4. In support of this, I would like in this first chapter simply to cite passages from the Word where it says “that day, ” “on that day, ” or “at that time, ” passages where “day” and “time” mean the Lord’s Coming. From Isaiah:

In the days to come it will happen that the mountain of Jehovah will be established as the highest of the mountains. On that day Jehovah alone will be exalted. The day of Jehovah Sabaoth is majestic and high above all. On that day people will throw away idols of their silver and gold. (Isaiah 2:2, 11-12, 20)

On that day the Lord Jehovih will take away adornments. (Isaiah 3:18)

On that day the branch of Jehovah will be beautiful and glorious. (Isaiah 4:2)

[Their enemy] will roar against the people on that day and look down on the earth. Behold, there is darkness and anxiety, and the light will be growing darker among their ruins. (Isaiah 5:30)

It will happen on that day that Jehovah will whistle to the fly at the very end of the rivers of Egypt. On that day the Lord will shave [Judah] at the crossings of the river. On that day he will bring [a young cow and two sheep] to life. On that day every place will become brambles and thorns. (Isaiah 7:18, 20-21, 23)

What will you do on the day of visitation? Who will come? On that day Israel will rely on Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. (Isaiah 10:3, 20)

It will happen on that day that the nations will seek out the root of Jesse, the one who stands as a sign for the peoples, and glory will be his rest. Above all, on that day the Lord will seek out the remnant of his people. (Isaiah 11:10-11)

You will say on that day, “I will praise you, Jehovah.” You will say on that day, “Praise Jehovah! Call upon his name!” (Isaiah 12:1, 4)

The day of Jehovah is near; it will come from Shaddai like destruction. Behold, the cruel day of Jehovah is coming-a day of resentment, blazing wrath, and anger. I will violently move heaven, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, on the day of his blazing anger. His time is at hand and it will come, and the days will not be prolonged. (Isaiah 13:6, 9, 13, 22)

It will happen on that day that the glory of Jacob will be worn away. On that day, people will look back to their Maker, and their eyes [will look] toward the Holy One of Israel. On that day there will be cities of refuge in the forsaken parts of the forest. (Isaiah 17:4, 7, 9)

Those who dwell on [this] island will say on that day, “Look at what has happened to our hope!” (Isaiah 20:6)

On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking the languages of Canaan. On that day there will be an altar to Jehovah in the center of Egypt. On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Israel will be at the center of the land. (Isaiah 19:18-19, 23-24)

A day of tumult, trampling, and confusion from the Lord Jehovih Sabaoth... (Isaiah 22:5)

On that day Jehovah will punish the army of the high place and the monarchs of the earth. After a great many days they will be punished. Then the moon will blush and the sun will be ashamed. (Isaiah 24:21, 23)

It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him to set us free.” (Isaiah 25:9)

On that day this song will be sung in the land of Jehovah: “We have a strong city.” (Isaiah 26:1)

On that day Jehovah will bring punishment with his sword. On that day answer him by saying, “A vineyard whose wine is pure.” (Isaiah 27:1-2, 12-13)

On that day Jehovah Sabaoth will become an ornate crown and a diadem. (Isaiah 28:5)

Then on that day the deaf will hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind will see out of the darkness. (Isaiah 29:18)

On the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall, there will be a channel of waters. The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun on the day when Jehovah binds up the breach of his people. (Isaiah 30:25-26)

On that day they will each throw away the idols of their silver and gold. (Isaiah 31:7)

The day of Jehovah’s vengeance, the year of his recompense... (Isaiah 34:8)

These two things will come to you in one day: the loss of your children, and widowhood. (Isaiah 47:9)

My people will know my name, and on that day [they will know that] I am the one saying “Here I am!” (Isaiah 52:6)

Jehovah has anointed me to proclaim the year of Jehovah’s good pleasure and the day of vengeance for our God, to comfort all who are mourning. (Isaiah 61:1-2)

The day of vengeance is in my heart and the year of my redeemed has arrived. (Isaiah 63:4)

From Jeremiah:

In those days you will no longer say, “The ark of the covenant of Jehovah.” At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah. In those days the house of Judah will go to the house of Israel. (Jeremiah 3:16-18)

In that day the heart of the monarch will perish, and the heart of the royal family, and the priests and the prophets will be stunned. (Jeremiah 4:9)

Behold, the days are coming in which the earth will turn into a wasteland. (Jeremiah 7:32, 34)

They will fall among those who fall on the day of their visitation. (Jeremiah 8:12)

