876. Revelation 21
1. And I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth, for the former heaven and the former earth were passed away; and the sea was no more. 2. And I John saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband. 3. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and He Himself shall be with them their God. 4. And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more, neither mourning nor crying, neither shall there be labor [trouble] anymore, for the former things have passed away. 5. And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write; for these words are true and faithful. 6. And He said unto me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give unto him that thirsteth of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7. He that overcometh shall possess as an inheritance all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son. 8. But the fearful, and the unfaithful, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake burning with fire and brimstone; which is the second death. 9. And there came unto me one of the seven angels having the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and he spoke with me, saying, Come, I will show thee the Bride, the Lamb's Wife. 10. And he carried me away in the spirit upon a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11. Having the glory of God, and her light was like unto a stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone, shining like crystal. 12. Having a wall great and high, having twelve gates, and over the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are those of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. 13. On the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14. And the wall of the city having twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15. And he that was speaking with me had a golden reed, to measure the city and the gates thereof and the wall thereof. 16. And the city lieth foursquare, and the length thereof is as large as the breadth; and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand stadia; the length and the breadth and the height of it were equal. 17. And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred forty-four cubits, the measure of a man which is of an angel. 18. And the structure of the wall thereof was jasper, and the city was pure gold like pure glass. 19. And the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20. The fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprasus, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was of one pearl; and the street of the city was pure gold as it were transparent glass. 22. And I saw no temple therein; for the Lord God Almighty is the temple of it and the Lamb. 23. And the city hath no need of the sun and of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb. 24. And the nations which are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it. 25. And the gates of it shall not be shut by day; for there shall be no night there; and they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. 26. And there shall not enter into it any unclean thing and that doeth abomination and a lie, but they that are written in the Lamb's book of life.
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE
The contents of the whole chapter
In this chapter it treats of the state of heaven and the church after the Last Judgment; that after this, through the New Heaven, the New Church will exist on the earth, which will worship the Lord alone (verses 1-8). Its conjunction with the Lord (verses 9, 10). The description of it as to intelligence from the Word (verse 11); as to doctrine thence (verses 12-21); and as to all its quality (verses 22-26).
The contents of each verse
Verse 1. "And I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth" signifies that a New Heaven was formed from Christians by the Lord, which at this day is called the Christian Heaven, where they are who had worshiped the Lord, and had lived according to His commandments in the Word, who thence have charity and faith; in which are also all the infants of Christians (n. 876). "For the former heaven and the former earth were passed away" signifies the heavens which were formed not by the Lord, but by those who came out of the Christian world into the spiritual world, who were all dispersed at the day of the Last Judgment (n. 877). "And the sea was no more" signifies that the external of the heavens collected from Christians since the first establishment of the church was in like manner dispersed, after they who were written in the Lord's book of life were taken thence and saved (n. 878). Verse 2. "And I John saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven" signifies the New Church to be established by the Lord at the end of the former church, which will be consociated with the New Heaven in Divine truths as to doctrine and as to life (n. 879-880). "Prepared as a bride adorned* for her husband" signifies that church conjoined with the Lord through the Word (n. 881). Verse 3. "And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men" signifies the Lord from love speaking and declaring the glad tidings, that He Himself will now be present with men in His Divine Human (n. 882). "And He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and He Himself shall be with them their God" signifies the conjunction of the Lord, which is of such a nature, that they are in Him, and He in them (n. 883). Verse 4. "And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither mourning nor crying, neither shall there be labor anymore, for the former things have passed away" signifies that the Lord will take from them all grief of mind, fear of damnation, of evils and falsities from hell, and of temptations from them, and they shall not remember them because the dragon, which had caused them, is cast out (n. 844-845). Verse 5. "And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful" signifies the Lord confirming