687. And the four and twenty elders, who sit before God upon their thrones.- That this signifies the higher heavens in light and power from the Lord to separate the evil from the good before the day of the Last Judgment, which is shortly to come, is evident from the signification of the four and twenty elders, as denoting the higher heavens (concerning which see above, n. 322, 362, 462); and from the signification of sitting upon thrones, as denoting to be in the act of judging, for thrones signify the heavens, and sitting upon thrones signifies to judge. And because the angels of heaven do not judge, but the Lord alone, and since the Lord arranges those heavens by influx and presence in order to perform judgment therefrom upon those who have been gathered together below the heavens, therefore these words signify that the higher heavens are in light and power from the Lord to separate the evil from the good before the day of the Last Judgment.

[2] That this is the internal sense of these words is clear from what follows in this chapter, and also from what has been said above upon this subject. From the things that follow in this chapter it is plain that the higher heavens are in light and power from the Lord; this is the reason why they fell upon their faces and adored the Lord, and gave thanks that He had taken His great power and entered upon the kingdom, and why afterwards, the temple was opened in heaven, and the ark of the covenant was seen in the temple, this signifying the light there, and the former signifying the power there, from the Lord alone. It is also plain that it means to separate the evil from the good before the day of the Last Judgment, for it is said that "the nations were angered, and that Thine anger is come, and the time of judging the dead"; and afterwards, that there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail, which signifies the separation of the evil from the good, and the sign that the Last Judgment was at hand. Because these are the things treated of, and as the four and twenty elders sitting before God upon the thrones mean the higher heavens arranged for effecting therefrom the Last Judgment, it follows that such things are involved in these words.

[3] From what has been said above upon this subject it is clear that the higher heavens, before the Last Judgment, were brought into a state of light and power, in order that there might be influx from them into the lower parts, by means of which the evil might be separated from the good, and the evil afterwards cast down into the hells, as may be seen above (n. 411, 413, 418, 419, 426, 493, 497, 674, 675, 676).

[4] That a throne signifies in general heaven, and in particular the heavens where the spiritual kingdom of the Lord is, and in an abstract sense, the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord, and that this is said of judgment, may also be seen above (n. 253, 297, 343, 460, 482). It is also shewn there, that although it is said of the four and twenty elders that they sat upon thrones, and similarly of the apostles that they should sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel, and also of the angels, that they will come with the Lord to judgment, yet it is the Lord alone who will judge. For the four and twenty elders, the twelve apostles, and the angels, mean all the truths of the church, and, briefly, the Divine Truth, from which judgment takes place. And because Divine Truth is meant by these, and all Divine Truth proceeds from the Lord, therefore judgment belongs to the Lord alone. Who cannot see that it would not be possible for any angel to judge myriads of myriads, every one according to the state of his love and faith, both in his internal man and in his external, but for the Lord alone, from the Divine which is in Him, and which proceeds from Him; also, that to judge all in the heavens, and all in the earths, belongs to infinite wisdom and infinite power, not the least part of which falls to finite beings such as angels are, and such as the elders of Israel, and the apostles of the Lord were? All of these taken together, could not judge even a single man or a single spirit. For he who is to judge must see all the states of the man who is to be judged, from infancy to the end of his life in the world, and the future state of his life afterwards to eternity; for in the entire purpose, and thence in each and every particular of judgment, there must be what is eternal and infinite, and this is in and from the Divine alone, for it is the Divine that is infinite and eternal.

[5] In the Word mention is made of walking before God, of standing before God, and, as here, of sitting before God; what standing before God signifies may be seen above (n. 414); and what by walking before God (n. 97). What sitting before God signifies, as here in reference to the four and twenty elders, is evident from the passages in the Word where to sit is mentioned. For in the spiritual world everything pertaining to man's movements or rest signifies things pertaining to his life, because they proceed therefrom. Walking and progressions relate to the movements of man, and consequently signify progress of life, or progress of the thought from a purpose of the will. But standing and sitting have reference to man's rest, and therefore signify the esse of life, from which is its existere, thus they signify causing to live. Therefore to sit upon thrones, in reference to judgment, signifies to be in the act of judging, thus also to judge; from this the expression "to sit in judgment" is used, which means to execute judgment. So "to sit upon a throne" in reference to a kingdom signifies to be king or to reign.

[6] What sitting moreover signifies, in the spiritual sense, is evident from the following passages.

