981. (Verse 8) And the fourth angel poured out his vial into the sun. That this signifies the state of the church manifested as to love to God, thus to the Lord, is evident from the signification of the angel pouring out his vial, as denoting the state of the church manifested, as above (n. 969). And from the signification of the sun, as denoting love to God, thus to the Lord (concerning which see above, n. 401, 412, 422, 525, 527, 708). The reason why the sun signifies love to God, thus to the Lord is, that the Lord appears before the angels in the heavens as a Sun, and His appearance as a Sun is from Divine love. For all love in the spiritual world corresponds to fire and flame, and because it corresponds it is also representatively shown by fire and flame, therefore the Lord's Divine love appears as a Sun. Hence it is that the sun, in the Word, signifies the Lord, as to love towards all who are in heaven and in the world, and, in a reciprocal sense, love to the Lord.

By love to the Lord is signified the love or affection of doing His commandments, thus, the love of keeping the precepts of the Decalogue. For in proportion as a man from love, or from affection, keeps and does them, in the same proportion he loves the Lord. The reason is, that they are the Lord with man.

[2] Thus far five precepts of the Decalogue have been explained. The Sixth Precept, which is, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," must now be explained.

Who is there at this day capable of believing that the delight of adultery is hell with man, and that the delight of marriage is heaven with him; consequently, that so far as a man is in the one delight, so far he is not in the other; because so far as a man is in hell, so far he is not in heaven? Who is there at this day who is capable of believing that the love of adultery is the fundamental love of all hellish and devilish loves, and that the chaste love of marriage is the fundamental love of all loves, heavenly and Divine; consequently, that so far as a man is in the love of adultery, so far he is in every evil love, if not in act, yet in endeavour? On the other hand, so far as a man is in the chaste love of marriage, so far he is in every good love, if not in act, yet in endeavour? Who is there at this day who is capable of believing that he who is in the love of adultery has no belief at all in the Word, consequently, none in the church, indeed, that in his heart he denies God? And, on the other hand, that he who is in the chaste love of marriage is in charity and faith and in love to God? Or who is capable of believing that the chastity of marriage makes one with religion, and the lasciviousness of adultery makes one with naturalism?

[3] The reason why these things are at this day unknown is, because the church is at its end, and devastated as to truth and good; and when the church is in such a condition, then the man of the church, by influx from hell, comes into the persuasion that adulteries are neither detestable nor abominations. And hence also he comes into the belief that marriages and adulteries do not differ in their essence, but only as to order, when, nevertheless, the difference between them is such as that between heaven and hell. That there is this difference between them will be seen in what follows. Hence it is that in the Word, in the spiritual sense, heaven and the church are meant by nuptials and marriages; and that hell and the rejection of all things of the church are meant in the Word, in the spiritual sense, by adulteries and whoredoms.

123. Since the Lord appears in heaven like a Sun by reason of the Divine love which is in Him and from Him, so all in the heavens turn constantly towards Him, those in the celestial kingdom to Him as a Sun, those in the spiritual kingdom to Him as a Moon. But those in hell turn towards the dense blackness and darkness which are in the opposite direction, that is, they turn backwards, away from the Lord, the reason being that all in the hells are in the love of self and of the world, thus opposed to the Lord. Those who turn to the dense darkness, that is, in the place where this world's sun is, are in the hells behind, and are called genii; while those who turn to the darkness, that is, in the place of the moon, are in hells in front and are called spirits. This is why those in the hells are said to be in darkness, and those in the heavens in light. "Darkness" signifies falsity from evil, and "light", truth from good. They turn in that way because all in the other life look towards the things that rule in their interiors, thus to their loves, and it is the interiors that make the face of an angel or spirit. In the spiritual world, also, there are no fixed quarters, as in the natural world, but it is the face that determines them. Man also, in respect of his spirit, turns in the same way as a spirit does, backwards from the Lord, if he is in the love of self and of the world, and towards the Lord if he is in love to Him and the neighbour. But man does not know this, because he is in the natural world where the quarters are fixed according to the rising and setting of the sun. But, as this cannot be easily comprehended by man, it will be elucidated in subsequent sections which will treat of Quarters, Space, and Time in Heaven.