Apocalypse Revealed # 550
550. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan. (12:9) This symbolizes those people meant by the dragon now turned away from the Lord to themselves and from heaven to the world, and so whose focus on their person made them sensual, who could not help but be caught up in the evils of their lusts and the resulting falsities, and who, in consequence of their separation from the Lord and heaven, became devils and satanic spirits.
Just who are meant by the dragon may be seen in no. 537. They are people who make God three entities and the Lord two, and put the Ten Commandments among works that do not lead to any salvation, and who are therefore called "that serpent of old," "the Devil and Satan." A serpent symbolizes someone whose carnal nature has made him sensual (no. 424), who has turned away from the Lord to himself and from heaven to the world. The Devil symbolizes people caught up in the evils attending lusts, and Satan people caught up for that reason in falsities (nos. 97, 153 fin., 856, 857 1 ).
Of such a character also was the serpent that seduced Eve and Adam, as is apparent from its description and the curse on it (Genesis 3:1-5, 14-15).
The dragon here is called the Devil and Satan as though the two were one individual, but it is called these because people in hell are all devils or satanic spirits, and consequently hell in its entirety is so labeled.
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1. No. 857 is missing. Nevertheless we find three references to it, in nos. 550, 858, 870, and because both nos. 550 and 858 include as well a reference to no. 856, and no. 858 in the text comes immediately after 856, it seems quite likely that no. 857 was omitted accidentally by the printer of the first edition.
Apocalypse Revealed # 856
856. 20:7 Then, when the thousand years have been completed, Satan will be released from his prison. This symbolically means that after the Lord raised into heaven those who previously had been hidden away and protected in the lower earth, and the New Christian Heaven was increased by their number, all those who had confirmed themselves in falsities of faith were let loose.
When the thousand years have been completed means, symbolically, after the Lord raised into heaven those who previously had been hidden away and protected in the lower earth. When the thousand years have been completed has this symbolic meaning because the sole subject in the preceding verses 4-6 is the salvation of people who worshiped the Lord and lived in accordance with His commandments, and this period of time is what is meant by the thousand years.
We are in fact not told that the people were raised from the lower earth, but it is nevertheless apparent from chapter 6, 6:9-11, where they were seen under the altar, and under the altar means in a lower earth. That is why they are also called here in verse 6 priests of God and of Christ (see no. 854 above).
That the New Christian Heaven was increased by their number is also something we are not told here, yet it is nevertheless apparent from chapter Revelation 14 where the subject is the New Christian Heaven, as may be seen from the explanations there, especially in nos. 612, 613, 626, 631, 647, 659, 661.
Satan's being set loose from his prison means, symbolically, that those people were let go who had confirmed themselves in faith alone as regards their doctrine, because the dragon here is called Satan, and not at the same time the Devil, as in verse 2 above; and as the Devil, the dragon means people who were caught up in evils in the way they lived, and as Satan, people caught up in falsities as regards their faith, as may be seen in no. 841 above. But the character of the one and the other will be seen in the following number. 1
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