揭秘启示录
第十一章(485 - 531)
启示录11
1有一根像杖一样的芦苇赐给我；天使站在旁边说，起来，将神的殿和祭坛，并在殿中礼拜的人都量一量。2只是殿外被抛弃的院子不用量，因为它已经给了外邦人，他们将践踏圣城四十二个月。3我要赐给我那两个见证人，他们要穿着麻布，说预言一千二百六十天。4这些人就是那两棵橄榄树，两个灯台，立在这地的神面前。5若有人要伤害他们，就有火从他们口中喷出来，烧灭仇敌；若有人想要害他们，必须这样被杀。6这些人有权柄关闭天空，在他们预言的日子叫雨不降下；又有权柄叫水变为血，并且能随时随意用各样的灾殃击打大地。7他们作完见证的时候，那从无底坑或深渊里上来的兽要跟他们交战，胜过他们，把他们杀了。8他们的尸首要倒在大城的街道上，这城按着灵意叫所多玛和埃及，就是我们的主钉十字架的地方。9从各人民、各支派、各舌头、各民族中，有人观看他们的尸首三天半，又不许把他们的尸首放在坟墓里。10住在地上的人会因他们而欢喜快乐，互相馈送礼物，因为这两位先知曾折磨住在地上的人。11过了这三天半，有生命的灵从神那里进入他们里面，他们就双脚站起来，看见他们的人都大大惧怕。12他们听见有大声音从天上对他们说，上这里来。他们就驾着云上了天；他们的仇敌也看见他们。13正在那个时辰，就有了大地震，那城的第十部分倒塌了，在地震中被杀的人名有七千；其余的都害怕，将荣耀归给天上的神。14第二样灾祸过去了；看哪，第三样灾祸快到了。15第七位天使吹号；天上就有大声音说，世上的国成了我们主和主基督的，祂要作王，直到时代的时代。16在神面前坐在宝座上的二十四位长老，就伏面拜神，17说，今在、昔在、以后永在的主神全能者啊，我们感谢你，因你执掌大权进入这国了。18列族发怒，你的愤怒临到了，审判死人，你的仆人众先知和众圣徒、凡敬畏你名的人，连小的带大的得赏赐，并毁灭那些毁灭大地之人的时候到了。19于是神的殿在天上开了，在祂殿中现出约柜；随有闪电、响声、雷轰、地震、大冰雹。
灵义
整章内容
本章继续论述改革宗当中的教会状态，论述那些从内层处于唯信之人的品质，而唯信违背新教会的两个基本要素，即：唯独主是天地之神，祂的人身是神性；当照十诫生活。这两个基本要素在他们面前被宣布(3-6节)。但它们被完全弃绝了(7-10节)。它们又被主复活了(11, 12节)。那些弃绝它们的人灭亡了(13节)。新教会的状态从新天堂显现出来(15-19节)。
各节内容
启11:1.“有一根像杖一样的芦苇赐给我”表示认识并看到教会在天堂和世界上的状态的能力和权柄被赐给约翰(485节)。“天使站在旁边说，起来，将神的殿和祭坛，并在殿中礼拜的人都量一量”表示主的同在和吩咐，他要看到并得知新天堂里的教会状态(486节)。
启11:2.“只是殿外被抛弃的院子不用量”表示诸如目前这样的地上的教会状态必须被除去，不为人所知(487节)。“因为它已经给了外邦人”表示因为这教会的状态因生活的邪恶而被摧毁和荒凉了(488节)。“他们将践踏圣城四十二个月”表示它将驱散圣言的一切真理，直至荡然无存(489节)。
启11:3.“我要赐给我那两个见证人”表示那些从心里认罪并承认主是天地之神，祂的人身是神性，并通过遵行十诫的生活与祂结合的人(490节)。“他们要说预言一千二百六十天”表示这两点，即：对主的承认和遵行十诫的生活，也就是新教会的两个基本要素，必须被教导，直到结束和开始(491节)。“穿着麻布”表示与此同时，因真理不被接受而悲痛(492节)。
启11:4.“这些人就是那两棵橄榄树，两个灯台，立在这地的神面前”表示爱与聪明，或仁与信，两者都从主那里而与他们同在(493节)。
启11:5.“若有人要伤害他们，就有火从他们口中喷出来，烧灭仇敌”表示那些想摧毁新教会的这两个基本要素的人必因地狱之爱而灭亡(494节)。“若有人想要害他们，必须这样被杀”表示定他们罪的人必以同样的方式被定罪(495节)。
启11:6.“这些人有权柄关闭天空，在他们预言的日子叫雨不降下”表示那些背离这两个基本要素的人不能从天堂接受任何真理(496节)。“又有权柄叫水变为血”表示那些背离它们的人歪曲圣言的真理(497节)。“并且能随时随意用各样的灾殃击打大地”表示那些想摧毁它们的人每当这样做时，并在这样做的程度上会把自己扔进各种邪恶和虚假中(498节)。
启11:7.“他们作完见证的时候”表示主教导新教会的这两个基本要素之后(499节)。“那从深渊里上来的兽要跟他们交战，胜过他们，把他们杀了”表示那些处于唯信教义内在的人将弃绝这两者(500节)。
启11:8.“他们的尸首要倒在大城的街道上”表示它们被完全弃绝(501节)。“这城按着灵意叫所多玛和埃及”表示两种地狱之爱，就是源于自我之爱的对统治的爱，和源于自我聪明的骄傲的对掌控的爱，这些爱就存在于不承认一位神，不敬拜主，也不照十诫生活的教会中(502, 503节)。“就是我们的主钉十字架的地方”表示对主的神性人身的不承认，因而一种弃绝的状态(504节)。
启11:9.“从各人民、各支派、各舌头、各民族中，有人观看他们的尸首三天半”表示当所有已经处于并将处于源于唯信的教义虚假和生活邪恶，直到现教会结束和新教会开始的人，都听到并将要听到这两个基本要素时(505节)。“又不许把他们的尸首放在坟墓里”表示他们已经把它们定罪，并将继续把它们定罪，或已经诅咒它们，并将继续诅咒它们(506节)。
启11:10.“住在地上的人会因他们而欢喜快乐”表示因此在教会里那些处于唯信的人当中的内心和灵魂的情感之快乐(507节)。“互相馈送礼物”表示通过爱和友谊而联合(508节)。“因为这两位先知曾折磨住在地上的人”表示新教会的这两个基本要素因与改革宗教会的两个基本要素对立而遭到蔑视、反感和厌恶(509节)。
启11:11.“过了这三天半，有生命的灵从神那里进入他们里面，他们就双脚站起来”表示在新教会开始和发展期间，这两个基本要素在那些接受它们的人中间靠主活过来(510节)。“看见他们的人都大大惧怕”表示对神性真理感到心烦意乱、惶恐不安(511节)。
启11:12.“他们听见有大声音从天上对他们说，上这里来”表示新教会的这两个基本要素被主接到天堂，它们源于天堂，并在天堂中，以及对它们的保护(512节)。“他们就驾着云上了天”表示把它们接到天堂，在那里通过字义上的圣言神性真理而与主结合(513节)。“他们的仇敌也看见他们”表示那些处于与仁分离之信的人听见它们，但仍留在自己的虚假中(514节)。
启11:13.“正在那个时辰，就有了大地震，那城的第十部分倒塌了”表示那时发生在他们身上的一个显著的状态变化，他们与天堂猛烈分离，并沉入地狱(515节)。“在地震中被杀的人名有七千”表示所有宣称唯信，并因此视仁爱的作为毫无价值的人都灭亡了(516节)。“其余的都害怕，将荣耀归给天上的神”表示那些看见他们毁灭的人承认主，并被分离(517节)。
启11:14.“第二样灾祸过去了；看哪，第三样灾祸快到了”表示为教会的败坏状态而哀悼，然后是最后的哀悼，如稍后所论述的(518节)。
启11:15.“第七位天使吹号”表示完结之后，就是当主及其国度降临时，对教会状态的检查和显明(519节)。“天上就有大声音说，世上的国成了我们主和主基督的，祂要作王，直到时代的时代”表示天使们的颂扬，因为天堂和教会成了主的，如它们自起初以来的那样，还因为现在它们属于主的神性人身，因而现在主在这两者(即神性和神性人身)方面将统治天堂和教会，直到永远(520节)。
启11:16.“在神面前坐在宝座上的二十四位长老，就伏面拜神”表示天上的所有天使都承认主是天地之神，以及最高的崇拜(521节)。
启11:17.“说，今在、昔在、以后永在的主神全能者啊，我们感谢你”表示天上天使的称谢和荣耀，即：正是主存在、活着或拥有生命，并从自己那里拥有能力，统治一切，因为唯独祂是永恒和无限的(522节)。“因你执掌大权进入这国了”表示新天堂和新教会，在那里，他们都承认主是独一神(523节)。
启11:18.“列族发怒”表示那些处于唯信，由此处于生活邪恶的人，他们被激怒，并侵扰那些反对他们信仰的人(524节)。“你的愤怒临到了，审判死人的时候到了”表示他们的毁灭，以及对那些没有任何属灵生命的人施行的最后审判(525节)。“你的仆人众先知和众圣徒得赏赐”表示赐给那些处于取自圣言的教义真理，并处于照之的生活之人的永生的幸福(526节)。“凡敬畏你名的人，连小的带大的”表示那些热爱属于主的事物之人，无论程度大小(527节)。“并毁灭那些毁灭大地之人”表示把那些摧毁教会的人扔进地狱(528节)。
启11:19.“于是神的殿在天上开了，在祂殿中现出约柜”表示新天堂，在新天堂，主以其神性人身受到敬拜，他们照着主的十诫生活，这两条是新教会的两个基本要素，结合由此实现(529节)。“随有闪电、响声、雷轰、地震、大冰雹”表示那时发生在低层区域的对良善和真理的推理、干扰和歪曲。
诠释
485、启11:1.“有一根像杖一样的芦苇赐给我”表示认识并看到教会在天堂和世界上的状态的能力和权柄被主赐给约翰。“芦苇”表示微弱的能力，就是诸如人从自己那里所拥有的那种；“杖”表示强大的能力，就是诸如人从主那里所拥有的那种；因此，所赐给的“像杖一样的芦苇”表示来自主的能力。它是认识并看到教会在天堂和世界上的状态的能力和权柄，这一点从本章接下来直到末尾的内容明显看出来。
