1188. And the light of a lamp shall shine in thee no more.- That this signifies that there will be nothing of the truth of heaven and of the church, appears from the signification of light, as denoting Divine Truth, concerning which see above (n. 955, 1067, 1159); from the signification of a lamp or candlestick, which denotes heaven and the church, concerning which see above (n. 62); and from the signification of shining no more, as denoting not to exist.

Continuation.- Let us take another example, as the case of a king, a prince, a consul, a governor, or an official, whose principal end is the love of rule, and the means every thing connected with their sway, and with the management and discharge of their office. The uses which these perform are not done for the sake of the good of the kingdom, the commonwealth, the country, society, or their fellow-citizens, but for the sake of the delight of ruling, thus for the sake of themselves. Real uses are not uses to them, but their uses administer to their pride; and they perform them for the sake of appearance and distinction, without any love for them; they extol them, and yet make light of them, just as a master does with his servants. I have seen such persons after their death, and have been astonished. They were devils among fiery devils; for the love of rule, when it is a principal end, is the very fire of hell.

[2] I have seen others also, whose love of rule was not their principal end, but the love of God and their neighbour, which is the love of uses; these were angels, to whom governments (dominia) in the heavens were given. From these cases, again, it is evident that eminence may be either a blessing or a curse; and that when a blessing it is from the Lord, but when a curse it is from the devil. The nature of the love of rule, when it is the principal end, may be seen by every man from that kingdom which is meant in the Word by Babel, in the fact that it has set its throne in the heavens above the Lord, by claiming all His power to itself. It has consequently abolished the Divine means of worship, which are from the Lord by means of the Word, and in their stead has established such as are demoniacal, consisting of adorations offered to men living and dead, to sepulchres, also to dead bodies, and to bones. That kingdom is described as Lucifer in Isaiah (14:4-24); those however who have exercised this dominion from the love of it are Lucifers, but not the rest.

The words "ask" and "question" are used a number of different in natural language, and a number of different ways in the Bible. The spiritual meaning of the terms generally relates to the idea of gathering knowledge or, in some cases, acquiring the desire to do what is good.Finally, there are several instances, in the New Testament in particular, where the Lord promises that true believers can have anything they ask for. This ius a spiritual statement: Those who truly believe in and follow the Lord will want only what is spiritually good, will ask only for what is spiritually good, and will get what is spiritually good. Thus they do, indeed, get everything they ask for.When people ask for objects from others – such as when the women of Israel were told to borrow precious things from Egyptian women before the final plague and the flight into the wilderness – it means acquiring knowledge the desire for good (in that particular case stripping those things away from evil people). Asking more general questions means seeking instruction, to bring light to the knowledge you have; at the highest level this rises to the perception of truth arising from the love of the Lord.When the questions are asked by someone in a higher position of someone in a lower position – a master asking servants, and expecially the Lord questioning anyone – it illustrates the Lord perceiving what's inside us, and helping us to see it as well.