CHAPTER XX. 1. AND I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. 2. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and satan, and bound him a thousand years. 3. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years shall be finished; and after that he must be loosed a little time. 4. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast, nor his image, nor had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands: and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5. But the rest of the dead lived not again, until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on these the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 7. And when the thousand years are finished, satan shall be loosed out of his prison. 8. And shall go forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are; and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 11. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was no place found for them. 12. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every one according to their works. 14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire. THE SPIRITUAL SENSE. THE CONTENTS OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER. Concerning the removal of those who are meant by the dragon, verses, 1, 2, 3, and then concerning the ascent of those from the lower earth, who worshiped the Lord and shunned evils as sins, verses 4, 5, 6., Judgment upon those in whose worship there was no religion, verses 7, 8, 9. The damnation of the dragon, verse 10. The universal judgment upon the rest, verses 11-15. THE CONTENTS OF EACH VERSE. "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand," signifies, the Lord's divine operation upon lower principles, from his divine power of shutting and opening, and of binding and loosing: "And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and satan," signifies, that they were withheld who are meant by the dragon, who from their thinking sensually and not spiritually on matters of faith, are called the old serpent, and from their being in evils as to life, are called the devil, and from their being in falses as to doctrine, are called satan: "And bound him a thousand years," signifies, that they who are here meant by the dragon, were withdrawn and separated from the rest in the world of spirits, that for a short time there might be no communication with them: "And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more," signifies, that the Lord entirely removed those who were in faith alone, and put a stop to all communication between them and others, lest they should inspire into those who were to be taken up into heaven any thing of their heresy: "Till the thousand years should be finished; and after that he must be loosed a little," signifies, this only a little while, or for a short time, until they are taken up by the Lord into heaven who were in truths derived from good, after which they who are meant by the dragon, were to be loosed for a short time, and a communication opened between them and others: "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them," signifies, that the truths of the Word, according to which all are judged, were opened, and that then they were taken up from the lower earth, who had been concealed by the Lord, that they might not be seduced by the dragon and his beasts: "And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the Word of God," signifies, that they were rejected by those who were principled in falses originating in self-derived intelligence, because they worshiped the Lord, and lived according to the truths of his Word: "And who had not worshiped the beast, nor his image, nor had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands," signifies, who did not acknowledge and receive the doctrine of faith alone: "And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years,” sig11 VOL. III. nifies, who have been already for some time in conjunction with the Lord and in his kingdom: "But the rest of the dead lived not again, until the thousand years were finished," signifies, that besides these, now spoken of, none were taken up into heaven, till after the dragon was loosed, and that such were then proved and explored as to their quality: "This is the first resurrection," signifies, that salvation and life eternal primarily consist in worshiping the Lord and living according to his commandments in the Word: inasmuch as conjunction is effected with the Lord and consociation with the angels of heaven: "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection," signifies, that they who go to heaven enjoy the felicity of life eternal, and illustration, in consequence of conjunction with the Lord: " Ón these the second death hath no power," signifies, that they are not damned: "But they shall be priests of God and of Christ," signifies, because they are kept by the Lord in the good of love and thence in the truths of wisdom: "And shall reign with him a thousand years," signifies, that they were already in heaven, when the rest, who had not revived, that is as yet received heavenly life, were in the world of spirits: "And when the thousand years are finished, satan shall be loosed out of his prison," signifies, that after they who had before been concealed and preserved in the lower earth, were taken up by the Lord into heaven, and the new heaven increased by their numbers, all those who had confirmed themselves in falses of faith, were to be let loose: "And shall go forth to deceive the nations, which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle," signifies, that they who are here meant by the dragon, would draw to their party all those who were from the earths throughout the universal world of spirits, and lived there only in external natural worship and in no internal spiritual worship, and would stir them up against those who worshiped the Lord, and lived according to his commandments in the Word: "The number of whom is as the sand of the sea," signifies, the multitude of such: "And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city," signifies, that being stirred up by the dragonists, they held in contempt every truth of the church, and endeavored to destroy all things of the New Church, and even its doctrine concerning the Lord and concerning life: "And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them," signifies, that they were destroyed by the concupiscences of infernal love: "And the devil that deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever," signifies, that they who were in evils as to life, and in falses as to doctrine, were cast into hell: "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was no place found for them," signifies, the universal judgment executed by the Lord upon all the former heav ens that were occupied by such as were in civil and moral good, but in no spiritual good, thus who resembled Christians in externals, but in internals were devils, which heavens, with their earth, were totally dissolved, so that nothing of them appeared any more: "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God," signifies, all who had died from the earth, and were now among those who were in the world of spirits, of whatever condition and quality, assembled by the Lord for judgment: And the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life," signifies, that the interiors of the minds of them all were laid open, and by the influx of light and heat from heaven, their quality was seen and perceived, as to the affections which are of the love or will, and thence as to the thoughts which are of faith or understanding, as well the wicked as the good: "And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works," signifies, that all were judged according to their internal life in externals: "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it," signifies, the external and natural men of the church called to judgment: "And death and hell gave up the dead which were in them," signifies, the men of the church who were impious at heart, and who in themselves were devils and satans, called to judgment: "And they were judged every one according to their works," signifies, here as before: "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire," signifies, that the impious at heart, who in themselves were devils and satans, and yet seemed in externals like men of the church, were cast into hell among those who were in the love of evil and thence in the love of falsity agreeing with evil: "This is the second death," signifies, that with these there is damnation itself: "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire," signifies, that they who did not live according to the Lord's commandments in the Word, and did not believe in the Lord, were condemned. THE EXPLANATION. 840. "AND I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand," signifies, the Lord's divine operation upon lower principles, from his divine power of shutting and opening, and of binding and loosing. By an angel coming down from heaven, is meant the Lord, see n. 5, 170, 344, 465, 657, 718; also the Lord's operation, n. 415, 631, 633, 649; in the present case on lower principles, because it is said coming down; by having the key of the bottomless pit, is signified the divine power of opening and shut ting hell, see n. 62, 174; and by having a great chain in his hand, is signified the endeavor and consequent act of binding and loosing: hence it follows that there was not any key in the Lord's hand, nor yet a chain, but its appearing so to John was representative of the Lord's divine power; the opening and shutting of hell is also treated of two or three times in this chapter. 841. "And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and satan," signifies, that they were withheld who were meant by the dragon, who, from their thinking sensually and not spiritually on matters of faith, are called the old serpent, and from their being in evils as to life, are called the devil, and from their being in falses as to doctrine, are called satan. Who they are who are meant by the dragon, may be seen above, n. 537; the reason why both there and in this passage he is called the old serpent, the devil, and satan, is because a serpent signifies those who think sensually and not spiritually, n. 455, 550; the devil, signifies those who are in evils as to life; and satan those who are in falses as to doctrine, n. 97, 550. For all such as do not approach the Lord immediately, think sensually of things relating to the church, and cannot think spiritually, for the Lord is light itself, n. 796, 799; wherefore they who do not immediately approach the Lord, cannot think from spiritual light, which is the light of heaven, but from natural light separated from spiritual light, which is to think sensually; hence it is that they are called the old serpent. They who do not immediately approach the Lord, nor shun evils as sins, continue in their sins, for which reason the dragon is called the devil; and since the same are in falses as to doctrine, therefore the dragon is called satan. 842. "And bound him a thousand years," signifies, that they who are here meant by the dragon, were withdrawn and separated from the rest in the world of spirits, that for a short time, there might be no communication with them. That by binding is here signified to withdraw and separate from the rest in the world of spirits, in order to prevent communication, will be seen in the next article. The reason why by a thousand years are not |