The Bible

Daniel 7

¹ ἔτους πρώτου βασιλεύοντος βαλτασαρ χώρας βαβυλωνίας δανιηλ ὅραμα εἶδε παρὰ κεφαλὴν ἐπὶ τῆς κοίτης αὐτοῦ τότε δανιηλ τὸ ὅραμα ὃ εἶδεν ἔγραψεν εἰς κεφάλαια λόγων

² ἐπὶ τῆς κοίτης μου ἐθεώρουν καθ' ὕπνους νυκτὸς καὶ ἰδοὺ τέσσαρες ἄνεμοι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐνέπεσον εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν τὴν μεγάλην

³ καὶ τέσσαρα θηρία ἀνέβαινον ἐκ τῆς θαλάσσης διαφέροντα ἓν παρὰ τὸ ἕν

⁴ τὸ πρῶτον ὡσεὶ λέαινα ἔχουσα πτερὰ ὡσεὶ ἀετοῦ ἐθεώρουν ἕως ὅτου ἐτίλη τὰ πτερὰ αὐτῆς καὶ ἤρθη ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐπὶ ποδῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἐστάθη καὶ ἀνθρωπίνη καρδία ἐδόθη αὐτῇ

⁵ καὶ ἰδοὺ μετ' αὐτὴν ἄλλο θηρίον ὁμοίωσιν ἔχον ἄρκου καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἑνὸς πλευροῦ ἐστάθη καὶ τρία πλευρὰ ἦν ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτῆς καὶ οὕτως εἶπεν ἀνάστα κατάφαγε σάρκας πολλάς

⁶ καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐθεώρουν θηρίον ἄλλο ὡσεὶ πάρδαλιν καὶ πτερὰ τέσσαρα ἐπέτεινον ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ καὶ τέσσαρες κεφαλαὶ τῷ θηρίῳ καὶ γλῶσσα ἐδόθη αὐτῷ

⁷ μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἐθεώρουν ἐν ὁράματι τῆς νυκτὸς θηρίον τέταρτον φοβερόν καὶ ὁ φόβος αὐτοῦ ὑπερφέρων ἰσχύι ἔχον ὀδόντας σιδηροῦς μεγάλους ἐσθίον καὶ κοπανίζον κύκλῳ τοῖς ποσὶ καταπατοῦν διαφόρως χρώμενον παρὰ πάντα τὰ πρὸ αὐτού θηρία εἶχε δὲ κέρατα δέκα

⁸ καὶ βουλαὶ πολλαὶ ἐν τοῖς κέρασιν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄλλο ἓν κέρας ἀνεφύη ἀνὰ μέσον αὐτῶν μικρὸν ἐν τοῖς κέρασιν αὐτοῦ καὶ τρία τῶν κεράτων τῶν πρώτων ἐξηράνθησαν δι' αὐτοῦ καὶ ἰδοὺ ὀφθαλμοὶ ὥσπερ ὀφθαλμοὶ ἀνθρώπινοι ἐν τῷ κέρατι τούτῳ καὶ στόμα λαλοῦν μεγάλα καὶ ἐποίει πόλεμον πρὸς τοὺς ἁγίους

⁹ ἐθεώρουν ἕως ὅτε θρόνοι ἐτέθησαν καὶ παλαιὸς ἡμερῶν ἐκάθητο ἔχων περιβολὴν ὡσεὶ χιόνα καὶ τὸ τρίχωμα τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ ὡσεὶ ἔριον λευκὸν καθαρόν ὁ θρόνος ὡσεὶ φλὸξ πυρός

¹⁰ καὶ ἐξεπορεύετο κατὰ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ποταμὸς πυρός χίλιαι χιλιάδες ἐθεράπευον αὐτὸν καὶ μύριαι μυριάδες παρειστήκεισαν αὐτῷ καὶ κριτήριον ἐκάθισε καὶ βίβλοι ἠνεῴχθησαν

¹¹ ἐθεώρουν τότε τὴν φωνὴν τῶν λόγων τῶν μεγάλων ὧν τὸ κέρας ἐλάλει καὶ ἀπετυμπανίσθη τὸ θηρίον καὶ ἀπώλετο τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐδόθη εἰς καῦσιν πυρός

¹² καὶ τοὺς κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ ἀπέστησε τῆς ἐξουσίας αὐτῶν καὶ χρόνος ζωῆς ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς ἕως χρόνου καὶ καιροῦ

¹³ ἐθεώρουν ἐν ὁράματι τῆς νυκτὸς καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὡς υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ἤρχετο καὶ ὡς παλαιὸς ἡμερῶν παρῆν καὶ οἱ παρεστηκότες παρῆσαν αὐτῷ

