177. Innere Bedeutung von Daniel, Kapitel 6:

Daß über den Dienst des Herrn gedacht worden sei, wie in der Kirche: Vers 1-4,

daß darüber beratschlagt, und beschlossen worden sei, daß sie selbst statt des Herrn verehrt werden sollten: Vers 5-10;

und weil diesem Beschluß die zur Kirche des Herrn Gehörigen widersprachen, so wurde festgesetzt, daß sie in die Strafe des Inquisitionsgerichts verfallen sollten, welches die Löwengrube ist, in die Daniel geworfen wurde: Vers 11-18,

sie wurden ab er gleic hwohl vom Herrn behütet, daß sie nicht in jene Strafe verfielen: Vers 19-24,

dagegen aber wurden diejenigen, die jene Schandtat erfunden hatten, in die Hölle geworfen: Vers 25,

und diejenigen, die im Dienst des Herrn [beharrten], wurden selig: Vers 26-28.

The sun in the Bible represents the Lord, with its heat representing His love and its light representing His wisdom. “Daytime,” then, represents a state in which we are turned toward the Lord, receiving His love and being enlightened by His truth. And “nighttime,” obviously, represents states in which we are turned away from the Lord, left cold and blind to the truth. The most common word used for it in the New Christian theology is “obscurity.” The darkness is not absolute, of course. The light of the moon represents the understanding we can have based on facts and our own intelligence. But while the moon reflects some of the sun's light, it offers almost no heat, so this kind of understanding is a cold one, without the warmth of love. And at its darkest and coldest, night represents a state of judgment. This happens when a person -- or a church -- becomes so mired in evil and falsity that there is no light or heat. The Lord can then step in, separate the good from the evil, consign the evil to hell and begin rebuilding based on the remnant that is still good. Drastic as that sounds, it is something that we all go through repeatedly in various aspects of our loves, so that we can be rid of what is evil and let the Lord rebuild us as angels.