THE MOON >> Intelligence and Faith from the Lord
Opposite Sense >> Faith in Self and Intelligence from Self

 That the Lord is actually seen in heaven as a sun I have not only been told by angels, but it has occasionally been granted me to see it; and therefore what I have heard  and seen respecting the Lord as a sun I shall be glad to tell in a few words. The Lord is seen as a sun, not in heaven, but high above the heavens; and not directly overhead or in the zenith, but before the faces of the angels at a middle height. He is seen at a considerable distance, in two places, one before the right eye and the other before the left eye. Before the right eye He is seen exactly like a sun, as it were, with a glow and size like that of the sun of the world. But before the left eye He is not seen as a sun, ut as a moon, glowing white like the moon of our earth, and of like size, but more brilliant, and surrounded with many little moons, as it were, each of them of similar whiteness and splendor. The Lord is seen so differently in two places because every person sees the Lord in accordance with the quality of his reception of the Lord, thus He is seen in one way by those that receive Him with the good of love, and in another by those that receive Him with the good of faith. Those that receive Him with the good of love see Him as a sun, fiery and flaming, in accordance with their reception of Him; these are in His celestial kingdom; while those that receive Him with the good of faith see Him as a moon, white and brilliant in accordance with their reception of Him, and these are in His spiritual kingdom.{1} This is so because good of love corresponds to fire; therefore in the spiritual sense fire is love; and the good of faith corresponds to light, and in the spiritual sense light is faith.{2} And the Lord appears before the eyes because the interiors, which belong to the mind, see through the eyes, from good of love through the right eye, and from good of faith through the left eye;{3} since with angels and also with men all things at the right correspond to good from which truth is derived, and all at the left to truth that is from good.{4} Good of faith is in its essence truth from good. [HH118]

 This is why in the Word the Lord in respect to love is likened to the sun, and in respect to faith to the moon; also that the “sun” signifies love from the Lord to the Lord, and the “moon” signifies faith from the Lord in the Lord, as in the following passages:

The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days (Isa. 30:26).

And when I shall extinguish thee I will cover the heavens and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not make her light to shine.  All luminaries of light in the heavens will I make dark over thee, and I will set darkness upon thy land (Ezek.  32:7, 8).

I will darken the sun in his going forth, and the moon shall not make her light to shine (Isa. 13:10)

The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood (Joel 2:2, 10, 31; 3:16).

The sun became black as sackcloth and hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars fell unto the earth (Apoc.  6:12, 13).

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 (Matt. 24:29).

And elsewhere. In these passages the “sun” signifies love, and the“moon” faith, and the “stars” knowledges of good and truth.{1} These are said to be darkened, to lose their light, and to fall from heaven, when they are no more. That the Lord is seen as a sun in heaven is evident also from His appearance when transfigured before Peter, James, and John,

That His face did shine as the sun (Matt. 17:2).

These disciples thus saw the Lord when they were withdrawn from the body, and were in the light of heaven. It was because of this correspondence that the ancient people, with whom was a representative church, turned the face to the sun in the east when they were in Divine worship; and for the same reason they gave to their temples an eastern aspect. [HH119]

  That the Word contains within it an internal sense that is not apparent in the letter has already been stated and shown in many places, and the nature of this internal sense appears from all that has thus far been unfolded, beginning with the first chapter of Genesis. Nevertheless as the few who at this day believe in the Word do not know that there is such a sense, it may be well to confirm it further.
 
[2] The Lord describes the Consummation of the Age, or the last period of the church, as follows:
 
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, and the powers of the
 heavens shall be shaken (Matt. 24:29; Mark 13:24).
 
That in this passage the "sun" does not mean the sun, nor the "moon" the moon, nor the "stars" the stars; but that the "sun" signifies love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor;
 the "moon" the faith of love and charity; and the "stars" the knowledges of good and truth, was shown above (n. 31, 32, 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 2120, 2441); so that by these
words of the Lord there is signified that in the consummation of the age (or last period of the church) there will no longer be any love, or charity, nor therefore any faith.
 
