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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.

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Arcana Coelestia #17

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17. Verse 2 And the earth was a void and an emptiness, and there was thick darkness over the face 1 of the deep; and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face 1 of the waters. The person who has yet to be regenerated is called 'a void and an empty earth', and also 'ground', in which no good or truth at all has been sown - 'void' where there is no good, and 'empty' where there is no truth. Consequently there is 'thick darkness', or stupidity and lack of knowledge about anything that has to do with faith in the Lord and so anything that has to do with spiritual and celestial life. This kind of person is described by the Lord through Jeremiah,

My people are foolish, they know Me not; they are stupid children, having no understanding; they are wise to do evil, and know not how to do good. I looked to the earth, and, behold, a void and an emptiness; and towards the heavens, and they had no light. Jeremiah 4:22-23, 25.

Note a piè di pagina:

1. literally, the faces

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

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Arcana Coelestia #1311

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1311. That 'Jehovah came down' means judgement on them is clear from the meaning of the previous verses, and of those that follow, and also from the meaning of 'coming down' when used of Jehovah. Previous verses dealt with building a city and the tower of Babel, those that follow deal with the confounding of lips and with dispersion, while 'coming down' when used of Jehovah has reference to the time when judgement takes place. Jehovah or the Lord is present everywhere and knows everything from eternity. Consequently it cannot be said of Him that 'He comes down to see' except in the literal sense where things are stated as they appear to man to be. But this is not the case in the internal sense. In that sense a matter is presented not according to appearances but as it is in itself. Consequently 'coming down to see' in this verse means judgement.

[2] Judgment is used of the time when evil has reached its furthest limit, which in the Word is called coming to a close or the time when iniquity has come to a close. For the fact of the matter is that every evil has its limits to which it is allowed to extend. When it is carried beyond those limits it incurs the punishment of evil. This applies both in particular and in general. The punishment of evil is what is then termed judgement. And since it seems at first as though the Lord does not see or notice the existence of evil - for when someone commits evil without getting punished he imagines that the Lord does not care, but when he does suffer punishment he supposes that this is when the Lord sees for the first time, and indeed that it is the Lord who is punishing him - these are the appearances which lead to the use of the expression 'Jehovah came down to see'.

[3] 'Coming down' is used of Jehovah because 'the most high', or His being 'in the highest', are phrases used of Him This too is phraseology based on appearances, for He dwells not in the highest but in inmost places, and therefore in the Word most high and inmost are identical in meaning. Judgement itself, or the punishment of evil, takes place at a lower or the lowest level. This is why He is spoken of as 'coming down', as He also is in David,

O Jehovah, bow Your heavens and come down. 1 Touch the mountains and they will smoke; send out lightning and scatter them. Psalms 144:5-6.

This too stands for the punishment of evil, which is judgement. In Isaiah,

Jehovah Zebaoth will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill. Isaiah 31:4.

In the same prophet, You will come down, the mountains will dissolve at Your presence. Isaiah 64:3.

Here likewise 'coming down' stands for the punishment of evil, that is, for judgement. In Micah,

Jehovah came forth out of His place, and He came down and trod upon the lofty places of the earth; and the mountains melted beneath Him. Micah 1:3-4.

Note a piè di pagina:

1. The first Latin edition adds three words which mean and I will speak with You, but no phrase such as this occurs at this point in the Psalm quoted.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.