Arcana Coelestia #893
893. Verse 13 And it happened in the six hundred and first year, at the beginning, on the first of the month, that the waters dried up from over the earth, and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and saw out, and behold, the face 1 of the ground was dry.
'It happened in the six hundred and first year' means a finishing point. 'At the beginning, on the first of the month' means a starting point. 'The waters dried up from over the earth' means that falsities were not at that time apparent. 'And Noah removed the covering of the ark, and saw out' means the light, once falsities had been removed, shed by the truths of faith, which he acknowledged and in which he had faith. 'And behold, the face 1 of the ground was dry' means regeneration.
Note a piè di pagina:
1. literally, the faces
[893a] 1
That 'it happened in the six hundred and first year means a finishing point is clear from the meaning of the number six hundred, dealt with at Chapter 7:6, in 737, as a beginning, and in particular in that verse as the beginning of temptation. The end of it is specified by the same number, with a whole year having now passed by. It took place therefore at the end of a year, and this also is why the words are added 'at the beginning, on the first of the month', meaning a starting point. In the Word any complete period is specified either by a day, or a week, or a month, or a year, and even by a hundred or a thousand years - for example, 'the days' mentioned in Genesis 1, which meant stages in the regeneration of the member of the Most Ancient Church. For in the internal sense day and year mean nothing else than a period of time; and meaning a period of time they also mean a state. Consequently a year stands in the Word for a period of time and for a state, as in Isaiah,
To proclaim the year of Jehovah's good pleasure, and the day of vengeance for our God; to comfort all who mourn. Isaiah 61:2.
This refers to the Lord's Coming. In the same prophet,
The day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redeemed had come. Isaiah 63:4.
Here too 'day' and 'year' stand for a period of time and for a state. In Habakkuk,
Your work, O Jehovah, in the midst of the years make it live, in the midst of the years do You make it known. Habakkuk 3:2.
Here 'years' stands for a period of time and for a state. In David,
'You are God Himself, and Your years have no end. Psalms 102:27.
This statement, in which 'years' stands for periods of time, means that time does not exist with God. The same applies in the present verse where 'the year' of the flood in no way means any one particular year but a period of time that is not determined by a specific number of years. At the same time it means a state. See what has been said already about 'years' in 482, 487, 488, 493.
1. This paragraph is not numbered in the Latin.
Arcana Coelestia #7766
7766. 'One more plague I will bring onto Pharaoh and onto Egypt' means the final stage of vastation, which is damnation. This is clear from the meaning of 'one more plague' as the last stage of vastation. It is evident from the explanation of what has gone before that the plagues brought onto Egypt meant consecutive states of vastation. The fact that the last stage is damnation - the damnation of faith separated from charity - will be evident from what is to follow; for the killing in Egypt of the firstborn means the damnation of that faith, 'death' being damnation and 'the firstborn' faith. Faith is said to be damned when matters of faith are used to support falsities and evils. When used in support of these, matters of faith go over to their side and become endorsements of them. This happens with those who separate faith from charity in both doctrine and life. But no faith in fact resides with them, only knowledge of such things as are matters of faith, though they call that knowledge faith. This is what one should understand by faith that is damned. Furthermore the people themselves in whom such matters of faith have been linked to falsities and evils end up in damnation after undergoing stages of vastation. Their damnation is made perceptible by the rotten and foul stink that emanates from them, worse than any emitted by those who have never subscribed to matters of faith. Their situation in particular is the same as that which arises in a general way. Generally, if an evil spirit approaches a heavenly community, where charity exists, its inhabitants smell plainly the foul stink emanating from him. They do so in particular situations in which such things as belong to heaven, that is, matters of faith, have co-existed in a person with such things as belong to hell. From all this it is now evident that 'one more plague which will be brought onto Pharaoh and onto Egypt' means the last stage of vastation, which is damnation. For 'Pharaoh' represents those who have been molesters, at this point those who are damned, and 'Egypt' means the natural mind, 5276, 5278, 5280, 5288, 5301, 6147, 6252.
