297. (5:1) And I saw in the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. That this signifies the Lord as to omnipotence and as to omniscience, is evident from the signification of the right hand when said of the Lord, as denoting omnipotence and also omniscience (concerning which we shall speak presently): and from the signification of Him that sat upon the throne, as denoting the Lord as to Divine good in heaven. For throne signifies heaven in general, specifically the spiritual heaven, and, in the abstract, the Divine truth proceeding, from which heaven is, and by which judgment is effected (as may be seen above, n. 253). The reason why the Lord is meant by Him that sat upon the throne, and also by the Lamb which took the book from Him that sat upon the throne, is, because by Him that sat upon the throne is meant the Lord as to Divine good, and by the Lamb the Lord as to Divine truth: for there are two things that proceed from the Lord as the Sun of heaven, namely, Divine good and Divine truth. Divine good from the Lord is called the Father in the heavens, and this is meant by Him that sat upon the throne; and Divine truth from the Lord is called the Son of man, but in this case the Lamb. And because Divine good judges no one, but Divine truth, it is therefore said here, that the Lamb took the book from Him that sat upon the throne. That the Divine good judges no one, but Divine truth, is meant by the Lord's words in John:

"The Father judgeth no one, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, because he is the Son of man" (5:22, 27).

By the Father is meant the Lord as to Divine good; and by the Son of man, the Lord as to Divine truth. The reason why Divine good judges no one, is, because it explores no one: but Divine truth [judges], for this explores every one. But still it must be known that the Lord Himself does not judge any one from the Divine truth that proceeds from Him, for this is united to the Divine good, so that they are one, but that a man-spirit judges himself: for it is the Divine truth received by him that judges him; and because it appears as if the Lord judges him, it is therefore said in the Word that all are judged by the Lord. This also the Lord teaches in John:

Jesus said, "And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejected me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him; the Word that I have spoken, it shall judge him in the last day" (12:47, 48).

[2] For with respect to judgment, the case is this: the Lord is present with all, and from Divine love wills to save all and also turns and leads all to Himself. Those who are in good, and thence in truths, follow, for they apply themselves; but those who are in evil, and thence in falsities, do not follow, but turn themselves away from the Lord, and to turn themselves away from the Lord is [to turn] from heaven to hell; for every man spirit is either his own good and the truth thence, or he is his own evil and the falsity thence. He who is in good and the truth therefrom, suffers himself to be led by the Lord; but he who is in evil and the falsity thence, does not suffer himself to be led. The latter resists with all his might and effort; for he wills according to his own love, which inspires and animates him; therefore his desire is to those who are in a similar love of evil. Hence it is evident that the Lord judges no one, but that the Divine truth received judges to heaven those who have received Divine truth in the heart, that is, in the love: and to hell those who have not received Divine truth in the heart, and have denied it. From these considerations it is evident how the Lord's words must be understood. "All judgment is [given] to the Son, because he is the Son of man." And elsewhere, that "he came not to judge the world but to save the world, and that the Word which he has spoken will judge him."

[3] But these things are such as do not fall into man's own intelligence, for they are amongst the arcana of the wisdom of the angels. This subject, however, is in some measure elucidated in the work concerning Heaven and Hell 545-551, where this fact is treated of, that the Lord casts no one into hell, but that the spirit himself [casts] himself thither. That it is the Lord who is meant "by him that sat upon the throne," and not another whom they distinguish from Him, and call God the Father, is evident to every one from this consideration, that there was no other Divine which the Lord called Father, but His own Divine: for this assumed the Human, therefore this was His Father; and that this is infinite, eternal, uncreate, omnipotent, God, Lord, and in nothing differing from the very Divine, which they distinguish from Him and call "the Father," is evident from the received faith, called the Athanasian; where it is also said, That none of them is greatest and least, and none of them first and last, but that they are altogether equal; and that as one is, so is the other, infinite, eternal, uncreate, omnipotent, God, Lord: and yet there are not three infinites, but one: not three eternals, but one: not three uncreate, but one: not three omnipotents, but one: not three Gods and Lords, but one.

These things are mentioned, in order that it may be known that there are not two distinct [beings] meant by "Him that sat upon the throne," and by "the Lamb," nor in what follows "by God" and "the Lamb" but that by the one is meant the Divine good, and by the other the Divine truth in heaven, both proceeding from the Lord. That the Lord is meant by Him that sat upon the throne, also appears from all the particulars of chapter four, where a throne and one sitting thereon is treated of; this may be seen explained, n. 258-295: and, moreover, 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" (25:31; 19:28, 29).

Again in Ezekiel:

"And above the expanse that was over the head of the cherubim was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man sitting upon it" (1:26; 10:1)

And in Isaiah:

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

[4] Because by a throne is signified heaven, and by one sitting upon a throne, the Lord as to His Divine in heaven, therefore it is said above (in chap. Revelation 3), "To him that overcometh, I will give to sit with me on my throne," by which is signified that he shall be in heaven where the Lord is (as may be seen above, n. 253); and therefore in what follows in this chapter, it is said,

"I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne a Lamb standing" (5:6).

And in chapter 22,

"He shewed me a river of the water of life, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb" (Revelation 22:1).

