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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.

Commentaire

 

Resurrection, the first

  

'The first resurrection,' mentioned in Revelation 20:5, 6, does not mean a first resurrection, but the essence and primary part of resurrection, which is salvation and eternal life. There is only one resurrection to life. A second does not happen, and is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible.

(références: Apocalypse Explained 6; Apocalypse Revealed 851; Revelation 20:5-6)

Commentaire

 

Bethany

  
Resurrection of Lazarus (anonymous).

Béthanie était un village sur le Mont des Oliviers à environ deux miles de Jérusalem, près de son village frère Bethphage. Il joue un rôle petit mais significatif dans la vie du Seigneur, d'abord comme la maison de Lazare, Marthe et Marie et la scène de son plus grand miracle, et plus tard comme sa base d'attache pendant ses derniers jours à Jérusalem. Enfin, à la fin du livre de Luc, le Seigneur apparaît aux disciples le troisième jour après avoir été crucifié, s'entretient avec eux, puis les conduit à Béthanie, où il est enlevé au ciel.

(références: Jacques 2)


Béthanie n'est mentionnée qu'une seule fois dans les Écrits, et sa signification spirituelle n'est pas expliquée. Nous ne pouvons donc pas être sûrs de la façon dont elle s'inscrit ; le mieux que nous puissions faire est d'examiner le contexte et les indices et de faire quelques suppositions éclairées.

Tout d'abord, on pense généralement que Béthanie signifie "lieu des dates", Bethphage signifiant "lieu des figues". Les figues représentent le désir de bien sur un plan naturel, extérieur. Les dattes représentent le désir de bien à un niveau plus profond, issu d'une compréhension des idées spirituelles et de l'amour du service des autres. Les deux villages sont, bien sûr, sur le Mont des Oliviers, les olives représentant le plus grand désir de bien de tous, celui qui naît de l'amour du Seigneur. On peut donc en déduire que Béthanie représente un état de bonté spirituelle.

Deuxièmement, il semble assez clair que Jésus s'y est senti détendu et chez lui. Le livre de Jean dit qu'il aimait Lazare, Marthe et Marie, et la scène dans laquelle il ressuscite Lazare d'entre les morts est l'une de ses manifestations d'émotion les plus ouvertes. Marthe et Marie semblaient bien le connaître et, dans le livre de Jean, il a dîné avec elles la veille de son entrée triomphale à Jérusalem le dimanche des Rameaux. Matthieu et Marc décrivent un dîner qui a eu lieu cette dernière semaine chez Simon le lépreux à Béthanie. L'impression générale est que c'était une sorte de refuge.

Enfin, il y a une entrée dans les Écrits qui dit que l'élévation de Lazare représente le rétablissement de la véritable église - l'Église chrétienne primitive - parmi les païens.

Il semble donc que Béthanie représente peut-être un état de bonté spirituelle - une bonté centrée sur l'amour du prochain - qui est ouvert et accepte le Seigneur, non pas tant de la religion que du cœur. Mais ce n'est qu'une opinion, une possibilité.

(références: Arcanes Célestes 2916 [4])