4. And round about the throne were four-and-twenty thrones; and upon the thrones I saw four-and-twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

5. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings, and thunderings, and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.

6. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal and in the midst of the throne and round about the throne, were four animals full of eyes before and behind.

7. And the first animal was like a lion, and the second animal like a calf, and the third animal had a face as a man, and the fourth animal was like a flying eagle.

8. And the four animals had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within; and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.

9. And when the animals give glory, and honor, and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,

10. The four-and-twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

11. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and power, for thou hast created all things, and by thy will they are, and were created.

THE SPIRITUAL SENSE.

THE CONTENTS OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER. The subject treated of is concerning the ordination and preparation of all things in heaven for judgment, to be executed from, and according to, the Word; likewise concerning the acknowledgment, that the Lord is the only judge.

THE CONTENTS OF EACH VERSE. "After this I looked, and behold a door opened in heaven," signifies, a manifestation of the ordination of the heavens preparatory to the last judgment from the Lord, about to be performed according to his divine truths in the Word: "And the first voice which I heard, as it were of a trumpet talking with me, said, Come up hither," signifies, divine influx, and thence an elevation of the mind, followed by manifest perception: "And I will show thee things which must be hereafter," signifies, revelations of things to come before the last judgment, and at it, and after it: "And immediately I was in the spirit," signifies, that he was let into a spiritual state, in which the things which exist in heaven manifestly appear: "And, behold, a throne was set in heaven," signifies, a representation of judgment: "And one sat on the throne," signifies, the Lord ::

"And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone," signifies, the appearance of the Lord's divine wisdom and divine love in ultimates: "And there was a rainbow round about the throne in sight like unto an emerald," signifies, the appearance of the same also round about the Lord: "And round about the throne were four-and-twenty thrones, and upon the thrones I saw four-and-twenty elders sitting," signifies, the ordination of all things in heaven preparatory to the judgment; "Clothed in white raiment," signifies, from the divine truth of the Word: "And they had on their heads crowns of gold," signifies, the things which are of wisdom derived from love: "And out of the throne proceeded lightnings, and thunderings, and voices," signifies, illumination, perception, and instruction from the Lord: "And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God," signifies, a new heaven from among Christians: “And before the throne, there was a sea of glass like unto crystal," signifies, the new heaven composed of Christians, who are in general truths, derived from the literal sense of the Word: "And in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, there were four animals," signifies, the Word of God from its first principles to its ultimates, and its defences: "Full of eyes before and behind," signifies, the divine wisdom therein: "And the first animal was like a lion," signifies, the divine truth of the Word as to its power: "And the second animal like a calf," signifies, the divine truth of the Word as to affection: "And the third animal had a face as a man,” signifies, the divine truth of the Word as to its wisdom: "And the fourth animal was like a flying eagle," signifies, the divine truth of the Word as to knowledge and thence understanding: "And the four animals had each of them six wings about him,” signifies, the Word as to its powers and as to its defences: "And they were full of eyes within," signifies, the divine wisdom in the Word in its natural sense, derived from its spiritual and celestial sense: "And they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty," signifies, that the Word continually teaches of the Lord, and that he is the only God, and thence that he alone is to be worshiped: "Who was, and who is, and who is to come," signifies the Lord: "And when the animals give glory, and honor, and thanks to him that sat on the throne," signifies, that the Word ascribes all truth, and all good, and all worship to the Lord the judge: "Who liveth for ever and ever," signifies, that the Lord alone is life, and that life eternal is from him alone: "The fourand-twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever," signifies, the humiliation of all in heaven before the Lord: "And cast their crowns before the throne," signifies, an acknowledgment that their wisdom is from him alone: "Saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and power," signifies, that the kingdom is the Lord's by merit and justice, because he is the divine truth and the divine good: "For thou hast created all things, and

by thy will they are, and were created," signifies, that all things of heaven and the church were made and formed, and men reformed and regenerated from the Lord's divine love by his divine wisdom, or from his divine 'good by his divine truth, which also is the Word.

THE EXPLANATION.

225. "AFTER this I looked, and behold a door opened in heaven," signifies, a manifestation of the ordination of the heavens preparatory to the last judgment from the Lord, about to be performed according to his divine truths. in the Word. By an open door, when it relates to heaven, is signified admission, as above, n. 176; here, also, manifestation, because he says, "I looked and behold; and because then were seen the things which are recorded in this chapter, which refer to the ordination of the heavens preparatory to the last judgment, about to be performed from the Lord according to his divine truths in the Word, therefore by "I looked and behold, a door opened in heaven," is signified a manifestation concerning them.

