1. AND I saw, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of great thunder; and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps. 3. And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no one could learn that song but the hundred forty and four thousand, who were bought from the earth. 4. These are they that were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they that follow the Lamb, whithersoever he goeth. These were brought from among men, being the first-fruits unto God and the Lamb. 5. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God. 6. And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and tribe, and tongue, and people, 7. Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. 8. And there followed another angei, saying, Babylon, thai great city, is fallen, is fallen; because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 9. And a third angel followed them, saying with a lous voice, If any man worship the beast, and his image, and receive his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10. He shall even drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture in the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before the Lamb: 11. And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever 12. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 13. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from hence forth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. 14. And I saw, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 15. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap: for the harvest 16. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. 17. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 18. And another angel came out from the altar, having power over fire: and he cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are ripe. 19. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine- 20. And the wine-press was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the wine-press, even unto the bridles of the THE CONTENTS OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER. Concerning the new Christian heaven: it is described from verses 1-5; the Lord's coming proclaimed, and then a new church, verses 6, 7, 13; an exhortation to renounce the doctrine of faith separated from charity, in which the present church is principled, verses 9- 12; an exploration of these, and a manifestation that their THE CONTENTS OF EACH VERSE. V. 1, "And I saw, and lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred him by the Word: "Having his Father's name written on their foreheads," signifies their acknowledgment of the Lord's Divinity and Divine Humanity: v. 2, "And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters," signifies the Lord speaking through the new heaven from divine truths: "And as the voice of great thunders," signifies, and from divine love: "And I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps,' signifies confession of the Lord from joy of heart by the spirit. ual angels in the inferior heavens: v. 3, "And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and before the elders," signifies the celebration and glorification of the Lord before him and before the angels of the superior heavens: "And no one could learn that song but the hundred forty and four thousand," signifies that no other Christians could understand, and thereby from love and faith acknowledge, that the Lord is the only God of heaven and earth, but those who are received by the Lord into this new heaven: "Who were bought from the earth," signifies that they are such as were capable of being regenerated by the Lord and thus redeemed in the world: v. 4, "These are they that were not defiled with women, for they are virgins," signifies that they did not adulterate the truths of the church, and defile them with the falsities of faith, but that they loved truths because they are truths: "These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth," signifies that they are conjoined to the Lord through love and faith in him, because they have ived according to his commandments: "These were bought from among men," signifies here as before: "Being the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb," signifies the beginning of the Christian heaven, which acknowledges one God, in whom there is a trinity, and that the Lord is that God: v. 5, "And in their mouth was found no guile," signifies that they do not from cunning and design speak and persuade to what is false and evil: "For they are without fault before the throne of God," signifies, because they are principled in truths grounded in good from the Lord: v. 6, "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth," signifies the annunciation of the Lord's advent, and of the new church about to come down out of heaven from him: "And to every nation, and tribe, and tongue, and people," signifies to all who from religion are in good, and from doctrine in truths: v. 7, "Saying with a loud voice, Fear God," signifies an admonition not to do evil, because this is against the Lord: "And give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come," signifies an acknowledgment and confession that every truth of the Word is from the Lord, according to which every man will be judged: "And worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters," signifies that the Lord alone is to be wor shipped, because he alone is the Creator, Saviour, and Redeemer, and from him alone the angelic heaven and the church, and all things relating to them, exist: v. 8, "And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon, that great city, is fallen, is fallen," signifies that now the Roman Catholic religion, as to its tenets and doctrinals, is dispersed: "Because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication," signifies because, by profanations of the Word, and adulterations of the good and truth of the church, she hath seduced all whom she could subject to her dominion: v. 9, "And a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice," signifies something further from the Lord concerning those who are principled in faith separated from charity: "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark on his forehead or on his hand," signifies that he who acknowledges and receives the doctrine of justification and salvation by faith alone, confirms himself in it, and lives according to it: v. 10, "He shall even drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture in the cup of his indignation," signifies that they falsify the goods and truths of the Word, and tincture their lives with such falsifications: "And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before the Lamb: (v. 11,) and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever," signifies self-love and the love of the world, and their derivative lusts, and the pride of self-derived intelligence proceeding from these latter, and torment in hell from the former: "And they have no rest day nor night, who wor ship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name," signifies a perpetual state in things undelightful with those who acknowledge and receive that faith, confirm it, and live according to it: v. 12, "Here is the patience of the saints, here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus," signifies that the man of the Lord's church, by temptations arising from those who worship the beast, is searched and tried as to his quality in regard to a life according to the commandments of the Word and faith in the Lord: v. 13, " And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth," signifies a prediction from the Lord of their state after death, who will be of his New Church, that they will have eternal life and felicity: "Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours," signifies that the divine truth of the Word teaches that they who afflict their soul and crucify the flesh, on that account shall have peace in the Lord: "And their works do follow them," signifies according as they have loved and believed, and thence acted and spoken: v. 14, "And I saw, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man." |