¹⁴ καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ ἐξουσία καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη τῆς γῆς κατὰ γένη καὶ πᾶσα δόξα αὐτῷ λατρεύουσα καὶ ἡ ἐξουσία αὐτοῦ ἐξουσία αἰώνιος ἥτις οὐ μὴ ἀρθῇ καὶ ἡ βασιλεία αὐτοῦ ἥτις οὐ μὴ φθαρῇ

¹⁵ καὶ ἀκηδιάσας ἐγὼ δανιηλ ἐν τούτοις ἐν τῷ ὁράματι τῆς νυκτὸς

¹⁶ προσῆλθον πρὸς ἕνα τῶν ἑστώτων καὶ τὴν ἀκρίβειαν ἐζήτουν παρ' αὐτοῦ ὑπὲρ πάντων τούτων ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ λέγει μοι καὶ τὴν κρίσιν τῶν λόγων ἐδήλωσέ μοι

¹⁷ ταῦτα τὰ θηρία τὰ μεγάλα εἰσὶ τέσσαρες βασιλεῖαι αἳ ἀπολοῦνται ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς

¹⁸ καὶ παραλήψονται τὴν βασιλείαν ἅγιοι ὑψίστου καὶ καθέξουσι τὴν βασιλείαν ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος καὶ ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος τῶν αἰώνων

¹⁹ τότε ἤθελον ἐξακριβάσασθαι περὶ τοῦ θηρίου τοῦ τετάρτου τοῦ διαφθείροντος πάντα καὶ ὑπερφόβου καὶ ἰδοὺ οἱ ὀδόντες αὐτοῦ σιδηροῖ καὶ οἱ ὄνυχες αὐτοῦ χαλκοῖ κατεσθίοντες πάντας κυκλόθεν καὶ καταπατοῦντες τοῖς ποσί

²⁰ καὶ περὶ τῶν δέκα κεράτων αὐτοῦ τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς καὶ τοῦ ἑνὸς τοῦ ἄλλου τοῦ προσφυέντος καὶ ἐξέπεσαν δι' αὐτοῦ τρία καὶ τὸ κέρας ἐκεῖνο εἶχεν ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ στόμα λαλοῦν μεγάλα καὶ ἡ πρόσοψις αὐτοῦ ὑπερέφερε τὰ ἄλλα

²¹ καὶ κατενόουν τὸ κέρας ἐκεῖνο πόλεμον συνιστάμενον πρὸς τοὺς ἁγίους καὶ τροπούμενον αὐτοὺς

²² ἕως τοῦ ἐλθεῖν τὸν παλαιὸν ἡμερῶν καὶ τὴν κρίσιν ἔδωκε τοῖς ἁγίοις τοῦ ὑψίστου καὶ ὁ καιρὸς ἐδόθη καὶ τὸ βασίλειον κατέσχον οἱ ἅγιοι

²³ καὶ ἐρρέθη μοι περὶ τοῦ θηρίου τοῦ τετάρτου ὅτι βασιλεία τετάρτη ἔσται ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἥτις διοίσει παρὰ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν καὶ ἀναστατώσει αὐτὴν καὶ καταλεανεῖ αὐτήν

²⁴ καὶ τὰ δέκα κέρατα τῆς βασιλείας δέκα βασιλεῖς στήσονται καὶ ὁ ἄλλος βασιλεὺς μετὰ τούτους στήσεται καὶ αὐτὸς διοίσει κακοῖς ὑπὲρ τοὺς πρώτους καὶ τρεῖς βασιλεῖς ταπεινώσει

²⁵ καὶ ῥήματα εἰς τὸν ὕψιστον λαλήσει καὶ τοὺς ἁγίους τοῦ ὑψίστου κατατρίψει καὶ προσδέξεται ἀλλοιῶσαι καιροὺς καὶ νόμον καὶ παραδοθήσεται πάντα εἰς τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ ἕως καιροῦ καὶ καιρῶν καὶ ἕως ἡμίσους καιροῦ

²⁶ καὶ ἡ κρίσις καθίσεται καὶ τὴν ἐξουσίαν ἀπολοῦσι καὶ βουλεύσονται μιᾶναι καὶ ἀπολέσαι ἕως τέλους

²⁷ καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν καὶ τὴν ἐξουσίαν καὶ τὴν μεγαλειότητα αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν πασῶν τῶν ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν βασιλειῶν ἔδωκε λαῷ ἁγίῳ ὑψίστου βασιλεῦσαι βασιλείαν αἰώνιον καὶ πᾶσαι αἱ ἐξουσίαι αὐτῷ ὑποταγήσονται καὶ πειθαρχήσουσιν αὐτῷ

²⁸ ἕως καταστροφῆς τοῦ λόγου ἐγὼ δανιηλ σφόδρα ἐκστάσει περιειχόμην καὶ ἡ ἕξις μου διήνεγκεν ἐμοί καὶ τὸ ῥῆμα ἐν καρδίᾳ μου ἐστήριξα

From Swedenborg's Works

Apocalypse Revealed #945

Study this Passage

945. 22:8 Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. This means that John supposed that the angel sent to him by the Lord to keep him in a state of the spirit was the God who revealed these things, when in fact that was not the case, as the angel only showed him what the Lord presented.

