New Christian Bible Study

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #1

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1. THE APOCALYPSE OR BOOK OF REVELATION

CHAPTER 1

1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,

2. who bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to whatever he saw.

3. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it, for the time is near.

4. John, to the seven churches which are in Asia:

Grace to 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, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth, who loves us and washes us from our sins in His blood,

6. and makes us kings and priests to His God and Father. To Him be glory and might forever and ever. Amen.

7. Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail because of Him. Even so, Amen.

8. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

9. I, John, who am also your brother and your companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patient awaiting of Jesus Christ, was on 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 loud voice, as of a trumpet,

11. saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. What you see, write in a book and send it to the churches which are in Asia - Ephesus and Smyrna, Pergamum and Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."

12. Then 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 the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and girded about the breasts with a golden girdle.

14. His head and hair were white, like wool as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire.

15. His feet were like fine brass, as though fired in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters;

16. having in His right hand seven stars, and issuing from His mouth a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance as the sun shines in its power.

17. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,

18. and am He who lives, and was put to death, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of hell and death.

19. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.

20. The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches."

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING

The Contents of the Whole Chapter:

The meaning is that this revelation comes from the Lord alone, and is received by people who will be in His New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, and who will acknowledge the Lord as God of heaven and earth. The Lord also is described in relation to the Word.

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The Contents of the Individual Verses:

Verse ContentsSpiritual Meaning
1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, Predictions from the Lord regarding Himself and His church, what the church will be like at its end, and what it will be like thereafter,
which God gave Him to show His servants for people who have faith arising from charity.
things which must shortly take place. They must surely come to pass to keep the church from perishing.
And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, The things that have been revealed by the Lord through heaven to people who possess goodness of life arising from charity and its accompanying faith,
2. who bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, who from the heart and so in a state of light receive Divine truth from the Word and acknowledge the Lord's humanity to be Divine.
to whatever he saw. Their enlightenment in all matters contained in this revelation.
3. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it, Their communion with angels in heaven who live according to the doctrine of the New Jerusalem,
for the time is near. the state of the church being such that it can no longer continue to maintain its conjunction with the Lord.
4. John, to the seven churches To all who are in the Christian world where the Word exists and where through it the Lord is known, and who turn to the church,
which are in Asia: to those who from the Word possess the light of truth.
Grace to you and peace A Divine salutation
from Him who is and who was and who is to come, from the Lord who is eternal and infinite, and who is Jehovah,
and from the seven spirits who are before His throne, from the whole of heaven, where the Lord is in His Divine truth,
5. and from Jesus Christ, His Divine humanity,
the faithful witness, which is Divine truth itself,
the firstborn from the dead, and which is Divine good itself,
and the ruler of the kings of the earth, from whom originates all truth from good in the church,
who loves us and washes us from our sins in His blood, who out of love and mercy reforms and regenerates people by His Divine truths drawn from the Word,
6. and makes us kings and priests who grants those who are born from Him, that is, who are reborn or regenerated, to possess wisdom from Divine truths, and love from Divine goods,
to His God and Father. thus images of His Divine wisdom and of His Divine love,
To Him be glory and might forever and ever. to whom alone belong Divine majesty and Divine omnipotence to eternity.
Amen. A Divine confirmation springing from truth, thus from Himself.
7. Behold, He is coming with the clouds (of heaven), The Lord will reveal Himself in the literal sense of the Word and lay open its spiritual meaning at the end of the church.
and every eye will see Him, All those will acknowledge Him who possess, from an affection for it, an understanding of Divine truth.
even they who pierced Him, Even those will see Him who are caught up in falsities in the church.
and all the tribes of the earth will wail.... This will be when there are no longer any goods and truths in the church.
Even so, Amen. A Divine confirmation that it will be so.
8. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," Who is the one and only reality from firsts to lasts, from whom springs all else, thus who is the one and only love, the one and only wisdom, and the one and only life in itself, and so the one and only Creator, Savior and Enlightener from Himself, and therefore the all in all of the church and heaven.
says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, Who is eternal and infinite, and Jehovah.
the Almighty. Who exists, lives, and has power of Himself, and who directs all things from the first of them through the last.
9. I, John, who am also your brother and companion Those people who possess the goodness of charity and consequent truths of faith,
in the tribulation and kingdom and patient awaiting of Jesus Christ, which in the church have been infested by evils and falsities, but which will be removed by the Lord when He comes.
was on the island called Patmos A state and place in which he could be enlightened,
for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. so as to receive Divine truth from the Word with the heart and so in a state of light, and to acknowledge the Lord's humanity to be Divine.
10. I became in the spirit on the Lord's day, A spiritual state then owing to Divine influx.
and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, A manifest perception of Divine truth revealed from heaven.
11. saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. Who is the one and only reality from firsts to lasts, from whom springs all else (as so on as stated above).
What you see, write in a book That these things may be revealed for posterity,
and send it to the churches which are in Asia - for those in the Christian world who have the light of truth from the Word
Ephesus and Smyrna, Pergamum and Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea." in every case according to each one's state of reception.
12. Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me, A turning around of the state of those people who possess goodness of life, in respect to their perception of the truth in the Word, when they turn to the Lord.
and having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, A new church, which will have an enlightenment from the Lord from the Word.
13. and in the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man, The Lord in relation to the Word, from whom that church originates.
clothed with a long robe The emanating Divinity which is Divine truth.
and girded about the breasts with a golden girdle. The emanating and at the same time conjoining Divinity which is Divine good.
14. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, The Divine love accompanying Divine wisdom in first things and last.
and His eyes like a flame of fire. The Divine wisdom accompanying Divine love.
15. His feet were like fine brass, as though fired in a furnace, Natural Divine good.
and His voice as the sound of many waters; Natural Divine truth.
16. having in His right hand seven stars, All concepts of goodness and truth in the Word from the Lord.
and issuing from His mouth a sharp two-edged sword, A dispersion of falsities by the Lord by means of the Word and doctrine drawn from it.
and His countenance as the sun shining in its power. The Divine love and wisdom which are the Lord and which emanate from Him.
17. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. A failure of his own life owing to such a presence of the Lord.
But He laid His right hand on me, Life then infused from the Lord.
saying to me, "Do not be afraid. A revival, and from the deepest humility then, adoration.
"I am the First and the Last, He is eternal and infinite, thus the only God,
18. and am He who lives, who alone is life, and the only source of life.
and was put to death, Disregarded in the church, and His Divine humanity not acknowledged,
and behold, I am alive forevermore. He is eternal life.
"Amen." A Divine confirmation that it is the truth.
"And I have the keys of hell and death." He alone is able to save.
19. "Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. So that everything now being revealed may be saved for posterity.
20. "The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The secrets contained in the visions having to do with a new heaven and a new church.
"The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, A new church in the heavens, which is the New Heaven.
and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches." A new church on earth, which is the New Jerusalem descending from the Lord out of the New Heaven.

