19. The church too could have known from the Word that heaven and hell are from the human race. It could have made this part of its teaching, if it had allowed enlightenment from heaven to reach it, and had paid attention to the Lord's words to the robber, that he would be to-day in Paradise with Him (Luke 23:43). Also what the Lord said about the rich man and Lazarus, that the rich man went to hell, from where he talked with Abraham, and Lazarus went to heaven (Luke 16:19-31). Also what the Lord said to the Sadducees about resurrection, that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matthew 22:32). The same can be deduced from the general belief of all who lead good lives, especially their belief around the time of death, when they are withdrawn from worldly and bodily concerns, that they will go to heaven as soon as their bodily life departs. This is the dominant belief of all, provided the teaching of the church does not lead them to think of resurrection as happening at the time of the Last Judgment. Enquire whether this is not the case, and you will receive confirmation.

8877. 'On the third and on the fourth [generations]' means in a long sequence, and joined together. This is clear from the meaning of 'three' as what is complete from start to finish, dealt with in 2788, 4495, 7715, thus a long sequence, so that 'the third [generation on sons' is falsities in a long sequence (for the meaning of 'sons' as falsities, see immediately above in 8876); and from the meaning of 'four', like two, as joined together, dealt with in 1686, 5194, 8423, so that 'the third and the fourth [generations of] sons' are falsities joined together in a long sequence. This explanation of 'the third and the fourth [generations of] sons' must inevitably seem to be nonsensical or foreign to the meaning of the Word; but it should be remembered that in the internal sense numbers do not mean numbers but real things, see 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265, 6175.