Clearly John supposed that the angel sent to him was the Lord Himself, for we are told that he fell down to worship before the angel's feet. But that it was not as he supposed is apparent from the next verse, in which the angel tells him that he is his fellow servant: "Worship God." That the angel was sent to John by the Lord is apparent from verse 16, which says, "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches."

But behind this lies the following secret: The Lord sent the angel to John in order to keep him in a state of the spirit and to show him in that state the visions he saw. For whatever John saw, he saw not with the eyes of his body, but with the eyes of his spirit, as can be seen from the passages in which he says that he was in the spirit and seeing a vision (Revelation 1:10; 9:17; 17:3; 21:10), thus everywhere that he says "he saw." And a person can enter that state and be kept in it only by angels who are closely attached to the person, who induce their own spiritual state on the interiors of his mind. For this raises the person into the light of heaven, and in that light he sees sights in heaven and not in the world.

[2] Ezekiel, Zechariah, Daniel, and other prophets were at times in the same state, but not when they spoke the Word. When they spoke the Word they were not in the spirit, but conscious in the body, and the words they wrote they heard from Jehovah Himself, that is, from the Lord.

These two states experienced by the prophets must be properly distinguished. The prophets themselves also properly distinguished them, for they everywhere say when they wrote the Word from Jehovah that Jehovah spoke with them and to them, and most often, "Thus says Jehovah," or "the word of Jehovah." However, when they were in the other state, they say that they were in the spirit or seeing in a vision, as can be seen from the following: (Ezekiel said,) "The spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision... of God into Chaldea, to those in captivity. So the vision that I saw went up upon me." (Ezekiel 11:1, 24)

Ezekiel says that the spirit lifted him up and that he heard behind him an earthquake, among other things (Ezekiel 3:12, 14). Also that the spirit lifted him up between earth and heaven, and brought him in visions of God to Jerusalem, where he saw abominations (Ezekiel 8:3ff.). Therefore he was also seeing in a vision of God or in the spirit when he saw four living creatures, which were cherubim (Ezekiel 1 and 10). And when he saw a new temple and a new land, and an angel measuring them (Ezekiel 40; 41; 42; 43; 44; 45; 46; 47; 48). He says that he was then seeing in the visions of God (Ezekiel 40:2), and that the spirit lifted him up (Ezekiel 43:5).

[3] It was the same with Zechariah, who had an angel with him at the time when he saw a man riding among the myrtle trees (Zechariah 1:8ff.). When he saw the four horns, and then the man with a measuring line in his hand (Zechariah 1:18; 2:1ff.). When he saw Joshua, the high priest (Zechariah 3:1ff.). When he saw the lampstand and two olive trees (Zechariah 4:1ff.). When he saw the flying scroll and the ephah (Zechariah 5:1, 6). And when he saw the four chariots and their horses coming from between two mountains (Zechariah 6:1ff.).

Daniel was in the same state when he saw four beasts coming up from the sea (Daniel 7:1ff.), and when he saw the combat of the ram and the male goat (Daniel 8:1ff.). That he saw these sights in visions is said in Daniel 7:1-2, 7, 13; 8:2; 10:1, 7-8. Moreover, that he saw the angel Gabriel and spoke with him in a vision (Daniel 9:21).

It was the same with John when he saw the sights he described, as when he saw the Son of Man in the midst of the seven lampstands; when he saw the tabernacle, ¹ the temple, ² the ark, ³ and the altar ⁴ in heaven; the dragon and its combat with Michael; ⁵ the beasts; ⁶ the woman sitting on the scarlet beast; ⁷ the new heaven and new earth, and the holy Jerusalem with its wall, gates, and foundations; ⁸ and more.

These sights were revealed by the Lord, but shown by an angel.

Footnotes:

1. Revelation 15:5.

2. Revelation 11:1-2, 19; 14:15, 17; 15:5-6, 8; 16:1, 17.

3. Revelation 11:19.

4. Revelation 6:9; 8:3, 5; 9:13; 11:1; 14:18; 16:7.

5. Revelation 12:7.

6. Revelation 13.

7. Revelation 17:3-6.

8. Revelation 21,22