By the throne of God and of the Lamb, is meant heaven and the Lord there, as to Divine good, and as to Divine truth; God there denoting the Lord as to Divine good; and the Lamb, as to Divine truth. There is a distinction made here between them, because there are those who receive one more than the other; those who receive the Divine truth in good are saved; but those who receive the Divine truth, which is the Word, not in good, are not saved, because all Divine truth is in good, and nowhere else. Therefore those who do not receive it in good, reject and deny it, if not openly yet tacitly, and if not with the mouth yet with the heart; for the heart of such is evil, and evil rejects. To receive Divine truth in good, is to receive it in the good of charity; for those who are in that good receive.

9103. 'And four of the flock for the member of the flock' also means the corresponding punishment carried out in full. This is clear from the meaning of 'four' as joined together, for 'four' is similar in meaning to 'two' because four is the product of two times two (for the meaning of 'two' as joined together, see 5194, 8423, and therefore also 'four', 1686, 8877), from which it follows that those numbers also mean to the complete amount, since what has been joined together is complete; and from the meaning of 'a member of the flock' as interior good, dealt with just above in 9099. The corresponding punishment is meant by 'repaying', at this point 'four of the flock for one member of the flock', 9102. Interior good is what charity in the interior man is called, exterior good being charity in the exterior man. The latter good must receive life from the former, for the good of charity in the interior man is the good of spiritual life, and the good of charity in the exterior man is the good of natural life from the spiritual. This exterior good enters a person's feelings as delight, but not so interior good. Instead this enters his awareness that it ought to be so, and enables his mind to feel contented. In the next life however interior good too enters into a person's feelings.

[2] No one can know the reason why five oxen were to be used in repayment for an ox, and four of the flock for the member of the flock, unless he knows what 'theft' is in the spiritual sense, and also what 'an ox' and 'a member of the flock' are. What these things mean has been explained, namely taking away and alienating exterior and interior good, the taking away being done by evil and the alienation by falsity. Consequently punishment and the restoration of them are meant by 'five' end 'four'; for all numbers in the Word serve to mean spiritual things, see 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265, 6175, at this point things having to do with restoration. That is to say, the number 'five' refers to restoration of exterior good to a great degree, and the number 'four' to restoration of interior good in full. The reason why interior good must be restored completely is that this good constitutes a person's spiritual life; and unless his spiritual life is restored completely the exterior good constituting his natural life cannot be restored; for the latter life is restored by means of the former, as may be recognized from a person's regeneration. The external man is regenerated by means of the internal, see 9043, 9046, 9061; but good in the external or natural man cannot be restored completely because the blow it has been struck remains there as a scar that becomes hardened. These are the things implied by those numbers.

[3] Something further must be said briefly about the restoration of the exterior good constituting a person's natural life by means of the interior good constituting his spiritual life. The natural level of a person's mind sees things in the light of the world, the light that is called natural illumination. A person acquires this illumination through objects entering his awareness by means of sight and hearing, that is, by impressions of objects received from the world. Thus the person sees those objects with his mind's eye almost exactly as his physical eye sees them. Initially the objects that he is made aware of through those senses are all a pleasure and delight to him. Later on, when still a young child, he makes distinctions among the objects that are a delight to him, and thereby learns to discriminate, gradually doing so more and more accurately. When the light from heaven flows into these things the person begins to see them spiritually, discriminating initially between the ones that are useful and those that are not useful. As a consequence he starts to see the truth clearly; for that which he sees to be useful he sees to be true, and that which he does not see to be useful he sees to be not true. This ability to see truth increases as the inflowing light from heaven grows brighter, until eventually he discriminates not only between truths, but even between truths within these truths. And this he does ever more clearly, as the communication between the internal man and the external man is improved and opened up; for the light of heaven flows in from the Lord through the internal man into the external. From this the person now has perception; nevertheless this is still not spiritual perception.

[4] Spiritual perception does not grow out of natural truths but out of spiritual truths, spiritual truths being what are called the truths of faith. The reason why spiritual perception grows out of these truths is that the light of heaven is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord. It is the light that shines for the angels' eyes; it also shines in their understanding and imparts intelligence and wisdom to them, in varying amounts, depending on its reception within good. Therefore, if spiritual perception is to grow a person must have cognitions or knowledge of spiritual things in his natural, and such knowledge of spiritual things must come from revelation. When the light of heaven flows into them it flows into what are its own; for as has been stated, that light is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, see 1053, 1521-1533, 1619-1632, 2776, 3138, 3167, 3195, 3222, 3223, 3341, 3636, 3643, 4180, 4302, 4408, 4415, 4527, 5400, 6032, 6313, 6608. This is how a person acquires intelligence and wisdom in such matters as belong to eternal life; and they increase in the measure that such light - that is, in the measure that the truths of faith - are received within good, the good being charity.

[5] The fact that the natural or external man is regenerated, and also undergoes amendment and is restored by means of the internal, may be recognized from what has now been stated. Things in the external or natural man receive life from the light of heaven; for this light is living, because it emanates from the Lord, who is Life itself. They do not receive their life from natural light, since this light is in itself dead. If therefore things in natural light are to have life there must be an inflow of the living light, coming from the Lord through the internal man. This inflow adjusts itself to cognitions of truth present in the natural that are analogous and correspond, and to other things there that can serve. From this it is evident that a person's external or natural must be regenerated by means of his internal; and the good in the natural that has been taken away or alienated has to be amended and restored by the same means.