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Genesis 1

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1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first Day.

6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

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Arcana Coelestia # 9993

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9993. 'And unleavened cakes mixed with oil' means purification of the mid-celestial. This is clear from the meaning of 'cakes' as the mid-celestial, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'oil' as the good of love, dealt with in 886, 4582, 4638. From this it is evident that 'cakes mixed with oil' means the celestial that springs directly from the inmost part, for 'oil' is the good of love, which is inmost. The situation is that the heavens are divided into two kingdoms, one of which is called spiritual, the other celestial. The understanding part of the human mind corresponds to the spiritual kingdom in the heavens and the will part of it to the celestial kingdom there, 9835. In each kingdom there is an internal part and an external, as there is also in the human understanding and will. For the human understanding has an internal part and an external, and so does the human will. The internal part of the understanding forms the spiritual life of the internal man, and the external part of the understanding forms the spiritual life of the external man. But the internal part of the will forms the celestial life of the internal man, while the external part of the will forms the celestial life of the external man. The existence in the human mind of an internal part and an external may be recognized by anyone who stops to reflect. It may be recognized in particular in hypocrites, cheats, crafty types, and villains. What all these think deep within themselves is contrary to the truths of faith, and also what they will is the opposite of the good deeds of heavenly love; but on the surface their thought and will are in line with those truths and good deeds, which they also consequently declare and perform for all the world to see.

[2] In addition it should be recognized that each kingdom in the heavens, the spiritual kingdom and the celestial, has three parts; each has an inmost part, a middle, and an outward, see 9873. The inmost part of the celestial kingdom consists in the good of love to the Lord; the middle part there consists in the good of mutual love, which is good emanating from that of love to the Lord; and the outward part consists in delight emanating from the good of mutual love. The first two reside in the internal man of inhabitants of the Lord's celestial kingdom, whereas the third resides in their external man. These three were represented by unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil; and purification of them is represented by the offering of the three on the altar together with a burnt offering or else a sacrifice. The fact that those kinds of good in their proper order are meant can be recognized solely from the consideration that these three types of cereal offering were commanded and also their preparation described in the Books of Moses. This would never at all have been done if those things had not embodied arcana of heaven and the Church. What other use could such things have had?

[3] But I realize that those arcana are intelligible to scarcely anyone at the present day, because what is worldly permeates everything that people understand and will at the present day, and those who think of heaven and wish to be there do not have, and do not wish to have any other notion of it apart from a natural and earthly one. And where that kind of notion and wish exist, thus where that kind of love is present, there is no room for the mysteries of heaven. It would be altogether different if the human mind delighted in heavenly more than in worldly things. For the things which a person delights in are the ones he finds intelligible, as for instance when he delights in the intricacies of countries' public affairs, or in the intricacies of people's moral attitudes. By moral attitudes is meant what constitutes their loves and affections, and consequently their thoughts. Such are easily discovered by a crafty person, because he takes delight in leading others by means of those he discovers, to the end that he may acquire important positions or monetary gain, or earn reputation on account of these.

[4] That which is celestial in the internal man is meant by 'cakes', the reason being that they are second in order; for first in order is the unleavened bread, second the cakes mixed with oil, and third the wafers anointed with oil. These three were called minchahs, and they were offered on the altar along with burnt offerings and sacrifices. How they were to be made is described in Leviticus 2, and how they were to be offered is described in various places, how for example they were to be offered by Aaron on the day of his anointing in Leviticus 6:20-23.

[5] The term 'cakes' is also used in the Word to mean the good of love in general. So it is that the loaves of the Presence or the showbread are called 'cakes' in Moses,

You shall take fine flour and bake it into twelve cakes, two-tenths [of an ephah] shall there be in one cake. And you shall place them on the table before Jehovah. And you shall put pure frankincense on each row. Leviticus 24:5-9.

'Pure frankincense' that was put on the cakes was a sign of truth springing from celestial good, which is the lowest or outermost of the celestial kingdom.

[6] The good of love in general is again meant by 'cakes' in Jeremiah,

The sons gather pieces of wood, and the fathers kindle fire, the women knead dough to make cakes for Melecheth 1 of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to other gods. Jeremiah 7:18; 44:19.

'Making cakes for Melecheth of heaven' means offering worship to the devil with the good of celestial love, and 'pouring out drink offerings to other gods' means offering worship to Satan with the truths of faith. For 'Melecheth of heaven' means those who are in the hell of genii, and 'other gods' those who are in the hell of evil spirits, about whom see 5977, 8593, 8622, 8625. Those in the hell of genii taken all together are called the devil, and those in the hell of evil spirits are called Satan.

[7] The good of spiritual love however is meant by 'cakes' in Hosea,

Ephraim has become a cake not turned. Hosea 7:8.

But here 'a cake' is expressed by a different word in the original language, which means the good of spiritual love. 'A cake not turned' is a situation in which the external man rules the internal. When this situation comes about in a person it is an inversion of order, for then the external is the master and the internal the servant. 'Ephraim' is the Church's power of understanding, which receives light and is stirred with affection when truths and forms of the good of faith are accepted, 3969, 5354, 6222, 6234, 6238, 6267.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. Melecheth is a Hebrew word for a queen.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.