“芦苇”或藤条表示微弱的能力，就是诸如人从自己那里所拥有的那种，这一点从以下经文明显看出来；以赛亚书：
看哪，你倚靠这压伤的苇杖，倚靠埃及；人若靠这杖，它就刺进他的手，刺透它。(以赛亚书36:6)
以西结书：
埃及一切的居民，因向以色列家成了芦苇的杖，就知道我是耶和华；当他们用手持住你的时候，你就断折，刺透他们一切的肩膀。(以西结书29:6, 7)
“埃及”表示信靠自己力量的属世人，所以他被称为“压伤的苇杖”。在以赛亚书，“芦苇”表示微弱的能力：
压伤的芦苇，祂不折断；冒烟的残麻，祂不扑灭。(以赛亚书42:3)
然而，“杖”表示来自主的强大能力，在此表示认识教会状态的能力，因为“殿和祭坛”用杖来量；“量”表示认识或知道，“殿和祭坛”表示教会，如稍后所看到的。“杖”表示能力，是因为在古人当中，制作杖所用的“木头”表示良善；还因为杖代替并支撑右手，而“右手”表示能力；正因如此，权杖就是一根短杖，而“权杖”表示君王的能力或权柄；在希伯来语，“权杖”(scepter)和“杖”(staff)是同一个词。
“杖”表示能力或权柄，这一点从以下经文明显看出来；耶利米书：
你们都要说，那力量的杖，那华美的杖竟然折断了；要从荣耀上下来，坐受干渴。(耶利米书48:17, 18)
诗篇：
耶和华必使你从锡安伸出力量的杖来。(诗篇110:2)
哈巴谷书：
你用杖刺透不信者的头。(哈巴谷书3:14)
耶利米书：
以色列是耶和华产业的杖。(耶利米书10:16; 51:19)
诗篇：
你的棒，你的杖必安慰我。(诗篇23:4)
以赛亚书：
耶和华折断了恶人的杖。(以赛亚书9:4; 14:5; 诗篇125:3)
何西阿书：
我的民求问木头；他的杖就回答他们。(何西阿书4:12)
以赛亚书：
耶和华从耶路撒冷除掉整个粮杖和整个水杖。(以赛亚书3:1; 以西结书4:16; 5:16; 14:13; 诗篇105:16; 利未记26:26)
“粮杖和水杖”表示良善和真理的能力，“耶路撒冷”表示教会。民数记：
利未的杖上有亚伦的名字，在会幕里开了花，结了熟杏。(民数记17:2-10)
“利未的杖”在灵义上只表示真理和良善的能力，因为“利未”和“亚伦”表示教会的真理和良善。
“杖”表示能力，这一点从摩西的杖的能力明显看出来：
因杖伸出，水就变成血。(出埃及记7:20)
青蛙因它上到埃及地。(出埃及记8:1等)
因它就有了虱子。(出埃及记8:16等)
因它就有了雷轰和冰雹。(出埃及记9:23等)
蝗虫因它就出来了。(出埃及记10:12等)
红海因它分开，又回转。(出埃及记14:16, 21, 26)
水因它从何烈的磐石中流出。(出埃及记17:5等; 民数记20:7-13)
约书亚和摩西因它战胜了亚玛力人。(出埃及记17:9-12)
因天使的杖就有火从磐石中出来。(士师记6:21)
从这些经文明显看出，“杖”表示能力或权柄；在别的地方也是如此(如以赛亚书10:5, 24, 26; 11:4; 14:5; 30:31-32; 以西结书19:10-14; 耶利米哀歌3:1; 弥迦书7:14; 撒迦利亚书10:11; 民数记21:18)。
485. CHAPTER 11
1. Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood by, saying, "Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.
2. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.
3. And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth."
4. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.
5. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire will proceed from their mouth and devour their enemies. And if anyone wants to do them injury, he must be killed in this manner.
6. These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.
7. Then, when they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.
8. And their bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
9. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their bodies for three and a half days, and not allow their bodies to be put into tombs.
10. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and be glad, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
11. But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.
12. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.
13. In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth part of the city fell. And in the earthquake seven thousand people by name were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14. The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.
15. Then the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"
16. And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God,
17. saying: "We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who are and who were and who are to come, because You have taken Your great power and entered Your kingdom.
18. The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time to judge the dead, and to reward Your servants the prophets and saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and to destroy those who are destroying the earth."
19. Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING
The Contents of the Whole Chapter
The subject continues to be the state of the church among the Protestant Reformed and the character of those inwardly caught up in faith alone in opposition to the two essential elements of the New Church, namely, that the Lord alone is God of heaven and earth, whose humanity is Divine, and that people ought to live in accordance with the Ten Commandments. These two essential elements were proclaimed before them (verses 3-6). But they were utterly rejected (verses 7-10). The Lord revived them (verses 11, 12). Those people perished who rejected them (verse 13). From the New Heaven the state of the New Church was shown (verses 15-19).
