9297. Three times in the year shall every male of thine appear before the faces of the Lord Jehovah. That this signifies the continual appearance and presence of the Lord, therefore also His appearance and presence in the truths of faith, is evident from the signification of “three times in the year,” as being what is complete and continual (see n. 4495, 9198); from the signification of “to be seen,” as being appearance and presence (n. 4198, 5975, 6893); from the signification of “a male,” as being the truth of faith (n. 2046, 7838); and from the signification of “the faces,” when said of Jehovah, that is, of the Lord, as being the Divine good of the Divine love, or mercy (n. 222, 223, 5585, 7599); and as the Divine good of the Divine love is Jehovah Himself, that is, the Lord, therefore by “appearing before the faces of the Lord Jehovah” the same is signified as by being seen by the Lord. Moreover, it is the Lord who sees man, and makes Himself present with him, and gives to the man to see Him. Thus man does not see the Lord from himself, but from the Lord with himself.

[2] How it is to be understood that there is also a continual appearance and presence of the Lord in the truths of faith, shall be briefly told. The presence of the Lord with a man is in the good in him, because good makes his life; but not truth, except insofar as it is from good. From this it is that (as before said, n. 9296) the dwelling place of the Lord with a man is in the good of innocence; and therefore when a man has been regenerated, the Lord is present with him not only in good, but also in truths which are from good; for the truths then have life from good, and are the good in a form, by means of which the quality of the good can be perceived. These are the truths that make the new understanding of the man, which makes a one with his new will. For, as before said, all things bear relation to truth and to good, and the understanding of man is allotted to truths, but the will to the good from which are the truths. From this it is evident how it is to be understood that the appearance and presence of the Lord are then also in the truths of faith. These are the things which are signified by “three times in the year shall every male appear before the faces of the Lord Jehovah.” It is said that “the male” shall appear, because by a “male” is signified the truth of faith; and therefore it is said “before the faces of the Lord Jehovah,” for the reason that by “Jehovah” is signified the Divine being, and by “Lord” the Divine coming-forth from being; consequently the being in man is good, and the coming-forth from this truth.

[3] It is said in the church that faith is from the Lord; but be it known that the faith which is from charity is from the Lord, but not the faith which is separate from charity; for this latter faith is from man’s own, and is called “persuasive faith” (of which i (9363-9369) n the Doctrine of Charity and Faith before the next chapter). A man is able to know whether the faith in him is from the Lord or from himself; one who is affected by truths merely for the sake of a reputation for learning, in order that he may gain honors and wealth, and not for the sake of the good use of life, is in persuasive faith, which is from himself, and not from the Lord.

[4] In the truth of faith there are theoretical matters and practical ones; and he who regards the theoretical for the sake of the practical, and who sees the former in the latter, and who thus from both conjoined regards the good use of life, and is affected by both for the sake of this end, is in faith from the Lord. The reason is that the use of life, being the end, with him is good, and all things are formed according to the use of life; and the truths of faith are that by which the formation is effected. That this is so, is very manifest from those who are in the other life. All there, without exception, are reduced to the state of their good, or to the state of their evil, and thus to the use of their life, which had been their end, that is, which they had loved above all things, and which consequently had been the very delight of their life. All are reduced to this. The truths or falsities which had made a one with this use, remain, and more besides are adopted which conjoin themselves with the former, and complete the use, and cause the use to appear in its own real form. From this it is that spirits and angels are forms of their use; evil spirits forms of evil use, and these are in hell; good spirits or angels forms of good use, and these are in heaven. From this also it is that the quality of spirits is known the moment they are present; their truths of faith are known from their faces and the beauty of these in respect to their form; and the good itself, which is the use, from the fire of love therein which gives life to the beauty; and also from the sphere which surges from them. From all this it is again evident what is the presence of the Lord in the truths of faith.

