The Bible

 

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 #284

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284. "And we shall reign on the earth." This symbolically means, and they will dwell in His kingdom, He in them and they in Him.

To reign on the earth means nothing other than to be in the Lord's kingdom and to be united with Him in it, according to these words of the Lord:

...that all (those who believe in Me) may be one; (and one) as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us... The glory which You gave Me I have given to them, that they may be one as We are one, I in them, and You in Me..., that they also... may be with Me where I am... (John 17:20-24)

So then, since they are thus one with the Lord, and together with the Lord form the kingdom that is called the kingdom of God, it is apparent that nothing else is symbolically meant by reigning.

Reigning is mentioned because of the prior statement, "You have made us kings and priests;" and because kings symbolize people who are governed by wisdom springing from Divine truths from the Lord, and priests symbolize people who are governed by love springing from Divine good from Him (no. 20).

It is because of this that the Lord's kingdom is also called a kingdom of saints (Daniel 7:18, 27); and of the Apostles it is said that with the Lord they will judge the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28), even though it is the Lord alone who judges and reigns. For He judges and reigns from Divine good by means of Divine truth, which they have in them as well from Him. But anyone who believes that what they have from the Lord is something of their own, is expelled from the kingdom, that is, from heaven.

Reigning has the same symbolic meaning in the following places in the book of Revelation:

...they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:6, cf. 20:4)

And of those who will come into the New Jerusalem, it is said:

(The Lamb) gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever. (Revelation 22:5 [cf. Revelation 21:23])

  
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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

 

Deuteronomy 12:5

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5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come: