270. (Verse 4) And round about the throne were four-and-twenty thrones, and upon the thrones I saw four-and-twenty elders sitting. That this signifies all truths from good in the higher heavens, arranged by the Lord before judgment is evident from the signification of the throne on which one sat, as being the Lord as to the Last Judgment (concerning which see above, n. 267; and that throne signifies judgment, see n. 253); and from the signification of four-and-twenty thrones round about it, and four-and-twenty elders upon them, as being all the truths of heaven in the aggregate, arranged before judgment. Twenty-four signify all, and thrones signify judgment, and the elders those who are in truths from good, and, in the abstract, truths from good. The reason why the higher heavens are here meant is that all those who are there are in truths from the good of love, and that in what presently follows the lower heavens are treated of. The reason why twenty-four signify all is that that number signifies the same as the number twelve, and twelve signifies all, and is said of truths (see Arcana Coelestia 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272, 3858, 3913). That the number twenty-four signifies the same as the number twelve is because it is its double, and the double signifies the same as the number from which it arises by multiplication (as may be seen, n. 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973).

[2] The same is signified by thrones upon which the twelve apostles were to sit, of which it is said in Matthew:

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

where by the twelve apostles are signified all truths in the aggregate. Similarly in the following words in the Apocalypse:

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

Judgment being given to those that sat upon the thrones signifies that judgment belongs to the Lord alone; for by elders in the Word are signified all those who are in truths from good, and abstractly, truth from good from which is judgment.

He who believes that by elders and apostles in the Word are meant elders and apostles is much deceived; for, in the spiritual sense of the Word, persons are not perceived, but things abstractly from persons; for what is spiritual has nothing in common with persons. The case is otherwise in the sense of the letter of the Word, which is natural; in this sense persons are not only mentioned, but also the idea of a person is implied in many expressions, in order that the Word in its ultimates may be natural, and thus form a basis for the spiritual sense. The same is the case with the signification of elders as with that of infants, children, young men, old men, virgins, women, and many things of the same kind. All are thought of, in the natural sense, as persons; but, in the spiritual sense, by infants innocence is meant; by children, charity; by young men, intelligence; by old men, wisdom; by virgins are meant the affections of truth and good, and by women, the goods of the church; and so in other cases. The same may be said of the natural and spiritual sense of the term neighbour. In the natural sense, by neighbour is meant every man; but in the spiritual sense are meant good itself, truth, sincerity and justice, which are in the person. Every one who thinks in himself may know that this is the neighbour in the spiritual sense; for who loves any one from anything else but the good that is in him? for good and truth constitute the man, and cause him to be loved, and not the countenance and the body. But to return to the signification of elders. That elders signify truths from good is evident from those passages in the Word where they are mentioned.

[3] As in Isaiah:

"Then the moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed, and Jehovah Zebaoth shall reign in the mount of Zion and in Jerusalem; and before his elders shall be glory" (24:23).

By the moon and the sun are meant their idolatrous worship, the falsity of their faith, and the evil of their love; by mount Zion and by Jerusalem are meant heaven and the church; by the elders are meant truth from good; therefore it is also said, that before them shall be glory; for by glory is signified the Divine truth in heaven, as may be seen above (n. 33).

[4] In Lamentations:

"My virgins and my young men are gone into captivity. I have cried to my lovers, they have deceived me; and mine elders have expired in the city" (1:18, 19).

The subject here treated of is the vastation of the church, over which there is lamentation, which vastation takes place when there is no longer any spiritual affection of truth, and consequently no intelligence in such things as pertain to the church, and hence when there is no truth. By the virgins which are gone into captivity is meant the spiritual affection of truth; by the young men intelligence; captivity denotes removal from those principles; by the elders who expired are meant the truths of the church.

[5] In Ezekiel:

"Slay to destruction the old man and the young man, and the virgin, and the infant and the women; begin from my sanctuary. Therefore they began from the men, the elders who were before the house" (9:6).

The subject here treated of is also the vastation of the church; and by an old man and a young man are meant wisdom and intelligence; by virgin is meant the affection of truth and good; by infant innocence; by women goods of the church. To slay to destruction signifies devastation; the sanctuary at which they should begin signifies the church as to the good of love and the truth of faith, which are the men, the elders who were before the house.

[6] In Lamentations:

"The faces of the old men were not honoured. The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their singing" (5:12, 14).

