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.

6406. 'And he will ravage the heel' means consequent disorder in the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'ravaging' as dislodging him from a state of truth, as immediately above in 6405, thus upsetting order or creating disorder; and from the meaning of 'the heel' as the lowest part of the natural, dealt with in 259, 4938-4952. From this it is evident that 'he will ravage the heel' means disorder in the natural. people performing works motivated by truth but not as yet by good inevitably introduce disorder into their natural, since works have an effect on the natural; and as a consequence they cannot help closing their interiors to the extent that they perform such works, since the natural forms the base on which the interiors rest. But if there is disorder in the natural, the things that flow in from the interiors become disordered too; and these things that disordered lack light and are in gloom. This being so, those people cannot see what the truth is, but in that gloom and lack of light they seize on as the truth what is not in fact the truth, and this is what then motivates them in their performance of works. Furthermore works are absolutely vital, for they are charity and faith when put into effect and expressed in life. Who fails to see that without works charity does not exist? Works are nothing else than actual goodness and truth expressed in an outward form; for when good which exists in the will and truth which exists in the understanding are put into action they are called works. From this it is evident that the nature of the goodness and truth determines that of the works.