Daniel, Chapter Eight: The Vision of the Ram and the Goat

A period of time passed after Daniel’s vision of the beasts rising from the sea. It is not until the third year of Belshazzar’s reign that Daniel reports another vision. He wrote,

"In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me-- to me, Daniel-- after the one that appeared to me the first time."

The setting of this vision is extremely important - it took place in the third year of Belshazzar’s reign. There is no clear indication in the Word of how long Belshazzar reigned in Babylon ¹ , so historically we cannot pin-point this vision at any time in the kings reign other than in the third year.

However, if we turn to the inner meaning of the Word, the time frame becomes very important. As we noted at the very beginning of this exposition, the term “the third year” represents the concept of completeness and the beginning of a new state ² . The state which is finishing is, of course, the reign of King Belshazzar, who represents the love of control exhibiting itself in the evils of daily or external life.

Chapter Five gives an overview of Belshazzar’s last night in this world, and tells of the profane feast he threw for his thousand lords. In drunken revelry he used the vessels from the temple of Jerusalem to toast his own false gods. At the very height of this debauchery, however, the words of judgment were written on the palace wall - you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting. Almost as soon as Daniel had interpreted these words, Darius and his army broke into the chamber, killing Belshazzar, and presumably everyone else - except Daniel.

Belshazzar’s feast, as we saw in the treatment of the fifth chapter, describes how evil, once it has taken hold of our conscious mind leads us further and further away from the presence of the Lord, and deeper and deeper into profanation.

Daniel’s vision in chapter seven shows graphically how that decline comes about: first we stop thinking about truth, and, as this happens, falsity extends its power over our minds. Eventually we loose all sense of right and wrong, and plunge headlong into a life of evil and falsity. The only force powerful enough to arrest this decline is the power of the Lord’s love, shown as the “Ancient of Days” and the power of judgment described as the “Son of Man”.

These two images of the Lord, and the judgment on our behaviour they imply are of immense importance because they hold open to us the promise of change and redemption. If we were stuck to eternity in the states of selfishness and greed described as the four beasts arising from the sea, then human life would be very bleak indeed. Thus Daniel’s vision in chapter seven gives way to a new one in chapter eight. In many ways the theme is much the same, yet the each new vision moves us closer to freedom from evil.

Chapter eight, therefore, begins in the third year of the reign of Belshazzar, marking the end of one state and the beginning of a new - the end of a time of dominion by hell, and a new dawn of spiritual life breaking on us. Dawn, however, is always preceded by the darkest part of the night. We know light will soon break, but it is not yet here, and the anticipation of morning makes the night darker and longer still. Much the same is true of our regeneration. The more we want liberation from evil, the more powerfully the forces of our selfish loves press into our lives. The challenge of life is to continue fighting our evils in the face of their increased aggression towards us.

Apocalypse Explained 716: Falsities from evil cannot be expelled from a person in a moment, but little by little; for if they were expelled in a moment, the person would expire, because they constitute his life.

The greatest challenge we face as our spiritual life progresses is to use the things we know, rather than simply store them up as memories. In the vision in this chapter, we see a person who is making progress. We know from the historical section of the book that Belshazzar will be killed. We know from the Word the Lord’s promises that if we abide in His Word, He will abide in us, and we shall know the truth, and it will set us free ³ . It is, however, one thing to know this, and another all together to bring these things into daily and practical life. This chapter, and the rest of the book, deal with this theme.

The vision takes place while Daniel was at Shushan, the citadel, in the province of Elam, beside the River Ulai. While the doctrines do not explain this verse , it gives us important imagery about the state of selfishness within us in this state before it changes. The power of selfishness and its seeming impregnability are imaged in the picture of Shushan - protected behind the high walls of falsity and the conviction that one is absolutely right in all things.

Shushan is called “the citadel”, a strong place where the kings of Persia had their summer residence ⁴ . It is possible to imagine it as a strong fortress, designed to keep out the enemies of the king - it is a place where the kings were so confident they could relax in the summer heat. This imagery lends itself to the needs of the vision, especially in relation to the vision in chapter seven.

The only real enemy of selfishness is truth from the Lord, and so often truth can be twisted and bent in so many ways that it is an easy enemy to overcome. People do this all the time through justification of their lives, through denial and countless other ways of defusing the pangs of conscience and guilt. The whole tissue of lies which ensnares a person is like a citadel, defending one from the attack of truth. Thus while a fortress in the Word is usually used to describe a protection against evils and falsities ⁵ , in this case it is the opposite sense which is more appropriate - evil defending itself against goodness and truth.

It is not surprising, therefore that beside the citadel ran the river Ulai, for rivers in the Word mean wisdom ⁶ , and wisdom is a state of life when we use truth to guide our lives in this world. In the sense here, however, because this river is part of the Babylonian empire, the correspondence is converted into the opposite.

Arcana Coelestia 7323: Rivers are attributes of intelligence, and so are matters of truth, and therefore in the contrary sense they are the opposite of intelligence and so are matters of falsity.

Thus Daniel by correspondence saw the last states of evil and selfishness in a person as it is depicted in their external or behavioural aspects. He saw the defensiveness of falsity twisting and perverting truth to its own ends, drawing nourished by the waters of falsity and ignorance.

The side of our lives represented by this vision had a great deal of defending to do - and yet it is ironic that the very force the walls of our spiritual fortress are designed to block out, our conscience, is still with us. Daniel lived within those walls, alongside the king of Babylon. In this irony we see a foreshadowing of the judgment and final killing of Belshazzar.

Spiritual life is a battle fought on more than one plane at a time. The inner motivations, illustrated in the historical stories by Nebuchadnezzar, show how our selfish side is under continued pressure from our conscience to reform and change. The difficulty in change, however, comes in the application of this reform to our external lives. We do so many things from habit, for example, that habit seems to become our real self. Changing this is often like doing violence to our own persona.

In the vision in Chapter Seven, we saw how evil develops, and how it has to be judged. Knowing this, however, is different from the actual work. Too often people fall into the trap of believing that because they know something is wrong, and because they want to break the habit, that they have in fact broken the habit. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In Chapter 8, we have these verses:

3. Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and there, standing beside the river, was a ram which had two horns, and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last.

4. I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward, so that no beast could withstand him; nor was there any that could deliver from his hand, but he did according to his will and became great.

5. And as I was considering, suddenly a male goat came from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

6. Then he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing beside the river, and ran at him with furious power.

7. And I saw him confronting the ram; he was moved with rage against him, attacked the ram, and broke his two horns. There was no power in the ram to withstand him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled him; and there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand.

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Aware that he was in the citadel, on the banks of the river, Daniel saw the first part of this vision. A ram with two horns, the last, or rear one the higher than the other. To understand the significance of this ram, one has to look at the context in which Daniel saw it. He was surrounded by Babylon, the love of control over their own and other people’s lives from an inner state of selfishness.

As people regenerate, their lives become increasingly divided between life from the conscience, and life from their selfishness. Thus they act from a mixture of motives. From their conscience they come to express states of goodness, kindness and charity. The actions based on conscience may often be seen as a refusal to commit evil, a biting back of a nasty word, or a act of honesty based on love for someone else. These early stages of regeneration are very important, for they show us what we could be if only our selfishness could be conquered.

Selfishness, however, is also often clothed over with an external goodness - selfish people portray themselves as good in order to make it possible for them to attain their own ends in life. Their external goodness is almost indistinguishable from genuine goodness. Thus the goodness in their behaviour is not connected with any spiritual goodness from the Lord, rather it is affiliated with selfishness itself ⁷ . Part of the difficulty of bringing our external being to the point where it is willing to submit to the conscience lies in sorting out the source of the good things we do in our lives.

In his vision Daniel saw a ram on the banks of the river. In the Word a “ram” represents states of good done by a person from a religious or spiritual motive. A person in this state is one who is in faith to the Lord and in charity towards the neighbour ⁸ . In the regenerating person this state of goodness gains momentum and power as the person puts selfishness aside and learns to think in terms of the truth. As this happens, and as the power of selfishness is gradually eroded, so the person increasingly becomes a form of charity itself, and more able to fight against the evils and falsities in their lives.

Apocalypse Explained 600: "'Sheep' mean those who are in the good of charity towards the neighbour thence in faith." Thus the ram, on the banks of the river is an image of the goodness coming into a regenerating person’s life. The horns on its head represent the power of that goodness faith against the influence of evil falsity ⁹ . Daniel makes specific mention of the relative sizes of the two horns, the higher of the two “came up last”.

In spiritual development there is an interplay between faith and charity. On a conscious level (remember this vision was seen during the reign of Belshazzar), the beginning of our spiritual development lies in our faith. Yet faith by itself does not constitute spiritual life. As we have seen before in the book of Daniel, knowledge about spiritual things, and even an intellectual humility do not bring a person to regeneration - if that were the case, then surely the book would finish at the end of chapter four when Nebuchadnezzar is humbled and praises God. Much of the work of regeneration takes place in changing the external things of our lives which are drawn from a selfish interior, and manifest themselves in our attitudes and behaviour. Thus our knowledge must be converted into action from truth, in other words, changed into charity.

The two horns on the rams head represent this process. In the process of rebirth, our faith is paramount, and our charity secondary. Thus one horn was higher than the other to depict this imbalance. In a regenerated person faith and charity would be equal in a person’s life, for as soon a one learned something, the person would bring it into action. True power against evil comes from charity.

Daniel watched the ram as it moved about, pushing in all four directions of the compass. It is simple to see this as the extension of goodness in a regenerating person into the various parts of life. However, there is more to it than that. The doctrines make an interesting point in relation to directions in the spiritual world, for there quarters are determined by a person’s relationship to the Lord.

In the natural world directions are determined according to the rising and setting of the sun, and generally directions are determined in relation to north. In the spiritual world, however, the Lord is seen in the east like a sun, and all the directions there are drawn from that direction ¹⁰ .

Daniel does not specify which direction he was looking in when he saw the ram, but it must have been the east, for it pushed westward, northward and southward. If, as we have seen, the ram represents goodness in our lives as a result of living according to the Lord’s Word, then it makes sense that the ram must have stood in the east, for the east represents the Lord and all goodness and truth flow from Him.

Apocalypse Explained 600: "An angel perpetually faces the Lord as a sun, and therefore before him is the Lord as the east, and behind him the Lord as the west, and at his right hand is the south, and at his left hand the north."

The ram pushed first westward. The “west” takes its meaning in relation to the east, and if the east is where the Lord is present, then the west is where the Lord is seen in a state of obscurity ¹¹ . Perhaps another way of saying that is that in a regenerating person good actions from genuinely good motives begin to make their presence felt in the daily activities of a person so that his or her expressions of charity become more genuine and heartfelt, and less in service to the selfish side of one’s nature.

As the ram pushed westward, so it also pushed northward and southward. If one thinks of directions on two axes, one has east/west and north/south. The east west axis relates to a person’s love, to his or her charity and the presence of goodness in the actions a person does. The north/south axis, on the other hand, has reference to the way a person thinks. The south end of this axis represents thoughts based on truths when they are clearly seen and understood, while the northern end depicts things less clearly seen ¹² .

