Title: Final Gathering, Attack, and Collapse (Rev. 19-20)
Topic: Second Coming
Summary: Final Gathering, Attack, and Collapse (Rev. 19-20)
Use the reference links below to follow along in the Bible as you watch.
References:
Revelation 19; 20:1-14; 6:9
Hebrews 9:27
Exodus 15:6, 8-10
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Ezekiel 38:8-13, 20-23; 39:1, 4-7, 17-29
034 - Final Gathering, Attack, and Collapse (Rev. 19-20)
Av Jonathan S. Rose
Spirit and Life Bible Study broadcast from 3/30/2011. The complete series is available at: www.spiritandlifebiblestudy.com
Matthew 14
1
At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus,
2
And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.
3
For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife.
4
For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.
5
And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.
6
But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.
7
Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.
8
And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger.
9
And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath's sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her.
10
And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.
11
And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.
12
And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.
13
When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.
14
And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
15
And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.
16
But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.
17
And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
18
He said, Bring them hither to me.
19
And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
20
And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
21
And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
22
And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
23
And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
24
But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
25
And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
26
And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27
But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28
And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29
And he said, Come. And when Peter was Come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30
But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31
And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
32
And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
33
Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
34
And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.
35
And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased;
36
And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.
Apocalypse Explained #237
237. And knowest not that thou are wretched, signifies that they do not know that their falsities have no coherence with truths. This is evident from the signification of "wretchedness," as meaning the breaking up of truth by means of falsities, and also no coherence; this shows what is meant by "the wretched." They are so because their doctrine is founded on two false principles, which are faith alone and justification by faith; consequently falsities flow in from these in constant succession, and the truths which they adduce from the sense of the letter of the Word to confirm these are weakened and falsified, and truths when falsified are in themselves falsities. This is described in many passages in the Word, and is meant by the "vanities" that the prophets see, and the "lies" that they speak. It is described also by the "breaches" in the walls and houses so that they fall; likewise by "idols" and "graven images" that the artificer makes and connects by chains that they may cohere; for "idols" and "graven images" signify the falsities of doctrine; the like is signified by "breaches of the walls" and "of the houses," and by "the prophets who see vanities and speak lies;" for "prophets" mean doctrines, "vanities" such things as are of no account, and "lies" falsities. But as these things are mentioned in many passages in the Word they cannot be cited here on account of their abundance; they will therefore be omitted, and a few only quoted here in which "wretchedness" and "wall" are mentioned, that it may be known that these signify the weakening of truth by falsities, and thus no coherence.
[2] In Isaiah:
Thy wisdom and thy knowledge it hath misled thee, when thou hast said in thine heart, I, and none like me besides. Therefore shall wretchedness fall upon thee, and devastation shall come upon thee (Isaiah 47:10-11).
Here also those are described who believe that they know all things and that they are more intelligent than all others, when yet they know and understand nothing of truth; and that therefore the understanding of truth is taken away from them. Their belief that they are more intelligent than all others is meant by "Thy wisdom and thy knowledge it hath misled thee, when thou hast said in thine heart, I, and none like me besides;" and the loss of all understanding of truth is meant by "wretchedness shall fall upon thee, devastation shall come upon thee."
[3] In Ezekiel:
Wretchedness shall come upon wretchedness; therefore they shall seek a vision from the prophets; but the law hath perished from the priest, and counsel from the elders. The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with astonishment (Ezekiel 7:26-27).
Here the vastation of the church is treated of, which takes place when there is no truth that is not falsified. Falsity from falsity is meant by "wretchedness upon wretchedness;" "a vision from the prophet" is doctrine, here the doctrine of falsity; "the law hath perished from the priest" means that the Word is not understood, for "law" signifies the Word, and the "priest" one who teaches; "counsel hath perished from the elders" means that right has perished from the intelligent, "counsel" signifying right, and "elders" the intelligent; "the king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with astonishment," means that there is no longer any truth, "king" signifying truth, and "prince" truths that are primarily of service.
[4] In David:
Right is not in their mouth, wretchedness is in their inward part (Psalms 5:9);
where "wretchedness" likewise stands for falsities not cohering with any truth. So too in Jeremiah:
Lament, and wander among the walls; for their king is gone into exile, and his priests and his princes together (Jeremiah 49:3).
"Wandering among the walls" is among truths destroyed by falsities; "the king gone into exile" signifies truth; and "his priests and princes together" signify the goods and truths of life and doctrine (See above).
[5] In Ezekiel:
When they build a wall [maceriem], behold they daub it with untempered mortar. Say to them which daub it with untempered mortar, that the wall [paries] shall fall. Is it not said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it? (Ezekiel 13:10-12).
