727. Verse 4. For in yet seven days I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every substance that I have made will I destroy from off the faces of the ground. “In yet seven days” signifies the beginning of temptation; “to rain” signifies temptation; “forty days and nights” signifies the duration of temptation; “I will destroy every substance that I have made from off the faces of the ground” signifies the Own of man, which is as it were destroyed when he is being regenerated. The same words signify also the extinction of those of the Most Ancient Church who destroyed themselves.