470. Verses 13-17. And one of the elders answered, saying to me, These clothed with the white robes, who are they, and whence came they? And I said unto him, Lord, thou knowest. And he said unto me, These are they who come out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell over them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun fall on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall guide them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.
13. "And one of the elders answered, saying to me," signifies influx out of heaven from the Lord, and perception therefrom n. 471; "These clothed with the white robes, who are they [and whence came they]?" signifies respecting those who are now in truths, and in the protection of the Lord, of what quality they are and of what they have been (n. 472).
14. "And I said unto him, Lord, thou knowest," signifies that the Lord alone knows this (n. 473). "And he said unto me, These are they who come out of the great tribulation," signifies information that these are they that have been in temptations n. 474; "and have washed their robes," signifies the removal of falsities by means of temptations (n. 475); "and have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb," signifies the implantation of Divine truth from the Lord. n. 476).
15. "Therefore are they before the throne of God," signifies that for this reason they are conjoined to the Lord. n. 477); "and they serve Him day and night in His temple," signifies that they are constantly held in truths in heaven n. 478; "and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell over them," signifies the influx of Divine good into truths with them (n. 479).
16. "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore," signifies that good and truth shall not fail them, nor consequent felicity (n. 480); "neither shall the sun fall on them, nor any heat," signifies that evil and falsity from lusts shall not come to them n. 481.
17. "For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them," signifies that the Lord will instruct them out of heaven n. 482; "and shall guide them unto living fountains of waters," signifies in Divine truths (n. 483); "and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes," signifies a state of blessedness from the affection of truth, after falsities have been removed by temptations n. 484.
