291. "Blessing and honor and glory and strength be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!" This symbolically means that present in the Lord from eternity and so in His Divine humanity is everything of heaven and the church - Divine good and truth, and Divine power - and these are present from Him in people who are in heaven and in the church.

To be shown that the Lord from eternity is Jehovah, who in the process of time took on human form in order to redeem and save mankind, see no. 281 above. He who sits on the throne, therefore, means the Lord from eternity, who is called the Father, and the Lamb means the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity, which is the Son. Moreover, because the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, so that they are one, it follows that both the one sitting on the throne and the Lamb mean the Lord. And because they are one, we are also told that the Lamb was in the midst of the throne (verse 6, and so, too, 7:17).

To be shown that blessing, when said in connection with the Lord, means everything of heaven and the church present in Him, and from Him in people who are in heaven and in the church, see no. 289 above; and that honor and glory mean Divine good and truth, also no. 249. It is apparent, moreover, that strength, when said in connection with the Lord, means Divine power.

That these are all properties of the Lord can be seen from the following verses in Daniel:

Behold, One like the Son of Man (came) with the clouds of heaven! And He came to the Ancient of Days... Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, and all peoples, nations, and languages will serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one which shall not perish. (Daniel 7:13-14)

The Ancient of Days is the Lord from eternity, as is apparent from this verse in Micah:

You, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me One who will be Ruler in Israel, and whose goings forth are from of old, from the days of eternity. (Micah 5:2)

And so, too, from this verse in Isaiah:

...unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; ...the government will be upon His shoulder. ...His name will be called... Counselor, God, Hero, Father of eternity, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

249. And when the living creatures gave glory and honor and thanks to Him who sat on the throne. (4:9) This symbolically means that the Word ascribes all truth and good and all worship to the Lord, who is about to judge.

The living creatures are the Word, as we have shown. Glory and honor referring to the Lord mean that all truth and good belong to Him and spring from Him. Thanks means all worship. He who sat on the throne is the Lord in relation to judgment, as before. Hence it is apparent that the statement, "when the living creatures gave glory and honor and thanks to Him who sat on the throne," symbolically means that the Word ascribes all truth and good and all worship to the Lord, who is about to judge.

To give glory and honor to the Lord has no other meaning in the Word than to acknowledge and confess that all truth and good come from Him, thus that He alone is God; for glory belongs to Him owing to His Divine truth, and honor owing to His Divine good.

[2] Glory and honor have these symbolic meanings in the following places:

Jehovah made the heavens. Glory and honor are before Him. (Psalms 96:5-6)

Jehovah... God, You are very great; You are clothed with glory and honor. (Psalms 104:1)

Great are the works of Jehovah... Glory and honor are His work... (Psalms 111:2-3)

Glory and honor You will place upon him... blessings to eternity. (Psalms 21:5-6, said in reference to the Lord.)

Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One in... glory and... honor. In Your honor mount up, ride upon the word of truth... (Psalms 45:3-4)

You have made him a little less than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor. (Psalms 8:5)

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the honor of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of Jehovah, (and) the honor of our God. (Isaiah 35:2)

All of this is said in reference to the Lord, and also elsewhere, as in Psalms 145:4-5, 12 and Revelation 21:24, 26.

Moreover, where the Word speaks of Divine truth, it uses the term glory (no. 629), and where it speaks of Divine good, it uses the term honor.