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Luke 1:26-38 : The Annunciation to Mary

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26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #743

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743. 17:14 "These will do battle with the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings." This symbolizes the Lord's battle with Roman Catholics in France over an acknowledgment of His Divine humanity, because the Lord in that humanity is God of heaven and earth and also the Word.

Their battle with the Lord and of the Lord with them does not mean the kind of battle waged by evil people or with evil people, but the kind waged by and with people who do not yet possess truths concerning the Lord. The Lamb means the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity and also in respect to the Word (nos. 269, 291, 595); and to overcome them means, symbolically, to convince them by means of the Word. "For He is Lord of lords and King of kings" means, symbolically, "for He is God of heaven and earth." It is because of His lordship over all the goods of heaven and the church that He is called Lord of lords, and because of His kingship over all the truths of heaven and the church that He is called King of kings (no. 664).

It is apparent from this that "these will do battle with the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings," symbolizes the Lord's battle with Roman Catholics in France over an acknowledgment of His Divine humanity, because the Lord in His humanity is God of heaven and earth.

[2] That the Lord is God of heaven and earth is something He Himself in plain words teaches, for He says:

All things that the Father has are Mine. (John 16:15)

The Father... has given all things into (the Son's) hand. (John 3:35, cf. 13:3)

(Father,) You have given (Me) authority over all flesh... All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine... (John 17:2, 10)

All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (Matthew 28:18)

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me... He who (knows and) sees Me, (knows and) sees the Father... (For) I am in the Father, and the Father in Me... (John 14:6-11).

The Father and I are one. (John 10:30)

He also says that everyone who believes in the Lord has eternal life, and that whoever does not believe in Him does not see life (John 3:15, 17-18, 36; 6:47; 11:26, and elsewhere).

Who does not know that the Lord was conceived of God as His Father (Luke 1:34-35)? And who does not know therefore that God the Father, who is Jehovah, assumed a humanity in the world, and consequently that the humanity is the humanity of God the Father, thus that God the Father and the Lord are one, as soul and body are one?

Can anyone accordingly turn to a person's soul, and from there descend to his body? Must one not turn to his humanity, and then turn to his soul?

[3] It is by these considerations and others found in the Word that the Lamb will overcome Roman Catholics in France. Therefore, because they have ceased to worship the Pope, let them worship Him from whom the Pope says that he has all authority over the church and heaven. The Pope is a man, and the Lord is God, and God alone is to be turned to, called upon and revered, or in other words, worshiped.

The Lord alone is the Holy One who is to be called upon (Revelation 15:4).

I know that people will think, "How could Jehovah the Father, the creator of the universe, descend and assume a humanity?" But let them think at the same time, "How could a Son from eternity, who is equal to the Father, and is also the creator of the universe, do this?" Is the case not the same?

People speak of a Father and Son from eternity, but there is no Son from eternity. It is the Divine humanity that is called the Son sent into the world (Luke 1:34-35).

But more on this subject may be seen in no. 962 below.

  
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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 17

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1 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here. I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters,

2 with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her sexual immorality."

3 He carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet-colored animal, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns.

4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of the sexual immorality of the earth.

5 And on her forehead a name was written, "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."

6 I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered with great amazement.

7 The angel said to me, "Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.

8 The beast that you saw was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go into destruction. Those who dwell on the earth and whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see that the beast was, and is not, and shall be present.

9 Here is the mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits.

10 They are seven kings. Five have fallen, the one is, the other has not yet come. When he comes, he must continue a little while.

11 The beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goes to destruction.

12 The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour.

13 These have one mind, and they give their power and authority to the beast.

14 These will war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings. They also will overcome who are with him, called and chosen and faithful."

15 He said to me, "The waters which you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages.

16 The ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute, and will make her desolate, and will make her naked, and will eat her flesh, and will burn her utterly with fire.

17 For God has put in their hearts to do what he has in mind, and to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God should be accomplished.

18 The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth."

   

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