639. Standing before the God of the earth, signifies which are the Divine things proceeding from the Lord, and are His in heaven and in the church. This is evident from the signification of "the God of the earth," as being the Lord, who is the God of heaven and earth, and particularly the God of the church in heaven and in the world; for in the Word "the earth" signifies the church, and the church is both in heaven and in the world. "The earth" means heaven and also the church there, because there are lands in the spiritual world, like as in the natural world, and in external appearance they are altogether similar in that world as in this; this is why "the God of the earth" means the God of heaven and earth, and particularly the God of the church in heaven and in the world. That the Lord is the God of heaven and earth He Himself teaches in Matthew:

Jesus said, All power hath been given unto Me in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18).

The above is evident also from the signification of "standing before Him," as meaning the being [esse] from Him, and thus what is His in heaven and in the church.

[2] In the Word it is here and there said of angels and of the men of the church that "they stand before God," also that "they walk before Him," and in the spiritual sense "to stand before God" signifies being from Him, and "to walk before God" signifies to live according to being [esse] from Him; for all the being [esse] of heaven and the world proceeds from the Lord; for it is the Divine proceeding that has created and formed all things of heaven and the world; this Divine proceeding is called "the Word" in John 1:1-3; and "the Word" there is the Divine proceeding, which is called Divine truth, from which all things were made and created. Because this extends itself in every direction about the Lord as a sun, it is properly said "to stand before Him," for it looks to the Lord as its common center, from every quarter and from every boundary. This is, in its essence, the Lord in heaven, for it is the Divine proceeding, and that which proceeds is of Him from whom it proceeds, and indeed is Himself; just as the heat and light that proceed from the sun are of the sun. For this reason all angels, who are recipients of this Divine proceeding, which is called Divine truth, turn themselves to the Lord, and thus are continually in His presence; for, as was said, the Divine proceeding looks to the Lord as its center from which it is and to which it looks; so also do the angels, who are the recipients of Divine truths, and are as it were Divine truths in form. This is why angels are said "to stand before the Lord," for "to stand" is properly predicated of Divine truth, because this stands about the Lord as a sun.

[3] "To stand before God" signifies to be in Divine truth, and thus with the Lord, also in the following passages. In Luke:

The angel said, I am Gabriel, that standeth before God (Luke 1:19).

In the first book of Kings:

I saw Jehovah sitting on His throne, and all the hosts of the heavens standing beside Him on His right hand and on His left (1 Kings 22:19).

In Jeremiah:

There shall not be cut off from Jonadab a man to stand before Me all the days (Jeremiah 35:19).

In David:

On my right hand standeth the queen in the best gold of Ophir (Psalms 45:9).

In Luke:

Be ye wakeful at every season, that ye may be accounted worthy to stand before the Son of man (Luke 21:36).

In Revelation:

The great day of His anger is come, and who is able to stand? (Revelation 6:17)

All the angels stood around the throne, and the elders and the four animals (Revelation 7:11).

I saw the seven angels who stood before God (Revelation 8:2).

In Zechariah:

The two olive trees and two berries of olives, which are the two sons of the olive tree standing beside the Lord of the whole earth (Zechariah 4:11, 12, 14).

And in other places. It is also said of the Lord Himself that "He stood to judge," because it is said of the Divine proceeding from the Lord, which is called the Divine truth, for judgment is from it. Thus it is said in Isaiah:

Jehovah hath stood up to plead, and standeth to judge (Isaiah 3:13).

And in David:

God stood in the congregation of God, in the midst of the gods He will judge (Psalms 82:1.)

"The congregation of God," and the "gods" in the midst of whom Jehovah stood, mean the angels, by whom in the spiritual sense Divine truths are signified; and because the Lord in heaven is the Divine truth He is here said "to stand." This makes clear that "to stand before the God of the earth" signifies the Divine proceeding from the Lord, which is His in heaven and in the church; that this, and those who are in this, are meant can be seen also from this, "to stand before the God of the earth" is predicated of "the two olive trees" and "the two lampstands," and these signify good and truth, and thus the Divine proceeding. (See also in the preceding article, n. 638)

571. That had been prepared for the hour, and day, and month, and year, signifies continually in the state. This is evident from the signification of "being prepared for the hour and day and month and year," as being to be continually in the state, that is, of depriving themselves of all understanding of truth, and thence of spiritual life, which is signified by what follows, namely, "that they should kill the third part of men;" for "hours," "days," "months," and "years," signify in the Word the states of life in particular and in general, therefore "to be prepared for" these periods signifies to be continually in that state. "Hours," "days," "months," and "years," do not mean hours, days, months, and years, because in the spiritual world times are not divided into such intervals, for the sun from which the angelic heaven has its light and its heat is not carried around as the sun in the natural world is apparently, therefore it does not cause years, months, days, or hours; but times in the spiritual world, although they succeed each other as times do in the natural world, are distinguished by the states of life. (What these are may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell, under the head, The Sun in Heaven, n. 116-125; Changes of the State of the Angels in Heaven, n. 154-161; Time in Heaven, n. 162-169.) From this it can he seen that the angels "had been prepared for the hour, day, month, and year," signifies to be continually in the state that is treated of in what follows. That an "hour," signifies state, so also a "day," a "month," and a "year," in like manner, is evident from the passages in the Word in which they are mentioned, but to quote those passages here would be too lengthy. (This, however, can be seen from what is shown respecting Time in the work on Heaven and Hell; also Arcana Coelestia, that "times" do not signify in the Word times, but states of life, n. 2788, 2837, 3254, 3356, 4814, 4901, 4916, 7218, 8070, 10133, 10605.) "Times" signify states for the reason that in the spiritual world there are no stated times of the day called morning, noon, evening, and night, nor stated times of the year called spring, summer, autumn, and winter; nor are there changes of light and shade, of heat and cold, as in our world, but instead of these there are changes of state in respect to love and faith; and from these no idea can be had of the intervals into which our times are divided, although times have progression there as in the natural world (as to this see Arcana Coelestia 1274, 1382, 3356, 4882, 6110, 7218). And as the sun of the angelic heaven, which is the Lord, is continually in its rising, and makes no revolutions as the sun of our world apparently does, but there are instead merely changes of state with the angels and spirits according to their reception of the good of love and the truth of faith, therefore times correspond to changes of state and signify them (Arcana Coelestia 4901, 7381). Therefore angels and spirits think apart from any idea of time, which man cannot do (Arcana Coelestia 3404).