Verse 16. Then the spiritual man will suffer the consequences, for he will bring upon himself a dread of Divine realities, even vastation as to truth, and the force of fiery passions destroying good, that will take away all truths, and deprive man gradually of every principle of good; and no longer will he advance from truth to good, because evils of life will destroy spiritual growth.

5458. 'And Joseph said to them on the third day' means the perception of the celestial of the spiritual regarding those truths separated from itself, when completion is reached. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' as perception, dealt with in 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2619, 3509; from the representation of 'the sons of Jacob' as the truths known to the Church in general, dealt with already, here those truths when separated from the celestial of the spiritual, 5436; from the representation of 'Joseph' as the celestial of the spiritual, also dealt with already; and from the meaning of 'on the third day' as the last phase when another state begins, dealt with in 5159, 5457, and so when completion is reached. From all this it is evident that 'Joseph said to them on the third day' means the perception of the celestial of the spiritual regarding those truths separated from itself, when completion is reached.