8211. And it was in the morning watch. That this signifies a state of thick darkness and of the destruction of those who are in falsity from evil, and a state of the enlightenment and salvation of those who are in truth from good, is evident from the signification of “the morning watch,” as being a state of enlightenment and salvation, and in the opposite sense, a state of thick darkness and destruction. The reason why “the morning watch” has this signification, is that in the other life states of faith and love are like the times of the day in the world, namely, like morning, noon, evening, and night; and therefore these times also correspond to those states (see n. 2788, 5672, 5962, 6110). Moreover states vary in much the same manner. The end and the beginning of these variations is “morning,” and specifically, “daybreak,” for then the night is ended, and the day begins. In the state to which morning corresponds, the good begin to be enlightened in respect to the things which are of faith, and to grow warm in respect to the things which are of charity, and conversely, the evil then begin to be darkened by falsities, and to be chilled by evils; consequently to them morning is a state of thick darkness and destruction, while to the good it is a state of enlightenment and salvation.

[2] From these states in heaven arise the states of light and heat, and also the states of thick darkness and cold on earth, which states succeed each other every year and every day; for whatever exists in the natural world has its origin and cause from things which exist in the spiritual world, because universal nature is nothing else than a theater representative of the Lord’s kingdom (3483, 4939, 5173, 5962); whence come the correspondences. The variations of light and shade and also of heat and cold on earth are indeed from the sun, that is, from the difference of its altitudes, every year and every day, in the several regions of the earth; but these causes, which are proximate, and in the natural world, were created according to the things in the spiritual world, as by their prior and efficient causes, which are the causes of the posterior causes that exist in the natural world. For nothing which is in order ever exists in the natural world that does not derive its cause and origin from the spiritual world, that is, through the spiritual world from the Divine.

[3] As, relatively to the good, “morning” signifies the beginning of enlightenment and salvation, and relatively to the evil, the beginning of thick darkness and destruction, therefore it is here said that in the morning watch Jehovah looked forth to the camp of the Egyptians and troubled it, and then that He took off the wheel of the chariots, and shook out the Egyptians into the midst of the sea; and on the other hand that He saved the sons of Israel. From all this it can now be seen what is signified in the spiritual sense by the following passages in the Word, in Isaiah:

In the day thou shalt make thy plant to grow, and in the morning thy seed to blossom (Isaiah 17:11).

About the time of evening behold terror; before the morning he is not (Isaiah 17:14).

O Jehovah be Thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of distress (Isaiah 33:2).

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, An evil, an only evil; behold it cometh. An end is come, the end is come. The morning is come upon thee, O inhabitant of the land; the day of tumult is near (Ezekiel 7:5-7).

So did Bethel to you because of the wickedness of your wickedness; in the morning shall the king of Israel be utterly cut off (Hos. 10:15).

Make me hear Thy mercy under the morning; deliver me from mine enemies, O Jehovah (Psalms 143:8-9).

Also that when the dawn arose the Lord saved Lot, and made it rain sulphur and fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:15, 24).

[4] As “morning” signifies the state of enlightenment and salvation of the good, and the state of thick darkness and destruction of the evil, therefore also “morning” signifies the time of the Last Judgment, when they are to be saved who are in good, and they are to perish who are in evil; consequently it signifies the end of a former church, and the beginning of a new church, which things are signified in the Word by the Last Judgment (n. 900, 931, 1733, 1850, 2117-2133, 3353, 4027, 4535). This is signified by “morning” in Isaiah:

He said unto me, Until evening, the morning, two thousand three hundred; and then shall the holy thing be justified (Daniel 8:14).

In the morning, in the morning, will Jehovah give judgment for the light, it will not be lacking; I will cut off nations, their corners shall be devastated (Zeph. 3:5-6).

One crying unto me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night; if ye are seeking, seek ye, return, come (Isaiah 21:11-12).

In these passages “morning” denotes the Lord’s coming and the enlightenment and salvation then, thus a new church; “night” denotes the state of man and of the church at that time, that they would be in mere falsities from evil.

[5] It is said “the morning watch,” because the night was divided into watches, of which the last of the night and the first of the day was the morning watch. These watchmen used to be upon the walls, spying whether an enemy was coming, and by a cry announcing what they saw. By them, in the internal representative sense, is meant the Lord, and by their watch His continual presence and protection (n. 7989), as in David:

Thy watchman will not slumber. Behold, the watchman of Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. Jehovah is thy watchman; Jehovah is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, or the moon in the night. Jehovah shall guard thee from all evil; He shall guard thy soul (Psalms 121:3-7).

Moreover by “watchmen” are meant prophets and priests, consequently the Word, in Isaiah:

I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem; in all the day and all the night they shall not be silent, making mention of Jehovah (Isaiah 62:6).

It is a day, the watchmen shall cry in Mount Ephraim, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion, unto Jehovah our God (Jeremiah 31:6).

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.