THE EXPOSITION

People have hitherto not known what the spiritual meaning is. We have shown in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 5-26, that it exists in every constituent of the Word, and that in many places the Word cannot be understood apart from it. This meaning is not apparent in the literal sense, for it is present in it as the soul is in the body.

People do know that there is a spiritual reality and a natural one, and that the spiritual one flows into the natural one and presents itself to be seen and felt in forms that fall within the scope of people's vision and touch. Moreover, they know that apart from these forms the spiritual component is perceived only as affection and thought, or as love and wisdom, which are properties of the mind. They acknowledge that affection and thought, or love, which has the capacity to be affected, and wisdom, which has the capacity to think, are spiritual. They know that these two faculties of the soul present themselves in forms in the body that are called sensory and motor organs, and furthermore, that these forms operate in harmony with those faculties, so much so that when the mind thinks something, the mouth in an instant expresses it, and when the mind wills something, the body in an instant does it. It is apparent, therefore, that there is a perfect union of spiritual and natural components in the human being.

[2] The case is the same with each and every constituent of the world. Each has in it something spiritual as the inmost of its cause, and something natural as its effect, and these two function as one. Moreover, the spiritual component is not apparent in the natural one, because, as we said, it is present in the natural one as the soul is in the body and as the inmost of a cause is in the effect.

It is the same with the Word. Because it is Divine, no one can deny that it is spiritual at its core. But because the spiritual component is not apparent in the literal sense, which is natural, therefore the spiritual meaning has been hitherto unknown. Nor could it have been known previously, before the Lord revealed genuine truths, as the spiritual meaning consists in those truths.

It is on this account that the book of Revelation has heretofore not been understood. But lest there be any doubt that it contains such truths, its contents must be explained phrase by phrase and demonstrated by similar passages elsewhere in the Word. The explanation and demonstration now follow.

