5144. And behold three baskets. That this signifies the successives of the things of the will, is evident from the signification of “three,” as being what is complete and continuous even to the end (see n. 2788, 4495, 5114, 5122), thus what is successive; and from the signification of “baskets,” as being things of the will. That “baskets” are things of the will is because they are vessels to hold food; and also because food signifies celestial and spiritual goods, and these are of the will; for all good pertains to the will, and all truth to the understanding. As soon as anything comes forth from the will, it is perceived as good. In what precedes, the sensuous subject to the intellectual part has been treated of, which was represented by the butler; what is now treated of is the sensuous subject to the will part, which is represented by the baker (see n. 5077, 5078, 5082).

[2] What is successive or continuous in intellectual things was represented by the vine, its three shoots, its blossoms, clusters, and grapes; and finally the truth which is of the intellect was represented by the cup (see n. 5120); but what is successive in the things of the will is represented by the three baskets on the head, in the uppermost of which there was of all food for Pharaoh, the work of the baker. By what is successive in the things of the will is meant what is successive from the inmosts of man down to his outermost, in which is the sensuous; for there are steps or degrees as of a ladder, from inmosts to outermosts (see n. 5114). Into the inmost there flows good from the Lord, and this through the rational into the interior natural, and thence into the exterior natural or sensuous, in a distinct succession, as by the steps of a ladder; and in each degree it is qualified according to the reception. But the further nature of this influx and its succession will be shown in the following pages.

[3] “Baskets” signify the things of the will insofar as goods are therein, in other passages of the Word, as in Jeremiah:

Jehovah showed me, when behold two baskets of figs set before the temple of Jehovah; in one basket exceedingly good figs, like the figs that are first ripe; but in the other basket exceedingly bad figs, which could not be eaten for badness (Jeremiah 24:1-2);

here “basket” is expressed in the original by a different word, which signifies the will part in the natural; the “figs” in the one basket are natural goods, while those in the other are natural evils.

[4] In Moses:

When thou art come into the land which Jehovah thy God will give thee, thou shalt take of the first ripe of all the fruit of the land, which thou shalt bring in from thy land, and thou shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which Jehovah shall choose. Then the priest shall take the basket out of thy hand, and set it before the altar of Jehovah thy God (Deuteronomy 26:1-2, 4);

here “basket” is expressed by still another word that signifies a new will part in the intellectual part; “the first ripe of the fruit of the earth” are the goods thence derived.

[5] In the same:

For the sanctifying of Aaron and his sons, Moses was to take unleavened bread, and cakes unleavened mingled with oil, and wafers unleavened anointed with oil; of fine wheaten flour shalt thou make them. And thou shalt put them upon one basket, and bring them near in the basket. Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread in the basket, at the door of the tent of meeting (Exodus 29:2-3, 32);

“basket” here is expressed by the same term as in the present chapter, signifying the will part in which are the goods signified by “bread,” “cakes,” “oil,” “wafers,” “flour,” and “wheat;” by the will part is meant the containant; for goods from the Lord flow into the interior forms of man, as into their vessels, which forms, if disposed for reception, are the “baskets” in which these goods are contained.

[6] Again:

When a Nazirite was being inaugurated he was to take a basket of unleavened things of fine flour, cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, with their meat-offering, and their drink-offerings; a ram also he shall make a sacrifice of peace-offerings to Jehovah, besides the basket of unleavened things; and the priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hand of the Nazirite, and the priest shall wave them with a waving before Jehovah (Numbers 6:15, 17, 19-20);

here also “basket” denotes the will part as the containant; the “cakes,” the “wafers,” the “oil,” the “meat-offering,” the “boiled shoulder of the ram,” are celestial goods which were being represented; for the Nazirite represented the celestial man (n. 3301).

[7] At that time such things as were used in worship were carried in baskets; as was also the kid of the goats by Gideon, which he brought forth to the angel under the oak (Judges 6:19); and this for the reason that baskets represented the containants, and the things in the baskets, the contents.

2441. The sun was gone forth upon the earth. That this signifies the last period, which is called the Last Judgment, is evident from the signification of the “rising of the sun,” when the subject treated of is the times and states of the church. That in the internal sense the times of the day, and also the times of the year, signify the successive states of the church, has been shown before (n. 2323); and that the dawn or morning signifies the Lord’s advent, that is, the approach of His Kingdom (n. 2405) so that in the passage before us the rising of the sun, that is, his “going forth upon the earth,” signifies the Lord’s presence itself; and this for the reason that both the “sun” and the “east” signify the Lord. (As to the “sun,” seen. 31, 32, 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 2120; as to the “east,” n. 101.)