4495. And it came to pass on the third day. That this signifies what is continuous even to the end, is evident from the signification of the “third day,” as being what is complete from beginning to end (see n. 2788), thus also what is continuous. That this is the signification of the “third day,” can scarcely be believed by those who regard the historicals of the Word as mere worldly histories, holy merely because they are in the sacred volume. But that not only the historicals of the Word themselves enfold within them spiritual and heavenly things which are not apparent in the letter, but that so also do all the words, and even all the numbers, has been shown in the preceding explications; that such is really the case will of the Lord’s Divine mercy become still more evident in the prophetic parts, which do not keep the mind so closely engaged with the succession of statements in the sense of the letter as do the historical parts. But that the number “three,” also the number “seven,” and the number “twelve,” enfold deep secrets within them, must be evident to everyone who examines the Word in regard to its interiors; and if these numbers are so full of significance, it follows that there must be something deeply hidden in all the other numbers that occur in the Word, for the Word is holy throughout.

[2] Sometimes when speaking with angels, as it were written numbers appeared before my eyes like those seen on paper in bright day, and I perceived that the very things they were speaking of fell into such numbers; and from this experience I learned that every number mentioned in the Word holds within it some mystery, as is very evident from the following passages:

He measured the wall of the Holy Jerusalem a hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel (Revelation 21:17).

He that hath intelligence let him compute the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is six hundred and sixty six (Revelation 13:18).

That the number first mentioned—“144”—results from the multiplication of twelve into itself, and that the number “666” is a product of three and six, is manifest, but what holy thing they enfold within them may appear from the holiness of the number “twelve” (see n. 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272, 3858, 3913), and of the number “three” (n. 720, 901, 1825, 2788, 4010).

[3] This latter number—“three”—being significative of what is complete even to the end, thus of one period, great or small, was received in the representative church, and was employed whenever such a thing was signified; and also in the Word (in which all things have a signification both in general and in particular) as may be seen from the following instances:

That they should go three days’ journey and should sacrifice (Exodus 3:18; 5:3).

That they should be ready against the third day, because on the third day Jehovah would come down upon Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:11, 15-16, 18).

That nothing should be left of the flesh of the sacrifice until the third day (Leviticus 7:16-18; 19:6-7).

That the water of separation should be sprinkled upon the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day (Numbers 19:11-22).

That they who touched one slain in war should be purified on the third day and on the seventh day (Numbers 31:19-25).

That Joshua commanded the people to pass over Jordan within three days (Josh. 1:11; 3:2).

That Jehovah called Samuel three times, and Samuel ran to Eli three times, and Eli understood the third time that Jehovah had called Samuel (1 Samuel 3:1-8).

That Jonathan said to David that he should hide himself in the field unto the third day at even, and that Jonathan sent to him on the third morrow, and revealed the disposition of his father; and that Jonathan then shot three arrows at the side of the stone; and that after this David bowed himself three times to the earth before Jonathan (1 Samuel 20:5, 12, 19-20, 35-36, 41).

That three things were offered to David to chose from: that there should come seven years of famine, that he should flee three months before his enemies, or that there should be three days’ pestilence in the land (2 Samuel 24:11-13).

That Rehoboam said to the congregation of Israel who sought to be relieved from the yoke of his father, that they should go away three days, and come again; and that they came to Rehoboam the third day, as the King bade, saying, Come to me again the third day (1 Kings 12:5, 12).

That Elijah stretched himself upon the widow’s son three times (1 Kings 17:21).

That Elijah told the people to pour water upon the burnt-offering and the wood the third time, and they did it the third time (1 Kings 18:34).

That Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17; Matthew 12:40).

That the Lord spoke of a man who planted a vineyard and sent his servants three times, and afterwards his son (Mark 12:2, 4-6; Luke 20:12-13).

That He said of Peter that he should deny Him thrice (Matthew 26:34; John 13:38).

That He said to Peter three times, Lovest thou Me? (John 21:15-17).

From these and many other places in the Word it may be seen that there was some mystery in the number “three,” and that therefore this number was received among the significatives in the ancient churches. That it signifies an entire period of the church and of the things in the church, whether great or small, is manifest; and that it consequently signifies what is complete and also continuous to the end, is very plain in Hosea:

Jehovah will vivify us after two days; on the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live before Him (Hos. 6:2).