194. And thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. That this signifies man's ignorance of that time, and of his state then, is evident from the signification of hour, as being the time when man is to die, and also his state at the time; and from the signification of not knowing it, as being ignorant. It is said, what hour I will come upon thee, namely, as a thief; and in the sense of the letter is hereby meant that the Lord would thus come, but in the spiritual sense it is meant that evils and falsities would steal the knowledges which they have from the Word; for, in the sense of the letter of the Word, it is attributed to Jehovah, or the Lord, that He does evil, but, in the spiritual sense it is meant that He does evil to no one, but that man does evil to himself (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 2447, 5798, 6071, 6991, 6997, 7533, 7632, 7643, 7877, 7679, 7710, 7926, 8227, 8228, 8284, 8483, 8632, 9010, 9128, 9306, 10431).

[2] The reason why hour also signifies state is, because in the Word all times, as a day, a week, a month, a year, an age, signify states of life, and hence hour has a similar signification. (The cause of this may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 162-169, where time in heaven is treated of.)

But because hour signifies both time and state, therefore, where hour is mentioned in the Word it may to some extent be known that something other than time is signified by it.

In Matthew:

A householder hired labourers into his vineyard, who, laboured from the third hour, the sixth, the ninth, and the eleventh, and received an equal reward (Matthew 20:1-17).

By these hours in the world are meant times, but in heaven states of the life, because there are no hours in heaven, as times there are not measurable, and divided into days, and these into hours, as in the world, therefore instead of these they there perceive the states of the life of those who die, whether old, young, youths or children, who have alike procured to themselves spiritual life. To labour in the vineyard, denotes the procuring of spiritual life by means of knowledges of good and truth from the Word applied to the uses of life. (That a vineyard in the Word signifies the spiritual church, and spiritual life pertaining to man, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 3220, 9139.) By the third, the sixth, and the ninth hours similar states of life are signified; for all numbers in the Word are significative, and those numbers have a similar signification. Three signifies a full state, or what is complete even to the end (see n. 2788, 4495, 7715, 8347, 9825). The like is signified by six and nine; but the number eleven signifies a state not yet full, but yet a state of reception, such as that of well-disposed children and infants. The twelfth hour up to which they all laboured, signifies truths and goods in their fulness (see n. 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272, 3858, 3913. That all numbers in the Word are significative, see n. 4495, 4670, 5265, 6175, 9488, 9659, 10217, 10253; and that multiplied numbers have a similar signification to the simple numbers from which they arise by multiplication, hence three, six, and nine have a similar signification, see n. 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973).

[3] Since twelve signifies truths and goods in their fulness, and thus a state of light or of man's intelligence therefrom, the Lord says,

"Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any one walk in the day, he stumbleth not" (John 11:9).

In other places, also by hours are signified states of life, as in the Apocalypse:

"The four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, to slay the third part of men" (9:15).

By the times here mentioned are meant states of evil in men, as will be seen when we come to the explanation of those words.

From these considerations it is now evident that by, Thou shalt not know in what hour I will come upon thee, is meant man's ignorance not only of the time of his death, but also of the state of his life at that time, which state remains to eternity; for according to the quality of the state of man's past life even to the end of it, such he remains to eternity.

[4] Similar things are frequently said by the Lord in the Evangelists, as in Matthew:

"Ye know not in what hour your Lord doth come; be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man shall come" (24:42, 44).

Again:

"The lord of the servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of" (24:50).

And again:

"Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man shall come" (25:13).

It must be known that a man remains to eternity such as the quality of his whole life has been to the end, and not at all such as he is at the hour of death; for repentance then in the case of the evil is of no avail, but with the good it confirms the state.

126. And I will give thee a crown of life. That this signifies wisdom, and thence eternal happiness, is evident from the signification of a crown, when said of those who are in the spiritual affection of the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth and good, as being wisdom, concerning which more will be said in what follows; and from the signification of life, as being eternal happiness, which is also called life eternal. The reason why those who are in the spiritual affection of truth and good, and who are here treated of, have eternal happiness is, that heaven is implanted in man by means of the knowledges of truth and good from the Word. He who believes that heaven is implanted by any other means, is much deceived; for man is born natural only, with the faculty of becoming spiritual; but he becomes spiritual by means of truths from the Word, and by a life according to them. How can any one ever become spiritual, unless he be instructed about the Lord, about heaven, a life after death, faith, and love, and other things which are the means of salvation? If man is ignorant of these things, he must remain natural; and a merely natural man cannot have anything in common with the angels of heaven, who are spiritual.

