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Apocalypse Revealed # 387

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387. CHAPTER 8

1. When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

2. And I saw the seven angels who stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

3. Then another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and he was given much incense, that he should offer it for the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

4. And the smoke of the incense for the prayers of the saints ascended before God from the angel's hand.

5. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were voices, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.

6. And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

7. The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were cast down to the earth, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

8. Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood.

9. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

10. Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.

11. The name of the star is Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it was made bitter.

12. Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, and a third of them was darkened, so that a third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.

13. And I looked, and I heard an angel flying in the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!"

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING

The Contents of the Whole Chapter

This chapter has as its subject the church of the Protestant Reformed and what the people are like in it who are caught up in faith alone. It describes the preparation of the spiritual heaven for communication with them (verses 1-6); the examination and disclosure of those there who are immersed in the interior elements of that faith (verse 7), and of those who are immersed in its exterior elements (verses 8, 9); and what they are like as regards their understanding of the Word (verses 10, 11), showing that they are caught up in falsities and their accompanying evils (verses 12, 13).

The Contents of the Individual Verses:

Verse ContentsSpiritual Meaning
1. When He opened the seventh seal,An examination by the Lord of the state of the church and consequent life of people who are in His spiritual kingdom - people who are governed by charity and its accompanying faith - here people caught up in faith alone.
there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.Angels from the Lord's spiritual kingdom were quite dumbfounded when they saw people who claimed to have faith to be in the state they were.
2. And I saw the seven angels who stood before God,The entire spiritual heaven in the Lord's presence, hearing and doing whatever He commanded.
and to them were given seven trumpets.An examination and exposure of the state of the church and consequent life of people caught up in faith alone.
3. Then another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer,Spiritual worship, which originates from the goodness of charity expressed through truths of faith.
and he was given much incense, that he should offer it for the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.A propitiation, lest angels of the Lord's spiritual kingdom be harmed by the spirits of the satanic kingdom situated below.
4. And the smoke of the incense for the prayers of the saints ascended before God from the angel's hand.Their protection by the Lord.
5. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth.Spiritual love, containing celestial love, and its influx into the lower regions where those people were who were caught up in a faith divorced from charity.
And there were voices, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.After a communication with them was opened, the angels heard reasonings about faith alone and arguments in support of it.
6. And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.Their being prepared and ready to examine the state of the church and consequent life in people for whom religion is faith alone.
7. The first angel sounded:An examination and disclosure of the state of life and its character in people caught up interiorly in that faith.
And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood,Falsity springing from a hellish love, destroying goodness and truth and falsifying the Word.
and they were cast down to the earth, and a third of the trees were burned up,In such people all affection for truth and perception of truth, which make a person a person of the church, had perished,
and all green grass was burned up.and thus every constituent of faith having life.
8. Then the second angel sounded:An examination and disclosure of the state of the church and its character in people caught up externally in that faith.
And something like a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea,The appearance of a hellish love in them.
and a third of the sea became blood.General truths had all been falsified in them.
9. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died,Those who had lived that faith and continued to live it could not be reformed and receive life.
and a third of the ships were destroyed.Concepts of goodness and truth from the Word that are serviceable for application to life, in them had all been destroyed.
10. Then the third angel sounded:An examination and disclosure of the state of the church in people for whom religion is faith alone as regards their affection for truths from the Word and reception of them.
And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch,The appearance of their personal intelligence owing to a conceit arising from a hellish love.
and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.Consequently all the Word's truths had been completely falsified.
11. The name of the star is Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood,Hellish falsity, the origin of their personal intelligence, by which they had falsified all the Word's truths.
and many people died from the water, because it was made bitter.The extinction of spiritual life because of the falsification of the Word's truths.
12. Then the fourth angel sounded:An examination and disclosure of the state of the church in people for whom religion is faith alone, that they are caught up in the evils accompanying falsity and in the falsities accompanying evil.
And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, and a third of them was darkened,Because of their evils springing from falsities and their falsities springing from evils, they did not know what love is, or what faith is, or any truth.
so that a third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.They no longer have in them any spiritual truth or natural truth from the Word serviceable for doctrine and life.
13. And I looked, and I heard an angel flying in the midst of heaven,Instruction and prediction from the Lord.
saying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!"The utmost lamentation over the state of damnation of people in the church who in doctrine and life have confirmed themselves in a faith divorced from charity.

THE EXPOSITION

The whole of heaven has been divided into two kingdoms - the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. The celestial kingdom consists of people who are governed by love toward the Lord and its accompanying wisdom; and the spiritual kingdom consists of people who are governed by love for the neighbor and its accompanying intelligence. But because love for the neighbor is today called charity, and intelligence faith, this latter kingdom consists of people who are governed by charity and its accompanying faith.

