Spiritual Meaning of REVELATION 21:5
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AR 886. Verse 5. And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all thing new. And He said unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful, signifies the Lord speaking concerning the Last Judgment to those who are about to come into the world of spirits, or who would die, from the time of His being in the world until now, and saying these things, that the former heaven with the former earth, and the former church, with all and everything in them, would perish, and that He would create a New Heaven with a New Earth, and a New Church, which is to be called the New Jerusalem, and that they may know this of a certainty, and bear it in remembrance, because the Lord himself has testified and said it. The contents of this verse and of those which follow, as far as the eighth inclusive, were said to those who would come out of the Christian world into the world of spirits, which happens immediately after death, to the end that they might not suffer themselves to be seduced by the Babylonians and dragonists; for, as was said above, all after death are gathered together in the world of spirits, and cherish social intercourse with one another there as in the natural world, where they are together with the Babylonians and dragonists, who continually burn with the lust of seducing, and who were also allowed, by imaginary and delusive arts, to form to themselves heavens, as it were, by which also they could seduce; to prevent this, these things were said by the Lord, that they might know of a certainty that those heavens with their earths would perish, and that the Lord would create a New Heaven and a New Earth, when they would be saved who did not suffer themselves to be seduced. But it is to be known, that this was said to those who lived from the Lord‘s time even to the Last Judgment, which was executed in the year 1757, because these could have been seduced; but after this event, this was no longer possible, because the Babylonians and dragonists were separated and cast out. We will now proceed to the explanation. By "Him who sat on the throne," is meant the Lord (n. 808). The reason why the Lord here spake "upon a throne," is because He said, "Behold, I make all things new," by which is signified that he was about to execute the Last Judgment, and then to create a New Heaven and a New Earth, and a New Church, with all and everything in them; that "a throne" means judgment in a representative form, may be seen (n. 229, 845, 865); and that the former heaven and former church perished on the day of the Last Judgment (n. 865, 877). "He said unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful," signifies that they might know this for certain, and remember it, because the Lord Himself testified and said it; the Lord’s making use of the word "said" a second time, signifies that they might know it for certain; by "write," is signified for remembrance or that they might remember (n. 639); and by "these words are true and faithful," is signified that they ought to be believed, because the Lord Himself testified and said it.

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

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