apocalypse revealed

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THE
APOCALYPSE REVEALED
WHEREIN ARE DISCLOSED
THE ARCANA THERE FORETOLD, WHICH
HAVE HITHERTO REMAINED
CONCEALED
BY
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
First published in Latin, Amsterdam, 1766
.

Rotch Edition

VOL. II
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
The Riverside Press Cambridge

THE APOCALYPSE.
CHAPTER NINTH.
1. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fallen
from heaven to the earth; and there was given unto him
the key of the pit of the abyss.
2. And he opened the pit of the abyss; and there went
up a smoke out of the pit as the smoke of a great
furnace. And the sun and ihe air were darkened from the
smoke of ihe pit.
3. And out of the smoke there went forth locusts
upon the earth; and power was given unto them as the
scorpions of the earth have power.
4. And it was said to them that they should not hurt
the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree,
but only the men who have not the seal of God in their
foreheads.
5. And it was given to them that they should not kill
them, but that they should torment them five months;
and their torment was ike the torment of a scorpion,
when he striketh a man.
6. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall
not find it; and shalh desire to die, and death shall flee
from them.
7. And the ikenesses of the locusts were ike unto
horses prepared for war; and upon their heads were as it
were crowns ike gold; and their faces were as the faces of
men.
8. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their
teeth were as those of ions.
9. And they had breastplates as breastplates of iron;
and ihe sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots
of many horses running to war.
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10. And they had tails like unto scorpions; and there
were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men
five months.
1. And they had a king over them, the angel of the
abyss: his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek •
he hath the name Apollyon.
12. One woe is passed; behold, there come two woes
more hereafter.
13. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice
from the four horns of the golden altar ihat is before
God,
14. Saying to the sixth angel that had the trumpet,
Loose the four angels that are bound at the great river
Euphrates.
15. And the four angels were loosed, that were
prepared for an hour and a day and a month and a year,
to kill a third part of men.
16. And the number of the armies of horsemen was
two myriads of myriads; and I heard the number of them.
17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them
that sat upon them, having breastplates of fire and jacinth
and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the
heads of ions; and out of their mouths issued fire and
smoke and brimstone.
18. By these three was a third part of men slain, by
the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone that
issued out 0f their mouths.
19. And their power was in their mouth: for their tails
were ike unto serpents, having heads; and with them they
hurt.
20. And the rest of the men, who were not killed by
these plagues, yet repented not of the works of their
hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of
gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, which can
neither see nor hear nor walk;
21. And repented not of their murders, nor of their en-
chantments, nor of their whoredoms, nor of their thefts.
THE AP0CALYPSE REVEALED. 427
THE SP1R1TUAL SENSE.
Contents of the whole Chapter. The exploration and
manifestation of the state of ife of those in the church of
the Reformed who are called learned and wise from the
confirmation of faith separated from charity, and of
justification and salvation by it alone: these are treated
of, vers. 1-3. The exploration and manifestation of those
therein who are not so learned and wise, and are in faith
alone, and ive as they ist: these are treated of, vers. 3-20.
Lastly, of those therein who know nothing but that faith
is the all by which man is saved, and nothing beside this,
vers. 0, 21.
Contents of each Verse. "The fifth angel sounded,"
signifies the exploration and manifestation of ihe state of
the ife of ihose in the church of the Reformed who are
called learned and wise from their confirmation of faith
separate from charity, and of justification and salvation
by it alone. "And I saw a star falhen from heaven unto
the earth," signifies spiritual Divine truth flowing out of
heaven into the church with them, exploring and mani-
festing. "And there was given unto him the key of the pit
of the abyss," signifies the bpening of their hell. "And he
opened the pit of the abyss, and there went up a smoke
out of the pit as ihe smoke of a great furnace," signifies
ihe falsities of the lusts of the natural man arising from
their evil loves. "And the sun and the air were darkened
from the smoke of ihe pit," signifies that hence the ight
of truth became ihick darkness. "And out of the smoke
there went forth locusts upon the earth," signifies that
from them were falsities in the outmost things, such as
those have who have become sensual, and see and judge
all things from ihe senses and their fallacies. "And power
was given unto them as the scorpions of the earth have
power," signifies ihe power of persuading that their fal-
sities are truihs. "And it was said to them that they
should
428 THE APOCALYPSE REVEALED.
not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor
any tree, but only the men who had not the seal of God in
their foreheads," signifies ihe Lord's Divine Providence,
that they should not be able to take away any truth and
good of faith, nor affection for and perception of them,
from any but those who are not in charity and hence not
in faith. "And it was given to them that they should not kill
them, but that they should torment them five months,"
signifies that neither should they be able to take away from
these the faculty of understanding and wiling truth and
good, but only that they should be able to induce a stupor
for a short time. "And their torment was ike the torment
of a scorpion when he striketh a man," signifies that this is
from their persuasive power. "And in those days men shall
seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and
death shall flee from them," signifies that they wish that in
matters of faith the understanding should be shut up and
the will closed, by which spiritual ight and ife are
extinguished; and still that this cannot be done. "And the
ikenesses of the locusts," signifies the appearances and
images of those who have confirmed in themselves faith
separate from charity. "Were ike unto horses prepared for
war," signifies that because they can reason, they appeared
to themselves as if fighting from ihe understanding of
truth from the Word. "And upon their heads were as it
were crowns ike gold," signifies that they appeared to
themselves as conquerers. "And iheir faces were as the
faces of men," signifies that they appeared to themselves
as wise. "And they had hair as the hair of women,"
signifies that they appeared to themselves as in affection
for truth. "And their teeth were as ihose of ions," signifies
that sensual things, which are the ultimates of the ife of ihe
natural man, appeared to them to have power over all
things. "And they had breastplates as breastplates of iron,"
signifies argumentations from fallacies, by which they fight
and prevail, which
THE APOCALYPSE REVEALED. 429
appeared to them so strong that they could not be
refuted. "And the sound of their wings was as the sound
of chariots of many horses running to war," signifies their
reasonings as from the truths of doctrine from the Word,
fully understood, for which they must ardently fight.
"And they had tails ike unto scorpions," signifies the
truths of the Word falsified by which they induce stupor.
"And there were stings in their tails, and their power was
to hurt men five months," signifies subtle falsifications of
the Word, by which for a short time they darken and
fascinate the understanding, and thus deceive and
captivate. "And they had a king over them, the angel of
the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the
Greek he hath the name Apollyon," signifies that they are
in the satanic hell, who are in falsities from lusts, and have
destroyed the church by the total falsification of the
Word. "One woe is passed; behold, there come two woes
more hereafter," signifies further lamentations over the
state of the church.
"And the sixth angel sounded," signifies exploration
and manifestation of the state of the ife with those in the
church of the Reformed who are not so wise, and still
place ihe all of reigion in faith, and think of that alone,
and ive as they ist. "And I heard a voice from the four
horns of the golden altar ihat is before God, saying to the
sixth angel, who had the trumpet," signifies a command
from the Lord out of the spiritual heaven to them who
should explore and manifest. "Loose the four angels that
are bound at the great river Euphrates," signifies that
external bonds should be taken away from them, that the
interiors of their minds might appear. "And the four
angels were loosed," signifies that when the external
bonds were taken away the interiors of their minds