35. Verses 7, 8. Behold He cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and they who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth shall lament over Him. Even so: Amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega, Beginning and End, saith the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. 7 "Behold He cometh with the clouds," signifies that the Lord is about to reveal Himself in the Word through the internal sense n. 36; "and every eye shall see Him," signifies that all will acknowledge Him who are in truths from good (n. 37); "and they who pierced Him," signifies that they also will see Him who are in falsities from evil (n. 38); "and all the tribes of the earth shall lament over Him," signifies that the falsities of the church will oppose n. 39; "even so: Amen," signifies Divine confirmation, that so it will be (n. 40).

8. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, Beginning and End," signifies that He governs all things from firsts through ultimates, and thus all things of heaven to eternity (n. 41); "saith the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come," signifies from Him who is the All in all things of heaven and of the church from eternity to eternity, and Jehovah (n. 42); "the Almighty," signifies from Himself (n. 43).

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.