§121 the sun 67
f. The quality and greatness of divine love, illustrated by comparison with the fi re of our world’s
sun: 6834 , 6844 [ 8644 ], 6849. The Lord’s divine love is a love for the whole human race, for its
salvation: 1820 , 1865 , 2253 , 6872. The love that emanates most closely from the fi re of the Lord’s
love does not come into heaven, but appears around the sun like a sparkling halo: 7270. Further,
angels are shielded by a suitably thin cloud, so that they will not be hurt by the infl ow of the heat
of love: 6849.
g. The manner of the Lord’s presence with angels depends on their acceptance of the good of love
and faith from him: 904 , 4198 , 4320 , 6280 , 6832 , 7042 , 8819 , 9680 , 9682 , 9683 , 10106 , 10811. The
Lord appears to every individual according to that individual’s own quality: 1861 , 2235 [ 3235 ],
4198 , 4206. The hells are distanced from the heavens by the fact that they cannot bear the pres-
ence of divine love from the Lord: 4299 , 7519 , 7738 , 7989 , 8157 [ 8137 ], 8266 [ 8265 ], 9327. So the
hells are very far indeed from heaven, and this is the “great gulf ”: 9346 , 10187.
The Lord’s appearance as a sun in heaven may also be inferred from
his transfi guration before Peter, James, and John, when “his face shone
like the sun” (Matthew 17 : 2 ). This is how the Lord was seen by those
disciples when they had been lifted out of their bodies and were in the
light of heaven.
For this reason, when the early people (who constituted a representa-
tive church) were engaged in their divine worship, they faced the sun in
the east. It is why they set their temples to face the east.
We can gather how great divine love is and what its quality is by 120
comparison with the sun of our world—that love is most intense, far
more intense, if you will believe it. So the Lord as the sun does not fl ow
directly into the heavens; rather, the intensity of his love is by degrees
tempered in its course. The stages of this tempering look like sparkling
halos around the sun. Further, angels are shielded by a suitably thin
cloud so that they will not be hurt by the infl ow.f As a result, the heavens
are distanced according to their receptiveness. The higher heavens, being
in the good of love, are closest to the Lord as the sun. The lower heav-
ens, though, being in the good of faith, are farther from him. People
who are engaged in nothing good whatever, like the people in hell, are
farthest away, their removal being in proportion to their opposition to
what is good.g
However, when the Lord appears in heaven (which happens quite 121
often) he does not appear clothed with the sun but in an angelic form,
distinguishable from the angels by the divine quality that shines from his
face. He is not actually there in person—since the Lord “in person” is
always clothed with the sun—but is present in appearance. It is com-
monplace in heaven for things to be seen as though they were present in