1855. Verse 16 And in the fourth generation they will return from here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet come to a close.

'In the fourth generation they will return from here' means the period of time and the state of restoration. 'For the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet come to a close' means the final period of time when there is no longer any good.

6007. 'And I will certainly cause you to come up also' means a raising up after that. This is clear from the meaning of 'going up' as a raising up, dealt with in 3084, 4539, 5406, 5817. The raising up meant here is an advance from factual knowledge to more internal ideas. For after such knowledge has been filled with truths in the way stated above in 6004, a person is raised up from it towards more internal ideas; and once that is done the factual knowledge serves him as the groundwork for his contemplations. Being raised up towards more internal ideas is thinking on a more internal level, and at length as spirits and angels do. The more internal the level to which thought rises, the more perfect it becomes because it is closer to the inflow of truth and goodness from the Lord. For thought can exist on more internal or more external levels, 5127, 5141.