  
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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.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #753

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753. REVELATION: CHAPTER 18

1. Then after these things I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory.

2. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and it has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a prison for every unclean and loathsome bird!

3. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her licentiousness, the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich owing to the potencies of her delights."

4. And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my peoples, lest you participate in her sins, and lest you become recipients of her plagues.

5. For her sins have mounted even to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

6. Render to her as she rendered to you, repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her.

7. In the measure that she glorified herself and worked her pleasure, in the same measure give her torment and grief; for she says in her heart, 'I sit as queen and am not a widow, and will not see grief.'

8. "Therefore her plagues will come in one day - death and mourning and hunger. And she will be burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.

9. And the kings of the earth who committed whoredom with her and delighted in her will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning,

10. standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, 'Woe, woe, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.'

11. And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their merchandise anymore:

12. merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones, and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of thyine wood, 1 every kind of ivory vessel, every vessel of precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;

13. and cinnamon, fragrances, ointment and frankincense, and wine, oil, flour, wheat, cattle, and sheep, and merchandise of horses, and wagons, and the bodies and souls of people.

14. The fruits that your soul longed for have gone from you, and all things rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all.

15. "The merchants of these things, whom she made rich, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and mourning,

16. and saying, 'Woe, woe, that great city, clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls,'

17. because in one hour such great riches were laid waste. Every helmsman, everyone traveling by ship, and sailors, as many as work at sea, stood at a distance

18. and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, 'What other city may be compared to this great city?'

19. And they put dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning, and saying, 'Woe, woe, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea were made rich by her wealth!' because in one hour they were destroyed.

20. "Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has visited your judgment on her!"

21. Then a mighty angel lifted up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "Thus shall Babylon, that great city, be forcefully thrown down, and not be found anymore.

22. The sound of harpists and musicians, flutists and trumpeters, shall not be heard in you anymore; no craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore; and the sound of a mill shall not be heard in you anymore.

23. The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the sound of a bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, because by your sorcery all the nations were led astray.

24. And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all those slain on the earth."

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING

The Contents of the Whole Chapter

Treatment of the Roman Catholic religion continues, that because of its adulterations and profanations of the Word's truths and so those of the church, it will perish (verses 1-8). Concerning the highest in its ecclesiastic order, their character and grief (verses 9, 10). Concerning those lower in that order (verses 11-16). Concerning the laity and common people who are kept obedient to them (verses 17-19). The joy of the angels because of that religion's removal (verse 20). Its destruction in the spiritual world because of its lacking any acknowledgment of truth, inquiry into truth, enlightenment in truth, or acceptance of truth, and its lacking therefore any conjunction of truth and goodness, which is what forms the church (verses 21-24).

The Contents of the Individual Verses:

