a great chain in his hand symbolizes the endeavor and so the action of binding and loosing.
It follows, therefore, that there was no key or chain in the Lord's hand, but that its appearing so to John was representative of the Lord's Divine power. This chapter also refers two or three times to the opening and closing of hell.
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. Cf. references to the lower parts of the earth in Psalms 63:9, Isaiah 44:23, Ezekiel 32:24, and also Ephesians 4:9.
Apocalypse Revealed # 962
962. The second account:
Since the Lord has granted me to see marvels that exist in the heavens and beneath the heavens, I am obliged by command to relate something I saw:
I saw a magnificent palace and at its center a large chapel. In the middle of the chapel there was a table of gold on which lay the Word, with two angels standing beside it.
Placed around the table were three rows of chairs. The chairs in the first row were covered with a purple-colored silk cloth, the chairs in the second row with a blue-colored silk cloth, and the chairs in the third row with a white cloth.
Hanging high up over the table from the ceiling I saw a canopy glistening with precious stones, whose radiance shone like that of a rainbow when the sky grows calm after a rain.
Suddenly then I saw, sitting on the chairs, as many of the clergy as there were seats, all attired in the vestments of their priestly office.
On one side there was a vestry where an angel custodian stood, and in it lay a beautiful array of shining vestments.
[2] It was a council convened by the Lord, and I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Deliberate!"
However, they said, "About what?"
They were told, "About the Lord and the Holy Spirit."
But when they began to consider these, they found themselves without enlightenment and therefore prayed for it. And light then shone down from heaven, which illumined first the backs of their heads, next their temples, and finally their faces. With that they began, and as they were commanded, they considered first the Lord.
The first question proposed and discussed was who assumed the humanity in the virgin Mary.
One of the angels standing beside the table on which lay the Word read to them the following verses in Luke:
(The angel said to Mary,) "Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest?." Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" And the angel answered and said..., "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore... that Holy One who is to be born (from you) will be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:31-32, 34-35)
The angel also read the verses found in Matthew 1:20-25, and with emphasis what is said there in verse 25. 1
He read in addition more verses from the Gospels, where in respect to His humanity the Lord is called the Son of God, and where from the perspective of His humanity He calls Jehovah His Father. And from the Prophets as well, where it is foretold that Jehovah Himself would come into the world, including among others the following two passages in Isaiah:
It will be said in that day: "Behold, this is our God... This is Jehovah; we have waited for Him; we will exult and rejoice in His salvation." (Isaiah 25:9)
The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of Jehovah; make straight in the desert a highway for our God... (For) the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together... Behold, the Lord Jehovih shall come with might... He will feed His flock like a shepherd. (Isaiah 40:3, 5, 10-11)
[3] The angel said moreover, "Since Jehovah Himself came into the world and assumed human form and by it saved and redeemed men, therefore in the Prophets He is called a Savior and Redeemer." And He read to them then the following passages:
Surely God is in you, and there is no other (God).... Truly You are God, who hide Yourself, O God of Israel, the Savior! (Isaiah 45:14-15)
Am I not Jehovah? And there is no other God besides Me. There is no just God and Savior besides Me. (Isaiah 45:21-22)
...I am Jehovah, and besides Me there is no savior. (Isaiah 43:11)
I am Jehovah your God..., and you shall acknowledge no God but Me; there is also no Savior besides Me. (Hosea 13:4)
...that all flesh may know that I, Jehovah, am your Savior and your Redeemer... (Isaiah 49:26, cf. 60:16)
As for our Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth is His name... (Isaiah 47:4)
Their Redeemer is strong; Jehovah Zebaoth is His name. (Jeremiah 50:34)
...O Jehovah, my rock and my Redeemer. (Psalms 19:14)
Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am Jehovah your God...." (Isaiah 48:17, cf. 43:14; 49:7; 54:8)
You, Jehovah, are our Father; our Redeemer from Eternity is Your name. (Isaiah 63:16)
Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer...: "I am Jehovah, who makes all things, ...all alone, ...by Myself." (Isaiah 44:24)
Thus said Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth: "I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God." (Isaiah 44:6)
Jehovah Zebaoth is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He shall be called God of the whole earth. (Isaiah 54:5)
Behold, the days are coming... when I will raise to David a righteous Branch, who shall reign a King... And this is His name...: JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. (Jeremiah 23:5-6, cf. 33:15-16)
In that day... Jehovah shall become King over all the earth. In that day there shall be one Jehovah and His name one. (Zechariah 14:8-9)
[4] Having been convinced by all these passages, the clergymen sitting on the chairs unanimously said that Jehovah Himself assumed human form in order to save and redeem men.