all concerning the New Heaven and the New Church after the Last Judgment has been executed (n. 886). Verse 6. "And He said unto me, It is done" signifies that it is the Divine truth (n. 887). "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End" signifies that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and that all things in the heavens and on earth were made by Him, and are ruled by His Divine Providence, and are done according to it (n. 888). "I will give unto him that thirsteth of the fountain of the water of life freely" signifies that to those who desire truths from any spiritual use, the Lord will give from Himself through the Word all things that conduce to that use (n. 889). Verse 7. "He that overcometh shall possess as an inheritance all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son" signifies that they who overcome evils in themselves, that is, the devil, and do not succumb when they are tempted by the Babylonians and the dragonists, will come into heaven, and there live in the Lord and the Lord in them (n. 890). Verse 8. "But the fearful, and the unfaithful, and the abominable" signifies those who are in no faith, and in no charity, and thence in all kinds of evils (n. 891). "And murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and liars" signifies all those who make no account of the commandments of the Decalogue, and do not shun any evils there named as sins, and therefore live in them (n. 892). "Shall have their part in the lake burning with fire and brimstone" signifies they have hell where are the loves of falsity and the lusts of evil (n. 893). "Which is the second death" signifies damnation (n. 894). Verse 9. "And there came unto me one of the seven angels having the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and he spoke with me, saying, Come, I will show thee the Bride, the Lamb's Wife" signifies influx and manifestation from the Lord out of the inmost of heaven, concerning the New Church, which will be conjoined to the Lord through the Word (n. 895). Verse 10. "And he carried me away in the spirit upon a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God" signifies that John was taken up into the third heaven, and his sight there opened, before whom was made manifest the Lord's New Church as to doctrine, in the form of a city (n. 896). Verse 11. "Having the glory of God, and her light was like unto a stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone, shining like crystal" signifies that in that church the Word will be understood, because translucent from its spiritual sense (n. 897). Verse 12. "Having a wall great and high" signifies the Word in the sense of the letter from which is the doctrine of the New Church (n. 898). "Having twelve gates" signifies all the knowledges of truth and good therein by which man is introduced into the church (n. 899). "And over the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are those of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel" signifies the Divine truths and goods of heaven, which are also the Divine truths and goods of the church in those knowledges, and guards lest anyone enter unless he is in them from the Lord (n. 900). Verse 13. "On the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates" signifies that the knowledges of truth and good, in which is spiritual life from heaven from the Lord, and by which introduction into the New Church is effected, are for those who are more or less in the love or the affection of good, and for those who are more or less in wisdom or the affection of truth (n. 901). Verse 14. "And the wall of the city having twelve foundations" signifies that the Word in the sense of the letter contains all things of the doctrine of the New Church (n. 902). "And in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb" signifies all things of doctrine from the Word concerning the Lord, and concerning life according to His commandments (n. 903). Verse 15. "And he that spoke with me had a golden reed, to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof" signifies that there is given by the Lord, to those who are in the good of love, the faculty of understanding and knowing what the quality of the Lord's New Church is as to doctrine and its introductory truths, and as to the Word from which they are (n. 904). Verse 16. "And the city lieth foursquare" signifies justice in it (n. 905). "The length thereof is as large as the breadth" signifies that good and truth in that church make one, like essence and form (n. 906). "And he measured the city with the reed twelve thousand stadia, the length and the breadth and the height of it were equal" signifies the quality of that church from doctrine shown, that all things of it were from the good of love (n. 907, 908). Verse 17. "And he measured the wall thereof a hundred forty-four cubits" signifies that it was shown what the quality of the Word is in that church, that from it are all its truths and goods (n. 909). "The measure of a man, that is, of an angel" signifies the quality of that church that it makes one with heaven (n. 910). Verse 18. "And the structure of the wall thereof was jasper" signifies that all the Divine truth in the sense of the letter of the Word, with the men of that church, is translucent from the Divine truth in the spiritual sense (n. 911). "And the city was pure gold, like unto pure glass" signifies that thence the all of that church is the good of love flowing in together with light out of heaven from the Lord (n. 912). Verse 19. "And the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every precious stone" signifies that all things of the doctrine of the New Jerusalem taken from the sense of the letter of the Word, with those who are in it, will appear in the light according to reception (n. 914). "The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald (verse 20), the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprasus, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst" signifies