7984. 'Four hundred and thirty years' means the essential nature and state of them. This is clear from the meaning of 'thirty' as a state when the quantity of remnants is complete, for that number is the product of three and ten multiplied, and 'three' means a state made complete, 2788, 4495, 7715, and 'ten' means remnants, 576, 1906, 2284 (what a state made complete is will be explained below); and from the meaning of 'four hundred' as the duration of vastation, dealt with in 2959, 2966, and from this the joining together of goodness and truth, 4341, The fact that all numbers mean real things and states, and that a compound number is similar to the simple ones of which it is a product, see above in 7973.

[2] As regards vastation, meant by 'four hundred years', there are two kinds, namely the vastation of evil and falsity and the vastation of goodness and truth. With those suffering damnation it is the vastation of goodness and truth, but with those who are being saved it is the vastation of evil and falsity, vastation being the taking away of those things. So far it has been shown that the evil who have belonged to the Church undergo vastation of all goodness and truth, for stages of vastation one after another are meant by the plagues in Egypt. But the good undergo vastation of evil and falsity. Evil and falsity residing with them are gradually separated, that is, removed to the sides, and forms of good and truths are gathered towards the middle. The term 'remnants' is used to describe goodness and truth gathered together in that way. And when their state of remnants has been made complete the good are raised to heaven. This state is what is meant by 'thirty', and vastation what is meant by 'four hundred'. With the good the vastation of evil and falsity and the instilling of goodness and truth is effected by means of molestations and by means of temptations. By means of both these, falsities and evils are removed and forms of good and truths are inserted; and this process continues until the state is made complete.

[3] What a state made complete is must also be explained briefly. Everyone, whether damned or saved, has a certain measure that can be made complete. The evil, or those who are damned, have a certain measure of evil and falsity, while the good, or those who are saved, have a certain measure of goodness and truth. This measure that everyone has is made complete in the next life, though with some the measure may be quite large, with others rather small. People acquire that measure in the world through the affections belonging to their love. The more anyone has loved evil and the falsity arising from it, the greater is the measure acquired by him; and the more anyone has loved good and the truth springing from it, the greater is his measure. The breadths and heights to which that measure can go are clearly apparent in the next life. These limits cannot be exceeded there, but they can be reached, and in fact are reached; that is to say, those whose affection has been for goodness and truth have their measure made complete with forms of good and truths, while those whose affection has been for evil and falsity have theirs made complete with evils and falsities. From this it is evident that this measure is a propensity acquired in the world to receive either evil and falsity or goodness and truth.

[4] This state is what a state made complete refers to and what is meant by 'thirty'. It is described by the Lord in the parable of the talents, Matthew 25:14-30, and in that of the minas, Luke 19:11-27, and at length by these words in Matthew,

To everyone who has, it will be given, so that he may have in abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Matthew 25:29.

And in Luke,

To those standing by he said, Take the mina from him, and give to him who has ten minas. They said, Sir, he has ten minas. I say to you, that to everyone who has, it will be given; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Luke 19:24-26.

That everyone's measure is made complete is the Lord's teaching elsewhere in the same gospel, Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over they will give into your bosom. Luke 6:38.

From all this one may now see what is meant by a state made complete.

2025. That 'I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land of your sojournings' means that the Lord acquired to Himself by His own powers all things meant by 'the land of sojournings' is clear from the meaning of 'sojourning' as receiving instruction, dealt with in 1463. And because man acquires life to himself chiefly through instruction in facts, matters of doctrine, and cognitions of faith, sojourning is consequently the life so acquired. When applied to the Lord it is the life which He obtained for Himself through cognitions, through the conflicts that constituted temptations, and through victories in temptations; and because He obtained it by His own powers, this is what 'the land of your sojournings' means here.

[2] That the Lord obtained all things for Himself by His own powers, and by His own powers united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence and Divine Essence to Human Essence, and that He alone in this way became righteousness, is quite clear in the Prophets, as in Isaiah,

Who is this coming from Edom, marching in the vast numbers of His strength? I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with Me. I looked around and there was no one helping; and I was astonished that there was no one upholding; therefore My own arm brought Me salvation. Isaiah 63:1, 3, 5.

'Edom' stands for the Lord's Human Essence, 'strength' and 'arm' for power. Plain statements to the effect that He acted from His own power are contained in the phrases 'no one helping' and 'no one upholding', and in that about His own arm bringing Him salvation.

[3] In the same prophet,

He saw that there was no one, and wondered that there was nobody to intercede; and His own arm brought salvation to Him, and His righteousness upheld Him. And He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head. Isaiah 59:16-17.

This similarly means that He acted by His own power, and in so doing became righteousness. That the Lord is righteousness is stated in Daniel,

Seventy weeks have been decreed to atone for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. Daniel 9:24.

And in Jeremiah,

I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and He will reign as king and act with understanding, and He will execute judgement and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell in confidence. And this is His name which they will call Him, Jehovah our Righteousness. Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:15-16.

For this reason He is also called 'the Habitation of Righteousness' in Jeremiah 31:23; 50:7, and 'wonderful' and 'Hero' in Isaiah 9:6.

[4] The reason why the Lord so many times attributes to the Father that which is His own has been explained above in 1999, 2004; for Jehovah was within Him, and so within every single part of Him. Something similar in man may be used for illustration, although there can be no comparison. Within man is his soul, and because it is within him, the soul is within every individual part of him, that is to say, within every individual part of his thinking and every individual part of his activity. Anything that does not have his soul within it is not part of him. The Lord's soul was Life itself or Being (Esse) itself, which is Jehovah, for He was conceived from Jehovah; thus Life itself was present within every individual part of Him. And because Life itself, or Being (Esse) itself, which is Jehovah, belonged to Him in the way that the soul does to man, so that which was Jehovah's was His, which is what the Lord says in His statements about His being in the bosom of the Father, John 1:18, and about all things that the Father has being His, John 16:15; 17:10-11.

[5] From good which is Jehovah's He united the Divine Essence to the Human Essence, and from truth united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, and so achieved every single thing all from Himself. Indeed His Human was left to Itself in order that of Himself He might fight against all the hells and overcome them; and because He had life within Himself, as stated, which was His own, He overcame them by His own power and strength, as is also clearly stated in the places quoted from the Prophets. So then, because He acquired all things to Himself by His own powers, He became Righteousness, cleared the world of spirits of hellish genii and spirits, and in so doing rescued the human race from destruction - for the human race is governed by means of spirits - and thus redeemed it. This is why the Old Testament Word speaks so often of Him as Rescuer and Redeemer, and also Saviour, as His name Jesus describes.