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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 #952

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952. 22:15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. This symbolically means that no one is received into the New Jerusalem who disregards the Ten Commandments and does not refrain from any of the evils listed there as being sins, and therefore lives caught up in them.

This is the general symbolic meaning of the items listed, because they have reference to the Ten Commandments, and what they mean here can be seen from the explanation in no. 892 above, where a similar list is found. Only here dogs are listed as well, which symbolize people caught up in lusts, the kind of people addressed in the ninth and tenth commandments of the Decalogue.

[2] Dogs in general symbolize people who are caught up in lusts of every kind and indulge in them, particularly people caught up in merely carnal pleasures, especially in the pleasure of gluttony, which constitutes their only delight. Consequently dogs in the spiritual world are the way people appear who have indulged their gullet and tongue, and they are called there carnal appetites personified. Because people of that character are dull-minded, they regard matters connected with church as unimportant. Therefore we are told that they will stand outside, which is to say that they will not be received into the Lord's New Church.

[3] Dogs have similar symbolic meanings in the following passages in the Word:

His watchmen are blind..., they are all mute dogs..., watching, lying down, loving to sleep. They are single-minded dogs; they never have enough. (Isaiah 56:10-11)

They make a racket like dogs, and go all around the city... They wander about looking for food; if they do not get their fill, they are then up all night. (Psalms 59:6, 14-15)

The vilest of people are meant by dogs in Job 30:1, 1 Samuel 24:14, 2 Samuel 9:8, and 2 Kings 8:13, and also those who are unclean. So we are told in Deuteronomy,

You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog into the house of Jehovah... for any votive offering whatever, for both... are an abomination to Jehovah your God. (Deuteronomy 23:18)

  
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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 91:9

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9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;