CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

In the preceding parts, it has been shown many times that the phrase, The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, signifies love for the Lord (who is the sun) and charity toward one's neighbor (which is the moon). To be "darkened" and "not give light" signifies that these qualities will no longer appear, and thus will vanish. That the Sun is the celestial aspect of love, and the Moon is the spiritual aspect of love—that is, that the sun is love for the Lord and the moon is charity toward the neighbor through faith—may be seen in entries 1053, 1529, 1530, 2120, 2441, and 2495.

The reason for this significance of the sun and moon is that in the other life, the Lord appears as a Sun to those in Heaven who are in love with Him (who are called "celestial"), and as a Moon to those who are in charity toward their neighbor (who are called "spiritual"); see entries 1053, 1521, 1529, 1530, 1531, 3636, and 3643. The Sun and Moon in the heavens—or rather, the Lord—is never darkened, nor does He lose His light, but He shines perpetually. Likewise, love for Him among the celestial and charity toward the neighbor among the spiritual never fails in the heavens, nor on earth among those with whom those angels dwell (that is, those who live in love and charity).

However, among those who possess no love or charity, but are instead in love of self and the world—and consequently in hatred and revenge—they bring that darkness upon themselves. This is just like the sun of our world: the sun shines perpetually, but when clouds intervene, it does not appear; see entry 2441.

And the stars shall fall from heaven signifies that the knowledges original: "cognitiones" of good and truth will perish. In the Word The Bible, wherever stars are mentioned, nothing else is signified; see entries 1808 and 2849.

And the powers of the heavens shall be shaken signifies the foundations of the Church, which are said to be moved and shaken when those foundations perish. For the Church on earth is the foundation of heaven, because the influx of good and truth through the heavens from the Lord ultimately terminates in the goods and truths present within the person of the Church. Therefore, when the person of the Church is in such a perverse state that they no longer admit the influx of good and truth, then the "powers of the heavens" are said to be shaken. Because of this, the Lord always provides that something of the Church remains, and when an old Church perishes, a new one is established.

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven signifies the appearance of Divine Truth at that time. A "sign" is an appearance; the "Son of Man" is the Lord in respect to Divine Truth; see entries 2803, 2813, and 3704. This appearance, or this sign, is what the disciples asked about when they said to the Lord, "Tell us, when shall these things be? And especially, what shall be the sign of your coming, and of the consummation of the age?" original: "consummationis sæculi" — often translated as "end of the world" in Verse 3 of this Chapter. For they knew from the Word that when the age was finished, the Lord would come; and they knew from the Lord that He would come again. They understood by this that the Lord would come into the world a second time, not yet knowing that the Lord has come as many times as the Church has been devastated. This does not mean He comes in person, as when He assumed the Human through birth and made it Di—