16. Verse 1. In the beginning God created heaven and earth. The most ancient times of all are called 'the beginning', and are throughout the Prophets referred to as 'days of antiquity' and also 'days of eternity'. 'The beginning' also embodies within it that first Period when a person is being regenerated, for at that time he is being born anew and receiving life. Regeneration itself is therefore called a new creation of man. Almost everywhere in the prophetical sections 'to create', 'to form', and 'to make' mean to regenerate, though each of these verbs has a different shade of meaning, as in Isaiah,

Every one who is called by My name - I have created him for My glory, I have formed him, I have also made him. Isaiah 43:7

This is why the Lord is called Redeemer, One who forms from the womb, Maker, and also Creator, as in the same prophet,

I am Jehovah, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. Isaiah 43:15.

In David,

A people to be created will praise Jah. Psalms 102:18.

In the same author,

You send forth Your Spirit; they are created; and You renewest the face ¹ of the ground. Psalms 104:30.

'Heaven' means the internal man, and 'earth' the external man prior to regeneration. This will be seen further on.

脚注:

7929. 'And not allow the destroyer to come to your houses' means that falsity and evil from the hells will not at all come near the will. This is clear from the meaning of 'will not allow' as will not come near; from the meaning of 'the destroyer' as hell, dealt with in 7879, thus falsity and evil from the hells, since the hells derive their existence from falsity and evil; and from the meaning of 'houses' as aspects of the will, dealt with in 710, 7848. For 'house' means a person, therefore also his mind, since a person is a person by virtue of his understanding of truth and his desire for good, which are abilities belonging to the mind. And since a person is a person primarily by virtue of that part of the mind called the will, the will is therefore also meant by 'house'. But which of these is meant is evident from the train of thought in the internal sense.