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Daniel 7

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1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream; he told the sum of the matters.

2 Daniel spoke and said, I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of the heavens broke forth upon the great sea.

3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, different one from another.

4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till its wings were plucked; and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand upon two feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.

5 And behold, another beast, a second, like unto a bear, and it raised up itself on one side; and [it had] three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and they said thus unto it: Arise, devour much flesh.

6 After this I saw, and behold, another, like a leopard, and it had four wings of a bird upon its back; and the beast had four heads; and dominion was given to it.

7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and exceeding strong; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

8 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another, a little horn, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots; and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.

9 I beheld till thrones were set, and the Ancient of days did sit: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was flames of fire, [and] its wheels burning fire.

10 A stream of fire issued and came forth from before him; thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

11 I beheld therefore, because of the voice of the great words that the horn spoke; I beheld till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed, and it was given up to be burned with fire.

12 As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away; but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

13 I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of heaven [one] like a son of man, and he came up even to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom [that] which shall not be destroyed.

15 As for me Daniel, my spirit was grieved in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.

16 I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the certainty of all this. And he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things:

17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, [that] shall arise out of the earth.

18 But the saints of the most high [places] shall receive the kingdom, and they shall possess the kingdom for ever, even to the ages of ages.

19 Then I desired to know the certainty concerning the fourth beast, which was different from them all, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and its nails of brass; which devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet;

20 and concerning the ten horns that were in its head, and the other that came up, and before which three fell: even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and whose look was more imposing than its fellows.

21 I beheld, and that horn made war with the saints, and prevailed over them;

22 until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most high [places]; and the appointed time arrived, and the saints possessed the kingdom.

23 He said thus: The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon the earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

24 And as to the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall arise ten kings; and another shall arise after them; and he shall be different from the former, and he shall subdue three kings.

25 And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High [places], and think to change seasons and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and a half time.

26 And the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.

27 But the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heavens, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most high [places]. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

28 So far is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my thoughts much troubled me, and my countenance was changed in me; but I kept the matter in my heart.

   

Van Swedenborgs Werken

 

Apocalypse Revealed #24

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24. Behold, He is coming with the clouds (of heaven). (1:7) This symbolically means that the Lord will reveal Himself in the literal sense of the Word and lay open its spiritual meaning at the end of the church.

Someone who knows nothing of the internal or spiritual meaning of the Word cannot know what the Lord meant by His coming in the clouds of heaven. For He said to the high priest who was adjuring Him to say whether He was the Christ, the Son of God,

As you have said... I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven. (Matthew 26:63-64)

Moreover, in speaking to His disciples about the end of the age, the Lord said,

And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear..., and they will see (Him) coming in the clouds of heaven with power and... glory. (Matthew 24:30, Mark 13:26)

The clouds of heaven in which He will come mean nothing else than the Word in its literal sense, and the glory in which they will see Him, the Word in its spiritual meaning.

The reality of this can hardly be believed by people who do not think of the Word beyond the sense of its letter. To them a cloud is a cloud, and so they believe that the Lord will appear in the clouds of the sky when the Last Judgment is at hand. But this idea collapses when the meaning of a cloud is known, that it is Divine truth in its outmost expressions, thus the Word in its literal meaning.

[2] One sees clouds in the spiritual world just as in the natural world. However, clouds in the spiritual world appear beneath the heavens, in the region of people who are caught up in the literal meaning of the Word - clouds that are darker or brighter according to their understanding of the Word and at the same time acceptance of it. That is because the light of heaven there is Divine truth, and degrees of darkness falsities. Bright clouds, therefore, are Divine truth veiled in truthful appearances, like the Word in its letter with people who possess truths, while dark clouds are Divine truth wrapped in misconceptions affirmed on the basis of appearances, like the Word in its letter with people caught up in falsities. I have seen these clouds often, and their origin and nature have been apparent.

Now because, after the glorification of His humanity, the Lord became the embodiment of Divine truth or the Word even in its outmost expressions, He said to the high priest that thereafter they would see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven. 1

[3] Moreover, He said to His disciples that at the end of the age the sign of the Son of Man would appear, and that they would see Him coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory, 2 which symbolically means that at the end of the church, when the Last Judgment takes place, He will appear in the Word and reveal its spiritual meaning, an event that has occurred at the present day, because now is the time of the church's end and of the accomplishment of the Last Judgment, as may be seen from short works recently published. 3

This, then, is what is meant here in the book of Revelation by the declaration, "Behold, He is coming with clouds," and in the following one,

I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud One sitting like the Son of Man... (Revelation 14:14)

As also in Daniel,

I was watching in the night visions, and behold..., the Son of Man coming with... clouds...! (Daniel 7:13)

To be shown that the Son of Man means the Lord in relation to the Word, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 19-28.

[4] Clouds elsewhere in the Word, too, mean Divine truth in its outmost expressions, and so also the Word in its letter, as may be seen from passages there where clouds are mentioned, as in the following:

There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides in heaven..., and in magnificence on the clouds. (Deuteronomy 33:26)

Sing to God, praise His name; extol Him who rides on the clouds... (Psalms 68:4)

...Jehovah rides on a light cloud... (Isaiah 19:1)

To ride on clouds means, symbolically, to possess the Word's wisdom, for a horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word. Who does not see that God does not ride upon clouds?

