4077. 'And your father has deceived me, and has changed my wages in ten ways' means the state of good in relation to Himself when, acting of Himself, He applied to Himself the things which constituted that good, and also a very great change in that good. This is clear from the meaning of 'father', who in this case is Laban, as intermediate good, dealt with already; from the meaning of 'wages' as His acting of Himself, dealt with in 3996, 3999; and from the meaning of 'ten ways' as a very great change - 'ten' meaning very great, 1988, and 'ways' changes. All this implies a change in the actual state of that good when, acting of Himself, the Lord applied to Himself the things constituting that good. Now if instead of the good meant by 'Laban' a community of spirits or angels is thought of such as are governed by that kind of good, what is involved is then made plain. Communities do not readily depart from someone with whom they have been present; but when a person with whom they are present departs they become annoyed, and they react in a way similar to Laban's behaviour here towards Jacob. Indeed even if they do perceive that some good has come to that person through them they say that it has done so from them; for when they are annoyed evil governs what they say.

[2] A similar situation exists with a person who is being regenerated. That is to say, the Lord applies communities to that person which serve to introduce genuine goods and truths, not from those communities but through them. And when the one who is being regenerated is transferred to other communities those which have been present hitherto are annoyed. But such communities are not visible to him because he does not believe that he is within any community of spirits or angels. They are however clearly visible to angels, and also to those who in the Lord's Divine mercy are allowed to talk to them and go among them as one of them. This is how I have been given to know about such things.

[3] Spirits deplore very much the fact that man does not know about such things too, not even that they are present with him, and more still the fact that many deny not only their presence but also the very existence of hell and of heaven. This ignorance however they attribute to human stupidity, for man does not in actual fact possess the smallest amount of thought or the smallest amount of will except by means of influx through those spirits themselves from the Lord. And it is through them as a means that the Lord governs the human race, and in particular every member of it.

487. 'Days means periods of time and states in general. This has been shown in Chapter 1, where the 'days of creation' have no other meaning. In the Word it is very common for a whole period of time to be called 'a day', as it clearly is in the present verse and in verses 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 27, 31, below; and therefore the states that belong to periods of time in general are meant by 'days' as well. And when 'years' is attached, then periods of years mean the natures of those states, and so the states in particular.

[2] The most ancient people had their own particular numbers which they would use to mean different aspects of the Church - for instance, the numbers three, seven, ten, twelve, and many which they obtained from these and other numbers - and in so doing incorporated states of the Church. These numbers therefore contain arcana that would require considerable effort to unravel. Really a number was an evaluation of the states of the Church. The same feature occurs throughout the Word, especially in the prophetical. And the religious ceremonies of the Jewish Church also entail numbers specifying periods of time as well as quantities; for example, in connection with sacrifices, minchahs, oblations, and other practices, which in every case have special reference to holy things. Consequently eight hundred in this verse, nine hundred and thirty in the next, and the numbers of years mentioned in the verses that follow after that, embody in particular more matters than can possibly be retold; matters, that is to say, which have to do with changes in the state of their Church in relationship to their own general state. Later on, in the Lord's Divine mercy, the meaning of the simple numbers up to twelve will be given, for without knowing these first of all no one can grasp what compound numbers mean.