127. Internal Meaning of Ezekiel, Chapter 4

Representation of the perverted church in the church. (2)

1-2 He should represent the falsities of the church, and the church besieged by them. (2)

3 He should represent the hardness of their heart, from which it is that they have no fear; (2)

4-8 he should also represent the church besieged by falsities of evil and evils of falsity. (2)

9-16 He should represent the falsification and adulteration of the sense of the letter of the Word, (2)

17 by which everything of the church has perished. (2, 3)

In Exodus 7:7, eighty signifies the state and quality of the Law, since it applies to Moses. Also, 80, like 40, can represent a state of temptation, when we face and battle our desires for evil – and that it can also be looked at as the product of eight and 10, combining the meanings of those two numbers. Eight generally represents a beginning state (the eighth day is the first of a new week) and 10 can represent either a state of fullness or what are called "remains" – true ideas and desires for good implanted deep within us by the Lord in infancy, which can react with other good and truths as we grow. See Arcana Coelestia 7284.