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Revelation 6 : The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Lernen

1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

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

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

4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

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

8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, 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 unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Kommentar

 

The Meaning of the Book of Revelation: the Four Horsemen

Durch Jonathan S. Rose, Curtis Childs

Transparency is needed to sort things out. Before big change happens, God first reveals what’s really going on.

In the Book of Revelation - the last book of the Word - the apostle John describes a series of apocalyptic visions that he experienced during his exile on the Isle of Patmos, in the Aegean Sea.

In one of these visions, he saw four horsemen, the first riding a white horse, the second a red horse, the third a black, and the fourth - named Death - riding a pale horse. These "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" - oft-pictured - are described in Revelation 6:1-8.

What do these horses, and their riders, represent? What do they have to do with us, today? Watch as Curtis Childs and Jonathan Rose explore the hidden Bible meaning of the Four Horsemen in the Book of Revelation, in this video from the Swedenborg and Life Series, from the Swedenborg Foundation.

Plus, to go straight to the source, follow the links below to the places in "Apocalypse Revealed" where Swedenborg explained the inner meaning of this famous Bible story. A good place to start would be Apocalypse Revealed 298.

(Verweise: Apocalypse Explained 315; Apocalypse Revealed 262-263, 301, 306, 314, 316, 320, 322-323)

Video abspielen
This video is a product of the Swedenborg Foundation. Follow these links for further information and other videos: www.youtube.com/user/offTheLeftEye and www.swedenborg.com

Aus Swedenborgs Werken

 

Apocalypse Explained #639

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639. Which stand before the God of the earth.- This signifies the things that are Divine which proceed from the Lord, and which are of Him in heaven and in the church, as is evident from the signification of the God of the earth, as denoting the Lord, who is the God of heaven and earth, and, specifically, the God of the church in heaven and in the world; for earth (terra) in the Word signifies the church, and the church is in heaven as well as in the world. The reason why heaven and the church also are there understood by earth, is, that there are lands (terrae) in the spiritual world just as in the natural world, and in external appearance they are very similar in that world to what they are in this. For this reason the God of the earth means the God of heaven and earth, and, specifically, the God of the church in heaven and in the world. That the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, He Himself teaches in Matthew:

Jesus said," All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth" (28:18).

And from the signification of standing before Him, as denoting to be from Him, thus what is of Him in heaven and in the church.

[2] In various places in the Word it is said of angels and of men of the church that they stand before God, also that they walk before Him, and in the spiritual sense, by standing before God is signified life (esse) from Him, and by walking before God is signified to live according to life (esse) from Him. For all the life (esse) of heaven and the world proceeds from the Lord, being the proceeding Divine which created and formed every thing in heaven and in the world; this is called the Word in John (1:1-3); and the Word there mentioned is the proceeding Divine, which is called the Divine Truth, from which all things were made and created. Since this extends itself in every direction around the Lord as the Sun, it is properly said to stand before Him, for from every quarter and direction it looks to the Lord as its common centre; and this in its essence is the Lord in heaven, because it is the proceeding Divine, and that which proceeds is of Him from whom it proceeds, in fact, it is He Himself; just as the heat and light proceeding from the sun is of the sun. Therefore all the angels, being recipients of this proceeding Divine, which is called the Divine Truth, turn themselves to the Lord, and hence are continually in His presence. For, as stated, the proceeding Divine looks to the Lord as its centre from which it proceeds and to which [it returns]; consequently the angels also, who are the recipients of Divine Truth, and are Divine truths as it were in form. It is from this fact that the angels are said to stand before the Lord, for "to stand" is properly used in reference to Divine Truth, because it surrounds the Lord as a Sun.

[3] To stand before God signifies also in the following passages to be in the Divine Truth, consequently with the Lord.

In Luke:

"The angel said, I am Gabriel, that standeth before God" (1:19).

In the First Book of Kings:

"I saw Jehovah sitting upon his throne, and all the host of the heavens standing near him, on his right hand and on his left" (22:19).

In Jeremiah:

"There shall not be cut off from Jonadab a man to stand before me all the days" (35:19).

In David:

"At thy right hand standeth the queen in best gold of Ophir" (Psalm 45:9).

In Luke:

"Watch at all times, that ye may be accounted worthy to stand before the Son of Man" (21:36).

In the Apocalypse:

"The great day of his anger cometh, and who can stand?" (6:17);

"All the angels stood around the throne, and the elders and the four animals" (7:11).

"I saw seven angels who stood before God" (8:2).

In Zechariah:

Two olive trees, and two berries of olives, which are "the two sons of the olive tree, standing near the Lord of the whole earth" (4:11, 12, 14); and in other places.

It is also said concerning the Lord Himself that "He stood to judge," because it is said of the Divine proceeding from the Lord, which is called Divine Truth, since judgment is from it.

Thus in Isaiah:

"Jehovah stood up to plead, and standeth to judge" (3:13);

and in David:

"God stood in the assembly of God, in the midst of the gods He will judge" (Psalm 82:1).

By the assembly of God, and by the gods in the midst of whom Jehovah stood, are meant the angels, who, in the spiritual sense, signify Divine truths; and because the Lord in heaven is the Divine Truth, therefore the term to stand is used in reference to Him. From these considerations it is now evident that to stand before the God of the earth signifies the Divine proceeding from the Lord, which is of Him in heaven and in the church. That those who are in this are meant, is clear also from this fact, that "to stand before the God of the earth" is stated of the two olive trees and the two lampstands, which signify good and truth, consequently the proceeding Divine. See also the preceding article (n. 638).

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.