525. And the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars.- That this signifies that all the good of love, all the good and truth of faith, and all cognition of good and truth perished, is evident from the signification of the third part, as denoting all (see above, n. 506); from the signification of the sun, which denotes the good of love from the Lord; and from the signification of the moon, which denotes the good and truth of faith from the Lord (see above, n. 401); and from the signification of stars, which denote the cognitions of good and truth, also, from the Lord (see above, n. 72, 402); and from the signification of being smitten, when stated of the goods of love and faith, and of the cognitions of good and truth, as denoting to perish. It is therefore evident, that by the third part of the sun being smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, is signified that all the good of love, all the good and truth of faith, and all cognition of good and truth, perished. The sun, moon, and stars, here mentioned, do not mean the sun, moon, and stars, seen by the eyes of men in our solar world, but the sun, moon, and stars, seen by the eyes of angels in the spiritual world; for there the Lord appears as a sun before the eyes of those who from Him, are in the good of love to Him, and as a moon before those who are in the good and truth of faith; hence it is that the sun signifies the good of love, and the moon the good and truth of faith. That sun, that moon, and those stars, were seen by John, as is evident from the fact of his being in the spirit when he saw them. That the Lord appears as a sun and as a moon in the angelic heavens may be seen in the work concerning Heaven and Hell 116-125). It is from appearance that those things are said to have been smitten, for when the good of love, and the good and truth of faith are no longer with man, they appear to him to have, as it were, no existence and to have perished; and the Word in the sense of the letter is written according to appearances.

A company might have executives setting policy and strategy, engineers designing products, managers handling personnel and others handling various functions. They all do different things -- but if they're doing them with a shared underlying purpose, the company -- and the individuals in it -- will likely be successful. The Lord wants all human society to function in a similar way. We have different skills and individual loves, but if we all share a mutual love -- a love of serving others -- then society will function as one, will be a reflection of heaven and will be a good receptacle for the Lord's love. This can also happen within each of us, as we unify our talents and ideas around a central love. And in an abstract sense, it illustrates how a wide collection of varying ideas can be unified around a shared good intention. That is the kind of love pictured when “one” is used in the Bible, either as a specific number or in the sense of several people or objects “being one.” In more casual references -- when used to identify a specific person or object -- the meaning is relatively literal, and is connected to that person or object.