257. Because in this prophetical book numbers are often mentioned; and as no one can know the spiritual sense of what is contained in those numbers unless he knows what the particular numbers signify; for all numbers in the Word, as well as all names, signify spiritual things; and because the number seven is often mentioned amongst others, I am desirous here of showing that seven signifies all, and all things, also what is full and complete for that which signifies all, and all things, signifies also what is full and complete. For what is full and complete is said of the magnitude of a thing, and all and all things of multitude.

That the number seven has such a signification is evident from the following passages. In Ezekiel:

"The inhabitants of the cities of Israel shall set fire to and burn the arms, the shield also and the buckler, with the bow and the arrows, and with the hand-staff, and with the spear; and they shall kindle a fire with them seven years; and they shall bury Gog and all his multitude, and they shall cleanse the land seven months" (39:9, 11, 12).

The subject here treated of is the desolation of all things in the church. The inhabitants of the cities of Israel signify all the goods of truth, to set on fire and burn signifies to consume by evils. The arms, the shield, the buckler, the bows, the arrows, the hand-staff, the spear, denote everything pertaining to doctrine; to kindle fire with them seven years denotes to consume them all and fully by evils. Gog signifies those who are in external worship, and in no internal worship; to bury them and cleanse the land denotes to destroy them all, and completely to purge the church of them.

[2] In Jeremiah:

"Their widows shall be multiplied more than the sand of the seas, and I will bring to them upon the mother of the youths the waster at noon-day. She who hath borne seven shall languish, she shall breathe out her soul" (15:8, 9).

By the widows which will be multiplied are signified those who are in good and desire truths, and, in the opposite sense, as in the present case, those who are in evil and desire falsities. By the mother of the youths is signified the church; by the waster at noon-day is signified the vastation of that church, however much they may be in truths from the Word. By she that hath borne seven shall languish, she shall breathe out her soul, is signified that the church, to which all truths were given because the Word was given them, should perish; for she that hath borne seven signifies those to whom all truths were given. This is specifically said concerning the Jews.

[3] Similarly, in the first book of Samuel:

"They that were hungry ceased, so that the barren hath borne seven, and she that hath many children hath failed" (2:5).

The hungry who ceased denote those who desire the goods and truths of the church; the barren who hath borne seven signifies those who are outside the church and are ignorant of truths because they have not the Word, as the Gentiles, to whom all things will be given; she that hath many children failing signifies those who have truths, from whom they will be taken away. Again, in David:

"Render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom" (79:12).

And in Moses,

That the Jews should be punished seven times for their sins (Leviticus 26:18, 21, 24, 28);

seven times here signifying fully.

[4] In Luke:

"And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him" (17:4).

Here, to forgive seven times, if he shall return seven times, denotes to forgive as often as the offender should return, and thus at all times. But lest Peter should understand seven times to be meant by these words, the Lord explains His meaning to him, as recorded in Matthew:

"Peter said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times, but until seventy times seven " (18:21, 22).

Seventy times seven is always, without counting. In David:

"Seven times a day do I praise thee for the judgments of justice" (Psalms 119:164).

Seven times a day denotes always, or at all times.

[5] Again:

"The sayings of Jehovah are pure sayings, as silver refined in a furnace of earth, purified seven times" (Psalms 12:6).

Here silver signifies truth from the Divine: purified seven times denotes that it is altogether and fully pure.

[6] In Isaiah:

"The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days" (30:26).

The light of the sun signifies Divine truth from Divine good: and that this light should be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, signifies that the Divine truth in heaven should be without any falsity, thus that it should be altogether and fully pure.

[7] In Matthew,

The unclean spirit "shall take with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and he shall dwell there" (12:45; Luke 11:26).

Here profanation is treated of, and by the seven other spirits with which the unclean spirit is said to return are signified all falsities of evil, thus a plenary destruction of good and truth.

[8] Similar is the signification of the seven times which were to pass over the king of Babylon, in Daniel,

"His heart shall be changed from man, and the heart of a beast shall be given unto him; while seven times shall pass over him" (4:16, 25, 32).

By the king of Babylon are signified those who profane the goods and truths of the Word. By his heart being changed from that of a man to that of a beast is meant that nothing spiritual, that is, truly human, should remain with him, but that instead there should be everything diabolical. By the seven times which were to pass over him is meant profanation, which is a complete destruction of truth and good.