Behold, the days are coming in which I will execute judgment upon everyone whose foreskin has been circumcised. (Jeremiah 9:25)

In the time of their visitation they will perish. (Jeremiah 10:15)

There will be no remnant of them; I will bring evil upon them in the year of their visitation. (Jeremiah 11:23)

Behold, the days are coming in which it will no longer be said... (Jeremiah 16:14)

I will look at them in the back of the neck and not in the face on the day of their destruction. (Jeremiah 18:17)

Behold, the days are coming in which I will make this place a devastation. (Jeremiah 19:6)

Behold, the days are coming in which I will raise up for David a righteous branch who will rule as king. In those days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell in safety. Therefore behold, the days are coming in which it will no longer be said... I will bring evil upon them in the year of their visitation. At the very last of days you will fully understand. (Jeremiah 23:5-7, 12, 20)

Behold, the days are coming in which I will turn back [the captivity of my people]. Alas, that day will be great, and there will be none like it. It will happen on that day that I will break the yoke and tear off the fetters. (Jeremiah 30:3, 7-8)

The day will come when the guards cry out on Mount Ephraim, “Arise, let us climb Zion to Jehovah our God.” Behold, the days are coming in which I will make a new covenant. The days are coming in which the city of Jehovah will be built. (Jeremiah 31:6, 27, 31, 38)

The days are coming in which I will perform the good word [that I promised]. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous branch to grow for David. In those days Judah will be saved. (Jeremiah 33:14-16)

On that day I will bring words against this city for evil. You, though, I will rescue on that day. (Jeremiah 39:16-17)

That day will be a day of vengeance for the Lord Jehovih Sabaoth; he will take vengeance on his enemies. The day of destruction has come upon them, the time of their visitation. (Jeremiah 46:10, 21)

Because of the day that is coming for devastation... (Jeremiah 47:4)

I will bring upon [Moab] the year of visitation. Nevertheless I will bring back its captives at the very last of days. (Jeremiah 48:44, 47)

I will bring destruction upon them at the time of their visitation. Their youths will fall in the streets and all their men of war will be cut down on that day. At the very last of days I will bring back their captives. (Jeremiah 49:8, 26, 39)

In those days and at that time the children of Israel and the children of Judah will come together and seek Jehovah their God. In those days and at that time the iniquity of Israel will be sought, but there will be none. Woe to [the Babylonians], because their day has come, the time of their visitation. (Jeremiah 50:4, 20, 27, 31)

They are vanity, a work of errors; they will perish at the time of their visitation. (Jeremiah 51:18)

From Ezekiel:

The end has come; the end has come. It has come upon you like the morning. The time has come; the day of tumult is near. Behold the day; see, it has come. The trunk has blossomed; violence has sprouted. The day has arrived; the time has come upon their whole multitude. Their silver and gold will not rescue them on the day of Jehovah’s wrath. (Ezekiel 7:6-7, 10, 12, 19)

People were saying of the prophet, “The vision that he is seeing will not happen for many days; his prophecy concerns distant times.” (Ezekiel 12:27)

They will not be able to stand up in the war on the day of Jehovah’s wrath. (Ezekiel 13:5)

You pierced, godless prince of Israel, whose day has come, in the time of iniquity of the end... (Ezekiel 21:25, 29)

O city shedding blood in your own midst so that its time will come, you have made the days approach so that you will come to your years. (Ezekiel 22:3-4)

Surely on the day that I take their strength from them, on that day someone who has been rescued will come to you with information for you to hear. On that day your mouth will be opened to speak with the one who has been rescued. (Ezekiel 24:25-27)

On that day I will cause the horn of the house of Israel to grow. (Ezekiel 29:21)

Wail “Alas for the day, ” because the day of Jehovah is near, the day of Jehovah is near. It will be a day of cloud, a time for the nations. On that day messengers from me will go forth. (Ezekiel 30:2-3, 9)

On the day you go down into hell... (Ezekiel 31:15)

I myself will search for my flock, on a day when it is in the midst of your flock, and I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a cloudy and dark day. (Ezekiel 34:11-12)

On the day when I cleanse you from all your iniquities... (Ezekiel 36:33)

Prophesy and say, “Will you not know it on that day when my people Israel settle safely? In the days to come I will bring you against my land. [This will happen] on that day, on the day when Gog comes upon the land [of Israel]. In my zeal, in the day of my indignation, surely on this day there will be a great earthquake upon the land of Israel.” (Ezekiel 38:14, 16, 18-19)

