303. Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? That this signifies whether any one there is of such a quality as to know and perceive the states of the life of all, is evident from the signification of, Who is worthy? as denoting, who has merit and justice, and who has omniscience, thus whether there are any of such a quality. That by worthy, when said of the Lord, merit and justice are signified; these belong to Him alone, as may be seen above (n. 293). And that omniscience is signified is evident from what follows, where it is said, that the Lamb took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne, and opened it; for by the right hand is signified omniscience and omnipotence, as may be seen above (n. 297); from the signification of the book, as denoting the state of the life of all in general and in particular (concerning which see just above, n. 299); and from the signification of opening it and loosing the seals thereof, as denoting to know and perceive. For when a book signifies the states of the life of all, then to open and to loose the seals signifies to know and perceive the same; for to know and perceive are said of the state of the life, but to open and loose the seals are said of a book. Thus the words, in the internal sense, are accommodated to the things signified by the words in the sense of the letter, for they correspond; therefore, to open signifies to know, and to loose the seals signifies to perceive what is entirely hidden from others (as above, n. 300).

293. (Verse 11) Saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power. That this signifies merit and justice pertaining to the Divine Human of the Lord, and that from it is all Divine truth, Divine good and salvation, is evident from the signification of thou art worthy, O Lord, as being the merit and justice pertaining to the Lord's Divine Human, concerning which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of glory and honour, when said of the Lord, as being Divine truth and Divine good which are from Him (concerning which see above, n. 288); and from the signification of power as being salvation. The reason why power here signifies salvation is that all Divine power respects salvation as an end; for a man is reformed, and afterwards introduced into heaven, and is there withheld from evil and falsity and held in good and truth, from the Divine power; and this no one can do but the Lord alone. Those who claim that power to themselves, are entirely ignorant of what salvation means, for they do not know what reformation is, nor what constitutes heaven with man; and to claim to themselves the Lord's power, is to claim power over the Lord Himself, which power is called the power of darkness (Luke 22:53).

[2] That power, when said of the Lord, has chiefly respect to salvation, is evident from the following passages, as in John:

Jesus said, "Father thou hast given" to the Son "power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him" (17:2).

Again:

"As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name" (1:12).

Again:

"I am the vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing" (15:5).

In Mark:

"They were astonished at his doctrine; for he taught them as one having authority" (1:22).

And in Luke:

"With authority and power he commandeth the unclean Spirits, and they come out" (4:36).

The same may be seen in many other passages.

The Lord also has power over all things, because He is God alone; but the salvation of the human race is the principal object of power, because for the sake of that the heavens and all worlds were created, and salvation is the reception of the Divine proceeding.

[3] The reason why by thou art worthy, O Lord, is signified the merit and justice which pertain to the Lord's Divine Human is that the words signify that He merited; and the merit of the Lord consists in the circumstance that when He was in the world He subjugated the hells and reduced to order all things in the heavens, and that He glorified His Human, and this from His own power, and thus saved all the human race who believe in Him, that is, who love to do His precepts (see John 1:12, 13). This merit is also called justice in the Word, and the Lord as to His Divine Human is thence called Jehovah our Justice (Jeremiah 23:5, 6; 33:15, 16). (Concerning this merit, or this justice of the Lord, more may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 293, 294; and in the references to Arcana Coelestia there, n. 300-306).