The ram pushing in these directions, therefore illustrates the progress made by a regenerating person whose thoughts and feelings are being greatly influenced by the presence of truth in the mind, and a commitment to bringing that truth into daily life. This becomes more apparent when one thinks of the context in which Daniel’s dream takes place - the third year of the reign of Belshazzar, meaning the end of the state of selfishness in the external. As we know from the historical series, Belshazzar would be killed by Darius the Mede. At the same time we know that the internal motivating force in a person’s life, represented by Nebuchadnezzar is also undergoing profound change, shown by that king’s gradual recognition and acceptance of the Lord.

Thus regeneration is marching onward. This progress is aptly described by Daniel’s words that nothing “could withstand [the ram]; nor was there any that could deliver from his hand, but he did according to his will and became great.”

Regeneration, as we have seen before, is not possible without the combats of temptation. As we make spiritual progress, our states of selfishness reassert themselves. We have seen this phenomena several times in this study. Nebuchadnezzar, after he was shown how he must be humbled, still exalted in his pride, and was reduced to the level of a wild animal. So too Belshazzar, warned of that he was found wanting, continued his wild debauchery. In our own lives we often become aware that the more primed we become to break a habit, the more strongly the habit exerts its control over us.

Arcana Coelestia 760: "Temptation is severe. In fact it impinges on, attacks, breaks down, and alters a person’s essential life."

The challenge came without warning. Daniel’s words echo the drama of the changes of state we go through as we struggle to bring selfish feelings, thoughts, attitudes and actions under control. One minute a person may be acting from the very best of intentions, and the next selfishness emerges to utterly destroy the activity by subverting it and leading into an act of selfishness. The mechanism used by the selfish, unrepentant and unregenerate side of our minds to accomplish this is depicted by the goat Daniel saw coming “from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground”.

Every detail of this and the next verses shows how strongly selfishness reasserts itself. Goats and sheep are closely related animals. Yet from time immemorial the difference in their nature has been used as symbolism for good and evil.

Sheep are portrayed in the Word as gentle creatures ¹³ , willing to follow the Shepherd, as we are shown so often in the Psalms and the Gospels. The Lord frequently used the image of sheep being rescued, or let into the sheep-fold. He is referred to as the gentle shepherd ¹⁴ .

Psalm 23:1: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."

In sharp contrast to the gentle and peaceful image of sheep and shepherd is the harsh and destructive goat. The most damaging image given to the goat is the Lord’s teaching that at the day of judgment the sheep will be separated from the sheep, and be cast into hell. In that story in the Word, the goats represent those who had the opportunity to help the Lord in his times of distress, but had failed to do so.

Matthew 25:41: "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'"

It is not surprising therefore that Daniel’s vision of the ram pushing its way to the four corners of our minds is upset by the appearance of a goat. In every respect the ram and the goat are opposites, beginning with the fact that the ram must have come from the east, where the Lord is present, while the goat came from the west.

The west, as we saw earlier is a state of lack of charity. The goat came from our selfishness, and represents the selfish, unregenerate side of our minds re-exerting itself in an attempt to roll back the gains made by our conscience. To some degree this is similar to the action in the historical section of the book of Daniel as Darius the Mede’s one hundred and twenty satraps conspired to trick Daniel and thus destroy him.

Understanding that the goat came from the west makes it possible to grasp the spiritual concept of the goat itself. “Goats” represent states in people in which their charity, their love for the neighbour, does not form a part of their spiritual life. Such a person may have great stores of knowledge, but their lives remain untouched by this knowledge ¹⁵ . The cause of this is the basic selfishness which dominates a person’s life and which is described as Nebuchadnezzar. This inner selfishness naturally affects the way a person lives his or her life, depicted by Belshazzar. Any good done while a person is in this state is not real good, it is done only for the sake of one’s own person gain. The origin of a person’s goodness in this state, therefore, is not love for the neighbour, or charity, but is self. Thus the person cannot be a “sheep”, but rather is a goat, destructive of all spiritual values, and ultimately doomed to hell ¹⁶ .

This then is the male goat Daniel saw, coming from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground. Notice the distinction between “earth” and “ground”. In general the “ground” in human minds is the ability to receive goodness and truth from the Lord, and thus be regenerated ¹⁷ , while the earth represents the state of love a person has ¹⁸ . The implication is, therefore, that the challenge, or temptation to put aside the actual practice of good invades our minds with little warning. The goat’s feet touched neither earth, nor ground, meaning that this temptations do not draw from the sources of our spiritual life, which is goodness and truth from the Lord, as sheep do, but derive their origin in the reasoning of the human mind.

Arcana Coelestia 566: "In the Word a careful distinction is made between ground and land or earth. Whenever “ground” is used it means the Church or some aspect of the Church… But when “land” or “earth” occurs in the Word it frequently means where the Church or some aspect of the Church does not exist…"

This is the great challenge of spiritual life. So often we know what the Word teaches, and we know how and why we should use the truths there. A part of us is willing. Yet we still have external behaviour represented by the third year of Belshazzar’s reign - we still have attitudes and habits which are resistant and unwilling to change. Thus we fall into the trap of separating the things we know from the things we do. We fall into faith separated from charity, and as we stop acting according to what we know to be true, so states of goodness in our external life begin to perish ¹⁹ . When this happens, truth itself begins to perish, for the things a person then chooses to believe are things which favour their own tastes ²⁰ . The result is a slide into both false thinking and evil action.

A Brief Summary of New Church Doctrine 84: "When charity is thus removed, good works, which are of charity, slip away from the mind, and are obliterated, so that they are never remembered, nor is the least effort made to recall them to mind from the Law of the Decalogue."

We fall into this trap by believing certain fundamental falsities which undermine spiritual progress, for example, we start to believe that we are incapable of actually doing good, or that we cannot do good without expecting some reward from it ²¹ . This challenge is extremely powerful, and the power is represented by the “notable horn between his [ie. the goat’s eyes]”. This horn represents the attractive power human reasoning exerts over people ²² - a power so strong that it puts all our advances into spirituality to flight.

Thus as Daniel watched the he-goat approaching from the west, the animal ran at the ram “with furious power.” The goat “was moved with rage against the him, attacked the ram, and broke his two horns.” This violent action describes the rage with which evil and falsity attacks goodness and truth. We have seem some of this before, in the rage of Nebuchadnezzar against Shadrack, Meshack and Abed-nego for refusing to worship his image. Later in the rage of the one hundred and twenty of Darius’ satraps against Daniel for worshipping God.

It is the nature of evil to attack goodness, to continually resist goodness and to drag goodness down into the states of hell ²³ . The tragedy for people who give in to this evils side of themselves, is that gradually their conscience is broken and lost - a decline shown in chapter seven when the four beasts arising from the sea are spoken of. In this chapter, however, it is the decline of one’s conscience and its ability to lead a person through life and is described by the ram’s horns being broken. As we saw earlier, the ram’s horns represent the power of good and truth in a person’s life, but when a person is in the grip of evil, good and truth have no influence over the way they feel and think, and consequently over how they act.

Arcana Coelestia 1683: "The inherent nature of evil is to wish to injure everyone, but the inherent nature of good is to injure no one. The evil are acting in conformity with their own life when they are attacking, for their constant desire is to destroy."

The actions of the he-goat illustrate the violence of evil against goodness perfectly. As the goat attacked the ram, there was no resistance from the ram, and so the goat “cast him down to the ground and trampled him.”

As Daniel watched the ram was defeated, and he observed that “there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand”. This is the darkest hour before the dawn. Remember that this vision takes place in the third year of the reign of Belshazzar, and the “third year” represents the end of one state and the beginning of a new one. We know from the historical series that Belshazzar is finally killed by Darius the Mede, who elevates Daniel to a place of honour in his empire - but this state has yet to dawn. In the meantime, darkness is on the land - although morning is going to break.

Here's the next set of verses from Daniel 8:

8 Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven.

9 And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land.

10 And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them.

11 He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down.

12 Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered.

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This next section of Daniel’s vision describes the progress of evil and falsity in a person who separates him or herself from goodness. In order for our lives to be transformed by truth, the truths we know must come forth into activity, otherwise they simply remain exercises of the mind. When we act according to truth, our lives are transformed because they become reflections of the Lord’s Word. Our actions themselves become expressions of the Lord love from which the truths originated. Thus by living according to truth a person is changed by the Lord.

The exact opposite happens when we chose to ignore truth and live according to our own interpretations of right and wrong. When we do this, our actions do not draw themselves from the Word, but from our own self-centred version of what we claim truth to be. The result is that we only believe and only do things which serve us. In this state we can say that Nebuchadnezzar rules the internals of our minds, and Belshazzar our external thoughts and actions. The result is the profanation of Belshazzar’s feast, and the cruelty of Nebuchadnezzar’s decrees.

While the conscience is bound around by these evils, it seems as thought “nothing can deliver us from his hand”, and indeed without the intervention of the Lord, we would be lost. How easy it would be for hell to claim our lives is described in the events Daniel saw after the ram was put to flight.

As he watched, the male goat grew very great. The evils of life flooding into us when we turn aside from the power of good and evil, is powerful. They have the ability to obliterate everything else. This growth in power is described by the he-goat growing in size, and becoming strong.

More important than the sheer size of the goat, however, was that happened to its horn. When Daniel first describes this horn in verse five, he comments that the goat “had a notable horn between his eyes”, which represents the power of human reasoning over matters of goodness and truth. As he watched, the horn was broken, and from it grew four other horns.

This dramatic change in the horn has an ominous meaning in the depiction of the slide into evil. If the central “notable” horn represents human reasoning on spiritual matters, it also represents the false conclusions people come to. When we reason apart from the teachings of the Word, we open our minds to the selfish side of our being, with the result that we slip deeper and deeper into self-orientation.

Thus we could say that the single horn represents the basic principle that we know better than the Lord, that our belief and interpretation about life is more valid than what the Lord teaches in the Word. It also means that we will pick and choose the things we wish to believe in. If one starts from that point of view, it soon becomes apparent that every area of our thinking, and thence of our action, is going to be affected.

The horn breaking is not so much a destruction of the power of human reasoning, but a development into other areas of our lives. The horn “breaking”, therefore is the division of our false reasoning into many different falsities ²⁴ .

The four smaller horns which came up in its place represent the joining together of these falsities with evil affections in our minds which are only too happy to be justified by our thoughts ²⁵ . Thus as a person slips into this line of thinking, he or she may well find him or herself enjoying things which the conscience had labelled unacceptable, but has now been made acceptable by the new outlook, or excuse offered by the understanding. The result is a powerful combination of the will and understanding acting in unison and bent on gratifying self.

Notice that the four horns are deployed according to the “four winds of heaven”. As in the case of the ram, who came from the east, and pushed to the west, the north and the south, so without mentioning those quarters in detail, we are told that the four horns occupied those same areas. The four quarters in the Word represent different states of goodness and truth in a person. But by taking the negative correspondence, they can also describe the states of evil and falsity. Thus the areas of our minds, which had once been opened up to goodness and truth by the ram, are now changed into strongholds of evil and falsity by the goat’s horns.

So far, however, the challenge of evil to good in a regenerating person is still somewhat straight forward. Each person has two distinct aspects to themselves - the selfish and the good. During the course of regeneration these two sides alternate in the battles of temptation, and sometimes it seems as thought the darker side of our being is going to win. As the dawn of new life approaches, so that appearance grows increasingly stronger. Sooner or later it will take a great effort to throw off our evils altogether - but at this stage of the story we are not ready for that yet. Thus deeper and darker temptations swirl around us.