Behold, it is coming; this is the day of which I have spoken. It will happen on that day that I will give Gog a burial place in the land of Israel, so that the house of Israel will know that I, Jehovah, am their God from that day on. (Ezekiel 39:8, 11, 22)

From Daniel:

God in the heavens has revealed mysteries concerning what will happen in the days to come. (Daniel 2:28)

The time came for the saints to establish the kingdom. (Daniel 7:22)

“Understand that the vision concerns the time of the end.” [Gabriel] said, “Behold, I am making known to you what will happen at the end of the wrath, because at the appointed time the end will come.” The vision of evenings and mornings is the truth. Hide the vision, because it is for many days. (Daniel 8:17, 19, 26)

I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people at the very last of days, because the vision applies to days yet to come. (Daniel 10:14)

Those who understand will be tested in order to be purified and cleansed, until the time of the end, since it is yet for an appointed time. (Daniel 11:35)

At that time Michael will rise up, the great leader who stands up for the children of your people. There will be a time of distress such as there has not been since the nation [began]. At this time, however, your people will be rescued-everyone who is found written in the book. (Daniel 12:1)

You, Daniel, close up the words and seal the book until the time of the end. But from the time when the daily offering is taken away and the abomination that causes devastation is set up, there will be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. You will arise into your inheritance at the end of days. (Daniel 12:4, 9, 11, 13)

From Hosea:

I will make an end of the kingdom of the house of Israel. On that day I will break the bow of Israel. Great will be the day of Jezreel. (Hosea 1:4-5, 11)

On that day you will call [me] “my husband.” On that day I will make them a covenant. On that day I will respond. (Hosea 2:16, 18, 21)

The children of Israel will turn back and seek Jehovah their God and David their king at the very last of days. (Hosea 3:5)

Come, let us return to Jehovah. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, and we will live in his presence. (Hosea 6:1-2)

The days of visitation have come; the days of retribution have come. (Hosea 9:7)

From Joel:

Alas for the day, because the day of Jehovah is at hand; it will come as destruction from Shaddai. (Joel 1:15)

The day of Jehovah is coming, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness. Great is the day of Jehovah and extremely terrifying; who can endure it? (Joel 2:1-2, 11)

Upon my male and female servants I will pour out my spirit in those days. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and terrifying day of Jehovah comes. (Joel 2:29, 31)

In those days and at that time I will gather all nations together. The day of Jehovah is at hand. On that day it will happen that the mountains will drip with new wine. (Joel 3:1-2, 14, 18)

From Amos:

The strong of heart will flee naked on that day. (Amos 2:16)

On the day that I punish Israel for its sins... (Amos 3:14)

Woe to you who long for the day of Jehovah. What is the day of Jehovah to you? It will be a day of darkness and not of light. Surely the day of Jehovah will be a day of darkness and not of light, a day of thick darkness with no light at all. (Amos 5:18, 20)

The songs of the Temple will be howls on that day. On that day I will make the sun set at noon, and will darken the earth on a day of light. On that day beautiful young women and also young men will faint from thirst. (Amos 8:3, 9, 13)

On that day I will raise up the fallen tent of David. Behold, the days are coming when the mountains will drip with new wine. (Amos 9:11, 13)

From Obadiah:

On that day will I not destroy the wise of Edom? Do not rejoice over them on the day of their destruction, on the day of their distress. The day of Jehovah over all nations is at hand. (Obadiah 1:8, 12-15)

From Micah:

On that day the lament will be “We have been utterly destroyed.” (Micah 2:4)

At the very last of days the mountain of the house of Jehovah will be established on the top of the mountains. On that day I will gather the lame. (Micah 4:1, 6)

On that day I will cut off your horses and your chariots. (Micah 5:10)

The day of your watchmen, your visitation, has come. The day for building the walls is here. This is the day in which he will come to you. (Micah 7:4, 11-12)

From Habakkuk:

The vision is still set for an appointed time and speaks concerning the end. If it delays, wait for it, because it will surely come and will not be postponed. (Habakkuk 2:3)

Jehovah, do your work in the midst of the years; in the midst of the years you will make it known. God will come. (Habakkuk 3:2)

From Zephaniah:

The day of Jehovah is at hand. On the day of the sacrifice of Jehovah I will execute judgment upon the royal family and upon the children of the monarch. On that day there will be the sound of shouting. At that time I will examine Jerusalem with lamps. The great day of Jehovah is at hand. This day is a day of blazing wrath; a day of distress and repression; a day of destruction and devastation; a day of darkness and gloom; a day of clouds and thick darkness; a day of trumpets and shouting. On the day of the blazing wrath of Jehovah the whole earth will be devoured and he will make a prompt end to all those who dwell in the land. (Zephaniah 1:7-8, 10, 12, 14-16, 18)

... when the day of the wrath of Jehovah has not yet come upon us. Perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the wrath of Jehovah. (Zephaniah 2:2-3)

Wait for me until the day I rise up for plunder, because that will be my judgment. On that day you will not be ashamed of your deeds. On that day it will be said to Jerusalem, “Do not be afraid.” I will deal with your oppressors at that time. At that time I will bring you back. At that time I will gather you together to give you a name and praise. (Zephaniah 3:8, 11, 16, 19-20)

From Zechariah:

I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. On that day each of you will invite your neighbor under a vine and under a fig tree. (Zechariah 3:9-10)

Then many nations will be joined to Jehovah on that day. (Zechariah 2:11)

In those days ten men will take hold of the hem of a man of Judah. (Zechariah 8:23)

Jehovah their God will save them on that day, as the flock of his people. (Zechariah 9:16)

My covenant was broken on that day. (Zechariah 11:11)

On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all peoples. On that day I will strike every horse with confusion. On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a fiery furnace surrounded by logs. On that day Jehovah will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem. On that day I will seek to destroy all the nations [that are coming against Jerusalem]. On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will increase. (Zechariah 12:3-4, 6, 8-9, 11)

On that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. It will happen on that day that I will cut off the names of idols from the land. On that day the prophets will be ashamed. (Zechariah 13:1-2, 4)

Behold, the day of Jehovah is coming. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives. On that day there will be no light or radiance. One day that will be known to Jehovah, not day or night, there will be light around the time of evening. On that day living waters will go forth from Jerusalem. On that day Jehovah will be one, and his name one. On that day there will be a great panic from Jehovah. On that day “Holiness belongs to Jehovah” will be engraved on the bells of the horses. There will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of Jehovah on that day. (Zechariah 14:1, 4, 6-9, 13, 20-21)

From Malachi:

Who can bear the day of his coming? Who will stand when he appears? They will be mine on the day that I make them my treasure. Behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrifying day of Jehovah comes. (Malachi 3:2, 17; 4:1, 5)

From David:

In his days the righteous will flourish and there will be much peace, and he will reign from sea to sea, and from the river all the way to the ends of the earth. (Psalms 72:7-8)

There are other instances elsewhere.

4503. 'The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city' means that all his descendants destroyed that doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of 'the sons of Jacob' as descendants from Jacob, dealt with above; from the meaning of 'plundering' as destroying; and from the meaning of 'the city' as the doctrine of the Church, dealt with above in 4500. Simeon and Levi's going away after they had killed every male in the city as well as Hamor and Shechem, and then Jacob's sons' coming upon the slain and plundering the city, involves an arcanum, the meaning of which is not evident except from the internal sense.

[2] That arcanum is this: After the truth and good of the Church which are represented by 'Simeon and Levi' were wiped out and falsity and evil took their place, further falsities and evils were added, which are meant in the contrary sense by the rest of Jacob's sons. Each son of Jacob represented some general aspect of faith and charity, as has been shown in 2129, 3858, 3913, 3926, 3939, 4060.

Which aspect is represented by each, see the following:

Reuben, 3861, 3866, 3870;

Judah, 3881;

Dan, 3921-3923;

Naphtali, 3927, 3928;

Gad, 3934, 3935;

Asher, 3938, 3939;

Issachar, 3956, 3957;

Zebulun, 3960, 3961.

These general aspects of faith and charity which those sons represented become falsities and evils of that kind once the truth and good of the Church have been wiped out and those further falsities and evils have been added to them; for falsities and evils are constantly on the increase within the Church once it has been perverted and wiped out. It is these added falsities and evils that are meant by the reference to Jacob's sons coming upon the slain and plundering the city after Simeon and Levi had killed every male in the city as well as Hamor and Shechem, and had taken Dinah and gone away.

[3] That 'the slain' in the Word means truths and goods which have been wiped out may be seen from the following places: In Isaiah,

You are cast out from your sepulchre like an abominable branch, a garment of the killed - slain with the sword - who go down to the stones of the pit like a dead body trodden underfoot. Isaiah 14:19.