"The wall which they daub with untempered mortar" signifies falsity assumed as a principle, and by application of the Word from the sense of the letter made to appear as truth; "daubing" is application and seeming confirmation thereby; "untempered mortar" is what has been falsified; and because the truth of the Word is thus destroyed, and the truths used to confirm become truths falsified, which in themselves are falsities, and these with the false principle perish together, it is said, "Behold, the wall shall fall. Is it not said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?"
[6] In Hosea:
Behold, I obstruct thy way with thorns, and I will encompass wall with wall, that she shall not find thy 1 paths (Hosea 2:6).
"To obstruct the way with thorns" is to obstruct all thoughts by falsities of evil, that truths be not seen; falsities of evil are "thorns;" "to encompass wall with wall" is to heap falsities upon falsities; "that she shall not find thy paths" means that nothing of truth can be seen; this comes to pass because truths and falsities of evil cannot be together, as heaven cannot be with hell; for truths are from heaven, and falsities of evil are from hell; therefore when falsities from evil reign communication with heaven is taken away, and when that is taken away truths cannot be seen, and if presented by others they are rejected. For this reason, those who are in false principles, as those who are in the principles of faith alone and justification by faith, cannot be in any truths (as may be seen above, n. 235, 236).
[7] But let examples illustrate this. Those who have adopted faith alone and justification by faith as a principle of religion, when they read the Word and see that the Lord says that man shall be recompensed according to his deeds and works, and that he who has done good, shall come into heaven, and he who has done evils into hell, call the good things that they do fruits of faith, not knowing or not wanting to know, that the good things called fruits are all from charity, and none of them from faith separate, which is called faith alone; every good also is of charity, and truth is of the faith therefrom. From this it is clear that they pervert the Word; and they do this because they cannot otherwise apply truth to their principle, believing still that the two may thus cohere; but the result is that truth perishes and becomes falsity, and not only falsity but also evil.
[8] From this falsities evidently follow in constant succession, for they teach that the good works that man does are meritorious, not being willing to see that as faith with its truths are from the Lord, and thus not meritorious, so are charity with its goods. They teach also that as soon as a man receives faith he is reconciled to God the Father through the Son, and that the evils thenceforth done, as well as those done before, are not imputed; for they say that all are saved however they have lived, if only they receive faith, even though it be in the hours before death. But these, and many other things which are deductions from the falsity of the principle, do not cohere with the truths from the Word, but destroy them, and truths destroyed are falsities, even such falsities as emit a bad odor. From these a grievous smell is perceived in the other life, which is such that it cannot be endured by any good spirit; it is like the stench of purulent matter from the lungs. Many other examples might be adduced; there is an abundance of them; for whatever is deduced from a false principle becomes thereby a falsity, since in the deduction the principle only is regarded to which it clings because from this it flows and to this it is applied.
[9] What the religion of faith alone and of justification by faith is can be inferred from the simple fact that all who have confirmed these tenets in themselves by doctrine and life, send out from themselves in the other life a sphere of abominable adultery like that of a mother or stepmother with a son; this abominable adultery corresponds to such, and is also perceived from them wherever they go; from that sphere I have a thousand times recognized their presence. Such a sphere flows out from them because they adulterate the goods of charity and of the Word, and adulteries correspond to adulterations of good, while whoredoms correspond to the falsifications of truth (See Arcana Coelestia 2466, 2729, 3399, 4865, 6348, 8904, 10648).
[10] There is a like meaning in:
Reuben's lying with Bilhah, of whom his father begat Dan and Naphtali (Genesis 35:22);
And therefore he was also accursed (Genesis 49:4);
And because he defiled his father's couch the primogeniture was taken away from him and given to Joseph (1 Chronicles 5:1). For by "Reuben" in the Word faith is meant here faith alone (See Arcana Coelestia 3325, 3861, 3866, 3870, 4601, 4605, 4731, 4734, 4761, 6342, 6350); and by "Joseph," the good of faith (See 3969, 3971, 4669, 6417).
[11] That such things are to take place at the end of the church is predicted in Daniel, where the statue that Nebuchadnezzar saw in a dream is described in these words:
Whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of man; but they shall not cleave one to the other, even as iron doth not mingle with clay (Daniel 2:43).
By "iron" truth without good is meant; by "miry clay" the falsity that is from self-intelligence; by "the seed of man" the Word of the Lord (Matthew 13:24, 37). That these do not cohere is meant by "they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron doth not mingle with clay."
Fotnoter:
1. For "thy" the Hebrew has "her," as found in Arcana Coelestia 9144.
