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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 #948

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948. 22:11 "He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still." This symbolizes the state of everyone in particular after death and before being judged, and in general before the Last Judgment, that those caught up in evils will have their goods taken away, and those caught up in falsities will have their truths taken away, and conversely, that people prompted by goods will have their evils taken away, and those prompted by truths will have their falsities taken away.

He who is unjust symbolizes someone caught up in evils, and he who is righteous someone prompted by goods (no. 668). He who is filthy or unclean symbolizes someone caught up in falsities (nos. 702, 728, 924), and he who is holy someone prompted by truths (nos. 173, 586, 666, 852). It follows from this that to let him who is unjust be unjust still means, symbolically, that someone caught up in evils will be still more caught up in evils, and that to let him who is filthy be filthy still means, symbolically, that someone caught up in falsities will be still more caught up in falsities; and conversely, that to let him who is righteous be righteous still means, symbolically, that someone prompted by goods will be still more prompted by goods, and that to let him who is holy be holy still means, symbolically, that someone prompted by truths will be still more prompted by truths.

Moreover, it also symbolically means that people caught up in evils will have their goods taken away, and those caught up in falsities will have their truths taken away, and conversely, that people prompted by goods will have their evils taken away, and those prompted by truths will have their falsities taken away. For someone caught up in evils is still more caught up in evils to the extent that his goods are taken away, and someone caught up in falsities is still more caught up in falsities to the extent that his truths are taken away; and conversely, someone governed by goods is still more governed by goods to the extent that his evils are taken away, and someone governed by truths is still more governed by truths to the extent that his falsities are taken away.

Either the one or the other befalls everyone after death, for thus they are prepared, the evil for hell, and the good for heaven. For an evil person cannot take goods and truths with him to hell, nor can a good person take evils and falsities with him into heaven, since that would throw both heaven and hell into disorder.

[2] It must be rightly known, however, that we mean the inwardly evil and the inwardly good. For the inwardly evil may be outwardly good, since they can behave and speak as though they were good, as hypocrites do, and the inwardly good may at times be outwardly evil, since they can do evil things and utter falsities, and yet repent and wish to be instructed in truths.

The case here is the same as that declared by the Lord:

...to everyone who has, more will be given, that he may have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away." (Matthew 13:12; 25:29; Mark 4:25; Luke 8:18; 19:26)

This befalls all people after death before being judged. It also was the case with people collectively who either perished or were saved at the time of the Last Judgment. For the Last Judgment could not take place before then, because as long as the evil held on to their goods and truths, they were conjoined in outward appearances with angels in the lowest heavens. And yet they had to be separated. This, too, was foretold by the Lord in Matthew 13:24-30, 38-40, an event that may be seen explained in nos. 324, 329, 343, 346, 398 above.

It can be seen from this what is symbolically meant in the spiritual sense by letting him who is unjust be unjust still, by letting him who is filthy be filthy still, by letting him who is righteous be righteous still, and by letting him who is holy be holy still.

Something similar is meant by these verses in Daniel:

Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purged and cleansed...; the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand; but those who understand shall understand. (Daniel 12:9-10)

  
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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 10

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1 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:

2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,

3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.

4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.

5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,

6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:

7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

8 And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.

9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.

10 And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

   

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