9807. And his sons. That this signifies the Divine truth that proceeds from the Divine good, is evident from the signification of “sons,” as being truths (see n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3373, 3704), here the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord’s Divine good, because they were the sons of Aaron, and by Aaron as high-priest was represented the Lord as to Divine good (as has been shown just above). That “sons” denote truths, is because all things in the internal sense of the Word are spiritual; and in the spiritual sense “sons” denote those who are born anew from the Lord, thus who are in truths from good, consequently abstractedly from persons, the truths themselves which are from good. These therefore are what are meant in the Word by “the sons of God,” “the sons of a king,” and “the sons of the kingdom.” They are also “the sons of the new birth,” or regeneration. Moreover, the truths and goods with a regenerated man, or one born anew from the Lord, are exactly like families in a large and long series from one father. There are those which bear relation to sons and daughters, to grandsons and granddaughters, to sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, and thus to relationships of many degrees, and therefore of many kinds. Truths and goods thus arranged are what in the spiritual sense are “sons,” “daughters,” “grandsons,” “granddaughters,” “sons-in-law,” “daughters-in-law,” in a word, relations of various degrees, and consequently of various kinds. That spiritual generations are in such an order has been shown by living experience, and at the same time it was said that the truths and goods with a regenerate man are in such an order for the reason that the angelic societies in heaven are in the same, and the truths and goods with man correspond to these societies; wherefore also the man whose truths and goods are in such a correspondence is a heaven in the least form.

[2] Anyone who knows that by “sons” are signified truths, and by “daughters” goods, can see many arcana in the Word, especially in the prophetic Word, that otherwise would be hidden; as also what is meant in particular by “the Son of man,” which the Lord often calls Himself in the Word. That the Divine truth which proceeds from His Divine Human is meant, is evident from the passages in which He is so named, and which may be here cited for the purpose of confirming at the same time that a “son” denotes truth; as in John:

The crowd said unto Jesus, How sayest Thou, the Son of man must be exalted? Who is this Son of man? Jesus answered them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness take you. While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be sons of light (John 12:34-36).

From these words it is evident that by “the Son of man” is signified the like as by “the light,” for when they inquired, Who is this Son of man? the Lord answered that He was the light in which they should believe (that this “light” denotes the Divine truth, see the places cited in n. 9548, 9684); thus it also denotes the Son of man.

[3] In Luke:

Blessed are ye when men shall hate you for the Son of man’s sake (Luke 6:22); where “for the Son of man’s sake” denotes for the sake of the Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord; Divine truth is everything of faith in, and of love to, the Lord, and “being hated for the sake of this” is “blessedness.” Again:

The days will come when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, but ye shall not see it. Then they shall say unto you, Lo here! or Lo there! go not away, nor make search (Luke 17:22-23);

“to desire to see one of the days of the Son of man” denotes to see one of the states of Divine truth which is genuine. The subject here treated of is the end of the church, when there is no longer any faith, because no charity; at which time all genuine truth Divine will perish; and because truth Divine is signified by “the Son of man,” therefore it is said, “then they shall say, Lo here! or Lo there! search not,” which can be said of truth Divine from the Lord, but not of the Lord Himself.

[4] Again:

When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8).

That is, when truth Divine shall be revealed from heaven, it will not be believed. “The Son of man” here also denotes the Lord as to truth Divine, that is, the truth Divine which proceeds from the Lord. “The coming of the Lord” denotes the revelation of truth Divine at the end of the church.

[5] In Matthew:

As the lightning goeth forth from the east, and appeareth even unto the west, so shall be the coming of the Son of man. Then shall appear the sign, and then shall all the tribes of the earth wail, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory (Matthew 24:27, 30);

“the coming of the Son of man” denotes the revelation of truth Divine in the consummation of the age, that is, at the end of the church; “all the tribes of the earth which shall then wail,” denote all the truths and goods of faith and of love from the Lord, and thus to the Lord, in the complex; “the clouds of heaven in which He will come,” denote the literal sense of the Word; “power and glory” denote the internal sense, in the inmost of which the subject treated of is the Lord alone (see the further explication of these words in n. 4060).

[6] In like manner elsewhere:

I say unto you, Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming upon the clouds of heaven (Matthew 26:64).

From henceforth shall the Son of man be sitting at the right hand of the power of God (Luke 22:69).