In these states one is reminded of Jesus on the cross, when all the world was plunged into darkness, and He cried out “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” It was still necessary for Him to die before the victory of resurrection.

So too with us. With the ram set to flight, and the goat grown so huge, with the four horns at the four corners of heaven, it seems as though things could not get any worse. The end is not yet near. “My time has not yet come!”

Thus as Daniel watched, one of the horns sprouted a little horn, “which grew exceedingly great towards the south, towards the east, and toward the Glorious Land”. This little horn marks a change in the decline of a person towards hell. The first four horns each represent the power of falsity in our lives, a falsity which generates evil, and which leads us further and further from heaven.

This little horn, however, represents a new kind of falsity, not a falsity which produces evil, but a falsity which is the result of evil ²⁶ . At this point one may wonder what the difference is between a falsity which produces evil and a falsity produced by evil. The falsity which produces evil arises in a willingness or approve or justify some evil in a person’s life. The evil, however, is still only potential, and only comes into being when the person acts on that falsity. One could call this a falsity of permission, for it gives a person permission to act in certain ways.

However, the falsity which comes from evil is a natural consequence of this. When a person acts according to evil, when he or she embraces evil, then the evil changes the way that person views life. They no longer need the original falsity to give them permission to act evilly. Now they have tasted the fruit of evil, and draw nourishment from it. The result is a falsity arising in direct consequence of the evil.

Thus the little horn grew, as the power of falsity grows at speed when it draws its origin from evil. When one comes into this state, one had passed the point of reasoning about whether it is permissible to act in certain ways, now one does so without any conscience, without any bonds to hold one back. Thus the horn’s influence spread throughout, like a cancer.

The danger this type of falsity represents in our development cannot be underplayed. We are told that the horn grew towards the south, towards the east. As was shown before, the south represents a state of spiritual light ²⁷ , while the east, where the Lord is in heaven, is a state of goodness ²⁸ . The horn growing into these regions illustrates how the falsities rooted in evil actually begin to obscure and obliterate the light of truth and warmth of love we have from heaven itself.

The impact of this can be seen in the lives of people who give in to evil. They may know that a certain action is wrong because they have read so in the Word. Yet they continue nevertheless. In time, their persistence in that activity puts to flight the restraining bonds of the conscience, and as a result they come into the fullness of the activity. As this happens, so they begin to think in terms of the activity, and to loose the ability to think or will contrary to it. When this happens one passes out of a state of temptation, and into an acquiescence to evil itself.

As Daniel watched the progress of the little horn, he noted that it “grew up to the host of heaven, and cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them.” In this action it was very similar to the fourth beast in chapter seven, with its great iron teeth, which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped the residue ²⁹ .

The horn cast down some of the “host” or army and some of the stars of heaven, which we told symbolises the goods and truths of heaven ³⁰ . “Stars” represent the knowledges of truth drawn from the Word. As we have seen throughout this study, truths are a person’s first line of defence against evil and falsity. The whole of Daniel’s life is a testimony to this. However, when a person lapses into a life of selfishness, which is made possible by misusing the things of the Word, then the person gives him or herself permission to act as they will. The result is the destruction of real faith and charity ³¹ . These are most dangerous to a person’s spiritual life, for they blot out any sense of sin, remorse or shame, and leave the person to the mercy of a life of unrestricted evil. The destruction of the sense of sin, and the knowledge that one has indeed committed evil, is described by the little horn growing towards the south which cast down the host and stars and trampled on them ³² . To trample them down means to utterly destroy them ³³ .

Arcana Coelestia 4897: "That 'stars' have this signification in the Word is because they are small luminaries which shine at night, when they give forth into our atmosphere gleams of light, just as knowledge gives forth gleams of good and truth."

In the historical series this blotting out of the “stars” of heaven can be seen in the denial by Nebuchadnezzar of Daniel’s true name. By calling him “Belteshazzar”, the represents the way we deny the source and origin of truth, and when that is denied, it becomes only too easy to relegate it to the farthest corners of our minds and finally forget about it all together. However, this little horn casting down the host and stars of heaven is doing something far more sinister than simply forgetting the truth. It is the actual destruction of truth as far as possible. This is done by twisting it around until it looses all meaning and power.

The state of evil and falsity which then rules the person mind are worse than any other sort ³⁴ . If a person lapsed into evil because of ignorance, or from having been taught falsities they still have a spiritual defence. On the other hand, to commit falsity with malice of forethought, when one knows the truth and chooses to reject it, and misuses the truth in such a way to make it permissible, then that person comes into a deeper level of falsity. The result is that without a recognition of goodness and truth from the Lord, the person in this state looses their intelligence and wisdom, for these originate in truth ³⁵ . In this state falsity and evil are confirmed in the person’s mind, and that person is alienated from the presence of the Lord.

To compound this matter, the horn exalted itself as high as the Prince of hosts. Here again we see the similarity of imagery to the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah, which treats of Lucifer, son of the dawn, exalting himself to God. This is the very nature of selfishness, and the end to which all selfishness tends, for loving self is opposite to loving God, and should a person allow unbridled selfishness in his or her life, then eventually that person will challenge God Himself.

In this state there is no possibility of genuine worship of God at all. Thus the horn “took away the daily sacrifices”. Sacrifices in the Word are part of worship, and worship is based on humility. If a person cannot, or will not humble him or herself before the Lord, then there can be no worship. The effect of the horn exalting itself to the level of God in a person’s mind, is to destroy humility, for a person in that state thinks he or she knows best, and is willing to please self.

It is also said that the horn cast down the sanctuary of the Prince of Hosts, meaning that nothing would be considered sacred or holy any longer.

A person in this state lapses into the very depths of hell, for all spiritual value, all real hope for salvation, disintegrates in the face of the terrible selfishness rampant in the person’s heart. In its place is a sea of self-centred willing, thinking and acting. The horn, with all its power, was given an army "to oppose the daily sacrifices, and he was cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered."

The next two verses are:

13 Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, "How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled under foot?"

14 And he said to me, "For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed."

---

The vision Daniel witnessed describes the final states of evil in a regenerating person. From states of spiritual progress, represented by the ram pushing in all directions, one comes into alternate states of degeneration, depicted as the ram with his fearful horns. These alternations of state are of vital importance to ones spiritual development, because in the process of regeneration one moves from a state in which one has no spiritual life to one in which he or she has. Because regeneration is a process which takes place during the whole course of a person’s life, a person is often between these two states, and yet one has to be in one or within the other. So they alternate.

Arcana Coelestia 933: "The state of a person when he is being regenerated resembles ‘cold’ and ‘heat’, that is, a point when faith and charity do not exist and then when they do."

The Writings offer insight into how these alternations work:

Every time a person is engrossed in his own bodily and worldly interests faith and charity do not exist, that is, it is a period of cold. For at such times it is bodily and worldly interests that are active… When, however, the bodily interests in a person and those of his [unregenerate] will are inactive and quiescent, the Lord acts by way of his internal man and at that pint faith and charity are present with him, which here is called ‘heat’ ³⁶ .

We see the roots of this alternation very clearly in chapter seven. When a person sees evil and the power of falsity in their lives, as described by the four beasts arising from the sea, and one judges them according to their knowledge and love for truth itself, then life begins to change. As we saw in chapter seven, however, although the beast was killed, nevertheless the lion, the bear and the leopard had “their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time” ³⁷ . Judgment changes the way we look at our lives, but it doesn’t by itself take away the evils to which we are prone. Those have to be overcome by temptation.

It is in this vision that we see the mechanism of overthrow. First the one state, the ram, then the other, the goat. Of course the most pertinent question arising about this progress is how long it will last. Remember that this vision was seen in the third year of Belshazzar, and that the third year represents the end of one state and the beginning of the next. According to this we know that eventually the states of evil will pass away completely, and we will be delivered. But how long?

Daniel heard this very question from heaven: “How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled under foot?” The answer is one of those verses in the Word which, without the internal sense to explain is, has exercised human minds for centuries.

And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary will be cleansed.”

This is how the verse is translated in the New King James Version of the Bible. Unfortunately it is not an accurate translation, leaving out some very important words. If one turns to the American Standard Version, one find the verse translated as follows:

And he said to me, Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

The difference seems minor, but by leaving out the “mornings” and “evenings”, the translators have left out a vital part of the information the Lord has given us. Swedenborg translates the passage differently, relying on a literal interpretation of the original Hebrew. Translated from his Latin the verse reads:

"And he said unto me, Even unto the evening, the morning, two thousand three hundred; for then shall the holy thing be justified."

This is the translation we shall use for this purposes of this exposition, for it does no good to leave words out, or to lump “evening” and “morning” together and turn them into “day”. Similarly, although the meaning is much the same, it does not use to speak of “the sanctuary shall be cleansed” when in fact the original says that “the holy thing shall be justified.”

How long, then, shall this state of alternation between goodness and evil last? The answer is quite clear. It involves the evening and the morning. As in all matters related to time in the Word, the internal sense deals with spiritual state, not temporal time. It is important, therefore to view this verse as a whole. Evening and morning are seen most clearly in juxtaposition to each other.

The terms evening and morning are frequently used in the Word to describe the end of one state and the beginning of the next. We have already seen in many places how “night” represents states of spiritual darkness and obscurity.

Arcana Coelestia 7844: "In the Word throughout mention is made of “evening”, and by it is signified the last time of the church, and also the first time; the last with those among whom the church is ceasing, and the first with those among whom it is beginning."

Evening as a prelude to the night means much the same. Spiritual obscurity has its origins in the things which belong to human selfishness and greed, for as we have seen, these block out the light of truth from the Lord ³⁸ .

In sharp contrast to this is the breaking light of dawn, when shadows are put to flight and the world is transformed by the sun. This early light has precisely the opposite meaning from the darkness of evening. It is the time when truth shines into human minds, and the Lord’s kingdom can be clearly seen in its light ³⁹ .

In the Arcana Coelestia, a series of distinctions are made between evening and dawn, which help greatly in understanding these two different states:

Evening:

• a state of shade, or of falsity and of no faith

• all things that are a person’s own

• a state of no faith

Dawn

• A state of light, or of truth, and of the knowledges of truth.

• whatever with a person which is from the Lord

• a state where there is faith

• the coming of the Lord.

Now perhaps it is possible to grasp the answer to the question of how long the states of alternation will last - to the evening and the dawn, in other words, when one passes from a state of no faith, and a life according to one’s own selfishness, to a state in which truth rules completely. In this latter state one will live from the Lord, for the power of selfishness will have been destroyed, and the person will be free to draw from their conscience for spiritual leadership.

In the historical series this state is the end of the reign of Belshazzar and the subsequent leadership of Darius the Mede, for Darius, even though he ruled Babylon, and even though he was susceptible still to flattery, prised Daniel. In this reign Daniel became second only to the king himself, wielding real power. Thus we see the triumph of the conscience over selfishness.

