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Daniel 7

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1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters.

2 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of heaven brake forth upon the great sea.

3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.

4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand upon two feet as a man; and a man's heart was given to it.

5 And, behold, another beast, a second, like to a bear; and it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

6 After this I beheld, and, lo, another, like a leopard, which had upon its back four wings of a bird; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

7 After this I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, a fourth beast, terrible and powerful, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.

9 I beheld till thrones were placed, and one that was ancient of days did sit: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, [and] the wheels thereof burning fire.

10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousands of thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

11 I beheld at that time because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld even till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed, and it was given to be burned with fire.

12 And as for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

13 I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

15 As for me, Daniel, my spirit was grieved in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.

16 I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.

17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, that shall arise out of the earth.

18 But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.

19 Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was diverse from all of them, exceeding terrible, whose teeth were of iron, and its nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet;

20 and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and the other [horn] which came up, and before which three fell, even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake great things, whose look was more stout than its fellows.

21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;

22 until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

24 And as for the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise: and another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the former, and he shall put down three kings.

25 And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High; and he shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.

26 But the judgment shall be set, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.

27 And the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High: his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

28 Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts much troubled me, and my countenance was changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christianity #851

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851. I foresee that many people who read the accounts of memorable occurrences that follow the chapters are going to believe that I fabricated them out of my own imagination, but I assert in truth that they were not made up. I truly saw and heard those things. And I did not hear or see them when my mind was in some sleepy state; I was in a state of full wakefulness.

The Lord chose to manifest himself to me and assign me the task of presenting the teachings that will be a part of his new church, which is meant by the New Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation. For this purpose he opened the inner levels of my mind or spirit, which allowed me to be in the spiritual world with angels and at the same time in the physical world with people. This has gone on for twenty-seven years now. Who in the Christian world would have known anything about heaven or hell if the Lord had not chosen to open the sight of someone's spirit and show and teach that person about them?

[2] The types of things described in the accounts of memorable occurrences are indeed the types of things that appear in heaven, as is very obvious from the types of things seen and described by John in the Book of Revelation, and also the types of things seen and described by the prophets in the Word of the Old Testament.

In the Book of Revelation, the following examples occur. John saw the Son of Humankind in the middle of seven lampstands. He saw a tabernacle, a temple, an ark, and an altar in heaven. He saw a book that was sealed with seven seals. He saw the book opened, and horses that came out of it. He saw four creatures around a throne; twelve thousand people who had been chosen from each tribe; locusts rising up from an abyss; a woman giving birth to a male child and running away into a desert to avoid a dragon; two beasts, one rising up out of the sea, and another out of the land; an angel flying in the midst of heaven who had the everlasting gospel; a sea of glass mingled with fire; seven angels who had the seven last plagues; bowls that these angels poured out onto the earth, into the sea, into the rivers, into the sun, onto the throne of the beast, into the Euphrates, and into the air; a woman sitting on a scarlet beast; a dragon thrown into a lake of fire and sulfur; a white horse; a great supper; a new heaven and a new earth; the holy city Jerusalem coming down from heaven, with details of its entrances, its wall, and the wall's foundations. He also saw a river of living water, and trees of life producing different types of fruit every month. These and many other things were all seen by John when his spirit was in the spiritual world and in heaven.

Similar things were also seen by the apostles after the resurrection of the Lord; for example, the visions that Peter had (Acts of the Apostles 11), and the things that were heard and seen by Paul.

Similar things were also seen by the prophets and recorded in the Old Testament. For example, Ezekiel saw four creatures that were angel guardians (Ezekiel 1 and 10); a new temple and a new earth, and an angel measuring them (Ezekiel 40-48). Ezekiel was brought to Jerusalem and saw abominations there; he was also brought to Chaldea (Ezekiel 8 and 11).

[3] Something similar happened to Zechariah. He saw a man riding among the myrtle trees (Zechariah 1:8 and following). He saw four horns and then a man who had a string in his hand for measuring (Zechariah 2). He saw a flying scroll and a measuring container (Zechariah 5:1, 6). He saw four chariots between two mountains, and saw horses as well (Zechariah 6:1 and following).

In the case of Daniel, he saw four beasts rising up out of the sea (Daniel 7:1 and following). He saw the Son of Humankind coming in the clouds of heaven, whose dominion will not pass, and whose kingdom will not perish (Daniel 7:13-14). He saw battles between a ram and a goat (Daniel 8:1 and following). He saw the angel Gabriel and spoke with him (Daniel 9).

Elisha's servant saw chariots and horses of fire around Elisha; he saw them when his eyes were opened (2 Kings 6:17).

From these and many other passages in the Word it is clear that things of this nature in the spiritual world have appeared to many people both before and after the Lord's Coming. Why be surprised that this is also happening now, when a church is beginning, when the New Jerusalem is coming down from heaven?

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for the permission to use this translation.

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