“The Son of man” denotes the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord; “sitting at the right hand of power” denotes that He has omnipotence, for Divine good has omnipotence by means of Divine truth; its being said that “from henceforth they shall see it” signifies that Divine truth was in its omnipotence after the Lord in the world had conquered the hells, and had reduced all things therein and in the heavens into order, and that in this way those could be saved who would receive Him in faith and love (see n. 9715). (That “sitting at the right hand” denotes omnipotence, see n. 3387, 4592, 4933, 7518, 8281, 9133; that good has all power through truth, see n. 6344, 6423, 8304, 9327, 9410, 9639, 9643; that the Divine power itself is Divine truth, n. 6948; that “the clouds in which the Son of man,” that is, Divine truth, “will come,” denote the Word in the letter, see the preface to Genesis 18 [in 2135]; and n. 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343, 6752, 8443, 8781; and that “glory” denotes the Divine truth itself, such as it is in the internal sense of the Word, see the preface to Genesis 18;and n. 4809, 5922, 8267, 9429.)

[7] From all this it can now be seen what is signified by these words in the book of Revelation:

I saw and behold a white cloud; and on the cloud one sitting like, unto the Son of man, having on His head a golden crown (Revelation 14:14).

I saw in the night visions, and behold there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto the Son of man (Daniel 7:13).

The Father gave Him to execute judgment, because He is the Son of man (John 5:27).

As all judgment is effected from truth, it is said that it was “given to the Lord to execute judgment, because He is the Son of man;” “the Son of man,” as before said, denotes the Divine truth; the Father from whom it proceeds, denotes the Divine good (n. 2803, 3704, 7499, 8328, 8897). As it pertains to Divine truth to execute judgment, therefore it is said that “when He shall come, the Son of man shall sit upon the throne of His glory” (Matthew 1 9:28; 25:31); and that “the Son of man shall render to everyone according to his deeds” (Matthew 16:27).

[8] Further:

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the seed are the sons of the kingdom; the tares are the sons of the evil one (Matthew 13:37-38);

“the good seed” denotes truth Divine, therefore it is said that “the Son of man soweth it;” “the sons of the kingdom” denote truths Divine in heaven and in the church, for a “son” denotes truth (see n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623), and in the opposite sense, falsity, which also is “the son of the evil one;” “the kingdom” denotes heaven, and likewise the church.

[9] In John:

No man hath ascended into heaven, but He that came down from heaven, the Son of man who is in the heavens (John 3:13);

from this it is evident that “the Son of man” denotes the Divine truth in the heavens; for this comes down, and therefore ascends, because no one can ascend into heaven unless Divine truth comes down into him from heaven, because the influx is Divine, and not the other way about. And because the Lord is this truth, therefore He calls Himself “the Son of man who is in the heavens.”

In Matthew:

The Son of man hath not where to lay His head (Matthew 8:20);

here “the Son of man” denotes the Divine truth; “not having where to lay His head,” means that Divine truth had no place anywhere, or with any man, at that time.

[10] That “the Son of man was to suffer, and to be put to death” (Matthew 17:12, 23; 20:18; 26:2, 24, 45; Mark 8:31; 9:12, 31elsewhere), involves that such was the treatment of Divine truth, and consequently of the Lord, who was the Divine truth itself, as also He Himself teaches in John:

I am the way, and the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

No man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man stay therein (Jeremiah 49:18, 33).

In the cities shall no man dwell, neither shall any son of man pass through them (Jeremiah 51:43).

Anyone not acquainted with the spiritual sense of the Word will believe that by “cities” are here meant cities, and that by “man” and “the son of man” are meant a man and a son; and that the cities would be so desolated that no one would dwell there; but it is the state of the church in respect to the doctrine of truth which is described by these words; for “cities” denote the doctrinal things of the church (n. 402, 2449, 3216, 4492, 4493); “a man,” the truth itself of the church conjoined with good (n. 3134, 7716, 9007); therefore “the son of man” denotes truth.

[11] As by “the Son of man” was signified the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord, therefore also the prophets, through whom it was revealed, were called “sons of man,” as in Daniel 8:17; in Ezekiel 2:1, 3, 6, 8; 3:1, 3-4, 10, 17, 25; 4:1, 16; 8:5-6, 8, 12, 15; 12:2-3, 9, 18, 22, 27; and in many other passages.

[12] As most expressions in the Word have also an opposite sense, it is the same with the signification of “the son of man,” which in this sense denotes the falsity that is opposite to truth, as in Isaiah:

Who art thou, that thou art afraid of man that dieth, and of the son of man who is given as grass? (Isaiah 51:12); where “the son of man given as grass” denotes the memory-knowledge through which falsity arises.

