Arcana Coelestia #31
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 Jehovah will be for you an everlasting light; your sun will no more go down nor your moon be withdrawn, for Jehovah will be for you an everlasting light.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.
Footnotes:
1. literally, orions
Job 38
1
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
2
Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
3
Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
4
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
5
Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
6
Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
7
When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8
Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?
9
When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,
10
And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,
11
And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?
12
Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;
13
That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
14
It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment.
15
And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken.
16
Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?
17
Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?
18
Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.
19
Where is the way Where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, Where is the place thereof,
20
That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?
21
Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great?
22
Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,
23
Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
24
By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?
25
Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;
26
To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
27
To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?
28
Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
29
Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?
30
The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
31
Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
32
Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
33
Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?
34
Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?
35
Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?
36
Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?
37
Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,
38
When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?
39
Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,
40
When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?
41
Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.
