Apocalypse Revealed # 645
645. Crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, "Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the hour has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth has dried." This symbolizes a supplication by angels in heaven to the Lord to bring things to an end and execute judgment, because the church had now reached its last state.
To cry with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud symbolizes a supplication by angels in heaven to the Lord, because they lacked anything corresponding to them on earth. For the church on earth is to the angelic heaven like the foundation on which a house rests, or like the feet on which a person stands and which he uses to walk. When the church on earth has been destroyed, therefore, the angels lament and supplicate the Lord. Their supplication is that He may bring the church to an end and raise up a new one. The angel's crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud accordingly symbolizes a supplication by angels in heaven to the Lord.
That He who sat on the cloud symbolizes the Lord in relation to the Word may be seen just above in no. 642. That to thrust in a sickle and reap means, symbolically, to put an end to something and execute judgment - this, too, may be seen in nos. 642, 643 above. For the hour has come to reap means symbolically that the church is at an end. For the harvest has dried means symbolically that the church has reached its last state. A harvest symbolizes the state of the church with respect to Divine truth. The reason is that a harvest yields the grain used to make bread, and grain and bread symbolize the church's goodness, which is achieved through truths.
[2] That this is the symbolic meaning of these words can be more clearly seen from passages in the Word where a harvest, reaping, or sickle are mentioned, as in the following:
...I will sit to judge all the... nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe... For their wickedness is great. (Joel 3:12-13)
Cut off the sower..., and him who handles the sickle at harvest time. (Jeremiah 50:16)
The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor...; a little while yet till the time of her harvest comes. (Jeremiah 51:33)
It shall be when the standing grain of the harvest is gathered, and his arm reaps the ears... ...in the morning your seed flourishes..., the harvest a heap in the day of your possession and desperate sorrow. (Isaiah 17:5-6, 11)
Be ashamed, you farmers..., because the harvest of the field has perished. (Joel 1:11)
(Jesus said to His disciples:) "There are still four months until the harvest comes. ...lift up your eyes and behold the fields, that they are already white for harvest! ...I sent you to reap...." (John 4:35-38)
(Jesus) said to His disciples, "The harvest... is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray... the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest." (Matthew 9:37-38, Luke 10:2)
In these places, and also in Isaiah 16:9, Jeremiah 5:17; 8:20, the harvest symbolizes the church with respect to Divine truth.
[3] Everything contained in these verses in the present chapter, however, and also in the following two chapters, was foretold by the Lord in the parable of a sower and his gathering in of the harvest, and because it shows and illustrates what the symbolism is, we will quote it here:
(Jesus said:) "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but... his enemy came and sowed tares... ...when the plants sprouted..., ...the tares also appeared....
"The servants said..., 'Do you want us to... gather them up?'
"But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn...." ' "
And His disciples came to (Jesus), saying, "Explain to us the parable...."
(Jesus) said...: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man (or the Lord). The field is the world (the church), the... seeds are the sons of the kingdom (the church's truths), the tares are the sons of the evil one (falsities from hell), the enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the culmination of the age (the end of the church), the reapers are the angels (Divine truths). Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the culmination of this age (at then end of the church)." (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43)
Apocalypse Revealed # 656
656. REVELATION: CHAPTER 15
1. Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete.
2. And I saw as though a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over its image and over its mark and over the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass, having harps of God.
3. They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:
"Great and marvelous are Your works,
Lord God Almighty!
Just and true are Your ways,
O King of the saints!
4. Who does not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy.
Therefore all nations shall come and worship before You,
For Your judgments have been manifested."
5. After these things I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened.
6. And out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in clean bright linen, and having their chests girded with golden sashes.
7. Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever.
8. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power, and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
A preparation to reveal the last state of the church and expose the evils and falsities in which those who belonged to that church were caught up (verses 1, 5-8). The separation from them of those who had confessed the Lord and lived in accordance with His commandments (verses 2-4).
The Contents of the Individual Verses:
| Verse Contents | Spiritual Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1. Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: | A revelation from the Lord regarding the state of the church on earth and its character with respect to love and faith. |
| seven angels having the seven last plagues, | The evils and falsities that exist in the church in its last state exposed in their entirety by the Lord. |
| for in them the wrath of God is complete. | The destruction of the church and its end then. |
| 2. And I saw as though a sea of glass mingled with fire, | The farthest boundary of the spiritual world, where those people were gathered who had religion and consequently worshiped, but lacked any goodness of life. |
| and those who have the victory over the beast, over its image and over its mark and over the number of its name, | People who rejected faith alone and its accompanying doctrine, and so did not acknowledge or become imbued with its falsities, and did not falsify the Word. |
| standing beside the sea of glass, having harps of God. | The Christian heaven at the boundaries [of the spiritual world], and the faith accompanying charity in the people there. |
| 3. They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, | A confession springing from charity, thus from a life in accordance with the precepts of the Law contained in the Ten Commandments, and from a faith in the Divinity of the Lord's humanity. |
| saying: "Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! | Everything in the world, in heaven and in the church was created and formed by the Lord out of Divine love by means of Divine wisdom. |
| For just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! | Everything that emanates from the Lord is just and true, because He is Divine goodness itself and Divine truth itself in heaven and in the church. |
| 4. Who does not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? | The Lord alone is to be loved and worshiped. |
| For You alone are holy. | He embodies the Word, truth, and enlightenment. |
| Therefore all nations shall come and worship before You, | People who possess the goodness of love and charity will acknowledge the Lord alone to be God. |
| For Your judgments have been manifested." | The truths in the Word openly attest to this. |
| 5. After these things I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. | The inmost of heaven appeared, where the Lord is present in His holiness in the Word and in the Law contained in the Ten Commandments. |
| 6. And out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, | A preparation by the Lord for influx from the inmost of heaven into the church, to expose its evils and falsities and so to separate evil people from the good, |
| clothed in clean bright linen, and having their chests girded with golden sashes. | this in accordance with the pure and genuine truths and goods in the Word. |
| 7. Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls | The truths and goods by which evils and falsities in the church are exposed, drawn from the literal sense of the Word. |
| full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever. | The evils and falsities that will be exposed to view by the pure and genuine truths and goods present in the Word. |
| 8. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power, | The inmost of heaven filled with the Lord's spiritual and celestial Divine truth, |
| and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended. | to such a degree there that no higher truth could be endured, and this until that church was destroyed and its end became apparent. |
THE EXPOSITION
15:1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous. This symbolizes a revelation from the Lord regarding the state of the church on earth and its character with respect to love and faith.
This is the subject of the present chapter and the next, and it is symbolically meant, therefore, by a sign in heaven, great and marvelous. That a sign in heaven symbolizes a revelation from the Lord regarding heaven and the church and their state, may be seen in nos. 532, 536 above. That it has to do with love and faith is because it is called great and marvelous, and greatness in the Word is predicated of things having to do with affection and love, while marvelousness is predicated of things having to do with thought and faith.
