5620. A little resin and a little honey. That this signifies the truths of good of the exterior natural and its delight, is evident from the signification of “resin,” as being the truth of good or truth from good (see n. 4748). The reason why “resin” has this signification is that it ranks among unguents, and also among aromatics. “Aromatics” signify such things as are of truth from good, especially if they are of an unctuous nature, and so partake of oil; for “oil” signifies good (n. 886, 3728, 4582). That this resin was aromatic, may be seen in Genesis 37:25; and for this reason also the same word in the original means balsam. That it was like an ointment or thick oil, is evident. This then is the reason why by “resin” is signified the truth of good which is in the natural, here in the exterior, because “resin” is put first and joined with “honey,” which is the delight therein. That “honey” denotes delight is because it is sweet, and everything sweet in the natural world corresponds to what is delightful and pleasant in the spiritual world. The reason why it is called its delight, that is, the delight of truth from good in the exterior natural, is that every truth and especially every truth of good has its own delight; but a delight from the affection of these, and from the derivative use.

[2] That “honey” is delight is evident also from other passages in the Word, as in Isaiah:

A virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel [God with us]. Butter and honey shall He eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good (Isaiah 7:14-15);

speaking of the Lord; “butter” denotes the celestial; “honey,” that which is from the celestial.

[3] In the same:

It shall come to pass for the multitude of milk that they shall yield, he shall eat butter; and butter and honey shall everyone eat that is left in the midst of the land (Isaiah 7:22);

speaking of the Lord’s kingdom; “milk” denotes spiritual good; “butter,” celestial good; and “honey,” that which is from them, thus what is happy, pleasant, and delightful.

[4] In Ezekiel:

Thus wast thou adorned with gold and silver; and thy garments were of fine linen and silk and broidered work. Thou didst eat fine flour and honey and oil; so thou becamest beautiful very exceedingly, and thou didst prosper even unto a kingdom. With fine flour and oil and honey I fed thee; but thou didst set it before them for an odor of rest (Ezekiel 16:13, 19);

speaking of Jerusalem, by which is meant the spiritual church, the quality of which is described as it was with the ancients, and as it afterward became. Her being “adorned with gold and silver” denotes with celestial and spiritual good and truth; her “garments of fine linen, silk, and broidered work” denotes truths in the rational and in each natural; “fine flour” denotes the spiritual; “honey,” its pleasantness; and “oil,” its good. That such things as belong to heaven are signified by these particulars can be seen by anyone.

[5] In the same:

Judah and the land of Israel were thy traders, in wheat of Minnith, and pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm (Ezekiel 27:17);

speaking of Tyre, by which is signified the spiritual church such as it was in the beginning and such as it afterward became, but in respect to the knowledges of good and truth (n. 1201). “Honey” here also denotes the pleasantness and delight from the affections of knowing and learning celestial and spiritual goods and truths.

[6] In Moses:

Thou makest him ride on the high places of the earth, and he eats the produce of the fields. He maketh him suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flint of the rock (Deuteronomy 32:13);

here also treating of the Ancient spiritual Church; “to suck honey out of the rock” denotes delight from truths of memory-knowledge.

[7] In David:

I feed them with the fat of wheat, and with honey out of the rock I sate them (Psalms 81:16);

“to sate with honey out of the rock” denotes to fill with delight from the truths of faith.

[8] In Deuteronomy:

Jehovah bringeth me unto a good land, a land of rivers of water, of fountains and of deeps that go out from the valley, and from the mountain; a land of wheat and barley, and of vine and of fig and of pomegranate; a land of oil olive and of honey (Deuteronomy 8:7-8);

speaking of the land of Canaan; in the internal sense, of the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens. A “land of oil olive and of honey” denotes spiritual good and its pleasantness.

[9] Hence also the land of Canaan was called:

A land flowing with milk and honey (Numbers 13:27; 14:8; Deuteronomy 26:9, 15; 27:3; Jeremiah 11:5; 32:22; Ezekiel 20:6).

In the internal sense of these passages by the “land of Canaan” is meant, as before said, the Lord’s kingdom; “flowing with milk” denotes an abundance of celestial spiritual things; and “with honey,” an abundance of derivative happiness and delights.

[10] In David:

The judgments of Jehovah are truth, righteous are they together; more to be desired are they than gold and much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the dropping of the honeycombs (Psalms 19:9-10).

The “judgments of Jehovah” denote truth Divine; “sweeter than honey and the dropping of the honeycombs” denotes delights from good and pleasantnesses from truth. Again:

Sweet are Thy words to my palate, sweeter than honey to my mouth (Psalms 119:103); where the meaning is similar.

