2405、“黎明时分”表示当主的国靠近时，这从圣言中“黎明”或“早晨”的含义清楚可知。由于本章论述的主题是教会的连续状态或不同阶段，所以它先论述晚上发生的事，然后论述夜里发生的事，接着论述半夜发生的事，很快就会说到日出之后发生的事。半夜在此以“黎明时分”来表达，这是当义人与恶人分离时的时间；19:15-22描述了这种分离，是以罗得和他的妻子、女儿被带出来并得救来描述的。这种分离发生在审判之前，这一点从主在马太福音中的话明显看出来：
必有所有民族聚集在祂面前；祂要把他们彼此分别出来，好像牧羊的分别绵羊、山羊一般。（马太福音25:32）
圣言称这段时期或这种状态为“黎明”，是因为那时主来了，或也可说，那时祂的国靠近了。善人也是这种情况，因为到那时，类似曙光或黎明的东西会照在他们身上。因此，圣言把主的降临比作“早晨或清晨”，也称为“早晨或清晨”。如何西阿书：
过两天耶和华必使我们苏醒，第三天祂必使我们兴起，我们就在祂面前得以存活。我们务要认识，竭力追求认识耶和华。祂出来如黎明。（何西阿书6:2-3）
“两天”表示之前的时期和状态；“第三天”表示审判或主的降临，因而表示主国度的靠近（720，901节），这种降临或靠近被比作 “黎明”。
撒母耳记：
以色列的神必像日出的晨光，如无云的清晨，雨后的晴光，使嫩草从地上长起。（撒母耳记下23:4）
“以色列的神”表示主，因为在那个教会，所指的是以色列的神，而不是其他神，该教会的一切都代表祂。约珥书：
耶和华的日子将到，已经临近。一个黑暗、幽冥的日子，一个密云、乌黑的日子。（约珥书2:1-2）
这也论及主的降临和祂的国度；经上说“一个黑暗、幽冥的日子”，是因为那时善人正与恶人分离，如此处罗得与所多玛人分离一样；善人被分离出来之后，恶人就灭亡了。
在但以理书可以看到，主的降临或祂的国靠近，不仅被比作“早晨”，还实际被称为“早晨”：
一位圣者说，这异象、常献的祭和造成荒凉的罪过要持续多久呢？祂对我说，到二千三百个晚上和早晨，圣所才能正宗化过来。所说晚上和早晨的异象是真的。（但以理书8:13-14，26）
显然，“早晨”在此表示主的降临。诗篇：
在你掌权的日子，你的民要以神圣的荣美甘心奉献自己。从晨曦的子宫中，你得了你出生的甘露。（诗篇110:3）
这整个诗篇论述的主题都是主和祂在试探中的胜利，也就是祂“掌权的日子”和“祂神圣的荣美”；“从晨曦的子宫”表示祂自己，因而表示神性之爱，祂出于神性之爱争战。
西番雅书：
耶和华在她中间是公义的，断不做非义的事；每早晨显明祂的公平。（西番雅书3:5）
“早晨”表示审判的时期和状态，这等于主的降临，而这反过来又等于主国度的靠近。
由于“早晨或清晨”表示这些事，所以为了可以代表这些事，经上吩咐：
亚伦和他的儿子要点着灯，从晚上到早晨，要在耶和华面前经理这灯。（出埃及记27:21）
“晚上”在此是指早晨之前的黎明时分（2323节）。由于同样的原因，经上吩咐，坛上的火每天早晨都要点燃（利未记6:12）；还吩咐，逾越节的羔羊和献祭的祭物不可剩下一点留到早晨（出埃及记12:10；23:18；34:25；利未记22:29-30；民数记9:12）；以此表示当主降临时，祭祀要结束。
从广义上说，“早晨或清晨”用来描述黎明时分和日出之时。在这种情况下，“早晨或清晨”表示对善人和恶人的审判，如在本章：
太阳已升出地面，罗得到了琐珥。耶和华将硫磺与火如雨般降与所多玛和蛾摩拉。（创世记19:23-24）
在诗篇，它同样表示对恶人的审判：
我早晨要毁灭地上所有的恶人，好把一切作孽的从耶和华的城里剪除。（诗篇101:8）
耶利米书：
愿那人像耶和华所倾覆而不后悔的城邑；愿他早晨听见哀声。（耶利米书20:16）
由于从严格意义上说，“早晨或清晨”表示主，祂的降临，因而表示祂国度的靠近，所以显而易见，它还表示什么，即表示一个新教会的兴起，因为这个新教会就是主在地上的国度。这个国既指总体意义上的、也指具体意义上的，甚至特定意义上的：当地上有教会重新兴起时，就是总体意义上的；当一个人正在被重生并新造时，是具体意义上的，因为那时主的国正在他里面建立，他正在成为教会；而每当爱与信之良善正在他里面作工时，就是特定意义上的，因为主的降临就在于此。因此，主在第三日早晨复活（马可福音16:2，9；路加福音24:1；约翰福音20:1）涉及这一切意义，甚至涉及具体和特定意义，因为祂每天，事实上每时每刻都在重生之人的心智中复活。
Potts(1905-1910) 2405
2405. When the dawn arose. That this signifies when the Lord's kingdom is approaching, is evident from the signification in the Word of the "dawn" or "morning." As in this chapter the subject treated of is the successive states of the church, that which is done in the evening is first treated of, next that which is done in the night, and there now follows that which is done in the morning twilight, and presently that which is done after the sun is gone forth. The twilight is here expressed by "when the dawn arose," and it denotes the time when the upright are being separated from the evil; which separation is treated of in this verse, and as far as verse 22, by Lot together with his wife and daughters being led out and saved. That separation precedes Judgment is evident from the Lord's words in Matthew:
Before Him shall be gathered all nations, and He shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats (Matt. 25:32). [2] This time or state is called in the Word the "dawn," because the Lord then comes; or what is the same, His kingdom then approaches. The case is similar with the good, for at such a time there shines out with them a semblance of the morning twilight or dawn; and therefore in the Word the advent of the Lord is compared to the "morning," and is also called the "morning." As in Hosea:
After two days Jehovah will revive us, on the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live before Him; and we shall know, and we shall follow on to know Jehovah; His going forth is as the dawn (Hos. 6:2-3). "Two days" denotes the time and state which precedes; the "third day" denotes the Judgment, or the advent of the Lord, and therefore the approach of His kingdom (n. 720, 901), which advent or approach is compared to the "dawn." [3] In Samuel:
