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 #473

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473. Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them." (10:4) This symbolically means that these things must indeed be disclosed, but they are not accepted until after those people meant by the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet have been cast out of the world of spirits, because it would be dangerous before then.

The voices uttered by the seven thunders are declarations expressing what we have just said in no. 472 above. And because these constitute the essential doctrine of the New Church, they are mentioned three times.

In the natural sense, to write means to commit to paper and thus to record for posterity; but in the spiritual sense, to write means, symbolically, to commit to the heart for its acceptance. Sealing something up, therefore, and not writing it. This means, symbolically, not to commit it to the heart or accept it until after the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet have been cast out of the world of spirits, because it would be dangerous before then. That is because the dragon, beast and false prophet symbolize people caught up in a faith divorced from charity, and these cling steadfastly and tenaciously to their belief that one must go to God the Father and not to the Lord directly, and that the Lord is not God of heaven and earth as regards His humanity. Consequently, as regards the doctrine presented just above in no. 472, which was disclosed and continues to be disclosed, symbolized by the little book's being open - if, before the dragon was cast out, that doctrine were to be received by others than people possessing charity and its accompanying faith, who also are symbolized by John (nos. 5, 17), it would be rejected not only by them, but through them by everyone else as well. And if not rejected, still it would be falsified, even profaned.

[2] The reality of this is clearly apparent from the following chapters in Revelation when viewed in their sequence, in which we are told that they killed the Lord's two witnesses (chapter 11); that the dragon stood before the woman ready to give birth, to devour her child, and that after it fought with Michael, it pursued the woman (chapter 12); that the two beasts, one rising up from the sea and one from the earth, made common cause with him (chapter 13); that they gathered their followers together to do battle at a place called Armageddon (chapter 16); and finally that they gathered the nations Gog and Magog to do battle (chapter 20, verses 8-9); but that the dragon, beast and false prophet were cast into the lake of fire and brimstone (chapter, verse 10); and that after this took place, the New Church, which was to be the Lamb's bride, came down out of heaven (chapters 21, 22).

These are the things meant by the charge, "Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them." Also by the subsequent statement in this chapter, that "in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel..., the mystery of God would be concluded, as He declared to His servants the prophets" (verse 7). So, too, by this statement in the next chapter, "Then the seventh angel sounded: and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ,'" (chapter 11:, verse 15). And further, by a number of similar statements in the following chapters.

On this subject, something may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord 61.

  
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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.