9373. Come up unto Jehovah. That this signifies conjunction with the Lord, is evident from the signification of “coming up,” as being to be raised toward interior things (see n. 3084, 4539, 4969, 5406, 5817, 6007), consequently also to be conjoined (n. 8760). That it denotes conjunction with the Lord, is because by “Jehovah” in the Word is meant the the Lord, (n. 1343, 1736, 1793, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2921, 3023, 3035, 5663, 6280, 6303, 6905, 8274, 8864, 9315). A secret which also lies hidden in the internal sense of these words, is that the sons of Jacob, over whom Moses was the head, were not called and chosen; but they themselves insisted that Divine worship should be instituted among them (according to wh at has been said in n. 4290, 4293); and therefore it is here said, “and He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah,” as if not Jehovah, but another, had said that he should come up. For the same reason in what follows it is said that “the people should not go up” (verse 2); and that “Jehovah sent not His hand unto the sons of Israel who were set apart” (verse 11); and that “the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the sons of Israel” (verse 17); and lastly that Moses, being called the seventh day, “entered into the midst of the cloud.” For by “the cloud” is meant the Word in the letter (n. 5922, 6343, 6752, 6832, 8106, 8443, 8781); and with the sons of Jacob the Word was separated from its internal sense, because they were in external worship without internal, as can be clearly seen from the fact that now, as before, they said, “all the words which Jehovah hath spoken we will do” (verse 3); and yet scarcely forty days afterward they worshiped a golden calf instead of Jehovah; which shows that this was hidden in their hearts while they were saying with their lips that they would serve Jehovah alone. But nevertheless those who are meant by “the called and the chosen” are those who are in internal worship, and who from internal worship are in external; that is, those who are in love to and faith in the Lord, and from this in love toward the neighbor.

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.

662. 'Everything that is on the earth will breathe its last' means those belonging to that Church who became such. This becomes clear from the fact that 'the earth' does not mean every land throughout the world but only those people who belonged to the Church, as shown already. No flood of any kind is meant here therefore, let alone a flooding of the whole world, but instead the decease or choking to death of those people there who when cut off from remnants, and so from things connected with the understanding of truth and with the will for good, were consequently cut off from the heavens. In addition to places already quoted from the Word, let the following also serve to confirm the fact that 'earth' means that area where the Church is, and therefore those who are there. In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah, The whole earth will be desolate, yet I will not bring it to a close. For this the earth will mourn, and the heavens above be black. Jeremiah 4:27-28.

Here 'the earth' stands for people living where the Church is that has been vastated. In Isaiah,

I will jolt heaven, and the earth will be shaken out of its place. Isaiah 13:13.

'Earth' stands for mankind which is to be vastated where the Church is. In Jeremiah,

The slain ¹ of Jehovah on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. Jeremiah 25:33.

Here 'the end of the earth' does not mean every land throughout the world, only that area where the Church was, and consequently where members of the Church were. In the same prophet,

I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth. A clamour is coming even to the end of the earth, for Jehovah's controversy is against the nations. Jeremiah 25:29, 31.

Nor is the whole world meant here, only the area where the Church is, and consequently where the inhabitant or member of the Church is. 'The nations' here stands for falsities. In Isaiah,

Behold, Jehovah is coming out of His place to visit the iniquity of the inhabitant of the earth. Isaiah 26:21.

Here the meaning is similar. In the same prophet,

Do you not hear? Has it not been pointed out to you from the beginning? Do you not understand the foundations of the earth? Isaiah 40:21.

In the same prophet,

Jehovah who creates the heavens, the God who forms the earth and makes it, the Same establishes it. Isaiah 45:18.

'Earth' stands for the member of the Church. In Zechariah,

The Word of Jehovah who stretches out the heavens, and founds the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. Zechariah 12:1.

'The earth' obviously stands for the member of the Church. The earth is different from the ground in the way that the member of the Church is different from the Church itself, or as love and faith are different.

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