The Contents of the Individual Verses:
| Verse Contents | Spiritual Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1. Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. | John was given the ability and power to learn and see the state of the church in heaven and in the world. |
| And the angel stood by, saying, "Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. | The Lord's presence and His command to see and learn the state of the church in the New Heaven. |
| 2. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, | The state of the church on earth, as it is still, must be set aside and not learned. |
| for it has been given to the gentiles. | Because, owing to evil practices, the state of that church has been lost and forsaken. |
| And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. | It has dispelled every truth of the Word to the point that none remains. |
| 3. And I will give power to my two witnesses, | Those people who confess and acknowledge from the heart that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, whose humanity is Divine, and who are conjoined with Him by a life in accordance with the Ten Commandments. |
| and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, | These two - an acknowledgment of the Lord and a life in accordance with the Ten Commandments, which are the two essential elements of the New Church - must be taught until the end and a new beginning. |
| clothed in sackcloth." | The grief experienced meanwhile over the truth's not being accepted. |
| 4. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. | The love and intelligence, or charity and faith, that people have in them from the Lord. |
| 5. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire will proceed from their mouth and devour their enemies. | Anyone who wishes to destroy these two essential elements perishes from a hellish love. |
| And if anyone wants to do them injury, he must be killed in that way. | Anyone who condemns the two essential elements is likewise condemned. |
| 6. These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; | People who turn away from these two essential elements cannot receive any truth from heaven. |
| and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, | People who turn away from these two essential elements falsify the Word's truths. |
| and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. | People who wish to destroy these two essential elements propel themselves into evils and falsities of every kind, as often as, and in the measure that, they do so. |
| 7. Then, when they finish their testimony, | After the Lord has taught these two essential elements of the New Church, |
| the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. | those people who are caught up in the interior tenets of the doctrine regarding faith alone will reject these two elements. |
| 8. And their bodies will lie in the street of the great city | These two elements have been utterly rejected. |
| which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, | The two hellish loves, namely, a love of ruling springing from a love of self, and a love of holding sway from a conceit in one's own intelligence, loves which are present in the church where there is not one God and where the Lord is not worshiped, and where people do not live in accordance with the Ten Commandments. |
| where also our Lord was crucified. | A failure to acknowledge the Lord's Divine humanity, and thus a state in which He is rejected. |
| 9. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their bodies for three and a half days, | All those who were or who would be caught up in doctrinal falsities and evil practices at the end of the church still existing, when they have heard and later hear about these two essential elements at the beginning of the New Church, |
| and not allow their bodies to be put into tombs. | have condemned them and will continue to condemn them. |
| 10. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and be glad, | The delight of the heart and soul's affection among those people in the church caught up in faith alone. |
| and send gifts to one another, | Their consociation by love and friendship. |
| because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. | These two essential elements of the New Church, opposed as they are to the two essential elements accepted in the Protestant Reformed Church, are objects of contempt, distress, and repugnance. |
| 11. But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, | As the New Church commences and grows, these two essential elements are made living by the Lord in people who accept them. |
| and great fear fell on those who saw them. | A disturbance of the mind and alarm at Divine truths. |
| 12. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." | The two essential elements of the New Church raised by the Lord into heaven, where they originate and where they remain, and where they are protected. |
| And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, | Their elevation into heaven and conjunction with the Lord there through the Divine truth of the Word in its literal sense. |
| and their enemies saw them. | People caught up in a faith divorced from charity heard of these, but remained in their falsities. |
| 13. In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth part of the city fell. | A considerable change of state occurring then in those people, and their being plucked away from heaven and sinking into hell. |
| And in the earthquake seven thousand people by name were killed, | All those people who professed faith alone and for that reason made works of charity of no account, perished. |
| and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. | People who saw their destruction acknowledged the Lord and were set apart. |
| 14. The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly. | A lamentation over the corrupted state of the church, and lastly a final lamentation, as depicted after this. |
| 15. Then the seventh angel sounded, | An examination and exposure of the state of the church after its end, at the time of the Lord's advent and the advent of His kingdom. |
| and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" | Celebrations on the part of angels, that heaven and the church had become the Lord's, as they had been from the beginning, and that they had now become those of His Divine humanity, thus that the Lord would reign over heaven and earth as regards both aspects of Him to eternity. |
| 16. And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, | An acknowledgment on the part of all the angels in heaven that the Lord is God of heaven and earth, and their highest adoration of Him. |
| 17. saying: "We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who are and who were and who are to come, | A confession and glorification on the part of the angels in heaven, that the Lord is He who exists, lives, and has power of Himself, and who governs all things, because He alone is eternal and infinite. |
| because You have taken Your great power and entered Your kingdom. | The New Heaven and New Church, where people will acknowledge Him alone as God. |
| 18. The nations were angry, | People who were caught up in faith alone and thus in evil practices were enraged, and harassed those who opposed their faith. |
| and Your wrath has come, and the time to judge the dead, | Their destruction, and the last judgment on those people who were without any spiritual life. |
| and to reward Your servants the prophets and saints, | The happiness of eternal life for people who possess doctrinal truths from the Word and live in accordance with them. |
| and those who fear Your name, small and great, | People who love things having to do with the Lord, in a lesser or greater degree. |
| and to destroy those who are destroying the earth." | The casting down into hell of the people who destroyed the church. |
| 19. Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. | The New Heaven, in which the Lord is worshiped in His Divine humanity, and where people live in accordance with the Ten Commandments, which constitute the two essential elements of the New Church that are the means of conjunction. |
| And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. | The reasonings, disturbances, and falsifications of goodness and truth then in the lower regions. |
THE EXPOSITION
Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. (11:1) This symbolically means that the Lord gave John the ability and power to learn and see the state of the church in heaven and in the world.
A reed symbolizes weak power, the kind a person has of himself, and a rod symbolizes strong power, the kind a person has from the Lord. Consequently John's being given a reed like a measuring rod symbolizes power from the Lord. That it was the ability and power to learn and see the state of the church in heaven and in the world is apparent from the events that follow in this chapter to the end.
[2] That a reed or length of cane symbolizes weak power such as a person has of himself is apparent from the following:
Look, you are relying on the staff of (a) broken reed, on Egypt, which, when a man leans on it, will go into his hand and pierce it. (Isaiah 36:6)
That... the inhabitants of Egypt may know that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. When they took hold of you with the hand, you broke and punctured all their shoulders... (Ezekiel 29:6-7)
Egypt symbolizes the natural person who relies on his own powers, and that is why it is called the staff of a broken reed.
A reed symbolizes weak power, in Isaiah:
A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not extinguish. (Isaiah 42:3)
[3] A rod, on the other hand, symbolizes strong power, which comes from the Lord, here the power to learn the state of the church, because John used the rod to measure the temple and altar, and to measure means, symbolically, to learn, and the temple and altar symbolize the church, as depicted next.
A rod symbolizes power because in olden times people in the church made wooden rods, and wood symbolizes goodness. It also substituted for the right hand and supported it, and the right hand symbolizes power. It is owing to this that a scepter is a shortened rod, and a scepter symbolizes the power of a king. Moreover, "scepter" and "rod" in Hebrew are the same word. 1
[4] That a rod symbolizes power is apparent from the following passages:
Say, "How the strong staff is broken, the beautiful rod!" ...Come down from your glory, and sit in thirst. (Jeremiah 48:17-18)
Jehovah shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. (Psalms 110:2)
You punctured with his shafts the head of the faithless. (Habakkuk 3:14)
...Israel the rod of (Jehovah's) inheritance. (Jeremiah 10:16; 51:19)
Your rod and Your staff will comfort me. (Psalms 23:4)
Jehovah has broken the staff of the wicked... (Isaiah 14:5, cf. Isaiah 9:4, Psalms 125:3)
My people consult a piece of wood, and their staff answers them. (Hosea 4:12)
...Jehovah... takes away from Jerusalem... the whole staff of bread and the whole staff of water. (Isaiah 3:1, cf. Ezekiel 4:16; 5:16; 14:13, Psalms 105:16, Leviticus 26:26)
A staff of bread and of water symbolizes the power of goodness and truth, and Jerusalem symbolizes the church.
The rod of Levi with the name of Aaron on it, which in the Tabernacle blossomed with almonds (Numbers 17:2-10), symbolizes, in the spiritual sense, nothing else than the power of truth and goodness, because Levi and Aaron symbolized the truth and goodness of the church.
[5] That a rod symbolizes power is apparent from the power of Moses' rod: On being stretched out it turned water into blood (Exodus 7:20). It caused frogs to come up on the land of Egypt (Exodus 8:1ff.). It produced lice (Exodus 8:16f.). It summoned thunder and hail (Exodus 9:23ff.). It caused locusts to come (Exodus 10:12ff.). It caused the Red Sea to be parted and the waters to return (Exodus 14:16, 21, 26). It caused water to flow from the rock at Horeb (Exodus 17:5ff., Numbers 20:7-13). In Moses' hand it enabled Joshua to prevail over the Amalekites (Exodus 17:9-12).
And an angel's staff caused fire to come forth from a rock (Judges 6:21).
It is apparent from these instances that a rod or staff symbolizes power, and also elsewhere, as in Isaiah 10:5, 24, 26; 11:4; 14:29; 30:31-32, Ezekiel 19:10-14, Lamentations 3:1, Micah 7:14, Zechariah 10:11, Numbers 21:18.
Footnotes:
1. I.e., מַטֶּה.
485. THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER
1. And there was given me a reed like a staff, and the angel stood by, saying, Arise, and measure the temple of God and the altar and those adoring therein.
2. And the court that is outside the temple, exclude, and measure it not, for it has been given to the nations, and they shall trample upon the holy community forty-two months.
3. And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.
4. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands, which are standing before the God of the land.
5. And if any one wishes to hurt them, fire shall go forth out of their mouth, and shall devour their enemies; and if any one wishes to do them an injury, he must in this manner be killed.
6. These have authority to shut heaven, so that it may rain no rain in the days of their prophecy; and they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the land with every plague, as often as they will.
7. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast coming up out of the deep shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them.
8. And their bodies [shall be] upon the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
9. And they of peoples and tribes and tongues and nations shall see their bodies three days and a half and shall not allow their bodies to be put into tombs.
10. And those dwelling upon the land shall rejoice over them and be glad, and shall send gifts one to another, because those two prophets tormented those dwelling upon the land.