[11] The manna that Jacob’s posterity had for bread in the wilderness is thus described in Moses:

The manna was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like a cake kneaded with honey (Exodus 16:31);

as the manna signified the truth Divine that descends through heaven from the Lord, it consequently signified the Lord Himself as to the Divine Human, as He Himself teaches in John 6:51, 58; for it is the Lord’s Divine Human from which all truth Divine comes, yea, of which all truth Divine treats; and this being so, the manna is described in respect to delight and pleasantness by the taste, that it was “like a cake kneaded with honey.” (That the taste denotes the delight of good and the pleasantness of truth may be seen above, n. 3502)

[12] As John the Baptist represented the Lord as to the Word, which is the Divine truth on earth, in like manner as Elijah (n. 2762, 5247), he was therefore the “Elijah who was to come” before the Lord (Malachi 4:5; Matthew 17:10-12; Mark 9:11-13; Luke 1:17); wherefore his clothing and food were significative, of which we read in Matthew:

John had his clothing of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loin; and his meat was locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:4; Mark 1:6).

The “clothing of camel’s hair” signified that the Word, such as is its literal sense as to truth (which sense is a clothing for the internal sense), is natural; for what is natural is signified by “hair,” and also by “camels;” and the “meat being of locusts and wild honey” signified the Word such as is its literal sense as to good; the delight of this is signified by “wild honey.”

[13] The delight of truth Divine in respect to the external sense is also described by “honey” in Ezekiel:

He said unto me, Son of man, feed thy belly and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. And when I ate it, it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness (Ezekiel 3:3).

And in John:

The angel said unto me, Take the little book and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. So I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey; but when I had eaten it my belly was made bitter. Then he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again over many peoples and nations and tongues and kings (Revelation 10:9-11).

The “roll” in Ezekiel, and the “little book” in John, denote truth Divine. That in the external form this appears delightful, is signified by the flavor being “sweet as honey;” for truth Divine, like the Word, is delightful in the external form or in the literal sense because this admits of being unfolded by interpretations in everyone’s favor. But not so the internal sense, which is therefore signified by the “bitter” taste; for this sense discloses man’s interiors. The reason why the external sense is delightful, is as before said that the things in it can be unfolded favorably; for they are only general truths, and general truths are susceptible of this before they are qualified by particulars, and these by singulars. It is delightful also because it is natural, and what is spiritual conceals itself within. Moreover, it must be delightful in order that man may receive it, that is, be introduced into it, and not be deterred at the very threshold.

[14] The “honeycomb and broiled fish” that the Lord ate with the disciples after His resurrection, also signified the external sense of the Word (the “fish” as to its truth and the “honeycomb” as to its pleasantness), in regard to which we read in Luke:

Jesus said, Have ye here anything to eat? They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, and of a honeycomb, and He took them and did eat before them (Luke 24:41-43).

And because these things are signified, the Lord therefore said to them:

These are the words which I spoke unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me (Luke 24:44).

It appears as if such things were not signified, because their having a piece of broiled fish and a honeycomb seems as if fortuitous; nevertheless it was of providence, and not only this, but also all other, even the least, of the things that occur in the Word. As such things were signified, therefore the Lord said of the Word that in it were written the things concerning Himself. Yet the things written of the Lord in the literal sense of the Old Testament are few; but those in its internal sense are all so written, for from this is the holiness of the Word. This is what is meant by His saying that “all things must be fulfilled which are written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Him.”

[15] From all this it may now be seen that by “honey” is signified the delight that is from good and truth, or from the affection of them, and that there is specifically signified external delight, thus the delight of the exterior natural. As this delight is of such a nature as to be from the world through the things of the senses, and thereby contains within it many things from the love of the world, the use of honey in the meat-offerings was therefore forbidden, as in Leviticus:

No meat-offering which ye shall bring unto Jehovah shall be made with leaven; for there shall be no leaven, nor any honey, from what ye burn with fire to Jehovah (Leviticus 2:11); where “honey” denotes such external delight, which, because it contains in it what partakes of the love of the world, was also like leaven, and was on this account forbidden. (What “leaven” or “leavened” means may be seen above, n. 2342)

6771. 'And Pharaoh heard of this matter and sought to kill Moses means that having discerned this matter false factual knowledge wished to destroy the truth which the law from God possessed. This is clear from the meaning of 'hearing' as discerning, dealt with in 5017; from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as factual knowledge which is opposed to the Church's truths, and so is false, dealt with in 6651, 6679, 6687; from the meaning of 'killing' as destroying, dealt with in 6767, so that 'seeking to kill' is wishing to destroy; and from the representation of 'Moses' as the law of God and God's truth, dealt with in 6752, and so the truth which the law of God possessed. The expression 'the truth which the law of God possessed', and not simply 'the law of God', is used because the subject is still the development of the law of God within the Lord's Human. From all this it is clear that 'Pharaoh heard of this matter and sought to kill Moses' means that having discerned this matter false factual knowledge wished to destroy the truth that the law of God possessed.