[3] That this is the meaning is evident from similar words of the Lord in the Prophets, as in Isaiah:
 
Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, to make the earth a solitude and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it; for the stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof shall
not shine with their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine (Isa. 13:9-10);
 
where also the last period of the church, or what is the same, the consummation of the age, is treated of. In Joel:
 
A day of darkness and of thick darkness, a day of cloud and obscurity, before Him the earth quaked, the heavens trembled, the sun and the moon were darkened, and the stars
withdrew their shining (Joel 2:2, 10);
 
with a similar meaning. Again in the same:
 
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah comes (Joel 2:31).
And again in the same:
 
The day of Jehovah is near, the sun and the moon have been darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their shining (Joel 3:14-15).
In Ezekiel:
 
When I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens, and make the stars thereof dark; 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 dark, and will set darkness upon thy land (Ezek. 32:7-8).
 
So too in John:
 
I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and behold there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars fell unto
 the earth (Rev. 6:12, 13).
The fourth angel sounded, so that the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, and the third part of them was darkened
 (Rev. 8:12).
 
[4] From these passages it is evident that the Lord's words in the Evangelists involve much the same as His words in the Prophets, namely, that in the last times there will be neither
 charity, nor faith; and that this is the internal sense; as also is still further evident in Isaiah:
 
The moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed, for Jehovah Zebaoth shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem (Isa. 24:23);
 
that is to say, faith, which is the "moon," shall blush; and charity, which is the "sun," shall be ashamed, because they are such; for it cannot be said of the moon and the sun that they
 shall blush and be ashamed. And in Daniel:
 
The goat's horn grew toward the south, and toward the east, and grew even to the army of the heavens, and some of the army and of the stars it cast down to the earth and trampled
 upon them (Dan. 8:9-10);
 
where it is plain to everyone that the "army of the heavens" does not signify an "army," nor the "stars" stars. [AC2495]
 

And the city hath no need of the sun, and the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and its lamp is the Lamb, signifies that the men of that church will not be in self-love and in their own intelligence, and thence in natural light alone, but in spiritual light from the Divine truth of the Word from the Lord alone. By "the sun" is here signified natural love separated from spiritual love, which is self-love; and by "the moon" is signified intelligence, also natural faith, separated from intelligence and spiritual faith, which is their own intelligence and faith from self; this love, and this intelligence and faith, are here signified by "the sun and moon," the shining of which will not be needed by those who will be in the Lord's New Church. By "the glory of God" which lightens it is signified the Divine truth of the Word (n. 629). And because that enlightenment is from the Lord, it is said "and the lamp thereof is the Lamb." Similar to this is the signification of the following passage in Isaiah:

Thou shalt call thy walls salvation, and thy gates praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee; but Jehovah shall be unto thee for a light of eternity, and thy God thy adornment; thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for Jehovah shall be to thee for a light of eternity; thy people also shall be all just (Isa. 60:18-21).

By "the sun and moon" which shall no more shine is meant self-love and their own intelligence; and by "the sun and moon" which shall no more set, are meant love from the Lord to the Lord, and intelligence and faith from Him; and by "Jehovah shall be for a light of eternity" is signified the same as here, "that the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof." That "the sun" signifies love to the Lord, and in the opposite sense self-love, may be seen above (n. 53, 414); and that "the moon" signifies intelligence from the Lord and faith from Him (n. 332, 413-414), therefore "the moon" in the opposite sense signifies their own intelligence and faith from themselves. Since by "the sun" in the opposite sense is signified self-love, and by "the moon" one's own intelligence and faith from himself, therefore it was an abomination to adore the sun, moon, and stars, as may appear (in Jer. 8:1-2; in Ezek. 8:15-16; in Zeph. 1:5); and that such were stoned (Deut. 17:2-3, 5). [AC919]

Author: EMANUEL SWEDENBORG (1688-1772)