This refers to Babel. 'Those slain with the sword' stands for those who have profaned the truths of the Church. In the same prophet,

So that their slain are cast out and the stench of their dead bodies rises up. Isaiah 34:3.

This refers to the falsities and evils which infest the Church, 'the slain' standing for these.

[4] In Ezekiel,

The violent of the nations will draw the sword against the beauty of your wisdom, and they will profane your loveliness. They will bring you down into the pit and you will die the deaths of those slain in the midst of the seas. Ezekiel 28:7-8.

This refers to the prince of Tyre who means the leading cognitions of truth and good. 'Dying the deaths of those slain in the midst of the seas' stands for those who use facts to hatch falsities and in consequence defile the truths of the Church.

[5] In the same prophet,

They also will go down with them into hell, to those slain with the sword. You will be made to go down with the trees of Eden into the nether world, in the midst of the uncircumcised you will lie with those slain with the sword. Ezekiel 31:17-18.

In the same prophet,

Go down and lie with the uncircumcised; they will fall in the midst of those slain with the sword; the chief of the powerful ones will speak to him in the midst of hell. Ezekiel 32:19-21.

This refers to Pharaoh and Egypt. 'Those slain with the sword' stands for those who by their use of knowledge become insane; by their use of it they destroy all belief in the truth known to the Church.

[6] In David,

I have been reckoned with them going down to the pit; I have become as a man with no strength, neglected among the dead, like the slain lying in the sepulchre whom you remember no more and who have been cut off by your hand.

'The slain' in hell - those in the pit and 'in the sepulchre' - stands for those who have destroyed the truths and goods residing with them by means of falsities and evils. Anyone can recognize that these are not in hell merely because they have been slain with the sword.

[7] In Isaiah,

A city of tumults, an exultant city, [your slain] have not been slain with the sword, and they have not been killed in war. All who have been found in you have been bound together in chains. They have fled from far away. Isaiah 22:2-3.

This refers to the illusions resulting from the evidence of the senses which do not enable the truths of the Church to be seen. It refers therefore to people subject to negative doubt, and these are called 'slain but not with the sword'.

[8] In Ezekiel,

I am bringing a sword upon you and destroying your high places; and your altars will be destroyed, and your statues will be broken; and I will cause your slain to lie before your idols. When the slain have fallen in the midst of you, you will know that I am Jehovah. Then you will acknowledge, when the slain are in the midst of their idols, around their altar. Ezekiel 6:3-4, 7, 13.

'The slain' stands for those who are governed by falsities of doctrine.

[9] In the same prophet,

Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. They went forth and smote in the city. Ezekiel 9:7.

This is a prophetic vision. 'Defiling the house and filling the courts with the slain' stands for profaning goods and truths. In the same prophet,

You have multiplied your slain in this city, and have filled its streets with the slain. Therefore said the Lord Jehovih, Your slain whom you have placed in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and that is the pot; and he will lead you out from the midst of it. Ezekiel 11:6-7.

[10] Because 'the slain' meant those who have annihilated the truths of the Church by means of falsities and evils, therefore also in the representative Church those who touched one who had been slain were unclean. Such persons are referred to in Moses as follows,

Everyone who has touched on the surface of the field one slain with the sword, or one dead, or a human bone, or a sepulchre will be unclean for seven days. Numbers 19:16, 18.

Inquiry was therefore made and atonement effected by means of a heifer. In the same author,

If one is found slain, lying in the field, and it is not known who smote him, then the elders of the city and the judges shall come out and they shall measure [the distance] to the cities which are around the one slain. It shall be, that in the city nearest to the one slain the elders of that city shall take a heifer by means of which no work has been done, which has not pulled in the yoke, and they shall bring it down to the river or valley, and there they shall break the heifer's neck. And they shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck has been broken and shall say, Our hands have not shed blood, and our eyes have not seen it. Expiate Your people Israel, O Jehovah, and do not set innocent blood in the midst of Your people; and the blood shall be expiated for them. Deuteronomy 21:1-8.

[11] These laws were laid down because one who has been slain means the perversion, destruction, and profanation of the truth of the Church by means of falsity and evil, as is evident from each detail in the internal sense. The expression 'one slain, lying in the field' is used because 'the field' means the Church, see 2971, 3310, 3766. 'A heifer by means of which no work has been done' means the innocence of the external man which is present within ignorance. Without a clear knowledge of these things meant in the internal sense everyone will be surprised that a procedure such as this for making expiation should ever have been ordained.