Ecclesiastes 3
1
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
9
What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
10
I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
11
He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
12
I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.
13
And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.
14
I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.
15
That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
16
And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
17
I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.
18
I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
19
For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
20
All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
21
Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
22
Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?
Arcana Coelestia #32
32. Love and faith are first called 'the great lights', then love is called 'the greater light' and faith 'the lesser light'. In reference to love it is said that it will have dominion over the day, and in reference to faith that it will have dominion over the night. Because these are arcana and have become hidden, especially at this end of an epoch, in the Lord's Divine mercy let the whole subject be opened up. The reason they have become hidden, especially at this present end of an epoch, is that now is the close of the age, when love is almost non-existent, and consequently faith too, just as the Lord Himself foretold in the Gospels with these words,
The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Matthew 24:29.
Here 'the sun' is used to mean love, which is 'darkened', 'the moon' faith which does not give its light, 'the stars' cognitions of faith which fall from heaven, and which are the various 'powers of the heavens'. The Most Ancient Church acknowledged no other faith than love itself; celestial angels as well do not know what faith is except faith which stems from love. Love pervades the whole of heaven, for in the heavens no other life is found except the life that belongs to love. This is the source of all happiness in heaven, a happiness so great that no aspect of it can be described or in any way captured in human concepts. People in whom this love is present love the Lord wholeheartedly. Yet they realize, say, and perceive that all love, thus all life, which belongs exclusively to love, and so all happiness, come from the Lord and nowhere else, and that they derive not one trace of love, life, and happiness from themselves. The Lord's being the source of all love was again represented by the greater light, that is, the sun, at the Transfiguration, for His face shone like the sun, and His garments became white as the light, Matthew 17:2. What is inmost is meant by His face, and what emanates from the inmost by His garments. Thus His Divinity is meant by the sun or love, and His Humanity by the light or wisdom coming from love.
