633. Forty and two months.- That this signifies even to the end of the old church, and the beginning of the new, is evident from the signification of months as denoting states, in this case the states of the church; for times, whether hours, days, months, years, or ages, signify states, and such states are designated by the numbers by which those times are determined, as in this case by the number forty-two (concerning this see above, n. 571, 610); and from the signification of forty-two as denoting the end of the former and the beginning of a new church. The reason this number has such a signification is, that it means six weeks, and by six weeks is signified the same as by six days of one week, that is, a state of combat and labour, consequently the end, when the church is altogether vastated, or when evil is consummated; and by the seventh week, which then follows, is signified the beginning of a new church. For the number forty-two results from the multiplication of six into seven, six times seven being forty-two, therefore it signifies the same as six weeks, and six weeks the same as six days of one week, that is, a state of combat and labour, as stated, and also a full state, in the present case, a full consummation of good and truth, or a complete vastation of the church.

[2] In the Word mention is frequently made of forty days, months, and years, and that number there signifies either a complete vastation of the church, or also a full state of temptation. That this state is signified by the numbers forty and forty-two, is evident from the following passages.

In Ezekiel:

Egypt "shall not be inhabited forty years; I will make Egypt a solitude in the midst of the lands that are desolate, and her cities in the midst of the cities that are devastated shall be a solitude forty years; and I will disperse Egypt among the nations, and I will scatter them in the lands; at the end of forty years I will gather Egypt together from the peoples, whither they were dispersed, and I will bring back the captivity of Egypt" (29:11-14)

Egypt signifies the church as to truths scientific (vera scientifica) upon which doctrine is founded. Truths scientific at that time were the knowledges (scientiae) of correspondences and representations, upon which the doctrine of their church was founded. But because the Egyptians turned those knowledges into magic, and by that means perverted the church, therefore its vastation, meant by forty years, is described. This, then, is the signification of Egypt not being inhabited forty years, and its cities being a solitude forty years. By Egypt being dispersed among the nations, and scattered in the lands, is signified that evils and falsities would completely take possession of that church and pervert all its scientifics. It is therefore evident that by forty years is signified the state of its complete vastation, or even to its end, when there would be no longer any truth and good remaining. But the beginning of a new church, signified by the end of forty years, is meant by these words, "at the end of forty years I will gather Egypt together from the peoples whither they were dispersed, and I will bring back the captivity of Egypt."

[3] In the same prophet there is a similar signification in the command

"that he should lie on his right side forty days, and lay siege to Jerusalem," which "shall want bread and water, and shall be desolate a man and a brother and waste away for their iniquity" (4:6, 7, 17).

The complete vastation of the church is also signified by that number; by Jerusalem is signified the church; by laying siege to it is signified to bring it into distress by evils and falses; by wanting bread and water is signified to be vastated as to the good of love and as to the truth of doctrine; by a man and a brother being desolate, and wasting away for their iniquity, things of a similar kind are signified, for a man and a brother denote truth and charity, and to waste away denotes to die.

[4] The forty days of the flood have a similar signification in Genesis:

"For yet seven days I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy all substance, which I have made, from upon the faces of the earth; and there was rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights"; then "after seven days, he sent out a dove, which did not return unto him" (7:4, 12; 8:6, 13).

The flood signifies the devastation of the old, or Most Ancient church, also a last judgment upon those who were of that church. By the rain of forty days is signified its destruction by the falsities of evil; but the beginning of a new church is signified by the drying up of the earth after those forty days, and by its germinating anew. The dove which he sent out signifies the good of charity, which was the essential of that church. Concerning these things see the Arcana Coelestia, where they are explained.

[5] From this signification of the number forty originated this law in Moses, That the wicked man shall be smitten with forty stripes, and not more, "lest thy brother seem vile in thine eyes" (Deuteronomy 25:3). Full punishment as well as vastation is described by forty, for punishment is equally the consummation of evil. And because after punishment reformation succeeds, therefore it is said that he shall not be smitten with more stripes, "lest thy brother seem vile in thine eyes"; for forty signifies the end of evil and also the beginning of good, therefore if more than forty stripes were given, the beginning of good, or reformation, would not be signified.

[6] The vastation of the church with the sons of Jacob by the servitude of four hundred years in Egypt is signified by the words of Jehovah to Abraham,

"Know thou that thy seed shall be a sojourner in a land not theirs, where they shall make them serve four hundred years" (Genesis 15:13).

The signification of four hundred is similar to that of forty, also the signification of a thousand is similar to that of a hundred, of a hundred to that of ten.