11. And after three days and a half, the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon those seeing them.
12. And they heard a great voice out of heaven saying to them, Come up hither, and they went up into heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.
13. And in that hour a great earthquake was brought about, and a tenth part of the city fell, and there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand names of men; and the rest became frightened, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14. The second woe is past, behold the third woe is coming quickly.
15. And the seventh angel sounded, and great voices were produced in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world have become our Lord's and His Christ's, and He shall reign for ages of ages.
16. And the twenty-four elders, who are sitting before God upon their thrones, fell upon their faces, and adored God.
17. Saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, Who art and Who wast and Who art to come, that Thou hast attained Thy great power and taken over the kingdom.
18. And the nations were enraged; and Thy wrath is come, and the time of judging the dead, and of giving reward to Thy servants the prophets, and the saints, and to those fearing Thy Name, the small and the great; and of spoiling those spoiling the land.
19. And the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple; and lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail, were produced.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
THE CONTENTS OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER
It still treats of the state of the Church with the Reformed, as to the quality of those who are interiorly in faith alone contrary to the two Essentials of the New Church. These are that the Lord Only is the God of heaven and earth, and that His Human is Divine, and that men ought to live in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue.
That these two Essentials have been preached in their presence (verses 3-6).
But that they have been totally rejected (verses 7-10).
That they have been raised up again by the Lord (verse 55, 52).
That those who rejected them have perished (verse 53).
That out of the New Heaven the state of the New Church has been made manifest (verses 15-19).
THE CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE VERSES
1. And there was given me a reed like a staff, signifies that the capability and power of recognising and seeing the state of the Church in heaven and in the world was given.
And the angel stood by saying, Arise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those adoring therein, signifies the Lord's presence and His command, that He might see and get to know the state of the Church in the New Heaven.
2. And the court that is outside the temple, exclude and measure it not, signifies that the state of the Church on earth, such as it is up till now, must be removed and not become known.
For it has been given to the nations, signifies because the state of that Church has been destroyed and desolated by evils.
And they shall trample upon the holy community forty-two months, signifies that it shall have dispersed every truth of the Word to such an extent that nothing is left.
3. And I will give unto my two witnesses, signifies those who confess and acknowledge from the heart that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth and His Human is Divine, and who are conjoined to Him by means of a life in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue.
And they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred [and sixty] days, signifies that these two, the acknowledgment of the Lord, and a life in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue, being the two Essentials of the New Church, are to be taught even to the end and the beginning.
Clothed in sackcloth, signifies mourning in the meantime on account of there being no reception of truth.
4. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands, which are standing before the God of the land, signifies the love and intelligence, or charity and faith, from the Lord with them.
5. And if any one wishes to hurt them, fire shall go forth out of their mouth, and shall devour their enemies, signifies that he who wishes to destroy these two Essentials of the New Church perishes as the result of infernal love.
And if any one wishes to do them an injury, he must in this manner be killed, signifies that he who condemns them shall likewise be condemned.
6. These have authority to shut heaven, so that it may rain no rain in the days of their prophecy, signifies that those who turn away from these two Essentials cannot receive any truth out of heaven.
And they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood, signifies that those who turn away from them will falsify the truths of the Word.
And to smite the land with every plague as often as they will, signifies that those who wish to destroy them hurl themselves into evils and untruths of every kind, as often and as much as they do so.
7. And when they shall have finished [their] testimony, signifies that after the Lord has taught these two Essentials of the New Church.
The beast coming up out of the deep shall make war with them, and kill them, signifies that those who are in the internal things of the doctrine concerning faith alone are going to reject these two.
8. Their bodies [shall be] upon the street of the great city, signifies that these have been totally rejected.
Which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, signifies the two infernal loves, which are the love of dominion derived from the love of self and the love of ruling derived from the pride of self-intelligence, which exist in the Church where there is not one God and the Lord is not being worshipped, and where [the life] is not being lived in accordance with the precepts of the Decalogue.
Where also our Lord was crucified, signifies no acknowledgment of the Lord's Divine Human and thus a state of rejection.
9. And they of peoples and tribes and tongues and nations shall see their bodies three days and a half, signifies when all those who have been and shall be in untruths of doctrine and evils of life derived from faith alone, until the end of the present Church and the beginning of the New, shall have heard and are going to hear of these two Essentials.
And shall not allow their bodies to be put into tombs, signifies that they have damned and are going to damn them.
10. And those dwelling upon the land shall rejoice over them and be glad, signifies the delight of the affection of the heart and soul in the Church with those who were in faith alone.
And shall send gifts one to another, signifies consociation through love and friendship.
Because those two prophets tormented those dwelling upon the land, signifies that these two Essentials of the New Church, by reason of their complete contrast with the two Essentials received in the Church of the Reformed, are held in contempt, dislike and aversion.
11. And after three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into them and they stood upon their feet, signifies that these two Essentials, while the New Church is beginning and progressing, will be made living with those who receive.
And great fear fell upon those seeing them, signifies disturbance of mind and alarm at the Divine truths.
12. And they heard a great voice out of heaven saying to them, Come up hither, signifies these two Essentials of the New Church taken up by the Lord into heaven, whence they exist and where they are, and the protection of them.
And they went up into heaven in a cloud, signifies the taking up into heaven, and conjunction with the Lord there by means of the Divine Truth of the Word in the sense of its letter.
And their enemies saw them, signifies that those who are in a faith separated from charity heard them but remained in their own untruths.
13. And in that hour a great earthquake was brought about, and a tenth part of the city fell, signifies a noticeable change of state with those [in faith alone] effected then, and their being violently separated from heaven and sunk down into hell.
And there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand names of men, signifies that all those who confessed faith alone and therefore made the works of charity of no account perished.
And the rest became frightened, and gave glory to the God of heaven, signifies that those who saw their destruction acknowledged the Lord and were separated.
14. The second woe is past, behold the third woe is coming quickly, signifies a lamentation over the perverted state of the Church, and finally the last lamentation, of which hereafter.
15. And the seventh angel sounded, signifies the examination and making manifest of the state of the Church after the consummation, when there is the coming of the Lord, and His kingdom.
And great voices were produced in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world have become our Lord's and His Christ's, and He shall reign for ages of ages, signifies celebrations by the angels, that heaven and the Church have become the Lord's, as they were from the beginning, and that now also they have become [the heaven and Church] of His Divine Human, thus that the Lord as to both [the Divine and the Divine Human] is now going to reign over heaven and the Church to eternity.
16. And the twenty-four elders, who are sitting before God upon their thrones, fell upon their faces, and adored God, signifies the acknowledgment by all the angels of heaven that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, also the highest adoration.
17. Saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, Who art and Who wast and Who art to come, signifies confession and glorification by the angels of heaven that it is the Lord Who is, Who lives, and Who has power out of His Very Self, and rules all things, because He Only is Eternal and Infinite.
That Thou hast attained Thy great power, and taken over the kingdom, signifies the New Heaven and the New Church, where they acknowledge Him to be the Only God.
18. And the nations were enraged, signifies those who are in faith alone and consequently in evils of life, that they were burning with anger and attacking those who are against their faith.
And Thy wrath is come, and the time of judging the dead, signifies their ruin, and the last judgment upon those not having any spiritual life.
And of giving reward to Thy servants the prophets and the saints, signifies the felicity of eternal life with those who are in the truths of a doctrine out of the Word, and in a life in accordance therewith.
And to those fearing Thy Name the small and the great, signifies who love the things that are the Lord's in a lesser or a greater degree.
And of spoiling those spoiling the land, signifies the casting down into hell of those who have destroyed the Church.
19. And the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple, signifies the New Heaven, in which the Lord is worshipped in His Divine Human and there is living in accordance with the precepts of His Decalogue, these being the two Essentials of the New Church whereby conjunction [is effected].
And lightnings and voices and thunders and an earthquake and great hail were produced, signifies the reasonings, the disturbances, and the falsifications of good and truth at that time in the lower regions.
THE EXPOSITION
[verse 1] 'And there was given me a reed like a staff' signifies that the capability and power of recognising and seeing the state of the Church in heaven and in the world was given him by the Lord. By 'a reed' is signified ineffectual power such as a man has from himself, and by 'a staff' is signified effective power such as a man has from the Lord. Therefore by its being said 'was given a reed like a staff' is signified power from the Lord. That it is the capability and power of recognising and seeing the state of the Church in heaven and in the world is plain from the things following in this chapter up to the end.