Similarly:

(God) rode upon cherubs..., (and) made... His canopy... the clouds of the heavens. (Psalms 18:10-11)

Cherubs, too, symbolize the Word, as may be seen in nos. 239, 672, below. A canopy symbolizes an abode.

[5] (Jehovah) lays the beams of His dining chambers in the waters; He makes a cloud His chariot... (Psalms 104:3)

Waters symbolize truths, dining chambers doctrinal tenets, and a chariot doctrine, all of which are called clouds, because they are derived from the literal meaning of the Word.

Similarly:

He binds up the waters in His clouds, and the cloud is not broken under them...; (and) He spreads His cloud over (His throne). (Job 26:8-9)

...God... causes the light of His cloud to shine. (Job 37:15)

Ascribe strength to God, ...strength upon the clouds. (Psalms 68:34)

The light of a cloud symbolizes the Divine truth of the Word, and strength symbolizes the Divine power in it.

[6] (Lucifer,) you have said in your heart...: "I will ascend above the heights of a cloud, I will be like the Most High." (Isaiah 14:13-14)

Forsake (Babylon)..., for... she has lifted herself up to the clouds. (Jeremiah 51:9)

Lucifer and Babylon symbolize people who profane the goods and truths of the Word. Consequently those are things meant there by clouds.

(Jehovah) spreads a cloud for a covering... (Psalms 105:39)

Jehovah has created above every dwelling place of Mount Zion... a cloud by day... For over all the glory there will be a covering. (Isaiah 4:5)

A cloud here, too, means the Word in its literal sense, which, because it encloses and covers the spiritual meaning, is called a covering over the glory. To be shown that the literal sense of the Word is a covering, to prevent its spiritual meaning from being injured, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture 33, and that it is a protection, no. 97.

[7] Divine truth in its outmost expressions, which is the same as the Word in its literal sense, was also represented by the cloud in which Jehovah descended upon Mount Sinai and proclaimed the Law (Exodus 19:9; 34:5). Also by the cloud which covered Peter, James and John when Jesus was transfigured, concerning which we are told:

While (Peter) was still speaking, behold, a... cloud overshadowed them; and lo, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son... Hear Him!" (Matthew 17:5; cf. Mark 9:7, Luke 9:34-35)

In this transfiguration the Lord caused Himself to be seen as the Word, which is why a cloud overshadowed them and a voice was heard from the cloud, saying that this was the Son of God. The voice from the cloud means from the Word.

We will see elsewhere that in an opposite sense, a cloud means the Word falsified in respect to its literal meaning.

Voetnoten:

1Matthew 26:63-64.

2Matthew 24:30.

3. A reference probably to The Last Judgment (London, 1758) and A Continuation Concerning the Last Judgment and the Spiritual World (Amsterdam, 1763).

  
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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.

De Bijbel

 

Mark 13

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1 As he went out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Teacher, see what kind of stones and what kind of buildings!"

2 Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone on another, which will not be thrown down."

3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately,

4 "Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign that these things are all about to be fulfilled?"

5 Jesus, answering, began to tell them, "Be careful that no one leads you astray.

6 For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he!' and will lead many astray.

7 "When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don't be troubled. For those must happen, but the end is not yet.

8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines and troubles. These things are the beginning of birth pains.

9 But watch yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils. You will be beaten in synagogues. You will stand before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them.

10 The Good News must first be preached to all the nations.

11 When they lead you away and deliver you up, don't be anxious beforehand, or premeditate what you will say, but say whatever will be given you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

12 "Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death.

13 You will be hated by all men for my name's sake, but he who endures to the end, the same will be saved.

14 But when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains,

15 and let him who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter in, to take anything out of his house.

16 Let him who is in the field not return back to take his cloak.

17 But woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babies in those days!

18 Pray that your flight won't be in the winter.

19 For in those days there will be oppression, such as there has not been the like from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will be.

20 Unless the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would have been saved; but for the sake of the chosen ones, whom he picked out, he shortened the days.

21 Then if anyone tells you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, there!' don't believe it.

22 For there will arise false christs and false prophets, and will show signs and wonders, that they may lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones.

23 But you watch. "Behold, I have told you all things beforehand.

24 But in those days, after that oppression, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light,

25 the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken.

26 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.

27 Then he will send out his angels, and will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the sky.

28 "Now from the fig tree, learn this parable. When the branch has now become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that the summer is near;

29 even so you also, when you see these things coming to pass, know that it is near, at the doors.

30 Most certainly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things happen.

31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

32 But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

33 Watch, keep alert, and pray; for you don't know when the time is.

34 "It is like a man, traveling to another country, having left his house, and given authority to his servants, and to each one his work, and also commanded the doorkeeper to keep watch.

35 Watch therefore, for you don't know when the lord of the house is coming, whether at evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning;

36 lest coming suddenly he might find you sleeping.

37 What I tell you, I tell all: Watch."