8939. I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. That this signifies the presence of the Divine then, and influx, is evident from the signification of "coming unto" anyone, when it is said by Jehovah, as being presence (see also n. 5934, 6063, 6089); and from the signification of "to be blessed," when by Jehovah, as being to be gifted with faith and charity (n. 2846, 3406, 4981, 6091, 6099, 8674), thus also their flowing in, for faith and charity flow in from the Lord with man. These things are "a blessing" in the internal sense, for they are what render man blessed and happy to eternity. During man's life in the world, the things which he calls blessings are those which render him blessed and happy in time, such as riches and honors. But the things which are meant in the internal sense of the Word are not temporal things, but eternal things, compared with which temporal things are of no account. For there is no ratio between what is temporal and what is eternal, not even if the time be extended to thousands or myriads of years, for these have an end, but that which is eternal has no end. Wherefore that which is eternal is, for that which is without end is, because it has being from the Divine, which is infinite, and the infinite as to time is the eternal. But that which is temporal relatively is not, because when it is ended it is no more. Hence also it is plain that "blessing" in the spiritual sense is that which has within it being from the Divine, thus the things of eternal life, consequently those which are of charity and faith. [2] That worldly blessing is nothing in comparison with heavenly blessing, which is eternal, the Lord thus teaches in Matthew:
What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his soul? (Matt. 16:26). But the man who is in worldly and earthly things does not apprehend this saying, for worldly and earthly things suffocate it, and cause him not even to believe that there is an eternal life. And yet I can asseverate that as soon as a man dies he is in the other life, and lives as a spirit among spirits, and that he then appears to himself and to others in that life in all respects like a man in the world, endowed with every sense internal and external (n. 1881); consequently that the death of the body is only the casting off of such things as had served for use and service in the world; and moreover that death itself is a continuation of life, but in another world, which is invisible to the eyes of the earthly body, yet is there seen in a light exceeding a thousand times the midday light of the world. [3] As I know this from the living experience of so many years, which is still continued, I solemnly declare it. I still speak, and I have spoken, with almost all whom I had known in the world and who are dead, with some after two or three days from their decease. Very many of them were exceedingly indignant that they had not believed at all in a life which was to continue after death. I have spoken with them not merely for a day, but for months and years; and it has also been given me to see their states of life in succession, or in progress, either to hell or to heaven. Wherefore let him who wishes to be eternally happy know and believe that he will live after death. Let him think of this and keep it in mind, for it is the truth. Let him also know and believe that the Word is the only doctrine which teaches how a man must live in the world in order to be happy to eternity.
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