The Bible

 

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.

The Bible

 

Genesis 9:6

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6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #1116

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1116. In the cup with which she hath mixed, mix unto her double. That this signifies much retribution in proportion to their profanation of truth is evident from the signification of a cup, which denotes truth, and, in the opposite sense, falsity, because a cup has a signification similar to that of wine, as may be seen above (n. 887, 1045); from the signification of mixing, which denotes to profane, for he who intermingles falsity with truth, or truth with falsity, profanes - which we shall speak of presently; and from the signification of double, which denotes much, and which is said of retribution; concerning this see just above (n. 1115). Mixing signifies to profane, because it is said of the wine in the cup, which signifies truth, and in the opposite sense falsity; and when truth and falsity are intermingled, then there is profanation; concerning this see above (n. 1053-1063). Mixing has a similar signification in David:

"There is a cup in the hand of Jehovah, and he hath mixed the wine, he hath filled it with mixture, and he hath poured out thence, but the dregs thereof all the impious of the earth shall suck out and drink" (Psalm 75:8).

The cup in the hand of Jehovah, and the wine, signify Divine Truth. By mixing and by mixture is signified profanation, for the intermingling of falsity with truth is meant. By pouring out thence and by the impious of the earth sucking out the dregs and drinking them, is signified the punishment of profanation. From these things it is evident that mixing with the cup has here a signification similar to that in the Apocalypse.

[2] Continuation concerning the Athanasian Creed, and concerning the Lord.- It was from this implanted [capability] that the most ancient people, to a greater degree than their posterity, worshipped a visible God under a human form. The Word bears witness that they also saw God as Man, as for example, Adam heard the voice of Jehovah walking in the garden; Moses spoke with Jehovah face to face; Abraham saw Jehovah in the midst of three angels; and Lot spoke with two angels. Jehovah was also seen as Man by Hagar, Gideon, and Joshua; by Daniel he was seen as the Ancient of Days, and as the Son of Man; similarly He was seen by John, as the Son of Man in the midst of seven lampstands, and also by the other prophets.

That it was the Lord who was seen by them, he himself teaches where he says, that Abraham rejoiced to see his day, and that he saw and was glad (John 8:56); also, that he was before Abraham was (ver. 58), and that he was before the world was (John 17:5, 24).

[3] It was not the Father but the Son who was seen, because the Divine Esse, which is the Father, cannot be seen except by means of the Divine Existere, which is the Divine Human. That it was not the Divine Esse, called the Father, that was seen, the Lord also teaches in John:

"The Father himself who hath sent me, he hath borne witness of me; ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form" (5:37).

In the same,

"Not that any one hath seen the Father, save he who is with" the Father, "he hath seen the Father" (6:46).

And again,

"No one hath seen God at any time, the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath brought [him] forth to view" (1:18).

From these passages it is clear, that the Divine Esse, which is the Father, was not seen by the ancients, nor could be seen, and yet that it was seen by means of the Divine Existere, which is the Son.

Since esse is in its existere, as the soul is in its body, therefore he who sees the Divine Existere or Son, sees also the Divine Esse or Father, and this the Lord proves in these words:

"Philip said, Lord, show us the Father; Jesus said unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and dost thou not know me, Philip? he who seeth me, hath seen the Father, how sayest thou then, Show us the Father" (John 14:8, 9).

It is evident from these words, that the Lord is the Divine Existere, in which is the Divine Esse; thus that he is the God-Man, who was seen by the ancients. It follows from what has been adduced, that the Word must also be understood according to the sense of the letter, as to God having a face, eyes, and ears, and also hands and feet.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.