In David:

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the wicked, and standeth not in the way of sinners, and sitteth not in the seat of the scornful" (Psalm 1:1).

Here it is said, to walk, to stand, and to sit, because these follow one another, for to walk pertains to the life of thought from intention, to stand pertains to the life of intention from the will, and to sit to the life of the will, thus to the esse of the life. Counsel also, of which to walk is said, regards the thought; way, in which one is said to stand, regards intention, while to sit in a seat refers to the will, which is the esse of a man's life.

[7] Since Jehovah, that is, the Lord, is the very esse of the life of all, therefore to sit is said of Him.

In David:

"Jehovah shall sit to eternity" (Psalm 9:7).

In the same:

"Jehovah sitteth at the flood, and sitteth as King to eternity" (Psalm 29:10).

In the same:

"God reigneth over the nations; God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness" (Psalm 47:8).

In Matthew:

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

To sit upon the throne of His glory signifies to be in His Divine Truth, from which is judgment. Similarly elsewhere in the same:

"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" (19:28; Luke 22:30).

Since angels, also the twelve apostles, and the twelve tribes of Israel, signify all the truths of the church, and, in the highest sense, the Divine Truth, therefore to sit upon thrones does not mean that they themselves, but the Lord as to Divine Truth, from which is Judgment, will so sit; and to judge the twelve tribes of Israel signifies to judge all according to the truths of their church. It is therefore evident that to sit upon a throne, when said of the Lord, signifies to be in the act of judging, thus to judge. It is said a throne of glory, because glory signifies the Divine Truth, as may be seen above (n. 34, 288, 345, 678).

[8] In the Evangelists;

"David said in the book of Psalms, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet" (Luke 20:42, 43; Mark 12:36; Psalm 110:1).

The Lord said to my Lord, signifies the Divine itself, which is called the Father, to the Divine Human, which is the Son. Sit Thou at My right hand, signifies Divine Power, or Omnipotence by means of Divine Truth; until I make Thine enemies the footstool of Thy feet, signifies until the hells are conquered and subjugated, and the evil are cast into them, enemies meaning the hells, thus the evil, and the footstool of the feet signifies the lowest region under the heavens, under which are the hells; for the Lord, while in the world, was Divine Truth, to which belongs omnipotence, and by means of which He conquered and subjugated the hells.

[9] In the same:

"Jesus said, Henceforth shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven" (Matthew 26:63, 64; Mark 14:61, 62; Luke 22:69).

To sit on the right hand of power signifies the Divine Omnipotence of the Lord over the heavens and over the earths, after He had subjugated the hells and glorified His Human. To come on the clouds of heaven signifies by means of Divine Truth in the heavens; for after the Lord had united His Human with the Divine itself, Divine Truth went forth from Him; and He Himself is therein with angels and with men, because He is in the Word, which is Divine Truth, in which and from which is the Divine Omnipotence.

[10] And again:

"The Lord, after he had spoken with them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God" (Mark 16:19).

To sit down at the right hand of God has a similar signification, namely, His Divine Omnipotence by means of Divine Truth; from which it is clear that to sit denotes to be, and to sit at the right hand denotes to be omnipotent.

Because to sit signifies to be, therefore to sit upon a throne signifies to be king and to reign, as in Exodus 11:5; Deuteronomy 17:18; 1 Kings 1:13, 17, 20; Jeremiah 17:25; 22:2, 30; and elsewhere; similarly, "To sit on the right hand and on the left" (Matthew 20:21, 23; Mark 10:37, 40).

[11] In Isaiah:

"Come down and sit upon the dust, O virgin daughter of Babel, sit on the earth, there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans; sit in silence and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for they shall no more call thee mistress of kingdoms; hear this thou voluptuous one, that sittest carelessly, saying, I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know bereavement" (47:1, 5, 8).

The subject treated of here is the profanation of good and truth; for the daughter of Babel signifies the profanation of good, and the daughter of the Chaldeans the profanation of truth; for the reason that the Divine goods and truths which are in the Word and from the Word, are used as the means of gaining dominion. For this reason the Babylonians and Chaldeans regard themselves, that is their own dominion, as ends, and the holy things of the church from the Word as means; thus they do not look to the Lord and His dominion as an end, nor to their neighbour and to love towards him. Come down and sit upon the dust and on the earth, signifies to be in evils, and in consequent damnation. Sit in silence and go into darkness, signifies to be in falsities, and in consequent damnation. To sit carelessly signifies to be in the confident belief that their dominion will continue, and that they will not perish. Not to sit as a widow, and not to know bereavement, signifies to be in no lack of followers, dependents, and worshippers. There is no throne for thee, O daughter of the Chaldeans, they shall no more call thee mistress of kingdoms, signifies that such shall no longer have dominion because of their overthrow and damnation in the day of the Last Judgment, of which this chapter treats.

