253. (Verse 21) He that overcometh, to him will I grant to sit with me in my throne. That this signifies that he who endures to the end of life will be conjoined with heaven where the Lord is, is evident from the signification of overcoming as being to remain in the spiritual affection of truth even to the end of life (concerning which see above, n. 128), but in this case in a state of faith from charity, because that is the subject treated of. The reason why to overcome has such a signification is that a man, so long as he lives in the world, fights against the evils and falsities therefrom which pertain to him; and he who so fights, and remains in the faith of charity, even to the end of life, overcomes; and he who overcomes in the world overcomes to eternity, because a man is such after death as was his life in the world. And from the signification of to sit with me in My throne, as being to be conjoined with heaven where the Lord is; for by throne is signified heaven, and by sitting with the Lord is signified to be together with Him, thus to be conjoined to Him.

[2] In the Word mention is frequently made of a throne, and by it, when said of the Lord, is signified in general heaven, specifically the spiritual heaven, and in the abstract the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, because this constitutes heaven. Hence also a throne is predicated of judgment, since all judgment is effected from truths. That such is the signification of a throne in the Word is evident from the following passage. In Isaiah:

"Jehovah said, the heavens are my throne" (Isaiah 66:1).

In David:

"Jehovah hath prepared his throne in the heavens" (Psalms 103:19).

In Matthew:

"He that sweareth by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon" (Matthew 23:22).

That by throne is here signified heaven is evident; for it is said that heaven is Jehovah's throne, that He hath prepared His throne in the heavens, and that he who sweareth by heaven sweareth by the throne of God. Not that Jehovah, or the Lord, there sits upon a throne, but that throne is said of His Divine in the heavens; and also it sometimes appears as a throne to those to whom it is granted to look into heaven. That the Lord was thus seen is evident in Isaiah:

"I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and his skirts filled the temple" (Isaiah 6:1).

Jehovah's skirts filling the temple signifies that the Divine truth proceeding from Him filled the ultimate of heaven and the church; for by the skirts of the Lord is signified in general the proceeding Divine, and specifically the Divine truth which is in the extremes of heaven and in the church (as may be seen above, n. 220).

[3] In Ezekiel:

Above the expanse which was over the head of the cherubs, "as it were the appearance of a sapphire stone, the likeness of a throne, and upon the likeness of the throne, a likeness as it were the appearance of a man upon it above" (Ezekiel 1:26; 10:1).

The reason why the throne appeared like a sapphire stone was, that a sapphire signified the Divine truth of the Lord proceeding from His Divine good, and hence spiritual truth pellucid from celestial good (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 9407, 9873). Thus the throne in this case signifies the whole heaven; for heaven is heaven from the Divine truth. (What cherubs signify, may be seen, n. 9277, end, 9506, 9673.)

[4] In the Apocalypse:

"Behold, a throne set in heaven, and one sat on the throne; there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices; before the throne, there was a sea of glass like unto crystal; round about the throne, were four animals full of eyes before and behind" (Revelation 4:2-6, 9, 10).

That heaven is here described as to Divine truth will be seen in the explanation of those words in the following chapter. The same is also signified in this passage:

"A pure river, clear as crystal, proceeded out of the throne of God and of the Lamb" (Revelation 22:1).

The reason why a pure river clear as crystal was seen proceeding out of the throne was that a river signifies Divine truth; so also does crystal.

[5] The same is signified in the Word by the throne of David, because by David in the prophetical parts of the Word is not meant David, but the Lord as to His royalty which is the Divine truth in the spiritual heaven, which is the second heaven.

Thus in Luke:

The angel said to Mary, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David" (Luke 1:32).

And in Isaiah:

"Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it in judgment and in justice, henceforth and even to eternity" (Isaiah 9:6, 7).

That David is not here meant, nor his throne upon which the Lord should sit, is plain, for the Lord's kingdom was not on earth but in heaven; therefore by the throne of David is meant heaven as to the Divine truth (as may be seen above, n. 205). The like is meant in the Psalms of David, where he speaks of his throne and of his kingdom; as in the whole of Psalm 89, where also it is said:

"I have sworn unto David my servant, Thy seed will I establish for ever; and I will build up thy throne to generation and generation. Judgment and justice are the support of thy throne; I will set his throne as the days of the heavens" (verses3, 4, 14, 29).

That the Lord is there meant by David, may be seen above (n. 205.) The like is also signified by the throne of glory, where it is said of the Lord; for glory signifies Divine truth; as in Matthew:

"When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory" (Matthew 25:31).

(That glory signifies the Divine truth in heaven, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 4809, 5922, 8267, 8427, 9429, and above, n. 33.)

Hence it is clear what is signified by the throne of glory in Jeremiah:

"Do not disgrace the throne of thy glory" (Jeremiah 14:21, and Jeremiah 17:12); by which is signified that Divine truth should not be disgraced. The same is meant by Jerusalem being called the throne of Jehovah; for by Jerusalem is signified the church as to doctrine, and doctrine is Divine truth. Hence it is also clear how these words in Jeremiah are to be understood:

"At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah, and all the nations shall be gathered together unto it" (Jeremiah 3:17).