[7] The vastation of the church, and also full temptation, are also signified by the sons of Israel remaining forty years in the wilderness, of which it is thus written in the following passages:

"Your sons shall be feeding in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your whoredoms, even until your carcases are consumed in the wilderness" (Numbers 14:33, 34):

"He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that did evil in the eyes of Jehovah was consumed" (Numbers 32:13):

"Jehovah hath known thy walking through this great wilderness these forty years, Jehovah thy God was with thee, that thou lackedst nothing" (Deuteronomy 2:7):

"Thou shalt remember all the way which Jehovah thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to afflict thee, and to tempt thee; he fed thee with manna to afflict thee, to tempt thee, and that he might do thee good at the last" (Deuteronomy 8:2, 3, 16):

"Your fathers tempted me, they proved me; forty years I loathed in this generation, and I said, they are a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways" (Psalm 95:9, 10):

"I made you to ascend out of the land of Egypt, and I led you forty years in the wilderness to possess the land of the Amorite" (Amos 2:10).

It is evident from what has been stated that by forty years is not only signified the vastation of the church with the sons of Israel, but also a full state of temptation; also that by the end of those years the beginning of a new church is signified. The vastation of the church is described by these words, that they should feed in the wilderness forty years, and bear their whoredoms, until their bodies should be consumed; also by these, until all this generation, which hath done evil in the eyes of Jehovah, be consumed; also by these, I loathed in this generation, and I said, they are a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways. But the temptation which is also signified by forty years is described by these words: Jehovah thy God was with thee through the forty years, that thou lackedst not any thing; also by these, Jehovah hath led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to afflict thee, and to tempt thee, and he fed thee with manna; also by these, He led thee in the wilderness to tempt thee, and to do thee good at the last. The beginning of the new church, at the end of the forty years, is described by their introduction into the land of Canaan, which took place after those forty years; and is also meant by the words, to do thee good at the last; also by these, I led you in the wilderness forty years to possess the land of the Amorite.

Full temptation is also signified by Moses being upon Mount Sinai forty days and forty nights, during which he neither ate bread nor drank water (Exodus 24:18; 34:28; Deuteronomy 9:9, 11, 18, 25); similarly, also, by "Jesus being in the wilderness tempted by the devil, where He fasted forty days" (Matthew 4:1, 2; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:1).

[8] From this it is evident that the number forty in the Word signifies complete vastation and consummation, that is, when all the good of the church is vastated, and evil consummated. The same number also signifies full temptation, and at the same time the establishment of the church anew, or reformation. From this the signification of the holy city being trodden under foot by the nations forty and two months is evident. And also in the following in the Apocalypse - that to the beast coming up out of the sea "was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and power was given to him forty and two months" (Revelation 13:15). Let no one therefore suppose that by forty and two months are meant months, or that any special time is designated by the numbers mentioned here and in the words that follow.

610.That there shall be time no longer.- That this signifies that there would be no longer any understanding of Divine Truth, nor any state of the church from it, is evident from the signification of time, as here denoting the state of man as to the understanding of the Word, and therefore the state of the church, because these are the subjects treated of in this chapter. The reason why time signifies state, is, that times in the spiritual world are determined and distinguished only by particular and general states of life. The cause of this is, that the Sun in that world, which is the Lord, is fixed and stationary in the same part of heaven, which is the east, nor is it carried round as the sun in the natural world appears to be. Times are determined by the apparent revolution of this sun, and so exist in general and in particular; in general, the year and its four seasons, which are called spring, summer, autumn, and winter. These four seasons of the year also are the four natural states thereof corresponding to as many states in the spiritual world, which are its general spiritual states. In particular, within those general states in the natural world, there are fixed and stated times, called months and weeks, but especially days, which are distinguished into four natural states, called morning, noon, evening, and night, to which also correspond four states in the spiritual world. Since the Sun, in the spiritual world, as was said above, is not carried round but remains fixed and stationary in the east, therefore there are neither years, months, weeks, days, nor hours, consequently neither are there any determinations by times, but only determinations by states of life, general and particular. For this reason it is not known in the spiritual world what time is, but only what state is; for the determination of a thing gives the idea of it, and the thing is named according to the notion. This then is the reason why it is not known, in the spiritual world, what times are, although they succeed each other there, as in the natural world, but instead of times there are states and their changes; times, therefore, when mentioned in the Word, signify states. Concerning time, and times, in the spiritual world, more, may be seen in Heaven and Hell 162-169); and concerning the changes of state with the angels (n. 154-161). ¹