Man has two minds, one exterior, and the other interior; the exterior mind is called the natural mind, but the interior is called the spiritual mind; the former is opened by means of the knowledges (cognitiones) of things in the world, but the latter by the knowledges (cognitiones) of things which are in heaven; these the Word teaches, and the church from the Word; by means of these man becomes spiritual, when he knows them and lives according to them.

[2] This is meant by the words of the Lord in John:

"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (3:5):

by water, are signified the truths of faith, and by spirit, a life according to them (as may be seen above, n. 71; and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 202-209). Very many people believe at this day, that mankind will go to heaven solely by sacred worship performed in temples, and by adorations and prayers; but such of them as are unconcerned about the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth and good from the Word, and who neglect to furnish not only the memory, but also the life, with these, remain natural as before, nor do they become spiritual, because their sacred worship, adorations and prayers, do not proceed from a spiritual origin; for their spiritual mind is not opened by the knowledges of spiritual things and by a life according to them, but is empty; and worship proceeding from what is void is only a natural gesture, within which there is nothing spiritual. If such persons are insincere and unjust as to moral and civil life, then their sacred worship, adorations and prayers are inwardly of such a nature as to repel heaven, instead of which they believe that they receive heaven by this means; for such worship is like a vessel containing putrid or filthy matters, which filter through; it is also like a splendid garment that clothes a body covered with ulcers: I have seen many thousands of such cast into hell. But it is otherwise with the holy worship, the adorations and prayers of those who are in the knowledges of truth and good, and whose life is in accordance with them; with such, those things are pleasing to the Lord, for they are the effects of their spirit in the body, or the effects of their faith and love, and thus are not only natural gestures, but spiritual acts.

From these considerations it is evident that the knowledges of truth and good from the Word, and a life in agreement with them, alone make man spiritual: and that he who is thus made spiritual can be gifted with angelic wisdom from the Lord, together with eternal happiness; nor do the angels derive happiness from any other source than wisdom.

[3] The reason why a crown signifies wisdom is, that all those things that clothe man, and distinguish him, derive their signification from that part of him which they clothe or adorn (see Arcana Coelestia 9827), and a crown signifies wisdom, because it is worn on the head, by which in the Word wisdom is signified, for there wisdom resides. Accordingly it is written in Ezekiel:

"I have adorned thee with ornament, and I have placed bracelets upon thy hands; and a chain upon thy neck. Moreover, I have put a jewel upon thy nose, and earrings upon thine ears, and a crown of ornament upon thy head" (16:11, 12).

Jerusalem is here treated of, by which is signified the church, as established by the Lord, and its quality; by the particular adornments here mentioned are meant, in the spiritual sense, such things as belong to the church; these derive their respective significations from the part to which they are applied; by a crown is here meant wisdom. (But what is meant specifically by ornament, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 10536, 10540; what by bracelets, n. 3103, 3105; what by a chain, n. 5320; what by a jewel, n. 4551; and what by earrings, n. 4551, 10402.) Similarly the wisdom that is from the knowledges of truth and good from the Word and from a life according to them, is signified by a crown in many other passages in the Word, as in Isaiah 28:5; Jeremiah 13:18; Lamentations 5:15, 16; Ezekiel 21:25, 26; 23:42; Zech. 6:11-13; Psalms 89:38, 39; 132:17, 18; Job. 19:9; Apoc. 3:11; 4:4. The custom of crowning kings comes down from ancient times, when men were acquainted with representatives and significatives, for they knew that kings represented the Lord as to Divine truth, and that a crown was used to signify wisdom. (That kings represented the Lord as to Divine truth, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4581, 4966, 5068, 6148.) That those who are in truths are called kings and kings' sons (see above, n. 31). And because those who are in the knowledges of truth are called kings in the Word, and kings have crowns, therefore in this place, where they are treated of, it is said that they should receive a crown of life.