487. The symbolism of days as those times and states in general was shown in the first chapter [§23], where the days of creation symbolize nothing else.

It is very common for the Word to call all units of time "days." ¹ In this verse the practice is quite obvious, as it also is in verses 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 27, and 31 below. The general states at those times accordingly are symbolized by days as well. When years are mentioned in conjunction with days, the time spans represented by those years symbolize the nature of the states then; in other words, they symbolize the specific states.

[2] The earliest people had particular numbers they used for symbolizing various aspects of the church: three, seven, ten, twelve, and additional ones that they compounded out of these and others. This allowed them to sum up the states of the church. As a result, these numbers contain hidden wisdom that would require a long explanation. It was a way of evaluating different states in the church.

The same phenomenon occurs at many other places in the Word, especially in the prophets. In the rites of the Jewish religion there are also numbers for both timing and measurement in connection with sacrifices, minhas, ² oblations, and other acts of worship; and everywhere those numbers occur they symbolize holiness in the thing they are applied to.

What these numbers specifically involve, then — the eight hundred in this verse, the nine hundred thirty in the next, and so on for the numbers of years in the following verses — is more than I can ever convey. They all come down to changes in the state of religion among those people, seen in relation to their general state.

Later on, by the Lord's divine mercy, I will need to tell what the simple numbers up to twelve symbolize. ³ Unless this is known first, the symbolism of their products cannot be grasped.

Footnotes:

482. The inner meaning of the years and numbers of years that come up in this chapter is not as yet recognized by anyone. Those who concentrate on the literal meaning consider the years to be time-related, but none of the chapters from here to the twelfth contains any history that is literally accurate. Each and every detail instead has a different kind of content. As with the names [§470], so also with the numbers.

The number three occurs frequently throughout the Word, as does the number seven, and each time they occur they symbolize something whose circumstances are holy or sacrosanct. The periods of time and other features involved entail or represent those circumstances. The meaning is the same for short periods as it is for long periods; just as the parts make up the whole, so the smallest fractions make up the largest aggregates. There has to be uniformity across the different magnitudes for a whole to develop out of the parts or for an aggregate to emerge from the pieces in a compatible way.

[2] In Isaiah, for example:

Now has Jehovah spoken, saying, "In three years (corresponding to a hired servant's years) the glory of Moab will be abased." (Isaiah 16:14)

In the same author:

The Lord said to me, "In one more year (corresponding to a hired servant's years) all the glory of Kedar will be consumed." (Isaiah 21:16)

This means both the shortest and the longest periods. In Habakkuk:

Jehovah, I have heard of your fame; I have been awed, Jehovah, by your work. In the middle of the years, bring it to life. In the middle of the years, please make it known. (Habakkuk 3:2)

The middle of the years stands for the Lord's Coming. In regard to shorter periods, it stands for every instance in which the Lord comes — when we are being reborn, for example. In regard to somewhat longer periods, it stands for a time when the Lord's church rises up anew. Isaiah also calls this the year of the redeemed:

The day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed has come. (Isaiah 63:4)

The thousand years in which Satan was to be fettered (Revelation 20:2-3, 7) and the thousand years of the first resurrection (Revelation 20:4-5, 6) likewise mean not a thousand years but the state of those people. Just as a day is taken to refer to a state, as shown before [§23], so are years; and the number of years describes the states in some way. This clarifies the fact that the intervals mentioned in this chapter also involve the prevailing states, since the state of perception in each church was different from that in another. The differences in their ability to perceive was a result of differences in character — both inherited character and character developed through living.