[9] Because the terms seven, and seven times, signified all things, and also what is full, the following commands were given to the children of Israel:

Seven days their hands should be filled (Exodus 29:35).

Seven days they should be sanctified (Exodus 29:37).

Seven days Aaron should put on the garments when he was being initiated (Exodus 29:30).

Seven days they should not go out of the tabernacle when they were being initiated into the priesthood (Leviticus 8:33, 34).

Seven times expiation should be made upon the horns of the altar (Leviticus 16:18, 19).

Seven times should the altar be sanctified with oil (Leviticus 8:11).

Seven times should the blood be sprinkled before the veil (Leviticus 4:16, 17).

Seven times should the blood be sprinkled with the finger towards the east, when Aaron went in to the mercy seat (Leviticus 16:12-15).

Seven times should the water of separation be sprinkled towards the tabernacle (Num. 19:4).

Seven times should blood be sprinkled for the cleansing of leprosy (Leviticus 14:7, 8, 27, 38, 51).

The lampstand had seven lamps (Exodus 25:32, 37; 37:18-25).

Feasts should be celebrated for seven days (Exodus 34:18; Leviticus 23:4-9, 39-44; Deuteronomy 16:3, 4, 8).

Seven days of the feast there should be a burnt offering of seven bullocks and seven rams daily (Ezekiel 45:23).

Baalam built seven altars, and sacrificed seven oxen and seven rams (Num. 23:1-7, 15-18, 29, 30).

They numbered seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, and then should cause the trumpet of the jubilee to be sounded in the seventh month (Leviticus 25:8, 9).

From the signification of the number seven, it is evident what is signified

By the seven days of creation (Genesis 1).

Also by four thousand men being filled from seven loaves, and that seven basketsful of fragments remained over (Matthew 15:34-37; Mark 8:5-9).

Hence now it is clear what is signified in the Apocalypse,

By the seven churches (1:4, 11).

By the seven golden lampstands, in the midst of which was the Son of man (1:13).

By the seven stars in His right hand (1:16, 20).

By the seven spirits of God (3:1).

By the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne (4:5).

By the book sealed with seven seals (5:1).

By the seven angels to whom were given seven trumpets (8:2).

By the seven thunders which uttered their voices (10:3, 4).

By the seven angels having the seven last plagues, (15:1, 6).

By seven vials full of the seven last plagues (16:1; 21:9)

and elsewhere in the Word, where seven is mentioned.

It was prophesied that the Lord's coming into the world would change people's relationship to the Lord. Those who walked in darkness would see a great light: the light of truth.

"Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days in the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people and heals the stroke of their wound." (Isaiah 30:26)

Picture yourself in a dark room. In the darkness you have to construct images of what you think the furniture looks like and what it is used for. You have to create a geography of the room, and yet, even so, the furnishings are not always where you expect them to be. You stumble through the room, bumping against tables, hitting your shins against low stools, stubbing your toes. The darkness hinders your awareness of the room, making it impossible to accurately judge its dimensions. It becomes a symbol of ignorance and pain.

Before the Lord came into the world the church was in a state just like this. It was in spiritual pitch darkness. The learned scholars of those times had to create images of doctrine for people to follow, but they were images based on appearances of truth, on guesses and estimates. Their teachings are like the descriptions of furniture given by a person in a totally dark room: a table can be described as to its basic shape, but the finish, the patina of the wood, the grain, the colour will all be missing. A very valuable table might be declared worthless, and a worthless table valuable.

In the book, the True Christian Religion, we are told how

"All churches which existed before the Lord's advent were representative churches" (The True Christian Religion 109).

The people of those times could only see Divine Truth in shadow (The True Christian Religion 109); consequently they misjudged, misunderstood and misrepresented the truth. The closer the time came for the Lord to be born on earth, the thicker the darkness became.

The sad thing about the church before the advent was that the darkness existed because that is what the people wanted. The Heavenly Doctrines tell us time and again how the people rejected the Word. They were repelled by the truth. In its place they chose to place their faith in their own traditions.

The Word is full of such incidents: the Israelites, newly liberated, cried out continually for the fleshpots of Egypt. No sooner had they conquered and settled Canaan than they fell from their covenant with the Lord and worshipped foreign gods. They repeatedly turned from the Lord's presence to practise their own ways of religion. And in the process their concept of truth steadily diminished until it was a mere shell.