In David:

Put not your trust in princes, in the son of man, in whom there is no salvation (Psalms 146:3); where “princes” denote primary truths (n. 2089, 5044), thus in the opposite sense, primary falsities; and “the son of man” denotes the falsity itself.

2788. On the third day. That this signifies completeness, and the beginning of sanctification, is evident from the signification of the “third day.” “Day” in the Word signifies state (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893); as also does “year,” and in general all periods of time; as an “hour,” a “day,” a “week,” a “month,” a “year,” an “age;” as also “morning,” “noon,” “evening,” and “night;” and “spring,” “summer,” “autumn,” and “winter;” and when “third” is added to these, they signify the end of that state, and at the same time the beginning of the following state. As the Lord’s sanctification is here treated of, which was effected by temptations, the “third day” signifies completeness, and at the same time the beginning of sanctification, as also follows from what has been already said. The reason of this signification is that when the Lord had fulfilled all things He would rise again on the third day; for the things that were done, or that would be done by the Lord when He lived in the world, were in the representatives of the church as if already done (as also they were in the internal sense of the Word); for in God to be and to become are the same; indeed all eternity is present to Him.

[2] Hence the number “three” was representative, not only in the Ancient Church and in the Jewish, but also among various nations. (See what is said concerning this number above, n. 720, 901, 1825.) That this was the origin of the signification of “three,” is evident in Hosea:

Let us return unto Jehovah, for He hath wounded, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up; after two days He will revive us, on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live before Him (Hos. 6:1-2); where the “third day” denotes the Lord’s coming, and His resurrection. And from Jonah, that he “was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:17); concerning which the Lord thus speaks in Matthew:

As Jonah was in the whale’s belly three days and three nights, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40).

[3] Be it known that in the internal sense of the Word “three days” and the “third day” signify the same, as also do “three” and “third” in the passages which now follow.

In John:

Jesus said to the Jews, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. He spake of the temple of His body (John 2:19-21; Matthew 26:61; Mark 14:58; 15:29).

[4] That the Lord rose again on the third day is known. For the same reason the Lord distinguished the periods of His life into three, as stated in Luke:

Go ye and tell that fox, Behold I cast out demons, and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I am perfected (Luke 13:32).

His last temptation also, that of the cross, the Lord endured at the “third hour” of the day (Mark 15:25); and after three hours there came darkness over the whole land, or at the “sixth hour” (Luke 23:44); and after three hours, or at the “ninth hour,” the end (Mark 15:33-34, 37). But on the morning of the “third day” He rose again (Mark 16:1-4; Luke 24:7; (see Matthew 16:21; 17:22-23; 20:18-19; Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33-34; Luke 18:33; 24:46). From all this, and especially from the Lord’s resurrection on the third day, the number “three” was representative and significative, as may be seen from the following passages in the Word:

When Jehovah came down upon Mount Sinai, He told Moses to sanctify the people today and tomorrow, and that they should wash their garments, and be ready against the third day, for on the third day Jehovah would descend (Exodus 19:10-11, 15-16).

When they set forth from the mount of Jehovah on a journey of three days, the ark of Jehovah went before them a three days’ journey to seek out a resting place for them (Numbers 10:33).

There was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days, and they saw not one another for three days, but the sons of Israel had light (Exodus 10:22-23).

[5] The flesh of the sacrifice of a vow, or of a freewill-offering, was to be eaten on the first and second day; nothing was to be left to the third day, but the remainder was to be burnt, because it was an abomination.

So too with the flesh of the peace-offering; and if it should be eaten on the third day it would not propitiate, but the soul should carry its iniquity (Leviticus 7:16-18; 19:6-7).

He that touched one dead was to purify himself on the third day, and on the seventh day he should be clean; otherwise that soul should be cut off from Israel; and one that was clean should sprinkle water upon him that was unclean on the third day and on the seventh day (Numbers 19:12-13, 19).

They who slew a person in battle, or touched one that was slain, were to purify themselves on the third day, and on the seventh day (Numbers 31:19).

[6] When they came into the land of Canaan the fruit was to be uncircumcised three years, and was not to be eaten (Leviticus 19:23).

At the end of three years they were to bring all the tithes of their increase in that year and lay it up in their gates, that the Levite, the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow might eat (Deuteronomy 14:28-29; 24:12).

