2242. I will go down, I pray, and I will see. That this signifies visitation, is evident from the signification of “going down to see,” as being Judgment (explained in Part First,n. 1311), consequently that it is visitation. The last time of the church in general, and that of everyone in particular, is called in the Word “visitation,” which precedes Judgment; thus a “visitation” is simply an exploration as to quality, that is, as to the quality of the church in general, or of a man in particular; and this exploration is expressed in the sense of the letter by Jehovah “going down and seeing.”

[2] This shows what is the nature of the sense of the letter, for Jehovah does not go down, since going down cannot be predicated of the Lord, because He is always in the highest; nor does Jehovah see whether a thing be so, for seeing whether it be so cannot be predicated of the Lord, because He knows all things from eternity both in general and in particular. Nevertheless it is so expressed because it appears to man as if it were so, for man is in things that are below, and when anything appears there, he does not think or even know how the case is with things that are above, thus neither how they flow in, for his thought goes no further than to what is nearest to him, and hence he cannot perceive otherwise than that there is some such thing as going down and seeing, and this the more because he imagines that no one knows what he is thinking; besides that he has no other idea than that there is a coming down from on high, and, when said of God, from the highest; whereas it is not from the highest, but from the inmost.

[3] This shows what is the nature of the sense of the letter, namely, that it is according to appearances and if it were not according to appearances, no one would understand and acknowledge the Word; thus no one would receive it. But the angels are not in appearances in the way that man is, and therefore while the Word as to the sense of the letter is for man, as to the internal sense it is for the angels, as also for those men to whom of the Lord’s Divine mercy it is given, while living in the world, to be like the angels.

[4] “Visitation” is mentioned in various places in the Word, and by it is signified either vastation-whether of the church or of each man-or deliverance, and thus exploration as to quality. It denotes vastation in Isaiah:

What will ye do in the day of visitation? it shall come from far. To whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory? (Isaiah 10:3).

And again:

The stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof shall not shine with their light, the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine, and I will visit evil upon the world, and upon the wicked their iniquity (Isaiah 13:10-11).

That by the stars and constellations which shall not shine, and the sun which shall be darkened, and the moon which shall not make her light to shine, is signified that there will be no love and no charity, may be seen above (n. 2120); and as this is vastation, it is the “day of visitation.”

[5] In Jeremiah:

They shall fall among them that fall, and in the time of their visitation they shall stumble (Jeremiah 8:12);

meaning the time when they have been vastated, or when there is no charity and faith.

In Ezekiel:

The visitations of the city have come near, and every man with his instrument of destruction in his hand (Ezekiel 9:1).

Here also vastation is treated of; hence every man has an instrument of destruction.

In Hosea:

The days of visitation are come, the days of retribution are come (Hos. 9:7).

In Micah:

The day of thy watchmen, thy visitation, is come; now shall be their perplexity (Micah 7:4),

also denoting vastated charity.

In Moses:

In the day of My visiting, and I will visit upon them their sin (Exodus 32:34),

where the people in the wilderness are treated of, after they had made for themselves the golden calf. That deliverance is signified by “visitation” is plain from many passages (as Exodus 3:16; 4:31; Jeremiah 27:22; 29:10; Luke 1:68, 78; 19:41-42).

1311. And Jehovah came down. That this signifies judgment upon them, is evident from what has gone before and from what follows, and also from the signification of “coming down,” when predicated of Jehovah; from what has gone before, in that the subject has been the building of the city and tower of Babel; from what follows, in that the subject is the confusion of lips and of dispersion; from the signification of “coming down,” when predicated of Jehovah, in that this is said when judgment takes place. Jehovah or the Lord is everywhere present and knows all things from eternity; and therefore it cannot be said of Him that He came down to see, except in the literal sense, where it is so said according to the appearances with man. But in the internal sense it is not so, for in this sense the subject is presented as it is in itself, and not according to the appearances; so that in the passage before us “to come down to see” signifies judgment.

[2] Judgment is predicated of a state when evil has reached its highest, or, as it is termed in the Word, when it is “consummated,” or when “iniquity is consummated.” For the case herein is that all evil has its limits as far as which it is permitted to go; but when it goes beyond these limits, it incurs the penalty of the evil. This is so both in particular and in general. The punishment of evil is what is then called a judgment. And because it appears at first as if the Lord did not see or observe that the evil exists-for when a man does evil without punishment, he supposes that the Lord troubles not Himself about the matter, but when he undergoes the penalty he begins to think that the Lord sees, and even that the Lord inflicts the punishment-it is therefore said, in accordance with these appearances, that Jehovah came down to see.

[3] To “come down” is predicated of Jehovah, because “the highest” is predicated of Him, that is, He is said to be in the highest, and this too according to the appearance, for He is not in things highest but in things inmost, and this is the reason why in the Word what is highest and what is inmost have the same signification. On the other hand, judgment or the penalty of evil takes place in lower and lowest things. This explains why He is said to “come down;” as also in David:

O Jehovah, bow Thy heavens and come down; touch the mountains and they shall smoke; cast forth lightning and scatter them (Psalms 144:5-6),

where the punishment of evil, or judgment, is signified.

In Isaiah:

Jehovah of Armies shall come down to fight upon Mount Zion, and upon the hill thereof (Isaiah 31:4).

And again:

O that Thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at Thy presence (Isaiah 64:1).

Here in like manner to “come down” denotes the penalty, or judgment, inflicted upon evil.

In Micah:

Jehovah cometh forth out of His place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth, and the mountains shall be molten under Him (Micah 1:3-4).