813. The symbolism of these words as the ending point of the earliest church and of one hundred fifty as an ending point and a starting point is not so susceptible to proof from the Word as the meanings of the simpler numbers, which appear over and over. Still it can be deduced from the fact that the number fifteen, dealt with above at verse 20 [§798], symbolizes what is so meager as to be hardly anything. All that much more so the number one hundred fifty, which is a product of fifteen and ten, since the latter symbolizes remaining traces. Multiplying a small amount — a half, quarter, or tenth, for instance — results in an even smaller product, so small finally as to be almost nothing. 1 In consequence, it is a conclusion or ending point. The same number appears again in Genesis 8:3 ("the waters receded at the end of one hundred fifty days"), where the meaning is similar.
We need to view the numbers in the Word quite separately from the literal meaning. They are added simply to spin out the thread of the story found in the letter, as stated and shown before [§§482:1, 755:4, 5]. Where seven occurs, for instance, it means holiness, with no reference whatever to the periods of time and the measurements that it usually quantifies. Angels, who perceive the inner meaning of the Word, know nothing of time and measure, let alone what number is specified. Yet when we read the Word, they fully understand it. 2 Wherever a number comes up, then, they are unable to form any idea of a number but picture instead the phenomenon that the number symbolizes. So by the number here they understand the ending point of the earliest church, and in verse 3 of the next chapter they understand the starting point of the ancient church, which was the new church.
Footnotes:
1. Swedenborg seems to be viewing fifteen and ten as symbolizing fractional amounts, which vanish into almost nothing when multiplied together. [LHC]
2. According to Swedenborg, there are always angels with everyone (Secrets of Heaven 697). When people read Scripture, the angels who are with them follow along, so to speak, and yet the angels understand the contents in a spiritual way, while people tend to remain in an earthly understanding (Secrets of Heaven 1767, 3735:2). In this way Scripture provides a link between heaven and earth (Heaven and Hell 305). Although Swedenborg states here in a general way that angels "fully understand" Scripture when we read, elsewhere he cites various factors that either improve or inhibit their understanding. For example, angels' understanding is improved when children read Scripture (Secrets of Heaven 1776, 1871), or when adults read it because they love to do so (Secrets of Heaven 1767), or view it as a sacred text (Secrets of Heaven 3735:2), or read it with innocence (Secrets of Heaven 3839:1) or as part of a quest for truth and for guidance in life (Secrets of Heaven 9188:8). The angels' understanding decreases when people bring predetermined false notions to their reading, or read primarily for worldly or selfish reasons (Secrets of Heaven 9039:1, 9188:8, 10551:3). [JSR]
