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

 

Six

  

Like most numbers in the Bible, "six" can have various meanings depending on context, but has a couple that are primary. When used in relation to time -- six days, six hours, six years, etc. -- six generally represents a state of labor, struggle and conflict, especially the conflict involved with spiritual growth. The six days of creation, for instance, represent the stages we go through in our lives, working toward the peaceful seventh day, in which our evil desires are removed from us and we can rest. In most other references, six represents all desires for good and all the true ideas that come from those desires for good -- or in the contrary sense, all evil and all the resulting false thinking.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #254

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254. As I also overcame, and sit with my Father in his throne. That this signifies comparatively as the Divine good is united with the Divine truth in heaven, is evident from the signification of overcoming, when said of the Lord Himself, as being to unite Divine good with Divine truth. And as this was effected by temptations and victories, therefore it is said, "as I overcame." (That the Lord united Divine good with Divine truth by temptations admitted into His Human, and by continual victories then, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 201, 293, 302). The reason why sitting with my Father in his throne, signifies Divine good united with Divine truth in heaven, is that by Father, when mentioned by the Lord, is meant the Divine good which was in Him from conception, and by Son, the Divine truth, each in heaven; and by throne is meant heaven, as above. This Divine of the Lord in the heavens is called the Divine truth, but it is the Divine good united to the Divine truth. (That this is the case may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 13, 133, 139, 140).

[2] The reason why a comparison is made of the members of the church with the Lord himself, when it is said, "He that overcometh, to him will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and sit with my Father in his throne" is, that the life of the Lord upon earth was an example according to which the members of the church were to live, as the Lord Himself also teaches in John:

"I have given unto you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them" (13:15, 17).

This is why the Lord Himself, in places, makes a comparison between Himself and His disciples, as in John:

Jesus said, "As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you; continue ye in my love, as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love" (15:9, 10).

Again:

"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I sent them into the world" (17:16, 18).

Again:

"As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you" (20:21).

Again:

"The glory which thou gavest me, I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one, I in them, and thou in me. Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me. I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them" (17:22-24, 26).

The reason why the Lord spoke of His conjunction with men as of His conjunction with the Father, that is, of His Human with the Divine which was in Himself, is that the Lord is not conjoined with man's proprium, but with what is His own. The Lord removes man's proprium, and gives from His own, and in that He dwells. That this is the case is also known in the church, as is clear from the prayer used by, and the exhortation addressed to, those who approach the Sacrament of the Supper, in which are these words: "If with a true penitent heart and lively faith we receive that holy Sacrament, for then we spiritually eat the flesh of Christ, and drink his blood, then we dwell in Christ, and Christ in us: we are one with Christ, and Christ with us." And in John 6:56. (But these things may be better comprehended from what is shown in the work, Heaven and Hell, n. 11, 12).

Hence, then, because the Divine of the Lord received by angels and men constitutes heaven and the church in them, they are one with the Lord, as He and the Father are one.

[3] In order that it may be yet more fully known how is to be understood what the Lord says, that He sits with His Father in His throne, it is to be noted that the throne of God denotes heaven, as was shown in the preceding article, also that heaven is heaven from the Divine proceeding from the Lord, which is called Divine truth, as was said above. The Lord Himself is not in heaven, but is above the heavens, and appears to those who are in the heavens as a Sun. The reason why the Lord appears as a Sun is because He is Divine love, and Divine love appears to the angels as solar fire; whence also sacred fire in the Word signifies Love Divine. From the Lord as a Sun proceed light and heat: the light which proceeds, because it is spiritual light, is Divine truth; and the heat, because it is spiritual heat, is Divine good. The latter, namely, the Divine good, is meant by the Father in heaven. (That the Lord is the Sun of heaven, and that the light and heat proceeding therefrom are the Divine truth united with the Divine good, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 116-125, also n. 126-140: and that heaven is heaven from the Divine which proceeds from the Lord, n. 7-12). It is therefore evident what is meant by Father in the heavens, and heavenly Father, as in Matthew:

Do good to your enemies, "that ye may be the sons of your Father which is in the heavens" (5:44, 45).

Again:

"Be ye perfect, as your Father in the heavens is perfect" (verse 48).

Again:

"You who are evil, know to give good gifts to your children; how much more shall your Father who is in the heavens give good things to them that ask him" (7:11).

Again:

"He that doeth the will of my Father who is in the heavens, shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens" (7:21).

Again:

"Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up" (15:13).

Also in many other passages, in Matthew 5:16:6:1, 6, 8; 12:50; 16:17; 18:14, 19, 35; Mark 9:25, 26; Luke 11:13.

[4] That the Divine good is meant by the Father is also evident from this passage in Matthew:

"Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for their angels do always behold the face of my Father who is in the heavens" (18:10).

By their beholding the face of their Father who is in the heavens is signified that they receive Divine good from the Lord. That they do not actually see His face is evident from the words of the Lord in John:

"No one hath seen the Father at any time" (1:18; 5:37; 6:46).

The same is evident from this passage in Matthew:

"Call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your Father who is in the heavens" (23:9).

That no man is forbidden to call his father upon earth "father" is evident, nor is it here forbidden by the Lord; but this was said because by Father is meant the Divine good, and there is none good except the one God (19:17). The reason why the Lord spoke thus is that by the Father in the Word of both Testaments is meant, in the spiritual sense, the Divine good, as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 3703, 5902, 6050, 7833, 7834; and also heaven and the church as to good, Arcana Coelestia 2691, 2717, 3703, 5581, 8897; and by Father, when mentioned by the Lord, the Divine good of His Divine love, Arcana Coelestia 2803, 3704, 7499, 8328, 8897).

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