[2] That by 'a reed' or cane is signified ineffectual power such as a man has from himself is plain from these passages:
Lo, thou hast trusted upon the staff of a bruised reed, upon Egypt, whereon when a man leans it will go into his hand, and pierce it. Isaiah 36:6.
So that all the inhabitants of Egypt may recognise that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel; when they held thee by the hand, thou didst break, and didst pierce through every shoulder with them. Ezekiel 29:6-7.
By 'Egypt' is signified the natural man who trusts in his own strength, and therefore he is called 'the staff of a bruised reed.' Ineffectual power is signified by 'a reed' in Isaiah:
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. Isaiah 42:3.
[3] By 'a staff,' however, is signified the effective power that is from the Lord, here [the power] of recognising the state of the Church, because the temple and the altar were being measured by the staff, and by 'to measure' is signified to recognise, and by 'the temple' and 'the altar' is signified the Church, concerning which it follows on. Power is signified by 'a staff' because the wood out of which the staves were made with the aged in the Church signifies good, and also because it is in place of the right hand and supports it, and by the 'right hand' is signified power. In consequence of this a sceptre is a short staff, and by 'a sceptre' is signified the power of a king. Indeed 'sceptre' and 'staff' are the same word in the Hebrew language.
[4] That 'a staff' signifies power is plain from these passages:
Say, How is the strong staff broken, the staff of ornament; come down from glory, and sit in thirst. Jeremiah 48:17-18.
Jehovah shall send the staff of thy strength out of Zion. Psalms 110:2.
Thou didst strike through with staves the head of the unfaithful, Habakkuk 3:14.
Israel the staff of Jehovah's inheritance. Jeremiah 10:16; 51:19.
Thy rod and Thy staff shall comfort me. Psalms 23:4-5.
Jehovah has broken the staff of the wicked. Isaiah 9:4; [H.B. 3]; 14:5; Psalms 125:3.
My people asks of wood, and his staff answers them, Hosea 4:12.
Jehovah removing out of Jerusalem the whole staff of bread, and the whole staff of water. Isaiah 3:1-2; Ezekiel 4:16; 5:16; 14:13; Psalms 105:16; Leviticus 26:26.
By 'the staff of bread and water' is signified the power of good and truth, and by 'Jerusalem' the Church. By:
The staff of Levi, upon which Aaron's name was, which blossomed with almonds in the tent. Numbers 17:2-10 [H.B. 17-25], nothing else is signified in the spiritual sense than the power of good and truth, because the truth and good of the Church was signified by 'Levi and Aaron.
[5] That power is signified by 'a staff' is plain from the power of Moses' staff:
That by the stretching out of the staff the waters were turned into blood, Exodus 7:20.
That by means of it frogs came up upon the land of Egypt, Exodus 8:4 seq. [H.B. 1 seq.].
That by means of it lice were produced, Exodus 8:16 seq. [H.B. 12 seq.].
That by means of it thunders and hail were produced, Exodus 9:23 seq.
That by means of it locusts went forth, Exodus 10:12 seq.
That by means of it the Red Sea (Mare Suph) was divided and turned back, Exodus 14:16, 21, 26.
That by means of it waters gushed forth out of the rock out of Horeb, Exodus 17:5 seq.; Numbers 20:7-13.
That by means of it with Moses Joshua prevailed over the Amalekites, Exodus 17:9-12.
That fire went forth out of the rock by means of the angel's staff, Judges 6:21.
From these passages it is plain that by 'a staff' power is signified; and also elsewhere, as Isaiah 10:5, 24, 26; 11:4; 14:29; 30:31-32; Ezekiel 19:10-14; Lamentations 3:1-2; Micah 7:14; Zechariah 10:11; Numbers 21:18.
485. Revelation 11
1. And there was given me a reed like a staff; and the angel stood near, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God and the altar, and them that adore therein.
2. And the court which is without the temple cast out, and measure it not; for it is given to the Gentiles; and the holy city shall they trample forty-two months.
3. And I will give to My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.
4. These are the two olive trees, and the two lamp stands, which are standing before the God of the earth.
5. And if anyone will hurt them, fire shall go forth out of their mouth, and shall devour their enemies; and if anyone will hurt them, thus must he be killed.
6. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain no rain in the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood; and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they will.
7. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them.
8. And their bodies shall be upon the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
9. And they of the peoples, and tribes, and tongues, and nations, shall see their bodies three days and a half, and shall not permit their bodies to be put into tombs.
10. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them and shall be glad, and shall send gifts one to another; because those two prophets tormented them that dwell upon the earth.
11. And after three days and a half, the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them that saw them.
12. And they heard a great voice out of heaven, saying unto them, Come up hither. And they went up into heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.
13. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were killed the names of men seven thousand; and the rest were terrified, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14. The second woe is past; behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
15. And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world are become our Lord's and His Christ's, and He shall reign for ages of ages.
16. And the four-and-twenty elders, who sit before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces, and adored God;
17. Saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who is, and who was, and who is to come, because Thou hast taken Thy great power, and hast entered into the kingdom.
18. And the nations were angry; and Thy anger is come, and the time of judging the dead, and of giving reward to Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear Thy name, the small and the great; and to destroy them that destroy the earth.
19. And the temple of God was opened in heaven; and there was seen in His temple the ark of His covenant; and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
The contents of the whole chapter
It still treats of the state of the church among the Reformed, as to the quality of those who are interiorly in faith alone, contrary to the two essentials of the New Church, which are that the Lord alone is the God of heaven and earth, and that His Human is Divine; and that men ought to live according to the precepts of the Decalogue. That these two essentials were declared to them (verses 3-6), but that they were totally rejected (verses 7-10). That they were raised up again by the Lord (verses 11-12). That they who rejected them, perished (verse 13). That the state of the New Church was manifested from the New Heaven (verses 15-19).
The contents of each verse
Verse 1. "And there was given me a reed like a staff," signifies that the faculty and power of knowing and seeing the state of the church in heaven and in the world was given, (485). "And the angel stood by, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God and the altar, and them that adore in it," signifies the Lord's presence and His command, that he should see and know the state of the church in the New Heaven, (486).
Verse 2. "And the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not," signifies that the state of the church on earth, such as it is at present, is to be removed, and not known, (487). "For it is given to the Gentiles," signifies, because the state of that church is destroyed and desolated by evils of life, (488). "And the holy city shall they trample forty-two months," signifies that it would disperse every truth of the Word, even so that nothing remained, (489).
Verse 3. "And I will give My two witnesses," signifies those who confess and acknowledge in heart that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and that His Human is Divine, and who are conjoined to Him by a life according to the precepts of the Decalogue, (490). "And they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred [and sixty] days," signifies that these two articles, the acknowledgment of the Lord, and a life according to the commandments of the Decalogue, which are the two essentials of the New Church, are to be taught until the end and the beginning, (491). "Clothed in sackcloth," signifies mourning in the meantime on account of the nonreception of truth, (492).
Verse 4. "These are the two olive trees, and the two lampstands, which are standing before the God of the earth," signifies love and intelligence, or charity and faith, from the Lord with them, (493).
Verse 5. "And if anyone will hurt them, fire shall go forth out of their mouth, and shall devour their enemies," signifies that they who wish to destroy these two essentials of the New Church, will perish from infernal love, (494). "And if anyone will hurt them, he must thus be killed," signifies that he who condemns them shall in like manner be condemned, (495).
Verse 6. "These have power to shut heaven, that it rain no rain in the days of their prophecy," signifies that they who turn themselves away from these two essentials cannot receive any truth from heaven, (496). "And they have power over the waters to turn them into blood," signifies that they who turn themselves away from them falsify the truths of the Word, (497). "And to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they will," signifies that they who would destroy them, will cast themselves into all kinds of evils and falsities, as often as and as far as they do so, (498).
Verse 7. "And when they shall have finished their testimony," signifies that after the Lord taught those two essentials of the New Church, (499). "The beast that ascendeth out of the abyss shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them," signifies that they who are in the internals of the doctrine of faith alone will reject these two, (500).
Verse 8. "And their bodies shall lie on the street of the great city," signifies that they are totally rejected, (501). "Which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt," signifies two infernal loves, which are the love of dominion from the love of self, and the love of rule from the pride of one's own intelligence, which exist in the church where one God is not acknowledged, and the Lord not worshiped, and where they do not live according to the precepts of the Decalogue, (502, 503). "Where also our Lord was crucified," signifies non-acknowledgment of the Lord's Divine Human, and, consequently, a state of rejection, (504).
