The number "two" has two different meanings in the Bible. In most cases "two" indicates a joining together or unification. This is easy to see if we consider the conflicts we tend to have between our "hearts" and our "heads" -- between what we want and what we know. Our "hearts" tell us that we want pie with ice cream for dinner; our "heads" tell us we should have grilled chicken and salad. If we can bring those two together and actually want what's good for us, we'll be pretty happy. We're built that way -- with our emotions balanced against our intellect -- because the Lord is built that way. His essence is love itself, or Divine Love, the source of all caring, emotion and energy. It is expressed as Divine Wisdom, which gives form to that love and puts it to work, and is the source of all knowledge and reasoning. In His case the two aspects are always in conjunction, always in harmony. It's easy also to see how that duality is reflected throughout creation: plants and animals, food and drink, silver and gold. Most importantly, it's reflected in the two genders, with women representing love and men representing wisdom. That's the underlying reason why conjunction in marriage is such a holy thing. So when "two" is used in the Bible to indicate some sort of pairing or unity, it means a joining together. In rare cases, however, "two" is used more purely as a number. In these cases it stands for a profane or unholy state that comes before a holy one. This is because "three" represents a state of holiness and completion (Jesus, for instance, rose from the tomb on the third day), and "two" represents the state just before it.

1311. “耶和华降临” 表对他们的审判. 这从上下文, 以及论及耶和华时所用 “降临” 的含义清楚可知. 前几节经文论述的是建造一城和巴别塔, 接下来的经文论述的是变乱口音和分散, 而用于耶和华的 “降临” 则是指进行审判之时. 耶和华或主无处不在, 并自永恒就知道一切, 所以不可能说祂 “降临要看看”, 只是字义给人这种印象. 但这在内义上并非如此, 因为就内义而言, 事件不是照着表象, 而是照着它原本的样子被呈现出来的. 因此, 本节中 “降临要看看” 表审判.

审判用于罪恶达到顶点, 或按圣言的话说, 罪恶满了或罪孽满盈之时. 此中情形乃是这样: 每一种罪恶都有其所许可延伸到的极限. 倘若超越这些极限, 它必招致罪恶的惩罚. 这既适用于细节, 也适用于总体. 对罪恶的惩罚就是那时所谓的审判. 由于一开始看上去似乎主没有看见或发现罪恶的存在, 因作恶者并未受到惩罚, 所以他以为主不在意这种事; 等到他遭受惩罚时, 却又开始认为主首次看到了, 甚至以为是主在惩罚他, 故经上照着这些表象说 “耶和华降临要看看”.

“降临” 用于耶和华, 是因为 “至高者” 或祂居于 “至高之处” 是用来称谓祂的. 这也是基于表象的措辞, 因为祂不居于至高处, 而是居于至内在事物中, 故在圣言中, 至高和至内在的意思完全一样. 另一方面, 审判, 或对罪恶的惩罚发生在低级和最低级的事物中. 这就解释了为何经上说祂 “降临”. 如诗篇:

耶和华啊, 求你使天下垂, 亲自降临, 摸山, 山就冒烟. 求你发出闪电, 使他们四散. (诗篇 144:5, 6)

这也表对罪恶的惩罚, 就是审判. 以赛亚书:

万军之耶和华也必降临在锡安山冈上争战. (以赛亚书 31:4)

同一先知书:

那时你降临, 众山在你面前震动. (以赛亚书 64:3)

此处 “降临” 同样表对罪恶的惩罚, 即审判. 弥迦书:

耶和华出了祂的居所, 降临步行地的高处. 众山在祂以下必熔化 (弥迦书 1:3, 4).