343.Be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. That this signifies [the Lord] as to Divine good, and as to Divine truth, is clear from what has been said and shown above (n.297), namely, that by throne is signified heaven, by Him that sitteth upon the throne the proceeding Divine good, and by the Lamb the proceeding Divine truth, both of them filling the heavens and forming them. Because the Divine good proceeding from the Lord as a sun is received by the angels in His celestial kingdom, and the Divine truth by the angels in the spiritual kingdom, therefore two are mentioned, namely, He that sitteth upon the throne, and the Lamb; but by both, in the internal sense, is meant the Divine proceeding from the Lord's Divine Human, which is the Divine good united with the Divine truth, but in the sense of the letter it is distinguished into two because of reception. The Divine which constitutes heaven, and gives to angels and men love, faith, wisdom, and intelligence, does not proceed directly from the Lord's essential Divine, but by means of His Divine Human, and this Divine that proceeds, is the Holy Spirit (see above, n.183).

[2] Thus it is to be understood that the doctrine of the church teaches, that the Son proceeds from the Father, and the Holy Spirit by the Son, likewise that the Lord's Divine and His Human are not two, but only one person or one Christ; for the Lord's Divine is that which assumed the Human, and which He therefore called His Father; thus He did not call another Divine His Father, which is at this day worshipped in His place for His Father. The proceeding Divine also is what is called the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth, and the Paraclete; for it is the holiness of the Spirit, or the holy Divine which the Spirit speaks, and not another Divine, which is worshipped as the third person of the Divinity. That this is the case, all may understand who are in any light of heaven; although from the doctrine of the Trinity, which was given by Athanasius, it is said by many, that the three are one. Let any one examine himself, when he says with the mouth that God is one, whether he does not think of three, when yet there is but one God, and the three names of the Divine are of the one God. Because Athanasius did not understand this, he believed the three names to be three Gods, but as to essence one.

[3] Still, however, it cannot be said that they are one as to essence when something is attributed to one, which is not to the other; for thus the essence is divided; consequently, to each essence is given the name of person. But they are one essence when the three are attributed to one person, namely, the essential Divine, which is called the Father; the Divine Human, which [is called] the Son; and the proceeding Divine, which [is called] the Holy Spirit (as may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 280-310). These things are said [to show] that by Him that sitteth upon the throne, and the Lamb, are not meant two but one, namely, the Lord as to the Divine proceeding.

9216. 'In which he may sleep' means resting on them. This is clear from the meaning of 'sleeping' as resting, in this instance on the external and sensory level, meant by 'clothing', 9212; for it says that it is clothing 'in which he may sleep'. How the explanation that more internal things find rest on the sensory level should be understood must be stated. The sensory level is the last and lowest of a person's life, as has been shown above. What is lowest contains all the more internal levels and is general to them all; for they terminate in it and accordingly rest on it. It is like the skin, for example, which is the outermost covering of the body. The body and all things in it terminate in the skin, because it contains them and they accordingly rest on the skin. In a similar way it is like the peritoneum within the body. Because it contains the abdominal organs, these rest on it and are also linked to it all round. Or equally it is like the pleura's relationship to the organs in the chest.

[2] A similar situation exists with all the things that compose a person's actual life, with those for instance that are connected with his understanding and those that are connected with his will. These too follow one another in order from more internal things to relatively external ones. The relatively external ones are factual knowledge together with its delights, while the outermost things are those of the senses, which are in contact with the world through sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. The more internal things rest on them since they terminate in them. These are the matters that are meant in the spiritual sense by 'the covering' or 'the clothing in which he may sleep'. The reason why things on the level of the senses are meant by 'the clothing' or 'the covering' lies in correspondences; for as stated above in 9212, spirits and angels appear dressed in garments in keeping with their truths of faith. Those governed by truths springing from good appear in shining ones, as for instance those at the Lord's tomb did, Luke 24:4; Matthew 28:3, and also in ones of fine, white linen, as for instance those referred to in Revelation 19:14 did; and others appear in garments of various colours.

[3] Furthermore it should be realized that all things without exception proceed in successive stages from their first or inmost level to their terminations on the last and lowest and rest on them. Each thing at a prior or more internal stage in order has its own connection with terminations on the lowest level. Therefore if things on the lowest level are dispelled those on interior levels are also scattered. This also explains why there are three heavens. The inmost or third heaven flows into the middle or second heaven; the middle or second heaven flows into the first or lowest heaven, which in turn flows into and resides with mankind. Consequently the human race constitutes the lowest level of order; in it heaven terminates and on it heaven rests. This being so, the Lord in His Divine [Love and Care] always provides for the presence among the human race of a Church in which truth revealed by God exists; such truth on our planet is the Word. By means of this a continuous link exists between the human race and the heavens. This is why every detail of the Word has within it an internal sense which exists for heaven's benefit and whose nature is such that it joins angels' minds to those of people on earth in so firm a bond that they act as one. All this goes to show yet again the nature of a situation in which interior things rest on those at the lowest level.