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:

395. Anyone who kills Cain will suffer sevenfold vengeance means there was a sacred ban on violating the faith detached in this way. This is established by the symbolism of Cain as a detached faith and of seven as a sacred ban.

The number seven was held sacred, as is known, ¹ because of the six days of creation and because of the seventh day — which is the heavenly kind of person — on which there is peace, repose, a Sabbath. This is why the rituals of the Jewish religion so often involve the number seven, and each time it is seen to stand for something sacred. ²

For this reason, different stretches of time, long and short, were divided in seven and called weeks. One instance is the long periods before the coming of the Messiah in Daniel 9:24-25. Laban and Jacob call a period of seven years a week in Genesis 29:27-28. So wherever the number seven occurs, it is considered as standing for something sacred, or else for a sacred ban, as in David:

Seven times in a day do I praise you. (Psalms 119:164)

In Isaiah:

The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times as strong, like the light of seven days. (Isaiah 30:26)

Here the sun is love and the moon is faith from love, which will be like love.

[2] Just as the stages of a person's regeneration are divided into six, which precede the seventh, or the stage of being heavenly, so too are the stages of devastation, which continues until nothing heavenly remains. This was represented by the Jews' many captivities, including the last, in Babylon — a captivity of seven "ages" or seventy years; ³ and several times it is said that the land was to rest during its Sabbaths. ⁴ Devastation was also represented by Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel:

His heart will change from [that of] a human, and the heart of an animal will be given to him, until seven seasons change upon him. (Daniel 4:16, 25, 32)

Concerning the devastation of the final days as described by John:

I saw another sign in the sky, great and awesome: seven angels having the seven final plagues. (Revelation 15:1, 6-7)

Revelation 11:2 says that the holy city will be trampled for forty-two months, which is six times seven. In the same author:

I saw a book written inside and on the back, ⁵ sealed with seven seals. (Revelation 5:1)

Accordingly, different severities and levels of punishment were expressed in sevens, as in Moses:

If after all this you do not obey me, I will castigate you seven times harder for your sins. (Leviticus 26:18, 21, 24, 28)

In David:

Return seven times as much into our neighbors' lap. (Psalms 79:12)

Since a sanction was placed on the violation of faith, then, because faith could be of service (as has already been said [§372]), the present verse states that the person who kills Cain will suffer sevenfold vengeance.

Footnotes:

2830. And there: a ram symbolizes spiritual members of the human race, as can be seen from the symbolism of a ram, discussed below.

It is known in the church that the burnt offerings and sacrifices in the representative religion of Judah and Israel symbolized the Lord's divine humanity. Burnt offerings and sacrifices of lambs, though, symbolized one thing. Those of ewes and she-goats symbolized another. So did those of kids, rams, and he-goats; of adult cattle, young cattle, and calves; and of turtledoves and pigeon chicks. The same is true of minhas and libations. In general, they symbolized what was divinely heavenlike, divinely spiritual, and divinely earthly in the Lord. As a result, they symbolized everything heavenly, spiritual, and earthly from him in his kingdom and therefore in every individual who is a kingdom of the Lord.

This can be seen in the Holy Supper, which took the place of burnt offerings and sacrifices. In it, the bread and wine symbolize the Lord's divine humanity. The bread symbolizes his heavenly divinity, and the wine, his spiritual divinity. Accordingly, they symbolize his love for the entire human race and, in turn, the love the human race has for the Lord (§§2343, 2359). Plainly, then, the burnt offerings and sacrifices involved heavenly worship inspired by love for the Lord, and spiritual worship inspired by charity for one's neighbor and so by faith in the Lord (922, 923, 1823, 2180).

What a heavenly quality is and what a spiritual quality is-or what heavenly and spiritual people in the Lord's kingdom (or his church) are-has been said many times. See §§1155, 1577, 1824, 2048, 2088, 2184, 2227, 2669, 2708, 2715.

