1837. The sun was going down. That this signifies the time and the state before the consummation, is evident from the signification of “the sun.” In the internal sense “the sun” signifies the Lord, and thence it signifies the celestial things which are of love and charity, consequently love itself and charity (spoken of above, n. 30-38, and n. 1053). From this it is evident that the “going down of the sun” denotes the last time of the church, which is called the consummation, when there is no longer any charity. The Lord’s church is also compared to the times of the day; its first period to the rising of the sun, or to the dawn and the morning; its last to the setting of the sun, or to the evening and the shades then prevailing, for the two things are similarly circumstanced. The church is also compared to the times of the year; its first period to the spring, when all things are in bloom; that which is before the last to the autumn, when they begin to become inactive. It is even compared to the metals; its first period is called golden; its last, iron and clay; as in Daniel (2:31-33). From all this it is evident what is signified by “the going down of the sun,” namely, that it signifies the time and the state before the consummation, seeing that the sun had not yet set. In what follows, the state of the church when the sun has set is treated of, in that there was then thick darkness and the smoke of a furnace, and that a torch of fire passed between the pieces.

30. Verses 14, 15. And God said, Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens, to distinguish between the day and the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years; and let them be for luminaries in the expanse of the heavens, to give light upon the earth; and it was so. And God made two great luminaries, the greater luminary to rule by day, and the lesser luminary to rule by night; and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens, to give light upon the earth.

What is meant by “great luminaries” cannot be clearly understood unless it is first known what is the essence of faith, and also what is its progress with those who are being created anew. The very essence and life of faith is the Lord alone, for he who does not believe in the Lord cannot have life, as He himself has declared in John:

He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life, but he that believeth not on the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God shall abide upon him (John 3:36).

[2] The progression of faith with those who are being created anew is as follows. At first they have no life, for it is only in the good and the true that there is life, and none in the evil and the false; afterwards they receive life from the Lord by faith, first by faith of the memory, which is a faith of mere knowledge [fides scientifica]; next by faith in the understanding, which is an intellectual faith; lastly by faith in the heart, which is the faith of love, or saving faith. The first two kinds of faith are represented from verses 3-13, by things inanimate, but faith vivified by love is represented from verses 20-25, by animate things. For this reason love, and faith thence derived, are now here first treated of, and are called “luminaries;” love being “the greater luminary which rules by day;” faith derived from love “the lesser luminary which rules by night;” and as these two luminaries ought to make a one, it is said of them, in the singular number, “Let there be luminaries” [sint luminaria], and not in the plural [sint luminaria].

[3] Love and faith in the internal man are like heat and light in the external corporeal man, for which reason the former are represented by the latter. It is on this account that luminaries are said to be “set in the expanse of heaven” or in the internal man; a great luminary in its will, and a lesser one in its understanding; but they appear in the will and the understanding only as does the light of the sun in its recipient objects. It is the Lord’s mercy alone that affects the will with love, and the understanding with truth or faith.