Last: and, what thou seest, write in a book, and send [it] to the churches, which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. 12. And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me: And, being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13. And in the midst of the seven candlesticks 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 wool is white, like unto snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15. And his feet were like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many waters. 16. And he had in his right hand seven stars; and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword; 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 ine, 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 ever and ever. 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 candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches; and the seven candlesticks, 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 will be received by those who will be in his new church, which is the New Jerusalem, aud acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven and earth; the Lord is also described as to the Word. THE CONTENTS OF EACH Verse. "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: "Which God gave unto him to show unto his servants," signifies, for the use of those who are in faith originating in charity: "Things which must shortly come to pass," signifies, that they will certainly be, lest the church perish: "And he signified [it], sending by his angel, to his servant John,” signifies, the things which are revealed from the Lord through heaven to those who are in the good of life from charity and its faith: "Who bore witness of the Word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ," signifies, who from the heart, and so in the light, receive divine truth from the Word, and acknowledge the Lord's Humanity to be divine: "Whatsoever things he saw," signifies, their illustration in all the things which are in this revelation: "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear, the words of the prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein," signifies, the communion of those with the angels of heaven, who live according to the doctrines of the New Jerusalem: "For the time is at hand,” signifies, that the state of the church is such that it cannot endure any longer, so as to have conjunction with the Lord: "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 accede to the church: “Which are in Asia," signifies, to those who are in the light of truth from the Word: “Grace be unto you, and peace," signifies, divine salutation: "From Him who is, and who was, and who is to come," signifies, from the Lord who is eternal and infinite, and who is Jehovah: "And from the seven spirits which are before his throne," signifies, from the universal heaven, where the Lord is in his divine truth: "And from Jesus Christ," signifies, the Divine Humanity: "Who is the faithful witness," signifies, that he is Divine Truth itself: "The first-begotten from the dead," signifies, that he is Divine Goodness itself: "And the prince of the kings of the earth," signifies, from whom proceeds all truth originating in good in the church: "To him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his blood," signifies, who out of love and mercy, reforms and regenerates men by his divine truths from the Word: "And hath made us kings and priests," signifies, who gives those who are born of him, that is, regenerated, to be in wisdom from divine truths and in love from divine goods: "Unto God and his Father," signifies, and so images of his divine wisdom and of his divine love: "To him be glory and might for ever and ever," signifies, to whom alone belongs divine majesty and divine omnipotence to eternity: Amen," signifies, divine confirmation from the truth, thus from himself: "Behold, he cometh with clouds,” 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: "And every eye shall see him," signifies, that all who are in the understanding of divine truth from affection will acknowledge him: "And they [also] who pierced him," signifies, that they also will see who are in falses in the church: "And all the tribes of the earth shall wail because of him," signifies, that this will be when there are no longer any goods and truths in the church: "Even so, Amen," signifies, divine confirmation that so it will be: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end," signifies, who is the self-subsisting and the only-subsisting from first principles to ultimates, from whom all things proceed; thus, who is the self-subsisting and only-subsisting love, the self-subsisting and only-subsisting wisdom, and the self-subsisting and only-sub 66 sisting life in himself; and consequently the self-subsisting and only-subsisting Creator, Saviour, and Illuminator, from himself, and thence the All in all of heaven and the church: "Saith the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come," signifies, who is eternal and infinite, and who is Jehovah: "The Almighty," signifies, who is, lives, and has power, from himself, and who governs all things from first principles by ultimates: "1, John, who also am your brother, and companion," signifies, those who are in the good of charity, and thence in the truths of faith: "In tribulation, and in the kingdom, and patience of Jesus Christ," signifies, which in the church are infested by evils and falses, but which will be removed by the Lord at his coming: "Was in the isle called Patmos," signifies, a state and place in which he could be illuminated: "For the Word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ," signifies, that divine truth from the Word might be received at heart and so in the light, and that the Lord's Humanity might be acknowledged to be divine: "I was in the spirit on the Lord's day,” signifies, a spiritual state at that time from divine influx: "And I heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet," signifies, a manifest perception of divine truth revealed from heaven: "Saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last," signifies, who is the self-subsisting and the only-subsisting from first