10605. 'And be ready by the morning; and you shall come up to Mount Sinai' means a new beginning in the revelation of Divine Truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'the morning' as a rising state or a beginning, here a new beginning, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'Mount Sinai' as heaven, from which Divine Truth flows, and so revelation comes, dealt with in 8805, 8931, 9420. The reason why 'the morning' means a rising state or a beginning is that states are meant by all times and seasons, because in heaven they have no thought of any time or season, only of the changes of state that affections and consequent thoughts undergo, and changes of state there are like the times of day, which are morning, midday, evening, and night, the morning being that from which they begin. It may come as a surprise to everyone that in heaven there are no times or seasons, when yet those there live among one another as people do in the world, though they are different from them so far as intelligence, wisdom, and blessedness are concerned. But the reason is that the light there radiating from the sun, which is the Lord, does not undergo daily changes like the light from the sun in the world. Instead it varies in accordance with the states of love and faith among the angels, who undergo changes of state like the states of heat, light, and shade every day on earth. Why this should be so is that the light there from the Sun, which is the Lord, is Divine Truth, and the heat from that Sun is love. Angels are affected by these just as people are in the world by the conditions of light and heat.

The light in heaven comes from the Lord as the Sun there, see in the places referred to in 9548, 9684.

That light is Divine Truth, which is the source of the intelligence and wisdom that angels and men possess, in the places referred to in 9548, 9684, 9571(end), 10569.

Times and seasons there are states, in the places referred to in 10133.

In heaven states are varied like the times of day and seasons of the year in the world, 5962, 8426.

Morning comes at the beginning of those states, and so is a new beginning, 8427, 10114.

In heaven there is the state of evening and twilight, but no state of night, 6110.

8426. 'At evening you will know that Jehovah has brought you out of the land of Egypt' means that at the end of a former state comes the revelation that they have been delivered. This is clear from the meaning of 'at evening' as the end of a former state, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'knowing' as being revealed, for what Jehovah causes a person to know is called revelation; and from the meaning of 'bringing out' as delivering, as often before, at this point from the molestations that are meant by 'the land of Egypt', 7278.

[2] The reason why 'at evening' means the end of a former state is that changes of state in the next life resemble the times of day in the world, that is to say, morning, midday, evening, and night or twilight, then morning again. It should be recognized that in the spiritual world changes of state are forever taking place, which all who are there pass through, the purpose of it all being that they may continue unceasingly to be made more perfect. For without changes of states, that is, without variations constantly following one another in sequence, those who are there cannot be made more perfect. The changes of states which follow one another in sequence, resembling the times of day and seasons of the year, are never exactly the same when they come round again, but are varied. The beginning of each state corresponds to morning on earth, and also in the Word is meant several times by 'morning'. The end of each state however corresponds to evening, and is also called 'evening' several times in the Word. When it is morning they are in a state of love; when it is midday they are in a state of light or truth; but when it is evening they are in a state that is dim so far as truths are concerned and rather cool so far as good is concerned, since it is a state in which the delight belonging to natural love rules them. This delight is what is meant by 'the selav' which the people received in the evening, and good is what is meant by 'the manna' which they received every morning.

[3] All this goes to show what 'the evening' means - the end of the state of whatever the subject may be; consequently it may mean the end of a state of the Church. But see what has been shown already about the meaning of 'the evening':

In the next life there are changes of state, just as in the world there are changes of times and seasons, 5672, 5962, 6110.

'Evening' is the end of a former Church, and 'morning' the beginning of a new one, 2323, 7844; therefore 'evening, and 'morning' mean the Coming or arrival of the Lord, 7844.

In heaven there is evening and twilight before morning, but no night; night occurs in hell, 6110.