8211. And it was in the morning watch. That this signifies a state of thick darkness and of the destruction of those who are in falsity from evil, and a state of the enlightenment and salvation of those who are in truth from good, is evident from the signification of “the morning watch,” as being a state of enlightenment and salvation, and in the opposite sense, a state of thick darkness and destruction. The reason why “the morning watch” has this signification, is that in the other life states of faith and love are like the times of the day in the world, namely, like morning, noon, evening, and night; and therefore these times also correspond to those states (see n. 2788, 5672, 5962, 6110). Moreover states vary in much the same manner. The end and the beginning of these variations is “morning,” and specifically, “daybreak,” for then the night is ended, and the day begins. In the state to which morning corresponds, the good begin to be enlightened in respect to the things which are of faith, and to grow warm in respect to the things which are of charity, and conversely, the evil then begin to be darkened by falsities, and to be chilled by evils; consequently to them morning is a state of thick darkness and destruction, while to the good it is a state of enlightenment and salvation.

[2] From these states in heaven arise the states of light and heat, and also the states of thick darkness and cold on earth, which states succeed each other every year and every day; for whatever exists in the natural world has its origin and cause from things which exist in the spiritual world, because universal nature is nothing else than a theater representative of the Lord’s kingdom (3483, 4939, 5173, 5962); whence come the correspondences. The variations of light and shade and also of heat and cold on earth are indeed from the sun, that is, from the difference of its altitudes, every year and every day, in the several regions of the earth; but these causes, which are proximate, and in the natural world, were created according to the things in the spiritual world, as by their prior and efficient causes, which are the causes of the posterior causes that exist in the natural world. For nothing which is in order ever exists in the natural world that does not derive its cause and origin from the spiritual world, that is, through the spiritual world from the Divine.

[3] As, relatively to the good, “morning” signifies the beginning of enlightenment and salvation, and relatively to the evil, the beginning of thick darkness and destruction, therefore it is here said that in the morning watch Jehovah looked forth to the camp of the Egyptians and troubled it, and then that He took off the wheel of the chariots, and shook out the Egyptians into the midst of the sea; and on the other hand that He saved the sons of Israel. From all this it can now be seen what is signified in the spiritual sense by the following passages in the Word, in Isaiah:

In the day thou shalt make thy plant to grow, and in the morning thy seed to blossom (Isaiah 17:11).

About the time of evening behold terror; before the morning he is not (Isaiah 17:14).

O Jehovah be Thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of distress (Isaiah 33:2).

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, An evil, an only evil; behold it cometh. An end is come, the end is come. The morning is come upon thee, O inhabitant of the land; the day of tumult is near (Ezekiel 7:5-7).

So did Bethel to you because of the wickedness of your wickedness; in the morning shall the king of Israel be utterly cut off (Hos. 10:15).

Make me hear Thy mercy under the morning; deliver me from mine enemies, O Jehovah (Psalms 143:8-9).

Also that when the dawn arose the Lord saved Lot, and made it rain sulphur and fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:15, 24).

[4] As “morning” signifies the state of enlightenment and salvation of the good, and the state of thick darkness and destruction of the evil, therefore also “morning” signifies the time of the Last Judgment, when they are to be saved who are in good, and they are to perish who are in evil; consequently it signifies the end of a former church, and the beginning of a new church, which things are signified in the Word by the Last Judgment (n. 900, 931, 1733, 1850, 2117-2133, 3353, 4027, 4535). This is signified by “morning” in Isaiah:

He said unto me, Until evening, the morning, two thousand three hundred; and then shall the holy thing be justified (Daniel 8:14).

In the morning, in the morning, will Jehovah give judgment for the light, it will not be lacking; I will cut off nations, their corners shall be devastated (Zeph. 3:5-6).

One crying unto me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night; if ye are seeking, seek ye, return, come (Isaiah 21:11-12).

In these passages “morning” denotes the Lord’s coming and the enlightenment and salvation then, thus a new church; “night” denotes the state of man and of the church at that time, that they would be in mere falsities from evil.

[5] It is said “the morning watch,” because the night was divided into watches, of which the last of the night and the first of the day was the morning watch. These watchmen used to be upon the walls, spying whether an enemy was coming, and by a cry announcing what they saw. By them, in the internal representative sense, is meant the Lord, and by their watch His continual presence and protection (n. 7989), as in David:

Thy watchman will not slumber. Behold, the watchman of Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. Jehovah is thy watchman; Jehovah is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, or the moon in the night. Jehovah shall guard thee from all evil; He shall guard thy soul (Psalms 121:3-7).

Moreover by “watchmen” are meant prophets and priests, consequently the Word, in Isaiah:

I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem; in all the day and all the night they shall not be silent, making mention of Jehovah (Isaiah 62:6).