One should not ignore the concept of time in this verse, however. The evening and morning would continue two thousand three hundred. As elsewhere the numbers are vitally important. Two thousand draws on two basic numbers: two and multiplies of ten. Two, as we have seen in earlier chapters, contains the concept of joining two things into a marriage or union ⁴⁰ . This conjunction, however, only comes about through states of conflict and toil ⁴¹ . The number “ten” represents states of completion and fullness.

The implication, therefore, is that these alternations of state will continue through the temptations of a person’s life until the state described as three hundred occurs. Again this number is a composite between “three” and multiples of ten. “Three” describes, as we have seen earlier, a state which is full and thus the beginning of a new state. Ten represents fullness.

The answer, therefore, as to how long alternations of state will last is that they will last until they have run their course, and the person is ready to put aside the evening states, and fully embrace the morning.

Here's a fourth set of verses:

15 Then it happened, when I, Daniel, had seen the vision and was seeking the meaning, that suddenly there stood before me one having the appearance of a man.

16 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of the Ulai, who called, and said, "Gabriel, make this man understand the vision."

17 So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid and fell on my face; but he said to me, "Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end."

18 Now, as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me, and stood me upright.

19 And he said, "Look, I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation; for at the appointed time the end shall be.

20 "The ram which you saw, having the two horns-- they are the kings of Media and Persia.

21 "And the male goat is the kingdom of Greece. The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king.

22 "As for the broken horn and the four that stood up in its place, four kingdoms shall arise out of that nation, but not with its power.

23 "And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their fullness, a king shall arise, having fierce features, who understands sinister schemes.

24 His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; he shall destroy fearfully, and shall prosper and thrive; he shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people.

25 "Through his cunning he shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule; and he shall exalt himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity. He shall even rise against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without human means.

26 "And the vision of the evenings and mornings which was told is true; therefore seal up the vision, for it refers to many days in the future."

The prophets of the Old Testament saw visions, but they had no idea what these visions meant. Daniel was no exception. He had seen a ram defeated by a goat, not an ordinary goat, but one with a “notable” horn. He must have grown increasingly puzzled as he watched the horn break and four lesser horns grow out of it. His puzzlement may have turned to fright and despair when he saw the power of the little horn as it grew towards the south and interfere with the daily sacrifices. He watched all if this, but didn’t understand what it meant.

He writes that he saw the vision, and was “seeking the meaning”, when the next vision broke upon him. This time he heard the voice of a man between the banks of the Ulai, and suddenly saw a man standing before him. He was afraid and fell on his face.

As in chapter seven, once again the vision is explained. In chapter seven, however, it is Daniel who asks for interpretation. In chapter eight the angel Gabriel is sent to explain it to him. The explanation in chapter seven is largely a reiteration of what Daniel had already seen. In chapter eight new information is introduced which leads to a deeper understanding.

Daniel begins by commenting that he wanted to understand the things he saw, and suddenly “there stood before him one having the appearance of a man”. In chapter seven we are not sure who Daniel asks, for he says he asked “one of them who were standing near” ⁴² . In this vision, however, it is very different. Daniel sees a man.

Remember that Daniel was in the citadel at Shushan, on the banks of the River Ulai when he sees this vision. As he saw the man so he heard a voice from between the banks of the Ulai river. Earlier it was noted that “rivers” refer to matters of truth and wisdom in a person. When describing the citadel at Shushan on the banks of the Ulai, it was pointed out that the river took its negative meaning, being the falsities which feed and protect the love of self.

However, each correspondence has both a positive and a negative correspondence. When the River Ulai is seen in context of the Babylonian palace, it makes sense to draw out the negative sense. Yet when the voice calls to the angel Gabriel from within the banks of the river, then one must assume a positive correspondence. In this context therefore, the river Ulai represents the wisdom of God being communicated to Daniel by means of the angel Gabriel.

Gabriel is mentioned four times in the Word, in Daniel chapters eight and nine, and twice in the Christmas story given in the book of Luke. Daniel refers to Gabriel as “the man Gabriel” who could fly swiftly (more about this in chapter nine), while in Luke Gabriel is clearly identified as an angel, who, as he said to Zacharias in the temple, stands in the presence of God.

In Hebrew the name “Gabriel” means a warrior, a valiant man, which is a very apt description of the angel. The Writings tell us that Gabriel was not a single angel, but the human appearance of an entire society or community of angels ⁴³ . The name given to the angel, is in accordance with the function he performs ⁴⁴ . Angels, or rather societies of angels in human form appeared to prophets to communicate Divine Truth to them ⁴⁵ . The Arcana Coelestia makes this point when it says:

Arcana Coelestia 8192: "'Angels' signify Divine truth, for the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord makes heaven, consequently also the angels who constitute heaven; for in so far as they receive the Divine truth which is from the Lord, so far they are angels."

Apocalypse Explained 302: "A 'strong angel' signifies heaven because the whole angelic heaven before the Lord is as one man, or as one angel, likewise each society of heaven; therefore by 'angel' in the Word an angel is not meant, but an entire angelic society, as by 'Michael', 'Gabriel', 'Raphael'.

The truth Gabriel came to present to Daniel, therefore, was the meaning of the vision the prophet had just witnessed. As he approached Daniel, the latter was afraid and fell to his face. Here we have a response of the conscience when it is brought into close approximation to truth itself.

One must be wary of the trap of believing Daniel to be some disconnected observer of visions. The historical series in the first part of the book shows that this is not so. Daniel represents a person’s conscience, or the presence of truth guiding the human mind. Such a presence can never be simply neutral. The conscience plays a tremendous role in the way our minds develop, partly because it is through the conscience that we are able to understand the end result of selfishness and evil. The conscience reminds us of what good and truth really are, and how to come back into these states.

When we are in alternate states of evil, the conscience somewhat goes into abeyance, but it does not leave us, otherwise all our spiritual development would cease. Thus Daniel, while he watched the visions was seeing, correspondentially, the interaction of the conscience with the life of selfishness.

It is no surprise, therefore, that when the angel Gabriel, representing the Divine truth itself, came near to our human conscience, representing Daniel, that Daniel fell on his face. Symbolically this means the submission of the conscience to a higher authority - truth itself.

When a person is in a state of temptation, as is represented by this vision, it often appears that one’s knowledge and understanding of the Word disappears ⁴⁶ . This is the state represented by Daniel falling on his face in submission to a higher truth, and is later shown by his statement in the next verse that he “was in a deep sleep”, for, as we have seen earlier, sleep represents a state of spiritual obscurity.

Arcana Coelestia 1999: "True adoration, or humiliation of heart, carries with it prostration to the earth upon the face before the Lord, as a gesture naturally flowing from it. For in humiliation of heart there is the acknowledgement of self as being nothing but filthiness, and at the same time the acknowledgement of the Lord's infinite mercy toward that which is such; and when the mind is kept in these two acknowledgements, the very mind droops in lowliness toward hell, and prostrates the body; nor does it uplift itself until it is uplifted by the Lord. This takes place in all true humiliation, with a perception of being uplifted by the Lord's mercy."

It is part of the Lord’s mercy that He never leaves people in this state. The angel Gabriel, representing the power of the Lord’s truth, came to Daniel to begin the task of explaining what the vision meant. He begins by putting it into context: “Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end.” Notice that all the words of this statement are addressed to the understanding, the part of our minds which draws information from the Word, processes it into useful spiritual guidance. The conscience is the function of that truth in the understanding.

Thus the angel begins, “understand, son of man.” This latter phrase also speaks to the truth within us. Generally in the Word “sons” represent truths ⁴⁷ , while the “son of man” is the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, and received in our minds ⁴⁸ . Prophets were called “sons of men” because they represented the Lord in that they communicated His truth to the people of this world ⁴⁹ .

Thus when a person is in an state where the evil or selfish side of his or her personality is in ascendancy, and when our conscience has been set aside, the Lord lifts our minds to higher things. This is the dawn of the new state about to be break into our minds. The truth present with us comes forward to remind us of the presence of the Lord, and to reawaken our conscience and thus spur us on to resist the evil.

The angel reminds Daniel that this “vision refers to the time of the end”, the states when evils in our external man will finally be brought under control, and we will be freed from their influence ⁵⁰ . In places where the “time of the end” is referred to in the Word, it deals with “the consummation of the age is the last time of the church or its end”. Thus “end” represents a completion of a state, “when there is no Divine truth left except what has been falsified or set aside.” Using this concept, the angel’s words describing Daniel’s vision as a vision of “the end” refers to the final states of evil in a person before they are completely rejected and set aside. This idea is also contained in the opening words of the chapter, that Daniel saw this vision “in the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar”.

That time, however, has not yet come. Daniel, flat on his face on the ground, and asleep, is touched by Gabriel, who stood him upright. In this new state, the explanation of the vision could begin.

Gabriel describes the dream in terms of the kings of the world. Thus the ram’s horns are the kings of Media and Persia. The goat is the kingdom of Greece, and the four horns coming from the broken “notable” horn are four kingdoms. The little horn growing to the south is a king with fierce features, “who understands sinister schemes”.

Over the centuries there have been many attempts to explain this vision in human and political terms, and in some ways the explanations often work. The kingdom of Media and Persia were in fact overrun by Alexander the Great, the Greek king. On his death his empire was divided into four regions. The king with the fierce features, then replaced them, and could be compared to the Roman Empire. This king would even rise against the “Prince of princes”, meaning that the Lord Himself would be put to death by the Romans. Finally however, the last king would be “broken without human means”, depicting the collapse of the Roman Empire ⁵¹ .

The difficulty with this interpretation of Gabriel’s words is that they do not really address the issues of the human soul. Perhaps historically this prophecy did come true in the events of the times, but the Lord is not concerned with temporal and political things. His concern is for the salvation of the human soul, and for this reason the Word is given to us. Each and every detail of the Word deals with, amongst other things, human salvation. It is necessary then to turn aside from political speculation and delve into the meanings given in the Writings.

Poznámky pod čarou:

401. And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, signifies that all the good of love was separated, and thence all the truth of faith falsified. This is evident from the signification of "sun" as being in the highest sense the Lord in respect to Divine love, and thence with man the good of love to the Lord from the Lord (of which presently); also from the signification of "black as sackcloth of hair," as being separated; "black" is predicated of thick darkness, thus of what does not appear from any light. It is said "as sackcloth of hair," because it means the sensual of man, which is the lowest of the natural, and is thus round about the interiors, in which it induces thick darkness. Man has two minds, a spiritual and a natural; the spiritual mind thinks and perceives from the light of heaven, but the natural mind thinks and perceives from the light of the world; from the latter, man has a light that is called natural light [lumen]. This natural mind is what is called the natural man, but the spiritual mind is what is called the spiritual man. As the natural mind is below or outside of the spiritual mind it is also round about it, for it enwraps it on every side; therefore it is called "sackcloth of hair" or "hairy;" for when the spiritual mind, which is the higher and interior mind, is closed, then the natural mind, which is the lower and exterior, is in thick darkness in respect to all things of heaven and the church; for all the light that the natural mind has, and that constitutes its intelligence, is from the light of his spiritual mind, and this light is the light of heaven. The sensual, which is the ultimate of the natural, is also in the light of heaven like something hairy; from this it is that "hair" signifies the ultimate of the natural man, which is the sensual (See Arcana Coelestia n. 3301, 5247, 5569-5573). These things have been said that it may be known why it is that "the sun became black as sackcloth of hair."

