A Summary of the Book of Revelation

The Book of the Revelation was written near the end of the first century by the Apostle John. John died of natural causes in AD 100, and he was born in AD 6, so at the time of his receiving and writing this revelation, he was an elderly man, probably in his 70’s to 80’s. The Roman Emperor Domitian, clamping down on the growing Christian movement, had exiled John to the isle of Patmos, in the Aegean Sea. It's there, that "in the spirit on the Lord's day", an angel is sent to John, and he sees the great visions of events in heaven that he describes in 22 chapters in the Book of Revelation.

The explanations in this commentary are drawn from Emanuel Swedenborg's exegetical work, "Apocalypse Revealed" (published in Latin in 1766) and later translated into English by John Whitehead, and re-printed in 2009 by the Swedenborg Foundation. The Scripture passages used in the original Latin work were largely drawn from Sebastian Schmidt's Latin Bible from 1696, and other Bibles in his personal library. Swedenborg was a scholar of Hebrew and Greek, and in some places used his own translations some of the scriptural passages from biblical Hebrew and Greek to better express the spiritual significations of the words in the original languages.

Synopsis of Revelation Chapter 1

The first chapter of Revelation tells the story of how John is chosen by God to write a book that can be used to enlighten people who are seeking his Divine truth and wisdom. John tells us how his spiritual eyes are opened, so that he can see things that are happening in heaven at that time (in the first century BC) and that will happen in the future. Overall, it's a prophecy regarding the changing spiritual states of the Christian Church -- the false doctrines that will grow up within it, and the spiritual battles that will take place as the Lord's genuine truth and love eventually win out over falsity and evil.

The stories in Revelation aren't just about events in heaven, either, or about the spiritual trials of the Christian church. They're personal, too. We have to seek help from the Lord to fight the dragons and beasts in our lives. It is from the Word that we can be enlightened. God tells John (and us) that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Only God can lead us away from hell and into heaven.

In the chapters to come the Lord will reveal our various states and what we must do to find eternal life with him in Heaven. To people who have genuinely loved the Lord, and who have been spiritually reborn, John encourages them to have patience in the Lord, that a new church is coming and it will be based on his Divine truths.

Revelation Chapter 1 - Verse by verse commentary

Chapter 1 opens with a statement or introduction from John, that the things in this book were revealed to him by our Lord Jesus Christ. He says that people who are in faith to the Lord, and in charity to their fellow man, will benefit from what is revealed in this book. Further, it goes on to say that the church in this world will reach a state sometime in the future, where it will lose its connection to God and will come to an end. For those who have received the Divine truth from the Word, thus from the Lord, and who believe that the Lord’s human became Divine, they will receive enlightenment from what the Book of Revelation reveals. Too, for people who live in spirit and are thus in communion with the angels in heaven, and who live according to the Divine truths revealed in the Word, you should know that the current church in this world cannot endure much longer. These things were revealed in the first three verses of this chapter, and are basically John’s way of leading us to what lies ahead. Verses four and beyond will begin an explanation of John’s vision from the Lord.

Revelation 1:4 starts with John hearing the Lord's messages that address the seven Christian churches of Asia. The use of the number seven indicates that this message actually applies everyone in the Christian world, for the number seven signifies all. (See Apocalypse Revealed 10).

The message is addressed to those who are in Asia. This signifies people who are in the light of truth from the Word. The east is where the sun rises, thus bringing light and warmth to the world. It represents the a place where we can see the Lord's truth. Asia is to the east of Jerusalem, and in the Word, it usually represents a place where truth is known. (See Apocalypse Revealed 11).

In verse 4, John indicates that the vision is being given to him from our Lord Jesus Christ, who is divine truth itself. Being the first born from the dead indicates that he, as to his divine human, is the truth itself, united to divine good, and that from him all men will live who are, in themselves, spiritually dead. (See Apocalypse Revealed 17). The Lord is the one who loves us, who leads us, who washes us of our sins, and regenerates us (rebirth) to purify us from our sins and evils.

Verse 6 indicates that the Lord, who leads us to rebirth by filling us with his Divine wisdom and love, leads us to Heaven, either here in this world or after death as we enter into the eternal realm. To be made a king is to be filled with wisdom, and to be made a priest means to be filled with love from the Lord. (See Apocalypse Revealed 20) It is the Lord who leads us, for he has all the wisdom, all the love, and all the power, to overcome evil for all of eternity.

Verse 7 indicates that at the time of the end of the Christian Church, the Lord will make himself known by opening up the spiritual understanding of the Word. In this way, he will remove the clouds from understanding and let the light of spiritual understanding shine through. (See Apocalypse Revealed 24.) At that time there will also be a realization of the falsities that the church is propagating when the truths and goods have been lost.(See Apocalypse Revealed 27.) When a church comes to its end, the Lord will always raise up a new Church, and this will be revealed in the coming chapters.