In David:

"Jerusalem is builded; whither the tribes go up. And there are set the thrones for judgment, the thrones of the house of David" (Psalms 122:3-5).

In Ezekiel:

"The glory of Jehovah came into the house by the way of the gate whose face was toward the east; he said unto me, Son of man, behold the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel for ever" (Ezekiel 43:4, 7).

(That Jerusalem signifies the church as to doctrine, thus the Divine truth in the heavens and on earth, for this makes the church, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 3654, 9166, and above, n. 223.) Because all judgment is effected from truths, and judgment in the heavens from Divine truth, therefore a throne is also mentioned where the Lord is treated of as to judgment, as above in Matthew (25:31), and in David (Psalms 122:3-5); and moreover in David:

"O Jehovah, thou hast executed my judgment; thou sattest on the throne, a judge of justice; thou hast rebuked the nations, thou hast destroyed the wicked: Jehovah shall sit for ever; he will prepare his throne for judgment" (Psalms 9:4, 5, 7).

[6] It is also said in the Word throughout, that others shall sit upon thrones as well as the Lord; but still by such thrones are not meant thrones, but Divine truths. Thus in the first book of Samuel:

"He raiseth up the depressed out of the dust, and lifteth up the needy out of the dunghill, to set them among princes, and he will make them inherit the throne of glory" (1 Samuel 2:8).

In the Apocalypse:

The four-and-twenty elders who were before the throne of God, upon their thrones (Revelation 11:16).

In another place:

"I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them" (Revelation 20:4).

And in Matthew:

"Ye which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit upon the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matthew 19:28, and Luke 22:30).

By thrones are there meant Divine truths, according to, and from which all are to be judged. By twelve and by twenty-four are signified all, and they are said of truths; by elders and disciples are also signified Divine truths, as also by the tribes. When these things are known it will be evident what is meant by thrones in the passages here adduced; also by that which is now treated of: "He that overcometh, to him will I give to sit with me in my throne." (That twelve signifies all, and is predicated of truths may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272, 3858, 3913; that the same is signified by twenty-four, because that number is double the number twelve, and arises thence by multiplication, n. 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973. That by the elders of Israel are signified all those in the church who are in truths from good, n. 6524, 6525, 6890, 7912, 8578, 8585, 9376, 9404: similarly by the twelve disciples of the n. 2129, 3354, 3488, 3858, 6397; also by the twelve tribes, n. 3858, 3926, 4060, 6335, 7836, 7891).

[7] From these considerations it is evident what was represented by the throne built by Solomon, concerning which it is thus written in the first book of the Kings:

"Solomon made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. The throne had six steps, and the head of the throne was round; and behind it were hands on the one side and on the other near the place of the seat, and two lions standing near the hands; and there were twelve lions standing upon the six steps, on the one side and on the other: there was not the like made in any kingdom" (1 Kings 10:18-20).

Here by ivory is signified the Divine truth in ultimates: by the head being round, the correspondent good; by the gold with which it was overlaid is signified Divine good from which is Divine truth. By the six steps are signified all things from first to last; by the hands is signified all power; by the lions are signified the truths of the church in their power: by twelve, all. Because throne, where it is said of the Lord, signifies heaven as to all Divine truth, so in an opposite sense it signifies hell as to all falsity. In this opposite sense, it is mentioned above (Revelation 2:13; Isaiah 14:9, 13; 47:1; Hagg. 2:22; Dan. 7:9; Luke 1:52; and elsewhere).

8941. 'You shall not build it with hewn ones' means that it must not be a product of self-intelligence. This is clear from the meaning of 'hewn stones' as the kinds of things which are products of self-intelligence, for 'stones' are truths, 8940, and chiselling or shaping them means producing or fashioning truths, or rather notions made to look like truths, out of the self, that is, out of self-intelligence. For the life in anything produced or fashioned by the self or self-intelligence is derived from the person; and such life is not life at all since the human self or proprium is nothing but evil, 210, 215, 694, 874-876, 987, 1047, 5660, 5786, 8480, whereas what is not derived from the self but from God does have life within it, since God is the source of all life. The subject here is worship of the Lord that springs from truth, for that kind of worship is meant by 'an altar of stones', 8940. .

[2] Truths that inspire worship of the Lord should be derived from nowhere other than the Word; for in every single part the Word has life from God. When truths are derived from the self they have as their end in view rank and prominence over everyone in the world, and also earthly possessions and wealth above everyone. Consequently they hold within them self-love and love of the world, thus all evils in their entirety, 7488, 8318. But truths derived from the Word have eternal life as their end in view; they hold within them love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, thus all forms of good in their entirety. When truths are produced out of the self or self-intelligence they are the masters over the truths which come from God; for they employ the latter to add strength to themselves. But it ought to be the other way round, that is to say, the truths from God ought to be the masters, and those that are products of self-intelligence to be the servants. Products of the self or self-intelligence are called truths, but they are not really truths; they look like truths solely to outward appearances. For the literal sense of the Word is employed, and reasonings are brought in, to make them look like truths; but inwardly they are falsities. What these things are exactly, and what they are like, see above in 8932.

