Apocalypse Revealed #342
342. CHAPTER 7
1. After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.
2. Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea,
3. saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads."
4. And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of Israel:
5. of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;
6. of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;
7. of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;
8. of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.
9. After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
10. and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
11. And all the angels stood around the throne, with the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
12. saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving, and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen."
13. Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?"
14. And I said to him, "Lord, you know." So he said to me, "These are the ones who are coming out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb.
15. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.
16. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; neither shall the sun strike them, nor any heat;
17. for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
This chapter describes people who are and who will be in the Christian heaven. It describes first their separation from evil people (verses 1-3); after that, those of them who are impelled by love toward the Lord and so by wisdom, of whom the higher heavens consist (verses 4-8); and those who are impelled by charity from the Lord and its accompanying faith because they fought against evils, of whom the lower heavens consist (verses 9-17).
The Contents of the Individual Verses:
| Verse Contents | Spiritual Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1. After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, | The whole of heaven now in an effort to execute the Last Judgment. |
| holding back the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. | The Lord's holding back and restraining a closer and thus stronger influx into the lower regions where good people were attached to evil ones. |
| 2. Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, | The Lord providing and moderating, |
| having the seal of the living God. | who alone knows the character of each and every person, and can distinguish and separate them from each other. |
| And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3. saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees | The Lord's restraining and holding back the closer and stronger influx into the lower regions, |
| till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads." | before those people were separated who were governed by truths springing from goodness from the Lord. |
| 4. And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand, | All people who acknowledge the Lord as God of heaven and earth and are governed by truths of doctrine springing from the goodness of love, received from Him through the Word. |
| sealed out of every tribe of Israel: | The heaven and the Lord's church formed from them. |
| 5. of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed; | Celestial love, which is love toward the Lord, and this in all those people who will be in the New Heaven and in the New Church. |
| of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed; | Wisdom springing from celestial love in those people who will be there. |
| of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed; | Useful life endeavors, which are the exercises of wisdom springing from that love, in those people who will be there. |
| 6. of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed; | Mutual love in those people. |
| of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed; | A perception of useful endeavor, and of what is useful, in those people. |
| of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed; | A will to serve and to put into practice in those people. |
| 7. of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed; | Spiritual love, which is love for the neighbor, in those people. |
| of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed; | An affection for truth springing from goodness, producing intelligence in those people. |
| of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed; | Goodness of life in those people. |
| 8. of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed; | The conjugal love of goodness and truth in those people. |
| of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed; | A doctrine of goodness and truth in those people. |
| of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed. | A life of truth springing from goodness in accord with doctrine in those people. |
| 9. After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could number, | All other people who are not among those enumerated and yet are in the New Heaven and the Lord's New Church, who form the lowest heaven and the external church, and whose character is known to the Lord alone. |
| of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, | All in the Christian world who have some religion springing from goodness and are guided by truths from doctrine, |
| standing before the throne and before the Lamb, | listening to the Lord and doing what He commands. |
| clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, | A communication and conjunction with the higher heavens, and a confession springing from Divine truths. |
| 10. and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" | An acknowledgment from the heart that the Lord is their Savior. |
| 11. And all the angels stood around the throne, with the elders and the four living creatures, | All in the whole of heaven listening and doing what the Lord commands. |
| and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, | A humbling of their heart, and in their humility an adoration of the Lord. |
| 12. saying, "Amen! | Divine truth and an affirmation in response to it. |
| Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving, | The Lord's spiritual Divine attributes; |
| and honor and power and might, | the Lord's celestial Divine attributes; |
| be to our God forever and ever. | these being in the Lord and emanating from the Lord to eternity. |
| Amen." | The agreement of all. |
| 13. Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?" 14. And I said to him, "Lord, you know." | Their desire to know and wish to inquire, and the reply and instruction given. |
| So he said to me, "These are ones who are coming out of the great tribulation, | They are people who have undergone temptations or trials, and have fought against evils and falsities, |
| and have washed their robes | who have cleansed their religious beliefs of the evils accompanying falsity, |
| and made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. | and by truths have purified those religious beliefs from the falsities accompanying evil, and so have been reformed by the Lord. |
| 15. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. | They are in the Lord's presence, and live constantly and faithfully in His church in accordance with the truths that they receive from Him. |
| 16. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; | Hereafter they will not lack goods and truths. |
| neither shall the sun strike them, nor any heat; | Hereafter they will not possess lusts for evil, nor for the falsity accompanying evil. |
| 17. for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them | The Lord alone will teach them |
| and lead them to living fountains of waters. | and lead them by the truths in the Word to conjunction with Him. |
| And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." | They will be caught up no longer in battles against evils and the accompanying falsities, and so will no longer experience times of distress, but will be surrounded by goods and truths and thus by heavenly joys emanating from the Lord. |
THE EXPOSITION
After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. (7:1) This symbolizes the whole of heaven now in an effort to execute the Last Judgment on the people who were in the world of spirits.
