Spiritual Meaning of REVELATION 21:8
Trust ye not upon the words of a lie, saying, The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah are these: will ye steal, kill, and commit adultery, and swear by a lie, and come and stand before Me in this house, when ye do these abominations? (Jer. 7:2-4, 9-11).
That by "the fearful" are signified they who are in no faith, is evident from the following passages:--
Jesus said to the disciples, Why are ye fearful, O men of little faith? (Matt. 8:26; Mark 4:39, 40; Luke 8:25.)
Jesus said unto the ruler of the synagogue, Fear not: believe only, then thy daughter shall be saved (Luke 8:49, 50; Mark 5:36).
Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father‘s good pleasure to give you the kingdom (Luke 12:32).
The same is meant by "fear not" (Matt. 17:6, 7; 28:3-5, 10; Luke 1:12, 13, 30; 2:9, 10; 5:8-10). From all these things it may appear, that by "the fearful, and the unfaithful, and the abominable," are signified they who are in no faith, and in no charity, and thence are in all kinds of evils.
. And murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, signifies all those who make no account of the commandments of the Decalogue, and do not shun any evils therein mentioned as sins, and therefore live in them. What is signified by these four commandments of the Decalogue, "Thou shalt not kill," "thou shalt not commit adultery," "thou shalt not steal," and "thou shalt not testify falsely," in their threefold sense, natural, spiritual, and celestial, may be seen in The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem (Life n. 62-91); therefore it is unnecessary to explain them here; but instead of the seventh commandment, which is, "Thou shalt not steal," are here mentioned "sorcerers and idolaters," and by "sorcerers" are signified they who inquire after truths, which they falsify in order to confirm falsities and evils, as they do who take up this truth, that no one can do good from himself, and by it confirm faith alone, for this is a species of spiritual theft. What "sorcery" further signifies may be seen above (n. 462). By "idolaters" are signified they who establish worship, or are in worship, not from the Word, thus not from the Lord, but from their own intelligence (n. 459); as also they have done who, from a single saying of Paul, falsely understood, and not from any word of the Lord, have fabricated the universal doctrine of the church, which likewise is a species of spiritual theft; by "liars" are signified they who are in falsities from evil (n. 924). . Shall have their part in the lake burning with fire and brimstone, signifies their portion in hell, where are the loves of falsity and the lusts of evil, as appears from the explanation above (n. 835, 872), where like words occur. . Which is the second death, signifies damnation, as also appears from what is explained above (n. 853, 873). REVELATION 21:8 previous - next - text - summary - Revelation - Full Page
| Author: E. Swedenborg (1688-1772). | Design: I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002. | www.BibleMeanings.info |