112. It was foretold that at the end of the present church darkness would rear up out of the lack of recognition and acknowledgment of the fact that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth and out of the separation of faith from caring. Therefore, to prevent this from leading to the death of any real understanding of the Word, it has now pleased the Lord to unveil the spiritual meaning of the Word and to make it clear that in that meaning - and thereby in the earthly meaning - the Word is all about the Lord and the church. In fact, it is about those subjects alone. He has also unveiled many other things that may serve to restore a light of truth from the Word - a light that has almost been snuffed out.

[2] There are many passages in the Book of Revelation where it predicts that the light of truth would be almost snuffed out at the end of this church. This is also the meaning of these words of the Lord in Matthew:

Immediately after the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Humanity coming in the clouds of heaven with glory and power. (Matthew 24:29-30)

The sun here means love for the Lord; the moon means faith in the Lord; the stars mean concepts from the Lord regarding what is good and true; the Son of Humanity means the Lord as the Word; the clouds mean the Word’s literal meaning, and the glory means its spiritual meaning and the way it shines through in the literal meaning.