[12] In the same:

"Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly, on the sides of the north" (14:13).

These things also are spoken of Babel, who is here called Lucifer, and of the lust of his profane love of ruling over all things of heaven; but what in particular is meant by exalting a throne above the stars of God, and by sitting on the mount of assembly and on the sides of the north, will be shown in the following pages when Babylon is treated of; here also to sit signifies to be, and has reference to dominion.

[13] In Ezekiel:

"All the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones; they shall sit upon the earth" (26:16):

This is said of Tyre, which signifies the church as to the knowledges of truth, but here the church vastated, in which these knowledges have been falsified; therefore by all the princes of the sea coming down from their thrones is signified that knowledges of truth shall no more reign in the men of that church, for all sovereignty belongs to Divine Truth. To come down from the thrones signifies from governing, thus not to rule; and the princes of the sea denote the knowledges of truth, and those who are in them. They shall sit upon the earth signifies that they will be in falsifications, thus in falsities; upon thrones signifies to be in the truths of heaven, and to sit upon the earth signifies to be in falsities, since under the lands (sub terris) in the spiritual world are the hells, from which evils and falsities are continually exhaling. The signification of sitting in the following passages is similar.

[14] In Luke:

"Who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death" (1:79).

In Isaiah:

"To open the blind eyes, to lead the bound out of prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house" (42:7)

In Jeremiah:

"I sat not in the council of mockers, and I rejoiced; I sat solitary because of thy hand, for thou hast filled me with indignation" (15:17).

In David:

"I have not sat with men of vanity, nor have I gone in with the hidden" (Psalm 26:4).

In Luke:

That day "shall come as a snare upon all who sit upon the faces of the whole earth" (21:35).

Since to sit signifies to be and also to abide in one state, and pertains to the will, it is therefore said in David,

"Jehovah, thou hast searched me and known me; thou knowest my sitting and my rising, thou understandest my thought afar off" (Psalm 139:1, 2).

To know his sitting has reference to the esse of life which is the will; rising, has reference to the intention therefrom; and because thought follows from the intention of the will, it is added, "Thou understandest my thought afar off."

[15] In Micah:

"Then shall he stand and feed in the name of Jehovah, and they shall sit, for now shall he increase unto the ends of the earth" (5:4).

This is said of the Lord and of the doctrine of Divine Truth from Him, which is meant by then shall he stand and feed in the name of Jehovah; and that the men of the church will be in that doctrine is signified by they shall sit; and that the doctrine of Divine Truth will endure to eternity is signified by he shall increase unto the ends of the earth.

[16] Similarly in Isaiah:

"Shake thyself from the dust, arise, sit, O Jerusalem, loose the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion" (52:2).

This is said of the establishment of a new church by the Lord; that church, together with its doctrine, is here signified by Jerusalem, and by the daughter of Zion; to reject falsities and evils and to be in truths and goods is signified by shaking herself from the dust, arising and sitting, also by loose the bands of the neck, O captive daughter of Zion, bands of the neck signifying falsities, that prevent the entrance of truths.