[2] Since by time are meant those things that pertain to time in the natural world, as those of the year, and of the day, those of the year being seed time and harvest, and those of the day being morning and evening, the states of the church also are described in the Word by those things which belong to time. By seed time is described and signified the establishment of the church; by harvest, its fructification; by morning, the first time of the church; and by noon to evening, its progression. These natural states also correspond to spiritual states, which are states of heaven and the church. In regard to the church, it passes through those states in general, and so does every man of the church in particular. Every man of the church is also inaugurated into those states from his earliest days, but when the church is at its end, he can then no longer be inaugurated, for he does not receive Divine Truth, but either rejects or perverts it, consequently there can be to him neither seed time nor harvest, that is, neither establishment nor fructification, nor has he morning or evening, that is, neither beginning nor progression. These are the states meant and signified by times in the Word; and because in the end of the church those states cease with the men of the church, it is therefore said here that there shall be time no longer, by which therefore is signified, that there shall be no longer any understanding of Divine Truth or the Word, consequently not any state of the church.

[3] The same is signified by time in Ezekiel:

"The evil, one evil, behold, cometh. The end is come, the end is come; it hath watched over thee. Behold the morning cometh upon thee, O thou that dwellest in the land; the time is come" (7:5-7).

These things also are said concerning the state of the church. The end of the former church is first described, and afterwards the establishment of the new church. The end of the former church is described by these words, "The evil, one evil, behold, cometh, the end is come, the end is come;" the establishment of the new church by these words, "The morning cometh upon thee, O thou that dwellest in the land; the time is come." The morning signifies the state of a new church, or the commencement of a church, and time, its progressive state, consequently the same as seed time and harvest, and noon and evening, mentioned above, consequently the state of the church as to the understanding of truth and the will of good.

[4] So in Daniel:

The fourth beast "shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the highest ones, because he shall think to change times and the right (jus); and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times, and part of a time" (7:25).

By the fourth beast is meant the evil which was about fully to vastate the church. The falsities destroying the truths of the church are meant by the words which he shall speak against the Most High, and by the saints of the highest ones, whom he will wear out; the saints of the highest ones, in the abstract sense, signifying Divine truths. That the truths of the Word and the goods thereof, will then be changed into falsities and evils, is signified by his changing the times and the right; times denoting states of the church as to the understanding of truth. The duration of that state in regard to the end of the church is signified by, until a time, and times, and part of a time, which means a full state of vastation.

[5] The same is signified by the following words in Daniel:

"I heard the man clothed in linen when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth unto the ages of the ages, that [it shall be] for a fixed time of fixed times and a half, and when they were about to make an end to disperse the people of holiness, all these things shall be consummated" (12:7).

Time here signifies state and by time, times, and a half, is signified a full state of vastation; it is therefore said, "when they were about to make an end to disperse the people of holiness," the people of holiness denoting those of the church who are in Divine truths, and, in the abstract, Divine truths. Similarly it is said in the Apocalypse that the woman should be nourished in the wilderness" for a time and times and half a time" (12:14).

[6] Because time signifies those things which pertain to time, as spring, summer, autumn, and winter, by which are signified the states of one who is being regenerated, and of one who is regenerated; also such things as pertain to those times, namely, seed time and harvest, which signify the state of the church in regard to the implantation of truth, and the fructification of good thence; therefore similar things are also signified by the times of the day, morning, noon, evening and night, as in the following passages.

Thus in Genesis:

"During all the days of the earth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease" (8:22).

These words are explained in the Arcana Coelestia 930-937).

So in David:

"The day is thine, the night also is thine; thou hast prepared the light and the sun. Thou hast set all the borders of the earth; thou hast made summer and winter" (Psalm 74:16, 17).

And in Jeremiah:

"Jehovah, giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, If those ordinances depart from before me, the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me all the days" (31:35, 36).

And again, in the same prophet:

"Jehovah said, if I have not appointed my covenant of day and night, the ordinances of heaven and earth, I will also refuse the seed of Jacob, and of David my servant" (33:25, 26).

Here the ordinances of the sun, of the moon, and of the stars, also the covenant of the day and of the night, and the ordinances of heaven and of the earth, have a signification similar to times, since times have their existence from those ordinances. That seed time and harvest, summer and winter, also day and night, have a similar signification to times, was shown above.

[7] It follows therefore that the same things are signified by times in these words in Genesis:

"God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and they shall be for signs and for seasons, and for days, and for years" (Genesis 1:14).

The two luminaries, the sun and the moon, signify love and faith; for in the spiritual sense of that chapter the new creation or regeneration of the man of the church is treated of, and those things that chiefly regenerate man, and make the church are signified by what is said of the sun and moon. The above and following words therefore describe the process by which regeneration is accomplished and afterwards the states of regeneration are described. The signification of there being time no longer is therefore now evident from these things.

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