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 Contents | Spiritual 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.
