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Revelation 22

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1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.

9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst Come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #151

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151. "'And I will give him the morning star.'" (2:28) This symbolizes intelligence and wisdom then.

Stars symbolize concepts of goodness and truth, as may be seen in no 51 above; and because concepts of goodness and truth are the means to intelligence and wisdom, therefore these concepts are symbolically meant by the morning star. It is called the morning star, because the people meant here will be given intelligence and wisdom by the Lord when He comes to establish the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem; for He says, "Hold fast what you have till I come" (verse 25), which symbolically means, "so that they may retain the few truths that they know from the Word about charity and its resulting faith, and live according to them, until the New Heaven and New Church are formed, which are the Lord's advent" (no. 145).

[2] It is called the morning star because the morning symbolizes the Lord's advent, when the New Church is formed. That this is the meaning of the morning in the Word is apparent from the following passages:

Till the two thousand three hundredth evening and morning, then the sanctuary shall be made right... The vision of the evening and the morning... is the truth. (Daniel 8:14, 26)

One is calling to me from Seir, "Watchman..., watchman, what of the night?" The watchman said, "The morning comes, and also the night. (Isaiah 21:11-12)

Evening and night symbolize the final period of the old church, and morning the initial period of a new church.

An end has come... The morning has come upon you, you who dwell in the land... Behold, the day... has come! The morning has gone forth. (Ezekiel 7:6-7, 10)

Jehovah... every morning will bring His judgment to light, and it shall not be lacking. (Zephaniah 3:5)

God is in the midst of her...; God shall help her when He beholds the morning. (Psalms 46:5)

I have waited for Jehovah... My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, [indeed] than those who watch for the morning... For... with Him is abundant redemption, and He shall redeem Israel... (Psalms 130:5-8)

[3] And elsewhere. Morning in these passages means the Lord's advent, when He came into the world and established a new church, and likewise now. Moreover, because the Lord alone imparts intelligence and wisdom to the people who will be people of His New Church, and as everything that the Lord imparts embody Him because they are His, therefore the Lord says that He is the morning star:

I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star. (Revelation 22:16)

He is also called the morning in 2 Samuel:

The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me: .".. He is as the light of the morning..., a morning without clouds...." (2 Samuel 23:3-4)

  
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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.

The Bible

 

Psalms 90:1

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1 LORD, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.