The Bible

 

Daniel 8

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1 In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, even to me, Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first.

2 I saw in the vision; now it was so, that when I saw, I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai.

3 Then I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.

4 I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; and no animals could stand before him, neither was there any who could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself.

5 As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west over the surface of the whole earth, and didn't touch the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

6 He came to the ram that had the two horns, which I saw standing before the river, and ran on him in the fury of his power.

7 I saw him come close to the ram, and he was moved with anger against him, and struck the ram, and broke his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him; but he cast him down to the ground, and trampled on him; and there was none who could deliver the ram out of his hand.

8 The male goat magnified himself exceedingly: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and instead of it there came up four notable [horns] toward the four winds of the sky.

9 Out of one of them came forth a little horn, which grew exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious [land].

10 It grew great, even to the army of the sky; and some of the army and of the stars it cast down to the ground, and trampled on them.

11 Yes, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the army; and it took away from him the continual [burnt offering], and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.

12 The army was given over [to it] together with the continual [burnt offering] through disobedience; and it cast down truth to the ground, and it did [its pleasure] and prospered.

13 Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who spoke, How long shall be the vision [concerning] the continual [burnt offering], and the disobedience that makes desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the army to be trodden under foot?

14 He said to me, To two thousand and three hundred evenings [and] mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

15 It happened, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.

16 I heard a man's voice between [the banks of] the Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.

17 So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was frightened, and fell on my face: but he said to me, Understand, son of man; for the vision belongs to the time of the end.

18 Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he touched me, and set me upright.

19 He said, Behold, I will make you know what shall be in the latter time of the indignation; for it belongs to the appointed time of the end.

20 The ram which you saw, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.

21 The rough male goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

22 As for that which was broken, in the place where four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power.

23 In the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce face, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.

24 His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and do [his pleasure]; and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the holy people.

25 Through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and in [their] security shall he destroy many: he shall also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

26 The vision of the evenings and mornings which has been told is true: but seal up the vision; for it belongs to many days [to come].

27 I, Daniel, fainted, and was sick certain days; then I rose up, and did the king's business: and I wondered at the vision, but none understood it.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christian Religion #851

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851. I foresee that many readers of the accounts of experiences which come at the end of the chapters will think that they are fictions of the imagination. But I declare in truth that they are no fictions, but things I have truly seen and heard; and not things seen and heard in some state of mental somnolence, but in full wakefulness. For it has pleased the Lord to show Himself to me, and to send me to teach the doctrines of His new church, which is meant by the New Jerusalem in Revelation. For this purpose He opened the interiors of my mind or spirit, thus allowing me to be with angels in the spiritual world and at the same time with people in the natural world; and this has continued now for twenty-seven years.

Would anyone in the Christian world have known anything about heaven and hell if it had not been the Lord's pleasure to open the sight of someone's spirit, and show and teach him?

[2] It is quite plain that things of the kind described in the accounts of experiences are to be seen in the heavens from the similar things seen and described by John in Revelation, as well as those seen and described by the prophets in the Old Testament Word.

Examples in Revelation are: his seeing the Son of Man in the midst of the seven lampstands; seeing a tabernacle, a temple, an ark and an altar in heaven; the book sealed with seven seals and its opening, and the horses coming out of it; the four creatures around the throne; the twelve thousand chosen from each tribe; the locusts coming up out of the abyss; the woman giving birth to a male child, and fleeing into the desert because of the dragon; the two beasts coming up, one from the sea and one from the land; the angel flying in mid-heaven holding the everlasting gospel; the sea of glass mixed with fire; the seven angels having the seven last plagues; the bowls which they poured out on the earth, the sea, the rivers, the sun, the throne of the beast, the Euphrates and the air; the woman seated upon the scarlet beast; the dragon cast out into a lake of fire and brimstone; the white horse; the great dinner; the new heaven and the new earth; the holy Jerusalem coming down from heaven, with the description of its gates, its wall and the foundations of the wall; also the river of the water of life, and the trees of life which bear fruit every month; and many things besides which were all seen by John, while he was in his spirit in the spiritual world and in heaven.

There are also the things seen by the Apostles after the Lord's resurrection, as well as those seen by Peter (Acts 11) and seen and heard by Paul. There are too the experiences of the Old Testament prophets. For instance, Ezekiel saw four creatures, which were the Cherubim (Ezekiel 1, 10); a new temple and a new earth, and an angel measuring them (Ezekiel 40 to Ezekiel 48); he was carried away to Jerusalem and saw abominations there, and also to Chaldaea (Ezekiel 8, 11).

[3] Likewise it happened to Zechariah to see a man riding a horse among the myrtles (Zechariah 1:8-11); four horns, and then a man with a measuring line in his hand (Zechariah 2); a flying scroll and an ephah (Zechariah 5:6); four chariots between the two mountains, and their horses (Daniel 7:1-8; 7:13-14); the battles of the ram and the he-goat (Daniel 8; 9). Likewise Elisha's lad saw chariots and horses of fire around Elisha, and he saw them when his eyes had been opened (2 Kings 6:17).

From these and many other passages in the Word it is established that the things which come into existence in the spiritual world have been seen by many people before and after the Lord's coming. What is surprising then if it happens when a new church is beginning, or the New Jerusalem is coming down from heaven?

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.