Apocalypse Revealed # 242
242. The second living creature like a calf. This symbolizes the Divine truth of the Word in respect to its affection.
Beasts of the earth symbolize various natural affections. They are also embodiments of them. And a calf symbolizes an affection for knowing. This affection is represented by a calf in the spiritual world, and in the Word it is consequently also symbolized by a calf, as in Hosea,
...we repay (to Jehovah) the calves of our lips. (Hosea 14:2)
"Calves of the lips" are confessions from an affection for truth.
In Malachi:
To you who fear My name the sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in its wings... that you may grow fat like fattened calves. (Malachi 4:2)
A comparison is made with fattened calves because they symbolize people who are filled with concepts of truth and goodness owing to an affection for knowing them.
In the book of Psalms:
The voice of Jehovah... makes (the cedars of Lebanon) dance like a calf... (Psalms 29:5, 6)
The cedars of Lebanon symbolize concepts of truth. That is why the passage says that the voice of Jehovah makes them dance like a calf. The voice of Jehovah is Divine truth, in the process here of affecting.
[2] Since the Egyptians loved knowledge, they therefore made themselves calves as a sign of their affection for it. But after they began to worship the calves as deities, then calves in the Word symbolized affections for knowing falsities, as in Jeremiah 46:20-21). Therefore we are told in Hosea:
...they have made for themselves a molten image... of their silver... Sacrificing a human being, they kiss the calves. (Hosea 13:2)
To make for oneself a molten image of silver means, symbolically, to falsify truth. To sacrifice a human being means, symbolically, to destroy wisdom. And to kiss calves means, symbolically, to accept falsities out of an affection for them.
In Isaiah:
There the calf will feed; there it will lie down and consume its branches. (Isaiah 27:10)
The same is symbolically meant by the calf in Jeremiah 34:18-20.
[3] Since all Divine worship springs from affections for truth and goodness and so for concepts of them, therefore the sacrifices in which the worship of the church primarily consisted among the children of Israel used various animals, such as lambs, she-goats, kids, sheep, he-goats, calves, and oxen; and calves were used because they symbolized an affection for knowing truths and goods, which is the first natural affection. This affection was symbolically meant by the sacrifices of calves in Exodus 29:11-12, 1 1 Samuel 1:25; 16:2, 1 Kings 18:23-26, 33.
The second living creature looked like a calf because the Divine truth of the Word, which it symbolizes, affects hearts, and so teaches and instills.
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1. Prima editio: 29.
Apocalypse Revealed # 225
225. CHAPTER 4
1. After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice that I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, "Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this."
2. Immediately I was in the spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.
3. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.
4. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads.
5. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.
6. Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back.
7. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a human being, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.
8. The four living creatures, each individually having six wings about it, were full of eyes within. And they did not rest day or night, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!"
9. And when the living creatures gave glory and honor and thanks to Him who sat on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
10. the twenty-four elders fell down before Him who sat on the throne and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11. "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created."
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
This chapter describes the organization and preparation of everything in heaven for the judgment that would be based on the Word and take place in accordance with it. Also, an acknowledgment that the Lord is the sole judge.
The Contents of the Individual Verses:
| Verse Contents | Spiritual Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1. After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. | A manifestation of the organization of the heavens for a last judgment by the Lord, to take place in accordance with His Divine truths in the Word. |
| And the first voice that I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, "Come up here, | A Divine influx, resulting in an elevation of the mind and consequent clear perception. |
| "and I will show you things which must take place after this." | Revelations regarding events to come before the Last Judgment, during it, and after it. |
| 2. Immediately I was in the spirit; | John's conveyance into a spiritual state, in which the things that occur in heaven clearly appear. |
| and behold, a throne set in heaven, | The Judgment in a representative image. |
| and One sitting on the throne. | The Lord. |
| 3. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; | An appearance of the Lord's Divine wisdom and love in outmost expressions. |
| and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. | An appearance of them also around the Lord. |
| 4. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, | The organization of everything in heaven for judgment, |
| clothed in white robes; | a judgment based on the Divine truths of the Word, |
| and they had crowns of gold on their heads. | which are truths of wisdom springing from love. |
| 5. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. | Enlightenment, perception, and instruction from the Lord. |
| And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. | A resulting new church in heaven and on earth, established by the Lord through the Divine truth emanating from Him. |
| 6. Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. | A new heaven formed of Christians. |
| And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures | The Word of the Lord from the firsts of it in its lasts, and its protections. |
| full of eyes in front and in back. | The Divine wisdom in it. |
| 7. The first living creature was like a lion, | The Divine truth of the Word in respect to its power. |
| the second living creature like a calf, | The Divine truth of the Word in respect to its affection. |
| the third living creature had a face like a human being, | The Divine truth of the Word in respect to its wisdom. |
| and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. | The Divine truth of the Word in respect to its concepts and the understanding they afford. |
| 8. The four living creatures, each individually having six wings about it, | The Word in respect to its powers and protections. |
| were full of eyes within. | The Divine wisdom in the Word in its natural sense, springing from its spiritual and celestial meanings. |
| And they did not rest day or night, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, | The Word teaches the Lord continually, that He alone is God, and that therefore He alone is to be worshiped. |
| "who was and is and is to come!" | The Lord. |
| 9. And when the living creatures gave glory and honor and thanks to Him who sat on the throne, | The Word ascribes all truth and good and all worship to the Lord, who is about to judge. |
| who lives forever and ever, | The Lord alone is life, and from Him alone springs eternal life. |
| 10. the twenty-four elders fell down before Him who sat on the throne and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever, | The humility of all in heaven before the Lord. |
| and cast their crowns before the throne, | Their acknowledgment that their wisdom comes from Him alone. |
| saying, 11. "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; | Their confession that, being Divine truth and good, the Lord possesses the kingdom by His merit and righteousness; |
| "for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created." | that everything in heaven and the church has been created and formed out of the Lord's Divine love by His Divine wisdom, or out of Divine good by Divine truth, which is also the Word, and that so likewise are people reformed and reborn. |
THE EXPOSITION
After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. This symbolizes a manifestation of the organization of the heavens for a last judgment by the Lord, to take place in accordance with His Divine truths in the Word. (4:1)
When said of heaven, an open door symbolizes an entryway, as in no. 176 above. Here it symbolizes also a manifestation, because John says, "I looked, and behold...." And because he saw then the things related in this chapter, which have to do with the organization of the heavens for a last judgment by the Lord, to take place in accordance with His Divine truths in the Word, therefore the statement, "I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven," symbolizes a manifestation of those things.
