Apocalypse Explained, volume 1 - Swedenborg Foundation

APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED 203In the consummation of the age the son of man shall send hisangels with a great sound of a trumpet, and shall gather together theelect from the four winds (Matt. 24:3, 31).When the son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holyangels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory (Matt.25:31).Jesus said, After this ye shall see heaven opened, and the angels ofGod ascending and descending upon the son of man (John 1:51).In these passages, in the spiritual sense, by “angels” Divine truthsand not angels are meant. So when it is here said that, in theconsummation of the age, “the angels are to gather out all thingsthat cause stumbling,” “are to sever the wicked from the midst ofthe just,” “are to gather together the elect from the four winds witha great sound of a trumpet,” and that “the son of man with theangels is to sit upon a throne of glory,” it is not meant that angels,together with the Lord, are to do these things, but that the Lordalone will do them by means of his Divine truths; for angels haveno power of themselves, but all power is the Lord’s through hisDivine truth (see Heaven and Hell, n. 230–233). That “ye shall seethe angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of man,”means the like, namely, that Divine truths should be in him andfrom him.130b. [5] Moreover, in other places also “angels” mean Divinetruths from the Lord, consequently the Lord in respect to Divinetruths, as:To the seven angels were given seven trumpets, and the angelssounded on the trumpets (Rev. 8:2, 6–8, 10, 12, 13; 9:1, 13, 14).It is said that to the angels were given trumpets, and that theysounded thereon, because “trumpets” and their “sound” signifyDivine truth to be revealed (see above, n. 55). Similar things arealso meant:By the angel warring against the dragon (Rev. 12:7, 9);