The God of Israel is as the light of the morning, the sun riseth, a morning without clouds; from the brightness, from the rain, there is a growth from the earth (2 Sam. 23:4). The "God of Israel" denotes the Lord; for no other God of Israel was meant in that church, and He was represented in each and all things of it. In Joel:
The day of Jehovah cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of darkness and of thick darkness, a day of cloud and obscurity; as the dawn spread upon the mountains (Joel 2:1-2). Here also the Lord's advent and His kingdom are treated of; it is said a "day of darkness and of thick darkness," because the good are then being separated from the evil, as here Lot from the men of Sodom; and after the good have been separated, the evil perish. [4] That the Lord's advent or the approach of His kingdom, is not merely compared to the "morning," but is actually called the "morning," may be seen in Daniel:
A holy one said, How long shall be the vision, the continual sacrifice, and the transgression that maketh waste? He said unto me, Until evening and morning, two thousand three hundred, then shall the holy one be justified. The vision of the evening and the morning which hath been told is truth (Dan. 8:13-14, 26). "Morning" here manifestly denotes the Lord's advent. In David:
Thy people are willing offerings in the day of thy strength, in honors of holiness, from the womb of the dawn thou hast the dew of thy youth* (Ps. 110:3). In this whole Psalm the subject treated of is the Lord, and His victories in temptations, which are the "day of His strength," and the "honors of His holiness;" "from the womb of the dawn," denotes Himself, thus the Divine love from which He fought. [5] In Zephaniah:
Jehovah in the midst of her is righteous, He will not do perversity; in the morning, in the morning will He give judgment for light (Zeph. 3:65). The "morning" denotes the time and state of Judgment, which is the same as that of the Lord's advent; and this is the same as the approach of His kingdom. [6] Because the "morning" signified these things, in order that the same might be represented, it was commanded that:
Aaron and his sons should light up the lamp, and should order it from evening until morning before Jehovah (Exod. 27:21). The "evening" here denotes the twilight before the morning (n. 2323). In like manner it was commanded that the fire upon the altar should be kindled every morning (Lev. 6:5); also that nothing of the paschal lamb and of the sanctified things of the sacrifices should be left till the morning (Exod. 12:10; 23:18; 34:25; Lev. 22:29-30; Num. 9:12); by which was signified that when the Lord came, sacrifices should cease. [7] In a general sense it is called "Morning" both when the dawn appears, and when the sun rises; and in this latter case "morning" denotes the Judgment as it concerns both the good and the evil, as in this chapter:
The sun was gone forth upon the earth, and Lot came unto Zoar; and Jehovah caused it to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire (Gen. 19:23-24). In like manner insofar as regards the Judgment upon the evil; in David:
In the mornings will I destroy all the wicked of the land, to cut off from the city of Jehovah all the workers of iniquity (Ps. 101:8). And in Jeremiah:
Let that man be as the cities which Jehovah overthrew, and He repenteth not; and let him hear a cry in the morning (Jer. 20:16). As in the proper sense the "morning" signifies the Lord, His advent, and thus the approach of His kingdom, it is evident what it signifies besides, namely, the rise of a new church (for this is the Lord's kingdom on earth), and this both in general and in particular, and even in the least particular; in general, when any church on the globe is being raised up anew; in particular, when a man is being regenerated, and being made new (for then the Lord's kingdom is arising in him, and he is becoming a church); and in the least particular, whenever the good of love and faith is working in him; for in this consists the advent of the Lord. Hence the Lord's resurrection on the third day in the morning (Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1) involves all these things (even in the particular and the least particular) in regard to His rising again in the minds of the regenerate every day, and even every moment. * Nativitatis; but juventutis elsewhere, as T.C.R. 764. [Rotch ed.]
Elliott(1983-1999) 2405
2405. That 'as dawn ascended' means when the Lord's kingdom draws near is clear from the meaning of 'the dawn' or morning in the Word. Since the subject in this chapter is the successive states of a Church, what happened in the evening, then what happened during the night have been referred to first. What took place when it was twilight comes now, and further on what took place after sunrise. Twilight is expressed here by 'as dawn ascended', which means the time when the upright are separated from the evil. This separation is described in the present verse to verse 22 as Lot being brought out together with his wife and daughters and being saved. The fact that separation takes place prior to judgement is clear from the Lord's words in Matthew,
Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Matt 25: 32.
[2] In the Word that period of time or state is called 'the dawn' because that is when the Lord comes, or what amounts to the same, when His kingdom draws near. It is similar with the good, for at that time something akin to early morning twilight or the dawn shines with them. This explains why in the Word the Lord's coming is compared to and also called 'the morning'. Its comparison to the morning is seen in Hosea,
Jehovah will revive us after two days, on the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live before Him. And we shall know, and we shall press on to know Jehovah. As the dawn is His going forth. Hosea 6:-2, 3.
'Two days' stands for the period of time and the state which precedes. 'Third day' stands for judgement or the Lord's coming, and so for the approach of His kingdom, 720, 901 - a coming or approach which is compared to 'the dawn'.
[3] In Samuel,
The God of Israel is like morning light, [when] the sun rises on a cloudless morning; from brightness, from rain, grass comes out of the earth. 2 Sam 23: 4.
'The God of Israel' stands for the Lord, for no other God of Israel was meant in that Church, where every single feature of that Church was representative of Him. In Joel,
The day of Jehovah is coming, for it is near, a day of darkness and thick darkness, a day of cloud and gloom, like the dawn spread over the mountains. Joel 2:-1, 2.
This too refers to the Lord's coming and His kingdom. The words 'a day of darkness and thick darkness' are used because at that time the good are separated from the evil, as Lot was here from the men of Sodom; and after the good have been separated the evil perish.
[4] The Lord's coming or the approach of His kingdom is not compared to the morning but actually called such, as in Daniel,
The Holy One said, For how long is the vision, the continual [burnt offering], and the desolating transgression? He said to me, Up to the evening [when it is becoming] morning two thousand three hundred times, and the Holy One will be justified. The vision of the evening and the morning which has been told is the truth. Dan 8:-13, 14, 26.
'The morning' here clearly stands for the Lord's coming. In David,
Your people are free-will offerings, in the day of Your power, in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the dawn You have the dew of Your nativity. Ps 110: 3.
