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.

Commentary

 

Resurrection, the first

  

'The first resurrection,' mentioned in Revelation 20:5, 6, does not mean a first resurrection, but the essence and primary part of resurrection, which is salvation and eternal life. There is only one resurrection to life. A second does not happen, and is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible.

(References: Apocalypse Explained 6; Apocalypse Revealed 851; Revelation 20:5-6)

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #231

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231. That thou art neither cold nor hot. That this signifies that the life is between heaven and hell, because without charity, is evident from the signification of cold, as being not to be in spiritual but in infernal love, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of hot, as denoting to be in spiritual love, concerning which also we shall speak presently. It is therefore evident, that by being neither cold nor hot, is signified, to be neither in infernal love nor in spiritual love, but between both; and he who is between both is between hell and heaven.

[2] That such are those who are in faith alone, or in faith separated from charity, has not hitherto been known; but that it is so, is clear from each of the things written to the angel of this church; also from this consideration, that those who are in faith separated from charity live to themselves, to the world, and to a natural disposition, and those who so live are in infernal love; and that yet by reading the Word, and by hearing discourses therefrom, by receiving the Holy Supper, and by many things which they retain in the memory from the Word, they look towards heaven; and when they do so, they are in some degree of spiritual heat; but still because they have not any heat, or spiritual love, since they do not live according to the Word, therefore they are neither cold nor hot. Thus too they divide the mind into two parts; namely, by means of the things of the Word they turn themselves to heaven, and by means of the things of life they turn themselves to hell, so that they halt between both.

When those who are of such a character come into another life, they desire to go to heaven, saying that they have faith, that they have read the Word, have heard sermons, have frequented the Holy Supper, and that by these things they expect to be saved, but when their life is examined, it is seen to be entirely infernal; that is, that they made no account of enmity, hatred, revenge, craftiness, deceitful stratagems; that when they did what was right, sincere and just, it was only in external form, for the sake of appearing such to the world, whilst inwardly, or in their spirit, they thought other things, and many opposite things, believing that thoughts and intentions are of no account provided they do not openly appear before the world. This is why the spirit of such, when loosened from the earthly body, is of such a quality; for it is man's spirit which thinks and intends.

[3] These are they who are meant by the words of the Lord in Matthew:

"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? But then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (7:22, 23).

So also by these words in Luke:

"When ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us, he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are; then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me all ye workers of iniquity" (13:25-27).

[4] The reason why cold signifies infernal love is, that heat signifies heavenly love. (That heat signifies heavenly love, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 126-140, 567, 568; and that love to the Lord, and love towards the neighbour, or charity, are heavenly loves, and constitute heaven, may be seen in the same work, n. 13-19; and that the love of self and the love of the world are infernal loves and constitute hell, n. 551-565. That in the hells also there is heat, but impure, see Arcana Coelestia 1773, 2757, 3340; but that that heat is changed into cold when heavenly heat flows in, see in the work, Heaven and Hell 572.)

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