[2] Now, a ram symbolizes what is divinely spiritual in the Lord. So it symbolizes what is spiritual in us or, to put it another way, spiritual members of the human race. This can be seen from the burnt offerings and sacrifices that involved rams. For instance, when Aaron and his sons were being consecrated to perform ministry (when they were being ordained, in other words), they would offer one young ox as a sin offering. Some of its blood was to be spattered on the horns of the altar, and the rest was to be spattered at its base. One ram would also be slaughtered, and its blood was to be spattered around the altar, and then the ram would be burned whole as a burnt offering. And the blood of the second slaughtered ram was to be spattered on Aaron's earlobe and thumb and big toe. After it was waved, it would be burned in addition to the burnt offering (Exodus 29:1-35; Leviticus 8:1-end; 9:2 and following verses). Clearly, all these rituals were holy, but the reason was that what they represented and symbolized was holy. The slaughter of the young ox; the spattering of some of its blood on the horns of the altar and of the rest at its base; the slaughter of the first ram; the spattering of its blood around the altar, and then the burning of it; the spattering of the second ram's blood on Aaron's earlobe, thumb, and big toe; the waving of it and the burning of it on the burnt offering-none of these things would have had any holiness or therefore anything to do with worship if they had not represented something holy.

What the individual details represented, though, cannot be seen by anyone except from the inner meaning. The young ox used as a sin offering symbolized what was divinely earthly in the Lord. The ram symbolized what was divinely spiritual, and also spiritual members of the human race. This can be seen from the symbolism of a young ox and a ram in the Word. Ordinations into the priesthood were conducted by spiritual means, because the spiritual dimension introduces us to the heavenly dimension. To say it another way, religious truth introduces us to a loving goodness.

Again, when Aaron entered the Holy Place, he would offer a young ox as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering (Leviticus 16:2, 3).

[3] When Nazirites fulfilled the days of their Naziriteship, they would offer a male lamb, the offspring of a year-a sound one, a single one-as a burnt offering; and a single female lamb, the offspring of a year-a sound one-as a sin offering; and a single ram-a sound one-as peace offerings (Numbers 6:13, 14, 16, 17). The reason was that a Nazirite represented a heavenly person, who is a likeness of the Lord (§§51, 52, 1013). By nature, a heavenly person feels heavenly love (that is, love for the Lord) and therefore knows heavenly truth (202, 337, 2069, 2715, 2718). That is why a Nazirite had to sacrifice a male lamb and a female lamb (symbolizing what was heavenly) and a ram (symbolizing what was spiritual).

During feasts, young cattle, rams, and lambs were sacrificed. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for example, two young oxen, one ram, and seven lambs, along with their minha, were sacrificed as a burnt offering (Numbers 28:18, 19, 20). Also on the day of the First Fruits, two young oxen, one ram, and seven lambs, along with their minha, were sacrificed as a burnt offering (Numbers 28:26, 27, 28). At new moons, two young oxen, one ram, and seven lambs, along with their minha, were sacrificed as a burnt offering (Numbers 28:11, 12). In the seventh month, on the first of the month, it was one young ox, one ram, and seven lambs, along with their minha. On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, it was thirteen young oxen, two rams, and fourteen lambs. And so on; see Numbers 29:1, 2, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26-36. Young oxen and rams symbolized spiritual qualities, but lambs symbolized heavenly qualities. In their feasts, you see, the people had to be consecrated, and introduced [to heavenly qualities] by means of spiritual qualities.

[4] Since rams symbolized what was divinely spiritual in the Lord's divine humanity, and also what was spiritual in humankind, a passage in Ezekiel concerning the new temple and the new Jerusalem (or the Lord's spiritual kingdom) says this: When they finished purging the altar there, they were to offer a young ox as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering. And for seven days they were to sacrifice the he-goat of the sin offering daily, and a young ox and a ram (Ezekiel 43:23, 24, 25). And on that day, [the Feast of Unleavened Bread,] the ruler was to sacrifice the young ox of the sin offering for all the people; and on the seven days of the feast, seven young oxen and seven rams, along with the minha, as a burnt offering (Ezekiel 45:22, 23, 24). And on the Sabbath day, the ruler was to sacrifice six lambs and a ram (Ezekiel 46:4, 6).

