The Bible

 

Genesis 1:8

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8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #31

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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 Jehovah will be for you an everlasting light; your sun will no more go down nor your moon be withdrawn, for Jehovah will be for you an everlasting light.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

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #10702

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10702. 'And whenever Moses went in before Jehovah to talk to Him' means the state of what was outward when what was inward from the Lord flowed into it and it received instructions. This is clear from the representation of 'Moses' as what is outward containing what is inward, dealt with in 10694; from the meaning of 'going in before Jehovah' as the state of this when the Lord flows into it, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'talking' as instructions, dealt with in the places referred to in 10280. The situation with what is outward when what is inward flows into it, meant by 'whenever Moses went in before Jehovah', is as follows: There are with people two states so far as things of the Church, worship, and the Word are concerned. There are some who turn themselves to the Lord, thus to heaven, and some who turn to self and to the world. Those who turn to the Lord or heaven receive the influence from there, become enlightened, and for that reason have the ability within themselves to perceive truth; and this influence comes from the Lord by way of what is inward into what is outward. This is what 'going in before Jehovah' serves to mean here. But people who turn to self and to the world cannot receive any influence from the Lord or heaven, and so they are unenlightened and have no ability to perceive truth. For self-regard causes the world to be the influence, and this either completely destroys, or drives back, or perverts whatever comes from heaven. Consequently these people are in thick darkness so far as all things of the Church, worship, and the Word are concerned. This is what 'the veil before Moses' face' serves to mean. The interiors of a person also actually turn to face the things he loves. The interiors of those who love the Lord turn to the Lord or heaven, thus in an inward direction; those who love themselves turn to the world, thus in an outward direction. Turning to the Lord implies being turned by the Lord Himself, for no one can raise his interiors by his own efforts. But turning to self implies being turned by hell; and when this happens the things belonging to the internal man are closed, to prevent the person from serving two masters.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.