9408. And as the substance of heaven in respect to cleanness. That this signifies the shining through of the angelic heaven, is evident from the signification of “heaven,” as being the angelic heaven (of which in what follows); and from the signification of the “cleanness,” or purity, of “the substance,” when said of heaven, as being its shining through. It shall be briefly stated what is meant by the shining through of the angelic heaven in connection with the Word. The angelic heaven is said to shine through when truth Divine shines through. For the whole heaven is nothing but a receptacle of truth Divine, because every angel is a reception of it in particular; thus all the angels, or the whole heaven, are so in general. From this, heaven is called “the habitation of God,” and also “the throne of God,” because by “habitation” is signified the truth Divine that proceeds from the Lord received in the inmost heaven, which relatively is good (n. 8269, 8309); and by “throne” is signified truth Divine from the Lord received in the middle heaven (n. 5313, 6397, 8625, 9039). As it is truth Divine such as in the heavens which shines through from the sense of the letter of the Word, therefore it is the angelic heaven which shines through; for the Word is Divine truth accommodated to all the heavens; and it consequently conjoins the heavens with the world, that is, angels with men (n. 2143, 7153, 7381, 8920, 9094, 9212, 9216, 9357, 9396). From all this it is evident what is meant by the shining through of the angelic heaven.

[2] That in the internal sense “heaven” denotes the angelic heaven, is from correspondence, and also from the appearance. Hence it is that when mention is made in the Word of “the heavens,” and also of “the heavens of heavens,” in the internal sense are meant the angelic heavens. For the ancients had no other idea of the visible heaven than that the heavenly inhabitants dwell there, and that the stars are their habitations. Similar also at this day is the idea of the simple, and especially of little children. From this also men look upward to heaven when praying earnestly to God. This also is from correspondence; for in the other life a heaven with stars appears, yet not the heaven that appears to men in the world; but a heaven that appears in accordance with the state of intelligence and wisdom of the spirits and angels. The stars there are knowledges of good and truth; and the clouds which are sometimes seen beneath the heaven are of various signification according to their colors, their translucence, and their movements; the blueness of heaven is truth transparent from good. From all this it can be seen that by “the heavens” are signified the angelic heavens; but by “the angelic heavens” are signified truths Divine, because the angels are receptions of the truth Divine that proceeds from the Lord.

[3] Similar things are signified by “the heavens” in David:

Praise Jehovah ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that are above the heavens (Psalms 148:4).

Sing psalms to the Lord that rideth upon the heaven of heaven which is of old (Psalms 68:32-33).

By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the army of them (Psalms 33:6).

The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament declareth the works of His hands (Psalms 19:1).

Jehovah, when Thou wentest forth out of Seir, the earth trembled; the heavens also dripped, the clouds also dripped water (Judg. 5:4).

The horn of the he-goat grew, even to the army of the heavens; and some of the army and of the stars it cast down to the earth, and trampled upon them (Daniel 8:10).

The Lord Jehovih buildeth in the heavens His steps (Amos 9:6).

If there be food in My house I will open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing (Malachi 3:10).

Look forth from the heavens, and behold from the habitation of Thy holiness and of Thy comeliness (Isaiah 63:15).

Blessed of Jehovah be the land of Joseph, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew (Deuteronomy 33:13).

Jesus said, Swear not by the heaven; for it is the throne of God. He that sweareth by the heaven sweareth by the throne of God, and by Him that sitteth thereon (Matthew 5:34; 23:22).

[4] In these passages, and in many others, by “the heavens” are signified the angelic heavens; and as the Lord’s heaven on earth is the church, by “heaven” is also signified the church; as in the following passages. In John::

I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth were passed away (Revelation 21:1).

Behold I create new heavens and a new earth; therefore the former things shall not be remembered, nor come up upon the heart (Isaiah 65:17).

The heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment (Isaiah 51:6).

I clothe the heaven with blackness, and I make sackcloth a covering (Isaiah 50:3).

I will cover the heavens, and I will blacken the stars thereof; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not make her light to shine; and I will blacken all the luminaries of light in the heaven, and will set darkness upon the land (Ezekiel 32:7-8).

After the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken (Matthew 24:29).

