31. That 'the great lights' mean love and faith, and are also mentioned as the sun, the moon, and the stars, is clear from various places in the Prophets, as in Ezekiel,

When I have blotted you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars, I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. All the bright lights in the heavens I will make dark over you, and I will put darkness over your land. Ezekiel 32:7-8.

This refers to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who are used in the Word to mean the sensory and the factual. The meaning here is that they will have blotted out love and faith by means of sensory evidence and factual knowledge. In Isaiah,

The day of Jehovah for making the earth a desolation; for the stars of the heavens and their constellations ¹ will not give their light; the sun will be darkened in its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. Isaiah 13:9-10.

In Joel,

The day of Jehovah is coming, a day of darkness and thick darkness. The earth quakes before Him, the heavens tremble, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. Joel 2:10.

[2] In Isaiah, in reference to the Lord's Coming and the enlightenment of gentiles, and so to a new Church, in particular to individuals who are in darkness but who are beginning to receive the light and be regenerated,

Arise, shine, for your light has come. Behold, darkness is covering the earth, and thick darkness the peoples, but Jehovah will arise upon you, and nations will walk towards your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Jehovah will be for you an everlasting light; your sun will no more go down nor your moon be withdrawn, for Jehovah will be for you an everlasting light. Isaiah 60:1-3, 19-20.

In David,

Jehovah makes the heavens by intelligence, He spreads out the earth upon the waters, He makes the great lights, the sun to have dominion over the day, and the moon and stars to have dominion over the night. Psalms 136:5-9.

And in the same author,

Praise Jehovah, sun and moon, praise Him, all stars of light! Praise Him, heaven of heavens, and waters that are above the heavens! Psalms 148:3-4.

[3] In all of these places 'the lights' mean love and faith. Because the lights represented and meant love and faith in the Lord, the Jewish Church was commanded to keep a light burning all the time from evening till morning, for every command which that Church received was representative of the Lord. Concerning this light it is said,

Command the sons of Israel that they take oil for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually. In the Tent of Meeting outside the veil which is before the testimony Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before Jehovah. [Exodus 27:20-21]

That this means the love and faith which the Lord kindles and causes to shine in the internal man, and by means of the internal man in the external man, will in the Lord's Divine mercy be shown at that point in Exodus.

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6426. 'From there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel' means that from this springs all the goodness and truth which the spiritual kingdom possesses. This is clear from the meaning of 'the shepherd' as one who leads to the good of charity by means of the truth of faith, dealt with in 343, 3795, 6044 (here in the highest sense, since it has reference to the Lord, goodness and truth themselves are meant); from the meaning of 'the stone' as truth, dealt with in 1298, 3720, 3769, 3771, 3773, 3789, 3798; and from the representation of 'Israel' as the spiritual Church, dealt with in 3305, 4286, for 'Israel' is spiritual good or the good of truth, 4286, 4598, 5801, 5803, 5806, 5812, 5817, 5819, 5826, 5833. And since the good of truth is the essential element of the spiritual Church, 'Israel' means the spiritual Church, and in the highest sense the Lord's spiritual kingdom. From all this it is evident that 'from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel' means that from this springs all the goodness and truth which the Lord's spiritual kingdom possesses.

[2] The reason why in the highest sense 'the stone of Israel' means the Lord with respect to the truth that His spiritual kingdom possesses is that in general 'the stone' means the temple, and specifically the foundation on which it stands. 'The temple' in turn means the Lord's Divine Human, as is clear in John 2:19, 21, and so does its 'foundation' in Matthew 21:42, 44, and in Isaiah 28:16. This meaning of 'the stone' in the highest sense - the Lord in respect to Divine Truth which His spiritual kingdom possesses - is evident in David,

The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This has been done by Jehovah; it is marvellous in our eyes. Psalms 118:22-23.

'The stone' here is the Lord, as is made clear in Luke,

It is written, The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. Whoever falls onto that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder. Luke 20:17-18.

These things are spoken by the Lord regarding Himself. In Isaiah,

He is your fear, and He is your dread; for He will be a sanctuary, though He will be a stone to strike against and a rock to stumble over ¹ for both houses of Israel. Many among them will trip, and fall, and be broken to pieces. Isaiah 8:13-15.

Here the Lord is referred to. In the same prophet,

The Lord Jehovih said, Behold I [am He who] will lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tested stone, a precious corner-stone, surely founded. He who believes will not be hasty. Isaiah 28:16.

In Zechariah,

Jehovah Zebaoth will visit His flock, the house of Judah, and will place them as His glorious horse ² in battle. From Him comes the corner-stone, from Him the tent-peg, from Him the battle-bow. Zechariah 10:3-4.

[3] In Daniel,

You were watching, until a stone was cut out, not by means of hands, and it struck the statue on its feet, which were iron and clay, and smashed them to pieces. The stone that struck the statue became a great rock and filled the whole earth. The God of heaven will cause a kingdom to arise that will never be destroyed, and His kingdom will not be left to other people; it will crush and consume all those kingdoms, but will itself stand for ever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the rock, not by means of hands, and it smashed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold . . . Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45.

Here 'the stone' is used in the highest sense to mean the Lord, and in the relative sense to mean His spiritual kingdom. When it says that 'the stone was cut out of the rock' the meaning is that it came out of the truth of faith, for the truth of faith is meant in the Word by 'rock'. And because the truth of faith is meant by 'the stone' and 'the rock', the Lord's spiritual kingdom is also what is meant, since the truth of faith and good ensuing from this truth prevail in that kingdom. Something similar is also meant by 'the stone' on which Jacob slept and which he afterwards set up as a pillar, described as follows,

Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, Surely Jehovah is in this place and I did not know it. And he was afraid and said, How awesome is this place! This is nothing other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And in the morning Jacob rose up early, and took the stone which he had placed as his headrest, and placed it as a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He said, This stone which I have placed as a pillar will be God's house. Genesis 28:16-18, 22.

The fact that by 'the stone' the ancients understood the Lord in the highest sense and His spiritual kingdom in the relative sense is also plain to see in Joshua,

Joshua erected the stone under the oak which was in Jehovah's sanctuary. And Joshua said to all the people, Behold, this stone will be a witness to us, for it has heard all the sayings of Jehovah which He spoke to us. And it shall be a witness against you, lest you deny your God. Joshua 24:26, 17.

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