Now because heaven has been divided into two kingdoms, hell also has been divided into two kingdoms opposite to these - the diabolical kingdom and the satanic kingdom. The diabolical kingdom consists of people who are governed by a love of ruling stemming from a love of self and by its accompanying foolishness, for that love is the opposite of celestial love, and its foolishness is the opposite of celestial wisdom. The satanic kingdom, on the other hand, consists of people who are governed by a love of ruling from a conceit in their own intelligence and by its accompanying irrationality, for that love is the opposite of spiritual love, and its irrationality is the opposite of spiritual intelligence.

By foolishness and irrationality we mean foolishness and irrationality in celestial and spiritual matters.

What we have said about heaven is to be understood to apply likewise to the church on earth, for the two are inseparable.

Regarding these two kingdoms, see the book, Heaven and Hell, published in London, nos. 20-28 and many other numbers elsewhere.

[2] Now because the book of Revelation has as its sole subject the state of the church at its end, as we said in the Preface and in no. 2, therefore from this point on it deals with the inhabitants of the two kingdoms of heaven and the inhabitants of the two kingdoms of hell, and their character: with the inhabitants of the spiritual kingdom and of the satanic kingdom opposite to that kingdom, from chapter eight here to chapter sixteen, and with the inhabitants of the celestial kingdom and of the diabolical kingdom opposite to it in chapters seventeen and eighteen. After that it describes the Last Judgment, and finally the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem. This concludes everything that precedes, because it is to this end that they looked.

Here and there in the Word we find mention of the devil and Satan, and both mean hell. Each is mentioned because all the inhabitants in one hell are called devils, and all in the other hell, satanic spirits.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

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Apocalypse Revealed # 532

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532. CHAPTER 12

1. Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

2. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.

3. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven jewels 1 on its heads.

4. Its tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.

5. She bore a male Child who would shepherd all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.

6. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they may feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

7. And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and its angels fought,

8. but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.

9. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, which leads the whole world astray; it was cast to the earth, and its angels were cast out with it.

10. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, which accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.

11. And they overcame it by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

12. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that it has a short time."

13. Now when the dragon saw that it had been cast to the earth, it pursued the woman who gave birth to the male Child.

14. But the woman was given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she might be nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

15. So the serpent spewed water out of its mouth like a river after the woman, that it might cause her to be swept away by the river.

16. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon had spewed out of its mouth.

17. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and it went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

18. Then I stood on the sand of the sea. 2

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING

The Contents of the Whole Chapter

The subject now is the New Church and its doctrine. The woman here means the New Church, and the child that she bore, its doctrine.

Dealt with also are people in today's church who, in accordance with their doctrine, believe in a trinity of Persons and a duality in the Person of Christ, and in justification by faith alone. These are meant by the dragon.

Depicted finally is these people's persecution of the New Church because of its doctrine, and the Lord's protection of it until it grows from being among few to being among many.

The Contents of the Individual Verses:

