Spiritual Meaning of REVELATION 11:15
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AR 519. Verse 15. And the seventh angel sounded, signifies the exploration and manifestation of the state of the church after the consummation, when the coming of the Lord and of His kingdom takes place. By "sounding with a trumpet" is signified to explore and make manifest the state of the church after its consummation, when the coming of the Lord and of His kingdom takes place. The reason is, because this is signified by "the seventh angel sounding"; for by the six angels and their trumpets sounding, were signified explorations and manifestations of the state of the consummated church, as appears from the foregoing chapter, where its consummation only is treated of; but that now its state after consummation, which is the coming of the Lord and of His kingdom, is treated of, appears from what follows in this verse:--

And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world are become our Lord‘s and His Christ’s, and He shall reign for ages of ages (Rev. 11:15).

The reason why this manifestation is effected by "the sounding of the seventh angel," is, because "seven" signifies the same as a week, and six days of the week are days of labor, and of what belongs to man, and the seventh is holy and the Lord‘s. That by consummation is meant the devastation of the church when there is no longer any truth of doctrine and good of life therein, thus when its end has come, may be seen (n. 658, 750); and because then is the coming of the Lord and of His Kingdom, therefore both "the consummation of the age" and "the coming of the Lord" are spoken of in (Matt. 24:3), and they are both also foretold in that chapter.

AR 520. And there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world are become our Lord’s and His Christ‘s and He shall reign for ages of ages, signifies celebrations by the angels, because heaven and the church are become the Lord’s, as they were from the beginning; and that now they have also become the kingdom of His Divine Human, thus that the Lord as to both will now reign over heaven and the church to eternity. "There were great voices," signifies celebrations by the angels; saying, "The kingdoms of the world are become our Lord‘s and His Christ’s" signifies that heaven and the church are become the Lord‘s, as they were from the beginning, and that now they are also the kingdom of His Divine Human; "and He shall reign for ages of ages" signifies that the Lord, both as to His Human and Divine, will reign over them. "Great voices in heaven" signify celebrations of the Lord, because He has now taken His great power, appears from (verse 17) where "those great voices" are extant in a summary. By "the Lord" is here meant the Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah; and by "Christ" is meant His Divine Human, which is the Son of God (Luke 1:32, 35). That the Lord as to His Divine Human also will reign, manifestly appears from these words:--

The Father hath given all things into the hand of the Son (John 3:35).

The Father hath given the Son power over all flesh (John 17:2).

Father, all Mine are Thine and Thine are Mine (John 17:10).

All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth (Matt. 28:18).

Of His Divine Human He also said that:--

The Father and He are one. And that He is in the Father and the Father in Him (John 10:30, 38; 14:5-12).

To this may be added, that unless the Lord’s Human is acknowledged to be Divine the church must perish, for in that case the Lord cannot be in man and man in the Lord, as He Himself teaches (John 14:20; 15:4-6; 17:23); and this conjunction makes the man of the church, and thus the church. The reason why the Lord‘s Divine Human is meant by "Christ," is, because Christ is the Messiah, and the Messiah is the Son of God, who was expected to come into the world. That Christ is the Messiah appears from this:--

We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ (John 1:41).

The woman said, I know that the Messiah cometh, which is called Christ (John 4:25).

For "Messiah," in the Hebrew language, is the anointed, as Christ is in the Greek language. That the Messiah is the Son of God, appears from the following passages:--

The high-priest asked Him, whether He was the Christ (Messiah) the Son of God (Matt. 26:63; Mark 14:61; Luke 22:67; John 20:31).

Thou art the Christ the Son of God, which should come into the world (John 11:27).

Peter said, We believe and acknowledge that Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God (John 6:69).

That the Lord as to the Divine Human is the Son of God:--

The angel said to Mary, Thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son; He shall be great, and shall be called The Son of the Highest. The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore, that holy One that shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:31, 32, 35).

From these things it is plain what is signified by "their becoming the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ."

REVELATION 11:15    previous  -  next  -  text  -  summary  -  Revelation  -  Full Page

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772). Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002. www.BibleMeanings.info