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.

47. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow. (1:14) This symbolizes the Divine love accompanying Divine wisdom in first things and last.

A person's head symbolizes everything connected with his life, and everything connected with a person's life has some relation to love and wisdom. A head consequently symbolizes both wisdom and love. However, because there is no love without its wisdom, nor wisdom without its love, therefore it is the love accompanying wisdom that is meant by a head; and when describing the Lord, it is the Divine love accompanying Divine wisdom. But on the symbolism of the head in the Word, more will be seen in nos. 538 and 568 below.

Since a head means both love and wisdom in their first forms, it follows accordingly that hair means love and wisdom in their final forms. And because the hair mentioned here describes the Son of Man, who is the Lord in relation to the Word, His hair symbolizes the Divine good connected with love, and the Divine truth connected with wisdom, in the outmost expressions of the Word - the outmost expressions of the Word being those contained in its literal sense.

[2] The idea that the hair of the Son of Man or the Lord symbolizes the Word in this sense may seem absurd, but still it is the truth. This can be seen from passages in the Word that we cited in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 35 and 49. We showed there as well that Nazirites in the Israelite Church represented the Lord in relation to the Word in its outmost expressions, which is its literal sense, as a nazir in Hebrew is a hair or head of hair. ¹ That is why the power of Samson, who was a Nazirite from the womb, lay in his hair. The Divine truth similarly has power in the literal sense of the Word, as may be seen in the aforementioned Doctrine Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 37-49.

For the same reason, too, the high priest and his sons were strictly forbidden to shave their heads.

For that reason as well, forty-two of the boys who called Elisha a baldhead were torn apart by two she-bears. Like Elijah, Elisha represented the Lord in relation to the Word. A baldhead symbolizes the Word without its outmost expression, which, as said, is its literal sense, and she-bears symbolize this sense of the Word divorced from its inner meaning. Those who so divorce it, moreover, appear in the spiritual world as bears, though only at a distance. It is apparent from this why what happened to the boys happened as it did.

It was, therefore, also the highest disgrace and a mark of extreme mourning to inflict baldness.

[3] Accordingly, when the Israelite nation had completely perverted the literal sense of the Word, this lamentation over them was composed:

Her Nazirites were whiter than snow, brighter white than milk... Darker than blackness is their form. They go unrecognized in the streets. (Lamentations 4:7-8)

Furthermore:

Every head was made bald, and every shoulder shaved bare. (Ezekiel 29:18)

Shame will be on every face, and baldness on all their heads. (Ezekiel 7:18)

So similarly Isaiah 15:2, Jeremiah 48:37, Amos 8:10.

Because the children of Israel by falsities completely dissipated the literal sense of the Word, therefore the prophet Ezekiel was commanded to represent this by shaving his head with a razor and burning a third part with fire, striking a third part with a sword, and scattering a third part to the wind, and by gathering a small amount in his skirts, to cast it, too, afterward into the fire (Ezekiel 5:1-4).

[4] Therefore it is also said in Micah:

Make yourself bald and cut off your hair, because of your precious children; enlarge your baldness like an eagle, for they have departed from you. (Micah 1:16)

The precious children are the church's genuine truths from the Word.

Moreover, because Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, represented Babylon's falsification of the Word and destruction of every truth there, it accordingly came to pass that his hair grew like eagles' feathers (Daniel 4:33).

Since the hair symbolized that holy component of the Word, therefore it is said of Nazirites that they were not to shave the hair of their head, because it was the consecration of God upon their head (Numbers 6:1-21). And therefore it was decreed that the high priest and his sons were not to shave their heads, lest they die and the whole house of Israel be angered (Leviticus 10:6).

[5] Now, because hair symbolizes Divine truth in its outmost expressions, which in the church is the Word in its literal sense, therefore something similar is said also of the Ancient of Days in Daniel:

I watched till the thrones were thrown down, and the Ancient of Days was seated. His garment was as white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. (Daniel 7:9)

That the Ancient of Days is the Lord is clearly apparent in Micah:

You, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from antiquity, from days of old. (Micah 5:2)

And in Isaiah, where He is called Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6).

[6] From these passages and many others - too many to cite - it can be seen that the head and hair of the Son of Man, which were like wool, as white as snow, mean the Divine expression of love and wisdom in first things and last. And because the Son of Man means the Lord in relation to the Word, it follows that the Word, too, is meant in its first elements and last. Why else should it be that the Lord here in the book of Revelation and the Ancient of Days in Daniel are described even in respect to their hair?

That hair symbolizes the literal sense of the Word is clearly apparent from people in the spiritual world. Those who have scorned the literal sense of the Word appear bald there, and conversely, those who have loved the literal sense of the Word appear possessed of handsome hair.

The head and hair are described as being like wool and like snow because wool symbolizes goodness in outmost expressions, and snow symbolizes truth in outward expressions - as is the case also in Isaiah 1:18 ² - inasmuch as wool comes from sheep, which symbolize the goodness of charity, and snow comes from water, which symbolizes truths of faith.

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