Spiritual Meaning of REVELATION 15:1
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AR 656. Verse 1. And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, signifies revelation from the Lord concerning the state of the church upon earth, what it is as to love and faith. These are what this chapter and the following treat of; therefore they are signified by "a sign in heaven, great and marvellous." That "a sign in heaven" signifies revelation from the Lord concerning heaven and the church and of their state, see above (n. 532, 536); it is concerning love and faith, because it is called "great and marvellous"; and "great," in the Word, is said of such things as are of affection and love, and "marvellous," of such things as are of thought and of faith.

AR 657. Seven angels having the seven last plagues, signifies the evils and falsities in the church, such as are in its last state, universally disclosed by the Lord. By "seven angels" the entire heaven is signified; but as heaven is not heaven from anything proper to the angels, but from the Lord, therefore by "seven angels" the Lord is signified, nor can any other disclose the evils and falsities which are in the church. That by "angels" is signified heaven, and, in the highest sense, the Lord, may be seen above (n. 5, 258, 344, 465, 644, 647, 648). By "plagues" are signified evils and falsities, evils of love and falsities of faith. For they are those which are described in the next chapter, and are signified by "evil and noxious sores," by "the blood as it were of one dead, whereby every living soul died," and by "the blood into which the waters of the rivers and fountains were turned," by "the scorching of fire which afflicted men," by "the unclean spirits like frogs, which were demons," and by "great hail"; the evils and falsities which are signified by all these things, are here meant by "plagues"; by "the last plagues" are signified the same in the let state of the church; by "seven" are signified all (n. 10, 390); but because these evils, which are signified by "the plagues" in the next chapter, are not all in particular, but are all in general, by "seven" are here signified all universally, for the universal embraces all the particulars. From these things it appears, that by "I saw seven angels having the seven last plagues," is signified that the evils and falsities in the church, such as they are in its last state, were disclosed universally by the Lord. That "plagues" signify spiritual plagues, which affect men as to their souls, and destroy them, which are evils and falsities, may appear from the following passages:--

By "the plagues of Egypt," which were in part similar to the plagues described in the following chapter, nothing else was signified but evils and falsities; which plagues you may see enumerated above (n. 503) they are also called "plagues" (Exod. 9:14; 11:1). From this it is manifest, that by "plagues" nothing else is signified but spiritual plagues, which affect men as to their souls, and destroy them; as also (Isa. 30:26; Zech. 14:12, 15; Ps. 38:5, 11; Apoc. 9:20; 16:21; Exod. 12:13; 30:12; Num. 11:33; Luke 7:21).

AR 658. For in them is consummated the anger of God, signifies the devastation of the church and then its end. By "consummation" is signified the devastation of the church and then its end, as will be seen presently; by "the anger of God" is signified evil with men, which, because it is against God, is called the anger of God; not that God is angry with man, but because man, from his evil, is angry with God, and because it appears to man, when he is punished and tormented for it, as is the case after death in hell, as if it were from God, therefore, in the Word, anger and wrath, yea evil, is attributed to God. But this in the sense of the letter only, because this sense is written according to appearances and correspondences, but not in the spiritual sense, for in this latter there is no appearance and correspondence, but truth in its light; concerning that wrath, see above (n. 525, 635). It is said that in those plagues "the anger of God is consummated," and that thereby is signified the devastation of the church and then its end; the reason shall be explained. Every church, in process of time, decreases, by receding from the good of love and the truths of faith, until there is nothing of them left; and this takes place by the successive increase of evil and falsity; and when there is no longer any good of love and faith, then there is nothing but evil and falsity; and when this is the case, there is an end of the church. In this end, man knows no other than that evil is good and falsity truth, for he loves them from the delight he feels in them, and therefore confirms them; this is the end which is signified by "consummation," and is called" devastation," in the following passages:--

This is concerning Sodom.

The end of the church is also meant by "the consummation of the age" spoken of by the Lord in these passages:--

"Until‘ the consummation of the age" is until the end of the church, when there is the New Church, with which the Lord will then be.

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

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