principles, from whom all things proceed, &c. as above: "And what thou seest, write in a book," signifies, that it may be revealed to posterity: "And send to the churches which are in Asia," signifies, for those in the Christian world who are in the light of truth from the Word: "Unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea," signifies, specifically according to the state of reception of each: "And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me," signifies, inversion of the state of those who are in good of life, with respect to the perception of truth in the Word, when they turn themselves to the Lord: "And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks," signifies, the New Church, which will be in illustration from the Lord out of the Word: "And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man," signifies, the Lord as to the Word, from whom that church is: "Clothed with a garment down to the foot," signifies, the proceeding divine which is divine truth: "And girt about the paps with a golden girdle," signifies, the proceeding, and at the same time, conjoining divine, which is divine good: "And his head and his hairs were white as wool is white, like unto snow," signifies, the divine love of the divine wisdom in first principles and in ultimates: "And his eyes were as a flame of fire," signifies, the divine wisdom of the divine love: "And his feet were like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace," signifies, divine good natural: “ And his voice as the voice of many waters," signifies, divine truth natural: "And he had in his right hand seven stars," signifies, all knowledges of goodness and truth in the Word from him: "And out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword," signifies, the dispersion of falses by the Word, and by doctrine thence from the Lord: "And his face was as the sun shineth in his power," signifies, the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, which are himself, and proceed from himself: "And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead," signifies, a defect of his own life from such presence of the Lord: "And he laid his right hand upon me," signifies, life then inspired from him: "Saying unto me, Fear not," signifies, resuscitation, and at the same time adoration from the most profound humiliation: "I am the First and the Last," signifies, that he is eternal and infinite, therefore, the only God: "And am he that liveth," signifies, who alone is life, and from whom alone life is: "And was dead," signifies, that he was neglected in the church, and his Divine Humanity not acknowledged: "And behold, I am alive for ever and ever," signifies, that he is life eternal: "Amen,” signifies, divine confirmation that this is truth: "And I have the keys of hell and death," signifies, that he alone has power to save: "Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter," signifies, that all the things which are now revealed are for the use of posterity: "The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks," signifies, arcana in visions concerning the new heaven and the new church: "The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches," signifies, the new church in the heavens, which is the new heaven: “And the seven candlesticks which thou sawest, are the seven churches," signifies, the New Church upon earth, which is the New Jerusalem descending from the Lord out of the new heaven. THE EXPLANATION. 1. WHAT the spiritual sense is, has hitherto been unknown. That there is such a sense in every particular of the Word, is shown in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scriptures, n. 5-26, and that without it, the Word in many places cannot be understood: this sense does not appear in the literal sense, for it is in it as the soul in its body. It is well known, that there is what is spiritual, and what is natural; and that what is spiritual flows into what is natural, and renders itself visible and sensible in those forms which are the objects of sight and touch, and that what is spiritual, without such forms, is perceived no otherwise than as affection and thought, or as love and wisdom which are of the mind that affection and thought, or love whose property it is to be affected, and wisdom whose property it is to think, are spiritual, is acknowledged; that these two faculties of the mind show themselves in the body in forms, which are called organs of sense and motion, is well known; also, that they make a one, and such a one as that what the mind thinks, that the mouth in an instant speaks, and what the mind wills, that the body in an instant does; hence it is evident, that there is a perfect union of things spiritual and natural in man. It is the same with every thing in the world, both generally and particularly; there is in them something spiritual, which is the inmost of the cause, and something natural, which is its effect, and these two make a one; and what is spiritual does not appear in what is natural, because it dwells in it as the soul in its body, and as the inmost of the cause in the effect, as was observed before. It is the same with the Word; that this is internally spiritual, because it is divine, cannot be denied by any one; but as what is spiritual does not appear in the sense of the letter, which is natural, therefore, the spiritual sense has hitherto been unknown; nor could it have been known before genuine truths were revealed by the Lord, for in these that sense consists. For this reason the Apocalypse has not been understood before. But lest any doubt should remain, that such things are contained in it, the particulars must be explained, and demonstrated by similar passages in other parts of the Word. The explanation and demonstration now follow. 2. "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, as well in the heavens as upon earth. By the Revelation of Jesus Christ are signified all predictions, which, coming from the Lord, are called the Revelation of Jesus Christ; that they relate to the Lord and his church, will appear from the explanations. The Apocalypse does not treat of the successive states of the church, much less of the successive states of kingdoms, as some |