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.
Genesis 1:2
Arcana Coelestia # 57
57. 'The plant yielding seed' is every truth that looks towards a use. 'The tree in which there is fruit' is the good that accompanies faith. 'Fruit' is what the Lord gives to the celestial man, while 'seed', the source of the fruit, is what He gives to the spiritual man. This is why it is said that 'the tree producing seed will be for you for food'. That celestial food is called 'fruit from a tree' is clear from the next chapter where the subject is the celestial man. Here let just that be mentioned which the Lord spoke through Ezekiel,
Beside the river there is rising up upon its bank, on this side and on that, every tree for food. Its leaf will not fall nor its fruit fail. It is re-born monthly, for its waters flow out from the Sanctuary, and its fruit will be for food, and its leaf for medicine. Ezekiel 47:12.
'Waters from the Sanctuary' means the life and mercy of the Lord, who is the Sanctuary; 'fruit' means wisdom, which is food for them; 'leaf' is intelligence, which is given them for a use, which is called 'medicine'. Spiritual food however is called 'a plant', as stated through David,
[Jehovah is] my Shepherd, I shall not want; He makes me 1 lie down in green pastures. 2 Psalms 23:1-2.
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. The Latin means You makest me; but the Hebrew means He makes me or, as Swedenborg renders in other places where he quotes this verse, He will make me.
2. literally, pastures of the plant
Arcana Coelestia # 3832
3832. 'And made a feast' means the introduction. This is clear from the meaning of 'a feast' as making one's own and being joined to, dealt with in 3596. Here it is the introduction, for this precedes the joining together, and is a pledge and witness to it. The feasts which were held in early times by people among whom meaningful signs and representatives existed meant nothing else than the introduction into the mutual love which is the essence of charity. Wedding feasts meant the introduction into conjugial love, and sacred feasts the introduction into spiritual and celestial love, the reason being that 'feasting' or eating and drinking meant making one's own and becoming joined to, as shown in 3596.
[2] This being the meaning of 'feasts' the Lord also spoke in the same vein,
Many will come from the east and from the west and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 8:11.
And elsewhere He said to the disciples,
That you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom. Luke 22:30.
And when He instituted the Holy Supper He said,
I tell you that I shall not drink from now on of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom. Matthew 26:29.
Anyone may see that 'reclining', 'eating', and 'drinking' in the Lord's kingdom do not mean reclining, eating, and drinking, but the kind of thing that exists in that kingdom; that is to say, these experiences are used to mean making the good of love and the truth of faith one's own, and so to mean that which is called spiritual food and celestial food. The quotations given above also show plainly that there is an internal sense within words spoken by the Lord, and that without an understanding of that sense one cannot know what is meant by reclining with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, by eating and drinking at the Lord's table in His kingdom, and by drinking of the fruit of the vine with them in the Father's kingdom. Nor indeed can one know what is meant by eating bread and drinking wine in the Holy Supper.
