414. And who is able to stand? signifies, who shall sustain and live? This is evident from the signification of standing, when it is before the Lord, as meaning to sustain and live, here, not able to sustain it and live; for, as was said above, the evil, from the influx and consequent presence of the Lord, that is, of Divine good and Divine truth going out and proceeding from Him with power and might, come not only into the tremors from fear, but also into torments from interior conflict, consequently unless they flee away and cast themselves down they cannot live, for from fear and torment death as it were befalls them, for the presence of the Divine brings death to the evil as it brings life to the good. From this their state it is then said, "Who is able to stand?" As also in Malachi:
Who sustaineth the day of His coming, and who shall stand when He shall appear (Mal. 3:2)? In Nahum:
Who shall stand before His indignation; and who shall stand up in the glow of His anger (Nahum 1:6)? And in Joel:
The day of Jehovah is great and very terrible; and who shall sustain it? (Joel 2:11). Moreover, "to stand," like walking and sitting, in the Word signifies to be and to live; and "to stand," has a similar meaning with to stand firm and stand still. As in Luke:
The angel answered Zachariah, I am Gabriel, that standeth before God (Luke 1:19). And in the same:
Be wakeful at every season, that ye may be accounted worthy to stand before the Son of man (Luke 21:36). And elsewhere. And as "to stand" also signifies to be, it is said of Jehovah, in Isaiah:
Jehovah hath stood up to plead, and standeth to judge (Isa. 3:13). And in David:
God stood in the congregation of God; He shall judge in the midst of the gods (Ps. 82:1). But why "to stand" signifies to be shall be told elsewhere.
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