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 #472

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472. And when he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. This symbolically means that the Lord has disclosed throughout the whole of heaven what is in the little book.

This is the symbolic meaning, because we read next that John wished to write what the seven thunders said, but that he was told from heaven to seal those things up and not to write them, and later that he ate the little book, which in his mouth was as sweet as honey, but made his stomach bitter. The symbolic meaning is that present within were such things as would not yet be accepted. The reason may be seen in the next number.

But now I will reveal what the little book had in it. The little book had in it the same contents as found from beginning to end in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, which are as follows:

[2] The Sacred Scripture throughout has the Lord as its subject, and the Lord is the Word (nos. 1-7).

The Lord's fulfilling all things of the Law 1 means that He fulfilled all things of the Word (nos. 8-11).

The Lord came into the world to conquer the hells and glorify His humanity, and His suffering of the cross was the final battle by which He fully overcame the hells and fully glorified His humanity (nos. 12-14).

By His suffering of the cross the Lord did not take away sins, but bore them (nos. 15-17).

Any imputation of the Lord's merit is simply the forgiveness of sins following repentance (no. 18).

The Lord is called the Son of God in relation to His Divine humanity, and the Son of Man in relation to the Word (nos. 19-28).

The Lord made His humanity Divine from the Divinity in Him, and thus became one with the Father (nos. 29-36).

The Lord is God Himself, from whom the Word originated and who is the subject of the Word (nos. 37-44).

There is one God, and the Lord is that God (no. 45).

The Holy Spirit is the Divinity emanating from the Lord, and it is the Lord Himself (nos. 46-54).

The doctrine of the Athanasian Creed accords with the truth, provided a trinity of persons is interpreted to mean a trinity of person, which is present in the Lord (nos. 55-61).

[3] We are told that the seven thunders uttered their voices because the Lord's speech descending through the heavens into the lower regions sounds like thunder. And because He speaks at the same time throughout the whole of heaven, thus in fullness, there are said to be seven thunders, for the number seven means, symbolically, all people or all things, and thus completeness (nos. 10, 390). Consequently thunder also symbolizes instruction and a perception of truth (no. 236), and here discovery and disclosure as well.

That a voice from heaven sounds like thunder when it comes from the Lord is apparent from the following:

(Jesus said,) "Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again." (John 12:28-30)

The multitude heard this as thunder.

(God roars with His voice;) He thunders with His majestic voice... (Job 37:4-5)

Jehovah thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice. (2 Samuel 22:14)

I heard a voice from heaven... like the voice of loud thunder. (Revelation 14:2)

You called... and... I answered you in secret with thunder. (Psalms 81:7)

Footnotes:

  
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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

 

Revelation 5

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1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.