In verse 8 the Lord is saying, through John and to us, that he is the way, the truth, and the life for all of eternity. (See Apocalypse Revealed 29.) When we lose our way, as indicated of the Christian Church, he is the one we need to turn to as he provides everything we need, and has all the power to lead us away from our evil ways and guide us into heaven. It is his truths, his goodness, and his love that we need to seek and to convey.

In verse 9, John is saying to us, his brethren (those in good that comes from loving the neighbor), and their companions (people who are in truths of faith), that the church is becoming afflicted (infested by evils and falsity). As we wait patiently for the Lord to come and remove this affliction, John was being prepared to be enlightened as to the Divine truths of the Word and reveal the Divine human story of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

In verse 10, John tells of how his Spiritual Mind was opened so that he could hear and see things in the Heavenly realm, and be in the presence of God - when the voice of God comes to him as in the sound of a trumpet.

In verse 11, God tells John that he is the All, the Beginning, the Ending, the First, the Last, the Infinite, so that what John sees and hears he knows is from the Divine. God tells him to write this book (later called Revelation) and to send it to the various churches that they may know what is to come. Each church represents different levels of perception and understanding - similar to the usage in other parts of the Word when places or towns or countries are mentioned.

Verse 12 signifies that as we turn to the Lord, and as we live a life as he taught us - to Love God, love our neighbor, to be kind and generous to all whom we meet, we will be enlightened from the Lord through his Word. The seven golden lampstands (again seven meaning all) signify enlightenment from a new church that will come from the Lord. (See Apocalypse Revealed 43.)

In verse 13, as mentioned in the verse above, the lampstands signify the Lord’s Church. The foundation, or what is in the midst of that church, is the Lord’s Word, and the Word proceeds from the Divine which is the Lord himself who reveals himself as we learn from his Word.

Verse 14 describes how the Lord appears to John, in his vision of heaven. His head and hair were as white as snow and his eyes were as a flame of fire, indicating that he is divine wisdom and love, whose eyes reveal the All of intelligence because it comes from divine wisdom and love. (See Apocalypse Revealed 47.)

Verse 15 continues the prior verse, describing the Lord’s feet as being like fine brass. This symbolizes the divine nature of the Lord, for while in this world, he walked the path of divine goodness and love and overcame all evils and temptations of this world. (See Apocalypse Revealed 49.) In describing his voice, John says that it was the voice of many waters. Waters signify truths, and here, that the Lord is divine truth itself. (See Apocalypse Revealed 50.)

In verse 16, the Lord is revealing himself to John - and to us - through the Word. He is the bearer of all the knowledge of good and truth, and from his mouth, thus from the Word, he spoke the words of truth and goodness. These are to be used to dispel evil and falsity. The shining of the Lord's face reveals his essence as the light and warmth of divine wisdom and love. (See Apocalypse Revealed 53.)

In verse 17 John comes face to face with the Lord. He feels his unworthiness to be in the presence of the Almighty Eternal God. He falls at the feet of the Lord as if lifeless, from his own sinfulness. The Lord then touches him with his right hand saying, “Fear not” and as John feels the presence of the divine love. He listens to what the Lord is telling him, about what will follow.

In verse 18 the Lord tells John that he is the God who lives to eternity, who was or is rejected by the world, but who holds the keys to life. His divine plan, his hope, is to lead man away from hell and death and bring him into the loving kingdom of heaven.

Then, in Verse 19, the Lord tells John to write down what he sees, and that the things he will reveal are for the whole world, so we can use them to help us find salvation.

In the last verse of this chapter the Lord is saying that a new church will be established in Heaven and that from it a new church be established on earth.

17. The firstborn from the dead. This symbolically means, and which is Divine good itself.

No one as yet knows what it is to be firstborn from the dead. Moreover, the ancients debated what it symbolized. They knew that the firstborn symbolized the first or primary constituent from which sprung everything having to do with the church. Many also believed that it was truth in doctrine and faith, but a few thought it was truth in act and deed, which constitutes goodness of life. We will see that the latter is the first and primary constituent of the church, and therefore that, properly speaking, it is what is meant by the firstborn.

First, however, we must say something about the opinion of those who believed that truth in doctrine and faith is the first and primary constituent of the church, thus the firstborn. They believed this because truth is learned first, and because the church is a church in consequence of its truth, though not before the truth is lived. Prior to that it exists only in the thought and memory of the intellect, and not in any action of the will; and truth that is not truth in act or deed has no life in it. It is merely like a tree abounding in branches and leaves without any fruit, or like knowledge without any useful application. Or it is like a foundation upon which a house is being built for people to live in. These things are first in time, but they are not first in end, and those which are first in end are primary. For first in end is the living in the house, while the first in time is the foundation. The first in end, too, is useful application, while the first in time is knowledge. Likewise, when a tree is planted, the first in end is its fruit, while first in time are its branches and leaves.

