5122. The three shoots three days are these. That this signifies continuous derivations down to the last or ultimate one, is evident from the signification of “three,” as being one period and its continuation from beginning to end (n. 2788, 4495); from the signification of “shoots,” as being derivations (n. 5114); and from the signification of “days,” as being states (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785, 4850). From this it follows that by “the three shoots three days are these” is signified the state of the rebirth of this sensuous which is represented by the butler, from its first down to its ultimate; its successive derivations being signified by the “shoots.”

[2] The states of the rebirth of each sensuous, and of each thing in the natural, and also in the rational, have their progressions from beginning to end; and when they come to the end they commence from a kind of new beginning, that is, from the end to which they had striven in the former state, to a further end; and so on; and at last the order is inverted, and then what was last becomes first, just as while man is being regenerated both as to the rational and as to the natural, the periods of the first state are from the truths which are of faith to the goods which are of charity; and then the truths of faith apparently act the first part, and the goods of charity the second, for the truths of faith look to the good of charity as their end. These periods continue even until the man has been regenerated. Afterward charity, which was the end, becomes the beginning, and from it new states commence, which proceed in both directions, namely, toward what is still more interior, and also toward what is exterior; toward the former being toward love to the Lord, and toward the latter being toward the truths of faith, and further toward natural truths, and also toward sensuous truths, which are then successively reduced to correspondence with the goods of charity and of love in the rational, and thus into heavenly order.

[3] These are the things which are meant by continuous progressions and derivations down to the ultimate one. Such progressions and derivations with the man who is being regenerated are perpetual, from his infancy even to the last hour of his life in the world, and also afterward even to eternity; and yet he can never be so regenerated that he can in any way be said to be perfect; for there are things to be regenerated that are innumerable, nay, illimitable in number, both in the rational and in the natural, and everyone of them has shoots illimitable, that is, progressions and derivations toward interior things and toward exterior things. Man knows nothing at all of this; but the Lord knows all things and every single thing, and provides for them every moment. If He were to pause even for an instant, all the progressions would be disturbed; for what is prior looks to what follows in a continuous series, and produces series of consequences to eternity. From this it is plain that the Divine foresight and providence are in everything, even the very least; and that unless this were so, or if they were only universal, the human race would perish.

488. That “days” signify states in general, and “years” states in special, appears from the Word, as in Ezekiel:

Thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years (Ezekiel 22:4),

speaking of those who commit abominations, and fill up the measure of their sins, of whose state in general are predicated “days” and in special “years.”

So in David:

Thou shalt add days to the days of the king, and his years as of generation and generation (Psalms 61:6),

speaking of the Lord and of His kingdom, where also “days” and “years” signify the state of His kingdom. Again:

I have considered the days of old, the years of the ages (Psalms 77:5),

where “days of old” signify states of the Most Ancient Church, and “years of the ages” states of the Ancient Church.

In Isaiah:

The day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed is come (Isaiah 63:4),

speaking of the last times, where the “day of vengeance” signifies a state of damnation, and the “year of the redeemed” a state of blessedness. Again:

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn (Isaiah 61:2),

where both “days” and “years” signify states.

In Jeremiah: Renew our days as of old (Lamentations 5:21),

where state is plainly meant.

[2] In Joel:

The day of Jehovah cometh, for it is nigh at hand, a day of darkness and of thick darkness, a day of cloud and of obscurity; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be after it, even to the years of generation and generation (Joel 2:1-2), where “day” signifies a state of darkness and of thick darkness, of cloud and of obscurity, with each one in particular, and with all in general.

In Zechariah: I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day; in that day shall ye cry a man to his companion under the vine, and under the fig tree (Zechariah 3:9-10).

And in another place:

It shall be one day which is known to Jehovah, not day nor night, and it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light (Zechariah 14:7),

where it is plain that state is meant, for it is said that there shall be a day that is “neither day nor night, at evening time it shall be light.” The same appears from expressions in the Decalogue:

Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may be well with thee upon the ground (Deuteronomy 5:16; 25:15),

where to have the “days prolonged” does not signify length of life, but a happy state.

[3] In the literal sense it must needs appear as if “day” signifies time, but in the internal sense it signifies state. The angels, who are in the internal sense, do not know what time is, for they have no sun and moon that distinguish times; consequently they do not know what days, and years are, but only what states are and the changes thereof; and therefore before the angels, who are in the internal sense, everything relating to matter, space, and time disappears, as in the literal sense of this passage in Ezekiel:

The day is near, even the day of Jehovah is near, a day of cloud; it shall be the time of the nations (Ezekiel 30:3),

and of this in Joel:

Alas for the day! for the day of Jehovah is at hand, and as vastation shall it come (Joel 1:15),

where a “day of cloud” signifies a cloud, or falsity; the “day of the nations” signifies the nations, or wickedness; the “day of Jehovah” signifies vastation. When the notion of time is removed, there remains the notion of the state of the things which existed at that time. The case is the same with regard to the “days” and “years” that are so often mentioned in this chapter.