7986. 'And so it was at the end of the four hundred and thirty years' means the time of the Lord's Coming, when they were saved. This is clear from the meaning of 'the four hundred and thirty years' as a state made complete and the duration of the vastation or molestation of those belonging to the spiritual Church who were held back on the lower earth until the Lord's Coming, when they were delivered, dealt with immediately above in 7985, and in 6854, 6914, 7035, 7091, 7828, 7932. So it is that 'at the end of those years' means the time of the Lord's Coming, when they were saved.

7035. 'Israel is My son, My firstborn' means that those guided and governed by spiritual truth and good have been adopted. This is clear from the meaning of 'son', when used by Jehovah or the Lord to speak of those who belong to the spiritual Church, as one who has been adopted, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'firstborn' as the faith that is wedded to charity, which the spiritual Church possesses, dealt with in 367, 2475, 3725, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930; and from the representation of 'Israel' as the spiritual Church, dealt with in 6637. 'Israel is My son, My firstborn' means that those guided and governed by spiritual truth and good - that is, those belonging to the spiritual Church - have been adopted and so recognized as sons because the Lord saved them by His Coming into the world, see 6854, 6914. For this reason also, as well as by virtue of their faith in the Lord, they are called 'the firstborn son'; and they are the ones who are meant by the Lord in John,

And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one Shepherd. John 10:16.