476. That there should be no more time. This symbolically means that there will be no church or any state of the church unless people acknowledge one God, and that the Lord is that God.

Time symbolizes state, and because the church is the subject here, it symbolizes a state of the church. Consequently, that there should be no more time means, symbolically, that there should be no state of the church.

It follows also that it means there would be no church unless people acknowledge one God, and that the Lord is that God. But what is the case today? No one denies that there is one God, but people do deny that the Lord is that God. And yet there cannot be one God in whom there is at the same time a Trinity unless that God is the Lord. No one denies that the church originates from Him who is the Savior and Redeemer, but people do deny that they should turn to Him directly as their Savior and Redeemer.

It is apparent from this that the church will die unless a new one arises, one that acknowledges the Lord alone as God of heaven and earth and accordingly turns to Him directly (see Matthew 28:18 ¹ ). Consequently the statement here that there should be no more time, that is to say, no church, is related to what is said in verse 7 of this chapter, ² and verse 7 in turn is related to what is said in chapter 11:15, ³ where we are told that there would be a church which would be the Lord's alone.

[2] Time symbolizes state because in the spiritual world time is not measured by days, weeks, months and years, but instead by states which are progressions of the inhabitants' lives, by which they recall the past. (On which subject, see the book Heaven and Hell, published in London in 1758, nos. 162-169, where we dealt with time in heaven.)

The state of the church is meant here by time because although day and night, morning and evening, summer and winter mark periods of time in the world, when interpreted in the spiritual sense they mark states of the church. Consequently, when these states come to an end, there is no church; and that is the case when there is no longer any good and truth, thus when the light of truth has become dark, and the warmth of goodness cold. That is what is meant by the statement that there should be no more time.

The following passages in the Word have similar meanings:

(The fourth beast) shall think to change times... (Daniel 7:25)

There shall be one day which is known to Jehovah - neither day nor night (and so not a period of time). (Zechariah 14:7)

...I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in broad daylight (and so not in a period of time). (Amos 8:9)

...a single evil, behold, it has come! An end has come, the end has come... The morning has come upon you, who dwell in the land; the time has come... (Ezekiel 7:5-7)

The morning is the commencement of the New Church (no. 151), which is why it says, "The time has come."

Poznámky pod čarou:

151. "'And I will give him the morning star.'" (2:28) This symbolizes intelligence and wisdom then.

Stars symbolize concepts of goodness and truth, as may be seen in no 51 above; and because concepts of goodness and truth are the means to intelligence and wisdom, therefore these concepts are symbolically meant by the morning star. It is called the morning star, because the people meant here will be given intelligence and wisdom by the Lord when He comes to establish the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem; for He says, "Hold fast what you have till I come" (verse 25), which symbolically means, "so that they may retain the few truths that they know from the Word about charity and its resulting faith, and live according to them, until the New Heaven and New Church are formed, which are the Lord's advent" (no. 145).

[2] It is called the morning star because the morning symbolizes the Lord's advent, when the New Church is formed. That this is the meaning of the morning in the Word is apparent from the following passages:

Till the two thousand three hundredth evening and morning, then the sanctuary shall be made right... The vision of the evening and the morning... is the truth. (Daniel 8:14, 26)

One is calling to me from Seir, "Watchman..., watchman, what of the night?" The watchman said, "The morning comes, and also the night. (Isaiah 21:11-12)

Evening and night symbolize the final period of the old church, and morning the initial period of a new church.

An end has come... The morning has come upon you, you who dwell in the land... Behold, the day... has come! The morning has gone forth. (Ezekiel 7:6-7, 10)

Jehovah... every morning will bring His judgment to light, and it shall not be lacking. (Zephaniah 3:5)

God is in the midst of her...; God shall help her when He beholds the morning. (Psalms 46:5)

I have waited for Jehovah... My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, [indeed] than those who watch for the morning... For... with Him is abundant redemption, and He shall redeem Israel... (Psalms 130:5-8)

[3] And elsewhere. Morning in these passages means the Lord's advent, when He came into the world and established a new church, and likewise now. Moreover, because the Lord alone imparts intelligence and wisdom to the people who will be people of His New Church, and as everything that the Lord imparts embody Him because they are His, therefore the Lord says that He is the morning star:

I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star. (Revelation 22:16)

He is also called the morning in 2 Samuel:

The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me: .".. He is as the light of the morning..., a morning without clouds...." (2 Samuel 23:3-4)