But at that a voice was heard from a group of Roman Catholics who had hidden themselves in a corner of the chapel, saying, "How can Jehovah, the Father, become a man? Is He not the Creator of the universe?"
Then one of the clergymen sitting on the chairs in the second row turned and said, "Who assumed human form then?"
And from the corner the Roman Catholic responded, "The Son from eternity."
But he received the reply, "Is not the Son from eternity, according to your belief, also the Creator of the universe? And what is a Son or God born from eternity? How can the Divine essence, which is a single entity and indivisible, be divided, and one part of it descend and take on human form, and not at the same time the whole of it?"
[5] A second discussion regarding the Lord considered whether God the Father and the Lord were not thus one, as soul and body are one. The clergymen said that it followed as a consequence, because the father is the origin of the soul. And then one of those who were sitting on the chairs in the third row recited the following from the statement of faith called the Athanasian Creed:
But although (our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God) is God and man, nevertheless there are not two Christs but one...; indeed, being completely one... by the unity of His person. For as the soul and the body are one person, so God and man are one Christ.
The clergyman reciting this said that this is the accepted faith throughout the Christian world, accepted also by Roman Catholics. And they all said then, "What need is there of more? God the Father and the Lord are one, as soul and body are one."
Then they said, "This being the case, we see that the Lord's humanity is Divine, because it is Jehovah's humanity. And we see that one must turn to the Lord in His Divine humanity, this being the only way that one can approach the Divine called the Father."
[6] The angel confirmed this conclusion of theirs with still more passages from the Word, which included the following in Isaiah:
...unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given... whose name (is) Wonderful, Counselor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
Also in Isaiah:
...You are our Father; ...Abraham was ignorant of us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Jehovah, are our Father; Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name. (Isaiah 63:16)
And in John:
Jesus... said, "He who believes in Me, believes... in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me." (John 12:44-45)
Philip said to (Jesus), ."..show us the Father...." Jesus says to him, ."..He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how then can you say, 'Show us the Father'... Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? ...Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me...." (John 14:8-11)
And finally the following:
Jesus said..., "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)
When they heard these passages, the clergymen all said with one heart and mouth that the Lord's humanity is Divine, and that one must turn to Him in order to go to the Father, since Jehovah God, who is the Lord from eternity, by means of that humanity introduced Himself into the world and made Himself visible to the eyes of men and accessible. In like manner He made Himself visible and so accessible in human form to people in ancient times, but did so then by means of an angel.
[7] Following this they next took up a deliberation regarding the Holy Spirit. And they began by determining the idea many of them had of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, namely of God the Father sitting on high, so to speak, having the Son at His right hand, and the two sending out the Holy Spirit to enlighten and instruct mankind.
But then a voice was heard from heaven, saying, "We cannot abide that mental image! Who does not know that Jehovah God is omnipresent? Anyone who knows and acknowledges this must also acknowledge that it is He who enlightens and instructs, and that there is no intermediate God, distinct from Him, and still less distinct from two others, as one person is from another. Rid yourselves, therefore, of your earlier idea, which is an idle one, and accept this one, which is the right one, and you will see the matter clearly."
