6673. And the king of Egypt said to the midwives of the Hebrew women. That this signifies influx from the separated memory-knowledges into the natural where the true memory-knowledges of the church are, is evident from the signification of “saying,” as being influx (see n. 5743, 6291); from the signification of the “king of Egypt,” as being separated memory-knowledges which are opposed to the truths of the church (n. 6651); from the signification of “midwives,” as being the natural (n. 4588, 4921); and from the signification of the “Hebrews,” as being the things of the church (n. 5136, 5236); thus also true memory-knowledges which are of the church. That “midwives” denote the natural, is because the natural receives that which flows in from the internal, and thus as it were acts as a midwife.

5136. Out of the land of the Hebrews. That this signifies from the church, namely, that celestial things were alienated from it through evil, is evident from the signification of the “land of the Hebrews,” as being the church. The “land of the Hebrews” here, is the land of Canaan; for Joseph was taken away from there. The reason why the land of Canaan in the Word signifies the church, is that the church has been there from the most ancient time: first the Most Ancient Church, which was before the flood; next the Ancient Church, which was after the flood; afterward the Second Ancient Church, which was called the Hebrew Church; and at last the Jewish Church. And in order that the Jewish Church might be instituted there, Abram was commanded to betake himself thither out of Syria, and it was there promised him that this land should be given to his posterity for an inheritance. This is the reason why “land” or “earth” in the Word signifies the church, and the “whole earth,” as sometimes occurs, the universal church; and also the “new heaven and new earth,” a new church internal and external.

[2] The reason why the church was continued there from the most ancient time, is that the man of the Most Ancient Church, who was celestial, was of such a character that in each and all things in the world and upon the earth he saw a representative of the Lord’s kingdom; the objects of the world and the earth being to him the means of thinking about heavenly things. This was the origin of all the representatives and significatives that were afterward known in the Ancient Church, for they were collected by those who are meant by “Enoch,” and were preserved for the use of posterity (n. 519, 521, 2896). From this it came to pass that every place, and also every mountain and river, in the land of Canaan, where the most ancient people dwelt, and likewise all the kingdoms round about, became representative; and as the Word could not be written except by representatives and significatives, even of places, therefore for the sake of this end the church was successively preserved in the land of Canaan; but after the coming of the Lord it was transferred elsewhere, because representatives were then abolished.

[3] From the foregoing it is plain that by the land of Canaan, which is here called the “land of the Hebrews,” is signified the church; but see what has been previously adduced on these subjects; namely, that the Most Ancient Church, which was before the flood, was in the land of Canaan (n. 567, 3686, 4447, 4454); that part of the Ancient Church, which was after the flood, was there (see n. 3686, 4447); also that a second Ancient Church, which was called the Hebrew Church, was there (n. 4516, 4517); that for the same reason Abram was commanded to go there, and that land was given to his posterity (n. 3686, 4447); that from this the land of Canaan represented the Lord’s kingdom (n. 1607, 3038, 3481, 3705, 4240, 4447); and that it is for this reason that by “earth” or “land” in the Word is signified the church (see n. 566, 662, 1066, 1068, 1262, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355, 4447, 4535).

4535. Genesis 35

THE LAST JUDGMENT

Preliminary to the foregoing chapters, from chapter 26, an explication has been given of what the Lord foretold about His advent, or the CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE; and it has been repeatedly shown that by His advent or the consummation of the age is signified the last time of the church, which is called in the Word the Last Judgment. They who do not see beyond the literal sense must suppose that the Last Judgment is the destruction of the world, and this especially from the Revelation, where it is said:

I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven (Revelation 21:1-2.

And also from the prophecies of Isaiah, where are similar words:

Behold I create new heavens and a new earth; therefore the former things shall not be remembered, nor come up upon the heart; but be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create, for behold I create Jerusalem an exultation, and her people a gladness (Isaiah 65:17-18; 66:22).

[2] They who do not see beyond the literal sense must infer that the universal heaven together with this earth will be annihilated, and that the dead will then for the first time rise again, and dwell in a new heaven and upon a new earth. But that the Word is not to be so understood may be seen from many other passages where the heavens and the earth are mentioned. They who have any faith in an internal sense can plainly see that by “a new heaven and a new earth” is meant a new church, which shall succeed when the former church passes away (see n. 1733, 1850, 3355); and that the “heaven” is its internal and the “earth” its external.

[3] This last time of a former church and first time of a new church are what is called the “consummation of the age” of which the Lord spoke in Matthew 24, and also are His advent, for the Lord then leaves the former church and comes to the new church. That this is the “consummation of the age” may be seen also from other passages in the Word, as in Isaiah:

In that day the remains shall return, the remains of Jacob, unto the mighty God; for although Thy people Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, remains of it shall return; a consummation is determined, inundated is righteousness; for a consummation and a determination doth the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth make in the whole earth (Isaiah 10:21-23).

In the same:

Now be ye not scorners, lest your punishments be strengthened; for a consummation and a decision have I heard from-with the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth upon the whole earth (Isaiah 28:22).

In Jeremiah:

Thus said Jehovah, The whole earth shall be a waste, yet will I not make a consummation (Jeremiah 4:27).

In Zephaniah:

I will bring men into distresses, and they shall go like the blind, because they have sinned against Jehovah; and their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung, for Jehovah shall make a consummation, yea, a speedy one, with all them that dwell in the land (Zeph. 1:17-18).

That the “consummation” here mentioned is the last time of the church, and that the “earth” is the church, is manifest from the particulars.

[4] That “earth” or “land” denotes the church, comes from the fact that the land of Canaan was the land where the church had been from the most ancient times, and where afterwards there was the representative of a church among the descendants of Jacob. When this land is said to be “consummated,” it is not the nation in it that is meant, but it is the holy of worship that exists with the nation where the church is. For the Word is spiritual, and the land itself is not spiritual, nor the nation therein, but that which is of the church. (That the land of Canaan was the land where the church had been from the most ancient times, may be seen above, n. 567, 3686, 4447, 4454, 4516, 4517; and that for this reason by “land” in the Word is signified the church, n. 566, 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 3355, 4447.) From this it is manifest what is meant in Isaiah by “making a consummation in the whole land,” or “earth,” and in Zephaniah by the “speedy consummation of all that dwell in the land.” That the Jewish nation which dwelt in that land was not consummated, but the holy of worship with them, is well known.

[5] That this is the “consummation” appears still more plainly in Daniel:

Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy city of holiness, to consummate the transgression, and to seal up sins, and to expiate iniquity, and to bring in the righteousness of an age, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies; in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; at last upon the bird of abominations shall be desolation; and even to the consummation and the determination shall it drop upon the devastation (Daniel 9:24, 27).

[6] From all this it may now be seen that by the “consummation of the age,” respecting which the disciples said to the Lord, “What shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the consummation of the age?” (Matthew 24:3) nothing else is signified than the last time of the church; and also by these words of the Lord, which are the last in the same evangelist: “Jesus said to the disciples, Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you all the days even unto the consummation of the age” (Matthew 28:20). It was said by the Lord that He would be with the disciples even to the consummation of the age, because by the Lord’s twelve disciples the like is signified as by the twelve tribes of Israel, namely, all things of love and faith, consequently all things of the church (see n. 3354, 3488, 3858); which is the same as is meant by the twelve tribes (n. 3858, 3926, 3939, 4060). That it is the consummation of the church when there is no longer any charity and therefore no faith, has been repeatedly shown above. That in this church which is called Christian scarcely anything of charity and its derivative faith survives, thus that the consummation of its age is now at hand, will of the Lord’s Divine mercy be shown in the following pages.