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 Jehovah will be for you an everlasting light; your sun will no more go down nor your moon be withdrawn, for Jehovah will be for you an everlasting light.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.

V:

31. Quod ‘luminaria magna’ significent amorem et fidem: et quoque nominentur sol, luna et stellae, constat passim apud Prophetas, ut apud Ezechielem,

Obtegam, cum exstinxero te, caelos, et atrabo stellas eorum: solem nube obtegam, et luna non lucere faciet lucem suam, omnia luminaria lucis in caelis atrabo super te, daboque tenebras super terra tua, 32:7, 8;

ubi agitur de Pharaone et Aegyptio, per quos intelligitur in Verbo sensuale et scientificum, hic quod per sensualia et scientifica exstinxerint amorem et fidem:

apud Esaiam,

Dies Jehovae ad ponendum terram in desolationem, nam stellae caelorum, et oriones ¹ eorum, non facient lucere lucem suam, obtenebratus sol in exitu suo, et luna non splendere faciet lucem suam, 13:9, 10:

apud Joelem,

Venit dies Jehovae, dies tenebrarum et caliginis, coram Ipso contremiscit terra, commoventur caeli, sol et luna atrantur, et stellae retrahunt splendorem suum, 2:10.

[2] Apud Esaiam, ubi agitur de Adventu Domini et illuminatione gentium, ita de nova Ecclesia, in particulari de singulis qui in tenebris sunt et lucem accipiunt ac regenerantur, Surge, illuminare, quia venit lux tua, ecce tenebrae obtegunt terram, et caligo populos, et super te exorietur Jehovah, ambulabuntque gentes ad lucem tuam, et reges ad splendorem ortus tua, erit Jehovah tibi in lucem aeternitatis, non occidet amplius sol tuus, et luna tua non colligetur, quia Jehovah erit tibi in lucem aeternitatis, 60:1-3, 19, 20:

apud Davidem,

Jehovah facit caelos in intelligentia, ... expandit terram super aquis, ... facit luminaria magna, ... solem ad dominandum in die, ... et lunam et stellas ad dominandum in nocte, Ps. 136:5-9;

et apud eundem,

Glorificate Jehovam sol et luna, glorificate Ipsum omnes stellae lucis; glorificate Ipsum caeli caelorum; et aquae, quae supra caelos, Ps. 148:3, 4.

[3] In quibus omnibus locis ‘luminaria’ significant amorem et fidem. Quia luminaria repraesentabant et significabant amorem et fidem in Dominum, praeceptum est in Ecclesia Judaica ut luminare perpetuum esset accensum a vespera ad mane, nam quicquid Ecclesiae illi praeceptum erat, repraesentativum Domini erat; de quo luminari ita, Praecipe filiis Israelis, ut accipiant oleum ad luminare, ad ascendere faciendum lucernam jugiter. In tentorio conventus extra velum, quod est super testimonium, disponet illam Aharon et filii illius, a vespera usque admane, coram Jehovah. [Exod. 27:20, 21. ]

Quae quod significent amorem et fidem, quae Dominus accendit et lucere facit in interno homine, et per internum hominem in externo ibi loci, ex Divina Domini Misericordia, ostendetur.

V:

2916. That 'give me possession of a grave among you' means that they were able to be regenerated is clear from the meaning of 'a grave'. In the internal sense of the Word 'a grave' means life, which is heaven, and in the contrary sense death, which is hell. The reason it means life or heaven is that angels, who possess the internal sense of the Word, have no other concept of a grave, because they have no other concept of death. Consequently instead of a grave they perceive nothing else than the continuation of life, and so resurrection. For man rises again as to the spirit and is buried as to the body, see 1854. Now because 'burial' means resurrection, it also means regeneration, since regeneration is the primary resurrection of man, for when regenerated he dies as regards his former self and rises again as regards the new. It is through regeneration that from being a dead man he becomes a living man, and it is from this that the meaning of 'a grave' is derived in the internal sense. When the idea of a grave presents itself the idea of regeneration comes to mind with angels, as is also evident from what has been told about young children in 2299.

[2] The reason 'a grave' in the contrary sense means death or hell is that the evil do not rise again to life but to death. When therefore the evil are referred to and a grave is mentioned, no other idea comes to mind with angels than that of hell; and this also is the reason why hell in the Word is called the grave.

[3] That 'a grave' means resurrection and also regeneration is evident in Ezekiel,

Therefore prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovih, Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O My people, and I will bring you to the land of Israel, and you will know that I am Jehovah when I open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, O My people. And I will put My spirit within you and you will live, and I will place you on your own land. Ezekiel 37:12-14.

Here the prophet refers to bones that have been made to live, and in the internal sense to regeneration. Its being a reference to regeneration is quite evident, for it is said, 'when I will put My spirit within you and you will live, and I will place you on your own land'. Here 'graves' stands for the former self and its evils and falsities, while the opening of them and the coming up from them means being regenerated. Thus the idea of a grave perishes and so to speak is discarded when the idea of regeneration or new life enters instead.

[4] The description in Matthew 27:52-53, about graves being opened and many bodies of the saints who were sleeping being raised, coming out of their graves after the Lord's resurrection, entering the holy city, and appearing to many, embodies the same idea, that is to say, a resurrection taking place as a result of the Lord's resurrection, and in the inner sense every individual resurrection. The Lord's raising of Lazarus from the dead, John 11:1 and following verses, likewise embodies the re-establishment of the Church from among gentiles; for all the miracles that the Lord performed, because they were Divine, embodied the states of His Church. Something similar is also meant by the man who, having been cast into the grave of Elisha, came to life again on touching the prophet's bones, 2 Kings 13:20-21, for Elisha represented the Lord.

[5] As 'burial' meant resurrection in general and every individual resurrection, the ancients were therefore particularly concerned about their burials and about the places where they were to be buried - Abraham, for example, was to be buried in Hebron in the land of Canaan, as were Isaac and Jacob, together with their wives, Genesis 47:29-31; 49:30-32; Joseph's bones were to be carried up out of Egypt into the land of Canaan, Genesis 50:25; Exodus 13:19; Joshua 24:32; David and subsequent kings were to be buried in Zion, 1 Kings 2:10; 11:43; 14:31; 15:8, 24; 22:50; 2 Kings 8:24; 12:21; 14:20; 15:7, 38; 16:20, the reason being that the land of Canaan and also Zion represented and meant the Lord's kingdom, while burial meant resurrection. But it may become clear to anyone that the place itself does not contribute anything towards resurrection.

[6] The truth that 'burial' means resurrection to life is also evident from other representatives, such as the requirement that the wicked were not to be lamented or buried, but cast aside, Jeremiah 8:2; 14:16; 16:4, 6; 20:6; 22:19; 25:33; 2 Kings 9:10; Revelation 11:9; and that the wicked buried already were to be cast out of their graves, Jeremiah 8:1-2; 2 Kings 23:16-18. But as regards 'a grave' in the contrary sense meaning death or hell, see Isaiah 14:19-21; Ezekiel 32:21-23, 25-26; Psalms 88:4-5, 10-11; Numbers 19:16, 18-19.