Verse ContentsSpiritual Meaning
1. Then after these things I sawA continuation concerning the Roman Catholic religion.
an angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory.A powerful influx of the Lord from heaven through Divine truth, so that His church was brought into the light of heaven.
2. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great,It made known that by the Lord's Divine power, people who were caught up in that religion and at the same time in a love of exercising dominion because of it, were all destroyed in the spiritual world and cast into numerous hells.
and it has become a dwelling place of demons,Their hells are ones marked by lusts to exercise dominion from the heat of self-love, and by lusts to profane heaven's truths from the spurious zeal of that love.
a prison for every foul spirit, and a prison for every unclean and loathsome bird!The evils willed and so done by the people in those hells, and the falsities entertained in thought and consequent intention, are diabolical, because the people have turned away from the Lord to themselves.
3. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her licentiousness, the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her,They have produced nefarious dogmas, dogmas that are adulterations and profanations of the Word's goodness and truth, and have imbued with them all those born and brought up in the kingdoms under their domination.
and the merchants of the earth have become rich owing to the potencies of her delights."The greater and lower in rank in that hierarchy who by their dominion over sacred things strive for Divine majesty and superregal glory, who continually seek to establish it by multiplying the number of monasteries and possessions under their control, and by collecting and accumulating the world's treasures without end, and who thus procure for themselves physical and natural pleasures by claiming for themselves a celestial and spiritual dominion.
4. And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my peoples, lest you participate in her sins, and lest you become recipients of her plagues.An exhortation from the Lord to all people, both to those caught up in that religion and to those not caught up in it, to beware of embracing it in acknowledgement and affection, lest they embrace its abominations with their souls and perish.
5. For her sins have mounted even to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.Its evils and falsities infest the heavens, but the Lord will protect the heavens from being violated by them.
6. Render to her as she rendered to you, repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her.A just retribution and punishment after death, that the evils and falsities with which they led astray and destroyed others will, in accordance with the magnitude and character of them, come back upon themselves.
7. In the measure that she glorified herself and worked her pleasure, in the same measure give her torment and grief;To the degree of their elation of heart due to their dominion, and of their exultation in mind and body due to their riches, to the same degree they will experience after death an inner anguish owing to their being cast down and becoming objects of derision, and owing to their poverty and wretchedness.
for she says in her heart, 'I sit as queen and am not a widow, and will not see grief.'This is their lot, because owing to their elation of heart over their dominion, and exultation of spirit over their riches, they possess the confidence and conviction that they will dominate forever and defend themselves, and that they can never lose what they have.
8. "Therefore her plagues will come in one day - death and mourning and hunger.Consequently, at the time of the Last Judgment the punishments for the evils they have done will come back on themselves - death, which is life in hell and an inner anguish at being cast down from their domination - mourning, which is an internal anguish owing to their poverty and wretchedness instead of opulence - and hunger, which is the loss of any understanding of truth.
And she will be burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.They will be embodiments of animosity toward the Lord and toward His heaven and church, because they see then that the Lord alone governs and reigns over everything in heaven and on earth, and not at all any person of himself.
9. And the kings of the earth who committed whoredom with her and delighted in her will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning,The inner feelings of anguish in those who had been in a higher degree of dominion and its delights through their falsifications and adulterations of the Word's truths, which they made sacred tenets of the church, when they see them turned into profane ones.
10. standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, 'Woe, woe, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.'Their fear of punishments, and grievous lamentation then that that religion, so well fortified, could be so suddenly and completely overturned, and that they could perish.
11. And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their merchandise anymore:The lower in rank who serve and profit by its sanctities - here their feelings of anguish that after Babylon's destruction they cannot use them to make material gains as before.
12. merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones, and pearls,They no longer have these things because they do not have any of the spiritual goods and truths to which these things correspond.
fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet,They no longer have these because they do not have any of the celestial goods and truths to which such things correspond.
every kind of thyine wood, every kind of ivory vessel,They no longer have these because they do not have any of the natural goods and truths to which such things correspond.
every vessel of precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;They no longer have these because they do not have any knowledge of the goods and truths in ecclesiastical affairs to which such things correspond.
13. and cinnamon, fragrances, ointment and frankincense,They no longer have any worship that springs from spiritual goods and truths, because they have nothing inwardly in their worship that corresponds to the aforesaid things.
and wine, oil, flour, wheat,They no longer have any worship that springs from celestial truths and goods, because they have nothing inwardly in their worship that corresponds to the aforesaid things.
cattle, and sheep,They no longer have any worship that springs from the church's external or natural goods and truths, because they have nothing inwardly in their worship that corresponds to the aforesaid things.
and merchandise of horses, and wagons, and the bodies and souls of people.All of these things depend on an understanding of the Word and on doctrine drawn from it, and on the goods and truths in the Word's literal sense, which these Roman Catholics do not possess, because they have falsified and adulterated them.
14. The fruits that your soul longed for have gone from you, and all things rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all.All the blessings and felicities of heaven, including the external ones they wish for, will altogether fly away and be seen no longer, because they do not have in them any celestial or spiritual affections for goodness and truth.
15. "The merchants of these things, whom she made rich, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and mourning,The state before damnation of those who profited by various dispensations and promises of heavenly joys, and their fear and lamentation then.
16. and saying, 'Woe, woe, that great city, clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls,' 17. because in one hour such great riches were laid waste.Their grievous lamentation that their magnificence and material gains were so suddenly and completely destroyed.
"Every helmsman, everyone traveling by ship, and sailors, as many as work at sea, stood at a distance Those called laymen, both those established in a greater position of eminence and those in a lesser one, down to the common people, who are devoted to that religion and love it and kiss it or acknowledge and venerate it at heart.
18. and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, 'What other city may be compared to this great city?'Their mourning in a state apart over the damnation of that religion, which they believed to be preeminent over every other religion in the world.
19. And they put dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning, and saying, 'Woe, woe, that great city,Their interior and exterior grief and mourning, which is a lamentation that so eminent a religion was completely destroyed and condemned,
in which all who had ships on the sea were made rich by her wealth!' because in one hour they were destroyed.because by the sanctities of that religion they all gained absolution, as many as were willing to purchase it, and instead of worldly and temporal riches they received heavenly and eternal ones,
20. "Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has visited your judgment on her!"so that angels in heaven, and people in the church who possess goods and truths from the Word, now rejoice at heart that those caught up in the evils and falsities of that religion have been removed and cast out.
21. Then a mighty angel lifted up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "Thus shall Babylon, that great city, be forcefully thrown down, and not be found anymore.By a powerful influx of the Lord from heaven, that religion will be cast headlong into hell, together with all its adulterated truths of the Word, and angels will never see it again.
22. The sound of harpists and musicians, flutists and trumpeters, shall not be heard in you anymore;They will not have in them any affection for spiritual truth and goodness, nor any affection for celestial goodness and truth.
no craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore;Those caught up in that religion because of its doctrine and a life in accordance with it are without any understanding of spiritual truth, and so are without any thought of spiritual truth, to the extent that they are left to themselves.
and the sound of a mill shall not be heard in you anymore.Those caught up in that religion because of its doctrine and a life in accordance with it do not inquire into, investigate, or confirm spiritual truth, because the falsity they have accepted, affirmed, and so enrooted in themselves stands in the way.
23. The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore,Those caught up in that religion because of its doctrine and a life in accordance with it are without any enlightenment from the Lord and so without any perception of spiritual truth.
and the sound of a bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore.Those caught up in that religion because of its doctrine and a life in accordance with it have no conjunction of goodness and truth, which is what forms the church.
For your great men were the merchants of the earth,Those higher in their church hierarchy are of such a character because they use their various prerogatives, including ones left to their discretion in the regulations of their order, to buy and sell and make material gains.
because by your sorcery all the nations were led astray.Their nefarious arts and cunning schemes by which they turned the hearts of all away from a reverent worship of the Lord to a profane worship of people, living and dead, and of icons.
24. And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all those slain on the earth."From that religion, meant by the city of Babylon, comes the adulteration and profanation of all the truth of the Word and so of the church, and falsity has consequently emanated from it throughout the whole Christian World.

