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).

3862. In 3858 above it was shown that 'the twelve tribes' meant all things forming part of truth and good, or of faith and love. In this present paragraph, now that the sons of Jacob individually after whom the tribes were named are the subject, a second arcanum is to be brought to light, namely the meaning which each son carries. In heaven all celestial and spiritual warmth, or love and charity, is in its external form felt as the glow from the sun, and in heaven all celestial and spiritual light, or faith, is in its external form seen as the light from the sun. Also that celestial and spiritual warmth holds wisdom within itself, and the light from that source holds intelligence, and they do so because they flow from the Lord, who is the Sun of heaven, see 1053, 1521-1533, 1619-1632, 2441, 2495, 2776, 3138, 3167, 3190, 3195, 3222, 3223, 3338, 3339, 3341, 3413, 3485, 3636, 3643.

These paragraphs show that all good is a product of the warmth which flows from the Lord as the Sun, and that all truth is a product of the light from that source. They also show that all affections which go with love or good are variations of that celestial and spiritual warmth flowing from the Lord, and that this is the origin of changes of state. They show too that all thoughts which go with truth or faith are variations of that celestial and spiritual light which flows from the Lord, and that this is the origin of intelligence. All angels in heaven are bathed in that warmth and light. Their affections and thoughts have no other source, nor are they anything else. This is evident from the different forms of communication employed by the angels, in that because those forms of communication have their origin in heavenly warmth and light, they consist of variations and modifications of heavenly light containing heavenly warmth, and are therefore indescribable and so varying and complete as to be quite beyond one's comprehension, 3342, 3344, 3345.

[2] So that these things might be manifested in a representative way in the world names were given to each of the sons of Jacob which meant the universal divisions of good and truth, or of love and faith, and so the universal manifestations of variation in celestial and spiritual warmth and of variation in light from that source. What determines the intensity of the flame and the brightness from it is the actual order of those universal manifestations. When love comes first in such order, everything which follows within genuine order from that love is flaming, but when faith comes first everything which follows within genuine order is full of light, yet with all the differences that the things which follow entail. If however they do not follow according to genuine order everything is obscure, and in ever differing ways. But this order and resulting differences will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed later on. This then is how the Lord gave answers by means of the Urim and Thummim and how according to the state of the actual thing in question they received answers by means of lights and their flashes from the precious and transparent stones on which the names of the twelve tribes had been inscribed. For as has been stated, inscribed on the names were the universal divisions of love and faith which exist in the Lord's kingdom and so the universal manifestations of flame and light by which those divisions of love and faith are represented in heaven.

[3] First therefore let evidence from the Word be presented to confirm that the order of the names in which the tribes are mentioned varies in the Word, and that each variation of their order is determined by the particular state of the subject under discussion there. And from such evidence one may see that the answers from the Lord given by means of the Urim and Thummim were radiations of light determined by the particular states of the thing - such variations being due to the order of all that was involved. For the entire light of heaven is made to vary by the different states which that thing passes through, and those states are made to vary by the order in which good and truth come. But which aspect of truth or good is meant by each name will be evident from the explanation that is being given. That is to say, Reuben means faith from the Lord; Simeon faith possessed by the will which is received from the Lord; Levi spiritual love, which is charity; Judah the Divinity of love, and the Lord's heavenly kingdom. What the other eight mean will be stated in the next chapter. Described here is the order in which they were born, which was as follows: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin - see verses 32-35 of the present chapter, and then Genesis 30:6, 8, 11, 13, 18, 20, 24; 35:18. This order is determined by the state of the subject that is being dealt with at this point, which is that of the regeneration of man, for this starts with the truth of faith, meant by 'Reuben', progresses from this towards the willing of truth, meant by 'Simeon', and from this to charity, meant by 'Levi', and so on to the Lord, who is meant in the highest sense by 'Judah'. The progression of spiritual conception and birth, or regeneration, from what is external to what is internal has been stated immediately above in 3860; that is, the progression is from the truth of faith to the good of love.

