Apocalypse Explained, volume 1 - Swedenborg Foundation

APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED 623are meant by the words of the verse following, where it is said, thatwhen these things had been heard, “the four and twenty elders felldown before Him that sitteth on the throne, and worshipped Himthat liveth into ages of ages, and cast their crowns before thethrone.”[3] In the Word, “glory and honor” is a frequent expression, and“glory” everywhere signifies truth, and “honor” good. The two arementioned together because in the particulars of the Word there isa heavenly marriage, which is the conjunction of truth and good.There is this marriage in the particulars of the Word, because theDivine that proceeds from the Lord is Divine truth united toDivine good; and because these together make heaven and alsomake the church, therefore this marriage is in the particulars of theWord; so also in the particulars of the Word is the Divine from theLord, and the Lord Himself; this is why the Word is most holy.(That there is such a marriage in the particulars of the Word, seeabove, n. 238; and Arcana Coelestia, n. 2516, 2712, 3004, 3005,3009, 4138, 5138, 5194, 5502, 6343, 7022, 7945, 8339, 9263,9314.)[4] That “glory” signifies Divine truth from the Lord, see above(n. 33); that “honor” signifies Divine good follows from what hasbeen said concerning the heavenly marriage in the particulars of theWord; as can also be seen from the following passages. In David:Jehovah made the heavens; glory and honor are before Him;strength and splendor are in His sanctuary (Ps. 96:5, 6).By “the heavens” the Divine that proceeds from the Lord is meant,since the heavens are from His Divine; and as the Divine thatproceeds and makes the heavens is Divine truth and Divine good, itis said, “glory and honor are before Him;” “sanctuary” means thechurch; Divine good and Divine truth therein are meant by“strength and splendor.” (That the Divine of the Lord makes theheavens, see in the work on Heaven and Hell, n. 7–12; and that theDivine of the Lord in the heavens is Divine truth and Divine good,n. 7, 13, 133, 137, 139, 140.)