There follows now much concerning the state of the spiritual world just before the Last Judgment, which no one could know without its being revealed by the Lord. And because I have been given to see how the Last Judgment was executed, including the transformations which preceded it and the dispositions following it, I can relate therefore the symbolic meaning of everything in this chapter and in the chapters that follow.
[2] The four angels here symbolize the whole of heaven. The four corners of the earth symbolize the entire world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell. For the Last Judgment was executed on people who were in the world of spirits, and not on anyone in heaven, nor on anyone in hell.
Angels symbolize heaven because an angel in the highest sense means the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity (no. 344), and as heaven is heaven owing to the Lord, angels symbolize heaven as well.
[3] The four angels here symbolize the whole of heaven because they were seen standing at the four corners of the earth, and the four corners symbolize the four quarters of the compass.
They symbolize that the whole of heaven was now in an effort to execute the Last Judgment for the reason that when the Last Judgment was at hand, the Lord caused the heavens to draw closer over the world of spirits, and the closeness of the heavens produced such a change in the state of the inner constituents of the people's minds below that they saw nothing but terrors before their eyes.
[4] That corners symbolize quarters of the compass, and thus the four quarters all points, can be seen from the following passages:
You shall measure, outside the city, the corner toward the east..., the corner toward the south..., the corner toward the west..., and the corner toward the north... (Numbers 35:5)
You shall make the boards for the Tabernacle, ...for the south corner..., and for... the north corner... (Exodus 26:18, 20, 23)
And... the court..., for the south corner..., for the north corner..., for the west corner..., and... for the east corner... (Exodus 27:9, 11-13)
[5] The four quarters are also called four corners often in Ezekiel, as in Ezekiel 47:18-20, and 48.
Since corners symbolize the quarters of the compass, they also therefore symbolize everything, such as everything in heaven or in hell, or everything pertaining to goodness or to truth, as is apparent from the following:
(Satan) will go out to lead astray the nations which are at the four corners of the earth... (Revelation 20:8)
I will cut off nations, (and) their corners will be devastated. (Zephaniah 3:6)
...(Israel) gathered together as one man... And the corners of all the people stationed themselves... (Judges 20:1-2)
A scepter shall rise out of Israel, and crush the corners of Moab... (Numbers 24:17)
A day of trumpet and alarm... upon the high corners. (Zephaniah 1:16)
I will cast them into the ends of the corners. (Deuteronomy 32:26)
[6] That a corner symbolizes the lowest component supporting higher ones, as a foundation does a house, and so symbolizes also everything, is apparent from the following:
(He) will lay in Zion a corner stone..., the price of the laying of a foundation. (Isaiah 28:16)
They shall not take from it a stone for a corner... (Jeremiah 51:26)
From (Judah) shall come the corner stone... (Zechariah 10:4)
The stone which (they) rejected has become the corner stone. (Psalms 118:22, Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17-18)
Apocalypse Revealed #478
478. The mystery of God would be concluded, as He declared to His servants the prophets. This symbolically means that then will appear what was foretold in the Word of both Testaments and previously concealed, that after the Last Judgment upon those people who have destroyed the church, the Lord's kingdom will come.
