728. That “in yet seven days” here signifies the beginning of temptation, is evident from the internal sense of all things mentioned in this verse, in that the temptation of the man called “Noah” is treated of. It treats in general both of his temptation and of the total vastation of those who were of the Most Ancient Church and had become such as has been described. Therefore “in yet seven days” signifies not only the beginning of temptation, but also the end of vastation. The reason why these things are signified by “in yet seven days” is that “seven” is a holy number, as was said and shown before in Genesis 7:2 and in Genesis 4:15-24; and at n. 84-87. “In seven days” signifies the Lord’s coming into the world, also His coming into glory, and every coming of the Lord in particular. It is an attendant feature of every coming of the Lord that it is a beginning to those who are being regenerated, and is the end of those who are being vastated. Thus to the man of this church the Lord’s coming was the beginning of temptation; for when man is tempted he begins to become a new man and to be regenerated. And at the same time it was the end of those of the Most Ancient Church who had become such that they could not but perish. Just so when the Lord came into the world-the church at that time was in its last state of vastation, and was then made new.
[2] That these things are signified by “in yet seven days” is evident in Daniel:
Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people, and upon the city of thy holiness, to consummate the transgression, to seal up sins, and to purge away iniquity, and to bring in the righteousness of the ages, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies. Know therefore and perceive, from the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem, unto Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks (Daniel 9:24-25).
Here “seventy weeks” and “seven weeks” signify the same as “seven days” namely, the coming of the Lord. But as here there is a manifest prophecy, the times are still more sacredly and certainly designated by septenary numbers. It is evident then not only that “seven” thus applied to times signifies the coming of the Lord, but that the beginning also of a new church at that time is signified by the “anointing of the holy of holies” and by Jerusalem being “restored and built.” And at the same time the last vastation is signified by the words, “Seventy weeks are decreed upon the city of holiness, to consummate the transgression, and to seal up sins.”
[3] So in other places in the Word, as in Ezekiel, where he says of himself:
I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that sat by the river Chebar, and I sat there astonished among them seven days; and it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of Jehovah came unto me (Ezekiel 3:15-16).
Here also “seven days” denote the beginning of visitation; for after seven days, while he sat among those who were in captivity, the word of Jehovah came unto him. Again:
They shall bury Gog, that they may cleanse the land, seven months; at the end of seven months they shall search (Ezekiel 39:12, 14).
Here likewise “seven” denotes the last limit of vastation, and the first of visitation.
In Daniel:
The heart of Nebuchadnezzar shall they change from man, and the heart of a beast shall be given unto him, and seven times shall pass over him (Daniel 4:16, 25, 32),
denoting in like manner the end of vastation, and the beginning of a new man.
[4] The “seventy years” of Babylonish captivity represented the same. Whether the number is “seventy” or “seven” it involves the same, be it seven days or seven years, or seven ages which make seventy years. Vastation was represented by the years of captivity; the beginning of a new church by the liberation and the rebuilding of the temple. Similar things were also represented by the service of Jacob with Laban, where these words occur:
I will serve thee seven years for Rachel; and Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and Laban said, Fulfill this week, and I will give thee her also, for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years; and Jacob did so, and fulfilled this week (Genesis 29:18, 20, 27-28).
Here the “seven years” of service involve the same, and also that after the days of seven years came the marriage and freedom. This period of seven years was called a “week” as also in Daniel.
[5] The same was represented too in the command that they should compass the city of Jericho “seven times” and the wall would then fall down; and it is said that:
On the seventh day they rose with the dawn and compassed the city after the same manner seven times, and it came to pass at the seventh time the seven priests blew the seven trumpets and the wall fell down (Joshua 6:10-20).If these things had not likewise had such a signification, the command that they should compass the city seven times, and that there should be seven priests and seven trumpets would never have been given. From these and many other passages (as Job 2:13; Revelation 15:1, 6-7; 21:9), it is evident that “in seven days” signifies the beginning of a new church, and the end of the old. In the passage before us, as it treats both of the man of the church called “Noah” and his temptation, and of the last posterity of the Most Ancient Church, which destroyed itself, “in yet seven days” can have no other signification than the beginning of Noah’s temptation and the end or final devastation and expiration of the Most Ancient Church.
