3845. 'Complete this week' means the continuance of the diligent effort. This is clear from the meaning of 'completing' here as serving or completing by serving, and so as meaning diligent effort, dealt with in 3824; and from the meaning of 'a week' as a state and also a whole period, dealt with in 728, 2044, in this case therefore the state and the subsequent period, and so a continuance. What has been said in 3814 about the meaning of 'a month' applies equally to the meaning of 'a week'. When used in the singular 'week' means the end of some previous state and the beginning of the one that follows it, and so a new state; and by the completing of this is meant from its beginning to its end. The reason why 'a week', like every other time-measurement specifically, means a state and also a period of time is that all states also have their own individual periods of the beginning, the continuance, and the end. In the next life however these are not perceived as periods of time but as states and their integral cycles. Here it is quite evident what 'a week' meant to the ancients, namely - in the proper sense - every period that was divided into seven phases, whether it was a period of seven days or of seven years or of seven ages, and so whether it was a long period or a short one. Here it is plainly a period of seven years. And because 'seven' with those people meant that which was holy, see 84-87, 395, 433, 716, 881, 'a week' therefore meant a holy period, and also the holiness of a period.

728. That 'seven days' time' here means the onset of temptation is clear from the internal sense of all the details in this verse, where the subject is the temptation of the man called Noah. In general the subject concerns not only the temptation of that man but also the utter vastation of those who belonged to the Most Ancient Church and who had become such as described. Consequently 'seven days' time' means not only the onset of temptation but also the finish of vastation. The reason 'seven days' time' means those things is that seven Is a holy number, as stated and shown at verse 2 of this chapter, at Genesis 4:15, 24, and in 84-87. It means the Lord's Coming into the world, and also His coming into glory. In particular it means every coming He makes. Every one of His comings involves a beginning for those who are being regenerated and the end of those who are being vastated. And so for the member of this Church His coming marked the onset of temptation, for when someone is being tempted he starts to become a new man and be regenerated. At the same time it was the end of those from the Most Ancient Church who had become of such a character that inevitably they perished. It was similar when the Lord came into the world; at that time the Church had entered the final stages of its vastation, and a new one came into being.

[2] That 'seven days' time' means these things is clear in Daniel,

Seventy weeks have been decreed concerning your people and your holy city to bring transgression to a close and to seal up sins and to atone for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. And you will know and perceive that from the going forth of the Word to restore and to build Jerusalem until the Messiah, the Prince, there will be SEVEN WEEKS. Daniel 9:24-25.

Here 'seventy weeks' and 'seven weeks' are similar in meaning to seven days, namely the Coming of the Lord. But because it is plain prophecy here, periods of time are presented in an even more holy and decided fashion by numbers involving seven. From this quotation it is clear that, when applied in this way to periods of time, 'seven' means not only the Coming of the Lord, but also - in the words stating that He was to anoint the Most Holy Place and that He was to restore and build Jerusalem - the beginning of a new Church at that time, and simultaneously - in the words stating that [seventy] weeks were decreed concerning the holy city to bring transgression to a close and to seal up sin - final vastation.

[3] Similar usages occur elsewhere in the Word, as in Ezekiel where he describes a personal experience,

I came to those in captivity at Tel-abib, who were sitting by the river Chebar, and I sat there seven days, astonished among them And at the end of seven days the Word of Jehovah came to me. Ezekiel 3:15-16.

Here also 'seven days' stands for the onset of visitation, for when he had sat seven days among those in captivity, the Word of Jehovah came to him. In the same prophet,

They will bury Gog, that they may cleanse the land in seven months. At the end of seven months they will make their search. Ezekiel 39:12, 14.

This similarly stands for the final phase of vastation and the first of visitation. In Daniel,

The heart of Nebuchadnezzar will be changed from a man and the heart of a beast given to him, and seven times will pass over him. Daniel 4:16, 25, 31.

This likewise stands for the finish of vastation and the beginning of a new man.

[4] The seventy years of captivity in Babylon represented the same. Whether the number is seventy or seven what is embodied is the same. The same applies whether it is seven days, or seven years, or seven decades which make seventy years. Vastation was represented by the years of captivity, the beginning of a new Church by the liberation and by the rebuilding of the Temple. Jacob's serving in the house of Laban also represented things of a similar nature - where the following is stated,

I will serve you for seven years for Rachel. And he served for seven years. Laban said, Complete the week of this one, and we will give you also the other one for the service you render with me for another seven years. And Jacob did so, and completed the week of this one. Genesis 29:18, 20, 27-28.

Here 'the service of seven years' embodies something similar. And after the period of seven years marriage and freedom followed. The period of these seven years was called a week, as also in Daniel.

[5] Something similar was also represented by the command to go around the city of Jericho seven times, and the wall would collapse. It is also said that they rose at dawn on the seventh day and went around the city, as they were accustomed to do, seven times. And after the seventh time round, the seven priests blew on their seven trumpets and the wall collapsed, Joshua 6:10-20. Unless these events had also had this meaning the command would never have been given to go round seven times, or that there were to be seven priests and seven trumpets. From these and many other places, for example in Job 2:13; Revelation 15:1, 6-7; 21:9, it becomes clear that 'seven days' time' means the beginning of a new Church and the end of the old. Since the subject here is not only the member of the Church called Noah and his temptation, but also the final descendants of the Most Ancient Church who destroyed themselves, 'seven days' time' can mean nothing other than the onset of the temptation of Noah and the finish of the Most Ancient Church, which was the final destruction and extinction of it.