The Bible

 

Genesis 1

Study

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

 

Three

  

The number three in the Bible represents completeness. That's why Jesus rose on the third day after the Crucifixion -- his transformation was complete. It's why Elijah stretched himself on the dead child three times, why Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days, why the Lord called Samuel three times, and many more. It's also reflected in the fact that there are three levels of heaven, three levels of hell, three levels to human life and, ultimately, three aspects of the Lord Himself: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1825

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1825. That 'three years old' embodies all things of the Church as to periods and states is clear from the meaning of 'three' in the Word. Three means the whole time of the Church from start to finish, and so its total state. The final phase of the Church is therefore meant by the third day, by the third week, by the third month, by the third year, or by the third decade, 1 all having the same meaning. As the state of the Church is meant by the number three, so also is the state of every individual who is a Church, and indeed everything that is part of the Church, as becomes clear from the meaning of that number in the places quoted from the Word in 720, 901.

[2] That 'a three year old heifer' accordingly means the whole time or state of the Church even to its end, that is to say, when it has been vastated, or laid desolate, also becomes clear in Isaiah,

My heart cries out upon Moab, his fugitives flee even to Zoar, a three year old heifer, for at the ascent of Luhith he will go up weeping, for on the road to Horonaim they will raise a cry of ruination. Isaiah 15:5.

Also in Jeremiah,

Gladness and exultation have been plucked from Carmel, and from the land of Moab, and I will make the wine cease from the winepresses. None will tread the hedad; the hedad will not be a hedad. 2 From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz they uttered their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim, a three year old heifer, for the waters of Nimrim also will become desolations. Jeremiah 48:33-34.

Nobody could possibly perceive what these details mean unless he knew what is meant by Moab, Zoar, the ascent of Luhith, the shout of Heshbon even to Elealeh, Jahaz, Horonaim, the waters of Nimrim, and a three year old heifer. That a final vastation is meant is plainly evident.

Footnotes:

1. or third age or third century

2. A Hebrew word which is a shout of exaltation

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