[8] However, a voice was again heard then from the group of Roman Catholics who had hidden themselves in a corner of the chapel, saying, "What then is the Holy Spirit, which is mentioned in the Word by the Gospels and Paul, by which so many of the learned in the clergy say they are led, especially in our clergy? Who today in the Christian world denies the reality of the Holy Spirit and its operation?"
At that one of the clergymen sitting on the chairs in the second row turned and said, "The Holy Spirit is the Divinity emanating from the Lord Jehovah. You say that the Holy Spirit is a distinct person and a distinct God, yet what is a person that originates and emanates from a person but an operation that originates and emanates? One person cannot originate or emanate from another one by means of another, but an operation can. Or what is a God that originates and emanates from God but a Divinity that originates and emanates? One God cannot originate and emanate from another one by means of another, but a Divinity can. Is not the Divine essence one and indivisible? And because the Divine essence or Divine being is God, is not God one and indivisible?"
[9] Hearing this, the clergymen sitting on the chairs unanimously concluded that the Holy Spirit is not a distinct person or a distinct God, but that it is the holy Divinity originating and emanating from the one and only omnipresent God, who is the Lord.
At that the angels standing beside the golden table on which lay the Word said, "Good! You do not read anywhere in the Old Testament that the prophets were inspired by the Holy Spirit to speak the Word, but that they were inspired by the Lord Jehovah. And where the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the New Testament, it means the emanating Divinity, which is the Divinity that enlightens, instructs, vivifies, reforms and regenerates."
[10] After this the clergymen took up a second discussion of the Holy Spirit, asking from whom the Divinity called the Holy Spirit emanated, whether it did so from the Divine called the Father, or from the Divine human called the Son. And as they were discussing this, a light shone from heaven which enabled them to see that the holy Divinity meant by the Holy Spirit emanates from the Divinity in the Lord by means of His glorified humanity, which is His Divine humanity, comparatively as every activity in the case of a person emanates from the soul by means of the body.
This conclusion one of the angels standing beside the table confirmed from the Word by the following verses:
...He whom (the Father) has sent speaks the words of God, ...God does not give (Him) the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. (John 3:34-35)
There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse... The Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might... (Isaiah 11:1-2)
Also verses saying that Jehovah put His spirit upon Him, and that the spirit of Jehovah was in Him (Isaiah 42:1; 59:19-20; 61:1, Luke 4:18).
When the (Holy Spirit) comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father... (John 15:26)
He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. (John 16:14-15)
...if I depart, I will send (the Counselor) to you. (John 16:7)
The Counselor is the Holy Spirit (John 14:26).
...the Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:39)
After His glorification Jesus breathed on His disciples and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22).
[11] Since the Lord's Divine operation and His Divine omnipresence are meant by the Holy Spirit, therefore when He spoke to His disciples about the Holy Spirit whom God the Father would send, He also said:
I will not leave you orphans... I am going away and coming back to you. (John 14:18, 28)
And:
At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. (John 14:20)
And just before He departed from the world He said:
Lo, I am with you always, even to the culmination of the age. (Matthew 28:20)
After he read these verses to them, the angel said, "From these and many other passages in the Word, it is apparent that the Divinity called the Holy Spirit emanates from the Divinity in the Lord by means of His Divine humanity."
At that the clergymen sitting on the chairs said, "It is the Divine truth."
[12] Lastly the clergymen formed this declaration, that "from the
deliberations in this council we have clearly seen and so acknowledge as a sacred truth that there is a trinity in our Lord Jesus Christ, namely, an originating Divine called the Father, a Divine humanity that is the Son, and an emanating Divinity that is the Holy Spirit. Thus there is in the church but one God."
[13] After these proceedings in that grand council were concluded, the clergymen stood up, and the angel custodian came from the vestry, bringing for each of those sitting on the chairs shining vestments, which were interwoven here and there with gold threads. And the angel said, "Take these wedding garments."
Then the clergymen were conveyed gloriously into the New Christian Heaven, the heaven with which the Lord's church on earth, the New Jerusalem, will be conjoined.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Amen.
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins." So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us." Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS. (Matthew 1:20-25)