[17] That to sit is an expression significative of the existence and permanence of the state of an object and of life, is evident from those passages in the Word where the expressions to sit before Jehovah, to stand before Him, and to walk before Him, occur. To sit before Jehovah denotes to be with Him, thus also to will and to act from Him; and to stand before Him denotes to have regard for and to understand what He wills; while to walk before Him denotes to live according to His precepts, thus from Him. Because to sit involves such things, therefore the corresponding Hebrew word signifies to remain and to dwell. Because to sit has this signification, therefore an angel of the Lord was seen sitting upon the stone, which he had rolled away from the entrance to the tomb (Matthew 28:2); and also angels were seen in the tomb, sitting one at the head, and the other at the feet (John 20:12; Mark 16:5). The things that were seen were representative of the Lord's glorification and of introduction into heaven by Him; for the stone which was placed before the sepulchre, and was rolled away by the angel, signifies Divine Truth, consequently the Word, which was closed by the Jews, but opened by the Lord. That stone signifies truth, and, in the highest sense, Divine Truth, may be seen above (n. 417) and in Heaven and Hell 534:3). And because a sepulchre and pre-eminently the sepulchre where the Lord was, signifies, in the spiritual sense, resurrection and also regeneration, and angels in the Word signify Divine Truth, therefore angels were seen, sitting one at the head and the other at the feet, the angel at the head signifying Divine Truth in primaries, and the angel at the feet Divine Truth in ultimates, both proceeding from the Lord, by means of which, when received, regeneration takes place, and there is a resurrection. That to be buried, burial and a sepulchre, signify regeneration and resurrection, may be seen above (n. 659); and that angels, in the highest sense, signify the Lord as to Divine Truth, and in the relative sense the recipients of Divine Truth, and thus, abstractly, Divine truths from the Lord (n. 130, 200, 302). Moreover it is also said that "they sat before Jehovah" when they were in great joy; they were also said to sit when in great sorrow, the reason being that sitting has reference to the esse of man, which pertains to his will and love. That they wept and sat before may be seen in Judges (20:26; 21:2),

2177. That 'meal of fine flour' means the spiritual and celestial ingredients [of the rational] which were present at that time with the Lord, and 'cakes' the same when both had been joined together, is quite clear from the sacrifices of the representative Church and from the minchah presented at the same time, which consisted of fine flour mixed with oil and made into cakes. Representative worship consisted primarily in burnt offerings and sacrifices. What these represented has been stated above where 'bread' was the subject, in 2165, namely the celestial things of the Lord's kingdom in heaven and of the Lord's kingdom on earth, which is the Church, and also the things of the Lord's kingdom or Church as it exists with every individual, and in general everything that is in essence love and charity, since these are celestial entities. In those times all the sacrifices were called 'bread'. Along with those sacrifices a minchah was included - which, as has been stated, consisted of fine flour mixed with oil to which also incense was added - and also a wine-offering.

[2] What these latter represented becomes clear too, namely things similar to those represented by sacrifices but of a lower order, thus the things which belong to the spiritual Church, and also those which belong to the external Church. It may become clear to anyone that such things would never have been prescribed unless they had represented Divine things, and also that each one represented some specific thing. For unless they had represented Divine things they would have been no different from similar things found among gentiles, among whom also there were sacrifices, minchahs, libations, and incense, as well as perpetual fires and many other things which had come down to them from the Ancient Church, especially from the Hebrew Church. But because they were separated from the internal, that is, the Divine things represented by them, those external forms of worship were nothing but idolatrous, as they also came to be among the Jews, who likewise sank into all kinds of idolatry. From this it may become clear to anyone that heavenly arcana were present within every form of ritual, especially so within the sacrifices and every detail of them.

[3] As regards the minchah, the nature of it and how it was to be made into cakes is described in a whole chapter in Moses - in Leviticus 2; also Numbers 15, and elsewhere. The law regarding the minchah is described in Leviticus in the following words,

Fire shall be kept burning unceasingly on the altar; it shall not be put out. And this is the law of the minchah: Aaron's sons shall bring it before Jehovah to the front of the altar, and he shall take up from it a fistful of fine flour of the minchah and of the oil of it and all the frankincense which is on the minchah, and he shall burn it on the altar; it is an odour of rest for a memorial to Jehovah. And the rest of it Aaron and his sons shall eat. Unleavened bread shall be eaten in a holy place. In the court of the tent of meeting shall they eat it. It shall not be cooked leavened; I have given it as their portion from My fire-offerings; it is most holy. Leviticus 6:13-17.

[4] The fire which was to be kept burning unceasingly on the altar represented the Lord's love, that is, His mercy, which is constant and eternal. 'Fire' in the Word means love, see 934, and therefore 'the fire-offerings made for an odour of rest' means the good pleasure which the Lord takes in those things that belong to love and charity. That 'odour' means good pleasure, that is, that which is pleasing, see 925, 1519. Their 'taking a fistful' represented their being required to love with all their soul or strength, for 'the hand' or 'the palm' of the hand means power, as shown in 878, from which 'the fist' also means the same. 'The fine flour together with the oil and the frankincense' represented all things of charity - 'fine flour' the spiritual ingredient of it, 'oil' the celestial, and 'frankincense' that which was in this manner pleasing. That 'fine flour' represents the spiritual ingredient is evident from what has just been stated and from what is stated below. That 'oil' represents the celestial ingredient, or the good or charity, see 886, and that 'frankincense' on account of its odour represents that which is pleasing and acceptable, 925.

