Chapter twelve picks up the thread of events outlined in chapters ten and eleven, but it marks a major change in the sequence of the chapters. The two preceding chapters deal with the onset of temptation after repentance—and describe in great detail the course of that temptation, until, finally, the king of the North is destroyed. This destruction marks a victory over temptation.

As in all victories, however, there are certain "mopping up" operations to be done, which are described in the first three verses of this chapter. It is important to notice that the opening verses are a continuation of the angel speaking to Daniel. This reminds us that this final temptation took place after repentance.

VERSES 1-4

The victory in temptation brings with it a judgement over previous states. We have already been introduced to the concept of spiritual judgement in chapter seven, when Daniel saw a vision of the Ancient of Days seated on a fiery throne. That chapter describes a judgement on our external behaviours (remember the vision took place in the reign of Belshazzar). It was largely on the basis of that personal evaluation of our lives that the next series of events took place. Once we see our selves as prone to evil, we see where it comes from and the effect it has, we can be led into an even greater judgement. This judgement is described in the repentance sequence in chapter nine, for true repentance is a judgement of our states of life with a commitment to rejecting and overcoming it.

Judgement always involves a struggle, especially when two sides or aspects of our personalities are involved. The events of that struggle are described in the temptations of chapters ten and eleven. When, however, the conscience gains the upper hand, we come into the final states of our spiritual development, the separating out of residual evil, and falsity from the increasingly strong states of goodness from the Lord.

The means of the judgement in this chapter is Michael, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people. We first met Michael in the tenth chapter, when the angel speaking to Daniel notes that Michael has been sent to help him. Michael is always mentioned in terms of protection, as in this chapter he "stands watch over the sons of your people" and in Revelation he protects the Woman clothed with the sun.

In the verse, Michael is referred to as "the great Prince," a fitting title, for a prince, the son of a king, is a chief in the land, a leader.

Spiritual defence is combat against evil and falsity, and, as the state now described is one of victory over temptation, we can assume that Michael was at our side throughout the process, only when we are in a state of temptation, we are not always conscious of or aware of, the truths with us. Temptation dims our perception of the truth, for in temptation we feel an equal pull towards and away from truth. Often we do not recognise truth for what it is, which makes it possible for us to decline into states of evil.

When we come out of temptation, however, we see truth quite clearly. Thus Michael shall "stand up" as if he hadn't been there before. This represents a new clarity, for with our propensity to selfishness beaten we can see truth in its glory. "Standing" represents the truths which directed us through our various temptations becoming the central and unquestioned centre of our minds. Note that Michael will "stand watch over the sons of your people," and here again the emphasis is on truth. As we have noted before "sons" denote the truth in our minds.

The principle being developed in this final chapter then, is that while the conscience may take a battering during the process of our temptations, should we emerge victorious, that conscience becomes the major force in our post-temptation state. Michael standing up to watch over the sons of our people describe this development, for the fighting and protecting truth, having guided us in the valley of the shadow of death, now guides us into the light of wisdom.

The sight of truth leads into new states. As we examine our lives in its light we will still find many things opposite to, and interfering with our new perception of truth and its corresponding desire to do good things, both spiritually and naturally. The result is "trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time".

The "trouble" is different. Before victory our spiritual troubles were temptations, or conflicts between good and evil. We were torn in two. The clarity of victory doesn't bring this kind of trouble however, for once a temptation has been overcome, the evil or falsity prompting it looses its power over us. What remains is to separate out the residual things

Most of these take the form of habitual feelings, thoughts and actions, which, because they have been practised for so long, remain with us even thought they are no longer connected with their underlying source. The effect of victory is to take notice of these and to reject them from our lives.

Notice the angel's words to Daniel: "And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book." The promise it that in the final separating out of evil thoughts and feelings in the wake of victory, the states related to Daniel, or the conscience, shall be gathered together and preserved.

The promise of deliverance is crucial to the development of the theme of victory. If we did not believe that our temptations would eventually subside we would never manage the spiritual energy to fight against them. Life would seem both pointless and hopeless. The whole book of Daniel, however, points to ultimate deliverance, and the idea follows like a thread through both the historical and prophetic sections. Remember how Daniel was taken captive from Jerusalem? His deliverance came when he found favour, first with the master of the eunuchs, and then with Nebuchadnezzar. In the second chapter he is delivered from death by being able to interpret the kings dream. In the third chapter his friends are saved in the fiery furnace. Again he is rescued in the lion's den, and so on. In the prophetic sections the theme continues in the alternating states of temptation and peace. Each state of peace is a deliverance.

Delivery from evil is liberation from damnation (Arcana Coelestia 8018). When our selfish side runs amok in our lives, as Nebuchadnezzar and the others run wild, we are in spiritual danger. Selfishness pulls us into hell like a current pulling a ship out to sea. Unless a person finds the means to resist that pull, we will find ourselves in the depths of spiritual destruction. The Lord delivers us from this fate by giving us a conscience—the Daniel in our minds.

In history the Lord saved the human race when He came into the world and made it possible for Divine truths, the Logos, to come down to a level at which it could interact with human evil. The Lord interacted with evil spirits, He endured temptation, and even allowed Himself to be crucified. This makes it possible for His truth to continue to penetrate down to our level. We are capable of learning that truth and of having it form the basis not only of our thoughts, but also of our motivations, and our actions. Thus we can be delivered. Deliverance is the ultimate act of mercy on the part of the Lord.

Not all our states can be delivered, however. Our selfishness, greed, arrogance and pride that were taken on in the throes of temptation cannot be purified and lifted up to heaven. They must be jettisoned completely as an impediment to our spiritual life. On the things we do in accordance with the Lord, which up to this point are the things of repentance and reformation, can be lifted up. Thus the angel said to Daniel, “and at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book.”

Our 'book of life' is the record, in our memories, of all we have done during our lives in this world—and salvation is the Lord's remembering or noticing of these deeds (Arcana Coelestia 8620). If our deeds were those of unrepentance, a wallowing in states of selfishness, then our book of life would reflect this, and the Lord, on seeing us would be reminded of our selfishness. However, if, as is the case in this chapter, our life has been one of a progressive development of the conscience, accompanied by a sight of our motivating evils and a constant battle against them, then our book of life will reflect a growing spirit.

The result will be the gradual perfection of life. One should not think that once we have been victorious in temptation our lives level off to spiritual stagnation. Angels are continually being perfected to eternity—only from their developed state they do not undergo temptations as we do. For them it is a much easier matter to reject the imperfections within themselves and embrace the higher, ....more spiritual things planted in their spirits by the Lord Himself.

So Daniel is told that after deliverance, “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

The meaning of this verse is fairly clear in the light of what has been said before. "Those who sleep in the dust of the earth" describe our various states, our thoughts and feelings, our habitual ways of looking at things which are "asleep" because they are buried in our unawareness. "To be asleep" generally means to be in states of obscurity, as we have seen many times before.

The "dust of the earth" is reminiscent of the creation story in Genesis, where God formed a mail from "the dust of the ground, and he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7). Thus we are carried back to the imagery of the perfect being, formed by God to live in the Garden of Eden.

However, before we attain that state, we still have to be perfected in this spiritual development Note everything in us can be lifted up, and so some of our states awaken "to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt."

