685. And He shall reign unto the ages of the ages.- That this signifies His dominion to eternity by means of Divine Truth, is evident from the signification of reigning, when said of the Lord, as denoting to have dominion by means of Divine Truth, concerning which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of unto the ages of the ages as denoting to eternity. Unto the ages of the ages denotes to eternity, because the sense of the letter of the Word is natural, to which the spiritual sense corresponds. The natural sense of the Word consists of such things as are in nature, which have reference in general to times and spaces, and to places and persons; and the ages of the ages have relation to times, to which eternity corresponds in the spiritual sense. It is the same with generation of generations, where the extension of faith and charity in the church is treated.
[2] To reign, in reference to the Lord, signifies to have dominion by means of Divine Truth, because dominion is said of good, and to reign of truth, for the Lord is called Lord (Dominus) from Divine Good, and king from Divine Truth. This is why both terms are mentioned everywhere in the Word, namely, dominion and kingdom, or to have dominion and to reign, as in the following passages.
[3] In Micah:
"Thou O hill of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall come and return the former dominion, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem" (iv. 8).
Since the daughter of Zion signifies the celestial church, whose essential is the good of love, therefore dominion is said of it, and because the daughter of Jerusalem signifies the spiritual church, whose essential is truth of doctrine, therefore the term kingdom is applied to it.
[4] In David:
"Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all the ages, and thy dominion to every generation and generation" (Psalm cxlv. 13).
In Daniel:
To the Son of man "was given dominion, glory and a kingdom; his dominion is the dominion of an age, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" (vii. 14).
In the same:
"The kingdom and the dominion, and majesty of the kingdoms, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High" (vii. 27).
In these passages dominion is said of good, because from good the Lord is called Lord, and kingdom is said of truth, because from this the Lord is called king.
As in the Apocalypse:
He who sat upon the white horse "had upon his garment and upon his thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords " (xix. 16).
King of kings is said of the name upon the vesture, and Lord of lords of the name upon the thigh, for garment signifies truth, here Divine Truth, because the Lord is meant, and thigh signifies good, here the Divine Good of Divine Love.
Similarly, as applied to men, in David:
"The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers consulted together" (Psalm ii. 2).
From this it is evident what reigning unto the ages of the ages signifies in particular. That kingdom signifies heaven and the church as to the truth of doctrine, see above (n. 48). That to reign belongs to the Lord alone; and, that when said of men, it denotes to be in truths from good from the Lord, and to have power therefrom of resisting falsities from evil (n. 333).
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