[2] The above is evident also from the signification of the "moon" as being spiritual truth, which is called the truth of faith (of which presently); also from the signification of "became as blood," as being that truth was falsified; for "blood" in the genuine sense signifies Divine truth, and in the contrary sense, violence offered to Divine truth, thus Divine truth falsified (that this is the signification of "blood" in the Word, see above, n.329; this makes clear what "the moon became as blood" signifies. "The sun" signifies the Lord in respect to Divine love, and thus with man the good of love to the Lord from the Lord, and "the moon" signifies spiritual truth, because the Lord in the heaven of celestial angels appears as a sun, and in the heaven of spiritual angels as a moon. His appearing as a sun is from His Divine love, for Divine love appears as a fire, from which angels in the heavens have their heat; consequently celestial and spiritual "fire" in the Word mean love. The Lord's appearing as a moon is from the light that is from that sun, for the moon derives her light [lumen] from that sun, and light in heaven is Divine truth, consequently "light" in the Word signifies Divine truth. (But of the Sun and the Moon in the Heavens, and the Heat and Light Therefrom, see what is shown in the work on Heaven and Hell (116-125, 126-140)

[3] That in the Word "sun" signifies the Lord in respect to Divine love, and with man the good of love to the Lord, and the "moon" signifies the Lord in respect to Divine truth spiritual, is evident from the following passages. In Matthew:

When Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, His face did shine as the sun, and His garments became as light (Matthew 17:1-2).

Because the Lord was then seen in His Divine, He appeared in respect to His face "as the sun," and in respect to His garments "as the light," because the face corresponds to love, and "garments" correspond to truths; and "His face did shine as the sun" because Divine love was in Him, and "His garments became as light" because Divine truth was from Him; for the light in Heaven is Divine truth proceeding from the Lord as a sun. (That "the face" in reference to the Lord means love and every good, see Arcana Coelestia 5585, 9306, 9546, 9888; and that "garments" in reference to the Lord signify Divine truth, see above, n. 64, 195.) In like manner the Lord appears in heaven before the angels when He presents Himself before them, but He then appears out of the sun. He was therefore seen in like manner by John when he was in the spirit, as appears in Revelation, where it is said that:

The face of the Son of man was seen as the sun shineth in his power (Revelation 1:16).

It was evidently the Lord who was seen (See above, n. 63).

[4] Likewise when the Lord was seen by John as an angel, respecting which we read:

And I saw a strong angel coming down out of heaven, encompassed with a cloud, and a rainbow about his head, and his face was as the sun (Revelation 10:1);

for "angels" in the Word in its spiritual sense do not mean angels, but something Divine from the Lord, since the Divine that appears from them is not theirs, but the Lord's with them. So, too, the Divine truth they speak, which is full of wisdom, they do not speak from themselves, but from the Lord, for they have been men, and men have all wisdom and intelligence from the Lord. This makes clear that in the Word "angel" means the Lord, who also then appeared as a sun. (That in the Word, "angel" means something Divine from the Lord, seeArcana Coelestia 1925, 2821, 3039, 4085, 6280, 8192; that this is why in the Word angels are called gods, n.4295, 4402, 7268, 7873, 8301, 8192.)

[5] So, too, when the church was represented as a woman, the sun also then appeared around her; which is thus described in Revelation:

A great sign was seen in heaven; a woman encompassed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars (Revelation 12:1).

That "the woman" here signifies the church will be seen in the explanation that will be given in what follows. (That "woman" signifies the church, see Arcana Coelestia 252, 253, 749, 770.) And because the church is from the Lord she was seen encompassed with the sun. What is signified by "the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars," will also be shown in that explanation.

[6] It is therefore said by David:

The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, As the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, a morning without clouds, from the brightness after rain (2 Samuel 23:3-4

"The God of Israel" and "Rock of Israel" here mean the Lord in relation to the church, and in relation to Divine truth therein, "the God of Israel" in relation to the church, and "Rock of Israel" in relation to Divine truth therein; and as the Lord is the sun of the angelic heaven, and the Divine truth proceeding from Him is the light of that heaven, therefore it is said of the Divine which He spoke, which is Divine truth, that it is "as the light of the morning when the sun riseth;" because this is pure, and proceeds from His Divine love, it is added, "a morning without clouds, from brightness after rain," for the brightness of the light, or of Divine truth proceeding from Him, is from Divine love; "after rain" signifies after communication and reception, for its brightness is then with angels and men to whom it is communicated and by whom it is received. (That "the Rock of Israel," and "the Stone of Israel," mean the Lord in relation to Divine truth, see Arcana Coelestia 6426, 8581, 10580; and that "light" is Divine truth proceeding from the Lord as a sun, thus out of His Divine love, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 126-140.)

[7] In like manner it is said of those who love Jehovah, in the book of Judges:

Let them that love Him be as the going forth of the sun in his might (Judges 5:31).

That in the Word "Jehovah" means the Lord in relation to the Divine good of the Divine love may be seen in theArcana Coelestia 1736, 2921, 3035, 5041, 6303, 6281, 8864, 9315, 9373, 10146). Of those who love Him it is said, "as the going forth of the sun in his might," which signifies the Lord's Divine love in them. Of such it is also said that "they shall shine as the sun," in Matthew:

The righteous shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of My ¹ Father (Matthew 13:43).

In the Word those are called "righteous" who love the Lord, that is, from love do His commandments; and in respect to their faces they shine with an effulgence like that of the sun, because the Lord's Divine love is communicated to them and received by them, whereby the Lord is in their midst, that is, in their interiors, which manifest themselves in the face. (That those who are in good of love to the Lord are called "righteous," see above, n.204)

[8] In David:

His seed shall be to eternity, and His throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established as the moon to eternity, and as a faithful witness in the clouds (Psalms 89:36-37).

This is said of the Lord, and of His heaven and church, for by "David," who is here treated of in the sense of the letter, is meant the Lord (See above, n. 205); "his seed which shall be to eternity" signifies Divine truth, and also those who receive it; "his throne as the sun before Me" signifies the heaven and church of the Lord, which are in celestial good, which is the good of love; "the throne established as the moon to eternity" signifies the heaven and the church that are in spiritual good, which is Divine truth; "a faithful witness in the clouds" signifies the Word in the sense of the letter, which is called "a witness" because it witnesses, "clouds" meaning the sense of the letter of the Word.

[9] In the same:

They shall fear Thee with the sun and before the moon, a generation of generations. In His days shall the righteous flourish; and much peace till the moon be no more. His name shall be to eternity; before the sun shall He have the name of Son; and all nations shall be blessed in Him (Psalms 72:5, 7, 17).

This, too, is said of the Lord, for this whole Psalm treats of Him; and as the Lord appears in heaven to those who are in His celestial kingdom as a sun, and to those who are in His spiritual kingdom as a moon, it is said "they shall fear Thee with the sun and before the moon, a generation of generations;" "in that day the righteous shall flourish, and much peace till the moon be no more," signifies that those who are in love to the Lord will be in truths from that good, for with those who are in the celestial kingdom, that is, in love to the Lord, truths are implanted; those are called "righteous" who are in the good of love, and "peace" is predicated of that good. But that it may be known how this is to be understood, "till the moon be no more," it shall be told. The light proceeding from the Lord as a sun differs from the light proceeding from the Lord as a moon in the heavens, as the light of the sun in the world by day differs from the light of the moon in the world by night; the intelligence of those who are in the light of the sun of heaven differs in like manner from the intelligence of those who are in the light of the moon there; wherefore those who are in the light of the sun there are in pure Divine truth; but those who are in the light of the moon there are not in pure Divine truth, for they are in many falsities, which they have derived from the sense of the letter of the Word not understood, and yet these falsities appear to them as truths. From this it can be seen that "till the moon be no more" signifies till there no longer exists with them falsity appearing as truth, but pure truth which makes one with the good of love. It must be known however, that the falsities of those who are in the light of the moon in the heavens are falsities in which there is no evil, and that such falsities, therefore, are accepted by the Lord as if they were truths (respecting these falsities, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 21). This, therefore, is what is signified by "till the moon be no more," that is, with those who are meant by "the righteous in whom there is much peace." But in the highest sense, by these words the Lord in relation to His Divine Human, that this shall be the Divine good of the Divine love, is meant, therefore it is also added, "before the sun He shall have the name of Son," "Son" meaning the Lord's Divine Human. And as "nations" mean all who are in good, or who receive the good of love from the Lord, it is said, "and all nations shall be blessed in Him." (That "nations" signify those who are in good, and "peoples" those who are in truths, may be seen above, n. 331.)

[10] In Isaiah:

There shall be upon every high mountain and upon every lofty hill streams, rivulets of waters, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers shall fall. And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days (Isaiah 30:25-26).

This is said of the Last Judgment, which is meant by "the day of great slaughter, when the towers shall fall," "the towers that shall fall" meaning those who are in evils and in falsities therefrom, in particular, those who are in the love of ruling by means of the holy things of the church (See in the work on The Last Judgment 56, 58). That to those who are in love to the Lord and in charity towards the neighbor it shall then be given to understand truths, is signified by "there shall be upon every high mountain and upon every lofty hill streams, rivulets of waters." Those "upon a high mountain" mean those who are in the good of love to the Lord, "high mountain" signifying that good; those "upon the lofty hill" mean those who are in the good of charity towards the neighbor, "hill" signifying that good; "streams, rivulets of water" signify intelligence from truths. That there shall then be truth in the Lord's spiritual kingdom, as before there was truth in the celestial kingdom, and that the truth in the celestial kingdom shall then become the good of love is meant by "the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days;" for "light" means Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, "the light of the moon" Divine truth in the spiritual kingdom, and "the light of the sun" Divine truth in the celestial kingdom; "sevenfold" signifies full and perfect, and truth is full and perfect when it becomes good, or good in form. It can be seen that this means, not the sun and moon on the earth, but the sun and moon in the heavens. It is to be known that when a last judgment is being effected the Lord appears in the heavens in much greater effulgence and splendor than at other times, and this because the angels there must be more powerfully defended; for lower things, with which the exteriors of the angels have communication, are then in a state of disturbance. Therefore, as the Last Judgment is here treated of, it is said, "the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days;" and therefore it is also said that "there shall be streams, rivulets of waters, upon every high mountain, and upon every lofty hill," which signifies abundant intelligence with those who are upon the higher mountains and higher hills, for on the lower mountains and hills is where the judgment then takes place. (That the Lord appears to those who are in His celestial kingdom as a sun, and to those who are in his spiritual kingdom as a moon, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 116-125; and that the light from these is Divine truth, n. 127-140)

[11] In the same:

Thy sun shall no more go down, and thy moon shall not withdraw; for Jehovah shall be unto thee for a light of eternity, and the days of thy mourning shall be fulfilled (Isaiah 60:20).

