Apocalypse Revealed
Emanuel Swedenborg
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'1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He signified, sending by His angel to His servant John, 2. Who testified the Word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, whatsoever he saw. 3. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear, the words of the prophecy, and keep the things written therein: for the time is near.'
This book has 867 pages in the PDF version, and was originally published in 1766; this translation by John Whitehead, 1912.
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Excerpt from 'Apocalypse Revealed'
Revelation 1 1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He signified, sending by His angel to His servant John, 2. Who testified the Word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, whatsoever he saw. 3. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear, the words of the prophecy, and keep the things written therein: for the time is near. 4. John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come; and from the seven spirits who are before His throne; 5. And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first-born from the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. To Him that loveth us, and washeth us from our sins in His blood: 6. And He maketh us kings and priests unto God and His Father: to Him be glory and might for ever and ever. 7. Behold He cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and they who pierced Him: and all the tribes of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so; Amen. 8. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, saith the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. 9. I, John, who also am your brother, and companion in affliction, and in the kingdom and patient expectation of Jesus Christ, was in the island called Patmos, for the Word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10. I became in the spirit on the Lord's day; and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 11. Saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last: and, what thou seest, write in a book, and send to the churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and Smyrna, and Pergamos, and Thyatira, and Sardis, and Philadelphia, and Laodicea. 12. And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me: and, having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands; 13. And in the midst of the seven lampstands One like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14. And His head and His hairs were white as white wool, like snow; and His eyes as a flame of fire; 15. And His feet like unto fine brass, as if glowing in a furnace; and His voice as the voice of many waters; 16. And having in His right hand seven stars; and out of His mouth a sharp two-edged sword going forth; and His face was as the sun shineth in His power. 17. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the First and the Last; 18. And am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold I am alive for ages of ages. Amen; and I have the keys of hell and of death. 19. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. 20. The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches; and the seven lampstands, which thou sawest, are the seven churches. THE SPIRITUAL SENSE The contents of the whole chapter That this Revelation is from the Lord alone, and that it is received by those who will be in His New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, and acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven and earth; the Lord is also described as to the Word. The contents of each verse Verse 1. "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" signifies predictions from the Lord concerning Himself and His Church, what the latter will be in its end, and what it will be afterwards (n. 2). "Which God gave unto Him to show unto His servants," signifies for those who are in faith from charity (n. 3). "Things which must shortly come to pass," signifies that they will certainly be, lest the Church perish (n. 4). "And He signified, sending by His angel, to His servant John," signifies the things which are revealed by the Lord through heaven to those who are in the good of life from charity and its faith (n. 5). Verse 2. "Who testified the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ," signifies, who from the heart and thus in the light receive Divine truth from the Word, and acknowledge the Lord's Human to be Divine (n. 6). "Whatsoever he saw," signifies their enlightenment in all the things which are in this Revelation (n. 7). Verse 3. "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things written therein," signifies the communion of those with the angels of heaven, who live according to the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem (n. 8). " For the time is near," signifies that the state of the Church is such that it can no longer continue so as to have conjunction with the Lord (n. 9). Verse 4. "John to the seven churches," signifies to all who are in the Christian world, where the Word is, and by it the Lord is known, and who draw near to the Church (n. 10). "Which are in Asia," signifies to those who are in the light of truth from the Word (n. 11). "Grace be unto you, and peace," signifies the Divine salutation (n. 12). "From Him who is, and who was, and who is to come," signifies from the Lord, who is eternal and infinite, and Jehovah (n. 13). "And from the seven spirits who are before His throne," signifies from the whole heaven, where the Lord is in His Divine truth (n. 14). Verse 5. "From Jesus Christ," signifies the Divine Human (n. 15). "The faithful witness," signifies that He is the Divine truth itself (n. 16). "The first-born from the dead," signifies that He is also the Divine good itself (n. 17). "And the Prince of the earth," signifies from whom is all truth from good in the church (n. 18). "That loveth us, and washeth us from our sins," signifies who from love and mercy reforms and regenerates men by His Divine truths from the Word (n. 19). Verse 6. "And He maketh us kings and priests," signifies who gives to those who are born of Him, that is, regenerated, to be in wisdom from Divine truths and in love from Divine goods (n. 20). "Unto God and His Father," signifies and thus images of His Divine wisdom and His Divine love (n. 21). "To Him be glory and might into the ages of ages," signifies who alone has Divine majesty and Divine omnipotence to eternity (n. 22). "Amen," signifies the Divine confirmation from truth, thus from Himself (n. 23). Verse 7. "And He cometh with the clouds of heaven," signifies that the Lord will reveal Himself in the literal sense of the Word, and will open its spiritual sense, at the end of the church (n. 24). "And every eye shall see Him," signifies that all will acknowledge Him, who, from affection, are in the understanding of Divine truth (n. 25). "And they who pierced Him," signifies that they also will see, who are in falsities in the church (n. 26). "And all the tribes of the earth shall wail," signifies that this will be when there are no longer any goods and truths in the church (n. 27). "Even so, Amen," signifies the Divine confirmation that thus it will be (n. 28). Verse 8. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," signifies Who is the Self-existing and the Only from firsts to ultimates, from Whom all things are; thus who is Love Itself and the Only Love, Wisdom Itself and the Only Wisdom, and Life Itself and the Only Life in Himself, and thus the Creator Himself and the only Creator, Saviour, and Enlightener from Himself, and thence the All in all of heaven and the church (n. 29). "Saith the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come," signifies who is eternal and infinite, and Jehovah (n. 30). "The Almighty," signifies who is, lives, and has power, from Himself, and who governs all things from firsts by ultimates (n. 31). Verse 9. "I, John, who am your brother and companion," signifies those who are in the good of charity and thence in the truths of faith (n. 32). "In affliction, and in the kingdom, and the patient expectation of Jesus Christ," signifies who in the church are infested by evils and falsities, but these are to be removed by the Lord, when He comes (n. 33). "I was in the island called Patmos," signifies a state and place in which he could be enlightened (n. 34). "For the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ," signifies in order that the Divine truth from the Word may be received from the heart and thus in the light, and that the Lord's Human may be acknowledged to be Divine (n. 35). Verse 10. "I became in the Spirit on the Lord's day," signifies a spiritual state at that time from Divine influx (n. 36). "And I heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet," signifies the manifest perception of Divine truth revealed from heaven (n. 37).