Verse 9. "And they of the peoples, and tribes, and tongues, and nations, shall see their bodies three days and a half," signifies when all they, who, until the end of the present church and the beginning of the New Church, have been and will be in falsities of doctrine and evils of life from faith alone, have heard and shall hear of these two essentials, (505). "And shall not permit their bodies to be put into tombs," signifies that they have condemned and will condemn them, (506).
Verse 10. "And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them and be glad," signifies the delight of the affection of the heart and soul in the church among those who were in faith alone, (507). "And shall send gifts one to another," signifies consociation through love and friendship, (508). "Because these two prophets tormented them that dwell upon the earth," signifies that these two essentials of the New Church, by reason of their contrariety in the two essentials in the church of the Reformed, are held in contempt, dislike, and aversion, (509).
Verse 11. "And after three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet," signifies that these two essentials, during the commencement and progress of the New Church, with those who receive them, will be vivified by the Lord, (510). "And great fear fell upon them that saw them," signifies commotion of mind and consternation at Divine truths, (511).
Verse 12. "And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to them, Come up hither," signifies that these two essentials of the New Church were taken up by the Lord into heaven, from whence they came, and where they are, and the protection of them, (512). "And they went up into heaven in a cloud," signifies the taking them up into heaven, and conjunction there with the Lord by the Divine truth of the Word in its literal sense, (513). "And their enemies saw them," signifies that they who are in faith separated from charity heard them, but remained in their own falsities, (514).
Verse 13. "And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell," signifies a remarkable change of state which then took place with them, and that they were torn away from heaven, and cast down into hell, (515). "And in the earthquake were killed the names of men seven thousand," signifies that all those who confessed faith alone, and therefore made no account of the works of charity, perished, (516). "And the rest were terrified, and gave glory to the God of heaven," signifies that they who saw their destruction acknowledged the Lord, and were separated, (517).
Verse 14. "The second woe is past; behold the third woe cometh quickly," signifies lamentation over the perverted state of the church, and then the last lamentation, to be treated of presently, (518).
Verse 15. "And the seventh angel sounded," signifies the exploration and manifestation of the state of the church after the consummation, at the coming of the Lord and of His kingdom, (519). "And there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world are become our Lord's and His Christ's, and He shall reign for ages of ages," signifies celebrations by the angels, because heaven and the church are become the Lord's, as they were from the beginning, and because now they belong to His Divine Human, consequently that now, the Lord as to both will reign over heaven and the church to eternity, (520).
Verse 16. "And the four-and-twenty elders, who sit before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces, and adored God," signifies the acknowledgment by all the angels of heaven, that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and the highest adoration, (521).
Verse 17. "Saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who is, and who was, and who is to come," signifies confession and glorification by the angels of heaven, that it is the Lord who is, who has life and power from Himself, and who rules all things, because He alone is eternal and infinite, (522). "That Thou hast taken Thy great power, and hast entered into the kingdom," signifies the New Heaven and the New Church, where they acknowledge Him to be the only God, (523).
Verse 18. "And the nations were angry," signifies those who are in faith alone, and thence in evils of life, that they were enraged, and infested those who are against their faith, (524). "And Thy anger is come, and the time of judging the dead," signifies their destruction, and the execution of the Last Judgment upon those who have not any spiritual life, (525). "And of giving reward to Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints," signifies the felicity of eternal life to those who are in the truths of doctrine from the Word, and in a life according to them, (526). "And to them that fear Thy name, small and great," signifies who love the things which relate to the Lord in a lesser and in a greater degree, (527). "And to destroy them that destroy the earth," signifies the casting of those into hell who have destroyed the church, (528).
Verse 19. "And the temple of God was opened in heaven; and there was seen in His temple the ark of His covenant," signifies the New Heaven, in which the Lord in His Divine Human is worshiped; and where they live according to the precepts of His Decalogue, which are the two essentials of the New Church, whereby conjunction is effected, (529). "And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail," signifies the ratiocinations, commotions, and falsifications of good and truth, that ensued in the lower parts.
THE EXPLANATION
Verse 1. And there was given me a reed like a staff, signifies that the faculty and power of knowing and seeing the state of the church in heaven and in the world was given to him by the Lord. By "a reed" is signified feeble power, such as man has from himself; and by "staff," is signified great power, such as man has from the Lord; therefore by "a reed was given like a staff," is signified power from the Lord. That it is the faculty and power of knowing and seeing the state of the church in heaven and in the world, is plain from what follows in this chapter to the end.
[2] That by "a reed" or cane, is signified feeble power, such as man has from himself, is evident from these passages:
Lo, thou trustest in the staff of a broken reed, on Egypt; on which when a man leans it will go into his hand, and pierce it, (Isaiah 36:6).
And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know, that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel; when they held thee by the hand thou didst break, and perforate all their shoulder, (Ezekiel 29:6-7).
By "Egypt" is signified the natural man who trusts in his own strength, therefore he is called "the staff of a bruised reed." By "reed" is signified feeble power, in Isaiah:
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench, (Isaiah 42:3).
[3] But by a "staff" is signified strong power, which is from the Lord; here of knowing the state of the church, because "the temple and altar were measured" with a staff; and by "measuring" is signified to know, and by "the temple and altar" is signified the church; as will be seen presently. "A staff" signifies power, because wood, of which staffs were made among the ancient people, signifies good; and because it is instead of the right hand, and supports it, and by "the right hand" is signified power; hence it is, that a scepter is a short staff and by "a scepter" is signified the power of a king; and a "scepter" and "staff" are the same word in the Hebrew language.
[4] That a staff signifies power, is evident from these passages:
Say ye, How is the staff of strength broken, the staff of beauty; descend from glory, and sit in thirst, (Jeremiah 48:17-18).
Jehovah will send the staff of thy strength out of Zion, (Psalms 110:2).
Thou didst strike through with staffs the head of the unbelieving, (Habakkuk 3:14).
Israel the staff of Jehovah's inheritance, (Jeremiah 10:16; 51:19).
Thy rod and Thy staff shall comfort me, (Psalms 23:4).
Jehovah hath broken the staff of the wicked, (Isaiah 9:4; 14:5; Psalms 125:3).
My people inquire of wood; and his staff answers them, (Hosea 4:12).
Jehovah that removeth from Jerusalem the whole staff of bread and the whole staff of water, (Isaiah 3:1; Ezekiel 4:16; 5:16; 14:13; Psalms 105:16; Leviticus 26:26).
By "the staff of bread and water" the power of good and truth is signified, and by "Jerusalem" the church:
The staff of Levi, upon which Aaron's name was, which blossomed with almonds in the tent, (Numbers 17:2-10),
signifies nothing else in the spiritual sense but the power of truth and good, because by "Levi" and "Aaron" the truth and good of the church were signified.
[5] That power is signified by "a staff" is manifest from the power of Moses' staff:
That by the stretching out of the staff the waters were turned into blood, (Exodus 7:20).
That by it frogs came up upon the land of Egypt, (Exodus 8:1, etc .).
That by it there became lice, (Exodus 8:16, etc.).
That by it there were thunders and hail, (Exodus 9:23, etc .).
That by it the locusts went forth, (Exodus 10:12, etc.).
That by it the Red Sea was divided and turned back, (Exodus 14:16, 21, 26).
That by it the waters flowed forth from the rock of Horeb, (Exodus 17:5, etc. ;Numbers 20:7-13).
That by it Joshua with Moses prevailed over the Amalekites, (Exodus 17:9-12).
That fire went forth out of the rock by the staff of the angel, (Judges 6:21).
From these passages it is manifest that by "a staff" power is signified; and also elsewhere (as Isaiah 10:5, 24, 26; 11:4; 14:5; 30:31-32; Ezekiel 19:10-14; Lamentations 3:1; Micah 7:14; Zechariah 10:11; Numbers 21:18).
485. CAPUT XI.
ET datus est mihi calamus similis baculo, et Angelus adstitit, dicens, Surge, et metire Templum Dei et Altare et adorantes in eo.
2. Et Atrium quod extra Templum, ejice foras, et ne illud metiaris, quia datum est gentibus, et Civitatem sanctam conculcabunt mensibus quadraginta duobus.
3. Et dabo duobus Testibus Meis, et prophetabunt diebus mille ducentis sexaginta, circuminduti saccis.
4. Hi sunt duae Olivae et duo Candelabra, quae coram Deo terrae stantia.
5. Et si quis illis voluerit nocere, ignis egredietur ex Ore illorum et devorabit inimicos illorum; et si quis illos voluerit damno afficere, ita oportet illum occidi.
6. Hi habent potestatem claudere Caelum, ut non pluat pluvia in diebus illorum prophetiae; et potestatem habent super aquas convertere illas in sanguinem; et percutere terram omni plaga, quotiescunque voluerint.
