609. Who created heaven, and the things that are therein, and the earth, and the things that are therein, and the sea, and the things that are therein.- That this signifies the Lord as to all things, interior and exterior, of heaven and the church, is evident from the signification of creating, as denoting not only to cause a thing to be, but also to give it perpetual existence, by holding it together and sustaining it by the proceeding Divine; for the heavens have existed, and do perpetually exist, that is subsist, by the Divine of the Lord, which is called the Divine Truth united to Divine Good, and this received by the angels makes heaven; for this reason when heaven is mentioned, the Lord is meant, because heaven, where the angels are, is heaven from the Lord, that is from the Divine which goes forth from Himself; this, then, is the signification here, of creating; that to create, when spoken of the church, and the men of the church, means to create anew, that is, to regenerate, may be seen above (n. 294); and from the signification of heaven, the earth, and the sea, and the things which are in them, as denoting all things, interior and exterior, of heaven and the church. Heaven, the earth, and the sea, here signify specifically, the higher and lower heavens. Since in the spiritual world the appearance of things is similar to what it is in the natural world, consequently, there are mountains, lands, and seas, and the mountains there are the higher heavens, because the angels of those heavens dwell upon mountains, and the land and sea there are the lower heavens, for the angels of these heavens dwell below the mountains upon the lands, and as it were in seas (see above, n.594:18). For this reason the angel who said these things, was seen to stand upon the earth and the sea. The reason why the earth, and the sea, and the things which are in them, also signify all things of the church, both interior and exterior, is, that in the church there are things interior and exterior, just as in the heavens there are things higher and lower, and the former correspond to the latter. That the sea and the earth signify the church as to its exteriors and interiors, may be seen above (600).

According to the sense of the letter, heaven, the earth, and the sea, mean the visible heaven, the habitable earth, and the navigable sea, and the things therein mean the birds, beasts, and fishes. But that these things are not meant by those words, is evident from this fact, that the angel was seen by John, when in the spirit, standing upon the sea and upon the earth. And what is seen in the spirit, is not seen in the natural world, but in the spiritual world, where also, as said above, there are lands and seas, and also angels and spirits therein. Concerning the appearance of seas in that world, and concerning those therein, see above (n. 342).

5198. 'Seven cows were coming up' means the truths belonging to the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'cows' as the truths belonging to the natural, dealt with below. The reason there were seven is that 'seven' means that which is holy, 395, 433, 716, and therefore this number contributes to any matter under consideration the idea of holiness, dealt with in 881. The matter under consideration here is likewise of a holy nature since it concerns a further rebirth of the natural through the joining of this to the celestial of the spiritual. As regards 'cows' or 'young cows' meaning the truths belonging to the natural, this becomes clear from the fact that 'bulls' and 'young bulls' mean forms of good belonging to the natural, 2180, 2566, 2781, 2830. For in the Word, when a male means good, its female means truth, and conversely when the male means truth its female means good, so that 'a cow' means some truth belonging to the natural, because 'a bull' means some form of good belonging to it.

[2] All beasts without exception that are mentioned in the Word mean affections, evil and useless beasts meaning evil affections, gentle and useful ones meaning good affections, see 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 719, 776, 1823, 2179, 2180, 3218, 3519. The reason why they have such a meaning lies in the representations that occur in the world of spirits, for whenever a discussion about affections is taking place in heaven, beasts corresponding to affections of the kind under discussion are represented in the world of spirits, as I have also been allowed quite often to see. On several occasions I have wondered about the origin of that phenomenon, but have been led to perceive that the lives led by beasts are nothing else than affections; for they respond instinctively, devoid of reason, to their innate affections and are led by these to fulfill their specific functions. No other physical forms are suited to these affections devoid of reason than the kinds in which they are seen on earth. This explains why, when the discussion in heaven is about affections alone, the ultimate forms that those affections take in the world of spirits are the same in appearance as the physical forms of such beasts; for those affections cannot be clothed with any other forms than ones such as correspond to them. I have also seen beasts, the like of which do not appear anywhere at all in the natural world. They were the forms taken by affections that are not known and by affections that are mingled together.

[3] Here then is the reason why in the Word affections are meant by 'beasts', though which particular affections are meant cannot be seen from anywhere else than the internal sense. 'Bulls' means the good belonging to the natural, as may be seen in the paragraphs listed above; and as for the meaning of 'cows' as the truths belonging to the natural, this becomes clear from other places where they are referred to, such as Isaiah 11:7; Hosea 4:16; Amos 4:1, as well as from the reference in Numbers 19:2-10 to the water of separation by which they were to be made clean and which was prepared from the red cow burned to ashes outside the camp, with which cedar wood was mixed, hyssop, and twice-dyed scarlet. When the meaning of this procedure is disclosed with the help of the internal sense, it shows that 'the red cow', meaning unclean truth within the natural, is made clean by 'burning', and also by the kinds of things meant by 'cedar wood, hyssop, and twice-dyed scarlet'. The water prepared by that process represented the means of purification.