THE EXPOSITION

18:1 Then after these things I saw. This symbolizes a manifestation of the death and damnation of people who were in the Roman Catholic religion and exercised authority over the sanctities of the church and over heaven, with the intention of achieving dominion over all others and of acquiring all the possessions of others.

This is the symbolic meaning here of the phrase, "Then after these things I saw," because it is the subject dealt with in this chapter.

We introduced this work by first presenting the dogmas of that religion, that readers enlightened by the Lord may see that Roman Catholics look to no other end than dominion over people's souls, in order to be worshiped as gods and to acquire for themselves alone all the world's goods. And because that is their goal, and not at all the salvation of souls, they could not draw their dogmas from any other source than hell. For they could not draw them from heaven, that is, from the Lord, but took them from themselves, because they transferred everything belonging to the Lord to themselves.

What is more detestable than to divide the Lord's body and blood, or bread and wine, in the Holy Supper, clearly contrary to its institution, and this by fictions, solely for the sake of sacrifices of the Mass offered daily and nightly by which to gain the world?

What is more detestable than to worship dead people with a Divine invocation, and to fall upon the knees before their images and reverently kiss them - even to treat in this way the bones and remains of their dead bodies - so as to draw people away from worship of God and introduce them into a profane worship, and this, too, for the sake of material gains?

What is more detestable than to regard worship of God on Sundays and holy days as consisting in masses not understood, thus in external acts of the body and its feelings, apart from the internal participation of the soul and its affections, and to ascribe all holiness to those masses, so as to keep everyone in ignorance and in a blind faith, in order to obtain dominion and material gain?

What is more detestable than their transferring to themselves everything connected with the Lord's Divine authority, which is nothing else than to drag the Lord down from His throne and place themselves on it instead?

What is more detestable than to take the Word, which is Divine truth itself, from the laity and common people, and to give them instead edicts and dogmas which contain scarcely one genuine truth of the Word.

These are the subject in this chapter of the Apocalypse.

Footnotes:

1. Thyine wood has not been identified. It has been associated with citron wood, and also with scented wood in general.

  
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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.

©2024 New Christian Bible Study Corporation. All rights reserved. Printed from newchristianbiblestudy.org