That the "great luminaries" signify love and faith, and are also called "sun, moon, and stars," is evident from the Prophets, as in Ezekiel:—
When I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens and make the stars thereof black; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light; all the luminaries of the light of heaven will I make black over thee, and I will set darkness upon thy land (xxxii. 7, 8).
In this passage Pharaoh and the Egyptians are treated of, by whom are meant, in the Word, the principle of mere sense and of mere knowledge (sensuale et scientificum); and here, that by things of sense and of mere knowledge (sensualia et scientifica), love and faith had been extinguished. So in Isaiah:—
The day of Jehovah cometh to set the land in desolation, for the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun is darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine (xiii. 9, 10).
Again, in Joel:—
The day of Jehovah cometh, a day of darkness and of thick darkness; the earth trembleth before Him, the heavens are in commotion; the sun and the moon are blackened, and the stars withdraw their brightness (ii. 1, 2, 10).
[2] Again, in Isaiah, speaking of the advent of the Lord and the enlightening of the Gentiles, consequently of a new church, and in particular of all who are in darkness, and receive light, and are being regenerated:—
Arise, shine, for thy light is come; behold darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness the peoples, and Jehovah shall arise upon thee, and the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising, Jehovah shall be to thee a light of eternity, thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself, for Jehovah shall be to thee a light of eternity (lx. 1-3, 20).
So in David:—
Jehovah in intelligence maketh the heavens, He stretcheth out the earth above the waters; He maketh great luminaries; the sun to rule by day, the moon and stars to rule by night (Ps. cxxxvi. 5-9).
And again:—
Glorify ye Jehovah, sun and moon; glorify Him, all ye stars of light; glorify Him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that are above the heavens (Ps. cxlviii. 3, 4).
Vol. I.—2