Three times in the year they were to keep a feast to Jehovah, and three times in the year every male was to appear before the face of the Lord Jehovih (Exodus 23:14, 17; Deuteronomy 16:16).

Joshua told the people that in three days they should pass over the Jordan and inherit the land (Josh. 1:11; 3:2).

[7] Jehovah called to Samuel three times, and he answered the third time (1 Samuel 3:8).

When Saul wished to kill David, David hid himself in the field till the third evening. Jonathan said to David that he would sound his father on the third day. Jonathan shot three arrows by the side of the stone, and David then fell upon his face to the earth before Jonathan and bowed himself down three times (1 Samuel 20:5, 12, 19-20, 30, 36, 41).

David was to choose one of three things: seven years of famine in the land; or that he should flee before his enemies three months; or a pestilence in the land three days (2 Samuel 24:12-13).

[8] There was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year (2 Samuel 21:1).

Elijah stretched himself upon the dead child three times and brought him to life (1 Kings 17:21).

When Elijah had built the altar to Jehovah, he told them to pour water upon the burnt offering and upon the wood three times (1 Kings 18:34).

The fire twice consumed the commanders over fifty, sent to Elijah, but not him that was sent the third time (2 Kings 1:13).

It was a sign to king Hezekiah that they should eat that year what sprung up spontaneously, in the second year the aftergrowth, but in the third year they should sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them (2 Kings 19:29).

[9] Daniel entered into his house and had the windows open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, and here three times a day he blessed upon his knees and prayed (Daniel 6:11, 14).

Daniel mourned three weeks of days, eating no pleasant bread, nor drinking wine, nor anointing himself, until the three weeks of days were fulfilled (Daniel 10:2-3.

Isaiah went naked and barefoot three years, for a sign and a wonder upon Egypt and upon Cush (Isaiah 20:3).

Out of the candlestick went forth three branches on each side, and three almond-shaped cups on each branch (Exodus 25:32-33).

In the Urim and Thummim there were three precious stones in each row (Exodus 28:17-19).

[10] In the new temple there were to be three chambers of the gate on this side and three on that side, and they three should have one measure; at the porch of the house the breadth of the gate should be three cubits on this side and three cubits on that side (Ezekiel 40:10, 21, 48).

In the new Jerusalem there were to be three gates to the north, three to the east, three to the south, and three to the west (Ezekiel 48:31-34; Revelation 21:13).

So in the following passages:

Peter denied Jesus thrice (Matthew 26:34, 26:69-75 d following verses).

The Lord said to Peter three times, “Lovest thou Me?” (John 21:17).

Also in the parable, the man who planted the vineyard sent servants three times, and at length his son (Luke 20:12; Mark 12:2, 4-6).

They who labored in the vineyard were hired at the third hour, the sixth hour, the ninth hour, and the eleventh hour (Matthew 20:1-17).

Because the fig tree did not bear fruit for three years, it was to be cut down (Luke 13:6-7).

[11] As a trine and a third were representative, so also was a third part; as that in the meat offering of fine flour two tenths were mixed with a third part of a hin of oil; and the wine for a libation was a third part of a hin (Numbers 15:6-7; Ezekiel 46:14).

The prophet Ezekiel was to pass a razor upon his head, and upon his beard, and then divide the hair and burn a third part in the fire, and smite a third with the sword, about it [the city], and scatter a third to the wind (Ezekiel 5:1-2, 11).

In the whole land, two parts were to be cut off and the third was to be left; but the third was to be brought through the fire and proved (Zech. 13:8-9).

[12] When the first angel sounded there came hail and fire mingled with blood, and it fell upon the earth so that a third part of the trees were burnt up. The second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea, and a third part of the sea became blood; because of which a third part of the creatures in the sea having souls, died, and a third part of the ships were destroyed. The third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven burning like a lamp, and it fell upon a third part of the rivers; the name of the star was Wormwood. The fourth angel sounded, and a third part of the sun was smitten, and a third part of the moon, and a third part of the stars, so that a third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night in like manner (Revelation 8:7-12).

[13] The four angels were loosed to kill a third part of men (Revelation 9:15).

By these three were the third part of men killed, by the fire, and the smoke, and the brimstone, which proceeded out of the mouth of the horses (Revelation 9:18).

The dragon drew with his tail a third part of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth (Revelation 12:4).

A “third part,” however, signifies some, and what is not yet complete; but the “third,” and a “trine,” what is complete; and this, of evil to the evil, and of good to the good.