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.

22. Verse 5 And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day.

What 'evening' means, and what 'morning', is recognized from what is said above. 'Evening' means every prior state, because it is a state of shade, that is, of falsity and of absence of faith, while 'morning' is every subsequent state, because it is one of light, that is, of truth and of cognitions of faith. 'Evening' in general means all the things that are man's own, whereas 'morning' means all those that are the Lord's, as is said through David,

The Spirit of Jehovah has spoken within me, and His word is upon 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 is rising on a cloudless morning, shining bright, as when after rain tender grass [springs up] from the earth. 2 Samuel 23:4.

Because 'evening' is a time when there is no faith, and 'morning' when there is, the Lord's Coming into the world is called 'the morning', and the time at which He comes, since faith does not exist at that point, is called 'the evening', as in Daniel,

The Holy One said to me, Up to the evening when it is becoming morning, two thousand three hundred times. Daniel 8:13-14.

In the Word, 'morning' stands in a similar way for every coming of the Lord, and so is a term describing the new creation.