all things of that doctrine in their order from the sense of the letter of the Word, with those who immediately approach the Lord, and live according to the commandments of the Decalogue by shunning evils as sins, for these and no others are in the doctrine of love to God and love toward the neighbor, which two are the fundamentals of religion (n. 915). Verse 21. "And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, everyone of the gates was of one pearl" signifies that the acknowledgment and knowledge of the Lord conjoins into one all the knowledges of truth and good, which are from the Word, and introduces into the church (n. 916). "And the street of the city was pure gold as it were transparent glass" signifies that every truth of that church and of its doctrine is in form the good of love flowing in together with light out of heaven from the Lord (n. 917). Verse 22. "And I saw no temple therein; for the Lord God Almighty is the temple of it and the Lamb" signifies that in this church there will not be any external separated from the internal, because the Lord Himself in His Divine Human, from whom is the all of the church, is alone approached, worshiped, and adored (n. 918). Verse 23. "And the city hath no need of the sun and the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb" signifies that the men of that church will not be in self-love and in their own intelligence, and thence in natural light alone, but in spiritual light from the Divine truth of the Word from the Lord alone (n. 919). Verse 24. "And the nations which are saved shall walk in the light of it" signifies that all who are in the good of life, and believe in the Lord, will there live according to Divine truths, and will see them inwardly in themselves, as the eye sees objects (n. 920). "And the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it" signifies that all who are in the truths of wisdom from spiritual good, will there confess the Lord, and ascribe to Him every truth and every good that is with them (n. 921). Verse 25. "And the gates of it shall not be shut by day; for there shall be no night there" signifies that they will be continually received into the New Jerusalem, who are in truths from the good of love from the Lord, because there is not any falsity of faith there (n. 922). "And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it" signifies that they who enter will bring with them the confession, acknowledgment, and faith, that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and that every truth of the church and every good of religion is from Him (n. 923). Verse 26. "And there shall not enter into it any unclean thing and that doeth abomination and a lie" signifies that no one is received into the Lord's New Church who adulterates the goods and falsifies the truths of the Word, and who does evils from confirmation and thus also falsities (n. 924). "But they that are written in the Lamb's book of life" signifies that no others will be received into the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, but they who believe in the Lord, and live according to His commandments in the Word (n. 925). * The original Latin omits "adorned."
THE EXPLANATION
Verse 1. And I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth, signifies that a New Heaven was formed from Christians by the Lord, which at this day is called the Christian Heaven, where they are who had worshiped the Lord and had lived according to His commandments in the Word, in whom therefore there is charity and faith; in which heaven also are all the infants of Christians. By "a New Heaven and a New Earth" is not meant the natural heaven visible to the eyes, nor the natural earth inhabited by men, but the spiritual heaven is meant, and the earth belonging to that heaven, where the angels are. That this heaven and the earth of this heaven is meant, everyone may see and acknowledge, if he can in some measure be withdrawn from a purely natural and material idea, when he reads the Word. That the angelic heaven is meant is evident, because it is said in the next verse, that "he saw the holy city Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband," by which is not meant any Jerusalem coming down, but the church, and the church on earth comes down from the Lord out of the angelic heaven, because the angels of heaven and the men on earth in all things of the church make one (n. 626). From these things it may be seen, how naturally and materially they have thought and do think, who, from these words and those which follow in the same verse, have fabricated for themselves the dogma about the destruction of the world, and of the new creation of all things. [2] This New Heaven is occasionally treated of above in Revelation (especially in chapters 14 and 15). It is called the Christian Heaven, because it is distinct from the ancient heavens, which existed from the men of the church before the Lord's coming. These ancient heavens are above the Christian Heaven; for the heavens are like expanses, one above another; it is the same with each particular heaven; for each heaven by itself is distinguished into three heavens, an inmost or third, a middle or second, and a lowest or first, and so it is with this New Heaven; I have seen them and have spoken with them. In this New Christian Heaven are all those who, from the first establishment of the Christian Church, worshiped the Lord, and lived according to His commandments in the Word, and who, therefore, were in charity, and at the same time in faith from the Lord through the Word, thus who were not in a dead but in a living faith. Various things respecting this heaven may be seen above (n. 612, 613, 626, 631, 659, 661, 845, 846, 856). In that heaven likewise are all the infants of Christians, because they are educated by the angels in those two essentials of the church, which are the acknowledgment of the Lord as the God of heaven and earth, and a life according to the commandments of the Decalogue.