This treats of the Lord, and of the new heaven and new earth, that is, of the church to be established by Him. That to those in that church the good of love to the Lord and the good of charity towards the neighbor should not perish is meant by "thy sun shall no more go down, and thy moon shall not withdraw;" for to those who are in the good of love to the Lord He appears as a sun, and to those who are in truths from the good of charity towards the neighbor He appears as a moon; so "thy sun" signifies the good of love to the Lord, and "thy moon" the good of charity, which, in its essence, is truth from good. That they shall continue to eternity in truths from the good of love, and in truths from the good of charity is meant by "Jehovah shall be unto thee for a light of eternity, and the days of thy mourning shall be fulfilled," "the light of eternity" is predicated of those who are in the good of love to the Lord, and "fulfilling the days of mourning" of those who are in the good of charity towards the neighbor, or in truths from good; for with those who were of the ancient churches, "mourning" represented grief on account of the loss or destruction of truth and good; "fulfilled" signifies ended, thus that they shall be in truths from good. From this the signification of "the sun became as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood," can be seen, namely, that the good of love to the Lord was separated, and thus truth was falsified.

[12] Nearly the same is signified in the following passages. In Isaiah:

Behold the day of Jehovah cometh, cruel with indignation and the glow of anger, to lay the earth waste; and He shall destroy its sinners out of it. For the stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof do not shine with their light; the sun is darkened in its rising, and the moon maketh not her light to be bright. I will visit evil upon the world, and upon the wicked their iniquity (Isaiah 13:9-11).

"The day of Jehovah, cruel with indignation and the glow of anger," signifies the day of the Last Judgment; "the stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof do not shine with their light, the sun is darkened in its rising, and the moon maketh not her light to be bright," signifies that the knowledges of good and truth have perished, as well as the good of love to the Lord, and the good of charity towards the neighbor, and thence the truth that is called the truth of faith; for "stars" signify the knowledges of good, "constellations" the knowledges of truth, "the sun" the good of love to the Lord, and "the moon" the good of charity towards the neighbor, which, in its essence, is truth from good, and is called the truth of faith. The sun is said "to be darkened in its rising," and the moon "not to make her light to be bright;" not that the sun and moon in the angelic heavens are darkened, for the sun there is always in its effulgence, and the moon in its splendor; but before those who are in evils and in falsities therefrom, goods and truths are thus obscured; it is therefore according to the appearance that it is so said, for those who are in evils and in falsities therefrom turn themselves away from the good of love and charity, consequently from the Lord, and then they will nothing but evil and think nothing but falsity, and those who will and think no other, see nothing but thick darkness and darkness in such things as pertain to heaven and the church. Because such are meant by those with whom "the sun is darkened, and the moon maketh not her light to be bright," it is said, "to lay the earth waste, and He shall destroy its sinners out of it," and afterwards, "I will visit evil upon the world, and upon the wicked their iniquity," "earth" and "world" signifying the church, "laying it waste" signifying that there is no longer any good, and "visiting evil upon the world, and upon the wicked their iniquity," signifying the Last Judgment.

[13] In Ezekiel:

When I shall extinguish thee I will cover the heavens and make the stars thereof black; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not make her light to shine; all the luminaries of light in the heavens will I make black over thee, and I will give darkness upon thy land (Ezekiel 32:7-8).

This is said of Pharaoh king of Egypt, by whom is here signified the natural man separate from the spiritual; which when it is separated is wholly in thick darkness and in darkness in regard to all things of heaven and the church, and so far as it is separated denies them; for the natural man sees nothing in such things from itself, but only through the spiritual man from the Lord, since the natural man is in the heat and light of the world, while the spiritual man is in the heat and light of heaven. From this it is clear what is meant by the particulars here, namely, "When I extinguish thee I will cover the heavens" signifies the interiors, which are in the light of heaven; "I will make the stars thereof black" signifies the knowledges of good and truth; "I will cover the sun with a cloud" signifies the good of love to the Lord; "the moon shall not make her light to shine" signifies the good of charity towards the neighbor and the truth of faith therefrom; "all the luminaries of light will I make black over thee" signifies all truths; and "I will give darkness upon thy land" signifies falsities.

[14] In Joel:

The day of Jehovah cometh. A day of darkness and of thick darkness, a day of cloud and obscurity. Before Him the earth trembleth, the sun and the moon were black, and the stars withdrew their brightness (Joel 2:1-2, 10).

In the same:

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh (Joel 2:31).

In the same:

The day of Jehovah is near in the valley cut off. The sun and the moon were made black, and the stars withdrew their brightness (Joel 3:14-15).

In the Gospels:

Immediately after the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven (Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24-25).

In Revelation:

The fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; and the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for the third part of it, and the night likewise (Revelation 8:12).

In another place:

Out of the pit of the abyss there went up a smoke as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun was darkened and the air by the smoke (Revelation 9:2).

It is clear from what has been said above, that in these passages "the sun and moon made black and darkened" means that there was no longer any good or any truth; therefore they are not further explained.

[15] Because such things are signified by "the sun darkened," therefore the sun was darkened when the Lord was upon the cross, because He was entirely rejected by the church that then was with the Jews, who were consequently in dense darkness, or in falsities. This is thus described in Luke:

At the sixth hour darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour, for the sun was darkened (Luke 23:44-45).

This was done as a sign and token that the Lord was denied, and that thence there was no good nor truth with those who were of the church; for with them all signs from the heavens represented and signified such things as are of the church, because the church with them was a representative church, or consisted of such things in externals as represented and thus signified the internal things of the church. That "darkness came over all the land" signified that with those who were of the church there was nothing except the falsities of evil, "all the land" meaning all the church, and "darkness" signifying falsities; that it continued for three hours, namely, "from the sixth to the ninth hour," signifies that there remained mere falsity, and no truth whatever, for "three" signifies full, whole, and entirely, and "six" and "nine" signify all things in the complex, here falsities and evils; and because there were falsities and evils with them, from the Lord's having been denied, therefore it is said, "and darkness came, and the sun was darkened;" "the sun" that was obscured, meaning the Lord, who is said to be "obscured" when falsities so prevail in the church that He is not acknowledged, and evils so prevail that He is crucified. (That each and every thing related in the Word concerning the Lord's passion is significative may be seen above, n.64, 83, 195c at the end.)

[16] In Micah:

Jehovah said against the prophets that cause the people to err, It shall be night unto you for vision; and darkness shall be to you for divination; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall grow black over them (Micah 3:5-6).

What these words signify in the spiritual sense, may be seen above n. 372, where they are explained. In Amos:

It shall come to pass in that day, that I will cause the sun to set at noon, and I will darken the earth in a day of light (Amos 8:9).

This signifies that in the church, where the Word is from which it might be known what is good and true, there is nevertheless nothing but evil and falsity. "To cause the sun to set," and "to darken the earth" signify the evil of life, and the falsity of doctrine in the church; for "the rising of the sun" signifies the good of love, which is the good of the life, and "the setting of the sun" signifies the evil of love, which is the evil of the life; and "the darkening of the earth" signifies the consequent falsity of doctrine, "darkness" signifying falsities, and "the earth" the church; "at noon," and "in the day of light" signify when there might be the knowledges of good and truth, because they have the Word, "noon" signifying where there are the knowledges of good, and the "day of light" where there are the knowledges of truth. Such knowledges as are from the Word are meant, because it is the church where the Word is that is here treated of.

[17] In Habakkuk:

The mountains were moved; the overflowing of waters passed by. Sun and moon stood in their habitation; Thine arrows go forth in light, the lightning of Thy spear in brightness (Habakkuk 3:10-11).

This chapter treats of the Lord's coming and of the Last Judgment then accomplished by Him; "the mountains were moved, the overflowing of waters passed by" signifies that those who were in the love of self and the world were cast out by the falsities of evil into which they were let; "mountains" signifying the loves of self and the world, and "the overflowing of waters" to be let into falsities from those loves, "waters" meaning falsities, and "overflowing" to be let into them. That by those in that state genuine truths and goods are not seen, but instead of these, fatuous truths and goods, which in themselves are falsities and evils is signified by, "Thine arrows go forth in light, the lightning of Thy spear in brightness;" "arrows" or "lightnings" signifying fatuous truths, which in themselves are falsities, and "the lightning of the spear" signifying fatuous goods which in themselves are the evils of falsity. Moreover, such signs appear in the spiritual world, in the case of those who are in falsities from the loves of self and the world, when the Last Judgment takes place, and these are cast out.

[18] As in this prophecy it is said, "Sun and moon stood in their habitation," the significance of the sun's resting in Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Aijalon shall also be explained, which is thus described in Joshua:

Then spoke Joshua to Jehovah, and he said in the eyes of Israel, Sun, rest thou in Gibeon; and thou, moon, in the valley of Aijalon; and the sun rested, and the moon stayed, until the nation was avenged upon its enemies. Is not this written upon the book of the Upright? And the sun stood in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day (Jos. Joshua 10:12-13).

That the sun is said to have stood in Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Aijalon, signifies that the church was altogether vastated in respect to all good and truth, for a battle was then going on against the king of Jerusalem and the kings of the Amorites; and "the king of Jerusalem" signifies the truth of the church wholly vastated by falsities, and "the kings of the Amorites" signify the good of the church vastated by evils; therefore those kings were smitten with hailstones, which signify the dire falsities of evil. It is said that the sun and the moon stood in their place, that is, before the sons of Israel, that they might see their enemies; but this, although it is told as history is a prophecy, as is evident from its being said, "Is not this written upon the book of the Upright?" which was a prophetical book from which this was taken; so it was from the same book that it was said, "Until the nation was avenged upon its enemies," and not, "Until the sons of Israel were avenged upon their enemies," the term "nation" being used prophetically. This is evident also from the fact that if this miracle had occurred altogether in this way, the whole nature of the world would have been inverted, which is not the case with the other miracles in the Word. That it might be known, therefore, that this was said prophetically, it is added, "Is not this written upon the book of the Upright?" And yet it is not to be doubted, that there was given to them a light out of heaven, a light in Gibeon like that of the sun, and a light in the valley of Aijalon like that of the moon.

[19] In Jeremiah:

She that hath borne seven shall languish, she shall breathe out her soul; her sun shall go down while it is yet day, it shall be ashamed and blush; and the remnant of them will I give to the sword before their enemies (Jeremiah 15:9).

"She that hath borne seven shall languish, she shall breathe out her soul," signifies that the church to which the Word is given and through it all truths, is about to perish; "to bear seven" meaning to be gifted with all the truths of the church (as in the first book of Samuel, 1 Samuel 2:5, see above, n. 257. "Her sun shall go down while it is yet day" signifies that the good of the church is about to perish, although the church has the Word, and might through the Word be in light; "it, namely, the sun, shall be ashamed and blush" signifies because good and truth are not received, but evil and falsity (as is evident also from the next quotation from Isaiah); "the remnant of them will I give to the sword before their enemies" signifies that all the remaining good and truth will perish through the falsity from evil; "remnant" meaning all that remains; "to be given to the sword" meaning to perish on account of falsities; "enemies" meaning evils.

[20] In Isaiah:

Jehovah will visit upon the host of the height in the height, and upon the Kings of the earth who are upon the earth. Then the moon shall blush, and the sun be ashamed (Isaiah 24:21, 23).

"To visit" signifies to destroy, because visitation precedes judgment, when those who are in evils and in falsities therefrom are destroyed; "the host of the height in the height" signifies all evils that are from the love of self, "host" signifying all evils; "the kings of the earth" falsities of every kind, and "the earth" the church. This makes clear the signification of "Jehovah will visit upon the host of the height in the height, and upon the kings of the earth who are upon the earth." It is said "upon the host of the height in the height" because those who are in the love of self seek in the spiritual world high places; "then the moon shall blush, and the sun be ashamed," signifies that there is no longer any reception of Divine truth and Divine good, "moon" and "sun" signifying the truth of faith and the good of love, and these are said "to blush and be ashamed" when they are no longer received, but falsity and evil are received in their place.

