1000. Three unclean spirits like frogs.

That this signifies reasonings from mere falsities against Divine truths, is evident from the signification of unclean spirits, as denoting the falsities of evil from hell. For all in the hells are unclean from the falsities of evil, because all unclean things exist from falsities from evil, and all clean things from truths from good; and from the signification of three, as denoting all things and what is full, and as being said of truths or of falsities (concerning which see (n. 435, 506, 532, 658); hence also by three is signified entirely and absolutely, in this case, absolute falsity, and from the signification of frogs, as denoting reasonings from falsities. That these are signified by frogs follows not only from their croaking but also from their living in marshy and putrid ponds, by which also infernal falsities are signified. For those who reason from falsities against Divine truths dwell in hells which appear to be like marshes and stinking ponds. And those who are there, when seen in the light of heaven, are like frogs, some in a larger, some in a smaller form, according to their conceit arising from reasoning more or less acute. They are also more or less unclean, according to their reasonings against the more interior and more important Divine truths.

[2] That frogs signify reasonings from mere falsities against Divine truths, is evident from the miracle of the frogs in Egypt. For all the miracles performed there signify the plagues or evils with which those are affected after death, who, by the scientifics of the natural man, fight against spiritual goods and truths, and endeavour to destroy them. For by Pharaoh and by the Egyptians were represented and thence signified natural men; and by the sons of Israel, whom they infested and desired to drive back into servitude, were represented and thence signified spiritual men. Thus also by the Egyptians were represented and signified the things pertaining to the natural man, and by the sons of Israel, those pertaining to the spiritual man. The things pertaining to the natural man have reference to evils and falsities, evils to the love, and falsities to the doctrine thereof; and the things that pertain to the spiritual man have reference to the goods that belong to love, and to the truths pertaining to the doctrine thereof.

That by frogs are there signified the reasonings of the natural man from falsities against the truths of the spiritual man, is evident from the description of that miracle in Moses:

That he caused the river to bring forth frogs in abundance; and they went up and came into the house of Pharaoh, and into his bed-chamber, and upon his bed, and into the house of his servants, and of his people, and into the ovens and the kneading troughs. And that after they were dead, they were gathered into heaps, and the land stank (Exodus 8:1, 14).

That frogs here signify the reasonings of the natural man from falsities against Divine truths, is evident from the explanation of all those words in the Arcana Coelestia 7345-7357, 7379-7409).

Also in David:

"He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fish; he caused frogs to come forth upon their lands, into the chambers of their kings" (Psalms 105:29, 30).

[3] This treats of the plagues in Egypt. By the waters turned into blood are signified truths falsified; by the fishes killed are signified that the scientific truths and knowledges of the natural man perished. By the frogs coming forth upon the land are signified the reasonings of the natural man from falsities; the chambers of the kings signify interior truths, which they perverted by reasonings from falsities, inner chambers denoting the interiors, and kings denoting truths. Similar things are signified by the frogs coming up into the house of Pharaoh, into his bed-chamber, and his bed. From these things it is now evident what is signified by the three unclean spirits like frogs, which went forth out of the mouth of the dragon, of the beast, and of the false prophet.

Continuation concerning the Sixth Precept:-

[4] Those who are in love truly conjugial, after death, when they become angels, return into their youth and adolescence. The males, however worn out with age, become young men; and the wives, however worn out with age, become young women. Each conjugial partner returns into the prime of life and into the joys of the age in which conjugial love begins to intensify life with new delights, and to inspire with joyous activity for the sake of prolification. Into this state, first exteriorly, afterwards more and more interiorly to eternity, a man (homo) comes who had shunned adulteries as sins, and was initiated by the Lord into conjugial love in the world.

Because they are always growing more interiorly young, it follows that love truly conjugial increases and enters into the delights and joys provided for it from the creation of the world. These are the delights and joys of the inmost heaven, arising from the love of the Lord towards heaven and the church, and thence from the mutual love of good and truth; from this love every joy in the heavens is derived.

The reason why a man (homo) thus grows young in heaven is, that he then enters into the marriage of good and truth. And there is in good an effort of continually loving truth, and in truth there is an effort of continually loving good; and then the wife is good in form, and the man is truth in form. It is from that effort that a man (homo) puts off all severity, senile harshness, mournfulness, and want of vitality, and puts on the activity, gladness, and freshness of youth, from which the effort receives life and becomes joy.

[5] It has been told me from heaven that they have then a life of love, which can only be described as being the life of joy itself.

