25. THE FIRST STATE OF THIS MOST ANCIENT CHURCH, OR ITS RISE AND MORNING, is described in the first chapter of Genesis by these words:

God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and God created man in His own image; in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them (Gen. 1:26-27);

and also by these in the second chapter:

Jehovah God formed man dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives; and man became a living soul (Gen. 2:7).

That its rise, or morning, is described by his being made, or created, "in the image of God," is because every man, when he is first born, and while an infant, is an "image of God" interiorly; for the faculty of receiving and of applying to himself those things which proceed from God, is implanted in him; and since he is also formed "dust of the earth" exteriorly, and there is thence in him an inclination to lick that dust like the serpent (Gen. 3:14), therefore, if he remains an external or natural man, and does not become at the same time internal, or spiritual, he destroys the "image of God," and puts on the image of the serpent which seduced Adam. But, on the other hand, the man who strives and labours to become an "image of God," subdues the external man in himself, and interiorly in the natural becomes spiritual, thus spiritual-natural; and this is effected by a new creation, that is, regeneration by the Lord. Such a man is an "image of God," because he wills and believes that he lives from God and not from himself: on the contrary, man is an image of the serpent as long as he wills and believes that he lives from himself and not from God. What is man but an "image of God" when he wills and believes that he is in the Lord and the Lord in him (John 6:56; 14:20; 15:4-5, 7; 17:26), and that he can do nothing of himself (John 3:27; 15:5)? What is a man but an "image of God" when, by a new birth, he becomes a "son of God" (John 1:12-13)? Who does not know that the image of the father is in the son? The rise, or morning, of this Church is described by Jehovah God's "breathing into his nostrils the breath of lives," and by his thus "becoming a living soul," because by "lives," in the plural, are meant love and wisdom, which two are essentially God; for, in proportion as a man receives and applies to himself those two essentials of life, which proceed continually from God, and continually flow into the souls of men, in the same proportion he becomes "a living soul"; for "lives" are the same as love and wisdom. Hence it is evident, that the rise and morning of the life of the men of the Most Ancient Church, who taken collectively are represented by Adam, is described by those two shrines of life.

1460. That 'there was a famine in the land' means a lack of cognitions which still existed with the Lord when He was a boy is clear from what has been stated already. In childhood the cognitions that reside with man never come from that which is interior but from the objects of the senses, most of all from hearing; for, as has been stated, with the external man there are recipient vessels which are called those of the memory. Those vessels, as anyone may know, are formed by means of cognitions, the internal man flowing in and assisting that formation. Consequently the learning of cognitions and their implantation in the memory take place in the measure that the internal man is flowing in. So also with the Lord when a boy, for He was born as any other and received instruction as any other. But in His case the interiors were celestial, which fashioned the vessels to receive cognitions, and after that these cognitions to become vessels for receiving the Divine. The interiors with Him were Divine, being from Jehovah His Father, but the exteriors were human, being from Mary His mother. From this it becomes clear that in childhood a lack of cognitions within His external man existed with the Lord as much as with all others.

[2] That 'famine' means a lack of cognitions is clear from elsewhere in the Word, as in Isaiah,

They do not look closely at the work of Jehovah, and they do not regard what His hands have done. Therefore My people will go into exile because they have no knowledge, and their honourable men will be famished,' and their multitude parched with thirst. Isaiah 5:12-13.

'Honourable men famished ¹ stands for a lack of celestial cognitions, 'multitude parched with thirst' for a lack of spiritual cognitions. In Jeremiah,

They have lied against Jehovah and said, It is not He; and no evil will come upon us; neither shall we see sword and famine. And the prophets will become wind, and the word is not in them. Jeremiah 5:12-13.

'Sword and famine' stands for becoming robbed of cognitions of truth and good. 'Prophets' stands for those who teach, in whom 'the word is not'. That 'being consumed by sword and famine' means becoming robbed of cognitions of truth and good, and that these have to do with vastation, 'sword' as to spiritual things, 'famine' as to celestial things, is clear from many parts of the Word, such as Jeremiah 14:13-16, 18; Lamentations 4:9; and elsewhere.

[3] So also in Ezekiel,

I will bring more famine upon you, and will break for you the staff of bread; and I will send famine and evil beasts upon you, and they will rob you of your children. And I will bring the sword upon you. Ezekiel 5:16-17.

'Famine' stands for when one has been robbed of celestial cognitions, or cognitions of good, and therefore falsities and evils occur. In David,

And He summoned a famine over the land, He broke every staff of bread. Psalms 105:16.

'Breaking the staff of bread' stands for being deprived of celestial nourishment, for the life of good spirits and of angels is sustained by no other food than cognitions of good and truth, and by goods and truths themselves. This is the origin of the meaning in the internal sense of famine and bread. In the same author,

He has satisfied the longing soul, and the hungry soul He has filled with good. Psalms 107:9.

This stands for those desiring cognitions. In Jeremiah,

Lift up your hands for the soul of your little children who faint from famine at the head of every street. Lamentations 2:19.

'Famine' stands for an absence of cognitions, 'streets' for truths. In Ezekiel,

They will dwell securely and not be made afraid; and I shall raise up for them a plant for renown, and they will no more be consumed with famine in the land. Ezekiel 34:28-29.

This stands for their being deprived no longer of the cognitions of good and truth.

[4] In John,

They will not hunger any more, nor thirst any more. Revelation 7:16.

This refers to the Lord's kingdom where they have an abundance of all celestial cognitions and goods, meant by 'not hungering', and of spiritual cognitions and truths, meant by 'not thirsting'. The Lord said something similar, in John,

I am the Bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. John 6:35.

In Luke,

Blessed are you that hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Luke 6:21.

In the same gospel,

He has filled the hungry with good things. Luke 1:53.

This refers to celestial goods and the cognitions of these. In Amos there is a plain statement that 'famine' means the lack of cognitions,

Behold, the days are coming, when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah. Amos 8:11-12.

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