[21] In David:

Jehovah, who hath made the heavens by His intelligence, who hath spread out the earth upon the waters; who hath made great luminaries, the sun for rule by day, the moon and stars for rule by night: Who hath smitten Egypt in their firstborn, and hath brought out Israel from the midst of them (Psalms 136:5-11).

He who knows nothing of the spiritual sense of the Word must suppose that there is nothing involved in these words except what appears in the sense of the letter; and yet every particular involves such things as pertain to angelic wisdom, which are all celestial Divine and spiritual Divine things. This describes the new creation, or regeneration of the men of the church, of whom the church consists; "the heavens" which Jehovah hath made by His intelligence, signify the internal things of the men of the church, which, in one expression, are called the spiritual man, where intelligence has its seat, and where their heaven is; "the earth" which He hath spread out upon the waters, signifies the external of the church, which in one expression, is called the natural man; this is said to be "spread out upon the waters" because there the truths are by which man is regenerated, "waters" meaning truths; "the great luminaries, the sun, moon, and stars," signify the good of love, truth from that good, and the knowledges of good and truth, "the sun," the good of love, "the moon" truth from that good, and "the stars" the knowledges of good and truth. The sun is said to have been made "for rule by day," because "day" signifies the light of the spiritual man, for the spiritual man has illustration and perception from the good of love; the moon and the stars are said to have been made "for rule by night," because "night" signifies the light of the natural man, and its light, as compared with the light of the spiritual man, is like the light of night from the moon and the stars as compared with the light of day from the sun. Because this treats of the regeneration of the men of the church it follows, "who hath smitten Egypt in their firstborn, and hath brought out Israel from the midst of them;" "Egypt" signifying the natural man, such as it is by birth, namely, in mere falsities from evil; "their firstborn" mean primary things; the destruction of these while man is being regenerated is meant by "who hath smitten Egypt in their firstborn;" "Israel" signifies the spiritual man; and "to bring him out from the midst of them" signifies to open the spiritual man, and thus to regenerate; for the Lord regenerates the man of the church by dispersing the falsities from evils that are in the natural man, and by opening the spiritual man, and this is effected by the Lord by means of spiritual light, which is Divine truth.

[22] Like things are signified by these words in Genesis:

God made two great luminaries; the great luminary to rule by day, and the lesser luminary to rule by night, and the stars (Genesis 1:16).

For that chapter treats of the new creation, or the regeneration of the men of whom the Most Ancient Church consisted, and this is described in the sense of the letter, by the creation of heaven and earth. Like things are signified, too, by these words in Jeremiah:

Thus said the Lord Jehovih ² who giveth the sun for light by day, the statutes of the moon and stars for light by night (Jeremiah 31:35).

"The statutes of the moon and stars" signify all things that are done in the natural man according to the laws of order.

[23] In David:

Praise ye Jehovah, all His angels; praise ye Him, all His hosts; praise ye Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all ye stars of light; praise Him, ye heavens of heavens (Psalms 148:2-4).

"To praise Jehovah" signifies to worship Him; "angels" signify those who are in Divine truths from the good of love, for such are angels; "all the hosts" signify goods and truths in the whole complex; "sun and moon" signify the good of love and the truth from that good; "the stars of light" signify the knowledges of truth from good; "the heavens of heavens" signify goods and truths both internal and external; and as man worships the Lord from those things that are with him from the Lord, thus from the goods and truths that are with him, and as man is a man from these, therefore it is said to them, namely, to the sun, moon, and stars, which signify goods and truths, that they "shall praise," that is, worship, Jehovah. Who does not know that the sun, moon, and stars do not praise, that is, worship?

[24] In Moses:

Of Joseph he said, Blessed of Jehovah be His land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that lieth beneath, and for the precious things of the increase of the sun, and for the precious things of the produce of the months (Deuteronomy 33:13, 14).

This is said in the blessing of the sons of Israel by Moses; and because "Joseph" means the spiritual-celestial, who are those that are highest in the spiritual kingdom, and thus most closely communicate with those who are in the Lord's celestial kingdom, "His land" signifies that spiritual kingdom, likewise the church that consists of such; "the precious things of heaven, the dew, and the deep also that lieth beneath" signify things spiritual-celestial in the internal and the external man; "the precious things of the increase of the sun, and the precious things of the produce of the months," signify all things that proceed from the Lord's celestial kingdom, and all things that proceed from His spiritual kingdom, thus the goods and truths therefrom, "the sun" signifying the good of love to the Lord from the Lord which is the good that those have who are in the Lord's celestial kingdom, "its increase" signifying all things that proceed from it; "the produce of the months" signifies all things that proceed from the Lord's spiritual kingdom, "months" here signifying the like as "the moon," namely, truths from good, for the same word is used for both in the original. But this that has been said must seem obscure to one who knows nothing about the two kingdoms of heaven, the celestial and the spiritual, and about their conjunction by intermediates. (But respecting these kingdoms and the intermediates, see what is said in Heaven and Hell 20-28.)

[25] In Isaiah:

I will make thy suns a ruby, and thy gates of stones of carbuncles, and all thy border of stones of desire (Isaiah 54:12).

This is said of the nations outside of the church, from whom a new church was to be established by the Lord. "I will make thy suns a ruby" signifies that goods will be brilliant from the fire of love, "suns" here meaning the goods of love, and "the ruby" meaning a brilliance as from fire; "I will make thy gates of stones of carbuncles" signifies that truths will be resplendent from good, "gates" meaning introductory truths, in particular the doctrines that are from good, for all truths of doctrine that are genuine proceed from good, and are of good; and "stones of carbuncles" signify their brightness from good; in fact, all precious stones signify truths from good, and their color, brightness, and fire indicate the quality of the truth from good. "I will make all their border of stones of desire" signifies that true knowledges [scientifica], which belong to the natural man, will be pleasant and enjoyable from good; for "border" has the same meaning as "foundation," and this means the natural man, for in the things in it the goods and truths of the spiritual man are terminated, and "stones of desire" mean truths pleasant and enjoyable from good; by these are meant the goods and truths of the Word which those who constitute the new church will have, and which will be such. That the "sun" signifies the good of love is evident, too, from their being called "suns," in the plural.

[26] In Job:

Was I glad because my means were great, and because my hand had found much? did I behold the light that it shone, and the moon that it walked in brightness? and hath my heart secretly misled itself, and my hand kissed my mouth? (Job 31:25-28).

These words mean in the spiritual sense that he had not acquired for himself intelligence from what was his own [ex proprio], and had taken no merit to himself for his intelligence, and had not gloried in it; for "Was I glad because my means were great, and because my hand had found much?" signifies, had he gloried over having intelligence, and having acquired it for himself from what was his own [ex propria]? "means" signify the knowledges of good and truth, by which intelligence is gained; "and because my hand had found much" signifies to have acquired from what is one's own [ex propria]; "did I behold the light that it shone, and the moon that it walked in brightness" signifies to have spiritual truths, which constitute intelligence, "light" and the "moon" signifying spiritual truths; "hath my heart secretly misled itself, and my hand kissed my mouth?" signifies, have I therefore gloried inwardly, and have I claimed them to myself?

[27] In Matthew:

That ye may be sons of your Father who is in the heavens; who maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:45).

This treats of charity towards the neighbor, as is evident from what there precedes and follows, and, in particular of the Jews, who accounted the Gentiles as enemies, and their own people as friends. That they ought to love the Gentiles the same as their own people the Lord makes clear by this comparison; but as all comparisons in the Word are from correspondences, and from that are significative, as other things are that are not said comparatively, so it is with this comparison; and "the Father in the heavens maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust" signifies that the Lord flows in from heaven with the Divine good of love and with Divine truth, with those who are outside of the Jewish church as much as with those who are within it, "sun" also here signifying the good of love, and "rain" the Divine truth. "The evil and the unjust" signify in the internal sense those who were of the Jewish Church, since they did not receive; and "the good and the just" signify those who were outside of that church and did receive. In general, all the evil and the good, and the just and the unjust, are here meant, for the Lord flows in with good and truth equally with all, but all do not receive equally.

[28] Because "the sun" signifies the Lord in relation to Divine love, He is called "the Sun of righteousness (in Malachi 4:2); and "a Sun and Shield" (in David, Psalms 84:11). Because "the sun" signifies the good of love to the Lord with man, "from the rising of the sun unto its going down" signifies all who are in the good of love to the Lord, from the first to the last; "from the rising of the sun" meaning from the first, and "unto the going down of the sun" meaning to the last, as in the following passages. In Malachi:

From the rising of the sun even unto its going down is My name great among the nations (Malachi 1:11).

In David:

From the rising of the sun unto its going down the name of Jehovah is to be praised (Psalms 113:3).

In the same:

God, Jehovah God speaketh, and shall call the earth from the rising of the sun unto its going down (Psalms 50:1).

In Isaiah:

That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from its going down, that there is none beside Me (Isaiah 45:6).

In the same:

From the going down of the sun shall they fear the name of Jehovah, and His glory from the rising of the sun (Isaiah 59:19).

I shall raise up one that shall come from the north, and from the rising of the sun one who shall call upon My name (Isaiah 41:25).

"From the rising of the sun unto its going down" signifies all, from the first to the last, who are in the good of love to the Lord, because all in heaven dwell according to quarters. Those who are in the good of love to the Lord dwell from the east to the west; those who dwell in the east are those who are in a clear good of love, and those who dwell in the west are those who are in an obscure good of love. This is why "from the rising of the sun unto its going down" signifies all, from the first to the last, who are in the good of love. The words in Isaiah, "I will raise up one that will come from the north and from the rising of the sun" signify those who are outside of the church, and those who are inside of it; for "the north" signifies the obscurity of truth, thus those who are outside of the church, because they are in obscurity in regard to truths from not having the Word, and thence not knowing anything about the Lord; and "the rising of the sun" signifies those who are within the church, because they have the Word, in which the Lord is always present, and so in His rising. (That "the east" or "the rising of the sun," and "the west" or "the setting of the sun," mean the good of love in clearness and the good of love in obscurity, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 141, 148-150; and that "the north" means truth in obscurity, in the same chapter, n 148-150; for the Four Quarters in the Spiritual World are there treated of.)

Again, "the setting of the sun" signifies the state of the church when it is in ignorance, which is its first state; and "the rising of the sun" signifies its state when it is in light. "The setting of the sun" also signifies the state of the church when it is in evils and falsities therefrom; and "the rising of the sun" when it is in goods and in truths therefrom.

[29] The first state of the church, when it is still in ignorance, is signified by the commencement of the passover in the evening when the sun was set, according to these words of Moses:

Thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, when the sun shall have set in the stated time of thy going forth out of Egypt (Deuteronomy 16:6).

For "the feast of the passover" signified the celebration of the Lord on account of deliverance from damnation, which is effected by regeneration; and in the highest sense a remembrance of the glorification of the Lord's Human, because deliverance is from that (See Arcana Coelestia 7093, 7867, 9286-9292, 10655). And because the first state of regeneration is a state of ignorance, the beginning of that feast was "at even, when the sun had set." Again, that state is signified by "the going forth of the sons of Israel out of Egypt," for in Egypt they were in a servile state, and thus in a state of ignorance; therefore it is said, "in the stated time of the going forth out of Egypt."

