** The Woman and the Dragon **

A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven:

a woman clothed with the sun,

with the moon under her feet

and a crown of twelve stars on her head.

She was pregnant and cried out in pain

as she was about to give birth.

Then another sign appeared in heaven:

an enormous red dragon

with seven heads and ten horns

and seven crowns on his heads.

His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky

and flung them to the earth.

the dragon stood in front of the woman 

who was about to give birth,

so that he might devour her child

the moment it was born.

She gave birth to a son, a male child,

who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.

And her child was snatched up to God and His throne.

The woman fled into the desert

to a place prepared for her by God,

where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.

And there was war in heaven.

Michael and his angels fought against the dragon,

and the dragon and his angels fought back.

But he was not strong enough,

and they lost their place in heaven.

The great dragon was hurled down --

that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan,

who leads the whole world astray.

He was hurled to the earth,

and his angels with him.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

"Now have come the salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God,

and the authority of His Christ.

For the accuser of our brothers,

who accuses them before our God day and night,

has been hurled down.

They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony;

they did not love their lives so much

as to shrink from death.

Therefore rejoice, you heavens

and you who dwell in them!

But woe to the earth and the sea,

because the devil has gone down to you!

He is filled with fury,

because he knows that his time is short."

When the dragon saw

that he had been hurled to the earth,

he pursued the woman

who had given birth to the male child.

The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle,

so that she might fly

to the place prepared for her in the desert,

where she would be taken care of for a time,

times and half a time,

out of the serpent's reach.

Then from his mouth 

the serpent spewed water like a river,

to overtake the woman

and sweep her away with the torrent.

But the earth helped the woman

by opening its mouth and swallowing the river

that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.

Then the dragon was enraged at the woman

and went off to make war

against the rest of her offspring --

those who obey God's commandments

and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.

(Revelation 12-13:1)

AC 2289, 2291, 2295 - Little Children in Heaven and Their Influence

AC 2289

I have been given to know for certain

that all young children in any part of the world

who die are raised up by the Lord and taken to heaven,

where they are brought up and trained

among angels who look after them,

and where they grow to maturity

as they advance in intelligence and wisdom.

From this it becomes clear

how vast the Lord's heaven is from young children alone;

for all of them are taught

about the truths of faith

and the goods that stem from mutual love,

and become angels.

AC 2291

The nature of their tender understanding

was also shown to me

when I have been praying

in the words of the Lord's Prayer.

At such times

they flowed into the ideas comprising my thought

from their own understanding,

which was so tender

that they understood scarcely anything more

than the meaning of the words.

Yet their ideas present in that tender understanding

were capable of being opened even to the Lord,

that is, even from the Lord;

for the Lord flows in best of all

into young children's ideas,

from things that are inmost,

since nothing as yet has closed their ideas,

as is the case with adults.

No false assumptions have been adopted

to prevent an understanding of truth,

nor a life of evil to prevent the reception of good,

and so to becoming wise.

AC 2295

Sometimes also the young children

who are in the next life are sent by the Lord

to young children on earth,

though the young child on earth is utterly unaware of it.

With the young children on earth

they are absolutely delighted.

A Tree and Its Fruit

"No good tree bears bad fruit,

nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.

Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.

People do not pick figs from thornbushes,

or grapes from briers.

The good man brings good things

out of the good stored up in his heart,

and the evil man brings evil things

out of the evil stored up in his heart.

For out of the overflow of his heart 

his mouth speaks."

(Luke 6:43-45)

** The Seventh Trumpet **

The seventh angel sounded his trumpet,

and there were loud voices in heaven,

which said:

"The kingdom of the world

has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ,

and He will reign for ever and ever."

And the twenty-four elders,

who were seated on their thrones before God,

fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying:

"We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,

the One who is and who was,

because You have taken Your great power

and have begun to reign.

The nations were angry;

and Your wrath has come.

The time has come for judging the dead,

and for rewarding

Your servants the prophets and Your saints

and those who reverence Your name,

both small and great --

and for destroying those who destroy the earth."

Then God's temple in heaven was opened,

and within His temple

was seen the ark of His covenant.

And there came flashes of lightning,

rumblings, peals of thunder,

and earthquake and a great hailstorm.

(Revelation 11:15-19)

AC 2280 - Three Kinds of Good

AC 2280 [2-3, 5]

Three kinds of goods are meant by 'remnants' -

those instilled in earliest childhood,

those instilled when want of knowledge is still present,

and those instilled when intelligence is present.

The goods of earliest childhood

are those instilled into a person from birth up to the age

when he starts to be taught and to know something.

The goods received

when want of knowledge is still present

are instilled when he is being taught

and starting to know something.

The goods that come with intelligence 

are instilled when he is able to reflect

on what good is and what truth is.

Good instilled in earliest childhood

is received up to his tenth year.

Good instilled when want of knowledge is still present

is instilled from then until his twentieth year;

and from this year the person starts to become rational

and to have the ability to reflect on good and truth,

and to acquire the good received

when intelligence is present.

As regards the before-mentioned goods,

namely those of infancy, of ignorance, and of intelligence,

the case is this.

The good of intelligence is the best,

for this is of wisdom;

the good which precedes it,

namely that of ignorance, is indeed good,

but as there is but little of intelligence in it,

it cannot be called the good of wisdom;

and as for the good of infancy,

it is indeed good in itself,

but still it is less good than the other two;

for as yet there is not any truth of intelligence adjoined to it,

and thus it has not become any good of wisdom,

but it is only a plane for being able to become so;

for it is the knowledges of good and truth

that cause a man to be wise as a man.

The Good News

At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place.

The people were looking for Him

and when they came to where He was,

they tried to keep Him from leaving them.

But He said,

"I must preach

the good news of the kingdom of God

to the other towns also,

because that is why I was sent."

And He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

(Luke 4:42-44)

** The Angel and the Little Scroll **

Then I saw

another mighty angel coming down from heaven.

He was robed in a cloud,

with a rainbow above his head;

his face was like the sun,

and his legs were like fiery pillars.

He was holding a little scroll,

which lay open in his hand,

He planted his right foot on the sea

and his left foot on the land,

and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion.

When he shouted,

the voices of the seven thunders spoke.

And when the seven thunders spoke,

I was about to write;

but I heard a voice from heaven say,

"Seal up what the seven thunders have said

and do not write it down."

Then the angel I had seen

standing on the sea and on the land

raised his right hand to heaven.

And he swore by Him who lives for ever and ever,

who created the heavens and all that is in them,

the earth and all that is in it,

and the sea and all that is in it,

and said, "There will be no more delay!

But in the days

when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet,

the mystery of God will be accomplished,

just as He announced to His servants the prophets."

Then the voice that I had heard from heaven

spoke to me once more:

"Go, take the scroll that

lies open in the hand of the angel

who is standing on the sea and on the land."

So I went to the angel

and asked him to give me the little scroll.

He said to me, "Take it and eat it.

It will turn your stomach sour,

but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey."

I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it.

It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth,

but when I had eaten it,

my stomach turned sour.

then I was told,

"You must prophesy again

about many peoples, nations, languages and kings."

(Revelation 10)