53. And His countenance as the sun shining in its power. This symbolizes the Divine love and wisdom which are the Lord and which emanate from Him.

The fact that the face of Jehovah or of the Lord means the Divine itself in its essence, which is Divine love and wisdom, thus Himself, will be seen in explanations below where the face of God is mentioned. "The sun shining in its power" has the same symbolic meaning.

In the sight of angels the Lord is seen as the sun in heaven, and it is His Divine love accompanied by Divine wisdom that so appears. This may be seen in the book Heaven and Hell (London, 1758), nos. 116-125 and in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom, 83-172.

[2] It remains here simply to confirm from the Word that when the subject is the Lord, the sun is His Divine love and at the same time His Divine wisdom. This can be seen from the following passages:

...in (that) day... the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days... (Isaiah 30:25-26)

That day is the Lord's advent, when the old church has been destroyed and a new one is about to be established. The light of the moon is faith arising from charity, and the light of the sun is intelligence and wisdom arising from love emanating then from the Lord.

Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon wane; for Jehovah will be your everlasting light... (Isaiah 60:20)

The sun that will not go down is love and wisdom from the Lord.

...the Rock of Israel spoke to me... like the light of the morning when the sun rises... (2 Samuel 23:3-4)

The Rock of Israel is the Lord.

...his throne (shall be) as the sun... (Psalms 89:36-37)

This is said in reference to David, but David there means the Lord.

They shall fear You as long as the sun endures... In His days the righteous shall flourish, and abundance of peace, until the moon is no more... Before the sun He will have the name of Son, and all nations shall be blessed in Him... (Psalms 72:5, 7, 17)

These statements, too, are made in reference to the Lord.

[3] Because the Lord appears in heaven to angels as the sun, therefore when He was transfigured,

His face shone like the sun, and His garments became... as the light. (Matthew 17:1-2)

Moreover, in Revelation 10:1 it is said of the mighty angel coming down from heaven that he was "clothed with a cloud," and "his face was like the sun," and of the woman in Revelation 12:1 that she appeared "clothed with the sun." The sun there is love and wisdom emanating from the Lord. The woman there is the church called the New Jerusalem.

[4] Since the sun means the Lord with respect to love and wisdom, it is apparent what the sun symbolizes in the following places:

Behold, the day of Jehovah is coming, cruel... The sun will be darkened at its rising, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. I will visit upon the world its wickedness, and upon the impious their iniquity. (Isaiah 13:9-11)

...Jehovah will visit [punishment] in the high place upon the host of the high place, and on the earth upon the kings of the earth... Then the moon will blush and the sun be ashamed. (Isaiah 24:21, 23)

When I put out your light, I will cover the heavens, and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine... and I will... bring darkness upon your land. (Ezekiel 32:7-8)

...the day of Jehovah is coming..., a day of darkness... The sun and moon (will not cause their light to shine), and the stars have diminished their brightness. (Joel 2:1-2, 10)

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great... day of Jehovah. (Joel 2:31)

...the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon have grown dark... (Joel 3:14-15)

The fourth angel sounded: and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars..., and a third of the day did not shine... (Revelation 8:12)

...the sun became as black as sackcloth of goat's hair, and the moon became as blood... (Revelation 6:12)

...the sun was... darkened because of the smoke of the pit. (Revelation 9:2)

The sun in these places does not mean the world's sun, but the sun of the angelic heaven, which is the Lord's Divine love and wisdom. These are said to be obscured, darkened, covered, or become black when falsities and evils are present in a person.

[5] It is apparent, therefore, that something similar is meant by the Lord's words when speaking of the end of the age, which is the final period of the church:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven... (Matthew 24:29, cf. Mark 13:24-25)

So, too, in the following places:

The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be dark for them. (Micah 3:6)

...in that day... I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in broad daylight. (Amos 8:9)

She... who has borne seven... will breath her last; her sun will go down while it is yet day. (Jeremiah 15:9)

The subject here is the Jewish Church, which will breathe its last or perish. The sun's going down means that there will no longer be any love or charity.

[6] It is said in Joshua that the sun stood still in Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Aijalon (Joshua 10:12-13). This seems to be an historical statement, but in fact it is prophetic, for it comes from the book of Jasher, which was a prophetic book; for in verse 13 it says, "Is this not written in the Book of Jasher?" The same book is called a prophetic one by David in 2 Samuel 1:17, 18.

