Apocalypse Explained # 305
305. Verses 4, 5. And I wept much, that no one was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, weep not; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath overcome to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
4. "And I wept much, that no one was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon," signifies grief of heart on account of the disorder and destruction of all things, if no one could know [scire], cognize [cognoscere], and explore all men, and all things pertaining to men (n. 306).
5. "And one of the elders," signifies a society of heaven superior in wisdom to the rest (n.307); "saith unto me, Weep not," signifies that there need be no grief on that account (n. 308); "behold, the Lion hath overcome," signifies that the Lord from His own power subjugated the hells, and reduced all things in the heavens to order (n. 309); "from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David," signifies by means of Divine good united to Divine truth in His Human (n. 310); "to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof," signifies that He knows and recognizes all and each, and the most secret things of everyone (n. 311).
Isaiah 7
1
It happened in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.
2
It was told the house of David, saying, "Syria is allied with Ephraim." His heart trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest tremble with the wind.
3
Then Yahweh said to Isaiah, "Go out now to meet Ahaz, you, and Shearjashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller's field.
4
Tell him, 'Be careful, and keep calm. Don't be afraid, neither let your heart be faint because of these two tails of smoking torches, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.
5
Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have plotted evil against you, saying,
6
"Let's go up against Judah, and tear it apart, and let's divide it among ourselves, and set up a king in its midst, even the son of Tabeel."
7
This is what the Lord Yahweh says: "It shall not stand, neither shall it happen."
8
For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty-five years Ephraim shall be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people;
9
and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.'"
10
Yahweh spoke again to Ahaz, saying,
11
"Ask a sign of Yahweh your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above."
12
But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, neither will I tempt Yahweh."
13
He said, "Listen now, house of David. Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God also?
14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
15
He shall eat butter and honey when he knows to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
16
For before the child knows to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land whose two kings you abhor shall be forsaken.
17
Yahweh will bring on you, on your people, and on your father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.
18
It will happen in that day that Yahweh will whistle for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
19
They shall come, and shall all rest in the desolate valleys, in the clefts of the rocks, on all thorn hedges, and on all pastures.
20
In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired in the parts beyond the River, even with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet; and it shall also consume the beard.
21
It shall happen in that day that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep;
22
and it shall happen, that because of the abundance of milk which they shall give he shall eat butter: for everyone will eat butter and honey that is left in the midst of the land.
23
It will happen in that day that every place where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silver shekels, shall be for briers and thorns.
24
People will go there with arrows and with bow, because all the land will be briers and thorns.
25
All the hills that were cultivated with the hoe, you shall not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of sheep."
