229. And behold, a throne set in heaven. This symbolizes the Judgment in a representative image.
It may be seen in no. 14 that a throne symbolizes heaven. That a throne also symbolizes judgment is apparent from the following passages:
When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. (Matthew 25:31ff.)
The subject there is the Last Judgment.
...You [Jehovah] have executed my judgment...; You sat on the throne as a righteous judge... Jehovah... will prepare His throne for judgment. (Psalms 9:4-5, 7)
I watched (when)...the Ancient of Days was seated..., His throne (like) a fiery flame... A thousand thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. He sat in judgment, and the books were opened. (Daniel 7:9-10)
Jerusalem is built...; to it the tribes go up... ...thrones are set there for judgment... (Psalms 122:3-5)
I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was turned over to them. (Revelation 20:4)
The throne that Solomon made, as described in 1 Kings 10:18-20, symbolized both royal authority and judgment, since kings sat upon thrones when they pronounced judgments.
We say that the throne symbolizes the Judgment in a representative image, because the things that John saw were representative visions. He saw them as he described them, but they were images representative of future events, as can be seen from the descriptions that follow, such as his seeing living creatures, a dragon, beasts, a temple, a tabernacle, an ark, and many other things.
Similar images were seen by the prophets, as noted in no. 36 above.