[2] The same is the case with the intellect, which is formed first in a person, but to the end that the person may put into practice what he sees with the intellect. Otherwise the intellect is like a preacher who teaches rightly but lives an evil life.

Every truth, furthermore, is sown in the inner self and takes root in the outer one. Consequently, unless the truth that is sown takes root in the outer self, which it does by being put into practice, it becomes like a tree placed not in the ground but on top of it, which in the radiating heat of the sun immediately wilts.

This root is something a person takes with him after death if he has put truths into practice, but not the person who has known and acknowledged them in faith only.

Now, because many of the ancients made what is first in time first in end or primary, therefore they said that something firstborn symbolized truth in the church in doctrine and faith, unaware that it is the firstborn apparently, but not actually.

[3] Those, however, who made truth in doctrine and faith primary, were all condemned, because not a bit of practice or deed, or of life, was found in that truth. Cain, who was the firstborn of Adam and Eve, was condemned for that reason. That he symbolizes truth in doctrine and faith may be seen in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Providence 242.

For the same reason too, Reuben, who was the firstborn of Jacob, was condemned by his father (Genesis 49:3-4), and the birthright was taken from him (1 Chronicles 5:1). In the spiritual sense Reuben means truth in doctrine and faith, as we will see hereafter.

The firstborn of Egypt were all struck down, having been condemned, and in the spiritual sense they mean nothing else than truth in doctrine and faith apart from goodness of life - truth which in itself is lifeless.

The goats mentioned in Daniel and Matthew ¹ mean no others than people who possess a faith apart from life, as discussed in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding Faith, nos. 61-68.

Around the time of the Last Judgment, people who possessed a faith apart from life were rejected and condemned, as may be seen in A Continuation Concerning the Last Judgment 16[1]ff.

[4] It can be seen from these few considerations that the firstborn of the church is not truth in doctrine and faith, but truth in practice or deed, which constitutes goodness of life. For the church does not exist in a person until truth becomes a matter of life, and when truth becomes a matter of life, it is then goodness. That is because the thought of the intellect and memory do not flow into the will and through the will into practice. Rather the will flows into the thought and memory of the intellect and acts. Moreover, whatever issues from the will through the intellect does so from affection, which is a matter of love, through thought, which is a matter of the intellect. And it is all called good and enters into the life. Therefore the Lord says that he who does the truth does it in God (John 3:21).

[5] Since John represented goodness of life, and Peter the truth of faith (see no. 5 above), therefore John is said to have reclined at the Lord's breast and followed Jesus, and not Peter (John 21:18-23). The Lord also said of John that John would remain till He came (John 21:22-23), thus to the present day, which is the day of the Lord's coming. Consequently the Lord is now teaching goodness of life for people who will be constituents of His New Church, which is the New Jerusalem.

In sum, the firstborn is that which truth first produces from good, thus what the intellect produces from the will, because truth has to do with the intellect, and good with the will. This first element is primary, because it is like a seed from which everything else springs.

[6] As for the Lord, He is the "firstborn from the dead" because in respect to His humanity He is truth itself united to Divine good, from whom all people live, who in themselves are dead.

The like is meant in Psalms,

I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. (Psalms 89:27)

This is said of the Lord's humanity.

So it is that Israel is called the firstborn (Exodus 4:22-23). "Israel" means truth in practice, "Jacob" truth in doctrine; and because no church is formed in consequence of the latter alone, therefore Jacob was named Israel. (In the highest sense, however, Israel means the Lord.)

[7] Because of this representation of the firstborn, all the firstborn of people and animals were consecrated to Jehovah (Exodus 13:2, 12; 22:28-29).

Because of this representation of the firstborn, in the Israelite church the Levites were taken in place of all the firstborn, and it is said that they therefore belonged to Jehovah (Numbers 3:12-13, 40-46; 18:15-18). For Levi symbolizes truth in practice, which constitutes goodness of life, and therefore his descendants were given the priesthood, on which subject more later.

For the same reason, too, the firstborn was given a double portion of the inheritance, and he is called the beginning of strength (Deuteronomy 21:15-17).

[8] The firstborn symbolizes the primary constituent of the church because natural births in the Word symbolize spiritual births, and what first produces them in a person is then meant by his firstborn. For the church does not exist in him until the doctrinal truth conceived in the inner self is given birth in the outer self.

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