Verse ContentsSpiritual Meaning
1. Now a great sign appeared in heaven:A revelation from the Lord concerning His New Church in heaven and on earth and the difficulty of its doctrine's being accepted and the antagonism to it.
a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet,The Lord's New Church in heaven, which is the New Heaven, and the New Church to come on earth, which is the New Jerusalem.
and on her head a crown of twelve stars.Its wisdom and intelligence resulting from its concepts of Divine goodness and truth drawn from the Word.
2. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.The emerging doctrine of the New Church and the difficulty of its being accepted owing to the opposition to it by people meant by the dragon.
3. And another sign appeared in heaven:A revelation from the Lord concerning people antagonistic to the New Church and its doctrine.
behold, a great, fiery red dragonPeople in the Protestant Reformed Church who make God three entities and the Lord two, and who divorce charity from faith, making faith saving and not at the same time charity.
having seven headsIrrationality owing to their falsifying and profaning the Word's truths.
and ten horns,Much power.
and seven jewels 1 on its heads.All the Word's truths falsified and profaned.
4. Its tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.By falsifying the Word's truths they exiled all spiritual concepts of goodness and truth from the church, and by appeals to falsity completely destroyed them.
And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.Those people meant by the dragon endeavor to snuff out the doctrine of the New Church at its first appearance.
5. She bore a male ChildThe doctrine of the New Church,
who would shepherd all nations with a rod of iron.which by truths drawn from the literal sense of the Word, together with rational arguments in accord with people's natural sight, will convince all those willing to be convinced whose worship is a lifeless worship owing to their divorcing faith from charity.
And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.The Lord's protection of the doctrine and its being guarded by angels in heaven.
6. Then the woman fled into the wilderness,The church being at first among few.
where she has a place prepared by God, that they may feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.The state of that church then, that in the meantime provision may be made for it to exist among more people, until it grows to its appointed state.
7. And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and its angels fought,The falsities of the previous church fighting against the truths of the New Church.
8. but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.They were convicted of being caught up in falsities and evils, and yet they persisted in them, and therefore they were forcibly withdrawn from any conjunction with heaven and cast down.
9. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan,Those people now turned away from the Lord to themselves, and from heaven to the world, and so were caught up in the evils of their lusts and in falsities.
which leads the whole world astray;They pervert everything having to do with the church.
it was cast to the earth, and its angels were cast out with it.They were cast into the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, from which a direct conjunction is formed with people on earth.
10. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ have come,The joy of angels in heaven that the Lord alone now reigns in heaven and the church, and that those people are saved who believe in Him.
for the accuser of our brethren, which accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.By the Last Judgment those were removed who stood in opposition to the doctrine of the New Church.
11. And they overcame it by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony,Victory gained by the Divine truth of the Word and acknowledgment of the Lord,
and they did not love their lives to the death.and they did not love themselves more than the Lord.
12. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them!The new state of heaven, that the inhabitants are in the Lord and have the Lord in them.
Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath,A lamentation over people in the church who are caught up in the falsities of their faith and thus in evil practices, because they are in league with followers of the dragon,
knowing that it has but a short time."because it knew that a new heaven had been formed, that a new church on earth was therefore imminent, and that it would then be cast into hell, along with its followers.
13. Now when the dragon saw that it had been cast to the earth, it pursued the woman who gave birth to the male Child.After they were cast down, followers of the dragon in the world of spirits immediately began to harass the New Church because of its doctrine.
14. But the woman was given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place,The Divine vigilance for that Church and protection while it was still among a few.
where she might be nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the face of the serpent.Because of the cunning of those leading astray, to provide vigilantly for the New Church to spread among more people, until it grows to its appointed state.
15. So the serpent spewed water out of its mouth like a river after the woman, that it might cause her to be swept away by the river.A multitude of reasonings flowing from falsities in order to destroy the church.
16. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon had spewed out of its mouth.The multitude of reasonings come to nothing in the face of the spiritual truths rationally understood that are advanced by the Michaels of whom the New Church is formed.
17. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and it went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.The hatred ignited in those people who believe themselves wise because of their arguments in support of the mystical union of the Divine and the human in the Lord and in support of justification by faith alone, against those who acknowledge the Lord alone as God of heaven and earth, and the Ten Commandments as law to be lived, and their attacking new converts with the intention of leading them astray.
18. Then I stood on the sand of the sea. 3 John's spiritual state now natural.

THE EXPOSITION

Now a great sign appeared in heaven. (12:1) This symbolizes a revelation from the Lord concerning His New Church in heaven and on earth and the difficulty of its doctrine's being accepted and the antagonism to it.

A sign from heaven means a revelation concerning things to come, and a great sign appearing in heaven means a revelation concerning the New Church, for the woman clothed with the sun, as described in this chapter, symbolizes that church. The male child that she bore symbolizes its doctrine. Her being in pain to give birth symbolizes the difficulty of that doctrine's being accepted. The dragon's attempting to devour the male child, and then persecuting the woman, symbolizes its antagonism. All this is the meaning of the great sign that appeared in heaven.

In the Word a sign is mentioned in relation to things to come, and it is then a revelation. It is mentioned in relation to truth, too, and it is then an attestation. And it is also mentioned in relation to the character of a state or object, and it is then an indicator.

A sign is mentioned in relation to things to come, and is then a revelation, in the following places:

Let them... declare to us what will happen..., that we may... know the latter end of them; or give us to hear things to come. Show signs for the future... (Isaiah 41:22-23)

(The disciples said to Jesus,) "What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3, cf. Mark 13:4, Luke 21:7)

...there will be... signs from heaven... There will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars. (Luke 21:11, 25)

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear... (Matthew 24:30)

(Hezekiah the king was told:) "This will be the sign... that Jehovah will do this thing... I will bring the shadow... on the sundial of Ahaz... backward." (Later Hezekiah said,) "What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of Jehovah?" (Isaiah 38:7-8, 22)

And so, too, elsewhere.

That a sign is mentioned in relation to truth and is then an attestation, and in relation to the character of a state and is then an indicator, is apparent from other passages in the Word.

სქოლიოები:

1. The word translated as "jewels" here means diadems or crowns in the original Greek and Latin, but the writer's definition of the term elsewhere make plain that he regularly and consistently interpreted it to mean jewels or gems.

2. In most manuscripts, the Textus Receptus, the received text of the Greek New Testament, makes this verse part of the first verse of the next chapter (13:1), as do numerous translations into other languages. The Alexandrian text, however, and the text of Westcott and Hort, together with some translations, including those Latin versions consulted by the writer, make it verse 18 of the present chapter.

3. In most manuscripts, the Textus Receptus, the received text of the Greek New Testament, makes this verse part of the first verse of the next chapter (13:1), as do numerous translations into other languages. The Alexandrian text, however, and the text of Westcott and Hort, together with some translations, including those Latin versions consulted by the writer, make it verse 18 of the present chapter.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

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