8106. 'During the daytime in a pillar of cloud' means that when there was a state of enlightenment, this was moderated by a dimming of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'during the daytime' or 'in the day' as in a state of enlightenment, for the times of day - morning, midday, evening, and night - correspond to degrees of enlightenment in the next life, that is, of intelligence and wisdom, 5672, 5962, 6110, so that 'the day' is a state of enlightenment or clear perception, and 'the night' a state of unenlightenment or dimmed perception, 7680; and from the meaning of 'cloud' as a dimming of truth, since a cloud takes away the brilliance of the light from the sun and also moderates it.

[2] Various places in the Word say that Jehovah appeared in a cloud, that He was clothed with a cloud, or that 'clouds were under His feet'. In those places 'cloud' is used to mean a dimming of truth; in particular the literal sense of the Word is meant, for in comparison with the internal sense the literal sense is a dimmed presentation of truth, see the Preface to Genesis 18, and also 4391, 5922, 6343, 6752. This was meant by 'the cloud' when the Lord appeared in glory to Peter, James, and John, Luke 9:34; when He appeared to the people from Mount Sinai, and to Moses when he went in to Him there, Exodus 19:9; 20:21; 24:15-18; 34:5. The same was also meant by what the Lord declared so many times, that He would come in the clouds of heaven, Matthew 24:30; 26:63-64; Mark 13:26; 14:61-62; Luke 21:27.

[3] The literal sense of the Word is called 'a cloud' because the internal sense, which is called 'the glory', cannot be understood by anyone unless he has been regenerated and therefore enlightened. If the internal sense of the Word, or God's truth in its glory, were to appear in front of someone who has not been regenerated it would be like thick darkness in which he would see absolutely nothing, and also would leave him blind, that is, with no belief at all.

From all this one may see what the description 'a cloud during the daytime' means, namely a dimming of truth and, when it has reference to the Word, the literal sense.

[4] The expressions 'in a pillar of cloud' and 'in a pillar of fire' are used because 'a pillar' means a load-bearing support, as in Jeremiah 1:18; Psalms 75:3; Revelation 3:12; Job 9:6; and it is used to refer to the natural level, since the natural level is a kind of support or pedestal for the spiritual level. For the spiritual level terminates at the natural level and rests on it. This explains why the feet of an angel coming down from heaven looked like pillars of fire, Revelation 10:1; for the natural level is meant by 'feet', 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952, 5327, 5328.

6110. 'For the famine was extremely serious' means desolation. This is clear from the meaning of 'famine' as an absence of good and of cognitions, dealt with in 1460, 3364, 5277, 5279, 5281, 5300, 5579, 5893, so that 'the famine was extremely serious' is desolation, 5360, 5376, 5415, 5576. As regards desolation, it should be recognized that truths and forms of good, together with cognitions of them, compose the spiritual life of those who are in heaven. They are the celestial and spiritual foods that nourish them; and these foods are given them every day by the Lord. When it is morning with them forms of good are supplied, and when it is midday truths are supplied; but when evening comes they lack them, and continue to lack them until it is twilight and then morning again. Their yearning when they lack them remains so strong that their desire for them is greater than starving people's desire for food on earth. This state is meant by 'the famine' and it is a kind of desolation, though not the kind experienced by those on the lower earth, 698, 699, 1106-1113.

[2] Scarcely anyone in the world can believe that the angelic heaven can have so great a yearning for truths and forms of good, and for cognitions of them. For people whose minds are set on nothing else than gain and glory, and who are given up to worldly pleasures, will be amazed to learn that those things constitute angelic life. 'What use they will say 'are cognitions of goodness and truth to me? What life can they give me? The things that bring me life and my life's delight are wealth, position, and worldly pleasures!' But let those who speak like this know that the life these things bring is that of the body, not that of the soul, and that the former kind of life perishes along with the body, whereas the latter kind remains for ever. Let them also know that people are ill-advised if while in the world they do not give any thought to spiritual life.

[3] Further as regards desolation, it exists on account of the yearning; for forms of good and truth are accepted in the measure that they are yearned for, and when the desires created by the yearning are fulfilled they produce feelings of happiness and bliss. In the next life therefore those who pass through desolation are refreshed immediately afterwards and realize their desires; everyone there is made more perfect by means of such alternating experiences. It is a fact worthy of note that the changing times of day in the natural world - morning, midday, evening, night, and morning again - are wholly representative of the changes that take place in the spiritual world, yet with one difference. The changes that occur in the spiritual world have an effect on the understanding and the will, establishing in them the basic elements of life, whereas the changes that occur in the world have an effect on and sustain things of the body.

[4] What is even more noteworthy is the fact that it is not the Lord who brings on the shades of evening and the darkness of night but those characteristics of angels, spirits, or men that are entirely their own. For the Lord as the Sun shines and flows in constantly; but because the evils and falsities that spring from what is his own are present in a man, spirit, or angel, they turn and direct him away from the Lord. In so doing they bring him into the shades of evening, and lead the wicked into the darkness of night. It is similar to the way things are with the sun in our world. It shines and flows in constantly, but the earth by rotating on its axis turns away from the sun and brings itself into shade and darkness.

[5] These features of the natural world come about because the natural world comes into being from the spiritual world and is also kept in being from there, as a consequence of which the entire natural system is a theatre representative of the Lord's kingdom, 3483, 4939. The purpose served by the changes that take place in the spiritual world is that all who are in heaven may constantly become more perfect. Such changes exist in the natural world for the same reason, for if they did not occur everything there would perish because of drought.

[6] It should be recognized however that in heaven there is no night, only evening, which is followed by the twilight that comes before morning; but in hell there is night. Changes take place there also, but they are of a contrary nature to those in heaven. In hell morning is the heat of evil desires, midday is the itch of false ideas, evening is anxiety, and night is torment. But through all these changes night predominates; merely variations of shade and darkness are what bring about those changes. In addition to this it should be recognized that in the spiritual world the changes which take place are not the same with one person as they are with another, also that the changes there do not divide into regular periods of time because they are variations of state that produce those changes. For instead of the periods of time that occur in the natural world there are states in the spiritual world, 1274, 1382, 2625, 2788, 2837, 3254, 3356, 4814, 4916, 4882, 4901.