[3] In the world there are two semblances of religion that exist as a result of self-intelligence. One is that in which self-love and love of the world is everything; in the Word this semblance of religion is called Babel. Inwardly it is profane on account of self-love and love of the world, while outwardly it is holy on account of the Word, which people have employed to add strength to their own ideas. The other semblance of religion is that in which the inferior light of the natural order is everything. Those with this kind of religion acknowledge nothing to be true which they do not apprehend. Some belonging to this seeming religion acknowledge the Word, yet they employ it to add strength to their own ideas; thus they treat it as their servant. Others however do not acknowledge the Word; instead they identify the Divine with the natural order. For the light in which they see, being the inferior light of the natural order, shines only within the natural order and cannot be made brighter by the superior light of heaven, because they cast aside the Word, the source of all enlightenment. Those belonging to both the latter and the former semblances of religion are in hell, because they are devoid of heavenly life, which they cannot receive because they have cast the Word aside. And those of them who have employed the Word to add strength to their own ideas have set no value at all on it in their hearts; yet because it has had power and authority among the common people they have used it to serve them in this way, in order that false notions fashioned by their own intelligence might thereby be validated. From all this one may see what is meant in the spiritual sense by the command that no altar of hewn stones was to be built.

[4] 'Hewn stone' means that which is a product of self-intelligence in the following places as well: In Isaiah,

In order that [all] the people may know, Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, on account of pride and arrogance of heart, saying, The bricks have fallen and we will build from hewn stone. Isaiah 9:9-10.

In Jeremiah,

Even if I cry and shout, He has shut out my prayers. He has fenced round my ways with hewn stone, He has overturned my paths. Lamentations 3:8-9.

In Amos,

Because you tread down the crushed, and seize from him the burden of grain, you will build houses of hewn stone, yet you will not dwell in them. Amos 5:11.

'Hewn stone' here stands for the kinds of things that self-intelligence produces in matters of faith.

[5] Since those things were meant by 'hewn stone', the altar first built in the land of Canaan by the children of Israel after they crossed the Jordan was built of unhewn stones; for crossing over Jordan represented introduction into the Lord's kingdom, which is accomplished by means of the truths of faith. That altar is spoken of as follows in Joshua,

Joshua built an altar to Jehovah God of Israel on Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded the children of Israel, An altar of whole stones over which no one has wielded any iron tool. ¹ Joshua 8:30-31; Deuteronomy 27:1-8.

[6] The temple in Jerusalem likewise was built of whole, not hewn, stones. This is referred to in the first Book of Kings as follows,

As regards the house itself, when it was being built it was built of whole stone, as it had been brought [there]; for not a hammer or axe, [nor] any tool of iron, was heard in the house while it was being built. 1 Kings 6:7.

For by 'the temple of the Lord' was represented the Lord in respect of Divine Truth. The Lord Himself teaches that He was represented by the temple, in John 2:19, 21-22; and the reason why He was represented in respect of Divine Truth was that Divine Truth was taught there. This also was why it was built of stones; for 'stones' meant Divine Truth, 8940. And it also explains why the Lord was called 'the Stone of Israel', 6426.

[7] From all this one may now see what was meant by the stone of the altar, and also what was meant by the stone of the temple, as well as what was meant by the requirement that they were to be whole stones, and not hewn, namely this: Religion should be composed of truths derived from the Lord, thus from the Word, and not from self-intelligence. Products of self-intelligence are also described in the following way in Isaiah,

The craftsman casts a graven image, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts silver chains for it. He seeks a skilled ² craftsman to make ready a graven image. Isaiah 40:19-20.

'A graven image' stands for some religious fabrication that is a product of the proprium or self, put forward to be venerated as what is Divine, 8869. 'The craftsman' stands for those who from self produce and fashion things. Their attempt to make these things look like truths is described by '[a goldsmith! overlays it with gold, and casts chains made of silver' and 'he seeks a skilled craftsman'.

[8] In the same prophet,

Makers of the graven image, all are vanity. All his companions will be ashamed; and the workmen themselves ... He fashions the iron with tongs, and works it with the coals, and forms it with sharp hammers; so he makes it with his strong arm. ³ He fashions pieces of wood, stretches out a cord, and marks it off with a ruler. He makes it into its angles, and marks it out with a ring, so that he may make it in the form of a man (vir), according to the beauty of a human being, to dwell in the house. Isaiah 44:9, 11-13.

This too describes a religious fabrication that is a product of self-intelligence. Something similar occurs in Jeremiah,

The customs ⁴ of the nations are vanity. Since indeed one cuts out wood from the forest, the work of the hands of the workman using an axe, he decorates it with silver and gold; and they make it firm ⁵ with pegs and hammers. Jeremiah 10:3-4.

And also in Hosea,

Nonetheless they now sin more and more, and make for themselves a molten image from silver, idols by their own intelligence, completely the work of craftsmen. Hosea 13:2

A religious fabrication, produced out of self-intelligence and not derived from the Word, is meant in the internal sense by 'idols' and 'strange gods', by 'molten images' and 'graven images'. Products of the self are nothing else; for in themselves they are dead, even though venerated as living.

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