In the prophetic parts of the Word, statements similar to the one in Matthew xxiv 29, occur concerning the sun, moon and stars. Thus it is written in Isaiah:

Behold the cruel day of Jehovah cometh . . . the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened at his rising and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. Isa. xiii 9, 10.

In Ezekiel:

When I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens and darken the stars thereof; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light; and I will set darkness upon thy land. Ezek. xxxii 7, 8.

In Joel:

The day of Jehovah cometh, ... a day of darkness, the sun and moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. Joel ii 1, 2, 10.

The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and the terrible day of Jehovah cometh. Joel ii 31.

The day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision, the sun and moon shall be darkened. Joel iii 14, 15.

In the Revelation:

The fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, . . . and the day shone not for a third part of it. Rev. viii 12.

The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood. Rev. vi 12.

All these passages treat of the last time of the Jewish Church, when the Lord came into the world. The meaning here is similar in Matthew and the Revelation, but they refer to the last time of the Christian Church, when the Lord would come again in the Word which is Himself, and in which He is. Wherefore, immediately after those words in Matthew xxiv 29, it is said:

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man coming in the clouds of the heavens. Matt. xxiv 30.

By the sun in the above passages is meant love, by the moon faith, and by the stars the cognitions of good and truth. By the powers of the heavens are meant those three essentials as the supports and foundations of the heavens where the angels are, and of the Churches where men are. Therefore, by the foregoing passages collected into one idea is meant that neither love nor faith, nor any cognitions of good and truth remain in the Christian Church, in the last time thereof when it draws to its end. That the sun signifies love has been shown in THE APOCALYPSE REVEALED, nos. 53, 54, 413, 796, 831, 961; that the moon signifies faith, nos. 53, 332, 413, 423, 533; and that stars signify cognitions of good and truth, nos. 51, 74, 333, 408, 419, 954.