The whole of this psalm refers to the Lord and His victories in temptations, which are meant by 'the day of power and the beauties of His holiness'. 'From the womb of the dawn' means Himself, thus the Divine Love from which He fought.
[5] In Zephaniah,
Jehovah is righteous in the midst of her. He will do no wrong. In the morning, in the morning He will bring His judgement to light. Zeph 3: 5.
'morning' stands for the time and the state when judgement takes place, which is the same as the Lord's coming, and this in turn is the same as the approach of His kingdom.
[6] Since 'the morning' meant these things, Aaron and his sons, to provide the same representation, were commanded to set up a lamp and tend it from evening till morning before Jehovah, Exod 27: 21. The 'evening' referred to here is the twilight prior to morning, 2323. For a similar reason it was commanded that the fire on the altar was to be rekindled every dawn, Lev 6: 12; also that none of the paschal lamb and the consecrated elements of sacrifices were to remain until the morning, Exod 12: 10; 23: 18; 34: 25; Lev 22: 29, 30; Num 9: 12 - by which was meant that when the Lord came sacrifices would come to an end.
[7] In a general sense 'morning' is used to describe both the time when dawn breaks and the time when the sun rises. 'morning' in this case stands for judgement in regard to the good as well as on the evil, as in the present chapter - 'The sun had gone forth over the earth and Lot came to Zoar; and Jehovah rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire', verses 23, 24. It in like manner stands for judgement on the evil, in David,
In the mornings I will destroy all the wicked of the land, to cut off from the city of Jehovah all workers of iniquity. Ps 101: 8.
And in Jeremiah,
Let that man be like the cities which Jehovah overthrew, and He does not repent; and let him hear a cry in the morning. Jer 20: 16.
[8] Seeing that 'the morning' in the proper sense means the Lord, His coming, and so the approach of His kingdom, what else is meant by 'the morning' becomes clear, namely the rise of a new Church, for that Church is the Lord's kingdom on earth. That kingdom is meant both in a general and in a particular sense, and indeed in a specific sense, the general being when any Church on earth is established anew; the particular, when a person is being regenerated and becoming a new man, for the Lord's kingdom is in that case being established in him and he is becoming the Church; and the specific, as often as good flowing from love and faith is at work with him, for this is what constitutes the Lord's coming. Consequently the Lord's resurrection on the third morning, Mark 16: 2, 9; Luke 24: 1; John 20:-1, embodies in the particular and the specific senses the truth that He rises daily, indeed every single moment, in the minds of regenerate persons.
Latin(1748-1756) 2405
2405. `Sicuti aurora ascendit': quod significet cum regnum Domini appropinquat, constat a significatione `aurorae' seu mane in Verbo.{3} Quia agitur in hoc capite de successivis statibus Ecclesiae, primum actum est de eo quod factum in vespera, dein quod in nocte, nunc sequitur quid diluculo, et mox quid postquam sol egressus; diluculum exprimitur hic per `sicuti aurora ascendit,' et tunc est cum probi separantur a malis, de qua separatione agitur in {2} hoc versu usque ad vers. 22, per quod Lot cum uxore et filiabus eductus sit {3}, et salvatus: quod separatio praecedat judicium, constat a Domini: verbis apud Matthaeum, Congregabuntur coram Ipso omnes gentes, et separabit eas {4} ab invicem, sicut pastor separat oves ab hircis, xxv 32. [2] Tempus hoc, seu status hic, in Verbo dicitur `aurora,' quia tunc venit Dominus, seu quod idem, tunc appropinquat regnum Ipsius; se habet enim similiter apud bonos, nam effulget tunc apud eos instar diluculi matutini seu aurorae; inde in Verbo adventus Domini comparatur `mane'; et quoque dicitur mane; quod comparetur, apud Hosheam, Jehovah vivificabit nos a biduo, in die tertio eriget nos, et vivemus coram Ipso, et cognoscemus, et persequemur ad cognoscendum Jehovam, sicut aurora egressus Ipsius, vi 2, 3;`biduum' pro tempore et statu qui praecedit; `dies tertius' pro judicio seu adventu Domini, ita pro appropinquatione regni Ipsius, n. 720, 901; qui adventus, seu quae appropinquatio comparatur `aurorae': [3] apud Samuelem, Deus Israelis sicut lux mane oritur sol, mane non nubes, splendore, a pluvia germen e terra, 2 Sam. xxiii 4;