7. Et cum absolverint testimonium suum, Bestia ascendens ex abysso faciet bellum cum illis, et vincet illos, et occidet illos.
8. Et corpora illorum super platea urbis magnae, quae vocatur spiritualiter Sodoma et Aegyptus, ubi et Dominus noster crucifixus est.
9. Et videbunt ex populis et tribubus et linguis et gentibus corpora illorum dies tres et dimidium, et Corpora illorum non permittent poni in monumenta.
10. Et habitantes super terra gaudebunt super illis et laetabuntur, et munera mittent invicem, quia illi duo prophetae cruciaverunt habitantes super terra.
11. Et post tres dies et dimidium, spiritus vitae ex Deo intravit in illos, et steterunt super pedibus suis; et timor magnus cecidit super videntes illos.
12. Et audiverunt vocem magnam ex Caelo, dicentem illis, Ascendite huc; et ascenderunt in Caelum in nube, et viderunt illos inimici illorum.
13. Et in illa hora factus est terrae, motus magnus, et decima pars urbis cecidit, et Occisa sunt in terrae motu nomina hominum millia septem, et reliqui territi falsi sunt, et dederunt gloriam Deo Caeli.
14. Vae secundum praeteriit; ecce vae tertium venit cito.
15. Et septimus Angelus clanxit, et factae sunt voces magnae in Caelo, dicentes, Facta sunt regna mundi Domini nostri et Christi Ipsius, et regnabit in saecula Saeculorum.
16. Et viginti et quatuor Seniores, qui coram Deo sedentes super thronis suis, ceciderunt super facies suas, et adoraverunt Deum;
17. Dicentes, Gratias agimus Tibi, Domine Deus Omnipotens, Qui Es et Qui Eras et Qui Venturus, quod adeptus sis potentiam Tuam magnam et Regnum inieris.
18. Et gentes iratae sunt; et Venit ira Tua, et tempus mortuos judicandi, et dandi mercedem servis Tuis, prophetis, et sanctis, et timentibus Nomen Tuum, parvis et magnis; et perdendi perdentes terram.
19. Et apertum est Templum Dei in Caelo, et visa est Arca foederis Ipsius in Templo Ipsius et facta sunt fulgura, et voces, et tonitrua, et terrae motus, et grando magna.
SENSUS SPIRITUALIS.
CONTENTUM TOTIUS CAPITIS.
AGITUR ADHUC DE STATU ECCLESIAE APUD REFORMATUS, QUALES SUNT QUI INTERIUS IN SOLA FIDE CONTRA DUO ESSENTIALIA NOVAE ECCLESIAE, QUAE SUNT QUOD DOMINUS SOLUS SIT DEUS CAELI ET TERRAE, QUODQUE HUMANUM IPSIUS SIT DIVINUM, ET QUOD SECUNDUM PRAECEPTA DECALOGI VIVENDUM SIT.
QUOD ILLA DUO PRAEDICATA SINT CORAM ILLIS (vers. 13);
SED QUOD PRORSUS REJECTA (vers. 7-10);
QUOD A DOMINO RESUSCITATA (vers. 11, 12);
QUOD PERIERINT QUI ILLA REJECERUNT (vers. 13);
QUOD E NOVO CAELO MANIFESTATUS SIT NOVAE ECCLESIAE STATUS (vers. 15-19).
CONTENTA SINGULORUM VERSUUM.
1. "Et datus est mihi calamus similis baculo," significat quod data sit facultas et potentia cognoscendi et videndi statum Ecclesiae in Caelo et in Mundo (485); "et Angelus adstitit dicens, Surge et metire Templum Dei et Altare et adorantes in eo," significat praesentiam Domini et mandatum Ipsius, ut videret et cognosceret status" Ecclesiae in Novo Caelo (486).
2. "Et Atrium quod extra Templum, ejice foras, et ne illud metiaris," significat quod status Ecclesiae in terris, qualis adhuc est, removendus sit, et non cognoscendus (487); "quia datum est gentibus," significat quia status illius Ecclesiae a malis vitae deperditus et desolatus est (488),; "at Civitatem sanctam conculcabunt mensibus quadraginta duobus, significat quod disperserit omne verum Verbi usque ut non aliquid supersit (489).
3. "Et dabo duobus Testibus Meis," significat illos qui confitentur et agnoscunt ex corde quod Dominus sit Deus Caeli et Terrae, ac Humanum Ipsius Divinum, et qui conjunguntur Ipsi per vitam secundum praecepta Decalogi (490); "et prophetabunt diebus mille ducentis (sexaginta)," significat quod duo illa, agnitio Domini, et vita secundum praecepta Decalogi, quae sunt duo Essentialia Novae Ecclesiae, docenda sint usque ad finem et principium (491); "circuminduti saccis," significat luctum interea ob non receptionem veri (492).
4. "(Hi) sunt duae Olivae et duo Candelabra, quae coram Deo terrae stantia," significat amorem ac intelligentiam, seu charitatem et fidem, a Domino apud illos (493).
5. "Et si quis illis voluerit nocere, ignis exibit ex ore illorum, et devorabit inimicos illorum," significat quod qui duo illa Essentialia Novae Ecclesiae vult destruere, ex amore infernali pereat (494); "et si quis voluerit illos damno afficere, ita oportet illum occidi," significat quod qui illa condemnat, similiter condemnetur (495).
6. "Hi habent potestatem claudere Caelum, ut non pluat pluviam diebus illorum prophetiae," significat quod qui avertunt se a duobus illis Essentialibus, non possint aliquod verum recipere e Caelo (496); "et potestatem habent super aquas convertere illas in sanguinem," significat quod qui avertunt se ab illis, vera Verbi falsificent (497); "et percutere terram omni plaga, quotiescunque voluerint," significat quod qui volunt illa destruere, semet in omnis generis mala et falsa conjiciant, quoties et quantum id faciunt (498).
7. "Et cum absolverint testimonium," significat quod postquam Dominus docuit illa duo Essentialia Novae Ecclesiae (499); "Bestia ascendens ex abysso faciet bellum cum illis, et vincet illos, et occidet illos," significat quod illi qui in internis doctrinae sunt de sola fide, illa duo rejecturi sint (500).
8. "(Et) corpora illorum super platea urbis magnae," significat quod illa prorsus rejecta sint (501); "quae spiritualiter vocatur Sodoma et Aegyptus," significat binos amores infernales, qui sunt amor dominandi ex amore sui et amor regnandi ex fastu propriae intelligentiae, qui in Ecclesia sunt ubi non Unus Deus est, et Dominus non colitur, et ubi non secundum praecepta Decalogi vivitur (502, 503); "ubi et Dominus noster crucifixus est," significat non agnitionem Divini Humani Domini, et sic statum rejectionis (504).
9. "Et videbunt ex populis et tribubus et linguis et gentibus corpora illorum dies tres et dimidium," significat cum omnes qui in falsis doctrinae et malis vitae ex sola fide fuerunt et erunt, ad finem Ecclesiae quae adhuc est ad principium Novae, audiverunt et audituri sunt de binis illis Essentialibus (505); "et corpora illorum non permittent poni in monumenta," significat quod damnaverint et damnaturi sint illa (506).
10. "Et habitantes super terra gaudebunt super illis et laetabuntur," significat jucundum affectionis cordis et animae in Ecclesia apud illos qui in sola fide erant (507); "et munera mittent invicem," significat consociationem per amorem et amicitiam (508); "quia illi duo prophetae cruciaverunt habitantes super terra," significat quod bina illa Essentialia Novae Ecclesiae ex contrarietate cum binis Essentialibus in Ecclesia Reformatorum receptis sint contemptui, molestiae et aversationi (509).
11. "Et post tres dies et dimidium spiritus vitae a Deo intravit in illos et steterunt super pedibus suis," significat quod bina illa Essentialia, dum Nova Ecclesia inchoat et progreditur, a Domino vivificentur apud illos qui recipiunt (510); "et timor magnus cecidit super videntes illos," significat commotionem animi et consternationem pro Divinis veris (511).
12. "Et audiverunt vocem magnam e Caelo, dicentem illis, Ascendite huc," significat bina illa Essentialia Novae Ecclesiae a Domino in Caelum, unde sunt et ubi sunt, sublata, et illorum tutelam (512); "et ascenderunt in Caelum in nube," significat sublationem in Caelum, et conjunctionem cum Domino ibi per Divinum Verum Verbi in Sensu literae ejus (513); "et viderunt illos inimici illorum," significat quod qui in fide separata a charitate sunt, audiverint illa, sed permanserint in suis falsis (514).
