23. Nothing is more common in the Word than for the word 'day' to be used to mean the particular time at which events take place, as in Isaiah,

The day of Jehovah is near. Behold, the day of Jehovah comes. I will make heaven tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, on the day of My fierce anger. Its time is close at hand, and its days will not be prolonged. Isaiah 13:6, 9, 13, 22.

And in the same prophet,

Her antiquity is in the days of antiquity. On that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. Isaiah 23:7, 15.

Since 'day' stands for the particular time it also stands for the state associated with that particular time, as in Jeremiah, Woe to us, for the day has declined, for the shadows of evening have lengthened! Jeremiah 6:4

And in the same prophet,

If you break My covenant that is for the day and My covenant that is for the night, so that there is neither daytime nor night at their appointed time. Jeremiah 33:20, 25.

Also,

Renew our days as of old. Lamentations 5:21.

1825. That 'three years old' embodies all things of the Church as to periods and states is clear from the meaning of 'three' in the Word. Three means the whole time of the Church from start to finish, and so its total state. The final phase of the Church is therefore meant by the third day, by the third week, by the third month, by the third year, or by the third decade, ¹ all having the same meaning. As the state of the Church is meant by the number three, so also is the state of every individual who is a Church, and indeed everything that is part of the Church, as becomes clear from the meaning of that number in the places quoted from the Word in 720, 901.

[2] That 'a three year old heifer' accordingly means the whole time or state of the Church even to its end, that is to say, when it has been vastated, or laid desolate, also becomes clear in Isaiah,

My heart cries out upon Moab, his fugitives flee even to Zoar, a three year old heifer, for at the ascent of Luhith he will go up weeping, for on the road to Horonaim they will raise a cry of ruination. Isaiah 15:5.

Also in Jeremiah,

Gladness and exultation have been plucked from Carmel, and from the land of Moab, and I will make the wine cease from the winepresses. None will tread the hedad; the hedad will not be a hedad. ² From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz they uttered their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim, a three year old heifer, for the waters of Nimrim also will become desolations. Jeremiah 48:33-34.

Nobody could possibly perceive what these details mean unless he knew what is meant by Moab, Zoar, the ascent of Luhith, the shout of Heshbon even to Elealeh, Jahaz, Horonaim, the waters of Nimrim, and a three year old heifer. That a final vastation is meant is plainly evident.

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