6895. Saying, Visiting I have visited you. That this signifies His coming to those who are of the spiritual church, is evident from the signification of “visiting,” as being the coming of the Lord, which precedes the last time of the church, which time in the Word is called the “Last Judgment.” (That this is meant by “visitation,” see n. 2242, 6588.) That this is called “the Lord’s coming,” is plain from these words in Matthew:

The disciples said unto Jesus, Tell us when shall these things shall be? and what is the sign of Thy coming, and of the consummation of the age? (Matthew 24:3);

and then the Lord instructed the disciples about the last time of the church, as can be seen from what has been unfolded above (n. 3353-3356, 3486-3489, 3897-3901, 4056-4060, 4229-4231, 4422-4424); and He said that when all these things should come to pass, “then shall appear the sign of the Son of man, 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 24:30).

[2] That by the “coming of the Lord” is not meant His appearing with angels in the clouds, but acknowledgment in hearts by love and faith (see n. 3353, 3900); also His appearing from the Word, the inmost or supreme sense of which treats of the Lord alone (n. 4060). This coming is meant by the coming of the Lord which takes place when an old church is rejected, and a new church is set up again by the Lord. And as newness of the church was now to be restored with the posterity of Jacob, it is said, “Visiting I have visited you,” as was also said by Joseph when he died:

Joseph said unto his brethren, I die; and visiting God will visit you, and will make you come up out of this land unto the land which He sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob (Genesis 50:24);

by “visiting to visit you,” in the sense of the letter, is here signified liberation from slavery in Egypt, and introduction into the land of Canaan; but this is not the spiritual content of the Word, but the natural. The spiritual of the Word treats of the Lord, of His kingdom and church, and of love and faith; and therefore by “visiting to visit” in the spiritual sense is meant liberation from falsities, and thus initiation into what is of the Lord’s church and kingdom, thus the coming of the Lord in love and faith with those who will be of the new church.

1311. And Jehovah came down. That this signifies judgment upon them, is evident from what has gone before and from what follows, and also from the signification of “coming down,” when predicated of Jehovah; from what has gone before, in that the subject has been the building of the city and tower of Babel; from what follows, in that the subject is the confusion of lips and of dispersion; from the signification of “coming down,” when predicated of Jehovah, in that this is said when judgment takes place. Jehovah or the Lord is everywhere present and knows all things from eternity; and therefore it cannot be said of Him that He came down to see, except in the literal sense, where it is so said according to the appearances with man. But in the internal sense it is not so, for in this sense the subject is presented as it is in itself, and not according to the appearances; so that in the passage before us “to come down to see” signifies judgment.

[2] Judgment is predicated of a state when evil has reached its highest, or, as it is termed in the Word, when it is “consummated,” or when “iniquity is consummated.” For the case herein is that all evil has its limits as far as which it is permitted to go; but when it goes beyond these limits, it incurs the penalty of the evil. This is so both in particular and in general. The punishment of evil is what is then called a judgment. And because it appears at first as if the Lord did not see or observe that the evil exists-for when a man does evil without punishment, he supposes that the Lord troubles not Himself about the matter, but when he undergoes the penalty he begins to think that the Lord sees, and even that the Lord inflicts the punishment-it is therefore said, in accordance with these appearances, that Jehovah came down to see.

[3] To “come down” is predicated of Jehovah, because “the highest” is predicated of Him, that is, He is said to be in the highest, and this too according to the appearance, for He is not in things highest but in things inmost, and this is the reason why in the Word what is highest and what is inmost have the same signification. On the other hand, judgment or the penalty of evil takes place in lower and lowest things. This explains why He is said to “come down;” as also in David:

O Jehovah, bow Thy heavens and come down; touch the mountains and they shall smoke; cast forth lightning and scatter them (Psalms 144:5-6),

where the punishment of evil, or judgment, is signified.

In Isaiah:

Jehovah of Armies shall come down to fight upon Mount Zion, and upon the hill thereof (Isaiah 31:4).

And again:

O that Thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at Thy presence (Isaiah 64:1).

Here in like manner to “come down” denotes the penalty, or judgment, inflicted upon evil.

In Micah:

Jehovah cometh forth out of His place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth, and the mountains shall be molten under Him (Micah 1:3-4).