A similar statement is found in Habakkuk:

The mountains... were shaken... The sun and moon stood still in their habitation. (Habakkuk 3:10-11)

[In Isaiah:]

Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon wane. (Isaiah 60:20)

For to cause the sun and moon to stand still would be to destroy the universe.

[7] Since the sun means the Lord with respect to Divine love and wisdom, therefore in their holy worship ancient peoples turned their faces to the rising sun, and their temples also, a practice that continues to this day.

That the sun in these passages does not mean the world's sun is clear from the fact that it was profane and an abomination for people to worship the world's sun and moon (see Numbers 25:1-4, Deuteronomy 4:19; 17:3, 5, Jeremiah 8:1-2; 43:10, 13; 44:17-19, 25). For the world's sun means self-love and a conceit in one's own intelligence, and self-love is diametrically opposed to Divine love, while a conceit in one's own intelligence is opposed to Divine wisdom. To worship the world's sun is also to accept nature as the creator of all things and one's own prudence as the effecter of all things, which entails a denial of God and a denial of Divine providence.

7711. “埃及地必有幽暗” 表真理和良善的完全剥夺. 这从 “幽暗” 的含义清楚可知, “幽暗” 是指真理和良善的完全剥夺. 在圣言中, 各个地方都提到 “黑暗”, 还同时提到 “幽暗”; 在这些地方, “黑暗” 论及虚假, “幽暗” 论及与虚假在一起的邪恶. 不过, 在本节, 用来表达 “幽暗” 的词表示乌黑的黑暗, 这在内义上表示从邪恶涌出的那类虚假. 这类虚假就在那些属于教会, 过着一种违背他们所知道的信仰诫命的邪恶生活的人中间产生. 这些虚假所源于的邪恶反对教会, 反对天堂, 反对主, 因而与良善和真理截然对立. 现在 “幽暗” 就描述了这种状态.

在圣言中, 经上会同时提到 “黑暗” 和 “幽暗”, “黑暗” 表示真理的剥夺, 而 “幽暗 (经上有时译为幽冥)” 表示真理和良善的剥夺, 这一点可从以下经文看出来. 以赛亚书:

公平离我们远, 公义追不上我们. 我们等候光, 看哪, 却只有黑暗; 等候光明, 却行在幽暗中. 我们摸索墙壁, 好像瞎子; 我们摸索, 如同无目之人. 我们晌午绊跌, 如在黄昏一样; 我们在活人中间, 像死人一般. (以赛亚书 59:9-10)

“公平离我们远, 公义追不上我们” 表示既没有真理, 也没有良善的事实; “公平” 论及真理, “公义” 论及良善 (参看2235, 3997节); “等候光” 表示等候真理; “等候光明” 表示等候真理之良善, 因为光明源于良善. “黑暗” 在此是指 “光” 和 “公平” 的对立面, 因而是真理的对立面; “幽暗” 是 “光明” 和 “公义” 的对立面, 因而是良善的对立面; 因此, “黑暗” 表示真理的剥夺, “幽暗” 表示真理和良善的剥夺. 阿摩司书:

耶和华的日子, 不是黑暗没有光明吗? 不是幽暗毫无光辉吗? (阿摩司书 5:20)

此处意思也一样. 约珥书:

耶和华的日子将到, 是一个黑暗, 幽冥的日子, 一个密云, 乌黑的日子. (约珥书 2:1-2)

西番雅书:

耶和华的日子是急难困苦的日子, 是黑暗, 幽冥的日子. (西番雅书 1:15)

“黑暗” 表示真理的剥夺; “幽冥” 表示真理和良善的剥夺; 如果 “幽暗或幽冥” 与 “黑暗” 的意思一样, 那将是一个毫无意义的重复, 这样的重复绝不是圣言的特征. 在圣言中经常会发现两种表达方式用来描述一件事, 一种表达方式涉及真理或虚假; 另一种表达方式涉及良善或邪恶. 在以赛亚书也一样:

祂俯视大地, 看哪, 尽是艰难, 黑暗; 他必因困苦和碰撞的幽暗而昏昧. (以赛亚书 8:22)

“黑暗” 也表示诸如存在于外邦人当中的那种对真理的无知; “幽暗” 表示对良善的无知. 以赛亚书:

到那日, 聋子必听见这书上的话; 瞎子的眼必从幽冥黑暗中得以看见. (以赛亚书 29:18)

又:

你若使困苦的灵魂得满足, 你的光就必在黑暗中升起来, 你的幽暗必变如午日. (以赛亚书 58:10)

“黑暗” 是指虚假 (参看7688节).