The old men signify the wisdom which is of good; the elders, the truths which are from good; the young men, intelligence. That the God of Israel was seen having "under His feet as it were the work of sapphire," by Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders, and not by the rest (Exodus 24:9-12), signified that the Lord is seen only by those who are in good, and in truth from good (as may be seen in the explanation of the passage in Arcana Coelestia 9403-9411). These are the things which the seventy elders of Israel represented, and which are signified by the four-and-twenty elders sitting upon as many thrones. The same things also are signified by the twelve apostles, concerning whom it is said that they should sit upon thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (That the twelve apostles signify all truths from good, may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 2129, 3354, 3488, 3858, 6397; that the same are signified by the twelve tribes of Israel, n. 3858, 3926, 4060, 6335, and also by the elders of Israel, n. 6524, 6525, 6890, 7912, 8578, 8585, 9376, 9404.)

2015. That 'kings will come out of you' means that all truth comes from Him is clear from the meaning of 'a king' as truth in both the historical and the prophetical sections of the Word, as stated in 1672 but not yet shown to be so. From the meaning of 'nations' as goods, and from the meaning of 'kings' as truths, the nature of the internal sense of the Word becomes clear, and also how remote it is from the sense of the letter. No one reading the Word, especially the historical section, believes anything other than that 'nations' referred to there means nations, or that 'kings' there means kings, and therefore that the nations mentioned there, or the kings, are the real subject of the very Word itself. But when the idea of nations and also of kings reaches angels it perishes altogether, and good and truth take their place instead. This is bound to seem strange and indeed a paradox, but it is nevertheless the truth. The matter may also become clear to anyone from the fact that if nations were meant in the Word by 'nations' and kings by 'kings', the Word of the Lord would hardly embody anything more than some historical or other piece of writing and so would be something of a worldly nature, when in fact everything in the Word is Divine and so is celestial and spiritual.

[2] Take merely the statement in the present verse about Abraham's being made fruitful, nations being made of him, and kings coming out of him. What else is this but something purely worldly and nothing at all heavenly? Indeed these assertions entail no more than the glory of this world, a glory which is absolutely nothing in heaven. But if this is the Word of the Lord then its glory must be that of heaven, not that of the world. This also is why the sense of the letter is completely erased and disappears when it passes into heaven, and is purified in such a way that nothing worldly at all is intermingled. For 'Abraham' is not used to mean Abraham but the Lord; nor is 'being fruitful' used to mean his descendants who would increase more and more but the endless growth of good belonging to the Lord's Human Essence. 'Nations' do not mean nations but goods, and 'kings' do not mean kings but truths. Nevertheless the narrative in the sense of the letter remains historically true, for Abraham was indeed spoken to in this way; and he was indeed made fruitful in this way, with nations as well as kings descending from him.

[3] That 'kings' means truths becomes clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

The sons of the foreigner will build up your walls, and their kings will minister to you. You will suck the milk of nations, and the breast of kings will you suck. Isaiah 60:10, 16.

What 'sucking the milk of nations and the breast of kings' means is not at all evident from the letter but from the internal sense, in which being endowed with goods and instructed in truths is meant. In Jeremiah,

There will enter through the gates of this city kings and princes seated on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses. Jeremiah 17:25; 22:4.

'Riding in chariots and on horses' is a prophecy meaning the abundance of things of the understanding, as becomes clear from very many places in the Prophets. Thus the prophecy that 'kings will enter through the gates of the city' means in the internal sense that they were to be endowed with truths of faith. This sense of the Word is the heavenly sense into which the worldly sense of the letter passes.

[4] In the same prophet,

Jehovah has spurned in His fierce indignation king and priest. The gates of Zion have sunk into the ground, He has destroyed and broken in pieces her bars. King and princes are among the nations; the law is no more. Lamentations 2:6, 9.

Here 'king' stands for the truth of faith, 'priest' for the good of charity, 'Zion' for the Church, which is destroyed and its bars broken in pieces. Consequently 'king and princes among the nations', that is, truth and what belongs to truth, will be so completely banished that 'the law is no more', that is, nothing of the doctrine of faith will exist any more. In Isaiah,

Before the boy knows to refuse evil and to choose good, the ground will be abandoned which you loathe in the presence of its two kings. Isaiah 7:16.

This refers to the Lord's Coming. 'The land that will be abandoned' stands for faith which at that time would not exist. 'The kings' are the truths of faith which would be loathed.

[5] In the same prophet,

I will lift up My hand to the nations and raise My ensign to the peoples; and they will bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulder. Kings will be your foster fathers and their queens your wet-nurses. Isaiah 49:22-23.

'Nations' and 'daughters' stand for goods, 'peoples' and 'sons' for truths, as shown in Volume One. That 'nations' stands for goods, 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849, as does 'daughters', 489-491, while 'peoples' stands for truths, 1259, 1260, as does 'sons', 489, 491, 533, 1147. 'Kings' therefore stands for truths, in general by which they will be nourished, and 'queens' for goods by which they will be suckled. Whether you speak of goods and truths or of those who are governed by goods and truths it amounts to the same.

