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 Jehovah will be for you an everlasting light; your sun will no more go down nor your moon be withdrawn, for Jehovah will be for you an everlasting light.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
Leviticus 19
1
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
2
"Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, 'You shall be holy; for I Yahweh your God am holy.
3
"'Each one of you shall respect his mother and his father. You shall keep my Sabbaths. I am Yahweh your God.
4
"'Don't turn to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am Yahweh your God.
5
"'When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted.
6
It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day: and if anything remains until the third day, it shall be burned with fire.
7
If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It will not be accepted;
8
but everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the holy thing of Yahweh, and that soul shall be cut off from his people.
9
"'When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.
10
You shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am Yahweh your God.
11
"'You shall not steal. "'You shall not lie. "'You shall not deceive one another.
12
"'You shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of your God. I am Yahweh.
13
"'You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. "'The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
14
"'You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind; but you shall fear your God. I am Yahweh.
15
"'You shall do no injustice in judgment: you shall not be partial to the poor, nor show favoritism to the great; but you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness.
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"'You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people. "'You shall not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am Yahweh.
17
"'You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.
18
"'You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.
19
"'You shall keep my statutes. "'You shall not crossbreed different kinds of animals. "'you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed; "'neither shall there come upon on you a garment made of two kinds of material.
20
"'If a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave girl, pledged to be married to another man, and not ransomed, or given her freedom; they shall be punished. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free.
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He shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, even a ram for a trespass offering.
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The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before Yahweh for his sin which he has committed: and the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.
23
"'When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden. Three years shall they be forbidden to you. It shall not be eaten.
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But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, for giving praise to Yahweh.
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In the fifth year you shall eat its fruit, that it may yield its increase to you. I am Yahweh your God.
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"'You shall not eat any meat with the blood still in it; neither shall you use enchantments, nor practice sorcery.
27
"'You shall not cut the hair on the sides of your heads, neither shall you clip off the edge of your beard.
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"'You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you. I am Yahweh.
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"'Don't profane your daughter, to make her a prostitute; lest the land fall to prostitution, and the land become full of wickedness.
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"'You shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary; I am Yahweh.
31
"'Don't turn to those who are mediums, nor to the wizards. Don't seek them out, to be defiled by them. I am Yahweh your God.
32
"'You shall rise up before the gray head, and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God. I am Yahweh.
33
"'If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
34
The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.
35
"'You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measures of length, of weight, or of quantity.
36
You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37
"'You shall observe all my statutes, and all my ordinances, and do them. I am Yahweh.'"
