350. APOCALYPSE. CHAPTER 6.

1. And I saw when the Lamb had opened the first of the seals, and I heard one of the four animals saying as with the voice of thunder, Come and see.

2. And I saw, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him had a bow; and there was given to him a crown; and he went forth conquering and that he might conquer.

3. And when he had opened the second seal I heard the second animal saying, Come and see.

4. And there went forth another horse that was red; and to him that sat upon him, to him it was given to take peace from the earth, that they should slay one another; and there was given unto him a great sword.

5. And when he had opened the third seal I heard the third animal saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a black horse; and he that sat upon him had a balance in his hand.

6. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four animals saying, A measure of wheat for a denarius, and three measures of barley for a denarius, and the oil and the wine hurt thou not.

7. And when he had opened the fourth seal I heard the voice of the fourth animal saying, Come and see.

8. And I saw, and behold a pale horse, and he that sat upon him his name was Death, and Hell followed with him. And there was given unto them the authority to kill over the fourth part of the earth, with sword and with famine and with death and by the beasts of the earth.

9. And when he had opened the fifth seal I saw under the altar the souls of those slain because of the Word of God and because of the testimony that they held.

10. And they cried out with a great voice saying, How long, O Lord, who art holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on those that dwell on the earth?

11. And there was given to each one of them white robes; and it was said unto them that they should rest yet a little time until their fellow-servants, and their brethren, who were to be killed as they also were, should be fulfilled.

12. And I saw when he had opened the sixth seal, and behold there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.

13. And the stars of heaven fell upon the earth, as a fig-tree casteth her unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.

14. And the heaven withdrew as a book rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

15. And the kings of the earth, and the great ones and the rich, and the commanders of thousands, and the mighty, and every servant, and every freeman, hid themselves in the caves, and in the rocks of the mountains.

16. And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the anger of the Lamb.

17. For the great day of His anger is come; and who is able to stand?

EXPOSITION.

Verses 1, 2. And I saw when the Lamb had opened the first of the seals, and I heard one of the four animals saying as with the voice of thunder, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him had a bow; and there was given to him a crown; and he went forth conquering and that he might conquer.

1. "And I saw," signifies manifestation of the states of those who are of the church where the Word is n. 351; "when the Lamb had opened the first of the seals," signifies the first manifestation of the Lord. n. 352); "and I heard one of the four animals saying as with a voice of thunder," signifies out of the inmost heaven from the Lord. n. 353); "Come and see," signifies attention and perception (n. 354).

2. "And I saw and behold a white horse," signifies the understanding of truth from the Word n. 355; "and he that sat upon him had a bow," signifies the doctrine of charity and faith, by which there is combat against evils and falsities, and by which they are dispersed (n. 356, 357); "and there was given to him a crown," signifies eternal life, which is the reward of victory n. 358; "and he went forth conquering and that he might conquer," signifies the removal of evils and of falsities thence at the end of life, and afterwards to eternity n. 359.

356. And he that sat on him had a bow, signifies the doctrine of charity and faith from that understanding, by which evils and falsities are combated and dispersed. This is evident from the signification of "he that sat on a white horse," as meaning the Word (respecting which just above); also from the signification of "bow," as meaning the doctrine of charity and faith, by which evils and falsities are combated and dispersed. That "bow" signifies this doctrine will be seen in what follows. Here first let something be said respecting doctrine:

1. Without doctrine no one can understand the Word.

2. Without doctrine from the Word no one can fight against evils and falsities, and disperse them.

3. Without doctrine from the Word no one within the church, where the Word is, can become spiritual.

4. Doctrine can be acquired from no other source than from the Word, and by none except those who are in illustration from the Lord.

5. All things of doctrine must be confirmed by the sense of the letter of the Word.

In respect to the first, namely, "Without doctrine no one can understand the Word," it can be seen from this, that the sense of the letter consists of pure correspondences, which contain in themselves things spiritual, thus it consists of such things as are in the world and in its nature. From this it is that the sense of the letter is natural and not spiritual, accommodated, however, to the apprehension of the simple, who do not elevate their ideas above such things as they see before their eyes. From this it is, moreover, that it contains such things as do not appear to be spiritual, although the whole Word inwardly in itself is purely spiritual, because it is Divine. For this reason there are in the sense of the letter many things that cannot serve as doctrine for the church at this day, and many things that can be applied to various and diverse principles, and from this heresies arise; yet there are many things intermingled from which doctrine can be gathered and formed, especially the doctrine of life, which is the doctrine of charity and of faith therefrom. But he who reads the Word from doctrine sees there all things that confirm, as well as many things that lie concealed from the eyes of others; nor does he suffer himself to be drawn away into strange doctrines by those things in the Word that do not seem to agree, and that he does not understand; for all things of doctrine that he sees there are clear to him, and other things are obscure to him. Doctrine, therefore, which consists of genuine truths is as a lamp to those who read the Word; but on the other hand, to those who read the Word without doctrine it is like a lampstand without a light, placed in a dark place, by means of which nothing conducive to salvation can there be seen, known, inquired into, or found; moreover, one who so reads it is liable to be led away into any errors to which the mind is bent by some love, or is drawn by some principle. From this it can be seen that without doctrine no one can understand the Word.