[5] Its being 'unleavened bread' or not fermented means that it was to be genuine, thus something offered from genuineness of heart and having no uncleanness. The eating of the rest by Aaron and his sons represented man's reciprocation and his making it his own, and thus represented conjunction by means of love and charity; and it is for this reason that they were commanded to eat it 'in a holy place'. Hence it is called something most holy. These were the things which were represented by the minchah. It was also the way in which the representatives themselves were perceived in heaven; and when the member of the Church understood them in the same way his ideas were like the perception which the angels possess, so that he was in the Lord's kingdom in heaven even though he was on earth.

[6] For more about the minchah - what it was to consist of in any particular kind of sacrifice; the way in which it was to be baked into cakes; what kind was to be offered by those who were being cleansed, and also what kinds on other occasions (all of which would take too long to introduce and explain here) - see what is said about it in Exodus 29:39-41; Leviticus 5:11-13; 6:16-17, 19-21; 10:12-13; 23:10-13, 6, 17; Numbers 5:15 and following verses; 6:15-17, 19-20; 7: in various places; 28:5, 8, 9, 12-13, 20-21, 28-29; 29:3-4, 9-10, 14-15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 37

[7] 'Fine flour made into cakes' had in general the same representation as bread, namely the celestial ingredient of love, while 'meals represented its spiritual ingredient, as becomes clear in the places indicated above. The loaves which were called 'the bread of the Presence' or 'the shewbread' consisted of fine flour, which was made into cakes and placed on the table to provide an unceasing representation of the Lord's love, that is, of His mercy, towards the whole human race, and man's reciprocation. These loaves are spoken of in Moses as follows,

You shall take fine pour and bake it into twelve cakes; two-tenths [of an ephah] shall there be in one cake And you shall place them in two rows, six in a row, on the clean table before Jehovah. And you shall put pure frankincense on each row, and it shall be bread serving as a memorial, a fire-offering to Jehovah. Every sabbath day [Aaron] shall set it out in order before Jehovah continually; it is from the children of Israel as an eternal covenant. And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, for it is to him the most holy of fire-offerings to Jehovah, by an eternal statute. Leviticus 24:5-9.

Every item and smallest detail mentioned here represented the holiness of love and charity, 'fine flour' having the same representation as meal of fine flour, namely that which is celestial and that which is spiritual that goes with it, and 'cake' the two when joined together.

[8] From this it is clear what the holiness of the Word is to those who possess heavenly ideas, and indeed what holiness was present within this particular representative observance, on account of which it is called 'most holy'. It is also clear how devoid of holiness the Word is to those who imagine that it does not have anything heavenly within it and who keep solely to externals. Exemplifying the latter are those who in the present verse under consideration perceive 'the meal' to be merely meal, 'the fine flour' merely fine flour, and 'the cake' merely a cake, and who imagine that these things have been stated without each one that is mentioned embodying something of the Divine within it. Their attitude is similar to that of those who imagine that the bread and wine of the Holy Supper are no more than a certain religious observance that does not have anything holy within it. Yet in fact it possesses such holiness that the minds of men are linked by means of it to the minds of those in heaven, when from an internal affection they think that the bread and wine mean the Lord's love and man's reciprocation, and by virtue of that interior thought and affection they abide in holiness.

[9] Much the same was implied by the requirement that when the children of Israel entered the land they were to present as a heave-offering to Jehovah a cake made from the first of their dough, Numbers 15:20. The fact that such things are meant is also evident in the Prophets, from' among whom for the moment let this one place in Ezekiel be introduced here,

You were adorned with gold and silver, and your raiment was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You became exceedingly beautiful, and attained to a kingdom. Ezekiel 16:13.

This refers to Jerusalem, by which is meant the Church, which Church in its earliest days bore an appearance such as this, that is to say, the Ancient Church, which is described by means of raiment and many other adornments. Its affections for truth and good are also described by 'the fine flour, honey, and oil'. It may become clear to anyone that all these details mean in the internal sense something altogether different from what they do in the sense of the letter. And the same applies to Abraham's saying to Sarah, 'Take quickly three measures of meal of fine flour, knead it, and make cakes'. That 'three' means things that are holy has been shown already in 720, 901.