663. Verses 11, 12. And after three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them that saw them. And they heard a great voice out of heaven, saying unto them, Come up hither; and they ascended into heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.

"And after three, days and a half," signifies, when completed, thus the end of the old church, and the beginning of a new church; "the spirit of life from God entered into them," signifies enlightenment and the reception in some of the influx of Divine Truth from the Lord for the beginning of a new church; "and they stood upon their feet," signifies a new life such as the regenerated man of the church has; "and great fear fell upon them that saw them," signifies a state of anxiety with those who did not receive and acknowledge. "And they heard a great voice out of heaven, saying unto them," signifies the Lord's Divine Providence; "Come up hither," signifies separation and thence protection; "and they ascended into heaven in a cloud," signifies separation as to things internal, and their protection; "and their enemies saw them," signifies cognition and acknowledgment with those who are interiorly opposed to the goods and truths of the Word and of the church.

4850. 'The days were multiplied' means a change of state. This is clear from the meaning of 'the days being multiplied' as undergoing a change of state, for 'day' or a time in the internal sense means state, 23, 487, 488, 893a, 2788, 3462, 3785, and 'being multiplied' when used in reference to days or times means undergoing a change. The fact that a change of state is the meaning is also evident from the details that follow. The expression 'to be multiplied' is used because it implies a change of state so far as truths are concerned; for 'to be multiplied' is used in reference to truths, 43, 55, 913, 983, 2846, 2847. Since the terms state and change of state are being used time and again, and yet few know what a state or a change of state is, a statement needs to be made about what these are. Neither time and the passage of time nor space and the extension of space can be associated with the interior aspects of the human being - that is to say, with his affections and his thoughts formed by these - because his affections and thoughts are not located in time and place, though to the senses in the world they do seem to be thus located. Rather, they are located in the interior things which correspond to time and place. The things which correspond to them cannot be called anything else than states, for no other term exists to describe the things that correspond to time and place. A change of state in interior things is said to take place when the affections and resulting thoughts in a person's mind or disposition (mens seu animus) undergo change, as when sadness turns to joy, or joy back to sadness, when ungodliness turns to godliness or devotion, and so on. These changes are called changes of state and are attributable to affections and, insofar as thoughts are governed by these, to thoughts also. But the changes of state which thoughts held within affections undergo are like those of individual parts within their general wholes, compared with which they are variations.