10018. 'By the statute of an age' means in accordance with eternal laws of order. This is clear from the meaning of 'the statute' as a law of order, dealt with in 7884, 7995, 8357; and from the meaning of 'an age' as what is eternal.

7884. 'You shall keep it as a feast by an eternal statute' means worship of the Lord in keeping with the order of heaven for those belonging to the spiritual Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'an eternal statute' as the order of heaven, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'keeping a feast' as worship of the Lord, as just above in 7882. And since the children of Israel are the ones who are told to keep it as a feast, those belonging to the spiritual Church are meant. The reason why 'an eternal statute' means the order of heaven is that all the statutes which the children of Israel were commanded to observe were the kind that flowed from the order of heaven, and therefore also represented the things of heaven. By worship in keeping with the order of heaven one should understand all the good that is performed in keeping with the Lord's commandments. By the worship of God people at the present day mean primarily worship of the lips in church, and also morning and evening. Worship of God does not however consist essentially in that, but in a life of performing useful services; this worship is in keeping with the order of heaven. Worship of the lips is also worship, but it achieves nothing whatever without worship in the life one leads, since this is worship of the heart. If worship on the lips is to be true worship it must spring from this.