What is here signified by the “sun,” “moon,” “stars,” and “the powers of the heavens,” may be seen above (n. 4056-4060).

In Isaiah:

O Jehovah the God of Israel, Thou alone art the God over all the kingdoms of the earth; Thou hast made heaven and earth (Isaiah 37:16).

I am Jehovah, that maketh all things; that spreadeth out the heavens alone; that stretcheth out the earth by Myself (Isaiah 44:24).

Jehovah that createth the heavens, that formeth the earth and maketh it, and prepareth it, He created it not an emptiness (Isaiah 45:18).

[5] That by “heaven and earth” in these and in other passages is signified in the internal sense the church; by “heaven” the internal church, and by “earth” the external church, may be seen above (n. 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355, 4535), from which it is evident that by the “creation” in the first chapters of Genesis, where it is said, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1); “and the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the army of them” (Genesis 2:1) is meant a new church; for the creation there denotes a new regeneration, which is also called a “new creation,” as can be seen from what was shown in the explications at these chapters.

9323. And He shall bless thy bread, and thy waters. That this signifies the increase of the good of love and truth of faith, is evident from the signification of “being blessed by Jehovah,” as being to be made fruitful in goods, and multiplied in truths (see n. 2846, 3406, 4981, 6091, 6099, 8939), thus increase in such things as belong to love and faith; from the signification of “bread,” as being the good of love (see n. 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 6118, 8410); and from the signification of “water,” as being the truth of faith (n. 680, 739, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 6346, 7307, 8568). As “bread” signified all the good of love, and “water” all the truth of faith, in the complex, and as “to be blessed of Jehovah” signifies all increase in these, therefore it was a customary devout wish in the Ancient Churches that Jehovah would “bless the bread and the water;” and it was also a common form of speaking to say “bread and water,” to express all natural food and all natural drink, and to mean thereby all spiritual good and all spiritual truth; for these are what nourish the spiritual life, as bread and water nourish the natural life (see n. 4976).

[2] Such is the signification of “bread and water” in the following passages.

In Isaiah:

Behold Jehovah Zebaoth doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the whole staff of bread, and the whole staff of water (Isaiah 3:1);

“the staff of bread” denotes power and life from good; and “the staff of water,” power and life from truth.

In Ezekiel:

Behold, I break the staff of bread in Jerusalem; that they may eat bread by weight, and in disquiet; and drink water by measure, and with amazement; that they may be in want of bread and water, and be desolated a man and his brother, and pine away because of their iniquity (Ezekiel 4:16-17).

That “to be in want of bread and water” denotes to be deprived of the good of love and truth of faith, is very evident; for it is said “that they may be desolated a man and his brother, and pine away because of iniquity.”

[3] In like manner in the same:

They shall eat their bread with disquiet, and drink their water with amazement, that the land may be laid waste from the fullness thereof, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein (Ezekiel 12:19).

Behold the days come that I will send a famine in the land; not a famine for bread, nor a thirst for water; but for hearing the words of Jehovah (Amos 8:11).

The man of God said to Jeroboam, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place; for so Jehovah commanded, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way that thou camest. But the prophet from Bethel told him that Jehovah had said that he should eat bread with him, and drink water, lying unto him. And he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house and drink water; wherefore he was torn in pieces by a lion (1 Kings 13:8-9, 16-19, 24).

That he “should not eat bread and drink water with Jeroboam” signified that he should abhor the good there, and also the truth, because these had been profaned; for Jeroboam profaned the altar and all the holy things of worship, as is plain from the historical narrative of the Word in that chapter.

[4] The lack of spiritual good and truth was signified by rain not being given for three years and a half during the reign of Ahab, insomuch that bread and water failed; and then Elijah went to a widow in Sarepta and asked from her a little water to drink, and a morsel of bread to eat (1 Kings 17 an. 18); for, as before said, by “bread” was signified all the good of the church, and by “water” all the truth of the church. As at that time such things were represented because the representative of a church existed among them, and because the Word, even the historical Word, was to be written by representatives, therefore the devastation of good and truth was represented by a lack of bread and water. As “bread” signified all the good of love in the complex, the sacrifices were called “bread” (n. 2165); and the Lord also calls Himself “the bread which came down from heaven” (John 6:48, 50-51); for the Lord is the good of love itself.