It is a day, the watchmen shall cry in Mount Ephraim, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion, unto Jehovah our God (Jeremiah 31:6).

4535. Genesis 35

THE LAST JUDGMENT

Preliminary to the foregoing chapters, from chapter 26, an explication has been given of what the Lord foretold about His advent, or the CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE; and it has been repeatedly shown that by His advent or the consummation of the age is signified the last time of the church, which is called in the Word the Last Judgment. They who do not see beyond the literal sense must suppose that the Last Judgment is the destruction of the world, and this especially from the Revelation, where it is said:

I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven (Revelation 21:1-2.

And also from the prophecies of Isaiah, where are similar words:

Behold I create new heavens and a new earth; therefore the former things shall not be remembered, nor come up upon the heart; but be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create, for behold I create Jerusalem an exultation, and her people a gladness (Isaiah 65:17-18; 66:22).

[2] They who do not see beyond the literal sense must infer that the universal heaven together with this earth will be annihilated, and that the dead will then for the first time rise again, and dwell in a new heaven and upon a new earth. But that the Word is not to be so understood may be seen from many other passages where the heavens and the earth are mentioned. They who have any faith in an internal sense can plainly see that by “a new heaven and a new earth” is meant a new church, which shall succeed when the former church passes away (see n. 1733, 1850, 3355); and that the “heaven” is its internal and the “earth” its external.

[3] This last time of a former church and first time of a new church are what is called the “consummation of the age” of which the Lord spoke in Matthew 24, and also are His advent, for the Lord then leaves the former church and comes to the new church. That this is the “consummation of the age” may be seen also from other passages in the Word, as in Isaiah:

In that day the remains shall return, the remains of Jacob, unto the mighty God; for although Thy people Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, remains of it shall return; a consummation is determined, inundated is righteousness; for a consummation and a determination doth the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth make in the whole earth (Isaiah 10:21-23).

In the same:

Now be ye not scorners, lest your punishments be strengthened; for a consummation and a decision have I heard from-with the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth upon the whole earth (Isaiah 28:22).

In Jeremiah:

Thus said Jehovah, The whole earth shall be a waste, yet will I not make a consummation (Jeremiah 4:27).

In Zephaniah:

I will bring men into distresses, and they shall go like the blind, because they have sinned against Jehovah; and their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung, for Jehovah shall make a consummation, yea, a speedy one, with all them that dwell in the land (Zeph. 1:17-18).

That the “consummation” here mentioned is the last time of the church, and that the “earth” is the church, is manifest from the particulars.

[4] That “earth” or “land” denotes the church, comes from the fact that the land of Canaan was the land where the church had been from the most ancient times, and where afterwards there was the representative of a church among the descendants of Jacob. When this land is said to be “consummated,” it is not the nation in it that is meant, but it is the holy of worship that exists with the nation where the church is. For the Word is spiritual, and the land itself is not spiritual, nor the nation therein, but that which is of the church. (That the land of Canaan was the land where the church had been from the most ancient times, may be seen above, n. 567, 3686, 4447, 4454, 4516, 4517; and that for this reason by “land” in the Word is signified the church, n. 566, 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 3355, 4447.) From this it is manifest what is meant in Isaiah by “making a consummation in the whole land,” or “earth,” and in Zephaniah by the “speedy consummation of all that dwell in the land.” That the Jewish nation which dwelt in that land was not consummated, but the holy of worship with them, is well known.

[5] That this is the “consummation” appears still more plainly in Daniel:

Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy city of holiness, to consummate the transgression, and to seal up sins, and to expiate iniquity, and to bring in the righteousness of an age, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies; in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; at last upon the bird of abominations shall be desolation; and even to the consummation and the determination shall it drop upon the devastation (Daniel 9:24, 27).

[6] From all this it may now be seen that by the “consummation of the age,” respecting which the disciples said to the Lord, “What shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the consummation of the age?” (Matthew 24:3) nothing else is signified than the last time of the church; and also by these words of the Lord, which are the last in the same evangelist: “Jesus said to the disciples, Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you all the days even unto the consummation of the age” (Matthew 28:20). It was said by the Lord that He would be with the disciples even to the consummation of the age, because by the Lord’s twelve disciples the like is signified as by the twelve tribes of Israel, namely, all things of love and faith, consequently all things of the church (see n. 3354, 3488, 3858); which is the same as is meant by the twelve tribes (n. 3858, 3926, 3939, 4060). That it is the consummation of the church when there is no longer any charity and therefore no faith, has been repeatedly shown above. That in this church which is called Christian scarcely anything of charity and its derivative faith survives, thus that the consummation of its age is now at hand, will of the Lord’s Divine mercy be shown in the following pages.