22. Genesis 1:5. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

From this we now see what evening and morning mean. Evening is every preliminary stage, because such stages are marked by shadow, or by falsity and an absence of faith. Morning is all later stages, because these are marked by light, or by truth and religious knowledge.

Evening stands in general for everything that is our own, while morning stands for everything of the Lord's. As David says, for example:

The Spirit of Jehovah has spoken in me and his words are on my tongue. The God of Israel has said, the rock of Israel has spoken to me. He is like the morning light when the sun rises, like a morning when there are no clouds, when because of the brightness, because of the rain, the tender grass springs from the earth. (2 Samuel 23:2-3, 4)

Since evening is when there is no faith and morning is when there is faith, the Lord's coming into the world is called morning. The period in which he came, being a time of no faith, is called evening. In Daniel:

The Holy One said to me, "Up till [the day's second] evening, when it becomes morning, ¹ two thousand and three hundred times." (Daniel 8:14, 26)

Morning in the Word is similarly taken to mean every coming of the Lord, so that it is a word for being created anew.

Footnotes:

2323. That 'evening' means the time when visitation takes place is clear from the meaning of 'evening'. In the Word states of the Church are compared both to seasons of the year and to times of day - the seasons of the year being summer, autumn, winter, and spring; the times of day, midday, evening, night, and morning. Such a similarity does indeed exist between the two. The state of the Church which is, called 'evening' is a state when charity starts to be no more and as a consequence faith to be no more - thus a state when the Church is ceasing to exist. This evening is that which is followed by night, see 22. But another state of the Church - when charity is shining and as a consequence faith, and so when a new Church is arising - is called 'evening'. By this is meant the twilight prior to the morning, see 883. Thus the word 'evening' means both these states. For when a Church is ceasing to exist the Lord provides for a new one to arise. These two processes take place simultaneously, for without a Church somewhere in the world the human race cannot remain in existence because it would have no conjunction with heaven, as shown in 468, 637, 931, 2054.

[2] In the present chapter both states of the Church are dealt with, that is to say, both the rise of a new Church represented by 'Lot' and the destruction of the old meant by 'Sodom and Gomorrah', as may be seen from the paragraphs above headed Contents. This is why it is said here that two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and why what happened in the evening is recorded, in verses 1-3, what happened during the night, in verses 4-14, what happened in the morning or at dawn, in verses 15-22, and what happened after sunrise, in verses 23-26.

[3] Since 'the evening' means these states of the Church it also means the visitation that takes place prior to judgement; for when judgement, that is, when the salvation of those who have faith and the condemnation of those who have no faith, is imminent, visitation takes place - such visitation being an examination of their character, that is, to see whether any charity or faith is there. This visitation occurs 'in the evening', which also is why visitation itself is called 'the evening', as in Zephaniah,

Woe to the inhabitants of the region of the sea, to the nation of the Cherethites! The word of Jehovah is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will cause destruction in you until no inhabitant is left. The remnant of the house of Judah will pasture in the houses of Ashkelon, they will lie down in the evening, for Jehovah their God will visit them, and bring again their captivity. Zephaniah 2:5, 7.