22. Verse 5 And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day.

What 'evening' means, and what 'morning', is recognized from what is said above. 'Evening' means every prior state, because it is a state of shade, that is, of falsity and of absence of faith, while 'morning' is every subsequent state, because it is one of light, that is, of truth and of cognitions of faith. 'Evening' in general means all the things that are man's own, whereas 'morning' means all those that are the Lord's, as is said through David,

The Spirit of Jehovah has spoken within me, and His word is upon my tongue. The God of Israel has said, the Rock of Israel has spoken to me. He is like the morning light, when the sun is rising on a cloudless morning, shining bright, as when after rain tender grass [springs up] from the earth. 2 Samuel 23:4.

Because 'evening' is a time when there is no faith, and 'morning' when there is, the Lord's Coming into the world is called 'the morning', and the time at which He comes, since faith does not exist at that point, is called 'the evening', as in Daniel,

The Holy One said to me, Up to the evening when it is becoming morning, two thousand three hundred times. Daniel 8:13-14.

In the Word, 'morning' stands in a similar way for every coming of the Lord, and so is a term describing the new creation.

6865. 'And lead My people the children of Israel out of Egypt' means the consequent deliverance of those belonging to the spiritual Church from molesting falsities. This is clear from the meaning of 'leading out' as deliverance; from the meaning of 'the children of Israel' as those belonging to the spiritual Church, dealt with in 6637; and from the meaning of 'Egypt' as false factual knowledge that is opposed to the Church's truths, thus falsity that molests, dealt with in 6692.

[2] Falsity within factual knowledge is what most of all molests those who belong to the spiritual Church. The reason for this is that they do not have a perception of truth that springs from good, only a knowledge of truth derived from religious teaching. People like these are subject very much to molestation from factual knowledge, for known facts serve as very general vessels, and until truths have been introduced into them to make them translucent, so that one no longer notices them, they may sometimes appear to be contrary to truths. Furthermore factual knowledge is full of the illusions of the senses which cannot be dispelled by those who have only a knowledge of things derived from religious teaching and no perception of truth that springs from good. The main reason for this is that the light of the world holds sway with these people, a light which seems to be clear light as long as the light of heaven does not flow into it but which turns from light into obscurity the moment that the light of heaven penetrates it. This explains why these people are enlightened and clever in worldly matters but dull and obtuse in heavenly ones.

[3] These people think that they are the enlightened when they have substantiated the teachings of their Church for themselves. But it is the inferior light of the senses, derived from the light of the world, that deceives them when they think so. For all religious teachings, no matter what kind they are, are capable of being substantiated. Jews are able to substantiate their own teachings, Enthusiasts ¹ theirs, Socinians theirs, and all kinds of heretics theirs. And once these teachings have been substantiated the light of the senses makes them appear to those people to be actual truths. But those who see by the light of heaven receive their enlightenment from the Lord; and before substantiating anything they view the factual knowledge below, arranged into order there, to discern whether or not a truth can be substantiated by it. From this it is evident that the latter kind of people see things from a more internal position which is above factual knowledge and so is distinct and separate from it, whereas the former's viewpoint, being lower, is situated within factual knowledge and so tangled up in it, 2831.

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