Apocalypse Revealed #413
413. And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, and a third of them was darkened. This symbolically means that because of their evils springing from falsities and their falsities springing from evils, they did not know what love is, or what faith is, or any truth.
A third means, symbolically, all (no. 400). The sun symbolizes love (no. 53). The moon symbolizes intelligence and faith (no. 332). The stars symbolize concepts of truth and goodness from the Word (no. 51). To be darkened means, symbolically, to be unseen and unknown because of evils springing from falsities and falsities springing from evils.
Evils springing from falsities are found in people who adopt falsities having to do with religion and defend them to the point that they appear to be true. Then, when they live in accordance with them, they do evils as a result of the falsities, or the evils of falsity.
On the other hand, falsities springing from evils are found in people who do not regard evils as being sins, and still more in people who employ reasonings issuing from their natural self, and moreover from the Word, to establish in themselves that evils are not sins. Their very arguments are falsities springing from evils, and what we call the falsities of evil.
[2] Darkness symbolizes these falsities because light symbolizes truth, and when the light has been extinguished, darkness is left.
To confirm this we will first cite passages where things similar to those here in the book of Revelation are said regarding the sun, moon and stars, and darkness ensuing upon their being extinguished:
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and terrible day of Jehovah. (Joel 2:31)
...the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be darkened in its rising, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. (Isaiah 13:10, cf. 24:21, 24:23)
When I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens..., I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. All the luminaries of light in the heavens I will make dark over you, and bring darkness upon your land... (Ezekiel 32:7-8)
...the day of Jehovah... is at hand... The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars diminish their brightness. (Joel 2:1, 10)
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven... (Matthew 24:29, cf. Mark 13:24-25)
Who, if he elevates his mind, cannot see that in these places it is not the world's sun, moon and stars that are meant.
[3] That darkness symbolizes falsities of various kinds is clear from these passages:
Woe to you who desire the day of Jehovah! ...It will be one of darkness, and not light... Is not the day of Jehovah darkness and not light? Very dark, without any brightness? (Amos 5:18, 20)
(The day of Jehovah will be) a day of darkness and thick darkness, a day of clouds and overcast... (Zephaniah 1:15)
In that day... it will look to the land, which, behold, will be darkness...; and the light will grow dark in its ruins. (Isaiah 5:30, cf. 8:22)
...behold, the darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness the peoples. (Isaiah 60:2)
Give glory to Jehovah... before He causes darkness...; you look for light, but He turns it into thick darkness. (Jeremiah 13:16)
We look for light, but there is darkness and no brightness; we walk in thick darkness... We stumble at noonday as at twilight; among the living we are as dead men. (Isaiah 59:9-10)
Woe to those... who put darkness for light, and light for darkness. (Isaiah 5:20)
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. (Isaiah 9:2, cf. Matthew 4:16)
...the rising sun from on high (has appeared) to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death... (Luke 1:78-79)
If you give your soul to the hungry..., your light shall rise in the darkness, and your thick darkness shall be as the noonday. (Isaiah 58:10)
In that day... the eyes of the blind who are in thick darkness and gloom shall see. (Isaiah 29:18, cf. 42:16; 49:9)
(Jesus said,) "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12)
Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you... I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. (John 12:35, 46)
When I sit in darkness, Jehovah is a light to me. (Micah 7:8)
This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness more than light... (John 3:19, cf. 1:4-5)
If... the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (Matthew 6:23, cf. Luke 11:34-36)
...this is your hour, and the power of darkness. (Luke 22:53)
Darkness in these places symbolizes falsity arising either from ignorance of truth or from some false tenet of religion, or from a life of evil.
Regarding people caught up in falsities having to do with religion, who are therefore caught up in evils in life, the Lord says that they should be "cast out into outer darkness" (Matthew 8:12, cf. 22:13; 25:30).
Isaiah 8
1
Yahweh said to me, "Take a large tablet, and write on it with a man's pen, 'For Maher Shalal Hash Baz;'
2
and I will take for myself faithful witnesses to testify: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah."
3
I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. Then Yahweh said to me, "Call his name 'Maher Shalal Hash Baz.'
4
For before the child knows how to say, 'My father,' and, 'My mother,' the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria."
5
Yahweh spoke to me yet again, saying,
6
"Because this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;
7
now therefore, behold, the Lord brings upon them the mighty flood waters of the River: the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks.
8
It will sweep onward into Judah. It will overflow and pass through; it will reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, Immanuel.
9
Make an uproar, you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Listen, all you from far countries: dress for battle, and be shattered! Dress for battle, and be shattered!
10
Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand: for God is with us."
11
For Yahweh spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,
12
"Don't say, 'A conspiracy!' concerning all about which this people say, 'A conspiracy!' neither fear their threats, nor be terrorized.
13
Yahweh of Armies is who you must respect as holy. He is the one you must fear. He is the one you must dread.
14
He will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel, he will be a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15
Many will stumble over it, fall, be broken, be snared, and be captured."
16
Wrap up the testimony. Seal the law among my disciples.
17
I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
18
Behold, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Yahweh of Armies, who dwells in Mount Zion.
19
When they tell you, "Consult with those who have familiar spirits and with the wizards, who chirp and who mutter:" shouldn't a people consult with their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?
20
Turn to the law and to the testimony! If they don't speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.
21
They will pass through it, very distressed and hungry; and it will happen that when they are hungry, they will worry, and curse by their king and by their God. They will turn their faces upward,
22
and look to the earth, and see distress, darkness, and the gloom of anguish. They will be driven into thick darkness.
