Arcana Coelestia # 2838
2838. 'As it is said today' means that which is perpetual. This is clear from the meaning of 'today' in the Word, dealt with below. One frequently reads in the Word the phrase 'even to this day (or today)', as in what has gone before,
He is the father of Moab even to this day, and the father of Ammon even to this day. Genesis 19:37-38; and in what appears later on,
The name of the city is Beersheba even to this day. Genesis 26:33; also,
The children of Israel do not eat the sinew of that which was displaced, which is on the hollow of the thigh, even to this day. Genesis 32:32; as well as,
This is the pillar of Rachel's grave even to [this] day. Genesis 35:20.
Joseph made it a statute even to this day. Genesis 47:26.
In the historical sense 'to this day' and 'today' refer to the time when Moses was alive, but in the internal sense these expressions mean perpetuity and eternity of state. 'Day' means state, see 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, and so therefore does 'today', which is the present time. That which in the world is temporal is in heaven eternal. To give the meaning of that which is eternal, the expression today or else to this day has been added, though to those who are aware only of the historical sense it does not appear to embody anything further. Similar usages of these expressions occur elsewhere in the Word, such as Joshua 4:9; 6:25; 7:26; Judges 1:21, 26; and in other places.
[2] That 'today' means that which is perpetual and eternal may be seen in David,
I will tell of the statute: Jehovah has said to me, You are My Son; today I have begotten You. Psalms 2:7.
Here 'today' plainly stands for that which is eternal. In the same author,
For ever, O Jehovah, Your Word is fixed in the heavens, Your truth to generation after generation. You have established the earth and it stands. As for Your judgements they stand [even] today. Psalms 119:89-91.
Here also 'today' plainly stands for that which is eternal. In Jeremiah,
Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you, and before you came out of the womb I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations. I have set you this day (today) over nations and over kingdoms; and I have made you today into a fortified city, and into a pillar of iron, and into walls of bronze. Jeremiah 1:5, 10, 18.
This refers in the sense of the letter to Jeremiah, but in the internal sense the Lord is meant. 'I have set you this day (or today) over nations and over kingdoms, and I have made you today into a fortified city' means from eternity. In regard to the Lord one can only speak of that which is eternal.
[3] In Moses,
You are standing today, all of you, before Jehovah your God, so that you may enter into the covenant of Jehovah your God, and into His oath, which Jehovah your God is making with you today, that He may establish you today as a people for Himself, and that He will be God to you. Not indeed with you alone [do I make it], but with those who stand with us here today before Jehovah our God, and with those who are not with us today. Deuteronomy 29:10, 12-15.
Here in the sense of the letter 'today' means that present time when
Moses addressed the people. Yet it is clear that it nevertheless implies subsequent times and what is perpetual; for making a covenant with anyone, and with those who were there and with those who were not, implies that which is perpetual. Perpetuity itself is what is meant in the internal sense.
[4] That 'daily' and 'today' mean that which is perpetual is clear also from the sacrifice that was offered each day. This sacrifice, because of what is meant by day, daily, and today, was called the continual, or perpetual, sacrifice, Numbers 28:3, 23; Daniel 8:13; 11:31; 12:11. This may be even more plainly evident from the manna which rained from heaven, spoken of in Moses as follows,
Behold, I am causing bread to rain from heaven, and the people shall go out and gather a portion day by day. And they shall not leave any of it until the morning. That which they did leave until the morning bred worms and went rotten, except that gathered on the day before the Sabbath. Exodus 16:4, 19-20, 23.
This happened because 'the manna' meant the Lord's Divine Human, John 6:31-32, 49-50, 58, and because the Lord's Divine Human meant heavenly food, which is nothing other than love and charity, together with the goods and truths of faith. In heaven the Lord imparts this food to angels moment by moment, thus perpetually and eternally, see 2193. This is also what is meant in the Lord's Prayer by the petition, Give us today our daily bread, Matthew 6:11; Luke 11:3, that is, in every moment for evermore.
Deuteronomy 30
1
It shall happen, when all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all the nations, where Yahweh your God has driven you,
2
and shall return to Yahweh your God, and shall obey his voice according to all that I command you this day, you and your children, with all your heart, and with all your soul;
3
that then Yahweh your God will turn your captivity, and have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the peoples, where Yahweh your God has scattered you.
4
If [any of] your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of the heavens, from there will Yahweh your God gather you, and from there he will bring you back:
5
and Yahweh your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and he will do you good, and multiply you above your fathers.
6
Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.
7
Yahweh your God will put all these curses on your enemies, and on those who hate you, who persecuted you.
8
You shall return and obey the voice of Yahweh, and do all his commandments which I command you this day.
9
Yahweh your God will make you plenteous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, for good: for Yahweh will again rejoice over you for good, as he rejoiced over your fathers;
10
if you shall obey the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law; if you turn to Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul.
11
For this commandment which I command you this day, it is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.
12
It is not in heaven, that you should say, "Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?"
13
Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, "Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?"
14
But the word is very near to you, in your mouth, and in your heart, that you may do it.
15
Behold, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil;
16
in that I command you this day to love Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that Yahweh your God may bless you in the land where you go in to possess it.
17
But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but shall be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
18
I denounce to you this day, that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land, where you pass over the Jordan to go in to possess it.
19
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your seed;
20
to love Yahweh your God, to obey his voice, and to cling to him; for he is your life, and the length of your days; that you may dwell in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
