199. And I will not blot out his name out of the book of life. That this signifies that they will be in heaven because they are fitted for it is evident from the signification of name, as denoting the quality of the state of man's life (see above, n. 148) and from the signification of the book of life, as denoting heaven, concerning which we shall speak presently. Hence, not to blot their name out of the book of life signifies that they will be in heaven because their state as to love and faith is heavenly, thus because they are fitted for heaven. The reason why heaven is signified by the book of life is, that a man who is in love and faith to the Lord is a heaven in its least form, and this heaven corresponds to heaven in the greatest form: therefore he who has heaven in himself, also comes into heaven, for he is fitted for it. (That there is such a correspondence, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 51-58, 73-77, 87-102; and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 230-236.) Hence it is, that the book of life is that in man which corresponds to the heaven in which he is; and because the former remains with him to eternity, if he becomes spiritual by the knowledges of truth and good applied to life in the world, therefore, it is here said, "I will not blot out his name from the book of life. In the world, indeed, it may be blotted out, if a man does not remain spiritual even unto the end of his life; but if he does remain spiritual it cannot be blotted out, because he is conjoined to the Lord by love and faith; and conjunction with the Lord, such as took place in the world, remains with man after death.

From these considerations it is evident, that by the book of life is meant that from the Lord which is inscribed on a man's spirit, that is, which is inscribed on his heart and soul, or, what is the same, on his love and faith; and that which is inscribed by the Lord on man, is heaven.

[2] It is therefore evident what is meant by the book of life in the following passages; in Daniel:

"The Ancient of days did sit, and the books were opened" (7:9, 10).

Again:

"The people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book" (12:1).

In David:

"Let them be blotted out of the book of lives, and not be written with the righteous" (Psalms 69:28).

In Moses:

Moses said, "Blot me, I pray thee, out of the book which thou hast written. And Jehovah said, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book" (Exodus 32:32, 33).

In the Apocalypse:

"All shall worship the beast, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb" (13:8; 17:8).

In another place:

"And the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And if any one was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire" (Apoc. 20:12, 13, 15).

Again:

"And there shall not enter into the New Jerusalem any but those that are written in the Lamb's book of life" (Apoc. 21:27).

In David:

"My bone was not hid from thee when I was made in secret. Upon thy book all my days were written in which they were formed: not one of them is wanting" (Psalms 139:15, 16).

By all the days being written, are meant all the states of man's life. (That all the separate things which he has thought, willed, spoken and done, yea, which he has seen and heard, are with man in his spirit as if inscribed therein, so that nothing whatever is wanting, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 462, 463, and in Arcana Coelestia, 2469-2494, 7398; and that this is the book of man's life, 2474, 9386, 9841, 10505; and likewise, n. 5212, 8067, 9334, 9723, 9841.)

482. Until now nobody has known what the years and the numbers of years occurring in this chapter mean in the internal sense. People who stay within the sense of the letter imagine that they are no more than chronological years. But none of the content from here down to Chapter 12 is history as it seems to be in the sense of the letter, for every single detail contains something of a different nature. What applies to names applies to numbers as well. In the Word the number three occurs frequently, and so does the number seven; and in every instance they mean something holy or inviolable as regards those states which the periods of time or whatever else that is mentioned embody or represent. This applies as much to the shortest as to the longest time-intervals; for just as parts makeup the whole, so do the shortest make up the longest. For a similarity must exist in order that a whole may emerge satisfactorily out of the parts, or that which is largest out of that which is smallest.

[2] As in Isaiah,

Jehovah has now spoken, saying, In three years, according to the years of a hireling, the glory of Moab will be rendered worthless. Isaiah 16:14.

In the same prophet,

The Lord said to me, Within yet a year, according to the years of a hireling, and all the glory of Kedar will be brought to an end. Isaiah 21:6.

Here both the shortest as well as the longest time-intervals are meant. In Habakkuk,

O Jehovah, I have heard Your fame; I was afraid. O Jehovah, revive Your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years do You make it known. Habakkuk 3:2.

Here 'the midst of the years' stands for the Lord's Coming. If the intervals are shorter this stands for every coming of the Lord, as when a person is being regenerated; but if longer it stands for the rising anew of the Lord's Church. It is also called in Isaiah 'the year of the redeemed', The day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come. Isaiah 63:4.

So too 'the thousand years' for which Satan is to be bound, Revelation 20:2-3, 7, and 'the thousand years' associated with the first resurrection, Revelation 20:4-6. These in no way mean a thousand years but the states associated with them. For just as 'days, as shown 'already, are interpreted as a state, so too are 'years', and the states are described by the number of the years. From this it becomes clear that periods of time in this chapter also embody states, for every Church experienced a different state of perception from the next, according to differences of disposition resulting from inherited and acquired characteristics.