291. "Blessing and honor and glory and strength be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!" This symbolically means that present in the Lord from eternity and so in His Divine humanity is everything of heaven and the church - Divine good and truth, and Divine power - and these are present from Him in people who are in heaven and in the church.

To be shown that the Lord from eternity is Jehovah, who in the process of time took on human form in order to redeem and save mankind, see no. 281 above. He who sits on the throne, therefore, means the Lord from eternity, who is called the Father, and the Lamb means the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity, which is the Son. Moreover, because the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, so that they are one, it follows that both the one sitting on the throne and the Lamb mean the Lord. And because they are one, we are also told that the Lamb was in the midst of the throne (verse 6, and so, too, 7:17).

To be shown that blessing, when said in connection with the Lord, means everything of heaven and the church present in Him, and from Him in people who are in heaven and in the church, see no. 289 above; and that honor and glory mean Divine good and truth, also no. 249. It is apparent, moreover, that strength, when said in connection with the Lord, means Divine power.

That these are all properties of the Lord can be seen from the following verses in Daniel:

Behold, One like the Son of Man (came) with the clouds of heaven! And He came to the Ancient of Days... Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, and all peoples, nations, and languages will serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one which shall not perish. (Daniel 7:13-14)

The Ancient of Days is the Lord from eternity, as is apparent from this verse in Micah:

You, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me One who will be Ruler in Israel, and whose goings forth are from of old, from the days of eternity. (Micah 5:2)

And so, too, from this verse in Isaiah:

...unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; ...the government will be upon His shoulder. ...His name will be called... Counselor, God, Hero, Father of eternity, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

808. 19:4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, "Amen! Alleluia!" This symbolizes an adoration of the Lord as God of heaven and earth and judge of the universe by angels of the higher heavens, and an affirmation by them of the thanksgiving, confession and celebration of the Lord made by angels of the lower heavens.

To fall down and worship symbolizes humility, and worship as a result of that humility, as in no. 370 above. The twenty-four elders and four living creatures symbolize the higher heavens (no. 369). He who sat on the throne means the Lord as God of heaven and judge of the universe, since the throne symbolizes heaven and the government there (nos. 14, 221, 222), and also judgment - in this case judgment, because it refers to the judgment on the Roman Catholic religion, which is the subject of the preceding chapter. That He who sat on the throne is the Lord will be seen below. "Amen! Alleluia!" symbolizes an affirmation of the thanksgiving, confession and celebration of the Lord by angels of the lower heavens. "Amen" symbolizes an affirmation and agreement in response to truth (nos. 23, 28, 61, 371, 375), and "alleluia" symbolizes a thanksgiving, confession and celebration of the Lord (no. 803). These were made by angels of the lower heavens, because they spoke first and celebrated the Lord as God of heaven, and as judge and avenger, saying "Alleluia!" as is apparent from the first two verses of this chapter and the exposition in nos. 803-806 above. Affirmation of these by angels of the higher heavens is symbolized here by "Amen! Alleluia!"

[2] That He who sat on the throne is the Lord is apparent from Revelation 1:4; 3:21; 4:2-6, 9; 5:13; 6:16; 7:9-11; 22:1, 3. These verses tell us that God and the Lamb were on the throne. God there means the underlying Divinity of the Lord called the Father, and the Lamb the Divine humanity called the Son (nos. 269, 291). Thus it is the Lord alone. This, too, is apparent from chapter 7 where it says, "the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them" (Revelation 7:17). And in Matthew:

...when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory (i.e., ready to judge).... (Matthew 19:28)

When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the... angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. (Matthew 25:31)