383. "For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them." (7:17) This symbolically means that the Lord alone will teach them.

The Lamb in the midst of the throne symbolizes the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity in the inmost of heaven and thus in everything connected with it (no. 44). The throne is heaven (no. 14), and the Lamb is the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity (nos. 269, 291). And He who is in the inmost of heaven and thus in everything connected with it is the only one who shepherds all people, that is, who teaches them.

If a question is raised as to how He alone can shepherd all, be it known that it is because He is God, and because He is present in the whole of heaven like the soul in its body; for heaven, arising from Him, is like a single person.

To shepherd means to teach because in the Word the church is called a flock, and the people in the church are called sheep and lambs. Therefore to shepherd means, symbolically, to teach, and the shepherd one who teaches, and this in many places, as for example:

On that day your flocks will graze in a broad meadow. (Isaiah 33:23)

He will feed His flock like a shepherd. (Isaiah 40:11)

They shall graze along the roads, and have their pasture on all the hillsides. (Isaiah 49:9)

(Israel) shall graze on Carmel and Bashan. (Jeremiah 50:19)

...I will seek out My sheep... I will feed them in good pasture, and... in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. (Ezekiel 34:12-14)

You, Bethlehem Ephrathah, it is a small thing that you are among the thousands of Judah. Out of you shall come forth to Me One who will be Ruler in Israel... He shall stand and graze in the strength of Jehovah... (Micah 5:2, 4)

Feed Your people... Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead... (Micah 7:14)

The remnant of Israel... shall graze and lie down... (Zephaniah 3:13)

Jehovah is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in pastures of tender grass. (Psalms 23:1-2)

(The Lord) chose David... to shepherd Jacob... and Israel... and he shepherded them... (Psalms 78:70-72)

Jesus said to Peter, "Feed My lambs." And a second and third time He said, "Feed my sheep." (John 21:15-17)

To command is to give an order that something must be done, and is directed to an individual, or a group. It is an imperative, not a suggestion. Commanding can be done in two ways, or from two differing motives. It often comes in an organization, where it is used to impose an order that is necessary to do the organization's work, such as a business, or government or an army, and can be legitimate, or is used in a family by parents to maintain an orderly home. But it can also be used by a person who loves power and having gotten it in some way, loves to impose his or her will on others for selfish gratification. So one motive is love of a use, or of good, and the other is for the love of self, or possessions. The Lord, from His infinite love, has given mankind commandments because He is order itself, and knows that our happiness to eternity depends on our acceptance of His order of creation, which ultimately is the only order that exists.