1441. That these things are meant by 'Shechem' becomes clear also from the fact that Shechem is so to speak the first stopping-place in the land of Canaan that one comes to when journeying from Syria, or Haran. And since 'the land of Canaan' means the celestial things of love it is clear that 'Shechem' means the first stage in the appearance of celestial things. When Jacob returned from Haran to the land of Canaan he likewise came to Shechem, as becomes clear from the following,

Jacob travelled on to Succoth and built a house for himself, and made shelters ¹ for his cattle; therefore he called the name of the place Succoth. And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-Aram; and he camped before the city. And he set up an altar there. Genesis 33:17-20.

Here also 'Shechem' means the first appearance of light. In David,

God has spoken in His holiness, I will exult, I will divide up Shechem and portion out the valley of Succoth. Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; and Ephraim is the strength of My head, Judah is My lawgiver, Moab is My washbasin, upon Edom I will cast My shoe, over Philistia I will make a loud noise. Psalms 60:6, 8; 108:7, 9.

Here also 'Shechem' has a similar meaning. That names, including Shechem therefore, mean nothing other than real things becomes quite clear from these prophetic utterances of David. Otherwise they would be scarcely more than a heap of names. References to Shechem becoming a city of refuge, Joshua 20:7, and also a priestly city, Joshua 21:21, and a place where the covenant was made, Joshua 24:1, 25, also embody the same.

Fußnoten:

Seven, as in Revelation 15:1, signifies everything in an universal sense. The number 'seven' was considered holy, as is well known, because of the six days of creation, and the seventh, which is the celestial self, where peace, rest, and the Sabbath is. The number seven occurs so frequently in the rites of the Jewish church and is held holy everywhere.

So times were divided into seven, longer and shorter intervals, and were called weeks, like the great intervals of times till the coming of the Messiah, in Daniel 9:24-25. The time of seven years is called 'a week' by Laban and Jacob, as in Genesis 29:27-28. So wherever the number seven occurs, it is considered holy and sacred, as in Psalm 119:164, and in Isaiah 30:26.

As the periods of a person's regeneration are distinguished into six, prior to the seventh, or the celestial self, so the times of vastation are also distinguished, until nothing celestial is left. This was represented by the many captivities of the Jews, and by the last Babylonian captivity, which lasted seven decades, or seventy years. This was also represented by Nebuchadnezzar, in Daniel 4:16, 22, 29. It also refers to the vastation of the end times, in Revelation 15:1, 7-8. They should 'tread the holy city under foot, forty and two months, or six times seven,' as in Revelation 11:2 and Revelation 5:1. So the severity and increments of punishment were expressed by the number seven, as in Leviticus 26:18, 21, 24, 28 and Psalm 79:12.

(Verweise: Apocalypse Explained 5, 7-8, 15; Arcana Coelestia 395; Daniel 9, 9:24, 9:25; Psalms 119)