Selections from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? ...
... Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ...
... But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. ... (Matthew 24:3, 29, 30, 37)
WHEN THE END OF A CHURCH IS AT HAND
When the end of a church is at hand, then the interior things of the Word, of the church, and of worship, are revealed and taught. This is done that the good may be separated from the evil. There is a separation because the interior things of the Word, of the church, and of worship, which are celestial and spiritual, are received by the good, but are rejected by the evil.Moreover, the interior things of the Word, which are revealed at the end of the church, are serviceable for doctrine and life to the New Church that is also then established. That this is so is evident from this, — that when the end of the Jewish Church was at hand the Lord Himself opened and taught the interior things of the Word, and especially revealed those things in the Word that had been foretold of Himself — and when these had been opened and revealed, the externals of the church were abrogated, which consisted chiefly of sacrifices and rituals and statutes which shadowed forth the Lord, and represented and thence signified the interior things of the church which He was revealing. That this would be done was predicted in various passages in the prophets.
The like has been done at the present time; for it has now pleased the Lord to reveal many arcana of heaven, especially the internal or spiritual sense of the Word, which has heretofore been wholly unknown, and with that He has taught the genuine truths of doctrine. This revelation is meant by "the coming of the Lord" in Matthew 24:3, 30, 37.
A revelation is necessary at the end of the church in order, as has been said, that by means of it the good may become separated from the evil, and a New Church established, and this not only in the natural world where men are, but also in the spiritual world where spirits and angels are — for in both worlds there is a church, and revelation takes place in both, and thereby separation, as also the establishment of a New Church. ...
As regards the successive states of the churches on our globe, they have evidently been similar to the successive states of a man who is being reformed and regenerated, namely, that to become a spiritual man, he is first conceived, next is born, then grows up, and is afterwards led on further and further into intelligence and wisdom. The church, from the most ancient times to the end of the Jewish Church, progressed like a man who is conceived, born, and grows up, and is then instructed and taught; but the successive states of the church after the end of the Jewish Church, or from the time of the Lord even to the present day, have been like a man increasing in intelligence and wisdom, or becoming regenerate. For this end the interior things of the Word, of the church, and of worship, were revealed by the Lord when He was in the world; and now again, things still more interior are revealed; and in the measure that things interior are revealed can man become wiser; for to become interior is to become wiser, and to become wiser is to become interior. (from Apocalypse Explained 641)
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THE TWO WITNESSES THAT WERE SLAIN AND LIVED AGAIN
At the end of the church, when there is no faith because there is no charity, the interior things of the Word which are to serve the New Church for doctrine and life are disclosed. This was done by the Lord Himself, when the end of the Jewish Church was at hand; for the Lord Himself then came into the world and opened the interiors of the Word, especially those relating to Himself, love to Him and love towards the neighbor, and faith in Him, which before lay hidden in the interiors of the Word, since they were in its representatives, and thence in the particular things of the church and of worship. These truths, therefore, that were disclosed by the Lord were interior truths, and in themselves spiritual; and these afterwards served the New Church for doctrine and life, as has been said just above. These truths, however, were not immediately received, nor until after a considerable lapse of time, as is well known from ecclesiastical history; and for the reason that they could not be received until all things in the spiritual world had been reduced to order — for as the spiritual world is conjoined to the natural world with men, so unless that world had been first reduced to order, men in the natural world could not have understood or perceived the goods of love and the truths of doctrine; this is why so long a time intervened before the Christian Church was universally established in the European world; for all effects that exist in the natural world derive their origin from causes in the spiritual world, especially those that relate to the things of the church. These things have been said to make known what is signified in particular by the command to the two witnesses "to go up into heaven," namely, that no harm be done by the evil to the goods of love and the truths of doctrine that are disclosed in the last time of the church.It was similar when the Most Ancient Church, which was before the flood, came to its end, for then the representatives of celestial things, which existed among the most ancient people, were gathered up into one body by those who were called "Enoch," and were preserved for the use of the New Church after the flood; and this was called a representative church, because its laws and statutes, and in general its worship, consisted of representatives, or of such things in the natural world as corresponded to spiritual things in the spiritual world. The like was done with these, that is, they were separated from the evil by being taken into heaven and thus protected, and this till the old church came to its end, when a New Church was to be established. This is described by these words in Genesis:
And Enoch walked with God and he was no more, for God took him (Gen. 5:24).That such is the signification of "Enoch, and his walking before God, and being taken by God" may be seen in Arcana Coelestia (n. 518-523), where this is explained.
The like is done at the present day. This church, which is called Christian, has at this day come to its end, therefore the arcana of heaven and the church have now been revealed by the Lord, to serve as the doctrine of life and faith for the New Church, which is meant by "the New Jerusalem" in Revelation. This doctrine, too, has been taken up into heaven lest harm be done to it by the evil before the establishment of the New Church. Such, therefore, is the signification of this respecting the two witnesses, that "they went up into heaven;" also of what follows in the next chapter, where it treats of "the woman about to bring forth a child," before whom stood the dragon:
That the child was caught up to God and to His throne (Rev. 12:5).What is there meant in particular by the "woman" and the "child" will be told in the explanation of the next chapter. From this it can now be seen what arcanum is involved in what is here said of the two witnesses that by command "they went up into heaven in the cloud." (from Apocalypse Explained 670)
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BEFORE THE CHURCH HAS BEEN FULLY DEVASTATED
The Word is revealed interiorly, that is, as to the spiritual sense, before the church has been fully devastated, because then the New Church will be established into which those who are of the former church are invited; and for the New Church interior Divine truth is revealed; and this could not have been revealed before for reasons that will be given in what follows. A like thing is now done as was done at the end of the Jewish Church; for at its end, which was when the Lord came into the world, the Word was opened interiorly; for when the Lord was in the world He revealed interior Divine truths that were to be for the use of a New Church about to be established by Him and that did serve that church. For like reasons the Word has been opened interiorly at this day, and still more interior Divine truths have been revealed therefrom for the use of the New Church, that will be called the New Jerusalem.What the Divine providence of the Lord was in revealing Divine truths can be seen from the successive establishment of churches. There have been several churches on our globe one after another. There was the Most Ancient, that was before the flood; there was the Ancient, that was after the flood; then the Hebrew; and then the Israelitish; after this the Christian; and now the New Church is beginning. Inmost Divine truths were revealed to those who were of the Most Ancient Church; more external Divine truths were revealed to those of the Ancient Church; and most external or ultimate Divine truths to the Hebrew Church, and afterwards to the Israelitish, with which church all Divine truth finally perished, for at last there was nothing in the Word that had not been adulterated. But after the end of the Israelitish Church interior Divine truths were revealed by the Lord for the Christian Church, and now still more interior truths for the church that is to come. These interior truths are such as are in the internal or spiritual sense of the Word. All this makes clear that there has been a progression of Divine truth from inmosts to ultimates, thus from wisdom to mere ignorance; and that now there is a progression of it from ultimates to interiors, thus from ignorance again to wisdom. (from no. 948)
(from Apocalypse Explained 641; 670; 948)