The same is true with our ideas. In another image carrying us back to the earlier parts of Genesis, Daniel gives symbols of the firmament and the stars. Both of these were created by God in the Genesis account, and both represent the perfection of the regenerating mind. However, once again there is a purification process, for "those who are wise shall shine," and those "who turn to righteousness like stars forever and ever."

The states after temptation, therefore, are states of increasing spiritual development and peace. The book of Daniel does not develop these ideas in any further detail, but from other places in the Word we are shown how this peace takes form in our minds. Once selfishness is subdued, rooted out with all its terrible effects from our lives, we are open to the wonder of heaven. An inkling of that state is given to us in the Heavenly Doctrines: “Such people feel pleasure in worshipping God for God's sake and in performing services for the neighbour for his sake, and so in doing good for good's sake and in speaking truth for truth's sake. They are unwilling to acquire merit by any charitable act or point of faith, they flee from and loathe evils, enmity for example, or hatred, revenge, or adultery, and even thinking about such things with the intention of doing them (The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine 167).

Even the most casual consideration of this passage shows us how different this state is from the selfish states represented by Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, how far removed it is from the viciousness of the beast arising from the sea, or the pomposity of the he-goat's little horn. Repentance and temptation breaks the power of these things over our minds, and the Lord, in His infinite mercy, forgives us our trespasses and graces us with peace.

So the book of Daniel draws to its conclusion. When the angel had finished describing these things to Daniel.. he gives him a final warning: “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall cease.”

These words mark the end of the angel's speech to Daniel. They raise the obvious question of why Daniel should "shut up the words and seal the book". While the Writings do not give any indication of what these words may mean, they could be interpreted.

To shut up, the words and seal the book indicates hiding the promise somewhat from view (Apocalypse Revealed 257), not permanently but "until the time of the end." Time, as we have seen before, indicates a state. At the time that Daniel saw this vision the temptations were not yet finished. Remember that the vision took place in the first year of Darius the Mede (chapter 11). Darius describes the external spiritual state, the state in which temptations take place.

Chapters eleven and twelve, therefore, are a promise of states that will come, both states of temptation and victory. But the victory is not there yet. We need to know that if we have trust and faith in the Lord, and if we are tenacious in our spiritual life, we will be victorious—not from our power, but from the Lord's. Yet that knowledge in temptation is intellectual only. If we knew for certain the outcome of our temptations the temptation would be meaningless. If we knew that we would lose in temptation, then there would be no point in trying, and, if we knew we would win, again there would be no point in trying. So the outcome has to be kept from us. The promise of victory and its peace is there, but true peace can only be revealed to us when we are ready for it.

This does, not mean that we should repose in a state of ignorance. The thrust of Daniel is to chart the rise of temptations, the origins of our evils and how, through temptations we overcome them. The angel points out to Daniel that "many shall run to and fro", indicating once again the alternations in our spiritual states. We have to pass through one state after another, yet, each time we face a temptation and overcome it, we move closer to the final states of peace the angel promises in this chapter.

So he concludes, "knowledge shall increase". Knowledge is vital to our spiritual growth. We need to know what evil is, where it comes from, and how to overcome it.. Equally importantly, We need to learn to recognise the states of peace and tranquillity the Lord gives us in the midst of our temptations. Only then can we learn to rise above our selfishness and truly shine in the brightness of the Lord's firmament.

VERSES 5-13

As the angel's words to Daniel drew to a close, so we are taken back to Daniel himself. Suddenly, so to speak, we are back where we were before the vision started. To refresh our memories, we need to turn back to the beginning of chapter 11, "in the first year of Darius the Mede." Taken historically this vision must have taken place soon after Belshazzar was "weighed in the balances and found wanting". If we cast our minds back to chapters five and six, we are reminded both of Belshazzar's blasphemy and Darius' foolishness. Those states serve as a good point to tie in the final stages of our regeneration, for while the reign of Darius marks a new spiritual beginning and a clean break from Belshazzar, our spiritual work is not yet done.

People regenerate when they leave selfish or evil states behind them and embrace new states of goodness As is very clear across the drama of Daniel, this only takes place through the process of repentance and reformation Yet we need to have a vision that such change can in fact happen. We can abandon our Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar states and come to the point at which the king of the North, along with his lackeys, can be banished from our minds.

Daniel's vision shows us this ideal, and, hopefully, raises hope in our lives. We can repent, we can over come and, as the Lord promises in the book of Revelation: “To him who overcomes, I will give to eat the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God... He that overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death...” (Revelation 2:7, 11. For further promises, consult Revelation 2:17, 2:26, 3:5, 3:12, 3:21.)

Coming back to Daniel brings us back to our own lives somewhat with a jolt. Watching the picture of the fierce battle between the kings of the north and south unfold almost makes it look as though our spiritual, progression happens on autopilot. Nothing could be further from the truth. Temptations are fought and won, or lost, because of the input from us. If we hope to win, then our conscience must take the lead. This doesn't negate the need for an ideal, for our conscience cannot lead us in a vacuum, it has to know where to lead us. But still it must lead.

The conscience, represented by Daniel in the "first year of the reign of Darius the Mede" stands at the outset of our spiritual life. We know what to expect from beginning to end. Each vision lays down a new path for us, challenging us to see the origin of our false thoughts and evil intentions. Each state of judgment stands before us, calling us to choose one way or another. The alternating times of peace and temptation remind us that not all regeneration will be hard work—there will be times of rest and peace as the spiritual advances we make begin to affect our minds. And we will grow in strength—our temptations may become fiercer, may seem recurring, yet with each step we will be fitter to face and overcome them This whole process, however, requires the active participation of our Daniel And so, the final verses of the book bring us back to him and has last vision.

Having been told to "shut up the words and seal the book", Daniel found himself on watching two angels, one on each side of a riverbank Unlike Michael, these two angels are not identified by name—their distinguishing factors are that they are on either side of a riverbank, and one of them is "clothed in linen."

The significance of this vision lies in three main areas, each part of the final preparation for the conscience to begin the work of leading us into regeneration The first is the fact that there are two angels. In the spiritual world things in duality represent love and wisdom, and this in turn is described by the two side of a person's mind, the will, or ability to love, and the understanding, or the ability to grow wise. These two abilities from the very basis of the human mind and thus the foundation of our spiritual life.

The will and understanding are held in connection with the spiritual world by means, of angels and spirits. Since there are angels and spirits who are primarily in love and those primarily in truth, it follows that each person has two angels, one for the will and one for the understanding with him or her at all times—without them we would lose connection with the spiritual world and die.

Daniel saw this duality of presence in his vision of the two angels alongside the river, and, one could say, joined by the presence of the river between them; for a river, as we have seen before, represents the stream of truth; for a river represents a person's intelligence (Arcana Coelestia 7323). The last river we saw in Daniel was the Tigris mentioned in chapter 10, which because it was an east-flowing river depicted the understanding, or intelligence, of truth leading us towards the Lord. In essence this is the work of conscience, so we could say that Daniel’s vision of two angels, one on each riverbank, is an image of the conscience, binding both the will and understanding together in an ideal striving for regeneration. Certainly regeneration cannot take place without these three components in our minds; our will and understanding must work in harmony with our conscience, and together they lead us.

Yet notice the distinction between the angels. One is "clothed in linen," and this factor becomes the distinguishing feature between the two angels. Daniel had once before seen an angel clothed in linen, also at the river bank of the Tigris. In chapter ten we read: “I looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with the fine gold of Uphaz.”

As we saw in the explanation of that verse, linen "represents the pure and genuine truths from the Word" (Arcana Coelestia 9872, Apocalypse Revealed 691, Apocalypse Explained 951). One can assume, then, that this angel describes the understanding, for that is formed from truths from the Word, acting as a leader or guide to the will. It comes as no surprise that this is the angel consulted by the other, who by default must represent the will. It also is characteristic that the desire of the will formed from the combination of knowledge of truth and victory over evil in temptation to long for a completion of the process of regeneration.

When we are in the process of regeneration it often seems as though we will never finish and often during our lifetime in this world we don't Yet as a new will is formed as a result of the regenerative process, so a keenness develops for completion. Just as the old will, infected with selfishness as it was, wanted freedom to act out its lusts, so the new will wants the freedom to express itself unhindered by selfishness. At times we may sense this inner desire as an impatience to get the states of temptation over and done with.

The result is the question, from the will of "How long shall the fulfilment of these wonders be?" When shall we be finished? When shall we be perfected and recreated into the image and likeness of God, with the beasts destroyed and the king of the North's power at an end?

The answer can only come from truth, for if truth guides and directs our intentions, then in time the truth will overcome the obstacles imposed by selfishness. The longing for spiritual life, therefore, has to be subordinated to the truths we know. Thus the man clothed in linen answers At first Daniel describes him as being on the riverbank, but then he describes him as "being above the waters" in both verses six and seven.

This positioning "above the waters" brings to mind the second day of creation described in Genesis, where the "waters" were separated above and below the firmament. Several times so far, we have noted that "water" is a symbol for truth, and the division of waters above and below the firmament describes how, as a person regenerates, he or she early becomes aware of the distinction between the private, spiritual, inner self, and the public, worldly outer self (Arcana Coelestia 24). There is a parallel between the creation story and the state the person is going through at this point in Daniel. For now, after the revelatory visions given to Daniel, we are able to see, to have a concept of the work that still has to be done in our spiritual lives before we can relax into the peace of heaven. For this reason the "man clothed in linen," our conscience, speaks from the higher, more interior concepts in our minds.

As he speaks he matches his words to gestures, lifting up his right and left hands towards heaven. Again the symbolism is familiar, for a hand represents a person's power, and, in this case the dual, matching powers of our relationship to truth. Truth only has power to deliver us from self if we match our affection or delight in the truth with an understanding of it. The right hand depicts our affection for truth, while the left our understanding (Cf. Arcana Coelestia 2701), and these together are lifted up in an acknowledgement that the power of regeneration comes from the Lord alone.

There is, then, the intellectual recognition that we need to undergo the states of temptation, and victory, in order to reach the full freedom of deliverance There can be no short cuts, or half measure, which is described in those mystical words "that it shall be for a time, times and half a time."

Fewer phrases in the Word have been invested with as much mystical meaning as these, and yet few are simpler when understood both in their proper context and according to the inner sense. As we have seen over and again in this study "time" in the Word describes a state. We will not find true peace until we have gone through all the states of regeneration.

The angel describes the progression of states here as "time, times and half a time" We could paraphrase that to say, "a state, multiples states and fractions of states." In other words, no part can be left out. Each detail of the entire book of Daniel shows what these states are, following and developing them in a steady progression from start to finish. We need to deal with those states. We cannot be regenerated if Nebuchadnezzar is running amok in our intentions, or if Belshazzar controls a blasphemous external. Nor will we find peace if, like Darius we are puffed up with our own importance. We need to take hold of the beasts arising from the murky depths of our own minds, and cast them out. We need to let the truth judge us, and stand in awe of what we see not only in ourselves, but in the Lord's absolute mercy in giving us the spiritual wherewithal to overcome it. If we short cut any of these stages, we leave alive in us a flame, no matter how small, that can and will erupt into a larger fire at the slightest chance. We cannot hurry regeneration, we must pass through the states—all of them.

As we pass through the stages of regeneration the Lord reorders our lives. Things that had once been in disorder are rearranged. This happens on every level of our being from our feelings, our thoughts, and our actions. This reordering is described in the angels words that the end would come "when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered".

As these words stand they make if sound as if "the holy people" in us is shattered, which seems to imply that evil wins. However, this is not the case. What is described here is better translated in the Apocalypse Explained (1968: Swedenborg Foundation) where it says "and then they are to make an end of dispersing [the power] of the people of holiness." Temptation becomes when "they" — word omitted in the English — is taken to mean the forces of selfishness. The object of se1fishness, as has been shown from one end to the other in Daniel, is to turn all things to itself. To achieve this there is the continual effort to put conscience to flight, as Daniel on two occasions was put in physical danger, and how the he-goat put the ram to flight. Victory in temptation, however, stops this, putting an end to the "dispersing of the power of the people of holiness," for in victory the holy states with us are consolidated and brought together. Order is created from the disorder of selfishness. When this happens, then regeneration can be said to be finished.

Daniel the prophet heard only the cryptic words of the angel clothed in linen. He could not understand, just as we cannot: fully understand, the extent of the regenerative process in our lives. It is only possible for us to see a tiny fragment of the evils in our lives, for to see them in entirety would completely overwhelm us. It is not surprising then that Daniel was confused. The process can seem to go on and on, and we may get the feeling that our regenerative process will never be completed.

The angel’s response, however, is one of comfort. "The words," he said, "are closed up and sealed till the time of the end" Similar words were expounded earlier in t1 chapter, where we saw that to "close and seal" means to hide from view. Our work in the process of regeneration is to look ahead to the time of final deliverance, but to do so with the recognition that the Lord, working through His Divine Providence, will lead us to that point. There is never a time when we can say "all I've got left to do is such and such, and then I'll be finished." In very real sense the process never stops, for even as angels we are perfected to eternity.

However, we do have to keep in mind that the process of self-judgment and rejection of evil and falsity is ongoing. "Many shall be purified, made white and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly." These words give a wonderful picture of the back and forth pendulous swing of our progress. The truth is that we cannot reject our evil states until they are clear to us, until we can see their origin, the progress of their destructive course in our lives; and then, willingly reject them.

Even though the process may take forever, it will draw to a close. In verse 11, the angel puts a time limit on our decline into evil (assuming we exercise our conscience to reject the evil and come out of it), saying, “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand, two hundred and ninety days.”

The description of the daily sacrifice being taken away is in Chapter eight The process begins with the little horn growing out of the male goat. It represents the false thoughts we have as a direct result of evil — in other words, the effect of selfishness, greed, arrogance and pride in our minds. This kind of falsity is devastating, for is not the kind of false thought that makes evil activity possible, but the thoughts which come because we are actually in evil. As Daniel watched, this little horn spread, indicating the poisonous influence of this kind of evil in our minds. Ultimately it took away the ability to worship the Lord in humility. The daily sacrifice on our part is that humble worship of the Lord, and when we cease to practice it, our spiritual life is in jeopardy. We can come back from the brink of that disaster, but only through the battles of temptation.

The "abomination of desolation" is the state in which there is no love nor charity left in a person because it has been overcome by evil (Arcana Coelestia 2454). This happens because the person is in a state in which “the Lord is no longer acknowledged; consequently when there is no love and no faith in Him; also when there is no longer any charity toward the neighbour; and consequently when there is not any faith of good and truth” (Arcana Coelestia 3652).

The decline into evil, then, is one thousand two hundred and ninety days. This decline makes it possible for us to see the evil in ourselves, to recognise its spiritually destructive power, and to reject it.

Every number in the Word has a special significance, which can be seen by analysing the individual parts of the number.

One thousand - A thousand indicates "innumerable things because it is made up of "tens" and "ten" represents "many things" or even "all" (Arcana Coelestia 2575). It is interesting that a fixed number can mean, uncountable things. In this case, the thousand represents the many, man states of evil which grow out of our falsities and evil and which lead to spiritual destruction.

Two hundred - As we have seen before, two involves the concept of joining things together, and hundred, like thousand, is an image of "many things". It also has the image of conflict, for when two things are joined together there is always some aspect of conflict in the conjunction.

Ninety - Ninety, however, is a different family of numbers, for it is made up of a multiple of three, and three represents fullness or completeness—carrying with it the concept of the end of one state and the beginning of a new state.

This time frame, then, of one thousand, two hundred and ninety days, is less dramatic in the internal sense than in the hands of some biblical prophecy interpreter trying to determine the end of the world. It signifies the fullness and completion of a state. Once we reach the point in our path of spiritual decline, our states have to run their course. The joining together and its conflict is implied in the "two hundred" is the joining of false thoughts with evil actions, so that our minds become an epitome of evil, while the "three" in "ninety" describes that that state must eventually come to an end.

Left unchecked our spiritual lives will dwindle down into the "abomination of desolation" where goodness, charity, altruistic love and inner peace will be totally absent. We cannot serve God and mammon.

Yet there is always hope. and the angel’s closing words give that hope for the future: "Blessed is he who waits." The English in this verse somehow implies a passive waiting, much as we would wait a bus stop. However, as the book of Daniel shows us, our spiritual development is anything but passive and in the doctrines we are told that a person “greatly errs who believes that he or she is incapable of doing anything for his or her own salvation because the light to see truths and the affection of doing them, as well as the freedom to think and will them, are from the Lord, and nothing of these from the person. ... If one lets one's hands hang down and waits for influx he receives nothing, and can have no reciprocal conjunction with the Lord, thus he is not in the covenant” (Apocalypse Explained 701:3).

The idea of "waiting" contains far more than modern English allows for. In the original language "to wait" included the aspect of longing for something (Brown-Driver-Briggs #2442). In Latin the word used to translate this concept is "expect". These two amplifications of the idea open up considerably the field of interpretation. It is inconceivable that the angel speaking to Daniel had any expectation that he should simply "wait" and hope for blessedness.

Yet to long for and expect the happiness of blessing is a different matter all together. This really is the essential glue that holds the entire process together. If we had no hope, no expectation that the difficult states of self analysis and temptation were not going to achieve anything, then there would be no point at all to the entire exercise. It is only if we expect that things will get better, that we will be liberated from selfishness, that it is possible to make sense out of human life in this world.

Unmentioned in Daniel, but closely related to "waiting" is the idea of confidence in the Lord. We need to be confident that the power to resist and reject the evil side of ourselves comes from the Lord, and equally we need to be confident that should we exercise that power in our lives, the Lord will bring us into a state of tranquillity and peace.

The angel's words, then, are words of hope. He points out to Daniel that it is possible for our evil natures to carry us into hell, for the "daily sacrifice" can be carried away, and we can reach the "abomination of desolation". The force that resists that is our expectation of the Lord, our confidence that He will give us the power, in fact that we already have the power to overcome our evils, if only we could use it freely and courageously in our daily lives.

Should we do that, we will come into a completely different state, for as the angel said, “Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.”

Once again our final state is described in a series of numbers, although this is a different number, just as hell is a different state from heaven.

The analysis of this number is very similar to the one in the previous verse, sharing in common thousands and hundreds. However, the two figures are different in other respects, the former having two hundred and ninety days, the latter three hundred and thirty five days.

Three hundred - As we have seen many times before, the number three represents the completion of one state and the beginning of another. Hundred, being multiples of ten, also contains the idea of completeness or fullness.

Thirty - Thirty has much the same meaning as the number three hundred, both being multiples of three and ten.

Five - The number five generally carries the idea of a "few" (e.g. Arcana Coelestia 1686, 2267, 2575). However, the number five can represent the states of goodness and truth the Lord instils in a person during the regenerative process (Arcana Coelestia 6156). However; five can also be seen as half of ten, and, as we are told, "half or twice any number when used in the Word holds the same meaning as the number itself" (Arcana Coelestia 5291).

When we take these aspects of the number one thousand, three hundred and thirty five in to account, the picture emerges of the state of completion of the regenerative process. In this state the goodness and perspectives that one has striven for throughout the events described in the book of Daniel, have been accomplished—the process is finished and the person free to live a life of continued development possible only after the selfishness has been banished.

It is interesting to note that the role of the number "three" in this penultimate verse, for there are three hundred and thirty five years. It ties in with the beginning of the book, for in the first verse it says: "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judea." Thus one sees the cycle of life, the original state, the lust for falsities and the aversion to truth, represented by Jehoiakim, initiate a cycle of selfish violence in our lives. This in turn can only be overcome by the conscience, which leads and directs us through the paths of temptation until eventually we are liberated.

Regeneration is a long process, and it cannot be hurried. However, we do need to know that the battles we face in our daily lives, the often excruciating inner conflicts between selfishness and conscience, serve a purpose: they lead us to the states of heaven This makes the book of Daniel a little like a road map, guiding us through the course of life for we need to know where we are going in order to retain the commitment to that spiritual journey.

When we look inwards to see the rampant Nebuchadnezzar states of selfishness, or the profane Belshazzar states of behaviour, when we see our slide into evil and the power that it has over our lives, then we need to be reassured that we can repent. We have the ability to fight against these things from the power given to us by the angels surrounding us, Gabriel and Michael, and all they represent are real forces in our lives. We can overcome and be set free.

But it takes time, dedication and patience. The angel's final words to Daniel must have been words of immeasurable comfort to an old man, torn from his native land and placed at the heart of the greatest empire in the world at that time. Similarly they are words of promise to each of us as we battle to overcome the evils of selfishness, as we are caught in the vortex of temptation. They are words of the promise of peace and hope for the future: “But you, go your way till the end; for you shall find rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.”

701. As the ark is called "the ark of the covenant" it is also to be confirmed from the Word that it was called "the ark of the covenant" because the law was in it, and the "law," which in a broad sense means the Word, signifies the Lord in relation to Divine truth, which is the Word, thus Divine truth or the Word which is from the Lord and in which is the Lord; for all Divine truth proceeds from Him, and when this is received by man conjunction with the Lord is effected, and this conjunction is what is signified by "covenant." How conjunction of the Lord with man and of man with the Lord is effected, shall also be told in a few words. The Lord continually flows into all men with light that enlightens, and with the affection of knowing and understanding truths, also for willing and doing them; and as that light and that affection continually flow in from the Lord, it follows that man becomes rational to the extent that he receives of that light, and he becomes wise and is led by the Lord so far as he receives of that affection. That affection with its light draws to itself and conjoins to itself the truths that man from infancy has learned from the Word, from doctrine out of the Word, and from preaching; for every affection desires to be nourished by the knowledges that are in harmony with it. From this conjunction man's spiritual love or affection is formed, through which he is conjoined to the Lord, that is, through which the Lord conjoins man to Himself.

