Arcana Coelestia # 9408
9408. 'And it was like the substance of the sky for clearness' means the translucence of the angelic heaven. This is clear from the meaning of 'the sky (or heaven)' as the angelic heaven, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'clearness' or purity of substance, when said of the sky, as translucence. What the translucence of the angelic heaven is when the Word is the subject must be stated briefly. The angelic heaven is said to be translucent when God's truth shines through; for the whole of heaven is nothing other than a receptacle of God's truth. Each angel is an individual recipient of it, so that all the angels or heaven as a whole is a general recipient. This explains why heaven is called 'God's dwelling-place' and also 'God's throne'. For 'dwelling-place' means God's truth emanating from the Lord and received in the inmost heaven, which in comparison is good, 8269, 8309; and 'throne' means God's truth emanating from the Lord and received in the middle heaven, 5313, 6397, 8625, 9039. Since that which shines through, out of the sense of the letter of the Word, is God's truth as it exists in the heavens, it is the angelic heaven that shines through. For the Word is Divine Truth adjusted to all the heavens, and as a consequence of this it joins the heavens to the world, that is, angels to men, 2143, 7153, 7381, 8920, 9094 (end), 9212 (end), 9216 (end), 9357, 9396. From all this it is evident what the words 'the translucence of the angelic heaven' are used to mean.
[2] The reasons why in the internal sense 'the sky (or heaven)' means the angelic heaven lie with correspondence and also with the appearance. So it is that where the words 'heavens' and 'heavens of heavens' occur in the Word the angelic heavens are meant in the internal sense. For the ancients had no other idea of the visible sky than this, that the inhabitants of heaven lived there and that the stars were their dwelling-places. At the present day too, simple people - especially young children - have the same idea. So it is also that people look upwards to the sky or heaven when they worship God. This action too arises from correspondence; for a sky with stars appears in the next life, but this is not the sky seen by people in the world. Instead it is a sky that takes on an appearance which accords with the spirits and angels' state of intelligence and wisdom. The stars in it are cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth, and the clouds which are sometimes seen in the sky vary in meaning according to their colours, translucence, and movements, the blue of the sky being truth transparent with good. All this goes to prove that by 'heavens' the angelic heavens are meant. But by the angelic heavens God's truths are meant, because angels are recipients of God's truth emanating from the Lord.
[3] Similar things are meant by 'heavens' in David,
Praise Jehovah, heavens of heavens, and waters that are above the heavens! Psalms 148:4.
In the same author,
Make melody to the Lord who rides above the heaven of the heaven of old. Psalms 68:33.
In the same author,
By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the spirit 1 of His mouth. Psalms 33:6.
In the same prophet,
The heavens recount His glory, and the firmament declares the works of His hands. Psalms 19:1.
In the Book of Judges,
O Jehovah, when You went forth from Seir, the earth trembled, the heavens also dropped, the clouds indeed dropped water. Judges 5:4.
In Daniel,
The horn of the he-goat grew right on towards the host of the heavens, and cast down to the earth some of the host, and of the stars, and trampled on them. Daniel 8:10.
In Amos,
The Lord Jehovih, who builds His steps in the heavens ... Amos 9:6.
In Malachi,
If there is food in My house I will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing for you. Malachi 3:10.
In Isaiah,
Look out from the heavens, and see from the dwelling-place of Your holiness and of Your glory. Isaiah 63:15.
In Moses,
Blessed by Jehovah is the land of Joseph, in regard to the precious things of heaven, to the dew. Deuteronomy 33:13.
In Matthew,
Jesus said, You shall not swear by heaven, for it is God's throne. He who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by Him who sits on it. Matthew 5:32; 23:22.
[4] In these and very many other places 'heavens' means the angelic heavens. And since the Lord's heaven on earth is the Church, the Church too is meant by 'heaven', as in the following places: In John,
I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away. Revelation 21:1.
In Isaiah,
Behold, I am creating new heavens and a new earth; therefore the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. 2 Isaiah 65:17.
In the same prophet,
The heavens will vanish away like smoke, and the earth will grow old like a garment. Isaiah 51:6.
In the same prophet,
I clothe heaven with darkness, and I make sackcloth its covering. Isaiah 50:3.
In Ezekiel,
I will cover the heavens, and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. And all the bright lights in heaven I will make dark, and I will put darkness over the land. Ezekiel 32:7-8.
In Matthew,
After the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Matthew 24:29.
What the meaning is of 'sun', 'moon', 'stars', and 'in the heavens', see 4056-4060.
In Isaiah,
O Jehovah God of Israel, You are God alone over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Isaiah 37:16.
In the same prophet,
[I am] Jehovah who makes all things, who spreads out the heavens Alone, who stretches out the earth by Myself. Isaiah 44:24.
In the same prophet,
Jehovah who created the heavens, who formed the earth, and made it, and prepared it, did not create it an emptiness. Isaiah 45:18.
[5] In the internal sense 'heaven and earth' in these and other places means the Church, the internal Church being meant by 'heaven' and the external Church by 'earth', see 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end), 4535. From all this it is evident that by creation in the earliest chapters of Genesis, where it says, In the beginning God created heaven and earth, Genesis 1:1, And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them, Genesis 2:1, a new Church is meant. For creation there describes regeneration, which is also called the new creation, as has been shown and may be seen in the explanations of those chapters.
Genesis 15
1
After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Don't be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."
2
Abram said, "Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?"
3
Abram said, "Behold, to me you have given no seed: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir."
4
Behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir, but he who will come forth out of your own body will be your heir."
5
Yahweh brought him outside, and said, "Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." He said to Abram, "So shall your seed be."
6
He believed in Yahweh; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.
7
He said to him, "I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it."
8
He said, "Lord Yahweh, how will I know that I will inherit it?"
9
He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon."
10
He brought him all of these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn't divide the birds.
11
The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
12
When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him.
13
He said to Abram, "Know for sure that your seed will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years.
14
I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth,
15
but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried in a good old age.
16
In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full."
17
It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
18
In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:
19
the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
20
the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
21
the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."
