Selection from Apocalypse Revealed ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. (Revelation 19:11-13)And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, signifies the spiritual sense of the Word revealed by the Lord, and the interior understanding of the Word disclosed thereby; which is the coming of the Lord. By "heaven was seen open" is signified a revelation from the Lord, and the manifestation, concerning which below. By "a horse" is signified the understanding of the Word, and by "a white horse" the interior understanding of the Word; and as this is signified by "a white horse," and as the spiritual sense is the interior understanding of the Word, therefore that sense is signified here by "the white horse." The reason that this is the coming of the Lord, is because it manifestly appears by that sense that the Lord is the Word, and that the Word treats of Him alone, and that He is the God of heaven and earth, and that from Him alone the New Church exists. The Lord said that:
They should see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with glory and power (Matt. 17:5; 24:30; 26:64; Mark 14:61, 62; Luke 9:34-35; 21:27; Rev. 1:7; Acts 1:9, 11).And the Lord said this also where He spoke with the disciples concerning the consummation of the age, which is the last time of the church, when the judgment takes place.
Everyone who does not think beyond the sense of the letter, believes that when the Last Judgment shall come, the Lord will appear in the clouds of heaven with the angels and sounds of trumpets. But that this is not meant, but that He will appear in the Word, may be evident from this explanation in number 24: —
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Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. (Revelation 1:7)Behold 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 in the end of the church. He who does not know anything of the internal or spiritual sense of the Word, cannot know what was meant by the Lord that "He will come in the clouds of heaven"; for He said to the high priest, who adjured Him to say whether He was the Christ the Son of God:
Thou hast said I am; and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven (Matt. 26:63-64; Mark 14:61-62).And where the Lord speaks to His disciples of the consummation of the age, He says:
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man; and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory (Matt. 24:30; Mark 13:26).By "the clouds of heaven" in which He is to come, nothing else is meant but the Word in its literal sense; and by "the glory" in which they will see Him, the Word in its spiritual sense. That this is the case, is difficult to be believed by those who do not think beyond the sense of the letter of the Word; with such, "a cloud" is a cloud, and thence is their belief that the Lord will appear in the clouds of heaven, when the Last Judgment is at hand. But this idea falls, when it is known what "a cloud" is, and that it is the Divine truth in ultimates, thus the Word in the sense of the letter.
In the spiritual world there appear clouds as well as in the natural world; but the clouds in the spiritual world appear beneath the heavens, with those who are in the sense of the letter of the Word, darker or brighter according to their understanding and reception of the Word — the reason is, that the light of heaven there is the Divine truth, and darkness there is falsities; consequently "bright clouds" are the Divine truth veiled in appearances of truth, such as the Word is in the letter with those who are in truths; and "dark clouds" are the Divine truths covered with fallacies and confirmed appearances, such as the Word is in the letter with those who are in falsities. I have often seen those clouds, and it was evident whence and what they are. Now because the Lord, after the glorification of His Human, was made the Divine truth, or the Word, even in ultimates, He said unto the high priest, that, "Hereafter they should see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven."
But His saying to His disciples, that "in the consummation of the age the sign of the Son of man should appear, and that they should see Him coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory," signifies that at the end of the church, when the Last Judgment shall take place, He will appear in the Word, and reveal the spiritual sense, which is also accomplished at this day, because now is the end of the church, and the Last Judgment has taken place, as may appear from the small works recently published. This, therefore, is what is meant in Revelation, by "behold He cometh with clouds"; also in the following passages:
I saw, and behold, a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man (Rev. 14:14).As also in Daniel:
I saw in the night visions, and behold the Son of man coming with clouds (Dan. 7:13).That by "the Son of man" is meant the Lord as to the Word, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord (n. 19-28).
That also by "clouds" in other parts of the Word, is meant the Divine truth in ultimates, and thence the Word in the letter, may be seen in other passages where clouds are mentioned; as in these:
There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven, and in magnificence upon the clouds (Deut. 33:26).
Sing unto God, praise His name, extol Him that rideth upon the clouds (Ps. 68:4).
Jehovah rideth upon a light cloud (Isa. 19:1)."To ride upon the clouds," signifies to be in the wisdom of the Word, for "a horse" signifies the understanding of the Word; who cannot see that Jehovah does not ride upon the clouds?
God rode upon a cherub, and placed the clouds of the heavens His tent (Ps. 18:10-11).Here there is a similar signification; "cherubs" also signify the Word; tent signifies a habitation.
Jehovah layeth the beams of His chambers in the waters, He maketh the cloud His chariot (Ps. 104:3)."Waters" signify truths, "chambers" signify doctrinals, and "chariot" doctrine, all which, because they are from the sense of the letter of the Word, are called "clouds."