There was no reason why this should have happened. Before the Lord came into the world, He communicated with the people. We read of how He spoke to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and the prophets. The Heavenly Doctrines tell us He could not speak directly to them, but He used an angel who was filled with His presence. When the angel spoke, the words that came out of his mouth were Divine Truth, put into images which the people could accept.

Like people in a dark room, for whom colour, patina and finish are unimportant, the children of Israel were only able to receive very gross images of the Lord. Their minds were so closed by the superficiality of their religion, that any deeper, more poignant picture of Him would have been profaned. Thus the Lord was portrayed to them in the way they understood best: as a Father who punishes naughty children and rewards good ones. Beyond that they were not interested, except perhaps to determine how naughty they could be without being punished.

The darkness not only affected their minds, but it caused them spiritual pain and harm as well. Just as we are prone to bump into furniture in a darkened room, so people in a religion devoid of truth will fall into states of spiritual hurt.

When the truth is interpreted to suit our own desires, it very quickly becomes falsity, and falsity breeds evils of life. For example, a person who is taught that he must have faith to be saved, and then interprets that to mean that one is only saved by his faith, soon falls into the habit of separating his daily life from his faith, and faith alone develops. He becomes prone to evil. The Doctrines strike the analogy between evil and pain, for they describe evil as a sore (Apocalypse Revealed 657).

The Lord did not make mankind to live in the vicious environment of darkness and pain. He created us to live lives of light and peace in an environment reflecting His love and His wisdom. To sustain the simple good of the Jewish church, He gave promises, prophecies, of His advent. The darkness would be expelled by light; the pain would be healed. On that day, as we read,

."..The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days in the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people and heals the stroke of their wound." (Isaiah 30:26)

The first Christmas began the fulfilment of this prophecy. The infant Lord, born amid the darkness in Bethlehem's stall, was a ray of light shining in the world, a light which would grow and develop during His years in this world, and then burst fully upon all mankind when at His resurrection He made His human Divine.

The world, lying in darkness had no inkling of the spiritual affairs taking place. Like all people who believe themselves to be right, even though they are completely wrong, the Jews looked for their interpretation of what the Messiah would be like. Seeing only the vague outlines of the teaching, they expected Him to be born, but because they were in such dense darkness, they did not recognise Him when He came.

Yet He came to bring light to mankind. As we read in John:

"He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him." (John 1:10)

Even though people did not know or recognise Him, the Lord brought light into the world. Suddenly all the things which had been hidden by the darkness for centuries were revealed. The church can be compared to a person sitting in a dark room which is suddenly flooded with light. The details of the furniture spring into view; he can see shape, colour, texture, and relative positions all at once. It is as if a whole new world has opened up. If we live in that light, we stop hurting ourselves by bumping into things; sores caused by colliding with furniture are able to heal, and we are made well.

Something very similar happened to the church. From the time He was very young, the Lord started to teach the truth, to challenge the traditional interpretations people had of the Word. He said over and over again: "You have heard it said, but I say to you." His truth opened up areas of understanding which had never been considered before: we should love our enemies; it is better to be humble than to be proud; forgiveness is better than revenge. He taught about concepts alien to the Jewish culture: about life after death; about the sanctity of marriage; of the need to pay attention to our inner spiritual development.

With each sentence He spoke, the Lord brought more light into the world. There were some, the scribes, the Pharisees and Sadducees, who preferred the darkness. They closed their eyes to His light. So we read in John:

"He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But, as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God..." (John 1:11-12)

His truth, however, brought light to many people, and the ability to see the truth, is what we wish for everyone.

As spiritual darkness inevitably creates falsity which leads to a life of evil, so the Lord's light creates faith, and faith, when acted on leads to good. The darkness of falsity is dispelled by the truths of faith. The brilliance of this new faith is compared to the light of the moon when it increases to rival the sun.

True faith, when brought into act, creates good and love. No more shall mankind be wounded by the evils of life, for these are brought about in darkness and ignorance. Instead, walking in the clear light of Divine truth, we know what is good, and how to do it. We can truly love the Lord and our neighbours, truly be cleansed and healed of our sins. The sun, therefore, increases in its power and intensity to give the light of seven days.

With the Lord's coming, a whole new relationship becomes possible between us and Him. The relationship only achieves reality. However, when we take up the teachings the Lord gave in the Word, when we learn them and apply them to our own lives, then our personal darkness in turn will disappear and the light of Divine Truth will flood our lives, transforming us into disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ.