10360. And ye shall keep the Sabbath. That this signifies that the Divine Human of the Lord is to be worshiped, is evident from the signification of “keeping,” when said of the Divine, as being to worship; and from the signification of “the Sabbath,” as being in the supreme sense the union of the Divine which is called the “Father” and of the Divine Human which is called the “Son,” thus the Divine Human in which is this union. This union is signified by “the Sabbath,” because by the six days of labor which precede the seventh is signified every state of combat; for in the spiritual sense “labor” does not mean such labor as there is in the world, but such as those who are in the church endure before they enter the church and become the church, which labor is combat against evils and falsities of evil. A like “labor” (in the spiritual sense) was endured by the Lord when He was in the world; for He then fought against the hells, and reduced them and likewise the heavens into order, and at the same time He glorified His Human, that is, He united it to the Divine Itself which He had from conception (see n. 9715, 9809).

[2] The time and state when the Lord was in combats is signified by the six days of labor, but the state when the union had been effected is signified by the seventh day, which is called “the Sabbath,” from “rest,” because the Lord then had rest. Consequently by “the Sabbath” is signified also the conjunction of the Lord with heaven, with the church, with an angel of heaven, and with a man of the church. The reason is that all who are to come into heaven must first be in combats against evils and the falsities of evil, and when these have been separated they enter heaven and are conjoined with the Lord, and then they have rest. It is similar with men in the world. It is known that these must be in combats, that is, that they must undergo temptations, before the good and truth which make the church have been implanted in them; thus before they have been conjoined with the Lord, consequently before they have rest. From this it is evident whence it is that a state of combat is signified by the six days of labor, while rest and also conjunction are signified by the seventh day or the Sabbath.

[3] That the conjunction of good and truth also, is signified by “the Sabbath,” is because when a man is in combats he is in truths; but when truths have been conjoined with good, thus when the man is in good, he then has rest; in like manner as the Lord, when He was in the world, and fought with the hells, was in respect to His Human Divine truth; and when He had united His Human to the Divine Itself, He then, even in respect to His Human, became the Divine good, or Jehovah.

[4] (That the six days which precede the Sabbath denote the combats which precede and prepare for the heavenly marriage, which is the conjunction of good and truth, may be seen in n. 8510, 8888, 9431. As regards the former state, when man is in truths and at the same time in combats against evils and falsities of evils, which state is signified by “the six days of labor,” and as regards the latter state, when he is in good and is led by the Lord, which is signified by “the Sabbath,” see n. 7923, 7992, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8512, 8516, 8539, 8643, 8648, 8658, 8685, 8690, 8701, 8772, 9139, 9224, 9227, 9230, 9274, 9832. That when the Lord was in the world He made His Human first Divine truth, and afterward Divine good, see the places cited in n. 9199, 9315; and that He did this by the combats of temptations, see the places cited in n. 9528.)

[5] Therefore he who knows that by “the Sabbath” in the supreme sense is meant the union of the Divine Itself in the Divine Human of the Lord, may know what those things signify which are so often said in the Word about the Sabbath, as in Isaiah:

If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, so that thou doest not thine inclinations on the day of My holiness; but shalt call the Sabbath honorable delights to the Holy One of Jehovah; and shalt honor it, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own desire, nor speaking a word; then shalt thou delight thyself upon Jehovah; and I will exalt thee on the high places of the earth, and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father (Isaiah 58:13-14);

He who is acquainted with the internal sense of the Word can plainly see that in this passage by “the Sabbath” is signified the state of conjunction of man with the Lord, thus the state when man is led by the Lord and not by himself, which state is when he is in good. For to be led by the Lord, and not by self, is to “turn away the foot from the Sabbath, not to do one’s own inclinations, not to do one’s own ways, not to find one’s own desire, and not to speak a word.” That in this case the church is in him, and also heaven, is signified by that “he shall be exalted on the high places of the earth, and shall be fed with the heritage of Jacob.” Moreover, that “the Sabbath” denotes the Divine Human in which is union, is signified by the Sabbath being called “a day of holiness and of delight to the Holy One of Jehovah.”

[6] And in Jeremiah:

If ye will hallow the Sabbath day, then shall there enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in the chariot and on horses (Jeremiah 17:24-25);

He who is not acquainted with the internal sense of the Word will suppose that these things are to be understood according to the sense of the letter, namely, that if they would hallow the Sabbath, kings and princes would enter in by the gates of the city Jerusalem, and would ride in the chariot and on horses. This however is not the meaning; but that those who reverently worship the Divine Human of the Lord shall be in the Divine truths of heaven and of the church; for by “Jerusalem” is meant the church; by “kings and princes,” its Divine truths; by “the throne of David,” heaven where the Lord is; by “chariot,” the doctrine of good and truth; and by “horses,” an enlightened understanding. (That “Jerusalem” denotes the church, see n. 2117, 3654; that “kings” denote Divine truths, n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148; that “princes” denote primary truths, n. 1482, 2089, 9954; that a “throne” denotes heaven, n. 5313; that “a chariot” denotes the doctrine of good and truth, n. 5321, 8215; and that “horses” denote an understanding which is enlightened, n. 2760-2762, 3217, 5321, 6534)

[7] As by “the Sabbath” was signified the Lord as to the Divine Human in which there is union, it was therefore commanded that the breads of faces should be set in order upon the table every Sabbath (Leviticus 24:8). That the Lord as to the Divine Human is meant by “bread” is known in the church. For this reason also when the Lord was in the world He called Himself “the Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8; Mark 2:27-28; Luke 6:1-5).

[8] And therefore when the Lord was in the world, and united His Human to the Divine Itself, He abrogated the Sabbath in respect to representative worship, or in respect to its worship such as was with the Israelitish people; and made the Sabbath day a day of instruction in the doctrine of faith and of love. This is involved in what is written in John:

Jesus healing a certain man on the Sabbath day said to him, Take up thy bed and walk; and he took up his bed and walked. But the Jews said that it was not allowable to carry a bed on the Sabbath day, and sought to kill the Lord, because He loosed the Sabbath (John 5:8-10, 18).

By the “healing of the sick” is signified the purifying of man from evils and the falsities of evil; by a “bed” is signified doctrine; and by “walking” is signified life.

[9] (That all the healings of diseases which were performed by the Lord involve purification from evils and falsities, or restorations to spiritual life, see n. 8364, 9031, 9086; and that “to walk” denotes life, n. 519, 1794, 8417, 8420.) That a “bed” denotes doctrine is evident from the passages in the Word where a “bed” is mentioned, and also from the representatives in the other life, where when a bed appears and one lying on it, there is signified the doctrine in which he is; consequently beds appear there most highly adorned for those who are in truths from good. But no one can know that such things are signified by the above words of the Lord except by the internal sense, for the Lord spoke by correspondences, thus by significatives, because from the Divine.

9227. On the eighth day thou shalt give it to Me. That this signifies that at the beginning of the following state, when the man lives from good, he is with the Lord, is evident from the signification of “the eighth day,” as being the beginning of the following state (see n. 2044, 8400); and from the signification of “giving to Jehovah,” as being to the Lord, for by “Jehovah” in the Word is meant the the Lord, (n. 1736, 2921, 3023, 3035, 5663, 6303, 6945, 6956, 8274, 8864). The reason why these words signify that when a man lives from good he is with the Lord, is that in the internal sense the subject treated of is the two states of the man who is being regenerated; and the first state is when he is being led through the truths of faith to the good of charity; and the second is when he is in this good. And as he is then with the Lord, this is signified by “thou shalt give it to Me.” (That there are two states with man when being regenerated; the first when he is being led through the truths of faith to the good of charity, and the second when he is in the good of charity, see n. 7923, 7992, 8505-8506, 8510, 8512, 8516, 8643, 8648, 8658, 8685, 8690, 8701; and that the man is in heaven, thus with the Lord, when he is in the good of charity, n. 8516, 8539, 8722, 8772, 9139)

[2] A few words more shall be said about these two states with the man who is being regenerated. It has been already shown (n. 9224) that the truths called the truths of faith enter into man by an external way, and that the good which is of charity and love enters by an internal way. The external way is through the hearing into the memory, and from the memory into the understanding; for the understanding is man’s internal sight. The truths which must be of faith enter by this way, to the end that they may be brought into the will, and thus be appropriated to the man. The good which flows in from the Lord by the internal way, flows into the will, for the will is the internal of man. The good which is from the Lord meets there at the common boundary the truths which have entered by the external way, and through conjunction with them causes the truths to become good. Insofar as this is effected, so far the order is inverted, that is, so far the man is not led by truths, but by good; and consequently insofar he is led by the Lord.

[3] From this it can be seen how during his regeneration a man is raised from the world into heaven. For all things that enter through the hearing, enter from the world; and those which are stored up in the memory, and appear there before the understanding, appear in the light of the world, which is called natural light. But those things which enter the will, or which become of the will, are in the light of heaven, which light is the truth of good from the Lord. When these things come forth from the will into act, they return into the light of the world; but they then appear in this light under a totally different form; for previously the world was within everything; whereas afterward heaven is so. What has here been said shows also why a man is not in heaven until he does truths from willing them, thus from the affection of charity.

4495. And it came to pass on the third day. That this signifies what is continuous even to the end, is evident from the signification of the “third day,” as being what is complete from beginning to end (see n. 2788), thus also what is continuous. That this is the signification of the “third day,” can scarcely be believed by those who regard the historicals of the Word as mere worldly histories, holy merely because they are in the sacred volume. But that not only the historicals of the Word themselves enfold within them spiritual and heavenly things which are not apparent in the letter, but that so also do all the words, and even all the numbers, has been shown in the preceding explications; that such is really the case will of the Lord’s Divine mercy become still more evident in the prophetic parts, which do not keep the mind so closely engaged with the succession of statements in the sense of the letter as do the historical parts. But that the number “three,” also the number “seven,” and the number “twelve,” enfold deep secrets within them, must be evident to everyone who examines the Word in regard to its interiors; and if these numbers are so full of significance, it follows that there must be something deeply hidden in all the other numbers that occur in the Word, for the Word is holy throughout.

[2] Sometimes when speaking with angels, as it were written numbers appeared before my eyes like those seen on paper in bright day, and I perceived that the very things they were speaking of fell into such numbers; and from this experience I learned that every number mentioned in the Word holds within it some mystery, as is very evident from the following passages:

He measured the wall of the Holy Jerusalem a hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel (Revelation 21:17).

He that hath intelligence let him compute the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is six hundred and sixty six (Revelation 13:18).

That the number first mentioned—“144”—results from the multiplication of twelve into itself, and that the number “666” is a product of three and six, is manifest, but what holy thing they enfold within them may appear from the holiness of the number “twelve” (see n. 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272, 3858, 3913), and of the number “three” (n. 720, 901, 1825, 2788, 4010).

[3] This latter number—“three”—being significative of what is complete even to the end, thus of one period, great or small, was received in the representative church, and was employed whenever such a thing was signified; and also in the Word (in which all things have a signification both in general and in particular) as may be seen from the following instances:

That they should go three days’ journey and should sacrifice (Exodus 3:18; 5:3).

That they should be ready against the third day, because on the third day Jehovah would come down upon Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:11, 15-16, 18).

That nothing should be left of the flesh of the sacrifice until the third day (Leviticus 7:16-18; 19:6-7).

That the water of separation should be sprinkled upon the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day (Numbers 19:11-22).

That they who touched one slain in war should be purified on the third day and on the seventh day (Numbers 31:19-25).

That Joshua commanded the people to pass over Jordan within three days (Josh. 1:11; 3:2).

That Jehovah called Samuel three times, and Samuel ran to Eli three times, and Eli understood the third time that Jehovah had called Samuel (1 Samuel 3:1-8).

That Jonathan said to David that he should hide himself in the field unto the third day at even, and that Jonathan sent to him on the third morrow, and revealed the disposition of his father; and that Jonathan then shot three arrows at the side of the stone; and that after this David bowed himself three times to the earth before Jonathan (1 Samuel 20:5, 12, 19-20, 35-36, 41).

That three things were offered to David to chose from: that there should come seven years of famine, that he should flee three months before his enemies, or that there should be three days’ pestilence in the land (2 Samuel 24:11-13).

That Rehoboam said to the congregation of Israel who sought to be relieved from the yoke of his father, that they should go away three days, and come again; and that they came to Rehoboam the third day, as the King bade, saying, Come to me again the third day (1 Kings 12:5, 12).

That Elijah stretched himself upon the widow’s son three times (1 Kings 17:21).

That Elijah told the people to pour water upon the burnt-offering and the wood the third time, and they did it the third time (1 Kings 18:34).

That Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17; Matthew 12:40).

That the Lord spoke of a man who planted a vineyard and sent his servants three times, and afterwards his son (Mark 12:2, 4-6; Luke 20:12-13).

That He said of Peter that he should deny Him thrice (Matthew 26:34; John 13:38).

That He said to Peter three times, Lovest thou Me? (John 21:15-17).

From these and many other places in the Word it may be seen that there was some mystery in the number “three,” and that therefore this number was received among the significatives in the ancient churches. That it signifies an entire period of the church and of the things in the church, whether great or small, is manifest; and that it consequently signifies what is complete and also continuous to the end, is very plain in Hosea:

Jehovah will vivify us after two days; on the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live before Him (Hos. 6:2).