13. "Et in illa hora factus est terrae motus magnus, et decima pars urbis cecidit," significat tunc mutationem status apud illos insignem factam, et illos divulsos e Caelo in Infernum delapsos (515); "et occisa sunt in terrae motu nomina hominum millia septem," significat quod omnes illi qui confessi sunt solam fidem, et propterea nihili fecerunt opera charitatis, perierint (516); "et reliqui territi facti sunt, et dederunt gloriam Deo Caeli," significat quod illi qui viderunt interitum illorum, agnoverint Dominum, et separati sint (517).
14. "Vae secundum praeteriit; ecce vae tertium venit cito," significat lamentationem super statu Ecclesiae perverso, et lamentationem ultimam demum, de qua posthac (518).
15. "Et septimus Angelus clanxit," significat explorationem et manifestationem status Ecclesiae post consummationem, quando Adventus Domini et Regni Ipsius (519); "et factae sunt voces magnae in Caelo, dicentes, facta sunt regna mundi Domini nostri et Christi Ipsius, et regnabit in saecula saeculorum," significat celebrationes ab Angelis, quod caelum et Ecclesia facta sint Domini, sicut fuerunt ab initio, et quod nunc etiam facta sint Divini Humani Ipsius, ita quod Dominus nunc quoad utrumque super Caelum et Ecclesiam regnaturus sit in aeternum (520).
16. "Et viginti quatuor Seniores, qui coram Deo sedentes super thronis suis, ceciderunt super Facies suas, et adoraverunt Deum," significat agnitionem ab omnibus Angelis Caeli, quod Dominus sit Deus Caeli et Terrae, et summam adorationem (521).
17. "Dicentes, gratias agimus Tibi, Dominus Deus Omnipotens, Qui Es et Qui Eras et Qui Venturus es," significat confessionem et glorificationem ab Angelis Caeli, quod Dominus sit Qui Est, Qui Vivit, et Potest ex Se Ipso, et Pugnat omnia, quia Solus est Aeternus et Infinitus (522); "quod adeptus sis potentiam Tuam magnam et regnum inieris, significat Novum Caelum et Novam Ecclesiam, ubi agnoscent Ipsum Solum Deum (523).
18. "Et gentes iratae sunt," significat illos qui in sola fide et inde in malis vitae, quod excandescerent et infestarent illos qui contra fidem illorum sunt (524); "et venit ira Tua, et tempus mortuos judicandi," significat exitium illorum, et Ultimum Judicium super illos quibus non aliqua vita spiritualis (525); "et dandi mercedem servis Tuis 1prophetis, et sanctis," significat felicitatem vitae aeternae illis qui in veris doctrinae ex Verbo sunt, et in vita secundum illa (526); "et timentibus Nomen Tuum, parvis et magnis," significat qui amant illa quae Domini sunt in minori et majori gradu (527); "et perdendi perdentes terram," significat dejectionem illorum in Infernum qui destruxerunt Ecclesiam (528).
19. "Et apertum est Templum Dei in Caelo, et visa est Arca foederis Ipsius in Templo Ipsius," significat Novum Caelum, in quo Dominus in Divino Humano Suo colitur, et secundum praecepta Decalogi Ipsius vivitur, quae sunt duo Essentialia Novae Ecclesiae, per quae conjunctio (529); "et facta sunt fulgura, et voces, et tonitrua, et terrae motus, et grando magna," significat tunc in inferioribus ratiocinationes, commotiones, et falsificationes boni et veri (530).
EXPLICATIO.
(Vers. 1.) "Et datus est mihi calamus similis baculo," significat quod data sit illi a Domino facultas et potentia cognoscendi et videndi statum Ecclesiae in Caelo et in Mundo. - Per "calamum" significatur potentia debilis, qualis est homini a se, et per "baculum" significatur potentia valida, qualis est homini a Domino; quare per quod "datus sit calamus similis baculo," significatur potentia a Domino: quod sit facultas et potentia cognoscendi et videndi statum Ecclesiae in Caelo et in Mundo, patet a sequentibus in hoc capite usque ad finem. Quod per "calamum" seu cannam significetur potentia debilis qualis est homini a se, patet ex his:
"Ecce confisus es super baculo Calami contusi, super Aegypto; super quo quando vir nititur, intrat in manum ejus et perforat illam," (Esaias 36:6); 2
"Ut cognoscant habitatores Aegypti, quod Ego Jehovah, propterea quod illi fuerunt Baculus calami domui Israelis: quando tenuerunt te manu, confractus es, 3et perfodisti illis omnem humerum," (Ezechiel 29:6-7);
per "Aegyptum" significatur naturalis homo qui fidet propriis viribus, quare vocatur "baculus calami contusi." Per "calamum" significatur debilis potentia, apud Esajam:
"Calamum contusum non confringet et linum fumigans non exstinguet," (Esaias 42:3).
Per "baculum" autem significatur potentia valida, quae est a Domino, hic cognoscendi statum Ecclesiae, quia per baculum "metiebatur Templum et Altare," et per "metiri" significatur cognoscere, ac per "Templum et Altare" significatur Ecclesia, de quo sequitur. Quod per "baculum" significetur potentia, est quia lignum, ex quo baculi apud veteres in Ecclesia erant, significat bonum, et quia loco dextrae est, et illam fulcit, et per "dextram" significatur potentia; inde est, quod sceptrum sit curtus baculus, et per "sceptrum" significatur potentia Regis; etiam "sceptrum" et "baculus" sunt eadem vox in Lingua Hebraea. Quod "baculus" significet potentiam, patet ex his locis:
"Dicite, Quomodo fractus est Baculus roboris, Baculus decoris; descende de gloria, et sede in siti," (Jeremias 48:17-18);
"Baculum roboris tui mittet Jehovah e Sione," (Psalm 110:2);
"Perfodisti Baculis caput infidelium," (Habakuk 3:14);
"Israel Baculus haereditatis Jehovae," (Jeremias 10:16; 451:19);
"Virga Tua et Baculus Tuus consolabuntur me," (Psalm 23:4); 5
"Confregit Jehovah Baculum impiorum, (Esaias 9:3 (B.A. 4); 14:5; Psalm 125:3);
"Populus Meus lignum interrogat, et Baculus ejus respondet illi," (Hoschea 4:12);
"Jehovah removens ex Hierosolyma omnem Baculum panis, et omnem Baculum aquae," (Esaias 3:1; 6Ezechiel 4:16; 5:16; 14:13; Psalm 105:16; Leviticus 26:26);
per "baculum panis et aquae" significatur potentia boni et veri, et per "Hierosolymam" Ecclesia. Per Baculum Levi, super quo nomen Aharonis erat, qui in Tentorio floruit amygdalis, (Numeri 17:17-25 (B.A. 2-10)),
non aliud in Sensu spirituali significatur, quam potentia veri et boni, quia per "Levim" et "Aharonem" significabatur verum et bonum Ecclesiae. Quod per "baculum" significetur potentia, patet a potentia baculi Mosis:
Quod per extensionem Baculi aquae versae sint in sanguinem, (Exodus 7:20); 7
Quod per illum ascenderint ranae super terram Aegypti, (Exodus 8:1, seq.);
Quod per illum facti sint pediculi, (Exodus 8:12, seq. (B.A. 16, seq.));
Quod per illum facta sint tonitrua et grando, (Exodus 9:23, seq.);
Quod per illum prodierint locustae, (Exodus 10:12, seq.);
Quod per illum Mare Suph sit divisum et reversum, (Exodus 14:16, 21, 26);
Quod per illum aquae ex petra e Chorebo effluxerint, (Exodus 17:5, seq.; Numeri 20:7-13);
Quod per illum apud Mosen Josua praevaluerit super Amalekitas, (Exodus 17:9-12);
Quod ignis exiverit e petra per Baculum Angeli, (Judicum 6:21);
ex his patet quod per "baculum" significetur potentia.
(Et quoque alibi, ut Esaias 10:5, 24, 26; 811:4; 14:5; 930:31-32; Ezechiel 19:10-14; Threni 3:1; 10Micham 7:14; Sacharias 10:11; Numeri 21:18). 11
Footnotes:
1. Tuis pro "suis"
2. 6 pro "7"
3. es pro "est"
4. 16 pro "14, 16"
5. 4 pro "4, 5"
6. 1 pro "1, 2"
7. 7:20 pro "17:21"
8. 24, 26 pro "25, 26"
9. 5 pro "24"
10. 1 pro "1, 2"
11. 18 pro "17"