He bindeth up the waters in His clouds, and the cloud is not broken under them; He spreadeth His cloud over His throne (Job 26:8-9).In like manner:
God caused the light of His cloud to shine (Job 37:15).
Give ye strength unto God, strength upon the clouds (Ps. 68:34)."The light of a cloud" signifies the Divine truth of the Word, and "strength" signifies Divine power there.
Thou, O Lucifer, hast said in thine heart, I will ascend above the heights of the cloud; I will become like the Most High (Isa. 14:14).
Forsake ye, Babylon, for she hath lifted herself up even to the clouds (Jer. 51:9).By "Lucifer," and "Babylon" are signified those who profane the goods and truths of the Word, therefore these truths are meant there by "clouds."
Jehovah spread a cloud for a covering (Ps. 105:39).
Jehovah createth upon every habitation of Zion a cloud by day, for upon all the glory shall be a covering (Isa. 4:5).Here, also, by "cloud," is meant the Word in the sense of the letter, which sense, as it includes and covers the spiritual sense, is called "a covering upon the glory." That the literal sense of the Word is a covering, lest its spiritual sense should be injured, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture (n. 33); and that it is a guard (n. 97).
The Divine truth in ultimates, which is the same with the Word in the sense of the letter, is also represented by the "cloud," in which Jehovah descended upon Mount Sinai, and promulgated the law (Exod. 19:9; 34:5). Also by the "cloud" which covered Peter, James, and John, when Jesus was transfigured, concerning which it is written:
While Peter yet spake, behold a cloud overshadowed them, and behold a voice out of the cloud saying, This is my beloved Son, hear ye Him (Matt. 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:34-35).The Lord in this transfiguration, caused Himself to be seen as the Word; therefore a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice was heard out of the cloud, that He is the Son of God; "the voice out of the cloud" is out of the Word. That by "cloud," in the opposite sense, is meant the Word as to the sense of the letter falsified, will be seen elsewhere. (from Apocalypse Revealed 24)
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And the Lord appears manifestly in the spiritual sense of the Word.It appears not only that He is the Word, that is, the Divine truth itself, and that He is the inmost of the Word, and thence the all of it; but also that He Himself is the one God, in whom is the Trinity, and thus the only God of heaven and earth; and moreover that He came into the world, that He might glorify His Human, that is, make it Divine. The Human which He glorified, that is, made Divine, was the natural human, which He could not glorify or make Divine but by taking on the human in a virgin in the natural world; to which He then united His Divine, which He had from eternity. That unition was effected by temptations admitted into the human that He had taken, the last of which was the passion of the cross, and at the same time by the fulfilling of all things of the Word; not only by the fulfilling of all things of the Word in its natural sense, but also by the fulfilling of all things of the Word in its spiritual sense and in its celestial sense; in which, as was said above, He alone is treated of.But on these things, see what are manifested in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord, and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture.
Now, because the Lord is the Word, and the Word became flesh (John 1:1-2, 14), and the Word became flesh that He might fulfill it, it is manifest that the Lord's coming in the Word is meant by His appearing "in the clouds of heaven."
It is manifest that the Lord's appearing in the Word is meant, because the interior understanding of the Word is signified by "the white horse," and it is said that the name of Him that sat upon the horse is "The Word of God," and that His name is "King of kings and Lord of lords" (verses 13, 16). It is now manifest from this, that by "I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse," is signified the spiritual sense of the Word revealed by the Lord, and thereby the interior understanding of it disclosed; which also is the coming of the Lord. That the spiritual sense of the Word is at this day revealed, concerning which no one in the Christian world has before known anything, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia, where the two books of Moses, Genesis and Exodus are explained according to that sense; also in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture (n. 5-26); in a little work Concerning the White Horse from beginning to end, and in the things collected there from the Arcana Coelestia concerning the Sacred Scripture; and besides in these explanations upon Revelation, where not a single verse can be understood without the spiritual sense.
(from Apocalypse Revealed 820)
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Selection from De Verbo ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— The Word of the Lord from Experience —
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
(De Verbo 21)
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Selection from Doctrine of Sacred Scripture ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
It might be believed that the doctrine of genuine truth could be procured by means of the spiritual sense of the Word which is furnished through a knowledge of correspondences. But doctrine is not procured by means of that sense, but is only lighted up and corroborated. For as said before (n. 26), no one comes into the spiritual sense of the Word by means of correspondences unless he is first in genuine truths from doctrine. If a man is not first in genuine truths he may falsify the Word by means of some correspondences with which he is acquainted, by connecting them together and interpreting them so as to confirm that which cleaves to his mind from some principle previously received. Moreover the spiritual sense of the Word is not given anyone except by the Lord alone, and it is guarded by Him as heaven is guarded, for heaven is in it. It is better therefore for man to study the Word in the sense of the letter; from this alone is doctrine furnished.(Doctrine of Sacred Scripture 56)