[2] The reason why the Lord’s presence is the same as the last period, which is called the Judgment, is that His presence separates the good from the evil, and results in the good being elevated into heaven, and the evil casting themselves down into hell; for in the other life the Lord is the Sun to the universal heaven (see n. 1053, 1521, 1529-1531), for it is the Divine Celestial of His love that so appears before their eyes and actually makes the very light of heaven. In so far therefore as the inhabitants of the spiritual world are in celestial love, so far are they elevated into that celestial light which is from the Lord; but in so far as they are remote from celestial love, so far do they cast themselves away from this light into infernal darkness.

[3] This therefore is the reason why the “rising of the sun,” by which is signified the presence of the Lord, involves both the salvation of the good and the damnation of the evil; and this is why it is now said for the first time that “Lot came to Zoar,” that is, that they who are here represented by Lot were saved; and presently that “Jehovah caused it to rain upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire,” that is, that the evil were damned.

[4] To those who are in the evils of the love of self and of the world, that is, to those who are in hatreds against all things of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor, the light of heaven actually appears as thick darkness; on which account it is said in the Word that to such the “sun was blackened;” by which is signified that they rejected everything of love and charity, and received everything that is contrary thereto. As 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 will set darkness upon thy land (Ezekiel 31:7, 8).

Every one can see that by “covering the heavens,” “blackening the stars,” “covering the sun,” and “blackening the luminaries of heaven,” other things than these are signified.

[5] In like manner in Isaiah:

The sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine (Isaiah 13:10).

And in Joel:

The sun and the moon are blackened, and the stars withdraw their shining (Joel 2:2, 10).

It is therefore evident what is signified by the Lord’s words in Matthew, where He is speaking of the last period of the church, which is called the Judgment:

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)

where by the “sun” is not meant the sun; nor by the “moon,” the moon; nor by the “stars,” the stars; but by the “sun” are signified love and charity; by the “moon,” the faith thence derived; and by the “stars,” the knowledges of good and truth; which are said to be “obscured,” to “lose their light,” and to “fall from heaven,” when there is no longer any acknowledgment of the Lord, nor any love to Him, nor any charity toward the neighbor; and when these have become nought, the love of self with its falsities takes possession of the man; for the one thing is a consequence of the other.

[6] Hence we read also in John:

The fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and it was given unto him to scorch men with fire, and men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God (Revelation 16:8-9)

where also the last times of the church are treated of, when all love and charity are being extinguished; or, speaking according to the common mode, when there is no longer any faith. The extinction of love and charity is meant by the “pouring out of the vial upon the sun;” so that it was the love of self and its cupidities by which men were then “scorched with fire,” and “scorched with great heat;” and from which came the “blaspheming of the name of God.”

[7] By the “sun” the Ancient Church understood nothing else than the Lord and the Divine Celestial of His love; and therefore they were accustomed to pray toward the sun rising, while not thinking at all about the sun. But after their posterity had lost this also, together with the rest of their representatives and significatives, they began to worship the sun itself and also the moon; which worship spread to many nations, so much so that they dedicated temples to them, and set up pillars; and because the sun and the moon then took on an opposite signification, they came to signify the love of self and of the world, which are diametrically contrary to heavenly and spiritual love. Hence in the Word by the “worship of the sun and the moon” is meant the worship of self and of the world.

[8] As in Moses:

Lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the army of the heavens, and thou be driven to bow down unto them, and serve them (Deuteronomy 4:19).

And again:

If he have gone and served other gods, and the sun and the moon, or any of the army of the heavens, which I have not commanded, then thou shalt stone them with stones, and they shall die (Deuteronomy 17:3, 5). (Deuteronomy 17:6)

Into such idolatry was the ancient worship turned when they no longer believed that anything internal was signified by the rites of the church, but only what was external.

[9] In like manner in Jeremiah:

At that time shall they spread out the bones of the kings of Judah, of the princes, of the priests, of the prophets, and of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, before the sun and the moon, and all the army of the heavens, which they have loved, and which they have served (Jeremiah 8:1-2).

The “sun” here denotes the love of self and its cupidities; their “spreading out the bones” signifies the infernal things that belong to such worshipers.

Again:

He shall break the pillars of the house of the sun, which are in the land of Egypt, and the houses of the gods of Egypt shall he burn with fire (Jeremiah 43:13).

The “pillars of the house” denote the worship of self.