Apocalypse Explained #525
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.
Joel 1
1
The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
2
Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?
3
Tell ye your children of it, and let your children Tell their children, and their children another generation.
4
That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.
5
Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
6
For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.
7
He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
8
Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
9
The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD's ministers, mourn.
10
The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.
11
Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.
12
The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.
13
Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.
14
Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,
15
Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
16
Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17
The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.
18
How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
19
O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
20
The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