[2] But in order that that light and that affection may be received, freedom of choice has been given to man, and as that freedom is from the Lord, it is also a gift of the Lord with man and is never taken away from him; for that freedom belongs to man's affection or love, and consequently also to his life. From freedom a man can think and will what is evil, and can also think and will what is good. So far, therefore, as from that freedom, which belongs to his love and thence to his life, man thinks falsities and wills evils, which are the opposites of the truths and goods of the Word, so far he is not conjoined to the Lord; but so far as he thinks truths and wills goods, which are from the Word, so far he is conjoined to the Lord, and the Lord makes those truths and goods to be of his love, and thence of his life. From this it is evident that this conjunction is reciprocal, namely, of the Lord with man and of man with the Lord; such is the conjunction that is meant in the Word by "covenant."

[3] He greatly errs who believes that man is incapable of doing anything for his own salvation because the light to see truths and the affection of doing them, as well as the freedom to think and will them, are from the Lord, and nothing of these from man. Because these appear to man to be as if in himself, and when they are thought and willed to be as from himself, man ought, because of that appearance, to think and will them as if from himself, but at the same time acknowledge that they are from the Lord. In no other way can anything of truth and good or of faith and love be appropriated to man. If one lets his hands hang down and waits for influx he receives nothing, and can have no reciprocal conjunction with the Lord, thus he is not in the covenant. That this is so is clearly evident from this, that the Lord in a thousand passages in the Word has taught that man must do good and must not do evil, and this the Lord would by no means have said, unless something had been given to man by which he has ability to do, and unless that which has been given to man might seem to him to be as if his own, although it is not his. Because this is so the Lord speaks thus in John:

I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hear My voice and open the door I will come in to him, and will sup with him and he with Me (Revelation 3:20).

[4] That "covenant" signifies conjunction with the Lord through the reception of Divine truth by the understanding and will, or by the heart and soul, that is, by love and faith, and that this conjunction is effected reciprocally, can be seen from the Word where "covenant" is mentioned. For from the Word it is evident:

1. That the Lord Himself is called a "covenant," because conjunction with Him is effected by Him through the Divine that proceeds from Him.

2. That the Divine proceeding, which is Divine truth, thus the Word, is the covenant, because it conjoins.

3. That the commandments, judgments, and statutes commanded to the sons of Israel were to them a covenant, because through these there was then conjunction with the Lord.

4. And further, that whatever conjoins is called a "covenant."

[5] As to the first: That the Lord Himself is called a "covenant," because conjunction with Him is effected by Him through the Divine that proceeds from Him, is evident from the following passages.

In Isaiah:

I Jehovah have called Thee in righteousness, and I will take hold of Thine hand and will guard Thee, and I will give thee for a covenant of the people and for a light of the nations (Isaiah 42:6).

This is said of the Lord, who is called "a covenant of the people and a light of the nations," because a "covenant" signifies conjunction, and "light" Divine truth; "peoples" mean those who are in truths, and "nations" those who are in goods (See above, n. 175, 331, 625); "to call Him in righteousness" signifies to establish righteousness by separating the evil from the good and by saving the good and condemning the evil; "to take hold of the hand and to guard" signifies to do this from Divine Omnipotence, which the hells cannot resist; Jehovah's doing this means that it is done by the Divine in the Lord.

[6] In the same:

I have given Thee for a covenant of the people, to restore the earth and to inherit the wasted heritages (Isaiah 49:8).

This, too, is said of the Lord; and "to give for a covenant of the people" signifies that there may be conjunction with Him and by Him; "to restore the earth" signifies the church; and "to inherit the wasted heritages" signifies to restore the goods and truths of the church that have been destroyed.

[7] In David:

I have made a covenant with My chosen, and I have sworn to David My servant, even to eternity will I establish thy seed, to eternity will I keep for him My mercy, and My covenant shall be steadfast for Him (Psalms 89:3, 4, 28).

"David" here means the Lord in relation to His royalty (See above, n. 205), and he is called "chosen" from good, and "servant" from truth; "to make a covenant and swear to him" signifies the uniting of the Lord's Divine with His Human, "to make a covenant" meaning to become united, and "to swear" meaning to confirm it; "even to eternity will I establish thy seed" signifies the eternity of Divine truth from Him; "to eternity will I keep for him My mercy" signifies the eternity of Divine good from Him; "My covenant shall be steadfast" signifies the union of the Divine and Human in Him. This becomes the sense of these words when, instead of David, the Lord in relation to the Divine Human and its royalty is understood, respecting which this is said in the sense of the letter, because in that sense David is treated of, with whom there was no eternal covenant.

[8] In the second book of Samuel:

The God of Israel said, the rock of Israel spake to me; and He shall be as light in the morning when the sun riseth, without clouds; from the brightness after rain cometh grass out of the earth. Is not my house firm with God? For He hath set for me a covenant of eternity, to order over all and to keep (2 Samuel 23:3-5).

This is said by David; and "the God of Israel" and "the rock of Israel" mean the Lord in relation to Divine truth; what is signified by "He shall be as light in the morning when the sun riseth, a morning without clouds, from the brightness after rain cometh grass out of the earth," may be seen above n. 644. This describes Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, from which is all germination of truth and fructification of good. "Is not my house firm with God?" signifies the church conjoined with the Lord through the Divine truth, "the house of David" meaning the church; "for He hath set for me a covenant of eternity" signifies that from the union of His Human with the Divine He has conjunction with the men of the church; "to order over all and to keep" signifies from which He rules over all things and all persons, and saves such as receive.

[9] In Malachi:

Ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that My covenant may be with Levi. My covenant with him was of life and of peace, which I gave to him with fear, that he might fear Me. The law of truth was in his mouth, and perversity was not found in his lips. But ye have turned aside out of the way, ye have caused many to stumble in the law, ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi (Malachi 2:4-6, 8).

"The covenant of Jehovah with Levi" signifies in the highest sense the union of the Divine with the Human in the Lord, and in a relative sense, the Lord's conjunction with the church; for by "Levi" as by "David" the Lord is meant, but "Levi" means the Lord in relation to Divine good, which is the priesthood of the Lord, and "David" in relation to Divine truth, which is the royalty of the Lord. That the Lord is meant by "Levi" is evident from its being said, "the law of truth was in his mouth, and perversity was not found in his lips," "the law of truth" signifying Divine truth from Divine good, and "lips" the doctrine of truth and instruction; and afterwards it is said:

The priest's lips shall keep knowledge; and they shall seek the law from His mouth, for He is the angel of Jehovah of Hosts (Malachi 2:7).

"A covenant of life and of peace" signifies that union and that conjunction (of which just above) from which the Lord Himself became life and peace, from which man has eternal life, and peace from the infestation by evils and falsities, thus by hell. What is signified by "His fear" may be seen above n. 696. Those who live contrary to Divine truth are meant by "ye have turned aside out of the way, ye have caused many to stumble in the law, ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi;" "to turn aside out of the way and to stumble in the law" signifies to live contrary to Divine truth, and "to corrupt the covenant of Levi" signifies to corrupt conjunction with the Lord.

[10] In the same:

Behold, I send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me; and the Lord shall suddenly come to His temple; and the angel of the covenant whom ye desire (Malachi 3:1).

