686. Verses 16, 17. And the four and twenty elders who sit before God upon their thrones fell upon their faces and adored God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who art, and who wast, and who art to come, because thou hast taken thy great power, and entered upon the kingdom.

"And the four and twenty elders who sit before God upon their thrones," 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; "fell upon their faces and adored God," signifies their adoration of the Lord from a most humble heart. "Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty," signifies acknowledgment that all being (esse), life, and power (posse) are from the Lord; "who art, and who wast, and who art to come," signifies from Him, who is the all in all things of heaven and the church from eternity to eternity; "because thou hast taken thy great power, and entered upon the kingdom," signifies the establishment of a new heaven and a new church, when the former heaven and church are destroyed.