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Genesis 1:5

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5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first Day.

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #22

Studere hoc loco

  
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22. Verse 5 And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day.

What 'evening' means, and what 'morning', is recognized from what is said above. 'Evening' means every prior state, because it is a state of shade, that is, of falsity and of absence of faith, while 'morning' is every subsequent state, because it is one of light, that is, of truth and of cognitions of faith. 'Evening' in general means all the things that are man's own, whereas 'morning' means all those that are the Lord's, as is said through David,

The Spirit of Jehovah has spoken within me, and His word is upon my tongue. The God of Israel has said, the Rock of Israel has spoken to me. He is like the morning light, when the sun is rising on a cloudless morning, shining bright, as when after rain tender grass [springs up] from the earth. 2 Samuel 23:4.

Because 'evening' is a time when there is no faith, and 'morning' when there is, the Lord's Coming into the world is called 'the morning', and the time at which He comes, since faith does not exist at that point, is called 'the evening', as in Daniel,

The Holy One said to me, Up to the evening when it is becoming morning, two thousand three hundred times. Daniel 8:13-14.

In the Word, 'morning' stands in a similar way for every coming of the Lord, and so is a term describing the new creation.

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

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #8897

Studere hoc loco

  
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8897. 'Honour your father and your mother' means love for goodness and truth, in the highest sense for the Lord and His kingdom. This is clear from the meaning of 'honouring' as loving, for in the spiritual sense 'honour' is love, because in heaven one loves another, and in loving him also honours him since love is present within honour (honour without love there is rejected, indeed spurned, because it is devoid of life from good); from the meaning of 'father' as goodness, dealt with in 3703, 5581, 5902, 6050, 7833, 7834, and in the highest sense as the Lord in respect of Divine Goodness, 15, 1729, 2005, 2803, 3704, 7499, 8328 (the reason why 'Father' in the highest sense is the Lord is that He imparts new life to the person, so that this life may make that person a son and heir of His kingdom); and from the meaning of 'mother' as truth, dealt with in 3703, 5581, and in the highest sense the Lord in respect of Divine Truth, thus His kingdom since Divine Truth which emanates from the Lord makes heaven. The reason why the Lord's Divine Truth makes heaven is that in the next life the Lord in respect of Divine Good is the Sun, and in respect of Divine Truth is the Light. This Divine Light radiating from the Lord as the Sun is what enlightens angelic minds and fills them with intelligence and wisdom, causing them to be angels of light. Divine Good is present within Divine Truth, even as heat from the sun is present within the light in springtime and summer in the world.

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