It is evidently the Lord's coming that is here proclaimed. The Lord is here called "Lord" from Divine good, and "the angel of the covenant" from Divine truth (as may be seen above, n. 242, 433, 444, where the rest of the passage is explained). From this it can be seen that "covenant," in reference to the Lord, means either Himself or the union of His Divine with the Human in Him, and in reference to those who are in heaven and in the church it means conjunction with Him through the Divine that proceeds from Him.

[11] Secondly, That the Divine proceeding, which is Divine truth, thus the Word, is the covenant, because it conjoins, can be seen from the following passages. In Moses:

Moses came down out of Mount Sinai, and told the people all the words of Jehovah and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, All the words which Jehovah hath spoken will we do. And Moses wrote all the words of Jehovah in a book. And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the ears of the people; and they said, All that Jehovah hath spoken we will do and will hearken. And Moses took half of the blood of the burnt-offerings, and sprinkled upon the people, and said, Behold, the blood of the covenant that Jehovah hath concluded with you upon all these words. And they saw the God of Israel, and under His feet as it were a work of sapphire stone (Exodus 24:3, 4, 7, 8, 10).

That Divine truth which with us is the Word is a covenant, is evident from all these particulars regarded in the internal or spiritual sense; for Moses, who said these things to the people, represented the law, that is, the Word, as can be seen from various places where it is said, "Moses and the prophets," and elsewhere "the law and the prophets;" thus "Moses" stands for the law, and the law in a broad sense signifies the Word, which is Divine truth. The same may also be evident from this, that "Mount Sinai" signifies heaven, from which is Divine truth; likewise from this, that "the book of the covenant, which was read before the people," signifies the Word; also that the "blood," half of which was sprinkled upon the people, also signifies Divine truth, which is the Word, and as this conjoins, it is called "the blood of the covenant." Again, since all conjunction through Divine truth is conjunction with the Lord, "the God of Israel," who is the Lord, was seen by Moses, Aaron and his sons, and the seventy elders. What was "under His feet" was seen, because when "the Lord" means the Word, "His feet" mean the Word in its ultimates, that is, in the sense of its letter, for the sons of Israel did not see the Word interiorly; "as it were a work of sapphire stone" signifies to be transparent from internal truths, which are the spiritual sense of the Word. (But this may be seen explained in detail in Arcana Coelestia 9371-9412.)

[12] Of what nature the conjunction is that is signified by "covenant" can be seen from what has been set forth, namely, that it is like the covenants commonly made in the world, that is, on the part of one and on the part of the other; in like manner the covenants that the Lord makes with men must be on the part of the Lord and on the part of men; they must be on the part of both that there may be conjunction. The things on the Lord's part are stated in the preceding chapter, namely:

That He will bless their bread and their waters, that He will take away their diseases, and that they shall possess the land of Canaan from the Sea Suph even to the river Euphrates (Exodus 23:25-31).

Here "to bless the bread and the waters" signifies in the internal spiritual sense the fructification of good and the multiplication of truth, "bread" signifying every good of heaven and the church, and "waters" all the truths of that good; "to take away diseases" signifies to remove evils and falsities which are from hell, for these are diseases in the spiritual sense; "to possess the land from the Sea Suph to the river Euphrates" signifies the church in all its extension, which those have from the Lord who are conjoined to Him through Divine truth. But the things that must be on man's part are recounted in the three preceding chapters, and in brief are meant in the passage cited above by "the words and judgments of Jehovah" that Moses coming down from Mount Sinai declared to the people, to which the people, with one voice said, "All the words that Jehovah hath spoken we will do and will hearken." It was for this reason that Moses divided the blood of the burnt offerings, and half of it, which was for the Lord, he left in the bowls, but the other half he sprinkled upon the people.

[13] That the conjunction of the Lord with men is effected through Divine truth is also meant by "blood" in the Gospels:

Jesus took the cup, saying, Drink ye all of it; this is My blood, that of the new covenant (Matthew 26:27, 28; Mark 14:23, 24; Luke 22:20).

This blood is called "the blood of the new covenant," because "blood" signifies the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, and "covenant" signifies conjunction. (That "blood" signifies the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, received by man, may be seen above, n. 329, 476; and that "to drink" signifies to receive, to make one's own, and thus be conjoined, may also be seen above, n. 617.)

[14] Likewise in Zechariah:

By the blood of thy covenant I will send forth thy bound out of the pit wherein is no water (Zechariah 9:11).

This is said of the Lord, who is plainly treated of in this chapter; and "the blood of the covenant" means, as above, the Divine truth, by which there is conjunction with the Lord. Who are meant by "those bound in the pit wherein is no water" can be seen above n. 537.

[15] As the Lord called His blood, meaning the Divine truth proceeding from Him, "the blood of the new covenant," it shall be said briefly what is meant by "the old covenant" and "the new covenant." "The old covenant" means conjunction through such Divine truth as was given to the sons of Israel, which was external, and therefore representative of internal Divine truth. They had no other Divine truth, because they could not receive any other, for they were external and natural men, and not internal or spiritual, as can be seen from the fact that such as knew anything about the Lord's coming had no other thought of Him than that He was to be a king who would raise them above all the peoples in the whole world, and thus establish a kingdom with them on the earth, and not in the heavens and therefrom on the earth with all who believe on Him. "The old covenant," therefore, was a conjunction through such Divine truth as is contained in the books of Moses and is called "commandments, judgments, and statutes," in which, nevertheless, there lay inwardly hidden such Divine truth as is in heaven, which is internal and spiritual. This Divine truth was disclosed by the Lord when He was in the world; and as through this alone there is conjunction of the Lord with men, therefore this is what is meant by "the new covenant," also by "His blood," which is therefore called "the blood of the new covenant." "Wine" has a similar meaning.

[16] This "new covenant," which was to be entered into with the Lord when He should come into the world, is sometimes treated of in the Word of the Old Covenant. Thus in Jeremiah:

Behold the days come in which I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not as the covenant which I made with your fathers, for they have made My covenant void. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after these days; I will give My law in the midst of them, and will write it upon their heart, and I will be to them for God, and they shall be to Me for a people; neither shall they teach anymore a man his companion, a man his brother, saying, Know ye Jehovah, for all shall know Me, from the least of them even to the greatest of them (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

That Jehovah, that is, the Lord, "was to make a new covenant with the house of Israel and house of Judah" does not mean that it was to be made with the sons of Israel and with Judah, but with all who from the Lord are in the truths of doctrine and in the good of love to the Lord. That these are meant in the Word by "the sons of Israel" and by "Judah" may be seen above n. 433; that "the days come" means the Lord's coming is evident. That there would then be conjunction with the Lord through Divine truth, internal and spiritual, is meant by the words, "This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after these days, I will give My law in the midst of them, and will write it upon their heart." This signifies that they would then receive Divine truth inwardly in themselves; for spiritual Divine truth is received by man inwardly, thus otherwise than with the sons of Israel and the Jews, who received it outwardly; for when a man receives Divine truth inwardly in himself, that is, makes it to be of his love and thus of his life, truth is known from the truth itself, because the Lord flows into His own truth with man, and teaches him; this is what is meant by the words, "they shall no more teach a man his companion, and a man his brother, saying, Know ye Jehovah, for all shall know Me, from the least even to the greatest." The conjunction itself thereby effected, which "the new covenant" signifies, is meant by "I will be to them for God, and they shall be to Me for a people."