That a man (homo) who lives in the world in love truly conjugial comes after death into the heavenly marriage, which is that of good and truth, springing from the marriage of the Lord with the church, is quite clear from this fact, that from marriages in the heavens, although married partners are there united as on earth, children are not born, but instead of children, goods and truths, and thence wisdom, as said above. This is why by births, nativities, and generations in the Word, in its spiritual sense, are meant spiritual births, nativities, and generations, and by sons and daughters, the truths and goods of the church, and other things, but of a similar kind, by daughters-in-law, mothers-in-law, and fathers-in-law. From these things it can also be clearly seen that marriages on earth correspond to marriages in the heavens, and that a man after death comes into the correspondence, that is, from natural corporeal marriage into spiritual heavenly marriage, which is heaven itself, and the joy of heaven.

4495. 'It happened on the third day' means that which is continuous even to the end. This is clear from the meaning of 'the third day' as that which is complete from beginning to end, dealt with in 2788, and so also as that which is continuous. People who suppose that the historical events described in the Word are no more than the facts of earthly history and are holy only because they appear in a sacred book are scarcely able to believe that 'the third day' has that meaning. But, as shown in preceding explanations, it is not only the actual historical narratives that include spiritual and celestial things which are not plainly visible in the letter, but also every word and every number too. The truth of this will in the Lord's Divine mercy be seen far more clearly in the prophetical sections which in the sense of the letter do not hold the mind to the sequence of events in the way that the historical sections do. But anyone who looks carefully into the interior contents of the Word comes to see that the number three, like the number seven, and also the number twelve, holds some arcanum. And if these numbers hold such it follows that every other number in the Word holds the same, for the Word is holy in every part.

[2] Sometimes, when I have been talking to angels, I have seen in front of me what looked like numbers written, as if on a sheet of paper, in broad daylight, and I have realized that the spiritual entities about which the angels spoke pass into numbers like these. From this experience I have also been given to know that each number in the Word contains some arcanum. This may be seen plainly from the following in John,

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.

And elsewhere,

Let him who has intelligence reckon the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, that is, its number is six hundred and sixty-six. Revelation 13:18.

It is evident that the first of these numbers, namely a hundred and forty-four, is the product of twelve times twelve, and that the number six hundred and sixty-six is a product of that involving three or six; but what degree of holiness is implied by them may be seen from the holiness associated with the number twelve, concerning which number see 577, 2089, 2129 (end), 2130 (end), 3272, 3858, 3913; and concerning the holiness associated with the number three, 720, 901, 1825, 2788, 4010.

[3] Because the number three meant that which is complete even to the end, and so an entire period, whether long or short, it was therefore adopted in the representative Church and used whenever such a meaning needed to be conveyed. It is also used in the same way in the Word, in which every detail carries a spiritual meaning, as may be seen from the following places:

They were to go a three days' journey and to offer sacrifice. Exodus 3:18; 5:3.

They were to be ready on the third day, for on the third day Jehovah would come down onto Mount Sinai. Exodus 19:11, 15-16, 18.

Nothing from the flesh of a sacrifice was to be left until the third day. Leviticus 7:16-18; 19:6-7.

The water of separation was to be sprinkled over the unclean person on the third day and on the seventh day. Numbers 19:11-end.

Those who touched one killed in war were to be cleansed on the third day and on the seventh day. Numbers 31:19-25.

[4] Joshua commanded the people that within three days they would be crossing the Jordan. Joshua 1:11; 3:2.

Jehovah called Samuel three times, and three times Samuel ran to Eli and the third time Eli understood that Jehovah was calling Samuel. 1 Samuel 3:1-8.

Jonathan told David to hide in the field until the third evening. And Jonathan sent to him on the third day from then, and revealed his father's intention. Jonathan at that point fired three arrows to the side of the stone. And after that David bowed down to the ground three times before Jonathan. 1 Samuel 20:5, 12, 19-20, 35-36, 41.

Three things were set before David, of which he was to choose one - either the coming of famine for seven years, or his fleeing before his enemies for three months, or the existence of pestilence in the land for three days. 2 Samuel 24:11-13.

[5] Rehoboam told the assembly of Israel which asked for relief from his father's yoke that they should go away for three days and then return And they came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king said, Return to me on the third day. 1 Kings 12:5, 12.

Elijah stretched himself over the widow's son three times. 1 Kings 17:21.

Elijah told them to pour water over the burnt offering and the wood a third time and they did so a third time. 1 Kings 18:34.

Jonah was in the stomach of the monster for three days and three nights Jonah 1:17; Matthew 12:40.

The Lord talked of someone who planted a vineyard and sent servants three times, and after that his son. Mark 12:2, 4-6, Luke 20:12-13.

Of Peter, He said that he was to deny Him three times. Matthew 26:34, John 13:38.

He said to Peter three times, Do you love Me? John 21:15-17.

[6] From these and many other places in the Word it becomes clear that the number three holds an arcanum within it, and that for this reason this number was adopted within the ancient Churches as a meaningful sign. It is evident that it means the entire period of a Church and of things within a Church, whether long or short, and therefore that which is complete and also that which is continuous even to the end, as is plain in Hosea,

Jehovah will revive us after two days, on the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live before Him. Hosea 6:2.