8812. When it was morning. That this signifies a state when they were in good, is evident from the signification of “morning,” as being a state of the good of love (see n. 8426). From what is here said, that Jehovah, that is, the Lord; descended upon Mount Sinai on the third day, and also on the morning of that day, it is very manifest that this was representative of some Divine thing in heaven, which cannot be made known to anyone except from the correspondence of such things as come forth in the natural world with things that are in the spiritual world, and from the consequent signification; as in the present case what “morning” signifies, and what “the third day.” That “the third day” denotes the end of a former state, is because by “three” is signified what is full from beginning to end (n. 8790); and that “morning” denotes a state of the good of love, is because the sun which in the other life gives light to the angels and to the universal heaven, is the Lord, and the fire there is His Divine love, which gives the heat of life to every living being, and the light there is the Divine truth which enlightens all who receive it; quite differently from the sun of this world, the fire of which is fire and not love, and the light from which is light and not truth.

[2] From all this it can be seen what are the effects of the fire and also of the light from the sun of the world, and what are the effects of the fire and light from the sun of heaven, namely, that from the former the heat and light are devoid of life, but from the latter the heat and light are attended with life. These latter, namely, those which come forth from the sun of heaven, are therefore called “spiritual,” because they have life in them; and the former, which are from the sun of the world, are called “natural,” and have no life in them. The life which in living beings is noticed in heat and from heat, is not from the heat of the sun of the world, but is from the heat of the sun of heaven. When this heat flows into the heat of the world, it produces that effect, and is felt in the body as elementary heat; but there is in it vital heat that has its origin from the love which is heat from the sun of heaven. That the origin of the heat of life is from some other source, and that it is in love and is according to the measure and the quality of the love, everyone can know provided he is willing to reflect aright, except those who do not acknowledge anything internal in man, and who ascribe all things to nature.

[3] As therefore the heat from the sun of heaven, which is the Lord, is the good of love, and as the light therefrom is the truth of faith, it can be seen what is signified by “morning,” and what by “noon,” by “evening” and by “night,” in the other life, namely, that they are states of good and truth, or of love and faith; “morning,” a state of the good of love; “noon,” a state of the truth of faith; and “evening,” and “night,” the privation of these, which is ignorance and blindness in the things that are of faith, also torpor and cold in the things that are of heavenly love.

[4] Moreover the case is similar with the sun of heaven as with the sun of the world, namely, that it is fixed and does not cause those states by any circumgyration; but that they are caused by the surrounding bodies, as by the earth revolving around the sun and at the same time around its own axis; from which comes the appearance that those changes arise from the sun, when yet they are not from the sun, but from the world revolving about it. So also in heaven, the changes of state there, to which morning, noon, evening, and night correspond, do not arise from the sun there, for the sun is always sending forth heat and light, that is, the good of love and the truth of faith; but those changes arise with those who receive, namely, with angels and spirits who by stated alternations according to their life are now in morning, that is, in the good of love; now in noon, that is, in the truth of faith; now in evening and night, that is, in shade and torpor as to love and faith.

[5] The reason why the case is similar in the world as in heaven, with the difference that in the world they are states of times which so succeed each other, and in heaven states of life, is that all things in the world were created after the image of things that are in heaven, because natural things come forth from spiritual things as effects from their causes. Hence there is a correspondence of all things in the world with those which are in heaven, and hence universal nature is a theater representative of the Lord’s kingdom (n. 3483, 4939, 8211).