[17] In the same:

They shall be to Me for a people, and I will be to them for God, and I will give them one heart and one way, to fear Me all the days; and I will make with them an eternal covenant that I will not turn Me back from after them, that I may do them good; and My fear will I put into their heart that they may not depart from with Me (Jeremiah 32:38-40).

This, too, is said of the Lord and of the new covenant with Him; conjunction thereby is meant by "I will be to them for God, and they shall be to me for a people," and is further described by this, that "He would give to them one heart and one way, to fear Him all the days," and that "He would not turn Himself back from after them, and that He would put fear into their heart that they might not depart from with Him;" "one heart and one way to fear Me" signifies one will of good and one understanding of truth for worshiping the Lord; and as the conjunction is reciprocal, that is, a conjunction of the Lord with them and of them with the Lord, it is said that He will not turn Him back from after them "that I may do them good, and they will not depart from with Me." From this it is clear what is signified by "the eternal covenant" that He will enter into with them, namely, conjunction through spiritual Divine truth, which truth, when received, constitutes the life of man, and from it comes eternal conjunction.

[18] In Ezekiel:

I will raise up over them one shepherd who shall feed them, My servant David. I Jehovah will be to them for God, and My servant David a prince in the midst of them. Then will I make with them a covenant of peace, I will cause the evil wild beast to cease that they may dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the forests (Ezekiel 34:23-25).

This also is said of the Lord; and "David," who shall feed them and who shall be a prince in the midst of them, means the Lord in relation to the Divine truth, who is called a servant from serving; conjunction with the Lord through the Divine truth is meant by "the covenant" which He will make with them; this is called "a covenant of peace," because man by conjunction with the Lord has peace from the infestation of evil and falsity from hell; therefore also it is added, "I will cause the evil wild beast to cease, that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forests," "evil wild beast" meaning falsity and evil from hell, and "to dwell securely in the wilderness and to sleep in the forests" signifying that they shall be safe everywhere from all infestation from falsity and evil.

[19] In the same:

My servant David shall be a king over them, that they all may have one shepherd. And I will make a covenant of peace with them, it shall be a covenant of eternity with them; and I will give them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in the midst of them to eternity, and My habitation with them; and I will be to them for God, and they shall be to Me for a people (Ezekiel 37:24, 26, 27).

Here also by "David" the Lord is meant, for it is evident that David was not to come again to be their king and shepherd; but the Lord is called "king" from Divine truth, for this is the royalty of the Lord, while Divine good is His priesthood; and the Lord is called "shepherd," because He will feed them with Divine truth, and thereby lead to the good of love, and thus to Himself; and because from this there is conjunction it is said, "I will make with them a covenant of peace, a covenant of eternity." What "a covenant of peace" signifies has been told just above, also that "I will be to them for God, and they shall be to Me for a people," means conjunction. The "sanctuary" that He will set in the midst of them, and the "habitation" that will be with them, signify heaven and the church, that are called a "sanctuary" from the good of love, and a "habitation" from the truths of that good, for the Lord dwells in truths from good.

[20] In Hosea:

In that day will I make a covenant for them with the wild beast of the field, with the bird of the heavens, and with the creeping thing of the earth; and I will break the bow and the sword and war from the earth; and I will make them to lie down securely; and I will betroth thee to Me forever (Hosea 2:18, 19).

This treats of the establishment of a New Church by the Lord. It is clear that the Lord would not then make a covenant with the wild beast of the field, with the bird of the heavens, and with the creeping thing of the earth, therefore these signify such things as are with man; "the wild beast of the field" signifying the affection of truth and good, "the bird of the heavens" spiritual thought, and "the creeping thing of the earth" the knowledge [scientificum] of the natural man. (What the rest signifies may be seen above, n.650.) This makes evident that the covenant the Lord will make is a spiritual covenant, or a covenant through spiritual truth, and not a covenant through natural truth such as was made with the sons of Israel; this latter was "the old covenant," the former was "the new covenant."

[21] As "the law" that was promulgated by the Lord from Mount Sinai meant in a broad sense the Word, so also the tables on which that law was written are called "tables of the covenant" in Moses:

I went up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, the tables of the covenant which Jehovah made with you. At the end of forty days and forty nights Jehovah gave to me the two tables of stone, the tables of the covenant (Deuteronomy 9:9, 11).

These "tables," that is, the law written upon them, mean the Divine truth, through which there is conjunction with the Lord, and because of that conjunction they are called "the tables of the covenant;" and as all conjunction, like a covenant, is effected from the part of one and the part of the other, thus in turn on the one side and on the other, so there were two tables, and these were of stone; they were of stone because "stone" signifies the Divine truth in ultimates (See Arcana Coelestia 643[1-4], 3720, 6426, 8609, 10376). For the same reason the ark in which these tables were placed was called "the ark of the Covenant," and with the sons of Israel this was the most holy thing of their worship, as has been shown in the preceding article.

[22] Thirdly, That the commandments, judgments, and statutes commanded to the sons of Israel were to them a covenant, because through these there was then conjunction with the Lord, can be seen from the following passages. In Moses:

If ye walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments and do them, I will have respect unto you, and will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will establish My covenant with you. But if ye reject My statutes, so that ye do not all My commandments, whilst ye make My covenant void, I will do to you the opposite (Leviticus 26:3, 9, 15seq.).

The statutes and commandments that were to be observed and done are set forth in the preceding chapter, and the goods they were to enjoy if they kept those commandments and statutes, and afterwards the evils that would come upon them if they did not keep them are set forth in this chapter. But the goods they were to enjoy were earthly and worldly goods, so too were the evils, because they were earthly and natural men, and not celestial and spiritual men, and consequently they knew nothing about the goods that affect man inwardly or the evils that afflict him inwardly; nevertheless the externals they were bound to observe were such as inwardly contained celestial and spiritual things, through which there is conjunction itself with the Lord; and as these were perceived in heaven, therefore the externals that the sons of Israel were to observe were called a "covenant." (But what the conjunction was of the Lord with the sons of Israel through these means may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n.248.)

[23] "Covenant" has a like meaning in the following passages. In Moses:

Jehovah said unto Moses, Write thou these words, for upon the mouth of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel (Exodus 34:27).

In the same:

Keep the words of this covenant and do them, ye that stand here this day, your heads, your tribes, your officers, and every man of Israel, to pass over into the covenant of Jehovah and into His oath which Jehovah thy God maketh with thee this day, that He may establish thee this day for a people, and that He may be to thee for God; not with you only do I make this covenant and this oath, but also with everyone who is not here with you this day (Deuteronomy 29:9, 10, 12 -15).

In the second book of Kings:

King Josiah sent and gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem; and the king went up to the house of Jehovah, and every man of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, also the priests and the prophets, and the whole people from small even to great; and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of Jehovah; and the king stood by the pillar, and made the covenant before Jehovah to go after Jehovah and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all the heart and with all the soul, to establish all the words of this covenant written upon this book; and all the people stood in the covenant (2 Kings 23:1-3).

So, too, in other passages (Jeremiah 22:8, 9; 33:20-22; 50:5; Ezekiel 16:8; Malachi 2:14; Psalms 78:37; 50:5, 16; 103:17, 18; 105:8, 9; 106:45; 111:5, 9; Deuteronomy 17:2; 1 Kings 19:14). In all these passages "covenant" is mentioned, and by it the externals that the sons of Israel were to observe are meant.