[6] In the same prophet,

He will spatter many nations, kings will shut their mouths because of him, ¹ for that which has [not] been told them they have seen, and that which they have not heard they have understood. Isaiah 52:15.

This refers to the Lord's Coming. 'Nations' stands for those who are stirred by an affection for goods, 'kings' those who are stirred by an affection for truths. In David,

Now, O kings, be intelligent; be instructed, O judges of the earth. Serve Jehovah with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son lest He perhaps be angry and you perish in the way. Psalms 2:10-12.

'Kings' stands for people who are governed by truths, and who by virtue of truths are also in many places called 'king's sons'. 'The Son' here stands for the Lord, and he is called the Son here because he is Truth itself, and the source of all truth.

[7] In John,

They will sing a new song, You are worthy to take the Book and to open its seals. You have made us kings and priests to our God so that we shall reign on the earth. Revelation 5:9-10.

Here people who are governed by truths are called 'kings'. The Lord also calls them 'the sons of the kingdom' in Matthew,

He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the seed are the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one. Matthew 13:37-38.

In John,

The sixth angel poured out his bowl over the great river Euphrates and its water was dried up to prepare the way of the kings who were from the east. Revelation 16:12.

'Euphrates' clearly does not mean the Euphrates, nor does 'kings from the east' mean kings from that quarter. What 'Euphrates' does mean may be seen in 120, 1585, 1866, from which it is evident that 'the way of the kings who were from the cast' means truths of faith that derive from goods of love.

[8] In the same book,

The nations that are saved will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory and honour into it. Revelation 21:24.

Here 'nations' stands for people who are governed by goods, 'kings of the earth' for those who are governed by truths, which is also evident from the fact that the details here are prophetical, not historical. In the same book,

With the great harlot seated on many waters the kings of the earth have committed whoredom and have become drunk with the wine of her whoredom. Revelation 17:2.

And elsewhere in the same book,

Babylon has given all nations drink from the wine of the fury of her whoredom; and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her. Revelation 18:1, 3, 9.

Here similarly it is clear that 'the kings of the earth' does not mean kings, for the subject is the falsification and adulteration of the doctrine of faith, that is, of truth, which are 'whoredom'. 'Kings of the earth' stands for truths that have been falsified and adulterated.

[9] In the same book,

The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom but are receiving authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. These will be of one mind, and they will hand over power and authority to the beast. Revelation 17:12-13.

That 'kings' here does not mean kings may also be evident to anyone. If kings were meant, then 'ten kings receiving authority as kings for one hour' would be quite unintelligible, as similarly with the following words in the same book,

I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered to make war with Him who was sitting on the horse, and with His army. Revelation 19:19

In verse 13 of the same chapter it is stated explicitly that the One who was sitting on the horse was The Word of God, against which the kings of the earth are said to have been gathered. 'The beast' stands for goods of love that have been profaned, 'kings' for truths of faith that have been adulterated; these are called 'kings of the earth' because they exist within the Church - 'earth' meaning the Church, see 662, 1066, 1067, 1262. 'The white horse' stands for the understanding of truth, 'He who was sitting on the horse' for the Word. This matter is plainer still in Daniel 11, describing the war between the king of the south and the king of the north, by which is meant the conflict of truths with falsities. Here such conflicts are described as a war that took place in history.

[10] Since 'a king' means truth, what is meant in the internal sense when the Lord is called King, and also a Priest, is made clear; and what essential quality of the Lord was represented by kings, and what by priests, is also made clear. 'Kings' represented His Divine Truth, and 'priests' His Divine Good. All the laws of order by which the Lord governs the universe as King are truths, while all the laws by which He governs the universe as Priest and by which He rules even over truths themselves are goods. For government from truths alone condemns everyone to hell, but government from goods lifts them out of that place and raises them up into heaven; see 1728. Because, in the Lord's case, these two - truths and goods - are joined together, they were also represented in ancient times by kingship and priesthood combined, as with Melchizedek who was at one and the same time king of Salem and priest to God Most High, Genesis 14:18. And at a later time among the Jews where the representative Church was established in a form of its own He was represented by judges and priests, and after that by kings.

[11] But because 'kings' represented truths which ought not to be paramount for the reason, already stated, that they condemn, the very idea was so objectionable that the Jews were reproached for it. The nature of truth regarded in itself has been described in 1 Samuel 8:11-18, as the rights of a king; and previous to that, in Moses, in Deuteronomy 17:14-18, they had been commanded through Moses to choose genuine truth deriving from good, not spurious truth, and not to pollute it with reasonings and factual knowledge. These are the considerations which the directive concerning a king given in the place in Moses referred to above embodies within itself. No one can possibly see this from the sense of the letter, but it is nevertheless evident from the details within the internal sense. This shows why 'a king' and 'kingship' represented and meant nothing other than truth.

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