[2] Second, "That without doctrine from the Word no one can fight against evils and falsities, and disperse them," can be seen from this, that from doctrine truths can be seen in their own light and in their own order, but not from the Word without doctrine. This is clear from what has just been said. But if truths cannot be seen, neither can falsities and evils be seen, for the latter are the opposite of the former; and yet all combat against evils and falsities is from truths, that is, by means of truths from the Lord; consequently he who reads the Word without doctrine may easily be led to fight for falsity against truth and for evil against good, by confirming evils and falsities by a wrong interpretation and application of the sense of the letter of the Word; and as a consequence the man is not reformed; for man is reformed by the dispersion of evils and the falsities of evil, by means of truths applied to the life. This is what is here meant by "the white horse" that was seen, and by "he that sat on him having a bow;" for "a white horse" signifies the understanding of truth from the Word, and "a bow" signifies the doctrine of charity and of faith therefrom by which evils and falsities are combated and dispersed.

[3] Third, "That without doctrine from the Word no one within the church, where the Word is, can become spiritual," can be seen from what has now been said, namely, that without doctrine the Word is not understood, and that without doctrine from the Word evils and falsities cannot be combated; for man becomes spiritual by means of a life according to Divine truths, which he does not know without doctrine, and by removing evils and falsities, which cannot be done without doctrine, as was said above. Without these two man is not reformed, thus does not become spiritual, but remains natural, and confirms his natural life by the sense of the letter of the Word, which is natural, by wrongly interpreting and applying it. It is said, within the church, where the Word is, since those who are out of the church do not have the Word, and therefore know nothing about the Lord; and no one becomes spiritual except from the Lord; and yet all who acknowledge a God and worship Him under the human form, and live in charity according to a religious principle that is in accord with the Word, are prepared by the Lord to receive spiritual life, and do receive it in the other life (on which we see in the work on Heaven and Hell 313-328; and above, n. 107, 195). Man becomes spiritual by regeneration, and regeneration is effected by "water and the spirit," that is, by means of truths and a life according to them (See in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n. 173-186; that baptism in the Christian world is for a sign and memorial of regeneration, n. 202-209, in the same work).

[4] Fourth, "That doctrine can be acquired from no other source than from the Word, and by none except those who are in illustration from the Lord," can be seen from this, that the Word is Divine truth itself, and is such that the Lord is in it; for the Lord is in His Divine truth that proceeds from Him; those, therefore, who frame doctrine from any other source than from the Word, do not frame it from Divine truth nor from the Lord. Moreover, in the particulars of the Word there is a spiritual sense, and the angels of heaven are in that sense; consequently there is a conjunction of heaven with the church by means of the Word; those, therefore, who frame doctrine from any other source than the Word do not frame it in conjunction with heaven, from which nevertheless is all illustration. (That the conjunction of heaven with man is by means of the Word, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 303-310.) From this it is evident that doctrine is to be acquired from no other source than the Word, and by none except those who are in illustration from the Lord. They are in illustration from the Lord who love truths because they are truths; and because such as these do them, they are in the Lord and the Lord is in them.

[5] Fifth, "That all things of doctrine must be confirmed by the sense of the letter of the Word," can be seen from this, that Divine truth in the sense of the letter is in its fullness; for that is the ultimate sense, and the spiritual sense is in it; when, therefore, doctrine has been confirmed by that sense the doctrine of the church is also the doctrine of heaven, and there is conjunction by correspondence. Let this be illustrated by this only: when man thinks any truth and confirms it by the sense of the letter, it is perceived in heaven, but not if he does not confirm it; for the sense of the letter is the basis into which spiritual ideas, which are the angels' ideas, close, much the same as words are the basis into which the meaning of the thought falls and is communicated to another. That this is so might be confirmed by much experience from the spiritual world; but this is not the place to present it.