To be concluded means, symbolically, to be fulfilled, to come to an end, and then to reappear. The mystery of God declared to the prophets symbolizes something foretold by the Lord in the Word and previously concealed. To declare good news means, symbolically, to proclaim the coming of the Lord and His kingdom, for the gospel is happy news. That this would come about after the Last Judgment was executed on the people who destroyed the church was also foretold in the Word. Therefore this, too, is symbolically meant.
It can be seen from this that all of these meanings are contained in these words.
[2] First we must say something here about the Lord's advent and His kingdom's being foretold in the Word of both Testaments:
In the Word of the Old Testament, in the spiritual sense of the prophetic portion, and also in its natural sense wherever the spiritual sense shines through, the subject is the Lord alone, namely, His advent in the fullness of time, a time when the goodness of charity and the truth of faith would no longer be present in the church, whose state then is called a consummation, a being laid waste, a desolation, and a cutting off. It includes as well His battles with the hells and victories over them, which constitute also the last judgment that He executed, and after that the creation of a new heaven and the establishment of a new church, which are the Lord's kingdom to come. All of this is found in the Word of the New Testament, too, in the portion called the Gospels, and in particular in the book of Revelation.
[3] That it is the Lord's kingdom that would be declared in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel is apparent in the next chapter (chapter 11) from the following:
Then the seventh angel sounded: and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" And the twenty-four elders... fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, "We give You thanks, O Lord God..., who are and who were and who are to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned. (Revelation 11:15-17)
[4] This mystery, in almost the same words as in Revelation here, is described in Daniel, where we find the following:
I heard the man clothed in linen..., when he held up his (hands) to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a set time of set times and a half..., when... all these things shall be finished... But he said, "Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end." (Daniel 12:7, 9)
Till the time of the end refers to the present time. That the Son of Man would then receive His kingdom - this Daniel foretells in these words:
I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! ...Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, and all peoples, nations, and languages will worship Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one which shall not perish. (Daniel 7:13-14)
[5] That declaring good news symbolizes the Lord's advent and His kingdom then, is apparent from the following passages:
Get up into the... mountain, O Zion, who brings good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, who brings good tidings... Say..., "Behold your God!" Behold, the Lord Jehovih is coming with strength, and His arm shall rule for Him. (Isaiah 40:9-10)
How delightful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of goodness, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, "Your King shall reign!" (Isaiah 52:7, cf. Nahum 1:15)
Sing to Jehovah, bless in His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day... ...Jehovah, for He is coming... (Psalms 96:2, 13)
The Spirit of the Lord Jehovih is upon Me; therefore Jehovah has anointed Me to bring good tidings to the poor..., to proclaim liberty to the captives..., to proclaim the year of Jehovah's good pleasure... (Isaiah 61:1-2)
The angel said to (Zacharias), "(Behold)..., your wife... will bear... a son..., (who) will go before (the Lord God) in the spirit and power of Elijah..., to prepare a people for the Lord... I am Gabriel..., and I was sent... to bring you these glad tidings." (Luke 1:13, 17, 19)
...the angel said to (the shepherds), "Do not be afraid, ...behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy... For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:10-11)
The Lord brought good tidings of the kingdom of God: Matthew 4:23; 9:35; Mark 1:14-15. So did John the Baptist: Luke 3:18.
The Lord also said to the Disciples,
Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to every creature. (Mark 16:15)
This, too, is the everlasting good news or gospel that "the angel flying in the midst of heaven" had "to proclaim to the those who dwell on the earth" (Revelation 14:6).
[6] Our being told that the mystery of God would be concluded means that something would be fulfilled that was not fulfilled before, namely, the coming of the Lord's kingdom. It was not fulfilled by the Jews because they did not acknowledge the Lord. Neither has it been fulfilled by Christians because they do not acknowledge the Lord to be God of heaven and earth even in respect to His human element; for they regard this as being like anyone else's human element. Consequently they do not turn to Him directly, even though He is Jehovah who came into the world.