[30] The last state of the church, when the church is in falsities and evils, for this state is its last, is signified by "the setting of the sun" in Moses:

When the sun was about setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and lo, a horror and great darkness fell upon him. At length, when the sun had set, and it had become dark, behold, a furnace of smoke, and a torch of fire that passed through between these pieces (Genesis 15:12, 17).

These things are said of the posterity of Abram from Jacob, that is, of the Israelitish and Jewish nation; and "when the sun was about setting," and "at length, when the sun had set," signify the last state of the church in that nation, that they were in mere falsities and evils; "great darkness" and "a furnace of smoke," signify falsities from evil; and "a torch of fire" signifies the dire love of self, from which came their evils and falsities.

[31] As most things in the Word have also a contrary sense, so have "sun" and "moon" and in that sense "sun" signifies the love of self, and "moon," the falsities therefrom. "Sun and moon" have this signification because those who are in natural thought only, and not in spiritual thought, do not think beyond nature; therefore when they see that from these two luminaries, or from their light and heat, all things arise and, as it were, live upon the earth, they suppose that these luminaries rule the universe; above this they do not raise their thoughts. This all do who are in the love of self and in the evils and falsities therefrom, for such are merely natural and sensual men, and the merely natural and sensual man does not think beyond nature, for what he does not see and touch he believes to be nothing.

With the ancients, all things of the church consisted of the representatives of spiritual things in natural; with them therefore, "the sun" signified the Lord in relation to Divine good, and "the moon" the Lord in relation to Divine truth, consequently in worship they turned their faces to the rising of the sun; and those among them who were in the love of self, and were therefore merely natural and sensual, began to worship as their highest gods the sun and the moon that they saw with their eyes; but because those alone did this, or persuaded others to do it, who were in the love of self and in the evils and falsities therefrom, therefore "the sun" signifies the love of self, and "the moon" the falsity therefrom. This becomes still more evident in the case of spirits in the other life who in the world had been such; these turn the face away from the Lord, and turn it towards something there that is dark and in thick darkness, which is in the place of the sun and moon of the world, over against the sun and moon of the angelic heaven (on which more may be seen in the work onHeaven and Hell 122, 123). By persons like this the worship of the sun and moon was instituted in ancient times, when all Divine worship was representative; but at this day, when representatives have ceased, the worship of the sun and moon does not exist in the Christian world, but in its place the worship of self, which exists with those in whom the love of ruling predominates. This makes clear the signification of "sun and moon" in the contrary sense.

[32] That in ancient times the sun and moon were worshiped is evident from the fact that the Gentiles dedicated shrines to them, which are spoken of in many histories. That the Egyptians as well as the Jews and Israelites worshiped the sun and moon is evident from the Word. That the Egyptians did, see in Jeremiah:

The King of Babylon shall come, and shall smite the land of Egypt, and shall break in pieces the pillars of the house of the sun in the land of Egypt (Jeremiah 43:11, 13).

That the Jews and Israelites did, see in Ezekiel:

I beheld their faces towards the east; and the same bowed themselves towards the rising of the sun (Ezekiel 8:16).

This treats of the abominations of Jerusalem. In the second book of Kings:

Josiah ³ the King put down the idolatrous priests, them that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, to the moon, and to the stars, and to all of the hosts of the heavens. He furthermore took away the horses that the kings of Judah had set up to the sun at the entering in of the house of Jehovah, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire (2 Kings 23:5, 11).

In Jeremiah:

They shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of his princes, and the bones of his priests, and the bones of his prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and they shall spread them to the sun and the moon and all the host of the heavens, which they have loved, and which they have served (Jeremiah 8:1-2);

and also Jeremiah 44:17-19, 25; Deuteronomy 4:19; 17:3, 5.

[33] Because "Moab" in the Word signifies those who are in a life of falsity from the love of self, and their worship signifies the worship of self, therefore when the Israelitish people drew near to the worship of the Moabitish people, it was commanded that the chiefs of the people should be hung up before the sun; respecting which it is thus written in Moses:

The daughters of Moab called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods; and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. Especially did Israel join himself unto Baalpeor; therefore Jehovah said unto Moses, Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up before the sun (Numbers 25:1-4).

"Moab" signifies those who are in a life of falsity from the love of self, and who consequently adulterate the goods of the church (See Arcana Coelestia 2468, 8315).

[34] From this it is also clear that the sun of the world signifies the love of self. Because the love of self lets man down into what is his own [proprium] and holds him there, for it looks continually to self, and man's own is nothing but evil, and from evil comes every falsity, therefore "the heat of the sun" signifies adulterated truth, which in its essence is the falsity of evil. This is signified by "the heat of the sun" in the following passages. In Revelation:

The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun; and it was given unto him to scorch men with fire (Revelation 16:8).

And elsewhere:

They shall hunger no more, neither shall the sun fall on them, nor any heat (Revelation 7:16).

In David:

The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. Jehovah shall keep thee from all evil, He shall keep thy soul (Psalms 121:6, 7).

The "sun" here means the love of self, and the "moon" the falsity therefrom; because from that love is all evil, and from evil all falsity, therefore it is said, "Jehovah shall keep thee from all evil, and He shall keep thy soul," "soul" signifying the life of truth.

[35] In Matthew:

Other seeds fell upon the rocky places, where they had not much earth; and when the sun was risen they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away (Matthew 13:5-6; Mark 4:5-6).

"Seeds" signify the truths from the Word, that is, the truths man receives from the Lord, for it is afterwards said, that it is "the Son of man that soweth." "Rocky places" signify a historical faith, which is another's faith in oneself, which is believing a thing to be true, not because one sees it in himself, but because another in whom he has confidence has said it. "Earth" signifies spiritual good, because this receives truths as soil does seeds; "the sun's rising" signifies the love of self; and "to be scorched" and "to wither away" signify to be adulterated and to perish. This makes clear what is signified by these words of the Lord in series, namely, that the truths that are implanted from infancy from the Word or from preaching, when man begins to think from himself, are adulterated and perish by lusts from the love of self. All things in the Word are, indeed, truths, but they are adulterated by the ideas of thought concerning them, and by the way they are applied, consequently with such persons truths are not truths except in respect to the mere utterance of them. This is so because all the life of truth is from spiritual good, and spiritual good has its seat in the higher or interior mind, which is called the spiritual mind. This mind cannot be opened with those who are in the love of self, for in everything they look to self. If they lift their eyes to heaven, still the thought of their spirit is held in the consideration of self; consequently from the fire of its own glory it incites the external and corporeal sensual things which have been taught from childhood, to the imitation of such affections as belong to the spiritual man.

[36] It is written in Jonah that "the gourd that came up over him withered, and that the sun beat upon his head, so that he fell sick." As this cannot be understood without explanation by the internal sense, it shall be explained in a few words. It is thus told in Jonah:

Jehovah prepared a gourd that came up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head to deliver him from his evil, and Jonah was glad over the gourd. And God prepared a worm, when the dawn came up the following day, and it smote the gourd that it dried up. And it came to pass when the sun arose that God prepared a scorching east wind; and the sun smote upon the head of Jonah, and he fell sick so that he asked that his soul might die. Then God said to Jonah, is it well for thee to be angry over the gourd? He said, It is well for me to be angry, even unto death. Jehovah said, Thou wouldest spare the gourd, for which thou hast not labored, nor didst thou make it grow up, because thou didst become the son of the night ⁴ and the son of night perisheth; shall not I spare Nineveh, the great city, in which are more than twelve myriads ⁵ of men? (Jonah 4:6-11).

This is a description of the genius of the Jewish nation, that they are in the love of self and in falsities therefrom. Jonah was of that nation, and therefore also was sent to Nineveh; for the Jewish nation had the Word, and was therefore able to teach those who were outside of the church and who are called Gentiles; these are signified by "Nineveh." Because the Jewish nation was, above others, in the love of self and in the falsities from that love, they did not wish well to any but themselves, thus not to the Gentiles, but these they hated. Because that nation was such, and Jonah represented it, he was very angry that Jehovah should spare Nineveh, for it is said:

Jonah was ill with a great illness, so that he was angry, and from the illness of anger he said, Take, O Jehovah, my soul from me, for my death is better than my life (Jonah 4:1, 3).

This evil in that nation is signified by the gourd which the worm smote so that it dried up. "The sun that smote upon the head of Jonah" signifies the love of self which was in that nation; and "the scorching east wind" the falsity therefrom; and "the worm that smote the gourd" signifies the destruction of this evil and the falsity thence. That this is the signification of "the gourd" is evident from its being said in this description that Jonah at first "was glad over the gourd," and after the gourd had been smitten by the worm and had dried up that "he was angry over it, even unto death," and also from its being said that "he had pity over the gourd." That the Jewish nation, because it was in such a love and in such falsity therefrom was liable to damnation is meant by these words to Jonah, "thou didst not cause it to grow up, because thou didst become a son of night, ⁶ and a son of night perisheth." (That such was the Jewish nation, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248.)

[37] The love of self is signified here and in the preceding passages, because "the sun" in the genuine spiritual sense signifies love to the Lord, and the love of self is the opposite of this love.

Moreover, the Lord's Divine love, which is present with everyone, is turned into the love of self with the evil; for everything that flows in is changed in the recipient subject into what agrees with its own nature; as the pure heat of the sun is turned into an offensive smell in subjects of such a nature, and the pure light of the sun into hideous colors in objects of such reception; this is why "the sun that smote upon the head of Jonah" signifies the love of self that is in him; likewise "the sun that was risen" by which the seeds were scorched upon the rocky places, mentioned in Matthew.

[38] In Revelation:

The city New Jerusalem hath no need of the sun and moon to shine in it, for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof (Revelation 21:23; 22:5).

"The sun" here, of which the city New Jerusalem shall have no need, signifies natural love, which, viewed in itself is the love of self and the world; and "the moon" signifies natural light, for natural light, viewed in itself is from natural love, and the quality of the light is according to the quality of the love; while spiritual love and spiritual light are signified by "the glory of God shall lighten it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof."

[39] That such is the sense of these words is very evident from the following from Isaiah:

The sun shall be no more a light to thee by day, and for brightness the moon shall not give light unto thee; but Jehovah shall be unto thee for a light of eternity, and thy God for thine adornment. Thy sun shall no more go down, and thy moon shall not withdraw; for Jehovah shall be unto thee for a light of eternity, and the days of thy mourning shall be fulfilled (Isaiah 60:19-20).

In the first part of this passage "the sun and moon" have the same meaning as above in Revelation, namely, "the sun" signifies merely natural love, and "the moon" natural light therefrom; but in the latter part of the passage "the sun and moon" mean the sun and moon of the angelic heaven, and that sun signifies the Lord's Divine love, and the moon Divine truth, as was explained above. For it is first said, "the sun shall be no more a light to thee by day, and for brightness the moon shall not give light unto thee;" and afterwards it is said, "thy sun shall no more go down, and thy moon shall not withdraw." From all this it is now evident what "sun and moon" signify in both senses.

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