639. Standing before the God of the earth, signifies which are the Divine things proceeding from the Lord, and are His in heaven and in the church. This is evident from the signification of "the God of the earth," as being the Lord, who is the God of heaven and earth, and particularly the God of the church in heaven and in the world; for in the Word "the earth" signifies the church, and the church is both in heaven and in the world. "The earth" means heaven and also the church there, because there are lands in the spiritual world, like as in the natural world, and in external appearance they are altogether similar in that world as in this; this is why "the God of the earth" means the God of heaven and earth, and particularly the God of the church in heaven and in the world. That the Lord is the God of heaven and earth He Himself teaches in Matthew:

Jesus said, All power hath been given unto Me in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18).

The above is evident also from the signification of "standing before Him," as meaning the being [esse] from Him, and thus what is His in heaven and in the church.

[2] In the Word it is here and there said of angels and of the men of the church that "they stand before God," also that "they walk before Him," and in the spiritual sense "to stand before God" signifies being from Him, and "to walk before God" signifies to live according to being [esse] from Him; for all the being [esse] of heaven and the world proceeds from the Lord; for it is the Divine proceeding that has created and formed all things of heaven and the world; this Divine proceeding is called "the Word" in John 1:1-3; and "the Word" there is the Divine proceeding, which is called Divine truth, from which all things were made and created. Because this extends itself in every direction about the Lord as a sun, it is properly said "to stand before Him," for it looks to the Lord as its common center, from every quarter and from every boundary. This is, in its essence, the Lord in heaven, for it is the Divine proceeding, and that which proceeds is of Him from whom it proceeds, and indeed is Himself; just as the heat and light that proceed from the sun are of the sun. For this reason all angels, who are recipients of this Divine proceeding, which is called Divine truth, turn themselves to the Lord, and thus are continually in His presence; for, as was said, the Divine proceeding looks to the Lord as its center from which it is and to which it looks; so also do the angels, who are the recipients of Divine truths, and are as it were Divine truths in form. This is why angels are said "to stand before the Lord," for "to stand" is properly predicated of Divine truth, because this stands about the Lord as a sun.

[3] "To stand before God" signifies to be in Divine truth, and thus with the Lord, also in the following passages. In Luke:

The angel said, I am Gabriel, that standeth before God (Luke 1:19).

In the first book of Kings:

I saw Jehovah sitting on His throne, and all the hosts of the heavens standing beside Him on His right hand and on His left (1 Kings 22:19).

In Jeremiah:

There shall not be cut off from Jonadab a man to stand before Me all the days (Jeremiah 35:19).

In David:

On my right hand standeth the queen in the best gold of Ophir (Psalms 45:9).

In Luke:

Be ye wakeful at every season, that ye may be accounted worthy to stand before the Son of man (Luke 21:36).

In Revelation:

The great day of His anger is come, and who is able to stand? (Revelation 6:17)

All the angels stood around the throne, and the elders and the four animals (Revelation 7:11).

I saw the seven angels who stood before God (Revelation 8:2).

In Zechariah:

The two olive trees and two berries of olives, which are the two sons of the olive tree standing beside the Lord of the whole earth (Zechariah 4:11, 12, 14).

And in other places. It is also said of the Lord Himself that "He stood to judge," because it is said of the Divine proceeding from the Lord, which is called the Divine truth, for judgment is from it. Thus it is said in Isaiah:

Jehovah hath stood up to plead, and standeth to judge (Isaiah 3:13).

And in David:

God stood in the congregation of God, in the midst of the gods He will judge (Psalms 82:1.)

"The congregation of God," and the "gods" in the midst of whom Jehovah stood, mean the angels, by whom in the spiritual sense Divine truths are signified; and because the Lord in heaven is the Divine truth He is here said "to stand." This makes clear that "to stand before the God of the earth" signifies the Divine proceeding from the Lord, which is His in heaven and in the church; that this, and those who are in this, are meant can be seen also from this, "to stand before the God of the earth" is predicated of "the two olive trees" and "the two lampstands," and these signify good and truth, and thus the Divine proceeding. (See also in the preceding article, n. 638)

636. And they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days, signifies that they shall teach, and what shall be taught, even to the end of the old church and the beginning of the new. This is evident from the signification of "to prophesy," as being to teach (See above, n. 624); here both to teach and to be taught, for this is said of "the two witnesses," which signify the good of love and charity and the truth of doctrine and faith, for these with man are what teach and what also are taught; for those who are in the goods of love and in the truths of doctrine teach, and the goods of love and the truths of doctrine are what are taught by them. It is evident also from the signification of "a thousand two hundred and sixty days," as being even to the end of the old church and the beginning of the new, for "a thousand two hundred and sixty days" have a similar signification as "three and a half," since a thousand two hundred and sixty days make three years and a half, computing three hundred and sixty days to the year, and "three and a half" signifies the end of a former state and the beginning of a new one, here the end of the former church and the beginning of the new one, for this refers here to the last time of the church. Because this is the signification of this number, it is said in the ninth verse of this chapter:

They shall see their bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer them to be placed in sepulchers;

and afterwards in the eleventh verse:

And after three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into them.

In these passages "three days and a half" signify the end of the old church, when no good of love or truth of doctrine whatever will be received; and also the beginning of a new church when they will be received. The end of the former church is signified by "the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall kill these witnesses," and the beginning of the new church is signified by "the spirit of life from God entered into them." The number "a thousand two hundred and sixty" has a similar signification as "three and a half," because in the Word "ages," "years," "months," "weeks," "days," and "hours," have a like signification, for these mean merely times, and times in general and in particular, or times greater or less, equally signify states, for a greater or less time designated by numbers does not change the signification of the thing (as shown above, n.571, 633). The same number of days has a like signification in the next chapter of Revelation:

And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared by God, that there they may nourish her a thousand two hundred and sixty days (Revelation 12:6).

The "woman" here means the church; the "wilderness," where she should be nourished, signifies where there is no reception of good and truth; and "after the passing of those days" signifies a new state of the church.