226. "And the first voice which I heard, as it were of a trumpet talking with me, said, Come up hither," signifies, divine influx, and thence an elevation of the mind, followed by manifest perception. That a voice, when heard from heaven, is influent divine truth, may be seen above, n. 37, 50, thus divine influx; and that by a voice as it were of a trumpet, is signified manifest perception, may also be seen above, n. 37; and by "Come up hither,' is signified elevation of the mind; for, in the spiritual world, the higher any one ascends so much the more does he come into purer light, by which the understanding is gradually opened, that is, the mind is elevated; therefore it also follows, that he was then in the spirit, by which is meant that he was let into a spiritual state, in which the things which are in the heavens manifestly appear. The voice was heard as it were a trumpet, because the subject treated of is the ordination of the heavens preparatory to the last judgment; and voices as of a trumpet are heard

in heaven, when convocations and ordinations take place; therefore among the children of Israel, with whom all things were representative of heaven and the church, it was also commanded, That they should make trumpets of silver, and that the sons of Aaron should blow with them for the calling of assemblies, and for the journeying of the camps, in days of rejoicing, in festivals, in the beginnings of months, over burnt offerings, for a memorial, and going to war, Numb. x. 1-11. But we shall speak of trumpets, and of sounding them, in the explanation of chapter viii., where the seven angels are mentioned, to whom were given seven trumpets.

227. "And I will show thee things which must be hereafter," signifies, revelations of things to come before the last judgment, and at it and after it. These things are signified, because in the Apocalypse nothing else is treated of but the state of the church at its end, thus the things to come to pass before the last judgment, and at it, and after it, as above explained, n. 2.

228. "And immediately I was in the spirit," signifies, that he was let into a spiritual state, in which the things which exist in heaven manifestly appear. That to be in the spirit is to be let into a spiritual state by divine influx, as also what the nature of a spiritual state is, and that a man in that state sees as manifestly the things which are in the spiritual world, as in the natural state of the body he sees the things which are in this world, may be seen above, n. 36.

229. "And, behold, a throne was set," signifies, a representation of judgment. That a throne signifies heaven may be seen, n. 14; that a throne also signifies judgment, is evident from the following places: "When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory," Matt. xxv. 31, and following verses; where the last judgment is treated of. Jehovah "thou hast maintained my cause,— thou sattest in the throne judging right. Jehovah hath prepared his throne for judgment," Psalm ix. 4, 7. "I beheld, and the Ancient of Days did sit,-bis throne was like the fiery flame,-thousand thousands ministered unto

him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him, the judgment was set, and the books were opened," Dan. vii. 9, 10. Jerusalem is builded as a city,-whither the tribes go up, for there sit thrones of judgment," Psalm cxxii. 3, 4, 5. "I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them," Apoc. xx. 4. The throne built by Solomon, of which mention is made, 1 Kings x. 18, 19, 20, signified both royalty and judgment, because kings, when they executed judgment, sat upon thrones. It is said that a throne signifies a representation of judgment, because the things which John saw were visions which represented; they were seen as he has described them, but they were forms representative of things to come, as may appear from what follows; as that there were seen animals, a dragon, a beast, a temple, a tabernacle, an ark, and many other things. Similar were the things seen by the prophets, which are mentioned above, n. 36.

230. "And one sat on the throne," signifies, the Lord, as appears manifestly from what follows, and from passages in the Word, where it is said, that the Lord will execute judgment, as in Matt. xxv. 32, 33, and following verses; John v. 22, 27; and elsewhere.

.

231. "And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone," signifies, the appearance of the Lord's divine wisdom and divine love in ultimates. A stone, in the Word, signifies truth in ultimates, and a precious stone, truth transparent from good, n. 915. There are two colors fundamental of the rest in the spiritual world, red and white; white derives its origin from the light of the sun in heaven, thus from spiritual light, which is white; and red derives its origin from the fire of the sun there, thus from celestial light, which is flame-colored. The spiritual angels being in truths of wisdom from the Lord, are in that white light, therefore they are clothed in white; and the celestial angels, being in the good of love from the Lord, are in that flame-colored light, therefore they are clothed in red; thence those two colors obtain also in precious stones in heaven, where they are in great abundance. This is the reason why precious stones, in the Word, sig.