663. Verses 11, 12. And after the three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them that beheld them. And they heard a great voice out of heaven saying unto them, Come up hither! And they went up into heaven in the cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

11. "And after the three days and a half," signifies when it is finished, thus the end of the old church and the beginning of the New Church (n. 664); "the spirit of life from God entered into them," signifies enlightenment and the reception of the influx of Divine truth from the Lord with some for the beginning of the New Church n. 665; "and they stood upon their feet," signifies a new life such as the regenerated man of the church has n. 666; "and great fear fell upon them that beheld them," signifies a state of anxiety with those who did not receive and acknowledge (n. 667).

12. "And they heard a great voice out of heaven saying unto them," signifies the Lord's Divine providence (n. 668); "Come up hither," signifies separation and consequent protection (n. 669); "and they went up into heaven in the cloud," signifies separation in respect to things internal, and their protection n. 670; "and their enemies beheld them," signifies knowledge and acknowledgment with those who are interiorly opposed to the goods and truths of the Word and of the church n. 671.

668. Verse 12. And they heard a great voice out of heaven, saying unto them, signifies the Lord's Divine Providence. This is evident from the signification of "a great voice out of heaven," as being the Lord's Divine Providence. "A voice out of heaven" signifies all that proceeds from the Lord, which in general is called Divine truth, and with us in the world is called the Word; thus in particular every precept and command in the Word is meant; this is called "a voice out of heaven" because it descended and is continually descending from the Lord through heaven with those who read the Word from the spiritual affection of truth. The Lord's Divine Providence is here signified by "a voice out of heaven," because the subject treated of is the state of heaven and the state of the church at its end, when the Lord provides against any sudden change that would do harm to those who are to be separated, some of whom are to come into heaven and some to be cast into hell. Therefore it now follows that the two witnesses by command "went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them," and this that there might be a separation, lest the successive progress of affairs according to order might be disturbed by their presence with the evil and the consequent communication (of which above). This arcanum, however, cannot be described in a few words, but in what follows it will be elucidated as far as possible.