`Deus Israelis' pro Domino, non enim alius Deus Israelis in Ecclesia illa intellectus fuit, nam Is repraesentatus in omnibus et singulis ejus apud Samuelem Venit dies Jehovae, quia propinquus, dies tenebrarum et caliginis, dies nubis et obscuritatis, sicut aurora expansa super montes, ii 1, 2;
ibi quoque de adventu Domini et regno Ipsius; `dies tenebrarum et caliginis' [dicitur], quia tunc separantur boni a malis, ut hic Lotus a viris Sodomae, ac postquam boni separati sunt, intereunt mali. [4] Quod adventus Domini seu appropinquatio regni Ipsius non comparetur mane, sed dicatur mane, apud Danielem, Dixit unus sanctus, Quousque visio, juge, et praevaricatio vastans? Dixit ad me, Usque ad vesperam mane, bis mille trecenta, et justificabitur Sanctus.... Visio vesperae et mane, quae dicta, veritas est, viii 13, 14, 26;
`mane' hic manifeste pro adventu Domini: in apud Davidem, Populus tuus spontaneorum, in die fortitudinis tuae, in honoribus sanctitatis, ab utero ex aurora tibi ros nativitatis tuae: Ps. cx (x)3 ubi in toto psalmo de Domino, et de victoriis Ipsius in tentationibus, quae sunt `dies fortitudinis, et honores sanctitatis Ipsius'; `ab utero ex aurora' est Ipse, ita Divinus Amor ex quo pugnavit(n): [5] apud Zephaniam, Jehovah justus in medio ejus, non faciet perversitatem, in mane, in mane judicium [Suum] dabit in lucem, iii 5;
`mane' pro tempore et statu judicii, quod est idem cum adventu Domini, et hoc idem cum appropinquatione regni Ipsius. [6] Quia `mane' illa significabat, ut idem repraesentaretur, mandatum est, Ut Aharon et filii ejus ascendere facerent lucernam,... et disponerent a vespera usque ad mane coram Jehovah, Exod. xxvii 21;
`vespera' ibi est diluculum ante mane, n. 2323 similiter Quod ignis super altari accenderetur singulis auroris, Lev. vi 5:
tum quoque Quod de pecude paschali, et de sanctificatis sacrificiorum nihil relinqueretur ad mane, Exod xii 10; xxiii 18; xxxiv 25; Lev. xxii 29, 30; Num. ix 12;
quo significatum, quod cum veniret Dominus, sacrificia cessarent. [7] (m)In communi sensu mane dicitur, tam cum aurora apparet quam cum sol exoritur, et tunc accipitur `mane' pro judicio tam de bonis quam super malis, sicut in hoc capite, `Sol egressus super terram, et Lot venit Zoarem: et Jehovah pluere fecit super Sodomam et Amoram sulphur et ignem,' vers. 23, 24; similiter pro judicio super malis,(n) apud Davidem, In matutinis perdam omnes impios terrae, ad exscindendum ex urbe Jehovae omnes operantes iniquitatem, Ps. ci, 8:
et apud Jeremiam, Vir iste, sicut urbes quas evertit Jehovah, et non paenitet Ipsum, et audiat clamorem in mane, xx 16. [8] Quia `mane' in proprio sensu significat Dominum, Ipsius adventum, ita regni Ipsius appropinquationem, constare potest quid mane praeterea significat, nempe {5} exortum novae Ecclesiae, nam haec est regnum Domini in terris, et hoc tam in communi quam in particulari, immo etiam in singulari; in communi, quando exsuscitatur e novo aliqua Ecclesia in orbe; in particulari, quando regeneratur homo, et fit novus, nam tunc in illo exoritur regnum Domini, et ille fit Ecclesia; in singulari, quoties apud eum operatur bonum amoris et fidei, nam in hoc est Domini adventus: inde resurrectio Domini die tertio mane, Marc. xvi 2, 9; Luc. (x)xxiv 1; Joh. (x)xx 1, omnia illa involvit etiam in particulari et singulari, quod in mentibus regeneratorum quotidie; immo singulis momentis, resurgat. @3 i de qua sequitur$ @2 ab.$ @3 i foras.$ @4 eos I.$ @5 i quod.$