[4] Before Jacob came to Isaac his father in Mamre, or Kiriath Arba, his sons are mentioned in Genesis 35:23-26 in the following order: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher. In this case those by Leah and Rachel come first, and those by the servant-girls last, this being determined by the state of the subject dealt with at that point. They are listed in yet another order when they travelled and came into Egypt, in Genesis 46:9-19; in another when before his death they were blessed by Jacob, who by then was Israel, in Genesis 49:3-27; and in another again when blessed by Moses, in Deuteronomy 33:6-24. And when they encamped around the Tent of Meeting they did so in the following order: To the east Judah, Issachar, Zebulun; to the south Reuben, Simeon, Gad; to the west Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin; to the north Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Numbers 2:1-end. In what order they stood on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, or on Mount Ebal to curse them, see Deuteronomy 27:12-13. When the princes chosen from each tribe were sent to spy out the land they are listed in Numbers 13:4-16 in the following order: Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Issachar, Ephraim, Benjamin, Zebulun, Joseph or Manasseh, Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Gad. But there is a different order to the princes who were to divide the land for inheritance, Numbers 34:19-29. In what order the lot fell when it was cast, at the time that the land was divided for inheritance, see Chapters 13 - 19 of Joshua.

[5] When the boundaries of the new or holy land which the tribes were to inherit are referred to in Ezekiel the tribes are mentioned in the following order: Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben, Judah, Benjamin, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad. All are described from the corner pointing east to the corner pointing to the sea or west, except Gad which was situated at the south corner pointing towards the south, Ezekiel 48:1-7, 23-26. And where the gates of the new or holy city are referred to they are mentioned in the following order: Facing north the three gates of Reuben, Judah, and Levi; facing east the three gates of Joseph, Benjamin, and Dan; facing south the three gates of Simeon, Issachar, and Zebulun; facing west the three gates of Gad, Asher, and Naphtali, Ezekiel 48:31-34. For the order of those sealed, twelve thousand from each tribe, see Revelation 7:5-8. In all these places the listing of the tribes depends completely on the state of the subject dealt with, to which the order corresponds. That particular state is evident from what comes before and after.

[6] The order of the precious stones in the Urim and Thummim is mentioned and described in the Word, but which tribes individual stones corresponded to is not mentioned. For those stones represented all things belonging to the light shed by heavenly flame, that is, all aspects of truth originating in good, or of faith originating in charity. And because they represented these things heavenly light itself shone through them in a miraculous way in accordance with the state of the subject concerning which a question was asked and an answer was given. Flashing and bright light stood for a positive answer concerning good and truth, which light was accompanied by variations of the stones' colours according with the differences of the state of good and truth, as in heaven where all celestial and spiritual things are expressed by means of lights and their differences, and in a way beyond description and completely incomprehensible to man. For as has been shown frequently, heavenly light includes life from the Lord, and so includes wisdom and intelligence. Consequently the differences in light include everything that constitutes the life, that is, everything that constitutes wisdom and intelligence, while the differences in flaming, flashing, and shining include everything that constitutes the life of good and the life of truth received from good, that is, of love to the Lord and of faith derived from that love. Such then were the Urim and Thummim which were on the breastplate of the ephod and were over Aaron's heart. The nature of them is also evident from the fact that the terms Urim and Thummim mean lights and perfections, and that the breastplate in which they were set is called the breastplate of judgement, because judgement consists in intelligence and wisdom, 2235. The reason it was worn over Aaron's heart was that 'the heart' means Divine love, see 3635 and the section at the end of the present chapter. For this reason also those precious stones were placed in settings of gold, for 'gold' in the internal sense means good which is an attribute of love, 113, 1551, 1552, and 'precious stone' truth which shines through from good, 114.

[7] The Urim and Thummim are spoken of in Moses as follows,

You shall make the breastplate of judgement, the work of designing, like the work of the ephod you shall make it; out of gold, violet, and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet, and of fine-twined linen you shall make it. It shall be square when doubled. And you shall set within it stone-settings, four rows of stones shall there be. There shall be sockets of gold in their settings. And the stones shall be according to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve according to their names. The engravings of a signet, each one according to its name, there shall be for the twelve tribes. Exodus 28:15-21; 39:8-14.

Which stones had to be set in each row is also specified in those chapters. And further,

The breastplate shall not come away from the ephod. And Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgement over his heart when he goes into the holy place, for a remembrance before Jehovah continually. And you shall put into the breastplate of judgement the Urim and Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron's heart when he goes in before Jehovah. And Aaron shall bear the judgement of the sons of Israel over his heart before Jehovah continually. Exodus 28:28-30; Leviticus 8:7-8.

The fact that Jehovah or the Lord was inquired of and gave answers by means of the Urim is seen in Moses,

Jehovah said to Moses, Take Joshua the son of Nun. You shall place some of your glory on him, so that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, and he shall inquire for him in the judgement of the Urim before Jehovah. Numbers 27:18, 20-21.

And in Samuel,

Saul inquired of Jehovah, but Jehovah did not answer him by dreams, or by the Urim, or by prophets. 1 Samuel 28:6.