5612. And I shall sin to thee all the days. That this signifies that the good of the church will no longer be, is evident from the representation of Judah, who says this of himself, as being the good of the church (see n. 5583, 5603); and from the signification of “sinning,” as being disjunction (see n. 5229, 5474), thus that it will not be, for anything that is disjoined from another is not with it any longer; and from the signification of “all the days,” as being forever, thus no longer. These things are said because the good of the church is impossible without the intermediate between the internal and the external which is represented by Benjamin; for both the good and the truth of the church flow from the internal through the intermediate into the external, and consequently in the degree that it is important to have the good of the church, in the same degree it is important to have the intermediate. It is for this reason that Judah makes himself surety for Benjamin. That the good of the church is not possible without the intermediate, is signified by these words of Judah, and that the truth of the church is not possible, by Reuben’s words (n. 5542).