[5] In the broadest sense, the new temple and the new Jerusalem symbolize the Lord's kingdom (see §§402, 940). In particular they symbolize a new religion (2117). Neither of them will have burnt offerings or sacrifices, as anyone can recognize. Clearly, then, these rituals symbolize the heavenly qualities of love and the spiritual qualities of faith, because such qualities belong to the Lord's kingdom. So young oxen, rams, and lambs symbolize the same things. Young oxen and rams symbolize spiritual qualities, as can be seen from every particular of the inner meaning in those passages. In general it can be seen from the fact that the new temple and the new Jerusalem specifically symbolize the Lord's spiritual kingdom (Zion being his heavenly kingdom).

[6] It is also clear in Daniel that a ram symbolizes a spiritual quality or, what is the same, spiritual people. Daniel saw a ram with two horns standing before a stream, and then a buck of the goats, which struck the ram, broke its horns, and trampled it (Daniel 8:3, 4, and following verses). Here the ram actually means a spiritual religion, and a buck of the goats means people who subscribe to a faith detached from love for others, or truth detached from goodness. Such people assert themselves with constantly increasing pride against what is good and eventually against the Lord, as the passage also portrays. In Samuel:

Samuel said to Saul, "Does Jehovah take as much pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in attentiveness to Jehovah's voice? Look: attentiveness is better than sacrifice, and obedience than the fat of rams." (1 Samuel 15:22)

Since this verse is talking about obedience, it is talking about truth, which is spiritual; and the words were addressed to the king, who also symbolizes truth (§§1672, 2015, 2069). So it says it is better than the fat of rams rather than the fat of cattle or of lambs. [7] In David:

When Israel came out from Egypt-the house of Jacob, from a barbaric people-Judah became their sanctuary; Israel, their ruling power. The sea looked and fled, and the Jordan turned back. The mountains leaped like rams; the hills, like the offspring of the flock. What is the matter with you, O sea, that you flee? [With you,] O Jordan, that you turn back? Mountains, you will leap like rams; hills, like the offspring of the flock. Before the Lord you bear children, O earth-before the God of Jacob, who turned rock into a lake of water, and flint into a spring of its water. (Psalms 114:1-end)

The inner meaning here speaks of spiritual goodness after rebirth, describing its character. Its heavenly spirituality is depicted in the mountains that leaped like rams, and its heavenly earthliness, in the hills that leaped like the offspring of the flock. Mountains are the heavenly qualities of love (see §§795, 1430). Anyone can see that this passage, like the rest of David, has holy content, but only in the inner meaning. Clearly it symbolizes something when the text says that the mountains leaped like rams, and the hills, like the offspring of the flock, and that the earth bears children before the Lord. Without a deeper meaning, it is nonsense.

[8] The same is true of these words in Moses:

He will make them ride on the heights of the earth, and make them eat the produce of the earth, and make them suck honey from a crag, and oil from a flinty rock, the butter of the herd and the milk of the flock, together with the fat of lambs and of rams-the sons of Bashan-and of goats, together with the fat of the kidneys of wheat; and the blood of grapes you will drink as unmixed wine. (Deuteronomy 32:13, 14, 15)

Rams, the sons of Bashan, stand for heavenly qualities that are spiritual. For what heavenly spiritual qualities are, see §1824. In David:

Burnt offerings of marrow foods I will offer to you, along with the incense of rams; I will sacrifice an ox, along with he-goats. (Psalms 66:15)

Burnt offerings of marrow foods stand for the heavenly qualities of love. The incense of rams stands for the spiritual qualities of faith. [9] In Ezekiel:

Arabia and all the chiefs of Kedar were your dealers at hand for lambs, for rams and he-goats. (Ezekiel 27:21)

This is about Tyre, which symbolizes people who know what is good and true (§1201). Arabia stands for their wisdom; the chiefs of Kedar, for their understanding; the lambs, for heavenly attributes; the rams, for spiritual ones; and the he-goats for earthly ones-in that order. In Isaiah:

Every flock of Kedar will be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth will wait on you. They will go up for my good pleasure to my altar, and my beautiful House I will beautify. (Isaiah 60:7)

This is about the Lord's divine humanity. The flock of Kedar stands for his divinely heavenlike traits, and the rams of Nebaioth, for his divinely spiritual traits.

All this evidence now shows that on an inner level a ram symbolizes the Lord's divine spirituality and therefore the spiritual dimension in humankind or, what is the same, spiritual members of the human race.