The Bible

 

Daniel 8

Study

   

1 In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me, Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.

2 And I saw in the vision; now it was so, that when I saw, I was in Shushan the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai.

3 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.

4 I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; and no beasts could stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself.

5 And as I was considering, behold, a he-goat came from the west over the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

6 And he came to the ram that had the two horns, which I saw standing before the river, and ran upon him in the fury of his power.

7 And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with anger against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him; but he cast him down to the ground, and trampled upon him; and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.

8 And the he-goat magnified himself exceedingly: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and instead of it there came up four notable [horns] toward the four winds of heaven.

9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious [land].

10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and some of the host and of the stars it cast down to the ground, and trampled upon them.

11 Yea, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the host; and it took away from him the continual [burnt-offering], and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.

12 And the host was given over [to it] together with the continual [burnt-offering] through transgression; and it cast down truth to the ground, and it did [its pleasure] and prospered.

13 Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said unto that certain one who spake, How long shall be the vision [concerning] the continual [burnt-offering], and the transgression that maketh desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?

14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings [and] mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

15 And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.

16 And I heard a man's voice between [the banks of] the Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.

17 So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was affrighted, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man; for the vision belongeth to the time of the end.

18 Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he touched me, and set me upright.

19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the latter time of the indignation; for it belongeth to the appointed time of the end.

20 The ram which thou sawest, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.

21 And the rough he-goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

22 And as for that which was broken, in the place whereof four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power.

23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.

24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and do [his pleasure]; and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the holy people.

25 And through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and in [their] security shall he destroy many: he shall also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

26 And the vision of the evenings and mornings which hath been told is true: but shut thou up the vision; for it belongeth to many days [to come].

27 And I, Daniel, fainted, and was sick certain days; then I rose up, and did the king's business: and I wondered at the vision, but none understood it.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #535

Study this Passage

  
/ 1232  
  

535. And I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth, signifies the knowledges of truth falsified, and thus turned into falsities. This is evident from the signification of "stars," as being the knowledges of good and truth (of which above, n. 72, 402); and from the signification of "gliding" and "falling from heaven," as being to perish; and the knowledges of truth perish when denied and when falsified, here when falsified; for this book does not treat of those who deny truths, but of those who falsify them. For those who deny truths are not among those who are in "the former heaven," and who are cast down therefrom into hell at the day of the Last Judgment, for such are cast down thither immediately after death. But in this book those who, for various reasons, falsify truths are treated of, for such made for themselves a heaven that was afterwards destroyed. Those falsify the knowledges of truth and good from the Word who acknowledge the Word but apply it to favor their loves and to favor principles that are from self-intelligence, thus they turn the truths of the Word into falsities, and thus the knowledges of good and truth with them perish. From this it can be seen that "a star from heaven fallen unto the earth" signifies that the knowledges of truth are falsified, and thus turned into falsities (See above, n. 517).

[2] "To fall down" or "to fall from heaven unto the earth" signifies to perish, that is, to have no longer any place in heaven but to be cast down therefrom and conjoined with hell, as is evident from what follows, where it is said "there was given unto him the key of the pit of the abyss, and he opened it," "the pit of the abyss" signifying the hell where and from which are the falsities of evil. "To fall from heaven unto the earth" has a similar signification above in Revelation:

And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth (Revelation 6:13).

The dragon with his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth (1 Revelation 12:4).

In Daniel:

The horn of the he-goat waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and some of the host and of the stars it cast down to the ground and trampled upon them (Daniel 8:10).

In Matthew:

Immediately after the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the stars shall fall from heaven (Matthew 24:29).

The like is signified by the Lord's words in Luke:

Jesus said, I beheld Satan as lightning falling from heaven (Luke 10:18).

"Satan" means every falsity that destroys truth, for the hells where and from which are such falsities are called "Satan," while the hells where and from which are the evils that destroy goods, are called the "devil," therefore "Satan as lightning falling from heaven" means that every falsity that destroyed the truth of the Word was cast down out of heaven. So in Revelation:

The great dragon was cast down to the earth, and his angels with him, and their place was not found anymore in heaven (Revelation 12:8, 9).

From this it can be seen that "to glide down," "to fall" and "to be cast down out of heaven to the earth" signify to have place no more in heaven, but in hell, thus to perish, the "earth" here also signifying what is cursed (as was shown above at the end of n. 304.

[3] Because heaven is conjoined with man by means of the Word, those who falsify the truths of the Word by interpretations to confirm evils of life avert themselves from heaven and turn themselves to hell. For heaven is in the spiritual sense of the Word, and man is in its natural sense; consequently heaven is conjoined with the world by means of the Word. For this reason the Word is also called a "covenant" and a covenant is a conjunction. This is why those who apply the Word to evils of life and to the false principles that are from self-intelligence cannot be conjoined with heaven; and those who are not conjoined with heaven are conjoined with hell; for man must be either in heaven or in hell; it is not permitted him to hang between the two. But those who apply the Word to such falsities as do not disagree with the good of life, such as exist with the upright Gentiles that do not have the Word and with the simple in the church who believe in the Lord and lead a good life, because from their falsities they look to good, have such falsities applied by the Lord to good, and are turned towards heaven; for the essential thing in heaven is the good of life, which is the same as the good of love to the Lord and the good of charity towards the neighbor; for in heaven everyone has perception of truth, intelligence, and wisdom, in accordance with that good. This makes clear what is meant by falsifying the truth from the Word, which is here signified by "a star from heaven fallen unto the earth."

  
/ 1232  
  

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