Spiritual Meaning of REVELATION 14:18
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AR 648. Verse 18. And another angel went out from the altar, having authority over fire, signifies the heavens of the Lord‘s celestial kingdom, which are in the good of love from the Lord. By "another angel" the heavens of the Lord’s celestial kingdom are here signified, because he was seen to go out from the altar, for by "an altar" is signified the worship of the Lord from love, see above (n. 392), and by "fire" is signified love (n. 468), and by "fire upon the altar" is signified the Divine love (n. 395). It is said that "he had power over fire," because the angels watch over that love in themselves.

AR 649a. And he cried with a great cry to Him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Send thy sharp sickle, and gather the vintage the clusters of the vineyard of the earth, signifies the Lord‘s operation from the good of His love through the Divine truth of His Word into the works of charity and faith which are with the men of the Christian church. This is the spiritual sense of these words, because by those two "angels" are signified the heavens of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom and of His celestial kingdom (n. 647, 648); and the heavens do nothing from themselves, but from the Lord, for the angels in the heavens are only recipients, therefore nothing else is signified in the spiritual sense but the operation of the Lord, here into the church in the Christian world, and into the works of charity and faith with the men there. For by "vineyard" that church is signified, which will be further treated of in article (n. 651); and by "clusters" and "grapes" are signified works of charity. The reason why these are signified by "clusters" and "grapes," is, because they are the fruits of the vine in the vineyard, and by "fruits" in the Word are signified good works. The reason why "the angel who went out from the altar, said to the angel who went out from the temple, that he should send his sickle and gather the vintage," is because by "the angel who went out from the altar" the heavens of the celestial kingdom, or the heavens which are in the goods of love, are signified; and by "the angel who went out from the temple" the heavens of the spiritual kingdom, or the heavens which are in the truths of wisdom, are signified, as was said above, and the good of love does not operate anything from itself, but by the truth of wisdom, nor does the truth of wisdom operate anything from itself, but from the good of love. That this is the case, is shown in many places in the Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom. This is the reason why "the angel who went out from the altar" said to "the angel who went out from the temple," "to send his sickle and gather the vintage the clusters of the vineyard of the earth." Hence then it is, that by these words the Lord‘s operation from the good of His love by the Divine truth of His Word is signified. That "grapes" and "clusters" signify the goods and works of charity, may appear from the following passages:--Woe unto me, I have become as the gatherings of the summer, as the grape-gleanings of the vintage; there is no cluster to eat; my soul desires the first-fruits; the holy one has perished from the earth, and the upright among men (Micah 7:1, 2).

Besides other passages in which "the fruit of the vineyard," and "from the vine" are mentioned. There are goods of celestial love, and there are goods of spiritual love; the goods of celestial love are of love to the Lord, and the goods of spiritual love are of love towards the neighbor; the latter goods are called the goods of charity, and are meant by "the fruit of the vineyard," which consists of grapes and clusters; but the goods of love to the Lord are meant in the Word by "the fruits of trees," especially by "olives."

AR 649b. For her grapes are ripened, signifies because it is the last state of the Christian church. The same is signified by "the grapes of the vineyard are ripened" as above by "the harvest was dried up," but "a harvest" is said of the church in general and "a vineyard" of the church in particular; that "the harvest was dried up" signifies the last state of the church, see above (n. 645); therefore the like is meant by "the grapes of the vineyard are ripened." "A vineyard" signifies the church where the Divine truth of the Word is, and where the Lord is known thereby; because "wine" signifies interior truth, which is from the Lord through the Word, therefore "a vineyard" here signifies the Christian church. That "wine" signifies truth from the good of love, thus from the Lord, see above (n. 316).

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

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