900. The symbolism of the second month as all the stages that precede rebirth can be seen from the symbolism of two in the Word. Two symbolizes the same thing as six, which is the fighting and hard work that come before rebirth. So here it means all the stages we go through before becoming regenerate.
The longest and shortest intervals in the Word are generally split in three or in seven and are called days, weeks, months, years, or "ages." 1 Three and seven are holy; two and six, being just one less, are not holy but relatively profane, as shown before (§720).
Three and seven also mean something sacrosanct, each because of its connection with the Last Judgment, predicted as coming on the third or else the seventh day. 2 Every person — both collectively and individually — has a last judgment when the Lord comes. There was a last judgment when the Lord came into the world. There will be a last judgment when he enters into his glory. There is a last judgment when he comes individually to each person. There is also a last judgment for each person who dies. This last judgment is the third day and the seventh day, which is holy for those who have lived good lives but unholy for those who have lived evil lives. Consequently, a third day and a seventh is predicted for those judged worthy of death and for those judged worthy of life, so that the numbers symbolize what is unholy for those with a verdict of death but what is holy for those with a verdict of life.
Two and six, the numbers just before three and seven, bear a relationship to them and symbolize in general every preceding stage. This is the meaning of the numbers two and six, and the meaning adapts to the subject at hand and to whatever the subject applies to, which the numbers describe.
All of this will become clearer from the discussion of the number twenty-seven in the next section.
Footnotes:
1. Concerning the word "ages," see note 3 in §395. [LHC]
2. Figurative predictions of a final devastation lasting some period involving the number seven may be found in Isaiah 23:15-17; Jeremiah 25:11-12; Ezekiel 39:9-12; Daniel 9:24-25. Predictions of a resulting redemption or of resurrection on the third or seventh day may be seen in Isaiah 30:26; Hosea 6:1-2; Jonah 1:17-2:10; Luke 13:32; John 2:19-21. See Swedenborg's discussion of these and related passages in §§728, 1825, 2788, 6508, 9228. On the Last Judgment as it appears in Swedenborg's later writings, see note 4 in §931. [LHC]
