5837. 'And your servants will cause the grey hair of your servant our father to go down in sorrow to the grave' means that the Church will be done for. This is clear from the explanation above in 5832, where similar words occur. The reason why Israel, to whom 'father' refers, here means the Church is that spiritual good, which he represents, makes the Church with a person, so much so that whether you say spiritual good or the Church it amounts to the same thing; for the two are inseparable. This is why in the Word, especially the prophetical part, 'Israel' is the spiritual Church.