5584. 'He said, The man issued a solemn warning to us' means the turning away from them of the spiritual from the internal. This is clear from the meaning of 'issuing a solemn warning' as the turning away of [the spiritual from the natural], for Joseph had warned them that they would not see his face unless their brother was with them (this warning is the threat of a turning away, for 'not seeing his face' means that no compassion will show itself, dealt with in the next paragraph); and from the representation of 'Joseph' as the Divine Spiritual, or what amounts to the same, truth from the Divine, dealt with in 3969, which at this point is the spiritual or truth flowing in from the internal since the expression 'the man' is used.

1530. The truth of this could be proved to anyone from the Word, for example, when the Lord revealed Himself to Peter, James, and John, for His face at that time shone like the sun and His garments became white as the light, Matthew 17:2. The sole reason why He appeared to them in this way was that their interior sight had been opened. The same is also confirmed from the Prophets, as in Isaiah when reference is being made to the Lord's kingdom in heaven,

The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days. Isaiah 30:26.

And in John, where reference is being made to the Lord's kingdom which is called the New Jerusalem,

The city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shed light in it; for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. Revelation 21:23.

And elsewhere in the same book,

There will be no night there, nor do they need a lamp or light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. Revelation 22:5.

And in addition when the Lord appeared to Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders, it is said that they saw the God of Israel under whose feet there was so to speak a paved work of sapphire stone, like the substance of the sky for clearness, Exodus 24:10. Because the Lord's celestial and spiritual appears before the external sight of the angels as the Sun and the Moon, 'the sun' in the Word therefore means what is celestial, and 'the moon' what is spiritual.