[24] But as regards the covenant that the Lord made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, this was not the same as the covenant He made with the posterity of Jacob, but it was a covenant on the part of the Lord that their seed should be multiplied, and to their seed the land of Canaan should be given, and on the part of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that every male should be circumcised. That the covenant with the posterity of Jacob was different is evident in Moses:

Jehovah our God made with us a covenant in Horeb; Jehovah made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us (Deuteronomy 5:2, 3).

Regarding the former covenant it is written in Moses:

Jehovah brought Abraham forth abroad, and said, Look toward heaven and number the stars; and He said to him, So shall thy seed be. And He said to him, Take to thee ¹ a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon. And he divided them in the midst, and he laid each part over against the other, but the birds divided he not. And the sun went down and it became very dark; and behold a furnace of smoke and a torch of fire passed through between the pieces. In that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abraham ² saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates (Genesis 15:5-18).

And afterwards:

I will give My covenant between Me and thee, and I will multiply thee exceedingly. I, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be for a father of a multitude of nations, and I will make thee fruitful; and I will give to thee and to thy seed after thee the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. This is My covenant that ye shall keep between Me and you and thy seed after thee. Every male shall be circumcised to you; he who is not circumcised in the flesh of the foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his peoples, he hath made void My covenant. And My covenant will I set up with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to thee (Genesis 17:1-21).

From this it is clear what kind of a covenant was entered into with Abraham, namely, that "his seed should be multiplied exceedingly, and that the land of Canaan should be given to his seed for a possession." The commandments, judgments, and statutes themselves by which the covenant was to be established are not mentioned, but still they are signified by "the heifer, she-goat, and ram of three years old," and by "the turtle-dove and young pigeon," for these animals signify such things as belong to the church, and "the land of Canaan" itself signifies the church. And because the Lord foresaw that the posterity of Abraham from Jacob would not keep the covenant, there appeared to Abraham "a furnace of smoke and a torch of fire passing through between the pieces;" "a furnace of smoke" signifying the dense falsity, and "the torch of fire" the direful evil into which the posterity of Jacob would come. This is confirmed also in Jeremiah 33:18-20. "Abraham divided the heifer, the she-goat, and the ram, and laid each part over against the other," according to the ritual of covenants between two parties. (But this may be seen fully explained in Arcana Coelestia 1783-1862.)

[25] The covenant was made by circumcision because circumcision represented the purification from the loves of self and of the world which are bodily and earthly loves, and the removal of these; therefore also the circumcision was made with a little knife of stone, which signified the truth of doctrine, by which all purification from evils and falsities and their removal is effected. (But the particulars recorded in that chapter respecting this covenant are explained in Arcana Coelestia 1987-2095; and respecting circumcision, n. 2039 at the end, 2046 at the end, 2632, 2799, 4462, 7044, 8093.) But as "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," mean in the internal sense the Lord, so "their seed" signify all who are of the Lord's church, which church is meant by "the land of Canaan," which their seed was to inherit.

[26] There was also a covenant entered into with Noah:

That men should no more perish by the waters of a flood, and that a bow should be in the cloud for a sign of that covenant (Genesis 6:17, 18; 9:9, 17).

Conjunction of the Lord through Divine truth is involved also in that covenant, as can be seen from the explanation of the above in the Arcana Coelestia 659-675, 1022-1059. That "the bow in the cloud," or the rainbow, here signifies regeneration, which is effected by Divine truth and a life according to it, and that consequently that bow was taken for a sign of the covenant, may also be seen in the same work (n. 1042).

[27] Fourth, That further, whatever conjoins is called a covenant; as the Sabbath in Moses:

The sons of Israel shall keep the Sabbath in their generations, the covenant of an age (Exodus 31:16).

The Sabbath was called "the covenant of an age," because the "Sabbath" signified in the highest sense the union of the Divine with the Human in the Lord, and in a relative sense the conjunction of the Lord with heaven and the church, and in a universal sense the conjunction of good and truth, which conjunction is called the heavenly marriage. Therefore "the rest on the Sabbath day" signified the state of that union and of that conjunction, since by that state there is peace and rest to the Lord, and thereby peace and salvation in the heavens and on the earth. (That this is the signification of "the Sabbath" and "the rest," then, can be seen in Arcana Coelestia 8494, 8495, 8510, 10356, 10360, 10367, 10370, 10374, 10668, 10730.)

[28] Again, the salt in the sacrifices is called "the salt of the covenant" in Moses:

Thou shalt not cause the salt of the covenant of thy God to cease upon thine offering, upon all thine offering thou shalt offer salt (Leviticus 2:13).

The salt upon the offering is called "the salt of the covenant," because "salt" signifies the desire of truth for good, whereby the two are conjoined. (On this signification of "salt" see Arcana Coelestia 9207.)

[29] A wife is called "the wife of a covenant" in Malachi:

Jehovah hath been a witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously, though she is thy companion and the wife of thy covenant (Malachi 2:14).

A wife is here called "the wife of the covenant" from her conjunction with her husband, but "wife" here signifies the church, and "the wife of youth" the Ancient Church, against which the Jewish Church is said to have dealt treacherously. Because these were both representative churches, and in this respect alike, and thus were conjoined, it is said, "though she is thy companion and the wife of thy covenant."

[30] "A covenant with the stones of the field" is spoken of in Job:

Thou shalt not be afraid of the wild beast of the field, for with the stones of the field is thy covenant, and the wild beast of the field shall be at peace with thee (Job 5:22, 23).

"A covenant with the stones of the field" signifies conjunction with the truths of the church, for "stones" signify truths, "field" the church, and "covenant" conjunction; "the wild beast of the field" signifies the love of falsity, of which wild beast "thou shalt not be afraid," and which "shall be at peace," when there is conjunction with the church through truths.

[31] Again, "a covenant with wild beasts and birds" is spoken of in Hosea:

In that day will I make a covenant for them with the wild beast of the field, with the bird of the heavens, and with the creeping thing of the earth (Hosea 2:18).

And in Moses:

God said unto Noah, Behold I establish My covenant with you and with every living soul that is with you, the bird, the beast, and every wild beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, even every wild beast of the earth (Genesis 9:9, 10).

"A covenant with beast, wild beast, bird and creeping thing of the earth," signifies conjunction with such things with man as are signified by these, for "beast" signifies the affection of good, "wild beast" the affection of truth, "bird" the thinking faculty, and "creeping thing of the earth" the knowing faculty which lives from these affections.

[32] "A covenant with death" is spoken of in Isaiah:

Ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell we have made vision. Your covenant with death shall be abolished, and your vision with hell shall not stand (Isaiah 28:15, 18).

"To make a covenant with death" signifies conjunction through falsity from hell, from which man dies spiritually; "to make a vision with hell" signifies divination from hell as if prophetic. From the passages here cited in series it can be seen that "covenant," where the Lord is treated of, signifies conjunction through Divine truth. There is, indeed, a conjunction with Him through the good of love; but because the Lord flows in with man through good into truths, whereby man has the affection of truth, and receives the Lord's good in truths, from which he acknowledges, confesses, and worships the Lord, thence the good of love conjoins through truth, comparatively as the heat of the sun in the time of spring and summer conjoins itself with the fructifications of the earth.

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