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:

7844. 'between the evenings' means a last and first state. This is clear from the meaning of 'evening' as a state of falsity and also a state of ignorance of truth; for the shade of evening is falsity and also ignorance of truth. All the times of day, like all the seasons of the year, mean in the spiritual sense alternating states involving truth and good, 5672, 5962, 6110. The end of them and the beginning of them is the evening; consequently when it says 'between the evenings' it implies all those states. At this point therefore 'between the evenings' means the state of deliverance of those governed by truth springing from good, and the state of damnation of those governed by falsity arising from evil, states which are meant by the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt when the firstborn there were killed. The fact that all this is called 'the evening' is clear from the following in Moses,

You shall sacrifice ¹ the Passover in the evening when the sun goes down, at the fixed time of your departure from Egypt. Deuteronomy 16:4, 6.

[2] From this it is evident that the end of the state of molestations and the beginning of the state of the deliverance of those represented by the children of Israel is meant by 'between the evenings'. From that beginning the state moves on for them towards morning, which is a raising to heaven. It is evident too that the end of the state of molestations and the beginning of the state of the damnation of those represented by the Egyptians is meant by 'between the evenings'. But these people's state moves on towards night, which is a casting into hell. The casting of the latter into hell is represented by being drowned in the Sea Suph, while the raising of the former to heaven is represented by being led into the land of Canaan.

[3] In the Word the expression 'the evening' is used in various places, and by it is meant a last phase of a Church and also a first phase of it - a last one with those among whom the Church is coming to an end, and a first with those among whom it is just beginning. This explains why 'the evening' primarily means the Lord's Coming, for that was the time of the end of the former Church and of the beginning of the new. The first state of the new Church is also called 'the evening' since a member of the Church starts with light that is dim and advances to that which is clear, and this for him is the morning.

[4] The fact that the Lord's Coming into the world is meant by 'the evening' and 'the morning' is clear in Daniel,

I heard a holy one speaking, For how long is this vision, the continual [burnt offering], and the transgression, and the treading down of the sanctuary and the host? And he said to me, Up to the evening [when it is becoming] morning two thousand three hundred times, for then the sanctuary will be made correct. Daniel 8:13-14.

Here it is self-evident that 'the evening' is used to mean the last phase when the Church had been completely laid waste and the Lord came into the world, and 'morning' to mean light and the rise of a new Church from Him.

[5] A similar prophecy appears in Zechariah,

There will be one day, which will be known to Jehovah, not day nor night, because around evening time there will be light. Zechariah 14:7.

In Zephaniah,

Let there at length be a territory for the remnant of the house of Judah; they will pasture on them. In the houses of Ashkelon they will find rest in the evening, when Jehovah their God will visit them, and return their captives. ² Zephaniah 1:7.

'The evening' stands for the first state of an arising Church. Since 'the evening' meant the last state of an old Church and the first of a new, Aaron and his sons were commanded to cause a lamp to burn ³ from evening until morning before Jehovah, Exodus 27:20-21.

[6] The fact that 'the evening' is the last state of the Church, when dense falsity reigns because there is no faith, and dense evil because there is no charity, is evident in Jeremiah,

Woe to us, ⁴ for the day goes away, for the shadows of evening are set at an angle! Jeremiah 6:4.

In Ezekiel,

I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died at evening. Ezekiel 24:18.

'Wife' stands for the Church. In David,

At dawn it will flourish and shoot up, ⁵ at evening one will cut it down, it will wither. Psalms 90:6.

Footnotes:

4018. 'In front of the flocks; and they came on heat as they came to drink' means even to the point of an intense desire in the affection for truth that a joining [to the goods and truths within the natural] might be effected. This is clear from the meaning of 'coming on heat as they came to drink' as an intense desire. The meaning of 'being on heat' as an intense desire is self-evident; and for the meaning of 'coming to drink' as the affection for truth, see immediately above in 4017. The reason why 'in front of the flocks' means that a joining to the truths and goods within the natural might be effected is that this phrase implies seeing and consequent arousal of affection, for this is the manner in which spiritual things are joined to a person. What is more, every implantation of truth or good in a person, as well as every joining of them to him, is effected by means of affection. The truths and goods which a person has learned but for which he has no affection do indeed enter the memory, but they are lodged there as insecurely as a feather on top of a wall which is blown off by the slightest puff of wind.

[2] As regards the things that enter the memory the position is this: Those for which there is no affection pass into the unlit parts of the memory when they enter it, whereas those for which there is affection pass into the light there. Things present in that light are seen and appear clearly and distinctly when any matter of a similar nature is brought up, but not so the things lying around in the unlit parts. Such is the effect that affection belonging to love has. From this it may be seen that all implanting of truth and joining of it to good is effected through affection; and the greater that affection, the stronger the tie joining the two together.

[3] The intense desire of the affection is in this case inmost affection. But truths are not capable of being implanted and joined to good except by means of affections for truth and good, which affections well up from charity towards the neighbour and love to the Lord as their sources. But evils and falsities are implanted by means of affections for evil and falsity, and these affections well up from self-love and love of the world as their sources. This being so, and the subject at this point in the internal sense being the joining of good and truth within the natural man, mention is therefore made here and in what follows of the flock being on heat when they came to drink, by which such considerations are meant.