8858. A person's whole character is determined by the nature of whatever dominates his life; this is what marks him off from others. His heaven is formed in accordance with it if he is good, or his hell if he is bad. For it constitutes his true will and so the true being of his life, which is unchangeable after death. From all this one may see what the life is like in a person who has been regenerated, and what it is like in one who has not been regenerated.

9286. 'Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year' means enduring worship of the Lord and thanksgiving on account of deliverance from damnation. This is clear from the meaning of 'keeping a feast' or 'holding a feast' as worshipping the Lord with gladness of mind on account of deliverance from damnation, dealt with in 7093; and from the meaning of 'three times in the year' as a state complete right to its end, for 'three' means complete from the beginning to the end, 2788, 4495, 7715, 9198, and 'year' a whole period, 2906, 7839, 8070. At this point therefore complete and whole deliverance is meant; for 'the feast of unleavened bread' means purification from falsities, 'the feast of harvest' means the planting of truth in good, and 'the feast of ingathering' means the implanting of good from there. Thus complete deliverance from damnation is meant by these feasts; for when a person has been purified from falsities, and after this has been brought by means of truths into good, and is at length governed by good, he is in heaven with the Lord and has accordingly undergone complete deliverance.

[2] The consecutive stages of deliverance from damnation are like the consecutive stages of regeneration; for regeneration is deliverance by the Lord from hell and being led by Him into heaven. For a person who is being regenerated is first purified from falsities, after that the truths of faith he knows are planted in the good of charity, and finally that good itself is implanted in him. When all this has been done the person has been regenerated and he is then in heaven with the Lord. Therefore the three feasts in the year also meant worship of the Lord and thanksgiving on account of regeneration. Because these feasts were established on account of the everlasting remembrance of those things, the worship and thanksgiving are called enduring; for the most important things in worship should endure forever. The things which should endure forever are those which have been inscribed not only on the memory but also on the actual life that is led. When this is so they are said to reign universally with a person, see 5949, 6159, 6571, 8853-8858, 8865.

728. That 'seven days' time' here means the onset of temptation is clear from the internal sense of all the details in this verse, where the subject is the temptation of the man called Noah. In general the subject concerns not only the temptation of that man but also the utter vastation of those who belonged to the Most Ancient Church and who had become such as described. Consequently 'seven days' time' means not only the onset of temptation but also the finish of vastation. The reason 'seven days' time' means those things is that seven Is a holy number, as stated and shown at verse 2 of this chapter, at Genesis 4:15, 24, and in 84-87. It means the Lord's Coming into the world, and also His coming into glory. In particular it means every coming He makes. Every one of His comings involves a beginning for those who are being regenerated and the end of those who are being vastated. And so for the member of this Church His coming marked the onset of temptation, for when someone is being tempted he starts to become a new man and be regenerated. At the same time it was the end of those from the Most Ancient Church who had become of such a character that inevitably they perished. It was similar when the Lord came into the world; at that time the Church had entered the final stages of its vastation, and a new one came into being.

[2] That 'seven days' time' means these things is clear in Daniel,

Seventy weeks have been decreed concerning your people and your holy city to bring transgression to a close and to seal up sins and to atone for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. And you will know and perceive that from the going forth of the Word to restore and to build Jerusalem until the Messiah, the Prince, there will be SEVEN WEEKS. Daniel 9:24-25.

Here 'seventy weeks' and 'seven weeks' are similar in meaning to seven days, namely the Coming of the Lord. But because it is plain prophecy here, periods of time are presented in an even more holy and decided fashion by numbers involving seven. From this quotation it is clear that, when applied in this way to periods of time, 'seven' means not only the Coming of the Lord, but also - in the words stating that He was to anoint the Most Holy Place and that He was to restore and build Jerusalem - the beginning of a new Church at that time, and simultaneously - in the words stating that [seventy] weeks were decreed concerning the holy city to bring transgression to a close and to seal up sin - final vastation.

[3] Similar usages occur elsewhere in the Word, as in Ezekiel where he describes a personal experience,

I came to those in captivity at Tel-abib, who were sitting by the river Chebar, and I sat there seven days, astonished among them And at the end of seven days the Word of Jehovah came to me. Ezekiel 3:15-16.

Here also 'seven days' stands for the onset of visitation, for when he had sat seven days among those in captivity, the Word of Jehovah came to him. In the same prophet,

They will bury Gog, that they may cleanse the land in seven months. At the end of seven months they will make their search. Ezekiel 39:12, 14.

This similarly stands for the final phase of vastation and the first of visitation. In Daniel,

The heart of Nebuchadnezzar will be changed from a man and the heart of a beast given to him, and seven times will pass over him. Daniel 4:16, 25, 31.

This likewise stands for the finish of vastation and the beginning of a new man.

[4] The seventy years of captivity in Babylon represented the same. Whether the number is seventy or seven what is embodied is the same. The same applies whether it is seven days, or seven years, or seven decades which make seventy years. Vastation was represented by the years of captivity, the beginning of a new Church by the liberation and by the rebuilding of the Temple. Jacob's serving in the house of Laban also represented things of a similar nature - where the following is stated,

I will serve you for seven years for Rachel. And he served for seven years. Laban said, Complete the week of this one, and we will give you also the other one for the service you render with me for another seven years. And Jacob did so, and completed the week of this one. Genesis 29:18, 20, 27-28.

Here 'the service of seven years' embodies something similar. And after the period of seven years marriage and freedom followed. The period of these seven years was called a week, as also in Daniel.

[5] Something similar was also represented by the command to go around the city of Jericho seven times, and the wall would collapse. It is also said that they rose at dawn on the seventh day and went around the city, as they were accustomed to do, seven times. And after the seventh time round, the seven priests blew on their seven trumpets and the wall collapsed, Joshua 6:10-20. Unless these events had also had this meaning the command would never have been given to go round seven times, or that there were to be seven priests and seven trumpets. From these and many other places, for example in Job 2:13; Revelation 15:1, 6-7; 21:9, it becomes clear that 'seven days' time' means the beginning of a new Church and the end of the old. Since the subject here is not only the member of the Church called Noah and his temptation, but also the final descendants of the Most Ancient Church who destroyed themselves, 'seven days' time' can mean nothing other than the onset of the temptation of Noah and the finish of the Most Ancient Church, which was the final destruction and extinction of it.