2441. The sun was gone forth upon the earth. That this signifies the last period, which is called the Last Judgment, is evident from the signification of the “rising of the sun,” when the subject treated of is the times and states of the church. That in the internal sense the times of the day, and also the times of the year, signify the successive states of the church, has been shown before (n. 2323); and that the dawn or morning signifies the Lord’s advent, that is, the approach of His Kingdom (n. 2405) so that in the passage before us the rising of the sun, that is, his “going forth upon the earth,” signifies the Lord’s presence itself; and this for the reason that both the “sun” and the “east” signify the Lord. (As to the “sun,” seen. 31, 32, 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 2120; as to the “east,” n. 101.)

[2] The reason why the Lord’s presence is the same as the last period, which is called the Judgment, is that His presence separates the good from the evil, and results in the good being elevated into heaven, and the evil casting themselves down into hell; for in the other life the Lord is the Sun to the universal heaven (see n. 1053, 1521, 1529-1531), for it is the Divine Celestial of His love that so appears before their eyes and actually makes the very light of heaven. In so far therefore as the inhabitants of the spiritual world are in celestial love, so far are they elevated into that celestial light which is from the Lord; but in so far as they are remote from celestial love, so far do they cast themselves away from this light into infernal darkness.

[3] This therefore is the reason why the “rising of the sun,” by which is signified the presence of the Lord, involves both the salvation of the good and the damnation of the evil; and this is why it is now said for the first time that “Lot came to Zoar,” that is, that they who are here represented by Lot were saved; and presently that “Jehovah caused it to rain upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire,” that is, that the evil were damned.

[4] To those who are in the evils of the love of self and of the world, that is, to those who are in hatreds against all things of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor, the light of heaven actually appears as thick darkness; on which account it is said in the Word that to such the “sun was blackened;” by which is signified that they rejected everything of love and charity, and received everything that is contrary thereto. As in Ezekiel:

When I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens, and make the stars thereof black; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not make her light to shine; all the luminaries of light in the heavens will I make black over thee, and will set darkness upon thy land (Ezekiel 31:7, 8).

Every one can see that by “covering the heavens,” “blackening the stars,” “covering the sun,” and “blackening the luminaries of heaven,” other things than these are signified.

[5] In like manner in Isaiah:

The sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine (Isaiah 13:10).

And in Joel:

The sun and the moon are blackened, and the stars withdraw their shining (Joel 2:2, 10).

It is therefore evident what is signified by the Lord’s words in Matthew, where He is speaking of the last period of the church, which is called the Judgment:

Immediately after the affliction of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven (Matthew 24:29)

where by the “sun” is not meant the sun; nor by the “moon,” the moon; nor by the “stars,” the stars; but by the “sun” are signified love and charity; by the “moon,” the faith thence derived; and by the “stars,” the knowledges of good and truth; which are said to be “obscured,” to “lose their light,” and to “fall from heaven,” when there is no longer any acknowledgment of the Lord, nor any love to Him, nor any charity toward the neighbor; and when these have become nought, the love of self with its falsities takes possession of the man; for the one thing is a consequence of the other.

[6] Hence we read also in John:

The fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and it was given unto him to scorch men with fire, and men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God (Revelation 16:8-9)

where also the last times of the church are treated of, when all love and charity are being extinguished; or, speaking according to the common mode, when there is no longer any faith. The extinction of love and charity is meant by the “pouring out of the vial upon the sun;” so that it was the love of self and its cupidities by which men were then “scorched with fire,” and “scorched with great heat;” and from which came the “blaspheming of the name of God.”

[7] By the “sun” the Ancient Church understood nothing else than the Lord and the Divine Celestial of His love; and therefore they were accustomed to pray toward the sun rising, while not thinking at all about the sun. But after their posterity had lost this also, together with the rest of their representatives and significatives, they began to worship the sun itself and also the moon; which worship spread to many nations, so much so that they dedicated temples to them, and set up pillars; and because the sun and the moon then took on an opposite signification, they came to signify the love of self and of the world, which are diametrically contrary to heavenly and spiritual love. Hence in the Word by the “worship of the sun and the moon” is meant the worship of self and of the world.

[8] As in Moses:

Lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the army of the heavens, and thou be driven to bow down unto them, and serve them (Deuteronomy 4:19).

And again:

If he have gone and served other gods, and the sun and the moon, or any of the army of the heavens, which I have not commanded, then thou shalt stone them with stones, and they shall die (Deuteronomy 17:3, 5). (Deuteronomy 17:6)

Into such idolatry was the ancient worship turned when they no longer believed that anything internal was signified by the rites of the church, but only what was external.

[9] In like manner in Jeremiah:

At that time shall they spread out the bones of the kings of Judah, of the princes, of the priests, of the prophets, and of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, before the sun and the moon, and all the army of the heavens, which they have loved, and which they have served (Jeremiah 8:1-2).

The “sun” here denotes the love of self and its cupidities; their “spreading out the bones” signifies the infernal things that belong to such worshipers.

Again:

He shall break the pillars of the house of the sun, which are in the land of Egypt, and the houses of the gods of Egypt shall he burn with fire (Jeremiah 43:13).

The “pillars of the house” denote the worship of self.